Saturday 27 June 2009, Edinburgh, Scotland
"The robbery missions were becoming more spaced out, as Daryl stopped going out with his daughters allthe time, but soon I would have a golden opportunity that could make me stay for weeks, for me it would beperfect since I was very attached to Diana who had kept her presence very well hidden until then and thatwas marvellous, I felt much happier and more open to being there, but one of the times I decided to go awayfor a considerable amount of time was when we hoped to collect a lot of things, there were still a lot of booksto replace, because the Du Nord family house hadn't even been filled yet, my mum even paid someone toput up a huge shed so that there would be enough space to store the Cavendish relics."
We arrive at the Cavendish family mansion, from what Anna has told me Daryl is leaving for two whole weeks to go travelling with his daughters to the Caribbean to enjoy a trip full of luxuries, leaving Diana alone again, well now is my chance, I'm going to be able to have a lot of fun with my sister, she must be all alone now, I'm grateful that this always happens and that I have opportunities to take advantage of it.
I'm in my room changing into the Charlotte maid outfit and now it's time to take on another identity, I know this is all going to be very interesting, with my clothes changed I leave the room and I'm already approached byAnna
"Look, it's been over a month since you turned up Chariot, you'll be away for 10 days changing things, are you sure you want to be so attached to Diana?" I nod.
"And do you have any reason to leave her alone and abandoned? Remember our plan Anna, did you manage to pull off any more schemes to record Daryl's abusive behaviour towards Diana?" She nods in agreement.
"I'm managing a little, but Daryl's been very well behaved these past two months, it's been complicated, especially as she can tell she's being listened to, but well I've managed to get hold of some memory cards that I can keep with yours that you gave me" Great, now there's no more to leave loose.
I walk to where Diana might be and arrive at the library, she's studying as usual, this girl is very studious, she's always like that, she's really going to be a great witch if she stays this dedicated, so I go up to my sister to talk and she notices me, taking the book out of my hand and hugging me on the spot.
"Charlotte! You've come!" She was all smiles and radiance.
"I'm not going to leave my little girl alone, we've still got lots to enjoy" I say smiling at her.
"I've been expecting you, Anna said she'd turn up, I hope she doesn't end up keeping you too busy with your work, as Anna says you have a lot of work to do for a few days" I just nod.
"It won't get in the way at all, after all, I can work on making you happy, can't I?" I keep stroking my little sister's head and she starts to perk up.
"Can we go outside and play tennis? Like you played with me a few times with a bit of magic?" I nod my head, it's good that since there's not so much risk today I can use and abuse magic.
We leave the library, now much more excited, I accompany my sister, we walk outside, arriving at the mansion's tennis court and for me it's real fun to be here having fun with my little sister, Mum has no idea what I've been doing these days, but I always have fun when I come here, I hope Daniella doesn't think of anything else, after all I come back so happy from here.
We got to the court and picked up the rackets as well as the tennis ball, where I taught my little sister how to take out the rock, paper and scissors, I end up taking out the rock and she the paper, so my sister will start this time.
"Get ready, Charlotte, I'm going to show you how I've become a more skilful witch than ever before" said Diana confidently, and she immediately hit the ball back.
"Come on, Diana!" I can still handle it, but it's fun to play tennis like this with magic, it's made it even more interesting.
I hit back using just a little bit of magic, still holding back a lot, from the looks of it my little sister wasn't even affected that much by the Dream Fuel Spirit, you can see she's got plenty of magic to spare for playing tennis, which when it's time for me to play back she multiplies so that I can return my pass and then hit the ball, which even had an effect that looked like everything had stopped and the ball had everything, It's not just Hellene who knows how to use magic in sports in a clever way, Diana too, I even manage to catch it and
send it the other way and with that I see her catching my pass and even dragging herself backwards and falling a little on the ground and then the ball going up there, which even worries me until I see her laughing.
"Woah! That's amazing, Charlotte you're a very powerful witch indeed" I think I've gone a bit overboard here.
"I think we'd better be careful, this ball is going to come back with everything" I even say using magic to create a barrier over my little sister.
The ball came back with everything and hit the ground and even bounced hard and came back, which I used magic to hold it and wow, it's really a lot of force from it spinning until I gave it back, which I feel is even picking up a bit of steam, wow this is too much fun, I confess, I've never played magic tennis, not even with Hellene, we usually play more of a burner, it would be perfectly fun if I took the sisters to have fun together.
[...]
My little sister sat down on the stool and soon Anna arrived with a tray of food and juice, which I took the opportunity to eat and I saw Diana doing the same, she was having as much fun as she could, phew, I think this game of magic tennis even serves as magic training for her.
"I love playing with you Charlotte, you always come up with the most creative games, I never thought I'd have fun playing tennis, but with you it's so much more fun" said the excited little sister.
"I only did what was best to amuse you, we still have a whole day ahead of us to have fun" I say happily.
I also had a strange impression, as if someone was watching me all the time, but that can only be an impression, I must still be imagining a lot of things, I just have to let the day go by while I'm by my little sister's side, her smiling face is something that cheers me up enough.
"What do you want to do now, little sister?" I ask her.
"I want to play video games with you, will you come with me? Then we'll play with more stuff" Sure, I even have an interesting idea for her to have fun with.
We continue to eat and enjoy the sunshine, it's a delicious and lively day, a beautiful day, the birds flying, the noise of nature nearby, my little sister having fun, the refreshing strawberry juice that Anna has made, with the paninis, they are delicious.
After we've eaten, we head inside the mansion where I follow her to her room, where I see her switching on Mahoutendo Ree and giving me a remote control, well it's time to have some fun playing now.
"What are we going to play, little sister?" I ask her.
"Broom Racing Ree, it's my favourite broom racing game, it's fun, it's like a Ronaldo Kart with brooms" I think it's one of the games that Aunt April made if I'm not mistaken.
"Ah, that sounds like a lot of fun, let's play then" I say, taking the controller in my hand to prepare for the game.
"I love this game, it's almost my favourite, it's by the same developer as WitchTale, and did you know that I've already talked to Laura McLaren herself online and she's all lovey-dovey with me?" Oh who would have thought that Mum still tries her best to stay close to Diana.
"That's great, you must have enjoyed talking to her" I say excitedly.
"Oh, I talk to her a lot, when I can use the internet, since my aunt keeps restricting it and has taken away my internet for the two weeks she's been gone, now I can't even talk anymore, but when I can I try to chat, she tells me lots of gaming secrets and always seems to look after me like a second mum" I wonder why? Ah Mum, you always have your little ways.
"That's great, when you're alone there's always someone around" I say excitedly.
"Yes, the problem is that my aunt looks in on our conversations, so I can't talk to her much, I haven't even been able to talk about how much fun I've had with you these days" gee, it could happen that she tells Mum everything and I get in trouble for it, I'd better not let her talk too much.
"Better just to keep it a secret while Daryl doesn't find out" I say, nodding and starting to choose my witch to compete against.
I'm really doing everything I can to circumvent the plan so that I can spend time with my little sister and enjoy her as much as she deserves. After all, not only do the other two have to be happy, Diana, who is the eldest, gets left out a lot and I can't allow that.
Well, she chose the one that looks like me, I knew it was a reference to me, so I took the opportunity to pick one that's a reference to Mum, I know it's the fastest and most complicated to play, but well I need a challenge against little sis, since she must know how to play a lot.
[...]
She's really good, I've won a few, but she's also very fierce, even more so against someone who's only seven years old, it amazes me how she can win so much and do so well too, it was a lot of fun, I have to admit, for the nine witches I love spending time with my little sister, then we left the room, there's still a whole afternoon full of sunshine ahead of us and I was led through the corridors to the outside.
"I really want to play with you Charlotte, I even think of you as a sister, can you ride?" I think I know a bit.
"I know a bit, yes, but I don't think a maid's dress is the ideal outfit" I say, scratching the back of my neck, "and it makes me silly when she says she thinks of me as her sister, I'm her sister and she has no idea.
"Go and get changed then Charlotte, I'll wait for you in the stable" I nod.
With that we split up after playing together, it was a lot of fun I have to admit, I head back to my room, which I could tell from Anna's expression that she was showing concern when she got close to me, to the corridor where my room is, I think it's something to do with the mission.
"You're very close to Diana, even too close, since you arrived you haven't even touched the room to do your mission, girl I'm worried if you're going to fulfil it" I'm not too worried, I know I can show up again.
"Just turn up again, my priority here isn't to change things, it's to make Diana happy, it may be that I'm distorting the plans for my more selfish desire, but I've seen how special it is to let Diana smile, you told me yourself that she hadn't smiled for a long time and knowing that I can make her more cheerful is what motivates me" I answer Anna, after all I only want what's special.
"Oh Chariot, you're still very much the same girl as always, I'm impressed by how you think about other people's happiness despite everything, it's not a selfish desire of yours, you're just a person who sometimes fails to do what you're asked to do, but I understand why, this mission already leaves you with your morality questioned because you're stealing and everything, I just hope you fulfil it soon, after all it's an important mission for all of us" she said and I just smiled.
"I can do both, when dawn strikes I start to focus on the mission of changing things" Now it's time to make Diana happy.
I go back to my room and get changed, taking off my dress and putting on some trousers and a T-shirt, so that maybe I'll be more comfortable when I go riding, I even look at myself in the bedroom mirror as I get changed and look at what a nice arm I have, this training has made my body a lot more defined, I've never noticed how much better I look, Daniella is the one who realises that.
Now it's time to go and have some fun with Diana, let's go and ride the horses, I haven't done that since I was a kid, I think I'm going to have to ask a seven-year-old for lessons, but it'll be fun anyway.
[...]
Dawn came, Diana went to bed after having fun with me all night, I have to make the most of the time I have, it was fun while it lasted, riding horses, cooking together afterwards, making dinner, playing a bit of video games and then I was able to put her to sleep by telling her a little story, one of several that she has no idea about, but they're performances of mine that I've never been able to use on stage, I hope she enjoyed it.
I leave my room in my maid's outfit, well it's time to act, strangely I had the feeling that I was being watched, but I don't know if that makes sense, everyone in the mansion is trustworthy, now it's time for the mission, I'm soon approached byAnna who turns up before bed.
"You've already delayed a day for this Chariot, it's been a whole day that you could have used to put the mission into practice, but you decided to play along, the important mission is now girl" she says and I immediately drink an energy drink.
"I've taken it for the night, I won't sleep a wink until the morning when I'll only wake up during the day, just long enough to take a nap, I'll disrupt my sleep, but it'll be for a good reason" I say to her, who gets worried.
"I'm also worried about your health, Master Diana, taking energy drinks can be bad for you, sleeping so late can also be bad for you, please focus more on the mission, take a day for that, I can talk to Diana so I can let her know that you're very busy right now" I just nod.
"When I say I'm ready for it I'll let you know, for now it's quiet, I can handle all this, Anna it's only a week, I know I'm doing the right thing" I say confidently to her who even puts her hand on my shoulder.
"Don't do anything that pushes your body too far, you have to know your limits Chariot" That's why I keep training for it.
Then I go out and start the mission and wow, there's a huge pile of books waiting for me, I'm going to spend hours doing this, tonight alone I can't do half of these books, the Cavendish library had to be this huge... It's going to be a whole warehouse of books by the time I get round to it, well come on, I'm about to get to know all the books, it's so immense it's intimidating. why would I do this? Well, I've already given my word and I'm not going to let it go, Mum knows I'm doing a good job.
I take a deep breath, I know I'll be able to finish this if I focus, then I'll just have to finish working on the books, go to sleep and wake up at noon and spend the whole day with my little sister having fun, I have to think about that
[...]
I'm dead tired, there have been so many books, I've finished so many that I have no idea, I return with the trolley dead asleep, it's almost five o'clock in the morning when I get back I realise that there's still a huge pile of books left, so I look at it very sleepily and go back to my room, tomorrow I'll work on it again, now I'm going to sleep and get enough rest, I have more to do tomorrow, for the nine witches, why did I have to do something as laborious as this?
Anyway, I get to my room, throw myself on the bed and fall asleep, resting as best I can, by the nine witches, I've had a busy day today, but Diana's part was fun
[...]
Noon, I wake up to my mobile ringing, which I answer and it's my mother, I think she wants to talk to me, it must be about the mission, well anyway I can answer it, then I'll go out and play with Diana for the day, or I'll dedicate the day to work, so I'm free for tomorrow, I can do that in reality.
"Girl, great job out there, I have to warn you that Daniella is suspicious of you, she thinks you're cheating on her because of these occasional outings, you need to tell her the truth soon" I just nod.
"But why does she think that? Has she said anything to you about it?" I ask Mum.
"Yes, she spoke to me, she went to France and noticed how the Du Nord house is still a mess and she didn't see you there, look when you come back things are going to be pretty ugly, but how's work out there? Are you managing?" I nod my head, even if she doesn't even see it.
"Yes Mum, I've just woken up, I've been swapping books all night, it's a lot, there's a lot left over, I hope there's another opportunity, because I can't stand swapping books and more books, but I already know how I can do it" I really have no idea, but I think I can tell you that I'm here because of Diana.
"Chariot, sleep, rest, don't stay up till dawn trying to speed things up, think about it, do it during the day, Diana always stays in the library all day, it's not possible that you force yourself to stay up so late at night, just from my idea I could finish a lot of these in at least 4 or 5 days speeding everything up, what would you do in the other 5 days? Are you going out? Why don't you come back early, seriously girl, there's no point in speeding up, just work for a few hours and then rest" She has no idea I'm staying with Diana.
"I'll try to rest Mum, but for now I have to do a good job, the sooner the better, I'll use the other days to rest while I'm disguised as one of the maids" I tell her, in reality I'm playing with Diana.
"I understand, so do it the way you see fit, you don't have to worry about doing the mission as quickly as possible, or doing everything, just stay focused" Mum said and she hung up the phone.
I go out of the room and there I see that Anna is waiting for me, I'm already changed, well it's time to start another day, I have a plan in mind for today, since this way I can have more days with Diana if I can finish
more quickly, I know I can do it, let's go, I take a deep breath.
I walk to the dining room and there I see that my little sister is having lunch, so I join her at the table, getting ready to eat and her little sister waves to me and I wave back smiling.
"Today I'm going to work a lot, but then I'm going to play a lot, I have to tidy up the library, so it's going to be closed for a while" I say to her and she nods in agreement.
"Gosh, I wanted to play with you so much today, more magic trainers, I even wanted to do more sports using magic, it's fun with you" she said excitedly.
"Tomorrow, I promise that we'll spend the whole day playing at the same time, I'm going to do my work just to get ahead so I can have more time playing with you" I say smiling at Diana.
"All right Charlotte, I'll wait in the bedroom, I'll play video games, since you said you were going to tidy up the library, I think you need to be in peace there to scrub things and books, but I can be quiet too, reading some books" I think I have to nod to her that it's not good.
"Master Diana, what Charlotte means is that the library is going to have some magical monsters that she's going to have to battle and she needs to be completely alone and focused, it's better if we don't get in the way" said Anna, helping me.
"I get it now... I wanted to be a better witch to help you, one day I'll grow up to be a witch as skilful as you too Charlotte, I want to be able to help and face the monsters and also one day beat my aunt and be able to show mum that I can stand up for myself like she does" How cute, I also wanted to be stronger to protect you Diana.
Well, I think the excuse of the monsters was a good one, thanks for saving that one for me Anna, but seriously I'm still very upset about this, I have to finish it soon, I hope that one day Diana will become a strong and powerful witch, like their mothers are, she's certainly already showing that she's mature, all that's left is for magic to show her the true potential she can have for herself.
[...]
Yesterday was a tiring day, I spent a whole day swapping books and it was only half the pile, there's still a lot missing, it's good that when I took it to the lorry it looked like there were a lot less, that's good, they really are swapping all the books in the Cavendish mansion, one by one of each of them, how did Mum manage to do that? Ahhhh for the nine witches, now I can have a bit of fun with Diana, which I already do when I get to the dining room and see her eating all excited, then she leaves the table and runs to hug me.
"Charlotte! Will you come and play with me?" I nod.
"Of course, Diana, I'm going to play as much as you want today" I say, stroking my little sister's head.
"Come with me, let's play broom racing!" She must really want to have fun, I think it's time to go and do what my sister wants.
"Let's go! Can you fly a broomstick well?" I ask her and she nods.
"Yesterday I set up a broomstick race track for the two of us to compete on, I want to see how you fly a broomstick, you're already a fast witch, I don't doubt that you're as good a broomstick witch as Mum was" I don't think she has any idea what a monster her other mum is on a broomstick.
I'm going outside, let's show this girl how to fly on a broomstick, she must be skilful too, as we went outside we got on the broomsticks, she showed me the track she'd made for us to pass on the broomstick with the various rings and wow, she knows a lot about magic to be able to build things like that and it's an interesting route, which I'm already getting ready to start.
"Look, I'm really good, since my cousins keep hitting me I've learnt to fly fast to avoid them and run away" Well, I've been trained by the best, let's see how she does.
"The best trained me to fly a broomstick" I say confidently.
We looked at the road ahead and then shot off, and I could see that Diana really is fast, so I let her take the lead a little, noticing how she has technique and skill is not bad, but it's time to show her how far she can go, to motivate her, always to keep moving forward and training to surpass and reach my skill.
"You're really good, Diana" I tell her.
"I thought it was better, I said I'm no small thing, it's only my aunt who humiliates me by flying around with her broom" She has no idea who she's up against now.
I pick up the pace and fly more seriously, this time I'm not going so slowly, I'm just not going all out because I don't know the route, but I still want to test myself and see if they can keep up with me in terms of skill, I think so, I'm not that far behind, come on Chariot, concentration, it's a good thing the magic helps hold my wig otherwise it would have flown away with the impact.
I even look back and I can see her keeping up, she's more focused, that's very nice, I can even teach her somehow to fly much faster if that's the case.
[...]
I played a bit of broomstick racing with her and when we landed she was very impressed, she wasn't all there yet, but I'm glad she could keep up with me, if I could I'd train her to be a witch as skilful as me, phew, I think it was pretty exciting all in all, if it had been a race against Mum Laura she'd have even taken the lead, Mum just doesn't know how to play against us.
"You're really fast, Charlotte, how do you do it? I wish I had that much magic" She gets excited.
"I'm a grown woman with more experience, if you can be quick as a child, imagine when you grow up, I learnt from the best witch when I was your age too" I say to her as I stroke her head.
"The best witch? Who is she?" Little Diana asks.
"Laura McLaren, the fastest on a broomstick, she taught me a lot about magic, she was like a mum to me too, she looked after me very well and finally... A marvellous person, one day when you're older you'll meet her in person and discover some very important things about life" I think I've said too much now.
"Is she an impressive witch? I've never heard of her? Is she really fast on her broom? Woah!" And fast at that.
"She's very fast, even capable of turning you round with extreme ease, it's like the broom is one with her, how good she is" I tell her.
"One day I really want to meet her, when I get older and get rid of this place, I can't stand being trapped in the Cavendish house any longer, I just wish I hadn't been born one, if that woman adopted me as her daughter I'd be much happier, if you adopted me I'd be happier, every time my aunt arrives, Anna changes completely and I have to become the purest Cavendish and appear to be all right, all to please some other people, but it all seems like such a lie, when there are rich people around I'm the little princess and my aunt is a sweetheart, after those people leave the whole thing changes and I'm mistreated and I'm just some ordinary girl... I just didn't want to be Cavendish, I wanted to be a normal child, I look at children on television playing, being children and I... I can't, only with you I can Charlotte, if it wasn't for my mum's desire to make sure that one day this changes and the Cavendish family is free I would have left a long time ago" Oh poor thing, I even hug her to try and console her for good.
"One day you'll be very free, I'm sure" One day I really will make this adoption happen, but I'm a sister and not a mum, it'll take a good few years for mum to show up.
These moments around here are touching, Diana deserves the world, she shouldn't have to go through these things, it breaks my heart to see that she has such a dysfunctional family, to think that there's nothing I can do to get her out of here, I'd even move away suddenly, it's just little books and silly things, but there's no way, it's either that or become a fugitive and I don't want to risk that.
"The missions ended up becoming a time when I tried to get closer and closer to Diana, even so I stillmanaged to fulfil a good part of the goal that was to replace her, I didn't owe much, it was tiring, but it wasworth every second, the worst is yet to come days later since I owe explanations to a certain Daniella Parkerwho still thought I was cheating on her and here comes another part that my mother never knew about what Itold her, I'm glad she really kept her word with me, that woman is marvellous, I really ruined everything byabandoning everyone, I ruined my happiness and her happiness because of that stupid day, I shouldn't havegone too far.
See you, sister witches...