Chapter 37

Diana's internal clock told her it was nine in the morning. She was still spooked about the existence of witches and witchcraft and the main reason was mainly her stubbornness to believe in such fairytales. Answers weren't retrieved much but more questions started to form especially when Lotte who had to remove some forgetfulness spell that was literally eating her brain alive.

After the successful counter curse, Diana had to sleep. Lotte's lullaby spell actually worked. It embarrassed her to admit that she had slept well for months.

Lotte left after that, but so far, she gathered that magic wasn't all that bad.

Now when she received another visitor, she thought it would be Lotte again, or Chloe to continue where they left off so they can spill everything about witchcraft, but found herself mistaken. The visitor had the ID of a guest clipped on her blouse. Diana knew for a fact that the French professor was no witch.

"I thought the Mets called for a hired psychiatrist to try profiling me," Diana said as Professor Ursula otherwise known as Shiny Chariot by her close peers came into view. "But I guess I was wrong... I am afraid I am losing my grasp on reality."

Professor Ursula acted like the statement didn't faze her as she sat down on the chair in front of Diana's glass prison. "The reality if this situation is Croix Meridies misusing the power of her office. She's desperate, and breaking the law."

"Whatever do you mean?"

Professor Ursula blinked, once, before donning her neutral expression, questioning. "Do you know what an imago is, Diana?"

"A psychoanalysis term."

"Correct," she pursed her lips in a small grin. "An imago is an image of a loved one, buried in the unconscious, carried with us all our lives. It is ideal. I have a concept of you, just as you have a concept of me and I'm here to see how much I've gotten right."

Diana grabbed the chair next to her table and positioned herself to face the older woman. "You appear to know more about me than you let on."

"Oh trust me, Diana. Despite the fact that you figured out my real identity, I still possess more information about you than you ever know yourself or your mother."

"I think I possess both the interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence as I practice them quite often, thank you very much."

"That's not what I meant, girl." Professor Ursula said, crossing her legs. "I'm merely stating that you don't know your mother."

"What?" she staggered. "Of course I do. When I was young, my mother would tell me stories about her childhood and I would watch her as she practices medicine and study biology."

"Your mother is dead, Diana." The Professor from Luna Nova said coldly. It gave Diana the impression that the more she spent time with her, the more she seemed to be a stranger. "A girl's illusions are no basis for a woman's life." She continued. "There are years of her life where she doesn't have you yet and sides of her she never showed you. You don't know her as much as you thought you do."

"And you do?"

"I was 16 when I first knew her. So I don't know that much."

Diana firmly planted her feet onto the floor and placed her palms on her lap as she leaned forward. One of the recent secrets she learned from her mother was that Bernadette Cavendish healed the wounded Human Regurgitator. It suddenly frightened her to think that there could be more secrets that can tarnish the Cavendish name.

"If you are trying to tell me something, I suggest you do it before your visitation rights end."

"It's uncanny." Professor Ursula said, eyebrow shot to her hairline. "The more I look at you, I see your mother. I see her voice, her posture, even her mannerisms."

"You know my mother personally?"

The older woman nodded.

"I am my mother's daughter." She said as if the sentence had all the answers.

"You have more in common than you realize."

A sliver of hope pierced the dread that had been building in her chest, allowing her to breathe in as the other question she had since she was young might no longer remain a mystery, "Are you about to tell me who my father is?"

Professor Ursula smirked. "Not really, but we'll get to that, I promise you."

Diana's hope shrunk before it could even reach its maturity. She eyed the professor shrewdly, her years of experience had clearly sharpened her ability to assess people's statements.

"You never once asked about how your aunt's holding up."

"She has never visited or come to my company when she was called. I believe it means she does not care."

"Same, I'd rather not talk about familial dramas. We have a lot more to deal with. But first... we have company," Professor Ursula announced, beckoning towards someone out of sight.

Someone's footsteps interrupted their conversation. The person forced themselves to break into a jog as they walked swiftly down the corridor. When the person turned the corner, Diana groaned. The person was a brunette, but Diana recognized the way she held her chin and shoulders and the slight preference of the left leg when walking. Diana could tell this was some kind of confrontation and Detective Inspector Croix don't want to give the impression that she wanted to talk to her.

"What is up with the whole..." Diana asked, swirling her forefinger to her face, indicating the fake latex mask.

"I need to go and hide." Detective Inspector Croix said. "It's not easy to go ask help from your ex-lover... and I somehow disabled the audio that's recording this conversation for a total of 15 minutes."

"Is the conversation so secretive?" Diana asked. "You know what, I cannot help but think of the possibility that I was bait for the witches to come out in hiding. Did you seriously bring me here for that reason? Was I a bait all along?"

"You know about the witches?" Professor Ursula asked.

"As a matter of fact, they approached me last night."

"I would never call you a bait, but an incentive." Detective Inspector Croix did not beat around the bush. "Cops under me started dropping since Miss O'Neill died due to multiple accidents and illnesses. I wouldn't waste your time on all of them. The most imperative of them was Wangari."

"What?"

"Dormitory fire," she simply stated. "I was completely useless as a leader. What had I been thinking, pretending like I had what it took to inspire, to keep others safe? No matter what I do or where I went, people suffered."

A silent scream of grief and guilt surged up in Diana, but she held it in. It was beyond monstrous. No one should have to suffer this.

"Her roommates all survived though. I'm not convinced it was an accident. How about you?"

"I would say there are indeed grounds of doubt," Diana said. "And I am still pissed that you withheld information from me, you wanker."

"I might have." Detective Inspector Croix said with a slightly amused smile on her lips. "But it is all for the greater good, Diana. The less the people who knew about magic's existence, the better. After all, I really had no other reason to believe that Sucy Manbavaran placed a target on your head."

"But you knew who she was and what she was capable off... and you did not even warn me?"

"Diana, have you seen yourself? If I told you no, you would bend your way around the rules to find a hole."

Professor Ursula massaged her forehead, probably stressed out by the fact the conversation led a different path. "The question remains, Diana. Are you willing to cooperate with witches?"

"Certainly, and I would love to find out what kind of dark magic Sucy possess."

"Its voodoo magic—" Detective Inspector Croix said, having the same information as Lotte. "But not just any kind. The particular doll she uses is a cursed one; a doll that actually talks, flies, and curses even its owner. It's so messed up."

Professor Ursula's eyes shone wistfully. "We know what the cursed doll does to its person. I saw it firsthand on the Human Regurgitator—Sinag. Her sunken cheeks and dull eyes. The way her bones jutted; her cold skin veined with sickness. And she was a stubborn hellion, feeding on fury to keep herself sane, with a cause to hold on to, albeit a foolish, doomed one."

"The doll looks like a puppet, but don't let its appearance fool you." The taller woman continued. "The doll is the puppet master itself, and it would bury its way to a person's intrusive thoughts and drive them to act on it. What the cursed doll does is not coercion. It is persuasion. If the doll managed to persuade you to kill somebody, then you are entirely under its influence. It got Sucy to take a life so she would owe the doll hers."

The retired magician nodded, commenting. "Sucy bonds with Akko, it takes her away. Sucy bonds with Lotte, it takes her away. The doll saw to it that Sucy alienated all her friends and acquaintances and what's left of her foster family. The doll doesn't want Sucy to have anything in her life that's not the cursed doll itself."

"As I have told you before, Diana. When we were near your age, Chariot and I crossed paths with the Human Regurgitator. Sinag posed as a harmless circus performer, you see."

"The reason why I left the performing world was that I knew my life was in danger when I learned Sinag's secret. Croix decided to become a detective when I nearly died after our confrontation with her."

"And that's how Sinag met Bernadette. Your mother couldn't refuse to help the wounded. Of course, the Cavendish Head didn't know who she was, but she still offered her shelter while the whole Wild Hunt searched for her. Then a miracle happened."

"I'm having a hard enough time dealing with this world," Diana said, gnashing her teeth. "And you tell me she received a miracle when I have not?"

"Everything that can happen, happens." Professor Ursula said. "It has to end well and it has to end badly. It has to end every way it can. That is the way it ended for your mother."

Diana frowned.

"It wasn't your mother's fault, to begin with. Fate was cruel to her to let her fall in love with a criminal."

Sucy was on a killing spree. Granted it was all a bunch of methods that the police would rule as various accidents and natural deaths, but still, it released happy chemicals to her brain, satisfying her emptiness with a rush better than psychedelic mushrooms ever will.

For one blissful moment, Sucy was happy. She didn't want it to end. She would forever protect it.

"Don't celebrate just yet," Loa called over Sucy's shoulder. "Your Canadian puppet hasn't found the missing detective."

Nevertheless, even Loa's spoilsport had no effect to dissuade her joy.

"I know it's too early to celebrate, but I can't help but be ecstatic!" She said breathlessly, bouncing towards Loa with a grin. "I feel powerful, Loa. Usually controlling my human puppet would only take a few hours, now it's been 24 hours and I don't feel any fatigue."

"And I am proud of you."

"It's quite a shame, really, if my mother was here—I have this inkling feeling that she would be proud of me." She scowled.

"Well, there's an overdue sentiment," Loa said with mock gravity. "To invoke your mother with the same distaste, you haven't changed."

Sucy let out a small sigh and ran her fingers through her hair. "I can't believe my mother wanted out of this. Killing people out of spite is the best!"

"She had a reason."

"What could possibly be that stupid thing that leads her to her own demise?"

"You see," the doll drawled as it pushed over the floor and hovered in the air for a moment before floating down to Sucy's hand slowly. "She stupidly fell in love. In order to be with her beloved, she had you to transfer the curse to you... all just to pursue it."

"Intriguing," Sucy said, a creepy smile plastered on her lips. "That's the line where our similarities differ, I will never do that. I will never be like her."

"Do you promise that?" Loa asked, hopeful.

Sucy didn't know what to make of Loa's weird tone so she retrieved her phone from the table and looked at the news articles she bookmarked. "The Human Regurgitator had a fascinating story. I would be a little proud of her, but she wasted everything. Shame she wasted it all on a stupid person."

"She chose that path, Sucy. I just hope you wouldn't choose the same."

Sucy squeezed her eyes shut, replaying her favorite moments as a witch again in her mind. Just to try to distract her thoughts from filling it with questions about her mother.

She will never be her mother. She wished so hard she wouldn't be her mother. She wouldn't bring a child into this world for their little heart to suffer and plunge deep into the cold, bitter world.

It worked for a moment, but the curiosity and pain inevitably returned with a renewed fury. "Loa, it has been itching at the back of my mind for days now. Who did my mother fell in love with for her to decide to leave all her past behind?"

They both relapsed into silence.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Well of course! There's a great possibility that he's my father, I want to know what I'm made of."

"I don't think it's worth mentioning now. We must focus on the now."

Sucy rasped, hitting her fist on the kitchen counter. "I demand you to tell me."

Loa sighed. "Fine."

She tried to slow down time for a moment. She deepened her breathing and willed her heart rate into a steadier rhythm. "Why are you taking so long to tell me?"

"Pardon me, Sucy... even if I was there, to begin with, it was hard for me to process all this."

"Oh just spit it out!"

"The answer might shock you."

"So?" Sucy quipped. "Do dermatologists hate him?"

If the doll had the ability to blink, it would have been doing it now. "I fail to recognize your references, Sucy. Your father was just a random hooker from a bar in the Philippines whom your mother killed after."

"That doesn't surprise me at all," Sucy said, after hearing her mother's promiscuity. "Then who the fuck is my mother's love, Loa?"

"Your mother got shot during the chase where the Met's special police force called the Wild Hunt nearly caught her. And a doctor-in-training nursed her back to health. The time period between them caused such a tide of events as they proclaimed their love for one another."

"Who is this doctor?"

"Her name is Bernadette Cavendish."

"You mean to tell me that my mother was in love with Sinag Manbavaran?"

Both women nodded, gulping air as if they too can't believe the fact even if they have known it for years. "And Sinag was equally in love with her." Professor Ursula provided.

"From what I've gathered, she tried so many times to kill you, but you always persevered." Detective Inspector Croix smirked, a little proud.

"You mean..." her voice came out all hoarse. "My delusions were right all along? There were people who died in my stead?"

"I'm afraid so. Some out of protecting you and some were mere coincidence."

"Is that meant to be a compliment?"

"No, not a compliment."

"I think we may have an opportunity now that we have the witches' support." Professor Ursula interjected. "It's clear this conflict was inevitable. It's just a matter of time before all of us drawn into a fight. Better we deal with it swiftly before..." she took a deep breath. "Before even more people get hurt. We need to get you out of here."

"Why do you think I must be the priority?" Diana asked she leaned so close to the glass that she almost feared her breath would fog it up. "Don't mind me here, stop Sucy at all cost."

"Thinking of others first before yourself, Diana?" The woman in disguise asked. "Do you think that's so righteous? Didn't you ever think that that's what led you in this prison?"

"I am innocent, Inspector. I am also able to hire a great lawyer. I will be out in no time, and who is to say Sucy would not swipe a third of the population from the safe abode of her own flat just for the fun of it while all those who stand a chance against her decides to free an insignificant girl?"

"Your humor and sarcasm are a cry for help, which is honestly alarming, to say the least. Particularly in reminiscent to a certain someone I know." She said, giving Detective Inspector Croix the side eye. "Besides, the court might have ruled differently, since we can't present magic as evidence."

"Maybe but so far, the courts have ruled in our favor."

"Not really, you know that bad things happen to good people all the time." The Detective Inspector responded dryly. "I've already lost so many people... I couldn't bear to lose you." She took a deep breath, and a new fierceness crept into her voice. "We have struggled against enormous tasks, but we have persevered. We are busting you out of here first. And to do so, we all agree that you need to convince someone else to help remain quiet."

"Yes, you should ask for her help."

Diana shifted her gaze among the two women, confounded, "Who?"

"The only person who was able to get close with Sucy Manbavaran—Akko. You need to tip the scales in your favor, Diana, because so far, Sucy's got all of Akko's support."

It was noon when Professor Ursula stood in front of Sucy's doorway and Sucy tilted her head towards the door questioningly.

"Trouble..." Loa croaked, before turning into a hissy nag. "Kill her, control her, I don't care what you do, just attack her."

Pulling back, it took a moment for Sucy's head to stop spinning, but the urgency of the situation forced her to come crashing back to reality as fast as she could possibly plunge. Akko's guardian might have used her pick locking skills to forcibly open the door to confront her.

Upon approaching, it became clear that she was the one operating under some kind of confusion when two girls, Lotte and Chloe stood behind the older woman. Chloe stood proudly, while Lotte tried to make herself invisible with how small she was making herself.

This was more than just a confrontation, Sucy noticed. That was plain even to her inexperienced eyes, and who knew what kind of weapons they had hidden on them.

Sucy had an inkling feeling, but now her suspicions were confirmed. Chloe was her kind—a witch. And she's pretty sure she earned the French witch's wrath for constantly bullying her crush.

"What do you want?" she commanded.

"Can we talk to you?" Professor Ursula asked, apprehensively. Her air of austere demeanor fizzled out, "without the voodoo doll?"

"So you can try and capture me while I'm defenseless? No, thank you."

"Someone's a little cranky." Lotte greeted her with a cautious smile, her voice low so as avoid drawing the professor's attention. "Is something up?" she inquired softly, leaning forward intimately and taking Sucy's hand in hers. She tilted her head to one side, maybe knowing that Sucy wouldn't be able to resist answering her, giving in to her when she looked so cute.

Sucy's forehead creased, she felt a piece of crumbled paper inside her palm that wasn't there before. She eyed Lotte, sending her a silent question before averting her gaze to Akko's guardian. "I didn't know you were with Professor Ursula, and certainly didn't realize that Chloe was a witch until it's too late."

"Well," Lotte shrugged, squeezing her hand a little before she let go. "I told you there are witches amuck. Professor Ursula asked for our presence because she wants to talk to you."

"So she knows you all witches? What are you? Some paid shield then?" Sucy chuckled. "That's genius of her; two against one? I'm a little scared."

Lotte nodded before looking at her client. "I guess the doll can stay and listen."

"You're talking about me and I'm just right here. I could bury you, plebeian." Loa voice rang out amidst the tension.

"So," Sucy crossed her arms. She had a pain in her stomach, the kind she used to get as a kid when all the other kids at the orphanage used to pick on her. "What do you want from me?"

"We ask you to surrender," Chloe said straight to the point.

Sucy snorted in amused disbelief. "We are having this conversation again?"

"You are losing, Sucy." Professor Ursula responded dryly. "They will corner you in a few days. Akko might care about you, but I care more about her."

"That's okay; I know Akko's the only one who loves me."

"Not true at all," Lotte said, she wanted to put her arms around Sucy, to coo her to stop fighting, and to comfort her, but she couldn't. She knew Sucy would only pull away. "I care about you, Sucy."

"Lies!" she snarled.

"You could spare yourself, you know." Lotte continued. "You could plead not guilty because of mental incapacity. And in return, they will make a psychological profile for you. You could end this before it goes worse. Your childhood is miserable and a miserable childhood can render such children vulnerable to outside influences. Your fondness for the deceiving doll affected your mental health."

"Do you really think the court can dismiss me if you call it a mental health issue, a delusion?"

"She's right, Lotte." Professor Ursula said. "Sucy here is a psychopath and psychopaths are not mentally ill. What they suffer from is called behavioral disorder. Serial killers are able to distinguish good and evil at the time of their crimes, the law holds them responsible for their actions and thus deemed able to stand trial. Little by little, the noose around you is tightening. Before that happens, you're going to stop associating with the doll and its evil magic," she ordered, her stare boring into Sucy's eyes.

"If that happens, I can have Loa kill everyone."

Professor Ursula sighed, crossing her arms. "The magic doesn't work when you are killed, Sucy."

"What? H-how did you know?"

"I told you I know a lot about you. When you die, Loa becomes incapable of killing. It needs you as you need it. If you die without a child, she dies along with it. Its soul fades into nothingness; unless... the doll breaks its own curse."

"What are you insinuating?"

"The doll traps you to itself. You may think that you're the puppet master, but the doll is the one controlling you."

Sucy rolled her eyes, barking out a chuckle. "Are you out of ideas to defeat me? Because I'm telling you, Diana makes much more effort than this."

"The doll's here, isn't it? Why don't you ask it? About how much it lied."

"I did not lie!" Loa yelled, hiding as she plunged deep into Sucy's clothes.

"Or withheld information," Lotte added.

Sucy's face hardened. She grabbed Loa by the neck and pulled it out of her sweater. She stared expectantly for answers at the doll, but she was only met by a blank look. The minute she sunk her thumb to Loa's throat, the doll fell still, and Sucy finally released it on the counter.

"It seems there's a lot of be unfold." Professor Ursula tipped her head and spun around on her heel. "I bid you a good evening, Sucy. Enjoy being alone."

Chloe wasted no time following their leader. Lotte stared at her retreating companions before staring longingly at Sucy. As if she didn't want to leave her. Sucy didn't want her to leave too; fearing what might come if Loa indeed had something big going on without her knowledge. It would ease her troubles if she knew she wouldn't be alone in this. But then, Sucy thought that Lotte was her person in the room, but the fact that she came to her flat room with Professor Ursula, Lotte might be her person.

"Relax, Sucy, I'm not going to jump down your throat again anytime soon," Lotte reassured her. "You're not quite as big or bad as you would like to believe. Still respectable, though, don't get me wrong," she raced to add before Sucy could think to take offense.

Her hasty amendment had the desired effect; Sucy found her nervousness rather adorable. "You're forgiven. I overreacted anyways, I know that you don't like it when I pull that shit. It's just—" Sucy sighed in exasperated frustration, trying to think of how best to explain what she wanted to say.

"Listen," Lotte interrupted her hastily. "You've got to remember that you're you. You choose to have a small circle because that's the way you like it. You choose to keep to yourself to protect your already fragile heart, and I respect that—especially given the circumstances—but all the same, it's your choice."

"Right now, I don't have that kind of choice. What I'd like," Sucy said and the scorn imbued in the word wasn't completely able to mask its undertone of longing, "doesn't even factor into it. I'm lucky to have you as it is."

"That was almost sentimental, Sucy," Lotte teased lightly. "But for all that's worth, thank you for listening to us. We do care about you. Learn the truth about your doll. Demand that Loa would reveal everything to you. The doll can't disobey your orders. Make sure it tells you everything because it manipulates by omitting the truth." She warned one last time before sauntering off.

Sucy directed her attention at the voodoo doll sitting on the counter. "You heard her start spilling."

It took Loa several moments before it began to speak.

"Your mother was preoccupied with taking lives that she's having trouble wrapping her head around making one. When women become mothers, they undergo biochemical changes that affect the way they think."

"What are you trying to say, Loa? I thought my mother had me for selfish reasons."

"She did. But it all changed right when she had you. She didn't want you to carry the burden! She didn't want to continue using me so she tried to obliterate me out of existence." The doll stated all matter-of-fact, letting out a startlingly dark laugh. "But I am dark magic, her attempts backfired and she died in the aftermath."

Sucy shook her head in disbelief. "You… you fed me lies… about her, about me…."

"Half-truths, Sucy. I never lied to you. I merely withheld information. Oh, how your mother cherished you. The pangs of maternity made her want to be a good mother. She left you in that religious orphanage to be certain someone would make sure you would shun all things evil and become a holy protected child."

There was a pause.

"She miscalculated of course; she didn't expect that the same orphanage would lead you to me. She didn't know you would come back here in Blytonbury, heart filled with boiling anger and resentment. Your mother was the greatest witch out there. Her only ruin was that she loved... most especially you."

"She could have aborted me... she could have led the Manbavaran line die."

"She didn't want to abort you. Oh, how quickly humans form attachments to something that does not yet exist." Loa snapped; Sucy's head jerked back up at the hostile tone and she was surprised to see Loa glaring at her with anger and hurt mingling in her button eyes.

"Its maternal love, Loa, something you would not understand."

"I only want what's best for you." Loa said, trying. "Isn't that the same as maternal love?"

"Please," Sucy rolled her eyes. "Every person I kill is a personal victory."

"And every kill you make makes me prouder and prouder. Similar to a mother, watching her child learn how to walk, learn how to talk, learn how to write. You are just alone as I am Sucy. And we're both alone without each other. You can't throw me away. You can't destroy me while you live. The only way you can kill me is if you die without any offspring. And while I exist, you will never ever find love."

"So it has come to this, hasn't it?" Sucy grinned. "I would see myself wearing the same shoes as my mother. Either I could become selfish and provide you a female heir, or become selfless and die to make sure you would."

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both." Loa quoted, making Sucy furrow her eyebrows at the thought that the doll reads. "In the end, it's still just the two of us, Sucy. So... what will it be? I can't be used by someone who doesn't have the Manbavaran blood."

"So two converging paths, a road everyone else has trekked and a road less traveled. Which would I take?" Sucy asked.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I... I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."

Sucy gritted her teeth. So hard she feared she'd lock her jaw. "No, Loa, you're mistaken."

The doll's stitch arched, confounded.

"I can forge myself a new road."

"How could you possibly do that without having a child? You know, only those who have the Manbavaran blood can use me."

"I know it's a stretch, Loa, but I can try. Hypothetically, if I were to transfer my ownership to my child, will my child have the right to curse me using you?"

"Your child may not, and cannot," Loa replied coolly. "It says so in the rules in the old tome that previous holders are immune to the next heir's magic. Why the question, Sucy? Are you planning to make an heir?"

"Perhaps, but I don't need to spread my legs for that. You see, I'm planning a devious one. I may have found a loophole in the rules of ownership. I'm going to transfer my authority of you to Diana Cavendish."

"How? Only those with Manbavaran blood can wield me."

But Sucy knew something that Loa wasn't telling her. "If I believe correctly, Diana Cavendish will escape prison and she will find solace in Chloe's apartment as a fugitive."

"How did you know that?"

Sucy's throat constricted as she stared at the piece of crumpled paper with words of warning that Lotte subtlety handed her. "Lotte told me. She has told me everything about Diana that she herself doesn't know."

A/N: Three chapters left before the end! I hope you guys don't kill me.