Deconstructing A Curse [Open]

[bewitchinghaze]

 It's been three days since Val dragged Lou home from the police station and found the cursed plant by her bedside. Three days of trying to figure out what kind of plant it was, exactly. She's at the end of her rope with the goddamn menace, and that feeling of uselessness brought on by Yura's visit, and the news of her grandmother's passing, has reached its peak. It's time for drastic measures.

She tosses her mage kit onto her shoulder and writes a quick note to Riley, pinning it on the fridge to let her know where she is. Gathering the plant into her arms, she heads out in the the woods behind the house. She knows of a clearing surrounded by hawthorns (known for their magic enhancing abilities) and various wild flowers that will help contain negative magics so she heads straight there.

Setting the plant down in the middle of everything, she lays a circle of herbs around the edge of the clearing and calls up a bubble of magic to contain her workings. Everything set, she sits tailor style in the middle of the clearing and begins to clear her mind and falls into her magic. The green fire at the centre of her is blazing in response to her surroundings and ready to dig itself into this curse. Val lets a vine of it reach into the slimy feeling black magic around the plant, searching for the chinks in the curse. She sorts through the different bits and pieces of magics, tugging away a curse for hallucinations, another for distrust... Finally reaching the centre of it all and the toughest bit of magic, she shoves a blaze of her magic at it.

The backlash is spectacular. She's physically knocked back from the plant, the release of the curse exploding it, and the pot its in, sending sharp shards of pottery to slice cuts into her cheek and arms. Hitting the ground, she has a brief moment to think 'Fuck' and 'I hope someone finds that fucking note' before she blacks out.

Comments

[jiyunnies]

Riley pushes Val back down onto the ground gently. "Ya, lay down for a moment. Let your head rest."

"You scared the crap out of me," she says, touching her own face. "I felt the explosion from the house. What the hell are you doing out here?"

[bewitchinghaze]

She lets out an irritable grumble but lays back down, feeling the pounding in her head lessen slightly.

"Sorry... Lou had a cursed plant in her room. It's why she was acting so weird at the police station, remember? I was trying to remove the curse and track who it came from. It, uh... Well, it worked for the most part," she snorts. "The curse is gone. I have no idea who sent it though and the backlash was ridiculous."

[jiyunnies]

She runs a hand over Val's head, easing the pain as much as she can. She chews her lip, remembering the way Val and Moira described Lou's behaviour that day. "That makes sense. It did seem really out of character for her."

"Stop squirming, I'm fixing your pretty face." Riley touches a finger to her cheek, focusing a tiny orb of healing magic on Val's skin. "So if it backfired this strongly, someone definitely didn't want to be found."

[bewitchinghaze]

Val winces at the sting of her skin knitting back together, just a small red line marking the place where she'd been cute.

"Definitely not. The question is, who would want to hurt Lou so badly? She was outright raving and getting mad at me, of all people," she frowns, glaring up at the sunlight that filtered through the hawthorn leaves.

[jiyunnies]

"What about her old cases? Anyone bitter about a sentencing? I mean, a judge has to make a lot of enemies throughout their career." She eyes the plant, reaching a hand out to smooth Val's hair. "If someone's gone through this much trouble to terrorize, Lou, they have to be bad."

[bewitchinghaze]

"I don't know... Maybe. There's some stuff in her past too. I helped her out with thing I can't... really talk about but," she bites her lip with a frown. "It might be connected."

[jiyunnies]

Riley looks a bit worried. "Anything you can do to find out if it was the same person?"

[bewitchinghaze]

"I don't know... I'd have to ask Lou some more questions, but she's gone missing," she says, before groaning. "This is not going well at all."

[jiyunnies]

"She's gone missing? Like, Corrine Flynn kind of missing?"

[bewitchinghaze]

Val shakes her head and winces as it feels like her brain smacks against the side of her skull. "She left a note for her parents, apparently. But knowing how she was just a few days ago... It doesn't feel right, unnie. I'm worried."

[jiyunnies]

"That doesn't sound like Lou..." She lifts a hand and soothes Val's hair again, this time sending a wave of relief into her head. "Do you think she's in trouble?

[bewitchinghaze]

"I don't know," she says, sighing at the relief. "I'm worried that she is. My gut says she is, but it may just be me being a worry wart."

[jiyunnies]

"Still. Do you want to look for her?" Riley asks. "You're closes to her. This is your call."

[bewitchinghaze]

She carefully sits up, reaching out and plucking a blackened leaf off of the now dead plant. It crumbles in her fingers, leaving black ash on them.

"I want to look for her. I owe it to her to find her and make sure she's okay."

[jiyunnies]

"Alright. Want to try scrying or do this the old fashioned way? Investigate her place." Riley will do anything to help her sister, all she has to do is say the word. Including breaking into the home of a judge.

[bewitchinghaze]

"Investigate her place first, then scry. I can even get her parents to let us into the cottage, so we don't have to break in," she smiles, knowing what her sister was thinking.

[jiyunnies]

"Dang it, I needed to practice my lock-picking too. When do you want to go? And how'd your head feeling?"

[bewitchinghaze]

Val laughs. "Tomorrow? I kind of just wanna lay down right now. My head doesn't hurt as bad but I'm really shaky. The curse dissipating kind of drained my power..."

[jiyunnies]

"It's a date. We'll get our detective outfits together later, promise." She's glad Val decides to lay low for the night. "How about we get back to the cottage and I'll make you something yummy? Dinner in bed."

[bewitchinghaze]

"Mmm... Yup. That sounds like a plan to me," she grins, getting to her feet and immediately leaning on Riley's shoulder as a wave of dizziness swamps her. "Do we still have that leftover cheesecake?"

[jiyunnies]

Riley helps her sister back to the cottage. "Ummm, yeah I think I saw a few pieces. You just get in bed, okay?"

[bewitchinghaze]

Her bones feel positively watery and she feels guilty not searching for Lou right away, but barely being able to walk from your bed to the bathroom seems like a sign that she's not up for it right now. Barely managing to tug off her clothes and squirm into a pair of pyjamas, she drags herself into bed with a happy sigh.

"I'm in bed, Nurse Jung," she calls out with a giggle.

[jiyunnies]

Riley lingers in the kitchen, brewing up a quick strengthening potion, one that'll help her sister sleep as well, before she pulls out the lasagna she made earlier and pops it in the over for a bit to reheat. She plops a large piece for two on a plate, making sure to grab the tupperware of cheesecake from the fridge as well. With an unusual amount of grace and effort, she manages to get everything into Val's room in one trip and lays it all out on her bed.

"Potion, lasagna, then cheesecake," she explains. "Doctor's orders."

[bewitchinghaze]

"Yes, ma'am, Dr. Unnie," she teases, scooching over and turning back her covers to Riley can climb in next to her. Val takes the potion, just barely avoiding making a face at the taste, and digs into the lasagna. "Ugh, you are a life saver. This is amaaazing."

[jiyunnies]

"Are you proud of my, Soo-Yun? I actually followed a recipe I found online. Your veggies help, of course," she grins, climbing under the covers before taking a forkful of the lasagna. "Remember when mom and dad were convinced we'd never be able to take care of ourselves?"