A Congregation of Witches (And a Siren) [Val, Riley, Lara, Les, Tristan(??)]

[bewitchinghaze]

 Val let out a heavy sigh of relief as she and Les finally approached the cottage. "You may as well come in and rest for awhile," she offered, getting out her key and unlocking the door. A few odd twists lowered the basic wards she kept active whenever she and Riley were out and she headed in.

"Riley? Lara? I'm home. I brought company..." she called into the house.

The familiar feeling of her personal collection of greenery and the magic she'd put into them quickly calmed her nerves and she began to collect the things she'd need to set up a good strong set of wards to keep out the curse. This house would be the safest goddamn place in town, if she had anything to say about it.

Comments

[jiyunnies]

Riley arrives at the cottage with Tristan about twenty minutes after she sent her last text to Val. As they walk up the path to the house, she stops and grabs the flowers her sister asked her to grab and tucks them neatly into her bag. She slips the key out of her pocket and unlocks the door, feeling Val's charms slowly unbind to give her access. She steps in, pulling Tristan inside with her, and closes the door behind them, muttering the protective charm back in place.

"Val?" she calls as she drops her bag on the kitchen table. She grabs a washcloth from a drawer and wets it, pressing it up to her nose, still bleeding just a bit.

[bewitchinghaze]

Val drops the supplies she was gathering and rushes over, hauling her sister into a tight hug. "Ji-Yun! I was so worried." she breathes. "What's wrong with your nose?"

[jiyunnies]

Riley makes a protesting noise. Val's stronger than she looks and her hugs are always intense. Still she hugs her sister back. "I'm fine, Soo-Yun. Just a nose bleed. The spell's messing with my allergies."

[bewitchinghaze]

Val frowns, taking a moment to think. "I've got some butterbur in my medicine kit. Give me a moment."

She disappears out of the room, coming back with the butterbur for Riley and willow bark tea for Tristan. "Natural antihistamine. It should help you some, even if not all the way." she explains, pressing it into her sister's hands.

[asharpertongue]

Lara was talking into her phone quietly while the sisters and Tristan were cleaning up.

"No. I don't know specifics but we're the only ones in town unaffected so far." She nodded as she listened. "Okay. Keep your eyes and ears open and tell the others to report anything unusual. Especially the children. They might be more sensitive"

She nodded once more and then hung up smiling at the sisters.

"Are you alright?"

[jiyunnies]

Riley looks at the plant in her hands and takes it, noting how worried her sister seems to be. "I'll be alright, Val. Now that I'm home," she reassures her, brushing Val's hair from her face.

She hears Lara on her phone and nods to her. "Side effect of the spell. I'll be fine. Is everyone on your end okay?"

[bewitchinghaze]

Val rubs at her eyes, slightly tired from worrying. "I'm fine. I'm less nauseous just from being home. Once we put up the major wards, we should all be okay." she nibbles at her lip as she thinks.

"So, are sirens in general not affected? Or less so?" she asks, curious about the workings of the spell.

[asharpertongue]

"I don't know. I don't feel different, but that doesn't mean it won't affect me over time. I've asked my people to keep an eye out for changes." She sighed and perched on a stool. "What do you think? It's making you sick though and that's not good."

[jiyunnies]

"Yes, it seems to be effecting all the witches in town. And some of the humans seem irritated, more so than usual at least." She rubs her chin. "Whatever it is is dark. I've never felt something so powerful in my life. I'm not sure who in town is even capable of this kind of magic."

"Val, did you ever hear back from Grant?"

[lesparker]

Les managed to make himself useful long enough to help Val charm the entire house with protection spells. He even put up a barrier around the entire property line just in case. If anyone was going to get through, they would need a hell of an armory. Once satisfied he heads back inside, and he realizes that an entire horde of other townsfolk have arrived to discuss the potential threat. He figures he isn't going to be much use, and maybe even hopes they have it all covered. So he wanders into the kitchen to track down some breakfast and maybe some coffee.

[jiyunnies]

After cleaning herself up and catching up with Val, Riley notices another body in the house, but she doesn't recognize the man from behind. He's in a nice suit. She automatically assumes he's one of Lara's employees until she realizes the man is Les Parker.


"What the hell are you wearing?"

[lesparker]

Les backs himself out of the fridge from where he'd been trying to reach this hidden jar of pickles. They look homemade, and judging the awesome vegetable garden he had seen out back, he guesses probably delicious. He opens the jar only to realize someone else has found him.

"Oh hey," Les says to her, missing the shock on her face due to being too distracted by food. "Any chance you have some peanut butter? "

[jiyunnies]

"Um, yeahhh, in the pantry," she says, studying him. "How did you get into my home?"

[lesparker]

"Score!" Les wanders off around the corner towards the pantry and a few seconds later he returns with a jar of peanut butter. He opens it and the pickles. It takes some doing to fish out the biggest pickle in the jar, but he manages. He dips it into the peanut butter and takes a bite before answering her. "I dunno. Front door," he says, swallowing.

[jiyunnies]

Riley takes the jar of pickles and peanut butter away from him, smacking his hand. "Hey! Use utensils." She hands him a plate and a fork, but holds the food hostage. "No food until you tell me what happened."

[lesparker]

Les takes the fork, making a really confused face. Why would he need a fork to eat a pickle? He sighs when he realizes she isn't giving him the pickles back. They were perfect. "I came with Val. She was walking home by herself," Les tells her. "I'm not sure where she went..."

[jiyunnies]

She takes the fork from him and uses it to pull a pickle out of the jar. "Use the fork, not your hands." Riley hands him the jar and peanut butter. "Oh. Thank you. She's with Lara."

[lesparker]

"Fine. Sorry," Les says, feeling bad. But he happily accepts by the pickles and peanut butter. He bites into another, and it's equally as delicious. "Lara's here? That's probably good. Guess that means I'm not late to work..." He muses to himself, but then he has another more pressing thought. "Does your sister like make these? Or...? The pickles I mean."

[asharpertongue]

Lara walks over and hands Les one of Val's teas. "You should drink this. And then we have to go out. Do you know how to do protection spells?"

[lesparker]

Les looks at the tea Lara brings him, shrugging. He drinks most of it in one go, and he hates the taste of it. "Blergh!" he says. "I thought you were bringing me a drink. What the hell was that?"

[asharpertongue]

Chuckling Lara takes the cup and puts it aside. "It's one of her special teas. It'll give you energy. Today's going to be a long day I think."

[lesparker]

Les licks his tongue against the roof of his mouth a couple of times, making a sour face. Her pickles had been delicious, but whatever was in that tea tasted like grass. He sighs after a second. "Protection spells, huh?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.

[asharpertongue]

"Yes. Any good at them?"

[lesparker]

Les smirks. "What kind of witch would I be if I couldn't perform a simple protection spell?"

[asharpertongue]

Lara raised an eyebrow. "One that doesn't actually practice all that much witchcraft?"