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It sounded like a lie, but Belladonna nodded. After all, she wasn't particularly good friends with Alexander and she didn't even know Yin, only heard of him. Honestly, she had wanted to know if Mort had found out anything else about the other students who had been kidnapped, namely Israfel. Though she had only chatted with him briefly, she had still been impressed by his bravado and strength. That and he had the most marvelous fashion style, so she mostly wanted to ascertain that that skill had not been lost. It would be a true shame if his time had curbed his love for clothing.

In any event, her darling brightened so much at the mention of the battle that she couldn't help but let the subject drop. With a bit of glee, the witch clapped her hands and nodded happily.
"Indeed I was!" She couldn't help but smile at him, "Have you all decided on what you'll be called? What will you play? You'll have to tell me soon so I can make an outfit to wear. I'll have to sit in the stands and cheer you on, of course."
At all his questions the witch thought about it for a moment, having nearly pushed the entire memory from her mind. It was easy to forget she hadn't shared much of herself with Mort before they had met, so the fact that he knew next to nothing about her first year still surprised the witch. Mostly because she was usually so chatty, but it was only natural given her tight lipped-ness. In any event she smiled as she leaned back, her eyes a little unfocused as she remembered it.

"I played guitar, such a funny thing, shaped like a cat. I got it from my Grandmoonie. She used to play it all the time. I'm not very good at it, but I can play well enough to pass. And then Calder, the pretty Kelpie boy, and Chuppi were in the band too. Calder played drums and I was so mad because he made his outfit plaid and it totally clashed with Chuppi and mine's outfits! Oh and Chuppi sang. We were called The Amigos de Amor, and we played Spanish love ballads." The witch paused and crumbled her eyebrows. "At least I'm fairly certain we did... Chuppi did the singing and she'd only taught me a tiny bit of Spanish, so I don't really know what they were about." A laugh burst from her as she remembered the time, so silly and carefree.
"As for the battle... I beat a succubus up with my guitar. Smacked her right across the face with it. Then the other team rolled one of the drums into Chuppi and I think Calder knocked himself out and I tripped on a drumstick and then passed out." Her smile had soured into a look of resignation, unhappy the battle had taken such a poor turn. But the smile quickly came back and she couldn't help but giggle.
"What out for the drum pieces. They hit hardest."

It was true that the witch had indeed worn a very large sombrero, along with a colorful poncho that had been totally and completely out of her color scheme. It was possible she still had the article somewhere in the depths of her closet, but it was also entirely possible that she had tossed it out with a variety of other things from her first year. Namely, old clothes that didn't fit anymore.
In any regard, the witch swelled with the pride of having smacked a demon in the face, but squeaked with a smile as his hand touched her cheek.
"You'd be surprised at my fighting prowess. You just caught me on a bad day." The witch flailed her hands excitedly, all these stories coming to the forefront of her memory now that the gates had been opened. "I once made a yeti cry!"
Of which, she would certainly tell him after they talked more about Battle of the Bands. At his wiggling fingers and grave tone, the witch leaned back with appropriately wide eyes and docile, scared expression before she blinked at him.
"The Rocking Dead sounds vastly cooler than our band." She returned to her normal sitting position and poked him in the shoulder. "You never told me you played guitar! Do you sing too?"

As for the things she'd never told him, the witch winked at him and took a deep breath.
"Oh I have plenty I haven't told you. Let's see... There was the train ride into Amityville where students were mysteriously being attacked. I made friends with a lovely ghost ghoul..." Here the witch's expression softened a great deal as she recalled her old friend, who she had dared call a best friend before their paths had separated. "A very bad witch was helping attack the students, so we all had to subdue her so I put her in a headlock, then I got attacked, but I met Jackb! Have you met him? He's a Cat God!" To Belladonna, this was a very important distinction, as she dearly loved cats. And Jackb, for that matter. He was always there for her with a kind word and his fluffy tail for her to hold onto when things went wrong.
"And let's see... After that was Battle of the Bands, and then... Hhhmmm, there was the time in gym class with Red where she chewed on my shorts because I added lace to them... And over the holidays we went to Christmastown. We rode on a train then and Jackb sat next to me because I don't like trains. Not after being attacked... And the train crashed, but our car stuck together and we made it into town. But we had crashed far away, so we had to travel quite a ways... We tried to fight a Candy Cane Ninja."
Here, Belladonna paused to visibly shiver, as the memory of that awful creature still haunted her dreams.
"He demolished us... And on the trail I fought a yeti and made him cry... And then we attacked Santa's workshop. It was all Helma's idea, but still fairly fun."
The witch blinked up at her boilfriend, her cheeks suddenly flushed for her tales. It had been such a long time since she'd talked of her first year, she had come to the point of thinking she couldn't do it anymore. It had turned so bleak toward the end that she figured it would be useless to speak of it... But there were still good memories hidden in there and she was happily surprised to find she was so willing and eager to share them with Mort.

"You hush up! You're a year ahead of me, so of course you're the better fighter!" The witch replied as haughtily as she could muster with such happiness around. She put up her fists in a faux-fighting stance, her eyebrows lowered through she couldn't help smiling wildly as she tried to duck his nose poke, and totally missed.
"Ooohhh~" The witch dropped her fists to hold her hands to her heart. "You'll have to serenade me!" Quick as can be her mind raced off, thinking of how lovely his voice must sound in a low, passionate song. It was enough to make the witch blush all over again, but she waved a hand at him.
"Trust me, Christmastown is not that fascinating. Its so cold... There's snow everywhere." Here she looked personally offended as she placed a sympathetic hand on his arm. "Snow is so hard to walk in! Its ridiculous! I fell constantly."
Not that the witch wasn't normally a bit clumsy, but still. Constantly was vastly more than occasionally.

In retrospect, the visit to Christmastown had seemed so horrid at the time... But really it was a breeze compared to the other trips. Wistfully the witch wished they could visit again, just for some fun and giggles. This year they had been attacked, but nothing much had happened. Couldn't, for just a little while, the world be peaceful? Or at least not so deadly?
In any event, the witch beamed at Mort, glad she could share such with him and thoroughly impress him with her stories.
"It was a very busy year. Which was why it was so horrid when we went to The Island and everything went horrid. I had been enjoying myself so much before and then..." Her hands flapped around in a motion she wasn't even really sure she knew what it meant.
"No. You do not want to meet the Candy Cane Ninja...He was frightening. Mort, you don't understand. There was a group of at least ten students and demolished us all." And with horror, the witch remembered his name and refused to speak it, least it summon him and he re-destroy them.

"I was gone for quite a while, certainly you participated in some fun events!

A challenge! A wicked smile graced the witch's face and she nodded to him.
"Deal! But if I win, you absolutely must serenade me. Your favorite song. Or mine, I'm not picky." She was kind and let him get away with flaunting his elder year over her. But she was catching up! She'd already attended a class and had a few more open classes planned as well. She'd be with him soon enough and together they could stand as third years, and he'd probably graduate first, but that was fine. So long as she wasn't too far behind!
"And Christmastown is so colorful. And not good colorful. Bad colorful." Belladonna stuck out a tongue to show this, but wouldn't mind returning in all honesty. This time she'd be prepared with a lovely warm coat and good snow boots, no heels for her!

While he thought, the witch tilted her head and waited, a small smile on her lips.
"I shall count myself very special that you always talked to me about your adventures as they happened." Here she paused, a finger pressed to her cheek. "It was probably your constant communication that mostly brought me back... All my other friends stopped talking to me and I didn't have anyone else but you..." It probably sounded too dependable, but it was true. Had it not been for Mort, Belladonna would probably have never come back. Knowing that there was someone who still wanted her company, it had helped spurn her to better herself and make all the attempts. And now that she was able to return that kindness by being here for him, to be his light and offer him her help, well that made the witch feel downright fuzzy.

At the question Belladonna blinked wildly, surprised enough to be caught off guard.
"My good giddy aunt, nobody's ever asked me that!" She replied exuberantly, too surprised to really stop herself. For a moment she had to stop and actually consider her answer. It took longer than she had wanted and the answer she had wasn't very good.
"Well.. When I was younger my parents told me that minipets were often used as food... And then Delphinium used to tease me at dinner about how we were going to serve the family cat, Luna, the next meal. When I was that age I used to bring home all number of pets on my walk back from school and she would always threaten to give them to Mother for dinner." The witch's eyebrows puckered and she pursed her lips. "And it just... It hurt so much that I decided I didn't want to eat meat anymore. Now I just stick to plants and fruit and anything that's grown and can't turn into a pet!"
She sounded so proud of herself, as though it was something rather difficult and she had achieved a great accomplishment. As for his second sentence, she placed a hand on his arm and smiled.
"Ironic, perhaps. But I don't mind. You have to eat meat and there's nothing wrong with that. I have been blessed with a choice and I have made mine. That's all."

Now it was her turn for a question. HHHMMMM. What to ask, what to ask...
"So did today live up to all your hopes from our first meeting?" That wicked smile was back and the witch just couldn't help herself as she pushed herself a little closer to him.

A cheeky grin was his reward, but the witch was also mighty serious. There was little that would dissuade her from this goal, so the moment she became a Third Year she would challenge him for the rights to serenade her. But, wait a minute...
"In the absolutely ridiculous and highly unlikely event you win, what prize would you want? I'm an alright songstress, I suppose..."
It was with quiet happiness that Belladonna watched Mort grow a little taller, also content in the knowledge he had had a hand in helping her along. But really, it was true. He had done so very much for her that it felt as though she had done so little. But there was time to correct that, to fix it and make amends. There was time to lend him her hand and whatever else he needed so that he could succeed too.

"Bitchy doesn't even begin to describe it." Here she fixed him with a face that spoke of how much loathing and anger the witch felt toward her sister. But if he cared to look, if he noticed the little way her mouth turned down sadly he would see that even though she could say awful things about her sister, Belladonna still wanted things to be right between them. "Delphinium abused, battered and attempted to break me in various ways through out my youth. I am ten years younger than she and she terrorized me. Mother and Papa didn't mind so long as none of us ended up dead, so they let her." Now she was really getting angry. "When I started growing, she would call me awful names and actually she still does! Its because she's jealous, but still. Horrid creature." Another frown wherein the witch sighed and shrugged. "But Hemlock is on my side now... I told you I slapped Delphinium on my break... She ah... We were talking about how students have been dying and she was unimpressed and then you didn't text back and um, she said it wouldn't be a surprise if you had died too."
A darkness colored the witch's face, similar to the shadow on the beach when Delphinium had said such awful words.
"I slapped her and threatened to hex her and because she believes me powerful, she backed down...So, awful! Awful, awful sister!" And in a flash the shadow was gone, flitted away into a corner of the room or under the bed. Where it had vacated, light filled in instead and the witch turned a smile to him as she was pulled closer.

"That was your goal? Goodness! What a simple thing... Hhmm, so does that mean your second year goal was to get a date? What's your third year goal!?" Already her mind was racing off, though it hitched slightly on the idea of what he was missing. A coolness graced her ear and the witch melted a little, so that when his teeth met her skin the tiniest little whimpers escaped. Since she had been doing a lot of whimpering and general moaning that day, she felt she was fairly well equipped to do the job right.
"B-better than books. Vastly. And the others... Only ever kissed one." Of all things, of all the painful memories and hard times she had had, that was the one that Belladonna would not recall. No one would hear that story, and she would not even let herself remember it fully. All she would let slip by were the flash of black feathered wings, eyes tinted with Insanity and the horrible, sickening crunch of her own heart as it broke.
Desperate to hurry along before the memory tried to engulf her, Belladonna leaned her head back toward him.
"I do suppose that means you'll have to get new, even wilder dreams for me to surpass."

Always apologizing? Pish! Tosh! Jack above, no! Belladonna was always apologizing because she was always doing something wrong. Saying the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing, being the wrong thing. So often was she in the wrong she'd begun to fear that maybe that was her special talent. But it wasn't as though his words didn't have a bit of true to them... While the youngest witch had never felt what she was doing or how she lived her life was wrong, she certainly knew it was vastly different from her sisters'.
"Most likely not." Belladonna finally replied, unsure of her own answer. "I apologize so much because I do many unfortunate things... I exacerbate your Knightly Duties, I don't fight when I'm suppose to..." Whoops, that had turned to a pity party real quick.
"But its no worry. Her nose is starting to hook and she'll be covered in warts soon enough."
It'll serve that wretched b***h right. Maybe when she's ugly she'll be happy.
Cruel, but really the witch only wanted her sister to not be so miserable. Maybe when Delphinium had absolutely nothing left to loose, she'd discover there's more to life than terrorizing her youngest sister.

The cool press of his cheek made her smile and Belladonna leaned into his face just the tiniest bit, so that if someone were to see them it would look very silly.
"You should always make time for dreams. If there's something you want, you must chase it with all the conviction in your heart. Otherwise you'll loose it and regret it. And life is too wonderful to have regrets."
Unhinging herself from his cheek she placed a quick kiss to his own before she pulled back a little to give him a baffled look.
"You didn't plan for... Me?! What do you mean?" She couldn't help but laugh, confused by what he meant but also picturing herself as a small wrecking ball that swooped in and destroyed plans. Perhaps it was a fitting metaphor, as the witch was rather good at throwing things off course, and she delighted in confusing people. It was best, she had found, to always be unexpected. No one could get bored that way.

"Most definitely frizzy hair!" Belladonna nearly shouted in wicked glee, her hands clapped together for emphasis. "Since I've already met Greg, I suppose one day you'll have to meet my family too... Hemlock will like you. Delphinium will just be a snob like always. Papa will be interested in your sciences and... And Mother will get drunk. She may or may not flirt with you, it depends." Hecate, that made her family sound so dysfunctional that the witch almost opened her mouth to say something in favor of her family, but decided against it. So what if Mort though her family had spent too much time in the cauldron and were thus off their rockers? So what? She wasn't defined by her family, though she had been raised to believe so. So... There!
His next little speech wasn't what she was expecting, especially considering all the strange compliments littered throughout. (They were compliments, right?)
"But who wants a smooth operator? They're so arrogant and melodramatic. Trust me, I am melodramatic for the both of us." Here the witch drew herself up a little so she could better look at him. In preparation for her own speech Belladonna took a breath and let it out. Along with everything she had planned on saying.

"I... I'm glad I was able to so fully confound you then!" Was her reply with a shrug of shoulders. Upon their first meeting the witch had found him very cute, but hadn't thought much past that. It wasn't until their second meeting where she decided she wanted him to be around more and everything had snowballed so quickly after that. To call it 'tumultuous' would have been a vast understatement, but the witch just didn't want to bring all that up. So instead she hastened onto the next subject, letting her head fall against him.
"In any event, I am here and you are certainly not getting rid of me anytime soon." A wink accompanied this along with a cheeky smile, but the witch hoped he saw how very honest she was being.

"What things do you want to accomplish?" Since he was already being so chatty, it was best to keep it going. Belladonna adored her quieter boilfriend, but it certainly wasn't a bad thing when he felt like talking more than usual.
And really, the witch had never asked what he wanted to do with his life. Everything right now seemed so immediate, it was all about Amityville, but what about when they graduated? This was why they were going to school! To figure out what to do for the rest of their lives!

"She's relatively harmless. Mostly she flirts with demons, its rather annoying. We can't take her anywhere!" Another flap of her hand to show how very silly it all was, but the witch pursed her lips nonetheless. Not one to have known many other families, Belladonna didn't really have an indication how outrageous or normal her family was. Sure, she had talked with Mort about his, but it still sounded fairly functional. Fairly being the operative word...
A bit of surprise colored the witch's face and she gave Mort her biggest 'You really think so?' eyes.
"You think I'm endearing and spontaneous?" A ball up fist found its way under her chin, so that the witch looked altogether too adorable. To complete the picture she batted her eyelashes and it was a surprise that sparkles didn't form in the air around her.

"Oh, that's right! Your wings! I shall still help on that if you'd like... And brain chip? Whatever for?" So he could surf the interweb without a computer? Belladonna wanted one of those too! She'd never be lost for an answer in class in that case and if she got bored she could always flip through her favorite fashion websites. Ooohhh, that actually sounded really appealing.
Talk of wanting to achieve more quieted her though and she nodded softly, a kindred soul who understood the power of wanting more. Ever since she was little, the witch had been fed the idea that she could attain greatness. That she was special, different, powerful. All that was needed was to tap into that power. That was it. Nothing too terribly difficult on the surface, but underneath her parent's glowing praise they had given her no further instructions.
"You'll definitely do it." Uncertain of her own goals, Belladonna instead turned all her hopes of success to him. Maybe later she could decide what she wanted to succeed in, but not now. "You're incredibly intelligent, tenacious and inventive. So whatever it is you want, you'll get." A bright smile, just for him. "Just don't be afraid to ask for help. I'll look smashing in a cute pencil skirt, Mr. Scientist."