So stay away from me / the beast is ugly (scrooge x magica)

[lifesa_witch]

 The carriage ride was so long that by the time the horses stopped, night had already settled in. It was a full moon, allowing the stone pathway to be illuminated. The rider said nothing, simply taking Scrooge's bags and walking on ahead. With any luck, this wouldn't be a return trip - but luck had died long ago in this place.

In the distance, one could hear the caws of several ravens, far away in the dark forests. It was difficult to see the house in the darkness, but it was certainly large and grand. Definitely belonging to someone of high class and lots of money. After all, it was part of the reason Scrooge was here.

Another servant was at the door, waiting for them.

"Either look her in the eyes," he warned, "or have them stay on the floor. Never anywhere else. Just keep your introduction and qualifications short. it is..." He hesitated, glancing backwards. "Often too easy to stoke her anger. And lastly... never ask questions."

Some of these things had probably been told to Scrooge before - he'd been recommended the job, after all. Granted, the recommendation came with the mysterious woman buying up his shop like it was nothing. Still, it seemed at least the servants wanted this to go well.

Whatever "this" was... it was about to begin, if he was ready to enter.

Comments

[richestduck]

Scrooge grimaced but admitted, "Aye. You do strongly resemble the winged Egyptian goddesses. Why?"

[lifesa_witch]

She began to shift around, one leg crossing the other before deciding otherwise, shoulders moving back and forth. Fidgeting without limbs was difficult.

"And that's something you find..." She swallowed, her voice going even quieter. "Attractive?"

[richestduck]

"To an extent, aye. Where are you going with this?"

[lifesa_witch]

A low grumble in her throat.

"... The last book you read... combining it with some other texts offered a... possible solution. A ceremony of sacrifice to the gods of magic - that if I give up something of my body permanently... there may be a chance to return to normal. It's... no guarantee, but..."

It was apparently worth a short, and worth killing her dignity, as she still wouldn't look at him.

[richestduck]

"...And?"

He wasn't sure what she was planning on being rid of and how this related to how attractive he found her.

[lifesa_witch]

Oh, gods - how could he be brilliant when it came to books and money, but clueless to everything else? She clenched up as best she could, drawing into herself. How was she supposed to be sexy? It wasn't something she ever cared about before, so she knew nothing about it. Not to mention this body of hers wasn't exactly built to be provocative.

Another hard swallow, her voice dropping down to a whisper. "Sacrificing... my... virginity."

[richestduck]

Scrooge stared at her for a long moment, his face turning increasingly scarlet in embarrassment.

"...Magica, you're a lovely lass, I'll admit to that, but I think we need to go back over that passage."

[lifesa_witch]

There were worse ways to be rejected - although none came to mind.

"UGH! I knew this was hopeless!" She groaned, flopping down onto her bed. "Now I'll have to rely on Rosolio..." she muttered, fitting in another groan, longer and deeper.

[richestduck]

"Would you just...ugh." He put his face in his palm, blushing horribly red. "I just feel like I should have a say before I lose...that...too."

[lifesa_witch]

Magica paused, lifting her head a little to look at him. "You too?" She asked, surprised. She'd have thought, given his age and good looks, he'd had plenty a pretty girl in his arms and other places.

[richestduck]

"It's not that surprising," Scrooge grumbled. "A crippled bookman isn't exactly a highly-desired candidate for a mate."

[lifesa_witch]

So they could be awkward about this together. Fantastic. She flopped back down with a sigh. There was an idea to offer him more money to do it, but she didn't want to insult him by treating him like a prostitute.

"I know I'm asking a lot. And I certainly can't make you do it. You're just... one of only two people who wouldn't be disgusted with this body." And the other option... going through with Rosolio would be losing her freedom in other ways.

[richestduck]

Scrooge moved to sit down beside her on the edge of the bed. It was partially due to his leg but largely to show her that he wasn't disgusted by her. He rested his hands on the crook of his cane, blowing out a slow breath.

"Given the nature of what we'd both be sacrificing, I think it's best to do more research before we take a risk that we can't take back," he told her. "Particularly since if it doesn't work, anything we discovered later that would require either that sacrifice or anything originating from a virgin would be permanently barred from you.

"If you're worried about your finances, don't be. The price of gold is already starting to stabilize again and you have a wide variety of other assets at your disposal before you have to rely on any gold you have on hand. Since I came back, I've also resumed working on your finances, refining what I'd already put into place. You are safe on that front and can afford to take your time in finding a solution to this."

He toyed with his cane.

"If that's not the reason why you're so impatient to return to your true form, I'm not sure what other advice or aid I can give you since I don't know your reasoning. I'm sorry. Books and numbers make sense to me. People give me trouble."

[lifesa_witch]

Magica looked away from him with a huff. "My reasoning? I need more reasoning than being barely a step above invalid? I can't dress myself, I can't feed myself, I can barely bathe by myself! I'm trapped in a prison made out of my own flesh and blood!"

But. But...?

She inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to curl in on herself, barely able to do so. He wanted reasoning? Fine. He'd get more than anyone else had.

"...This spell was a result of me trying to find someone." She said quietly after a while, eyes closed. "And every day that passes, the time to find them... that precious gap... grows smaller and smaller."

[richestduck]

Scrooge didn't flinch as she yelled at him about being trapped in her own flesh and blood, his anger boiling.

"In case you've forgotten, Magica, I know a thing or two about being held prisoner in a body that makes it difficult to do things," he said quietly, trembling with anger but not shouting it out. "And unlike yours, mine is a guaranteed life sentence."

His bad leg had existed since the moment he'd hatched. He had struggled to learn to walk and perform simple tasks such as climbing stairs much less ladders. True, he'd managed to reach a point where he could do things on his own, but he was forever barred from being able to do half of the things he'd read about in his books. A lifetime of adventure while earning a fortune had been robbed from him with no guarantee that any children of his wouldn't inherit his misfortune.

Then his tone turned more gentle. "All you have to do is ask for help to find them. Let others do what you current can't. Because right now you're flailing about for any potential solution in ways that could ultimately lead to you making your situation worse and never being able to find them, and I don't think you want that."

[lifesa_witch]

Magica tried not to roll her eyes. "I know you think I lack brains, but must you think I'm that stubborn? If it was a mere matter of looking, I'd have every servant I own out searching!"

With a grunt, she tried to push herself back to a sitting position, which would take a while.

"In this body, I have no magic. And the one I seek disappeared because of magic. Without my powers, I can't find him. And those I know who do have powers like mine would only agree to help if I paid a steeper price..."

[richestduck]

"You've given me no reason to think you aren't that stubborn," he countered. "And if this is all because of magic, then tell me what happened. Because right now I'm reading cover to cover magic books on shelves that might have very little of use to you for quite some time."

His tone was firm, commanding. He'd had enough speculation and having surprises like a request for sex on the off-chance it might solve her problem.

[lifesa_witch]

Magica glared at him, angry - mostly because he was right, and she hated that. Another sigh as she straightened up. Where to begin? It really was difficult to pinpoint the exact time this whole thing snowballed...

"... The De Spells are a poor family, but we've made up for it by being more powerful than the average witch and warlock. But even in our world, money means everything. So my elders decided it would be for the best for me to marry a complete idiot, all because he and his kin are old money. I wanted no part of that... so I threw myself into making the Midas Amulet. Only then would I have 'real' power, the ability to make my own life without anyone controlling me."

It had worked... up to a point.

[richestduck]

Scrooge waited, suppressing the urge to point out that she'd succeeded and it didn't answer the question of why she'd come to this particular state.

[lifesa_witch]

"With the Midas Touch, I could have everything and anything. The world was my oyster. Why hold back on anything, when I could just make more money with a touch? But my family felt they were entitled to my money... and my so-called fiance's family felt entitled to me. So I decided to use a spell that would make them all go away... it was only meant to be temporary, just a warning bite so they'd learn a lesson. And it was only supposed to affect them."

She began to draw into herself again, wishing she could hug her knees.

"... My familiar didn't agree with me and my methods. We got into an argument while I was working on the spell. I was in the middle of making it... he tried to stop me. And because of that... he vanished. He could be anywhere. He could be nowhere. He could be in sands of Egypt or the jungles of Jamaica - or he could be in another dimension. Another world. He could have vanished from existence entirely."

As she began to describe endless possibilities of his fate, tears began to gather in her eyes.

"I lost my mind. I tried to get him back, but... I couldn't think straight. I don't even know what I did, or what spells were used... all I know is that after I tried, I turned into... this."

[richestduck]

He wondered if this was the first honest emotion he'd ever seen her share aside from various flavors of anger or annoyance. Perhaps that was why he took a minute to carefully consider what he was about to ask.

"Some of the expense receipts mentioned items for birds," he lied. "I take it they were for your familiar?"

[lifesa_witch]

It was - even more, it was one of the first honest emotions she had allowed herself at all in many a moon. The tears rolled down her cheeks, with her unable to wipe them away.

"A raven," she said in-between chokes, too torn up to even consider if he was fibbing. "He's a raven. My darling little Ratface..."

[richestduck]

He reached into his pocket to retrieve his handkerchief, dabbing carefully at the tears to mop them up.

"I promise you that I will do everything I can to help fix you or find some way to find your familiar without you being able to cast spells," he told her. "Do you remember anything about what might have been considered when you were trying to use your magic to find him?"

The fact that her familiar was a raven...he remembered her feet and wings.

"Could you have been thinking about transformation spells and ravens when this happened?"

[lifesa_witch]

His pity was almost painful. She didn't want to rely on him - or anyone. She sniffed, struggling to calm down - she'd shown too much weakness already.

"I was too frantic to concentrate on any one thing. I couldn't decide if I wanted him brought to me or me brought to him... I just... pulled at whatever I could grasp."

[richestduck]

If she was thinking about bringing them together one way or another...

Oh, that thought wasn't pleasant. Particularly after her original request to...Gods, he didn't even want to think about that.

He pocketed his handkerchief for the moment, reaching out a hand to place it firmly on her shoulder.

"Okay," he said softly. "We'll figure this out. But I'm guessing because of your family's and fiance's behavior, that's why you don't want to call on them?"