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Post by Aly on Apr 15, 2009 21:02:13 GMT -5
She tilted her head to the side, mouthing the words silently to herself. "Validus quod..." That sounded familiar. Like Mr North had mentioned it... He had. Definitely. But what had he said about it?
Oh...
'Don't you dare open that book, Poppy,' he'd said, pointing at the old book with the Latin title and yellowed pages. 'It's very dark, and most definitely not something you want to get your hands on. Understand?'
'Is it like... horror?' Poppy, then fifteen, had asked, eyes lighting up with wonderment.
'It's worse than horror, Poppy,' Mr. North had sighed. 'Beware anyone who wants that book. They're no friend to you.'
'Why is that?'
'Anyone looking after this book is just bad news. You must tell me if you see anyone suspicious in this shop - and especially if they are looking for something like Validus quod Severus Veneficus. Got it?' The old man's eyebrows quirked upward in a meaningful manner, and Poppy had nodded vehemently.
'Yes, sir,' she'd muttered softly, rolling her eyes and turning away from the far back shelf, going back to her preferred horror and fantasy sections, just to look at the selection.
Oh~ Mr. North said things like that often. Poppy hardly ever really took what he said seriously. After all, he had fallen to dementia, with enough sanity left to pay bills but not enough to actually run the shop. But... they're no friend to you... There had been something strangely serious about how he'd said that.
Shaking away the tingly chill running down her spine and smiling to break through her reverie, she nodded, Well - actually - I think we might have that book." she'd nodded, smiling. Beware... She heard old Mr. North's voice in her mind's ear. Would you kindly shut up? she asked her memories, looking up at the boy before her. "At least, I think I saw Mr. North shelve something along the lines of that title. Back this way~" she gestured him towards the very back of the shop, the part that looked like it had jumped out of a horror movie.
Apparently, unbeknownst to Poppy, Mr. North had an entire selection of books about and for the members of the Night World. The atmosphere in this part of the shop fit that almost perfectly. All except for Poppy's cheery smile. She peered at a shelf, even though she knew that the book this boy was looking for was sitting on display right behind her, in perfectly plain view. Finally, she looked up to glance around, eyes landing on the book. "Oh, sorry, it's over here~" she laughed, guiding him over to said display. "I don't go into this part of the shop," she amended, apologetically.
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Post by Audiva on Apr 16, 2009 20:07:33 GMT -5
"It's fine," Jason said softly, his eyes already scanning the titles. He paused then, and gulped. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end; he felt like he was being watched. And there was only one person who could make him feel like this when he was being watched. The bloody traitor who had been trying to kill him for years. He thought he'd lost him back when he lived in Vegas. Apparently that was not the case. As the girl turned to walk away, Jason caught her arm and forced her to look at him. He heard the sudden intake of breath that told him that he had frightened her.
"Miss, I can only warn you, but I hope that you'll listen. If you see a man in all black with long dark brown hair, eyes as green as a cat's, and knives and strange objects at his belt, tell me and run. Get behind a threshold of some sort, any sort. Just run," Jason told her urgently, turning his blue eyes toward the window. There was a flash of black across the street that caused him to stiffen. "He's extremely dangerous," he told her.
He looked out the window again, his every muscle quivering. He let go of the shocked girl and hoped that he hadn't frightened her too badly. Jason just did not want to put someone else in danger, after he'd been running for so long. It was seven years to the day, he realized. Seven years exactly since his father had started chasing him and shown up in his life again. He had been eighteen when he had seen his father in the milling crowd when he had been taking a short walk.
Now he had managed to put another person in danger. Again. Of all the times when it could happen....well, he could only hope that the girl would listen to him and run if his father showed up at the shop. It would be better, for her sake, if she didn't get in the way of the blasts of magic that would undoubtedly fly.
Another flash of black made Jason freeze in the act of reaching for the book again. That wasn't good.
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Post by Aly on Apr 19, 2009 13:01:16 GMT -5
occ;] It would be ridiculous if somehow or other Poppy knew Jason's father xD Just because she knows like, everyone. She knows Night people without knowing about Night People, just because of the back half of the bookstore.
bic;] Poppy had frozen solid when Jason grabbed her arm - needless to say, the warning had been the last thing she'd expected. But she understood - he had someone after him. She relaxed, but just slightly, because she could tell he was tense. She nodded slowly, deliberately, but of course she wouldn't run. This was practically her store, since Mr North was going insane.... all that talk about magic and vampires and werewolves... She shuddered. He'd talked about them like they were tangible. Like they were real.
She walked swiftly away, eyes scanning the shop, just to make sure no one else had entered. No one had. That was good. She watched the window over the pages of her book, trying not to seem like she was spying for her customer. Of course, she didn't know his name... How would she give him a signal? She could talk extremely loudly to distract the customer, and pray that he would get the hint. All in black, long dark brown hair... Hm. If he were going to come into the shop, he would definitely match the description of the horror buffs of this town; the Goths, or whatever. Poppy didn't care for labels.
She turned the page, one eye on the door, the other reading the pages without understanding them.
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Post by Audiva on Apr 19, 2009 13:56:08 GMT -5
OoC:[/size] That would be really sort of awesome...and it would be particularly interesting if Jason's father was a frequent customer, too. Hehe....As you can tell, I have a plot, so it shall be interesting....
BiC:[/size] A moment later, having pulled down the book he was looking for, Jason closed his eyes and sighed, taking a deep breath to calm himself. In his mind, he was already forming a plan. He would have to move again, maybe even out of the city. If his father was here, and he knew that he was - nothing else gave him that feeling. Nothing else could. Jason was a powerful wizard in his own right, for all there were many, both natural born witch and triste, who were just as powerful or more so than he was. All the same, he wasn't afraid of them. He had done nothing wrong, and therefor, there was no reason for them to pick a fight with him.
Jason opened his eyes again and scanned the rest of the bookshelf to see what other titles he could find. He had enough for at least one more, he knew, because he had sold a few of the enchanted pendants that some of the more foolish humans believed would help them. His did, albeit not strongly, augment what it was that they were looking for, and he was more popular than some of the others who made them. He had made enough extra this past week that he could get one more book, if he was right. An embossed silver title caught his eye and he pulled it down, opening it to look at the first page.
Outside of the store, the very man he had described a few moments before was walking down the street. Dressed in black, as Jason had predicted, his brilliantly green eyes scanned the people in the crowd. He seemed like a perfectly normal human, for all he wasn't. He was Alan Tsuraga, a Triste, and he was after his son, a traitor as much as the young man's mother had been before she had paid for her treachery. A moment, the bell at the bookstore clanged, and his mask fell in place. The aura of a witch pulsed from within the store, and there was only one witch, for all he called himself a wizard, who had an aura like that. It would end here.
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Post by Aly on Apr 19, 2009 22:26:19 GMT -5
occ;] AWESOME! : D -waitsss-
bic;] Poppy looked up sharply as she heard the light bells attached to the door, and smiled just gently. "Hello, Alan," she said lightly in her normal cheerful and bubbly manner. It was loud enough for Jason to hear, although she had very quickly forgotten that the man before her exactly fit the younger man in the back room's description of an enemy. "How can I help you today?" she said with a smile, setting her book down so that its spine was facing him. She sensed a strange tenseness in the air and it slowly began to dawn on her that this man was the very dangerous one mentioned earlier. Oh... she thought, and blinked. This is going to end quite badly unless I can stop it. she thought. The younger man, who looked rather vaguely like Mr Tsuraga but at the same time completely different. The younger customer actually looked good. Or rather, kind, Poppy added to herself.
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Post by Audiva on Apr 20, 2009 10:06:35 GMT -5
Crap! Jason froze, sucking in a breath of air and stood complete still. Alan. That was his father's name, and the feeling he had had moments earlier had become worse. Much, much worse.
"Oh, I'm just looking for something." His father's musical voice floated through the store, easily loud enough for Jason to hear without even trying. The younger man stared at the wall of books for a moment, then allowed his eyes to move toward the front of the store, where he could clearly see his father. Crap, and crap again, he thought, closing the book and putting it back on the shelf. He was shaking; adrenaline rushed though him as he waited. His breathing was just as shaky as he stood quietly, the pile of books under his arm. There was a chill in the air now, or there was to him, at least.
"Maybe you can help me, Poppy," he heard his father say. Jason turned and looked in his father's direction. The other man was looking straight at him. His brilliant, unnaturally green eyes bored into Jason, who was doing his best to hide the discomfort and fear he felt. He carefully put the books down and crossed his arms over his chest, one hand fingering the garnet that hung close to it. He looked as if he was daring his father to attack him.
Bring it, he thought.
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Post by Aly on Apr 20, 2009 19:13:08 GMT -5
"Of course~" she chirped, smiling, seemingly oblivious to the tension in the room. "What were you looking for?" Poppy smiled, stepping to stand slightly in front of Jason. "This is my new friend! Mr North says I need some help here, so I was thinking about asking him to apply for the job." Her lower lip stuck out just slightly in a barely intelligible pout. It was as if she were actually going to try to protect him.
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Post by Audiva on Apr 21, 2009 10:25:16 GMT -5
Alan smirked and a shiver ran down Jason's spine. He did not like that look at all. What astounded him, though, was that the girl - Poppy, his father had called her- he had spoken to seemed like she was actually trying to avoid the inevitable confrontation. He honestly hoped that she would not get hurt if it happened in that shop. Mentally, he ran through protection spells and found one that would work. He chanted the words in his head, allowing himself to mutter under his breath a couple of times when the words had to be verbal.
"I believe you've already found it, dear," Alan said, only again in that musical voice. "You're standing right in front of it. Maybe you could step aside and allow me...?" he suggested. Jason glared at him over Poppy's shoulder. Carefully, he reached out and touched her shoulder lightly.
"You should get out of here while you can. If you try to protect me like this, he won't hesitate to kill you," he whispered to her, hoping that his father wouldn't hear, and that his concentration on the spell would not waver and backfire on him.
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Post by Aly on Apr 25, 2009 11:04:39 GMT -5
Poppy was silent for a moment, deliberately analyzing Alan's words. "I'm not sure what you could be looking for that isn't a book, sir," she said softly. Then the customer, the man whose name she did not know, whispered something to her through a veil of concentration - and then she realized it.
"You know, Poppy, some day I'm sure you will find that everything that exists in your nightmares exist," Mr North said, a couple days before he got sent home by the police department.
"What do you mean by that?" Poppy asked, eyes widening in curiosity. That was truly something odd to say; Mr North had asked her her dreams every day she'd come to work, and she'd always said that she didn't dream. This was true.
"I mean, everything in those books you like to read so much. They're real."
Poppy had smiled at this, imagining it.
"That's not something to smile at! These creatures are dangerous! We must teach you protection."
They'd spent the following days until the police raid learning Mr North's so called 'protective spells.'
This was what he meant? Poppy wasn't completely blind. She's seen the strange flashes of black outside. She snapped out of her reverie when the man behind her whispered, 'he won't hesitate to kill you.'
"Maybe you'd better leave, Alan." She said, biting her lip, not even acknowledging Jason's words.
"Statim, es exedere," she whispered, only it didn't sound quite like her voice. It was Latin, the only language that could truly bind witches, and she had said 'You must leave here immediately." The voice had held secrets, and told that she in turn knew secrets of the Night World - although, in truth, she didn't. She didn't know anything except for protective spells. Of course, she had no idea how strong it would be.
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Post by Audiva on Apr 25, 2009 14:00:16 GMT -5
Both of the Night Worlders shivered when she spoke. For a long moment, neither of them moved. Jason had resumed complete concentration on his spell, the mantra running through his head and slipping out his lips in bits and pieces. His eyes took on a slightly glassy look, almost unfocusing as he allowed himself to come as close to the spell trance that came of some of his incantations.
His father on the other hand, was fighting the compulsion to leave. Even for a Triste who could rival Jason's natural powers, that was difficult. Alan's absolute need for revenge was what had driven him here, chasing him after his son and the last remaining bit of his wife's treachery. This was his goal, the driving force in his life now, after Evelyn's death. She had been powerful, but she had been no match for him, the filthy liar. If she had been honest, it might not have ended this way - Alan might have accepted it, but she had slipped and it wasn't until their son was almost an adult that he had discovered the world she had been hiding from him. Jason had seen what had happened, but he had been keeping this from Alan, too. He had blatantly violated the trust between them. And he had refused to help Alan hunt down more of the Night Worlders, driving the knife deeper with that ultimate betrayal.
Finally, Alan gave in. It wasn't time, he decided. He would find Jason again, and then he would succeed. The blood traitor would die, eventually.
"Have it your way," he growled. He turned on his heel and stalked out. It was another moment before Jason released his spell and allowed the pent up power to dissipate. He glanced at Poppy, who seemed to have relaxed a little.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
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Post by Aly on Apr 25, 2009 16:39:41 GMT -5
That had been the most ridiculously terrifying moment of her life, and as soon as the older man left the shop, her breathing returned to normal, and her pulse slowed. She hadn't exactly expected everything Mr North had taught her to work - so, of course, she still refused to believe in it. She actually would have liked to go after Alan, make him explain everything, find a new calling for his life. She had seen the revenge in her eyes, and she had seen in Mr North that a desire to completely destroy something, and it had hurt her. It had hurt her, specifically, because his own mind frayed at the edges to the point where he completely barricaded himself from everyone, fabricating reasons to lose his trust in others and his faith in life.
Mr North had degenerated most of his life within a week after the police had raided the shop.
Poppy shuddered, then turned around to look at Jason, bright eyes narrowing to scrutinize every aspect of him. "You're welcome," she said, sounding kind of distant. Then she blinked. "He was your father –" she said, completely out of the blue, almost before she coherently realized the similarities between the two men. "- and... and he tried to kill you?" Her eyes widened slightly, falling silent.
A moment later, she whispered, "Why?"
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Post by Audiva on Apr 26, 2009 22:03:40 GMT -5
Jason pursed his lips for a moment, wondering how much he could say, and how much he should. "Yes...he is my father, and he tried to kill me...he did it because..." Jason said slowly, pausing to consider his answer. He met Poppy's eyes and sighed. "I suppose I should introduce myself, first. I'm Jason Tsuraga."
He watched her for a moment before going on. "My father - Alan, as you know him as - is trying to kill me because he thinks I betrayed him. By keeping something about myself and my mother - who he killed for her so-called treachery, claiming it as self defense - that is. Obviously you know something about what was kept from him, if you knew that protection spell. I never did anything to him, I only refused to help him continue what he started..."
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Post by Aly on May 2, 2009 8:31:13 GMT -5
Poppy's expression changed slightly when Jason declared her convictions true. "I'm Poppy Habison!" she said, bouncing slightly on the spot and holding out her hand with her trademark cheery smile. As Jason continued his story, her expression turned slightly puzzled, and she bit the inside of her cheek. "I... I'm sorry, but I don't know anything of a spell." she laughed softly. "Mr North, the man that used to own this place, had this theory that everything in the stories were true, and said I needed protection," she sighed. "I humored him, because he seemed to really believe it. I didn't think it would actually do something useful." She bit the inside of her cheek again; that was the unpleasant thing about it - she would now keep biting the same spot in her mouth. "But whatever he started seems to be terrible." she said, eyebrows quirking slightly together.
Her mind was spinning, trying to remember every bit and piece that Mr North had taught her... he'd said something, something about another planet... another - Oh.
"Oh. You're from the Night World." It wasn't a question. There was absolutely no conviction about it; usually humans who learned about the Night World were terrified and hoping that whoever they had learned it from wasn't a werewolf or vampire that could kill them in an instant. She didn't look scared at all, just pleasantly surprised. Seeing as he had just met every expectation Mr North had given her about these Night people, it seemed fitting. If Jason didn't know what she was talking about... well, there was always the I'm just kidding! factor.
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Post by Audiva on May 3, 2009 17:45:42 GMT -5
"Yes," Jason said after a long pause. "I am from the Night World. I'm a wizard, actually," he continued. He offered a weak smile, wondering how many of the Night World laws he had broken so far. Well, she already knew about the Night World, so he couldn't get in trouble for THAT. How she had found out, though, he wasn't so sure about. This Mr. North she had mentioned could be anyone...or he could be another denizen of the Night World, or he could just be a crazy old man who happened to sell books that were associated with the Night World to people of the Night World.
He bit his lower lip as he continued to watch her, wondering how she was going to react.
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Post by Aly on May 3, 2009 18:36:17 GMT -5
"A wizard." she repeated, slowly, tasting the word. Then she nodded, not at all fazed; from what Mr North said, witches weren't necessarily evil... and weren't wizards like witches? "All right." Then she noticed how nervous he looked, and smiled, putting a hand on his arm.
"What I did... my protective spell... does that mean he won't be able to come in here again?"
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