The Witch of the Earth, that was what she was called. The legend of an African-American girl who had died sometime in the 1900s, and how she almost got away with wiping out all of human race with one simple word: jewels.

The legend went, that the Witch of the Earth had been born with a gift—the gift of witchcraft. She could summon diamonds and emeralds from deep below the earth and riddle them with curses that would only sent those in possession of said jewels to madness, and then death. She was said to have sold each jewel to the citizens of her town and all those who came to visit, every person promised a visit from Death upon their purchase of the riches. However, when the witch was just about to get away with all that she had done, a giant named Alcyoneus had risen from the earth and put a stop to her evil. He had buried her beneath the surface of the earth, never to be seen again. Rumours were that her end was what had caused the destruction of a small island not far off from somewhere in New Orleans.

Maya Gonzalez sat at the foot of the stage—a hand shielding over her eyes like a cap to block the sun. Despite having heard the legend times before, she couldn't help but come to listen to it yet again. There was something so captivating about the way Lady Amelia told the story. She allowed herself the comfort of stretching her legs out beneath the rays of sunlight as another girl got settled beside her. She had eyes the shade of pure gold, and wore a purple shirt with faded text—perhaps it was one of those 'I love NYC' shirts. Maya couldn't recall ever seeing this girl before, though she honestly couldn't be bothered to introduce herself either. The last thing she needed was some random tourist rambling into her ear during the story.

"Are you all ready to hear the story of the Witch of the Earth?" asked Lady Amelia, a wicked smile on her face, as if she were the antagonist of the movie, luring the main character into a trap. She held in her hand a fake diamond the size of her thumb, and waved it around with purpose. The girl beside Maya frowned at the sight, her expression looking somewhat uneasy. Maya couldn't fathom why she looked so uncomfortable and why she didn't look at-all interested. Tourists these days were weird.

"There was once a small town in New Orleans, where a young witch resided," began Lady Amelia, her words drawled out for dramatic effect. "She had hair like darkness, and eyes like gold. The young witch had a gift—the gift to summon any jewel, any valuable from the Earth, and send them back under as if they had never been moved. She was a sweet girl, I was told. A sweet girl swayed by the beauty of the dark. Her selfish mother taught her to give her power a purpose, she told her to use their gift for their own selfish needs."

"Then came the curse. The curse that with every gem that was hauled from the earth, a dead body followed. Every time a gem was given to someone, they would soon die a horrible death. But in her schemes, the witch had help. She had help from a god—Hades. The dastardly god of the Underworld would make it so that no person could find dig up anything from the ground, leaving them no choice but to buy from the Witch of the Earth." Lady Amelia held her diamond up, flexing her fingers and flicking her wrist at it as if casting a spell.

"Just when they were about to succeed, Alcyoneus, the son of Gaea, stopped them with his powers and buried them beneath the ground along with the island they were on, never to be seen again." Lady Amelia finished the tale, crushing the fake diamond in her hand before depositing the remnants into the pocket of her coat. Maya wasn't sure what exactly the diamond had to have been made of for it to just crumble, but she didn't really care. What she did care about, however, was how the legend of the Witch of the Earth seemed to exhilarate her more with each listen. It was so mesmerising, so satisfying.

Everyone in the small crowd of teens cheered and called the witch names, while Maya savoured the moment. She glanced over and remembered the tourist next to her. She did not look happy. In fact, she looked absolutely furious. Maya cocked her head to one side, noting the anger radiating off of the short little girl. She didn't look much older than Maya, though her temper definitely went higher than hers ever could. Not a second passed before the girl got to her feet, clambering onto the stage and standing next to Lady Amelia, arms crossed and gaze hard.

"The legend is wrong. The 'Witch of the Earth', otherwise known as Hazel Levesque, was framed." announced the girl. Maya stiffened, gasps and whispers erupting from the other people at the stage. The girl had a lot of nerve to just walk onto the stage and tell dozens of people that a story most grew up hearing, was wrong. Maya wasn't sure whether to be angry, or impressed. As she stared at the tourist's figure though, she noticed the small details like the darkness of her curly hair, and the glinting flecks of gold in her eyes. If Maya didn't know any better, she'd say that this girl could be a living reincarnation of the Witch of the Earth.

Lady Amelia scowled, waving a finger at the girl accusingly. "Where's the evidence, girl? And how would you know if you didn't live through it like I did?"

Instead of rendering her speechless, Lady Amelia's words only sparked a grin from the girl. She tilted her head to one side, and said, "oh really? Ever heard the part of how she was brought back to life?" She blinked once at Lady Amelia and everyone else, playing the role of an innocent girl who didn't know any better, though Maya was beginning to suspect that she knew things. She was beginning to suspect that the girl knew a lot of things.

"What's . . . What's your name, girl?" whispered Lady Amelia, her expression changing from angry to something that was almost scared. The young girl smiled in response. She closed her eyes for a second as her finger lifted, dancing in the air whilst thin green Mist surrounded her and the entire area surrounding the stage. Her eyes glowed a brighter shade of gold as she lifted her hands, jewels the size of droplets rising into the air from beneath the dirty ground. Seconds later, the riches all dropped onto the floor, then sunk under as she pushed the palm of her hands down in a quick motion.

"My name is Hazel Levesque."