Witches Don't Burn, Silly

Is that Daddy Issues I Smell?

"Are you sure he won't take us back?" Josephine asks, pink flames in her hands. Her fire turned into a pale purple and came into my hands, I extinguished it.

"We will give him a chance." I look at the man. He looked so much better now that he has slept, eaten, drinken water, and I healed him up. "If he messes up he knows the consequences."

"Alright, Mari." Josephine flops onto the ground and plays with Sally. The gecko licks her nose and then buries herself in the sand.

"You can even take over another witch's magic?" Seth asks in bewilderment after the kids run off to play in the sand again.

"Of course I can. Josephine is younger and weaker than me. She hasn't trained up her magic like I have." I explain simply. I open my mouth to continue when pounding hooves interrupt me. "Kids!" I shout and rush over to them. I lift them up. All of our stuff floats into place. I grab the reins of the horse. "Can you walk, Seth?" He nods and wobbles to his feet. "No you can't." I frown. I focus and he starts to float.

"What the-"

"Stay calm." I say and I rush us into the forest. I brought them deep into the forest. "I'll be right back. I'm gonna see who is there."

"Take me with you." Seth demands.

"No, stay with the kids. You can't even walk, you aren't useful to me right now." His eyes looked hurt by my words. I turned and rushed to the edge of the treeline. White stallions were tied to the trees as men in all white looked around the beach. The witch hunter crest on their chests.

"I thought they would come to the coast, trying to find a safe village." One man grumbles from the top of his horse. He must be their captain. "I wonder where they could have gone."

"Sir, can you believe that Sir Seth sympathized with her and ran off with her?" One man asks.

"He was clearly bewitched." The captain declares. I did no such thing. I almost killed him for goodness sake. I stayed there until they packed up and left. I strode back to the spot I had left everyone.

"Who was it?" Josephine propped Seth up against a tree. "Are we in danger again?" He asks.

"No, they left. It was the Witch Hunters, though." I grumbled and started to make us food.

"What are we going to do next?" Seth stares at me as I serve all of them food. I start to eat as I think over the question.

"We are going to go over to the mountains, over there." I point to the huge peaks. "The forested bottom of the mountains are covered in a thick woodland that makes it inhabitable for normal people. It should protect us just fine."

"How are we going to survive there?" Seth asks.

"Well, first, I am going to experiment more with magic. I want to see if I can disguise us so that we can go into town." I explain. "This way people won't recognize us, hopefully. We will pretend to be a family. This way I won't be questioned for being alone and we won't be questioned for taking care of two kids together." Seth focuses on every word I say. "We will gather plenty of supplies. This way we can also save other witches."

"What?" Seth looks at me confused. "How are you going to find them?"

"I'm not sure yet." I answer honestly. "But, we need to create a safe place for these women. Lord only knows what could happen to them if someone doesn't act first." Seth nods. My eyebrows raise in surprise.

"I see what they do to women who aren't witches." He fidgets. "I was one of the ones that did them. The deaths have become more and more painful as people invented the next best thing." He exhales. "Sir Gloriosa, the man that created the burning method-"

"You don't need to tell me." I sigh and take a seat on the ground. "He's my father." Everyone gasps.

"Mari?" Joseph looks at me bewildered.

"He can't be your dad!" Josephine exclaimed. They were young but they understood the horror of the situation. They shouldn't understand at all. They are just children. Yet, my fathers information that has spread all throughout the kingdom has condemned them to this fate. They now have to carry something larger than themselves.

"I am Mariposa Gloriosa, the sole child of Augustus Gloriosa." I stare at my hands. "Joseph, Josephine, and Seth, it is time you received a history lesson." They gathered closer around me. The children laid on me and stared up at me. "Ten years ago, my mother, the woman of the house, ran away. My father had discovered her magic and so she ran to avoid capture. She left me and everything she owned. My father, driven by madness and a new found hate for witches and women, created the burning witches. He believed it was the real way to get rid of these indestructible creatures. In reality he just sought to find the most punishing death, putting women and sometimes children in an inescapable misery."

"Mariposa, did your dad burn you at the stake?" I smiled sweetly at Seth and his naivety.

"Well, yes, who else would kill the spitting image of my mother." Josephine started crying and hugging me. Joseph was lost in his own thoughts. I just stared at Seth. "Seth, you will need to repent." I looked at him carefully. "You have made innocent women and children suffer, so, you must serve them now." My words carried a surprising amount of finality.

"I will help in any way I can." He bows his head to me.

"Good."