CHAPTER 95: UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

~THIRD PERSON POV~

"Let’s do this, the spell is ready."

Artemasia knew the truth already, new who she was, but because she couldn’t say it or write it, she had to leave breadcrumbs for them to follow.

And this dream reveal would be the first of many.

Odette shot up out of her seat and swiftly and gracefully across the floor, making her way to Artemasia.

Ambrose raised his brow and frowned, the sudden cold shoulder was bothering, but he wouldn’t let it show. The last thing he wanted to do was egg her on.

Ambrose and Odette approached the altar. She wanted to reach out and hold his hand, but she refused. She didn’t like the way he looked at the witch, it irked her.

She wasn’t used to this feeling and couldn’t really place it. But it felt like an ache in the pit of her stomach. Her jaw clenched, holding back the snap that was building beneath the surface.

On the altar she had a fire burning green, the flames danced in perfect harmony.

Once they were standing in front of the altar Artemasia looked at Odette with hope, but to Odette it looked like she was mocking her.

Artemasia had resting bitch face and Odette didn’t know that.

"I need you to hold your hand over the fire." Artemasia sounded like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Seeing the look on Odette’s face she quickly clarified "It won’t burn you, that’s why I needed your tear, to connect you and the fire. In the smoke from your contact with the fire will replay the images of the dream in clear sequence."

Odette looked skeptically at her, unsure if she was telling the truth. She trusted witches before, and they twisted her love and bled it.

"I can see what you’re thinking, but I wouldn’t dare do anything to cause you harm, even with as powerful as I am, I am no match for the Alpha King and he would skin me alive, you have nothing to fear from me." In reality, she was more afraid of what Odette was capable of. The scale of her power was unknown to her. But she’d learn soon training her. Artemasia knew the future in store for the poor girl, and if she had more of a heart, she’d feel it break.

"Stick your hand in the fire already, I don’t have the time for hesitation." Artemasia snapped annoyed and wanting to get on with this.

Odette gulped and reluctantly put her hand in the fire. And to her surprise it didn’t burn her, in fact it tickled her, gently moving around her hand like it was hers to control. She laughed at its touch.

Artemasia looked shocked, it didn’t burn, but usually the fire moved away from the hand encircling it. Not courting her hand like a lover. She’d never seen anything like that.

The smoke that rose from the fire, wasn’t the usual green, it was white.

’What the fuck is going on?’ she thought to herself, her jaw hung slightly ajar and her eyes made their way to Ambrose.

He looked at her with an expression that asked the same thing.

The smoke formed a a frame that circled like a 2D whirlpool.

And what they saw shook them to their very core. Artemasia couldn’t make heads or tails of what was replaying in the smoke screen.

Odette looked away closing her eyes tight, holding back the tears the dream wanted to trigger.

The images flashed before them, but it came with muffled sound. They could see the girl who looked like Odette, the man held captive by some terrifying demon, and a hoard of monsters charging behind him.

Once the replay was over Ambrose’s eyes searched Odette’s face. Finding only sadness etched into the creases on her face.

Artemasia, who felt she didn’t have heart, found out she does. And it now ached for Odette, the pain she saw in the dream it was real and agonizing, being the spell caster, it wasn’t unheard of for them to feel the dream like dreamer experienced. Artemasia wanted nothing more in this moment than to rip her own heart out, just to stop the agony in her chest.

Ambrose on the other hand, he couldn’t take his eyes off Odette. Seeing what she saw, he understood her pain a little more.

"The dream was glimpse into a past long forgotten, one of war and death. Of change and destruction. It is your past, Odette. And it’s your fate." Artemasia had a certain sadness to her tone, one that shocked Ambrose. He’d never heard her speak so softly to anyone.

’How was Odette able to turn everyone she meets to her side?’ Ambrose asked himself. Ever since she’s arrived, she has slowly captured the hearts of everyone, changing their opinion of her.

Odette had blocked out everything, she was doing all she could to hold herself together. Wishing nothing more than to have the fire engulf her whole body. to crawl in a hole and hide for the rest of eternity.

"Odette, Odette, Earth to Odette?" Ambrose repeated trying to get Odette’s attention. He reached out to touch her, but the minute he made contact. She dropped to her knees and hugged them; her body betrayed her and the tears started falling.

Ambrose bent down and started softly rubbing her back "Hey, hey, little fox, stop the tear fall. It’s just a dream." Ambrose was trying so hard to reassure her.

"But it’s not, it’s more than that. It’s a glimpse into a life she’s lived once." Artemasia defended Odette’s tears. She herself was struggling with the pain, she couldn’t begin to imagine what Odette was experiencing right now.

"I know, I’m just trying to help." Ambrose rebutted.

"Then, support her, don’t gaslight her pain, don’t minimize her experience." Artemasia barked at him.

"I thought I was." He was confused.

"No, you were minimizing her pain, telling her it’s just a dream, you dismiss and invalidate her entire experience when you say shit like that to anyone." Artemasia was no expert in friendship or relationship building, but she knew that much. Maybe if she had gotten support, instead of being told to suck it up, do it for the good of the coven. Maybe she wouldn’t be so cold and detached. All spine, no fluff.

Odette, lost in her own misery, finally found an exist and pulled herself out of the spiral she found herself falling into.

"I need time to process everything." Odette’s mind was scattered and running all different directions.

"Okay." He said with a low voice, he didn’t know what she met. But it hurt him, it felt like she was rejecting his company.

Odette simply turned toward the door, dragging her feet across the floor with heavy shoulders she walked out, leaving Ambrose and Artemasia alone in the room.