The woman's house was small and simple, an almost homey atmosphere. A small fire was crackling in the fireplace, and some bread thing that smelled delicious was in the oven. I breathed in deeply. It was a sense of contentment.

She gestured for us to sit down at a table, and we obliged. Audrey was tense, her eyes darting around the room, her brow furrowed. Audrey was always slow to trust.

The woman placed three mugs of something steaming in front of us. It smelled like heaven, chocolatey with a vanilla tint. Audrey eyed her cup suspiciously, and Sophie, sensing her hesitation, waited for a moment. But I detected no malice in the woman, nor the cottage, nor the drinks. I took a tenative sip.

My tongue practically lit up with joy. It was like milk hot chocolate, white hot chocolate, and hot vanilla (if there is such a thing) mixed together. I sighed while I savored it. Then I took another sip. Warmth blossomed in my chest. I couldn't hold back a smile from my face.

Sophie drank next, then finally Audrey. They loved it just as I did. It tasted like home.

"Do you like it?" The woman said, breaking me out of my thoughts. I nodded emphatically. She smiled. "It's called ambrosia, if you've heard of it before. It always tastes like what you need most at the moment."

"It tastes like home," Sophie said quietly. The woman gave a pained smile. "I know, child. I know."

She began wrapping a green cloth around my wounded arm. I winced. It was cold and wet, and hurt when it touched my skin. The woman tied it off gently. "That was quite brave of you, continuing to fight with an injury like this," she whispered. I shrugged with my good arm.

"By the way, Sierra," Audrey said, turning to me, "that thing you did with your elbow. That was awesome! Teach me that!"

I shifted uncomfortably. "It's not that cool. Stage Combat 101, never hit anyone with your elbow. The bone there is harder and more concentrated. If you accidentally hit someone in the face with it, you could really hurt them."

They stared at me. "Stage combat?" Sophie asked.

"I told you guys I did a lot of theater," I said. I looked at their blank faces. "Um, or maybe not." There was an awkward silence.

The woman cleared her throat. "I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Genevieve. I am a diviner."

There was silence, except for the crackling of the fire. Funny thing, fire. It becomes the loudest things in moments of silence. Always bright, always dancing, just begging for attention.

"A diviner?" Audrey blurted out. "Those exist?"

"What's a diviner?" Sophie whispered.

"Like a fortune teller," I whispered back. She nodded.

"Yes dear, they most definitely do exist," Genevieve said with a wry smile on her face. "My gift is not much appreciated in the world today."

She looked at us, suddenly serious. "You gave me a gift. You saved my life. Now I would like to share my gift with you."

There was silence. The Audrey exclaimed, "You mean tell our future?" She raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, but that's a bunch of balony."

Genevieve suddenly giggled, in a very juvenile, almost...creepy, way. I squirmed uncomfortably.

"Oh dear, are you one of thooooose people, the disbelievers?" she teased, her eyes growing wide. I shared a worried look with Sophie. Was this lady ok?

Genevieve started walking towards a different section of the cottage. She knelt down, rolled a carpet up a little, which revealed a trapdoor. She opened it and began climbing down. She popped her head back up to look at us, her eyes still wide and a strange grin on her face. "Well aren't you coming dears? Haven't you ever had your fortune told before?" Her gaze darkened, but she never stopped smiling. "You never know until you try it."

I looked at my friends hesitantly. The last thing I wanted to do was go down through a trapdoor after a woman who had just rapidly changed personalities.

Then we slowly stood to follow her down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The room underneath was very...purple. There was purple carpet over the floor, the walls, the ceiling...even the small table in the middle of the room appeared to be covered in a purple fuzz. There were purple candles lining the wall. I blinked, trying to have my eyes adjust.

Genivieve was bustling around the room, finding miniscule mistakes in the angle of her candles and tilting them slightly to fix it. When she noticed that we were in the room, she hurried to one of the seats around the table. "Sit, children, sit," she insisted. We slowly walked over to the table and sat in the plushy (purple) chairs.

Genevieve closed her eyes and raised her arms to the ceiling. It was awkwardly silent. Then a small hissing noise came from the ceiling. We looked up, and a small string of smoke was coming from a fog machine. I crinkled my nose. It smelled like burnt waffles.

Then a small panel in the ceiling opened and a crystal ball slowly floated down. I gaped. It was FLOATING. It descended until it was right in front of my face. I looked at Sophie and Audrey in amazement. Sophie looked as amazed as I felt. Audrey raised an eyebrow and waved her hand out right above the crystal ball. It swung a little. Oh. Strings.

Genivieve took the crystal ball and placed it on a golden stand (breaking the strings presumably). Then she waved her hand above the ball and chanted,

"When the world above is broken,
And the sky comes crashing down,
I ask thee crystal ball my friend,
The future may be found."

"But the world isn't broken or anything," Sophie whispered. "Shouldn't she say something else?"

Audrey shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned, crazy people can say what they want," she whispered.

Genivieve bowed her head and continued whispering. I shifted awkwardly. I felt like there should be intense music or something, but there was only silence, thick as a cloud.

Suddenly her head whipped up, her eyes wide. "Suffering!" she gasped. "Terrible suffering." Her eyes welled up with tears. "To survive, your emotions, your very soul, will be trampled on, beaten up, torn to pieces!" She choked. Her lip began to tremble. "So much...so much pain!!!"

My blood ran cold. My soul? Beaten up? Torn to pieces? What did it mean?

"There is only one way you will make it out alive," she whispered, shaking like a leaf. "If you fail, you will perish in the worst way possible." She bowed her head. "You will lose the will to live."

Sophie made a gasping, choking noise. I felt like I couldn't breathe at all.

"But," Genivieve continued, a new light on her eyes, "should you survive, you will become...whole. You will be stronger than you've ever been before, a being of supreme power and strength!"

Now she was beginning to sound crazy again.

"I see...achievement of..." suddenly she shook her head. "No, not possible," she murmured. Audrey leaned forwards. "What? What is it?"

Genivieve shook her head. "I must have been mistaken. That could never happen." She looked at us, and in her eyes I could see the same soft, kind woman we had met at first. "Children, you can only win this fight by mastering the greatest power of all. No one can help you find it but each other. It lives in your heart," she finished, smiling.

I heard Audrey stifle a laugh. I nudged her with my knee and she quieted.

Genivieve stood up. "Now, children, you must go soon, and there is something more I must give you."

The diviner's work was done.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We stood outside the door of the small cottage, with small sacks filled with food that Genivieve had insisted we take. I couldn't possibly think of anything else she could give us, but she had bustled into the cottage once more.

Audrey sighed. "I still don't know why we're trusting the old dingbat," she muttered.

"Audrey!" Sophie exclaimed. "That was rude," she whispered.

"It can't hurt to wait," I reminded her.

"Yes it can!" she said with sudden intensity. I turned to look at her. Her head was hung. "We only have two weeks before the enchantment breaks. I don't even know how many days it's been." Her voice softened. "We can't afford to waste any time."

Just as that depressing thought settled in, Genivieve came out of the house with a small red book and her hand in a relaxed fist. She beckoned us over with her other hand, awkwardly trying to keep one hand closed, hold the book, and wave us over with the other hand.

"This is for you, Sierra dear," she said, holding out her closed hand. I cupped my hands under it and she dropped a small round object. I looked closer. It was a miniature crystal ball with a hook on top. A necklace charm. "Thank you so much," I said softly. "It's beautiful."

"You'll be a friend of the diviners for life," she said, smiling. Then she turned to Sophie. "This is for you, dear." She held out the book. Sophie took it, her eyes wide. "Thank you..." she whispered. Genivieve chuckled. "Ask the book a question, any question, and if it's common knowledge for the most part, the book will answer it for you."

"So, like the internet?" Sophie asked uncertainly. Genivieve looked confused. "Never mind," Sophie muttered, as she slipped the book into her pack.

Genivieve to Audrey. "I have nothing for you, my dear, but a piece of advice." She took her hands. Audrey looked like half of her was confused, the other half wanting to run.

Genivieve smiled sadly. "Not every problem can be solved with your hands, or even your words. Some have to be solved with your heart." Audrey gulped and nodded.

"What are you going to do about the wolves?" I asked, gesturing to the limp bodies around us. Genevieve threw her head back and laughed. "Oh, them? They're mine." Her eyes glittered. "They're my form of protection. They were all agitated this afternoon." She frowned. "I have no idea why."

I looked at Audrey. "Tormentor," she mouthed. I nodded.

Genivieve stepped back to the step of her house. "Goodbye! And I wish that fortune would follow you wherever you go." She looked at us with pity. "But when it doesn't, remember that something must prevail in the end, and you must fight with every inch of your being to come out as victor. Farewell!"

And with that, we left the house of the diviner.