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Post by Decoii on Dec 6, 2022 0:07:47 GMT -5
Gwen wasn't the first witch he'd asked for help, but she was the first to agree. He wasn't sure how he felt about it now, expecting for her denial despite his harsh methods to get her to agree. The small spell casting war had left him with a headache, bruises aching as they formed on his skin. He supposed maybe it wasn't so much as what had happened between them as it was her reaction towards the mention of Ayden.
"I suppose a lot of people have been told a lot of things." He said, rubbing his temple and glancing around the absolute mess they had created. He felt exhaustion creeping up his bones. "Everything to do with sorcerers, that's it?" He expected something more comical, although the question itself spoke volumes of her ignorance.
"The world is a monopoly game." He said after careful consideration. "Everything we do, down to the way we talk. It's all one big strategy to gain the upper hand. Not only in the supernatural community but in everything. We're behind every large industry, the richest supernaturals. We have contracts with half demons, shamans, necromancers -the real ones-. Some of us even own the biggest wolf packs and have coerced even vampires to do our bidding. Even centuries beyond our time. There is nothing in this world that we won't use to our advantage."
He paused, "Surely the coven has warned you, surely they have educated you? It's beyond greed, beyond need. Sorcerers have sons. Witches have daughters. I suppose I don't need to explain that this curse keeps us from mingling with you out of pure disgust as I'm sure it's the case with your kind as well."
Isaiah was glazing over all the important facts. It wasn't as vague as he was explaining. But his mouth kept moving to keep her head spinning with what he was saying. Not like he was saying anything that wasn't obvious. Sorcerers had been seen as protectors of the supernatural community for centuries. They had been worshiped, given power, and still held at high value. The public rarely believed they did wrong and aside from witches, no one spoke ill of his kind.
There was no reason to do so.
Most importantly, Isaiah had kept the conversation from focusing on Ayden and her grimoire. "I have a meeting." He lied, "Give me your phone."
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Post by Thea on Dec 7, 2022 2:49:30 GMT -5
Gwen didn't expect him to answer her. With how hostile he was she was surprised he didn't tell her to go fuck herself. It was ... well, she wasn't sure if nice was the right word but she did appreciate him actually answering her.
He was right to think her question was ignorant. It was. But Mr. Business Man was the first sorcerer she came across, and it wasn't like she was searching him out. She took all of the information that he gave her in like a sponge. Soaking it up for later. She wished she had a notebook so that she could write it all down. In the end, though, she guessed that it didn't matter. She could poke and prod the more they worked together. Right then, the threads were demanding payment, and she couldn't ignore them for very much longer.
Were the sorcerers that influential? There was no telling how many people she came across that knew one or knew someone that did. It wasn't until recently that she started getting into networking, but that was because of her shop. A lot of her business was by word of mouth. She didn't even have a website. It sounded like, unfortunately, she was but a small fly in a web woven by giant spiders.
The rest of the elders warned of the dangers of the outside world. But they would never answer why the coven should be scared. Gwen scowled, her mind buzzing and whirling, as she turned to walk back to her sales counter. "Don't have one," Gwen muttered shortly. "Not a cell phone anyway. And I'm only available on Tuesdays before my classes. The number is on my door."
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Post by Decoii on Dec 14, 2022 14:25:24 GMT -5
Isaiah nodded slowly, looking around the room before scratching his eyebrow. "It makes sense that you're not a person on the internet..." He gestured vaguely towards her, "You know, being all 'clown and proud'." He sighed and just left right after.
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Post by Thea on Dec 15, 2022 5:46:43 GMT -5
After Mr. Business Man left, she set to work cleaning up the mess he made.
And yes, she will be blaming him for her destroyed store.
It was a long night of righting tables, discounting crystals, and clipping the parts of the plants the sorcerer destroyed. Yes, there were a few shed tears - mainly out of frustration. Though after she cleansed her workspace and crawled up the steps to her apartment, she fell into bed and slept.
She half expected for him to come in the next day, but when he didn't she took that opportunity to ward the store and her apartment from any unwelcome guests. Those that weren't her regular patrons wouldn't be able to find her abode without her assistance, even if it was on a busy street in the downtown area. Gwen figured that if the sorcerer that visited her the previous day was serious about being taught then he would call her store phone. Easy peasy.
Two weeks had gone by since then, and if it hadn't been for the fact that she was visited by a sorcerer then she would have forgotten all about him. Since he was a sorcerer, though, each day made her more paranoid than the last. Was he going to come back with reinforcements after deciding that just killing her would be more beneficial? And what was up with the soft tone he took on when he spoke about Ayden? She should have probably called the rest of the council to see what to do about this problem, but she held off on it. Being the youngest of the other elders, she was still not seen as an equal. If she found out why Mr. Business Man wanted to off one of the biggest cabals then she was sure she would be taken more seriously.
That is, if she he would show his face again.
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Post by Decoii on Dec 21, 2022 15:27:20 GMT -5
Isaiah Vargas was one of the first to be arrested after the Vargas Cabal discovered that Ayden's Grimoire was a fake. Luckily for him, it happened after his own personal witch hunt and not before. Considering that they had still been looking for Ayden, they started to believe Isaiah had something to do with the disappearance of both the book, and his mother.
No amount of sorcerers or location spells could find either the woman or the pages. Although, Isaiah wasn't surprised at all. Truth spells couldn't bring out anything from him either. In all honesty, he enjoyed spending three weeks locked up in a five star hotel. The cabal wouldn't take one of their own behind bars, especially one of the CEO's offspring's. It was such a show, Isaiah enjoyed all of it.
After three weeks, they let him go.
He knew better than to believe he wasn't being watched and followed. So he simply holed himself at home. Pouting about being treated with less respect than his brothers. Blowing off money on valueless things. What bothered Isaiah the most was knowing that Gwen was across town and he had no way of knowing if she'd been picked up by the cabals or if she was safe.
He didn't care about her, but she knew enough to know that he had the grimiore. Which would reignite the whole investigation. Isaiah had always been in support of his father, not his mother. It also worked in his favor that he'd been out of the country for the most part.
There was just a lot.
So many things to point in his direction, so many things to go wrong. So he holed up in his home, going to stupid little clubs, hooking up with stupid girls, creating a show of being the lesser brother. The unbothered brother.
Eventually, he had a cellphone delivered to Gwen. His phone number typed on the gift message card. He didn't know if he should tell her to stay safe, or to call him or message him if anything bad happened, or just to message him if she was still alive.
So instead, next to his number, the words "Keep your eyes on the flies." Was the only thing he knew to say. He didn't think she was smart enough to get the message, honestly. He probably had to find himself another Witch, he thought, but despite that, he still waited for a message.
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Post by Thea on Dec 24, 2022 23:28:42 GMT -5
Isaiah didn't hear from Gwen until three days after she received the phone.
The only reason why she knew his name was because it was on the gift card. But as she went about cleansing the device for the first day all she could think about was how fitting it was for him to be named that. Why it was fitting, she wasn't sure, but it definitely sounded like something a prick would be named. And Isaiah definitely was a prick.
The cleansing lasted for a good 24 hours. The second day she had completely forgotten about it as she was gearing up for the winter solstice and the holidays that revolved around it. She did a class on how important it was for all different cultures and what she did personally to celebrate it. On the third day, she opened the drawer that it hid in to look for something else and caught sight of his handwriting.
Keep your eyes on the flies.
Spiritually, flies were bad news. Lurking danger, gossip. Her nonna would tell her she deserved it for accepting anything from a sorcerer. Definitely it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. A sense of foreboding crawled down her spine but she forced herself to continue on with her day until the end. There, she spent a good while figuring out the controls and sending a text to the number he offered:
Good thing I have fly swatters.
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Post by Decoii on Jan 23, 2023 22:35:42 GMT -5
He felt like a kid being put on time out.
Well, If timeout was being shoved off to some five star hotel, with all the room service he could get while being told to 'stay away'. Isaiah knew that the sorcerers didn't believe him at all about the grimorie or his mother. But the best part of it was that everyone in the Vargas Cabal was giving him dirty looks and treating him worse than before.
He argued that they had no reason to believe he's done something wrong. They needed to stop treating him like a half blooded piece of filth because in reality, it wasn't even his fault he was born out of wedlock and a taboo pairing. He'd tried his best to keep himself levelheaded despite knowing that he was putting on a show of annoyance and anger. Everyone ate his behavior up without question.
But his father still didn't believe him.
Luckily, he'd figured this out already. What he hadn't expected was his father's willingness to work with witches to get rid of his witch problem. The double standards seemed extreme. But he laid down on his fluffy bed and watched all the television he could and played the part up to par with the best actors in Hollywood.
The problem was that he was running into actual problems.
Luckily he had the mind to buy himself a burner phone in case his had been hacked. An old brick of a phone where he had to click on the numbers multiple times to get the letter he was looking for. He didn't trust Gwen but his back was literally against the wall with this one and if he didn't reach out and seek help, the grimorie would be found for sure.
He had the phone tucked under the sink in the bathroom. Kept it off and checked it once in a while. This time when he turned it on, he rolled his eyes so hard at the message on it, his eyes stung. "You're a fucking idiot." He typed out fast and out of frustration, pressing sent just as fast.
It wasn't until after he send the message that he thought that maybe that wasn't the best thing to say to the clown that was his literal best hope of keeping the grimiore away from his Father. So with a deep sigh, he tried again. "How do I even know you're creditable?" Did she know anything? Granted, they've gone toe to toe so at least he knew she was a real witch and not a gwack. But in his frustration, he couldn't believe he was actually thinking of relying on her for anything.
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Post by Thea on Jan 29, 2023 9:42:32 GMT -5
Gwen thought she was someone that was slow to anger. Yet it seemed that even through text Isaiah knew how to push her buttons. Being called a "fucking idiot" would make any person upset, but this coming from a sorcerer was like a wasp's sting. Tears came to her eyes immediately, hot and rapid when they fell down her cheeks. Thankfully he wasn't here to see them - he'd probably think that she was soft or sensitive.
No, if there was one thing that Gwen couldn't afford to be, it was sensitive. Being raised by her grandmother, that wasn't a luxury. Her tears were angry and prideful. And definitely not something that she needed to worry about right now in the middle of store operation.
"Hi Gwen!" a chipper voice called out in tandem with the doorbell. Gwen looked up from the second message that came just as soon as the first, then was reminded that her cheeks were wet and her eyes were red by the look of concern on the young girl's face. "Everything okay?"
She nodded as she wiped her face. "Oh yeah, no worries. I just got a package of crystal towers in, you should check them out!" The witch pasted on a smile for her, then dropped it when after her patron's worries were assuaged. She texted back: My gut tells me I'm the only IDIOT willing to help you. But if you don't think I'm creditable find someone else.
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Post by Decoii on Feb 3, 2023 2:24:30 GMT -5
Well, as long as she knew she was an idiot, what else could Isaiah really ask for? The thought made him smile, but the realization of what it implied sent his stomach into a spiral of concern. It wasn't like he had a lot of options at the moment. He didn't even have his freedom. In all honesty, Isaiah wasn't stupid. He knew she was actually a witch, and not some herbalist quack, she's gone toe-to-toe with him before after all. He just... Couldn't get the nagging feeling off of his chest that he shouldn't trust anyone.
At least, not with this.
Grunting, he hid his phone in his back pocket before exiting the bathroom. Curiously, he headed out towards the front door of the hotel he was staying in and looked through the peephole. The only guard right now that he could see was Matt. A lower level half-demon with some semi good zapping power.
Backing up from the door, he headed towards the bathroom and dialed the number he knew was hers, then waited for her to pick up the phone.
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Post by Thea on Feb 8, 2023 1:10:39 GMT -5
Gwen didn't answer him.
It was partially because seeing the phone buzz on the counter beside her cash register sent her into a seething rage. Who else would be on the other end besides the infuriating douchebag sorcerer, Isaiah? His number was the only one programmed into the "smartphone". Well, not even that - he more than likely was the only one that knew the number.
The main reason that she didn't answer was that she was working. She was a professional. Being the business owner, she was both the face of and the brains behind her store. She couldn't be on the phone talking to a man she loathed with every fiber of her being. Not only would she not be able to watch her mouth but what example would that be for the coeds? Yes, she liked to dress like Ms. Frizzle on occasion but she knew how to conduct herself. And taking personal phone calls while on the proverbial clock was, as her customers liked to say, "Not it."
So she didn't answer the phone call. In fact, she set the phone to vibrate and threw it in a drawer until closing time. It was only then, having felt a sense of anxiety riding her tirelessly all day, that she took it out of the makeshift prison and marched her ass upstairs. Each step into her private quarters unearthed a new question. Questions like, what was she doing, cavorting with a sorcerer? Had her nonna's stories taught her nothing? What was she going to help him with? The words spun around and around her head in a tornado of worry. Gwen couldn't even reassure herself that it was for the good of future generations, especially when it was she alone that was teaching them. She went this long without meeting one, right? Maybe the old feuds between the two warring factions had been forgotten.
Gods knew that she wasn't really sure why they fought in the first place. Sure, the sorcerers wanted more power, but that was just men in general. What really happened all those centuries ago? What was the catalyst? The specific reason why everything went to shit? That was what she wanted to know. She wanted to understand. To see her enemies as more than wicked characters in her nonna's fantasies.
She sat on the edge of her bed, a world-weary sigh escaping her mouth as she thumbed her way through the phone before pressing the number that had called her earlier. If he didn't answer she would try again before she opened in the morning.
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Post by Decoii on Feb 23, 2023 2:43:31 GMT -5
Rage.
That was the only word that could be used to describe the boiling fit he felt when she didn't pick up her phone the first time, or the second, and not even the third. He got her a phone for a reason, he called her for a reason. In fact, he hadn't reached out to her for anything that he didn't deem important! So how dare that Shat out unicorn looking witch bitch ignore his-
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Isaiah all but stomped out of the bathroom after failing to reach her one last time.
The guards opened the door, took one look at the annoyance on his face, and closed it back up. He had nothing to do with his frustration, no one to take it out on. So he balled up his hands, angrily turned on the television and spent the next hours contemplating just burning down the Vargas Cabal and damning everything to hell.
That didn't stop him from obsessively checking his phone more often than he'd like to admit to himself. His anxieties and overthinking started to drive him nuts. Eventually, he checked one last time before finding a missed call less than three minutes ago. Quickly, he dialed her number and waited.
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Post by Thea on Mar 3, 2023 21:36:06 GMT -5
Huh. He must be busy.
That was the surface-level thought that went through her mind. Her body, on the other hand, had a different reaction. Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest, and a cold chill ran down her spine. He had blown up this phone - what she had assumed - in his haste to get a hold of her, causing her cash register to vibrate uncomfortably close to falling off the counter. Now, he didn't pick up when she called him back. Was that supposed to be good, considering that she wasn't supposed to interact with a sorcerer anyway? Or bad considering his attempts to reach her earlier? If it was bad ... how bad?
She had set the phone down on her nightstand with as much enthusiasm as someone grabbing a hot pan with no oven mitt and was about to stand up from her bed to get ready - very anxiously, might she add - for the night when it lit up with Isaiah's incoming call. Gwen wouldn't admit it to him, but she nearly jumped out of her skin. She jumped two inches off the ground, at least, squealing once before she snatched the stupid piece of technology up and answered the call on the very last ring.
"Hello?" Gwen asked, voice not in the least bit inviting.
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Post by Decoii on Jun 5, 2023 18:16:08 GMT -5
"Hello?" His relief was immediate. The stupid tight sound of her voice made him sag unto the floor of his large hotel bathroom. Not that he would admit doing such a thing, and if she questioned the sigh that escaped his lips he would have little to no kind words to explain it. Still, what washed after him almost immediately after that was a wave of annoyance so large he could taste blood from his gums with how hard he grit his teeth.
She had the audacity to not pick up the phone, just to answer with her typical bullshit attitude?
The bitch.
Isaiah's mouth opened, all sorts of angry and violent words tumbling out of his throat only to leave his mouth silently, never making it past his lips. Now... Now just wasn't the time. "I need you to grab a pen and a piece of paper."
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Post by Thea on Jun 15, 2023 22:55:11 GMT -5
Pen and a piece of paper? Gwen asked herself, dumbfounded. When he answered her with her greeting in such a tone she expected a verbal assault. She had been ready, a quip on her tongue because she wasn't sure if her magic could work through this technology. She did hear his sigh of relief, but didn't think it was that - instead figuring that it was a sort of sound an overworked mother would use when her children asked her what was for dinner for the twenty-third time in an hour.
Her chest ran hot with anger, like a lump of burning coal that was steadily eating away at her ribcage. Other than that, though, his response was rather anticlimactic. "Wouldn't kill you to say please," prick she wanted to finish the statement with. Thinking better of it, she released her fistful of duvet and retrieved the notebook and pen from her nightstand. "What now."
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Post by Decoii on Jun 17, 2023 18:22:12 GMT -5
Wouldn't hurt you to say please.
Actually, he thinks it would.
Bitch.
The words hang unspoken from his parted lip and Isaiah had to squeeze his eyes tightly to avoid starting a fight. He didn't have time for this, he really didn't. "In the backrooms, on the third floor. Next town to the west...." Was he being too cryptic? He wasn't sure, so he spoke clearly, evenly, and slowly. "LB2396 .4532 1856... Once again, LB2395 .4532 1856." Did his voice sound a bit condescending? Sure. But the tone of nervousness and honesty was also raw. Did he literally leave the most important grimore in a random library twenty minutes away? Sure. Because no location magic could pinpoint one book in a forest of books. That's what he thought of that place anyways.
His mother used to take him there. The library was so massive they'd get lost in there for hours. His father never paid attention to his mother like he should have, like Isaiah did, and his hands balled up into fists just thinking about someone else getting their hands on this book. "I cast a spell on it, by the way. If you open it before I can remove it... Then everyone loses in the end okay? I wasn't joking when I said I needed your help and yeah, I don't trust you anymore than you trust me but you're the person I trust the most and I will Kill You if this book falls on the wrong hands."
Maybe he shouldn't have said that last part but the idea of having a witch find this book, knowing so little, was making him need to puke. He took a deep sigh to calm himself. "Anyway you're willing to rescue a sorcerer?"It was partly a joke, partly not. He knew witches had all sorts of stealthy spells up thier sleeves, something that he lacked in.
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