Delphine the Witch II

After the long silence, Alexander was the first one to speak.

"Explain."

Delphine was not offended by his curt order, as she knew the man's attitude was no better. She languidly took her time to put away the objects on the table, every so often taking a peek at the listless Olivia.

After some time, Delphine finally took it upon herself to explain to the pair, "Talented One's and witches are the same, in that, they both use magic but fundamentally they belong to two completely different groups."

Olivia did not look up as she kept on agitatedly twiddling her thumbs. No matter what Delphine said, if others were to see her, they would automatically class her as a witch and tie her to the stake. Just thinking about being even slightly similar to witches caused a strong streak of repulsion to run through her body, let alone fretting about others.

Although Alexander was engaging in conversation with the witch, the corner of his eyes were also taking note of Olivia, her anxiety being shown clearly to him.

"Where witches have to rely on magic through outside influences like spells and potions, Talented Ones have their own natural reserves. Their magic comes from within them," Delphine continued to explain.

"I must say, it has been quite some time since I've last heard about Talented Ones…"

Olivia finally looked up, picking up a key word in the witches sentence, "Heard? You mean to say you've never seen one?"

"They don't just sprout like mushrooms. They were already starting to become rare back then, and even more so now."

Olivia felt a sense of foreboding as she asked, "Why were they rare?"

"They were a sort of commodity," Delphine momentarily paused to pick up the fountain pen, that had at one point, fallen on the ground. She slightly brushed passed Alexander before adjusting herself back on her seat.

"They were useful to everyone, witches, vampires, humans, you name it. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie and so, as soon as a Talented One was discovered, it was a rush to see who could bag them first."

Olivia felt her palms become increasingly sweaty as her mind reeled at the new pieces of information.

Alexander, however, felt a bit doubtful in the face of it all.

"You're probably wondering why you've never heard of such a thing," Delphine gave a small giggle as she continued to observe Alexander's reaction.

"Get to it."

Although she liked teasing people, Delphine was not muddleheaded enough to joke around with her life, especially in front of this particular vampire.

"The reason why you haven't heard of them is because it's been about 2000 years since their last appearance."

"About the same time general magic disappeared," Alexander mumbled under his breath in deep thought.

Olivia who stood close to him, however, heard his words clearly, "General magic?"

She was confused. Was there yet another type of magic that existed, one that even Alexander was aware of?

"You slipped up there," Delphine covered her chuckle with her hand as she pointed out Alexander's mistake.

Seeing both the witch and vampire talk in front of her about something she didn't have knowledge of, she felt excluded, so Olivia mustered up her courage and asked Delphine, "What is general magic?"

"Well…" Delphine's eyes flitted over to Alexander. Noticing that he wasn't stopping her, she continued, "Have you ever wondered why humans have dull coloured eyes, only between the ranges of black and brown?"

Olivia shook her head. Of course she didn't. Such a thing was normal in her world.

"Well, in the times of old, magic was a well-known and prevalent practice. Not only did witches use it, so did humans too. Well up until…" Delphine promptly stopped her history lesson as she noted Alexander's aura slowly making her breathless.

"Why are witches and Talented Ones different?" Alexander questioned, quickly changing the topic, and finally allowing Delphine to breath normally to answer him.

The witch cleared her throat, "Witches are able to cast a multitude of spells whereas Talented Ones are only proficient in one thing, hence the title," Delphine eyed Olivia for a while before adding, "I'm guessing your magic involves being able to see a dead person's past."

Olivia slowly nodded her head. She too thought her magic was useful in looking at the deceased's history.

"However, it seems that your magic has drawbacks. Whenever the person in your vision is wounded, it will be replicated on to you in reality as well."

What Delphine analysed was indeed true. If Olivia was a normal human, she would truly find those drawbacks to be too harmful, except, Olivia had already been changed and reconstructed. Essentially, she was no longer an ordinary human being.

Alexander and Olivia both kept their silence, neither one tried to inform the witch that such a thing was not a problem for her.

"Why did I faint when I first used… my magic?" Olivia still felt a little uncomfortable referring to herself as having such a thing.

"Oh that? First let me ask, did you also feel hunger and extreme heat?"

Olivia nodded her head fervently.

"I'm guessing those were the signs that you were awakening. Also, the reason why you fainted during your first experience was probably due to the fact that you abruptly entered your vision without meaning to do so, adding to you still being in the process of awakening, that would've caused an overload on your body," Delphine thoroughly explained to the pair.

"But I'm sure you've fully awakened your magic now, at least safely," The witch whispered the last part to herself.

"Am I able to perform other kinds of magic?" Olivia felt a bit more adjusted to speaking to the witch than she first did. Mainly due to Alexander still standing by her side.

"No. The only magic that you can perform is the one that you have already seen. That is the one downside to Talented One's. They're akin to a one trick pony. If their so called 'talent' is useless, then people will find other ways to exploit them. If their talent is powerful, then everyone is in a scramble to obtain them," Delphine explained.

She felt that the girl in front of her looked rather pitiful at the moment so she sported a soft smile on her face in an attempt to give some comfort.

Suddenly, the mood of the room was very solemn.

"You should rejoice! At least you've found out that your talent is a rather powerful one, so cheer up!"

Alexander ignored the witch's attempt to liven the atmosphere and promptly started to walk back out of the cave, without so much of a word goodbye. Olivia did not add much either, as she hastily followed behind.

"You know where to find me if you want to know more!" Delphine's playful voice echoed through the walls as the pair walked back through the narrow and dark passage.

Once they made it out, Olivia directly walked past Alexander, listlessly making her way back to her room. The same thing happened at dinner, as after knowing such information, she unsurprisingly didn't have much of an appetite and quietly went back to her room, mulling over her thoughts.

That night, once again, Olivia suffered from a nightmare. One where she was hunted and repeatedly exploited for being a Talented One. Everyone treated her like a toy to be used openly, she felt miserable yet she couldn't do anything about her situation. Just as she was about to die, she woke up with a loud gasp.

Sweat covered her forehead, as her chest heaved up and down.

"It's just a dream Olivia, get it together," She muttered to herself over and over again, until she finally calmed down.

Once everything had settled, an hour had already passed.

"I haven't seen you in a while. I thought you died," Ivan joked as he fed the horses, per his usual routine.

"If only I could," Olivia retorted before giving a soft gasp at her mistake.

She quickly looked at Ivan only to see that he was acting normally and didn't react much to her words. Seeing this, Olivia was slightly embarrassed as she felt that she was being overly sensitive and thinking too much about it.

"Did Master Alexander suck your blood dry?" Ivan continued on with his taunting's.

"I told you, I'm not a Giver! Why would I give my blood to him?" Olivia huffed as she shovelled the hay.

On top of everything else, if she then became a Giver, wouldn't she be the most pitiful one?

"I thought I heard your voice," A familiar voice came from behind them.

Olivia turned around to see Eli, standing a polite distance away from the stables.

"Oh? I didn't know you were also acquainted with Master Cromwell? Aren't you a popular one," Ivan teased, giving a glance at the softly smiling Eli.

"Shut up."

Olivia walked over to where Eli was standing as she greeted back, "I didn't think I'd see Mr Cromwell today."

"Why are we using formalities? Just Eli would do," He said with a playful note.

"As you wish, Eli."

He cleared his throat before speaking again, "I just came from meeting with Alexander, and was wandering around the garden before I heard your voice. Although I have mentioned it to Alexander, I want to also take the opportunity to ask you in person as well."

"Ask what?" Olivia questioned curiously.

"My good friend is hosting a dinner party and asked me to invite a few friends along. I was wondering whether you'd like to come?"

Olivia was stunned. Her? Going to a party full of nobles? Although she was flattered by the invitation, she wasn't all too eager on going.

"I'll have to see what Master Alexander says," She politely deflected.

This, however, didn't dampen Eli's enthusiasm as he gave her a broad smile, "I'm sure Alexander will bring you along with him. I hope to see you there!" He gave her a small wave while walking off in the direction of his carriage.

Olivia stared at his back for a while before absentmindedly walking back into the stable and sitting on her stool.

What was she to do now that Eli thinks she's going? If anything, the decision relies solely on whether Alexander actually takes her with him or not, and right now Olivia hoped that he chose to momentarily forget her existence.