Wandering into the Ministry

[Whisper]

Whisper entered the Ministry of Magic, a little silver badge pinned to the strap of her silk dress that read 'visiting'. She seemed not to notice the number of mouth-open, wide-eye stares that she recieved as she walked up to the reception desk. When she reached it, a grumpy-looking witch with a crooked nose stopped in her tracks, staring gormlessly at Whisper's half-furled black bat wings.

"Excuse me," said Whisper politely. "But do you happen to know if the Ministeress has a moment to spare?"

The witch nodded, and pointed to the sign that directed Whisper to the second floor, her mouth still hanging open. Whisper thanked the witch and left a bewildered and bewitched reception behind her as she made her way to the office of the Ministeress.

She knocked softly on the door, and waited for a response.

[Kiki]

Kiki had a pair of glasses she didn't need perched on her nose and she was ruffling through her in tray, moving her head so she might peer over the top of the glasses to be able to see. She'd been speaking to some of the more senior members of the Ministry and it gave a better effect if she had something in common with them, and glasses were a universal symbol for wisdom. She threw them off and they landed in a corner of her office, disappearing at a wand point.

She heard a soft tapping at her door, and looked at the portraits of the former Ministers/Ministeresses of Magic upon the walls and they all looked at her, some disapprovingly, others encouragingly.

"Come in," she called and cleared her desk with a tap of her wand, looking at the door to see who was entering.

[Whisper]

The Valkerie entered the Ministeress' Office, her celestial violet eyes landing on the newly appointed Ministeress, taking in her sleek black hair and eyes of a similiar shade to Whisper's own hiding behind a pair of glasses.

Whisper shut the door behind her and approached the desk in silence, her eyes still fixed curiously and wonderingly at the figure who sat behind it.

"Hello," said Whisper, her tone gentle, soft, relaxing. She volunteered no information, but took a seat in a leather chair that lay invitingly before Kiki's desk, folding her slender arms over her waist.

[Kiki]

Kiki blinked at the newcomer and quickly linked her hands together, taking in the appearance of the person opposite her.

She looked like a Demon, or a Valkerie perhaps?

"How can I help?" She asked, curious.

[Whisper]

Whisper's lips curved into a gentle smile, making her entire features softer and more childlike. Her eyes had not yet left Kiki's face.

"I only wished to see you," said the Valkerie simply. There was no point in lying to the girl, when the truth did no harm.

The Valkerie stretched out a milky-white arm across the desk for Kiki to shake. "My apologies, Ministeress - I am Whisper, the eldest of the Valkerie family. It is a pleasure to meet you at last."

[Kiki]

Kiki leaned forward and took the offered hand, giving a warm smile in return.

"The pleasure is mine, Whisper," Kiki said, following the rules of formality properly. This obviously wasn't a casual visit, she looked as though she was testing the boundaries for the new Ministeress.

"I haven't met many other Valkeries, although I did meet Kaiser when he first arrived," she mused thoughtfully.

[Whisper]

Whisper's demeanour of calm elegance dropped in the instant Kiki mentioned Kaiser's name - her face fell, betraying all the signs of someone healing deep despair. Her eyes grew round - fearful, almost lost, and she shook her head slowly as though trying to shake away whatever was hurting inside.

"Kai..." she trailed off.

It was a strange thing to see a Valkerie in pain - they could shed no tears, feeling no humanity - but an unspeakable grief screamed from the infinite light in her violet eyes. She returned her gaze to the Ministeress, evidently trying to regain her composure.

"I am surprised that a member of my family has not been to visit you before, Ministeress," said Whisper faintly, managing a smile to relax her porcelain face. "You are, after all, of great interest to us."

She studied Kiki's face once more, surmising that she had not known how the mention of Kaiser's name would hurt her, and forgiving her her crime. Deciding not to withold her curiosities, she spoke again, firmly testing the Ministeress with her Seeing glare. "Closest acquaintance to the Headmistresses of the school, and dear Acerbus's last passion... I have long wanted to meet the person that inspired such feats."

[Kiki]

Kiki detected her mistake as soon as she mentioned the Valkerie who had first been her friend and then wanted to murder, and had nearly succeeded.

"Forgive my ignorance -" She began but was silenced by the stare and voice sitting in front of her. Ace was mentioned and Kiki blinked, a regretful smile passing across her lips as she remembered him.

Closest aquaintance to the Headmistresses? Kiki thought about this for a moment and supposed she was, it had always been the three of them, plus whoever had been Head Boy at that stage running the school. She was good friends with Rose and Claire, the Valkerie spoke the truth.

"Well, here she is," Kiki shrugged, "Am I terribly inspiring?"

[Whisper]

Whisper noticed every little thing about the raven-haired witch behind the desk; the way her eyes filled with regret when she realised her mistake, the way her mouth twitched at the mention of Ace, and the way she was quickly silenced by the softest voice. Whisper had not been lying, she was here to see the girl who had captured so much interest from the Authorities, and she was paying attention to her to an almost uncomfortable degree.

"I have yet to answer that question," the Valkerie said politely, smiling at the Ministeress. Whisper was not fooled by Kiki's would-be-casual shrug... It was clear to Whisper that she was scared of what the Valkerie would think of her, inscure in her ability to live up to the expectations she might have. In that amount of defiance alone, Whisper was already impressed.

"How are you finding your new job?" said Whisper, picking up a silver-plated letter opener and examining the engravings on it. "Is it a big change, moving from Head Girl to here?"

[Kiki]

Kiki paused for a moment. She hadn't really had time to think of the differences, although there wasn't as much social side of the job with the students of the school, but it was busy and she enjoyed it.

"It's not terribly different," Kiki admitted, "Although it is a rather big adaption. Everyone seems to need your permission for every little thing,"

[Whisper]

Whisper smiled, and placed the letter opener back down upon Kiki's desk.

"I should imagine that it would be so," she assured. Realising her wings were getting slightly crumpled by the chair she was leaning her delicate frame back upon, she retracted them completely, leaving no trace of their existence upon her smooth white shoulderblades. Feeling better, she turned to look at Kiki once again.

"How is life for you, in general?" asked the Valkerie, half expecting the Ministeress to take her leave from the conversation some time soon. Being under the inspection of a Valkerie was enough to make anybody burn.

[Kiki]

Kiki smiled slightly and she opted to use a quote from one of her favourite movies.

"I can't tell you all my secrets; you'll grow bored of me and move onto somebody else," She marvelled quietly at the ease in which Whisper's wings disappeared and waited for the Valkerie elder to make her next point of conversation, if there was one.

[Whisper]

Whisper smiled gently to herself. That phrase reminded her so much of someone...

"That is the triviality of human beings," said Whisper, speaking gently once again so as not to cause offence. "They lose interest so often because their lives are so short. They somehow believe that there is a mad rush to discover something better or even more interesting, so they run around trying to paint their lives all kind of colours before they realise they should have kept one in the first place, because then they're all alone..."

Feeling herself float away from herself, Whisper shook her head, trying to stop herself from having a vision. Now was not the time.

"I suppose what I am trying to say, is that I have lived for over two centuries and plan on living for many more. I do not grow tired of things or people - people are always changing, and there are always things you notice about them that they could never realise themselves."

[Kiki]

Kiki smiled slightly at the Valkerie elder's comments, somewhat unsure of how to respond.

"Interesting thoughts. Have you realised anything about me that I may not have noticed?" she asked innocently and tapped her desk. A steaming mug of hot tea appeared there and Kiki took a sip, savouring the sweet taste as it ran over her tongue.

"Would you like anything?" Kiki offered, more out of politeness than anything else as she was fairly certain that the Valkerie would refuse her offer.

[Whisper]

"No, thankyou," said the Valkerie politely, getting up and smoothing down her silken dress.

Looking the Ministeress in the eye, Whisper extended her milk-white hand once again. "I believe it is time I depart now. As I said before, I was merely here on an innocent whim... I am sure you have much more important uses of your office hours, and I must be home before sunset."

Whisper's violet eyes clouded over into a stormy purple, the visions she had had the night before still screaming loudly in her head.

"Have to be home before Night falls," she whispered, a fearful expression flitting across her face. Her expression changed almost instantaneously as she stood up, a smile relieving her worry. Her wings shot out from her shoulder blades once more and reamined half-furled against her slender back.

"Good day to you, this has been a most interesting visit," the Valkerie smiled, and departed, leaving Kiki to her own thoughts once again.