"No, darling, there was only one Sadia Jones," says Lysandra. "However, who told you it was necessarily going from mother to daughter?"
"But..."
"Think again. There were no male names on that tree, right? Sure, it's extremely rare for a witch to birth a son, yes, but it does happen. Like my grandfather, one of Sadia's sons. She had three boys. So, why would that tree not record those men too?"
"...Because they are not witches."
The answer just hits me. I had already noticed there were no male names, but I thought that was because it only recorded the girls, not necessarily only the witches. I wasn't interpreting that tree the right way. I thought all witches gave birth to witches, but I should have known better. No, I should have realized where I was mistaken after seeing Clarissa's memories this morning!
I can feel the wheels spin and turn at a crazy speed in my head. A lot of things are starting to make sense. Or at least, it does fill in a few holes. Not all of them, but it does feel like I just got a few clues I was missing. I was thinking about all this in the wrong way. A too... linear way. I was too focused on the witches themselves, I didn't even consider the rest. I mean they had families, partners. Why did I think they'd only have daughters?
"So... witches don't always give birth to witches?" asks Kelsi.
"They obey the same laws of genetics as we do," says Lysandra. "A werewolf and a human's offspring won't always turn out to be a werewolf, either. Moreover, witches have no male counterparts. It makes sense their blood could weaken. Especially if they pick wolf mates, we have pretty good genes."
"So you're saying, instead of her daughter, Nephera must have been... Sadia's descendant?"
"One of her descendants, yes. I told you, Sadia had three boys, and they all had children as well, from what I know. If what you're saying is true, and she was next to my great-great-great-grandma on that tree, she ought to be."
"...That could explain why Clarissa used the name Jones," says Kelsi. "If she didn't know who Mara's father was, she may have... used a name from her mother's family line."
"Yes, but that would mean you–no, Clarissa had found out about Nephera's link to the Jones’," adds Ben, turning to me. "Doesn't that sound odd to you? It was a pretty big... mystery until now. How would she know?"
I agree. Something here just doesn't feel right. Let alone the Jones' Family tree, I'm getting more and more curious about Clarissa. If she didn't pick that name by chance, how the hell did she find out?
"Did anyone else come around to ask questions? I mean... have you seen me before? " I ask Lysandra.
She shakes her head slowly.
"No, girl, only the night of the fire. I came with my wolves to see if they needed help, but you were in a bad state. I'm not going to say the piece of charcoal I saw was anything like you, girl. I wouldn't have recognized you. And I had never seen you before that."
So she has no memories of me as... Clarissa.
Then, if she never met Lysandra, where did Clarissa get so much information about Nephera and Mara? How did she know about their relationship with the Jones Family? It's strange. Even if she found another Witches’ Ancestral Tree, the name Jones shouldn't have been anywhere on that tree, it only kept the first names. How in the world would she have found such information? From what I have heard so far, even Nephera herself ignored who her real mother was!
Lysandra sighs.
"I'm sorry I can't help you more than that, little witch. However, Sylviana was the only witch I knew, and even she had her own secrets. The few things I do know about witches, I learned from my grandpa. We may not have witches anymore in the family, at least not on my side, but we don't forget our ancestors. Moreover, he always said it was important to pass that knowledge onto the family, in case another witch would appear. We swore to protect the good witches here in Silver City, even if they are not Jones’; that included Sylviana, of course. However, Nephera may have been a Jones, but she was an evil witch. We only help good witches. If you intend to stay on the right path, I'll help you whenever I can."
I slowly nod. In other words, she'll be keeping an eye on me too... I should be used to it by now. However, that good witch, bad witch thing bothers me a bit. It actually reminds me of another matter I had in mind.
"Actually, I do have another question to ask you. That witch... the Water Witch we just saw on the harbor, she... called me a Cursed One. Do you have any idea what that means?"
Lysandra raises an eyebrow, looking surprised, but she nods immediately.
"Yes, I know, but even among witches, that is not a very... According to my grandpa, mostly evil witches used that term. It is a bit of a... an extremist way of thinking among witches. Cursed Ones are the name they use for girls born from a witch, but without any powers. It is a rare phenomenon, but it does happen, just like them giving birth to boys."
"Why call them Cursed Ones, though?" asks Kelsi. "It's not their fault they are born like that..."
"Like I said, it's quite extremist, and most witches don't use that term. I am not too sure, but it does sound like the blood of the father has something to do with it. Long ago, witches made sure to have children with witches' sons, to make the magic in their blood stronger. However, this is not the middle ages anymore. Witches marry whoever they want, human or werewolf. It is only a theory, but there are probably less and less witches in the world. Hence, some witches like the one you met probably don't like that. Girls being born without power means less witches. They consider them failures to their bloodline, or something like that."
"It's really cruel..." mutters Bonnie. "They are already born in a weaker position, but they are even rejected by a part of their own community..."
"Excuse me if I missed this, but you keep using the terms good witches and evil witches," says Kelsi. "I thought that was just a thing of fiction, but you make it sound like there's a real difference."
To my surprise, Ben is the one to answer that, turning to us.
"It's about the way they use their magic. Mara, you probably don't... I mean, I don't really know how that works, but from what Sylviana had said, good witches use their body as their source of magic. Like, when you get those burns? They appear because you use your own strength, right?"
