“I understand, Zita!”

“Good. I knew I wouldn’t have any problems making you understand.”

“No, I like it, Zita. But who are you, really?”

“I’m your witch. That should be enough for now.”

“But you’re going to be with me through everything?”

“Yes. I’ll be next to you, and with you, always, my child. You are mine, and I am yours. I’ll go through it all with you.”

“Will it hurt?”

“Sometimes, yes, Maria.”

“I’m scared.”

“Don’t be. Fear is for people who step into the unknown. You’re not stepping into the unknown, and you’ll never be alone.”

“But Zita, what if I don’t want to?”

“Maria, even if you don’t want to, life will show you that it’s the best choice.”

“Did you get to choose?”

“No, I couldn’t. Like you, I was born like this.”

“Like what?”

“A witch.”

“A witch…”

Maria thought about it until she fell asleep.

And, like every night, Zita went to see Baba Carlos.

“Come in, Zita.”

“Thank you, Baba.”

“Tell me, what is going on with my child?”

“Your child will wake up a woman, Baba. It’s happening tonight.”

“Already? Well, she will be fifteen in a few weeks.”

“Yes, Baba. And the first ritual will happen tomorrow night.”

“It’s the beginning of the transformation?”

“Yes, Baba.”

“Is she afraid?”

“She must be a little afraid, but I’m sure that your filhos de santo are also afraid before their initiation. The unknown causes humans to feel afraid.”

“Were you afraid when you were human?”

“I didn’t know what was about to happen. One cannot be afraid of something one doesn’t know will happen.”

“True, Zita.”

“Baba, she was born for this. We’ve been waiting for her for three hundred years. Three hundred and thirty years, to be exact. Maria’s birth is supposed to change the world. Her seventeenth birthday is when this world will wake up.”

“Two years.”

“Yes, Baba. Now she will be prepared for that.”

“And when the first year starts, what will happen?”

“She will become who she’s supposed to be, and you’ll be there with her.”

“If she chooses and tells me that is what she wants, I will be there. She can still say no!”

“Baba, she won’t!”

“What if she says no? Free will, Zita!”

“Baba, you’ll discover that free will is something humans invented to feel they have some sort of control. But it doesn’t exist!”

Zita disappeared.

Baba Carlos remained where he was.

He had heard everything she said. He knew what Maria was, and he knew what was expected of her. He had known for years.

But knowing had never made him less of a father, and tonight, he was afraid.

For the first time in years, Baba Carlos went to the chapel of Nossa Senhora Aparecida, he stood before her image and lit the candles.

“Nossa Senhora Aparecida, my wife believes in you. She has always believed in you. I never did. I respect you, but I cannot feel your power. I never could; my wife loves Maria, and she believes that you love her too. So I’m here, and if you truly love my child, then you must help her. You must protect her. I am asking everyone who loves my child to stand beside her. And that includes you.”

He looked at the image for a moment.

He felt nothing, but that didn’t matter; he had come because of his wife, because of her faith, and because Maria needed every protection she could receive.

Carlos left the chapel and walked into the forest.

There, among the trees, he felt Oxóssi; the forest was alive. The leaves moved above him, and the sounds of the night surrounded him.

Baba Carlos stopped walking. He placed his hand against the trunk of a tree.

“Oxóssi, you know Maria. You have watched her grow. You know what is coming.”

He closed his eyes.

“Keep her safe. Give her the wisdom to recognise the paths before her, and when she has to choose, help her find her way.”

He remained there for a while, listening.

He could feel Oxóssi in the forest around him.

Then he continued walking until he reached the fresh waters.

Baba Carlos knelt beside the water and placed his hands beneath its surface.

“Oxum.”

The name left his mouth softly.

“You know how much I love this child.”

He watched the water moving around his fingers.

“Maria will need love. She will need to remember that she is loved, whatever happens to her, whatever she becomes.”

He lowered his head.

“Please, Oxum. Stay close to her.”

He remained by the water until he felt ready to leave.

There were others he wanted to speak with.

Baba Carlos travelled to the sea.

The waves moved towards the shore, breaking against the sand before returning to the ocean.

He stood facing the water.

“Yemanjá, I come to you as a father.”

He paused.

“Maria has a mother, and she has people who love her. But there are things coming that none of us can understand completely.”

The waves continued moving.

“Protect her. Hold her close when she needs you. Remind her that she will always have someone to turn to.”

He looked out towards the darkness of the sea.

“I love her, Yemanjá. I love her more than I can explain.”

He stayed there until the breeze grew colder.

Then he went to speak with Ogum.

Baba Carlos stood beside the iron tools that had been used to work the land.

He placed his hand upon the iron.

“Ogum, Maria will need strength.”

He thought of her as a little girl, of the years they had spent together, and of the woman she was becoming.

“She will need courage to face what is coming. But I don’t want her to become strong because she has learned to suffer.”

He looked down at his hand.

“I want her to be strong enough to decide what she wants for herself.”

He remained silent for a moment.

“Help her, Ogum. And help me protect her.”

Baba Carlos felt the wind. Yansa, you are the owner of her crown. You brought her on a stormy day to life. Protect her.

Baba Carlos heard thunder rolling across the sky.

“Xangô, lord of justice, you know what awaits my daughter. When the time comes, let her be judged by her choices, not by a destiny written before she was born. Let justice stand beside her, even if the whole world stands against her.”

Finally, Baba Carlos returned to the sacred grounds.

He went to Exu’s house.

He entered slowly.

“Exu.”

He stood before him.

“You know why I’m here.”

For a moment, Baba Carlos said nothing.

He had spoken to Nossa Senhora Aparecida because his wife believed in her. He had walked through the forest to feel Oxóssi, placed his hands in Oxum’s waters, stood before Yemanjá’s sea and asked Ogum for strength.

Now he had come to Exu.

“Maria needs all the powers that love her. All of them.”

He lowered his head.

“I know what Zita says. I know what is expected. But Maria is my daughter.”

He looked towards Exu.

“She must have a choice.”

Baba Carlos waited.

For once, he wasn’t waiting as a Baba who knew how to guide others.

He was waiting as a father who was afraid.

“Zita, come here! I need to show you something.”

“What’s wrong, Maria?”

“I’m a woman now! You cannot call me a child anymore.”

Zita and Maria started to jump happily, celebrating.

“What’s going on, ladies?” Lúcia asked.

“I’m a woman!” Maria shouted.

“Yes! Let’s start the celebrations and the rituals.”

The witches came into the room with Amada.

Everything was an excuse to dance and celebrate.

But when night came, they all reunited and began their preparations.

Lúcia entered Maria’s room, dressed in red and holding a red dress.

“Maria, this is your dress for tonight.”

“Red?”

“Yes. Today you wear red. Power. Your power is awake from today.”

Maria looked at the dress, took it from Lúcia, and felt hot, fiery power.

“Put it on.”

Maria put on the dress, and a loud laugh burst out of her.

“Ahahahahahaha!”

“Now give me the first blood.”

Maria gave her bedding to Lúcia.

“Follow me, Maria. The witches are waiting for us.”

“Lúcia, are we going outside?”

“Yes, Maria. Didn’t you want to go to the cemetery grounds?”

“Yes, I did.”

When they arrived at the cemetery, the witches were dressed in red, dancing around a cauldron made of gold, singing and drinking.

They were happy.

When they saw Maria, they came to hug her.

“Maria, today you leave one cycle to begin a new one. From today, you are leaving childhood and stepping into womanhood. From today, you can bear life. You can continue life,” Zita said.

“We start the preparation tonight.”

Zita took the bedding from Maria and, holding her hand, threw the fabric into the cauldron.

“We donate to you the purest blood, the blood of transformation.”

A great fire rose into the sky.

All the women fell silent.

Waiting.

“I accept. Start the ritual preparation.”

It was the first time Maria had heard his voice.

She felt something she had never felt before.

Lust.

Passion.

Jealousy.