The Devil's Adieu

Apple Magpie

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May 6, 2014
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When Orion asked if he could tag along on Bell’s little ingredient-gathering mission, she’d jumped right out of friendly-potion-gal mode and straight into strict-old-witch mode. He wouldn’t be coming along unless she did exactly what she said. No power glove thing, for one, that was right out. No other electronics, either. She’d fussed over his clothing, too, insisted that if it was too “future-y” he’d have to wear something else – though he insisted there weren’t secretly nanobots weaved into the fabric or something. No hair gel in the morning, no cologne or makeup or anything, no nothing. He was coming as naturally as he could manage, and he had better not try to fake any personality things or anything, and everything he said would have to be honest.

None of this was strictly necessary. She knew that, and she made sure he knew that. She also made sure she made it clear that it was a matter of respect, not only to their location but to her as a witch, and that if he ignored anything she’d said she’d beat him so hard he couldn’t even get off on it.

With that settled, she waited at their designated location, on a riverbank near the bottom of a greenery-covered mountain. She’d brought with her a cloth bag, and there was an old, handmade knife strapped to her waist – other than that she was wearing the silk poncho her mother had given her years ago and a traditional pair of pants. Her hair was tied back with twine, but she hadn’t brought shoes – instead she walked by the river with bare feet, looking down into the water as she did.
 

Critical

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Orion himself had very little issue with Bell's requests, even when it came to his SAGE glove. It was a strange to not wear it everywhere outside the ship, but he could get used to it. His Ship, on the other hand, was the one with the problem. When he had attempted to leave that day without the glove, the Ship promptly stopped him and offered it to him like he had forgotten. Even when he had made it clear that he was leaving it behind on purpose, the Ship still tried pushing it on him. A few minutes of back and forth finally settled the issue, and Orion was permitted to leave the ship glove-less.

As for his clothes, Orion was certain that his clothes were not of any clandestine technology, unless the Ship had weaved something into them that he was not aware of. The only real techno-outfit he possessed was his flight suit and he obviously was not going to wear that out. Still, to be safe, he wore some clothes he had bought at some stores on the island, which consisted of some plain pants and another open vest with no shirt on underneath.

His initial nonchalant-ness over his glove quickly receded somewhat when he finally arrived on the mountain. At that point, he would have used the SAGE's navigational programs to find his way around without trouble. On his own, however, Orion constantly felt like he was lost, even when he made an effort to not twist and turn too much.

Much to his relief, he found the riverbank after not too much walking. Only then did he fell comfortable dropping his usual facade of weirdness, as he scouted the area looking for...

"Oi! Bell! Over here!"
 

Apple Magpie

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May 6, 2014
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Bell was jolted out of her thoughts by a shout. When she looked up there was a confused, almost annoyed expression on her face – but she quickly relaxed when she realized who it was. After a quick assessment of his clothes, she laughed. “You don’t look like a witch’s companion at all. I suppose I couldn’t have expected something like that from you.”

“No, you should probably come over here. This is the better vantage point.” Even if he didn’t, she’d act as if she did, pointing first to the river and then up into the mountains. “This river starts from that point right there.” Quite a trek away, to be frank. “There’s a spring there – a sacred one, at that. Perfect for our purposes. I recall I sent you a picture of the herbs we’re looking for, as well – but feel free to pick up some others.” She grinned at him. “I believe there’re some rather interesting mushrooms on the way, if we’re lucky.”
 

Critical

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He happily trotted over to Bell, not yet feeling any kind of effect from the thrall even though there were already hints of salacious thoughts on his mind. Between already becoming slightly inured to the sensations and the more powerful thoughts concentrating on the magical expedition they were about to take, Orion had enough to keep himself occupied and away from the delicious pain of the thrall. It was like he had his choice of his two favorite things: feeding his knowledge for the unknown, or feeding his appetite for pretty girls.

"I could also say that you don't look much like a witch to start with. Where's your pointy hat? That's what witches wear, right? Maybe a broom?"

Even dressed simply, Bell looked like quite the catch in the silk poncho. Looking her over from the side, he wondered if she was wearing anything else under it. Her pointing brought his attention back and he looked up the mountain to the supposed location of the sacred spring.

"Hm. Being all magical seems like a lot of work. There isn't some place where we could order this stuff?"

He was only half kidding.

"Okay. Yeah, I got the pictures. I assume most of the things worth picking aren't okay to just eat straight up?"
 

Apple Magpie

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May 6, 2014
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She couldn’t help but laugh at his description of witches. “There’s different breeds to everything, Orion. My folks were always about simplicity, living off the land – a lot of our magic is nature-based, too.”

“’Course there’s somewhere we can buy this stuff.” The Underground was the perfect place for that sort of thing. “It just wouldn’t work, not for this one. It’s a holy potion, you know – or something approaching it, at least. One does not simply buy the ingredients to a holy potion.”

“A surprising number are, actually. Whether or not it’s safe is sometimes debateable, but hey, that’s what I brought healing potions for. Of course, some of this stuff isn’t much use on its own anyways.”

“It’ll be a long walk. Sure you can make it?” There was an amused sort of twinkle in her eyes.
 

Critical

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"So you are more like... witch-druid multi-class?"

Even Orion was capable of extremely nerdy jokes.

With Bell's explanation, he reflexively lifted his wrist and brought his other hand up to type up notes. Finding that the only thing his fingers were tapping was his own skin, and not the screen of a wrist computer, he let his hands drop somewhat sheepishly. At that point he started realizing how ingrained the SAGE was in his everyday life. Without it, he would have to commit the information to memory to be written down later, which was not that big of a deal because Orion had a good memory anyway, it was how he still remembered the herbs without bringing the photos.

"Well, I'll save my experimentation for any herbs with interesting effects. No use eating something that only makes me queasy or turns my skin green."

And he would have fully been okay with just shoving a magical mushroom into his mouth if he was 75% sure that it would not kill him or cause TOO many ill effects. He had a hardy constitution and Bell seemed prepared, so he would probably survive.

"I know I can make it. This body isn't just for show, hon. But what about you? Not wearing shoes seems like a big disadvantage."
 

Apple Magpie

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May 6, 2014
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“It’s more of a race, really.” Bell grinned. “My classes are potion-brewer and scientist, always have been.”

She watched and snickered as the man attempted to type on his arm. “You’ve had that thing for a while, haven’t you. A hand-me-down or something? Or did you make it yourself?”

“Got it, got it. You point out anything that catches your eye and I’ll tell you if it’ll give you diarrhoea.” She gave him a nod and a chuckle.

“Alright, whatever you say – mm? You’re worried about me?” Bell waved him off. “This isn’t no concrete or anything. The ground’s soft, my feet are kind of soft, it all works out. This is the way my ma taught me to do it, y’know?”

“She always told me if you’re trying to channel power from the earth, direct contact is the best way to go.” They were beginning to walk up along the river.
 

Critical

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"The glove? Someone else actually made it, and I've had to use it since they gave it to me. Eventually it just became part of my regular life."

Once more, Orion was a little wary of revealing too much. It was already a bit of a bad thing that two people were more or less aware of what he really was, so he wanted to mitigate any further information leaks if he could help it. But at the very least he was not in a position to cause some major catastrophe by revealing more about him. The big thing he was risking was simply his purpose for being on Manta Carlos.

"Soft. Like the rest of you~ Heh. Sorry. Couldn't help it."

That was when he felt the tiniest tug from the thrall. The first of many he was sure as they started to ascend the mountain. Already, though, he was looking around for any kind of plants or herbs that looked halfway magical in nature.

"So you think the brew will really help with my... problem? Cause it seems like a spell or something more.... ethereal and less physical would be needed to counter a thrall. Then again, I dunno how magic works..."
 

Apple Magpie

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May 6, 2014
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“You’ve had to use it, huh? You’ve gotta tell me about that some time.” Though she doubted it would be easy to pry more out of him.

“You only think I’m soft ‘cus you haven’t seen me in a bad mood~” She shot his comment right back at him with a grin full of teeth.

She hummed to herself at his questions. “No, I totally gotcha. Why do you think we’re out here like this, if it’s just for something physical? A lot of the spiritual will come in too, I assure you. It won’t kill the thrall entirely, not if it’s too strong, and it won’t stop it from coming back since I imagine you’re not going to stop sleeping around. But that seems kind of the point, right? If you wanted to exorcise the poor girl you wouldn’t be with me, you’d be with a priest.”
 

Critical

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"There's a lot of things I should explain about myself, honey. But that's all kinda sorta confidential. For now."

He kind of admired Bell for being so respectful of his wishes to stay an enigma. If their roles had been reversed, Orion would most definitely have been bugging her incessantly about it to get some kind of information out her, even if it was just the smallest little detail.

"Spiritual stuff? So is that why you asked me come without the SAGE? And wearing, like, nothing even close to artificial? Cause I could have sworn that you were about on the edge of just asking me to come nude or something."

It was the situation back in the potion shop again. Orion's more scientifically-oriented mind was butting up against Bell's more magical methodology. To him, it was another example of magic possessing a certain... "do it just because it symbolizes something" quality, without any kind of real evidence to back it up. He could see the "pureness" of leaving technology behind and the need for "sacred" spring water, but what effect could it really have?

"Not that I would have minded, really. Hell, I bet most people would assume that be normal for my other persona."
 
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