TTW - 19 (Patreon)

A few moments later, Thomas returned to the living room with two saucers and two cups of hot water, and the blended tea Esmerelda had in a quaint tin container.

Placidly, Agatha began filling the tea ball, then set it in her cup to steep.

Thomas did the same, just not as placidly. He wanted to ask seventeen hundred questions, but wanted to give the ancient witch a few moments of peace before diving in.

Agatha poured a bit of cream, and two teaspoons of sugar into her tea. Then quietly waited until it reached an acceptable heat index, and sipped it softly, closing her eyes.

Thomas tried to follow suit, but he hated tea. He got up and started the coffee maker, a Kurig, that he'd had shipped in from the 'science zone' as the people of Willowbrook liked to call California. The house had some kind of electrical service, though he hadn't needed to contact anyone to turn it on. The dichotomy of this place, the nexus, running both technology and magic at the same time confused him.

After he returned with a hot mug of coffee, Agatha sighed. "So, we have to entertain a few thoughts."

Thomas nodded, sipping his coffee. Thank God for coffee, he thought.

You are welcome, my child. Came the voice of the Tree Mother.

Oh my god, you can hear me?

Of course, dear. Once you have felt my embrace, I can be in communication at a moments notice.

Does that mean you have access to all my thoughts?

Only the ones you choose to share with me, dear.

"Thomas, did you hear me?" Agatha said.

He blinked. "Oh, gosh. Sorry. The TreeMother was speaking to me."

She frowned. "The TreeMother is still in communication with you after your return?"

"Yeah, apparently." He chuckled. "I think she likes me, or something."

Agatha's eyebrows rose, then she frowned. "Hmm…Joe didn't say anything about her remaining in contact with him when he was in your body."

Thomas shrugged, and swallowed some more tea.

"Anyway, what I said was, we need to discuss the possibility that Esmerelda has suffered a similar fate. That someone else, or something else is operating her body."

"I am me, I can tell you that much," Esmerelda called from the landing above. Apparently she'd been listening in.

"Hi baby!" Thomas said. "Do you want to come down, or we can come up?"

"I'll be down in a moment, Tommy-Tom."

Thomas gave a wry smiled. "She's her."

"Unless someone else knew her pet name for you."

"Yeah…" Thomas frowned a moment. "I supposed that is possible, but very unlikely. She didn't use that term of affection in the presence of anyone else but me. Unless someone were spying on us, I seriously doubt they would know that nickname."

Agatha nodded, as Esmerelda made her way into the room. She seemed a bit more stooped and weary, if that were possible, and appeared to be shaking a bit as well.

"Are you okay, hon?" Thomas said, getting up and helping her to her favorite chair.

"Could you bring me a cup of that tea? And…Thomas, do we have any soup?"

"No, but I have left over chicken, and all the fixings. Want me to make you some?"

"If any of the Brownies are around, they could make me the soup, if you don't want to."

"They're long gone, babe. It's nearly midnight."

Esmerelda put a hand to her head. "Ugh, I'm really out of it."

Thomas got up and started cutting up the chicken. Looking out into the living room from the kitchen, he could see the two witches conversing.

Thomas shook his head. It's so strange to think one of the witches was his 24-year-old wife.

After about half an hour of cooking, he brought two bowls into the living room and set them on trays so they wouldn't spill. "Dinner is served!"

"Thomas missed his calling as a chef," Esmerelda said.

"Missed it by a mile," he said.

"Missed it!" she held her fingers up. "By that much!" Mimicking the line from Get Smart.

Thomas laughed, delighted that her sense of humor was back. Esmerelda gave him a wink and sipped her broth. "Mmmm, thank you, baby. It is soooo much better."

"She appears," Agatha said, sipping a minuscule amount of soup from her spoon. "To have regressed a bit back into Lydia."

"Too bad she couldn't physically…I mean…"

"No, it's okay, baby. I was thinking the same thing. Perhaps that mirror isn't a bad thing at all. Perhaps it was trying to reverse what Willowbrook had done to me!"

"Ooh, if that's true, we could go home!" I said.

"Yeah—" Esmerelda…was she really Esmerelda? EsmerLydia? said.

"Ah, you've fallen in love with the place."

"No, no." she took a larger spoonful of soup, chewing thoughtfully.

"My dears, I'm frightfully tired to continue this conversation," Agatha said. "I do not know what is going on or why Esmerelda appears to be going through a reversal. It concerns me that it happened at the same moment the Aegis came into play."

"The Aegis?" They both said at the same time.

"Yes, the device that is now down in your basement. It is an ancient relic of another time. I do believe your father…" Agatha looked at Esmerelda, "Strike that…Esmerelda's father may be behind it." She shrugged. "Well, or your husband."

"Wait!" Esmerelda stood up, her bouffant hair shaking a bit. "I'm married already?"

"Indeed, and to a powerful sorcerer who disappeared ages ago." Agatha sighed, standing up. "My darlings, I simply must depart or fall asleep right here."

"You're more than welcome to take the guest bedroom," Esmerelda said.

Agatha cringed. "I am very fatigued, and Sælicbrook, I hope you have both learned, is no place to be after dark. Normally, I wouldn't have a concern, but I did overextend myself and fear I will need to recharge at the salon in the morning."

"Ooh, I can go with you!" Esmerelda touched her hair. It was looking a bit frazzled.

"We will need the entire coven, I'm afraid, to discuss how to dispose of the Aegis. It's not something you can just pack away."

Esmerelda nodded, standing up herself. She, too, looked very frail and exhausted.

"We have clean sheets and clean linen in the spare bathroom," Thomas said.

Agatha nodded. "The curse of being old requires nearly constant bathroom facilities."

"Right?" Esmerelda said. "I think my bladder is the size of a pea."

Both women cackled at that. Thomas felt it was good to hear Esmerelda laughing again.

Esmerelda walked up the stairs as Thomas helped Agatha get situated in the guest bedroom.

"Thank you, dear. You are a Godsend."

"No trouble," Thomas smiled at her.

"You know, Joe enjoyed the use of your body very much. It's a pity we couldn't have the two of you take more…ah…vacations like that."

Thomas smiled. "I think the Earth Mother might object."

She would not.

Wow, really? You would allow short term excursions for Joe to be in my body?

If it affords me any time with my JoAnna, I would welcome the chance.

Thomas felt tears biting his eyes. He knew Esmerelda/Lydia loved him, but it was nice to know he had won the heart of such a being as the TreeMother.

"Uh…TreeMother said we might be able to work something out."

Agathat's eyes widened at that. "Truly?" She sat down, a bit shocked. "I have never known one of the Ent to allow one of their followers out from under their branches."

"Yeah, so…who knows. Maybe we can work something out."

She looked very wistful. "It would be nice to have a companion again."

Thomas thought about how nice it was to be in the embrace of the…Ent? Like in Lord of the Rings? He didn't want to push it, he supposed all fantasy series started from somewhere.

Thomas nodded. "Well, have a lovely evening. Hopefully, it will be peaceful."

She smiled. "Those are always famous last words."

"Hah! Yes, true."

Thomas went downstairs and checked on the Aegis. It appeared to still be quiescent, cold, and dead. Thomas then went up both sets to the bedroom and slid into bed next to Esmerelda.

"Hey Tommy-Tom." She smiled, and looks at Thomas. She'd taken her hair down and apparently had washed it without triggering the geas or whatever again. It was one of the few times I hadn't seen her without makeup and with her hair in its natural state.

"Hey, hon." Thomas slid into the sheets next to her. "No geas?"

"Yeah…it's weird. It's just not…there anymore. What do you think it means?"

"Wow, really, even if you snap your fingers or whatever?"

She sighed. "I don't want to try and find out. Is that okay?"

"Of course, honey. Come here." He took his wife, his elderly wife, into his arms. Without all the makeup, hair, and all she looked older than she had, but he'd always loved the natural look on her.

"It's nice to have you back." Thomas kissed her forehead, and she snuggled into him.

"It's nice to have you back." She smiled up at him, and he saw she had taken her teeth out.

"Mmm, yes. That was quite the experience. Do you know I can still talk to the TreeMother?

Esmerelda blinked. "You can? Like right now?"

Thomas nodded. "It's a little strange. She can…well, I think she's been keeping track of our conversations."

"Do you think she can see what we do?"

Thomas shrugged, smiling. "I could ask her."

Esmerelda put her arms around his neck. "Maybe we should give her a show?"

He smiled. "I thought you were tired."

She shrugged. "Maybe you can energize me."

He chuckled at that. "Agatha might hear us."

"We can give her a show, too!" Esmerelda smiled. "Or better yet, invite her to join!"

"Jesus, you're bad."

"Come on, you're having sex with one old broad." Esmerelda's grip became a bit urgent. "What's so bad about two?"

"Hah." Thomas pulled back a bit. "That's a bit, I dunno, mean, isn't it?"

"Don't tell me you aren't man enough," she said, reaching down to grope him. "I mean, you were certainly man enough to bend me over the bed the other night!"

"Yeah, I told you, I wasn't quite in my head with that…" He pulled back a bit. He wasn't enjoying the way she was acting.

"How many men did you fuck?" She squeezed his package hard.

"Ow, that hurts, babe."

"Tell me!" Her voice rose. It sounded scratchy and coarse. "How many men did you fuck as a wood-nymph?"

"Hey, what's gotten into you?"

"Certainly not you!" she said, snaking her arm around Thomas's head and pulling it down to her chest. "Give us a kiss!"

"Get…" He started to thrash a bit. When had she gotten so strong? "Off of me!" Thomas pulled away, standing up from the bed as Esmerelda cackled at him.

"What's the matter Tommy-Tom? A widdow owd wadie too stwong for ya?"

He frowned down at her. Black smoke was starting to billow around the bed.

"Maybe you should go back to being a nymph! Then you can be the slut you were always MEANT TO BE!"

She screamed, and crimson light streamed from her eyes.