Ramona sat with her eyes shut and one hand raised slightly in the air. She held two fingers up as she kept her other hand nestled in her lap. She'd been sitting on the floor, deep in a meditative state for some hours now.
An altercation from early had left her mind in a bit of a fuss and all she wanted to do was quiet it down. Silents the thoughts and forget all about the argument between her and the other two witches in the mass hall.
Though no matter hard she endeavors to focus, the thoughts refuse to let her mind rest. They were too loud, and not just the thoughts either. Everything was, from the whining and moaning children to the aggravated and pouty witches.
All Ramona needed was a few, just a few seconds of silents to think. Then she could help everyone with their troubles. But the silents she sought would never arrive, not then. She didn't want to admit it, but she was stressed out and only getting worse as time passes.
Back in her hut just outside the boundaries of time, she felt at peace most days. She thinks it's strange, at first, she couldn't stand being stuck in that realm, however, the older witch found herself craving the pace her old hut came with now more than ever.
It might have been due to how much time had passed with her being there, it's not particularly the ideal home in her opinion, but its quiet nature was sorely missed during her trying times.
"No." She mutters. Ramona felt she shouldn't think in such a way. To abandon some many now would be too impolite of her. It goes agents everything she stood for as a witch. She couldn't let anyone down, leave them all behind to hide like a coward. She'd never do that, though that's not to say the thoughts weren't there.
Ramona tries to concentrate on her meditation again. Susie always said that if she ever found herself in a state of unrest, to meditate on it to ease her mind. It was just like the head witch to offer advice like that, Susie seemed to be doing a lot of meditating in recent years. She so desperately wished Susie was there with her at that moment.
Ramona was never the leading type, she'd almost always turn up to offer support, but never to tell others what to do in an orderly fashion. She wonders where the witch could be. She wonders if Elizabeth had gotten to her. Or maybe Susie had just finally decided to give up, cut and run off like she always wanted to. And for a brief period, this time.
"Ramona. Ramona!" The older witch is spurred out of her meditation by an irritated-looking Betsy. She stares down at Ramona, roughly tipping her foot against the wooden floor.
"Uh, yes- Betsy?" Ramona stammers out a response for the girl. The younger witch was in her own distress, but she couldn't let it show, much like Ramona. Though the older witch could see right through Betsy's steely gaze.
"It's been two days. I'm really starting to get worried." She does her best to keep up the walls around her eyes, but cracks were starting the show, tears almost watering over her orbs. "What if something happened to them? You should have just sent us."
Betsy's cold scowl cuts deep into Ramona's soul. "Now let's not jump to conclusions Betsy." Ramona gets up and begins to walk. Her pacing was to clear her mind, but she normally used, checking up on the kids as an excuse to do so. "This is a delicate matter. This no telling what's going on."
Betsy huffs some subdued anger, following behind the older witch. "I can tell you what's going on, outside is what's going on Ramona."
"I know what's going on outside Betsy, I can see it clearly." She kept her tone low to not agitate any of the children. "I've tried to prevent this and I'm trying so very hard to put an end to it."
Betsy huffs at her. "Well, maybe you should have tried harder." She said. "Maybe instead of relying on Susie, you could have contacted me, or Alice. You know how Susie is, she'd rather look out for herself more than anyone."
"I know how she is, and you're right I should have contacted you." She stopped, turning to Betsy with defeated eyes. "Just, for once over these long years, I'd hoped that she would take at least this one thing seriously. That she would stop seeing me as someone who abandoned her. She may not think I know she thinks that, but I know it." Ramona was nearly breathless. The older witch felt a bout of tears beginning to build up, but she wouldn't let them come. She takes her hand and wipes at her eyes quickly and turns to continue walking and watching over the kids.
Betsy was quiet. She didn't have much to say and even less to argue. "Well... the kids are getting hungry. Can we at least do something about that?"
Ramona lets an exasperated breath fly at Betsy. "We've tried, but our magic refuses to manifest anything." Ramona sighed. "We've already been over this."
"I know, but I'm saying let's not use magic." Ramona stops again to look at the girl. "Me and Alice can go beyond the shield and find food for everyone."
Ramona groans. They had been over leaving the mass hall time and time again. "Betsy, you know I can't allow that." The older witch knew she couldn't take the risk of losing Betsy and Alice. The children were starting to get hungry, but she couldn't risk losing everyone all at once.
"I know, I know but... look around." She waves an arm around the mass hall and to the many starving children. Most of them were on the cusp of passing out. "They're too hungry. How could you sit there and let this happen, Ramona?"
Ramona doesn't say a thing. She tires but all she could fumble out of her mouth was weak uncertainties. How could she let the kids set and starve because she was too afraid to act? She wishes Susie were there, she'd know what to do.
"I'm going." Betsy pouts and turns when she gets little to no response from the other witch.
"Wait, Betsy, wait." Ramona rushes after the hasty young witch, younger than her at least, though the girl refused to listen to a word. She was upset, her kids were hungry, and Ramona understood that. However, her anxious ruminating was no cause for impulsive decision-making. "Could you please wait Betsy?"
The girl stops eventually, spinning around to Ramona with crossed arms. "And what am I listing to this time? You're going to tell us some more about how to best run the camp? Scold us for letting Susie run rampant like she does?" She brought up arguments from a day prior.
Ramona never meant for her words to come out how they did, never meant for them to cut so deep. The older witch was worried just as they'd been, and her anger had gotten the better of her at the time.
"No..." She blows another heavy sigh. Betsy's mind was already made up, Ramona couldn't stop her. She couldn't risk another fight and cause a second blow to their already low morale. "Just be careful, and I beg you, if it looks too dangerous, just come back. Stay safe."
She gives Betsy her blessing to leave, not that the younger witch needed it. She was planning on going whether Ramona wanted her to or not.
Betsy gives out a small nod and turns back around to the mass hall door. "Let's go." She mentions to Alice, getting the other girl to follow. Ramona would have to focus on keeping the shield up herself if the two were leaving.
It's been some time, though she felt she could manage just fine. She had to say however, there was something strange in the air as of late. A murky feeling all around her she didn't care for all that much. It was like her magic was being disrupted in some way.
Though she thinks it was just her old mind playing tricks. She'd contracted the effects of Elizabeths corruption on light magic as soon as everything began, so her powers should be working perfectly fine. She swears by her own methods and she's rarely ever wrong.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Betsy and Alice step out past the shield. The two don't take much time to stop and observe the area. Doing so could have spalled their doom and curiosity never really was good friends with the cat after all.
Nature was surprisingly calm, given everything that had been occurring. Say for the bleeding sky and screaming blood moon, the camp was just as it's always been. Betsy was counting down the moments when that would all change. They had to be ready for anything.
The witches duck into the woods, concealing themselves inside a bush and out of sight. Now that there was some semblance of safety, the witches could think up a proper plan.
"Okay." Betsy begins, rustling around in the thick, scratchy brush. "I actually don't really know what we're gonna do right now." She blatantly admits.
"What?" Alice gasped, looking at Betsy with her breath held up in a state of shock. "Betsy." She was surprised and Betsy was too. Normally she was prepared for any given situation, typically planning ahead of the curve to avoid dilemmas like the one they had been in now.
Truthfully, she did want to help the kids, she couldn't let them starve but the real reason she wanted to leave was to get away from Ramona. Besty couldn't stand to be around the older witches' indifference and lack of action for the situation.
She was content to just sit around and wait and naturally, that would lead to many disagreements between her and Betsy in only two days. Needless to say, Betsy's mind was cluttered to the point of mediocrity.
"I haven't really thought that far ahead."
Alice grunts, turning around in the bush they'd hidden away in, and pokes her head out of the shrub. "Don't worry, we'll think of something... we're good at that," Alice said. Her tone wasn't so reassuring, but Betsy would take any display of hope she could get. "Wait." Alice jumps. An idea hits the witch, like a brilliant brick to her skull. "Susie's garden. Remember we grow a ton of fruits and vegetables not too long ago."
Betsy smacks a palm up against her head. "That's right!" She had forgotten about the garden. Betsy couldn't remember the specifics of why it was grown but she didn't need to know why. The most important thing to know is that the garden was there, to begin with. "Alright, that sounds good. We go to the garden, gather all the food we can carry, and haul it back to the mass hall in no time." She laid out a quick draft of her simple plan.
The girls share a few agreeing nods. They poke their heads out of the bush to see if anything had been around. When they find that there still in the clear the pair step out and begin in the direction of their cabins.
At first, the quiet dark wilderness was a welcome change. Not having to worry about the kids or arguing with Ramona give Betsy enough space to breathe and that helps her muddied mind clear up. The more she walks however the more she begins to hate how quiet things had become.
It was unnatural and eerie. The camp wasn't meant to be so lifeless. It was supposed to be brimming with life, children playing, and laughter. None of which could be found then. She hopes and prays that Hedgehog and the other kids had made it safely to their destination. The sooner this nightmare was over, the better.
"Oh my..." Betsy mutters as they come up to their cabins. Not too much time has passed but the witch's cabins had seen better days. "How could this have happened so fast?" The windows were smashed, doors either kicked in or missing and the rooftops were in disrepair.
Their once lavish homes were trashed but even so, she doesn't feel as bad as she probably should have. Betsy might have stressed over the state of the cabins if she didn't have more important things to worry about.
"Come." Alice grabs her arm and drags Betsy around the back of Susie's cabin. She lets go as they round the corner. "Oh no." To their shock and annoyance, the garden had been ransacked. There was little left in the way of fruits, veggies, or anything even slightly edible.
"Damn..." Betsy growls. She should have expected this outcome. Those creatures weren't going to let anything go unharmed, living or not.
"Betsy." Alice rapidly taps on Bety's arm after hearing a shuffling coming from Susie's cabin. She'd already heard it, and she could take a hint.
"Over here." She grabs Alice and kneels down behind a dilapidated shrub. They wait, keeping their eyes trained on the cabin's back door.
Two hooded figures emerge from the abode. They were about as tall as children though Betsy know they weren't one of theirs. She would have noticed if some of the kids slipped out of the mass hall at some point. Whoever these people were, she didn't recognize them.
Their hoods were pulled so far over their hands that she couldn't even take a guess. They hiss out inaudible whispers to each other and then turn to leave the cabin behind, seemingly disappointed. Betsy stands up from her crouched position, watching to make sure the figures were gone for good.
"Oh, What now?" Alice asked.
"I don't know..." Betsy admitted to her perplexity. She wasn't doing a good job of being the most capable witch then. Not that there was much she could do other than think and even that was failing her miserably. Their magic wasn't working properly, her mind was in a haze of stress and something else. "Woah..." She touches her fingers to her head as her body wobbles from either side off balance.
Alices, noticing the others staggering, reaches out to catch her. "Are you alright?" She looks the witch over with concern, making sure Betsy could still stand on two feet.
"Yeah... yeah..." She gives a muffled response as she wobbles her way out of Alice's arms. "Come on, I think I know where we can look." She rushes off without another word and for some time it would stay like that.
Alice was curious about this new source of food Betsy had known about. She was intrigued enough to follow even when the other witch kept the answers to her questions vague or never answered at all. Even then Alice would continue to stick by her side.
Besty's silents keeps her bothered but she'd stick it out, if only for the children starving back at the mess hall.
They were deep in the woods now. Alice still held her trust in Betsy even when she keeps her answers to the other witch's inquiries close at hand.
The pain was guiding her somewhere and her mind wasn't lost on where that might be. Along the way, Alice made it clear that she still wanted, or rather needed, to know what was going on and where exactly it was, they'd been going.
None of her questions would be answered until they arrive. Not to their location but a little way away from where Betsy was leading them.
She stops by a tree and turns to Alice. "Okay, Alice. Can you keep a secret?" The witch was apprehensive. Something inside told her that sharing this information with Alice might come back to bite her, though, given the circumstance, Betsy didn't really care.
"Wait, what? What do you mean?" Alice questioned her. She was confused though the cautious look in Betsy's eyes was enough to concede any more of her inquiries. She nods, agreeing to keep the secret Betsy was too scared to speak out loud between the two.
"Good." She steps out past a tall tree and looks around for a bit, then signals for Alice to follow her. The two girls trudge their way down a dirt path through parted trees. This part of the Island Forest never had much greenery besides Trees and grass. It was, in a way, a relaxing little spot to travel through.
Seeing rolling mist in the distance breeze it's way through the thin pine and feeling gentle wind softly blowing against her fur was intoxicating for Betsy. It's an experience not many would get to experience firsthand. She felt special knowing that.
The witches walk through one more set of trees and pass through one last thick lair of forest mist before they would come to a stop.
Alice was astounded. Her jaw hung loose, and her sight was hazy from amazement. Lights hung webbed from tree to tree, their point of origin seemingly coming from one large tree that sat at the center of the forest. Shoe piles lie at one end, blankets on another along with sofas and tarps darting the landscape. the thing that shocks Alices the most was the number of werewolves that had been there. "Where... are we?" The question leaves her mouth as her eyes continue to take in the visuals before her.
"It's the werewolf sanctuary." Alices furrows a brow when a voice other than the Betsy she was familiar with answers. Instead of the soft-spoken, energetic voice, she was accustomed to, what she hears is something more lay back, mature, and somewhat soothing to the ears.
She turns her head to the voice. Some part of her knew she wouldn't find the other witch still standing next to her though another didn't think Betsy would actually be gone. Replaced with a tall werewolf with brandy fur and long brunette hair that covered up most of her body.
Alice nearly jumps back in fear until the werewolf spoke up again. "Don't worry it's me. Betsy." She puts a hand to her chest as she explains. "I'm a werewolf."
"What!" She exclaimed in disbelief. "Since when?"
"It happened a long time ago... I'll tell you about it sometime." She turns her gaze to the large tree in front of them. "What's more important is that I was beckoned here. I had forgotten about it. I didn't think it would still be standing honestly, but it's untouched." Betsy mentioned but Alice doesn't really understand what the werewolf witch was getting at.
"Okay? So..."
"So, all we have to do is seek the queen's help. There's always plenty of food here. If I can just talk to her, I know she'll help us." Betsy says as the picture becomes clearer for Alice.
'Well... if, you're sure." Alice gives the werewolf Betsy a trusting pat on the back. Most of what Alice touches was hair but Betsy understood the sentiment still.
She walks up to the large tree and kneels down, bowing her head before the steep steps of the old tree. A little white wolf, or more so a puppy, gave an upturned gaze at the bowing wolf near the bottom of the tree's steps.
She slowly made her way down and stops halfway. "Tell me, child. Why have you come before me?" The voice wasn't what Alice was anticipating hearing. Something cuter and or adorable sure but this tiny wolf's voice had all the markings of a queen. authoritarian, domineering and stern.
"My queen, I've come seeking your assurance." Betsy kept her head low and her tone calm. "I have children... non-werewolf ones who are hungry. They won't last another day without food."
"Children." The werewolf queen chuckles. "Look at the moon." She drew everyone's eyes to the red sky above. "He howls in agony, singing an unholy song. He is in pain, and we grieve along with him. The land is tainted, and monsters unlike anything I have seen in ages roam freely. How I'm I to help you in such times?"
"B-but my queen-"
"Enough. I cannot offer assistance. Though you are welcome to stay here." She turns her head to Alice. "And you're... friend as well." She spat and begins to hop back up the set of stairs. Betsy continues to beg with the queen though with no success.
"Now wait just a minute," Alice spoke up, stepping forward past Betsy and onto the staircase.
"Excuse me-"
"Are you really going to let children starve to death? I get you werewolves are reserved but does that call for being heartless monsters?" Alice crosses her arms, breathing the tiny queen with every last ounce of bitterness she had built up.
"Alice." Betsy hissed out a whisper to the witch, urging her to keep quiet.
"If you let us go now without anything, you lot are no better than Elizabeths monsters if I do say so myself." Alice scoffs, upturning a frown that could rival the werewolf queens tenfold. "I can hardly understand why you believe yourselves to be above everyone else. You're insufferable in my eyes."
"Alice." Betsy hissed once again and only now does the witch recognize her mistake.
"Oh." She musters out a weak gasp as the wolf queen bares down a fiery gaze upon her. She may have spoken a bit too much. The witch was just so caught up in the moment that it had slipped her mind that they were surrounded by werewolves.
The queen huffs, deciding the stares again. each slow step a statement to the pair awaiting her at the bottom.
"You call me heartless? Yet I've been freeing mortals from their lifeless coils for generations. You say I'm selfish? But I could say the same for many a werewolf poacher, including your Susie." The girls swallow down the tough truths. "You say I'm insufferable? But we both know that's just not true..." The wolf looks at her with a deep frown. Alice was sure she was about to meet her end when a soft small broke through her hard stare. "I'm fabulous." She laughs and the litany of werewolves do the same. "I will help."
"What?" Both Betsy and Alice cock their heads to the side.
"It's been such a long time since I had the pleasure of participating in a bout of expression. Not many wish to challenge me. Seeing as there all suck-ups and paw lickers." She shoots a glare at the other werewolves hiding sheepish blushes. "You have real spunk, young miss."
"Oh- it was nothing." Alice did her best to appear humble, though being prized in such a way nearly sent her over the blood moon.
"I only ask one request in return." The queen said and the girls brace for the impact of the werewolf queen's catch. "In time, the sanctuary will no longer be a viable place to stay. As the days pass, the creatures grow in strength. We have managed to fight them off for now, but they will overrun us eventually. If you get us a place to stay, then we can provide food that would last a lifetime." The queen bobs her head at her last statement. "Or a month, give or take."
"Ah, my queen," Betsy speaks with her head still bowed. "In my other life, I am a witch. The mass hall has a protective shield around it and plenty of room. It's where me and my kids are staying now."
"Perfect!" The queen exclaims. "Then we shall be off."
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Ramona sat in her meditative pose, much like earlier that morning, or at least she thinks it was morning. The sky was so dark, the older witch had lost all track of time. Betsy tells her it had been two days, but how can she really be sure.
She needed to focus. If she thought too much about the situation her magic would falter, and the shield would fail. This long night was going to kill her surely.
"Man, poor Oscar," Peppercorn says through a deep, restful yawn. He had been asleep since yesterday and most of today. He stretches out his little body across the lunch table where Alexa and Lucy had also sat. They were getting him up to speed on what had been occurring. "So do you think they even made it to these three places?" He asked Alexa.
"Don't know." She shrugged. "I hope so. I hope they aren't dead by now." She says, raising a brow. Her words had some concern to them, but her uncaring tone spoke otherwise.
"Of course, they're not dead now." Lucy snorted, pushing her glasses up her face. "They would most likely have died yesterday." She gives a condescending eye roll at the two.
"Children please." Ramona snaps at the kids. She needed to focus and all their talk about their volunteer's fates wasn't helping in the slightest. "Hold out hope for your fellows... please." She spoke. all she wanted was a little faith. If Susie were there, they would have given it to her blindly. She sure would have.
A rumbling at the door gives the kids in the hall a start. Most of them begin to crowd around Ramona as she draws her wand and walks forward. She advises the kids to be ready for anything and reassures them that she'd protect them with her life.
When the door swings open, they're all brought to relief at the sight of Alice and Betsy. Along with werewolves and more than a few.
"Wha-what is all this now?" She questions the two, not bothering to hide her happy expression.
"It's our help, along with a tone of food," Betsy said. "Courtesy of the werewolf queen." She and Alice curtsy at the older witch. She was clearly proud of what she had managed to accomplish.
"Look at all this." She looks to the werewolves, baring sacks and bags of food into the mass hall. "There has to be enough here for a lifetime."
Alice and Betsy bob their heads. "Or a month, give or take."
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Elizabeth stares out of the window of her tower. She held her staff behind her back as she gazes at the city around the sea. Oscar had been strung up just above her throne. She was about to begin the process of extracting the glow worm from within him to fuel her magic beyond what it was cable of now.
The process was a delicate one and would take days to fully complete. She had time, she'd waited some three hundred years for this moment alone. She'd be able to wait just one more week.
She brings the staff around and begins to speak with it as she normally did.
"Ah, Susia, can ye feel it? Dawn 'o a new era. Once I'm done extractin the minerals from da mountains and through with dealing wi those pesky aliens, there would bay no one in this plan 'o existence who can stop may." She chuckles to herself. "Even less so, once I've done extractin the child's glow worm. Oh Susia, ye must be wonderin' why I didn just kill ye out right." She lowers the staff slightly. "It's because I wan ye to witness ma victory. I wan ye to watch as I take everythin from ye as ye did may so long ago." She brings her gaze back out to the window. "It's goin ta be magnificent."
