Volume 1.4: Powerless

Type: Series

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: M

Characters: Sonja, Luann, Stella, Carmella and Dana
Word Count: 1278

Glossary: 

Warning: coarse language, some violence

What the hell were we thinking

Were we thinking at all

What the hell did we believe we’d achieve

We stood there with our hearts exposed

As the others said I told you so

What the hell

What the hell

Giant Mistake-The Parlotones

"Unbelievable!" Sonja shook her head in disbelief at the members of her coven.

They'd all sensed Luca's arrival, hence their impromptu gathering. But for an hour they'd talked about almost everything under the sun and none of it important.

"What is it dear?" Luanne, her older sister and the coven’s priestess, asked.

"This is what he wants, to see us fight and squabble and doubt each other."

Before Sonja had even finished her sentence they were all at it again, screaming and waving their fists, threatening to do bodily harm to each other with their magic.

The reason for their war of words was Carmella Long. She had failed to produce her piece of the magical keystone the coven had used to eternally bind members of Luca’s clan to the Delacroix’s cellar twenty years earlier.

The keystone in question had eight pieces in total. When arranged and placed together the pieces took on a shape of an eight point star, known as the Star of Chaos or The Divine Fire Wheel, sacred to Tyr, the Norse god of War.

Legend says when the monstrous Wolf Fenrir became very powerful and threatened the Cosmic Order, the gods decided to imprison the beast. No ordinary chain could restrain Fenrir, so Tyr had to put his hand in the mouth of the Wolf as a sign of goodwill while the other gods created a magical restraint. When Fenrir realized that he had been tricked, and that he could not free himself, he bit off Tyr's hand.

In the magical world, specifically in the Twinbrook coven, the keystone came to symbolize order over chaos as well as justice and the sacrifice for a greater good. Without one piece it was useless, and with all the pieces together, it spelled trouble for the perceived threat.

The screaming match carried on for at least another ten minutes, with accusations of carelessness being passed around and magical wands were brandished as makeshift weapons.

Luanne, having had enough of their squabbling, cast a Mood Elevatus spell.

It wasn’t going to bring everlasting peace on earth, but it would improve everyone’s mood in the room. Within moments a deep calm washed over the four Witches at the table.

"Now that I have your attention, shall we move things along?" She asked, clasping her hands in front of her. Her long burgundy gown made a swooshing sound as she sashayed around the room with her head held high, her posture was regal-like and it commanded respect.

For the next hour they managed to speak rationally and agree on a few things.

They all knew Luca and April would return someday and their arrival would spell war.

But Luca’s success at breaking out The Forsaken depended on a few things, primarily getting his hands on the Star of Chaos, the words to the unbinding spell, magical reagents, the most important being a virgin’s blood (not just any virgin, but Cadence). It was her blood, when she was just a baby, that bound The Forsaken, and only her blood would undo the spell, provided she was still a virgin.

Of course they'd all banked on the fact that Luca wouldn't return so soon and by the time he did, Cadence would have been married, and no longer an innocent maiden. That's why they'd all falsely believed Julian and the rest of their clan were banished for eternity.

"Tell me Cadence is not a virgin," Stella yelped in her seat. Her words elicited a dark scowl from Sonja.

"She is." Sonja retorted, and refused to explain further.

"For Pete’s sake, what is she waiting for? I thought she and the Kingston boy were friendly!" Dana added, throwing her hands in the air.

"They are exactly that, just friends. Nothing more!" Sonja fired back. She was usually a tame woman, calm by nature, but Luca's reappearance had yanked her chain in ways she hadn't foreseen!

"Well tell the girl to hurry up already!" Carmella cried and Sonja lost it. 

She hurled a glacial orb at Stella and her cronies. But before it could reach its targets, Luann threw her own, a small ball of fire. Lightning and fire flashed and crackled in the room as the two energies collided and burst into tiny fragments on the table.

"Simmer down," the high priestess warned everyone.

A tense silence ensued as they all sat uncomfortably in their seats, contemplating their predicament. The fact that Carmella's piece of the Star was missing added more pressure to an already unstable situation.

When everyone had calmed down again, it was agreed that finding the missing piece was high on their ‘to-do’ list. Stella volunteered to locate it as soon as she returned home. Scrying for missing objects and people was her familial ability.

"About Cadence-" Stella began, but Sonja refused to entertain her.

"No. I'm done using my daughter. We did it once and it ended badly for her father. I'm not going to ask her to spread her legs just so we can all sleep easy at night. It doesn't work that way!" She firmly put her foot down. 

"But..."

"No buts. There has to be another way. Find the missing piece and let's destroy the Star!" Sonja came up with a compromise. They mulled over her suggestion. It could work. Without the Star, Luca couldn't break the seal, just like he couldn't lift the bind without Cadence's blood.

“And Luca knows about the necklace.”

Her announcement was met by shocked gasps and worried frowns as they all tentatively touched their talismans, unconsciously making sure they were still attached to their necks.

“How?” Luanne finally had the strength to ask.

“I went to his house to try and reason with him. I was emotional, the necklace flashed and he saw it. He yanked it from me and-” her words trailed off.

“Watched you transform!” Dana completed her sentence as she sagged on the table. Her head hit the oak surface with a soft thud.

For a long stretch they sat frozen in place, each silently wondering how everything could go wrong all at once.

There was no telling what Luca would do when he figured out the Wolves had had a hand in bringing down his clan.

“I have to tell Romulus,” Luanne spoke, and the group nodded mutely, still touching their necklaces.

The gathering broke up shortly after that. Sonja didn’t stick around and trade magic spells like she usually did, she dashed for the door, eager to get home and talk to Cadence, lay down all her cards on the table.

She hated leaving her alone, especially with Luca across the creek. Vampires were an unpredictable lot, seductive and deceptive. It would be so easy for Cadence to believe any word from Luca's lips. He was charming by nature and the fact that he was easy on the eyes didn’t help matters.

She'd just opened her car door and threw her witches hat in the front seat when she sensed someone behind her, her gut tightened, her pulse raced; she closed the door and turned around slowly, bracing herself for her assailant.

She burst into relieved laughter when she saw it was only Stella.

"I wanted to catch you before you left. In there, what we said was uncalled for. You're right about Cadence. She shouldn't have to sacrifice her innocence…" Stella apologized and Sonja hugged her. They were okay, she understood, Luca’s sudden reappearance had rattled everyone's cages and they were all saying and doing things they normally wouldn't.

The Witches parted ways, with promises to call each other during the week with an update on the search for the missing Star piece…

________

Behind the scenes drama: I apologize for the bad shots, the Spell book was acting up for a large part of the time I was taking these shots, some conflict with Hidden Springs' Fountain of Youth and the Spell book. Anyway, that's been sorted out now so hopefully next time I'll have lots of shiny, sparkly things in future chapters. I love sparkly things, including Edward Cullen.

Credits: I am not clued up on Mythology and such, but while on my many escapades on the net looking for mythical jewelry I could use for the Witches in The Forsaken I came across the Star of Chaos and I found the story behind the Star fascinating and incredibly sad. There are various sources on the net with different versions of the legend of Fenrir and Tyr, when you have a chance look it up.

A special thanks to Karima for creating, Stella, Carmella and Dana. She probably won't recognize them since they are sims she donated to me a while back, and I just aged them up in CAS.