There was still a few more minutes before the meeting was set to start. Roz had arrived early to help with the set up, and now she was sitting back and waiting for things to get going, scrolling through her phone in the process. She was trying to convince herself to not get into an online debate with a troll over politics, when she happened to glance up and spot Tally in the room as well and not looking otherwise occupied.
Roz knew who Tally was, but she’d never had much of a conversation with the other witch. She’d been meaning to change that, because from what she understood, Tally was a Seer as well. Or something similar. She wasn’t sure if she used the same term. Tally's world sounded vastly different from the one Roz grew up in, and she couldn’t decide if it was the most badass sounding thing she’d ever heard, or if she was horrified about the idea of conscripting witches in exchange for not killing them. A little of both, maybe.
Getting up from her seat, Roz shoved her phone in her pocket and headed over to Tally with a smile. “Hi!” she said cheerfully, “How’s it going? I’ve been meaning to come and talk to you outside of the context of coven stuff, but I always manage to get sidetracked. You’re a Seer too, right?”
The concept of covens was still newish to her despite having attended meetings for several months now. The compound wasn’t a coven but a collection of witches with similar ideas about what it meant to serve in the military and better things to do with their time and the military called them units...at least in basic. She heard units became covens if they reached War College but that was no longer part of her future now that they crossed Alder and made an enemy.
Tally liked the coven concept, almost a found family for the collection of magical types that Vallo pulled in. Most of them were friendly, sharing magics from their own worlds and bringing their own skills, so different from her own. For the most part Tally stayed in the background more than she did on the defense team, the latter more familiar than the organizational feel of the former. Still she felt included.
Waiting for the meeting to start, she sat in her seat, one leg up and boot heel resting on the edge of the seat while she cradled a warm travel mug of tea between her hands. She’d been pondering swinging past somewhere to get a snack after the meeting when someone sat beside her. She recognized Roz from past meetings and remembered hearing her specialty was also in Seeing, but much like Roz explained, her intentions seemed to go sideways more often than she liked.
“Yes, hi!” Tally’s face lit up and she sat up a little straighter, angling to face Roz better. “I think you put it perfectly because sidetracking is an art around here.” She lifted a hand and spun a finger in the air, indicating Vallo as a whole and the entirety of what the place tended to throw at them. “It’s never boring at least but managing to have a social life is sometimes a little tricky.”
Not that she had any right to complain. She had Bonnie, Sirius, Richie, the coven, a whole host of people who had accepted her as one of their own without hesitation.
“Seeing is definitely turning out to be my specialty though I am definitely still figuring out that path. Unfortunately I’d just graduated basic when I wound up here so I didn’t get much specialized training but there’s those natural seeds that you take and kind of just try to make sense of, you know?” She tilted her head. “You have...visions?”
While Roz could not relate to basic training, she understood never really receiving individualized training. Or training at all, in her case. At least she was in school now for it, which would be interesting next year when she was facing it on her own.
“I get that. I didn’t even know I was a witch until just before I arrived in Dark Vallo. Enrolling in school here is the first kind of formal training I’ve received.” Though she had done a decent job of figuring out her Seer powers on her own, even if she didn’t know the full extent of what she was.
It was comforting to see how many people were like her though, still figuring things out. “But yeah, I get visions. Future, past, current. I see through illusions too. Sometimes I get like...feelings? Which sounds weird, but I get feelings of if I should or shouldn’t do something, if something bad is going to happen. They were much clearer back in my world, and more convoluted here, but I still get them.” Back up she could get messages that were clear as day, here she was often left guessing until it was too late.
“What about you? Visions too?”
Tally could not imagine going years without knowing and then something revealed the truth. It wasn’t unheard of and no doubt centuries of being hunted played a part in scattering bloodlines so some went unnoticed. In a strange way that was almost enviable because they had a choice in where they wanted their life to go instead of just conscription. Tally’s outlook on that had certainly changed.
“If it’s not too prying, how did you find out?” she asked, curious what it was like in Roz’s world. Was it the visions or something else? Were a witch and Seer different things in their world or part of a whole? Vallo collected so many different types that each person had a unique story to tell and she wanted to hear them all.
She sat up a little straighter, some of what Roz was explaining very familiar. “It doesn’t sound weird at all! Everyone has intuition but it makes sense as a Seer, yours would be a little more honed or,” she stretched out her arms, “far-reaching. Illusions, seeing through them, that’s one of my stronger skills too.” Her warm smile faded slightly but she attempted to gloss over it as the memory of the truck on that road, the civilians held hostage and disguised as Spree, pushed to the forefront. “That is amazing though, what you can do. It kind of feels like we’re all plugged into the magic here with adapter cords. Not exactly our own brands but enough to do what we can?”
Tally tilted her head slightly. “I haven’t had a straight out premonition but I can see memories of the past, beyond enchantments. More often than not a scry of some sort is needed but I kind of...can do without?” She was not one to see anything more than hard work in it but the Bellweather Unit despite rough beginnings had been earning praise when they put their minds to it. “Sometimes I get super vague images and it’s a guessing game to figure out why, you know?” The smile returned full force and she gently smacked Roz’s arm in solidarity. “I’m trying to learn more here.”
“Kind of complicated.” she responded, frowning slightly as she tried to figure out the best explanation. “My Grandmother told me about them. She used to call us Cunning Women. She said our family was cursed by witches, which caused all Walker Women to go blind. But around the time we go blind, we also start getting visions. She called it The Cunning. As it turns out, we were cursed by witches, and I did go blind for a bit. But my friend removed the curse. The visions stayed tough. But I have them because I'm a witch. I just didn’t know it. The women in my family kept that part hidden. I wouldn’t have known if…” she was about to say another witch, but that wasn’t true. “Someone else hadn’t figured it out and told me. I think all Seers are witches, but not all witches are Seers. It’s a specialized power, not every witch from my world has it.”
There was more to it than that, tying back to who covens worshipped, betrayals, witch trials, but she didn’t need to get into those details. “I think I agree though. We are all somehow plugged into the magic here and using it the way we know how.” She wasn’t going to think too much about it, it was one of those things that still bothered her. How power was accessed, both here and in her own world. It was cool to see that they had some similarities though. Seeing through illusions had proven to be very helpful. And made her a target at the same time.
“I definitely get the vague images though.” she said with a grin, “Sometimes I wonder if it would kill whatever being is in charge of visions to make things a bit more clear.” Roz couldn’t complain too much though, some things did come in crystal clear when she needed it. Or at least they did back home. “What do people in your world use to scry with?”
Tally’s brow furrowed as she listened to Roz’s tale. A curse on her family, blindness she had no choice in that came from someone else’s actions. “I’m glad your friend was able to remove the curse for you. That is definitely a wacky way to find out you’re a witch though. Keeping something like that hidden can be good or bad depending on the reason why. I know some back home hid being a witch so they wouldn’t be conscripted into the military.” And the more she’d learned, the more she began to wonder if they were right.
She brightened slightly and reached out to clap Roz’s arm. “That’s something our worlds have in common! Witches from my world have specializations too. In our unit back home, there’s Raelle, who is a fixer, and Abigail, who is a blaster. She does weather Work so if you make her angry enough, she can bring a twister down on your head. Well, eventually. There is Work that we are not allowed to use outside of the military so we don’t start learning it until we’re 18. Eventually though.” Goddess she missed them, her sisters from another. “I don’t know everything you went through to be at this point but I am glad that you found out because I got to meet you and make a new friend.” Tally gave her a big smile, the words genuine and warm. Had they been back in Tally’s world, she was sure they would have hung out as well. Roz just seemed like such a good person.
“Right? It’s bad enough that it plays like a DVD that got all scratched up but then you have to be an expert in symbology sometimes just to make heads or tails of it. I suppose that would make us omnipotent though and break some law of the universe.” She tilted her head, considering. “The military issued us scry pads. Like a smart phone except a mirror and our magic, well Work, our spells are called seeds and they’re vocal? So the seed we use with the scry pad works with a regular mirror as well. I kind of found out Seeing was my thing when I didn’t so much need a focus to see some things. Once I tapped in, it just kind of did what it wanted to.”
“Witches in my world can draw their power from different places. The witches in my world used to worship Lucifer for some time. But my family has always been very Christian, so they denounced witchcraft when it became tied with Lucifer. My family was cursed in revenge. I have no idea why we were able to retain power when we weren’t worshiping Lucifer or another deity that grants powers.” It brought to question if you really needed to worship anything at all, or if you just had your own power. It was all conflicting, so Roz tried not to think about it too much.
Roz decided right then and there that she liked Taly. There was just something about her nature that gave Roz a good feeling, she was kind, easy to talk to, and had a positivity about her that was kind of infectious. She smiled at Tally’s enthusiasm for finding a similarity in their world. “I think a lot of witches in my world are able to choose where they want to specialize, but there are a few people that are just born with different gifts. Like being a Seer, or being a Psychic. Would a fix...fix...like heal, I guess? Raelle would be a healer?”
“I kind of get that. I don’t really need any tools either, so I’m not sure if learning to work with them has been helpful or not. Maybe it’s helping me focus and expand, or maybe it’s redundant. But my visions just started happening, and then just kept growing in terms of when they happened, and being able to control it. Like working a muscle, I guess.” The more she used it, the more she was able to figure out and control. “I still like to learn about the different tools though. You never know what might connect and help me learn something new. So I’m pretty excited we’re going psychic work at this meeting.”
Different world but a little familiar when it came to lore nonetheless. “People used to believe we were in league with Lucifer back in the seventeenth century when they didn’t understand science and nature.” She arched an eyebrow and shrugged a shoulder. “I guess I should say there are still people like that, believing we sold our souls to the devil rather than being the product of evolution and nature. Religion’s always been a little strange. We have the Goddess, Mother Earth, but I don’t think it would really qualify as an organized religion?”
Tally brightened, finding a good thread to follow. “Yes! I mean...a fixer is like a healer, yes, but Raelle’s fixing is a little different? The way her mother taught her, it has Christian tones to it. So it feels like the two wouldn’t be at odds if they could find that common ground, you know? History is a bummer when it comes to witches and their treatment but I like to think in this here modern day we’re kind of leaving that behind and learning that more than one way can coexist, you know?”
She could relate far too well to trying to find her way on her own. Before Vallo she’d only been through basic and that gave her the foundation but the rest, finding her way with her gift, that part had been left up to her. “Me too! Sometimes I feel a little...quirky? With most of our work being vocal but this feels like hey, familiar!” Tally held up her fist to bump. “But us seers gotta stick together. If you ever want to practice or do research, I’m always game.”
Magic with Christian tones. Roz raised her eyebrows at that. She had to assume that by Christian tones, Tally did not mean anything to do with Lucifer and the devil. But if her friend ever showed up, Roz would have to ask her more about it. “History is a bummer.” Not just about their treatment of witches. Of women, of minority groups. That was probably the same in any world. “There’s pagan witches in my world too. And the pagans and the witches that were in my town did not get along. There was zero coexisting.” She Roz had only caught a glimpse of all of that.
“That’s so cool though. Working with your voice. I love to sing, music in general really, but as far as I know magic like that does not exist in my world.” There were probably sirens, or something similar, with people who used magic through music, but not in the way Tally’s magic worked. “But yes, we do. There’s a lot more of us here than I’ve encountered at home, but I like it. It feels like a community. We’re all different, but there’s that common uniting factor not matter how it is that was make it happen.”
Tally winced slightly and nodded. “We have that problem too. Groups not getting along? There’s a group called the Spree that target innocent civilians to make a point. They think that it’s wrong for witches to be fighting the civilian wars.” Which came back around to history being a bummer because it wasn’t like witches had much of a choice to avoid conscription. It was either that, a dispensation for being the last of your line, or becoming a dodger always on the run. “Did they not get along because of who they worshipped or was it something else?” she asked, curious what caused the divide between the two groups in Roz’s world.
She pointed to her throat. “We’re born with double vocal chords which allows us to make sounds someone with the normal single vocal chord can’t. One of the first things we’re taught in combat is to protect our throat because if that gets injured, we’re in trouble.” Tally grinned slightly. “Kind of like the Little Mermaid,” she added wryly. “But music...music is great no matter what. Do you go to the karaoke nights at Galahd’s?” Tally glanced at the people mingling before the meeting started. Different worlds, different kinds of magic, united by being far from home yet trying to make this place a home itself. “It really is nice to see people coming together and danger doesn’t have to be the contributing factor. We’re here because we want to be and we accept each other because we know we all have something we care about.”
“Wait, they’re protesting witches in the military by attacking civilians? As in killing them? As in a literal terrorist organization?” She knew there was a long dark history with witches and so called ‘politics,’ but this took things to a whole new level. Even beyond the involvement of the military. “I think it was the worship. It also didn’t help that the Pagans wanted to bring forth some ancient god and basically kill off everyone and return the Earth to some green state. I didn’t really ever officially join the coven, I was sort of recruited during an emergency to keep watch on a looming threat, which happened after the issue with the Pagans and after they stopped worshiping Lucifer.”
Protecting your throat seemed like an important thing to do no matter if you had powers or not, but there was probably more to it than that. “So not vocal chords, no magic?” She knew words were important for many spells, just not all of them. It was hard to imagine everything relying on one single thing. “I haven’t been, no. I’m not even sure I can go? Do they let people under age in there?” She knew there was probably a time when under age people could come in, but she imagined that Karaoke had to be close to that cut off time.
“Most of the time.” Roz agreed with a nod. Except for the time when there were impending doom visions and bad feelings all around. “But yes, it is cool. I’m glad I can learn without feeling like I owe some sort of debt or sworn allegiance.”
Tally nodded slowly, unconsciously tucking hair behind her ear. “Witches are conscripted into the military because of the Salem Accord. They agreed to stop hunting us and in exchange every woman and man who is a witch would report to Fort Salem once turning 18 for training in the military arts.” She smiled slightly but there was no humor in it, very little fondness. “I used to think it was some great honor to serve but being here away from it all and having time to think on it has made me question some things,” she added, voicing her doubts for the first time.
Outside of Abigail and Raelle and maybe Glory she might not have said anything but in a way Roz was in a similar situation, witches of her world belonging to certain groups and not seeming like there was much room to choose her own path. Tally’s expression quickly changed to one of surprise. “That is taking hippie to a whole new level,” she murmured after Roz explained the Pagan’s attempt. “Not that I’m making light of it just...that seems like something they would want.” Probably more than a few women in the matrifocal compound that wouldn’t mind it either though as conscientious protesters, they would object to killing people to do it. “From the way you explain it, it sounds like you have choices to pick from but not much room to make your own?” she asked, brow furrowing in sympathy.
“That’s the drawback. Also a certain frequency that makes it impossible to do any Work. So when a witch is arrested, they not only use handcuffs but a collar around the neck.” She started to add the Camarilla in before her mind caught up with her mouth, bringing a halt to that. It was too gruesome a tale for this conversation. Maybe one later where tequila was involved. “I’m...not absolutely sure. I haven’t been all that often even though it sounds like fun? Still getting used to 18 being the legal age here instead of 21. Fort Salem would pretend they didn’t see it back home unless it was one of our holidays because that is part of the celebration but civilians not so much.” She grinned. “So that’s when we had to get creative sans any kind of Work.” Tally clasped her hands and did her best impression of puppy eyes before starting to laugh.
She held up her hand for a high five. “You can be your own witch, Roz, whatever that might mean to you. Don’t let anyone define it for you otherwise.”
Roz had a whole lot of feelings around topics like conscription. She would normally say she would be against conscription, but in a way, that was kind of what happened to her with the coven back in Greendale. Nowhere near as extreme, but there were some similarities. But what Roz was talking about? No way.
Choices, in some way, were definitely limited. “I guess I could have walked away from it all. But how could I do that? When literally the world was in danger. And even if it wasn’t on the scale, I couldn’t leave my friend in danger.” She could have chosen not to learn to harness her power, “But also, after I found out I was a witch? I’m not sure I could have walked away from that.” There was something to be said about having this kind of power, and the ability to help impact and shape the world.
It sounded like both of their worlds had ups and downs. Which was to be expected. But it was interesting to see how different those ups and downs could be for witches.
Roz smiled, and reached out her hand to tap Tally’s in a high five and sharp “clap” sound. “That goes for you too, Tally. Especially here. Freedom to make our own choices.”
At the front of the shop, she heard Bonnie start to call the meeting to start, and Roz’s turned her head to see others start to bring their attention toward her. “Looks like we’re about to get started. But hey, we should hang out sometime outside of these meetings, if you’d like?”
Tally felt what Roz explained deeply. The reason she joined the military initially even after her mother acquired a dispensation for her being the last of the Craven line. “Some people just can’t walk away when others are in trouble,” she said softly and offered Roz a gentle understanding smile. “It’s good that you learned what you’re capable of or are learning, I should say. Knowing what your capabilities are can lead to less problems down the road.”
It may have been ridiculous but the high five brought a wave of emotion, missing Abigail and Raelle while treasuring the new friendship she and Roz were working on. “To freedom,” she said, “and our own choices be they good or bad or anything in between.”
Tally shifted around to face forward, nodding in agreement. “Absolutely. It was really nice to meet you, Roz.”