Chapter 2: Promise of Help
"Robert!" Millie yelled. "Robert!" Robert appeared a moment later in a flash of bright, blue lights.
"What?" he asked.
"I need you to orb me to the Underworld," she said.
"What?" he asked. "Why do you want to go down there?"
"Because I want to find out some information."
"Shouldn't we take some back up with us?"
"No," she said quickly and firmly. "I don't want them exposed to the evil that lies in the Underworld. It could corrupt them."
"What are you talking about?" Robert asked. "Charles has been in the Underworld, and he hasn't been 'corrupted'."
"I don't care, Robert," Millie said. "I'm not taking any chances." She had been very uptight upon things like this since the drama with Annie.
"Fine. Where do you wanna go?"
"Anywhere, I just need to find out where Annie is." He reluctantly took ahold of her arm and orbed her to the Underworld. Luckily, when they rematerialized, there was a demon in front of them. Millie flung him back with her wind power before the demon could react. She held up a blue potion. "Move and I'll vanquish you."
"What do you want, witch?" the demon asked nastily.
"If you tell me what I want to know, I'll let you live. If you cross me in any way, I'll vanquish you."
"You talk like a demon," the demon said, sneering.
"Thank you," Millie said, smiling curtly.
"That was a compliment?" Robert asked quietly. He said it just loud enough for only Millie to hear. She didn't respond to him, but instead kept talking to the demon.
"If I tell you what you want to know, will you leave me alone?"
"If I find your information adequate."
"What do you want to know?"
"Do you know of a warlock, Annie…"
"Yes," the demon said quickly, trying to rush Millie a little. A demon talking and cooperating with a witch was very well frowned upon.
"Do you know where she is?"
"All I know is that she's not in the Underworld. Since becoming a warlock, she hasn't come here once."
"Wait," Robert said, interrupting the conversation. Millie gave him a hushing sound, but he ignored her. "She hasn't come to the Underworld at all?"
"Not once."
"That's great," Robert said, grabbing Millie and orbing her back to the house.
"How is that great?" Millie asked once they had reappeared in the living room. "And why did you take me out?"
"Because we have all the information we need. You can scry for her if she's above ground."
"You're right, but how is this great news anyways?"
"Because her not wanting to go to the Underworld shows that she has a little good left. She doesn't want to go to a place with so much evil in it. She wants balance. Hopefully, we can tip that balance back to good again."
"Go get Sabrina. Tell her to orb in with a vanquishing potion if we're not back in ten minutes."
"Alright," Robert said, leaving the room for a moment. He came back a moment later to find Millie with a crystal hovering over a map. "Find her?" As he said that,the crystal finally landed on a spot. She smiled and turned to face him.
"Yup."
Annie sat on a rock in her cave, looking through her new Grimoir. She was finding more and more interesting things each time she looked through it. She had just found a page about Millie and how to vanquish her. A vanquishing potion consisting of a toad leg, an eye of newt, a sprinkle of wildcat bone powder, and some water from the Entril Swamp, which was in a different plane of existence, would destroy her. She smiled at it and marked the page for future reference.
She looked up and saw blue orbs starting to form together. She rolled her eyes and thenclosed the Grimoir and put it on her bookshelf. Robert appeared with Millie arriving a split second later. The one that orbed always appeared before the passenger.
"What are you doing here?" Annie demanded.
"Annie, I've come to talk to you," Millie said. "With no magic involved." She was sure to keep her hands still so that Annie wouldn't feel threatened and hurl fire at her.
"What do you want?" Millie looked at Annie. She had changed so much. The sweet, innocent look had gone. Her shoulder length hair had grown down to her back and gone from straight to curly. Her bright green eyes were duller. The color in her skin had seemed to have dulled as well. And all this had happened over a few days.
"Well, how have you been?"
"Oh come on, Millie," Annie said. "We all know that you're here to ask me to join with you again."
"Well, how do you feel about me asking you that?"
"I feel disgusted," Annie answered coldly. Just then, two more people orbed in. It was Sabrina and Charles. Annie glared with anger at the mere sight of him. Charles just looked at her with sad, wanting eyes.
"It hasn't been ten minutes," Millie said.
"Charles saw a vision," Sabrina said. "I think it's important."
"What happened?" Robert asked.
"A demon, with a red robe and hood, killed a pregnant woman," Charles said.
"Red cloak?" Annie asked, rather surprised. "It's one of the Guild."
"We can't stop it," Sabrina said, suddenly fearful. "We won't be able to."
"Yes you will," Annie said. "I'll come with you."
"Annie, you're evil," Robert said. "We're not going to work with you."
"Fine, if you don't want my help," she said, sitting back down on her rock.
"No," Charles said. "We need her help." Charles just wanted her to be around.
"You're not invincible, Annie," Millie told her. "You're not strong enough to take on a Guild member."
"But I'm stronger than you, that's enough."