Disclaimer: I do not own El Cazador de la Bruja. It is the respectful property of Bee-Train and any licensing companies thereof. I am making no money off of this, nor do I plan to.
Episode 2: Dido's Fury
Dido was not pleased. She made this readily apparent through the action of her hitting her head against the wall repeatedly.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!"
You know, this was not an entirely unpredictable chain of events thought Kennedy to herself.
"So why the hell did we hire that guy, anyway?" asked Maria.
"I. Don't. Know. I. Thought. Something. Like. This. Would. Be. Simple!" spoke Dido as she punctuated her words with more bangs of her head.
"You're going to get a concussion if you keep doing that, you know." Spoke Kennedy.
"Yeah, and then you would be as dumb as that MOOC guy! He's more useless than my good for nothing husband! Just goes to show just how useless men in general are!" spoke Maria.
Dido stopped her wall-banging for a moment.
"Maria, could you repeat that last part one more time?" Dido asked.
"What? That men are useless in general?"
Dido raised a finger, lowered it, and hit her head a few more times after adopting the look somebody had when they had an idea, but then forgot it. She stopped banging completely after a moment.
"Maria, that's it! Why didn't I think of it before?"
"Think of what?" asked a perplexed Maria.
"We shouldn't have to rely on men, human beings, to do our work for us!"
Oh, crap. What is she getting at?
"Sisters, we are witches! Now, what is among our powers as witches?"
There was silence for a moment as Kennedy and Maria pondered the question.
"Well, if we were able to reach our true potential, we'd be able to create elements out of nothing, manipulate fire and ice, bring people back from the dead, etc." spoke Maria. "But what exactly are you getting at?"
"What I'm getting at, dear sister, is that we're not using the resources at our disposal! What we are not doing is something that even the Council had half the brains to do!"
"And that is?"
No. No. I know what she is thinking, and I do not like it.
"Well, what are traditionally associated with witches?"
"Brooms, cloaks, cauldrons?"
"Close. What we need to do is summon our familiars. What we need to do…"
Oh, by the gods!
"…is summon demons to do our work! Do we not rule the night?"
A tall field stretched out as far as the eye could see. The sky was bright, and everywhere there seemed a gleam. Atop a nearby hill an old man stood, looking out at the field before him.
"I see that things have become interesting. These three witches do not know what they are getting themselves into. Furthermore, I am concerned for the sake of those nice young ladies that I met a while back. They may be in for a rough time in the foreseeable future."
He stopped speaking and closed his eyes for a moment.
"Especially since he is out and about."
Ellis slept peacefully through the night. Nadie, on the other hand, did not.
She experienced a rather surreal dream, to frightening to be a pleasant one, yet too peaceful to be a nightmare. She saw herself in the desert, atop of a large hill. She was young, no more than ten, she would reckon. Her cloak was wrapped around her, concealing all beneath. She heard a flute in the air.
"Kokopelli… spirits… why?"
The only thing that answered her was the wind and the flute.
She began walking down the hill towards the desert below, having no clear purpose in mind.
WHERE ARE YOU GOING, YOUNG GIRL? WHAT PURPOSE DO YOU HAVE IN MIND?
"I don't know where I'm going. All I know is that I don't want to be here."
BUT WHAT, EXACTLY, IS HERE?
"It doesn't matter! All I know is that I don't want to be here!"
ARE YOU TRYING TO RUN AWAY FROM SOMETHING?
"No! And if I am, it's none of your damn business!"
AND HOW DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING IS GOING TO BE BETTER THAN HERE?
Nadie began running now. "I told you, I don't care where here is, and I don't care where I'm going to!"
BUT DON'T YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU CARE ABOUT? ANYTHING YOU STRIVE TO DO?
"No! And what does it matter? Mom's dead, my village is dead, everyone and everything I care for is dead! As far as I'm concerned, I'm dead myself!" Tears began to flow from her eyes now.
BUT HOW CAN YOU BE DEAD? YOU'RE RUNNING, AND TALKING. YOU HAVE A BODY, CLOTHING, A NAME, EVERYTHING. HOW CAN YOU BE DEAD?
"I don't have a name! I'm nobody, absolutely nobody!"
IS THAT WHAT YOU WISH? TO BE A NOBODY?
"Yes! I don't care about anything, not even myself! I might as well not exist! From now on I'm nobody! Zilch! Nothingess!"
Sucking in air, she gave out in one large burst:
"I'M NADIE!"
She lost her footing and fell, her arms scraping into the hard earth. She began crying, beating her fists on the ground.
BUT HOW CAN THAT POSSIBLY BE TRUE? DO YOU NOT CARE FOR SOMETHING?
"No, I don't care for anything!"
THEN WHAT ABOUT ELLIS?
She got up, a confused look showing on her dirty, tear-streaked face.
"What? What's Ellis?"
She woke up then. Ellis lay next to her, her arms clutching the pillow to her face. Nadie realized that Ellis had also pulled most of the covers off.
"No fair." She said with a bit of humor in her voice. She then realized that her face was wet.
"Huh? Was I actually crying?"
She sat up and stretched. She usually didn't sleep on the bed when they were out and about on the road, preferring her old custom of sitting in a chair in order to be able to respond to danger. She just couldn't resist the night before, however, largely because she wanted Ellis to be at ease before falling asleep.
What about Ellis… she thought to herself. She feel back onto the bed again.
Man, what a weird dream…
"Dido, are you serious?" spoke Kennedy.
"Of course I'm serious, dear sister. When am I not?"
"But why would you want to summon demons?!"
"Because we need a taskforce that will be able to do our work for us! Also, we have no staff on base, so of course we're going to need them to do that as well."
"So, wait, wait, what you're telling me is that you want to use an ancient ritual currently forbidden by the council to summon a force of demons… to do your laundry, essentially?"
"Well, of course not just that! We're going to use them to kill the two girls we're after."
"I think you missed my point."
"No, I think I know exactly what you're trying to say! And I thank you for the concern."
"Concern?"
"Yeah. Thanks. If it weren't for you, it would have completely slipped my mind."
"Huh?"
"You reminded me that we're going to have to make our demons more lethal than what are predecessors strived for."
…What?
"Well, if you think about it," began Maria, "it was pretty damn stupid, the first try at it. I mean, what's the point of creating an army of demons if you aren't going to give them decent fighting ability? I mean, it was a joke! Arming them with handguns? Having them spy on Rosenberg and yet not doing anything else besides stalking him on his grounds? It was a pretty stupid move, if you ask me!"
"Well observed, Sister Maria!" spoke Dido. "I mean, sure, they can travel pretty quickly, and they're hard to kill, but what kind of real threat did they actually pose after their introduction? They could have easily resumed the chase when it was night again. Why didn't that do it? It is such things that I wish to avoid with our own plans. Now, come, sisters! Let us summon our minions!"
…no, Dido. No. I just would like to call it a day and sleep.
However, Kennedy knew the likelihood of that happening was about as likely as a slug suddenly sprouting wings and flying. So, with a sigh of resignation, she went off to participate in the summoning of the demons, as much as she really did not want to.
After waking up, dressing, and taking care of basic health care such as brushing teeth, Ellis and Nadie were on the road yet again. As usual, there was little talk between the two travelers. Nadie would focus on driving, and Ellis would sit, watching as the scenery went by. Now and again, some topic of conversation would pop up, and they would converse for a few moments; however, the effect of the wind caused by the rushing of a roofless vehicle made talking for long periods tiresome and difficult.
Anyway, it was more enjoyable this way. Ellis would take careful note every time she saw Nadie glancing at her from the corners of her eyes, and wondered if Nadie did the same as well for her glances. Somehow, it felt special in a way, this mode of silent communication.
Though she had found happiness with travelling with Nadie, Ellis still felt the struggle of trying to give meaning to her existence. At the current moment, her meaning was directly tied to Nadie's happiness. Though they were both happy living with the old couple from before, Ellis could feel that Nadie really wanted something more than just being settled down. Perhaps one day they would both be able to settle down contently (preferably with each other), but at the current time, at least Ellis thought, that what was needed for their happiness was wandering the world. Maybe they might find a true meaning somewhere along the way; perhaps not. Ellis did not really care at the moment, as she was currently focusing her attention on Nadie, and devoted most of her thought process to deciding how to ask the question she wanted to ask from the day before.
After thinking for a while, she gave up trying to figure out how to phrase it, stretched, and decided to take a small nap. Maybe in her sleep she'll figure it out.
After working through the night into the morning, preparations had finally been completed for the summoning. In order to create a demonic minion, one needed to provide a base for constructing their bodies. In olden days, this would have involved either clay or boiled human or animal flesh. While still in a semi-liquid state, they would call upon the demonic spirits to occupy themselves within the stew of material and create bodies for themselves as they saw fit.
Nowadays, with the advent of plastics and rubbers, a concoction of rubber was boiled, and the demons were called to form shapes from that. The end result, in Kennedy's opinion, usually made them look like monsters from some tokusatsu show. In other words, it made them look completely ridiculous and none-threatening. She was not alone in this regard; the resultant shape many demons took were dubbed "Triceraninjas" by some witches for the odd shapes of their heads and the fact that they acted like ninja.
Spiky-headed ninja demons that looked like they were from a toku flick.
Truly, if there was any sign that witches were irrevocably doomed, it would be this.
The three of them stood on a platform that ringed a large vat of molten rubber. Kennedy made a mental note to herself to inquire Dido as to just who was funding this entire thing. Dido was flipping through a grimoire, looking for the right ritual.
"Aha, there we go! 'How to summon up the demonic spirits'!"
After a few more moments of reading, Maria grumbled and spoke up.
"Dido, if you would kindly speed up the process? I haven't slept in nearly twenty-four hours!"
"Patience, Maria! Soon, our minions will be at hand, and our wrath shall descend upon the two who make mock us with their very existence!"
Would it really hurt you to say their names? What's with the avoidance?
"Ha! I have found it!"
"Do we have to sing again? Because if so, count me out of it! I'm tired enough as it is! Plus, I can barely understand a word of what we say!" spoke Maria.
"Do not worry, dear Maria! There is no singing here! Just a general invocation. Are you ready, my sisters?"
Maria nodded her head. Kennedy felt compelled to do the same.
"Alright. When I am speaking, and if I raise my left hand, you are to repeat as I say. If I hold up my right hand, you must do the same!" spoke Dido.
"Could we just get this over with? I feel like a llama carrying a piano!" spoke Maria.
"As you wish!"
"Oh great ones, mighty forces that lurk beyond the shadows of our perception, heed our call!"
Dido raised her left hand.
"Oh great ones, you who slither and crawl between the shadows of reality, those who bring doom to man, those who stalk the unwitting in the night!"
Dido lowered her hand
"Oh, great ones, we-"
Dido stopped. Maria and Kennedy were speaking along with her.
"Oh, sorry." Spoke Kennedy.
"You should be. Now, where was I: Oh, great ones, we beseech you to heed our call!"
She raised her left hand again.
"Oh, great ones! We have prepared substances from which you may make your bodies!"
Dido lowered her hand again.
"Thus, oh great on-"
Dido stopped again when she heard Kennedy and Maria repeat.
"Ahem."
There was an awkward pause, and then Dido picked up from where she left off.
"Thus, oh great ones, come down! Emerge into our reality! Shape bodies as you see fit, so that you may do our bidding!"
She raised her right hand.
"Oh, gr-stop, stop, just stop!"
Kennedy and Maria began repeating what she said.
"What?" asked Kennedy.
"Sisters, you are to repeat when I raise my left hand, not my right."
After another stint of awkwardness, Dido continued, albeit speaking quickly.
"Oh, great ones! Come, come, come, immerse yourselves in our concoction and live in this world!"
In a dramatic gesture, Dido raised both of her arms at once. However, this resulted in the book dropping to the floor.
"Well, anyway, great ones! Come! Come, great ones! Come!" they spoke inunison.
The air filled with heat and static, and then biting cold. The concoction of rubber began to froth, and after several moments figure began leaping out from the vat onto the floor below. After their features dried, it revealed that the demon had taken on the triceraninja appearance, much to Kennedy's chagrin. After most of the rubber in the vat was gone, Dido leaped down from the platform to the floor below. Though she was easily able to do this, being a witch and everything, it still hurt upon impact.
Most of the minions were yellow, white, or violet in color, with some blue and red ones here and there. There were also several green ones. A white member with a red colored head approached.
"Greetings, Sister Dido. You may call me Big Red. I am the leader of these demons you have summoned. What is your bidding?"
"Greetings, Big Red! If you are able to lead your kin after me, we shall make our way to the meeting room! Come, and I shall show you your targets!"
The other minions gathered behind Big Red and followed him, who in turn was following Dido and the other witches. When they had all gathered in the room, Dido went over to the control console and flipped some meaningful-looking switches, resulting in the large screen above to come back on.
"You turned off everything?" asked Kennedy.
"Of course! Do you think I want a large bill or something?"
I had no idea that power companies supplied private groups with the objective of killing two young girls. Must keep that in mind when I'm trying to figure out who's funding all of this.
The screen, copying the image from the obsidian mirror, showed Ellis and Nadie on the road.
"This is your target, Big Red!" said Dido, pointing at the screen.
"Got it. Steal the jeep. We will head out in-"
"No, no, not the jeep! The two girls in the jeep! Listen up: I want these two bitches dead by Thrusday, you got it?"
She pumped her arms in the air.
"Now, go after those two, and kill them!"
Ellis and Nadie had stopped for a while in a town they happened across. After stopping by the local Amigo Tacos, they went off and window-shopped, not really having any money to actually buy something. That is, if they wanted gas and food money, at least. Though Nadie had memorized that information from several of Jodie's credit cards (she swiped them from her wallet once when she was visiting), it was revealed to her this morning by the motel clerk that the card had expired the day before and could not be accepted.
Ellis was able to get them out of paying, however, by mentioning how they'll tell everyone they meet that it was a nice motel. In return for having to carry around a bunch of tourism pamphlets for the developing town, they were free from paying any expenses, and were even given an on-the-house breakfast in the diner next door. However, that token turned out useless, as the diner was closed that day due to the owner slipping on a banana peel while taking a shortcut to work through a construction site.
"Hey, Nadie, check it out. They're planning on opening a museum of cactus charms in the town."
"Eh, that's great, Ellis." Nadie doubted that the museum, or any of the other tourist traps in the pamphlets, were actually going to draw any significant amount of people to the town.
"By the way, Nadie."
"Yes?"
"What happened to the rest of the pamphlets?"
When they had stopped for gas, Ellis went to use the restroom. Nadie took the opportunity to take all of the pamphlets and promptly dump them inside the back of a pickup truck nearby.
"Oh, those. Yeah, a sudden gust came by when we were at the gas station earlier. Carried off all of them except this one, really. What a shame."
"Yeah…" Ellis knew that Nadie was fibbing, but she didn't care.
After a moment more of walking, Ellis saw an ice cream parlor. She turned to Nadie, an expectant look on her face.
"Oh, do you want some ice cream?"
Ellis nodded in confirmation.
"Okay, I'll buy you some. But!" Nadie pointed her finger at Ellis. "You have to do some push-ups later! Can't let that figure of yours disappear!"
"Yes, sir!" said Ellis with a salute. Nadie loved it when she did that. She loved it even more when she smiled.
WHAT ABOUT ELLIS?
Nadie remembered that line from her dream.
What about Ellis? Well, really, she's cute. She's nice. She's surprisingly insightful sometimes. And she needs someone to protect her.
AND WHAT OF YOU?
Nadie was slightly surprised hearing that, as it was not in her dream.
Well, I guess as far as I go, I guess I'm her protector. And furthermore…
YES?
…she's mine as well. From myself.
Nadie heard the sound of the flute again. It was a familiar sound, and she reflected upon it.
I wonder if it is you, Kokopelli, who is doing this.
"Nadie?"
"Hm?"
"Is something the matter? You have this distant look in your eyes."
"Oh. That. Um, well, I was just thinking back on some earlier point in time, that's all."
"Oh. Okay."
As they walked back to the jeep, Ellis knew that once again that Nadie had stretched the truth. However, that did not matter at the moment, nor would it ever: it just meant that Ellis had to try harder to get the truth out her.
But as stated before, Ellis thought there were more important things at hand. Such as enjoying an ice cream with the person who was most precious to you in the world.
In the distance, night was beginning to form, and as the shadows lengthened, the demons stepped out of the shadows. At their forefront was Big Red, gaze set out in the distance.
"Soon, we shall make our move."
"And then," spoke another demon, this one purple. "they shall be eliminated."
VVV Please Read VVV
Hello, again! I am very excited that my story is one chapter in but is already being watched by several people! That's like, what, roughly a tenth of the entire fandom? (joking). But anyway, I'm sorry for being so late with chapter 2. Finals, novels, social events, and portable gaming systems will do that to your free time. I also made the foolish mistake of starting this a month ago in November, in which I participated (and successfully completed) NaNoWriMo, in which you must type a 50,000 word+ novel within the month. The prize: self-satisfaction. However, in doing so I needlessly delayed the writing of this fanfiction, and yet again, I apologize.
I plan on making full use of this Winter break. I plan on making "Season 1" of this fanfiction last for sixteen "episodes" (read as: chapters). And since I've heard from other sources that my classes next semester are not very work-intensive, I plan on completing "Season 2" and even "Season 3" if people show enough interest, each one consisting of 16 "episodes" which will vary in length and overall relevance to the plot.
I also plan on doing crossovers within this fanfiction, but with which series I'm not going to reveal, as it would ruin the surprise. However, in order to not spoil oneself to a show they have yet to watch, I'll put in big, friendly letters WARNING, SPOILERS to mark areas that may ruin the viewing experience of a show I'm crossovering with that you have yet to see/complete.
As stated in my first post-chapter rant, this fanfiction is going to be a humorous expansion to the series that will try to explain some of the weirder parts of the plot. There are going to be serious moments, of course. Kind of like a Discworld novel, where the overall tone is comedic, yet it can be surprisingly deep and serious at the same time. Also, I'm going to expand upon aspects of the characters that the show neglected to focus on (Nadie being the sole survivor of her home village, Ellis having a somewhat nihilistic viewpoint of reality, etc.)
Well, I've taken more of your time than necessary now. I hope you've enjoyed reading this far, and will continue enjoying it throughout. The next chapter will be out sometime in the next few days. Also, please bear with any of the spelling/grammatical issues in the first chapter (or this one, for that matter); I shall correct them when I am properly motivated (nachos and classic power metal may be involved).
Anyway, toodles.