you're gonna love tomorrow, i'm making it my personal guarantee

[praevaricatio]

Comments

[engender]

She doesn't like things half-assed.

( There are only so many times things that are unanticipated happen, including a lengthy hospital stay when she was run through with the wrong side of an Oni's blade. )

We should find a witch. One we trust. I need to know what was done.

[impetere]

There are some here. I think Jackson used a witch to find you.

[Does that make him trustworthy? She doesn't know.]

Otherwise, Allison seems to be getting chummy with Freya Mikaelson. I don't know if she's trustworthy, but she's certainly powerful.

[engender]

We may need to move beyond trustworthy and accept, trustworthy for now. The playing field is getting more complicated.

( In more ways than one. )

[impetere]

[Cora weighs her options.]

I don't know anything about Jackson's witch, but Freya is old. She knows way more about magic than any other witch I've seen so far. I would take efficiency over a second opinion.

[At the same time, though -]

But someone who can heal should also probably stay here with Stiles.

[Cora may have come to see her brother, but listening to Scott and Allison discuss it had had her thinking that for her, this might be a one-way trip.]

And I haven't looped in Scott and Allison in on what's going on with you yet.

[engender]

Thank you. Don't, until we know. Let's get Freya on the phone, then. See what she says. We'll go from there.

( Thoroughness over efficiency seems the way to go. )

[impetere]

[Cora nods, sitting on the edge of the bed as she pulls out her phone. After a couple quick texts, she gets Freya's number from Aiden and sets the phone on speaker as it rings.

"Hello?"]

Hi, Freya. It's Cora Hale. We think the witch here might have cast something on my brother.

["There have been rumors of them having witches on their payroll. What can you tell me about the spell?"]

[engender]

She did it alone. She burned my wrists and forehead. The burns have since healed. She spoke a variation on Latin, but not one I've heard before. She invoked Hecaté.

It involved holding a stone over a fire she conjured.

( That's... all he remembers. )

I don't remember anything else. I blacked out after that.

[deathlessness]

That sounds like a binding ritual. And a nasty one. Likely designed to keep you complacent and controllable.

[There's the sound papers turning, as she shuffles through grimoires, but there's not a lot she can do from here.]

I'll have to see you in person to assess the full damage.

[engender]

Damage.

( What is he, a car? )

I can drive out in few days. I need to check in with my Alpha. ( And they need to get to the hospital. ) Killing the witch didn't reverse it?

[deathlessness]

Binding rituals aren't those kinds of spells. They're intended to last forever, depending on the immortality of their target.

[Esther's binding ritual lasted a thousand years, after all.]

But they are reversible. I'll work on tracking down the exact spell she used, so hopefully fixing it will be quick and painless.

[engender]

I'm not immortal.

( But, he could live over a hundred years, if he takes care of himself. )

But, thank you. The stone - it was white. Translucent. I could almost see through it.

[deathlessness]

A moonstone.

[That certainly narrows things down.]

Any chance you happened to recover it?

[engender]

Unless it's fireproof.

( He doesn't want to think about the torching of the warehouse. It is slightly triggering. He implies enough, doesn't he? )

[deathlessness]

A spell totem already bound to a spell wouldn't burn.

[So it's probably fine in the charred remains of wherever Derek was being held.]

I'm going to need it. If that's what she used to bind the ritual, then I won't be able to break it without it.

[engender]

( He looks at Cora. )

Everyone is busy today at graduation. We'll get it ourselves. Maybe we can take Jackson.

[deathlessness]

["We'll figure it out." She doesn't know where they're going, but they'll make it work.]

Good. And text me anything else you might remember as you go. It will help me narrow things down.

[engender]

( They used a witch to find him once. Maybe they can do it again. )

If I remember anything, I will.

Sage was burning.

[deathlessness]

[Sage? A privacy spell most likely, but she'll keep a note of it.]

Okay. I'll start looking.

[A pause.]

And assuming that since it isn't Allison calling me, I should keep it off Allison's plate for now?

[engender]

Go through me. Please.

[deathlessness]

Will do. I'll keep you in the loop with what I find.

[And with that, she hangs up.

Cora looks up at her brother, raising an eyebrow curiously. "So what now?"

[engender]

Now, I ask Jackson for a favor, and we take my car back to my room. I need to change. And then, we drive back out to the warehouse. We need the moonstone. You're coming.

( Sorry, he's big brothering. )

Do you want to.

[impetere]

[She nods.]

Where else am I going to go?

[She came here to see you, she's not leaving you until she has to.]

[engender]

Where do you need to go. Have you seen Stiles, yet?

( Don't make him explain that he's seen you have a stubborn affection towards him. He doesn't want to actually talk about that. Not at all. )

[impetere]

[She shakes her head.]

I'll have plenty of time to see Stiles.

[Mostly because she's probably going to stick around.]

This is more important.

[engender]

Is Jackson downstairs?

( Can she hear him? Derek can't. )