"I think he will be good to go soon," Bella states as she walks back to the fire. "It is really too bad that you are bound, Jen. You have a true gift." Bella continues, staring down at Agatha.
"How do you know she is bound?" Lilia asked.
"Yeah, Bella, how do you know that she is bound?" Agatha continues in a mocking tone.
"Who is ready for the next trial?" Teen asked, saving Bella from having to respond.
"No better time than the present," Agatha says enthusiastically as she gets up and heads toward the road.
As the group gets up to leave, Bella's eyes fall on Rio, who is looking back with a raised eyebrow. "Wait up, little witch," Rio says as the group walks on.
"What?" Bella says as the group goes out of sight.
"Beatix, I know you are angry about being here," Rio says as she brushes a piece of dark hair behind the girl's ear.
"You're right; don't call me that. I go by Bella. Now, if we could get all of this over with, I would greatly appreciate it."
Rio sighs and moves out of the way so Bella can pass.
When Rio and Bella catch up to the group, Agatha slows down until Rio reaches her.
"Finished talking about me?" Agatha asked jokingly.
"My lady, not everything revolves around you," Rio replies.
"So, you aren't going to tell me why two 'green witches' showed up on The Road? I personally find it fascinating that out of all the witches that could have been summoned, it was you and her," Agatha says with a curious tone.
"All in good time," Rio replies playfully.
"Well, this looks depressing." Rio and Agatha were brought out of their conversation by a comment from Jen.
The group found themselves looking at an old cottage with a creek running alongside it.
"It's kind of cute," Alice responded, trying to lighten the mood.
"Trust me, there's nothing cute about it," Bella says angrily and starts walking towards the cottage.
"A Dark Moon," Lilia says as the group reaches the door.
"Seems fitting," Jen says, looking over at Bella.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Bella responded harshly.
"All I am saying is that the moon usually matches the witch, and I think you and I both know this trial is for you." Jen responds back in a harsher tone.
Bella rolls her eyes and opens the door. When the group walks through the door, they find themselves in 1700s-era clothing.
"What am I wearing?" Jen says as she looks down at the brown dress and the white apron that reaches to the floor.
"Welcome to Salem," Agatha says as she fusses with her dress.
"Salem!?" The group says in unison.
"How could you possibly be a Salem witch?" Lilia asked, but Bella did not respond.
"Stay here," Bella tells the group. "I will take care of this."
"We have to work as a team to get through the trial," the teen responded eagerly.
"Trust me when I say you don't," Bella responded as she walked out the back door of the cottage.
"I guess the trial has started," Teen said, pointing to an hourglass. The group watched as the sand poured down.
"Why does she get an hour? If I had more time, I could have saved Mrs. Hart," Jen says.
"Who?" Agatha says jokingly. "I am kidding, kind of."
"So are we just going to let her do this by herself? Can she even complete the trial alone?" Alice asked.
"She will be fine, and if she isn't, more power to us," Agatha said as she walked to a table and sat down. Slowly, the group went to join her, everyone but Rio, who was looking out the window.
As Bella walked out the door, she could almost remember the day. She had lived this day before, and she knew what her trial would be. All she could do was wait. As Bella made her way to the creek, she turned to see Rio looking out the window at her. There was a reason she didn't want anyone else to join her on the trail, but she knew Rio would be watching.
Once Bella reached the creek, she sat down and put her feet in the water. The energy she felt when she was in nature was always overwhelming, especially here. Bella hadn't been sitting long when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she slowly reached up and placed her hand on top.
"Hi, Nicky," Bella says quietly.
(*)
"What is going on out there?" Agatha said as she approached Rio.
"See for yourself," Rio said as she stepped aside.
Agatha gasped as she whispered, "Nicky. I want to see him."
"You can't. This is her trial," Rio says, grabbing Agatha. "You can watch. If she needs help, she will let us know."
(*)
"Bea, what happened to you? You've gotten older," Nicky says as he reaches out and touches her face.
Bella giggled, "I did get older, Nicky."
Nicky sat down next to her and put his feet in the water.
"Play with the stones," Nicky says.
Bella smiled at him and lifted her hand, causing a small, round stone to be picked up. With a flick of her wrist, the stone skipped down the creek.
Nicky giggles, "Do it again."
(*)
Nicky's laugh can be heard in the cottage, which has now gotten the attention of the group inside, and they are all gathered at the window.
"Who is that boy?" Jen asked.
"Lilia whispered, 'Her greatest fear.'"
"How can a little boy be her greatest fear?" Alice asked as she looked at Lilia.
"That is what the trials force us to face. Only she knows why," Lilia responded.
"What is she doing? I don't think skipping stones will get us out of here," Jen says in frustration.
"Leave her alone," Agatha snaps. "She has time."
"An advocate for her all of a sudden?" Jen says questioningly
"Agatha is right. She has time, and she seems sure of herself. Let's give her some time before we interfere."
(*)
"Nicky," Bella says as she flips another stone. "I am not here to stay."
"I know Bea," he says as he grabs her hand. "I knew you would come back, but I knew it wouldn't last long. Mother said she would bring you."
"She comes and sees you? I didn't know that was possible," Bella says as she turns to the window, looks at Rio, and flicks her wrist, covering the window with foliage.
Nicky turned his head to see the now covered window. "Are you alone? Where is Mother?"
"I am right here, my sweet boy," Rio says as she appears on the other side of the creek.
Nicky is lifted by magic to Rio, and they hug each other.
"Thank you for bringing her to me," Nicky finally said.
"Wait, you brought me on The Road on purpose?" Bella says angrily as she stands up.
"Don't be angry, Bea. I asked her to bring you to see me," Nicky says.
"You could have brought me to him at any time, why now and why here? It is because of her, isn't it?" Bella said angrily.
A gust of wind picks up out of nowhere, and the trees begin to sway. The door to the cottage swings open, and the group emerges.
"So she really is a green witch," Jen says, shocked.
"Of course she is Jen," Agatha snaps.
"You broke the agreement, not her. You were supposed to take me and leave him alone. You left me in the hands of a witch killer who blamed me." Bella yells at Rio. "You watched as she killed me in this very creek."
"You killed her?" the teen asked, shocked.
"Teen, she is a witch killer, of course, she did." Jen replies sarcastically.
"She had it coming." Agatha said as she walked toward the creek.
"Mama," Nicky screams. Hearing the young boy scream pulled Bella back to reality, and as she calmed down, the wind stopped.
"It is time to go, Nicky." Rio says as she walks out of sight with the boy.
"Bring him back," Agatha demands.
"He isn't here for you," Bella responded as she turned to look at Agatha.
"It is your fault that he isn't here at all. I thought I had killed you. Your life for his, that was the deal." Agatha snaps. "But you were too much like her."
"I didn't know that, and neither did you. If I had known, I wouldn't have agreed to anything." Bella responded.
"Is somebody going to tell us what's going on?" Jen asked.
Agatha turned to look at the group. "She killed my son."
"That is not true, Harkness," Bella says as the wind starts picking up again. "I was trying to save him." She continues as she starts levitating off the ground.
"The Hanging Man," Lilia whispers.
"Go ahead, Harkness," Bella said as she shot Agatha with her power.
As Bella cut off her power from Agatha, "Kill me. That is what you have wanted to do."
"You know I can't kill you, technicalities," Agatha responded as she shot purple at Bella.
As the blast hit Bella, she was shot back and landed at the feet of Rio, who had now reappeared.
"What did I miss?" Rio asked.
Just then, Agatha shoots purple energy at Rio, but before it can reach her, Bella raises her hand, blocking the blow.
"Leave her out of this, Agatha," Bella snaps.
(*)
"What is actually going on here?" the teen says to the group watching the scene unfold in front of them.
"Maybe the boy isn't her fear." Alice responded.
"Maybe her fear is Agatha," Lilia says.
"Why would she fear Agatha?" Teen asked and was quickly met with three pairs of eyes. "Okay, stupid question."
"Who is this girl to Agatha? She fears her because of the boy?" Alice says.
"Beatrix is Agatha's daughter," Lilia blurts out.
"Her daughter? Who is Beatrix?" Jen says, shocked.
"Whose daughter?" Lilia asked.
"Lilia, you just said, 'Beatrix is Agatha's daughter.' " Alice responds to Lilia.
"Did I?" Lilia says, surprised.
(*)
Bella got back up to her feet. "Is that the best you've got?"
"Hey, you barely gave me any juice. Make it a fair fight," Agatha says annoyingly, trying to get the young woman riled up.
"Answer this for me, and I will think about it," Bella said as she pulled Agatha to her. "Why? I tried, I didn't know."
"Didn't you feel it?" Agatha responded.
"Not this again," Bella responded. "I would do anything for him, which is more than I can say for either of you." She continued, shooting a glare at Agatha.
"I told you she was angry." Rio laughed as Agatha stood up.
(*)
"Didn't the boy call her Bea?" Teen asked the group.
The group shrugged.
"Beatrix!" Teen shouted.
Bella's head snapped up, and her eyes glowed green. "Oh, don't like that, do you?" Agatha said jokingly.
"That girl is dead," Bella replies. "She died right here in this creek at the hands of the infamous witch killer herself."
"She is your mother." Lilia finally says. "Your fear is dying at the hands of your mother."
Just then, a door appears in the tree behind Bella. Bella turns and heads to the door without saying anything.