A/N: The main differing point behind how Evelyne and Evangeline are received by the people around them, at the moment, is that Evelyne is perceived as somewhat stuck-up and condescending by everyone, naïve and irritatingly perceptive. Evangeline is mostly talking to Jiraiya, who sees her as a terrified and frankly quite useful civilian. By the way, have any of you noticed the rather significant stylistic differences between the two as I've written them so far? I'm actually switching styles when I switch twins at the moment.
That's all for now. Oh, and… remember to read the author's note at the end. It's actually really important.
o.o.o.o.o
Hogwarts
For all her sarcasm and nonchalance, Evelyne was thankfully quite willing to go along with most of what was suggested to her, so long as it didn't interfere with her own strange rules on which information she wanted to release… which they were all beginning to realize was much less than the information she intended to keep to herself.
As it was, she accepted the opportunity to test herself for magic without much fuss. The second someone mentioned it, of course, she had an explanation ready, and it was actually somewhat… infuriating. Though it was clear that she was trying to keep things from being held back too much, it was also insulting to think that their every moves were being predicted and anticipated by what was, for all intents and purposes, a young woman with no experience in the magical world.
"I'm here." She'd explained. "I'm here, and I don't know why, but there's probably a reason for it. There's either a purpose or a trigger. I'd be effectively useless beyond an information source without magic, and if I don't have it, then what's the point of downsizing me?"
It didn't matter that the explanation made sense. The fact that she had expected it at all was… was sensible but arrogant.
"Just wave it, right?"
"Yes." Poppy had chosen to loan her own wand for the attempt. It would not have anywhere near the right reaction, given that the wand was not Evelyne's, but it would allow them to check. "And don't wave it at anything too fragile."
"The wall it is." Evelyne didn't do anything too complicated, didn't bother to try mimicking any spell she'd seen in canon. It would have been ridiculous. She had no idea how magic would feel if she were to try to control it, and the very idea that she would be able to repeat a spell that she had only ever seen through a tertiary source was laughable and arrogant.
She flicked the wand at the wall, and got the reaction she had been half-expecting: a small, not-particularly-noteworthy explosion.
"Joy." Evelyne's voice was dry and amused. "So, now what? Do I get enrolled here? Turned over to the Ministry of Magic? Sent to a different school closer to my original home?"
Her answer did not come from Poppy, but from someone at the door, someone who had only just entered the room: Dumbledore. "We will allow you to choose, my dear girl."
"I'm guessing you want me to stay here, though?" Evelyne dangled her legs over the side. "I mean, I wouldn't trust the Ministry myself, given what I know about it, and you probably want to keep an eye on me, so… Hogwarts is the best bet, right?"
"Indeed." Dumbledore sat down, and though he kept up the look and act of the kindly old grandfather figure, there was a sense in the air that he was acknowledging her as an adult. Not as an equal, certainly, but as an adult, sensible and dangerous in her own way. "However, you must be able to interact with the students without arousing their suspicions in any way, so as to prevent them from bringing you to the attention of those who may wish to do you harm or use you as a means to their own ends."
"Of course." Evelyne would have snorted, but even she was aware of when she needed to be respectful, dream or not. "It'll be nice to get out of this one tiny room and start exploring a bit. It's nice and all, but… well, I've been getting kinda bored."
"I suppose that you will find it good news that the student body will be returning home for the holidays in less than a week's time." Dumbledore smiled. "While we cannot spare any of the staff to guide you, I am aware that several ghosts have expressed interest in showing you around, as they do the same for first year students annually."
"That sounds… that sounds great, really."
o.o.o.o.o
Konohagakure no Sato
It was over a week after her first meeting with Jiraiya, and Evangeline's breath caught in her throat as she approached the deceptively normal door. She felt miniscule next to Jiraiya, who had put a calming hand on her back. "Relax."
Her eyes darted up at him, almost accusing, but then returned to the door. "It's the Sandaime Hokage. He's the one that decides whether I'm going to live or die. I think I have the right to be nervous."
Jiraiya's hand came up to ruffle her hair. "Konoha's the 'nice' village, remember? Besides, you're useful. Not just the information at your disposal, but your capability of distancing yourself from the situation and viewing it as fiction is much more pragmatic than most people would think. So relax."
Eva took a deep breath and forced her muscles to relax a little, then looked up at Jiraiya again and nodded. She was going to defer to him for the moment. She was still nervous, but she could trust him… probably.
The door creaked open, and Eva's eyes widened upon noticing that, yes, the Hokage was there, but so was someone rather unexpected.
Her head snapped back up to look at Jiraiya. He didn't look down at her, but he didn't seem surprised at all. This had been planned, and she didn't understand why.
"Sensei." Jiraiya's gruff voice startled the silence as he spoke to the Sandaime, and then to the room's other occupant. "Hyuuga-dono."
A smile and a curt nod were his answers, and Eva stiffened as their gazes turned to her instead. She bowed low, and suddenly wished she knew what the etiquette for this situation was. "A pleasure to meet you both."
Eva's voice had wavered, but she couldn't quite bring herself to care. She was in the presence of three extremely powerful men, and while she understood the presence of two of them, the third was a source of confusion for her.
"You can stand up, Miss Barrett." The Sandaime spoke, and Evangeline snapped up straight almost immediately, her eyes trained on the Hokage. "Now, despite what Jiraiya may have told you, he and I have actually discussed you several times since you first arrived, especially after your special circumstances were revealed. As it stands, we feel it would be best to integrate you into the ninja forces as soon as possible, so that later interactions with the information sectors won't seem out of place, and so that you are fairly capable of resisting and defending yourself should any of Konoha's enemies discover your knowledge and attempt to gain it for themselves."
"…I see." Evangeline wasn't really happy about this, but it was probably for the best. She didn't want to be a ninja, because of how dangerous that particular avenue of work was, but it seemed that she had no choice. "Will I be put on a team? I…" She glanced at Hiashi; if he was there, then she probably didn't have to hide anything, but better to be vague just in case. "It will be harder to predict things if any of the teams are different."
The Sandaime shook his head. "We have some ideas. Nothing concrete, but rest assured that you will not be altering the teams that you deemed important."
"Right. Um…" Evangeline let her eyes drift over to Hiashi, who had thus far stayed silent, and seemed to be analyzing her for whatever reason. "Why is, er…" She looked up at Jiraiya, breaking eye contact with Hiashi, completely unsure as to how to ask about why the man was there without breaking some unspoken rule.
"You want to know why Hiashi's here." Jiraiya surmised, stating the obvious. "Well, out of all the shinobi clans in the village, the Hyuuga are, as you know, one of the oldest and most well-respected, with a pretty big emphasis on diplomacy for their kids along with all the shinobi arts. As it stands, they have more interaction with the world beyond the elemental nations than the other shinobi clans, and as a result, the main family all speak several languages, including English."
"I have spoken with the Hokage," Hiashi spoke for the first time during that meeting, "And have agreed to allow you to stay at my clan's compound until such a time as you are able to live independently without drawing attention."
The confusion on Evangeline's face was abundantly clear, and she knew it. While the reasoning was sound, Hiashi's agreement was confusing, if only because she was aware of how prideful the Hyuuga, as a clan, supposedly were.
Jiraiya noticed. "You mentioned quite a few deaths while speaking to me a few days ago, including that of one Neji Hyuuga. After you explained the circumstances, I figured the other information you probably had on that situation would be enough to help convince Hiashi."
"We'll explain it away as a personal favor to the Hokage, which it is, as well as a way to force Hiashi's daughters and Neji to practice English in a more practical setting." Hiruzen continued the explanation. Hiashi himself was still rather silent. "On top of the other reasons, the Hyuuga are a shinobi clan, and will be able to speed your progress to allow you to enter the forces by the time Naruto's graduating class does."
"Which is in…?"
"Eighteen months or so."
A year and a half. That's all she had to learn Japanese and become a shinobi capable of defending herself.
A weak grin crossed Evangeline's face. "When do I start?"
o.o.o.o.o
Questions
Where did the Hyuuga thing come from?
The Hyuuga thing was actually foreshadowed in chapter two. Someone was asking Eva questions and taking notes… in the dark (dark enough for Eva to not see, though not necessarily pitch black). Only someone with a doujutsu or a specific technique could do that, and here, it was the doujutsu. Then Jiraiya talked about how lucky they were to have a few people that could speak English. Granted, this could have lead to other possibilities, but it was still hinting at the Hyuuga.
o.o.o.o.o
A/N: Why was the chapter so late? Well, the answer to that is fairly mundane: finals, and a lack of motivation. Sorry. But hey! No classes for six weeks now! And there is a way to give me more motivation!
READ THIS: I made a Q&A tumblr. I am willing to answer questions about my stories, about the characters, reply in-character, write advice columns, and will, on occasion… release spoilers, sneak peeks, and hints as to the future. Moreover, the more I talk to people about a given story, the more motivation I have to write it, hence, I will be more likely to make my deadlines. As with most things, the username is phoenixyfriend.
Also, I am adding a questions section to the end of each chapter. Why? Well, sometimes, people ask me things that I explain in author's notes, and it's irritating when they ask in reviews despite the fact that I've already explained things, just because they're too lazy to read the A/N. So as far as this story goes, I'll answer anticipated questions in a separate section at the end, and reserve the "boring" stuff for normal A/Ns like this.
Ja ne, Phoenix