Ribbons Red Chapter 15 Lady Luck

Six weeks sounded like a short time until you spent it cooped up in a ship captain's quarters with only a cat and grimoires for company. However, a persnickety cat and old spell books made better company than none so to pass the time Einya and I studied the grimoires together. At first they seemed boring but soon, as I read further in them, I became fascinated.

The first chapter in most grimoires is an introduction to magic. This was the same in all the books. However, after the first couple chapters the application of these basic building blocks began to differ. It was sort of like giving two men a pile of wood and telling them to build something. One man could build a house just as surely as the other might build a boat. Neither man was right or wrong  in what he built so long as it served his purpose.

The spells in Loren's book were very different all the ones I had previously studied in Agus. In a manner of speaking, grimoires from Agus only how taught you how to build houses. It had taught you how to build them well and all the houses build were exactly what they needed but it had only ever taught you how to build house. It had never even mentioned the idea of boats. In contrast, so to speak, Loren's books were all about boats.

They focused very little on the spoken spells I had grown up with. Instead they focused almost exclusively on written and silent spells. Most of the spells in them used the dark arts, a type of witchcraft I had heard of but never experimented in myself to date. As Einya and I studied them I realized that these were likely the kind of spells Einya must have used when she was a human. How else would she still be able to cast spells without her voice as a cat?

By the time we pulled into Garrison six weeks later, I was finally starting to comprehend some basic written and silent spells. I found them harder to master than verbal spells but continued to practice them earnestly, sure they could one day come in very handy in my line of work. As Captain Kayc readied the ship for docking, Levi, who I had scarcely seen for the length of the voyage back, made his way down from the rigging. The thick soles of his boots made a thudding sound as they connected the salty wooden deck.

“Better find your shore legs, Levi,” I teased, “Captain says he should be lowering the gangplank any time now.”

“I'll do just fine,” he replied, brushing the dust off his pants with the dirt on his hands, “I'd tell you to find yours but I'm fairly sure you never put your sea legs on.”

I rolled my eyes but gave a chuckle. It agile and natural as he was on a ship, I was equally as clumsy and awkward. I would be happy to get back onto dry land. In contrast, Levi would probably be equally at home to continue dangling from the Captain's rigging. However, he had promised Silas he would keep watch over me so as soon as the gangplank was down we would return to the guild and report to Silas what had happened in T'sbuiz.

As I was gathering my things, Einya padded up beside me, the corner off her blanket in her mouth. On top of it she had managed to place her favorite toy, her food bowl and her water bowl. Right about that time Captain Kayc entered his quarters. He looked between the two of us for a moment before approaching.

“Your presence certainly does make that witch act peculiar,” he observed, his voice not really letting on where that statement had come from or where he intended it to go to. To my surprise, he leaned down and gently caressed her head before giving it a pat. “Guess your packing up means you're done with me,” he added matter-of-factly. She gave him an answering mew before rubbing affectionately into his palm. I stared at the Captain dumbly, not entirely sure what exactly had just transpired. That was when he turned back to me and said, “seems Einya here had made her choice. I'll gather the rest of her things and the two of you can be on your way. Seems she's decided she's going with you and heaven knows there ain't nothing that can change that witch's mind once it's been made up. Probably has something to do with them fancy books you got. I suggest you just go along with it.”

As I looked down at Einya looked up at me, her tail gently swaying, as if waiting for a response.

“W-well if that's what you think she wants she's welcome to come with me.”

Einya gave a happy mew, the corner of her blanket dropping from her mouth to the floor as she did. Though I'm not sure it was possible, I was pretty sure I saw her smile.

“Sounds like it's been settled then,” the Captain said as he handed me a small stack of Einya's belongings, “she's all yours.”

Levi arched his eyebrow curiously but said nothing as I carried my things down the gangplank with Einya draped on my shoulders. About halfway back to the guild, he looked us over and asked, “you do realize you have the Captain's cat hanging on you, right?”

Einya's body tensed as she gave my overly curious partner a short hiss of displeasure. Levi looked at her a moment before shrugging off her disapproval.

“I do,” I replied through a waving curtain of black tail, “as I was packing my things to leave, she practically packed herself up with me. The Captain told me there was no use trying to change her mind so he told me to take her with me.”

“Now why would that cat want to come with you when the Captain had her so spoiled?”

“She... I... it's a... long story,” I faltered, wanting to tell Levi everything unsure how Einya might feel about me spilling her secret.

“Well then I hope Silas doesn't mind her.”

“Me too,” I added with my lips quirked upwards into a smile; I was very certain Silas wouldn't have a choice in the matter.

We walked in silence for the rest of the way back. Once we had entered the guild we went to our rooms to drop our things off. Once everything was settled, I tried to leave Einya behind in the bed I had made for her but she insisted on staying on my shoulders and coming along. We argued for a short time but after she gave me a stern look and a hiss I shrugged my shoulders and, cat in tow, went to meet Levi in the hall.

Silas's door was open so we knocked and entered without breaking our stride. After greeting us with eager hand shakes he invited us to take a seat across from him at his desk. As I sat down Einya leapt gracefully from my shoulders onto the corner of his desk. After shuffling a paper or two to her liking, she laid down and curled up, crossing her front paws in front of her. She looked at Silas, blinking lazily as the end of her tail slowly tapped against the grain of the wood. Silas looked about ready to open his mouth and say something but instead gave his head a shake and inquired about our mission.

“It went as well as we had expected, perhaps even better,” Levi told him as he recounted what had happened, “Reveri here almost didn't come back in the end. Loren tried to butter her up with a banquet and made her a job offer. Even when she declined her gave her a massive stack of books and potions. It all made her smile quite a bit; I think you may have some competition for her, Silas.”

“Levi!” I scolded before directing my gaze back to Silas, “Levi is just trying to cause trouble.”

“So then Loren didn't offer you a job and give you gifts?”

“Well.. uh... he did but I told him no,” I reassured him with a smile as I slipped Levi a look, “you and the guild are my family. No amount of fancy clothes and old books can replace that.”

“Well then now that that is settled there's just one more thing I need to know, Reveri,” Silas said as he eyed Einya, “was that cat a present too? How is it that I sent you out to deliver a message and you end up bringing a cat home?”

“Einya is not a present. She...” I looked quickly between Silas and Levi for a moment before looking to Einya. She too look between them both before nodding her head and beginning to clean her paws. “Einya was Captain Kayc's cat. Well not cat exactly... I'm a little fuzzy on the details but he said she's really really not a cat at all, she's a witch.”

“Sounds to me like he pulled one over on you to get rid of that finicky creature,” Levi said as he studied Einya; narrowing her eyes at him she gave him a curt hiss.  

“No, Levi, it's true. I saw it with my own eyes. Remember that storm that came out of nowhere that kept the pirates from over running the ship? That was Einya's doing.”

“I have a hard time believing that strange eyed creature did anything of the sort.”

“I'd be careful what you say to her, Levi. Captain Kayc said she was quite the trickster with the crew that disliked her.”

“You can't be buying this, Silas,” Levi exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration.

Silas bent down close to Einya and locked eyes with her for quite some time before responding.

“I don't believe much in a lot of things people say magic can do,” he began. Levi began to grin smugly until he added, “however, this cat, Einya, does have something... peculiar... about her that I just can't quite get a feel for. I'd say if there was ever to be a witch in a cat, this cat would be it.” Einya purred as Silas scratched the top of her head. “I say for the time being we try to stay on her good side just in case.”

As he spoke, Einya lifted her hand up into Silas's hand to be pet some more; Silas obliged her. Levi looked between the three of us before heaving a defeated sigh.

“Fine but don't expect me to help you keep up with the ridiculous schedule Captain Kayc gave you for her,” he said to me, “she's your cat.”

“Very well,” I replied, “so long as you agree to remain civil with her.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. I'll play along for now.”

Once Silas was up to speed on everything about our journey he dismissed us to go eat lunch and finish settling in. Once my stomach was full, I fed Einya before pulling out the grimoire I had been in the middle of reading. The chapter I was currently on was titled 'Curses'.

A curse, it read, is never to be cast lightly. As difficult as a curse is to place it is that much harder to remove. The greater the change inflicted by the curse, the more difficult it is to cast. For instance, changing the color of someone's hair from black to green is a far easier curse than changing them from a human into a toad. Likewise the longer the duration of the curse, the greater the amount of power that is needed to cast it. The longer you want the curse the last the more witches you need to cast it.

As I continued reading I thought of Einya and wondered how many people she must have angered to have earned herself being trapped for so long as a cat.

For those of you still wishing to cast your curse, here is what you will need. First, you will need to construct a cursing spell. Cripple them however you like but above all else make sure to put careful thought into the wording. Magic can be fickle. If you want him to turn into a toad, be sure to say exactly that. Don't be wordy or poetic and don't say things like warty as a toad or else he may just end up a very ugly human instead!
Second you will need a binding point for the spell. This can either be a mark made on their flesh or a talisman they will keep with them at all times. Burning the mark into the skin is the most reliable but more difficult method. Beware that if you use a talisman that if the talisman is ever lost or destroyed that your curse may fail in it's absence.

I jumped when I felt something fall suddenly onto my shoulder but relaxed when I was it was just Einya. I'm not sure when Einya had invited herself to peer over my shoulder but at some point she had. As she leaned closer to see her paws pressed heavily on my shoulders and as I watched her eyes furiously scanned the page.

Finally she stopped and mewed at me. Lifting her right paw she licked the fur against it's grain then plaintively mewed at me again and nudged the area she had just licked with her nose. I stifled a gasp at what I saw. There, on the inner aspect of her right front leg there was a symbol. It seemed to be three circles with triangular placement, each one overlaying the two beside it. I recognized the symbol from my one of my first sessions of study many years ago.

The word 'lucky' seemed an unusual symbol to use as a binding point for a curse but there it was, plain as day, on what had probably been Einya's wrist when she was a human. There was no fur where the symbol was; this had clearly been burned onto her. Whoever had cursed Einya knew exactly what they were doing and must have been very powerful. The thought of what she could have done to serve such a cruel fate made me shudder.

Lastly, you will need the victim you are cursing. Whoever they are, regardless of their race and magic skills, you will first need to weaken them before applying your curse. For humans a simple deprivation of food, sleep and water is sufficient. However, for a magical creature, you may need to use a bath of leeches to weaken them further first.

Once you have... components... be sure to... Do not under any circumstances...fails or backfires... only one way...good luck.

I frowned as I tried to make out the rest of the words but age and some sort of stain had eradicated any other useful information on the page. I turned it over hoping that it continued onto the other side but as luck would have it, it did not. The next page started a new chapter called 'Elemental Spelling' which I was fairly sure wouldn't have anything else helpful in it. As I closed the book, I looked to Einya who had laid down dejectedly in her bed. With her chin in her paws, she heaved a sigh and closed her eyes.

I couldn't begin to imagine how disappointed in the grimoire she must be. As she slept I paged through the other grimoires Loren had given me but none of the others contained anything about how to remove curses or even how to cast one. A short time later I set them all aside, blew out my candle and settled into my bed. Maybe a good night's sleep and a trip to Silas's library would prove more useful tomorrow.