POV Narrator:
Tuesday 18 August 2020, Colinas de Doras
With the prosthesis attached Hellene could go back to training, starting in a very light week, but then she was already seeing that the training was insufficient and McLaren intensified in less than 3 days that week, already going to a heavier training, since she was scarred and with the prosthesis installed there was no reason to hold on and wait to get better, She was showing what she came to the world for, already putting the strongest training in practice, just like her girlfriend who was beginning to train with her, specializing in stealth which is what Marianne can do best, with the help of magic she is even more camouflaged and hidden.
Meanwhile in Doras, Mary was running out of resources, even though from time to time Chariot and Croix send her with the help of Pisces, which Brooks was eating different things from what was in the pots she had
taken, she was already starting to want to get loose so she could try to reveal the identity of the boss
POV Mary:
I'm hungry and I can't stand to be alone, well the days could show one thing that became very clear, they are trustworthy people, they brought me good food, but I can't live like this just asking for things, I already have nothing of what I took from Doras beach, I take a deep breath, I keep looking at Sifla's cottage, I look at my improvised shelter, well I better act, if I stay here the boss will only cause the worst for the mission, if I help they will be able to find out who is the boss, even I don't know who she is.
I jump the window of the house, I take my sniper and my trusty cape that protected me so much, my clothes are all torn, but at least it's not smelling so bad, I go walking towards Sifla's house, I see that the little girl wasn't outside, I enter inside the place, I see that she was playing videogames in front of the TV, I cough a little.
"Are you the sifla? I don't want to scare you I just want to know a few things" I ask her who turns her head to me and goes on playing.
"Ah you're the girl from the tree house, the one called Mary, just jump in the trapdoor that's at the entrance of the basement on the stairs, that's where Mrs. Chariot and Mrs. Croix are, they always stay in that place assembling the giant robots, by the way I'm not afraid of you, I think you're really cool, then I can play with the sniper on your back?" At least that will help me a lot.
"I'm going, I don't know about Sniper, you are a child and that is a weapon capable of killing, it is not too reliable to leave in your hands, thank you Sifla" I say waving to her that was continuing to play that thing that I don't remember what it is, but it looks like a shooting game.
I open the ladder door, and I see the trap door, I open it and jump right there, already falling with style, I'm walking through the corridor, it's a bit long, it seems that I'm even remembering a bit of The Council's galleries, it gives me a trauma just imagining that it looks like that, dark corridors and everything, except that there's at least one light in the end.
I get there and see that Chariot and Croix are assembling machines, as expected, I imagined they were doing that, besides Constanze's shorty, I remember this girl in Luna Nova, my memories are coming back little by little, soon one of them notices my presence.
"Mary Brooks, you showed up!" Said the former tech magic teacher coming up to me.
"Yes I showed up, I need help with the mission, I want to find Hellene, get Ley's lines back home, can you guys help me with that?" I ask them and they nod their heads in agreement.
"Well you have come to the right place, if you want to make yourself comfortable here, we have food, clothes and I can see that you will need clothes, we have protection, make yourself at home, I will just let Mrs McLaren here know that you have decided to show up" said Chariot.
"Please, it would be my pleasure, I need their help to see if I can remember who the boss is, also to destroy her, I don't want to go back home until this is solved, I want to help in the mission, this damn thing erased my head, killed my family, brainwashed me and almost forced me to use a collar to control me, but I knew she intended to do something like that so I kind of pretended to be with a fake one, getting in her mood... It's good to see that I'm not alone here, that there are friendly people around" I say relieved.
"You can feel at home, we were expecting your presence, Hellene for sure will be happy to see you and by the way I can see this Sniper on your back, I can perform repairs if you want" said Croix and I was immediately taking out my Sniper, showing it as it was.
"Take good care of her, she is my dear, she was the one who protected me all these years in the forest of Arcturus and in coming here" I say showing the gun.
"I can improve your Sniper, increase the power of the ammunition, have you thought about shooting magic bullets? They are even more piercing and cause more damage, besides being able to be shot much further away, this Sniper here is already very good, but I can improve it" Said the Meridies lady and that could be interesting.
"I never thought of that, it might be useful in the mission, if I can shoot further away the boss might not find out the range of where I am" I say looking even a little excited at my sniper.
And there I go, sitting on a couch letting Croix take a look at my sniper, I stay quiet in my seat, since I'm not much of a talker, I see that Chariot trains the body instead of the assembly, besides testing some mecha stuff, and Constanze is extremely focused on the assembly, always keeping an eye on the welds.
This place is pretty quiet even, I can trust to stay here, I can't wait to see what will have a mission to do, I'm kind of unaccustomed to be without having a moment to act, I don't know I can't rest anymore, after everything that happened in my life is simply a whirlwind of things in my head.
In some time soon Laura arrives with Hellene, Diana and Akko to go and see Mary Brooks whoremained isolated in her corner...
Well Croix at least did not disassemble my Sniper just came to try a few shots, by the way she holds it she could not hold one and still intends to leave even more intense, you have to have an arm to be able to use the Sniper.
Finally who I wanted to come arrives, I see that Hellene already recovered the arm but that's wonderful, she will overcome the trauma at least, but looking at me she kind of starts to get the hand on her head and giving a few steps back.
"Hellene!" The girls say and I got a bit scared.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to" I say extending my hand and going to turn around.
I don't think I belong here, I'm causing her trauma, I'd better just leave before she gets worse, I walked past them, I guess there's no way, I'll have to... A hand touches my shoulder, I feel a bit metalic, I notice that looking back it was simply Hellene.
"No, please stay, you are not to blame for my trauma, we need your help" McLaren said and I even stop and take a deep breath.
"I don't know how I can be useful if not someone who will attack your PTSD, I'd better just go away" I tell her.
"If you leave nothing will get better, your help in our mission will be essential, I just had a PTSD lapse, it's not like I dedn't before, come on I can try to pretend to be de boss and so we find out 'er identity, we even get a costume, come with me, I thought of a perfect place to recreate dis scenario and recover 'er memory" Said the redhead and I decide to give in
"All right, if it's to help I'll do it, it's better this way than doing nothing" I tell them and follow Hellene.
I follow her through the corridors of the house, these dark corridors that scare me, always remind me of my past, which always curses me, I go slowly, without panicking, I go up the stairs and get out of the trapdoor, which then we go up the stairs, Hellene leads me to a room, dark, with a chair like those of a dentist, I remember something similar in the day... It even gives me a bit of a PTSD, but I don't show it.
"Now you just wait 'ere I will go and dress up as de boss, we also recreated 'er clothes" Hellene said and this will be useful, I can't wait until we find the identity of the boss, it will be another step forward, I nod and sit on the chair.
I keep thinking about several things, the whole dark environment, reminds me a lot of what used to be the galleries of The Council, but otherwise it's just a macabre recreation, even that dentist chair, I don't remember being in one of those, it's all very suspicious.
Hellene comes with the boss clothes, I even swallow a little bit of saliva because she is so faithful, she comes sneaking around, she comes in a very scary way, giving me a little bit of fear
"Mary Brooks, you are in our hands now, you will serve The Council and have your memories erased" The thoughts coming into my head, I keep remembering, but it's painful, like it's too real.
"Please don't do this" I say trying to keep up the act, Hellene goes about running her sharp nails over the chair, then clasps my hands in it, which I go getting a look of practically fear in front of it all.
"Too late Mary, you'll be called the Creature from now on, but before that I'll show you who I am and you'll forget it on the spot" I keep remembering things, but my head is hurting and badly, as if a steamroller was passing over it, I keep looking at the scene of her climbing the mask and close my eyes screaming in pain.
POV Hellene:
Dis whole thing is also giving me de biggest PTSD of de boss, I can't look in de mirror without taking a few steps back and not feeling afraid, even more so with those hands, I see Mary won't open 'er eyes for anything, she even lets go of de ropes, stands up, I get worried, I even decide to take off de disguise, she dedn't even get to see my first suspicion. She den ends up falling, but I hold 'er up, she faints.
"Mary? Are you okay?" No answers, she really did 'ave a PTSD outbreak bigger dan mine.
I go taking 'er to a room, I go doing dis running in desperation I lay 'er down on de bed, I see 'er vitals are fine, at least she dedn't die from dis, I look in de mirror and throw myself back, seeing de boss, I try to turn my face and get various thoughts, I go screaming, cringing, I can't dink of anything else.
"Get out of 'ere! Get out! Don't stay near me!" I scream lying on de floor in fetal position, I was traumatized just to see de reflection, even though my appearance is already normal, dese clothes scare me.
I cringe all over, I get crying, I get sad, I get depressed, trying not to look at anything, I feel a hand coming close to me, a magic involving me, I get light suddenly, until a hug and a cuddle come to me, I open my eyes, it was me in de mirror with my normal clothes, I get relieved, I notice dat who hugged me was Marianne.
"Better?" She asks and I went to snuggle with my head on my girlfriend's chest.
"Dank you for showing up love..." I say comforting myself and trying not to be traumatised.
"I could do this for you love, you know that, why did you want to insist on acting in my place?" She's stroking me, I'm feeling better.
"I just wanted Mary to find out who de boss was based on my suspicion, Holbroook is short, so I'd be ideal to impersonate 'er, or even my mother, in de end, I don't know if it worked or not, but I'm afraid I've done some mental damage to Mary Brooks because of all dis" I say half-headedly.
"Well let's stay here and see if she improves somehow" Mari said.
"Sorry for being so stubborn" I say to my girlfriend.
"All right my little stubborn girl, you just have to be smarter about all this okay?" I nod my head in agreement with her.
Hellene and Marianne are waiting for Mary to come to wake up, so that Laura, Akko, Diana, Croix andChariot have also come, all gathered to find out what Mary has come to know, if her memory hasreturned from that moment when her memory was erased...
POV Mary:
How strange, I don't remember anything, I open my eyes, I see that I am in a room, I am faced with the looks of many people, the two redheads, Chariot, who is also another redhead, Marianne, Akko, Diana, I am remembering now, I rub my eyes, I sit down on the bed, I look at everything, I get a little better, my head was racing.
"Are you better? Were you able to identify who de boss is?" Hellene asks and I shake my head in denial.
"Every time I try to remember this more my head gets damaged, this time I ended up fainting, I'm afraid of getting demented because of this, the boss left this moment explicitly as a trigger to activate in my head" I tell them that they are already a bit frustrated.
"By de Nines damn it, seriously, how could she be capable of doing something like dat? Dis is too inhuman, dis woman is a monster, well anyway, let's discard forcing de bar with you to find out de boss's identity, we
can use Fluit An Neart to mess with dat, I know well it's a danger to mess with someone's memories" Said the older redhead, Hellene's mother.
"But what now? What are we going to do? We're not even sure that the flute really is in Luna Nova and if it isn't?" Croix asks and I honestly don't know, I was just a burden in all of this.
"De flute is de best method to recover memories, if not we will appeal to de Morris girls, dey 'ave a long history of dat, when Julia McLaren erased Wendolyn Benson's memory back in de time of de homosexual witches' rights fights, Lorraine Morris helped restoring it, but dat's thanks to one of Fluit An Near's sounds, we can find de sound in one of Lorraine's biography books, find de sound and restore Mary's memories, or use de more complex method, which involves repairing de memory day by day, de problem is dat dis is complex to do, and takes years to restore, since it can only be restored one corrupted memory per day, dis specific one must be very corrupted and 'ave de intervention of de boss, which can put Rose or Phoebe in a coma, dey are the experts on dis" I don't want other people's lives to be risky.
"Sorry to be a burden, I just messed up, again" I say getting up.
"Hey don't talk like dat, we had no way of knowing, apart from dat we can still manage, you are not a burden" said Mrs McLaren.
"And how do I help, the only thing I know now is to kill people and shoot with guns, I lost everything I knew about my life practically, I only know the basics of magic that I still remember from Luna Nova, but I know I was just an average student, I would forget anyway, the more I only know how to go stealthy in a place, and that alone I have no use for" I say this and I see only a huge smile on the face of the redhead who seems to have found this a wonderful thing, I really don't understand.
"You only spoke qualities, dis is more dan perfect for our situation, if you participate with us in de recovery of de flute in a stealthy way dis can work, recover de flute, we can 'ave someone useful, if dings tighten up and we fall into Finnelan's trap with de boss, be our help to dat, infiltrate Luna Nova a lettle after us and you will be of great use in dis mission" Said Laura and I was even more open, as if there was an explosion in my head.
"That's perfect, I was already eager to act" I say excited and even got motivated to start doing something.
"And you really guarantee yourself Brooks? You almost broke my daughter's face at graduation, but I want to see for myself if you're really good, let's go out dere and see if you're as good as dey say you are" I smile.
I go out of that room, following Mrs. McLaren, now I am curious to see if I will impress her, she will be in shock, when I arrive outside I take my sniper and I am already prepared to shoot, Laura arrives with some more weapons in hands, putting them in a table, then she was making several targets for me.
"What now?" I ask her.
"Show what you are capable of, go first with dis sniper, den I want to see de others, I will move de targets and I will see your agility" Now it got interesting.
I take my sniper in hands, I put the ammo and there goes McLaren moving the targets, I shoot with power, shooting towards each one that was getting closer, I shoot hitting one by one, going until very fast, I manage to shoot some even in No Scope, impressing the redhead, who still keeps a neutral expression, moving the targets, even accelerating I still manage to be precise hitting them with speed.
"Not bad, with Sniper you have a great control, dis is a strong one by de way, can I have a look?" I nod, she picks up the gun and goes for a look, I imagine she's going to shoot.
"I just say be careful because she has a powerful kick, you have to be good at holding it, because if not the kick makes you lose the aim and..." She shot as if it was nothing, with a monumental easiness, I even get strange how she didn't have any kick, she was hitting some of the targets that this time Croix was moving.
And she was moving until she was at the same level as me, managing to hit everything even faster than me, taking and putting the ammunition like it was nothing, she was still getting accurate shots at tiny targets, I didn't know this woman was so accurate like that, on top of that, she can move and keep herself shooting at the targets, managing to dodge when she was thrown back, this with a heavy sniper.
Laura stopped shooting and looked at me with a huge smile and blew the barrel of the sniper, I get even a little dumbfounded
"How? How did you do it? You don't even have the physique to hold that gun" I said to her impressed.
"Magic works some miracles, apart from de fact dat I 'ave good eyes, my vision is extremely focused, it's one of the dings I was born with an extra ability, I can see a bit better dan some people - she said and I'm impressed.
"Woah, then I don't know why we will need me, the lady is already a good shot" I say to the redhead who shakes her head in denial.
"I might be, but you are more stealthy, you go alone a bit after us, I am better at shooting when dere are lots of people, you are great at stealth shooting" Mrs McLaren said.
"Well we have tae discuss this plan further, how are we going tae organise ourselves?" Diana said, and that's what I've been thinking.
"Now it's time to start organizing it properly, but first let's see how each one of you handles firearms, I don't want to see only Mary Brooks, I want to see your parts," said Laura.
"Mum, do ye want us tae use firearms? Are ye sure about that?" Ask Cavendish.
"I'm sure it's better dat you know how to use a right in an emergency dan not knowing anything at all, I'm not going to fail to take one dat is special to me, it's important dat we are protected from a threat dat we have no idea what might come" McLaren really know their stuff.
And there she went taking two pistols in hands, with a smile on her face, targets were placed for her to hit, I simply saw her running towards the targets that were also shooting and she was showing that she can hit and still dodge, doing better than when I had trained, even better, she used the surroundings, the magic in her favor to be able to dodge that smart, she was creating a kind of barrier with a trunk to protect herself and still keep shooting.
Finishing with a high jump that she gave a mortal in the air dodging other shots and falling with style holding those two pistols.
"Well now it's up to you, I'm just going to put more basic targets I want to see how each one of you does at shooting" said Mrs McLaren.
After the long shooting session, testing how each girl shot, some even learning how to use firearmsfor the first time, as in the case of Diana and Akko who had no idea how to use them, but werelearning and it was even a fun time of training and practice with the guns...
Really they still have a lot of ground ahead, but just knowing how to hold and how to handle a gun is already a good size, it really surprises me Hellene, I didn't know she was good at shooting, even more reloading so fast a revolver, knowing that it is a slow gun to do that she can still shoot very fast, wow.
Now it seems that it is over, even I could show that I have a good skill in weapons, but it really shocks me what Mrs. McLaren is able to do, she manipulates weapons with an enormous ease.
"Well now I could have an idea dat you at least know how to hold a firearm, if de situation gets de worst way, you know how to use it, now let's go with me to de inside side, we have to plan exactly how to get into Luna Nova" Laura said and I am already happy to see what we have to do.
We were getting the weapons, collecting them and they are many, my sniper as always I leave in the back, there is no way I can not abandon the use of this, even the little Sifla watched everything, we entered inside the house putting everything in place and locking it, Sifla could get some of the weapons and play, which would be dangerous.
"You know this is dangerous, don't you, Sifla? It's not the kind of thing you should play with," said Chariot.
"Yes, I know, I was just curious, because I wanted to see what a real gun looks like" said the little girl.
"We can give you a Toy Gun to play with at your leisure" Croix says and she nods in agreement, this is really good to be done.
Then we go down to the trapdoor, passing through that dark corridor, coming back where the place to assemble the giant robots is, Laura takes out a map of Luna Nova, seen from above, plus other maps of the corridors, and is already tracing some pieces as if they were us, she even had one of mine.
"Wow even I was made" I say shocked.
"I had expected you in our plan" McLaren said.
"And where am I going?" I ask curiously.
"You will stay in de outskirts of Arcturus, you will watch from de outside, as well as Croix and Chariot, we will all communicate using walkie talkies, it is important to keep de communication good, but using codenames for emergency situations, in de case for Mary to start entering Luna Nova it would be "The eagle is going out hunting", you enter in Luna Nova and make an alternative way, we will signal where de flute will possibly be, in case we are in trouble, we will try to distract de boss so she can focus on us and you will get de flute, in case she really is in Luna Nova" Laura said and I understood everything.
"So I'm kind of an emergency resource, I'm going to show up to get you guys the flute, I got it, what do I do after I get it?" I really doubt and Laura is moving my doll on the map.
"Here is where Croix and Chariot are, de portal to Ley's line will be opened dere, you will run away with de flute, while we stay, de important ding is to recover de flute, but dis is only in a case of extreme emergency in case nothing goes right, on de other hand de main plan, will involve, me, Diana, Akko, Hellene and Marianne, We will sneak together straight to de main point, de board of directors, we will try to see if Hellene's suspicion is true, she believes dat de flute is dere and I do not doubt it, even though I dink she is not de boss, still Miranda can keep de flute hidden dere in a way dat we cannot get it" Mrs. McLaren explains and I am finding it a good plan.
"Then it will be just us there, I hope nothing bad will happen," Diana said.
"De worst dat could happen would be if de boss shows up, she is too powerful, you 'ave no idea, I don't know if only de five of us will be able to handle it, but we might be able to handle a mass escape if dat happens" Hellene said.
"Dis is de plan, I do not want to go out in combat, although I 'ave a gun in hand, de Colt 45 of my great grandmother Elisabeth, I will take with us for dis emergency, it has 7 very powerful bullets, but it is able to give a huge damage, are bullets with magic and de more powerful de witch, de stronger is de damage, I do not know if it is able to cause something against de boss, but can be our method of escape" Said Mrs. McLaren and wow, these weapons with magic are powerful indeed.
"Mother, I dedn't expect you to take a family heirloom, dat gun is too precious, it was with it dat Great-Grandmother Elisabeth could immobilise Margaret Ford" said Hellene.
"She was made to be used, my great grandmother told me dat if the threat of Margaret Ford came back I should use 'er, as well as de boss, she had already been saying dat she suspected someone who frustrated our plans, dis also includes all de plot to destroy 'er factory dat she had made in Arcturus, my great grandmother wanted to form a more technological team for de BGP and bring innovations, but had everything destroyed because of dis boss, not to mention dat she was later persecuted for working at de institute specialized in de transition of witches, which luckily survived until today, but my great grandmother Anne was murdered because of it, my grandmother Emma also, we would have several advances with deir knowledge, but de world was cruel to dis point, all at de boss's behest, she affects from de past until today, so if we really come across 'er, I will 'ave no mercy in shooting 'er in de face, even if it doesn't cause any damage, it can be our chance to escape and we still 'ave de mechas dat will be ready soon" said Mrs. McLaren and this damn thing doesn't stop causing damage, it's not enough what happened to me.
"We have to defeat this damn thing and when I say defeat I mean once and for all" I tell her.
"I would be the moralist who would tell them nae teae do that, but there are people who won't change fae nothing, this boss is one of them, seeing that everything I believed when I was younger was wrong and in fact was causing the death of magic, makes me even more indignant, this woman must be stopped once and for all" Diana said.
"Well let's all pull together and not allow dis witch to pull dis off" McLaren said putting her hand in the middle and I went along.
We all held hands, staring at each other's faces, because this is going to be a big moment in our lives, I want to put an end to this boss, these machines really look very interesting, giant robots against a witch, who would say that something so out of reality could be possible, but being in my reality right in my face.
POV Narrator:
The planning for the invasion of Luna Nova has already started, a mission that will be with many risks even more with the boss showing up, in a way that the witches have no idea of what awaits them. Mary also makes a point to appear in the middle and finally come out of hiding being a great ally for this so special battle against the boss, a powerful shooter that had been affected by this witch, this time she will have her chance to take revenge.
See you, Shooter witches...