(Untitled)

[leucemic_god]

Time: April 20, 2001
Place: Hospital Wing
Status: Private (Loki, Anathema, John, Bill, Sphix, Gabriel ... if anybody else thinks they should be in here, please ask)
Summary: It's been practised on a chicken without a problem, so what could go wrong?

Comments

[dangeroushabits]

"All right there, Loki?" John said as they came in the room where the cursebreaking was to take place, glancing up from triple-checking the circle he'd painstakingly sketched in chalk. He was too much the cynic (and had too much experience with this stuff) to tell himself that nothing could go wrong, but if anything did, it bloody well wasn't going to be because he'd fucked up the damn sigils. "Ready to tell good ol' Czernobog where he can shove his curse?"

He'd read through the books on wand-lore that Bill had sent him, and understood better how they worked, though the books had referenced a lot of unfamiliar sources and terms. In substance, the things weren't so different from the tools of the trade that he knew. They were just much, much more refined and effecient (and safer,) allowing the caster to condense lengthy incantations into a sort of magical shorthand and do away with a lot of the traditional trappings.

He could have written a lengthy treatise on the pros and cons of that choice, but in practical terms, he had a better idea exactly what Bill was going to be doing and why this circle had to be built as it was, and even some vague ideas on what might be done if the whole thing did go pear-shaped. Though he sincerely hoped he wouldn't have to test them.

[leucemic_god]

Loki somehow mustered a cheerful grin. "Morning John! Did you bring me my chicken?" He had no idea what had become of the chicken to be honest, but John had brought her to him the first time.

He stopped to rest a moment and take a closer look at the runes. They didn't look different from the ones Odin used as far as Loki could tell. Of course Loki had never really been able to tell one rune from the other. Nevertheless he liked runes.

[no_npc_here]

Bill had Apparated with a rather loud 'crack!' on the Manor lawn, and announced his arrival with a cheery "Good morning!" After all, it would be nice to have had at least something go right today - there were still so many unknown factors to deal with and things that were liable to go wrong surely would1.

"Anathema, Loki," Bill greeted them. "How did you find the books on wandlore, Constantine?"

1. No, he hadn't heard about Murphy or his Law, why do you ask?

[dangeroushabits]

"Nah, no chicken on the menu today," John said, grinning maliciously (he really had no idea what Anathema had done with the fowl, either.) "I got through 'em all right," he added to Bill. "Some pretty weird shit, if you don't mind my saying so, but then you'd prolly think the same thing about some of my books. Which you can borrow if you like, when I get the other ones back to you. The circle's just about set to go, I reckon."

[anathema_witch]

"Hello Bill," Anathema greeted the wizard. She looked at the circle that was John's handiwork and grimaced. She was glad she didn't have to do that part. So much could go wrong.

As to the chicken, Anathema had let it outside to run about. Maybe it had ran away, maybe it gravitated to a garden somewhere. Either way, she hadn't seen it in a while either. She couldn't kill it though, not only would Loki have been hysterical, but it just wasn't in her to kill somethign so cute, even if she would eat it afterwards.

[leucemic_god]

"It'd better not be," Loki told John. He was quite fond of the first chicken he'd encountered that liked being petted. "You're sure you want me to stumble in there?"

To hi embarrassment he didn't think he'd manage to step over the circle without disrupting the runes. It seemed such an effort to lift his feet at all these days. Why hadn't they just drawn the circle around him?

[no_npc_here]

"Great. You can just send them to me by way of Luna. Both mine and yours." Bill conjured up a bed in the middle of the circle, and stepped gingerly over the runes. He patted the bed, and muttered, "I guess it wouldn't hurt if it was a little softer."

"Come on, Loki. Just hold on to my arm and make a very large stride. Or if you'd like, I can just lift you with a Levitation Charm."

[leucemic_god]

Large strides were out of the question, but Loki hated to admit to needing help. It was just so unworthy of a Norse god. Of course that wouldn't stop him from getting help.

"Levitation?" He beamed at Bill in delight. "You mean you can make people fly? Oh, yes, please. That sounds like so much fun!"

[anathema_witch]

"Oh that sounds interesting!" Anathema replied about the offer of levitation for Loki to get into the circle. Really, she had been half afraid that she or John would have to carry him in, and accidentally ruin the circle themselves.

[no_npc_here]

"Well, not fly, not really. More like float. Corpusardium Leviosa."

[leucemic_god]

"Wheee!" Hey, this really was fun. It felt very different from flying on your own two wings. Maybe, if he'd been much higher up he'd have worried about Bill dropping him, but in here the thought never crossed his mind.

[no_npc_here]

Bill gently guided Loki to the bed and with a quiet "Finite Incantatum." ended the spell, allowing the Norse god to fall the last centimetre or so to the bed. He briefly cast a diagnostic spell at Loki and was relieved to find that there had been no significant changes since the last time he'd checked the god.

Bill checked that he had everything that he would probably need, and turned to face the other two in the room. "I believe we can start the curse-breaking now. Is everyone ready?"

[dangeroushabits]

John nodded; he was about as ready as it was possible to be. Bill and Ana would bear the brunt of this casting. Having built as perfect a circle as was within his power, he was now mostly there as an observer.

[leucemic_god]

Loki didn't mind the short drop in the slightest. He beamed up at Bill.

"Can we do that again?" Hey, it was a lot more fun than being decursed was likely to be.

[no_npc_here]

Bill didn't manage to resist the urge to roll his eyes, and smirked at John and Anathema. "Corpusardium Leviosa."

After all, the happier the patient was, the easier the curse-breaking was likely to go. Bill needed Loki to be wide-awake, or at least conscious, during the procedure.

[leucemic_god]

"Yay!" Loki spread his arms and enjoyed the feeling of flight laughing with delight. Sometimes it took so little to make him forget his problems.