After pouring the last bucket of heated water into the tub, Olwen stripped off her clothes and sank into the warm waters with a sigh as her muscles began to relax. Leaning her head back against the tub for a bit, she exhaled loudly and closed her eyes momentarily. Then she opened them a minute later and began washing herself, starting with her body. The scents of lavender and vanilla filled the room then as she went about this task of cleaning herself from all the day's grime and laboratory mishaps.
At the school today, there had been a small accident with one of the junior students as they had carelessly spilled the contents of some black substance on the floor and Olwen had unfortunately fallen right into it, getting black gooey stuff all over her including on her once pristine robe. The robe had already been taken care of and it now was hanging up to dry on a wooden bar attached to the wall. It wasn't the first time something like that had happened, but rarely had Olwen fallen right into the middle of it, literally. Oh sure, she had had to help out with cleanups and healing on many occasions, but never actually went sliding in some chemical stuff, whatever it had been. The student who was working with said substance was some kind of transmuter or some such. A field Olwen wasn't really familiar with.
Now completely finished and feeling good as new again, Olwen laid her head back on the rim of the tub again and closed her eyes. The water was quickly becoming tepid so she would have to get out soon. But for now, she was content to stay put. But soon she opened her eyes again when a strange feeling came over her. Like someone was watching her, that familiar tingly feeling one gets in their spine. Olwen looked around for the cause of it, wondering for a brief second if some peeping tom from her school with invisibility powers decided to spy on her while taking a bath. She hoped that wasn't the case though, as she would definitely have some scorching words to say to their face. Plus such behavior could get one suspended for a month, if not outright expelled if they did it repeatedly.
Just then, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye and she quickly reached for a towel then.
Reed aimlessly floated throughout Serendipity. While passing by a nearby house he catches a whiff of vanilla and lavender. "Lavender? Marie and I used to pick lavender almost every afternoon. Maybe she is calling to me." Reed ponders.
Reed phases through the house and follows the scent until he found its origin. He resided in the corner as a woman washed herself. She had straight black hair instead of blond curly hair, her eyes were green instead of blue, and she didn't have a voluptuous build.
Reed drifts out from the corner. "Why temptress must you taunt me with memories of my beloved?"
If Olwen had been expecting something, it definitely wasn't a ghost. For he was a ghost, as translucent as he is with shaggy black hair that hung in his eyes. And he was rather scrawny too. Getting out of the tub then and wrapping the towel around herself, the blood mage glared at him, who seemed to have a cocky expression on his pale see-through features. "Well, I won't ask how you got in here, for that much is rather obvious." Olwen said dryly.
"I hope you enjoyed the show, because you won't be seeing that again. Now who the hell are you and what are you doing in here?"
Ensuring that the towel was secure around her body so it wouldn't fall off, she crossed her arms and looked point blank at the ghost man.
"Your features are admirable." He said eyeing her up and down once more before looking her back in the eyes. "But I shall not fall for your spell temptress. You tempted me with scents that reminded me of my beloved and then you claim that I wasn't suppose to see you like that...are you trying to make me lust for you?"
"And I shall thank you for the compliment." Olwen said sassily. Then her eyes narrowed. "Now get out."
"You cannot expect me to bypass your treachery and mixed signals." Reed crossed his arms and looked at her nose stuck in the air. "Since you deceived me I require your blood so I can speed up my search for my beloved."
"Well, good luck with that." Olwen also stuck her nose up into the air, mimicking him. "Because you aren't getting any from me. Now if you don't mind, you can scram now. The door is that way, or whatever method you ghosts use to spy on people." Olwen pointed to the bathroom door.
Reed looks away showing signs of defeat. He was never good at arguing. "Fine I'll leave...but it was unkind to trick me like that."
Reed then floats up and through the ceiling. Now back outside he gives the house a stare then sighs as he floats away.
"Trick you?" Olwen snorted after he left. "How does simply taking a bath trick anyone? Must have had a rough love life when alive."
Shrugging, she dropped the towel then and dried off, then got dressed promptly. Her robe was still damp so she donned another that was hanging up in her wardrobe in her bedroom. Gathering up her bag, and sticking a couple books inside of it, one on summoning different types of creatures using blood magic, while the other was on healing potions and herbs, she tied the drawstring up and slung it over her shoulder before leaving the house, saying goodbye to her parents before she left. Her hair was still wet, and would have to air-dry like normal.
Olwen had to head back to the school to do some research as it was, so that meant her first stop would be the library. Arriving there after about ten minutes of walking, she plopped down her pack on one of the nearby tables and got out the two books in her bag to return them back to the shelf. Soon grabbing another one and she sat down with it, opening it to a bookmarked chapter on blood magic theory she wanted to read to refresh her memory on something. The library itself was quiet, with only one other student currently there with her but the other girl soon left to go to a class she had to attend. Therefore leaving Olwen by herself for the time being.
While wandering Reed noticed a mage's school. He was curious because those never existed when he was alive, they may have even helped him moderate his magic because lack of moderation was his ultimate folly in the end.
He phases through the school noticing that some people were afraid, amazed, or unphased."Hmm maybe the library will provide some good answers." He ponders while entering.
A cool wind picked up then flipping the pages and therefore making Olwen lose the page she was currently reading. Sighing, she got up to close the window before realizing that all the windows were actually fully closed. That was when she spotted the ghost.
"You again." Olwen crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her foot on the floor beneath, not so much in impatience as she was in aggravation. "I'll bet you definitely caused a scene to get in here. That desperate, are you?"
"You are the temptress from earlier? What are you doing here? I just came here to read about blood magic control, so I don't kill others when they offer blood."
"Were you expecting someone else? So sorry to disappoint." Olwen rolled her eyes at his continued usage of the word 'temptress.'
"As for blood magic control, you came to the right place. Lots of books around here you see." Sweeping her arm out in an exaggerated manner to indicate all the reading material present.
"To answer your other question I am a blood mage so I have every right to be here. Does that surprise you?" Olwen asked point blank.
The sarcasm blew right by him once he heard that she was a blood mage too. "Really? You are one too!" He shifts awkwardly giving off a melancholy air. "Maybe if I had met another blood mage when I was alive I wouldn't be dead right now."
He looks longingly towards the books, then back to her. "Maybe it was fate we met...and if that's true then that means you are not a temptress of sorts." It wasn't noticeable but if Reed was still alive then he'd be blushing in embarrassment. "So I believe introductions are far over do
...I'm Reed Haynesworth."
Well, that was interesting. This Reed is or was apparently a blood mage in life. "Yes, I am one too, been a blood mage since the age of fifteen in fact."
Olwen blew a strand of hair out of her eyes then. "And if this is indeed Fate, then I will say that Fate needs to work on her meeting times a bit more. I don't fancy having more ghosts visit me during bath time. Once was enough, thank you very much."
Olwen didn't move, but a hint of a smile could be seen on her face then. "My own name is Olwen Water-Berry, a blood mage but you already knew that last bit. So, what exactly do you need to look up? Blood magic is a hefty study after all."
"Well I...um was..." Reed fidgets awkwardly because he knows this'll lead up to how he died. "I was hoping to learn how to control the amount of blood drawn for large spells...because I took to much from myself when making a pact with my beloved...and well died."
Reed hangs his head in shame after that sentence. "I need to perform more spells, but as you can see...or see through I don't have any blood so I was hoping draw from someone else. I just don't want to kill them..."
Well, that answers that question. Olwen thought.
Looking him straight in the eyes, she told him in no uncertain terms. "Yes, blood magic is a tricky business. I myself have to be careful not to take too much from myself, besides of which my ritual knife helps to regulate that somewhat for me. The rest of it is simple common sense."
Olwen paused to get out her ceremonial knife from within the recesses of her bag in order to show it to him. "See this? This is what I use. The rune on there is easily recognizable to represent the arcane word for 'blood.' I always make sure to use it no matter what kind of blood magic I'm doing. Obviously summoning rituals take a lot more time and effort, as well as blood and using this knife is never more important than that at these times. I had it crafted especially for me."
The knife itself was a black-handled one and besides the rune it was completely plain, devoid of any other adornments on it. But it was pretty sharp, being needed to draw blood quickly at any time. When not in use, Olwen kept it in a black leather sheathe with a flap over top to close it. Easy enough to pull out and use and not cause any accidental harm with it either.
"It also helps to have plenty of gauze and bandages on hand, just in case. You can never go wrong with that."
Yeah...I wish you were alive when I was...I just hope my spell worked on Marie at least...I would've found her spirit by now if it didn't." Reed realized he was trailing off. "So um what's the likeliness of success for life extension nowadays."
"If you're referring to immortality, I will tell you that is not my area of expertise. I've never used my blood magic for that purpose but from what I hear, it is a very challenging thing to try to achieve, much less accomplish it." Putting her knife back up, Olwen continued.
"However, I must ask what it is you are trying to do here. In case you haven't noticed, you are dead. Trying to make yourself immortal without a body seems a bit pointless, don't you think? And I know very little of blood magic that can return the soul back to the body, especially if the body has been dead for a long time. Unless you plan on doing some body snatching." Olwen quipped with a bit of a half-smirk.
Reed's face sinks in disappointment. "So it's still challenging even now..." He looks up now with determination. "What about survivors of blood pacts? Do you know anything about that?"
Olwen thinks about this for a moment or two. "I don't, but my teacher might. However I don't think he is in today, but perhaps I'm wrong. We can go check if you'd like. Although..." Olwen smirks again.
"I'd recommend staying here and in a corner somewhere. After all, don't want to scare the students now do you? Heck, some might even try to study you. Depends upon their magical goals."
Reed tilts his head curiously. "The ones who would want to study me, would they know anything useful and if so wouldn't residing in a corner be counter productive."
Just then the doors swung open and a hooded students trudges in. "What about them? Do you know anything about them?"
"Well, don't say I didn't warn you."
Olwen looked up as the two students emerged, one was clad in a black robe while the other was in a red robe. Their hoods covered their faces, but Olwen knew who they were. Joshua, the 'Black Diviner' as he called himself, as he delved into scrying the mysteries of the spirit world and its denizens and Rudo, the blood mage of summoning and other interesting tidbits or so he claimed. Rudo was about to say something to Olwen, when his gaze was brought directly to the ghost in the room. Joshua already saw Reed, and was staring intently at him, an unnerving smile showing beneath his hood.
"Well, looks like its your lucky day." Olwen looked back to the two mages and promptly introduced them. "May I introduce to you Joshua and Rudo, mages of divination and blood magic respectively. Rudo is in the same blood magic study group as I am. Joshua and Rudo, this is Reed, a ghost with a rather transparent goal. Perhaps you two can help him out." Olwen smirked again, as Joshua already seemed to be trying to study the interesting specimen before him.
"Greetings fellow mages. As Olwen has already said I am Reed, a not so alive blood mage. I would like information on someone who got..." Reed chokes up a bit trying to explain the scenario without repeating himself fully. "Who got the better end of a blood pact...I got the worse end..."
Mentally Reed hopes that the blood mage could answer the question the he had for Olwen in which she could not answer and he hoped that the diviner had insight on the whereabouts of Marie.
"Apparently a blood pact that didn't end well." Rudo answered, looking at Reed's see-through form. "For at least one of you."
Glancing at Olwen briefly, he turned his attention back to the ghost. "Who was the other participant in this ritual?"
Joshua kept quiet for now, content to simply study the spirit before him. He seemed to have a strange gleam in his eyes, as though the sight of Reed was the most fascinating thing ever and perhaps to him it was. Perhaps he could get a sample of spirit dust, a strange energetic, nebulous substance that ghosts seemed to exude when they were present on the material world of existence. They tended to leave some of this substance behind wherever they went, but not always. If he were lucky, this ghost was giving off some of it right now. It would require special equipment in which to gather some that did no harm whatsoever to the spirit it belonged to. Then he could take it back with him to one of the laboratories the school has within its halls for further inspection.
"Her name is Marie Forester...she is a noble...she is so beautiful, it is hard to miss her..." As Reed spoke his fists clench and it almost seemed like the ghost was crying. "It's been years since it happened....I don't know how many years though."
Rudo pondered this information with a thoughtful look on his face, or what could be seen beneath the hood he wore. "I'm afraid I do not know of any Marie Forester." he mused. "Is she a resident here?"
Olwen had since gone back to her book, but still tried to pay attention to the conversation between the others. Noting the ghost's hands clench into fists, she frowned a little. While his story was sad, she wasn't one to get all teary eyed over something that didn't really involve her. Regardless, she hoped that he would find the person he was looking for, if only to get him off her back as the blood mage certainly didn't want a spirit popping in again at bath time, or even worse while she was trying to conduct a ritual or spell. Kia only knew the damage that would cause. Shaking her head, she returned her attention back to her book.
Reed shakes his head at Rudo. "No...she's from Summervale, please is there anything you can do to help?" What seems like tears rolls down his cheeks. Splashing on the ground the true identity of the essence was revealed. Reed's tear were really small bits of spirit dust.