Page 26 of Bewitched

“Your darkness is going to destroy you someday, Medea,” warned Rapunzel, climbing atop a large boulder. With the way her gown blew in the breeze and with the sun shining down upon her, Rapunzel looked like a queen ruling from her rock. That only made Medea angrier, since Rapunzel was the spoiled one in the family, and always got everything she wanted. Medea wanted what Rapunzel had.

“If you’d stop goading me, mayhap I wouldn’t have to use my dark magic.” Medea waved her arm in the air using her powers again, feeling something odd happening this time. It was a feeling that she’d never had before. Her body tingled at first, and then it became heavy. She felt so heavy that it was as if she could barely move or even breathe. It was a feeling she didn’t like in the least. She found herself crouching down behind Rapunzel, and she didn’t feel like herself at all.

“Medea? Where did you go?” Rapunzel turned and looked right over Medea’s head, but her sister didn’t even seem to see her. “Come out, Sister. We need to talk.”

Medea tried to talk, but couldn’t seem to do it. It was almost as if she had forgotten how. Then Rapunzel took a step and stood right on Medea’s head, causing her anger to grow stronger.

“Medea? Where are you?” called out Rapunzel. “Come on. I’m sorry for fighting with you.”

It was then that Medea realized that her sister didn’t see her, because she was no longer in her human form. She struggled to stand, pushing out her arms, trying her hardest to get to her feet. Rapunzel teetered with the movement and cried out.

“Oh!” shouted Rapunzel, falling to the ground as Medea shifted back into her human form. “Medea?” Rapunzel pushed a stray lock of blonde hair from her face, looking up from the ground. Her eyes were wide and her mouth dropped open. “Y-you just... shapeshifted.”

“I did?” It took a minute, but then Medea felt like herself again. She looked over to Rapunzel in question. “W-what was I?”

“You were a rock! Are you saying you don’t remember? Didn’t you mean to do that?”

“Nay! I guess I was thinking about you standing on the rock, but... did I really just shapeshift the way my mother used to do?”

“Yes, you did. I guess your powers are growing. Shapeshifting is only something that older witches, or those with very powerful magic can do.”

“I suppose you’re right,” she said, looking at her arms and feeling them to make sure she was still in one piece. It had been such an odd experience and she couldn’t say that she liked it. “Interesting,” she mumbled. She wasn’t sure how she shapeshifted or even if she could do it again. Mayhap in time she would learn how to control it. Being a rock didn’t feel great, but this made her wonder what else she was capable of doing.

“Hello, girls.”

Medea turned to see Rhys’ mother Alaina heading their way, walking along the shore. Medea groaned.

“Hello, Alaina,” called out Rapunzel, waving to the woman. Then, she turned and spoke lowly to Medea. “I can tell you don’t like her. Why not?”

“The fae is the one who doesn’t like me,” Medea said in her own defense. “I think she can read minds, Rap. Be careful what you think. And don’t tell her about my new power of shapeshifting.”

“Why not?” asked Rapunzel. “You should be proud of it. Besides, it might come in handy to help us catch Marco’s dragon.”

“Just the same, I would rather she didn’t know.”

Alaina walked up to them with Medea’s shoes in her hand. “I found these shoes in the water.” She held them out. “Why are you all wet?” she asked Medea.

Medea’s eyes shot over to Rapunzel and she shook her head slightly. She didn’t want the fae to know about their fight. And especially not about her newfound power to shapeshift. The woman didn’t like her, and Medea wasn’t sure she wouldn’t cause her trouble. Therefore, Medea purposely blocked her thoughts, hoping Rapunzel was doing the same.

“My sister went for a walk in the water to cool her feet,” stated Rapunzel. “I suppose the waves caught her off guard.” She turned and winked at Medea.

“Yes, I suppose they did. Thank you,” said Medea, snatching her shoes away from the woman, and sitting down to don them.

“I see you ladies found the Quamm Caves with no trouble.” Alaina smiled and looked over at the caves.

“Oh, so this is the right place to meet the men, after all?” asked Rapunzel. “Good.”

“Aye, it is. I probably should have offered to get the boys here faster using my powers to control the wind, but I didn’t think Zann would agree to it,” Alaina told them.

“Why not?” asked Rapunzel.

“He doesn’t seem to like you much,” Medea said bluntly, standing up and smiling. She wanted to point out to Alaina that there were others besides herself who didn’t like her.

“I suppose Zann doesn’t like me much right now, that is true.”

“What happened?” asked Rapunzel.

“It’s a long story,” Alaina answered, her smile disappearing. “I think Zann is just harboring ill feelings toward me from the past. I’m sure he’ll get over it eventually.”