Mother of Magic

Remnants of an Invasion

The three Witches landed on the balcony of the spire. There were no doors to breech. No windows to break. The inner rooms of the tower were open to the outside all 360 degrees of the perimeter. One could walk out to the balcony unimpeded by any sort of weather control.

"This is weird." Le said. "Windy as hell up here I would think. At least sometimes."

"You can always create an exterior wall covering. This is a Witch design. You create things as you need them." Ava whispered in explanation.

"Magic is a weird way to think about economy of design in. You don't put a wall up to save money, because you don't need to save money. You don't put a wall up so you can look out and then you throw one up if needed." Le noted.

"Or just put up a wind Ward and keep looking out." Stephanie said.

"That too. In a larger sense, there is no magical economy other than the artificial one Witches impose." Ava told them. "Supply of magic and all of its benefits are artificially constrained. That way people without access to magic have to supply the few things magic cannot. Servitude. Sex. Art. The larger the need for Magic, the deeper the indenture."

"Weird."

"Awful."

Ava gave the couple a wan smile. "I know it excuses nothing, and I am not one to believe that ends justify means. I don't. The Mother, not being human, has slightly different points of view on our human world. It is against everything I believe to solve the problems I have here by kidnapping you from your homes. I do not deserve the help you have given me. No matter how much I understand The Mother's thinking, and why you two, with your particular gifts, were needed, I wish there had been a way to ask first. To explain. The Mother saw that there was no way to do that without you being here and being in this world. I understand. How do you explain a magical problem in a world without magic? I am forever in your debt for all you are doing."

"We are here now Ava, and we understand, and we are going to help. There is no way we could not. Also? We are going to fix my damn ballpark." Stephanie made her whisper also a growl.

Le agreed with a whisper. "What she said."

The small group stepped silently into the room they were outside of. It was some sort of common room. A lounge or kitchen type of area. They went further into the spire and to a curving hall. The walls of the hall bent away in either direction and toward the other side of the spire.

There were two bedrooms off the curved hall on the other side from where they entered. Inside each bedroom, there was a sleeping form.

"Witch napping." Stephanie whispered, barely audible.

"A lot of that going around. Sorry Ava... just a joke." Le whispered in response to her visible flinch.

Neither of the two sleeping Witches woke when they received their Namber treatments. One from each 'imported' Witch.

Once Namber treated Ava could not float them. Wheeled carts were temporarily created. The unconscious man and woman physically lifted upon them.

"Oof! Need to work out more." Le said after picking up his end of the man. The male Witch was physically rotund. The carts were dragged to the center of the spire where the elevator lobby is.

"Why is there an elevator again?" Le asked Ava.

"Not all Witches can fly. Advanced skill. Some do not have enough access to magic. Also: No indentured servant can fly. The detention tower they installed us in up in Seattle had no elevator because they would never let the non-magical or non-skilled Witches into there. The assumption being a Witch in captivity is a dangerous thing and so must have skilled captors."