[M] Once Cursed, Twice Damned {Lyra & Midori-Hime}}

[Lyra]

"Don't touch that," he warned, the hint of a devious smirk playing across his glossy lips. "unless you want your teeth and hair to fall out." The preserved creature's naturally secreted toxins were scarcely harmful but it was always amusing leading others to believe witchcraft was solely bad. Witches were nothing if not feared.

He proceeded to prepare the salve by mixing the ingredients. A dash of lavender, a spoonful of dried rose herbs and cedarwood, mixed with the slimy, squirming, very much alive blindworms and crushed lizard's tail. He reached into one of the drawers to find a pastle and went on to prepare the ingredients by crushing and grinding them into a fine paste. As the blindworms burst upon impact, an ocean blue, gooey liquid came oozing out. The herbs and the tail sizzled as the ooze swallowed them, releasing a smoky smell. It looked disgusting and it tasted just the same but luckily, this time around, twenty-odd years later, Mathian wasn't childishly dumb enough to try it.

"You can have the longer end of the stick when we raid a wolf den. As many squeaky balls as you'd like," He spared him no glance while he was being snarky but the smirk lingered. He took a seat again and began applying the paste onto the cuts with his fingers. Upon contact with the skin, the paste began to bubble and slowly penetrate the skin. It was itchy and it felt like he was being pinched but it worked fast. He hissed slightly when he applied the paste onto his cheek, but soon enough the cut thinned out. The paste prevented any kind of infection but too much of it could produce a negative effect, so he chose to leave some small cuts and bruises untreated.

He sighed in relief when the pain diminished, although he still felt sore all over. Now that he had eaten and taken care of his wounds, he needed to work on getting them out. He figured the best place to start looking for a way out was the library... "Is he still there?" he asked, genuinely interested.

[Midori-Hime]

Theo looked to the warlock sharply, almost believing him for a moment, until he remembered who he was talking to. "Shut up... Dick." He muttered with a deadpan tone. However, he couldn't help the slight upturning of his lips and quickly looked back to the jar before Mathian noticed. Though, the werewolf eventually found himself watching the witch work with a mixed expression of horror, disgust, and fascination.

However, when Mathian got around to crushing the worms, Theo felt his gag reflex suddenly kicking in. He didn't know what was worse, the sight of it... or the smell. "Ugh! That is rank!" He gasped, pressing the back of his hand to his nose. "Fuck me..." He exclaimed before turning away towards the kitchen sink with a sudden dry heave. Thankfully he didn't vomit up all the food he'd just eaten, but it did take him a few moments to stop his stomach from churning.

Mathian's snarky comment also helped to distract the werewolf. "You know, I think they'd rather turn you into a chew toy... and I might just be inclined to let them." He replied cynically, turning back to the warlock and stepping over to the table. Though he was careful to breathe through his mouth this time. The werewolf wrinkled his nose while he watched Mathian rub the nasty paste into his cuts, still wondering how that could be good for his health. Yet the warlock's wounds began to heal before his very eyes, the skin coming together as if there were never even a cut there. Amber eyes flickered to Mathian's face at the sound, staring in awe as the wound on his cheek disappeared without a trace... And perhaps lingering a little too long.

His gaze turned away suddenly at Mathian's question. "Honestly... Your guess is as good as mine. I would assume the body is still there. But after everything I've seen since we- you took this mission, I'm learning not to assume anything..."

[Lyra]

Being a witch required having a strong stomach, hence the minging odor that wafted in the air of the room barely affected Mathian. Although, he was averse to having worm insides smeared across his face. He strode over to the sink and rubbed cold water on the affected area. Theo's reaction was not surprising. Werewolves possessed very keen senses, so even the slightest ill odor made them queasy. Mathian hadn't even noticed the wolf's lingering stare, but he did take his words into account and shook his head,

"Then who's gonna bail you out when they're done with me, huh?" He said in an undertone, suppressing a cheeky laugh. He turned around, leaned against the counter, and gave him a long, cryptic look. He wasn't staring at Theo per se, he was just engrossed into his own thoughts. Something was bugging him. At last, he spoke, eyes squinting, brows narrowed, nibbling at the inside of his cheek and sucking it in,

"He couldn't get out, could he? He couldn't leave this place... if he could, he wouldn't have needed the box to lure people in, right?" He started to muse over the idea out loud, folding his arms on his chest. "Then, how did he send the box in the first place? Was it just through a mere portal or... no, he'd have to know where to send it exactly." He was both confused and intrigued and he needed to know more. Finally, he addressed Theo, "We're taking all of these, even the axolotl, be a dear and bag 'em. I need to do something," it was always fun ordering him around. He headed out the room towards the library, excitedly and in a hurry.

[Midori-Hime]

"I can handle my own..." He replied with a smug smirk. Though it slowly fell away as the warlock turned and stared at him. Eventually he realized Mathian was simply zoning out, but he was still wary of what the other might be plotting. Theo raised a brow at Mathian's increasingly perplexed expression. "What?" He asked when his partner finally spoke.

Theo frowned, trying to figure out what the warlock was going on about, but finally he seemed to follow his line of thought. Though just when he thought they were getting somewhere, Mathian changed the subject. Theo blinked. "W-what? Wait-" He started with a bewildered look as Mathian was already on his way out the door. Though not without ordering him around first. "Dammit..." He hissed then, turning back to the empty kitchen. He grumbled the whole time he searched around for a container, finally finding a burlap sack in the pantry. The low string of curses continued as the werewolf quickly, but carefully, began shoving jars of questionable contents into the sack.

What the hell was he doing, Theo wondered. Why was he following a warlock's orders? Like some loyal dog. He might not be Alpha material but he sure as hell wasn't anyone's lap dog. Yet the fact that he couldn't help but seem to follow Mathian's direction was really starting to irk him. Had Mathian really put some sort of spell on him? Or was he really just that weak willed? The werewolf gritted his teeth, unable to come up with an answer to any of the questions that filled his head. He really had to get his shit together, or this fucking witch was going to have him right where he wanted him... Right under his heel.

With that thought Theo abandoned his task, taking what he had in the sack to go find Mathian. Now that he wasn't so drained, and trapped in a mirror dimension, it was easy to follow the warlock's scent, following it into the library. The main room was still a wreck, the walls and books charred from the firey creature, shelves toppled over, and furniture strewn about, some shattered to pieces. Where the sorcerer's body had been, there remained a pile of what looked like ash and tattered clothes. "Mathian?" He called then, stepping over some rubble to move further into the library, pausing only for a moment to look over the pile of dust that was once his enemy.

[Lyra]

There was much to check and much to think about but Mathian enjoyed puzzling situations. He was not about to let another warlock best him at the witchcraft game. Or so he believed. When he entered the library, the aftermath of the battle unfolded before him. There was debris everywhere, claw marks, toppled shelves and burnt books. In the centre of the room was a pile of dust and the sorcerer's deep red robe and a pair of glasses. He relaxed his pace and drew his brows into a puzzled frown. He crouched down and scooped up some dust, smirking, "I win," he said and chuckled. He dusted off his hands and proceeded to survey the room, looking for clues.

Further in the back, there was a curtained doorway to a secluded room. Mathian removed the curtains and saw a large, wooden table, a witch's cauldron, more bookshelves and vials of all sizes and shapes containing all sorts of ingredients. On the table sat a medium sized globe which, upon closer inspection, depicted an unknown world, much of which was a sea mass. He moved closer to the bookshelves, browsing all the interesting titles and grimoires penned by both known and unknown witches, none of which seemed to contain what he needed. He picked up a book titled Ametrine's Book of Spells, flipped through the many pages but found nothing but impossible to perform rituals.

He was looking for a book the sorcerer must have kept close at hand, or one he had read multiple times. He noticed that some books had a thicker layer of dust than others, while some were completely dust-free. One book in particular caught his eye. It was old and heavy, the leather felt soft and delicate as he ran his fingers over the red bindings. He took a seat at the wooden table and cracked it open, flipping through its brittle pages. He placed his hand over it, palm down, breathed in, and called out, "Portals," in hopes of finding the keyword using magic but it didn't work. Either the word had not been mentioned at all or his magic was that feeble. He tried calling out projection, entrance, transportation, but it wasn't until he said teleportation in a breathy voice of desperation that the pages of the book began to flip on their own and turned to the one page that spoke of it.

He began feeling hopeful again, "...full displacement of a witch's body and consciousness and/or object from one location to another, instantaneously..." he read out, thinking he had struck oil. Alas, when he finished reading through the list of the necessary ingredients and the amount of power and concentration, he cussed under his breath. "Crap," But he was not about to give up. He placed the book on the table and noticed a drawer with a strange-looking key in its keyhole. He opened it and found a booklet with handwritten details of when and where the infamous box had been sent. Mathian was surprised to see that the records were dating to several centuries ago. The latest one was the Militia's seathold with its physical coordinates.

He leaned on his elbow against the table and cupped his face with his hands, trying to come up with a theory, but his mind was drawing a blank. That was when he heard Theo's voice. "In here," he replied. He looked at the globe again and thought he might check the accuracy of the coordinates by tracing them on it when the book he had been reading suddenly flipped through its own pages again and revealed a spell called 'Bodily Deconstruction & Reconstruction' as a slightly unconventional mode of teleportation. At the same time, the single spot on the globe he had traced the coordinates to began to shine a bright yellow, only to intensify as soon as Theo stepped inside the room.

[Midori-Hime]

Theo lifted his head in the direction of Mathian's voice, stepping past the pile of dust and moving further into the library. He carried the sack with him as he searched out exactly where 'in here' was. He was about to call out again when he thought he heard something.

Peeking behind a row of shelves, he finally spotted the drawn curtains, revealing a hidden room. Of course the sorcerer had some creepy hidden study, why wouldn't he? He heard movement coming from the room then and knew that's where Mathian was, no longer hesitant about entering. He opened his mouth to poke more fun at his partner, but paused the moment he noticed the light coming from the globe. "Uhhh, What's that?" He asked warily.

To be honest, he didn't know what else to expect anymore. He could deal with vampires, other werewolves, creepy crawlies, you name it. But haunted boxes that sucked out your soul, mirror dimensions, portals? At this point Theo wouldn't be surprised if the globe was some sort of booby trap or something crazy like that. He warily moved closer to the desk, looking at the glowing point on the globe like some creature might suddenly burst out of it and try to kill them.

[Lyra]

Mathian stared at the shining, bright yellow spot curiously, pondering whether the spell the book had so kindly shown him had anything to do with it. He slouched a bit and moved his face closer to the globe, inspecting the spot. "Well," he began, "It's home," he said, clearing his throat and pulling back, arms folded on his chest. "I'm just not sure how to get us there." The sorcerer possessed an interesting collection of books, as well as objects. The idea of coming back to the castle, if they were to ever leave, and having a headquarters of their own was appealing... but the idea of it being theirs was an odd one, definitely a stray thought, Mathian reckoned.

He reached for a pen that lay idly on the deck and used it to poke through the bright yellow spot, noticing that the spot was actually a hole and it was sucking the pen in, which made Mathian hopeful. However, the pen began shaking uncontrollably and it suddenly fell apart in Mathian's hands. "Okay, that didn't work." Almost instantly, the book containing the afore-mentioned spell moved closer to Mathian, grabbing his attention. He picked it up and began reading the instructions aloud, "... the object to be transported, whether biological or inanimate, undergoes the process of deconstruction at the place of origin only to be reconstructed at the desired location." And the desired location, or the last coordinates inputted clearly belonged to the Militia's seathold. The spell seemed just the thing Mathian needed, but he seemed a bit hesitant, like a man about to bed a woman, doubting his ability to perform.

"How'd you like to be my guinea pig, ah?" he arched a brow, looking at Theo with a casual smirk. He took a deep breath and began the incantation, having realized nothing else was required. The unknown words rolled off his tongue easily, there was rhythm and rhyme in its making, but nothing happened, Theo was still there in one piece. "Damn," he cursed under his tongue and gave it another try, which yielded no favorable result. He bit down hard on his lower lip, a tad bit evidently annoyed. He was out of juice. He'd have to power up somehow but he had no access to other power sources. Nothing the sorcerer had in his pantry would suffice. That was when the book flipped pages again and revealed to him another spell... connective magic, a powerful spell that bonds a supernatural creature to a witch, allowing them to draw on their strengths to gain more power.

"Uhm, you're not gonna like this, but I'mma need to borrow some of your brawn," he spoke suddenly, in a jesting tone of voice but with seriousness in his eyes. He wasn't sure Theo was going to allow him to further experiment on him, but he had ways of sweetening the deal. "If you wanna get out of here, that is. I might even offer a free spell of your choosing later on." He beckoned him to come closer.

[Midori-Hime]

Theo blinked, carefully stepping over to the desk to get a closer look at the glowing spot on the globe. From what he could tell, it did seem to be right around the location of HQ. He watched as Mathian picked up a pen and began to poke at the shining spot. "What are yo-" He started to ask before he watched the pen fall apart in the warlock's hands. "What didn't work?" Theo asked, hating being so hopelessly in the dark with all this magic stuff. However when a book on the desk actually slid over to Mathain of it's own accord, Theo leapt back slightly in surprise. "-The fuck?" He breathed, frowning as Mathian nonchalantly picked it up as though there were nothing odd about it.

While Mathian then read aloud, the werewolf's amber eyes grew huge. "Woah, woah, woah.... Hold up- Deconstruction? A-aah~, I really don't like the sound of that-" He studdered. Theo met the warlock's eyes and he held up his hands, shifting back uneasily. "W-wait, Mathian..." He murmured, though the warlock obviously paid him no mind as he carried on with the spell. "Mathian!" He yelled then, trying to drowned out the rythmic words, before he gave up and squeezed his eyes shut, flinching in fear of what might become of him.

And nothing... He slowly opened his eyes, hearing the witch curse. Theo suddenly looked down over his hands and began feeling over his body, making sure he was still in one piece. "Are you insane!?" He yelled then, clearly distraught by Mathian's half thought-out plan to 'decontruct' his physical being.

"Oh, Really?! Anymore than I liked you trying to chop me up into little pieces?" He asked, rather riled up now. "And why the hell do you think I would volunteer in my own abuse?" He grumbled, though as much as he hated to admit it, Mathian had a point. He still liked to think that there might have been other options, but the warlock was just opting to torture him further for his amusement. "No, not 'might'. You owe me. Fucking big time." He said sternly. Theo stared at Mathian for a long moment before letting out a heavy sigh and stepping closer. "What do I have to do..." He asked, not exactly sure what he'd meant about 'borrowing his brawn'.

[Lyra]

Mathian remained dismissive of Theo's complaining remarks, although the wolf's shifting and squirming was enjoyable. Curling his lip and arching his brow, he let out a long breath and said in a low tone of voice layered with sarcasm "Oh, I'm sorry. I assumed you wanted to get the hell out of here." He pressed the book closer and skimmed through the lines of text, most of which had been botched out while the wolf rambled on. Fortunately, the original invocation had remained intact and the ingredients required only listed a binding agent of choice. The stronger the substance and its trace, the longer the connection was meant to last. Amidst the writing there were two drawings he'd have to trace on both of their skin. He looked up quickly and smirked when Theo agreed to the terms.

"Fine." he, too, agreed to give Theo one spell request. "Closer," he commanded, surveying the room to think up a binding agent. Blood was always an option, but he'd bled enough for both of them, so he came up with the idea of using hot candle wax. Kinky, but effective, he thought. He placed the book at the edge of the desk and reached out to take a half-burnt candle, ripped it from its candlestick pricket, and held it in front of him. What he thought of doing next was mildly discomforting, but he proceeded without hesitation, taking Theo's hand and bringing it forward. His slick, oblong fingers quickly moved up to his wrist, rolling up his sleeve and leaving it bare. He caressed the inner side of Theo's forearm, just above the wrist. The wolf's skin was soft and warm to the touch, but Mathian did not let himself get carried away by such commoving thoughts.

He raised his head and looked at the wolf, who stood perhaps only a few inches taller, and, subconsciously licking his lower lip, he said in a soft tone of voice, "This is going to sting a bit." He said as he grabbed the wolf's wrist firmly and made the burning candle hover above his skin so the dripping wax could be used to trace the required symbols. As the wax hit the wolf's skin, it burned and turned solid. The small burns began gaining shape. Mathian drew a horizontal line and a half circle resting on top of it and an arrow pointing downwards. He let go as soon as it was done. He then proceeded to draw on his wrist too. The drawing was almost identical to the one on Theo's wrist, except for the fact that the arrow was now pointing upwards.

He took no time and began mouthing the incantation, Med dette seglet, cum soluta nobis sammen, as many times as it was necessary for the seemingly insignificant patches of burnt skin to start glowing simultaneously. Power was drawn from the wolf, and as he became weaker, the witch grew in power, although the pain they both felt spoke of its instability. Mathian hissed and pulled back, unsure whether he had succeeded. He picked up some of the pieces of the pen the shining yellow spot had pulled apart and used a Leigheas spell to reassemble it. In the split of a second, the pen was as good as new.

"Ready to give it another try?" This time, the deconstruction spell had to work.

[Midori-Hime]

Theo let out a heavy breath and slowly stepped closer, his jaw clenched as he watched Mathian prepare for whatever twisted spell he was planning. He still wasn't sure what 'borrowing' his 'brawn' meant, but if it involved magic, he knew he probably wasn't going to enjoy it. Once the warlock pulled out a candle, Theo tensed. "W-what are you going to do with that?" He asked warily. "I've been burned enough for one day." Though as usual, Mathian simply ignored him.

The soft caress startled him more than anything and he suddenly met the witch's gaze, staring into those cool grey eyes. Mathian spoke softly, surprising Theo even more with the gentle tone. He found his eyes dropping down to Mathian's full lips as his tongue moved over them, making them glisten in the candle light. At Mathian's warning, Theo's golden gaze suddenly flickered up to his face. "Wha-Aaah!" He hissed, his jaw hanging open as he watched hot wax drip over his bare skin. It burned, though only for a few moments as the wax cooled quickly on his skin. Theo managed to keep his arm still, only clenching his jaw and letting out a soft breath of discomfort now and then.

Once it was finished, Theo's eyes traced the weird symbol, before looking up to watch the warlock repeat the pattern on himself, only slightly different. Was that it?, the werewolf wondered, and was about to ask until Mathian began to chant the spell. His eyes widened as a strange sensation suddenly came over him, mingling with an odd sort of pain. It was like he could feel the very strength being sucked out of him and it was unnerving to say the least. The wolf closed his eyes tightly, enduring the ill feeling and praying it would end soon. And then, just like that, it was gone and Theo moved back to lean heavily on the desk for a moment, his face drained of color. "Ugnn~ Y-yeah, you're right, I didn't like that." He murmured weakly, then looked up at Mathian, his eyes nearly glowing gold. With a heavy sigh, Theo looked to the newly assembled pen, still highly skeptical. "Yeah, sure... Why not?"