She woke the next morning with an empty space next to her. On the nightstand, a note read, Making breakfast for everyone. See you when you wake up. –Kyle
Dressing herself for the day, she hurried down the stairs to find about twenty of the girls eating in various locations around the kitchen, living room, and dining room. Most had a bleary, sleepy look about them, but a few were awake and chattering. Kyle was scrambling some eggs and a fruit salad was already in a bowl on the counter.
"Morning," she said, holding out a platter for him to dump the eggs on.
"Morning," he replied, kissing her lightly on the lips before emptying the contents of the pan. Before she could even set it alongside the fruit salad, he was breaking more eggs for the next batch. "I haven't even fed half of them yet," he told her, pouring more eggs into the pan with a sizzling sound, "It's so much crazier than when it was just, like, five of us at most."
"Yeah, I know," she said, throwing some bread in the toaster. "Maybe we could get you some help." The buzzer went off. With one hand, Zoe buttered the toast, and the other causing the bread to fly from the bag and into slots on the toaster. "There have to be a few of the girls who enjoy cooking. Or we could make it a chore. There's too much stuff for you to do alone." Suddenly, a large Bengal tiger cub jumped onto the main table.
"Hey! Amelia! No transformations during breakfast! And not in the kitchen, either!" cried Zoe. The cat mewed and tilted its head. "Don't tell me you're stuck," she groaned. Another mew, this time with a low-hanging head. "Oh my god," she sighed. Then, she opened up her arms. "Come on, you. Let's go find Cordelia." The cub snuggled up in her arms.
"Sorry, I'll see you later, okay?"
"Later, love," Kyle said with a small smile.
Cordelia was in the greenhouse, staring at a small flowering bush. As Zoe watched, she reached into an urn and began to scatter ashes around its roots, whispering as she did so. The pair in the doorway watched as small tears began to trickle down the Supreme's face, landing on the leaves of the plant. When she had finished spreading the grey over the roots, she dusted off her hands. Then, a small vial was poured onto the light dust.
When she seemed to be done, Zoe stepped forward.
"Cordelia?" Quickly, the Supreme dried her eyes and composed herself.
"Yes, Zoe?"
"Well, Amelia turned herself into a tiger and can't shift back… Again." Tiger-Amelia made an ashamed mrrr sound.
"Well," Cordelia sighed, a small smile on her face, "Can't have that, now, can we?" Quickly, she began to bustle around the greenhouse, picking leaves or small flowers. She crushed them with a mortar and pestle, then let the small witch-turned-cat lick some of the paste from her fingers. "That will make it easier for you to shift back." Addressing Zoe, she instructed, "Put her down and give her a minute or two. It should kick in by then."
"What were you doing here?" Zoe asked.
"Just a little ritual," Cordelia murmured. "If it worked, then it should have pulled Misty's soul out of hell." Zoe's eyebrows scrunched together. "…when we passed the greenhouse, a curly-haired girl with the shawl was playing with a baby gator, singing about Rhiannon…" her memory echoed.
"Did you try it before this?" The Supreme nodded.
"Two days ago." Zoe's mouth fell a little bit.
"Cordelia… I think you might have already done it." Shock registered on her face and her mouth opened to ask for clarification.
"Hey, look!" squeaked the now-human Amelia. The thirteen year old was dressed in her nightgown, and spun in a happy circle. "I'm back!"
"That's lovely. Now how about we make our way to the kitchens for breakfast?" Cordelia said with a smile, though her eyes clearly said you and I are speaking later.
After breakfast, Zoe met Cordelia in the greenhouses, Ida holding onto Zoe's skirt from behind. The five year old was nervously chewing at her fingernails, glancing around her in constant little jerks of the head.
"Cordelia, this is Ida Applewood." The Supreme bent down. "Hello there, Ida. It's nice to meet you."
"Hi," the little girl said, "Are you the one that Gator-girl asked about?"
"Ida," said Zoe, "why don't you tell Cordelia who Gator-girl is?"
"Gator-girl is the nicest ghost around here. She has curly blonde hair and wears a shawl and beads, like a hippy. She's really kind, and has this sort of drawl to her voice. Oh, look!" squealed the little girl, pointing at nothing, "She's here!" Letting go of Zoe's skirt, she ran and embraced the air. "Hi, Gator-girl!" Giggling like mad, her little body was picked up and spun around, then settled on the floor again. Her head tilted. "Which one?" A pause. "Oh, okay." Ida ran back to the two older witches and grabbed their thumbs with small hands.
"Can ya'll see me?" asked the ghost of Misty Day.
Cordelia's reaction was a mixture of ecstatic screaming and sobbing.
"Hey, look at that. You got your eyes back," commented a smiling Misty, hand gently brushing the Supreme's cheek before giving her a hug. She looked the same as the day she had died, with a glowing smile and the floral shawl from Stevie Nicks.
"You're back," sniffed Cordelia. "Oh, thank god…" Misty let go and grinned at Cordelia's happy blubbering.
"What was your hell, Misty?" asked Zoe in a quiet voice. A shadow passed over her face, dropping her smile, and they could see the effect that this had on the girl.
"… It was my seventh year science class… until the teacher actually followed through on his threat." Zoe nodded. She understood not wanting to disclose everything. She had lied, just so that she wouldn't have to put it in words.
"Anyways, look at what I found in here," the ghost said, picking up something from where it nestled on the back of her neck. A baby gator blinked at them, but didn't move. "Seemed to be just as dead as me, so I took him in." She rocked the scaly reptile like a baby. "He's a right sweetheart." Misty looked at Cordelia, who was still crying.
"Delia? You alright there? C'mon, now, be happy. I'm out of hell, you gotcha' own little medium here-" Ida and Misty flashed each other a grin, "-and this coven's looking better than ever! I got good vibes here, don't kill them, now."
"Um, speaking of the coven," interjected Zoe, "we have to be reviewing applicants in five minutes."
"Well, you guys go on," said the ghost, patting Cordelia's arm. "I'll be here. Ida, you want to take a walk 'round the gardens with me, now?" The little girl nodded ecstatically and Misty looked back at the Supreme. "Bye," she said with a smile, and Ida's hands dropped from theirs to take the hand of what now appeared to be air. Waving behind her, girl and ghost skipped off down the rows of magical plants and herbs.
