Year of the Snake 2 1/2
DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter is owned by someone far nicer than me. Ouat is owned by others as well. I own knothing, but am playing in their sandbox without intention of recompense.
A/N: As usual, this is a Reina-centric chapter, so there's background for her here. It's not absolutely necessary for the story, but it will add depth. So, if you wish to read, thank you very much. If you don't ... I understand... *sniffle*.
Chapter Two and a Half
The sun was still out there somewhere, behind the buildings, or more probably, behind the hills beyond. The sky was all indigo now, with a rapidly diminishing line of paler blue still peeking through a few scattered slouches in the lower roofs. Reina absently reached up to stroke Dilops' ruffled cheek. The world felt so different tonight.
When she'd first left the hills she'd been unsure, even afraid, of her ability to mix with people. True, Paulus had given her a whole year on the farm, teaching her to learn the basics before they'd even tried to go to the nearby village. According to him, she'd done well, learning how to walk and talk properly and perform the basic rituals, but after today she felt that she really had a chance of pulling off the first part of her mother's great plan. Now, in her new black robes, with a wand in her sleeve and a rather pretty frilled lizard wrapped around her shoulders, she felt like a real girl. A true student of Hogwarts. It was an amazing sensation.
The old man stumped back out through the tiny courtyard at the back of the Cauldron. "Get inside," he grumped wearily. "I want to eat and make sure we have the plan straight before bed."
"Can I have just a few more minutes?" Reina asked. She expected him to say 'no'. That had been the catchword for most of her requests. "I just like the air better out here."
"Five minutes." His hand descended firmly onto her shoulder. "I'll have our food ordered by then. If I have to get up and come looking..."
"I know," the girl replied happily. "I just want to breathe for a little while before I have to go back inside."
Paulus shook his head and rolled his eyes, but he left. A crescendo of voices accompanied the opening door and died when it closed again.
Even after all that had happened, something in the air still urged her to look back away to that one shop...'Honeydukes,' she grinned. Paulus had only let her go in because Regina and her father had been with them, she was sure.
'Regina. Regina.' The name brought back the girl's broad smile, wide, warm eyes and cavern dark hair. 'I have a friend,' she realized happily. 'I have a real human friend,' she shook her head in wonder. 'This has been the most amazing day.'
She took one last, deep breath of Daigon air and stepped back into the courtyard. Three taps with the tip of her new wand set the brick wall dancing itself closed. A few yards further in, the back door resisted ever so slightly, but finally grunted open and Reina stepped into a dense, moist wall of ambience.
The air was a savory fume of cooked meat, spices, ghastly vegetables and even an herbal smoke that the girl hadn't experienced before. Everyone in the now crowded room seemed to want to talk to each other as loudly as possible, especially if they could do so while aimlessly wandering across the floor.
Reina frowned when she realized that couldn't see Paulus anywhere. The promise of entering the press to search for him made the girl lick her lips nervously. There were too many people and not enough space. Worse, she had no idea of which way to jump if something happened. The crowds of Daigon Alley had only really been bearable because Paulus had been right there and because Regina's conversation had been distracting. Here, she was in a box, surrounded by a crowd she didn't know and had no idea how to control.
Her wave of doubt triggered nightmarish barbs hidden in her memory and they lanced deeply, sending a chill to lick down her spine and steal the heat from the room. Normal human natter twisted itself into screams, shouts and gouts of fire from her last night in the hills. From the night she survived to be chosen. A nearby human... a man tilted his head back laughing, but she could only see her brother, strong Caius, leering, barring his fangs, ready to strike. Dying. She couldn't hear herself whimper.
Dilops' first cackling howl caused a few very real screams from one or two of the nearest female patrons. Her second was even louder, longer, higher. It killed every other voice in the room. Within seconds every eye in the place was on her and her splay-frilled familiar. She licked her lips again, almost waiting for the charge. Dilops hissed a challenge into the silence.
Across the room a chair grunted, summoning her eyes. Her tidal wave of fear smashed against the immutable stone presence of her tutor. Paulus stood, arms crossed, annoyance simmering in his eyes.
Reina sighed with relief and as she deflated, so did Dilops. As the girl began to make her way through the subdued crowd, the beast returned to its normal posture on her shoulder. In fact, it had begun to rumble contentedly in her ear. Paulus sat before she could reach him.
"Not good," the old soldier grumbled. He picked up his spoon and stirred angrily at this bowl of stew. "You're not supposed to attract all the attention you can."
"That wasn't my fault," Reina began. She glanced back at the surrounding crowd. Most of the people had already returned to their noise. "Dilops did it. Mother bought him. If you don't like it, then you can take it up with her."
Paulus put his spoon down and looked across the table coolly. On any other day such an outburst would have had the belt coming. Instead, the old warrior watched the lizard ruffle its frill uneasily.
He took a long, thoughtful breath. "If you are discovered, the quest fails. If you fail, you die." His words were flat, simple. Granite hard in their truth. "I won't have to raise a hand, because your mother will incinerate you. Even if I was tempted, I know that I probably wouldn't be able to do anything anyway, because as your teacher, I will have already been killed. As would Gabrielle. As would Jenny. You see, your mother would feel that we had all failed in our task to educate you properly." He steepled his fingers, tapping the tips together. "She might even obliterate the village on general principal."
"It's not really fair, is it? All of it. Any of it." Reina shook her head. "Six years to find..." she looked around, searching for anyone that might be listening too closely. She decided not to take the chance. "I mean, it's only been missing for..."
"Life's not fair. You should know that better than anyone else." Paulus' retort cut her off. Then he too looked around to make sure he hadn't picked up any more unwanted attention. He gave up with a sigh. "You already know what you're going to do tomorrow. I've got a few more things for you to put in your new notebook, when we'll be sending owls and so forth, but you need to realize something right now. Playtime is over. All the little lessons, all the running around with Jenny in the woods, that's all done with." He reached across the table, putting his big, scarred hand over hers. "Tomorrow everything starts being real. You were born to do this and the sooner you get it over with, the better for us all."
"Tomorrow it's all real," Reina repeated unhappily.
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It was the weird texture of her pain that let her know that all this was really just a dream. Oh yes, the horrible pop of her shoulder going was something she'd never forget, but back then she hadn't had time to notice the awful sensation of the bone slipping meatily around its socket. Reina remembered agony; a blistering universe of pain that still made her shudder, at least when she was awake. Here, all that suffering was present but distant, as if it were happening to someone else.
Acrid blood, hotter than human, slashed across her face and naked flesh. Caius was above her, leaning into her little pocket among the stones, his mouth open, fangs exposed. Gloating. Suddenly the bright orange/gold eyes flashed surprise. Confusion. Then they went glassy and his head toppled unevenly forward, crooked on a shredded throat. Just like before, his body fell in, collapsing on top of her. The dream didn't take away the weight of her brother's corpse. If anything, he was heavier here, bearing down, crushing her beneath a hot, gushing weight.
Suddenly Caius' boiling blood turned to ice and Reina gasped, surging, waking, her mind spinning like a mad armillary. Reina gasped loudly, panted, jerking a hand up to her chest. The room was black and her merely human eyes couldn't see anything but the pale rectangle of the window. Her panic began to turn, ebbing like a tide when the amulet wadded itself between her fingers and the cotton sleepshirt Gabrielle had given her. The sleepshirt was soaking wet.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing, screaming out like that?" Paulus slapped the wash basin back down.
"I'm sorry," Reina's voice was a fearful, raspy whisper. "I was dreaming I was..."
"Dreaming's not going to cut it if you begin squealing like that at Hogwarts," the man cut her off with an angry hiss. "Those people will ask questions you can't afford to answer. Wizards are a snoopy lot. If they find out about you..."
"They won't," the girl's voice rose, harsh as his. "They won't find out, so stop." She threw the sodden bedclothes aside, reflex getting her ready to bolt in whatever direction she could. The dream tried to re-sink its barbs into her mind, to make her fear again. She shoved it away and forced herself to think clearly. "Even if they hear me, they won't suspect. You know it. Children have bad dreams."
He flung a gesture. "You're not exactly a child, though, are you?"
Atop the headboard Dilops hissed and opened her broad throat fans, aiming herself towards Paulus' shadow.
"Child enough for them."
It took effort for her not to lunge away as he took a menacing step forward, hand twitching to land a blow. He froze when Dilops sprang from the back of the bed, skittering to a stop between them. The familiar's mouth was still wide, but no sound came out. The sharp stink of Paulus' unexpected fear rolled across the room. The girl blinked in surprise.
"Don't try it." Reina finally managed. "It's too close to time for that now. How do you think a black eye will look on the first day of school? They'll think the bad dreams come from you before I can tell them anything at all. Wizards are a snoopy lot. They'll ask questions."
She saw Paulus' shadow sag. The air seemed to clear a bit as he forced himself calm. The tiny, instinctive thrill that swept up her spine told her she'd won something here, but for the moment there was no way to know what or how.
"What time is it?" Reina watched Dilops' frill begin to shrink. She reached out and took up the little beast, cradling it close.
"Three. Two hours before we need to start."
"Let's get ready now," she sighed. "I'm awake. So are you."
She stepped down from the bed, and picked up her familiar, soothing stiff spines with her fingers as he sighed hard and turned. Silent bare feet carried her to the diamond paned window. Nothing was stirring in the Alley yet.
"Mother will be pleased at our inishnative."
"Initiative." The big man shook his head as he left the room.
"Initiative," she repeated. "Initiative."
It was important to have the right words. Important that she listen when he corrected her. That was part of his job, after all. Mother had said so.
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Reina stood and quickly smoothed her robe when Paulus came in. Her kit was laid out on the made bed, just the way she'd been taught back at the farm, and her uniform was perfect, as if she'd used Regina's charm. Even Dilops raised her chin and adjusted herself to show off on the girl's shoulder. The sun was up enough that, even with human eyes, she could see his wan smile clearly.
"Stand at your ease," he said. He walked over to the bed and gave it all a cursory glance. Then, to her surprise, he sat. "Listen. I'm sorry about this morning," he said. "Call it jitters if you'd like."
"Like last night when I came back?"
"Something like that," Paulus agreed. "Today's the big jump off and I don't know how it's going to go. I know that Gabrielle and I have done our best to teach you. Even Jenny..." he killed his growing emotion, masking it with a cough before strangling it completely. "We haven't been easy with you, I know. There wasn't time. But no matter what else happens, I want you to know that you've done well. You've trained hard and exceeded my expectations." There was a long pause as he wrestled a dark metal ring from his thumb. "I want you to have this."
Reina's eyes widened as handed it over. It fell in her palm, warm and surprisingly heavy.
"But this is..."
"The mark of the legion," he finished. "I got it from my father and he from his. You should know the stories as well as me by now."
She turned the old black ring over, caressing the worn, blocky runes 'LEG VIIII HISP - VEX BRIT'. "You never take this off. You always said it was to go to Jenny next."
"It will. When you bring it back." The smile he gave her was strange; 'good luck' and 'good-bye', proud and sad and... afraid. Heartbreaking somehow. "Your mother wanted us to train you, but we had no idea how. We don't have any use for wizards in Penhul Village. Instead, we trained you the way we were trained and the way we train Jenny. So I suppose you're one of us now."
He stood and gestured the same way he had every morning for many months. Reina pocketed the ring began packing up her kit while he spoke.
"So. As far as I'm concerned, you're on your first mission as a member of the Ninth." He nodded as he watched her order and pack up her things. "Since your thumb's so small put it around your neck with the other. I don't think anyone would mind. Just keep it secret. Understand?"
"Oh, I definitely understand secrets," Reina agreed.
When everything was packed, the girl's total bundle was two small suitcases, a backpack of books, a broom and a number ten cauldron full of ingredient bottles. Difficult to manage for one person, but possible. She was beginning to gather it all up when Paulus stopped her again.
"I won't get to say good-bye properly at the train, so we'll do it now," he said.
Reina kept her face still, even though her heart raced as he took a step back and formally clapped his right fist over his heart. None of them in the village did this for an outsider. Ever. It was their thing. Their salute. The ring in her pocket seemed to grow heavier. Her body moved reflexively, falling into a long practiced position of attention. Her fist mirrored his.
"Honor," he said.
"Honor," she returned. Their fists fell.
"Right then, get to work," Paulus gave a little grin as he chivvied her. "Your kit's not going to carry itself." His tone was impatient, but he took the two suitcases for himself as she shrugged into the pack.