Venus in Real Life

4. Revelations

"You gotta promise me you'll not scream or tell anyone anything I'm gonna tell you. Swear it!" Mei said to Hugh before taking him out of the energy bubble.

"I swear." Hugh mutedly mouthed due to the soundproof. He raised his right hand showing his pinky finger as they always did when making a pact.

"Ok, I trust you," Mei said. Closing her eyes for a second, she raised her hand and lowly chanted a few words. When she opened her eyes again, the bubble was no longer there.

"Ok. Tell me, what's going on?" He finally said.

She took a couple of deep breaths and finally talked.

"For starters," she said, arranging the words in her mind.

"You probably noticed already, but I'll say it anyway. I'm a sorceress." She walked around the room, wiggling her fingers, and finally sat in her bed, right in front of him.

"My sister and I inherited our abilities from our parents. They taught us how to use them.

Ciel is more learned in the technical part. Other types of sorcerers and witches, kinds of magick, tools, and all that, she is the one who knows it.

We are energy sorceresses, which means that we can move, transform, see, and sense any kind of energy. It is the base and source of all magick, and what gives power to a spell, a sigil, or a chant, so we can also use them, but not always need to.

It's like being able to talk the language of the Universe directly and be able to request whatever you want, or need, from it.

We were born like this, but the power grew as we became older. It partially developed when we were thirteen, and completed when we became twenty, last year."

"Ok, understood. Now, would you please tell me why I woke up to find you and Ciel trying to stick new arms to a girl? And where did that girl come from?"

"Well, that's the hard part," she said with a sigh. "The girl seems to be the statue you declared your eternal love to, back at the museum."

"You mean the statue of Venus!? You're kidding, right?" Hugh said incredulously. "I've been hearing you guys call her by that name, but I mean-" He cut the phrase, not able to find the words.

"Did it look like a fake to you when you saw us putting her arms back?"

He opened his mouth and was about to answer, but closed it immediately, letting her continue the explanation.

"Didn't think so. As I was saying, as a sorceress, and a well versed on our art, my sister has some abilities I am still to master. One of them is to be able to bring objects, either from this realm or dimension or from any other there is.

She found and brought Venus' arms here from Milos, the island in which she was unearthed two hundred years ago.

We needed to get her arms as we came to the conclusion that it was because Venus didn't have them that she was still part stone, but you probably heard Daire talk about it earlier.

We still don't know what woke Venus up, or how did that happen. The only thing we know right now is that, after you talked to her, she became human, and now we're taking care of her.

And by "We," I mean all of us, including you. Oh, and last but not least, of course: the police are currently looking for the statue and her thief."

"I heard that," he said as he randomly drifted out of the room and into what he was thinking in the energy bubble.

How could the police find the statue if there was no statue anymore? How was it possible that she woke up to life all of a sudden?

"I would fight for you" He remembered his own words.

He didn't expect her to hear him, but he was being honest at the time he thought it could have been the stone in his pocket, to which he had been blaming for everything that had happened, even if that didn't make any sense, or stopped him from carrying it.

The door of the room opened, and two girls came in with a couple of pizzas and plenty of soda cans.

They felt Hugh staring at them as they walked by his side.

One of them was the powerful sorceress he never thought she was, and the other was a statue that came to life and transformed into a beautiful girl he's been feeling increasingly attracted to, more that he'd ever been to another girl, which made him want to restrict himself around her for a while.

"You told him?" Ciel asked Mei, putting the pizza boxes on the little room table.

"I was wrapping up, he hasn't said much. It's been more like me talking and him staring and nodding."

Ciel's phone started to ring. It was Daire, probably checking on them, but hopefully with some new information about their situation.

"Hey Daire, good news, we were able to find the arms, and now she's complete and happy."

"That sounds like you're doing good, except for the part I watched in the news. Did you guys make sure there were no recordings of her transformation?"

"There was an electric failure at the time, so even if there were any recordings, it would not be visible."

"Makes sense to me. When are you coming back to town?"

"The visit is supposed to end tomorrow, and we're going back on Sunday morning."

"Wait, Daire knew about all this?" Hugh finally spoke again, hearing a familiar voice from Ciel's phone, and interrupting them.

"He finally got to know about this all?" Daire asked, "Please, let me see his face."

Ciel turned her phone towards him, who still looked a little lost on thought.

After hearing Daire's voice saying hi to the startled guy, and him vaguely answering her, Ciel turned and continued talking to the elder.

Meanwhile, Venus sat at the table, and hungrily attacked the pizza. Mei helped her opening her drink and showing her how to eat the pizza slices.

Venus was amazed and delighted, enjoying the tastes and textures, so she didn't pay much attention to what was going on around her.

Hugh was staring at the girl's amazed and happy expressions while eating what he thought was her first pizza when Mei started talking to him again.

"Daire is a witch. A Wiccan elder to be precise," Mei explained.

"But you have to be really old to be considered an elder," he said almost to himself.

Mei looked at him intently, letting him figure the answer, and for the information to slowly sink on him.

"Oh," Hugh finally said, as if he was waking up from a dream. "But how?"

Mei just raised her shoulders, lightly smiled.

"Witches, as well as sorcerers, tend to live longer. Sometimes, much longer."

The truth was that they didn't know as much about Daire, and they knew better than to ask her. They preferred to wait for the witch to tell them about her story, instead of pressing her for details.

Ciel came back after finishing her call.

"She hasn't found anything yet?" Mei asked.

"No, nothing yet," she answered with a sigh letting her body fall back on her bed.

"I've heard a story once, a Japanese folk tale. I don't know if it's important, but apparently, there are these many things I don't know, or understand."

"Keep going," Ciel said, encouraging him.

"There is a story in which different objects can come to life after reaching a certain age. The story says it happens when they get to 100 years old.

They are called Tsukumogami. That can happen to household objects, but the story doesn't mention statues. Also, they come to life in their original form, I mean, a broom stays a broom, and a rug stays a rug."

"Well, that's a start. Let me text Daire and see." Ciel started typing.

"You don't remember anything at all?" Mei turned to ask Venus.

"I just remember the words... "I would fight for you. You're the one my heart has been looking for." He said that, and I heard him. Besides that, I remember he has a catalyst in his pocket. I could see the pink light shining on him."

"A what?" He said, surprised.

"A catalyst. It's a substance, object, or even a person that can provoke or significantly speed a change," Mei said, puzzled.

"Do you still have the bag Daire gave you?" Ciel quickly incorporated herself in her bed and asked, "May I borrow it for a second?"

"Sure." He took the bag out of his pocket and gave it to her.

"Is this what you saw, Venus?" The older sister asked, holding the small bag for her to see.

"Yes, I can still see it shining. I don't know why, but I felt pulled towards it, and I could hear what he said to me."

She stopped and shyly turned to look at him with a light blush on her face, to what he couldn't hold her sight and looked away, blushing as well. They saw the stone shining at the museum, but then they didn't see it do it again. It seemed like only Venus could see it at that time.

"How is this acting as a...?-" Ciel opened the red bag, noticing that the pink stone inside was not the one she initially thought.

She took it out to have a closer look as her words died out on her throat. It was a pink topaz, one of the very few stones that connected directly with dimensional energy.

"What is it?" Mei asked her sister as she contemplated the contents of the bag with a blank face and a tight jaw.

"It's a pink topaz," she replied. "Its energy comes directly from The Source. That's why she says it's a catalyst, it is indeed, and a powerful one," Ciel added.

"What does that mean?" Hugh asked, confused.

"It means that this stone is connected with other dimensions, and its energy comes from the Divine directly," Ciel answered, still glaring at the stone.

"But that can't be it, right? That can't be the reason she is now human?" Hugh urged, as all the girls looked at him with confusion in their eyes.

"Venus, how do you know it is a catalyst?" Ciel concentrated on the girl's answer.

"I... don't know." Fear covered her face, as she clearly could not understand how she knew, and they knew they wouldn't get anything from pushing on her.

After a few minutes of heavy silence, Mei thought out loud.

"It sounds to me like many unusual events happened at the same time. For now, all we can do is guess."

"I think the best we can do for now is follow what was planned already.

Tomorrow we go to the school visit and take Venus with us for sightseeing, then on Sunday we all go back home, take her to Daire's, and see if we can figure something out." Ciel added on a tired voice, as the rest nodded affirmatively.

Hugh decided that it wasn't the right time for him to tell them about his weird dreams. That was probably nothing anyway.

Daire was an elder, and the twins were sorcerers, and his eyes only went to look for Venus. He had enough to process for a night. It was probably going to be a sleepless one anyway.

Venus had dozed off on the sofa. Mei took a blanket and covered her, to what she turned, and cuddled the soft blanket smiling in her sleep. She looked so comfortable that the rest also felt sleepy.

"This would be a lot easier if she remembered anything at all, besides the pink, shiny catalyst," Mei breathed heavily and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.

They all were tired. It had been a long day.

"I just wonder how is it that we always end up mixed in the weirdest situations," Ciel added.

"I guess that's a perk of having superpowers," Hugh replied, mimicking Superman's pose, to what they all laughed.

"That might be true. Now, let's get some sleep. We all need it. Good night Hugh," Ciel said, finally getting up from her bed to change into her sleepwear.

"Good night, guys, see you tomorrow," He said, walking out of the room.

The next day the sun was shining. The wind ran between the buildings, keeping the temperature just perfect for a morning stroll, and bringing the smell of fresh croissants through the windows.

Venus was the first to wake up and jumped out of the sofa towards the window, from which she had an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower. She was very excited to spend her first day in the real, outside world. She could barely wait.

Ciel was next to wake and had almost finished getting ready when Mei woke up.

"Come on, lazy, you have half an hour to be ready," she told Mei, who started running around the room.

"Maybe you should just change." Ciel was addressing Venus but was more like thinking out loud.

"We can talk about a shower and moisturizing routine when we come back, as it might take a while. For now, let's choose some clothing for you. I'll help you get ready, come with me."

"Thank you," Venus said shy and happy, following Ciel around.

Venus didn't talk much yet, but the others understood. There was a whole new world in front of her, and they would help her figure it out.

From her stand at the museum, she witnessed how people, manners, and technology changed through the years without understanding or participating, but now she could see how everything really felt, tasted, and smelled.

Weird and mysterious happenings aside, she felt great in her new skin.

She didn't know many things, but there were things she knew, like the language they spoke, and about energy. She could see the energy coming out of a stone as the sorceresses did.

That puzzled the others, especially the twins, even if they didn't say it aloud. Who was she really, and what power was beneath the -hopefully temporary- memory loss she had?

It was obvious that she had a different energy.

The twins could feel some kind of power irradiating from her. Maybe it was the force that woke her up. Maybe residual energy from a conjuring they didn't know about at the moment, but without any knowledge or hint, they couldn't point in any direction.

Their only probable conclusion, as Venus didn't react as puzzled to many of the modern things, was that she could see and hear what happened around her.

Why didn't she wake up any other time with any other people? More than that, how did she get trapped in stone, and for how long was she a prisoner?

She was adapting and learning quickly. Whatever it was that brought her to life, now she was there, but the world didn't know that. Was there even a remote possibility that the police could trace her?

Daire and Ciel had been texting about the recent events and thought it better to figure out who she was first, so Daire was going to prepare a revelation circle that would give them at least a starting point.

The three girls rushed downstairs to find the group waiting in the lobby, as that was settled as the meeting point.

They found Hugh soon. Ciel left the other two girls with him, who looked like he didn't sleep the whole night, to go talk to her teacher.

Now they had one more person with them, but Ciel was sure there were people that at the end didn't come to the visit tour, so there were probably extra entrance tickets, and it would not be a big deal.

"Ms. Marie, how are you today?" Ciel innocently smiled.

"Oh, I am great, dear. How about you? Is there anything you need help with?" her teacher asked.

"Yes, I was wondering if there was one extra ticket for today's tours. I've found one of my cousins here in Paris, and she said she'd be delighted to hear Paris' art history from a professional.

It doesn't really matter if it has an additional cost, but we thought it would be fun if she could join the group," Ciel said with puppy eyes.

"Let me check one second," the teacher said, blushing by the "Professional" compliment. "Yes, there were three people that enrolled and didn't come, so I think it's fine if she comes with us."

"That is great, Ms. Marie, thank you so much!" Ciel said, being extra sweet with her teacher. Evidently, the girl knew her way around words and didn't always need magic to solve her problems.

That had been incredibly helpful more than once, and she was very proud of it. She walked back to her group, letting them know the news.

"Venus, remember, if anyone asks, you are our cousin, ok?"

"Yes," she nodded, her expression was serious, and showed that she understood the plan and would adhere to it if needed. It was also great news, as she could have her first day out without hiding or worrying.

They were all a little sleepy, and a lot rushed.

Ciel wanted to have fresh croissants for breakfast, but they didn't have time for that, so she really hoped her teacher had considered a quick food stop on the tour.

It was barely eight in the morning, so the probability was there. It was too early for them to be allowed in any tourist place, except for a cafe, which raised Ciel's hopes.

"How was your night?" Hugh got closer to Venus and finally addressed her directly. She blushed and gave him a small smile.

"It was really good. Thank you for asking," she softly answered.

"I'm glad," Hugh smiled back at her. He knew that she was out of the question, but there was nothing wrong with a moment of kindness, was there?

Ms. Marie moved to the front of the group, as they all turned their attention to her.

"Good morning, everyone!"

She started, and her cheery mood was only matched by the one of that pretty girl who was new in the group, the one who was about to have her first day in real life.