'Not a shred of evidence exists in favour of the idea that life is serious.'

Brendon Giff

Location:
Universe: M-583
Plane of Mortal Men: the Milky Way Galaxy
Class-One Restricted Planet: C-53/SR/O3-O2
England - London: Luenai Orphanage

Date:
 13th of October 1987

Elyav could hear the river behind her - possibly even see it if she were to just glance down.

However the young redhead didn't move, unable to even if she had wanted to as her gaze was locked onto the shadows within the trees before her, the backs of her scratched and bloodied feet oh so precariously close to the edge of the cliff she'd been unknowingly herded towards.

The barking, yapping calls of the Arkentorian hounds were slowly fading, but the teenager found it hard to triangulate which direction they had disappeared in - not that she was actively trying however, her attention never straying from the shadow's shadow that had appeared within the darkened woods; one that was far darker than its kin and moving swiftly closer to her position through the trees, only separating itself from the obscured forest as its hooded owner did step into the clearing.

The bitterness of old betrayal and a newfound feeling of hatred did begin to churn within the girl's stomach at the sight of her pursuer.

"Did you really think that you could outrun me?"

The words resounded across the space between them, as clear to the teen as if their owner had both just shouted each one towards the stars above and whispered them directly into her ear. The voice was raspy and did cause a feeling of satisfaction to combine with her already overly-stimulated emotions; the roughness of Aelaun's tone telling Elyav that her brother had clearly been pushing against his own limits in his pursuit of her.

The knowledge did little to truly satisfy the redhead however, her mind already at work trying to figure out what her next plan of action should be. Getting caught before she had managed to cross the river and enter the Forest of the Fey hadn't exactly been something Elyav had wanted to happen, knowing that the protection the Arkentorian God of Nature and of the Forests would only activate within his domain.

But getting caught had been a part of her plan, and taking a step away from the cliffs' edge and towards her pursuer, turning her body to the side and making certain that her precious cargo wouldn't come to harm if the man did decide to retaliate, Elyav didn't say a word in reply as she notched an arrow into her bow and raised the weapon; aiming the blue-feathered bolt towards the last person she had ever expected - or dreamt - she would.

And it could have been that factor alone, the teenager really would honestly never know. But the sting of Aelaun's betrayal and the hatred she currently did feel towards him because of that very same treachery, the unyielding love she still held for the one who had once protected her and raised her, the man who had taught her how to use the very bow in her hands had Elyav hesitating.

"You actually thought that you could shoot me?" Aelaun had the audacity to mock, chuckling darkly when he noticed his sister's reluctance. And eyes that had once been filled with nothing but love and warmth for the girl he'd helped raise were now maliciously cold, all but dancing mirthlessly under the light of the full moon as he removed his hood to reveal the trademark pale hair of his ancestry and drew his own weapon.

With but a glance to the item within his grasp, it was as if Aelaun couldn't stop himself as he continued to jeer. "I don't think you could, you know," the smile that twisted his lips was cruel - wicked even. "Well, not without a little incentive perhaps..."

Elyav had never seen one in person before, but she had heard enough about them in her travels to know that the thin, wooden, bulbous stick in the man's hand - directed right towards her could be nothing more than a jixab. And the knowledge had fear jolting down the young woman's spine, thoughts swimming as disbelief cut through her mind and earlier feelings towards his duplicity at the sight - the vision of her brother standing before her; the very weapon she had been dreaming of every night since the day she'd been born aimed right at her twin hearts.

It couldn't be...

"I'll only ask you once, Elyav..."

Aelaun's voice washed over teen's swirling mess of a mind like rains over a wildfire and caused the grip around her bow to tighten.

"... hand over the Eclaveinid."

"Never!" was bitten out through clenched teeth, Elyav's eyes narrowing upon her brother's smug form - right before she let her arrow fly. And a hiss of pain escaped the man's lips as the iron-tipped shaft grazed his left ear - and proved to the young woman as to just how far his deception truly went; Aelaun's right hand crossing the front of his body and flying up to the now-bleeding auricle even as he glared at the girl who once dared to call him 'brother'.

"You bitch!" he cried as he withdrew the appendage away from his ear and noticed that it had come back warm, wet, and oh so bloody red. And without another word being uttered, and before Elyav could even attempt to draw another arrow, the jixab held within Aelaun's hand glowed an ominous black at the same time a beam of blinding green light left its tip.

With a quiet sigh, eight-year-old Rieka Lestari tore her gaze away from the battered journal that lay open across her lap and towards the window, once again trying to ignore the sounds of chatter and merriment that floated in from outside. The redheaded girl already understood that no matter how tempting it was for her to go out and join in the games that the other kids of the orphanage were playing, it would only lead to her needing to see the Head Sister again after they'd decided to practice the newest way they dealt with freaks.

She knew that it wasn't her fault that she was different; that she could do things others could not. It wasn't as though she had any input on how she'd been pieced together or even had a say in whatever went into her making. And even then, Rieka wasn't too certain as to what to call her 'abilities'. She often mused - and then immediately scoffed at the idea - that they could be something as impressive, but highly fictitious as magick.

And just as it were, the girl let a sneer loose at her current train of thought.

She had often argued with herself; the number of times being far more than she had fingers and toes, as to why such a thing as magick was all but impossible; the main case she was still upholding in her rather one-sided argument being that if magick truly was real, then why couldn't she just use her own to take her away from the stupid orphanage she was forced to live in and had called home for the last seven years?

It was as if someone, somewhere was laughing at her; having given her unnatural abilities in a world that only wanted to continuously beat her down in their attempt to force her into not using them. They were too different; too unusual for anyone else she had ever met to understand. And they had only ever brought Rieka nothing but pain and bitter misery.

It's no wonder that my parent's left me here, the redhead thought rather morosely for the thousandth time as she stared unfocusedly at the pages in front of her, one of her hands lifting to fiddle with the necklace that hung off a silver chain around her neck, wondering not for the first time if it truly had been because of her strange skills that had been behind the reasoning for her parents abandoning her. It was the only explanation the eight-year-old could think up as to why they would have dumped her at the Home when she was but a babe. She did everything that the Sisters asked of her and followed all the rules; doing everything that a good girl was expected to do. But it still never seemed as though it was enough.

How many other children had she seen come and go over the years, and yet she still had remained; unwanted and clearly unloved? Nothing but the freak that the other children continue to tell her she was.

The young girl was startled from her saddening thoughts when someone knocked at her door and she snapped her book closed before shoving it under her pillow; unwilling to allow anyone to see her second most prized possession - her first being the necklace that never left her person.

"Rieka?" a voice called as they slowly opened the door, revealing themselves only to be one of the Sisters that helped run the orphanage. "There's someone here who wishes to speak with you," Sister Paige continued as she swung the door open further to allow a man and woman to enter the room. Sister Paige left the moment they were inside, closing the door as she went to give them some privacy without any of the other children sticking their noses into business that didn't concern them.

Silver-grey eyes watched the two adults warily as they stepped further into her bedroom, auburn eyebrows creasing ever so slightly as Rieka chewed on the inside of her cheek. Adults didn't come to see her - ever! And the presence of two in her room immediately had the eight-year-old feeling suspicious and on guard as to the reason why they were there.

The man was wearing black... well, everything!

His jacket, all the way to his shoes were nothing but the dark shade and it made him look like a looming shadow. Even his hair and eyes were black, which was a very stark contrast to his rather pale complexion. The woman with him however, had shoulder-length, platinum blonde hair and was wearing a pinstriped suit that seemed more befitting a male than a female. Though she seemed to pull the look off; even managing to match the dark blue suit with a simple pair of feminine black boots.

Together the duo made quite an odd pair and the young girl found herself shifting in place on her bed, silent and unsure as to what to think. Both seemed to hold an air about them that spoke of being people who were listened to, and it made Rieka a little afraid as to what they could want with her. She didn't think she had done anything wrong. But she also never knew with what lies the other children continued to spread about her and her 'freakish' ways.

"Miss Lestari, I presume?" the man said, raising a raven eyebrow when the redhead startled at his voice, her eyes widening as they darted to him in alarmed surprise. His companion just continued to watch on silently; although there was a friendly smile upon her lips.

"Y-yes, sir," Rieka stuttered, not forgetting her manners despite feeling more than a little intimidated by the tall, dark man. She swallowed, averting her gaze from his rather penetrating black orbs and looked to the blonde at his side as confusion begun to war with alarm in her mind; unable to come up with any good reason as to why they could be there to personally see her. They certainly knew her name, although she couldn't be sure if that was because of Sister Paige having provided it. But then if that was so, it only begged the question as to why the Sister would have done that to begin with, given that the last time anyone had asked about her in any manner had been almost two and a half years ago - and over nothing more than a missing cat...

"My name is Severus Snape," the man continued, introducing himself and regaining the girl's attention. He gestured with a hand to the woman at his side and the eight-year-old glanced at her before returning her gaze back to Severus. "This is a good friend of mine, Mrs Arianna Foley."

"Hello," Arianna greeted with a wave of her hand; a gesture that Rieka hesitantly returned.

"Uh, hello."

"Now, I bet that you're wondering as to why we're here, right?" the blonde continued as she moved slowly to the end of the bed and rested a hand upon the wooden frame. Her voice was soft, and when Rieka merely nodded without saying another word; her eyes watching the woman's movements closely, Arianna continued. "Well, my friend here and I have heard that you can do some pretty peculiar things," she said.

Her statement had the eight-year-old physically jerking her head backwards and away from the two adults, forcing herself to steady her small frame when the sudden movement had her body following and she planting her hands on each side of the bed behind her. She stared at the pair with wide, fearful eyes before she quickly shook her head. "I-I do-don't know wh-what you're talking a-about," she stuttered, unable to lie to save her life as thoughts ran rampant in her head.

She missed the way Severus glanced towards Arianna with what could only have been a pointed, unimpressed, and slightly disappointed expression. But he had Rieka jumping when he suddenly chuckled; the sound surprisingly both warm and oddly casual, though utterly bizarre coming from such a man who looked so, well, daunting.

Severus followed his friend's actions, though took a seat at the end of the bed, leaving enough space between himself and Rieka to allow her not to feel cornered within her own room by two strange adults.

"There's nothing to be worried about," he said, turning his upper body so he was facing the redhead and hiding the gesture that Arianna quickly made behind his back with her hand. He continued to hold the eight-year-old's wide-eyed attention as he slowly withdrew a long, slender, black stick from the left sleeve of his jacket. And seeing that the effects of his companion's impromptu calming spell were already working as he watched Rieka's expression slowly relax; fear dulling to nothing but a vague wariness, he spoke once more. "Because if you like, I'll let you in on a secret."

Rieka didn't know why she did, but the girl looked between the two adults with ever-furrowing brows as she watched the man reveal what looked to be a stick from his sleeve. Suspicion flared within her when she felt something shift in the air, not knowing what it was but understanding that something had happened - more so when she felt her fear towards the duo unexpectedly fade. It was a peculiar feeling, knowing that it should still be there though found it wasn't. She had no doubts what so ever that the two adults were talking about her abilities - that they knew about them. And that alone should have had her running from the room.

But with her fading fear and flaring suspicions, she found herself drawn back to the stick that the man was holding; apprehension bringing forth her curiosity to learn. "What is that?" she asked, nodding to the slender piece of wood and unable to deny that there was certainly something about the simple looking twig; a feeling that was almost... familiar?

"This..." Severus waved the stick in an unusual pattern and Rieka's eyes grew wide once more - this time in surprise as a blue-white haze begun to escape from its tip. "... is called a wand," the man finished as the mist swirled and grew, first taking on a form that almost reminded the eight-year-old of a small dog or that fox she'd seen around the orphanage on occasion - though this one had multiple tails like a kitsunes. But the shape expanded and shifted, growing until it had solidified into the form of a misty, blue-white doe.

With eyes that were now full of wonder, Rieka watched as the doe slowly approached her. And when it came to a stop before her place on the bed, the girl couldn't stop herself from reaching out to the creature, her eyes somehow widening further as her hand alighted on what felt like cold, though soft down. And as she moved to stroke the ghostly doe, her hand pressing more firmly into the blue-white, misty fur, the eight-year-old suddenly jerked her limb away in surprise; confusion overtaking the look of wonder that had been across every inch of her face as her silver-grey eyes darted back to Severus.

The moment her gaze landed upon the man however, Rieka found herself pausing; her questions dying upon her tongue as she observed Arianna place a hand upon the man's shoulder in a move that even the eight-year-old knew to be for comfort. Though it was the expression on Severus' face, his eyes, that caught Rieka's attention and she realised, without having the foggiest as to how, that whatever the doe was - however it had come into being, it had provided her with a direct link into just what the man was currently feeling.

The why he was feeling so sad and lost was something that the eight-year-old couldn't comprehend. And neither did she plan to ask as she observed how Arianna's touch seemed to snap Severus out from wherever his mind had taken him; the doe vanishing before he quickly tucked his wand back up the sleeve of his jacket.

"What was that?" the redhead questioned instead as she continued to study the pair. She was rather unsure if bringing up the fact that she'd felt the raven-haired man's emotions just by touching the doe he'd somehow created with a wand was wise, seeing the blank expression that had overcome his features as he looked to her.

"This is what people like us call magick," Arianna explained as she gave her companion's shoulder one last gentle squeeze before letting her hand fall back to the wooden frame of Rieka's bed. A chuckle left her when the girl in question let out a sound that was crossed between a snort and a scoff - almost as if she'd known exactly what the eight-year-old had been thinking. "People like us can do all sorts of extraordinary, and most assuredly magical things," she continued with an amused tone, even as she raised her other hand and made a 'come here' gesture where the girl could see - and whatever disbeliefs and thoughts that the redhead still held towards magick being a thing that was left to fairy-tales and legends ran out the door the moment the book that she'd shoved under her pillow shot out from its hiding place and headed straight for Arianna's open hand; the blonde snatching it easily from the air.

"Hey!" Rieka exclaimed as she tried to make a grab for the book as it sailed passed, frowning and once more suddenly unsure about the pairs' intentions as she watched one of the two things she had of her family be snatched from the air by the woman. But even though those feelings of outrage and fear that she was feeling at the sight of someone other than herself handling the battered journal - something that the eight-year-old felt was more valuable than anything else in the entire world - were raging through her small frame, they were at war with an excitement and awe that were slowly bubbling their way through her system; the idea - the proof that there were others out there who could do the same things as her...

Maybe, just maybe she wasn't that much of a freak after all.

"You've taken good care of it," Arianna remarked kindly, if abet confusingly as she looked the journal over before handing it surprisingly carefully to Severus; offering Rieka a warm smile as she did so. "Though I would suggest a different hiding place, yeah?" she added, managing to get a nod out of the clearly stunned and confused girl as Rieka accepted her book back from Severus and held it possessively against her chest.

"D-does that mean that I'm not, um..." The girl swallowed as she looked down to the book in her arms, her thoughts swimming with everything that she'd once thought to be only fictitious and unattainable even as she seemed to curl in on herself as those same thoughts brought back each time she'd been 'punished' because of her - and she really had a hard time believing it still was such a thing - magick.

She missed the look that was shared between Severus and Arianna, the latter's eyes narrowing as her lips thinned while the former's own gaze seemed to glittered with an undeniable anger.

"I work at a school in Scotland called Hogwarts," Severus spoke up as he turned back to Rieka, a mask of indifference effortlessly sliding into place upon face as he looked to the dubious, and clearly fearful girl. Though there was something in his eyes that spoke of an understanding of what she was going through. An understanding that softened his features as Rieka's gaze snapped to his; his words having had the desired outcome as her fear was suddenly overwhelmed by the fact that she wasn't alone - wasn't a freak as he was certain the other kids had made her feel she was. And he watched as that hopeful flame that had almost flickered out of existence because of her own doubts and insecurities flare back to life with such intensity, it almost brought a smile to his lips.

"It is a school that teaches young wizards and witches, people like you on how to control their magick," he continued instead, watching with a hidden satisfaction as any lingering doubts that the redheaded, newly-discovered Witch disappear as it truly hit home that she wasn't alone.

Rieka almost fell of her bed in disbelief.

"There's a school that teaches magick?!" she breathed, her voice all but a whisper. Though it was filled with so much awe could have been shouted the way it carried across the room. Her gaze moved between the two adults, wanting to see for certain that they weren't lying to her and she focused on Arianna when the woman nodded her head.

She had believed that very morning - right before these two adults had entered her room and utterly changed her life that magick had been nothing more than something she'd read in her most favourite of fairy-tales despite the abilities she possessed that had always spoken on the contrary.

Though now...

Now she was being told that not only was magick real and that she herself was a Witch, but there were others that could do what she could and more - a bloody school filled with teachers and students who were taught how to control their abilities! It was most certainly not how the eight-year-old had envisioned her day to turn out when she'd awoken that morning, having planned to spend another lonely birthday in her room with only her book, thoughts, and rather peculiar friend for company.

But Rieka couldn't deny that she was enjoying where her day was heading.

"Does that mean that I can go to this school, cause I have magick?" she asked, unable to hold back on her excitement at the thought of not being alone - that there were others like her out there.

Much to her confusion however, Severus just slid his dark eyes to Arianna, a raven eyebrow raising questioningly and in a way the redhead couldn't comprehend as to what he could be asking. And her puzzlement only multiplied when the woman just rolled her eyes before letting her hand have a quick and personal meeting with the man's shoulder as she muttered something under her breath.

"You're the one who thought it was under the mattress," Severus replied to whatever the woman had said with an amused quirk of his lips as he looked back to a very flummoxed Rieka, giving his 'poorly abused' shoulder a needless rub and causing the blonde to roll her eyes once more.

Shaking her head at her companion, Arianna met Rieka's gaze and offered the confused young Witch a small smile. "Hogwarts generally would only allow students from the ages of eleven to attend," she said, her hand twitching against the bed's wooden frame as she fought the urge to whack Severus again as she watched the girl's shoulders fall the moment the word 'eleven' left her mouth. She really should have known better than to bet against the damnable Wizard.

"Oh," Rieka breathed as her face followed the action of her shoulders, her gaze once more dropping to the book now laying in her lap. She missed Arianna's hand raising and connecting with Severus' shoulder again. As well as the way he just rolled his eyes, not even bothering to rub the place where she'd hit.

Instead, the young red-head's mind was on that tiny, miniscule bit of doubt that had lingered; a knowledge she held deep down that from the very beginning of their rather rollercoaster of a conversation that what she'd been hearing had been far too good to be true. She couldn't remember the last time anything good even remotely came her way, and she didn't know why she thought that things would have changed now.

Clearing his throat, Severus had Rieka meeting his gaze once more warily and he offered the girl a somewhat small, though genuine smile. "As Mrs Foley had not so graciously hinted at, I do believe that every rule holds an exception. More so in your case, if you would permit it," he said, watching on as the girl's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she tried to work out what his words meant.

How was her 'case' an exception to the rules?

Looking between the two adults, unsure as to what Severus' words were implying, Rieka's gaze settled on Arianna when she found the blonde watching her with an eyebrow cocked. "Wh-what do you mean?" she questioned, her eyes darting back to Severus when she found she couldn't hold the woman's knowing gaze.

"Well," the Wizard drawled, quirking an eyebrow of his own at the girl. "I do believe that there was an exemption written into the rules that does allow staff members and their families to stay all year round."

The eight-year-old blinked, once again not being able to understand what Severus was clearly, though cryptically trying to tell her. Her silver-grey eyes drifted between the pair as they patiently waited, her mind quickly going back through everything that she'd been told and mulling it all over as she tried to work out what was obviously not being said.

The moment she had managed to put all the pieces of the puzzle together in her mind, Rieka shook her head in confusion, unable to believe the answer it had come up with.

"You can't be serious," she stated, growing even more confused when Arianna's smile split into a grin and Severus was quick to lay his hand atop the woman's; giving it a rather tight squeeze and stopping whatever she had been about to say.

"I am," Severus said quietly as he looked back to Rieka and completely ignoring the almost blinding grin that was marring his companion's face.

"Y-you want to a-adopt me?" she asked, her voice barely being heard in fear that she was wrong.

The Wizard nodded slowly, obsidian eyes showing nothing of his inner feelings as he confirmed with gentle tones, "Only if that is what you wish."