Chapter Four- Angel
A/N: Soooo sorry for the long wait; I've done a long chapter for you to make up for the time. Okay, fifth chappie up; this is the one where Sirius like, dies. Sort of, well, you'll find out…
Right, I've got some metaphorical bones to pick with you lot out there; how is it, that the last time I looked, three hundred-odd of you spiritual being had seen my story and only three of you review? Disgraceful!
P.S- you may be wondering where I've been the last few days; I've been updating my OTHER story (check it out please! Warning: it's sort of dark, it includes the best character: Sirius, who else? And someone else…) it's called 'Broken'.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but a computer and a lollipop, and Andy's run off with that… … it's all J.K's.
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13th September,
Sirius sighed,
"An Anchi," Professor Binns droned flatly, his face devoid of any excitement whatsoever about the subject he was teaching, his eyes staring absentmindedly out of the window at the sun washed grounds far below. "Is a spiritual being with the physical form of a human, it is impossible to differentiate them from actual humans. Its beauty is immense; it can be recognised by its eyes; they change colour regularly, the average a shade of topaz." Sirius's head snapped up form the shaggy black dog he was sketching, his mouth slightly open as he registered the information he had heard by chance (the last sentence Binns had uttered was the only one Sirius had heard) his head turned to Remus, who was sitting next to him, who had also looked up, shock on his handsome face, from the drawing he was doing- he was still concentrating on the phoenix from Defence Against the Dark Arts.
No… she couldn't be…
Could she?
Only one way to be sure; it was major studying time…
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"We are. Going. To. Hogssssssssssmeead!" James sang cheerily as the three Marauders, shadowed by Lily and her girls made their way through the gates of Hogwarts and practically ran to the village.
"Yes, Prongs, we're all very happy for you." Remus said sarcastically, sandwiched between Valentia and Connie and looking extremely uncomfortable at having his ears talked off by them.
"Ooh, sarcy," James teased lightly, bouncing with each footstep. "I'm not sure I like this side of you, Moony. Girls, step away!"
Both girls exploded into laughter, Sirius wiggled his eyebrows.
"Ah, James, my presence has rubbed off on you; they're hanging on you every word."
"Padfoot?" Lily asked sweetly, her eyes suspiciously innocent.
"Yeah, Lils?"
"Shut up."
Remus, James, his beloved Lily and her girls shouted farewell to Sirius as he sprinted towards the dirt road that led up into the mountains. Once in the cover of the trees, he fell forwards, his hands at his sides and fell flat on his face.
Well, that's what should have happened, but it didn't; Padfoot was far too cool for that. Where Sirius Black had once been, a long haired, pitch black mongrel dog ran in his place, it leapt over the fallen branches, skirted through impossibly narrow gaps for a canine so huge until it skidded abruptly to a stop; sending pebbles careering in every direction, at the edge of the trees, where the rocky shore of a medium sized lake could be seen.
Sirius couldn't explain what drew him here; all his friends were not interested in the unremarkable lake; its black, glass like surface that was surrounded by large, leafy plants in various shades of green; the snow topped mountains of purple rock that sealed the edge of the trees and the lake in an enclosed valley. The area around it was occupied by such valleys, and this particular one was nothing special, yet Sirius felt a connection between this one and himself. Sad really, but something beyond his control.
He tossed palm sized stones into the water, its surface shattering in thousands of ripples that veered away from him, the black depth swallowing the pebbles whole with ease. The strap of his bag was cutting into him; Sirius dumped it on the damp stones and joined it seconds later, rifling through the black bag's contents, shoving objects aside carelessly as he looked for something in particular: a bronze covered book, swirling gold spirals adorning it, its pages caramel with gold tips. Anchi Analogy was written in elegant gold script across the front.
Sirius rapidly scanned the page, his eyes widening with realisation as he progressed down it; by the time he had reached the end of the page, he was certain. Certain and horrified in equal measure. Here was the proof he had been searching; only now he had read it, he wished he hadn't.
An Anchi, the book read, is a being of spiritual nature; it is recognisable only by its eyes- they are a deep gold, which fades to topaz, to ochre, steadily growing in darkness as the month begins to end; by the last week, they are pitch black. By then the creature is weak, and must strengthen themselves again; to rejuvenate, they must feed off the magic in other people; they must absorb all that persons power, by the ed of it, the person is dead.
They are not easily differentiated from humans, but humans have a natural aversion to them, (although this is often ignored when they become enraptured by the Anchi beauty) and unconsciously avoid them without being able to explain why. Anchi have properties that surface at varying ages; they themselves do not know what abilities they have until they appear. One given ability is that they can change into a creature that best reflects their personality, all Anchi have enhanced senses, enabling to react easily to attack, etc.
Anchi are' speakers'; they are connected to present world, but also the world of Death. They link themselves to that world, and are able to converse with the deceased. They have various nicknames; The Speaker, Server of the Afterlife and The Angel of Death. They are called the last because each Anchi has wings of varying wingspan, colour and shape; which enable them to fly.
Because of their 'eating' habits (Anchi do not eat human food ) the power they acquire leaves them immortal- they remain the same age as when the first of their abilities surface. They remain this way indefinitely; no age has been recorded of their age limit.
An alive Anchi is extremely valuable and rare- the capture and slaughter of them is prohibited due to the death risk of fighting one; they have abnormal strength, speed and of course, power. But it is their blood that is most precious, in it runs the power of thousands of once strong wizards; with the proper ritual, it can reawaken the dead.
Reawaken the dead… absorb the power out of humans… golden eyes that fade to black… … immortal…
Sirius was satisfied that he was right, but in that satisfaction, lay awe, but most of all, fear. She did that, she killed innocent people; she slaughtered them in cold blood every month, just so she could be immortal? She was nothing more than an animal, a creature who murdered people.
Yet Sirius still could not hate her.
There was something about her, a certainty that made Sirius sure she would not commit such an act, as horrendous and atrocious as it was, of her own free will.
Reawaken the dead.
That last sentence was eating away at him; could they really do that? It was impossible.
But so was having eyes that changed colour…
But it was true, that bit- if, of course, Sirius was right in his suspicion- so why not everything? The shape changing- that wasn't unheard of, Sirius knew that, he ran around with his best mates as a dog once a month- so why not all of it? Sirius hissed, frustrated; what was the truth and what was myth here?
Before he could think anything else, Sirius stood up as his Animagus- enhanced ears registered the low snarl from the trees to his right. The waist-high ferns rustled, and a blue-grey, hulking form emerged into the clouded light.
It was a cat. A very big, white and grey cat. A hungry looking one too.
"Oh, shit." Sirius breathed as the monster caught his scent on the air and turned its attention to him, roared quietly and stalked towards him. It snarled menacingly, displaying the hand length fangs its mouth harboured, two inches thick and dripping with saliva, and began to circle him. Sirius tried to inconspicuously search for his wand; his wand might save him- a small, rather annoyingly unasked for voice whispered in his mind; what would the piece of stupid wood do anyway, levitate the feline to death? Still, it would make him feel better.
His pockets were empty. Crap.
He looked up, his eyes met the cat's merciless hunters eyes and all hope failed him; he was going to die. He, Sirius Black, was going to die; nobody would notice, nobody would care and he hadn't had chance to organise the mass catastrophe in the Main Hall that he had been planning for weeks (it involved water balloons, yelling teachers and pure genius- it was too bad he couldn't do it.)
The cat lunged. Sirius yelped, ducked and waited for the ruthless claws to rip into his skin.
The pain didn't come.
Sirius opened his eyes.
Celia Angeletti was crouched in front of him, her shoulders opposite his face, glaring a the equally tense cat several feet away; the wind ruffling her hair, so that it swirled around her head like a black halo. A deep, threatening growl erupted from nowhere, and it took Sirius a moment to realise it came from deep in Celia's chest. The cat's eyes widened with the concentration of the hunter, it slanted sideways on it front paws, Celia re-angled her body, so she was still protecting Sirius; a second growl, with a new, hostile edge to it, issued from her lips.
The cat deliberated for a split moment, then leaned forwards to sniff Celia. The moment its nose came closer and caught Celia's scent, it jerked backwards abruptly, fear sparking in its eyes, and turned, sprinting hastily towards the forest from whence it came.
Sirius remained frozen, immobile with fear, Celia turned, immediately relaxing; her expression smoothing into one of warmth and friendliness, but not before Sirius caught the face that had been present seconds before; cold, animalistic fury, her eyes black and challenging.
Black. Her eyes were black, last week, when he had had Defence, they had been sparkling topaz.
Sirius backed away, the terror evident in his face. Celia frowned, curiosity and puzzlement replacing the warmth.
"Are you alright, Mr. Black?" She asked, carefully. "Did the leopard injury you?"
Sirius just stared.
"Sirius?"
At his first name, Sirius jolted out of the shock. He managed a weak nod. She didn't seem to accept his response; his feelings must be clear in his posture.
Idiot, his brain screamed at him, act normal! Don't let her know!
"I'm okay, Miss." He choked out. Sirius pushed himself into a sitting position, shoving his hands in his pockets to envelope the shaking.
"What were you doing here on your own, anyway?" She asked softly, her eyes carefully guarded. Sirius's eyes involuntarily strayed to Anchi Analogy, lying open on the grass a few metres away from him. She followed his gaze.
Celia strode over to the book, plucking it lithely from the damp ground. She flipped it over, swiftly reading the title. Sirius examined her expression; it seemed to become slightly strained, her coal eyes closing and her flawless lips clenched together.
When she spoke, however, her voice was perfectly even, with a tint of amusement.
"You read children's fiction?" She smiled lightly, but it did not reach her eyes.
"No. It's a factual book." Why was he arguing with her? He could have passed it of as fiction; the perfect alibi.
But no, his thoughtless mind had blurted out the truth before he could think; it was difficult, in Celia's presence, to think clearly; something about her demanded full attention, maybe it was her face, her flawless features, her feathery eyelashes…
No, stop thinking of that, Sirius scolded his wandering mind; he often caught himself slipping down that road…
"Be sure to return it; it is a library book, yes?" She interrupted his reverie. Sirius nodded; his eyes glued to an uninteresting pebble; identical to the millions that surrounded it. Anything to stop him looking at her beautiful face.
"Until tomorrow, Mr. Black." Silence followed her words, the wind whistling was the only noise. Sirius glanced up to respond then started in surprise.
She had vanished.
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A/N: Like it? I hope so; please tell me what you think, if you don't, I may just assume nobody likes it.
Right, I'm wondering if anyone actually reads these, so I'm putting it to the test: what is a Beta? Real easy question, so you'd better answer it, suckers. Anyone who does answer it (right, might I add!) will get a life time of servitude from me, and anything else they wish for; be it a chapter of this or a story dedicated to you (sorry, I sound REALLY vain there), or whatever; my imagination is a bit dull today.
Review!
GP