Stage 77 - A Regal Delivery CYOA

Interacting with : Reducio ...

Date: Reducio March 23rd

Notes: Reducio Speech: #3CB371 Thoughts: italics

Outfit: Reducio

After the weird happening with the Twinkle doll, Kaitlyn still had hers. Hers was propped up on her bed, against an extra pillow. It had to be safe. She wanted it to be safe. It must be safe. Who would send such a precious-looking doll if it were not safe? Something was weird about the whole situation. And then, there was Professor Baird. Could this be connected? She honestly had no idea.

Sitting in a lavender dress and black sandals, Kaitlyn eyed the package. Her blue eyes looked around the Slytherin table. Other students had them, too. It was so weird, right? Yet, there had to be an explanation for this. There just had to be. This couldn’t be something weird again, right? Another mysterious package, but if the first one seemed ok, maybe this one will, too? Well, not really ok. The whole situation with Professor Baird was freaky.

With a shrug, Kaitlyn opened the package, curious about what new item was gifted to her.

Word Count:

Reducio

Note: 166 words

· · ─────── · 𖢨 · ─────── · ·

Koko leisurely tore off a bite of buttery croissant as she observed the delivery of the post. The strange thing was that many students were acquiring what seemed to be parcels, presents, something of that sort.

She checked her watch, and after ascertaining that she had enough time to take breakfast even slower, she set down her fork and began to watch. There seemed to be little rhyme or reason as to who received the parcels, and as Koko continued to eye the recipients, her attention waned before she returned to her remaining strawberries.

She was interrupted, however, by the fluttering of an owl's wings, and her lips parted in a small, surprised O as she, too, received a parcel.

To say she was intrigued after receiving a doll was hardly an understatement. She raised an eyebrow as she unwrapped the package, narrowed her eyes at the stuffing coming out of the doll — she'd have to fix him up later, she thought. Then, she smiled.

Kid, you're going places.

Maybe this doll, or whoever had sent it, really did understand things. Already, Koko thought of the desk in her dorm; the doll could join some of her other cute knick-knacks, including her rock friend. It was sweet of the sender to think of all of the students at Hogwarts — even the older ones like her. Perhaps they all deserved a little something nice.

· · ─────── · 𖢨 · ─────── · ·

Date: 2025.03.xx (TBD) xxxx

Note: Thoughts, Speech, Mother xxxxx

I must have seemed absurd...

Nabi sighed, walking down the stairs deep in thought. The sound of her bar shoes landing upon each step caused a soft clunk that would make a symphony with the sound of the tassels on her heirloom, which jingled. She had left the young Aamon confused upstairs outside the hospital wing; she was also attempting to make sense of the unprecedented chain of events. The doll and Professor Baird are missing. The path behind her in the labyrinth of possibilities was missing. If she wanted answers, she would need to start elsewhere. For now.

Starting with the second doll she had received after her encounter with Professor Baird the day prior.

━━━━━━━━━━━━After talking to Professor Baird━━━━━━━━━━━━

Nabi had closed the door behind her, leaving the burlap doll in the hands of Nurse Baird. Did she have errands to attend to? No, but she did need an excuse to return with someone else next time. The question was...

Who?

She had to be mindful of whom to choose, discretion was required if she did not want to get caught getting too close to a dangerous truth. Her steps were soft as she walked down the flights of stairs, creating a limited list of people she had crossed paths with before mentally sorting between them as she attempted to figure out who she would most likely trust. In truth? no one. Yet she had to find someone if she planned on figuring out what Professor Baird was hiding. Eventually, she ended up with a list she could count with one hand.

A small sigh left her as she reached the final step, the sound of her pause echoed on the ground floor corridor as she looked around. I need to think this carefully... Her steps were slow— calm as she walked down the corridor, having decided to walk around the castle while she thought things through. Nabi rounded a corner into the hallway leading toward the Great Hall, the sound of voices brought her out of the pensive state she had been in. Her gaze, which was once looking forward— shifted, landing on the doors that remained open with students walking through them.

She hummed softly, tilting her head in curiosity before walking toward the great hall. Nabi stood by the door as she looked around, seeing some students carrying a brown-paper package. With a curt hum, her gray eyes narrowed and she stepped farther inside, walking around as she looked at a few packages with various names written on them near a group of students. The packaging is too familiar...

Suddenly, she stopped.

Her gaze had caught a package with her name written on a note. Its brown paper wrapping and creme-colored twine similar to the package that had been left on her bed the previous day. Turning to face the package, her eyes flickered around her, Did someone know I would be here?

Impossible... she did not even know she would go to the great hall.

How would the sender know before her?

Nabi looked back down at the package, her eyes narrowing as she picked it up to look for any sign from the sender. But much like the first one, the package had nothing to guide her toward the unknown sender.

Just a note.

She placed the package down before unfolding the note. The calligraphy was the same, neat and unfamiliar cursive as the first note, though its contents were different.

xxxxxxxxxxx

kid, you're going places

xxxxxxxxxxx

Her eyebrow raised slightly, the note was... something. Nabi responded with a curt hum, unamused by the letter, I go where I am to be. From a young age, she knew what was expected of her, the reminder of her mother's words when Nabi had told her she wanted to be a writer.

To be... to want... to desire... to wish...

Children dream of reaching for the stars... That the sky was the limit.

"Dreams are nothing but an escape from reality. This is your reality."

Nabi had to understand, her life was not a fairytale.

Some things were set in stone, its threads woven into what was meant to be fate. Sooner or later, she would come to learn just what her mother had meant then. Her gray eyes turned cold as she crumpled the note and shoved it into her pocket before grabbing the package and began to open it in silence.

For now, she was to focus on finding answers. Nabi had to understand what had happened the night before and who had sent the dolls.

Oooh, a parcel! Maisie loved getting mail as it often contained fun sewing and crafting items from home. But this one, which now sat beside her at the table, seemed a little different. For one thing, it was missing her mother's handwriting detailing out their home address. Nor was there any other sort of address or label on it.

Just her name and these words: Kid, you're going places.

The writing is very pretty, perhaps stenciled. Shrugging, she took a bite of her breakfast before looking to break the seal. Might as well see what is inside.