Witches' Tales
Verdona
6 years ago.
"Lily, I know you and I had our differences in the past. But I want to be close to my granddaughter, not only sporadically, but permanently, living here in Bellwood. It's going to be really good for me and Gwen," Verdona said.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Mom," Natalie said, folding her arms. "How am I going to explain to people that my mother seems to be the same age as me?"
"Don't worry, Lily dear," Verdona replied. "I don't like this idea, but I can use a spell to look a little bit older. Anyway, my stock of Waters of Youth is running out, so I'll start aging in real time pretty soon."
"What about your criminal activities?" Natalie continued, "You're wanted by S.E.C.T., and I don't want any of this-"
"I used spells to disguise my identity in the small wrongdoings I've done in the past. As long as they don't suspect that we are witches, they will never connect me to these things. And I promise not to do anything illegal here in Bellwood," Verdona said with a smile.
Natalie took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. "Fine, Mom," she finally said. "Gwen will be back from school soon. She'll be happy with the news."
Verdona flipped through Gwen's diary on the table.
"Dear Diary, I cried A LOT when Grandma Mary died. Almost as much as Grandpa Max. When Ben saw me crying, he hugged me tight and I felt a little better. Ben is a big doofus, but he's also cute sometimes and I really like him - not that I'll EVER tell him that."
Verdona felt a little bad for not being there to comfort her granddaughter during that hard time. Gwen no longer had her paternal grandmother, but from now on she would have her maternal grandmother close by.
There were other things in Gwen's bedroom as well. A laptop. A schedule board - studying, karate, dancing. A stuffed cat. And one thing that left Verdona perplexed: a bottle of iron supplements.
"GRANDMA!" The smiling little girl with red-orange hair threw herself into Verdona's arms.
"Hey, Gwenny!" Verdona hugged her back.
"You came for my 10th birthday party, Grandma?" Gwen asked cheerfully.
"Of course! And before I forget, I brought you a gift!" Verdona took from her purse a beautiful small rounded stone full of inscriptions in an ancient language. "This is the Charm of Luck. Touch it and you will be a very lucky girl."
Gwen held the amulet in her hands, her eyes glittering with happiness. "It's so beautiful, Grandma! Is it for me?"
"I promise that when you're older, I'll give it to you, but for now it's safer with me." Verdona put the amulet back in her purse with gloved hands, so Gwen would keep the luck. "Just don't tell your mom."
"Ok, Grandma." Gwen giggled. "How long are you staying in town?"
"I hope permanently, my dear." Verdona smiled. "I'll try to buy a house here in Bellwood."
"Awesome!" Gwen cheered.
"I have to ask you something, Gwenny. What is this doing here?" Verdona grabbed the iron supplement bottle.
"Oh, Mommy said I need a lot of iron. I take it every day," Gwen said in a naive tone.
Verdona felt a strong anger boiling inside of her, something she couldn't hold. She took Gwen by the hand and descended the stairs with her, "Come on, Gwenny, we need to talk to your mother now."
Verdona threw the bottle of iron supplements at Natalie. "What does this mean?"
"This means I want my daughter to be a normal child!" Natalie replied, also enraged.
"She is normal! A normal sorceress, just like you and me! Not telling people about it is one thing, repressing the true nature of your own daughter is another!" Verdona replied.
Then Verdona turned to Gwen, "Honey, if you stop taking these iron supplements, your magic will manifest. Look at this... Lux." Verdona opened her hands and pink bubbles of light popped up in the air.
"SO COOL!" Gwen said, very excited.
"These powers will not bring anything good to my daughter." Natalie stared at her mother in anger, "Do you remember when I was her age? A girl hit me at school, and in a burst of anger I accidentally put her in the hospital! We had to leave the city!"
"That accident did not make me want to repress your powers!" Verdona replied.
"But you should have! Unlike you, I don't want my daughter having to move from one place to another, much less having people calling her a freak! And you have no right to interfere in the way I raise my daughter!"
"I'm your mother. I have the right to correct you whenever you are wrong!" Verdona snapped.
"You are a criminal! You have no right to correct anyone! And I want you away from my family, out of this city! If I see you here, I swear I will tell S.E.C.T. everything and they'll arrest you!" Natalie snapped too.
Verdona left town. But not without first - in secret - leaving Gwen with her phone number, so that if Gwen ever wanted to know more about her heritage, she could talk to her.
Verdona was in front of an old mansion, in a quiet street. The perfect place to find a witch. And that's exactly what she would do. Verdona knocked on the door.
A pretty woman with long straight black hair and very dark blue eyes, looking about 30 years old - of course Verdona knew she was much older than that - opened the door. She and Verdona looked alike, but Verdona's hair was red and curly.
"Verdy, it's great to see you again, big sis!" The woman pulled Verdona into a hug.
"Sunny, little sis, it's always a pleasure to be with you!" Verdona returned the hug.
Then, sitting at the table, they continued to talk. "So, how are you?" Sunny asked.
"Not good, to be honest. I went to Bellwood, but I ended up fighting with my daughter again. It was pretty ugly this time. She threatened to hand me over to S.E.C.T. if I go back there." Verdona let out a sad sigh.
"I'm sorry, sis," Sunny said, putting her hand on top of hers. "But I have good news that will cheer you up."
Sunny got up from the table and came back a few moments later with a glass of water. "Come on, drink," she said.
Verdona noticed a different taste in that water ... it was magic ... magic of youth.
"How did you get more water from the Fountain of Youth?" Verdona asked in surprise. "My waters are almost gone."
"I created more water," the younger sister responded with a mischievous grin.
"It's impossible," Verdona said skeptically. "You need many powerful sorcerers together to create a Fountain of Youth. You can't possibly do it alone."
"I discovered an old book with a spell teaching another way to create some Youth Water." Sunny took a book from the bookshelf and handed it to Verdona. "Of course we will not teach this spell to anyone. We can get very, very rich creating and selling these waters to some millionaire humans, Verdy."
Verdona read the spell in question, and felt a lump in her throat and a pain in her chest ... "Little sister, this is a blood magic ritual ... one of the things for the spell to work is burning a person's still-beating heart."
"Can you believe it's that easy?" Sunny replied with a smile. "I get to a bar, it doesn't take long for someone to approach me. We talk a little, I bring them here and I get the job done. Always in a different bar, of course, so the police won't find me. No risks. "
"That's ... evil," Verdona said, still shocked.
"Come on, sis." Sunny rolled her eyes, "I'm only taking a few years from some humans, and passing them to me. Don't humans kill and eat cattle and chicken? Superior species kill inferior species all the time. We are superior to humans, and, besides, they hate us!"
"Yes, we are superior to them, but our planet has been devastated, and now we are guests in their world. We mingle in their midst, some of us even marry them ..." Verdona remembered her daughter Natalie who married a human, Frank Tennyson. "Stealing here and there, as we have done in the past, is one thing, but we have no right to kill them! You need to stop."
"I will not stop," Sunny said angrily. "If you don't want to help me, fine. I really wanted us to be partners, as a family. But it looks like you and your daughter are not very different. She married a human, and you're defending these people that hate us. You two are denying your family."
Verdona left. And with a heavy heart, she gave an anonymous tip to S.E.C.T. about her sister's whereabouts. Sunny was arrested that same week.
Knock-knock
Verdona was not expecting visitors. Especially not so late at night.
Knock-knock
The witch got up from the bed, dressed in her robe, and went to the door. She felt behind the door a magical aura of a Sorcerer very powerful... and evil. One she was already very familiar with. Verdona tried to come up with a fight strategy.
Knock-knock
She would probably die, but maybe she still had a chance to take her enemy with her. There was no reason to keep living anyway. She had no family. Her sister was in prison because of her. Her daughter didn't want to see her anymore, and forbade her from seeing her granddaughter.
Knock-knock
Verdona opened the door.
"Hex," she said, her voice filled with fury. Hex had a black and white tattoo that resembled a skull covering his entire face, and he was holding a wooden staff with a bird like head on top. It was the Staff of Ages, a powerful mystical weapon forged a millennia ago in Anodyne.
Verdona's hands glowed pink, a spell ready on the tip of her tongue. But then she noticed that in front of Hex was a child. A little girl about twelve years old, with silver hair and purple-pinkish eyes. Verdona aborted the attack, in fear of hurting the girl.
"Verdona, beautiful as always." Hex smiled. His smile was always creepy.
"How did you find me?" Verdona said with anger.
"I searched for you a lot," Hex said, in a cold tone. "I need your help."
"My help? You're a self-serving lunatic terrorist," Verdona said harshly. "I'll never help you."
"You loved me ... once," Hex said calmly.
"Many years ago when I was young and foolish, and I didn't know who you really were. And it was the biggest mistake of my life." Verdona folded her arms.
Hex ignored Verdona's comments. "This is my niece, Charmcaster. I have enemies coming after me, and important things to do, and I can't take a child with me. I want to entrust her to your care."
Verdona grunted. "And you think I'm not going to tell her the horrible person you are?"
"I'm not worried about that. My niece will always be loyal to me, no matter what you do," Hex said, in a tone too confident. Verdona felt a chill in her spine. Did that bastard use some kind of spell to brainwash his own niece?
"Do you accept her or not?" Hex asked.
"Why me?" Verdona asked back, arching her eyebrow.
"Because there is no one else I can count on," Hex said, and Verdona knew that was true. It was not surprising that a sociopath like Hex had no friends.
Verdona sighed. "I'll take care of the girl. Not for you, but because it's the right thing to do."
Maybe it was because it was the right thing to do. Or maybe it was because Verdona now had no sister, no daughter and no granddaughter. She was completely alone. Perhaps being the Aunt of that silver-haired little girl, and working to take her out of the influence of her evil uncle could bring back to Verdona's life the two things she had lost: family and purpose.
"Thank you." Then Hex bent down and turned his face toward the girl, "Charmcaster, you're staying with Aunt Verdona for now. It's safer that way."
"But I want to help you, Uncle Hex," The girl protested.
"You will. One day. I promise you," Hex said. "Now don't disobey me. Aunt Verdona will take good care of you."
Hex flew away.
Charmcaster looked at Verdona hesitantly and concerned. She clung tightly to a strange bag - the bag had a zipper that looked like a mouth, and a button and a stitched 'X' that looked like two eyes - as if that bag could protect her.
"What's your name, my dear?" Verdona asked in a gentle voice, trying to calm her down.
"C-Charmcaster," the girl replied.
"What's your real name, sweetie?" Verdona asked, smiling.
"Hope."
"Nice to meet you, Hope. You can call me Aunt Verdona. Come on in," Verdona gestured, still smiling. "Are you hungry? I'll make you a snack. "
The next day, Verdona left that house and that city.
A few weeks ago.
"Camera Oblitera!" Gwen recited the spell, and a blue glow immediately engulfed a video camera positioned on the table.
Verdona checked the camera, and saw that it was still physically intact, but had stopped filming.
"Excellent, my dear!" Verdona smiled. "If you want to train this spell turning off the cameras of a jewelry store to borrow some jewels, I won't tell anyone." Verdona winked.
Her granddaughter rolled her eyes.
"Now I have to tell you something," Verdona said. "I have another apprentice I'd like you to meet. It's best that you keep your identity a secret from her for a while, so use the spell to change your appearance."
"Cool! A new friend," Gwen said excited.
Verdona left, and a few minutes later she came back accompanied by an 18-year-old girl with long silver hair in a low ponytail, wearing a magenta coat and long purple boots.
"WHAT?" Lucky Girl was shocked. "Grandma Verdona, that's Charmcaster! She is a criminal, a known associate of the terrorist sorcerer Hex! I can't believe you're training her!"
Charmcaster was equally shocked. "Aunt Verdona, that's Lucky Girl! She works for S.E.C.T! I can't believe you're training her! "
The two girls stared down at each other, in a fighting stance.
"Calm down, calm down, girls." Verdona stepped between them, separating the two.
"Lucky Girl," Verdona said, addressing her granddaughter, "You know that in the past, S.E.C.T. forced Sorcerers and other aliens to register and work for them. Those who refused were arbitrarily imprisoned."
Lucky Girl lowered her head in shame. "Grandma, I'm sorry ... I need to protect my cousin ..."
"I know the current Director is not doing this. And I know you're only there to protect your cousin Watch Boy, and that you would never help to arrest innocents," Verdona said, placing a hand on Lucky Girl's shoulder.
"Hope," Verdona said, addressing her niece now, "You know Hex is a terrorist. He killed many innocents, humans and Sorcerers alike."
Hope lowered her head, also ashamed. "I know, Auntie... But he's my uncle, my family, I can't-"
"But I know Hex's influence over you is strong, maybe even magical, and yet you've never killed an innocent person, not even at his request. I believe in your kindness," Verdona said, putting her hand on Hope's shoulder.
The two girls relaxed their fighting posture, but they were still staring at each other in distrust.
"We are all family, I want you to be like sisters to each other, okay?" Verdona said, and then she let out a sad sigh, remembering how the relationship between her and her own sister Sunny deteriorated.
Sunny
Present day
Now that she had managed to escape from prison, Sunny had returned to her old plans. Produce Waters of Youth and sell it to millionaires. Of course, she wanted revenge on her older sister too, but Verdona was very well hidden. She had abandoned all the hiding places Sunny knew.
The car pulled up in front of the mansion on a street on the outskirts of Grimsborough, somewhere far away from the center. Perfect for doing what she needed to do. The man in the driver's seat grinned like an idiot. "Is that your house?"
"Yes," Sunny replied, faking a naive smile. "But before we come in, I have to ask you a question ... Would you give me your heart?"
"Babe, of course I would!" The idiot replied.
Sunny smiled a dark grin.
The man was on the living room floor, his mouth, arms, and legs tied up with ropes.
Sunny, with a machete in her hand, grinned. "Didn't you promise to give me your heart?" The man stared at her with pure horror and despair in his eyes.
Suddenly, the front door opened, and a strange being, unlike anything Sunny had ever seen before, entered. A gray creature with three red eyes and about sixteen inches, most of it just head. He was floating over a small hovercraft.
"ANTONIO!" Sunny shouted, "Take care of our unexpected visitor."
Antonio was a big and furry gray ogre with pointed ears. He was one of the prisoners who escaped along with Sunny from S.E.C.T.'s prison, and he was dumb enough to want a kiss from her. It was repulsive to kiss that disgusting creature, but it was worth it: she put him under the effect of a love spell. It would come in handy to have a big, strong and loyal protector like him in case of any problem. Like now.
"Antonio loves Sunny! Antonio fights for love!" Antonio shouted and charged against the big-headed intruder.
'Big-Head' protected himself with some kind of telekinetic shield, and struck back at Antonio with a powerful energy ray from his third eye. Antonio let out a growl of pain.
"Please tell your partner to stop attacking me, for his own sake," Big-Head said. "My name is Albedo, and I came here because I heard you were a powerful witch. I want to ask you to work for me."
Sunny gestured for Antonio to stop. "Okay Albedo, but I don't do charity. How much are you willing to pay me?" She folded her arms.
"The payment will be absolute power," Albedo replied with a sinister grin.
"Go on," Sunny arched an eyebrow, curiously.
"I'm a Galvan. But I don't look much like one now because I'm evolved, I'm at the peak of what my species can reach. I can evolve you too, "Albedo said. He threw some kind of bracelet to her.
When Sunny put the bracelet on, it flashed red and Sunny felt the mana - her mystical energy - multiplying through her body, becoming her body. Instinctively she 'took off' her own skin as one takes off their clothes, and she was now a dark-purple energy being, no longer a biological being of flesh and blood. Her hair turned into long 'tentacles' of pink mana.
"I feel like I'm made of magic now," Sunny said, smiling. She would not even need Youth Waters anymore, she felt in that new form she would not age at all.
"You've become an evolved Sorceress," Albedo said. "And I will let you stay like this, if you agree to help me."
"I'll do anything," Sunny said. That power was something she had never experienced before, and she was not going to give it up.
Sunny noticed that the man she had captured before was trying to escape, and knocked him down using her new hair like a whip. "But first, let me just finish killing this guy."
Author's Notes
- Thanks again for reviews, favorites and follows! And thanks to Aurora Nightstar for beta-reading
- I'm sorry for the Ben-less chapter folks. But next chapter we will have Ben, Gwen and CC training with Verdona.
- For many reasons (that I can explain over PM if anyone is interested), my version of Sunny ended up a lot different from UAF Sunny - and a lot darker as well. But I still tried to preserve some elements from UAF Sunny.
- About Anodites in my fic:
In the original Ben 10 show (OS), there were humans who could do magic - like Hex, Charmcaster and Gwen. In UAF, they introduced a magic-based alien species, the Anodites. The Anodites were immortal energy-beings that simply 'wore' a human skin like a garment. UAF also retconned Gwen into an Anodite.
For my fic I wanted to implement humans with magical powers. But to explain why some humans can do magic while others can't, I decided that that magic-users would have alien DNA - a magical gene. I would make them "aliens", but they would actually be the equivalent to the humans with magical powers from the OS (I tried to explain that back on chapter 3). Before, I had the terrible idea to name them "Anodites" as a nod to UAF, which obviously confused a lot of readers. From now on, I'm changing that. I introduced the evolved Sorcerers that are actually the equivalent to the UAF Anodites - and they will be called Anodites - while normal Sorcerers will be called by other name eventually - it will be explained within the story.
