Friday 19th February 2010, Dublin, Ireland
"Well, it seemed like it would never come, but the day is here, I never thought I would revisit this trauma,think that it was the last day with you, but it turned out to be, after that day I disappeared for good, but youmust already imagine the reason, it's quite obvious if you connect all the dots of all the mistrust and the riskof the mission, I think Diana must have already realised why I disappeared, but come on, this is going to getvery tense here"
I'm already preparing for the next mission, to think that five days ago I proposed to Daniella and I'm already leaving for another mission at the Cavendish mansion, I feel the risk here, but come on, I have to get back to Diana as well, she must be missing me, I haven't been there since last year, there must be a few months' worth of stuff, so I'll get to my girlfriend and give her a hug and a kiss.
"Bye my love, I'll be right back, I'm going out again" I say to her and she smiles at me.
"I love you, Chariot, take care, okay? I'll wait for you when you arrive" said my girlfriend.
"I love you too Daniella, I promise to come back and treat you with all the love in the world, this mission will one day end" I say to her and then leave the room.
I take a deep breath and go downstairs, I've already eaten, so I go to the living room near the exit of the house, with my suitcases in hand I go to Mum's car, I leave the suitcase in the boot, I wave to Daniella, indicating that I was leaving, well it's today, my chance to go out, to see my little sister again, I really miss her.
We get into the car, I don't know why, but today in particular I have a strange feeling, as if I didn't have to go to the mansion, but we got the news that Daryl was going to leave, at least that's what Anna has been reporting so this is going to be very peaceful, I'm sure it will, I just want to be able to see my little sister again.
"You're very tense today, it's been a while since you've been out, hasn't it?" Even my mum noticed.
"I get scared every time, it seems that one day Daryl will show up and she'll do her worst" I say to my mum.
"There's no need to be scared, she's not going to do anything, I'm here for anything, I know she won't lay a finger on you, I guarantee it, you've managed to get along for almost a year, according to our progress we only need another two years and that's it, we're free" You're right Mum, I have to be less emotional.
We arrive at the airport, I'm relieved, well it's time for the journey, it's going to be very quick, I get out of the car, with my mum we walk around the places and leave our bags, today there's going to be another special trip, so I don't need to go with a purchased flight, she's even arranged a private one, so I get to another place to board, leaving my suitcase and my things where she picks them up and it's marked with my name and I go and give my mum a hug, very tight.
"Oh Chariot, what a hug, it's like you're saying goodbye to me forever" said my mum.
"I love you Mum, thank you for being the person I could always look up to as a role model, I just want to say goodbye as if it were the last time, I'm having strange feelings" I tell her.
"Do you want to stay at home? Can I cancel everything? If you feel like it" I nod.
"You can rest easy Mum, it's just my guess, I must be used to it, I'll try to be fine" I tell her and she pats me on the shoulder.
"Take care Chariot, I love you too girl, you'll be fine, I guarantee it" she said and with that I turned to go on board.
I have to let go of this nervousness, I'm just different because now there's more weight, it must be that, now I'm Daniella's fiancée, I think that's it, I'm going crazy, it's time to go, I'm walking around the terminal already preparing for the next trip, look Mum's even arranged a special flight for me, it's going to be different from a conventional one, all for this first mission of the year, well I have to focus on it too, there must be a lot to do.
[...]
I've arrived in Edinburgh, I'm getting into Carter's car, I'm looking at the landscape of the city and unlike Dublin here it's much cloudier and to make matters worse the trees are leafless because it's still winter, I'm really feeling scared today, but I have to hold my nerves I know everything is going to be very peaceful, at
least I hope so.
The car arrives at the Cavendish mansion, I can see the place from afar, we're approaching the back entrance and the fog around here doesn't help much, it makes it feel even worse, I take a deep breath, I know that at least Daryl isn't here, I imagine that Diana must be scared right now, but I'll be there to comfort her, that's it.
I get out of the car, I walk round the back of the house still as Chariot, until I reach the bedroom door, there I change my clothes and look at myself in the mirror, it's time to become Charlotte, I'm starting to get a little excited, I'll be able to see Diana again, but before I go out and see her I want to see how much is missing, I won't even have time to see my sister.
"Come on... Today's the day..." I say to myself in the mirror.
All ready, I leave the room, follow the path to the room where the copies of the Cavendish relics are kept and I soon realise that there's a lot of stuff, until I go in and see a pile, the books are piled high, I'm not going to finish this in two days, not in three, not in four, not in a week, it would take two weeks of hard work to change all this... Damn it, I should have come more often, I spent so much time with Daniella that I forgot about here. Well then, change of plan, I'm going to see Diana, she must be missing me now, that's what I'm going to do, it'll be better for my head, then I'll think about focusing on working hard, I can play for today and stay here a bit longer, that'll be it, I'll have to cheat a bit if I want to work more.
I get to the library and I see my little sister studying, she'd already got home from school at that time, which makes sense for her to be here, the sky was already getting dark when she arrived, so I approach my little sister, getting close to her desk and I just appear, casting a shadow on her book, which she looks up at and when she sees me her eyes fill with tears and I'm quickly hugged by the girl.
"Charlotte! Oh, I can't shout in the library, I'm sorry... You came" She was so excited and I'm just as excited.
"I was going to come, did you miss me?" I ask her and she smiles.
"Without you Christmas was awful, in fact it was the worst Christmas I've ever had, I was just treated badly, but now I can be with the best maid in the house, you're like Mum to me, you know everything Mum knows about looking after me, you know how to be nice and funny and play with me, let's go to the dining room you must be hungry" I confess I am a little.
She leads me along, holding my hand, it's so cute the way she walks with me, I feel even freer this way, through the nine witches, I get to the dining room and she's all smiles, looking at me and soon the maids arrive, bringing food, which I sit down since it was Diana's own request and wow, now I'm more satisfied eating.
"We're going to stay in today and play a lot of video games, it's too cold outside to go out, I've just got home from school and it was a lot of fun, auntie said she'd gone out with my cousins so I'm alone again, I even kept waiting for Anna to tell you when I was alone here, but you didn't, I was worried, but now that you've come I'm really happy" How sweet, now I can say that I'm here, it's been days that I've had to enjoy next to my wife.
I continue to eat and enjoy everything that's here, wow I'm so happy that I was able to see my sister again, she looks so beautiful, so cute, I genuinely missed her here, it fills my heart, I know I should focus on the mission, but I have my obligations with Diana and I have another plan going on that I was able to find out a lot about, so everything is pretty quiet.
Until I look at someone walking up to the table, I get nervous just looking and listening, the clogs tapping on the floor as they approach, that's not Anna, only one person in this house wears high heels and it's precisely her, which gives me the most fear as she approaches and reveals her face, I can't believe she's shown up just now, when I've barely arrived.
"Oh Diana, I've already told you not to eat with the maids and not to let them sit at the table, get up now... Who are you anyway" I get up nervously.
"You're not in charge of me or this house, Aunt Daryl, Charlotte is my friend and I let her eat at our table, she's much more family to me than you ever were" She doesn't look angry when she sees me, she just laughs, which scares me the most.
"Charlotte? I've never seen her here, you never told me about this new maid, she's also very strange, she doesn't look like the others, she's very young and seems sloppy" I'm terribly afraid my disguise might fall apart.
"It was Anna who called me here, Master Daryl, I'm new, I promise I won't make any mistakes, she wanted someone closer in age to Diana" I try to pretend I'm not nervous.
"Oh, and where's your paperwork?" I'm very tense about the nine witches.
"Don't fill her up aunt Daryl, make Charlotte special, she's my friend" I even see my sister standing in front of me, she has no idea how much fear this woman causes me to this day, I keep remembering when I was a weak and incapable child and I even feel my hand shaking all over.
"Oh, I'm just asking basic and very cordial questions, go to your room now, I have to have a serious talk with your dear little maid, now Anna, take her to her room, I have a special talk with this maid" I'm swallowing saliva, I'm trembling just at her presence, this face is so punchable, by the nine witches, it's not possible that she knows right away that it's me.
I stare at Diana looking at me worriedly, she even looks a little sad, but she has no idea how much tension there is around all this, no idea at all, by the nine witches, I'm going to have to start acting soon, my hands just keep shaking and shaking a lot, I feel like I'm about to punch Daryl in the face.
She keeps signalling for me to leave, I think she knows too much, for the nine witches, what do I do now? Will the plan happen sooner than I thought it would? I'm too tense for that right now.
We arrive at the backyard, right outside, I'm even under the dress with a much lighter and more agile outfit, if I need to fight I'll fight, even if I end up dying, I stare at her closely, she's laughing, she knows too much.
"You really don't stop coming here, do you, Chariot?" She's already figured it out so easily, and she's even showing off a bug which she destroys with her hand.
"How did you know it was me?" I ask her.
"I'd been suspicious for a few months, so I paid some of the housekeepers to watch you very closely and they told me everything, how close you've been getting to Diana, and everything else, how right my suspicion was that she was so happy when I left her here alone, apparently I was right about something, who knew, Charlotte Dupont, such an obvious name for your disguise, you don't even hide it apparently" I'm too perplexed, she's much more intelligent than she looks.
"So you know I'm Charlotte, how pathetic, I'll just go away and never come back, or I can come back in another guise and it'll be fine" I say laughing, trying somehow to stay strong, but she waves her fingers.
"I know you've been stealing everything in the mansion, I think you'd better stop or I'm going to have to do something worse, I know you've been bugging me to incriminate me, did you really think your little plan with your mum would work?" Well, she found out, but she found out too late too.
I take off my dress and wig revealing what I really look like, which is quite different and I feel lighter, just as I turn my little clog into a pair of trainers to have more grip if I'm going to fight, which I'm already staring at Daryl for, she must be surprised that my body isn't the same helpless child as before, I've been trained by the best for a year and I've been looking forward to a moment like this.
"What are you trying to show Chariot, I know you've grown up and you're an adult, not bad at all, you've got a body that would be worth a lot of money in a Playboy magazine, and you'd blow up a lot if you posed as Shiny Chariot" I get even more annoyed.
"As you can see, I'm not the same helpless child as before, you're not dealing with a little girl and you should be aware of that because I'm going to show you here how well I've been trained by my mum Laura, I'm going to beat you in a fight, it's going to be worth something important, I just want one offer, can I tell you what I want if I win the fight?" She even laughs at me.
"Do you think you're in a position to demand something?" I smile.
"What are you going to threaten me with? Do anything against me and they'll know something and spread evidence against you committing child abuse against Diana, you'll go to jail and you'll get the worst of it, you'll lose everything and custody of the children will be mine, I recommend not trying anything against me, I've gathered very compromising evidence for your side Daryl Cavendish" I'm confident, she just seems to be laughing.
"Oh my, do you really think you're in an equal fight in this one? So make your bet, what do you want if you win this fight? Even though I'm in no position to do anything" I've already made up my mind.
"I'm going to stop robbing the Cavendish mansion and I'm not going to come here again until some things are sorted out, but I just want Diana, you're going to promise me not to touch anything in the mansion, you're not going to touch a relic, you're not going to sell anything, you're going to leave the house exactly the way it was when I left here, but I want Diana with me, I'm going to take her to France and I'm going to leave you alone, she'll be in better hands with me and Daniella, I'll return everything too, I'll bring things back to the mansion" I'll be very direct.
"Oh, so that's it? You want Diana and for me not to touch the house, well that's fine with me, but if I win, you'll disappear completely, you won't tell anyone and I really want you gone, otherwise I'll kill everyone you love and I can do that with peace of mind, I just didn't do it for lack of choice, Laura and Diana? They'll end up dying tragically when they get close to each other, Daniella, I'll take care of that one myself, your aunt April, I'll take care of that one too, Megan will go along and of course someone you haven't heard from in a few months, but is now at MIT, this person who still seems to think about you, a Croix, she'll be killed too, you're going to lose everyone if you don't stay quiet in your other identity, if you don't get away from here far away, and when I say far away I mean far away, I don't want to see you in Europe if I don't kill everyone you love" I'm very tense, she wants me to end up leaving, but I'm confident, I'm not the same Chariot as before.
"And do you really think I'm the Chariot from before? That I'm just a helpless little child?" I tell her that she's the same and even confident enough to point her thumb at me.
"It doesn't matter to me, the moment you proposed the battle I already knew it would be won, even your proposal is weak, as always Chariot trying to be the mediating heroine, you could ask me to leave forever, but no, you still get all cute, that's what compares you to your mum, she wouldn't have hesitated to shoot me in the forehead now, no matter how much it got her framed and imprisoned, she'd always have a plan for that, but you don't have the intelligence or the cold blood that Laura has, it's really a shame, I think I'm going to have to show you what the meaning of fear is" I'm not afraid of that snake anymore.
"Are you really going to wear high heels? You're not even going to put on boots? That just makes the fight harder" She looks at me laughing.
"I won't need it" Well then, let's fight.
I take a deep breath and start concentrating my magic, now I have nothing to inhibit it and no weight, this is going to be easy, which I start looking at Daryl himself and I'm already running towards her with everything, I'm going to show what I came for, I concentrate the magic in my legs and I jump with everything to hit a two-footed volley at the damn thing, I throw myself at her and she makes a magical barrier, but I can't stop it, I hit her and see her crack, and then it causes an explosion and I throw myself backwards and Daryl too, we stand back and stare at each other and that was just the first attack, I'm not messing around.
"Look, I even underestimated your magic a bit, you're really strong" That was just an opening attack.
"I told you I'm not just anyone" She even uses her wand to turn her high heels into boots, I knew she'd have to use another way of fighting.
I'm concentrating again, this time I turn into a cheetah, gaining momentum and speed and I'm back to normal facing Daryl who dodges my first blow, which was going to be a punch, she's agile, she's slender like a snake, when I thought I was going to win, she's harder than she looks, I'm going to try my best, I know I can get an advantage, I notice an opening, I use my magic with my open hand to hit her, I see that she's been thrown backwards, and that's my chance, I start concentrating the magic in my hands like I learnt from Mum and I make a glyph that shoots projectiles at Daryl and there are many of them like a rain.
"I told you I wasn't joking" I say to her.
A whole puff of smoke is created, it appears in the middle in the shape of a snake, coming at me, which I dodge, turning into a bird and with that I launch myself into the sky and high up I can see everything from above, which I start to concentrate my magic forming a bow, I don't know if this will kill it or not, but I have to hit it, Daryl isn't going to fight, he really wants to kill me and if I don't stay smart I could end up being one of the victims.
I launch the magic arrow, but she dodges in snake form and comes at me with all her might, but I use a glyph to propel myself and I build up strength in my legs, launching myself with all my might, I'm going to kick her with all my might, I end up hitting the snake's snout with an impact wave that's strong enough to hit it and I fall to the ground and stare at it until it returns to normal and I realise that it was enough to make Daryl's nose bleed, wow I did all that to cause a nosebleed, that was common for me with any blow from Mum.
"Not bad, you know how to hit hard girl, you know how to be clever in a fight, your mother trained you well, but I'm still just playing with my food" She's just using bluffs to destabilise me.
"That was just the beginning, to show you that I'm not just a puncher, I still have a lot of magic to spare" I try to be confident, but she seems more powerful than I imagined.
"It's time for this snake to show why it's venomous" Daryl turns into a snake and, as if he were a figure, comes towards me.
I jump up and down, she almost does a constriction attack and several snakeheads come towards me. In the middle of my jump, I cast magic to create momentum and also to hit the snakeheads, if I'm hit by the poison, I'm in trouble.
I look back and see a huge snake head coming towards me with its mouth ready to bite me, I quickly dodge it and use my magic concentrated in my hand to punch it with everything that makes Daryl return to his normal form, she had taken a hook right on the chin with that, which I drop to the ground and run towards her who defends a punch that I was going to hit using a magical barrier.
She then uses another one to defend against a knee strike, and with that I realise that she can defend herself very well against physical attacks. My mother wouldn't let me hit her either, but she would only dodge without using barriers that were always cracking, that way I'll never be able to land a physical blow, I just break the barriers and she creates another one, I feel something coming up behind me, it was like a giant snake, I quickly dodge and make a magic arrow, which Daryl dodges.
"Idiot, those little arrows won't..." She doesn't realise it, but this was an explosive arrow that ends up launching her right through a barrier, right where I land and leave my leg with all my might.
She gets very close to me and I kick her in the stomach with everything I've got, I can see the strong shockwave that ends up throwing her backwards and I'm getting ready to make another attack, I use my magic to teleport and with that I let my strength charge up to deliver a high kick that hits her with everything and causes her to be thrown upwards and I make use of the same teleportation technique, but when I was going to deliver a hammer blow I end up missing, as if it were an illusion of her own.
I feel a huge snake right behind me, I turn round and grab hold of it with the strength of my hand, it's mouth open and it's about to poison me, so I grab hold of its snout and prepare my magic to explode something, but it reverts to the form of several snakes and I know that, so I push myself upwards and I end up being surprised by Daryl himself, going to kick me, but I manage to defend myself in the air and we separate again, I stare at her a little out of breath, I didn't realise she was so strong, all the training I've done for a year makes me suffer in this fight.
"For someone who wants to adopt Diana at all costs, you don't seem motivated enough Chariot" They're just words, she just wants to destabilise you, you learned that from Mum.
"You were so confident of victory that you haven't landed a blow on me so far, while I've already landed a few, even you have wound marks from my attacks, while I've barely been hit" She even smiled a little and I could see the snakes coming even closer to me, there were several, but what a coward.
"You're daft to think that I stopped to talk" said the woman herself, I'll jump like that, this fight is only meant to be in the air, I'll turn into a bird and fly away, barely missing being caught.
What a coward, I forget Mum talks about the low guard, luckily I've been well trained not to be taken by surprise, she comes at me in the shape of a snake and I already know what this snake attack is, so I decide to make an attack launching myself even further into the air like a bird, and with that I'm right up there, now falling I use my accumulated magic in my hands and start to cast many spells against her creating a veritable rain of magic to give one explosion after another.
Which ends up filling the room with smoke, more than the fog that's being dissipated precisely because of the intensity of the fight, now Daryl you've fallen for my trick, you're going to know my technique, she can't escape from here without taking damage, I didn't want to do that, but it's going to be necessary, I realise that the room was so full of smoke that I think I overdid it.
I look to the side and I'm shocked, it was her, I shot her so much that she wasn't even in free fall, she even braked and gave me a boost, but I was taken by surprise and she hit me with a kick, throwing me to the ground, which I got up calmly, already doing another technique, since corbras are cold-blooded animals so she won't be able to keep up if I freeze the ground and that's what I do, then I see her landing and she's looking at me laughing.
"Clever move Chariot, look not bad, you're really strong and clever, it's just that a magic bombing technique is simply useless, didn't your mum teach you that? I used to use the same thing when I got angry and lost
the first time against her, she mocked me so much using that technique that it made me change, you seem to be learning things too late, I was your age once, but I wasn't that dumb, do you think you could beat me?" I'm just showing you a few things to scare you, I don't want to go all out now.
"Well you've still been hit and you're at a disadvantage now, I still have a lot of attacks I can make, I'm not backing down Daryl, you can have as many attacks as you want, I'm not going to surrender" I tell her confidently,
"I know you won't, it's a shame you're so naïve and silly, now the battle is interesting" What? I felt something stinging me, I looked at my leg and realised it was a snake, which I quickly used my magic to remove.
Damn, she poisoned me, what a coward, now how am I going to win this fight? Luckily I still have this, I take an antidote out of my pocket and create a pedestal higher up where I take it and heal myself from the poison so I don't get so affected, she even looks at it impressed, but she has no idea how strong I am.
"Daryl found out and she knew for at least a few months, she was just letting me think that she didn't know, inthe end you must already know what the result of this fight is, but I still tried until the end and I want to showhow I tried everything to win, but in the end I didn't succeed since that damn Daryl was at a level beyondwhat I imagined."
"Daryl isn't weak, I've already faced her and the fight was a bit of a struggle, that was with her still very youngat about 15 years old, imagine against the older and more experienced Daryl, she's only below Bernadettewho was already very strong herself, but she's not bad either, you thought too much in thinking that facingher would come to something, but I don't judge you, it was all nothing and a mission like that was risky, it wasall or nothing and you tried everything to make it, to think that things could be very different."
See you, truth witches...