A Slither of Death

Not yours

As much as Ellie wanted to stay with Agatha as they waited for Teen to wake up, both Rio and Lilia didn't let her. Claiming she needed to rest and calm down before they slept for the night and would continue in the morning. Or when they all woke up, there seemed to be no morning here. Two trials that almost killed them was a lot for a sixteen year old girl. So, they made a fire and began chatting like a normal group, it was weird. Ellie sat next to Lilia who was currently braiding flowers, courtesy of Rio, into her hair.

Ellie relaxed when she felt her hair being untangled softly and expertly. She listened to the group with mild interest, honestly not caring about what they were saying, but wanted to know their past and why they were on the road.

"I never really identified as just a witch." Jen had been talking for a while now, a long while, which Ellie was fine with at the beginning since Lilia was doing her hair but now it was getting boring.

"I'm an 11th-generation root worker and midwife."

"A midwife..."

"How were you bound?" Alice asked the question they were all wondering. Now Ellie was interested in the conversation.

"I was invited to the brand-new Obstetrics Association of Greater Boston. To share my expertise. It was a trap. I still don't know how he did it. Bound me without magick. So much for 'Do no harm'." 

Ellie wasn't going to say anything to comfort her, one, she was terrible at comforting people to the point it would get awkward, two, what's done is done. What could Ellie do to fix that for Jen? Jen will fix it herself, it was why she's on this little road trip.

"When Mom died," Alice began, smiling when she was talking about her mom for the first time since she passed. "I stopped believing everything she ever taught me. I was so angry."

Ellie knows that feeling, she remembers the rage she felt when she felt the magical presence of her birth mother disappear. It wasn't gone, she just couldn't feel her anymore. She was furious, furious that Wanda gave her life only to leave her alone. Thank god Rio was there during her rampage. Her anger controlled her power for a while, it was so volatile and pure that Rio took her to her little realm so they could practice magic.

A way for Ellie to not hurt anyone around them.

"Part of me hoped that The Road wasn't real, so I could stay angry. Because..." Alice trailed off.

"Now you know. It was all for you. And that makes you sad." Damn, Lilia really says it how it is.

"You're right." Alice nodded.

"Sad is better than angry." Lilia wisely told Alice though they all took the advice.

"Here." Jen gave her some of her products "Put this on your pressure points."

"Why?"

"Because it smells nice." Jen stated bluntly causing Alice to smile.

"Thanks, Jen."

"You know, the worst part of being a witch? All the misconceptions and rumor mongering. That we talk to goats." Rio and Ellie shared a look at Lilia's ramble.