"When change cometh, she will bring peace at her back. She will not bend to your will; you must bend to hers."

— Adriana Mather, How to Hang a Witch

☽★☾

The rest of the group was found waiting for them in the main square, some still rallying against the final dregs of the crowd. They all stopped as Brynn and Joan came into sight. Immediately they broke into cheering upon seeing the bloodied dagger in Joan's hand, a sound that echoed across the square and likely spread through the entire town. Brynn felt Joan's grip tighten on her hand as the sounds of celebration reached their ears; she knew that the dark-haired girl wasn't thinking about celebrating right now. 

"Are you okay?" Brynn murmured, gaze moving to focus solely on Joan. The young woman didn't meet her eyes at first, before simply offering her a halfhearted shrug. Alright, that's it. Brynn thought to herself as she noted Joan's resigned expression. This isn't the right time to celebrate. She turned her attention to the group in front of them. If they see how much I've done for them, with finding Joan and defeating Sebastian... They should hopefully listen to me. 

Brynn took a step closer; her hand was still holding Joan's, refusing to let go. "Yes, it is true," she began, her voice splitting through the cheering and conversations. Everyone fell silent as eyes fell on her. She gulped; speaking in front of a crowd had never been easy, but here she was doing that exact thing, with no cue cards or preparation whatsoever. "We have taken down Sebastian. Sebastian Nowells is dead." Whistling and applause broke through again, but Brynn cleared her throat, slightly irritated, and the noise died down again. "But we have also lost tremendously. We must make tonight not a night of celebration, but a night of remembrance. There will be time for celebration later."

Even though Brynn had not mentioned exactly what it was that they had lost, she sensed as the gazes of the group moved silently to Joan that they understood the message she was attempting to convey. Elise stepped out from the crowd. Brynn felt Joan stiffen beside her as the young woman nodded solemnly and twisted her hand over her sternum, bowing. The group's gesture of connection, Brynn remembered, recalling them doing the same thing a few days before, when they had first set out to rescue Celeste. That mission had gone horribly wrong — it had seemingly started this chain of events in the first place — but the group was still here, standing with their sister as she grieved. As Elise bowed, others replicated the gesture in a ripple effect, until the entire group in front of them had lowered their heads. Brynn felt Joan's hand tremble in hers and she gave it a squeeze, moving to lean against her. Joan's head came to rest gently on top of Brynn's.

The silence stretched on to envelop the group, and as Joan's breath steadied, the group slowly straightened back up. Brynn watched as they looked to Joan for confirmation; the dark-haired young woman nodded. She cleared her throat, and Brynn moved to step aside; Joan was the leader here, after all. But Joan's eyes leapt up to meet hers, and she squeezed her hand tighter. A hint of a smile made Brynn's lips twitch as she remained beside her.

"Erebus was... He was amazing. I... I can't even think of more to say than that. He... We had always said that, if he was ever in that predicament, that I would never allow anyone to split up this group. He never wanted this to happen, but he knew it was necessary. And... And I guess he was right." Joan paused, eyes positioned firmly on the ground, before taking a breath and continuing. "If it wasn't for Erebus, you all wouldn't be here right now in front of me. Sebastian would have forced me to split up this group forever, and we never would have been able to defeat him."

Magpie, silver hair flashing, raised a small rusted flask into the air. A few chuckles moved through the crowd; no one knew where the woman had managed to get the thing from. She ignored them and raised it even higher, arm stretching to make it reach above the crowd. "To Erebus!"

Even though no one else had anything to drink, the words still made their way through the crowd in a resounding cry. "To Erebus!"

☽★☾ 

Brynn and Joan walked at the forefront of the group as they walked back to their hideout, the streets empty. Brynn found herself half hoping that everyone had been scared off by their activity in the square earlier; she wanted people to fear them, if it would mean that they would come to respect them. It was a start.

Their hands, still linked together, swung between them as they walked. Joan's gaze was fixed on the ground and Brynn didn't have the heart to say anything. She knew the young woman was grieving; it had been clear to her back in Sebastian's office that Erebus had been a large part of her, and now that part was gone, leaving a gaping hole in the center of her being. Brynn had felt that way when her father had died, and nothing had ever been the same since.

"I feel lost without him," Joan suddenly blurted, her voice no more than a murmur. "I... he was the best part of me. The courage, the nobleness, the cleverness... I'm powerless without him."

Brynn was silent for a moment, considering the best response. She gave Joan's hand a comforting squeeze and sidled up closer. "Erebus was a part of you, and it's going to feel so empty now that that part is gone. Like a puzzle, missing its piece." Joan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Oh, wait, I don't think puzzles have been invented yet." She let out a soft laugh and shook her head. "Forget that example. The point is... Even though it feels like it, and it might feel like it for a long time, you are still someone without him. You are the bravest and strongest person I've ever met, Joan." The name tumbled from her mouth without her meaning too; she panicked for a moment before seeing that it hadn't seemed to bother the young woman. Maybe that won't matter quite as much now that Sebastian is no longer a threat to us, Brynn reasoned.

When Joan still didn't speak, Brynn chewed on the inside of her cheek and continued. "And, you told me yourself when you taught me about magic that energy can't be created or destroyed, but simply manipulated. It's always there, never gone completely. So... while Erebus may not be around physically anymore, his spirit will always be there." She offered a soft smile. 

Joan stopped walking. Brynn was terrified for a moment that she had said something wrong, that she had somehow upset her. But the young woman nodded slowly, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Yeah," she murmured. "Yeah. I... I feel him, now that you mention it." She held up her free hand, the one that wasn't clinging to Brynn, and held it up for a moment, studying it. "It's like... he's even more of a part of me than he was before. I feel it." Her dark eyes shot up to meet Brynn's, and she looked almost giddy at the discovery. "He's still here. I haven't lost anything but his physical self."

"I told you he's not gone," Brynn replied. She was beyond happy for Joan that she still felt Erebus's presence, and yet sadness seemed to weigh on her heart at the thought. She wished she could feel her father's spirit like that, that something could fill up the emptiness she still felt after his loss.

Joan seemed to understand what Brynn was thinking about, because her smile turned sad after a moment. "Thank you, Vixen," she whispered. "I mean it. You've done so much for us. For me. And I'm forever grateful for that." She moved closer; the world seemed to melt away around them, until it was only Brynn and Joan: two girls in a wild, witchy world — one of whom didn't even belong in this place in time. "Thank you," Joan repeated quietly, and then their lips met in a rush of heat.

Brynn wondered if this would be the last time she kissed Joan, if this would be the last time she tasted the witch's lips. She pressed herself even closer to the other girl, her fingers getting tangled in Joan's short dark hair. A lock of her own auburn hair seemed to have become the other girl's plaything, getting tugged and twirled around one of Joan's fingers. She didn't mind in the least.

When they pulled away, Brynn found herself half wanting to continue, to go back to what they had just been doing. But they had reached the entryway of the hideout; since they were in the lead, they were expected to enter the building before the others. Hands intertwining again, they slipped through the entrance into the small front room.

"Let's figure out how to get you back," Joan murmured, leading her to the rickety table at which she had given her the last tarot reading. Brynn slumped onto the seat across from her. Exhaustion was finally beginning to take its toll; it was hard to believe how long this day had been and all of the action she had just been through. She watched as Joan slipped her deck of tarot cards from the shelf and began to shuffle them. Their star-covered backs glimmered in the low light, reminding Brynn once more of the magic that had brought her here. Joan finally split the deck and flitted through the cards once more before laying three cards side by side, face down.

"Simple three card reading again," Joan told her, returning her dark-eyed gaze to Brynn across the table. She laid a single finger on top of the card to the left. "This one will tell us whether you've completed whatever you need to do, and whether it's actually time for you to go back to the present." Joan nodded to herself and tapped the next card, the one in the center of the three. "This one will tell us how to get you back." She pointed to the final card. "And this one will tell us what you can expect when you get back." She took a breath and glanced up to Brynn, her eyes searching for confirmation that she was ready.

Brynn hesitated. After all she had been through in Salem Town with Joan and the others, it seemed strange that she was going to be transported back to the present. Back to her mother, her stepfather, her annoying stepbrother... For whatever reason, that sounded like the hardest challenge yet, even more difficult than the deadly ones she had faced against Sebastian and his witch hunters. But I don't belong here, no matter how I feel about this time period and the people in it. I belong in the present. She let out a soft sigh and offered Joan a cheeky thumbs up. The dark-haired young woman smiled a little and flipped over the cards one by one.

Brynn studied the first card. It displayed a young boy riding a white horse, sunflowers filling the background, with a large sun stretching its rays out above them. "Okay, first card: the Sun. It means... Well, the sun represents success. In this case, it means it is time for you to return. You've accomplished what you've needed to, and so you can go back home." Joan took her eyes off of the card. Brynn watched her gulp, and she was sure she felt the same way; while it was great that Brynn would be able to go home now, it didn't feel right for her to leave so soon, not after all of the things they had only just figured out about each other. Joan cleared her throat, all seriousness again. 

As Joan's finger moved to the second card, Brynn's gaze went with her. The card showed three men conversing below an archway carved with three pentacles. "Second card: the three of pentacles. The three of pentacles means community and unity." Her brow furrowed for a moment as she considered what the card meant in relation to their current situation. "I think... I think, in this case, it means something about having our whole group take part in sending you home. We'll all have to work together, but if we're able to, you'll be successfully transported. It must mean that the spell required will take more strength than just my own." 

Joan waited for the words to sink in and for Brynn to nod her understanding before she placed a finger upon the final card. It was upside down, so it looked rather strange, but it showed a man in a long black cloak staring sadly down at five cups that had been knocked over on the ground. "And, finally: the five of cups, reversed. According to the card, you can expect to find acceptance and peace when you return. You'll finally feel ready to move past some things that have been clogging your mind." A gentle smile spread across Joan's face, clearly happy to have delivered such a positive reading. Brynn couldn't keep a grin out of her expression herself. If the reading really did match her future — which had been true of Joan's readings thus far — then perhaps the return wouldn't be nearly as bad as Brynn was dreading.

Brynn nodded. "So... it's time, then?"

"It's time."

☽★☾

Brynn held onto Joan's hand as the group moved to form a circle around them. The courtyard echoed with their footsteps as everyone shuffled into place, linking arms with the person on either side of them. Brynn was touched that the group had immediately rallied to help them out after Joan's announcement that it was the right time to send her back to the present. They had been surprisingly understanding when hearing the revelation that Brynn wasn't actually from their time period; Silverstar had actually broke into a relieved laugh, as if she really couldn't stand the idea of Brynn actually sticking around with them. Brynn tried not to take that too personally. I'm going home. What does it matter what she thinks?

As everyone found their places and settled into silence, Joan cleared her throat to bring their attention to her. "This is going to be a simple transfer spell. For those of you who are actually skilled with magic, focus upon the spell. For those who aren't, just focus on bringing your energy into the middle of the circle so that we can utilize it in the spell. We'll start on the count of three. Ready?" Her dark eyes skipped across the group members all around them. Brynn could have sworn she saw tears in their corners as she laid her gaze on all of the determined faces that made up the circle. "I am so, so proud of you all," Joan whispered, and her voice broke before she could recover herself. Brynn squeezed her hand tighter, feeling a sudden rush of nerves for what was to come, and the dark-haired young woman's gaze moved to her.

"I promise," Joan murmured, and Brynn knew that the words were meant just for her. "I'll be there."

Brynn leaned against her shoulder for support as Joan shut her eyes. "One. Two," she sucked in a breath and Brynn felt the young woman's hand twitch in hers as she prepared to start up the spell. "Three."

At first, nothing happened. Then Brynn felt it, the combined energy of a dozen or more members of their witchy little group as they joined together to create the spell. Joan's hand clenched tighter around hers, keeping both Brynn and herself steady, and then her grip seemed to suddenly release as a rush of energy brushed across her skin. Everything erupted in a flash of light that seemed more welcoming than painful, and Brynn disappeared like the flame of a candle that had just been blown out.