Fire fire burning bright, in the dark in the light

[Keaira O'Connell]

(( This is for Zane, Wysteria, Darko, and Keaira only.

I took a few liberties, so if there is anything that any of you want changed or clarified, just shot me a pm, or something.))


All around them fire glows, their hearts desire no one knows...


It had taken some planning, more than she had actually been capable of the first weekend after Alessandro’s death, but she had finally procured the proper approval, and made all the plans for a trip to Colorado. The three of them would be traveling by floo from the three broomsticks to her parent’s estate, and then from there, they would be going by floo again to a little wizarding pub in Colorado called The Witches Brew. After that it would be a day’s worth of hiking and they would find themselves in steamboat springs, just where Keaira wanted to be.

The original plans Keaira had made were however slightly different than those that they were now going by, after all, Wysteria would now be traveling with them, in disguise. It had been something they had worked on over the past week, but after a few tries, Keaira had managed to get just the right. The potion needed to be taken in a slightly larger quantity to get the same desired length of time as with a normal witch or wizard, and there was the added bit of asphodel to help with the potions effectiveness when working with the undead.

Zane would have preferred to simply apparate there and back, however, with that option less than usable mainly due to the inability of any of them to apparate, their method of travel would be by floo. They would be leaving out of the Hogs Head, and traveling to her parent’s estate where they would be taking care of some arrangements for Zane, with the help of Keaira’s parents, or at least that’s what the official story was. Wysteria would also be meeting them there, but by using the room of requirements for her travel. After their classes ended at 3, they would leave immediately, arriving instantly in her parents’ home by 3:15. After a short bit of supply gathering, they would be in Colorado at The Witches Brew at 3:30.

Keaira was still very uncomfortable about this trip. Primarily about Wysteria, and whether or not it would be a good idea bringing her along on a trip across the world. There was also the added fact that Zane was still unlike himself, which was to be expected, even if it was something that made Keaira saddened at best. Since the discovery of Zane’s parents murdered and left for him on his birthday, Zane had been… different. He kept his thoughts closed to her more often than not, and many times she would find him brooding over the incident, pinning the blame entirely upon his own actions. It had turned the Zane she had grown fond of, and even in love with, into much of a stranger. Yet, she hoped that things might still return to what they once were. Even with the threat that Wysteria would only bring tension between them.

Traveling by floo was, as it usually is, unsettling and disorientating, yet Keaira survived it. At her parents estate things were pretty much deserted, as her mother and father were off to work, and it didn’t take Keaira long to gather up some camping supplies and to slip them into her book bag. From there it was another floo ride and then they were all the way in Colorado, in a small little bar. The Witches Brew wasn’t unlike the Hogs Head, and one short look around was all Keaira needed to confirm that they should be on their way as quickly as possible. They left without so much as a word spoken to anyone, and were shortly on their way hiking up through the trails of the Colorado Mountains.

Keaira had made sure to prepare enough of the Polyjuice potion to supply Wysteria with enough to remain transformed for about a month straight, not including 8 hours a day for sleeping. It was a pretty substantial amount to brew, but she had a good amount of free time since Zane was keeping to himself for the most part. Not to mention she had to prepare enough to experiment first, but all in all it wasn’t that bad. They really only brought enough potion for the three days that they would be gone, but the rest was safely stored in the room of requirements for whenever Wysteria wanted to get some fresh air. All she needed was a single bit of hair or nails from any person, and she would have a bit of time. For this trip the bit of hair Keaira had procured was that of Keaira’s mother, something easily acquired from her hairbrush when they stopped by. Of course if Wysteria had thought to get some from a different person that was entirely her call. Keaira never really stopped to look at the other woman anyway. This weekend was all about Alessandro.

Throughout the day Keaira kept occupied with random conversations, some as relevant as the temperature, to others which included the fact that she wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to do after school ended and the mage was defeated… After all, she should plan for the fact that if they do manage to survive the war, then they would all need to get jobs. One of the suggestions she had thought about was to simply be a healer at St. Mongos, considering that’s what she tended to do the most for their group anyway. Through the day the stopped on occasion for snacks, and the like but mostly they tried to keep moving, Keaira, because she wanted to be able to say good bye to Alessandro in a place she knew he would be content with.

Luckily for the three of them the snow had mostly cleared away by the time they made the trip, and it wasn’t nearly as cold as they had thought it would have been. Either way, as night fell they decided it was time to stop, and the rest of the trip would be finished the next day. Through Keaira was not a master of fire, between the three of them they managed to build one that would keep away any chill that might occur throughout the evening. Then set up the tent so they would have ensured warmth throughout the night, and by that point Keaira set a pot of water to boil, and went about preparing spaghetti. For Wysteria she pulled out a bag of A- blood and passed it to her with a cup. When the food was finished Keaira handed a plate to Zane, and sat down beside him, her eyes drifting up to the stars above them. Before the night got too late the three of them were sleeping in the spacious tent, getting ready for an early morning.

The morning came early as they tend to do, and the three of them got up, and onward they traveled. By noon they had reached Steam Boat Springs, and the field that she had seen from Alessandro's memories. It was an amazing sight, crossing out of the path through the wooded area, and seeing the wide open expanse of tall grass, and spaced out trees. A small stream babbled off in the distance, and just as in Alessandro’s memories a pair of black stallions galloped across the clearing before them.

Keaira smiled as she looked out at the majesty before them, it was no wonder that Alessandro felt at peace being or even thinking of this place. Yet as she smiled it was bitter sweet, and she couldn’t help but allow her lips to turn down. This was it, when they were finished here, Alessandro would be only a memory of times past. From the pocket of the black trench coat she wore, she pulled one of the vials she had of Alessandro’s ashes out and held it in her hand, turning it over, once or twice. He was gone, but at least she knew that here he would have been happy.

[Alessandro Darko]

A gentle breeze blew over the hillside on which Keaira, Zane, and Wysteria stood. The grass bent and billowed as the rush of air passed over it, causing a strange rippling effect on the green. The loose hair on any member of the party would be fluttering in the breeze lackadaisically as the gentle, yet firm flow of air carried the ashes of Alessandro Darko into the atmosphere, swirling them around. It was a sad sight, in truth, to see three youths not even 18 years of age, mourning the loss of an ally, the loss of a friend, the loss of a lost love. A significant time had passed since the three young witches and wizard had arrived at their destination, and by now, it was dusk, and the sun was struggling to stay above the treetops in the distance, painting the sky a sort of salmon pink or orange, traces of navy not far off in the distance.

It was peculiar how the ashes seemed to catch the sunlight as it was quickly fading, and how it almost seemed that it made them glow. Glow? Surely, as they were swirled about in the wind, it almost looked as if the ashes began to glow prominently a fiery hue. In the possession of one of the friends, an object that belonged to Alessandro began to resonate, and from its resting place, the same fiery hue was pulsating, flashing through its boundaries. The ashes that had been compressed into "black pearls" would begin to grow hot to the touch as they glowed the same glow as the ashes swirling before them, now on accord of their own apart from the wind. Their patterns grew chaotic as it looked like hundreds, no thousands of fireflies that were all directionally indecisive. The glowing beads of ash deteriorated from the spell that contained them and joined their remnants in the air, swirling closer together and then finally something more strange occured.

The sky had grown darker now, and the glowing was easier to see. The orb of fire had wrenched itself from its keeper and was now hovering in the center of the swirling, glowing-hot ashes. The orb pulsated a bright flash of light, and it began to flicker faster and faster. Each bright flash seemed to affect the ashes, pushing them out away from the orb, and then drawing them closer as it flickered, and then flash again, pushing them further out, and then quickly back in. This went on for another moment before the ashes stopped moving in independent directions and began to rotate collectively around the hovering, flickering orb. It looked as if they were creating fire, and small flames started licking at the air through the glowing-hot streaks that were created as the ashes zoomed faster and faster.

The image before them would look as if it were a small solar system, with a glowing hot sun at the center and a fiery system of stars orbiting at the speed of light.

With a final, brilliant, fiery flash, all all of the flaming ashes were drawn inward into a collective bright light. Energy was released as a horrible sound was heard. It could be likened to the sound of a phoenix dying, and thats exactly what the three should have associated the sound with, for a second after that very moment of implosion, an explosion occurred that sent a shock wave to knock them back, and a brilliant, and intricate fiery display of a rather large and grandiose phoenix rising, spreading its wings into the sky. At its core was a very bright, white light that seemed to be shaping something, and soon that shape appeared to be the silhouette of a person curled into the fetal position. One more bright, blinding flash decimated the fiery phoenix avatar and dispersed the flames into the atmosphere.

Once the blinding light subsided, the presence of fire was evident. The ground was scorched in a rather large diameter from where the Orb of fire had been hovering. It almost appeared as if the events had created a shallow crater, small fires still going here and there, burning at the grass and whatever else was lying around to have caught fire. At the center of the pseudo-crater, was the form of a young man completely naked, curled into a ball, his backside toward the three. In his left hand he was clutching a rather beautiful looking sphere that looked as if it held fire itself within.

[Wysteria Edwin]

(( my writer's block has been severe as of late, so I'm going to keep it short instead of just not posting at all lol. It's late when I'm writing this, so if I got somethig wrong let me know. ))

Wysteria did not like being the third wheel. She did not enjoy the discomfort caused by observing Keaira and Zee interacting in what she could only assume was a polite restrain. There were no obvious emotional embraces or embarrassing shows of affection that she anticipated. Part of her thought that Keaira and Zane would rub their happiness in her face and be manipulative of her. But as the hours ticked by in their journey, she realized that the polyjuice potion Keaira gave her worked and did not give her any adverse affects, and that she could find no hidden motives in their actions or words. Plus being in another person's body was very odd and while she appreciated Kee's efforts, she wasn't keen on making the venture again.

She agreed to the journey because she felt she owed it to Alessandro--to be there when his ashes were put to rest. But her main reason she would not admit to her companions, because if she was wrong they would be crushed as well as herself, not to mention that she would be made a fool. In one of the revised editions of The Elements of the Worlde, the editor mentioned that the old scripture regarding the masters mentioned that sometimes they must "rise after a deep fall". Most assumed it meant an emotional fall, but the editor mentioned that the particular dialect in that passage used "deep fall" as an euphemism for death. The manner of an Elemental Master recovering from this "deep fall" varied, but that main theme was restoration. Wyst knew that hoping joining the ashes to the resting place might do the trick was a very "pie in the sky" hope.

In fact, the longer she remained in the presence of Zane and Keaira, the more she realized that the emotions tied to her mortal life were fading dramatically. Sure, she still found Keaira's attitude toward Dee infuriating after Alessandro's death and Zee's quips at the meeting thereafter unnecessary. That was the trade-off, that a vampire slowly loses almost all of her mortal memories, but those made after the vampire is turned are increasingly vivid. In her mind, the romance between Zee and herself now consisted of a few sentences and a phantom feeling of attraction she could only recall when thinking of a different time.

But the memory of Zee's betrayal and her subsequent heartbreak while she was still living in the forest were crystal clear. Zane was not Wyst's friend by any means and neither was Kee, but her ill feelings were tied to her extreme dislike of disloyalty from memories and emotions that were fading more every day. she recognized the importance of Dee's speech regarding the group banding together, and so for the journey she put almost all of these issues in the back of her mind. However, because she felt little for them except her own ideas of their moral compass, her expressions and vocal tone were relatively dull.


Spreading Alessandro's ashes felt strange. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, that the whole act did not feel as it should when saying goodbye to a departed soul. The ashes looked different as they sprinkled down, and began to lighten, almost glow. That couldn't be right, Wysteria thought, what could be going on?

As she continued to watch the ashes, she became aware that her temperature was going up...except it was localized to only one part of her body: her chest. It began burning and she gasped, yanking it from under her robes she saw that it was now red hot. Instinctively she threw it at the rest of the ashes and reached inside her rob for the orb she carried with her everywhere. The flames inside were swirling furiously.

"How...?"

The orb was wretched from her hand by some invisible force.

"NO!"

But she quieted her protests once she saw that the orb began joining with the now glowing ashes. She cocked her head, curious and surprised. But soon her face cracked into an actual smile. Her hours of research was happening in front of her eyes: she knew what this meant, knew why Alessandro had appeared to Cait and knew that soon she would need to hide her eyes...

She turned to shut her eyes just in time as the bright flame spread across the sky like a giant bird. Once she felt it was safe to open her eyes, the flames died down. Slowly, she began to see the form of Alessandro where the orb had been. Wysteria took in a gasp of air and ran over to his body, putting her traveling cloak over him and grasping hi shoulder gently, afraid he might be hurt or injured.

I'm here Alessandro, it's Wysteria. I look different...polyjuice potion...please be ok...please be ok...please be ok...

She waited, her brow furrowed in worry, and sitting very still beside him, unaware if Kee or Zee had remained behind or joined her.

[Alessandro Darko]

He was cold. Was that right? He was...actually feeling like he was cold. On the ground where he lay, his body shivered as it was bare without a single scrap of cloth to cover him. He was curled into the fetal position, his left hand clutching a crystalline sphere that had the only sense of warmth that his senses could detect in the nearby vicinity. His eyes were closed as his mind was still reforming back into what it had been prior to his "death" of sorts. Memories flickered before his minds eye as he was slowly coming back into the flow of things, they seemed to be coming from the beginning of his fifth year to the present; Mongol's death, right before his very eyes he could see that sickening green flash, and the smell of death. A beautiful garden inside the school on the fifth floor, two girls next to him, Wysteria and Keaira, and a feeling of peace overwhelmed him. Then he was in the forest, aching of sleep deprivation after he found that book, Maleficus Obscurum, and that blond woman in the forest, the dark mage in disguise, tricking him into keeping it so that he was slowly being possessed by a shadow creature. It felt like everything started to speed up, and the memories began to rush at him like oncoming traffic. Darko and Orion began to speak in his mind again, reminding him of how his parents had obliviated his memories to get him out of the shadow wars business, or was it because his step father was an agent of the mage, and incapacitating one of the elemental masters was key to their demise? D'rorah now flickered before his thoughts, how she has helped him pull through many times, assisting, teaching, ... saving him... unifying his fragmented mind.

A blanketing feeling washed over his body and he began to feel warmth now. A gentle squeeze on his shoulder. Was this a trick? Was the Divine Flame toying with his emotions, with his yearning to return to the land of the living? No...this was real. The cold, the warmth, the sensation of warm crystal resting in his hand, the ground beneath him, and most of all the squeeze.

His eyes flicked open and absorbed the sights in front of him, his vision blurry from the reformation, and there was a diminishing fire that was present within his steel gray orbs that vanished once he was able to see clearly. No longer was he in the Realm of Eternal Fire. He was back on earth, back in the land of the living, the flesh, and a strange and unfamiliar blond girl was rousing him from his stasis, declaring that her name was Wysteria.

[blue]"Wysteria...polyjuice potion..."[/blue] His voice sounded funny to him, it was raspy and hoarse. He cleared his throat and attempted to sit up, realizing he was completely naked, only covered by a traveling cloak, and then becoming fully aware of what he was holding. Bringing the orb up so he could see, a fiery glow illuminated his face as he stared into the fire burning within. [blue]"The orb of fire...is finally free..."[/blue] he mumbled in a trance-like state, only to look up at the other party members, Keaira and Zane. He was truly back, and despite what he may have felt toward Zane in the past, he was actually glad to see him just as much as was to see Keaira.

There was no telling how long he had been gone, as it seemed like several years to him, ages even. However, upon looking at his allies, he could tell that the passage of time was probably accelerated down where he had gone, as his friends didn't look even a year older. He himself, though he could not tell at the moment, had changed slightly in appearance. He was a bit leaner than before, like he had lost a bit of mass, and his hair was significantly longer as it now hung way past his face, in desperate need of a crop.

He took another glance at the orb in his hand before looking back up at his comrades. The area around them felt familiar, though it was night and he could not verily recognize where he was, especially not with all of the scorching. He looked at anyone for answers, a look of clear confusion on his face. His mind was spinning and he couldn't get his thoughts straight. And then he saw it. The memory of him hurdling over the Astronomy Tower after Keaira, only to be plummeting to his death, and in a strange way, he was saved by fire. Burnt to cinders, and now he was back. How? He had no idea.

[blue]"What happened...?"[/blue] He croaked as he stood up, keeping the cloak around him to conceal the rest of him from being discovered.

[Keaira O'Connell]

It felt weird to her, watching as the ashes drifted out of the bottle with no urging from her. It was simply as if the wind swooped in picked the ashes from the bottle, and drifted them out into the field. Keaira watched in silence as the wind carried Alessandro’s ashes up through their currents swirling them around and about. It was actually quite a beautiful sight to see. Yet, there was something about it that didn’t seem quite right in her mind. The ashes seemed to take on a life of their own, and as she watched them intently they began acting even stranger then they had previously. Their swirling and chaotic movement made her dizzy and as they grew brighter she was forced to put her hand up to cover her eyes. The light exploded, and she turned her face off to the left, and caught a glimpse of Zane doing a similar gesture.

Her eyes were covered as the ashes moved about in their solar system pattern, and the resulting implosion/explosion caught her off guard. She stumbled backward and would have fallen flat on her bottom if Zane had not been more prepared than she was. A cursory glance at him revealed that he had gathered a large amount of metal to his hand and formed a gauntleted spike which he had driven into the ground to keep himself standing. As she stumbled backward he was there to catch her before she fell, his right arm wrapping around her waist.

For a moment all she did was stare at Zane, her eyes for no one but him. This had been the first show of any positive emotion from him since the death of his family. And yet the moment was short lived. As the explosion settled, her mind forced its way through the noise that had surrounded her, to search for any hint that they were in danger. Her mind however found something that she didn’t expect. A familiar mind was now joined in with the other two that she knew. Yet it couldn’t be. Slowly she turned her head to face the direction all of the ashes had been gathered to, and as she looked Wysteria had already traveled the distance that was between where they were and where there now was the figure of a man, curled on the ground in the midst of a circle of burned grass.

Keaira however was not as quick to rush over to the newly reborn man. She had traveled here to say goodbye to him and move on with her life, not in the hopes of having him returned. What did his return mean, was he truly here? Questions that she had no answers for littered her mind. How would anyone explain his return? And as much as she wished to push away from Zane, and run to wrap her arms around Alessandro’s body to ensure his flesh was warm and solid she did not. She could not. Both fear of treachery and a fear that this was not real plagued her mind, and so she held on to the only thing she knew was truly there, Zane. And she waited, for what, she wasn’t entirely sure, but she knew that she could not approach him, not just yet.

[Zane Lucifer Bishop]

The apathetic melancholy that had descended upon Zane on discovering the death of his parents had not relented. At no point did he show any enthusiasm for either the trip to Colorado or for the whole situation to be done and over with. When Keaira had run her plans by him, he mostly nodded and shrugged, mumbling something about wishing they could apparate, but offering no other suggestions or criticism. In the end though, Keaira seemed to have been able to pull off the whole thing without him anyway. Following along quietly, they kept remarkably well to her predetermined schedule, emerging from The Witches Brew shortly after half past three and began their long hike.

Zee's demeanor changed little despite the presence of Wysteria, and Keaira's near continuous speech. He carried his share of the supplies and again nodded and shrugged as seemed appropriate, though added nothing to the conversation to actually make it a conversation. Nor did he show any physical sign of affection throughout the journey. His thoughts remained fixated on his parents, and on small, idle pondering of who their assailant could have been. At night he sat and gazed blankly at the fire, absently accepting and slowly consuming the food he was offered. Even though spaghetti had ever been one of his least favorite of the common foods, not even a thought was spared in wishing for something else. It seemed he didn't even taste it as he ate.

When the second evening came and Keaira withdrew a vial of Darko's remains, Zee did spare her a passing glance. His eyes drifted back to the ground between his feet however, and so noticed nothing odd as the ashes escaped their confinement on their own and began showing their own inner luminescence. It wasn't until Wysteria gasped and yanked a larger glowing item from under her robes that he looked up to see the swirling ash and the nucleus that quickly formed of the pendant and orb. Standing and gazing at it curiously, he felt a slight tingling as the antagonistic, predatory segment of his psyche bristled at the display of power and potential danger. Still though, he could not bring himself to care enough to take any action and so merely watched until the light grew uncomfortably bright to his eyes that had been adjusting to the coming night.

Turning away a bit callously, he began to suspect what might be occurring. He also understood that such building power would inevitably release, probably violently, and so took steps to anchor himself. With a thought he ripped a great chunk of ore from several dozen yards beneath the surface of the earth. Particularly given his emotional state, he was surprised at how willingly the metal answered his simple call. Quickly fashioning a rough spike that more or less appeared to be an extension of his arm, he drove it back into the ground, sending the metal further down that his strength alone could force it.

The metal crept up his arm for a moment, as he intended to sheath his entire body to protect it from whatever force erupted. Time was up however and as the shockwave started to hit, he reacted in a way that surprised him. Rather than further protecting himself, he reached out and caught Keaira securely about the waist and pulled her close, shielding her as best he could from the blast, his element keeping him firmly anchored. Their eyes met for the first time in many days. Heedless of whatever chaos was going on around them, Zane stood there silently, simply staring into Keaira's face as she regarded him in return. Something inside him warmed the tiniest bit.

But then, through her mind, he caught the presence of Alessandro and nodded to himself. He hadn't a clue how it had happened, but it had. The boy had come back to life. And now, though her body remained pressed against his, Zee could tell that a significant part of Keaira wished instead to embrace the resurrected Master of Fire. That was all he got, as he then mostly severed their connection once more, pulling his mind away from her even as he did the same with his body. Letting the metal sink back beneath the earth, he strode quietly back to the tent and entered, gathering from his supplies a clean pair of thick, dark jeans and a cream colored sweater. After a moment's consideration he also grabbed a fresh pair of woolen socks and headed back out.

As he passed Keaira, striding quickly towards the epicenter of the firestorm that had recently burnt itself out, Zee caught her by the hand firmly. His grip was not harsh, but neither was it particularly tender. Leading her to where Alessandro sat and Wysteria stood. After regarding them for a moment, Alessandro stood and asked the most obvious, and yet rather vague, question. His voice sounded dreadfully hoarse. Shrugging as if it didn't matter, Zane replied matter-of-factly.

"You died."

The Slytherin held out the small bundle of clothes to the Ravenclaw, knowing they wouldn't exactly fit the notably shorter boy, but they would do better than the cloak that served as his only garment at the moment. If they weren't claimed within a matter of seconds, Zee would have simply dropped them to the ground as he turned away, releasing Keaira and muttering.

"I'm sure you three have much to discuss."

Returning to the small camp, the once more apathetic Master of Metal sat on the stump he'd been using as a stool since they'd arrived, and pointedly turned his back on the small campfire.

[Wysteria Edwin]

Wysteria swallowed the hard lump in her throat once Alessandro finally spoke. She had no idea if he would return normal, sick, or even recognizable. But his familiar voice and understandable confusion was a great relief to the vampire: he was himself, if only a good deal slimmer with longer hair. Seeing him alive was better than a fresh meal after weeks of starvation. Better than Wysteria could have anticipated. While her vampire nature dulled most of her sympathetic emotions, she felt something closer to elation than she had ever known since being turned. Happiness, a far away concept for so long, was ripe within her and glowing. She gave him a rare smile and leaned down to brush a brown strand out of his eyes.

"Your hair's longer," she said softly, more to herself than anyone else. Somehow it was firm proof to her: an obvious sign that he had never died he just had been...transported temporarily. If she was dreaming or hallucinating, she reasoned, he would look the same as when he left.

Realizing the hole in her logic quickly, she turned around to see if Zee and Keaira were aware of his presence. Their eyes were fixed on him, both appearing hesitant but not afraid of the resurrected Master of Fire. She expected this, but when the only response to Alessandro's question of what happened was Zee's cold statement of, "you died", she gave him a cross look as he handed Alessandro some clothes. She turned to her Elemental Master and opened her mouth to explain further when Zee spoke once more.

"I'm sure you three have much to discuss." Zane then turned away from the group and headed back to the campfire.

Wysteria brow wrinkled further in contempt as she watched his retreating figure. This was how to greet a fellow warrior? One who essentially returned from the dead. She couldn't see a trace of concern for Alessandro on his face and it infuriated her. After all, D'rorah said they had to be a team, and supporting one another was a key part of that. How dare he skulk away as if Alessandro deserved little more then the time of day from him.

"It's nice to know how deeply you care about Alessandro's return," she said sharply, "don't get too emotional Zane, you might hurt yourself." Her voice had just a hint of sarcasm, and was mostly filled with icy anger.

She whipped around to face Keaira, controlling her face so she didn't think her look of anger was directed at her. She simply looked shocked, but with every slight uncontrollable flicker across her face Wyst could see she wanted to come closer to Alessandro. Her face softened as she saw this desire to approach the Elemental Master, even though she suspected her hesitance might have been related to Zane's ego. At least the young woman did not retreat from their comrade.

"It's ok, Kee, it's really him." Her eyes did not linger on the other shadow warrior for long; she wanted to answer Darko's question properly.

"I'm not sure what you remember, but you fell from the Astronomy tower. You burst into flames as you fell and became ash." She opened her mind to Alessandro and replayed how she saw the event, hoping he could not pick up on her sorrow....she did not want him to feel guilty. "I can't be sure, but from my research I think you may have gone into another realm...possibly one of fire."

She opened her mouth, unsure of what else she could say. In her mind she would imagine this moment during her research and what to say to him. But now...none of the words she could think of seemed big or important enough. Instead, she gripped him tightly and closed her eyes.

"I'm so glad you're back." she pulled away after a few seconds, suddenly a bit self conscious and realizing she didn't know how much of his memory had returned about what happened before he fell. Did he know she had faked her own death? The she was a full vampire? And what about him...had he changed at all? Although his expressions did not reveal more confusion than she expected, she could not be sure what was going through his mind.

"Are you...I mean...how are you? If there's anything you don't remember we can fill you in or figure it out, don't worry."

[Keaira O'Connell]

She would have stayed there wrapped in Zane’s embrace for all eternity, had it not beef for his movement. Part of her realized that he had closed off their mental link to the best of his abilities and had separated himself from her just after she had thought that she wanted to know if Alessandro was really there, to touch him, and know that it wasn’t just a trick. This realization would have brought a string of curse to her mind, and thus broadcasted them to Zane had he not closed off their connection.

For a moment, her eyes followed Zane, until he disappeared into the tent. While he was busy gathering clothing and the like, she turned her head back to the where Wysteria and Alessandro were, unsure of whether she should approach them or not. That however was not a decision that she had to make. A few seconds later Zane had reappeared at her side, and grabbed her by the hand. He however did not stop walking and did not let go. Her choices were simply to either let him jerk her arm, until he either stopped or until she had to move forward to prevent damaging herself, or to simply move forward with him. After a moment’s hesitation and resistance, she allowed herself to be pulled forward to the other two.

When the two of them moved close enough to really see Alessandro and Wysteria, Keaira looked away. The cloak that was covering him seemed so inadequate to her. At least Zane was willing to give him something to really cover himself with. During the short conversation that occurred Keaira remained silent. Both Zane’s comment and Wysteria’s comeback meant nothing to her really. They were just words, and they didn’t matter. The boy that walked away from her, and the boy that remain there were the only things that really mattered… Yet, even as she looked cautiously back at Alessandro, she still found her mind wandering back to Zane.

Wysteria’s comment to her seemed to hold a note of reassurance, and even sympathy to Keaira. These emotions seemed odd to Keaira considering the relationship that the two of them had towards each other. Still, Alessandro appeared to be back, even if Keaira was hard pressed to believe it. Wysteria continued talking to Alessandro, while after a moment more of hesitation Keaira moved to close the rest of the distance that separated her from the other two.

Her hand reached out to brush Alessandro’s hair, a small gesture that she needed to do. He was warm to the touch, and his hair was soft and much longer than she had remembered. But he was there; real and alive. She didn’t throw her arms around him, the desire to do so was gone. Simply the touch of his hair was enough to let her mind accept that he was there. Besides, Wysteria was showing enough affection towards him for the both of them. Her throat was dry, and it took her two tries before she managed to form words to address the rest of them.

“We should pack up, and go to town for the night. This changes everything, and we’ll need a plan before we return to the school… We are the only ones who know Alessandro is alive. Let’s go now though, before it gets too dark. I’ll go pack.”
She turned away and took two steps towards the tent and all of what they had set up, intent on breaking everything down and packing it up. However, she paused for a moment, and turned her head back to Alessandro and Wysteria. After a short hesitation she uttered a few short quiet words for him.

“Is est bonus habeo vos revertas.” A simple Latin phrase meaning, “It is good you have returned.” All the words she wanted to say, with none of the uncomfortable emotional attachment. Latin was always her escape, whether it was for better or worse. Hopefully tomorrow she will still be breathing, and things will be on the rise still.

[Alessandro Darko]

One would think that there would be loads flowing through Alessandro's mind at the moment. After being more-or-less reconstituted from ash, saved from an eternal prison on some obscure plane where he was nothing but a mere spirit of fire, he felt absolutely nothing at all...at the moment, that is. Alessandro's mind was completely blank, not in the sense that he had amnesia, but in the sense that he was in a state of shock. He was confused, and couldn't quite think clearly. Everything seemed out of place, including the body that Wysteria was wearing. The feeling that could be attributed to Alessandro's emotional state would be best described as "hollow".

If the situation had been different, had Alessandro never crossed over to an alternate realm, but had just suffered an accident perhaps, he might have shown some form of anger towards Zane's curtness. However, Alessandro merely stared at him as he answered his question. "You died." Simple as that. His eyes fell to the ground before he found them wandering over to Wysteria, or the girl that Wysteria was that night. His gaze penetrated her facade, or at least he attempted to see beyond the costume, and try and recollect how she really looked. Images of her dark hair flashed in his mind, adorned with those magically affixed flowers that the name currently escaped him. Had it been so long? He clenched his jaw as he willed himself to remember.

Zane did something next that surprised Alessandro deep down. He offered him a bundle of clothing. Never in a million years would Alessandro believe that Zane would offer him clothes, even if he was stark naked in an ice storm. Gratefully he extended his hand and accepted the offering with a mere nod. Without hesitation, Alessandro began to dress, still covered with the cloak, and once the dark jeans were on, hanging dangerously low, slightly below his hips, he dropped the cloak and pulled on the sweater. The fabric felt good against his skin, and the feeling of it made him think of the comfort of home, and his own bed. How he yearned for sleep, it had seemed ages since he had slept. He sat down on the ground and began to put on the woolen socks he had offered him as well.

He had been listening to Wysteria talk to him while he was getting dressed, and now came the part where she decided to revive their mental connection and send him images in which she had seen him fall from the tower, and burst into flame, then ash. He grimaced as the images flew into his mind, a very loud echoing noise permeating the quietude of his mind. He saw a figure falling from a tower high up at Hogwarts, it was him. Halfway down, a brilliant display of pyrotechnics surrounded him, and then poof. All he saw that continued it's descent was a small glowing orb.

When the images had ceased, he took a deep breath, the right corner of his lips quivering like crazy as he tried to keep his composure. Thinking of that night revived so many feelings, so many emotions that he had to learn to let go, and get over while he was gone. He would not disappoint himself. The quivering stopped and his face returned back to its neutral state. He turned to Wysteria slowly before speaking. [blue]"Yes...I remember, Wysteria."[/blue] It was said softly and slowly, hoping that she would get the message that he didn't want to talk about it further.

It seemed that Keaira needed some reassurance perhaps, that he was not some illusion, some trickery of the mage, for soon after Wysteria's encouraging comments, Keaira had come over to him, and brushed a strand of hair out of his face. His eyes regarded her like they usually did, enlarging at the sight of her, but he showed no further expression other than that. Tonight he needed to keep his emotions in check, for everyone's sake.

"Agreed." Was all he said in response to Keaira's plan as she walked back to the tent. His eyes lingered on her as she turned to walk away, and then she stopped after two steps and turned back toward them. The latin phrase she uttered was directed at him, and what it had evoked was a smile. Strained, and unsure, and the expression that accompanied it was enforcing the uncertainty of it.

He looked down into his hands, his glorious hands that he hadn't felt for quite some time. He put his face in them, and ran them back through his now long, dark mahogany hair. No longer did he have to worry about the fits of vanity Gat had caused him with that Sectumsempra mishap, for nature, or, magic, whichever was working here, had taken its course. The sensation of his hands through his hair was soothing, and extremely intense, as everything was at the moment. His senses seemed to be more acute in his reborn self, most likely due to the fact that he hadn't held sentient presence in the real world for a little over a year (in his time).

"Are you...I mean...how are you? If there's anything you don't remember we can fill you in or figure it out, don't worry."

He looked at her. "I'm fine, Wyst. It's good to be alive...again...I think." He closed his eyes as he felt a ravenous hunger pain blossom in his abdomen. He swallowed before opening his eyes and looking back at this strange girl who housed his Shadow Warrior. "I'm actually quite starving at the moment, I could eat...eveyrthing..." He said with a quirky smile growing at the corners of his mouth as he stared at the ground in front of him, wiggling his toes in the woolen socks.

[Zane Lucifer Bishop]

The anger flashing on the vampire's face at his brief replies was completely lost on Zee. Even had his back not almost immediately been turned to her, he hadn't really been paying her any attention anyway. In fact he wasn't paying much attention to anything, lost somewhere in his own head. It wasn't until he sank down on the stump that he heard her sarcastic rebuttal, and it didn't even draw his eyes back their way. The only indication that he'd heard her at all was a low, humorless chuckle. As much as anything could these days, it amused him that Wysteria completely ignored the fact that he'd provided the other boy with a set of warm clothes at the expense of himself having something clean to change into come morning, and instead was furious with him for not hugging the Elemental Master who had ever been his rival and reluctant ally and prancing about with joy at his return. Of course the Slytherin held no doubt that if he had expressed any kind of real welcome to the Ravenclaw, the vampire would have merely snubbed him for that as well, writing it off as a false display.

Which, in all fairness, it would have been. At one time Alessandro's miraculous resurrection would have brought a torrent of fury from Zee. At another he'd have been overjoyed at having so powerful an ally back, and that Keaira would no longer need to feel such pain. Now though, there was nothing. The revelation that the Elemental master of Fire was not in fact lost to them was just one more fact to be logged away. There was no emotion, no real reaction at all.

Even upon Keaira's return, at which point she began gathering things together, he remained seated, facing away from everything, appearing a statue or perhaps to have fallen asleep. As if it had taken him a few seconds to realize what was happening, he did eventually rise and begin silently assisting his Shadow Warrior's efforts. Removing everything from inside and leaving it all in neat little piles on the ground, he quickly disassembled the tent. He uttered no complaints, either verbally or mentally at using his hands now to deconstruct the thing rather than doing so magically. As they had been the whole trip, his movements were mechanical, his mind elsewhere. Occasionally an image of his parents' dead eyes staring at him would flit from his mind to Keaira's, or the wordless pondering of who was responsible (other than himself of course). There was no emotion though, no pain attached the thoughts. All of that had been locked away in some obscure corner of his psyche.

[Keaira O'Connell]

Once Zane had joined her in her efforts taking apart the tent and packing everything away, it didn’t take very long. Although she attempted to give the other two some privacy, she couldn’t help but to wince when Wysteria bombarded Alessandro with the mental images that she had saved for him. Personally Keaira would have started off slower if she was reestablishing a mental connection with someone who had been on a different plane of existence for a couple of months, but that was her, and she was not Wysteria. At least Wysteria was genuinely happy about Alessandro’s return, and from what it seemed, she had almost expected it.

Keaira was uncertain if she shared Wysteria’s happiness about Alessandro being brought back from the dead. Sure it was a good thing for the light fighters; Alessandro held a good amount of power within himself. But for her, this was not going to be easy. She had finally been able to let go of him, and now it seemed that fate was throwing her efforts back in her face like the cruel master he was. Why else would the timing be as such? She didn’t know, and as much as she wanted not to care she couldn’t help but to do so.

It only took about ten minutes for the entire camp to be broken down, and packed up, although it probably would have been quicker if Keaira wasn’t glancing at Zane ever few seconds. Most of the supplies fit into her magically enhanced book bag, and the things that didn’t were easily put into one of the other bags they had brought. When things were ready to go Keaira moved back over to join the other two, rummaging through the smallest pocket of her book bag as she went. When she had arrived she had pulled out a canteen, two granola bars, and a small potion bottle. Uncorking the potion and holding them out to Alessandro, Keaira attempted for a smile, as she addressed him.

“It’s not much, but it should get you going. There is a witch’s town about 5 hours away, but I think it might be better if we simply went to a much closer muggle town and spent the night. There is a small one about an hour and a half from here, and it’s in the same general direction we’re headed anyway. But we should go now, I’m sure the fire display will draw some sort of attention soon.”

While she was talking to them, she pulled a small pocket knife out of the pocket of her coat, and used it to cut the cork in half. Setting the two pieces side by side, she transfigured each half into a hiking boot. Sure they weren’t the best quality, and chances were that they would eventually hurt his feet, but it would be better than hiking for nearly 2 hours without any shoes. She estimated the size of Alessandro’s feet, not quite sure what would be comfortable, but confident that he could adjust them to fit better if he needed.

“Try them on, and adjust them if you need to. They aren’t perfect but they are better than nothing. But we need to get going.”

Keaira offered her hand to him to help him stand if he wanted it and then she used her wand to check the direction and as soon as she was sure of which way was south east she walked back over to Zane. With Alessandro slightly better equipped for the trip they might be able to travel at the pace they came in but Keaira thought it unlikely, and so she knew they needed to make some tracks before they lost all light and were in complete darkness.

[Alessandro Darko]

[ooc: I'll go ahead and put a closing post on this]


He had his head tilted back at the sky, gazing up into the heavens as they prepared for nightfall, the stars slowly coming into view one by one. The more time he spent back on top was making him feel like his old self, but, more at peace in his opinion. In the Realm of Fire, he was desolate, lost, and yearned to get out of there. The Divine Flame was his only company-- whenever it decided to speak to him, giving him snippets of cryptic messages, and trying to answer his questions to the best of it's ability. The torturous events whenever the flames parted and revealed to him Hogwarts and his friends only pushed him further into his yearning to return. What exactly was it anyway that got him to come back? He couldn't quite remember when or why it happened, and to be completely honest, the more time he spent topside, the more he found it harder to remember what it was like in the Realm of Eternal Fire.

Keaira must have heard his statement about his hunger, for she returned to them handing him a canteen and some granola. It wasn't exactly the elephantine feast he was picturing himself eating in his head, but it would at least suffice until he could get his hands on something more substantial. Graciously, he took the vitals from her with a polite [blue]"Thank you."[/blue] as he tore open one of the wrappers and kind of savagely bit into the granola bar. Food was exquisite. It had been so long and the taste of anything right now was divine. Tasting in general was much appreciated at this point. If Alessandro ever took anything for granted in his life, he had surely learned his lesson.

He was listening to Keaira tell them that the nearest Witches Town was 5 miles away, a daunting, and aching five miles that sounded dreadful to Alessandro. He had only been back for a little under half an hour, but at the same time, he was exhausted. He watched her divide a cork and transfigure them into boots for him, a gesture that made him smile with appreciation.

[blue]"Yes...We should make haste to the nearest town, muggle or witch. Rest sounds wonderful right now..."[/blue] He said feeling as if a lifetime of fatigue had caught up to him. He slipped the boots on over his feet, which were a tad snug around the toes, and the sole was a touch more narrow than he was accustomed to, but it didn't really matter to him. Normally he would have corrected them to fit his feet perfectly, but he found himself currently wandless. He was revived, clothed, and brought back into welcome arms...well, for the most part, and he would make do with whatever was provided for him.

He took Keaira's hand and stood up, running his hands up the cream-colored sweater and down the lengths of his arms, taking in a bold breath. He looked at Wysteria for a second, not letting his eyes linger to make her question his gaze, but looked long enough for him to yet again, smile. The pair of them had been through some times together. It was fate that they were drawn to one another, as they were each others rock and anchor in this dark war. He'd never forget the day he met her in the fifth floor corridor, attempting to escape from Peeves. But life was simple then, much more than it was now. Now they were dying, and being reborn. The Shadow Warrior and Elemental Master of Fire had proven true to their element; Fire is the element of destruction and rebirth. Out of the group, Wysteria and Alessandro have been the original two selected to bear these burdens, and have burnt out and rekindled, fell out, and bounced back, again true to the nature of their element.

He turned now to regard Keaira as she and Zane continued to dismantle the tent. He had also been through some pretty tough AND special times with her. Different from Wysteria in the aspect that Alessandro held some sort of romantic interest for her somewhere down, deep in his heart, but there was an inkling, a feeling within him shouting that he had to let that go. The was was to be his central focus, all outside aspects were trivial and meaningless...well, should have been, at least. He frowned as he looked down and stared into the orb of fire, its soft glow remained ever-present and strong. Zane Lucifer Bishop. Why had he come? He of all people, to be here, supposedly laying his "ash" to rest. Alessandro didn't think upon it any further, for he knew Keaira would be reason enough for Zane to be here. The gesture of kindness, however, was odd. Alessandro was grateful, but the more he stared into his orb, the more he found it just...odd. Letting go of those thoughts finally and a brief exhale, he looked up to his allies after the last of the equipment was packed away.

[blue]"Ready."[/blue] He said with a nod to them all. With that, the four of them began to make haste into the night, following Keaira's lead as she navigated them to the nearest muggle town to escape the would-be onlookers of the mysterious pyrotechnic explosion up on the hill.

[FIN]