Welina-Grace and the Forest Uglies

WG - Chapter12 - Welina-Grace

Whoah! What the heck?! Welina-Grace thought. She sat as the room spun for a bit and closed her eyes to concentrate on what was going on

When she opened them, Cinth was there as well as her never-wavering guardians

“Sis, what happened?” Roman was the first to ask

“Thereʻs a shift and somethingʻs about to happen” Welina expresses with worry

“By the worry in your eyes, it doesnʻt look good” Gregory states

“The intention is good, but the magic behind it is unpredictable and manipulative,” Welina says

“Is there anything we can do to help?” KJ asks

“I will definitely let you know if there is. In the meantime, I need some answers. I need to speak to a Siren about a seahorse”, Welina snorted as she laughed, but no one caught the joke. Welina-Grace rolled her eyes

“Hellur! A man about a horse? A siren about a seahorse? Duh!” Welina bleated but still had no response as she stood and walked out

“Iʻll holler if I need you” Welina called out to Cinth because she knew her guardians never left her side

Welina-Grace made her way to the lake and dove in with her guardians doing the same. She swam deeper into Lake City in search of Queen Sea-Lia. Many sirens chose to leave, but many new members also joined the choir. Queen Sea-Lia refused to leave the Lake in search of her grandfather. Queen Sea-Lia heard that the King was very distraught when hearing about his daughter's death but made no attempt to come to her funeral or even reach out to Sea-Lia all these years.  As far as Sea-Lia was concerned, she was fine without him. Deep in thought, she is alerted to Welina-Graceʻ visit.

“Hello there!” the Queen says as Welina-Grace and her guardians come into the throne room 

“What is the pleasure of your visit?” Queen Sea-Lia says as she goes in for hugs and they all respond in kind

“Is there somewhere private where we can speak?” Welina asks, and the Queen ushers them to her private quarters

“I see this visit is more business than pleasure?” the Queen states

“Oh Your Highness, it is always a pleasure to visit you,” Welina says with a smile

“But yes, this is kinda business as well. I have some questions that I hope you can answer” Welina says

“No need for formalities, but I do hope I can be of help. What is it?”  the Queen asks

“What do you know about the Book of Hecate?” Weila blurts out, not beating around the bush

“Well! I hadnʻt heard about that book in ages! How do you know about it? Do you have it” the Queen inquires, which only makes Welina-Grace wonder more about the book

“No, but I had a vision, and the book was shown to me. Itʻs all a little blurry and Iʻm seeking some clarity here” Welina commented

“Well, I don't know everything about it as it was mostly Momʻs affairs, but my mother did speak to me about it briefly around the time that we found out about Sabienʻs plan to take Magie Ancienne. She said Hecateʻs book of magic was filled with magic secrets from the beginning of time. Even from before Magie Ancienne, yet itʻs like Magie Ancienne but just in book form. Everything she knew, learned, crafted, conjured, and whatever, was written in that book. It is said that the book is so overwhelmed with magic knowledge that it created a life of itʻs own and is known to be called Hecateʻs child. That even as Hecate practiced magic while guarding Magie Ancienne for all those centuries, the book continued to record all of Hecate's magic as she practiced it. But because of the power between the pages, Hecate never kept the book in her presence for too long, only enough to record her spells, and then sheʻd hide it away. And of course, Hecate put a magic lock on it to keep it safe” the Queen offered

“Hmm, so how did the book come into the hands of Queen Rissa,” Welina asked

“Queen Rissa? Dunno who that is. But my mother said during a s****l escapade, Hecate carelessly left it out and her one-time lover stole it before Hecate even knew it was missing. He tried to use the magic but it was just too powerful and killed him in the process. Now itʻs the book that looks for its new owner. And now that Hecate is free, she wants her book back” the Queen says, staring deeply into Welina-Graceʻs eyes

“So what happens when it finds its new owner? And why isnʻt it going back to Hecate?” Welina asked

“Well, I would hope it would go back to Hecate. But, in the meantime, the book will always look for the good first. If the owner decides to use the magic within, the book will flip their intentions to that of dark magic. The owner must overcome the dark side and stay in the light. Only then will the book allow its owner to use its magic. It was an extra safety mechanism in the book” the Queen continued

“Well, I guess thatʻs a good thing, huh?” Welina commented

“Yes, but Hecate said the book is dangerous because it can change and manifest itself to someone totally separate, totally different, totally dark from the book with all its safety mechanisms. She said, eventually, if it already hasnʻt, the book will become itʻs own entity, per se, you know, without a body and such, but it CAN think for itself, learn new things, even have feelings and soon it will learn to either take over a living supernatural or manifest itself into itʻs own living being” the Queen said

“Ohhhh sh*t, we are in for a helluva ride if it does that” Welina said “Sorry Your Highness” Welina bowed

“Heyy now, no bowing, you are like my little sister, no need to be formal here” the Queen said as Welina nodded

“Well thank you so much for the information. It only made more questions, but at least I have something to go on” Welina said

“I hope it helps. Hey, you didnʻt tell me why you were asking about the book” the Queen stated

“Because it just found itʻs new owner” Welina replied

“Oh sh*t!” the Queen said

“Oh sh*t is right. I need to speak to Quin-cee” Welina says

“Well, can you at least have lunch with me? I hear thereʻs a new seafood cafe in town?” the Queen says while wiggling her eyebrows

“How can I pass that up? Besides, these boys are eating Papa and Mama outta house and home with their appetites” Welina says pointing to her guardians

“Seafood sounds fabulous!” KJ says 

“Yup, you lead, I follow,” Roman says

“No need to ask me twice,” Gregory says

“Yup, all of you are growing so quickly! How old are all of you now?” the Queen asks

“17” all 4 chime at the same time

“Wow, itʻs been a looong time since my momʻs been gone. Feels like yesterday”. The Queen daydreamed for a bit, thinking fondly of the former Queen, while the kids looked at her weirdly

“I wish you guys got to grow up knowing my mother. She was strict but she loved fiercely”, the Queen replied and the kids smiled

“Come on, letʻs get something to eat, shall we?” the Queen stated

“Yes! Letʻs!!” the boys' chorused as they all swam to the cafe

After their seafood overload, Welina-Grace and the boys said their goodbyes and headed to speak to Constance and the rest of the family

“May I call a family meeting please?” Welina mindlinked her family. Soon they were joining her in the conference room except for Yazmin. Sheʻs off doing God knows what. Itʻs always different from week to week with her. No one can keep up!

Welina-Grace knew this was important information and she needed to tread carefully. She was just still learning about the contents of the book herself. She was only 17. What did she know? Well, actually a lot. But Welina-Grace has enough sense to know that a combined effort is the better route. 

Queen Constance, though sheʻd rather anyone not use her title, knew something was off. Welina-Grace usually NEVER CALLS for a family meeting. She just kinda did her own thing. Always have since being gifted her powers. The quiet ones are the dangerous ones, Constance thought as she watched Welina-Grace in deep thought. 

Soon the room became quiet once they realized everyone was present. All watching Welina-Grace deep in thought.

“Hunny? Weʻre ready if you are” her father stated, as Welina-Grace nodded

“Thanks, everyone for coming. Donʻt really know how to explain this but hoping that amongst the vast experience in this room I can get some answers. First I need to ask if any of you have heard of the Book of Hecate?” Welina asks but looking directly at Constance who smiles at her granddaughter….