Chapter Text
Echidna didn't know what to make of her latest creation. What had started out as a night out with friends and a few drinks had quickly escalated into a heated argument and a dare between her and a certain annoying half-elf which led to her making one of the best or worst decisions of her life depending on who you asked.
And the following morning it all came to a head when the Witch of Greed awoke to a dry mouth, a splitting migraine and a little girl staring back at her with wide eyes the shape of butterflies.
Both wore a confused look. Their mouths agape.
The child spoke first as Echidna was still in the middle of trying to make sense of the situation.
"Have I been thrown into a whole other world, I suppose?!" She exclaimed loudly with shock and wonder, making the thumping in the Witch of Greed's head grow increasingly worse.
Echidna examined the girl, taking note that she didn't look much older than eleven with cream blonde hair and a noticeable baby fat on her cheeks that made her want to squish them together.
All in all, she was cute. Extremely cute. Which would make it all the more tragic when she inevitably got rid of her. Dammit.
"Wait! Did I get reincarnated as a Loli!?" the blonde complained, clutching her head. "Ah man, this blows!"
Echidna rose out of bed, turning to face the child who was still gawking and babbling one thing or another. The Witch of Greed rose her index finger, a question at the tip of her tongue before the nausea from last night's binge fest came back full force and bile climbed up from the back of her throat and she –
Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh!
Echidna emptied out her stomach contents all over her bed for an embarrassingly ninety seconds before passing out in a puddle of her own refuge.
Not the best first impression.
"H-Hey are you alright?! Hey!" the child shouted before Echidna was once again dead to the world.
...
"Alright, let's start from the beginning." Echidna said, after finishing her bath, retrieving a fresh pair of clothes and placing a boiling pot of tea over the fire. The beverage wouldn't do much to relieve the pain in her head or mitigate the specks in her vision, but it would do wonders in keeping her calm, something Echidna desperately needed right now.
"No, biggie!" the spirit said with a ridiculous grin as she scratched the back of her neck shyly. "I guess even a Goddess needs time to unwind every now again, I suppose." She said, gesturing at the bottles strewn across the floor.
Well, that was embarrassing.
Echidna's lips pursed, "Yes, well truth be told I wasn't expecting company…" the woman said, her words falling flat as she tried and failed to remember the turns of events that led her to creating a living, breathing being.
She just knew that darn Elf had something to do with it. Even if she didn't, she'd still blame her anyway.
A little pettiness never hurt anyone right?
"…Uh excuse me?"
"Hm?"
Echidna blinked and the girl? Spirit? Child? Her drunken passion project was now giving her a weird look.
"What?"
"Aren't you supposed to give me something?" It said expectedly, while making a grabbing motion.
Echidna raised her brow. What was this creature on about? The only thing she needed to do was to get rid of this latest thorn in her side as quickly as possible.
"Care to elaborate." Echidna said offhandedly, her gaze occasionally moving toward the teapot to make sure it wouldn't burn. Good tea leaves were hard to come by after all.
"Come on, you know, I suppose!" the spirit gave a high pitch whine that made the woman's ears ring. "You're supposed to be my travel guide. My navigator on my path to heroism! The Goddess who's supposed to show me the way and nudge me in the right direction to defeat the Demon King, in fact!"
At her continued blank stare the girl sagged and muttered something under her breath.
"At least tell me I get a cool sword, I suppose?"
"A sword?" Echidna inquired, if only to sate her own curiosity. It was a force of habit. One she was still trying to break. Scouts honor.
The child seemed to regain her previous bluster as she bounced on the soles of her feet. Eyes alit with renewed delight.
"A magic Sword, in fact!" She said, with an affliction of something else. Something more, "One so strong that a single swing is enough to destroy an entire mountain. Swish! Swoosh! Swash!" The girl mimicked the use of an actual sword. It was clumsy, ridiculous even, but entertaining to watch nonetheless.
Echidna mused, before grimacing
'Eww, gross. Don't get attached. No matter what you do, don't grow fond of a pet you're about to put out of its misery. It'll only make it harder on the both of you.'
"I see," The Witch of Greed murmured, when in reality she didn't see, nor did she care to. This Spirit was clearly defective and needed to be put down pronto. "We'll I may not have a magic sword, I believe I have the next best thing."
A blast of magic point blank in the back of the skull. Quick, clean and perfectly humane, well as far as using concentrated energy went.
"Really?" the girl squeaked with an all too innocent look that made her chest grow uncomfortably tight.
'Oh, calm on, now that's just not fair.'
Echidna forced a smile. It was a bit off - too wide and awkward to be sincere but this thing either didn't see it or was far too oblivious for its own good.
All the more reason to get rid of it.
"Just close your eyes and I'll bring it to you." Echidna lied through her teeth, coaxing the young girl into the perfect position to blow her brains out.
The Spirit nodded eagerly, putting her hands over her eyes as if it were a child adhering to the wishes of its mother.
Mother.
The word sounded foreign and left a bitter taste in her mouth. Echidna never had a mother. Never knew a mother's love or experienced anything other than fear and rejection. It was only through sheer coincidence that she was able to come across individuals similar to her. Those who understood how she felt and in turn allowed Echidna to at least grasp the meaning of family even if by that point they were only hollow words that meant very little.
So, no Echidna could never be a mother and certainly not to this pitiful creature - who somehow, some way had avoided internal combustion from the shoddy patch up she had done when inebriated.
"Let's just get this over with," Echidna murmured to herself, ignoring the way the spirit kicked its legs back and forth cutely while prattling on about whatever gibberish it had conjured in its messed-up head. The woman walked behind it, gathering the sufficient power needed to bring this embarrassing chapter in her life to a close.
It was a small mercy. A necessary one at that. She was a witch. A blight upon this world. She didn't have time to pamper some measly spirit no matter how much the idea intrigued her.
Echidna stretched out her hand, resolving herself to do what needed to be done.
She took a deep breath just as the magic finished forming – warm and deadly to the touch as to be expected.
This was it.
Echidna took a step forward.
'Just do it and be done with it. No need to make it suffer.'
The Witch raised her arms but kept her eyes trained on anything other than the life she was about to extinguish. One of many cowardly acts throughout her life.
"?!"
Then she felt it. A tug, a pull or whatever it is you wanted to call it invaded her. It wasn't painful or discomforting rather it acted almost as a beacon. One meant solely for her.
"It couldn't be." Echidna said, her face dawning a wide range of emotions of which one stood out the most.
Disbelief.
"No way!" she seethed as her incredulity was replaced by outrage as the magic in her hands retreated and Echidna felt herself drawn to her bedside table where a certain black book lied in wait.
'The Gospel of Wisdom,'
"You've got to be kidding me! Now?! Seriously!" the witch raged and fumed as she read and re-read the newly formed letters inside the tomb.
And what she found did not make her happy! Not one bit!
"U-Um, is everything okay?" the spirit asked, hands still pressed astutely over its face.
Echidna felt her eyes twitch. Her blood began to boil.
'you're telling me that thing was meant to guide her towards her ultimate goal. Is this some sort of sick joke!'
Unfortunately, it wasn't and now Echidna was left to contend with the mistake she helped bring into this world by accident.
Someone please explain to her how this was her life now?!
The woman continued to moan and groan as she marched over to her kitchen pantry, shuffling through various items until digging one out in particular.
"Here," Echidna said sourly.
"Oooh! What is it?!" the spirit asked, examining the object closely.
"It's a knife."
"A magic knife!"
"More like a butter knife which is a magic in itself I guess."
"A magic butter knife eeehhh!
Aaand she was ignoring her, wonderful.
Echidna sighed with annoyance as she watched the spirit fall head over heels with the cutlery.
She was sure there was a lesson to be had about not letting children play with sharp objects in there somewhere, but for the life of her, Echidna couldn't bring herself to care.
Still, if she was going to take this thing under her wings she might as well go ahead and make it official.
"Let the blessing of spirits protect this new life from any harm that may come to her. I ordain that her name will be Beatrice. Let the world favor this soul and allow her to succeed in any and all endeavors she might pursue," Echidna said grandiosely, but by the look on her face you think she'd drunk sour milk.
"Beatrice is that my new name, I suppose?" the little girl asked.
"Isn't that what I just said," Echidna frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "Got a problem with it"
"Beatrice. Beatrice." the spirit child repeated the name in her mouth over and over before nodding in approval. "I like it! A new name, a new me! The start of my second life as an Isekai Protagonist, in fact!"
Beatrice cheered, striking an odd pose with the knife in hand.
'A second life?"
Echidna blinked, before snorting and dismissing the girl's words outright as ludicrous. Clearly, she was more damaged in the head than Echidna had thought and would need to be thoroughly examined in the off chance that she did happen to explode.
"Uh…"
"Now what?" Echidna sighed
"Sorry, this is really embarrassing but I never got your name, I suppose?"
"…It's Echidna," she said almost reluctantly.
The blonde opened her mouth.
"And no, I'm not a Goddess or anything of the sort. I'm a witch. The Witch of Greed in fact."
She said, expecting at a least a reaction of fear or wariness for such an ominous title but instead she was greeted to a look of delight.
Of course.
"Wait, you're a witch! A real witch! That's so cool! Hey! Hey! Does that mean you know magic! Can you teach me! Pretty please! I promise to be the best student ever. So pleaseee!"
How annoying. Ah, Echidna felt another headache coming on.
"I suppose it wouldn't be too troublesome, as a spirit you're practically made of the stuff -!"
Echidna stopped herself short. She had a sinking feeling that she had just made a grave error.
"Now hold on – "
"I'm a spirit really! An actual Spirit! This is so awesome! Talk about a major upgrade! My stats must be off the charts, I suppose!" Beatrice exclaimed while doing a funny dance of sorts.
Echidna felt the need for another drink come on.
"Uh, Echidna is something burning?"
The witches' eyes widened in dismay.
"My Tea!"