§
Becoming a death dealer, she supposed, really hadn't changed much. She still had no memory of before her imprisonment—of who she was, where she came from. And in her torture, she became a monster; an emotionless, mindless beast bent on killing and loosing all humanity. All she had known was blood and pain, and when the pain got to be too much it was only numbness because she had forgotten what she had lost so it was only emptiness left. Emptiness is soaking, slumbering. Then there had been a light, which guided her back to humanity. It was short and flickered out, and there was blood and pain again. There was nothing again, so she wanted the senselessness back. She became a monster once again; a killer without remorse. And the emptiness was filled with fire which burnt away all other thoughts and dragged her soul deeper and farther into the abyss of oblivion. Another light, brighter yet darker from the first, found her and lifted her once again from the hollowness. And just as quick, it too was extinguished by blood.
Becoming a death dealer, she knew, hadn't changed a damn thing. Because it was a cycle. There was Abyss, Beast, and Light before and it was the same now. Nothing had changed. Her life was and would always be, Blood. Blood and Pain, Blood and Numbness, Blood and Death. It was always there, ready to smother whatever cleansing light had come between it. So ironically was it then, that this fire that burnt through her should give off its satanic glow even as it suffocating the tips of the second candle. She would always be that, Blood.
Her fist had punched through the sleek muscle, causing a hot, white liquid to pour onto her hand. As the flames simmered down on her flesh and the ash cleared from her eyes, it started to burn in an unusual way. The brilliant droplets almost seared into her skin and burnt her heart just as they cooled her mind. Or perhaps it was the homecoming of conscious which made the heart ache so. Hollowing, morbidly releasing eyes of burning color stared into her own golden ones, still lingering with the craze from before. She was panting and burning with one hand still punching through the other's flesh. Seraphina smiled as her pupils rounded again. The shimmer of the white liquid began to fade, running red from her upturned lips and mouth. The goddess had a dark, knowing humor. Perhaps she had always supposed that she would be killed by the one creature she called pupil. Maybe it had been planned from the beginning. Aduru Eposis felt used, and guilty with her golden blood running down her hand.
"Damn you," The girl whispered, shaking in emotion. "DAMN YOU!"
Her mentor continued to smile. "No, little one. You are the one that is damned. I am finally free now."
The hand wrenched itself from her gut, causing the light immortal to crumble to the floor.
"How could you do this to me? Why the fuck wouldn't you fight back!?!" She screamed at the person fading on the earth.
Seraphina looked up, one last, malicious smile. "Because I am the Sun, and like the Sun everything in my world revolves around me. I am selfish, and I stole freedom from you... Blair."
It was the first time she had ever said her name, and the fire immortal had only thoughts.
I am no one's little one any more. I am no longer a child, and I am no longer owned.. by either of them. And if neither my heart may not possess me; then I shall not allow anything else.
§
And Master Death was only to happy about that; Kryeen thought sardonically as she aroused from a slumber. However her bitter prose was abruptly cut short as the last moment's events unfolded. Wiry muscle tensed and she shot up, bird-like eyes wide and flickering around the room for...
"Larka," The fiery woman hissed, throwing the white linen sheets from her body as she looked for the water immortal.
When she got her hands on that narcissistic bitch...
"I am afraid Larka is not here. Will I do?" His presence was as unmistakable as his breathy, caressing voice.
Opalescent eyes, periwinkle fair hair, pale skin...
"Astor," Blair allowed his name to roll of her tongue with less venomous, if remaining wariness. "Why are you here?"
He chuckled softly, like vibrations in the air as a small smile bit into his timeless face.
"Come now, Aduru. Try not to be so biting to the person who granted you wings." He was beautiful, in such an unreal way. Like an angel.
Though we are all demons.
"I am not obligated to pay you for your bout of stupidity. And stop calling me that. My name is Blair." The witch spat, glaring back.
If Astor was bothered by her infamous fuck-you glare, he gave no sign of it. Patience, it seemed, ran deep in this man.
"Ah, I forgot. You are Blair now, aren't you? Blair Kryeen." It was the way he said it, simply and understandably in a complex metaphor.
"What does that mean?" The woman demanded, easily infuriated by her own pacification with the fellow immortal.
White, sheer eyes looked intently at her own; wise thoughts drooling below the hidden veil of sight. He took his time, seemingly unaffected by everything. Finally, he spoke in a soft voice. "If I were to cut you now; your blood could not be redder."
Golden eyes studied him in return as she shifted, defiantly aware of the matter. "What is your point, Astor?"
The wind immortal smiled gently again and touched a small bruise at the base of his collarbone. "Larka was not happy to be relieved of you, but she did comply in the end. She took you away at my request... However, her resentment took priority. My apologies, I thought she would be able to deliver you painlessly."
The sincerity in his aged gaze made her look toward the left, shrugging off-handedly. "You have to stop apologizing for that woman, idiot. You are two different people."
The fair creature wrinkled his eyes in some form of regretful humor. " But we are bound to each other—in love or hate—I can no longer tell. Yet it remains, and I am hers just as she is mine... Which is why I have brought you here."
Blair took a moment to survey the empty, pristine room that felt a little... ethereal. "Where is here?"
"A safe place, where Death cannot find you and your humans will not intrude upon us by happening." He gestured welcomely with his hands.
"A wind influx, a space of sky in which old magic still flows strongly;" The professor noted aloud while raising a brow. "You certainly went to great lengths to get me here."
The death-dealer nodded obligingly. "Does that surprise you? I am of Desperation, after all.
§
Harry frowned as he took a turn too sharply, stumbling a little. His feet moved instinctively toward the goal while his mind was replaying his hour or so long lecture.
You'd think that their Chosen One could actually prepare himself so he didn't get his head blown off...
But even as he mentally sighed, the black-haired boy couldn't help but smile a little. If he ever doubted people cared about him... However, there was one person he wanted to see missing from his welcoming party.
Ginny...
A flash of auburn caught the corner of his eye, coaxing like a candle and embracing like autumn.
Speak of the devil.
"Ginny!" Another voice called after the girl.
He frowned, spotting the stranger she had insisted upon bringing. The young man was chasing after a storming witch. Everything about her screamed pissed.
The youngest Weasley wheeled around, narrowed eyes flashing and tight lips. She looked so like her mother in that moment.
"If you don't get the hell away from me right now, I will hex you so that you're stuck to that chandelier for a year and send Peeves to draw all over your face!" The teenager hissed, drawing her wand for emphasis.
Green eyes watching in silence narrowed slightly. Did he hurt her?
Aidan stalked back in fear, holding his hands in defense. "Look, you are too stubborn for your own good. I was told to protect you—"
The red-head looked about to slap him. "You drugged me."
The blond shifted through his hair. "I had to. It was dangerous going into that god-forsaken chamber to look for that kid."
Amber eyes flashed as she leaned on her toes to glare at his face. " I told you not to get in my way."
The wizard took another step back, looking down. "Look if you want to kill yourself on your own time; fine by me. However, you can't do it while I'm guarding you."
The young witch clenched a fist around her wand and stormed off again recklessly. She was still fuming in fact, as she ran into the hard chest of someone who was to captivated to move away quick enough.
"Omph, sorry I just..." The 5th year's words blinked out as she actually looked at who she had ran into.
Wiry frame, understanding emerald eyes, smoldering dark locks in disarray; a battered and smiling Harry Potter was looking at her with an almost tangible emotion on his face. It was electricity that knocked the breath from her lungs and made the hair on her nape prick up.
"Ginny..." The older boy breathed, feeling a tightening in his chest and trying to fight the sudden need to kiss her.
Think of the scar, think of the scar. He repeated the mantra while thumbing the mark on his arm.
"Harry you're back," His best friend's sister found her tongue first, embracing his neck. "Damn it, you scared the hell out of me."
The teenager swallowed hard, hands tightening on her shoulders briefly. Gratitude filtered into his system with relief and he met the muddy gaze of the stranger. He sent a silent message.
Thank you for protecting her.
The man nodded, giving a quirk of the lips. I probably owed it too you anyways.
"Glad you're safe." The 6th year murmured before she disentangled herself, smirking in such a Ginny-like way that he almost bubbled with laughter despite the direness of the times.
She put one fair hand on a slender hip. "So, where is Blair? It's got to be interesting spending time with her."
Blair! The word immediately brought him down from Cloud Nine.
Her darkened, golden eyes burned into his mind along with the memories he shouldn't possess. His original reason for going down this particular hall came rolling back to the protagonist.
"Blair! I have to go find her!" Scar-face admitted, a little reluctant to leave the girl so soon.
However, the Weasley daughter smiled; hooking casually onto one of his hands in a confident, easy gesture. "Well then shall we go find her Mr. Potter?"
Aidan had vanished somewhere, apparently feeling that he was now relieved of his duty... or breaking a moment.
§
Celia sprinted through the halls, causing the shafts of light-dark to spiderweb across her vision without notice. Her pale cheeks flushed, eyes widened and luxurious hair flowing. Coming to a turn, she came to a screeching stop while panting. An unknown blond man was calmly walking down the other side. He could help. The girl regained her breath and ran up to him.
The unknown wizard blinked. "Can I help you?"
The 6th year took one breath before speeding through a reply. "My apologies for bothering you, but I needtoknow if you know where Professor Kryeen or Harry Potter are." Her words stuck together in haste.
The man arched an eyebrow. Was that the name of that strange woman in the cave?
"Er... I don't know about your Professor, but I just saw Potter in that hallway to the left," He pointed.
The beautiful young woman nodded. "Thank you," She was off again.
Aidan shook his head slowly after watching her slender figure grow farther away.
"And they think it's crazy at the death eater camps... This place is like an asylum."
Magnatine slid a little as she made the turn. Her mind was managing to go faster than her feet, and it was one of the few times the pacifistic girl was actually ever so wired.
She had woken up, as if from some hang-over or drugged slumber; on the cold stone and with a faint blur in her memory. From living on the streets, this phenomenon did not bother her as much as other people. However, as the seer sat up, she saw a person arguing with a great white swan a little ways away. Omnipotent eyes blinked.
Person? There was something strikingly not normal about them. The bird was too large and its plumage nearly glowed with pristine. It was beautiful in perfection and purity, almost angelic. The girl was petite and sensuously curved. Her long, waving hair was multitudes of the deepest navy, foamy cream, and deep sea green. Her skin was pale, with an almost cool undertone and the deepest turquoise eyes she had ever seen sported under a smooth brow. But there was a wrathful feel to her, as a rumbling temper showered in her voice.
"Let me take her, Larka." The swan spoke in a soothing voice.
"Why? Why the hell do you want her Astor? Have the years caused you to grow bored with me?!" That woman... she was the one who had appeared as the chatdemer!
The pale eyes of the bird radiated sorrow no animal can feel. "I will never, my dear Larka. But Aduru Eposis is the only one who can end this. Do you want us to remain like this forever? Always close but never touching; one changes always while the other must stay. Is this not torment to you as well?"
His eloquence had hit something within the other creature, for surely no human woman could look like her. Her eyes darted away, and in a stray moment, noticed that there was a watcher.
"So girl, you awoke." Larka spoke quietly now.
Celia pushed her fear away but did not move to stand. "What has happened? Are you not the chatdemer?"
She smiled bitterly. "That is my bestia form; as this swan is the form of another. I am immortalis."
The seer eyes caught an aura, familiar to her. "You are an immortal lady, as Blair Kryeen?"
Instantly, her countenance grew darker.
"Is that the name she goes by now?" The swan murmured from the back. "Aduru Eposis..."
"What has happened to her? Is she harmed?" The brunette remembered the strange fiery professor, Daemon's only constant companion and tie to the past. Worry crept into her.
"That is what we are discussing now, young one." The pure creature soothed, turning back to the woman. "Larka, give her to me."
"What use is she to you, Astor? The night of the full moon is tonight! Will you not share it with me? Will you spend it with that foul creature?" Jealousy, the witch saw.
"Your bitterness blinds you, my love. Aduru Eposis can give us all nights; but you must not harm her." The animal Astor spoke a little firmer.
The water immortal turned back to face the mortal girl. "If I give you Aduru then I shall take the life of this human in exchange."
Celia tensed, but was not unwilling. Her life for Blair's seemed unfair; one was a great light to guide while the other was a mute note.
The swan swayed his neck gracefully. "You care for the human, Larka, not I."
The female stormed with all the vengeance of the sea. She shook, and then cast two fingers toward the kidnapped Slytherin.
"Send," The words were a spell of their own, not English but understandable somehow.
The last thing the purchased soul heard before she fell out of this room—or world, she didn't know—was the soft voice of the swan.
"Larka, please."
"You traitor! I should kill her!"
And then she was back at Hogwarts, standing in an empty hallway and thoughts blurry.
That was how the normally serene girl ended up careening through her school. In her speed, the pretty witch stepped right past the person she had been looking for. She stopped abruptly, almost falling over.
Her friend blinked. "Celia? What's wrong?"
Out of breath once again; the young woman took an offered arm to hold herself up. The younger girl had released his other arm, and was watching the exchange with curiosity and a bit of concern.
"Harry, it's Blair. Someone has taken her."
§
The person in question was currently sitting on a bed, head cradled in her hands and a pensive expression on her face while the wind immortal stood a few feet away.
"Could it really work?"
Astor blinked, looking up at taut golden eyes. "If you are willing to make the sacrifice. It is an imortalis veneficus, even Death is bound to it."
The fire immortal looked disbelievingly at her companion. "Why would you help me? What's in it for you?"
The male death-dealer shut his eyes, breathing deeply. "Do you think that you are the only one who hungers for an end, for release? That you are the only one who regrets? Seraphina... You never killed Seraphina, she allowed herself to die. It was the kindest thing ever done to her. Larka and I... we are bound apart. Never able to touch, to see each other in true form. What was done for love has become hate and we have lost so much of ourselves... There is no place left in the world for us to be together. It must end."
The tri-color haired woman watched him closely then seemed to decide that he was sincere. "Why me? Why am I the only one able to do it? I am not complete as you and the water bitch. Wouldn't it work better if one of you did it?"
At this, the fair figure gave a phantom smile. He took airy strides, rather as if he was on wings, and leaned down to her. One white hand brushed her skin as he pulled on the necklace, delicately fingering the three black and three white beads on either side of the large red feather.
"We all broke, Aduru. Somewhere along the line, our spirits bent to his will. Even Seraphina had given in. But you..." He released the necklace and looked back up to her questioning face. "...you could not shatter. Perhaps it was because you splintered too many times in the past life, I could not say. But I do know that even as you killed; you lived like none of us ever did. You never betrayed your first love to complete the ring of power. You defied Death's orders to search for your past, and kept that human heart alive even as it pained you so. You were never Aduru Eposis, even as you tried. But you are no longer the girl Ally... You are Blair—wild, unsurmountable, flame. And that is what makes you different. You never gave in. Recklessly and hopelessly you fought. And it is your spirit—the unthinkable combination of a human heart and an immortal body—that allows you to complete this ritual. Only you; only ancient power for the sake of love."
The witch smiled darkly. "One last fight, one last challenge to him."
He nodded, pale eyes glimmering. "All of us against Death."
Kryeen stared at Astor, some thing going throughout her head. "Then I will become your solder; your sword and your shield... For what good is a fighter such as I without a war? I am Blood, and there is no place in peace for me."
"Two weeks," Her fellow conspirator was truly smiling now, as was she in a determined, desperate visage.
"I'll come for you then."
The female death dealer nodded. "Two weeks then, to find out who I may be."
§
"I'm fine, brats! Do I look injured?" The DADA professor snapped at the four children basking over her in her room.
Upon returning to her room, and opening the door; four persons greeted her. One Potter, Magnatine, Weasley, and translucent Daemon.
"Where were you, Blair?" The phoenix-boy demanded, worry ruining his anger.
Subtly, their teacher pocketed a small book. "Out. Now, isn't there something you all need to be doing?"
"And what would that be?" Harry snarled back, frustrated with her nonchalance.
"In class."
Blank looks passed through each other, and then the three students sped off in different directions. Only Daemon remained, ready to open his opalescent human mouth.
"Go after her."
Icy eyes blinked in surprise. His wood-sister sighed.
"Celia, go after her. You both need it."
Daemon eyed her suspiciously. "Why Blair?"
The woman winked. "Because god knows that we need some entertainment during this gloomy day."
The door to her class slammed shut, and a reluctant boy shifted back into phoenix form to glide after the Slytherin 6th year.
Inside the room, Blair pulled the old tome out, stroking it thoughtfully.
"Two weeks."
§
A/N: Because telling you what happens would be too easy.