Divining Destiny

Chapter Thirteen

Tia and her friends arrived at the mall and after calling their parents, they had a nice wander around. The shop Tia was talking about was indeed having a sale, but it was still too expensive, so they were just happy to window shop, and the afternoon passed pleasantly. The girls left the mall, going their separate directions, and Tia said a soft prayer that her three friends wouldn't go near Ngaire's shop again, though she couldn't do much if they did. A tingle went across the nape of her neck, and she rubbed it absently, but knowing it was a signal she started moving in a different direction, the sensation getting stronger. Suddenly she stopped, pretending to kneel down to tie a shoelace.
"Are you guiding me? Is this a bad place too?" Tia thought to her mind-friends. A steady chorus of "no" echoed in her head.
"We aren't guiding you, nor is it a bad place, we think." Clara said.
"You think?" Tia thought back, a little sarcastically, and she heard chuckles and giggles. She felt a little reassured though, and kept walking, letting her senses guide her. A few minutes later she found herself standing outside a quaint shop front painted blue, the assortment of crystals and books not dissimilar to the ones at the other shop, but the feel of the place was light, airy, and welcoming.
"I like this place." Tia thought as she looked up at the name above the door, Living Energies. Her mind-friends agreed, and Tia walked in. It felt like walking into a warm hug. The atmosphere felt welcoming, and Tia smiled. The owner was busy with customers, but she looked up as Tia entered, something fleeting across her mind, but she turned back to her customer. Tia wandered around, looking at the clothes, books and boxed tarot cards, her hands itching to touch everything, but she refrained, silently admiring everything. The owner finished with her customer, who left moments after, and came over behind Tia.
"Can I help you, young lady?" She asked, and Tia turned to look up at the woman. The owner gasped and took a step back, her eyes wide.
"It's you! But you're...I'm...I'm sorry, how can I help you?" The owner said. Tia felt puzzled, but her friends were reassuring her, telling her it was fine. The owner was looking around, also a little puzzled.
"Oh um...I was looking around, it's all so amazing." Tia said softly. The owner paused, then held her hand out to the girl.
"My name is Jaina, welcome to Living Energies." Jaina said. Tia paused, looking at the hand.
"She won't hurt you." Sierra said. Tia reached out and took Jaina's hand in hers. A spark seemed to fly between the two of them, and Tia pulled back, rubbing her hand on her skirt.
"I'm Tia. Nice to meet you." Tia replied. Jaina smiled slightly.
"The pleasure is all mine. And you should listen to your friend. I get the feeling she's looking out for you." Jaina said. Tia nodded.
"She has since I was a  baby. You heard th...her?" Tia asked, catching herself. She didn't know how much to reveal. Jaina smiled again.
"Oh yes. And I can feel there's more than one. You are one..." Jaina stopped, and mentally shook herself.
"What did you mean, it's you? Did you know I was coming?" Asked Tia. Jaina frowned, and then stepped away, beckoning Tia to follow her. Tia did so, a little dubiously, to the  back of the store. Jaina murmured a few words and Tia felt power brush past her.
"What was that?" Asked Tia. Jaina moved through a door and brought back a book.
"A deterrent spell. If someone wants to come in they will remember something they need to buy, but will still feel the urge to come in, just a bit later. It'll give us a few minutes of privacy." Jaina replied. She flipped through the book in her hands.
"Is that your Book of Shadows?" Tia asked, and her fingers tingled.
"It is, yes. I want to show you something." Said Jaina, and found a page. She held it out to Tia, who took it reluctantly, "read that entry," Jaina encouraged. Tia did as she was told.
"I dreamed of her again, I swear she haunts me. A child really, with hair as black as Corrine's black cat, and eyes as grey as a storm. Who is she?  Why does she call out to me? She asks for help each night, but I can't help her. Yet." Tia read aloud, her heart pounding in her chest. Below the words was a hand-drawn image of her face, coloured in. Tia gasped.
"How is this possible?" Tia asked.
"Look at the date." Jaina prompted. Tia obliged and looked at the top of the page. Reading the date she felt her knees start to buckle and she dropped the book, leaning against the wall. 
"Four years ago?" She gasped, looking down at the pages of the book open on the ground, the picture of her looking up as Jaina bent over and picked up the book, then moved over to Tia to support her.
"I dreamed about you for ages back then. Nearly every night. Then it just stopped." Jaina said. Tia pulled away slightly.
"I wonder why it stopped. I mean, I wonder why you dreamed about me, but I wonder why it just stopped." Tia said.
"Your necklace," Sierra whispered, and Tia grabbed it, pulling it out of her top. Jaina watched her.
"That is a powerful talisman." Jaina said. She tried to touch it, but found she was being repelled.
"My aunt gave it to me when I was eight. It protects me." Tia replied.
"And how old are you now?" Jaina asked.
"Nearly thirteen." Tia said. Jaina nodded and closed the book in her hands, hiding Tia's picture from view.
"That's why then. It protects you. Never let anyone tell you to take it off. Not me, not your aunt, not anyone. It will protect you as long as you wear it." Jaina said. They both felt someone enter the shop and Tia stepped away, looking at displays as Jaina put her book away in the store room and then went to assist the new customer. Tia wandered around, fingers dancing over book spines and boxes of tarot cards, everything promising to give her knowledge. She felt a pulling on her fingers, as though one of the books were trying to get her attention, and she kept moving her fingers over the books, finally stopping on a purple velvet bound book, and she pulled the book to her. It was a blank book with a symbol on the purple cover, one Tia had never seen before. It looked like five diamonds overlapping, one central diamond on top of two diamonds that were also overlapping two more diamonds. The centre diamond was a deep purple, the top diamond a bright yellow, the next was red, the one below the purple diamond was blue, the next a light green. 
"It's mine." Tia whispered and placed the book under her arm, glad she'd saved up her money. She then moved to the decks of tarot cards, looking at each set. They were too expensive for her, but she dreamed about having her own deck one day. Jaina finished with her other customer and then came over to Tia.
"Have you found anything that you like?" Jaina asked. 
"Oh, so many things, but I really want this book." Tia said softly, holding out the book with the overlapping diamonds. Jaina took it and looked at it.
"That's odd, I've never seen this before, and I would remember such a strange symbol. But I know I've never seen it." Jaina said, her finger touching each of the diamonds in turn.
"Very strange." Tia agreed, then took the book back and wrapped her arms around it, almost protectively. Jaina watched her.
"Is there anything else that you need?" Jaina asked as she turned towards the counter.
"A teacher and mentor." Clara said. Tia told her to shush, but Jaina turned and looked at Tia."
"A teacher? Why?" Jaina asked. Tia blushed slightly.
"My aunt says that I need to learn my magickal signature and how to perform spells without my enemies feeling it. The last time I accidentally cast a spell everyone felt it. It was a few years ago now." Tia started, then stopped, unsure how much to say.
"I remember that. I remember feeling power. That was you? What did you do anyway?" Jaina asked. Tia blushed more and fiddled with her hair.
"I healed a bird. It hit my kitchen window and I thought it hadn't hurt itself too badly, but I was told it had broken its neck. And I healed it."  Tia said, Jaina gaped at her.
"Wow. You healed an animal? I don't know many initiated witches that can do that, let alone uninitiated witches. Was it actually dead?" Jaina asked.
"I don't think so. It still had a heartbeat, and it moved in my hand, so I thought it was mostly okay." Tia said, and Jaina was silent  for a few moments.
"I can understand why I stopped dreaming about you. That necklace is strong enough to shield you. Don't take it off. As to why I dreamed about you, maybe I am to mentor you, to help you. Your...friends?...probably agree." Jaina said. Tia nodded.
"They do." She replied.
"How many friends do you have? That are in your head, I mean." Jaina asked.
"Six mind-friends. Only I can see them and hear them, well mostly me, no one else has, until you." Tia said.
"And the woman at the other store. She saw me." Anna said. Jaina looked around.
"I can't see her, but I heard one." Jaina said.
"She's invisible right now, but she spoke aloud instead of in my head, as they usually do." Tia explained.
"What other woman?" Jaina asked.
"The other magic store, we think her name is Ngaire, my friends and I...real friends not mind-friends, went there the other day, but Anna beckoned me out, we think Ngaire saw her. I don't want to go there again." Tia said. Jaina moved through the store.
"I would not be one to put down a fellow witch, but it is wise to not go back there. I get, well, I wouldn't call them bad vibes, but certainly negative. Your friends had the right idea to dissuade you from going there.I have heard things about Ngaire that I didn't like." Jaina said gently. Tia looked at her watch, then to Jaina.
"I should get going home, Mum will be starting to wonder where I've got to." Tia said. Jaina nodded, and wrapped the book for Tia.
"I hope to see you again, And just so you know, only an initiated witch can hide their magick from another witch, but our signature is as unique as us. Once you learn it you will know what you need to do. Until you are initiated do not perform any spells or rituals without another witch around. Even with that necklace on, if these enemies of yours are actively seeking you, they may feel your power. Even if they don't realise it's you, the magnitude of your power is very enticing. I know you want to do so much, but patience is key. I will see you again very soon, Tia." Jaina said, and kissed Tia's forehead gently, her breath warming the spot.
"Thank you, Jaina. That means a lot to me. I will be careful." Tia said.
"Blessed be." Jaina said softly, and Tia tilted her head slightly.
"Blessed be." Tia replied, and picked up her schoolbag at the entrance, holding her purchase, and then hurried from the shop. Jaina watched her go, a feeling of utter amazement washing over her. That brief contact with Tia's forehead had told her so much more than Tia had said to her during their brief encounter. The child was full to the brim with power, it almost lit her up. She rarely felt any power like that, and if she didn't protect the girl soon, she would surely be harmed.
"Oh Goddess, what do I do?" Jaina said to herself as she went about closing up the shop.
"Just guide her." A voice said, and Jaina spun around to see a young woman that looked a lot like Tia standing by the counter, but she was dressed in a long white dress and her hair was shoulder-length.
"You are one of her mind-friends, aren't you?" Jaina asked, and the woman nodded.
"I'm Clara. Amber, or Tia as she's called now, is destined for something great, but we aren't allowed to say what yet. It was a mistake for her to have gone to that other shop first, that was not our intention at ll. She was always destined to find you though." Clara said.  Jaina listened, leaning against the counter, glad the doors to her shop were locked, both by key and magick.
"Incredible. So what are you all to her then? Guiding angels?" Jaina asked, though she got the feeling that definitely wasn't it. Clara smiled.
"I think you already know the answer to that, or feel something. The six of us are her older sisters. She is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, and we were all murdered by a powerful witch that didn't want a prophesy about Tia to come into fruition." Clara said. Jaina brought her hands to her mouth in horror.
"That was nearly thirteen years ago. I remember the news program. It tried to blame faulty wiring." Jaina said. Clara shook her head slowly.
"That is what the witch wanted everyone to believe." Clara said. Jaina sad down in her chair behind the counter.
"So, if Tia comes back, the Goddess wants me to be her mentor? I am grateful, but there are stronger witches out there. Ones that can help her." Jaina said. Clara smiled.
"You are perfect. You're close by, still young, and you have the time needed. And you have this shop. The perfect place. A natural leader, yet nurturing. The Goddess knows how things are." Clara said. She looked to the side, and Jain thought she heard voices.
"We will see you soon. Thank you for listening. It has been a long time since we spoke to someone other than Amber. Blessed be." Clara said, and faded away. Jaina watched the place she'd stood for a few moments, then mentally shook herself and finished packing up, sending a mental thought of thanks to the Goddess.