Chapter Text
A meeting was being held. It was a spacious, light filled room with a large round table. Beautiful stained glass encased the room and filled it with colorful light. The table was in the middle of the room, under a large chandelier, and there were plants and armour decorating the room. The largest chair at the table was occupied by Vinanna, who was surrounded by other powerful figures.
THUD - the knights standing at the sides of the room thud their swords on the ground, a sign for everyone to rise.
After a brief moment, a voice speaks up. “You all may be seated.” Vinanna remains standing, looking around at everyone here before deciding to sit down herself. “As you all know, there have been nearly no brimmed cap sightings in the past month. They seem to have almost vanished off of the face of the earth. No forbidden magic or brimmed cap ateliers have been found by my troops, but there is one group that we are aware of that is moving. Easthies, Luluci, please share what you found and present your report.”
Vinanna looks over at the two and nods slightly, signaling for them to start whenever.
“Thank you, Lady Vinanna.” Luluci says while straightening the papers in front of her. “Last night, Easties and I infiltrated what we now know was Brimmed Cap’s atelier while checking the south for said ateliers, and found two witches. The atelier is home to one of our biggest evildoers, Iguin. He houses three other apprentices, two of which are currently unknown.” Luluci looks around at all the officials. This is not her first meeting with all of them, but there is an extra person among them. Qifrey.
Easthies raises his hand slightly, showing that he is about to begin speaking, and all gazes avert to him.
“As you all can see, a new face is among us today.” Easthies looks straight at Qifrey, who wears a soft smile. “When Luluci and I went to the atelier, the brimmed caps we found managed to escape. They were two young girls, which we have identified to be Agott Arklaum and Coco, the outsider who froze her mom 6 years ago using said forbidden magic.”
A murmur broke out between the officials.
“One of the head librarians' daughters?” One says.
“I knew that outsider was no good!” Another adds on.
“Now now, everyone, please. Qifrey here has information he is willing to share in exchange for Coco returning back to his atelier in hopes of allowing her back into society. He would supervise her and make sure that she wouldn’t revert back to her old ways. Reteach her how to live and act like a pointed cap,” Easthies delivers this information to the council and the crowd is now buzzing in disapproval.
“Why should she be allowed back into our society? She's been using forbidden magic from the beginning! She's proved such with her frozen mother!” An angry voice cries.
“I assure you all, her memory will be erased. She will have no memory of the past four years as a brimmed cap and I will be able to lead her down the right path. She was one of the most determined witches apprentices I've come across in my years. It would be a shame to lose such a soul with a passion this big for magic.” Qifrey finally speaks up, and it goes quiet. Nobody has seen him in the past 2 years after the silverwood parasite nearly consumed him for good. No one except a select few knew why he had disappeared, and now that he randomly came back requesting to take in a Brimmed Cap? Everyone might as well think he’s gone mad.
“Now, what do you need from us in order to bring this idea to the table?” Vinanna looks at Qifrey, and the room falls silent once more hearing Vinanna speak.
“I need help being able to capture Coco. The one who twisted her thoughts in the first place, Iguin, is a powerful and resourceful brimmed cap and I won't be able to face him alone without the help of other powerful witches.” Qifrey's smile fades into that piercing look that reminds everyone of how he managed to become so high in the witch world in his youth.
“I’d be willing to send Luluci and Easthies with you to get hold of Iguin and Coco.” Vinanna says this while looking at her high ranking officials and nodding back at Qifrey.
“If it means our cities becoming safer and having one less powerful brimmed cap, I’d be willing to fund some equipment.” One member of the council says.
“Very well then, we shall send them off to find the young Arklaum and Coco.”
And with that, the meeting was concluded, and a plan was now going to be underway on how to proceed.
—----------------------------------------------------------------
The sun is beginning to set, and Coco and Agott have been walking for hours now. They’ve finally arrived at the beach, the sole purpose for this trip.
“We’re here, Agott!” Coco takes her hand and leads her to the edge of the water.
“Wow.. it’s so beautiful.” They both stare at the vast sea, which is colored pink and orange from the sun setting before them. The ombre of colors gives a sense of warmth, allowing both girls to relax for the first time since they started walking this morning. They forget about all of their woes, and the waves crashing against the water and sand drown out all the noise they heard before, and they are able to just live in the moment. After a little while, Coco takes off her shoes and runs into the water.\
SPLASH
Coco cups her hands while dipping them into the water, and splashes Agott on her arm.
“Oh it's on, Coco!” Agott takes her shoes off and runs to the water after Coco, and they start splashing water at each other. They are the only ones on the beach, and all you can hear are the laughs and the waves. Before long, the girls make their way to a large dune and sit down.
“This is so nice. Thank you, Coco, for making this happen. I didn’t think I'd ever be able to come here.” Agott looks Coco in the eyes, and she smiles. She has a look of genuine warmth and happiness on her face.
“Of course! It was your birthday wish, so I made sure it would happen.” Coco returns her warmth with a big smile of her own, and rests her head on Agott’s shoulder. The sun nor its rays can be seen, and the only source of light is the full moon and stars shining over them.
“You.. probably want the book now, right?” Agott rustles through her bag and pulls out the book she promised.
“Right, the book. Thank you.” Coco takes the book from her hands and tucks it into a bag of her own. “Oh, I have a gift for you, Agott.” She turns around and pulls out her palm quire, trying to hide whatever she's drawing.
“Really? You didn’t need to, the trip alone was enough!” She smiles at her friend's gesture, and waits for Coco to turn back around.
“And… Done!” Coco turns back after a brief moment and closes the seal she’d been drawing. The space around them illuminates with birds of light, almost identical to the one Agott used at the river all those years ago. Coco had used it as inspiration for this spell after all, but there were minor tweeks. The birds sparkled more and looked almost like they were dancing through the night sky. The birds were colored with light yellow and blue hues, which reflected on the sea in front of them. It was mesmerizing. They both looked at the light show in awe, the birds flew in circles around them. Coco had shown her this spell once before, but it had been before she erased Agott’s memories.
“Coco.. it's beautiful. It’s just as great as I remember it being.” Agott looks at Coco, her eyes glimmering.
“Thank you, I worked hard on- wait.. What did you just say? What do you mean 'just as you remember it'?”
A pause. A long, awkward, pause.
“I.. tried to tell you earlier in the cave, but I got cut off by the beams falling around us. For years, in my dreams, I would see what I now know were old memories. Memories of you and I, working on spells together, or running errands. It all seemed too real to not be, and I started finding old belongings that were shown in my dreams. Slowly, I was able to remember almost everything. Everything but your face. I heard your voice. Your high, cheery voice, but you always covered your face. You were in every single dream, Coco. I just didn’t have any clue who you were. That night, where you took my memory, I remember how scared and betrayed I felt but I didn’t know who to blame because I couldn’t see you. Despite everything, I remember. Until I saw you at my window yesterday, I had no clue who it had been in my dreams. Then, I realized. It was you. It was always you.”
Coco was at a loss for words. She couldn't muster up the words to express how sorry she was. She just stared blankly. “I.. I’m so sorry, Agott. I don’t even know what to say. I thought erasing your memory would be for the best, we could both move on with our lives and forget about each other, but I couldn’t. It’s all my fault. Me and my stupid, selfish self.”
“It’s okay, Coco. The brimmed caps had been toying and playing with your emotions for years before you finally caved. I'm not saying what you did was right, but it’s not like you just got up and decided to become one randomly. The Coco I know is better than that.” She takes Coco’s hand and intertwines their fingers, closing the distance between them and placing a gentle kiss on the corner of Coco’s lips. She sees the tears beginning to build in Coco’s eyes, and keeps her close.
“God. You were always so stubborn in wanting to be the best and not showing any emotion, but when I needed you, you were always there, Agott.” Coco allows herself to be held, never wanting to be let go. This is what she’d been after all these years. The sense of security that she felt when with the one she loved.
“I missed you, Agott. I missed you so much.” Coco buries herself in the latter's shoulder, still crying, but appreciating Agott’s warmth.
“I missed you as well. I feel like I've finally found an old piece of myself.”
Coco looks up at Agott and lifts her hand and is about to bring it to Agott’s cheek when she hears something. Agott notices the pause and the look in Coco’s eyes shift.
“..What?-” Coco interrupts Agott mid question and presses her finger to her lip.
“Someones here, watching us.” She says this in a whisper, only audible to Agott. Coco looks around slightly, but not making any sudden movements. She's trying to see who is there. She moves one hand closer to the palm quire she’d previously been using for the birds of light spell and the other towards her pen, tucked away in her cloak. Then she sees it. A group of people, two on one side and three on the other. They were surrounded.
“They’re here.”
“Who..?”
“Everyone.” Coco looks at Agott, her lips were starting to tremble, but she was still trying to keep her composure. After a few seconds, the silence around them is broken.
“My dear Coco! You know we’re here, why don’t you stop pretending to not see us and allow us to converse.” One voice calls out.
“Iguin. What are you doing here?” Coco lets go of Agott and stands up, as if trying to block her from their view.
“Coco, You know why we’re here. We need to bring Agott home, back to the tower.” Adina steps out from behind Iguin, glaring at her.
“M-mother.? Why are you here..?” Agott slowly stands up, clutching to Coco’s cloak.
“I could ask you the same! How dare you sneak out, shame on you, Agott Arklaum, or should I even call you an Arklaum.”
Agott’s grip on the cloak tightens, and her eyes are dread-filled, thinking about the punishment that awaits her back at the tower.
“Now, hold on, we came here for something as well, now.” The other three figures step up and can now be seen in the light from the birds that are now starting to dim.
“Master Qifrey?” Both Coco and Agott turn around and say at the same time seeing their previous master. He still has that cunning look and silvery white hair. They notice the two Knights Moralis from the previous night behind Qifrey, which leaves the girls motionless.
“Qifrey, How many times do I need to tell you not to meddle with my work?” Iguin sighs and faces Qifrey, who takes a step forward towards the girls. They’re both standing there, still as ever and unaware of what to do next.
“How many times do I need to tell you not to meddle with mine? You took my apprentices from me, and now I'm here to bring them back after all these years.” Qifrey looks at Iguin and Adina, lowering at them.
Easthies and Luluci have their silver white capture pennants ready at their sides in their hands. They're ready if anything were to start to happen between them all.
“Coco.. What's going on? Why is everyone here?” Agott whispers into Coco’s ear, hoping she has some sort of answer for this madness.
“I have no idea. If I'm being honest.. I ran into your mom and Iguin at the pub, and they wanted me to give you up to them. I think-.. no, they did follow us here..” Coco looks down, regretting not sharing anything with Agott.
“What? Coco! Why didn’t you say anything!?” Agott tugs on the cloak, still holding onto it. She is whisper-yelling to Coco, so nobody else hears them going back and forth.
Before Coco can answer, Iguin speaks up. “Coco, Agott, you both need to come with us now.”
“What? No! We’re not coming back with you!” Coco yells out.
“Agott this is absurd, you need to come back now.” Adina states, whose voice is rising after every sentence.
Agott trembles slightly, but stands her ground. She turns to face Adina and lets go of Coco’s cloak. “No. I’m not going to go back with you, not willingly at least! I’ve been treated like a second option you’ve never had time for the past 4 years.” She was so consumed in telling her mother off, she didn’t realize that Coco was no longer behind her.
“Agott!” The knights had grabbed Coco with their capture pennants. She was tied up, floating in the air. “You can't do this! Let me down!” Coco was screaming and attempting to kick and get out of the wrap that's around her, but each time it only became tighter.
“Apologies for this, Coco..” Qifrey whispers to her, and they all fly off before anyone else can truly process what just happened.
Agott is left standing there stunned. “Coco..?” She manages to get that one word out before slumping to her knees.
“Damn it! Curse you Qifrey and you pointed caps!” Iguin starts muttering to himself while Adina goes to grab Agott's shoulder.
“Let's go, now. You’ve caused enough trouble for me the past few years, don’t make this harder than it already is.” Adina stands behind Agott while placing her hand on her shoulder.
Agott doesn’t say anything. There's nothing she can say. She understands the best thing she can do right now is comply and gets up slowly. Her knees felt weak. She could barely walk without stumbling every few steps. Iguin and Adina didn't care, though. She was told to 'Keep up' and 'You're slowing us all down' Agott could feel the hatred rising, but she couldn't help herself in an argument, not right now at least. She ducked her head down, trying to focus on her balance while following the two witches ahead of her.