NOELLE’S POV,
The next day I find myself back in the stone circle once again. Wondering what difficulties and challenges I will face today. Donna sits down facing me as usual and I look at her patiently waiting for some instructions. She hesitates for a moment, “I know I said that I could teach you mind magic. And I do know how to open up the mind connection but I am not gifted with mind magic myself. Actually, there are only a few who are. King Hades is the most powerful one with being able to teleport visions, make hallucinations, etc. Others who have the gift can do small mind tricks or mind torture but the gift is different for every individual.”
She continues, “We can open up your mind but I cannot tell you what will happen. Maybe you will have the gift, maybe you won’t. If you do, I have no idea what you will be able to do with it.”
Donna takes my hands and closes her eyes so I do the same. I just listen to her voice and try to shut everything else out. “To open your mind connection we will have to slowly go back in time through all your memories. All the way until the beginning.”
My heart skips a beat for a moment because I remember Faith her warning. How can I tell her all my memories without telling her any secrets? I open my eyes and feel unsure about what I should do now. Donna looks at me like she is trying to read what I think. She finally states, “You don’t trust me. That’s good you shouldn’t trust anyone. It is okay you can just replay your memories in your mind slowly. You don’t need to speak of them to me, I will just be here with you. To make sure we don’t miss anything we should take it a few years a day and not everything in one day.”
I sigh relieved and close my eyes and start to think about the last months. Memories of my time in Liberum fall over me. All the magic I learned, meeting Thorn and discovering our incredible bond, the friends I made, the feelings I discovered, the fun I had. I also think about the battle at the Sea Realm and my visit to the Sky Realm. All the memories overwhelm me like a rollercoaster. Feeling so many different emotions in a short amount of time is extremely draining so I need to take a lot of breaks.
The whole week the same process continues. Every time I need a break Donna is there to let me catch my breath. She tells me about all the things she has seen and experienced in her life. It definitely makes me sad that the loss of her true love has sent her on a path to darkness. I honestly don’t know or I wouldn’t have done the same if I lost Gabriel. I hope Faith finds a way to heal Donna completely because she deserves to be at peace. I also marvel at all the things and places Donna has seen. As a healer, she traveled a lot and some of her adventures sound so ridiculous they make me laugh out loud. Most of her adventures were with her husband and I can see a deep sadness in her eyes every time she mentions his name.
I get to know her better every day and I feel more and more inclined to tell her everything about my life as well. But she never asks me to share so I try to just speak about things that are not a secret. I never mention Liberum or the baby because you never know how that information could end up in the wrong ears. Donna told me mind magic exists in many different forms so for all I know Hades could be listening through the trees. It sounds ridiculous but I want to be careful especially for the little human growing in me.
After days of revisiting memories from my stay at the Sea Realm to my youth at the orphanage, I get back to my earliest memory. I remember vaguely a woman’s voice singing for me. I remember her and a man with kind green eyes looking down on me. The woman had a head full of red curls and around her neck dangled an amulet. The amulet is going back and forth and it is all I can see at some point. Then something strange happens, it feels like my head explodes into a million pieces. I get flashbacks of situations I have never been in before. I am on a battlefield surrounded by dead bodies. Fire licks at my feet and I look into Hella’s eyes before my vision changes. With every vision, it feels like I am someone else but also like I am myself. The visions keep changing until I am floating above the stone circle looking at my own body sitting there. I look up to the sky and it feels like I could watch what is happing anywhere in the world right now if I wanted to. But before I can I feel a pull coming from my body and I get sucked back in.
I open my eyes calmly and I know the possibilities of my mind are endless. Whatever I would imagine I could make happen. I realize there is no power greater and I feel in my gut that I should keep this information to myself. I quickly put a smile on my face and make sure I look tired.
“I think I have had enough for today. I would love to go have a nice warm bath and go to sleep early,” I say to Donna.
She nods understanding and we walk back together. When I get to my room I sit down frustrated. Knowing that I could just use my mind to see what Gabriel or anyone is doing right now is torture. But the fact that I do not know what Hades can do with his mind magic makes the risk too big. I spend hours trying to figure out things I could do with my newly discovered powers. When I look outside my window I realize that it is dark outside. It must be in the middle of the night. I better try to get some sleep. Tomorrow I have to figure out an excuse to go and look for Faith and leave the village. Need to find a believable reason which will not make Donna expect that I have learned mind magic.
I get into bed but as soon as I close my eyes a bad feeling falls over me. A vision plays in my mind of Gabriel sleeping soundly in a room but there is a dark shadow in the corner. The dark shadow has a knife in his hands and is slowly walking towards Gabriel. Panic immediately falls over me and I run towards Gabriel. The shadow is not able to see me it seems and I try to shake Gabriel roughly to wake him up. He slowly opens his eyes and he looks at me full of wonder and reaches out his arms towards me. I would love nothing more than jumping into his arms but I can feel myself getting pulled back into my body. The last thing I see is Gabriel noticing the shadow and blasting it with lightning.