soul_campaign | Third Brew | Accidental Video | March 16, Shortly Before Midnight

[While it’s only been three days since Lily disappeared, it’s been nearly a month by her reckoning. The witch’s weeks in San Francisco had been busy: tying up loose ends with the demon at the School of Fine Arts, starting lessons with the male witch Aidan Rhodes, and getting involved in another murder investigation when Inspector Romero asked her to consult on the bizarre death of Malachi Zazi. The leader of the Serpentarian Society had been found dead on the dining table of his 13th floor penthouse, stabbed with a shard from a broken mirror and surrounded by bad luck symbols the morning after one of the rationalist society’s midnight dinner parties.]

[The following days were complicated by devil worshipers, a disappearing corpse, and evil witches. Snakes kept coming up, too. And then there was the hex left on Bronwyn’s doorstep. That led to arguments with Lily’s friends over her meddling. And she had broken up with Max since he couldn’t accept her being a witch. Most of her few friends were angry with her but she couldn’t just drop the investigation as they wanted her to. Not after Bronwyn had been threatened.]

[And—despite some hesitation—that was why Lily ended up in her kitchen, brewing the Living Things in You spell to force a conclusion to the case. If it worked as she intended, Malachi’s killer would feel the uncomfortable sensation of a snake wriggling around inside their body, possibly be driven temporarily insane, and give their identity away.]

[But as always, BREW had wonderful timing and chose to bring her back to Death City mid-spell. Eyes closed in concentration and focused on her task, Lily fails to notice when the scene shifts from her San Francisco kitchen. Or when her rarely used communicator falls to the floor and turns on. It lands propped up against a wall, giving an oddly angled view of the kitchen in one of the Creeping Crypt apartments.]

[There’s a thirtyish woman in a black dress. In one hand, she holds a featureless doll of black wax, dripping with some red substance. In the other, there’s a small glass bottle—is that tabasco sauce? Eyes still closed, she mumbles a chant. It might have sounded more ominous if it weren’t for her Texas twang.]

What is evil and death is nigh, take this poppet through and through
As serpents twist on high, so the snakes shall live in you

[She reaches out to a cauldron on the stove and drops the crude wax figure in. There’s no bubbling up or cloud of steam as she expects, just a dull thud as the poppet hits the bottom of the pot. She blinks in confusion as she peers inside.]

What in tarnation? [Her expression goes from one of confusion to disbelief and the sauce bottle slips from her fingers to join the wax doll at the bottom of the cold cauldron. Lily had been finding it more difficult to cast lately, probably due to that hex Renna told her about, but the contents of an entire cauldron disappearing on her was a first. She blows out an exasperated breath.] What happened to my brew? I have a murderer to catch. [As if her week hadn’t already been bad enough…]

[Lily’s eyes fall to her Book of Shadows lying closed on the counter. It should have been open to the spell. She grips the red leather-bound volume as she looks around and frowns when she realizes there’s a much more troubling fact.] …This isn’t my kitchen. [It definitely isn’t the one in her apartment above Aunt Cora’s Closet. Yet, it seems vaguely familiar somehow. And her goblin—or should it be gargoyle?—familiar is nowhere in sight.] Oscar? [No answer.]

[Her head feels muddled too although it’s not quite the usual hangover feeling she gets after casting a strong spell. Letting go of the spellbook and rubbing at her temples, Lily wishes she had some willow bark tea. She mutters to herself…] What in the Sam Hill is going on here?

[OOC: Lily is back from a canon update after having disappeared on the 13th and doesn’t remember everything yet although she will eventually. And yes, she actually learned that snake spell in the novels. But obviously, it does not work here!]

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Your research? What were you trying to find out? [And why were they attempting to stop you?]

[While she normally might have protested, there probably isn't much use denying it with a sorcerer who had overheard her spell.] There weren't any witches in Midgard?

So, would you care to finally share your name or should I just call you Mr. Annoying Sorcercer?

Oh, this and that. Some would shudder to think of worlds outside the grasp of their beloved gods, for instance.

[And he nodded, propping his chin in a hand.]

Few witches, truly, but they choose to remain in their swamps and forests. Safety in isolation, perhaps? Or would they happen to be... shy?

[That smile spread once more.]

I am Lezard Valeth. 'Mr. Annoying Sorcerer' is certainly a new nickname. Perhaps I should adopt it~

[Just the type of evasive answer she usually received from another magical man back home. Although Aidan Rhodes was usually ordering her to investigate a murder or stay out of a case without bothering to explain why. Lily didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him and this seemed a sign she should treat this sorcerer with the same caution.]

And what gods would those be? [She wonders if she would have heard of them. In recent weeks, she had been reading through Aidan’s library and had made it to the Gods and Goddesses section.]

[For safety? Maybe. But shy…?] Not necessarily. They’re often connected to the land and ally themselves with the forest folk. Besides, most people don’t cotton to witches.

[And that smile just provokes a frown.] It would certainly fit.

Edited 2012-09-07 02:58 (UTC)

There is practically a god for everything in Midgard, but there rules Odin the All-Father, Freya, Eir, Loki, Thor... ah, Idunn and Hel, to name a few.

Connected, you say? Yes, that indeed is one theory as to the nature of witches and their rarity.

[Oh, and that smile wouldn't stop. Her frown was quite fetching, her sarcasm alluring.]

[Lily is more familiar with the better known Greek and Roman myths so she doesn’t recognize most of the names but…] Odin? Isn’t that from Scandinavian myth?

Some become so attached to the land where they raise their plants that they can’t relocate even if they want to. [She was atypical in doing all of her gardening in pots on her terrace. Most witches planted their herbs directly in the earth.]

[Is he ever going to stop with that smile or did his face get stuck like that?]

Indeed it would. At least, that is what the books here say.

Ah, but the best earth for plant growth is unsullied, thus further away from civilization as a whole. ...But what of you? Do you long for your herbs? Should you seek the city's park to do a little gardening?

[Ask anyone he knows and they would agree to the latter. Lezard was a grinoholic.]

And it's not where you come from?

[She moves to the terrace to look outside but is only disappointed. No potted fruit trees or planters full of herbs.] They certainly would be helpful. The city's park? [Why did the thought of gardening there seem familiar?]

[Lily wonders if it's a magical men thing. Aidan tended to smile a lot too but in an aw-shucks manner.]

It is not. None of the country names listed ring true to me at all, and my memory is still quite as strong as ever.

[A nod, and he appeared thoughtful.] I had thought of marking a plot of land as my own; the apothecary I've found here is false, with inaccurate labeling for most of the ingredients they sell. To open my own apothecary, perhaps, or tend to my own little garden like the rare, ever-connected witch~

Few spaces in the park, from what I've seen, are ever used. Indeed, many of the areas are overgrown despite its situation in the midst of a desert. 'Tis a pity...

An apothecary? You’re interested in healing then? [She eyed him with slightly more interest. Part of her own knowledge was healing with a combination of botanical ingredients and magic. Witch had historically been a derogatory term for a woman healer.]

I’ve heard there wasn’t a gardener to take care of it for a long time… [Now, why did she know that? Did she spend a lot of time at this park?]

[That hadn't slipped his notice. What a peculiar woman... had she been here before?]

Then perhaps we might shoulder this responsibility while in turn tending to our own little gardens. What say you?

[And it doesn't escape Lily's notice that he didn't answer the question about healing. Was he hiding something?]

I reckon I should do something about my headache before making any agreements.

Third Brew | Accidental Video | March 16, Shortly Before Midnight

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