warpweft | [popdrop] H1: Spectre & Poppy

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[popdrop] H1: Spectre & Poppy

[The first thing you notice is how dark it is. It’s really, really stinkin’ dark. You can’t see anything. Even if you naturally have the ability to see in the dark, well, not anymore. Which may be the second thing you notice - any powers you have, any magic is gone. Silenced. You can’t feel it, similarly to when you’re in the theme park, with an additional sense of anxiety and loss surrounding the inability to tap into it. Even a heightened sense of emotion won’t bring them back, like it might in the theme park. If you have other powers of some kind, enhanced physical capabilities or the like, they’re either gone or significantly reduced as well. You feel extremely normal and it doesn’t feel good.]

[Whether you stay still or stumble along in the dark, at least it’s not too long. You eventually catch notice of something illuminating the darkness. You find yourself drawn to it. It's a small spherical glass object. Near the edges, it's black, but bits of purple and violet appear, gradually brightening and swirling together in a spiral shape at the center. The spiral at the center is bright enough to bathe you and the surroundings in a soft violet light. As you get closer, you can feel voices coming from the sphere. You can’t tell what they’re saying, but maybe if you were closer. You feel a deep desire in your stomach to just…reach out….]

What are you doing?

[The voice, a woman’s voice, comes from behind you. You didn’t hear anybody approaching, but you’re immediately filled with an intense sense of foreboding. You turn and look, but you can’t see anything. The darkness is once again overpowering, the violet glow from the object next to you being the only thing that isn’t swallowed up by it. All you can make out in the darkness is what may be someone’s face and…two eyes. With nothing in them. Pitch-black.]

You touched the Heart…

You touched MY Heart!?

[There’s a lot of anger and it’s not making that sense of foreboding go away. The darkness and the person(?) inside it advance towards you, slowly engulfing the violet glow around you. Just when you’re thinking you’re gonna have to decide between fight or flight, here — something moves.

Towards you.

You feel something punch into your chest and before you know it, you’re on the ground, searing pain running through your upper body. A few things briefly pass through your senses. You hear a loud scream. If you tilt your head up, you can see a long black spike…embedded in your own chest. And you can taste… …yup. That’s your own blood.

That’s about as far as you get before consciousness leaves you.]

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Um...well, I don't want to make you share something super private, so...

Maybe something only a little important at first, just to see if it works?

....I remember meeting my daughter.

Which isn't as private as one would think such a thing.

Oh!

[Wait. Meeting?]

...did you adopt?

Yes.

Awwww.

[She gets a fond little smile on her face.]

Uh. Well. If you'd be okay with sharing that, I would be honored to help you show it to Hex. Here. [She holds up Puck.] If we're both holding him at the same time, that should be enough for me to do the spell.

Well...it really wasn't a private affair.

[Listen]

[It was during a cult attack. Stupid shit happened. DnD shenanigans. Maybel may have wanted revenge on her parents killers-]

[Poppy shouldn't have kids.]

[She will put her hands on Puck.]

[The memory starts in the woods and in the distance, they can see a cultist camp. They see the cages, the captured villagers. They talk about their plan.]

[There is **** (Poppy) taking in the lay of the land, the dragonborn, Roscoe, in heavy armor saying how he'll be a hard sneak, a half orc, The One, not much better, but he's not as talkative. There is a barbarian Cyrel who thinks maybe he can pretend to be a wandering cultist too. It's the purple tiefling in robes who comes up with a plan.]

[He's going to pretend to be a buxom maiden using magic while they surround the camp and move in.]

[He goes in, and manages to deceive them enough to get their attention and wondering if she'd be worth selling as a slave or having a fun time now as Herb tries to flirt his way out of chains as they all move around the place.]

[The cultists move in to grab him and that's when the rest of them move. Poppy rushes in as a giant elk, right by Herb, bucking a cultist away so he can get on her back....they didn't talk about this before hand.]

[Herb thinks he's made a magical new friend.]

[Poppy is fine with this, keeping him out of range as he casts Firebolt, and bucking some cultists before dashing away. The fighters tear through the cultists.]

[Cyrel is having a little trouble with the one in charge and he tries to get him away after getting stabbed with the sword, and-]

[He's tripped.]

[By the small child they had been making serve them.]

[It makes it a lot easier for Cyrel to kill him then.]

[They free the villagers, much to their gratitude. Poppy turns back into a Tiefling, much to Herb's surprise.]

["I'm a druid. You really should have known," Poppy said with amusement.

"Maybe that's why my mother wanted me to be one. I could never get that camping thing down," Herb said in that rambly way he does. "I guess I'm not magically gifted with special animals."

"Just me, I'm afraid," Poppy said and she looks to the side and there's the little girl, looking in awe.

"You can turn into a deer!"

"An elk, but yes. That's the power of nature, you know," Poppy said

"Can you teach me?!"

"I don't have time, I'm afraid. We have work to do and we have to get you back to your parents."

The girl looks away. "My parents..."

There is a silence as the others take notice. "...did they both...?" Poppy asked quietly.

The little girl nods. She then looks up. "Are you going after the people who attacked our village?! I want to help! Let me come with you!"]

[There is some debate between your group because its a little girl, but Poppy is still staring at the little girl. She wasn't much older, after all...]

[Cyrel was impressed with her help.]

[The One doesn't care.]

[Roscoe has doubts.]

[Herb thinks its an important growing opportunity.

[There is a look at Poppy, to see if she'd protest.]

[Poppy holds out her hand to Maybel and smiles. "I guess I'll be able to teach you after all."

[~~This is what happens when the voice of reason has every reason to say yes to the terrible idea~~]

Edited 2021-05-24 03:43 (UTC)

Okay....

[Once you’re ready, Nell closes her eyes and murmurs something to herself for a couple moments. A soft purple light surrounds her hands and, eventually, surrounds Puck too. He lifts a paw up and whaps it on your forehead.]

[It's quiet for a moment. You can feel something in your head, but it's...subtle. Gentle. Trying to be delicate while it's in there and not mess anything up, so the process takes a few moments....]

[And then the glow is gone. Nell's eyes open again. She takes in a breath, then a frown appears on her face.]

Oh...I'm so sorry that happened to all of you. That must've been so difficult...

[One of the doors down in the hallway can be heard opening. Nell perks up and looks in that direction.]

[That....isn't the worse. She's had mind invasions before, but its certainly the nicer version of it.]

....it was hardest for her. [There had been Sympathy Of A Sort.]

That way?

...mmn. Dealing with something like that at a young age....

[She trails off and lets out a sigh. She looks down the hallway.]

Ah, yes. There's three rooms down there. Um. Feel free to take what you need.

She'll have help. [Whether this is Good Help Is Highly Questionable.]

....should I bring a knife?

[I mean]

[Just in case???????]

...I...can't think of any reason why you would need one?

[Shrugs.] Its good to know.

I'll see if I can find an important item to her.

[Tooo the hallway.]

[The hallway has three doors, one of which is currently open. The other two are closed and... ...locked.]

.... [I won't try to pick those YET.]

[Into the open door.]

[You enter Nell's room.]

[Nell’s room has a bed, a desk and a dresser. On the floor there’s a stack of books and a tablet that mostly seems to be for playing audiobooks. In one corner there’s a big stack of music in a bunch of different mediums. There’s neatly compiled stacks of CDs, cassette tapes and there’s even a stack of vinyl records. And there’s a cassette player, a CD player and a record player all kept neatly next to each other as well. There’s even a guitar laying against the wall next to the stack of music.

On the desk, there's a loose stack of a few papers and photos.
On the nightstand, there's a framed photo.
There also seems to be something on the bed, under the covers.]

[You can explore this room or return to the Living Room.]

[BOOKS]

[Immediately to look over the books.]

[There's a few textbooks, in varying subjects at varying levels, from probably well below Nell's age (she looks, what, like, late teens?) to a little above it. They all look like they were procured at the same time, though.

There's books on social skills, how to fit in, how to show confidence.
There's a book on how to develop useful studying habits.
There's "For Dummies!" books on...a lot of different stuff. Technology, transportation, etc. etc. And how-to books on an equally wide range of subjects.

....and there's some YA fantasy aaaand yup. Hidden at the bottom is a couple romance novels. Yes, they're about witches. Oh, this one is about a witch who falls in love with a dragon that can turn into a cute boy!]

[....I wanna read most of these.]

[OKAY, she will skim through the social skills one.]

Can ask her later, right....

[It's a book giving advice on how to fit in with people, how to talk to them, reading social cues, common phrases, etc. It basically comes off as advice for someone who has no idea how to talk to people. As you flip through the book...images start to filter into your mind.]

[Nell is sitting on her bed, reading the book. You enter the room and take a look at her. She looks a little younger than she does right now. Mid-teens as oppose to late teens.

"How is it going?" You ask.

"It's...going fine," she says. "I-it's just...it's kind of a lot. What if." She purses her lips. "What if I mess something up?"

"Then you mess something up," you say. "Nobody expects you to do everything perfectly on your first day of school, Nell. I didn't." You wave a hand. "It's just a small class with other people who are in...similar situations. Just do your best and if you feel overwhelmed, call me." You give her a smirk. "Look at me. I was in the same situation as you and now I'm a highly respected academic. A genius, that everyone flocks to. A master of both the mundane and magical," you say, sparing no amount of superlatives for yourself. Goddamn, you're great.

That gets a smile and a giggle out of Nell. She nods.

"Y...yeah. I'll just do my best." She takes in a breath and you can see her releasing some tension. "Thank you."

"Any time," you smile back and leave the room, leaving her to her reading.]

[Then, you're back in Nell's room, kneeling next to her books.]

Edited 2021-05-19 20:19 (UTC)

[....this is a very good book.]

[Maybe she can ask Hex for a copy. And on the others.]

[Oh-]

[That's. A familiar scene, in a sense.]

[Hex is kind of cute.]

[Let's see the papers and photos on the desk.]

[It looks like an itinerary. There's a schedule, a list of places to go and photos of those places. Museums, galleries, parks, boutiques, lots of stuff like that. There's a letter included with them.]

[Dear Agnis,
Here's some places I thought we could go to. If there's anywhere else in Manchester you'd like to visit, please tell me and I'll look up everything about it! We can't wait to see you and I'm so looking forward to meeting you in person for the first time! <3
Love,
Nell]

[You acquired Trip Schedule.]

[................!!!!]

[MUSEUM! GALLERIES! PARKS!!!!!!]

[She wants to go. '-']

[She will Keep This, see what Nell's says.]

[Let's look under the covers, maybe there is more cat]

[You lift the covers. There’s a white orb resting on the pillow. It responds to your presence and floats towards you, lightly touching your chest. When it does, images filter into your mind…]

[“Here, take a look at this.”
“Wh…what’s that? That’s not one of Grandmother’s books, is it?!”
“No…no, this is mine!”

You’re speaking to Nell, your cousin. You have a big book under your arms. The two of you are hidden away in a corner of your own room.

“Where did you get it?”
“I don’t know. I found it.” You shrug your shoulders…that’s a lie. But you don’t want to tell Nell where you actually got it. It’s not that you don’t trust her, but. She’s very scared of Grandmother. Everybody is. Including you, much as you’re trying to not make it obvious. “Do you wanna see it or not?” Nell looks towards the door, then ducks down a little more.
“Y…yes.” She nods. You smile. You both get on your knees and you open it up. You’re not sure how much time passes. You excitedly point out the words that you know and get her to sound them out as well. After a while, she has a big smile on her face when she can get through most of a sentence on her own. Eventually, you both jump up when you hear the door open. You turn your head and see a white-haired woman fixing the two of you with a look.

“What are you two doing?” She asks.
“Nothing, mother,” you say. “I was just showing Nell-“
“Mmn.” She holds up a finger, cutting you off. “Run along, Nell. Your mother is looking for you.”
“O-okay.” Nell stands up and takes a second to smooth her skirt over with her hands.
“And Nell?” Your mother holds a finger to her mouth. “This is a secret, understood?”
“Y…yes, Aunt Lyra.” Nell ducks her head. Your mother smiles and leans down, giving her a kiss on the forehead.
“Good girl. Run along.” Nell looks back at you. She gives you a smile and leaves. Once she’s gone, your mother picks you up and sits you down on the bed.

“█████,” she says. “You know to keep that book between us.”
“I know,” you say quietly. “But you were teaching me to read…so. I wanted to teach Nell. She was getting it, too! She read some words and we—“ She raises a finger to her mouth and you quiet down.
“You’re so bright,” she says. “I understand. You want to show your cousin what you know. But sometimes…we have to keep our knowledge to ourselves.” She reaches an arm out and hugs you. Her other hand flips the book closed…and slides it under the bed. “I promise. Once we do what we discussed, you’ll be able to show people how bright you are.” You lean into your mother. She strokes your head a couple of times.

“…when we do what we said and Leave grandmother…can we bring Nell?” You ask in a very quiet voice.
“Maybe, my dear,” she says. The noncommittal way she says it…you don’t want to admit it, but somewhere deep in your heart, you know she doesn’t care.]

[….both Hex and Nell are a lot younger in this memory. More striking, however, is that they’re the same age in this one. But the Nell of right now seems a lot younger than Hex, almost a decade.]

[.....well, that sure sounds like talk of a murder attempt or an escape there.]

[Which, fair if Lilith is that bad.]

Time magic? [THAT is very odd though.]

[Is the orb around? Did her orb in her chest change?]

[The orb in your chest seems to have absorbed the orb holding the memory. If you crane your neck, you can see a very tiny white light in there now among all the others, whatever color they happen to be in.]

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