[Open] It's a Big Enough Umbrella

[backwordscompatible]

Characters: Zatanna Zatara (backwordscompatible ) and YOU
Date: The Week leading up to the Masquerade
Location: Various Sectors and places around the turtle
Situation: Getting set up at her new jobs, while simultaneously making upcoming plans and learning more about...things.....
Warnings/Rating: S for sass.  Because she's made of it.


➢ Job #1 (Ice Cream Shop)
➢ Job #2 (Magic Shop)
➢ WOOD SECTOR
➢ FIRE SECTOR
➢ WATER SECTOR
➢ Misc.

Comments

Job #2

[backwordscompatible]

[By day, however, Zatanna had managed to find something a little more...her. Something so specific to her interests and talents that she'd been required to audition before the owner would hire her.]

[Needless to say, as a sorceress, it wasn't hard to prove her capabilities of working in a Magic Shop.]

[Not just any magic shop, either. One that catered to all kinds. There was a small section in the front with your usual parlor tricks and gimmicks, but the majority of the room contained items of a more spiritual nature. Ritualistic supplies and ingredients. Candles. Incense. Herbs. Talismans (unpowered, of course; charms cost extra). And, if one were to peek behind the restricted curtain area, he or she may find items of a significantly more...powerful nature. Should one come seeking such things.]

[Zatanna was dressed for the part as well. hair pulled back into a high ponytail, she had on slightly heavier eye makeup than usual, and dressed in modest, loosely-flowing clothing of earthy and cool tones. A small pendant hung around her neck: a metal pentagram. Simple, but powerful...in meaning only, of course.]

[Business was slow, and the young sorceress was busy occupying herself by skimming a few journals in the reading section. A little bit about Turtle "magic", with a strong emphasis on fortune tellings and palm readings. Not unlike what she had known back home, but just different enough to capture her interest.]

[notdreaming]

[ Kara was a curious sort. She spent most of her time wandering the turtle, and occasionally she would run into people willing to chat her up. From time to time someone would ask her why they saw her so often, just wandering. She would tell them she had nothing better to do.

One such person had been kind enough to, upon request, try to explain magic to her and even wrote out the word so she would know what it looked like.

That was how she found the Magic Shop.

She peered at the toys and parlor tricks in the front. She had never seen anything like them before, and she wished she could read what they were supposed to do. Her gaze turned to the rest of the store, and she frowned at the other items. About half of them looked familiar. What were they all for?

Then she spotted her friend, and perked up. ]

Zatanna! Do you work here?

[backwordscompatible]

[Zatanna poked her head up over the book she was reading, offering a friendly wave once she saw Kara. She doubted the older girl was there as a customer, but just in case her boss chose that moment to show up, she got up anyway.]

Hey, Kara.

Yeah. Just started a few days ago. What do you think?

[notdreaming]

I think you look nice. [ She likes clothes that are more flowing, and she really likes green. ]

I hope I didn't interrupt you.

[backwordscompatible]

Thanks. It's definitely an improvement over my other work uniform.

[As she speaks, she brushes a stray piece of hair from her face.]

Not at all. I was honestly just killing time until a customer came in. Speaking of...was there something I could help you with?

[notdreaming]

I was just curious. [ She turns to look at the display of candles, then some of the more odd looking talismans. ]

I still don't really understand what magic is, and I don't like not knowing things. [ The hazards of being from a family full of scientists. ]

[backwordscompatible]

Nothing wrong with that.

Feel free to walk around. If you have any questions, that's what I'm here for.

[notdreaming]

[ Oh, Kara has questions alright. ]

Ka- Clark told me that magic is just what humans call things they can't explain. But candles are simple to explain. [ She doesn't understand. ]

[backwordscompatible]

[Off the top of her head, Zatanna doesn't know who Clark was referring to. One of her friends, probably.]

I have a friend who thinks like that.

Candles are fairly simple. They're just wax and wicks. You light them, and they burn until you run out of both.

[A knowing smirk, however, reveals that there's more behind it.]

[notdreaming]

It's a very simple chemical reaction. So what's 'magical' about that?

[backwordscompatible]

They're not magical until they're enchanted. Just like anything else. Most of the time, you use them for lighting in casting delicate spells simply because natural elements work better than artificial lighting.

But candle enchantments are a little different. Rather than have something explode with power all at once, it can ease the process. Like, say, you're attempting a love spell. Or healing.

[notdreaming]

[ None of that makes any sense, but she will take a moment to process. More immediately: ]

A love spell?

[backwordscompatible]

[It's hard not to laugh. Female customers often jumped upon the notion. Unsurprisingly.]

They do exist. Though I wouldn't recommend it. First, because the magic involved is borderline chaotic...and second, because forcing emotions on someone can be pretty empty.

[notdreaming]

And it creates love? [ Kara is much less excited by the idea and more slightly disturbed. She never liked the idea of gene matching, but that was a fairly regular thing on Krypton. It didn't create something that wasn't there before. ]

[backwordscompatible]

Not real love.

At most, it can create a bond between two people. Get the person affected to really start noticing things they might not've before. Maybe even fake the chemistry for a little while. But, when all's said and done, it's all superficial. Not anything like what happens when you let nature run its course.

[notdreaming]

[ That sounds, at the very least, a little less frightening. And she finds that as she thinks of it she can think of mechanisms or the basis for mechanisms of how something like that might work. But it's supposed to be magic, so she's not sure what that means. ]

I think I understand. What other sorts of things can you do?

[backwordscompatible]

Me, specifically, or do you mean something you could buy here in the store?

[It was important to differentiate. Zatanna's simple answer to the former would be anything, but there were instructions and rules for the latter.]

[notdreaming]

With magic, anyone. [ Because, well, she's here. She may as well get an overview. ]

[backwordscompatible]

Well...it's mostly low-grade stuff if you're not a "natural witch" [She says the latter with a hint of sarcasm. It was the phrase the shop owner used. She wasn't much of a fan.] Some simple glamours to create the illusion of a changed appearance--things like eyes, hair, skin color, and maybe even clothing. A few healing spells for minor injuries. Truth spells. Revenge curses. And, of course, your classic voodoo doll.

[notdreaming]

[ Zee has certainly piqued her interest. ]

What is a voodoo doll?

[backwordscompatible]

Hold on...

[She glances around for a moment before finding the section she was looking for; a few feet away, there was a large wicker basket with an assortment of hemp dolls. Each containing two black eyes and otherwise nondescript features. Picking one of them up, she holds it out for Kara to see.]

Once they're properly enchanted, you can use these to directly inflict pain or bad luck on the person you tie it too. Like, if you manage to get a lock of their hair or a very personal possession.

...most of the time, it doesn't work, though. Few people actually know how to use these things correctly. They don't realize you need to know actual pressure points, rather than just stick pins in at random.

[notdreaming]

That's horrible. [ She says that, but she looks closely at the doll with some interest. ]

When you say pressure points, do you mean the same ones that are on a person's body?

[backwordscompatible]

Maybe not quite as many, but I'm pretty sure they do match up, yeah.

[She offers the doll for Kara to touch, if she really wanted. Not that there was anything particularly interesting about this one. It wasn't enchanted. But still, the offer was there if she was curious enough.]

[notdreaming]

[ She accepts it with some hesitation and holds it up in front of her face, peering at all the stitching and trying to figure out what makes it so special. It looks like an ordinary doll, just... without any details. ]

[backwordscompatible]

I can show you a little bit, if you like. I do have the power to enchant those things, after all.

[One of the prerequisites for getting hired.]