"Why would the Svernatine's want drugs in New York?" I can't help but ask Asphodel.
"I don't know, but we will have to go there anyway. Let's get to Garth and we will figure the rest out." She assures me.
"Well, well, well. We have a couple of Crescents a bit far from their moon." I hear the female say from behind us.
"Heh, well, Seraph, what're we gonna do with them?" The man asks.
I turn around to get a good view. The female he just called Seraph is a tall and athletic built woman who stands around five foot eight. I almost feel like I'm really short as I look into her emerald eyes. Her fire like hair only makes her presence feel that much more heated.
"You ain't doing nothing to us." Asphodel pipes up.
"Oh? Why is that? You think I forgot about your journey into the pentagram, Asphodel? The way you slaughtered my grandmother." She grins and lets vengeance fill her eyes.
"Asphodel, did you really?" I ask.
"That's during a time of war, Annie. We all did shit we aren't proud of." Asphodel sighs.
"Well, it's time history got its payment for the suffering caused." The man speaks.
The man comes around the corner and he looks rather off, his skin being a faded grey flesh tone. He has fire red eyes and bright blonde hair. He stands around the same height as Seraph.
"Howie, you aren't a part of this. Take your supply, get lost." Seraph barks.
The man walks away and picks up a suitcase on his way through the alley. I sigh. We lost out on stopping that shipment, but now, we have bigger problems.
"Seraph, your family already cursed mine." Asphodel says.
"That is not justice." Seraph replies.
"So then what do you consider justice?" I ask as I try not to let the anger from Seraph's judgment well up within my chest.
"Well, I know your grandmother died in the war, which would lead me into the next in line, your mother." Seraph says as she waves her wand and a purple mist begins to release.
"Sleep alchemy." Asphodel says as soon as she notices it and covers her face.
I immediately follow Asphodel's lead. She raises her wand and I can see the smile she wears under her arm easily through her eyes. She nods as if to get behind her. I slip behind her quickly.
"Ventis!" Asphodel sternly shouts as the mist begins violently blowing back at Seraph.
"Nice job." I say as I lower my arm.
Seraph does not seem to make the timing to raise her arm to help slow her breathing in her own mix. She wobbles with her arm up and collapses to the ground. Asphodel pats my back. She crouches down to check on Seraph.
"I was right, Sleeper alchemy." Asphodel confirms.
"What the hell's keeping you two so long?" I hear Garth's voice behind us followed by the baggage dropping into the alley.
"Remember Seraph Svernatine?" Asphodel asks.
"Oh that little tot from when we helped Annie to get to the normies place?" Garth asks.
"Yeah." Asphodel says as she steps to the side to reveal the unsconcious woman laying on the alley floor.
"I see."
"She and her family are pumping drugs into New York from here." I interject. "I came by to tell the junkies off, but that wasn't what I found." I add.
"Very well." Garth sighs.
"I simply caught on to what Seraph was gonna do to us." Asphodel snickers.
"Seems right for you." Garth chuckles.
For the moment, we feel like this is just a part of normal life. It dawns on me, what are we going to do about when Seraph wakes up? This is not going to be easy. We have to not only pull off hiding her from the normies, but also from other witches who may know her. This just got intense.
"So, what are we going to do with Seraph?" I ask.
"We can take her to a park using an invisibility based oil or maybe even a tincture to do it." Asphodel says.
"A witch is dead without alchemy, as you said." I stick my tongue out.
"From there we can re-unite with your familiar, and maybe, he will be willing to relocate Seraph to your mothers place to be dealt with?" Garth suggests.
"Isn't that far for a wyvern his size?" I ask.
"We can always change his size temporarily." Asphodel offers a solution.
"Alchemic or Magic?" I ask.
"A wyvern? Alchemy would be safest." She says.
"Asphodel's got a point there." Garth says.
Seraph groans in their unconscious state. I roll my eyes and grab her. I exhasperate and await for the two of them to decide how we go about taking care of this woman. Especially considering her vengeance wish within her heart. I try to not let the idea of her wanting revenge even with the curse in place stay in my head. It starts to eat at me if it lingers.
"Alright, well, first things first..." Asphodel says. "Garth, do you have the invisibility enchanted robes I gave you four years back by chance?" She asks.
"No, I couldn't possibly have expected this kind of situation in the modern day." He admits.
"Guys, we need to get moving quick. Figure it out." I demand.
"She has a point Garth, think." Asphodel nudges.
"What if we just used a cloaking sphere?" Garth asks.
"What is that?" I ask.
"Well... Let's just show her. Its easier than explaining." Garth says.
The two of them pull their wands out in synchronicity I only ever seen in music videos. Their wands both glow a bright baby blue. Slim bright light paths follow their wands as it leaves a sphere around them. They pull their wands up and touch the tips together. When I get to see the full effects trail it makes a three-dimensional heart shape. A bright flash happens that takes my vision for a bit. The white haze has me blinking repeatedly as my eyes wash the haze from view.
"Fancy." I say. "You guys do spells together a lot I take it?" I snicker.
"Shut up, let's get going." Asphodel coughs.
"She doesn't do well with feelings. Don't take it personal." Garth tries to help explain Asphodel's behaviour. "We do have a lot of history though. I'll catch you up sometime." Garth offers me.
"Well, I rather hear it from her, to be honest. No offence, Garth." I say.
"Don't apologize, I understand entirely." He says.
We all walk together as I carry Seraph. It looks like this sphere they made actually renders us entirely invisible. Why didn't she teach me this earlier? You would think this is a handy spell. There's something I am not aware of for this situation, or I am merely overlooking a simple detail. Either way, we focus on heading into the park. I need to be sure my family is safe. I can't let another war happen.
"So this park is going to be okay for us to have Sven grab Seraph?" I ask.
"Yep, then we increase Sven's size and we also cloak him like us, so she isn't seen flying about." Asphodel replies.
"Makes sense." I say.
"I actually am going to call in the local alchemist for a delivery." Garth says as he pulls out his phone and begins texting.
"Smart idea, we will be needing supplies for Svens potion." Asphodel chuckles.
"Seems like we can almost solve any issue, huh?" I smirk.
"Witches are always better off with their coven members." Asphodel quickly states.
"Power in numbers. The more who see a similar goal, can thus work to it faster." Garth explains. "Also, we need a male counterpart for you at some point." He adds.
We keep going down the street. I admit, this feels weird, watching people look right through us. I am kind of relieved to see myself as unnoticed, as a change. People always used to stare at me when I was little, so this is genuinely a great change of pace for me. As I walk with them its hard to feel vulnerable. Between us, we should be able to think or get our way through most situations I would think.
"What do we need?" I ask.
"Well, Lavender, Dandelion, Some Cinnamon, Goats Blood and a few other things, Like Quartz, Amethyst and I would even think gold flakes to be ideal." Asphodel Explains. "We also will want a black candle, a yellow candle and a pink one." She adds.
"Why would we want the candles?" I ask.
"There is such things as using colors to amplify your spells, Annie." Garth decides to let me know.
"Interesting." I say.
"I will get the blood then. I also will get the cinnamon and other herbs and spices, however you guys need to get the other stuff. I figure there ought to be a butcher nearby or something for the goats blood, and the other stuff is easy enough, a flower shop and grocer should have this. Dandelions grow everywhere too." Asphodel explains.
"Geez, you sure know a bunch sis." I admit.
"Yeah, almost as if I survived a war." She laughs.
"Asphodel, that's not funny." Garth says, trying to stifle a chuckle.
"Well, it's not like I know a lot about you guys, really..." I sigh.
"Sweetie, nothing against you there, it's just sweet." She replies to me.
"Either way, we got our work cut out for us. But two questions." I say
"What would they be?" Garth asks.
"For one, what do we do about them?" I point to the fallen witch. "And second, How long until we meet here again?" I fire both questions.
"We hide the witch in the dumpster in the corner for now." Garth says. "We'll come back in an hour?" He asks.
"Agreed. One hour, regardless if we have the stuff of not. We want to be sure that we aren't caught off guard or worse, lose one another this far from home." Asphodel says.