Information


Marie has a minion!

Crafty the Yarnlong




Marie


The Blacklight Jollin
Owner: Pureflower

Age: 3 years, 6 months, 3 weeks

Born: September 5th, 2020

Adopted: 3 years, 6 months, 3 weeks ago

Adopted: September 5th, 2020

Statistics


  • Level: 144
     
  • Strength: 94
     
  • Defense: 10
     
  • Speed: 10
     
  • Health: 10
     
  • HP: 10/10
     
  • Intelligence: 119
     
  • Books Read: 100
  • Food Eaten: 0
  • Job: Glitter Master


She collects spell materials by the light of the full moon. Most of her ingredients come from land. A few wash in by sea. The beach to the south of her seaside cave yields treasures of vast variety. Glass bottles now empty of the drinks they held. Plastic shovels half-buried by distractable toddlers. Tacky costume jewelry and friendship bracelets that either wore out or were intentionally cast aside.

All this junk and the occasional bit of driftwood goes into her sealskin sack.

She takes keeping the beach clean quite seriously.

Once the sand is scoured, she flits from tree to tree at the border of the nearby forest, collecting fallen branches and pebbles upturned by burrowing rodents. If she's very lucky, she might even find a few small bones. A discarded antler is treasure beyond measure.

She delivers her findings to her cave and ends her scavenging trip in the shallows of the ocean, washing the dirt from her paws and filling her seaweed sack with seashells and bits of coral.

The moon is still floating above when she deposits the last of her findings on the sorting pile.

*****

She sorts through her finds as dawn approaches. Large pieces get the hammer. Tiny pieces go down the garbage chute to the magma pool far below.

Everything else gets carved into beads.

Her magic manifests when she creates chains of beads. She can bless or curse using any old bracelet but she finds the potency much improved when she uses beads shaped with her own claws.

Two claw-punches at either end make the beads easy to string. Her claws are naturally hard as diamond - a perk of channeling so much magical energy.

Her beads are sorted not by material, but by color. Red is for blood. It can give the wearer great endurance or sap their strength, depending on whether she places a blessing or curse. Green affects fertility and growth. Blue impacts agility, the body's ebb and flow. Yellow is for strength, the might of the sun or the patience of the moon.

White and black are special enhancements to make a blessing - or curse - longer lasting. She uses these sparingly. Plain wooden beads are carved with symbols that refine the blunt instruments that are the colored beads.

The sun is just breaking the horizon when the last bead is flicked into its pile. She seats herself comfortably in front of the shallow stone basin where rainwater collects, eyes half-lidded as she falls into a trance.

*****

Her first unwitting customer has been cursed out by no less than thirteen spurned lovers for his wandering ways. He thinks nothing of playing with young hearts, seeing one-night stands as his right, regardless of how his partner of the week feels.

He breaks hearts without discrimination. Boy or girl, young or old, beautiful or ugly. Blessed with a gorgeous body himself, he doesn't count the word modest in his vocabulary. He knows all eyes are directed his way. He wants them all to look.

Marie murmurs under her breath, stringing a series of shrunken red seed pearls, sickly green stones and gnarled wooden beads. A clasp made of polished obsidian finishes the circle.

She slips the bracelet into the pocket of his discarded swim trunks, knowing he'll be back shortly to collect them. His phone is in the other pocket.

He finds the bracelet, snapping it on his wrist with a grin. He can't remember the girl's name but she'd mentioned something about jewelry...or was she from Germany? Whatever. He'd been pretty into his third beer when they met. The beads were unusual enough to help him pick up the next conquest.

Misfortune gleefully started pursuing him the instant the cursed beads touched his skin.

The girl he was trying to coax into a surfing lesson accidentally hit him in the mouth with the end of her surfboard. He spat out a tooth, horrified by the sight of his own blood. He was used to living off the charity of his lovers - he certainly didn't have money set aside for dental work.

The clasp held for six weeks, making him forget the cursed bracelet was even there. As soon as the curse broke, he noticed the ugly strand of beads on his wrist. Breaking the string with a violent twist, he flung the beads into the ocean.

He'd been hunted down by three angry husbands and lost his space in the shack where he'd lived. Tourist season was rapidly coming to a close and the young man at Tiki Shack who had once looked at him with barely concealed lust was now looking at him with pity.

Ducking his head, he hid his flawed mouth with an upraised hand.

"You need any help? I make a mean mixed drink."

"Sorry, bro. Try again next season."

Winter was brutal, forcing him to move into the city to survive. Spring found him with a mop in hand and a new false tooth, earning his first honest living.

*****

Her second customer was the single mother of a beautiful little girl. The child's father had died overseas. The mother insisted on giving her child everything a child could want including frequent visits to the beach and thrilling camping trips under the stars...

...and if the stars would ever align in her favor, the little brother or sister her daughter begged for every day.

He'd known the hazards of his job. They'd made plans and gone to a special clinic before he'd left on his last mission.

Her heart was willing but her body wasn't getting the message. After two failed attempts, she was giving up hope of ever having another child.

She found the green bracelet when she was rummaging through her bag for sunscreen. It was a lovely thing, like the tropical waters she'd swam in with her husband on their honeymoon. She slipped it on, smiling at the sparkles of sunlight dancing over the beads.

Her daughter's demanding voice made her immediately forget this new accessory.

She went back to the clinic on a whim, willing to try one more time.

Nine months later, she waved her daughter closer to her hospital bed, smiling as the sisters met for the first time.

She took no notice when her worn bracelet crumbled to dust.

*****

Most of Marie's customers came to her attention through a whispered prayer or a muttered curse...but there were always those few brave souls who believed enough in magic to seek her out.

The boy couldn't be much older than ten. He'd run away from the latest foster home where he was one of six mouths to feed. Raised on adventure stories like Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island by a mother taken from him too soon, he'd decided to try his luck at sea.

Unfortunately, modern commercial fishing ships have little use for scrawny cabin boys. The captain had turned him in to CPS, turning a deaf ear to his pleas.

Marie scuttles to the entrance of her cave, baring her teeth in a warning when his head pokes over the ledge.

"Find your own place, Sonny. This one's taken!"

"Please...I'm not a thief."

"I beg to differ. You've stolen a significant chunk of my patience by making that climb."

"I only wanted to meet you. I read about this place in a book of mariner's tales."

"Did those stories happen to mention how much we like turning pesky children into toads?"

He gulps. "Yes. I think I'd rather be a toad than go back to a life where everyone forgets about me."

She blows a gusty sigh. "If I make you a guiding charm, will you promise to leave and never seek me out again?"

"Oh, yes! Only...I don't have any money."

"Paper is useless in my line of work. I'll take your memory of this cave. That's payment enough."

The end result was a bracelet in every color of the rainbow.

"Wear it at all times, even when you're asleep. The string will break and the magic disperse when you find the family you seek."

"Oh, thank you!

She snorted, not letting a smile cross her face until her back was turned. She couldn't have her fierce reputation tarnished.

*****

He saw his hometown through new eyes.

He noticed the charm of ivy clinging to street lamps. He smiled at the old man playing an accordion so his three young granddaughters could dance. He paused to pet the scruffy mutt who lived in the alley behind the fishmonger's store.

He strolled right up the walkway of the house where he'd been miserable for three weeks.

Nobody had noted his disappearance. Nobody commented on his return.

School started back up. Even the threat of long, boring hours behind a desk couldn't break his bolstered spirit. He started getting better grades. He did the chores without being asked. He didn't cry when there wasn't a single present under the Christmas tree for him.

His new parents would surely buy him a truckload of presents.

Two of the other children were adopted. He was happy for them and all the more excited for when his turn came.

Then Wayne moved in.

Wayne had only two years left in the system. He knew no happy home was going to pluck him from the misery of foster care. He was bitter and loathed everyone around him.

Especially the cheery runt with the rainbow bracelet.

Pushing the boy around did no good. Dumb runt was just so sure he had a home waiting for him.

Wayne sneered. "You know what I think of your adoption chances, Bookworm?"

He grabbed the bracelet and pulled as hard as he could, snapping the string. Beads went flying in every direction.

The boy scrabbled in the gutter muck, frantically scooping up the magic beads but it was no use. The warm, comforting weight of the charm on his wrist was gone. They were reduced to just beads.

He bowed his head and cried. Wayne walked away laughing.

"Are you okay?"

She'd been on her way back to the office with her usual turkey avocado BLT on rye. Her only life companions were a handsome Ficus and a temperamental orange tabby named Peanut.

She'd never seen a sight as sad as that little boy in the gutter.

He held out a grubby hand filled with the most wondrous assortment of hand-carved beads. "The magic's gone."

"Well...let's see if we can fix it."

He turned out to be quite the little chef-in-training. He saved her quite a bit on lunches. She used the money she was saving to buy them books they could both enjoy. Being called Mom was pretty weird at first but she quickly grew to like it.

*****

Marie stretches in the moonlight, the prior day's workings already archived in her mind.

The gathering begins anew.

TBD
TBD
Profile template by Lea.
Story by Pureflower.
Background from Here.

Pet Treasure


Green Beaded Bracelet

Gold Long Beaded Necklace

Pearl Long Beaded Necklace

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