"Wow doing some shopping?" Tania calls over to Nettle.

Nettle is so wrapped up in her thoughts that she almost doesn't hear Tania. She walks a couple more steps before looking up, and then over at Tania.
"Hmm?" Then she looks down at the bag. "OH!" A big grin lights up her face. "Yes, yes! Tonight's going to be big! Well, important and exciting, rather. I'm sure ALEC will be big!" she grins slyly and laughs. "It's the full moon tonight, and the Lady says it's time to go for it, so I'm just getting the final parts of the ritual together..." she rambles, nervousness and anxiousness radiating from her.

Tania laughs, "I can't believe you two actually waited three days. I lost that bet to Jake, thank you," she says. She smiles and walks over. "What do you have there?" she says peaking into the bag.

Nettle stands there with her mouth open incredulously for a moment. "You two BET on us?? And you bet that we'd fail? EVIL, Tania! Evil!" She grins and shakes her head slowly. "Well, at least Jacob had faith in us she sniffs, pretending that her feelings are hurt.
She opens the bag. "Just the usual-- mostly herbs and stuff. Myrtle, jasmine, patchouli, and a little mandrake...hmm...let's see...pomegranate...cucumber...hey now, Tania, don't be thinking naughty thoughts about this cucumber!" she says holding the cucumber in her hand and shaking it suggestively. "It's just for eating...you know...as food!" she grins, wiggling her eyebrows.

Tania shakes her head curling up her lip. Nettle can see how different Tania has been over the past year, so different...softer more relaxed since Sarah has been getting older.
"Oh don't be that way. I just know the two of you," she says with a smile.

Jake runs up. "Hey Nettle what're you doing?"

Nettle grins at Tania. "I know! I was just teasing you! Oh hey Jake! It's me and Alec's big night, and Tania here was just asking for some fertility-secrets! Oops-- was I supposed to tell him that?" Nettle asks Tania, tapping her lips with her finger thoughtfully and trying to keep a straight face.

"Really?" Jake says his face falling a little. "You were asking that?" he says.

Tania shakes her head. "Jake," she says shaking her head. "Don't tease the poor man Nettle, Jake and I have already discussed it and Sarah is the only child we'll have." she says. "Speaking of. Where is Sarah," Tania says looking around then finally seeing her by the lake.

"She wanted to plant a few more flowers," Jake says. "So you ready to make those modifications we've been talking about?" he says to Tania.

"Sure...Sarah will be ok." Tania says. "We'll see you later, Nettle, we have some modifying of our room to do. Good luck to you two." she says.

"Not that you'll need it but if you really need help," Jake says looking over his shoulder at Sarah. "I know someone who wouldn't mind helping."

Nettle grins. "Oh I don't doubt it! She's been dying for someone to finally 'plant!'" She pauses. "I bet she's in league with those Fae..." she murmurs under her breath with a little grin. She waves at Tania and Jacob. "Have fun 'modifying' your bedroom...if that's what you call it these days!" she winks. "Oh and Jake? Thanks for rooting for me and Alec to make it the 3 days. That meant a lot to me..." she pretends to sniffle, dabbing at her eyes melodramatically.

Jake smiles genuinely, "Really, hey no problem, Nettle. I had faith in you," he says. Tania grabs his arm and starts to lead them back to the stone manor. "Oh brother," Tania says shaking her head. "Good luck," she calls over her shoulder.

Nettle grins, watching them walk away. She can't believe she got away with teasing Tania! "Thank you!" she calls with a little wave.
She peers over towards the garden-area. 'Hmm...I bet Sarah would like to help me make some incense...' she thinks to herself. She starts walking towards the flowerbeds. "Sarah? You over here?" she calls.

"I'm right here, Auntie Nettle!" Sarah cries from the flower garden. Sarah pops her head up from the flowers and runs over to Nettle. "What do you have there?" she says pointing to the bag.

Nettle grins. "I have some herbs and flowers to make some incense with! Want to help me?" she asks.

"Yay!" Sarah cries clapping her hands excitedly. "I'll help you Auntie Nettle," she says. "What can I do? Do you want me to talk to them?" she asks.

Nettle smiles. "If you think it will help! These herbs and flowers have all dried out so they'll be easy to turn into powder, so I'm not sure if they can hear you anymore."
Nettle leads Sarah over to a pathway made of stone so they'll have a nice, flat surface to work on. She kneels down in front of it and starts laying out dried myrtle, jasmine, patchouli, and mandrake root. Then she takes out her mortar and pestle and sets it in front of Sarah.
"You just take as much of each thing as you want and put them into the bowl, and then grind them up with this!" she smiles, holding up the pestle. She pauses with a twinkle in her eye. "Do you know what special magick these ingredients help with?"

Sarah ooohs and ahhs when Nettle brings out the ingredients. Finally she starts to think about Nettle's question..."Myrtle, jasmine, patchouwie, mandake.." Sarah gasps and her face lights up.
"PLANTING!!" she shrieks.

Nettle laughs hard and claps for Sarah. "You are exactly right! Isn't that great?? Me and Alec have decided that tonight is the best night for planting! There's a full moon, and the Goddess says it's time-- can you believe it??" she grins.

Sarah jumps up and down. "You're going to make extra special friends!!" she says happily. "Yay for Auntie Nettle and Uncie Alec!" Sara hugs Nettle tight and kisses her on the cheek. "I want to help! I can help!"

Nettle raises her eyebrows and grins as Sarah hugs her, hugging her back. "I bet you can! Why don't we start by making the incense! It's what Alec and I will be breathing in while we're...planting!" she giggles. She pauses. "What did you want to do to help?" she asks curiously.

Sarah thinks a moment putting her finger to her lips. "I can help make the incense, Auntie Nettle, and I can touch your belly to make sure it works....I can't wait to do that!!" she says happily. "Mommy says I shouldn't help people plant...but you said it's ok!"

Nettle laughs again. "Sarah, it would be mean of me not to let you help us plant, wouldn't it! Everyone knows how much you've been wanting to help someone plant! Of COURSE I'll let you touch my belly! I would be very grateful!" she smiles, bowing her head to Sarah a little. "Is there a special time when you want to do that?"

"We can do it before you leave! So how can I help with the incense?" she asks looking over the stuff. "Do we have to bless it?"

Nettle thinks for a second and gives a little nod. "What you do is you put the plant-parts in the bowl, and while you're crushing them into powder you think really hard about what you want the incense to do, and you put all your hope and intent into the grinding so the magick will work! But I know you have your own special way of blessing things, so you should just go with your feelings and do it how you think you should do it!" Nettle smiles encouragingly.

Sarah thinks for a moment and then takes the pestle in her hand and the mortar and begins to grind the herbs into a fine dust. When she's satisfied she's done she leans down and blows lightly on it. She smiles. "All done. What next??"

Nettle smiles. "Good job, Sarah! OK, next is the fun part! We're going to make something called 'woad!' Do you know what that is? It's paint that the ancient Celts used to use to draw on themselves for battle to make them look more fierce and scary, but it's also used by the druids to mark themselves in sacred ceremonies, like planting-ceremonies! So we're going to make some woad so Alec and I can draw sacred symbols on ourselves to help us feel like the God and Goddess!" she explains excitedly.

"Ohh like finger painting! I love to finger paint!" Sarah says. She looks over the ingredients. "You want to be a god and goddess?" she asks.

"Well, we want the god and goddess' energy to fill us and take us over. For the Verbena it's called the Great Rite. The Great Rite is when we celebrate how powerful the god and goddess' are at planting, and we let them take us over so that we'll have powerful planting-energy inside of us!" she tries to explain. She sets out the powder and the oil and a bowl and stirring-tool, and helps Sarah measure out the right amounts of each into the bowl.

Sarah listens intently to Nettle and nods her head when she finishes. "The Great Rite is when you want to plant!" she says. "Neat!!" she says stirring. "Can you plant on your own without the Great Rite?"

Nettle nods. "Yep, you can, but it sure makes it a lot easier and faster when you do the Great Rite! If you don't do the Great Rite, the woman usually has to try to figure out when her body will be ready to plant in, and it's usually only for a couple of days out of each month! If you miss those days you have to start over again the NEXT month! And that can be really frustrating!"
Nettle helps Sarah stir the woad so she gets all the chunks out. "The Great Rite isn't always just for planting. Sometimes you do it because you want the earth and animals to be healthier and more fertile...sometimes you do it so you can feel the great love the god and goddess have for each other, and pass that love-energy to the rest of the world...things like that!" she explains.

"Oh!! That sounds like a lot of fun!! When do I get to do the Great Rite?" Sarah asks. "I know one day I'm supposed to but I don't know when..."

Nettle grins, wondering if Tania and Jacob are listening in with Jacob's mastery at Correspondence!
"Well, you should definitely wait at least until your teens so that your body is done growing and changing and you can be a good vessel for the goddess. When you're ready, you should find a guy who wants to do the rite with you, and who you think would be a good vessel for the god. He might be a good friend, or he might be someone who your eyes fall on and you instantly know that he's the right partner for you! Like what happened with me and Alec!" she smiles happily.

Sarah sighs and her eyes suddenly become so very old and weary. "No, it will be with someone whom I am waiting for...such a long time and the time is so very near..." she looks up at Nettle with those eyes and she looks at her very sadly. She reaches out and pats Nettle's hand.

Nettle jumps a little, her eyes widening when she sees this change come over Sarah. "So very near?? I HOPE not, Sarah! How 'near' are we talking? And who are you waiting for?" she asks quickly.

Sarah blinks and looks at Nettle with her innocent eyes. "I'm waiting for what's next, Auntie Nettle!!" she says excitedly. "I like helping you plant! It's fun."

Nettle raises her eyebrow and inspects Sarah for a moment. 'Wow...her avatar is REALLY powerful...' she thinks to herself, trying to regain her composure.
"Well I like having you help me plant! It makes me more confident that it's going to work!" she smiles, giving Sarah a little hug.
"OK, here's the last thing we need to do!" Nettle takes the woad and puts it in the bag, and then brings out two long white taper candles and two little vials. "Alec and I will be lighting these candles to represent the god and goddess, so we need to anoint them with this oil and put energy into them. Would you like to anoint the god candle, or the goddess candle?" she asks.

"Goddess! I'll do the goddess candle," Sarah says excitedly. She takes both vials and blows on them and hands one to Nettle. "All blessed Auntie Nettle!" she says. She take the vial and pours some oil on her hands. "Mmm smells good!" she says. She takes the candle and starts rubbing her hands over it, getting the oil on the wax. She brings up the candle to her forehead and as Nettle works on hers she can see a soft glow. Looking up she sees it's coming from Sarah's forehead where the candle is touching and then the candle too glows. Sarah's eyes are closed peacefully as if nothing out of the ordinary is going on.

'Oh wow...look at her...she knows exactly what to do, whatever she's doing...but it looks perfect...just like how Veil showed me how to do it when I was a teenager...' she thinks in wonder, watching Sarah.
Nettle takes the god-candle and makes a little divot near the bottom in the shape of horns so she'll know which candle is the god-candle. Then she takes the oil and rubs it on the candle-- starting from the middle and rubbing outward until it's all coated. Then she holds the candle to her forehead, too, and starts concentrating-- thinking of Alec, and the Horned Lord, and every symbol of male fertility she can think of. As she's doing this, she puts Life and Prime into the candle. If a mage were to be watching with their senses open, they'd see the glow of the spheres in the candle, but Nettle's candle isn't outwardly glowing the way Sarah's is.
When Nettle is done, and slowly opens her eyes and looks over at Sarah.

Sarah watches her patiently with her candle in her hand, the glow is gone. Sarah smiles, "Did I do it right, Auntie Nettle?' she asks innocently. "I concentrated really hard on planting."

Nettle nods. "Then you did it exactly right! Thank you, Sarah." She takes the candles and puts them carefully back in their box in her bag, and makes sure everything else has been gathered up. "Well, that was the very last thing I needed to do, it looks like..." she murmurs, scanning the contents of the bag.
Then she turns and smiles at Sarah for a moment. "I don't know when the next time will be that someone will want to plant, but I'm glad that Alec and I decided to plant when you could be here to help us. We're both really nervous about being parents and everything, but you've definitely taken my mind off of how nervous I am, and reminded me to be excited again." she says with a serious but light tone to her voice.

"Yay!" Sarah says. "Auntie Nettle is excited to plant!" she says clapping. She hugs Nettle around the neck and kisses her cheek. "You're going to make me some special friends!"

Nettle is about to smile and say something when she suddenly halts. 'Wait-- "friends?" as in plural?' she thinks to herself. "Oh very funny, Sarah! Let me and Alec have this one baby before we decide if we want to have more!" she grins, folding her arms.

Sarah wrinkles her nose. "it's not up to me, Auntie Nettle." she says. "Besides two would be fun!!" she says. "So what's next Auntie Nettle? I like helping!!"

Nettle smiles thoughtfully, touching her finger to her lower lip. "You're right, Sarah...it really ISN'T up to any of us with me and Alec's little family, is it? Hmmm...two little Alecs...or a little Alec and a little me..." Nettle thinks about it, and then grimaces a little when she remembers what a rebel she was growing up.
"Well, if we discover that we're good parents, then maybe we'll give you a second little friend, how about that? Just don't tell Alec I said that, hehe!"
"Let's see..." Nettle looks at her watch. "I just need to load some things into the car, wake up Alec, and we'll be ready to drive to the grove. You could help me make sure I don't forget anything, and then wake Alec up!" Nettle grins. "Get him as excited about planting as you got me?"

"Oh you won't forget anything Auntie Nettle! You've been waiting to plant for a long time!" she says. Sarah laughs, "And Alec wants you to wake him up." she says. "I think I'll stay here and play with my dollies some more...but Auntie Nettle?" Sarah say with her finger to her lip. "I want some beads and some string so I can make a necklace." she says.

Nettle raises her eyebrow. "OK! What kind of beads?"

Sarah considers a moment. "Wooden beads...green! Green beads and a medallion...with a wolf's paw or a wolf or maybe the moon." she says. "Is that ok?"

Nettle thinks about all the supplies she has in her ritual-room, but none would really fit the bill. Then she looks around and gives a little smile and nod. "That's OK! I'll be right back!"
She takes her bags and puts them just inside the mansion, and then hurries around the gardens, finding little pebbles that are about the right size to be beads, and then goes into the mansion to her ritual room. She sits on the floor and concentrates, using Forces and Matter, and because the pebbles are very small, she's able to change them into green beads quite quickly.
For the wolf-pendant, she gets a piece of moonstone-- Sarah mentioning the moon made her think of it-- and then she holds it in her hands and imagines it becoming very soft and pliable. In this pliable state, she takes a little Exacto knife and carves a crescent moon into the left, and in the rest of the space she carves a wolf's howling face looking towards the moon. She thinks it's a pretty good job for someone who's only as artistic as the next guy!
She finishes packing everything she and Alec will need. Now all she has to do is wake up Alec, deliver the beads to Sarah, and they'll be ready to go!

Nettle walks into she and Alec's bedroom where he's sleeping, takes off her clothes, and lays down next to him and puts her arms around him.
"Hey baby..." she whispers. "It's almost time..." She kisses his cheek. "One last ritual bath and we can leave for the grove!"

Alec sits up groggily. "Hmm what? Oh allo love. Time for some shaggin baby?" he says with a smile. "It's about time I'll wager." he says rubbing his eyes.

Nettle laughs and smacks his arm lightly. "ALMOST time, and yes-- it's definitely about time!" She slides out of bed and turns to face Alec, grabbing his hands and trying to pull him up to a stand. "We'll take our last ritual bath, and then we'll be ready to leave! I've already packed everything!" she beams. "And Sarah has blessed my womb, and helped me make the incense and anoint the candles, too, so you KNOW it's gotta work!" she laughs.

"Oh well then let's get a move on." Alec says and hops out of bed. The two head into the bath and take their final ritual bath. After a few close calls the two head out of the bath and get dressed and make their way out of the manor to see Sarah sitting next to the garden.

Nettle and Alec walk up to Sarah, Nettle holding a bag in her hand. "Here are the beads you wanted! And the medallion!" she smiles, holding the bag out to Sarah.

Sarah jumps up and takes the bag and looks at the contents. She pours the beads on the ground and looks at the medallion. "Ohh it's perfect, Auntie Nettle!" she cries. "Thank you so much!!!" she says. She scoops them up and holds them up to her. "Bless them please."

Nettle raises an eyebrow at Sarah with a smile. "What kind of blessing would you like?" Nettle is flattered that Sarah is asking HER to bless them! Sarah is the master of blessings!

Sarah thinks for a moment. "What ever you feel you want to bless it with Auntie Nettle." she says and holds up the beads again.

Nettle really has no idea what Sarah wanted the beads for, so she's a little nervous! She studies the beads and the medallion. She's assuming Sarah wants to make a necklace for herself to wear.
Nettle reaches into her foci-bag and pulls out her deck of tarot cards. She shuffles them for a moment, and then closes her eyes and pulls out the High Priestess. She looks at the card and gives a little smile and nods, and then closes her eyes again and holds the card in one hand and the beads in the other.
She concentrates, and the beads start to glow-- for anyone who can see Prime. After a moment Nettle opens her eyes and nods. "OK! All blessed! Here's how they work. If someone doesn't trust you or wants to attack you and you're wearing the beads and you mean them no harm and only want to help, the beads will soothe the person and convince them that you can be trusted. Is that an OK blessing?" she asks hopefully.

"That's perfect!!!" Sarah exclaims. "Oh...wait I need more beads!" she says. "I'm making a necklace for someone else, too. I need a lot of beads, Auntie Nettle. Only my extra special friends can have those. But you can bless those too!"

Nettle pretends to stagger melodramatically when Sarah says she needs LOTS of beads! "So how many more necklaces are we talking here, Miss Sarah?" she grins, hands on her hips.

"Ummm." Sarah says thinking. "When you get back I'll have an answer." she says. "You two are going to plant!"

Nettle grins and takes Alec's arm and squeezes it. "Yes we are! And the sooner the better! We might not...be back until tomorrow..." Nettle says, glancing at Alec mischievously and then back to Sarah, "...but that should give you plenty of time to decide!"

"No I mean when you get back from Balador!!" Sarah laughs. "I'll know then!!"

Alec shakes his head. "Come along love we best be going." he says.

"Wow! Well, OK Sarah! That might be an even LONGER time! See you tomorrow!" she calls over her shoulder as Alec drags her towards the path out.
She turns to Alec as they walk. "What a time to finally get to go to Balador! I'm going to be throwing up and swelling like a beach ball!" she groans softly. Then she looks at Alec in a panic. "You won't leave me to go off and have fun, will you?" she tightens her grip on his arm. "I mean, I don't want you to be miserable just because *I* might be miserable, but...oh Alec! Everyone there's going to wonder what a pregnant woman is doing there, aren't they!" she cries, doing one of her Nettle-panics.

"No no, me love. You don't have to worry about that." Alec says. "You really worry too much, love. I won't leave you." he says. "Ah there we are," he says putting his arm around her. "Your chariot awaits."

Alec and Nettle walk towards Alec's infamous green and purple Gremlin-- arms around each other's waists-- and into the land of parenthood and prophecy.

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