ᴡɪᴛᴄʜ ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀ (spellcasts) wrote in valloic, @ 2021-11-08 12:04:00 |
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Asetenarra’s cave dwelling was far from a dank dwelling - it was dotted with ambient lighting that gave everything a cozy sort of feel, and had a sunroom that was decorated with wraparound windows and led down to a grotto (lots of twinkling stars and glittery fabrics, because the baby goths were actually kind of soft and didn’t swathe their dwelling in morbidity). The sunroom was where they had their coven meeting this month, and James attended with Marina - apparently Asetenarra was excited to have someone else joining for the meeting this month, which helped with some of James’s nerves. Those nerves were jumping, they lit up like electric lights in a video game - because he knew of Vorerra’s reputation and while some of the covens were able to work civilly with James’s former family, welcoming a former member of Vorerra was a whole other story. Yet, as he sat and listened quietly (Estella had opened the meeting, then other members had updated and chimed in), those anxieties seemed to dissipate. It was warm in the place, but not in a temperature way - just in a ‘these people are impossible to dislike’ kind of way. They had set up all sorts of spooky delights in their caves hoping to attract others and make new friends - James had no need to be concerned that they’d reject him due to being born into a coven he had no choice about actually being born into. It also wouldn’t be an Asetenarra meeting without their cheese, which they were still proud of - as they should be, it was delicious. Right now James had some nutty Gruyere-like cheese which went well with the fruitiness of a Pinot Noir wine. So classy. “Thanks again for letting me tag along with you,” he said to Marina, stem of his wine glass twisting in his hands. “I was probably more nervous than I should have been.” Marina had only a vague understanding of Vorerra as a coven. She knew people complained about them a lot and when James first came on the network, people had a lot of shit to say. It was refreshing not to be the one people were immediately semi shitty to. Sure, she’d earned her bullshit, but she’d been through more than enough to suggest people get the fuck off her back about it. She had the clockwork eye to show it. Even if it did make her feel like some weird AU version of Margo without all the weird bullshit those guys dealt with. She was glad no one expected her to save the world from some crazy assholes. …Except that one time. But Asetenarra was undoubtedly the most excited group of people she knew that weren’t Eleanor or the Disney Princess. Fawn? Fern? Whatever her name was. She’d talked to them about it before he showed up and pointed out no one could say shit when they asked her to join anyway. It meant she could fuck anyone up that she needed to. Marina settled for the wine portion of this, only eating a small amount of cheese to keep Klara and Onyx from giving her sad eyes for the third time that day. Honestly they were so clingy sometimes. But, weirdly enough, she’d grown to like them…even if she did have some hang ups and anxiety over the potential of all of them dying. She’d just have to kill all their enemies first and hope none of them were gods or just killed a god. “Yeah yeah. They’re always excited about new people, so you didn’t really even need me.” She looked over at him. “They know what it’s like for people to think they’re something they aren’t. Even if they also try to put forward some weird aesthetic they don’t really match up with, but whatever. At least they’re fashionably goth now.” Fashionably goth. James wasn’t entirely sure what that meant but, oddly enough, he agreed with the assessment. “They’re delightful,” he chuckled fondly. He’d been familiar with Onyx (Steve), somewhat, due to the fact that he took Cheeto there to have regular check-ups and appointments with Onyx (Steve) at his vet practice. But perhaps attending with another Outlander was a good sign - that James was attempting to fit in with their community too, that he wasn’t just some plant designed to fuck things up from the inside. Paranoia was a way of life with Vorerra - he’d seen it, as their psychiatrist. Some of it was probably still ingrained in James as well, like many other unsavory aspects that would always be stuck with him - that he hoped wouldn’t hinder him from truly being accepted. But as Marina said, they seemed to ‘get’ it. “I hope to attend other meetings and then - do what I need to do in order to join?” he questioned. “Learn the sigils. Did you have any sort of joining ceremony, on your end?” It just depended on the coven. Whenever Vorerra did invite someone from outside the family blood lines, it was a whole thing. Marrying into it, however - like how his father had - didn’t always guarantee you’d be one-hundred percent trusted either (again with the paranoia). Hopefully Asetenarra had less murderous bloodshed as a part of their rituals. Onyx was just one of those people. He was weirdly and overly caring about every creature that existed. She guessed it made sense for a vet. She’d take FB and JG to him. She remembered his face when she first explained FB’s name and then the very confused expression that followed her fake name for JG. Jungle Grease was apparently not what he was expecting. She told him not to think about it too hard. Marina shrugged. “The sigils are kind of important. You take a week or so leading up to it coming up with your own personal sigil that’s sort of your signature. They use it mostly just to add to their “coven book” but it’s also a way to help add something to the group. Like…” She paused, trying to figure out how to explain what she meant. “Back home, Hedgewitches can’t do certain spells alone. So I did my sigil with the intent to help bolster collaborative magic. So if there’s a big spell and we needed a group thing to help with it, then we’d use the sigil I made so we could share magic together. It might not be the most necessary, but back home, you could burn up from the inside out and turn into a niffin if you fucked up, so I figured we might as well use it. So you’ll choose something you want to offer and whether it’s just a modified version of a sigil that’s already there or something personal, it’s what you do. Then they have a little ceremony to welcome you into the coven and that’s...that?” “Interesting,” James hummed, and he was already thinking about what kind of sigil he could ‘design,’ something helpful to add to the collection that was shared coven-wide. “Yours sounds useful though - making collaborative magic stronger and less of a chance for niffin fuckups is helpful.” He sipped the wine, taking another piece of cheese - there were pieces of bread too, and crackers, the perfect snack that one really wouldn’t expect from a bunch of emo goths; the whole charcuterie thing was more stereotypically high-class housewarming party or something. But he found it adorable how proud Asetenarra was of their cheese, and how they partnered with the vineyards of Sliniara. He also liked how friendly they were - how hard they tried. There was a lot of purity and wholesomeness there. It seemed to actually fit with him, his ideals, better than having to skulk around and actively hurt others, carrying resentment and bitterness with all of that unpleasantness strapped to your back. “I could - “ His brow furrowed, and he was just spitballing here. “Somehow find a way to link everyone’s sigils? Like a mind link - but orchestrated a bit differently. And if anyone needs help, they’d just have to reach out through their sigil.” Vorerra was linked similarly, of course, hoops of iron connecting them all - and while James was familiar with being on a link, he’d never designed one entirely from scratch. So it’d be a fun challenge. “I prefer not dying even if I am left as pure energy. Hard pass on that.” I mean, sure you could do anything at that point, but she preferred her being not dead more. She’d just have to settle on collaborative magic. She was pretty sure Eleanor would be pissed if she died anyway. So she would just skip it. “Plus, there’s probably no ‘getting to the Underworld to break my Shade out and it would just be a waste of existence anyway.” She considered his suggestion. “So how would you link them? Like a ‘make sure you carry something pointy with you at all times’ or something else?” Cause she knew there was a way to do it in multiple fandoms. She just was curious how they’d manage, but sure there was a way one way or another. “Hm - if the sigil is a tattoo, it becomes a wound? So that might be a way to link them, using blood as a component,” James mused. And then whatever magic was put into the linking spell as well - he’d have to give it some thought. Blood was an entirely new thing for him, especially since much of Vorerra’s magic was wordless, wandless - he didn’t need incantations for most of the spells he knew. It was just a matter of finding the will, the steely resolve and the dedication and focus to put your spells out there and make them work with the energies of the world. Either way, linking sigils was something he decided he wanted to do - and once he set his mind onto something, there was little chance of him backing out of it. Stubbornness didn’t always have to be a bad trait - and maybe, just maybe, he wanted to make whatever he did for Asetenarra extra special because he felt as if he had more to prove. To make up for. But that was his own personal issue. “Of course, that would require everyone tattooing their sigil on them,” he chuckled. “I wouldn’t mind - I assume they wouldn’t either, but who knows. Aren’t goths hardcore anyway?” Marina hmmed thoughtfully, looking at her right arm. Hedgewitch tattoos were just meant to show the level of magic you’d achieved. Hers went up to level 50. The highest was a level 250. “It could work,” she said after a moment. Even if nothing else, she guessed everyone would be willing to try. “Kind of Dark Mark vibes, though.” Which either made sense or didn’t. It just didn’t involve an evil asshole intent on killing everyone. She’d had enough of those to be honest and she was exhausted. “Bet you could get them to do it by pointing that out, though. Cause they’re a bunch of nerds anyway. I don’t mind the tattoo route. I made my own sigil so it’s not like I don’t like it.” “Right, Dark Mark vibes,” James chuckled - he was familiar with the fandom (all the locals knew the Harry Potter fandom, and actually knew most of the fandoms the Outlanders were plucked from - it was like the city was a constant convention, going on 24/7) so it made sense to him. Admittedly, he hadn’t considered tattoos from that angle, but - he could see the comparison. “If you think it’ll be ideal to point out the Voldemort connection, that’s the route I’ll go.” He sipped his wine, swallowing a mouthful to wash down the cheese. Forming exactly how to pitch that was amusing too - James could just imagine the way everyone’s faces lit up at the idea of their very own Dark Mark. Just like the Death Eaters! How exciting! “Far less nefarious acts though,” he pointed out, setting the glass down. “Seems like it’ll be a decent option, then. I’ll sketch up some ideas for my own sigil and then proposition them with linking. Should probably go right to Estella, I assume?” “Without the annoying Dark Lord part.” She made a face before taking a sip of her wine. “We can always add that part in there. Half the reason they sent that first sigil in the mirror was because they saw my show.” She remembered the second time they invited her and the way they said Julia’s name and gave her sad eyes before she told them to quit being annoying. But the ability to quickly alert each other in moments of danger might be nice because she’d grown to like these idiots and if there was something they couldn’t fight off, she wouldn’t be hard pressed to show up and destroy whatever or whoever was trying to hurt them. She could use being the person she became to their advantage. “I’d definitely discuss it with Estella. She’s pretty easy, but she might even have some ideas on how to make it work. She’s pretty good about assisting when it’s needed and open to new ideas.” “Perfect,” James nodded. “I’d like to involve her anyway - being that she’s the head of the coven and all.” He had a good feeling about everything and, by now, he’d learned to trust his intuition - his gut instincts, especially after everything he’d been through with Vorerra. “I’ve missed being a part of a coven - that sense of community and camaraderie. Overall I think they’re a better fit for me - a lot healthier.” Plus, if he had to be honest, he could use the protection that being in a coven entailed - and knowing that the other members would come to your aid if need be. He knew that one of the ways to really hit Vorerra where it hurt was to go after their moneybags, their business deals - they had deals with essentially all of the covens, and it was those other covens that kept them in check; they couldn’t afford to lose business, and going after someone who belonged to a coven Vorerra made deals with would only hurt them. It wasn’t because James was actually related to them - that he was technically family. No, it was that they’d lose money - which, fine. If that was what got them to leave him alone, so be it. He’d deal with the hurt of that on his own terms. Marina knew leaving a hedge, but that had been partly wanting to and partly being pushed out. Still, she didn’t really have the same emotional connection to the hedge from Timeline 40 as she did her own timeline. Those had been her hedges, the people she’d taught and helped and lived with. But she was at least not concerned about someone else in this place. “Thankfully it should work out. Also I think we could help these guys figure out good mental wards if that’s something that’s a concern. Our world is big on mental wards and so I’m set.” If mental wards were what Asetenarra wanted, then mental wards were what they would get. James was all too happy to use that magic for good and not evil. “Oh, I can do that with no trouble,” he assured. “Likely it wouldn’t even take me very long to put something in their minds, a trigger, for a shield to go up in case of any intrusions.” He’d done it for Leon and even though Mathis found a way around it, James was still confident in his abilities - and he wasn’t going to stop trying to protect others from Vorerra. He wasn’t meek, or a pacifist, and them being forced to step down a few pegs would actually be quite satisfying. “I’m looking forward to getting to know them more too.” Marina included in that. He was looking forward to a lot of things about a life away from Vorerra - it was somewhat unnerving, for a few ways, but he had to try. One foot in front of the other, like anything else. |