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Ficlet - Eyes and Ears and Magic [Incepted Verse]
Verse: After she obtains a new power in New Orleans. Primarily Incepted-Verse.
Warning: The tenses are all over the place - my bad. I'll come back and clean it up later.
The one downside of no longer having family in New Orleans as a witch was that when you needed a place to feel connected, you didn't have that place to go and dig into your roots. Logically, as transient as she has been since finding out she was a witch, she was usually okay with that.
Now, she could use that connection after the decade she's spent both practicing and not practicing.
And, unlike her vampire-demon best friend, she couldn't exactly teleport herself to London to spend time at Majestic.
So, a park in New Orleans it was.
It would have to do.
It was late and thankfully most of the people had left Audubon Park which gave her a decent choice of private locations to set herself up in. So long as a horny couple, a member of a local gang or an opportunistic member of the supernatural society doesn't stumble along her path.
After finding the right spot that felt right to her, Piper took the time to set some protective perimeters around the space. She couldn't exactly keep people out but she could sway them to another location subtly. She also took the necessary precautions against all manner of Louisiana wildlife and insect life. The last thing she needed was to leave with fire ant bites or something else.
Once that was done, she hesitatingly slipped off her shoes and slowly sat down on the grass.
"If I get bit, this will be the last time I meditate here," she murmurs to herself and slowly wills herself to relax little by little.
Minutes passed as Piper calmed her mind and closed her eyes, allowing her other senses to become more aware of the land, the spirits, and everything else around her. For now, she didn't sense anyone too close or coming in her direction so she would take that as a positive sign.
Without opening her eyes, Piper's hand comes up with her palm facing up and without a word, a small ball of fire appears. She returns her hands to her lap, allowing the ball simply float there.
She grounds herself, pulling on the energy of the earth and the land underneath her as her breathing slows.
Piper felt different.
Her magic didn't feel the same as it did when Jordan was alive - alive, burning and rapidly expanding.
But, she also didn't feel the same as she did before returning to New Orleans - stagnant, aching, and just there.
It still hurt but less so than before she saw Jordan again back at Majestic, being surrounded by the other half of her magic.
Now, it felt alive again and maybe it wasn't rapidly expanding like it did when Jordan had been alive as they fed off each other but it was growing. That was promising and although she didn't notice, brought tears to her eyes.
With that knowledge came the message that she had to focus and learn to harness that gift. It wasn't going to happen overnight and things weren't magically fixed now but it was a start. She'd missed that curiosity she'd had when they were just starting out and wanted to learn everything about everything. She wanted to practice and wanted to master it all and her curiosity was insatiable.
It was time to allow herself that curiosity again. She'd done what she had set out to do to avenge Jordan and David. And now, she can take back pieces of herself that she'd pushed behind the Les facade.
Slowly, she starts to come back to herself after spending time rebuilding her shields and mentally sending her love to Jordan and David wherever they were. She's not sure how much time has passed but the little ball of fire had grown and as she hears a twig snapping close by, she extinguishes it without a thought.
"Don't need to do that on my account, Enchanted," an older woman says with an amused tone. She didn't step into the clearing, having felt Piper's handiwork and respecting the boundary. She’d felt that power before, more than a decade ago and had never forgotten it. It didn’t hurt that the girl standing there was the spitting image of one of the girls Jessie had introduced them to.
In no time, Piper is up and spinning on her heel to face the other woman, studying her silently, making out her features in the low light from a distant light pole. "How did you -"
"You may not remember me, darlin' but I remember you. Jessie introduced us way back now," she said with a warm smile, watching the young woman closely. "You an' that granddaughter of hers - Jordan."
Piper nods and swallows hard, having been introduced to many families in the short time after graduation and before they left. "I'm sorry I don't remember -"
The woman laughs with a nod. "No, I suspect not. My name is Ms. Fabienne Breaux, my dear. Why don't you stop by House of Voodoo Thursday afternoon - I read for them around then. I would enjoy getting to speak with you more when we're not being spied on. And we can see about this magic of yours."
Piper's mouth quirks up a little. "There are always eyes and ears seeing and listening. I'll be there." It wouldn't hurt to start forming ties with the local families.
Warning: The tenses are all over the place - my bad. I'll come back and clean it up later.
The one downside of no longer having family in New Orleans as a witch was that when you needed a place to feel connected, you didn't have that place to go and dig into your roots. Logically, as transient as she has been since finding out she was a witch, she was usually okay with that.
Now, she could use that connection after the decade she's spent both practicing and not practicing.
And, unlike her vampire-demon best friend, she couldn't exactly teleport herself to London to spend time at Majestic.
So, a park in New Orleans it was.
It would have to do.
It was late and thankfully most of the people had left Audubon Park which gave her a decent choice of private locations to set herself up in. So long as a horny couple, a member of a local gang or an opportunistic member of the supernatural society doesn't stumble along her path.
After finding the right spot that felt right to her, Piper took the time to set some protective perimeters around the space. She couldn't exactly keep people out but she could sway them to another location subtly. She also took the necessary precautions against all manner of Louisiana wildlife and insect life. The last thing she needed was to leave with fire ant bites or something else.
Once that was done, she hesitatingly slipped off her shoes and slowly sat down on the grass.
"If I get bit, this will be the last time I meditate here," she murmurs to herself and slowly wills herself to relax little by little.
Minutes passed as Piper calmed her mind and closed her eyes, allowing her other senses to become more aware of the land, the spirits, and everything else around her. For now, she didn't sense anyone too close or coming in her direction so she would take that as a positive sign.
Without opening her eyes, Piper's hand comes up with her palm facing up and without a word, a small ball of fire appears. She returns her hands to her lap, allowing the ball simply float there.
She grounds herself, pulling on the energy of the earth and the land underneath her as her breathing slows.
Piper felt different.
Her magic didn't feel the same as it did when Jordan was alive - alive, burning and rapidly expanding.
But, she also didn't feel the same as she did before returning to New Orleans - stagnant, aching, and just there.
It still hurt but less so than before she saw Jordan again back at Majestic, being surrounded by the other half of her magic.
Now, it felt alive again and maybe it wasn't rapidly expanding like it did when Jordan had been alive as they fed off each other but it was growing. That was promising and although she didn't notice, brought tears to her eyes.
With that knowledge came the message that she had to focus and learn to harness that gift. It wasn't going to happen overnight and things weren't magically fixed now but it was a start. She'd missed that curiosity she'd had when they were just starting out and wanted to learn everything about everything. She wanted to practice and wanted to master it all and her curiosity was insatiable.
It was time to allow herself that curiosity again. She'd done what she had set out to do to avenge Jordan and David. And now, she can take back pieces of herself that she'd pushed behind the Les facade.
Slowly, she starts to come back to herself after spending time rebuilding her shields and mentally sending her love to Jordan and David wherever they were. She's not sure how much time has passed but the little ball of fire had grown and as she hears a twig snapping close by, she extinguishes it without a thought.
"Don't need to do that on my account, Enchanted," an older woman says with an amused tone. She didn't step into the clearing, having felt Piper's handiwork and respecting the boundary. She’d felt that power before, more than a decade ago and had never forgotten it. It didn’t hurt that the girl standing there was the spitting image of one of the girls Jessie had introduced them to.
In no time, Piper is up and spinning on her heel to face the other woman, studying her silently, making out her features in the low light from a distant light pole. "How did you -"
"You may not remember me, darlin' but I remember you. Jessie introduced us way back now," she said with a warm smile, watching the young woman closely. "You an' that granddaughter of hers - Jordan."
Piper nods and swallows hard, having been introduced to many families in the short time after graduation and before they left. "I'm sorry I don't remember -"
The woman laughs with a nod. "No, I suspect not. My name is Ms. Fabienne Breaux, my dear. Why don't you stop by House of Voodoo Thursday afternoon - I read for them around then. I would enjoy getting to speak with you more when we're not being spied on. And we can see about this magic of yours."
Piper's mouth quirks up a little. "There are always eyes and ears seeing and listening. I'll be there." It wouldn't hurt to start forming ties with the local families.