Forbidden Magic
Disclaimer: I don't own victorious
A/N: So this is a rather complex idea I've been sitting on for a few weeks, difficult really to explain except it involves spells and so on. Oh, and after much deliberation, Jade's perspective is best. Enjoy
Oh and this is just a prologue of what is to come-let me finish my other work first-there is not much left of Lessons. Plus, I want to get ahead on this, but I wanted to give you a taste of what's to come.
Chapter 1 (Prologue: Free the Spirit)
"Everyone has their own way of doing each ritual, some methods work better than others. It is important to invoke a state of calmness, so long as you do it properly, it will be fine." Jade West stood over the sniveling Robbie Shapiro, who was seated on a small chair with a raised platform that he held his right arm over. He was clutching his left firmly and whimpering at the reddish, decaying flesh. "I've only dabbled in the arts-but I know a thing or two about the rules. Do you have any idea who it was that did this for you?"
"I don't." Her eyes drifted towards a nearby circle of wax candles. In the center of the circle, the puppet Rex lay sprawled out. Nearby was a pedestal with a brown book and gold pages. "I told you it was years ago, I'm just now noticing this happening to me. Some guy performed the ritual, he was heavyweight and had a bald head-but that's all I remember of him. He was present when my brother-you know…"
Someone that didn't know anything about wiccan or magic knew little about the rules and the laws of the world. One of the biggest things to never deal with would be the free will of a person-living or dead-the binding of a soul was considered forcing a spirit to their earthly bondage. This would certainly invoke the law of karmic energy, which Robbie was now experiencing. This meant it was clear the man taught him how to perform the forbidden law.
"Karma is a very real force, Robbie. Cause and effect, action and reaction, this is used to clear up disharmony and to restore balance. It is neither a punishment or a reward." Robbie clenched his teeth as she brought a soaking rag to his decayed arm. "Good and bad karma attaches to your soul, and throughout life you find positive energy will give you good opportunities while negative energy creates obstacles that teach you lessons in life."
"Something to that effect. So what, I'm getting a dose of negative energy?"
"Basically. See, the deed or a thought doesn't create karma, but the intent behind it is what does. It is not so much what you have done with Rex-as it is what your intention was. Wiccans believe that no act should ever cause harm to another. The Wiccan Rede, a code of contact stating 'it harms no one, do what you will'. All it means is simply do nothing to harm another."
"No offense-" Robbie let out a painful grunt as steam rose from the rag. His fist clenched and sweat flicked off his brow. "-But is this going anywhere?" She put her hands to her hips and walked over to the puppet, pointing down at it as the eyes slowly moved towards her.
"The ritual the man had you perform is an ultimate act of sin, but you were young at the time and didn't realize it. You had just lost your brother, you were distraught and frightened, so this man showed you how to bind a soul or a spirit to a body-or in this case-inanimate object." Rex's flesh body had been lost in a cabin fire, so the closest object had been this puppet. "So essentially you forced the soul into that of a puppet, making it live and breathe as your brother once did."
"Yeah."
"What you seek isn't always what you get. This ritual could have conjured up anything-whether it was your brother's soul, or a part of him-or a demon. It doesn't really matter which, because eventually they will turn dark from the anger of being unable to cross over to the light."
Jade picked up a long black stick-she hated calling it a 'wand'-and began to hover it above the candles and the puppet. "The ritual I'm performing will free the spirit from its bounds, Robbie." He sniveled and bowed his head, trembling lightly. "You could have turned it into a dark, evil spirit, but regardless the scars on your arm are a sign if anything." The spirit or demon, whichever had been trapped had grown malicious and due to his action attacked him. The attack zone was clearly the hand he often used to hold the puppet in place.
She was a little concerned that she wouldn't be able to heal anything. The use of magicks was meant to be benevolent, for the healing process. If a wound was due to some sort of spiritual assault or negative karmic energy, she may not be able to cleanse it. Karmic energy would become positive with good intentions behind actions. Her main issue was she wasn't full blown Wiccan, she just knew the rules and some of the practices. She practiced witchcraft as a hobby, and if she did, it was mostly for the medicinal benefits.
"How long until the pain goes away?" Robbie's grip on his arm was strengthening from what she could see. A vein was popping out of his hand and running down his arm, it was as if he was trying to tear his wounded arm clear off.
"It will be a few minutes. I need to release your brother first." She flipped through the pages of the spell book until she located the releasing of a soul from an inanimate object-nowhere near complex as removing a decaying spirit from a human body. "This is the anti of whatever that man did."
Though it was almost like an exorcism, coming with the same idea. "What's happening to me?" Asked the puppet in a weakened, raspy voice. "Where am I." There was a soothing spiritual tune playing that was meant to relax the soul, but perhaps she'd left Rex idle for far too long.
"I'm freeing you from your earthy bondage." The wooden heard turned towards her and a slightly demonic possession overtook the creature's eyes. This was where it would get messy, but she was grateful that the spirit was inside an inanimate puppet and had been carried most of the time by Robbie, therefore never learned to properly walk. If the soul grew malicious, it would be unable to physically attack the person trying to release it, unless it were trapped inside a deceased human.
In which case, this was where the zombie horror films originated from-people trying to release the souls of those dead, the malicious spirits would attack the person with viciousness. Most times the host body would decay on its own over a long period of time, but it was more humane to release them early.
Many times if it were a human possession it was harder to realize it before it was too late and either the malicious spirit rampaged and destroyed everyone in its path or it decayed very painfully. Inanimate objects were easy, due to the unnatural talking and moving they would do.
"What if I don't want to be released anymore?" Rex's voice grew to an unholy deep level. His arms rose and fell on the ground with great ferocity. "What if I just want to eat?"
"That's not my brother!" Robbie vocally panicked, his eyes grew large and his curls fell before his frenzied glare.
"Of course not. Even if it had been, he wouldn't be forever. Even from day one, they're never like they used to be. Be happy you put him in the body of a puppet, otherwise I'd be making you hold him down."
"With a bad arm?"
"Yes!"
"I thought you believed in that passive non-violent stuff?"
"I am not full Wiccan. Heck, I'm still studying. Keeping my options open."
"Then how are you going to release this soul or whatever?"
"Anyone can do it. Wiccans, Christians, Bhuddists, you just need to have a knowledge of the spiritual realm…" She began to read the spell for release, and Rex's eyes grew large.
As she read, she reached for that of a small toy car that was about the length of her index finger. She cupped her hand around it and moved her eyes towards Rex, her voice rising with the spell. This car belonged to Robbie and was his favorite item. It was necessary in calling back the goodness of the original spirit and releasing them, but the item itself had to be very specific. If it was a grey towel with a red stain, for example, that was the item needed-not a yellow towel.
A gust of wind blew her hair to the right and swept at the lit candles. Rex began screaming as the candles slowly unlit one by one. "I don't want to go!" Rex cried. "I want to stay here!" Jade did not falter in the spell, and tightened her grip on the car.
Soon the puppet lay still on the ground and the white spirit of a young boy stood before them. This boy had curly brown hair, freckled cheekbones and soft blue eyes. He was older than Robbie in life, but now he was the younger. Jade's lips curved into a smile while Robbie gasped in shock. "What's going on?" Rex asked in a hushed whisper. "Am I free?"
"You are," Jade replied, "Free to go into the afterlife. I'm sorry for your imprisonment." She looked to Robbie. Tears were streaming the boy's face and his lips were quivering anxiously. '
"R-Rex…"
"Brother?" Rex moved over to Robbie, gazing softly into his eyes. "Why did you do that to me? Wouldn't you want me to be free?"
"I-I wasn't ready to let you go. I'm sorry!"
"I love you little brother…"
"I love you too." Jade folded her arms across her chest and lifted her eyebrows as Rex began to fade. Robbie was finally letting his brother go. She was gravely concerned about this man that instructed Robbie with this spell-he had to be a dangerous warlock-but she didn't know what kind of game he was playing. There had to be some sort of trick, some reason he let people think they could perform such a vile art.
"Will you let me go, Robbie? I really want to see grandpa."
"Yes. Yes you can go…"
"You'll be okay won't you?"
Robbie bowed his head, weeping bitterly. "Y-Yeah. I'll be just fine. I'm sorry I kept you." Jade carefully shut the book and walked over to Robbie as Rex's soul drifted up to the heavens. Robbie continued to weep. She eyed the lifeless puppet and shook her head.
"One should never mess with the dead, Robbie. I'm sorry you had to go through that. Now…" She reached for the enchanted rag and lifted it off Robbie's arm. The decayed flesh was now healed, but scars remained very vivid. The boy gazed down at the scars with wide, fearful eyes and looked up to her for an answer.
"Not completely healed?"
"Everything you do has consequence. I can't heal your scars inflicted by spiritual energy the way they were. I can't interfere-I could only heal your flesh. The rest is up to you…"
"How will I move on now, Jade? Without Rex…without my brother…"
"You'll find a way. Believe me. In the meantime, I'm going to try and find more out on that guy you were talking about-maybe I can see why he was doing what he did."
"Do you think there are other victims?"
"I don't know, he would have to be in pretty bad shape by now if there were. Anyway, you're free to go." Robbie moved over to his puppet and crouched down, whimpering as he cradled it. He had no choice but to move on now, to grow and learn not to commit the same travesty again.
Just a taste of what's to come. Going to try not to make things obvious. I'm waiting on a couple other stories of mine to progress (one is close to being done) so I can do this without feeling too overwhelmed with my current school and work schedule as well as what I've got written. So bear with me. Tis the perfect season and month for this type of story. Not really a horror but a mystery, somewhat, you'll see.