I have no excuse. None. I lost interest in most of the new Young Wizards books, as the storyline just wasn't quite as captivating as A Wizard's Dillemma... the magic just seems paler now. At any rate, I'm starting up my Harry Potter fanfic at last, and I figured that I owe it to everyone who has read and reviewed this story in the last year to finish it as well. About half of this chapter is written a year ago, and half is new. So I think I know where I'm going, once again, at last.

My only problem is that I'm away at college, so I don't have my books with me. Luckily, my boyfriend owns a set (I think!), and I'll pilfer his when I see him next. So I should be back on track now. That's why I couldn't remember our willow friend's name. Sorry! I've been working really hard throughout this fic to make references to the books and keep as accurate as I can while still developing my own storyline... but it's hard to do without the books. Haven't read them in a couple years. I'm a bad authoress. Let's just leave it there.

In case any of you are interested in any of the writing or art I've been wasting my time on the last year and a half, my deviantart site is at http colonslashslash>cerena dot>deviantart dot>com. If you have any questions, comments, flames or beta-offers, my e-mail is cerenacat at>gmail dot>com. Any other way to write links in these? Grrr. Lots of Love, and I promise I really will post again soon with a nice lovely long chapter. This is just a short one to let you know that I'm actually still alive.

Love and sincerest apologies, if anyone even still wants to read this! - Ceri

standard disclaimer> I think it's prettymuch a given that I didn't come up with Nita, Kit, or their world. But Fausta's mine. /standard disclaimer>

Chapter 6 - This Hard Bondage...

"Quella barbara catena! Che fa strazio del mio core..."

"Um, excuse me..." Nita started, trying to make sense of the fact that a llama had appeared in her living room, then walked into her kitchen, singing in a very breathy treble, in Italian, no less.

"Io diro che non da pena, io diro che non da pena, maun so ave e bel piacer!"

"Excuse me!" Nita yelled, finally getting the llama's attention. "Can I help you with something?" Is there a particular reason you're here in my kitchen, serenading me? But for politeness sake...

"What was that you were singing? Could you translate? English?" Kit asked, highly intrigued and not perturbed in the slightest at the spectacle.

"Kit," Nita hissed. The more important question is why it's here, and how to get it out before Mom gets home! She's go enough stress to deal with already. Entertaining a llama won't help.

It sounds more like it'd be entertaining us, Kit mused to her, laughing in his head, and got a metal kick from Nita.

The llama inclined its head gracefully, staring amusedly at them from dark brown eyes through long thick lashes. "Salve! Come sta? Mi chiamo Fausta. Può aiutarmi?" She murmured in a rather low voice, startling in contrast to the soprano aria that had previously been ringing through the kitchen. "Finalmente, sono molto lieto di incontrarla!" She flounced over the the counter and began to sniff at a bowl of fruit warily, her shaggy coat shifting through many browns and golds under the light. "Mi scusi il ritardo, il mio volo è arrivato in ritardo." She looked up abruptly, and Kit was very aware that he had been impolite not to say anything as she rambled on. "Che cosa c'è?"

Carefully, Nita spoke in the Speech. "We do not speak Italian very well. Could you repeat in the Speech? Or English?"

The llama gave a sheepish look, and began again in halting English. "I'm very sorryI just assume... I merely say hello and ask how you are, and if you can help me? My name is Fausta. I am very happy to be meeting you at last. I'm am sorry to be late, my flight is delayed." She dropped her head in an unmistakable bow. "Is that more good?"

Nita smiled in a relieved sort of way. "Much, thank you. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Nita Callahan, and this is my partner, Kit Rodriguez. We're on errantry, and we greet you. How can we help you?"

"Mmm," Fausta murmured, making a 'tch'ing sort of noise, "It is difficult. The problem is not full known to me. But I will try to explain you." She nipped an apple from the bowl, and folding her legs beneath her, began her story.

"I am the third child of the second son of the god of the Hillgrazers, my people. As a descended, I have duty of weaving the next piece of the Tapestry of the World. But this piece must define a world-altering event. I prayed to my ancestors, and they tell me to seek out the Power called Lillithen. But I do not know where I am finding Lillithen. Ancestor told me Kit and Nita could help me. So I am here."

Nita shot Kit an uneasy look. "So we're dealing with the Powers indirectly?"

Kit nodded. "Do you have any idea where we should start?"

Fausta almost danced, her hooves clicking across the linoleum. "In New York City!" she chimed. "My Gatekeeper sent me to here."

Nita groaned with Kit. "That really narrows it down!"

Kit began to pace. "Is there anything we should know about Lillithen? Anything special?" We know where the Transcendent Pig lives, so if they're the same, then...

Fausta cocked her head to the side. "She is the Power of History. She attracted to maps of historical things? I know only she is in New York right this moment."

"Maps of History..." Nita whispered. Then, suddenly... "Kit! The subway!"

"That's right!", Kit said quickly, taking the thought three steps further. "We should start at Grand Central, and branch out to the other stations from there. Those murals on the ceilings depict the history of New York. There might be something important..."

"It's worth a shot!" Nita hurried to grab her backpack from the counter. "Wait! How are we going to get a llama downtown? Maybe it'd be better if Fausta waited somewhere else... like Tom and Carl's."

Kit nodded, and bowed low to Fausta. "My lady, we'll take you to our Seniors' house, then check the subway systems for any sign of Lillithen. The subway stations in New York have tiled roofs, with murals about our city's history. It seems like a logical place to looksince they are a main means of transport..."

Fausta finished her apple delicately, then rose to her feet, inclining her head to the both of them. "Thank you both much for your help! I will wait at house for you."

Nita flicked off the lights and locked the door behind them while Kit set up a transport spell, asking Fausta to input her name, so as not to make a careless mistake. Nita sighed wearily, praying her mother wouldn't worry about the long amber and brown hairs covering her living room and kitchen floor.

Tom and Carl, though delighted at the company, were also dealing with one too many Ordeals, so Fausta entertained herself by puzzling out the koi in their backyard pond. She seemed to make better sense of the fish than of the wizards, perhaps because the haikus spouted by their gaping mouths were less cluttered with various parts of speech. Satisfied, Nita and Kit set off for the subway system.

Nita began in her backyard, snagging a new wand from the willow tree watching over the enclosure. She began pulling a transit spell out of her bracelet, but Kit beat her to it with his own. "You've worked fast on that thing," she commented, surprised.

"Don't want it to go to waste," he replied, grinning sheepishly. "I'm taking us someplace familiar."

Nita peered over his shoulder at the spell, quickly inserting her name into the arrangement, and did notice something familiar...

Smiling to herself, she began to murmur in the Speech, at last matching and strengthening Kit's own words, the familiarity of the situation calming her nerves and recalling a time when her relationship with her wizarding partner was simpler, and kinder. But as she felt Kit's hand slide into hers, she was contentwith recalling the past, and with embracing the present for all she was worth. And she knew what she would see when she opened her eyes.

A/N: The song is an Italian aria I sang in competition my junior year of high school. Got a first place. At any rate, the song is basically along the lines of "This hard bondage can never keep me from loving you blah blah" if I remember correctly. The song title is Quella Barbaras Catena (This Hard Bondage), though, and is by Ciampi, in case anyone was interested.

No, I don't speak Italian. I speak Japanese. So this has been... an interesting character to write, to say the least. I look forward to some more fun with her.

I SWEAR I WILL NOT LEAVE IT FOR DEAD AGAIN. My boyfriend in particular is bitching at me to finish, and I've vowed that I can't post a chapter to my new fic until I post a chapter to my old, PER CHAPTER, so. This'll get done eventually. Or I'll never write fanfiction again.

I personally think I suck at it, so this might not be such a bad outcome. ;;;