#mc interactions

Devi and Mary’s official turning ritual is tonight, and they’re both having second thoughts. Devi can’t stand the thought of being trapped in Crimson Beech for the rest of their life, especially not with Astoria and Lewyn. They’ve come to the realization that the coven leaders have some sort of god complex (which is completely undeserved, considering the fact that it was Devi and Mary who saved the covens, twice). 

And Mary? She’s about to overhear an interesting conversation between the coven leaders. She hides in the shadows just outside of Lewyn’s office.

“As long as we keep them in check, it should be fine.”

“This is a dangerous game you’re playing, Astoria. They’re not someone who’s easily controlled.”

“They don’t know about the origins of their power. Without proper guidance, Devi will never be able to understand the true extent of their power, and neither will Mary. They need us, Lewyn.” 

A chill runs down Mary’s spine at the mention of her and Devi.

“Did you see them fighting the hunters? Their powers have already progressed on their own! The last time we left such power unchecked, it backfired on us. It would be wiser to get rid of them now-”

“They defeated the Creator and the hunters with Cas. You want to get rid of them? These two could be our weapons.”

“Your thirst for power knows no bounds, Astoria.”

Mary backs away slightly as the leaders raise their voice.

“Oh, look who’s talking! The only reason you want them dead is to protect your own position!”

“I am protecting both of us! If they overpower us-”

“They won’t! They’re mere high schoolers, Lewyn, and they will continue to repeat high school for decades. They’re not going to overpower us.”

Mary hears footsteps coming down the hallway and quietly slips off in the other direction. What does this all mean? Mary thinks to herself, either they’re going to kill us, or they’ll use us for our powers?! Thoughts spiralling, Mary rushes through the Nexus. She hones in on the familiar sound of Devi’s heart beat, following it until she runs into them. She grabs their arm and pulls them into an empty room.

“Mary? What’s going on?” 

Mary doesn’t answer until she’s locked the door, pausing for a moment to make sure there was no one else nearby.

“We have to leave,” she says breathlessly.

“What? Why?”

“Long story short, Lewyn wants to kill us, and Astoria wants to use us for our powers.”

“What?” 

Mary explains in detail what she overheard, already planning their escape.

“But Mary, if they know about the origins of our powers, we need to ask them about it-”

“‘Ask them about it’? Do you really think they’re going to tell us after what I just told you? They’d be more willing to kill us than to answer our questions!”

“But we deserve answers! If not by asking them, we should at least go to the Chamber of Laws or something!”

Mary steps closer, grabbing Devi by the shoulders. “I’m trying to protect you! Staying here is no longer safe! They could really kill you-”

“They’ve threatened to kill us since the second we moved here! What difference does it really make now?”

“Devi, we’re covenless right now. We can leave Crimson Beech and join another coven if we wanted. If we stay and complete the turning ritual, we’ll be bound to these covens. It won’t be easy to leave then.”

Tears sting Devi’s eyes as the reality of the situation settles in. “But what about Gabe and Cas? We can’t just leave them.”

“What about you? About us? We’re the ones in danger, not them. They’ll understand.”

Mary’s heart clenches as silent tears stream down Devi’s face. She cups their face gently, brushing away the tears with her thumb.

“I’m sorry, Devi.”

“We really have to go?”

“Yes. They were dead serious, Devi. We don’t have a choice.”

Devi pulls Mary closer, resting their head on her shoulder. Mary holds them tighter, the faint smell of jasmine washing over her. For a brief moment, the rest of the world fades away, leaving only them in each other’s embrace.

“We need to get ready to go,” Mary says, pulling away.

“I’ll go pack. I’ll meet you outside of the Nexus.”

Before she can leave, Devi grabs Mary by the back of her neck and pulls her in for a kiss. 

“Be careful,” they whisper against her lips.

“You too.”

An hour later, Devi makes her way down the halls of the Nexus with only a backpack full of her essentials. As they approach the exit, a sense of foreboding overcomes them. Someone outside screams, the sound chilling Devi to the bone. Mary. 

They run into the woods, following the sound until they emerge into a clearing. Mary stands in the center, surrounded by vampire guards. Her eyes are wide in fear, and her fangs and nails elongate, preparing to defend herself. The guards lunge at her, and she reacts immediately, dodging and swiping at them with her claws, eyes glowing a fierce red.

The thought of these creatures attacking Mary is infuriating. Devi drops her bag, her eyes going black as they summon the shadows around them. They mould the shadows into monsters, unleashing them onto the vampire guards. The monsters sink their inky claws into the vampires, tearing their flesh. Devi runs to grab Mary, and together they take off into the woods, the sounds of the vampire’s screams echoing through the trees.

Those thoughts ran through me as I went to the training grounds to refresh my spell-casting. I might as well, anyway, if I wanted to train to fight ‘R’ at the final Cursed Vault and claim what was mine to restore peace at Hogwarts. I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be there so early in the morning--yet someone was there, and without a wand, too.

I raised an eyebrow as she began to perform an intense martial-arts routine, kicking at the air and punching the same way anyone learning taekwondo would.

Truth was, I never saw her before. She was probably another face that passed in the corridors, another soul flitting past but never making a major impression in my memory. But seeing her now, her Hufflepuff robes cast off and thrown carelessly in the grass beside her, her black hair flying into her face with every pivot, her clothes muddied and marked with scrapes, made me frown. What Hufflepuff would want to meddle with violence?

“Hai!” the girl shouted, performing a well-executed roundhouse kick that swung right at my face. Instinctively, I ducked, but not before her foot made contact with my glasses, sweeping them right off my face.

“Oi!” I cried, my hand automatically raising to my nose as I knelt down to find my glasses. I was practically blind without them--well, not blind to the point where I couldn’t see anything, but blind to the point where colours blurred and shapes became indistinct. I could see the girl kneel down to help me, but I moved aside just in case she decided to punch my nose next.

“I’m so sorry!” the girl apologized, holding my glasses up the moment she found them and slipping them onto my nose. “I didn’t think anyone else would be up this early.”

“Consider me the first.” I sighed and looked up at her. “I’ve got the words of my worst rival at school drilling me to get up and train for the ultimate final battle. I don’t do this every day.”

The girl simply nodded. “I see.”

“But what about you? I don’t suppose you’d go into a fight without a wand,” I pointed out.

The girl tilted her head in confusion at first. Then her eyes widened in realization, her mouth forming a small ‘o’.

“You mean my martial arts?” she asked. “I’ve been working on that since I was younger. I train with a professional Sensei back home, too. He understands everything I’m going through--he’s almost like a father to me, from the first day of training to now.”

“Must be for some time, then,” I remarked. “Hey, at least it’s useful. You can just march up to your opponents and kick them in the face if you don’t have your wand.”

“True. But the reason I started is...more personal than that.”

She eventually rolled up the sleeve of her black cardigan. There, on her forearms, were thin red lines, none of them parallel to each other but all of them old and scabbed, almost like a bar code or sorts.

“You...wait, why?” I asked her quietly.

“Bullies,” she murmured in response, rolling her sleeve back down. A sad glimmer eventually sparked in her brown eyes. “I had friends who were Muggles, way before I started Hogwarts. But they eventually turned their backs on me when I needed them most. Then some people took the liberty of beating me up at the park I used to play in. They made me feel ashamed. And then there’s my mom.”

“Your mom...does she not understand what you’re going through?”

The girl nodded. “She was just a bully. A tyrant. She’s probably ashamed that I was even born. Doing taekwondo is the only way I can retain my sanity.”

“I understand.” My eyes trailed from the sleeve that covered her scars to the sad eyes gleaming under the sunrise, and I couldn’t help but feel guilty.

Rakepick might have driven the knife in my back, but this girl had suffered much worse. She had gone through hell and back way before we started Hogwarts. It wasn’t right for her to just remain still about it. How could I not have thought about those who had suffered so much more than I? Perhaps I was too selfish just thinking about Jacob and my fellow friends and allies. Perhaps I was too selfish thinking about the impact my mom got when Jacob went missing.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “I wish I knew.”

The girl shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, you do now. You know why I'm out here, early in the morning. But what about you? Why are you here?”

“My brother, Jacob, went to track down our past mentor,” I explained. “And a few days ago, one of my allies in the Cursed Vaults...she got hit by the Cruciatus Curse. Since then, she had a ‘kill or be killed’ mindset. I guess her words just...bugged me.”

The girl simply nodded in understanding after a bit. Silence ensued for so long after, I thought she was going to stand up and leave me alone.

But instead, she said, “You decide.”

“What?”

“You decide what’s best for you. Everyone ended up with different outcomes from the last vault, but ultimately, you create the compromise--whether your mentor goes down, or your ally screams in vengeance. But you know what’s most important, right?”

I nodded slowly. “Yes. Getting to the Cursed Vaults first before her and the cabal.”

“Focus on that. What comes after...well, no one can control it.”

“You’re right.” I nodded again and glanced at the sun rising behind her. “Guess I never really got to practice my spell-casting after all.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll have time for that, Curse-Breaker.” The girl eventually stood up and dusted her skirt before holding a hand for me to help me up. “If you want, I can help you with any physical fight you need.”

“I’ll keep it in mind. And I truly hope your enemies would wither under your strength, too.” I smiled in thanks as I accepted her hand up. “I’m Clara, by the way.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of you. I’m sure you’ll pull through with the last Cursed Vault,” the girl reassured me. “And I’m Sarahi.”

“Sarahi...what a pretty name.” I grinned as I helped her retrieve her Hufflepuff robes, handing them to her. “Hey, race you to the Great Hall? I think breakfast is finally calling our name.”

“Oh, you’re on!”

As we tore through the corridors to breakfast, whizzing past Peeves who just blew a loud raspberry, I couldn’t help but think that Sarahi was right. Ultimately what happened in the final showdown was up to me. I couldn’t change my allies’ mindsets. I could only do what I could.