Spellcast

"You want to know what kind of fighting abilities from the Muscle Memory Spell?" Almira questioned Dorothy after they finished up a couple Wands but no luck.

"That's right!" Dorothy answered. "Because you must have some fighting experience, like Mrs. Webster."

Looking back then Dorothy. "I'm not like Marge with her sword handling skills. I did some fist fighting, but I only use magic for all my fights. You've seen me what I had to do against Becky."

"Then I can use whatever fighting skills you do know." Dorothy shadow box but noticed that it was slightly off.

"Sadly, that might just show me that you're already a better fighter than me. Because my fighting skills are literally slapping with a jab here and there." Almira shows off as she can only do slapping. "You already did more fighting than me. Hell, Becky would had knock my boney ass out if I was a reborn Witch."

"My pa made me punch his palms whenever I got a rough day." Dorothy made Almira put up her palms then start punching which hurts her palms.

"Maybe the old brass knuckles would be your Wand if you want to box?" Almira suggested.

"Not my style." Dorothy declines it. "Besides, that would be uncomfortable if that was my Wand."

"Since we have time to make your Wand, I can teach you some spells instead." Almira grabs the String Gemstone Wand of Dorothy. "Let's teach you some Stun Spells."

"Stun Spells? Like a bee sting?" Dorothy grabs the Wand.

"Not exactly, but close." Almira walked her to the practice area that resembled a firing range. "Actually, that might work much better for you. Like a finger gun shot."

Dorothy looked around. "Will these walls hold up the spells, especially the explosive ones such as myself?"

"Yupe." Almira fired a white blast spell from her Wand. The wall has a small dent but magically rebuilds it, like healing itself. "These are the most basic but effective." Almira then fired an exploding fireball at the targets that caused much bigger damage till it fixed itself.

"That looks like the Pyrobolum that I had cast on Becky." Dorothy remembered her shotgun blast spell that nearly blew Becky from their first fight. "Such a disaster. I thought I was gonna get through to her, but seeing the nature of us Witches and Magical Girls, is there diplomacy between the two?" Dorothy wondered.

"Magical Girls will always hunt us down, because Witches are the bad girls. And like two sides of a war, they're the bad girls to us." Almira fired an electrical ball. "But one of the Plague Witches is working on that after the Massacre."

"Wait a minute. How could I use magic without a Wand or Gemstones?" Dorothy managed to cast the same fireball but slightly more control than last time, firing it at the targets.

"Please don't do that." Almira lowered Dorothy's arm. "Because that's the quickest way of killing yourself. I had seen enough Witches accidentally commit suicide from it. Like I said to you, Wands and Gemstones will maintain and help you on casting perfect spells. These Gemstones and the wood will remember it since they're part of life in this world."

"Right." Dorothy slightly agreed. "But first, can you teach me the Memory Spell? So I can have a picture of my folks and friends?" Dorothy asked.

Almira smiled. "I can do that for you, just sit down." Almira pulled out a smartphone. "I bought this before coming to get you from the Cauldron. Have it all set up. But casting Memory Spells will be painful at first. So..." Almira uses the wood to create vines and hold Dorothy down and even around the neck and head. "So you must bear with me."

"Alright then." Dorothy looked scared as Almira had her Wand next to the side of her head.

"I recommend using a memory of your most painful moment of your life. Because casting Memory Spells will affect your mental image and memory of it. Causing damage to both the picture and memory. Like a broken arm or leg, something that doesn't require a memory of family and friends" Almira slightly taps the head.

"Does it always happen?" Dorothy hesitates to ask.

"Sadly, yes. Are you ready?" Almira asked.

Dorothy closed her eyes and remembered the moment of her discipline beating from a cane.

"Alright then." Almira taps the head then pulls a small white orb that causes Dorothy to scream out of pain. "Don't fight it." Almira tries to pull the orb out but it looks like it is latching back into Dorothy.

Dorothy's memories of the beating and the images of the person morphed into a hell beast.

Almira then pulled it out, thus Dorothy passed out from the pain.

Sign. "Don't worry, Dorothy. The first time always hurts like hell, the next time will be much smoother." Almira put the memory into the phone gallery, and noticed the hell beast. "Hopefully it's not someone you remembered fondly." Almira looks sad as she pulls out her phone, revealing something similar as she sees a picture of the demonic being in the Scream style of picture. "I don't remember who this person is, but hopefully not an old lover." Almira morphs the chair as a makeshift bed.

Dorothy is dreaming of that time, remembering that she got herself into a fight with a boy at school. Suffering a black eye and bruises, the boy also has bruises but not as much as Dorothy has. This is the result of a beating from the hell beast.

Waking up. Dorothy sat up, breathing heavily.

"Feeling better Dorothy?" Almira is watching a video of her previous moments in life but has earbuds on.

"What are you watching?" Dorothy sat next to her to watch.

"This is a new kind of Memory Spell, but you need a headset in order to use it. But unlike the picture memory spell, this is a requirement; the brain needs to be active and a 100% of the memory. If you don't remember it at all, then you won't have the full video. And you can't save it. I don't know how to do that yet. But I'll find a way." Almira showed off her frustration as she put away her phone and earbuds. "Back on teaching you spells."

"Can I try that Memory Spell then?" Dorothy asked.

Smiled. "Sure."

Dorothy sat down again as Almira did the spell again but unlike last time, it didn't hurt Dorothy.

"Are you finished? Because I'm still waiting."

"All done!" Almira answered as she showed her the picture.

"Wow!" Dorothy looked surprised as she saw her family for the first time in 100 years. It was a moment that Dorothy had adopted Toto. Slowly cried from seeing her family and Toto. "I can't believe they're all gone." She leaned down as Almira comforted her.

"The best way to live is to continue in their place." Almira said. "Now it's time to get back to training." Almira pulls Dorothy up. Helping her to wipe the tears away.

"Now what kind of Stun Spell are you gonna show me?" Dorothy asked. The moment she looked away, Almira cast a stun gun without her knowledge. Looked back to see the stun gun. "Um... why do you need that pistol?"

"One thing about actual Spells is that imagination is one half of the weapon. You need to experience the pain. Trust me, Malvonia managed to save me from a lightning strike. Most Witches tend to go to the electric chair in order to gain electrical powers, most died and the others still have the effect of it lingers on as years go by. So this will hurt, and it won't be the last till you remember it." She turned on the stun gun.

"How about the fireball? I can learn how to knock people down with a fireball." Dorothy slowly backed away but Almira followed her, getting closer. "Actually, I'll learn to box instead!" Dorothy ran away.

"You ain't gonna live that long if you don't know how to defend yourself unless you want to become a Salem Witch like me." Almira laughs it out as she chases Dorothy down.

"How about that Muscle Memory Spell? I can learn through that, right?!" Dorothy continues to run away from Almira.

"That's as much painful as the Memory Spell, but unlike it, your entire body will be effective and will be feeling pain for a while till your muscles finally feel comfortable from the previous owner's experience." Almira said out to Dorothy while aiming the stun gun. "Now hold still!"

"No way!" Dorothy is casting multiple fireballs but Almira had wiped them away with water magic then managed to stunned Dorothy down.

"You gotta get used to this, or else you'll wind up dead on the spot." Almira continues with the stun gun. "This is why I use Magic rather than a fist fight."

Dorothy punches Almira down that nearly knocks her down.

Almira got up. "You're pretty good as a runner, but..." Almira whistles her broom to come by and nearly trips Dorothy who's trying to use it instead.

Grabbing her Wand to cast a form of a knock out Spell that resembled the punches from Becky's. That knocked her Almira through the wall.

"You want to fight that way then." Almira twirls her Wand to trap Dorothy.

Using fire spells and knock out spells to go crazy, but Almira is using a shield like spell in order to protect herself from the out of control magic Dorothy is casting.

Dorothy runs up for a punch that nearly knocks Almira down.

Going to make a quick break, Almira leaped towards her but Dorothy held then tossed her onto the wall.

Using the vines to tie Dorothy up from the ankles, but she used the fireball to break out.

Almira tilted her head as she followed Dorothy who's hiding behind a table. "Question, how did you know about using a fireball? Never brought it up till now."

"I was in the middle of a burning farmhouse before. I remembered the heat, so I used that to replicate the fireball." Dorothy said.

"Too dangerous. Then I guess we need to work on your memory in order to cast the spell." Almira walked around, Dorothy pushed the table, using her spell to force Almira back onto a wall.

Almira walks around with her stun gun while Dorothy continues on making a run for it.

Dorothy stopped as she was sweating from running and feeling heavily tired. "What the hell?! I can go on for hours, but why do I feel like I have run across the country?"

Almira walked up with no sweat at all.

"How the heck are you still moving?" Dorothy asked as she's breathing heavily.

Almira points at the Wand. "Because unlike you, dumbass, I've been using my Wand in order to maintain my fatigue. Witches think they're invincible after using magic like you, but your kind of Witches are usually the first ones to die out first. So take this as a hard lesson." Almira put the stun gun next to Dorothy in order to use it on her.

Dorothy is feeling woozy then falls down...

§

...Dorothy hits the table with her head, looking all beaten up as she's sitting across from Abbie at the dining table.

"Abbie?"

Abbie is drinking tea. "Yes, Dorothy?"

"When you're going through the Muscle Memory Spell, how long did you adjust to it?"

"Um..." Abbie thinks as if she's trying to come up with an answer. "Let's see..." Pulls out her phone to see herself as the sickly girl then compares it to her current self. "At least one month and a half. I'm still feeling some fuzziness from time to time. I had to eat a shit ton of food, since muscles need something, so I ended up eating an entire restaurant's worth of food in order to match it."

"Must be nice." Dorothy looked up at her.

"Actually no." Abbie looked away as she seemed like she wanted to eat the meals of others. "I was told to eat the shitting English cuisine rather than trying these tasty Fried Chicken from Kentucky. Or having some O'Donald's burgers. I can't eat too much greasy food since the tongue is a muscle, that means my taste buds also changed into it. I ended up having either simple foods or English food, like Spotted Dick. Even seafood tastes nasty, so I can't have my fish on Fridays."

"No fish on Fridays or Sundays? That's rough." Dorothy empathizes with Abbie.

"I don't know what Marge put into her body in order to change my entire taste, I can't have anything that looks so tasty!" Abbie slams her head onto the table that nearly cracks.

Dorothy heard the crack. "Was that your head or the table?"

"Does it matter?" Abbie spoke with the table on her face.

"Then the fencing doesn't work out?" Dorothy asked.

Abbie looked up. "Actually yes. I'm quite excellent when it comes to swordplay. Each foot and strike is coming through me. So I managed to figure things out quickly. But I trip because my mind is still trying to figure it out, and the muscle memory had caused me to go blackout for while. The muscle memory moves faster than my brain can process it."

"Nice for you. Guess that means I'll be getting my ass kicked by both you and Ms. Johnston." Dorothy looked at her side as she saw Witches flying around. "Have you figured out what kind of Wand are you making? Because I don't know what kind of Wand would work for me." Dorothy asked.

"I got an idea. I had to nix some ideas." Abbie pulls up a lantern and her Shovel Wand. "I might make a lantern as my Wand. As for my Shovel here, it's gonna be my broom."

"Your broom? And a lantern, really?" Dorothy questioned.

"I don't know how to manage the spells, but I might learn some light and fire spells for my Lantern Wand, while my shovel can be my digger." Abbie look embarrassed. "Plus, seeing myself riding a lantern is both embarrassing and painful. At least the shovel seems to make sense. But I do try to make them both working as one."

"Both working as one?" Dorothy seems to be amazed by the idea. "Maybe I should do the same, but I would like to skate instead."

Abbie is confused. "Skate? Why so?"

"The Magical Girl I fought is both quick and powerful, so I gotta fly faster than her at least." Dorothy remembered the speed of Becky.

"How fast and powerful is she?" Abbie asked.

§

Becky woke up from sleeping in the water tower. Yawn heavily.

"Good morning, Ms. Wolfe." Serena greets her.

"Good morning, Serena." Becky stood and started stretching. "Time to head home!"