Chapter 36 – Interconnected Hopes.

“She is a very beautiful and adorable child.”

Callie looked up, the trademark whiteness of her mindscape all around her again. Arianna seemed to always catch her by surprise every time. Her presence, though, felt a little bit stronger than the last time.

“She is,” Callie agreed, a loving smile on her face. “Equal parts joy and trauma.”

“A chance for you to do what your parents never did.”

“And that we will,” Callie stated with determination. “That we, in fact, are.”

It was always a bit weird, just floating here, having a conversation with a being that she, still, knew almost nothing about. The being that they were here to find.

...perhaps that wasn’t completely true any more. There had been a lot of hints after all.

“You planned for her to happen, didn’t you?” Callie would have looked accusingly at the totem, if she knew exactly where to look.

“You regret her birth?”

“What? No! Never!” She loved her so very much. They all did. She made them more than just lovers now. She made them a family.

“While it may appear on the surface that you are all the same species, none of you are. Human, blood-born, beastkin, spirit. My aspect is life, Callie the Witch. My blessing carries certain boons with it, as they all do. Race matters little to my aspect, gender matters little to your bonds. She is truly the child of all of you.”

“Huh.” Well, they’d worked that out already, but having Arianna confirm it was useful.

“The last child to be born in this realm. Last human child. Some creatures still remain, as you have found, though their numbers are steadily dropping, even without your influence.”

“We do need to survive.”

“That I both understand, and do not fault you for at all. I... need you to survive, though I am limited as to what I can do. I am not some divine being, merely what I am.” That sadness that Callie had felt from her before washed over the mindscape again. The totem had experienced much. Perhaps more than any being should have.

“What about those colourful birds that flew about this city once upon a time?” Callie was rather curious about them. She wasn’t completely sure why. They were beautiful, but it also felt like they had more significance than that.

“My children? They are long gone. Perhaps some still survive in other realms, but not here.”

“Oh. I’m... sorry about that, I guess.” She was truly sorry. Perhaps that wasn’t the best words to use, but the totem would be able to feel her intent. It was almost automatic now. She would have liked to have seen one in the flesh, but that would probably never happen. “Were they more than what they appeared?”

Images flashed around the mindscape, of Arianna’s children, in all of their glory. Small ones, dancing around the spires of the cities. And larger ones, almost humanoid in aspect, standing straight tall and proud, their hair a rainbow of colours, feathers coating their bodies. Magic flowed around their talons, intelligence and desire in their eyes.

“Yes. Some were. The awakened. They were not the only ones. We all had awakened.”

More images, these ones not as vivid. Faded. Memories that would not last. Humanoid creatures with large shells on their backs, tools in their hands, creatures as much magic as form, manifestations of the elements, people as much plant as not, beautiful and alluring, and humanoid foxes of every colour and with varying numbers of tails, playful grins on their faces.

“It was a varied realm, Callie the Witch. More so than yours, from what you have shown. Ours was an old world, always one of magic, right from its birth, when we came into being. This time, its death, is but a fraction of what has passed. But perhaps we became arrogant and complacent. We were broken. Our realm broken.” Arianna paused, a silence falling over the mindscape. A real silence, where even thoughts seemed to be muted, as if to do so was to disturb it, before it lifted as she spoke again. “It is easy to get blinded, when you can’t see anything outside of where you are. But the Demon failed, and your world benefited instead. I am glad, Callie the Witch, that you were there. That you were chosen.”

“It was still really sad.” She could remember all of the feelings of that time, hers and the totems. The sadness and desperation. She still didn’t know the full story though. Their motivations. The why. Riddling was indeed nothing short of evil, but Amber, and her lover, even if they were originals, seemed rather nice. She’d said that they’d made a mistake.

“Should you ever run into one of our children, they will recognise you. The blessings will be obvious to them, your mark clear. Be that a good thing or not, I cannot say. It is your life and your decisions after all, Callie the Witch.”

“I still haven’t learnt the array, Arianna.”

“You will, in time. You have shown that you have the talent for it, and the magic to go with it.” There was such confidence in her voice, and Callie found herself believing that too.

“The city... has been nice. Home, almost.” Callie gave a warm, almost sad, smile. “We will be leaving it soon, to continue our journey towards you.”

“I know. The last flares of life in this land. But the land itself has taken note, and that which lies within the cracks. I... am limited in what I can do. But I will leave you a small gift, and look forward to seeing you.”

Callie felt a small surge of power, but a blink, and then Arianna was gone again. She always left like that, just like the originals did. Gone, as if they had never been there in the first place. Hers was just the ending of the connection, while for them, she still didn’t know.

She just floated there in the mindscape thoughts running through her mind. It was the end of a season, and the beginning of a new one. Their lives had taken on a new norm now. Stella was, well, Stella. A bundle of joy, and immense stress. She was growing quickly, and things would be changing for her too, once they set off again. Callie wasn’t sure how much more travelling would be ahead of them, but she suspected a lot.

She didn’t mind though. Sure she missed things, well, a lot of things, but this journey, it was starting to mean a lot to them all. They’d grown so much closer, and Stella had been born. She valued the relationship that they all had now more than anything that she had before. She’d always said that Uriah meant the world to her. Now they all did.

Hmm. Perhaps she should see if Uriah’s phone had survived. She felt a lot more confident now.

It was a little weird, that she was still here. Every other time she’d been in her mindscape, she’d left as soon as the spell had ended, but this time, she was still here, in this place that held possibilities. She knew that this was the real her, the shape of her soul, but she could admit that she was a little curious. Perhaps that was why.

Calling on her magic, she pulled a little more of that aspect to her, the one that she shared with Uriah and Felicia, feeling it take hold, the features manifesting. Fluffy fox ears and tail.

They were cute. Adorable even. But...

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No. They weren’t her. They didn’t feel right, the feeling far too familiar. Like she had felt for most of her life. She dismissed the magic, the features disappearing, Callie breathing a sigh of relief. At least she knew, she guessed. Uriah and Felicia were both hot with their fox aspects. Very very hot. But it was something that she’d never have. And she was fine with that.

“Arianna really does have bad timing.”

Callie blinked as the world came back into focus around her along with Uriah’s voice, two arrays overlaid around her, her lightning dancing around her in its mesmerising patterns. It always did that when the totem established a connection, but never when she was using any other arrays. That was rather curious.

“Unique timing perhaps?” Callie proposed as she let her magic fade, both arrays fading away as the lightning dissipated. The first one had run its course, the tree now laden with fruit. Wasteful perhaps, as they’d only be able to take so much of it with them, but it was either that or nothing.

Except some of the apples were a deep purple colour, rather than the lush red of the rest of them. Smaller too, numbering around a dozen.

“She did this?” Uriah asked, stretching up and grabbing one of the oddly coloured apples.

“A gift, she said,” Callie muttered, as she took the apple from Uriah. She could feel the magic in it, it’s nature changed. No longer just the fruit borne of a tree, but the bearer as well. She could feel herself smiling. “Make sure that we grab all of these ones. We’re going to be able to eat apples for a while yet.” Possibly quite a long while.

“Let’s hope that we don’t get sick of them too quickly then,” Uriah teased as he started picking more, handing them to her to put in the backpack.

It felt like spring was almost upon them now. The snow had stopped falling over a week ago, the snowfall in the days before that lighter than what had become the norm. The days were getting longer, and the air just a little bit warmer. She could feel the change in the seasons as much as see it, and it was now time for them to make preparations for their journey ahead. The city, well, its ruins, had been their home over the winter, and had become rather comfortable. The rooms, the garden, even some hides that Uriah had dried and cured with his magic. Sure, she still missed the luxury of beds, but they had been making do with what they had, and having somewhere dry and sheltered to sleep was the main thing. Of course, Stella had the most comfortable sleeping spot, snuggled up against Felicia’s fur, but none of them were going to begrudge her that.

She was a little nervous about it too, to be honest. Of what lay ahead. Of all the travelling with Stella in their arms. But also of when they found Arianna, and then returned home. Of what would be waiting for them there.

But, she wasn’t alone. All of them would be facing it together. Her true family. She smiled happily at that.

“Uri...”

“Hmm?” Uriah stopped and looked at her, his smile melting her heart. She doubted that it would ever not do so.

“I’m glad, that we met, that day. That we got to be together from that moment on.” Callie blushed a little, the feeling welling up freely within her. She felt everything more keenly now, as the real her. “You mean everything to me. Well, Julia and Felicia do as well, but that doesn’t diminish at all what I feel for you.”

Uriah shifted to beside her, his hand gently brushing her hair away from her face, before he gave her a tender kiss. “Me too. As do you to me.”

Callie reached up, her hand gently touching the pair of fox ears on his head. They were more than ethereal manifestations now. “I wonder if this was what Amber was after, when she said that she wanted to see the real you.”

“Sometimes it feels like I have too much on display now,” Uriah said quietly as he blushed a little.

Callie laughed, Uriah blushing some more. “That’s a first Uri! You look hot. You always have. And Julia...”

Uriah blushed even more. “Julia is Julia. She... you know what she’s like.” His gaze became a bit more serious, as he looked her in the eyes. “It’s going to mark us as something not human, Callie, when we return. Me and Stella with our features. Julia with her eyes. Felicia probably has it the easiest of us all, with her control over it all. What about you, Callie? You flashed with features before...?”

Callie looked down at the ground. She was a little embarrassed about it now, especially since it seemed that it hadn’t been isolated to her mindscape. “I’m sorry, Uri. I was curious. But, they’re not me. I can’t.”

“Callie.” Uriah’s fingers touched her chin, lifting her head up till she was looking at him again. “I love you, just the way you are no matter what. I always have. As you are now, and as you were.”

Callie flinched a little at that memory. Fraser had just been a mask. She was the true her. But he had always loved her, and she him. And that she was grateful for. Without him, she wouldn’t be here.

“I love you too.” She gave him a kiss, before they turned and headed back to their current home.

They walked in silence for a bit, Uriah carrying the backpack, Callie wrapping her arm around Uriah’s. The path was well tread, muddy in a lot of places now, Callie taking care of where she stepped. While all of their clothes had some measure of enchantments on them now, enough to make them last a while longer, she still didn’t want to get them too dirty. Cleaning them was a pain.

“Uri, do you still have your phone?” Callie asked as the building came into view. “You installed the reader app on it right?”

“Yeah. It’s in the house somewhere. I barely used it, but I think it was mostly up to date? You going to try charging it?”

“If you don’t mind?” There was, after all, a chance that she’d just ruin it.

“I’m surprised it’s taken you this long to consider it to be honest.”

“Yeah, well,” Callie mumbled, kicking some snow. Life had been rather busy, especially with Stella. She got her own back by tickling his fox ears, and then stealing a rather long kiss.

Somewhere in the house turned out to be in Stella’s grip, their daughter laughing and smiling at them when she saw them, keeping a hold of the phone like it was a trophy, Felicia smiling just as wide as she held her in her arms. Seeing them like that made Callie all kinds of happy, even with Julia just sitting off to the side, feigning trying to sleep, even though Callie knew that there were other things quite prominent on her mind. Not that she’d ever fault her for that. The feelings and desires were very much mutual after all.

They were a family. Her family.

Stella giggled quite happily as Callie took her and held her up, her not so little fluffy fox tail swaying happily. “You’re a very unique girl, you know that,” Callie cooed to her. “And oh so precious. But, that particular toy isn’t for you, even if it would be very difficult for you to damage.”

Stella just giggled at her some more, and took to grabbing at her hair instead, Callie laughing back and giving her a small kiss on her forehead.

Charging the phone turned out to be relatively easy, her magic knowing just what she wanted it to do, and it also made for a nice change to their evening routine. All four of them snuggled up together, Stella sleeping peacefully as they took turns reading chapters of one of the stories that none of them had gotten around to reading yet. A reminder of the evenings that she’d used to spend with Uriah, just lazing on the couch, and hope for things to come.