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Post by Curse Kameren on Oct 18, 2010 16:00:57 GMT -5
Curse let out a breath of anxiety as they finally made it through the doors. He followed in the bulky gesture of a personal bodyguard, keeping his face stony as he followed at a protective length behind Amara. The magnificence of the theater wasn't lost on Curse; he marveled at the creativity and ingenuity of the muggles, but kept his face calm, like he saw this every day; he could only hope Amara was doing the same.
"Good evening, Madam. Your invitation?"
Curse saw the muscles in Amara's back tense with surprise at the questions, the momentary panic setting in. He was about to step forward when she relaxed, keeping her starlet persona with a stiff glare and some short words in the man's direction: "You aren't serious, are you?"
The ex-auror could hardly contain his crooked grin. Brilliant. He shoved the charmed papers into the man's face, grunting disapprovingly as he made is way past towards his 'celebrity'. "Don' make my job more difficult," He growled at the man in his scottish drawl as he passed.
"That was bloody brilliant," He said in Amara's ear as he came up behind her, still retaining his faked accent. They couldn't be sure who was listening. He smiled at her, glancing around at the crowd to look for Kensington. "You saw it, didn't you? I can feel it," A slight look of unease fell across the professor's face. He had far more experience with dark magic than most others, and he could practically taste the dark magic in the air. "Now how do we get it..." Curse wasn't quite sure. In his position as a guard, he didn't have the authority to talk to someone with such notoriety as Chelsea Kensington, and though Amara could, too much conversation could reveal her limited knowledge of muggle culture. Besides, they couldn't just ask her to give them her priceless necklace, could they?
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Post by Amara Deocaris on Oct 21, 2010 18:57:31 GMT -5
Amara stayed close to the refreshments table, smiling at other random women and men though she didn't make eye contact. It was difficult to not stare, even though Curse already sent some preliminary information in her head as to what to expect. The pyramid of champagne glasses looked absolutely beautiful, magical even, and Mara couldn't help but stare. She already had several pinches on the inside of her elbow, courtesy of her own rather sharp fingernails.
"That was bloody brilliant!" said Curse, and Mara couldn't help a triumphant smile. "It was, wasn't it. Okay, we got in... Now--"
"You saw it, didn't you? I can feel it..." said the ex-Auror, looking wary. Amara nodded, her brown eyes straying to where Chelsea Kensington was holding court over a whole lot of men, who seemed to all love staring down at her chest.
"I did, back when she suddenly put her arm around me. A dark object in a building full of Muggles... it must be affecting everyone in here." said Mara, glancing at the glitterati surrounding them. The pressure of dark magic was nearly palpable, attesting to the strength of the spider brooch. "I think we should approach her and try to get her alone. What do you think?"
I could say I was a fan... fan, like those people outside! I could want her autograph or a picture of her... I wonder if she'd fall for it. thought Mara.
On the other side of the room, a nondescript man put a finger to his ear, listening to the sound device affixed to it. He and another man were staring at two people who were doing something rather peculiar in this event-- not talking to everyone and promoting themselves.
"Henson, the Black Widow wishes to speak with those two."
"Affirmative."
Henson closed the link and nodded to his companion, who strolled towards Amara and Curse as they tried to navigate towards Chelsea Kensington.
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Post by Curse Kameren on Nov 1, 2010 19:46:57 GMT -5
"I think we should approach her and try to get her alone. What do you think?"
"I don't know if that would work," Curse replied quietly, meandering his way through the crowd as if to make room for his starlet to follow him. He kept his eyes on the crowd, watching for any changes the spider might make on them. The magic was heavy in the air; if it was around these muggles much longer, Curse wasn't sure what could happen. His emerald eyes stopped, his gaze still on a nondescript man making his way towards the two of them. Curse swore under his breath, grabbing Amara by the hand. "I think we've been found," He said quietly, "try not to panic, just do what they say."
The professor glanced over his shoulder in the direction of Kensington, suddenly pushing backwards and bumping his shoulder hard into a passing man. Curse's shove worked like dominoes; his bump fell the man into another person, and another, and another, until the man in front of Chelsea Kensington stumbled forward, spilling his champagne down the front of the celebrity's dress. Perfect, Curse smirked lightly to himself, the joys of being a physics professor. Several stylists seemed to appear out of the woodwork, whisking Ms. Kensington away somewhere for her to change. And a change of dress meant a change of jewelery. The spider would be somewhere, alone, in the theater.
"You're going to need to come with me, Miss," the man spoke in a low voice, so as not to upset the others at the party. He glanced up at Curse, his expression stern at the taller man, "You too, sir."
Curse nodded, following behind Amara. The two followed the security guard into a small back room behind the party. "Alright, who are you two? And do you understand that you've committed a crime? We can send you to jail easily for this--"
"Lieutenant-Detective Kristopher Curse Kameren, First class under the United Kingdom's Ministry Division Six," Curse's brow furrowed as he reached into his pocket and once again retrieved the badge he had shown Amara; there was a reason Aurors had badges, for their power sometimes needed to be stretched beyond just the magical world. The man's eyes widened, though Curse wasn't sure why; either he was security surprised by the fact he'd caught a police officer, or he was a police officer surprised by finding a member of the rarely-spoken-of 'Division Six'. The Sixth Division was the muggle name for the Ministry of Magic in their government, as the two often had to work together on higher levels. The professor sniffed impatiently, sitting back in the chairs Amara and Curse were given. "Now, are you police, or are you just people hired by the theater to look scary? I'm really rooting for the former."
The man seemed flabbergasted by Curse's spout of sudden information. He was only a security guard. Curse could tell. "Err... We're only security, Detective, bu-but we can phone the police if you need--"
"No, you don't need to." Curse stood. Now it was his turn to play a role; impatient, no-nonsense cop on patrol. They had a job to do, and some petty security wouldn't get in the way of the Ministry, magic or otherwise. "But we need access to the party, backstage, and wherever Chelsea Kensington's dressing room is."
"Sir--" The security guard stopped his sputtering under Curse's sharp emerald glare. "Yes. Follow me."
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Post by Amara Deocaris on Nov 2, 2010 23:12:03 GMT -5
Amara was wide-eyed and silent throughout the whole proceedings, trying to look rich and snobby and bored while they interrogated Curse. She was still in character, mostly because she didn't realize what exactly was going on and didn't know what to do. When they strode off into the backstage following the guard (security guard? wasn't that redundant\?), Mara sidled next to Curse and murmured, "Am I still the starlet or are we official now?"
Before Curse could answer, the walk ended and they stood in front of a door with a bright gold star affixed to the front. The security guard nodded once then strode to the side, waiting for them to open the door.
Amara looked at the situation at hand and nodded. This was a mission after all. She gave the door three hard raps. "Miss Kensington? If you would kindly step outside please."
There was no response. In fact, there was no rush of activity outside, or in the surrounding area. But the feel of the spider was heavy, like a cloud of musk that wouldn't go away. Amara had a very bad feeling about this.
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Post by Curse Kameren on Nov 5, 2010 11:54:49 GMT -5
Curse allowed Amara to move in front of him as the security lead them towards the dressing room, following quietly towards them. He smirked lightly when he noticed in Ms. Deocaris's walk that she was still playing the spoiled starlet. "Am I still the starlet or are we official now?" She asked, turning to look at him.
He chuckled, shaking his head at her. "No, Amara, you can stop now if you'd like." They came to a stop in front of the star's door. Curse nodded, making eye contact with the security as if to say 'you can go'. The security guard nodded, turning and going away from them in the hallway. He looked the door up and down, listening carefully for anyone inside.
Amara knocked hard on the door, trying to reach the people inside of their own accord. "Miss Kensington? If you would kindly step outside please." There was silence beyond the door. Nothing. Then--
"AAAIIIAAAAAAAAAGH!" Curse sprung into action at the scream, pushing past Amara and forcing the door open and getting into the room. Chelsea Kensington was nowhere in sight, probably back at the party. Her stained dress laid on an armchair in the room, in front of a full length mirror that spanned the entire wall. But these things weren't noticed, because a young woman--younger than both the Ministry workers--laid writhing on the ground, her face twisted in pain. She gripped her hand with white knuckles, trying to scratch at the skin until it bled and there was nothing left to it.
The dagger of the spider lay on the floor next to the writhing woman, a spot of fresh blood shining on the blade.
Curse swore, rushing to the woman and kneeling over her. "She pricked herself on the knife--Amara, what do we do?" Curse looked up from the woman for a moment to Amara, panic evident in his bright green eyes. This woman was in pain, and Curse didn't know if there was anything he could do for her. So he improvised.
The auror kneeled over her, with one knee on each side of her seizing body. He put a hand on either side of the woman's head, examining the pain and terror in her face. "Miss, breathe. Just breathe, you have to keep breathing, you need to calm down--"
"I-i-ii-it-t-t hu-u-ur-r-r-t-s-s-s..." The woman could only muster out a squeak, tears running down her face and over Curse's hands on her head.
"I know it hurts, but you have to trust me. We want to help you," Curse closed his eyes, putting focus on his hands as he prepared to use Occlumens on the young woman. If he could get deep enough into her mind, he could lay a sleeping spell that would stop her mind from being able to feel her nervous system fray.
"Ah-Auugh," Curse suppressed his own cries in pain as he entered the woman's mind and felt the pain she was suffering, his whole body tensing as he moved through the sea of pain in her mind. "A-m-m-mara, g-get the--the knife. Get-t it--be careful..." Curse was practically shouting at her, unaware of his volume due to the pain running from the woman's mind into his own. His teeth clenched as he forced himself deeper into the woman's fraying consciousness, working his hardest to get to the center of her mind. "Elizabeth," He whispered, learning the woman's name as he went through her mind, "Elizabeth Boyd. We will help you. But for now, sleep..."
Curse's hands glowed white and he started backwards as Miss Boyd's body fell still. He shook uncontrollably, his back arched against the mirror wall. It had been a long time since he had gone into someone's mind, and entering the mind of a panicked woman in immense pain was hardly a warm-up. The professor squeezed his head between his temples, his emerald eyes falling on Amara. "Did you get it? Are we okay?" Then, he asked a question he knew the answer to, but dreaded:
"...Is there anything we can do for her?"
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Post by Amara Deocaris on Nov 8, 2010 7:31:56 GMT -5
Amara stared at the young woman in horror, her mind stalling. It was always like this in emergencies, and how she got to the position of Unspeakable when split-second decisions were beyond her was a mystery.
She gulped several times as Curse kneeled over the young woman and then faced her with panic in his eyes. The ex-auror himself was panicking. This was a very serious situation. Yet Mara's mind was blanked out.
Think, Mara, think! Stop this business of blanking out!
"--Amara, what do we do?" asked Curse, his voice urgent.
"I-I-I -- I don't know! I don't know!"
Mara breathed heavily, dropping down to carefully grab the dagger. It had extended to it's full length, the brooch now forming part of the jeweled hilt. Fear coursed through every vein of Amara's body.
She glanced back at Curse and saw with nearly tearing eyes at what he was doing. This total giving, a sacrifice considering he didn't even know the woman, snapped Mara out of her blankness. This was the time for action.
"Did you get it? Are we okay? ... Is there anything we can do for her?" asked Curse, his eyes weary and pain-filled.
Her lips white and thin, Mara shook her head. "The research had still been ongoing, and the animal we tested it on... eventually killed itself." she said, gently handling the dagger with her two hands. She had used part of her stole in getting the dagger, not allowing it to touch her skin in any way.
It can't be just this. There must be a way. I can't allow this to happen to this woman -- Muggle though she may be.
But the research wasn't done! I can't be sure it will work!
Amara hated giving false hope to anyone, and struggled mightily with the decision. If they proceeded and she failed, the girl might end up being worse off. She closed her eyes.
"Curse." she said, her voice trembling. "There might be one way."
She licked her lips, then continued. "It will be dangerous and not just for us -- she might end up even worse off."
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Post by Curse Kameren on Nov 9, 2010 1:39:23 GMT -5
The ex-auror shuddered, his shaking getting worse as the memories started to fall upon him; his journey through Elizabeth Boyd's mind wouldn't allow for him just to get in and out, not in the state they were both in. Curse had picked up Elizabeth's memories, thoughts, and ideas. Curse now knew Miss Elizabeth Emily Boyd better than anyone else she knew. And now, she was lost.
"Curse." she said, her voice trembling. "There might be one way."
Curse put his head between his knees, breathing deeply as he tried to get a grip on himself. He made no apologies and would not have a fuss over his current condition; he was an auror, and his job was to protect people. Muggle or Wizard, it didn't matter. That woman was in pain, and Curse had to make it stop, one way or another. "Good," Curse replied between short breaths, his shoulders trembling, "lets do it, then. It's what she would have wanted. I've disconnected her conscious mind from the pain, but if we don't do anything, she'll be just like this. Forever." The professor gestured towards her still body, her eyes moving side to side under her eyelids. She twitched and shook along with Curse; though her mind was now quiet, her body still raged with pain.
"It will be dangerous and not just for us -- she might end up even worse off."
Curse wrenched his head back up, his emerald gaze locking onto Amara's soft brown eyes. "Anything is better than this." He glanced back downwards towards the young woman, and it was evident he didn't speak with only his own words.
Shaky hands reaching out slowly for support, Curse tried to steady himself to stand. He had spent himself trying to prevent Elizabeth from going mad with the pain, but he would press himself onward if he could save her. She was too young, and nobody deserved the agony she was suffering. There could be no greater evil than leaving this woman a vegetable simply because there was too great a risk for saving her. The Potions Master stood up straight, shoving his trembling hands in his pocket as he once again locked eyes with Amara. "What do we do."
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