Showcase ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ, ꜰɪᴠᴇ ʏᴇᴀʀꜱ ᴀɢᴏ - 𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳

[ravensunset]

 

[ravensunset]

age

twenty-five

gender & pronouns

female, she/her

species

human

role

the charm witch's familiar

Lihi Pérez

APPEARANCE:

PERSONA:

ABILITIES:

BACKGROUND: Not long before Lihi’s birth, her parents moved from Italy to Asphodel Isles. They’d lived in Italy their whole lives, up to that point, but any Jewish child (both her parents were) knows that homes are mobile things. Their progenitors had moved to Italy once, when Spain no longer provided a home. They wanted the most opportunity for their child, and looked for the place offering it.

Lihi was not born a witch. She was born a bright-eyed, curious child, and she always loved the magic bursting in the streets around her, so they did not regret their decision. They were not well-off, and Lihi grew up in an apartment crowded for even the three of them, but it was her home, so she did not mind so much.

She was a troublemaker from a young age, a small body easily able to squeeze into places she was not meant to be, and seeming to know little concept of danger. As a toddler, she managed to open doors and sneak out of home while her parents were not watching, and as she aged, doors and boundaries felt less and less an issue.

Her school life was no less of a headache. Lihi was clever, and friendly, and brought home high grades, though she got herself into more than a few classroom bickers. Throwing a punch had always been out of her capabilities, but she could dodge them well, and found it fun how that only angered opponents. She skipped class often, and had no desire to follow rules about where she could and couldn’t go, or to follow various proper classroom behaviors.

When Lihi was thirteen, she entered a school building designed for witches. It was a curiosity, a challenge, the way she viewed all things she was forbidden from. At first, it seemed to disappoint. It was not-so-unlike her own school, and she could not sneak into a class unnoticed. That feeling washed away as soon as Lihi saw her.

The other girl was raven-haired, dressed more expensively than anything Lihi had ever owned, and the world of Lihi’s desires collapsed into just one.

“Hi,” Lihi said, sitting down next to her and stretching out a hand, “I’m Lihi.”

The raven-haired girl had cocked an eyebrow and surveyed her with night-dark eyes, “Joyce. You’re not supposed to be here.” She correctly deduced, but accepted the handshake nonetheless.

“No. Are you going to tell on me?”

“What are you going to do to stop me?” Joyce’s expression grew only more inquisitive, as though Lihi was a new toy being offered to her.

“Nothing. You can do whatever you want.”

Joyce laughed at the assertion, the sound like crystal chimes or heavenly music, “Would you do something for me?”

“Anything.”

Lihi didn’t know it yet, but that would be her first task for her witch. Under Joyce’s command, she got herself into a fight with another girl, earning a black eye in the process. When a teacher came to break up the fight, Joyce quickly jumped in as a witness, making sure Lihi was unnoticed and the other girl suspended for starting it.

“You should probably go now.” Joyce said it like a dismissal, as soon as they were in the clear, like Lihi’s purpose had been served.

“Can I see you again?” Lihi asked, desperate to prove that was not yet the case. Her head was spinning, from both the force of the recent blow and Joyce’s mere presence.

“You would want to?” Joyce seemed almost surprised, but Lihi nodded enthusiastically. When she got home, and her parents clearly knew she didn’t get the injury from accidentally bumping into a tree, they chewed her out thoroughly, but she didn’t care at all.

The two girls started to meet after school at least weekly. Everything Lihi did became for one purpose, to have something to share, something to say that would make Joyce look at her. It was typically a failed effort. Joyce was absorbed in her own world, the one that she became more and more able to twist to her will, and Lihi hardly knew why she was still being kept around.

Lihi’s worse habits turned more subtle as she grew, and she became more friendly, less volatile. She gained a penchant for urban exploration, started working shifts at a grocery store. When she reached the age, she moved into college dorms, studying history. She visited her parents on weekends and drank with her friends and kissed a boy, once, but turned him down after because she couldn’t stop thinking about jasmine perfume and raven hair. Lihi formed into a pretty, charismatic young woman, a college girl, and her parents looked at her proudly.

One day, Joyce took her into a mansion on the outskirts of their city. Joyce was barely twenty-three, and while well off, certainly not well enough for this.

“This is mine.” Joyce had declared, spinning around. She didn’t quite answer when Lihi had asked how, only declaring that anything she wanted would be hers.

“Is this what you want?” Lihi asked, and Joyce laughed, the same flawless sound.

“No, we’ve barely started. This was fun enough, but I’ve got my sights set somewhere else. That’s where you come in.” Joyce paused. She knew the attention that would bring, and Lihi did not fail to give it. “If I’m going to be the best, highest-ranked witch this city has ever seen, I need a familiar, don’t you think?”

Lihi knew she should have thought about it. She’d known Joyce long enough to realize she wasn’t wanted, just easy to use. It didn’t matter. She accepted without hesitation, as though she was being given a gift, a blessing.

“Don’t we need to seal our agreement now?” Lihi asked, once the details had been discussed, because she knew it would earn her one of Joyce’s inquisitive looks. She’d reached up, placed a hand in soft hair, and kissed her.

Joyce’s sights were set on the Queen. They would have been set on God himself had He had a physical form she could see. Joyce was brilliant, a talent rarely seen, someone known and talked about and hired, and she climbed to the top like it was exercise for her. Lihi accompanied her all the way, getting her own room in the apartment that was more luxury than she thought she’d have in all her life combined. She was paid well; Joyce had enough money to throw it away. Lihi sent much of her pay back to her parents, buying them a place closer to the inner city.

Being a witch’s familiar, Lihi found, was not much more than being a glorified servant. She was sent on errands often, handing Joyce’s shopping, errands, even cleaning. Once in a while, Lihi was sent to turn away or cut off clients, or inform Joyce’s more under the table business deals she would no longer be in contact with them— an underworld Lihi knew Joyce was involved in, that had helped her get to where she was, but that she didn’t know the details of. It was often less than safe, but Lihi had gathered skills of her own by then, and it was her job, after all.

Lihi had time to herself, kept Sabbath, and rather liked most of the chores, as they allowed her to interact with the city often. Many shopkeepers became her friends, people she saw often in the routine.

Joyce noticed her less and less. Lihi was paraded out to formal events, making sure it was known Joyce was a successful witch with a dutiful familiar, she was utilized to make Joyce’s life easier in every way she could. She no longer quite had her own life or stories to share. But she slept in Joyce’s apartment, and in the mornings, Joyce would call her to brush and braid her hair.

“You’ve never used it on me.” Lihi stated, once. With her contract, she could tell when Joyce’s words were filled with magic, and when they weren’t.

“No. I never have.” Joyce’s reply confirmed something Lihi always suspected, but was never sure of. She hadn’t been charmed, even before their contract. Perhaps she saw the question in Lihi’s eyes, because she added onto the statement, “I’ve never needed to.”

Lihi couldn’t quite accept it, but she’d stumbled across why she was kept around. Joyce had no moral qualms about using her talents, but she wouldn’t needlessly waste them, and Lihi provided a familiar that hung onto Joyce’s every word, no magic required.

Joyce disappeared. Lihi’s world shattered. Even with the time she spent with her other friendships, her family, the community she stayed active in, Joyce was at the center of every part of her. There wasn’t a question of whether to find her, whether she would come back. There couldn’t be.

coded by reveriee.