Chapter 191 - Stakes In The Forest

Julie felt the palms of her hand slightly sweat at the older witch's face. Before she could say anything, Magnus said, 

"It would be better if you don't lie, considering we are providing shelter for you two here. It is the last thing you have to think about." 

Julie looked behind her, in the way where Opaline and Melanie had left. She looked for the little girls who were now playing outside the house, their voices and laughter audible. She said, 

"It is complicated." 

"Nothing is simple when it comes to a witch's life, Ms. Winters. But complications can be solved by letting one of the ears hear. The last thing I need is to find out that you are a witch who has come here to disrupt the peace of the witches who are residing here," he stated, his eyes shrewdly looking at her.

Julie could feel the increase in her heart beat while she contemplated what to say to him. "I am someone who has come from the future," she uttered the words, and her grandfather's eyes stared at her with scrutiny. 

"I have never heard of the witches that have that ability. How do I know you aren't lying?" asked Magnus, and the hold on his staff tightened. 

She then said, "Not all witches have it, but my ability was something that was passed on by my mother I think." And it was strange to think that right now, her mother didn't have it, and she was yet to explore the ability with her. 

"And have I heard about this witch, who is your mother," questioned Magnus, and Julie pursed her lips. "Well?" 

"She's your daughter." 

Silence filled the first few seconds, where neither the man nor Julie uttered a word, and all they could hear were the little girls' giggles from outside. 

"Which daughter are you referring to?" asked Magnus. 

"The eldest one. Opaline La Fay," replied Julie, warily looking at her grandfather, who stared back at her with narrowed eyes.

"Opaline hasn't picked up such an ability. At least not yet," replied Magnus, before he added, "If she is your mother, and you are from the future, are you telling me that you are my granddaughter?" he questioned her. 

Julie quietly nodded her head. She had never expected to meet her grandfather, and announcing something like this felt like a burden had been lifted from her shoulders. 

An expression of confusion came to fall on her face when she saw him stretch his hand towards her, "Give me your hand, girl. I would like to see if you really belong to my family."

She did as she was told, giving her hand for him to hold, and she felt the rough texture of his palm in which the man had enclosed her hand. Suddenly a bright circle of light appeared in front of them, and Julie recognized the light to be similar to the Corvin who had bound itself to her. The light was light blue, and her eyes widened at the thought that the present Corvin, whom her mother had assigned to look after her, was her grandfather. 

The dome of light held little sprinkles of snowflakes that moved in an upward direction, and while Julie was still in shock, her grandfather released her hand.

"How strange to think that I have a granddaughter even before any of my children have even been with a person. Julianne Winters," the old man uttered her full name, and he then said, "I don't think I know any person with Winters. Who is it? Let me go and meet this man right now." 

With only them in the house, Julie started to explain everything that had happened until now, from what she knew about her mother to her second family. Magnus La Fay held a grim expression on his face, and the entire time, he patiently listened to her with a subtle frown on his face. 

"... Melanie and I heard some screams that came from the bridge before the Corvin broke it. The next time we woke up, we were being pulled out from the river," explained Julie, and she saw Magnus walking towards the table and taking a seat on the wooden chair. 

"So as per your words, she's going to die one day in the future," mumbled the man to himself, "And what about the rest of us?" he raised his eyes to meet Julie's brown ones. 

Julie shook her head, "Mother will be leaving this place, to learn more about the magic and witch abilities. I am guessing that's how she gained the ability and through her, it was passed on to me. You are going to die around the same time, which will also give her the push to leave."

"It is time for my family to move from this place then. I should make preparations and let the others know about it," her grandfather frowned while ready to stand up and call his children. 

Hearing this, Julie quickly said, "No! You cannot do that!" 

"What do you mean no? It is better to save all of us and find your father," suggested Magnus, and Julie looked at the door before looking back at her grandfather. 

"You cannot alter the time. There will be repercussions if you do that. And it's not just about parallel lines," Julie explained it to him. "I will cease to exist, because… I left one detail while explaining about my father." 

"What is that?" asked her grandfather, the frown on his face deepening. 

"I wasn't conceived like how normal childrens are born. My father, Knox… he was dead. A Corvin," said Julie, and she noticed the way her grandfather's eyes widened. 

"That's ridiculous!" exclaimed Magnus, "That cannot happen." 

"Mother made it happen, and it is the reason why the liquids and substances that are harmful to witches, they don't affect me," stated Julie before she continued to speak. "You cannot change the course of events that's going to take place. It will change a lot of things and affect not just me but also a lot of other people in the future causing a domino effect." 

"Domino?" he questioned her.

"It is like the butterfly effect. One flap of its wings can cause chaos on the other side of the world. Not to mention, if mother is going to learn her abilities and hone it, she will need to leave this place to do that, and meet a lot of people. And one step away from the course of life, we won't know how much worse things are waiting ahead of us, so please…" Julie's voice trailed, hoping he wouldn't make any sudden decisions. 

Her grandfather didn't seem pleased with this. 

A tired sigh escaped from his lips, and he said, "Fine."

Julie nodded her head, satisfied with his answer, and she excused herself, walking out of the door and making her way to where her mother and her friends were. 

"Did it go well?" asked her mother, and Julie smiled. "My father is a little hard headed and he might look a little scary to people who meet him for the first time, but he is a good man." 

"I can tell," replied Julie, coming to stand next to them, where Melanie looked slightly scared when it came to feeding the cows. 

"My father wasn't always this grumpy man, at least not until the time when my mother left us all. He used to be more cheerful. Loss of dear ones changes people," said her mother, her words soft on Julie's ears, and she couldn't help but imagine how it was going to change her mother once the people in here would be attacked and killed, her father, her brother and her little sisters. 

When her mother excused herself, Melanie moved closer to Julie and asked, "What did your grandfather want to ask you?" 

"He sensed we were hiding something so I told him the truth," Julie whispered while shrugging her shoulders. "I thought it was better to have someone know and make sure to see that everything is in line."

"Do you know how much time is left before the witches get massacred?" and upon Melanie's question, Julie shook her head. 

"It must be somewhere around the corner. I should try to learn things from my mother or grandfather, and also try to open the portal to avoid us both getting killed and coming under casualties," replied Julie with a hint of worry in her voice. 

Melanie took a deep breath before letting it pass through her lips, "I should probably pick up some skills of fighting while I am here. Learning it old school ways without using guns and just using hands and woods maybe." 

In the afternoon, after having their lunch, Julie's grandfather summoned her outside the house. He stood there with a grim expression on his face, his hands holding behind his back. But he didn't stand alone. With him stood Cillian Blackburn. The man had a glum and brooding expression, and as if sensing her, he turned to look at her. Not forgetting his manners, he gave a slight bow, and Julie returned it. 

"You asked for me?" asked Julie, looking at her grandfather. 

"Yes, Julianne. I believe that you would like to learn some abilities from me," stated Magnus. "We have a similar component ability and it will be easier to guide you. I thought it would be good to start now. Opaline will join us later. Cilian here will help us if we need anything." 

And by saying that, they walked to the secluded part of the forest to improve Julie's abilities. 

"Watch carefully," said her grandfather, where he and Cillian stood on opposite sides while facing each other. Before Julie knew it, Cillian had picked up wooden stakes out of nowhere and had launched it straight at her grandfather. 

Julie saw how the older witch didn't move from his place, and instead, he raised his hand and with one swift hand movement of his, the wooden stakes turned to dust. 

"Wow," whispered Julie. 

"Witches have different ways, when it comes to defending themselves, and these are the simple techniques," said her grandfather. 

Julie then asked, "How about metals? Can they be turned into dust toot?" 

"Ends of the arrows?" questioned Cillian, and though Julie was thinking along the lines of bullets, she nodded her head. She would be nothing less than a character who would be starring in a Matrix movie, thought Julie in her head. "That will need more air manipulation along with using the energy of your soul. It takes years to accomplish it." 

"How about you try this time, Julianne," proposed her grandfather and Julie felt her jaw fall to the forest floor. 

"But I don't know how to do it," said Julie with a slight panic. 

"You will be able to manage it fine. You are a—witch. Take your stand," said her grandfather, and Julie took apprehensive footsteps, switching places with her grandfather. She had seen the speed in which Cillian had earlier thrown the wooden stakes. "A witch's ability is put to test when there's danger." 

"Is there no safer way to learn these kinds of things?" Julie's eyes fell on Cillian's hands that had picked up the new wooden stakes. 

"Ready?" Cillian's question came the dull voice, and it made Julie's palms sweaty. He raised his hand, and the next second, she saw the wooden stake speedily heading towards her. 

She tried to stop the wooden stake by raising her hand, but unlike her grandfather, she couldn't turn the wood into dust. The stake swooshed past her face, which hitched her breath, and the next one moved closed to her arm, which ripped the piece of her bandaged arm. 

"It's too fast," complained Julie. This was her first time, and she felt the slight tinge of pain in her arm. 

"You aren't concentrating," replied Cillian, who sent the wooden stake targeted at her head this time.