I walked alongside the wagon as we made our final journey through the waste, as less than a day remained before we would begin our month-long train ride to the Grand Cathedral of the ninth circle. Joy, the witch I had met during the Malefic attack, and the survivors of her convoy had temporarily joined our caravan. I was sure that Seta was keeping close watch on the witches, the same as she did with me. The grand inquisitor had been lenient with them, perhaps in light of their aid in the past battle, still the witches seemed tense under her invisible gaze. 

“How do you like being the church’s lapdog?” Joy said looking out the window of her wagon.

I said nothing, my gaze locked ahead of me.

“You know what they’ve done to us, but you continue to stand by them?” She questioned further, “was the offer of absolution that appealing?”

I stopped for a moment and thought back thirteen years prior, I was curled in the corner of a dilapidated house. The owners were gone, as were the neighbors, everyone was gone. Alone I sat and cried, while a gentle yet firm voice spoke to me in the overwhelming silence of the abandoned city.

“Be not afraid,” Rafa cooed, “I am with you,” she tried bringing comfort to me, but her words landed on deaf ears. Manifesting beside me, Rafa placed her hand on my head, and stroked my hair. In the stillness of our charred surroundings, Rafa sang a sweet song to me.

The next morning we crawled out of the remains of the shelter, and began scavenging for whatever food there was to be found. While gnawing into a charred scrap of bread, the sounds of others shouting could be heard from the edge of town. I perked up, and headed in the direction of the voices.

“Careful, I feel a dark presence,” Rafa warned, but then I continued on.

Climbing over rubble, a group of oddly dressed Ael surveyed the ruins. They had long coats, made of a strange material, and wore masks with tubes and other weird parts connected to them. Not a trace of skin exposed on them, not even the women. I crouched down, and watched them intently. Suddenly one called out, pointing in my direction

“A light over there!” He shouted, and the others fixed their sights on me.

Rafa wrapped her arms around me, her young witch partner as the strange people approached.

“A witch and her demon,” one said, and they pointed their guns at us. 

“Hold,” another one instructed, lowering her own gun and slowly approaching us. She knelt down, holding her hand out.

“Don’t you dare touch her witch hunter,” Rafa threatened. 

“Are you hungry, child?” Asking, she pulled a small satchel and offered it.

Gingerly I reached for the offering, opening it up to see a portion of dried meat. I ate without hesitation, tears streaming from  my eyes with every bite.

 

“You there?” Joy asked, returning my mind to the present conversation.

“And what of you,” I redirected the question, “why would you not choose to be a nun, and instead live your life like this?”

“Because I refuse to give up my freedom, simple as that,” she stated plainly.

“How free can you be living in such a desolate place?”

“As free as I want,” Joy countered, “shouldn’t freedom be a witch bride’s highest priority?”

“I would not know,” I said sullenly.

“You’ve never consummated, have you?”

“It is forbidden,” I repeated for what felt like the thousandth time.

“You don’t know what you’re missing out on,” Joy sighed.

“I do not desire greater power, I am content with what I have,” I said with a clenched jaw..

“Hah, is power all you church types think about?” She laughed, “fuck power, I’m talking about the love, it’s a thrill like no other coming together with your familiar like that,” she smiled a wide bright smile, her eyes full of, and I intend no puns here, joy. Her smile turned a slight bit more mischievous and she added, “even better cause I share that love with Adel too.”

I did not respond, I looked inward and thought about what I was holding back. 

“I do not feel neglected, if that is what you are thinking,” Rafa said to me.

I shook my head, “and what of you? You’re a known criminal are you not?”

“Ha classic deflection,” she grinned at me, “yeah I am, what of it?”

“You hurt others for your own gain, how is that any worse than what you accuse me of?”

“You hurt your own kind, you perpetuate the power of the church to crush us beneath their heels,” Joy argued, “I’m merely a victim of a system set in place to keep me on the bottom,” she leaned further out the window, “how many people do you think make it out of the first circle? Second circle? Hell, even the third!” She threw her hand up in exasperation, “they work their mostly barren land, breaking their backs and ruining their lives and for what? To be forgotten by the so-called church of mercy as they suffer in their destitution.”

“And how does your actions bring anyone justice?” I challenged. 

“You know what I’m guilty of? Bet you think I’m some sort of cut throat bandit, or a sand pirate right?” I did not respond, and so Joy continued, “not every criminal or outlaw is the same, not that the church cares, sin is sin as long as they define it as such,” she shrugged, “and just as they’ve branded me a sinner, they’ll do the same to you. Nobody’s immune, you’ll outlive your usefulness to the church and then you’ll end up as another trophy for that inquisitor.”

Our conversation was cut short when dark clouds began to converge overhead.

“Aw shit, twice in the same week? Guess this is what I get for travelin with churchies,” she cursed as the wagons came to a halt. 

“Achak, Ban, keep the donkey’s steady!” Seta ordered, “Witches, you know what to do.”

Joy swung the wagon door open and jumped down beside me, “time to earn your keep, huh lil nun?” she mocked while drawing a broken sword from the scabbard at her side.

“If you would prefer I do this alone, then by all means, sit back down, criminal,” I answered unholstering my gun.

The dark malice swirled in a vortex, blocking our path forward, it raged like a mighty storm, hot gales sending burning sand into our eyes. From within the eye of the storm, six beasts emerged, Malefics ready to slaughter us all.

“Satarael!” Adel and Joy called in unison and Joy's sword became engulfed in a scarlet flame. Side by side, the two witches ran into the frey, as I lingered back a moment. 

“They share a familiar?” I was shocked, we had arrived in the midst of chaos the last time these two witches fought, so I had not seen the source of their magic. Now to see them together, beseeching their familiar and casting spells in unison, it was something I had never thought possible. 

“We can ponder the peculiarity of these two later, my love, for now let us aid them!” Rafa spoke sternly, reminding me of the urgent matter at hand.

I nodded and raised my gun, “Rafa, guide my bullet, lightning shot!”

 

The battle had ended in a matter of minutes. Honestly, I was astonished at the pair's efficiency, though I would not dare let that Joy think I was impressed by her. 

“Did I do good, Joy?” Adel asked her partner, a sparkle in her big green eyes.

“You sure did, good girl,” Joy praised the witch, rusting her hair and eliciting a squeal of delight from her. 

As the malice cleared, our path was open once more and we were beckoned back to the wagons. I watched the two witches closely over the next couple days, hoping to glean some knowledge from them.

Making camp for the night, they stayed close to, holding each other tenderly as they ate by the campfire. Their comradery was, if I am to be honest, commendable. Looking back now, I can honestly say I had envied their friendship. I had my sister nuns, but many died or left the Abbey before I could ever grow close to them. No, that is not true, I would not have grown close no matter how long they stayed. Sister Agast had been the one who I knew the longest, and I had detested her. That is not right either, I did not detest her, perhaps I feared her. Every day that we spent in the abbey she came to speak with me, always going on about things that had little to do with anything. I did not care to talk with her, I did not care to see her, I simply wished to be left alone. So then, why there in that desert, seeing those two witches, did I miss Sister Agast?

“They may be beautiful, but is it not rude to stare lovely sister?” Ban’s voice intruded on my thoughts, though for once I was glad for it.

“I am merely observing them for any suspicious activity,” I defended my actions, “does the Inquisitor not do the same with me?”

The knight shrugged as he sat beside me, “you can never truly know where those eyes of hers are pointed, after all that mask does a terrific job at hiding them, doesn’t it?”

One did not need to see those eyes to know they were upon them. Still, I could not blame a man for being unaware of the unrelenting gaze of a predator. Though now I had to ask myself, am I the predator to these girls?

“In my experience, shifters are not very fond of being stared at,” he said as he sipped on a cup of soup.

“Shifters? What do you mean?” I had heard the word before, though in the context he was using it, it couldn’t possibly mean what I thought it meant.

“Well, geeze, I didn’t think I’d have to explain it,” he said pulling on his collar, “those women are, well, perhaps a more eloquent way to say it is that, they are women the church would not require to expose their navel.” 

“Only church officials and nuns are allowed to hide their navels, what privilege do they have to hide theirs?” He was not making sense, or more accurately, I was not following.

He began to look even more uncomfortable as he tried to explain it to me in words I understood, “when those two were born, their parents would have not called them daughters,” he danced around, refusing to be straightforward.

“So their parents rejected them?”

“Possibly, but that would have been years later I am sure,” Ban sighed, “sister Marionette, what I am trying to say is that,” his face was turning different hues of red as he fumbled around his words.

“Them ladies were born men,” Achack said bluntly, “or at least that's how people see them.”

So it did mean what I had thought it meant.

“Don’t say it so bluntly, good friend,” Ban whispered loudly.

“They know who they are, they’re not ashamed of it,” he said chewing on a piece of wheatweed, “besides, doesn’t matter how any people see them, they’re witches aint they? The Sophiea say they’re girls then who would I be to disagree?”

“The Sophiea?” That was a word I truly had been unfamiliar with.

“You call ‘em familiars, but that’s just a word the church gave em long ago. Before that they called ‘emselves Sophiea,” he spat weed fibers and chuckled, “your little church sure changed alotta things.”

“Is that true?” I asked Raffa.

“The word feels right, like a name I once knew, though it was certainly long ago,” she answered.

“Still, I do not feel I follow, how can a man be a witch?” 

“Because they ain’t men,” Achack grunted, “your kind gets hung up on the silliest of things.”

“What do you mean? What is silly about all of this?”

He put another piece of wheatweed in his mouth and chuckled, “you care way too much about the body, when its the spirit that really matters,” he crossed his arms and leaned back against a rock, “Kydael are neither men nor women, we are simply just Kydael. Though you all seem to have a habit of assignin us roles cause our bodies are big and strong, or small and frail.”

Our conversation took many twists and turns that had perplexed me, I had simply had enough to ponder as it was and did not know if I could ponder anything more. So I went silent, as Ban and Achak conversed amongst themselves.

 

Morning came and so our journey continued, and with that journey came another battle. The malice had been a far greater presence than our way there, and I had grown sick of the sight of it. 

Having put down another Malefic, I holstered my gun with a deep heavy sigh.

“Got your work cut out for ya, hey nuny?” the bandit witch, Joy, teased me, “if you’re gettin tired just take a lil nap in the wagon, Adel and I can handle the next horde all on our own.”

“Perhaps I should take you up on that offer,” I retorted, “but be wary, I am a heavy sleeper and will not hear your cries for help when you become overwhelmed.”

Joy laughed with a snort, doubling over holding her belly, “hahaha! Finally I get a little spirit outta ya!”

My face betrayed me, I felt a small smile form on my lips. Returning to the wagon, I sat with the two witches while Ban and Achack rode separately. 

Adel laid her head in her partner's lap, humming as Joy stroked her hair. A warmness disturbed my stomach, or perhaps that is not the right way to say it. 

“What’s with the death glare? Point them eyes elsewhere,” Joy snapped.

“I am sorry, I,” I attempted an apology, but she had cut me off.

“I’m messin, you gotta lighten up,” she sighed, “guess the church didn’t exactly teach ya how to to be social.”

“To be honest, no.” I admitted, though I was not ashamed, “they taught me how to fight the Malefic, and how to enforce their will.”

“Figures, ‘course they taught you how to be a crusader of their holy justice,” she scoffed, “lemme tell you this, knowin how to make friends is the most vital skill for survivin out in these parts. And trust me, you’re not gonna make friends by bein a faithful lil puppy to the church.”

“Making friends is,” I wanted to object, but I could not.

She tilted her head, eyeing me down, “got nothin else to say, eh? Good, take that lesson to heart nuny.”

“My name is Marionette,”

She smiled, “take it to heart, Marionette.”

 With Night approaching, the two suns low in the sky, at last the town could be seen in the distance, “looks like this is the end of our little journey together,” the witch said, stepping out of the wagon as we pulled into town.

“Will you continue on with these people?” I asked her.

“Nah, they arrived safely, well mostly, so my job is done,” she stretched her body while taking a few steps forward, “they got it from here, We’ve got a new client to meet up with for a killer job,” she flashed a mischievous grin.

“Try not to break the law, if such a thing is avoidable for you,” I said.

“Ha no promises,” Joy waved and walked off without another word, her witch companion trailing behind her. 

“What is this?” minister Bosk ‘greeted’ us.

“In a lapse of judgment, the Grand inquisitor has allowed criminals to go unpunished,” Judeka hissed.

“The incompetence of the high inquisitor, to allow those witches to keep their lives,” the minister ranted as he passed by, “the high priestess shall hear about this!” The portly man stamped his feet as he waddled to the station’s loading platform.

“Some people have no class,” Ban sighed, “sometimes it’s hard to see the beauty in all people, wouldn’t you agree?”

“We have no time for idle banter, our train should be here shortly,” I followed the minister, the inquisitors not far behind, carrying the ‘package’.

“It was quite the experience meeting those two though,” Ban chuckled

“Was this your first time meeting a witch outside the church?” I questioned him.

He shook his head, “certainly not, though I would say it is my first time meeting a Shifter witch. Two of them at that.”

“I am still quite perplexed by how men could become witches.”

“They are women, dear sister, a shifter woman is still a woman,” he corrected me.

“Were they not born men?” I questioned him, “if they are shifters than you mean to say they have,” I made broad gestures attempting to articulate my point.

“Dicks? You askin if they have dicks?” Achak cut in, overhearing our conversation.

“I wished to ask in a more tactful way, however yes, that is what I mean to ask,” I sighed.

“And so do familiars from my understanding, yet still you call them women do you not?” Ban pointed out.

“It is different, familiars are spiritual beings, our concept of gender means little to them,” I said, only to realize my words.

“Your concept of gender means little to my people, and maybe it just means little to others too,” Achak laughed. It was a repeated conversation, yes, but perhaps I needed it to repeat to truly allow it to sink in.

“It is true, we familiars chose only women partners, it is then suffice to say my love, that their familiar accepts them as women,” Rafa added, “and so if she says they are women, then what more could you argue?” The same point Achak had made, still I had no rebuttal, this was not something I needed to further argue. Instead I chose to stay quiet, and reflect on their words.