“You could help you know”, Emilia Mickens looked up from her cleaning task to glare at her new roommate. Celeste Puddu seemed utterly content to nestle among the built-up grime of their room.
“I’ll get to it. Watch this.” The darker-haired girl lifted both her hands up to slam them down on the bed. A cloud of dust and dirt erupted causing both girls to choke. Thankfully Emilia had the foresight to open the window to help air out as she cleaned.
“That was dumb.” Celeste managed to breathe a little more normally.
“Yes, you are,” Emilia commented before another round of hacking coughing stole her breath. Grumbling Emilia tucked a blond curl that escaped her head scarf.
Seven years. It had been seven years since the first time the two of them became sisters of the coven. True Emilia didn’t have any blood siblings but she was certain that wasn’t how they were supposed to act. According to her mother, the Sisters of the Coven were supposed to be her new family. Courtship rights were transferred from the father to the Coven. If witches outlived their husbands they moved into each other’s cottages until they died.
Worst case scenario Emilia and Celeste could be stuck with each other for decades.
If seven years of training didn’t fix that devil-may-care attitude nothing would.
So Emilia assumed that Celeste would be just as committed to their new life as she was. Especially considering Celeste was from an impoverished background.
---
‘Damn rich people.’ Celeste shook her head as she gathered the smelly bedding to haul downstairs.
Celeste always felt a pang of annoyance when the other girl began to lecture. What did the blond know of hard work? Seven generations of witches and magi had cultivated the Mickens name into one associated with wealth. Marrying into the family guaranteed an easy life.
Unlike Celeste’s upbringing. Watching what happened to her mother had left a deep scar on her heart. Her father had been injured while herding the pigs so her mother went back to picking up work from their local guild outpost. Crap jobs no one wanted but since she was desperate she took what she could. One night she came home, sat by the fire, and never woke up.
Magic depletion.
A fancy way to say ‘worked to death’. Celeste was the one to discover her in the morning.
There was no point in cleaning. Sure she’d take care of the bed but that would be it. No point in wasting energy when she had plans. She gave a passing glance at Emilia who was halfway under the bed trying to sweep up as much as she could.
‘Careful. Don’t want to over-exert yourself. Celeste thought to herself as she left the room.
After she had a little internal laugh she caught herself. No. She needed to focus now. They had finally made it. Now it was time to focus on what was important. Making the right sort of friends.
While Emilia would be content to be shoved into the back room of a guild somewhere being paid pittance, Celeste had bigger plans. Larger guilds meant more money coming through. If she played her Tarot cards right she could be put into the field where she could make even more money. A few hours on the line should be enough to air out any bad smells for now.
Lunch was being served when Celeste came back inside. Emilia kept glaring over her soup and hard bread. Sensing the tension in the room the woman they were renting from began to question their plans.
“Is there a specific guild you want to contract with?”
“I’m torn between runes or working in a pharmacy.” Said Emilia quickly. Surprised she didn’t injure herself with the sudden change in her mood Celeste ignored the girl’s babbling. While the two witches were discussing the pros and cons of either focus. Over their sponsor’s head, a large light grey tabby hopped onto the open window sill. As Celeste stared she noticed the cat only had one eye to squint at her with. For some reason, the cat made the girl smile back in response.
“You know what, I think I have something I can show you.” Announced their sponsor getting up from the table suddenly. The second the older woman left the room Celeste dropped her spoon to get up. She made her way to the scrap bucket filled with leftovers from the past few days. The red of the fish head seemed out of place as she laid it in front of the one-eyed cat. As if she had done it before Celeste began to scratch under the cat’s chin.
“So if you use this line in your work-Celeste what are you doing?” Their sponsor had returned with a keepsake box in hand. Looking around Celeste realized both the cat and the fish head were gone.
“Nothing.” She replied weakly.
---
Emilia finished her lunch before excusing herself to get ready. She changed out of her cleaning clothes into something more presentable. As she was lacing up her bodice Celeste joined her. She didn’t bother to change, just fixed her hair a little bit. Redoing her long dark braid she then grabbed her wand off her bed to shove into her bodice. Winching at how sloppy the girl looked.
“I can fix it if you want.” Emilia found herself saying. Seeing the other girl’s expression she elaborated. “Your hair.”
“What about it?” Celeste asked, glaring at the back of Emilia’s head. Using the mirror Emilia straightened herself to address her fellow witch. Mirroring the look her mother used when she wanted to command respect.
“You know today is the most important day of our lives right?”
Celeste scoffed.
“We’re about to meet with a group of old, judgmental, elitists with you looking like you just fell off the pig cart.” With that last jab caused Celeste to smooth down the front of her outfit a little bit. She pursed her lips like she always did when she was deep in thought.
“Fine.” Emilia gave a smile of approval as she motioned the reluctant witch to take a seat. When Celeste sat down she pulled her wand from her bodice. Makes sense she didn’t want the glass-like instrument poking her in the rib. Emilia liked to see what colors and shapes other magi wands looked like.
Made from pure white beach sand and the magi’s blood that manifests into a glass spun pen. Rather than calling the tool ‘blood pens’ guilds insisted on calling them ‘wands’.
Celeste’s wand reflected her perfectly, Emilia thought. Slighter shorter than Celeste’s own it was clear, allowing the colors streaking throughout to appear as if he had captured a sunset. Beautiful yes, but she preferred her ice blue with tiny snowflakes inside more. Once she was finished with the braid she checked over her work. No matter how neat her hair looked she still had the air of a pig farmer.
“Hold on. I have an idea.”
---
Celeste tried not to fuss too much with her much tighter braid as they made their way to the main guild hall. There they were separated for individual testing. The room they were placed in had a table standing in the middle laden with all sorts of magic-related items. She was alone with no idea what she was supposed to be doing. She chose to hover close to the table looking over everything.
“Eager to start, I see. The sooner we get this over with the better.” True to Emilia’s warning the man was old, judgmental sounding and by the way, he eyed her shoes peeking out from under the borrowed cloak, elitist as they came. Not trusting her voice she pulled out her wand.
She wasn’t ready for what the elderly man was throwing at her. Sure she knew that her knowledge was going to be tested more practical setting. However, she wasn’t expecting to use runes to extract the cooling properties of mint to then refract sunlight through a crystal to light the fire for the potion. All that would’ve been bearable, if it wasn’t for the invasive nonstop questions.
Who else in her family had magic? How far back does magic go in her bloodlines?
By the time she was able to think clearly again, Celeste found herself slipping into bed for the night. Staring up at the ceiling she tried to remember if she ate dinner.
“Mew?”
Oh yeah. Emilia had forgotten to close the window.
“Kitty. Kitty,” said Celeste weakly. As the cat nestled down for the night she reached down to stroke the dusty yet soft fur. “
“I can not believe you let that stray into our room.” Sniffed Emilia upturning her nose. Emilia had the decency to delay giving Celeste a tongue lashing. The girl took a deep breath making a self-calming motion with her hands. “It's fine. Not like you named it or anything. Naming it means you're making it your familiar.”
Celeste kept silent to have the rant end that much quicker. When they rounded the corner and the guild came into view. Inside they were ushered away to separate areas. Too focused on following the woman dressed for apothecary work she failed to say goodbye to Celeste.
---
The man was dressed for rune work. Celeste followed him deeper into the guild. Past several witches and magi busy with their tasks. To appear eager she pulled out her wand to fiddle with as they walked. They kept going. Right up until the hustle and bustle from everyone was just echoes in the distance. The man then opened a door to usher her inside.
‘A store room? Am I going to clean out the dust?’ She thought about looking around for any indication of what she was going to be doing. When the door closed behind her she turned to address her new mentor. There was a rustle of paper and a hard pressure on her forehead.
Next thing she knew she was staring up at the dusty ceiling.
“What happened?” Celeste asked, looking around. Her whole body felt numb as she was barely able to move her head. She managed to see her mentor bent over an object on the floor. As she stared the door opened again to reveal a much larger younger man entered.
“This her?” He asked bending over to examine the object.
“Yeah. I will send a letter for her things. Make sure not to bruise her. The client won't want damaged goods.” said the runemaster. The larger man grunted as he turned the object over to face Celeste better.
She screamed when she saw her face facing her.
---
Emilia wanted to wait for Celeste so that they could walk home together. She waited until she was ushered out of the building. So she walked home, alone with her ever-increasing panicky thoughts.
“Mew?” She knew that voice. Finally paying attention to her surroundings, she saw the one-eyed stray Celeste had been messing with. It was sitting on the barrels stored outside the home, its long tail flicking in the dimming daylight. Seeing that dirty cat stare at her with its single piercing eye made her insides twist. Just beyond the two of them, the door to her home opened. Coming out was a young man carrying Celeste’s trunk.
“Hey what are you doing?” Emilia rushed to stand in front of the man.
“I was sent to collect the belongings of the witch Celeste Puddu.”
“I find that hard to believe.” Shot back Emilia not backing down.
“She was given a new mission as per order of the higher-ups. If you are jealous, that is your business.” The man then stepped around the stunned Emilia.
No matter how many days had passed, the same twisted feeling never left her stomach. She was living her best life. Her dream. So why did everything feel wrong?
“Madame Mickens. Retrieve some of the fermenting jars from the store room.”
“Yes, master.”
Eager to please she made her way to the storerooms as quickly as possible. Realizing in her rush she didn’t have the forethought to bring a torch or lamp of sorts. She left the door open as far as possible to allow as much light in as she could. Even in the dim light, she managed to find the small clay pots tucked away in the back. Yuccan roots need complete darkness to properly unlock the stomach-soothing properties of the medicine they were making. She was grabbing the third pot when her hand touched something cold and smooth. Recoiling out of instinct for a second her curiosity prevailed as she reached back down to see what it was. She let out a small gasp when she realized it felt just like a wand. Pocketing it for later inspection she collected the third pot to take back.
She forgot all about her finding right up until she was shedding her cloak for the day. Pulling it out she inspected it in the light. Hands trembling, she almost dropped the wand when she recognized the sunset colors.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Breath coming up short she sunk to her knees while holding the wand to her chest.
“Celeste, what happened to you?” she asked aloud.
‘Wish I knew.’
Emilia gave a screech, dropping the wand to the ground. Breathing hard she looked around for the source of the whisper. Not seeing anyone she glanced back down at the wand lying innocently on the floor. Kneeling she picked up the wand gingerly as if it was about to explode any second. She looked around again waiting for something to happen again.
“Hello?”
‘Emilia?’ the whisper in her ears sounded louder.
“Yeah?”
‘Oh my god. You can hear me. You can hear me.’ It was Celeste’s voice, there was no doubt. She sounded like she was crying. Instinctually Emilia clutched the wand closer to her chest. Looking around she noticed a cloud of colored mist near Celeste’s empty bed.
“What's going on?” She squinted as the mist began to solidify in front of her eyes.
‘I wish I knew. I mean, I do know what happened but I don't know exactly how it happened.’
“Did you see who killed you?”
‘I didn’t die! I’m just,’ she gestured as if trying to find the words from thin air. ‘Not attached to my body anymore.’
“So...you're not a ghost then?”
‘I know my body is still alive. Look,” She pulled on the front of the outfit she was wearing. Instead of the worn dress, borrowed cloak outfit she wore the last time she saw her. Getting on off her own bed Emilia managed to make out a crest on the shackles on Celeste’s ghostly form.
“Is that a dragon? A bird? Maybe a griffon?” She muttered squinting to see the shape clearer.
‘That narrows it down.’ Celeste snapped back, shaking her sleeve back down. She got up to look out the window. Knowing not to press the issue, Emilia went back to the side of the room. She pulled out the box her mother gave her to protect her wand. She nestled Celeste’s wand next to her own. The only sound interrupting the quiet was the hushed whisper of her getting into bed. She snuffed out the light as Celeste continued to stare blankly out the window.
Morality had never been a murky issue for her. Good and bad. Right and wrong. Black and white. Easy.
Ghosts. Ghosts were bad. But Celeste was her sister and she never hurt a fly. Hell, she almost became familiars with half the animals back home.
“Emilia, eyes up.” Barked out, the apothecary master snapped her out of her thoughts. Once their eyes met the master laid into her. “You need to leave personal issues out of my wards. You took an oath, not a week ago Ms. Mickens. Uphold that oath or else.”
‘You’ll sell me off too?’
“Yes, master.” Emilia nodded. Uphold her oath she shall. Satisfied they went back to their picking and pruning. “Master, do you know who has a winged crest?”
---
The view from her room was infinitely better than the limbo of the storeroom. As she watched the world go by the one-eyed cat made an appearance. Stretching in the morning light the cat made her way up towards the window.
When she arrived she gave a loud meow as if demanding Celeste’s attention.
‘So you can see me? Or at least feel me.’ She attempted to stroke the cat. Even though she passed through, the cat still acted like she was enjoying the attention. All the while a light blue swirling dust began to float off the cat. It responded to her touch as if she were solid.
For the first time since waking up, she felt anything. Desperate for the warmth she used both hands to stroke the cat.
“I know you like that. Huh? Big Mama.”
The light blue color turned into a soft orange. Her favorite color.
‘Guess you're my familiar now.’ The cat only purred as it curled up to take a nap. All Celeste could do was chuckle to herself at the obscurity of it all.
---
“House of Detritus,” Emilia announced the second she got in the shared room. Celeste turned away from counting the smoke tendrils as the night settled in.
‘Had a good day I take it?’
“I asked around and Duke Erik of the House of Detritus frequents the guild to buy the best ingredients for their elixirs.”
‘Ok. So we have a name. Now what?’
“I’m not sure. Look, we at least have an idea who we’re up against.” At Celeste’s dejected look she added on the idea that had been running through her head on the way home. “Maybe a staff member might be a little more loose-lipped.” She made a drinking motion.
“Maybon is two weeks away. Lots of people will be in town just for fertility elixirs. Between the festival and all the auctions going on no one would notice us.”
‘Us?’
“Of Course. If nothing else you would make a great lookout.”
‘I can see this all going to hell real quick.’
“Well, the other option is for you to just sit here for the rest of your life.” Celeste offered while pulling on her nightshirt.
‘Do you even have a plan?’
“We have two weeks. I’m sure we can come up with something by then.”
---
Celeste did not need sleep so she thought she could come up with a smart well thought out plan. She thought wrong.
Emilia had taken to using Celeste’s wand as a hairpin so she could keep the girl close. In preparations for the festival, everyone was working around the clock picking and packaging ingredients. The night before Maybon the girls had no solid idea to act on. Hanging back after everyone else departed to rest up for the holiday they were allowed to talk freely.
‘When are the auctions again?’ Celeste asked, looking at the bunches of ingredients. ‘Elixirs take time to simmer. I know these hyacinths need to steep for an hour in rainwater before use.’
“I’m sure they have servants working on it throughout the night.” Shrugged Emilia as she placed her now clean shears back in the communal basket.
“Emilia I knew I could find you here burning the midnight oil.” Emilia froze as her master approached. How much did she hear?
“Since you are here, I have a special errand I need you to run.” She didn’t allow Emilia to protest. “These flowers need to go to the Detritus workshop as soon as possible.” She then left Emilia with her mouth agape.
‘I don’t know what just happened but I’ll take it.’ Emilia gathered the bunches in one of the many baskets as quickly as possible.
It took some asking around but they managed to find the workshop. When Emilia imagined a workshop she was thinking of the tiny stable-like situation they have at the guild. What loomed in front of them was a mansion.
“Is this the right place?” Emilia thought aloud.
‘It's here.’ Announced Celeste freezing up.
“What is? Wait, are you saying your body's here?” She asked looking around as if to see a clue or something obvious.
‘Yes. In there.’ Emilia pointed towards the mansion-like warehouse.
“Of course it is.” Taking a steadying breath she rolled her shoulders before saying. “No time like the present.”
There was a light pouring out of an addition on the side of the building. Peeking inside she saw several people shuffling bottles of lilac-colored fertility elixirs at different work tables. Everyone was wearing masks to prevent accidental inhalation of fumes. To increase the chances of pregnancy an aphrodisiac was added to ensure multiple copulations. Made sense you didn’t want a room full of people trying to have sex when they should be working.
Once Emilia entered the workshop she used her sleeve to cover her nose. Noticing her the overseer came over to snatch the basket from her hands. He handed it to the closest worker to get them to start soaking the flowers.
“Finish what you’re doing then go eat. Can’t have you passing out me.” He yelled to the rest of the shop. Worried about the fumes Emilia began to leave when she noticed a spare mask hanging on the wall. Looking at her outfit she noticed the other workers were also wearing the same colored work cloaks. Plain black except for the dried mud clinging to her own. Weighing the risks she slipped and grabbed the mask as if it belonged to her she walked out of the workshop.
“This should buy us some time.” Even though no one could hear her, Celeste nodded. Giving a nod of her own, Emilia re-entered the workshop to join the scatter of people making their way further inside the mansion. In the hallway, Celeste began to drift right while everyone was heading left. A stack of crates blocked the view of the two doors that hid further down the hall. Celeste phased through the door to give an excited scream.
Fiddling with the knob she discovered the door was locked.
“Can you reach yourself?” Saying it out loud was just weird.
‘No. I’m too far.’ she then proceeds to call out to her body to try and call it to her closer. ‘DAMMIT!’
Looking around Emilia tried to open the other door. It opened revealing an office. Cupboards filled with documents no doubt. An extravagant desk sat in front of a large window. Desks mean paperwork and paperwork means-
“Ink.” Sure enough, a pewter topped resealable inkwell sat half full on the desk. More than enough to write the rune to open the simple lock.
‘Someone is coming.’ Celeste phased into the room. Panicking, she realized there was nowhere to hide. She threw open the window to jump out. Despite her best effort, she could only close the window so much. Ducking down she was still able to hear the conversation between the two people.
“You said she’d still be able to do magic. You said she would be ready by Maybon. The auction is in a few hours and an infant can do more magic than her! At this rate, we’d be lucky if a brothel takes her.”
‘Those bastards.’ Growled Celeste.
“There are ways around it sir. At the very least she would be an ideal vessel to make a magically gifted child. That has to be worth something.” Emilia felt like her eyes were going to fall out of her head. Her breath was coming in bursts.
“Let's just take her to the auction house. I don’t need worthless inventory cluttering up more store rooms anymore.”
The voices left the office yet Emilia couldn’t bring herself to move. There was no way they could sneak her out now. If they don't do something there would be no way of getting Celeste's body back. Staggering to her feet she tried to follow after them. By the time Celeste had picked up on the trail, they managed to spot the carriage trot down the street.
“We’ll never catch up to them.” Bemoaned Emilia as the carriage turned the corner.
“Muur?” Looking up at her was the stray Celeste fed.
‘Big Mama. Is this where you go?’
“Of course you named it. We don’t have time for this.”
‘Why would my familiar be hanging out here though.’
“She followed you of course.” Both girls paused for a second as the weight of those words sunk in.
‘You knew my body was here, didn’t you?’ Celeste glanced down the street where the carriage had disappeared. ‘Can you find me again?’ The cat took off down the street with the two witches in tow.
Big Mama led them down several winding streets. She hopped up the stairs of a building connected to the docks. While Celeste was cooing at her familiar Emilia was surveying the building. It was well kept with fresh paint and glistening windows.
A woman’s high-pitched giggle caught her attention. Creeping around the building she noticed the side door leading to the outside was thrown open allowing groups of well-dressed people in. While the working class was sleeping, resting as much as they could before dawn, the rich were partying. In the light, Emilia was aware that even if she slipped inside her outfit would alert everyone she didn’t belong there.
Sighing she slumped against the building she was starting to feel her exhaustion creep into her bones. A large lump in her pocket caused her to plunge her hand into her pocket to investigate. In her hand she held the stolen mask and inkwell she forgot she pocketed.
‘I can work with this.’ Celeste said, placing a hand on Emilia’s hand. ‘Black and white are always in fashion.’
She was wrong but Emilia wasn’t in the mood to argue. Kneeling in the stolen light from the party Celeste guided her friend through the rune pattern that transformed the simple mask into something more intricate. Fancy enough for a party but not enough to garner attention. With a corner of the poster tacked to the side of the building.
Now clean and wearing a navy-colored cloak she dawned the mask before stepping into the light. Heart pounding in her ears she was expecting large figures to materialize out of the crowd to haul her out of the hall. It was hard to follow Celestes through the sea of bodies before they made it to the back where there was an auction going on.
On a raised platform a man was talking about a young man staring blankly across the crowd. Around his wrists were the same shackles that Celeste’s ghostly form was wearing.
“We have a thirty-five-year-old man. No wife or children. Has experience with flowers and vegetables. Good for those who want to keep a healthy garden.” He gave a wink to the audience before snapping back to a more professional tone. “His incurred debt is-”
‘How are we going to get back there?’ Emilia could only shake her head since there was only a small set of stairs that was in plain view for the whole room to see. The man on stage was shuffled off towards those stairs. The man who purchased the debt ushered his new servant out a side door. Possibly towards the carriage he had waiting.
Emilia wandered around as more indentured servants were sold. She managed to eat some bread as her eyes began to burn. People were leaving in a steady trickle. When only a quarter of the party remained the doors to the warehouse closed. A hushed excited murmur fell over the crowd.
“And now for the jewel of our auction tonight.” He motioned for the crowd to look at the side where the servants were being lead out. Emilia’s heart dropped as Celeste’s body was being led out onto the stage.
She had a vacant stare as if she was looking thousands of yards away.
“A rare find indeed. Nineteen and-” He paused “A witch.” Murmurs grew to a dull roar. “And before any of you ask, yes, she can still do magic.” He motioned for the assistant to bring out some supplies.
‘Of course, it would be that bastard,’ said Celeste.
“You know him?” Emilia whispered back.
‘That is master LaMonte, he was supposed to be my Rune Master but he decided to do this to me.’ She jabbed her finger towards the stage where Master LaMonte was performing magic pretending it was Celeste.
He had her perform very flashy color changes on her clothes. He handed her a chicken feather for her to transform into a vibrant peacock feather.
“We will now start the bidding at two hundred gold.”
“Two-fifty.”
“Three hundred.”
The price kept rising as all she could do was stand here. If she had more than a little bread in her stomach she would’ve vomited. Remembering an event from her own childhood Emilia made her way towards the exit. While everyone was shouting out their bid she was able to slip out the door unnoticed.
‘What are you doing? I’m still inside.’
“Exactly.” Looking at the well-worn tracks in the packed dirt she walked a little further down to carve a rune in the bottom of a severe hole in the ground. “If they like runes so much then they’ll love this one.”
‘A water rune?’
“All the driver will see in this light is a small puddle. Hitting it at full speed. Nothing slows down a fancy carriage like a broken wheel.”
‘That’s brilliant.’
“Don’t praise me yet. Here they come. Hiding just outside of the poor light they waited. True to form the driver hit the pothole hard enough to crack the wheel. When a man poked his head out to bark at the driver Emilia struck. She approached the carriage, delighted she found it unlocked. Inside the wife was focused on the fighting to realize Emilia had entered the carriage. Grabbing Celeste she began to pull her when the wife noticed the movement.
She let out a screech. Emilia pulled the barely responsive Celeste after her. The husband caught up to them quickly. She squeaked in pain as she slammed into a wall. Falling to the ground she scrambled to face her attacker.
“Release my property at once.”
“Let go of my sister.” Emilia managed to scream back. Standing over her she had never felt more helpless. Reaching into his coat he pulled out a flintlock to point at Emilia.
“Now. You’re going to do as I say. No one needs to get hurt.”
---
While Emilia was trying to drag her body to safety Celeste was trying everything to re-enter her body. If she could only take back control she could go with the man to escape later. There was no need for Emilia to be a part of this any further. It was dark and she was still wearing her mask. As Emilia was slammed into the side of the building Celeste’s wand came loose from her hair. Their connection was now severed. If Emilia were to run now or be dragged away she would be left alone.
Reaching out she tried to touch her chest to see if that would work. It was an uncomfortable blood red with several runes intersecting to create the monstrosity branded on her chest. When her hand got too close a sharp shockwave rippled through her causing her to recoil.
‘Why won’t you do anything?’ She choked out looking into her own eyes to see if there was any sign of recognition. Looking into her own dark eyes she saw the tears she wanted to shed. Through the fuzzy connection, the spiritual Celeste was able to move her hand towards her wand.
Grasping her wand she caught the attention of the man attacking them. He was demanding to know what she was doing. Celeste meant it when she stated she would rather die than allow her body to be used as a broodmare or whatever else he had planned for her.
‘Do it.’
With as much energy she could muster Celeste drove the pointed end of her wand into her heart.
Emilia screamed. The man was shouting. Celeste felt her heartbeat under her hand as the world turned black.
---
Sobbing Emilia held her limp sister to her chest. After everything they had been through she never once thought Celeste would do something so extreme.