The Meaning of the Blessing

Maya, with her mother, were already reunited with the rest of the stellar clans. There were around 50 people from six clans that were living in Espliego: Rigel, Alnilam, Hadar, Polaris, Altair, and Helios. Rigelia ordered everyone to go all of Espliego to eliminate the corrupted ones.

"Will we be able to go on with our lives here?" asked someone from the Hadar clan. "I have a business."

From that moment on, various witches commented their complaints, uncertainties, and doubts. They wanted to stay in Espliego. Rigelia remarked that it would depend on how the victory turned out and the response of the Magic-less. He ordered them to immediately go search for the Splendor blessed that were in Espliego, defeat them however they could, and, upon finishing, head to the place where they had seen that yellow and black light in the sky moments before. Without many options, the witches set off into the unknown.

"Wait," Maya said to a witch who had every intention of heading south. Seeing Maya, he stopped. "I need your power. Tell me your name."

"Gael of Alnilam, a pleasure, miss."

"Tell me, Gael," Maya continued. "How has your star blessed you?"

Gael smiled, understanding Maya's plan. She wanted to combine Rigel's power with Alnilam's.

"I can deflect attacks with minimal effort," Gael explained. "And you?"

"Rigel blessed me by making me a singer," Maya explained. "When I sing, I can create tangible illusions and modify them at will."

"Weapons?" Gael asked with curiosity.

Maya nodded. Both witches struck a deal right then and there. Gael would protect Maya from lies while she attacked the enemy. That was how the final battle began for that group of wizards.

★★★★★

Cristina, Circe and her family arrived at Delta. They went straight to Circe's apartment and stayed there to rest. Eliana did not want to get involved and finally she convinced her husband to do the same. If necessary, they would flee to avoid reprisals from the Rigel clan.

"Dad..." Circe whispered with certain doubt. Cyrus looked at his daughter with sadness.

“The plan was to tell you after graduation," Cyrus explained with a calmness that made Circe uncomfortable.

Cristina watched in silence. The clock already read 9:30 PM. Circe began to cry. Her whole life had been a lie; Cristina hugged her and tried to comfort her.

"I don't remember much about my dad," Cristina began to say. "I only remember he was strict, sometimes he helped me with my homework. He was the first one who invited me to draw."

The windows vibrated, causing the group to turn around and look. Splendor was trying to break into the place. Cyrus went to the kitchen. Coming home had been a good idea; now he could defend his family.

"I was surprised when Javier invited me to start drawing classes," Cristina continued her story to her friend. "He might not be my real dad, but..."

Circe chuckled a bit. She understood her friend. Cyrus had always been there for her, listening attending and teaching her magic.

"Let's go to your house," Circe said, a bit more spirited. "I'm sure they're waiting for you."

"How can you know that?" Cristina asked upon hearing the proposal. To her, the logical thing was that they would have fled. Dolores wouldn't stay home waiting for her. "They probably still think I was the one to blame for what happened at the festival."

"About what happened, don't worry about it," Circe commented with a smile. It was her first genuine smile since that morning when she discovered Karla was to blame. "Now let's go, they're waiting for you."

"Circe, wait!,” Cyrus stopped his daughter before she went out with Cristina. He gave her a cloth bag containing several vials. Also, separately, he threw her a vial of greenish water. It looked like lime water.

Circe then had an idea. She went to her room and searched in her closet. She changed into a beige, one-piece dress that left her shoulders bare. It had a slight V-neckline and featured delicate gold embroidery on the sleeves and collar. She also put on a brown corset with fabric of the same color that fell almost to the same length as the dress.

There, she found some of the vials her father had given her, along with some she had crafted herself. To complement her outfit, she put on a sort of cape matching the tone and color of the corset and adjusted it behind her. It did not cover her shoulders. When she walked out, Cristina's first impression was that she finally looked like a real witch.

Before leaving, Circe sprinkled a bit of the potion her father gave her onto herself and Cristina, explaining that for a brief ten minutes they would be undetected. No one would see them.

The two of them ran to Cristina's apartment and knocked on the door. Almost immediately, Javier opened the door. His surprise was immense upon seeing Cristina, and by impulse, he hugged her.

"You're safe," he whispered to her while inviting her inside.

That was when Alisha, Elías, and Alex's mother saw at the door and he hallway. Only Circe was there, waiting as she looked at the group of people. Dolores didn't bother approaching Cristina. She only looked at her with a gaze of disgust. 

What happened next, no one expected. Dolores got up and slapped Cristina across the face; the young woman looked at the woman in surprise. Javier was the first to react.

"Why did you hit her?" Javier asked his wife.

"And you're still asking?" Dolores shouted. "This ungrateful girl ruined the festival, ran away after what she did, and only shows up now, after we've been worried."

"Dolores, calm down," Alisha tried to say, she was almost hit by Dolores. Elías stepped in to defend his wife.

Cristina, with a few tears from the surprise, the pain of the blow and the insults, watched silently. She tried to find if Alex, Caleb, and Hilda were there. She didn’t find them. Cristina began to worry.

Circe took a sip of one of one of the potions, understanding what had happened. She realized that Dolores was also hurt and worried—that she felt guilty for having allowed and permitted Cristina to get involved in the festival.
She saw it. Circe watched as Javier approached Cristina once more to calm her down, asking if she was okay and if she was hungry. She felt calm. Her friend had been right.

"Where are they?" Cristina asked Javier once Cristina and Circe were served a glass of milk and offered some bread.

"They went out. They wanted to find you," Javier explained. For the first time, he looked nervous. He had found one of his daughters, while the other hadn't returned. "Didn't you see them?"

Cristina shook her head. She noticed her hands were trembling. After finishing the bread Javier offered, Circe stood up with a new objective. She was not going to let Cristina's friends get hurt.

"Cristina, listen carefully to what I'm going to say," Circe said. "They are in danger. If we don't do something, the worst will happen."

"But..." Cristina tried to object, knowing what Circe was planning.

"You already saw what happened," Circe continued, interrupting her friend. "They are going to be attacked, and none of them have a way to defend themselves. You're the only one who can help, save and bring them back."

"No... I can't," Cristina said with fear. For the first time, she was divided. She wanted to help—they were her friends. At the same time, she didn't know how, and the idea of going out terrified her.

For the first time, the group of adults watched as Cristina was enveloped in magic. Sparks and flashes began to surround her. Circe took her hands and looked at her friend's tattoo on her left hand; it was being guided by her emotions, seeing the arrow pointing straight to the night part of the drawing. Circe felt herself being pulled by Dolores and shoved toward the exit.

"I don't know what game you're playing with all this. But you are not taking the girl..."

Dolores stopped and watched as Circe grabbed one of the vials from her dress and opened it. A grayish-gold vapor poured from the vial. Dolores then calmed down. Circe manipulated the vapor and drifted it over each of the adults without ever moving from the apartment's entryway. Cristina watched with some fear, but without daring to interfere.

"It's time to sleep," Circe ordered once she knew all the adults were under the control of the magical vapor. "They will wake up when we have returned safely."

Alisha and Elías sat down on the sofa and fell asleep. Dolores and Javier sat at the dining table, and the exact same thing happened: they were fast asleep. Alex's mother managed to sit in a corner by the living room and fell asleep as well. It was then that Circe, closing the door, spoke calmly to her friend.

"We have been blessed with a unique, special power," Circe smiled as she spoke. "It is you who decides what to do with that power. Now you know some use it to hurt, to harm. What are you going to do now that you know your friends are in danger?"

Cristina looked at her tattoo. She had always believed in magic. Ever since she met Circe and Maya, she knew magic was fun, exciting and capable of healing. She remembered what happened that morning at the school: Karla was a magic user with a some kind of corrosive magic. She had hurt her, blamed her. And now those corrupted people were out there. They had tried to attack Eliana and Noah.

"Sing, child blessed by Eos," Cristina and Circe heard the voice of the Liminal Deity. "Use your fear, your anger, and your desire to help to save your friends."