Land of Confusion PV Meenauh & Xailah Finished

They were twins- Meenauh and Xailah- mentally, and through spirit. They were sisters born to different mothers. Two sides of the same coin- not quite opposites, but not quite similar enough to be considered one in the same. So like- like conjoined twins. There was more than just chemistry there. Despite being absent at the last Masquerade (and thank goodness for that), Meenauh still understood just how horrible the event had been. Balls prior to, and after the event, were mere child's play. Meenauhs hand would fall on Xailahs shoulder. Her fingers clasped around the lions frail frame, patting her. Xailahs hand would find Meenauhs, her gentle fingers touched the digits, that curled around her shoulder. She would grab a finger in the way a child would; holding it- but only for a second. She nodded towards Meenauh, to let her know that she was fine. She couldn't help but dwell on the subject from time to time, even though the worst had long passed. Or so she had thought.

The irritation- or whatever- would quickly creep away. Conflict would take its place. It wasn't conflict of the angry, or aggressive variety, but more so that of confusion. She was no longer sure of how she was supposed to react to the Slytherin. Flash was basically... a teenage girl. He was a teenage girl- and Xailah had no clue what to make of it. There was nothing more to it. His distrust was understandable, but the way he expressed it- along with that with that stupid diary of his- well, you get it. He was a total girl. Not that there was something wrong with that, it was just simply confusing. The metamorph had the urge to slap Flash's astonishment, with something snarky. Nah, we just sit in the library and look for books about hags for fun. Ya know? Okay, to be fair, that was something she did do to entertain herself, sometimes- but that was besides the point.

They had done their fair share of research. Got there hands a little dirty even. They knew a lot more than what they needed to know- wanted to know. But, there was of course a lot that they did not know about. Like the hags curse. Xailah had heard about the mishap in the Slytherin common room- everyone had, lets be real. The snakes had emerged with black things on their bodies. She had no idea that they were linked to hags- or that they were a curse. Xailah had seen them- the things. They were like veins, but black as night. She had seen them on one particular snake. Illowy Magnard. She had seen the way Illowy looked at the marks. It was a look that Xailah had understood, it was a look she saw every morning, when she looked in the mirror. Disgust. Pain. Disappointment in knowing that she was not normal. That she would never be like any of the other people in her life. But she lived with it. It hurt her though. Seeing other people who wore the same expressions- not knowing why they wore them- and being unable to do anything about it. Seeing their faces like that made her sad.

"You don't." And it was true. He didn't know if the two girls were saying things that he wanted to hear, or if they spoke the truth. Xailah and Meenauh didn't know if he was making things up to get a reaction from them, or if he actually needed help. Xailah didn't, at least. She figured that it would have been an insensitive and ridiculous thing to make up, if he was trying to waste their time. So, she chose to believe him. "What do you have to lose?" The metamorphs features began to soften. Her brows however, maintained their creased stance- but shot up slightly at Meenauh. The other lioness had stomped on the brakes. What curse- which curse indeed. Xailahs head cocked and bounced, nodding. "I know ssseveral things about hags. The hags- the ones in the forbidden forest. Are they the ones that cursed your friends?" She answered hesitantly. Normally she would have been hesitant to share such information, but she was a bit lenient this time. Almost everyone knew that there were hags on the grounds anyways.

A glimmer of gold shifted to Meenauh, and then to Flash. "We're willing to help you Flash. We would like to, at least." It was the truth- she at least, was willing to help. But there was a catch. There always was. The help of the prefects would come with a undetermined price. Someone would eventually have to pay. "I cannot promise that we can cure your friends, but I can promise that we will do a hell of a lot better job at searching for a cure. Better than whatever they've been doing, anyways." They, being the adults. She gestured away from the other two children. It was a job best left to the professionals, sure, but from what she could tell- based off of the way this boy pleaded- the 'professionals' had made little progress in finding a cure. Her words probably gave little comfort, but at least they were something.

In his plea for some sort of absolute proof, Xailah returned with the only answer he could have ever expected-- nothing. Who was working with hags, who was working against them... it was just an educated guess for everyone. The best he could do was listen, learn, and hope. Though as for what he had to lose, his life was one thing. Perhaps Xailah also had a dark sense of humor, though Flash wasn't in the mood for joking around. Meenauh seemed completely unfazed by his somber cry for help, instead insisting he go on. For her, tears and forced sympathy were not an obstacle. So much like Mari. With that, Flash's morosely vexed expression washed away like it had been wiped away by a window cleaner. No use wasting his sorrow on an audience who didn't cave to pathos.

He had felt trapped, but perhaps this had been fortuitous after all. Feeling his heart in his throat, he decided to leap off the deep end and give them the trust he had been so shamefully hiding behind his back. They claimed to know things after all, and he wanted to know everything. Information for information, it was only fair.

"The spiders that attacked Slytherin common room... they were sent by the hags, undoubtedly. Two Slytherin girls had visions that day, a heart being crushed, a deal being made. I've read Headmaster Lear's book, I know as much as anyone else about them." He heart beating furiously as he spoke, he worried he might stumble, but these things had been residents of his mind for so long that they came out matter-of-factly. "Victor Moore and Marion Davenport heard voices too, calling them to the door to let the spiders in. They're marked. Light as a ghost. Cold. They also have black blood inside them. They're friends of Vladimir Athanatos and he..."

Flash barely knew where to start with Vladimir, every attempt at getting information out of him had led to a dead end. He was sadly excellent at evading those who were most curious about him. He stuck close to those who were glad to be ignorant.

"He was the one who led the Ravenclaws into the Forbidden Forest. He brought a bag to the ball, it had dolls and vials of black sludge in it. He's feigning innocence, but at this point that's impossible... he put his own name down as the reward when he invited the Slytherins to a Fight Club during summer camp... one we couldn't escape without a winner. One where Victor was being puppetted around like some kind of half-alive zombie. I think it might have something to do with the glove."

He wouldn't expand on what 'the glove' was, if they were Gryffindors and they had done their research, they should already know. It was a lot, perhaps more than they had bargained for, as they couldn't possibly know what he had been getting into all this time. It wasn't always fruitless endeavors like summoning dead dark wizards. In fact, the amount he knew was far more than anyone his age ought to. He sought it obsessively.

"I don't know which hags did it, but I know there are two covens, at odds with each other. The curse can only be halted, not cured, as it stands. And... it..." Though most of his confidence had returned while he spoke, his mouth quivered when brushing up against the topic that most haunted his dreams. Something that perhaps only three people in the school knew, given the nature of the person who had discovered it. "At one point, a sample of the blood escaped its containment... and the owl that was carrying it turned into a shadowy monster, like the spiders. It was killed far away from here, so that's all I know... for now."

So, what if one of his friends accidentally forgot the potion? Would they... change? Would it be irreversible? He thought of Bridget Collins, Opeila Winters... he might never recover from losing them. Momentarily, Flash clutched the fabric by his chest, clinging to it like it would help diminish his fears, but at the end of the day he was still just a small frightened child.

"And it's not just them. The prefect Thomas Lestrange... he also made a deal with the hags. Has a mark on his upper shoulder, led a girl to one of them. A scarred scratch across his chest. I think his was with the Forest hags, since that was where he took her, so the fact that his mark is different than Marion's makes me think their coven was the other one. His is a three-pronged mark like a trident, hers was an ornate eyeball." Flash had actually fought alongside him at the Fight Club, which was how he had seen him shirtless, though Marion's mark had been drawn for him by Thora Larkston. The accusation on Thomas had been Miss Erin's, backed up by Burnett. "I know more than that but... what do you know?"

Interacting with: @Meenauh Silmataurea @Xailah Alptraum
Mentioning: @Victor Moore @Marion Davenport @Vladimir Athanatos @Bridget Collins @Opeila Winters @Thomas Lestrange @Erin Ryan

Flash was spitting out facts back and forward. Facts that were mostly known to Xailah and her thanks to rumours, and Pericles and... well, many others. Meenauh kept silence to absorb as much as possible and store everything in her mind palace to deal with that later.

The spiders — Santario mentioned them at the camp, but honestly, that horror was in everyone's mind despite happening in the Slytherin Common Room alone. Check.

Girls with vision — new information. A heart being crushed, a deal being made. Black Blood. Dark Stuff. The names were known. Xailah was once after Victor, but in vain. Dead end there.

Vladimir, ah yes. The forest little adventure was devastating. Known first-hand from Pericles. And Pericles was also in the Liberation club. Was it still going? And, well, Vladimir was the one feeding candy to students. With severe consequences. Meenauh flinched at the mention of the dolls, the campfire experience still fresh in her mind. Thank Merlin the doll was destroyed.

Vladimir seemed to be having too much evidence on him and still not caught. He had to have someone powerful behind him. That was suspicious. People were still disappearing, as well as professors.

Fight Club — new information. That was something she was missing in her mind. What was the fight club for? Why was a villain putting his name as a reward? More information required. The bringing up the Glove (known information) transformed into an instant insight, which connected to the previous thought and her eyes widened. What if that wasn't someone powerful?! What if it was the Glove that allowed him to do all the stuff he was doing? Save this, Meenauh. Ask questions.

Hag covens. She trembled. Did Xailah know? if professors know, why don't they... Oh, Merlin, they did. She remembered Professor Jensen and Professor Browne from just yesterday. She needed to look at the others — why didn't she do it yet? The mention of Thomas, now their fellow prefect, was unexpected information. If he made deals with hags (zero proof), how was he allowed to prefects' body? Was there someone among the professors who made deals with hags? She had to talk to Professor Jensen.

Flash stopped. Flash asked. Meenauh didn't rush to answer. She was still looking at him very deep in the eye, frowning. How does he expect one to absorb all the information and then just casually tell him what they knew?

She was still looking at him and maybe into him, through him, not daring to speak. Subconscious intimidation. Unplanned. Flash Holmwood, not a good spy.

"You have to always make sure you're taking this stuff to allies, Flash," she dropped coldly and made a step forward to Flash so that she could speak in a quieter tone, "I don't think you made sure we are allies. From what I see, we could be on the same side with Thomas and Vladimir and you would be doomed now as a person who knows too much," she gave him a stern look.

"Your luck we aren't," she released the sternness, made a step back into a softened stance and look, "So I will talk, but I will also ask."

"We know about hags, Victor, Marion and Vladimir. Not everything, no, but something. We know about the dolls and we know about the Mask and the Glove. Vladimir seems to be a powerful guy, but from what you say he can... easily be the holder of the Glove. Then if Victor was allegedly controlled, maybe we know where the Mask is?" she paused. Unfortunately, the Jake Morris case was a fading memory and couldn't be connected to the Mask. Unless someone would wake it back up.

"The dolls — as far as I know, they were destroyed. Xailah had one with her for quite a while," she gave Xailah a look, "but we... but I destroyed it this summer," — there was no pride in her words, just dry fact statement, "Fight Club is new information for us. When did it happen? What happened there and who organised it? Why Vladimir put him as a reward? What does it even mean?" she bombarded the questions, hoping Flash still had any consciousness to remember them and answer them later.

"As for your spying here, I suggest taking a closer look. Have you noticed Professor Browne limping? Have you noticed the scar on Professor Jensen's face? Why didn't she cure it? Who knows what happened to other professors, but I think there was a fight. Here at Hogwarts. And it happened after the summer camp and before the year has started. They could have gotten rid of something down there. Hopefully," she ended it with a sigh. Would Professor Jensen talk to her? Would she speak?

She let it all to sink for a while and kept silence, staring at the emptying corridors.

"There's this SCAR thing. There are these misfortunate events happening in the elite families, and there's some dark wizard on the run. And it all comes back to Hogwarts," she would continue pessimistically while not looking at Flash anymore, "It is all bigger than us, Flash. Why do you think it is us who should even care about this stuff? What can you do?"

And she would return the eye contact.

Determining what to share- and what not to share, was an incredibly challenging task. Weird- but it just was. There were so many things wrong. So many threads that had frayed. So many forgotten voices with answers, that would never reach the light. What Meenauh had said was the truth. It is all bigger than us. So. Much. Bigger. They had only scraped the surface. The plots. The rumors. The facts. All of it- all of it was one big spiders web. And the children? Meenauh? Xailah? Flash? They were mere flies. Stuck in the web. Hands tied. What could they do? Nothing. Nothing physically at least. But they could listen. Maybe that was what one needed to do, when in such a strange situation. It was better than doing nothing.

Xailah listened- to the exchange between Flash and Meenauh. She wasn't one to carry a conversation. More so, she tried to provide support, whenever she felt it was necessary. She preferred to pipe in to elaborate on subjects- or spout nonsense on things that were of interest to her. Occasionally she would provide some offhanded remark. But just because she didn't always speak, it didn't mean she wasn't listening- because, she was always listening. Most of the time anyways. She preferred it over talking- learned more things that way. Her social habits would not change for this conversation- for the exchange of speculations.

The attack on the Slytherin common room would be spoken of first. That event- if one... could call it an event- was one that Xailah found most bizarre. That one, as well as the Hufflepuff fire- the one in the commons; to clarify. And there were those names again- Vladmir, Victor, and Marion. Trouble seemed to follow those three specific names. First they were witnesses to a murder, and now they had involvement with hags. And yet none of them- not to anyone's knowledge at least- have had the crap beaten out of them, or been taken in for questioning. Why? For the same reason everything else was happening, without anything being done about it. Someone- someone with a very sick sense of humor was pulling the strings. The whole operation just an elaborate puppet show.

As Flash would in a way, later confirm. The more Xailah heard about the boy Vladmir, the more she wanted to seek him out just to hurt him. After all he had done? It only seemed fair. Not that it would be an effective method of dealing with the boy. One thing was clear about Vladmir. He was a sociopath. He didn't care about who he was hurting, or if they would come back to hurt him- he had evidently been using his 'allies' as playthings for christ's sake. What sort of twisted person pitted children against themselves? Vladmir. He had been the one to invite the Slytherins to their doom after all. Meenauh would say something about the dolls. Gave Xailah one of those looks. Xailah in return, looked away with a lazy eyeroll.

The metamorph would say nothing on that subject just yet, as Meenauh had already started asking other questions. Ones that both Gryffindors apparently wanted to know- the who, what, when, where, and whys. You know- the important questions. The attentive Mancunian would then go on to comment about Flash's spying. Suggested that he take a closer look at those he had been stalking. The mention of Professors, would remind Xailah of another figure. One that was less prominent, but still worth noting. Just... not yet. She would wait for Flash to finish what he had to say.

Flash's brief mention of what had happened to an unfortunate delivery owl- which was now presumably dead- had Xailah thinking that what he called a curse, was actually a parasite of sorts- which was a thought that was neither helpful nor particularly relevant. Even if it was, the idea had most likely been considered already. So, she opted to abstain from further commenting on the subject. Xailah thumbed at the cuff of her robe, as she tried to figure out what she thought of the information that was presented next. Students making deals with hags- that wasn't new information. Students were having exchanges with the beings even before the trouble trio was relevant. Said students being put in positions of power, whilst their exploits were known by members of the student body, was however new. Sort of.

Xailah shifted her weight from one foot to the other, as she mentally weighed that last speculation. She thought that theory was incorrect. A strange twitch of dark hair, expressed that. Xailah was more familiar with the forest hags than she would have liked to be. Not as familiar as Thomas of course, but she knew things. She could share her thoughts on Vladmir's 'allegiance' to the hags, later. Right now, thoughts of a certain someone- a certain obnoxious headmaster- were occupying the space in her head. Lazarus Plott. He was the person that the mention of professors, had called to mind. Something would be said about the man, in a hushed voice.

"Ssstay away from Plott- the Illvermorny headmaster. Watch him. Listen- but do not go near him." She whispered hastily. It was less of a warning, and more of a word of advice. "He is bad news. He is a odd figure, and I don't mean that in a complimentary way." If one could consider 'odd', a compliment of sorts. "When he first visited Hogwarts he seemed to always be looking for something- or someone. A natural thing for a newcomer to do I suppose, but there was sssomething very off about him." A clothed finger rose, resting on her chin. "He seemed to have a strange fixation on a certain boy- a Hufflepuff. Plott was always walking with the boy in the halls." It was certainly possible that Plott was simply trying to be a good headmaster, and had been attempting to learn more about Hogwarts, and its students. However Plott didn't really seem like the type to care much for school histories.

In fact, he never really seemed like the type to care for much of anything. Unless of course it was about, or had some connection to him. "Meenauh and I ran into the boy once. He and a friend of his needed help on their homework. He was a very peculiar child, from what I can remember. Drew peculiar things for a boy his age." The metamorph usually tried to abstain from calling others peculiar. It was only fair considering her... nature. But peculiar was the only word she had, that could accurately describe the badger cub. Xailah remembered the strange doodles on his paper. A supposedly eleven-year-old boy- Xailah was still convinced that the Hufflepuff in question, was no more than five years of age- should have been drawing dragons, and knights. Not weird, maze-like patterns. And what of the attack that an otherwise friendly cat, had made on the child? "What was his name again, Meenauh?" She paused for a moment, before answering her own question. She retrieved a memory- a small recollection of the boys name, scrawled down on the top of his classwork. "Jake Morris. Right?"

Yes. It didn't need to be confirmed. She knew that was the name of the boy. It was the only one that fit his face. She exhaled in a blasé fashion, as she tried to remember what she was going to say before the Plott suspicions. Oh yes. Vladmir and hags. "Vladmir's coven isn't the other one- it is possible, but I doubt that is the case. You know what I think?" No. Of course not, Flash was no mind reader- unless he was. Feline eyes narrowed suspiciously at the snakelet. "I think Vladmir is the middleman for both covens. His allegiance does not rest with one nor the other." An inquisitive finger would depart from the pale chin it had been resting on. "You said that Vladmir had been found with a bag containing dolls, and a vial with black liquid. I bet those dolls were ones made by hags. Now, I have come to the conclusion that only the hags in the Forbidden Forrest make these little doll things. If you go deep enough, you'll find dozens of them on the forest floor. They are used to mark the location of the coven."

She paused for a moment, to gather some words. "Hags seem to be crude creatures- the forest ones especially. Which brings me to my next point. The ssspiders- you claim that they were sent by hags. The magic of giving something in the form of a shadow, life; requires a level of refinement that I believe the forest hags lack. And if Vladmir is marked like Marion and Victor- if his coven is indeed the other one- then why would he have dolls from the forest coven? Why would he have lured people into the forest?" She huffed. This all made much more sense in her head. "Our boy Vladmir is doing dirty work for rival covens. And that means... he is going to die."

Meenauh's response chilled him to the bone. She took a step closer, her voice quieter as she told him in no short terms how he had inadequately vetted the two of them. That the mistakes he was making were grave. He felt a pit in his stomach, like he wanted to curl up and cover his head with a blanket. Her similarity with his older sister... alongside what he knew his sister was capable of, left him no room to disagree. His best wasn't good enough, he wasn't trained, he didn't know what he was doing.

His tense stance relaxed when she stepped back, calling him lucky. Perhaps it was completely naïve of him to trust her, but it seemed he wouldn't be punished this time. She told him what she knew, adding that she expected Vladimir to have the glove, and Victor the mask.

"He's dead. Victor Moore is dead. I wasn't there but Br-- my friend saw it. A shadow creature killed him and he bled black." Flash spat out the information. No point in assuming they would leave a stolen magical artefact on a dead person.

"It was at the fight club. We went to a tent-- mostly Slytherins-- and they brought us down to a ring underground. An illusory audience was there, and attempts at magic backfired. Magic that is far too powerful for a child Vladimir's age." It was a lot of strange information, the fight club mystified everyone he told about it, but it really happened. It did sort've seem like a fever dream. "They wanted us to fight to get one question answered from Vladimir. Never went past the first round though. Probably because Victor died."

He might have seemed cold, talking about a dead student so frankly, yet Flash had his own opinion on the boy. He had barely ever seemed very alive to begin with. Perhaps it was his fault for not trying to get to know him, not that he had any reason to, but the last time he saw Victor he didn't look human. He looked like Frankenstein's monster.

Flash sadly shook his head when Meenauh asked him whether he had noticed a limp and a scar. How much else was he not seeing? She talked further about their understanding, and Flash was alarmed to hear they had a doll and destroyed it. Had they learned anything from it at all? Was it too dangerous? The idea terrified him.

Xailah chimed in to warn him about Headmaster Plott, a person who he was hearing about for the first time. Any time was better than never-- and despite Meenauh's curt warning that he ought to have been more careful, he could help but think Xailah's words were filled with genuine concern. She didn't trust him, and she didn't want anyone getting hurt my him. Perhaps it showed in her house assignment, but she seemed to have a deceptively big, bleeding heart.

She also added, though seeming to be prompted by the will to be helpful rather than a pointed question, that he had been interested in a boy named Jake Morris, though the reasons seemed yet still obscured. When Xailah talk, his fear was no longer pronounced, he looked at her attentively like an eager student. His almost looked like they were sparkling when she mentioned the connections of teh items mention alongside the hags-- and Vladimir-- could it be true that he was trying to work for both? Why had he been a witness at Dolores' murder? Was he also working with VanCleaf?

Meenauh drew up the conversation succinctly-- a question that continually seemed to come up every time he dipped his head into the deep end. What does a kid think he is going to do? Wasn't he asking for trouble, instead of the help he thought he was doing? It wasn't like the insecurity hadn't crossed his mind. He couldn't let go of trying to do something. He couldn't be the person who saw something wrong and didn't do anything. His face reflected this hopelessness again. He hated this question... why couldn't things be easier? Why him?

"I... ah..." Flash wavered, casting his eyes down. "I'm just... gathering information. That's all. I'm not... doing anything else."

Flash took the opportunity to tear away from their scrutinizing eyes, heading towards the Great Hall. They likely wouldn't try to stop him at this point, it was his chance to avoid causing a scene. No longer back up against a wall, he turned around briefly to bid them goodbye.

"If I get any more information, I'll write you letter."

There was something Evelynn said about giving the power to someone who was brave enough to use it. Maybe it was them, or maybe it was someone else, but if he had people to trust, he decided he would disseminate the information her knew. After all, it would be a shame if he disappeared next, and all of the gathering had been in vain. It was all over his head, at this point he was grasping for straws. He felt the paranoia growing stronger inside him.

@Meenauh Silmataurea @Xailah Alptraum

Meenauh always, mind you, always shivered when someone mentioned the dead. She wasn't ready for children to operate with the concept as if it was a daily event. Victor was dead. One out of three people that had answers to the Potter's case was dead. The unfortunate event included some fight club, seemingly initiated or supported by Vladimir — poor boy — but of course, everything was more complicated. Vladimir was a tool, used by someone very powerful. And that tool was at Hogwarts, serving eyes and ears for that someone. May the dark wizard from the papers? That would be too easy of a guess, but anything mattered.

Overall it seemed Flash was doing his homework nicely and diligently. A good accomplice to have, while she'd be focusing on real homework this year. They've spent too much time digging through every link that eventually led to practically nothing. Time cannot be wasted that way anymore. A good accomplice, yes.

Just as she was thinking that Flash even promised (?) to write them a letter in case he'll get more information on the case. Deal sealed. She shrugged without voicing out anything to him as he was walking away. It was even funnier that it was him mostly talking last and they were just listening and nodding.

"Strange boy that Flash Holmwood, Xailah," she said to her friend still watching the boy, "Still in the mood for the meal?" she'd add making a comic scene out of it all — behaving as if nothing important happened at all, no chilling news was shared and they didn't touch any topic that shouldn't be touched. She'd poke the metamorph with her elbow and would continue their paused journey into the Great Hall.

Leaving the thread. Permission to take Xailah as well was granted.