NOVEL NEXT Chapter 145: Witch Watch
Earlier…
The witch arose with a start. Her vision shrouded in darkness by the eye mask she wore to sleep. A gift from Alma, it was emblazoned with a cartoony pair of feline eyes. Heloise lifted one side of her mask to peek at whatever noise it was that had awoken her from her beauty sleep. In a dark corner of the room, she made out the faint humanoid silhouette of something creeping around her bedroom. Before she had time to utter a spell to obliterate the face off the perverse voyeur who chose to break into the last house of his puny existence, the figure turned to her and spoke.
"Heli. Holy shit, Heli!" whisper-shouted the familiar voice. The figure rushed to the witch's side.
"Huh? Wha—? Alma…?" Adrenaline had startled the witch awake, which only ramped up her confusion as her best friend's face smiled back at her through the murky dark of her room. The witch reached for one of the various ornate rings scattered on her nightstand, and brought it to her face before reciting a short incantation. The red gem sitting in the ring let off a vibrant glow that lit up the area around her, including the markswoman looming over her.
"Hi." Alma grinned at her friend as the glow lit up the contours of her face.
"What in nature's name?! Alma, I thought you left. How did you get in here? Oh my Dark God, I thought I was over these dreams…" The witch squeezed her eyes shut while banging both her fists against her head.
"Hey! Hey! Let me explain. I can assure you, you are not dreaming. It is I." Alma twirled her arms dramatically. "In the flesh."
"Attends, t'es sérieux?! You came back? How the fuck— Wait. You came back. Babe, does this mean you changed your mind about the mission? You chose me?" There was an inexpressible glee in her eyes. "Like, of course you did! What kind of cold-hearted bitch wouldn't choose her bestie over two randos—"
"Heli. That's not why I'm here. I'm still completely dedicated to the mission, but look." Alma turned to the side and pointed at the far wall of the witch's room with her finger. With a whispered "pow", her thumb came down and a ripple in reality instantly formed exactly where she was aiming. "That's how I got back here. I couldn't wait to show you and now I don't have to."
"What the FUCK?!" Heloise clutched at her blanket, teeth clenched, before suddenly throwing it off and rushing off the other side of her bed to investigate whatever the fuck her friend was trying to show her. "Is that a fucking portal?! C'est QUOI ce putain de genre de magie ? Genre, t'es une sorcière maintenant ? QUI t'a appris la magie ?! Meuf, t'aurais carrément pu venir ME voir pour ça ! J'vais TOTALEMENT buter cette traînée. Donne-moi juste un nom, Alma. Ouvre-moi un portail vers chez elle, j'en ai pour cinq minutes. Non, dix. J'veux être SÛRE qu'elle souffre !"
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"Whoa, whoa! Heli, calm down! You know I can't understand you when you talk like that. What are you trying to say?"
"Yeah, well, if you had kept up with the lessons I gave you, you wouldn't be so confused. Now WHO taught you how to do this? Was it that beast Derleth or whatever his name was?"
"No one! I… I taught myself. My power's evolved, Heli. I don't just see things anymore. I can focus this curse now and create portals to anywhere I want. Well, within reason anyway."
"You mean your little magic eye became this? That's… so totally cool! My gosh, babe. This is like, huge!" Heloise bounced around excitedly, her bare feet slapping loudly against the wood floor with each skip.
"I know, right?!" Alma squealed. "All those years we wasted trying to figure out what was wrong with me and now look what I can do. Oh, that reminds me. We did finally manage to find Derleth. He's so much more intense than I pictured. He was actually pretty cool when he wasn't going around threatening to kill us. He told… err, revealed a lot to us. Including—I think… I think I also might have finally discovered where this power comes from."
Heloise noticed her bestie's exultant energy fade almost immediately as she continued.
"It's…" Alma trailed off, her eyes darting around the room rapidly. She tried to find the right words before finally sitting down on the bed wearily, sighing loudly. "…not good, Heli. I'm not even completely sure I believe it myself. Maybe it's better if I explain it once things cool off."
"What are you talking about, Alma? Why can't you tell me now?" The witch pulled her head out of the portal. She walked over to Alma and put her hands on her shoulders before giving them a squeeze. "Something did this to you, didn't it? I might know a little something about that sort of thing."
Her gaze drooped to the side.
"Huh? Man. You really know about everything, don't you?" Alma rested her hand on her friend's as bits of relief washed over her. "Actually, there's something else I need your help with. It's about my sister."
"Wha? Zula? What about her?" Heloise pulled her hands away. "You know I don't like Church talk in my house."
"They… They told me she was killed during one of her relief missions." There was a crack in her voice that she quickly subdued. "But I don't believe them. They didn't find a body. They were so vague about the whole thing. I think she's still out there. She has to be. I want more than anything to just cast everything aside to go look for her, but I can't. And so I came, hoping my best friend could help find her in my place. I know what an expert you are at finding people."
"Say no more, Alma. Anything to stick it to those zealous creeps."