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Post by prometheus on Jan 30, 2007 17:03:34 GMT -5
Durriken looked into the boys eyes and saw the deep pain within. He knew the things that plagued his heart. The things that haunted his dreams. He saw it all. His cards gave him a great gift, but it was really a curse. They made him do things like he did to the boy. Make them deal with things that they shouldn’t have to. He saw things in his short life that a person about to die haven’t seen.
“I can bring her here” he said softly “It will take a while, but I can bring her here for you to talk to. She will be only here in spirit, but she will be here.”
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Post by Ajax Abeo on Feb 2, 2007 16:13:41 GMT -5
Ajax noticed that the man was really looking into his eyes, not around them, not above them. He was really looking into Ajax's eyes. That was something that Ajax's father hadn't done when Ajax was older. It touched him in a very deep way, even if the man was a half-breed like himself.
Ajax looked away quickly, nervously. But as the man said those words, his head shot up. His eyes were wide, and he felt himself break into a little bit of a sweat. Then he shook his head slightly. Of course, maybe he hadn't heard the man right. He steadied himself and took a breath of air, "You what? I didn't hear you properly. Did you just say that you could bring her here... that you could talk to her?! That's impossible! Even if it is just in spirit, it's impossible!"
Ajax slowly calmed down, back-tracked, and reviewed what the man had just said. Then he brought his hand up to his forehead again and leaned against it, being supported by his leg. Then he sighed, "No, you did say that..."
Ajax, who was quickly regaining his usual personality, looked at the man, "Okay... You say that you can do that, right? I'd like to talk to her... But... but first, what's your name? We haven't been introduced. No way am I going to act all nice with a stranger in front of my sister, not even if she's in spirit form! I am called Ajax, though I don't care much for the name. Ajax Abeo. I should say that I'm of the shapeshifter clan, but frankly, I'm not."
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Post by prometheus on Feb 2, 2007 16:36:03 GMT -5
Durriken nodded.
“My name is Durriken Posterus. The closest you could relate me to is a Gypsy. My mother was one, but my father was a warlock. Because of this, my mother and I were outcast. The last thing that I have to remember my mother by, and especially my father, is my deck of tarot cards. Enchanted by my father, they have a mind of their own at time.”
He picked up his deck and used The Page of Swords to levitate a small table over. Upon this table he spread all the cards face up on it’s surface.
“Each card, has a different power, a different incantation placed upon it by my father. This was his greatest work, and it was all for my mother. Sadly, since she was not of magical blood, the cards would not obey her, so they were passed down to me. The card I will be using is this one, The Hierophant”
Durriken removed the Hierophant card from the deck and placed it above the others so Ajax could see.
“The Hierophant is the card that brings the mystical down to earth. It will let your sister come to this plane for a short time, but it will take about an hour to set up, I need many things, such as candles, chalk, and incense. Also, it will take time to set up the cards, since they have to be set in the correct order and place. But given the time...it, can, be, done.”
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Post by Ajax Abeo on Feb 2, 2007 16:44:13 GMT -5
"And you... who I barely know, and who barely knows me, would be willing to do this? Take all that time that could be spent elsewhere? Seems to me that you're wasting your time on me. There must be better things to do, honestly. Why... why didn't you leave me out on the street?" Ajax reponded, his slightly feline eyes looking up at the ma-, no, Durriken.
Suddenly, Ajax froze, and his eyes went wide. There was a feeling in his chest, one that he knew so well. He calmed himself down slowly. Then he swore in many languages coldly. He looked at the gypsy, "Durriken... what time of the month is it? Where is the moon tonight? Is it full?"
Shaking the feeling, Ajax calmed himself down even more and looked away from Durriken. The look he gave the wall was an equal to when a child does something that they couldn't control, and they don't know how to. Ajax glared at the wall, a feint blush coming to his cheeks.
"Not that I need to know right now," Ajax said sheepishly, the blush deepening a bit.
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Post by prometheus on Feb 3, 2007 19:02:14 GMT -5
Durriken paused...not knowing the answer.
“I’m not really that sure, but I can find out really quickly.”
He took a few cards from his deck.
“Sun, Moon, Stars, Six of Swords.” he said as he removed them from his deck and placed them. The sun to the left, the moon to the right, Stars above, and the six of swords in the middle.
“Combine and show me the heavens.” he said calmly.
Light emerged from the Six of Swords and the other three cards shined lightly. From the light of the Six of Swords an image of the heavens appeared. It showed the stars, the sun, and what he wanted know, the moon. He looked at the image a bit.
“The moon is in its waxing phase. It should be at its apex in about 3 days.”
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Post by Ajax Abeo on Feb 3, 2007 19:15:50 GMT -5
"Oh, damn!" Ajax said, looking down at his chest miserably. Then he looked up. Were his eyes slightly more feline than they had been a minute ago? He blinked and sighed a little.
"Well... that's going to be interesting, then. " Ajax said, looking at Durriken. He grinned sheepishly, "In a couple of hours, it's gonna be pretty fun around here. Would you let me stay in this room tonight? At least, if you start that thing, if you'll do it for me, it won't happen when we're talking to my sister..."
"Oh... I suppose you don't know... when the moon comes round, my powers are... interesting. See, I don't like using them, so... they get backed up. And then this happens in the middle of the night." Ajax stopped and shifted into a large cat, his blue eyes looking up at Durriken mysteriously. Without changing back, he continued to speak, "So, I need to be sheltered somewhere... sort of my weak spot. Why am I telling you this?"
The voice was a mixture of hisses and growls, very hard to decipher. Ajax shook his head and shifted back into his human form, curling his knees to his chest and sighing, "I do it randomly. It seems my power overflows, and it's a monthly thing. It always ends up near the full moon."
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Post by prometheus on Feb 3, 2007 19:25:03 GMT -5
“Ah, I remember reading that most magical powers are like that. Though I am not sure myself, since my cards never did that, and I’m not sure even if they could do that. But, if you want, I can start, but I’ll need you to run out and grab me 5 candles and 12 sticks of incense. Are you okay enough to go out? I’ll give you the money, I just need the time here to get the rest of it set up.”
Durriken stated as he put all the cards back into his deck and stood up. He moved the table and the other objects in the room to the corners of the room, leaving a wide open space in the middle.
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Post by Ajax Abeo on Feb 3, 2007 19:32:02 GMT -5
"I'll get them. The transforming won't start for another couple of hours. The shapeshifters around here might sense the weakness, but if I know shapeshifters, which I do, then they'll just leave me alone. I can always finish a fight, if I have to." Ajax uncurled himself, and stood up, helping Durriken move the furniture. He smiled a tad, "I'm always a little more social around this time of the month for some odd reason. Be glad. If it was new moon, I'd be practically tearing out your throat."
Only Ajax could say that while smiling innocently. He chuckled a little and held out his hand for the money, "Okay, five candles and twelve sticks of insense! I know the perfect place to get them."
The change in Ajax was incredible. A couple minutes ago he had been all dark and not-wanting-to-talk. Now he was as bouncy as a... kitten!
(Sorry, had to make the pun!)
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Post by prometheus on Feb 3, 2007 19:50:01 GMT -5
“Thanks” Durriken said, slightly ignoring the part about Ajax ripping his throat out. Flipping him two gold coins, which should easily cover the cost of the candles and incense. “Oh yea, black candles”
Durriken pulled a small piece of chalk from a bag on his belt and knelt down on the ground. He began to draw on the wooden floor, glad that it wasn’t stained. He first drew a large circle, about half as large as Durriken was. Next, he began to draw a pentacle within the circle.
Then, he went to the top of the circle, at the peak of the pentacle. At that point he bent down deep and wrote Spiritus. Next moving clockwise, he wrote Aeris, Aqua, Humus, and Ignis in that order at each point. Then, from the outer edge of the circle, he drew a long line from the edge about 2 feet out. He drew 11 other lines around the circle, having 12 in all. After finishing he sat on the bed and waited Ajax’s return.
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Post by Ajax Abeo on Feb 3, 2007 20:06:03 GMT -5
Ajax caught the coins in mid-air and walked out the door, not even pausing to look at what Durriken was writing and drawing. He looked around himself and laughed a little. He had been in this inn before, which was a great surprise for him, but I pleasent one. He paced down the stairs causiously, and listen to the sounds of the common room. It was early in the night, and the inn was filling up. There were many shapeshifters, Ajax could sense them. He paced out the door quickly, and walked down the street a little, where the shop was. The keeper of the shop knew Ajax well, and went right into business with him. Ajax pulled a favor, and all the items were bought within five minutes for only one of the coins. Ajax smiled and returned to the room quickly, to find Durriken done. Ajax grinned slightly, and tossed the extra coin back to the gypsy.
Then he placed the candles, black, and insense in Durriken's lap, looking proud. "There. Many shapeshifters were down in the common room, more than I had reckoned, but it all went smoothly for once."
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Post by prometheus on Feb 3, 2007 20:28:19 GMT -5
Durriken grabbed the coin and put it back into his coin bag.
“Thanks, and I could sense them. I just hope that none of them are as sensitive to magical power as I am...though most of them should at least feel something from this. But, if the moon effects them as much as you, then they should be more preoccupied with their own power then mine. But just to be safe, if we get visitors...” he said, his face getting serious “Don’t let them touch me. This is really sensitive. This never went wrong before...and I don’t want to know what happens if it does.”
Durriken took the candles from his lap and put them at the points of the pentagram. He took out a small knife and carved the symbol for the 4 elements, Fire, Air, Water, and Earth, and the first for Spirit. Next, the placed the twelve sticks of incense in small bits of pliable clay from his bag and placed them at the end of each line. Sighing deeply he was ready to begin.
“You might want to make yourself comfortable, this might take a while.”
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Post by Ajax Abeo on Feb 3, 2007 20:50:45 GMT -5
Ajax watched Durriken carve the symbols and put the candles in place. It was very interesting to watch, and intrigued him. Finally, when Durriken was done, he paced over to the door and sat down, propping himself against it. Suddenly, that feeling came again, more desperate than before. Ajax looked down, his eyes getting wide and his hand cluctched his chest.
"I think that you're cards did something to disrupt my power by accident," Ajax said, fighting back the urge to shift. Then he shook his head, "Hold on, this will be a blur, but it will help me."
Ajax stood, and in a fluid, very practiced dance, he quickly changed into many animal forms in succession. It was a beautiful dance, and he made the dance look easy. This was one of the excercises that his father had him practice, and while he didn't like shapeshifting, it stuck to him. He ended, slumped on the door, breathing very heavily. It was an extremely hard dance to do, but it gave an outlet for his shapeshifting. It would help for an hour or two.
"I--I'm completely... useless for a little... bit, in power wise. That-- that's a very... hard dance," Ajax said while catching his breath.
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Post by prometheus on Feb 3, 2007 21:21:56 GMT -5
Durriken didn’t really even notice, so absorbed was he in his work. He gestured toward his deck on his table and cards began to levitate all around him. They swirled around him very quickly as he walked to the first incense stick.
“One of Ares.” he said as he placed The Emperor “One of Taros.” he said as he placed The Hierophant “One of Gemini.” he said as he placed The Lovers “One of Cancer” he said as he placed The Chariot “One of Leo.” he said as he placed Strength “One of Virgo.” he said as he placed The Hermit “One of Libra.” he said as he placed Justice “One of Scorpio” he said as he placed Death “One of Sagittarius.” he said as he placed The Temperance “One of Capricorn.” he said as he placed The Devil “One of Aquarius.” he said as he placed The Star “One of Pisces.” he said as he placed The Moon
Next, he went to the left bottom point of the pentagram. There he placed all the cards of the suit of coins within the segment of the point. He did the same with the suit of cups with water, the suit of swords with air, the suit of wands with fire, and last, the rest of the Major Arcana at the last point of spirit. Last, he placed The Fool at the very center.
“Okay...I will need your help later, you have to call your sister’s name when I tell you to. She is more likely to come if she hears you.”
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Post by Ajax Abeo on Feb 3, 2007 21:30:56 GMT -5
Ajax watched this, slowly gaining his strength back. He sat up, and watched the cards with wonder. When Durriken spoke, he shook his head a little, and then nodded, "Okay... okay... I can do that."
Ajax straitened, and put his ear to the door. There were footsteps outside of it. He stood up, and blocked the bottom with his foot. His right hand was on the knob, and his left was reaching into his pouch for one of his daggers. This was likely to be trouble. Ajax had felt the use of magic that Durriken was using, and it must have disturbed the shapeshifters, as the gypsy said it would. He would hold the door shut, though.
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Post by prometheus on Feb 3, 2007 21:40:05 GMT -5
Durriken looked back at the door as he stood and lit the candles and incense. The only thing he could hope for now is that the major shock wave of energy would scare them off. All his cards were tied up until the end, so he would be of almost no help.
“Cards, hear my call. I place you now in the shape of life and death. Fool, become the base, the beginning of a new. Coins, hold firm the power, do not let it escape. Wands, grant it power. Water, keep it cool. Swords, keep these forces balanced as one.”
As he named each card it began to glow. At the end, all the cards were glowing except the Hierophant.
“Now! Hierophant! Open the Gate!” he called out a bright flash of light erupted from cards and the pentagram itself began to flow. With the light a large blast of magical energy flew forth from the opening of the gate. Suddenly, the candles went out and plunged the room into darkness.
“NOW!” he called back toward Ajax.
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