Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Hot -- Dastan

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It had been a few weeks since the conversation Margaux had had with Dastan about his twin. Namely, about his twins’ death and who had been responsible for it. Margaux was able to get in contact with the Dark Lady via her lackey Anise, a barmaid at the Hogs Head in Hogsmeade. Anise seemed to be utterly devoted to Elaine; Margaux did not know why nor did she care to. Elaine had her methods, and was far more secretive than anyone she’d ever heard of before, and she could understand why. It had been Anise who had made first contact; it seemed that Elaine wanted to reach out to the quarter veela after Desirae’s death to sniff out what sort of loyalty she had. It had taken some time, but now Margaux was sure her loyalty had been proven. Less than a day later, information regarding the death of Jesper Oscarsson had been given to her, along with a time and place to meet with Anise to discuss; she was allowed to bring along Dastan this time. She had cornered the boy at dinner and given him the information, reminding him that discretion was key.

Now she was waiting in the Hogshead, dressed in navy blue velvet robes, her dark hair tumbling past her shoulders and down her back. She’d spotted Anise a few times working hard around the grubby pub but the girl had not made any indication she knew who she was. All the better; she was waiting for Dastan to arrive before any sort of move was made anyway. She sat back, wrinkling her nose a little at the mug of pumpkin juice in front of her; the glass had seemed a little foggy so she had insisted on a mug which looked cleaner, to the dismay of the barman. She drummed her fingers on the table, wondering when Dastan would show up.

@dastan

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Dastan made his way to the Hogshead more carefully than he normally would have. Margaux asked him to meet her here and he wanted to make sure no one was paying attention to him. More particularly, he didn't want anyone that knew Gwen to notice him coming here. He didn't want her to find out about it and question him later. That would make things markedly difficult for him and he simply did not want to deal with it. 

"Margaux," he said softly as he approached her. She looked nice, as always, and he wondered how long she waited for him, but wasn't about to ask. He didn't need to know that much.

@margaux

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Margaux looked up as she heard someone approaching and was glad to see Dastan alone. Good, he did not need anyone else coming with him, especially not the Ravenclaw girl he was seeing. One little off thing and Dastans’ chance for obtaining the information regarding his brothers death would be lost to him forever. “Dastan, ‘ow good of you to join me,” she purred, giving him a smile. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the barmaid looking over at her; after giving her the tiniest of nods, she inclined her head and disappeared up the stairs.

“‘Ave you been ‘ere before? It eez not common for students to visit due to eets….reputation, shall we say, but I find it rather endearing, non?” she asked him. She’d rather not be around long enough to order the food though; while she knew exactly why her contact wanted her to bring Dastan here, she was not too pleased with the cleanliness factor. The barmaid came back over and brought a butterbeer for Dastan. “On the house,” she squeaked, then dashed off. Margaux leaned forward and cleared her throat ever so softly, making sure Dastan looked at the napkin the butterbeer was served with.

Wait two minutes, then excuse yourself to use the restroom. Knock three times on the third stall, then wait.

@dastan

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"Of course, Margaux," Dastan answered with a smile. He wasn't sure why exactly she wanted him to meet her here, but if it had anything to do with finding out what happened to his brother, Dastan, he was definitely going to be there. He shook his head, "No, I've never been here before," he told her, looking around the place briefly. Quite honestly, it wasn't the type of place he would generally visit. It seemed ... shady ... and dirty. Not at all the type of place he would normally want to visit.

He stared when the barmaid gave him a free butterbeer, but then looked at Margaux. She seemed to be trying to make sure he paid attention to ... oh. The napkin. Dastan followed the instructions perfectly, not knowing exactly what he should expect, but going to the bathroom and knocking three times all the same. At least this was interesting.

@margaux

[Elaine Lyra Dupree]

Elaine knew that Margaux was a loyal one; she had been devoted to her cousin Desirae, and bloodthirsty in her quest for revenge on her death. So imagine her pleasure when Margaux came to her with a fellow revenge-seeker; Dastan Oscarsson. Elaine had put a hit out on his brother-in-law before they had fled the country, but in her opinion the assassin was out of her jurisdiction once he crossed the Channel from the United Kingdom to France. She had of course been told of the boy Jespers’ death at his hand but had not thought much of it, until now. Revenge was something Elaine did not take lightly; she knew that the desire for revenge could bend someone so far that they were unrecognizable. Margaux had mentioned that Dastan was this murdered boys’ twin, and they had had a very special connection. Elaine could always use more followers, and she just so happened to have the information he desired most.

Disguised as Anise while the real girl waited upstairs, Elaine concealed herself in an alcove in the wall of the lavratory Dastan was currently knocking in. She didn’t think Nikolaj had realized she had put this in there, connecting Anise’s room with a series of passages in the walls for her to get around discreetly, but again, she didn’t really care if he knew or not. After the third knock, she pressed her hand against the wood, opening the concealed door. “Dastan Oscarsson, you are here for information who killed your brother, are you not?” she asked him, smiling sweetly. She held in her hands a piece of parchment with the name and exact location of this person in question, but first thing was first. “What are you willing to do to get your hands on this?” she asked softly.

@dastan

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Dastan was surprised when the wall opened, revealing the barmaid. Something seemed different about her, but as soon as she spoke, he was no longer focused on her appearance anymore. He nodded immediately, "I am," he told her without hesitation. Then she asked her next question and Dastan's eyes easily found the piece of parchment in her hands. It seemed almost too simple to have it right there without needing to do anything for it, so he was ready to bargain. "What do you want me to do? I will do whatever you require," he responded, the need to quench the fire of revenge inside him was too strong to ignore. He would do whatever was necessary to find and punish his brother's murderer.

Elaine Lyra Dupree

[Elaine Lyra Dupree]

Elaine laughed a breathy, tittering laugh.  She was supposed to be playing a part after all; while Margaux may know who she was, this boy was not privy to such information.  Yet.  "Oh me?  I am just a barmaid at the Hogs Head."  She paused, then gave him a bright smile.  "It's my mistress you need to impress."  Elaine took a step closer, and held out the piece of folded parchment to the French boy.  "If you accept the following terms, then Margaux will take you to where she is holding the men responsible for your brothers death hostage, to do with whatever you wish.  All she asks in return is...well, your loyalty of course," she giggled again, bouncing on her toes.  "Being loyal to my mistress can open many doors and opportunities for you. She will want to know anything interesting going on up at the school, so any connections you have made with students at Hogwarts you should use."  Elaine trailed off with another smile.  She'd already heard that Dastan had attended the ball with a Hogwarts student.  "So...do you accept?" she asked her, leaning her head to one side.

@dastan 

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Dastan was surprised that the woman in charge wasn't the one in front of him. How did she know that this barmaid was to be trusted? And how did Dastan know that she wasn't trying to pull his leg and get him to do something he would regret. He extended his hand and took the parchment, opening it and nodding as he read the terms in front of him. The girl continued talking and Dastan listened closely, until she said that Margaux could take him to the men right then. Right now? He could be face-to-face with them in just a few minutes? He heard snippets of what the girl said after that. "Do what you wish", "Your loyalty, of course", and something about information from Hogwarts with his connections. Her question about accepting was barely out of her mouth before Dastan answered it. "Yes," he responded desperately. "I will do whatever you wish. I mean, whatever she wishes. Take me to them." Somewhere in the back of his mind, Dastan realized how frantic he sounded- something his father always warned him and his siblings about, saying that "desperate people often got taken advantage of"- but he didn't care. He really would do anything for the chance to face these men. Now. Justice needed to be met.

Elaine Lyra Dupree

[Elaine Lyra Dupree]

Elaine couldn't help but smile at the boys' eagerness; such quick judgements could prove to be his downfall in the end but for now it would be enough.  "Very well," she said, finally handing over the suqare of paper.  Margaux would see it, then lead him just down the lane; the men were closer than Dastan would ever have expected.  But Elaine knew she had to hold them somewhere close by as the school was still on high alert for someone to swoop in attack them.  Of course, that someone was her, but minor details.

"Go back out and meet Margaux, she knows where to go," she promised him.  She stepped backwards, back into the wall space she had come from, the door sealing magically in front of her.  Shuddering slightly, Elaine went back upstairs, instructing the real Anise to go on back to work now.  As the girl scurried off to do her bidding, Elaine turned on her heel and Apparated herself back to the house to wait for Dastan to come.  She'd not reveal herself to him, not yet anyway and not in her true form.  First, she wanted to see what he could do.


@dastan


margaux will be back after your next post XD

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Dastan took the paper with a small nod. This was what he wanted. He was absolutely sure of it, but something felt wrong at the same time. He didn't know why, and he didn't pause to investigate those feelings. She told him what to do and Dastan stepped out, moving back to where he'd come from, back to Margaux. Now that meeting the person who murdered his brother was a possibility, he wanted to do it more than he could explain. "Margaux," he said as he reached her, extending the hand holding the paper that the girl gave to him. 

@margaux

[Deleted]

Margaux watched as Dastan re-entered the room and smiled satisfactorily as he extended his hand with a paper in it. That meant he had taken Elaine up on her offer; she wasn’t entirely sure if Elaine herself had shown herself to him, or if one of her lackeys had. She highly doubted the Dark Lady would be so emboldened to show her true face in the middle of Hogsmeade, so Margaux went with the assumption that Dastan had been instructed by someone else. “Bon, come with me mon cher,” she said, extending her own hand and taking his into hers. She led him out of the bar and down the street, slipping her arm through his so that if anyone noticed them, they looked like a pair strolling down the lane. She glanced around, and led him down a side alley way, down a second lane that winded through the snow covered hills.

They didn’t have to go very far until they saw a little house, the smoke coming from the chimney signalling that someone was home. To the unknowing, it could just be a little family, enjoying an afternoon in front of the fire, reading or writing or just relaxing. Margaux however had been made privy that this house happened to be where she had been instructed to bring Dastan, should he accept Elaines’ offer. She was certain that the people who helped murder Jesper were being held there; what Dastan would do with them would be up to him. She reached a hand up and knocked three times, paused for a beat then knocked twice more. Immediately, the door swung open and they walked inside. Margaux did not recognize the girl who answered the door, but she was pretty sure she had seen her around Hogsmeade. The girl gestured towards a door that evidently led to the basement. “Good luck Dastan, you must do zis on your own, but I will be waiting up ‘ere for you,” Margaux instructed. She leaned up onto her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the check. “Take strength in knowing zat you may ‘ave your answers soon,” she breathed, letting go of his arm so he could move forward.

@dastan

[Deleted]

Margaux led him down a street to a rather ordinary-looking house. When a young girl opened the door and gestured where he should go, Dastan hesitated. Was he really ready to do this? To meet the men that murdered his brother? He wasn't sure. That is, he wasn't sure until Margaux reached up and kissed his cheek, telling him that this was how he could receive his answers. Right, the answers that he needed. He nodded to her before standing up straight and walking into the house and straight across the front room until reaching the door that the girl gestured to. He opened the door and descended the staircase.

Once at the bottom, Dastan was in a pitch dark area. Lighting the tip of his wand, he glanced around and spotted three men. Three men staring at him with pale, horrified faces. That in and of itself was an answer. They thought he was Jesper, returned from the dead. They had killed his brothers. Dastan glared at them all in turn and they cowered before the fury that he knew was evident on his face.

"Did you kill Jesper Oscarsson?" he demanded in a voice that didn't even seem like his own, it was so hard and full of hatred.

"Y-y-y-yes!" The nearest one answered, his voice trembling. "H-have m-m-mercy on u-u-us!" He begged.

Dastan merely shook his head, "No." In a moment, he started torturing the man. In all actuality, if asked at a later time what spells he used or what he did to the men, Dastan wouldn't be able to answer. In these moments he was so full of hatred and a need for revenge that he did not recognize what he was doing, nor did his mind register the screams coming from the three men as he dealt with them. More than an hour later, he stepped away, ascending the stairs. His mind and body were exhausted, but he finally felt something that seemed like peace. He'd avenged his brother's death. He opened the door and stepped out of the house, hardly registering his surroundings.

@margaux

[Deleted]

Margaux could hear the screams coming from the basement as she lounged in the sitting room, her legs draped over a squashy armchair, her wand twirling carelessly in between her fingers. A few white sparks sputtered out of the tip and she smirked a little as it reminded her of her...friend, Maria. The girl was quite the spitfire; perhaps she’d go try and find her when they were done here. Margaux puffed out her cheeks and blew out the air forcefully as the screaming started again. In all her years of knowing the Oscarsson twins she’d never known there was such a dark side to Dastan; only someone with pure revenge in their heart could be causing the screams downstairs right now.

And then, suddenly it was over. Margaux heard thumping on the stairs as Dastan exited the basement and went directly out of the house. She stood up gracefully and left after him without a backwards glance. “Dastan?” she called, her voice low and soft. She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “Come mon cher, let’s get you somewhere where you can get something to drink. I theenk zat you need it,” she told him, gently sliding her arm through his and leading him towards the Hogs Head to drink.


@dastan

end here or you can do one more, whichever works for me also wheeee post 100!!

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It was probably a good thing that Margaux waited for him, not that he noticed her at first. Still, having someone to look after him in those dazed moments was probably a very good thing for him. He heard her call his name and he turned sharply, his eyes searching everywhere in the nearby vicinity. Then she was touching his shoulder and he realized it had been Margaux talking to him. Oh. Oops. He nodded when she offered to take him somewhere to get a drink, but he couldn't say anything. His throat was too tight, too tense. He followed her to the Hog's Head almost numbly, not really registering what was going on around him.

---the end---

@margaux