I nod, still a bit too embarrassed to say anything else. I guess that means this matter is closed. ...What about me, then? I keep looking around for a long while, checking one name after another. It's almost a headache to read so many female names at once. I start from the extremities and work my way up, again and again, checking each end of the tree, but there is no Mara and no Clarissa written anywhere here. Stubbornly, I keep checking, thinking I may have missed it. What the heck is going on? Sylviana's name almost popped out to my eyes, but I can't find mine? Liam keeps frowning too. We both scrutinize the hundreds of names on that tree until our eyes hurt, and I shake my head.
"There's something wrong with that tree," I sigh. "I am a witch. I should be here, so why...?"
Liam nods, but he has no answer either. Something here just doesn't make sense... There are hundreds of names on this tree, but the two of us checked all of them at least twice. Even if we are tired, I don't believe we would have missed it! What is that supposed to mean…? I glance back toward Sylviana and Nephera's names. They look a bit lonely, each at one end. I get closer, looking at the burn mark beneath Nephera. That poor child... She would have been a Fire Witch, just like me. I look on the other side of Nephera's name.
"According to this tree, her real mother's name was... Sadia. Ring any bells?" I ask Liam.
"No." He shakes his head. "I really didn't know anything aside from what Sylviana shared with me. She never even told me her mother's name until Nephera appeared and gave us the whole story."
Well, for once it sort of feels good to know I am not the only one being kept in the dark. ...Why hide this, though? Was she really trying to save Nephera from herself? What would have changed if Nephera didn't know about her real origins?
"I wonder what happened to Sadia, for Nephera to be in Danica's custody so young," I whisper.
I trace up their branches, and indeed, they are related, by an older witch, three or four generations before... one of the few to have her line split in two. So that witch had two daughters instead of one. I had noticed already, but it seems like most witches only had one daughter, not two or more. It seems rather unusual for them to have another girl... Did they have boys too, just not recorded on this tree? The witch Sylviana and Nephera have in common, something like their great-grandmother, was an Earth Witch named Beatrice. She had two daughters, the first one being a Water Witch, Sylviana's ancestor, and the next, a Fire Witch and Nephera's grandmother... I keep studying that tree. The cycle logic is still there, and aside from those two being cousins instead of sisters, nothing seems amiss. I feel a bit of pain as their branches stop there... and my name isn't anywhere to be found. What am I missing here? Where am I even supposed to be? What about my mother?
"Hey... Who was the witch of Silver City? Before Sylviana, I mean?" I ask.
Liam frowns, glancing at the tree.
"I... I don't know. I mean, I don't even think there was one?"
Really? I stare at that tree, but from the looks of it, it doesn't seem so. Even in this house, I have that gut feeling about it. I look around, and no matter what, it's way too old. Sylviana couldn’t possibly have built it, it would look newer. Why would she have picked a house in the middle of a werewolf territory too? Moreover, the Witches’ Ancestral Tree has been there for a very long time. Why would it be here, if it wasn't a witch who painted it in the first place?
"Wait..." whispers Liam, "Sylviana and Nephera did mention something like their ancestors being here, long ago... That's why they were sent here in the first place, their family has a history in Silver City."
So that's it. Probably Beatrice or one of her ancestors painted this. Somehow, her daughters must have left... It looks like witches aren't the best at sharing. If it's one witch per city as I heard, then... Beatrice's daughters probably parted ways as well? Did Danica figure her daughters couldn't co-exist without trouble either?
Even so, it doesn't tell us where I fit into that tree, though... I keep looking stubbornly at each of the tree's ends, looking for Mara or Clarissa, but after a while, I have to admit. I have seen hundreds of names, but there is none that matches. My neck and eyes even hurt from looking all around so much, and I'm a bit disappointed. Why does it feel like I'm missing something? Liam shrugs and goes to sit on one of the kitchen stools, probably having reached the same conclusion as me.
"So? You're not there. What now?"
"I wonder why," I sigh. "I'm younger than Sylviana... I should be there."
"She may not have known of your existence and simply didn’t add you."
I frown, not happy with that explanation. It makes sense in a way, but not for a witch. If so, how would she have been able to complete all the other ends of the tree? Some of the branches are longer, meaning those witches at the end might be younger. Most probably live far, far away from here too. I have a hunch that what I am staring at is nothing ordinary, either. This tree probably doesn't wait for a witch to simply put in each name one by one, all by hand, to fill itself...
"Wait..."
I remember the herbology book Spark found in my room with the picture. According to the cycle, my mother had to be a Water Witch. What if the cycle went wrong somewhere? Could my name have been put under one of those disrupted spots, where the names were erased, like Nephera's daughter? It wouldn't make sense, though... That child was stillborn.
I bite my thumb, a bit annoyed. This is so frustrating! I count. From those who could possibly be in my generation, around twenty names are burnt or hidden somehow, with mothers being Earth or Water Witches. However, none of those ring a bell. How sad is it if I can't even recognize my own mother's name... I shake my head.
"This is..."
I take a few steps back and let myself fall on the couch, a bit disheartened.
It's still pouring outside, but somehow, my headache isn't as bad here. Is it because I'm in a witch's house? Is there some sort of protection going on against the elements? I close my eyes. The voices are leaving me alone here too, but I'm bummed enough to feel upset anyway.
"Mara, are you okay?"
I sigh and shake my head.
"No," I admit. "I... I'm dying to know who the hell I am, and every time I get the tiniest clue, it raises more questions than answers. Like this stupid tree, I get to learn about any witch I want but me. No one is helping me, I feel like I'm just sent left and right and no one who has any answers actually cares enough to give them."
I hear him move and get closer to me, making me a bit anxious. He's been avoiding me all along, is he fine with coming close now? I was fine as long as we were focused on that stupid tree, but hearing Liam come over here makes me all nervous again. I didn't even stop to think it was the two of us alone in this house... his ex's house.
"...How did you meet her?"
