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They call me the magic lady, Won't look me in the eyes
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Witch
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Post by Estelle Catarina LaRoux on Sept 21, 2019 18:42:37 GMT
[googlefont=Libre Baskerville] spellbound  i made a promise to the moon Estelle loved this time of year in Louisiana. The harsh summer was beginning to fade, October and Halloween loomed over head, and the shop was always bustling with business getting into the mood of Fall. Even though there were a limited amount of actual witches in New Orleans, the casual human ‘magic’ participants came in troves for whatever made up ritual they were going to practice this time of year. Estelle didn’t harbor any ill-will towards them. Practicing magic is fun, even if they weren’t using real magic. The thought of the universe at large and somehow being able to mold it to one’s will was exciting. And whatever coincidences that occurred with the human ‘witches’ kept them coming back, and Estelle was more than happy with that.
It was a surprisingly cool day in her little corner of New Orleans. She made her way to her shop, Vox Maleficis, around 9:30. Voice of the Witches. Essie was quite proud that she had come up with that one all on her own. She owned one of the only legit magic supply stores in New Orleans. Sure, the coven of Our Lady had more than plenty of access to whatever supplies they needed, but those in small and solitary covens were limited in what they could get their hands on. Drugstore herbs, while still technically work, are in such poor quality that using them regularly is just completely unfeasible.
The door bell jingled as Essie made her way through the threshold. Open entering and turning on the lights, she checked the elder leaves she had strung around the door and windows. Leaves of an elder tree have the ability to ward off evil – should they be misplaced or gone upon Estelle’s entering, she would contact the coven at once. So far, she’s only had to make that call once.
After spending thirty minutes setting up everything for the day, Estelle flipped the ‘Open’ sign on her door, ready to take on the day. She settled in to her chair behind the counter, fully ready with supplies to weave flower crowns for different magical purposes. Who said herbal charms couldn’t be fashionable? The first one on her agenda was a gorgeous mix of rue for mental clarity, vervain for prosperity, and yarrow for courage. The flowers blended into the crown in a colorful mix of yellows, purples, and whites.
Estelle was deep into the art of weaving flowers when she heard the entry bell on her door ring out. Finishing her strand of rue, the red haired woman looked up with a bright grin. “Good morning and welcome! Anything I can help you find, love?”
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Post by Jackson Ziren on Sept 22, 2019 18:53:18 GMT
___________________________________________________________ Jackson was excited to learn more about this new world he'd once thought to be nothing more then old myths and legends that were told to children so they wouldn't go out at night but he was completely taken away by how much of it all was true! He was a history buff and well, a nerd to start with, so learning that there are actual people-or well, species?- He wasn't sure what to refer to them as right now but he was entranced to know that there were creatures who could communicate with him who were actually there at these historical events! Amazing.
It was quite the turn of events that instead of teaching what he already knew, he had to relearn a whole new side of history just to teach to kids who had heard of these events their whole lives and of course some of who were in the same boat as he was. It was going to take a lot of studying and asking questions. For now, he was on a quest to learn as much as he could about the new culture that had been introduced to his small little world.
Walking down the sidewalk, it was just about 9:55, the sun was out and bright but the morning air was crisp, signalling that autumn was just around the corner but the leaves had only just started to yellow so it was going to be a few more weeks before things kicked into high gear. Jackson preferred the colder weather, snow and ice every morning, the air so cold you could see it as it exited your nose and mouth. An Excuse for him to wear his beloved long fancy coats that went well with all of his suits.
Most days he was dressed to the tens, that is when he had to work but today he was dressed as casual as he could be, regular button up shirt, jeans and a pair of black tennis shoes. Of course, he had a hat on as well, black and slightly tilted to the right, his glasses were tight on his nose, just how he liked them.
He looked around and noticed that across the street was a little shop. He'd heard someone talking about how it sells some of the best supplies for doing magic and that it was a big hit this time of year, of course, that only made Jackson curious to see if it was the real thing or just another myth?
He walked across the street and opened the door, the bell chiming twice as the door knocked it opened and closed behind him. "Hello!" He chirped, looking around since he had yet to notice Estelle, excited by the site of all the wonderful mysteries he might encounter in such a quaint little shop. "Yes, hi!" He said rather awkwardly, clumsily reaching for his hat and taking it off. He was always rather polite like that. "I'm not sure if you can help me or not, but I'm not really from around here and I just had a few questions if you don't mind." He paused awkwardly for a second, taking another look around before continuing, "See, I'm going to be starting a new job as a History teacher for that new Academy in the area and well. I'm not exactly of the supernatural so I was wondering if you could help me out a bit?" His bright blue eyes shined like a little lost puppies, looking for help. |
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12
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They call me the magic lady, Won't look me in the eyes
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Post by Estelle Catarina LaRoux on Sept 24, 2019 22:56:34 GMT
[googlefont=Libre Baskerville] spellbound i made a promise to the moon Essie was a woman of small stature, so she was easily overlooked in the midst of the chaos of her shop. The way she clothed herself didn’t necessarily help – her earthen wardrobe effortlessly blended her in with the herbs and nature based items in her store. The only thing that gave her away in the midst of it all was her fiery red hair.
The new customer was looking around her shop, the curiosity was clearly written all over his face. He either was not a practitioner of magic, or he was a very new witch. A grin lit up Estelle’s features as she watched him taking in his surroundings. It took him a moment before he had returned to Essie’s question, and her suspicions seemed to be proven correct. The man wasn’t a magic practitioner, but a teacher.
“Oh, are you teaching at Robespierre?” Estelle asked excitedly. She hadn’t spoken to anyone that was actually going to be teaching there yet – she knew that one of the witches in the year before her was the headmistress and that there was quite an uproar about it. She also knew that a lot of the Our Lady coven were quite against the idea of the academy. Essie was a bit more progressive than those witches, though. With Our Lady being such an elite school, it made it hard for the growing witch populace to be properly educated in any official capacity. Most of those who made it through their coming of age ceremony and weren’t accepted into Our Lady just had to learn in an informal setting from the rest of their coven. Allmother help them if they were a lone witch, or no one in their coven had the same specializations.
The petite woman scrambled out from behind her counter – flower crown and Algernon in tow – where she went to greet the new man with an outstretched hand. “I’m Estelle LaRoux, owner of this fine establishment, and the best herbalist in New Orleans!” She exclaimed with a wink. After shaking his hand, Estelle reached (standing on the tippiest of her toes) and gracelessly planted the flower crown on the man’s head. At his height being far more than hers, Essie nearly toppled over.
“Rue, for mental clarity. It’ll help open your mind, and prosper.” She explained, with a bright and crooked grin. “What is it that I can help you with? I’ve got books on just about everything upstairs, but I can probably give you the less boring version if you’re looking for something specific.”
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Post by Jackson Ziren on Sept 24, 2019 23:34:52 GMT
___________________________________________________________ Jackson was taken away by the shop and the strange girl behind the counter. She fit in so well with her surroundings, there was no way she wasn't the owner of the place. The girls red hair was the only none earth like thing about her, which made Jackson wonder if it was by choice or if it was natural? He figured there were times for such questions and now was not one of them. "Yes, that's the one! Robespierre! It's such a strange name to me still, but I'll get used to it."
He watched carefully as the shorter women climbed around the counter, revealing just how tiny she really was, compared to Jackson at least, she was good bit shorter. She was kinda cute in a weird, ominous kind of way. Could she be a real witch? If she was, she is kind of what Jackson had expected one to look like. He had so much to learn, it was all mesmerizing. Especially her red hair....
Jackson snapped back to reality. Apparently he had been staring at her fiery red hair, just ogling it as she walked towards him, he hadn't even realized he had bent over so she could have an easier time putting the wreath on his head. When she lost her balance, that was when he really snapped back and quickly put his hand on her forearm to catch her and help steady her. "Sorry!" He said quickly and took his hand away, fidgeting with his hat now, both hands being used to spin it. He still hadn't fully come to the conclusion that there was a flower ring on his head, that was, not until she spoke up about what it was for. "O-Oh. Thank you." He said, reaching up ever so carefully to touch the object balancing on his head. "It's great." He complimented and then cleared his throat before his eyes spotted something else, just laying on the shelves. It looked like dried pine needles, but Jackson was from a big city so he could have been very wrong about that. Nature wasn't his topic of choice.
"It's very nice to meet you, Estelle LaRoux. I'm Jackson Zirus." He replied, a charming smile sweeping over his lips, replacing the awkward one that had resided there only moments ago. He reached out and softly shook her hand, dipping his head ever so slightly, making sure the flowers stayed put. "Well, If it wouldn't be too much trouble I'd like both." He said after only a few seconds of contemplating. "The Books and the short version." He added, just to make sure what he had meant was clear.
"I don't mind the boring bits, they are normally the more important parts but the dramatic is always entertaining." He reached over and picked up a jar of dead -?- insects, he actually couldn't tell if they were alive or dead or even what kind of bug they were. He quickly set it back down.
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12
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They call me the magic lady, Won't look me in the eyes
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Witch
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Post by Estelle Catarina LaRoux on Sept 28, 2019 18:22:15 GMT
[googlefont=Libre Baskerville] spellbound i made a promise to the moon “You’ll get used to the French names around here soon enough. Nearly every New Orleans native is gonna be some sort of Cajun/Creole descent, especially the supernatural community.” Essie waved her hand – most of the factions were old. Very old. Our Lady of the Water was around during the very beginning of New Orleans, and they weren’t the oldest out there. “Oh, but you must be terribly excited!” She clasped her hands together as her mind wandered to the thought of molding young minds. A different life the she could’ve had, teaching at Our Lady as the head herbalist.
Essie beamed to the man at his thanks. She decided he looked quite dapper with flowers. His attention was diverted from her to all of the curiosities in her shop. Essie couldn’t blame him, especially if he wasn’t of supernatural disposition. It’s all very new and exciting.
“Call me Essie!” She grinned. As he spent some more time looking around, Essie peeked her head outside the door of her shop. It didn’t seem that anyone else was aiming to come in, and none of her potion orders were due until later that evening. Stepping back into her shop, the woman flipped the ‘Closed’ sign and locked the door. “Books are upstairs! C’mon, I’ll tell you a bit along the way.”
It didn’t occur to Essie that it might appear sketchy to just lock a stranger inside her witch shop and lead them upstairs to a secret library also likely filled with ritualistic supernatural items. Not sketchy, whatsoever.
“You said History, right?” The peculiar woman asked, calling behind her shoulder as she walked up the rickety steps to her attic. “I didn’t pay too much attention in history, to be honest. But I do still have a ton of books written by some of the best wordsmith witches of all time! And, well, I guess some vampires and other stuffy people, too, but they’re terribly boring.”
The attic was just as chaotic as the ground floor – there were herbs in just about every nook and cranny, a large cauldron in the middle of the space, a tome on a pedestal facing a north window, and a wall lined with floor to ceiling bookshelves slam full of books of every shape and size. There seemed to be no order to the chaos, but Essie somehow knew exactly what she wanted and where it was.
“Which Witch is Which – A History of the Salem Witch Trials, Dawn of the Werewolves, A Brief History of Vampyres, oh, hey, what is Huckleberry Finn doing in here?” Estelle riddled off titles of some pertinent books she owned, stacking them on a table as she fished them out. Her familiar, a giant rat named Algernon, crawled on to an empty clearing on one of the book shelves. “I think those are some of the main titles that’ll help! Of course, you’re welcome to the whole library if you see anything else that catches your eye… Would you like some tea?”
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Post by Jackson Ziren on Sept 29, 2019 15:25:38 GMT
___________________________________________________________ The way Essie looked when she was talking, she was cute as a button! Jackson refrained from mentioning that his family was mostly french on his mother's side, part of a very small community where he was originally from but even with all that french being apart of his life, all he could manage was slightly less terrible pronunciation of names.
"I really am! It's going to be very exciting to be the first History teacher here, it means I get to set the pace for others! Although, I'm trying to be the best but we will see. After all, I only know one side of all of it and I'm not sure if there are any major wars or important people in the supernatural community and I'll need to be teaching that too so-" He cut himself off, realizing he was rambling and that he didn't want to be right now. He was getting better about not lecturing people on history, at least when they weren't apart of his classroom.
A white smile appeared once more and a slight laugh escaped him, "Well if you insist, Essie." He dipped his head again. He watched her as she looked outside and the flipped the open sign to closed. Now, normally, being told to follow a stranger upstairs in a creepy place like this would alarm any sane human being. However, Jackson was far too curious and trusting for his own good so without hesitation he followed her up the creepy staircase.
He looked down at the steps carefully, each one creaking under his weight, after all being fair tall he was a bit heavier then Essie was. He seemed worried by the stairs though, as if the very last one was going to snap unexpectedly. This suspicion caused him to skip the last step entirely, simply stepping over it and following the Witch into her room.
"Yes, Ma'am." He confirmed she was correct about him being the History teacher. He stopped dead in his tracks when he was able to see ever little corner, or at least, what was visible of the corners. There were so many herbs, books and... other... things. It smelled of dread plants and the black cauldron added a sort of mystic to the area that kinda wrapped it all together. It was true, she was a real witch! How exciting!
Jackson listened to her list off all the book titles, chuckling when such a famous one like 'Huckleberry Finn' was thrown in. It kinda helped him to relax, realizing that the supernaturals didn't grow up in a different world, they just had a different part of it. That was reassuring to say the least, it meant the big events in history were all the same, but this time he might simple get to hear about it from a different point of view.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to take a look at all of them. I'm not sure what my class is going to be filled with so I'd like to find out as much as I can about every supernatural." He walked up to Essie and reached over her, picking up the one entitled, 'Which witch is which' and taking a look at the cover. The book itself seemed in good condition but definitely used and, well, old. He loved it. He was a bookworm, a major one at that. "I don't want to take up too much of your time, would it be okay if I borrowed these? I'd return them next week if that's okay." |
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