An Orange Sky
Chapter XIII – Lilith
Estelle twirled the golden Orb in her hand. She stared wistfully at the swirl of colours that momentarily shone across the Orb's surface. Sirius glared at the apple shaped ornament with hate.
"You know, this is just a thought," he said, sarcastically, "but what if you just throw the bloody thing away. You touching it caused all the . . . trouble in the first place." Sirius didn't know what to call the events that took place in the cave. He would have been better off with the accurate description: releasing a monster that took over your body and scared me shitless. Estelle looked at him like she used to when he answered a simple homework question utterly wrong. She tapped the Orb against the wooden desk holding layers of books. A small metallic sound echoed from the golden apple.
"Hollow," she said, looking at Sirius to see the dawning of realisation. The only 'dawning' Sirius was receiving was the start of a headache. He gave Estelle a glowering look that told her so.
"So what?" he growled, "Big deal, throw it away. What I want to know is what we're going to do about that fucking crazy tree or whatever it was? I'm not having it take over your body again."
Estelle sighed.
"One: I'm not going to throw it away because I was compelled to take it. Someone or something wanted me to take it and I don't think it was the Tree. Therefore it might be for our benefit and worth keeping. Two: If the orb is hollow it means that it might have something inside it, something that could come in useful. And three: The Tree is actually Death." Sirius stared at her open mouthed. He always thought she was hot when she went on a rant. But then the contents of the rant caught up with him and he swallowed.
"Death?" he asked with a slight tremor. "As in the psycho woman mothers invented to scare their kids into behaving?"
"Yes."
"But everyone knows she's just a fairytale. No-one above the age of ten believes in her anymore. Even my Mum gave up on using her to scare me pretty quickly and she was a favourite of Mum's. 'Go to bed now, Sirius, or Lady Death will be knocking on your door.', 'Sit like a gentleman, Sirius, or Lady Death will eat you for her dinner.' Still it was better than when the old bat used her cane." Estelle looked at him with the Look again, like she was trying to explain something to an extremely annoying and stupid child.
"Hey, I thought we'd talked about the Look," Sirius growled.
"Wait a second," Estelle muttered and started rummaging around in the pile of books laden onto one of the Library's old desks.
After Estelle had passed out, Sirius had brought her to the Library, the only place he knew where no-one would be about. Laying her on one of the green velvet sofas, he had waited patiently for her to wake up. Occasionally he had dabbed her head with a sodden sleeve, soaked from the Pool. When she had finally decided to wake, she seemed back to normal, ordering Sirius to drag a desk into the middle of the floor and had started darting along the shelves, piling up books on the desk and floor in a short space of time. Estelle had woken still clutching the once shrivelled, mouldy fruit, which had turned golden and metallic. It seemed to interest her hugely while Sirius complained loudly and to no-one in particular that it was useless and only caused trouble.
"Here it is." Estelle emerged from the pile of old tomes, waving a tatty book triumphantly. She stuck the open book under Sirius' nose. The page it was turned to showed a figure exactly like the one he'd seen Estelle turn into just hours ago. The memory made him shiver. The hair was long and black, waving around the Woman's head as if she was underwater. Her fingers were elongated and the nails pointed and sharp. The eyes were milky white and the face looked uncannily like Estelle's. The woman appeared to be standing on top of a pile of bodies. She was naked apart from black shadows that swirled around her which looked like they were coming from the mouths of the people under her feet. Sirius stared horrified at the image while Estelle chattered on, completely unaffected by the picture.
"Death is not a figure created by mothers with naughty children. Death was, in fact, one of the first recorded instances of a human with magical ability. She-"
"Hang on," Sirius interrupted. "The first ever Witch and Wizard were Edaim and Evair. Everyone knows that."
"Precisely," Estelle stated, giving Sirius the Look again. "The first ever Witch and Wizard. There were others before them but Edaim and Evair turned magic into an art, a practise that could be controlled and taught using words: spells. Basically they invented Wizadry, a type of magic. Death was once called Lilith and was similar to Edaim and Evair but Wizardry had not yet been invented. Without being taught to control her powers, Lilith simply took another magical route. Of course, back then people's magical abilities were rarer and less diluted. Gifted people could do absolutely anything with their magic because it was so strong. Lilith experienced some kind of . . . of horrific event, the history books are . . . hazy about that part. Anyway, she went completely mad. She managed somehow to absorb the power of instant Death. She was like a walking, talking Avada Kadavra. A single touch could kill anything. Like a sponge, she could suck the life out of the air." Estelle paused and this time realisation really did dawn for Sirius. It was making sense now. He motioned for Estelle to continue.
"Some books speculate that she could also give life. But if this was the truth then she wasn't a very giving person because there are no known cases of her bringing a person back from the dead. Obviously, she caused a lot of havoc. Anywhere she walked the grass died, anything she touched withered. This mustn't have helped her madness. Can you imagine not being able to touch a flower, an animal, a human being? Everyone running from you, scared of you. No one to love or touch or share yourself with." Estelle's voice became distant as she stared out at memories only she could see. "I kind of felt it when she inhabited me. A loneliness you could never imagine, even me, stuck in the rainforest for so long. She showed me what it was like, a deep ache in your chest that you can't get rid of, a big chunk of you that's missing. She said she was going to destroy everyone, every single thing on the Earth so that I would be alone like her, suffer like her. I think she sort of enjoyed being able to talk to me, even if it was just to torment me. And I pitied her, through all the torture she put me through, I still pitied the wretch." A tear slipped down Estelle's cheek but she quickly wiped it away and cleared her voice.
"Anyway, for quite a while Lilith wandered aimlessly, destroying everything in her path. Ever heard of the great plagues right back in history, crops destroyed, villages disappearing? That was probably Lilith passing through. A whole Mayan civilisation disappeared, their cities abandoned; perhaps they did something to insult Lilith, who knows? By this time Edaim and Evair were pretty strong. They'd found magical followers, had children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. They were seen as something like Gods, people went to them for protection. So it wasn't long before they got word of Lilith causing riot across the world. They were really strong, I mean, unimaginable by our standards and pretty soon had power over Lilith. Maybe they pitied her too or perhaps she couldn't be destroyed, either way, Lilith wasn't killed but was set to work to keep the balance. With this new Wizardry, spells were being invented, magic was fighting against being restrained and strange things accidentally came into existence. These 'Things' needed to be dealt with and Lilith was perfect for the job. But as we've established, Lilith was raving mad and she managed to worm her way out of the bonds placed on her to keep her in control. She couldn't be trusted so Edaim and Evair locked her away. And that is pretty much all that's heard of Lilith or 'Death' as she then became known as. There are small paragraphs in history that show her being moved from one prison to another as her bonds slowly began to rot away under her power. But after the Fall of Evair, Lilith is never mentioned again." Estelle didn't need to describe the Fall of Evair. Every magical person was familiar with the story.
"So now it all makes sense. This is where Lilith has been imprisoned for all those thousands of years. And something has weakened her cell. But in order to escape entirely she needs a host. It would make sense that her body long ago rotted away or was lost in some magical way. So she needs someone, but I think there's a catch. From what you told me she said to you, I think she needs someone willing to give their blood to her. Someone must have added this as a catch to foil her or to add an occult edge to the way she works. She was probably able to take over my body for a short period of time by using huge stores of her energy. Which means she's weaker now which will give us more time. And I'm guessing the host will need to be a girl, going with traditional views she may hold on gender. But then again, she's a madwoman, will she really care?" Sirius stared speechless at Estelle for some time. She probably hadn't said so many sentences together without being interrupted in years. It reminded him of the times when the old crew had come to her with a problem. She would talk out the kinks and theories for overcoming it, even if no-one was listening. It was a really geeky side to her but he loved it all the same. It showed the old, carefree Estelle that he used to know.
"And you found all that out just now?" he finally managed to say.
"Well I picked most of it up back in the school days but it was a lot easier to fill in the shady parts just now, when I can wander freely into the restricted section without Old Filch on my heels." She had said 'Old Filch'! She really had seemed to recover the zeal she used to have when they were younger, Sirius thought.
"But as hard as I looked I couldn't find anything mentioning a Golden apple. I don't think it was Lilith who persuaded me to pick the thing. It felt to me more like a gentle push from someone rather the harsh complete take over I felt when Lilith tried to move my body."
"But what are we going to do? We've got to get out of here. We can't stay around while Death is on the loose. We have to tell the others. We have to get the ministry in now!" Sirius said, flailing his arms in panic.
"Relax. You should call her Lilith. It's like what Dumbledore said about Voldemort. Call something by its real name and your fear in it is diminished. Lilith doesn't sound as scary as Death. Plus she is not loose; she is still locked away in Eden. There is no need to panic because she doesn't have a host. Only you and I know about Eden and both of us now know never to go back. I'll send an Owl to Dumbledore but until he comes along we won't tell the others or the Ministry about this. We don't want to worry anyone and the best person to deal with this is Dumbledore. The problem is that I don't know where he is. He could be out in some rural country a thousand miles away. That means that the Owl could take weeks to find him. Still it will have to do. Dumbledore will fix everything. So don't go ruining Harry's party by telling everyone Death is out to get them."
Sirius calmed down. Seeing Estelle, pacing back and forth and rationalising everything stopped him from panicking. Estelle brought out her wand and pointed it at the golden apple. A small chain attached itself to the Orb. She wound the chain round her neck so the orb looked like a slightly chunky necklace.
"I think I'll keep it close. Come on; help me clear the books away and then we can start helping to organise the party."
"Please. Just tell me now. Did you know?"
"No! I keep on telling you-"
"How am I supposed to know? It's not like you tell me anything anymore. We're on the same side, remember that."
"We're not though, are we?" Estelle fell into shocked silence.
"Well maybe we should leave it at that then," she whispered.
"WHAT! After all we've been through; you think I'll just let you go like that. How long have we been together?"
"Too long," Estelle muttered. It was a game they played. Teasing each other, testing their boundaries of devotion – except tonight it was different, Estelle wanted answers.
"What if I were to walk out right now, what would you do?" Estelle said, twisting in the sheets and staring up at the stone ceiling.
"What do you mean 'What would I do', what about you? Who would you go to?" he said. Estelle frowned.
"Are you trying to say that I couldn't get any better than you? What if I already have?" He hissed between his teeth when she spoke.
"That's a low shot. Potter doesn't count." Estelle gave a start. He laughed, loud and boisterous. You only laugh like that when you're hiding hurt. "It all comes back to him, doesn't it?"
"Let's not go into that again," she sighed.
"Is he nothing to you?" He twirled a strand of her hair, she sighed again.
"He can't give me anything," Estelle supplemented. It was always the answer she gave. Damiene thought that as long as he could offer her something that James couldn't, he would always be on top.
"When we get married you'll have nothing to want. And Potter will just be a blip, a past memory. A particularly unpleasant past memory," Damiene sneered.
"Providing the war ever ends. Who do you want to win? If I win you'll be degraded, you'll have your money taken away and you might be imprisoned. If you win, I'll be defeated, my friends will be killed, even me if you can't stop it. What is it? Money or me?"
"We'll always win together. We're on the same side, remember that."
"Oh yeah? You just said we weren't."
He turned over and looked at her.
"Why do we do this?" What is the point in it?" he asked.
"It takes away the hurt." Estelle answered, her voice trembling. He pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her.
"I didn't know. If I had, I would have done anything to stop them. You know that," he said.
"What am I going to do?" Estelle sobbed. "They were all I had left."
"You still have me."
"Not forever," she said, running a hand across his cheek.
They both knew that there wasn't going to be a marriage. They both knew that there wasn't going to be a house in the country with children playing on the lawn. They both knew that in the end one of them would have to die. But there was just that small chance, that tiny pinpoint of light in all the black that said 'maybe, just maybe there's a chance.' That's what kept them together. The death of Estelle's parents at the hand of Voldemort had just caused that pinpoint of light to diminish greatly.
"Just as long as we're here and now, it will always be forever," Damiene whispered. Estelle loved him. She loved him so much she thought she would break. Most people thought he was an arrogant, pig-headed Malfoy, someone who looked down on everyone else. He could be sometimes. But at other times he was just Damiene, with no surname, no status, and no reason to look down on her.
"I'm sorry," Estelle said, "for hurting you."
"I know you are," he said, pulling away. "But being sorry doesn't stop you from doing it."
"How can you say that?" Estelle cried out.
"When was the last time you saw Potter? I bet it won't be the last." Estelle didn't answer back.
"I could get rid of him, you know. Just a few words in the right direction. A few subtle hints and before you knew it, he'd be dead," Damiene continued with a vicious smile.
"Stop it, Damiene. I'm fed up of the threats. You wouldn't do it. We both know that."
"Oh yeah. What's holding me back? If I did, I'd have you all to myself."
"You'd have me for the wrong reasons."
"I'd still have you."
"You wouldn't though. How could I live with you if you did a thing like that?"
"You'd always come running back. Always."
"You don't understand. James needs me. I -I keep him sane. Without me he would – he would . . ." Estelle faltered.
"Don't flatter yourself. I'm sure he could survive without you."
"But I have to do this for him. After all he's done for me."
"So you're just doing it out of friendship, as if you owe him something, just like a whore? There's no love involved?" Damiene sneered. Estelle got up and gathered her clothes.
"I'm going home now," she said.
"Go running to your precious Potter then. You'll always come back, you know it?" He shouted before she disappeared through the fire.
When the flames had settled down and he knew she wasn't going to turn back, he punched the pillow violently. Why did he always do it, push her away when she got close. It was Potter. Jealousy does awful things to a mind. But it was all sorted now and soon Damiene would have Estelle all to himself. She would always come back, always.
A.N. You might have noticed that part of my story is based around the biblical story of the Adam and Eve. I mean no offence to anyone religious and have the greatest respect for their beliefs. However you may have noticed that a component of the story is missing. I have Edaim, Evair, the apple and the garden of Eden . . . If you are unaware of what Lilith is in religious belief then please visit the link at the bottom of my profile under the heading 'Hidden meanings in An Orange Sky' and 'Information on Lilith'. Please give it a quick look as you'll find the hidden component in the story.