(3.2) Witches Of The Eternal Recurrence

“Does she go through some sort of magical problem once a week, or?”

“Once a week, Mindy?  Did this happen before?”

“Oh, yes.  Well, not this exact thing, but she came over for a formal dinner with her family - Mindy brought Dante, to.  Turned out Dante’s pop had put a curse on her.  Ben had to remove i-”

“He did what?!  Dante, you didn’t tell me this.’

“Tara, if I had to tell everyone every time my Dad did something almost comically evil, I’d be stuck in the same conversation for an eternity, even unto the second end of the Earth or so.”

“You never tell us any of us anything about it.”

“There’s a reason for that.  I don’t want to get loved ones involved and hurt.  I’m always afraid they’ll try to confront him.”

“There’s a reason for that.”

“Anyway...” Dante continues.  “I just got off the phone with Ben.  He’s on his way from the post office as soon as he can manage.  In the meantime he’s asked us not to touch the sarcophagus-”

“Mindy,” says Tara.

“What?”

“You’re trying to poke it, aren’t you.”

Mindy’s arm was outstretched.  One index finger was also outstretched, with one orange nail mere inches away from touching it.   “No?”

“Yes, you are.  Put it down.”

“Fine, geez.”

Anilin sits on the floor, cradling the unconscious Kitty’s noggin in her lap.  It’s been rough.  When she isn’t completely comatose and unmoving she spends a few minutes jabbering in tongues and hissing at Dante and Mindy, followed by spending a few minutes yowling and mewling at the ceiling before collapsing back into unconsciousness.   Presently she’s purring, which is a little disturbing even if it’s a slight improvement.

Rhoda sits behind Annie, combing the blonde girl’s hair in a reflection of Rhoda’s usual priorities towards her princess.

“Okay,” says Tara.  “Let’s all just...sit tight and wait for Ben.  Someone go and tell the police to keep patrolling, Eva should get back to her Librarian duties, Despina and Mindy should...Do...Whatever it is you do.”

Despina quietly shuffles cards in one corner of the room while Mindy juggles a tiny fireball.  Tara rolls her eyes.

“Super.  Keep up the good work.”

***

Kitty examines her...self?...in the hand mirror, having found what is either an extremely accurate Egyptian cosplay or actual Egyptian clothes in the reed baskets.   She looks...pretty good, she has to admit.  Probably better than she normally does.  Whoever owned this body previously spend way more time outside.  ...And wears way less underwear.  She’d also found a lovely pendant depicting a black and gold cat surrounded by four kittens, which she’d felt compelled to put on slowly because kittens.

Images have been flooding her mind, slowly but surely.  Memories, perhaps?  She sees statues of a cat headed goddess...children playing...a religion declining in popularity while still attracting plenty of visitors...ceremonies involving flashing people dear gods.

There’s a smell of smoke in the air, vague but present.   The images tell her this is abnormal.  High abnormal.  The cats have begun to bristle uncomfortably, some of them making hissing noises at nothing in particular.

She hears someone running towards her, a familiar - according to this other person’s memories, at least - clink of armor repeated over and over.

The person making this noise slides into the room, and she is suddenly face to face with a tall, handsome, heavily sunburnt white guy in the armor of the ancient Roman legion, which she is starting to suspect is at this moment far less ancient than she is accustomed to.

(“Thank God!”) exclaims the man in a language she isn’t sure why she understands.  (“You’re all right!”)

[What? Kitty tries to say, but she finds she’s no longer in control of the mouth.  (“Your God or mine?”) says the presently possessed Egyptian woman, in a snarky fashion.  (“I appreciate my big, humble centurion coming around so...Early, but...”)

The centurion suddenly wraps his arms around her body and kisses her fiercely.  Kitty is a little disturbed, not the least because she’s never kissed a man in her life up until now (though she has certainly thought about it a couple of times).  Images flood her mind again, and...Well.  This body has done some things regarding the centurion that the latter is slightly but not entirely ashamed of and the former is extremely proud of.

(“...I suppose my goddess shouldn’t be entirely upset if I delayed the festival five minutes for pleasure-”)

(“We have to leave, now.  Something terrible is happening.”)

The priestess and the centurion stare at each other quietly for a moment.

(“What sort of terrible?  War terrible, riot terrible, my religion terrible, your religion terrible...Awkward sex terrible?”)

(“I...I don’t know how to explain...”)

(“...Do you smell salt water and fish”)

(“Oh my God, they’ve reached us!  Get behind me!”)

The centurion spins around, drawing his gladius.  A sickening squelch is heard over and over as something approaches slowly...

It comes into view, illuminated by the sun through the windows.  It’s a terrible, wet, green...thing, towering over the priestess and centurion.  The head is bulbous and pulsing, a beard of tentacles hanging from it.  It appears to be almost entirely naked.  Long, sharp talons cradle a big, twisted, black spear.

It opens it’s maw, and makes a spit-filled gurgling roar

It advances on the centurion, ducking down into a threatening pose, spear ready to skewer him...

The army of cats hiss and cry out suddenly, charging the creature.  They leap onto the body, sinking their teeth and claws in, causing it to shriek and scream.  It flails about violently before falling over onto it’s back as it’s quickly devoured by a horde of pet cats.

The priestess and centurion look at each other.

(“Doesn’t seem that dangerous.”)

The centurion sighs.

(3.1)

Outside, the weather has abruptly taking a turn for the worst. The sunny skies have turned to cloud, and lightning flashes in the distance, casting a rather stereotypically gloomy proceeding on the events in Lord Ilucis’ study. Over the years, his Lordship had discovered that he rather liked the old fashioned ambience of a good thunderstorm. It might be rather rote for someone branded as a Warlock by the other mages of the city, but it was effective.

As always, Lord Ilucis had carefully arranged for a storm to appear during this meeting. This one was going to be a doozy.

The room was dark. The fireplace crackled and burned in front of Lord Ilucis’ couch. Behind him stood four Dragons in suits. Presently they were indistinguishable from any other thug in the whole District, but underneath those cleaned and pressed pinstripe suits they wore some...very distinguishing markings. You could never be too careful with help, especially other Warlocks. But even an oath-breaker could be bound to oaths, if you knew the magic words.

Lord Ilucis checks his watch. He sighs. “Miss Levesque is late, I see...mm.”

“She would not dare face you after such a flagrant insult to you and your children, my Lord,” says one thug.

“She’s stalling, isn’t she? Yes...mm. She is trying to wait us out, to get under our skin. I know. It’s what I would have done.” Lord Ilucis laughs. The thugs laugh with him rather more shakily.

The fire begins to subside for a moment, then seems to burst right open. A tower of flame blows up through the chimney before settling down into the vague outline of a young woman in a torn and dirty cloak, shimmering in red hues as if part of the fire. Her hair was long and flowing, her feet bare and dirty. Red lips shine bright through the smokey haze.

She smiles at him.

“Bonjour, Mon Seigneur Ilucis. It’s been awhile since we’ve talked. You need something from your faithful apprentice, oui?”

“Oui.” Lord Ilucis’ voice was stone.

“To what do I owe the honor?”

“The Librarian broke into the upper floors of the hotel last week. She has seen too much, but she has...escaped. Now it seems she’s under the protection of my dear old friend, White.”

“The paunchy, blonde witch-hunter?”

“The very same.” Lord Ilucis idly picked his nails. “Mm. You wouldn’t happen to know how she ended up on the floor of my son’s bedroom, hmm?”

“Oh, tous mes excuses, votre Seigneurie! But I hear this is a common event, no? I hear your seed are quite the popular ones. That is why you put them on the billboards, yes? I do not see what I would have to do with it.”

“Silence, Siren. Do not talk to me about my children’s...activities, mm. ,Durante’s apartment was wrecked. Someone wrote messages about the Mother in blood on his walls. I told you my children were off limits, Miss Levesque.”

“I recall, master! What would I want with them anyway? They are not magic, after all...”

“Heh.” Lord Ilucis folds his hands in his lap, impatiently. “More importantly, the Librarian. An...initial attempt at correcting the problem appears to have failed entirely, mmm. The police arrived on scene at a rather spectacularly awful time. I most certainly regret it, but something must be done soon, and my hands appear to be tied...And this appears to be your mess, Miss Levesque. I expect my apprentice to know to clean up after herself.”

“Oui, monsieur. The Sirens have already taken steps!”

“Oh, yes?”

“Bien sûr! Now if you will excuse me, I am quite busy. Adieu!”

Miss Levesque’s shape collapses into the fire, returning to it’s original form and shape.

Lord Ilucis gives a raspy chuckle.

“Steps, eh.” He laughs.




***


“How about Kitty’s Witches?” offers Annie, as the women sit on the bed in the room in a circle. Kitty and Annie cuddle against the wall. Eva lounges next to them. Despina and Tara sit cross legged, the former shuffling cards idly while the second keeps her eyes shut. Mindy hangs off the bed, upside down.

“It’s not all about your girlfriend, your majesty,” says Tara, calmly.

"Awww. Okay, okay...Order of the Library?”

“Bit too boring,” says Mindy. “Las Bruja Seis? The Six Witches?”

“What do we do if we have a seventh witch?” says Eva.

“Fuck the seventh witch,” says Mindy. Annie grins and wiggles her eyebrows at Kitty. Kitty blushes and gently jabs her in the ribs.

“Drawing Down The Moon?” offers Eva.

“Please, that’s as standard a ritual as they come,” sighs Tara. “We’d be....Generic McCoven.”

“Big fan of the Moon,” says Despina, and little else. Kitty’s starting to be a little distressed by her crypticness.

“Oh, I know! something like...R’le’go marka’rot l’en ithgoth!” As dark speech flows from Eva’s tongue, the very world seems to become darker. The walls quake. The very foundations of Kitty’s soul trembles.

“No,” says Tara again, as the feeling subsides. “No death tongues.”

“Fine. Just think it would make us a little more impressive, is all...”

“We’re not summoning an Elder God.”

“Fine.”

“Or a demon,” adds Tara, turning and looking at the upside town Mindy. She rolls her eyes.

“You never let me have any fun.”

“The Crystal Witches?” suggests Annie.

“We don’t really have any crystals between us at the moment,” says Eva.

“Maybe something with Ouroboros?” says Mindy.

“We’re not a dragon cult,” says Tara, flatly. But Kitty is thinking...

“Um, you know, considering the...um...historical and mythological significance of the Ouroboros, that might not be such a bad idea.”

All eyes turn to Kitty, but she tries to persevere. “Er...You see, it’s had a great philsophical and mystical significance, representing the, you know, Eternal Recurrence of life and death and history repeating and the cycles of nature and...yeah. I mean. It looks cool, and maybe a bit intimidating. It’s serpent...y. It’s on Mindy’s wedding ring. I mean, it seems like it might fit us all...And be a bit intimidating. I kinda like it. I mean,as long as this whole magic thing is, um, not as fake as I thought, why not going for the witch-gusto?”

“I vote for it,” says Mindy, quickly.

“...Same,” says Eva.

“...It is nicely philosophical...” says Tara. Despina remains silent, aside from the flicking of cards.

“So we’re all agreed then?” says Annie.

The young witches murmured in agreement.

“Now, hold on,” says Tara. “It’s a good symbol. But what’s a good name? Order of the Ouroboros? Coven Of The Circling Snake? Witches of the Eternal Recurrence? We have to think about these things.”

“I thought you weren’t interested in joining a coven?” says Mindy with a little smirk.

“I may have warmed up to it. Don’t jinx it.”


***

Sometime later, after the group had finally decided on Witches Of the Eternal Recurrence as a coven name, Kitty found herself and Annie walking through the library again. This time they watch as Eva pulls books about witchcraft from the walls. She’s chatting a mile a minute, and Kitty is struggling to keep up.

“Now, most people use wizards as a catch-all for all mages, but that’s not quite true. It’s just short-hand, right? All wizards are mages, but not all mages are wizards. No one really cares, though, aside from a few people. See, what wizards are, are...Hmmm...They’re mage-scientists, right? Like my brother. He treats magic as a fully scientific field. Witches, on the other hand, they treat it as more of a religious or emotional thing. It’s to be venerated. Nobody venerates fire magic like my sister, for example.”

“Um...Yeah, sure.”

“Cool!”

Eva grins at them, pulling another book off the shelf.

“Right! So wizards are less likely to perform rituals, say, invoking magic spirits and are more likely to have very rigidly defined spells memorized. Witches on the other hand often perform rituals and our spells are often...more element based and off the cuff. Right? Right. Now these aren’t so rigidly defined. I myself mix a little bit of wizard and witch based upon my needs and interests...”

Kitty nods absently.

“Oh!” Eva snaps around. “Right! Don’t make the rookie mistake a lot of people do. Wizards and witches? Not actually gender defined! And a Warlock is definitely not a male witch. The sharp divide between the two mostly has to do with some old world habits dying quite hard even in the face of the new world’s matriarchies. But I’m pretty confident that the numbers are slowly changing.”

“Neat.”

“Now, there are other types of mages, and they can all overlap. Alchemists are, you guessed it, chemistry mages. They discover and use the magical properties of objects and forms of life other than humans. Of course, modern mage thinking has largely reached a consensus that while Alchemy may once again be a valuable profession among the magically inclined, the Philosopher’s Stone is still probably a myth. Or made of people. Either way, no one can eat gold. There are also enchanters. They’re like...mage-artisans, mage-blacksmiths, you know. They create and forge magical items and weaponry. There are other sorts, theoretically there are mage-engineers but the field is so underdeveloped right now, you know?”

“I guess?” says Kitty, not knowing at all.

“Right. Let’s see. There are Oracles, who have direct connections to deity and derive magic from them at all times. Shamans, who are the same basically, but with spirits. In both cases the divide between it and witch is a little murky, but that’s okay, because...Wait, did I already mention that you can be multiple varieties at once?”

“Yeah...”

“Right! Yes, okay. Really it’s mostly about self-identification, which is good, because I can never remember what a sorcerer is. Warlocks, though, yeah, warlocks are bad. They’re oath-breakers. Mages who have no morals or qualms about abusing magic for power or trapping spirits or what have you. Nasty, nasty people, really. If the greater mage community has marked someone as a warlock, stay far away. They are untrustworthy and dangerous. Like mage-criminals, really. The community usually takes that stuff pretty seriously, at least if the warlock is particularly out of control. All it really takes is just a few warlocks to tear asunder the very fabric of reality, which as you might have noticed is already pretty well torn-Am I boring you?” says Eva suddenly, very self-consciously.

“No, no, you’re a good talker,” says Kitty. It’s true. Kitty just wishes she was a bit slower.

“You have a sexy voice,” says Annie.

“Annie.”

“You were thinking it too!”

“...A little. I didn’t say it out loud though.”

Eva laughs. “Flatterers. Okay, okay. The main thing to remember is that magic must be respected. And you have to be patient. It’s gonna take you some time to get good at it, but at least you’ve got a coven!” Eva pats Kitty, then Annie, on the shoulder with her one free hand. “Thinks of us as your older sisters in learning,” she says. She winks, laughs, and heads back up the stairs.

Annie and Kitty watch her go.

“I think she might like you,” says Kitty.

“No, it’s probably you.;” says Annie.

"I don’t think so.”

“Please, you’re the cute one.”

“Look, I already had that awkward...thing with the bartender anyway.”

The front desk phone rang. No one was presently there. Kitty sighs. “That’s probably the bartender again, I’ll bet. I’ll answer, you go on ahead.”

“All right.” Annie kisses Kitty’s cheek and runs upstairs. Kitty picks up the phone.

"Hello, you’ve reached the Library. This is Ki-...Duchess Kitten Tiger speaking, how may I help you.”

“It’s Meb.” The bartender’s voice was quick and to the point.

“...Right. I remember you.”

“Yep.”

“...Look, I want to apologize for my behavior. I did a really cruel thing, honestly, and I think I tricked you? So...Yeah. I’m sorry. Won’t happen aga-”

“What time do you get off work?”

“What? Uh. Eight o’clock, normally, but with the new employees I’m not-”

“See you then.” The phone clicked off

Kitty gently set it down.

She ran upstairs.



***




On her way to find the coven again, Dante grabs Kitty’s arm as she passes by.

“Terribly sorry, just really needed you attention this time,” he says, letting go quickly. “You said you could read the sarcophagus’ sides? Would you mind? I don’t think we’ll actually accomplish anything otherwise.

“Oh...Uh...Sure...” says Kitty. She turns and looks at the sarcophagus, kneeling down to read them. She clears her throat.

“‘Warning: Contents fragile. This side up’ - arrow pointing up. ‘Here lies our dear Lady Of Flame, Daughter of Ra, Wife of Anubis, Alleged Mother Of Maahes, Excellent Cat. She will be missed. Contents sealed in elaborate puzzle trap requiring four keys and a great deal of lockpicking. First layer of protection requires dispel by trained thaumic specialists, rest of instructions within. If problems arise with locks even after spell is removed, please invoke Securitas or a decent blacksmith deity. If you are still having problems, please pray to Sekhmet and wait for the nearest available cat to provide excellent services. We know you have a choice in sister-cat deities spawned from eyeballs and incestuous pantheons and we sincerely appreciate your patronage and loyalty in these monotheistic times.’

Kitty takes a breath.

“‘Heka Health Hazard Warning: This box produces small amounts of thaumic radiation, well under legal limits as required by Ra. However 1% of magic users may find themselves having out of body experiences, speaking prophecy, and mentally time travelling as a result of being near this box. If you experience any of the above symptoms, have a psychologist or psychologist deity check for a history of family mental illness. If no history is found, you may be about to embark on a Great Quest.’

“‘Good grief, I still have all this space. Huh. I can say whatever I want. No one’s going to read this far. Boobs. Boobs boobs boobs. Zeus sucks. Odin sucks. Vishnu is okay. Ra needs a brightness setting. Boobs. boobs boobs boobs.’ It...goes on like that, sorry.”

Dante sighs, slumping against a wall. “...Guess I’ll just have everyone take a break until the witches can figure it out. Or failing that, call Ben.”

“Um. Yeah. I guess. Sorry, I wish there was more I-”

Before the sentence was finished, Kitty feels her entire body abruptly seize up. Of it’s own accord, her entire body turns towards Dante.

"...Kitty, your eyes are...all...weird and glowy...” stammered Dante, pressing back against a wall.

Kitty stares at him for a full minute.

Her mouth opens.

“MEOW meow meow Meow mEoW MEOw mEoW MeOw MeOW Mrrrrroroowowoooow mrrrr meow MRRrrRrRrRrRrRr Reeeeowwww mewmewmewmewmewmewmewmewmewmewmew MRRRRROWWWWWWW mew mew MEW mew MEW mew MEW mew MEW mew MEW ffffffffffffffft fffffft FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!”

Dante’s face is now covered in spit, Kitty pinning him to the wall with one hand and an unusual amount of strength.

“Um, anyone? Help? The...The Librarian’s become some sort of...Cat...monster...I don’t think this is normal...Help!”

Kitty hisses again, spits, sputters, and proceeds to fall straight backwards onto the floor. She lays there, staring up at the ceiling without blinking.

“...Anyone?” Dante calls out again. “I...I think the Librarian broke. If anyone would...like to take a look at that....Um...”

***

Now there was blackness.

It seemed, seems, and will seem to fill everything. She feels herself awash in an endless sea of black, drowning but unable to move.

There is only silence here.

“Meow.”

Mostly silence.

“Mew, mew, prrrrrrrr-prrr-prr-mew!”

Silence and...

Cats?

“Mewwwwwww!”

Okay, yes. Cats. The sound of...cats. And they seem to be getting louder. This is...Well, worrying isn’t the right word. Unsettling, possibly.

Then, as suddenly as the darkness has come, it’s pierced by the rays of morning sunlight through a hole in someone’s roof.

Ow! thinks Kitty. What she actually exclaims is an expletive she doesn't understand that has hitherto only been represented in dead writing systems..

She sits up in a bed she doesn’t remember getting in. She looks around.

This room appears to be made of stone. There are reed baskets in the corner.

The bed and floor are covered with cats. Some of them are meowing at her. Others are snoozing. A few are attempting to rub their heads against her as she sits up.

Kitty groans and rubs her forehead.

She looks at the arm.

Her complexion appears to have changed to more of a “deep tan”. That, and she seems...taller?

She pats around as is surprised to find a mirror on the floor by the bed.

She lifts it up and looks into it.

Kitty doesn’t remember looking quite that...gorgeous. Or long haired. Or, um, Egyptian.

She screams for a little while.

(AUTHOR: THE FORUMS HAVE MOVED slightly)

You can now find them at the url http://w11.zetaboards.com/half/index/ as they now also host the boards for my main project, www.halfadventures.com

If you like space, science fiction, psychology, unusual cultures, weird polygamy, weird monogamy, aliens with a passing resemblance to animals, and stories that may or may not take place in the same universe as this one in a different time period, read it!  You either won't be disappointed, or you'll be bored and do something else!

Lords And Ladies (2.18)

“Eva, please tell her to wait a minute.  Or call back later.   Please.   I’m very busy, having a little drama with Anilin right now - please don’t tell her that.”

“...She heard it,” says Eva, wincing.

“...Okay, well.  I need to go take care of her first, okay?  So just...Hang tight.  Very busy today.”

“I could keep an eye on her?”  offers Eva, suddenly.

“Um, no, no, this is my fault,” says Kitty, creeping towards the stairs and back stepping up them as if expecting another person with a gun and a fedora to burst through the door.  She bolts to her door, twisting the handle.   Locked.  She knocks politely on the door.

“Annie?” she calls out softly.  There is no whimper, no little reassurance that Annie is okay, no demand to go away.  Just...nothing.

Kitty clenches her first in anger - not at Annie, gods know, but at herself.  She calls out again, quietly, listening for an answer.

"Kitty..." says a voice on the other side of the door, weakly.  Nothing else.  The voice sounds pitiful, small, and not at all the boisterous, enthusiastic, and - admittedly - slightly unhinged voice Kitty was used to.

"Annie...Can we talk?  I want to talk."

"You're just going to roll your eyes again at something stupid I said.  Why bother?"

"Annie...I won't.  I promise.  Please.  This is all my fault.  I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."  She rests her head against the door, shutting her eyes.  "I'm sorry I didn't believe you.  I'm sorry I kept rolling my eyes at you and treating you like a little child.  I'm sorry I just...smiled and nodded at your...charms and magic.  I'm sorry I tried to sell them.  I'm sorry, because I know I'm the pain.  I'm the brat.  I'm the fool, Annie.  It's me."

Her voice cracks, her palms sweat.  She had thought nothing of it at the time, but now every single veiled insult, every eye roll, every...mere toleration of her girlfriend comes flooding back into her mind, clear and vivid and painful.  Every denial that they had something.  Every refusal of help, putting her and her little sister in worse straits.

The door clicks.  Kitty pulls back as the door opens.  Annie's there, her head down.

"I'm sorry," says Kitty.  "I'm so sorry."

"Kitten...The one person who I know loves me, the one lady I trust, the one girl I've let...touch me...Thinks I'm a fool.  Tolerates me.  Finds my voice irritating.  The one person who I can trust to be honest.  The one.  Single.  F-friend who isn't sucking up to me just because I'm a princess.  There's no one else, Kitty, not right now.  It feels...it feels...poopie"

"Poo-" begins Kitty, and she bites her tongue.  "Annie...I don't have any excuse.  I don't...know anything.  I'm the fool.  I've spent my whole life shut up in this place with nothing but a sister who constantly wanders off and Old World books to keep me company-"

"You have me," says Annie.  "I just don't count."

Kitty's heart doesn't just ache.  It...breaks.

"I've always been here, Kitty.  Every.  Single.  Day.  I'd gladly live here full time if you wanted me to.  But you never did.  You never introduced me as your girlfriend, not until lately.  Kitty, do you realize for how long I wasn't sure if we were a thing or just...experimented?  And how long I've had to watch you and your sister, here, alone, just...refusing my help.  Falling apart.   And if you didn't believe me, you could have just...asked."

"I...never thought to..."

They both stand there, in silence and pain.    Annie sniffles and rubs her eyes.  Kitten returns it in kind.  She rubs her arm.  Stares at the wall.  Breathes in deep, and lets it go.

"Teach me," says Kitty, suddenly.

Annie snaps up.  "Huh...?"

"Teach me how to...to..." Kitty made a series of indecipherable hand gestures.  "To do the magical...thing.  Teach me to be the witchiest...witch."  She gently takes one of Annie's hands.  "Make me your magical girlfriend, like one of those manga."

"I thought you didn't like manga?"

"I don't!  People keep asking me about them!  But I love you Annie, and...I want to be a part of your world."

Annie looks deep into her eyes, biting her lip.  She shuts them, turning away, her face red now.
"What's the matter, Annie?  What's wrong?"

"N-nothing!"  she replies quickly.  "Only..."

"What is it?  I'll do anything..."

"I...can't teach you."

Another ominous silence presents itself.

"...What do you mean, you can't teach me?"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

Annie bites her lip again.  "I'm not actually that good."

"What?  I'm sure you're fantastic...Amazing, even.  You're probably the best witch in town."

"Heheheheheh....heheheh...heh...heh..." Annie fiddles with her dress a little.  "Um.  No.  I am the most enthusiastic witch in town.  Well, that's probably not true either, you've seen Mindy.  I bet that girl throws a mean curve ball.  Made of fire.  A fireball, if you will."

"What about all those charms?"

"Oh, well, I made those with the power of love," says Annie.

A big, enthusiastic, awed smile crosses Kitty's face.  "The most powerful magic of them all, right?"

"Yes!"  says Annie.  "And, um...No.  Not really.  I mean.  I don't think so.'

Kitty's face went into a free fall, crash landing somewhere between hope and disbelief.

"What?"

"Oh, I mean, love and positive thinking and hope and stuff is powerful!  Just...Um...It would be more powerful.  If I...Was better at being a witch.'  Annie coughs slightly.  "But the gesture means a lot to me Kitty!  I mean, it'll take me some time to get over it, but um...Yeah."

"So...What can you do, Annie?  I'd love to see it..."

"Well...Okay, it wouldn't be fair of me to go through all that and not show you!  That'd be awful.  Just, um...Don't laugh, please?"

"I won't."

Annie smiles, with a little cringe.  She pulls a metal wand out of her bra.  It's ornate, and gorgeous; decorated with silver and saphire.  Distinctive designs resembling a sea serpent snake around the base of the wand, the head of one devouring a sapphire at the tip

Annie takes a few slow, deep breaths before holding out the wand.   Her eyes seem to glaze over in concentration, as if staring off in the distance...

And then a stream of water douses Kitty's face temporarily, knocking off her cat ears.

"Oh," says Kitty, as water drips from her head.

"Yes, heh," says Annie, embarrassed.  "You see, most wizards or witches or whatever the individual prefers have, um..."  Annie clears her throat again.  "Found their familiar by now.  Or been found by their familiar.  It's kind of silly, really, but you know what they say about witches without familiars."

"What do they say?"

Annie  taps her chin.  "...Never mind, it would just make you angry."  Annie snaps her fingers.  "You know what though?   We know some magical ladies.  Right here in this building!"

"You think they could teach us?"

Annie looks thoughtful.  Then she grins wickedly.

"More than that."  She grabs Kitty's arm, pulling her along.  "C'mon!  Come with me!" She shouts, all eager and smiles again.

***

As they come down the stairs, Eva pokes her head in again.

"Duchess," she says quickly.  "The bartender wants you to call back around six-"

"Evangelina!" says Annie happily.

"...Evangeline!  But close, princess," she says, and bows.

"Good enough!  I was drunk when I met."  She grabs Eva's arm.  "...Hot biceps.  Hot hot.  Hey, you know what would be fun?  Coming with me and Kitty.  We're going to do a magic thing!"

"A magic...thing?" asks Eva.   "Magical...lesbian things?"

"Why, yes, sexuality is magical!" says Annie, dragging both girls along now.  "But this is more of 'magical secret things' than 'magical sleepover with Kitty when we were-'"

"Hey!" says Kitty.

"Perhaps..." says Eva, coyly.  "Magical conspiratorial things?"

"Something like that!"

"I like those."

"I thought so!  See, I wasn't that drunk..."


***


"Hello, Bante!" shouts Annie, storming back into the sarcophagus.

"Dante," says Dante, not looking up as he, Roxanne, and Oreo focus on the sarcophagus.

"Right!  Where are your witches?"

Dante's head looks up slowly regarding her with a stare that was piercieven under the unnecessary sunglasses.  "My what?"

"You know!  Mindy, and...The other two.  The ones that are not Mindy."

"...I believe they're hanging out in 312," he says, looking back down.

"Thanks!" shouts Annie gleefully, already dragging them down the hallway.

As the door slams in the distance, Roxanne smirks.

"What's so funny?"

"You didn't ask her what was on the sarcophagus."

"...Damn."



***



Annie slams the door shut behind her after Eva and Kitty are dragged in.  She turns around to the other trio.  Mindy and the...other two Annie doesn't know...are sitting on a bed, chatting away about...who cares!  It's not nearly as interesting as what she's got to say, she knows that.

"Mindy!  Other two!"  says Annie enthusiastically.

"Tara," says Tara.

"Despina, but you can call me Destiny, your majesty."

"Right!  So."  Annie claps her hands together.  "I was thinking.  Kitty's magic, I'm magic, you're all magic...Let's form a coven!"

"...Like a witch co-" begins Kitty, before palming her face  "Right, yes, stupid question, sorry."

"Oooooh.  Sounds shadowy and mysterious," says Eva.  "And sexy."

"You know!   You teach us, we teach you, circle of friendship.  Maybe some pagan worshipping.  Learning new things about magic.  Becoming a mysterious and powerful shadow government once I'm in power.  You know!  A coven."

Everyone in the room seemed to ponder this.

"...That does sound like fun..." says Mindy.  "...And my sister's already on board..."

"Cov-en!  Cov-en!  Cov-en!  Cov-en!" cheers  Eva.

"I though cheerleading was my thing, Eva."

"Cov-en!"

"Could be interestin'," says Despina.  "Certainly wouldn't be boring..."

"I don't know you," says Tara.  "And I'm pretty sure neither of you know Despina.  This is a really, really poorly thought out idea.  No disrespect, princess."

"So we're agreed then?' says Annie.

"Yes!' says Eva.

"Um," says Kitty.

"I'm going to enjoy this, at least," says Mindy.

"I don't have anything better to do on weekends," says Despina.

"This is a terrible idea," says Tara, "and I don't want to go along with it."

"But you are anyway, right?" says Mindy.

"Yes."

"Yesssss!"  shouts Annie, punching the air and running a lap around the room.  "We've got so much to plan, now!  Schedules, secret handshakes, meeting places, rituals, lesson plans, uniforms...Hats!  I'm going to knit so many hats."

"Don't we need a name first?" asks Mindy.

"YES!  A name, name, we need a name...Something magic-y and order-y and coven-y and yesssss!' Annie skids to a stop.  "...Does anyone have a name?"

Lords and Ladies (2.17)

Kitty stares back into Annie’s deep eyes for a moment.

“Nope.”

“Yep!”

Kitty gently pushes Annie away.  “Nope.  We’re not doing this.  I’m not magic.”

Annie’s lips pull an abrupt U turn.  “But Kitty!  You read the thingy we can’t read!”

“Annie...No.”  Kitty sighs, her voice shaking a little.  “Look, Annie, the cutesy fantasy thing?  The ‘oh my god, it turns out I have magic!’ sudden twist?  That’s all you, not me.  That’s your dream.  That’s...not mine.”  Kitty shrugs, helplessly, as Annie’s face wrinkles in pain.  “I’m sorry, okay?  At best I’m the girl you have to rescue.  And I’m not even a princess, not really, so you got cheated.  Okay?  So....”  Kitty turned, looking down at the letters.  She shuts her, squeezes them tight.  All t-that?  I’m just going to go on assuming I’m being pranked.  That we can all have a good laugh, and I can go back to my quiet life.  That a man really didn’t die this morning on my front desk, because of this...this...big, dumb box that’s been in my family for years.  I...I don’t want...” She bites her lip, leaning on the edge of the box, as if she were addressing the stone cat lady.  “I don’t want to be a story.  I don’t want to be some...fantasy.”

Kitty turns and looks around the room.   At Mindy, then Tara, then Despina (who waves)...Dante doesn’t bother to look at her, just watching the sarcophagus himself.  She doesn’t look at Annie.

“How many of you are wizards?” asks Kitty, quietly.  Everyone raises their hand, except Dante, who just pushes his shades further up his nose and coughs.

“My sister is too,” adds Mindy.

“Right,” says Kitty.  “Yes.”

“You know, downstairs.”

“I know.”  KItty sighs again, staring at her feet.  “Look...that’s fine.  But I dont want to join the wizard club.  I don’t want to be magic.  I don’t want to get wrapped up in some magical mystery haunting my family for generations, or whatever!”  Her eyes water; her throat clenches.  “I don’t want to take the ring to Mordor.  I don’t want to be accepted into Hogwarts.  I don’t care what bloody season is coming, they’re all coming all the time.  I know the odds are more certainly not in mine or anyone’s favor.  I most certainly will panic if I want to!  I am not going in the wardrobe, I am not taking the witch’s shoes because I’m not a bloody graverobbing maniac, and I most certainly am not going on a quest to kill God!”

“Which one?” asks Tara.

“Who cares?!”

“I don’t know, you could probably take Dionysus.”

“Probably not Loki, though,” adds Mindy.

“Probably not,” nods Despina, in agreement.

“Gah!”  Kitty throws up her hands, slaps them back down at her side, and walks to the door, right past Annie.

When she reaches the door, someone whimpers.  Kitty’s heart aches in recognition.  She hangs onto the door frame and turns to Annie.

Her princess’ lip is quivering, her hands held to her cheeks.   She lets out a pathetic, small whine.  Pained emotions swell within her face, leaking out on the surface...

“Annie,” says Kitty, her own voice nearly breaking but remaining stern.  “I’m sorry, but that’s not-”

“Do you love me?”

Kitty jumps back at the implication.  She feels as if a shot has just been fired, but for what?  “Annie, you know I do...”

“Then why weren’t you honest with me?”

“What do you mean?  I always try to be honest with...”

Annies head snaps upwards, her face in the tightest scowl Kitty’s ever seen.  “Then why didn’t you tell me you thought my magic charms were...were...were...bullshit!”

Kitty clutches a hand to her chest, her mouth agape, wounded. “Annie...I didn’t mean-”

“You said, in front of everyone at the dinner party, that magic wasn’t real.  Wasn’t.  Real.  Why?  Did you think that just because I was drunk I wouldn’t remember?”

Kitty’s eyes close and she shakes.

“But you know what?  It’s okay!  I let it slide.  I know everyone thinks I’m a spoiled brat of an idiot, even you Kitty.  Even you! Especially you, because you have to put up with me all the time!  But now...Now...now...It turns out you might be magical too, and you just...Decide to...Ignore it and go right back to pretending it’s not real!  I thought we’d be done with that after Lord White explained things to you, but no, you’re just going to shut yourself off and start humoring me again.”  She’s in Kitty’s face now.  “It’s part of my life, Kitty!  It’s part of me!  You don’t have to have anything to do with it, but at least acknowledge that it exists!  Let me be excited for something, just once.  I don’t want to just be your little joke.”  She grabs Kitty by the shoulders.  “You out of everyone should know that!  I read just as much as you do!  I wouldn’t prattle at you about magic charms just out of craziness, and if you thought I was, you should have told me!  You could have been honest, even if you thought I was dumb.   I could have showed you what I can do!”

She pulls Kitty forward, wrapping her in a tight, constricting hug.  There’s anger in it, mixed with sadness, disappointment, and anguished love.  As well as a grip like a vice.

“You’re all I really have, Kitty...okay?  And even you treated me like a fool.  I guess that’s all I am.”

“Annie...I...”

Anilin pushes her away, sobs violently into her fingers, and takes off out of the room.

Annie, wait!”  cries Kitty, taking off after her.

The room falls into a dead silence. Dante stares down at his feet.  Tara stares at the door.   Despina stares at the ceiling.  Mindy stares at Dante.

After a while Dante sighs quietly.

“She could at least have told us what it says,” he murmurs.  Tara pats his back.

***

Annie tears off up the stairs to Kitty’s room, running faster than Kitty can follow.  By the time she makes it into the living room, she hears the door slam shut.

“Annie!”  she calls out, but there’s no response, and no surprise.  Kitty curses herself under her breath.  Dammit, Annie had a point...

“What’s wrong?” says a voice suddenly.  Kitty turns her head, seeing...One of Dante’s girlfriends, she thinks?  She’d only just met them minutes ago...the one with the shorts...Shoot...Right. Oreo.  It was Oreo.  Whatever that name meant.

“It’s personal,” says Kitty quickly, pausing to catch her breath against the wall.

“She seemed very upset.  What did you do?”

Kitty raises an eyebrow at the stranger.  “Why would you assume...” she begins, but catches herself.  “...Something bad.”

“I figured, by the way she was crying.”

The door leading to the stairs heading down opens abruptly.  Eva sticks her head in.  “Duchess,” she begins cheerfully, “There’s a phone call for you.  The woman on the other end says it’s important.”

“Who...” coughs Kitty, between panicked and stressed breaths.  “...is it?”

“She says her name is Meb.”

“Oh,” says Kitty, calling to mind the bartender.  “Right,” she adds, remembering the time she spent in the bar.  “...Oh god,” she whimpers, remembering that she ‘seduced’ her, if it could reasonably be called that, and ran out of the bar with her invitation.

“What shall I tell her, my Lady?” says Eva, with some concern.

What will Kitty do?  And what will she say?