Merle's POV

The journey to the Witches' fortress was a long one. I tried multiple times to go back but Aurora managed to convince me otherwise. I realized just how weak I was and if I really wanted to have a chance at saving my Dad I did need allies. The witches also excelled in Dark magic so maybe I could get to learn how to use my powers from them.

It was all going well until we were met with some monsters but that was to be expected. Kate swiftly summoned her animal companions which helped out with the monsters I also used my very vast arsenal of elemental magic circles to make quick work of them, same to Aurora she also held her own against the monsters and soon we were off. While all this happened the boy witch called Eon was deep in sleep. I wonder how he could sleep through all that noise but we were soon back on the road. 

That night as we were setting camp the boy vanished in thin air as if he did not exist with us. Was that maybe his abilities I mean he said he was the space witch meaning his powers must be spatial-based. We all started to look for him. 

"At this point to cover more ground all of us split up."

 As I continued with my search I managed to spot that beautiful silver hair of his from behind but when I went to his front, the eyes that met me were not his sapphire blue eyes but emerald green eyes of the girl that I saw in my dream.

"Greetings great sorceress we finally meet in person."

"What do you mean? Who are you? You cannot be Eon can you?"

"Nope, I am Stella."

"Stella, How? I thought that you were a teenager?"

"I suppose I am but this is the true state of my body. You see we have quite a peculiar situation, my brother and I. While we were born twins we only have a single body with which we switch between who controls it."

"Twins? I don't get it."

"Well yeah, we were born five years ago by a human turn vampire and were captured and raised within the confines of the church."

"So if you are five years old how can you be a teenager."

"Well, that is because of my abilities of course, while my body reflects five years my real age is 15 years so in a way I am the elder of us two."

"Wow, fascinating witches really have a lot of weird things to their biology. Anyway since I have found you can we head back to camp."

"Yeah sure thing."

"Well since I have met you, I just wanted to ask how exactly the innate domain works?"

"As I told you before, I am not sure as it is different for every person but the best thing I can use to describe it is like manifesting your subconscious world in reality under a confined space. For example in Nature, I think I can use spirits, maybe devils. Yeah, devils are the most skilled at Domain projection."

"Devils you say?"

"Yes."

"The skill is said to originate from the North but I didn't get to learn that much about it as I was constantly bouncing off different time bubbles."

"Time bubbles... Is that like some special thing only you can create?"

"Nooo, time bubbles are just what you think them to be. They are bubbles of time."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, to begin with everything that exists has a time bubble, from grains of sand to stars and planets. To explain time bubble let us think of time itself as a river and your time bubble as your vessel..."

"Like a boat?"

"Yes, so what happens... Wait in fact let me recount that, think of all of time as a large sea and think of your time specifically as a river that flows from one point of the sea to another, Now within that river, you are a float a boat. This boat of yours is your time bubble and with it, you travel from one point of your time to another. The boat has a steady flow through its river and that is what happens with all of us but what happens if one day that freezes like for example right now..."

"Did you just freeze time?"

"No, I just froze your time."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what I did was freeze the river outside your vessel leading to all of your time to stop but this is not something I can do for long."

"Wait if you stopped my time why can I still move?"

" That is because I stopped your time outside your bubble not within so you can still move to a certain degree."

"Wow, that's pretty cool."

"Yes, I can also do the reverse and freeze your time within while your time outside still continues, that is less taxing and more effective as I can do that to multiple people at once unlike the former.

I can also speed up or slow down your time but that usually requires I steal time from other objects."

"..."

"I can also do a projection of the trajectory of your time but this usually leads to me seeing a lot of different futures the further in I try to see. I can also throw back memories to my past self but that is only possible for myself the only thing I can do with other people's past bubbles is maybe see their past through which the bubble has travelled."

" Wow, your ability seems so powerful and broken, how then was I one of the strongest humans in the future shouldn't that title belong to someone like you."

"If you think my ability is broken then you should hear yours. You see while I can do many of these that is all thanks to my innate domain Time capsule which when activated allows me to interact and even hijack the time bubbles of all who are around me in about 600 metre radius you can even do more insane things.

In the future your innate domain dubbed the name shadow domain is a domain envied by most. At its first deployment, it enhances the domains and even abilities of all dark magic able people around."

"So it's just a buff ability."

"That is what it seems at first but that is not its true ability. The reason why you do this is so as to match the existing domain's resonance, even if it's not a domain or a dark ability you match its resonance analyse the fundamentals then replicate the ability."

"Wait what do you mean?"

"What I mean is your domain has the ability to copy other people's domains in other words shadow them that is why it is known as the shadow domain."

"Wow, it's... So do you mean I can use any witch's ability if I wished to?"

"Yes, pretty much."

"Wow, I am amazed."

"If that is not enough you also have the ability to bestow dark signatures onto others thus the creation of dark mages, overall you have very broken abilities."

"Wow, I guess you weren't joking when you said I would be one of the most powerful people in the future."

"We are now back to camp."

"I found him well her for now."

"I don't even want to ask."

The following morning we were back on the road and after 2 months on the road, we finally arrived at the Fortress.

"Just my Luck we arrive and the first person I see is her."

"Greetings to you tramp. What do you want from this place?"

"What do you think Victoria?"

"You seem different from when we saw each other last... We had some great fun didn't we?"

"Hey leave my master alone!!"

"And whom might you... Those eyes... What's your name girl?"

" Why should I tell you? Master I think we should just go to another place, it seems like you are not welcome here."

"Tramp what's her name."

"Curious are we? Why do you want to know."

"Look at those eyes they very much look like..."

"Grey's"

"Exactly."

"So my suspicions were true."

"What do you mean master."

"Aurora, say hello to your mother, Victoria the curse witch."

"What did you say?"

"Yes, she is your mother..."

"But..."

"Just take off the ring so that she can see and confirm it for herself."

"My ring, what about..."

"Don't worry about it, all of us here can handle your miasma."

"Ok..."

"...You... You really look like him. My beautiful daughter, I thought I had lost you."

"What a great family reunion this is, aren't you going to invite us in?"

"Yeah, let's go in."

We were now finally at the Witches' fortress where I could begin my training and gain some allies.