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Ficlet - Salves & Abandonment [Incepted Verse]
Verse: Incepted (early on, before the Overlook) / Canon-ish
Warning: It talks briefly about Hurricane Katrina
“Runnin’ off to Europe so quickly didn’t do you girls any favors. Why did you?” Ms. Fabienne says one late afternoon, teaching Piper one of her most popular and requested salves. ’It’s the best salve you can get this side of the Mississippi and better than anything you can buy over the counter.’
With a claim like that, Piper would have to try it out herself sometime soon.
Leave it to Fabienne to come right out and ask it.
Piper focuses on the task before her as she considers her answer then responds a minute later. “We were 18 and were suddenly told we had this destiny and that anything and everything who would want us dead would be coming after us. We’d just been tossed into the past and came face to face with a demon who had kept detailed and creepy as fuck records on both of our lives. Afterward, our stupid teenage brains said we shouldn’t bring this to our friend’s doorsteps and take it elsewhere so Jessie wouldn’t get hurt and our friends wouldn’t get hurt. So, we left.”
Fabienne tsks and shakes her head. “Had you stayed, we could have done this much sooner. Both of you could have learned much and you would have support from this entire city.”
“You know what they say about hindsight,” Piper remarks with a twist of her mouth. “You’re not wrong but I can’t say I fully regret it either. We learned a lot about ourselves, each other, about the two vampires we’d fallen in love with, and about magic. We thought we had it all figured out and if we didn’t know it, we had no doubt we would learn quickly. What I learned after Jordan passed was that there’s still a lot, I didn’t know then and still don’t know now.”
“I know you think you know everything but there is so much that we older folks know that you don’t – things we could have taught you from the beginning.”
Piper grins and looks at her. “Well, we’re fixing that now, aren’t we?”
“Don’t give me that lip,” Ms. Fabienne says with a narrow eye, but it was softened by her amused tone.
They fall silent as Piper works on preparing her ingredients for the salve. “I’ve been wondering something,” she says after a few quiet moments. “Many have been very welcoming with my return – like you. I’m not honestly sure how to take the star-struck people but those who have been less than welcoming… not that I blame them at all but…”
“Why don’t they like you?”
“I figure it’s one of maybe three reasons,” Piper says after nodding. “First, they’ve heard everything I’ve done since Jordan was killed. The ten years spent avenging her and David’s deaths. That one of my closest friends, pain in the ass that he is, is a vampire and now I’m working with another vampire…”
“This is New Orleans, baby – we don’t give a toss about that kind of thing, you know. Besides, you can’t throw a rock without hitting a vampire around here. Perhaps less so in recent days.”
“Right,” Piper says with a little laugh and ignores the scrutinizing look Ms. Fabienne sends her way. “Secondly then, one or two of my ancestors have been around and preaching about the end times and about how dark or bad the Enchanted has become. My guess would be one of the B’s – Brenda or Brianna. Or whatever they’re going by nowadays.”
Ms. Fabienne hums in consideration. “Neither has been around in recent years. Power like your families isn’t subtle, even in a city like this.”
“That’s promising then. Thirdly…” she pauses before continuing, “they feel we abandoned them. It was a year or so later when Katrina hit after all.”
Ms. Fabienne is quiet as she studies the girl in front of her.
“My friends, my stepmother and stepsister, and Jessie all left within weeks leading up to it – for one reason or another. Mercedes had gotten accepted into a college in New York City, and I guess she wanted a fresh start after we left. Rebecca and Madison, my stepmother and sister, were ready to go back to Seattle and found it to be the perfect excuse, and Jessie… Jordan said she’d had a premonition that it was going to be bad and left…” Piper says as she focuses on the task before her, preparing the ingredients for the salve, methodical as ever when preparing one of her own potions. She knew that Ms. Fabienne didn’t know anyone she spoke about other than Jessie, but she found herself confiding in the older woman regardless. “Do they, those who aren’t my biggest fans, think if we stayed, we could have swayed the storm somehow?”
It was something they themselves had wondered about after seeing footage come through on the other side of the world.
“Piper,” Ms. Fabienne says with a soft sigh and walks over, setting Piper’s tools to the side and taking the other girl’s hands in hers, giving them a squeeze. “Look at me.”
Piper raises her gaze to Ms. Fabienne after giving her hands a gentle squeeze in return.
“Now, I’m not going to lie to you – you know I don’t play those games. Some do harbor some resentment and abandonment issues from The Enchanted leaving. But it wasn’t just you – you were just an easier person or figure to blame. But it's not just the hurricane. Vampires only got worse afterward.”
Piper nods in understanding. “Not sure what they would have expected us to be able to do. It’s not like we could control the weather then and even if we could, I don’t like messing with Mother Nature. She’s not one I want to be on the bad side of if possible.” She tilts her head. "I didn't know about the vampires though."
“Smart,” Ms. Fabienne says with a smile. “Like I told you when we visited the Moon Grove Coven, you’re not going to win everyone over right away but you keep being you and they will see what I see.”
“What do you see?”
“Baby, I see you and those boys of yours changing New Orleans.”
Piper laughs and shakes her head. “You keep saying my boys, but I don’t technically have any boy. Adonis is not and will never be mine,” she says. “And Kol… well, I’m not sure about him yet.”
“I’m not talkin’ about your Lord of the Underworld, no. He has his own path now. But you’ll see. Right now, in the meantime, you have a salve to make. Let’s get to it.”
Warning: It talks briefly about Hurricane Katrina
“Runnin’ off to Europe so quickly didn’t do you girls any favors. Why did you?” Ms. Fabienne says one late afternoon, teaching Piper one of her most popular and requested salves. ’It’s the best salve you can get this side of the Mississippi and better than anything you can buy over the counter.’
With a claim like that, Piper would have to try it out herself sometime soon.
Leave it to Fabienne to come right out and ask it.
Piper focuses on the task before her as she considers her answer then responds a minute later. “We were 18 and were suddenly told we had this destiny and that anything and everything who would want us dead would be coming after us. We’d just been tossed into the past and came face to face with a demon who had kept detailed and creepy as fuck records on both of our lives. Afterward, our stupid teenage brains said we shouldn’t bring this to our friend’s doorsteps and take it elsewhere so Jessie wouldn’t get hurt and our friends wouldn’t get hurt. So, we left.”
Fabienne tsks and shakes her head. “Had you stayed, we could have done this much sooner. Both of you could have learned much and you would have support from this entire city.”
“You know what they say about hindsight,” Piper remarks with a twist of her mouth. “You’re not wrong but I can’t say I fully regret it either. We learned a lot about ourselves, each other, about the two vampires we’d fallen in love with, and about magic. We thought we had it all figured out and if we didn’t know it, we had no doubt we would learn quickly. What I learned after Jordan passed was that there’s still a lot, I didn’t know then and still don’t know now.”
“I know you think you know everything but there is so much that we older folks know that you don’t – things we could have taught you from the beginning.”
Piper grins and looks at her. “Well, we’re fixing that now, aren’t we?”
“Don’t give me that lip,” Ms. Fabienne says with a narrow eye, but it was softened by her amused tone.
They fall silent as Piper works on preparing her ingredients for the salve. “I’ve been wondering something,” she says after a few quiet moments. “Many have been very welcoming with my return – like you. I’m not honestly sure how to take the star-struck people but those who have been less than welcoming… not that I blame them at all but…”
“Why don’t they like you?”
“I figure it’s one of maybe three reasons,” Piper says after nodding. “First, they’ve heard everything I’ve done since Jordan was killed. The ten years spent avenging her and David’s deaths. That one of my closest friends, pain in the ass that he is, is a vampire and now I’m working with another vampire…”
“This is New Orleans, baby – we don’t give a toss about that kind of thing, you know. Besides, you can’t throw a rock without hitting a vampire around here. Perhaps less so in recent days.”
“Right,” Piper says with a little laugh and ignores the scrutinizing look Ms. Fabienne sends her way. “Secondly then, one or two of my ancestors have been around and preaching about the end times and about how dark or bad the Enchanted has become. My guess would be one of the B’s – Brenda or Brianna. Or whatever they’re going by nowadays.”
Ms. Fabienne hums in consideration. “Neither has been around in recent years. Power like your families isn’t subtle, even in a city like this.”
“That’s promising then. Thirdly…” she pauses before continuing, “they feel we abandoned them. It was a year or so later when Katrina hit after all.”
Ms. Fabienne is quiet as she studies the girl in front of her.
“My friends, my stepmother and stepsister, and Jessie all left within weeks leading up to it – for one reason or another. Mercedes had gotten accepted into a college in New York City, and I guess she wanted a fresh start after we left. Rebecca and Madison, my stepmother and sister, were ready to go back to Seattle and found it to be the perfect excuse, and Jessie… Jordan said she’d had a premonition that it was going to be bad and left…” Piper says as she focuses on the task before her, preparing the ingredients for the salve, methodical as ever when preparing one of her own potions. She knew that Ms. Fabienne didn’t know anyone she spoke about other than Jessie, but she found herself confiding in the older woman regardless. “Do they, those who aren’t my biggest fans, think if we stayed, we could have swayed the storm somehow?”
It was something they themselves had wondered about after seeing footage come through on the other side of the world.
“Piper,” Ms. Fabienne says with a soft sigh and walks over, setting Piper’s tools to the side and taking the other girl’s hands in hers, giving them a squeeze. “Look at me.”
Piper raises her gaze to Ms. Fabienne after giving her hands a gentle squeeze in return.
“Now, I’m not going to lie to you – you know I don’t play those games. Some do harbor some resentment and abandonment issues from The Enchanted leaving. But it wasn’t just you – you were just an easier person or figure to blame. But it's not just the hurricane. Vampires only got worse afterward.”
Piper nods in understanding. “Not sure what they would have expected us to be able to do. It’s not like we could control the weather then and even if we could, I don’t like messing with Mother Nature. She’s not one I want to be on the bad side of if possible.” She tilts her head. "I didn't know about the vampires though."
“Smart,” Ms. Fabienne says with a smile. “Like I told you when we visited the Moon Grove Coven, you’re not going to win everyone over right away but you keep being you and they will see what I see.”
“What do you see?”
“Baby, I see you and those boys of yours changing New Orleans.”
Piper laughs and shakes her head. “You keep saying my boys, but I don’t technically have any boy. Adonis is not and will never be mine,” she says. “And Kol… well, I’m not sure about him yet.”
“I’m not talkin’ about your Lord of the Underworld, no. He has his own path now. But you’ll see. Right now, in the meantime, you have a salve to make. Let’s get to it.”