13. Kadia

The girls immediately jumped from their seats and went to the door. Kaida did not think they would want to train already and did not feel prepared. Her dragon was still healing from the black mist, and Kaida was not entirely sure if it was a good idea for her to be training right now.

"Uh, I am still healing from the Dark Dimension’s attack. I slept off a lot of it, but my dragon is still very much a work in progress."

Adrien walked over to a cabinet within the room and opened it. Inside were hundreds of vials filled with various colored liquids. Many of them were vibrant and seemed to pulse with energy. Others were dark in color and seemed to have a black aura around them. Kaida compulsively walked over and examined them, intrigued by all of the colors and energies. Adrien looked over her shoulder with her eyebrow cocked.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you mean? These look fascinating. Did you make them all?"

"Yes. But why are you hovering?"

"I don’t know. I saw them and felt compelled to come over here and look for myself."

"You felt compelled?"

"Yeah. Is that weird?"

"Just a little."

Kaida noticed Adrien’s pointer finger hovering over each label and her pink magic swirling around the tip as she did. Moving down the line of potions one at a time, the lettering seemed to illuminate for Adrien to see them clearly. Kaida blinked a few times as she realized that Adrien’s potions were reacting to her magic. She could read from the labels because her magic was illuminating the letters for her only.

"Is your magic causing that?"

"I put a spell on the cabinet and each potion. It will only show me its contents with my magic. This is so no one can come in here and steal any of it."

"Woah. Magic can do that?"

"Magic can do just about anything. Weren’t you taught that?"

Kaida frowned, "Well, yeah, but I was never really told the details of magic. We can’t perform it, so we don’t know individual spells like this. Magic is awesome if it can do all of this."

Adrien chuckled, "Magic is probably the most dangerous thing in our world. It can do anything, especially if certain spells are left in the wrong hands—like the dimension opening spell that my ex used to open the Dark Dimension."

Kaida made a face and backed away. It was clear to her that Adrien was still irritated about the group’s decision. She had no idea what to say, so she decided it was best not to say anything at all. Within a few more seconds, Adrien found the potion she was looking for and grabbed it off the shelf. When Adrien tossed it to Kaida, she could feel a coldness from her.

"Drink that. It will heal your dragon so you can train."

"Uh, okay."

It was in a tiny glass vial with a cork to keep the contents sealed inside. Kaida could just barely smell the liquid around the cork and brought the vile to her nose to confirm her suspicion. Grape. It smells like grapes.

"I always wondered if that potion smelled different for other people. Tell me, what do you smell?"

"Grape."

"Ha. That’s weird. It smells like strawberries to me."

Kaida opened the cork, and the scent wafted more strongly inside of her nose. Without a doubt, it smelled like grapes. When Kaida peered inside of the bottle, the contents were purple, the color matching the scent.

"Is the liquid a different color for you, too?"

"Yeah, actually. It’s pink."

"It’s purple."

"What?"

"The liquid is purple."

"WHAT?!"

Kaida tilted her head back and drained the contents inside her mouth. She kept her mouth open and leaned just enough for Adrien to peer inside. She felt the Witch step closer to look inside her mouth.

Holy shit. It tailors to individual people. That’s so crazy.

Swallow the damn potion so we can train. Tired of you kids sitting around and talking when work is to be done.

When did you get so bossy?

When there were things to be done, and you were sitting on your ass. GOOOOO!

Kaida closed her mouth and swallowed the contents. Like she thought, the potion tasted like liquid grapes. The fire she felt as it slid down her throat felt like the blast of fire from Blaze. When it settled in her stomach, Kaida felt pressure sliding up her throat. She thought she would spew the contents on the floor for a moment. Instead, she belched.

“Jeez. That was gross. Excuse me.

Adrien laughed, "It’s okay. Happens to everyone. Did it feel like metal going down your throat?"

Kaida’s eyes went wide, "No! It felt like fire!"

"Oh my, this potion is the weirdest thing on the planet."

“So you never did this with your coven?”

Adrien looked away with a pained face, "No. I wasn’t involved much. I was training to become the next High Priestess. I learned the spells and potions but never got to be involved in seeing people ingest them. I know I had to drink this a lot when I was training. I remember what it looked like and tasted like for me. That’s about it."

"Wow, and here I thought you’d be more involved because of your training to be a leader."

"Things always seem that way until you are in the seat to do it, huh?"

Kaida nodded. She was tutored her whole life to help lead her kingdom. Somehow, it still wasn’t enough. She wondered often if her own parents had to experience things on their own to be able to help the King and Queen.

Is experience in the field something that you should be required to do before you can sit on the council? I feel like it would be if my parents hadn’t known things like this before they sat on the council.

"Okay! You two can stop now! Let’s get outside and train this girl up already!" Remy growled as she stomped down the hall.

Adrien laughed along with Kaida, and they walked down the hall side by side. For the first time since their discussion about the dimension, Kaida did not feel like she was at odds with her friend.

Once outside, Kaida felt the potion move from her stomach to every inch of her body. The fire brewed again, making her skin feel hot to the touch. She felt herself waving her hands and feet as if the movements would cause enough air to touch her skin and cool it down.

"It’ll go away in a few seconds. It’s just healing what it needs to so you can be in fighting shape."

"This shit is so bizarre. I don’t know what’s happening in my body, and I just want to run into the water right now."

"I know. I felt the same way, except I just really wanted to scream until the pain vanished. I think I asked my mom once why it was like that, and she just said it was because of how the magic worked. Words didn’t really make it better if you asked me," she said with a chuckle.

"I guess not. And you said you had to drink it often?"

"Oh yeah. Witch training is intense as hell. We get our magic young, and we have to master it by the time we turn eighteen so we can be initiated into the coven. If not, within a year after that, you have to go rogue. It sucks. Not many Witches fail to master their magic, though."

"Your people kick those who can’t master their magic out without the help of a coven?"

"Yep."

Kaida’s heart hurt as the sadness of those words seeped in. This meant the Witches were brutal. They could turn their backs on their own people just for not having control over their magic.

Though, how is that any different than dragons? They turned their back on me simply because I was dragonless instead of helping me find a solution.

"I’m sorry. That sounds rough."

Adrien looked over at Kaida and gave her a soft smile, "It’s okay. It didn’t really affect me much. I mastered mine before I was eighteen. My parents are the Priest and Priestess of my coven. I come from a line of powerful Witches, and it was basically guaranteed for me to get my magic early and master it."

"You can get your magic early?"

"Oh yeah. I got mine at about ten. So, I had eight years of training before taking the test to become part of the coven. It was crazy how easy it came to me. My mom said it was the same for her."

Kaida looked off into the distance. She could hear the water and allowed the sounds of the crashing waves to soothe her before she spoke again. It kind of hurt knowing that others could get their magic or animal early. She turned eighteen, and her dragon came late. That alone resulted in her being dropped off here like she meant nothing. Not even her family had tried to reach out to her, yet here was this girl, magic at ten, and accepted into her coven because of it.

Adrien’s hand wrapped around her upper arm, pulling Kaida from her thoughts. She looked at her friend, and the Witch wore a saddened expression.

"I’m sorry, Kaida. I should have chosen my words a little wiser. I know it’s been hard for you since you came here. You didn’t ask for your dragon to come late, just as I didn’t ask for my magic to come early. But don’t let that stop you. I hope you understand that you are much stronger because of what you have gone through. You survived what some people don’t. Did you know that some people just waste away on this island because their mates decided to reject them? I’m not even talking about eighteen-year-olds like you and me. Grown-ass women and men. Like in their thirties and forties. I think I saw someone older than that come here and then just give up."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah! I’m not lying. I’ve had to help those people with my potions. To give them sedatives as they just gave up wanting to exist because their mate didn’t want them, but you came here and fought against four of the most powerful dragons to bring your dragon out. That takes courage and strength. You were able to stand on your own two feet and survive. Not everyone has the ability to do that. It doesn’t matter if they have been with that person for a while or just met before they were rejected. It takes strength to survive that bond breaking and continue on anyway. Stop thinking you are weak. You are far from it."

"How did you know I felt that way?"

Adrien smiled, "There is always this certain look on someone’s face when they feel less than what others think. I can’t really describe it well. But you had it just now. You don’t think you are that strong. You think you deserve to be rejected, right? Because you didn’t get your dragon at eighteen, and then you were rejected by your fated mate?"

"Not always! There are times I know that it isn’t true. That I am stronger and better than that. But sometimes... it still sneaks back in." A tear slid down Kaida’s face. She didn’t even know she was about to cry.

Adrien reached out and brushed the tear away, "Understandable. But remember this. You are enough. You deserve to have your dragon and magic. You deserve to have a new mate within Beckett. Everything that has happened since the rejection is something you deserve to happen for you because you are worthy. Understood?"

Kaida felt a stream of tears spill down her face as she reached out for her friend and wrapped her in a hug. Those words resonated with her and washed over her as she continued to repeat them inside of her head. She knew that Adrien’s words were something she needed to say to herself every day. She needed to banish those awful thoughts that she deserved to be here. It was something that happened to her. That’s it. She didn’t deserve it because no one deserves it.

"Thank you," Kaida whispered to Adrien while they embraced.

"Any time. If you forget what I just said, just come to me. I’ll remind you of how worthy you are." Adrien broke the hug but left her hands on Kaida’s arms, "And I’m sorry for not agreeing with the plan earlier. I feel like it’s my fault when I know it isn’t and feel like it’s my burden, and mine alone, to ensure it doesn’t hurt anyone else."

Kaida wiped away the tears that were threatening to spill under her friend’s eyes, "You aren’t alone. We will help you. We will stop it. Just give me a chance to figure my dragon and magic out so I don’t get us killed in the process first, okay?"

Adrien embraced her again, and Kaida could feel their friendship’s warmth inside her soul.

Yeah. Who cares if I was rejected? It gave me something I didn’t have before—Friends that actually care—and I’ll take that any day.