SC Episode 3: Fond Farewell

In a darkened room with one light directly above, Sapphire Circe turns the page of an unwieldy large book. (Familiar storage shelves and tables can barely be seen in the shadows, showing only to the observant that she is in the cellar sanctum of the White Oak Witch.) "Do you really think I could score one of these?" she asks out loud. The White Oak Witch leans into the light from the darkness, reading over Circe's shoulder. She says, "You have definitely collected enough goodwill and good karma and magickal ether to stand a good chance of encountering a supernatural creature with a physical body if you focus your will." "If they have only survived for a thousand years by hiding from the natives of this world... If they concentrate so hard to make the magickal ether conceal them..." She turns another page. "Do not easily believe your adversaries are as impregnable as they want you to believe. Every fortification has its weakness." "A weakness," Circe ponders. "A large man servant who can do heavy lifting would be valuable, but a small one to step and fetch like that faun there would be more useful every day. A relic weapon that shoots lightning or fire would be wasted in peaceful times, so you have to pick your tools based on what sort of life you want to lead." She turns another page. They are both drawn to on image. "The 'Diadem that makes far things near' is one that could have a number of uses every day. High utility. Remember, childe, as Lily Tomlin once said, 'You can’t win the game of Monopoly until you control the utilities.'" "And it is guarded by... Can this be for real? ... a minotaur?" "They were exceedingly rare when they existed. I'm sure they are extinct by now." "Meaning the Diadem is unguarded. Shame. I would enjoy having a pet minotaur. He might need shelter anyway. It would be like my childhood dream of having a pony." "I like how you are thinking. Turn your opponents and obstacles into allies and stepping stones. You would be wise to start with male servants, but don’t trust them if they become too proud. Males are easy to catch but hard to hold. Taking female assistants or students is rewarding, but you must be prepared for her to outgrow you. In your intuition you will know when it is time to be the father figure and take the training wheels off so she can grow through her own trials." "My intuition says at some point in there you started talking about me." "I'm proud that you are growing more powerful and remaining responsible. Beware the temptations to abuse power. Remember where you started. You have done much to protect the poor and weak from those who give in to the temptations of selfishness and fear to become villains and bullies." "Well, my vocation is to protect women... and men ...from abuse by the powerful and the ignorant. And provide assistance.  I fight ignorance with information. Hey! Inuition speaking! This is sounding like a goodbye!"
"I have dallied too long. My daughter was killed at the age of 13 by a man who delighted in killing the weak. I searched through the scene of the crime and found few clues to lead me to him. It soon became my habit, the crime-fighting witch, the hunter of murderers and thieves. I suppose my vengeance was satisfied long ago.  Now I will search for my daughter in the nether world and see what she has made of the next life." "Do you want me to empower the circle of protection again like way back when?" "Like way back when." Circe lifts the entire study table and carries it into the shadows. She picks from a shelf a smll rusted can wrapped in string. "I'm missing you already. I don't want this time to arrive. I'm trying to hold my peace of mind and accept." She stuffs the can into a pocket barely large enough to hold it. "Think of how much you have grown in these three months since we first met." Circe unfastens her nine-foot long belt and lays it across the circle marked on the floor. "Since childhood I had heard folk tales that the White Oak Witch had lured 5 strong men in there over the years and buried them in the walls. Each man was a brutal murderer, but she overcame them all." "And I told you there were only four. Lesser criminals I left unconscious at the scene of their crimes for the police to find. Justice came to most of them." "That’s when you told me about entropy spirits and magickal ether." They stand on opposite sides inside the circle, and each holds one palm to an imaginary wall above the marked circle on the floor. They slowly step clockwise around the circumference leaving a subtle light as if dust in the air reflected the light of the one overhead lamp only above the circle. "Yes, I suppose the men had suffered long enough to learn their lessons. Seeing Luxembourg's semen on your belt gave me the idea. We unbound the remainder of the murderers and imbued the binding ether that had held them into your new Belt of Binding so it would not float around aimlessly where it could be unwittingly used by others of less discipline." "It has served me well in the months since we crafted it." They complete the faintly glowing circle in the air. The White Oak Witch stands in the center, with her toes barely touching the belt on the floor. "And that brings us to today’s growth challenge: letting go.  I give thanks and direct the ether that binds my soul to this world to imbue itself into this belt. Be it my gift to you. So mote it be." "So mote it be," Circe repeats sadly. With difficulty Circe pulls the rusted can from her pocket and slowly and deliberately unwraps the old cord from the can. Fog drifts off of the WOW, pouring down to the belt. "It is time to take off the training wheels and let you learn to fall and get right back up on the bicycle.  It is time to remove you from the nursery and plant you in the wild forest where you can grow to your full might." "I’ll never forget you, Clara." "Nor I you, Sapphire, but I believe I will have many greater challenges and rewards waiting for me in the next life," she says louder as a foggy portal opens in the air behind her. As the last of the fog drifts off of her body she become transluscent. She leans back but does not fall, only drifts backward into the portal, through a short tunnel of light. Her bare feet land on short grass. She turns around to look at the garden around her. A very pale nude person sits on a boulder further in the garden. She looks back over her shoulder at Circe with a smile. As she turns away again, the person stands and turns to her and raises a friendly hand to her. It is hard to see in the bright light, but itlooks exactly like the classic grey alien visitor from UFO stories. “Oh, I always hoped you would be a Grey!” is heard as the portal shrinks and fades. Circe's tear-stained face smiles and cannot suppress a laugh at the weirdness of the White Oak Witch's last words.

Plot type

Episode

Parent Plot

Sapphire Circe, Earth’s Seductress Supreme