Stereotype Blues on Alumni

Marissa Duell

July 08, 2020 1:21 PM

Stereotype Blues by Marissa Duell

The kitchen was clean, as was the living room, the house quiet. There was plenty of time to sit down and have a cup of coffee and listen to the morning show on the radio. All things, Marissa Duell thought, which once would have seemed like the greatest sequence of luxuries on a Saturday morning, but now felt a bit hollow.

This was irritating, because it was adherence to a cliché. Marissa had taken a number of literature classes as a minor in college, and it seemed that the idea of mothers in particular being slightly melancholy when their children were all out of the house was one which neatly transcended the gap between the magical and Muggle worlds. On this side of it, it was more about when the children were old enough to all go to school instead of when they all went to college or all got married, but the basic stereotype was the same. She had rather hoped to avoid falling into the trap herself, and yet here she was.

She sipped her coffee, and looked out the window for the post owl with the morning paper. Seeing a dot moving, she went over to the coin box to count out the right number of knuts to pay for said paper, and opened the window, at which point she realized there were actually two owls. One was indeed the owl with her newspaper. The other was a letter marked with her daughter’s handwriting.

She read it eagerly, putting details in the back of her mind for responses later – Wright, there had been some Wrights in Aladren in her day, was there a connection? A debate club started by first years, that was ambitious enough, but since when did Sonora have a guidance counselor to have a niece? Was that really what the Teppenpaw common room looked like? And they had changed the Sorting, that was news! – and smiled, amused and touched, when Val urged her not to be sad about her joining Andrew’s old house.

She had not mentioned it, on the off chance that Val had been Sorted into Crotalus, but she was privately relieved that her daughter wasn’t going to be in her old House instead. Stereotypes were not to be trusted, but they weren’t to be dismissed altogether, and Teppenpaw was, overall, a much nicer place than Crotalus could be on a bad day. Jethro Smythe had been uncommonly sweet to her, back in the day – and part of this had been explaining to her out of touch eleven-year-old Muggleborn self what polite wizard society, aka a large portion of their House, might think of her, and that had even before her difficulty with magic had become apparent….

That, in the end, was the thing she had worried the most about while they had been getting ready to send Valentine to school. She had tried not to, of course, and had not mentioned that to Valentine or Andrew either, but it had preyed on her mind to a greater degree than it had in years, worrying that her daughter might have inherited the same weakness, just as she had inherited so many of Marissa’s looks.

She picked up her wand from where it lay on the kitchen counter, where she had laid it after boiling the water for her coffee, and twirled it between her fingers. A long and complicated relationship she’d had with the thing, she thought. Nearly twenty years since she’d bought it, and twenty years was long enough to master almost any skill – unless there was actually some psychological or organic impediment preventing it. She didn’t know which had always been her problem; she hoped she didn’t find out it was the latter by finding out that Val also struggled with the simplest spells more often than not.

Surely, though, it would be impossible to be sure of such a thing within the first year. Everyone came along at different speeds, after all. For now, she put the letter at Andrew’s usual seat at the table so he could see it, and then got on with cooking breakfast, still consciously reminding herself to make two servings of everything instead of three.

OOC: Makes reference to this post.

16 Marissa Duell Stereotype Blues 147 1 5

Andrew Duell

July 10, 2020 8:34 PM

It's not all bad, is it? by Andrew Duell

Andrew cut the power before the old lawnmower went up into flames and sighed. Nope, that new safety cut-off still wasn't working right. It should have intervened and stopped the power surge before even a quarter of that energy had gotten out of the reservoir. He needed to get this working... heck, he needed to have had this working twenty years ago. Burning? He looked around, he smelled something hot.... No, he chuckled to himself. That was the smell of breakfast, and it smelled good. Time for a break.

He tossed his gloves and goggles aside and tried to enter the house from the garage as quietly as he could. Yup, target in site. The most beautiful, smart, kind, and wonderful woman in the world. As stealthily as he could Andrew made his way across to his wife and wrapped his arms around her from behind and attacked the back of her neck with kisses. Then he pulled away before she could retaliate with whatever implement she was holding for breakfast making. This was undoubtedly the best part of Val going off to school. Being able to act like lovesick teenagers again whenever they wanted without worrying about a very cute little girl wandering in insisting on having a tea party or fighting the latest ogre encounter she designed.

"That smells wonderful Love." He grabbed a cup of coffee for himself, "Did the paper..." he cast his eyes about for the morning newspaper and quickly spotted it. Then he spotted something else. A letter at his spot? He quirked an eyebrow at Marissa then picked it up and grinned. "She made it!" he commented as his eyes devoured the letter. "And making friends already, I'm shocked." The smile never faltered from his face until is turned into mock horror. "Val! No!" He clasped the letter to his chest and looked playfully accusingly at his wife. "Did you read this? Has she revealed great state secrets to you? You know what the Teppenpaw common room looks like?" Then he held the paper out to examine it again, he turned it sideways, the the other sideways. "Well, sort of. We may need to look into some art classes for her." A nostalgic smile took it's place on his face as he gazed at the picture, "She drew this from one of my favorite chairs in that room. Then he looked back at Marissa, "So, any bets on what position she'll get on the Quidditch team?"

Then the doorbell rang. Andrew looked at clock and quizzically at his wife. "Were you expecting anyone? It had better not be Jhonice this early." He headed to the door, "If she thinks she's mooching more breakfast..." he let the sentence hang as he opened the door. Before him stood a woman. She was a tall, willowy woman with long dark hair and mirrored sunglasses covering her eyes. She wasn't any more than 20 years old. His mouth was gaping as she smirked. "What's wrong dear brother... did you forget about me?"

"Giselle..." was all that he could manage.

2 Andrew Duell It's not all bad, is it? 145 0 5

Marissa Duell

July 11, 2020 6:15 PM

No, you have a point there. by Marissa Duell

“Paper delivered – and some more news,” said Marissa, her grey eyes sparkling as Andrew noticed the letter from Valentine. She laughed at the idea of the State Secrets of Teppenpaw before quickly straightening her face back out to a plausibly serious state to reply. “I’m afraid she did – to, um, some extent. I might tell the Crotali to hold off on the invasion until after the art lessons.”

She began to speculate on the issue of Quidditch positions – “well, I think that if she gets your old House, it’s only fair that she gets my old position in Quidditch – “ but before she could wander into non-facetious fretting about how she hoped all the Beater candidates had the arm strength of overcooked noodles, she was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. She shook her head when asked if she was expecting anyone.

That probably did, she thought, mean it was Jhonice…should she go ahead and get another plate out of the cabinet, or wait for confirmation? A silly question, but she frowned at the cabinet over it for several seconds before deciding to take down a plate and put it on the countertop, rather than the table, as a compromise between the two positions. Thus settled, she removed the plate, put it on the counter, and followed her husband out into the hallway, a bit surprised that if it was Jhonice, that she hadn’t come bursting in the kitchen while Marissa was deliberating….

Part of the answer became apparent at once – the girl standing at the door was clearly not Jhonice. She did a double take when, just as she got a good look at her, she heard Andrew say his sister’s name.

“Giselle!” she echoed Andrew, as much from surprise as greeting. “Oh my goodness,” she added. “Where did – do you want some breakfast?” she asked, defaulting to hospitality.

16 Marissa Duell No, you have a point there. 147 0 5

Giselle Duell

July 11, 2020 9:28 PM

It is all so very quaint by Giselle Duell

Oh, dear sweet Marissa. Why did you ever decide to settle down with Andrew? You could have done so much better. Giselle smiled at her sister-in-law who almost radiated Hera's energies of Hearth and Home. She could feel those tendrils of 'family' reaching out towards her from Marissa as her presence began to reveal long hidden memories. Not yet, the girl thought, but she was hungry. Quite hungry in fact. The smells wafting from inside the house did little to quell that fact.

"Breakfast would be a nice start." She replied coolly as she brushed past Andrew, waving her wand before her in a very practiced gesture. The magic released showed her the surroundings in her mind's eye. Most people would use their eyes for such a purpose, but hers had abruptly stopped working when she was only a year old. Thanks to Andrew and Jhonice, and that had been the minor loss of the day. "After that, perhaps we can discuss everything that has happened since you abandoned me in Greece seven years ago?"

She knew why. She knew she was being cruel, and she knew that Marissa of all people didn't deserve it. But at the moment, she just didn't care. She had been alone and... in less than ideal situations while they had been here playing house. They could afford to deal with a little unpleasantness. The charms laid upon them from the School of Delphi would recede soon enough now that she was present. They were designed just to hide the memories of the school when they weren't necessary. The school took it's secrecy very seriously.

Then her Inner Eye showed Andrew respond to her question. She turned on him before he could open his mouth, "No. Not from you. I'm talking to Marissa right now." Marissa had always been nice and fun and good to her. Although the age difference had made her seem more like an aunt than a sister... maybe that could change now that she was older. She could try to look ahead, but she didn't want to. She wanted to see how this played out properly.

"So," she stated turning back to Marissa, "about that breakfast offer?" Giselle's stomach rumbled as if on cue.

2 Giselle Duell It is all so very quaint 1517 Giselle Duell 0 5

Marissa Duell

July 12, 2020 11:16 AM

Patterns make the world go 'round. by Marissa Duell

Technically, Giselle was Marissa's sister-in-law, but the age difference, combined with that age difference making Giselle a small child for almost all of the time they'd known each other, had prevented the relationship from functioning as one of sisters - of equals. Since that same age gap would not have been really large enough for Marissa to play a maternal role even had she and Andrew been married when she met Giselle, though, she had not possessed or sought the completely uneven relationship that existed between mothers and children. Instead, she had taken the part of a youngish aunt, or much older cousin: friendly, warm and affectionate, someone she'd hoped Giselle would feel comfortable confiding in, but who could, if necessary, lay down some laws.

Faced with Giselle again, though she was much older now than she had been the last time Marissa had taken on this role, she started to automatically slip into a sort of aunt-mode. Accordingly, when Giselle snapped at Andrew, she opened her mouth to remind her that We Do Not Talk To Each Other Like That In Marissa's Home, but then stopped before she started, suddenly noticing a discrepancy in her thinking.

Giselle was much older now than she had been the last time Marissa saw her.

Which made no sense...but did help the second comment Giselle had made sink in: "After that, perhaps we can discuss everything that has happened since you abandoned me in Greece seven years ago?"

"Oh God," she half-whispered.

Marissa remembered Greece. She and Andrew had moved there when Valentine was two. At first, Marissa had been homesick - as much for hearing people around her speaking English as anything - but on the whole, Marissa had been happy in Greece. They had found the small community of Anglophone expats. They had met a kindly neighbor, willing to converse in a sort of improvised sign language at first, who had essentially decided Valentine was an extra grandchild; she had helped Marissa learn enough Greek to navigate the markets (even if her accent had remained atrocious) and in exchange, Marissa had brought her groceries for her, and they had taught each other to cook in the styles of their homelands. Andrew, meanwhile, had been in the birthplace of advanced mathematics and engineering, and Val had been tiny, quick to adapt to anything. As for her, she hadn't been too upset by the distance from her family, as she'd gotten used to that after all her years at boarding school and in university, but she had had a ball going to take pictures in the 'real' Athens and sending them to her parents in Athens, Georgia....

Her parents had loved that, she recalled. That was one of the things that made it so awful: that her parents had loved seeing what she was up to in Greece, and yet had become her reason for leaving it. There hadn't been time for Marissa to get home before her mother's funeral, after Elizabeth Stephenson had become yet another statistic on the frequently too-curved, too-steep backroads around where they lived, but she'd still felt she ought to go home - temporarily - to see the grave, and to try to offer some comfort to her father. That was why she'd wanted to take Valentine with her, she recalled - Val had been a pleasant distraction for her one surviving grandparent - but she remembered now, vaguely, telling Andrew that he ought to stay in Greece, that she would be back soon, but parents were, for obvious reasons, a delicate issue with him. He had had to work so hard to get through what had happened to his...he'd wanted to come with her and Val - temporarily. It was all supposed to have been temporarily.

She had, she recalled, sung Valentine her favorite Greek lullaby every night for a long time after they had returned to the U.S., but had been relieved by the opportunity to stop after Val stopped insisting that she wanted to go back to 'my home' - that was, the little house in Greece which was all Val could really, at that time, remember. It had been a relief, of course, because it meant Val was getting over homesickness, but it had been more than that. For years, now, ever since her mother died, every time Marissa had seen or done anything connected to Greece or its language, or even, regrettably, its food, she had felt anxious and sad, not to mention guilty, even though she had never been able to figure out why.

Now, more memories - sharp as photographs - were illustrating why quite clearly for her. Months of discussions, both out loud with the Trevears, and often in whispers with Andrew - about what was best for them, what was best for Valentine, and what was best for Giselle, and how to balance those competing demands. The difficulties of traveling across oceans and continents, not only with with a two-year-old, but also with an eleven-year-old. Two summers where she'd taken two girls to beaches and cultural sites, almost three years of baking every week, as true to home styles as possible, things like chocolate chip cookies and Rice Krispies, and sending them off with cheery letters, mostly in English, 'so you don't forget where you came from'...

Realization mixed with horror spread across her face. She swallowed hard.

"Breakfast," she repeated. "Yes. Of course. Wh - what would you like? I can fix you something real quick - and we have a whole plate of toast if you don't want to wait," she finished, almost robotically, her eyes darting over Giselle's shoulder to Andrew. She knew perfectly well that neither of them could read minds, but she couldn't help trying to project the urgent questions now on her mind: what do we do? What did we do?

16 Marissa Duell Patterns make the world go 'round. 147 0 5

Andrew Duell

July 12, 2020 1:57 PM

And we all have our part to play. by Andrew Duell

Andrew's mind was a fog. Giselle? She had.... she had... what? Where? His little, baby, sister the only other survivor from his immediate family after, the incident. She was living with Aunt Mary and Uncle Arthur until she went to school. Then she was going to stay with with him and Marissa over breaks? Right? Hadn't that been the plan? But... she was grown now. He had almost not recognized her. He hadn't seen her since she had been... ten? No, eleven... no.... thirteen? She should be grown, that had been years ago. She hadn't stayed with them though, they had moved to Greece. For work reasons? She must have stayed and gone to Sonora, or somewhere else? A special school? One better suited to teach her to use her gift? Vague memories tickled his mind, taunting him. A special school... in Greece.

She was past him and inside the house now, waving her wand about and talking. Abandon her? What! He would never abandon her! She was his sister, with no parents it had fallen upon him to figure out what had been for the best for her, to help her and protect her! He was about to voice these thoughts when she wheeled upon him. Her face was hard, she was angry. He decided to remain silent. Mainly because at that moment he'd caught sight of his wife's face, she looked pale. He could tell unpleasant thoughts were running through her head. Thoughts of Greece? Giselle had gone to Greece with them?

She had gone to Greece with them. She had been the reason they went to Greece. There was a school there... somewhere that specialized in training those innately gifted with the sight. Giselle had not been handling her 'gift' well as a child. That had been how she had found out about Mom and Dad... the vision had not been gentle with her. She needed help, more help than they or the Trevears could give her. He could not pack her off to that school all alone either, so he'd found work there and they had all gone; him, Marissa, baby Val, and Giselle.

They were going to stay until Giselle was done with school and then come home again. Then... Marissa's mother died and they came back. Marissa had told him to stay, so that he wouldn't forget? Giselle, no... the school. But he couldn't let her and Val go off alone, after everything that he had put Marissa through when they had just barely begun their life. He was going to be by his wife's side when she needed him. Giselle would be fine for a few weeks, it would only be a few weeks. But it hadn't been, they hadn't gone back... his stomach sunk, they had forgotten all about Giselle. How...?

It hit him in a flash. The school, The School of Delphi. They had done this. Well, he and Marissa had agreed to let them do this. The school valued it's secrecy so highly that they had been subject to memory suppression charms. It had seemed harmless enough at the time, the charms would just suppress memories of the school once it wasn't a regular concern. Like, after graduation, no big deal.

Now he could remember that day. He had met Giselle on the front steps of the school while Marissa (and to a lesser extent Val) were packing to go back to the States. She was thirteen, and that had been the last time he'd seen her, until today. Her thin frame had been dressed plainly, and her dark glasses hid most of her face. She had sat on the steps next to him as he had explained the situation to her and assured her that they would be back well before break. He even promised promised to bring her back a pack of Oreos from America when they returned. She had just sat looking down at her feet for a long time, then she turned to him 'Forgotten promises still hold power, hunger will draw us together again.' Then she stood and walked back into the school, had she been crying? He remembered thinking that she must be doing well in whatever cryptospeak class seers had to take here.

Marissa was offering up breakfast now, and Giselle sounded... hungry. Then he caught his wife's horrified expression and the her eyes that burned with the questions. He could read them plain as day, since the same questions were running through his mind. There was only one thing to do as far as he as concerned and Marissa was doing it. She was great at doing it. He tried to send a nonvocal message of love and support, 'talk to her, make her feel at home again.'

As for what they had done... He had spent three years in Greece working and never once again thinking about that cursed memory charm. He hadn't told the school that they were leaving for a brief trip. He hadn't even checked in with the Trevears after they got back until it was to late. He had failed and abandoned his thirteen year old sister in Greece. What price would those broken, forgotten promises exact from him? He tried not to think about it right now, he had to be strong and positive for Marissa's sake, and for Giselle's.

2 Andrew Duell And we all have our part to play. 145 0 5

Giselle Duell

July 12, 2020 5:50 PM

Poetic lovebirds? Terrific. by Giselle Duell

Giselle sauntered towards the table swinging her wand gently back and forth to keep her mental map updated and current position correct. From what she could 'see' they had a nice house here, cozy and homey. Just the three of them. Well, not at the moment, little Val should be off at school. Precious little Valentine. She hadn't been cast aside and forgotten.

She still recalled the little four year old dragging her into their shared room in their home in Greece and insisting that she sat down for a tea party. Then promptly getting surrounded and nearly covered in stuffed animals. As the little girl giggled and told her to be careful not to sit on Mrs. Bunhorn. Honestly, why Andrew had given her a stuffed jackelope she'd never figured out. It was a distinctly American creature, maybe as a reminder of their homeland? The memory tried to bring a smile to her face, it usually had in the past and it almost succeeded. Not today however, she reigned in her expression.

The silence coming from the lovebirds was deafening. She could imagine what their faces must look like by now. For the millionth time she wished she could see. Were they shooting quiet, secret glances back and forth? Probably. She had pulled the metaphorical knife from her back that they had planted there and was enjoying using it against them. Finally Marissa broke the silence again. She sounded nervous. Good. A part of her felt bad about that, but that part was getting ignored right now. Right now, she felt like twisting that knife just a little bit more.

She sat down at the table, crossed her legs and let her wand rest in easy reach. "Oh, I'm not picky," she stated coldly, "You used to make the best breakfasts, back in Greece. Do you remember?" Then, with a glance towards Andrew and venom in her voice she added, "I don't suppose you have any Oreos, do you?"

2 Giselle Duell Poetic lovebirds? Terrific. 1517 Giselle Duell 0 5

Marissa Duell

July 12, 2020 7:13 PM

All the world's a stage. by Marissa Duell

"You used to make the best breakfasts, back in Greece. Do you remember?”

Marissa flinched. She wondered if Giselle could somehow sense this – and, for that matter, if it was better or worse if she could. She wanted to say something – anything – to break the tension – to apologize, or try to explain – but she was almost frightened to do so at the same time. Did she even know what had really happened? Was there something more than all the things flooding into her head now, something she didn’t remember yet, which would make anything she said sound absurd, or make things worse…

“I remember – now,” she said, putting just a hint of emphasis on the last word. Another memory swam to the surface: “I remember, in the summer, we’d take a vote some nights – whether y’all all wanted American breakfast or Greek breakfast,” she added abruptly.

Yes – she could remember. Greek breakfasts had seemed insanely decadent to her when she had first discovered them – and even now, bougatsa seemed more like a special occasion breakfast than an everyday thing, even if she got to the market in time to buy fresh phyllo instead of attempting to make it herself. Yoghurt with fresh figs and thyme honey, though, that was easy enough to whip up - paximadi with Feta - or if she had koulouri to hand, it was easy enough to split the rings of sesame-studded bread open like bagels and serve them with jam and honey, or butter, or Graviera. She had never quite gotten the hang of eating olives with her breakfast, though, it probably didn’t help that she had never liked olives much –

“And we probably do have some Oreos, somewhere, but I don’t think cookies are much good for breakfast,” she added. "Though even with breakfast - I don’t know how much of it was my cooking or just the ingredients, though." She realized she was more or less babbling, but didn't seem quite able to stop. “It was hard getting used to not getting everything fresh again, here – but we do have fresh eggs. I don’t have any staka - “ she could almost taste the stuff as she said the name, the clotted cream-like condiment served with fried eggs in Greece – “but I can fry you up some good eggs. And here’s the toast.” She pushed the plate of whole wheat toast toward her sister-in-law. “It’s right next to your wand,” she added, falling back into the habit of speaking to Giselle – trying to be helpful without treating Giselle as though she was helpless, because they had all been firmly informed by the specialists that treating Giselle as though she was helpless might be the very worst thing, short of tripwires in the hallway, they could do for her. “I’ve got out some muscadine jelly and some strawberry jam out already. The jam’s the first one on your right.”

She reached for eggs and paused, taking a deep breath. “Honey, I’m so sorry,” she said. “I didn’t realize – neither of us realized – that would happen – the way it did. Have you – have you been at that school all this time?”

16 Marissa Duell All the world's a stage. 147 0 5

Giselle Duell

July 13, 2020 6:10 PM

If so, are you a hero, villian or extra? by Giselle Duell

Something cracked, just a bit in Giselle, as a buried memory of her own floated to the surface. The breakfast votes. She had nearly forgotten about those. A smile crept to her lips, but she quickly stifled it. Little Val would, without fail, always vote for chocolate chip pancakes specially crafted into fanciful shapes. That one had been Andrew's fault for taking over one morning and making a pile of chocolate filled pancakes crafted to allegedly resemble a certain cartoon mouse. After that, there was apparently no going back.

She had heard Andrew suck in a sudden breath when she asked about the Oreos. Almost like he'd been stabbed. Good. Marissa didn't react, either he never told her or she still had forgotten. Probably the former. She waved her hand dismissing the cookie request, "You're probably right." Then Marissa was babbling, she was flustered. Good as well. Again, a whisper from somewhere inside cried out against the act, she silenced it. "Eggs sound fine." She answered curtly. "I think I'll vote for American this time around. I've had enough Greek breakfasts to last me for some time."

Her stomach rumbled again, how long had it been since she'd eaten last? Yesterday? Or had that been the day before? It didn't matter, she wasn't here for food. She was here for something else. But she wasn't going to turn down food either. As she reached out for the plate of toast, her hand first found a sheet of paper laying on the table. It was crumpled just in the way a letter carried by an owl would be. Most likely fairly recently. She made a mental note of it and continued her search for the toast. In a moment she had a piece, and what Marissa had said was the strawberry jam. The scent confirmed the fact once she had opened the jar.

She was about to begin applying the jam when Marissa finally broke. Giselle listened and then applied the jam to her toast. Marissa's words percolated through her brain until she dropped the toast to the table and clenched the jam covered knife. "You didn't realize?" The words burst from her lips with all the pent up emotion of anger and loss from the past seven years. "Seven years! I was thirteen! And you all just left!" She was practically shouting, "And now it's just 'Oh, I'm sorry, our bad. I guess the plan didn't work'!? Seriously? What the h#$%!?"

The floodgates were open now. She couldn't stop if she wanted to, but she didn't. Instead she put her fists on the table and pushed herself to her feet. "Why didn't you respond to Archimedes when I sent you a message three days after you left? Or any of the other school's owls I sent? Why did you eventually send me this?!" She pulled out an old, wrinkled, but carefully folded sheet of paper from a pocket inside her jacket and tossed it onto the table.

The paper was a letter that looked like it had been torn to shreds and repaired a number of years ago. It read simply:

Giselle,
I'm sorry to tell you that things have not gone well here in the states. I
don't know that we will be able to return any time in the near future.
Please continue your studies and we will let you know when things
change. If there is anything in the house you want, hurry and get it, we
will be having the things packed up and returned to the states.
Best wishes,
Andrew

"I didn't know what to make of this!" She shouted in Andrew's direction, "I showed it to Lia and we raced to the house. Only to find it already being packed up! The movers wouldn't listen to me at all, fortunately Lia has some clout as the deputy-headmistress of the school. I managed to grab the few things I had left there! That was it then, nothing more!"

She turned back to Marissa, "So yes. I've been there all this time! I graduated two years ago! I've been working with Lia, helping around the school, doing odd jobs for her and trying to survive! While you're here. Living life without a care in the world!"

2 Giselle Duell If so, are you a hero, villian or extra? 1517 Giselle Duell 0 5

Marissa Duell

July 13, 2020 7:02 PM

I think I might be a pawn. by Marissa Duell

For a second – just a second – Marissa thought Giselle was going to smile.

Then everything blew up.

She was too stunned, listening to Giselle, to even really feel anything other than faint horror overwhelmed by confusion. This didn’t make sense. It didn’t make any sense.

Marissa sank into her chair, clutching her head between her hands, her thoughts racing, trying to reason through all the things being nearly shouted at her. So – the magic had…been somewhat misrepresented to them. They had thought they would remember it clearly until Giselle had graduated; instead, apparently, it had kicked in as soon as they had left Greece – even though she now remembered fully planning to return. Surely, though, they would have noticed an actual letter from Giselle appearing in front of them? Surely not every owl would have gone amiss? International post was a bit uncertain – that was one reason they had moved to Greece to be with Giselle, she remembered now, so there would be less chance of her being stranded in Greece unable to get into contact with her family – but multiple owls, over and over again? And yet….

“I never saw any messages,” she said.

That hardly, as soon as she said it, seemed like the important thing. Odd jobs – trying to survive – two years? She pictured the scene at their house which Giselle was describing, and felt as though a giant were squeezing her chest in its fist; tears welled up in her eyes just at the vague idea.

“I don’t know – I don’t know what – I think I remember everything now. I know we meant to come back. I was going to make sure Daddy was all right, that he got past – but when we got here, I wanted to go back, but I couldn’t remember why – I cried for days when we decided to have our things sent back here – don’t you remember, Andrew? But I couldn’t remember you being there….” She picked up the letter Giselle had thrown on the table. “And neither of us would have ever done that to you, or written thi….”

She had meant to say that they would never have written anything like this while in their right minds, but stopped as, after impatiently wiping her eyes, she noticed something else about the letter beyond how bizarrely detached and abrupt it was.

“Neither of us did ever write this,” she said, startled, staring at the handwriting. “Your brother didn’t write this.” She looked back and forth between them, even though Giselle couldn’t see her do so. “What is this? What's going on?”

16 Marissa Duell I think I might be a pawn. 147 0 5

Andrew Duell

July 13, 2020 7:41 PM

You must have gotten to the enemy line, because you're a queen to me now. by Andrew Duell

After reeling from Giselle's Oreo assault, Andrew recovered and watched in shock at his sister rage against them. He quickly moved to his wife's side. He well knew from raising a daughter, that there were times when it was just best for him to stay out of the situation, his presence would only make things worse. This one had been clearly one of those from the start. Now however, he would not stand idly by and let the love of his life bear the brunt of it.

He took his place behind Marissa's chair as she sank down into it, and rested his hands on her shoulders so that she knew he was there for her. His eyes did not leave Giselle though. Archimedes? For goodness sake, what else had he forgotten in this mess? He had convinced Mom to get him Archimedes the summer before his last year at Sonora. So that he could communicate with colleges and not at all to smuggle letters off to his incredible girlfriend without Mom finding out and making a huge fuss about it. Archimedes had been his owl for fourteen years before he'd given him to Giselle so that she could write them letters and remind them of her. He'd never failed before... and he'd never come home.

Andrew nodded and squeezed his wife's shoulder affectionately, "We didn't get any messages. I haven't seen Archimedes since I left him with you... if you sent him.." His voice drifted off as a thought began to take root in his mind, but he was distracted by Marissa, nearly sobbing and sank into the chair next to her, wrapping his arm around her. "We were going to come back, we just... never heard anything and forgot why we had to. Marissa was a wreck for days, I wasn't much better. We knew bringing the things home was wrong, but we couldn't for the life of us figure out why. If you hadn't gotten your things... seeing them may have jarred our memories. But, work here was better, Marissa's dad was here..." he pounded the table in frustration, "We just could not remember why we had to go back, what had been so important. I am so sorry Giselle."

Marissa was looking at the note. The sadness had nearly left her voice, and something else had replaced it. He looked at the note. "What in the world. You're right, that isn't my handwriting. Where did you get this?" That uneasy thought slunk back into his head. What was going on here?

2 Andrew Duell You must have gotten to the enemy line, because you're a queen to me now. 145 0 5

Giselle Duell

July 14, 2020 5:04 PM

Chess related pick-up lines now? Really? by Giselle Duell

See... I told you.

That voice had been growing louder for the past few months, the voice of uncertainty, of hope. "No," she whispered to herself, then shouted it aloud needing to quiet it again, "No!" They had left her, abandoned her. Now they had the gall to lie to her? "You haven't seen any messages? Archimedes never came home?" She snatched up the letter that had been on the table near the toast. "What's this?" She demanded, fingering the owl made creases on the paper. "It sure feels like something he just delivered!" Sure, they didn't remember. That was fine now, but they had chosen not to remember when they had come back. Now they were trying to get her to believe that not a single owl she had sent had made it's way to them? That couldn't happen.

Couldn't it? How blind are you, really? Do they sound like they're lying?

Not his handwriting? Convenient story. "I got it through the owl post. Apparently they're more reliable than the school owls I had been using." Her voice was hard, "I wanted so hard to believe it wasn't from you. I took it to straight to Lia, she sounded furious but confirmed that it came from you! She had plenty of choice words to say about the two of you, believe me. Heck, she got so mad she actually tore it up and threw it away! Besides, you moved your stuff out! Who else would have known about that?!"

Her voice took on a sharp edge, "After that, rumors started floating around that I was cursed, a bad omen. Word somehow got out about..." she choked up, "about... Mom and Dad. Then you guys." She took a deep breath, "What few friends I had deserted me! No one wanted to be around the cursed, blind, broken girl that no one else wanted?!" She could feel tears pricking at her eyes again, thank goodness for the glasses.

"I didn't come her for this," she stated, riding the line between anger and outright crying. Yes you did. She took a purposeful step, reflexively waving her wand to get her bearings again, "I came here for" Her leg hit something hard, and nothing happened inside her head. She reeled back and her feet got caught in something else. The still jam covered knife, which had not been her wand, flew from her hand and clattered somewhere as she careened off balance and plunged towards the floor.

2 Giselle Duell Chess related pick-up lines now? Really? 1517 Giselle Duell 0 5

Marissa Duell

July 15, 2020 11:57 AM

I'm not sure it counts as pick-up lines when you're already married. by Marissa Duell

“It’s a letter Valentine sent from school,” protested Marissa when Giselle found the other letter on the table. “She sent it with one of the school owls, from Sonora. We haven’t had Archie for years….”

Seven years, to be precise. Her head was spinning, trying again and again to find some combination of circumstances which made all this make sense, failing each time, because how could it make sense? It was, perhaps, just possible that multiple owls could go astray for years – the school itself had to have tried to contact them sooner or later! – but how could a fake letter purportedly from Andrew have gotten thrown into the mix? That was something someone had to have done to them, to have gone out of his or her way to create.

The someone who had created it was not Andrew. Marissa dismissed that idea out of hand, and not even only because it wasn’t his handwriting. She had been married to the man for more than a decade now. If she started entertaining the idea that he – the one who had proposed going to Greece with his sister in the first place! – had somehow concocted all this, screwed with her head like this, withheld important information, kept her from even remembering the existence of a child she had loved…if she entertained that idea, than her whole life was a lie. It was quite impossible.

Of course, yesterday, she would have said that it was impossible that any of this could happen. The way things were stacking up…this letter, and information somehow getting loose into that school, and all of it…it sounded like a conspiracy. Like someone very deliberately meddling in all of their lives. The problem was, though, that they were ordinary people, unremarkable people. Things like this did not happen to them. Even Giselle – she had unusual powers, yes, but she had just been a little girl. Things like this did not happen to families like theirs. There had to be some other, more reasonable explanation…didn’t there?

“Wait – Giselle!” she exclaimed, her attention drawn back to the immediate moment by two things. Her first thought was simply that the child could not just swoop out of the house with this all unresolved. Her second was to realize that Giselle was tying to use her navigation spells…with a jam knife. She lurched out of her chair to try to catch her sister-in-law as she fell, but was too slow, only making brief, stunning contact with one shoulder as Giselle toppled over. Instead, then, she dropped to her knees beside her, her hands going to Giselle’s shoulders. “Are you all right? Did you hit your head?” she asked urgently.

Unthinkingly, she began to stroke Giselle’s hair, much as she would Valentine’s when Val was hurt or upset. “Sweetheart, I don’t know what’s going on, or what’s happened – I don’t. None of this makes any sense to me. And I don’t know if there’s anything we can do to help you believe us – but we never intended to abandon you, and we never, ever stopped wanting you,” she said through tears. “I might not be able to magic my way out of a paper bag – but if I had seen one letter, anything to help me remember, I’d have knocked someone upside the head with a stick if they’d tried to keep me from getting back to you. You’re family, honey. We’d do anything for you. We love you.”

16 Marissa Duell I'm not sure it counts as pick-up lines when you're already married. 147 0 5

Giselle Duell

July 15, 2020 7:46 PM

You may have a point there by Giselle Duell

Low levels of pain registered around Giselle's body as the world slowly came to rest again. They were just minor bumps and bruises, they were not the reason her head was swimming. Memories and visions were swirling about inside her head like a bad dream. They mixed together and shattered apart, she couldn't focus, she...

Marissa was next to her faster than she thought possible. Her gentle reassuring hands were there comforting her as they always had in the long distant past. Giselle grasped them as a drowning person grabbed a rope that promised safety once more. Her sister-in-law was talking, and she managed to gently shake her head on response to both of the questions.

Marissa then poured forth her heart upon the young woman. Giselle knew it was the truth and wept. They were the words she had longed for, the words she has desperately wanted to hear for the past seven long, lonely years. She was wanted. She was loved. She had a family.

She also cried because she knew what that meant. Marissa and Andrew hadn't purposely forgotten about her. They had been 'removed'. All these years, of missed family and isolation had been carefully crafted, and she had just let it happen. No, they lie! With the upsetting of the world, so had the voices changed. She drowned it out with tears as she pulled Marissa closer.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered as she tried to recover herself, "I'm sorry for doubting you. But, if you weren't to blame," she wiped at her cheeks to dry them, "then I was... I am. I don't know if I can take that." She pulled away to a sitting position, "I guess not." She sniffled with an attempt at a sad smile, "Here I am, a grown adult woman, crying on your floor like a small child."

"I... I should go." The thoughts of what this all meant still hadn't fully sunk in, but she wasn't sure this was the best place to be. If trouble was following her, she didn't want to endanger Marissa.. or Andrew. As much as she hoped Marissa would stop her, she knew that leaving would be best for everyone.

She reached up and found the edge of the table. As she started to pull herself up, her stomach roared in hunger again and her legs gave out from underneath her in agreement with her stomach. "Traitorous body parts." She muttered, "You won't leave me with any dignity remaining, will you?"

2 Giselle Duell You may have a point there 1517 Giselle Duell 0 5

Marissa Duell

July 16, 2020 8:45 AM

We're just a little sappy generally sometimes. by Marissa Duell

“Honey, no, no,” said Marissa, touching Giselle’s cheek when she blamed herself for the fiasco. “You were just a little girl. None of this was your fault either. I don’t know what – who – did these things to us – to all four of us – “ since this affected Valentine too; they, whoever they were, had deprived Valentine of one of her few living blood relatives, of her childhood playmate, and in a real way her childhood home - “but none of this was your fault, either.”

She sniffed and then added, “and I’m a grown woman crying in my floor too, so don’t even think about that.”

She felt the strangest urge to laugh, somehow. There was something so absurd about it…she had just acknowledged that someone had done something terrible to them all. It seemed bizarre, it seemed impossible…but it was all that made sense. But yet, they were still a little concerned with dignity, and acting their ages…

Still kneeling on the floor, she was able to reach out to steady Giselle when her legs buckled under her when she tried to pull herself up on the table. “Shh, shh,” she said soothingly. “First things first, you’re going to eat something,” she said, noticing the stomach rumbling. “I don’t think you should go anywhere – not when you've only just come back to us - but we can talk about that after you get some food in you. Will you let us help you up and back in your chair?” she asked. “Or do you want to go sit down in the living room on the couch while I cook? Andrew can sit with you while I’m cooking, and then we can all figure out…whatever we can figure out.”

16 Marissa Duell We're just a little sappy generally sometimes. 147 0 5

Giselle Duell

July 16, 2020 3:51 PM

I guess that's not always a bad thing. by Giselle Duell

Despite Marissa's protests, Giselle could not see it that way. Yes, it was true that someone had done this to them, but she had still allowed it to happen. Without any communication there hadn't been anything Marissa or Andrew could have done, but she could have. Instead, she had given up on them, exactly how Marissa would not have done. She could have kept trying, but she hadn't.

She opened her mouth to protest staying, but she just didn't have it in her at this point anymore. However, she did wave Marissa back at her offer to help her into the chair. She may be hungry, emotionally drained, weary, and blind, but she was not some helpless invalid...yet. "Here is fine," She responded as she groped around for the table again, then her chair. Finding them both, she hoisted herself back up into it and breathed a sigh of relief. Her hand found her wand, her actual wand, and with a quick gesture she had reoriented herself once again. Dangit Andrew, he had moved and she hadn't noticed. That hadn't helped.

"I'm really not sure if sticking around is the best idea." He stomach reminded her that there should be a piece of toast around here somewhere. "But it has been a rough few days," she continued in a now weary voice as she located the toast and promptly devoured it. That was so very good. She would have liked to have savored it a bit, but it was gone before she had the chance. There was more on the plate, taunting her, but she would not allow herself to take more. She was in control, she could wait. "From here we can talk while you cook."

Where to begin though? Well, there was the main purpose for her in coming here. "How is Valentine? " Giselle tried to ask innocently enough, "She's in her first year at school? Sonora?"

2 Giselle Duell I guess that's not always a bad thing. 1517 Giselle Duell 0 5

Andrew Duell

July 16, 2020 5:33 PM

Nope, it's great. Especially if you're a tree. by Andrew Duell

Andrew knew enough when to not get involved. He had jumped up from his seat when Giselle had begun to fall, but he was reacting much slower than his wife. She had nearly gotten to his sister in time, but not quite. Then they were both on the floor sobbing over the whole situation. As much as he'd like to wrap them both up together in a bear hug and do what he could to ease all of their pain, he knew that his best course of action was to let them have it out without interfering. So he busied himself with setting Giselle's chair back up from where it wound up after her legs got tangled up in it's legs.

He moved again as the women began to pick themselves up. He helped Marissa up and put a hand out towards Giselle as his wife offered their help to her. He wasn't surprised when his sister insisted on doing it herself, he even smiled slightly. Giselle had always been a stubborn one. He moved back to his own chair as Marissa went to the stove to start on the eggs again. He gave his wife a 'You are awesome' smile, a quick squeeze around the shoulders and a peck on the cheek before they parted for their separate destinations.

Looking over his sister across from him at the table, he had to admit that she looked like she'd been through a rough few days. From the sounds of it, she'd had a rough few years. Those would have to be over now. "You are going to need an awful convincing argument to convince us that you sticking around isn't a good idea. Because that sounds like the only idea to me. We used to have a guest room, but it stopped being that the moment you came in that door. It's yours now, whether you like it or not."

Andrew grinned at his sister, "Valentine is going to be ecstatic to see you again. She'll be home for midterm break." He nodded, "Yup, a first year at Sonora." He passed Val's note over to his sister, "Here, you can read it if you want." If only the muggles could get a text to speech program working as well as wizards could with a spell.

OOC: Marissa actions approved by her author.

2 Andrew Duell Nope, it's great. Especially if you're a tree. 145 0 5

Marissa Duell

July 16, 2020 7:14 PM

Sap helps trees survive, yes? Maybe it can do the same for us. by Marissa Duell

Marissa’s immediate impulse was to assist and coddle and generally take care of her sister-in-law, but she forced herself to merely hover in the background just in case, without interfering unless she was needed. The goal was always to promote independence; all that was coming back to her clearly now, from Giselle’s childhood, before she had even started school.

Luckily, Giselle made it back into her chair this time, and Marissa made an effort to give Andrew an ‘I’m-okay’ smile and a hand pat when he gave her a squeeze around the shoulder. Then she threw herself into her cooking, starting with frying eggs, trying to remember everything she could about what breakfast foods Giselle particularly liked.

She nodded emphatically to the statements about the guest room now being Giselle’s. “Absolutely,” she said firmly. “Home is where family is – remember?” she added, thinking back to when they had moved to Greece, when she had told Giselle that in an attempt to put the then eleven-year-old’s mind at ease about the family relocating as a unit. “And besides – we don’t know what’s been happening. If you leave, how can we be sure we won’t have trouble remembering you again? I think I can speak for both of us when I say we’ve had more than enough of that,” she added, her tone becoming fierce near the end, cracking an egg in a manner which, if not quite suggestive of cracking the skull of one of her enemies, was at least rather more aggressive than usual.

“She just started there, in Andrew’s old House,” added Marissa as she added salt to the sizzling eggs. “She’s wonderful – not that I’m biased, of course,” she added with a hint of a smile. She paused then, though, thinking on the situation. Of course the girls had been fond of each other before they had been separated, and she thought of Valentine as the same person. Seven years was a long time, though, especially given how much both girls had grown in that time - seven years looked a lot different to a thirteen-year-old than to a thirty-year-old. As for Valentine, Marissa wasn't sure how much she would remember about her aunt just in the course of nature, without any magic involved, because of the distance...."I'm sure you'll love her," she concluded, leaving it at that, without speculating on whether she expected it was a 'still' case or a new case.

16 Marissa Duell Sap helps trees survive, yes? Maybe it can do the same for us. 147 0 5

Giselle Duell

July 17, 2020 8:09 PM

Survival would be nice. by Giselle Duell

Giselle nodded a little absently at Marissa's reminder about family and such. It was what she had longed for, but now what? Even if they did seriously want her to stay with them, could she? What about Lia? Are you really going to drop your only real friend for these... people that completely forgot you existed? She tried to clear her thoughts, and thankfully Marissa did give her something to distract from that issue.

"You don't have to worry about that anymore." Giselle stated dismissively, "You may forget the school again, but you won't forget that I was here today," she paused, "and what happened." she added a little more quietly. Then resuming her prior volume, she continued. "Since I'm not directly a part of the school anymore, the charm shouldn't affect us anymore. But, since they are so tightly tied to the school, your memories of Greece will probably always be hazy if I'm not around for a bit."

With that bit of trivia taken care of, her mind was forced back to her current situation. "As for the present and future? I don't know." She did want to stay here and be a family again, to have people around that cared about her. But, there were some things that would need taken care of before that could even start to be a possibility. She smirked, "If only we could know what the future will bring." It was a tempting thought, though but Lia had made sure she knew how dangerous it could be to try and force the Sight without an experienced expert like Lia around to help.

"I do have a life out there." She added a bit defensively, "I have a place, and.." friends really wasn't the right word, "associates. I have obligations to attend to. I'm not just some homeless bum." she finished. It wasn't much of a 'place' admittedly. Just a tiny room that Lia hadn't been using in her apartment. Her associates? Eh... probably not the type of people Marissa or Andrew would entirely approve of. As for obligations... well, that was part of the reason she was here.

Still they were trying to be nice and cope with a strange situation. She relaxed a little bit, "Sorry, it's just... I will see. Since you left, the only friend I've had was Lia. You remember her, Lia Persefoni. She's deputy-headmistress of the school and head of my house. Although soon she may be taking over the school. The current headmaster is having some problems and might need to step down. She was the only one that talked to me, she arranged it so that I could stay at the school over breaks, and..." she hesitated a moment, "found me a place to stay after I graduated, and has had me doing some odd jobs around town at at the school. She's been great. I'll have to let her know what's going on."

She paused again, longer this time. "She... she doesn't think much of you though after you left the way that you did. She didn't think I should try to find you again, that I should just leave all that pain in the past and move forward." Giselle sighed, "I wonder what she'll make of this mess. Maybe she'll be able to help us figure out what is going on."

"I am anxious to see her again as well." Val's birthday was in mid February, so she would still be eleven at midterm break. That was good. The other requirement... was hopefully a given, she was eleven. Granted terrible things could have happened, but she wasn't getting any sort of overly protective vibes from her parents that she would expect if that had been the case. "We did used to have fun together." There was a hint of the old wound nagging at her with Marissa's comment. It must be nice to have a mother that thinks you're wonderful. She dismissed the thought.

Taking the note from Andrew, she tapped it with her wand and made a few motions. The incantation came from her mouth, but didn't go quiet when she had finished. Instead it continued on, voicing the contents of Valentine's letter in her own voice. Giselle smiled, it would be nice to see Val again."

2 Giselle Duell Survival would be nice. 1517 Giselle Duell 0 5

Marissa Duell

July 18, 2020 9:13 AM

Thriving would be even better. by Marissa Duell

Marissa half-shook her head as Giselle dismissed the spells as no longer a problem. Normally, that would have made sense. Normally, she would have accepted that. At the moment, though, she wasn’t sure about anything.

“I hope we won’t have to worry about you not being around for too long again,” she said when Giselle said that their memories of Greece might grow fuzzy if they didn’t see her for a while.

She recognized the defensive note in Giselle’s voice and adjusted her tone and strategy. “Of course you’re not,” she said when Giselle denied being a homeless bum. “You’ve obviously done a wonderful job learning to take care of yourself – I hate that you had to do that before you should have, but I’m so proud of you for making it this far,” she added, and nearly teared up again. “I’m just worried…someone had to have gone out of their way to keep any letters from you or the school from reaching us for all this time,” she said. “It sounds…ridiculous, but it’s the only thing that makes sense. They had to have done that for a reason, so I guess I just go straight to thinking we should all stick together.” She tipped eggs onto a plate and put one of her hands over one of Giselle’s as she put the plate down on the table. “Plus, I think part of what we were saying is – we’re happy you’re here. We want you to feel at home here, with us. Do you want some pancakes to go with these eggs? Or oatmeal, or some grits? What do you want to drink?”

She was briefly glad that Giselle couldn’t see her expression when her sister-in-law talked about Lia Persefoni. She remembered once remarking to Andrew that the woman she remembered was well-named – she’d seemed about warm enough to reign in Hades. Still – who wouldn’t have taken pity on Giselle in her circumstances, and especially the circumstances Lia and Giselle had both thought existed there? It would take a complete monster not to.

“We owe her our gratitude as well,” she said. “Though I’m glad you didn’t listen to her about not trying to find us again,” she added. “I’m sure she’ll understand you staying a few days, anyway, after you’ve come all this way, though – we can approach the rest as we get to it,” she suggested. “We’ve got so much time to catch up on.”

She went quiet as Giselle listened to Valentine’s letter, finding it a little strange and more than a little poignant to hear her daughter’s words in Giselle’s voice. “She’s as energetic as ever,” she remarked when the letter ended, thinking on all the exclamation points, and back to Val as a very little girl. “I guess she gets all that energy from y’all’s side of the family.”

16 Marissa Duell Thriving would be even better. 147 0 5

Andrew Duell

July 18, 2020 10:17 AM

I agree wholeheartedly by Andrew Duell

Andrew sat and listened as the women talked. He had spent most of his life tuning his brain to track down problems and fix them. Troubleshooting circuits and reworking energy flows were only an application of that training. This was another. His brain was screaming at him that things weren't adding up properly. Marissa was right, someone had gone out of their way. Well out of their way. Disrupting owl communication on that level was not an easy task.

His mind started churning through the 'facts' that he had at his disposal. They had left Giselle at school while they came temporarily back to the states. Giselle had sent Archimedes. Archimedes had never arrived, or had been seen again. They had tended to Pop and started to forget about the school. Giselle had sent more owls... no, school owls. No school owls arrived. They had forgotten why they needed to go back, so arranged to have their things transported to the states. That hadn't taken long to arrange, maybe a day? Giselle had received a false letter from him telling her about the move and telling her to get her things. Giselle showed the letter to Deputy-headmistress Lia Persefoni, who authenticated the fake letter and then destroyed it while bad mouthing them.

"You said Deputy-headmistress Persefoni tore up the letter and threw it away," Andrew commented, "How did you get it back?"

Giselle and Lia went to the house and Lia made sure Giselle got her things from the movers. The rest of the things returned to the states with no trace of Giselle among them. Andrew was starting to think this did in fact make some sense now. They had resumed a normal life of anguished ignorance. Giselle had stopped trying to contact them. Stories started spreading around the school and no one wanted to be around Giselle, except Lia. Lia who may now be stepping up from Deputy headmistress to Headmistress of the school now that the Headmaster was having some problems. She was also having Giselle run 'odd jobs' around the school. No... nothing about this sounded at all suspicious.

"I'm not sure that's a great idea," Andrew finally voiced slowly as Giselle suggested bringing Lia in to help solve the problem. But that is undoubtedly what Lia might want. The ramifications went through his head. If Lia has been Giselle's only 'friend' for the past seven years, what level of influence would she have over his sister? That thought made him mad. If he was right... he may have to make that comment Marissa made once a long time ago about Deputy-Headmistress Lia Persefoni a reality, and do his utmost to send her to reign in the depths of the underworld.

Before he could think of that though, he needed more information. So he tried to calm his voice as much as possible, "So, what did actually bring you to our doorstep then, against Lia's recommendation?"

2 Andrew Duell I agree wholeheartedly 145 0 5

Marissa Duell

July 18, 2020 3:27 PM

But we may need to build up to it gently. by Marissa Duell

Marissa’s eyes had moved from her cooking to her husband for a moment when he started asking about how Giselle had gotten the fake letter back after Lia Persefoni had torn it to pieces. She understood the desire to understand these details here, of course – Andrew was naturally detail-oriented, it was what made him good at his job, and the letter had to be bothering him even more than it bothered her. It was his identity, after all, which someone had chosen to appropriate for their…whatever it was someone had hoped to accomplish by torturing their family. She wasn’t sure that it was the best idea to press Giselle for such details right now, though. The emotional upheaval of the past few minutes had stretched them out so far that Marissa felt like they had lasted for hours, and it couldn’t be much better for Giselle even if it wasn’t worse….

She had not said or done anything then, though. They were all struggling, and Andrew may have latched onto details as his means of coping – especially since, well, it was odd, the situation with the letter. What had Giselle meant, saying that Lia had confirmed that the letter had been from Andrew? How often had Lia seen either of their handwritings, really? She tried to think through all the paperwork they had done back then, and communication with the school…it was all a blur, though, and she thought it might have been even without the spells scrambling her brains. It always was, getting a child ready for school, and that was even when not also planning to move countries herself with a toddler in tow, but it did seem strange, that someone could have claimed with authority that Andrew really had written that letter when he obviously hadn't.

Marissa shook her head slightly, though, her grey eyes anxious, when Andrew seemed to her – perhaps as much through the subconscious links of old married couples as through anything clear in his tone or demeanor – to become more openly skeptical about the Delphinic deputy headmistress.

It wasn’t that she thought they shouldn’t ask some questions about the woman. It was…odd, the whole situation. Why had the school not attempted to send Giselle to them in the States, or to the Trevears? Why had Lia decided to go to lengths to help Giselle stay in Greece over her school holidays? The school was odd and secretive, but…if they could remember Giselle now, and what had happened, then they knew the school existed. It was not a secret from them now, regardless of whether they ever went back to Greece or interacted with it in any way ever again. Keeping Giselle there had not really contributed to the secrecy of the school, and encouraging the poor child to not even try to find her own family after she was out…It didn’t add up, somehow. The problem was, though, that Giselle seemed to wholeheartedly accept the woman as her savior, and Marissa was afraid that if she was pushed very far, at least right now,, she might flee abruptly without even giving them enough information to find her again.

16 Marissa Duell But we may need to build up to it gently. 147 0 5

Giselle Duell

July 18, 2020 5:24 PM

Thriving? What is that exactly? by Giselle Duell

Giselle shrugged, "I had to learn to take care of myself, no one was around to help me." He voice had automatically sharpened for the second half of the statement. She realized it almost immediately, "I'm sorry, that wasn't fair." She sighed and relaxed again, she hadn't noticed her body tensing up, but it had. "It does sound ridiculous, who would do something like that, or why? Who would even be able to?" Marissa set a plate in front of her and it smelled delicious. She almost jerked her hand away when Marissa put her hand on it, but there was something about the feeling that was comforting.

"I know.." she responded a bit wistfully, "Like old times." A thought struck her as Marissa asked her what else she wanted to eat. A proper, malicious, evil grin spread across her face. The kind that only one sibling could give to another. "I think pancakes sound nice. But not just any, nothing but Andrew's world-famous chocolate-chip pancakes. I think..." she paused momentarily for effect, "in a unicorn shape. Yes, that will do nicely. Send your lazy husband into the kitchen my dear sister-in-law to do some work for a change and relax a bit yourself." She patted place at the table next to her.

Giselle perked up a little at Andrew's question, he had been quiet and briefly wondered if he had fallen asleep. "Accio letter scraps." She stated in response. "What did they teach you over there at Sonora? As for why? I don't know really, something to remind me of you? Of the terrible thing you had done?" She shook her head.

"I did listen to her for a long time, two years I guess." The the voice had started chipping away at her resolve. It had told her that something was wrong, some of the people that Lia had gotten herself mixed up with were not great people. Lia had tried to keep them away from her, but some of the odd jobs hadn't allowed for such distances.

Giselle raised a questioning eyebrow at Andrew's statement. "Oh? Why is that?" She wasn't sure she liked the tone of voice he was using, "Lia is the only good thing that has come out of this whole mess. She's helped me more than anyone else so far since all of this started! She's the reason I'm here!" Giselle blurted it out before she realized it. "Sort of..." she continued and backed down.

"I suspected there was something going on," she waved her hand dismissively in Andrew's direction, "that didn't involve you. I think Lia is in trouble, I wanted..." she stopped herself. What would they think? Did it matter? They kept saying they wanted her to stay and be a family again. Would they still? The risk was very low. She had to though, the other options were not good. "I wanted," she started over again, "to find out what I can to help Lia. To do that, I need to borrow Valentine."

2 Giselle Duell Thriving? What is that exactly? 1517 Giselle Duell 0 5

Marissa Duell

July 18, 2020 6:42 PM

Definition of thrive: intransitive verb - 1: to grow vigorously; 2: to gain in wealth or possessions; 3: to progress toward or realize a goal despite or because of circumstances. by Marissa Duell

Giselle had good questions. They were among the same questions Marissa had. Unfortunately, this limited the number of answers she had.

“I don’t know,” she said. “My…the only thing I can think of is that they might have thought they could use you, sweetheart,” she said. “Or your gift, I suppose. Someone…I’ve read in history about Dark wizards who’ve tried to kidnap Seers. I know we all like to think that things like that don’t happen anymore, but I doubt they keep the Aurors around for no reason. Maybe someone just…saw an opportunity, when Mama died, and you were alone all of a sudden. If you had gotten stranded, gotten alone outside the school….” She shuddered a bit at the possibilities. “But you didn’t, thank God,” she said.

She surprised herself a little, in the midst of all this drama, by laughing at the request for unicorn chocolate chip pancakes. “What do you think, Andrew?” she asked with a grin. “Think you’re up for a pastry challenge?”

And for a moment, it almost felt like old times. Just for a moment. And then came Giselle’s outburst in defense of Lia Persefoni.

Marissa was already preparing soothing words in her head, assuring Giselle that they were all just looking for answers, something insubstantial about how of course Giselle knew the other witch far better than they did…and then things changed abruptly.

“Borrow Valentine,” she repeated. She was grateful, suddenly, to have something of a natural tendency toward softspokenness; it prevented too much tone from getting into her words when she didn’t want it to, which was nice, even if the price was that it could be difficult to insert enough tone when she did want to. She didn’t know what she felt, exactly, other than wary, and she didn’t want her feelings clouding the situation further when they needed to be calm and rational together. “What does that mean, exactly, borrowing Valentine?” She thought as rapidly as possible. “You know we want to help you – “ she put a hint of emphasis on the word ‘you’ – “any way we can, but when you say ‘trouble’…we can’t let Valentine get involved in anything dangerous, and I’d rather you not get involved in anything like that, either.” She hoped Giselle understood that it was only that she couldn’t stop Giselle from doing things if she was really determined to do them, not a matter of valuing her less than Valentine. Had it been seven years ago in Greece, Marissa would have flatly forbidden Giselle from getting into anything dangerous, too, but Giselle wasn’t a child anymore. “So, what exactly are we talking about here?”

16 Marissa Duell Definition of thrive: intransitive verb - 1: to grow vigorously; 2: to gain in wealth or possessions; 3: to progress toward or realize a goal despite or because of circumstances. 147 0 5

Andrew Duell

July 18, 2020 7:15 PM

You're not an Aladren in disguise, are you? by Andrew Duell

Andrew nodded along with his wife's reasoning, "You probably know that better than us, Sis. That whole idea of evil people wanting to take advantage of seers is the reason the school has those stupid memory charms. The less people know about an entire school nearly dedicated to the instruction of seers, the better on that front." As much as he wanted to curse that stupid school right now and their stupid memory charms, he had to admit that it was a reasonable fear and not an unreasonable precaution.

Oh bugger. Despite everything else, he remembered that smile on Giselle's face. That meant he was in trouble. He couldn't resist grinning at the request as Marissa laughed. "Alright, I'm game. It's not like Val didn't demand them one last time before she headed off to school anyway." He got to his feet and pulled out the chair next to Giselle for Marissa before continuing his way into the kitchen.

"Okay, okay." he held his hands up in mock surrender to his sister's defense of Lia as he passed her. He turned to begin pancake preparations missed whatever Giselle had said next while rattling some pans around trying to dig out the griddle. Once he had it out he noticed that Marissa's tone had changed. Up until now it had been running over with tenderness and softness, now it was more neutral. It was the tone she used when she wasn't sure how she should be reacting to a situation. It was an odd tone for her to use while talking about Val... oh.

That didn't sound good. Well, he'd nearly messed this situation up a time or two already. Maybe he should let Marissa handle this one and just be ready to back her up if she needed it. He keep an ear on the two and started mixing up the pancake batter.

2 Andrew Duell You're not an Aladren in disguise, are you? 145 0 5

Giselle Duell

July 18, 2020 8:01 PM

Progress despite circumstances huh? by Giselle Duell

Giselle shuddered at the possibilities of Marissa's scenario as well. Fortunately she had not fallen prey to that situation. Thanks to Lia. They did have a point, did some Dark Wizard find out about her situation and scheme away to take her away from anyone that might care? Did Lia thwart those plans? Were those people she was dealing with some sort of consequence for interfering? Was Lia's trouble all her fault? She had to do something.

It did not take an especially perceptive person to notice the change in Marissa's tone, and Giselle felt her chances withering away. She just nodded in response to her sister-in-law repeating the request. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding as Marissa kept talking and asking questions. She hadn't heard a 'No' yet. Well... here we go she thought to herself.

"I don't want to put Val into any danger either, and there won't be... much." Giselle cringed a little as she imagined the effect those words might have on Val's mother. She sighed and started over. "Delphi naturally specializes in Divinations. I'm not sure how much you got into it at Sonora, but it was 'the main course' for us. This was a little unfortunate as most divination techniques are, shall we say, challenging for the visually impaired." She held up a hand and started to tick off items with her fingers, "Astrology, observing the movements of the stars and planets. Catoptromancy, looking into mirrors. Crystal-gazing. Palmistry, reading lines on a hand. Tessomancy, reading tea leaves. The list goes on, but you get the idea." This had been another reason no one wanted to work with her at school.

"Anyway, for most of them I figured out work-arounds, I had to. By the end I was actually doing really well in that class. Transfiguration was not a good class for me, but that's not really relevant at the moment. One of the things I had dug up was an old alternative method to Catoptromancy. I had to make a special mirror but then I could cast some complicated charms and use a first year student to be my eyes looking into the mirror. They couldn't be older than eleven and..." nope, still not going to go there. "and then I could ask them questions and they would tell me what they saw in the mirror. It actually proved to be a better method, it was just a lot more work. I wanted to borrow Val to be my eyes. I want to find out what is going on with Lia."

That wasn't all of it though. "The ritual is harmless, there is no danger there. However... my mirror is still back in the school. I would need to take Val there to use it."

2 Giselle Duell Progress despite circumstances huh? 1517 Giselle Duell 0 5

Marissa Duell

July 18, 2020 8:39 PM

It's in the definition. by Marissa Duell

Marissa’s eyebrows raised dangerously at the word ‘much,’ but she managed to avoid interjecting in a way Giselle could perceive as her sister-in-law began trying to explain what she meant more thoroughly. She nodded at the list of divination methods, though this too was imperceptible to the younger woman.

“I took Divination as an elective in school,” she said, still fairly neutrally. She wanted to get back to the part where there wasn’t ‘much’ danger to her daughter involved in whatever it was Giselle had in mind, but Valentine wasn’t in immediate danger, which meant she could control herself and at least hear Giselle out, and thus increase, she hoped, the chance that Giselle could be reasoned with. “Just three years, it wasn’t a particularly intensive course, but I’ve heard of most of that.”

Because of that, she couldn’t help but be a little impressed by hearing that Giselle had found work-arounds for most of those methods. She also jerked half a nod, with a half-grimacing smile of sympathy, when Transfiguration was mentioned; she had had trouble with Transfiguration too, albeit for completely different reasons. And then came the reason Giselle needed Valentine.

Marissa had learned that one of the important things to do, as a parent, was to take a breath before she reacted whenever possible. It wasn’t always possible – times when Val had been in danger of a serious fall right away, when she had raised her voice in alarm while rescuing her, or times when Giselle swept in and believed they had done something terrible, when the world had just felt like it was spinning off its axis – but when it was, it was good to take a breath first. So she did. And then she reacted.

“Giselle,” she said. “You can’t possibly think we’re going to let Val go in that school.”

There was another problem, of course. A trouble severe enough to inspire all this was not something she wanted her daughter seeing the details of. Valentine had had a nice life. A safe life without major traumas, despite her lack of extensive family. Marissa felt it was her job as a mother to keep Valentine in that state as long as possible. Before they even got to that, though, they had plenty of other issues to discuss.

“If you want to enchant a mirror, you can have your pick of ours. We can buy you one if it’s a specific type. I’m sure your brother will help you with the enchantments, if he can – I would if I could – will if I can, though you probably remember how useless I am there. But you admitted yourself that there’s danger in taking her there – you said it’s all the danger. I never would have let anyone risk you that way when you were eleven, and the same goes for Valentine.”

16 Marissa Duell It's in the definition. 147 0 5

Giselle Duell

July 19, 2020 5:43 AM

Yes, and it sounds nice. by Giselle Duell

Giselle's face hardened at Marissa's almost casual response to her plan. See, the don't care about you or Lia. She tried to squash the voice, but it was harder now... some part of her wanted to hear it. They can leave you behind all alone at the school, forget about you, but put poor little Valentine in any level of danger? Never. She was on the edge of giving a sharp reply when she stopped herself. No, she thought, arguing against the voice. That's not fair, they were just pawns in this as well. They care about Val... I care about Val.

She melted back into her chair and her stomach reminded her that there was food in front of her. She decided to eat and think. Thinking was easier when her stomach wasn't complaining constantly. So she began to devour Marissa's delicious eggs and think. They were so very good, this had definitely been something she had missed. The school's food had been fine, but it had still been school food. The food actually had improved during breaks. Most of the time. She had the distinct feeling that the school's elves got a little more leeway to 'experiment' when most of the students were away. Most of the time it was successful.

Her reverie was interrupted by Marissa doing her thinking for her. She smiled a bit at Marissa's insistence that she wouldn't have allowed her to have been put in harms way when she was eleven. No, just thirteen. Shut-up voice.

Make another mirror? Here? She shook her head gently. "It took months before, and fortunately I had started it before..." she hesitated just a moment, "everyone started avoiding me. My friends had been helping to make it. There are all sorts of spells and there's a complicated potion it needs to be immersed in..." her voice drifted off as she remembered struggling to complete it on her own after she hid it. She had gotten a vision of those previous friends smashing it out of fear and spite. Then she had to argue with the obstinate old teacher that it was a valid technique, fortunately Lia had helped there as well.... also with arranging for a rotation of first year students for her to have to use it. It was good to have a friend in high places.

"I don't remember all of the details or formulas, I would need to find that text again. There were a few rather exotic components as well." True, it would be less dangerous if she just returned to the school to find that book again. She could check in with Lia and make sure all was still well. "Alright," she relented, "I'll go back and find the book. We can try that first."

2 Giselle Duell Yes, and it sounds nice. 1517 Giselle Duell 0 5