Prophecy's Refrain

Harmony was in a foul mood for the rest of the day, her interaction with Kadaj weighing heavily on her mind. She appreciated the fact that he was not going any further than she was comfortable with, but frustrated with the fact that he seemed to know her boundaries even better than she did.

The group had been back at the cabin for a few hours, and Harmony made sure that dinner was eaten and cleaned up. Still, she found herself wanting to go back to the meadow. Night was creeping in, and she longed to watch the moon rise in all her glory. Just to have a few minutes of peace, so she could pretend her life was normal again.

She knew a full moon would rise shortly, and thought that just maybe, a cleansing ritual would help clear her head. She grabbed her canvas bag and filled it with the tools and items she would need, before throwing it over her shoulder and her black witch’s cloak across her back. It was bound to get a little chilly later.

She then crept into the kitchen and quietly opened the liquor cabinet, removing a bottle of rum and tucking it safely into her canvas bag.

“Guys, I’m going back to the meadow for a bit. Stick around the general vicinity, please.” She called as she made her way to the door, preparing for the onslaught of ‘You shouldn’ts’ and ‘Its lates’.

She never heard anything of the sort.

“May I join you, Harmony?” Yazoo asked politely. Harmony couldn’t say know when he was being so nice, and she nodded her head. Maybe he would get a kick out of seeing an actual Wiccan rite.

“Me too.” Kadaj said, standing and walking to her. He looked her dead in the eye, waiting for her consent.

Harmony sighed internally. It was really Kadaj she wanted space from. But-she supposed-maybe being away from all of the others would give them a chance to talk. She trusted Yazoo enough to allow him to witness any words than may pass between the two of them.

“Alright. Let’s go.” With that, she led the two out the door and through the forest trails.

“Are you alright, Hari?” Yazoo asked when they were a safe distance from the cabin.

She spared him a glance, but kept walking. “I’m fine. Just restless.”

“If you’re worried about your magic-” He started.

“No. Its not that. Well, that’s a part of it, but only a small part.” She interrupted.

“Then what is it?” Harmony looked ahead and let her gaze linger on the man that walked across the tree branches a good distance ahead. Yazoo followed her line of sight. “I see. What has he done to upset you, if I may ask?”

Harmony sighed. “Its not that. I just… I don’t know what he wants. I don’t know what I want. I don’t know what I’m doing!” She paused to quiet herself when Kadaj looked behind him to see what the shouting was about. She forced a smile and waved, making him believe she and Yazoo were joking around.

“What do you expect to happen?” Yazoo said, looking at the trail in front of him as fireflies began dotting the air.

“I expect that he’ll get what he wants from me-because God only knows I can’t seem to retain any rational thought when he’s around-and then you’ll all go back to your world. And I’ll be here. Alone. Remembering.” She tried to keep her voice level, but she knew she failed when Yazoo cast a worried look in her direction.

“I see. Understandable. What if he chose to remain here?” He asked.

“He can’t. None of you can. You don’t belong in this world. Who knows what the repercussions would be if you never went back? What if something is going to happen that you need to be there for, and you’re not?” Harmony reasoned.

Yazoo sighed softly. She was right. “What if-”

“What if I came with you?” Harmony cut him off. “We face the same issue. I am not from your world. I don’t belong there. You guys are not from my world, you don’t belong here.”

“What if we ‘belong’ wherever we want to belong?” Came a voice from directly in front of her. She started. She hadn’t even noticed Kadaj make his way back to them. He stared into her eyes, trying desperately to see into her soul. Without another word, the Remnant turned his back and waltzed ahead of them, leaving the young witch to think about his statement.

Harmony’s mouth dropped open, moving and trying to find the words that would not come.

“Don’t think about it right now.” Yazoo said, soothingly. “Why don’t we just get to the meadow. What’s in the bag?” He motioned to the canvas bag hanging from her shoulder.

“I was going to so a cleansing ritual. Try to get my energy back into balance, y’know?”

Yazoo suddenly looked uncomfortable. “I’m sorry. We’re intruding. I’ll get Kadaj and we’ll go ba-”

“No, its okay.” Harmony cut in. “You guys can stick around. You might find it interesting.”

The smirk that appeared made Yazoo a little nervous, but he would not back down. He was not a coward.

They walked in quiet companionship until they reached the meadow, where the sight that Harmony found almost had her drooling.

Kadaj stood in the center of the meadow, shirtless with his double-bladed sword held in his outstretched hand. His eyes were closed and his expression serene. His body began to move in a graceful and violent dance.


Yazoo watched Harmony’s face as she took in the sight of his younger brother doing his katas. She looked positively drugged. He cleared his throat and smirked when Harmony looked at him and had the decency to blush.

“Kadaj!” He called. “Harmony is going to perform a ritual. Put your clothes back on and keep out of her way.”

“Oh not. You could leave your shirt off.” Harmony muttered, flushing when she realized that Yazoo heard her remark.

“What kind of ritual?” Kadaj asked curiously, pulling his t-shirt back over his head and making his way to the two.

“it’s a cleansing ritual. It’ll help me balance my energy and hopefully help me sort out my feelings.” Harmony said, looking away from the bright emerald eyes.

Harmony scurried about the center of the meadow, setting large crystal balls at five points around her. When she finished, she stepped outside of the circle she’d created, running a line of salt between each crystal to the next. When her circle was complete, she turned to the two men watching her intently.

“Okay guys. Here’s where it gets tricky. This ritual is performed nude.” She said, matter-of-factly.

Yazoo choked. “Uh-! Excuse me?!”

“Don’t worry. You guys aren’t part of the rite, so you don’t have to take your clothes off.” She grinned. “I’ll be wearing my ceremonial cloak, so you won’t see much. I just didn’t want to freak you out.”

“I wouldn’t say it ‘freaks me out’.” Kadaj muttered. Yazoo elbowed him and Harmony disappeared into the tree line for a few moments, returning in nothing but her long black cloak.

She carefully lit each candle that sat atop the large crystals that made her circle.

The men watched in awe as the light spread into a thin veil, meeting in a dome shape above the center of the circle. Harmony smirked in their direction and stepped into the veil, the light enfolding her body and cutting her off from the outside world.

She raised her arms to the sky in prayer, giving herself over to be accepted by her Goddess. Taking a deep breath, she called out to the moon as it rose to bathe the meadow in its soft silver light.

“Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East; powers of Wind and Invention! Hear me!” She cried.

A slight breeze wisped through the meadow, circling around the circle before vanishing into nothing.

“Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South; powers of Fire and Feeling! Hear me!”

The flames of the candles grew to twice their size.

“Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the West; powers of Water and Intuition! Hear me!”

The two spectators watched in awe as dark clouds began forming from nothing right above the meadow. Yazoo started, shocked, as a droplet of water hit his skin before the clouds began to shower the meadow.

“Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North; powers of Mother and Earth! Hear me!”

At this point, the wind picked up once more, the flames of the candles grew to almost Harmony’s height, and the rain pelted the bodies in the meadow. Hearing a strange rustling, Kadaj stared open-mouthed as tiny rocks seemed to roll from the trees to the circle.

“Uphold the rules of the wiccan rede.
Be high in spirit ye shall succeed.
Power of the elements five,
Will help Mother Nature stay alive.
From grains of Earth to the moving Air.
Past the burning Fire that magick flares.
Flow with water, lakes, and streams;
Around the spirits aura and dreams.

O great Mother Goddess and Father God,
You who are all yet nothing.
Beyond explanation and understanding.
I ask thee to grant my request this night.
I ask that you take the negativity that was sent to me,
And send it swirling into the Universe.
Let it be sent back to the sender three fold,
With loving, caring, healing positive energy.
I ask that you grant this request.
I also thank Thee for your kindness and caring attention.
I ask this in the power of three
So mote it be!

Strength of Day
Strength of Night
Give me Strength
Beyond my sight!”

Yazoo and Kadaj found themselves deeply moved by the words Harmony spoke, and with the movements her body made. Her arms were straight out to her sides, palms facing down and her upper body moved in a circle, back and forth, back and forth. Her head rolled on her neck with the movements, making her meditative dance flow like liquid.

She sat in silence after her chant, rocking back and forth. The elements swirled around her, pushing her exotic dance to the extreme. Harmony’s rocking stopped. She reached out and took hold of her chalice and poured a good portion of the rum into it. Replacing the lid on the bottle, she held the chalice high, smiling when the liquid seemed to float from the cup in a quick moving stream.

All at once, it was over. The rain stopped, the flames died down, the wind vanished, the rocks seemed to melt into the earth, and the rum from the goblet splashed into the grass, absorbing into the ground immediately. Harmony drew a deep breath with a smile on her face, and on the exhale, the golden veil surrounding her slowly melted down to the ground.

Harmony stood still, basking in the glow of the moon for a moment before leaning down and snuffing each flame out. She then gathered the crystals, the chalice, her athame, and the silver pentacle from inside the circle and deposited them in her bag. She left the rum out, intending to relax with a few drinks before she and the Remnants made their way back o the cabin.

She turned back to the men, wondering what they thought of witnessing their very first Wiccan ritual. Before she even had the chance to ask, Kadaj spoke.

“That was amazing!” He said, standing and taking her hands in his. “I’ve never seen anything like that!”

“I agree.” Yazoo said. “That was fascinating. I never dreamed that a person could summon the elements without Materia.”

“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it. Now you see that the power is more than just glamour. Its healing. You cannot imagine how refreshed I feel.”

“Can it be done for others?” Yazoo asked.

“Well, I’ve never done it for another person, but it can be done.” Harmony answered. She smiled. “For right now, I can help relax you in other ways.” She held up the bottle of rum and swirled the contents.

Kadaj let out an uncharacteristic ‘whoop’ and grabbed the bottle from her hand, unscrewing the lid and bringing the bottle to his lips. After a healthy swig, he handed the bottle to Yazoo, challenging, it seemed.

Yazoo scowled and took the bottle, matching Kadaj’s shot and shaking his head as he swallowed the burning liquid.

“Well alright!” Harmony cheered, taking the bottle. “Let’s do this!” She raised the bottle to her lips and doubled the amount that the men had downed. “Whoo!” She said. She handed the bottle back to Kadaj and jogged into the tree line once more. She returned a few seconds later with an armload of dry wood, tossing the pile down and throwing a few pieces into the fire pit. She smirked at the Remnants and raised her hand, letting a small stream of fire flow from her fingertips. It was brighter and more vibrant than the first time she showed them her fire.

As the fire crackled to life in the pit, the three gathered around it, Kadaj on one side, Yazoo on the other, and Harmony in the middle.

“Aren’t you going to put your clothes back on?” Yazoo asked, already feeling a little light-headed. Alcohol was not something he really indulged in, and for good reason. He was such a light-weight.

“Nope.” Harmony answered, ending the word with a loud ‘Pop!’

“I never pictured you for one to gallivant naked before your lover and his brother.” Yazoo commented.

“Normally, I wouldn’t. But the ritual makes one feel so relaxed. Its like every worry you’ve ever had flies out the window, without drugs or other harmful things.” Harmony smiled. “I feel so free right now!” She took the bottle from Kadaj and downed another shot, handing it to Yazoo. “Come on, get with it, Bud.”

He grimaced, but did as he was told.

Before long, the rather large bottle was nearly empty, and the three were cackling around the campfire.

“Okay, okay, I have an idea.” Harmony said. The two men shushed comically and tried very hard to concentrate on which Harmony was the real one. “I’m the only one naked, and I say we change that.” She stated matter-of-factly.

“And how do you intend to force me to remove my clothes?” Yazoo slurred slightly.

“A game. Both of you. I will ask a riddle, and if neither of you can answer it, you lose one item of clothing.” She chuckled at the looks of excitement and trepidation on their faces.

Kadaj broke the silence, reaching out to shake her hand. “Deal.” He said.

“Oh alright.” Yazoo agreed.

“Excellent.” Harmony’s eyes took on an almost wicked glow. “First riddle: You can’t keep it until you have given it.”

Kadaj and Yazoo looked at each other. Kadaj shrugged his shoulders not knowing the answer. Yazoo thought long and hard. He wasn’t quite ready to lose his clothes.

‘Can’t keep it unless you’ve given it…’ He thought. Still, the answer did not come. ‘Mark my words,’ he thought, ‘If she makes a fool of me I will embarrass her so bad her skin will never lose the flush! Wait a minute! That’s it!’

“Your word.” He answered with a smile. “You can’t keep your word until you’ve given it!”

“Very good. Lets up the stakes. From now on, the one who doesn’t answer has to lose something.”

They nodded their approval.

“Very good. Next riddle: If you have three cups of sugar, and you take one away, how many cups of sugar do you have?”

“That’s easy: Two.” Kadaj answered quickly.

Harmony looked at Yazoo. “Do you agree?”

He thought a moment, then nodded.

“Wrong.” Harmony said with a smirk. “If you have three cups of sugar, and you take one away, you do not have two cups. You have one. The one to took.”

Kadaj and Yazoo looked at each other in shock, and then let wide smiled overtake their features. At the same time, they both pulled their t-shirts over their heads, casting them to the side, and looking to Harmony for the next riddle.

“Excellent.” She sang. This was going to be fun.