Cinder X Bella ~ Forty-Six!

“You have no power here, Fairy!” Matringa screeched as she jabbed a finger at Bibbidy. “What are you going to do, sell me something? You're on my land, and I didn't start this fight! I haven't broken any of the accords, so you can't get involved.”

“I’m here for Bella,” the ageless woman sternly explained, remaining cautious but confident. Through her exhaustion, Bella felt a swell of love and gratitude for her godmother, finding the energy to hold on just a little bit longer. “I was given the right to protect her by her father, by her mother, and you have forfeited your control over her by trapping her in violation of a royal decree.”

“You can't have her!” Matringa was practically foaming at the mouth as she screeched, “We determined she would be the perfect fuel years ago; why else would we have eliminated both obstacles to getting her under my thumb? Once she's eighteen, and without even an Advanced Class, I'll be taking her to the sea. After we extract her voice, we’ll be able to control the spread of the plague, even in areas where it would otherwise be too extensive. Every kingdom on the planet will grovel or fall to the black death!”

“So, it was you who killed her parents? Or your kind, at least?” Bibbidy shifted her stance, lifting her hands into the air. “Lucky me. I get to save my goddaughter, avenge Boppity and Boo, and stop you. It's shaping up to be a beautiful day.”

Matringa let out a growling screech, and the much-diminished tumble-hedge began clattering across the lawn toward them. “I must thank you for improving my little garden so much… without all the dead weight of mundane wood and leaves, the bewitched sections are much easier to control. Let me demonstrate!”

Bella flinched as enormous spikes erupted from the rolling mass of vegetation striking at her godmother with cruel viciousness. But, instead of impaling the Fairy, a small panel of light appeared in the air and stopped the attacks dead each time they rained down on her.

“You were right about one thing, Matringa the Hedge Witch of the vile Grimelias Coven.” Bibbidy’s voice was raised, pitched to carry as far as possible. “I can't get directly involved; I can't attack you on your own land.”

“How do you know that name?” Matringa raced forward, adding her own formidable strength to the brutal attacks coming at the ferry from all angles. “Who broke? We all swore an oath to take our secrets to the grave. Name the oathbreaker!” 

“What I can do… is stay between you and everyone else while they fight.” The Fairy’s words were slightly strained, but their meaning was clear. The Royal Guard shifted into action, rushing forward with their gleaning swords to begin hacking away at the evil bush. 

Matringa screeched and slapped at her neck, yanking away a hornet that had just jabbed down with its stinger. 

Seeing that her evil stepmother had become decidedly distracted, Bella leaned forward and shifted the tone of her song. Immediately, hundreds of creatures began rushing across the yard. All manner of wild beasts snarled and snapped as the serenade pushed them into action. Her voice took on a rhythmic, chanting quality as her head swam, unused to the feeling of devoting so much of her energy to a skill for such a long period of time.

A handful of creatures on the ground made it through the thrashing vines, immediately working to savage Matringa’s ankles. Their bites barely broke the skin, their claws scrabbling against her epidermis as though it were platemail. The birds had better luck, swooping in and spreading their wings wide to block her view as they lashed out with talon and beak, doing their best to force her eyes closed so the guards could cut through her. 

The Witch was having none of it, and with each slap of her hands, dozens of birds were knocked from the air, never to flap again. She began moving back and forth, stomping down to *crunch* little creatures, refocusing her attacks on the Fairy who stubbornly placed herself between the elongated claws of the Witch and the guards. 

Bella's perception of the fight began to waver, her vision tunneling as she pushed herself to keep her Breakthrough Skill active, targeting the person who had tormented her for most of her young adult life. She slipped, her mind turning off for a moment before restarting, and Bella found herself falling through the hole in the wall, the ground coming toward her as though in slow motion. “N-no, no, no!”

The animals attacking Matringa shifted immediately, winging and sprinting toward her in the same instant. By the time she’d fallen halfway to the ground, Bella was starting to slam into feathery bodies. When she’d reached the three quarters mark, scores of avians were flapping their wings, trying to slow her momentum. Only a few feet from the ground, a wave of flesh and fur rose up to meet her, all combining to slow her just enough to knock the wind out of her instead of pulverizing her bones.

“Bella!” Cinder called as he noticed the woman he’d followed home hit the ground.

“Bella?” Bibbidy’s voice held a note of concern, and Matringa used her moment of distraction to the utmost, slamming a hand into the Fairy’s torso and sending her skipping across the ground.

Matringa turned slightly, facing the house where a pile of creatures were trying to untangle themselves. With a satisfied sigh, she leaned forward. “Bella~a~a…”

Her words drifted through the air like a long, drawn-out sigh. Then she was sprinting across the lawn, leaning forward and using the elongated claws which had pushed through her fingertips to stabilize herself when she would’ve otherwise fallen, in some moments running on all fours to maximize her speed. She slammed into the small creatures, who did their best to protect their friend but were overwhelmed in an instant by her strength and speed.

Matringa turned sharply, holding Bella by the back of her neck high above the ground. “Nobody come any closer! All of us want this child, but I bet I'm the only one willing to sacrifice her to get away.” 

“That's a clear violation of the accords!” Bibbidy shouted across the lawn as she rushed closer, only to come to a quick stop as Matringa lifted her off hand and trailed her claws across Bella's neck.

“Silly Fairy… I've already got my mark.” Matringa cackled as she rubbed her wrist across her right cheek, causing a thick layer of makeup to be rubbed away and reveal a sickly looking black and green ‘X’. “That's right, I've already maximized my negative reputation with the system. So tell me, Great Fairy, what's another little murder going to hurt?”

“Well, I admit this is a bad situation and not what I expected,” Bibbidy stated with great discomfort, shifting back and forth in place and flexing her hands. “A Witch on the lawn, half through the day after dawn-”

“You can finish that evocation,” Matringa’s fingers were back at Bella's neck, and she started to slowly walk backward toward the edge of the estate’s property. “Or… hear me out now, or… she can live a little bit longer. Up to you, really. Who knows? Maybe you'll even be able to rescue her someday. Isn't that a wonderful thought? You just keep thinking happy thoughts, and I'll fly away.”

Bella was starting to get a bit sick to her stomach, being tossed back and forth in the air as she was. Between her exhaustion and the stress of the moment, she almost missed the feeling of tiny claws gripping her legs and scrabbling upward. Her eyes went wide; this was an all-too-familiar situation. She tried to choke out a demand for whatever small animal was moving on her to hold still, to keep themselves safe, but Matringa noticed her taking in a breath and lightly shook her.

“As for you, my pretty little child, you're coming with me.” With the thick layer of makeup disturbed, Bella got a close-up view of her stepmother's true appearance. Just like the system marking on her right cheek, the rest of her flesh was aged and withering. As she looked on, the disguise melted away further, revealing deep wrinkles, warts, and pustules.

Bella tried to flinch away as the aura of evil energy around the woman merged with her true appearance, revealing them to be one and the same. Matringa cackled in Bella's face, sending a wash of rancid breath pouring over her. “Surprised by what you see? Imagine the sheer amount of effort I've had to go to over the years to keep you from catching me unawares. These masks aren't free, and your abyssal snooping nearly cost you your life on… oh, so many occasions. But finally…”

The Witch's eyes were wide, far too wide, showing how the whites of her eyes were actually bloodshot and jaundiced. “Finally… I get to hand you over and pay all debts. She'll be so pleased with me, how well I played my role. Maybe she'll even—Ahh!”

A bright light rippled in the air as Matringa tried to step out into the road, only to be repelled by a barrier sparkling like starlight. 

Bibbidy’s voice floated across the lawn. “Did I forget to mention that I set up a small isolation area? Don’t worry… too much. It’ll come down when I deem Bella to be safe.”

“Safe, you say? There's a plague out there, and I guarantee you it's about to get much, much worse around here.” Matringa pulled Bella in close, and the young woman froze in terror even as a small lump wriggled higher under her dress. “I’m her stepmother. I’m her legal guardian! She’s ever so safe with me… so long as you get this starlight barricade out of my way.”

Bibbidy’s eyes were wide, and she slowly raised her hands in the air. “You know that’s not how it works, Witch. I can’t take it down until the conditions are fulfilled.”

“Conditions? Magic? Good, good… I’ll add my own to the mix.” The Witch dropped her hand to her side, pulling out a small orb which exuded evil to Bella's eyes. She held it to her mouth and whispered a word that cracked it and sent the energy flowing up and away. “Pestice…”

“It's done, Fairy. The curse is active, and even now, the populace is becoming infected.” After Matringa’s words, the tension mounted in the air as both groups stared at each other, each unwilling to budge in the slightest. 

“Last. Chance!” Everyone flinched as spittle flew from Matringa’s mouth when she shouted, shoving her clawed finger accusingly at the Fairy. “If I reach out and feel starlight between my fingers… she dies!”

“Then you’ll be next.” Cinder’s shout coincided with the man erupting with intense flames. Glowing sparkles filled the air, circling around him as his eyes roiled with energy. “Put her down!”

“Humm…?” Matringa shook her head in amusement as she reached back, allowing herself to be wracked with pain as she drummed the fingers of her left hand on the barrier of solid starlight. “You didn’t listen? Time to pay the price. I… warned… you.”

She’d barely finished her sing-song statement before her hand darted back to Bella’s neck with inhuman swiftness, her claws tearing into flesh and sending a spray of blood into the air.