Friday 20th February 2009, Dublin, Ireland
"The days went by, 2009 began, I spent a lot of time training and also helping Daniella to come up with moreideas with the illustrations I was doing for her book, but I still hadn't found what to do, I'd even told mygirlfriend that I was going to take a gap year exactly for that, to reflect better on what I'd done all these years,to think of something I would do, but also still hiding the idea of the plan to rob the Cavendish family, she hadno idea that things were cooking up for it to happen somehow."
I've just trained for another day, even on my birthday my mum isn't sparing me, she really wants to take everything away from me, wow I'm exhausted, it's good that all this training is over and I can have a rest, because by the nine witches I can't take it anymore, my body is getting very exhausted from moving around so much, these weights and these clothes only make it worse, it's good that I must be making some progress at least.
"Happy birthday girl, you can rest now that today is your day, we're having your first birthday in years around here" said my mum and I went into the house panting.
I go to the bedroom, and there I go to the bathroom, starting to fill the bath with water, while I see my beautiful girlfriend looking at me as she wakes up, I go over to her and give her a kiss on the forehead followed by one on the lips, and she smiles at me.
"Good morning my love and happy birthday, I can hear the water in the bathroom, are you going to have a shower? I want to join in too" I nod.
Then she gets up, I take off my clothes, I go into the bathroom and the bath is almost full, I go in, then comes my beloved, a little shorter than me, we stand together and hug each other bathing, this wonderful feeling, it's so good to be hugged like this, together with so much love and affection like this.
She stayed close to me, we washed our bodies, I felt refreshed from today's workout thanks to my girlfriend's hands and this warm water, it's so good to bathe like this, it's been a few days since I've been like this around here, it's so relaxing, bathing with my love.
"So, love, what are you doing today?" I don't know yet, I'm just going to enjoy the day.
"I don't even know, today I turn 19 and I have no idea how I've got so much older" I say as I cuddle up to Daniella.
"Well, I don't know about you, but today I think I'm going to do whatever you want, without question or anything, if you ask me to do something I'll do it" She's cute, but I don't want to push it too much, I keep stroking the face of my beloved, who looks so beautiful.
"All right, my love, my request now is that we relax in the bath" I say, smiling at her and then kissing her beautiful mouth.
We continue to relax in the bath, looking at each other, exchanging glances, washing our bodies and wow, it's like a cure for all the tiredness, like my batteries have been totally recharged.
The relaxing bath is over, we get out of the bath, we wrap ourselves in towels, looking at each other, we rest a lot, we put our clothes on and I'm a lot less tired now, I just want to eat a bit, now we go downstairs, changed and in more comfortable clothes, when we get there I see that there's a whole table full of things, there's lots of sweets and everything, wow, I never thought I'd see so much food like this.
"Happy birthday, Chariot!" My grandmother said.
"Woah, gran, that's a lot!" I say shocked.
"A bit of everything for my girl who is now another year into adulthood" I'm scratching the back of my head.
"You deserve it, love, today is your day" I said to my girlfriend as she sat down at the table.
I sat down too, and grabbed a slice of chocolate cake, which looks very delicious, I really have to eat this, it's so good, I also grabbed the hot chocolate, wow, everything is so good and delicious, I never imagined I'd have so many options like this so early in the morning, after so long training, a reward to match, I even smile eating everything, on my birthday, I see that Daniella is also enjoying it, which I also hear noises on the stairs, it was my little sister Hellene who just woke up and she went to sit down to eat.
"Good morning, little sister" said my younger sister.
"Good morning Hellene" I say, stroking her head.
"Today is your little sister's birthday" said Daniella.
"Really? Are you having a party? Is there going to be more cake? Is there going to be congratulations? Is there going to be a toy?" Said the excited little girl, how cute she was.
"Yes, Hellene, there will be plenty, we'll have lots of fun" I tell her as I stroke her head.
My mum has just come back from upstairs after a shower too, I don't think it's just me who gets tired from training, it seems that someone needs to recharge their battery too, she soon sat down to rest and eat a bit, she took several pieces of cake, smiling at us with her mouth full.
"I was starving" said Mum with her mouth full, until she was scolded by Grandma.
"Don't talk with your mouth full Laura, that's not the sort of thing you do as an example to your daughters" she just nodded like the big child she is, not so much because of her lack of size, she already looks like other children that way.
We continued to eat, having breakfast and recharging our energy, I can't wait for what's to come today, even though I can't wait that long, I think there will only be the girls here and a birthday like any other, after all everyone must be busy, it's a birthday in the middle of when people work and study.
[...]
Well, I think it's time to do something, we've finished eating for a while and we're playing, even the sleepy Holly woke up and went straight to school, as did her older sister, they're both at school and probably Meg too, there's just me and my girlfriend and the McLaren family left here, which is just scratching the back of my head, playing without doing much.
"Hey Chariot, take the car, go out, pick up the girls from school, then come back here, they'll think there's a surprise party for you, OK?" said my mum and I nodded and threw her the car keys.
"Well, we could use the whole afternoon to have a bit of fun, I've never stopped to think about it, then we'll go and get the girls, since we're going to have a birthday party so they can have a lot of fun" I say, getting up from the sofa.
With the car key in hand we've been given a power like that, now that I've got my licence I'm in no danger of losing it, I can drive around peacefully, we go outside and I see that the car is already parked there, but when I look at the key ring I notice that it wasn't the Lotus Omega, the key was from the BMW, Mum took Aunt April's car, well since we're going to ride in it, I'd better enjoy it, it's smaller than the bathtub that Mum uses for a car.
I go to Aunt April's car, open it, start it, put it in gear, press the handbrake and the garage button, I think I can have a nice ride with this little thing here, as we get out we're looking at each other, I think I can make the most of the day and go to an amusement park.
"So, love, where are we going today?" Parker asks.
"What do you think of an amusement park round here, I've never been to one much, it might be a good way to pass the time" I say to her and she nods in agreement.
"Well, you've got all the money in the world to spend on whatever you're going to have fun with, so enjoy it, love" said my girlfriend, and she's right, today I have to spend and enjoy the day on things I couldn't before because I was underage and a Luna Nova student, like driving.
We arrived at the entrance to an amusement park, today is a typical winter's day, it's not that cold and it's not snowing, the good thing is that the park is open so this will be good, it even brings back good memories of playing Bullworth Stories on the MagicStation 2, that game is very good, it even has an amusement park. We entered the park after paying the entrance fee and hand in hand we walked around, it's so nice not to be crowded, so we can enjoy it better, we even queued to get on the rollercoaster, which isn't that huge, but it's still a lot of fun.
"Look, I confess I've never been to an amusement park, it's my first time" said Daniella.
"I went many times as a child, my mums used to take me here mostly, I even went to Disneyland, it was a trip I'd taken, I think it was for my ninth birthday or something, or it was in the summer, I just remember that Mum Bernadette got time off from hospital and we went to the States to have fun at Disney, it was very memorable" I say scratching the back of my head.
"I wish I could go" she said excitedly.
"I also went to Tokyo, but then you know who you went with... Eh, I had no idea she was hiding the truth from me yet, but it was a really fun place" I say to my girlfriend.
"Well, there's still the one in California to go, so we can go there and visit Rebecca, she's living in the States now" That's true, now that I've realised it.
We get on the rollercoaster after passing through the queue and then we go together to start a ride, I could see that Parker was a little nervous, but I hold her hand and stay calm, but mostly screaming with excitement, wow this is really good, it's too much fun to stay like this, moving around, I get too excited, it's not a rollercoaster like the ones in other parks, but it's still a lot of fun, especially next to my beloved, we got off the ride and she was all excited, I thought she was terrified.
"Wow, that's really cool, it's scary, but when you overcome your fear everything is much better" said my girlfriend.
"Well then, let's go to the Ferris wheel" I say to her, who nods in agreement.
It's great to spend time having fun like this with her, just in a simple amusement park like the one we have here in Dublin, then we'll go to Disneyland in California one day and she'll be able to have even more fun, it's great that we'll be able to visit any place in the world like this, she's a lovely person, a sweetheart.
[...]
It's been a good few hours in the park, you look at the clock and it's still half past noon, we've been on all the rides and we've had a lot of fun, I think I know what we can do too, my mum has taken me there a few times and it was a lot of fun, I can take you, you're almost there, it's good that we live outside the city so we can have a good trip without taking too long.
"Wow, we've done everything in this park, isn't there more?" Yes, there is.
"We're going to a place called Mondello Park, I used to go there with my mum, I think you can have fun with a car and if I'm not mistaken there's a kart track too, so we can have fun that way, have you ever wanted to drive a car really fast?" I ask her and she gets interested.
"That's interesting, we're going on a race track?" That's exactly what it is.
"Shall we?" She agrees on the spot.
We're leaving the amusement park and starting to get into the car, this time the next trip will be a little further out of Dublin, it may be a while, but it will be enough to have fun until we have to pick up the girls, today is turning out to be a very lively and fun day, when we get bored of the cars we'll go home.
[...]
We got there pretty quickly, I sped up a lot, in almost half an hour, we have about two hours until the girls are picked up so that's enough time, we went through the gates, paid the entrance fee and good thing there were helmets in the boot of Aunt April's BMW, Mum knew we were going here, we went to the part of the track, it was pretty empty really, there were a few cars going round and making noise so we got back in the car.
"Are you ready to fly for a while?" I ask her.
"You go first love, I want to see what the dancefloor is like, teach me" All right, I'll do my best.
We went through the pits, everything was checked and we went out onto the track, there's already a hairpin on the right, which is easy to pass, but I'm just going along quietly, I'm not going to put my boot into the curve because I'm still getting used to the car, but I'm remembering each route, Mum is the current lap time record holder here, before that it was Grandad, they're both very good at driving here, I'm not so good, but I can still have fun, we're even passed by a Porsche that's going hard into the corner and that makes Parker marvel.
I've done the warm-up lap, on the last hairpin before the main straight I put my foot down on the accelerator and now I'm going all out, I can even feel my back sticking to the seat, the noise of the car getting louder, this feeling of adrenaline rising, wow I'd forgotten how good this feels.
"Woah, look at that power, I thought you'd be fine, it's a really impressive speed" said my girlfriend, still glued to the seat.
I put my foot down and in the first corner I hit the brakes hard and point the car into that hairpin, which at the exit of the hairpin is a little off-putting, but I was still able to control it, I was smiling, while I was driving, the next corner came, which is lighter on the left, but it comes with another hairpin and in this one I hit the tangent, hitting the entire right-hand bend, which I'm concentrating on, listening to my girlfriend screaming.
[...]
Five laps in, I go back to the pits and hand the wheel over to my girlfriend, I think she's a bit taken aback by all this, but I think she's going to have a lot of fun with it, she got out of the car and felt her legs wobble to the point that I had to hold her, how cute, I think I took it too hard.
"Wow, that's kind of intense, please I need to drive like that, but I'm terrified of crashing the car, I think I'll just try it the way I can" she said, scratching the back of her head.
"As long as you have fun" I say excitedly.
We started to leave, she went smoothly through the pit and when she left she took the first corner and it wasn't so bad, she just didn't speed up much, I could tell she was still driving very calmly, but that's okay I guess... Wow, she wanted to accelerate a bit more, she felt the power with everything, it's very different when you're in the passenger seat, I remember vividly how scared I was when it was Mum driving.
I can see that Parker is going too hard and she's still on a warm-up lap, but I've been watching, she's braked well and she's got the punta tacco technique down too, just like I do and learnt from Mum, how did she do it, the car almost ate grass on that, her foot goes smoothly without dragging, woah, I'm even scared.
"Daniella, that was very close" I say, startled.
"It makes me feel so alive! I'm thinking of writing some sapphic novels about it" said my girlfriend, who kept smiling as everything seemed to change when she took the wheel.
I'm really scared, Daniella can drive really well, I think I'm going to start timing her laps, there might be one of them where she goes faster than me, that's incredible, she has enormous potential, her finesse on the steering wheel and everything is something I've never seen, it's like she's smooth, I'm much more aggressive, but she goes smoothly and even so the car goes with everything.
[...]
Woah, we've finished about 10 laps, I'm scared, I get out of the car and my legs are wobbly, I see my girlfriend smiling, she's even jumping for joy, how can someone drive at such a limit and she barely knows how to drive, I think someone has really fallen in love, time to go home, let me see the clock, that's it.
"So, love, did you like it?" I nod my head in agreement.
"Of course, your driving is something my mum needs to see" I say shocked.
"I don't know what came over me, it was just the desire to see how the car was going, I didn't even know I could do all that, it's just that I saw you like that, but anyway, let's go for a walk round the shopping centre and then we'll pick up the girls" I nodded.
We changed the seats and put the helmets away, we still have an hour and a half to go, which I'm already pretty scared of with a ride of this level, well now it's time to go to the shopping centre, I put on my seatbelt and left the track, it was an interesting trip, one day I might come back here, I want to see how Daniella will do when Mum sees her skill.
[...]
We're with the girls back here, it was really fun to spend the day in the shopping centre, they all wished me happy birthday, it was really cute that Megan was looking for each one of them and was so well received, I went too, people wished me happy birthday, they recognised me.
We arrived at the house, you can see from a distance how it's decorated like a birthday party, we parked the car, went into the back garden and opened the door, and as I got out I walked round to the back, opened the little door in the fence, and as I opened it I could see that there was a lot going on, until I got further inside and saw the surprise, the whole party and a few people
"Happy birthday!" Everyone says.
"For the nine witches Rebecca! Did you come?" I run up to my friend and give her a hug, which leaves her scratching the back of her head.
"Not just me, some of them will be arriving in the evening too" said my friend.
"You thought it was just going to be a normal party, girl, enjoy your day, let's have some fun" said my mum.
"Bouncy castle!" Hellene said excitedly, running to the bouncy castle.
The children all went to the castle to play hopscotch, I went with Becca where we sat on a chair, she was accompanied by a guy, I think it must be her boyfriend, I really want to know what happened during the time I was away, she looks so different, she grew her hair like me, but hers is still a bit short in comparison.
"This is my boyfriend John, John, these are the friends I wanted to introduce" said Leyland.
"It's a pleasure to meet you girls, Rebecca tells us so much about the adventures you had together in Luna Nova, it's amazing how you experienced so much, I'm fascinated by magic, it must have been a very interesting experience" He has no idea what it was like.
"Tell me all about it, I want to know how your days were, I've been missing you" said Daniella.
"Well, apart from my new boyfriend, I've moved to San Francisco, I've met my boyfriend, I'm starting to study to probably get into college, I'm only going to live in SF for a short time, I really want to be able to study at Berkley, by the way I heard a lot of news about Shiny Chariot, an explosion of fake news and then it just stopped, did you give up Chariot?" I nod my head.
"It's a long story, but I'll tell you all about it later" I say, scratching the back of my neck.
Wow, I can only imagine how much better it must have been for her, things haven't been rosy around here, I knew I should have gone back with Mum when Hellene's birthday came up, but I decided to just stay here, all I know is that this year I'm going to stay and I'm not going to stop celebrating it, she's my little sister, just like Holly, I have to celebrate their days.
Well, I take a deep breath, after all I have to tell you what's coming up, it's a lot, I had no idea how I'd been through so much, but remembering everything makes the traumas come flooding back, well at least I've managed to stop drinking and smoking and that's huge progress, I never thought I'd stop, but it was only by living well that I managed to give up these addictions and use distractions for other things too, apart from the fact that smoking makes me weaker for training.
[...]
It's already evening, a cold winter's night as usual, it's good that there's no snow, just cold, as we see people arriving, I'm amazed, it's the girls from Luna Nova, they came to visit me with the exception of Williams who I know the reason for, but all the rest came, they came running to hug me.
Tsugumi, Eun, Brooke, Ryouko, I've missed them so much, they've all come, I wonder how they must be feeling about studying at Luna Nova now without me, I hope they're okay, they're all excitedly shouting my name and jumping for joy.
"Chariot!" They all say.
"I missed you so much" said Ryouko.
"Wow, you look good with that hair" said Tsugumi. "It's just my longer hair, I looked like that when I graduated from Luna Nova.
"Mrs McLaren has invited us here for the weekend, we want to hear all the news" I nod my head.
"Look at the place and the party, it was worth coming here, it took us a while to get here but wow, we have so much to tell, did you know that Tsugumi won the broom relay? And Eun was the Moonlight Witch, we've been
really admired at school, only now it seems we can't talk about Shiny Chariot, it really sucks" Montgomery said.
I can imagine why, I'm leaving them to it, we're sitting on a sofa at their leisure, with the heating on, I could see the relief of each one sitting in that place, becoming much more relieved, that wire must have left them very tired, but now they can rest at ease, wow I missed them so much, there was so much that happened that I don't even know where to tell it, a surprise like that.
"So, Chariot, what was that about the false Chariot, in Luna Nova they never stopped talking about it, to this day there are people who talk about it, even if Professor Finnelan gets on the nerves of anyone who brings it up, and did you stop?" Eun asks and I nod.
"Shiny Chariot really stopped, I became more and more abandoned and they thought I was just a copy. I want to try other things, so in 2009 I'm going to take a sabbatical year, so I can cool off" I say to them, who are shocked.
"So it's the end? Just when we thought you'd be able to perform again... Well, that's okay, I can understand it, you had to go through so much" said Ryouko.
"Look, above all be happy and never stop being yourself, seeing you with Daniella is proof of that, I can see how much happier you are with her, so carry on with her, do what makes you feel good, it's a shame about the end of your career, but then we're still your friends, only Patricia stayed because she has something to do with this place, this silly rivalry between the two families, she said she could be expelled if they found out about the visit here so she didn't come, but she said she wished you a happy birthday and really wanted to see you again one day - I can't wait to see Patricia again too.
Well, I'm really looking forward to seeing what gossip they'll tell us from now on, it's great that they've been able to enjoy their time in Luna Nova, even though I've been away, look, as bad as things were at the end of last year, they'll get better this year, I just know that there's still the question of the future, so I have to enjoy every minute with these people as if it were the last because it might be, I'm really scared about the future.
[...]
"Chariot! Chariot! Chariot! Chariot! Chariot!" They all say congratulations, and it makes me emotional to see all the celebrations.
I'm breaking the cake after blowing out the candles and all I'm asking for is for things to be all right, I hope the cake doesn't betray me like it did when last year I asked for the Shiny Chariot to be glorious again like it was in 2007, apparently this cake should only ask for the opposite, but I really want that to happen, I asked to marry Daniella and be happy with her, I know that will happen one day at some point or another.
Then I hand out the pieces of cake, sit down on the sofa and get more comfortable. On this beautiful winter's night, the sky is full of clouds and the first grains of snow are falling from the sky.
"Wow, it's already snowing" said my girlfriend.
"The weather forecast said that it would snow tonight, but not heavily" said Granny.
"Well that just makes the photo better, come on people, take more photos of you together, I want the moment to be recorded" Mum said and we went to pose sitting on the sofa holding the slices of cake.
"It was worth travelling in the cold to visit you Chariot, your birthday outdoors was the best" said Tsugumi.
"I'm glad you came, I really hope we can see each other more often" I say excitedly.
"The way things are going in Luna Nova, I don't think it's too soon, we risked a scolding like that, Finnelan wanted to ban everyone from going out and we're here, we're going to serve detention, but it'll be worth it, this weekend will be with our great friend" Wow, they're going to get screwed because of me.
"That teacher, she never tires of being a bitch, seriously, who needs witch hunters when you have Anne Finnelan, that woman is a disservice to witches, she's already working overtime, for me we should make a revolution and renew witches, with new thoughts and more inclusion, these old witches only slow down magic, worst of all is that they influence the younger ones to be like them and that's the right thing" said Mum.
"One day we'll do it, let's celebrate and take everything inside too, before the snow gets it wet... OK, that'll do too" I say as Mum presses a button and makes a tarpaulin appear on the ceiling, creating a roof, and then she turns on a lamp and plugs it in to light up the place, which was a little dark.
Today was an unexpected birthday, I didn't think there would be so much going on, I'd even say there was more going on than my eighteenth birthday, there was a lot more going on and a lot more fun, seeing everyone smiling and having a good time is what has given me a bit of hope, I think I have to enjoy it more because it could be my last birthday, soon I'll have to go all the way back to France.
"My 19th birthday was full of things, but despite everything I wasn't that excited that day, it just seemed likeany other day apart from seeing my friends again and spending a wonderful day with Daniella, but in anycase it was the moment before something else that I was going to start climbing, the progress of the plan thatI had made with my mum, something that I was terrified of, but I also felt that it was a necessary evil."
Happy birthday, lesbian witches...