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]

She rolls her eyes. "Believe me, I'd rather just make potions at the shop than deal with something like this." Riley sighs and fidgets with her hands. "I know. What else are we going to do? Let it get worse?"

[lesparker]

Les sighs, shaking his head. "We don't even know what worse is," he tells her. "Aside from the kidnapping, it hasn't killed anyone."

[jiyunnies]

"You don't think whatever's going on has anything to do with Paige Thornton or Fabrice Coombs? We don't even know if Moira and James are safe, if they're..." she pauses, feeling the reality of the situation hit her and her heart falls. "If they're alive."

[lesparker]

Les frowns, biting at his lip. "Come on. Moira's gonna be fine. And if anyone kills James Thornton, it's totally gonna be her. So," he says, hoping to cheer her up.

[jiyunnies]

She smiles softly. "That's very true. Hey, do you know how to scry?"

[lesparker]

Les sighs, rubbing his eyes. "Yes but--" he hesitates. "You might piss-off whoever had her taken by trying something like that."

[jiyunnies]

"Okay," she says, turning to face him and folding her feet up under her. "What do you suggest? You know more about this stuff than I do, right?"

[lesparker]

Les shakes his head. "No, I don't--" he says then sighs. "But...my mom taught me how to do it." The big crystal ball was part of his mom's schtick down at the boardwalk. All the people used to love it. The only thing was his mom's premonitions were real.

[jiyunnies]

"What do you think she would do?" Riley never dabbled in black magic. Her only experience with it is what she's read In books.

[lesparker]

Les paces for a second, thinking, trying to imagine his mother's voice. Something does eventually pop into his head. "How good are you at cloaking?" Les asks. "If I do the scry, you could shield our faces and location. It would need to be strong."

[jiyunnies]

Riley grins at him. "I'm pretty damn good, actually. You're brilliant sometimes, Les."

[lesparker]

Les raises his eyes at her. He feels good about having impressed her with this plan. "See you're starting to come around," he laughs. "Let's just hopes she's still in town. Any further, and I don't think I'm strong enough to reach her."

[jiyunnies]

"Alright, alright, no need to get cocky, bud." She should have known he'd say something like that but smiles anyway. "God I hope so. If not, I don't know what else to do. What supplies do you need?"

[lesparker]

"We need something of hers. Or I won't be able to track her," Les says, heading back for the pantry. "And a mirror!" He calls out to her.

[jiyunnies]

"I have her keys to the shop. Would that work?" She briefly wonders if he's getting ingredients for the scry or looking for another snack. Probably the latter. "Alright!" she shouts back at him, disappearing into her room to grab a hand mirror. She returns with the mirror and keys.

[lesparker]

Les returns with a wooden bowl and small containers of lavender, dried rose blooms, and vinegar. "That is one intense pantry," Les tells Riley, placing all the ingredients on their kitchen table. Valerie had every herb, flower, and spice any witch could need. He takes the mirror from Riley and places it down in the center of the table. He centers the bowl on top and gestures at her. "The keys will have to do. Probably won't be the strongest connection ever since she hasn't touched them today," he tells her.

[jiyunnies]

"We like to stay well stocked," she comments, watching him lay everything out on the table. "It'll have to do. No telling when she went missing." Riley grabs one of her sisters teas and sits down, drinking it quickly. She's going to need all the energy she can muster to keep herself and Les cloaked. She grins, "Aww trusting me to keep you safe."

[lesparker]

Les smirks at her as he adds the ingredients into the bowl. He uses a quick fire spell to ignite a small flame around the edges of the bowl. "Are you sure your up for this?" he asks her with a serious look. "You just did those charms?"

[jiyunnies]

She sticks her tongue out at him then watches as the fire surrounds the bowl. "Of course I am. Are you sure you're up to holding my hand?"

[lesparker]

Les holds his hand out. "I dunno," he says anyway. "Your sister threatened me earlier for ever getting you into trouble. So this probably isn't the best idea." He smirks at her as he starts to chant the incantation.

[jiyunnies]

"I can get her off your back for this one." Riley takes his hand, scooting closer to his side so she can be sure to completely cloak Les and herself. She closes her eyes as he starts the incantation and focuses her breathing. As she exhales, her head falls forward and a thin, shimmering veil unfolds around them, cloaking them from any magic.

[lesparker]

Les releases a deep steady breath when she sits beside him, taking his hand, already sensing her power strengthening his. He recalls the instructions all those years ago from his mother as he finishes the incantation. All he needs to do is seek Moira's spirit, which is easier said than done without a clue about where she is. But he channels his power into four beacon calls, and once he feels Riley's cloak spell strengthen to full power, he uses his mind to hurl them out with as much force as he can muster.

The beacons call out over the town--flying north, south, east, and west at break-neck speed--and he can see the quiet streets shrouded in the darkness of the spirit that's taken over, the empty stores, and the empty taverns. He sees the boardwalk being beaten down with waves. One by one, the other beacons fall away, until only one still remains, flying over the stormy sand. And Les uses his mind to race after it as fast as he can, trying not to lose it. It speeds away from him, going faster and faster the farther they travel. Past the beach and into the woods. "She is still in town," Les says, gripping Riley's hand tighter, because he feels Moira's spirit calling to him even as he grows tired from chasing it.

[jiyunnies]

With his hand in hers, she feels herself connect to Les' magic. It's a similar feeling as when she channels her sister's. Not near as strong, but powerful in a different way. Where Val's is steady and familiar, his power seems raw and almost intoxicating. Riley reaches her full power, feeling the presence of darkness as it tries to disassemble her cloaking spell, but she takes another calming breath and reinforces the veil around them, blocking their identities from the outside.

She feels Les grab tighter onto her hand and squeezes his in return, half in an effort to channel more of her energy into him to help strengthen him and half to reassure him that he's doing well. "Still in town," she repeats with a sigh of relief. There's still no telling where Moira can be or how safe she currently is, but it was a little comforting to know she is still within reach. "You can let go, Les. Don't over do it. It's trying to get past my barriers."

[lesparker]

Les' connection with Moira dwindles as it zips through the woods, around and around trees and shrubs, until they are almost too the edge of the sea again, and Les frowns as he continues to keep up. He doesn't even know where Moira could be trapped way out here. There's nothing but the forest and the rocky coast. Despite his best efforts, he can't hold the beacon any longer if the cloak fades because he has no energy of his own to block out anyone else's magic. He is already exhausted from the chase, like he's run for miles, and he swallows as he has to Moira's spirit go. He knows if he'd worked on it, he probably could've reached Moira, but he wasn't strong or skilled enough. He remembers once his mother used a beacon all the way to Mexico when she had a customer come in searching for her missing two-timing husband. Les releases Riley's hands, standing up from the table, feeling a little disgruntled that he couldn't pinpoint Moira's location. "Well, she's alive," Les tells Riley after a few seconds. "I'm fairly sure anyway."

[jiyunnies]

"Good. You did really good work, Les," She reassures him, feeling his frustrations. "We have a ballpark now. After we rest we can try another time."