Text, un: Mariposa

[nonmagical]

WHO: Mirabel and the network
WHERE: In her room
WHEN: A few days after the event, late at night
WHAT: Mirabel has some questions
WARNINGS: Maybe near death mention? Possession talk.

[It’s been a few days since the fae realm ordeal. Mirabel’s learned a few things. One, she’s still furry. Two, she can’t sleep. Not after… everything that happened. She doesn’t want to talk about it, not really. But she really needs to sleep. So she has a late night question for the network.]

I’m having problems falling asleep. Either I can’t fall asleep or I keep having nightmares. Is there something I can do so I can get some sleep?

[And then she has another question. She’s very careful about asking this one, so she locks her second question from the rest of her family.]

So I’ve been reading up on possession. [A lie.] It seems like a pretty scary thing to go through. Can anyone tell me more about it? Like… what happens if it happens to you?

[A pretty innocent question, right? She hopes no one sees right through it.]

Comments

[neverbreaks]

[ ...they need to check on Bruno a bit more. ]

...Yeah. It's difficult.

[ Luisa can definitely understand that. She hasn't really been able to talk about it with anyone besides Mirabel since it happened. ]

[wedonttalkabout]

[Too late, he's already Pretty Damn Worried.]

okay but Mira those are two different messages right there.

[Just pointing that out, Kiddo.]

what's going on? we can't help if we don't know.

[nonmagical]

I think... mamá needs to know, at least.

[She pauses, chewing on that idea for a moment.]

The person I talked to said I was just hurting her more by keeping it a secret, and I don't want to do that.

[nonmagical]

[Mirabel shakes her head. She knows she's being indecisive - between being honest and trying to avoid the problem altogether. She does want to talk about it, and she doesn't. It's hard.]

... Okay. All right.

Sometimes... when I have these dreams - the ones with the dragon in them - they end... violently. Really violently.

[With her death, with Luisa's death. They aren't saved by the Spirit Realm, they just... die. And it's her fault, because Luisa had to give up her life to protect her.]

And I can't fall asleep, because all I can think about are those dreams.

[nonmagical]

It looked like a regular wolf? Except that it could talk I guess?

Great. Love to hear it. Glad I'm gonna get some kind of punishment BECAUSE THIS STUPID WOLF WON'T SAY WHAT THE CONTRACT IS.

[nonmagical]

My family's gonna think I'm crazy. People are going to think I'm crazy.

[Mira, you're family and people already think you're crazy.]

... All right, I guess it can't hurt.

[nonmagical]

[Oh she gonna try.]

I started with... researching ghosts!

[Yeah, that tracks right?]

[nonmagical]

Thank you. I appreciate it.

[nonmagical]

Thank you. Whatever you can find will be helpful.

[nonmagical]

Thank you. I appreciate it.

[Banish spirits? Would that include the one inside of her...?]

Considering I've tried just about everything with no luck, I'd be willing to try a spell if that would help?

[whiteshroud]

[...]

Isn't your family already crazy? Just embrace it.

[corpserun]

so not a regular wolf at all
ic ic

ehhhhhhhh
i mean it's likely
but not probable
if you had someone to do your bidding wouldn't you want them to actually do what you want before you get rid of them?
killing henchmen is super pointless~
idk why so many villains do it in movies

but also
like
it's a wolf
you don't have any idea what a wolf could want you to do?
have you tried howling at the moon?

[neverbreaks]

[ Luisa can't help a wince as she glances away. She hated the thought of their mother knowing, learning just how much she had failed.

But...Mirabel was still having nightmares (and honestly, she was too). And her sister's well-being was much more important. ]

...yeah. That's probably for the best.

[nonmagical]

… Is that gonna be okay? With you, I mean.

[If her sister did not want her to tell her, she wouldn’t. Luisa’s feelings mattered too.]

I just… don’t know if we can hide it forever.

[reallysucks]

[GREAT NEWS]

Fair enough with that shiny gunsmith running around blowing holes in the real ones apparently!

Maybe next time take more care about what you're reading~

[learntoread]

[ Tabia's response comes a couple hours later. She has a lot of thinking to do. She doesn't have a specific spell for this instance, so she'll have to improvise, and even then, a lot of her usual components seem to be nowhere to be found in this city.

Still, she does come up with something. ]

This spell I have devised despite many limitations. I cannot call myself a truly great magician, for the bulk of my training lies elsewhere, but I do hope this will have at least some small effect.

For the best results, you will need the following: Efet-herb, perch, onion, and honey. I have not seen the efet-herb in any market here, but the closest equivalent seems to be lettuce, so try that as a substitute. If you cannot find perch, any other small fish should suffice.

Set the herb or lettuce, a whole onion, and a jar or basin of honey about the place where you sleep. From the fish, remove the backbone and place it among the other ingredients. Then, before you sleep, speak this prayer:

Run out, thou who comest in darkness, who enterest in stealth, his nose behind him, his face turned backward, who loses that for which he came.
Run out, thou who comest in darkness, who enterest in stealth, her nose behind her, her face turned backward, who loses that for which she came.
Comest thou to harm me? I will not let thee harm me.
Comest thou to disturb my slumber? I will not let thee disturb it.
I have made his protection against thee out of Efet-herb, it makes pain; out of onions, which harm thee; out of honey which is sweet to living men and bitter to those who are yonder; out of the backbone of the perch.
I shall sleep without dream or disturbance! I shall awake in a good manner! I shall endure for eternity!

You must speak these words with conviction; if you do not believe them, then the gods will not hear them. If you recite this every night, then you should be protected from whatever ghosts or spirits haunt your sleep and bring you nightmares and insomnia.

[ Sounds sketchy as hell, but the fact is - if she does it, this shit actually works. Effects will be subtle, moreso than if Tabia did the same thing, but if she follows the instructions and puts some feeling into it, she actually will find sleep coming a bit better. Especially if she sticks with it for a few nights in a row. ]

[nonmagical]

They're not

[She thinks about sending that message. Really thinks about that. For a long time.]

Okay, so maybe we are. But I think howling at things maybe crosses a crazy line?? I don't know. I'm willing to try anything at this point though.

[whiteshroud]

[yeah he THOUGHT SO mirabel!! ]

Just pray that howling is the craziest thing you'll have to do.

Some possessed have to drink blood for their contract price.

[nonmagical]

[Mirabel finds a pen, and starts taking notes. She makes a little checklist of what she'll need, and she's definitely writing down the prayer. God, she really hopes this works. Maybe she should grab Luisa too, and have her do it with her, since they both could use the sleep.]

I'm pretty sure I have all those things! If I'm missing anything, I'll pick it up from the store. I'll see if I can try out your prayer tonight!

Thank you so much. If I get more sleep because of this, you're officially my hero.

[oathkeeper]

uh. yeah. big time.

i was one of the people that was kidnapped.

text, un: Mariposa

[speaksanimal]

That sounds good to me! I can't wait to give you all the toys I have that will make you feel better!

Oh, I can even give you an elephant doll that I used to hug a lot! I think you would like that.

audio ; un: miyako ; private

[bingos]

[ New as she was, there were a lot of things Miyako couldn't claim to understand about the world she'd found herself in. She doesn't know everything and it's maybe that as much as her genuine concern for the individual on the other end that keeps her quiet enough to listen.

Death isn't something she knows is lacking in adventures. She faced the prospect of being a reason something was killed when she was twelve, after all, but it doesn't make things easier. Doesn't make it any more easy to hear from a voice as young and scared sounding as the one on the other end of the phone —

Helping out with Chosen around the world as she did has prepared her for a lot of things, but at the same time she never feels adult enough to know how to answer. It's why the laugh in her voice falls flat as she tries to dismiss it: ]

Don't worry about it. I've been a part of enough crazy stuff I have to believe it!

[ The laugh's in her voice, but it was definitely flat — Not quite able to pull off her usual energy in a somber moment. It's a lot harder to be mature when the one who helps you be isn't around, but she tries: ]

... Thank you, for sharing with me. I know it's not easy.

[ There's a pregnant pause, an uncommon flumoxing with words before she adds evenly: ] I think — I'm not the right person to hear this from and I'll probably mess it up but...

Sometimes we have to do what we need to... to survive, you know? It's probably the most difficult decisions of our life sometimes and we have to do that part on our own... But it's important to know we're not alone, too.

I really mean it. If there are people who love you as much as you love them here, you shouldn't lock them out. That kind of stuff only makes it worse. Because right now what you need... It's someone to tell you it'll be all right and they still accept you, right?

[neverbreaks]

[ She really didn't know if she was okay with it. The thought of their mother knowing everything felt heavy in her stomach, and the guilt was a painful squeeze on her heart.

But she owes Mirabel this, after letting her down so badly. If this would help Mirabel, then she'll do what she can. ]

...y-yeah. You're right. Maybe it'll be easier if she knows.

[ Even so, Luisa felt even guiltier. She couldn't bring herself to tell their mother, and was leaving it up to Mirabel.

Maybe she really is a coward. ]

[nonmagical]

I’ll try to break it to her as gently as I can…

[How can she possibly break something like that gently? No matter how nicely Mirabel tries to put it, she’s gonna be hurt.

But Mirabel recalls what Miyako said to her, that she’d only hurt her worse by hiding it. She can’t… she can’t do that to her family.]

I mean… I’ll try my best. I don’t want to hurt her, but if she finds out later…

… then that’s going to hurt her more.

[wedonttalkabout]

[Oh. Well. ]

ah right. horrible flashback nightmares. those are definitely a thing.

[His tend to be flashforward nightmares- he had terrible dreams of the house breaking for years after the vision- but they work much the same. He wishes he had an answer for this, but he's had 45 years of them and still hasn't figured it out. He only knows how to lessen the pinch of them and that's from experience. ]

your mamí can help you with some teas to help you sleep. i try to distract myself with other things- like writing stories. maybe you can do some art or something? when it's keeping you awake?