16 Aug 2020, 05:32
Falling Bones
“About your parents,” started Aida. “I don’t know anything about them but… they made you, and for that I am grateful. I don’t know why they aren’t here for you, but maybe there is some reason they think this is best. I don’t really know what happened to my parents, but… maybe they are like yours and they have some reason why they aren’t here. It’s so hard to not know why. Maybe if you knew why, it would help you,” suggested the pale girl, eyebrows knitting together fiercely.
“Don’t worry. I won’t die. I promise,” Ileen had said. While Aida knew that probably no one lived forever, with magic in the world… maybe, just maybe it was okay to confide in Ileen. The white witch wanted to believe that Ileen’s promise would create a shield around the first knight, and Aida desperately needed to heal. If she did not, how could she hope to fulfill her quest to resurrect Alexander in the face of such forbidden magic and powerful opposition? Somehow everything felt so risky. Where had gone the days of serenity? Back then the worst that could happen was to take a beating, at least in the early days before Sean really went off the rails. Now nothing could compare to the risk of hurting those she loved with the violent magic swirling around and through Aida.
“I will trust your promise,” affirmed Aida. She clenched her left hand painfully as the mosp wound burned in retaliation. Ileen looked sufficiently confused, so Aida concluded that she was either not a hallucination or the purpose of the hallucination was to portray Ileen as real. Either way she would have to slow down.
“There was a boy… named Alexander, and I wanted for us to be friends. But something happened to him, happened to us. I don’t know exactly what happened but we suddenly found ourselves in the kitchens of Hogwarts and… I think our memories were stolen by the house elves. I believe the elves tainted our food or drink– they wiped another girl's memory too, when she drank the tea they gave her.” Aida shook her head. How much could she say without betraying Alexander’s memory, with him unable to defend himself, dead? “I… That and… In the forest, I don’t know. We were in the Forbidden Forest. I must have… I’m not sure what came first, but… I must have gone unconscious. Maybe he died trying to save me in the forest, I don’t know. I don’t know what’s real anymore. I thought I dreamed of him later, planning to go on a journey. Maybe he couldn’t remember because he was dead and we were talking about journeying to the other side.” Aida cut off her rambling bluntly when a horrifying thought occurred to her. Did that mean she was dead, too, if she had missing memories? Is that why she was having so many hallucinations? How was she supposed to resurrect a dead boy if she, too, were already dead?… Was that possible...? Wait, he didn’t remember before either. When did he die? How had he died? spun the eternal questions in Aida’s mind. How long have we not remembered? I think it was that day with the elves that I forgot… But how am I to know what I have forgotten? Looking back at Ileen, Aida thought she had better start providing information rather than questions and possibilities.
“Ever since that incident with the house elves, I haven’t been able to eat and drink much. I promised Alexander that I would remember for him, but if I eat the food here then it could make me forget… and I can’t break my promise to him, living or dead. Then there was the letter...” Aida sighed. “Ever since I received that letter from my father, I have been cursed with nightmares that won’t stop, so I just can't sleep anymore. Without the Room of Requirement, I can't sleep without... torment. The dreams have only gotten worse with the things happening… and now that Alexander is dead, I… I have nothing left. Other than this quest to bring him back. Back from the dead... or somehow... turn back time. I don’t know. I have to remember how I killed him. I promised I would remember. I just…” Aida squeezed her left hand tightly and winced with the pain. “I feel like all my promises are breaking, and I along with them. I know that I'm dying..." said Aida, looking down at her skeletal frame that had atrophied over the last several months. “How am I supposed to save anyone when I'm just... so... weak?" she whispered.
@Ileen Knight
31 Aug 2020, 20:03
Falling Bones
Thoughtfully, Ileen bit her lower lip and dropped the grass that she had picked only to play around with her shoelaces immediately afterwards. It was always like that. If she was thoughtful or nervous or if she was preoccupied with something in principle... her hands needed something to do. She let the words of the other girl sink in for a moment and gave her a slight smile. It was a rare and delighting feeling to be appreciated by a peer. She had this situation with Dee and now with Aida. Ileen was a lucky girl to have two people around that cared for her so much. But still. The topic was not her favorite one. She still had the feeling that her heart was squeezed as soon as the conversation turned to her parents. She swallowed. When she finally replied, her voice was a little husky. She did not feel the usual anger. Only sadness. “I hope they have a reason. It’s just… likely, that I disagree with it. I think, they are hiding their past from me” And abandoned me to hide it from themselves as well. She tilted her head and frowned. “You haven’t seen you parents in a while either?” She wanted to add: what happened? But since the girl already had revealed that she didn’t know what had happened to them, it felt stupid. She just hoped her openness and tone was hint enough that she was interested in the story and cared about her fellow Knight.
A smile painted small dimples in her cheeks when she lifted her hand. "Pinkie-Swear? I will try not to die." Her brown eyes rested on the pale girl and the worry sank heavily into her stomach. "But you must promise me the same." The voice of the eleven-year-old was gentle but firm. “That’s how it works with knights, right? Bound by oath.” She was only half joking, but the laughter reached her eyes.
The leaden sorrow spread from her stomach slowly into her chest as the young Slytherin tried to follow the story of the white knight. She frowned strained and listened intently.
When she had finished, Ileen bit her lower lip again. She was visibly struggling with that stories. It was confusing and terrifying. Did a boy die? How had she not heard of it so far? Also, the thought of the house elves stealing memories from students… Ileen was skeptical by nature. But she didn’t want to doubt the other girl. Was it true? To Aida, it was. And that was all that mattered in that moment. Even if it hadn’t happened like she had told, it was the result and its effects on her life now, that made it true after all. “You are not weak. This sounds horrifying.” She glanced at the other girl and made sure that is was clear she was taking Aida seriously. Even though she hadn’t figured her own feeling concerning that subject yet. She wasn’t actually sure if she understood what was going on. So she concentrated on the facts she could actually follow up on. “I heard about the events in the forest, I think. Dee told me about it.” Her gaze wandered through the rising sun, before she looked back at Aida. A shiver ran down her spine. It had been a terrifying event. “Was it… did it happen in the night all of you sneaked into the forest?” She paused. “Was Alexander a Ravenclaw, too?”
She bit her lip to not ask, if the other girl was sure that he had died. She didn’t want to give her the feeling that she was doubting her. “How – how can they steal your memory?” She felt a wave of sympathy. Being afraid to lose the memories of people and things you love was a motivation for Ileen to take all the pictures with her new camera. To capture them somewhere safe. Aida was haunted. It must have been horrifying. “You can’t remember him if you starve either.” She gave her a soft smile and titled her head. “You know what? I’ll make you some breakfast when we go back down. Then, you can see that I am doing and you don’t have to be afraid, that I am stealing anything from you, okay?”
It was probably just a drop on the hot stone. Ileen did not know whether she could take the fear and guilt away from Aida. But it was perhaps a start
“It doesn’t sound to me like you killed any of them. If they got hurt when they tried to save you, it was their choice. You would do the same thing for them, wouldn’t you?” She frowned and then asked the question she had been holding back. “What did your father tell you in the letter? You don’t have to tell. Only if you want to share it.” She herself knew how unpleasant it was to be asked about private matters. She did not want to push anything.
"Some people are in such utter darkness that they will burn you just to see a light."
6 Sep 2020, 05:20
Falling Bones
“I hope they have a reason… I think, they are hiding their past from me. You haven’t seen you parents in a while either?” asked Ileen.
“That’s not good… If it were me, I would have to know the truth no matter what, whatever their reason may be. I never knew my parents. I only recently learned that they were sentenced to Azkaban. I don’t know why,” said Aida blinking slowly. “If I can help you learn the truth about your parents, please let me know.” Ileen’s face was framed with real, deep concern and Aida felt it only natural to return the feeling.
"Pinkie-Swear? I will try not to die. But you must promise me the same," said Ileen. Aida looked down at her hands. She had not expected that would have ever been such a difficult ask. The ghastly white witch pulled on her hair with stress.
“I….” Aida had been making a lot of vows this year and she was terrified that the white general’s warning would come true– one day, some of those promises will conflict. The young albino fiercely did not want to break any promises, but what if her quest to save Alexander required throwing down her life? Aida could not promise she would not take such a deal. Scrunching up her face, Aida clung like hell to Ileen’s word of “try.” “Well, I can’t let you be alone in that promise. I pinkie-swear that I will try not to die, too.” Indeed, Aida would try to avoid it as much as possible, even if in the end she still had to die in order to fulfill her other promises. Then Ileen very patiently listened to Aida’s story and had questions.
“I don’t know when it happened. Maybe it was there. I don’t know how much of my memory of him is made-up. I keep having waking dreams from all my insomnia. Alexander was a Slytherin, like you. In the forest he was fighting a giant spider that was going to eat me, and then I passed out… but the forest was on fire. I don’t know what happened after that. Just more weird dreams. But I had made him appear, to save me. I summoned him with my heart and then killed him, either by… I … can’t remember how I killed him… I broke my promise…. The elves started drugging us. They drugged that girl; that’s how she forgot who we were… I don’t know if that’s the main way our memories were stolen, but I know that happened...” Aida’s internal timeline was getting all mixed up, but ever since the forest and the kitchen incidents everything had been tangled all around in her mind.
When Ileen offered Aida to cook for her, Aida grabbed her own chin in thought. That was actually precisely something that could help. She trusted Ileen and that would surely help her get some grasp of reality back. Aida couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten, so she accepted Ileen’s offer with gratitude and a glow of hope back in her darkened eyes.
“Of course I would do the same for them, but… well… you have a point there...” It seemed that Ileen had magically found all the right words. Aida could not counter any of them. Pulling out the letter that she carried around everywhere, Aida handed Ileen the battered paper she had received months ago. The letter that seemed to have awoken her curse.
“That’s not good… If it were me, I would have to know the truth no matter what, whatever their reason may be. I never knew my parents. I only recently learned that they were sentenced to Azkaban. I don’t know why,” said Aida blinking slowly. “If I can help you learn the truth about your parents, please let me know.” Ileen’s face was framed with real, deep concern and Aida felt it only natural to return the feeling.
"Pinkie-Swear? I will try not to die. But you must promise me the same," said Ileen. Aida looked down at her hands. She had not expected that would have ever been such a difficult ask. The ghastly white witch pulled on her hair with stress.
“I….” Aida had been making a lot of vows this year and she was terrified that the white general’s warning would come true– one day, some of those promises will conflict. The young albino fiercely did not want to break any promises, but what if her quest to save Alexander required throwing down her life? Aida could not promise she would not take such a deal. Scrunching up her face, Aida clung like hell to Ileen’s word of “try.” “Well, I can’t let you be alone in that promise. I pinkie-swear that I will try not to die, too.” Indeed, Aida would try to avoid it as much as possible, even if in the end she still had to die in order to fulfill her other promises. Then Ileen very patiently listened to Aida’s story and had questions.
“I don’t know when it happened. Maybe it was there. I don’t know how much of my memory of him is made-up. I keep having waking dreams from all my insomnia. Alexander was a Slytherin, like you. In the forest he was fighting a giant spider that was going to eat me, and then I passed out… but the forest was on fire. I don’t know what happened after that. Just more weird dreams. But I had made him appear, to save me. I summoned him with my heart and then killed him, either by… I … can’t remember how I killed him… I broke my promise…. The elves started drugging us. They drugged that girl; that’s how she forgot who we were… I don’t know if that’s the main way our memories were stolen, but I know that happened...” Aida’s internal timeline was getting all mixed up, but ever since the forest and the kitchen incidents everything had been tangled all around in her mind.
When Ileen offered Aida to cook for her, Aida grabbed her own chin in thought. That was actually precisely something that could help. She trusted Ileen and that would surely help her get some grasp of reality back. Aida couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten, so she accepted Ileen’s offer with gratitude and a glow of hope back in her darkened eyes.
“Of course I would do the same for them, but… well… you have a point there...” It seemed that Ileen had magically found all the right words. Aida could not counter any of them. Pulling out the letter that she carried around everywhere, Aida handed Ileen the battered paper she had received months ago. The letter that seemed to have awoken her curse.
“My dearest Aida,
I have asked a family friend to deliver this letter to you after your eleventh birthday in the event that I am unable to. I hope that it will find you in Hogwarts, as it was always our wish that you be well-educated. There really are no words good enough to write to you now that it has come to this. I suspect that any future attempts at correspondence from me will be censored by the Ministry, so it hurts that during this likely final letter I struggle to find adequate words. I guess I am trying to earn your forgiveness although nothing I can do now will make me deserve it.
If you are receiving this message, it means that I have failed to recover your mother, Jennifer. I want you to know that this does not mean we don’t love you. On the contrary, we did these things only because we love you so much. I only wanted us to be a happy family together. If I can only teach you one thing as my final act as your father, it is that you must learn to recognize when your reach exceeds your grasp.
All my love,
Your father Ronan”
@Ileen Knight
1 Oct 2020, 19:41
Falling Bones
A concerned frown wrinkled the fair skin of Ileen’s forehead as she listened to the pale knight’s story. “I’m sorry to hear that.” She hesitated for a moment and thought about her own situation. The blood rose to her cheeks as she realized how selfish she had been – at least she knew her parents and had had some good years with them and here she was, complaining about them while Aida’s parents were lacking attendance all her life. “Sorry if that’s a stupid question, but who was looking after you all the time?” The thought of her friend returning to a place without family broke the young Slytherins heart. Who would make sure that the fragile girl would eat and sleep enough to keep her in this world? “I already tried to find out what happened. So far, I had no success but maybe next year. How about you?” Her dark brown eyes tried to catch the gaze of the violet ones – again, Ileen was not capable of expressing her feelings in words only, but her eyes were reflecting her sympathy and determination. “I already looked through everything there is about crimes and dark magic. Please tell me if I can help you. We can search together.” In that moment, Ileen noticed how much it mattered to her that she had found someone who shared her experience and even if it was only a small part that was connected – she felt less alone.
Aida's obvious reluctance to agree to her oath caused the brunette girl great anxiety and she noticed how her stomach contracted painfully. She didn't know what it was, of course, but in that moment, she swore that she would get back Aida’s will to live to keep her in this world and not to let her go. With a soft smile she reached out to hook their pinkie fingers into each other. “Okay. Promise. This is all I can ask for!”
When the pale girl told the story about the forest, Ileen silently listened to every word and took in every move Aida made – how she moved her hands, the way her eyes were searching for the blurred memories she had so much struggle to catch… The expressions moved her, but she couldn’t do anything but point out that Aida would have done the same and her words seemed to have an effect. Ileen’s lips curled into a warm smile as the other girl agreed and she reached out to touch Aida’s hand. “It feels like you are fighting a demon we should not be forced to face yet.” The young Slytherin was not sure if it was clear what she wanted to express, but if someone would get her intention, it would be Aida. For Ileen to choose to sacrifice themselves in order to save someone was something for adults. She couldn’t know yet that she would have to deal with this thought in a few weeks herself. The Ravenclaw girl was just a few steps further down this path.
Ileen accepted the letter without a word. It was not necessary to say anything since it was more than obvious how deep the trust between the two of them was. Even though they didn’t know each other for a long time, their worlds seemed to touch and connect at many meaningful parts. Plus, the whole atmosphere of the moment gave her the sense of privacy, mystery and purity, so it would be a crime to doubt in the honesty of this situation.
Her heart sank as she read the lines and, in the end, she handed the paper back, her eyes fixed on the girl. There were no right words for this moment as she knew by her own experience. What, if your parents had chosen a path because they had thought it was for the best but then, it had been for the worst? The pain was reflected on her face and she didn’t even try to hide it. Her smile was rather sad, when she stood up and offered her hands to Aida in order to help her up. “Let’s go. I will cook you an awesome breakfast now.”
Sorry it took me so long - crazy month
"Some people are in such utter darkness that they will burn you just to see a light."
2 Oct 2020, 04:41
Falling Bones
“Sorry if that’s a stupid question, but who was looking after you all the time?”
Aida didn’t have a good answer to this. Technically she was legally bound to her foster parent Sean, but after that horrific night with Manticore there was no way Aida could go back. After years of tolerating what should never be tolerated, something had snapped in Aida. The pale specter of a girl shook her head. “I ran away.”
Aida took Ileen’s hand up and lingered for a moment, squeezing the girl’s palm. Aida’s eyes said everything: thank you so much. Ileen’s was the only help there was for Aida at this critical moment when the white witch’s life was truly slipping away. With a slight smile, Aida sighed heavily. She would never forget this kindness. After having lost faith in the grown-ups around her and growing ever more distant from others her age, in addition to having grown distant from even non-humans in the wake of the house elf incident, it was quite unexpected that now Aida had someone’s hand to hold… even for a moment. Though she would not see it for several months, the young white witch was now having her life saved by this Slytherin girl. Were it not for this critical moment Aida might have faded away and failed her quest. Sometimes a person just needs someone to save them from themselves, and this was such a time.
Now, following Ileen down the hill Aida swore to herself that she would find a way to help Ileen, too. Yet, Aida had been making so many promises... While fearing the fate of conflicting vows that had been foretold by the white general, Aida could not stop herself. Somehow she would find a way to help them all.
[end of thread?]
Aida didn’t have a good answer to this. Technically she was legally bound to her foster parent Sean, but after that horrific night with Manticore there was no way Aida could go back. After years of tolerating what should never be tolerated, something had snapped in Aida. The pale specter of a girl shook her head. “I ran away.”
Aida took Ileen’s hand up and lingered for a moment, squeezing the girl’s palm. Aida’s eyes said everything: thank you so much. Ileen’s was the only help there was for Aida at this critical moment when the white witch’s life was truly slipping away. With a slight smile, Aida sighed heavily. She would never forget this kindness. After having lost faith in the grown-ups around her and growing ever more distant from others her age, in addition to having grown distant from even non-humans in the wake of the house elf incident, it was quite unexpected that now Aida had someone’s hand to hold… even for a moment. Though she would not see it for several months, the young white witch was now having her life saved by this Slytherin girl. Were it not for this critical moment Aida might have faded away and failed her quest. Sometimes a person just needs someone to save them from themselves, and this was such a time.
Now, following Ileen down the hill Aida swore to herself that she would find a way to help Ileen, too. Yet, Aida had been making so many promises... While fearing the fate of conflicting vows that had been foretold by the white general, Aida could not stop herself. Somehow she would find a way to help them all.
[end of thread?]