diviningtime

[diviningtime]

"Yeah, well, I'm persistent," Lilia countered with a shrug, throwing Cassidy a knowing look as she did so. The road to this particular dynamic hadn't exactly been straightforward, or easy, and Lilia doubted it would have even happened at all if she hadn't Seen things for herself, and pushed a little with her questioning, drawing the girl out. For most people it would have been too easy to just accept her defensiveness and walk away.

Lilia pulled her face at the talk of 'baby witches' unable to hide her distaste not just at the term, but also what it represented.

"They're not witches," she said simply. "They're new age wannabes." She enunciated every syllable of every word in emphasis of her irritation. Lilia had social media in order to promote both her fortune telling and Lilia's Leggings, but she didn't peruse things, going through feeds and looking what she could find on there. There were enough things to be irritated with right in front of her without finding more on the internet. She'd heard about 'WitchTok; she had no desire to witness it for herself.

"And you can't read tarot cards at all," she added in reminder, looking at Cass as she did so. "The shuffling makes you want to vomit."

cassidy pulls out a well loved copy of frankenstein as lilia speaks, running her thumb lovingly along the pages as she listens to the older woman. ever since her breakdown cassidy had only gotten closer to lilia, even deciding to set up a little more permanently in the area. hence the new apartment and unpacking she was currently doing.

setting the book to the side with a few other well worn favorites, she offers lilia a small smile. “i didn’t stop, i mean you’re actively helping me unpack.” cassidy uses magic to swap the now empty box for a full one on the other side of the room. “i’ll give other witches a chance when they do the same to me. i get the skepticism from others but….its so judgey.

“all these newer baby witches teaching themselves the most basic of the craft without actually tapping into anything real have sort of ruined it for those with actual powers. like if someone isn’t thinking i’m an abomination, they assume i learned how to be a witch on tik tok and that all i do is read tarot cards. which we both know is far from the truth.

“it’s annoying,” cassidy exclaims. as she talks the box of books remains untouched, hands moving as she speaks. huffing a little bit at the reminder of being judged and her overall annoyance with other witches, she gets back to the box in front of her. pulling out magical tomes she has barely touched (lilia really had shifted her perspective on magic and cassidy planned to expand her knowledge with previously ignored books) cassidy moved to being placing them on the most accessible bookshelf in her living room.

[diviningtime]

@txkethefall

Though it wasn't something she'd ever expected, or even really encouraged, Percy had become a frequent visitor to her premises. Seeing him come through that door was now a familiar sight and, considering his circumstances, Lilia didn't begrudge him that little comfort.

She did, however, begrudge him bringing a questionable looking bag along with him.

"What is that?" she demanded immediately, frankly pointing with a ringed finger at the offending item. It looked entirely ordinary, but Lilia could See that it wasn't. Not its contents anyway.

[diviningtime]

"I say we call her bluff."

[diviningtime]

Just want to say sorry if my answers to messages are all over the place, or brief, and that my posting replies on threads is sporadic right now, but this just for this week, and it is for two reasons:

We have a pregnant stray (she's only six months old) who has moved herself in after we fed her, and while my cats are accepting of her, it's obviously a lot of actively cat-parenting, but also we're prepping for her giving birth in the next week or so.

I am seeing Patti live in concert this weekend so I'm doing my neurospicy thing of preparing like crazy to ensure I have everything as the concert is in London and I live in Manchester so travel and hotels are involved.

So that's why I'm all over the place with both answering DMs and in being active on the dash.

[diviningtime]

Lilia wondered just how much thought Vivienne had really put into any part of this plan, or if her desire to save her mother had blinded her mind from any other logic. There was no going back from what she'd done, and there was no certainty it would work, or that she'd ever get to find out. She'd left her place in her timeline and forced herself into a new one; that meant not only being alone in her journey, but starting from scratch with everything else too.

"What it takes is having no choice," Lilia countered heavily. "You live long enough as a witch, you learn how to survive." And when faced with the alternative, a little isolation was a small price to pay. But she was centuries old, she'd had connections, she'd had covens and friends and connections over the years; Vivi was so young, and had barely lived long enough to have significant time with her family let alone anything else.

"I don't get involved with things enough to need help anymore," she told her. "Until you," she added pointedly, suspecting the girl was about to bring any amount of drama and risk and involvement into her quiet life. Lilia wasn't sure if she was resentful for that or grateful.

"Why would you bring the FBI here? Why?" Lilia threw up her hands in exasperation. And then frowned, slightly confused because there was only Vivi here. Where were the other two?

Clearing her throat as she realised she must have said something out of sequence, and hoping it hadn't been too noticeable, Lilia made an attempt to return to the conversation, putting her hands back down at her sides.

"Seeing your mother is less risky than seeing yourself, but you can't let her know who you are. Or get too close. Or have too much conversation." Lilia frowned in concern as she looked at Vivienne, not entirely certain that upholding those conditions was possible. "Do you honestly think you can do that?"

Sometimes the words didn't quite reach her ears, especially when they were the words Vivi didn't want to hear. This case was different, she remembered all the facts Lilia gave her back in her timeline, all the advice against doing it, yet here she was. Vivi didn't know how else live her life if coming back in time wasn't an option. She wouldn't be able to live with all this guilt, the feeling of alienation, the need to finally belong somewhere. And while she knew that she wouldn't get that chance, maybe, just maybe, one day there would be Vivi that could live her life beside Prue, because of the risk she took. That bit of hope was all she could hold on to.

“ It must take great strength. ” She whispered, not being sure if she could live Lilia's life, if she had this courage. “ What do you do when you need help? ” When something's too big to face alone, or when all that's needed is a cup of hot tea and genuine conversation with someone trustworthy?

Half chuckle was all the reply she could give at Lilia's ironic remark. Breaching all the guidelines…alright. At this point, she'd lost everything there was to lose. “ But Lilia.. I need to— I must see her alive with my own eyes. I've come so far.. ” voice broke down before she could finish the sentence; hands were quick to wipe at the eyes, using the moment that Lilia was occupied with the kettle. Everything inside her was screaming to run home, but the perspective of being violently righted before her time wasn't appealing either. “ I'm scared I'd fail. ”

[diviningtime]

@heirceleste

Lilia didn't think a collection of potted plants that had seen better days was what her maestra had had in mind when she'd asked if she was still 'close to nature', but in her living situation, it was the best she could do. Living in the woods wasn't common or practical these days, and with no garden attached to the premises, the pots would have to be enough. Grimacing at a spider plant that had seen better days, Lilia was mid-watering when she saw the young girl approach.

She was looking for something, glancing around, and Lilia raised her eyebrows a little in curiosity, watching her.

"I'm Madame Calderu, if that's who you're looking for," she told her once she started peering through the glass front of her shop.

But before she could say anything else, it came to her, a flash, gone as quickly as it came, the words spilling out what she Saw in that single breath of a second.

"Cassidy's sister."

[diviningtime]

You know when we see Lilia in her past talking to her teacher, we only, as the audience, see Lilia as we know her so that it would be Patti acting the scene rather than the child actress. But in reality, it's not Lilia's older self sitting in that chair, it's her teenage self.

She's back in her teenage body, looking at her older mentor. And that is significant in so many ways.

For one, it's the first time on the entire journey that Lilia is younger than anyone (even as she speaks as her 500 year old self, she is still younger than her teacher, as the maestra says 'a long time. For you' implying she is much older than mere centuries), the first time she can be the one asking questions instead of giving answers.

But can you imagine how it is for her maestra? To be looking into the eyes of a young girl, so new at her witchcraft, speaking with the vocal tone and words of her centuries older self. To hear a young teenager say, with a tear-filled voice, 'I'm a forgotten woman'. That's so utterly heart-breaking, because when you're a teenager you're so full of optimism and determination for the future, ready to take on anything and certain you'll achieve everything.

Just think how her maestra must feel to see the young girl she's teaching, the girl who has these amazing gifts and clairvoyant powers, who is at the beginning of her journey as a witch, saying things like 'What's worth remembering?' and rolling her eyes at the idea of having a coven , and concluding 'it's better to be a hermit, to be a fraud'. No wonder her teacher says so sadly 'so much fear, even now' because it's the realisation that Lilia still has the same issues she has as a girl centuries on, and still needs her teacher.

Which brings me onto another point that it is really interesting that while Lilia is not just back in her past, but back in her own teenage body, essentially feeling physically like a teenager again, it's the first time that we hear her demand and complain and be petulant. She might be sassy with her fellow witches, but she is undeniably the sage voice, the one who is frank but calm, the wise mentor amongst the group, yet here, a teenager again, faced with her own mentor, Lilia starts moaning and protesting in a way she wasn't before, even openly saying stuff she shouldn't just because she's upset ('That you died? That I saw it coming, our entire coven wiped out by a fever. I saw it, I told you, but it didn't change anything) and grumbling 'I was bad at tea leaves', 'Just tell me how to control what's happening' etc etc.

It's still our Lilia, but an aspect of her that she can only be when she's once again in the child/student role. In the present she's always the oldest, she's always the most knowledgeable, she's always the mentor or guide, she's always the reassurance, but here, in the past, she's a student, she's a child, she's confused, she's upset, she's scared. And she doesn't even try to hide it.

[diviningtime]

"No, it's not," Lilia agreed openly. "But that's the same for everyone, no matter their circumstance. But that doesn't mean it's never fun," she concluded with a smile. For all the loss she'd suffered, the grief and trauma, she also had a lot of good memories, things that made her laugh even centuries on.

"Witches in general. It's like having an entire community of siblings. You defend them from the world one moment and in the next you're ready to murder them yourself." Lilia concluded her point with a sigh, shaking her head. Their own coven had just been a prime example of those dynamics. She'd hated Jen at the beginning, but now...

"Not always," she decided to add as an afterthought, thinking about Alice too. "And not with everyone. But it happens. Doesn't mean we don't like each other." She paused. "Well sometimes it does. But a lot of the time it's just..." Lilia shrugged as she strived to put it into words. "We all have a lot of opinions, Teen. And a lot of energy. That we can't share with anyone else. Who else are we gonna snap at?"

"I guess life isn't always fun," He smiled a little weakly. Maybe he hadn't found Tommy. At least learning about him, though, meant that he had gone down this road. Not The Road, no, but the one that led him to Agatha, to Lilia, Jen, Alice.

"Who gets testy with each other?" Billy asked, leaning forward slightly. He couldn't figure what she meant. Did she mean them, specifically? Like, the coven? Or perhaps all witchkind in general?

He didn't know what he wanted the answer to be. He'd held the idea of coven in such high regard for all his known life. The truest form of sisterhood, of connection, sharing blessings and burdens alike. People to laugh and cry with over the happiest and harshest of things. It meant a lot when, those days he'd been terrified in the hospital, he didn't know anyone, even his parents, well enough to cry and shake in their arms. Not that he wanted to espouse coven in front of Lilia again... but the idea that one would get testy with just any witch wasn't any more comforting.

[diviningtime]

"Time to restock."

[diviningtime]

@billyktothemax

The last time she'd been in this basement it had been their first gathering as a coven. All of them unwittingly participating in Agatha's little con. Now, with so many of them gone, with Agatha herself technically dead too (even if she'd typically found a way to hang around) the place felt hauntingly empty, even for a witch.

Lilia looked at the inscription where the door had once appeared, reading the names listed there, including her own.

"I'm aware you didn't know I was alive at the time you did this," she allowed. "but seeing my name there is unsettling."

[diviningtime]

Lilia wasn't surprised by Zelda's protest, her determination never to use the gift she'd been given, but she would be surprised if the woman kept to that promise. It had been more than affection that had convinced the Iwa to give Zelda that box; Lilia suspected it had been given because she'd need it soon enough.

"Never say never," Lilia told her sagely. "But you're right; anything to do with death usually has a string or two." The question was whether the request was worth those strings, the conditions of the deal. As much as Lilia had grieved her coven after they died, as much as she begged and wished for them to be back, she wasn't certain she would have made that deal. It would have gone against everything her maestra taught her.

But for every rule, there was always an exception. And that little box might just be one.

"You don't have to think about it now," Lilia added gently, sensing that Zelda's emotions were already overwhelming enough. "It's not important."

Zelda was momentarily stunned by the maternal gesture. It was easily noted that Zelda had more memories of her doing such things for Sabrina than she had memories of her actual mother treating her in such a way, and Zelda found the thought made her feel uncertain somehow, unbalanced. Yet she didn't comment nor did she swat Lilia away, as she might Hilda.

"Oh that won't be a problem given I have no intention of ever using the damn thing," she scoffed. "Hecate will watch over us, and I'll never be tempted to call upon an Iwa or whatever it is that he said. I'm sure there are strings attached anyhow."

She knew little to nothing about Baron Samedi beyond the absolute basics, but one thing she did know was that he would offer her no miraculous favor without something in return. And she could barely begin to imagine what he would actually want from her.

[diviningtime]

I went to bed with my hair in a twist and now I look like fucking Shirley Temple. My curls have gone right up past my god damn ear. I ain’t answering the door like this.

[diviningtime]

@hcrctic

"You might be able to read minds, Wanda, but I can read people," Lilia pointed out, privately feeling that reading a person gave a much better insight than just reading their mind; in Lilia's experience, your thoughts could go to places you really didn't want them. "And I am not making any attempt to defend Agatha, but--" Lilia paused, taking a moment to phrase what she had Seen. "I know she likes Teen-- Billy," she quickly corrected. "And, more significantly, I Saw that she liked you"

[diviningtime]

"If you were I'd have been out of business a long time ago," Lilia replied in a half-joke, consciously making an effort to coax this little witch-- for that was undoubtedly what she was- out of her self-conscious shell. It was a recognisable behaviour, the feeling of wanting to make yourself disappear, not wishing to be noticed or discovered, so hesitant to embrace what you were and everything you were capable of. When she'd been as young as the girl in front of her, Lilia's own mentor had called her out on it. You have so much fear, Lilia, as if there is a threat at every corner. Your powers are a gift, but only if you embrace them.

Something that was often easier said than done even now. Especially when all you saw was Death.

"I have time." More than I sometimes realise, Lilia added to herself privately. When you experienced a life out of sequence, time was something that had a habit of getting away from you.

Taking her seat, Lilia watched as the young girl made an effort to get comfortable, but even when settled there was an air of uncertain awkwardness to her. Every self-conscious thought and movement seemed to be written into her very spirit. As her brown eyes studied her features, Lilia could See a little more of the father, the cruel words, the backwards, puritanical beliefs, the kind of things Lilia hadn't heard first-hand in centuries.

"You lost someone quite some time ago, someone you loved very much. It left you surrounded by people who didn't understand you, who you are, what you're capable of," Lilia told her, knowing every word was true as she spoke, Seeing it all laid out before her with unusual clarity. "They made you distrust yourself, deliberately planting ideas in your head, things that made you think you might be a bad person." Lilia wished she could say it was new, that witches hadn't suffered this kind of abusive brainwashing before, but the sad truth was that of those who weren't hung or burned, a great many had their abilities and knowledge pressed out of them.

"But now," Lilia continued, "you're with a different group of people, the kind that accept you. So you wish to know more about yourself, how much truth those fears have to them."

Lilia offered a small, reassuring smile as she placed her open hand on the table. "Please, may I have your right palm?"

[  ....  ]                    tara  offered  a  gentle  and  awkward  smile  towards  the  other  when  it  was  mentioned  not  to  apologize.  that  was  something  she  had  been  told  quite  a  few  times  in  her  life;  stop  apologizing.  she's  been  so  used  to  in  her  life  having  to  apologize  for  just  existing.  her  father  had  shamed  her  and  accused  her  of  being  something  she  never  seemed  to  actually  be  and  all  the  other  males  in  her  family  would  support  him  in  the  parade  of  shame.  she  was  glad,  relieved  for  the  first  time  in  her  life,  to  be  free  of  that  toxic  community.  but,  even  though  she  was  rid  of  her  horrible  father  and  overwhelming  family,  she  was  still  attempting  to  get  through  her  hardships;  finding  herself  and  learning  to  be  who  she  truly  was.

she  swallowed,  refraining  from  repeating  the  same  apology  again.  she  chuckles  awkwardly  instead.  she  tucks  a  stray  strand  of  her  blonde  hair  behind  her  ear,   ❝   i  guess  i  -  i'm  not  the  only  one,  huh   ?   ❞   she  responded.  tara  was  elated  to  hear  about  the  readings  that  @diviningtime  offered  in  her  shop.  this  was  something  she  had  always  thought  about  doing  herself;  palm  readings  and  becoming  one  with  tarot  cards.  maybe  this  was  somewhere  she  could  learn  to  do  just  that;  maybe  lilia  could  teach  her  exactly  what  she's  been  dreaming  of.  tara  nodded,   ❝   i'd  l-love  to  ...  if  you  have  t-time,  of  course   ...   ❞   she  agreed.

tara  wasted  no  time  in  taking  a  chair  across  from  lilia,  sitting  comfortably  after  readjusting  herself.   ❝   i  -  i'm  not  sure   ...   ❞   tara  started,  even  though  she  knew  exactly  the  reason  why  she  stepped  into  this  shop  today.  she  looked  down  in  her  lap,  twiddling  her  thumbs  together  with  her  head  slightly  tilted.   ❝   i  -  i  just  wanted  to  know  more  about   ...   my  f-future.  i  can  r-read  others  but  not  myself.  ❞

[diviningtime]

"What else can we do?"

[diviningtime]

@auntiezelda

She was turning off the last light in her shop when she felt the coldness. No, that wasn't right; it wasn't a coldness. It was a darkness. Keeping herself calm, Lilia turned to look over her shoulder, trying to spy the source, but there was nothing.

Except there was. She could hear it. Breathing.

Swallowing her fear, Lilia stepped forward a little further into the darkness of her shop, trying to look through the shadows.

"Who's there?" she asked the nothing, her voice managing to sound calmer than she felt, as a shimmer of golden light glimmered over her fingertips, ready to use.

The next moment was a blur as someone-- was that a miner?-- was upon her. Having only a split moment of forewarning, Lilia instinctively grabbed the attacker with her arms, her magic passing through him to manipulate the energy of whatever he was. Or at least that was the intention

Instead she saw the face of true darkness, the gold light absorbing into him like an desolate emptiness.

Unashamedly yelling in horror Lilia leapt out of his way and hurried almost directly into Zelda. She had a look of urgency in her arrival that told Lilia that the high priestess was maybe a little more clued in.

"What the hell is it?"

[diviningtime]

Once she'd made her conditions, Lilia waited, watching the agent carefully as she saw him mull over the information, coming to his own conclusions. As she studied him, she saw something flicker in his expression; an understanding or perhaps even an empathy.

Relief flooded her the moment he agreed, though she did her best to contain it, making an effort to appear neutral, or at the very least in control of her emotions, the triggers she'd found impossible to shake even after centuries.

"Good," she concluded. "And you've given more thought than most," she added. "In my experience people usually have one of two reactions; how they can use me, or how they can kill me. Neither takes much consideration or brain power." At least this agent had listened to her request, even understood it, before agreeing. Perhaps she hadn't been wrong to trust him after all. Despite his area of work.

"You weren't out of your element when you slept with that shopkeeper," she added knowingly, the words deciding to come out before she could stop them. Seeking a cure for a problem, the witch had given him something that hadn't been for sale; a night of pleasure between two strangers.

Lilia hesitated at his request; she didn't know his friend, hadn't been able to read him as she had Agent Stirling. Beyond the vision she'd had of his torture, she knew nothing more than the agent's assurance. But if he was willing to make a compromise, she should do the same. But then he wasn't the one at risk of being hunted down, and killed for what he was. Or worse.

"Alright," she finally agreed. "Since it involves him, he can know. But no one else."

The moment Lilia tensed Sterling saw it. His features softened as she begged him not to tell. In that moment, though he didn't know the exact details, he saw himself. He knew that fear of being found, of his family being found, by those he didn't trust.

The world had been unkind to her in a similar way.

"I won't." He said, his voice soft and low. "I promise. I understand. You have a gift. A gift you were willing to share with me to help a friend and I threatened to expose it. My apologies. I wasn't thinking. This entire situation was not at all what I was expecting today and I have to admit, I'm very much out of my element." He sighed, casting his eyes down to the floor in thought.

"May I at least tell my friend. The Hanged Man. It will remain off the record and when this is over you will never see us again. You have my word. It's not much, you don't know me, but I know you can tell I'm sincere."