Chapter Text
"I'm truly sorry Marcy, but you must understand, your father got a job in Connecticut, its simply too long of a distance for us to stay here and for him to leave, this hurts me as much as it hurts you..." Marcy's mother consoled the crying teen.
"B-but, my friends! I-I've known them my entire life, I c-can't just leave them behind..." Marcy sobbed, her mother sighed.
"I'm sorry Marcy, but there's nothing we can do."
Three girls sit in a park, the same park they've been hanging out at since they met as children. This day however isn't a happy day, despite being one of their birthdays.
This was the day they would be split apart.
"H-Happy birthday Anne..." Marcy let out, trying not to stutter too much as she gave Anne a huge bag of presents, Anne didn't know Marcy was moving, none of them did, so without hesitation Anne wrapped Marcy in a tight hug as thanks, and that was the last straw as Marcy broke down.
"Whats wrong, Marcy?!" Anne exclaimed in worry, Sasha watched with concern, coming to Anne's side.
"My p-parents, they- they're gonna tear us apart!" She sobbed out, Anne and Sasha were confused but concerned.
"What do you mean, Marbles?" One of those cute nicknames the squad had come up with for Marcy was all it took to make her even sadder.
"M-My dad got a job i-in Connecticut, they're gonna make me move- They're making me l-leave you guys!"
That set the girls off as they suddenly had very mixed reactions.
"What?! They can't do that, that's not fair!" Sasha shouted in anger as she kicked a rock into a tree, making a squirrel fall out. Meanwhile, Anne just sat there, staring off into distant space as she tried to process what she just heard. Her best friend was getting torn away from her.
All the memories they had, time they spent together.
Her adorable dorky laughter and incessant yet fond ramblings of her weekly new obsession.
Her clumsy personality and Anne always having to make sure she wasn't going to run into anything, she was going to lose that.
"nne-, Anne?!" She blinked, Sasha held a worried look on her face as Marcy dug her head into the blonde's side.
"Wh- Oh, sorry, I um, must have spaced out..." She muttered as she looked away, Sasha was about to yell at Anne for losing focus during a very important problem when she realized why she lost focus.
She and Anne took anger or sadness two very different ways, while Sasha took things more aggressively, Anne tended to stay quiet and keep to herself, she didn't lose focus because she wasn't paying attention, she lost focus because that's her way of showing how devastated she was at the news.
"Well..." Sasha started as she wrapped the two in a tearful hug, "Let's make this the best last day together, ever!"
Later that night...
Anne numbly stumbled home, it had started to rain a little bit after the trio had disbanded for the final time. (Well, the trio would now become a duo, and their only way of talking to Marcy would be over discord or phone, better than nothing) She turned to rest her head a bit on a glass wall of what she assumed to be some old antique store when a gold-engraved music box caught her attention, it seemed to draw her towards it. voices calling her in an unknown dialect.
She entered the shop, a chime announcing her arrival, which fell on deaf ears to the seemingly dead asleep cashier. Making her way to the back of the shop where the music box was kept, the pull only got stronger as she got closer, she was able to make out more finer details.
The box had a green tint to it, as did the gold, murky even, on it was the image of what looked like a large frog holding its hands out to the most interesting part of the box, the 3 gemstones on them, near colourless. The smallest tinge of colour remained in them though, it made her feel empty almost. The gems were coloured Blue, Green and Scarlet. Looking around in the empty shop, she picked up the box and quickly pocketed it. Hastily leaving the store she messaged Sasha to meet her at the park.
The rain had died down by the time Sasha arrived, sauntering into the park with a confused expression.
"What's this all about, Anne?" She asked the Thai girl, walking over to sit next to Anne, "You said you had something to show me?"
Anne pulled out the box, its gold shining under the little spots of moon peeking from beyond the thundering clouds above, Sasha gasped as she looked at it.
"Wow, this must have cost a lot. Is this some kind of last second gift for..." She trailed off on the touchy subject, but Anne shook her head slowly.
"I didn't buy it." She looked at the surprise in the blonde's eyes before turning her gaze back to the box in front of her. Her hands nursed the sides softly, it felt smooth yet weathered, her fingers running across the grooves in the wood and small imperfections in the gold lining. "When I saw the box, I felt a weird pull, almost like it was saying my name, begging me to open it, but yet at the same time I couldn't understand it, it was like voices in my head speaking gibberish but yet I could understand it?"
Sasha looked confused, and then took the box from Anne's hands and looked at it. Turning back to Anne, she smiled.
"Well let's open it and see what's inside!"
That night, neither Anne or Sasha came home.
Marcy couldn't sleep, her new room looked vastly similar to her old one, and yet it felt so foreign. She had tried messaging the girls once she landed the day after Anne's birthday but none of them had responded yet, her mind clouded with anxiety and nerves, as well as the tugging sense of worry all added to her already existing insomnia. She tossed and turned in her sheets, before turning to her phone to check the time.
4:32 AM
Great... She rose from her bed, tossing her sheets to the side as she sat at her desk, booting up her PC she thought about things to do, she clearly wasn't falling asleep again tonight.
Finally, she decided to look up some fanfictions of her favourite book series, The Good Witch Azura. Scrolling for a bit, she found a good one with a decent amount of completion, clicking on it she started reading.
Well into the next day, Marcy sat, eyes glued to the screen as she completed chapter 23 of the story, it was exhilarating, making her forget all about her previous worries. She decided to leave a few comments about how well the story was plotted, and also about how she couldn't wait about what comes next, to which the author, someone fittingly dubbed "Luzura" responded rather quickly and excitedly. They had a few back and forth messages, but a notification sounded off on her phone next to her. Checking it revealed that it was a message from her Mom, asking her to come downstairs. Typing a farewell message to her new friend, then yawning and stretching, the satisfying pops of bones clacking back into place let her know she was ready to attempt walking on a half empty battery, she made her way downstairs.
"Ah, there you are dear." Her Mom greeted her, before checking her watch, "It's 1pm, are you ok? I know you aren't normally a morning bird but you don't usually come down this late..." Marcy waved her off without concern, hoping she wouldn't notice the dark circles that spelt her morning activities.
"Don't worry Mom, I just got distracted reading some fanfic when I woke up," She smiled as it seemed to satisfy her Mom, before looking around. "Is Dad already at his new job?" Marcy's Mom nodded, gathering some breakfast for the girl.
"Up and early like usual sweetie, you know how he is, always excited to make sure we stay afloat, even now with my job being easier now that I live much closer to headquarters, we could easily keep up without him having to tire himself every day." Her Mom looked to the side slightly as she passed a bowl of cereal and some orange juice to Marcy, who happily took it and shot out a quick thanks. "I think there's some deep-seeded trauma about not feeling like he's doing enough for this family, those inconsiderate parents of his, always so demanding..."
Marcy frowned slightly as she ate her breakfast. Mid mouthful she turned to her Mom with the burning question.
"Have Anne or Sasha's parents talked to you at all since we moved away?"
Her Mom's eyes widened, before she quickly checked her phone, shaking her head as she sat the phone back down on the counter she took a pensive look at her daughter.
"Unfortunately not, why, is there something wrong with the girls?" Marcy shrugged, it was a little too early to say there's something wrong, they could just be busy, or trying to cope.
"Nah, just curious y'dig?" Shooting finger guns at her Mom as she washed her dishes quickly, before turning to run back upstairs. A hand on her shoulder quickly stopped her, she turned to see her Mom smiling at her.
"Don't forget, you start your new school on Monday, ok? And I know so far school has been an absolute breeze for you, my intelligent little girl, but please remember, try to make some new friends ok? Anne and Sasha may be there in spirit but you can't have no friends to support you in person." Her smile turned a little sad, but she kept it up just to make sure her daughter felt confident.
Marcy simply pumped her fist and gave a wide smile.
"You can count on me, Mom!"
And there Marcy stood, in front of her new school. Staring it down she felt mildly intimidated, she had never had to deal with the issue of not having friends in an unfamiliar environment, Anne and Sasha had been there for her before, speaking of which, it had been 5 days since they responded last, she was seriously starting to get worried, but she hoped it wasn't anything too serious. For now, she had a new school to tackle.
Which unfortunately, was a lot harder than it seemed.
It was lunch break, and not only had she made a fool of herself on multiple occasions, she had also been insulted for her usual antics. It wasn't her fault she was neurodivergent, she just happened to find something so much more interesting than other things much easier than anyone else would. She numbly ate away at her food when a girl caught her eye.
The girl was decently tall, looking like she was in the same grade as her, she had darker skin and short, fluffy dark brown hair, with large amber eyes. she was clad in a half white, half purple crop-top hoodie with denim jeans and black tights, she had white sneakers and a cat backpack. but what caught her eye the most was the Good Witch Azura book poking out from one of the pockets of her bag. Almost instantly she lit up, and went to get up to introduce herself, but she held herself back.
"If she's like everyone else in this school, odds are if I introduce myself with as much enthusiasm as I have been to everyone else, she'll laugh at me."
Sitting there a little conflicted, she hadn't even noticed that the girl in question had walked up to her table with a friendly smile.
"Heya, my name is Luz Noceda, you're the new student right?" She asked with almost child-like joy, Marcy snapped out of her self-deprecating spiral, thankful for the interruption, before she shyly smiled and waved.
"Yeah, my name's Marcy, Marcy Wu," She looked up at Luz, who smiled in return, gesturing to the seat in front of her.
"This seat taken?" She asked with a smirk on her face, Marcy stared at her for a few seconds before shaking out of her stupor and shaking her head dumbly.
"Not at all!" She squeaked out, Luz giggled and sat down with her food, but as she was trying to put her bag down she accidentally dropped it, the Good Witch Azura book dropping out onto the floor.
"Rats, I didn't close my bag properly!" Luz exclaimed, quickly picking up the book and trying to hide it, Marcy almost immediately noticed. "She's acting like I'm in the position to judge her, maybe she isn't one of the school popular kids?"
She took this moment to seize her opportunity.
"You read Good Witch Azura?" She asked kindly, though the look that made its way across Luz's features made her realize something was wrong. The Hispanic girl looked away in shame.
"Welp, there goes that, another day, another wasted opportunity at a friend..." She then turned to meet Marcy's confused eyes. "Well, I'll get out of your hair then, have a nice day." She went to get up before Marcy jumped up to grab her wrist to pull her back down.
"Where do you think you're going?" Marcy smiled smugly as she reached into her bag, pulling her very own copy of the book out, "Don't think I'm gonna let a fellow Azura enjoyer out of my grasp, do you know how rare it is to find someone who appreciates proper modern literature these days?"
Luz gasped so hard she actually started coughing.
"Hey! You ok?" Marcy exclaimed, trying to sit the girl down and help her, when Luz stopped coughing and smiled so wide Marcy swore about a million light-deprived universes got their fill in that very moment.
"I can't believe it! Someone who actually likes Azura!" She exclaimed in excitement, "And you only decide to tell me this now?" She puffed her cheeks out, which Marcy admitted looked very adorable, she giggled.
"Well, duh! Everyone else in this school seems to hate the franchise, I wasn't gonna embarrass myself again, not the 238th time today, no thank you" Marcy grinned sadly, Luz meanwhile spat her milk out.
"238th?! God if there were no rules i swear I would unleash the gildersnakes on this stupid school if they're so blind to see a new friend staring them right in the face!" Luz angrily shouted, fallen on deaf ears to the rest of the cafeteria. Marcy looked surprised at the sentiment, but then snickered.
"Really? The gildersnakes cant hurt humans, silly, only witches can be sensed by a gildersnake." She lightly jabbed at Luz who snickered at her own mistake, before the two dissolved into their own ramblings. Maybe life wouldn't be so bad here after all.