Class Sign-Ups (1961-1962)

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Transfiguration

Transfiguration sounded like an interesting subject to take, possibly even useful considering the many things that have seemed to happen of late in the castle. Lionel stopped outside the Transfiguration classroom looking for a sign-up sheet to be lying about as the other classes had seemed to have, but none could be found. Frowning for a moment, Lionel wondered if the professor had forgotten to post one on the door. Perhaps Professor Renard was inside the classroom, and if so, he could ask her about the sign ups. He knocked softly on the door and listened. No response of "come in" or any of the usual greetings followed. Lionel paused for a moment and wondered if he should open the door anyway. He leaned slightly against the door and rested his ear on its grained surface. What was that he was hearing? Was it music? It sounded faintly like the harmonica player on the streets of Paris. Curious, Lionel opened the door to take a peek inside.

The sight that greeted him left him astounded. He was no longer in Hogwarts, neither was he even in England, he was home. Lionel blinked in amazement as he stepped out of the corridor and into the Parisan streets. The smell of fresh croissants wafted to his nostrils as he proceeded down the street to inspect the sights and sounds he had grown to know so well, almost causing his stomach to growl in response to the savoury aroma that teased his senses. Just beside him to his right appeared a stand that resembled the assorted tables and such the other professors had provided for the class sign-ups. Lionel decided to leave the reminscing for now and fulfill the original purpose he had came here for. He approached the stand, and was greeted by a beautiful belle.

"Bonjour. Are you here for ze sign-ups? Mademoiselle Renard has left this for you."

Her voice drifted to him almost melodiously, as if in tandum with the harmonica music that floated down the streets.

"Oui, merci boucoup mademoiselle." He replied. "Are you the professor's assistant? It is most certainly a pleasure to meet you." He flashed his old charming French boy smile - his confidence returning to what it had been back in France. The atmosphere had most certainly put him at ease. He could now behave as he had been accustomed to without worrying if his conduct seemed out of place. This was France; this was home. - or so the young lion thought.

"Pardon me for a moment mademoiselle, I won't be long in filling this up." Lionel excused himself with another smile as he bent over to add his name onto the already existing list.

Name: Lionel Bryant Lefevre
House: Gryffindor
Transfiguration level: 5
How well do you speak French? Fluently - it is my native tongue.

With that settled, Lionel diverted his attention back to the fair maiden that was situated behind the stand. Reaching over the stall to plant a kiss on the teenage girl's hand in greeting, Lionel resumed his little dialogue with the charming lady.

"Je m'apelle Lionel Lefevre - vous vous s'apelle comment?" Lionel queried. He was in no hurry to leave the classroom just yet, not while he could bask in the air of Paris - at least for a little while before he returned to the reality of Hogwarts.

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Conjuring/Summoning

Lionel had been deliberating in the commons all morning on what classes he would sign up for and had decided at the last moment to take a stroll through the corridors outside the classrooms in hope of better inspiration to govern his decisions. He had come to a pause outside the conjuring/summoning classroom when he noticed the last name of the professor who was to teach this class. Vasilijev, wasn't that the same surname as the man who had been introduced as his house head? How coincidental, perhaps this was a relative of his househead, or his wife. Either way, that was reason enough for the Beauxbatans transfer to give this class a try. Pulling a quill out of his pocket, he began to write:

Name: Lionel Bryant Lefevre
Year: 5th
House: Gryffindor
C/S Magic Level: 5
What do you wish to attain from this class? Is there anything specific you are wishing to learn?:

Lionel paused for a moment on the last question, wondering what he should pen in the column of the last question. After some thought he hastened a scribble:

To be able to better understand the subject and have a greater command in it. I am willing to learn anything you are not hesitant to teach me.

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Social Magic

Lionel had just been about looking for interesting classes to sign up for when a sign on the classroom door he was approaching caught his eye:

Social magic? Lionel thought What is that?

His eyes glanced at the sign up sheet that had been placed neatly to the point of graceful perfection on an equally small-but-classy side table. A chair had also been placed there as if for students to take a seat should they take long in deliberating on what to write - not that anyone would while filling in standard information about themselves, would they?

Lionel's eyes darted to the instructions Professor Willows had dictated at the top of the parchment - the information required was anything but the standard kind the other professors had inquired for. He had be tempted to see what the other students had written in response to Prof. Willows' last enquiry, but he had been bred too well in French manners to intrude into someone else's privacy. No matter, a class in social etiquette appeared interesting enough to the young lion - perhaps he could learn a thing or two about the English culture and etiquette through this class.

Seating himself in the elegent chair - for he had come to realise why anyone would have to spend much time thinking - Lionel picked up the quill that had been placed beside the parchment to begin writing:

Name: Lionel Bryant Lefevre
House and Year: Gryffindor, 5th Year
An example of your personal standing in the area of etiquette: I have had the privilege of being taken in by one of the most polished gentlemen thathave ever graced the halls of Beauxbatans and owe it to them that I have learnt how to carry myself in French society. I have unfortunately, never been exposed to English etiquette before, and have had the misfortune of having to play by ear throughout the opening feast. It was to my embarrassment that I had so narrowly escaped a humiliating situation when I had almost kissed a girl in greeting as I have been so accustomed to doing. I have grown very uncertain in myself of late in consequence, and would very much appreciate it if you could show me the ropes on how to conduct myself here in England.

Lionel stared in surprise at his closing sentences. Nearly kissed a girl in greeting? Why on earth had he written that down? And when did it happen? The young man pondered for a moment and thought back to the opening feast. Yes, that had been true, he had almost kissed Amaya's cheek instead of shaking her hand, but hadn't engaged in that behaviour out of sheer nevousness and uncertainty then - but he didn't remember consciously noting that occurance, had the quill been charmed to tap even into his unconscious knowledge? The fifteen year old studied the quill intently for a moment: perhaps it had just been charmed to pick up on the truth - afterall, his self-confidence had been dwindling slightly the past few days. No matter, charmed or not, Lionel was had to leave his application as it was and procede with finishing his to-do list for the day. Placing the quill neatly back to where it belonged, the young french stood up and returned the chair to its original position, and proceeded to continue strolling down the corridor scouting for classes.

Entrance Hall (1961 - 1962) - Stairs should never move

Lionel Bryant Lefevre's Posts

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Lionel had been out for a general stroll to orientate himself on the locations of the various rooms on the hope that he would lower his chances of being late for classes once they began - not that it actually helped. Sure, the general places like the great hall, the common room and professors' offices never shifted, but the passageways he had to pass through to get there always did. It puzzled him as to why in the world anyone would want for a castle to be like that - Beauxbatons certainly wasn't. Regardless, it was all a matter of getting accustomed to this strange way of life.

Casually, the 5th year strolled through the corridor heading towards the entrance hall to find his way out into the castle grounds, but had his walk interupted by a shoelace coming undone quite unexpectedly. Lionel stooped to kneel on one knee as he worked to retie the laces - this wasn't the first time they had come undone for no good reason in the middle of the entrance hall, perhaps it had something to do with those ghosts uncle Ryuu had been telling him about that lived in the castle. Dusting himself as he rose from the ground, Lionel had been about to continue to the exit when a rather flustered looking young woman caught his eye. She appeared rather frustrated, possibly lost. Lionel wasn't sure he would be of much help being new himself, but it would be courtious to at least greet a fellow student and offer whatever aid he could give. For all he knew, perhaps she had just misplaced something and was in the midst of searching for it.

Walking up to the girl, Lionel greeted her with as good an English as he could muster.

"Bonjour mademoiselle. Do you need some kind of... help?"

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"Bonjour. You are French too?"

A feminine voice drifted from somewhere behind him. Had that question been directed at him? Instinctively, Lionel turned his head to catch a glimpse of to whom he was to address his next reply. A blonde girl decked in the same Slytherin green uniform greeted him. She was about a foot shorter than he was, making it necessary for him to tilt his head downwards slightly to meet her eye.

"Got lost again, Paige?"

So she knew the flustered young lady, and what did she say her name was? Paige? It clicked somewhat; after all, the young ladies appeared to be from the same house. The tone of the younger female seemed to suggest that the two weren't exactly on friendly terms - had he been a little less unsuspecting, Lionel might have benefitted from the warning that the girl he had previously spoken to was not exactly the most pleasent of creatures to meet in the corridors.

All the same, Lionel returned to answering the younger student's question - it would have been impolite not to.

"Oui mademoiselle. Je suis francais." he responded. Pausing for a moment, he then added "Toi aussi?"

Perhaps it was a little rude to communicate in French in front of the other student of whom he was not certain if she could understand the language, but Lionel had been too excited about the possibility of dicovering a fellow French youth to realise that he had relapsed into his native tongue. It had been a rather awkward and challenging few days from the moment he had stepped into England, to the time at the London station, then the train, and finally in the castle. Every word and action of his had to be carefully thought out and hesitated upon because of his uncertainty about their exceptability. In fact, every time he spoke, he had had to first think in French, and then translate mentally before allowing the words to take spoken form due to his insufficient exposure to the English language. He never had much of an opportunity to practice back at home - all the students in Beauxbatons had generally communicated in French, and Armadeo and Ryuu both spoke the language as their native tongue.

For the moment, Lionel appeared to have forgotten about the first girl, and had cast his attention fully on the new arrival.

Opening Feast (1961-1962) - Gryffindor Table

- Lionel Bryant Lefevre's Posts

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So this was the Great Hall... Lionel thought to himself as he walked through the hall's impressive entrance. He was almost like a tourist in the middle of the Hogwarts crowd, and to some regard, perhaps he was. This was after all, his first exposure to anywhere outside of the continent. His eyes traced every dip, peak and curvature of the hall's architecture as he strolled into the gradually increasing crowd. Lionel had never seen anything quite like the great hall: the sky-like ceilings, candles hanging in mid air in a kind of orderly randomness - everything.

Now where was it he was suppose to head off to again? Lionel paused for a moment to recall his house. Ah yes... Gryffindor... He scouted around for the symbol of the house of red and gold, and spotted the banner just to his left. He smiled when his eyes caught sight of its mascot; the lion, the very creature which had inspired the creation of his name. Lionel was glad he had at least been sorted into uncle Ryuu's old house rather than any of the others, that way, he knew the kind of characters he would be confronted with - at least on the general level. He had been relatively nervous about the whole moment with the strange sorting hat quite suddenly when it had been his turn; he had been so afraid he would be launched into any less friendly an environment. It had appeared strange to Lionel that he needed to be sorted at al:; Beauxbatons had been quite different, divisions were formed over time depending on the classes one took and the friends made along the way - Quidditch athletes had some social advantage of course - all in all not like the house system that divided the student body in Hogwarts.

Quite suddenly, something collided against his leg. Lionel winced and sat down on the nearest bench, reaching to soothe the part of his leg that would soon develop a faint bruise. He had unknowingly walked right into the edge of the Gryffindor table in consequence of his distracted attention. With that dealt with, Lionel looked up and noticed that only two others were present at the table so far. Observing that they seemed to be in the midst of their own private conversation, he decided against interrupting them and diverted his attention instead to the strange food that was laid out before him. Quite gingerly, he lifted a goblet of pumpkin juice and stared into its orange-yellow depths, wondering what in the world it could be - definitely not something he had ever consumed. Equally carefully, Lionel replaced the goblet back on the table and moved on to inspect the other dishes just in front of him as he waited for more people to arrive.

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This is interesting... tres interesting... Lionel sheepishly picked up an odd looking morsel between his index finger and his thumb, putting in on his plate while deliberating if he should consume it then and there. He had been musing with so much concentration that he was startled when a voice unexpectedly addressed him:

"You have any idea what this is?"
Lionel looked up with a jerk, he hadn't even noticed when the girl had arrived, neither had he realised when she had seated herself beside him. He had been too engrossed in the strange array of appetisers that he had forgotten to take heed of his surroundings. Had her last question been directed at him? His face breifly bore an expression of confusion before realisation dawned on him. From her posture and her body language he realised the young lady had actually been talking to him for a while. For a moment, he wondered what was the girl questioning him about, then, his eye caught sight of the strange goblet of yellow-orange liquid she had cupped in her hand.

"Non..." Lionel began, his eyes looking up to note his new companion. "Er... I mean, no." The lion quickly corrected himself. The girl did not look like she was from England, and she definitely did not look like she would speak French. He wasn't sure where exactly was she from as he had never really known many people with features like hers. In any case, he would have to remember that he had to communicate in English now - this was Hogwarts, not Beauxbatans.

"I have never seen something quite like it actually." he continued "I guess you're new to Hogwarts as well eh? I'm Lionel." he beamed with a smile.

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"I'm Amaya Kayama, pleased to meet you Lionel,"
She had smiled. That was a good sign. Privately in his thoughts Lionel gave a sign of relief, her smile had told him he hadn't said anything too awkward, and neither had he been too forthcoming in his introduction. He hadn't been sure if jumping straight to the point with his name was the right way to go around here even though Ryuu had said it was - Armadeo had never quite approved of it. English culture sure was strange; in France, it was always better to call someone one didn't know by his or her last name or risk being deemed as rude. Addressing someone on a first name basis was something one did to those below you, and friends one was intimate with. Peer-wise, first names were alright in schools, but there had ever been the occasional arrogant individual who thought his family too great to be considered as equals to the rest of the school. At least - Amaya, was it? - didn't appear to be that kind of arrogant snob; the undesired kind of characteristics appeared to be found more at the green table - or so it seemed, as Lionel's eye glanced over what appeared to be a rather tense commotion unfolding barely two metres away.

"And yes, I'm new here as well. And also new to England as you can probably hear,"
His smiled broadened to a grin at her friendly demenour, his guarded manners slowly falling away as his earlier nervousness faded. Lionel was glad he wasn't alone in this advanture on this strange island.

"Are you a fifth year as well?" he asked, after realising that he wasn't too certain about the young lady's age.

Their conversation was momentarily interupted by one of the two older students Lionel had seen conversing earlier when he had first arrived. Lionel's question appeared to have gone unnoticed, but the young lion didn't mind.

"Hello, welcome to Gryffindor. I'm Hayden Battersea, but call me Ty. This is Irene O'Connors, one of your prefects. Anything we can do to help, just ask. We may be Lions but we don't bite. Oh, and get ready to hear :"How was your summer ?" , ten thousand times."
Lionel stifled a chuckle. "We may be lions but we don't bite" - what an amusing idea. So his name was Ty, and the belle he had been intimate with was Irene. Their earlier behaviour suggested that they were a couple, how sweet. Prefects were they? Or was it just Irene who was? Lionel wondered who they other prefects were - something to find out tomorrow perhaps, if they didn't all turn up for the feast. Ryuu had mentioned something about the feast skipping tradition some of the students seemed to have adopted. Lionel frowned slightly as the thought came to mind. It seemed all too impolite not to attend the official opening feast of a school. Then again, many of the students appeared to be engaging in some form of tomfoolery or creating a scene in their respective circles at this 'opening feast'. English behaviour... Lionel thought to himself, again, more things to grow accustomed to.

Amaya had shifted her attention from him for a while after Ty had gave his introductory speech - an opportunity for him to try out that strange yellow-orange substance sitting in his goblet. Lionel took a sip, almost gagging for a moment when the thick mixture slipped down his oesophogus a little too quickly than he had anticipated. He covered his mouth as he fought to control the cough - not the most flattering or manly of behaviour to display on his first day here.

Thankfully, Amaya had not noticed it; her attention seemed diverted towards the group of younger ones chattering amongst themselves, watching a sick-looking boy that appeared to have attracted Ty's attention as well. The poor child looked most uncomfortable, and had just decided to crawl under the table when Lionel's attention was summoned back by Amaya's voice. "So you are new here as well, where do you come from?" Lionel wasn't certain if she had been asking about his country or his school, and decided to propose both instead - he wasn't the kind that wasn't willing to offer information about himself after all.

"From Beauxbatans, in France." he replied "and you?"

Again their conversation was halted by what appeared to be a decision by the ill-looking first year's stomach to give up its orange-yellow contents on a nearby professor's shoe. The latter individual didn't appear too pleased about the incident and had drawn the eleven year old out from under the table rather violently with his wand, without any consideration for the bump on the head he had inflicted on the poor unfortunate soul. He would have intervened, but Irene had intercepted first - good for the boy. His eyes strayed to the mess the boy had made on the floor, causing his own stomach to feel a tad queasy as the unsightly liquid mixed with the child's stomach juices continued to spread it's puddled boundaries across the stone floor. Lionel pushed his goblet away, after seeing all that spewed on the floor, he wasn't too certain he wanted to consume any more of the strange drink - it was a little too much to see the beverage in his cup being reltched onto the ground.

Then, the commotion at the green table had picked up to a rather undesirable level.
Lionel’s brow furrowed as his face betrayed his private disapproval of what looked like a public brawl ensuing. Did that older boy just shove his challenger into the lap of an innocent bystander? And a younger girl at that! And what was it he was doing now? Forcefully grabbing onto a lady’s wrist?! Lionel could feel his blood just beginning to boil. This was certainly not the way to conduct oneself in the public arena.

He had been about to stand to his feet to confront the offender, when the young girl on whose lap the other student in green had fallen on had stepped up to stand between the conflicting parties. Lionel clenched his fist and settled into his seat again, careful to keep an eye out for the business at the Slytherin table to interfere if necessary. For now, things appeared to be under control as another Slytherin student stepped in to mediate.

And then, it happened.

Lionel winced as the larger, and obviously older male collapsed into a heap on the floor, clutching on to the point of injury that was now ailing him. Much as he had been offended by the said individual’s earlier behaviour, Lionel could not help but empathise with the man on the pain he was obviously feeling right now. His disapproval now shifted to the lady who had inflicted the wound; much as he was glad that she had managed to stand up for herself, such a course of action in his opinion was highly unwarranted for.

A thought flickered in his mind as his eyes settled onto the young lady in question, and then onto the young man who stood beside her examining her wrist – the pair looked oddly familiar. Lionel was sure he had seen them before somewhere. The latter individual’s voice drifted over as Lionel pondered on the recollection for a moment, permeating into his range of hearing.

"Mon cher, that was... Perfect for this man. How is your arm? But it was vulgar for you to be seen doing that."
A trigger was set off in Lionel’s memory. Of course! These were his juniors from Beauxbatans! It was no wonder they had seemed so familiar. Now what was it about that pair that had floated around in the old school? The young lion couldn’t quite remember. It was not particularly easy to learn about someone else’s business in France – it was considered rude and intrusive, and people generally went about minding their own business. Family matters, financial status, almost everything was considered a matter of private business and personal preference. All the same, Lionel bowed his head in shame as he recalled the scene that had just unfolded – what an embarrassment and an insult to the Beauxbatan name… and more so to the French name. The French were renown for their manners and good social conduct; they were after all, a people of class and culture. This would certainly not do if any of the professors from Beauxbatans were to find out. Why did it have to happen at the opening feast? It was sure to leave a mark of negativity against the French name – they really did not need to have more Englishmen hating them than there already was. Lionel sighed, if he winded up with any of Martel siblings for any of his classes, it proposed to be a long and trying year ahead. Why couldn’t they have chosen to be better behaved – none of the other tables appeared to have had any of this bad behaviour save for a few ‘typical English school accidents’ as it appeared.

“I’m sorry you had to see that” Lionel murmured “I blush for my fellow countrymen.”
Had the last sentence been necessary? Lionel had cut himself short only too late. Now Amaya would know where the unruly pair had come from, and if she had been observant, she may even have noticed that fleeting but undisguised look of recognition he had bore on his face when he remembered how he had come to know of the Martel pair.
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It has been almost nerve wrecking during the brief few second of silence that hung between his last lamentation and Amaya's eventual response.

"I wouldn't have thought that. They seem nothing like you."

Lionel's tensed body relaxed when Amaya's uncondemning verdict was pronounced. He was glad she had not reacted the way he had thought most people would: with disgust and possibly dissappointment - at least not outrightly. Her words were enough for him to know she did not condone the conduct of the conduct herself, but she was far too intelligent to make as superficial a deduction from an isolated incident of name-shaming behaviour. His smile had almost returned to his face now - the lion had to learn not to take things too seriously; he worried too much about the opinion of others.

"I suppose there really are bad seeds on every field... Do you know them?"

To Lionel, it wasn't really a question of whether he knew them - afterall, he had never been acquainted with the Martel siblings on the intimate level. It was just somewhat embarrassing (according to the code of conduct he had been strictly disciplined to follow from childhood) to have remembered such individuals at all. Recollection meant some kind of acquaintance; that his person had at one point of time or another resided in a close enough proximity with the Martels for them to have left a kind of impression in his memory. That left a taint on the name of wherever it was that he had noticed the pair, and also on the people to whom the location was familiar to. It was as if to say that such persons could be found in such-and-such a place in Europe.

Lionel's opinion in that sense of greatly narrow-minded; a consequence of Armadeo's strict disapproval of unbecoming behaviour.

In any case, there were only a few places Lionel could have known the Martel twins even faintly; they had to be the places in which he spent the most of his life in, and there weren't many. There was no way it could have been at Wischard Manor or the Nefis palazzo as neither Armadeo nor Ryuu would have tolerated the dissatisfactory behaviour under their family roofs. That left then, only the likelihood of Beauxbatons having been the place for the occasion of contact. In the end, there wasn't really much information Lionel could offer, and he answered as honestly as he could with the response of "Not really..."

He had paused for a moment before he continued with "I won't say I know them exactly, they just seem a little familiar. Perhaps I have met them before in passing once of twice on fleeting occasions - maybe more. But all in all insufficient to leave anything more than a faint impression on me."

That was true to the last letter; after all, he had never been formally introduced to the pair, and it had really been their accent that gave them away and triggered his memory. Perhaps they kept a kind of low profile in Beaxbatons, or Lionel had simply never crossed their paths as anyone more than a passerby in the institution's corridors. They may not even have been in the same classes before due to the difference in age. Lionel made a note to find out a little more about the Martels later that week - if he was inquisitive enough. For now, he did not think it necessary to inquire after them, and he was in no hurry to know them anyway.

His mind wandered for a moment as he cast his eyes towards the professor's table. The headmaster had still yet to arrive. Lionel wondered how long more would all of them have to wait before the speech would be made and the feast could begin. After watching one of the young ones heaping her plate with what looked like potatoes, Lionel's stomach couldn't help but growl a little. He had refrained from consuming any food before they were officially allowed to do so out of courtesy. Despite being unfamiliar to the dishes, he was becoming hungry enough to give them all a shot.

"Who is that square?" a younger voice unexpectedly quirped.

Lionel turned his head in the direction of the student who had commented, following the direction of latter's gaze until it settled on the stern-looking professor from the pumpkin juice incident. Lionel hadn't really taken notice of him before, and realised on his looking now that he had remembered seeing the same face (only younger) in Ryuu's old year book.

"Oh. That's Ser... I mean, Professor Sergei Vasilijev." Lionel had replied, directing his comment to no one in particular.

How he knew the professor's name had been a result of his briefing session with Ryuu a week before he had left for England. Ryuu had used his old year books to provide images for Lionel's benefit as he explained things like the rules and what he could expect to find in Hogwarts. In the midst of it all, Ryuu had let on a little about his student life upon Lionel's request, revealing some information about his then fellow schoolmates as well. Through those moments, Lionel had learnt that Sergei had been a member of the green house and a prefect during at least two years of the three Ryuu had been on the prefectoral board, and that he had been good friends with another Slytherin and fellow prefect - the very woman who had just walked into the hall and who had made a beeline for the professor's table. What was her name? Nellevie Lashae? He knew those things and a little more, but had left it impolite to disclose what seemed to be rather personal information to the other students.

"I think he's our house head." Lionel finished.

From the ashes of History

Participating characters:
Arizce Martins
Ryuu Riccardo Nefis

Status: Incomplete/Writing in progress. Character participation may increase.

Last post: (12/4/05 6:04 am)



Ryuu Riccardo Nefis

Emerging from the shadows of the great oak, Ryuu stood by the mirror-like surface of the lake, staring into it's ebony depths as if in search for an answer for a recurring issue in an enormous pensive. How long had it been since he had last stepped on this shores? Four years? Four grueling years of endless struggling and incessant battles that tested and tried every last fibre of the Venetian's being; spirit, soul and body. Every ordeal had been a test of his metal - and who said that examinations ended after the NEWTS? There was more to the trails of life than academic torments.

Much had happened in his term of absence from the castle, his graduation had only marked his first step out of the protected corridors of Hogswarts into the crushing fists of reality. Ambition had not been an issue for he had no need of one, all he had wanted was to find the solution that would break the chains that bound him; the panacea to the entanglement of the web of life.

Something had haunted him in his dreams all these years. Something that carried a faint substance of its existence so fragile that it merely existed as a flicker at the edge of his memories. There was something from his past that had yet to be resolved, but for the moment, the lion had little clue as to what it could be. All he knew of it was that it was something in relation with his student days at Hogwarts and it was an issue that refused to release him from its clutches if he failed to redress its greviences.

Whatever it was, only one step to the ending shone the clearest: Ryuu had to return to his past. And his very first exposure to his academic history in Hogwarts has began at the Hogwarts Hangout in the summer of 1947, beside its lake in the dead of the night.

There was a shimmer of hope that he would find his answer by his old haunt despite its unrecognizable facade, and hopefully he would manage to slip away before the encampment awakened and flooded the tranquil silence with the cries of adolescents basking in the warmth of summer. But for the moment all he could do was search in the opaque blackness of the lake's waters and wait out the meloncholy of the night.

At least one thing had failed to change; Ryuu still prefered the silences of life in comparison to amplified cries of victory.


Arizce Martins

Ripples of water crashed onto the sandy shores of the lake; the only sound that was heard in the dark of the night. All was quiet as the stars twinkled brightly in their respective positions high up in the sky and basically, there was no movement, not even the slightest of breeze that was common to these areas.

The moon had cast its reflection upon the now dark waters, its image wavering as the water surface moved. There were no tunes from the nightingales that usually roosted near the lake. All was different, very different when she had first came here.

It has been a long time since she had step foot upon this place, the feeling of apprehension that had welled up inside her as she scanned the place suspiciously. She had never been one to trust, having had it broken once. Today, she felt like the way she did four years ago.

This was the place that had taught to have faith in others, to start trusting someone other than her family, someone not from her own house, but it was the very same place that had also broken her trust. The feeling of betrayal was great, sometimes immense, and it had always rang clear in her mind. There was a point in time where she wondered whether it was even possible to trust her own housemates. She had been over that phase.

She remembered the few delightful people that she had met here; namely Claude Montague who had been nothing but nice where she was concerned, and for once in her life, made her feel wanted and not some useless trash waiting to be incinerated.

Then there was him, the source of her joy, her pain, her love, and her hate. She did not know how she felt about him any longer, it being a mere thin line between love and hate. She hated him for what he did to her, but there was always this nagging feeling inside her and at the end of the day, she felt more pain as compared to hatred.

Reuben was most probably wondering where she was now, but he would not know that she had left until he realized that she has not been home for the night, or for a few days. She had something that she wanted to do, something that she must complete and she knew Reuben would never have allowed it. That had only left her with the choice of sneaking out, which was the reason why she was here now.

Gently, she sat upon the sand, her delicate fingers running through the grains as she soaked in the familiarity, eyes closed, enjoying the peace and serenity that the lake had always brought to her. She felt truly at home, even though this was not her home. It was an attachment that she had with this place, one that had never died.

She had spent the past three years fulfilling her wishes, they were almost done, and she had only one left. All she wanted to do was to see him again, just once. She had always wondered how he was and whether he had graduated, and how he and her have been. She never did bother to find out her name. It was bad enough having nightmares of him walking out of sight, she did not want to remember the very name that had extinguish the only candle in her dark world.

That was all she wanted.


Ryuu Riccardo Nefis

The silence had become almost unnerving, it was almost as if the lake knew that something was about to happen. Tension mounted every second Ryuu stood motionless staring at his own reflection in the futile wait for something to jolt his memory that would uncover the answer to his mental torment.

A walk down memory lane, that was what he needed. If his mind remained unthinking he would never be able to locate the root of the problem. What was it that drew him to the lake instead of anywhere else in the compound? His first step had been into the cabin and the woods all those seven years ago, there had to be something significant about the silent body of water that intrigued him to visit it.

What was that mistake he had committed years ago that haunted him every waking moment and even in his sleep? It had to be something unforgivable to cause so much frustration and unrest.

All his mind drew, was a blank.

Curse the self pride he had in him! It had caused him to grow oblivious to his own errors and blinded him from the hurt he had inflicted on others. Perhaps there was more truth than the young man would admit to the sentence his guardian had always repeated.


"Men are always right in their own eyes..." Miss Levet murmured with a sigh.

"If you remain this way Ryuu, you will never learn from your mistakes, precisely for the reason that you will never see that you have done anything wrong in your own eyes.

"Everything you've ever done to you, has always been for the right reason or with the right intent, and therefore are right - you do not care for the consequence of your actions."


Pride was an obstructing factor that was almost impossible to move, but one that had to be dealt with if he wanted to move on. Angry, Ryuu flung a pebble into the water, shattering his reflection and disturbing the otherwise peaceful surface of the lake.

Come on... what is it?! Ryuu growled under his breath as he flung another stone into the murky waters of the lake as if it would bring the answer he was seeking to the surface.

The soft crunching of dry twigs against stone indicated the approach of something or someone, but Ryuu was too preoccupied with the frustration at hand to succumb to habit of turning around to inspect the source of the approaching footsteps.

The noise soon ceased. Whatever it was had probably found what it was looking for or had decided to rest. In a matter of seconds, Ryuu has forgotten about its approach entirely and had shifted his gaze from the lake waters into the night sky.

Millions of stars lay scattered across the pitch black sky; little flickering orbs of light like candles in a dark room without windows or sunlight, like the faint traces of the hopes and dreams Ryuu had once pictured he had on countless summer nights of old as he lay on this very shore, staring into this very sky.

All those nights of star-gazing - they had always either been alone or with Debora, or at least, the last 2 years of his student-hood were. There was this... someone else before Ryuu had discovered his Brazilian goddess - a certain... snake...

Who are you, my mind's ghost?

The thought trailed away and faded into the night as Ryuu let out a sigh and lay himself on the sandy banks of the lake. Using his hands to pillow his head, Ryuu gazed again into the spheres of light as he attempted to recall the face of the other girl in his life.

After staring for what seemed like hours into the vast vacuum of space, Ryuu turned his head to the left to stare across the shore.

In the distance, he made out a pale figure of a person, a woman standing alone at the water's edge. She soon stooped to sit on the shore of the lake just as Ryuu had done, but did not move to lie herself in the sand. She seemed familiar, yet a stranger, and her name lingered at the edge of his mind just out of reach.

Should he speak to her? Ryuu looked on at the embodiment of every forlorn thought he had ever conjurred, his boots crushing the silicon grains of sand as he proceeded to stand.


Arizce Martins

She had always felt at peace with herself ever since she had left seven years ago, and that was what she had wanted, to be at peace with herself. Her brain had seemingly covered her bad memories in a single veil that had prevented her emotions from running amok. Now, her heart was as still as the water in an abandoned bucket.

There was nothing to feel when one does not evoke the feelings and the memories that once hurt, and she had been doing fine for a while. She lived life as if that one year had never happened, remembering only the happy things, and the wonderful people that she had met. Of course she remembered everything else between them, but her brain never once brought up the pain that came along with the memories.

Even though her heart still ached at the very thought, that ache had since dulled, and all she wanted now was to live her life happily. Undeniably, Reuben has been with her throughout the five years since she had left England. He had given up many things: namely his family and his future - just so that he could take care of her. And while she was grateful, she could never return the favour, ever.

If only things had been different, and she had never met him, perhaps, all would have been very different now. She could have been the happiest woman in the world with Reuben by her side. But no, she was not; the path she had chosen was the one she wanted, and even if she had the choice to choose again, she would still walk down the same road.

She would still have wanted to meet him, to let herself fall for him.

It was not that she had completely ignored the pain that this route had brought her, but it was just something about him that had made her feel alive; something that had felt special - something that no one else would ever be able to do. Perhaps, it has been her fault that everything had ended this way... but she did not really have a clue, with her memories having been packed under such tight security that the actual happenings sometimes seemed like figments of her imagination. But she did know that everything had happened.

Her fingers gently traced his name out in the sand in her cursive handwriting as she smiled to herself for some unknown reason. She closed her eyes as she remembered the first time she learnt of his name, the first time she saw him smiling...

One memory led to another as her mind moved from the beautiful fairy tale towards the horrible nightmare. Her eyes flew wide open as her hand made a sweeping motion to wipe out his name from the sand. Blurred images had floated around in her mind, but the pain and the denial had awakened her from the trance, unwilling to let her revise the pain again, not wanting the images to form clear pictures in her mind.

There was such a thing as forgetting when you wanted to.

She only knew he brought her pain, but how, and why she did not know. The feelings of confusion and fright took over her as she dragged her feet across the sand, pulling her knees towards her chest, and hugging herself tight. It was no breeze or wind that made her feel cold; it was her heart that had made her body cold. Insecurity welled up inside her as she buried her face in her knees.

The sound of footsteps shuffling across the sand alarmed her a little as she whipped her head around and saw a figure moving around in the dark. She squinted her eyes, trying to make out who the figure was. The trees had seemingly cast a shadow upon his face. Could it be Reuben? Surely he could not have noticed her disappearance that fast.

She picked herself up, not feeling in the mood to face Reuben right now. She was taking no chances even though she was not sure if this was him after all. If it was indeed Reuben, he would have started berating her for leaving his sight when she should be at home resting. She needed to do this, and he did not understand. So, she did the first thing that came to her mind,

Arizce ran.


Ryuu Riccardo Nefis

His movement appeared to have startled the young woman seated by the lake side, for she had snapped her head about at the sound of his boots against rock and sand. Ryuu cursed himself for frightening the poor girl, he should have been more careful when he had proceeded to stand - after all, it was almost 2 in the morning, the time when the compound was the most silent that even the sound of a pin falling onto concrete would have seemed much louder than it actually was.

Well at least now she knows you're here, it wouldn't be that awkward a moment trying to make your presence known.. Ryuu thought sarcastically to himself.

Approaching the young woman was now inevitable. He had to at least apologize for distressing her, she had probably not expected to find anyone else about when she decided to step out on a night walk and it was simply against his manners to leave the situation hanging without an apology.

But just as he began to walk towards her, she ran.

"Mademoiselle!" Ryuu called out. In the silence, his voice had echoed back from the mountains just beyond the lake as if his voice had been amplified by a sonorous spell.

"Wait! I did not mean to startle you so!"

Ryuu began to run after her gradually disappearing form, accelerating as he progressed, narrowing the distance between them in less than a minute. As he drew nearer to her, Ryuu reached forward, grabbing her by her shoulder to stop her, unintentionally spinning her around as he did so.

"Wait I..." Ryuu froze in mid sentence, his eyes fixed on her's in an expression of shock as if he had just seen a basillisk.

It was her. That girl from his memories... what was her name? A... Ar...

"Arizce?" His voice questioned without any hint of his confused emotions towards the situation.

In his mind however, it was almost as if a war had been waged. Hundreds upon hundreds of memories that had been kept under lock and key in his mind, never to be thought of again rapidly flooded back like an unexpected tsunami in the summer; overwhelming him with dozens of different feelings and questions he had never had the chance or courage to ask all those years ago.

When he realized that he had gripped onto her shoulder much too tightly for comfort, Ryuu immediately released his hold, his hands recoiling as if he had touched burning coal.

"Arizce I..." For the first time in a long while, the Venetian gentleman was lost for words.

In all his years at Hogwarts he had been always able to charm almost any female that had stepped into his life. be it with his music, his graces, his manners, or most of the time, with his eloquent tongue. But only one had ever left him speechless day after day: It was she, Arizce Martins.

Perhaps that had its contribution to his frustration concerning her. After all, every time he beheld her presence, his heart was immediately ensnared. Oh how he had yearned just to hold her and embrace her in his arms all those seven years ago after their brief encounter by the fountain. And he could never forget how, seven summers ago, his first glimpse of her standing by this very lake had taken his breath away. Yes, that was the memory that faithfully disrupted his peace day after day, night after night.

But those times had long since passed. The latter years had been nothing but pain, anger and resentment, that ultimately bred hatred and unforgiveness for an offence that to this day remained unknown.

At least, one that had remained unknown till now.

Every fragment of his soul wanted to yell out his apologies for her over and over again; about how his pride had blinded him and that every error was his and his alone. But the very cause of his demise was at work once more - pride was once again holding his tongue.

Silence reigned as Ryuu stood barely a metre away from the one who had once been the very life of his being, his eyes fixed on her's as his lips - having lost the struggle against his pride - remained unmoving.


Arizce Martins

Grains of sand floated in the air where her feet had made contact with the ground as Arizce tried to pick up her pace. She could feel her heart beating wildly against her chest and the loud thumping noise that it made was resounding in her ears. Every single fiber of her being was against the notion of a confrontation with Reuben.

The louder the footsteps grow, the more frantic Arizce grew. She just did not understand the underlying cause of her fear; all that her muddled brain could think of now was to run, to just run far, far away where nothing, and no one could hurt her.

"Mademoiselle!"

It was a miracle that his voice had actually made its way through her muddled brain as she slowed down a little. That did not sound remotely like Reuben, but that voice - it was a voice she had not heard in a long time, not for the past seven years. It was his voice.

"Wait! I did not mean to startle you so!"

He had reached out to grab her.

While her brain had already registered who the stranger was, her body's natural reaction had sent her into panic mood as she drew her eyes shut and struggled against the strong hold that he had on her. She tried to scream, but there was no sound. Arizce knew that she was freaking out for no reason, but she could not help herself.

"Wait I..."

She had completely withdrawn her body, her hands draw tight against her chest as she shook her head furiously. Fear overcame her as she felt herself spun around and a pair of eyes gazing intently at her. Don't hurt me, please don't hurt me. Leave me alone! Leave me alone!

"Arizce?"

Arizce opened her eyes, as if she had woken up from a trance. Her heart that had once been sprinting in a marathon suddenly returned to its once tranquil state. All that showed that she had just been running was her breath, that now came in short heavy pants. Her eyes widened as she realized who her captor was.

His fingers had started bruising her skin as her mind registered the pain. Though she still held her gaze, she started struggling and thankfully, he had freed her. What was he doing back here? She thought he had walked off, hand in hand towards the sun with her and started making babies or something. Why was he back here?

"Arizce I..."

She could feel herself gaze at him almost expectantly, hoping that he would say the words that she had wished to hear the most from him ever since she had left. It has always been haunting her, and every single time it happened, it was that very same scene.

It was just the two of them sitting side by side at the beach, watching as the sun set, leaving its traces in the form of red and yellow streaks. She could not remember a time when she had felt any more bless, eyes wide open and staring at the majestic view before her.

Turning around, she smiled almost blissfully at the person before her as she laid her head on his shoulder, his hand in hers as she enjoyed the view. Life seemed wonderful, almost too wonderful.

"I love you."

She had said out of the blue, snuggling against the warmth of his embrace as she felt his hold tighten on her.

"I love you too," he had replied and she smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist and finding life all too perfect.

"Debora."

And then, she would wake up.

In the beginning, she had always end up in tears, sobbing into the large down pillow that was her only source of comfort. She refused the let Reuben see her tears. As time passed, the tears had ceased and she had taken to sitting against her enormous window wrapped up in thick layers of her comforters with a glass of warm milk in her hands. It always worked.

She felt torn.

Arizce did not know whether to hug him or to reply him with sarcasm. She wanted to hurt him the very same way he had hurt her, to push him further away from her so that he would no longer have the ability to hurt her no longer. Yet, at the very same time, she wanted to just hold him and have time stop at that very moment, just to relive the past; just to have a memory to hold on to. She did not know what to do.

"Ummm... .I... er... Long time no see?"


Ryuu Riccardo Nefis

"I..." I've been thinking of you... The young lion had wanted to say. But Arizce had interupted him before the words could materialize.

"Ummm... .I... er... Long time no see?"

Ryuu did not know how to respond. The awkward silence between them returned as the two stood face to face once more on the shores of the lake that had been their haven, and their hell.

There were so many things he wanted to say, but nothing could form on his lips. His arms ached to hold her, but he knew he could not - he would be cheating Debora, for he had pledged his eternal love to her despite their inability to marry, and Debora having been wed to another. He would also be hurting Arizce with false hopes if he held her now. And who knew, perhaps Arizce would not let him touch even her cheek any longer, not after all he had done to her. He knew in his heart that nothing he could ever say or do would ever be able to right the wrongs or heal the pain.

Oh Rizcy.. I am so sorry...

Rizcy, the old pet name - the only name that he had been able to utter without the distance of formality. He had let her into the very depth of his soul, but in the end, it was still his flaw that triumphed over his heart.

Oh forget the pride! His heart hollered in his mental ear. His soul desired so much just to fall to his knees and beg for her forgiveness. For the very first time Ryuu was crushed to the point he felt almost as if he would weep uncontrollably. And for the first time, Ryuu Riccardo Nefis had nothing for him in the future: nothing but empty corridors in his mansions, vacant armchairs and couches, lonely days, or even years with only his music for companionship.

He no longer cared about the days when flowered words had been carelessly whispered into the hungry ears of waiting girls, nor did he find joy in the enchanting classics he had composed in his youth to bewitch his listeners just to spark Arizce's jealousy. All he wanted now was to tell her how sorry he was - he had lost all hope for anything more seven years ago when he had met the twin of his old friend Armadeo Wischard.

Reuben Stephane Wischard was the name of Arizce's knight in shining armour; the one that whisked her off, out of the clutches of her adversary and the torment Ryuu had inflicted on her fragile heart. And Ryuu did not blame Arizce, it was his own fault to have lost the pearl that cost him his soul. Now all he hoped for was just to see her smile again, to see her happy, and he would be satisfied.

"A very long time indeed." He finally replied.

Another long moment of silence.

"I... I have... a lot to apologize to you for..."

That had been unexpected.

" I..." his voice trailed off. Another battle raged between remorse and arrogance. Surpressing his pride Ryuu spoke.

"I'm sorry."


Arizce Martins

He was so near, and yet so far, and her fingers ached just to reach out and hold his hand, just like the way she used to when things had fell silent between them. She knew she should not, as he was no longer hers, perhaps, he never had been. It was as if he had the words "Property of Debora" inscripted on his forehead.

Mentally, Arizce sighed as she backed slowly away from him, her feet making shuffling noises in the sand as she did so. The close proximity had started to make her uncomfortable and she did not want to succumb to temptation and hug him until the moment she breathed her last.

She knew she could not do that.

She felt stupid. She had been awarded an unexpected chance of meeting him after seven years, and all she could say was "Long time no see"? There was a sudden urge for her to run into the nearest wall and knock her head repeatedly against it until she had forgotten what she had just said, and could start over again. Why could she not have said something smarter? Anything was better than the lame remark that she had just made. She had rather said something sarcastic, then she could perhaps just walk off, push him away, and stop the internal war raging within her.

But would it have made her feel better if she had walked off with a scathing remark?

Nope. She would probably have just cried and berated herself for having pushed him further away than she should have; for not letting herself have the chance to be near to him once again; for not finding out whether he was actually happy ever since her departure. Not that she really wanted to know anyway. It would hurt to know that he was happier with Debora than he had been with her. While the answer was rather obvious that it was Debora, she preferred not hear it from him.

"A very long time indeed."

At least he had not found her comment stupid, not that it did much to comfort her. Arizce merely sighed as she looked away, her gaze transfixed on her feet. She would rather fall into a trance then hold her gaze on him anymore. She did not want to fall deeper into the bottomless pit than she already had.

"I... I have... a lot to apologize to you for..."

"Wha... what?"

After everything he had put her through, after all the times she had tried to start a conversation with him only to meet with cold, aloof answers, she did not expect that at the very end, this was what he would say. Not that she had expected more, but it was still far beyond her imagination.

" I..."

"You don't..."

"I'm sorry."

"Have to..."

Arizce trailed off softly as she looked at him. She wanted to smile, to show that she was fine, but even if a smile was merely just the movement of muscles, she could not bring herself to move those muscles. There were many questions filling her mind that she wanted answers to. Yet she was afraid of their ending; afraid of what his reply would be. She was scared, but she needed to know.

Conflict much.

The formerly absent breeze had picked up as it surrounded the both of them. Arizce could feel tendrils of her hair that were pulled back in a high ponytail flutter against her neck. She quite like the silence that fell around them, not wishing to venture further into a game of twenty questions and have her heart stomped on quite literally. Tucking her fringe behind her ear, she played with the ring that hung on a chain around her neck absentmindedly.

She did not know what to do now, now that she had met him. Suddenly, the prospect of him being Reuben was not exactly that bad, at least she would have an easier time explaining to him why she was here, instead of trying to strike up a conversation with Ryuu. She found the latter much harder. All she wanted to show him was that she was fine and happier without him, and that Reuben had been a better choice, then she would walk off with her head held high, but she knew truly, that was not what she wanted.

"So..." she said, breaking the silence, "how have you been?"

Now, what was it that her mother told her about making stupid remarks?


Ryuu Riccardo Nefis

He found himself hardly looking straight at Arizce any longer. Instead, he found that his emerald eyes had strayed from studying her eyes to watching the wind tugging playfully at her hair, toying with it as if it were a new play thing that had been tossed out for its amusement. Ryuu couldn't help his thoughts straying and wondering what it would be like to run his fingers through her soft, silky hair once more.

Why had he been so stupid to chase her away in the first place? Despite her rock-hard facade, Arizce was really as shy as a dove. And as every action of his drove her further and further away from him, it too made her icy mask more and more determined to hate him and get rid of him from her life.

And then Reuben arrived to be that ticket out.

Arizce had still yet to respond to his apology, and Ryuu no longer dared to search her face for any possible trace of forgiveness or sympathy for his plight; his gaze had travelled from her to the sand beneath their feet.

Something just behind his boot caught his eye - it looked vaguely like an "R" and another letter just beside it that looked like a "y" had been traced out in the sand. But his own footprint and what appeared to have been a violent swipe had rendered the rest of it impossible to read. They weren't too far from where Arizce had been seated previously - could it be that she still had some feelings for him?

Then again, she had very quickly struck off whatever it was she had written in the sand. And even if it was his name, did that mean she wanted him out of her life forever? Or did she already hate him? There were too many unanswered questions, but it just seemed all too awkward to ask them now, after all these years spent away from one another after their last fight.

"So… How have you been?”

Ryuu breathed a half sigh of relief. The silence was beginning to seem like the worst torture he had ever had inflicted on him – yes, he was even willing to admit that it was more torturous to stand in Arizce’s presence out of her favour, that to relive his childhood, and that term of slavery, and have himself made to experience the whipping, the starvation and all the other miscellaneous abuses all over again.

“Alright I suppose…”

What a downright lie. There was nothing ‘alright’ at all. In fact, Ryuu wondered if Arizce had heard his apology at all, or if he had merely imagined the words forming and leaving his mouth. She didn’t seem the least bit affected by the fact that this was the first time in history that Ryuu had practically almost went down on bended knee to plead forgiveness. Or for the matter of fact that he had said sorry at all – he had never admitted that any wrong deed done in a relationship was ever his fault. He wanted to look into her eyes in hope to find some unspoken answer, but there was nothing. At least, nothing he could see.

Perhaps the whole idea of apologizing and hoping that everything would end somewhat better had been nothing but a whimsical dream. At the rate everything was going, he would be lucky to get even a monosyllabic answer should he ask if she had enjoyed the peace of the lake before he had interrupted.

His eyes had returned to watching the wind weave through her dark hair once more as once again his mind wandered off into surreal thoughts that mixed past experiences with existing fantasies. As if to taunt him, the breeze picked up, creating a sudden gust that undid the ribbon that had held her hair up in a pony tail, sending her raven locks tumbling down over her shoulders like a cascading waterfall.

Another reminder of why he had loved her in the first place – no matter what everyone else had said about her in the Gryffindor commons and behind her back, she had been the most beautiful angel in Ryuu’s eyes.

Damn those things he had done to lose her.

He would have tried to laugh the awkwardness off and make a joke of the situation if he had been Armadeo, that young man had always had a way with words and breaking tensions. But it was just not in Ryuu’s nature to mock even jokingly at the errors of a young lady in the first place, it was just… unbecoming.

Moreover he did not want to hurt her by bringing up the past right now, not when Arizce appeared so troubled by something. If he wanted to start on the right foot, the best he could do was let her bring the issue to the table if she wanted to.

With that resolution in mind, Ryuu continued to wait.


Arizce Martins

Oh yeah, never say stupid things twice in a row, which was just exactly what she had just done. So much for listening to your parents, but then again, she never really did listen to her parents much.

Smashing her head against a wall sounded like a possible suggestion at that moment, though in the present case, she would be banging her head against a tree trunk. Not such a good idea if you didn't want coconuts dropping on your head. It seemed a nice thought to just faint and forget that anything that had happened had happened, but she doubted that her head would appreciate her actions when she regained her consciousness much later.

Giving him a sheepish grin, she shrugged her shoulders as if nothing she had just said had ever passed.


Right Arizce, give him your best smile, flutter a few of those eye lashes and maybe he will be charmed enough to forget that you had just said something stupid. Flaunt your beauty darling, make full use of it. It will really work!


Yeah right.

Now back to the problem at hand, or rather the subject at hand, Ryuu Riccardo Nefis, or perhaps it was Lord Nefis now - the way he had "kindly" asked her to address him by on their last meeting. Perhaps she just was not good enough to call him by the name Ryuu, or perhaps he just did not want his name to ever roll off her tongue again in his presence.

The boy, wait, strike that. He was no longer a boy. The man that stood before her had a slightly different air around him. He was no longer the Lord Nefis she knew; the high and almost mighty boy that used to strut around as if he could do nothing wrong. But now, he seemed almost welcoming, as if the aura around him beckoned to the people in his surroundings to try and get to know him. Perhaps this was all due to Debora. It had to be.

She used to be one of those foolish girls in love, thinking naively that she could change the man she loved if he loved her enough. But she had failed on both accounts. Not only had she failed to change him in the slightest bit, she had made him withdraw further away into himself, further away from her. And obviously, he did not love her.

Both of them just did not click, both were too headstrong for their own good and too stubborn to admit when they were wrong. Maybe that was why Debora had the key to his heart. She, Arizce, had tried to understand him, but she could never reach into his soul and understand him. She lacked the patience Debora had, lacked the patience to break through his walls to find the real him inside.

Perhaps this was fate. Perhaps they were not meant to be soul mates.

He was like a lost pyramid in the vast desert of Egypt. She could not even find this pyramid to begin with, much less break the code to enter and find all the secrets it held within. She was probably why it had ended this way. And it was most probably due to her nature too.

She had once been hurt, and was highly untrusting of her world, her surroundings. She could not muster enough courage to trust Ryuu fully. Her jealousy and her insecurities had practically pushed him into the open arms of Debora, so in a way, it was not exactly his fault. So there was not really a need to apologize.

Did he apologize for what he had said instead?

While she agreed that she almost deserved that, it had still shattered many of her defenses that she once thought were strong enough to withstand his cutting words. Apparently, she was highly wrong. His words had only served to send her spiraling into her own little world in a box wrapped in many protective layers, each stronger and harder to break through then the one before.

Perhaps that was why she was closer to Reuben. He had let her be, gave her all the attention she had needed, and treated like she was the only thing that had mattered. He had never done anything nor said anything to make her feel insecure and jealous - not that if he did do something to that extent, would she feel anything. After all, he was not the one that filled her dreams at night.

Her last wish was finally fulfilled. She had gotten the chance to meet him again. There were so many things she had wanted to say to him, so many questions her heart wanted answers to. But, there she stood, making stupid remarks and unable to speak her mind. Would he tell her that he had always loved her and never once stopped, or crush the hope that she held that he would at least spend her remaining time with her?

Would that be too much to ask?

"Alright I suppose."

"That's great..." she paused slightly, "So, where's Debora?"

Great, just great. Another stupid comment. She really was the queen of stupid comments today.

Finis Terra

Participating characters:
Raelyn L'Baan Seah
Louise Jose Chow
Oswald Trimling

Status: Partially incomplete/(Focus of RP) Ended

Last post: (12/30/03 1:37 pm)




Raelyn L'Baan Seah

Old? Yes. Dilapidated? Perhaps not, L'Baan manor had been relatively well kept since their departure many years ago to Mac L'Baan's new post and office though it was obvious that it has been months since she had been last cleaned. The main gate at the guard house had been left open in wait for the invited guest.

The gardens were nowhere near her formal glory and the paths were slightly over-run with weeds. The house itself had lost all signs of life, but what did it matter? She rested on an island all to herself. Old furniture lay up-turned, some knocked over by the strong ocean winds.

The beach was deserted, even the tiny shellfish that used to dwell there were no more. It was almost as if they had left intentionally, as if they knew that something would happen. The lagoons? Not a sign of life; it's water appeared murky and treacherous under the greyed sky. Lightning flashed and the thunder rumbled. Thick heavy clouds threatened to unleash their full force. Aside from the lightning, the only light now glowed from an artificial rock barrier in the middle of the lagoons.

There, staring straight ahead into the chopy waters of the Pacific ocean was Raelyn L'Baan; the sole heiress to the L'Baan line. The source of the cold blue light was situated in her wand hand. The only evidence of its power was the frozen barrier that would mark out boundaries of the fight that was to come. Lightning flashed again as feirce waves lashed against the wave breakers before dying away only to return again. Each try as futile as the last.

Only two people would know where Raelyn was - Louise and Oswald - she had addressed letter especially to them. To Louise she had authored:

Louise,

You have discovered our past and heard of the inevitable future and have made us both aware of the oath. And since we have graduated, we are officially full fledge witches and the time has come to take up our responsibilities and settle the score - much as I do not look forward to it - there is no use running from it, it will catch on to us.

I will be waiting for you at L'Baan Manor - you know where it is - I have told you countless times before when we first met. Do you remember? I cannot disclose the information here for fear that the letter may be intercepted and I do not want to endanger anyone else should they try to stop us. I cannot trust myself not to attack anyone who disrupts our privacy. I know not what I might do, even to you.

You know I still consider you my friend despite what has happened and that you are still my best and only 'sister' but I am afraid that for today and the sake of the future of our families we have to cast aside our friendship. The Raelyn that you will find waiting for you may not be the same Raelyn you knew.

May the Jacquot and L'Baan feud end today.
Raelyn L'Baan

Different was right. The Raelyn that stood now on the rocks was not the cheerful and out going lioness of Gryffindor who had spent days and nights working for her quidditch team nor the one that had been studying hard for her examinations. Neither was she the caring counsellor and motivator of her underlings nor the lenient and forgiving prefect. She was Raelyn the writer of the end, the one who would now carve the future of the Jacquots and the L'Baans onto stone.

To Oswald all she had penned was a short note, disclosing nothing of the fight.

Dearest Oswald,

You may not see me at the Hangout or might even stop hearing from me in the future as I've returned to my ancestrial home to settle my... family matters. No, do not send someone to look for me, there's no need for that. I just wanted you to know that I still love you and have not left you. At least I hope that I will see you again soon. Please do not question me, these matters are highly confidential and is best that you do not seek to find out.

In hope that we will meet again,
Raelyn L'Baan 'Trimling'

Tears had been shed while Raelyn was writing that note. Tears that had fallen and stained the parchement that had been sent off to the now eighteen year old badger. After which Raelyn had left to familiarise herself with her heiriditory power.

The lioness had prepared herself and expected every possible outcome - even her own death - She had prepared herself for the possibility that she was never to see the only man she had ever loved again.

But those tears were now long gone, she had a promise to fulfil, an old contract signed by the L'Baans of old. Alone on the rocks Raelyn waited.


Louise Jose Chow

'Tap, Tap, Tap'

Louise sat at her table, tapping her ebony desk with the end of her fingernail, staring out at the window. Things were weighing down on her mind and the Lbaan and Jacqout feud becoming a burden too heavy to carry on her shoulders. Raelyn was right, it was time to shed this burden and get on with life and not let it get in the way of her ambitions and dreams. But, what if she killed Raelyn in the process? Louise knew she would be filled by guilt all her life if she had killed Raelyn. She would never be able to face up to Oswald again and look into his eyes, remembering that she had killed his Raelyn. Would he blame her and seek revenge on her?

Louise's gaze returned to the letter that Raelyn had sent her. She feared this meeting, feared like she had never feared before. The day the feud would end could be very well the death annivesary of either of them, or worse, both. Perhaps, it would be better if she was the one to go. She had nobody to answer to should she lose her life. If she died this time, she would be able to see Louis again, yes, she would be able to see him again. Thoughts about him brought tears to her eyes again as she shook her head, not willing to dwell upon him.

Louise,

You have discovered our past and heard of the inevitable future and have made us both aware of the oath. And since we have graduated, we are officially full fledge witches and the time has come to take up our responsibilities and settle the score - much as I do not look forward to it - there is no use running from it, it will catch on to us.

I will be waiting for you at L'Baan Manor - you know where it is - I have told you countless times before when we first met. Do you remember? I cannot disclose the information here for fear that the letter may be intercepted and I do not want to endanger anyone else should they try to stop us. I cannot trust myself not to attack anyone who disrupts our privacy. I know not what I might do, even to you.

You know I still consider you my friend despite what has happened and that you are still my best and only 'sister' but I am afraid that for today and the sake of the future of our families we have to cast aside our friendship. The Raelyn that you will find waiting for you may not be the same Raelyn you knew.

May the Jacqout and L'Baan feud end today.
Raelyn L'Baan

That was the letter that brought her all the troubles. It was her destiny, could she run away from it? Run away from it's evil claws and hide forever. It could not be passed down to the next generation. It was written in the stars, that it was to end in this particular generation, end with Raelyn and Jo. Louise sighed. She already had her luggage packed, all she need now, was the courage to go and meet Raelyn. Louise looked hesitantly at the small bag she had packed. It was now or never.

Louise took her bag and mounted on her broom. Kicking off, she flew out through her window and headed straight for the L'baan manor. It was just a short distance away and Louise could see the trees that waved to her, almost as if they were welcoming her. But the old L'baan manor was equivilant to a death sign. Louise hovered in the air, not knowing whether she should venture forth and end it once and for all. Since I'm already here, my decision is clear, why do I still hesistate?

Landing gently on the ground, Louise walked straight up to the L'baan manor, calling out softly in a clear voice.

"Raelyn?"


Raelyn L'Baan Seah

Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interred. How oft when men are at the point of death have they been merry, which their keepers call a light'ning before death.

Memory flashbacks of the years they had spent together...

Their first meeting...

"Hello. I'm Raelyn and this is my friend Chaska. Chaska say hi!" The ten year old Raelyn had introduced herself and her elkhound to her new found play mate at an alley way in chinatown Singapore.

"Hi. I'm Jose." The deaf girl had replied. "But I have to warn you first, I can't hear you. I just lip read." Louise had smiled.

"Really? I couldn't have guessed!"

An innocent friendship that turned to one of sisterly love.

"So that's why they abandoned me. They didn't want me any more. They said I killed my mother!" Eleven year old Louise had cried.

"Well you've got me now. I'm not going to let anything happen to you if I can help it." Raelyn has pledged. "Can I call you sister?"

From then on they had bonded, being as close to natural, loving siblings as either would ever be. A beautiful friendship that was soon to be seperated by war.

It was Chinese New Year's eve. A loud explosion shook the ground and shattered the gay atmosphere of the chinese who were welcoming the Luna new year. Debree fell from smoking buildings and chared vehicals. Screams erupted everywhere as people fell one after another, some dead, some caught under chunks of concrete.

"Mom!" Eleven year old Raelyn had cried out, scrambling to reach the fallen body of her mother.

"Leave her be!" Someone had said, grabbing hold of Raelyn's hand and pulling her away. Chaska had been barking at the top of his lungs all this while.

In her heart, Raelyn knew her mother was dead. How could she still live with all that shrepnal from the bomb that had fallen just behind them not too long ago. She had died saving Raelyn's life. Raelyn was going to survive this war. She swore that she would so that she could find her father some day to tell him what had happened. Mac L'Baan had been sent back to Britain to fight for his country.

"Louise! Louise!" Raelyn had called out in vain. Her two year playmate was lost.

The war had been long and hard, but Raelyn had survived thanks to the care of a kindly chinese family and that strange occurance when she had nearly been kidnapped and raped by a troop of drunken soldiers. Some sort of force has pushed her away from them and enabled her to flee dispite the deep slash wound in her thigh.

It had only been two days after the war when the two friends met again at the dock in hope to return to Europe. But it was then that two barn owls had arrived with their belated acception letters, altering their lives forever.

"I can't believe it! Louise we're prefects!" Raelyn had exclaimed in excitement, her hands tightly holding on to Louise's as both girls grinned from ear to ear.

If that hadn't been enough another notice in the Gryffindor commons had sent Raelyn's head reeling. The girl hadn't dared to go to sleep that night for fear that she was in a dream and if she should wake up the next morning all this would be over. The notice had announced the two girls' appointment as Gryffindor's Quidditch team Co-captains. A partnership that held many happy memories.

"Come on Lou, we can do this!" Raelyn had shouted encouragingly over the din. "We're going to make it!"

"Score! Yes!"

"We might not have won but we will be better!"

"We got into the finals! We got into the finals!"

The entire team had embraced after the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match, each almost unbelieving at the final outcome. Some were even in tears. But those happy moments were soon to be no more.

"Would you kill someone you love dearly just because it was pre-ordained?" The weeping lioness had asked her fellow prefect.

‘Fate is fate. You could fight it, but it will always end up the same..’ Had been Kou's reply followed by an analegy.

'There was a muggle girl who had a premonition, the man she loved would die. Now, she tried to make another path. To have a change in her own blueprint. Though, vivid in her mind was her love wearing a dark red jacket lying dead on a floor with blood seeping from his body. Now, the man originally owned a red jacket. It was part of his school uniform. Instead, later on, the girl bought him a white jacket. In this way, she thought she could cheat fate. Though, when the time came, The boy was shot to death and it was the his blood that had made his new white jacket red... This is how fate finds it’s time to intertwine with our plans..’

Yes... a prophecy... that prophecy. Louise had told it to Raelyn herself.

"Rae, we are bounded by this prophecy, the prophecy concerning the L'baans and the Jacqouts. You're ice, I'm fire. I'm not supposed to go near Yue Ying, the elemental sword that you possess, because it's something that.... that will harm me and weaken me..."

"I know that's a very brief account that I have given you about the prophecy, but what's most important is... Rae we have to battle each other"

"Raelyn?" A call that was barely audible wove through the wind. Raelyn refused to move. She feared that if she turned around too soon she would lose her composure. If Louise wanted to see her, she would have to come inside. The main gate at the gate house was wide open and one did not need to walk through the abandoned manor to reach the lagoons.

The time has come. There's no turning back now. Raelyn thought, her grip on her element based magic tightened as she waited for Louise to approach, her ears pricked up and listening for any attempts by the girl to strike.


Oswald Trimling

"What?" exclaimed Oswald, startling his owl, Liten. The owl that had just brought him this letter had already flown away, and besides, not being Jarrold, he wouldn't have been able to question it anyway.

The letter made no sense, so he read it again, and then a third time. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to help. 'You might stop hearing from me'? 'In hope that we will meet again'? This was serious, and if Raelyn thought that he was going to stand by and not get to the bottom of this, she had misjudged him.

But what could he do? That was the problem. He sat still, his head in his hands, and tried to slow his breathing down so he could focus on the situation, instead of just panicing. Right, she said that she was at her ancestral home. Which was, if Oswald remembered correctly, in Singapore. Who would know more than that? Louise, probably, but Oswald had no means of contacting her, either.

So, if he didn't know where the L'Baan household was, how could he possibly get there? The Knight Bus only travelled within the UK, so that was no good. The Floo network was difficult to use for international travel, doubly so if you didn't know where you were going. And he couldn't apparate to somewhere he'd never seen, even if apparition was reliable over that sort of distance, which it certainly wasn't.

There was, almost certainly, some form of international transportation for wizards. Some equivalent of the Knight Bus. Flying coaches or something, probably. He'd probably find out all about it once he started the Ministry job, but that was still in the future. Right now he had no idea of how to get to Singapore that didn't involve British Empire Airlines.

Well, the simple fact was, that no matter how how difficult it might be to get to Singapore and the L'Baan home, it was going to be even more difficult if he just remained sitting here in his parents' house. Pausing just to pick up his wand and a few other essentials, Oswald raced out of his bedroom and down the stairs. He grabbed his overcoat and hat from the stand and called out "I'll just be gone for a while!"

He stepped into the fireplace - just as well this was July, really, or it might have been in use! He threw the powder in the air, reflecting that it was also fortunate that this happened a few days earlier, before he'd had the house connected to the Floo network.

"Diagon Alley!"


Louise Jose Chow

Louise walked silently in. There was no sign of Raelyn yet. Her eyes travelled to the lone manor, standing right in the middle. She was not going to take her chances and walk through it, risking the attacks of pieces of the old house. As she walked by it, she was reminded by her own manor, one that had probably gone down with the war.

"Run Hailey run!! You know you can't catch me!" 4 year old Jo giggled, as she ran under the beds, trying to run away from her nanny. Despite having been abandoned by her family and made to live with the servants down in the cellar, little Jo Jacqout had managed to find joy in life in it's weirdest ways.

The door flew open suddenly as Darren Jacqout strode in and looked sternly at his younger daughter. Jo took a step backward in fear and stumbled over the bed and landed on the floor in pain.

"Yeowch"

"Shut up girl!"

Jo blinked her big grey eyes at her father. Tears threatened to roll down her face. This was not the way fathers were supposed to be. When their children fall, they should be there to pick them up, comfort them and asked them whether they were hurt, not asked to shut up. He would not even call her by her name. Jo's hopeful eyes fell, realizing that her father did not love her any more than before. Hailey, who had witnessed the entire situation, walked up and hugged Jo gently.

"I would appreciate if Master Jacqout here did not holler at his own daughter. For heaven sakes, she did nothing wrong!"

"She did nothing wrong? Are you telling me that Sevine's death was a mere accident?"

"Jo did not cause her mother's death, and neither would she have wanted to."

"I wouldn't know now, would I?"

Glaring at the maid, Darren slammed the door hard, shaking the pictures that were hung on the wall. Hailey hugged the youngest Jacqout tightly as Jo sobbed loudly, her little heart just having been broken by that so called loving father of hers.

Tears rolled slightly down her face as Louise made an attempt to wipe it away. A lone figure stood by the lagoons. Louise sighed softly as she made her way up to Raelyn. With every step she took, memories she shared with Raelyn flooded back to her. She would hate to lose these beautiful memories that she had shared with Raelyn. They were the only things besides her that kept her alive all this while...

"I guess you want to know why that happens..." Louise said softly, taking a guess, not wanting to face Rae, actually, not knowing how to face Raelyn after all this has happened.

"Rae, we are bounded by this prophecy, the prophecy concerning the L’baans and the Jacqouts. You're ice, I'm fire. I'm not supposed to go near Yue Ying, the sword that you possess, because it's something that.... that will harm me and weaken me..." Louise said, not knowing how to continue.

"I know that's a very brief account that I have given you about the prophecy, but what's most important is..." Louise paused. It was hard, hard for her to tell Rae, but since she had already said most of it, she might as well finish it. Louise looked up at Rae seriously, her grey orbs staring at Rae intensely as Louise said softly, and sadly.

"Rae, we have to battle each other"

That was the breaking point for both of them, the words spoken after silent for many months. Louise did not know how she managed to break her barrier of fear and told Raelyn the entire thing. The only conversation this pair had in the entire school term, ever since Louise had found out about the prophecy... Louise's mind was going back in time, slowly, bit by bit as they all flew back towards her...

Louise blinked her eyes in surprise. She could not believe that Raelyn was there, standing right before her. After the war had ended, actually, when it had started and that they were separated, Louise had never once though that she would ever get the change to see Raelyn again.

“Raelyn!” She had screamed happily as she ran forward and hugged that long time friend of hers. When she had been alone in that long, long period of time, she had missed Raelyn terribly and was so glad to see her again.

“It’s so good to see you again.” Louise had managed a smile as tears began to well up in her eyes. This was definitely one of the happier days of her lives.

Louise walked nearer towards the figure, fear consuming her as the distance closed in. She wanted to ignore this prophecy, go against it and turn her head, grab her broom and leave this place as soon as possible. Louise tried to turn around, but there was a seemingly strong magnetic force that seemed to be pulling her, a force she could not fight. Why had she even made her way here? Now, there was no way she could hide.

With her feet pulling her towards her destination, Louise unwillingly made her way towards Raelyn, feeling dread as seconds past. Something strong was bubbling inside her, something that was getting stronger and stronger. Why on earth had she not given the heirloom to her siblings? She could have escaped this fate and it would have improved her relationship with her siblings. But no, she had stubbornly stuck to the will of her father and did no hand over the heirloom.

She could feel something burning within. Strangely, she did not feel in the least bit warm. She could only feel cold, coldness of the heart at having to ignore friendship and fight her best friend, a friend who was almost like a sister to her. Louise could not take it; she could not bear the cold. She wanted to run out of this prison.

Lost and alone in a vast world, hunger had consumed young Louise as she made no attempts to move. She had lain down in what was called home when the war had started, when she was separated from her family, her friends. All the people that she used to love and care for have all died in the war. Could there be a possibility that Raelyn was still alive?

How could it be? She had watched the building that Raelyn had lived in shattered into pieces when the bomb came crashing right about it. Louise had almost collapsed. She could still remember the tears that rolled down her face, the sudden feeling of impulse to rush in and push away all that debris from her friend and save her, but no, she could only hear the horrible screams as the building caught fire. Louis had led her away by the hand, away from the source of trouble, but he soon left her too, dieing when another one of those bombs had exploded.

Tears rolled down her face… She was left with nothing now…

Louise did not know what to do. She had found her own kin, Raelyn, and her own little perfect world, Hogwarts, she has left Hogwarts already, and now, she might have to go through the possibility of losing Raelyn? What would be left of her than? Louise did not know.

She could see Raelyn right now; the shiny brown her and the striking turquoise eyes, there was no mistake that this was the girl she knew. Louise could feel the fire burning stronger, turning up the heat, yet all she felt on the outside was pure coldness, pure ice. Louise looked up at Raelyn, this was it.

“Hi”


Raelyn L'Baan Seah

"Raelyn!" Louise has exclaimed in joy as the pair embraced with tears streaming down their cheeks. Raelyn couldn't believe that the person whom she had thought had perished was alive and well. Lost in a flood of emotions, Raelyn has been left speechless.

“It’s so good to see you again.” Louise had added. Neither girls had been willing to let go of the other but eventually Raelyn pushed away so that she could take a good look at her friend.

"I thought I had lost you to the bombs! Oh I was so worried..." Raelyn began rambling. Realising that she had been rattling on and on Raelyn stopped herself just to hug Lousie once again. "I'm just glad you're ok!"

A meeting disrupted by two barn owls... owls that carried the letters that were to alter their lives forever...

"Hi." The clear distinct voice of Louise Jose Chow brought Raelyn back to reality. She was at L'Baan manor and there was something they needed to do. Raelyn did not follow Louise's suit, she did not return her greeting.

With her back still facing her best friend Raelyn said instead "I'm glad you could make it."

Every word in her reply had been but pieces of a lie. Raelyn had not an ounce of joy in her on Louise's arrival. In truth she did not want to hurt her friend - no her sister. Louise had been her only family since the war.

"We're going to be witches!"

"You mean we are witches... we're just going to learn how to be better ones." Raelyn had corrected her friend with a grin. "I never knew I was a witch... did you?"

Innocent times... now no more than a chapter in Raelyn's life. The whole friendship had been so perfect. From the beginning it had been perfect. Through the war both had survived and met again. Yet another perfect ending. But why, why did such a perfect world have to be shattered by a rash vow of the elders?

Another tear escaped from her turquoise eyes, slowly travelling down her cheek, leaving a faint trail in its wake. Raelyn couldn't bring herself to strike Louise and she knew Louise couldn't either. But it had to be done. It had been so clear. If Raelyn had had a choice she would have just laughed it off or just pretended it didn't exist. But she couldn't. It had been written in ink and signed - Raelyn had found the contract in the manor's library, slipped in the middle of her father's journal book-marking the date Raelyn had been born.

"... she is the one who will have to carry out the deed. We knew it the moment she opened her eyes..." That line had stood out amidst the page of elegent cursive. Raelyn's parents had known it would happen right from the very beginning.

"Strike me why don't you!" Raelyn wanted to shout. But she knew the answer, both were too weak to conquer that emotion of love. But it had to be done and Raelyn forced herself to take action. If Louise could not bring herself to start the battle, she would. She had to. Any more delay and Raelyn knew that it would be the end of them both. The contract had made sure of that.

"... they would have to battle to determine who indeed is the superior. If in any case neither strikes, on that day both will perish..."

Perhaps at the end there could be some hope that both survived. There would only be one way to find out.

It seemed as if hours had passed as the two stood in silence, no one had moved or uttered another word.

We can't avoid this Lou.... Raelyn's mental voice had shouted. Outloud Raelyn had not uttered a word, instead she had turned and moved to strike. A sudden flash of metallic blue streaked across the waters, heading straight for Louise's heart...


Louise Jose Chow

Fear and anticipation was swallowing her whole, but did she really anticipate this fight? Louise stood there, motionless. There was no way she would be able to raise her hand and struck her only kin, the only kin that she loved and had truly held a place worth mentioning in her heart. Louise’s gaze moved to her shoes, she had no wish to face Raelyn.

The heat was growing stronger by the minute as each wave that hit her increased the cold that she felt by a few notches. It was truly a surprise that she had not shivered, much less frozen with the harsh cold that she was feeling. Mixed emotions were controlling this power from letting it burst out and hit her opponent. One would need a strong feeling of hatred to strike at their opponent with a powerful blast, and like wise for this power, but Louise did not have the heart to do it.

Tears were rolling down Louise face. She shook her head vigorously, trying to remove unhappy thoughts of her mother’s death and her family’s prejudice, but they come flooding back as she related the story to Raelyn. She was glad that she had found a good friend like Raelyn, it was almost like, and she was now loved, a wonderful warmth feeling within her.

Teary-eyed, Louise looked up and smiled at Raelyn, glad that she had the honour of her company, glad that she had found someone that truly cared for her, someone that she truly cared for…

Louise sniffled, holding back the fresh batch of tears that were once again threatening to roll down. She wanted to scream and curse at her ancestors at having ruined her life when she was just having it all nicely. Why on earth had they been as idiotic as start a vendetta that lasted century old and made such a stupid vow? Louise had no idea. She wanted to yell, wanted to shout out loud.

She turned around to look at Raelyn, a ash grey eyes blinking wide as she remained silent. She did not know what to say. She wanted to apologize, apologize for the possible hurt that she was going to cause her. The power was now controlling her senses, but she had tried as much as possible to control it, trying not to let it rush out and hit Raelyn in a blow. She had to resist that strong temptation that was growing within her.

”I’m glad you could make it."

“If I had a choice, I would not even have step foot here”

Came her silent answer. The solitude there before was now broken with the short conversation that they had shared between them. Their fate had already been decided, what more is there to change? It was going to happen sooner or later, what difference would it make?A lot... Louise could feel her hand moving on her own accord as she quickly took hold of the other hand and held it tight, not wanting to strike yet as she tried her best to control her emotions.

“You’re my best friend, my sister, I could never hurt you.”

Silent words, empty promises, what was the point? Every promised that they had made before, had to be thrown away, toss to the wind as family loyalty still stayed. No matter how they tried to change the fact, Louise could never change her blood, her lineage, the Jacqout family that she had belonged to. Silent words shared by the beating hearts of the two suddenly stopped as Louise could no longer read Raelyn’s mind. All was in a state of confusion, for her.

When she had changed her name from Jo Sevine Jacqout to Louise Jose Chow, Louise had been determined to throw away her past and live for the future. So why did her past still have the ability to haunt her in such a way that it spoiled everything for her? Jo Sevine Jacqout her died, so why could the prophecy not have died with her? It was said to end with Jo Jacqout, but she was now Louise, no longer Jo, so why did she still had to go through this.

Something felt wrong, Louise could feel it. The Raelyn today, was not the Raelyn she once knew. The coldness and emptiness of her turquoise pools and the stern look her face held shocked Louise. She had stumbled a few steps, regaining her balance as she too, glanced at Raelyn.

It just was right… everything was wrong… and for once, Louise was correct.

Raelyn had taken out the sword, Yue Ying, and Louise could feel her head burning in pain. One hand moved to clutch her head as she stared at Raelyn. The power was growing stronger, very, very strong. A stream of blue light flew straight towards her heart. Louise’s eyes widened as she looked at the bolt of light, too shocked to move. And just when she thought that death was near, something from within her, a bright red flash flew towards the stream of blue light, meeting it in the middle of the lagoon…

Louise had screamed when Raelyn had shown her the Yue Ying, her eyes turned a bright red, while her hair had flames burning at the ends. Louise did not know what was happening to her… Something was not right. What was this mysterious force that she possessed?

Louise could not recall a single thing her father had told her, but was thankful that the strange phenomenon disappeared quickly, leaving her as she normally was. Louise turned to look at Raelyn, her eyes filled with shock, wonder, and excitement. She feared this ability, feared it, yet she was intrigued by it… And she knew, good things don’t come easy... she was right…


Raelyn L'Baan Seah

The cold blue tinge of ice, cold in nature and with a cold, unfeeling heart. Raelyn stared wide eyed in disbelief at what she had done, that blast of power had almost struck Louise... almost... what had she done?

“If I had a choice, I would not even have step foot here”

Choice... the one thing both women did not have, why had they allowed themselves to be bound by the past? Hadn't Raelyn told herself to move on?

Her blast had missed and struck the artificial barrier Raelyn had formed earlier, raising it's height by some significant amount. Her heart had been temporaily relieved that Louise had not been hurt but that moment was short lived, Louise was finally fighting back. A flash of red rushed from the other towards Raelyn. As it moved in closer and closer Raelyn could feel the intensity of the heat.

Her next action had been instinctive. If it hadn't been for reflexes Raelyn might have just stood to take the blast. And if she died... well that would have been the end once and for all. But her body had not allowed her to do so. yue ying still lay in it's shapeless form, the young woman had not been able to bring herself to summon the full force of her heiridatory power for it to take it's form. But now, her body was the one in control, not her mind. The next explosion brought out the full force of L'Baan Magic.

NO!!!!!! Raelyn's mind objected but it was too late. She had summoned every bit of energy and magic in her in defence and was now stagerring slightly as she tried to regain her balance. Yue ying was out in full force and who knew what it could do?

“You’re my best friend, my sister, I could never hurt you."

Those haunting words... where had she heard it all before?


Louise Jose Chow

Louise could feel her head spinning rapidly as she groggily watched the bolt of red light flew straight towards Raelyn. Her heart stopped in fear. She could not; she could not have it hurt her. Her eyes widened as she watched the flash of light with bated breath, watching it close in on Raelyn. Thank the lucky stars, Raelyn’s power had successfully defended her and Louise did not want to know what happened next.

She could feel Raelyn’s first shot of power move past her, nearly missing her by a few inches as it hit the artificial barrier behind her. She had been taught never to turn her head back at an enemy, but now, she had turned around and watched the artificial barrier rose by a few inches…

They were fast growing friends, ever since the day they met. Perhaps it was the fact the both came from such, such a tragic background that brought them together. It was perhaps just fate that they should meet. But Louise had always been thankful for this companion. Sure, she now had a family, but she only had a brother, now, with a sister too, life was almost perfect.

“Rae…”

Louise had said softly, looking up at her friend, smiling at her as her ash grey eyes danced joyfully.

“Yes?”

Raelyn had replied. Louise did not know what to say. She just felt safe that Raelyn would always be there with for, there for her. It’s a kind of feeling that warms your heart to the core. Returning her eyes back to the sketch she was making, Louise smiled and answered back.

“Nothing.”

Their childhood had been beautiful, like a fairy tale that was wrote out to have a beautiful and perfect ending. Both would grow up and be friends with each other until their deaths. But fate had given their fairy tale a twisted end, the prophecy. If their friendship had been meant to be a fairy tale, why could it not have continued that way?

But Louise knew that one fact still remained the same. No matter what the ending would be, they would always been friends, friends till their death. After this, should both survive, both would put the past behind her, and away from her. Their past was no longer going to harm them.

Louise turned her gaze back to Raelyn, noticing that her power had struck yet against, moving towards her with great speed, picking up the water from the lake as it did so.

They watched the pebbles skipped across the surface of the river as Louise jumped in joy. Raelyn’s stone had nearly made it to the end, the end of the river. Louise picked up another nice flat rock as she quickly hand it over to Raelyn.

“Try again, try again!” She had squealed happily. Raelyn had nodded and complied to her request. Once again, the rock skimmed across the surface as it skipped a few times before reaching safely at the other end of the river. Louise’s eyes dance with joy as she jumped up and down and hugged Raelyn.

“You did it! You did it!”
Louise had no wish to react, she would rather let the power hit her and let her die, than everything would have ended, and Raelyn would be safe, to be with Oswald, the only guy Raelyn had ever loved. Louise stood motionless, not making an attempt to move, but it seemed like her power had not decided to cooperate with her.

This was no longer their battle, their ancestors, the powers, were doing the battling; they were just the mere pawns of the game, to be the power source. Louise hated all this. But she could only stare in fear as she felt the power build up in her body, getting stronger and stronger…

Waves of pain hit her in the stomach as Louise collapsed on the floor, clutching her stomach as she bit her lip to keep herself from screaming. She was in her own room, and her brother was out somewhere with his girlfriend. She did not want to wake the neighbours up, knowing that they do not rise early in the morning.

The door of her room had opened and Louise could feel hope. Perhaps her parents or her brother had come home. She turned around, only to see Raelyn rushing towards her and patting her forehead.

“Are you okay, Louise?”

Louise could barely answer but she managed a grim smile as she continued biting her lip. It hurts, her stomach hurts and she did not know what was wrong. Raelyn had sent her to the hospital immediately and it seemed like Louise had gastric pains. Thankfully Raelyn had been there, else Louise would not know what have happened to her…

She could not harm Raelyn. Raelyn had always cared for her, she could not harm Raelyn. However, her body, her power, her ancestors were not listening to her as in a second, her power had summoned the strongest force as a bright red and yellow light burst out and move straight towards Raelyn… Louise stared in fear… No… No…

“No!!”


Raelyn L'Baan Seah

A perfect fairy tale… a perfect ending… something life never was and never would be. Raelyn should have known it would end this way, how could anything be perfect to begin with? She had been a fool, a child naïve to the truths of this world. The very truths she had no courage to face up to. Her sorting had been a mistake. She was no lioness, she had no courage to face up to the actions she had to take… she was weak… She wasn’t who Oswald had thought her to be… or was she?

Stop it! Raelyn shouted in her mind and out loud as she tried to block out those negative thoughts. They weren’t true! They couldn’t be! Could they? There, there was that doubt again. Raelyn fell onto her knees as her burst of raw power approached the other stream of orange-red glow. Did it truly have to end this way?

There was no choice… it’s a truth… there was… no choice…

Tears streamed down her face as the two spheres of power closed in on each other…

Why did this have to be? Why? A small voice wept in her mind. In the real world, Raelyn knew her body was violently shaking, but whether in grief or fear she could not tell.

There was no choice... pawns of our ancestors...Fate is fate. You could fight it, but it will always end up the same… Rae, we are bounded by this prophecy Each recollection appeared and entwined themselves about each other before fading away. Thoughts and memories from selected random events…

“You’re my best friend, my sister, I could never hurt you…

That haunting thought again… just where had she heard it all before?

It had been that day… those six years ago…

”Raelyn?” Louise had called as the two girls sat at the end of the peer, leaning on the ropes that stopped them from falling into the deep waters below. “If… if anything happened… I mean to me or to this country… would you help me?”

Raelyn was taken a back by the question. Everything had been so peaceful on the island and she had thought she was the only one who had sensed something was amiss. Sure there was news of the war in China and how the Japanese were trying to take over Manchuria for it’s rich supply of raw materials.

“Well, I would do everything within my power.” Raelyn had replies with a smile.

“But what if… what if you could escaped unharmed if… if you had to hurt me?”

“You’re my best friend, you’re my sister… I could never hurt you…”

Another empty promise… the first one Raelyn had broken in her life. What kind of friend had she been? A liar? A deceiver? Or just a silly witch, one who followed too closely to fate and destiny? Hadn’t she been taught that one had control as to where you wished to go? Or had it been a mixture of these ideologies in her life? Now was too late to regret and there was no time to think back on her life now – the two explosions of reddish orange light and ice blue flash had collided.

Evenly matched they had sent a reacting force so strong it shattered the ice boundary. But like what had occurred at the castle gardens… nothing else had been harmed… except the casters…

The force had sent Raelyn sliding across the rocks. Her vision dimmed as one last thought formed: You will always be my best friend and my sister… I will never hurt you…

The last dwindling thought and the world closed in about her...

Checkmate...


Louise Jose Chow

More recent memories… there were hardly none, or rather, Louise had no memory of it, only remembering the revelations of the prophecy which had been going on in her mind repeatedly, on and off…

"Rae, we have to battle each other"

The words that kept recycling themselves over and over in her mind seemed to haunt her, almost like a scary tune that hangs forever in the end, sending shivers down your spine… Sure, it was she who had voiced those seven words, those seven words that are going to haunt her, for eternity… Unless should one fateful day, she should lose her memory, or worse, die…

This was almost like judgment day, perhaps worse than it, this was a battle of life and death, for her life… Louise did not know whether this life was a life worth living, but having known Raelyn was one of the greatest consoles in her life… especially since….

Why had she even bothered, how could she have been so naïve? Her brother would always remain her brother, how could she ever have thought that he would be something more. Fresh tears welled up in her eyes again as they rolled down, leaving one clear streak upon her face… Yes, she loved him, she always did, but he was not going to change anything that has taken place… He was dead, long and gone, but had she been able to forgive him?

Raelyn had known what many others did not. Louise had told her many events that happen in her own life. Their memories were proof of their relationship, a close knit one. People who used to know them would be surprised if they knew both of them were at this current moment, fighting against each other… They would most likely be appalled at the very thought of it, but it was true; they both were fighting, against their will...

Louise tried to concentrate on the battle. She had day dreamed often in parts of it, drifting off into the land of memories. Was this what you called recollections before death? Was she near her death bed? Or had she already had one foot in her coffin. The bright red light that came from her was moving at breakneck speed, so was the bright white light from Raelyn… Red and White, Singapore colours… what a time to be patriotic… Louise snorted at the thought that came up in her mind, one which had no connection whatsoever to the current situation she was in…

Time seemed to slow down as the powers moved closer towards each other. Slowly and painstakingly, Louise watched with widened eyes as the scene unfolded before her. A bright and thunderous explosion took place in the middle of the pool, similar to the ones in the gardens, except larger and more potent. The ice on the surface of the lagoon melted as the water uncovered spurted in all directions. The fusion of the powers created a great force as with its last explosion, a scorching pink light engulfed the entire lagoon and L’baan manor. Louise could literally feel something hit her squarely on the chest as she was pushed backwards. Pain engulfed her body as she let out a ear piercing scream…

Everything was turning dim around her as Louise felt herself falling slowly towards the ground, having been lifted up by the tremendous strength of the powers… I hope this is the end… I can’t take it no more…


'Can you promise you won't do anything to explore your powers alone? We'll get into this together.'

Stepping back, Louise nodded, giving Raelyn back a weak smile. She held out her pinkie.

"Promise?" she asked, smiling, knowing that it was a little childish for them to do this, but still, it was a practice between them and it has never changed.
Raelyn smiled and intertwined their little fingers.

'I promise.'

Childish as it was, it had always been their practice since they had first met. Just doing it brought back memories of the fun they shared before the outbreak of war.

Their promise, a promise to stick through this together and never leave each other, no matter the circumstances, but what were they doing now? They had promises to always be friends, always remain together, close… So why were they listening to their ancestors instructions and carrying on the stupid feud started just because both parties do not see fit to get along well? Louise did not know… She felt used once again. Her so called ancestors were just making her a pawn in their game of chess, their tool to checkmate the king and call this victory theirs.

The only one thing on her mind was that she would never have put her descendants through this. Darn her ancestors.

She was falling fast and could feel the upward rush of air. Should she be the one to die, she would die happy, knowing that as long as Raelyn was safe, she would be happy… Her eyes closed, ready to feel the rough hard ground beneath her. If she could continue falling forever, she knew she would be happy… She simple feel of freedom, was just too comforting. The fight was over, she had no more to worry about…

As she felt the impact of hard rock on the back of her head, Louise spiraled into a world of blackness and unconsciousness, losing control of her limbs as her eyes wearily closed and she laid motionless on the ground, still breathing, but only faintly, holding on to the last though in her mind, that particular scene where they linked fingers with each other…

“I promise.”


Oswald Trimling

Oswald could have kicked himself. He was furious at his stupidity, but there was no time for self-recriminations now. Raelyn had grown up in Singapore, but that wasn't where her ancestors' manor was, and really he should have known that. 'L'Baan', was, for a start, not a Singaporean name but... well he wasn't sure exactly, but Gaelic or French or something like that. Breton perhaps. At any rate, he had just wasted a lot of time figuring out how to get to Singapore when, all along, he could just have used the Floo network.

For L'Baan manor was on a small island off the British mainland. The descriptions he'd found were vague as to exactly where it was, but wizards didn't worry so much about details of geography; it was enough that one could apparate, take the Floo, the Knight Bus, or any of a number of means of transport that frankly didn't care a lot about map coordinates. He suspected from what he had gleaned that it was off the west coast - Cornwall or Wales, most likely, but he wasn't sure. And, if it didn't matter to other wizards, why should it matter to him? What mattered was that he could have arrived hours ago, and now he might be too late to stop whatever it was that had happened.

With a flash of green fire he stepped from a large marble fireplace into L'Baan manor, still wearing a muggle suit, with overcoat and trilby hat. He looked around, seeing a large room with a bare wooden floor, high windows along one side and several items of furniture hidden under white shrouds. It didn't look as if anyone had been here for a while. Whoever had left it last had left the place tidy, just in case anyone wanted to move back, but they had put away everything valuable, or that might get damaged by dust. And there was quite a bit of dust, which surely demonstrated that there were no house elves still living here - if, indeed, there had ever been any. Good: Oswald always felt a little uncomfortable around house elves; their fawning subservience just didn't seem right to him.

"Raelyn!" he called out, but there was no reply, just the empty silence of the house. He stepped over to the windows, but all he could see was a small garden, now overgrown, although there seemed to be some nice fruit trees still standing. Beyond the garden was the sea, and in the distance a rugged coastline that frankly could have been anywhere. It was odd to think that any muggles standing on that shore wouldn't be able to see this island at all - or perhaps could see a forbidding rock that nobody would want to visit.

But there was no sign of Raelyn. Of course, she could be elsewhere in the house, or on the opposite side of the island, or... He ran through the house, calling her name. It was large, far bigger than the semi-detached house in Hexham that he called home. His voice echoed through the empty halls and corridors, but there were only spiders to hear it.

Suddenly, a brilliant pink flash lit the otherwise darkened house. Oswald staggered, caught off guard and feeling a charge of magical energy that might well have knocked him flat had he been closer, and not protected by walls of stone and brick. It had come from one side of the manor, shining through the windows like a mighty torch. He rushed to the nearest window and looked out.

He was facing the far side of the island, where a natural bay, rather like a tropical lagoon, stood facing the deep sea. There were rocks and trees here, a more natural landscape than the old garden on the other side. And he could just make out two sprawled figures lying on the shoreline. Neither was moving.

"Raelyn!" he shouted, but of course there was no response. He'd seen a door just back round that corner... he ran to it and grasped the handle, but it wouldn't budge. He rattled it in desparation, but still it didn't move. He kicked it in frustration, and tried to calm himself enough to think. It would occur to him afterwards that apparition would have been the best solution, but all that came to him at the time was the unlocking charm he'd learnt much earlier, back in second year.

"Alohomora!" And it swung open, right on cue.

He ran across the rough ground towards the shore. His hat blew off, but he didn't even notice, so concentrated was he on his goal. At last he reached them - yes, it was Raelyn and Louise, both still and unmoving. They were alive, though, his magical senses could tell him that. But their energy seemed weak, weaker even than he'd seen it before in unconscious people. Something powerful had struck them, and, for all he knew, their life was ebbing away as he watched.

He gathered Raelyn in his arms, seeing damp tears on her face, and struggling to resist the urge to weep himself. He called her name, and brushed loose hair from her forehead, but there was no response. "Please be all right... please don't leave me..." he murmured, almost babbling and not really knowing what he was saying. She couldn't hear him anyway.

Of course! He still wasn't thinking like a wizard should! He plucked his wand from his coat pocket and tapped her on the chest, "Ennervate!"

And he'd almost forgotten another thing in his distress. He looked up from Raelyn's face just for a moment, to point the wand at Louise. "Ennervate!"

He couldn't imagine it would work instantly, or even perhaps, work completely, given the depth of their... comas?... well, whatever they were. But he turned back to Raelyn, searching for any sign of life in that beautiful face.


Raelyn L'Baan Seah

A dream or reality?

Everything was a blur, as if in a dream. There was no light, she was surrounded only by darkness. The only glow she could see was in a distance. Every time Raelyn tried to move towards the light, the tunnel of darkness would only stretch and grow even longer. What was going on? Where was she? She needed to get out…

"Please be all right... please don't leave me..."

A distant familiar voice...

Who had that been? The unconscious lioness couldn't quite recall. Her temples throbbed as she attempted to gather whatever remnants of memories she could recall. Try as she might, she couldn’t piece together complete visual or audio memories… only snatches of letters… the only letters she had received in her life…

…Dear Raelyn,

….. this is probably the last time either of us will have to relax … You sounded as if you were busy; I hope it isn't too bad and that you can take some time out. There will be time enough to be busy when we return to school…

...Looking forward to seeing you whenever it might be,

love, Oswald...

…Raelyn,

I hope you haven't been too lonely with everyone working so hard… I'm glad to hear you'll be coming up, even if it's only for a short while. You can be sure I will be counting the days until you arrive….

with deepest affection,

Oswald…

Those minute fragments pointed to something else… a visit.. and someone by the name of Oswald… was he someone she loved? The various ways he had signed off hinted a possibility. And that visit…. Raelyn could faintly recall something to do with a Rose…

"Oh, yes, sorry... Raelyn, this is my sister, Rose."

Yes… that girl had been his sister… why had she left to visit him? If she had met his family as well he was most likely someone of significance to her.

"So, Raelyn, how have you been?"

Yes… the young man in question had asked about her well being… in fact, he had explained a lot about his family as well.

"There's so much I want to show you. I'm sure my parents will be delighted to meet you; Mother's quite… Oh gosh, I never told you about Father. See, he was injured during the War,"

Oswald! Raelyn's dream self cried out, in reality, her lips had not so much as twitched.
Her breathing was irregular and laboured, her heart beat faint. The lioness had regained just enough to remember who the young man was now. She needed to reach out to him.

"Ennervate!" a the faint voice had commanded. Raelyn felt a jolt stream through her from her chest through to the rest of her body

Slowly her senses awakened and subconsciously Raelyn was beginning to feel her surroundings again. Her nerves told her she had been carried, perhaps even cradled by the one who had cried out her name. Pain shot through her sides and limbs as she stirred slightly. Her entire body screamed in pain as the aftershock began to take its effect. She was conscious enough to know what was happening and perhaps even vaguely see her surroundings, but she was not strong enough to move.

“Oswald?” Raelyn called out weakly as she tried to move her wand hand to touch his face.


Oswald Trimling

"Oswald?"

The voice was weak, but it was enough. A great sense of relief washed over him as he saw her eyelids flicker and her hand rise weakly from her side. He took the hand in his free one and pressed it to his cheek. Her flesh was cold, but warmth and colour seemed to be slowly returning to the young lioness.

He grinned, almost hysterically, and crushed her to him briefly. "Oh, thank goodness..." he said, "I thought I'd lost you." He wanted to ask her what had happened, but thought it best to wait until she had recovered more. He didn't dare try another Ennervate; he recalled Mrs Grant once telling him that using the spell twice in quick succession could be a shock to the body and do as much harm as good in the long term. But she seemed to be recovering on her own, now that he'd given her the spark. He hoped Louise was, too, but couldn't bring himself to tear his gaze away from Raelyn to check.

He wiped away an involuntary tear from his eye. "You'll be all right now. I'm here. Whatever it was, it's over." And he continued to sit, kneeling on the gravel by the shoreline, cradling Raelyn in his arms as he waited for her to recover enough to tell him more.


Raelyn L'Baan Seah

"Oh, thank goodness... I thought I'd lost you." The badger had said as he embraced her frail form.

Raelyn bit her lip and resisted the urge to cry out in pain; her body had suffered too many injuries to be physically moved let alone crushed.

“Don’t…” She objected weakly, but with insufficient energy to be truly audible. Physically her body was gradually recovering in sense and function but not in energy. As for her mental war fair… it was far from over. The lioness could not recall what had happened or why she was where she was… there was only one haunting thought that lingered at the edge of her memory…

You will always be my best friend and my sister… I will never hurt you…

Who was that she was trying to recall? A blurry memory began to form…

A door to someone’s room had opened and Raelyn found herself being drawn through them, revealing a single figure sprawled on the floor. Another person then entered her ‘dream’ and that girl looked oddly like… her. Was she the Raelyn of the past?

“Are you okay, Louise?” The girl had asked, supporting the fallen girl and patting her on the forehead.

As suddenly as she had arrived at that door, Raelyn found herself being pulled away and out of her mind by someone else… someone calling out to her…

“You'll be all right now. I'm here. Whatever it was, it's over."

Something had happened? What had? Oswald’s eyes gleamed with tears that had been forcefully held back, hinting that it had not been something good. But what was it? Raelyn had no recollection what so ever.

“Don’t cry…” She whispered hoarsely as she moved a frail hand to wipe a stray tear away. “I’m alright.

Mentally she continued to wonder. Why were they here? Her vague memory told her she was back where she had been when she had been but a child. Why was she here again? Had she come to visit her parents?

Another memory jolt told her that her parents were dead. To be precise they had either died or at least walked out of her life some six years ago due to a… war… that’s right. A sudden memory flash back brought to her mental senses the smell of charred material, the sounds of explosions and people fleeing for their lives and screaming as black objects rained from the skies accompanied by tiny metal cylinders of bullets.

That recollection led to another brief flash of light, which vaguely explained what Raelyn was doing on the rocks and why she had blacked out. Some sort of explosion similar to the one of the war had occurred and that that girl Louise from her memory had been involved as well.

There was no denying that Raelyn was suffering from amnesia, the lioness would never be able to recover everything – the blow had been too great. Her mind would only be able to gather and recall people… but as for events, there was no guaranty what she would or would not recall.

Raelyn would never know what fate had called her out into the cold of a storm or of the old agreement she had had no choice but to comply to. That chapter of her life had been permanently erased. Anything at all to do with the feud was no more.

But that girl… what was her name again? Ah yes... Louise. Her memory bank reported that this Louise had been her playmate and best friend. In fact they had been as close as kin. Perhaps even closer.

Snatches of a conversation echoed through the black darkness of nothing. Raelyn could hear what was being said, but no visual memory could back it up…

"Raelyn!"

“It’s so good to see you again.”

"I thought I had lost you to the bombs! Oh I was so worried... I’m just glad you’re ok!"

“Louise!” the lioness called out weakly as she struggled to sit up, only to fall heavily back into Oswald’s arms.


Louise Jose Chow

“I promise…”

Peace and silence fell upon the L’baan manor as Louise remained unconscious, lying there in an awkward position on the floor, having fell fast from the sky. As soon as the world had gone spinning back, Louise had started taking a trip down memory lane.

Stolen glances had been thrown at her, her best friend. Louise had missed Raelyn’s company ever since she had found out of about the prophecy and had started to drift away from her, hoping that it would help prevent her death. She did not wanted to ruin her life now, when it was at its best, and when she had the man she loved with her beside her. Louise wouldn’t mind dying for her, but she would never allow Raelyn to be harmed, in anyway.

Louise turned her gaze back to her meal as she continued eating silently, her mind in a far away land of confusion as her heart got stuck at a junction and was not able to tell her the route that she should take.

Seventh year had passed with silence between the both of them. Besides the fateful event that had sparked off this incident. Yes, Louise had realized that she had been very silly, silly in fact that she should not have returned to the school. None of it would have happen than…

She really should not have done this. Louise knew she was drifting further apart from Raelyn. She had not told her what happened at the wedding dinner. Their unscrupulous methods of trying to take the heirloom away from her… the prophecy… she shudder even to think about it, even to think that the fact that her own siblings would actually kill her to take the pendant. If she had known what would happen today, she would have let her siblings killed her, or let them take the heirloom. She did not want this power infested in her. It brought more joy than pain…

What were her ancestors thinking?

Sixth year, the actual year where they have started drifting apart, where the strong ties that she thought that had once shared seemed to weaken, bond by bond, breaking up slowly as the distance between them pulled apart. Louise felt that she could no longer reach out to Raelyn, who was now more like a fairy tale to her. Their hearts no longer had the same connection and their minds were no longer on the same wavelength.

It was just after the auction, the promise. Louise lied in bed, silently thinking of the events that have happened so far. The mysterious fire, she could not put a finger to it, but she knew it had something to do with her family background. Her father had not told her anything, but her heart already told her so. She was determined to go and find out, find out about it. She was not going to explore the power on her own, like Raelyn had made her promise. She never broke her promises, especially not to Raelyn…

I’ll find out my destiny, one day…


Fifth year was one of the happiest years of her lives. It signified a new beginning, a rebirth for her. She had been pulled away from the pain and torture that she went through during the Japanese occupation and finally, she was returning to her own roots, her origin, and the one true place that she belonged. With her silvery white hair and ash grey eyes, she could have been mistaken for an albino and would have been shunned by most people. What they do not know is that she was no albino, it just so happened that these was in her genes.

As her mind threatened to wander further down memory lane, she felt a surge of power flowing through her, almost as if it was giving her life. Her eyelids fluttered as she opened her eyes wearily, staring at the place before her. She moved her hand to give herself some support, finding that she was still very weak even though she had regained consciousness. She did not remember what had happened before. Was she not supposed to be going to Hogwarts to attend school with… what’s her name? Raelyn? Than why was she in this place now?

Louise’s mind could not register anything. It felt as if she had just lost three years of memories. She scratched her head and looked around, noticing a pair sitting in a corner. Mustering all her energy that was left, Louise crawled over to them. One of them looked seemingly like Raelyn, except, the older version, and the boy… who… who was he?

“Hello? Could you tell me where I am?”


Oswald Trimling

"Don't cry. I'm alright," said Raelyn weakly. She didn't seem alright to Oswald, but she was getting stronger by the minute. Perhaps soon she'd be able to explain what had gone on here. Wizards - and witches - were resilient people and recovered surprisingly quickly. But what was it that had caused all this? And why had Raelyn sent him a letter that implied she knew something terrible was coming - something that might prevent her from seeing him again?

"Louise?" Oswald felt a little guilty again. He'd been concentrating so much on Raelyn that he almost kept forgetting that the other young woman was in equally dire straits. He could only hope that she was recovering as fast as the girl in his arms was.

But yes, Louise was slowly crawling over to them. Although there were no physical signs of injury, he could tell that she'd received a powerful shock and she looked confused, as if she was as much in the dark as he was.

“Hello? Could you tell me where I am?”

An obliviate spell? Possibly more than that, but that could have been part of the effect. At least she hadn't asked who she was, something that was entirely possible after a powerful obliviate.

"You're at the L'Baan manor, in... uh... well, on this island. You've had a bad shock, but I don't quite know what's happened. Perhaps I should take you both to St Mungo's? I could use a mobilicorpus charm to get you to the fireplace."