Page 47 of Gift from the Source
“Just tell me,” I beg.
“CC never had the ability to withhold your elements and magic as you’ve believed. It’s always been the Memoria Stone and him commanding it. That’s how they’re bound and released daily. From this day forward, they will stay bound until it is time for them to be freed. Together, CC and I will set their triggers for them to return to you.”
“How will you do that if it’s here with me?”
Her laugh vibrates through the trunk of my tree, causing my body to swell with warmth, and I relax more fully onto the ground.
“It will be returning to us in the beyond for the time being. Your blessings are not the only thing it will be taking, though. Your memories will be bound as well.”
“My…my. What memories?” I whisper, horrified.
“All that have to do with myself, the realm, CC. Anything and anyone that is not of the nonmagical realm. It will take and rewrite everything, Ultima unum,” she says softly, and I shove the box away from me.
“What? No. I can’t forget him,” I shout as my chest begins pounding with panic and my soul screams in agony.
“It will not be forever. They too will be returned to you with time. I will fill the void in your soul. Reweave threads that make you fill whole.”
“Do I still have a choice in this?”
“There is always a choice.”
My quickened breaths echo around me and my eyes trace the branches of my tree. The weight sitting on my shoulders feels monumental. The memories of everything I’ve experienced here, all the love I’ve ever felt here surface the longer I stare. Instead of feeling like I’m home, I feel nothing but sorrow.
I can’t live like this.
I’ll never survive.
“Is there any memory I can keep?”
“Is there something specific you’d like to keep?” she asks knowingly.
“Our lullaby. The one they both made for me.”
“Very well, Ultima unum.”
With a sigh of relief, I twist my fingers together in my lap. “What do I do?”
“Take your box and place it in the pocket dimension.”
Pushing up to my knees, I grab the box gently, afraid I may damage it. What I feared seconds ago, I now know with unwavering certainty is going to hold the best parts of myself. I will forever treasure it.
The sizzling of magic reverberates around me and the concealment that hides the opening of our pocket dimension fades away. My eyes instantly water as I gaze at our blanket and set my box on top of it. It was the only source of warmth I had so many nights. The comforting hug it brought while I waited here for CC to arrive.
“Close your eyes, Willow. When they open again, you will see the realm through a different lens.”
I release a harsh breath as I do what she said and the rawest, purest magic surrounds me.
The painstaking, gaping hole in my soul begins to fill back to the brim, but it’s different. It’s stitching itself back together, but it’s as though a cheap fabric was used compared to the original design.
When the last thread knots, the pain that has been causing my body to vibrate intensely finally ceases, yet I know there’s something missing. It isn’t an overwhelming feeling, but one if I focus on it too hard, my chest tightens painfully.
“Sing, Ultima unum. Continue to sing until I call you home.”
I don’t question her anymore as I already feel a familiar, yet foreign pull of magic dance across my mind. I just give myself over.
My hand lies on the trunk of my tree and I sing.
“Air, earth, water, fire so bright,
