Merry Witchmas 4 asamispirit
Maria sobbed quietly to herself, she was sat in a corner of her bedroom on Christmas Eve. Once again her mother had not kept one of her promises; and Maria was alone on the night before Christmas. She wished her mother would certainly be there to wake her in the morning, wearing her super special smile that Maria loved so much.
By now we should all know the effect of making a wish with the word “certainly” in it would. That’s right! Sakutarou appears!
“Uryuu~ don’t cry Maria. Mama is out working really hard so she can afford the tastiest Christmas meal ever!” Sakutarou, as cute and comforting as always, tried to lift Maria’s spirit. “Mama does work so hard… but Maria knows everyone else’s mama is home by now for Christmas…” She sniffled and didn’t quite go along with Sakutarou’s excuses. Usually she would give Rosa the benefit of the doubt; but on the eve of Christmas, she thought it was a little much to be left all alone.
Now this seed of doubt in Maria’s mind along with her certain wish regarding certainty allowed a slightly more mischievous apparition to form. “Such an unbeffiting expression for such a cute little girl during such a festive time.” A voice whispered from beneath the bed. A wide toothed grin and a pair of beady, brown eyes slowly formed in the darkness there.
Maria gazed silently. The unknown voice giggled a little; and then the owner of the voice literally rolled out from underneath the bed, across the entire floor. She showed no sign of halting when she hit the wall and continued to roll up the wall and finally came to rest in a casual sitting pose; albeit, upside down and on the ceiling. The whole thing was like a miniature acrobat performance; Sakutarou had immediately panicked and hidden behind Maria, but Maria herself was quite awe-struck.
Lambda beamed and curtsied with her eyes closed; before doing a forward somersault and landing upright on the floor. Maria clapped with enthusiasm. “Thank you, thank you. You are too kind.” Lambda lapped up all the attention. “I’ve been able to fully form on my very first appearance before you! You truly must have magic within you, Maria!”
Lambda smiled, mostly to herself. “The great Lambdadelta has felt your yearning for a positively remarkable, stunningly magical solution.” Maria was ecstatic whilst the still sceptical Sakutarou peered around from behind her. “And I am here to deliver your single wish.”
Lambda curtsied again. “A reward is surely in order for your gracious welcome, Maria. What could you possible desire? A thousand candies? A cute little kitten, perhaps?” Lambda gave a sideways sneer toward Maria, her appearance now showing her true impish nature, because she knew exactly what it was that Maria wanted.
“I have one wish Miss Witch, but I don’t know if magic can grant it for me…” Lambda’s response was a full blown cackle. “Oh goodness… my girl, if I were unable to grant the magic you seek then I’d not be worthy of my title as a witch. I can certainly give you what you seek.”
Several hundred miles away, Rosa stirred in her sleep, but did not wake.
“I wish for my mama to come home for Christmas… so we can have a fun and happy time together!” Maria wailed rather loudly, making Lambda wince a little at having to deal with this annoying, bratty child. “Of course, of course, I should have known a good girl like you could only ask for love! How adorable, how… sweet.” Sickeningly sweet Lambda thought to herself. Lambda would happily spend an entire afternoon stuffing her face with sweet candies, but when it came to little girls she had to fight the urge to vomit.
Lambda entrusted Maria with the recipe for the magic; which consisted of giving the house a festive make-over, with tinsel and baubles and stars. By the time Maria was finished she was quite exhausted, so tucked herself into bed and fell fast asleep. Lambda flicked off the light; and slowly faded back into the shadows she’d crawled out from. Maria slept blissfully. ——————————————————————————————– Lambda formed in the sea of fragments, giggling to herself. Her usual counterpart had been waiting here for her. Bernkastel said nothing; merely giving a flick of her tail to acknowledge Lambda’s arrival.
“I love this Bern, I really do!” Lambda spluttered out, barely containing a hearty laugh. “Each fragment is as miserable as the last.”
“Truly heart-wrenching.” Bernkastel responds in her usual monotony. “To have happiness elude you… and then be surrounded by the joy and love of others. An unfortunate time of the year for many.” “Especially our dear friends, the Ushiromiya family.” “Indeed… such a pitiful lot.”
The two witches cackled together as the mist around them swirled and danced into the outline of a room. Candle-lit and lavishly decorated, they dreamily fell into the comfort of a luxurious sofa; with no shortage of cushions, a table with tea for Bern, and cuddly toys for Lambda.
Christmas was a favourite time of year for these two wicked witches. Of course, not for the same reasons as most people. They wandered from one fragment to the next, causing trouble wherever they could. “Tell me your last trick, oh Berny, oh kitty, oh dearest.”
Bern sipped at her tea and calmly told of her latest antics. Lambda’s face fell from a grin, to a slightly concerned smile…
“… and then they walked into the dining room and found their meal replaced with maggots, worms and a few severed goat heads.” Bern remained straight-faced throughout the re-telling; such acts are the norm for her, after all.
“Bern… disgusting. What the hell’s wrong with you?” Lambda hated having her appetite ruined. “Where’s your sense of Christmas spirit? You’re just as cold as always.”
Bern snickered in response. Lambda chuckled and soon enough they were both rolling around cackling. ———————————————————————- Meanwhile, Maria had gotten her wish. Her first wish that is. After all, Lambda had only promised a single wish and the first one that had been requested was for Rosa to be present on Christmas day. She definitely arrived, but there was no smile, there was nothing fun about Rosa being home at all.
She had a nasty hangover and the last thing she wanted was to see Maria awake at the crack of dawn, yelling and uu-ing and trying to show off how well she decorated the house. Unfortunately, Rosa did not think the decorations were cute. She tore some of them down before retreating to her bedroom and asking not to be disturbed.
Maria sobbed in the same corner she had been the night before. But don’t worry, Sakutarou is here to cheer her up, again, and again and again. “It’s the nasty witch, Maria! She tricked you, she only gave you your first wish and cursed Mama as well as that! It’s not Mama’s fault, she’s being possessed by evil!”
Maria sniffled, but listened. For she knew listening to Sakutarou was the best thing to do. If she doubted him that mean-spirited, troublesome witch might show herself again. If she listened to Sakutarou, then Mama would eventually return with her wonderful smile.
So Maria was a good girl. She didn’t expect any presents, she calmly took down all the decorations and stayed quit until Mama didn’t feel ill anymore. It didn’t matter that Christmas was not what she had hoped, as long as her Mama came back soon, everything would be fine.
That was the best way to think, Sakutarou had told her. If she asked for too much, it might only lead to disappointment. So Maria told herself to be patient and to wait for next year. She’d do her best and learn what magical barriers she could use to keep that witch away.
Lambda peered into Maria’s thoughts… “How pitiable…” She thought to herself. “How truly naive… once you let magic in, you let me in. Magic is magic and cannot be so clearly divided between good and evil…”
“You’ll see me again next year, Maria.” Lambda snickered as she slinked away from this fragment. “I’m certain of it.”
