After a long relaxing meditation, Veronica was able to think. She shook her head .'Why was he being stubborn about the amulet, it was just jewelry." It's not like she had been given a poison drink or a deadly weapon. That creature was just over sensitive, Ludwig worried too damn much.' Writing that down in her book as well. She knew sleep was the best thing for a day like a dung heap, but  as usual, refused the notion of it. When it came to the power that the night held on her, it was a mighty stubborn force .She was a child of the darkness. She went over the strange events of her day. She wondered if it was just a normal bad day or was karma after her once again. 

She flipped open her book of shadows and quickly wrote that down. She  had added the little tiff with Ludwig, hoping to gain some insight into what his problem was with her having another friend. She didn't understand it and she feared she never would. She took a deep breath in aggravation. Her blood felt as if it would boil at any moment, she didn't know what the gargoyles problem really was; therefore she didn't know how to fix it. The mere thought of it began to piss her off. She stopped; she remembered that same stir of rage when the sky lit up neon pink in the forest. She tried to breathe, but she couldn't relax . She started chanting and walking in circles around her room. She was forcing herself not to panic; it was a lot harder than she thought it would be.

Veronica spent most of her night calming herself and working in her spell book until the later hours had passed her by. The events of the day kept playing over and over again in her mind. It was like a bad play or waking nightmare. It really wasn't that bad, was it? She asked the reflection in her vanity mirror. It will be fine, she told herself. All of the day's events had bothered her but none so much as Ludwig taking off like that. The unbelievable storm cloud with pink thunder had startled her a great deal, but nothing compared to the way Ludwig could make her feel.

What was his problem with Galderian? Her beloved gargoyle was acting like a child jealous over another one's toy or new pet. It was ridiculous! He's jealous of a bird? How could I even know how to respond to this? The avalanche of worry came down on her like acid rain. It wasn't easy for her to keep reminding herself that everything would work out, in the end. She knew it would, but that idea seemed impossible.

 She was lost in her thoughts longer than she anticipated. She nearly jumped when she heard the birds chirping outside, which meant the dawning of another day would soon follow. She slowly forced herself to snuff out the candles burning on her altar, and close her spell book for the night. She crawled under the covers to sleep away the blinding morning sunshine. She had attempted being a day person, after a few days, she couldn't function. She was not of the light path, even her soul knew it. As her thoughts rambled on eventually sleep had taken her for its own once again.

She didn't have a restful sleep, thanks to her dreams constantly jolting her awake. She kept dreaming of words being spoken by a great dark sorcerer;

One of light one of dark together ignite divinity's spark...

That specific phrase kept waking her; she couldn't help but add it to the dream section of her spell book. By the third time it happened, she was getting spooked. It annoyed her not knowing what the messages meant. She firmly believed everything happens for a reason, but she shuddered to think what this could be. She rolled back over; she didn't care what time it was, or what she was supposed to do. Veronica needed to sleep.

While Veronica slept through into the late afternoon, Gwen was as always up with the sun, ready to get through her chores so she could have a little free time. She went through her chores with the speed of a jack rabbit. She didn't have big plans today, but she intended on spending time with her newest friend. She smiled as she straightened up the kitchen and living area. Gwen couldn't wait to get going to enjoy the day with a good friend.

 She watched the birds flying overhead. She made sure it wasn't that raven that she had seen a few days ago. She wasn't sure why but that raven had scared her. She got a bad feeling when she saw it. It was confusing, she had always loved creatures, birds were interesting to her, but not that one. She vaguely remembered pulling Trinity and heading to the house. It wasn't fear or worry that made her run, it was instinct. She focused herself to be more positive and think of things that made her happier, like her friends.

Looking down she saw her basil and ginger root, alongside her cilantro and mint. It was gorgeous. She admired it just a little longer before going inside to see if the coffee was ready yet. She turned and walked without a care in the world. She opened the back door to see her mother and father sitting in the kitchen with coffee mugs in front of them.

"Good morning, I trust the coffee is ready?" Gwen greeted them.

"Yes thank you it's nice to have it ready before I'm awake, how thoughtful of you." spoke her mother. The potion must still be working, Gwen thought before responding to her mother.

"Sure mom, it's no problem. I checked on the garden, it looks wonderful." She complimented her mother's hard work, which always made Sofia beam with pride.

 The garden seemed to be the connection point in her family. It didn't matter who was right or wrong when it came to their garden. It always turned out better each year; it seemed to grow with Gwen.

"Thank you, I'm glad you noticed." Sophia spoke with gratitude.

'Yes, daughter thank you." chimed in Angus who wasn't fully awake, rubbing his eyes and scratching his short red beard.

"You're welcome pa." Gwen piped up in a cheery voice.

"Gwen, we talked it over. Trinity can stay here for a while; tell her thank you for giving us a few nights to decide."

Do you mean it?"

Sofia nodded to her with a flushed grin.

"Where is she now?" Angus asked to be polite, nothing more.

"She stayed with Canella at Maggie's cottage."

Her father simply nodded to her as he chugged down his coffee. He then got up and kissed his wife goodbye as he headed off to work.

"I can't wait to go tell her, thanks mom."

"You just make sure we don't regret doing this, ok?"

"I promise we won't let you down."

"I know you won't honey." Sofia told her with the look of pride and belief only a mother could give. Sofia went back to her coffee, sipping it in long spurts until she filled it up again.

"When are you going to meet with Trinity?" Sofia asked making polite conversation.

"I planned on leaving in a little while." Gwen replied.

Her mother simply nodded to her, sipping her coffee and mentally planning her day.

Gwen couldn't wait to talk to Trinity about moving in with her, it would be so exciting just like having a sister. She couldn't wait to get Trinity moved in to her room so they could stay up late, talk and work on their magic together. Gwen had gone to her bedroom to waste a few more minutes. She was a fast runner and she knew her own speed when it came down to the freedom of the forest, she ran free through the deep woods of Galderia as if she were running all over the world.

She muttered around her room for another twenty minutes before getting her hand made knapsack. She gathered what she may need;going over to Maggie's cottage, so  gently placed her spell book inside along with her wand and poetry book. Sometimes the forest seemed to be housing her muse, there were days she could sit under it and add to her poetry book. She had a habit of looking through it whenever she touched it. She checked, she had only added five poems to it. She had filled her old one; it took her a few years to do so.

She placed the poetry book next to her spell book, closed it and headed out of her bedroom. She quickly hugged her mother good bye before leaving at full speed down the monster sized hill. She ran until she got into town, slowing her pace down to catch her breath. She waved to a few of the towns people that she knew, like Emily's mother who was heading into the little grocery store, then she saw Tom who was Sarah's boyfriend going into the pub.

She walked the rest of the way and gently knocked on the old wooden door. She waited patiently for someone to answer the knock. She waited a moment, Canella answered the door.

"Gwen, nice to see you. Do come in, join us for tea."

"Sure that sounds good to me." Gwen greeted the older woman in her usual cheerful mood. She followed Canella. Maggie was sitting at the small kitchen table with Trinity waiting for the tea kettle. Turning to the side Maggie looked to see who had been at the door. She gave a simple grin.

"Gwen dear you've come to join us for tea, how nice."

"Yes, but I also brought good news." Gwen informed her taking a seat next to Trinity.

"Well spill it child, what news?" Maggie told her.

"What's going on?" Trinity chimed in.

"Well Trinity my parents thought it over and they said you can move in with us." Gwen blurted it out.

"Oh are you serious, really?" Trinity spoke in disbelief and excitement.

"Trinity of course she's serious, she wouldn't have said it." Canella joined in the conversation.

Maggie laughed a good hearty little chuckle.

"Yes, mother told me just before I came here." Gwen admitted to them. Suddenly the tea kettle whistle blew letting them know it was ready. Canella walked over and got the four tea mugs and the kettle, pouring a cup for each of them. Canella took a seat next to her old aunt. Maggie was a lot of fun; she had missed her over the years. She sipped at her tea, trying to ignore teenaged girl talk, it was one of those human teenager things than infuriated her.

Trinity and Gwen talked about everything they could as they drank down the tea; Maggie just watched the two of them. She was glad to see the new sorceress fitting in so well. She had a gut feeling that she needed to be here, too. Canella poured the girl's more tea, nodding and smiling when prompted.

"Now that Trinity's found her footing, what are you going to do?" Maggie calmly asked her great niece.

"I will go back to the council for the next assignment, after a few days of earned personal time."

"What are you going to do with your personal time dear?" Maggie asked, the two younger girls fell silent to listen.

"I'm no longer needed here; I'm to disappear from Trinity's chosen path. I plan to go to my home village and see my mother." Canella informed them.

"When will you be leaving us?" Trinity asked, knowing she would miss her instructor.

"I think I'll stay here until tomorrow morning." Canella replied.

"Well good then we can spend time together before you go." Trinity spoke with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"It'll be okay, I promise." Gwen whispered to her new friend.

Trinity just gave her a half smile, so her friend wouldn't worry. She nodded and drank the rest of the tea.

Gwen completely understood that Trinity would want to spend more time with Canella before never seeing her again or at least not for a long time. She sipped her tea and poured more for all of them. It was a great morning for the four women, with a lot of fun and laughter they spent the better part of the morning in the cottage having tea. Once they had gone through two kettles of tea, Trinity said her goodbyes to Canella; she was going to miss her first mentor. Gwen wanted to take Trinity out exploring, she could get settled in later. Gwen hugged Maggie goodbye. 

The two young witches headed off into the forest for a little fun and adventure, the two of them went around the corner from Maggie's home and headed into the thickest end of the forest.