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It had been a challenging year since her unleashing ritual just after her 13th birthday. And Seph had changed a lot. Gone was the little girl. She had boobs now. A full C cup, sometimes even a D. Gone were the pink little girl tops and leggings, the floral bedding, the white and pink room, even the long hair; though that was more a necessity than a choice, Dextra had burned some of it, so it had to be cut to just below her shoulders. And the other coven girls had started to take the piss out of her at school. They didn’t like that she was getting more attention from the elders than they were. They thought they should have been the elemental witches, not Seph the disaster. So Seph had her hair cut into a short pixie cut, and she started training with a mixed martial arts fighter. She was still slim, but now she had muscles. She had strength, and she was getting taller. She was almost 5 feet tall to the other girls, 4 foot something. She wore ripped skinny jeans and t-shirts or vest tops, with large scarves and hoods most of the time. Everything was darker now; even Seph herself seemed to be darker. She wasn’t so bubbly and approachable anymore, people said. They meant that she was no longer a pushover and that they couldn’t always tell her what to do.

Seph had training twice a week with the elders; there were always at least two of them (in case someone got hurt). No one else in the coven felt up to the task of training Seph. She wasn’t as straightforward as the other teens because she could control all the elements but couldn’t learn the traditional way. Seph had to find her own way to make her magic do what they wanted her to do. Things took a little longer to get the hang of, and she still had plenty of disasters. Her training with the elders had taught her some things. Her elemental control was growing stronger. She might be able to burn the candle down to a stub and blow the book away at the welcoming. Though she had no plan for what to do with that blasted bell.

Control of fire and spells based around fire came easiest even though it was hard to keep it proportionate, but that seemed to come with a downside; she was constantly cold. Some days it was so bad that she wanted to curl up in the fire with Dextra. Speaking of, they had managed to reach a tentative agreement. After a very near miss at school, where Dextra had forced her way out of Seph’s chest to help her defend herself against the bullies. Seph had only just managed to get somewhere safe where no one could see her; Stuff Dextra back in her bag, and try to carry on with her lessons. It didn’t last long, though. At lunch, Dextra managed to escape from Seph’s bag. She set fire to the table, and Seph was excluded for 2 weeks, with another 2 weeks of internal exclusion upon her return. Peter told her that she would be pulled out of school if she didn’t get Dextra under control. “The humans cannot find out about any of us, Persephone Adams; I will not risk the safety of my whole coven for you, nor will I let you put it at risk. You are not worth that; you are not that special,” Peter had told her; he also didn’t seem to feel that Seph should have been the one in a generation witch who would most certainly take his place when she comes of age. No doubt he was hoping for one of the boys. Dextra had eventually promised to stay inside Seph for the school day if Seph let her out as soon as they were safe within the coven again.

Seph was campaigning to allow women to wear what they wanted to ceremonies, rather than forcing them to dress feminine. Give them the same dress code as men, smart casual. She had run a successful campaign at school to allow girls to wear pants, backed by many of her human colleagues. She wasn’t convinced of success within the coven however, the leadership there was much more attached to their traditions.

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The day finally arrived, the day of her welcoming. This wouldn’t occur in the woods but on the green in the centre of their tiny village. There would be no circle. 5 others were joining the coven simultaneously; Tabitha, Kailiani, Lilah, Ryker and Jamie were all standing with her. The others would go first, their birthdays being earlier than Seph’s. It was the end of November almost now, pretty damn cold.

Peter had told her yesterday that the elders had considered her proposal. They had decided they wouldn’t uphold it and expected her to the ceremony in the usual formal attire. Seph couldn’t decide how best to annoy them. She was pissed beyond belief. She decided, in the end, to wear a skater-style skirt in black, with a high, corseted waist covered in skulls with a chain over one hip. She wore sparkly leggings, a black vest top tucked into the skirt, a black blazer over the top, and had died her hair blood red, especially for the elders. She had a pair of black knee-high new rock boots, chains, and spikes on her feet. Dextra flew in with Seph, then settled on her shoulder as Seph took her seat. The elders did not look impressed with Seph at all. Dextra gave them a satisfied huff.

Once everyone had taken their seats, the elders were forced to stop discussing the trouble caused by Seph and Dextra and get on with the ceremony. “Well met, my friends, please come and join us in the centre here…… yes, that’s it, thank you,” Conan called out loudly before passing over to Peter. “Greetings, everyone, and thank you for coming today” it’s not like they had a choice; is it now, Peter? Seph thought uncharitably. “The purpose of this gathering is welcoming these young people into our community as equals, now they are of age. This is a momentous day for them, as I’m sure you all remember your own welcoming ceremonies. Let us aim to make this as special for them as it has been for all of us. Now we all know this is more symbolic than a test of skills; we will not turn out any young person who has yet to master the skills needed to thrive in life. But I ask you do not mock or cheer for any of them.” He turned, pulled out the book, bell and candle needed for the ceremony, and began to speak again. “Although we have 6 young people here with us today, we shall only do this once in the interest of getting inside in the warmth. Historically, when humans found a suspected witch, their community would shun them; these communities tended to be highly religious. First, the religious leader would ring the bells throughout the community to alert everyone to the presence of the devil’s creature in their midst”, and Peter set the bell ringing in the air. “Next, they would extinguish the candles to demonstrate that the witch walked in the dark, a creature of the blackness, beyond the reach of gods love and forgiveness” he blew out the candle and set it on the altar in front of him. “Finally, the minister or priest would often shut their holy book” he slammed the coven grimoire shut. However, the teens would use their own in their ceremony. Seph had taken copies of all the pages of hers so she could recreate it if necessary. “To show that god and heaven were out of the witch’s reach.”

The other 5 went before Seph, their birthdays being August and September. Kailiani, Ryker, and Jamie were all in her school year, but Tabitha and Lilah were the year above. Kailiani was ok; she would warn Seph about any major pranks the other girls and Ryker were planning, so Seph could avoid them. Jaimie was friendly, but they didn’t have too much in common. He was spending more and more time around her, though. Seeking her out for help with her homework. Dextra didn’t seem keen on him, but it could have been worse; she didn’t breathe smoke at him. Seph was sure she was trying to threaten people; it worked sometimes. As Kailiani went up, Seph gave her an encouraging wave and thumbs up, mouthing “good luck”. Jaimie was sat next to her. He kept smiling over at her. When it was his turn, she whispered, “good luck, J, you got this”. They all performed flawlessly.

All too soon, it was Persephone’s turn. She stood up on shaking legs, Dextra curling closer to her neck. Jaimie grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze “you got this, babe, you are the boss of your power,” he told her with a smile. Her mouth was too dry to respond; Dextra chattered back at him even though she knew he couldn’t understand a word. Kailiani smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Seph slowly made her way up to the altar. “You know what to do, Adams, and we will discuss your attire later, get on with it; everyone’s cold.” Seph looked up at Peter with a carefully schooled expression, showing him indifference, trying to hide the pressure and fear she was really feeling. “Whatever, scared of the girl who will take your job in a few years, Peter? Why so insecure? I’m sure I’ll find you something to do, maybe you can clean the cells. But be assured, you will go nowhere near the teens again,” Seph replied with a pleasant smile on her face. Without waiting for his reply, she turned her attention to the items on the altar in front of her. That bell annoyed Dextra, making their fire powers out of control more than usual. Seph waved her hand. She had meant for the bell to fall to the table. Instead, it flew behind Seph and hit Tabitha in the head. Unfortunately, it didn’t do any significant damage. She had a bit of a bump and a tiny bruise. But the bell did stop ringing. Tabitha stormed off to her parents, crying and complaining. Seph called a half-hearted sorry to her and turned back to the book and candle. The candle seemed to be the easiest thing to tackle, just a tiny flame that was all it needed. Seph flicked a carefully controlled little fire out to the candle…… and melted the whole thing into a puddle of wax on the Alter cloth. “Well, it clearly lit to melt… it was lit,” she said, her nerves and fear evident in her voice and the shake of her hands. “You got this, Seph! You can do it!” “Go on, Persephone! You are doing brilliantly,” she heard Jaimie and her dad shout behind her. She smiled as she turned to the book, her own grimoire. She just needed to take the air trapped between the pages and use it to push the book open. She knew what to do and had done it exactly once before. Concentrating hard on the book and the air, Sky could feel the currents flowing around her and sense the air trapped between the pages, but she made the biggest mistake a witch could ever make; she was still furious about Peter. Casting in anger is not advisable because it always goes wrong. And it did. The book flew into the air, it did close in mid-air, but then it exploded, burning pages flying everywhere on a cyclone of wind that Seph seemed to have summoned. She sighed deeply, slowly pulling her magic back in. Dextra took to her wings and ate the fiery pages before they hurt anyone, nudging the cover so that it landed near S’s father. Mark was used to putting out their fires by now.

Once the chaos was calmed, the ceremony tidied up. Everyone headed inside the meeting space; a celebration was set up there. Seph grabbed some food and found a quiet spot to sit and draw. She had a feeling she wouldn’t be welcome anywhere else in the hall after her performance outside.
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