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After turning off the faucet, Thessa was greeted with a familiar echo of silence. She walked to the closet for the mop and bucket.
The cooks were long gone by now. There’d been too much space and time to think in the kitchens. She preferred when the cooks were shuffling around her and howling at each other. At least their noise helped block out her own.
Every swipe of her mop was a little more aggressive than the last. When the checkered tiles finally shined, she tossed her soiled apron in the bin and left.
Opening her door revealed Leora, Beatrix, and Ivy seated on the floor, surrounded by a large circle of salt. Thessa, wide-eyed, could barely say hello before a bare-chested Leora beckoned her over.
“Tess! Come sit, we were just about to begin.” Leora had created a nickname for almost everyone by now. She was patting the empty floorboard beside her.
Salt was generally used for protection, left on doorsteps and windowsills, but when used to form a circle, it provided more than that. It held and purified the energy within it, for spellcasting.
“What’s this for?” Thessa asked, knowing very well what it was for.
“The Communication Spell, I’ve decided to do it.” Leora glanced at Ivy and Beatrix. According to Leora, the two witches were the queens of the laundry room. “We were talking while folding, and they said they wanted to help. Withtheir magic to support the spell, now I can really speak to my parents.”
Thessa nodded and sat beside Leora.
She knew Leora was practicing her Communication Spell, but without magic, spells were just unique phrases. It was kind of the Celestial witches to offer their services.
In secondary school, studies focused on curating words and blending herbs, not theafterpart.Afteris what special training and tertiary schooling were for because magic only manifests when a witch turns eighteen. Without it, both their practices had been limited.
When a witch sought guidance or foresight, they’d seek out a Celestial service. Many Celestials go on to be energy readers, matchmakers, fortune tellers, astrologists, palm readers, and tarot card holders.
The four witches sat with four pillar candles between them: representing north, south, east, and west.
Ivy’s hair was so straight and light, almost white in the candlelight. It was sheared short to frame her face, with violet dye added to her bangs. Her fair skin had a hint of peach to it, and her eyes were as light as Kellan’s.
Where Ivy was like a bright sunrise, Beatrix was like a warm sunset. Her dark bronze complexion complimented her hazel eyes and long auburn hair, which was always in three pigtails—one for each face of their goddess.
Ivy added mugwort and clove to Leora’s mortar, the herbs needed for a Communication Spell, before crushing them into a fine powder.
Flames flickered, reflecting off Leora’s ritual dagger as she braced the hilt and sliced through her palm. She held her bloodied fist over the mortar while Beatrix cleaned her blade.
Once satisfied with her pool of blood, Leora wrapped a cloth around her hand.
Ivy took to mixing and mashing the contents into a paste.
Leora set the last letter she’d received from her parents before her, dipped her finger into the paste, and swiped a five-pointed star on the parchment. Then again across her chest.
Ivy met Leora’s focused stare. “Ready?”
Leora replied with a single nod.
Ivy glanced at Beatrix, and the two Celestials began conjuring their magic. Their fingertips glimmered white as their magic readied to escape—concentrating. Heartbeats later, milky tendrils whirled around them all.
Everyone joined hands.
“We call upon our goddess with the help of our moon and stars, to guide our sister.” Ivy eyed Leora, as if saying it was her turn.
Leora spoke, her voice fierce. “Goddess be, you must tell me. Are my parents lost at sea? Take my blood and take this spice. Find them for this sacrifice.”
They all swayed in harmony while Leora repeated her spell.
Thessa couldn’t help but stare at the opalescent magic, it was twinkling alive.
One moment Thessa thought the spell wouldn’t take, and in the next, Leora’s eyelids fluttered closed as her torso flew back. Everyone released their grasp and Beatrix expertly cupped Leora’s head before it smacked the floor.
The Celestial magic receded. “She’s in, it worked.” Ivy confirmed.