Chapter 1 : Job Hunting

Helena’s stomach tried to crawl away as she stared at the package, knife in hand.  Her pulse seemed to slow, blood running thick to try to stop time itself. To open the package was to accept her fate.  To see the true harsh reality she’d forced upon herself. To move from the setup of the tragedy to its horrible bloody end.

However, Chronos did not stray from his course for any god, much less a simple witch like Helena.  And while cold uncaring Chronos had no demands for a woman like her, her landlord did.  Rent was due by noon, no later, or she would be faced with the Herculean task of moving her possessions to a new apartment.  Or more likely, the street.

With careful precision she cut the cords binding the box shut, then slowly opened the lid.  A sack lay within, along with scroll marked with her grandmother’s seal. Curses for thieves swirled around as well, but Helena ignored them.  They were nothing to an Aoede, even if the message hadn’t been for her.

She carefully picked up the scroll and unrolled it.  Her grandmother’s thick handwritten Greek stared back at her, and Helena spent a moment drawing strength from the familiarity of the characters.  Buoyed by that reminder of home she began to read the letter itself.

She forced herself to not rush through the greetings and talk of home, even if it was all stuff that she’d read before.  Nova Thebes followed patterns, and right now was an era of peace and adventure. Witches like her family would be handing out blessings and curses to the petty heroes that bugged them.

Finally she got to the end and saw that once again her family had sent double the money she’d asked for.  Helena let out a deep sigh, relief flowing into her body like air into a bellows. Then she sighed again as the regret and shame followed.  Once again her grandmother had saved her from her own stupidity.

The bag jingled happily as she placed it in her purse.  The specter of doom had been staved off for a few weeks, which meant it was time to get things done.  She’d been living off cheap box wine and bread for the last three days, so she could get some real food.  And she did need to give Hecate thanks for her good fortune, deserved or undeserved.

She took her time putting on the thick boots the city demanded of her.  Magic could keep her from freezing to death in the miserably cold air here, but there was no spell that would make walking down the dirty streets of the Immigrant Realm in sandals a good idea.

That done she grabbed her black witches hat.  It didn’t match the colored peplos she always favored, but it quickly told everyone in the area what she was.  And while there were plenty of people who would trouble a short thin woman who looked barely twenty five, no one with sense would pick a fight with a witch.

Helena walked out the door, then carefully locked it behind her before heading down the cramped stairwell of the apartment complex and into the entryway corridor.  She paused to count out seventy five drachma, then knocked on the door closest to the exit.

There was a long painful pause as Helena waited, hoping that her knock had gotten through.  Just as she was considering knocking again the door opened, revealing the smiling face of her landlord.  Mr. Samuels was a large man, whose grey hair stood out against his dark skin. “Oh, Miss Aoede. Good morning to you.  Come to pay the rent?”

“It’s Helena please.  And yes.” She held out the coins.  “I hope it’s not a problem that I always pay after the morning rush.”

“No, it’s not a problem at all Miss Helena,” Mr. Samuels replied as he took the money.  His smile never faded but he inspected each coin carefully as he continued. “So long as it gets to me before I head to the bank it’s fine.  Besides,” he chuckled as he shook the silver in his hand, “you always give me the strangest payment. It’s bad enough counting the bills fast when everyone’s trying to pay me and run to work.  I’d hate to have to look over your silver pieces at the same time.”

Helena winced.  “Sorry. I’d pay with dollars but….”

Mr. Samuels frowned.  “Now now Miss Helena, don’t you worry none about that.  Money’s money as far as the bank is concerned. Especially out here in the Immigrant Realm.”  His smile returned. “You just worry about finding a more steady job. Finding work around here’s gotta be something fierce with Madam Robicroix in town.”

“Yeah…” Helena grimaced at the name.  Madam Robicroix was a Vodun priestess, and had a reputation to match Helena’s grandmother.  Most of the people in the neighborhood who needed to speak with the dead or get a blessing went to her.  Why trust some crazy Greek woman when you could get the best money had to offer?

She forced her jealousy down.  No use obsessing over the competition.  “Well I’m sure I’ll find something. Anyway I’m off to market.  Any news before I go?”

The man shook his head.  “Nothing around here.  There’s some reconstruction in the big city, but that place ain’t for folks like us.”

“Yeah,” Helena nodded.  “Then I guess I’m off. I’ll see you later Mr. Samuels.”

“Have a good day Miss Helena,” Samuels said.  “Feel free to drop by any time. The missus can always use a little respite from looking after the kids, and Moses and Shanon love it when you stay over.”

“I will if I get the chance,” Helena replied.  She bowed slightly before waving goodbye, then headed out into the streets.

—-

Helena didn’t give the buildings more than a glance as she walked down the streets.  When she’d first arrived the massive four and five story apartments that filled most of the island realm had seemed huge compared to the simple two story homes of Thebes.  Now they were simple soot stained walls that cut out the sun.

It was interesting, she mused, that some place held up as the land of promise could be so dull in many ways.  There were djinni in the streets, oni in the sewers, and lesser fairies squabbling with pigeons, but they all lived in the same brick houses for all the glitter up front.  And all of them had better things to do then talk to you. Except maybe the fairies.

Of course none of the fantastical creatures were right here.  This was the ‘black’ ghetto. Helena had no idea what the Immigrant Realm’s obsession with skin color was, but the prices here were more reasonable than most places.  So she’d gotten a place to live here.

She moved onto the main streets, occasionally stepping aside to let a carriage pass.  The other people mostly ignored her, each running off on their own errand. Most were at work right now, but there was a lot of work that required running around the city.  The telephones that formed the lifeblood of the big city across the bridge didn’t function here, an odd quirk of reality that was probably the only thing keeping the immigrant city from being swallowed up.

Which was probably why the quirk existed in the first place.  Helena was skeptical of teleology, but she had a deep appreciation for the will of magic.

As she continued through the streets the architecture stayed the same, but the residents began to change.  The homogeneous populations of each ghetto shifted to the riot of peoples from across the myriad realms. Soon a witch in classical clothing wasn’t the strangest thing walking by.  Lesser fairies flitted through the air, while hooded trolls strode down the sidewalks. Even Helena blinked and paused as an angel in full raiment floated towards the cathedral. Still most people passing by were simple humans, going about their complex lives.  Helena knew of a few realms where even the peasants had magical powers, but here talents were less common, and usually weak.

Finally after thirty minutes of walking she reached the market.  Stalls covered the area, selling goods and sundries from both common realms and places Helena had never heard of.  Even in the depths of winter you could find fruits and vegetables, untouched by the snow.

Those were sadly beyond Helena’s tiny budget.  Instead she settled for dates and lentils from the many gated Thebes of Egypt, rice from a rabbit youkai, a chicken and some honey from a fey farmer, and a box of wine off a truck from across the bridge.

With every purchase she slipped the goods into her hat, letting the items fall down the paths of “ownership” to her apartment.  It was an easy trick even if it relied on cheating reality a bit.  And much better then walking around with all her purchases.

Finally her shopping was done.  She had food for a week, and a few spare coins to spend, probably enough for another week.  “Now to find work,” she muttered to herself.

Too bad she had no idea how to do that.

Neither her family nor any of her teachers had ever needed to learn how to market themselves.  They just moved into town, said they were witches, and offed anyone who complained about it. After that the customers came in happily.

Now that she was living in a more reasonable realm that plan didn’t work.  No one just murdered witches here. It was irritating how much civilization limited her options.

She began wandering towards the upper market.  That’s where the help wanted posters would be thickest, and it was the place most likely to have requests for more unique jobs.  Admittedly that had only worked for her once, but that was a detail she couldn’t get worked up about. Helena needed a job, and she wasn’t going to pretend she could just get one by sitting around at home.

Her boots clacked solidly against the cobblestones as she strode down the streets, a determined sound drowned out by the clatter of thousands of similarly determined feet marching to a thousand different drum beats.  The only accommodation the city was willing to grant her was the slight parting of traffic as people saw her hat and gave her a little more space.

The message boards gave her less reprieve.  It was swarmed by out of work men all desperately looking for something to get food on the table, and none of them were willing to give up their faint hopes just because a witch was nearby.  Helena had to wriggle and squirm past the crowd to the front of the board itself to see any jobs at all.

Actually reading the board was another trial.  A simple whispered spell translated the myriad of languages to something readable, if not always well written.  But the haphazard posts, and utter disdain new posters had for the old fliers meant the board was a puzzle of hidden details and offers.  Scanning a single column was a difficult task in itself.

After fifteen minutes of scanning the thin light of hope gave up and turned itself off.  Only one of the requests was for something within her line of work: a request to speak with the spirit of a dead man about treasure they’d hidden.  And that was a short notice in Chinese signed by someone Helena had been informed was the public face of the Triads. The concept of an organized crime syndicate was still somewhat fuzzy in Helena’s mind, but she was quite certain she didn’t want to get involved with torturing a murdered soul for information.

She pushed her way out of the crowd and began heading to the next board.  Most likely there wasn’t anything there either, but she had to try.

Thirty miserable minutes later, she managed to escape the press of desperate job searchers.  There was nothing here. Not even a repeat of the job she’d skipped last time. Helena was once again stumped.

The sun beat down on her as she began walking back through the alleys at random.  She knew she was headed towards home, but to go home was to give up. How could she say she’d tried after a mere hour of searching?  Even though she was out of leads it seemed like a dereliction of duty. A betrayal of her family’s trust.

Finally a thought coalesced in Helena’s mind, one that rekindled her small spark of hope.  She stepped into one of the quieter alleys and pulled out three pennies, a nickel and a drachma from her purse.  A divination would give her an idea what to do.

Coin divinations were weak, but simple, and they had a strong connection with money related queries.  Helena held the change close, thinking about finding a job, then tossed them to the ground.

The coins struck the dirt and fell where they stood.  Three copper coins lay side by side like a road, while the face of the nickel was headed to the temple on the flip side of the drachma.  Helena glared at the treacherous money before sweeping the coins up and tossing them back into her purse. “It seems the fates are telling me to give up today.”

She shook her head and began the long trip back to her apartment.  “I should have known that knowing the future wouldn’t help,” she muttered to herself as she passed out of the market district.  “It’s been drilled into my head enough. Only our city’s most famous king.”

The languages and ethnicities changed around her as she moved from one section of the city to the next, but she paid it little heed.  Her mind wandered between the plays of old and ideas to drum up some business, each discarded as soon as she found a glaring weakness in them.  She walked home guided by instinct.

Finally she reached her neighborhood.  The chatter of the kids coming back from school or their half days in the factories filled the streets as she headed towards her apartment.  The strange rhythmic clock of the city, so unlike her home’s rhythm.

As she moved across the street towards the doorway, a loud yowl of a cat sounded from somewhere behind her.  Then the scream of a horse and pounding hoof beats rang through the street.

Spinning Helena found a carriage barreling towards her, the horses up front wild eyed and terrified.  The carriage driver was pulling on the reins trying to slow them down, but there was no way he’d stop in time.  The vehicle was going to trample Helena and plow on to the streets filling with children beyond.

Leaping into the air, she summoned the power of flight, leaving the carriage to barrel under her.  However that wasn’t enough. She focused her will on the horses this time and yelled out a simple command, infused with a prayer to her goddess.  “STOP!”

The air shivered as her word of command ripped through the air.  As it washed over the horses the fear and panic washed from their faces and they started to stop.

With the horses slowing the people in the streets were easily able to get out of the way.  The driver seemed torn between relief and mortification as his ride came to a halt amongst the crowds that he nearly trampled.

Helena landed near the cart as the coachman worked on soothing his animals.  She was relatively sure neither of the horses would be running off anytime soon, but the coachman was probably too shaken by his near accident to believe anyone else’s word on the matter.

“That was so cool!”

Helena turned as two children broke out of the pack and dashed towards her.  Shanon and Moses were twins, though only their large eyes and short curly hair showed it.  Sharon had hit her growth spurt, leaving Moses in the dust, though Helena was rather certain that would reverse soon.

She gave the two a smile.  “It wasn’t anything special.  I am a witch after all.”

“Nothing special?”  Moses gave her a look.  “You flew!”

“And then you did that ripple thing that stopped the horses!” Shanon added.

Helena shrugged.  “Most witches can fly.  And I had help stopping the horses.”

Shanon looked at her quizzically.  “If you can fly, why do you walk everywhere?”

Helena looked the two kids in the eye.  “Because it’s rude. If we magicians just flew everywhere we’d cause a big disturbance.  Flying is for outside of cities or emergencies.” She patted the two on the shoulders. “Now you two will have to excuse me.  I think our coachman here is finished calming his horses.”

She spun towards the man, her happy mask replaced with the annoyance that had been roiling in her gut ever since she’d been surprised by the carriage.  “You should be more careful. You won’t always have a witch to bail you out of trouble.”

The man turned away from her gaze.  “I’m so sorry miss. Everything was fine and then somehow a couple of battling tomcats ran straight into my horses.  Spooked them worse than I’ve ever seen them spooked before. The damnedest thing.” He nervously swallowed. “I’m really sorry.  I need to see to my passenger. I bet she’s all shaken up.”

A light feminine voice came from within the carriage.  “I’m okay, I’m okay. Is everyone alright outside?”

The coachman quickly dismounted and nearly ran to the door.  “All’s fine my lady, and we’re at your destination.” The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves as the man opened the door.  No one who could pay for a carriage came around here.

The whispering grew louder as the man opened the door.  The woman who stepped down from the carriage looked something like a storybook princess.  She was tall with blond hair and green eyes, and her was dress a dark blue that few people could afford.  The cloak and riding boots didn’t match the dress, but they were new and fresh, obviously rarely used. The woman smiled to the crowd as the coachman helped her down and bowed.  “I apologize if my arrival caused you any distress.” She waited as the coachman pulled a large battered trunk from the back and handed it to her before addressing everyone again.  “I’m very sorry to disturb you all again, but might anyone know where the witch Helena Aoede lives?”

Curious.  She didn’t know this woman.  Still she stepped forwards, trusting in her magic.  “That would be me.”

The woman smiled like the sun.  “Ah excellent! Truly my luck seems to have changed.”  The woman stepped forward and curtsied. “I am Lady Alexis Von Strausfen, daughter of Pfalzgraf Holdst Von Strausfen.  I desperately need the services of a magician specialized in curses.”

“Hm?”  Helena’s heart picked up.  “What do you need done?”

The woman’s face turned grave.  “I fear I have been placed under a great and terrible spell, yet no one in my homeland can even tell me what it is, much less remove it.  I even spoke to a magician of the fey realm, and when they failed they gave me your name.” Alexis clasped her hands before her. “I beg of you, please remove this curse from me!”

Helena’s heart was beating faster than ever.  The Fates had finally given her a lucky break!  Still she forced her exhilaration down and folded her arms.  “Well, it sounds like a difficult job. Especially if you can’t determine even what the curse does.  It’ll take some time and…”

“I will pay three hundred Vereinsthaler.  Plus expenses,” Alexis said.

Helena’s mind spun through the conversion.  That was over six hundred silver dollars. She extended a hand.  “Done.” She let her own smile break free as Alexis shook it.

She was doing witches work once again!