Getting close to nature. (September 12)

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 9:03 pm

Victoria held her silence for a moment before speaking. "Magic is a path of sacrifice. You must give of yourself... and so many payments only become apparent later."

"For magic, I've sacrificed my friends... some literally. I've sacrificed any hope I had at love, anything resembling a happy normal life. I've sacrificed the chance to know my daughter. I walk beside people, but can never be one of them. It..." She cut herself off there, her voice choking a bit.

She was quiet another moment before continuing. "Would I be disappointed to see you spared that? No. But I'll help you, depending on where you think this path leads."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 9:15 pm

Theresa nodded and didn't say anything more, staring into the fire. Her eyes glowed off and on throughout the silence.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 9:41 pm

"So... where do you see your path ending. What is the prize at the end of your journey?"

by **Theresa McMasters** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 9:55 pm

"I don't do the things I do for a prize. Well, maybe my gaming, but that's different. I do the things I do because they're the *right* things to do. And maybe that's a fiction I tell myself to give me a reason to keep going, but it's as good a reason as any."

She paused for a moment, obviously gathering her thoughts, "It's like my trip this past summer. The trip was there for its own sake. I was looking for understanding, true, but that was something I gained on the journey, not some prize that I got at the end of it. This path ends when it ends and like my X-Men work, it ends when I'm no longer capable of doing it."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 10:15 pm

Victoria nodded. She reached behind her and came up with a dagger. It wasn't the one she usually used. This one was new, fairly unadorned, but clean, with an obsidian blade. She held it out across the fire, the light of it dancing in the glassy blade. "Then take this... offer yourself to Gaea. Just a few drops of blood into the earth... and make the offer clear."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 10:24 pm

Theresa took the dagger, looking at it carefully before making a small careful cut on her palm, closing her eyes and squeezing her hand into a fist, letting the blood drip onto the ground.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 8:32 pm

When her blood touched the ground, it was like a floodgate opened. For one blinding, gorgeous second, everything made sense. Everything was connected, everything was so blindingly obvious, and at the center of it was her. She could feel the elements around her, and she could see, just for that one glorious instant, the infinite ways they could be touched, used, manipulated.

In the next second, she could see the ways to twist them... the sheer power of them. The ways she could take them, use them be gloriously powerful, to make the very world, and all that was in it, shudder at her power, to-

And then it was gone, the sense of it receding again to the edge of her perception.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 8:48 pm

She blinked and stared at the fire again for a long moment. "Well, that was a... rush. And a lot to take in." She held out her hand, "I'll clean this off if you've got something to clean it with."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 8:51 pm

"There's a stream about a hundred yards that way," Victoria said, nodding with her head without looking up from the fire. "Never leave anything lying around, even in the trash, with your blood on it. Not anymore. In water, it should be safe."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 8:54 pm

"That include dirt?" She gestured to where she'd dropped blood on the ground.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 9:01 pm

"No, that's fine. She won't let anything happen to you for that."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 9:15 pm

"Alright. I'll be back in a bit," she said, standing and rotating the dagger to keep the blood on it. It took her a bit, but she did return with the dagger properly cleaned.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 9:53 pm

"If you don't like it, do whatever you like with it. Obsidian is too linked to fire... it's no good to me," Victoria said.

"So, I take it that she answered?"

by **Theresa McMasters** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 9:58 pm

"A very full glimpse, but only a glimpse," she said, looking over the dagger. She sat back down and let it rest in her lap.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Fri Nov 14, 2014 5:44 pm

Victoria nodded, taking a deep breath. "Damn, I need a drink," she muttered.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Fri Nov 14, 2014 6:12 pm

"Something wrong? Something right?"

by **Victoria Valentine** » Fri Nov 14, 2014 6:30 pm

"Yes? No? It makes sense when I'm a lot less sober," Victoria said, stretching her legs out. "Hence, vodka."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Fri Nov 14, 2014 6:37 pm

"Don't really have a desire to try vodka myself. And I would guess we're kind of out of luck unless you brought some with you."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sun Nov 16, 2014 8:05 pm

"What is your poison, then?" Victoria asked, pulling a stone bottle from her backpack.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Sun Nov 16, 2014 8:13 pm

"I don't really know. Never done much drinking."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sun Nov 16, 2014 11:52 pm

"Decided by chance it is. I don't drink alone anymore, so just think of this as part of the process." She pulled two glasses from her pack... or at least she gestured like she did as they froze into being in her hands. She handed the bottle and one of the glasses to Theresa. "Just pour. I've never seen it give someone something they didn't like."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 7:18 am

She poured into her own glass, the substance something that looked like grape juice and smelled like raspberries. Theresa tasted it carefully. "Not bad," she said.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 7:23 am

"If it doesn't taste alcoholic, be careful how much you drink," she said, taking the bottle and pouring her drink out, this coming out smelling quite a bit like a margarita. "Faerie magic... it doesn't always just give you drinks from this side of the veil. It's safe, but it'll put you on your ass if you think you aren't actually drinking."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 7:54 am

"No, I can taste the alcohol," she said. "It's that extra bite in the drink." She drank some more, "So you work with faeries a lot?"

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 7:58 am

"Not anymore," Victoria said, bitterly. "I'd say I was young and stupid, but most of it was only a couple years ago. So I don't even so much have 'young' to blame."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 8:12 am

"Not generally suitable associates then?"

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 8:15 am

"Anything you gain from the fey is going to come with a price. And generally not the one you think you're paying." She looked at the bottle. "I got this from a satyr, and it cost me my self respect. Still haven't quite gotten all of that back."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 8:34 am

"I take it the 'extracting a price' thing is a common theme no matter what you deal with."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 8:38 am

"It... depends. Greater powers? They tend to get their price in the fact that you're giving them some tribute by using their magic. They need their names to be out there, after all. Faeries, though? No... they're more about... immediate gratification and amusement."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 8:48 am

"What else is there to work with?" She took another sip of her drink, obviously educated at least enough in drinking to know not to drink too fast.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Thu Nov 20, 2014 12:36 am

"It all depends on what you want. If Gaea answers you, you'd be best, maybe safest, limiting yourself to the power of the Earthmother. Other things might take less of an interest in us directly, but when they do it can be... messy."

"Of course, there are more, shall we say, non-denominational methods. Your Doctor Stranges and your Doctor Dooms and my mistresses don't find themselves beholden to anyone, so long as they have access to the right incantations and procedures."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Thu Nov 20, 2014 9:10 am

"That's a league I never want to play in," Theresa said, pondering the information.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Thu Nov 20, 2014 2:04 pm

"Best to not let any of them learn you exist. Next on the list of things that I wish people would have told me." She took a drink straight from the bottle. "On the upside, Doom has an awesome wine selection."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Thu Nov 20, 2014 2:10 pm

"I would assume he has an awesome procurement office, ruler of a country as he is." Theresa sipped some more at her drink.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Fri Nov 21, 2014 6:37 am

"M-hm. I believe that they have a long line of credit on their 'oh my god, please don't kill me' card."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Fri Nov 21, 2014 9:09 am

"Such is the life of supervillain minions," Theresa said with a chuckle.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Fri Nov 21, 2014 9:53 am

"Their health plan is great, but the fine print is killer. Totally not worth it. And they just don't appreciate good food like a good hedonist would."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Fri Nov 21, 2014 9:55 am

"Nothing wrong with a little hedonism now and then."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 8:21 am

Victoria chuckled at that. Then she laughed, hard, harder than the comment warranted. When she was done, she just shook her head and sighed. "Just... Be careful. No one ever seems to believe me, but..." She broke off and just shook her head again. "Just be careful."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 9:08 am

"Oh I believe you. I'm just self-aware enough to not make promises that I will be."

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