Hey everyone! Thanks again for the feedback on chapter 2. As requested, this one is much longer than the previous two chapters, and focus' solely on Angela. Unfortunately, no sexy time yet, as I sort of got into a groove with the story. However, the next chapter will have the 'good stuff,' lol! All feedback always welcome.
"You know," Puck said with a grin, "People used to say 'the great trickster fae, Puck! He's one of the children of Oberon!' And here we are in the 21
st
century, with just 'Hello, Puck.'"
Angela looked at the boy, trying to gauge his actual mood. "Sorry. It's just been a rough century so far."
"That's fair," he replied, looking over to Benji who was now attempting to dip his toes in the creek, "You uh...may want to reel that one in."
She laughed, materializing the dog's food and water bowl, and placed both on the ground beneath her, then summoned food and water in each. Benji, now clearly more focused on that, trotted back to her and quickly began to engulf the food.
That taken care of, she looked back to her friend. "So, what brings you here?" she asked.
"Oh! Actually, you'll like this. I was summoned, get this...by someone finding Titania's Mirror!"
"Wait, really? I thought that had disappeared centuries ago? What's it doing here in America?" she asked, curious now.
"Not sure, but I did have quite a bit of fun. If there's one thing I've come to appreciate about mortals over the years, it's that they've become quite creative... and very vague about their wishes." He laughed.
"You and your monkey's paw wishes." She laughed. "What happened this time?"
"Nothing too bad, thankfully. I gave the usual 'three wish' deal with the warnings. He didn't try to pull any fast ones on me, so I kept the fun relatively low. He does have a talking statue now, though."
"I...talking statue?" she asked.
"Oh yes, you see, the man's third wish was to understand his own art. So, I brought it to life. He's very thankful for it- the statue, I mean. Not sure how the human feels." Puck said with a laugh.
Angela laughed at the absurdity of it. "And the mirror?"
"I gave it to a pawn shop owner. Figure I'll give it a month or so and poke in on the next owner."
She smiled at him, thinking to herself again. As she did so, Puck walked over to Benji, who was now back at the creek. He materialized a large strip of bacon in his hand, and Benji immediately went into hysterics. Puck then licked his own finger, and then ran it down the center of the strip. Where his finger touched it, peanut butter appeared. At this, Benji went from hysterics to full lunacy until Puck gave it to him.
Finally, she asked: "Do you mind if I ask you something about my powers?"
"Go right ahead." He replied, sitting back down.
"The thing is," she began, "I don't feel like I have the powers of a succubus. For example," she stretched her wings, "Shouldn't these be...demonic? Less 'soft and fluffy' and more 'leathery?''
He thought for a moment before responding, "Well, for one, you're not actually one of the succubae, Lillith's Daughters. So, you don't have an in with them."
She knelt to give Benji a small pat as she thought about what to say to that. "I still don't fully know the difference between what I am and what they are." She spoke.
"Do you remember when you were transformed?" he asked.
"I remember it happening, but I don't recall the specifics of the spell. I was a little busy, as you might recall." She replied.
"Alright. Perhaps just a peek into the past."
Puck stood up, looked around, and seemingly finding what he was looking for, walked over to a large tree. Placing his hand on it, he closed his eyes for a moment before saying, "This old one will do!"
She looked at him quizzically, "Do for what?"
"His roots run quite deep, and his memory is long. I can trace his roots to the lea lines in the area, and from them to...well, it's better if I show you. Here." He offered his left hand to her while his right hand stayed on the tree.
She looked back at Benji, still sitting in front of his bowl, looking back at her contentedly. She whispered a quick spell of warding to keep him from wandering off, then looked back at Puck and took his hand. Immediately her eyes glowed blue and she saw the tree's spirit, its essence. It was beautifully green, the green of leaves after a wonderful rain, deep and vibrant. She sensed this tree was old.
That's an understatement,
she thought,
this one is ancient.
"Indeed, I am," came a soft voice.
This startled her, which in turn made Puck laugh. "Everything alright?" he asked with a smirk.
"Fine." She grumbled in response, before turning her attention to the tree. "Ancient one, who are you?" she asked.
A faint shimmer of green emanated from the tree as it began to speak. As it did so, Angela felt a warmth, a feeling of contentment and peace.
"I am the elder wood of this forest, seedling." It said. "We trees have our own language, one that does not use words such as you do. But the humans who have traveled upon my roots have called this place Amen Park- and so you may know me as Amen. For in this wood, as I will it, so it is."
Her curiosity overcoming her trepidation, Angela let go of Puck's hand and instead placed her left hand directly on the tree itself. When she did so, she felt the tree's magic gently reach out to her, like a vine. As it did so, she felt her own magics respond in kind, the green intermingling with the blue. Where they connected, on her arm just below the elbow, their blending created a beautiful teal. The great tree sent a series of memories to Angela's mind, and as she struggled to fully take in just how old this one was, she began to understand.
Incredible,
she thought,
I feel like a piece of sand in an ocean of memory.
Experiencing now the life of the tree, she felt the cold of winters so bitter it seemed every other tree was dead. But wait, for in the blink of an eye the forest was so hot and humid she could scarcely breathe. She watched as the indigenous peoples first arrived here, those whose feet created the small pathways through the forest that she and Benji loved to travel. They worshiped this tree without even knowing fully why- they seemed to intrinsically recognize its importance. She saw and felt a storm so strong every other tree in the forest rattled, but not the elder. His roots were too deep, and bark was too strong. At one point she saw a flash of lightning and a branch about to fall onto a small child- but Amen would not have it so, and it protected the child with branches of its own. All this she took in seemingly in a matter of moments before letting go of the ancient tree's bark.
Angela shook as she continued to experience the residual effects of the visions the great tree had chosen to share. Finally, she took a deep breath and began to compose herself.
"Amen." She began, her breathing deep and somewhat labored. "I am humbled that you chose to show me your life. You have lived many lives of my kind, have endured storms that broke others of your kind. Yet still you are a kind guardian of this wood, aiding even the smallest ones."
"I thank you for your kind words, seedling." Amen responded. "All life is precious to me, and so I would see it flourish. You are no different."
It showed her further images, this time of herself when she first came to the wood. Angela watched as her younger self flew down onto a stump and cried. She felt a sense of confusion coming from the great tree, for it had not seen her kind before.
She herself remembered that night well- she had just moved to the area and had fallen in love with a young furniture maker. But he had only fallen in love with her wealth, and so it wasn't long before he had broken her heart. In return, she had used her powers to seduce him one last time and taken his soul. Now her younger self was there, crying for all the hurt she had endured- and what she had done in revenge. And so now the elder wood set aside its own confusion, for here was one in need of nurturing. It sent from itself a feeling of peace, of serenity, and her younger self felt calm coming over her.
Back now in the present, Angela held back tears. "I never knew. All this time I came here and fell in love with this wood, and I never knew that you were here."
"No child, you did not. Nor, seemingly, did the little animal you bring with you now." Amen said, now expressing a feeling of slight humor within the calming presence.
