"We came out from the deep

To help and understand,

But not to kill.

It takes many lives to succeed

To clear the debts of many, many hundred years."

-Enigma, Second Chapter

Keayalnea woke, sensing immediately that she could drift back into another ten hours of sleep. It was barely light outside, and the clock on the wall read six thirty in the morning. She groaned inwardly, reaching up to gauge the severity of her black eye, only to find it gone. She felt her lip and her cheek... nothing. Appearance- wise, she couldn't sense any injury. Her bruised rib was still aching, slightly, but it was mostly healed to begin with. There was a blanket thrown over her, too. Considerate, with the chill in the downstairs rooms. Her mind roamed back to last night. So, she wondered. Who was in the kitchen? Well, whoever they were, she was grateful. She threw off the cover and stood, stretching, her arms raised above her head and her back arched, revealing her stomach where the tank top couldn't cover. She shook herself and walked up the stairs, cautious of the curtained painting, and slid into the room that Sirius and Sinia shared, where she kept her trunk for her infrequent visits. The two of them were snuggled close in the wide bed, almost completely hidden by the comforter, and sleeping peacefully. She smiled quietly, not so much a change in her face as a change in her eyes, as she rummaged through her trunk, grabbing a pair of comfortable jeans and a basic red blouse. She envied Sinia's happiness. Love was not an emotion she'd ever felt, and happiness was a rarity. Her Patronus was based on hopes for the future; the past had beaten hope out of her present. She stepped into the third story bathroom, locking the door behind her, as was her custom, and peeling off the black tank top and red leather pants, surveying the damage in the mirror. Most of the bruises had paled yellow and green, simple and effortless to conceal, but still slightly painful. She flipped on the hot water and adjusted it, measuring her wings in the corner of her eye. They had healed well, a few months of regrowing feathers had made it unnecessary for her to conceal the bloody mess she'd come back with, giving Tiyrn the near impossible task of repairing two wings, nearly every ligament snapped, at least five of the structural bones shattered. Tiyrn was exceptional at what he did, and not even a full year after the incident she had full range of motion, and the muscles were starting to rebuild. She stepped into the shower, shuddering slightly as the hot water cascaded down her body, building a pair of sensations she hadn't felt in a while- cleanliness, and safety. Sure, Lucius let her shower when he was done with her, but he couldn't see her wings, and he had a tendency to jump her while she was vulnerable, so she was never fully clean. She smiled slightly, forcefully rubbing shampoo into her hair. Keayalnea Nikonde and Lucius Malfoy. She harbored no silly fantasies about the man; she was posing as a good northern Irish whore to get news on Voldemort. Their ultimate plans were not quite decided. But still... in any other situation, or set of, she and Lucius were quite well matched, at least sexually. He was as sadistic as she was, on the rare occasions where he allowed her to get her licks in, and when she left, it was on one of his games of sport, where he would find her and 'punish' her accordingly. Nothing turned him on like a struggling red head, it was the sorry truth, and if she could allow herself to become attracted to him, he was absolutely delicious as a lover, provided you weren't looking for cuddly and romantic. She rinsed out the shampoo, spitting out the sudsy water as she laughed. Enough! she mentally slapped herself. The sex isn't that good! She sighed quickly and took the bar of soap to her wings, reangling them and herself to get every last bit of filth off her whitish- gold feathers. The water was running a murky brown, and where sunlight hit the clean feathers, rainbows reflected on the walls. Done with those, she paid attention to her own skin, scrubbing furiously. She levitated her razor out of the cupboard and began shaving her legs, careful of the nicks and scratches that would be gone in a few days, as well as under her arms. She ran conditioner through her hair as well as a little through her feathers, rinsing it out before she doused the water to cold, she stood there for a moment, letting the cold revitalize her, then turned it off. She levitated one of the smaller towels toward her, wrapping her hair in it, then shook the water out of her wings while she reached for a larger towel to dry herself off. Finished with that, she began to dress, the black jeans stretching to fit her long legs, the red blouse buttoned in such a way as to amplify what cleavage she had. It's not the size, it's what you do with them, she praised herself mentally, towel- drying her flaming red hair until it hung around her face, ending at her jaw line. The sunlight glittered off of it like fire. She smiled as she appraised herself in the mirror, whisking away the dark circles to something manageable with a light spell. She slid on a pair of comfortable sandals, and walked downstairs, noting the clock on the wall. She had thirty minutes before that morning's meeting. Once in the kitchen, she reached for the coffee pot, and pored herself a mug, while helping herself to a muffin in the process. Molly gave her a sidelong glance that could freeze a lesser being, but Keayalnea took it in stride, sitting at the breakfast table with all the others. The three youngest children gave her sidelong looks as she wiggled into the edge of conversation with the other adults. She ignored them, biting into her muffin as she listened to the gist of conversation.

"So it's myself, Alastor, Tonks, Kingsley, Hestia, Sturgis, Elphias, Dedalus, and Emmeline," Remus, stated, looking over his notes.

"It feels like too many, Remus," Sirius growled slightly, looking into his empty mug.

"Just because you can't go everywhere doesn't mean you can complain about everything," Sinia chided him gently. "it's nine, a solid number and strong magic. Though it does seem like quite a bit, going after a single boy... good morning, Kea."

"Good morning," Kea replied, having been forced into the conversation too quickly. "Who's rescue is it you're plotting, Remus?"

"Harry Potter's, though I doubt you've heard about the dementors' attack in English suburbia?"

"Actually, I did." She sipped her coffee, watching Remus look her in the eyes, proving his goodwill with a small smile. "I'm to understand he has a court date?"

"Twelfth of August. Albus thought it would be wise to bring him here."

"And I refuse to do so without a full guard," Alastor spoke harshly, both his eyes boring into Keayalnea's. It was an open challenge, and she was not dense enough to miss it.

"I certainly do not contest that, Alastor. I would almost demand a double guard, were the circumstances not so.... how are you traveling?"

"Broomsticks, Kea. What else is there?" Alastor seemed somewhat angered by the question.

"Tonight will be a clear night, Alastor, the atmospheric pressure is pushing the cloud cover north. It is not worth my rank and Sinia's blood combined to push it back."

"What do you recommend we do? Slide?"

"You could take a taxi. That's one way to disappear completely unnoticed."

"Neighbors."

"Well, they'll see you coming and leaving anyway, Alastor, it may as well be something they understand!"

"Too much wait, too long, too expensive, and none of us have the skills in the Muggle world to do so," Remus replied softly, looking at his notes. "You're giving us the same arguments we've been having amongst ourselves for a month. And neither Sinia nor you can leave. Sinia's exiled, and Albus made it plain that once you are here, you stay. He hinted on an attack on the Order."

Keayalnea's expression was unreadable. "Do what you want, but be careful," she sighed, consenting to what they saw as the inevitable. She had no great forebodings on the journey, so she was not argumentative on the matter. Alastor noted this silently, and filed it away in reference. He knew that the loyalties of the god- like strengths of White Blooded Keayalnea Nikonde lay with whatever would keep herself, and her race, alive longest, and mistrusted her for it, because she'd chosen wrongly denying Voldemort. He didn't know if personal ethics had gotten in the way... pride, jealousy, any number of emotions. The truth being, SphynxFyre was openly mistrusted by the Order of the Phoenix. Voldemort would have enfolded and upraised it. Kea was not foolish. Alastor did not dare underestimate her cunning, her definitive self control, her independence. SphynxFyre would follow her unquestioningly in the loyalties she chose, and he couldn't help but wonder if her loyalties were elsewhere. Dumbledore would know his reserves tonight.

"Good morning, Keayalnea, Sinia," Albus Dumbledore said graciously, sitting across the table from Keayalnea, setting his steaming tea down as he greeted each plotter in turn. "Kea," he drew her attention firmly, and she knew their meeting was underway. "What do we know?"

"Voldemort can't get his hands on the prophecy, he's tearing through every possibility and removing a number of death eaters from our troubles in the process. No big names." She held up her hand to stop the question, taking another gulp of coffee before continuing. "I traced Histalni's life the best I could. I've found the right circles, but the information comes slowly. When she left her apprenticeship, she moved into a one bedroom complex with a Muggle- born wizard, a strong one, just out of Hogwarts. He went by the name Tom Marvolo Riddle." She gulped coffee again, using her own flair for dramatics. "They were never legally hand fasted, but they did go through Sorcery channels and she was Saved within a year of their moving in together. Within two years, Tom began showing the signs that would later turn him into Lord Voldemort. Histalni was Silver Blood, you know. I can guess roughly that one main trait of that blood is unquestioning devotion. She became pregnant. At this point she knew he was using her strengths for his dishonorable plots, but didn't wish to risk the life of her child to her father's maniacal greed. She fled, and spent the next nine months moving repetitively to hide from him. When she petitioned SphynxFyre, they denied her aid..."

"That explains the abrupt change in dealings with the Saved, then," Albus interjected.

"Yes, though it's unfortunate. We could have caught him in the beginning."

"No trouble worth turning the threads of fate, Kea."

"I know. She gave birth to twins, both female, one Black Blood and one White. She could only keep one, under the circumstances. The rest of the story is irrelevant."

"You and Sinia."

"Sinia and myself, actually. She's older by almost ten minutes."

"Does she know?"

"I intend to inform her privately, later this afternoon."

"This could very well change her mind on the mission we're setting on her, Kea."

"I know," she stood, shoving her chair back into the table. "This is old magic, Albus, and not to be tread with lightly. At least we have other options."

"To take the magic he used and use it against him," Albus shook his head slowly. "You are young, my dear, and ruthless."

"If you'll excuse me, Albus, what else can I be?" She turned to walk away, then turned back. "I assume you'll want my report as well as Severus's tonight?"

"Both, yes," he nodded, his blue eyes indescribably sad. "Mary Magdalene."

"That would be my mother, in this situation. Perhaps I am Lucifer, in my methods. But more as, call me Moses, the dangerously devoted followed by those too afraid to ask otherwise."