I had never planned on revealing myself this early, but hidden abilities are no good if you’re dead, and in that situation that was a real possibility. I think that scenario was the catalyst throwing the twins into my life, and they would remain for a long, long time.
-Excerpt from Celestia Ravencla’s journal, on the first reveal.
-
I batted away the first stunner thrown towards me from Astoria. I didn’t bother hiding that skill. I knew I only had a few minutes to formulate a plan, while the twins were probing my reactions.
I have no first hand experience with the dark arts. I haven’t practiced it yet, and while I could guess a few of the more common spells, I wouldn’t be sure if I could shield or not, so I would focus on physically dodging the unknown spells, but I knew that wasn’t a worthwhile tactic as they are smart, and would catch on.
Overwhelming them wouldn’t be possible as they are two and I am alone, so I would need to either force a “Contest of Wills” and overpower them, -much like how Priori Incantantem in the graveyard in GoF-, or find an opening an catch one of them off guard before overpowering the other.
I had yet to return a spell, while they had thrown a few stunners, a shield breaker and a bone-crushing hex. Making them think I had a defensive dueling style.
Their teamwork had no current flaws, they were twins, and they relished in it, almost seeming at times like they had a mental connection.
Identifying an incoming shield breaker and bombarda, I dodged the first and then shielded the second, before throwing my own Confringo at the platform, having already identified it’s not indestructible.
Debris, stones and pebbles exploded upwards in a cone, before speaking for the first time and casting my chain, which I can’t do silently. “Depulso. Avis. Oppugno.”
Banishing the debris towards the sisters while I set my conjured raven’s to attack, I had a few seconds to spare, and a plan quickly formed, but the downside is that this is one spell I can’t cast silently.
As Daphne was working on clearing the ravens and debris, Astoria was preparing to counterattack when I struck first. “Imperio.” Letting my dragon’s arrogance loose. They were puny human mortals, but they were attractive, so they would be mine, to mold as I please as I break their will.
Daphne was distracted and didn’t hear me, but Astoria did, eyes widening slightly as she took Daphne’s off-hand and dragged her out of the way of the seemingly invisible spell, only following the unnatural disruption of the empty space between us to indicate where the spell was traveling.
I was momentarily at a loss as to my thoughts. A cognitive dissonance. The twins were not enemies, but my inner dragon wanted them for myself, to break their will, to make them mine. Thoughts jarring in my head as I don’t really care about human morals regarding death and injury, but to me it sounded like I wanted to rape them, and that’s a line I wouldn’t cross unless you were an enemy, someone I truly wanted to break.
Unknown to me Astoria wasn’t pleased with my usage of the unforgivable, and the duel would only escalate from here.
My thoughts were disrupted as I heard the cry of “Crucio”, and I cursed myself for getting distracted in a fight. Dodging the curse by a hair's width by throwing myself to the ground, instinctively knowing that was a bad move, but the only alternative was being hit.
The twins didn’t let the opportunity pass, and I noticed the escalation in the spells. Bone-breaker, piercing, gouging, and what I could only assume to be organ-liquifying. Borderline spells that could cause death if hit.
Rolling away from the first one, and lifting myself up to a kneeling position midroll, I let my magic roam freely, using my body for the first time to let out pure raw magical power, forming into a protego shield.
Having dodged the first one, albeit barely, the three following spells battered against my shield, but there was no sign of it giving up, and I knew it wouldn’t.
Having a moment to myself as the twins were shocked at my display of wandless magic and such a strong shield, -a nagging irritation in the back of my mind wanting to roar that it wasn’t puny wandless magic, it was primal-, I let my thoughts catch up, as well as my breath. Astoria reacted with a Crucio upon my Imperio towards her sister, and I realized how outclassed I was when it came to the dark arts.
The following minutes were back and forth with increasingly darker spells from the twins; they had reeled back some after that first Crucio. I stuck to gray and lighter spells, promising myself to increase my repertoire of the darker ones.
A spell I didn’t notice caught my left hand, the non-wand wielding one, and I looked down for a second to see a deep cut across my forearm, from a cutting curse.
My first time being injured, and I wasn’t prepared for my animalistic instincts. The twins were momentarily my enemy. I wanted them to suffer. I wanted them to feel pain. To lay at my knees knowing I was the superior being.
Instincts taking over, I began raining the most lethal spells I knew on them, deferring to the ones I knew by heart. Confringo, Bombarda, Bombarda Maxima, Diffindo.
Each spell was batted away, shielded or dodged, but they were growing physically tired, my stamina was better than theirs.
I was growing increasingly irritated, and even though I haven’t practiced, in the back of my mind I remembered Severus’ explanation of mindset and emotions. I fueled the spell with the true intent to cause harm, anger, irritation, pride, arrogance, and I let the spell loose from my wand.
“CRUCIO.”
My voice wasn’t human, it was pure animalistic rage, a roar from a true apex predator, albeit a fledgling. The twins were stunned, and my aim was true, hitting Daphne.
There was a single split second of silence, before she let out an earth-shattering scream, my sensitive hearing causing a headache and I winced, again clearing my thoughts stunning me for a moment as for the second time in this duel my feelings and instincts overpowered my calm and logical thinking.
That moment was all she needed, in hindsight I would wonder if they had some sort of creature inheritance, or if it was simply due to the bond, but the sheer malice and hate in Astoria’s voice as she spoke two simple words, would be a lesson for the future.
“AVADA KEDAVRA.”
I was simply not expecting the spell, I was caught off guard, and for the third time, instincts took over. My mind wasn’t thinking about whether the spell had sufficient emotions, mindset or power to cause permanent injury or instant death.
The green beam of death was coming closer, and if I could see my eyes I would have seen the orange fiery light emitting from them, following the killing curse as it moved towards me.
Despite my impending doom, my mind was calm and in a whisper I let out a single word.
“Feim.”
Become Ethereal. The first word of power. I could feel my body becoming weightless, a blue spectral hue overtaking me, and my last thought before the green light passed through me were “I look like Helena.”
The room was entirely silent. Daphne on her knees heaving for her breath. Astoria with wide eyes looking between her wand and myself, and Severus, -probably for the first time in his life-, gaping in shock.
I took a breath before realization dawned on me, looking at the three other occupants of the room.
“Well fuck.”
Feim = Fade, the first word of power.
Become Ethereal= The Thu'um reaches out to the Void, changing your form to one that cannot harm, or be harmed.
