"Trey and Caley, if you don't mind, I could use some help cleaning up some of these guest rooms," Natalia said, walking into my room where Trey and I were lounging around.

"Why?" Trey asked.

"Why what?" Natalia asked, annoyed.

"Why are you cleaning the guest rooms?" he specified.

"Because we're going to have guests over for Christmas and they need a place to stay," Natalia replied.

"What kind of guests?" I asked, getting up. We followed her out of my room.

"Important ones. From Christopher's work place," she replied.

"Why are they coming over?" I questioned, my mind reeling.

Christopher worked for the Trinity Government. That meant there would be government officials over at Trey's house, which meant it was a perfect opportunity to put my spying skills to use. I felt my heart race. I would finally find out who was in the Order. I would finally be able to be useful to Elijah.

As I thought this, I paused. Was I excited about finally being able to be a spy? Was I getting excited to actually do work for the dark side? Was I looking forward to it?

I couldn't believe it, but I had finally embraced the dark side. I was ready to do work for it. I wanted to do work for it.

"Caley?" Trey said, pulling me out of my thoughts. I blinked and looked at him. Natalia and him were at the bottom of the staircase and I was still standing at the top, my hand resting on the railing. I had gotten so caught up in my thoughts that I had stopped moving.

"Are you all right?" Natalia asked.

"Yeah..." I said, still partially in a daze. I shook my head slightly and regained composure. "Yes, I'm fine. I just remembered something,"  I said.

"What?" Trey asked as I descended the staircase.

"It's nothing," I replied casually. I saw him furrow his brow, but he didn't press for more information. We followed Natalia to one of the bedrooms that was on the main level.

"So there are some new bedspreads in the closet. I need you to put that on the bed and make sure you change the bedskirt, too. There are new curtains in the closet, too and I need you to put those up, as well," Natalia instructed.

"Why do we have to change the curtains?" Trey asked, groaning.

"Because the curtains match the bedspread," Natalia replied. "Get to work in here and then move on to the other bedrooms. I have to start making food," she said. With that, she turned around and walked out of the room. Trey sat down on the bed, an annoyed expression on his face.

"This is why we should have maids," he mumbled. I chuckled and hit him over the head with a pillow.

"Don't be a baby," I said. "It's not like we were doing anything, anyway," I added, pulling a chair over to the curtains. As I did this, I realized I could just use magic. I nudged Trey, who had gotten up to help me.

"We can use magic. Cole's not home," I said. Trey's eyes immediately lit up.

"You're right! Excellent! We'll be done in no time," he said excitedly.

And we were. We finished changing the curtains and bedding in about five minutes.

"Who knew those basic spells we learned in high school would ever come in handy?" Trey commented as we stood back to examine our work.

"Well, I guess that's why they're basic," I said. He nodded.

We continued to do this for each guest room that was available, which was seven. I was never ceased to be amazed at how incredibly large Trey's house. It made me a little sad because I thought of the tiny apartment I had grown up in. It made me realize how completely different mine and Trey's lives were.

"That took a total of thirty minutes to do," Trey said when we were done.

"I'm exhausted," I said.

"Seriously?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I was joking," I replied.

"Now what are we going to do?" he asked as we walked into the kitchen, following the delicious aroma of Natalia's homemade cooking. We entered the kitchen to find several pots and pans on the stove top with spoons in them that were stirring on their own account. It looked like Natalia was also taking advantage of the fact that Cole wasn't at home. She was using magic to cook.

"Already finished?" Natalia asked.

"We did what you're doing," I replied.

"We used magic," Trey said. She pursed her lips.

"I can't say approve. You should learn how to do things without magic and not always rely on it. But since I'm doing the same, I can't really complain," she said.

"Do you have anything else for us to do?" I asked. She paused to think, tapping her finger on her chin.

"I need you to go to Gertrude's in Trinity Hollow. I need some spices and herbs for the week. And while you're there, pick up some takeout from Sylvia. I honestly don't have time to make lunch at the moment," she said, handing Trey a piece of paper with the items we needed.

"How will we get there?" Trey asked.

"Caley can Transport, can't she?" Natalia responded.

"Oh, right," Trey said, a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"How soon do you need it?" I asked.

"Christopher and Michael won't be home until 5. But Cole is due to be home by 3. So make it back before 3," Natalia said. We nodded and walked upstairs to retrieve our jackets.

"It's kind of annoying that Cole can't know about magic," Trey said.

"I know. It's dumb. I don't understand why we have to hide magic from people that are going to be wizards or witches eventually. I mean, you might as well expose them now so they're not as shocked as we were when we found out," I replied.

"I guess it's for safety, though. We wouldn't want kids to go around trying to use magic when they aren't ready to," Trey said. I frowned slightly. Spoken like someone from the good side.

"So should I trust you to Transport me without splicing me?" he asked.

"Oh, hush. I've known how to Transport for over five months now. I'm a pro," I said. He rolled his eyes. We walked outside and I took his arm.

"Brace yourself," I warned. I formed the picture of Sylvia's in my mind and then silently said the spell. I felt the familiar vacuum feeling as we were transported to Trinity Hollow. A few seconds later, we touched ground. Trey nearly lost him balance when we landed, but I grabbed onto his arm tightly.

"Woah. That--that is a sick feeling," he gasped, clutching his stomach and turning slightly pale.

"You get used to it," I said. I looked up and was satisfied that we had successfully landed in front of Sylvia's restaraunt.

"Remember all the dates we went on here?" Trey asked, looking up as well.

I smiled at the distant memories, unable to believe that it was only a year ago that Trey and I started dating. So much had happened to me since then. I had learned so much and had had many of my questions answered. I finally knew who I was and what my purpose was. I finally knew who my mother was.

I remembered when I first entered Trinity High and the only thing I was concerned with was finding out who my mother really was and why it was that she died. Now, thanks to Elijah and his crew, I finally had those answers. And because of him, I was a stronger witch than I ever thought I could be. I was following in the footsteps of my mother, just as I wanted. I never wanted to be my father's daughter. Not after finding out what he had done.

"Where's Gertrude's?" I asked.

"I think it's next to that book shop," Trey answered, walking forward. I kept in step with him, following him to where the herbal shop was.

Trinity Hollow was as lively as ever. All of the shops were decorated with holly and wreaths and lights which were turned off at the moment. People were bustling around, buying gifts and other necessities for the holiday season. Witches and wizards of all kinds were walking around with baskets and bags, their cloaks billowing in the wind. I smiled. This was how magic should be: exposed and proud.

We reached Gertrude's shop, which was indeed next to the book store.

"How did I not notice this before?" I asked as Trey held the door open for me.

"Guess you're not as observant as you think," he replied, smirking at me. I rolled my eyes at him and welcomed the warm blast of air that the shop provided.

"What do we need to get?" I asked.

"I have no idea what any of these are..." Trey mumbled as he read through the items on the list. I peered over his shoulder and furrowed my brow.

"Me either..." I said.

"What kind of girl are you?" Trey asked.

"I don't know how to cook!" I exclaimed.

"You fail," he said.

"Whatever. Didn't you say you knew how to cook?" I said.

"I do," he replied.

"Then how come you don't know what any of these are?" I asked.

"Because I don't know the magical names. I only know the non-magical ones," he replied. I grabbed the shopping list from his hand.

"Honestly, we should have paid attention in Herbology," I muttered.

"We all took that as pass/fail, though. We barely passed," Trey said.

"Where's the shop keeper?" I asked, looking around. We spotted the old lady who I assumed was Gertrude, helping a woman decide between a purple looking vegetable or a green one.

"I don't know why she wrote the magical names down," Trey mumbled as we made our way up to the old lady.

"Maybe she thought we did well in that class," I shrugged.

"Clearly, she was wrong," he responded. We stood patiently waiting for the old lady to finish her conversation before turning to us.

"Hello, how can I help you?" she asked, smiling kindly at us.

"Hi, we were wondering if you could help us find these items? We're new to magical herbs and don't really know what any of this is," Trey said.

"Are you from Trinity High?" Gertrude asked, pulling on a pair of spectacles that were hanging around her neck before. When she put them on, they magnified her eyes, making them look bigger than normal. I fought back the urge to laugh and put my hand over my mouth. Trey's eyes met mine and I saw the familiar sparkle in them as he resisted the urge to laugh, too.

"No, we graduated last year. We're at the university now," Trey answered.

"Ah, of course," she said. "But don't they teach a beginning course on Herbology at the university?" she asked, scanning over the grocery items that Natalia had listed. She walked over to the other side of the shop where there were numerous vegetable-looking things.

"Yes, they do. But we weren't very good at it," Trey said sheepishly. She gave a curt nod and handed him what looked like green radishes.

"These are called corkish onions," she said, extracting a knife out of her pocket. She cut a bit of the skin off revealing several layers of transperant green. I crinkled my nose as the smell was overwhelming and much stronger than that of normal onions. "You only need a little of them because they are very rich in flavor," she said.

"How many does it say we need?" Trey asked.

"Five should suffice," Gertrude replied. We nodded and she plucked five of them out from the rest and placed them in a bag. We tied a knot on the bag and set it in our basket.

"Next are the honeymilk nuts," she said. I glanced at Trey and he shrugged. She led us to a section of what looked like mini coconuts. She lifted one up and showed it to us.

"The milk that comes from these is the sweetest you'll ever taste. It's almost heavenly," she said, tossing a few in our basket.

Just like this, Gertrude took us around her shop explaining to us what each item on our list was. She went into great detail about each vegetable or fruit or herb or spice. I was impressed at the amount of knowledge Gertrude had. I had to admit, I learned more from Gertrude in an hour than I had learned all semester in class. I made a mental note in my mind that if I were ever to take another herbology course, that I would enlist in Gertrude's help.

"That woman knows everything," Trey said as we walked out, bags swinging in both our hands.

"I'm pretty sure we learned all of that in class, we just didn't retain any of it," I said.

"Which was useless," Trey added. I nodded in agreement.

"What time is it?" I asked. Trey checked his watch.

"Damn, we took over an hour in there! It's nearly 3:00!" Trey said.

"Ugh, I really wanted to just walk around," I mumbled.

Truth was, I wanted to visit Valenya. I hadn't spoken to the strange woman since Christmas last year. I needed to speak with her. Why, I didn't know exactly. But I knew that it would put my mind at ease if I did.

We walked into Sylvia's shop. There was a good number of customers in there, either waiting to be served at tables or waiting for their food to-go. We stood in line to get the food to-go. We stood at the back of the line.

"You think we'll be back before Cole?" I asked.

"We better, or Mom will kill us," Trey replied. The person in front of us turned around.

"Trey?" he asked.

"Jason!" we both exclaimed at the same time. Trey and Jason shook hands.

"What are you doing here?" Trey asked.

"Getting some food. I miss coming here," Jason replied.

"I know. Same here," Trey replied.

"How are you, Caley?" Jason asked.

"I'm well. How's break going?" I asked.

"Wonderfully. I've slept in until 1 everyday so far," he said. I laughed.

"Sounds relaxing," I said.

"Oh, you have no idea," he replied. "Are you staying over at Trey's?" he asked. I nodded. Jason smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at Trey, who rolled his eyes.

"Grow up, man," Trey said. Jason winked at me. They proceeded to talk about the basketball season and I tuned them out, standing by idly.

"Hey, I'll be right back," I said to Trey. He nodded and continued his conversation with his best friend. I stepped out of line and walked outside.

I quickly made my way over to the end of town where Valenya's shop was. I sighed gratefully when I saw that it wasn't closed and pushed the front door open. The familiar chimes went off and the aroma of perfume and insence filled my nostrils.

"Valenya?" I called out. "Valenya, are you in here?" I said, looking around. The place was empty. There wasn't a soul in sight. I wondered where the strange prophetess could be when I felt a hand grab my shoulder. I yelped and turned around to see Valenya, her purple eyes shimmering like violet lights, her expression vacant, her hair glowing.

"V-Valenya?" I squeaked in a quivering voice.

Suddenly, she removed her hand from my shoulder and placed it over my heart. Where her hand touched my body, it began glowing an iridescent purple light. All around us, wind welled up, swirling and causing my hair to whip into my face. The wind howled and screamed, filling my ears and taking my voice away.

"Two fishes swam in a stormy ocean. One astray, one chosen. United to make one with magic so unthought, to make serenity that all others could not. This fish swam in a stormy ocean. Not astray, but chosen. Chosen as the one," she recited in an echoing voice.

I felt dread creep up my neck and the wind died down. The glowing spot over my heart vanished and Valenya removed her hand. She blinked once, twice, three times, looking at me, as if confused as to why I was there.

"Caley?" she asked, her voice back to the soothing and musical tone that scared me.

"I-I-y-yeah?" I stammered.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, cocking her head to the side, making her long silver hair cascade over her shoulder.

"I-ummm...nothing. I just...." I trailed off. "Nothing," I said. And then I turned on my heel and ran out the door. I sprinted to Sylvia's restaraunt, but paused a few feet from the door, catching my breath and trying to rid my mind of what had just happened.

What had just happened? What was that? What did she just say to me? Where did that strange stuff come from?

Questions whizzed through my mind, making my head pound. I held onto my forehead and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to remember the words the prophetess had just said to me.

Two fishes swam in a stormy ocean. One astray, one chosen...

What did that mean?

United to make one with magic so unthought...

Two fishes had a baby that was powerful?

To make serenity that all others could not. This fish swam in a stormy ocean. Not astray, but chosen.

I opened my eyes, my heart racing.

Chosen as the one.

________________________________________________________________________

A/N: I don't really have anything to say. What do you think the words that Valenya said are? What do you think they mean?

Leave me a comment! And vote! =)

XOXO