Death Before Immortality open Closed

October 8th, 2022

Valentin [Durmstrang iNPC] visited Hogwarts to meet his friend Aida outside the library, the two albinos meeting below a darkening undercast sky with the fragrance of rain hanging in the air.

“Did you bring it?” greeted Valentin, ever to-the-point.

“Aye,” replied Aida, just the same. The wix wore a slim black leather pack that bulged with its secret contents. “I still don’t understand what exactly you plan to do with this book when we get it.” Valentin’s eyes closed as he grinned in pain at the public mention of their goal. Aida really didn’t have a shred of guile, did they?

“I should explain, then. Aida, I...” Realizing they couldn’t just start the mission immediately, the white seeker sat down on a rock. Aida had categorically agreed to help despite the vagueness of Valentin’s owl, and it wasn’t fair to keep the wix in the dark, especially after what Aida had done for him. “Look Aida, I don’t want what I’m going to say to be public knowledge, alright?”

Aida squinted hard at Valentin. “When did you get so proficient at English?” they accused, hands on hips.

“Yeahhh… I… have team mates to speak to in English sometimes. It’s better for the captain… to not always use Russian when… Ehh…” Hot red infused the Durmstrang’s face. His pale features had no chance at hiding the blush.

Aida had spent enough time around Alexander to know when someone was hiding something, so Valentin’s cover-up was obvious. “What are you not telling me?” Aida’s blue hyacinth eyes stabbed back at the squirming boy.

“Eh… Look, I… Got into some… I, ehh… crashed. My friends had to save me. I need to pay one back for what he did for me.” Sweat on his brow, the boy ran his hand through his long white hair, creeping down towards his shoulders. He didn’t usually let his hair get this long. Something was definitely up.

“So, what, you want the book so that you can find, or… make… a philosopher’s stone? You want to be immortal? For him?” Aida’s voice balked with more concern than disapproval. Valentin looked around, hoping that no one could overhear them.

“Aida, listen…” sighed Valentin. “I… I know it's dangerous, but… it’s not for me, okay, it’s for… him. Yes. Please, believe me. I only want to do something good. Really good.”

“Valentin, you did the right thing by asking me. I trust you. Is this really what’s best for him, though? Did you ask how he felt about it? Are you sure you’re not going to cause more harm than good?”

“Come on, we haven’t even seen the book yet. You don’t know what it says. We can’t just give up before we’ve even started. I don’t think you agreed to help if didn’t believe we could, should, do it.” Valentin’s English was beginning to crack under the complexity of the topic.

“I’m not convinced we should do it. I just… was curious. If it could really work, and what it would mean. Immortality.” Aida’s eyes smiled back at the boy with an inquisitive slant. “I feel like you’ve changed. A lot. I hope you’ll tell me what happened later.”

“I’ll take you to Hogsmeade after this, come on.”

Aida shoved Valentin aside and sat down on the rock in his place. It was so unexpected a move that the athletic seeker had no reason to resist falling into the dirt.

“Aren’t you going too fast with this? Maybe we should think through this some more…” Aida crossed their arms and gave the boy one of "those" responsible looks. Valentin laughed. He wasn’t used to the other albino treating him this way, but then… they had played rough back when they first met. “Why are you asking me, anyway? Surely there are plenty of fans and… whatever… people who would help you. You came all the way out here for this. Why?”

Looking off into the distance, the white seeker stretched his arms out as he thought. “Things are different with you. I can’t tell other friends about that. R-… They would worry about me. I can’t let them take the risk, either. It’s… I don’t want to even talk about it until I know I can really do it. That we can do it.”

“So you’re using me to help them,” puffed Aida with such aggression that it even surprised them. “Good. Hmph. It’s better than anyone else has treated me. Use me. This is the best for both of us.”

“Aida, that’s not how it is…”

“Isn’t it?” the wix snapped, spinning to face Valentin, locks of long white hair whirling. “What am I to you, anyway?” The conversation jolted rapidly into a new direction. Valentin had always enjoyed that habit of Aida’s. “I thought you loved me.”

“Well, yes, but… not like… what are you thinking?” Valentin got to his feet in alarm, but brushed the dirt off himself with weighty, slow motions.

“What?” whispered Aida, understanding they had gravely misunderstood. Valentin’s English was so poor back then.

“I don’t even like… that,” he concluded. “Aida, please. I just thought… we could both learn this, and keep each other from becoming bad. It must be dangerous if it is forbidden. I don’t want to hurt you with this. You’re not sacrifice. I just… I know I can trust you keep it good. I won’t let you get hurt, either. Right? We can take care of each other, and no one will go wrong?” Reaching out his pale arm, rippling with blue veins and a strange lightning-like scar, Valentin smiled with a sigh. With an even heavier puff of air, Aida grabbed Valentin’s forearm and helped themselves up.

“It’s about time.”

The two pale mages slinked inside, keeping an eye on who might be able to notice them slipping into a deserted side room. They pulled on Aida’s invisibility cloak, and for a moment the wix thought back on Alexander. What was he doing right now? There was no way to know like this. Cramped under the limited cloak next to 175cm Valentin, Aida found they had to put their arm around the boy’s waist in order for them to walk in lock step. Valentin had long acclimated to platonic touch via quidditch and other childhood play, so it was nothing to him to put one arm around Aida’s shoulder as they walked. Valentin tried to hunch over so that their feet wouldn’t expose themselves, but it was difficult.

The pair snuck down the hall into the library, taking a side angle as soon as they reached the entrance. Aida, knowing the way, pulled Valentin by the waist towards the restricted section. Their wands still stowed, the pair were hoping that pure speed would get them across the threshold under a swoosh of invisibility.

Action: Trying to sneak into the restricted section to find a book about the historical methods for attempting to gain immortality. The book is titled Death Before Immortality.
@Colette Simmons