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Post by René Bonner on Apr 28, 2007 12:59:37 GMT -5
Ren stepped off the bus and threw his carry-on over his shoulder. He hoped he was in the right place, or he would have to start all over again. Since hearing about the mysterious “Charmed Ones” a year ago, he had found little else about them. One of the only consistent pieces of information among his contacts was the advice to “Go west.” Horace Greeley would have been proud. Though I’m not sure ‘grow up with the land’ is really the way to put it.
His contact in Phoenix had assured him that one of his friends in San Francisco would meet him at the station. However, as he looked around at the emptying station, it was clear that he had once again been stood up. A flip through his wrinkled cash revealed barely enough to make it into town, and certainly not enough for a hotel.
With a grimace, Ren readjusted his bag and set off through the station. He would need a job now, that was certain. Finding one would not be the challenge. Being a Cum Laude graduate of a private college would do that. No, the problem was the fact that having to make a living would preclude his ability to find a way to make a normal living. These “Charmed Ones” had not been easy to track, as proved by the vagueness of his information. If he wasn’t able to find them before Granma Peggy died and the binding wore off… Well, it didn’t bear thinking about.
The way out of the station was bright and dark at the same time. The setting sun shone through the automatic glass doors. On the other hand, it was like Franklin’s musings leading to a setting sun, rather than a rising one, at the Constitutional Convention. Nice to know that History major was useful for something.
As he approached the doors, lost in thought, he ran hard into someone. The person was definitely shorter and slighter than him, and while he stumbled back a bit, they took the worse of the encounter and fell to the ground.
“Sorry,” he said quietly.
Then he walked over and reached out his hand to the person now seated on the ground, whose face was still down-turned.
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Post by Lucas Hawthorne on Apr 30, 2007 12:48:37 GMT -5
Lucas was walking quickly through the San Francisco station, not really sure where he was planning on going, but he just knew that didn't want to be there anymore. He had been attacked by too many demons and good people lately, four already today. He didn't know how much longer he could take this, both sides going after him and having to fend for himself. During his quick walk through the station, he felt something hard hit him square on his chest. He fell back onto his butt, and was kind of scared because he thought that another person was attacking him, and maybe would just let them kill him this time, although he was very scared of death.
When he looked up quickly, he made a fireball appear in his hand until he saw that the person was trying to help him up. He quickly made it disappear, and got up on his own. He was mad at himself for making a fireball be his first reaction, though most of the time it was. This wouldn't be the first time that he exposed magic to someone whom he had just met, luckily the other times the people turned out to magic themselves, but he didn't know if this time that would work out as well. He thought that his luck may be running out, and he felt a light red color spreading quickly over his flush cheeks.[/color]
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Post by René Bonner on Apr 30, 2007 14:13:59 GMT -5
Ren felt his breath catch in throat and stared. The young man had fire. In his hand. Fire. And then he put it out. Like it was nothing.
With his powers bound, no one really came after him. And his Dad thought all three of them were mortal, so he never told them anything either. So he had heard about mysterious magical powers since he left Chicago, but he had never really seen most of them in action.
Ren was still frozen as the stranger pulled himself off the floor and—
Is he blushing?
He took a step back, eyes still wide. He closed his slack jaw and tried to think of something to say. He opened his mouth, and disconnected syllables were all that came out. There is nothing gonna salvage this.
After another try and some frantic searching, his mouth finally ran ahead of his brain.
“What the hell was that?”
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Post by Lucas Hawthorne on Apr 30, 2007 22:17:07 GMT -5
Lucas was freaking out about the fireball and was hoping to goodness that this guy was a magical being, but honestly, how likely was that. And by the way he was reacting, it seemed even less likely. But then his words assured Lucas that he had just exposed magic to a mortal being, at least he had convinced himself that.
He searched for some type of explanation, but couldn't think of anything to say. "It was a... a fireball." He figured that the truth was the only way that he could go with this one, magic was exposed and he didn't know what to do. But the an idea struck him, and as he thought, he began thinking aloud. "What was that mind erasing spell..." He racked his brain trying to think, not even realizing that he had said anything out loud.[/color]
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Post by René Bonner on May 1, 2007 11:39:52 GMT -5
Ren's eyes widened again as he restrained a sigh. He had really been hoping that he hadn’t seen what he thought he saw. A fireball. By all accounts, a demonic power. A power held by a demon. Not good.
An equal look of panic had appeared on the young man’s—demon, he’s a demon—face. Then he looked thoughtful, which Ren figured was worse than panic. It meant he had pulled it together enough to do something. Ren tensed to run, but any reaction was stopped by the thought that escaped the youn—the thing’s mouth.
“Mind…erasing?” His voice cracked on the last syllable. He had to get out of this somehow.
He licked his lips slowly, stalling for time. “Why…why would you want to do that?” His voice was breathy, and his limbs were shaking, the adrenaline finally taking effect.
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Post by Lucas Hawthorne on May 1, 2007 12:15:14 GMT -5
Lucas was piecing together the words when he looked up to see the terrified expression on the person's face, although he figured it was just because he had seen him create a ball of fire like it was nothing in his hand. He didn't actually know that it was because he knew about magic, and that that was a demonic power, so now he was freaking out about him being an evil demon that was going to try and blow him up or something like that.
Then he heard the other guys frantic words about him erasing his mind. Lucas felt really bad that he might have to do this to the guy, but he couldn't just expose magic like that. Lucas let out a small sigh. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't want to have to do this. I am not evil, trust me. But I can't just expose magic to a mortal, it just doesn't work like that." At that point René had given him no reason to believe that he knew about magic or even was magic, so Lucas could come up with no other options.[/color]
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Post by René Bonner on May 1, 2007 17:53:54 GMT -5
Through his growing panic, Ren could admit that he certainly did not look or act the part of a magical being. Even still, how did that translate into punishing him for Granma Peggy binding his powers? It sure isn’t my fault. What happened to the sins of the past not being visited on the present?
The spell was presenting a more immediate problem than the demon right now. Anything could go wrong. And, of course, with a demon on the end of it, who knew what could happen. The spell could take everything. Or the demon could sift through and take what knowledge it pleased. Either way, it was bad.
Ren took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Surely there had to be a way out of this. He said it’s about exposure. But he didn’t… Ren thingyed his head in thought, his first movement is several minutes.
When Ren spoke again his eyes were wide, but there was a sense of timidity mixed in with the fear. “Em…w-what makes you think you exposed it?” He paused. “Magic, I mean,” he said quickly.
He blinked hard and blew out a breath at the weak tag, hoping it wouldn’t draw too much undue attention to his fear.
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Post by Lucas Hawthorne on May 1, 2007 20:34:14 GMT -5
Lucas almost had all the words brought back into his mind when Ren tried convincing him to not erase his memory. Though what he said struck him as a little odd. "What do you mean? I mean, you're obviously not magic. I could tell by the way you reacted." It was true. By the way that Ren reacted to what Lucas had told him, he knew that he had never seen anything magical in his life before. Lucas sighed as he waited for what Ren had to say now, he wouldn't just erase his memory without hearing him out.[/color]
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Post by René Bonner on May 4, 2007 0:13:53 GMT -5
Ren could not dare to hope that he might be successful. That would just be too much good luck. The thing’s face had softened, though, and he seemed to be listening to reason. Now, is it a Benedict Arnold or a real shot?
Despite his own panic, Ren could not blame the demon for wanting to wipe his memory. Not remembering magic would be great. But he knew too much now for too long, and the impression he always received was that magic was unable to erase something that was so interconnected into a person’s mind.
He suppressed a shudder as his adrenaline spiked again at the thought. He took a deep breath. If he waited to defend himself, the spell could come anyway. Considering the audience, mild deception might be in order. Even though he hated it, he could maintain a good poker face when telling something mostly true.
It took a moment, but he thought quickly. “No, I’m not magic.” Technically true for now. Hope it stays that way. “But my father was a witch.” Even if he didn’t practice in front of us.
“I’ve seen magic before,” Ren said, his voice almost even again.
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Post by Lucas Hawthorne on May 4, 2007 21:29:58 GMT -5
Lucas quirked an eyebrow quickly when Ren said that his father was a witch, but he was not magic. And he said that he had seen magic before, but by the way that he reacted to Lucas' fireball he could have sworn that he had never seen anything like it before. And it did take Ren quite a while to come up with an answer, it was getting kind of suspicious, but Lucas didn't want to accuse him of lying if he was really telling the truth. It seemed that Ren was already afraid of him, and he hated it when people feared or automatically hated him because he was half demon, although he hadn't told Ren that he was only half demon.
"If your father is a witch. Why aren't you?" As far as Lucas knew, magic went through the bloodline. It didn't skip generations, you didn't just get passed by. It went to everyone in the bloodline.[/color]
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Post by René Bonner on May 5, 2007 20:30:54 GMT -5
Ren hadn’t thought about that. His heart spiked, but he kept his breathing even. It was looking less and less likely that he would convince the demon not to wipe his memory, but he had to keep trying.
There had to be a way to salvage his story. Ren licked his lips nervously. Perhaps the truth, or something close to it, would be best.
“He bound my powers.” Or Granma Peggy. Close enough. “He didn’t like what he thought I was going to be.” And she didn’t.
He had no idea if that would be enough to stop the spell. Hopefully, though, it would convince the demon that he wasn’t necessarily on the side of good and prevent any damage afterward.
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Post by Lucas Hawthorne on May 5, 2007 22:56:06 GMT -5
Although Ren had become much more calm and even with his voice now, Lucas could still tell that he was afraid that he was going to wipe his memory, and he was afraid of him because he was a demon. He decided that now would be the best time to tell him that he wasn't evil, or try again to convince him at least. "I'm not full demon you know." He sighed lightly, trying to piece together Ren's story, it was believable that his powers had been bound, but then technically he still was a witch.
"If your powers had been bound, you would still be a witch, and they would not be gone forever. Only temporarily, until the spell was reversed, or the caster passed away." He could tell that there were grains of truth in everything that Ren was saying because he was saying it with experience, and usually that is only possible when there is at least a little bit of truth in it.[/color]
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Post by René Bonner on May 6, 2007 0:46:24 GMT -5
Ren sighed hard. He knew the powers were not gone forever. Did he ever know. But until the binding wears off, I may as well be non-magical.
“The caster isn’t dead. And my father never talked about magic at h…”
He trailed off, and a chill spread through Ren’s body as he finally processed the first statement. His eyes went wide again. Part demon! That meant…there were others. Apparently this young man. Were there more?
If Ren really had heard him correctly.
“I’m sorry,” Ren said, disbelief coloring his quiet voice. “Did you say ‘not full demon’?” His jaw was slightly slack, and his eyes seemed too small for their sockets as he stared at the young man once again.
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Post by Lucas Hawthorne on May 6, 2007 23:10:23 GMT -5
Lucas was trying to listen to the next little part of this long-lasting fib, when it suddenly cut off. He was about to say something when he saw Ren's expression change. His eyes got wide and he seemed speechless for a moment, then the question came, the response to the thing that Lucas had said a while ago, obviously it had just processed with him, and it struck home somehow.
Lucas nodded lightly. "That's right. I'm half witch, half demon. Which is why I would be able to cast the spell." He didn't think that the statement would strike that much attention, maybe lessen the guys fear towards him, but instead it seemed to do something different.[/color]
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Post by René Bonner on May 10, 2007 11:56:29 GMT -5
Ren tilted his head to the side. The man needed to be a witch to cast the spell. The thought had not even crossed his mind. “Half witch,” he mouthed, eyes glazing over.
After a moment, his gaze seemed to come back from their distant focus. He directed it at the young man and was silent for a while. The young man seemed mildly uncomfortable, and Ren finally spoke to relieve the tension.
“Perhaps we should start again,” he said quietly. “My name’s Ren.” He held out his hand and paused.
“I’m part demon.” A small smile crept onto his face.
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