Holy Lady (4)

"Nti Anem," she frowned, "You were here?"

"I would not miss this," he said and her frown only deepened.

"You are not really here," she noticed after looking at his form walk towards her.

"You have become stronger to be able to notice this,"

"You speak as though you knew this was going to happen," she frowned dangerously.

"Don't bother. You will never be that strong," he said and she chuckled. It seemed as though he had read her mind to hurt him right then.

"You do not know that,"

"You are but a little witch who created her power by cycle, you will never be that strong, Holy Lady," he said and she paused.

"Why are you calling me that?" she asked.

"That is who you are, is it not?" he said and she raised a brow.

"Don't look at me like that. I have seen many things. I came because when you entered the great dip and I noticed you were close to becoming the holy lady. Well, I did not know then that it was the holy lady you were becoming,"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I came to make a deal. I will tell you who you are, how you became who you are; well, you would probably figure it out in a few thousand years but, do you want to wait that long?" he asked and she smiled slightly.

"Who are you to know who I am when I do not? You add that to your deal and I will listen," she said and he chuckled.

"You will listen to it either way. It is of course about your Brother Ed," he said and she stilled.

"I will not help you harm Brother Ed," she said solemnly, "You should be worried that I do not kill you for trying,"

"He is not easy to harm; besides, I have no such intention. I want something else. I want him alive. You do want to travel with him, right?" he asked and her eyes shined.

"Of course!"

"You will travel with him for as long as I wish it," he said and she raised a brow.

"If it is so, is there even a deal to be made? I would go with Brother Ed willingly," she said.

"Yes, you will. But you will leave when I tell you to," he said and she frowned.

"Do you think you can force such a thing on me?" she asked.

"I can, but he will not like it,"

"When I leave, what will you do to Brother Ed?"

"He is someone you could not begin to dream about, so forget it. You cannot walk beside him no matter how hard you try. No one can, I fear. But he has responsibilities that he has to see through as long as I am alive. You will only get in the way. After it is done, you can walk with your Brother Ed for as long as you like, if you can," he said.

"These responsibilities, they are not dangerous are they?"

"Is there any that isn't? But it is more dangerous if he does not do them. So, what is your choice? You get to travel with him. You get to walk with him. Then you leave for a short time and return. In return I tell you who you are," he said and she became quiet.

"I tell you who he is," he said and she looked up instantly, causing him to smile.

"I could ask him that!"

"Could you?" he asked and she looked away. Of course, not, it would not work; Brother Ed only talked when he wanted to, of what he wanted to. She knew that well.

"Why do you need me to leave? Will I really get in the way?" she asked.

"You need to stay away for a while. No matter what, you must. I will lock your world for a while after that and deny him entrance. I know you are now a witch not yet of full strength, but you will be powerful enough to leave. You must not. That is my deal,"

"Deal. As long as he is alive and unharmed when you are done, I am fine with that,"

"I will accept those conditions. He will be unharmed by me or those around me,"

"That is vague,"

"He already has enemies," he said and she nodded

"Why do you call me the Holy Lady?"

"To understand how it is even possible, you need to understand who Ed is. He is a prince from far away. Someone plotted to get him here, to a place where your world is; the mist. The mist is not a place you can understand. It is said that all worlds, time and space meet at the mist, at the same time; the mist is not a place. So, even though he is walking your world, he is not truly here. He is in the mist, you are not," he said and she frowned.

"That is contradictory,"

"Yes, quite. But do not bother with such things. The mist is something that few understand. But when someone who walks the mist interacts with others; though there is no particular recipe that I know of, they too experience some properties of the mist. When I met you, I knew you were going to become a witch. I know this because I have seen how your kind is created; Yumen witches. You are not blessed by anyone in particular; your powers are not drawn from blessings or grace. It is created by will. Some would even say you bless yourselves," he explained.

"But I was blessed by the Holy Lady," she argued.

"But you are the Holy Lady," he chuckled and her confusion deepened.

"Do you know how the Holy Lady came to be? You studied under her followers, you should know the legends," he said, walking around her to sample the ethereal stones on the walls.

"She stood before the blessing altar of her own creation and it blessed her with power," she said.

"Do you know how the Holy Lady became an altar herself?"

"She was nailed down by a head witch she blessed with power, so she took back her blessing," she said and he turned back to look at her with dead eyes.

"The texts are not wrong. In fact, they were very accurate. But many would interpret it as they will after all; holy texts always seem to be written to confuse one. But, you have walked with Ed. You met him when he entered the mist, so, you will start to experience its properties. The Mist, where all worlds and time meet," he said.

"So, the last head witch of an order I created, picked me to be blessed by the altar I created. Does that even make sense?" she asked.

"The mist does not make sense, talk less you. Why did the Holy Lady take back her blessing at the last moment, before they called for her?" he asked and she looked away. She knew herself that at the moment before they called for the Holy Lady, she angrily looked towards the blessing altar in the village at that moment and closed the well shut, leaving them dry. Was that taking away her blessing?"

"How do you know this?"

"I have seen a Yumen witch being created before. I admit yours is very unconventional and I did not think you would be a true Yumen witch, just a powerful witch. But it is not hard to understand now. You have started to experience the mist. But, this is just the beginning," he said and then turned to leave, "Take the ethereal ores when you leave. Ed will need it. I am sure you will be willing to just give it to him, right? We are waiting for you outside,"

"Then what about you? You have walked with Brother Ed the longest. More than two thousand years. How are you experiencing the mist?" she asked and he froze slightly, before disappearing.