Chương 5: Episode Two Hundred and Forty-Nine: Bindings

The bond between Betty and I twitched, making me rub the center of my chest. The Cat stared at me like he wanted to say something. Instead, he shook his head.

"Untill tomorrow, then." I petted him between his ears, and he rubbed one cheek against me before he leaped off the counter.

"Tomorrow?" I asked, as he padded away.

"You need to learn how to run a domain," his voice remained soft.

"Betty is a domain, a lovely strange domain, and while you aren't a Fey Lord, you are bound." Betty agreed, with a pulse of warmth.

"And you'll teach me?" I leaned closer to the counter to get another glimpse of him.

"Of course," he said, as though there could not possibly have been any doubt. Then he vanished into the archway, his tail held high in the air. A breeze rose from the archway as soon as he stepped through, and the connection between Betty and I lessened. No, the connection didn't lessen, the pull on my magic did. It was a bit of a relief.

"Are you hungry?" I asked the shop. Quietly, but still out loud. Creating the binding had saved Betty, now I needed to figure out how to, ironically, keep her fed. Too bad bacon didn't do the trick. The confirmation rose from all around me, but most of all that small part inside me that touched the shop. Betty needed magic. Now that the Cat had stepped back into his domain, energy flowed from the open archway into the shop. The pull inside my chest reduced.

I sat on the stool behind the counter, surprised that I hadn't noticed the pull until it had gone. We needed to find a way for Betty to get more magic. Especially if, before, the shop had received it from the Cat. Now, the Cat's energy, well, Lord Felix's energy, would be mostly for his own domain. He'd help me if he could, but it wouldn't be enough. Doing the job of the shop and helping people who needed a little fate magic in their lives felt like the best way to move forward.

That meant tomorrow we needed a customer to show up, so we could get back to work. Without the Cat, an empty feeling remained in the shop, but he couldn't be here all the time. The rest of his family had gone without him for ages, not to mention his domain. With a sigh, I climbed to my feet and headed upstairs. Indigo remained in her hideaway, which made sense, since she needed to unpack and arrange everything just so. She wasn't the only one.

Yet, before I turned into my room upstairs, more changes became apparent. Slowly, I approached the rooftop deck. The windows were gone, and a blank wall was there, the same color as the rest of the walls. A humming touched the souls of my feet.

"It's okay," I whispered, touching the wall.

"We all need to make choices. The rooftop, while magical, is a bonus. Indigo really wanted her hideaway, her home. It was right." This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. The plants were gone as well, but that I understood. Those had represented the Cat's domain, including the little tree. Now we had an archway that connected us directly. As soon as I turned to head back to my room, the archway to the Cat's domain appeared where the one that led to his workshop had sometimes rested.

Yet, it was only the size of a cat door, at floor level. Secretly, that helped me relax. No unwanted visitors. Not that Betty would let just anyone in, but still. The archway to the living room remained, and I resisted pausing. Instead, I continued on to my room. My suitcases no longer remained inside the door. Betty had unpacked for me. I started to pull the rest of everything out of my fanny pack. The painting of the Cat came first, which was too easy to hang on the wall. It kinda just stuck. No need for tools.

The throw pillow from Indigo went on my bed. Then the magical plant that had sat on my bedside table for ages with a small bud. I carefully set it in place, and magic filled the air. It practically hummed, along with Betty. The lights in my room brightened, making it feel more like before. From there it didn't take long to remove the rest of my things. My wand went next to the plant, which for some reason just felt right. I sat on the bed, then fell backward to stare at the sky light.

It still existed, but showed a rapidly darkening sky with a few stars peeking out. Weariness rippled over me, but I forced myself to sit back up and prep for a shower. Everything paused as I removed my charm necklace. The leaf and the feather were both gone. That burning sensation and rush of power from bonding with Betty, it rose from here. When I'd flagged, the magic from those powerful gifts had completed the bond. I set the now empty necklace on the counter, thankful, and a little sad.

Stepping back into my domain caused a ripple effect as my body shifted. One second I had a paw, the next a foot. Not that it mattered in the Towering Forest. At one point, I'd spent a century as a tree, absorbing light and burning it deep underground to help ground the magic of my land. Murmurs of voices hung in the air as I wandered through the main hall of my domain. The forests stretched out in all directions, though the edges weren't as strong as I wanted them to be.

It would take time, but I would rebuild them. Liluth, with her brother Begarth, gathered with the remaining few of my children. They all discussed how to approach what remained of their own children, the now rather more diverse race of the elves. Already, those who'd waited centuries for me to come back found homes within the forest. It was those that were farther away that they worried and wondered about. Those like that child I'd healed in the coffee shop. The one who'd walked away with a drawing of me.

They were scattered among the worlds of the tree, and most didn't even remember the Towering Forest, or thought it only a myth. The conversation paused as I appeared and approached the gathering on the rug in the center of the hall. I sat in an open space. Unease rippled through the group as I joined them, instead of sitting on my throne.

"My children, you were waiting for me," I said, not a question but a statement. I studied each face, all now centuries younger than before.

"For too long, you waited. I apologize for all that I have missed, and grieve those that will never walk beside us again." Silence filled the hall. Liluth bowed her head, as did Begarth. The others followed suit.

"Word must be sent, and soon," I said.

"Not for everyone to return, but for those who need help to come seek it. For those who need to be healed, who need to return to the Forest to be bonded again to what they lost, what my absence cost them. Those children must be found." Wide eyes greeted me from all of them.

"The children?" asked Begarth. I nodded, slowly, as I frowned.

"Yes. During my time away, I came across a child that suffered from the wasting disease. She wouldn't have lasted much longer had I not been there to help. There are others, I am sure."

"You healed her," whispered Liluth, watching my face.

"Yes, and I will heal any of your children that need it, even if they do not find the Towering Forest their home. Family is too important."