Chapter 109 - Visiting the village, again - Part 2

Getting on our carriage to the village, I decided to use my time to focus on the flow of my magic. I needed to feel and remember how my magic courses through me to learn how to control it. I needed to get to know my magic. 

Perhaps because it had only been less than a day, magic still felt weird and unfamiliar to me.  ​​

Magic felt warm and comforting, sometimes ticklish, but it was a nice feeling overall. Perhaps because I haven't used my magic to do anything, I didn't lose too much energy despite letting them out. Aside from the fact that my magic kept knocking things down by accident, it felt great to have my magic hover around my body. I didn't even need a coat to stay warm in this cold weather. 

I wonder what kind of things I will be able to do with my magic in the future. Can I magically make things appear out of nowhere? Can I instantly make a plant grow from a sprout? Can I heal someone? Can I teleport? So many questions. 

There would be so many possibilities, so many chances for growth with my newly found magic. Though I was a bit scared of my new identity, I couldn't say that I didn't feel a hint of excitement within me about what I could possibly do with my magic in the future. After all, what seemed to be impossible, now became possible with magic. 

It would be nice if I could fly with magic. I've always wanted to know what it feels like to fly like a bird. I used to be so jealous of the birds in the sky. I was always locked inside my room, but they could freely go anywhere with those wings. I was jealous of their freedom. 

But now, I don't have any reason to be jealous of them anymore—because I've found my freedom. Luke gave it to me, and I'll be forever grateful for that. 

I pushed my thoughts aside, returning my focus back to the flow of my magic. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I felt the warm, tingling sensation course through me. I tried to memorize every movement, every kind of feeling I felt from the magic inside and outside of me. But the silence in the carriage was soon broken when Luke, who sat beside me, asked. 

"Rabbit, can you try holding my hand?" 

"Why?" 

"I need to confirm something," he said, so I complied. When I gave him my hand, he stared at me with amazement. "Those white smoke around you, is it your magic?" 

How come he could see my magic when he didn't have magic himself? Surprised, I asked, "You can see my magic?"

"I think I could," he replied, still staring at the magic around me. He seemed to be in awe as it was his first time seeing magic. "But only when I'm touching you. I didn't realize it before as I was too preoccupied with something else," he winked, smiling at me as if his shyness from before had vanished into the air. 

"That's... good," I cleared my throat, turning my reddened face away from him as the memories of what had happened before came flooding back. "T-then you should help me see whether or not there's magic in the church." 

"Sure," he said, locking our fingers together. "How are you holding on?" 

"What do you mean?" I turned back to the man.

"You know, with this whole magic thing. It must be strange for you to suddenly find yourself living as a witch after having spent your entire life as a human."

"Well, with all of the stereotypes surrounding witches, of course, I'd be scared to live as one," I smiled sourly, looking at our interlocked fingers. "But on the bright side, I have this," I raised my other hand, showing him my magic. "Though I've yet to know how to properly use my magic, at least I won't be as powerless as I was before."

"Do you want to go to the White Church?" He asked, but not before hesitating. It seemed that he was worried that he wouldn't be able to refuse me if I asked to stay there, as it was where I belonged—with the white witches. But I would never do that. I would never leave him. 

"Maybe we can find a way for you to ask for guidance from one of the witches there without having to stay there," he added. "I'm sure it would be better for you to learn how to use your magic from a white witch rather than a black witch." 

"But how?"

"I can always bribe them—or threaten them." He smiled. 

Ah, the classic way. 

"But we have to stay out of the priests' sight, or else, it would be a problem. Those people definitely won't let any unregistered white witches roam outside the church."

"Why?" 

"Because they want to take advantage of your magic. Many people come to the White Church to ask the white witches for a blessing or a cure for their illness, but any profit gained will go straight into the priests' pockets. Those people are merely there for their useless preaching, maybe sing a song or two sometimes." 

"So they're basically leeching off the white witches?" He nodded.

"That's why it would be better for them not to know about your existence." 

Why did the white witches let those priests leech off them? I'm sure if they wanted to, they could win against humans with their magic. Is it because of the faith people have placed in the church? If they were the witches of the church, people wouldn't be as hostile, and they could live safely there. But if they live outside of the church, their lives will be at stake. 

So, it's either giving their freedom away or giving their safety away. 

"But if I go to the White Church, those priests won't notice unless another witch tells them that I'm a witch, right?"

"No, they'll definitely notice," he shook his head. "All of the priests there wear a brooch that will react to magic on their robes. So if you go past them, those brooches will immediately react to your magic, and that'll be how they'll know about you."

"But isn't the White Church filled with magic? I can blend in with the other witches, and they won't even notice, right?"

"Well, in order to do that, we'll need to find a trustworthy witch who is willing to help you. They might even lend you a book or two about magic if they're as nice as what everyone says about them. Unfortunately for us, I don't know any white witches beside you." 

Though going to the White Church will indeed be of tremendous help for a novice witch like me, it remains a question of whether or not those white witches will want to help me learn more about magic. Even if I went there, there was no guarantee that they'd agree to my request.

"But don't worry," Luke ȧssured me, smiling proudly. "You have me as your mate. There's nothing that I can't do. I'm sure we can find one, and you'll be able to learn more about your magic in no time. After all, it's quite hard to learn about something that you have zero clues about on your own."

I returned him a smile, grateful for his support. Though learning magic is important for me, it's also important for us to stay focused on the task at hand. We needed to know what had happened to the villagers, as well as what Greta wanted from me—or who this Greta was in the first place.

This abandoned church will, hopefully, give us a lead about those two things. Now that I've broken my seal, I'm sure there will be things that we've yet to notice before. Things related to magic, to the witch. 

I looked out the window, seeing how the road had started to become familiar to my eyes. It was the road that I had passed before when I was chased out of the village with Wolfie. It seemed that we had almost reached our destination.

Fortunately, the sun was still shining brightly, so I'm sure that the abandoned church wouldn't be as frightening as it was on our first visit. At least, no ghosts would appear during the day... would they?

After all these years of living in the dark, I couldn't believe I was still scared of ghosts. 

Busied with my own thoughts, our journey to the village soon ended. The carriage stopped, halting at the front gate of the village. I quickly put on the hood of my cape, keeping my knife safely in my back pocket. Luke, too, wore his cape and double-checked that his gun was ready to fire.

We'll never know what's going to happen in this village.

The coachman opened the door for us, letting Luke head down first. As usual, he lent me his hand. 

"Shall we?"