Homeward Bound

The Underworld

Aeaea...

Charlie swirled her hand across the liquid in the cauldron, thinking and pondering as she did.

The liquid glowed a variety of different colors, a spectrum, before shifting to a navy blue, where it stayed. Swallowing, Charlie reached into one of her drawers and extracted some powder, spooning it into the cauldron. The liquid took on a gray, dusky color that mixed with the blue before settling down.

Charlie swallowed, then smiled a little.

The spell was nearly ready.

Reaching to the side, she grabbed a large ladle and started mixing the potion, ensuring it was all mixed up.

Now all that's left is letting it heat until it starts to glow.

Grabbing the edge of the cauldron, Charlie picked it up and moved it to a small oven area. Placing it on the grate over the fire, Charlie rubbed her fingers together and uttered an incantation, causing the tinder underneath to immediately ignite.

Good. Now all there is to do is wait.

But, that was a bit of a problem too, wasn't it?

Charlie needed to keep herself busy, because if she didn't keep herself busy then she was left with her thoughts.

And her thoughts were constantly shifting back to the previous night, and the many, many regrets she had from it.

Sighing and sitting down on one of the couches, Charlie just groaned as she put her face in her hands.

She'd kissed Cassidy.

Sure, the sorceress had been wanting to do that for a while, but she'd kissed the captain without consent, after coming onto her very strong. Charlie flushed in embarrassment as she vividly remembered how she had brazenly come onto the other woman, before being rejected.

Why did you have to do that?!

She had no idea how she was supposed to look the other woman in the eye now. Even for the brief time she needed to hand over the potion, or prepare them for what they would see in the Underworld.

She couldn't even think of the captain right now without imagining how it had felt to have her arms wrapped around her, pulling her into warmth and-

Stop!

Charlie sighed, grabbing the ladle and stirring the mixture in the cauldron. She needed to focus up. Cassidy was stuck on this island, and the sorceress wasn't going to take advantage of that. The main concern was getting her home, at least for now.

As she made that resolution, part of her chest ached a little.

She couldn't afford Cassidy staying.

The problem was, she definitely couldn't afford Cassidy leaving either.

The color in the spell settled into a faint glowing blue, and Charlie gave a small smile that felt fake.

The spell was ready.

* * *

Gregory held his shell tight.

He'd miraculously managed to keep ahold of the thing, from his time in the caves with Freddy. The satyr sighed as he walked down, his foot twitching a little on the road.

That had been...quite eye opening for him. Firstly, outsiders were clearly not as bad as the stories claimed, if Vanessa had saved his life. And secondly...

He needed to do better. With Cassie. Be a better friend than he was.

Gregory sighed. Maybe, if he did do better, then he and Cassie could still do their original plan. Leave together one day, and see the world. Explore, discover, find, and get off this rock.