Back with the Landgraabs, Nancy was keen to understand the progress Betsy had made in finalising her long awaited Potion of Immortality.
“You do recall I only permitted you to come live with me if you helped me with this, yes?”
“You act as though I had a say in the matter.”
“Don’t speak to your grandmother that way. Remember I reserve the right to expel you from this Coven. Is that what you want?”
Betsy got straight back to work after that. She knew not to risk Nancy’s wrath.
After she helped her with this one task, she’d leave her be… right?
Eventually Betsy had some good news for Nancy.
“The potion is nearly ready, grandma. It just needs the… final ingredient.”
Nancy smiled.
“Ah. Perfect. That’s where I come in, for the fun part. Well done, Betsy. I see I was right in entrusting this task to you over Dolly, after all.”
With her task finished, Betsy took the chance to head out for some fun with the other members of the Coven.
She lived in the city now after all - she ought to enjoy it!
“Grandma is working you too hard,” said Dolly. “What even is it she’s got you doing this time?”
Betsy sighed.
“You know I can’t say.”
Dolly and Gemma shared a knowing glance between them.
“At what point do we stop putting up with all of this?” asked Dolly. “Wasn’t she meant to have died already? What happened to one of us becoming the next Supreme?”
Betsy felt anxious talking of such things. Who knew when Nancy might be listening?
“Can we talk about something else?” asked Betsy.
“Fine,” replied Dolly, “but let’s agree that if, or when, things get worse, we stick together and do what must be done.”
Gemma nodded along vicariously, but Betsy didnt want to even consider such eventualities.
Nancy was also back in the city that evening, attending to business of her own.
She was paying a visit to her long-time vampiric woohoo buddy, Caleb Vatore.
These attractive men all seem to fall at Nancy’s feet, for some reason…
One satisfying Woohoo later, Nancy shocked her lover by firing a sudden and lethal spell his way.
Yes, she had claimed the first of her victims. She would miss her visits to Caleb, but this had always been his intended purpose.
Vampire blood - Tick!
Now onto the remaining occults to complete her Potion of Immunity…
Nancy felt very pleased with herself the following morning.
She hadn’t stopped with Caleb, going on to collect a further two vials from her fellow occults. Immortality was waiting, after all!
She’d even picked up a nice new fur jacket along the way.
When Betsy came down for breakfast, Nancy’s smug face was enough to unnerve her. The vials of blood only added to that unease.
“A busy night?” asked Betsy, not really sure if she really wanted to know more.
“Oh yes! And do you like my new coat? A hairy guy called Greg gave it to me.”
Betsy made an excuse to leave the room as soon as she possibly could after that, without alerting her grandmother.
“Dolly, I think we might need to continue on with that conversation from last night… Things here have definitely just gotten way worse.”
Dolly & Gemma were already at the meeting spot when Betsy got a chance to Transportalate to them.
She told them finally of her task to help Nancy create the Potion of Immortality, and how Nancy had led her to believe the final ingredient was simply a drop of llamacorn blood…
It was clear that was not really the case.
“The use of Occult blood in a Potion of Immortality is ancient dark magic,” warned Gemma. “It’s said to give the drinker not just Immortality, but Invincibility…”
“Well it may just end up starting the next War of the Occults!!” yelped Dolly, “and it’ll also mean we’ll never be rid of her!”
“I managed a good look at the vials,” said Betsy. “They were labelled Vamp, Wolf and Alien.”
“Well, that just leaves one other Occult…” whispered Gemma.
Panic spread through Dolly’s body.
“Mermaids… Oh my Watcher, I need to warn Nalani and Delphin… immediately!!”
Dolly was immeasurably relieved to find Nalani and Delphin together, and most importantly alive.
“Oh I bet she would LOVE a taste of this blood,” growled Nalani. “Tough luck! She was actually here hiding in the bushes last night, though. I scared her off and told Delphin to come stay with me for a while. I didn’t want to take any chances.”
Nalani had some bad news for Dolly too, though.
She had found the freshly deceased corpse of another mermaid nearby just an hour earlier.
Dolly knew what that meant - Nancy now had everything she needed to finalise this Potion of Immortality.
Gemma meanwhile delved through the ancient tomes at Charm Manor, hoping to find more information on this ancient and dark magic.
Her heart stopped as she read the following:
‘If Occult blood can boost potion potency, the essence of another Spellcaster can maximise it. It is, however, a practice both abhorrent & outlawed.’
‘More specifically, it is reckoned the ideal candidate for such a transference of power, and life, would be one currently in ascendency to the role of Supreme.’
And so, the final stage of Nancy’s grand plan for ultimate Immortality and Invincibility was about to begin…
Whilst Betsy remained asleep in the other room, Nancy found herself pondering her next move.
Was she going too far this time? She’d felt nothing at un-aliving Greg, that sweet mermaid, nor even her hunky lover Caleb. But this was her own granddaughter…
How badly did she want this power?
Nancy again inspected her potion. She knew she could simply drink it now, gaining the Immortality she’d always craved.
Adding Betsy’s essence to the mix for that sweet bonus of Invincibility was hard to resist though.
Nancy despised this feeling of guilt. Emotions are for peasants, after all.
It seemed Nancy’s internal dilemmas had gone on for some time, for Betsy began to stir from her sleeping spell.
Betsy was confused. She had absolutely no idea how she had gotten here, and why was she dressed like a sacrificial lamb in this silky white robe?
Nancy…
“Grandma, why am I here? I’m not about to become more potion fodder for you, am I?”
Nancy sighed.
“Look, Betsy. I won’t lie to you. I was indeed about to drain your life-form & hide your body, but I’ve had a change of heart. I realised even I couldn’t do that to my own blood. I’ll have to find another way.”
Betsy felt faint.
How could she have underestimated Nancy like this? It seemed there really was no line she wouldn’t cross.
“How could you have even considered such a thing, Grandma? Do you truly have no love for me at all?
“Oh calm down, Betsy! I just told you I’d had a change of heart.”
Betsy didn’t know what to think.
“Look, I promise I won’t hurt you,” said Nancy. “Now come on, give your grandma a hug. Is my sparing of your life not enough to show you I care for you?”
As Nancy pulled Betsy in for an embrace, it wasn’t clear which Sim felt more uncomfortable.
Betsy felt sick with betrayal, and Nancy simply hated the human contact.
*Insert cool sound effects of witches Transportalating in the background…*
Dolly & Gemma quickly closed in on Nancy, standing beside their Coven sister.
“Get away from her!” yelled Dolly. “We uncovered your evil plan. How could you do such a thing to your own granddaughter?”
“It’s okay…” began Betsy.
“No, it’s not,” said Gemma. “She wants to drink you!”
Nancy was momentarily caught off guard. She hadn’t expected her Coven members to band together in such a way.
“Betsy already knows that I will be doing no such thing,” snapped Nancy, after she had taken a moment to collect herself.
“Stop lying to us Nancy, we know everything. You’ve gone much too far, this time.”
Nancy rolled her eyes.
“This is what I get for trying to be nice. Well, let’s go back to trying things my way instead.”
Betsy began to scream incoherently as Nancy turned her Coven sisters into ice cubes.
“Grandma!!! What did you do to them?!”
“Oh relax! They’ll be fine. Gosh, why are you girls always so dramatic?”
“Dramatic?! I…”
“Yes. Now… how mad do you think Dolly would be if I drunk the essence of Gemma instead?”
“You can’t be serious?” gasped Betsy.
“Ugh, fine. You really are such a spoilsport. I guess I’ll just stick with Immortality for now then. Invincibility can come later…”
Nancy picked up the vial & chuckled to herself.
“I can’t believe you silly girls really thought you could come in here and stop me. ME?”
Betsy’s heart raced as Nancy lifted the potion up to her lips.
“Umm, grandma… maybe that’s not such a good idea. You see… earlier, I actually…”
But Nancy wasn’t listening anymore.
The liquid was already pouring into her throat.
Before the last drop had even left the vial, a pulsing sensation had already began to reverberate throughout Nancy’s body.
“This doesn’t feel right…” Nancy muttered.
With one last bang, the smoke cleared.
Where Nancy had once stood now appeared someone altogether very different.
“Bwetsy?”
“Oh grandma,” sighed Betsy. “Who's the silly little girl now? If you’ve taught me one thing, it’s to always take my own precautions. And you see, I didn’t think Immortality would suit you all that well, but a fresh start might.”
