“Oh, uh—”

“Walk me home? Your friends can come too, I guess.”

“Wait, so you’ll help us then?”

“That depends. How are you planning on paying me back for the NUCKELAVEE HORN I DESPERATELY FUCKING NEEDED?!"

"Was the horn really so important you had to risk your life for it? What kind of spell was it for?"

"You need my help? Then zip it with the questions. We've got a couple hours walk back and I'd literally rather talk about anything else."

"Okay! Sorry! Let's just get going already."

"One moment." The witch had walked over to her torn up satchel and tossed it in the river. She mumbled to herself, "You're someone else's problem now, damn useless potions. Wasting my precious time brewing you. Can't even return that cauldron now. Just had to go old school…"

Hwalín leaned over toward Alma. "Boy, you weren't kidding. She's a bloody handful and a half. No wonder you broke things off with her."

"I didn't 'break things off with her.' She left to do her own thing then we both just… got really busy." Alma swallowed, barely able to believe her own words.

"Precisely why you must avoid any further unnecessary aggravation,” chimed Qu’l-Nia. “As long as we secure her cooperation, then all will be as it should be.

“Please don’t talk about Heloise as if she’s just a means to an end for you. I know her help is important but she’s still my friend. I’m doing my best here to re-earn her trust. She’s prickly. I have to be careful.”

“Why walk on eggshells for this dodgy nutter?" questioned Hwalín.

"I'm not sure what that means but seriously can you two just stop? Just leave her to me."

"What are you guys mumbling about over there?" The witch made her way back toward the group before ushering them to start moving. "Did Alma tell you about all those times I saved her ass while hunting monsters like those? This forest is totally treacherous. Not just the creatures but this place is full of ancient, unknown energies. Like, step off the beaten path around here and you'll end up vanishing without a trace. Sometimes I'll find someone's abandoned clothes out here and not a single piece of evidence that they were forcibly removed. People go missing up here all the time and not even I've ever seen where most of them vanish to."

"I think I have an inkling…" Hwalín scowled as she recalled her short stint inside that loathsome plant.

"What do you mean?" asked Heloise curiously.

"Neraides." Alma simply said.

Heloise let out a slight chuckle. "Oh, Alma. You have to tell me all about the shit you went through just to find me."

It was late afternoon by the time they arrived at the witch's house. The ex-soldier was finishing up her regaling of how she met the other two members of her party, with a few liberties here and there.

"Figures," stated Heloise. "Alma always has to be the savior. I think it's her fetish or something."

"Shutup!" shouted Alma. "It's not like that! You're the weird one here."

"She saved us, we saved her," said Hwalín. "It was mostly a team effort. Gotta say, Alma sure is reliable for getting others out of messes."

Heloise brushed her hair aside with a dramatic flair. "Sure, sure. But if she's always rescuing others, who's gonna rescue her when the time comes?" The witch looked at Alma expectantly, waiting for her to give the only correct answer.

But before the sniperess could open her mouth to respond, the eldritch woman who had been trailing behind finally spoke up.

"It appears we have finally returned to where we began our journey." Qu'l-Nia pointed to the large cottage nestled picture-perfectly under the giant bough dotted with red and gold leaves that trailed down from the tip like a waterfall of leaves. "It leaves quite the puissant impression on one's aesthetic perception."

"Really?" Heloise perked up proudly. "I was going for that whole liminal space vibe."

"Wow," Alma said with exaggerated astonishment. "I never thought I'd hear a compliment coming from Q that wasn't somehow backhanded."

Heloise grinned and skipped toward the big wooden door with the heart carved in it. Tracing the bottom of the carving with her slender fingers, she chanted a quick couple of words causing a large brass key with a heart-shaped handle to materialize inside the lining of the heart on the door. She turned the key and with a loud click, unlocked the entrance to her house. "Well? Come on, come on! Wait until you see the inside!"

"Heloise?" a voice called from inside. "Is that you?"

"Who else would it be, you little shit?"

"Casse-toi ! Why are you always so mean?"

"Je m'en fous de ton avis ! Ta gueule ! We have guests! Get your butt out here!"

Bertrand came running out from deep inside and hugged his sister, despite her attitude toward him.

"Yeah, I missed you too," the witch whispered affectionately. "I'm assuming you were expecting them to come carrying my pretty little ass back home, huh?"

As Bert looked up from the embrace with his sister, he noticed Alma and the other two from earlier standing in the doorway.

“What’d I tell ya?” Hwalín winked at him. “Your sister’s back in one piece, just like we promised.”

"Thank you. And thanks Alma." The boy flashed them a smile. "I kinda missed having you around."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Heloise pulled the boy aside. "Come, ladies. Step into the parlor while I make a quick stop into my boudoir."

The witch's house was richly decorated on the inside, with fancy patterned wallpaper and elegant, damask curtains hanging from the wall. Tapestries of unknown galaxies lined the interior directly facing the entrance. Even the hardwood floor looked rather stately to the eyes. A small and intricate spiral staircase led up to the floor above.

Hwalín whistled as she looked around. "Didn't get a good look in here the first time but damn, this witch sure knows how to live it up."

"It took an awful lot of work and hunting, but this place turned out pretty great." Alma smiled warmly as the memories flooded back to her. She walked slowly over to one of the hanging tapestries. "Wait… isn't that—?"

"One of Zosimos's?" interrupted the witch. "Yeah, I went back and nabbed it. You didn't actually think I'd pay good money for that map and not loot the shit out of his lair after what he put us through."

Heloise chose her words carefully. While she did return to the dangers of that foreign abode, her true aim was for answers rather than treasures.

"Make yourselves at home," she continued. "Bert, go fetch us some tea. Alma, you know the way to the parlor."