POV Narrator:
Friday 7 July 1995, Loperéc, France
Laura impresses the girls, who love to listen to the story she tells of the years that have passed, impressed by the events that eventually led to the death of Clarie Cavendish, not having the slightest idea that Diana's grandmother had left in such a cruel way, and even more shocked by how Daryl, despite being only 15, had already shown such cruelty.
Laura and Bernadette, go growing more in the life, the release for Witchtale the game that would be the great release of Saoirse games arrived close, in the middle of these years also the two witches were beginning to build to do another thing, this one that would be regarding to conceive your family, going to get the relics of the fertility stone, a magical relic capable of bringing a witch her access with another witch to have a child between them, the two had already gotten two of the three relics until then, one that was in the Cavendish family mansion that was a ruby that its powder served as magic to create life, also the love stone, that was in a very distant cave, that in a kiss that the two witches have a genuine love between them, can appear, being its function thought and turned to the creation of children but that only between a heteroafetive couple, but with an improvement in it with other relics is able to make the effect possible even with a homoafetive couple.
The third relic is a sacred water where the Du Nord family owns in the underground of their house, which was a journey for Laura and Bernadette that will mark their lives when they meet someone quite special.
They leave in a moment that Cavendish is on holiday from medical school, having a lot of free time, Daryl that day was just living the days as usual, the more she was enjoying the luxury and freedom, always going out, traveling and showing off in an aristocratic way, something she really wanted to do and that she was even earning well to act that way and raise the Cavendish morale. The couple goes in direction to France, in the small village of Loperéc, to the Du Nord family residence that is even a little far away from the city, when they land there, there was a child running in the backyard and she was running in the backyard with a broom and using a witch hat, when she noticed the presence of Laura and Bernadette, she gets a little scared and runs to the legs of a lady that was there.
POV Laura:
What an adorable lettle girl, even fills me with de desire to be a mother, although I'm still too young for dat haha, only 23 years old is still too early for dis, we go to de lady, who must be 'er mother, de Du Nord are a cutie really, I never dought dey would be so beautiful, if I'm not mistaken dey also have descent in de nine witches.
"Good afternoon, you must be de Du Nord correct? We dedn't come for any harm, we heard dat dere is 'oly water 'ere, we just want to buy a bottle of it" I say while holding Bern's hand and de lady noticed dat we were a couple.
"Oh a couple of women here, what a rare thing, come with me, my mother will love to talk to you, I am Anna Du Nord and this shy little girl is my granddaughter Chariot, she is the new generation of the family" She said pointing to de girl who kept looking at me, I returned de look, dose eyes of 'ers are so penetrating, a reddish one dat shines in de sun, wow whoever dis girl's mother is she's a 'ottie.
"Honey, we're still young, dinnae think about it yet, I know ye've charmed the little lassie, but one day we'll have ours, Freckles and little Freckles" said the little cabbage.
We entered de house, it's very quiet, it looks like dose lettle farm 'ouses, I'm looking at de inside and it's all made of wood, it's so comfortable, a kitten was also on de sofa playing with others, what a cute ding, I want to squeeze dem all, but let's take it easy, when we got to de living room, de older lady was watching TV, she soon noticed our presence, and even got a shocked face.
"Cavendish..." She looked quite openly at de two of us, especially Bern, 'er pupils even grew.
"Ah this is my mother Adeleine Du Nord, she is the matriarch of the family, she looks after us" Anna said and den de older lady stands up, putting 'er hand on Bern's shoulder, I even found it very strange.
"So how are ye, lass? Ye must be Bernadette, right? My sister's told me all about ye, I know this seems a bit sudden, but I'm yer Auntie Grandma Adeleine" she said and I'm shocked, what do you mean? I wonder if...
"Aunt Grandma Adeleine? The one who left home? I've heard of ye, I dinnae know ye were a Du Nord... But how? Does that mean I'm related tae a Du Nord?" She said Bern was shocked and so was I.
"Yes, I will tell you more, you are the great granddaughter of Diana Cavendish III and Louise Du Nord, it is quite surprising isn't it? I would say one of those coincidences, I ended up here, but it is good to know that Isabella's granddaughter came, apparently a girl who likes women too... McLaren still... You are Elisabeth's great-granddaughter, aren't you? She is my godmother, you know?" Said Miss Du Nord.
"She was... My great-grandmother died four years ago... She was the best, I'm 'er great-granddaughter, Laura, she gave me so many advices, made me be de person I am today, it's really good to know dat you're 'er goddaughter, you must have taken some good canes on de head too hahahaha" I say laughing while she scratched de back of her head.
"Ah so it seems that the tradition is still very much alive, you have no idea how much it was, she trained me a lot of magic, I did so well that I became one of Luna Nova's best students... Well the topic is cool, we can talk more, only now I have to get the holy water, you come with me Bernadette, we'll be right back, you stick around Laura" Said the older Du Nord and I nodded.
What a nice lady, she went out with Bern to get de 'oly water, at least one of de cabbage's grand aunts is nice, I go looking around de house, I see dat den de lettle girl goes out into de backyard, where I watch 'er from de window, playing, seriously if dat doesn't make anyone attached to 'ave a child, I don't know what does, by de nine witches... That is so good.
"It's been a while since we've seen a couple around here to pick up the relics, last time a couple of two witches came, one German and one Polish, they're really cute, two witches who have a fixation for technology, they said they're going to make a more advanced version and you seem to like the Chariot a lot" she said and I was just enchanted with de lettle girl.
"Dis girl makes me want to be a mother... I can't wait for my turn, she is so cute, congratulations for your lettle girl, she is going to be a lovely lettle witch" I say looking at lettle Chariot.
"She doesn't know how to do magic yet, but she's trying, she always takes great delight in these things" Her grandmother said and I had an idea.
"Really? I dink I'll introduce myself to your granddaughter den if you don't min" I tell her who nods in agreement.
I jump out de window of de house, but I end up tripping, falling on de grass, which she laughs at, it was the 'em of my trousers dat got caught, because I decided to put on wide trousers like these to go 'ere, well at least it's comfortable, I walk towards 'er who looks at me a little shy and I quickly crouch in front of 'er.
"Hello, you must be lettle Chariot, my name is Laura, do you want to play?" I say to 'er who looks a bit strange and turns 'er face away.
"I don't speak English well, play I want to" she said all cute, giving a lettle smile showing dat she had also lost a milk tooth.
I go up to a tree, where I take a branch, and start doing some light effects with dose branches, even though I don't typically use a wand, I can still make dose things turn into one, who knows, maybe den she can do it, I show the lettle girl and she is amazed.
"Ohhhhhh, magic" she said impressed.
"Your magic is to believe in yourself" I know a little bit of French too and that was impressing de lettle girl until I'm 'anding over the stick.
I give 'er another stick and she does the same thing again, bursting de stick and dis time looking at it bursting, laughing a lot.
I give one more stick and she does de same thing again, blowing up de stick and dis time looking at it bursting, laughing a lot, I'm doing it with de third one, even remembering when I was 3 years old and doing de same thing, great grandmother Elisabeth giving me de sticks and me blowing up, she who said dat I did dat, until I showed my magic.
"Firecrackerl! Yay! - She went on getting all enthralled.
"Look what you can do with dis too" I'll start using de stick to give some effects of bubbles, butterflies and light fairies, which will go around de lettle Chariot, including a butterfly landing on 'er nose making 'er fall on 'er butt on de floor, but what an adorable little thing, she even wants to take it, with a face of wonder.
"I want, I want magic" She said picking up a stick, dis time I will feel the gleam in the lettle Chariot's eyes.
De lettle girl doesn't keep waving de stick, dis time she concentrates, de lights are coming out in de tip and with dat a trail goes out from 'er, which already shows dat she was dere giving de first steps as a witch, stars are coming out, butterflies too, she starts to walk and de trail follows 'er, it goes spinning and de things around are appearing... This is really de new generation, what a lovely ding she is.
"You did it, you got a believing heart" I smile at 'er, who is getting all excited.
"I did it! I did it! I'm a little witch!" She said all bouncy, starting to run around still making dat trail with 'er wand.
I don't know why, but I'm seeing dat she has a 'uge potential, dat encouraging way of 'ers, de cute face, dis girl 'as a future, she can be de face of all de children, I see 'er very much like dat, she charmed even me, what an adorable lettle thing, I really 'ope that she really gets to improve as a witch, to see 'er all bouncy like dat is very nice, until de whole wand bursts, I guess you can't stay like that all de time can you.
"Miss Laura, the wand exploded" she said and I immediately went for a stick.
"Now let's see if without me putting magic you can do it" I say giving 'er de stick and she started to try.
Dis time she was concentrating on aiming at something, she was even giving a little shake, which de lettle girl still couldn't do, but I was giving 'er emotional support, she was getting a little bit unfocused, de brightness came and soon the stick ended up exploding, but this is a good sign.
"You are succeeding, let's try more often" I say to 'er 'anding over another stick.
The attempts go by and soon Chariot finally manages to do the same, this time without the help of the stick, he does it on his own and just in time when Bernadette was returning with Adeleine...
She did it, she's mastering magic, what a cute thing, she even learns quickly if she believes in 'erself, she gets all cute celebrating, which I take advantage of to take 'er in my arms and keep lifting 'er up and up dere she's doing de magic effects, even though it's such a basic thing, I was loving to see it.
"I am on top of the world!" she said.
"Let's get you up dere yay!" I put 'er sitting on my shoulders, even though I'm not de tallest person in de world, she's going to love being up dere and still release de spells, so much so dat I'm spinning and jumping.
"yay! Horseback" I start to walk and pretend to be a horse in front of her.
She is all 'appy and excited, looking at me and at de sky, de yard was getting full of fairies, de flowers were blooming in the middle of de grass, even on me, dis is so cute, she is really de kind of child dat captivates de whole world around 'er, dis is really magic, I really want to be a mum. I don't even realize it, but in the middle of all dis excitement dere was Bern 'olding de two bottles and also looking at us both, which I even stopped looking at 'er.
"Look who ended up having a great time, it looks like someone really wants tae be a mummy" said de cabbagedish patch.
"Dis lettle girl is wonderful" I say taking 'er off my shoulder and putting 'er back on de floor, she looked at me with de biggest smile on 'er face 'ow cute.
"Ye'll get yer turn soon mum Freckles, come and have a coffee with us, I bet ye must be hungry, Anna called her daughter tae deliver food for us" Bern said and I nodded my 'ead in agreement as I saw de lettle girl running to 'er mother.
"Mama!" she said as she went to 'ug de other Du Nord and wow, she's beautiful, she looks our age.
"Ellie, how nice of you to come at this hour, you'll love meeting this lovely couple" Lettle Chariot's grandmother said and I quickly nodded my head to 'er.
"I saw Chariot in the background having fun, it seems that they are a very nice couple, let's go inside, I brought a lot of good things for you, I let Antoine take care of the confectionery for now" Chariot's mother said and wow, she is a great woman.
We went inside de house, Chariot also went inside and she went to de living room, where she started playing with 'er dolls and cars on the floor, playing a lot with each other, it was really cute, I can't wait for my children, we sat at de table, she opened de bags with food, dere were sweets, pieces of cake, some rolls, just good stuff, I was really hungry.
A while later, eating there, chatting all together, there comes a moment in the conversation when they are talking about what they would call their future children...
I can't believe Chariot's mum was such a young mother, I was graduating when she had Chariot, she was only 21, yet she 'as an adorable little girl, and she takes such good care of 'er, it's too cute, seriously, I can't wait to 'ave my girls.
"And so you already have a name in mind?" Adeleine asks.
"Diana, if Bernadette gets pregnant" I reply to 'er.
"Oh it's quite a name for the Cavendish family history, did you know that?" Said the older Du Nord and Bern just nodded.
"Exactly fae that, I want her tae live in a new world of magic, where things will change and she will be part of it, who knows even becoming a witch as great as the legendary trinity of Diana's of the Cavendish family, I myself received their blessing when I was in the first fight against my mother, When I was about tae lose I received a vision from each one of them, in the end it was what gave me the strength tae win it, I want tae continue this by naming my daughter Diana, because I know she will be great, somehow" Said the cabbage all cute and full of meaning.
"Oh, really, it's going to be great, just from the name alone I can feel it, you two are great in your own right, you've been through a great dark period in the family, I remember my sister sending several letters about the rampant homophobia and erasure of history that happened to the Cavendish family, the name Diana is going to be great for being something that will bring the new airs, along with you two, no doubt witches that I have a great admiration for" Madame Du Nord said.
"I really want this, they were hard years, I wasn't even aware that my great grandmother Diana's wife was called Louise Du Nord, the part of the story about the fertility stone is a crime tae mention, but now I want tae make things better, I will do everything to give Diana a better future, so she dinnae go through anything I have tae go through," Bern said to dhe point until I 'ugged her.
"And as for you Laura, what name do you intend to give to the kid, if you become pregnant?" asks Chariot's grandmother.
"I was about to name my girl Rosemary, until I met one and became very good friends with 'er, de other name was Hellene, I for one don't have such a big meaning around all this, I just dought it was a pretty name I wanted to give my girl, it was something I dought about with friends of mine, between Hellen or Helena, I decided to go for another, I even thought about Mary which is the name of the first McLaren or Victoria, but I want to give a greatness to a new name in the family, just like my parents must have done when I was named Laura, even though I am the direct reincarnation of Mary McLaren, for being born exactly 750 years after 'er" I explain to 'er.
"Ah so you want to give greatness to a new name, that is very interesting too, I always see that the most remarkable McLaren always had distinctive names, your great grandmother Elisabeth, Victoria, Isabel, Mary herself, I can feel it coming from you, anyway, I am sure that Hellene will also have a greatness as huge as Diana, even more with mothers like you" She said.
And after talking a lot, they pass the time and say goodbye to the Du Nord family, returning to the Cavendish mansion in a long trip, where they arrive with the other relics ready to make the last experiment and there they even called Isabella who would see it with her own eyes, already a bit weakened?
We are already all set, de fertility stones will be ready, I can't wait to do Diana and Hellene someday, I look at Bern's grandmother and I feel a bit sorry for 'er, she has 'ad cancer for a long time, 'er condition worsened even with treatment, I am afraid she will leave and not see 'er great granddaughter being born, but I think it will be inevitable.
"Oh you really brought everything" she said in a very weak voice.
"Look Grandma, let's make the fertility stones" Bern said.
We levitate de relics, I do everything without a wand using my hand, even noticing dat my freckles glowed making one shaped like a four-leaf clover, the other shaped like a leaf from de Gran Triskellion, I dink dis is going to be really great.
"Fusionae Magicae!" Following de steps of de books, we begin to fuse de relics.
Dey go circulating, making an incredible effect of lights, dat went around us forming a circle of so fast dat spun, stars were coming out through dem, until de brightness joins all in one middle, what causes de biggest flash in front of us, den everything stabilizes, falling de two pink fertility stones right on de table, what we were looking with a big smile on de face.
"It's just like in the books" Bern said smiling.
"We made it love" I say relieved.
"Ye really are wonderful, ye make me proud, I never thought I would see a fertility stone while I was alive" said Bern's half-weak grandmother.
"I hope ye get well soon grandma one day in the future ye will see yer great-granddaughters running around here and showering ye with affection" Bern said and I don't know if she will... But I hope so.
I soon notice dat Daryl was looking at everything in de background, kind of spying on us, it seems dat she lost 'er ass with our face, what an idiot, well at least things are calm, she's behaving and doing 'er own thing, even though I dink it's stupid dat Bern let 'er do the Cavendish image, going out to places, since we can't because of our sexuality, what a stupid ding to do, at least I'm not into dat stuff.
"What is it Daryl? Are ye curious too? Remember when ye were younger and ye were rooting fae me to be a lesbian sae I'd never be a mother and ye'd be the leader? It backfired, look at yer face, look at this, the fertility stone" Bern said showing 'er coming towards us, kind of laughing.
"You can take our 'and and even disappear, if you do dat, we'll do another, and another and another, it's no use trying to stop us, you'll 'ave to accept us, you'll see us both 'ave a daughter and our lineage will be de one that will continue de Cavendish family" I say staring at 'er and she was getting de worst face.
"Whatever, do you really think Beatrix is going to allow your fruit to lead?" Daryl said.
"I am the fruit of a lesbian couple, my mothers made me and I am the leader, stop being hypocritical Daryl" said Isabella who even gave a few coughs, poor thing, she is all bad.
"Oh, so that's it, I don't care, I have much bigger plans in mind, you can have your kids there, I'm sure you won't be able to continue things the way you expect" She just stared at us with a look that she knew she was about to get ready to leave.
"Don't mind Daryl, she just wants tae scare ye" Bern's grandmother said.
"She's just a little lassie, even setting all that up in the leader ritual, she's just a spoilt child, she talks the talk but she won't do her worst, it would be dumb tae give up the luxury she has fae the sake of spoiling things fae her" Bern said and I don't think so much of it.
"People do atrocities in the name of power, I'll never doubt de capacity of someone to be a deplorable human being and do de lowest things to destroy de goal of others, but anyway, we should not underestimate 'er too, Daryl is not stupid, 'er plan was well planned, who knows what dis girl 'as in mind a few years from now against us" I say to them looking at dat emptiness on de corridor, even with all dis, getting used to dis place, it still gives me an aura of discomfort at the same time, especially this Bern's sister.
POV Narrator:
That was really the last moment for Isabella, to see the fertility stone being made, the next day, the family woke up noticing her absence, when they went to the lady's room, she had passed away, due to a liver cancer, much of it a consequence of her past, where she was very full of alcohol, due to everything that she ended up going through in the mansion, being a single mother, being abandoned when she got pregnant with Clarie and losing control of taking care of her own daughter. Isabella never stopped being a loving grandmother and mother in spite of everything.
Daryl didn't stay still, she actually had a whole plan in mind all these years, mainly because she already had a fertility stone in hands that she was already waiting for a moment to use, in this she was getting involved with none other than Paul Hanbridge, in an indirect way, getting close to him and even getting involved with some other things, but he wasn't the target she wanted but something much later.
1996, was a very quiet year, the sales of Witchtale made a huge success and that was enough for Saoirse Games to develop a game for a more modern platform, in the case Playstation 1 and they decided to maintain in the 2D graphics, this time following the concept idea that they used in their first game, only that applying in a more modern scenery, with the goal of who knows to succeed with a platform that supports more things, besides graphics and sounds much improved, it was the apex of Laura in matter of soundtrack, catching a lot of inspiration of games to create the perfect atmosphere, besides the arts that who was doing them was exactly Scarlet, with exception of the cover arts that who took care of that was Laura.
1997, things got moving, Daryl gets pregnant, she never revealed it to anyone but fabricated the twins with another woman, but used the onslaught with Paul to force a scam on Hanbrige and it worked out very well, Paul's mother was Bernadette's godmother and forced her son to have to take on the twins believing them to be his daughters, Both Bernadette and Laura were not surprised at all with Daryl's attitude, already knowing that it could be a scam, even so they saw where it was going to go.
Bernadette graduates from the medical school that year and starts her career as a doctor, already showing how she was one of the best, since at the university she already stood out.
1998, was the year that Saoirse Games releases another hit, this time Mahou Ninja, a metroidvania with an exploration involving an environment kind of Japanese, with clear inspirations from ninja gaiden, but also having some RPG and magic elements, which was not as successful as the competitor Castlevania Symphony of The Night, but that revealed how the Playstation was a perfect platform for 2D games, which were those golden years of Laura and her friends' company.
April finishes her hormonal transition in the same year, she celebrates with a pregnancy, arriving in Scarlet and thanks to the fertility stone she manages to fertilize herself, but despite everything, a big attack happens to the couple, an execution attempt, where Scarlet dies in a car accident and April almost dies, but she can escape, when she was already pregnant, with big suspicions of the attack being orchestrated by Uncle Lawrence, who shared many ideas as The Council and was extremely against her niece being trans and having a wife equally trans.
1999, Tracey Hanbridge dies, she had an addiction to something else, which in this case was tobacco, leaving due to lung cancer and she never knew about the hoax, but Paul was connecting the dots and he made sure to start taking steps, It didn't last long until the DNA test comes and proves that it was all a setup by Daryl to make a con with Paul Hanbridge and it was in this that he made a furious proposal, which involved even Bernadette, that involved that one of her friends would have to give in to Paul, or he would end up making their lives a living hell with his money and due to the events of Scarlet's bite they get scared.
On April 14 Megan, April's only child
is born to the late Scarlet Taylor, who can't even enjoy happy moments with her daughter and wife who has just completed her transition.
2000, April is devastated with the loss of Scarlet, even with Megan, what Saoirse Games gives a little break and Laura is working alone in the arts of another game, already studying for a future platform, since she took the place of Scarlet in the arts. Daryl on the other hand, receives a tempting proposal, which will involve something much further ahead. In this year Andrew Hanbridge is also born, who was Paul's son forcibly made with one of Laura and Bernadette's friends, afraid of the threats, Eleanora Maria White was the one who risked herself for them, even though she was already married to his wife, but strangely afterwards she disappears in an unknown way and the magic council connects the blame to Naomi, Eleanora's wife, who ends up unfairly arrested and convicted of murder, they were two who were going in a very quiet way building the scenery for the possible witches' revolution that had a heavy brake.
2001, Saoirse games comes back to activity, this time April in her sabbatical year learned how to work with 3D graphics as Laura and they have a great idea, a game with cel shading graphics, already aiming for the Playstation 2 platform together with Gamecube and also Dreamcast, already aiming for the following year to launch a broom race game.
The year was marked by overcoming, it was being very impacting for the girls, since they were getting more and more with their hands tied to change the system that circulated the witches, so much that they were slowly giving up, or just letting the things go, but Laura and Bernadette not so much, they still wanted to take it forward, but they had one thing to do before.
Diana was conceived in that year, the couple saw that that was the moment to start a family, since until then they were the only ones of the group of friends that didn't have a daughter yet, and luckily who got pregnant in the first attempt was Bernadette, what Daryl was already growing his eyes planning something heavy that is to come and get to the couple that they had no idea.
In the middle of this time, Laura was visiting the Du Nord family, showing a little bit of Claiomh Solais and ended up revealing one more word, already the fourth, but still missing three more to reveal all the power, but that enchanted the little Chariot, who was already bigger than McLaren and was always impressed by the power of magic.
See you, Du Nord Witches...