3.17. Frowns and Birds

Alyxa’s frown went deeper than just the skin. She saw her Dream again, standing there with Odin in that strange cavern. She suddenly felt like all the drifting pieces were slowly coming together; a jigsaw puzzle of infinite size made by blind gurus and carved by invisible children with no knowledge of puzzles whatsoever.

“The Trickster?” she asked softly.

“Yes,” June Darjeeling replied, “every religion since the dawn of time has had a ‘trickster’, as with most, they are all one and the same.”

“We learn to diversify, the Tricksters are better at adapting than the rest of us,” Morpheus said to no one in particular, brushing a finger across the porcelain of his teacup; the delicately painted birds fluffed their feathers and took flight, coasting in endless circles.

-And of course Loki is the one we’re concerned with,-  Bast grumbled, stretching out to her full glorious self.

Alyxa sighed and looked at her feet. She frowned again; her sneakers were stained and worn from travel. She needed new ones. She blinked and now she was suddenly wearing a pair of purple suede pumps. A quick look at Morpheus revealed his small smile, even though his eyes were still locked in the flying birds in the china.

“Alright, so we’ve solved the mysteries of the universe, now where’s Maye?” she demanded.

“Maye is searching for Loki, I thought I’d made that obvious already,” June told her.

-Not really,- Bast grumbled.

“Fine,” Alyxa cut in, ignoring the Cat-Goddess, “why is Maye looking for Loki and how do we get to her?”

June’s eyes sparkled.

“I don’t know the answer to the first question,” she said, “and as for finding her. You’ll just have to do a little Blood Scrying, now won’t you, dear?”

-‘Blood Scrying’? –

“Alright, let’s get it over with.”

3.16. Lineage and Ambition

“When Maye was a young witch, her father sent her to us for tempering, to hone her talents in such a way that might make her fit for leadership. It was her father’s dream that she would succeed him in the Great Coven, and so we taught her everything we knew and when she was ready we tried her in the way that was normal. She excelled at everything we threw at her, until finally we presented her with the darker arts. It is a witch’s right to know all sides of the Undivided; we were not to know that Maye would gravitate towards this lore, and too late we discovered that her ambition was stronger than her morality. When she left us to take up her father’s mantle, we had done all we could to caution her against this, but apparently we didn’t do as well as we thought. You must understand that we trusted our own teaching abilities, perhaps a little arrogantly, and believed we had ‘fixed’ her. She was the most powerful witch to be born into our family in generations, it was only right in our minds that her talents came with a certain superiority.”

“This is all very well,  June,” Alyxa put in gently, “but it doesn’t tell us where she is. Where is she?”

“Most certainly. What I am trying to say is that despite who she has become, Maye is our family, she is our blood,” the older woman assured her, “and like you, Dreamer, she is born from an illustrious line. Did you know that every witch can be traced back to a deity of old?”

“Of course, it’s common knowledge. I’m Morpheusian...Jessica’s Cassandrian, which is Helion. It’s how we  define ourselves.”

“Naturally,” June said, “the Darjeeling s come from the Trickster.”

3.15. Quests and Wishes

They had adjourned upstairs, where June Darjeeling served Irish Breakfast tea in delicate but mismatching porcelain cups. Bast opted to have cream instead while Morpheus seemed more interested in the fragile sweeps of paint decorating his saucer.

“As you can see, Maye is not here,” June said.

“Do you have any idea where she might be?” Alyxa asked, setting down her cup again.

“Perhaps.”

-What’s that supposed to mean?-  Bast demanded.

“It means that she knows where Maye,” Alyxa muttered, “I’ve read this book. Alright, June, what do you want?”

June smiled a very witchy smile, this one full of teeth and gums.

“There is a rather rare book in a...special collection,” the elderly woman said, “I would like it.”

-May one ask after the title?- Bast asked, and Alyxa could have sworn she was batting her eyelashes.

“‘Sefer Raziel HaMalakh’.”

-The original, I assume.-

“Certainly,” June replied, taking a sip from her tea.

“It’s not,” Morpheus stated suddenly.

“I beg your pardon?” June demanded.

“It’s not the original,” the Dream-Lord replied, “the Arcs took the original back when the Elder retired to Reveille.”

June’s face was a tableaux of emotions, skipping across her face like a pebble across a wrinkled pond.  

-Weren’t expecting that, were you, crone?-

Alyxa flinched at Bast’s lack of subtlety.

“No, no I wasn’t,” June admitted.

“Is there anything else we might procure for you, my lady?” Morpheus suggested before either of his companions could stop him.

“A good night’s sleep?”

“Done,” Morpheus said, snapping his fingers.

“I was joki- ” June put in.

-You asked, wish granted, now tell us what you know!-

“Very well,” June murmured, shooting a side-long glance at Morpheus, “provided I never have nightmares again.”

“One wish I granted, a second requires a second bargain.”

-Tell us what you know.-

3.14. Words and Understandings

As it turned out, Dr. Charles Aswynn had indeed forgotten. He had to be trundled out of his lab where he had been arduously be at work making potions.  According to Michaela, who had been sent to fetch him, he often forgot everything for days at a time. It took an hour, but she extricated him and brought him before Jessica and Aeron.

“Charles, so nice of you to join us,” Aeron said.

“Yes, yes, sorry, I know, I missed out on the important meeting this morning,” Charles said, plopping down in a chair, “so are you going to tell me why I’m here?”

“We need a quorum and you, Jessica here, and I are it,” Aeron replied deftly.

Charles polished his glasses thoughtfully and peered through them first at the Loremaster and then at Jessica.

“A new Diviner? Why wasn’t I told?” he demanded, turning to look at his daughter. Michaela rolled her eyes but said nothing.

“Yes, the new Diviner,” Aeron said patiently, “you are the eldest witch amongst us, Herbalist, thus you make our third.”

“Ah, yes, well, of course, I see,” Charles mumbled, “I will, of course, be the third, and do my part for the coven. Was that everything?”

“We will need more than your usual attention span, Charles,” Aeron said gently.

“Yes, well, as you will. I s’pose with a youngster like this for a Diviner – ”

“Doctor, I know I am young,” Jessica interrupted, “but I can See.”

“What – oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be disrespectful, Diviner.”

“That’s quite alright,” Jessica replied, “we need to build our strength so we can help Alyxa get the little Dreamer back.”

“No kidding,” Michael muttered. Jessica reached for him and took his hand.

“There is much work to be done,” she told them all.

3.13. Paths and Patience

Michael scanned the room, seeing flashes of different emotions flit across the faces of the coven members. Here and there he saw relief, but mostly he saw disappointment, and every few faces it was anger. For a breed meant to be upholding the good, this particular species of witch seemed to be slightly too ambitious. He didn’t like it. Just as well that their new leader was not among them; the last thing this Coven needed was another megalomaniac.

“Not here?” Aeron asked, far more demanding.

“I think that is a matter to be discussed after Jessica has had a moment,” the Arc interjected, putting his hand on Jessica’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, Michael,” Jessica calmed him.

“Do you...” Aeron said softly, “...have any idea where is he?”

Michael watched his charge sort through whatever it was that she was Seeing. He wondered what it was that she saw; it was the weird thing, this pact between the One and Apollo to protect the Cassandrian line. To think, Sariel had kept Morgan company for more than a human lifetime.

“He’ll find us,” Jessica said, opening her blind eyes, “we just have to have some patience.”

Aeron scanned her face for a moment and then stepped back.

“Very well,” he said quietly, and then raised his voice, “Lore dictates that in the absence of a Coven Master, the Diviner, the Loremaster, and the eldest member of the Coven form a quorum and lead the coven until the Coven Master comes forward.”

“So...who’s the eldest?”  Jessica asked.

Aeron scanned the room, muttering to himself, his eyes lighted on a young brunette.

“That’ll be Charles Aswynn,” he said after a while, “Michaela, where is your father?”

A rustle of murmurs, and finally Michaela Aswynn spoke up,

“My father isn’t here, I guess he forgot.”