Two Witches

Nothing Spared. 

Ariana and Althea acted as two minds in one body. She tossed a Pumpkin seed in her mouth... and a second... and a third. "Witch's Garden!" She bit down. Ariana's energy swelled with an absurd burst of energy that ripped through her arms and legs. She sang Brothers Come Home with her Mermaid's Grace to mitigate the damage.

Simultaneously, Althea began to run threads in all directions to try to connect the stunted flow in the castle to the network beyond. 

Xander's attention was drawn back to her once again. He witnessed as wispy green and clear blue energies poured entwined from her. He ran at her. 

She responded swiftly with several giant mushroom caps that pummeled uselessly against him, but they blocked his view enough for her to bounce herself a good distance away. He slammed a fist into where she once stood, and from that position, a great tangle of mycelium threads shot at great speeds towards him. Most of them were obliterated within an inch of contact, but one or two did brush him and cast Magic Drain. He leaped back before it had any real impact. 

He flicked his wrist to launch another bolt of black lightning. As Ariana continued to sing, Althea summoned another large mushroom that took the blast and directed the energy into the ground. Althea's connection to the outside finally went through, and Ariana's power surged. Althea began work on sewing the Witch's Garden. With direct access to the greater flow and Mermaid's Grace minimizing damage, she could use her magic uninhibited. 

Ariana conjured a ball of water and turned it into a high-pressure stream. Xander placed his hand in the path, and it coned back off of his palm. 

Ellie moved to slash him, but a tree sprouted into the roof between them. 

Ariana looked to her friends... and smiled.

Sophie wanted to object, as did Hayden, but Ellie held their hands. 

They knew what this meant to Ariana. 

Hayden and Sophie put up several barriers as they stepped back with Ellie. 

Xander flew at Ariana, claws extended by the malevolent violet aura. 

She met those claws with a cactus that sprouted in front of her. The thorns dug into his hand. He growled and tried again, but the cactus exploded in his direction, sending needles he needed to shield himself from. 

Some roots gripped around his ankles, but he stepped out of them by simply staggering back from the needle spray, as if they were wet paper. 

She poured a great amount of magic into the ground and emptied her seed satchel on the spot. She kept the song going, and Althea commanded all of the seeds to begin sprouting. From beneath the tiles of the castle, countless roots, vines, branches, thorns, spines, prickles, flowers, leaves, and trunks began to sprout. With two minds as one, the great burgeon arose and surrounded the room. 

Xander fought tooth and nail against every object that dared approach. Half of the objects were destroyed on approach, and the other half were struck down by attacks. Ariana staggered for a moment as the Mermaid's Grace failed, and another outpouring of magic burst through the skin of her chest. Althea kept the onslaught going with a flying cage of rose thorns, squeezing tightly to Xander. He simply swatted it away and healed the damage. 

Ariana's voice seemed to double. She sang her own harmony and recovered a bit more damage slowly. Xander rushed her, and her voice became a single sound again. Xander was met with a fern uncoiling into his chin and blasting him with a cloud of irritating spores. As his eyes closed, a densely packed spiral of stinging nettles forced their way against his neck and chest. They grazed and glanced him. Most were obliterated, but a good number of them struck true. He staggered back, and a mesmer pine sprang behind him. He was caught by it, and it burst into a mess of sap. 

Althea summoned a circle of mushrooms around his feet and tapped him into the Flow for a second. He surged as his aura was flushed out of him. Ariana managed to knock him over with a giant springy mushroom. She was able to make contact, but his aura returned swiftly. destroying the sap that had covered him. He was starting to look disheveled. 

His feet slid around into a stance, and his aura changed to a smoky dark red. Althea tried to spring up mushrooms under his feet, but he danced around them swiftly, closing in on Ariana. Ariana ducked under a swipe as a glowing forest flower rose from behind her and bloomed into a blinding flash. When his eyes closed, Althea took the moment to flush his aura with mushroom bop, allowing Ariana to embrace him... and cast Magic Drain at maximum power. 

Xander retaliated with his own embrace. "AZAZEL!!" 

He began to drain her levels. 

She felt woozy... but it felt like a weight had lifted from her shoulders.

All of the levels she had gained until now were devoted entirely to her magic pool. 

She was beyond the need for those levels. The flow itself was her magic pool now. 

He may have cut her levels down to one, but she was draining every last drop of magic in him and dumping it directly back into the flow. 

Xander screamed out. She held tighter to him. He dug his claws into her back. She winced and grit her teeth. She kept singing, and Althea maintained focus on the simultaneous actions of Magic Drain Xander and Mana Gift into the flow. She slowly brought the gradually weakening Xander down to the ground, keeping her firm hold on him. His claws dug bloody grooves into her back as he fought with every last remaining ounce of strength to loosen her grip on him. 

She kept hold of him. She held him... so very close. 

"Alex... my darling boy... do you remember when we went to the park?"

Xander's claws twitched. 

"There was one day, it had just rained, and you were jumping in puddles... We just got you new rain boots... You went into one puddle... do you... Remember that day?"

Xander's hands became unsteady. "...that day... I... fell in the puddle up to my waist..."

Ariana gave a gentle laugh. "You cried on the way home... do you remember your birthday? The one in the summer... we had a piñata, your Uncle Wilbert was there..."

"I had... struck Wilbert in the head..."

She squeezed him even closer. "Do you... remember... when I died?"

Alex gripped tighter. His voice wavered. "Of course I do!" 

She settled her head on his shoulder. "It wasn't your fault... You were just a little boy... my little boy..." 

"I hated myself... for years! I was the one who killed you! I killed my own mother!"

"You did nothing wrong, sweetheart..."

"I killed you... and I killed my baby sister... how could I possibly live with that guilt?" 

"It's alright now... We're together again..." She caressed his back and stopped the magic drain.

Alex released his claw grip on her back and truly embraced her. "...mother... I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay... I love you so much... pumpkin pie..."

They wept in each other's arms. 

As they embraced, all of the magic dissipated, and Ariana's plants withered away to leave a ruined castle around them. Sophie and Hayden's barriers go down. They cautiously stepped over to the two. Ariana looked at them. Despite the tears refusing to stop flowing from her eyes, she was the happiest she'd been in a very long time 

Sophie didn't hesitate to run in and join the hug. Ariana laughed and rested her arm over Sophie. 

Ellie settled down to join them as well, leaning in against Ariana.

Ariana looked at Hayden. Hayden took a deep breath... and smiled. He came around the side and knelt behind Ariana and Ellie, wrapping his arms around them. 

Ariana rolled her head against Alex's shoulder. "These people... they're wonderful people who I love dearly, and... I hope you can love them, too..."

Alex nodded against her shoulder. He looked off through one of the many holes in his castle to watch the setting sun. "Perhaps... some day... I will..." The evening light gleamed in his eyes.

Some time passed, and Xander spoke with Ariana and her friends. "...I'll be working to undo some of the damage I've caused, but... it won't be easy. First order of business... getting the would-be hero sent back home." 

Ariana hugged him. "If you ever feel like being the Demon Lord gets to be too much... you can come to Loomholm, I have a lovely little cottage there that will always have room for you. 

He returned the hold. "Thank you, mother... I'll visit when I have the time. I promise."

"I love you so much..."

"And I, you... Take care, mother." 

They released each other.

They managed to find their cart. It was perfectly intact.

Except for one little thing...

There were smashed bits of pumpkin in one corner of the cart. 

Sophie ran over and gasped. "NO! TARRY!"

Ariana slowly walked to the cart and saw the bits of pumpkin. She daintily scooped them up and regarded them with a sad smile. She held the remains against her chest. "Thank you... for protecting me..."

She turned and walked to Hayden. "I think..." She stood a little closer to him. "I'd like to make another one..." 

He gave a slightly nervous laugh. "Well then..." He smiled at her. "Know what... yeah. I can live with that." Ariana pressed her head to his chest, and he held her. 

After getting packed up, they hit the road again. 

Ariana was looking forward to each day from then on.