Celeste looked up from her book at the sound of classical music, raising an eyebrow in surprise. Someone was clearly at the door, but she didn’t know why; she and Ianna hadn’t scheduled a matchmaking session so they could have a making-out session instead. 

     “Babe?” Ianna stepped into the doorway, her rosy pink robe swaying as she did so. She held a makeup brush in her hand that was tinted pink, and one of her cheeks was noticeably more pink than the other. “What was that?”

     Celeste shrugged and started getting up from the cosy couch she had been cuddled up on, making sure to set her book down after marking her place in it. “I have no idea, but I should probably check it out. Don’t worry, darling, you can just keep doing what you’re doing – I’ll take care of this.”

     Her wife beamed at her and gave her a peck on the cheek before turning to head back to the vanity.

      After Celeste descended the stairs, she opened the door and was met with a surprising sight: Aria, the ghost they had given a list of suitors to only a day earlier, was back. 

     Without wasting a beat, Aria said, “I think something went wrong with the matches or the machine. I literally went on dates with all of them, but even though they were mostly great people, each of them had one quirk that I just couldn’t get over, so… I don’t know what went wrong, but none of them were my soulmate.”

     A few seconds of stunned silence passed as Celeste stood looking at her, mouth agape, until finally the words set in. 

     “I– what? None of them?”

     Aria shook her head. As soon as she did it, though, she immediately regretted it as Celeste began to topple over. She tried to catch her as she fell, but – seeing as ghosts aren’t known to be particularly corporeal – Celeste just passed through her arms. Luckily, though, this did slow her descent a bit, so she hit the ground with the sound of a wet noodle instead of a horrible crash.

     “U-um, Ianna? Help, please?” she called out into the house. “Celeste kinda fainted and I can’t move her, so… it’ll be up to you.”

     There was movement on the second floor near the staircase and Aria looked up. Her gaze was met with a lithe form that she knew belonged to Ianna, who was clad in a beautiful, surprisingly see-through robe. 

     “What, dearie?” she asked. “What happen- oh, holy ghost!” 

     Immediately after noticing that Celeste was crumpled by Aria’s feet, Ianna rushed down the stairs toward them. She bent down on the floor, conjured a small jar of ink, and swiped a little of it onto Celeste’s head. As if she had just been shocked, she sat back up and grabbed Ianna’s arm tightly, turning her gaze to meet her wife’s.

     “Ianna! Our matchmaking didn’t work for her!”

     Ianna’s mouth dropped open and her eyes flitted back and forth from Celeste to Aria. “What?” Her voice was breathless. “Really?”

     Aria nodded.

     “How?”

     She shrugged. “I just… didn’t hit it off with any of them. Like I told Celeste, I liked them all for the most part, but they each had one trait that was a deal breaker for me.”

     Once more, silence stretched between the three of them as the matchmakers exchanged looks. Aria watched them, worry growing in her as she remembered what they said when the machine briefly malfunctioned.

     This had never happened before. That’s why they were so freaked out. She knew this, but seeing their reactions really drove home how new this situation was to them. She couldn’t help but feel a pit in her stomach, but she laughed it off with yet another of her nervous giggles.

    “Well, I’m sure there are other options, right?” Silence once more as the two women looked back toward her. “Right?”

     Ianna stood up, holding a steady hand around Celeste as they both rose from the ground. “Uh, yes, probably, we just… need to deliberate about this for a minute. Just stay here for a bit, okay?”

     They began to stride quickly away from Aria until her voice pierced through their intense concentration: “Uh, guys? Don’t you need to close the door? I kinda can’t do it, so… yeah.”

      “Of course,” Ianna replied with a half-hearted chuckle. After closing the door, she made her way back over to Celeste’s side and they moved to another adjacent room, leaving its door slightly ajar behind them.

     Immediately, their eyes met, concern and anxiety clear in both pairs.

     “What should we do?” Celeste asked.

     Ianna gave a heavy sigh. “I’m not sure, honestly. Obviously, this situation is new to us, so we don’t really know how to handle it. There’s no precedent of this ever happening, either, even to matchmakers before us.”

     “Also, everyone out there has a person who will love them,” Celeste added. “Aria shouldn’t be any different. She has everything going for her, too; why is she the one person our machine can’t make a match for?”

     “Hmm.” Ianna tapped her chin, staring off into space with a pensive look. “Maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with her as a person.”

     “What do you mean?”

     “Maybe the malfunction has something to do with the dating pool instead. Celeste, you were the one who helped design and enchant this newest model, right? How exactly does it work?”

     “As you know, the process starts with us,” she began. “We are the ones who gather the magical information that it uses to search. It’s basically an oracle: it can tap into divination magic that’s too strong for us as organic creatures to handle, so it’s able to ‘see’ into the past and present. Through this, it gathers information about how each creature in the world goes about life – or death, of course – and can pick a few who have the most promising chemistry with the person it based its search on.”

     Ianna frowned. “If it searches through everyone, that implies that there’s no one in the world that best matches with Aria.”

     “Exactly, but I genuinely don’t know how, though! It’s not like she has incredibly high standards or anything. Besides, even if someone did come to us with unrealistic expectations, they would still find a person they liked enough in the end to accept a few ‘imperfections.’” Celeste groaned. “Ugh, I don’t know what we could be doing wrong! It seems like even God is against us!”

     “Um…?” A quiet voice came by the doorway, catching their attention. Aria stood there sheepishly. “I just caught the last two sentences you said. Sorry. I wasn’t meaning to eavesdrop, I promise–”

     “I’m sure you weren’t, darling,” Ianna said.

     “Even though I wasn’t meaning to spy, I heard Celeste mention that it seems like even God is against you.” Aria exhaled a breath, her eyes trained away from the couple. “Honestly, I felt the same way as I was flying here. I had just had a really bad date with the last guy on the list, and I was obviously very frustrated, so I flew up into the sky and ended up running into some ducks.” Aria paused, correcting herself with a weak laugh. “Actually, I technically passed through them, but that doesn’t really matter. I said exactly what you said, then one of the ducks inclined its head, and I saw your mansion. It’s almost like they knew where I needed to go, but that I just needed a final push to get there.

     “I was very confident coming back here because I know you two are very proud of your business, and you love bringing people together. I also know that you wouldn’t leave a loose end like this if you could help it. I don’t want to put pressure on you like this, but I really want this to work out, so…” This time, Aria took in a deep breath, meeting Celeste and Ianna’s gazes with an intense, optimistic expression. “Please, matchmakers, I’m putting my heart and soul into your hands.”

     The witches exchanged glances again, their expressions twisted with guilt, worry, and nervousness. 

     “Aria,” Celeste said gently, “I hate to admit it, but Ianna and I are stumped here. We have no idea what went wrong, and there aren’t any clues that could lead us into an explanation or a solution.” 

     “You know what that means, then, right?” The optimistic facade Aria bore was quickly leeching off of her face; her voice broke as tears welled up in her eyes. “You’re condemning me to a future of solitude. I’ve tried everything on my own for God knows how many years to find someone and nothing’s worked. Am I unlovable enough that not even a prophetic machine can find someone to stay with me forever?”

    Lumps formed in Celeste’s and Ianna’s throats as they heard this.

     She was right. By giving up now, they were telling her that she truly was unlovable, and they couldn’t do that. They would figure out another way. They needed to.

     Celeste walked toward Aria and placed a hand on her shoulder, ignoring the chill she felt from doing so. 

     “I’m sorry, dearie. You’re not unlovable at all. Just because the machine didn’t find a soulmate for you doesn’t mean we’ve exhausted all of our options; we just…” She trailed off, making eye contact with Ianna as she did so. “We just have to get a little more creative this time. Besides, necessity is the mother of invention, right? Who knows? This could be the best for us anyway.”

     “Definitely,” added Ianna. “How about I get you some tea, and after that, you can come back to check in with us again once every few days? We’ll keep you updated on how the soulmate searching is going, of course, though we do ask that you be patient with us. Rome wasn’t built in a day, after all.”

     With a shuddering breath, Aria nodded, wiping an icy tear from her cheek. Ianna put a hand on her back and slowly led her out of the room as she engaged in lighter talk about various flavors of tea.

      Now alone in the room, Celeste’s head began to spin.

      She had to make things right. But how? The machine had done all it could do. It used divination magic to see into the past and present to gather information about possible matches, for spirit’s sake! No witch could do that. That much information would overload their brains, not to mention that the power needed to use such a spell would ruin their magic circuitry! Still, Aria didn’t deserve a future full of solitude–

     Wait.

     Future. The future. The machine could see into the past and present, but not the future! That’s what was missing. That’s what the machine couldn’t account for!

     Celeste sprung out of the chair she had been sitting in as her thoughts gathered into one conclusion: the machine couldn’t make matches for creatures who didn’t exist yet. Witches had been creating life through magical means since the second magic came into being, so she and Ianna could create a suitable match for Aria from scratch! She knew they could; after all, she had had friends in college who specialized in both the animation and re-animation arts.

     Although… creating a being just for the purpose of satisfying another wouldn’t be very ethical. So, to avoid that, she and Ianna would have to make sure that it had the ability to refuse their proposition of a date, as well as the ability to think its actions through before committing to any. As long as said creature could experience the world no differently than the average adult, Celeste was confident that no wrongs would be committed. 

     Celeste almost vibrated with excitement as she heard footsteps get closer, gearing up to share this new idea with her wife.

     “Okay, my love, Aria just left,” Ianna said, “So now we can get started figuring this o–”

     “No need! I think I came up with a solution already!”

     Ianna stood still for a second in the middle of the room, silent as she processed this surprising fact. She felt excitement and hope building in her at the prospect that they could solve this problem, and she tried to tamp them down because it was too early for that. Celeste was brilliant, but some of her ideas weren’t realistic.

     “I-I mean, go ahead! Tell me everything.”

     Ianna sat beside Celeste on the couch as she relayed the information to her, ending with the idea that they could try to frankenstein a partner for Aria.

     Ianna frowned slightly. “Can we do that? Like… ethically?”

     “Don’t worry, I thought of that, too.”

     After Celeste explained her thoughts, Ianna was speechless once more. Now that she heard the plan, she wasn’t able to suppress her excitement, and a smile spread across her face.

     “I mean, wow, no notes,” she said. “I think it could work! Of course, the partner we build could just choose to turn down the date with her, so then we’d be back at square one, but I don’t have any other solutions, so we can just go with that one!” Another pause. “Although…”

     Celeste gave her a worried look. “What?”

     “You know what this means?”

     “No? You’re scaring me a little. What does it mean?”

    Ianna sighed, pouting. “It means no make-out sesh for us, unfortunately. And I was so looking forward to it.”

    Celeste chuckled and rolled her eyes, unable to disguise how happy that made her. “Of course that’s what you’re focusing on. Don’t worry, though! Once we get this done we can reschedule.”

     Ianna twirled the end of her braid around her finger and gave her a coy look. “Well, if I have to wait, then give me something to tide me over, at least.”

     “If you insist, my love.” 

    Celeste grinned at Ianna, cupped her jaw, and leaned in for a kiss. They melted into each other, sharing a moment of bliss that was a welcome escape from the anxiety that weighed on them not long ago. After a bit more time than she meant to, Celeste pulled away, immediately fighting the urge to go in for one more kiss; after all, “one more” wasn’t an easy sentiment to stick to.

     “Okay, that’s all for now,” she said, more to herself than her wife. “We have to do this, and we can’t have any more” – her gaze roamed over Ianna and she blushed, turning away to keep herself focused and to hide the effect Ianna’s presence was having on her – “uh, distractions.”

     Ianna giggled. “If you insist. But I hope you know that you’re all mine once this is done, okay?”

     Celeste nodded and cleared her throat, looking at the ceiling. Her feigned nonchalance was failing her. “Uh, yeah, gladly,” she replied.

     Ianna sighed again. “As much as I love toying with you, we should probably get back on track. So… how exactly are we going to build a partner for her? I don’t specialize in the physical sides of magic like you do, so I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any ideas?”

     Celeste’s eyes lit up. “Yes, I do! I know the first place we have to go.” She laughed deviously and tapped her fingers together, mimicking a Hollywood villain. “There’s two friends we need to visit, and I think you’ll be happy to see them.”

──── . ݁ ˖☾♥☽. ݁ ˖ ────

The women touched down in front of a medium-sized, red-brick house and leaned their brooms against the fence. Ianna scanned the property and her gaze landed on the variety of tombstones that littered the acres of ground; that, paired with the sign outside the house’s front door that read “The Graves Residence: We Deal in Spare Parts,” clued her in to their location. Immediately, she shot Celeste a knowing smile.

     “You brought me to visit my sister and called her a friend?” She hit her wife’s arm playfully and let out a laugh. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you, you sly dog!”

    Celeste shrugged. “I’ll never tell. Besides, why did you assume this was all about you? Maybe this was about me. Maybe I just missed my sister-in-law. We’ve been too busy to see her and her husband for a while, so you can’t blame me.”

     Ianna rolled her eyes but her smile gave her away. She began to hum happily and started walking toward the house. Celeste followed her, giggling to herself. 

     They quickly ascended the stairs and knocked on the dark wooden door. It didn’t take long before it swung open and a flash of black curls sprung out of the house, wrapping around Ianna in a tight hug.

     “Oh, Ianna, I’ve missed you!” the woman squealed. She quickly pulled back, her golden eyes sparking with energy, and immediately tackled Celeste with the strength of a bear. “Celeste, it’s so good to see you!” After squeezing the life out of her, she let her go. “I’m so glad you sent that raven, dearie! I was looking for an excuse to see you two, and then you tell me you need our help, so that was perfect!”

     Ianna snorted. “Our? Amani, Rob does most of the work, and you know that.”

     Amani shrugged. “My presence helps him work, so it’s a team effort. He’s told me so.” She grabbed their hands and started pulling them inside. “Let’s go to the garage! He’s already there. He didn’t know which parts you needed because you didn’t specify the gender of the person you wanted to build, so he’s gathered a variety for you to choose from.”

     As they opened the door to the garage, they were met with the sight of an incredibly pale, burly man with ginger hair whose back was turned to them. He was bending over one of many long white tables, all of which were covered with every body part a humanoid could offer. He turned toward them after Amani called to him, and when he did, the witches were surprised to see him sucking on a red juice box.

     “Staying hydrated, are we?” Celeste joked. “What flavor is that? Fruit punch?”

     “No, it’s tomato flavored.”

     Her face immediately scrunched up in disgust. “Ew.”

      Rob blinked at them, his face unchanging. “I lied. It’s actually blood flavored. Aren’t I funny?”

     While Celeste and Ianna looked at him in mild confusion, Amani strode toward him happily and traced a finger down his large bicep before she addressed the other two with a bright smile. “I just turned him the other day! Not only does he make such a handsome vampire, he gets to stay that way forever because now he gets to share immortality with me! Isn’t that so sweet?”

     Both Ianna and Celeste cooed at this. 

     “Aww, that’s wonderful,” Ianna sighed happily. 

     “Giving up your mortality to stay with your wife? Now that’s true love. I’m such a romantic… this is all too much!” Celeste raised her hand over her forehead, her palm facing the ceiling. “Oh, catch me, Ianna, before I faint again!” She dramatically tipped over, catching herself just as Ianna’s hands jumped out to save her. She giggled. “Got you.”

     Ianna crossed her arms, pouting briefly. “Whatever.” Then, she addressed Amani and Rob. “You know what this means? We can visit each other for eternity!”

     Rob dipped his head slightly in what appeared to be a nod. “Yes, we can. I’m excited to spend more time with both of you. We should be able to see each other every 50 years now.” He cleared his throat. “However, we can make plans for visitations later. Now, you two must pick from my selection of parts. As you know, we only accept the best, most ethically-sourced donations, so every part here is of the highest quality. You can’t go wrong no matter what you pick.”

     They began to peruse the assortment, looking for anything that stood out to them. After a few minutes of looking, though, they felt stumped. 

     “Uh, Ianna? Do you remember what Aria’s physical preferences are?”

     “I do, actually!” She pulled out the same wax statue that Celeste made using the content of Aria’s thoughts. “I’m really glad I brought it.”

     “I am, too! That was great foresight on your end.”

     Ianna grinned. “I know you love a woman who thinks ahead, darling. It’s all for you, my love.”

     Celeste’s cheeks heated and she ducked away from her, only giving a slight squeak in return. Ianna chuckled. Even after hundreds of years, Celeste still couldn’t handle being flirted with without ending up in a puddle on the floor; that was one of Ianna’s favorite traits of hers, and she exploited it constantly. Though, they did have a mission, so she decided to stop teasing her… for now. 

     Using the wax statue as a reference, they began to pick out body parts that mostly matched it. Then, they laid them out on one of the tables, checking to see if they fit together well enough that the creature could go about his life with minimal complications. Once his form was set out, the women stepped back, looking over it in appreciation. 

     “Well, I think our job’s done here.”

    Ianna nodded. “Yeah! He’s handsome. I think we accomplished our mission for sure.” She gave Celeste a suggestive side-eye. “Okay, so does this mean we can go home and have our make-out session, then?”

     Celeste snorted and shook her head, offering nothing else in response just as Rob and Amani walked over to them.

     “Ah, you made a good one,” Amani said.

     “Yes, I agree. You two built him well.”

     “I’m glad you two think so! That compliment means a lot when it comes from the professionals.” Celeste paused in thought for a moment. “Although, I’ll admit, Ianna and I aren’t exactly sure what to do from here. We have a brain and a body, but we’re not sure how to animate him. Do you have any recommendations for next steps?”

     “Of course! The reanimation business is pretty small around here, so we know everyone who’s involved in it.” Amani addressed Ianna briefly, saying, “You’re so lucky to have a sister who has such amazing connections!”

     Ianna giggled. “I know, I know, you don’t have to remind me. I could never take you for granted.”

     “Good! And don’t forget that!”

     “I would never.”

     Rob cleared his throat again. “Alright, so I’d recommend going to Beatrice Bliss to give him a consciousness,” Rob began, directed at Celeste because she seemed to be paying the most attention. “She specializes in metaphysical magic, especially magical awakenings. After that, I’d go to Adam Tinker, who can help you put him together and fully animate him.”

     “Wait, did you say Beatrice Bliss?” Ianna asked, her eyes wide.

     At the same time, Celeste also chimed in: “Wait, did you say Adam Tinker?”

     Rob glanced between them, slightly overwhelmed by this, but he regained his concentration quickly. “Yes, and yes.”

     Ianna turned to Celeste, grabbed her shoulders, and started shaking her excitedly. “Celeste, I know her! We were in the same coven together when we were going to college!”

     Celeste grabbed Ianna’s shoulders and started shaking her in return as she said, “I know him, too! We used to work together!”

     They both squealed at the prospect of seeing their friends and immediately began gathering the body parts. Ianna handed them to Celeste and Celeste floated them into a magical wax backpack as they chatted about the memories they had with Beatrice and Adam.

     Amani chuckled as she watched them. “They’ll never change,” she said with a smile.

     Rob returned it. “We won’t, either.” He bent down and kissed her with his large arms around her waist, pulling her in. After a second, they broke apart, and Amani giggled, trying to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. It didn’t work since her curls tended not to obey her, but Rob’s smile grew as he watched her try; after all, everything she did made him adore her even more.

     “Hey, lovebirds!” Ianna called out with a laugh. “We’re leaving now, okay? We have a long way to fly to get to Beatrice’s, and we want to get there as soon as possible.” She waved at them, beaming happily. “Thanks for everything! We promise it won’t take us 50 years to see you two again! Oh, and don’t worry, we’ll write, too! Expect a crow to deliver a message from us next week, and if we don’t, you have our full permission to turn into bats and hover outside our windows until we make plans with you!”

     Although they couldn’t see it, Amani bore a devilish smile. They had given her an idea. “We’ll hold you to it!” Then, her smile relaxed into a warm one as she waved animatedly to them. “Have a safe flight! Don’t fly into a plane!”

     “We won’t!” they chorused back. 

     With that, they turned their backs to Amani and Rob and left the workshop, heading back to their brooms. The temperature was beginning to drop slightly now that it was nearing dinnertime, but they didn’t notice it much. As soon as they reached the brooms, they each grabbed one and mounted it. When Ianna looked down at hers, though, she frowned. 

     “Celeste, wait.”

     “What?”

     “We switched brooms.”

     Celeste gave her a look. “So? I’m sure they both look the same and fly the same, so why does it matter?”

     Ianna dismounted hers, saying, “It matters because I can tell that we switched.”

     “How?”

     “You always have the ugly one. The prettier one flies better.”

     Celeste gasped, offended. “Is that why you always ran to the garage to pick your broom first? You traitor! No wonder you always won when we bet on who could fly the fastest! You cheated!”

     “It’s not cheating, it’s called observing my surroundings,” Ianna said with a chuckle. “It’s not my fault you never noticed.”

     “All those times I took you out to dinners, to drinks, and to elixir-making classes were built on lies.” Celeste’s voice wavered, and she hid her face, wiping away non-existent tears. “After all these years… this is true betrayal.”

     “Oh, you can’t tell me that you wouldn’t have done this, too.”

     “What I would’ve done is beside the point!”

     Ianna sighed playfully and shook her head. “Will this be solved if I buy you ‘Fifty Shades of Purple?’”

     Celeste lowered her hand slightly so one of her eyes peered above it. “Go on.”

     “Okay, I’ll add in the next collection of the ‘Bad Witches’ books, too. Does that satisfy you, my darling?”

     Celeste pretended to check her nails nonchalantly, trying to keep her tone apathetic as she said, “For now, it does.” 

     Ianna saw right through her, and she grinned. “I’m glad. I don’t want to stay on your bad side, you know.”

     “Good. Respect your wife.”

     Ianna laughed and pecked Celeste’s cheek, her smile growing as her wife’s cheeks immediately reddened. “Always.”

     Now that that was resolved, they straddled the brooms once more and took off together, holding hands as they flew. They made sure to share sandwiches and a few magically-stabilized cups of tea before they reached their destination because they didn’t want to be hungry when they got there. By the time they reached the business that Rob had marked on the map, dusk had long passed, and night had settled over the town like a blanket. Before landing on the concrete sidewalk next to the shop, they made sure to check that they were in the right place, since a lot of the downtown businesses looked the same; however, Beatrice’s didn’t blend in.

      Like the others, it was tall and narrow, but that was the only similarity. It was painted royal purple in contrast to the warm brown or red brick buildings that surrounded it, and the awning above its front door was painted with pastel purple and orange stripes. The sign that hung from the awning read, “Revive Alive: Defying Demise Since 1800 BC.”

     “She seems to be more into necromancy than anything,” Celeste noted. “I hope this still works. We’re not trying to bring a soul back from the dead, we’re trying to create one to begin with, so… hopefully she can still help.”

     “I hope so, too, but from what I remember from school, I think she’s a good choice for this! Besides, I trust Rob. He knows what he’s doing, and since he suggested that we go to her, then I think it’ll work out.”

     They knocked on the black door and waited outside, their starry witch robes being whipped this way and that by the chilly wind. Celeste was holding her skirt and petticoat down to keep it from flying upward just as the door opened.

     “Okay, Marilyn, I see you,” said the woman in the doorway. Her voice had an unmistakable New Jersey lilt to it, which elevated her charm. “I’m sure that pose was unintentional because this wind is truly vicious, but it still looks good, nonetheless!” As her eyes landed on Ianna, her gaze widened and her smile grew tenfold. “Oh my spirit, is that you, Ianna? Goodness, it’s been so long since I last saw you! What was it, graduation? It’s at least been a thousand years since then, and you haven’t changed a bit!” She waved away her words, laughing as she said, “I’m sorry, I’ve been blabbering so much that I haven’t let you introduce your friend! Who is she?”

     “Oh, she’s not just a friend! This is my wife, Celeste.”

     Celeste gave a little wave and beamed at her.

     Beatrice gasped, hovering a hand over her mouth with an astonished look. “Oh no you didn’t,” she said breathlessly. “You got married and didn’t invite me? I thought we were close!” Before Ianna could comment on this, Beatrice turned her attention to Celeste, reaching forward to grab her hands and hold them tightly. “Oh, holy ghost, Celeste, I’m so honored to meet you! This is seriously wonderful! But before I get sidetracked asking you two a lot of questions, come in, come in! I don’t want you two freezing out there!”

     She stepped back into the shop, her ivory skin glowing in the warm light of the many lamps that Celeste and Ianna saw as they followed her; when they closed the door behind them, they took relieved breaths. Fall was coming in full force and both the colors of the leaves and the temperature at night reflected that. While the witches could easily enchant their clothes with a warming spell or something to keep the cold at bay, they were grateful for the nice, toasty interior. 

     Beatrice led them into a sitting room that was full of fluffy lounge chairs that surrounded a circular coffee table; it was beautifully set up with celestial drapes and starry lights, but it seemed a bit impractical for business meetings… which this was. Sort of. However, Ianna and Celeste knew they couldn’t be one to judge, because their decor wasn’t much for practicality, either. 

    Beatrice sat down and leaned forward, her head resting on her hands as she looked at them with an intrigued expression. “As much as I’d love to catch up and participate in some nice gossip, I know that you’re here for a particular reason today. Rob Graves said so. However, he didn’t say exactly what you needed done, he just said that you’d just show me. So, can you do just that?”

     “Definitely.” 

     Celeste took the wax bag from its place on her back and dumped it out onto the table, causing a few of the limbs to tumble out unceremoniously onto the floor. She gave a laugh, apologized to no one in particular, and picked them up, setting them back where they should’ve landed. Once she finished, she held her arm out, indicating to them.

     “This is what we’re here for.”

     Beatrice immediately jumped up from her seat and crouched down – unnecessarily, since she could see them just as well standing up – to get a closer look. After scanning them for a second, she lifted one of the arms up by its pointer finger, saying, “What exactly do you want me to do with this bag of bones? They’re disconnected parts, you know. Reassembling them isn’t my specialty – you’d have to go to a magical engineer or an alchemist for that.”

     “Well, yes, and that’s our next stop,” Ianna told her. “You know what I do for a living, right?”

     “Oh, definitely! Matchmaking, right?” Ianna nodded, and she continued. “I’ve actually been meaning to visit you – well, you two, of course, since I’m sure you run the business together – for a long time now, but I haven’t had the time. I’ve heard from others that you’ve never failed, so I wanted to try my luck!” Beatrice chuckled. “That’s beside the point, though. Go on!”

     Both Celeste and Ianna giggled nervously.

     “Uh, about us never failing,” Ianna said, “We may have… run into a problem. One of our clients is a wonderful girl, really, but when we fed the information we drew from her into the machine we use, first the machine didn’t spit out any names, and second, she ended up coming back to us after having gone on dates with everyone and told us she didn’t feel a soulmate connection with anyone we gave her!”

     Beatrice gasped. “Oh, no!”

     “I know, right?”

     “So, of course, we were at a loss,” Celeste continued. “This hadn’t happened to us before, but I figured out that the machine can only account for those who are currently here on Earth at the moment, not those who hadn’t been made yet! So, my solution was to build her a suitable partner, so that’s why we came to you.”

     “Exactly. We have the body parts and we have someone to bring his body to life, but we need your help bringing his mind to life. We need him to be fully capable of thinking for himself and be able to process emotions just like everyone else.” Ianna tensed as she prepared to ask the most critical question. “Beatrice, do you think you can do that?”

     Beatrice scoffed. “Of course I can do that! Are you kidding me? While I do my fair share of necromancy, there are tons of clients who have come to me to create sentience for a being they’re making. You know Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’? Watching me in action caused the dream that inspired the monster she used in it!” She paused. “Of course, she ended up using the monster as a metaphor for loss and creation, which is amazing, but my process wasn’t that deep. Besides, none of my ‘creations’ have gone on rampages before; they all go on to become well-adjusted citizens instead, so I’d call that a success. If it wasn’t, I certainly wouldn’t be in business still!”

     “You’re so right. I’m so glad you can do it!” Ianna beamed at her, excitement and relief easing the tension of only a few moments before.

     Celeste cocked her head, surveying the parts and then Beatrice. “So, uh, how exactly do you do it?”

     She grinned. “I’ll show you. Follow me, little ducklings! Oh, and make sure to bring the head with you.”

     Beatrice stood up from the ground and walked to another portion of the shop that the women hadn’t seen earlier. They followed her after quickly picking up the disembodied head and found themselves behind an ornate, fall-themed privacy screen – Beatrice told them it was to protect client privacy when she had long lines of people inside and outside the shop – that a large section of bare wooden floor lay behind. The only piece of furniture in the area was a small table that supported a bowl, a paintbrush, and a beautifully carved knife. 

     Celeste eyed the latter inquisitively. “What’s the knife for?”

     “Dismemberment.”

     Dumbfounded, both Ianna and Celeste paused in their tracks, any words they wanted to say caught in their throats as they looked at her. 

      “F-For real?”

     Beatrice turned to them and shook her head, giggling lightly. “Of course not! I got you girls good! Seriously, people tend to believe jokes like that so easily. That makes them fun to fuck with, just like you two! I think I have to remind them that just because I dabble in necromancy doesn’t make me a serial killer, you know? If I really were a serial killer, I wouldn’t make jokes about it.” She raised an eyebrow and her grin grew as she wiggled her fingers, causing black sparkles to appear around Celeste and Ianna. They subconsciously huddled together for a second, causing Beatrice to giggle harder. “I like keeping people on their toes. It’s fun!”

     As Beatrice sat down, Celeste leaned toward Ianna and whispered, “Has she always been like this?”

     Ianna laughed and replied, “Yes. This isn’t new to me, but over the last thousand years she’s gotten a lot more straight-forward about her macabre jokes. She’s a bit strange, sure, but we metaphysical magic users tend to be that way, anyway.”

     Celeste shrugged to herself, clearly accepting this, and sat down on the floor. Ianna followed suit, settling down into a cross-legged position. 

     “Now the real magic begins.”

     Beatrice gently picked up the bowl, paintbrush, and knife from the table. She set the bowl in her lap, rested the paintbrush in it, and then used the knife to make a shallow cut in her hand. 

     “What are you doing?” Ianna asked her, eyebrows knitted in concern.

     Beatrice looked up at her as she held her hand over the bowl, letting her blood drip down into it. “Uh, I’m setting up the ritual? What does it look like?”

     “I-I mean, what do we need your blood for? Aren’t you injuring yourself for no reason?”

     “No? Do you not remember us doing this in college?”

     “Was I supposed to?” Beatrice laughed, and Ianna pouted. “Come on, that was more than a thousand years ago! Of course I’m not going to remember every detail!”

     “Okay, okay, I’ll explain it again, but not for you. I’m sure your wife doesn’t know why I’m doing this, so I’ll say this for her and only her,” Beatrice joked. “Lesson one in any magic class taught us that magic needs a physical grounding point for more taxing spells. Ianna, I know you use ink, and even though I don’t know what Celeste uses, I know she gets the point. Liquids are usually the preferred choice for more metaphysical magic, so I use blood as my grounding point since it’s innately connected to both the physical – biological – and spiritual parts of magic. Because of that, it makes creating a consciousness or connecting a pre-existing one to a body much easier.” 

     “Oh. That makes sense.”

     “Now that that’s out of the way, I’m gonna finish setting up, okay?”

     Celeste and Ianna nodded in unison and watched as Beatrice shook her hand, letting a few more droplets of blood come out; as soon as she was done with this, she spread a thin layer of blood over the wound with her finger. As they watched, it began to close, shimmering with black and purple sparkles. Not addressing this, Beatrice dipped her other hand into the blood bowl, drew a medium-sized circle on the floor, and plopped the head down inside it. After it was standing up, she drew a few more circles around it and added four different runes at four parts of the circle. As soon as she was done with this, she drew beautifully arcing swirls around the outside of the sigil.

     Ianna squinted as she looked at the sigil. “What are the swirls for?”

     Beatrice shrugged. “No reason, really. I just like how they look with the rest of it. I do them if I have extra blood left over in the bowl, which I usually do. You’d think after hundreds of years, I’d be perfect at measuring that type of thing, but you’d be wrong, I guess!” Beatrice’s gaze roamed, landing on the other women once. There was a sincerity to it that there hadn’t been before as she asked, “Ianna, Celeste… are you ready for the ritual?”

     “Yes,” Ianna responded. 

     As soon as the words came out of her mouth, all of the lights in the room went out, causing Celeste and Ianna to squeal and hold each other for dear life. As soon as they had latched together for safety, though, candles snapped into existence around them, illuminating them with a much-needed warm light.

     “Sorry. That was for dramatic effect, but, uh… maybe it was too dramatic. Oh well. Now that you’ve agreed…” Beatrice’s eyes narrowed mischievously, and she smiled. “Let the ritual begin.”