Council of Witches

Rueben's vision blurred as she tried to keep awake. The witch's stomach was filled to the brim with cupcakes and pastries that she was force-fed by the women gathered around her. They kept moving the conversation towards the moon goddess and all her goodness about fate and Rueben's disrespectful way of ignoring it. Silvia paced the stone-cold flood while addressing the witch's 'behavior'. 

She exhaled soundly. "Imagine, your soulmate was hand-picked by the moon goddess herself, and you rejected them" Rueben looked at the others who sat pretty, nodding their heads.

Rueben couldn't take it anymore "firstly, I thought the moon goddess" she added quote marks around the name and rolled her eyes "chooses everyone soulmate manually" she asked looking around the room, she pulled herself from the couch and began walking about the room. "Secondly, why would I want that? To have your fate decided for you, your every move, all I wanted was an average life" the four women stared at the witch with pity on their brows. She shook off the memories that shone through their eyes. 

Regina cleared her voice, making the others tense around her "you are not average, and you will never be, your fate is decided, and the moon goddess has provided protection, so give in" she crooked, Rueben stared into those wise eyes before she turned and grabbed her bag, leaving. 

Heels clicked behind the witch. She felt them following her. Rueben turned to face them. "I have protected myself for the past twenty two years. Where was she then?" she shouted as the group halted to stare at her "her 'protection' is just a way of winning me to her side, this is not a battle for what's best for me, it's a battle towards what's good for them" she pointed to the sky before staring up into the abyss. Tears began to swirl in her eyes, but she shook it off and turned towards the back door of the greenhouse.

"Then you will never stop running" Rowena's voice lingered in the air.

"Aren't you tired of moving? What happens when you run out of places to hide?" Isidora moved closer toward Rueben, as if she wasn't on the verge of a breakdown. The witch watched their reflection through the glass door. The concern on their face almost made her fall apart. 

As Rueben turned to speak when a bright light appeared between them that formed into a woman. Her tawny skin, black silky hair and light droplets of water on her skin looked like jewels, but her face was filled with grief and worry. She fell into Rueben's arms as chiffon and mesh clothing surrounded them. 

"Nature," the witch whispered as Nature looked up at her. "What's happened?" she searched the fairy's face as tears began to fall, and her skin became unbearably delicate to touch.

"Prince Raine, he is missing," she choked out as Isidora lifted the poor woman.

She wiped the tears from her face. "Let's get some tea into your system, so you might calm down and tell us all that has happened" she escorted the young princess to the tea garden.

With a cup of warm tea in her hand, four women crowded around her and waited to hear of this misfortune, when a realization settled in Rueben's chest. She will have to save him, and she couldn't leave now even if I wanted to. 

Ringlets clouded her vision as Nature sat forward "the queen is furious, she has the whole kingdom searching for you" she didn't bother to meet the witch's eyes "and I know it wasn't you because" she paused "when Raine was called out to daffodils field to inquire about the awiaanomaa, I…" She was cut off by Silvia, who was riddled with disbelief.

She sharply turned towards me. "You got attacked by an awiaanomaa?" The others looked at Rue.

"Not the time," Rueben pointed out. 

"Sorry" she bowed her head. "Please go on" she turned to the princess.

She nodded "I followed him" she suddenly began to plead before the witch "not because of you, please understand, I know you would never want him but my jealous and pride got the better of me" she whispered as tears formed in the corner of her eyes "when you left, they took him, some sort of beast just grabbed him, and I was so scared, I couldn't…" Rueben stood, walking towards the poor woman and placing her hand on Nature's shoulder.

"Go home," she began to speak, but Rueben kneeled before the princess and placed her finger to Nature's lips. "Go home," the witch whispered again as the princess nodded her head and transformed into a light, flying out of the quiet greenhouse.

"You aren't," Isidora said in a voice softer than a whisper.

They all stood to their feet as Rueben grabbed Crystal from the table before turning to her bag that lay on the floor. She headed for her secret stash, while their rushing footsteps followed close behind. Rueben got down on her knees and began uprooting the weapons she had stored away years ago. 

Rowena caught Rueben's shoulder, pulled her to her feet and turned the witch towards her. "you aren't going back, they took that boy as bait, and you are not going to fall into that trap" she argued, but Rueben just turned away not speaking a word, moving to the back door

But Silvia grabbed her bag. "Your livelihood depends on you staying here with us. If you leave now, the woods will be swarmed with awiaanomaa and more" Rueben pulled her bag from her grasp as Isidora stood before the back door with her arms stretched out.

Her eyes were dull with color, but desperate for the witch to listen. "At least for our sake, find them," she pleaded. Rueben stepped forward as burning energy moved inside her.

"Let her go" Regina announced in her melodramatic voice, "she is writing her whole destiny" the woman whispered as Isidora stepped aside…Rueben moved towards the door handle, but before she could touch the cold steel, "take good care of yourself" her crook of a voice whispered, she nodded with a lump in her throat and left the manor.

Summoning the broom, running and jumping into it like it was a skateboard before zooming into the night sky. Rueben tied Crystal around my neck while pressing down on the tip of her broom, giving it a boost as we zoomed across the night sky. 

"Do you know what you are doing? Where to start?" Rueben huffed before plopping down on the broom, holding the tip, speeding up but knowing she will only get there by the morning.

She pulled her bob into pigtails. "Find Raine. We will investigate the daffodil fields and work from there," the witch whispered as Crystal began to blink frantically.

"We will investigate the daffodil field" she slurred sarcastically "you just faced an awiaanomaa, and you want to go back" she rolled her eyes and the ball "I don't know about you, but this seems like a trap, they probably used that boy as bait and YOU going to waltz in there likes a lamb to the slaughter" she sounded like a nagging mother that Rueben never had.

Rueben grip down on the broom. "Whether it is a trap, I will find him and make them pay," she pressed down on the tip of the broom.