Mother of Magic

Many Worlds

The woman who kidnapped them and can make plates float around settled down to do as Stephanie requested. Talk. She pulled her outer jacket around herself and then made an offhand gesture with one gloved hand. "I do not know how churches and such work in your world. Until I went to your world, I never left this one. Here there are few religions, though I have a vague feeling that is not true in all worlds."

Ava paused and considered, looking up and to the right as she thought. "An impression that I received as I was traveling. As I felt my way through the morass to your world, I touched other domains along the way. If I did not already have a feel for the direction from The Mother I would have easily gotten lost."

Here Ava paused again and looked at the couple "The Mother picked you out of all of that infinity. World upon world. Even knowing all the dead worlds could be set aside I cannot even begin to understand how she found you in it."

"Lucky us." Stephanie said sarcastically around a mouthful of eggs.

Ava ignored that tone. She went on with her story. "In the same way that people have auras, worlds have them. A radiance of the totality of all the life upon them. But even a dead world has an Aura, dark and cold. Or sometimes nothing but light. Hot and dead at the same time."

"Sounds like the multiverse is confirmed. Some kind of it, anyway." Le said in a low voice, pitched only for Stephanie, who nodded. She was not as versed in the physics of such things as Le, but, of course, could not avoid hearing about it in popular culture.

"The vestment and the other lodestones I had with me allowed me to survive between. To use magic there. It took magic to be able to still see and feel the auras." Ava splayed her fingers and made a sweeping arc in front of her face as if she was looking out over the Grand Canyon and beholding its glory. "There are innumerable complex flavors you can feel when between. The Mother gave me the feel not only for you specifically but for your world. I felt the others along the way. The ones with magic. The many more like yours without. The ones without life. The places where life of some sort overflowed. The richness and the dullness. The gorgeous chaos and the dry and rigid solitudes. The auras would tell of belief from within versus belief from without and forced upon others. Forced faith is darkness not unlike death itself."

Ava dropped her hand. Suppressed a sigh. "It was all so fleeting. In some cases it was terrifying. I was happy The Mother was not sending me to the dark and hateful worlds. Having been between and also knowing history, I can tell you that the lack of a variety of belief systems here is due more than anything to the difference between deeds and promises. There are many small sects. Various saviors and prophets. Some make false claims about magical powers but cannot back empty promises up with actions."

"One man claimed to be able to turn a barrel of spirits into many barrels of spirits" A finger swirled over an imaginary barrel. "He was caught out with hidden trap doors on his stage. For every false prophet exposed, there are ten others who have never been caught. Still more people than that never back up their claims with concrete actions, yet get followers. Pure force of personality combined with an absolute lack of caring about those they fleece. Cults of personality that are more about power and control and frankly: about sex. Men and the occasional woman who use their charm to gain riches and access to others sexually. Promises of a rich hereafter for service to them in this life. There are some for whom life is so empty that they think it better to give their every worldly good, including their own bodies rather than face a world without that comfort and direction. Better to be used than be alone. Eager to accept the false promises that their existence will improve in the next life. As if the next life will be here, and not remotely far away and a mere repeat of this one."

Le raised an eyebrow at that last assertion and considered the infinities of multiverse that it presupposed.

"Sounds familiar." Stephanie muttered.

The Reverend Mother ignored that. "Then, outside and above all of that, there are witches. Those gifted by The Mother with access to her magic. No one knows how it is that some have access, and most do not, but that is the way of it, and it is accepted as being The Mothers wisdom. In the same way, she sent me to get you, she controls all here. She decides who is a witch, who is not, and in what measure. I don't know why she needed you to come here. Why she did not grant someone here with the access to her power needed to do her will? I have no idea. It is hard to understand her ways because she does not speak. Does not communicate as we are right now. Does not appear to everyone, and even those she does appear to? It can be only once in their lifetime. When she sent me to get you, this was the first time I ever met her. She was exactly as all who have met her described. All the writings going back centuries. You meet her when it is her will, and she places in your mind what she wants. I knew what I had to do. I did not know why. I am still not clear on all the dimensions of her plan. I only know she has one."

Ava paused as if expecting a question, but none came. She continued. "Wicca in general have not always been respected. Such is the way of power versus those without. We were feared for centuries. As witches, we could do actual magic. As collections of witches, we could amplify our power together. One witch is the match for many non-magical people. When mobs with torches and pitchforks used to chase down a solitary witch to burn or hang them, they often lost many people. Real magic can be wielded by the adept to effective ends. When witches grouped together, they could bring impenetrable barriers into play to protect themselves. Rain down lighting and all other sorts of things to remove those that would attack us from the field of battle. People preferred to separate a witch out, disable them individually, put them on trial, and kill them. Hang them, burn them, or drown them. The only way they could do this was to render them unconscious first and proceed to try and convict them while they were unconscious. Kill them. A witch awake of any power at all would be able to put out the fire. Float out of the water. Sever the noose. They also went after those of lessor power for that reason, since they could do minor magic, but not enough to save themselves."