isleofavalon | Eleventh: Loch Manor, Lilies and Living (Sept Catch-All)

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Eleventh: Loch Manor, Lilies and Living (Sept Catch-All)

🧙 WHO: Caster and OPEN!
⚔️️ WHAT: Caster hiding out in Loch Manor, getting turned into her teenage self, getting involved in branding rituals and shearing sheep.
🕒 WHEN: Throughout September
🗺️ WHERE: Various
⚠️ WARNINGS: Branding in the TDM thread, potential discussion of unhealthy age-gap relationships in the Lily prompts, will update as needed

1) Late Aug/Early Sept: Loch Manor

Caster knew that, after royally angering the Gods, she had to find somewhere to get away where they couldn't easily track her down- and in her panic, her memories drifted back to her conversation with Yuber after her breakdown. How 'no one would find her' at Loch Manor…

Despite her better judgement, she found herself at the entrance to the creepy Manor, and retreated inside.

And for at least a few days, she could be found testing out some of her potions in quiet corners, muttering to herself:

"If I can get this right…then I won't need to sleep. That way I'll be spared his wrath."

2) Early Sept: Medea Lily

After an…unfortunate incident involving one of Claude's potions, Caster had been dowsed with something that had turned her from her usual, creepy witch self into a wide-eyed, disorientated 14-year-old girl.

And, well, the poor thing had no idea what was going on in this strange new world!

a) Unlike her adult self, she had few qualms about trusting strangers, so went up to whoever she could find to ask their advice.

"Um, excuse me? Where is this place… and- have you seen a man by the name of Jason? We've been separated."

b) Later on, she can be found in the training grounds, looking more than a little perturbed as she tries to heal a graze on her arm- or perhaps as she's trying to take care of someone else's injuries- chanting a small spell under her breath as she does so.

"Pain, pain, go away~"

...Of course, what came out her outstretched hand was only the curling shadows of dark magic, much to the girl's alarm.

3) Pain 'Tolerant' Badass

Once Caster returned to her usual self- thankfully, that transformation only lasted for a few days- she decided to get back into another of the world's rituals. Academic curiosity, as it always was with her, but also an attempt to forget that ever happened.

She certainly wasn't going to be letting a random person control her, though.

And that... meant she found herself lying on her stomach on one of the slabs, cloak off to one side, and the back of her dress undone to expose her back.

...Her pain tolerance was awful, and she'd already tensed herself up in preparation for what would happen.

"...Let’s just get this over with, shall we?"

4) Shire Determination

"Hm...I can't say I'm confident that they won't start breathing fire when we begin shearing them."

Caster was eyeing the sheep with suspicion, entirely unconvinced that they wouldn't get immediately set on fire for their trouble. Well, at least she had something prepared for this eventuality.

Untucking a couple of small bottles containing a shimmery, silver-coloured potion, she offered one to her partner- if they took it, they'd find the bottle was strangely cold to the touch. Surely there was nothing wrong with accepting a suspicious potion from a suspicious witch, right?

"This should help."

5) Hot Knights for

morns

"Haha...do you really think we should rescue them? It's far more amusing watching them suffer, isn't it?"

Caster was in one of her sadistic moods. Or maybe this was her baseline misandry, who knows. Still...there was something a little odd about how she was dressed today- the cloak seemed to be fitting a little differently, like she was wearing a frillier skirt than usual underneath it.

Perhaps Kate had encouraged her to wear something appropriate before they set out, perhaps this was Caster's own idea. But right now, she was more interested in laughing at the expense of the people trapped here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's not like any of them know exactly how they arrived, but there's something about the way she says that... It just sounds off. As does the fervor that the girl responds to the name Jason with.

This can't be... Could it? Was it even possible?

The critical look at the was giving the girl vanishes at the sound of that name. Medea. This is... Caster??? Medea??? Her friend??? Oh, this is bad. This is so bad. What does she do with this?

There's some panic that creeps into Klaudia's expression, and without thinking she reaches forward... and covers up the girl--Medea's mouth. "Okay. First rule. Don't use that name. Do you have another one? I can give you one, if not."

A quiet little 'eep' sound escaped her as she found her mouth being covered with Klaudia's hand, and she just stared up at her with bewilderment. She was sure the stranger wouldn't harm her, but what was she supposed to do with this?

And, well, at the question, she shook her head. 'Medea' was the only name she had at this point in her life- she hadn't even earned the title of 'Witch of Betrayal' just yet.

The caution did worry her though, why all the secrecy?

"Okay. Um..." Klaudia pauses to think, keeping her hand still in place. Her attention drifts to the side, her mouth scrunching up tight.

What's a good name? Should it be something similar? Something completely different? She's never had to make up an alias before... The only person that uses an alias (that she knows of) is her captain, and she doesn't know of any titles that wouldn't be a little weird for the girl. Maybe she shoulder just stick with the one she already knows, even if it's not exactly applicable? Or she could just make it applicable...

"What about ...Caster? I mean, since you're someone that casts magic, right? I can tell." That's a totally normal thing to know about someone, right? Not suspicious at all.

Belatedly, she remembers to take her hand away from the girl's mouth. Whoops?

Edited 2021-09-15 18:15 (UTC)

Her eyes widened a bit in surprise at Klaudia's explanation- but it was only when Klaudia moved her hand away that she spoke again, testing out the sound of the name:

"'Caster'...My name is 'Caster'. That doesn't sound so bad, but, you knew I was a Magus?"

Perhaps it was to do with what this person was? She didn't look human, but- oh!

"Oh, um, can I ask your name, also??"

"It's Klaudia!" She hands that information over perhaps a little too gladly--all in all, she's just far more taken in with this young girl than she was a moment ago, which is making her far more chatty as a result.

"And... of course I know you were a magus! I mean, it's really easy to tell. I can practically see the--" She gestures vaguely in Medea's direction, "--the magical energies. Around you. It's very magical. Definitely a magus."

Definitely bullshit, more like. But the truth that she knows an older version of her is even weirder, right?

"Klaudia...it's nice to meet you!" Despite the confusion, she couldn't help but give a bright smile in turn. Could Klaudia really tell her magic from her aura so easily?? "...Then, you must be trained in magic as well, surely?"

"Of course!" Klaudia answers quickly, grinning and deeply relieved. What a good child, not even questioning that incredibly flimsy story. Clapping her hands together, she tosses a shower of small sparkling lights into the air around them, letting them flutter down to the ground like glitter.

"I am proficient in so much magic. It's basically my life~"

A magic friend! There was a sutible 'Oohh...' sound as Klaudia tossed the sparkling lights in the air.

"Oh! Me too- let me just..." she took a step back and held out her hands in front of her, aiming to show off her healing magic. "May it become a world where no one gets hurt or hurts others-"

However, instead of a warm glow, curses of dark magic started swarming around her hands instead- much to the girl's alarm.

"What- what in Hecate's name-"

"Ah! No, no--" Klaudia isn't quick enough to stop the girl from starting to cast her spell, so her hands hover uncertainly. Like she wants to grab the girl's hands to stop the magic, but also she's not touching that. She might be dumb sometimes, but she's not that dumb.

"You can't do that. Our normal magic doesn't work here."

The small girl was staring in horror as the curses weaved their way easily around her fingers. That wasn't the healing magic she was used to...!

"How...how did my magic...why is it so twisted here? It's- it's a little scary."

Oh... Oh no. Klaudia's expression shifts a little, edging towards concern. That wasn't the sort of reaction she expected, and not one she's immediately prepared to deal with. It's a weird feeling for her, worrying about someone else--someone younger than her.

"It's not scary. It's just magic, and magic is just what you make of it, right?" She continues to hover uncertainly, but finally circles behind the girl and places a hand on either shoulder.

"Don't worry. Your magic is safe and sound. It's being used to keep this place running. This is like-- borrowed magic, but it's still yours. You can control it just the same."

"Mm...yes, it's still... My magic is meant to heal people- to help them, and to stop them hurting." She looked up at Klaudia as she moved behind her, wide-eyed and innocent, before looking back down to the magic in her hands. "This looks like it could do no such thing."

Her hands trembled a moment, before she tried to steel herself, taking a deep breath as she let the wisps of darkness dematerialise safely into the air.

"Well, not directly, no." It was true that curses couldn't really help people like healing magic could, but Klaudia sounds undeterred by that.

"But I think you're looking at it the wrong way. Magic is just a tool; it isn't meant to do anything. It all depends on the person that's using it. You can have all the healing magic in the world, but if you heal the wrong people and they go on to hurt other people, then what was that healing magic even worth? Did it help people? Or did it hurt them?"

Edited 2021-09-22 21:27 (UTC)

She seemed to think on that for quite a while, before something seemed to click into place.

"I think...I think it's most important to make sure your Magic can help those you care about. I suppose if someone tried to hurt them- maybe- if someone tried to hurt my beloved Jason, I could use it to stop them from hurting him."

She would do anything to make sure his quest succeeded, after all.

It's fortunate that Klaudia is standing behind the girl because otherwise, she might see the way the tiefling rolls her eyes. Instead, Klaudia gives her a pat on the shoulder.

"Or anyone else that you might want to protect, sure! You could also use curses to stop someone from doing something that might result in them getting hurt. Minor ones. Like-- I don't actually know if you can curse someone into being dizzy, but that's bound to stop them from doing anything stupid if their legs don't work."

"That's true...well, I'll try my hardest. Um. Thank you."

At least she'd calmed down- and that enchanted affection had faded as well. Still, she was glad that Klaudia was willing to help her.

"...Um, Klaudia? Can I ask you something?"

What an equally strange feeling to have someone thanking her for this. Not that she's never heard a thank you before, but the situation is already so bizarre that it further invites more strangeness. She doesn't know how to feel about someone taking her words so genuinely to heart and thanking her for it.

So hearing that Medea has a question, Klaudia is all but ready to focus on that, rather than examine her own feelings too much.

"Sure. You can ask me anything."

A small, firmer nod. Well, if Klaudia said she could ask her anything, then it should be okay, right...?

"I wanted to ask where you were from, originally? Are you from this world or did you get transported here like I was? I've only recently left my homeland and I've not... encountered anyone else like you before."

There was no malice or judgement in Medea's tone. Certainly, the thought of her new friend being a 'demon' never crossed her mind- Klaudia was different from anyone she'd met before, certainly, but she had no illusions of the fact she was a very sheltered girl. There were a great many types of people she'd never seen before.

Klaudia blinks at that question. Where she was from? That's... complicated, but she's not sure that it's a kind of complicated that Medea would understand--whether she was a child or not.

"I'm from Toril, not here." General and utterly meaningless; but it's the answer to the question that was asked, right? "I got dumped into the bay when I arrived, just like everyone else, so I don't think this place has anything to do with my world."

"Toril...I can't say I've ever heard of a land by that name." But Klaudia's answer only raised more questions. "It must be an interesting place- are there many Magi there? Does everyone in Toril appear the way you do?"

So many questions...!

"Also...I don't remember falling into the bay. The first thing I remember here was running into a strange man who'd dropped a supply of potions all across the street. It was quite the mess."

A strange man with potions? Huh... Was that the reason why Medea looked like this instead of what she should look like? That's actually a little bit of a relief for Klaudia. If it was a potion that did this, then it should wear off after a while. In the meantime, she'll just have to make sure that her friend stays safe.

"Everyone that came here from another plane gets dumped into that Bay, too. I'm sure you just don't remember it--probably because of the potions, but I'm sure it'll come back to you. You don't have to worry about it."

Klaudia hopes that that's reassuring to the girl because she doesn't have a better way of explaining it. But she does at least have answers to the girl's other questions, which are by no means a lot for her standards (as a cursorial questions predator).

"I would say that the world that I came from is pretty interesting, though--yeah. Not everyone looks like me, in fact most people don't. There's humans and dwarves and elves and gnomes and goblins and all manner of things... And Magi, yes, sure! We call them mages or sorcerers or wizards, or clerics if they're magic comes from a divine source. Or other names if it comes from other places... We have whole schools and organizations, even whole cities dedicated to magic."

"Of course...yes, those potions must have muddled my memories a little bit- I hope it comes back properly in time."

Certainly, she was still very worried. After all, the idea she was missing part of her memories was troublesome. Wouldn't that be something that worried anyone? As an adult, she'd comment that her memories had also been jumped by Aphrodite's meddling- but her younger self didn't seem to realise what was wrong.

For now, though, she seemed more intrigued by what else she said.

"Hm...I wonder if I would be considered a cleric in your world in that case? I was taught by the Goddess of Magic, after all." But humans and dwarfs and elves- so many different sorts of people- Klaudia didn't look like how she imagined a dwarf and she wasn't human, so maybe...? "Would that make you an elf, in that case??"

There's a moment of silence while Klaudia processes that... and then she lets out a laugh. Her? An elf?? Oh gods, that's funny. Did she really hear that right? What a thing to say...

"I think I would pay to have an elf nearby when you said that. The indignity!" She can just imagine their face. The horror of some elf thinking that a tiefling looked like them... The outrage! Undignified sputtering, she could even hope! Her laughter dies down to snickers, and she shakes her head. "No, definitely not an elf! But wow, what a compliment. I think." Most people think elves are pretty, so it's not a bad thing to be compared to one... Just factually incorrect. By a lot.

"I'm a tiefling. Elves don't have horns or red skin or tails. We're, umm... different."

Medea blinked as Klaudia started laughing, a flicker of embarrassment crossing her face as her cheeks reddened. Had she said something wrong?? But the laugh was infectious, and she gave a nervous little giggle.

"Hehe- A Tiefling...I see. I've never met one before." And certainly, she didn't have any sort of associations with the word, from the way she said it. There did seem to be something off with the way Klaudia described them as 'different', though, but how to ask...

"You say 'different' as if it were bad, somehow?"

Edited 2021-10-08 20:49 (UTC)

"It's not bad--" Klaudia's instinctive response is defensive, but guilty. A rebuttal in the face of what she already knows in an indefensible position. It is bad, isn't it? That's the verdict she's always heard whispered in places that others thought she couldn't hear... or worse, in places where they knew she could. There's no use struggling against facts--but this girl doesn't know any better, and Klaudia doesn't have any intention of making a full correction if she can help it.

"It's just different. Elves are pretty--otherworldly and sophisticated. They live a really long time, so they're always--" She gestures with her hand, words escaping her for a moment. Then she straightens, lifting her chin and looking down her nose at Medea with an affectation to her voice. "You call that magic? I've practiced the Arts for three millennia, you absolute child. Now stand in awe as I sculpt the intricate likeness of a satyr out of this living wood with the sheer power of my mind."

She drops the affectation with a self-amused snort and rolls her eyes. "Like that. But tieflings are more like humans, really. We're just out here living our lives and having a good time, you know? We just look different, that's all."

Eleventh: Loch Manor, Lilies and Living (Sept Catch-All)

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She's a dork there's no saving her

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slowly emerges from hiatus

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