Witch Apprentice Quest #24

That option still won.

No.

No, even thinking about it seems irresponsible. It's my work, so if anything's wrong with it, I should be the one feeling the consequence. That's only fair!

I do hope this isn't some kind of sacrifice deal, though. That was never really made clear in the book, if the item was just needed to spark the spell, or if you lost it completely. But I guess that's also something I'm about to find out. I think I would probably be okay if I did lose it, but I'd be a little sad. That might just be the point of it having to be such a personal item.

I can already feel the memories flowing into the air around me as I dig my hand into the (only slightly!) messy drawer and feel the soft leather surface.

It's just a small book of old fairy tales, not anything rare that anyone would really. There are probably thousand of variations of them anyway, and everybody in the Empire, probably even the entire world, will know at least one of those by heart. Even I do! I'm a little old for these now, but if I had a baby sister I could totally tell all of the stories right now without even looking at the book.

But this one is still special. Sis gave it to me, a few years back when she first decided to start on that crazy adventurer thing. Before that, she used to read them for me at bedtime when I couldn't read yet. And after I could read, she still did it when I was scared or sad and I always felt better. Sis was very reliable back then. Or maybe she just seemed more reliable. I don't really know. Either way, she gave it to me the first time she left. "That way you can read it any time you want!"

I haven't even opened it once since then. It's just not the same.

So, I unfurl the piece of paper with the hex drawn on it and then... what? Do I just put the book on the circle? Might as well try. Just place it carefully and...

A bright flash! I remember this flash, it's just like that time in Camille's room! Does that mean...

>Seal has reduced by 10! Seal is now 85/100!

>1/3

-- Seal Break 90/100 --

"Okay, again!" She recites for the umpteenth time. "Repeat after-"

"This is boring! We've been doing this for hours!"

"It's not even been half an hour!" She's angry at me again. "This is important so can you PLEASE pay attention?"

I don't like when she's angry at me. I like when she smiles and says I'm her best friend. It makes me happy when she's smiling but when she's not smiling it makes me very sad.

"..I'm sorry." She says with a sigh. "I didn't mean to yell at you. But everything will depend on you so we NEED to get it right."

"But I still don't understand why I have to keep saying the same thing over and over."

"I already explained that." She says, now sounding as tired as I feel. "We're doing that because that way it will be easier for you to remember if something happens to you. So even if you forget us, you'll remember what you need to do."

"Okaaay?" This all still makes my head spin. "But uhm, it's not very helpful is it? It doesn't explain anything at all! Wouldn't it better with something like-"

"It needs to be simple or it won't work at all. And if you remember just this one thing, I think we should be okay... You'll be okay."

I want to say something. Badly. But I don't know the right words. I'm not sure they exist at all. I have to do it all alone, without her to tell me what to do and to make me smile and it all just makes me... Sad? Afraid? Overwhelmed? All of that but mostly I just really don't want to leave. I need her. She's so much smarter than me. Which is probably why she knows what to say now.

"I believe in you."

And so I have no choice. I have to do it for her.

"Okay." I tell her, even though I'm feeling like I could sleep a hundred years after this. "I'm ready again."

"Good. Again, repeat after me: Make everyone happy."

"Make everyone happy." I repeat. "Make everyone happy."

Make everyone happy.

Make everyone happy.

Make everyone happy.

Make everyone...

>2/3

>Seal has reduced by 10! Seal is now 85/100!
Worry

Ugh... Feels like my head is spinning around and around. Like someone keeps shaking me.

Was I dreaming? The hex wasn't supposed to make me fall asleep. Does that mean I did it wrong? And the dream was so strange too! I was talking to somebody, a girl that I know. I know that I know her, but who is she?

And why, even though it was a dream, am I so certain that it was real, that SHE is real?

And who keeps shaking me? I'm trying to-

"Nadja, wake up!"

Papa?

Papa is calling. Time to wake up. But he looks so worried? I was just sleeping, wasn't I? Just sleeping in my... on the floor. Okay, that's probably why.

"Oh thank the moons you're alright!" He cries, and then holds me close to his chest. I didn't mean to make Papa worry! That's not good at all!

"Don't worry, Papa," I whisper to him. I didn't mean to whisper, but that's all that came from my mouth. "I'm okay. So please don't worry."

Slowly he looses his grip and lets me sit back down on the floor. I'd stand, but I actually do feel kind of tired now. And I shouldn't make Papa worry more.

"That's good," He says more calmly now, then unfurls a piece of paper and holds it out for me to see. "Then you should be fine to tell me what this is."

Oh no! The spell! But he's not supposed to- And the way this looks- This is not good at all! No no, can't I just go back to a moment ago when Papa was looking worried? Worried Papa is so much better than angry Papa!

"...Well?"

>"It's a hex that I made. I was practising it because I'm training to..." [The Truth]
>"Uhm, I had the strangest dream! Just now! Let me tell you about it!" [A different truth]
>"It's a secret I'm not allowed to tell you about! [Technically also true]
>Something else? (Write-in!)

>Please note that Papa has raised two daughters and become so resistant he will not forget a problem just because you cry a lot.

>Try to lie!

>"It's a secret I'm not allowed to tell you about! [Technically also true]
This will work for sure!

>>"Uhm, I had the strangest dream! Just now! Let me tell you about it!" [A different truth]

>>"Uhm, I had the strangest dream! Just now! Let me tell you about it!" [A different truth]

This kinda worries me. Is Nadja actually someone else who's been reborn for some all important task, but the only thing her subconscious remembers is, "MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY!" ?

>"Uhm, I had the strangest dream! Just now! Let me tell you about it!" [A different truth]

>"It's a hex that I made. I was practising it because I'm training to..." [The Truth]
Well, that's ominous.

>"Uhm, I had the strangest dream! Just now! Let me tell you about it!" [A different truth]

A seal, huh. Probably has something to do with Nadja's other strangeness. But, I wonder what "Make everyone happy." is supposed to achieve...

>"It's a hex that I made. I was practising it because I'm training to..." [The Truth]

>"Uhm, I had the strangest dream! Just now! Let me tell you about it!" [A different truth]

Let be fairy like in our truths!

Looks like a majority in favor of trying to distract Papa by telling him about the dream. I'm gonna need some d20s to see if Nadja can atually pull that off so please roll now!

Rolled 14 (1d20)

Rolled 5 (1d20)

Rolled 12 (1d20)

14! Let's see how that turns out

I can sense the answer is 'not well'. But you never know.

Papa doesn't believe in corporal punishment right?

"Uhm, uh... Papa! I had the strangest dream! Just now!"

Even though I'm looking away I can still feel that his anger intensifying. "That is not what I asked."

"It's super important! Let me tell you about it right now! So there was this girl right? And I was talking with her."

He hasn't told me to stop yet, so I guess he's going to let me tell the whole thing! Great! Now I just need to convince him it really IS more important than the other thing so he forgets to ask again.

"And the strange thing is, I am absolutely certain I know her! Not just like in a dream where it feels like you know somebody but then you wake up and realise that it was just a dream, no I'm really sure I DO know her and she's real! But I still have no idea who she is!"

Okay, he's looking kinda curious now! Confused, but I think he wants to know more!

"I didn't really see her though, I only heard her voice but I just KNOW, you know? And the strangest thing is, she kept telling me remember this one thing, because she thought something might happen to make me forget. And I totally DID forget until now so uhm, I was wondering... Because I'm REALLY sure it wasn't just a dream, can you think of anything that ever happened to make me forget like that? Or maybe who she is? I really want to know!"

He leans backward for a while, resting against the wall as he looks at me with... Actually, I don't know. I've never seen him look at me like that. It looks a bit like fear, but different. He's not afraid for me. But then what? Does it mean he's...

"What did she tell you, Nadja?"

"She told me to... to make everyone happy? I'm not really sure why though, because obviously that's what you should do anyway. So uhm... Do you? Do you know anything?"

>Rolled 14 (1d20)

>1/?

He keeps looking me over for a long while with those same eyes as before. It's making me really uncomfortable. But I can tell. He DOES know something!

"First, tell me what this drawing is. And where you got it, and why you would even keep such a thing!"

>Partial success.

It seems Papa was only temporarily distracted but accidentally revealed more than he wanted to! He's keeping something secret from me. But I'm also keeping something secret from him, and he IS Papa so I think he's actually allowed to do that. But it looks like I'm not getting out of this one.

I hope he'll understand I meant well.

"It's a hex. I made it. I was practising because I'm training as a..."

That doesn't look like his understanding face. That looks like his yelling face. That's my least favorite by far.

"I'm apprenticing for a witch."

There. All I can do now is brace for the coming storm. Close my eyes. Hold my ears. Remember that Papa only yells because he loves me.

But there isn't any yelling. Strange. Instead I feel Papa taking my hands in his and lifting me back unto my feet, and as I open my eyes to find out what's going on, I see the yelling face is gone. Instead he looks... he looks exactly like when he told me about that letter he got from the Baroness' daughter. About the contract for weapons that he might be losing.

"You're not a little girl now." He speaks in a worryingly calm voice. "You know exactly what you've done wrong. And you must have known it was wrong when you did it. So tell me why you did it anyway."

Huh? This is... I'm not being punished? No yelling?

"Well I uhm... I wanted to help you, Papa. You've had trouble with that new smith in town and-"

"And how were you planning to do that?"

>"I thought maybe I could use magic to make your work better."
>"I thought maybe I could use magic to make people realize his work isn't as good as yours."
>"I don't know yet... But I'll find a way, no matter what it takes!"
>Something else? (Write-in!)

>"I'm no good at smithing like you Papa. But according to Mistress I AM good at magic, I'd figure out something to help you! I don't want you to be sad if I can help."

>>"I don't know yet... But I'll find a way, no matter what it takes!"

>"I thought maybe I could use magic to make your work better."

>"I don't know yet... But I'll find a way, no matter what it takes!"

>"I thought maybe I could use magic to make people realize his work isn't as good as yours."
Papa's work is the best.

This

>All the reasons

Well this uh... I guess these kinda work together so that's going to be it.

Gods no! Look at the man's arms! Those are for striking steel, not children!

Oh well I guess I'll figure it out.

>"I thought maybe I could use magic to make your work better."
Also
"By making magic weapons, not by cheating."

Sure, supporting!

>Gods no! Look at the man's arms! Those are for striking steel, not children!

So.. you're saying he'd have to get Sister to spank her? Yummy.

Sister is a complice.

"Well I... I know I'm no good at smithing like you are."

We've tried that before. Definitely not a good idea, not at all!

"But Mistress says I AM good at magic so... So I'll figure something out, no matter what it takes! That way you won't have to be sad any longer, and it would make me really happy too if I could help Papa, so that's why-"

"You will do no such thing." He states firmly, even if he's not yelling. Yet. "As I said, you are not a little girl now. Not any more."

He lets out a long and tired sigh. "I HAD been meaning to talk to you about that today, what you were hoping to do with your life, see if we couldn't find you a nice place to apprentice at and learn a craft."

"Ohh, but that's exactly what I did! So that's good, right?"

He shakes his head at me slowly. "No. Absolutely not. How could you possibly convince yourself to do such a thing without talking to me? HOW?"

"Well that's uhm..." I really wish I had a good answer here, but I have to tell the truth now. Even if the hex wasn't working, I would have to. "Because if I told you then you would-"

"Stop." He orders suddenly. "I don't want to hear that. Not from you, Nadja..."

I definitely know this look he has in his eyes now. It's the look that makes my heart feel someone was ripping it to shreds.

"Take me to her, this witch of yours." He demands, changing the topic away. I'm a little glad he did, even if I don't like where this is going either.

"Uhm, but don't you have work to-"

"I do," He grabs me harshly by the arm and begins dragging me out of the room. "But I also have a crazy daughter to drag out of trouble."

Wait, drag out? He can't mean that, can he? "But Papa I-"

"NO ARGUMENTS, YOUNG LADY. NOW."

Guess I made him yell after all... And I was so sure today was going to be a great day.

>1/4

Calling the ensuing walk to Mistress' house awkward wouldn't be accurate at all, but it's the best word I know. Even Sis woke up from that and just silently watched as we left the house, Papa's iron grip on my arm not relinquishing for one moment. It hurts, in more ways than one.

Papa doesn't seem to care though. Even as I feel the eyes of everybody in town watching us as I reluctantly lead him on the way, he doesn't flinch one time. Just like Sis they just stare. Stare and whisper. The guard at the entrance to the town, that's Klarissa today apparently, was about to ask what was going on, until she caught sight of Papa's eyes and backed off without a word. Nobody dares to get in his way.

Maybe, just maybe, Amalia might have dared. I've never seen her be afraid of anyone, and that one time in Mistress' house she even... Well, I doubt she would do THAT to Papa, but at least she would have tried to help. But she doesn't seem to be here right now. I'm not sure she could have helped anyway, but it would at least be nice to know SOMEONE was on my side.

There are no more words and no more embarrassing stares until we reach the little house in the forest. Still left with no actual choice in the matter, I lead him up to the door and give it two knocks, silently praying that Mistress has not yet come home.

"It's open!" I hear Mistress' call voice from upstairs. So much for that.

Papa doesn't wait for me to open the door, now stepping in front of me instead of following. Peeking from his side I catch a glance of Mistress walking down from upstairs, followed by a surprised "Oh!" when she sees Papa waiting.

>2/4

"You." He says, or rather, growls at her. "So you are the one behind all of thi-"

"Nadja!" She immediately washes the surprise from her face, assuming a confident guise as the generous hostess. "You should have told me you would be bringing guests! And such, mmh... Pleasant company too."

Generous, but also slightly creepy hostess then?

Whatever it is supposed to be, it doesn't seem to helping Papa's mood. "Cut the bullshit, lady, I'm here to-"

"Yes, I can imagine." She does drop the courtesy, but still seems scarily unmoved by his anger. "Nadja, I've left a new... assignment for you upstairs. Inspect it and determine the cause of the problem to the best of your ability. Oh, and close the door behind you."

"Oh no you don't," Papa yells as he puts his arm in front me, pushing me back behind him. "I won't be letting you-"

"After all," She interrupts him AGAIN, casting him a smile and a wink, both of which are definitely open for interpretation. "After all, this conversation is best left to the grown-ups, wouldn't you agree my good man?"

With a loud "Hrmph!" he lowers him arm to let me pass. I hurry upstairs to Mistress' bedroom before he can decide to yell at me again, and as Mistress instructed, close the door firmly behind me. At least I won't have to be present for what's about to happen down there. I wonder what this new assignment is though...

"Woah!"

That's... In her bed, that's...

>3/4

"Camille?!?"

She doesn't respond to my call at all. Oh no! Is she dea-

No, okay, phew, she's still breathing and everything. She's just, not moving. So my assignment was... Determine the cause of the problem? So I have to figure out what's wrong with Camille? Why would she leave something so important to me? That doesn't make sense!

But it's what she said to do, so I guess I should start 'inspecting her'. I have no idea what to look for though.

So where should I start?

>Check her body for wounds or marks?
>Look through her things for clues. If it's to help her she shouldn't mind.
>She can probably wait a while, otherwise Mistress would still be up here trying to fix her. Listen in on Papa and Mistress instead, that's more important!
>Something else? (Write-in!)

>>Look through her things for clues. If it's to help her she shouldn't mind.

>Just wait.

>>Check her body for wounds or marks?
>Look through her things for clues. If it's to help her she shouldn't mind.
>Check her tongue to see if she drank anything bad.

Let's do the boring and safer option.

>Look through her things for clues. If it's to help her she shouldn't mind.

>>Just wait.

I'm... wondering if I've communicated the situation poorly now. You're not going to hurt her just by looking at her, at worst she'll be slightly embarrassed. So I don't really understand. Can you explain why you want to do nothing?

>Check her body for wounds or marks?

Because waking up a Witch is ill adviced unless she herself asked us to?

Who was Carmine again? Was she a Witch? I just thought she was one and decided that doing nothing was safer.

>Check her body for wounds or marks?
>Look through her things for clues. If it's to help her she shouldn't mind.
It's our mission after all!

Her name is Camille, and she is Raven's daughter.

I see. Yes, definitely a mistake on my part then. I guess I got lazy towards the end and didn't explain well enough.

I've rewritten the last part to be clearer, so if you want to change your vote after reading it, I'll give you some extra time to do so.

-

"Camille?!?"

She doesn't respond to my call at all. Oh no! Is she dea-

No, okay, phew, she's still breathing and everything. She's just, not moving. Even when I shake her and call out she doesn't wake up.

So my assignment was... Determine the cause of the problem? So I have to figure out what's wrong with Camille? Why would she leave something so important to me? That doesn't make sense! She's Mistress' daughter, she should be way more worried than this! So if she's not... that must mean she's not in danger!

But Mistress did say to figure out what is wrong with her, so I guess I should start 'inspecting her'. I have no idea what to look for though. Camille, the Sparrow, is a witch just like her mom, so it could be magical, or it could be that she got hurt somehow. I don't know a lot about figuring out either of the two, but it's what Mistress said to do. Maybe as practice?

So where should I start?

>Check her body for wounds or marks?
>Look through her things for clues. If it's to help her she shouldn't mind.
>She can probably wait a while, otherwise Mistress would still be up here trying to fix her. Listen in on Papa and Mistress instead, that's more important!
>Something else? (Write-in!)

Hence a Witch, waiting it is.

>Look through her things for clues. If it's to help her she shouldn't mind.

>Check her body for wounds or marks?

>>Just wait.

>Look through her things for clues. If it's to help her she shouldn't mind.

>Just wait

>Look through her things for clues. If it's to help her she shouldn't mind.

You guys know waiting isn't going to solve anything, right?

And will also not get us hexed.

Rolled 10 (1d20)

Okay, I'm honestly a little confused now but I'm pretty sure that

Just broke a tie, so I'm going with that instead of spending more time being confused.

I'm kind of confused too, some anons are suddenly expecting the worst for no reason?

You never woke up someone who did not want to be waked, did you?

Mistress said Camille needed help though, so even if shes angry when she wakes up we can just explain the situation to her.

I'm probably better off looking through her stuff first. Whatever is in there might give me a clue about what happened to her, while just looking her over would probably just confuse me even more. Her pack has been left at the foot of the bed. All in all, it looks like a completely ordinary bag just like the one I have, except that there's a lot more stuff in hers.

Just like in the 'emergency pack' that Cinnamon gave me a few days ago, the pack is full to the brim with bottles containing liquids of all colors, but labeled much more clearly.

'Strength.' She only has one of these and it's still full.

'Painkiller.' She has five of these, but three of them are empty.

'Speed.' The only one I found was empty though.

'Explosion.' She has WAY too many of these. But if she used any of them, there probably wouldn't be an empty bottle for me to find.

And one that's labeled quite ominously 'Anti-werewolf.' It COULD just be that she's always carrying one of those, but... Either way, it hasn't been opened.

In addition to the potions inside, the outside of the pack are lined with straps holding in place what could easily be mistaken for simple sticks at a distance, but up close you can see the intricate carvings along their surfaces. They must be wands. I don't know how to make those yet, but even I can tell that's what they are. Each of them are different from the other, but none of them are labeled like the bottles inside the pack. Maybe she knows what each does with just a glance, or she remembers by the order they're in?

It might be important though, that one of the straps is left rather lonely. It's tightened just like the others, but the wand that should be there is missing. That might be a clue as well.

I was hoping to find some kind of journal or diary in her pack as well, but it seems this is all she was carrying.

>1/2

So much for her things. I guess next I should look her over for wounds, especially after reading the label on THAT potion! There's no obvious wounds on her though, and she remains as unmoving even as I roll her over on her side the check her back.

As it turns out, there's no time for a closer inspection as the door swings open and Mistress strides into the center of the room. Papa remains silently by the door, watching with arms crossed in front of him.

"Time's up, dear apprentice. Tell us what you've discovered."

But I barely had any time at all!

"Uhm, I only found a few clues so far, but if you give me a little more time then maybe-"

"Ah ah!" Is she... mocking me? "I said that time is up, so tell us what you DO know, not what you don't know!"

This doesn't seem fair. If it wasn't practice, you wouldn't do anything until you're totally sure would you? Well maybe if it was an emergency, but..?

"Well uhh, I don't know for sure yet, but if I had to guess I'd say that..."

Papa is watching too. Maybe if I impress him he won't be angry anymore?

>"She passed out from drinking too many potions?"
>"She was bit by a werewolf?"
>"One of her wands broke in a fight and that knocked her out?"
>Something else? (Write-ins are always welcome)

>"She passed out from drinking too many potions?"
Who knows

She lost a wand, Drank a sped potion and was worried about getting bitten by werewolves ma'am. Tentatively she lost a fight with a werewolf and got bit?

"You kidnapped her didn't you?"

>"One of her wands broke in a fight and that knocked her out?"

>"She passed out from drinking too many potions?"

I like this one, remember we took a truth hex, so...

"I think you kidnapped her and you were doing bad to her when me and Papa interrupted you!"

>"She passed out from drinking painkiller potions?"

>"She passed out from drinking too many potions?"
Who knows why, but there's 3 empty pain killer potions. If they're anything like real-world painkillers, that would knock you out.

>"She passed out from drinking too many potions?"

That makes no sense, She wouldn't do anything bad to Camille.

We don't know that and if she really was helping her daughter she would have told us to come back later and knock out Papa with a sleeping potion since she is busy.

I was kinda thinking werewolf since drinking painkillers could indicate wounds, she has used her wand presumably if it's gone so combat is reasonably likely, and if she brought such a specific potion she probably expected to run across werewolves.

The big hole in my theory is, if she had the time to chug three painkillers and Mistress has now had the time to bring her in and look her over, why is the werewolf-potion still full. However, if we assume it's a cure for lycanthropy and the wounds she took were non-infectious (say you can only be turned by bite but she only took claw scratches or whatever) then it fits okay.

Mostly I just think 'she chugged painkillers' might explain why she's knocked out cold but not why she chugged them in the first place or why she has no wand or why she has an anti-werewolf potion.

>Something else?
she was fighting something, maybe a werewolf, and lost her wand in the fight. she ran away, drank a lot of painkillers, and then passed out

Fine, this works.

Camille is probably just resting, and that really wouldn't have helped with our situation, so I doubt it.

This works.

Even if blaming our teacher would be hilarious.

Looks like the majority are betting on the potions!

I suppose I can understand being cautious since the last encounter with Camille did turn out a little unfortunate, but that was totally an accident.

Besides even if Camille wasn't friendly, she would never ever dare to directly damage her mother's property. Teenage witch loses to the 100+ years old witch every time.

I feel like Nadja isn't adequately dressed to say that. She doesn't even have a detective's hat! Good observations though.

Also very good. Time for Nadja to show off her logic, then!

Her Witch hat ends being a detective one.

Everyone else look at it confused.

Can we do this?

No. Real witch hats are cuter.

But this is funnier.

It's not funny at all.

Can we at least make her create enchanted detective tools?