Those Forbidden Magics

Status
Not open for further replies.
The twins looked at each other before looking back to Alexi. "Nala probably will ask you to get the guy trying to take our house to leave us alone." Yinya said. "He's been trying to claim that we haven't been making our payments. This is supposed to be our last payment, so if he manages to validate that claim then we might lose this house." The young girl leaned against her brother, sighing.

The two glanced at each other before Ronnie stood up, pulling Yinya with her. "Thank you for listening." Ronnie stated. "I sort of wish we didn't have to meet Esther again like this..." The two gave one last almost melancholy look toward Esther then left, heading out back to where Nala was sure to be working or making dinner.

Esther blinked as her foggy mind called for her attention. She yawned, curling up more against Alexi to try and fall back asleep. She didn't want to wake up and deal with the people who wouldn't forgive her no matter how much she apologized. The young apprentice almost wished that she could just skip to when Alexi would start actually teaching her magic, helping her grow into the young mage Fredrick saw that she could be. Her mind whirled away any sleep she could have gotten, and the young girl grumbled before moving to finally wake up. The sleep felt short-lived, though she had been sleeping for a good hour after the twins had left the pair.
 
It definitely sounded like they were in a bind. Meomorphis was very cutthroat and it sounded like one of its denizens got their eye on Nala. Normally he refused to help, why should he? He wasn't a freedom fighter, righting wrongs as he traveled the world. All he preferred to do was stay home alone and be a recluse. Still, these damn warlocks just didn't want to quit and eventually he knew that he was bound to get involved. Fredrick saw to that.
"Thank you for talking. It's good to know more." As the twins left, he spoke one last time to them. "When she is finished, perhaps you can send her up to speak with me about what she might want." The girl merely nodded and left.

Still, now Alexi was left with more questions. What else in his apprentices life did he not know? Where did she come from before Meomorphis? What would this woman, Nala, ask him to do? She didn't seem like the type of woman to just ask him to kill someone, even if that would elevate the situation they were in a good deal. Perhaps it was time he started to delve into his more devious bag of tricks. He knew that, when push came to shove, that he relied a little too heavily on the meaner and darker magicks and it often left him sour and aggressive in conversations...especially those where the opposite party loved to jab and poke and test their limits.

An hour passed since the twins left and he finally felt Esther stir from her sleep. "Did you sleep well apprentice? You were out for quite some time." He stood up and stretched, no longer feeling anywhere near as fatigued as when he faced against that warlock from earlier. His magic wasn't at full but he had enough stored to do some major damage if need be.
 
Esther yawned as she shifted a bit. "I slept well, thanks for asking." She stretched before blinking as Nala came into the room. Quickly, the apprentice looked away, unable to look at the woman who had taken her in and kicked her out. It didn't seem to be quite time for supper yet, though the world still felt tilted and groggy from Esther's nap.

Nala glanced at Esther before turning back to Alexi. "Ronnie and Yinya said you wanted to talk? Pretty sure it's about what I want you for, right? I know they already told you about Esther's fuck up." The woman couldn't help but glance at the young girl before sighing. "So you know she left us for dead." The woman was about to continue when Esther lifted her head, glaring at the woman.

"I never left you all for dead." The young girl hissed out. "Yes, I did something stupid but I never wanted to hurt you. When I found you hurt I did my damn best getting you all help." She pulled her knees up to her chest. This wasn't the time for talk. They'd never believe her. After her betrayal, they wouldn't want any sort of explanation.

Huffing, Nala ignored the young girls outburst. "I want you, Vosher, to get rid of the man harassing me about my house. I don't want you to kill him. I don't need any blood on me or my family's hands. Just scare him away and make sure he don't bother us again." The woman turned, done being in the same room as her old family. "Dinner will be ready in about half an hour. Y'all better wash up. Washrooms down to your left. I don't want y'all's dirty hands all over my food." With that, the dark skinned woman headed downstairs.
 
Alexi could hear the still beating hint of hurt in Nala's voice. Maybe there was no way to sole such an issue. He could brainwash them all, he knew plenty of those types of spells but would that really solve anything? Most it might do is give him 3 mindless slaves to do with as he pleased and one very pissed off apprentice who would probably rebel against his every command from then on. Not the best student to try and advance. Besides, using magic on regular people to get what one wanted was kind of frowned upon by the university and its patrons. Best not try and agitate them. Don't need the bishops personal paladins coming to give me a pep talk.

He turned to Esther now that Nala had left the room. "I'm trying my best but after this I want you to tell me if there will be other possible issues like this. I need to know so we can deal quickly. I don't need a slew of warlocks coming and sniffing around while I'm training you." That was one thing he was secretly afraid of was the enemy coming to Meomorphis while they were like this. They wouldn't care about money or poverty...they'd care about killing the competition.
After a half hour passed, Vosher exited the room and headed for the washroom, cleaning his hands before descended to the kitchen and seeing food being set out.

He was glad they were at least letting them eat while they stayed there. They didn't really have to and he knew that, but they decided, for better or worse, to let them partake. "Thank you." he gave a slight bow of his head as he headed over to a spare seat.
 
Last edited:
Esther sighed as Alexi told her to warn him again. "I'll try, sir." She told the man before getting up to wash her hands. The simple act brought a strange normality that the young girl had not experienced in quite a while. This used to be what her life was like. She used to wash her hands and run downstairs to try and get a bite of the meal before the others ate it all. Those days were far away, gone and never coming back. Heaving a large sigh, the girl finished up before following her master down to the table.

There were barely enough chairs for them all, but Nala had set out a bowl and a spoon for each of them, still filling a few of the bowls with some stew she made. The twins grabbed some rolls and set them on the table, grabbing one for themselves and sitting down. Silence pushed down on everyone's shoulders, making the air thick and heavy.

Everyone started to eat in silence before Ronnie broke it. "I can't take this!" The boy nearly shouted, slamming his spoon back down on the table. "Look, we... we messed up too. It wasn't just you, Esther. I'm still mad, but not that we almost got killed." Yinya tried to interrupt, ready to tell her brother exactly why she should be mad at Esther for their near death experience. Ronnie stopped his sister, holding a hand up. "I'm mad because you broke our trust. I want you to still be our family, but that isn't going to happen unless you earn that damn trust back. So you know what? Help Vosher get rid of that guy for us and maybe we will trust you again." The boy finished his rash proclamation, going back to eat again. The whole room seemed to be stunned, Esther especially. The young girl wasn't sure what to make of Ronnie's challenge. She looked to her master for any kind of guidance.
 
While the room sat heavy, Vosher ate as if in his normal environment. He did not seem as perturbed by the uneasy feeling each person felt and it might have shown by how relaxed he looked, but if it did then no-one mentioned it. They merely sat in silence until Ronnie spoke up. So some of the real feelings expose themselves. The little brother is willing to give her another chance. He did not speak a word until Ronnie finished and the room was once again coated in silence, yet of a different sort than before. When he noticed Esther gazing at him as if for some advice, he coughed and cleared his throat.
Before his gaze shifted, he hoped Esther could read what he was thinking in his eyes. The little brother of your old life has just broken down a wall and allowed you a glimpse into something special, something which could eventually change all three of them. He's done something for the sake of you apprentice...do not waste this opportunity.

He looked over at Nala. "This man you are wanting us to talk to, you can give his description to Esther. She will accompany and help with this task. Maybe she'll even get a chance to test out some new magic." He hoped she understood what he meant by that. He could ill afford to wait any longer and she was quite adept so he could get her started right away. "Thank you for the meal. I shall wait outside until my apprentice is finished and ready to go."
Standing from the table, he gave a small nod as he grabbed his bowl and left for the kitchen to dispose of the leftovers and then go and wait outside in case the four of them needed any privacy before she left.

He knew the stakes here and so did Esther. Scare him...do not kill him. This was going to be quite the interesting challenge, but he knew he could do it rather easily. The question was...could Esther?
 
The message in her master's eyes rang clear as he seemed to allude to teaching her something as he left. She shoveled in the rest of her food, watching Nala as she finished the stew. The older siblings all looked at each other before Nala started talking. "We're looking for a dark skinned man. He's bald with a ragged beard and a tattoo of an eagle crawling up his left arm. Good luck finding him. You're going to need it." With that information Esther gave each of them a thank you before heading out to meet her master.

As she reached Alexi, she gave him a quizzical look. "Are you going to teach me something or am I just supposed to pull some new magic out of thin air?" She questioned, more than a bit skeptical that the man would actually teach her something right at that moment. Excitement started to chill down her spine. New magic and the possibility of gaining her family's trust hyped the young apprentice. She just had to finish this quest, she rationalized in her mind, then everything would be easier from there. It was at least a hopeful thought.
 
He turned to her after he heard her speak. "Watch your tone apprentice. I'm not some common teacher and I do not take such rudeness lightly." He walked a little ways away from the house with her in tow and rounded a corner so they could be alone. "I will be teaching you something interesting, even though it is simplified from its usual context. You're going to learn the bare essence of how to read minds apprentice. At your current level, you should only be able to tell when the subject is lying and what is going through their mind as to the subject at hand. Be careful you don't abuse this gift."
He placed his hands on her head and closed his eyes. "Repeat after me and be sure to chant these right." Taking a deep breath, he began. "Calorum Selri behgo. Calorum Selri behgo. Calorum Selri behgo."

His apprentice would feel after the second chant that a warm radiating feeling would start at the tip of her head and slowly be making its way down her body with each chant spoken by the two. It was the first official magic she would learn from him and would be, in his explanation later, processing itself into her body. He continued to chant until, a couple minutes later, he would finish and sigh. "It seems you take to this quite naturally. We will have to continue after we leave Meomorphis. For now, we will find this person your family wishes us to and then, you will have your first live field test."

He had taught her the first basic magic, even though the art of deep mind reading was technically kept from the younger generation and even pushed away by some of the masters. Alexi, however, loved to experiment and had made his own simplified version of the mind reading which is what Esther had just accumulated. It would be put to the test once they found the target and then he would see how she treated true magic in its form. "Now, as to its use. When you're within sight of someone, to activate the magic will require a mental blink of the eye. You don't actually have to blink, but you must tell your mind to do this in order to have the magic technically ' turn on'. It will reveal to you, silently, what that person is thinking about, but only what they are thinking about to the topic at hand. If you understand, then let's go."
 
Esther followed obediently as Alexi explained what she was going to learn. She raised an eyebrow at the man's suggestion that she would be able to read minds. Taking a deep breath, she repeated after him. "Calorum Selri behgo. Calorum Selri behgo. Calorum Selri behgo." She could feel a strange warmth edging down her body. She nearly shivered at the unknown feeling, but just continued with her master until he was finished. A drip of pride started to fill her chest as he told her how she seemed to come to magic naturally. She smiled, nodding as her master explained how to turn on the magic.

He had described it as a blink of an eye, but mentally. Esther's eyebrows furrowed as she bit her cheek. She thought about exactly what her master told her to do and tested it out. With a quick thought, she felt the magic activate, though there were no specific effects at the time. She turned it back off, nodding to her master. "I think I got it." With that she started to take the lead, looking for the bald man with the eagle tattoo. People of all kinds littered the streets. Women short and tall, men fat and skinny, and children light or dark all mingled and ran around in a melting pot of sorts. Esther easily glided through the peoples, her eyes sharp and ready to tail the man she needed.

There! She spotted the man harassing a smaller stall's owner about some item he had purchased. She watched the two carefully, forming a plan in mind about how to get the info she wanted. The target seemed to get what he wanted, as he was handed a few gold coins before strolling away. Seeing her opportunity, Esther ran up to the man, acting like a curious young child she was. "Excuse me, sir! Excuse me!" The man stopped, turning to look at the 14 year old. "Did you just scam that man out of his money?" She was blunt, but held nothing other than an innocent curiosity in her voice. "My pa says it's not right to scam people." She blinked her green eyes, hoping to the gods above that Alexi would go along with her 'disguise'.

The tattooed man blinked as a tiny girl ran up to him, asking about his scam. "Now, sweetie, this is grown-up talk. Let me talk to your pa, and I'll explain the situation." He looked around for the adult that would probably be escorting the child. Unknown to him or most anyone, Esther had already activated the new magic taught to her. She narrowed her eyes as she waited for him to start talking. "I didn't scam nobody, but I think your pa will be better able to explain what I did." Thoughts trickled past her mind's eye.

What's this kid's deal? Sure I scammed the owner, but I get good money out of it. She seems a bit too curious for her own good. Maybe I could scam the pa, get them to leave me the hell alone. Esther watched the man as he tried to identify her supposed "pa". They had barely started the conversation and already the man was lying through his teeth. She flinched as the target laid a hand on her shoulder, pulling her close and out of the way of the crowd. Immediately, the girl tried to rip herself out of the man's grip, panicked thoughts from earlier trickling down through the back of her mind. The man was too strong, and his heavy hand held her in place.
 
Vosher watched the girl listen attentively and felt her magic tap into the magical force hidden within her. He could feel her mind reader magic turn on and then off and knew she had at least the base rudimentary control over it. As he watched her head into the crowd, he decided, as to start, to watch from the sidelines. He wanted to watch her deal with the new magic control and see if her street reputation and experience could match up. He turned on his own magic and let himself follow along at least in spirit, listening to her interaction both in the magical and physical world.
Little blunt apprentice, but so far you have him where he is questioning himself. The man did not know who he was dealing with. She did not have the look of a wizards apprentice.

She had that going for her. She could play the role of a pauper, thief, orphan or anything that fit her frame of look. So far, he was impressed. No definite details about her "family", did not play it too aggressive but never let him take control. That is until he grabbed hold and brought her into the alley. It looked like several people had lived there during the last few days. When she vanished from view, he coursed through the back alleys and tried to get to where he presumed she had been brought. As he got ready to round another corner, he heard her voice and stopped to lean against the wall.

She sounded like she had re-engaged him and he did not want to walk in to something if she had her plan to bait him all set. He would wait..prepare for the right moment and intervene if necessary. He wanted to give her this chance to prove herself, try the boundaries of working both her physical and mental capacities and get out of this. He couldn't bail her out every single time after all.
 
"Sir, my pa says I'm not supposed to go alone with nobody." Esther finally managed to bite out as the man had taken her from the crowd. Probably so he could keep her trap shut if she was too loud. "Do you scam lots of people? Or do you just scam shop owners?" She kept her eyes on the man, speaking loudly so he had gained a bit of a panicked look on his face.

"Quiet down, sweetie. I already told you I don't scam nobody. I just trick them into giving me money for wronging me." Esther raised an eyebrow as the man searched around for her supposed pa. "Now where is your pa? If you're not supposed to go alone, then why ain't he here?"

Esther was quick to the punch, but not too quick to look suspicious. "Pa had to get food. He says as long as I stay in the market and be good, I can go alone." She tilted her head. "Ain't tricking people just scamming them?" The young girl knew the man had to think of a way out, since her curiosity seemingly knew no bounds.

Shit, what the hell kinda kid is this damn curious?! Of course it's still scamming, but she can't know that! I don't know who her pa is so he could get me in trouble. The man pinched the bridge of his nose before turning back to Esther. "Look, those people I trick did bad things to me. So, I make 'em pay because they were mean to me."

Esther crossed her arms across her chest. "I ain't stupid. Pa says that if people are mean then you suck it up."

The man seemed to growl. "Well your pa ain't always right. It's an eye for an eye. Ancient laws or some shit. Look, just leave me alone, kid."

As much as the man wanted her to leave, Esther refused. "Who else do you scam? I heard that someone was scamming some people out of their house. That ain't you, ain't it?" She tilted her head as she continued to pester the man.

He growled. "I ain't scamming nobody! I am getting back at a bitch who fucked me over in the bar, so I'm fucking her over more so she knows not to fucking fuck over others!" Angry thoughts streamlined into Esther's mind. It took nearly all her self control not to smirk as the man thought, Damn that Nala bitch! If this brat's pa doesn't show up soon then I'm just gonna have to beat her to get her to leave me the hell alone!
 
The thoughts of both parties as well as the random occasional passerby flowed through Alexi's brain. he was falling back to primal patterns. Fight to survive. He was right about one thing and that was Esther was curious. Luckily, she balanced the line between under-asking and overly questioning quite well. Still, now that he was thinking of possibly going aggressively against Esther, it was time for him to jump in and let his influence play part. He still planned on dumbing down his part and letting her ride it out.

Placing his hands together, he spoke silently and mouthed the words Azanthi and his body was bathed in a invisible light only viewable by those of a learned sight. He doubted Esther would have been able to see it since it required a special view into the world of pure magic itself, something even he did not do all that often. When he opened his eyes, he looked much younger. His body had thinned and become more athletic, his hair had become slightly shorter to the bottom of his neck and his eyes had shaded to a more hazel color.
He was even dressed in different clothes, now more of a lesser ruffed up version of a small button up shirt, light fitting coat and average shoes and pants.

Here goes nothing. He rounded the corner and pretended to go wide eyed at seeing her. "Sweetheart, there you are!" He quickened his pace slightly to cross the gap between them so the target wouldn't think he had a getaway. "I just got talking with the baker...who is this? Someone you know?" Alexi peered at the man as if inspecting him. Even without his magic, he could tell the man was increasingly growing more and more off his game. Soon, it would be the endgame for him.
 
Esther thanked the gods that Alexi could act as he portrayed the role of the worried father. She thrust an accusing finger at the flustered man. "Pa, this man's been scammin' people! He says he wants to fuck 'em over!" She huddled close to her master, clutching onto his clothes as a young child would when snitching on a naughty friend.

"Fuckin' bitch." The target muttered. "She's lyin' sir! I ain't scammed nobody! I'm just getting back at 'em for what they did to me! An eye for an eye an' all that!" He was floundering, trying to prove to this man that he wasn't a threat. His hand slowly went to his back pocket where a knife lay hidden. The man toyed with the hilt, ready to pull it out when it might be needed.

Drawing closer to her supposed "father" Esther continued to rant. "He's scamming those people out of their house! You know the one we heard about! Pa, he's being a baby!" She stuck her tongue out at the man. When treated with a glare in return, Esther hid behind Alexi, disguising her shaking laugh as shivers of fear. The target seemed to have enough of this annoying child and being civil. He whipped out his knife, pointing it at the duo with an intent to maim.

"That Nala bitch sent you! I ain't scammin' her! She's just getting what she deserves for fucking over my loot! She ain't getting rid of me! I will ruin her life, if it's the last fucking thing I do!" The tattooed man raved, flinging his knife around like a baton. Esther nudged Alexi, her new magic deactivated as soon as Nala's name had been uttered from the man. Hopefully he would be doing something or they were going to be left for dead that night.
 
Alexi watched the man slowly unravel and he noticed when he magic finally ran out although he noticed more after she nudged him in the side. That meant she couldn't read his thoughts anymore, which might have been a blessing in disguise since his mind was racing at miles a minute with each thought having some kind of pervated or obscene comment to it. This had gone on long enough...Esther had tossed him in the coffin and put in most of the nails. Now he would seal him in with the last one.

Even though his disguise remained visible to the man, Vosher activated his golden eye magic. Magical golden dust dripped down out of his eye and fluttered through the air, surrounding the man even though he could not see such a phenomenon. All he could focus on was the annoying brat and her father. The dust would stun his senses and make him even more open to suggestion. "If this woman bothers you this much sir, perhaps you should leave her alone." The man shook his head. "But..she did...."
"Maybe you wouldn't be upset if you forgot about it..and her." "M..maybe? But she deserves...." "Who deserves....what?"

The dust was working. He was so flustered and not focusing on Nala entirely that he was mentally sabotaging himself. He shook his head, obviously confused. "I...I don't know." Alexi nodded. "Then perhaps you should forget about it. Let it go..." He lowered his knife wielding hand and let it hang prone at his side. "Nothing but trouble....suppose....could I guess....." Alexi smiled as the dust, now done its work, dissipated into the void.
"Then we will be off. Come along sweetie, we need to get that bread from the baker." Tapping her on the shoulder, he ushered her to move towards the market center. He knew the man would bother Nala no more and he had done it as requested. No bloodshed, no death, no force. Felt odd using some of the magic that wasn't aggressive or ruthlessly threatening. Perhaps he'd have to delve back into those more.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.