Shadow closing in

[Sylph]

Sylph arrived outside the door to the head's quarters, panting slightly from running so fast all the way from inside the boarders of the Forbidden Forest. She knew that she didn't have an appointment to see Claire, nor any real explanation as to why she was there, but the walls of shadow that had erupted in the forest - following the disappearence of Ark and Aidana in addition to a fairly sizeable chunk of her own memory - could not be ignored. The shadow cone could even be seen from the windows of the castle, stretching up sinisterly towards the clouds from the murky insides of the forest itself. Without looking behind her to see if Aylen had managed to keep up, she rapped sharply on the wooden door with her knuckles, hoping that someone would answer quickly.

The darkness that Sylph had sensed descending upon MH seemed to have grown considerably of late. It was time that something was done.

[Aylen Hawkins]

Aylen was not in a good mood. First, his sister had run off into the Forbidden Forest, after she had promised not to ever again and then he was dragged around the whole school to the head's office without an explaination. Yup, he was only a little annoyed.

"Sylph, what do you know that I don't?" he asked. "Ark's in there too? what about Aidana? Have you seen her?"

[Sylph]

Sylph bit her lip and frowned slightly.

"I don't remember," she answered softly, rather perturbed by that fact. She shook her head, and then continued in a more normal somewhat brisk voice. "But I did hear them both when I woke up. They were deep in the forest - their voices were faint and far away, but they must have been in the place that is now surrounded by that shadow... thing." She gestured vaguely with her right hand in the gereal direction of a window.

"Besides, haven't you felt it? There's another shadow growing in this school, one that we can't see. Something is setting creatures of the forest and tunnels against the school. Even students against students. I don't know what it is... maybe that's what was removed from my memory today. Maybe Ark or Aidana or someone else told me something, and I just can't remember."

She trailed off and bit her lip again, an intensly puzzled frown marring her features. She banged on the door again, louder this time, though she did not look up.

[Aylen Hawkins]

“Can’t remember? Must have been some kind of memory charm,” Aylen mused. A worried frown creased his brow.
“Shadows, setting us against each other...There was a nymph that attacked my sister. From what she told me, the nymph was working alongside a vampire. They are mortal enemies, aren’t they? Could that have been...” Aylen frowned harder, thinking. “If the barrier is shadow, wouldn’t light dispel it? What kind of spell would be bright enough...”<br>

[Sylph]

Sylph still did not look up. Her piercing peridot eyes bored into the floor as she thought hard, trying deperately to remember. But there was nothing, only a gaping void. And as for the shadow...

"I don't know anything that could break that barrier," she replied, her voice suddenly tired. She shook her head trying to dispel the feeling. Now was not the time to need rest, she was an O'Dell, and that meant stubborn. And she was a Morgan, and that meant talented and insightful. And, of course, she was a Gryffindor, with all that that implied. She was good enough to battle against this thing, whatever it might be.

"And light only serves to make the shadow darker," she mused out loud, a wry smile crossing her lips. "Neither fire nor light will break that wall out there, at least, unless it is from a pure source." Sylph stopped suddenly. Pure source... Where did she know that phrase from? It seemed important for some reason, relevent might be a better word. She frowned deeply. Prophecy...

Her grandmother had been a great profit, a highly gifted seer, and when Sylph was younger, she had shown similar traits. If only that gift would return. It had scared her at times, but sometimes it could prove useful... vital even. If only she could...

She knocked on the head's door once more, praying to all the gods she knew that somebody would open it and help them.

[Aidana Hawkins]

Aidana strode down the Main Hall to find the Headmistress. If someone looked at her, they would think that she had gone through hell. It certainly looked like she did. Her legs were burned and raw, and they pained with every step. Her wrist wouldn't move and there were twigs and dirt in her hair. Her robes had disappeared, leaving only her uniform, looking worse for the wear. She turned the corner and could hear banging. Aidana looked down the hall to see Sylph and Aylen. She smiled, then winced. There were cuts and scratches on her face that would probably leave scars.

" Sylph!" she yelled to her friend. " What are you two doing here? I need to see the Headmistress about this." She pointed to herself, hoping they would get her meaning.

[Sylph]

Sylph's dark eyebrows flew up at the sight of Alyen's twin. She looked, well, awful. Like she had been in a pretty monsterous fight. She turned her eyes upon Aidana's and their green gazes locked for a brief moment.

"What happened?!" Sylph cried. "I heard you in the forest, along with Ark, was there a fight? What happened?" she repeated, pausing a moment before continuing.

"And we're here to see the Headmistress too," she went on. "Strange things have been happening. I seem to have lost a large chunk of my memory from today, and then, when I woke up, and I heard you and Ark in the forest, I was about to go in after you when this thing shot up out of the ground. It was like a barrier.

"Something weird is going on," she said, her voice more hushed now. "There's more shadows around than just the one forming that wall."

She rapped smartly on the door again. Why wasn't anyone answering?

"Maybe she's not here" she mused out loud, hoping fervently that she was wrong.

[Teagan]

Teagan had gotten all of the twigs and leaves out of her hair earlier. Some of her clothes were still torn, but Teagan had healed all of her cuts from the woods. Part of her memory had been erased, but Teagan remembered chunks of it after using a technique she had learned before. Before ever coming to Magic Horizons, Teagan had forgotten some important things that others didn't want her to know. After relaxing and clearing her mind, a Seer taught Teagan how to See. After that, it was easier to regain bits and pieces of her memory at a time. It still took a while to regain all of it, though.

For now, Teagan had remembered seeing Makira and Bolt in distress, being in the Forbidden Forest with the largest cat she had ever layed eyes upon, and flying through the woods. Unfortunetly, Teagan had only seen parts with no sound or other sensations. Nor did she understand the order in which things had happened except for the fact that she saw Makira and Bolt before her memory was altered, so seeing them upset must have been first. Then, did she somehow fly through the trees and somehow land in front of the demon?

She was confused, but there had been many lights Teagan had seen from her common room window and she had watched as Alex, a Ravenclaw friend, had run to the forest angrily. This was all too strange. Something bad was happening in the forest and Teagan had gone to see Headmistress Claire and inform her that it needed checking out.

Teagan stopped in the hallway and gazed up at the other students. "Sylph...," she said with part of her memory returning. Sylph had been in the forest as well. "Aidana.. and you're Aylen, right?" Aidana looked like Teagan had earlier and the boy could only have been her twin. She started moving towards them again. A smile could not be found on Teagan's tired appearance. She was completely drained of emotion.

[Sylph]

Sylph snapped her head around as she heard someone else approach, sending her long violet hair flying in great waves around her shoulders. To her extreme disappointment it was only another student, one she did not recognise. When the new girl addressed her by her name Sylph looked at her blankly.

"Have we met?" she asked, her eyes narrowed. "Your voice is kind of familiar, but I'm afraid I don't remember your name." She paused for a moment, thinking hard.

"Wait... why are you here?" she asked the girl, a sudden misgiving falling upon her. "Were you in the forest too?" Sylph discretely put her hand into her pocket and gripped her wand. She meant no harm to the girl, well, not unless she was one of those who had helped cast the shadow wall. Sylph fixed her peridot eyes upon the red-haired girl and waited.

[Teagan]

"Yes, actually," said Teagan in a monotone. Sylph still doesn't remember, yet. Too bad. Teagan's hand had gained a tighter hold on the wand dangling by her side. "I hope you do not intend to fight me. I see Makira isn't here... Oh, well. My name is Teagan, and I believe the forest is where we met." Her red eyes locked onto Sylph's. "Is Headmistress Claire not here?" she questioned calmly.

Yes, she is the one I remember from the forest, thought Teagan. Did she walk in with us, or was she in there for another reason? No. It looks like she came out the same unruly and unwanted way I did. "Did you have a rough ride through the forest?" Teagan prepared herself for anything. Sylph apparantly did not remember, so she might feel the need to protect herself. I do NOT want to end up splattered on the wall!

[Signit Sonata]

Ark walked by on the way to Charms. He then stopped and stared at Sylph pounding of the door. "Why are you trying to breaking Headmistress Claire's door down?" he asked curious.

[Sylph]

Sylph matched the girl's red stare for a moment, assessing carefully what she had said, the way she had said it, wha it could possibly mean. The girl's tone unnerved her slightly, it was as if she was testing Sylph, mocking her perhaps.

Did you have a rough ride through the forest?

As if I'm supposed to know, Sylph thought wryly to herself.

"I do not wish to fight you either," she replied in a level voice, never wavering in her green stare. "But you still haven't told me your name."

Just then Ark turned up. Ignoring him for the moment, Sylph focused all her attention on the red-haired girl in front of her.

[Teagan]

"I believe I just said that it was Teagan," she said starting to get annoyed. That memory charm must still be affecting her, thought Teagan. Your mind was usually kind of foggy and disorientated after one of them was used on you. She swayed her body weight over to her left leg, and glanced over at a boy who walked in. He appeared to be older and to have not noticed what was happening in the Forbidden Forest. Teagan didn't know him. She turned back to the defensive Sylph.

"Is Headmistress Claire not here?" she repeated growing more and more impatient. This was an urgent matter. Something peculiar was happening in the forest, not to mention a few memory wipes. If Claire isn't here..., she thought leaving the sentence dangle in her mind. This is not good... "It is important for us to talk to her soon," said Teagan looking at Sylph steadily. This is getting to be more trouble than it's worth. I don't know how to get her to remember, and Sylph looks pretty agitated, right now. She'd better not attack me. Teagan used her left hand to ease the hair out of her face. She slowly moved it back down with the ragged and torn sleeve nearly falling off.

[Sylph]

Sylph eyed Teagan for a brief second, and relaxed her hand on her wand. There was something that this girl was not yet revealing, but Sylph got the distinct impression that she was on their side. Besides her agitated and yet seemingly exhausted attitude, there were her ragged robes. Not so bad to make her look, like Aidana, as if she had been in a battle, but just a little ruffled, as Sylph had been when she had finally woken out on the grass near the forest edge. She flashed a quick grin at Teagan.

"Sorry 'bout that," she said apologetically in a low voice, so the others couldn't hear. "It's just, these memory losses have got me a bit on edge, y'know? But then you obviously remember something, if you can remember my name and stuff. What else do you remember? It might help me to recall something helpful. And as for Headmistress Claire... I don't know. She could just be ignoring us, we never made an appointment after all... but I don't think that's it." Sylph frowned, speaking louder now. "I don't know where else to look for her though. Any ideas?"

She now turned to Ark, a calculating look etched on her features.

"What were you doing in the forest, Ark?" she asked the boy, raising an inquisitive eyebrow, being sure to keep her voice light. She wasn't sure why, but he didn't seem quite like himself. And if he had been in the forest with Aidana, as Sylph knew he had been - she had heard him clearly enough - why wasn't he looking as dishevelled as she was? At the moment, Sylph was uncharacteristically suspicious, but hid her thoughts as she turned her eyes upon him. Despite her feigned mildness, Sylph was burning to know what had gone on under the branches, but more than that, to regain her memories. She hoped she could glean some information from both him and from Teagan. Not just for herself, but for Claire.

[Teagan]

Teagan relaxed when Sylph appeared to not want to attack her.

"What were you doing in the forest, Ark?"

Teagan suddenly tensened. Ark? That name... It's what Makira was shouting! thought Teagan seeing the the memory of him walking into the forest with Makira and Bolt chasing after him re-awaken in her mind. She had been shouting, "Ark!" Teagan had trouble remembering sound without hearing a part of it again. She whirled around towards him and memorized what he looked like, but something was different than before. When Teagan saw him going into the woods, he had seemed rather ticked off and determined. Now, there was an air of confidence around him ((OOC: Is it okay if I say that?)), and he seemed like whatever business he had had in the forest was delt with. She relaxed, but never trusted. "Not now," she hissed quietly to Sylph so that no one else would hear.

He must've left when I wasn't watching, rationalized Teagan. "I think Makira was looking for you, Ark," she stated uncaring. "I supposed we'd better just wait here to see the Headmistress. Ark, you went into the forest?" asked Teagan as if it was the first time she'd learned about it. A worried look came to her eyes. "It's dangerous there. You could've gotten seriously injured." Teagan watched with the same sad and worried expression as Sylph milked him for information. Well, at least she's left me alone.