Teresa Alexandra Carter (reincarnatedgal) wrote in btvsal, @ 2011-01-15 13:00:00 |
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Current mood: | curious |
Learning is the First Step...
Who: Bastian, Teresa, and an appearance by Delilah
Where: Ashes to Ashes Magic Shop
When: Tuesday Afternoon, 1/11
After classes that day, Teresa finally got up the courage to go and see the lady who owned the magic shop called Ashes to Ashes. Last year, if you asked Teresa if she believed in magic or anything else, she might have laughed and said no. Now...she wasn't so sure. She was having dreams about stuff that she barely wanted to talk about, but it was starting to really get to her. Right now all she wanted to do was find a way to make the dreams go away and start sleeping again so that she could get on with her life, and hopefully the lady who ran this place would have an idea as to how to do that. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door to the shop open and walked inside.
Bastian had arrived in the store to start her shift roughly ten minutes earlier, dressed in jeans and a plain white t-shirt. Ever since she moved back in with Neely and Rachelle, she had basically shut the emotional doors on everyone and returned back to her almost robotic self. When Teresa, she looked up from her place behind the counter and tried for a friendly smile. It looked more like a grimace. "Hi."
She noticed the other girl's grimace, but, since she didn't know her, figured it was something to do with her personal life and left it at that. "I was actually wondering if the owner was in?" Teresa asked. "Someone I know told me to ask for her."
"Unfortunately Delilah's stepped out for a moment," Bastian told her, moving around the counter to talk to her properly. "You're welcome to wait. I can't imagine that she'd be much longer," she offered, before moving her mouth to the side thoughtfully: "Or I could help you, if you like."
"Ok," Teresa said when Bastian told her that Delilah wasn't in but would be soon. "I don't know. Maybe. Do you know anything about dreams?"
"Some things," Bastian replied with a stern nod. "It really depends on the dream... and the dreamer. Also, what you wanted to do about them."
"I'd prefer for them to stop," Teresa admitted. "I'd at least like to understand where they're coming from. Before last year, I never dreamed anything freaky weird. Just...you know, dream stuff. Wanting to marry Justin Timberlake. Whatever. Now my dreams are specific...and really scary."
"Hrmh..." Bastian moved her mouth to the side thoughtfully. "That's where I get hesitant. There could be a lot of reasons for that. If it's any consolation, I don't think it's a mental problem." That... was a joke, right?
Teresa breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that's a good start. I haven't really told anyone *what* these dreams are yet. They scare the hell out of me. It's...stuff I can't even come up with on my own. I don't even watch horror movies. But I'm dreaming of vampires."
"Hrmh. Have you been displaying an excess amount of strength lately?" Bastian asked, trying to boil down the options here. Some girls weren't... fond of the dreams, she'd heard.
Teresa thought on that a moment. "Not really...?" she ended up saying. "I mean, not that I'd get a lot of chance to show it. I'm on the dance team at RHS. Not exactly Strength R Us."
"Okay. Just narrowing it down. The only things that I can come up with are outside forces or... past lives, which might sound ridiculous, but you'd be surprised." Bastian replied.
Past lives...just as crazy as anything else. Teresa just shrugged. "Just as good of an explanation as anything else." she admitted. "How do you know if it's one or the other?"
"There are spells... the outside influence stuff would be easier to detect, for one," Bastian pointed out. "It's easier to tell if someone else is tugging your strings."
Teresa nodded. "Makes enough sense," she said. Just as Delilah herself pulled up to the shop and walked inside, Teresa asked, "So, how do we go about finding this out then?"
"That... I might ask Delilah about, personally. The magic that I practice is a little ... left of center." Dark. "And I'd prefer that to be a last resort."
Delilah arched an eyebrow as she walked over to the two girls. "Anyone mind briefing me?" she asked, and then Teresa told her what she had told Bastian so far. "The only magic possibly needed is a tracer to see if any magic is on you," Delilah said. "I can do that." She could perform white magic fine. It was dark magic that she had little talent for.
Bastian gave Delilah a curt yet thankful nod, glad that the woman knew some white magic. Bastian, personally... didn't like to affect people with the darker parts of her nature, if she could help it. "That's your best option to get the ball rolling," she said to Teresa.
Delilah smiled. "Just give me a few minutes to collect what I need for the spell then," she said to the two girls, going behind the counter so that she could get what she needed.
Teresa looked over at Bastian. "So...this isn't going to like, hurt or anything, is it?"
That actually made Bastian smile slightly and she shook her head. "No. You shouldn't feel a thing at all. White magic is very... natural. You'll be fine."
"OK...good. Sorry, this is my first time with magic," Teresa said with a half-smile.
Delilah came back a few moments later with some incense, which she lit. "That's mostly to help you relax," she said, setting a large book on a table and opening it up to the right page for the spell. "If you could just sit in front of me, we can get this done quick."
"It's completely understandable," Bastian assured Teresa, actually pulling back a chair at the table for her to sit before moving away slightly. While she was curious to see what Delilah was about to do... she couldn't help her aversion to white magic.
Teresa sat down in a chair directly across from Delilah as Delilah took her hands and started to chant an incantation to detect if any magic had been done on the girl. While Delilah quickly figured out that no magic had been done, she quickly learned something else that was quite...unsettling.
In a flash, she saw a girl who looked remarkably like Teresa, although she was dressed in a fashion that hadn't been seen much outside of mid-eighteenth century France. The girl was holding up what appeared to be a mask made out of human skin as she looked out to be...Ashton Kowalski...
Delilah yanked her hands away, accidentally sending out a quick jolt of electricity that zapped Teresa's hands. "Hey! I thought that you said that this wouldn't hurt!" Teresa protested.
Delilah shook her head. "I'm sorry. That was me. You're...not under a spell. It's something else." Delilah's best guess was either a past life or even possibly a possession, but she wasn't sure at all.
Bastian pursed her lips together thoughtfully as she looked from one woman to the other, crossing her arms under her ample breasts. "What do you think we should do?" She asked Delilah. "And... if it requires more help, I'd suggest asking Tara," she added. That wasn't to say that Bastian didn't want to help mind you, but she was concerned that she'd be more of a hindrance than a help.
"I think we may need more help," Delilah said. "There's someone I need to talk to first, though." She wanted to know why she saw Ash in the flash. "You may not be a hinderence at all, so don't judge just yet?"
Teresa arched an eyebrow. This definitely wasn't going to be a quick fix at all. Damn.