Bewitched by the Seer

Default x Vervain

Cw: Somewhat dead dove ig, blood, murder

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Everyone heard about witches, of course they did after such grand inquisitions were led to eradicate them. However, our story doesn't belong to those corrupted lands where the skies are split up by a wave of flames from hell. Far from here, well hidden to common mortals, things deemed as rather unusual proliferated. Plants with weird shapes which came with uncanny side effects if one was brave enough to ingest these. Animals and beasts who seemed out of myths. Among all of these were obviously humans, though they only held that name in appearance. Rather, each belonged to a specific race known as witches or sorcerers for example and there were numerous.

One of those witches lived a secluded life in an immense forest. It was not that dangerous but being vigilant there was not a bad idea either. Well, the reputation of those woods may have been partially influenced by the witch's. An eccentric individual, even among his peers, who wore a green jacket and a mask with flowery patterns, sunglasses shaped similarly too. The man called himself a researcher and was more of an horticulturist to be honest. That was also part of a witch's job sure, but his obsession with it was a tad overwhelming. Waking up at daybreak to collect the morning dew in the meadows. As the twilight settled he would have sorted out the poisonous mushrooms from the harmless. Then when dusk came, it was finally time to head back home and prepare dinner. Mixtures of the widest variety often born in his cauldron.

This was the daily and peaceful life of the witch Aesop Carl.

A routine of isolation and contemplation of nature which could not be hampered by any thing and at any cost, or so he thought.

It was until that day, during one of his usual promenades, where he found a man lying on the fresh grass tainted in red. Seeing his clothes at first glance, a simple robe and a piece of cloth hiding his eyes, the witch immediately hissed. This was undeniably a seer, his nemesis.

He took out some sneezewort out of his basket and put it under the man's nose to check if he was still alive. The corners of the seer's mouth turned down as soon as the smell reached his nostrils, clearing the witch's doubt. Frankly, he wanted to leave him here to his own fate to be devoured by some monster. However, the man was also visibly covered in wounds on many parts of his body, deep cuts still freshly reeking of a disgusting bloody smell that had turned his clothes in a very poor state.

Helping an enemy was out of the question but there was also no way that he would leave the trespasser to stain the purity of the forest with his filthy blood. He pondered about the pros and cons of taking the seer at his house but after hearing the faint growl of a beast coming from afar, he eventually gave in to his passing empathy and carried the man back.

Quite a difficult task needless to say, the seer was a grown-up man who was quite healthy and Aesop even wondered what could possibly have wounded him so badly. He had seen the man's muscles after having to undress him begrudgingly to clean his injuries and all the blood. Not that he really wanted to know anyway. He would kick him out of here as soon as he woke up.

The witch got up from his stool to grind some herbs, rauwolfia serpentine, althaea officinalis, calendula... The salve done, he spread it on the wounds to which the seer winced in pain though still unconscious. Now Aesop only had to hope and wait. He left his room where the seer slept and went to rest on the love seat of his living-room with some novel he picked up from the shelf. He had drawn a spell to raise a barrier around his house so he didn't have to worry about unwanted guests disturbing him. That was a well deserved rest after such hardships.

By the time he had finished reading, he thought it maybe time appropriate to check the seer again. He set the book on the side and went to his room. To his surprise, the stranger was sitting up in bed, his head turned to the window, gazing outside.

"Since when you're already awake you should be able to leave now."

"Such a beautiful garden."

"Huh-?"

"Did you take care of it by yourself? I'm impressed." Was he deaf or doing it on purpose? The two stood there in an awkward stance for a moment until the seer let out a laugh before facing the witch. "Sorry for going astray, I was just too mesmerized by the beauty of the scenery."

Aesop felt his cheeks burning up.

"Do you even know where you are?"

"The Darkwoods, right?" he replied nonchalantly.

Of course, he knew. So he probably knew his identity as well.

"I don't want to know your circumstances. I was generous enough to save you but my kindness has reached its limit."

"And I can't thank you enough for that." The seer answered with a smile. "However, I'm afraid that I would die the moment I step one foot outside of this house so I hope you could have some mercy for this pitiful man."

"What-! You're a seer, can't you protect yourself-!?"

"Unfortunately, I dried up all my energy and it will need some time to recover."

Aesop had brought such a nuisance, and a shameless one on top of that. 

He tried to get rid of Eli, he really did, but the man almost fell on top of him when he helped him to get up. The idea of meeting the seer again as a corpse didn't really appeal to him so he ended up with no other choice than let him stay for some time. The faster he accepted this fact, the faster this whole story would soon be forgotten and he would be able to return to his peaceful life. Nevertheless, Aesop made it clear to the seer that there were some rules to follow if he wanted the hospice.

First of all, Eli shall not do anything. It didn't need much analyzing for the witch to understand that the seer was the kind who would do unnecessary things like trying to clean or similar tasks but if the man made his injuries even worse, his departure would also be delayed and that was the last thing he wanted, on top of the fact Aesop hated when his possessions were not in the right place. Eli didn't know anything about his house and there was no need for him to so he just had to lay in bed like the dead. Then the second rule was not to speak carelessly. Silence was paramount between these walls.

Overall, after some days, the seer respected them rather well. Even a bit too well actually...

For the whole day, the man would always sit at the table with a cup of tea while staring at Aesop. At first the latter didn't mind. However, the gray-haired man soon became aware that having someone gazing so intently at him was really unnerving. To deal with the issue, he started striking up random conversations with Eli. Small things like if pie or cake would be better for the dessert. Anything did the trick if he could get rid of the weird silent atmosphere he himself set up. 

In the end, a week passed and it was now a wonder if the two men could be considered friends. They definitely got along more than before but there was still a certain distance between them.

"Aesop? Is everything alright?"

"Huh- Yes... I was thinking."

"You always frown a bit when you think, that's kinda cute." replied the seer with a laugh.

"What are you saying again... Just shut up and drink your tea before it gets cold."

Eli grasped the warm cup between his hands, a honeyed liquid filling it. There was a sweet smell, a bit flowery, maybe like a rose? The seer sketched a smile as he looked at the drink before finishing it in one gulp.

"Thank you, Aesop."

"I don't understand why you're thanking me."

Eli simply smiled.

Silence filled the room again and Aesop stood up after some time. He walked up to the sleeping figure of the seer whose head laid limp on the table. His gloved fingers reached forward and he softly stroked the man's brown locks. They were soft. So soft... It would have been dangerous if he had let him invade his space longer. 

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