The Purple House: Chapter Three

The time came when Lilith began to teach the groundwork for casting spells.

As with potions, Lilith taught what she referred to as "the basics", which was a study of the elements of nature.

Lilith held up four fingers.

"Wind. Fire. Water. Earth. Each with their own temperament and ways to call."

"Can a witch call them all?"

"Any witch worth her salt. But even the strongest can only hope to master two at the most."

"How do I know which one I will be master of? Do I choose?"

"If you are to master any of them, you will know in time. Only after you've handled them all will you understand which one gives itself most readily to your command."

"What are Ma's elements?"

"Why should I care to know that?"

"All right, what's yours?"

"Fire. Beautiful, dangerous fire."

"Odd that you should love fire. It's the element that drives away darkness."

"It also turns everything to ash, and I adore the smell when it burns and bubbles skin."

Credence stifled the urge to roll her eyes. "You said a witch could master two. What's your second?"

Lilith grunted. "I'm...still working with air."

This subtle admission of deficiency pleased Credence. A smug hope came to life within her, that the day might dawn where she would be master of two elements before Lilith. What a marvelous boasting she could have over the wretched sow then. It might even be enough to challenge her and win—

"I'll kill you before I see you master any of them," Lilith snapped. "Don't think for one second you'll ever prove a better witch than me. Maybe the day will arrive where I get to gloat over none of the elements answering your command!"

Credence sighed, not wanting to end the lesson prematurely by arguing.

"You said the elements have temperaments—are they alive?"

"Of course."

"Tell me about them."

"Fire is the easiest to call forth, because it wants to be alive. But it can be difficult to control. You give fire a whisper of freedom and in a blink it will run from your command and spread destruction. Then there's earth. Innocent as a babe, it's eager to please and responds to words of encouragement. But it doesn't know much outside of growing flowers or pulling rocks from the ground. Like you, it's not very smart or useful. Only weak-hearted idiots become masters of earth."

"I could find uses for it," Credence argued. "You only think little of it because you can't torture innocent lives with it."

"Could if I wanted to, but there's other ways more wicked and fun. Shut your mouth and listen. Water is next. Hard to control and convince, like a lover who thinks you've betrayed it. It goes this way and that, changing its mind and never sticking to one solid path. One moment it's happy to be of service, and then just like that—" Lilith snapped her fingers, "—it won't do anything for anyone. It's known to have rare favorites though, and to those special few it will always follow commands. It can be devastatingly powerful."

"For good as well as bad."

"Who gives a damn for good?"

"I do."

Lilith snorted and shook her head. "Last and most troublesome of all is wind. It doesn't want anyone to control it, so it's a constant fight. But oh, the devastation it can cause!"

It quickly became apparent that the element Credence would learn the most about was fire. As a master of it, Lilith claimed fire was the most powerful and useful of all the elements, though Credence suspected the witch secretly thought more highly of wind. Lilith didn't place much importance on the other two, and rarely spoke of them outside of her initial lesson.

Just as she had been warned, Credence found fire difficult to manage, and she cast more than a few spells that threatened Lilith's home and had to be swiftly doused by the older witch.

Punishment for failure, of course, always followed suit.

Credence learned from her attempts, both failed and successful, though she never managed to control fire outside of simpler commands like lighting a candle or dimming a fireplace. If she concentrated hard enough she could hold a flame in her hand for several minutes, but would have to extinguish it when the heat began to sting her skin.

Lilith was more than happy to add Credence's inability to fully control the element to her repertoire of insults, but Credence paid no mind to the vulgar jabs.

Now she could create flames, albeit small ones, with a flick of her wrist.

When the day came for her to quit Lilith's cursed home, Credence would leave with the ability to create light and warmth without having to gather wood or strike flint.

It was a power she knew would be more than useful—it could be lifesaving.

If only she had discovered it when Josiah was still alive.

Credence tried to call and command the other elements whenever she had a moment alone, keen on discovering which one might answer most readily, but after several attempts where nothing happened—and a handful that caused mild chaos—Credence thought it best to wait until she was free from Lilith's roof to test alone.

What a lovely surprise it would be for Ma, Credence thought, when she saw how her daughter had grown in her magic. Ma would be very proud, and she might not even mind that her book had been lost.

Credence often dreamed of the magic Ma would teach her once they were reunited. She would no doubt help Credence find the element she could master, and it would be most wonderful to have a teacher who was kind and understanding. It helped Credence to think of Lilith as nothing but a stepping stone towards her true education.

Ma would be the one to show Credence what power really was.

With the basics of elemental work learned, Credence assumed Lilith would move on to more complex spells like the Circle of Protection in Ma's book. Maybe she would even teach Credence the mysterious and slightly ominous Soul Bind, the page that had been torn out of Ma's book, where only a warning of terrible destruction remained.

It would certainly fall in line with Lilith's nefarious determination to spread devilry.

But Lilith strayed from spells of any sort, and her lessons turned back to books, this time focusing on beasts of darkness. Credence was disappointed at first, assuming Lilith withheld teaching spells as a way to punish her apprentice and keep her power from growing—until she discovered that she rather enjoyed learning about fiends and horrors. Her parents had told stories about goblins, bloodsuckers, and various sorts of nasty beings, but Lilith's books revealed an entire world of new creatures: Chimeras, tokoloshes, krakens, bunyips, ningens.

Lilith pointed to a drawing of a torso with long arms and a woman's face.

"Aswang. Delights in stealing guts and makes a clicking sound when it's hungry. Can create a mirror image of you from bark and vines. Here's the Dullahan—" Her finger brushed across a picture of a headless rider atop a horse's corpse. From the rider's hand hung a long, humanoid spine. "Carries a bone whip, kills instantly if it learns and calls your name."

There were so many evil things filling up the world, and Credence wondered how there could be any room left for goodness.

"Some have parts that can be used for spells," Lilith said as she closed the book to end the lesson. "Some can even be trusted to enact wickedness by your side. But some are to be avoided at all costs, even by a dark witch."

"When will you teach me spells?" Credence asked.

Lilith's eyebrow lifted.

"Eager to learn something you can kill me with, eh?"

Credence shrugged. "I just thought there would be more to magic than poisons and monsters."

"I taught you the elements, didn't I? Not my fault you're too weak to grasp them. Why should I risk teaching you more potent magic if you nearly burn my house to the ground with a simple attempt at fire control?"

Credence frowned. There was a sting of truth to Lilith's words.

"Maybe you're just afraid of my power," Credence suggested.

An unnecessarily lengthy interlude of laughter followed, until Lilith wiped the tears from her eyes and gave a long, pleased sigh.

"Fine. Want to know how to tear someone's eyes from their head with a muttered word? Or send a plague from your hand to blanket a village?"

"I thought you might teach me something useful. A shield maybe, or something to fight with."

"If you think you're ready to learn magic like that..."

Lilith winked and Credence's skin prickled with excitement.

"I'm ready," Credence said with a confident nod.

"Well then, little witch, we'll have your first lesson in battle magic tomorrow night."

Lilith cackled to herself. Credence could play the saint all she wanted, but when it came to casting those sorts of spells, Lilith knew a secret her apprentice did not.

The girl would have to accept her own villainy.

And the witch would be right by her side to gloat over it.

***

The moon was fat and full when Lilith pulled Credence into the field that surrounded her home.

As the witch drank its power, Credence noted how curiously similar it was to the way Ma had done it. Credence repeated the process exactly as Ma taught her, gently pulling energy until her skin gave off a weak glow.

Lilith watched her with a scowl, then shook her head and gave a disappointed huff.

"Wrong, as expected, all wrong."

"It's the only way I know."

"Piss on that," Lilith spat. "You're drawing light energy, daft stump! You need dark energy to power the spells I mean to teach. Do it again, the right way."

Credence looked at her blankly. "I don't know how."

Lilith took Credence's chin in her gnarled hand and roughly turned it towards the moon.

"You do not drink the energy with calm—you take it by force! What do you think of when you drink the moon?"

"I...try to find peace."

"No, all wrong! Use anger to drink, use hate! Steal the moon, force it, don't ask for it. Answer me: What do you wish to destroy?"

"Nothing."

"Fly shit, there are pounds of anger in your soul and much you want to destroy. I saw it all in your memories, there's plenty of hate to choose from! That wolfman. Those wretched twins. The Collector—fifty hells, even me! Use my face to hate and draw your power with."

The notion twisted Credence's stomach. She didn't want to steal or force.

But she felt Lilith's claw-like nails digging into her shoulders, threatening a painful punishment, so Credence shut her eyes and focused on the images of things that displeased her.

She imagined the Collector in his human form, when he tried to entrance her away from herself and make her give up everything she was.

His cruel eyes staring down at her, ink-black hair wild around his face, and the alluring features that beguiled her.

He was handsome, she could remember that.

To her great confusion, his image did not bring hatred.

It brought fear.

Fear and...something else. Anticipation?

There was strange energy within his image, like the tingle across one's skin before a brutal summer storm. A feeling all at once foreboding and enticing, both far away and right within reach.

The Collector beckoned her. Whispered a greeting across the wind.

His attractive features melted away, revealing the horror beneath.

Lilith yanked Credence with such force that the girl fell to the ground.

"Idiot!" Lilith screamed down at her. "You dare call it here?!"

She raised a hand to strike, but stopped herself and listened to the wind for a moment.

"Hear any bells, child?" Lilith asked, and for the first time Credence sensed fear in the witch.

"Should I?" Credence asked sarcastically, but when she saw the serious look in Lilith's eyes she shook her head and added, "No marm, I don't."

Lilith pulled her from the ground.

"No more calling to it, or we'll end the lesson here and now. Think of something else if you're too weak to resist. Think of me this time."

Credence shut her eyes and pulled an image of Lilith to her mind. The crone standing over her with a sneer on her face and a switch in her hand. The sight made Credence want to lash out, and something in her mind felt like it did, reaching towards the image with intent to hurt.

"Strong hatred, girl," Lilith whispered in her ear. "It'll be a good fight, aye, the day we come to it."

The image changed and took on the form of John. His eyes burned with fury, but in a flash he disappeared, and in his place sat Hansel and Gretel, looking at her with that same hatred. Even though she knew they were gone, Credence felt another lash of rage fly out at them, as if she could hurt their souls even in death.

The image shifted again, taking on the form of Pa—or rather, the demon that had possessed his body, but this image was not strong, as there was a great sadness and guilt that accompanied it. Lilith shook Credence to pull her attention away.

"Hate, girl, only hate."

Credence thought she had run out of things to focus on, so she tried sending blind anger towards the moon itself.

That's what formed the most surprising picture: Long hair, flowing skirts, a gentle face. A smile that was beginning to wrinkle at the edges. Eyes the color of a storm, the same gray as Credence's eyes.

Ma.

The vision confused and frightened Credence—but for some unknown reason it was provoking the deepest, most pure anger.

Credence wanted to stop herself, but fiery emotion had taken control and it lashed out at Ma. A punch of energy flew from Ma's image down to Credence, an unexpected strike that would have knocked the girl back to the ground had Lilith not been holding her steady.

Power.

The image of Ma went out like a candle, and Credence opened her eyes to the night-covered world, feeling a surge of strength like none other coursing through her. She turned to Lilith, intending to demand the witch explain herself for putting Ma's face in the moon, but Lilith was staring at her with a cautious expression.

"Curious stump, aren't you?"

Credence didn't answer. She was troubled, appalled at the notion that Ma, above everyone, had invoked the most anger. An aura of light danced just above her skin, a faint reddish-brown color, like blood mixed into dirt.

A residual unease and malice remained, which Credence found difficult to shake.

It wasn't pleasant. It did not feel right.

"No time to sit and marvel at yourself," Lilith said. "Got to use this energy for a purpose."

"You saw what was in the moon?"

"And?"

"Why was Ma the one that worked? I'm not angry with her."

Lilith gave an obscene crow.

"Don't know the first thing about magic and don't know the first thing about yourself! Everyone has anger for them that birthed 'em. The young overpower the old so they can have young ones themselves, until they grow old too and their young overpowers 'em just the same. So the circle goes, and it's anger that drives us all."

Credence eyed Lilith suspiciously, not trusting a single word.

"Do you see your mother when you take power from the moon? Is she the one you hate above all?"

Lilith pulled a pair of scissors from her pocket.

"Only one thing comes to mind to enrage me: The whole damned world. Every face of every man, woman, and child, and all the beasts and rocks. I hate them all. Hate everyone who isn't me."

She pointed the scissors at Credence.

"Now we begin your real lesson in magic."