≈ [Witch of Shadows] Dwelling ≈

@Jung Minhee (Witch of Shadows) Suzy bit her lip at the witch's probing questions. If she divulged any more now, then it would be known that she was the Banshee Queen. But... she really wanted to have that curse lifted. Sighing, she tried to figure out a way to give out more important information without getting into too much trouble. A faraway look in her silver eyes, she stared out the window as the story poured out a little more. "Well... I had a reputation of being a flirt, see. I... flirted with all the boys in the village, led them one, and broke their hearts by the end of the month. That boy... I really DID like him... but I didn't want to be settled down too early. Wanted to still be young and flirt and play around, you see..."

Moisture rose in her eyes as the memories came forward again after being buried for so long. "H-He had proposed to me when we went for one of our sunset walks. He took me to a place that he'd found, back in the woods, where there was the best view of the sunset for... MILES around. We were the only village that had such a perfect view. The trees... were so tall, it looked like a cathedral. The dying rays of sunlight streaming through the autumn trees looked like stained glass, miss, can you imagine?"

Suzy's form started to shift back into her simple village girl guise, but she kept a tight rein on herself as the story spilled out. "I... I'd been forbidden to go to the harvest festival celebration later on that week, and I was feeling most aggravated. S-So... it was the best sunset I'd seen, miss, with the one boy I actually had some feelings for. The one who seemed to know why I did what I did and understood me perfectly. And... when he held my hand and looked me in the eyes, I KNEW. I knew what he was going to do. 'I may not be the richest man out there, or the smartest, or the most handsome,' he said. 'But I love you, Bae Su Ji. And I would be the happiest man alive if you would marry me."

Suzy's knees buckled under the weight of her guilt and the memories, and she sank to the floor, burying her face in her hands. "And... And... I just laughed in his face. Told him that I wouldn't marry him if he was the last man on earth. The look on his face... I could've taken it all back the second I saw him. He looked so broken... But I was a proud miss, and just turned and left him there."


A few sniffles, and she continued on in a broken voice. "I... went back the next day to apologize... he wasn't at his house. His mother wasn't there... I went back to the place I last left him... and... he'd..." The girl bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, but none came. "His mother... a witch... blamed me for his dying. And he wasn't able to be buried in the village graveyard with a proper ceremony 'cause he... committed suicide."

Suzy lost all control over her form and she shifted liquidly into the garb of a village maid, with blotches of silver all over her clothes. "Now do you see why she cursed me? I've cursed myself every day since then... And... I can find no peace, no rest... and I see his face in my head every night... HE was the only one who ever loved me, and I just... cast him aside like a dirty rag..." Her silver eyes, filling with tears that spilled over and ran down her cheeks in twin streams, searched the witch's own warm brown ones beseechingly. "Please... I don't want to live like this anymore..."

@Bae Suzy (Banshee Queen) Minhee allowed the unknown woman to step inside of her home. She had to admit that the young woman was extremely beautiful but there was something…odd about her presence in the home. Minhee basically knew everything and everyone in the Eternal Realm – being of high stature, she had to familiarize herself with the identities of all Humans in the Ruby Center and those that inhabited the Forest of Macalania. However, she had never seen or heard of such a woman as she. No. Minhee was curious as to her whereabouts and her origins. Why was she here? Who was she, exactly? Was she friend or foe? What creature was she if she was not that of a Human? So many questions were running through her mind and not enough answers for her to be satisfied.

She turned her back momentarily to close the door and lock it from any unwanted intrusions. She took a second and watched as the footprints in the carpeting slowly began to fade away from the woman’s light steps. It wasn’t uncommon for her carpet to retain its shape or cleanliness. It was a detail that she always seemed to notice, even with her own footsteps. By the time she turned around, though, she could see that the woman was now standing at the window and allowing the sunlight to cascade against her pale skin, causing her skin to seem a little translucent. It slightly made her her head to the side, but it was something that she allowed to get over once the young woman, once again, opened to speak to her.

She listened carefully. She paid close attention to the short story that the woman told her. It seemed that the girl was, indeed, in a bit of a bind. To be cursed by a witch, well, one would have to do something completely unforgiving. Not all witches were evil, and many witches didn’t just go around casting spells and causing every single individual to be dismayed. Oh No, she wasn’t like that – Minhee was never like that, and she knew a lot of women from the past centuries weren’t as well. Besides, Minhee was the Witch of Shadows and she reigned over all witches…so she would know of such curses before they were casted.

“Hmm…a curse, you say? Well, seeing as to from your description you seem to have been troubled with this curse for quite a long time. Indeed. How long has this curse affected you? Has it been recent? If not, why has it taken you so long to seek help for this?” She just wanted to be sure that she had all the details before this dilemma could be treated. “But…more importantly, there had to be a deeper reason as to why such a spell was casted upon you, young lady. Witches usually cast such spells when an offense had been done more than once. I am sure that because of a broken son, a spell wouldn’t have been placed upon you to be cursed all of your young life…” She squinted as she looked at the beautiful individual before her. Indeed, there was more to the story that was being told, and Minhee could sense foul play in the air. Was this woman telling her the entire truth or was she holding back vital information?

@Jung Minhee (Witch of Shadows) Being who she was, Suzy could see the witch's thoughts as though they were an open book with no great effort or intrusion on her part. As it was, she had no intention of being violent towards one of the few people left in this world who could help her. Many had tried to banish her, sure, but those werre mostly for show and publicity. It had amused the ghost on occasions to set her old castle howling and groaning, with the doors flapping open and closed, just to hear the swearing and screams that came from the people with the odd machines that didn't do much good but track her paths through the house. And when one was the Banshee Queen, one could fool any old piece of circuitry and the like.

But that was a mere distraction now as the Witch of Shadows ("Jung Minhee," her mind told her) opened the door to Suzy and invited her inside. "Much obliged, ma'am," she curtsied prettily, still keeping a bit of the village coquette from so long ago inside her ancient soul. With a graceful smile, she clutched her branch of plum blossoms in one hand and held her skirts up with the other as she stepped into the house.

Over the years, Suzy had developed a sensitivity to the REAL protective charms and spells that skilled witches, exorcists, and wizards used to cast out her more unruly relatives, and this house was simply bristling with anti-creature defenses in general. Precious few that made her raise her eyebrows at the moment, but she was sure that any aggressive move on her part would result in great discomfort to herself and perhaps the destruction of the quaint little house.

Once inside though, the white-streaked brunette found her way into the well-lit sitting room, standing before the window and letting the sun shine on her face with a look of sheer bliss written on her pale features. Here, in the witch's home, she couldn't scare the sunshine away. Here she could bask in its warmth. From there, she started formulating her thoughts and telling her story... with some alterations. "I'm Bae Su Ji, ma'am, and I'm afraid I've been a bit of a bad girl. I've been cursed by a powerful witch, see, 'cos I was flirting with her son and broke his heart. I hadn't been sorry then, but I'm sorry now, to be sure.

Her speech slipped in and out of her own village dialect from so long ago and her now-proper noblewoman's accents as she told the Witch of Shadows as to the nature of her curse, leaving out the fact that she was already dead and HAD been for eons. "...And I was wondering, ma'am, if you could be so kind as to lift this curse. No one loves me for me, ma'am. And no one will, I'm sure. Isn't there anything you can do?" Cold silver eyes stared pleadingly into the warm brown ones of the witch as Suzy clasped her hands before herself. "I'll reward you most handsomely if you can help me."

@Bae Suzy :
Minhee had never been one to expect someone to randomly drop by her place since it wasn’t permitted to those that lived in the Ruby Center. However, those that she had ordained her apprentices were the ones who were able to come to her dwelling using a secret passage that only she opened specifically from them which was connected to the Ruby Center. Those people who came by, she was aware of their arrival and she would always prepare something for them. However, she was extremely cautious with this unknown individual who had found a way to come to her hidden home from the front of the dwelling. It was why Minhee was prepared to attack if she must in order to protect what she had so long since protected. She was prepared to cast multitudes of spells which she had perfected since she was a young child just in case this individual was potentially dangerous.

Her eyebrows rose as she glanced at the woman. Although she seemed as though she wasn’t prepared to fight, she was. With one wrong movement of the woman before her, she would ensure that the woman wouldn’t leave her dwelling alive. She hated having to fight since she mostly used her powers for good, but if need be she’d have to. Before Minhee even had a chance to open and speak to the woman on her doorstep, she had taken a pause when the woman spoke first.

“Oh…” She said to the woman as she realized that the woman wasn’t there to cause trouble but was instead there in order to seek her help and guidance. “A curse…?” She asked calmly as she stepped aside. “Hmm…I would like it if you stepped inside first…” She told her as she opened the door a little wider. “And…do tell me a little about yourself and the reason for the curse before I am able to see if I can lift it from you.” She smiled warmly as she motioned for her to come inside.

@Jung Minhee (Witch of Shadows) Just her luck to find this witch, the Banshee Queen mused. Legend had said there was an old witch hereabouts, showed up after the earth died and all living beings either died or went into hiding. Suzy had been around for longer, she was fairly certain, but had simply gone into stasis centuries ago, awakening only when someone encroached on any one of her properties she occupied around the world. Of course, having so many dwellings was rather impractical, so she'd finally moved to a broken-down old castle in the middle of the forest. Over time, ghosts and banshees were drawn there, but kept a healthy distance away from her castle, keeping mortals away with their unearthly shrieks and cries that simply sounded like the chattering of wood animals to Suzy.

Lately, though. things had been stirring... The witch herself and the vampire king seemed to enjoy having meetings in the depths of the woods, seemingly out of everyone's gaze. Likewise, one of the king's own wives was carrying on in secret with the head exorcist from the other side of the forests. Interesting indeed...

Her thoughts were interrupted as the door opened and the Witch of Shadows peered out, suspicion flashing through her face in a heartbeat before being replaced with calm alertness. Suzy smiled at the sight, her pale face and silver eyes looking rather odd in the bright sunshine as she made a deep curtsy. "Hello, madam," she murmured, voice light and airy and sounding like so many wind chimes. "I'm here to ask if you can lift a curse."

@Bae Suzy Minhee was residing in her calm home that was just on the outskirts of the Forest of Macalania – a forest she had created and maintained for her race, her species, to be able to enjoy such beauty around them instead of the usual dreariness and greys of the corrupt and destroyed world. She had been in her kitchen, slowly washing her hands and drying them off, before she grabbed a knife and some carrots and began to slowly chop away. She was making herself some stew in which she would enjoy outside on the patio and partake in. She had, earlier in the day, bestowed upon the forest the protective barrier to keep out any intruders, any enemies, and she, too, had cast her many spells to keep the scent of humans from the senses of the Vampires – those cursed bloodsuckers. Now, she had all the time in the world – well, she only had today to enjoy for herself and she was surely going to do so just by relaxing.

She cut slowly at the carrots, the celery, the potatoes, and other ingredients that she had placed on her cutting board as she stood before the open window of her kitchen. A slight breeze rolled in, blowing her long brown hair behind her. She smiled at the calmness in the air, despite the fact that outside of the barriers of her place, there was trouble in the air. She sometimes forgot about it whenever she was finished with her errands for the day. As she finished cutting, she walked back over to the sink and washed off the knife and cutting board, then placed the many ingredients that she had cut in the boiling water on the stove. She began to season everything and then leaned against the counter as she enjoyed the silence that was in the air. That was until she felt a sudden presence that was around her.

She raised an eyebrow as she walked out of her kitchen into the living room. Just as soon as she stepped inside, she heard the doorbell of her home ringing. It had been many centuries since someone had ever come to her dwelling. No creatures knew where she lived and no humans ever came from outside of the Forest of Macalania to be at her dwelling place. She raised an eyebrow as she walked towards the door. She reached for the doorknob and opened the door as she saw a beautiful, unknown woman who had been standing on her doorstep. Although she looked as though she was calm, she was alert for whatever would happen between her and this stranger at her home.

It was a bright sunny afternoon, but certain parts of the forest were cast in a perpetual gloom, as though the tree branches were too thick to let any of the cheering sunlight through. In those parts, the birds were silent, and the leaves were coated with light layer of frost. Color itself seemed to have fled from there... and the odd thing was, those absolutely gloomy parts were MOVING.

Suzy, the Banshee Queen, was on a singular mission... try to find the Witch of Shadows and ask her a few questions. Nothing harmful or evil in mind, yet. A particularly heavy sigh from the invisible regent of the ghosts caused one small branch of plum blossoms to freeze over and break off from the tree to land on a gloomy carpet of grass. Suzy stopped in her tracks at the sight and deflated a little before blinking and levitating the branch to hover just in front of her person as she traveled on to her destination.

Too long had she been awake, and too much had she seen. All thanks to a curse placed on her when she was very young and very foolish. A curse she hadn't believed in until she suddenly found herself floating several inches above the ground, mere feet away from... A pang in her chest made her stop again and clutch a ghostly hand to herself as she rippled into view. A smallish girl stood in the middle of the forest, dressed in simple village clothing, hair floating about her pale shoulders, pure white eyes closed in pain.

A few moments of absolute silence passed before Suzy could shift her form into that of a young, well-dressed noblewoman and glided her way to the witch's dwelling. About 20 yards away from the well-groomed front yard, she ran into a slight resistance. A slight expression of puzzlement crossed her translucent features before the girl grinned and held out a hand and muttered a soft invocation under her breath. A tiny "door" in the barrier opened up long enough for her to slip through, and she glided right up to the front door, where she sent the tiny bell ringing a short melodious tune. One not heard for many centuries...