View from the Mountain, pt 2

"Girlfriend, bring it in here!" Aadi Bheeda, a broad smile on their round face, opened their arms to give Miranda a big hug. "How are my little M&M's?"

"We're good," Miranda smiled. "How are you? You look good."

"Enjoying the country life?" Mariah asked with a laugh. Aadi had always been such a dazzling urbanite, she had a hard time imagining them on a farm.

"Girl, Aadi won't lie. It's been an adjustment," they said brightly. "Still, not hating it... especially since the pub got a karaoke machine."

"Madonna," Mariah groaned.

"That's our Aadi," Miranda laughed. "Bringing culture to the country."

"Well come on in," Aadi said. "You know the way."

--------------

In the living room, the three of them settled onto a comfortable couch. Mariah took in the well-lived-in space, with a variety of art hanging on the walls. She couldn't help but notice the soft child's toys and playpen dominating the center of the room.

"Aadi, is there something you need to tell us?" she asked.

"What?" Aadi looked puzzled, then laughed. "Oh, those are Amber's. She is the Cutest Thing Ever.  Abbey, her mom, is one of the other artists here, but we all help out with her. They're not here right now," Aadi added. "All my peeps are off at a craft show. Oh, Miranda, I'm supposed to tell you my Jordy says hey. They wanted to see you, but just could not miss the show."

"Jordy? You mean Jordan Scott?" Miranda blinked. "Wait... you and Jordan?!"

"OK, needing backstory," Mariah put in.

"Jordan was a kid I grew up with," Miranda explained. "They taught me how to use makeup. The only out gay kid in Henford Elementary back in the day, which wasn't easy. Their family owns the Gnome's Arms, the pub in Finchwick. I'm not surprised they're in the arts community, but... Come on, Aadi... share."

"Well, Jordy and I met at an art show a little after graduation," Aadi said.

"Sparks?" Miranda asked.

"Lightning and thunder, girl," Aadi grinned. "Aadi is in L-O-V-E. So, Jordy is one of the founders of the Henford arts commune... and, well..."

"I wondered what got you to move out to the country," Mariah quipped.

"The things we do for love, girl," Aadi nodded. "Anyway, I know you said you have some things to do while you're here, but I'm really hoping you can hang around and see Jordy. My boo has been really blue, and I know they'd love to see you."

"What's wrong?" Miranda asked, concerned.

"Oh, of course you wouldn't have heard," Aadi said sadly. "Derek McMillian passed away last week."

"Oh, no," Miranda looked shocked and grief-stricken.

Answering Mariah's slightly puzzled look, Aadi explained. "Derek and his husband Ian were a lovely old couple who lived down the road. Ian passed during the winter."

"Oh... Derek and Ian were wonderful," Miranda said. "They were the first gay couple to get married in Henford church, right after it became legal... even before my mom and Gwen got married. They were all the first openly gay couples in town at the time. Derek and Ian were very supportive of Jordan. Of course, mom and Gwen were too, but Derek and Ian were guys, so they got some of the guy-stuff Jordan was dealing with. Jordan must be hurting."

Aadi nodded sadly. "Yeah. Jordt says they knew it was coming, after Ian. The two of them were just so much in love it was like only natural they'd go together. Sad and romantic."

"Two hearts as one," Miranda sighed.

Mariah shuddered. She felt a sudden cold stab of pain piercing though her heart, beyond the half-imagined echoes of Miranda and Aadi's grief.

You've dealt with this, she told herself. This isn't about you and her. It will be OK.

She barely heard Miranda's next words. Everything seemed so far away.

"Well, we'll totally stop back after... after the thing I want to do," Miranda said. "To see Jordan. You know what, you should bring Jordan to the wedding."

"Bathroom's through there, right?" Mariah said suddenly, fighting to keep her feelings hidden.

"Yeah, straight across the entryway," Aadi said. 

"Right back," Mariah said as she dashed from the room.

--------------

Standing in the bathroom, Mariah clutched the sink and tried to steady her breathing. 

I've got this, she thought. OK, so a nice old couple lived a long life together and were so much in love, they passed together. It's sad and romantic and It Isn't About Me.

Miranda loves me, she thought, and I love her. We're together and we're going to get married and be together for... OK, so I'll never grow old with her because she's a witch and she'll never grow old. We won't die together because she's immortal. It doesn't mean she can't love me. 

Miranda loves me.

Her reflection whispered, "For how long?"

View from the Mountain, pt 1

"You know, we have these things called phones," Mariah Huntley said gently.

"What?" Miranda Silveroak-Goth blinked, coming out of her own thoughts. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we could have talked to Aadi on the phone," Mariah said. "You know... rather than coming all the way to Henford."

The car service, a perk courtesy of Miranda's superstar mom, Cassie Goth, had dropped them near the Finchwick village green. Mariah knew there were closer places to park, but she hadn't objected when Miranda had announced her intension to walk to nearby Old New Henford and the house on Old Mill Lane.

The house had been Miranda's childhood home. Sometime after her family had moved to Glimmerbrook and the ancestral home of Miranda's other mother, Gwen, the house on Old Mill Lane had been given to Miranda's friends, Jake and Beth Volkov, as a wedding gift. Technically, Jake and Beth still owned the property, renting it out to a local artists' commune, which now included Miranda and Mariah's friend and former college roommate, Aadi. 

"It's not that much out of our way," Miranda said. Her distracted look transformed into a genuine smile as she added, "Besides, this way we can see Aadi and what they've done with the old house."

"Si, OK," Mariah nodded. "So, we're here to see Aadi?"

"Of course," Miranda lied. "Why else?"

"Mia amata, never try to give me a surprise party, OK?" Mariah laughed.

"What?" Miranda said.

"For a wise and mysterious witch, you suck at hiding things," Mariah said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Miranda said loftily.

"Certemente," Mariah shook her head. "This sudden desire to visit Aadi has nothing at all to do with Cassie suddenly revealing that Gwen's father - your grandfather, for all practical purposes - lives just up that mountain there. Si, OK."

"What?" Miranda said with a hint of bitterness. "You mean, the grandfather who lived practically next door to me for basically my entire childhood... but who no one ever even told me about?! The one I've never met? The one Gwen still won't talk about?"

"I'm just not sure this is a good idea," Mariah said seriously.

"I'm sorry." Miranda wheeled on her. "What was that, Ms. I-Became-A-Gangster-To-Get-To-Know-My-Father's-Family?"

"Si, and that went so well, didn't it?" Mariah replied.

For a long moment, their eyes met. Mariah could see the turmoil in her lover's face. She could practically feel it roiling in her own guts. With a deep breath, she just waited, knowing that was what Miranda needed now.

Finally Miranda sighed, "God, what am I doing?"

"Stressing out," Mariah said, forcing herself to relax. "I get it."

"Of course you do," Miranda laughed ruefully. Throwing her arms in the air, she turned, taking in the green of the trees, the solid bulk of the mountain, the bubbling of the nearby stream and the smell of the rain on the wind. Finally, she looked back at the face of the woman she loved. "Of course you do. I love you."

"Anch'io ti amo," Mariah smiled back. "Come on, let's go see Aadi and then hike up a mountain."

---------------

Author's Note: So, I got hit by a major game bug in the Sims game that I use to generate pictures for these stories. I wasn't able to get all the pictures I wanted for this short story. After nearly giving in to despair, I decided that I did have at least some pictures, and I have the words. So, I'm going to press on anyway. This story will be more words and less art than usual, but it will get done. 

The Raven's Apprentice - Afterword

Once again, I thank you for joining me for another Wyrd Tale, and I hope you enjoyed reading it.

Raven's Apprentice has a lot of history behind it. 

Gwen was my first serious Sims character. She started out as a teenage witch and changeling, living in Willow Creek with Doug and Lilian Brown. Her romantic relationship with premade Cassandra Goth came as a total shock to me but the two fell madly in love at first sight. I've actually played through several iterations of Gwen and Cassie meeting, falling in love, growing up and living their lives... starting new games but always playing versions of these same, now beloved, characters... before the playthrough that resulted in Wyrd Girls. 

A while ago now, I was having a lot of trouble with my Sims game being very glitchy. I was concerned that I was going to have to abandon my long running save, which would have meant losing Miranda and her world. Not wanting to give up on writing, I considered starting a new game and returning to Gwen and Cassie's teen years. Fortunately, I was able to resolve my issues and keep Miranda's story going, but the idea of returning to Gwen and Cassie's teen years stuck in my mind.

So, when I finally decided to write Raven's Apprentice I had a bunch of established material in my head. Ari's (Gwen's mom) habit of going back to university every few generations was actually something that I had an immortal Cassandra do in an earlier playthrough.

At the same time, since those first games, I had developed new ideas and there were new game expansions to play with.

Carmilla and Molly both came into being out of new expansions. I decided that, since I was working on a teen story, I would finally break down and get the High School Years expansion. Molly is a premade Sim from that expansion. Carmilla was a "child" of the Goth Galore clothing pack. Cas, after all, needed some friends. So were the current iteration of the Weird Girls of Buckingham High born. 

The inclusion of ghosts and séances goes back to the earliest versions of Gwen and Cas's story. Paranormal Stuff was one of the first expansions I picked up. Cas and Mortimer as mediums dealing with haunted houses was one of the first things I ever did with them. Bringing the other Weird Girls into the story was a natural progression.

The idea of the Goth family butler came out of another expansion, though since I don't like the way it handles butlers, I just made and played my own. So, Edwards came into being. After much thought about how "clued in" he might be to the whole supernatural and secret agent worlds I decided that Edwards wasn't a spy or a magical being. He is just simply the butler... which means naturally he knows everything about what's going on and supports his family with grace and dignity.

After a long time refusing to include Aliens in the Wyrd'verse (because I didn't want to get Science Fiction in my Fantasy) I came up with a way that worked in my own mind (thanks in part to a short story by Jim Butcher). Gwen sees the aliens as svartalves, creatures of magic and artifice, and the aliens see Gwen and the other witches as psychokinetic actives. The truth of either view ultimately being a matter of perspective (though I personally favor Gwen's point of view). Once I decided to include aliens, the character of Doctor Key and his sinister plans concerning Portals came pretty easily and Raven's Apprentice was the perfect place to explore them.

This story was also a chance to explore Bella Goth and redeem her in my own mind. I had long ago decided that she was Cas's stepmom because their Sim ages (Young Adult and Teen) were too close for me to reconcile Cas as her biological daughter.  Beyond that, I confess, my original take on Bella was in line with teen Cas's originally less charitable view... that she was a big chested, gold-digging bimbo who was taking advantage of Mortimer. However, digging around in old Sims lore I came across the idea that Bella was an alien abductee... and since I was bringing aliens into the story, I started exploring that. Connecting her to Doctor Key was immediately obvious. The result was a much more interesting Bella Goth... alien hybrid, secret agent and redeemed villainous minion... who I really enjoyed writing. 

Finally, I'd like to mention a very special character - Lucius Tempest. Lucius has probably the longest history of all my characters in this story. He started many, many years ago as my own character in an Ars Magica tabletop roleplaying game. That Lucius Tempestus was a scholarly wizard who specialized in weather magic. Sadly, that game ended long ago but Lucius's memory endured, not the least because I used his name as a username for email accounts and gaming forums... including the Sims forum, where my username is luciusstorm. When I got active in that forum, I made a "Sim-self" (a Sim version of myself) to be my forum avatar and naturally named him Lucius. With Raven's Apprentice I finally decided to really incorporate him into my Wyrd'verse. In doing so, I also answered a nagging question - who was Gwen's real father? I am, naturally. 

I wove together all of these elements with the established backstories and lore from earlier Wyrd Tales and so was born Raven's Apprentice. 

I really enjoyed the process.

With Raven's Apprentice finished, I'm once again going to take a little break, play the Sims and contemplate my next story.

Wyrd Tales should return on August 28th, 2024. 

I hope you will join us.

PS - Oh, the epilogue? We'll talk more about that later. :)

The Raven's Apprentice - Epilogue

Safe House, Oasis Springs, Present Day

As she walked up the path to the dusty, run-down house in the dusty, run-down neighborhood, she let the job drop away from her. Wet work missions were always ugly, but those agitators wouldn't be leading any more protests. The Axis would be pleased.

With long practice she buried the memory of their faces, like she had their bodies. She put away the mission and picked up herself again. 

Of course, she mused, her 'self' was a lie. Even her name - Mallory Errant - was a fiction. They called her Mal... another example of PT9553's questionable sense of humor.

Like this house, its interior as dusty and run-down as the exterior... a disguise hiding something far more important underneath. 

As she entered his lab, he greeted her with unaccustomed cheer. "Welcome back, Mal. I trust the mission was a success."

"Have I ever let you down, Doctor?" she asked.

"Of course not," Doctor Key replied.

"Have you remembered to eat?" she asked. He had that frail, brittle look he got when he was deeply immersed. He forgot everything else during those times.

"So concerned for my wellbeing," Doctor Key smiled. "Still, you surmise correctly... I have been very focused on my work. The latest samples from the subject are very promising."

"Are they?" Mal said cautiously. They'd been down this road before, without success.

"Yes, yes, I know," Key said, casually lifting her concerns out of her surface thoughts. "After more than twenty-five years, after so many failures, your doubt is understandable... but I believe we have finally succeeded."

"And how is our Gem?" Mal said, moving over to look through the small, meshed window in the security door.

"Gem? Oh, yes, another of PT9553's little jokes," Key mused. "You know, he keeps insisting I enroll her in the local public education system. Allow her some socialization. He may be right. The experience served you well enough, when you were that age..."

"Yes, it was... useful," Mal agreed. 

"She's reading," Mal observed.

"Yes, she has a very active imagination," Key said. "I find it distracting, but perhaps it is significant to her potential."

"So, she is an Active?" Mal asked, worried. Psychokinetic Actives were dangerous.

"Not yet. She hasn't reached the necessary maturity, physically or mentally, and our last attempt at accelerated growth was..." Key said.

"Messy," Mal agreed.

"Yes," Key nodded. "But even this young, everything indicates high psychokinetic potential. After all these years, we have finally successfully cloned this sample. She has been quite as much a challenge as you were, my dear Bella."

"Come along, sir," Mal said indulgently. "Let's get you something to eat."

"Mal never comes in to visit," Gem said. "But that's OK. She's not really very nice."

Oh, that's too bad.

"I'm glad you came to visit me," she continued. "Even if you are only imaginary."

Am I?

"Of course you are," Gem said, "but that's alright. I don't mind. I'm Gem, by the way. Mr. Smith says that's short for Gemini. What's your name?"

I'm Bluebell, the fairy chimed. I'm an old friend of your family.

"I don't really have any family," Gem said, a little sadly. "Just Mal and Doctor Key and Mr. Smith sometimes."

Oh, but you do have a family, Gemini, Bluebell said. You are a Silveroak and a wonderful and wyrd family it is. May I tell you about them.

"I like stories," Gem said.

Well then, I will tell you a story about your sister, Miranda, and The Year of the Wolf.

The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 32

"So, that's the story," Cassie said.

"Seriously?" Mariah said.

"We met, we took a little while to get comfortable with our feelings," Cassie smiled, "and then, stuff happened that made getting comfortable with our feelings seem really unimportant... and I kissed her."

"And once I started kissing her, I've wanted to keep kissing her, ever since."

"What about Key and the whole alien invasion plan?" Mariah asked. "What about Carmilla and Molly and Edwards..."

"Well..." Cassie said.

"Gwen told Bella all about Doctor Key's villainous monologue. She and Felix investigated and pretty quickly presented the whole alien invasion plan to their superiors. Key was dismissed from his post. Section 6 was disbanded, and its agents and duties reassigned to other divisions. 

"I gather there was a shake up in the Settler's Leadership and Key and his supporters lost favor. We really haven't had trouble with them since."

"Carmilla and Molly dated through the rest of high school. After graduation, we kind of lost touch. They went to different colleges.

"Carmilla still lives in Willow Creek. She's made something of a name for herself as a psychic investigator and medium.

"Molly, I gather, moved out west. She works in robotics. Xander heard from her recently, through his computer company. 

"Edwards stayed with my family until Xander went away to school. Then he left service and got married to a nice lady named Serena. They own a catering company in Willow Creek... best gumbo in town."

--------------------------

"Madonna," Mariah sighed. "So... as teens, your moms got together over restoring balance with the Netherworld and stopping an alien invasion... but, of course, as a teen you recruited a bunch of teen werewolves to stop vampires from taking over the world.  I feel... inadequate."

"Well, you did almost single-handedly take down the Alto crime family in college," Miranda laughed. "So, you shouldn't feel too inadequate."

"That's a point," Mariah smiled.

"You still want to be part of this crazy family?" Miranda asked softly.

"Well, it's like Cassie said," Mariah answered. "Once I started kissing you, I've wanted to keep kissing you ever since."

The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 31

"Finally, we reached Doctor Key's lab," Cassie said.

---------------------

Section 6 Research Lab, 2000

"Cas," Gwen called from inside her cell. "What are you doing here?!"

"Rescuing you," I called back.

"You always were one of my most capable agents, Bella, apart from your unfortunate sentimentality," Doctor Key said, ignoring us. "Stand down, and I will not report this intrusion to the Committee."

"Let the girl go, Key," Bella replied, her smile a predatory baring of teeth, "and I won't kick Hand's green ass up between his pointy ears."

"I never understood Senior Research 6001's... affection... for you, Goth," Agent Hand snarled. "You're just another filthy hybrid... an outlier of a failed experiment."

"Last chance, Hand," she said. "Back down and give us the girl."

I wondered if Hand recognized the cool, calm voice that accompanied Bella's genuine rage. I'd only heard it a few times myself and been glad that, for all our friction, it had never been directed at me.

"I will derive great satisfaction from your defeat," Hand replied.

"You've been wearing your bio-mask too long, Hand," Bella sneered. "The testosterone has seeped into your brain."

"Cas, get to the cell. Use the override I gave you," Bella said. "Hand... let's dance."

"I'll deal with the juvenile next," Hand snarled.

"Oh... wrong threat, you dickless ET," Bella snarled, throwing herself at him.

Of course, while Bella took on Agent Hand, I still had to get past Doctor Key.

"Cassandra Goth," he said, almost conversationally. "You are, as they say, in over your head, young woman. Bella will not be able to protect you. Surrender now."

"Fuck you! You kidnapped Gwen," I snapped. "You killed my mom, you alien bastard!"

"Your mother's death was unfortunate," Key said evenly. "Even more unfortunate that you did not inherit her abilities."

"Mistake," I said, with a predatory smile of my own.

"Cas," Gwen shouted. "The arch!" 

Put your anger to work, Bella had told me. So, I did. 

"NO!" Key shouted. "The Portal!"

Turns out Bella was right. Hostiles find things bursting into flames very distracting.

Agent Hand broke off his fight with Bella to help Doctor Key try to extinguish the burning Portal.

While they did that, we made good our escape.

When we reached the lobby, Gwen threw her arms around me.

"Oh goddess, you came," she whispered into my shoulder. "Why did you come?"

"They kidnapped you," I answered. "They thought you caused the breach... but it was me..."

"That's why I let them take me," Gwen said. "To protect you! Oh, why did you come?"

"Because... because," I stammered.

Then I realized, Molly did have it right. 

Had that really only been a couple of hours ago?

Sometimes, words aren't important.

The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 30

"While Gwen was being examined by Section 6, we were already on our way to rescue her," Cassie said, taking up the story again. "Unfortunately, the storm seriously slowed us down. Flooded streets and downed power lines blocked our way and sheets of rain meant Bella was sometimes driving almost blind."

-----------------------

TransWorld Building, Magnolia Prominade, 2000

Despite the delays, we eventually arrived at the TransWorld office building, the Agency's front in Willow Creek.

"Alright, Cas," Bella said as we marched through the doors into the empty lobby. "I need you to be perfectly clear... you stay behind me. You do what I tell you, when I tell you, without question. I'm serious."

"OK," I said.

"Remember your self-defense training and you'll be fine," she added with a gentler smile. "Also, don't be afraid to use your powers... take any advantage you can get." 

"Umm, well, you see..." I hesitated. "I only really know the one spell... you know, to set things on fire." 

"In my experience, hostiles find things bursting to flames very distracting," Bella said.

"Selvadorada, '98," Felix laughed. "Operation Tree Frog, wasn't it?"

"Hey, they were dumb enough to leave those fuel barrels out in the open," Bella smiled.

"Yeah, your mom was really cool," Felix smiled. "Plus, those cut-off jean shorts... mmm, cheeky."

"Stepmom," I whispered, blushing.

"Agent Light, go get Bridges." Bella rolled her eyes. 

Felix headed off toward the elevators and, I presume, Director Bridges's office. Meanwhile, Bella led me to a nondescript door that opened into a stairwell. 

"What's with that guy?" I asked. "Wait, are you and he...?"

"Felix? In his dreams," Bella chuckled. "Honestly, not even there. He's a Protector drone. As I understand it, that means he's genetically male but functionally asexual. The whole locker room humor thing is his way to trying to assimilate into our culture. I've never really decided if it's funny how wrong he gets it or sad how right he gets it. That aside, Felix is a good agent. I trust him." 

"Did... did Section 6 have something to do with... with my mom?" The idea had occurred to me on the drive over.

"Yes," Bella said softly, as she continued to lead us down. "Doctor Key, the head of Section 6, issued a containment order on her just like he did on Gwen. He made up some excuse... some petty infraction. I tried to warn her, but she wasn't going to be scared off by him. She also wasn't going to just submit... not Vickie. She actually shouted Agent Hand down and walked away... only to be hit by that car. I... I couldn't save her.

"I've never been able to prove Key was directly responsible for her death," Bella sighed. "The driver of the car was a civilian. No connection to the Agency or the Settlers. Maybe it was just an accident, maybe it wasn't. Either way, if Key hadn't trumped up a containment order, she never would have been there."

"OK." I took a deep breath, feeling the anger building inside me. "OK... and this Key guy has Gwen."

"Yes," Bella said.

"No," I snarled. "Hell, no."

"Good," Bella nodded. "Now, keep your head and put that anger to work. It gets harder from here."

-----------------------

They knew we were there.

"Senior Researcher," Agent Hand said. "Agent Goth and Operative 4398 have been sighted in the building, along with a female juvenile we believe to be Cassandra Goth. Operative 4398 appears to be attempting to contact Director Bridges. Operative 6791 will intercept him."

"And Agent Goth?" Doctor Key mused.

"She and the juvenile have entered the records room," Agent Hand replied. "Operative 6529 will intercept her. She will not disturb you, sir."

"Guard the door," Doctor Key ordered. "You should not underestimate our Bella."

-----------------------

OK, I'll be honest. Until that night, I'd always thought of Bella as either an overprotective tyrant or a gold digger who used her big... um, chest... squeezed into the smallest, tightest red minidress she could legally wear, to get what she wanted. 

Even with her having told me she worked for the Agency, the idea that she was a government trained assassin just didn't fit with my image of her. 

The Section 6 guards never stood a chance. 

Neither did the security doors.

It turns out, my stepmom was a freaking super-spy.