History of the MOORE ESTATE Part Four: Youth

Grazia gasps. She wants to say something about the fire in Italy, but remains silent about it. 

"A powerful caster named Gillian Holroyd helped me find the right spell. A neutral, strange spell from long ago that would draw their power out and focus it outward, removing their ability to cast or draw dark power. I rooted myself firmly at the base of the estate...right by the machine...and sent the spell right up through the estate walls during one of their dark rituals. 

My anger....and the darkness of the estate itself...made the spell warp into something I could not control.
The dark spirits in the Estate lashed out and multiplied. Ran over the Coven like rabid animals and dragged them all down...down through the Estate's very foundation and deep into the earth. Buried alive." Olivia draws in a breath. 

"The machine burst to life at the surge of power and I could not shut it down. When I tried to flee, I was caught in the machine's power and felt like I was being ripped apart. Darkness wrapped around me and I thought I was dead. The machine overloaded and failed, shutting down finally. 

When I woke up a day later, I was...." She waves a hand over herself. "I went from almost 60 years old to roughly 35. Kado seemed to think it was the way the machine interacted with my particular power of healing, but we're still not sure. The trick doesn't last, however. I have to use the machine on myself from time to time to keep up my appearance. A powerful glamour I paid dearly for prevents people outside of my circle from thinking about my being this age for a prolonged period of time."

"Fascinating." Grazia shakes her head. "Truly amazing." She does the math. "So...you are...98 years old?" 

Olivia nods. "Yes, and now firmly on the Path of Light if you are wondering. And whatever is left of the Coven below has been sealed after Mother tried to return a year or so ago. And the poisoning of the Italy Coven you warned me about." 

Her words hold so much weight Grazia turns away. 

"And here we are. Fighting more darkness surrounding this Estate and its power. I should just burn the whole of it down." She looks around. "But there are too many forces at play that want it to remain standing."

Grazia nods. "So...we make sure that it does." She and Olivia stand and approach each other. Grazia takes Olivia's hands in hers and nods, the first time in a long while she's felt like she's picked the right person to trust.