The Witch and the Robot (ABANDONED STORY)

Chapter 9 - The Preparation

Alice and Optimus drove for several hours in relative silence due to Alice's discomfort around her guardian. Looking around his cabin was painful and difficult for her to do as she had grown so accustomed to being able to see energies constantly, that it was hard for her to turn it off in a sense. As Optimus came to a stop outside her home, Alice would open her eyes slightly, trying to look out her window without getting a headache as Optimus spoke. "We have arrived at your home." Optimus said clearly, letting Alice know that they had arrived, despite her not being able to see through his windows very well. "I will keep vigil overnight, you need not worry for your safety." Optimus explained before she got out of the cabin, gently closing his door and walking around him to go to her house. "I will... see you tomorrow." Optimus said slowly, unsure if he was saying it right, as he had never had to bid farewell to the kids before, as they typically said goodbye to him and he responded with a nod to return it. Though now, he was the one bidding farewell to his charge.

"Thank you, Optimus. I'll see you tomorrow." Alice responded with a smile as she looked back at him. Being able to look at him a little easier while she was outside of his form now that she had been exposed to his energy for a prolonged period of time. She was starting to get used to the energy of the Prime, which would make their trips a little easier on her. Alice would head inside her home, letting Optimus drive off so he could start his vigil from somewhere that he could see her home, but wasn't in direct view of it, just to be safe. Alice's father would be at the table eating takeout, he had gotten some for her too, which she would smile a bit and join him at the table.

Alice would wake up at her usual time in the morning, getting ready to go before remembering that she had a ride today, so she decided to get a reading done before she needed to get going, she did have a couple of people that were waiting on her to get back to them. After she was done a couple of readings, Alice took her deck and shoved it into her bag so that she could do the rest of her readings at base, and maybe even try to get on Miko's good side by giving her a reading or two. She just wanted to be friends with the other people who knew about the bots, and she already had something good going on with Raf and Jack. Alice would then head out to the front of her house where she could see Optimus waiting for her. He didn't honk his horn, though he did think about it to get her attention if she would be running late, thankfully she came out on time. Alice squinted slightly from the light outside and as she looked at Optimus, but she got in anyway and let out a small breath, trying to keep her eyes open.

"Good morning Optimus. How was your night?" Alice asked, smiling some as she closed her eyes for a moment. "Thank you for the ride to school, and home from the base. You didn't need to, but I appreciate your protection." Alice said calmly, her smile fading as she tried to focus less on the energy around her, squinting some as she looked up at Optimus' mirror. "Honestly, I've been worrying a bit about the sort of danger I'm in, knowing about you. I worried the other night that a Decepticon was going to come and scoop me up or something, or just, squish me for knowing." Alice explained, opening up some to her guardian. Optimus understood where her fear was coming from, but none of the other children had encounters with the Decepticons near their own home. Jack had been the closest one, when he first discovered Arcee, but none of the others had any trouble.

Optimus would begin driving towards the school, driving carefully and abiding by the rules of the road completely. "None of the other children aside from Jack have had any encounters with the Decepticons within Jasper. Though Jack's encounter seems to have been a one-time thing, there have been no other incidents since Jack discovered Arcee." Optimus explained, hoping to ease her anxiety some with the facts. Sometimes the truth could be soothing, other times, it could be anxiety-inducing. He hoped that it was the former in this case as he presumed, but he was still getting to know humans and how they functioned.

Alice would smile and let out a gentle breath, trying to look out the window down at the tiny cars as Optimus drove towards the school. "That's good to hear. I'm glad that they stay away from here for the most part. It just means that I have little to worry about." Alice said, looking back to Optimus' mirror with a thankful smile. "As much as I like walking to school, getting a ride is much easier. I'm sorry if it inconveniences you at all." Alice chuckled, rubbing the back of her head as she looked down at her feet where the energy wasn't as strong.

"It is my duty as your guardian to ensure that you arrive safely wherever you may go. Though you and I will not get as much... off time, as the others do, to socialize." Optimus said, avoiding the second sentence purposefully. He could be doing much better things with his time, but someone needed to watch her. Depending on how potent of a witch she was, which they were going to see later this day, she could be useful, just as each of the other kids were in their own way. 

Alice was quiet the rest of the trip, feeling like she was a bit of a burden to Optimus. Arriving at school, she would bid him a simple farewell before heading to her first class. The day went by smoothly and Optimus had arrived back at base, the other three being good enough guardians to watch her during the school day for him. That and she seemed to like getting the time to socialize with Raf on the way to base, so he wasn't opposed to having a bit of his own time to do his work.

Getting to base a little later than the others, was Raf, Bee, and Alice. Alice had needed to go home to gather more of the things that she didn't want to risk bringing to school as they were either fresh from her own garden, in glass jars, or generally too much to carry through the day. With her, she had an extra box that she was carrying, while Raf helped her with her bag. They carried the things up the stairs and Alice began preparing what she needed. She laid out a rug that had the moon's phases on it as well as a pentagram, pulled out candles of varying sizes and colours, organizing herself near the TV and couch, borrowing the table to put her stuff on. She organized her herbs and spices, various jars of dirt and water, one even full of ash.

Alice then let out a small sigh and closed her eyes, muttering something to herself that sounded like gibberish as she collected dried herbs and a certain kind of wood into a cauldron-like bowl with a handle, before she would light a match and drop it into the bowl of dried leaves and wood, igniting the contents easily. The other kids looked on with interest, even Miko, as she began cleansing the space, picking up her bowl by the handle and carrying it around the space with her, muttering more gibberish to herself, slowly getting louder as the calming scents of Palo-Santo, lavender, and rose, grew stronger and filled the space. She used her hand to waft the smoke over herself, cleansing her body and spirit as Jack finally asked what was on everyone's mind. "What are you doing?"

Alice wouldn't stop, but she would pause her chanting to tell him, seeming quite focused on the matter at hand. "Cleansing the space and myself. Would you like to be cleansed as well? It will help purify the space and amplify my work, even the bots can be cleansed, and should be, of any negative energy." Alice explained, after walking the perimeter of the human area, she would ad more herbs and wood to the bowl, walking down the steps and doing the whole of the main room as she continued to chant. Alice then walked over to the bots and began wafting the smoke over their feet, then climbing back up to the human area to have the smoke pour down over their full forms Optimus motioned for each bot to go through with it, as much as they didn't want to, but if she deemed it necessary to do the work that Fowler was on his way to observe, then it needed to be done. "When Fowler gets here, I will cleanse him as well." Alice said, setting the burning bowl aside for now once she was done cleansing the bots.

"Now that the room is cleansed, I need to fill it with positive energy so that I can do my work without it backfiring. Unfortunately, Witchcraft makes a mess sometimes, but I assure everyone I'll clean it up."  Alice explained as she grabbed two jars, one that seemed to just be dirt, and the other labelled as moon water. Alice mixed a bit of the two in another cauldron-like bowl, and then made a simple mark on her forehead, motioning for the other humans to come forwards and do the same as they cleansed themselves at the bowl. Shockingly, even Miko was participating quietly as she watched. Once they were done, she would step forwards and place the same mark on their heads with the mud, walking forwards to the railing to do the same for the bots. Once everyone had the mark upon their forehead, even Ratchet, who was muttering to himself how none of this was scientific, and that there was no point to it, Alice would pull out a large leatherbound book with many old-looking pages in it, as well as newer ones. While she was looking through it, the proximity alarm went off as Fowler landed up top. When he came down, he would seem content that Alice was already set up.

"Good to see that you're getting right to business, Alice." Fowler would say with a smile, though he would be silenced before he could say much else.

"I will cleanse you, and then put a mark on your forehead, just like I did with everyone else. The cleansing will get rid of your negative energy, and the mark will attract positive energy to you." Alice explained, waving some of the smoke in his face and over his head so it would fall over him. "Then we will start with a simple protection spell over the base." Alice explained as she lead him back to her rug, to which she would cleanse a circle around herself and the materials she had chosen, as well as the book.

Alice took a large, empty jar and filled the bottom with salt, pouring some essential oils from a bottle over top of it, making it less loose and more solid before she would drop a crystal inside, making sure it was in the centre. She then started piling dried leaves of herbs and different spices over it, even putting a few charms of sorts in. She then began speaking over the jar as she took a marker, drawing sigils all over the jar. As she did this, everyone could feel the energy shift in the room, it was ready for the ritual.