Page 58 of Gift from the Tree

“I’m an adult. Now, clear your mind and focus on this spot.”

A hand is placed right above my heart, and I take a frustrated breath. Closing my eyes, I let my body relax, and after a few moments, a smile breaks out across my face.

“I got it! I feel it, I did it!”

“Very good, filia mae. Very good.”

Coming back to the present, I don’t open my eyes as the tears slowly fall down my face, but I need to try this before I let my emotions get the best of me. Releasing my stone, I place my hand right over my heart, where the stranger in my vision laid theirs, and I take a deep breath to focus. A few frustratingly long seconds pass before I feel a spark.

There.

Right above my heart, a warm, glowing feeling stretches across to the center of my chest, meeting in the middle with my air element. The two powers caress each other like lost friends and my tears fall faster. How can this feel so familiar, comfortable, and brand-new at the same time?

“Willow,” Gaster’s concerned voice says.

“It’s there, Gaster. It’s been there for a long time,” I whisper through a watery smile, blinking my eyes up at him.

“What do you mean, child?” he asks quietly.

“It’s been there since I was fourteen years old. In my memory, the stranger who’s always there was teaching me how to focus and find it.” I take a minute to recount the entire conversation to Gaster. I’m a whirlwind of emotions right now. Confused, angry, excited, determined. I don’t know which of these emotions to focus primarily on.

Gaster sits there, pondering for a few moments before giving me a seriously determined look. “I’m not sure what’s all going on, Willow. But I’ll do everything in my power to help you figure it out. There’s much you still don’t know, things I can’t tell you yet, things I haven’t even told the boys yet, but I will soon, and we’ll figure it all out together.”

I don’t like that he just admitted to keeping secrets from me right now. I’m a mess and whatever information he has that’d help ease my worries, I need to know it. But if he hasn’t even spoken to the guys about it yet, then it must be very important to him, so I won’t push him for now.

“Do you think I should tell them about this?” I ask.

“Yes, I do.”

“Why? I don’t understand why everyone can have their secrets but me.”

“I know they haven’t been open and honest with you, but they expect you to be with them and that isn’t fair. But they’re very resourceful and powerful in Elementra. They’re your best bet to figuring all of this out,” he reasons.

And I hate to admit he’s right. Gaster’s only one person, and he’s been helping me more than I’d ever be able to repay him for. If the guys are willing and able to help me figure out the mystery that is my life, I’m going to have to shove my pride to the side and ask for it.

“I guess you’re right. Is there a way you can ask Corentin if we can all have lunch in his office?” I ask, defeated.

“I’ll take care of it,” he declares, laying his hand on my shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“You had something in mind for me to do. What did you want to show me?” I ask, blowing out a breath and changing the subject back to the task at hand.

“I didn’t expect you to find your magic that fast, so this is very exciting because now I can give you the entire gift at once.” His elated tone wipes away my sadness and I’m back to being eager to learn.

Placing my hands on my journal, I close my eyes. “Okay, what do I do?”

“Focus on your magic. Picture it flowing through you and into the journal,” he instructs. My magic immediately responds to the instructions the moment I think about it, flowing from my chest, through my fingertips, and into the journal like it’s done this before.

Looking down at my journal, it doesn’t appear any different, so I turn to Gaster for further instructions. “What now?”

“Open it,” he says with a bright smile.

“Oh my God, Gaster, what is all of this?” I squeal, flipping through the pages in a flurry. They’re filled with instructions, enchantments, spells, potions, descriptions of different gems and stones, descriptions of gifts and potential abilities that come with those gifts. It’s the holy grail of information.

“I copied many of my own personal notes that I’ve gathered over my time and put them in here for you, also some research and outside testimonials from the archives. This is an infinity journal. You’ll never run out of pages. The journal is enchanted by many different things. Like what you just did, only your magical essence can reveal these pages and any pages you add now. On the first page is a search spell. You say those words then what it is you’re looking for and the book reveals the pages with that information. It also allows me to add more pages to it without having to open it. It won’t even reveal itself to me now that your magic has bound it,” Gaster explains in the most enthusiastic, animated tone.

I jump up from my chair and sling my arms around him in a tight hug. “I can’t believe you did this for me. This is too much, Gaster. I don’t deserve you or this gift.”

“You deserve the world, child, and so much more.”

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