Something Counterfeit's Dead

VI

The first thing Agatha did when Nicky showed signs of having magic was to teach him how to control it. They trained every day for hours. Nicky was a natural; he was breathing magic, his eyes wide with joy as he copied Agatha's movements with his fingers. His magic was grey – not light enough to be white but not dark enough to be black. It swirled around him as if he wore it like a blanket.

It made Agatha anxious. She kept reminding him to hide it so people in the town wouldn't question it and inevitably attack them. She didn't tell him the real reason, though. She was too scared of his reaction – what if he started being afraid of her like everyone else was? Like her mother was? She couldn't face that kind of reaction from Nicky. It would break her.

But Nicky wasn't always compliant with her requests. He felt weaker without the magic, and hiding it made him tired and grumpy; Agatha could see that. Those days, she was glad Rio was always close, watching over them like a hawk. When Nicky was extraordinarily difficult and wouldn't hide his magic no matter what Agatha said, Rio took over. Agatha watched them from inside the house, with glass separating them, just in case. Most of the time, they trained with magic, but sometimes, they grew flowers together and then made flower crowns for Agatha.

Rio was so gentle with him. It made Agatha remember their first meeting after she killed her coven. And her mother. She was so confused and angry. And sad. She didn't want to kill them. She just wanted to make them stop killing her. She couldn't control it. Something inside her just latched onto their power and sucked it in. It made her feel powerful, but there was still a slight fear in the back of her mind – will she ever learn to control it? What if she can't control it, and everyone she comes across will die because of that?

One moment, there was nothing, and then she appeared, a green flame in her hand. Agatha tore her eyes from the dead bodies around her and looked at the strange woman. She put her chin forward, ready for the screams of horror. But instead, the woman smiled and kept walking towards her.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Agatha asked, quickly wiping the tears away with her sleeve.

The woman stops a few feet away from her, that gentle smile still on her face. Agatha took a few steps back, afraid the power within her would activate by close proximity.

"I'm Rio," she says, "What happened?" she asks, her dark eyes darting to look around.

"I- I killed them," Agatha confesses. "I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," Rio says firmly, her eyes hardening. "It's okay. Everyone eventually dies. They just met their fate sooner." Rio let out a soft laugh as she looked down at the body of Agatha's mother. "I think some of them deserved it. Don't you?"

Agatha thought back on her mother's cruel words, how none of the witches from her coven hesitated to kill her. Why did none of them care? She blinks quickly and nods – she won't shed any more tears for them.

Rio's smile returns, and she steps even closer, crushing Agatha's mother's bones under her foot. "What's your name?"

Agatha doesn't feel bad. She returns the smile, her eyes twinkling in the green light. "Agatha. Agatha Harkness."

Since then, Rio has been her constant companion. Agatha wanted to learn how to control her powers, and to do that, she needed someone to practice with. Rio said she couldn't help her with that, so Agatha set out to find someone. And when it didn't work, she found someone else. Again and again. And Rio was there every step of the way, always watching her with pride. Agatha had a feeling Rio was Death a few months after knowing her, but she never let it change her opinion about her. Rio is Rio. Agatha doesn't care which form her body takes, or what she does when she's not with her; she will always love her for her.