Edgar smiled warmly at Luna. The smile did not reach his eyes --- his gaze was steady and unwavering.

"How would you help us?" he asked, cautiously but still smiling. I was aware that he was doing it to appear polite and not to flaunt his charm, but it hardly mattered. He was always handsome, whether he did it on purpose or not.

"You're upfront," Luna said. "I respect you. There is only one Enchanter alive who can tell the future. I'll give you her name... no. Even better. I'll bring you to her."

"How would that benefit you?" Raegan wanted to know.

"It wouldn't. But I have nothing to lose either. We had a pact. In exchange of the fairy book, I was supposed to give you this piece of information."

"What does seeing the future have to do with the vision?" I asked. I thought of Alice's words, how she was convinced of it too.

"There is a correlation, and you will see it," Luna promised us.

"Are you portaling us there?" Edgar asked.

"You could do that. Come here, young Wollstonecraft. Take my hand."

Edgar looked suspicious. He didn't often have this effect on women --- Jeff was always the one who received the attention, though he was oblivious about the reason why. But if the head of the Circle asks you to take her hand, you just can't say no.

He approached her chair, knelt and took the Luna's hand in his. On the outside it looked as if nothing had changed, but Luna said:

"I don't know how to explain it, but Enchanters can share power. I gave him the means to create a portal that will lead you to the Enchanter who can read the future almost directly. I am a Jurist myself, and our power is the most important one. Why would one use the elements or the nature around you when you can use your mind? Well, you're a well assorted group. Jeff is powerful enough to balance the fact you have three Hierophants and just one Jurist."

"But I can breathe underwater for long amounts of time," Raegan complained jokingly.

"I'm sure you're so tired now, you couldn't even show me to impress me," Luna pierced Raegan with her gaze, as if daring her to contradict her.

"And I can create the best whirlwinds," I added weakly.

"Not on purpose," Luna dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "But I'm sure you have other talents," she reassured me.

"Now, listen to me," she added. "The woman lives in Wales, and that's where Edgar will portal you. I chose him because Raegan can only bring you where you've already been. But I can't take you to her directly, it would be invading her privacy and I'm sure she would not take it well. So, you need someone who's pretty good at tracking people."

"That's me," Edgar offered. 

"Tracking down this woman is going to be very difficult. She's a powerful Enchanter and she has set many boundaries on her person. She does not want to be found --- a power like hers... most Enchanters would have you believe did not exist."

"That's true", I reasoned. "Even Vitaly and Brady told me one can't predict the future, when I asked them."

"That's because your government does not want to talk about the mysteries of the Ancient Families," Luna declared. "Especially some of them..."

"Wait," I said, recalling that Luna seemed to care a lot about my mother's family. "You mean that telling the future... is a power of the Summers?"

"Well, considering only a handful of descendants inherit this power," Jeff said. "It's not a huge surprise. Besides there aren't a lot Summers that we know."

"I'm not the only Summer you know," I tried to reason. "There's... there's Vitaly too!"

"We don't know what Vitaly can't or can do because he has spent half of his life being a villain. And I'm pretty sure there are some things he does not know about himself too, considering he has never got along with his parents and was raised by my grandfather."

"At any rate, the Summers do not have all the descendants the other families have," Raegan said. "I had never met one, until last year. The Summers have always kept to themselves and quite often their marriages were secret. Because most of them married humans!"

"That's why some of them didn't inherit the power," I murmured. "Like my mother. And that's why I'm a hybrid."

"Why would they do that?" Jeff asked. "I mean, no offence..."

"I'm afraid most of them didn't do it out of love," Luna said. "You know, there are powerful forces in this universe. Like the ley lines that divide one dimension from another. Hybrids can move easily between worlds, when one is space-shifting. They're a bridge between worlds. They know a lot... they are..."

"Quite receptive," I said, recalling how many times I had been called receptive before.

"Exactly. And not everyone has the gift of seeing the future. Only those who are more receptive than others. The Summers had this gift in their DNA, the same mysterious way the other Ancient Families have their gifts. Many of them married humans to keep passing down the gene."

"Why do you know so much about my family?" I asked.

"This question is going to be answered another day," Luna said. "Maybe in exchange of another favour. Now, get to Wales, quickly! Time passes differently here."

"Wait a minute," Edgar pointed out. "You still haven't told us how to make a tracking spell that's powerful enough to contact the one we're looking for."

"You need to have at least two people with your skill."

"I know just the person," Raegan grinned. "My cousin Agnes!"

Jeff blushed a little. We already knew Raegan's cousin and I have always thought Jeff might have been into her.

"All the Traditionalists know dark magic," Raegan added. "I'll send her a telepathic message to let her know where to meet us."

"She has to travel from Scotland to Wales," Jeff pointed out. "It's going to take a long time for her to reach us."

"No she doesn't," Raegan said. "She's currently researching about Set's origin in Wales. It changed things, what your father told us."

Jeff made a weird face at the mention that those people were researching things about his ancestor. The Traditionalists had always believed Set a Minor God.

In the meantime, Edgar created a portal. It might have been only Luna's power, but he seemed to have grown stronger and more confident in his abilities.

Soon enough, we found ourselves in Wales.

Raegan groaned loudly. "Trees... grass... and more trees! One would think we might need a Earth Hierophant for our quests!"

"We're near Llandovery," Edgar said. "But we're in a forest, in the Aether Realm. In Wales the Aether Realm is confined to the forests."

The Aether Realm took different portions of every big human settlement --- in England it was on the outskirts of cities, in Scotland Enchanters lived in their own villages. Apparently, in Wales it was the forests that were inhabited by magic users.

"How do you know all of that?" I asked.

He looked at me with a puzzled expression in his eyes. That we were in a forest, it was more than obvious.

"How do you know we're near Llandovery, I mean."

"Told you. My father made me read a lot."

I wasn't satisfied with the answer, but a few minutes after that, a beautiful girl with reddish blond hair and icy blue eyes joined us. She was small and lithe, but the expression on her face was the one of a fighter. I guessed Raegan had been able to tell Agnes exactly where we were. 

"I came as soon as you called," she told Raegan. Her Scottish accent was thick, but not as thick as the other Traditionalists. Except for Raegan's --- her father had taught her how to speak, and he was half Dutch.

"But you need to tell me what's going on," Agnes added. "Why are you in Wales of all places?"

"What does the fact that we're in Wales has to do with anything?" asked Edgar.

"Ah! Finally something you don't know," I said.

"Wales has very little magical activity." Agnes explained. "There aren't a lot of Enchanters living here."

"They probably don't want to live near the Ember family," Raegan joked. Agnes gave her the stink eye. "What? Their powers are pretty strange."

"Well," Agnes replied. "There ain't a lot of them around anymore. If anything I wouldn't live near to the Autumn family."

"What's the issue with the Autumn family?" I asked. I didn't know if I knew anyone in that family. I most certainly had never heard of them before.

"Let's leave it for another time, shall we?" Agnes said. "So, what or who are you looking for?" 

"We're looking for an Enchanter who should live nearby. She is the only person alive who can tell the future, and she could explain to us a vision Jeff's father had about me."

"Oh. Yeah," Agnes said politely. "I know about Samuel Winter. I'm sorry, Jeff."

Jeff nodded. I admired his coolness. Had it happened to me, I would have found it very embarrassing.

"Anyway, when I defeated Samuel Winter last year," I continued. "He told me that he never knew of my existence --- because of my parents keeping their engagement a secret. But when he found out about me, he realised I was who he'd seen in the vision."

"That's... great" Agnes frowned. "What did it say, the vision? Did it say that you were meant to defeat Samuel, once and for all? Or that you were to break the family's curse?"

"That's the problem," Raegan said. "We don't know. Apparently, there's more to it. Samuel, right before he died, told Ryan that the rest of the vision is very important, and to look for it."

"Shouldn't we call him Patrick now?" Agnes inquired.

"Please, no," I winced.

"So, we're doing all of this to honour Jeff's father's last wish?" she frowned. "I'm in."

"Are you the leader of the Traditionalists now?" Jeff wanted to know. Ever since Raegan had quit, we always pressured her to become leader. It was the first time that it occurred to me that maybe she didn't want to.

"Humbert is still the leader," she said drily. "What? Don't look at me like that! I don't know how, but it turns out he's not bad at leading after all. He really cares about the community."

It didn't sound like the Humbert I knew, but I decided to take her word for it.

Agnes took Edgar's hand. 

They closed their eyes. Their tracking spell didn't take long. I wasn't expecting anything less, considering how powerful they both were. 

"Where does she live?" Raegan asked them.

"I don't think there are such things as roads here," I said. "So I don't know how they could explain it. But maybe they can bring us to her?"

"Of course we will," Edgar said. "But, just so you know, there are many ways to explain it. For example: she lives near an old and big oak tree."

He smiled smugly at me.

"Okay," I admitted my defeat. "Raegan, Agnes, lead the way."

We followed the cousins into the woods. It had big trees with huge roots and it was hard to walk without stumbling. But Agnes had lived most of her life in a forest such as this, in Scotland. She knew her way around. I tried to mimic all of her movements.

After about half an hour, we got to a big oak tree.

"I'm thinking that's it," I said.

"That's a maple tree," Edgar told me, serious.

But when he saw the expression on my face, he smiled. "Relax! I was just messing with you!"

"Can someone tell me what's up with these two?" Agnes asked.

"Please don't ask," Jeff said mournfully.

I gave them the stink eye. 

There was a little house next to the oak tree.

"I'm guessing convincing her to go outside or to let us in won't be that easy," Jeff said. "The magic boundaries around the house are very hard to break through."

"I can try," Edgar said. I tried my best not to gasp. 

Raegan, Jeff and I tried our best not to look him in the eyes. After a while, he lowered his gaze.

"No offence, but what could you do?" Agnes said. But her voice broke mid sentence.

I realised Agnes still believed the lie Edgar used to tell --- that he was losing his powers.

I walked closer to him.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"What for?" he asked sourly. "I'm the one with the freaky powers."

The gaze in his dark brown eyes was almost manic, uncontrolled. I knew him enough to know he only looked that way when he was anxious. I put a hand on his shoulder, though it required a bit of effort from my part because I was considerably shorter than him.

Besides, I would have hardly called the waves of pure energy freaky, even if I didn't know where they were coming from. But I did not dare tell him that.

He immediately relaxed. He almost leaned his head closer to mine, but then he stopped. My heart skipped a beat.

"I think I know how she can let us in," I said.

"Good luck with that," Raegan said, kicking the leaves on the ground. "I'm pretty sure that she doesn't even know we're here."

"Maybe if all of us concentrated our powers in breaking down the barriers..." Jeff suggested hopefully. 

"Even if we succeed, that would only scare her" Agnes pointed out.

"Maybe you should let Ryan say his idea," Edgar said. I tried not to be too distracted by that.

"Thank you. I think that if we speak loud enough, she'll hear us. So, I'll cautiously walk closer to the house and tell her the only thing she wants to hear."

"That you're Patrick Winter?" Agnes asked.

"No. That I'm Ryan Barnes. The last direct descendant of the Summer family."

"Is she a Summer?" 

While I was walking towards the house, I could hear the others fill her in on the things she missed.

Good news --- I could walk through the magic barriers. The bad news? I was beginning to appreciate the Enchanter's power. One could have never reached the house by walking. The barriers made me see everything darker by the second. After a few seconds, everything was pitch black.

I tried to reason. I was a Summer and a Winter. I had the power of the darkness. I tried to will the darkness to lift up from my eyes. It took me a few tries, but then I succeeded. I still couldn't see very well, but at least it was better than seeing nothing at all.

I slowly made my way to the house. I had no doubt the door had to be protected by magic stronger than this, but it didn't matter. I didn't want to break and enter. I simply wanted to be heard.

I stood out of the house, ready to deliver my speech.

Turns out, I didn't need to. The door opened and a woman in her eighties with long salt and pepper hair was looking straight in my eyes.

The woman had olive skin and her hair used to be black, but her eyes were multi-coloured like mine.

"How could you...?" she asked. She was out of breath as if she had just came back from a run. I realized nobody had ever broke through her barriers before.

"I am Ryan Barnes," I explain. "And I'm pretty sure I'm one of the last Summers around. Care to let me in?"

After a while, my friends and I were gathered around her table, in her living room.

"You still haven't told us your name," Raegan pointed out.

"My name is Ana Summer," she said. "What are your names, instead?"

When my friends told her their names, she frowned.

"Jeff Winter, huh? If I understand correctly, you're here for your father's vision. He didn't have that --- I had that vision because he asked me to."

"Really?" Jeff was puzzled, but he couldn't help but look excited. I felt pain in my chest. It couldn't help but remind me of the boy that I once knew --- the boy Jeff had been before he found out the truth about his father.

"Even I could not predict," she said, looking at me. "That the face in the vision did not belong to a Winter, but to a Summer."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Winter was my father's last name. He was a Winter, and that makes me one too."

"I did not mean to offend you", she said. "But you'll find out soon enough what I mean."

"Help us understand," Edgar said.

"I'm not sure what Samuel said to protect my privacy, but the truth is this. He went, in his youth, to have his future told by me. I shared with him a vision in his sleep of the person who could help him get rid of the family curse."

"So it was never about Samuel."

"His fate was intertwined with the curse," Ana replied matter-of-factly. "But I'm sorry. I had promised myself I would not talk about it. Divination is my gift, but it often brings sorrow to others. If I knew devastating things about one of you... are you sure you would even want to know?"

I almost had a panic attack. Of course I didn't want to know. For all of my life, I had always hoped for a happy ending. Something to balance out the bad times I had. Now I was about to hear that my future was written, that somebody had it figured out long time ago and that I was never going to have a happy ending.

I started thinking about my life. It had been weird, from the start. My uncle had just gone crazy, driven by power. Apparently, my father wasn't a saint either, though I did not know what he had done.

What if all the things that happened to me, including my terrible life with the Barnes, had happened because of the prophecy? What if I had been going through my life as someone's pawn?

However, we did not go through all that trouble for nothing. I needed answers, as bad as they might be. And I found out that sometimes being pissed off works.

"Listen, Ana," I snapped. "We went all this way making a pact with the head of the Circle. She trusted you enough to think you would have told us about the vision. I understand that there is an alliance between the Summer family and the Circle. I won't leave here until I understand something more about me or about my family."

I looked her in the eyes. "So, you decide. You either tell us about the vision or about the alliance you have with the Circle."

My words had the desired effect. She looked startled enough to give in. "Fine," she accepted. "I can't tell you about the alliance between the Summers and the Circle because it's very ancient and I don't want to share a secret that is not mine to keep. How do I know you wouldn't tell the Senate about it?"

None of us would, but we decided not to tell her that.

"Instead," she admitted. "The vision was a secret mine to keep. I should have never told it to your father either, Jeff. I'm thinking that it's the reason why he started his quest looking for the Enemy Mirror. But I've told it once, why can't I tell it twice? It's a life and death situation. I'm sure you wouldn't go around telling it. If the Senate knew I was using my gift..."

"We won't tell," Agnes promised. I knew she was right --- none of us liked telling the Senate anything unless it was absolutely necessary.

"If you're really sure," she said. "I'll tell you the vision. But on one condition --- I'll tell it to only one of you. The person the vision is about."

We all exchanged uneasy glances. We all knew it was me, but I didn't feel ready. Maybe I had been wrong to think defeating the forces of evil was my calling, like I had thought. I was really bad at being a hero.

I stood up. "I'm ready," I lied. Thankfully, my voice did not crack.

The woman eyed me critically, then started laughing.

"You? No... I was not talking about you."

I felt my ears go red. "I would not have presumed..." I stammered. "But my face was in the vision."

"It was there," she agreed. "But this is why you wanted to hear it in full, isn't it?"

I didn't dare look at my friends, but I nodded. "Samuel told me it was about two Variations. I wouldn't have presumed... I simply thought I was the only Variation here, in this room."

My friends all had horrified looks upon their faces. I realized that none of them wanted to be the hero more than I did.

"Edgar Wollstonecraft," Ana said then. "Would you follow me to another room, where we can discuss your destiny?"