=:= Jessica =:=
Maria stepped into the break-room, greeting them both. "Good morning Jessica, and happy birthday Kara."
"Thanks Maria," Kara replied.
"Hi Maria," Jess smiled. "I've just put the coffee machine on, it'll be ready in a few minutes."
It was around half past eight on a Thursday morning. They were at QSAW of course, getting themselves ready before they opened the doors at nine.
Maria sat down at the small lunch table, joining Jess and Kara. The older woman asked, "Any special plans for tonight Kara?"
The enby shrugged, "Not really. Maybe Jess and me will go out tomorrow night."
As soon as the coffee was ready, the three helped themselves, then sat down again together. It was about a quarter to nine now.
"How are Sam and Nikki doing?" Maria asked. "I hope they're both well, I was surprised that the full moon sabbat was cancelled last night."
The full moon would actually reach its peak in about an hour, just before ten o'clock this morning. Normally they'd have had their sabbat celebration last night.
"They're fine," Jess replied. "Sam looks like she's about ready to pop though. She wasn't really feeling up to much of anything last night, so she went to bed early."
After a moment, she added with a grin "This is the first full moon since Heather and Christine released that video. In about an hour, folks in the general public are going to start using Cindy's spell for the first time. There were a few hundred thousand views on their video before the new moon, so we could have a lot of people trying the spell today!"
Jessica was excited at the prospect. She knew this could turn out to be something pretty historic. Unfortunately the other two did not share her enthusiasm.
Maria just grimaced slightly as she nodded.
"Yeah," Kara scowled. "And in the meantime, the rest of us have to keep an even lower-profile than before. If anyone finds out or even suspects there's anything magical going on with us, they'll be all over us thinking we have something to do with the mess that's about to happen."
"The next few months are going to be interesting, I think." Maria said quietly. She glanced at Kara, "I understand your concern Kara, but I don't think it's going to cause any great change of routine for the rest of us."
Jess pointed out, "We're probably going to get busier over the next few months here at QSAW. As more people find out about the spell, I bet more people who're just curious or questioning will start experimenting, since they can always undo things after a month if they're unhappy."
Kara continued to look grumpy as they sipped their coffee. "I still don't like it. But we'll see."
Maria commented, "It already feels like the coven's kind of... I don't want to say 'disbanded', but it's been very quiet these past few months."
"Yeah," Jessica agreed. She was a little sad about it at times, but she understood.
In the immediate aftermath of the Brotherhood ordeal, they'd all needed some time to recover and unwind. Then there was Cindy's grand plan, and the news that she and Zoe had left the coven. They'd wound up moving out of the house by the end of December. The two of them packed up their things and left, taking Ciara with them.
And with Cindy gone there wasn't really anything tying Tanya to the group, so she sort of drifted away along with Brandi. They were technically still members of the coven, still witches of course, but Tanya and Brandi hadn't come to any of the meetings or sabbats since January.
Maria's girls still came out for the sabbats occasionally, but Amanda, Sadie, and Ashley were getting busier with school. They'd be graduating high-school next month. And from the sound of it the three of them were all planning to go off to university together somewhere, along with Amanda's girlfriend Brittany. So odds were the coven would lose those three sometime over the next couple months.
Really there were only five of them left now who were still active in the coven. Sam and Nikki were there of course, and Jess and Kara, and Maria. Except Samantha had really slowed down over the past month or so as her due-date approached, while Nicole was keeping herself busy with the winery. And lately Nikki had been acting like a stereotypical nervous expectant dad, which Jess found kind of funny to watch.
Finally Kara shrugged, "Maybe it's better that we stay small and quiet."
"I guess..." Jessica sighed. "I kind of miss having everyone around for the full moons and stuff. I agree with Maria, it feels sort of like the end of an era or something."
"You just miss Cindy," Kara rolled their eyes. There was still no love lost between the coven's champion and its former sorceress.
"That's not true," Jess protested. "I miss Zoe too. And Tanya and Brandi."
"You barely even know Brandi," Kara pointed out.
Jess shrugged, "I still miss her. She and Tanya are really cute together."
Maria asked, "When was the last time you heard from Cindy or Zoe?"
"They both dropped by for a visit last month, just before the last full moon," Jess replied. "Cindy was back in town to supervise when Heather used the spell, to make sure everything went right. And I saw her again really briefly a few weeks ago. And I spoke with both her and Zoe on the phone last week. We keep in touch of course, with email and texting."
"Are they still in Australia?" Maria asked.
Jessica replied, "I think that's home for them now, but they don't stay there all the time. Last I heard Ciara's living with a friend of theirs somewhere near Melbourne, but Zoe and Cindy are travelling again. I know they spent most of April in Wales, but I'm not sure where they are now." She added, "Though they're probably paying attention to things today, because of the full moon and the spell. I bet they'll be busy."
Kara shook their head slightly as they stood up. "Speaking of busy, it's almost time to open the front doors."
Jess nodded as she and Maria both got up as well, taking their coffees with them. Despite Kara's misgivings, Jessica was still excited. She'd be checking social media whenever she got the chance today, following Cindy's hashtag to see how things played out.
Her first appointment was right on time at nine, and her second meeting went from nine thirty till ten, so she was busy when the full moon reached its peak. It was actually kind of nice, despite being a little hectic. After their grand re-opening back in October had been such a disaster, QSAW was finally an active thriving place.
They had volunteers to take care of the front desk and answer the phones, while Jess and Kara and Maria spent their time working one-on-one with people, or being active in the community. They worked on fund-raisers, education, raising community awareness, and they were all busy getting ready for Pride next month.
It was just past ten o'clock now and Jess had a few minutes before her next appointment. She wanted to check Cindy's hashtag, but she really needed another cup of coffee first. While she was in the break-room pouring herself a fresh cup, her phone buzzed with an alert.
Jess slipped it out of her pocket to check her notifications, and found a text message from Nikki. She opened it up then immediately squealed, "Kara! Maria!"
It took a couple seconds for her two colleagues to join her. Jess was grinning at her phone while she waited.
As the two of them entered the break-room together Kara asked, "What's wrong?"
Jessica turned her phone around so the two of them could see the picture Nikki had sent over.
An excited and stressed Nicole had an arm around an exhausted but happy Samantha, and cradled in Sam's arms was a tiny newborn baby. She was bundled up in a small white blanket, and few wisps of jet-black hair poked out under her little white knitted cap.
A line of text under the photo read, "Fiona Elliot-Carlisle, b. May 23, 9:44 am, 8lb 11oz"
Maria exclaimed "Oh my Goddess she's adorable!"
Kara smiled, "She looks like a prune, Maria. She'll be adorable later."
"Kara!" Jess giggled. "Be nice!"
The blonde enby just chuckled. They noted, "Born right before the full moon peaked. That's probably auspicious?"
"Could be," Maria nodded. "And I'm assuming the name 'Fiona' is an homage to the Goddess's previous vessel, Ffion?"
"Oh, I bet you're right!" Jess smiled, "That's kind of nice, I wonder if that was Nikki's idea or if Sam thought of it."
Kara shrugged, "Both probably." Then they flashed that lopsided grin at Jess and teased, "So you're an auntie now, congratulations!"
"Ugh that makes me feel old!" Jessica groaned, as she started tapping out a reply text to Nikki and Sam. She congratulated them both, and said she and Kara couldn't wait to meet little Fiona.
After she sent it off she grinned at Kara, "Hey, you and Fiona have the same birthday!"
"Yeah," Kara smiled back at her. "It's perfect. It means for at least the next decade everyone will be making a big deal over her birthday, and ignoring mine."
Before Jessica could respond, the phone in her office started ringing. She sighed as she grabbed her coffee and hurried back to work.
Between excitement over her niece and a busy morning schedule, it was lunch time before she had a chance to check social media. About two and a half hours had passed since the full moon peaked, and Jess was eager to see what kind of activity was happening on the hashtag.
She pulled up the site on her laptop and immediately smiled. The tag was trending, with almost a hundred thousand mentions. Rather than wade through all the discussions and reposts, she searched for images or videos shared under the tag.
Soon Jessica found herself browsing through hundreds of pictures, mostly from people who'd used the spell.
It was perhaps fewer people than she'd expected, though she knew there were probably more folks who'd used the spell but hadn't shared their results. Or hadn't done so yet. Either way, Jess knew this was just the beginning. Next month, there'd be even more, and more still the month after that.
Jessica thought back to the conversation she had this morning with Kara and Maria. Perhaps it was the end of an era with the coven, but today was the start of a new era. Today was the day that the public started learning magic was real. And it was her niece's birthday.
She smiled again as she thought to herself, the world was about to get a lot more interesting.
The blanket of silence around the feud between Cindy and the Goddess is bittersweet and relatable. Like they've agreed to both stay quiet both for the sake of peace but also Samantha and Nikki's mental wellbeing and while it does allow for peace and the ability for both parties to move forward, there is still an uneasy cloud in the air potentially provoking anxiety for not just both parties but also those between who can sense something is up but are in the dark. You can very much feel it with the characters Kara and Jess, but also with Nikki, Samantha, Zoey and Cingy.
I don't know that Cindy is carrying a grudge or anything. She'll certainly lash out when someone close to her is threatened, she's done that right from the start (Tom & Jess at the mall in "Tanya") and more recently of course with the brotherhood & Zoe. But I don't think she holds onto anger or grudges after she's cooled down. I think she (and Zoe) genuinely just want to move on and leave things behind.
As for the Goddess(es) I think they can be a little more malicious and maybe they're a little more prone to want vengeance after-the-fact, but in this case Cindy's basically holding their sister hostage. And has access to Aeronwy's power in the meantime. So that's probably keeping them at bay.
Jess is definitely caught in the middle, same as Maria I think. Kara's always gonna be on team-Goddess. As for Nikki & Sam, I think they know by now where the Goddess stands on this stuff and they're kinda trying not to get involved. Plus they've got a kid now, that's gonna take up alot of their time and attention.
Thanks for reading & thanks for the comments!
*flops back and stares at the ceiling in bittersweet melancholy about the end of a whole epos*
That was quite something. I have enjoyed "Witches" and "Tales" a lot. I can't exactly say the same about "Brotherhood". And yet, I couldn't stop reading! You have entombed me in this storyverse like the Goddess had entombed William. I lost all sense of time, fell asleep when my body succumbed around midnight, used free moments at work to continue whenever possible, and spent my afternoons on the couch with my laptop, nervously peeling the skin from my thumb without realizing it until it was too late for stopping myself.
So yeah. Hecking good writing, kittygirl. Thank you so much for those hours and hours that I could spend reading your work!
Thank you for all your comments! Sorry this story wasn't as enjoyable as the first two installments. I knew as I was writing it that it wasn't going to be anything like its predecessors.
There was an observation someone made, which I kinda agree with, if the Brotherhood hadn't been a bunch of malicious evil pricks, they might have actually been good guys. Ultimately it turned out they were just another group of mortals being used by a different God with his own agenda, but at first glance their mission seemed just.
There's actually going to be some more stuff from the welland universe, probably after Faet is over. We're going to get a glimpse of how Cindy's big plan unfolds. ^^
Don't be sorry! Maybe "not enjoyable" is the wrong term. It's like the first two parts were cake and this one a super spicey chili. It made me suffer but it's still great. ♥ And I am sooo sitting on bees about another part. =3
it's a bummer that Kara ended up like that... they were a character I could relate in the first book, but they were kinda reduced to hating Cindy all of brotherhood. I feel like as a champion there was a lot of potential for them to shine here, but alas. my only hope is that they eventually come around, and that we might get more enbies in future books, because damn I want representation
i think you will like Tale of a Fox in Welland... but you have to go thru Scenes from a Changing World first ^^
(i mean, you don't have to, its entirely up to you obviously ^^ )
@PurpleCatGirl you know I will, I've been screaming about it in your server for the last few days fufufu
Kara' s character really seemed to change a lot in the last part of Brotherhood. She seemed a lot more anti Cindy than she was previously and just more four in general.
It's been an absolutely amazing journey!
Thanks for reading & thanks for all the comments!
Loving this series so far.
In WoW we focused on Nikki and Sam
In Tales we felt like Maria and her niw daughters were the main focus
And now this one Zoe and Cindy were the main focus so I am excited for the next ones however it is 3 30 for me and I need to sleep I got to work and 6 30 lol
Amazing read, thanks.