Saturday 3 January 2009, Dublin, Ireland
"It was originally supposed to be with Croix, but too much happened for those moments to have been withsomeone else who I also loved very much, I was going to travel with Daniella so that we could have thepower of the fertility stone in our hands, so that one day in the future our family could be formed, we wereeven thinking about what date we might consider it, it would be around Parker's 30th birthday, we wouldhave children... I'd better not keep interrupting you by crying, these things still move me a lot, they were nineyears ago, but I still can't get over the pain of leaving."
Everything is ready to get the relic of the stone of love, I can't wait to be able to go on a trip like this, I look at my girlfriend, she also seems very anxious, I wonder how we're going to get there in time, it seems like a very far away place, today it's still a snowy day, in the skies it's going to be difficult to see, I hope we make it. We went to my mum's and she smiled at us, showing all her happiness at seeing us ready to go on this long journey, I don't really know where the stone of love is, I hope it's not too far from home, I really do.
"Well come on, I'm going to drop you off at the airport, there's a passageway right near where it is, the rest of you will have to fly on your own by broomstick, so have plenty of magical energy left over for that, so I'm going to give you some things to use to recharge the broomstick if you don't have enough" Mum said and we nodded in agreement.
"Where is this, Mum?" I ask her.
"On an island in the north of Scotland, I've drawn a map to make it clear to you, the plane will drop you off in Kirkwall, then you'll pick up and fly to this island here, there it has a Ley line portal that will lead specifically to the place where the cave of the love stone is, just remembering that you only need a single kiss to produce one, this kiss must also contain true feelings, so it will serve as proof of love for you" We nod our heads in agreement and I hope this works out.
We have the map in our hands and with that we pick up our suitcases, the journey may be a bit long, but we'll get there, I hope so, we get in the car and look at the landscape, together hand in hand sitting in the back seat, it's going to be so magical, the stone of love in our hands, it's going to be the moment I've been waiting for.
Soon it will be the stone of complete fertility and with that we will be able to form our union forever, and also have our family, we arrive at the airport, it's not that conventional, in fact I've never been to this one, I even thought it was strange, but that's okay, we get out of the car and Mum goes with us, with our suitcases we walk to one of the hangars.
"Mum, why are we going to such an airport?" I ask her.
"I'll take them by plane, it's not mine, but I rented it for a bit, it's in good condition for our flight" Mum says and I'm surprised.
"You're going with us Mum, how nice" I say excitedly.
"Just as far as the city, then you can make your own way" she said.
As soon as we entered the hangar, we noticed the plane, it's one of those with a propeller, which we get inside and put our things in. It looks very spacious from the inside, so we quickly settled down in our seats, I sat down and Daniella too, my mum was the last to enter and she closed the door of the plane.
"Are you going to drive for us?" My girlfriend asks.
"Did I never tell you that I'm a trained pilot? I know how to fly planes and helicopters, it's a few extra things I learned in the 90s, I even have my licence here" Mum said, showing her licence and we were impressed.
"Woah, Mum's going to fly an aeroplane" I say excitedly.
"Fasten your seatbelts, we're about to take off, the journey may take a while, I'll even get the generals here to authorise the flight and everything, but make yourselves comfortable, I'm going to stay in the cockpit concentrating on piloting until we get there" We nod, sit down and put our seatbelts on.
I see Mum doing all the commands and the hangar doors are opening too, I can't wait for this trip to start, the plane was even starting up, making some noise, then she was leaving the garage after saying some bizarre things it must be airline pilot code, we were looking together in the window of the plane leaving and going to
the runway which the plane's engine was making more sound and then it was starting to move faster, then leaving the ground and we started to take off.
"Wow, I've never been on a plane like this, it's so different" I say in amazement.
"The Parker family had a private jet, I used to go on family trips in it. My parents used to say that airports were a poor man's thing and that's why a Parker should go on trips in a private jet, they were always different, but inside it was a huge luxury, planes like this I never got to travel in either, they also used to say it was a poor man's thing" said my girlfriend.
"They don't know it, but these planes are just as expensive to hire for a private trip, not to mention hiring a pilot, luckily you have me to fly you and you only needed the plane which was out of my pocket as well, now rest assured that the journey is smoother, you can even unbuckle your seatbelt, just come back when we've landed" said Mum.
There was even some relief when I undid my seatbelt and wow, we don't really feel the plane moving in the air, it's bizarre how smoothly it goes and there's only the noise of the engine next to it, which isn't even that loud, it's just flying very smoothly, we even had a look at the cockpit and wow, it's a lot of buttons and things, I don't know how Mum understands it and she's still wearing her headphones with the greatest peace of mind, she even smiles at us as she looks ahead and wow, the view from the front is beautiful, the whole immensity of the sky up close, the city in the background and the sea, you can even see the other side.
[...]
We landed, we chatted the whole way, Daniella and I got off the plane and wow, it was so quiet, when we landed at the airport we could see that it was already a little colder, apart from the snow falling, I looked at Mum, picked up my bags and then we left, walking outside, Mum was talking on the phone and asked us to wait.
A car appears and we get into it. The journey takes us to a place that looks like a hotel. The small town is very beautiful, the scenery here is marvellous and so comfortable, I can't wait to pick up the stone of love.
"Well, you can go there today, we'll just go home tomorrow, while the plane refuels and all the flight conditions are checked, the island is very close to here, I think you have enough magic, if in doubt you'll fly together" said my mum and we nodded in agreement.
"I think we can go now, love" I say excitedly.
"You drive the broom and I'll look at the map, when we get there I'll let you know, you're taller than me so you'll be in the back holding the broom and driving, I'll be in the front holding the map" I nod.
We grabbed our things, a broom just for the two of us, we even took a key ring and a rucksack with emergency equipment in case we ran out of magic, while Daniella went with the map paper in hand, very small so she'd have an idea of where the path is, it's on an island in the neighbourhood, we'll be able to get there very quickly, I'll even fly more quietly so I don't use up the broom.
"Have a good trip, girls" said my mum and we waved to her.
Then I took off with the broom, and we started flying around the city, looking up at the sky, until the view started to change as we got closer to the sea, and the snowfall also accompanied it, but as far as I can tell, I still have good visibility for the time being, so I went at a gentle speed, around 80 km/h in broom flight to save magic.
"I think it's that island Chariot, your soft is still too fast" said my girlfriend.
"Wow, that fast? I wanted to fly more smoothly, but that's okay, I just tried to go even smoother for what I can handle, I forget that you're not that fast on a broom" I say as I approach the island.
We landed and it was a quiet landing that barely used any magic, that's very good, I can see that there's not much in the surroundings apart from bushes and a few hills, but you can see from a distance that there's an entrance to the cave, I look at my girlfriend and we already have an idea of what the place might be like, we take a deep breath and hold hands.
When we entered the cave we felt like we had been teleported to a totally different place, even the temperature had changed, we were going down a corridor with shiny walls and we were walking through the cave as if it were an ascent, the place is beautiful and marvellous.
"That's a strange feeling" said Daniella.
"After a while you get used to it, these portals to the Ley Line are just like that" I say as I continue on my way.
We get further up, there's even a more open area in this cave, also the light of the water, the heat of the vapour coming off the water, the inscriptions on the wall, I'm amazed to see my beautiful wife, in the midst of those lights, it's like something lights up in our hearts, the good thing is that the place isn't as cold as outside, less bad.
"This place is beautiful, it's not for nothing that it's the cave of the stone of love" said the most beautiful one.
"Your presence here only makes you more beautiful" I say to her.
"What do we do now?" Daniella asks.
"Now we get in the water, take off our shoes, pull up our trousers and kiss"
"From the warm water it seems comfortable" I'd do more than that You have no idea what's going on.
"They've already done that, the cave ends up releasing enough love stones to cause a repopulation of a small town, there are 100 love stones that they release at once if that happens, but we only need four kisses" I say smiling.
I'm already taking off my boots and my socks, as well as pulling up my trousers until they're above my knees, while Daniella is more direct, she takes off her boots and takes off her trousers, I blush a little at seeing her like that, but I shrug and think I'll do the same thing as having to pull up my trousers, which are barely up, so I'm getting my feet into the water and it's warm, Parker does it too.
"Much smarter Chariot, I'd take it all off at once and enjoy a relaxing hot bath" said my girlfriend, and I think I'm getting worms in my head for wanting that.
"Like a Japanese hot spring" I say, scratching the back of my neck.
"Why don't we do that? Your mum hasn't said when we can come back, we'll think about it later, we just don't need to do things, look at this invigorating water, it would be a waste to pass up this opportunity" She's right, there's nothing against staying here for a while.
"Well now it's our test love, what do you say we let our love be tested now? It's time to kiss" I say, approaching my beloved.
We kissed for the first time and I could feel the magic flowing through my body and her body, it was a strange sensation, feeling the magic of someone else's body, it was as if we were connected in some way, and then another feeling came over us, the kiss continued until something fell on our heads, it was the stone of love, I took it in my hand and smiled, it seemed that the feeling was real.
"We did it Daniella!" I say celebrating.
"There's no denying that our love is true, now let's keep kissing and hey, after that we'll relax in the hot spring" said my girlfriend.
I nodded in agreement, so we kissed once more, and this kiss also involved a bit more grabbing, Daniella squeezed my arse hard, it felt like she wanted to rip it off, there's no need for that much, but not that I think it's bad, quite the opposite, what comes to the second stone of love, now we just need two more kisses. They were two very quick kisses and we put all four in a little jar, then we put them in the bag, which has everything, even towels, it's good that we can dry our feet, but I can see that my girlfriend has taken off the rest of her clothes and has also gone to fix her hair, I think we're really going to have a relaxing bath in the cave of the love stone, what could happen? No-one ever said anything could go wrong.
"Come on Chariot, I'm waiting for you, I'm going to stay here for a while and relax in this warm water" I think I will too.
I make a point of doing the same, and I also tie up my hair, so I get in there and wow, the warm water, lowering myself a little and letting it hit my whole body was much more invigorating than just my leg, even more so in the deepest part, where I sat next to my beloved, it made me feel even a little better, it's a strange feeling of relief, with love on the surface of my skin, that must be it, I feel so relieved, I see my girlfriend
coming towards me, she sits on my lap and rests her body close to me, I see her raise her finger to use magic, I blush and my heart is pounding, her pupils are like hearts, she even puts her finger over my mouth, I feel something growing in me, she didn't do that just now, did she? For the nine witches.
"Relax a lot Chariot, we're going to make the most of this place" I wonder if the effect of this is... Getting aroused? Daniella was possessed by the nine witches.
I can't resist either, it seems I'm craving it even more, because I've agreed to this idea, now a hundred love stones are going to appear that we won't even be able to take away because it's going to be too much, what do I do? I know very well what I'm going to do, I really want to love Daniella, I'm going to have sex and make lots of love to her, that's what I'm going to do.
[...]
We're panting and tired, we're drying ourselves off with the towels and then getting dressed, there's a huge pile of love stones, I never thought there would be so many of them around this place, now what are we going to do, from what I've seen they just go back into the water over time, some that fall only dissolve like sugar, so it's quiet, I was possessed, I didn't imagine it would end up like this.
I look at the clock and get scared, it's not possible that we've spent so much time together? What about Mum? Will she be worried about us? I had to let my desires go to my head.
"By the nine witches, Daniella, we've been here for five hours, get dressed!" I tell her she still has a worm in her head.
"Chariot, let's stay a little longer, your mum won't even notice" she says and I take one of her feet out of the water and wrap it in a towel.
"This will only make you crave it forever, this water must have more of our fluids than water at this point" I say to her who is slowly returning to normal.
"I still want to try more, but the water really gets to me like a succubus craving energy" I realise it a lot, I'm exhausted, I could only stand it because I was getting so tired.
She's getting dressed too and now they're dry, we've picked up our things and we've been returning the love stones to the water, they've been dissolving inside, it's good that they're easy to push, which has been causing a huge glow in the water, the good thing is that we already have ours, if this place lets us we can even get someone pregnant if that happens, if it were Croix I'd already be pregnant I don't doubt it at all, well now let's go back.
[...]
My mum can't stop laughing at us, really, she finds all this funny, I thought she'd be worried about us taking too long, but not even that, she's laughing at the fact that we've spent too long doing things, I get a bit silly about it, it's not funny, it was our mistake, we went too far, but mum finds it funny.
"You really went and did that in the cave of the stone of love, hahahahahaha, did you really think that the idea of bathing in the hot spring was going to work, in the cave, in the cave of the stone of love, love, love, seriously girls, you're very naive" I even inflate my cheeks.
"Look, it was worth every minute, I don't know about Chariot, but I loved it" I liked it a lot too, but we overdid it.
"The same mistake is repeated twice, congratulations girls, Bernadette and I did the same thing, girls the water from the love stone is such an aphrodisiac, what did you expect? It's a place of love, obviously people are going to make love in there, otherwise it wouldn't be any fun, we only realised after everything, I just didn't tell you because I wanted you to be surprised" Hey, that wasn't funny.
"Mum!" I say embarrassed.
"Ahhhh, you guys are such characters, let's go home tomorrow, we have to finalise the fertility stone, luckily the next relic is at home, I can get it for you" I can't believe Mum was laughing at a situation like this.
My girlfriend doesn't help either and just laughs along, I just get sulky and go and sit on the sofa to rest a bit, after the morning workout I had and this whole thing now my body is just dust, I still have the weight of these two things on me, I can't wait to get home all rested up, because now I'm really tired of everything.
[...]
Finally home, it's good that there was no training the next morning, we can rest a bit more, Mum went to get the sacred nectar to make up the last item of the fertility stone, meanwhile I'm sitting in the tree house with my girlfriend, looking at the house, she's very needy and affectionate these days, maybe it's because it's close to her cycle too, I'll give her all the affection she deserves.
"It was a lot of fun on this trip, love, I really enjoyed it, I think we could go there more often" I look at her, so tired that she laughs.
"I think just one is enough" I say, scratching the back of my neck.
"I'm joking love, I know how tiring it is, I was dead asleep in the bedroom afterwards, I don't think I've ever gone as far as I did in that place, but anyway, we're getting closer to having the fertility stone, are you excited about it?" I nod my head in agreement.
"More than ever, I want to be able to see what it's going to look like and make matching necklaces for both of us, so we'll always remember each other when we go out with the fertility stones" I say to my girlfriend.
"I think it's a good idea, one day when we're 30 we'll have our daughters, we'll fill our future home with children, running around everywhere, me as the famous writer, Daniella Parker, a success, a witch writer, you putting smiles on people's faces with your art, the great Shiny Chariot... Living together, building our family, where are we going to live?" I know where we're going to live because there's still the plan.
"I have the deed to the Du Nord family house, we can renovate and live in a quiet country town in France, where our children can grow up safe and always be visited by their loving grandmother and her family" I say smiling.
"Oh France, I think I'll need to learn a new language then, teach me everything mon coeur" How cute, I will, but she has no idea what's to come, it's not just our future family who will be living there.
"The two of us with a family, getting older, being grandparents, having great-grandchildren, having great-great-grandchildren, seeing the family grow, having all the history we lived as teenagers, I'm going to tell you about every adventure we had, it's going to be marvellous" she nods.
"One day we'll have to arrange this wedding, a woman as beautiful as you would make a marvellous bride" I'm embarrassed by a proposal like that, especially with her holding my nose.
"Girls, I've got it, let's go to magic" said my mum, arriving with the four vials.
We went downstairs after kissing and went to where my mum was, it's time to start making the fertility stone, I can't wait to have the power to be a mother in my hands, finally I'll have one of these in my hands and I'll be able to have the best woman with me by my side, this is going to be so perfect.
We went into the house, got the ingredients for the fertility stone, I'm amazed, it's time to start making magic, I don't even know how to do it, Mum knows best.
"Fusionae magicae!" She shouts the fusion spell and points with her hand.
Lights are appearing and things are beginning to float, each of the four things are combining to form a kind of circle where they spin around making beautiful lighting effects, wow, I never thought I'd see something like this up close, to think that now I've come this far, to see the fertility stone being made, the girls are also watching, Megan and the little ones marvelling at how a fertility stone is created.
Then there's a flash and the four fertility stones fall onto the table, they look like little pink candies with a heart inside and wow, I'm impressed, they're smaller than I thought, they look nice to eat too, it makes me want to put them in my mouth I admit.
"There's one more to go, so you'll have two of each" said my mum, who started to raise her hand.
The stones began to float again and come together, two on each side, they began to spin and spin faster until they formed a sphere of light that emanated a glow that gradually reddened until it was completely that colour and then the two fertility stones fell, a little steam even coming out of them, I'm amazed that it was so peaceful to have them in my hands, finally the fertility stone, it's ours.
"Now, girls, it was quite easy to use magic for this, I don't know why I verbalised the spell the first time, it's good that you've got an idea of how it's going to work, now you just have to do whatever you want with it, you can give it to a child now if you want" said my mother and we took each one in hand.
Wow, it's like a gel candy, one of those soft dentures, it makes me want to put it in my mouth, but I have to resist. I take a few strings and tie them around the fertility stone, which attaches to all sides and makes a great necklace to put around my neck, I see my girlfriend and she even blushes when she sees how I tie it.
"Look, love, the fertility stone doesn't feel like it" I didn't understand anything, I just wanted to tie it together in a way that would be more engaging.
"Chariot girl, do you want to tie up the fertility stone like you tie up Daniella in the bedroom? - I blush even more when I think of the context, for the nine witches, I don't even tie her up like that, I did it with Croix, but that's because she's crazy.
"It's all right love, I thought your knots were lovely, make me a necklace too" she said and I went on to make a necklace.
Now we both have fertility stone necklaces, one of each with a necklace, we look wonderful, I have to admit, I love it, so when I go out I can look at the necklace and marvel that I have a reminder of my girlfriend, one day in the future you will also be used and you will stop being just a little bean to become a child, you will be our next girl, I can't wait until it's time to be a mum.
"Okay, now our journey to the fertility stone is over, it's given me the idea to write a story about our trip later, it's given me lots of ideas" I hope it's nothing involving the cave of the love stone.
"Well, now you're going to be mums one day, I remember I went on this trip with Bernadette, we went to the cave of the stone of love in 1990 when we graduated, as well as the nectar, but the last part of the relic took us a few years to go to, only in 1995, with the idea in mind of going to the Du Nord family, we didn't want to go in after hearing the news of Elliana's death, it would have been too uncomfortable, so we waited a few years" said my mum scratching the back of her head.
"So you've known about Chariot for a long time?" I didn't get to tell Daniella how she knew, but yes.
"The current Du Nords are a close branch of the Cavendishes, we know the family that Chariot came from, there's a whole history of Louise Du Nord with Diana Cavendish III, whose eldest daughter returned to France and from this lineage Chariot came, but unfortunately it was one bad thing after another, Louise committed suicide five years after losing her wife, Adeleine did the same five years after losing her mother and her husband, Anna fell ill and died shortly before Chariot was born and Elliana died in childbirth, leaving only Chariot, we knew what was happening and it was one disaster after another, so we postponed the trip until Chariot was five years old so as not to cause trouble to the spirits who live there, which even without her we would still be able to go, apparently we are welcome at the Du Nord house" My family's story is really tragedy after tragedy.
"Woah, now I've understood everything, wow, the Du Nords have only been through bad things, I hope that with Chariot everything will change, she doesn't deserve to be a tragedy magnet like the ones that came before" Look, unfortunately there's no way to change this much, this theory has already been proven and I've only brought a few tragedies.
"After what happened, I think I can only expect the worst" I say, laughing sarcastically.
"Don't say something like that, love, be more optimistic, we'll change this" She's so hopeful.
I wish it were real, but seriously, life has been beating me up a lot, I've been through too much tragedy, I just don't think about doing like two of my ancestors because I still have people who love me and I love them, I can't abandon my life like this, I have to give them a much better life, they don't deserve to live like this.
"And that's how I got the fertility stone, Daniella and I went too far, but it was fun, it's funny to watchnowadays and it was such a wonderful moment, I feel bad for having abandoned her, I really loved her, likeno one else, we had a very stable relationship, she'd already been with me longer than Croix and wasproving to be a much better girlfriend than Meridies ever was, my head at the time was full of things aboutthe future plans that are to come and it won't be long before they show up on the first mission about it."
See you, mother witches...