Shattered Worlds

The oldest witch clapped, grabbing everyone's attention. "Whatever the case may be, we can't just stand here. We have two options in front of us. We can either chase after the clown or continue looking for the black cat."

Veronica couldn't choose. She obviously wanted to go after the clown to save her baby sister. Every part of her was screaming at her to hurry and sprint after them. However, she wasn't confident that they would be able to save her baby sister. The group had already tried to fight him, and the clown still got away. Even if only two witches actually fought, the fact that the clown could be so calm in the face of their magic was unnerving.

She felt a nudge and glanced at Leta, who gave her an apologetic look before saying, "We should go after the black cat." Veronica didn't even get the chance to feel betrayed as Leta continued, "We saw that the clown is someone we don't stand a chance against. Instead, we should track down the black cat and find out what it knows."

"Hold on," Bernardette said, taking a step forward. "I disagree. If we all worked together to fight him, I'm sure we could take him on. He couldn't even fight back against us."

"I don't think so," someone muttered.

Veronica realized it had been her when everyone looked in her direction.

"What are you talking about?" Bernardette asked. "Didn't you see how he was running away from us?"

"That's true," Veronica admitted. "But he didn't look worried at all. In fact, he looked like he was having fun."

"Fun?"

Veronica winced at her choice of words, but it was the only thing she could think of to describe what happened.

The clown hadn't taken the whole fight seriously and even made fun of them before running away. If that wasn't him having fun at their expense, she wasn't sure what was.

"She's right," one of the other witches murmured. "He did look like he was playing around."

Bernardette threw a glare at the girl, but it wasn't enough to deter her in the slightest. For several moments, no one dared to say a word as they recalled what had just occurred minutes earlier.

Well, at least Veronica was.

The oldest broke the silence. "Then are we in favor of chasing after the black cat?" It was a unanimous agreement. "Then let's go."

They returned back to the hunt for the black cat as Veronica's thoughts turned to her baby sister.

I'm really sorry. I promise to come back and save you from the clown. I promise.

The group took several twists and turns through the hallways with no black cat in sight. Veronica found herself doubting they would ever find it, but she kept her mouth shut as they hurried down the steps to the next floor. Just as everyone stepped onto the new floor, there was a quiet meow. They quickly searched the area for signs of the black cat.

"There it is," one of the witches said.

All eyes followed the direction she was pointing at and spotted a black cat in the distance. Veronica assumed it was a cat—all she could tell was that there was something small and black—as she narrowed her eyes at it. For several moments, no one made a move. Then the black cat bolted away.

"After that cat," the oldest witch ordered as she ran down the hallway.

Everyone followed suit with Veronica in the back. The cat was annoyingly fast as its figure became smaller and smaller. The oldest witch raised her wand and sent a wave of ice at the cat. Much to their surprise, the black cat jumped right before the wave of ice could hit it and grabbed onto a tapestry. One of the witches recovered from the shock to shoot a bolt of lightning at the cat. The cat threw itself away before the attack could hit it.

"What are you doing?" one of the other witches sputtered. "Are you trying to kill it?"

The witch who attacked the cat with lightning became flustered as she said, "I-I was just trying to catch it."

"By hitting it with lightning?"

"Guys, the cat," Bernardette said as she shoved past the other witches in a desperate attempt to catch the cat. "Come on."

They chased after the cat with everyone except for Veronica throwing non-lethal spells at it. The cat proved to be too agile to be hit and continued to avoid all their attempts to catch it.

This is just ridiculous. How can a cat avoid everyone's spells? Could it be a witch in a cat's body, like she said?

The cat bounded through a door when it abruptly came to a stop. The oldest witch didn't waste this chance to cast a spell at the cat, causing the rug underneath it to wrap around the feline. A muffled meow escaped the rug as the cat struggled to escape from its imprisonment. Bernardette forced herself to the front and threw herself at the trapped cat.

Raising the captured cat triumphantly, she boldly declared, "Got you!"

Their excitement was short lived when they saw the reason why the cat had stopped in its tracks. Everyone froze at the sight of the tied-up witches surrounded by a group of men in various getups. Veronica recognized the masked man and clown among them, but her eyes were drawn to her baby sister, who looked around innocently unaware of what was happening.

"Oh, you're back again," the clown cheerfully greeted them with a wave.

The oldest witch raised her wand to attack, but the group was suddenly tied up by ropes that appeared out of nowhere. They collapsed to the ground as they struggled to escape.

"You shouldn't bother. It's not that easy to escape," a familiar voice said.

It can't be.

She could recognize that voice anywhere, but it didn't make any sense. There was no way it could be her.

Rolling to her side, Veronica hoped she was wrong. Gazing up at the one who attacked them, she felt her heart drop as her eyes met Leta's. Her friend smiled calmly down at them.

"You traitor," Bernardette spat. "How could you do this?"

"What do you mean?" Leta asked.

"Don't play dumb. How could you attack us? Your own kind?"

"I wonder why."

Veronica stared in disbelief as Leta continued to pat her palm with her wand.

How could her friend do this? Was she being blackmailed, or had they used magic on her to force her to work with them?

She refused to accept that her friend would willingly join the invaders who released monsters into the mansion and kidnapped her baby sister. That wasn't like Leta at all.

The longer she stared at her friend, the more certain she felt that something was very wrong with Leta. Veronica couldn't get her finger out and studied her friend's figure. Her eyes scanned Leta up and down looking for a sign until she noticed something hanging in her friend's left ear. She narrowed her eyes at what looked like an earring.

When had her friend started wearing earrings?

Veronica hadn't seen it earlier when they were together. Thinking back on it, ever since they met back up, Leta had always made sure that Veronica was on her right. It was such a small detail that she hadn't noticed—the earring was so tiny that it was easy to miss—but it was undeniable proof that the person in front of her wasn't Leta.

Pushing herself into a sitting position, she demanded, "Where's Leta?"

The other witches gave her an odd look, which she ignored in favor of staring at the imposter's face.

The imposter stopped playing with Leta's wand as she asked, "What are you talking about? It's me, Leta Frankson. Your friend."

"Liar," Veronica snapped. "Leta is allergic to earrings. Even if she wasn't, she said she would never pierce her ears."

The imposter's eyebrows shot up, which Veronica took as proof that he had been caught. However, instead of being upset or embarrassed about being caught, the imposter seemed thoroughly amused as a grin stretched across her face.

"Huh. You have a bit more brains than your usual witch." All the witches bristled at the insult as the imposter continued, "I've heard a bit about you from the other witches. Why don't you join us?"

If anyone had any plans to speak, they were silenced by her last words. Everyone gawked at the imposter. Even the men seemed caught off guard, as a few were slack-jawed.

The imposter ignored all of them as she asked, "Well, what do you think?"

What do I think? Why are you asking me to join? Join what? I don't even know who you are!

She never expected something like this to happen. When Veronica pointed out that she was an imposter, she truly expected that the imposter would get angry and lash out.

What had she heard?

"You're not really thinking about joining them, are you?" one of the witches asked.

The question completely stumped Veronica, and she was left utterly speechless. The other witches took it as a sign that she was considering it as the room filled with a canopy of voices.

"Traitor."

"How dare you call yourself a witch."

"Unforgivable."

Veronica curled in on herself as if to shield herself from the barrage of insults and angry words. The imposter clapped, and it suddenly became silent. Confused and unnerved by the abrupt silence, Veronica dared to glance at the other witches and saw their mouths were moving except no sound was coming out.

Had the imposter silenced them with a clap of her hands?

What is she? I've never heard of a witch capable of silencing so many people at once with just a clap. Can she even be called a witch?

Her shaky gaze met the imposter as she lowered her hands. "Now, now. None of that language. We are supposed to be respectable folk." Her mocking tone said otherwise. "So what do you think, Veronica? You heard and saw how they reacted. They immediately doubted you the moment I gave you that offer." The imposter knelt down and offered a comforting hand on Veronica's shoulder. "Do you really want to side with these witches who don't care about you? Didn't they ostracize you because of your baby sister? Won't it be better to join a group that will acknowledge you?"

Even though Veronica knew she shouldn't listen, she found herself wavering at the imposter's words. Her words resonated with the bitter part of Veronica that she had tried to ignore. Ever since she learned she was a witch, it felt like she could never meet any of their standards. Either she disappointed them when she failed to meet their expectations or she received apathetic responses when she did something right.

How could she not be bitter?

Despite this, something else eclipsed those bitter feelings.

She licked her suddenly dry lips and asked, "Why does it sound like you're not a witch?"

The imposter stared blankly at her before bursting out in laughter. Veronica flinched as she tried to distance herself from the laughing imposter. From the corner of her eyes, she saw that everyone was just as unnerved as she was. After a couple minutes, the imposter calmed down and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"You're a lot more than I hoped for. You have to join us," the imposter said.

Veronica felt like her choice had just gone out the window as the imposter reached out to her.

"Stay away from my friend, you creep!" a familiar voice shouted as a massive fireball came flying towards them.

The imposter's bright expression vanished. She spun around and cut the fireball in half with Leta's wand. The heat of the flames brushed past Veronica while those around them screamed.

She could only hope that no one had been seriously hurt by that attack.

After shifting around to get a better look, she finally managed to see who it was when the imposter moved. Her eyes widened at the sight of Leta holding a broomstick in her hand with Echo and a familiar black cat with red eyes at her side.