After sending the four disobedient little witches to detention, Fiona was still fuming. It took a while for her mood to finally settle down.
Fiona sat in her office, silently looking at the mirror on her desk.
Although the woman in the mirror was already in her sixties, she still retained her charm and looked no older than her daughter Cordelia, who was in her thirties.
But as she looked, Fiona suddenly began to cough violently. The coughing fit ended with her spitting out a large pool of black liquid.
"Looks like this body can't hold on for much longer!"
Fiona muttered to herself as she looked at the mirror.
Just as she was thinking this, someone knocked on the office door.
Fiona quickly wiped away the black liquid on the floor and tidied herself up.
"Come in!"
The person who knocked was Fiona's daughter, Cordelia.
"Mother, I've already settled things with the FEA. They won't pursue the matter from last night any further."
Cordelia looked at her mother, Fiona, seemingly wanting to receive praise.
But Fiona only glanced at Cordelia indifferently, as if her daughter's actions were to be expected.
This made Cordelia feel somewhat dejected. Her greatest desire was to gain her mother Fiona's approval, but because of her relatively weak personality and her strength being far inferior to that of the Supreme Witch, Fiona had long since given up on nurturing her. From a very young age, Cordelia had been left to her own devices.
Even many students didn't really respect Cordelia, like Madison, for example.
Because of this, Cordelia felt a great deal of pain inside, but unfortunately, there was no one she could confide in.
"Good job. Those FEA guys are getting bolder and bolder. They actually dared to ask me for people. Have I not made a move in recent years, so they've forgotten my power?"
Cordelia knew that her mother Fiona had a very fiery temper when she was younger and had clashed with the federal government several times, which led to the Witches' Council's current detached status. However, some things are best done in moderation. The federal government couldn't just keep tolerating it; they weren't turtles.
There would always be someone in charge who would cause things to spiral out of control.
"Mother, are you not feeling well today?"
Fiona turned her head to look at Cordelia.
"What do you think?"
Cordelia didn't dare to ask any more questions.
"Mother, if there's nothing else, I'll head out."
"Wait a minute!"
Just as Cordelia was about to leave, Fiona stopped her.
"Is there anything else, Mother?"
"Is Myrtle Snow at the school?"
Hearing this, Cordelia was very surprised.
Myrtle Snow was a teacher at the witches' school, not the kind of cultural studies teacher hired from outside, but a teacher who taught witchcraft. She was also a member of the Witches' Council.
Here, it's necessary to explain the structure of the Witches' Council. The head of the Witches' Council is undoubtedly the Supreme Witch.
However, the Supreme Witch cannot act arbitrarily, because beneath the Supreme Witch there is also a Witches' Council, composed of three to nine highly respected elder witches. Their main job is to supervise the Supreme Witch and prevent the Supreme Witch from doing anything detrimental to all witches.
This council usually doesn't have much presence, but it has the authority to judge witches who have committed wrongdoings.
Of course, the rules within the witches' community are relatively simple. Generally, unless it involves the killing of other witches, this council won't get involved.
You see, Madison killed more than a dozen members of the Irish mob, and didn't the Supreme Witch handle that herself?
The logic is simple: the Witches' Council is to protect "witches," not ordinary people.
What truly surprised Cordelia was that Myrtle Snow and Fiona were witches from the same era. They had been at odds with each other since childhood and hadn't spoken in years.
On the other hand, Cordelia had a very good relationship with Myrtle. After all, when Cordelia was still a little witch, Myrtle was already a teacher at the witches' school. Now that Cordelia was the headmistress, she had been getting along with Myrtle for over a decade.
"Myrtle doesn't have any classes today, so she's not at school."
A flicker passed through Fiona's eyes.
"Is that so? Then never mind, you can go."
Cordelia really wanted to ask her mother why she was asking about Myrtle, but their relationship was actually very cold, so after hesitating, Cordelia didn't ask.
After the office returned to silence, Fiona spat out another mouthful of black liquid.
It turned out that Fiona's calm and collected demeanor just now was all an act. Her health was deteriorating very rapidly.
"Damn it! I must find the next Supreme Witch! I can't keep dragging this on! But before that, I still need to find out who was behind what happened last night!"
The mysterious witch corpse brought home last night inexplicably disappeared, which made Fiona very concerned. As the Supreme Witch, she hadn't sensed it at all, which was very dangerous.
After thinking for a moment, Fiona cleaned up the black liquid she had spat out, then stood up and prepared to leave the office.
Just then, the phone on her desk rang.
"Hello, this is Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies, Fiona Goode speaking."
"Respected Supreme Witch, this is Bartholomew from Amaranth."
Fiona's heart skipped a beat, and her voice became lighter.
"Oh, Ms. Bartholomew, what a surprise! What brings you to call me today?"
"Ha! Can't an old friend just want to chat?"
"Don't say such things, Bartholomew. You and I are both getting on in years; we don't have that much time to waste."
Bartholomew's tone on the other end of the phone changed.
"Actually, there is something I wanted to ask you for help with, Fiona."
"Go ahead, seeing as we've had some pleasant collaborations in the past, I can give you a discount."
"Fiona, I need you to take care of someone for me."
"Who?"
"Roy Black!"
This was the third time Fiona had heard the name Roy Black. The first time was from her daughter Cordelia, the second was from the hypnotized Emma, and the third was now from Bartholomew.
"Interesting. Has this person offended you, Bartholomew?"
Bartholomew seemed to sense that Fiona also knew Roy Black, but this old fox definitely wouldn't say it directly.
"It wasn't me he offended, but Amaranth! To be honest, this guy is an off-the-books agent for the FEA, so it might be a bit tricky. But we tracked his cell phone, and it turns out he's in Boston these past few days."
Hearing this, Fiona's expression changed.
Cordelia had brought Roy's cousin Emma to the witches' school, and Roy just happened to be in Boston. His intentions were obvious.
Here, it's necessary to explain why Bartholomew knew Roy was in Boston by tracking his cell phone, rather than through the previous plane crash.
This was because the airline, in order to evade responsibility, had concealed Roy's disappearance and removed his name from the passenger list.
Although the passengers at the time mentioned Roy as the person who forcibly opened the emergency exit and jumped out, they didn't know Roy's name, and the airline suppressed the news.
Only the psychiatrist, Dr. Claire Sheffield, knew Roy's name, but she thought Roy was dead and was currently grieving.
"Well, isn't that a coincidence! I just had a run-in with the FEA this morning. If you want me to take care of this person, you're going to have to raise your price!"
Bartholomew was stunned for a moment, not expecting things to be so coincidental. She didn't think the Supreme Witch would lie about such a small matter, and Amaranth could easily verify whether there had been a conflict.
"Then, what does the respected Supreme Witch desire?"
"My body is having some issues, and I need a targeted drug to maintain my health!"
This was Fiona's contingency plan. If her health deteriorated further and she hadn't found a new Supreme Witch, she would have to rely on technological means to prolong her life.
And Amaranth was a technology company with no conflict with the Witches' Council, making them the most suitable partner.
Bartholomew was silent for a while before replying to Fiona.
"Alright, after you deal with Roy Black, you can come to Amaranth headquarters, and I will personally receive you."
"It's settled then!"
Fiona hung up the phone directly, as she was always so decisive.
"Roy Black, huh? Let's see what tricks you're trying to pull!"
On the other side, Roy was hiding in an apartment building near the witches' school, observing the situation.
He originally thought Madison would contact him soon, but Roy waited until evening without receiving any news, making him suspect he had been stood up.
Roy didn't know that Madison and the others had been put in detention by Fiona, and all their communication tools, like cell phones, had been confiscated.
However, Roy did receive an unexpected call.
"Hello, Jennifer, what can I do for you?"
"My dear little Roy, I'm not Jennifer. I'm Lilith."
"Lilith, you've awakened from your slumber?"
"Naturally. The people from the Witches' Council are gone. Why would I continue to sleep?"
That made perfect sense.
"So, what's the reason for your call?"
"I wanted to ask if you've seen my 'lovely' daughter."
Lilith emphasized the word "lovely," clearly implying a special meaning.
"I don't know who your daughter is yet..."
"I see. My daughter Ophélia's witch talent is the ability to possess the bodies of others, but she can only possess the bodies of pure-blooded humans, and it has to be women. Back then, she took over my body, which led to my current predicament. Maybe my body is still in her hands!"
Roy frowned slightly.
"So, your daughter is hiding in the Witches' Council to obtain a new body?"
"I think so! By possessing others, she can also master their witch talents. However, due to the rejection between the soul and the body, she has to change bodies every so often. Only the Witches' Council has the conditions for this."
Indeed, the Witches' Council had the most complete records of witches in America. As long as she infiltrated the higher ranks of the Witches' Council and then randomly picked a witch, she could change bodies.
After all, most witches' lives were actually similar to ordinary people's, and the Witches' Council was just a loose alliance, with people usually not seeing each other.
However, Lilith's daughter probably wouldn't just randomly possess any witch; she would definitely look for those with powerful talents and outstanding abilities.
Then the most suitable place to observe would be the witches' school.
Fortunately, Emma was a mixed-blood witch with Leviathan blood in her, so she wouldn't become Ophélia's target. That was good news.
"How can I confirm which witch is your daughter?"
"Actually, it's very simple! I remember in the occult, there are many ways to confirm if someone has been possessed. There shouldn't be any witches in the Witches' Council who are possessed. The one who tests positive should be my 'precious' daughter Ophélia."
Roy happened to know the method Lilith was talking about. Because demons couldn't stay in the human world for long, they had to find a human as a vessel, so they usually possessed humans.
Therefore, both the occult and the church had many routines for checking for demonic possession. The principles were similar, which was to check if a person's soul was their original soul.
"I understand. I will help you find your daughter."
Roy had previously promised Lilith that he would help her deal with her daughter, and now it was time to fulfill that promise, especially since Lilith had already paid the "price."
"Oh, my lord, do you need me to come over and help?"
This made Roy's face darken.
"Didn't I tell you not to call me 'lord'?"
"But I feel like every time I call you that, you get especially excited!"
"Stop, don't say any more, or it'll become unspeakable again! Don't you want to avoid being discovered by your daughter?"
Lilith on the other end of the phone paused for a moment before explaining.
"The main reason I don't want to be discovered by my daughter is that I'm afraid if she knows I'm still alive, she'll choose to destroy my body."
Lilith's body was created by God and was among the first humans in the Garden of Eden.
In the Bible, Adam lived for 930 years. Although he didn't display any special powers, the ability to live that long was terrifying enough.
And although Lilith was banished from the Garden of Eden by God, her body also possessed some divinity, and because she had mastered witchcraft, her lifespan was even longer than Adam's.
If possible, Lilith definitely hoped to return to her own body, so she didn't want to be exposed to her daughter Ophélia.
"As long as I hide and don't let her find me, that's enough. Besides, I can provide you with some advice, can't I?"
Indeed, as a witch who had lived for thousands of years, Lilith's mastery of witchcraft was unquestionable, and she could sometimes provide good advice.
For example, the method just mentioned for checking for possession was an idea Lilith provided.
"What about Waterfall Town...?"
"I'll leave a charm on Niddy. If anything happens to her, I'll sense it immediately!"
It seemed Lilith had already made up her mind to come to Boston. There was no use in trying to persuade her otherwise.
"Go put charms on Heather and Penny too before you come. Also, remember to ask Ms. Elizabeth for leave!"
Lilith inexplicably felt that Roy seemed to respect that history teacher Elizabeth a little too much, but she didn't say it out loud.
"No problem! Leave it to me, little master!"
"Shut up, I'm not little at all!"