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Post by Claire on Oct 13, 2005 12:36:07 GMT
Claire was sitting in the Heads Tower looking out of the window at the empty school grounds. She was thinking about how much had changed, inside and outside of the school, all because of Rose. It was not an unusual thought for her, truthfully she thought of nothing else. Rose had been like a beacon of hope for the school - she had been something for the students to look and aspire to, and someone Claire found inspiration from. Since Rose had been gone, Claire had been very lacking in inspiration. She knew this had not gone unnoticed by the students, but hoped that they understood how difficult it was not only to manage the school alone, but to live and love alone.
Suddenly, she felt something. Snapping out of her downcast mood, she looked about her, but saw nothing. But it was unmistakeable to feel the darkness that was seeping in. She realised what was happening. The attack had finally come.
She half-heartedly picked up her wand from where it lay upon the desk and stared at it in her hand. She knew this was bad. There was no feelings inside of her to produce any great acts of magic anymore. If she had to defend the school, she knew she would fail.
But Rose would want me to try...
Claire sighed and turned towards the door that led down the stone steps to the castle. She placed her hand upon the handle and drew a deep breath. She could already hear voices of alarm coming from downstairs. But just as she was about to pull the door open and face her fate, she felt something shadowy creep inside her, pulling her somewhere else - she tried to resist, but its power was too great and she gave in, letting it take her to the Lake where a cloaked man was standing, pointing his wand at - Rose.
But it was not the Rose she knew. The Rose she saw was.. pathetic. She was thin, shaking, and totally helpless. The inspiration Claire was seeking did not come - the numbness remained. Lately one shock came after another and she felt nothing; even this did not penetrate her cocoon. She looked at the unfeeling man, and shook her head slowly. She needed to feel to make this decision, but her feelings were gone. Where were they?
"What did you have in mind?" she asked tonelessly.
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Post by Danawi Dassous on Oct 13, 2005 13:07:25 GMT
Danawi was taken aback by the emptiness he saw in the Headmistress that stood before him. Dressed in all her fine robes, with her wand at the ready, she looked the perfect image of the Headmistress of the finest magic school in Europe - apart from the fact that she didn't quite seem to care. About the school, about the attack - even about Rose.
Still, that was no problem - she was still human, and she would have humanity enough in her to not want people to die for something she could so easily put an end to. And he could be mistaken about her lack of care - perhaps she was a better opponent than he had expected.
"I thought that would be obvious," said Danawi silkily, distantly hearing the faint moans of pain coming from behind him. "I know that you alone hold the power of the school and all within it - with a simple spell you could switch that ownership from you to myself, and I would become the new Headmaster of Magic Horizons School. I would take care of it, have no fear about that - I would raise the students within to become my own Dark army that would lead to the beginnings of a new world entirely... and I would be entirely in your debt, Miss Maclay." Danawi's tone was mildly mocking, but it was clear he meant every word. He tried hard to keep it back, but the lust for the prophecy that had been promised to him was shining brightly in his eyes - his own kind of hope.
"And in return, you would get back your Rose. As you knew her, as good as new. You could be together forever."
He turned and looked the pitiable figure of the former Headmistress, knowing Claire's eyes would follow. As if on cue, Rose let out a low, hopeless cry, tears running down her dirt-stained cheeks. He returned his gaze to Claire. "In my opinion, it is no great sacrifice to make. Not for her."
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Post by Claire on Oct 13, 2005 13:38:36 GMT
Claire looked at Danawi, trying to listen to what he was trying to say, but couldn't help feeling so far apart from it all. Why was he asking her? Oh, right... she owned the school, and Rose was her lover. That was why.
So, what would it matter if she handed over the school to him? Would she care?
Her eyes landed on Rose again - they couldn't stray too far from the miserable remnants of her girlfriend. Was this what Claires apathy was doing? Rose would care if she got her memory back. She wouldn't want to lose the school. The way it had to be was - get Rose and the school back, or give them both up.
But wait - something awakened inside her. Would Danawi really hand back Rose's memory? After all, Claire and Rose's power combined had kept him at bay before, they could somehow defeat him if they were back together. Together, they could achieve anything. Rose had told her that.
Something incredible was opening up a torrent of unstoppable feeling inside of Claire. After so long, Claire had lost hope in all that Rose had said, because Rose had promised she would never leave, but had. But it wasn't her fault. She hadn't wanted to leave. Before all this had happened Rose had been lying in bed with Claire, curled around her body, and it was perfect. It was the kind of moment that should never end.
Oh, she had forgotten what it felt like to be so loved. But she remembered now, remembered everything.
"I don't think Rose and I would last long in this new world of yours. But I'd rather live one day and it be the happiest day of my life than life forever in this state of numbness - she's the only thing that has ever made me feel, and I want to know what I'm feeling when the world I know ends. Give her memory back, now, and the school will be yours."
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Post by Danawi Dassous on Oct 13, 2005 13:57:44 GMT
Danawi sneered his contempt, but it barely masked his victory that danced crazily behind shadowed eyes. Of course, love conquered all in their perfect little world. He had been right; she was no fool, she knew that his taking over the school meant certain death for both her and her love, but still she chose to die. What foolish things people did for the vaguest of emotions.
"You have made your promise, and I assure you I will be holding you to it, Miss Maclay."
Danawi knew he had no choice but to return to Rose what he had taken so long ago. It was a risk - she was a powerful witch, and her and Claire's power combined was too pure almost to penetrate - but he had hoodwinked them once and could do it again. Especially with the power of the school on his side. Rose would need days to recover from all that she had been through, far too weak to use magic, and by that time he would have already made sure that she and Claire were no longer threats to the school. But of course, Claire knew nothing of the shock that follows after getting your memory back, and so chose her fate blindly.
He strode over to Rose, and took one disgusted look at the pathetic mess she had become before bringing out the bottle. He uncorked it and, wrenching her head back and her mouth open, poured the golden fluid down her throat. He let go of her and stood, turning to Claire, with a smile.
"I will release the bind on her once the school is mine, Miss Maclay. Perform the spell."
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Wilting Rose
New Member
Ravenclaw Student
Rutilans Rosa Sine Spina
Posts: 130
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Post by Wilting Rose on Oct 13, 2005 14:37:05 GMT
Rose knew she was dying.
The life ebbed ever so slowly from her - she was lying in a thin pool of her own blood, and although the tears ran down her face, she had stopped sobbing because with every sob, she knew she would lose more blood, and die. But now she no longer cared. Death was coming for her, and she waited patiently, feeling a kind of numbness take over her frail body. There was no reason to live. She had reasons to live, once upon a time, but she knew nothing of it, so what was the point in going on when all she did was create complications.
She heard nothing of the conversation between Danawi and Claire, and when Danawi swept over to her, all she saw was a figure robed in black, and assumed it was Death coming for her. Willingly she let him take her, hardly feeling as he wrenched her mouth open. She swallowed what he gave her eagerly, knowing that everything was going change for the better - she could finally be at peace.
Suddeny, she opened her mouth and shrieked like she had never shrieked before - her head was splitting in a whirlwind of colour and sound and feeling. Twenty years of memories were whirling back into her mind, and she experienced every single one of them over again. Overwhelmed by her senses, she screamed and screamed - her body was vibrating with a multicoloured glow, and as she opened her eyes for the first time, colour spilled into them like knocked over cans of paint, bleeding into one another, crashing into each other.
She could not stop the thrashing and pounding of memories inside her head - they were unstoppable, each one of them beating at her mind to get her to pay them attention, to recall that they were ever there. But suddenly - she spotted Isaac, standing in the background, still unnoticed by either Claire or the cloaked man. The colour surrounding her instantly faded. She stopped screaming. Everything was quiet.
For a moment.
The vines that restricted Rose's movement suddenly lashed out from her body, releasing her and whipping wildly all around her. Her body rose from the ground, propelled by some magical force, as if it knew she was too weak to stand alone. Her dirty, hollowed face was surrounded by her matted curls, her entire body surrounded by a strange sort of cloud that clung to her, making her barely visible through its dark layers. But shining from it, piercing like a beacon of hope in the darkness, were bright, swirling, infinite rainbow eyes. There were dark circles all around them, and the face that held them was pale and hollowed, but they shone out through the cloud, radiating only a glimmer of the power that lay beyond them.
Rose smiled, and two words fell from her parched lips; "I'm back."
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Isaac
New Member
Demon
I dont understand what you want from me
Posts: 1,059
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Post by Isaac on Oct 13, 2005 23:17:33 GMT
"Bravo, m'dear."
A soft clapping ensued from the just-arrived Isaac, his fingers calmly applauding into the palm of his other hand. A 'golf clap', so to speak.
"Though you are, by no means, back in black." Isaac smirked as he calmly raised one hand, fully prepared to attack Rose and Claire if necessary.
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Post by Danawi Dassous on Oct 15, 2005 17:30:08 GMT
Danawi could not hide the shock and dread that filled him while staring at Rose. What was happening? The memories should be torturing her right now... every time he had practised his power, every time he had returned an encapsulated memory, it had always taken at the very least a day for them to have some kind of control over their actions. How was she doing this?
He followed her shining gaze to where the demon Isaac stood. Danawi snarled, angered by the demon's presence, let alone his 'witty' comment. It had to be him. He was a trigger. Having been the only secure thing in her life for the past month, he had been her unwitting anchor to everything she had once been. He knew it wasn't Isaac's fault, knew that the demon had no idea what jeopardy he had just put the battle into, but he had risked too much to get here to let it all be thrown away now.
"If you don't get out of here, I will be forced to kill you," hissed Danawi to the demon, before turning to look at Rose - his new opponent.
"Well, well, Mistress Rose - welcome back." He said, unsmiling, and then threw out vines to re-trap her, but the vines encirling rose snapped and whipped them out of the way. He looked at the useless vines, and with an angry grimace, he conjured a ball of fire in his hand. It rolled there, red and black, for several moments.
Then, with a triumphant laugh, he threw it directly at the floating Rose.
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Wilting Rose
New Member
Ravenclaw Student
Rutilans Rosa Sine Spina
Posts: 130
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Post by Wilting Rose on Oct 21, 2005 14:46:29 GMT
The flailing vines surrounding the levitating body of Rose attempted to knock the ball of flame out of the way, but to no avail - the vines burst into flames and now thrashed even more wildly, lashing out at the three figures outside of Rose's protective circle. The ball of flame hit Rose directly in the chest, and she gasped as it melted into her like black sludge, filtering in through her skin. Her body began to tremble, her frail figure convulsing in mid-air, and her unearthly shriek rippled across the grounds of the school, heard by all.
Suddenly, it stopped. She turned her rainbow eyes, brighter than ever, to Danawi. They were filling with deep, dark, red, and the hatred that filled her was vibrating from her person in waves, reverberating, touching everyone nearby.
"You," she gasped hoarsely, her cracked and blood-soaked lips barely parting as she spoke. "You tried to take this from me." The corners of her mouths twisted upwards, slowly, painfully, into a smile. "You tried to take this from me[/b]??" Rose burst out into peals of laughter, far more unsettling than any scream could ever be. Her eyes, alight with fire, burned into Danawi.
"This is my school. This is my world. This is my everything. And nobody will ever take that from me."
Rose threw her hands out and the flaming vines dropped to the ground, limp and useless. The flames that covered them licked themselves to death, the embers glowing orange on the darkened ground. Rose's body began to descend until her toes touched the ground. Her eyes had not lifted from the shadowy figure of Danawi, and were still crimson red, despite the reflection of the dying embers flickering in the corners. She walked slowly towards Danawi, a small, weak-looking figure in dirty robes with a dirt-and-blood smeared face that looked up into his scarred one almost curiously.
"No-one," she whispered, and reached up to touch Danawi's face. As her slender hands touched the sides of his face, his skin began to sizzle and blacken at her touch. Rose felt Danawi struggle to get away, but he was held in her grasp by more than her hands. She held on, feeling him incinerate beneath her pale fingers, until his heavy black robes fell on a heap on the floor, stenching smoke rising from them.
Rose blinked, then looked up. "Well, that's that then."
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Isaac
New Member
Demon
I dont understand what you want from me
Posts: 1,059
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Post by Isaac on Oct 25, 2005 3:38:45 GMT
"So it would appear."
Isaac's voice was surprisingly calm, despite what he had just witnessed. Certainly the LAST thing he expected to see, Danawi being treated to the Human Electric Chair. Even as his former Patron had met his demise, Isaac had calmly taken a step back, lowering his hand.
Now, as Danawi was no more than a pile of dust and cloak, Isaac could feel several of the bestowed abilities ebb and fade away, such as the vines and flames of rage and others. However, abilities like the telekinesis and the telepathy, those he had somehow managed to retain. Though he would miss several of the more... lucrative abililities granted by Danawi, he was, in no way, helpless.
Far from it, actually, as flame wreathed Isaac's hands in warning, he was fully prepared to battle, if the Headmistress' thought it necessary.
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Post by Claire on Oct 25, 2005 14:47:50 GMT
Claire could not speak. She was speechless. She thought for sure she had lost Rose for good - but as the woman she loved somehow managed to free herself from the painful vines and summon her power to take over Danawi's, she knew it was going to be all right.
But was it? There was no denying that there was something different about Rose. The good-natured, sweet, playful Rose that everybody had known surely couldn't produce such dark magic? Had she always had the power to fry people?
Claire couldn't help but remember that ball of fire that sank into Rose's chest - she knew what it was, she had heard of them before, they were the seed of evil and hatred, and it hadn't engulfed her, but merely seeped into her. That meant there wasn't enough good in her to contaminate.
Claire stepped forward towards Rose, who looked lost and confused. "Rose?" she said, timidly, reaching out a hand to touch her.
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Post by Wilting Rose on Oct 26, 2005 17:38:22 GMT
Rose's mind was elsewhere. Though she had summoned up the power to defeat her enemy, her mind was still soft and confused and she had no awareness of the other two beings around her. Right now she was recalling a trip to the beach when she was three, she was building a castle in the sand while her parents sat ignoring her and fussing over her two sisters. The castle looked remarkably familiar...
"Rose?"
A timid, tender voice broke Rose from her childish reverie. Her rainbow eyes lifted to see Claire reaching out her hand to touch her - immediately a protective magic forcefield went up, scorching the hand that strayed too near. She backed away from Claire, and saw Isaac standing nearby, a calculating gleam in his cold golden eyes. Breathing heavily, Rose shook her head, trying to get her thoughts organised. They seemed to be falling in bits all around her brain, and occasionally she'd be jerked back into memory without a moment's notice.
"Stay away from me," she whispered, her eyes wild with fear and apprehension, eyeing Claire with as much suspicion as she did Isaac. "You can't take it from me. I'll kill you both... like... like him..." Gesturing to the remains of Danawi's body, Rose glared fiercely, daring them to try her.
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Isaac
New Member
Demon
I dont understand what you want from me
Posts: 1,059
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Post by Isaac on Oct 28, 2005 2:38:28 GMT
Take her gift from her? Preposterous.
"I take offense to that, you cheeky little bugger." Isaac replied contemptuously. With a wave of his hand, he indicated the pile of robes, all that remained of Danawi, and kicked it for good measure.
"Do I look like a kook? Like this pile o' rags here?" He asked.
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Post by Claire on Nov 7, 2005 6:59:15 GMT
Claire reeled back from Rose. She clutched at the hand that Rose had stung with her electric field and looked at her with surprise in her eyes. What was going on?
It was alright... Claire thought as she tried to work out what to do. Isaac was making some 'smart' comment in response to Rose's threat to kill them both, while Claire held back, shocked. She knew Rose had been through something terrible, but it still wasn't very nice to hear death threats from your girlfriend. What had she ever done wrong?
"Rose, none of us are going to hurt you. He... he's gone now. Come on, we can take you back up to the tower and sort you out. Yes?"
Claire knew better than to reach out and try and touch her this time so she waited for Rose to speak again.
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Post by Wilting Rose on Nov 7, 2005 7:03:28 GMT
With flashing eyes, Rose moved away from them both, sparks of magic crackling in the air around her. Neither of them followed her.
"I can manage fine by myself, thankyou," said Rose coldly to Claire, before vanishing in a puff of grey smoke that fizzed and sparkled long after she had left, where Isaac and Claire stood in stunned silence at the Headmistresses return.
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