Confrontation
Claire's guardian after entering the village put Claire down and held her
Claire's guardian after entering the village put Claire down and held her. The atmosphere felt as if it changed after her guardian put Claire down. "There are a lot of dangerous things around these days because of magic. I want you to never, ever confront a magical being or entity. Magic is dangerous and shouldn't be tampered by those who aren't able to handle it."
"But, what on Earth was that thing? The dark hands, the black slimy liquid, the one that dragged my little sister down the water?" Claire asked. Her guardian taking much more notice with the innocent gaze that she had on him. He couldn't make her happy with just his charms and smiles anymore. He knew what she was thinking about. About the frequent nightmares, he knew about those.
"I'm not going to lie to you anymore Claire. You've grown and whatever time has in store for you is out of my control. The dark creature is a creation of the Witch of the Shadows, the woman that was shrouded in the shadow miasma the night where your little sister Kristen was kidnapped. She's an evil witch who hunts children down to perform her rituals. She's an evil woman and I want you to stay away from her, even if that means ignoring all the signs of your sister. That Witch is dangerous, she controls the shadows and the darkness is a powerful force. Even I couldn't defeat her the first time…"
Claire looked the floor in disappointment. "Does it mean Kristen's dead? The Witch of the Shadows killed her that night?"
Her guardian looked away for a few moments. "I don't want to get you down Claire, but don't get your hopes up…"
Claire shook her head and couldn't believe what she was hearing. She restrained herself from more tears. She couldn't take the news.
"But don't worry… if she is alive, I'm pretty sure somebody that's capable of defeating the Witch of the Shadows, they'll save your sister. They'll save Kristen." He then grinned, hoping for Claire to get herself out from her negative thinking. "There is hope after-all"
She wasn't convinced however and saw his attempt to make her feel better. It was comforting, she really did want to smile back, but there was so much that she wanted to do. She didn't want to wait for someone to save her; Kristen needed to be saved now.
"You don't understand do you, all these nightmares, all the things that remind me of the day. I get this everyday and it's tearing me apart. Her cries, her yelling… She's calling to me. I don't think that it's just coincidence that I met her spectre today. And I'm scared that if I just stand here and do nothing, something is going to happen to her." Her guardian, shrugging his shoulders in disbelief, there wasn't anything in this world that was going to convince her otherwise. "Claire, magic isn't something that you can play with. Not everyone can play hero. If everyone could, there wouldn't be any problems we can't fix. Magic is beneficial, but its benefits also come with lots of consequences. More than it's benefits. And you can't be naïve with magic too, it's dangerous."
"Then what am I supposed to do? Just move around here and wait until something good happens?"
"That's all you can do, it would be stupid for us to confront the Witch of the Shadows without the necessary power you need to defeat her."
Claire fell to the floor and looked around in misery. "There really isn't anything I can do," she thought. Her guardian looked high up in the sky, thinking about the sudden dilemmas. "Has she really returned? But why?" He then looked to Claire, tracing her misery and confusion with his ability to mind read. He then tried to keep positive, thinking of an idea that could possibly cheer Claire up. Even just to take her mind off the subject a little while could have been good. "Claire, why don't we look around the Magic Festival that's near our village? I'm pretty sure we can find something there!" he said in pursuit to cheer her up. "Okay…" Claire said in reluctance. "I'll give you a piggy back," the guardian said with a smile. Claire shrugged her shoulders with a small smile. "Why not?" she said cheekily