Sweet dreams are made of it

It was a haunting stormy night, with the sound of the water running.

At the top of the hill, a frail woman singing a beautiful song was watching a crumbling baby crib, until the sounds of thunders approaching startled her.

From the dark woods cadaverous jaguars slowly approached doing guttural noises, showing their rotten fangs.

"Stay away from my baby." The woman took out the rotten veils of the crib revealing a dry corpse without eyes. The dead baby moved her head and gave a blood-chilling horrible scream.

A colorful creature appeared flying in the stormy dark sky and took the crib away, while another one pulled the scenario around like a curtain revealing a sunny beach and an elegant woman mounted in a majestic giant swan.

"The boi-boombás were better than Cooca expected."

"Great! Now get out of my back." Jolly Acacia complained.

The woman approached confused. "Jolly? Jolly Acacia, that´s you?"

"Yeah. Yeah. And this one is the Cooca."

"Cooca? Like the Cooca who comes to get naughty children? She didn't seem an alligator?"

Cooca showed put her alligator head hood. "Why elves were obsessed with alligators?"

A boi-boombá appeared and bite the hag dress ripping the figure of the ill woman revealing a healthy woman, with curly hair, clear eyes, bronze skin, and the physique of a wrestling fighter.

"What are those things?" She asked surprised.

"Boi-boombás, they eat nightmares." Jolly Acacia answered.

"Nightmares? I'm dreaming, Jolly? You are just a dream?"

"Yes and no. You are dreaming but we aren't dreams. We entered in the dream realm through a dream from Gem."

"So…" Cooca looked her up to down. "This elf is Bonina, the mother?"

"Bonina, Cooca. Cooca, Bonina." Jolly Acacia introduced them. "Now get off my back, please."

"What boring elf swan." Cooca elegantly dismounted and Acacia turned back into a woman in nightgown.

Bonina scratched her head. "I don´t understand what is happening."

"You remember that I was searching for information about the baroness Rock baby? That attracted Cooca, she appeared with a dharnaquation at my house." Jolly embraced Bonina.

"Cooca wanted to know if the Whitehawk wizards were behind this." She crossed her arms and fanned her fan.

"White hawk wizards? They are behind the resurrection of the baroness Rock daughter?"

"Yes!" Cooca stared at Bonina head to toe. "Why Bonina want a dharmaquation? There are many other ways to heal a baby."

Bonina was distressed. "None that I tried worked, and I tried all I could, she´s under a frozen spell to survive right now."

Wandering in the dreamland they found a new pretty crib with a glowing light inside in the top of a cliff, front a furious sea.

"That answers the question. Bonina's child doesn't have a full-formed soul. A dharmaquation can fix it."

"How a baby will survive without a full-formed soul?" Acacia asked.

"It isn't. The body should have died in a few days if Bonina wasn´t keeping the body alive with magic."

"What I can do?" Bonina cried. "I do anything for my daughter."

"Bonina need another soul to mix with the incomplete one to form a new soul. Cooca has a dharmaquation for that, but the soul is too damaged." Cooca waved her fan and the light in the crib grow making the whole scenery crumbled in a void. "Hum…"

"What you did?" Jolly Acacia asked holding Bonina floating in the nothingness in her swan form."

"Baby souls didn't resonate with the father soul in Uku Pacha."

"Uku Pacha?" Jolly Acacia asked worriedly. "The land of the dead?"

"Didn't resonate? You mean that Zenon can be alive?"

Cooca face palmed. "Elves don't know if the father of the child is alive?"

"Before Margot was born he went to Dark Misty with the last king Rock, looking for the Dark Tower to recover the lost crown, the braids of the bald king," Bonina answered afflicted. "They were never heard since them and were presumed dead. The new king was going to be crowned in the next full blue moon."

"The braids of the bald king? How big is the army the king took to this quest? At least had a couple of dragons?"

"No. It was a fellowship of nine."

"Nine? From the dumb, idiotic, and stupid things Cooca heard from foolish elves doing in the last millennium that was the dumbest, idiotically and stupidly of them all." She said revolted. "Why they didn't drink a poison of jump from a floating island?"

"We said the same." Bonina and Jolly Acacia agreed.

"Without the soul of the father, we will need a brand new soul," Cooca said. "To the souls be compatible, will be needed to patch a piece of a close relative soul."

"Our parents died." Jolly Acacia said. "The wonderful Cooca can't get their souls from Uku Pacha?"

"No soul resonates in Uku Pacha." She lifted the fan and a forest appeared where they slowly landed. "The four grandparents already reincarnated or are serving some juvaka they follow. Dead people have more things to do than wait for a summoning. Now a brand new soul patched with a piece of the mother soul is the only safe alternative."

"Safe alternative?" Jolly Acacia put her finger in the chin curiously. "What's the unsafe alternative?"

"Elves heard that a resurrected person lost part of its soul because it burns if it is pulled from Uku Pacha?"

They exchange glances. "Yes. Everybody heard scary stories about that."

"The child soul is too small and frail, there's a chance to burn too much when pulled from Uku Pacha and all the work to bring back the child will be in vain."

"What are the chances to bring Margot Back with a piece of my soul?"

"Is guaranteed. With a piece of the mother soul, the baby soul will be strengthened enough to patch and fuse with the other soul."

"Okay." Bonina stuffed her chest, stretched her neck raised her head. "If is just that, take my soul. Now."

"It's not just that. Will need another dharmaquation the sacrifice of eight, large tapiras, a Numa Pukuy, and the gathering of the Cooca witches coven." A tapira is a kind of six feet tall buffalo.

"All that to bring back just only a soul?"

"Not just a soul. An Amaru soul. An Amaru queen soul." Cooca said excitedly. "And Cooca will be... Margaret?"

"Margaret."

"And Cooca will be Margot's godmother."

"Hold your horses." Jolly Acacia went between them. "This is not like those tales where you get the child for yourself?"

"Nope! A godmother is a woman who promises to take responsibility for their religious education, which means worshiping Mama Tainakan, the only true goddess and not a lame juvaka. The children will have a dragon soul and will become a Cooca witch. After receiving part of Cooca soul she will be the greatest of them all."

"You will put part of Cooca soul too?" Jolly Acacia asked worriedly. "That means she will be more like you than like Bonina?"

"No. That´s not how a soul works. A piece of Cooca soul will give her power." She looked at them from the bottom to top and went away faster, "Anyway, Cooca doesn't do another way. Take it or leave it."

"Deal." Bonina ran after her. "I take it."

"Cooca will get the most unimportant part of Bonina soul, will not feel anything."

"No, get the most important part of my soul and gave it to my daughter."

Cooca stood, closed her eyes, and touched Bonina's chest. "The most important part of Bonina's soul is the chant. Bonina will never sing again."

Jolly Acacia protested. "She's a bard, a musician; singing is the most important thing to her."

"Flying elf is right. There's no reason to use the most important part of Bonina soul.

"There's some part of her soul that will not leave some collateral damage?"

"There are parts that will not be missed, like taking out a wisdom tooth."

"You heard? There's no need to lose your chant Bonina."

"I don't care. Cooca can take my whole soul and use the way she wanted, she doesn't even need us to resurrect Margot."

"And who would raise the child?" Cooca rolled her eyes.

Jolly Acacia frown. "Cooca didn't raise a lot of children already?"

Cooca sighed. "If the child became a Cooca Witch before marriage will lose the nobility title, and will not be allowed to marry a prince, neither became a Queen. That's against the whole plan."

"Enough!" Bonina insisted. "Do that, get my soul. Get my chant."

"Very well." Cooca started to walk. "Follow Cooca."

They walked from the beach to a river and found a couple of children playing in a clearing near a truck chest used as a bridge.

"Miss Butternuts!" Cooca called.

One of the children with pigtails, release a ball and ran towards them.

"Mama Cooca? What you are doing in my dream my liege?"

Cooca raised her fan open. "Gathering our coven in…" She turned her face to Bonina. "Marigold Mansion?"

"Marigold Manor." Bonina answer.

"Unfortunately I'm not useful anymore." In the place of the little girl was an old lady. "I'm too old to serve my liege."

"Miss Butterneuts?" Bonina was startled. "Miss Buternuts is a Cooca witch?"

"At your service my Lady." The old lady make a reverence.

"You know her?" Jolly asked.

"She was the tanzek of the fishermen village in Marigold Manor for ages," Bonina said. "I know her since I born and she´s always kind and sweet. I can´t believe we had a Cooca witch in the Manor all this time."

"We are in every place." The old lady released a characteristic witch laugh.

Cooca got in the way. "If Butternuts it´s too old should have to choose another one to be trained in your place." She scolded her.

"I expected that my granddaughter could replace me my liege, unfortunately, she´s a shy and well-behaved kid."

Cooca huff a cloud of steam that covered her. "Butternut is the closest one. Who is the tanzek of the village now?"

"Dulcinea. She´s not one of us but is a strong wrolok. So good as I was."

"Call her." Cooca agreed, the old woman bow and they walk to another path.

The threes started to rare and they seemed to walk in the corridor of a building.

They could feel the smell of alcoholic drinks and dancing music, that get stronger as they approached until they entered a room full of semi-baked people slowly dancing, a band of muscular men and in a special place, a woman on a red couch surrounded by beautiful men.

"Miss Kale."

"Mama Cooca? It's odd to see Mama Cooca in this kind of dream."

"Because Cooca is not a dream. Cooca is Cooca."

She bugged her eyes, back away from the men, and bow in her knees. "What Kale can do for my wonderful liege?"

Cooca raised her fan open. "Gathering our coven in the Marigold Manor."

"I know the place my liege. When and what we gonna do?"

"When? In three nights at the next alignment of the blue moon."

"What gonna do?"

"We are going to summon a dragon soul."

They visit many dreams, to bright sweet dreams made of gingerbread houses, to twisted surreal places, always gathering more and more Cooca wicked witches that rejoiced at each encounter.

"With this one, we already called thirty." Jolly Acacia commented.

"That´s a big crowd," Bonina said.

"We need all those people?" Jolly Acacia asked Cooca.

"Flying elf has been looking for the Dharmaquation and didn't know about? The Whitehawk elven wizards are weaker than Cooca witches they needed a much bigger coven for the ritual."

"Dharmaquation?" The happy mood vanished and the witches started to exchange startled stares.

Until that moment, no one said anything about a Dharmaquation, after a quick exchange of words, they ended pushing Miss Kale upfront. "Why Mama Cooca need a dharmaquation to just summon a soul?"

"It´s not just a soul." Cooca lifted her fan. "It will be a dragon soul from another world, which will be patched with a soul brought back from Uku Pacha, the land of the dead elves and part of the soul of this flying elf and Mama Cooca."

"A soul from Uku Pacha the land of the dead?" They now became worried. "Part of Cooca soul?"

"Don´t worry," Cooca said with a smile. "Cooca´s soul grows back in less than a century.

"Why Mama Cooca is going to do something so troublesome?" Miss Kale stuttered for a moment. "I mean… Mama is going to have some profit doing that."

"I was feeling that there was something more." Jolly Acacia said. "What is the catch?"

"Cooca will be a godmother, and goddaughter will marry a prince to be queen and is going to build the most greatest, beautiful, and wonderfully castle that ever existed, with the tallest tower that ever was to the Cooca witches."

Everybody started to exchange confused stares.

"How you know a prince is going to Marry Margot?" Bonina said. "I'm the poorest and crappiest countess of the world."

"Margot?"

"My daughter."

"Whoever child will marry, Cooca is going to hex the prince with a pair of magic ruby slippers." Cooca shows the picture book.

"Ruby slippers?" Jolly Acacia confronted her. "You are doing that because of a children's book you read?"

"What children book?" Bonina asked.

"The little ruby slippers." Jolly Acacia answered. "She got into Sapphire's bedroom."

"The tale of Cinderella? I heard it was based on real facts. Those things really happen you know?" Bonina nodded her head.

"Who's Sapphire?" Cooca asked.

"Gem my daughter." Jolly Acacia said angrily.

"Why elves don't keep the given name. It is going to call Gem, name Gem. That's annoying." She nervously fanned herself.

"We don't know why. We just do that."

"Elves were so dumb. Stop being dumb." Cooca walked faster.

Bonina whispered to Jolly. "Elves, elves. Why does she keep saying elves? What's an elve?"

"We are elves," Miss Kale answered. "And the singular is an elf, not elve."

"You have an idea of what that means?" Jolly Acacia asked.

"I think it is because we have long and pointed ears than she had." Miss Kale rubbed her ears.

"Oh yeah. She has small rounded ears like a monkey."

"Don't say that." The witch's salt on Bonina covering her mouth and Jolly Acacia scolded her. "Now don't make any impertinent question."

"Impossible."

"Why?"

"I don't know what impertinent means." Bonina went after Cooca, and Jolly Acacia move even faster in her swan form.

"Come elves. There were many more Cooca Witches to call, many dreams to visit."

They went away, and she saw the boi-boombás following them.