"Clairvoyance?"
Sephirot sneered inwardly.
To become the Supreme Witch, one must master the Seven Wonders.
Telekinesis, Concilium, Pyrokinesis, Divination, Transmutation, Vitalum Vitalis, Descensum.
What she had just used was one form of Concilium, Clairvoyance.
Sephirot offered no resistance, letting that force invade his thoughts.
However, just as that mental power was about to breach his mind, a surge of magic seeped from his pores and devoured it.
The mental power vanished like a lamb walking into a tiger's mouth.
Fiona's face paled slightly, but she quickly recomposed her expression, suppressing the shock in her eyes.
"A pleasure, Headmistress Fiona."
Sephirot nodded, pretending as if nothing had happened.
Fiona's elegant smile returned. "If I'm not mistaken, you're heading to New Orleans to find someone, aren't you?"
She looked at Sephirot, a trace of hostility creeping into her voice. "What do you want with that wretched woman?"
"Didn't your Clairvoyance work well enough just now? Why not try again?"
Sephirot smiled, answering her question with a question.
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Fiona's expression, but she quickly adjusted. Drawing a friend whose mental power rivaled her own to Miss Robichaux's Academy was more valuable than anything.
"Whatever she can do, I can do. And what she can't do, I can do as well."
Fiona leaned forward slightly, deliberately revealing a pale expanse of skin.
"If you need Divination, or if there's someone you want dead, there's no need to seek out that old hag."
"Why not consider paying a visit to my academy? I can provide you with everything you desire."
Sephirot leaned back in his seat, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest.
The Witches' Coven had a terrible reputation, but it was still an organization with centuries of heritage. They surely possessed vast magical knowledge and resources.
If he could use this chance to enter their inner circle, perhaps he could try to understand their magic system.
It was a shame, though, that the ways of witches depended on bloodline inheritance; he had no way of learning them himself.
A trace of regret flickered in Sephirot's eyes.
But Patty carried the bloodline of an ancient Grand Archmage, her potential was immense.
If he could obtain some magical texts and training methods from Miss Robichaux's Academy and bring them back, he could give Patty and Carrie a systematic education.
It would provide an immeasurable boost to their self-defense capabilities.
After all, he felt this world was growing more dangerous by the day, angels, demons, and the rats lurking in the shadows...
There would always be moments when he alone couldn't watch over them.
"That sounds like an excellent proposal."
Sephirot looked at Fiona and smiled. "Then I'll be imposing on you for a while, Headmistress Fiona."
The plane cut through the clouds, and hours later it touched down smoothly on the runway at New Orleans International Airport.
Stepping out of the airport, the humid, sweltering air of the South rushed to meet them. A black Mercedes sedan had long been waiting for them outside the VIP passage.
Headmistress Fiona led Sephirot toward the car, the girl from the plane who had kept her head lowered the entire time trailing behind them.
The car started, and Fiona and Sephirot sat together in the back seat.
From her handbag, she pulled out an exquisite cigarette case and offered Sephirot a slender ladies' cigarette.
"No, thank you."
Sephirot declined.
Fiona's fingers, holding the cigarette, paused.
She glanced at Sephirot, a flicker of hesitation passing through her eyes. In the end, she did not light it but placed it back into the case untouched.
She turned her head and introduced the girl in the passenger seat to Sephirot: "This is Zoe Benson. A new student at the Academy."
The girl named Zoe, hearing her own name, instinctively turned her head and forced a strained smile at Sephirot.
Sephirot nodded in acknowledgment.
He studied the girl's face. If he remembered correctly, wasn't her ability something like the Black Widow?
Any man who had sexual relations with her would, in an extremely short time, suffer massive hemorrhaging and ultimately die amidst pleasure and agony.
It was precisely because of this, having caused her boyfriend's death, that her family had secretly sent her to this Witches' Coven.
However...
A thought suddenly struck Sephirot,
Was that considered ascending to heaven in bliss? Or simply dying in pain.
The car slowly made its way into the city and finally entered a quiet, secluded neighborhood.
Sephirot looked out the window at the detached villas, beginning to recall the details about this school.
The so-called Witches' Coven was not actually built in some swamp or deep mountain forest.
This academy stood openly in a residential block, surrounded by ordinary neighbors.
But it wasn't hard to understand.
As times changed, the number of people carrying the witch bloodline was rapidly dwindling.
If the school were built in some mountain area lacking even basic infrastructure, how would these children ever adapt?
Moreover, concentrating them in a city was, in fact, a counterintuitive form of protection, hiding in plain sight.
After all, how could there be witches without Witch Hunters?
The Mercedes gradually decelerated and stopped in front of a villa enclosed by tall walls.
Fiona led Sephirot out of the car and pressed the doorbell.
Then she looked at Sephirot and said, "I've scheduled an appointment with a private doctor this afternoon. Mr. Sephirot, you can go inside with Zoe and sit for a while. I'll be back soon."
Sephirot nodded.
She was likely anxious about her lifespan at the moment, continuously pouring funds into finding scientists to research life extension.
Just then, the iron gate automatically swung open.
Zoe stood outside, staring at the somewhat aged building, her eyes filled with dread.
She instinctively edged closer to Sephirot. Feeling the white-haired man's steady calm, her racing heart finally settled a little.
At least his background was clean; she didn't have to worry he would set her up.
Sephirot surveyed the full exterior of the Witches' Coven.
The architectural style was very retro, the facade supported by thick white Roman columns. The overall shape looked like an imitation of the Black House.
"Let's go."
Sephirot did not linger, walking toward the courtyard.
The courtyard design behind the gate was also quite strange.
There was only a single straight path connecting the entrance gate to the villa's front door, with both sides sealed off by waist-high hedges.
At that moment, the front door also opened automatically, as if welcoming Sephirot and Zoe's arrival.
Zoe furrowed her brow, staying close behind Sephirot, utterly bewildered by this place.
Stepping into the villa, they were met with yet another narrow corridor. The walls were painted stark white, devoid of any extra decoration, not even a standard entry foyer.
The entire space felt extremely cramped.
"Creak."
As soon as they passed through the passage, the wooden door behind them closed on its own.
Zoe jumped at the sound of the door shutting.
She turned around and tentatively called out a greeting.
"Hello?"
Even if it was an academy, no matter how few people there were, it couldn't be so empty of teachers and students, could it?
The two emerged from the narrow passage, and their sightline suddenly opened wide.
Before them was a living room.
In the very center of the living room stood a fireplace; a piano was placed in the corner.
The walls were covered with many portraits of figures, presumably the memorial photos of past headmistresses.
The living room, for now, seemed to be the most normal part of the house.
Zoe wandered around the new environment, both curious and nervous, her gaze flitting everywhere.
Suddenly, a pitch-black shadow darted rapidly behind her.
"Who's there?!"
(Translated by yourtl.app)
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TL NOTES — CROSSOVER GUIDE
Some references in this chapter come from source universes that may be unfamiliar to some readers. The notes below provide the context needed to understand them without leaving the page.
CHARACTERS
Zoe Benson — A young witch and new student at Miss Robichaux's Academy in AHS: Coven. Her power, known as the "Black Widow" ability, causes any man who has sexual relations with her to die from catastrophic cerebral hemorrhaging shortly afterward. Having accidentally caused her boyfriend's death this way, her family secretly arranged for her to be enrolled at the Academy.
POWERS / ABILITIES
The Seven Wonders — In AHS: Coven, the Seven Wonders are the supreme tests of witchcraft that every candidate for the title of Supreme must successfully complete: Telekinesis (moving objects with the mind), Concilium (bending another's will or reading their mind), Pyrokinesis (creating and controlling fire), Divination (reading the past, present, or future), Transmutation (instant teleportation), Vitalum Vitalis (transferring life force to heal or resurrect), and Descensum (projecting the soul into the underworld). A witch who masters all seven is recognized as the Supreme.
Concilium — One of the Seven Wonders; a power of mental domination. As depicted in this chapter, one of its applications is Clairvoyance, the ability to breach another person's mind and read their thoughts. Fiona's failed attempt to use it on Sephirot at the end of the previous chapter is resolved here: his magic instinctively expelled and devoured the intrusion.