version one (status: dissected)
"Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge."
Porcelain wanted answers. The type of answers that weren't quite so easily answered by just asking oneself or a friend or a colleague, these were the form of answers that required someone in the profession in answering unseemingly unanswerable questions.
Fingering the slip of velvet paper that the bar tender had given her, Porcelain said the name out loud for about the thirty first time that day: Clarice Clarabelatheen.
Apparently, this Clarice woman was able to tell the bar tender where her ex-husband was hiding that she may take back the money rightly hers that he stole when they split. Porcelain shook her head as she remembered the vibrant woman, smashing her shot class down on the stained and scarred wood counter and smiling wanly at her, asking if she too had an ex she wanted to find and teach a lesson ("You wanna get back to the rude prick that did ey wrong, dearie?"). Why did everyone now-a-days expect girls of her age to be chasing some boy or another? But she smiled softly nonetheless and lied, saying that she was looking for her long lost brother.
The busty bar tender nodded knowingly, winking at her as if she knew her type well and she thought that Porcelain was looking for an ex but did not want to admit it. "Is it not an ex then but a boyfriend who done up and left ey, Hun?" the woman had asked, her voice thick and deep, like some of the models over at the Boutiques on the lower streets of town that Porcelain had passed once.
Once she was finally able to get the name and place from the woman, Porcelain picked up one of the shots herself, grinned, and said, "Drink up some decadence."
The large lady giggled, patted her chest, heaved with coughs, and then copied the younger girls example. Porcelain left the woman behind to talk with her empty whiskey bottles; she was somewhat ecstatic, for the first time in a long while her legs were moving fast, her body was ready to take chances, her eyes quick to go along with the beat of the town. Her mother! She was finally going to find her mother! 'Wait – calm down, one could never be sure if she is a real sorceress.' she told herself. Then again, she hadn't heard of one in the area for two years now, and had certainly never talked to one. Porcelain held the velvet paper between her pointing finger and thumb, spreading the other fingers so far back they began to ache, keeping her hand up to her face. She closed her eyes. Using magic to transport herself to anywhere she hadn't previously been was always difficult, but using her minds eye Porcelain connected the written ink from the sorceress's name back to the bar tenders hand, up to her mind, into her memories. Finding a glimpse of a forested area off a road leading out of town. A rush of wind, the feeling of being suspended for two seconds, and Porcelain found herself on a small brown trail leading into a lush forest. 'I barely even had to bend my knees that time' she noted with a sense of pride, pocketing the velvet slip, remembering her very first magic trip and how she had landed in the top of a large tree, cutting her hands and damaging her left knee in the process. "Fun times." she sighed sarcastically to herself as she started to walk along the trail; being the apprentice of Piper had many perks, but also great downs as well.
Now, as she stood outside of the caverns door, weeds growing around the axis and the old wheels, as if anyone inside had not been anywhere in a while (which she knew for a fact could not be true, considering that she would have been aware of this woman's presence has she been there longer), she wondered if she truly would be so fortunate to find someone so special to her from a place with such low standards of a home.
There was a cat with a large, shaggy coat that had the color that only could be recognized as cream, sitting on the sagging front step. It hissed once Porcelain set her foot on the step, but the young girl just mumbled, "Oh shove off!" and lightly bumped it with the side of her ballet flats.
Porcelain banged the door knocker of a large rusted sun made of metal, its gold paint nearly completely peeled off. There was a rustle inside, then silence. Another eight seconds passed before the girl heard anything else, this time a voice which sounded like a bad version of an old witches croak.
"Can I help you?!" The owner of the voice nearly belched out.
"Um, yes – hello- I am looking for my mother and...a friend recommended you."
"Dearie, you do know that I do not charge only an arm and leg, I will also take your heart?"
Porcelain paused at the disturbing mental image, then smirked slightly and answered, "Well, go ahead then, because it's not quite so large anyway."
"Aha ha hee ha hee! Aha – hack!"-at this point, the Clarice woman was coughing painfully during her attempt at a sinister laugh-"haaack! Haaack!"
Porcelain rolled her eyes, just about ready to turn back. Just then, the door was thrown open, and a thin lady with glass green eyes, ridiculously curly hair, a silk turban, heavy make-up all over her face, and drowning in an overflowing dress with eight different shades of orange and iron-on shapes. "Come innnn." The woman beckoned toward the young girl, taking her hand lightly and guiding her inside the cramped tavern.
As soon as she reluctantly ducked into the tavern, trying to not be hit in the eyes with all the beads hanging from the door frame, Porcelain didn't know where to look first. There were ornaments, jars, paintings, puzzles, jewelry, beads, shells, nick-nacks and overall crap all over the place.
'Too late' Porcelain thought in annoyance as her face smacked into a large, plastic flower hanging from the ceiling; the whorl of the fake plant opened up, squirted water straight up her nose, then closed up again, leaving the girl to snort and sneeze and glare in annoyance.
What was she doing here? She knew better than this....But she had tried everything else already, she didn't know what else to do. True, Piper had said that sorceresses were not to be trusted, but neither was he! 'Besides, I don't see him giving me any answers sometime soon!' Quite the opposite, really. It was obvious to her that he meant to keep her forever, all the whole keeping her in the dark. Well, pish posh to that.
Clarice Clarabelatheen gestured to a seat on the left side of a round table covered in a light blue silk tablecloth adorned with silver moons and stars. "Please sit!"
Pausing momentarily, Porcelain decided finally to give the ridiculous lady a chance and sat down quickly. She had met a fortune teller when she was five while at a Renaissance fair with her older brother; but that lady just needed plain help, this one was just scamming people. Although Porcelain knew this, she could not pull herself away. She was no longer human anymore, so she wasn't worried about anything that this fraud may attempt to do to her. Truly, the only thing worse than using magic to take ones true being would be to lock them within themselves. 'I'll be very frank and tell you that death is better than either of these options of which I lay before you.' Piper had whispered in her ear that one night many moons ago. 'How do I know that you are not fibbing?' she had asked herself more than him, but he replied anyway.
'My dear, for 1) I do not fib, and 2) if I did, I would be fibbing to myself, and 3) fibbing may rhyme with "living", but both are very different from the other.' She heard a viola in the background, and somehow had a distant feeling that she would never reach that area of where its sound was coming from even if she tried. His hands had her firmly by the wrists, stretching out her arms with his own, her head resting on his chest. He was making her listen to the absolute silence which was restrained in his chest, the complete nothing of which can only come about from a heart that has stopped beating and was replaced by magic. 'Do you know, only men can change women and women can change men?' he had said rather absently, stroking his fingers down her neck, feeling the top column of her spine. She had said yes then. He let go of her hands, she let them fall to her sides, and he tilted her head up, gazed into her eyes, kissed her deeply. Porcelain felt the magic and substance that people call "medium" slip from his mouth and into hers, finding its way down her throat.
It was like eating fire, tasting warmth, holding sparks on her tongue. One moment there was this heat, then cold, next pressure, then nothing; she had felt a vast emptiness invade her mouth, run itself to her chest and rest there. In those moments of her changing Piper had held her and looked down on her with fascination and a near adoration. He had never witnessed a changing before, it was amazing and frightening in the same moment. He lied her down in the middle of a bed of red Camellias. Before Porcelain fainted, she felt the same pressure from earlier spread her mind and soul outwards for a split second, then come in again. And in that moment, she knew; her heart was no longer with her, but out among the many other hearts that rest among the absent and lost places in the sky. What was left for her to feel was a darkness that frightened her, and she remembered thinking, 'Is this the real form of magic? The "medium" of which everyone speaks about?' Piper was above her, eyes creased in near worry. "I will love you...my Porcelain." She knew he would do anything for her right then, so she smiled and said, in her homeland tongue, "Αν αυτό με παίρνει, ελπίζω ότι θα πάει επίσης."
If it takes me, I hope it goes well.
Porcelain was staring at the table, aware of her absent mood but frankly not giving a damn. Clarice rattled a cobras tail tip right under her nose, causing the young girl to jump back and blink at her.
"Now, who is it that you are searching for?" The sorceress said, patting down her dress and gazing at the young woman across from her with curiosity.
"Ah...." Clarice nodded in almost the same manner as the lady at the bar had, then smiled, showing a set of perfect teeth if it weren't for one with a stain on it.
"Of course. I mean, normally young, beautiful ladies like yourself are searching for a lover or a past boyfriend or they want to see if their prince charming is in their future-"
"Ma'me, I am looking for my mother. Now can we kindly hurry this thing up?"
Clarice scoffed lightly and looked down her nose at the girl sitting opposite her. "Oh I get it. You don't want to mention him, eh?"
Porcelain blinked. "Well...he can be kind of embarrassing."
Clarice leaned over onto her elbows and smiled, bouncing her finger tips of each other. "I knew it, honey! Let me guess, out in public he does the most ridiculous stunts that he thinks impresses you but honestly makes you wonder why your still with him. Psh!"
The sorceresses scoffed and waved her hand at the hair, rolling in her eyes in a "been there, done that" manner of which Porcelain didn't doubt.
"Not exactly. I barely see him in public. He just has all these weird codes and things that he wants me to say when I actually do see him..."
"Whaaat? Oh, babe, do you mean as in-"
Clarice leaned forward, an odd light in her eyes, and Porcelain found herself leaning in as well, thinking for a second that this woman might actually know Piper and just maybe had some more information that she could tell her about him-
Wow. She didn't see that one coming.
"Don't be denying it, babe – you know I'm right. Men think they own everything right down to your pretty little nails. Now, here's what you should do."
Clarice Clarabelatheen stood up and then hopped onto her chair, reaching somewhere above Porcelain's head in all the many jars and drawers and chests on the old, dusty shelfs. A rabbits foot feel onto Porcelain's lap, followed by a small bag of random trinkets and pills of dried flowers, then a jar with several small rodents' jaws right on top of her head. Damn it did that hurt!
Porcelain rubbed her sore head as Clarice continued to rummage around above her. All of a sudden, a stuffed black cat fell right in front of her face, hanging off fishing line that had tangled on it's leg. "HOLY WATER SPRITES!!"
"Oh, 'scuse Chester, dear. He was my first cat."
'I'mmagetoutofhere.' Porcelain had her hands under her thighs, staring at the middle aged woman (now sitting once again), her jaw open.
The sorceress was holding a bottle with a murky looking fluid inside it out to her, a mischievous expression on her pale face. "This will make him obey any command you may have."
Porcelain sneezed, rubbed her temples and then gazed at the ridiculous sorceress through bleary, tired eyes.
"Okay. Let's start to look for my mother, whom I TRULY am looking for."
Porcelain smiled lightly; she had plenty enough. And yet...
"No way, granny – not until I know that you can actually help me."
"Half now and half later then, Sparky."
Porcelain agreed begrudgingly. Once the money was in Clarice Clarabelatheen's hand, she stuffed it somewhere under the round table, closed her eyes and set her hands on the crystal ball in front of her, then proceeded to ask Porcelain a parade of ridiculous questions.
"What leg do you put in the sea first when you venture in?"
"Um...what does that matter and how should I know."
The sorceress woman opened one eye, squinting at the girl. Then she sighed heavily and mumbled, "This one's no fun, she is."
"What is your mothers name?"
"Where is the last place you saw her?"
Porcelain looked down, hiding her face.
"Well, let me just prepare my mojo juice now."
Porcelain blinked. Her...mojo juice?
Clarice Clarabelatheen began to hum in a slow, steady mode, moving her hands over the glass orb over and over. All of a sudden she stopped and said, "I see heeeer...at a dock in New York. She is wearing a pink dress, her hair is up in a pony tail."
Clarice sighed deeply, then sat heavily back into her seat. "Ahhh and that's all that will come to me, dearie. Now pay up."
Porcelain gapped; of course, was did she even come here in the first place?
"Are you kidding me?! My mother never wears pink and there is no way on earth she'd be in New York!"
"Well!" Clarice huffed, then stood abruptly (hitting her head on a pan in the process), marched to her door, opened it and said, "I hope you find your mother some other way then! Good day!" Porcelain rolled her eyes, stuck her hand other table, feeling for a container stuck to the top of the table.
"What do you think you are doing?!" The fake sorceress shrieked.
"Retrieving what is rightly mine, obviously."
"That is payment for taking my time!"
"Seeing as you so clearly don't get much customers, you should be paying me for even putting up with this until now."
She had the container in her hand now. It was a leather pouch and opened toward the side where Clarice sat. Porcelain was surprised to find her mothers ring in there, laying underneath the bills. She whipped her head toward Clarice, fierce anger in her eyes and in the set of her mouth.
"You took my mothers ring right off my finger!?"
Clarice didn't bother to hide her pride of swift fingers. "I knew you were that type; the people who are so used to a finger or piece of jewelry always being there that they assume it will always remain. Sort of like ghost pain."
Porcelain shoved the money into her purse, stuck the ring back on her finger and stomped out of the traveling vehicle. As she excited, she nearly tripped over the cream colored cat. It hissed at her, and she would have seriously kicked it this time where it not for the comment of Clarice:
"Oh, don't mind Hugo – I gave him sausage so that he may act aggressive. They don't abode well with his stomach, but, sadly, this place would be lacking without a sinister type of cat."
Porcelain laughed and half scoffed at the absurdity of the whole situation, walked down the step, and stalked off toward the main road again, shaking her head at her stupidity. She would just have to keep looking for her mother on her own.
Behind her, Clarice sighed and pulled out a cell phone from a hidden pocket in her robe-like dress. She dialed a number, then waited.
"She wasn't quite as naive as you had put, sister."
The woman on the other line, the one from the bar, laughed and replied, "Well, I could have sworn that we'd get something out of her! Ah, well, I'm going to pick up some cat nip for Hugo so I'll be home late."
Clarice closed her phone and dropped it back into her pocket, then scratched her head and looked at Hugo's sprawled form on the step. "Would you like some tea, Hugo? I would." Plucking the mewling cat from his spot of rest, the thin woman entered her small home again, humming.
What Porcelain, Clara Clarabelatheen, and even Hugo were unaware of was two gleaming eyes deep in the forest, watching Porcelain as she made her way back to the town. This stranger wanted more than anything to tell Porcelain about her mother, but could not. Never in this strangers life would they aim to hurt the one thing they had left. The stranger pushed back its dark hair from its eyes and glared at the ground, closing their eyes, if only for a split second. In the next instant, the stranger disappeared, only a pint of warmth hanging in the atmosphere from their magic, the type that had the tendency to elude the senses of even those with high Medium power; a magic thought to be extinct. It grabbed ones secrets, exposed them fully, and then threw it back in their face, but did not promote death, for everyone always realizes their mistakes at that point. For after all, only a true Illusionist can take away ones own illusions.
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