The room was not designed to fit an entire village, but that hadn't stopped every townspeople from crushing their way into the courtroom. Benches and chair stood in rows facing the front, where a crude judges' podium stood. To the left near the podium lay several benches. A pair of tables sat in front of the frontmost benches. The judge, he looked more like a priest than anything, hammered a gavel on the judge's podium.
"I call for order!" He shouted above the talking crowd. He repeated his request two more times before the roar of conversation began to die down. "We gather today to discuss serious matters; the untimely death of John Bailiff's daughter, the disappearance of Gabriel van Helsing's daughter, and the ailments that have struck our children!"
"The devil's at work!" Shouted a woman. Several others joined in.
"Witches are here!"
"Hell's come to our village!"
"Who will be next?!"
The judge hammered the gavel again, demanding silence. He cleared his throat, and gestured to a panel of men sitting behind him, "I've taken care to call professionals here before we jump to conclusions about witchcraft. I would ask you to remain silent as they make themselves known, I'm sure you shall recognize many of their names."
The judge listed off several men whose names trailed behind the title of Reverend. The judge then went on to discuss that they'd brought in four afflicted girls and five afflicted boys to be evaluated. Warren crossed his arms over his chest in distaste as he watched the judge. What a sad sort of person you had to be to sentence somebody to death based off of claims made by children.
"I hereby call Abigail Putnam to testify of her afflictions!" Exclaimed the judge. A tiny wisp of a girl shuffled forwards, tears streaming down her face before she'd even begun to speak.
One of the reverends kindly asked Abigail to list her afflictions and who she believed to be causing them. Abigail launched into a tale about how 'Goody Alman' asked her to 'dance with the devil hisself' and 'threatened to kill' her 'family'. An older woman stood straight up and declared that Abigail's claims were completely untrue. However, Abigail began to shriek and hold her hands over her ears, claiming that Alman was trying to stop her from speaking the truth. Any hope for Alman fled when the other children began to flail about on the floor as well. The judge and the reverends agreed to imprison Alman to further inspect her soul.
The action's about to begin, I wish I had something to eat. Not that I can taste it, I just appreciate the motions of pretending I'm like the rest of you lot, Crow slumped.
"What makes you say that mushroom man?"
Never truly had a body that I deserved. Human Seelie soul trapped in a tree shaped to look like a body. It is too much to hope for a body of my own. Bodies are necessary for magic, you see. That's why the circle was so desperate to rid Sayre from hers.
The courtroom action died for a second. Warren scratched his chin, "There's no higher power you Seelies answer to, is there?"
Seelies and Unseelies answer to the Odette and the Odile, there's much more, but I am no expert. I am unable to craft a body of flesh for my own, there are- um, darker forces at hand regarding my status. I believe that if you find the Grymory like you plan to, there will be more information there.
They were both so close to finding all the puzzle pieces and putting them all together. One step closer to getting out of the lake. One step closer to ending this madness before it all began. Warren knew that he couldn't wait to see Ophelia again, he'd pick through her puzzle pieces too and figure out if she really was a witch. He'd go save Dale, maybe he could save Dale and get the Grymory at the same time. It seemed like a perfectly valid idea.
Another girl was called up, though she accused Siegfried Von Rothbart of sending his specter out to make her dance with the devil. She went on to claim that Von Rothbart used her to steal herbs from different village gardens, and to bring him black books or blank paper he could write on. Rothbart was not present to defend himself or his devotion to God. The reverends agreed that Rothbart was to be summoned at once or risk damning his own soul to the noose.
His body would be swinging from a scaffold.
Just like Goody Sayre and the other woman.
"Tell me more about the lake, about your world," asked Warren as he watched the trial drag on by. He wished that he had a friend- other than Crow of course- beside him to joke with. He'd even enjoy Trask's company. "And witches. Tell me all that you know about witches."
Still consider for your lady friend I see. It's unlikely that her claims are true, you've met more witches than I have. Most of them aren't like you and me.
"Pretty bold of you to say considering you were once a tree."
I will pretend that you didn't say that, Crow scoffed. I truly do not know, I wish I could be of more assistance. I can tell you more about the lake. And the reason behind Gabriel's cryptic books declaring most Seelies and Unseelies extinct.
"And what reason is that?"
Because most of them are extinct from your world. Try to keep up with me Warren.
Crow had made a joke. New barriers were being broken down.
Seelies and Unseelies began to mingle with humans, they still exist, but the magic within them lies dormant. Or that's what I noticed from the last girl that visited us. She thought herself a witch too, but with some guidance, she was able to figure herself out. That was ages ago in 1911. That girl was to become the next Odette, but that obviously didn't happen or you wouldn't be here. Sayre was pushing her powers then, trying to see what she was capable of. Sayre talked to the girl, made some deals. People got hurt in the process. The girl gave away too much and went completely off the deep end. Literally. Because she drowned.
Drowned. A lonely death. Scary. Compressing. Warren frowned, he'd had his own encounters with death that he escaped from, each time was horrible in its own way. But to drown? Alone and on purpose? Terrifying. Death was common in Warren's line of work, but that didn't mean he ever got used to it. Sometimes his heart aches for people he didn't know who left the world in lonely ways.
Crow interrupted his thoughts, I wonder what we have to gain from watching this circus.
"Probably a new perspective on how people think," Warren nodded. "Kidding. I could never be that philosophical. There's details here. Accusing somebody of being a witch when really they're a Seelie."
Oh. Now that was familiar, wasn't it?
I'm sure there's small details we need to catch.
"Stop talking then."
You started it my friend.
The children continued their flailing dances complete with shrieks of witchcraft. The only ones proclaimed to be witches were Goody Alman, Siegfried Von Rothbart, and Goody Sayre. Three nooses, three victims. The judge ordered that a team of men were to go at once to collect the accused.
"I'm starting to get used to this," Warren murmured, gesturing to the water flowing over his toes. It crashed as it always did, and when the water drained away, the land had changed. Instead of a smelly courthouse, Warren and Crow were standing just outside of the back of Sayre's beautiful house.
An elegant tea tray sat on a wooden table embellished with different carvings. A hunched over Seelie woman stood far away from the table awaiting orders. Mina pulled different flowers from their stems just below the porch stairs. With a fist full of flowers, she galloped up the stairs and left the bouquet on the table. The house doors opened; Sayre accompanied by Rothbart strolled out together.
"Your dress is very lovely today," Mina said with a beaming smile, gesturing to Sayre's stunningly red gown.
"As do you, Mina mine," Sayre retorted, gesturing to Mina's plain linen dress. "Can you pull out a chair for me?"
Mina nodded her head, and with a flick of her finger, drew a chair from the table for Sayre. She repeated the motion, allowing for Rothbart to take a seat as well, but waited until Sayre nodded her head in permission to sit at the table. The Seelie servant shuffled forwards at Sayre's command and began to set out teacups. Sayre glared over her shoulder, as if expecting somebody else to be waiting to fulfill her needs.
"The other one is bringing a separate tray," Rothbart said the moment he caught Sayre's angry gaze. "The third tray will come once we've enjoyed this little... tea party."
"Ah good, I had pastries brought in from Boston for today," murmured Sayre, though Warren doubted that she was mostly concerned over pastries. There had to be something else. "Isn't it wonderful outside?"
Warren began to grind his teeth.
He wondered how Sayre could live with herself.
"Oh yes, very," Mina nodded. "Thank you so much for letting me stay with you, and thank you for everything you've given me. You're very kind but-"
"But what?" Sayre arched an eyebrow, daring Mina to continue speaking. Beside her, Rothbart sank back into his chair.
"But I miss my father and my grandmother, may I please visit them?" Her voice had gone small, Mina looked at her teacup.
"You," Sayre's scoff could have shattered a teapot. "You want to visit your father? Is this not good enough for you? Am I not like a mother to you?"
Silence.
Save for the Seelie servant doing her best to serve the tea party members with shaking hands. A second Seelie, though it could have been an Unseelie (Warren couldn't tell the difference between them), emerged from the white house carrying a tray stacked with tiny cakes and macarons and tarts and all manners of exquisite little foods.
A moment passed before Mina could regain her courage, "What? No! You're everything I wished my mother to be! I just- I just, just miss them. That's all. I will return, I promise I will. I just wanted to see them again-"
"Ah, you still think your family wants you?"
"Well, yes. I can't imagine why they wouldn't love me anymore..."
The Seelie servant poured a cup of crimson liquid into Sayre's teacup. She sipped at the contents, "I forget that you haven't heard the latest news."
"What news?" Curiosity danced across Mina's face. She leaned forwards, eager to know. "Can I know? Is it alright?"
For once, Sayre didn't dance around Mina's question, "Your father thinks that you have begun to follow the devil himself."
"But father knows what I am, he's like me. In a way. My grandmother is too. They would come back for me no matter what. They would always want me in their family."
Rothbart glanced at Sayre, who nodded. He too sipped at his bloody cup, "Then Ms. Sayre and I will send word to your father and grandmother, we will meet them tonight beside the lake."
"I swear I'll stay with you, I just want to see them," Mina swore, she'd begun to hunch her shoulders. "That's all I ask. I'd do anything to see them again."
"Anything?" Sayre arched an eyebrow and daintily reached for a tiny tea cake.
"Anything."
"I would advise you to avoid promising to do anything in exchange for a favor. Never start a bargain by giving away all that you have."
The Seelies inched away from the table. Warren wondered how many more of them had died in Rothbart's attempt to create his spell. Truth be told, Warren wasn't entirely sure of what spells Sayre and Rothbart were attempting to complete. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Something horrible no doubt about it. They didn't look like the witches Warren was used to seeing, but in a way, their magic was just as awful, if not worse. Murdering innocents. Using their blood for half-baked rituals.
Mina's eyes drifted to her bare plate, "I just want to see my family again."
"I am your family," Sayre said quietly, reaching out to grab Mina's hand. She smiled at Rothbart, "We are your family. Any moment now, John will come and sit with us too. You'll see it then, you don't need your old family."
"You're right," Mina crossed her arms. Thought she appeared inclined to her fate by Sayre's perspective, Warren figured that deep down inside Mina was thinking something else indeed.
"How do you feel about your education in magic, Mina?" Rothbart ventured, but it took several moments before Mina gave an answer.
"I enjoy learning, sometimes I grow frustrated at being unable to see what I do, but Goody Sayre has told me I will see the results of my magic soon."
Rothbart reached for a small cake, "That is very true, and I promise you will find much pride in your talents. You've helped us create... A new reason to hope for a fairer world."
Footsteps creaked across the wooden porch as a new guest joined the little tea party. John Sayre's hands were stained pink, "I'm so sorry I came late, I couldn't get a spot of dirt off of my hands."
"We don't mind," Sayre said, disregarding a slouching Mina to turn attention to her son. "Tell me, were you successful at all?"
"Not necessarily," John paused as Sayre and Rothbart groaned in annoyance. "But the time is growing near. If we could get our hands on the Grymory we would know-"
Sayre shot him a look.
"-we would know how many more problems would have to be taken care of before the spell is complete and everything is as it should be."
"Then it seems like we must get this book while we still have the time," Rothbart pushed the tray of pastries towards Mina. "Take one, child."
Mina did not take a pastry.
"Is it true you had these brought in from Boston?" John asked, clearly directing the subject as far away from the Grymory as possible. "They're amazing."
"Good food is hard to come by here," Sayre nodded. "Boston is full of merchants. Perhaps I'll visit there one day when my task has been finished."
On and on they chattered about everything and anything. Except for anything to do with magic, the Grymory, and Seelies. Sayre danced around every question as if she practiced the conversation. She attempted to draw Mina back into the fray, but had no such luck for a very long time. Finally, Mina offered her opinion about visiting England after she stole a cake from the tray.
"My father owned a ship," John's eyes were glued to the macaron in his hand. "He was from Barbados, a very talented sailor. Captained his own ship. You would've liked him."
"What happened to him?" Mina asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.
John bit into his macaron. He chewed for several moments before he swallowed and answered, "He grew very ill one night and passed away."
That's not what happened, Crow snapped.
"How would you know?" Warren asked, taking a moment to tune out Sayre's factless conversations.
Because, er, I was there. In a way. Do you remember the jar with the eyes? The one we saw in Rothbart's little laboratory?
"If you say those were yours and you watched John's dad die, I'm going to be really disturbed," how many secrets could a lake hide? So far it hid Sayre's, Mina's, Crow's, and Lord knew who else.
Those eyes were mine and I watched John's father die. Though, I suppose, he was my-
"I told you not to tell me!"
I have been taking 'not listening' lessons from you.
Warren rolled his eyes, deciding that maybe he should've never stopped listening to the conversation at hand, "You can't roast me, you're a mushroom."
Yes mother.
Crow was turning into a monster formed from Warren's own sense of dry humor. He would miss the guy once he was out of the lake, that's for sure. If there was only more time. More time would mean an in depth search for all things about the lake within the strange world Warren was currently in. More time would mean learning to understand his enemies. More time would mean more smiles shared with his loved ones before a bloody showdown.
There was always a bloody showdown involved.
The images the fox masked girl had shown Warren didn't make him feel any better.
"-and if you do this, then you'll be able to see your father again," Sayre finished, pushing a paper towards Mina.
"I can't read very well," Mina's voice had gone quiet. "I wouldn't be able to gain much from the book anyways."
Sayre laughed aloud, "Don't worry my dear, you're going to be a part of my family from now until the end of time. I can teach you how to read using that very very special book. Ask the letter to find your father once you are ready to."
Anticipation settled in at the table. Rothbart watched Mina's every little move; John had steepled his fingers together, and tapped them against his pursed lips. Obediently, Mina folded up the letter. She trailed her thumb over all of the edges.
"Please find Gabriel van Helsing," Mina asked. The letter began to jerk from her fingers. Mina allowed it to soar away into the sky after a brief hesitation. Her voice had gone quiet again, "Thank you."
"Have the third tray brought out!" Barked Sayre, causing both Seelies to almost jerk in surprise. They both shuffled back in towards the house. Sayre pushed a tea cake towards Mina, "Eat, you'll want to enjoy these kinds of things while they last. And there's another spell I would like you to try."
"Can I keep my eyes open this time? Please?"
A look of concern passed between the three adults. Finally, after a moment of consideration, Sayre nodded, "I suppose you can, but you must promise me that you'll remain calm like a grownup. Can you do that for me?"
Mina nodded vigorously. The Seelies returned, each one carried a side of the third tray Sayre had called for. A crystalline cup full of red sat in the middle of the trasy. A round sigil had been painted in white beneath it. The two Seelies set the cup and tray down in front of Mina, both returning to the safety of the house as quickly as they could. A familiar fat black candle had also made its way to the table.
"Tell me what to do," Mina said, setting her hands on both sides of the painted sigil.
Sayre set her hands on Mina's, "Imagine power. Imagine yourself using strong magic, this is an experimental spell, my dear. It's to see if we can conduct magic together."
The fat black candle lit itself as Sayre began to murmur a familiar spell.
Her voice was calm, proud. Sayre knew what she was doing, "One half of the pair shall no longer be there. Where the Seelie looks, no Unseelie shall be found. With this my voice, this sound, listen as I expound...Sever the tie twixt the Odette and the Odile."
Nothing happened.
Nothing happened for several moments.
It was subtle at first, a deep pair of thuds on the porch. The two Seelies fell down like dominos, blood pouring from their eyes and noses. Clouds appeared on the horizon; a breeze picked up. But that was all. There was no sudden burst of light, no apocalyptic natural disaster. Just some uncanny weather and two dead Seelies bleeding out onto the porch.
"John, have somebody clean the corpses up!" Sayre roared, letting go of Mina's hands. She wiped her palms on the skirt of her gown, her temper visibly wearing thin. "And get this tray out of my si- oh."
Warren leaned over the table, the blood in the goblet had caught his attention too. It was no longer red like blood. If Warren hadn't seen the crimson filled cup before, he would've assumed that there hadn't been any blood in the first place. A cry of excitement rang from Sayre's lips. She beckoned Rothbart over to stand beside her and stare at the liquid in the glass.
The crimson blood had changed into a mixture of liquid silver and gold.
Every so slowly, the golden liquid began to exterminate its silver counterpart before eventually turning as black as the heart beating in Sayre's chest.
"I've done it," exclaimed Sayre as she snatched the goblet away from the safety of the tray. "I've done the impossible. I've severed the tie between the Odette and the Odile, revenge is within my grasp."
"Those people are- are dead," Mina whispered, her eyes glued to the Seelie corpses being slowly dragged away by two new servants. Her face melted into a frown.
Death was a sad subject in the Burgess home, but Warren's father did well to teach him and Dale his beliefs. He'd told them about an afterlife, and about how you could never take more than what you gave. It was a rule they followed when they went on weekend hunting trips. They'd spend Saturdays in October blasting squirrels out of trees, and then spend Sundays picking up the trash in their camp and having in depth conversations about God.
But there was a difference between knowing death and taking a human life.
Mina's face began to contort into sheer devastation as she realized that she'd caused the deaths of the two Seelie servants. Her child voice was breaking, "I killed them."
Sayre's victory froze for a moment. For a single moment, she looked genuinely surprised at what Mina said, but her calm demeanor returned instantly, "That's not true, Mina mine. You gave them a purpose. There was nothing more for them to do here than serve me and mope around."
Her words were brittle.
"But now you cannot cry. You've known yourself to be a witches. Witches can't have feelings, we aren't allowed to cry. We are only allowed to have power. Sit up straight, I am going to gain more power than ever possible. This is a time to celebrate."
Even though Mina couldn't see or feel it, Warren set a hand down on her shoulder as she slumped even farther into her chair. Her eyes brimmed with tears, but none ever fell. Already Mina was beginning to develop self-punishment. Bottling up emotions. Was she telling herself she wasn't allowed to cry because Sayre told her she was a witch? She certainly had to be blaming herself for the Seelies who'd flopped to the ground during her spell. There had to be questions floating around in her head.
The others paid no attention to Mina, they ignored her and her inner turmoil. John tried to reach for the crystal glass, but Sayre held it away from him. There was fire in her movements. Sayre was getting drunk on power. Intoxicated by success.
"Nobody touch the glass," Sayre ordered as she set the cup back onto the clean white table. The fabric began to blacken where it touched the glass's base. She held out her hand above the cup, and began to murmur under her breath.
"Bind this to me," she began. "Bind the power within this chalice to me alone. Let any who touch this descend into insanity. Let any who bear the title of Odile lose their identity; bind them to the feather, bind their fates. Protect my boon, to which I sacrifice my humanity."
Once again, nothing happened at first.
But the change was subtle: a tiny black crack cut its way through Sayre's little finger.
The black liquid began to move at its own accord. It swirled around itself, creating a tiny vortex. A slight rattling began to crescendo into plates crashing off of the table as the chalice began to shake. Mina jerked back from the table just in time; the black liquid shot up into the sky and grew in diameter. Black clouds flocked to the vortex. Raindrops fell from the sky, but they weren't quite... Right.
These raindrops were crimson red.
A laugh rang through the air. Sayre had thrown her head back to take in the black clouds and bloody rain. Her hands lifted towards the sky in boisterous praise. John was much more hesitant, but Rothbart soon joined Sayre in her exclamations of unadulterated joy. Mina whimpered, and hugged her hands over her head.
The rain left pools of blood behind.
Sayre continued on laughing.
Several bolts of white lightning struck the exact place from where the vortex streamed.
And then the rain stopped.
The vortex began a slow spiral downwards. The clouds began to dissipate as if they'd never been there in the first place, they chose to once again linger on the horizon until they were needed again. But the blood puddles remained. The blood puddles remained and the black vortex was completely gone from view. In its stead sat something completely different.
"What a stunning little bauble," Rothbart murmured as Sayre picked up a painfully familiar necklace from within the chalice.
"Yes, I suppose it is," she agreed as she clasped the necklace around her throat. "It's mine, and only mine."
A small burst of energy blew stray pieces of Sayre's hair away from the neck, her eyes had taken on a disturbing yellow shade. Her pupils had changed. Sayre's eyes had changed completely to the eyes of a bird. A pair of swans had been etched into the locket Sayre now wore. A black one sat right-side up, while the white one remained tarnished and upside down. Without all of the rust, the necklace was almost beautiful, but it wasn't getting something quite right. Or perhaps that not quite right feeling came from Warren's previous encounter with the necklace.
He'd found Sayre's locket in Ophelia's room.
His heart dropped. Little pieces were splintering, and it hurt. It hurt not knowing.
But he couldn't stop and piece things together, not yet at least.
"And now I must test this power." Sayre began, but her words were dropped when a hunched Seelie servant dared shuffle into her little circle of power.
"Mistress," the Seelie whispered. "Mistress, there is a man and others who wish to speak with you. Men from the village. They say they are coming around the back-"
"Petty witch hunters, let them come, I have much I would like to... Discuss with them."
The locket dangling from Sayre's neck glistened with unnatural light. The locket itself was a puzzle piece, a very important puzzle piece on its own. Warren found a moment of lull as Sayre and the others waited for the men from the village. He began picking out the things he did know and the things that he didn't just as he did before.
It was only after the merciless killings of hundreds of Seelies and Unseelies that the locket came into existence, and that was only after Mina had slaughtered a settlement of innocents. Warren had heard about extremely archaic practices revolving around death. Practices where black magic was free for the taking if enough souls were taken and kept from truly dying. It was one of the darkest practices to be used, as the hundreds and thousands of people killed for the practice never truly found rest. Their souls were always torturously used for any spell imaginable.
Warren had only witnessed Rothbart, Mina, and Sayre herself kill Seelies. He didn't see everything they ever did, every life they ever took. The locket possessed a black destructive magic because of those bloody acts, and if Sayre was right, only the Grymory knew just what it was capable of.
Sayre hadn't just damned herself in creating the locket, she'd dragged Mina and Rothbart and John with her too.
A pair of voices talked with one another about God's work, both of which fell silent when they entered Sayre's now disastrous backyard. Blood pooled near the steps, it had soaked Sayre's once immaculate lawn. One of the Seelie corpses hadn't been properly dragged back into the house just yet. Warren stepped back as the two men struggled to find their words.
He recognized one of the men from the meeting at the courthouse.
"Guh- guh-," Stuttered the man, "Goody Sayre, you- you are accused of practicing witchcraft. Accused of murdering innocent children and of stealing away Mina van Helsing. We ask you to come obediently with us or-"
"Yes, yes, or you'll force me to come, but the thing is," Sayre snapped her fingers, and a pair of black vines shot out from the grass beside the men. "I would much rather stay here."
"She's a witch!" The second man shouted, but he had no time for any more last words.
One of Sayre's vines shot upwards, and pierced the man through the throat.
A gasp escaped Mina's throat. The first man fell to his backside in shock and Warren continued on frowning as he watched the living man scramble to his feet.
"Go, go tell the townspeople that you've found a witch. You'll find that I am much worse than that measly title. Get! Or I'll kill you too!"
Water crashed through the grisly sight as the man scrambled away. Warren inhaled deeply as the water embraced him and washed away the blood stained corpse of the second man. Only death and despair came from the magic Sayre and the others were meddling with. A familiar feeling began to build deep inside of him, it was far more powerful than dread. Dread came when he wasn't sure of an outcome. What he felt was far worse, because he knew what was going to happen. A showdown. A showdown with maximum casualties and only one winner.
And with each moment Warren watched, he was beginning to realize that Sayre was the true victor.
And the stakes have risen higher than ever now, there is everything to lose and even more to gain.
Special thank you goes out to Fairygirl22! Thank you again for all of your support, and I think Warren will use his head for a little bit just for you. I'm glad Sayre makes you mad, because I want her to be a good villain! Take special note of the masked girl from previous chapters and the curse Sayre places over the black liquid, that will come into play later!
Thank you's also go out to my silent readers and Wolf Lover27! Thank you for reading my story, I'll do my very best to make sure it remains enjoyable!
Anyways, leave a review if you'd like!
-Nacho