Fool's Journey

Placeholder for Lady Kianna's solo.

 

It was just another day at work for Mischa, ringing up various customer's wares and unpacking new stock at the little shop she worked at in the mall. It's a cute little shop, The Hippie Magic Shop as most people have nick-named it, dealing in carved quartz wands and stones and crystals and necklaces, incense and sensors, little Buddha statues and bamboo plants and elephant figurines and such. It's all mostly novelty items, the occasional thing 'standing out' a little more than others, which is why most of her Goddess altar at the apartment-dorm is from her work (and part of why she applied here in the first place.)

She was finishing up her shift for the Saturday afternoon, cleaning the glass on the display case at the till, and eyeing up a new crystal wand that she had stashed behind the counter. There was nothing overtly special about it; just another carved quartz dowel, clear quartz, round on one and and pointed at the other, with a few inclusions that gave it a shimmery silver sheen when tilted at just the right angle. But it 'spoke' to her. The second she'd taken it out of the box she knew it was meant to be hers. It tingled against her fingers as she'd handled it, and faintly reminded her of vanilla. When she'd stashed it behind the counter to save for later, she had to wrap and box it up, distracted and unable to take her eyes off the item. She'd written up a receipt and paid for it on her break earlier, unable to wait.
Finally it was 2:00 pm, and she was free to go, grabbing her purse and purchase and heading to the food court to get some discount sushi (yaay student card) while she waited for her twin brother to get off work at 5.

 

A man with short-cropped, dirty blonde hair - and a shirt that pegs him as being an employee of a little herbalist shop that your store, and therefore you, get some packets of herbs and 'spell mixes' from on a regular basis - is walking in as you're leaving, with a large box in his arms. You've seen him before. He's friendly enough, usually wearing sweats or trackpants, even in the winter, and there's no denying he's athletic, considering the muscle definition you can see on his arms alone. He's mentioned, before, that he's working on getting into nursing, but that the shop he works at is an extension of his own passions, too.

The scent of vanilla lingers around him, too, as it always does, even though you recognize the box as being a supply of herbs that were on order - lavender, thyme, rosemary, and other items - and that the shop he works at keeps the vanilla extract in bottles, and the beans are similarly contained.

He glances at Mischa as she passes - or, more specifically, at the box in her hands - and grins broadly. "New shipment this morning?"

 

"Hi Freddy." She smiles sweetly and nods at him, familiar with the man who supplies their 'spell mixes' after working at the store for some time, and being Wiccan herself, she's usually quite interested in what he brings. "Yeah it was this morning sometime before nine when I got here. Lots of carved quartz. There's some really nice stuff that came in too."

 

"Very cool. Get the best one again?" He teases with a big grin, shifting the box to balance it on one hip. "Anything ellse catch your eye in there? The last piece you recommended is definitely working its' magic on my garden plants, very nice energy to it."

 

She smirks proudly and knowingly at his teasing, because of course she did get the best one! "You're looking for something for your plants again? There's a really nice Moss Agate carved frog, some Aqua Aura orbs, and some new pretty Carnelian stuff. It's got a nice colour to it too. Want me to show you?"

 

"I'm always looking for something to help encourage my plants," he grins warmly. "...oh, yes, those sound wonderful... if you're not busy, I'd appreciate it. The moss agate sounds lovely... anything catch your attention in the others?"

 

"Not at all, I don't have to be anywhere until five. I was just going to go grab some lunch and read a book." She stuffs the box with her new wand into her purse, then leads Freddie back inside the store to show him her recommendations.
There's four carved frogs, three large ones clearly from the same larger piece of moss agate, and one smaller sized one, which is the one she picks out for him. Along with the carved frog, she hands him a small palm-sized carnelian orb, this one bright red with the white-black crackled cloudy inclusions in the centre of the orb, giving it a much more pure and fiery appearance.

 

He traces the details of the frog's carvings with appreciation, smiling. "...yeah, this is going to be perfect..."

His eyes light up with curiosity at the sight of the orb, and for a moment the scent of vanilla grows stronger around him. He reaches out to take it from Mischa's hand, and she feels a strange little spark jump between them, vibrant and intense. Her perception shifts, ever so slightly, and for a moment it feels as though the fingers brushing her palm are pouring life into her.

 

She jolts slightly at the little 'static shock', reflexively tugging her hand back and rubbing the fingers of her other hand into her palm and making a bit of a face at the stronger smell of vanilla and eyeing up the orb she'd just handed over. It seems... different? But not different? But different. Stronger? Vibrant?
Mischa glances up at Freddie next, curious and interest, trying to put her finger on something...

Wits + Occult : 2 + 5(max)
first roll 6xd10 : 10 - 2 - 7 - 10 - 10 - 7
10s reroll 3d10 : 10 - 9 - 7
10s reroll 1d10 : 9

 

For a moment, Mischa can see something... incredible.

She's hit by a wave of vigor, looking at Freddie, who seems to radiate life, the space around his head glowing faintly red and space warping, just a little, around them both, like a series of doors are ready to be pulled open, and all they have to do is reach to one side. Far more prevalent, however, is the hum and buzz of a garden, of vines twining and twisting all around him, of a flurry of flowers growing around him, a crown about his head made of flowers associated with healing...

He doesn't seem to notice the shift.

 

Mischa blinks, extremely confused at what she's seeing; this is nothing like what she's read on the internet and in witchcraft forums about reading people's auras... it's supposed to just be a general glow around someone's body, right? Like seeing their soul energy kind of radiate out? Like a heat wave with colour?
This is more like what she's read about seeing an Angel? Glowing just around someone's head? But it's red? And a weird crown of- no not thorns? Ivy?? Vines and flowers? Most of the flowers and she recognises, knowing right away that they're all associated with healing, but everything else plus the shift is just so Much right now all of a sudden.
It leaves her staring at him with a semi dazed look in her eyes, head tilted curiously, hands paused where she was rubbing her palm where he'd 'shocked' her with three fingers.

 

"...Mischa? Is everything okay?" Freddie hesitates, still holding the carnelian stone. "...Mischa?"

He reaches for her shoulder, vines curling around his fingers.

 

"I'm vines..." She blinks slowly, gaze wandering belatedly to his hand, still very confused and dazed, but steps back to keep him from touching her, subconsciously afraid of another sharp shock, and lightly bumps back against the display shelf. "I should go meet my sushi..." She looks around again, then at Freddie, squinting a bit to try to focus, then quickly turns to walk out of the store.

 

"You're vines-?" He hesitates, glancing at the stones in his hands, then stashes them in a corner, hurrying after her. "...Mischa?"

...there's a path. How could you miss it? It's beautiful...

It sings out to you, and as you begin to walk, the smell is... it's sweet, relaxing...

 

She wanders down the path without really thinking, glancing around and drinking in the heightened scents and sounds. This is nice? What is this? How did she miss this? Where is she going? It doesn't matter... the path is nice and calming and wonderful. She belong here. Let's go for a nice stroll.

 

Oh.

Oh no .

He keeps pace.

 

The path is clear.

In one sense... the world around you is still there.

In another, you just can't bother to care about it.

You see the world through a new lens, time and threads connecting everything, the tick of the clock marching with her heartbeats. She can feel the threads of something Significant, pulling her hand to her purse...

The box, to her eyes, is beginning to glow.

 

She pulls out the box as she walks, dropping her purse as she does; it's not important. She tears the box open, dropping that, and unwrapping her Clear Quartz wand, discarding the tissue paper and wandering forward. She wields the thick wand like a stake, ready to strike.

 

...this really wasn't how he was expecting today to go, but... hell. It makes sense, her aura was growing brighter over the last few weeks, what the hell did he expect -

He's never watched someone awaken before.

He grabs her purse and carries it over one shoulder, attention rapt on Mischa, watching as the magic within her really begins to come to light.