#63: Spooky Season #2 (Cursed Vengeance)
Prompt: wizard, cursed, black dress
In the aftermath of a vicious shinigami attack, shapeshifting wizard Starrk is forced to work with a similarly cursed witch (Hallibel) to free Lilynette from his enemies.
It's not difficult to take on a cursed form. For Starrk, it's easier to be in cursed form than human form and the giant wolf feels more like 'him' than standing on two legs ever has. Never mind the glowing symbols tracing his limbs and back, four ears, barbed tail, hole in the chest, and nine tails…it still feels right.
…Or it would if he didn't have a bloody, silver-laced puncture wound in his upper right chest.
Starrk staggers through the woods, panting harshly from the pain. He's taller than most of the trees in this shape and his legs rival the tree trunks for size but he's still shaking from pushing himself too hard after such a grievous wound. Many of them topple when he bumps into them too hard, making his trek noisy and drawing attention from everyone and everything in vicinity.
The animals wisely flee when they notice him and if there are any humans nearby, they quickly follow suit.
However, he's not looking for them.
"Starrk."
He stops, head lowered and puffing through his nose when a familiar, no nonsense voice hails him from the ground. It takes longer than it should to find the speaker but eventually his eyes land on the black-clad form of a beautiful woman in a black dress seated astride a broom overhead.
"…Hallibel." He grunts out in greeting and lets his hind legs slide out from under him so he falls into a sitting position.
The younger witch takes this as permission to inch forward, eyeing him warily. She's in human form and wearing the traditional clothes of her kind: a black dress accentuates her shapely figure, black high-heels come to blade-sharp points (Literally. There's a metal pick in each toe.), and a black hat sits atop her messy golden hair. Pale blue curse marks wind their way across the tan skin of her hands and arms, glowing with ready magic as she comes closer to Starrk, and her green eyes are narrow and cold.
"What's wrong with you?" She snaps.
He huffs out a deep sigh. "…Shinigami. One of them got me."
He raises onto his hind legs, towering above her even in the air, and she stiffens before noticing that he's bared his wound to her. Even Hallibel's frosty composure wavers at the sight of the massive gash and she can't quite suppress a sympathetic wince. It's a sign of weakness she quickly covers and Starrk notices but says nothing.
"I see." She glides backwards and looks him over again, more appraising than wary now. "But I don't see why you're here."
"I was looking for you."
Just like that, her wariness is back.
"For me? Why?"
Starrk shifts from paw to paw before grimacing, a severely intimidating expression with such giant teeth.
"They took Lilynette."
This time, he purposely bares his teeth in clear anger and Hallibel pulls back even further, ready to flee if he takes out his temper on her.
"…I'm sorry to hear that."
His eyes sharpen on her. "I need your help to get her back."
She was not expecting that. The two of them might have neighboring territories but they've only spoken to each other a handful of times and cursed witches and wizards rarely have anything nice to do with each other. There's too much competition and bad blood in their history.
"…What?"
"The shinigami know about me and they'll be prepared. I need someone to help me who they won't be expecting, and you're pretty good with magic."
"Thanks." Her response is dry but her mind is racing. He's asking for a favor. That's…new. And potentially very useful. It's also flattering; he could go to Barragan or Ulquiorra, or even the wizards with more violent curses for a distraction, but he came to her. The most powerful cursed wizard she's ever known chose to come to her for help.
She can't really say no; that would definitely make him an enemy, one she's not powerful enough to face, but she doesn't especially want to. There's potential here, a lot of it.
…And she might not have ever met this Lilynette, but if she's a cursed witch, Hallibel would never leave her in shinigami clutches. No one deserves that, not even Barragan.
"If I do this, you'll owe me a favor." She drifts closer again as the massive wolf dips his head in a nod of acknowledgement.
He shifts his weight and lifts one huge paw, forming a glowing symbol in the air over it, a convoluted mix of sharp angles and convex curves with a Latin numeral 1 in the very center. A binding wizard's circle.
"It's a deal." He offers the circle to Hallibel and she studies it closely before nodding, giving no sign that it's too complex for her current knowledge and abilities, and forms her own symbol: a numeral three surrounded by curving lines that twist so fluidly they give the impression of water.
"Agreed."
The symbols come together in a fountain of rainbow sparks, magically sealing their agreement. The bright light fades quickly, leaving dancing after-images in its wake.
For a moment, they remain quiet, the only sound in the forest Starrk's blood dripping sluggishly from his wound. But he's in a rush, for all that his attitude is as laid back as ever.
"I know where the shinigami are." He pushes himself back to his feet. "Let's go."
"Shouldn't you heal first?" Hallibel zips overhead on her broom, in considerably better spirits.
"No, I'll be fine."
She eyes him, then looks back at the massive trail of blood leading back through the forest, clearly defining his route. But if he's not worrying about it, why should she?
"Alright. Let's go."
The shinigami would rue the day they messed with Starrk's kin.
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