Episode One Hundred and Thirty-Seven: Trust Me
“The jars, from being spotted.” The Cat’s paws rested on the edge of the box as he studied each of the jars. “I’ve been searching for these for ages.”
“They don’t look that impressive to me,” I said, as I reached toward the box to lift one out.
“Don’t!”
I froze at his command, though it wasn’t reinforced with magic like in the past.
“They’re dangerous, and filled with the remains of destroyed worlds.”
“There are ashes from dead worlds in those jugs?” I asked quietly, thinking of the urn we’d had for a little bit after my grandmother died. We had waited until spring to sprinkle her ashes over the fields. It was her last wish, to return to the land she loved.
“Not like that,” he said. “These are what’s left after a place has been destroyed.”
“Kinda sounds like that.”
“These are remains of the magics lost.” The Cat glanced at me, this time confused. “They can be used as a powerful magical ingredient.”
“How were they harvested? And, what is actually in there?” Again, I pressed the issue. Something about the jugs felt wrong, and not just because they had forced the Cat to use magic.
The Cat paused and stared at them; I didn’t interrupt.
I waited quietly, trying to figure out on my end what made my skin inch about them. A hot itch, like a bug bite that you accidentally scratched and now you can’t help but think about all the time. Nothing magical came up on my senses, but something bothered me.
“Why are you asking?” This time, the Cat’s voice came out soft, almost like a whisper.
“They feel wrong, like my skin's itching.” I paused, then it came to me. “They remind me of that book, the cold one. But these are too hot. Why were you searching for them?”
Again, the Cat went quiet, staring at the jars. It felt like he wasn’t even in the room with me anymore.
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Was Sable right? The jars were so close, and the magic inside called to me. I’d started my search long before my imprisonment. It had begun my study into ways to protect my people. Ways to gain more power, to stop demon-kind from hurting any more of my people.
Yet.
Yet.
Isn’t that what destroyed them in the end? My lust for power. In the end, my people were dying, exiled and scattered to other lands while I was bound to this shop, unable to help them at all.
The magic didn’t feel like the book to me, but I couldn’t even touch it in this form. It would have destroyed this shape. These five jars made her feel the same way as the book had. Even now, the uncertainty and hesitation was clear in how she leaned away.
Her fingers rubbed together anxiously and at the sight I wanted to headbutt her elbow. Sooth her nervous energy.
The shop responded, the darkest corners growing brighter.
Could I trust myself to make this choice?
With the power inside those jugs, I could heal my tree and help my people.
I’d thought that last time as well.
“I want to use them,” I whispered, and the words hit her like a wave. Her face fell, and her lips tightened into a frown. “But I don’t know if I trust myself. With these, I could do so much for my people. I need to help my children.”
I let my paws fall from the box.
“We will find a different way,” she said, as her hand wrapped around me, lifting me away from the box and the counter. She pulled me close and patted my head.
I couldn’t look away from the containers or respond to her.
“I think we need to return these to the source of magic,” she said.
“You mean the leylines themselves, and the tree.” Warmth pulsed from the shop as the fireplace appeared and twisted without any input from me.
It lengthened, growing taller like an old mirror, exposing the gap between.
Sable stepped forward and folded the top of the cardboard, closing the box. With the jars out of sight, I felt better, more at ease.
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I needed to remove the magic jars from the shop as soon as possible. Each passing moment caused my skin to burn even more. As soon as the top closed, it lessened, and I set the cat down on the counter. Yet, I kept him in sight as I hefted the box upward. It felt lighter than it should.
Somehow, it didn’t want to go closer to the fireplace. The box grew heavier with each step, and I gritted my teeth to keep moving. I yanked on the magic inside me and it responded. Strength flowed from my core into my limbs, and a bright golden light flashed from the bracelet. It enclosed the box, suddenly making it lighter.
Then I tossed it into the opening over the river of bright silver and gold light.
The box disintegrated almost instantly, and the five jars floated for a moment in the air. Cracks formed in the clay, and bright light peeked between the edges. Silver and golden light rose to meet them as they crashed into the river below.
Then they were gone. The fireplace shrunk down to its normal size before becoming a bookshelf.
Letting out a sigh, I turned back to the counter and the three remaining boxes. A flash of golden light shimmered on top of Betty, and one of the golden oak leaves vanished.
The Cat didn’t even twitch.
I paused just for a second, then let it go. The Cat couldn’t see the leaves anyway, and I didn’t need to add anything else to complicate this day.
“We did good, Cat…”
He head-butted my hand as soon as I walked close enough, taking my spot behind the counter. I scratched his ears for a few moments before picking up the box cutter.
“Hopefully, the rest of this is pretty normal stuff.” Yet, there was only one box on the counter left, and then the box on the floor that Adam warned me was heavy. One of the boxes had gone missing.