The Crow
(Third Arc: Another World)
(Part 21)

Sleep eluded him.

Nightmares played behind closed lids, all he saw was gold.

'Why don't you end things once and for all?' An inner voice whispered seductively in his ear. 'No… not my place to act' He told himself, but the sweet voice's prompt was stronger.

His body staggered out the bed.

'Find a weapon. A dagger will do… you want her blood coating it… imagine it tainting that golden hair of hers? Wouldn't it be a glorious vision?'

No, it wouldn't. Her hair was like copper, not gold. He didn't hate the golden one though, he hated what she did and wanted to extract vengeance. He wanted her to rot alone in the streets, not dead. Death was a release after all.

'Make her suffer and bleed, it will help me feel better' The voice suggested, candied and overpowering.

His hand felt for a dagger in his weapon chest. The metal heated up in his palm.

He didn't know how he knew how to find her. But when he did, entering the room was easy – melting the locks and disengaging the magical traps was hardly a chore for someone like him. Everything he touched turned to ash. 'There she is… stab her, wound her, make her bleed'

The dark copper colored strands flickered gold. The light peach skin turned tan, and the pale cheeks slack in sleep became a familiar rosy tone.

The dagger was lifted, and then brought down on the woman's unprotected belly.

A split second later, green eyes snapped open and their owner was rolling out the bed just in time to avoid a more dangerous wound – the blade caught her in the ribs, leaving a deep line that started to bleed profusely.

'I've missed… but the blade is coated in her blood. Its enough'

"What the bleeding heck!?" Gold turned back to copper. Tan went pack to peach and cheeks paled with blood loss. Magic exploded around her as she reached for a slim object hidden under her pillow. The wand was pointing at his forehead and lighting up in a red color.

'Need to get out, don't let her spell connect'

Breathing in, his breath escaped out in a billow of thick smoke. He ran away down the corridor, ignoring the witch's angry calling. After that everything went black.

...

Violet woke with a start, an urgency urging her to move.

A shadowy figure hovered over her holding a bloodied dagger… 'Wait… Blood?' The witch's hand moved to her right side, right under her ribs and dangerously close to a kidney. Her skin was slit smoothly, almost painlessly, though now that she's realized the wound, it flared hotly, pain spreading through her abdomen as warmth pooled around the deep cut.

'This is bad!' Violet thought madly, though at the same time allowing her instincts to take over – instincts that allowed her to move with almost precognitive intuition in battle – which saved her life numerous times.

Her hand reached immediately for her wand, fingers grasping at the wood hidden under her pillow. Magic coursed through her arm and she casted silently 'Expeliarmus' Willing the jet of red light to disarm her attacker.

Although her reflexes were quick, the assassin was quicker – he sidestepped her spell and opened his mouth, breathing out a billow of black smoke. Vision successfully impaired, Violet cursed under her breath, pulling up a section of her camisole to cover her nose and mouth.

'Have to get rid of this! I can't breathe!' She had to act now, a second might mean her life if her attacker had some way of navigating through his trap – so acting from memories, the witch directed a blasting curse at the window and then, with a swirling motion of her wand, willed wind to cleanse the air in her room.

Eyes trained on the spot she's last seen the assassin, though her magic pulsed around her acting like a spider's web – it took a couple of moments for the room to be relatively clear of smoke, enough that Violet could see that she was alone.

'Bloody bastard has escaped!' She noticed the opened door and limped toward it, holding her bleeding side with a hand while the other clutched her wand at the ready. 'The lock is completely melted!'

The witch hesitated to light it up with a Lumos since it would just present an easier target in case the assassin was still around.

'There is someone coming' The witch noticed, preparing a curse and holding it until she had a better shot. It wasn't necessary though.

"Violet!" Clow came from across the corridor, torches igniting in his path and illuminating the witch. Relief made her legs weak, and Violet had to stagger to a nearby wall. She risked a peek at her wound… Cut clean enough that it wouldn't leave a scar, hopefully. "By the sun, my love, what happened?" the sorcerer reached her in quick strides, his face morphing into a dangerous expression.

Exchanging the cold, hard wall for her lover's arms, Violet allowed Clow to fuss over her. "One minute I was sleeping, the next I'm dodging a knife to the gut" She explained, twisting in his grasp so he could have a better look at the wound. "It only grazed my side because I moved just in time…"

The sorcerer's power fluxed, pulsing maliciously with every beat of his heart. Shadows bubbled and stretched, curling like little demented vines around her legs and thighs. The witch relaxed some more, finding her the sorcerer's domain comforting, and his anger on her behalf secure.

"I never saw this coming… I thought you'd be safe here and I failed you. I grew overconfident that no one would dare move while under my roof – I was wrong. Please allow me to rectify this mistake, my dear" Clow told her, voice so low it could have been a rumble of thunder. His eyes were absolutely flinty, tongues of dark fire escaping from under his robes.

Violet didn't blame him. But she was light headed from blood loss, and his hand was massaging her hips, right under the cut. Magic poured under her skin, knitting the wound seamlessly with a thread the color of dusk.

'Now that's a neat trick… wish I knew more healing spells, the ones I do know would have done nothing in this case – Episkey works on shallow wounds. Vulnera Senentur is for curse damage and there is only so much Reparifors can do to a human body' and she was still suffering from blood loss.

The witch blinked, staring at the now smooth skin where she was hurt. "Thanks" then her eyes traveled up to his "Actually… I was expecting something like this to happen sooner or later… my luck sucks"

"Nonetheless, we can't have something like this happen again" The sorcerer didn't glare at her, but he shot her a disapproving glance "Do you have so little expectations?"

If the shoes fit…

Ignoring his look, Violet shrugged, regretting it a moment later when she was hit by vertigo "Well, yeah" the witch sighed "Not that I don't trust you, but conflict seems to follow me. I'm glad I had my wand with me though"

"Violet…" Clow sighed as well, easily lifting the witch in his arms and nestling her inside his robes. His mood was still teetering on the edge, but he was maintaining control for the witch's sake. "You will spend the nights in my quarters until we can uncover who's behind this"

"The lock. It's been melted. The assassin also dismantled all the wards placed on the door" The green eyed young woman pointed out helpfully. Clow nodded, a flash of something obscuring his eyes. Shivers went down the witch's back, though she snuggled closer to his warmth "How did you know I was in trouble anyway?"

"Our bond… the tension on your side woke me up, that's how I knew you needed backup" the sorcerer clarified. "Now to bed with you"

"No, I'm coming with you" She disagreed, already reaching for a robe of her own and broking no argument. Clow sighed.

XxxxxXxxxxX

The terror he went under after feeling his other half under attack was suffocating. He's just went to bed after tiding up his office and then-

Looming. A dark shape stood above Violet, a dagger deep in her chest.

He can't see her.

Dammit. Anger swelled in his chest, a mythical wind picking up around him and making his hair and robes flutter.

And then came the feeling of powerlessness. The sorcerer, for all his power, was unable to keep his witch safe. Oh, she did a great job averting the situation, but there shouldn't have been a situation in the first place.

Violet, already looking better but still light headed, squeezed his hand – that's the only thing preventing the sorcerer from going on a rampage.

'Time to find our little rat' Clow thought, a measure of vindictiveness swelling in his aura. The sorcerer would channel his anger into something productive. The manor was his territory, so it was easy to soak the entire property with his powers, creating a sensitive net that was already sending information to the master.

His witch's bright light right beside him.

Students sleeping.

Someone is up studying – they feel peaceful.

Someone has been playing with my garden, again.

Staff are sleeping.

Spell damage in the training room… no… traces of foreign magic being used there.

'Time to rouse the guardians' Clow thought, directing his attention outside.

The garden stirred. Every living thing in the property woke from slumber to serve as nightmarish sentinels.

No movement. No one got in or out the house.

Satisfied with his findings so far, the sorcerer went to the likeliest room to contain a clue. The training room was a fairly large space riddled with protection wards on all four walls for added structural strength in case his students decided to go all out. There should be only battle spells traces, but there was an ominous presence that didn't belong.

The witch shifted, coming to his side so she could also look around. Clow had to resist the urge to hide her… she would not appreciate it.

"Oh, look, over there… I don't think that belongs" the witch pointed out to a corner. Violet's eyes were amazingly sharp; the green glinted in the dim light of the room as she surveyed it.

A cold smile graced his lips when he found it. A mirror, oozing with maliciousness, almost completely invisible as it used the dark as cover. The sorcerer approached the thing with caution, motioning for his gift to wait by the door. Carefully picking up the object, he brought it close – these things were dangerous, though by the way his magic was bubbling angrily, he'd be hard pressed to suffer damage from the enchanted object.

Violet approached from behind him, and he turned to show her their finding. Her cheeks were already showing color – good, his gift's vitality has improved a little more. "What is it?" She asked curiously, focused interest written all over her expression as a thrill ran through their bond.

'She's enjoying this…' He realized, holding back exasperation at his danger magnet other half. 'She feels safe now, and is confident in our skills, thus she has no reason to fear, and is enjoying the detective work' The sorcerer remembered what she's told him of her school life – mysteries after mysteries and a constant need to be attentive.

"Don't stare directly into the mirror" Clow advised, pushing at the enchantment holding the trap together and releasing it.

"Please, help me!" They heard the moment the spells were down.

"Homenun revelum" The witch flickered her wand after finishing the incantation – Clow found out what it did when a flickering ball of light appeared above the mirror. "There's someone in there!"

Clow's eyes narrowed, focusing on the mirror's other side. 'I see… his soul has been sealed in this mirror… it is unlikely that the real assailant is in the manor' his heart turned to ice.

"You will tell me everything I need to know as soon as we find your body, Mister Parole" The master sorcerer told the soul locked behind the mirror, voice dripping with a cold fury few could match.

…

"Forgive me Teacher. I was caught unaware and had my will stolen" The fire mage was bowing, eyes and mouth tightly closed. "The spell used my… dislike for your apprentice and overlapped it with my sister-in-law…"

The pair of mages found Eduardo Parole's real body in the man's assigned room, laying on the bed as if asleep – the only thing out of place were the suspicious red stains on the sleeves of his shirt.

Returning the fire mage's will wasn't simple, but to someone with his experience it was easy. Violet, who rightfully had an aversion to soul magic, thankfully refrained from commenting.

'There's no denying… only him could have melted the locks on Violet's door and destroyed the wards. They crumbled like ashes, very telling' Now they had to decide what to do… with such a blatant weakness now exposed to whomever was behind this, Eduardo del Parole might be exploited again.

But then again, Clow Reed is not without mercy… And Violet would never let him get away with anything too outrageous. Though she did scowl while muttering "He must love his sister-in-law then…" under her breath, making the sorcerer lift an eyebrow at her. She caught his expression and narrowed her eyes, daring him to comment.

Shaking his head at his precious gift, Clow turned back to the ailing man, tiredly sitting on his bed and avoiding meeting with the sorcerer's eyes.

"While I do not think you hold blame for this slight against my house, it stands that with your hands, you drew blood from my apprentice with the intention of murder" Clow's blue eyes were now swirling silver. Eduardo gulped down his fear and stood straight. He wasn't a little boy anymore, and he did not cower like a coward. "How will you repent?"

The fire mage winced. "I can leave… My mother's estate is rich; I can send reparations to… Miss Potter" He offered, but Clow shook his head, both him and Violet ignoring how the fire mage hesitated before saying her name. 'If he slurs on her in front of me, neither hell nor heaven will be able to hide him'

"No" It wasn't Clow who said this, but Violet. She was glaring at Eduardo so fiercely her magic billowed from her hair, making it look as if it caught on fire. "You will not run away. I'm the injured party so you won't get to play victim and hide under your mum's skirts"

'There is a story there' Clow noticed, getting a fuzzy image from their bond – a pointy faced, platinum haired boy. 'My father will hear about this!' seemed to be the tag Violet pinned to the image. He had to make an effort to detach himself from her memories this time… she's sunk into them, and was inwardly pulling him as well.

The sorcerer touched the witch's arm to bring her back to the present, and took the thread from where she left "Violet is correct" he traded looks with his witch; she nodded shallowly, feeling vindictive.

A thread of fate swirled around the young Spanish man, it twirled and curled, dancing wildly and enticingly. Clow extended tendrils of his own powers, calling to it, beckoning – but it wouldn't come over.

From the corner of his eyes, he noticed the witch looking around the young man's room – green eyes racked curiously from the wardrobe to the drawn curtains – until they settled over a closed chest. Violet scooted over there, a distorted sense of suspiciousness moving her every step.

The tips of Eduardo's lips turned down in displeasure. He had to hold himself from actually commenting on the green eyed young woman snooping around his things. 'He is smart and knows he is on thin ice as it is…' Clow thought approvingly, also paying closer attention to his witch as she turned back to him, eyes half closed in contemplation.

"What is this?" She asked the fire mage. His eyebrows twitched while he took a deep breath. It wouldn't do to slander the woman in front of her protector.

"My personal weapons' chest" Was the answer she got from gritted teeth. "It is not booby trapped, you can open it" the young man amended hesitantly. Clow's head tilted to the side, nodding toward Violet when she made mention to open said chest.

'It is not mere curiosity that moves her…' And he was proven corrected when the witch next spoke. "Where is dagger? The one you used to try skewering me with?"

The brown haired, olive skinned man stilled, focusing in a point between Violet and Clow as he thought. "I don't know…" Eduardo admitted "I can't remember much after leaving the training room, just quick flashes"

"So the dagger is lost" Clow had to once more get a tight hold on his temper, and this time he could feel his witch also teetering on the edge of anger – She's not amused anymore.

'It is worse than I thought… whoever is responsible for this is now invisible… and the only one who had that power was… Violet… the dagger used to attack her is missing… they have Violet's blood!'

"What now?" Said witch asked, her magic shining behind her irises and making them shine from within with an ethereal hue – they looked like dilapidated emeralds – making her frustration very clear.

"Now Mr Parole will let us take a look at his recent memories. Perhaps a mind walker might be able to uncover these lost memories of his" The sorcerer didn't suggest any more than he demanded. Violet, his witch, shot the young man a slightly piteous look.

…

She is not fond of Legilimency. Has been on the wrong end of it enough times to be wary. She is not against it, but her mind is particularly weak against the mind arts, ever since Voldemort's horcrux was used to tether her to the madman.

…

Eduardo Parole flinched, as if burned by the very fire he controlled.

"Fine, that is fair" His deep brown eyes that sparked amber with his magic met Clow's dark blue ones, the sorcerer already sinking into the other's head.

…