June 14, 1999 After School/Location Unknown

[loveandwillpower]

The work of an agent of love is never done! You'd think that someone with Minako's grades wouldn't even be a Watson, much less the guy with the deerstalker cap, but what she lacks in academics she's always been able to compensate with drive and raw cunning. And now that drive has a little something extra.

The determination to protect a dear friend against a dangerous foe.

Comments

[happyhalloween]

"Uu-uu! Make the Black Witch leave!" Maria is definitely in favor of this plan. "Okay. Maria will show Space Witch Venus the way to Mama's room. Be quiet so we don't aggravate her headache."

So with catlike tread... well, no, more quietly than that, Maria starts tiptoeing her way to Mama's room, motioning to Space Witch Venus to follow.

[numberonemom]

Mama's sewing supplies are in the closet. Getting at them, especially as a nine-year-old, isn't going to be easy without making a little noise.

Around the time Maria finds the thread she needs, a shadow falls over her.

"What are you doing, Maria?"

[happyhalloween]

A chill runs down Maria's spine as the shadow falls over her. It might be Mama... but it might be the Black Witch.

Maria could lie about what she's doing... but that will only make things worse, won't it? And Space Witch Venus is with her.

"Getting thread," Maria replies in a thin little quavery voice. "For Space Witch Venus. She needs Maria to hem her robes."

[numberonemom]

"Space... witch..."

The other person in the room hasn't even registered for Rosa yet. One hand lashes out, grabbing Maria by the scalp and pulling up, hard enough to force her onto the tips of her toes.

"DON'T USE SOME MADE-UP WITCH AS AN EXCUSE, THEN GO ROOTING AROUND IN MAMA'S THINGS! I'VE TOLD YOU OVER AND OVER TO NEVER GO IN HERE, BUT YOU NEVER LISTEN! ENOUGH WITH YOUR GODDAMN WITCHES! WHY WON'T YOU DO AS YOU'RE TOLD, JUST ONCE?!"

[happyhalloween]

Oh no, it really is the Black Witch!

"Uu-uu-uu-uu-uu!" Maria cries out, half from pain and half in a desperate attempt to invoke the charm. "But Space Witch Venus isn't made up! She flew up to Maria's window and appeared in Maria's room and she asked for Maria's help! Venus exists! SPACE WITCH VENUS EXISTS! And she's going to make you go away forever!"

[numberonemom]

"AND STOP MAKING THAT UU-UU NOISE!" Rosa lets go of her daughter's hair so that she can properly hit her, again and again. A child must be punished.

"There is no space witch. There is no Venus! IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE LIKE THIS THAT EVERYONE LOOKS DOWN ON US! IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE LIKE THIS THAT PAPA WON'T COME HOME!"

[loveandwillpower]

Aaaaugh, so this is what that anti-toxin feels like! For a moment, the rising panic that's associated with a voice laced with motherly disapproval makes Venus feel like a little girl playing dressup instead of the powerful witch that she is... And then Maria cries out. It's like a warm fire in her heart in the face of Rosa's raging blizzard. Keep it together, Venus. You're needed. You're a defender of love and innocence. Protect Maria. Protect the princess. Protect the world.

She tosses the excess fabric to the side. No sense in staining it. The clink of the chain as she winds it around her fist is drowned out by Rosa's fury. No, the Black Witch's fury. One of the seven, she has to be. She can see the evil aura rising up around her. Five left after this. This is good, this is right. She's the heroine.

"Venus... Love-Me Chain!" [[ BGM ]]

In her eyes, the heavy chain gleams gold as the end whirls through the air and cracks into Rosa's head.

[numberonemom]

The Black Witch staggers, all her rage immediately defused by pain and confusion. She slumps to the floor, looking up at Venus, not understanding what she's seeing, blood running down the side of her head.

"G... Get out of... my house..."

[loveandwillpower]

"You get out first! In the name of love, get out of Maria's mom!"

The chain whips down again, fueled by the righteous indignation of a friend and of a warrior.

[numberonemom]

Well, her spell works. There is no longer a Black Witch in Rosa's body.

There is no longer anything in Rosa's body.

[happyhalloween]

Maria had turned around as soon as the Black Witch had stopped hitting her, just in time to see Space Witch Venus hit the Black Witch with her Love-Me Chain a second time.

And then... then the Black Witch was gone for good.

Maria prods the body on the floor with her foot.

"... she's really gone," Maria says, quietly, looking back up at Space Witch Venus. "But... what about Mama?"

Mama and the Black Witch had shared a body sometimes, after all.

[loveandwillpower]

Another victory for the forces of good.

"She sacrificed herself to help bring down the Black Witch, because she loved Maria more than anything else! She was very brave..."

Wheels turn in Minako's head as she wipes away the blood and hair from her mystical weapon.

"I'm not powerful enough to bring her back alone, of course. Only the Moon Princess can do that."

[happyhalloween]

Of course. That makes sense. The kind Mama who loves Maria would do anything to protect her. Surely she'd be willing to lay down her life to help Space Witch Venus defeat the Black Witch.

Anything else would be inconceivable.

"... the Moon Princess? You mean like thethe story we learned at school, with Princess Kaguya in the bamboo?"

[loveandwillpower]

"Yeah, something like that! That's just the official version, though! It's right about her not knowing she's the real princess, since she was raised as a normal earth person, but she's got a soul with all the powers of the moon! It's my job to find her and protect her from all the bad witches until she wakes up!"

The Princess is the most important person in the world, of course. More important than Maria. More important than Hiroshi. More important than Minako.

[happyhalloween]

"Oooooooooh," says Maria, impressed. "Can Maria help Space Witch Venus look for the Moon Princess?"

Not only would finding her help bring Mama--the nice Mama, not the Black Witch--back, but it would be a really neat quest where they could fight bad witches.

[loveandwillpower]

"You bet~! It won't be safe for her right away of course, the most important part is defeating enough of the bad witches and monsters around so it's safe. Unlike me, she's a lover, not a fighter!"

Venus that's not actually how you're supposed to use that term, whatever, she's from space, she can't be expected to get everything right.

"You already found one all by yourself, so I'm counting on you!"

[happyhalloween]

Maria nods solemnly.

"Maria will look very hard for bad witches and monsters! And Tomosuke will help. Maria can help with other stuff too, of course. Like hemming."

Because they did have a reason to come into Mama's room before the Black Witch attacked.

[loveandwillpower]

"Tomosuke, huh... Well, if you trust him, he's in!"

Minako picks up the robes and shakes them out, looking at them with a critical eye.

"You know, the skirts are long enough that you could cut off a bunch and make an apprentice's cape for yourself or something like that! Even if you're not a full witch yet, there's enough magic in the cloth to give you a little power boost!"

Even if Maria's not a proper witch yet, dressing up like one could make her feel like one. And feeling like a witch is an important part of being one.

[happyhalloween]

"Of course Maria trusts Tomosuke," she insists. "He's a very trustworthy turtle!"

Maria eyes the robes thoughtfully. "Maria could," she admits. "Capes aren't that hard to make. And having one would probably enhance my magic."

She smiles at Venus. "I'll do it!"

[loveandwillpower]

"It's a deal! You know the magic covenant rules, right? Pinky swear, and if we betray each other, we'll swallow a thousand needles!"

Behold the pinky, Maria. It's a deal with a devil in the making.

AND I THINK THIS IS A WRAP

[happyhalloween]

"Pinky swear!"

Oh Maria, you don't know what you're getting into.