My hyperfixation won't let me go, so here's the next chapter :D
Hope you enjoy!
...
Changing moodsAlmost two years had passed since that faithful day. The day they had opened their doors and were granted with magic. The day they had gotten their gifts.
Julietta, having always taken care of her siblings (or in Pepas case having always tried to) got the gift of healing.
It seemed so fitting that Pepa still smiles about it today. Her sister was as caring as their mother was, if not more.
Figuring out what exactly the magic painting on her door meant had been a bit of a struggle though. At first she tried offering someone food from her plate to cure them, but that didn't work. Then she tried feeding them by hand but that wouldn't work out either. She tried almost anything a 5-year-old could think of and when nothing worked she threw a tantrum, declaring she would never leave her room again.
This lasted a 2 whole hours, before she got so bored that she had to go look for her siblings.
It took her weeks to get it right. But when Bruno came home one day, crying because of a scraped knee she offered to make cacao, eventhough Mamá had forbidden them from using the stove. And while drinking it learned the secret to her power in form of her brothers mending knee. She had been occupying the kitchen every single day since she discovered that it took self cooked meals to heal someone.
Pepa had almost thought that Julie had become the towns favorite over night, but she knew that wasn't true. She had been the favorite triplet long before that, which just seemed logical when you looked at the other two.
A boy so socially akward that it sometimes hurt to watch, with peculiar quirks, sometimes bordering on down right lunatic.
And a girl with a temper as fiery as her curls, not excatly socially akward but rather too irritable to really get along with others and therefore keeping to herself, shutting everyone out.
But not Julietta. No. She was the sweet, caring girl everyone simply adored. Mamá was immensely proud of her.
...
Brunos gift of seeing the future wasn't exactly something Pepa would have chosen for her little brother.
He had a habbit of being a tad superstitious and always expecting the worst case scenario. Quirly as he might have been, she knew deep down all he did was worry, much like herself. She could see it by his chewed down fingernails and his tics that would increase whenever he felt nervous. She could hear his breath hitch, his stuttering, muttering and mumbling. She could feel him tense up and his muscles twitch just below his skin.
She knew, because she did this too.
After his first vision everthing was fine.
He had told the nice pregnat woman, that lived near the church to be expecting healthy twins and when this came true people were happy and so was he. She remembered how proud he had looked when people thanked him as if he had made it happen instead of simply knowing it would. His face had sported a radiant smile for days, especially since the other children seemed to have lost their fear of him, inviting him to play and even arguing about who got to sit next to him.
Pepa had watched from her isolated spot near the bridge, a little jealous but so unbelievably happy for him, that she had to pinch herself until her skin bruised in order to keep her emotions from bubbling over.
She wished it would have lasted forever.
But his second vision destroyed everthing good about as fast as it had come.
He saw wild animals breaking through fences, killing donkeys and sheep all around the village, leaving a sea of red in their trail. He had been terrified for days, refusing to leave the Casita and only comming out of his room every now and then to eat something. He was beginning to look like a ghost, his skin white, cheeks hollow and bones showing through his skin. The bags under his eyes were getting darker with every nightmare evading his sleep.
Pepa joined him most nights, caressing his back and whispering reassurences, staying until his breathing had evened out. He would jolt awake just a few hours later, but there was nothing she could do about that. She had stayed an entire night once, but he still woke up and simply refused to go back to sleep, no matter how hard she tried.
His little, almost unnoticable quirks and tics that he'd always had were becoming more frequent and more obvious with each passing day.
Knock, knock, knock on wood. A little salt. Knock on wood.
She understood.
It was his way of coping with not being able to cope. It was him trying to hang onto his sanity. Mamá was immensely worried about him.
...
And then there was her
Affecting the weather through her mood. Again, not something she found all that fitting. She had always been somewhat of an emotional hurricane but now it had become litteral.
She remembered the day they had recived their gifts clearly in her mind. How Mamá had stood in front of the shimmering doors, her eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. The candle in her hand burning brighter than ever before. How she and her siblings had found themselves standing before a door each, as if this particular room was calling for them. The glowing pattern inviting them to step closer. How Casita had all but dragged them there, tiles ratteling in excitement and the very foundation grumbeling in encouragement.
When they had touched the doorknobs wonderful images appeared, portraiing the triplets as enchantig figures.
Pepa had been so excited in such an innocent, childlike way, that she had jumped and laughed in joy, her big green eyes lighting up in a way they hadn't in months. For a moment forgetting all about keeping her feelings hidden.
But when a grey cloud appeared above her head, not all that dark but threatening all the same, raining hailstones down at her, all happiness left her tiny body to make room for paralysing fear. She didn't mean to scream, but it was to avail and out of the corner of her eyes she could see her mothers frightend look and her siblings covering their ears with a pained expression. The cloud started to change and was now thundering, lighting breaking through the bottom, not hurting or even touching her but she could feel electricity licking at her skin. There was a wind starting to pick up and the hail hurned into loud splashing raindrops, soaking her from head to toe in mere seconds.
All she could think of in that moment was to run.
Images from the dream flashed in her mind, the fearful faces of her family, all looking at her with terror only adding to her anxiety.
So she did the first thing that came to her mind, seeking shelter behind the magical door, hoping for a sanctuary. She slammed the door loudly behind herself, hoping to shut the downpour out. The room, or rather the sphere that awaited her wasn't at all what she had been expecting. It looked.. just like her dream.
Before everthing had turned dark and scary.
White, fluffy clouds littered the floor, walls and ceiling, rays of sunshine were breaking through in various places, creating something like spotlights to illuminate several pieces of furniture.
A darker corner saw a big soft chair in front of a fireplace with her favorite books in a messy pile next to it. She loved sitting by a warm, crackling fire, getting sucked into fantastical stories.
In the middle of the space stood a bed made of glittering mist, looking even more inviting than the flowery meadows she and her siblings had fallen asleep in after playing for hours on end.
In the far right corner two rainbows shone bright and colourful, a curtain of tiny raindrops shimmering in front of them, reflecting the shades... It was breathtaking.
"Pepa!", there was banging on the door behind her. "Pepa! Are you ok?"
She didn't react. All she could do was remain frozen on the spot, taking everthing in. The nagging thought that this might turn out to be another nightmare made her hold her breath for while, just waiting. Listening.
When nothing changed she finally took a deep breath.
...
It had taken her some time to get her powers somewhat under control.
Much like her brother she had taken to the habbit of staying in her room most of the time, only showing up for a meal every now and then. She too had become even thinner than before and her already light skin looked almost transparent at times. Shadows beneath her eyes spoke of too little sleep and too much worry haunting her day and night.
Her mother had tried to help. She really had. But much like Bruno Pepa couldn't be convinced, so eventually Alma had given up. After all, there wasn't that much she could do without magic of her own.
She didn't know that the two troubled children visited each other on a daily (or rather nightly) basis. Finding relief in talking to someone who just understood.
Sharing fears and hopes, crying and laughing together, finding new ways to keep their minds from exploding. They spent hours coaching each other through magical outbreaks, trying to find ways to shut their powers down at will, exploring and studying the magic they had been given.
It helped.
A little at least.
Pepa still had no idea how to properly control the weather. Pretending to feel something she actually didn't hadn't been that difficult, but there was more to this magic than that. She had figured out pretty quickly that happiness didn't bring the sunshine she had hoped for.
At least not always.
Sometimes happiness meant sunshine or rainbows that would appear above her head. But other times it came in form of a hailstorm, with grey clouds and specks of ice knicking her skin. Sadness mostly brought rain and, depending on the intensity, fog. But the fog usually appeared when she was feeling particulary lonely and the rain also showed with anger or fear. But fear and worry usually led to snow or a storm. But then again storms could also be caused by excitement. But most often excitement created rainbows and...
Well, it just wasn't that easy, ok?
So instead of trying to think happy thoughts she concentrated on picturing warm, beautiful days, full of light and life. She imagined clear skies.
Clear skies, clear skies, clear skies...
It had become her mantra. Something to hold onto when everything become too overwhelming.
She would repeat it in her head, over and over, speaking it out loud when she was certain noone would hear.
Her Mamá had heard her once, pride filling her chest when she heard her daughter bestowing such wonderful things upon their village. So utterly relieved that Pepa had found her way back to happiness and was finally using her wonderful gift to serve their community.
But Pepa hadn't found her way back to happiness.
Because happiness was just as uncontrolable as anything else.
Clear skies, clear skies, clear skies.
Because happiness didn't help.
Clear skies, clear skies, clear skies.
No feeling did.
Clear skies, clear skies, clear skies.
Not feeling anything though..
Clear skies, clear skies, clear skies.
Now that helped.
...
Oh lord we're getting to the angsty part sooner than I thought...
Hope you enjoyed anyway!
