FYI – the title of this chapter is Greek (of course) for "Night Children"…and, also, if we all knew Greek and stuff, the dialogue in this chapter (the next two and the previous one, also, by the way) would be written in that language, as that's the language they're supposed to be speaking…^_~
And a quick question to all my readers, when did Voldemort get Nagini and explain your answer some, don't just say something like "during his reign of terror" or whatever…I want to see what all of you think…I'm trying to decide on some things regarding her and I want to see everyone's opinion on this…
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Chapter #9 – The Nychta Paidia
Saying his good-byes to Melantha had been quite hard on him, harder than the good-bye's to his colleagues in Denmark. He knew that she still had plenty she could teach him, so was her reason why she wanted him to leave the real one? Would he do better traveling abroad? Would he learn what she wanted him to? And what had she really meant by "how magic really works"?
The Dark witch had informed him that she had written to friends of hers on Nisi apo Hekate the day before when she had been locked away in her room and she knew they would receive them warmly. She suggested, though, that he leave and travel the world more as soon as the oppurtunity presented itself, as she knew it surely would. Tom did as she suggested and went to the Greek islands, though quite reluctantly, as he knew Lena was going to spend even more time shopping than ever before, as she would be only a short "pop" away from the shops there, as she had been in Rome.
It was a six-hour flight to the island just southwest of Thira. The island was large enough to have made it onto normal maps if it had not been unplottable, as well as have Muggle-repelling charms on it. As they flew over the main city, which was on the coast, Tom marveled at the mass of flat-roofed, white-washed houses below, a theatre on the edge of town. The streets were all narrow, but green courtyards and squares were scattered throughout the jumble of houses. It was Lena that directed him to the place to land, as that she had been there on numerous occasions while they were in Albania.
The square they touched down in had an olive tree growing at its center. None of the passersby paid them any attention, seeing as how it was a common occurrence for brooms to land all over the island. The surrounding building were all two stories and each had a wooden balcony that overlooked the plaza. There were a few children on brooms near the tree. Lena smiled at them. She was about to the point in her life when her body was telling her it was time to be having children but she knew she would never have children – not with her being with Tom, at least. She had made sure every month that she would not get pregnant, though she often regretted it. She looked at Tom and sighed to herself.
The house they were looking for was one of the few that was painted ochre in the area, so it had been easy enough to find. They knocked on the door and a middle-aged woman answered the door. She was rather short (maybe a little less than five foot) and a bit chubby, but pretty nonetheless. She was wearing lavender and light blue robes. Her dark blonde hair was up in a bun and she had a pair of round glasses setting on her nose. She was looking at them with a look of curiosity.
"We are here to see Mr. Eklekti," Tom asked in his near perfect Greek.
The witch looked at them puzzled for a moment longer then suddenly realized who they had to be. She smiled and opened the door wider for them to enter. "Yes, please, do come in, young Tom. We just received Melantha's letter. We didn't think you would be here as immediately as she seemed to be saying."
With a nod, Tom and Lena entered the house. It was rather cozy and warm. There was a large red hand-woven carpet on the floor that matched the color of the lounges that had golden yellow pillows on them. The walls were whitewashed, unlike the outside, but there were geometric designs in ochre paint making a boarder along the top of the wall. There were red flowers in mosaic vases set around on tables and on the windowsills. The three windows that were in the room were all open letting in a nice breeze, blowing the white lace curtains gently.
"Aristid, they have arrived already."
A man hardly taller than the witch that had greeted them appeared through an archway and smiled at them. He too had dark blonde hair, but his was cut short. He had a nicely trimmed beard and mustache. He was in green and goldenrod robes. He stood just inside the room and nodded to Tom and Lena.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Aristid," he gestured to the witch that had let them in, "and this is my wife Calida. Melantha talked very highly of you in her letter. She doesn't normally take any pupils so you must be an exceptional young wizard."
Tom smiled broadly, rather flattered. "I don't know about exceptional, but I do feel lucky to have had her as a teacher."
Aristid chuckled. "She said nothing about you being modest, though."
Tom only continued to smile.
"And this young woman must be your mistress." The wizard bowed to Lena. "You are very lovely, Miss Westbrook."
Lena blushed politely. "Thank you."
"And you've arrived on the most opportune of days. The Nychta Paidia is meeting tonight."
"The Nychta Paidia," he asked, slightly puzzled.
There was a pause as Aristid looked at Tom, slightly shocked. "She didn't tell you of the Paidia? Hmm…well, the Nychta Paidia is the largest group of Dark witches and wizards in Greece, several of them live on the Nisi as this is headquarters, and they are having a gathering tonight. I think that you would rather like the group, if you wish to go, that is."
"I would love to go," Tom said with an eager smile.
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After a wonderful dinner of roasted lamb, stuffed grape leaves, and a salad with tons of fresh olives on it, the four of them left the house and headed to friend's home. They greeted him and Tom was introduced to Charon and Suadela Synetus, whom also had a guest staying with them – a man from China named Pei Shen. The Chinese wizard was as short as Tom's hosts. He had long black hair that he wore back in a braid that reached his waist. He wore red robes with Chinese characters scattered over the material. Though he was easy to spot and clearly did not fit in with the Mediterranean peoples around him, he was apparently not worried about it, and he spoke very good Greek.
It surprised Tom that they were walking to their destination instead of flying or Apparating, but he did not ask why they were walking. There was surely a good reason for it. But he did not mind the walk, for there was plenty to see around them. The narrow alleyways went off into all directions, winding down between houses or leading into gardens or towards squares. The evening was cool and the smell of the ocean (which was less than a mile away) was strong as the breeze passed over the land.
After only a few minutes of walking, they came to a large three-story house. There was a wall around the building and they entered through the open gateway into the courtyard. There were four olive trees in the courtyard with grapevines on circular wires under them. It was quite an impressive sight after seeing houses that were much plainer all the way there.
An elderly wizard was standing on the porch, watching them enter. He smiled at them over his glass of wine. "Welcome, friends. I see we have new guests now."
"Myles," Aristid nodded to the man.
"Please, please, do introduce me."
And so Tom's host presented Tom and Lena to Myles, and the elderly wizard was introduced to them as the head of the Nychta Paidia. This surprised them slightly. Of course, Aristid telling him that Tom had been Melantha's apprentice seemed to have been more of a shock to Myles. After a moment, he told them to go on down so the group entered the house.
It was much like the Eklekti's home but the color scheme was blue and green instead of red and golden. They were led to a door that led to a staircase that went downward. The seven of them went down the narrow stairs and entered a narrow corridor. There were rooms around them that held an array of bottles but they were heading for the room at the far end of the corridor. There was a good bit of noise coming from the room they were headed to – a mingle of laughter and conversation that made Tom feel very excited.
The cellar was huge. The walls were draped with black silk and velvet. Candles with blue flames were burning from mounts on the walls. A large iron cauldron stood at the center of the room, empty. Hanging from the ceiling and along shelves on the walls were an array of Dark devices (some of which Tom clearly recognized as used in torturing). There was also a small shelf where there were books, which were most likely all on the Dark Arts (and most likely all in Greek, Latin, and Egyptian).
It came as no surprise to Tom that he heard Lena whisper excitedly "ooh, books" then rush over to look at the volumes. Calida followed her with a smile. Tom was more interested in meeting all these Dark wizards and witches than in a dusty-looking collection of books. Aristid knew what was on the young wizard's mind and took him over to the first group to introduce him.
There were about a dozen other people there, and Tom was introduced to all of them. He saw that Lena had been pulled away from the books and was being introduced as well. While he was talking to Myles' wife, Lethe, another witch entered the room with the head of the Nychta Paidia.
Tom was watching the witch with his mouth open slightly. She was the epitome of his idea of what a Dark witch should be, even more than Melantha had been. She was middle-aged but still retained quite a bit of her youth. Her hair was dark and straight and fell loose to her thighs. Her eyes were dark green and heavily lidded. She seemed to look down her nose at the group gathered in the room. She was wearing elegant black robes that were trimmed with velvet and embroidered with gold and silver threads in abstract patterns. But what made the picture perfection to Tom was the snake that hung around her neck. It was gray with a brown streak down its back with splotches of black touching the streak. And on top of that, she was talking to the serpent in Parseltongue.
"Stop gapping at her, Tom." Lena sounded a bit irritated. When she had come back to his side, he did not know. "She's not that amazing."
If he had been in any mood to argue with her, he would have begged to differ, but he was paying Lena little attention. Aristid noticed his eyes falling on the new arrival and remembered that Melantha had told him that Tom was a Parselmouth. Perhaps it would be a good idea to introduce the two of them, as that she was the only other Parselmouth in their group, though she was often haughty with new people.
"Ophelia, come here," Tom's host beckoned to the witch.
With simply a glance of acknowledgment, the woman glided over to them. She was eyeing his companions. "Yes, Aristid?"
"I would like to introduce Mr. Tom Riddle. He was Melantha's pupil for about a year and has now come to stay here a while."
The witch only looked at him with an arrogant expression.
"It is a pleasure, my lady, to meet another Parselmouth."
The room fell silent and Tom smirked. Ophelia had gone wide-eyed and her serpent was flicking his tongue out at Tom curiously. It was a nice feeling to have everyone's eyes on him.
"I like him," the snake said quietly.
"You would, Ladon," she said with an annoyed hiss.
Tom was still smirking. "It would be an honor to be able to speak with you, Lady Ophelia. I have never before had the pleasure of speaking with another so gifted as we."
"Hmm," she studied him for a moment then decided she liked him, "yes, I think it might be interesting to hear your stories. All Parselmouths have them."
After that, the night seemed to go by quite quickly. Most of the members of the Nychta Paidia were discussing some order of business, which was their reason for the gathering, but others were keeping the two new people company. Lena contented herself with talking with Eunomia and her husband Hersperos (who ran an apothecary together) about substituting herbs in certain potions, which Lena was interested in since she was just learning about some native Greek plants. Tom spoke to Ophelia for a long time about what he had done at school, which she found very interesting. He also talked to Pei Shen, wandering what he might learn of that wizard's own travels, and to Myles, for he was interested in knowing more about them and the group.
Tom felt like he had found himself a new home almost immediately. All of the members of the Nychta Paidia made him feel safe. But he had a nagging feeling, especially as he made his way back to the Eklekti's home, that this was not the place he would find out what it was that Melantha had sent him away to learn. After all, this was the place that she had sent him to as a stepping stone to wherever else he was to travel.
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To my reviewers –
lord archimonde – I'm sorry that ff.net was acting up with you…if you have anything specific you needed/wanted to say about the last chapter you can tell me when you review this one…^_^ And I do hope you enjoyed the last chapter…
(insert name here) – hmm…Albus could have tried for seven years to save Tom, eh? Well, you know what? Though he apparently knew (or rightfully suspected) Dumbledore never seemed to have done anything about it…I mean, I'm sure that it would have been something that he would have regretted, his failed attempts to redeem the future Dark Lord, you know? I think that would have been something that he would have told Harry…and I think that diary Tom would have been a bit more bitter about something like that, too…right? It seems that Dumbledore didn't do anything to try to save Tom from the path he was going down…and if he believed then about one's decisions showing who you really are, then what exactly does that say about him? And, no, I don't think you think/obsess too much over things like that – I have my own share of things I think over too much…and honestly, it depends on your views of time and the flow of history as to if there would have to be a Dark Lord during that time…I've thought about it a lot when I was thinking of my "what if" for Tom (a what-if-his-mum-had-lived-and-he-turned-out-good story)…and, honestly, I don't know the answer myself, though we would all like to think that if he had turned good, everything would have been good. I am planning on having Melantha pop back up later on, once Tom makes his return to Europe, though it'll most likely be only a brief stop over before heading back to other places. And the "Magic's Greatest Knowledge" isn't all that spectacular or anything, Melantha could have very well told him right off the bat, but she really just wanted him to get out and travel more, to learn more than she could offer him (and he does learn plenty)…I hope, though, that when chapter 12 rolls around (that's the chapter it's in) you'll at least think it interesting, if not a bit cheesy…^_^;; Geez, I said a lot to you, didn't I? Think that's my longest response ever…
Lady Mandara Snake – glad you still love it even though I'm not getting rid of Lena (though I think that Liv might be about to pop up and kill off Lena for both herself and you…*sigh*…poor Lena). And you may write your own stories, sure, just don't steal any of my ideas without asking me first…but then it isn't stealing, is it…*shrugs*…and you know I update nearly weekly, so don't worry…^_~
Liv – I don't think the elves could have carried Lena off, they're small enough to rid on chickens (think brownies from the movie Willow)…yes, the burning shoe is interesting and amusing, and I got that fact straight out of a "faerie folk" book…*giggles*…thought it'd be very amusing and I envisioned Melantha doing it as soon as I found it too…^_^…and, yes, Lena will know Severus, but that's all I'm saying for now…