“Good thing you look older than you actually are Rick, so Mikan’s mother believed that you were one of the organizers for the event.”
“Keep saying that but nobody believes you when you say you’re actually twenty-three and not sixteen.”
“That just means I’ll still look young and beautiful, whereas you’re going to look like an old man before you’re thirty.”
“And you’re going to still look underaged by the time you’re forty!”
Elen glances at David and sees him trailing next to her while Mikan and Fredrick bickering like an old married couple. He’s obviously not going to be a good conversation partner, just staring into space like his mind isn’t even part of his body the way he is.
“Excuse me.” Fredrick and Mystia stop and turn to give a very irritated Elen their attention. “Are you guys going to explain the situation to me now?”
They’d dropped Mikan off at her house, Elen hiding because she’s still transformed and didn’t want to explain why she’s wearing this costume, and are now walking through the downtown area. She doesn’t get an answer and instead they continue walking towards wherever their destination is. Elen huffs and follows them. At least they’re quiet now.
A few minutes later they stop in front of a building. It’s not big, but it has a warm and welcoming atmosphere even while it’s closed. The window reads “Aphaea Restaurant” and Elen immediately recognizes the logo from the madeleines Fredrick had given her.
‘I give up.’ Elen takes a deep breath. “So this is some kind of front?”
“No,” Mystia answers. “The restaurant is real. We’re going upstairs.”
Elen doesn’t protest as they climb the stairs on the side of the building and enter the upstairs apartment. It’s modest, but large enough for a few people to live comfortably. The furniture is rather old-fashioned, not to Elen’s taste but she thinks it brings quite a bit of character to the living room. They don’t stay in the living room and instead go to another.
This room is draped in all kinds of fabrics in purples and blues, even covering the windows. It’s lit only by the light of candles on the candlesticks, the flames reflected in the mirrors placed seemingly at random. There are various symbols and runes on the walls and the ceiling is painted with an intricate zodiac wheel. The middle is occupied with a round table, also draped in the same fabrics, and David sits down at the table and sets his crystal ball on the pedestal. There’s also a faint scent of sage and Elen spies an abalone shell with ashes in it.
David turns his attention to Elen who squirms under his gaze. “You look very lovely in that outfit,” he tells her. “Better than I had seen in my vision.”
Curiosity finally getting the better of her, Elen steps in front of a full-length mirror to get a good look at what she’d been turned in to.
‘Is this really me?’
Her normally dirty-blonde hair is now a golden shade, flipped out like how she’d seen on old Nancy Drew covers. The outfit certainly screams “witch”, with a black corset top with royal blue under the front-lacing. A capelet drapes over her shoulders, attached to the bow and the Triple Moon Brooch pinned to the knot. The skirt is a royal blue petticoat with a black front split overskirt, falling mid-thigh. She wears black opera-length gloves, and black thigh-high stockings with a black garter belt at the top of the right stocking with a royal blue ribbon. Lastly, her shoes are mary-jane high heels.
Dodecahedrons are decidedly the motif of Elen’s outfit. Her black headband is replaced with a silver filigree band with a blue dodecahedron gemstone in the center. Her stud earrings are now dodecahedrons, and her pentacle choker now has a dodecahedron bail instead of the iron one. On Elen’s sternum is a glowing wheel mark that she’s never seen on herself before.
‘It’s quite pretty,‘ Elen decides as she turns this way and that to get a better look. It’s not something she would willingly wear outside of performances, but it’s quite nice. “How do I turn back to normal?” David simply points to his chest and Elen looks down before taking off the Brooch. She feels the divine energy leave her body, within seconds turning back to her regular appearance. Elen sighs in relief then about-faces to look at everyone. “Now, is anyone going to explain what’s going on?”
Fredrick nods to David who closes his eyes and hovers his hands over the crystal ball. All at once, the crystal glows brightly and blinding Elen before it dies down. She opens her eyes and lowers her arms to see what looks like a far-off piece of galaxy filling the room.
“The gods didn’t create the world by Themselves,” David says. His voice is still wispy and soft, but surprisingly commanding. His eyes are vacant and far-off in the way only a trance can cause. “Five angels assisted in creating Earth. The water, the fire, the air, the earth…” As he says it, a red-hot ball forms in the middle of the room, eventually cooling and turning into what Elen recognizes as the planet. Lights descend upon the planet and she steps forward to take a closer look and watches as they turn into various animals. “…and the spirits. Goddess, God, and their five angels watched over this planet, guiding and protecting it.”
It’s as if seeing history in fast forward. The animals and the plants evolve, the continents change and break until they look the same as today’s. Elen takes a hurried step back when a black cloud covers the globe.
David continues, “But ignorance among humans grew. Even when the gods sent Witches to Earth, darkness kept falling. This evil humans created took on a physical form, birthing what is now known as ‘Satan’.”
“‘Satan’ doesn’t exist,” Elen argues. “What does that have to do with this?”
“It is a concept that had become reality,” Mystia explains. “You’re a Witch yourself, so you should know that your thoughts are important to casting spells to manifest your intention on the physical plane. So many humans had this idea of ultimate evil for so many years that it, unfortunately, became true.”
“And that is where you come in Elen,” Fredrick tells her. “This involves you because of your past life.”
“What about my past life?”
“The five angels of the gods had fought against this evil,” continues David, “but could not defeat him even after centuries of fighting. Goddess and God heard their pleas to continue fighting, so they reincarnated as five humans carrying Their blessings.” He looks up, his gaze still unfocused and yet seeing something beyond human understanding. “Magdelene Grace Magnum, one of these humans is you.”
Elen is silent, trying to process exactly what she’s been told. After several moments, she begins to laugh. And laugh. And laugh. “I get it now! This is some kind of hallucination! I’m probably going to wake up in a mental hospital while drugged up and babbling nonsense!”
“Elen, trust us—“
“‘Trust you’?! You really want me to trust you?! If I’m not hallucinating then these are some really good special effects that the backstage hands at my school should study! Give me one damn reason why I should believe a word any of you guys say!”
David stands, still in his trance state. He walks to Elen who backs up against the wall and shifts her eyes looking for any escape route. She’s too late and David places a hand on her sternum. “This Mark is all the proof you need.” The spot glows through his fingers, that divine feeling flooding through her body and her back spasming again.
“Thou who art Angel to the gods, thy True Name shalt be revealed.”
Elen closes her eyes. It hurts. Like there’s a pressure in her lungs making it impossible to breathe. And yet… And yet it feels sweet.
“Thy name is ‘Apostle Psyche’.”
Elen stuffs the junk mail in the recycle bin before climbing the stairs to her third-floor apartment. She scans her AIDCard at the doorknob to open it up, then puts away her shoes and jacket. Elen sets down her guitar case, scared of what she’ll see if she opens it up, and hangs her purse on the coat rack and takes out her phone.
“You have no new messages.”
She sighs, places her phone on the nightstand, and takes off her headband, earrings, as well as her choker, dog-tags and ring before removing her shirt. Elen pauses and steps in front of her full-length mirror. The way her back was spasming before felt like her birthmarks were moving. As if she actually would sprout wings and fly away. Because of her past life as an angel? But they look the same as ever, two pink diagonal marks between her shoulder blades that are slightly raised, looking both as innocuous and as unsettling as ever.
Elen shakes her head before finishing changing into her pajamas and flopping onto her bed. All of what happened today felt so unreal. As if she was watching the entire thing on a movie screen. But no. It was reality. Elen can still feel the adrenaline in her system, the claws on her neck, and that scares her more than anything.
She gropes around on her nightstand until she grabs the photo frame and brings it close to her. It’s been nearly four years since the photo was taken. A moment in her childhood when everything was more carefree and her hair hung long down her back. Elen’s blue dress sways with movement in stark contrast to the eighteen-year-old soldier standing just behind her. Their left arms are hooked while their right hands salute to the camera over her whicker hand and his cap.
“I wish you were here to tell me what you think, Danny,” Elen tells the photo. She thumbs the glass over the photo, gently stroking his cropped brown hair and grey eyes. “And I wish you would write a letter once in a while. Or even call. Is that so much to ask for?”
Elen pauses as if waiting for the Danny in the photo to somehow speak. When it doesn’t happen, she puts the frame back on her nightstand and pulls the covers up over her shoulders.
It’s a scene that belongs on a TV show. A man and his family sit around the dinner table, everyone laughing at the joke one of the two children made as they eat. His wife puts a hand over her mouth and he rubs her round belly. She smiles, puts a hand over his, and he kisses her on her forehead. Their children go “EW!” as they stick their tongues out, but they still laugh in joy.
The surroundings change to the man walking down the street from work. He’s almost skipping home, humming a little ditty and admiring the fairy lights wrapped around the trees and thinking if he should grab flowers for his wife.
A pressure on his back makes him stop, turn, and he sees a hooded figure with an outstretched hand. Pain shoots up through his back but he can’t scream. It’s as if there’s something blocking his voice. The last thing he sees is a light gathering in the figure’s palm.
His vision turns black just as he’s falling to the ground.
Elen shoots up from the bed, clawing at her throat to get whatever is in there out so that she can breathe. She looks around, sees that she’s still in her room, and counts out how many wrinkles are on her comforter. After counting to seventeen, Elen relaxes enough to finally breathe again and flop back onto her mattress.
‘What the fuck was that?’
That wasn’t one of her usual dreams. It felt so…
*RING!!!*
She jumps and quickly grabs her phone. She scowls seeing how early in the morning it is before answering. “Hello?”
“Good morning, Elen!”
Elen really wants to strangle Fredrick through the phone for being so damn perky at 6 a.m. on a Saturday. “Yes?”
“David has found the second Apostle. We need you to go pick them up.”
She rubs a crust from her eye and has to remind herself that hexing others will only come back to her three times stronger. “And this couldn’t have waited until a more reasonable hour?”
“Do you know Alexandria High School?”
“It’s that Olympics-sponsored school. It’s in the same district as mine.”
“There’s an event going on there. You’ll need to figure out who the next Apostle is on your own, though. David’s visions aren’t that specific unless it pertains to a person he knows. We’ll send you the ticket info on your AIDCard.”
Elen breathes in through her nose, counts to ten, then releases it through her mouth. “Alright. But If they think I’m crazy, I’m siccing them on you.”
“Understood!”
The call ends and Elen yawns before throwing the covers off and walking to her purse. She takes out the Triple Moon Brooch and stares at it.
Elen takes another large breath. “Here goes nothing I suppose.”
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