I am truly sorry for the delay, but I will do my best to keep the time between two chapters shorter from now on.
Chapter 7: Duty
"So…." Spoke Arielle, glancing at each of us in turn with that same stupid grin on her face. "You guys ready?"
It was Saturday morning; precisely around eight o'clock in the morning and the four of us were standing in the abandoned transfiguration classroom on the third floor. It was a vast room, with high ceiling and rows upon rows of desks where the students once sat. There were still parchments and quills on the desks, one could even find an odd textbook or two under this or that desk. Some of the tables seemed to have been thrown down, and some chairs lay strewn about in the classroom. It appeared to me as if the room was abandoned in great hurry, or as if the occupants of the room left with every intention of returning soon. What prevented them from doing so, or what the cause of the great hurry could have been was anyone's guess, but I figured that it could certainly be nothing good.
"Not really" responded my sister, with that nervous smile of hers.
I glanced at them shortly, before my eyes returned to the bracelet on my wrist. This situation was worrying me, although I'd never admit it to anyone, especially not Arielle. It had such promise, such hope…. And therefore I needed to be careful, to proceed with extreme caution, because as promising as the situation was, it had the potential to backfire seriously at us. And if such a thing occurred, I would be ready.
"Scared Linds?" asked Arielle, and I looked up, to see her smirking down at me.
"Please." I sneered back, pushing my discomfort out of the way. "I don't get scared Arielle. I'd have thought you knew that by now."
"Yeah, yeah" she said, waving my comment away "keep telling yourself that."
"Alright…." Spoke Clo, drawing our attention and raising her left hand, upon which the bracelet sat. "What you need to do is focus your thoughts on the trunk. Let it consume your mind and your magic should be able to reach out to the magic the trunk itself holds, making the connection and serving as a bridge for us to pass. I think…"
"You think?" repeated my sister, arching her eyebrow and making me snort in response.
"Well…. I couldn't come across any research or any data for this particular bit of the process. It seems that not many people seriously attempted it. And those who have, well, my guess is that they were soul heirs themselves and therefore did not write down the process, in fear of having their secret discovered. So…. What happens from this point is anyone's guess." Spoke Clo, and I fought with myself to prevent myself from rolling my eyes in response. They were only delaying the inventible, and since there was nothing more we could possibly do in preparation, I wanted to get the bloody process over and done with.
"Here we go then…" spoke Clo and I closed my eyes lightly, pushing all other thoughts out of the way, and letting my mind focus on where I wanted to be. I imagined the trunk and allowed myself to wonder what sort of training grounds we would encounter, imagining entering the trunk and I felt the tug in my navel, pulling me impossibly to the side, then the twisting and pulling of air and finally spinning. My stomach lurched and my eyes snapped open, only to find that instead of the light of high windows illuminating the transfiguration classroom, I now faced lit torches in a hallway of sorts. It was rather odd looking, with the path curving to a sharp right and disappearing from sight.
It wasn't particularly well lit, and I raised my wand once more muttering "Lumos!".
The light of my wand joined the small light of the torches, creating shadows upon the stone floor and I glanced about slightly, my wand following my eyes. A tapestry to my immediate left caught my eye and I approached it, raising my wand.
My eyes narrowed as the light from my wand illuminated an image of a lion, raising on his hind legs and opening his jaw in a roar. I frowned at the tapestry and as I blinked, the lion's tail swished before returning to its original pose and stilling.
I disliked the decoration, and just as I turned around to voice my displeasure, Clo's hand pressed the doorknob to the doors opposite me, before carefully stepping through them.
Arielle and my sister followed, leaving me with no choice but to follow as well.
We entered a small room, rather comfortable looking, and quite obviously bearing the marks of all four houses. I counted eight seats available in the room, three on a dark crimson coloured sofa, two on a dark bronze one positioned on its immediate left, two on a dark crimson sofa opposite the first one and one in a dark bronze recliner, facing the fire. There were two and two matching pieces of furniture there, and I found that although the colour would not be of my choosing, they fitted rather well together in the oval room.
The walls were made of stone, and surprising it was indeed that there seemed to be no cold seeping through these cracks, as it often happens in buildings of age. These walls seemed warm to me, perhaps because of the huge tapestries that hung on each of the walls. The north was taken up by the tapestry of Ravenclaw, the majestic eagle standing guard over many bookshelves, filled to the point of bursting as it seemed to me. The south was dominated by the yellow tapestry of the Hufflepuff house, and the badger stood guard over the roaring fireplace. The west was taken by the tapestry of Gryffindor, and the roaring lion stood guard over two sets of doors. Lastly, guarding the entrance on the eastern wall stood the tapestry of Slytherin house, the Snake's eyes wide open, appearing so very life-like.
Aside from the fireplace, the sofas and bookshelves, a rather large coffee table stood in the middle of the room, made of silver coloured wood, complimenting the darker shades of sofas that surrounded it. The bookshelves were, in contrast, made form black painted wood, and it occurred to me, as I observed the scene, that each of the four houses seemed to be represented in the furniture of the room, along with the tapestries I noticed upon first entering the room, making me conclude that this was, for some unfathomable reason, the heart of the trunk.
"This is amazing" whispered Clo to my left, and as I turned to observe her reaction, she dashed past me, throwing herself unceremoniously on the nearest sofa, which happened to be the dark crimson one. I saw something move on the other end of the room and I turned sharply in that direction, only to see four figures approaching us, smiling. I reached into my robes, stepping forward and turning sideways, so that I had my head turned towards the newcomers, but my torso turned towards Arielle. My wand was drawn in the next second, raised to the level of my shoulders and then tipped downwards slightly, in my usual duelling stance.
Clo jumped from the sofa, retreating quickly back to us, running backwards, her wand drawn, but not raised.
I could see that Arielle stood beside me and assumed that Melody stood behind us, along with Clo. This was just as well, because I needed Arielle in the front, were it to come to duelling four full grown wizards. My sister and Clo were good in defence, but their offence was lacking, and in such a manner that they would not be ready to duel with the two of us on equal grounds. I knew that they would be soon enough, but not now, and it was essential that they stayed out of our way.
My eyes skimmed across the group, finding that there were two witches, and two wizards facing us. The good news was that they did not draw their wands, the bad news were that this did not mean that they would not hex us, using wandless magic. The horrible news was that these four resembled the four founders remarkably, if one could judge such a thing based on portraits made several centuries ago.
The silence that followed was deafening, and I felt a sensation akin to cold water being spilt on my neck. My breathing increased in tempo, and my teeth were grit together. It took me a second, but I recognised the sensation. I was afraid.
"But…" whispered my sister behind me, making me flinch in surprise as the heavy silence was broken. "This is crazy…."
I could hear surprise in her voice, awe, and a hint of fear.
"How can we be sure that you are who you appear to be?" asked Arielle, for once using that big mouth of hers to ask the right question. The answer was obvious, we couldn't.
"That's my student" spoke one of the wizards, with long reddish hair and a matching beard, his dark green eyes glimmering as he puffed out his chest in pride. Gryffindor, I presume. What. An. Idiot.
"Not to burst your bubble or anything" I sneered, and noticed that that a small smile appeared on the face of the other man, who resembled a monkey remarkably with his dark sleek hair and dark brown, almost black eyes. His eyes also shone, but I knew the difference between the two, this man calculated, planned, assessed, while the other simply glowed with pride.
"But she does have a point" I continued, raising my wand slightly for emphasis "And I suggest that you answer her…. Truthfully."
"Right…well, "spoke Gryffindor, scratching his beard and giving us a small, uncomfortable smile. "I didn't expect them asking that."
I couldn't help the sneer that appeared on my lips at that statement, for the man was outrageously annoying. How could someone, with any level of sanity, expect us to believe we are facing the four founders of the greatest school of magic in Britain? How the man managed to become a legend was simply beyond me.
"I believe our appearance would be enough" spoke the other man, Slytherin, his eyes gleaming with arrogance "Not many wizards are powerful enough to recreate our appearances, seeing as we are dead, let alone break these enchantments."
"Well…" started Clo and faltered a little as we all turned towards her. She seemed to recompose herself fairly quickly and continued:" Someone could make a Polyjuice potion, I'm sure there are still some traces of you left behind in the castle."
"Oh?" asked Salazar, arching an eyebrow and smirking at her, "Rowena, it seems to me that you were tricked. This girl is amusing, but not very intelligent as it seems to me."
I narrowed my eyes at that and raised my wand just as my sister exclaimed behind me "Hey! She's brilliant you sod!"
Arielle reacted as well, exclaiming : "Watch it old man!"
"And who, heir of Rowena's, would be capable of producing such a potion? I trust you are aware that it is highly advanced and that no ordinary level of skill would suffice."
"I would" replied Arielle, and I had no need of turning towards her to be able to tell that she was smirking as well, pride and confidence in her voice. She was a tad bit cocky as well, seeing as she was facing one of the best potion masters of all time, but I let it pass this one time. The man did insult my friend after all.
Salazar's eyes widened almost imperceptibly, his mouth twitching in a split second before all of the signs of any sort of reaction would be lost from his face. I wouldn't have caught it either, were it not that I was specifically looking for it. He was slightly surprised, if not impressed, but he would not show it to the girl that challenged him so openly, as it would mean that he was admitting defeat.
Luckily enough, or perhaps out of no luck at all, Gryffindor chose to voice what his friend was thinking, sounding so innocent in his wonder "Well, this is new."
"It seems you were wrong Salazar" spoke the woman with hair the colour of a moonless night. "My ward is intelligent, and I am sure that she has yet to show us the extent of her abilities."
He seemed to be seeing Clo in a new light and I fought back a hiss of annoyance. These people all had the attention span of a goblin.
"If we could get back to the problem at hand" I spoke, annoyance seeping into my voice "We still do not know if you are who you claim to be."
"Well…. We could tell you about us, but I suppose that is common knowledge these days" replied the woman, Ravenclaw as it seemed to me, smiling at us, her face giving away understanding and compassion.
"True" accepted Clo, and I noticed that she stepped forward slightly, boldly asking "But answer me this, which came first the chicken or the egg?"
Rowena laughed at that, a soft, melodious laugh and answered, smiling at her ward "A circle has no beginning my beautiful little raven."
Clo nodded in acceptance and I could see that her shoulder shifted, in a movement that meant that she had lowered her wand. I was slightly hesitant to do so as well, still unconvinced.
"Are you sure Clo?" asked Arielle, seemingly sharing my doubt.
"Yes, I am sure" responded Clo, with such confidence in her voice that I decided to trust her on this one. If she said she was sure these were the four founders, than there was little or no chance of them being anyone else.
"Good enough for me" spoke Arielle, lowering her wand and grinning.
I did so as well, albeit with more wariness then either of my friends seemed to have. I disliked trusting people in general, let alone those I had just met.
"Hello," spoke Arielle, and even though I could not see her as I refused to take my eyes off the founders for a second, still fearing they might attack, I knew she was grinning like the madwoman she was.
"I'm Arielle Hayes, and these are my friends" she said, motioning to each of us in turn as she pronounced our names "Claudia Beck , Rosalind and Melody Kersey."
"Whoa" spoke Gryffindor as he grinned at us "glad to finally have those wands out of my face.
"Godric Gryffindor at your service, my ladies" grinned he, bowing to us. How utterly… pompous of him.
Arielle apparently did not share my view, as she most often did not, and laughed at his behaviour, most likely finding it gentleman-like. Please.
My attention was diverted as the other man stepped forward, introducing himself in a way I much preferred, speaking clearly and with pride "Salazar Slytherin", and raising his nose slightly, to look down upon us. Yes, I concluded, much better.
A rather plump woman stepped towards him, placing a hand gently at his elbow, and introducing herself :"Helga Hufflepuff"
We all turned to the last person, knowing her name and only waiting for her to pronounce and therefore end the introductions. "Rowena Ravenclaw."
"Now that we all introduced ourselves, and moved our wands out of the way…. " continued she, inclining subtly with her head as she spoke "Care to sit and talk?"
I nodded in acceptance, and was the first to take a seat on the dark bronze recliner, the one facing the fire and focusing my attention on the people before me. It would not do me any favours to have something come as a surprise, no, I would be prepared.
Gryffindor took a seat on the dark crimson sofa to my right, along with Rowena while Helga and Salazar took a seat on the dark bronze one. My friends along with my sister took a seat on the dark crimson sofa facing the three founders.
"Now lassies" spoke Gryffindor, leaning forward slightly in his seat, "tell us how you met."
"I guess you can say I was annoying as a fly." Laughed Arielle, "Linds and I met on the train as she bumped into me."
I scoffed at that, remembering the scene all too vividly, and knowing that the idiot was telling it wrong "You were the one who bumped into me, stupid."
"If you want to tell them, be my guest" snapped Arielle and I waved my hand dismissively in her general direction, staring into the fire.
It was a Sunny September morning the first time I , along with Melody, boarded Hogwarts express, that would take us to the school we heard so much about. Of course, the both of us were rather happy and excited, but as eachtime in our lives we chose to express our joy in different ways. Melody was smiling from ear to ear, a slight skip in her steps. I remember being slightly annoyed by her walk, but I chose to keep that to myself at that time. My joy was apparent to my sister as well, because I had my head up high, looking down my nose at everyone we passed, especially kids I did not know, which was, admittedly, a rather hard thing to do when you are shorter than most of your peers.
I don't know what distracted me, but suddenly, a person appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and we crashed into the ground, the both of us sent tumbling to the ground. I fell on my back, luckily having avoided hitting my head on the dirty hallway floor of the train. I hissed in pain but pushed myself up, only to see that the other person was already up. I was annoyed as it was, and I quickly assessed the girl in front of me.
She had flaming red main of a hair, said hair pulled up in a high ponytail. Her face was oval in shape, and her eyes, rather large, were the colour of sapphire. Were it not for her eyes and hair, she would be average in appearance, but this way, she popped out in a crowd. What startled me about her eyes, was the obvious similarity to those of my sister. I therefore concluded that this was a cousin of mine, at least in some distant way.
She stood up as well, and my attention was focused on her school uniform. She was a Gryffindor of all things, and I guessed that she was not of pure blood. A half-blood as it seemed.
If the issue of her belonging to that stupid house was any indication, we would not get along well. Especially, because she stared at me, her eyes briefly searching my uniform, and upon finding no indication of a house, she must have concluded that I was a first year.
My dislike of the girl only soared as she still stared, not apologising for sending me flying towards the ground.
"Well?" I recall having said, and seeing from the corner of my eyes that my sister had stepped close to me, ill at ease due to this unfortunate encounter.
"Well what?" asked she, surprised, raising her eyebrow and crossing her hands across her chest defiantly.
"Well," I repeated, narrowing my eyes up at the girl who was rather tall "aren't you going to apologize?"
She seemed surprised but laughed at me openly, after a second or two of consideration.
"Why would I apologize to you firstie? You were the one to have bumped into me! You should be apologizing, but since you are so rude, I'll let you run along, and pretend this never happened, alright?" spoke she, smiling down at me, patronizing.
How dared she? Who in the name of Merlin did she think she was addressing?
"Don't patronize me half-blood" I spoke, my upper lip curling into a sneer. Her eyes darkened and she glared down at me, all signs of a smile gone from her face.
"Well, well, well" spoke she, her hand subtly reaching to her pocket, where I knew her wand had to be stored. "I don't have to ask to know to which house you will be sorted little brat, a snake to the bone."
I reached up as well, drawing my wand in the same time she had drawn hers.
"I would rather be a snake then someone's pet cat." I sneered in response.
"Don't provoke me firstie, I will show you how to treat your superiors." Snarled she in response.
"Oh, I am aware of how to treat them half-blood, it's just that not one is present." I hissed, and raised my wand, but before either of us could cast a spell, my sister intervened, stepping between us, facing me and gently taking a hold of my wand.
"Don't Linds" she urged in a worried whisper, "you promised me."
I narrowed my eyes, looking away from her stubbornly, and cursing the day those stupid words of promise left my mouth. I will not duel people on my first week…. Stupid move Rosalind.
"Please Linds, behave" whispered she and as I turned to face her, she turned away from me, and addressed the red headed idiot in front of us.
"My sister is terribly sorry for what happened" spoke she, and I detected a smile in her voice.
"No she's not" I hissed, trying to shake her grip off. Bloody hell, she was strong when she wanted to be.
I received a kick in my shin in response, as my sister continued "We won't be bothering you anymore. Once again, really, sorry." She then turned on me demanding more than asking with that pleading tone of hers. "Let it go Linds.. Please. Let's just go."
I glared at her, but grudgingly nodded my acceptance. I noticed that the girl before us was stumped as to what had just happened and we moved past her and made a couple of steps before hearing her laugh. It was a loud, uncontrolled, unrefined laugh, but one that captured you on the spot.
We turned around as she did as well, and I raised my eyebrow at her.
"I'm Arielle Hayes," spoke she, extending her hand towards my sister who accepted it with a smile, her other hand still on mine. "Melody Kersey."
"Oh, you're the Kersey twins, I heard all about you" spoke she, her eyes gleaming. I glared at her in response, but made no move to offer her my name.
"And what's your charming sister's name?" asked she, and before my sister could respond, I did :" Rosalind Valeria Kersey. You would do well to remember that name."
"Cheeky" laughed she, seemingly unimpressed "I like you. I'll be seeing you, Rosalind Valeria Kersey, and Melody."
She laughed once more, before disappearing behind the doors to the compartment she must have appeared from.
I later on received a lecture from my sister on socially acceptable words, as she found that my use of half-blood could be interpreted as an insult, but that is how the story started. Arielle approached us numerous times during the first semester, and by the second, I couldn't be rid of her for the life of me.
I was, as she predicted, sorted into Slytherin, and I had gained myself quite a reputation by the time I was a second year, and I had become the Queen by the third. Even the seventh years feared me. I had earned my reputation, but so had she, and we had from them on, as Claudia joined our little group, become known as the impossible four.
I had snapped out of my memory just in time to hear Arielle say :"but she grew up to be a great duller."
I scoffed at that, to which the only response was a grin from the idiot. Good duller, good? I am not good, McCuliber is good, I am bloody brilliant.
"Let's skip the emotional reminiscence shall we?" droned Salazar from my left, " Tell us about your status."
"Come again? I'm not sure I understand the question. Our status?" asked my sister, confused by the sudden demand of the impatient man.
I admit that I was rather confused as well, for the man gave us little information we could base our conclusions on.
"Your duelling styles, offensive or defensive, subjects you excel at, talents….." explained the man, in a tone one normally used when explaining some rather simple matter to that of lesser intelligence, irking me.
"Well… spoke Clo, and I turned to see that she scrunched up her face a little, in an expression of concentration. "Offensive style would be the easiest. Linds it definitely the best out of the lot of us, then Ari, and then the two of us."
Salazar raised an eyebrow at that, and Clo immediately explained herself. "It's just that we never duelled each other so we don't know which one would be better."
She stopped there, for once unsure as to how to proceed, because she most likely felt odd praising herself. But she truly did have something to be proud off, and I decided that she needed that little push.
"Defensive style of combat rank is the other way around. The best would be Melody, then Claudia, Arielle and lastly me."
"As for the subjects…." Spoke Melody, taking Clo's role "that's also rather clear. Arielle is the Potion Mistress of our group, Linds excels at DADA; and curses in general… Clo is good in Transfiguration, while Herbology is something I'm rather good at. Charms is something Clo and Linds are good at, and Runes and Arithmancy are another strong point for Arielle…. I also like History and Runes…"
"Oi" called the idiot rather loudly, especially taking into account that she was sitting right next to my sister, whom she was addressing. "You forgot to mention that, because of the snake, we're all good in DADA. Damn, she is one brutal teacher."
Her statement was followed by laughter from the two women, along with Gryffindor. What they found amusing in this entire situation I could not fathom. Slytherin seemed downright annoyed.
"That's great girls, " laughed Gryffindor, but suddenly he turned serious. Volatile, just like that stupid ward of his. "But, now we have to tell you the reason you are here."
"This is a time-enchanted trunk" spoke Ravenclaw, gaining our undivided attention. She waved her wand and a diagram appeared in the air. "Twelve hours outside equal one month inside it."
As she spoke, the figures in air moved, to form a scale showing perfect balance between twelve small boxes and one large one.
I blinked at the news that we received, trying to come to terms with the fact that I would be losing twelve hours of my life to this blasted trunk.
"You can leave anytime you wish, of course" spoke Hufflepuff, obviously noticing worry on the faces of my friends. I, on the other hand, did my best to conceal my emotions, a mask set frim on my face.
"What was the time you left?" asked Ravenclaw, and we all turned to her once again.
"Around eight o'clock, just after breakfast." Spoke Clo, and Ravenclaw nodded in acceptance, launching in a rather long and tedious explanation of the living arrangements we would be provided here.
"That was very prudent" answered Rowena, smiling at her new ward, seeming to have taken immediate liking of her.
"Now, for some technicality" spoke Rowena. "Firstly, the reason you were chosen. Each of us," she spoke, and as Salazar scoffed to her side she turned shortly to give him a reprimanding glance " have certain values that we prize in people. For me, that would be intelligence, for Helga kindness, and so on. Our heirs can only be those who possess those values, and many more… When an individual is found that resembles us in such a manner that our very magic is compatible, a small portion of that magic power transcended to the child upon its birth. By that transfer, we are bound, and we are pledged, as are the heirs. We are to serve them with our knowledge, we can instruct them and teach them, while the heirs have no duty towards us. Their duty, instead, is to the wizarding world. Such is the law of this magic transfer, and it has been abided for centuries. Now, dear girls, the dawn of your age has arisen."
She let her words sink in, allowed us a moment of peace, before continuing on, expecting no response.
"Secondly, your living and schooling arrangements." She said, once again regaining our attention. "You will find a corridor through those doors," she said, pointing to one of those two doors that sat opposite the doors we used as an entrance, "will lead you to two more doors, take the first one on the left, then climb the staircase, and you will find yourself in another corridor, with four doors, leading to four different rooms, one for each of you. They have been personalized according to our tastes, but, I dare say that they were decorated rather modestly, considering that we were not aware of the gender of our future wards. Were you to dislike the arrangements, simply make a wish for them to change, and the trunk will abide you."
I narrowed my eyes at her, suspicious of the arrangements we were offered. There was a reason we were here, and so far, not one word was spoken about this duty to the wizarding world. I knew that technique, and as I met the eyes of my future mentor, he smirked in acknowledgment of my observations. She was distracting us, wishing to prepare us for worse things to come by talking us through the easier bits… Good, but not good enough. And it only raised my suspicions. There was something horrible coming our way, and the fact that no one was telling us what that thing was, could not possibly bode for well.
"You will be taught every subject we deemed useful for your future…" she spoke and halted at that, meeting the eyes of her ward "duties." There was silence for a few seconds as I recognised that Clo grew pale, seemingly having caught on to something that was still eluding me, and the fear that I sensed in her eyes scared me so. "You will also have private lessons with your mentors, teaching you what they deem to be of most use to you. And may I just say…. Good luck."
The room was silent for a while, and I noticed my sister and Arielle had caught on too to the unspoken words, left to dangle in the air.
"This duty you speak of…" spoke Arielle, that stupid smirk on her face, no doubt trying to lower the tension in the room "I hope it's not to kill Voldemort, poor Harry would be devastated."
"No honey." Spoke Rowena and we all turned to her, some relieved, but I more worried than ever. "His destiny is to kill Voldemort, yours is to save lives. There are thousands of destinies. Every decision you make eliminates thousands upon thousands of destines, no matter how small the decision may be. You need to make decisions that will save lives. That is your job. To train yourselves and those around you. Keeping them alive." As she finished, she met our eyes, and I narrowed my eyes at her.
"I hope you understand what we ask of you." Spoke Helga and I turned my head to her sharply, speaking out.
"At what cost?" I asked and as she seemed confused for the moment I elaborated "We save lives… at what cost?"
"Any." Spoke Salazar, his fingers joined at the tips, leaning on his knees and observing me carefully.
"No." I answered and all heads turned to me as I stood up. "I refuse."
"Refuse?" echoed Arielle, "how could you possibly say no?"
"Easy." I snapped "No. Come on Melody, we're leaving."
I made a couple of steps away from them before she answered.
"I'm staying." She spoke, her voice quiet, but loud enough to be heard over the length of the room.
"Come again?" I asked, turning to her.
"I'm staying, I have to Linds." Spoke she, giving me a small, sad smile.
"Nonsense." I snapped, drawing my wand and pointing it at her. "You're coming with me. Now."
"She can make her own decisions "snapped Arielle, coming to her defence.
"Stay out of this Arielle, you're not her sister." I hissed at her, "she's coming with me, even if that means I have to stun her and levitate her out of this blasted trunk myself. She is not risking her life for some ungrateful runt out there."
"And you're not her mother" responded Arielle, drawing her wand at me. "She stays."
"I will blast you out of the way Hayes, so help me Merlin!" I hissed at her, assuming a duelling stance.
"Linds" spoke my sister, approaching me and placing her hand gently on my shoulder. "I'm staying. And I would appreciate it if you would as well. I need you sis."
I glared at her, before lowering my wand reluctantly.
"Not blasting me are you?" asked Arielle, grinning, the fight already forgotten.
"Not at the moment, but I am ever so tempted I assure you." I hissed, sitting back down and glaring at the occupants of the room. Altruism was another word for stupidity in my opinion. And there was nothing cruel or evil I could possibly connect with my sister. Horrible little child she was. But I stayed, as I knew I would. As she knew I would. And I would blast that stupid grin of Arielle's face the first chance I got. Smug moron.