POV Narrator:
Wednesday 20 February 2019, Glastonbury, England
Daryl was defeated, but even so her defeat had consequences around the girls that were intervening in the battle, Brooke ended up expelled from Luna Nova due to unfair rules that said about her having to leave because she was failing, while the quartet of Diana, Akko, Marianne and Hellene had to serve a week's detention doing manual labor, with the exception of Diana, who ended up in bed and could not even leave her room for a week because she was watched, and could not even receive visitors without the permission of Principal Holbrook, which restricted Akko's visits.
The news of Daryl's death soon also reaches her daughters, one who was extremely relieved that this drama could come to an end, another who was devastated by the death of their mother, so much so that Merrill went to the city of Glastonbury to talk to her sister.
POV Merrill:
Maril as always stubborn, she really doesn't want to accept her mother's death and move on, I'm also kind of devastated by it, gee it was the woman who looked after me all my life, although I don't feel so much for everything I've been through at the hands of Daryl, she's really reluctant about it all, but what can I do.
"So Maril, soon you will be free, what do you intend to do? Aunt Laura has given us the opportunity" I tell her.
"No Aunt Laura, can't you see what a weak mind you are and are falling for her game? That's what Laura McLaren has always wanted, she wants you to be by her side, don't be blind, our mother's history will be erased" She said and I know she won't.
"But seriously, what are you going to do after you leave here? You only have the money that mum left as an inheritance, it won't be enough to keep you going the rest of your life, you have to think about a job or something to do with your life, you can't live only being Daryl's doormat" I tell her that even gets a frown on her face.
"I'm nobody's doormat, I'm independent, I decide what to do with my life, now only one thing matters to me and you know very well what that is" said my sister and I know what it is.
" What if she is dead too? Where will she go? What if Mum lied to us?" I ask her who just turns her face away.
"You always doubt your mother too much, that's why you ended up like this, it was your way of doing things that killed your mother, do you have any idea? If you were a little more helpful we wouldn't be in this, but you always want to be the questioner" she said and I just give up, she really doesn't want to talk, but I won't stop staying here.
"I'm not leaving here anytime soon, I want to stay with my sister, I know mum's death impacts you a lot, I have compassion and empathy for you" I tell her who is just quiet and ignoring.
Poor Maril, she really thinks that things are so black and white, but in reality it's not that much, things have colours and are much more complicated, but anyway, I think I'll stay here for another hour, I don't want to leave so soon, I want to talk to her more, I want that at least I can talk to my sister when she leaves here.
I look to the side and see the agent Morris opening the door of the rooms where the cells are, entering with a girl with brown hair and purple eyes, I've never seen her around here, not even when she was arrested and until now there's no one around here besides us and she doesn't seem handcuffed, she looks me in the eyes, I felt something really strange.
"And then ye wanted tae visit Maril, how strange I had never really seen yer relationship with them Watson" Said Agent Morris approaching with her who then comes over to me.
I feel a strange hug, the girl hugged me, I am feeling something very strange, what do you mean she hugged me? Is she an acquaintance of the mother? She must be, I think she was like that too when she heard about her death, anyway I am accepting a hug, even if I am not so used to affection.
"OK that's very strange" said Officer Morris.
"Strange that you are still here even after my mother's death" Maril said.
"I'm going tae stay here until ye get out of jail, I haven't given up on you Maril, it's nae because the case is over that my empathy fae ye has gone away" She said and I really admire that about Agent Morris.
"Who are you?" I ask all confused.
"Merrill, you've really grown up, and the one in the cell must be your sister Maril. You two have been through a lot at the hand of that woman, haven't you? I guess so, you're not the only ones, I just came to apologize for everything that happened, I shouldn't have given in to Daryl to make you" What? She's...
"What?" We all spoke in shock.
It can't be, she's really who I think she is, the face, the features, she really does look a bit like us, that's why the weird look, she seems kind of shy even to stand here in front of us, is she? By the nine witches if this is really real then we really have found her, I don't believe it.
"Mum?" I ask her who looks at me agreeing with her head.
"Mum!" Said Maril running to the bars of the cell.
"Are ye the one of their mother we've spent years looking fae?" asks Agent Morris.
"It's a long story, from many years ago and from a person I wasn't proud to be, I acted too much on impulse and greed, I wanted to have it all but I ended up losing was all with it, I'm your mother I'm Lucy Watson" She said ever so wistfully.
"Why did you run away from us?" said an irritated Maril.
"I had no choice, your mother threatened my life from the beginning, she did not want you to find out under any circumstances and you know that Daryl is to fulfill threats, now that she is gone I feel free, I can finally show my face and reveal the truth... Well I hope you won't accept me, but it's the way I deserve it... Well at least I could finally tell you the truth about me... I exist, I am the other mother of you" said the mother and I am still trying to process everything, tears were even falling from my face.
I couldn't stand it, the emotions came and I who give Lucy a hug, she comforts me, half still standing, but I could feel her hands on my back, I even hear noises of keys opening, I feel hands touching my back, it was Maril too, she joined the hug, I start to cry, I couldn't resist really, it's stronger than me these emotions, I'm in front of my mother.
"I'll tell you everything" said the mother.
"Please tell us everything that happened" I tell her.
"I'm still in disbelief for the abandonment but I know mum is one to do this, I was in shock when I found out her dirt when I was impersonating Brooke, I'm really thinking it might be true" Maril said.
"Well then let's go" Lucy said.
"Come with me then, I'll take you to the interrogation room, there it can be more empty and private to talk" Said agent Morris and she was leading us to that room.
I even miss the interrogation room, I remember well to have gone there when I was arrested and confessed everything, now things are different, I even feel a relief and a comfort with all this, finally things are working out and for the better, I won't be stuck to Daryl ever again, this weight is gone, we enter the room, we sit on the chair, with Lucy on the other side.
"You can say anything" said my sister.
"It all started back there, I was a very greedy girl, I wanted to have luxury and power even, I wanted to enjoy the best, I was born in the suburbs of Adelaide, my mother and father raised me with what they could make, I grew up in the midst of a world that always closed the door to me, always wishing for the good and the best you know... I also worked at that time, so that we could eat, when I turned 10 my father and mother separated, my father was arrested for assaulting my mother, he was an alcoholic, at that time they improved, but in financial condition, not in relation to what I did not know my mother did, I thought I was just helping her by working to deliver things in the basket on my bicycle, little did I know that it was cocaine and that it did not take long for my mother to die from it, we even had a better house, but I did not know it was because of
that... Anyway, that is my origin, I lost my mother when I was 13 and had the rest of the money that she earned that way, I was thrown in an orphanage and there I learned magic, I became the best witch, which earned me a letter of recommendation in Luna Nova, I accepted at once and ambition took me there..." I am fascinated by mother's story, but Maril soon interrupts everything.
"What does this have to do with us?" she said.
"Maril! Let her explain everything, mother Daryl you would let her" I tell her giving her the biggest scolding.
"Alright, I just want to summarize things well, what led me to get to you guys, going back here, I was in Luna Nova and I was the best student there in the 80's, maybe I could be beaten by your aunts, but their behavior was never the best, I ended up doing whatever it took to get me out of that shitty life I had in my childhood and that's when I accepted to do some services for headmistress Holbrook and teacher Finnelan, those were to infiltrate and then dismantle the several times that her aunts organized themselves to try to revolutionize magic, how many services I haven't done of that, to erase any attempt, I did it until after they graduated, it took more than 3 years for that thought to be erased, but anyway, I was enjoying, that money I went out in the most luxury and enjoy things, that's where I met Daryl, when we were in a yatch in the canary islands, she presented me her proposals, I went there doing some services, those to keep an eye on Laura and Bernadette, besides gaining more her trust, I swam in the money and took advantage of it, the more we sabotaged their friends and any attempt to change the thing, by order of a so called boss, what I was promised to Daryl was to become a queen with her... Daryl wanted to take advantage of the whole situation so that when everything changed she, along with me, would kill the boss and take over as leader of all magic, at least that's a lot of what she told me in the several times we slept together"
"So you did all this to splurge? Just to live in luxury? Do you really love us?" Maril says and I again give her a telling off.
"Let mother Lucy speak" I tell her.
"At that time yes, I did all that for money, for luxury, I wanted to live like a queen, I didn't want to be the poor girl I used to be, I didn't want that origin anymore, I was living the best at that decade, her mother paid for everything and it was also the money taken from her aunts, they were the ones that supported Daryl, but I didn't know that, neither did they know about my relationship with Daryl, we kept it absolutely secret... I admit, I made the mistake of falling in love with her, she did things that until today I feel traumatized to do, she slept with other women and guys and called me in the middle, I just wanted her... But I could never get Daryl's heart, I thought who knows I could fix her, anyway... Jumping to 1997, that's where I changed everything, that same month, Daryl gives me a proposal, do you guys. She wanted someone she trusted the most and had proximity besides being a witch for which she felt strong to be the one who would pass the genes to you guys, was supposed to be born only one, but fate chose twins, after that she threw me away, I tried contact for months, she ignored me, I tried contact even in person, she told me I was no good anymore and that I shouldn't go after her or I would die, she did this by pointing a gun at my head, I didn't give in but soon she frightened me for good, it was a little after you were born, she tortured me in every way you could imagine and made the message clear, she didn't want to kill me, she let me live and demanded that I never see her again or have contact and so I did out of fear... It was then that I realised that the system is evil and will do anything to bring me down, I have never been so sure about anything in my life... From then on I faced the consequences of these things, I saw people dying, Laura and Bernadette being forced to separate, Bernadette's death and I knew everything... They told me, I even noticed the hatred coming from Laura and the others towards me because of the years of Luna Nova, I was trying to redeem myself with the years, but they never really forgave me and they never will now that they know the truth"
"So you... Mum betrayed us and you, did she really do that?" I ask mum and she nods in agreement.
"And why should I believe that? You still only made us for money, how can we know you love us?" Maril is really angry.
"I don't know, do I really love you? That's the doubt in both of your minds... I still don't know about that, I think I must have just come to take the weight off my head, anyway it is better that I have said than not saying anything, I hope it is clear to both of you that I have good intentions with you, if you want me to just disappear from your lives that's fine, I'll do it, I just want the truth to come out you know" Said mother Lucy to us, I really get in shock.
By the nine witches, I didn't expect something that was going to happen to me this much, the story behind mother Daryl gets even more rotten it's like she's going to terrify me every second, she really doesn't stop wreaking havoc, worst of all is that she really has come to cause evil... I genuinely feel sorry for mother
Lucy, she seems like she's not happy for any of this, you can see her expression by the way she talks, I really think that this is the truth, it's more cruel than it seems, nobody is 100% good at this, there's always people who will end up doing the worst.
"I'm really sorry for all that, I wish I could redeem myself with you guys, but anyway, those years were really heavy for me, I realized how superficial and fucked up things really are, Daryl is a cruel woman and she doesn't measure efforts to be that way, she treats people like objects, I could say I feel for you guys for the loss of Daryl, but I'll be honest... I'm glad she died, this woman would only spread the worst, I don't doubt that you were objects to her too, just by the fact that she lied about my existence and you were here, it shows that she was willing to use you as a ladder to get success... I know I may sound cruel saying this, but it's true, I can't empathize with someone who manipulated me and ruined my life, someone who took me away from my daughters... I was willing to be a mother and take care of you, it was a stab in my back, I had to appeal and much to get information about you, I received everything chopped ... But here I am now" said the mother and I agree a little.
"I'm not going to say anything, I'm just mad, I did everything to make mum Daryl proud, I was all straight and now this? You have no idea how horrible the feeling of betrayal is, you betrayed mum Merrill's trust, why should I accept that?" said my sister.
"She betrayed my trust too, what's to stop your mother from not being a two-faced liar? Is Daryl the only one who can be like that? She would stab you in the back and take you to the preciple, but anyway, I think that's it for now, I'm leaving for now so as not to fill your patience" Mom said.
She actually walked out of the interrogation room, I went with her looking angrily at Maril, she always being her nosy way, when things were getting a lot quieter, well at least now I know I have a mother, she's kind of a controversial person, but it wouldn't be any different, it's mother Daryl's way of arranging people, she wouldn't stay with someone who's all love in the world, she's not one of those, now I know where Maril's so loyal mindset came from.
As we leave to the outside of the WCI agency I kind of stare at her, she looking at the landscape, still kind of next to this person, she even lights a cigarette, I kind of start to move away a little because of the smell.
"So you haven't given up on not getting close to me, I think it's better not to try, I'm already a bit of a rotten person" Lucy said as she let out smoke from her cigarette.
"You may be, have done those things, but you are my mother, you have no idea how I wanted to find you, in reality you are less worse than I thought you would be, I have done a lot of horrible things too, you are not alone in this manipulation of Daryl" I tell her who even gives a smile.
"As I assumed, you really were Daryl's objects, weren't you? Well I don't want to intrude too much" she said.
"I accept to talk to you about it, these are things you deserve to know, both sides have to know the truth, and I say that I suffered a lot at Daryl's hand, they were very complicated times, I didn't have a childhood with her" I say to Lucy, who then strokes my head.
After Merrill tells it all in a nutshell...
She really deserves to know, she's my mother, it shocks me to know everything, it was a tremendous manipulation for us to exist, it's horrible to know that our destiny since before we were born was always to be mere tokens and trophies of Daryl, Lucy was betrayed and was just a bargaining chip to make us, she was really devastated with all this, but it's true, Daryl beat us a lot to correct us, it was the way she found.
"Before I was not giving a damn if you accepted me or not, I would just go on with my life if you did not accept me, but now I think it is super necessary for me to be in the middle... This is horrible, this brings back memories of my alcoholic father, by the nine witches no... You were beaten for not being servants enough, I went through this all my childhood, I have marks to this day of those aggressions and a huge belt trauma because of that shit that was my father" Said Lucy who even hugged me.
"Mum..." I say half crying.
"I know this might sound kind of out of the blue, but would you ever agree to live in Australia with me? Or I could even live here in the UK" she said with her hand on my shoulder.
"I accept to live in Australia, I want to stay away from all this stuff, you know? I'm just going to finish my supletivo and as soon as I finish everything I'll move to do my fashion college in Australia, I don't want to know anymore about living here, it brings me memories of everything I've been through, I want to start again,
you know? And this beside the right mother, I know that for 22 years you were absent of this part, but I see that you are that mother, I will love to spend the rest of my life with you know, from now on I am Merrill Watson" I tell her that started to cry.
One more hug, this one that makes me feel all relieved, like a weight coming off, seriously, I felt more comfortable, I think it's better to start again in another way, with the Cavendish way I just sank and look it was the most luxurious and prestigious place, but it seems that all this doesn't buy anything, who would have thought it would be this great irony, anyway, I think now at least things will get better.
"I feel honoured, but a Watson is not much to be proud of, I'm just a very ordinary witch, we don't even have a name in Australia, I'm the only remanscente, I don't know if a Cavendish will accept something so low, I live in a too simple house in Adelaide" She said and I just shrugged.
"I lived for months in a hole and precarious hiding places, that's nothing, luxury is something that interests me, but I don't mind being without it, I could enjoy years of Cavendish family luxury, we had everything, but Daryl wanted more, she just spoilt it all" I tell her.
"All these luxuries are too superficial things, yes it is very nice to lie down and sleep together on a yacht sailing in the caribbean with someone there in a romantic moment, I had several with your mother, but ... All these moments are worth when you conquer them in an honorable way, when you enjoy them in a more honest way, anyway, you will love to know Australia, it is a nice place, I love the climate a little warmer than here, it is not super cold, sometimes it is a little cold, Christmas is in summer, the middle of the year is winter and there are those dangerous bugs, but it is my home" she said and I'm just listening to her.
Meanwhile on the inside, Maril was devastated still processing everything, inside her cell...
POV Maril:
I don't believe it, it can't be, it's impossible, my mother is that woman, I can't believe that after everything she ended up doing this, she still tells me to my face that she did it just for the money, I honestly don't know who I'm going to follow from now on, I don't want to know about this part ever again, neither a Watson and neither a Cavendish, from now on I'm just myself, I don't want to know about these origins of mine anymore.
"By the looks of it ye now know where ye came from" Agent Morris said.
"Not with all the honour in the world, how can such a woman be my mother" I say still in shock.
"And ye wanted her tae be like yer aunts? Wake up Maril, it's Daryl, yer mother Daryl is known fae this kind of thing, ye've seen in yer face all her story being denied and proved, anyway where are ye going from here? In April ye will soon be free, ye have 20 thousand pounds of yer mother's inheritance that dinnae come from dirty money, how a lassie who never studied and never did anything in life will get by with that money?" Officer Morris asks and I don't know either, but I'm going to risk everything.
"I don't know and I don't want to tell you, from now on my life I'm the only one who can make it happen, I want it to go ahead my way, no more Watson or Cavendish, I'm just me" I tell her and she shrugs.
"Well anyway avoid committing crimes when ye come back, or ye might end up like yer mother did, while ye're here I'll still try tae talk some sense into this head" said agent Morris leaving and I honestly don't care about anything.
Here in Great Britain there's nothing, it will only bring me memories of the past of being a Cavendish, in Australia I don't want to get close, that's where Lucy Watson lives, what's left for me is this place... I think that from now on I will be an American, I will change things starting from scratch in this place, without anyone disturbing me anymore, who knows they will leave me alone.
Back outside, Lucy and Merrill were chatting amongst themselves in a square, regarding how theyare going to move on from here...
POV Merrill:
In the end it's all over, I think a new life with Lucy will be better, who knows then I can spread myself as a Watson and become a great stylist, I will rock with my point of view that I brought from here in the United Kingdom to a new place just need me to run after my goals and so I can move up in life.
"So where have you been living? Did you rent a flat? Since the mansion was burnt down like you said" asks my mother.
"I'm living with myAunt Laura, I'm in Ireland now, there I'm managing to study at a distance and graduate who knows, I only have to go to Belfast from time to time for tests and exams, but I'm doing well, many things I learned at home I could rediscover now in the supplementary, it's just a bit tense to deal with so many unknown things, my mother Daryl limited a lot of what we could research" I tell her.
"Oh Laura, I hope she's taking good care of you, she's a good person, trust me, listen to her more than I do, I don't know how to be a mother, she's the one who knows about these things, she was much more battling and respectful, I'm still left feeling guilty for everything, even more so that I only brought out the worst" Mom said.
"I think you could go with me to her and explain everything, it's better she knows the truth, maybe then we can live without this weight"
"You're right, I'm saying it to you myself, but I don't apply it to you, I feel really bad for having served your mother by doing those dirty jobs, but I really want to change things, who knows one day also overthrow this system that we are, it sucks to live like this, we are in the middle of a system that only puts the witches down" Mom said and she shares the same thought as her aunt.
"Auntie says that too" I tell her.
"From her I could understand things, I listened, I felt the reason, but I was blinded by greed, little did I know that I was only feeding more of this system, I was being the system at that time, at last, one day all this will change and for the better, we will be together in this, who knows with me in Australia I might spread it to something beyond this continent, so creating a more worldwide chain, more witches around the world adhering to the new, because I want this change, I am a teacher and I am stuck teaching in this backward way, soon I am going back to work there and I will have to apply the same study as always" said mum.
"Really? how nice! That's why you speak in such an explainer way, you're an excellent teacher, mum" I say smiling and giving her a warm hug.
The future holds something great for me, I imagine, a new horizon full of options, full of new things to discover, full of novelties, in short, a new life will come with everything.
POV Narrator:
Lucy Watson shows up, the mother who for so many years no one knew that she was the mother of Maril and Merrill, who revealed her origins to the two daughters that despite not reacting so well, in the end they ended up knowing what the truth is, but also that there begins the beginning of a life journey between the Cavendish families that will be divided on three continents, starting their own stories from scratch.
See you, mother witches...
Lucy Watson
Date of birth: 11 November 1968
Place of birth: Adelaide, Australia (Australian)
Height: 1.74m
Weight: 64 kg
Sexuality: Bisexual
Gender: Female (cis)
Occupation: Teacher (Adelaide Witchcracft School 2011) (Luna Nova 1990-2010)
Measurements (bust / waist / hip): 87/58/90
Hair colour and appearance: Dark brown, straight 1B, long reaching to waist line, no fringes, usually side parted
Eye colour and shape: Purple
Physical appearance: pale Caucasian skin, medium breasts, round nose, some freckles on the face, slim body
Likes: Auto racing, Cars, Motorbike, Astrology, Teaching girls
Dislikes: Daryl, Greed, Current system of witchcraft
The one about Merrill and Maril's mother, she was a former teacher in Luna Nova, she was once very much an on the wall person who corrupted herself to greed to get ahead in life, like when she offered to infiltrate the plans of Laura's organization in Luna Nova plotting a revolution of the witches, as also when she ended up giving in to Daryl in exchange for money to conceive her daughters, During this time Lucy was very bitter and ended up noticing that her actions only ended up causing the worst, to the point that she started to cover up for Chariot when she had to assume Ursula's identity, becoming a mentor for her to take her place as an astrology teacher. Lucy has always been afraid to tell the truth because of Daryl's threats and because of that she has kept away when she could from her real daughters. Even though she got involved in a lot of controversy, Lucy is willing to change things, because she sees that all that would only make things worse for her, even though she is a narcissist and selfish person she can see how the current system is flawed to continue to prevail.