Chapter Six: The Legacy

Imogen went straight to her bedroom after having breakfast with her mother with the manila envelope in hand. 

It contained information about her blind date that she didn’t really need that. Though she had expertly expressed her enthusiasm for her mother's plans, her heart wasn't in it. 

When she looked inside the envelope, she saw that her mother had already set up a “date” for her on Friday. It was as if Vivian had already known that she would cave in to her wishes.  

Imogen wanted to laugh when she started to read the file while walking  because it looked like a curriculum vitae for all of its businesslike and professional description. 

The file included his pedigree (his family was very old and noble), his wealth (he was extremely rich from family coffers and surprisingly, his own) and his accomplishments (he was named as the most promising businessman of the decade).

There was no picture included so she winced as she imagined a man who looked severe because of constant work. 

These were the things that mattered to the upper class so it should also matter to her.

It was her first blind date in years and it looked like it won't be a success.

The dark-haired young woman had to pass through her own private wing in their spacious mansion in Alabang to reach her bedroom. It was her childhood home and she would always love it. 

As the only daughter of a successful businesswoman, she had an entire floor to herself.

Her private wing included her bedroom, a mini library, a small cinema, a walk-in closet with ceiling to floor mirrors and a music room to amuse her. All of her rooms were painted in soft pinks, butter yellow, pale blue and moss green with antique, wooden furniture that was passed down through generations. 

Her bedroom was as large as the master suite with a large walk-in closet, a private bathroom with a claw-footed bathtub and a small seating area. 

In the middle of the room was a massive Narra four posted queen sized bed that was fit for a princess with beautiful lavender silken sheets and pillows. 

She also had a desk for work with a desktop computer, a small microphone and video editing equipment. Her drawing pencils, sketchbooks and art books were neatly organized on a shelf. She loved that part of the room the most because she could record her songs or sketch new designs for her clothing line.

There was also a large framed photograph of Vivian, Nadine, Isabel and Imogen hanging on the wall. It was taken right before Nadine’s death but illness was not visible in her beautiful, serene face.

Imogen often got comments that she looked exactly like her aunt who was an infamous beauty and renowned model in her time.

She walked inside the sophisticated but cozy bedroom and locked the door behind her. Then she flung herself down on her bed face-down, crumpling the envelope.

For a few moments, she didn't move. Her heartbeats slowed and her mind calmed.

Her mother was right. There was no sense in moping around, pining for her lost love. If she chose, she could get married tomorrow with any man she wanted. 

Imogen was aware that she was unusually beautiful, talented, rich and kind-hearted. Her life as an heiress gave her a privileged life so she was free to do whatever she wanted to do. She didn't have to work because she had a trust fund. She didn't need to struggle because everything came easily to her. 

Vivian often told Imogen that her only goal in life was to be happy. 

Although Imogen preferred to ignore it, men who surrounded her were keenly interested in catching her. She never ran out of suitors and proposals ever since she turned 16.

They all wanted to get access to one of the country’s buena familias. They wanted to have beautiful, rich wife. They wanted her for everything she had.

Perhaps it was time to step out of her self-imposed isolation. She would never run out of suitors anyway. If she ran out of men in this country then she could settle for a foreigner like her ex who was half-English and half-Filipino. 

Since that painful incident three years ago, Imogenstopped showing interest in men and marriage.

She had been good at ignoring the pain that gnawed at her insides every day. She’d consciously chosen to focus on her career, family and herself. So far, she’d been successful with her path in life. 

Isabel was right. It had to stop someday because she was running out of excuses.

She had to move on and face herself. 

The dark-haired heiress reached for her mobile phone and pressed the speed-dial. It immediately connected her to Isabel's phone. 

The cheerful voice of her cousin's son greeted her. A smile blossomed on her face as she sat up.

"Hello Liam! Where's your Mama? Can you give the phone to her so we can talk?"

"Mama’s there!" the little boy babbled on the other line. "Mama! Mama! Auntie Gen!"

Chuckling, she heard Kevin's amused voice in the background as he scolded the little one lightly for taking his mother's phone without permission. He assured her that Isabel was coming and that she should stay put. Then Liam dropped the phone.

She heard more footsteps, a laughing little boy and then finally her cousin's voice answering with a breathy hello.

"Am I interrupting something?" Imogen laughed quietly. It was obviously a testament of her best friend's domestic bliss. "You sound so busy!"

"I was loading the washer and I didn't realize that Liam took this. What's up?" Isabel smiled too. She was very glad to hear from Imogen after a week. 

Isabel didn’t need magic to understand that Imogen needed her space. The news had shattered her best friend so she was compassionate enough to leave her alone for a while. 

They never got angry at each other. If they got upset, they just let time pass before reaching out to each other. Neither of them can stand not talking to each other after a couple of days. 

Although Isabel looked like a happy homemaker, she was also the greatest mage in their family. 

She was the proud owner of the Legacy since she was twelve years old because she was a direct descendant of an obscure ancestress who had built their family’s immense fortune, influence and success from scratch.

Nobody knew except her family and best friend, Imogen. 

It had been more than three hundred years since the tradition began so magic was inevitable in their family life.

Isabel had given her first prophecy at three years old and three days by clearly stating that someone was going to die. Everyone knew that it came true when one of her distant uncles was diagnosed suddenly with stage 4 lung cancer and then died the next day. 

Soon enough, the family elders used Isabel’s prophetic powers to make successful business decisions, to cast protection spells and to sway their rivals into submission. 

As per tradition, every daughter of the main house who exhibited her powers at three years old will be trained at the magical arts in service of their massive clan.

Imogen watched her aunts, grand-aunts and cousins come to Isabel’s house to teach her about potions, stones, tarot cards and charms.  

They had trained and reared Isabel since the age of three to become their witch with all of the training, the skills and the privilege that came with the title of the owner of the Legacy. She’d been working closely for the family since she was a child.

The other witches in their family possessed their own skills and abilities but only the daughter of the main house exhibited the strongest capability.

It was also well-established that the Legacy will peak at thirteen years old when she will give her most important predictions, create her strongest potion and cast the spell that will protect the family. 

Imogen had known about their strange family traditions, culture and cult-like adoration of Isabel who had near godlike status in their household. She watched and supported her cousin  whole-heartedly. It was Isabel who grew up to become a strong mage and step up to become their family’s pride and joy. 

In their family’s tradition, Isabel will be married or encouraged to lose her virginity to prevent a catastrophe from falling to the family. But Isabel refused to get married at 13 years old and she also refused to lose her virginity until her wedding night at 20 years old. 

Isabel possessed such a strong will and a strong success rate at her spellcasting that the family caved in. She was confident that no bad luck, no catastrophe and no consequences was going to befall the clan.

She was right. But since she’d gotten married and had children, the magic lessened every day that passed.

It was known that the magic would pass on to Meghan as the next inheritor of the Legacy. 

All Isabel had left now was her precognition and protection spells for her own little family. In fact, she’d foreseen the fortuitous result of Imogen's blind date so she was ready to push her best friend into the best decision of her life.

"I'm going on a blind date next Tuesday," the heiress started in a hesitant tone. "It's Mama's great idea. What do you think?"

"Go for it," Isabel replied promptly. She plopped down on an easy chair in the living room and drew up her legs. In her peripheral vision, she could see Kevin playing with Liam and Meg on the floor. "You shouldn't shut yourself off from the rest of the world. You're a wonderful young woman. You deserve someone who will adore you!"

"But the guy sounds like a total bore. There wasn't even a picture included. He might be rich and powerful but that doesn't mean much to me," said the dark-haired young woman.

She rolled over to lie on her back while staring at the white ceiling that was daintily decorated with gold stars forming her favorite constellations.  

"You're my fortune-teller. Tell me what to do. Do I G****e him?" Imogen giggled into the phone.

Isabel laughed heartily at that. "I suggest leaving it up to fate. You have to trust the unknown."

"That's nice to hear from someone who sees the future on a regular basis," Imogen retorted, giggling. "But it's good advice nonetheless. If it doesn't work out, promise you will call me at my SOS so I can get away. I will make sure that I’ll meet him in Alabang so you could pick me up..."

"You're overreacting," Isabel admonished. She was sincerely excited for her friend’s blind date. "You should give other guys a chance, you know. There's no sense in closing off the rest of the universe. If you keep clinging to your past then there's no future."

"That's easy for you to say," her cousin murmured quietly.

The brown-haired woman felt her chest constrict. She felt Imogen's pain through her voice. There was no denying how much it had hurt her. If only she possessed magic to remove such difficult memories…

Summoning her most optimistic voice, Isabel said, "Everything will be fine."

"Everything will be fine," Imogen repeated her friend's magic spell. 

How many times had she heard Isabel say that to herself over the years that they were together? How many times was it proven right?

There was a certainty in her friend as she persevered over her own challenges with only a mantra in her hand and a smile on her face. Perhaps she should try it for herself.

"Yes, it will be. You'll see that I’m right in the end," Isabel said mysteriously. 

Imogen wished that she possessed the same certainty. She wished that she was as strong as her best friend.

Isabel had endured a long distance relationship with Sam in their teens and had gotten over her mother’s death when she was only three. Of all people, she knew how Isabel had honed an iron will and an unwavering desire.

Although Imogen had everything she could ever want, she still lacked one thing which Isabel had in abundance. Her best friend understood that well because she was generous in sharing her life with her. 

But Imogen knew that the time that she had to create a life of her own was fast approaching. It was inevitable.

The blind date might be a step towards the right direction.

"Imogen, trust me on this one. Everything happens for a reason. There is no coincidence." Isabel said seriously. "Don't forget the guy in glasses. I really have a strong feeling about him. He’s in your future."

"Did you have a Dream?" the heiress asked, intrigued.

Isabel was about to answer when she heard her husband call out for her. She giggled. "Just trust me. Everything will be okay!"

They said goodbye to each other and ended the call. Imogen rolled over so she could lie down  comfortably in her back. She stared up at the painted golden stars on her ceiling absently. 

Isabel was the golden child of their clan ever since she started to exhibit her supernatural powers at three-years-old.

She had chosen the same toys that the witches in previous generations had chosen on their birthday while Imogen had chosen something else so their elders had declared Imogen as powerless. 

At five-years-old, Isabel could cast simple spells to open doors, summon the family cat and change water to flavored drinks. 

By the time she was 10-years old, she could brew a gayuma, cast a protection spell and drive away a persistent ghost.

By 17-years-old, she reached the peak of her powers by actively recording her prophecies, assisting the family in business decisions and reinforcing the spells that kept their family powerful, strong and wealthy. 

Imogen often wondered why their family accepted the magic and kept up the age-old tradition of caring for the carrier of the Legacy who was usually the first daughter of the Main family line.

Their family was cold, standoffish and no-nonsense so it baffled her why they cosseted and pampered Isabel from the first time she manifested her powers. 

But her mother only shushed her and reassured her that it was just the way things were done and it was family tradition to look after the carrier of the Legacy. She should also not question where the magic came from or ask how they inherited it.

Magic didn’t need logic or explanations, Isabel explained to her. It’s just there for me. 

By the time Isabel reached the age of womanhood in their family standard which was 18, she was promptly married off to Sam Laguardia. The family believed that the carrier of the Legacy should have children as soon as possible to maintain the power, the prestige and the future of the clan. 

Then the family would wait for little Meghan to reach three-years-old so they could start the process all over again.

Although Imogen was born on the same day as Isabel and was also part of the main family line, she exhibited no powers like her cousin.

It was no surprise because there should only be one Legacy in the family per generation. 

As Isabel’s magic powers bloomed under the care of the previous Legacy holder so did Imogen’s other non-magical gifts. 

Imogen sang beautifully, played the piano, drew gorgeous clothes, sewn lovely clothes and took beautiful pictures. Her own talents were used to serve and uphold Isabel’s status as the holder of the family Legacy. 

Imogen didn’t mind and she loved to spoil Isabel by making her clothes for their full moon ceremonies and singing for her new moon rituals. She loved taking pictures and videos of Isabel that she kept in a private video library. Their elders, including their mothers, approved of their close relationship.

It didn’t bother her at all that she didn’t have any real magic. She always thought that Isabel was stronger, more outgoing and more capable of handling the responsibilities of being the holder of the Legacy.

If she saw a ghost or a maligno, Imogen would have screamed in terror. 

She  was content to be in the background and she wanted to do all of the behind the scenes work.

Of course, she was slightly embarrassed that the spotlight fell on her now.

At 25, she was expected to marry well, become a wife and produce children. She wasn’t immune from the frequent reminders of their huge, extended family to settle down already. 

Only Imogen knew how hard it was to trust and love again after getting your heart broken by your fiance on your wedding day. She truly appreciated Isabel’s unconditional love and support as she tried to rebuild her life. 

She grinned to herself as she recalled how her mother had wrestled her into agreeing to the blind date. It was her plight to be in a clan full of strong-willed, determined women like her cousin and mother. 

Well, they can see the future. Imogen thought mischievously. Maybe they’ve seen something wonderful coming out of this.