Her Witch, Her Demon [WxW]
18. The Chosen

“Mei Mei,” Baba coaxed, his eyes holding a myriad of emotions Meredith couldn’t quite decipher. She searched for answers in her mother’s eyes, but there were none.

Slowly Meredith got up. The gaze of the crowd burned her nape. She inhaled and exhaled to calm her nerves. Thankfully, she was already sitting in the front row and didn’t have to march through the entire hall to get to her father’s side.

“Umm… what’s going on, Baba?”

Baba smiled, which absolutely did nothing to assure her. “The Witch Council believes you’re the best candidate for the job. Of course, there would be a referendum by the rest of the community to decide if they want you or not.”

She was hearing the words, but they weren’t making any sense to her. It was only after she pondered over them for a while that things slowly began to make sense.

“I’m sorry what?” she gaped. “Baba, are you kidding? This is a joke, right?” Yet there was no mirth in his eyes. “Mama…” But her mother nodded at her instead, as though urging her to accept the new position. A position as a grand elder? When she was still learning basic spells? “This has got to be some elaborate prank.” She retreated from her dad, her heart thumping frantically. “I’m not grand elder material. What are you elders even thinking?”

But none of the elders protested. Had they really all come to an agreement to choose her? What the hell was happening? They could have just chosen her dad or mum. She wasn’t even fit to be elder, let alone grand elder.

Directing her glare at her dad, she asked, “Was this your idea?” Knowing how incredibly persuasive that man could be, she wouldn’t be surprised.

“Mei Mei, there’s a perfectly reasonable reason why we chose you.”

“Well, I don’t care.” She turned her attention to the crowd, and in her most passionate voice, declared out loud, “I am not qualified to be your grand elder.”

“And I absolutely agree,” said Lena Rodriguez. “For once we agree on something, Huang.”

Meredith had never imagined she would be grateful to her childhood nemesis. But she really was. At least, there was one sensible person here. If anyone would oppose her as a grand elder, then it was definitely Lena. They’d been rivals since they were in middle school. Now in their twenties, their rivalry was still going strong.Thank goodness.Meredith exhaled in relief.

“Ida may have been Crescentra, but she was powerful,” said Lena. “Whether we want to admit it or not, Ida’s power kept the Demon Circle from getting too cocky. If our leadership is weak, the demons will be our nightmare. What do you think will happen if someone as weak as Meredith became our grand elder?”

Meredith remained calm despite Lena’s biting words. Yet, she had to admit that the witch was right. Although Meredith had become much better at witchcraft than before, she still had a long way to go until she tapped into the full potential of her vital energy. Maybe in a decade or two, she might be ready to lead her community. But certainly not now.

Before Meredith could agree with Lena, her father said, “Well, you’re right, Lena. Weakness in our leader is a recipe for disaster. I completely agree.” He paused to let his words sink in. “But my daughter is anything but weak. She’s a Huang and like her ancestors, her vital energy is more powerful than you can ever imagine. You all know what Huang witches are capable of. I don’t need to remind you. Meredith is still developing her skills in witchcraft, and she’s getting better and stronger each day. I assure you that once she reaches her full potential, she’ll be unstoppable. She’s exactly the kind of person we need to lead us. Just as her great-grandmother had led our community.”

Meredith clenched her jaws. Shit. She should have known this sly old fox would bring up the legacy of the Huang family. But was that enough reason to make her grand elder? Didn’t she at least have to be an elder first?

“Being a Huang doesn’t guarantee she’ll be powerful.” Lena sneered.

“No,” said Baba. “But it makes it highly likely. I’ve never told Mei Mei this, but we encouraged her to explore other hobbies rather than witchcraft because we knew about her unique magical constitution.”

Meredith raised a brow.Unique magical constitution?What the hell was her dad talking about?

“I don’t want to get into the specifics of my bloodline. But if you know your history, then you’ll know that my grandmother had an insane amount of vital energy. We call it the Infinite Vitality Constitution. Truly frightening stuff, I’ll tell you that. Yussif can vouch for it. Meredith inherited this constitution as a baby. Hector and Jasmine know what I’m talking about. They were there with Ida when Mei Mei almost lost control of her immense power at only seven months old.”

Wait, what?Meredith stiffened. Why was this her first time hearing this? How come her parents never told her this? Not even her grandmother mentioned it.

“It’s why we never forced her to practice magic,” Baba said. “We wanted her to do it when she was ready.”

Wow... there was so much she thought she knew about herself. But it turned out Meredith knew nothing at all. Now that she thought about it, her parents didn’t force her to learn witchcraft. The spells she learned as a child had piqued her curiosity at the time and she really wanted to learn. So her father taught her.

Baba said, “Now that she’s seriously learning witchcraft, it’s only a matter of time until she harnesses her full vital energy. She’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

“Well,” said Lena. “She’s your daughter. You’re allowed to be naively optimistic about her.”

Meredith sighed. This has gone on for far too long. “Look, I don’t know what the hell is going on. And quite frankly I don’t want to know. I can’t be the grand elder. So choose someone else. Maybe Hector. Or even you, Baba.”

Baba sighed. “Can you at least listen to why we chose you?”

Meredith shrugged. “Sure. But it won’t change a thing.”

Instead of addressing her, Baba turned to the crowd. “I know our decision feels too sudden. You were all expecting that one of us elders would be the future grand elder. But we’re not in normal times, and we need to adapt accordingly.” The disapproving murmurs from before were all gone for now. Could her father really convince the witches? He would have to come up with one hell of a sales pitch.

“Some of you may have already heard the rumors about the relationship between my daughter and Onyx Castle.”

Oh god.

“Well, the rumors are true,” he continued, oblivious to Meredith’s inner dilemma. “Meredith and Onyx are in love.”

What the actual fuck?Meredith’s cheeks burned. Why the hell was her dad blasting her business in public like that? Was he trying to get the entire witch community to hate her or choose her as the grand elder? Yet, despite how much Meredith wanted the earth to open up and swallow her, she stood firmly, not for a second looking ashamed. She would never be ashamed of Nyx. Anyone who had a problem with their relationship had better deal with it themselves.

“There are a lot of things I can’t stand about that demon,” said Baba. “And quite frankly, I don’t completely trust her. But if there’s one thing I know, then it’s that Onyx loves my daughter. With everything she’s got. And she’ll do anything for her. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.” Hearing those words come from Baba warmed Meredith’s heart. It was a much better improvement from the utter disdain that her dad had for her girlfriend.

“Now that Onyx has replaced the Demon Circle, it’s only a matter of time until she gets the support of the vampires and werewolves. We can’t afford to be at war with her. But we don’t have to worry about that either. Because we have Meredith. For as long as Meredith leads us, we’ll have Onyx’s alliance. Her protection”

Meredith’s chest beat furiously when she realized what this whole thing was about. So she was just a pawn in the whole thing then. “Did Nyx put you up to this?” She asked through gritted teeth. “Is that what she told you? That she would only keep us safe if you chose me?”

“No,” Baba said quickly. “Absolutely not. This is something the Witch Council decided by ourselves.”

“And you all think I should be the grand elder because what… Nyx will not fulfill her end of the bargain if I don’t lead you? Nyx never breaks her word.”

“Maybe not, Mei Mei. But at the end of the day, she’s a royal demon. Her loyalty is first to her fated one, then to herself. Exactly in that order.” Baba’s voice dripped with conviction as she directed his speech to the rest of the witches. “Even if Onyx keeps the peace and doesn’t harm us, she has no business protecting our community when the Highdren Powers come. Because believe me, now that the Lowdren Powers have been crushed, they will come.

“We can’t fight the Highdren Powers on our own. That’s why we need Onyx Castle. But she’ll only have a vested interest in our safety if she cares about us. Maybe she doesn’t hate witches like most demons. But she doesn’t care about us either. However, she cares about my daughter and whoever she cares about. If Meredith becomes our leader, we’ll automatically have Onyx on our side.”

Baba finally ended his long speech.

So the elders had really thought out this whole thing. She thought they simply believed in her potential. But it seemed there was more to it. Though she felt used, her father was right about securing the safety of their community through any means necessary. The stakes were far too high.

Now that the stability of Green Front was gone, they were all trusting that Nyx’s presence would be strong enough to keep the peace. Or else all the work the Witch Council had done to protect witches from demons would be in vain.

It felt manipulative, but it was rather a genius plan. So long as Meredith was the leader of the witches, Nyx would be their true ally, and no demon would dare pick a fight with the witch community without incurring Nyx’s wrath. She was certain her father was behind the whole thing. She just wished he had told her about it beforehand instead of springing the surprise on her.

“So what do you say, Mei Mei?” he said, interrupting her thoughts. “Do you accept the candidacy?”

Meredith sighed. Now knowing that the safety of witches depended on her, she just didn’t know how to refuse the candidacy. Besides, the hostility she felt from almost everyone, including Lena, had tamed considerably. Alicia smiled at her and nodded. Knowing her best friend, Meredith understood that expression as “You’ve got this, M.”

But had she really got this? Was she ready for such a huge responsibility?

She was just a chess piece being played at the whims of her people. But maybe it was necessary. If being the grand elder would keep her community safe, then wouldn’t it be selfish of her if she refused it?

Meredith sighed, finally coming to terms with the situation. “I accept the candidacy,” she said solemnly.

But if they thought she would just be a grand elder in name only, then they sorely were mistaken. It was time she proved to herself and everyone that she was indeed a Huang witch.