Possession

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Warrl
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Possession

Post by Warrl »

Sister Luke had just finished sweeping the nave of St. Bartholomew's and was reaching for the door when someone began banging on it from outside.

It took but a moment to decide which side of the large double door was being assaulted, and she carefully opened the other side and stepped through it, after leaning her broom against the wall just inside. A young black man stopped beating the door and turned to her.

"Sir, why do you assail the House of the Lord?"

"Demons," he said. "I'm possessed by demons."

"Oh, and why do you think this?"

"Well, um - that shit!" He pointed through the door beside her.

She turned, and saw that the broom was hovering with its bristles a foot off the floor and drifting toward her. As it was easily in reach, she grasped it. "I see. I think you should come inside."

"I don't wanna burn up!"

"Most unlikely. Sir, I assure you, of all I have seen in my years here, this is not what you would find the most strange." My face in the mirror this morning might qualify, she thought.

Reluctantly he stepped inside, and carefully checked himself over for smoke or flames.

As the door closed, the nun said "I'm Sister Luke. And you are...?"

"Fred Lancaster."

"Fred, demons of the sort you refer to are very rare. And if they possessed you, would they let you come here? I suspect not."

"Hm. Good point."

"Far more likely, I think, it is you yourself doing these strange things. You are, in short, a newly-awakened mage."

"Mage? Magic isn't real - and if it were real, it would be evil wouldn't it?"

"Sir, a hammer is evil when used to crush someone's skull - or it can be used to help build, well," she gestured at the church around them as she led the young man to a pew. "This. My rosary," she fingered it, "is an object used in prayer." Suddenly she yanked it hard to one side, taut across her throat. "Or someone could grab it and try to choke me with it. Magic is quite real. It is no more, and no less, evil than any of these other things. What matters is what one chooses to do with it. What would you do with it?"

"I think it's evil. I want to be rid of it."

"That, unfortunately, I don't think is an option. And - the floating broom, you're having such events fairly often?"

"It just started this morning. I finished shaving and my toothbrush popped up into my hand."

"It answered to your will, did it not? I wish to call on some people, better suited than I, to advise you. Would that be acceptable?"

"Make sure they know something about demons, please."

"Very well," she sighed as she brought her phone out from a hidden pocket and placed a call.

« Friar Xavier. May your day be blessed, Sister Lupus. »

"And a blessed day to you, Father. I have a young man here, I think him to be a newly awakened mage. He fears demon possession, though. Can you, and that demon expert you know, come and check him over? And maybe a mage to start training him?"

« I'll see about the demon expert. She can usually get free pretty quickly, this time of day. The mage, well, that will take longer - I don't actually know any personally. But I can try to get something started. I'll let you know in a few minutes. »

"Thank you, Father." She put away the phone and turned to Fred. "Now, I need to tell you that you've entered a part of the world carefully hidden from most people, and those of us who live there really want to keep it that way. But I'll give you a brief introduction while we wait. For one thing, most of the creatures of mythology actually exist - but aside from the basic physical descriptions, the mythology gets a lot wrong. Okay so far?"

"So all those bloodthirsty monsters - "

"That is one part that is almost always wrong. We're no happier about bloodthirsty monsters than ordinary humans are, and some of us are EXTREMELY capable of dealing with them on their own terms - or in a few cases, on ours. I heard there was one up north a few years ago; it was destroyed within days of its discovery."

"What was it, a werewolf?"

"I don't know just what it was, but a werewolf would not have needed nearly as much cleanup; they had to burn a few square miles of forest. Since you mentioned them, though, how do you think new werewolves are made?"

"Um... somebody gets scratched or bitten by one and not killed?"

She shook her head. "When a mommy werewolf and a daddy werewolf love each other very much..."

"Seriously?"

She laughed. "Quite seriously. Although half-breeds are fairly common too. But werewolves are no more bloodthirsty on average than humans. Quite a lot go into the arts. One is a nun at St. Bartholomew's."

Her phone beeped, and she hauled it from her pocket and read the message. "That was quick. Look over there."

He turned to the center aisle where she pointed, and it suddenly became occupied by two people: a middle-aged man in typical priest's garb, and a short thin extremely-busty Latina woman of some fewer years. The new arrivals immediately stepped toward them.

"Good day, Sister Luke, and...?"

"Friar Xavier, this is Fred, the mage I mentioned. He's been having things float around on him. And you, young lady, must be the demon expert."

She nodded. "Monica. Fred, I understand you're worried about demonic possession."

"Right."

"Let me look... Mage confirmed, nothing unusual in the way of demons. Hoo boy, you've been feeding Self-Hatred well lately though."

"What?"

"One of your personal demons. You thought that expression was figurative, right? It's literal, they really are demons. Almost everyone has some bound to them - I still struggle occasionally with Doubt. But it's the demons, not the people, that are bound, and they're under very strict rules, or they get clobbered by things they are terrified of. They can't actually do anything, they can only talk - and normally, only to you."

"Normally?"

"I'm one of the exceptions - and also one of the things they are terrified of. I'll show you."

Suddenly she was standing with him inside his head, with one hand clenched around the neck of a slimy green-splotched humanoid figure with a face that, while horrific, was recognizably his own. This is your strongest personal demon. I would name it Self-Hatred. You listen to it too much - look how fat it is in the gut. Try to be the sort of person you like, and believe that you can do so as well as anyone. But don't expect perfection, nobody is perfect. You'll screw up; everyone does occasionally; pick up the pieces, set things right as best you can, and move on.

She spun around, and faced him again with a creature grasped between two fingers; it appeared to be constantly getting smaller. And this is Inferiority. Not so well-fed, but not exactly wasting away either. Don't let people, let alone this demon, tell you that you can't succeed for stupid reasons - and skin color is a stupid reason. But these guys haven't actually broken the rules, so -.

She released the pair, who promptly ran and hid in the shadows, then somehow reached inside herself and pulled out another figure, a sort of blurry thing that made him unsure if it was there or just where its edges were. This is my Doubt. Tries to make me uncertain of everything I am and everything I do. She stuffed it back inside herself and was just standing near him in the church again.

"You actually have fewer personal demons than most people. And here's the important thing about them: If you don't do what they say, what they wish, if you just ignore them, they become totally..." she leaned toward him and whispered "... completely ..." further, her face just inches from his "...HARMLESS."

She stepped back. "Now, what was the other thing the good Sister asked about?"

"A mage to train him," the Friar answered. "I only know people who know mages."

"I know a few Mages, but they have complicated situations themselves. I'll ask around. Fred, what do you want out of this?"

"I want to be rid of it. Rip it out."

Monica shuddered. "The last Mage who did that was executed for the crime. His victim didn't have a functioning mind any more. If that's all you'll accept, you're on your own. But we can do better if you'll let us."

Friar Xavier looked at Fred. "You're still thinking of magic as evil, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Okay, so... is healing evil?"

"Of course not. Healing is of God. Magic can heal?"

"Yes. I've seen it happen. Monica, since you know some mages, can you add onto that?"

"Yes, magic can heal, but for Mages it's slow and takes a lot out of them. You'll rarely have a Mage heal anyone more than it takes to get them to medical care, because it's so draining. One of the strongest Mages I know broke her foot, and even on herself she just healed it enough that she could hobble out to her car and go to a doctor."

"So, not really."

"Yes, really, just not very much. Except there's a special sort - Healers. Their gift is so highly tuned that they aren't usually thought of as Mages; they can do almost nothing magically except healing. Which they are very, very good at; a Healer can do in seconds, with little effort, what would take a Mage hours and leave them exhausted."

"Now that's more interesting. Is it really the same sort of magic, just used differently?"

"I'm guessing the theorists are trying to figure that out. It's at least a similar sort of magic."

"How do you know that?"

"Bear with me a bit, this takes some explaining. There are two ways of measuring power. Think of a truck. A bigger, more powerful engine means the truck can haul more, or go faster. That's one kind of power. The other kind is in the fuel tank - a bigger tank means that whatever the truck can do, it can keep doing longer. Follow me?"

"Yes."

"Mages can make power wands. Basically just embed power in a quartz-crystal rod, and then they can use it days or weeks or months later when they need a boost. Kind of like a spare gas can in the trunk. And a Healer can sort of use a Mage's power wand, although they won't get as much from it as a Mage would - or a Mage can do a little twist and make a power wand that is tuned for Healers. So Mage-magic and Healer-magic draw on powers that are at least similar enough that a Mage can transform one to the other."

"So," Friar Xavier broke in, "there's something of God, that you can help with because you're a mage."

Fred turned to the priest. "Father, do you trust what this woman says?"

"On the matter of demons, absolutely. She's been in my head too - yes, I recognized the looks on your face and hers. One of my personal demons tried to blab stuff to her, violate the seal of the Confessional, and she silenced it quite firmly. It didn't disturb my sleep for a month! Healers, mages - she knows more than I do."

"But," Fred said, "to do this, I'd have to find a Healer."

Monica answered, "First, get training and be more comfortable with your magic. When the time comes, there's a strong Healer that works in a hospital somewhere in the metropolitan area - you don't need to know where yet. I can connect you, if the Friar or the Sister can't, and the wands will be well-received. Somehow I doubt that they've ever wished for a little less power in the tank."

"Heh, probably not, working in a hospital. And if I pour this magic into wand-making, it won't be doing weird shit in the rest of my life?"

"I think that's right," Monica answered. "I think the magic just wants to be acknowledged, and preferably used in some way. But I'm not a Mage. Now, assuming I find you a willing trainer, how will that Mage contact you?"

"For now, can I just leave my number with Sister Luke?"

"Sensibly cautious."

"And the mage can come here to me," the nun said, "and I will call Fred for that first contact."

"But," Friar Xavier said, "Fred, here's my card with my number. This has been a bit of a shock to you, and this little chat may not be enough to keep you calm. Feel free to call me."

"Are you okay for now, though? I need to finish some paperwork for my shop," Monica said. "And I brought the Father, so he probably wants me to take him back where he was."

"I think so," Fred answered. "Thank you both. I have a lot to think about. I think I'm convinced it isn't demons though."

Monica and the priest stepped back to the middle of the aisle and disappeared with a soft "poit."

"Well. Quite the talented woman," Sister Luke said.

"Fuck yeah. Oh, sorry. Wait, did you say..."

"What did I say?"

"Did you say there's a werewolf who's a nun? Here?"

She just smiled. Her teeth looked very sharp.
-- fin --
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Just Old Al
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Re: Possession

Post by Just Old Al »

{Applause!}

Great bit.
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Atomic
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Re: Possession

Post by Atomic »

Bravo!

Somehow, I sense I may have been an inspiration...
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Warrl
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Re: Possession

Post by Warrl »

Atomic wrote: Tue Jul 07, 2020 9:55 pmSomehow, I sense I may have been an inspiration...
Not exactly, but I needed a church (preferably Catholic) and someone in it who'd be para-aware, and I remembered that scene.

There's also a section of dialog that is borrowed almost directly from the comic.
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Atomic
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Re: Possession

Post by Atomic »

Happy to have served!
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Warrl
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Re: Possession

Post by Warrl »

(Also, there really is a Saint Bartholomew's in Wayzata, MN.)
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Just Old Al
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Re: Possession

Post by Just Old Al »

Warrl wrote: Wed Jul 08, 2020 3:33 pm (Also, there really is a Saint Bartholomew's in Wayzata, MN.)
Wayzata problem?

I'll get me coat....
"The Empire was founded on cups of tea, mate, and if you think I am going to war without one you are sadly mistaken."
Warrl
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Re: Possession

Post by Warrl »

Just Old Al wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2020 2:52 pm
Warrl wrote: Wed Jul 08, 2020 3:33 pm (Also, there really is a Saint Bartholomew's in Wayzata, MN.)
Wayzata problem?

I'll get me coat....
Well, it isn't really a problem now, but it was founded a long time ago when the Twin Cities metropolitan area hadn't spread nearly so far, so Saint Bartholomew's was a wayzata town.

(deposits some very old county maps in the pun jar)
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Atomic
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Re: Possession

Post by Atomic »

Somewhat like the origin stories of Dead Horse, Broken Axle, and Enough.
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Re: Possession

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Nice!

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