Proud Mary -- Maria

[Elaine Lyra Dupree]

It had been a few days since Elaine’s master plan had come into fruition, and she couldn’t have been more pleased with the way it turned out. They had allowed a leak that localized terrorist groups had been responsible for the explosions, and they had been more than happy to take the blame. Little did the Ministries know that it was in fact the Purifiers who had carefully placed explosive devices on both the Beauxbatons carriage and the Durmstrang ship, causing them to explode once outside Hogwarts’ magical boundaries. Elaine had seen a little of the aftermath of the ships’ explosion, and she had been quite pleased with Ursulas’ handiwork. The womans love of explosions and destruction was equal to her own; she would be rewarding the Purifier for a job well done. There was a reason Elaine had ventured out to the wreckage of the Durmstrang ship, and that was to retrieve a student of particular interest to her: Maria da Silva Povoa. She was half veela, and had, according to her file, inherited the pyromancer gift of the true veelas, which intrigued her. Alastor, if he were still around, had been very interested in veela dissections, but Elaine was not looking for a science project. No, a veela with pyromancer powers could be of great use to her…

The hooded man appeared on her boat, carrying the unconscious and bloodied Maria with him. She scanned the girls body quickly before declaring that she was not dead yet. “We’ll get her back to Shannon, the woman will be able to patch her up,” she instructed. They made their way back to shore and got Maria into one of the many safe houses Elaine owned nearby. The Veela was cleaned, healed and given potions via a tube to keep her blood supply up. After a few days, Shannon gave Elaine the OK that Maria would be awake soon. Willingly, she gave over a strand of her golden hair to Elaine and walked off to another room, only to leave when summoned. Elaine drank the Polyjuice Potion and took on the appearance of the nurse before walking into the room where they were keeping Maria.

She had designed it perfectly - the room looked exactly like a ward in Saint Mungos, even though it clearly was not. She donned Shannons’ healer robes, so that she looked the part. There were empty beds around, one with curtains drawn around it to make it look more convincing. Elaine stopped in front of Marias’ bed and sat down in the chair next to her. In one pocket she kept the flash of Polyjuice Potion, should this interaction take longer than an hour, and in the other she kept a bracelet; if it was latched onto Marias’ wrist, she would not be able to use her pyromancer abilities, as the iron material within the piece of jewlery were warded against special abilities. She rather hoped it would not be necessary, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Elaine sat back in the chair, twirling a golden strand of hair in between her fingers, looking for a sign of life from the Durmstrang veela.

@maria

[Deleted]

A black neverending haze. That's what Maria seemed to have sunk into. It was almost like nothing else existed. Was she died? Was this was death was like? Would she just float here in nothingness forever? All thoughts, all memories... They seemed to be so far away. And it was like trying to catch water to remember anything. It wasn't so bad though... was it? This emptiness.

Maria didn't know how long she was out, how long she remained in that almost limo state. But eventually things sharpened. Feeling returned first. Her hands, her toes. Pain. Lots of pain. Then thoughts, trying to piece together what had happened. And then finally senses. She could hear an incoherent sound, unable to make out what any of the noises were, could feel a bright light through her closed eyelids... And finally, at long last, consciousness. Maria let out a soft groan first, her body aching from stiffness. Was it from healing, or lack of use? Then the incoherent noises sharpened moments before her eyes started to flutter. Pulling her to the surface, groggily returning her to the land of the living.

So much white.

The wall, the ceiling, the light overhead. Turning her head just a little she made out white curtains and white beds. "Where..?" She croaked out, her voice cracking from dehydration and lack of use. Was anyone even there? Where was 'there'? She forced her head to turn just a few inches in the other direction and finally spotted something that wasn't white. A blonde haired woman...? Maria didn't recognize her. "You..." She tried to form another sentence but her voice cracked again, her throat dry and refusing her permit any other words just yet.

Elaine Lyra Dupree

[Elaine Lyra Dupree]

Elaines’ eyes flashed eagerly as Maria began to stir. Finally, the girl had been out for nearly forty eight hours at this point, she had started to wonder if waking up was even possible. Clearly, Shannon really had known what she was doing, making her loyalty all that more valuable, and her life far less at stake. Elaine lifted herself out of the chair gently and smoothed back Maria’s hair. “Shhh, don’t try to speak,” she said softly, letting her hand fall to the side of the bed. “You’re in Saint Mungos hospital my dear, in London.” The lie came smoothly, easily from Elaine’s lips. She had perfected the telling of a lie over the years, and since nobody had suspected her being behind the Purifiers until she had chosen to reveal her true colors last April. Once the main point of the lie was established, the details would flow quickly after. “It’s been all over the news; after the delegates from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons left the protections of Hogwarts, they were attacked.”

Elaine bit her lip, and shook her head in a dismayed way. “Our mediwizards were notified immediately of course, but by the time they got there well...all they could find was you.” She reached out and patted her hand softly. “It is of course possible that others survived, I know that our rescue efforts were not the only country,” she added, though she made sure her tone sounded like she thought otherwise. “However, if they are in any shape like yours, they’ll need some time to recover, if they even make it through. Then...well, depending on what part of the world they ended up in, it’ll take them time to get to where they need to be.” Elaine gave a heavy sigh, and produced a vial of potion from the bedside table. “Take this if you need to my dear. It’ll take the pain away and send you off to a dreamless sleep,” she promised with a small smile. Of course, only part of that was true. Maria would feel no physical pain, but her dreams would be haunted by her worst nightmares. Given that Elaine was quite sure the Durmstrang girl had to have been friendly with some of her classmates on the ship, she’d imagine the worst that could have happened to them, without a way to save them. Patting her head gently, Elaine got up and walked smoothly out of the room. “Watch her,” she said to the guards outside; they too were dresssed as Healers in the lime green robes to create a sense of consistency throughout the fake ward. “If she starts using her fire powers, find me. I’ll take care of it,” she added, shooting both of them a warning glance before striding down the hall.

@maria

[Deleted]

Maria didn't like this witch... healer. Because she was trying to figur out what was going on and this stranger was the first person she saw. Not someone she actually cared about. It was petty, disliking someone just for not being the person she wanted. But regardless. Maria closed her mouth and tried to assess what was going. She didn't hurt...: but she felt stiff and sore.

And then the explanation. St Mungos. Attacked. She didn't care about any of that. Where were the others? But she got that answer to. And Maria didn't want to believe it. "What..?" she breathed, trying to process what it meant. The only one found? But that would mean....

Adonia. Elias. Viola...? It couldn't be true. Just couldn't. "...lies." she forced out. They were fine. Why would this healer lie about that? But then they were leaving and Maria only had her thoughts to occupy herself. Groaning she sat up, wincing from the effort. She'd definitely been injured but it seemed like she was healing. And that's when she saw the fading burn line along her wrist. The wrist she'd always worn Elias' bracelet. That intense burning and then sudden coldness, she could remember that so clearly. Did that mean..?

A strange sound escaped lips, a mix between a dry sob and choking. They weren't gone. None of them were. She refused to believe it. They were just in another room. Everything was fine. And yet that tightening feeling in her chest said otherwise. It felt like the constant fire in her chest was being smothered out leaving a cold darkness instead.

The door had been long since closed. Maria didn't know how long she just sat there, silently suffocating before finally letting out a bitter and broken scream, both hands setting ablaze and fire flying from her finger tips to ignite the beds and curtains around her. It was as if the fire released all her emotions in that moment, and as everything burned around her Maria finally started to cry, pulling her now extinguished hands tight to her chest. She didn't care that she now sat in the middle of a blazing inferno. She didn't care that she wasn't nearly as fireproof as people thought. The burning would be a welcome change.

She thought breaking up with Viola would protrct her from this heartbreak, so why did it still hurt so much?

Elaine Lyra Dupree

[Elaine Lyra Dupree]

Elaine had barely made it halfway down the hallway when she heard commotion behind her. She stopped in her tracks and rolled her eyes. Were her goons really that moronic that they couldn’t last five seconds without her supervision? This girl was only eighteen after all - was she really too much of a match for four goons? She turned around as one of them came running towards her, his sleeve singed. Despite her annoyance, Elaine couldn’t help but smile a little bit. Her pyrotechnic abilities must be coming into play right now. Ignoring the man, Elaine swept past him and back towards the room where Maria was being kept.

She had to say, she was impressed. In just a few moments the girl had completely engulfed the room in flames. She glanced to one side where it smelled like burnt hair and skin and saw one of the guards lifeless on the floor, his skin charred to be unrecognizable. She didn’t care; the man was expendable after all. She sighed as she shook her head with an almost motherly look on her face. Maria wouldn’t hear the silent Stunning Spell as Elaine incanted it, but it hit her square in the chest and rendered her unconscious. Elaine raised her arms and a swift rainstorm poured down from the ceiling, dousing the flames the veela girl had caused. “I hadn’t wanted to do this so soon,” she said a bit sadly, even though Maria couldn’t hear her. She took out the iron cuff and latched it onto the girls limp wrist. She waved her hand over it and it glowed a golden yellow before returning to its normal coloring - only Elaine could break the enchantment now. She shook her head again and looked back towards her remaining henchmen. “Clean this up, it should look back the way it was before she wakes,” she snapped. She began to walk out of the room but stopped at the doorway. “If this happens again, I’ll leave you in here to burn,” she warned.

She walked off to get Shannon to heal the burns Maria had sustained - once the room was back to the exact way it was before Maria’s outburst, she returned, this time in Isoldes’ form. Taking the form of a Ministry worker was the perfect way to discover an onboard account of what happened on the Durmstrang ship - one Elaine was very intrigued on learning.

@maria

[Deleted]

Blissful darkness and numbness. Maria welcomed it gladly and wished it would stay. She'd rather just sink into the pit of non emotion then experience the feelings the nurse had caused. Dead. All of them.

When she did finally come to the room was cool and quiet once but she didn't care. There was a heavy weight on her chest, and she felt like it was crushing her. Rolling into her side she curled up into a ball, not opening her eyes just yet as she wallowed in that increasing pressure. The weight of loss. Losing Viola as a partner had been hard enough. This though. How was she expected to survive it? When she opened her eyes this time a ministry worker (she knew from the robes) was there. Maria's gaze almost turned murderous, hating this unwelcome intrusion and new comer purely because of their mere presence. So, instead of saying anything at all she turned in the bed so her back was to the woman, blatantly ignoring her. No. Leave her to her pain. Let her suffocate in these emotions.

Elaine Lyra Dupree

[Elaine Lyra Dupree]

Elaine caught Maria’s glare and hid her smile. The girl was in obvious emotional pain and anguish; Elaine only wished she had a way to bottle that up to unleash onto some unsuspecting victim. She had seen this pain before so many times; the Healer Shannon she had bewitched had felt a horrible mental anguish that had been related to finding out her husband was cheating on her. Elaine took that pain away, and Sarah had dealt with the adulterer and his whore. Maria was going to have to talk eventually though, and voluntarily was preferable. Elaine had her ways of hearing what she needed to hear, but the part veela fascinated her. Why else would she have rescued her above all others?

“Maria dear,” Elaine began, Isolde’s voice soothing yet hesitant. “I’m Isolde, and I’m from the Department of International Magic Cooperation.” She paused; she assumed Maria had figured out she was a Ministry witch from the robes she donned, but she felt that formally introducing herself was necessary. “I do apologize to disturb you, but we are going to need a full account to the best of your ability of what happened,” she said, sitting up straighter as she searched for a reaction, any reaction from the girl. “I know it’s not easy, you must have been close with everyone on board. But if we are to find the terrors who did this to you, your loved ones….well, we need the only survivor to help.” Elaine leaned in and lowered her voice. “Don’t you want revenge on those who did this to you? That made you feel like this?” she whispered, her voice purring in her ear.

@maria

[Deleted]

The woman was speaking, daring to say her name and all Maria felt was a white hot burning anger. She wanted things to burn. Wanted to leave everything in ashes, the way her heart felt. She wanted other people to feel this deep pain. Actually. things should have already been burning. She was an an uncontrollable level of rage. And yet... Maria looked down at her hands, horrified to discover they were just normal hands. No flames. Not even a spark. Cold and ordinary. And just like that she felt all that rage and burning hatred go out, doused by something cold and suffocating.

The woman had said many things in those moments Maria was so consumed with her rage and sudden.... ordinariness. But she did catch the last bit. About people she was close to being on board. About being the only survivor. The mind numbing cold only intensified at the knowledge. Not just people she cared about. The only people she cared about. Maria clenched her hands into fists and squeezed her eyes shut, struggling to control those raw and exposed emotions. Grief. Sorrow. Loss. And then... just a spark of hatred. Because someone had done this. Someone had taken them away from her. "Don't act like you know what I'm feeling." Maria finally snapped, her words venomous and harsh despite refusing to look at the ministry worker. How the hell would she know what Maria was going through? She hadn't been on that ship. She hadn't been told that the only people she truly cared about her gone. She hadn't just lost the only family she had, her dearest childhood friend, and the person that she'd been so in love with that it absolutely terrified her. She hadn't just had everything, in every aspect of her life, ripped away form her.

Elaine Lyra Dupree

[Elaine Lyra Dupree]

Elaine was pleased with the results of her magical bracelet; it was clear to her that Maria was trying to use her fire powers, but was failing. The look on the part veela’s face said it all; she felt completely out of place. She was feeling what it was like to be a regular person, without uncontrollable fire powers. She was refusing to look at her still, but managed to get out a few venomous words towards her. Elaine rolled her eyes; Maria was being a child. As if Elaine had never been through anything as painful as losing a loved one. She had no idea whether or not Isolde had, she had never bothered to find out of course, but Elaine had lost Desirae. She had been her right hand woman, one of two people she had fully trusted in the world. And she was dead, murdered by Claire Slater. A feeling of white hot rage surged through Elaine, but she calmed herself. Taking it out on Maria was not part of her plan.

“Oh, I don’t do I?” Elaine asked, dropping the sweet, simpering Ministry worker act. She looked and spoke like Isolde, but the words were Elaines. Not that Maria would know the difference in her state of grief. “My best friend, the person I have been close to since my first day of school was murdered earlier this year,” she told her coldly, staring at the back of her head with dark rage filled eyes. “The bastards who killed they didn’t even have the guts to make it quick either. You know how they died Maria? They died of electrocution. Do you know how long that takes to actually kill someone? The electricity surging through their veins, speeding up the heart rate so fast before stopping it completely. The edges of their extremities singing like your pyrotechnic powers, except unlike you they burn.” Elaine finished speaking, taking a breath to calm herself down and regain her composure. “So dearie, let’s stop feeling sorry for yourself for one moment, feel glad that your friends didn’t suffer as much as mine did and get to the details on what happened,” she finally stated, maintaining her composure, but the sharp edge to her voice didn’t go unnoticed. “There are alternative methods to getting the information I desire, but let’s try to not resort to them,” she added, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ears.

@maria

[Deleted]

Maria didn't want to listen to this woman. This awful ordinariness was suffocating. She'd never felt like she was... overly dependant on her power until this moment. Until she realized just how much of her being was tied into the abilities she'd received from her Veela mother. But why wouldn't it work? Still focusing on her hands as she tried to work this all out she finally noticed the bracelet. That wasn't hers. Her bracelet, the one Elias had given her, was gone. And this clunky, ugly piece of shit was in it's place. Was that the source of her inability to use her power? This had happened once before... when she'd been hallucinating. But she hadn't thought to much of how they'd suppressed her power then...

Clenching her fists tight she tried, again, to light them on fire. Still nothing. The woman had been speaking, and in her half hearted listening she'd only really understood that the woman had lost someone important to her in a brutal way. Gritting her teeth she finally raised her eyes to glare at this intruder. "You think I feel sorry for myself...?" She whispered. Despite non-combustible state you could almost hear the flames in her voice. Raging, uncontrollable, destructive. She'd lost everything she held dear. And now she just wanted to watch everything burn. "What do you people intend to do if you find who did this? Slap them on the wrist? Send them to prison?" That would be the normal way of handling such a matter with the Ministry. But that wasn't good enough, and the raging hatred in her eyes said exactly that. She wanted to destroy those that had destroyed those she cared about.

Elaine Lyra Dupree
(.... I forgot that we hadn't finished this)

[Elaine Lyra Dupree]

Elaine had to hold back her smile. Oh, Maria wanted to engulf her in flames, ignite her palms in a fiery inferno, burn the entire hospital down if she could. That was the key word there; if she could. She very well could do no such thing thanks to Elaine. Maria was of course, not in a hospital but she did not know this, nor did she know that a few people, including her beloved Viola Chase, had actually survived the explosions. Elias Greyback, however, did not; Elaine had seen the boys body in the wreckage of the ship, so that kill was one hundred percent confirmed.

“Oh you know, we’ll put them on trial and see what Wizengamot has to say, especially since the word on the street is that the Perpetrators were foreign,” Elaine said airily, waving her hand. Maria didn’t need to know that if she had anything to do with it, the perpetrators of the explosions would never be brought to whatever sense of Justice the Ministry had. “I must say, I don’t work in the Law Enforcement department, obviously, but I would hate to be them in this situation. The law just works soooo slowly.” Elaine paused, letting Maria soak in the idea of indignation that her cousins murderer could not be held accountable for months, years possibly. “I certainly wouldn’t blame people for wanting to take matters into their own hands,” she added, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. She turned to leave, but then paused for a moment. The pause was meant to seem unintentional, but this was Elaine Dupree; everything she did was calculated and very intentional. “Oh! I almost forgot. The healer found this dangling from your fingers when you were brought in. Almost lost it there,” she said, pulling Maria’s real bracelet from her pocket and setting it down on her bedside table. The clasp had broken off but otherwise it was still in relatively good shape.  “I’ll let you rest now dear,” she said soothingly as she retreated from the room, wondering if she’d be able to hear Maria’s reaction from just outside the door.

Elaine Lyra Dupree

ooc: we can end this one if you want? I just want to see Marias reaction muahaha