ᴘʀɪɴᴄᴇss ᴏғ ᴘʀᴇsᴛɪᴅɪɢɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ (cigam) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-03-10 18:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, emma swan, zatanna zatara |
Who: Emma Swan & Zatanna Zatara
What: Reading Emma's cards to see if some sense can be made of that Dark One stuff
When: A few days ago
Where: Zee's house
Rating/Warnings: THE EVIL IS COMING~ but that's all
Status: Complete
Baklava wasn’t solely a Middle Eastern dessert, but many Middle Eastern sweet treats were made with phyllo dough - and Zee had an abundance of it on hand, after a trip to her favorite market. There was everything, shelves burgeoning with ethnic goodies from Persian to Arabic, Greek, Turkish, and Indian - she’d hardly been able to resist picking up pine nuts and pomegranate molasses, along with her usual seasonings and some deli-made tabbouleh. But as she once told Hawke, baking was something she did while stressed, or when she had company - and in this case it was definitely the latter, since she’d invited Emma over for a little tarot consultation. Regardless, there was still worry simmering in the back of her mind. She was anxious about turning those cards, given how well the last go at it went - but she really hoped that nothing foreboding and dark was on the horizon for her very pregnant friend. It was about time they all got some decent news. The scent of chocolate baklava permeated the Moroccan-inspired abode, along with fresh flowers and heady, fragrant spices from burning incense - it seemed to seep into everything, sinking into the very floors and walls, giving her home a very mysterious, alluring air. Definitely like being inside a modern-day genie lamp, but it was a welcoming place. She had the kitchen table cleared off and was just beginning to drizzle syrup over the baklava, as she waited for her guest. Tarot cards, palm readings and crystal balls, they weren’t things that Emma had previously put much stock in. And then she moved to Orange County and everything changed. With the looming concerns, Emma was fairly certain she’d take any kind of answers that might help out. Lina had been a godsend really, because she didn’t want to stress out Neal with her own worries, since he likely had plenty to deal with, and Regina was trying so hard. Having someone not so entirely wrapped up in it all but aware of the seriousness was good. Emma managed to get a load off her chest and the possibility of some answers. Really, even if they weren’t the answers Emma wanted right then, she’d be okay with it. She just wanted to know one way or the other. So she made her way to Zee’s place when the other woman invited her, steeling her nerves for whatever news came, she was prepared for this. And maybe a little interested in how Zee’s magic worked. The previous demonstration she got was clearly just the tip of the iceberg. The door opened, and Zatanna was there - not looking so flashy today, just wearing a simple oversized sweater dress, the tights thick and cozy and not fishnets this time. She smiled at Emma warmly, waving her inside. “Come inside,” she wanted to be able to give her a once-over - and Emma definitely had that ‘glow’ about her. “Pregnancy suits you, you look good,” Zee complimented. She did, she looked healthy and soft and feminine, like she was reveling in the miracle of life - well, when that miracle wasn’t causing aches and pains and kicking from the inside. “How have you been doing with everything?” Into the kitchen was where Zatanna led them, and she motioned for Emma to take a seat at the small table. Her tarot cards were in a velvet drawstring bag; it’d just take her a moment to retrieve them. “And let me know what I can get you to drink. I also just made a fresh batch of baklava, if you’re hungry.” She’d heard it a time or two, that pregnancy was looking good on her, and while she was sure it was partly the hormonal change and just the general wellness that was coming along with all the changes, it was a little to do with just how much she was looking forward to this, how much she was enjoying the experience. She really could just embrace every aspect of this and enjoy it all, because there wasn’t this looming sadness; she wasn’t giving it up, she wasn’t losing a chance at anything. They were finally getting everything they wanted and Emma was clinging to all the happiness she could through it all. “I am literally always hungry right now.” Her cravings stopped being entirely specific a little while ago, and while she would honestly always dive into ice cream or frozen yoghurt, she was all about eating anything that came past her right then. “You’d think I was eating for a dozen little monsters right now, but I would love some, and just a water, or tea is fine.” The sweeter the better when it came to her right then. “We’ve been doing okay, mostly.” Aside from the worry from the latest things from the dreams, Emma felt they’d been managing things very well. Her mood swings were a little hard to figure out, but Neal and Henry were fabulous at working with her, and Neal hadn’t stopped doting since the second he found out she was expecting. If this Dark One thing hadn’t come up, she was sure she’d have had a dream of a pregnancy. Tea it was. Zatanna had already done some research on what the safest kinds for pregnant women were, because of Lina - and Emma too, there was a duo of pregnant friends to accommodate. So she put the kettle on, water set to boil, and removed a box of rooibos from the cabinet - it was considered one of the best teas to drink while ‘with child’ because it was caffeine free, and as a bonus it also tasted great. In addition to that, she piled baklava onto a plate, setting it on the table along with napkins since they were sorely needed when consuming something so sticky. “Well, dig in,” she encouraged. “And tell me more about your situation? Lina mentioned a few things involving dark magic, but I’d like to get as much info as I can for when I read your cards.” It would help her focus, and also hopefully obtain a clearer picture - she was quite skilled in divination, but was always honing the art. A work in progress, continuous learning and training, as she liked to think of it. Emma really had no issue with sticky, she might later when her hair was sticking to her neck or the like, but until that happened she was all fingers in. “From what I know, the Dark One is a curse, it started… thousands of years ago and each Dark One is immortal and has endless powers usually turned towards destruction and death. Rumplestiltskin, or Mr Gold, Neal’s father, he was the Dark One for a few hundred years, I think. You need to kill the Dark One with his own dagger, it is where the magic is bound, if you have the dagger, you can control the Dark One, which is why most would hide their daggers. Gold hid his in Neverland with his shadow.” She wondered if there was any books on this stuff, in Storybrooke, or if it was always kept to just lore passed around and changed over time. “Regina’s told me that Gold was dying and the curse, we tried to put it into a magic hat that might contain all the power, but it didn’t. So in an effort to save Regina from becoming evil again, I became the Dark One.” Which was kind of counter-productive, she’d spent weeks fighting the attempts of Gold and his minions to turn her dark, but she readily took on the most volatile and darkest of powers immediately afterwards? She had more of a savior complex than she previously thought. “This is really good.” And maybe she was hoping that Zee could work with that, and a subject change would be okay until the reading started, but she was at least being honest about that baklava. Zatanna listened to that explanation, considering. “If the previous Dark One was saddled with the curse, then how was he dying?” she asked, simply because she assumed that such power would be there to protect its ‘vessel.’ But there had to have been some reason why that vessel was breaking down - otherwise it would just be business as usual. Now, for the cards. She found her deck and shuffled it carefully - if you were particularly observant, or attuned to magic, you could probably sense or even smell the magic that permeated the antique set; it was from many centuries ago, elegant with sort of a serene imagery and feeling to them, with faded colors that were once bright. She treasured this set, it was one of her most prized possessions from the days of forbidden occult practices, stuffed with secrets. “And you are worried that the power you have taken, it will cross over to this world?” “He was banished from Storybrooke.” It really did get convoluted, “Storybrooke is a magical town, it was created by Regina’s curse, so it’s sort of detached from the rest of the world, most of the time, people can’t enter or leave the town, but if they do cross the town line they lose all their magic. So Gold was sent across the town line and he lost his connection to the magic. I think he had a weak heart or something?” Which would make sense if he was over a hundred years old really. Watching the cards, mostly the way Zatanna’s hands moved around them, Emma nodded slowly. “We’re worried I’ll end up with the curse, and what it might mean for the baby. We’ve never heard of a pregnant Dark One before, and the magic it’s… It’s consuming.” Worried that it would affect her pregnancy, that it would change her or hurt any of them. She just wanted to know how prepared she needed to be, in the event that it went wrong. Zee nodded, arranging the cards in a spread that was more for specific inquiries, less for typical day-to-day activities of life. “I do not blame you for being worried - you want to be as cautious as possible,” she said. “But hopefully I can bring you a little peace of mind today.” And she wouldn’t just add to the stress with an ominous warning, like what happened with Hawke - she still felt terrible about that, even though some warning was probably better than none. “This is the Chariot,” she started, as she turned over the first card to begin. A royal standing in his moment of triumph, wearing a golden suit of ceremonial armor; he has just arrived after a great victory and was surveying the landscape of his kingdom. “It represents will power when it’s upright, but when it’s reversed as it is now, it represents aggression - the sphinxes which pull his chariot represent a riddle which seems unsolvable, but knowledge will be the key to victory. And having strength to do what needs to be done.” But when she turned the next card, her brow furrowed - not that she thought this was bad, but it pretty much sealed the deal for what was to come. “The Tower,” she explained. Lightning strikes and flames, people leaping from windows with want to escape the destruction - the grey clouds were there, representing figurative ones that rained on all without discrimination, because that was life. “It means darkness, and destruction. But it also means realization - a moment of truth. Whatever notions you may have had about something before, they’ll shatter, your foundations will be shaken.” Aggression. Emma would’ve likely have prefered the will power, she had that in spades, but then aggression wasn’t something she, or the dreams in general, seemed to lack. She knew that Regina was trying to figure out all she could, using her current knowledge and what she could glean from the dreams about the curse and the nature of things. Emma wasn’t really holding out hope there. Nodding slightly, pretty much reaching the conclusion that she was screwed, Emma listened while Zee explained things. She figured that maybe it could be linked to anything else, but with this one big question looming, and how it was pretty much the biggest thing happening -aside from the baby making, but that came hand in hand. “Well… That’s ominous.” And since she was a fan of comfort eating, the baklava received more of her attention. Zatanna was still trying to piece everything together - she wasn’t done reading the hand yet, so she hoped more of the overturned cards held answers. It was interesting how the same cards meant different things for everyone, but she was turning many of the same cards as when she’d read Hawke’s tarot. For instance... “Death,” she stated, as the next one was flipped. Indeed, there he was - Death on his horse, a white rose, skeletal bones and the boat on the water in the background showing the ferryman taking souls across the River Styx, to the Underworld. “But this is...it’s not necessarily a bad thing. The white rose, for instance, it represents immortality. The card in general means a transformation. One door closing, another opening. However, the feelings...I wish they were less foreboding.” She shivered a little - the prickly sensation crawling up and down her skin, it gave her goosebumps. It was possible that ‘Death’ was very literal. For the sake of her friend, she hoped not. “And now this is fascinating.” Zee hummed, fingers passing over the card beside Death. A very noble figure, wearing a crown, his right hand raised in a benediction “Here we have the Hierophant. He represents wisdom and power. Seeing him in conjunction with these other cards leads me to believe that you will be called upon as a mentor during this time of darkness. Which means...I don’t think it’s going to happen to you, Emma. I think it’s going to happen to someone else.” She was stuck staring at Death for a while, brows furrowed to try and work out how it could be a not bad thing. Immortality though, that was like the Dark One, and maybe that made some sense. It was a transformation, from light to dark, mortal to immortal, that was a pretty serious transformation. “What… mentor?” What could she mentor? “Death and foreboding feelings and… What could I possibly mentor through that.” Of course that just brought her around to ‘someone else’ and wondering what could possibly happen. “Regina said I stopped it from taking her. Do you think it would try to take her here again?” Regina was far better trained than Emma, and her power was changing, Emma knew that. Everyone seemed of the opinion that Emma’s light magic gave her the edge, but Regina was capable of light magic too, she used to to defeat Zelena. “It...is possible.” Zee had to think about it for a moment, but yes - given the way the gossamer veil between this world and the next tended to form holes when it was most inconvenient, and things seeped through, then she wouldn’t rule out some dark force coming for Regina like it did in the dreams. “Are either of you finished dreaming entirely yet? Because the answer could still lie in that tale. It could be something no one has anticipated yet - hence the appearance of the Tower. What we think to be true actually isn’t - preconceived notions will shatter.” She was silent for a moment, letting that sink in, but then the kettle whistled at her so she got up to prepare them tea. As usual, she had the additions ready - cream, sugar, a slice of lemon perhaps. The tray was returned to the table, tea steeping in mugs. “The strength for doing what needs to be done is also a factor - which means that getting through this won’t be easy, but even as the Death card shows, it’s always the darkest before the dawn.” It seemed like it was just more questions. Sure, it seemed more likely, to Zatanna who knew all this stuff, that Emma wouldn’t be the one that the Dark One took, but… It still didn’t mean that someone wasn’t going to face it. “No, Regina’s still dreaming through it all and I’ve only just gotten to the part where our lives are rewritten again.” Because it seemed like every other month they were going through memory spells or re-written pasts or something. It was astounding they didn’t have some kind of complex from it all. “What needs to be done?” Well that could be a few things. “If we had the hat it might be easier, or something to seal the magic in. Or just something to strip it away.” Of course that might mean that whoever took on the curse, her or Regina or whomever would lose their magic too. Then again, she’d already given it up once before. “Have you ever faced a problem with more questions than answers?” “Far too often,” Zatanna assured, smiling ruefully. She wrapped her hands around her cup of tea and lifted it to take a sip, after adding a little bit of lemon flavor. “I find that the answers do come. Maybe they’re not the answers we expect or want, but they are revealed to us when it’s the right time. Though I am glad I was at least able to answer the question of whether or not you’d be afflicted with all this.” They knew Emma wouldn’t (which was a good piece of news - how such a curse could affect an unborn child, well, that was something none of them wanted to find out) but someone else would. Who, was the question? It would be revealed in time too, that Zee was sure of. “As for what needs to be done, I can turn my efforts to looking into sealing spells. I’ve trapped demons in my own magician’s hat before, and if you think it could hold a curse of that magnitude that’s an option. I also have my dream father’s library to look for even more spells. We still have some time.” It seemed like a two steps forward, three steps back kind of thing. But she could hopefully rest a little easier knowing it wasn’t going to be her, even if it was a little selfish, but she had no idea what the kind of thing might do to her little boy. “Hopefully the right time is before someone is completely lost to this.” Because that would be a nightmare for everyone. Sipping at her tea, Emma just nodded. It was a relief, a reduction in the stress of carrying, or at least not an additional worry to all the other worries. Far too many to count now. “Thanks, Zee. It’s actually a bit of a weight off, a little bit of reassurance.” Even if it felt like she was just putting her problems on someone else. “The hat didn’t hold it though… I know know, I think the sorcerer's hat is meant to be the most powerful object in our world. Binding might not be enough.” “It’s no trouble, Emma.” And it wasn’t, not for a friend - Zee was happy to help provide some reassurance, even just a little. This was difficult for everyone. “And...hm. Since you say binding’s not enough, and it does sound that way...” This was quite a force they were dealing with, wasn’t it? She gathered her cards, arranging them back in one pile so she could put them into their proper place - it was important to take good care of the set, plus hers was old so she always showed it the utmost respect. “Then there must be a way to completely do away with it. Snuff it out. I will gather ideas, but like I said earlier, the key is probably in your own dreams. There is a chance that we will just have to wait and see.” Not the best news, perhaps, but it is what it is - and that was what they’d have to do. That whole ‘hurry up and wait’ aspect of it was still there, now they were just waiting to see what would go horribly wrong. But now she was just worrying about her friends, not her friends, her lover and her unborn baby. Which was something at least. “Hopefully it doesn’t come too late, but thank you for at least giving us this.” Something was better than nothing, and they knew not to expect the obvious now at least. |