=:= Zoe =:=

"Ok, done." Cindy sighed. She held up the one-inch copper disk with its long black nylon cord, inspecting it closely. Once satisfied, she dropped it into a little envelope for safekeeping. "How many's that?"

Zoe replied, "That's eighteen. That's plenty, you can stop now cutie."

Cindy looked weary as she nodded, then sighed again. "Are you sure that's enough though?"

"It's more than enough, Cindy." Zoe explained, "There's only thirteen of us in the coven, plus Nikki wanted two more for Maria's two youngest girls. Plus one for Ciara. We have enough for everyone, and two spares just in case."

She knew her girlfriend had dyscalculia, she had trouble with math and numbers. It was even worse when she was tired or stressed. Cindy didn't mind Zoe's help with keeping track of that kind of thing, in fact she was usually grateful for Zoe's patience and assistance.

The two of them were in their bedroom, and Cindy had been busy all day long doing the enchantments. It had taken the small sorceress more than two weeks to figure out the magical defence spells they'd required. Actually casting the enchantment magic had proved to be almost as draining.

Drawing the runes and sigils onto the copper disks was fairly easy, she and Cindy had made up a bunch of them yesterday as soon as they got home from the arts and crafts store. But after enchanting the first half dozen amulets yesterday afternoon, Cindy was exhausted.

The small witch had done another dozen of them today, but it had taken almost the entire day. They'd got an early start first thing this morning, till Zoe insisted they stop for lunch and some rest. This afternoon Cindy had finished the last handful. Now Zoe could see her friend was slowing down again, and it was easy to see the girl was weary.

Zoe took the small envelope and put it with the others. "I'll give these to Samantha. She said Maria was coming by soon to pick up the ones for herself and her girls."

The first half dozen had already been distributed among their own household last night. Sam, Nikki, Jess, and Kara all wore the new defensive amulet along with their original ones. And Cindy and Zoe as well of course, were both fully protected now too.

"Don't take them all, I need some to take with me tomorrow." Cindy reminded her.

Zoe nodded, "I know, I'm leaving three here." She stood up and added, "You lay down and rest ok? I'll bring you some more juice, and a snack or something. Be right back."

As Cindy lay back on the bed, Zoe gathered up the amulets then headed out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

She gave the finished amulets to their coven priestess, then prepared a quick sandwich and got a fresh glass of juice for her girlfriend. When she returned to their bedroom, she found Cindy was sitting propped up on the bed with some pillows behind her, reading the notebook that Ciara had been using yesterday.

"You're supposed to be resting cutie, not studying." Zoe admonished, as she set the glass and plate down on the bedside table next to her girlfriend.

"I am resting," Cindy protested. "Learning new spells is very relaxing for me."

Zoe shook her head, but she couldn't suppress her grin. "Does anything in there interest you?"

Cindy had a sip of juice then replied, "It all interests me."

Her attention shifted back to the notebook as she said, "Check out this sleep spell? The way they've written it, it'll knock someone out for an hour or so. I could tweak it a bit though, and pow, full night's sleep! Or more I guess, but that might get excessive."

"What would be the point of that?" Zoe asked, as she joined Cindy on the bed. She lay on her side, curling her tail over her hip and along her leg, and relaxed as she watched the small sorceress's eyes flick back and forth over the notes.

"I dunno," Cindy shrugged. "Good for insomnia I guess?" She turned the page, and her eyes lit up. "This is interesting too! Telekinesis spell?"

Zoe nodded, "Yeah, Ciara said they use it a couple different ways... Small-scale, they can use it to open doors? Like... jumbling the tumblers in a lock, to unlock things... Or just turning the knob inside, if it's that kind of door. Or large-scale, they use it I guess like hands-off violence? She said they use it for things like breaking windows, or even shoving people." She scowled a little at that.

"Huh." Cindy nodded slightly. "I can see a lot of potential for this."

Then she grinned, looking over at Zoe. "That's maybe the best thing about getting some completely new spells to study? It's more building blocks that I can play with, more resources I can take apart and mess with, to make my own variations or even my own new spells."

"Yes, I know cutie, you're very creative." Zoe rolled her eyes, "Remember you're supposed to be resting."

Cindy stuck her tongue out then grinned. "I told you, this is resting."

She turned the page again then scowled, "Oh vile. Death spell." She flipped to the next page. "Wait this is cool! Telepathy? No... Well not quite." Her voice trailed off as she read a bit more. "Ok not two-way communication, but it's still useful. Like sending a mental text message I guess... Oh, I wonder if that would still work, now that we're all wearing these amulets..."

Zoe shrugged. "Something to test on the weekend maybe."

"Yeah," Cindy nodded. "Oh you know what, we should get Jess and Kara to scan these spells too, so everyone can have a look at them."

Zoe smiled, "Way ahead of you. Jessica scanned them yesterday afternoon. It's already formatted and on the USB drives, along with copies of the old book and the new book."

Cindy grinned, "Good! I'll let Tanya and Becky know, when I see them tomorrow."

"Are you sure you want to do both their apartments tomorrow?" Zoe asked, frowning. "That's a lot of wards to do in one day, especially after you've spent the last two days enchanting all these amulets."

Cindy finally set the notebook aside and picked up the sandwich, "I'll be fine. Tanya's place isn't bad, just one door and two windows I think?" She took a bite and started chewing, then with her mouth full she added, "Becky's place will be worse. But it's ok, I can manage."

Zoe sighed, "I wish I could go with you and help. Sam and Nikki want me to stay here and babysit Ciara though." She frowned a little at that thought.

"Sorry," Cindy said. "You seem to get along with her though, and she sure likes spending time with you."

Zoe's tail twitched and her ears drooped a little, "That's just because she likes cats. She'd be just as happy spending the day with Mo."

Cindy giggled, "The trials and tribulations of being a cute cuddly catgirl."

"Hush you, and finish your sandwich." Zoe mock-scolded. "I'm going to keep insisting you spend the rest of today relaxing, since you're planning on spending all day tomorrow teleporting around the province warding your friends' apartments."

"Yes ma'am." Cindy smirked, as she took another bite.

=:= Maria =:=

"Thanks Maria." Amanda said as she accepted the new protection amulet.

Sadie nodded, "Yeah, thank you!" as she took hers.

"Thanks." Ashley said as she took the last one.

Maria smiled, "Thank the coven, and especially Cindy and Zoe. They put a great deal of effort into creating these."

It was late Thursday afternoon and all five teens had returned home from school a little while ago. Jenny and Beth were downstairs watching TV again, while the three older girls had come upstairs to Maria's bedroom to continue their magic training.

Sadie and Ashley were both inspecting their new amulets, while Amanda just put hers on, tucking the copper medallion under her shirt.

The blonde hesitated, then asked Maria "Can I talk with you about something? In private?"

Maria nodded, "Of course, Amanda." She glanced at the other two girls, then suggested, "Sadie, why don't you and Ashley go into your bedroom and practice magic in there for now."

"Sure Maria." Sadie smiled. She and her girlfriend got up and exited Maria's room. Ashley closed the door behind her as they left, giving Amanda and Maria a little more privacy.

Maria then looked at the blonde teen and asked, "What would you like to talk about, Amanda?"

Amanda hesitated again, then replied in a quiet, slightly nervous voice "There's two things actually... Uh, the first one is probably easier. It's about Beth..." She paused, then asked "What's the deal with her changing her name to Bethany?"

Maria sighed a little, "Does that bother you?"

Amanda frowned. "It was kind of out of the blue. No warning, and no explanation..."

"I know, Amanda." Maria nodded. "I'm sorry. It was something Beth wanted, and she didn't want to make a big deal about it until it was done."

She paused, collecting her thoughts. When she spoke, she kept her voice low, "We knew when the Goddess returned Beth to us, there would be differences. Beth confided in me last month, she felt uncomfortable sharing the same name as your mother... She said it was confusing her, and I think it was causing her to question who she really was..." Maria sighed.

Amanda nodded slowly, "Ok... It makes sense I guess. It's just..." She frowned. "Is there any of mom left in her at all? I mean, with Sadie even after all this time there's still little things she does or says, that remind me of dad. And of course you can just ask her stuff, she remembers it all. With Beth though... It's just really hard to feel like mom's in there somewhere. The name thing just made it harder."

Maria hesitated as she considered her words. "Again, we knew things would be different, Liz needed a fresh start. Your mother is still there, but...dormant. More of her will emerge in time, after Beth has had more time to adjust and build some good, positive experiences and memories for herself." She added with a sigh, "I know it's difficult Amanda, but we have to give her time. I'm sorry. I know it's hard on you."

"I'm sure Jenny was upset about the name thing as well." Amanda sighed. She asked, "Where did the name Bethany come from?"

Maria replied, "It was her suggestion, she asked for it. She said she liked being called Beth, she just felt it would be better if it was short for Bethany, rather than Elizabeth."

Amanda looked thoughtful, then shrugged "Well, I guess if she's happy about it, that's the main thing. And we all don't have to start calling her something different, since she's still going by 'Beth'... Ok. Thanks for telling me, Maria."

"Of course, Amanda." Maria smiled. "What was the other thing you wanted to discuss?"

The teen looked hesitant again, and Maria could see a blush starting to colour the girl's cheeks.

Amanda's eyes dipped down and she stared at the floor for a few moments, before finally replying. "It's about uh, the curse that's on Brittany..."

Maria kept her tone level as she asked asked, "What about it?" She already had a good idea what was on the girl's mind. Nicole had called her yesterday afternoon and filled her in on a few details.

Amanda was blushing more now, and continued just looking down at the floor as she asked softly, "Do you know if... Could the curse on Brittany have... Maybe it affected me too?"

Maria sighed. "Amanda, do you remember two nights ago when we were discussing this? Do you remember me telling you there was a chance you'd see some consequences for breaking your oath of secrecy, for telling Brittany about the coven?"

Amanda nodded slowly, "Yes aunt Maria, I remember..." She was still staring at the floor, still blushing.

In a slightly incredulous tone, Maria asked, "And yet the first thing you did after meeting Brittany yesterday morning, was to text Nicole and ask her if there was any way to circumvent the Goddess's judgement? Because you missed your boyfriend and wanted to give him a second chance?!"

She sighed and shook her head, still watching the teen. "Nicole told me you'd contacted her Amanda, what you'd asked, and why. And she told me what the Goddess decided to do about it."

Amanda's face was beet red now and she was still just staring at the floor. Maria could see some tears in the girl's eyes, as she asked softly "So... It wasn't an accident, or a mistake... It's not going to wear off..."

Maria moved closer, and wrapped her arms around her niece, pulling her into a hug. She whispered, "Amanda I'm sorry. There's a lot of things the Goddess has done that I question. Decisions She's made that I don't approve of. But we all agreed to Her rules when we joined Her coven."

She sighed once more. "I'm starting to think it was a mistake to let you and your sister join the coven. I thought at the time it would keep you two safer. Now I worry I've just exposed you both to more danger."

Amanda sighed and finally pulled back. "No... I'm still glad me and Sadie are a part of it... And Ashley too..."

She paused to wipe her eyes, then her lips curled into a bit of a sad smile. In a slightly sarcastic tone she said, "You know Maria... When other kids mess up, they just get grounded for a week or two... They don't have to worry about getting cursed and stuff."

Maria gave the teen a sympathetic smile, "I know, Amanda. But other kids aren't learning magic." Her tone became a little harder again as she added, "And I'd like to think that when other kids mess up, they aren't putting any friend's or family's lives at risk."

Amanda nodded slightly, "Yeah..." She frowned, staring at the floor again. Finally she sighed again, "I guess I got off easy, compared to Brittany or Beth... I mean, I don't need a new wardrobe, I don't have to learn a new name..."

Maria nodded, and gave her another hug. "Why don't we skip the lessons tonight. You can practice in your room if you want, or just take the night off. Or take care of your homework. I'm going to check on Sadie and Ashley, then see how Jenny and Beth are doing."

"Ok Maria." Amanda smiled weakly. "Thank you."

=:= Jessica =:=

"Ok, what about this one?" Jessica was staring at the ebook on her phone. "If we used the sleep spell, we could make one of them think they have narcolepsy?"

She and Kara were back at QSAW again, finally. She was slouching in the receptionist's chair with her feet up on the front desk. Kara was laying across the row of guest chairs to her left.

"Not a great idea, Jess." Kara stated. "I seem to recall your sister had some sort of rule, against magic in public?"

Jessica rolled her eyes, "We're not in public. This building is private property."

Kara gave her a look, "They're on public property. And technically I think the rule was more about being in view of the public. Either way, you know what I mean. And they haven't done anything other than stand there with their signs."

"Yeah I know." She sighed, scrolling through the ebook again. Some of the spells Ciara had written out were pretty interesting, though one or two were also quite horrific.

"Hey how about this?" She grinned, "This telepathy one... We could send messages into the bigots' heads, claiming to be the voice of their God, tell them they're wrong & God loves queers."

Kara's impassive expression only lasted a few more seconds, before their lips curled into that lovely lopsided grin that Jessica found so charming. "Ok, that actually does sound like it could be fun..."

Jess got up and walked over to the window, looking out at the bigots. There were only a half dozen of them now. Jess hoped that meant the reverend was having trouble rounding up people to keep picketing them. There'd been around a dozen out there the first week or so, then the numbers started to wane a little.

There was also a police cruiser parked across the street, and Jessica could see two uniformed cops inside.

Looking at the handful of protesters, she could see the reverend was there of course. He was hard to miss, thanks to his height.

Reverend Clark stood about six-foot-four. His black hair was cut short and was kept neat and tidy. He had a moustache and beard, also neatly trimmed. He wasn't overly muscular, but he was still an imposing-looking figure. Standing there holding a placard on the end of a two-by-four, it wasn't hard to imagine him scaring away the young, vulnerable LGBT+ people that QSAW was supposed to be here for.

"They all look kind of cold out there," she commented. "It's a bit of a grey blustery day."

"Good." Kara stated. "Soon it'll be even colder, and they'll have to contend with snow and ice as well."

Jess was still staring at the reverend when he noticed her at the window. He glared right at her, scowling as he slowly shook his head. Jess could see the hatred in his eyes.

She just smiled back at him, waved, and blew him a kiss. Then she returned to sit down behind the front desk again.

"I'm sorely tempted to try that telepathy thing, Kara." She sighed. "I kind of want to see the look on his face when he hears a woman's voice in his head, telling him she's God, and his bigotry is pissing her off."

Kara chuckled, "It would be a sight... But I still don't think you should do it. Much as I hate to say that." They sighed, sitting up. "That lot hasn't done anything threatening or illegal yet, and they still have the cops and probably some folks at city hall on their side."

Jessica was about to reply, when she recognized a young man approaching outside. The reverend's son, Trevor, was walking up to their front door, wearing a burly winter coat.

Kara spotted him too, and the pair of them watched as he pulled the door open and stepped inside.

The young man slipped his hands into the pockets of his coat, and he looked nervous.

"Hello again, Trevor. What brings you back to QSAW?" Jessica asked. She could tell Kara was on edge, watching the young man. But once again he'd come in through the wards, so Jess was positive he wasn't here to cause trouble.

"Hello Jessica, Kara." Trevor replied, sounding as anxious as he looked.

Jess glanced at Kara, and noticed the enby wasn't watching their visitor, they were looking at the group outside. Following their eyes, Jess realized the reverend had his eyes on his son, and a tense, expectant look on his face.

Jess looked back at the young man. "Trevor," she asked warily, "What's going on?"

He looked conflicted. "I have a can of spray paint in my right pocket, and a can of pepper spray in my left. I'm supposed to vandalize the place. When you try to stop me, my father's people will rush in to save me, and the police will probably arrest you."

Jesica sighed, "And if you don't do anything, I'm sure your father will take out his disappointment on you at home tonight?"

Trevor nodded, "Yes." He was still just standing there, a couple steps inside the door, his hands both still hidden in his coat's pockets.

Jess and Kara exchanged a look, then Jess said, "Thanks for warning us, Trevor. What are you going to do?"

Kara stated, "If you're prepared to leave your family right now, we can help you, and protect you. If not, I think the best thing would be for you to turn and leave. Understand, we won't stand by and allow you to vandalize this place."

Trevor was silent for a few more moments as he stood there, the conflicting emotions passing back and forth on his face. Finally he asked, "Is there a garbage can here?"

Jess nodded. She bent down and picked it up from behind the desk, holding it out.

Trevor stepped closer, as he pulled the two cans from his pockets. Behind him, Jess saw Kara tense up a little, but the young man just dropped the two cans into the trash.

Jess put the garbage can back down behind the desk, and nodded. "That was very brave, Trevor..." Outside, she could see the reverend was stalking right for their front door now, looking livid.

Trevor turned to see what she was looking at, and he cringed in fear.

The reverend flung the door open but as he tried to cross the threshold, the runes running up either side of the doorframe flared to life, glowing white. It was as if the man had walked into a solid wall. He bounced off and stumbled back a few paces, looking stunned, confused. The door swung closed again after he let go of it.

Then the look of anger returned to his face, and he swung his two-by-four and placard at the door, obviously meaning to break the glass.

The runes flared to life again, and the makeshift club just bounced harmlessly off the glass without even cracking it.

Trevor was staring wide-eyed at the doorway, mouth hanging open in shock.

"Huh. I've never actually seen them in action before..." Jess commented quietly, referring to the warding runes.

Kara sighed, "I didn't realize they'd be visible like that."

Fortunately the runes were on the inside of the building, so neither the reverend nor anyone else outside had seen them. But Trevor had, and he was looking pale now.

"Oh my God..." the young man whispered. "You really are in league with the devil..."

Jessica frowned, "No we aren't!"

Trevor took a step back, then he turned and fled, racing back out the door. He darted around his father, who had given up his assault on the door. The reverend turned and chased after Trevor. The remaining picketers just stood there, staring.

"This is not going to end well for anyone." Kara sighed.

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