Decider of fate, burdened by humanity
The last of your kind, in a world forever blind,
As the hunters rise, magic will vanish for good.
Face of legacy, at this crossroad of a witch,
Destiny come true, the journey has just begun,
In each world you stand, to remain by our demand.
What is this? Is this supposed to be my fate? I'm sure it's supposed to be a vision of my future, not…is this a prophecy!? No! No, no, no, no, no! The last of my kind–magic will vanish for good? This is nonsense. How could I ever be the last witch to exist? Even if our coven does get found, surely there were more out there, hiding. Somewhere. We can't be the last ones left, and even if we are, I most certainly wouldn't be the last survivor! Right?
The fate reading ceremony was due to end any moment now, and the grand council will be on their way for the unbinding ceremony, so this isn't exactly the best time to take a moment and think things through. If i'm prophesied to be the last witch, survivor of my kin, then surely, if I'm not a witch anymore, then whatever this is won't come true? It's impossible to simply pretend I don't have magic, andy witch or wixen worth their salt in magic would be able to sense my mana, so there's only one option I have, but it's not a good one.
A seer internalises their magic instead of letting it flow outwards during the unbinding ceremony. They're supposedly chosen by the fates, so whilst I have no idea if I'll actually become a seer, that's not really the issue. I just need to make sure I can't use any incantations or outward acts of magic, the rest is a problem I can think about later. But what if they–
"Alicia Enchantix, daughter of Verdale, child of the moon and heir to the coven. On this night, your magic will be unbound and the path you take will be etched in fate." The high witch of our coven, my mother, was chanting as the council circled around me, leaving no time for any sort of conversation or running away. I guess I'm doing this then. "Mother Earth, Spirits of Nature, Weavers of Fate. We thank you for your gift and pledge to return your blessing with our lives. May you give this child of magic the chance to walk upon our path?"
The mana which had always run somewhat dormant through me had begun to burn, forming piercing strands that wrapped around every inch of me from the inside, almost begging to be released. The pain was agonising, and yet some force kept me from collapsing onto the floor, like a more violent version of the puppeteering charm, a host for the actions of another. Everything around me began to come into sharper focus, with the mana of the world coming to life in front of me, making things that had always been so difficult to discern now blindingly obvious. Though everything is made up of mana, those with magical properties simply existed on another spectrum, invisible to those who did not have the eyes to see. The wind whips around, either playful or angry, swirling around the clearing.
The spirits of nature didn't have emotions, weren't beings in the way we are. It's only how we understand them to be, that we make sense of their actions in ways we can understand, that make them seem as though they do. Mother had always taught me this, but it had never made sense before now.
Unfortunately, now wasn't a time to get lost in mana-sense. As the chant began to end, the council pulling their mana towards them, coaxing mine to leave my body and unbind itself from where it had lain almost dormant. Instead of following, I pulled back, wrapping it ever tighter around myself, until the threads felt as though they were cutting off the circulation of an organ or two. Whatever force had been holding me up abruptly stopped, allowing me to drop to the ground harshly, though I can't even register how much pain it caused, likely not even a spec, though it would most certainly hurt later. There was always a price to magic, and I will most certainly be paying for this.
"Alicia, no!" Mother screamed, she must have realised what I've done, or maybe she was just worrying. She does that a lot.
It's dark, and…comfortable? A sharp pain shoots through my eyes as I try to look around, a short scream of pain comes out of me before I can stifle the noise. Everything hurts. Even the smallest of movements brings a sharp, stabbing, sawing pain with it, as though my insides were being diced…with magic. My mana, the prophecy. Oh. This must be the price. Visions of the future for a lifetime of pain. How cruel, though I suppose what else could you ask for, when being given the chance to change the future? There hasn't been a seer in our coven in generations, some thousand years back or so. Maybe this was why.
"Alice? Are you awake?" The door opens and a faint light spills into the room, but mum–mother–slips into the room and closes the door behind her just as quickly. I must be in my bedroom, if the door's over there.
"I'm awake. I think." My voice sounds raspy and thick. This is what frogs would sound like, if they could talk. There has to be an incantation for that, maybe I could ask–
"Alice."
"Huh-yeah?" Clearly the brain fog was getting to me.
"How are you feeling?" She leant over, putting the back of her hand on my forehead.
"It hurts." I don't think I can feel anything but pain right now. The threads of my mana seem to be shifting constantly, moving and tangling on everything they come into contact with.
"Where does it hurt? Your head? Eyes?" She cupped my face in her hands, moving me just slightly so that it sent another jolt of pain through me, and quickly drew her hands away.
"Everywhere." My eyes hurt the most, but with the pain running through every part of me, there wasn't really anywhere I could pinpoint.
"Alright. Your brother wants to see you, but try to get some sleep afterwards. It might get better once you've had some rest."
"M'kay." She slipped out of the room, letting Timothy slide past her and shut the door quietly behind him. He was stomping, likely the exact thing mother had told him not to do.
"What on earth was that about!?"
"What?" Why was he so angry? I haven't done anything to him.
"You! A seer!"
"And?" Your point?
"And! You're the heir to the coven, the future high witch, though not any longer, since you've just thrown that all away to get your stupid little predictions! We had a plan!" He started gesturing and pacing around the room, until it made my head spin and I had to close my eyes to keep the nausea down. "Now that you're out of the running, do you know who's left? Me! Now I have to do it, despite having skipped out on every training session because you assured mum that you wanted this, and I assured her I didn't!"
Oh, that. I didn't think about that. Didn't have time. "I had to."
"What? Does your future not turn out exactly as you want it to? Do we fail at expanding the coven, at checking out the outside world? What? You had all these plans, plans that you made me keep a secret from mother because we both know she would never approve, and now you've gone and thrown them all away!"
"We die." He stood there, breathing quietly but not saying a word, "no more witches, only humans. Have to…stop it." It's hard to get the words out, and I can feel my body growing heavier, getting slower, at every word I force out. You weren't supposed to talk about what you saw, it was the rules.
"You can't stop fate, Alice, and you can't change it either. Whatever you saw was just–"
He doesn't understand. "It was…prophecy, not vision." A prophecy, the very thing that only goes into motion if you act on it.
"You're an idiot."
I know.