The World in Dissonance (Volume 1)

Chapter 2 - Part 5

Part 5

It was already 6pm the same day.

Alyss and Sonya were already in their hotel, resting on their respective beds after a long day of debating with the Witches on how they will handle the culprit behind the mass hysteria that caused the ongoing witch hunt in Carnforth town. Could it even be considered as mass hysteria if witches were real? Well, they didn’t want to bother overthinking on how to call the current issue that plagued the people of Lancaster.

This time, it was Sonya who was on the telephone with the girl called Dedicatus. They were exchanging about where Alyss and Sonya’s investigation lead them.

“I see, so ya two were offered help from ‘dat Eldritch boy in order to get inside the Bellemort College! N’ he gave both of ya a fake ID card imbued with a spell ‘dat tricks peeps into hallucinations!”, summarized Dedicatus after Sonya told her how their investigation went. “He probably used a spell based on the use of ‘Atropa belladonna’ (Deadly Nightshade) and ‘Hyoscyamus niger’ (Henbane). The effect won’t last really long so I guess ya all gotta move yer butt n’ find ‘dat culprit tomorrow!!”

“Wait, you mean the hallucinogenic effect will wear off that soon?”

“Dear, those plants are highly toxic deliriants. This great one can assure ‘dat he is a skilled warlock to pull off a spell on ‘dat level. His spell most likely used the main propriety of the plants which is the confusion of the mind. But in unregulated doses they cause marked confusion, clouded consciousness, and can be deadly.”

“I see, your knowledge in the occult always comes handy.”, complimented Sonya. “Since we don’t have the luxury of a time to keep our school life in Bellemort in a slow pace, we would like to request your opinion on certain manner!”

“Ya’re plannin’ on settin’ a trap for the culprit by goin’ bacc to Lord’s Lot forest, right!?”, deducted the young girl with medical eyepatch. “By doin’ so, ya expect the culprit to follow ya all since two new witches joined the usual groups that the person got informations!”

“Your deduction skills never cease to amaze me! And to answer your question, yes that was our main plan! If the culprit realized the existence of witches by witnessing Eldritch and the others in Lord’s Lot Forest, they will make another move by the time they noticed that me and Alyss have joined them as well. We will have Eldritch and his friends use their familiar or a doppelgänger on stand-by to notify us about anyone who would follow us!”

“Not so bad for a plan!! So, Alyss is preparin’ her camera right now!?”, asked Dedicatus as she was making another deduction.

Sonya turned to Alyss, watching the younger sister preparing everything they would need for tomorrow’s plan to work successfully. And in her hand was indeed a camera. It proved one more time that girl named Dedicatus was an expert in human psychology.

“How did you!?”

“Elementary Dearest Sonya!! One has to understand that provin’ the culprit wrong requests havin’ them confess their crime without them even realizin’ it. ‘Dis is but a mere battle of Chess!! Ya move yer pawns in a way to control yer opponent’s next move to make them dig their own graveyard!! One day, a wise man once said: ‘It’s double the pleasure to deceive the deceiver.’ So yeah, ain’t that difficult to deduce yer move-sets once ya know who yer pals art!!”

She was that amazing as a person, a bit full of herself when talking to Sonya, like if she wanted to impress the girl, but she definitely had a brillant mind. And the girl with glasses acknowledged it fully.

“So do you think it could work!?”

“Ya two art a bunch of mesmerizin’ fellas!! Am sure ya can make it happen!! But here is the trick, remember not to be content only with the tip of the iceberg!!”

“Are you saying that the culprit we are chasing is not the mastermind behind this mess?”

“Lemme ask ya a question Dearest Sonya!!”, answered the girl. “What’cha think is the main cause that pushed the culprit!?”

“Either Love or Revenge!!”

“What if I tell ya ‘t has to be both!?”

“Don’t tell me you mean there’s two person behind it!?”

“Indeed!!”

“So your theory is that one of them felt in love with either one of the witches, but for some reason, that feeling was shattered. Then as an act of revenge, the other one sought to ruin the witches for the sake of the first one?”

“Ya catchin’ up really fast!! Well, my theory is ‘dat the one who felt in love is a girl from the surroundin’ of ‘dat Eldritch guy!! But ya know, witches n’ their lustful behavior... Bein’ obsessed over him, the girl always observed him from afar, actin’ like a psycho. What term did the French people use to call such a person again? That archetype became really popular in some romance novels!! Ah yeah, a ‘Femme Fatale’... Ya know, the kind of dangerous, seductive, possessive and dangerous woman... Then ya all know the rest of the story!!”

“I see! Then she told everything to her accomplice who then initiated the plan to seek revenge on the witches!”, stated Sonya as she looked at Alyss who was cleaning the camera with a tissue. “What do you think about it, Alyss?”

“Won’t surprise me if she is right! Most of the time, her weird theory came out to be right!”, answered the younger sister. “Well, normally, I won’t say this as this case is a serious matter. But I am willing to take on a bet in case what Dedicatus said is right or wrong!”

“A date with Sonya if this great one is right n’ anythin’ ya both want in case my brillant mind is wrong!!”, answered the girl on the other side of the telephone without any hesitation.

“Wait! Why does it have to be a date with me? The bet is between you and your sister, so don’t act like I am a prize ya can win!”, instantaneously replied the girl named Sonya in an exasperating way.

“Ya bet!!”, replied Alyss as if she was ignoring her friend in glasses.

“I will beat the s**t out of you too once this matter is solved!”

And with that, Sonya hung up the call.

.

..

...

“Will you please be so kind as to leave this place before we banish your astral form ourself?”

It was Sonya who said those words. And they were directed to one being in the room. He was present, yet absent at the same time. Just like that Dedicatus girl who did an astral projection, he was also experimenting it at that time. He responded by the name of Silverstar. It was none other than the witch boy Eldritch. Alyss and Sonya turned to the door and gazed menacingly at it.

At first, when you looked at it, there was no one there. When Dedicatus made her astral projection, she was definitely visible to everyone in that coven. But why was there no one in the direction the two Christian girls were looking. With a pressure as heavy as the fate of Lancaster on their shoulder, did they make a mistake and imagine the warlock spying on them? Was it actually schizophrenia kicking in?

“Counting from one to five!! If you don’t show yourself, we will start reading a verse from the Book of Revelation against you!!”, added Alyss with as serious look on her face. “One!”

“Two!”, continued Sonya.

“Three!”

.

..

...

“Wait a minute! You don’t have to go that far, for Satan’s sake! We are collaborators, remember?”

Before the two girls managed to reach five in their count, the young warlock finally replied.

He actually made an astral projection but also imbued his astral form with an invisibility spell so no one would notice his presence in the room.

Invisibility Spell,

In Witchcraft and Wicca, it was a spell aiming to turn a person or an object invisible by blending light or creating a mental concealment.

‘Bright light, dark night, cloak me in light, as dark as night.’

That was majorly the incantation required to make use of the spell.

But to make correctly use of it, one was required to make all the necessary preparations, starting with visualization and breathing skills. By holding one’s breath, staying still and intensely visualizing blending into the surroundings, one could achieve the first step into making an Invisibility Spell.

And like in most Witchcraft spells, it also required the use of Herbal ingredients like fern leaves, poppy seeds or slippery elm powder.

The rituals and timing was also crucial. Performing the spell at dusk by using specific tools such as a wand or a crystal and incorporating protective elements like salt was the last step to assure the effectiveness of the spell.

“What are you doing in our room? You have exactly ten seconds to explain yourself, you degenerate p*****t!”, angrily asked Alyss as she took her Bible.

“Calm the f**k down, Miss! Why are you girls on your defensive? Didn’t I already prove mysef as an ally?”

“WhY aRe YoU gIrLs oN YoUr DeFeNsIvE!”, replied Sonya as she ironically repeated what the witch boy said.

“Five seconds left!”, told Alyss as she started to open her Bible.

“Ok ok! I came here to make sure you two were safe!”

“i CaMe HeRe To MaKe SuRe YoU tWo WeRe SaFe!!”, repeated Sonya sarcastically again. “So you infiltrated our room like the p*****t that you are to keep us safe from another p*****t or what?”

“Ok, said like that, it’s a bit off! But I assure you, my intentions are pure!”

“Can a warlock even have a pure heart to begin with?”, countered Alyss. “And the countdown is finished!”

“I just wanna make sure none of my friends are trying to mess with you two! As you have seen it today, some of them still feel hostility towards you girls. Mathers and me are making sure they don’t mess with you during this whole collaboration.”, explained the witch boy. “Comprende? Understand? lo entiendes? Еилукаауама? Mathers is making sure Psychopomps are not mistaking myself for a dead person by guarding my body under a spell! And me, I just wander around your place to watch over you! Do you even understand that our Dark Priest is not happy with your presence in this village, since that ruckus you caused in our coven yesterday? If not my friends, Mathers and me, we fear that it would be someone in our congregation!”

“Ok, we got your point! But you are contradicting yourself here. Aren’t you supposed to wander around? Yet, you stayed in our room, making use of yer invisibility spell and observed us like a peeping Tom”, replied Alyss with her Bible still opened.

“I apologize for that but I felt a spiritual wavelength from this room, so I got in without any hesitation.”, explained the boy to defend himself. “But how did you two even noticed I was here?”

* Sigh *

The girl named Alyss finally closed her Bible after letting a big sigh.

“Just because we can’t see you doesn’t mean we can’t notice your presence!”, replicated Sonya. “Right when Dedicatus and I were on a call, we felt a presence in this room. We weren’t sure to whom it belonged, but while preparing the materials for tomorrow, Alyss was also making sure to have a bottle of Holy Water ready in case the presence we felt belonged to an evil spirit or a demon who planned to make a sneaky attack!”

* Sigh *

“Wow, All hail Satan! You girls aren’t f*****g playing around. I am glad I wasn’t blasted into oblivion with that weird water of yours!”, declared the young warlock with an exasperated look on his face. “Well since you’ve noticed I was there from the beginning, I can then freely say that one friend of yours on the phone earlier, Dedicatus if I ain’t wrong, is an exasperate person with too much ego but she is insanely sharp! I would have never deduced all of those crucial points if I was in her shoes. And the most frightening part is the fact she is not even present here in Carnforth.”

“Well, Dedicatus is a league of her own. It’s true she doesn’t have any of the Gift from the Nine Gift of The Holy Spirit, but her mind is unmistakably one of the most brilliant you can encounter around here!”, declared Alyss.

“She even managed to get a grasp on the spell I used on the fake ID cards I gave you two, understanding the principles behind it and recognizing the ingredients used to make it! Is she some sort of a monster?”

“You could say she is a human encyclopedia of different types of knowledge!”, answered Sonya.

“She is your twin sister, right ? Are you sure she doesn’t have any Gift or cheat code? To be able to deduce everything with that much precision is beyond brilliant!”, asked the boy as he looked at Alyss.

“Well, she often bargains about being a genius, as you could see from the way she calls herself ‘this great one’. Anyway, if that’s all you wanted to tell us, you better leave this place now! Being away from your body for a long period will attract more Psychopomps and even with your friend Mathers guarding it, you will still be in danger!”

“Are you by any chance worried by my well being?”, asked the young warlock in a flirty way.

“Ridiculous! You are just more useful to us alive than dead!”

“Hell yeah! My charm may still kick in. So what about a deal? If you two remain unhurt by the end of this cooperation, then you will have to acknowledge my hard work and grant me the opportunity for a date”

“Heh~? What the actual f**k are you even saying?”, replied Alyss while her face was turning as red as a tomato. “Get your f*****g playboy ass out of here!”

She then grabbed the bottle of Holy Water she carefully secured while cleaning her camera, then opened it and threw it all on the astral projection of the witch boy Eldritch Silverstar.

“I will take that as a yes!”, declared the boy while his astral form was dissipating before even getting drenched in Holy Water.

“That dumbass playboy!! I will definitely be the end of him! He will meet my wrath tomorrow!”

“Awwww~ my poor Alyss! You always had that charm to attract weirdos and perverts! I sympathize.”, jokingly stated Sonya.

“Who are you to talk? Remember that you will have to support mental harassment from Dedicatus if she happens to be right regarding this case! Ah wait, it’s not a mental harassment, it’s actually a Date with that lesboobs serving as my big sister! Well, in the end, mental harassment and a date with Dedicatus, that’s actually the same.”

“You stupid Alyss!”

Sonya threw a pillow on Alyss’s face as the young girl with glasses said those words.

“You started it first, moron!”

“Stupid, stupid, stupid Alyss!”

“If it’s a fight that you want, then it will be your downfall!”

Then a pillow fight started all of a sudden. The two girls were smiling and laughing as they hit each other with a pillow.

With the fate of Lancaster on their shoulders, they couldn’t afford to make any mistakes! The spell on the fake ID cards they received from their witch collaborator would only last till the next day, so once the effect ran out, they wouldn’t be able to access Bellemort College and continue with their plan. Preparing the same spell would cost more time again and no one knew when The Roman Catholic Church, or The Anglican Church or even The Russian Orthodox Church would intervene in that matter. It was definitely a race against time. But even so, putting too much pressure on themselves was not a good option if they wanted to be productive. In the end, going for a silly pillow fight was probably their own way to relieve stress.