[center][h3][i][b][color=2B9311]Em[/color] & [color=9370DB]Nancy[/color][/b][/i][/h3][/center]

Em dusted off her hands and waved at Zeke and Nancy. [color=2B9311] “Hey how did it go with the archery range? That’s what you were working on right?”[/color] Em asked as she got closer. [color=2B9311] “I’ve got some good wood to use for a fire tonight, and a whole bunch of brush.”[/color] By the time she was finished clearing all the trials Em was pretty certain she’d have enough wood and brush for fire for the whole rest of the summer. 

Nancy had calmed down a bit on the walk back from the range, but the irritation with its horrible condition was still simmering in her stomach. There was a split second where her muscles started to tingle, and she paused, becoming acutely aware of her body. The sensation passed quickly though, and she put it out of her mind. [color=9370DB]“Ugh, the range is grody as anything. The ground’s a nightmare, uneven and covered with actual holes - bows are [i]technically[/i] viable but you’d be better off stringing them up with floss - and for targets, we have glorified trash bags. The kids are gonna [i]love[/i] it.”[/color]

 [color=2B9311] “I don’t know a lot about archery, but that sounds miserable. Anything I can help with? I've got a hoe.”[/color] She pointed to a tool half in the wheelbarrow. [color=2B9311] “And a bunch of weeds.”[/color]

[color=9370DB]“Yeah, I’ve got a ho, too,”[/color] Nancy shook her head slightly, her thoughts with her brother. [color=9370DB]“My plan was to make the kids clean it all up. But I think Zeke has decided to throw his back out with it. Maybe we make it a competition, get the boys trying to one-up each other while we do absolutely anything else.”[/color]

Emily laughed at the comment about having a ho. [color=2B9311] “I would like to see Aster do some yard work, it'll make his hands callous up for the first time. Alright, are you ready for some water and something to eat?”[/color] 

[color=9370DB]“What’s his damage, by the way? Besides being a fancy lad,”[/color] Nancy asked. She hadn’t eaten much at breakfast earlier, and her brother had split off - probably to go see his boyfriend, she still owed him a tarot reading - so she supposed she couldn’t protest grabbing some food. Water at the very least was needed. Dehydration wasn’t cute. [color=9370DB]“Sure, we can grab something.”[/color]

[color=2B9311] “Oh, usual rich boy things, he is obsessed more with himself than anything. I don’t think he’s ever looked at another person and not compared how little they are to him. But at least he is a good friend to Marco. I’d think I’d have punched him by now if he weren’t.”[/color] Em had punched a lot of people for not being nice to Marco. She had gotten very good at it. Unfortunately she couldn’t punch the entirety of the judiciary. 

[color=9370DB]“Oh, goodie, he’s going to do great with the kids,”[/color] Nancy laughed. [color=9370DB]“At least he’ll be taller than all of them.”[/color]

Em winced, and then laughed. [color=2B9311] “That’s true. It might be a good lesson for him. Not sure what the lesson is, but it’ll be fun to watch.”[/color] Em led the way up to the big house. [color=2B9311] “Probably something about patience.”[/color]

[color=9370DB]“It’ll be better than the lesson so far - that the government can’t fund anything properly. Not only is this place a murder site, but it’s also a death trap staffed by Dobbs - no offense to him, but he’s hardly inspirational - and a bunch of fuck-ups. Great start to a great summer.”[/color]

[color=2B9311] “And Marco.”[/color] Em’s voice was light, but the look on her face seemed to imply that if anyone called him a fuck-up she’d fuck them up. There was a pipe on the side of the building near the tree, a brand new looking hose, hooked up to it. Em turned it on, letting the water run till it was cool and clean. She took an experimental sip from it. [color=2B9311] “Might be lake water, but it tastes clean.”[/color] She sipped again, and then splashed some water onto her face. [color=2B9311] “Want from here, or do you want to go inside and get some from the fridge?”[/color] Em didn’t see a difference between the two. They both came from the same source. Unless the water in the fridge had been bottled elsewhere and brought here.

Nancy shook her head. She’d grown up poor. She was fine with drinking water from a hose. It wouldn’t have been the first time. [color=9370DB]“Nah, this is fine. No point in wasting a glass you’ll just have to clean or toss out,”[/color] she shrugged, taking the hose once Emily was done with it and taking a swig. It tasted fine enough - not that she would have been able to taste bacteria or parasites or anything, and maybe it would’ve been smarter to boil it, but her stomach was pretty strong, so she wasn’t too worried. 

Once Nancy was done drinking from the hose Emily turned it off. She looked at the tree and frowned a little. [color=2B9311] “Hmm, you know, oaks aren’t common here. This one is pretty old too.”[/color] She leaned over the edge of the deck and looked at where the tree and the earth met. [color=2B9311] “Weird.”[/color] She scrunched her face up. [color=2B9311] “The tree was planted before the building was built. Why would anyone build this close to a tree like this? Oak’s roots won’t pull down a house like other trees will, but this deck was built with the purpose of protecting it.”[/color] 

[color=9370DB]“An oak?”[/color] Nancy repeated, looking at the tree a little more closely, her eyes narrowing. Oaks weren’t themselves an issue - they had connections to both life and death, a deep relation to the interplay between those forces. The more troubling part, of course, was that they were also associated with sacrifice. Knowing what had happened here, it sent a chill down Nancy’s spine. [color=9370DB]“I wouldn’t mess with that tree,”[/color] she advised, her tone somewhat ominous. For someone to build a house so close to what was effectively a tie to the Underworld… [color=9370DB]“Unless you do want to see if you’d make it to the end of a slasher flick.”[/color]

Em took a step away from the tree. [color=2B9311] “Ha, I’m good. I don’t particularly want to test that.”[/color] She looked away from the tree and at Nancy. [color=2B9311] “An oak?”[/color]

Nancy nodded. [color=9370DB]“You’d be surprised,”[/color] she answered somewhat cryptically. She studied the tree for another moment. Maybe doing a tarot reading wasn’t such a bad idea - but for something a little broader than her brother’s love life. 

Em turned back to the tree looking it up and down. [color=2B9311] “It looks like something tried to fight the tree.”[/color] She gestured to a few marks on the tree. [color=2B9311] “They are very old. The bark was torn up, but it healed over.”[/color] 

Nancy grimaced. She didn’t like that one bit. [color=9370DB]“I don’t blame it, but that’s not going to help the situation. You want to protect yourself against that sort of energy, you gotta burn something. Slashing at it won’t do anything.”[/color]

[color=2B9311] “Burning the tree would burn the house. I can’t tell if the marks are older or younger than the house though.”[/color] Em glanced between the main building and the tree a few times trying to determine which might be older. [color=2B9311] “I like oak trees. They are very drought resistant.”[/color] 

Nancy’s eyes widened, as she shook her head. [color=9370DB]“No, not the tree - are you crazy? That thing’s connected to the Underworld, burning the tree is a fantastic way to get cursed. No, there are plants we can burn to cleanse the energy of the space.”[/color]

Em blinked, looking at Nancy confused. [color=2B9311] “What do you mean the tree is connected to the underworld?”[/color] She had heard about burning sage and stuff for ghosts, but didn’t quite understand what that had to do with the oak tree, or what the tree had to do with the Underworld. 

Nancy studied Em for a moment. Most people were dismissive when it came to Wicca - she probably shouldn’t have said anything, she didn’t have a good sense on whether Em would take her seriously or not if she explained properly. [color=9370DB]“Oaks used to be called the tree of life - their roots penetrate all the way down to the Underworld. They were sacred to Jupiter.”[/color]

Em leaned against the railing of the deck listening to Nancy. [color=2B9311] “Jupiter, as in Zeus? You know Roman mythology?”[/color] 

Nancy nodded. [color=9370DB]“I’m a Hellenistic Wiccan.”[/color]

[color=2B9311] “I know what Wiccan means, not Hellenistic,”[/color] Em admitted. [color=2B9311] “I don’t know a lot about Wiccan, just that people who practice it do... magic. I don’t know if that is the right term.”[/color]

Nancy folded her arms across her chest uncomfortably. [color=9370DB]“It means I, well - when I want to work with deities, I go Roman. I don’t really cast spells or anything, but I read tarot - and I know a bad omen when I see one, and a few ways to try to protect myself when they happen.”[/color]

Em made a small humming sound, thinking about what Nancy was saying. [color=2B9311] “Are you saying this oak tree is a bad omen?”[/color] 

She nodded. [color=9370DB]“They’re not just the tree of life… There’s some legends about them being connected to human sacrifice. So like I said - I wouldn’t mess with it.”[/color]

Em raised an eyebrow at the human sacrifice comment. Damn. She looked over the tree again, frowning. It didn’t make much sense to her. The damage to the tree wasn’t something she could figure out, it was also old damage. She shivered. [color=2B9311] “Right, I don’t know if I want to be standing next to the tree anymore. I’m a little wigged out now. Come on, let's get something to eat.”[/color]