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“Calling Witch Q! Can you hear me?” The black-and-gold cap is held over the girl’s mouth, and she speaks, vibrating the equally-black ribbon connecting it to the other cap, grey and white. “This is Agent A from Witch O, testing connection— Over!”
“Agott, too loud,” Richeh complains, popping down from the opening in the top to nag. “I could hear you from up there.”
“Good,” she grumbles, “And hopefully Tetia and Coco could hear me as well.” Moving the opening of the pointed cap to rest over her ear, Agott steps forward, one foot in a flat shoe much too large for her and the other ankle tied to Richeh’s, the blue-haired girl wielding the other shoe on the foot not attached.
Their coordination is simply superb, in Agott’s proud opinion. She and Richeh had expertly used their three legs to get out of the healing spire and out into the street already. So had Tetia and Coco, because the four couldn’t really be separated due to their communication device, but they did not do anything for her progress whatsoever.
“Psst! Agent C here— Tetia’s greeting everyone that passes, I’m still trying to figure out how Master Qifrey acts without us— Over!”
Agott nods after hearing the other girl’s voice over the cap-phone, bringing the cap to her lips again. As Coco said, Tetia’s high, bubbly voice could be heard from outside, repeating as many different greetings to as many different witches as there were stars in the sky.
“Okay. Richeh’s taken the top spot, she’s ignoring everyone and we’re approaching our final goal. Over.” Said ‘final goal’ being the bread-hat stall Master Olruggio frequents. Only a single street away…
—
When there are four children left unattended and in need of sustenance, what is one to do? Leave the little witches to suffer on their own? Or should the little witches take matters into their own hands, taking just enough money from the sleeping Master’s money pouch to get a snack?
Ideally, their Master wouldn’t be sleeping, but the Second Test of the Pentacle of Proving had proved dangerous enough for him to be out of commission and stuck in the hospital for a while. After worrying, exploring the Great Hall, completing the test Lord Beldaruit of the Three Wise set for them, and worrying some more, they had collectively decided that a little indulgence was exactly what they needed.
Unfortunately, the pouch Master Qifrey had hidden in his outer robe had a spell weaved into it to not allow theft, and theft is exactly what the girls planned to do.
All was almost lost! Stomachs rumbled, an air of hopelessness hung over the four witches like a cloud… Then, Coco remembered something.
“Cloud, cloud…” she muttered, knowing a solution was just on the tip of her tongue… “Ah! I’ve got it!” She pulled Master Qifrey’s cloak over her pointed cap, over her own teal robes, and looked like she was drowning in the grey fabric. “Tetia, play shopkeeper really quickly, please!”
“You got it!” The pink-haired girl saluted, moving to stand with her feet shoulder-width apart and hands on her hips. Having cleared her throat, she commanded, “I’m Miss Shopkeeper, you have to pay if you wanna see my goods!”
In a low, raspy voice, Coco coughed, “Hello, Miss Shopkeeper! Qifrey the witch, at your service madam!”
In the back, Agott and Richeh choked.
“I would– wow, this voice is hard— I would like to buy—” Coco stumbled, “Um, stuff! I’d like to buy stuff from your shop!”
Shopkeeper Tetia nodded, “Good! Pay!”
“Yes!” Coco agreed, retreating a hand inside the large swaths of fabric to grab the pouch. It emerged with a singular coin that she gave to Shopkeeper Tetia. “I can access my money very easily, because I am Witch Master Qifrey who is a very grown up witch!”
“Haaa!” Tetia exclaimed, breaking out of her shopkeeper role. “You’re amazing, Coco! If we just wear their things, the pouch will let us in! How did you know?”
Coco giggles, “Clouds reminded me of the day he stopped the rain so we could have a picnic!” The others nod, and she continues, “I met Master Olly that day, but when I saw him, I was sooo scared, so I hid behind Master Qifrey!”
Tetia clapped her hands together, grinning brightly. “Of course!” She shouted. “That’s genius! It’s warm and comfy in there, and super duper safe because Master’s there!”
Richeh nodded. “So you thought of wearing it, and the cloak let you take money. Brilliant.”
“Only while I’m wearing it, I’m afraid,” Coco sighed. “But I’m sure Master Qifrey won’t mind!”
They cheer. One of the four voices is notably absent.
Coughing behind a fist, Agott cleared her throat, speaking up. “That’s all well and good, but how are we going to do this? Master Qifrey’s clothes are much too unwieldy to move in, unless we were as tall as him.” She gestured to the length of grey pooling on the floor around Coco.
“Oh.” Putting her hand up, Richeh offered, “We could go on each other’s shoulders?”
“None of us are strong enough for that.” Agott waved the suggestion away. “And, a four-stack would be much too tall.”
“Two two-stacks next to each other?” Tetia pondered. “The neck opening is big enough for two heads!”
“That doesn’t account for the rest of the body, though,” Coco pointed out. “Two openings would be better. But where would we get a second set of robes if we still want Master Qifrey to have his spare when he wakes up?”
Someone adult-sized, who wouldn’t mind their robes being taken, or would be a good sport about it. Preferably someone they know, who is also close with Master Qifrey so the association wouldn’t risk anything… Whose robes were easily accessible to them…
Each of them glanced around the makeshift circle they made, nodding in unison.
—
“Agh–! Why are Master Olly’s robes so… heavy…!! Agott, Richeh, Coco, do you know any spells that would make this lighter?”
“Be quiet, we can discuss this when we get back to our lodgings.”
“Eek! Did something fall? I heard a clink—“
“Tetia, shush!”
“Richeh wants to sleep… Richeh’s not gonna get taller if we keep this up…”
“This must be why Master Olruggio has such bad posture all the time… Haha…”
Huddled under the cover of one Olruggio of the Torch’s outer robes, the girls snuck through the hallways of the hospital at night, trying their best to navigate with limited sight while being weighed down.
“This fabric… it’s meant for colder climates, and Master Olly’s definitely from the north from his accent, but he lives in the atelier with us. It’s thick and heavy, covered in casting seals— and most definitely not suited for the countryside… And he specialises in fire magic too, just how does he not melt? Is there a special cooling seal on it? Does Master Olruggio have a special condition that doesn’t allow him to be comfortable or something?”
“Or something,” Agott answered, side-eyeing her blonde companion who wouldn’t stop muttering. “You be quiet too, Coco.”
“Eep! Sorry!”
They made their way back to their shared room with little fuss, and as Agott closed the door — making sure to lock it — they all nearly collapsed under the weight of the cloak.
Panting, Coco sighed, “We need to get Master Olly a massage…”
“Just leave that to Teacher,” Richeh grumbled, “Too much work for us.”
Agott sat up, folded the cloak, and placed it on the bed. It felt much easier to breathe without the weight on them, and Agott took a deep breath before speaking. “We have to plan this out. Our route, how we split up, the ideal scenario, and any emergency measures,” she listed on her fingers.
“Emergency?” Tetia asked, face twisted in concern. “It’s only the Great Hall, surely the Brimmed Caps can’t get us here…”
“You never know,” Agott stated. Tetia spluttered, “And you do!?”
“Better safe than sorry,” Agott reasoned.
Richeh deadpanned, “You wouldn’t apologise for that.”
“You’re right, I wouldn’t.” Agott rolled her eyes. “Now let’s get cracking, we have a plan to plan.”
“Okay Master Qifrey,” Coco droned. “I love your egg puns.”
“...I get the feeling I shouldn’t copy him like that in the future.”
“I wonder.” Undoing all of Agott’s hard work, Coco laid Master Olruggio’s cloak over the single, large bed. “Once we finish, we’re going straight to sleep,” she said with finality. “It’s way past our bedtime.” By past, she meant that it was the tenth hour, which was an hour and a half past the time all of them were supposed to be asleep. Certainly late enough that all other witches would be asleep.
“First off, who wants to go with who?” Agott asked, considerate. “We’re just going down the street, it doesn’t matter.”
Confused shrugs came from all around.
“Okay,” she sighed. “I guess we’re going logical. Tetia, Coco?” The girls perked up after hearing their names. “You two are gonna be Master Qifrey.” “A-Got-t It!” Tetia saluted.
Coco tilted her head. “Wait, be Master Qifrey? I thought we were just going to take his robes?”
“You were,” Agott admitted, “But I want to have fun with this, and my idea of fun is you and Tetia pretending to be Master Qifrey, while Richeh and I pretend to be Master Olly.”
“Eh, makes sense,” Coco shrugged.
Thus, their pairs were made.
“Now, for our route.” Agott laid out a map of the Great Hall that she found in Master Olruggio’s robes, tucked away in the most hidden pocket. It’s clearly aged, but not more fragile. “The healing spire is on the East side, while the stand is in the West but closer to the center. The fastest way would be directly straight, then around the front of the entrance to the big place, but we’d be seen by people. What do we value more? Our dignity, or our food!”
“Food.”
“Food!”
“Definitely food.”
“Good to know we’re all on the same page. If anything goes wrong, um…” Agott hummed, “Let’s book it back to the healing spire. Their robes were recognisable enough that no one would want to touch them.”
“Good plan,” Richeh compliments. “Very simple.”
“Good plan,” Tetia parrots.
“Good plan,” Coco parrots, parroting Tetia who parroted Richeh.
Agott scoffs, “Birds, the lot of you.”
—
Coco had come up with the idea of connecting their Master’s caps to make a communication device, and it was quickly adopted, and the ribbon stretches taut around them as they continue on their way to the bread-hat stall. Too many eyes reach them, staring at the suspiciously wide blobs of robes that flit about the street, twin seafoam points peeking out.
“Are they…?”
A fond chuckle, “Little witchlings.”
“Those robes are familiar, but I can’t place them.”
“They must love their Master very much.”
A certain witch, with a name of barely any standing and ignorance stretching wider than his ego, walks with his head held high. There’s no need to look at the ground when you’re above everybody. And subsequently, he runs into the black ribbon between the caps, tripping himself and causing the girls to fall over.
In the rubble of the collapse, the man easily stands again, brandishing his palm-quire at the robes that dare interrupt his pathing. A fire spell, because fire is very effective against fabric that’s dampened by the bottom of the ocean. Completely disregarding how small the lumps are under the fabric.
From the opening of the black, blue, and gold robe, pale hands pick up a seafoam cap and place it atop dark curls. And from under the shadow of her hair, a blank, distinctly Arkrome glare bores into his soul.
Like the curling tendrils of the memory-erasing spell, sinking deep into the body, claws grasping at the thinnest of nerves while driving needles into the larger ones, pinpricks holding skin to corkboard, held up on display like a crude butterfly. But then antennae retract, wings fold back into themselves as he’s shoved back back back into the tightness of the cocoon, sinking deep, deep into himself as returns to a caterpillar once again, and with a single-minded focus is his need to hide and transform, and is it warm or cold or— but the chill is unmistakable—
The man gasps and takes a step back. The girl still glares at him like harsh Death ready to bring a sinner to hell. “M-my apologies!” He stammers, taking another step back on shaky legs, until he turns tail and runs. A pointed cap falls by the wayside.
“Tch,” Agott clicks her tongue, “Watch where you’re going.” A hand extends to help Richeh up from under the robe, the fabric thankfully lighter due to a small seal Coco had embroidered with conjuring-ink-soaked thread. “Tetia, Coco, are you okay over there?”
Two thumbs-ups come from under the smokey fabric. Agott nods. It’s their choice if they want to stay under there longer, none of them were injured by the fall.
Agott tugs the black fabric over her and Richeh’s heads once more, with Agott pulling her head through the head gap while Richeh takes hold of the cap, letting the ribbon escape through the front. Tetia and Coco are up after long, and they communicate this by rudely tugging on the cap-phone, almost tipping Richeh over again, and Agott by proxy due to her ankle tied to Richeh’s.
With that solved, they continue. The bread-hat stall sits prim and pretty, settling just after rush-hour, and the stall owner smiles as kindly as ever. Almost there!
The pace they take is hurried now, route disturbed by that unfortunate interruption. Master Olly had said he’d be back in the healing spire by 10:30am, and rush hour ended at 10:00, which gave the girls a 30-minute interval to get their breakfast snack.
With a collective huff, the girls stop in front of the bread-hat stall, and Tetia holds up a finger signalling to the shop owner that he needs to wait while they catch their breath.
“Why, I do say,” the man says, stroking his chin, “I recognise you four, and the robes you don.”
“Hah— Hi mister!” Coco greets, “We’d like four bread-hats please. Whatever— hah… Whatever we had last time, please!”
He dips his head politely. “Of course! Four bread-caps for the little witchlings, coming right up! Would you like two more for your parents?”
“P-P- Our what!?” Agott bursts, flushing. “They aren’t our parents! They’re our Master and our atelier’s Watchful Eye!”
“Yes, yes,” the shop owner indulges, picking up six bread-caps and moving to the fillings. “Your Master and his Watchful Eye. I’m familiar with the two. Me and my family have run this stall for ages, ya see, and distinctive personalities and looks tend to stick. Very nice to see the two’ve settled down together.”
“I knew there was something going on,” Richeh whispers to Coco. “They’re very obvious.”
Agott turns her head to look at the two, then ponders. “You’re right, they are… But that doesn’t make them our parents!”
“Let’s talk about this later,” Tetia butts in, “Right now, we’re hungry and we’re just about to get our food!!! Look!” She points to the shop owner who holds six bread-caps in the bread-cap multi-holder, packed full with everything they’re used to.
Immediately, the four girls are there, reaching for them, but—
“No!” Coco gasps. “We haven’t paid yet! Give me a sec, let me get—”
“No need for that, Coco,” a deep voice speaks, reaching over her head to give the shop owner money.
Coco whips her head around, mouth gaping. “Master Olly!?”
“Hi Master Olly!!!”
“And another appears.”
“This wasn’t in our plans!”
Olruggio chuckles, patting their heads and taking the bread-cap multi-holder from the shop owner. “None of you were subtle.”
“How did you find us?” Richeh asks. “We were quiet last night…”
With a smirk, Olruggio holds up a ring, crystalline and shiny like the signature magic of a certain long-haired girl. It’s light points to one of the pockets of his black robe, and upon searching the inside of the pocket, Agott’s hand comes out with a matching ring, with a beam connecting the two.
“Eek!” Tetia gasps, “So that’s what fell last night! I told you guys something happened—”
“You were being too loud, we were gonna wake the entire hall if you kept—“
“Hmph,” Richeh nods, crossing her arms approvingly. “Richeh’s brilliance saves the day for Master Olly once again.”
Coco sighs dejectedly. “I can’t believe you found us…”
“Now now girls,” Olruggio placates, “You can tell me all about it on the way back to the healing spire, alright?”
Tetia’s eyes light up as she launches into an animated rendition of the action sequence during the night, with Agott adding helpful corrections. The breadcaps slowly get eaten over the course of the walk, save for one, still in a singular bread-hat holder, saved for someone special. His robe, and Olruggio’s robe, stay folded over Olruggio’s arm, stained with dirt and rocks from being dragged across the floor. Nothing laundry won’t fix.
“Since when did Olruggio of the Torch have children?”
“Is that the cap of that Qifrey? Did that man and Olruggio have children together!?”
“I knew it.”
“Cute kids, though. Good genes.”
“Um…” Coco meekly peeks up at Master Olruggio, who’s still engrossed in Tetia’s tale. “Master Olruggio? Why… do you have two rings? Who’s the other one for?”
Olruggio coughs, blushing harder than a poisonous mountainapple. “It’s nothing.”
“Is this related to Master Qifrey calling you babygirl?”
“Let’s stop talking for a while,” he chokes out.
—
Qifrey was very amused when they came back. Newly-awakened and still bandaged, he sat up in bed, slowly consuming his sweet treat as Tetia repeated her story for the nth time.
“Did you all forget?” He chuckled, “I’m not a cruel master, I do give you an allowance.”
“!!!”