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Post by indeath on Aug 9, 2023 20:20:24 GMT -6
Casper was pleased he’d managed the form correctly, it could have been ugly otherwise and flying always felt good. He soared across the sky enjoying the freedom and feel of the wind. The fae lands looked peaceful from this height the forest moving like a dark purple sea below them. Then he caught the familiar scent that felt like home, the one person in this wretched landscape that showed him any kindness. Then he spotted the familiar smoke and followed it down in a slow spiral.
This led to a small clearing with a small cottage and a warm fireplace. Sitting at it was a wrinkled old lady stoking the flames, she was dressed in layers of colours and her long grey hair was arranged on top of her head in a large bun. Her eyes wrinkled a greeting as she smiled at Casper in greeting and he shifted back into his fae form to give her a hug.
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Post by jarahamee on Aug 10, 2023 1:08:58 GMT -6
The huge red dragon landed heavily, shrinking back down to Vars size as it touched down. Thankfully, it seemed his transformation magic restored his clothing when he resumed his original form, and he reappeared in his perfectly tailored black suit, shiny black shoes still intact, and all smiles.
He flipped his long hair as he smiled back at the elder gentlewoman, putting on his most serene ‘meeting the girlfriend’s mom’ face as he brushed off the front of his suit and wandered over towards Casper’s side.
Clearly they were familiar. Perhaps this was his mother. He did seem to be some kind of Fae after all.
Vars offered a hand in the vague area of the two of them, putting on his best ‘presentable showman’ pose while offering his best angle. He was the kind of cad who was handsome and he knew it.
“Hi there, I’m Vars! Nice to meet you.”
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Post by indeath on Aug 11, 2023 5:11:05 GMT -6
“This is it, just a little longer and we’ll be back home.”
Casper grinned as Vars became more Vars like. He knew this didn’t look like the way out but nothing here looked as it should. The old lady shook his hand with a kind smile.
“I’m Cailleach… and if this was based on charm alone you’d be home already, Master Vars. Though if you’re a friend of Casper’s I’ll guess I can go easy on you. Sit. Sit. Let’s get comfortable before we begin. Tell me a little about yourself.”
Casper sat down on a log and motioned for Vars to do the same. The fae land seemed calmer here and the smell of woodsmoke and berries hung in the air.
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Post by jarahamee on Aug 11, 2023 23:53:14 GMT -6
Vars nestled down on the log, crossing one leg over the other with a big smile. It was nice here. More peaceful than the other forest, and the environment had a kind of pleasant zing to it. He flipped his hair with his hand and beamed, leaning back on his forearms.
“Hello Cailleach, it’s nice to meet you.”
He bowed his head, using one of his hands to make a hat-tipping gesture as he settled himself down.
“I’m a magician back home. Vars Bishop, Magician Extraordinaire, Travelling Master of Illusions! I also have some actual real magic, but I admit that my prestidigitation is probably more impressive than those sorts of actual raw abilities.”
The magician drew a pack of cards out of his coat pocket and flourished them in her direction, shuffling them in the air in front of him as if to show them off to the fae, before offering the deck to her.
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Post by indeath on Aug 13, 2023 16:30:11 GMT -6
Casper watched the interaction nervously hoping Vars would like Cailleach as much as he did. At least he knew her name too. His mom’s name was like an itch in the back of his head that he would never scratch along with the rest of his family.
Cailleach took the cards with a warm smile, shuffling them and making them float in small circles. Some became pairs and fluttered like moths above the fire. They circled cheerily before returning to Vars’ hands.
“Nice to meet you Magician Vars. I’m sure your raw powers will grow with time, my dear. Turning into a dragon is no mean feat after all. Now since you like cards, I have a small riddle for your return home: Three playing cards in a row. Can you name them with these clues? There is a two to the right of a king. A diamond will be found to the left of a spade. An ace is to the left of a heart. A heart is to the left of a spade. Now, identify all three cards…”
Her eyes twinkled as she waited for his answer. A small caterpillar shaped cat poked its head from her coat.
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Post by jarahamee on Aug 13, 2023 22:18:07 GMT -6
Vars watched her magic work with visible childish delight. Now, to find a way to do something like that in his own performances. Right now he mostly had illusion magic, but just think! What if he was able to cause objects to levitate freely? What an enhancement to his shows he could offer! He just needed to work on his technique more.
As the cards floated back down, he gathered them into one hand, swirling his fingers of the other hand above them to help obscure what he was going to do next
He shuffled his deck again, then turned the deck upside-down, and pressed out three cards for Cailleach to take, waiting with theatrical flare.
When she reached out, he flipped the hand over, presenting it to her spectacularly.
“Tahdah!”
The ace of diamonds, the king of hearts, and the two of spades.
He beamed at her, as if he was a star student answering a teacher, eyes shining as he spotted the caterpillar-cat.
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Post by indeath on Aug 14, 2023 17:41:32 GMT -6
The old crone’s face erupted into a large smile showing sharp white teeth but there was no malice there. She looked at him like a favored grandchild. She clapped very pleased with the form of his answer.
“Excellent! Excellent! Well done, child. Well check behind your ear. I think this deserves an extra little gift.”
The small cat-tapillar crawled down her arm presenting him with a shiny coin in its not unlike the one he’d given the other creature. This one had an ornate symbol etched on it with a small hole for string or a chain. Behind Vars ear there was a small delicious smelling berry.
Casper nodded at the berry, relived that Vars had answered correctly. There was always a second chance but it came with consequences.
“That’s your key home. You eat it in a fae circle which I’ll make. It’s got to be by the same fae that got you here so lucky you.”
Casper grinned widely. He looked curiously at the coin. Gifts from Cailleach were always fun.
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Post by jarahamee on Aug 15, 2023 0:50:05 GMT -6
Vars paused, collecting the berry with his hand, before taking a deep bow. For once, he was the child and she was the magician. How foolish he felt in this moment, as he did the day that his master showed him his first trick.
“Oh, bravo bravo! What a trick!”
He then clapped his hands like a beauty queen who had just been awarded first place, before recollecting his cards and the berry in his hand and reshuffling them, then returning them to his coat pocket.
The magician then held out his hand towards the cat-tapillar, partially out of desire to touch the little fae, and partially out of his desire to take the coin. Whether or not it was magical, he had the very distinct sense that this was a special honor bestowed on him by a powerful extradimensional entity.
He beamed.
“Oh, what a wonder. You didn’t need to give me anything extra, but I love this.”
His eyes shone as he looked back at Cailleach.
He paused, looking down at his special card deck. It was a custom deck, black with gold foil and custom face card designs. Perfect for a new friend.
The magician shuffled it a final time, and then handed his deck to Callieach.
“For you, my lady.”
He winked, then held out his hand to take Casper’s hand.
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Post by indeath on Aug 15, 2023 17:08:26 GMT -6
The cat-tapillar nudge his hand as he reached out, its fur was soft yet strangely sticky like gum. There was no prickle or pain that seemed reserved for the duchess. The coin was warm to the touch but cooled as he put it into his pocket. Cailleach took the cards and beamed at the pretty man.
“Oh I can see why you like this one, Casper. He’ll go far, far indeed. Please visit again once you’ve solved my present. I look forward to more of your wonderful magic.”
Casper waved goodbye to Cailleach promising a proper visit soon. He would need her care after Madigan was finished. He was after all the source of her current annoyance. Not enough humans to move about the board. He blushed as he took Vars’ hand wishing Cailleach hadn’t ratted him out though he was pretty sure it was obvious to anyone with eyes.
He took Vars to a small clearing, pricked his finger once more with the sigil and once again inky cap mushrooms sprouted from. The ground but these were large and almost as tall as trees.
Casper motioned towards them with a smile.
“Just step in and eat the berry. It should land us back where we left but it’s not an exact science.”
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Post by jarahamee on Aug 16, 2023 0:32:04 GMT -6
Vars stroked the sticky little creature. It was beautiful. Truly beautiful. Special. Not unique, but still beautiful. Special in its own little way.
He smiled at Cailleach, reaching out to take her hand briefly to kiss it. She was a marvelous fae, even if she was probably dangerous like the others in her own way. All of them were like a den of tigers, and a part of him loved that about them.
“I hope to see you again, Cailleach. I’ll be sure to look into your coin-gift!”
Vars reached out to take Casper’s hand, laying his long fingers with their lacquered nails into his new friend’s fingers. He smiled softly, nearly vibrating with the joy of victory and freedom as he just about skipped to the clearing.
There, he did exactly as told, stepping inside the mushroom circle as he chewed thoughtfully on the berry. He then offered his hand to Casper.
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Post by indeath on Aug 16, 2023 19:14:33 GMT -6
Casper took his hand and within a blink they were both back in the alley. The sounds and smells of the city hit hard after being in the Fae realm. Casper looked down with a frown as his clothes from earlier fell about him far too large for this form. He was now in his more familiar form of a punky looking Japanese guy with bleached blonde wavy hair. His height and features were very familiar to his fae form. He sighed before using a spell to shrink the clothes to his current size.
He grinned at Vars with a celebratory fist pump.
“You made it! See I told you it’d work out. Didn’t even need the salt. Ermm would you mind giving me your number? I mean if you want to hang out again. My form changes but my number stays the same.”
He was pretty sure every faucet would be going at home and he’d have to save his milk from going off. Who knows what else that ghost had gotten up to while he was gone. The only thing he’d learned to expect from Jonny was chaos. At least someone would get a laugh when Madigan caught up with him over this.
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Post by jarahamee on Aug 16, 2023 19:27:45 GMT -6
Vars reached out to give Casper a hi-five, seeming like he was on the top of the world right now. Enough on top of the world that he could just forget about all the weird stuff that had happened when they met. Maybe Casper was just awkward. After all, he could have just left him where he was in the faerie world or left him with his ‘lady.’ He just. Didn’t.
He laughed softly, and took his phone out of the back pocket of his blazer, opening up the menu screen.
“Sure. Can’t hurt. Always good to make new friends.”
Vars hoped his wording would help ground his very excited new friend’s enthusiasm, and, if not, he could always change his number after all. He offered his phone number to the fae, then looked around.
Was it late now? Perhaps he should get home.
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Post by indeath on Aug 16, 2023 19:41:31 GMT -6
“Thanks… I.. I’m sorry. I hope you had an alright time. I uh should probably go.”
Casper nodded, it was after all the most he could hope for. People were too hard and he’d clearly weirded the guy out. Hopefully he could prove to the guy eventually that he was worth knowing. He wasn’t even sure of it himself though. He’d get a pet but who knows what Jonny would do to it. Maybe he should just go back to the fae realm now and accept his punishment already. She probably had someone waiting around the corner. Casper opened a portal and disappeared leaving Vars alone with a twenty dollar note appearing in his pocket. A taxi pulled up across the road, the vacancy light dinging.
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Post by jarahamee on Aug 16, 2023 19:57:45 GMT -6
“I actually had a great time, honestly.”
Vars smiled, watching his new friend leave. As he disappeared just as mystically as he had come, Vars wondering where he went. Maybe Casper had an apartment somewhere in the city that he lived in. Or maybe he usually lived in the faerie realm. Maybe he’d know in time.
He patted his pocket, noticing the twenty-dollar note, and played with his new coin, taking a moment to examine it more closely as he wandered off into the darkness, whistling softly to himself.
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