Running but Going Nowhere [Open]

[Echo Ashaelyr]

The twilight of the prison cell draped around Echo's hunched form. Without her glove, the twisted hand seemed stark and glaring even in the half-light. She hated the sight of it. It was just the tip of the iceberg, of the faint black lines tracing up her arm under the skin, the black blood of the demon creeping through her veins, slowly changing, twisting her human side. But she couldn't hide it anymore.

"Welcome to the Ministry, Ariadne." Daksmer sneered in her ear as the hitwizards hauled her roughly along to the lift reserved for transporting dangerous prisoners. They'd appeared in a Floo section reserved only for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, so that no innocent civilians had to witness when Hitwizards brought in the underbelly of society.

In the lift Echo was silent. But she was judging each guard, measuring their stance and physique. She would have to do it alone, and get out of the country quickly. After all, Echo held no illusions about the group back in the pub. It was kind of them to defend her at the time, but she supposed that they wouldn't go so far as to plan any sort of rescue. Curse was the only one she really knew or felt she could trust, though his friends seemed of good heart.

No, Echo steeled herself. She was on her own in here.

The lift door opened, admitting them to the lower level of the Law Enforcement department. The place with holding cells and a small prison for those not sentenced to Azkaban or another wizarding prison.

Echo hugged her knees to her chest to warm herself. There was a magic-dampening field around the cell, so no magic could be cast, else she would conjure her cloak. She closed her mis-matched eyes, gingerly feeling the burn scar on her face. The woman had no idea what would happen next. A trial? Or instant incarceration? Else she'd be sent somewhere for testing and study. Like a bloody lab rat.

She leaned against the cold granite wall and sighed.

"What's this, did you catch the demon-witch?" Word passed fast in the department, especially with a high-profile arrest going down. The wizard, a tall man slightly gone to seed, his belly pushing against the folds of his robe, sat behind the desk. He pushed across a clipboard with parchment on it.

Daksmer chuckled darkly. "Yes, finally got her." He filled out the paperwork. "This way, Ariadne." They started walking down a cold stone corridor, lit only by lamps hung at intervals in the ceiling.

"It's Echo now. Ariadne died when that demon cursed me." Echo gritted out.

He smiled coldly. "How nice for you. Chose a new name, identity, everything. But it doesn't hide who you are. Heir to a dead family fortune, daughter of an empty manor."

She didn't answer, and he could tell he'd struck a nerve.

"And tell me, noble demon hunter, how many did you kill that used to be like you?"

"They were beyond help. What I did was a mercy..." Echo still felt her stomach twist at the memories. She wasn't proud of them, but there had been no other way. Had there?

Daksmer spun, causing the group to halt. "Oh don't try to justify it. You're a great contradiction you know. Come on, who chooses to hunt demons? Not many. You're all just another evil. Anyone who deals with demons is. All of you, imperfect, unrighteous. You make me sick," he practically spat. "You sully the name of magic."

Echo knew he was getting off on a rant, and ignored him. Daksmer had a twisted vision of a pure Ministry in his head, with no half-breeds or cursed people, where justice was dealt with no deviance, no mercy. That's when they'd first started on their separate paths. Hers was a path of acceptance. His was the opposite.

Suddenly tired from the events of the day, Echo curled up on the thin pallet in the corner of the small cell and drifted into sleep, remembering when her life had ended.

[Mordecai Caulfield]

Mort Caulfield bit his pipe with grit teeth as he headed down the halls of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He adjusted his bowler hat authoritatively. No one questioned the Accidents and Catastrophes Head as he headed straight for the cells of the Law Enforcement Department; of all the Department Heads, Caulfield prided himself on being the scariest. No one bothered him when he looked like he was doing business. Even Law Enforcement heeded him. This was why he'd gotten a patronus from ex-Head Auror Curse Kameren this afternoon.

"Uh... Mr. Caulfield? Is there anything I can do for you?" A lone hitwizard questioned him on his way into the hall of cells, the Head cocking a brow at him questioningly.

"I'm here to check in on a recently arrested half-demon. Betsy from Magical Creatures is still on maternity leave and Daksmer's got his head up his ass. Someone has to be keeping tabs on him." The old man spoke around his pipe, blowing smoke in the hitwizard's face with a look that said plainly I don't have time for this. The hitwizard seemed to melt under Caulfield's no-nonsense gaze, quietly moving out of the way to let Caulfield through. Sometimes, it felt good to be in power.

There were a few people locked in the Ministry Hall of Cells today, mostly drunks getting over last night's hangover and petty thieves. It was easy to spot the one Kameren mentioned; she sat curled in the corner of her cell. There was something slightly more menacing about her, something that made you instinctively want to turn away. But Kameren had insisted she was a good soul and that Caulfield should help her, so here he was.

Mort leaned against the bars of the cell, blowing a smoke ring from his mouth as he watched her sleep. Should he wake her? He had seen half-demon hybrids like this before, and their minds were usually the first things to go. She could attack him for speaking even a word. Either way, he was standing in the middle of the Law Enforcement Department. There was little she could do here. Mort had stared Lord Voldemort in the eyes: there were very few monsters that scared him after something like that.

"Oi." The Department Head rasped, clearing his throat as he tapped the bars of her cell with his pipe. "Kameren sent me. He wants me to make sure you're alright and get you transferred to Mysteries if possible. Can you still speak?" He leaned down, scrutinizing the woman with his squinted, grey eyes.

[Echo Ashaelyr]

Echo's dreams were fitful at best, but she slept on. Then a voice jolted her from sleep. As she opened her eyes and stared at the face beyond the bars, her eyes seemed immeasurably old for a second. Then she blinked and rose nimbly to her feet.

"Kameren sent me. He wants me to make sure you're alright and get you transferred to Mysteries if possible. Can you still speak?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, I can still speak," she said acidly. "Why do all you Ministry people think that just because someone runs afoul of dark magic, they turn into some beast that doesn't reason or speak."

She folded her arms, the blackened hand clearly visible, a show of defiance. "I'm okay, all things considered. Just if Kameren has been in contact with you, tell him...not to worry about me. He needs to protect his son, not get mixed up with me." Was Curse really still concerned for her? Cold acceptance of past events vied with the faintest warmth of hope that maybe she wasn't as friendless as she thought.

"I'd be better off if they served food here," she said dryly. "I skipped breakfast."

Her mind caught on to the Mysteries dept part. "Now wait a minute, why does he want me sent to Mysteries. So they can run experiments on me?" She took a step forward, then caught herself. She didn't want to get stunned by some wand-happy guard for appearing threatening. Leaning against the wall, the woman focused her eyes on the man, who she couldn't quite see due to the light being behind him. "Doesn't this bloody Ministry have any rights for us citizens?"

[Mordecai Caulfield]

Mort arched a brow at the woman, letting her do her defiant speech at him as he sat at her level. People never bloody listened anymore. He was going to get her out of here, into a better place. if this woman trusted Kameren, why was she questioning him? Curse knew more about the Ministry than most his age, and Mort had seen the young Potions Master get out of worse scrapes than the one this woman was in. If she wanted to live and not just disappear inside the Ministry's system, she needed to listen. Now.

"Doesn't this bloody Ministry have any rights for us citizens?"

Mort blew smoke rings as she spoke, eyeing her from under the rim of his bowler hat. When it appeared she was done, it was his turn to speak. "He said you were a demon-hunter. You must have seen the others before, then. They don't usually pick up cursed witches as young as you; they wait, until the curse has progressed. They've lost themselves. They're rabid, uncontrollable. They lose their status as 'being', at that point, and they fall into the system. They don't get rights. You can still speak. That means we can help you." He sighed, meeting her eyes as he took another slow pull from his pipe.

"Kameren wants me to sign you over to his fiancee in Mysteries. Blackthorn, I think her name was. There, she will take care of you and stall the Ministry until we can get you freed. Like I said, you aren't like the others. You still have control, and Kameren thinks he can cure you. Kameren doesn't want the Ministry to know he's involved, that's why he sent me." He met her mismatched eyes steadily; this was business. He wanted to help this woman, beyond Curse's favor, he really wanted to help. If she didn't want help, though, then Mort would leave her. "Either let me transfer you to Mysteries, or let Daksmer kill you."

[Echo Ashaelyr]

Echo walked up to the bars, finally able to make out the man's face. No, he wasn't just a cell guard. Perhaps there was even kindness in his gaze. She sighed and rubbed her blackened hand through her now-scraggly hair.

"I apologize...hasn't been my best day. I guess I'm just used to people judging first, asking questions later."

She was actually surprised that Curse had gone to lengths for her, and was planning to help her get out of the Ministry. Perhaps she needed to afford him and Arianna a bit more trust. And Arianna was Curse's fiancee? Echo remembered Curse mentioning a new demon problem on several occasions, and now Echo silently promised herself that if she did get free of the Ministry's clutches, she would stick around and help him out with the demons. It was time she stopped running and found a cause to defend. Maybe Curse and his friends had the answer.

Realizing she had been staring at the man for a minute, Echo placed her hands on her hips. "Well, if you don't want to tell me who you are, I understand, but my name is Echo. They," she jerked her head in the general direction of the Hitwizard dept, "call me Ariadne, but that's a dead name to me. Is there a plan, or do you simply have papers for transferring me?"

[Mordecai Caulfield]

"I apologize...hasn't been my best day. I guess I'm just used to people judging first, asking questions later."

Mort met the woman's mismatched eyes, smiling sympathetically. This woman was young, near his daughter's age; she even looked like Mercy, when one looked past the scars. Mort couldn't help but feel a little paternal towards this poor woman, sittting helpless in a Ministry cell. "You know," He puffed at his pipe, adjusting his bowler had further up his head as he looked down the hall of cells. "I spent a couple nights in these cells, once. During the second rise of You-Know-Who, they were persecuting all the muggleborns. My brother, sisters and I were all indicted. Things seemed bad then, too, but when you have a few good people willing to help, a lot can happen. Despite being locked up, all four of us made it out of the war alive." He shrugged, glancing over at Echo with a twinkle in his grey eyes. "I think you should trust Kameren. He's a good man, and if he says he'll get you out, it'll happen."

"Well, if you don't want to tell me who you are, I understand, but my name is Echo. They," she jerked her head in the general direction of the Hitwizard dept, "call me Ariadne, but that's a dead name to me. Is there a plan, or do you simply have papers for transferring me?"

Mort stood back up, holding the pipe in his mouth as he did. "Its only papers, but I figured you would like to know that there are people looking out for you." He tipped his hat to her, smiling lightly. "Pleasure to meet you, Ariadne. Name's Mort Caulfield." He squinted at her, slightly teasing as he looked her over analytically. "...You don't look like a monster to me. I don't think you'll be locked here long." He smiled, tipping his hat at the young witch as he turned to leave.

ooc: exit mort. Short rp, but I actually really enjoyed it. good conversation rps are my favorite. =)