But What Do I Do?

[Jisa]

Alex Custodio

I know that I remember you, I think that you remember me too.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one's lost?

The musty smell of old books, weathered pages and leather bound spines swirled in the dust motes of the air around Lex. He ran has fingers along the ancient titles in the very back of the library. The old room in which he was in, had a mixture of myths, legends, fables and records of history. Who said they couldn’t actually have some truths written within their cracked, torn and stained pages? Silently, he listened to the books.

Blood-hungered killers… water-wielding beings… little winged people… witches burnt at the stake…

No, no, no and no. Not quite right. Lex didn’t need stories on vampires, mermaids, fairies or just trials. He needed spells if possible. Closing his grey eyes once more, he concentrated.

Maria Reynolds a healer… traces of magic… spells of binding-

That was it. Alex stopped and slipped his fingers around an ancient tome of unbelievable proportions. The title 'Nullam et Mysterium’ was written in Latin, but it’s contents were translated. With careful hands and brow creasing concentration, Alex sat down at the lone desk in the corner of the dusty room and sat the book in front of him.

With exaggerated care, Alex pried open the book. It sighed as it opened, pages crackling as if it hadn’t been taken from it’s shelf in eons. Which was probably an accurate guess. Alex began skimming through the text, sieving through stories and historic records. Why couldn’t it be easy to find spells and magic?

I know you got to feel the change, it just get's worse when it stays the same.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one is so lost?

[shadow]

Azrael moved softly and swiftly down the aisles of books, taking great care to observe every individual book she moved by. She couldn’t miss it, who knows when the librarian reading the children’s books will be done, leaving little Alexander back to Azrael. She’d never be able to find it then, as much as she loved the little boy, it took all of her focus to keep his endless energy in line. Kappa, her familiar, a Havana Brown with the same unnatural golden eyes as his Witch, purred as he weaved through her moving feet, hidden from other’s sight, as so often he did in public. “Instead of messing around, you could help me look, you know,” She hissed at the overly-affectionate familiar, cross in her efforts. The cat looked up at her, annoyed that she had not already seen what he had. He ran off, looking over his shoulder to make sure Azrael followed.

She peeked around the bookshelf, and caught what Kappa was trying to show her. He was sitting on the tabletop where a man sat, buried in a very old volume. “Sorry, Kappa,” She whispered, moving back behind the bookcase. Ok, time to work a little magic. Taking a deep breath while muttering foreign words in quick succession, weaving her spell simply and quickly. Azrael then dug around in my purse, dragging out a mirror. Her reflection gave a satisfied smirk. Instead of her usual short honey-brown hair, beach blonde curls flowed down her back and her lips where now full and red. The only thing that hadn’t changed was her eyes, still the unnatural golden color. That was one thing she never could change, in her appearance illusions, her eyes always stayed the same color. Looking down, she blushed a deep scarlet, seeing that she hadn’t reduced her breast size to match the librarian’s who was reading to the kids, but rather, added onto her already-large breasts.

“Suck it up, Azzie, it’s not like he knows you,” She muttered to herself. Worst-case scenario, she gives miss librarian a new boyfriend. Besides, she wanted that book pretty badly. Taking another deep breath, she turned the corner making her way to the man. “Excuse me, but I need that book, sir. The volunteer wasn’t supposed to shelve it, it was on reserve,” She said in the most professional voice possible, holding her hand out for the large volume. Kappa looked at her funny, as if he where laughing at her, and it took all Azrael’s willpower not to look at the currently-invisible cat. However, here was yet another flaw in the illusion. Unlike the overly-bubbly librarian, Azrael was all-business, and rather curt. Hey, just because she was under illusion didn't mean she'd let herself go all flirty.

[Jisa]

Alex Custodio

I know that I remember you, I think that you remember me too.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one's lost?

Speculations. Phenomenons. Spells. Alex smiled quietly to himself as he flipped through the magic incantations. There were certain ones he needed, more powerful counter-attack spells and healing spells. Subconsciously he knew why he sought these certain magics, but would not admit it to himself readily. Rather, he’d admit what had happened over his own dead body- which would defeat the point anyway, unless a warlock with necromancy magic had found him. The stray thoughts, he shoved them away into the dark crevices of his mind and kept on with his search. Surely there should be an easy way to find spells. However, the life of a warlock was rarely ever described as easy. He heard slight whispers from somewhere in the library, but brushed them off in irritation. Could no human be content in silence? Suddenly, he felt a surge of magic from somewhere in the library and looked up, his eyebrows pushing together. Why would a witch or warlock be using magic here? In a public setting? True, it didn’t feel particularly powerful as a spell but still. Shaking his head, he returned to his reading. It wasn’t his business whether all supernaturals decided to keep a low profile, but he couldn’t help but think how selfish it was of them. Whoever they were.

A girl came round the corner, he glanced up for a second and then looked back down at his book. Suddenly, he had to do a double take. That had looked like the librarian, but not quite. A quizzical look appeared on his face. Her features were slightly… blurred? Out of place? In short, she looked different. Her curt and short voice snapped him back to narrow his eyes at her. The librarian knew him by now, he came almost every day and she hadn’t called him ‘sir’ since the first day he arrived here. He raised an eyebrow at her hand held out toward him. This was all very strange, wasn’t it? Golden Eyes. Then, it clicked. The magical surge he felt, the weird manner in which the librarian was acting- paired with the fact that the librarian was reading for little kids at this hour- or at least should be, as she always did daily. Unless this was a long lost twin sister of the librarian, which Alex ruled out for the unlikelihood, some witch was playing impostor. Did she honestly not know that other warlocks were more likely to be able to see through such glamours? It seemed honestly ignorant. He looked at her pointedly a second more, his gaze unfeeling and quite frankly, unfriendly.

After making his silent point he looked down at his book, his hard earned research. A witch with a few tricks up her sleeve wasn’t going to take it from him, and if she thought she could then she’d learn soon enough not to mess with him and his research. He flipped to the next page, skimming. Was there anything of use to him in here?

I know you got to feel the change, it just get's worse when it stays the same.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one is so lost?

[shadow]

The man's cold indefference to her words inraged Azrael, but not so much that she was going to leave her glamor and terrify the soul. Still, the fact that she was already in a bad mood didn't help any. So, she placed both hands on the table, throwing kindness to the wind, and lowered her face to look the guy in the eye. "Pardon me, but I'll be needing that book now," She said, and Kappa beside her bristled in apprehention. She contented herself to glare for a moment, before opening her mind to feel out exactly what she was dealing with, warlock, vampire, or simply a human. It was stupid that she didn't before, but still, if she was wasting her time, she wanted to know. To her surprise, she was dealing with another of her own kind, a warlock.

Well, he would have sensed it when she cast the illusion, so there was no point in hiding any longer. Whispering a few words under her breath, she allowed the illusion to come undone, glad to be out of the plastic form of the librarian. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take that," Azrael said, reaching for the book, not even noticing that Kappa had revealed his own form, fluffed out threateningly. She was confident enough in her abilities to openly challange an unknown mage, though she couldn't possibly defeat a strog warlock in open battle, she had enough tricks to be fairly certain that she'd get out of here, mainly alive, with the book. Though she couldn't garentee the library would be unscathed, though...

[Jisa]

Alex Custodio

I know that I remember you, I think that you remember me too.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one's lost?

Alex looked up to see the fake librarian’s eyes flash with rage. Oh, so now she was angry? This had better be good. He quickly glanced at the page and thought the spell he needed, and committed the page to memory. Her attempt to intimidate him only earned her a withering glare as he slammed the book shut. What surprised him was the cat that appeared out of thin air and took on the emotion of its owner. A familiar? Oh dear. It seems that’s one thing that Alex hadn’t thought about, he had heard of them, but never dreamed that they’d be real. Ignoring the spitting little feline. He felt a probe at the edge of his mind and let the witch in, if only to alert her to the fact that she was playing a dangerous game with one of her kind. She seemed kind of surprised after a moment or two, and Alex tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at her.

“Are you done with your little survey, witch?”

He bit off, hoping that she would go away and leave him to his work. This witch was stubborn however and would not take the message that she was not welcome, nor in anyway wanted. She whispered a few words, too low for him to hear and slowly melted back into what he guessed was her real identity. She didn’t go away though, no that would be too easy wouldn’t it? She reached for the book, quite rudely and it was Alex’s turn to bristle in anger. How dare she? He threw a quick blocking spell, a weak one, but enough to shield the book from anyone’s touch than his own for a little while.

“Actually, you won’t. You see, you’ll have to deal with this ‘inconvenience’, witch. I had it first.”

If she really wanted a fight for the book, then she’d get it. Alex wasn’t going to let some girl get away with something he had found for himself. He was confident in his attack and healing spells, even if his defense wasn’t all that strong. Somehow, he’d have to fight her without destroying any of the library. The books here were far to valuable, including the one still firmly in his grip.

I know you got to feel the change, it just get's worse when it stays the same.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one is so lost?

[shadow]

Arael pulled her hand back, afraid of what would happen if she happened to touch the book. Unknown spells could be extermely dangerous to the unwary. However, there was one thing that this stranger, surprisingly, hadn't thought of. Strange, Azrael hadn't thought him the dull kind. They wheren't the only ones, and a spell as weak as that probably couldn't hold out an animal, even a familiar. But then, there still was the chance that it would harm a familiar. The question was, would she risk her precious Kappa in that way?

Still trying to ddecide that front, Azrael smirked. "So, you're hiding behind your magic? That's rather cowardly. What, afraid you can't beat a Witch on your own, Warlock?" She sneered, trying to pull him into a physical confrontation. If she succeeded in that, it'd be a lot less messy, not to mention it'd bring much less attention to them. though, she had to admit, she didn't think she could win a physical battle without her glimmveil, she couldn't win with magic either, since she lost most of her spellbook in the battle with her brother, and was just now finding spells again.

Time pressed on her, and she twitched her fingers, a normal fidget that the man wouldn't likely notice, but if he did, he'd most likely mark it down as normal human inability to sit still. At the hidden signal, her Havanna Brown familiar darted forward, attempting either to cause a distraction by attacking the man's pretty face, or kick the book away and, perhaps, break the spell that kept it from his witch's grasp. After all, they where partners, no?

[Jisa]

Alex Custodio

I know that I remember you, I think that you remember me too.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one's lost?

Alex gave her a cold smile as she withdrew her hand hastily. The witch seemed to think for a while, debating internally with herself. Probably about the spell and how to remove it or get through it. Why couldn’t she just wait her turn? Jesus. It really wasn’t that difficult. She was being stupid and quite frankly very irritating. Alex shook his head and sighed in frustration. Then the witch smirked and tried to provoke him. Luckily, Lex wasn’t one to be drawn into mundane fights, especially physical ones. That was the whole reason he had almost mastered attack and healing spells. He had been useless when he had thought he was human.

“If being a coward is using what you were born with, then yes, I’m a coward. Even so, I am positive that I can beat you, and I will, unless you back off.”

He snapped back at her, strengthening the weak defense on the book warily. Maybe he should concentrate on defense spells more, now that he knew so much about healing and offense. It had been stupid not to think of it before. Alex glanced at the havana brown familiar, he didn’t like that he had to focus on three things at once, it spread his attention too thin. His eyes snapped back toward the witch when she twitched.

It couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?

Of course not. The cat lunged toward him. Alex snatched the book away from the familiar and held it with one hand as the cat attempted to maul his face. One paw slashed across his face as he threw a bolt of force in the general direction of both the cat and the girl, still keeping the book near his chest.

I know you got to feel the change, it just get's worse when it stays the same.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one is so lost?

[shadow]

Azrael was expecting some sort of retaliation, dodging out of the way, though the blast hit her hair, though thankfully not much, as it streaked by the right side of her face, away from her bangs. Kappa, however, suffered a direct hit, wich threw his form across the room, before hitting a bookshelf and falling to the floor. Azrael flinched, feeling the strength of the blow through her link with the cat. For an angry moment she wondered why he didn't let his familiar fight it's own battles, as usual with battles between witches and warlocks, but quickly dismissed that thought. She needed to concentrate, and keep from getting hit.

"Look, just give me the book for five minutes, and you can have it back. Really, I'l even sit here while you watch. I really need that book!" She said, moving to pick up her injured familiar, instantly feeling that there was nothing wrong but some deep bruising. She stroked his head gently as she cat growled menacingly at the man, glaring with golden eyes. From the growling to the waving tail, it was quite clear that Kappa did not like this man. To tell the truth, Azrael wasn't all that hot about him either, but she needed that book.

Not that he'd understand why. The spell that that book contained was highly dangerous, and not only that, it brought back painful memories for her. She wasn't usually one for book-burning, but that spell had to be destroyed, and she'd prefer that the man not know the spell she needed destroyed before she ridded the world of it. There wasn't even another book that contained it; Only this book, exactly. After she destroyed the page, the spell would fade until it was not remembered, even distantly.

[Jisa]

Alex Custodio

I know that I remember you, I think that you remember me too.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one's lost?

Alex got to his feet and stared at the girl. What was so important that she needed the book right here and right now? It was nothing that couldn’t wait a few moments while he searched for the spells he needed, obviously if she was willing to make such a big deal about it and drag out the time. Her familiar hit a book case and fell to the ground. He didn’t care. Actually, this whole thing had gotten very trivial and pointless. If she needed the damn book so badly, then she could just have it. Alex didn’t have time to waste over a stubborn witch. He removed the spell from the book and strode toward her, until he was just in front of the golden eyed girl. With anger tensing his features, he shoved the book into her chest, perhaps with a little unnecessary force.

“If you need it so much, then have it.”

He hissed at her before gathering his coat and re-shelving the other books that he’d had out before he’d been interrupted. It’s not as if the witch knew, nor cared about why he was so defensive about the book, or any of his research. Alex barely understood it himself. It was an obsession, something to keep his mind off of… nothing. He was fine.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for,”

He growled, shrugging on his coat and attempting to leave the library.

I know you got to feel the change, it just get's worse when it stays the same.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one is so lost?

[shadow]

The way the man simply gave up puzzled her. Se expected more of a fight than that, though as he came closer, Kappa hissed and spat cat curses and insults. He hid himself once more, crawling up to streach himself over his witch's shoulders like a scarf, glaring at the man all the while. Azrael, on the other hand, took the book and began flipping through the pages immediately. She stopped at the spell she required, a powerful binding spell that bound the soul of a familiar to a place, and not only was it restricting and hard to break, but the spell itself was extremely painful not only to the familiar, but to it's witch or warlock.

She grabbed the page, ripping it out, not really bothering to hide the fact. There was only one librarian on duty today, and she was currently reading to children, and so wouldn't hear the ripping of the page. She slammed the book shut and laid it on a table, shoving the crumpled-up page in her pocket as she turned to leave, watching the retreating back of the man. He could live without this particular spell. The world didn't need another Warlock like her brother running about.

[Jisa]

Alex Custodio

I know that I remember you, I think that you remember me too.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one's lost?

The sound of a tearing page only further infuriated Alex. This time, he couldn’t stop himself from turning around. From a few feet away he looked at the stupid witch like she was certifiably insane- which she was in his eyes. Who goes to a library to pick a fight over a book instead of waiting, gets their familiar hurt, has the book and then tears out a page of spells from it? Alex’s jaw twitched as he stared her down.

“What the hell would you do that for, witch?”

He hissed, completely confused and utterly frustrated. Why did she have to be so difficult? What if that page had held a rare spell? She was limiting their kind in her selfish actions. He shook his head and cooled his temper off. Whatever. This was so stupid, why was he getting into fights all of a sudden? After Cecil, he’d sworn off of it… of course, this was a different matter. These were spells, to be revered and treated delicately. Why couldn’t she see that?

“What possible gain did you get from that? What if someone needed those spells?”

Alex ran his hand through his hair and looked around, making sure no one was passing to hear their disagreement, even if it was in hushed tones in a public library. When was that pesky librarian coming back? Perhaps she could kick this witch out, not that it would help anything.

I know you got to feel the change, it just get's worse when it stays the same.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one is so lost?

[shadow]

The sound of approaching footsteps caused Azrael to turn in a florish, peeved that that man had the nerve to come back. Couldn't he just make a dramatic exit and be done with it? Really now, he already gave up, so must he drag this out longer than nessisary? His... argumentative nature made it even the more insulting. What did he know? After all, he was probably on his way back to his perfect life. Azrael, on the other hand, after she destroyed this spell was back to raising her little brother alone, with that ever-present threat of her elder brother finding them. Hardly a comforting lifestyle.

"Listen, no one needs this spell. I'm doing you, me, and every other witch and warlock a favor by destroying this. This spell should never had been made," She said. It was true. Like her elder brothr should never had been born, this spell should never had been created. He created it, and it was her duty to destroy it. Not that she could expect him to understand anything like that, now, could she?

[Jisa]

Alex Custodio

I know that I remember you, I think that you remember me too.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one's lost?

Alex rolled his eyes and shook his head. Such an ignorant witch. So petty. She was probably heading back to a semi-normal life, which is as close as a supernatural could get to normal, after having a slightly uncomfortable experience with a spell of binding. It was so pig-headed that she thought that she could decide from her experience that the world no longer needed such a spell. Spells were created to aid magic ability, they were made for a reason and this young witch didn’t have the authority to just decide that everyone would be better off without it. Who did she think she was?

“And you just decided that on your own? That’s ignorant, and conceited to think that you know what the world does or doesn’t need.”

Alex sighed, if using a painful spell would have saved… no. Never mind. Either way, someone may have needed that spell in the past or want it in the future. Why should they be stuck, constantly wondering if they could have done something more in a bad situation because this girl made up her mind that no one could possibly ever use it because of something that happened to her?

Magic had hurt Alex, but he wouldn’t make it disappear to make himself feel better. He’d had to learn to be stronger and adapt to it, learn to defend himself and let things come at him as it would. It was ridiculous to think any other way.

I know you got to feel the change, it just get's worse when it stays the same.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one is so lost?

[shadow]

Azrael exhaled sharply, crossing her arms, body language clearly stating that she had not the time nor patience for these sort of things. "If I have to be concieted to protect those who I care about, concieted I must be," She said, glaring. If Alexander did come into his power as a Warlock, she didn't want this spell around to hurt him like it did her. Never could she let that happen to her only family! "Listen, you don't need to interfere with something you know nothing about, alright?" Kappa hissed in agreement, which must have been strange for the warlock, as the cat was hidden by now.

"Why does it matter to you, anyway?" She demanded, before she heard the tiny footfalls rapidly approaching, warning her to cease all mention of magic and spells. Around the book case came her younger brother, little Alexander. At first glance you'd never know they where related. Alexander had dark locks the color of warm chocolate, where Azrael had light, honey colored hair. His eyes where the color of deep saphires, in contrast to Azrael's golden orbs. 3He hugged her leg, looking happily up at his sister, not seeming to notice the tension. "Azzie! Who are you talking to? Did you get a boyfriend while I was away? Huh?" He spoke quickly, appearantly not oblivious to the present company.

[Jisa]

Alex Custodio

I know that I remember you, I think that you remember me too.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one's lost?

Alex met the witch’s impatient stance and expression with one as equally unimpressed. She was infuriating. Keeping his anger in check was a little hard, especially since he knew that he didn’t have a reason to be threatened or intimidated anymore. It just made it that much harder to stand down. Lex flat out refused to be bullied. His eyes narrowed, flashed once in anger as she told him that it had nothing to do with him. As if! It had to do with anyone with magic. And insulting his knowledge? Outrageous.

He was about to answer the insolent girl when a little boy approached and clung to her leg. Hating the idea of arguing around such an innocent little thing, Alex let it go. There was no point in upsetting the little boy, especially because he seemed to be quite attached to the anger inducing young lady. Taking a deep breath, Alex looked down at the small boy that spoke in an unrelenting torrent of words. Lex raised an eyebrow at the little boy’s out of the blue question. Unable to suppress surprise, Alex snorted.

“No, she didn’t. We were just… discussing something.”

Alex narrowed his eyes slightly.

“And for the record, it matters to me because maybe people might get into a dire situation where they might need that,” He gestured to the paper in her hand, sensing that maybe it wasn’t the time to talk about spells and such openly, “to defend themselves or people they care about.”

He reasoned quietly, knowing it was useless. If the witch so decided to keep the destroyed spell from the world then so be it, it was lucky that he’d managed to get the one he’d wanted earlier. Maybe she’d torn out a different spell. Alex would probably never know.

I know you got to feel the change, it just get's worse when it stays the same.
How can one of us still feel blessed when the other one is so lost?