Chapter Four [Bianca]

[fae iona cloudbreaker]

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March 2nd, 2026

The Ministry of Magic was slightly more accommodating for Fae than her previous few days had been. While the walls of the government facility were constricting and stuffy for her, being able to move around without the fear of muggle stares felt nice. She disliked having to dress as one, their clothes being about as restrictive as possible. They were fairly warm though, which had her second guessing how much she actually liked them during her initial arrival two days prior, and then throughout yesterday’s meetings out in the mundane world. Mainlanders were funny folk, to the point where she couldn’t even carry her staff around without them looking at her strangely. As if they had never seen someone with a big stick before in the middle of the city!

Regardless, that portion of her trip to London was done with, at least for now. She had scheduled ahead of time to conduct research with the department head for magical law enforcement, who she understood was James’s superior. He had been doing a great job of showing her around to everywhere she needed to be, and she was sure he was doing proper security work, but their time together was done for now. The Ministry was fairly easy to navigate for her and she didn’t need to be sucking resources away from them, especially if he had actual work to do. Playing bodyguard, while easy this time, didn’t seem like the reason he was in that specific career.

Essentially gliding through the crowded Ministry lobby and up to the department of magical law enforcement’s floor, Fae had squeezed herself into the elevator. The contraption never ceased to amaze her when she visited, and all sorts of employees were crammed in around her as it zoomed around to each location, finally making it to the one she wanted to be on. A few charmed pieces of paper zoomed out ahead of her, as well as what looked to be a goblin man that hadn’t been too pleased when the sleeves of her dress started to go over the top of his head. It wasn’t her fault that it was flowy and had lots of layers that she couldn’t control! To make it worse, she also accidentally whacked him in the knee with the bottom of Merlin’s Staff as she tried to reel in her dress folds. Apologizing profusely didn’t win her any points though, and the goblin said something in Gobbledegook as he stormed out of the elevator. Fae knew just enough of the language to be able to tell that he wasn’t singing her any praises. Stepping out behind him, she quickly gave him a wide berth and waited for him to disappear from sight before hunting down the office that she was looking for.

The secretary seemed to be expecting her though, and caught her wandering down a hallway in the opposite direction of where she needed to be. Fae was quickly led the right way and ended up in front of a door with BIANCA A. RIVERA written across the fogged glass window in the door, a label indicating she was department head underneath it. They had never spoken face to face, though Fae had sent an owl ahead of her trip detailing her plans, thus the escort by James. The two of them had things to discuss, specifically about the island of Yrisle and what security was like there, and whether anything had happened since her visit in January. Everything seemed to be quiet, but there was no way that could be true. It didn’t help that all of the information she was getting was from her people, and not from the Minister or his advisors. Hopefully that would be changing today.

The secretary knocked on the door with a few hard raps, and then pushed it open, moving out of the way for Fae to enter. She straightened up as she stepped through the threshold and into the office, as she found herself often doing when it came to meetings that were of an official capacity. “Good afternoon,” Fae said as she spotted the department head. “I am Fae Cloudbreaker, High Druid of Hy-Brasil. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me on the matter I wrote to you about. I would like to get straight to that, if you do not mind,” she quickly followed up with, as she stepped across the room and towards the desk, gripping Merlin’s Staff tightly in her hand as she did so.

Bianca Alia Rivera ● 753 ● Tokyo by Julien Baker

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Bianca Alia Rivera]

2 March 2026

Bianca had enough on her plate to worry about that a twisted island didn’t seem worth the headache. Her predecessor had left plenty of loose threads unattended, and the realization that the Minister’s inaction on tackling the Yrisle problem wasn’t going anyway anytime soon…well, it meant that during work hours, Bianca found herself in a perpetually bad mood. Maybe if it had been a quiet year, if there weren’t threats and messes ignored by other figures of authority that needed to be cleaned up…but Magical Law Enforcement was an important department, and their attention had been stretched thin lately. Bianca had been busy reorganizing the department to accommodate these changes and better distribute resources to the most urgent problems. Protecting the Statute of Secrecy and Muggles from blood purists, addressing the open debate of what to do with the druids, and sending Aurors and Hit Wizards to wherever they were needed most.

So she didn’t quite have the mental capacity to worry about Yrisle, but she found the time for it anyway because it was too open-ended a question to ignore. The lockdown had been necessary, and a month too late, but it had now been in place for several weeks and her department was gaining valuable knowledge and experience. It was becoming something of an advantage to have so many Aurors and Hit Wizards that had personal experience managing the island’s problems – from the pesky fog to the abundance of dangerous creatures and plants that lived there. They were in high demand across other departments when it came to creating Ministry policy, and it meant that Law Enforcement was at the forefront of the Ministry’s efforts to contain the threat. It kept Bianca relevant, but…it also kept her beyond busy.

To that end, she was trying to combine problems and tackle them all together. Her first visit to Hy-Brasil had been only yesterday, and she was still processing everything she had seen. After moving past the initial shock of the island, the overwhelming sense of magic that lingered everywhere, she could fully appreciate the island’s beauty. It had felt like more than leaving Britain proper – it was practically stepping into another world, a fantasy realm like it was always portrayed in Muggle movies. Her visit with one of the Druid council, their High Priest, had been less than thrilling. She hadn’t learned anything that wasn’t already written in the Ministry’s files on the druids, and his attitude had been more than expected. Bianca hadn’t even stayed overnight, much as she would have liked to meet other Elders and examine the island more thoroughly. No, she had urgent business in London and had taken the first Portkey back to Ministry headquarters.

It seemed somewhat ironic that her first visit to Hy-Brasil would coincide with the High Druid’s trip to London, but sometimes the schedules of high-ranking officials just worked that way. At any rate, she had assigned James to the High Druid’s security detail, and as chatty as he could be…he really was a capable Hit Wizard and he understood the stakes of why these meetings had to go well. Bianca occasionally gave him assignments simply to move him to another part of the floor where he would be unable to talk her ear off – like this upcoming job fair the Ministry had been asked to host – but she also gave him high-level assignments she wouldn’t trust to most of her staff. James was a member of the Order, he’d proven himself to be trustworthy, and she was ready to give him more responsibility. Even if he didn’t fully understand why she didn’t want to waste him on island duty.

Bianca sat at her desk, intently studying the dagger that she carefully turned over in her hands. Rhys had been doing research on the magic dagger they had found in Yrisle since January, but Bianca had asked – well, ordered – him to return it for her meeting with the High Druid. She hoped the druids might have a new perspective to offer on its magic, and she wanted to show that the Ministry was doing something. It had developed a decades-long reputation of being useless in most situations, and Bianca was quite keen to change that. She carefully set the dagger down and covered it at the sound of her secretary’s characteristic knock, and stood as the High Druid entered. The Ministry’s files had offered no insights on druid traditions or how to greet their high-level officials, so Bianca was determined to act like herself. She studied Fae Cloudbreaker’s pale features, flowing druid dress, and the impressive-looking staff in her hands. Fae certainly made a striking first impression, and despite her young appearance gave the impression of calm competency. When it came to Yrisle, the druids and the Ministry had overlapping interests in containing the threat. That gave Bianca hope that this meeting would go better than the usual fare between the two groups.

“Bianca Rivera. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Fae.” Her tone was smooth and professional, but Bianca had side-stepped the formalities immediately – she didn’t have the time to waste on flowery greetings and groveling, even if Fae certainly outranked her. In the Ministry, they stood on formality quite often, or at least until the door shut and the meeting turned private. Lacking any other context for how this meeting should go, Bianca chose to follow the protocol she knew, and she gave an approving nod at Fae’s request to get straight to business. “Of course. We have several important issues to discuss, and my office has already been outfitted with the proper spells to discourage…eavesdropping.” Bianca made a gesture towards the chair on the other side of her desk to invite Fae to take a seat before sitting back down herself. She idly adjusted the cloth cover on the dagger, shuffled the notes she had gathered on Yrisle, and then spoke crisply. “I understand you visited the island once in January with Ministry agents. It took some time to organize, but our lockdown has been in full effect for about a month now and seems to be doing the job. I would be interested to hear your observations and insights into the island.”

fae iona cloudbreaker

[fae iona cloudbreaker]

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The creeping chill that had come over her when she entered the office of Bianca Rivera was initially written off as the odd muggle mainlander invention – air conditioning. Fae had been in these mechanically chilled rooms and buildings before, but didn’t like it one bit. There was too much reliance on technology to moderate everything in the mainlanders’ lives, from air conditioning to vehicles. Those scared her more than anything, and not because they were giant hunks of moving metal. She felt the poisons being ejected into the air while the machines traveled to their destinations. It made her sick, and the lack of clean air and vegetation in London seriously perturbed her to an unnatural level. And yet she still often desired to explore it more.

But the aforementioned spikes of cold at the nape of her neck were met with the familiar feeling of her hair changing color from her metamorphmagus power. The change was subtle, but side-eyeing the tips of her hair, she could already see the darkened ends turning her typical straw-color into the obsidian black that had plagued her on and off for months now. The only other time her ability had reacted in this way as of late, was when she had stepped foot onto Yrisle. That had been more violent – a kaleidoscope of flashing colors and unknown, raw magical energy trying to tear at her very existence. How any normal witch or wizard could handle something like that eluded her still. Apparently they weren’t bothered until long-term exposure to the island started to set in. With all that in mind, Fae couldn’t put her finger on what exactly in the office was causing it, but her eyes were drawn down to the covered object on the desk of Bianca Rivera as she took the offered seat across from the Head of Magical Law Enforcement. She didn’t know what the reason was behind covering something of that size, though Fae could understand concealing some secrets. Her own was currently being held in her hand, with very few people outside the Council knowing its true nature. But something still scratched at her brain in a funny way that she didn’t like at all.

The two of them seemed to be on a similar page, or at least as close in their thought process as two people independently working towards their own goals could be, when it came to Yrisle. Fae’s trip had been important for a number of reasons: she had wanted their to be Ministry witnesses to what she assumed would happen to her the second she stepped on the island, and to make sure that it actually was the island of Yrisle. As of yesterday, she could confirm that there was some sort of prophecy that had occurred months earlier, and was essentially ignored, even by one of her own who witnessed it happen. There were also revelations about the staff she had come into in the last twenty-four hours, though those were still to be determined based on research and other attempts at magical scouring on it. Eventually she would find what she was looking for.

Bianca’s first inquiry surrounded the trip that Fae had taken back in January, and how since then, a more permanent lockdown had been put in place. She had assumed as much, having explained to her Ministry guides that doing so with haste was absolutely urgent if they wanted to prevent Yrisle from leaking out further than it already had. Hearing it from the woman that lead all of those workers helped ease some of her worries on the island. “I do not believe your lockdown is a permanent solution,” Fae explained. “In the stories that we have passed down, Yrisle was sealed off to prevent it from eroding our world. The magic there…it is beyond anything I have witnessed before. It tries to eat away at me, as if it has its own intelligence. Maybe it knows that druids were what once contained it. Who can say?” she trailed off. There were too many what-ifs still, and they were all working off of centuries old retellings of what would be considered ghost stories by the mainlanders. They had virtually nothing of use, aside from what had been gathered by researchers since the island's arrival.

“I think there are probably a number of ways to seal Yrisle again, such as how my ancestors did, or even with something stronger.” One of her ideas, which directly conflicted with what the Council and the people of Hy-Brasil would want, was to use Merlin’s staff on Yrisle. That required knowing the barrier spell that had previously used on her home island, and it also assumed that it had its own agency on the island. Her very brief trip there had only proved that it worked well as a walking stick and that her hair looked fairly well in any color. The trick now was whether to show her hand or not to Bianca. Years of flowery words from the Ministry that were never followed up on or completely tossed to the side made her distrust the woman to a certain degree. Who was to say that they wouldn’t try to requisition the staff from her the second she gave up the name? Fae had been struggling with that her entire trip. While she had told Julia, the prophet, about it, that was because she didn’t believe the fortune teller to be much of a threat, especially when she seemed curious about learning her own involvement in all of this. Bianca was different, and it made Fae hesitate longer than she wanted to. Because that too, could be picked up by someone smart enough to look for it.

Sighing after a few seconds of silence on her own part, Fae stood up and approached the desk again, closer than she had been upon her entry. “This staff,” she held it horizontally across her hands, “Is what protected Hy-Brasil’s barrier. It is my assumption that it was placed there by Merlin and-” she trailed off as she found herself glancing down at the desk and the cloth covered object again. Whatever it was, it really drew her attention every time she could see it clearly. “What do you have under that cloth?”

Bianca Alia Rivera ● 1,050 ● The Gate to Avalon by Adrian Von Ziegler

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Bianca Alia Rivera]

Bianca wouldn’t delude herself that Yrisle could be the solution to the centuries-long conflict between druids and the Ministry, but she couldn’t deny that its sudden presence had given the two groups a shared goal – something they’d never quite had before. The druids had previously explored the possibility of opening up to the outside world, with their experiments in allowing foreign visitors and exporting their knowledge to interested professionals (Healers, magical creatures enthusiasts and the like). But ultimately they kept themselves contained to their island and resistant to any attempts to integrate into the rest of magical society. They had fought sending their children to mainlander schools for exams and they had fought even the slightest degree of Ministry oversight, even in the middle of a crisis – could the destruction of their barrier be called anything else?

The Ministry had always held the opposite interest – establishing standards and norms across every level of magical society. Wizards, goblins, merfolk, druids – all living under the same basic set of common beliefs meant to protect the magical world from the Muggle one and create the foundation for a harmonious coexistence. That dream was too lofty and idealistic for Bianca to fully accept – she was a pragmatist above all else – but she worked towards it anyway. Following the Ministry’s bottom line for as long as it acted in the best interests of those it had sworn to protect. With this knowledge in mind – that the druids would always fight integration while the Ministry would never cease to encourage it – Bianca kept her expectations low. This wasn’t a friendship, it could barely even be called a partnership. Only two groups with the newfound understanding that Yrisle threatened everything they both stood for and that, unfortunately, there was no way to stop it alone. She was slowly realizing that while the Ministry held a few pieces of the puzzle (their lockdown, recognized authority), the druids were no less important. In fact, their unique flavor of magic and history with the island could prove to be invaluable.

It was this that Bianca kept in mind as she carefully studied Fae. Despite being nowhere near Hy-Brasil, the High Druid radiated magic as if it was soaked into her very being. There were competing sensations, a soft and floral feel that could only be Fae’s particular brand of magic, but mingled with a sharp and electric punch that radiated pure power. The druid’s hair had begun to change color and Bianca’s eyes lingered on the coal-black tips that presented a stark contrast to the pale blonde. She had a few metamorphmagi on her staff – they made particularly good Aurors – who could purposely change their features with minimal effort. Sometimes the reactions were unconscious too, usually tied to changes in their mood, but Bianca had never seen such a rapid shift before. As they sat down, the difference in their body language grew more. Bianca was on the edge of her seat as always, her posture straight and stiff as she considered the problem sitting before her – but Fae seemed unsettled. Bianca wondered if the High Druid had noticed the way she leaned back to create distance, or that she had settled her staff in such a way that it formed a natural barrier between them.

And yet Bianca was sure the barrier was not for her, but for some other catalyst that had provoked the reaction. She wasn’t given much time to digest the question as Fae began speaking and Bianca focused her full attention on that – everything that Fae told her explicitly, and anything she might glean from the space between the words. She couldn’t help but agree that the lockdown was not a permanent solution, because it did absolutely nothing at all to address the strange power of the island or how it had suddenly appeared. No, the lockdown was a response to the stupidity of people that, despite the danger and uncertainty, insisted on traveling there anyway. Not wanting to acknowledge how little faith Bianca had in most people’s ability to understand and stay away from danger, she instead refocused on Fae’s account of druid stories about the island’s power source. Her brain worked furiously to process the information. “You must be referring to the strange behavior of the fog,” she finally said. “It seems to act of its own accord. But is it the source of power, or simply a physical manifestation of it?” She asked this last question as if speaking to herself, her gaze distant as she remembered how the fog had behaved, how it fit Fae’s description of strange intelligence.

What was most intriguing was the idea that the island had once been contained, its magic cut off from the rest of the world. If it could be done once, Bianca reasoned, it must be repeatable, but how? “Are there any written accounts of how your people contained the magic?” she asked with interest, refocusing her attention on Fae and fixing her with a serious look. “Although a second attempt might prove ineffective. If the magic in this island can think for itself, it may have found some flaw in your ancestors’ magic, however they managed to seal it. There’s no reason it wouldn’t manage to escape again, if it’s done so once already. So a new technique might be needed, then…” It would have been wonderful if Fae could suddenly pull an instruction manual for a containment spell out of her skirts, but Bianca suspected they would have to be innovative if they wanted to seal it again. Which reminded her…

“Is the right question whether we should seal Yrisle again?” she asked in response to Fae’s assertion that it must be possible. Bianca tapped her nails thoughtfully on her desk before clarifying, “It seems to me that a more permanent solution would be to destroy the island. Cut off the magic at its source, then it could never escape, or be used and exploited for malicious purposes ever again.” Bianca preferred a forceful solution when possible, one that would eliminate the threat completely instead of leaving it for someone else to contend with in the future. After all, she reasoned, they were only confronting this problem now because their ancestors had failed to solve it. But she knew that not everyone shared her view. Bianca was torn out of this line-of-thought when Fae suddenly stood up and approached the desk. Her eyes lingered on the staff, eyebrows raised as Fae explained its origins. “By Merlin?” she repeated incredulously, gaze shifting suddenly from the staff to stare at Fae in surprise. She had seen artifacts of Merlin on display at the museum in Wales, but they were only empty echoes of what they once had been. Whatever magic they had wielded, whatever purpose they had been intended for – well, they certainly couldn’t fulfill it anymore. But this staff was active, and Bianca could feel its power even when it wasn’t in use.

She wanted to ask more questions, glean what exactly Fae knew about the staff and its relationship to Hy-Brasil, but her last question startled Bianca. Ah, so this was what had caused Fae’s earlier defensive behavior. Given Fae’s explanation on how the island had reacted to her presence, Bianca should have guessed that an item that shared its magic would cause a similar stir. She wasn’t inclined to share secrets outside of the Ministry or the Order, but since Fae had taken a leap to reveal the origins of her staff…Bianca twitched the cover off the dagger so Fae could see it. The blade seemed to be made of diamond and set into the hilt was a glass orb (close in shape to a remembral) but with white fog inside. A similar white fog to the one that enveloped the island – a piece of its magic, contained by the dagger itself. “I found this dagger when I visited the island, hidden in a hole. A…coworker and I have been attempting to discover its abilities, although with very little success so far. I’ve been meaning to visit the Ministry archives as part of our research. The collection is one of the oldest and most expansive in Britain, so I’m hoping there may be ancient sources or references that can provide some insights.” Bianca paused before continuing, “You’re invited to continue your research there as well. Maybe our problems are connected.”

fae iona cloudbreaker

[fae iona cloudbreaker]

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“The fog is exactly what I am referring to,” Fae stated flatly. The exact nature of the sentient mist was far beyond what she knew so far, aside from the fact that it preceded the island and had the ability to twist and warp the known into the unknown and unimaginable; horrors that she desperately did not want to come to fruition. Her ancestors’ stories did very little in describing what the fog was capable of doing, or the atrocities it had caused prior to it being sealed away on Yrisle. She hesitated to believe that there was a physical entity or object that controlled the fog, though considering they had very little information on it altogether, anything was possible right now. Her own theory was that it maintained its own sentience, a conglomeration of magic essence that far exceeded even the oldest of known druidic magic. In that regard, there was very little that could even be considered in the same category. Merlin’s staff, whilst old, wasn’t older than Hy-Brasil, and the island and the druids clearly existed when the fog arrived. The exact timeline of how this all came to be was still unclear to her. The druids admittedly had a bad habit of keeping their history and tales in an oral format, only writing down the most necessary of events prior to a certain point in time. Obviously they had annals and historical documents of their own, but the amount of time that it would take to go through centuries of useless information to maybe find a sliver of information would take too long.

When it came to another attempt on locking it all away, that was where Fae became extremely lost. There was no information at all. And she wasn’t about to send scores of innocent people to scour the island to study it like the Ministry had already done. Considering where they currently were, sharing what they had with each other, it sounded to her like Bianca and her people had yet to figure out the root of the problem too. “As far as I know, the island was sealed for centuries. Call me harsh, as my people surely will if I propose this to them, but if we seal it again this would most likely not be our problem, nor our children’s.” She hated that there had to be an option like this, since total destruction of Yrisle and the fog, as Bianca offered up, was surely the better route to take. That was something that would take time and effort though, if it was even possible to begin with, and she much preferred the quicker solution of finding out how the island was sealed and committing to that again. The world’s understanding of magic was far superior to what her ancestors worked with, and there were a multitude of ways to create a new barrier that could completely lock away the island once again. If it meant utilizing Merlin’s staff, she would sacrifice her own home’s secrecy to do so. Yrisle was far more dangerous than Hy-Brasil having influence to the outside world, as much as she hated to admit that. Fortunately that was a failsafe that she didn’t believe would be necessary unless they couldn’t figure out how the seal was placed the first time. And that was also assuming the staff could even be used to control something like the fog.

She watched Bianca’s eyes drift onto the staff when she explained that it once belonged to Merlin. The mainlanders had a strange obsession with the man, rightfully so to some degree, but they used his name in place of an obscenity. He was far too great of a warlock to be lowered to those standards. Thankfully Fae could look the other way while some of her cohorts back home could not. Holding it out in the manner she was didn’t feel right to her, and she drew back her arms as Bianca’s gaze lingered on it. It was funny – the Ministry woman was intrigued by the staff and Fae by the object on the desk. They each contained something of immense power, though that exact magic varied greatly between them. Fae normally hesitated to call something absolute evil, aside from the dark arts and creatures that were beyond redemption or reasoning, but the thing under the cloth that had drawn her curiosity certainly radiated the feeling she had while she was on Yrisle. It was old and beyond what some would consider dark magic, though was definitely the source of what would eventually fall within that classification.

What lay beneath the cloth was a dagger. Fae didn’t think that seeing it would cause as harsh of a reaction within her as it did, considering it hadn’t moved at all, but she could feel her hair flare into a deep red and then to black in an instant. This sort of thing had been so common lately, especially every time she came into contact with Yrislean artifacts. Unfortunately she knew what emotions and sensations elicited which color, so there was no need to actually see what her hair was doing. She just knew. The jaunting switch had thrown her off a few months earlier when she first stepped onto the island, but now it seemed like an everyday occurrence.

Curiously, the orb that sat at the hilt seemed to have a similar essence to that of the fog. Fae found it difficult to pull her eyes away from that part, knowing that this was what contained the magic of the island within the weapon. This was the piece that she really disliked. Every fiber of her body, even the invisible magical tendrils within her, told her that she was the opposition to this object. Bianca’s description, of how she and a coworker discovered it, removed it from the island, and were now trying to research it, made her angry. Why would they take something from the island that clearly held the magic of Yrisle? That was beyond stupid, especially considering they knew nothing of the fog or the dagger yet. How did they know that this wasn’t a beacon or extension of the fog, purposely placed in a position to be removed? If the fog was sentient then it was capable of anything.

Fae kept her thoughts to herself though, because it was too late to scold the woman for what she had done. Taking a few steps away from the desk, she kept the staff between her and the desk. She didn’t trust the dagger, and she was positive that it held the same sentiments about her. The conflict in magic between the two was immense. “If the dagger stays here, then I would greatly appreciate it,” she said slowly in regards to the archives that were being offered to her. “What has been discovered about that so far?” she added, pointing at the dagger with the tip of the staff. There was going to be a trade of information here pretty soon, as she was sure Bianca and the Ministry were going to be quite interested in the staff. Freely giving that out meant that the secret wasn’t so secret anymore, or at least she assumed it wouldn’t be. It was hard to tell if the other woman was bold or foolish for keeping the dagger near her.

“I would also like to make another request,” Fae continued, her gaze still fixated on the dagger as she spoke. “While I want the Yrisle problem to be solved quickly, I need everything the Ministry may have on Merlin. I do not believe the two problems are connected, but he was a wise man and there may be writings on his usage of the staff and the barrier he arranged for Hy-Brasil that could be of use to us with Yrisle.” And she wanted to see how accurate everything the Ministry had was compared to what the Council had. Different people were going to write about vastly different things, and while Merlin was certainly known to have traveled to Hy-Brasil and eventually established the barrier, it also didn’t seem like Bianca was aware of the staff ever existing in the first place. Fae didn’t know if there were historians or experts on Merlin, but she had read plenty about him, albeit scarce in some areas, in mainlander books. Most of those writings focused on his achievements that led to his legacy as a grand warlock. “I believe it is time that we work together to solve this problem. If that is fine with you?”

Bianca Alia Rivera ● 1,433 ● Super Trouper by ABBA

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Bianca Alia Rivera]

Bianca didn’t hesitate a beat as she moved immediately into problem-solving mode. That was the function of her department, after all – reacting to problems that arose, and proactively acting to prevent and deter similar failures in the future. There were other departments in the Ministry that centered their activities on research – the Department of Mysteries, for example, and their investigations into the theory behind magic (or so Bianca assumed, based on the scant public information available). When it came to Yrisle, she simply couldn’t waste time speculating about the full range of the island’s magic or where it had come from. They were interesting subjects, to be sure, but answering these questions did very little in offering a tangible solution. And Bianca dealt in solutions, after all. That was the product she was expected to deliver to the Minister – how to solve rising crime rates, how to tackle the danger of the island and keep it contained. Whether or not the theory was interesting to her – that was irrelevant. It did nothing to create a desirable end result for the Ministry, and so Bianca paid it the bare minimum of attention she could get away with.

So she moved on from the fog rather quickly. Neither she nor Fae seemed to have concrete answers about what the fog was, or how it was powered – at least, not beyond the general answer of ‘ancient magic.’ It didn’t seem like the key to protecting wizards and witches from the island, or even shutting it away completely. Bianca tapped her fingers on her desk as she considered Fae’s response to her question about destroying the island. It unfortunately seemed like the answer didn’t lay in thousands of tons of TNT – or a few dozen well-placed blasting spells. Fae continued to argue that the most effective solution lay in sealing the island away, and postponing the issue for several generations. The answer didn’t please Bianca, who preferred a permanent solution whenever possible. This was simply kicking the can down the road, and while it would certainly solve her problem in a short-term perspective…well, Bianca wasn’t even sure a containment spell was a more accomplishable goal. There didn’t seem to be any clear way to quantify what was ‘easier’ magic.

“This debate seems premature,” she suggested, steepling her fingers as she considered the issue. “It’s an important discussion, one that should be fully explored. But at this stage we don’t even know if sealing the island away is possible, or if it can be destroyed. It would perhaps be more effective to explore the means we have at our disposal before we discuss the end result.” The word ‘our’ stuck in her throat, but Bianca managed it anyway. If there was anything she had learned since January, it was that Yrisle wasn’t just the Ministry’s problem. The island had the potential to affect everybody, and therefore it had become everybody’s concern. This meeting was only happening because the individual sides had each begun to realize that, and that they could be stronger together in developing a comprehensive solution. Bianca wasn’t usually so…methodological when it came to brainstorming. She preferred to go with her gut and see what emerged. But, as a Department Head, that strategy simply wouldn’t work anymore. She had people relying on her now, to guide and keep them safe. If it meant she needed to be a little less impulsive, a little more thoughtful…she would learn.

Still, she couldn’t deny this meeting put her on-edge. There were the obvious causes, the headache of the island and the many unknowns that surrounded it. But meeting with the High Druid also reminded Bianca of how little she enjoyed dealing with the druids. They were an ancient people, and there was no doubt that they possessed unique abilities and powerful knowledge about the natural world. They were not only unique because of the different lifestyle they chose compared to the majority of wizarding society, but because of the unusual connection they had with magic as a result. Bianca had always been able to recognize that the druids had much to teach. But they had much to learn too, as loathe as they might be to admit it. She couldn’t stand how superior the druids felt to everyone around them, how blind their arrogance made them. They assumed they knew best, and as a result they left themselves vulnerable and open. However their barrier had collapsed, Bianca didn’t think it was because they had been overpowered. It had been because no druid had ever conceptualized that someone would dare try.

It was a weakness, and Bianca’s mouth flattened in displeasure at Fae’s ‘simple’ requests. But she took a breath and forced her frustration down to the pit of her stomach. This was an important meeting, and it wouldn’t do to allow her emotions to run away from her. Bianca was a professional above all else, and she would not be the reason this endeavor failed. “My coworker sent his notes along with the dagger,” Bianca replied stonily as she opened one of her desk drawers and pulled out the packet of parchment Rhys had sent her by owl alongside the dagger itself. He had clearly been busy since January, and although Bianca hadn’t finished reading his notes, it was clear to see he had developed multiple theories about the dagger based on his observations. Notes on the runes inscribed on the hilt, speculations about the fog swirling inside the orb, even notes taken about the diamond blade and what kind of magic might be contained within the dagger. She hesitated, not wanting to slide the parchment across the table but eventually doing so reluctantly. As for the request about Merlin…

“It is time to work together,” Bianca agreed. “It’s become fairly obvious that no one is capable of solving this problem alone. The situation has become too urgent to ignore. The longer Yrisle remains open, the more likely that someone – this…fog, or otherwise, will take advantage.” Bianca considered Fae closely – her rapidly changing hair, regal expression, flowing dress. She didn’t like the status quo, didn’t agree with how the Ministry and the druids had left things. She thought it was unusual that a small island could hold so much disproportionate power that it could demand things from a recognized magical government. Still, there were better ways to play this than outright accusations. So instead Bianca said, “Of course. Something about that staff might be the answer, or at least one of many, when it comes to taking care of Yrisle. If it was used to hide one island, it could be used to hide another. I can organize my Aurors to bring what we have on Merlin to Hy-Brasil. To…pool our resources.” It was a bold statement, almost outrageous. The druids had never allowed Aurors to set foot on their island before, had thrown a fit every time the Ministry had tried. But the druid council had shown that recent events -- the collapse of their barrier, escape of their creatures, even the reappearance of Yrisle -- was completely out of their control. They wanted to have their cake and eat it too, demand Ministry resources while maintaining full independence. But every other magical group knew a compromise was necessary -- goblins and merfolk and werewolves and all kinds gained certain rights and protections in exchange for submitting to Ministry oversight. Bianca knew what she was doing by suggesting that Aurors escort the information to Hy-Brasil -- and she wasn’t going to allow the druids any other way to access the Ministry’s archives.

fae iona cloudbreaker

[fae iona cloudbreaker]

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Concluding that there wasn’t a conclusive answer on how to deal with Yrisle was really the only thing the two of them could do right now. Supposition that the island could be re-sealed or destroyed was honestly foolish at this point in their research, though Fae had already decided in her mind that destroying it would only release the fog out into the world. With how the story went, it was the fog that was to be feared. Certainly the island of Yrisle had become warped and twisted over its centuries of solitude, but only because the fog was there. If there was to be any sort of destruction, it would have to be of the fog or whatever controlled that, if that was even a tangible thing in the first place. Research was ultimately the key to everything here, though they were set against a clock with an unknown end time as of now. The pressure alone from that was maddening at times, and she only felt it piling on more and more since her trip back in January. It was a different stressor than what the loss of the barrier had caused, and she had a feeling that it was because the Ministry, for the most part, had looked at her like she was a two-headed grindylow when she and the Council first sent their warnings about traveling there. Now some interested parties within the government were finally paying attention. Clearly she had been talking to the wrong people all this time, as Bianca was already infinitely more useful and willing to throw her cards on the table than anyone else had so far. Either that or she was trying to use Fae, in which the High Druid knew she couldn’t be completely forthcoming with everything she had knowledge of at the moment when it came to the Ministry. There was still that little element of interested parties trying to pry Hy-Brasil away from the druids. She couldn’t turn a blind eye to that right now either.

“Fair enough. Though I would prefer taking whatever route is most efficient at removing the island. Whatever is concluded to work effectively and soundly, then I will be behind it.” Supposing that destroying the island actually did, in effect, also remove the element of the fog. Anything that radiated raw, unnatural magic like that was not something she could allow to roam free. It tapped into deeper, forgotten sensations of her essence, most likely attempting to tear at her druidic make-up, or maybe even the ancestral bond that connected her to previous High Druids and the deities. Considering the fact that one of her predecessors was potentially one of the ones that helped seal the fog onto the island in the first place, she figured that the possibility of being a target was extremely high. Unleashing that by destroying the only prison the fog had ever had could be world ending. But they didn’t know that yet, and Bianca was right about researching more first. Fae believed there had to be something out there and it would only be a matter of time before they stumbled onto an old scribbled note, or a lyric to a hymn that happened to fit the current situation. Druid culture was odd like that, and their collective thinking power would be necessary to put together all the pieces of the puzzle.

The dagger, and the packet of notes being pushed across the desk to her, were easily the most intriguing part of the meeting thus far. She disliked the object on a fundamental level, but only because every fiber in her body told her that she and it were naturally opposed to one another. That only solidified the fact that whatever was on the island and made it the way it was – her assumption still being the fog as the culprit – was abject to the druids and Hy-Brasil. Ultimately, Fae didn’t think taking it a step further and saying Yrisle was dangerous to all humankind was that farfetched. While no one knew what could happen as of this moment, speculation based on what was already known had the potential to lead to cataclysmic magical phenomena on a scale never before seen. And that would be something none of them could prepare for. Trying to get ahead was better than looking back on it and wondering why they didn’t do something to begin with.

The notes were of great interest to her though, but she didn’t have the time now to go over them in detail. Getting a copy and then putting it in front of the Council and whomever else proved useful was the first thing she needed to do. Flipping through the pages didn’t achieve anything at all, aside from spotting a few runes replicated from the hilt, and a few other descriptive words. If it wasn’t actively trying to kill anyone near it right now, then she saw no harm in trying to figure out whatever it was exactly, aside from being a dagger from the most dangerous island on the planet.

Bianca’s idea of collecting and sharing resources differed greatly from what Fae wanted. There was no reason for there to be more Aurors on Hy-Brasil; dozens were already stationed on the island, and any more would only look like a hostile takeover. She was fine with the current Aurors going to and fro, as they had been respectful of the locals and wildlife, with very little issue aside from nifflers going after coin purses and wrist watches. That was an unavoidable side effect of visitors, and part of the reason why there were signs posted by the port to make sure that anything of value was sticky-charmed down. Being robbed by a niffler was cute until it wasn’t, and she had seen many close calls between Ministry employees and the furry thieves since October.

But allowing more Ministry law enforcement onto Hy-Brasil wasn’t a unilateral decision she could make. The Council would have to discuss and vote, and while she was sure that eventually they would come to some agreement to allow more Aurors but not too many, it absolutely wouldn’t be that many more than were already there. “I was unaware that Aurors also handled the Ministry’s archives and research. That seems like rather mundane work for officers of the law, considering it would only be offloading a few boxes of books and scrolls at maximum.” Fae refused to believe that there were entire bookshelves of information on Merlin, and if there was, it was what she had already researched herself. “I would hate to impose this sort of job on them if they can be better utilized on Yrisle, especially if there is a librarian or researcher on hand for this sort of situation.”

Bianca Alia Rivera ● 1,135 ● Traveling by anbuu

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Bianca Alia Rivera]

Bianca’s experience with the magical world, from the very beginning, had always been characterized by a sense of playing catch-up. The disadvantages were immediately obvious – wizards and witches who grew up in the magical world had knowledge of magic and the society they lived in ingrained into their minds from day one. They went to school with a basic understanding of their abilities and their world’s history; they knew all about the different magical groups not only from their textbooks but from personal experience. As a Muggleborn, Bianca had always started one step behind. History of Magic had been her most difficult class, because everybody had already known all the famous magical figures that she was learning about for the first time. And she’d embarrassed herself in her first meeting ever at the Ministry with the goblins of Gringotts, because all she’d known about goblins were what she’d seen in Muggle TV shows. And her understanding of magic had always been theoretical, supplemented only by the accidental discoveries she made along the way.

The advantages were less obvious, but they existed. Namely, most wizards and witches came to expect the status quo to be the only thing that would ever exist. Change came slowly in the magical world, and it was resisted every step of the way because of the basic assumptions magical beings grew up with. Bianca didn’t have any of those, and it meant she could see the world differently – and more importantly, what it could be. The tension between the Ministry and the druids was only one more example. Bianca had read just about every file compiled over decades of her predecessors’ experiences with the Druid council, and they all shared a common point of overlap. No solutions offered. No way forward except more of the same. Bianca wasn’t an optimistic person by nature, but she also wasn’t a static person. Change was needed to survive, and she was sure that was going to be her legacy, whenever she moved on from the Ministry.

But that was a problem for another day. Yrisle represented a bigger issue right now, and Bianca idly rubbed her forehead to ward off the headache that inevitably came whenever the island popped up in conversation. Fae’s words echoed Bianca’s line of thinking – whatever was going to be the most efficient way to remove the island from the equation would also be her preferred strategy, in the end. Sealed, destroyed, it honestly didn’t matter as long as it closed this particular chapter. The island was a threat, partly because of the unknown danger it presented to wizarding society, but there was also a deeper, lurking danger. When Bianca had visited the island, she had been confronted with the chilling feeling that she was an intruder. More than that, really – there was a malevolence lurking in the fog, a deep resentment that had warped its whole being. It wasn’t Dark magic, as speaking with other Order members had confirmed that fact. But it was still spiteful, resentful. She knew that if it had the opportunity...it would lash out at anything it could.

“I agree,” Bianca acknowledged out-loud – it seemed important to confirm that they were on the same page about this one fact, at least. “The more research we conduct, the better an idea we’ll have of which strategy will be most effective at neutralizing the island. I wonder…if that will require more visits.” Her tone had been neutral until this point, authoritative and distant like her usual style. But there was an undeniable undercurrent of fear to that last question. Bianca wasn’t afraid of much, but the island had shaken her to her core. How the fog had seemingly attacked her, the memories it had dredged up of feeling helpless and at someone else’s mercy…on her knees, defenseless…Bianca swallowed slightly, nervous at the thought of visiting the island again. If she had to, she would, but she hoped it wouldn’t come to that. There were very few things she didn't dare to do, since her confidence sometimes extended into recklessness. But visiting that island -- if she had a choice, she would never go again. Some scars ran too deep to be confronted.

Her eyes fell on the dagger, and the memories resurfaced of her and Rhys’s exploratory (and bitter) mission to investigate sections of the island. She’d hoped that mission would be the end of it, because in all honesty she couldn’t stand the cursebreaker and his attitude. Bianca had managed to keep her temper in check, partly because she was a professional but mostly because Rhys had been afflicted with his little floating problem and the humor of that situation overpowered her desire to throttle him. Tugging him along with rope like he was a balloon would most certainly be a memory she’d use in the future, the next time she needed to summon her Patronus. But now that she and Fae had moved from general discussion of the island into problem-solving mode, Bianca reluctantly acknowledged that Rhys might have a bigger part to play in investigating the best way to handle the island. “I could…” she trailed off, unable to get the bitter words out, but eventually she steeled her resolve and continued. “I could reach out to my coworker for help. He has experience with navigating dangerous situations, and he’s spent time on the island. He might be able to find something there, or with the dagger, that can help.”

She hated herself for admitting that, but if she could close the matter of this island indefinitely and remove it from her to-do list…then she might even consider asking nicely. And, unfortunately, Bianca couldn’t see any other way to find a solution. Someone would most certainly be visiting the island again in the future, likely while research on Merlin’s staff continued in Hy-Brasil and while she briefed the Minister on her next steps. Not asking permission – Minister Krum had made it clear he didn’t care, so she was taking the matter fully into her own hands and presenting it as a fait accompli. Bianca had already decided that the island was too big a threat to leave to its own devices, and clearly Fae agreed. If they combined forces, along with a few other trusted individuals with different areas of expertise…it might just be enough.

Fae’s pushback on Bianca’s proposal was expected, and Bianca gave a dry laugh and a thin smile at the pointed comment. “There’s been a certain level of apathy in the Ministry for a long time,” she observed, unwilling to be too vocal in her criticisms of the Ministry to an outsider but still needing to acknowledge the obvious. To put it simply…many of the upper echelons of the Ministry, from the Minister to many department heads to their staff…they didn’t care. They did the minimum needed to keep things running, and were happy to push the responsibility onto the few people who did care. Bianca felt like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders sometimes, acting alone because nobody else was willing to take part of the burden. “So,” she continued, steepling her fingers as her face settled into a serious expression again, “In these…troubling times, it’s become one of my newer responsibilities to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible. My Aurors have full caseloads already, but the archives will still need an escort from my department. I can send analysts instead, if you prefer.” The analysts were the true backbone of Law Enforcement, since they enabled all the activities her Aurors and Hit Wizards carried out in the field – and while their entrance exams weren’t as intensive, they still had to pass training as well.

The subject of a Ministry escort reminded Bianca that she had sent James Potter to accompany the High Druid on her visit to London. The oldest Potter child was a capable Hit Wizard to be sure…but Merlin, he liked to chatter away endlessly. A dull pain started in her temple at the mere thought of how he took every Order meeting as an opportunity to brightly engage her and never…stop…talking. “I hope your escort has been acceptable,” Bianca commented, quickly tearing her mind away from the last time she’d been caught in a conversation with James for almost 20 minutes, although she’d barely said anything at all. “He has a…unique personality, but he’s one of the best we have.”

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[fae iona cloudbreaker]

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Research, research, and more research. That was all she had been doing for months now, and while nothing had come from it, there was also that little voice in the back of her head saying that she was close. Was that optimism maybe? Coming back finally after its sabbatical that it had been taking for the last six months? The conversation with Julia the day prior had solidified the fact that she was at least going in the correct direction, and relaying this over to the Council upon her return would only help reinforce that. There were so many wise elders on Hy-Brasil that she was sure the mention of the vision would help jog their memories. And once that happened it would simply become a matter of locating the material needed to substantiate and back up the knowledge. While she had dug through some of the records of Hy-Brasil, there were still more, and that was part of why she wanted Julia to assist her in it. Keeping everything close and only with a small group was best, and it seemed like Bianca was close to being part of that too. Or Fae was joining hers. She wasn’t exactly sure yet, as they definitely agreed on certain parts but also wanted to do their own thing to get it done. Obviously they had different end goals for this, following whatever they would end up doing to Yrisle.

In regards to the dagger, Bianca offered to have another one of her coworkers assist with it. That was more preferable than having to pick it up herself, as the dagger clearly didn’t like her druid-ness. She couldn’t, in good conscience, send anymore druids to the island. At least not after her own reaction there. It was to be determined if that was because Yrisle knew she was the High Druid or because she was simply a druid and therefore an enemy, but it was best to keep her people away from the island. They could support in other places if necessary. They were not fighters, and self-preservation was more important now than ever before. The skills of Hy-Brasil were better utilized in a support role, and she knew that she would have to make that very clear with Bianca sooner or later. That it wasn’t because she wanted to push the Ministry into doing everything with little help on her end, but that she literally couldn’t risk it.

“I would offer assistance from Hy-Brasil, but the island rejects our kind. Similar to how the dagger does…” Her eyes wandered down to it again. She really disliked its ugly, twisted shape. It made her feel ill just by looking at it while simultaneously daring her to turn away so that it could stab her in the back. The glass ball at the hilt felt like it was ocular in nature, and constantly trying to bore its way into her. It would probably like that too; to dig into her and snuff her existence from the mortal plane. She had seen plenty of knives used for ceremony, and this one looked like it was made for gutting druids. The mere thought made her shake her head as the distinct shiver passed over her, startled that such a thing could pass through her head in the first place. Grotesque thoughts for a grotesque piece of weaponry. “If your coworker is brave enough to traverse Yrisle more than once, than I would trust that he knows how to handle something like this…” Fae trailed off as she stepped away from the desk, giving herself room from its suffocating presence. She hadn’t even noticed that her hair had dulled into the ash gray color that it liked to default around all things Yrisle. The kaleidoscope of rainbow colors while trying to figure out the island was a much more pleasurable and fun experience.

Fae didn’t need to add her own displeasure surrounding Minister Krum to what seemed to be a common sentiment among some within the Ministry. She had seen this multiple times now, with each change in their government head. How could the workers ever trust a Minister that couldn’t pay attention, couldn’t do their work, or got themselves killed? The constant rotations kept things in a constant state of chaos that was so bad that even she knew about it. The perfect relationship between the Ministry and Hy-Brasil was one where she didn’t need to worry about how long she would have to convince the current Minister about the plight of the druids before they were replaced. Five years of this was five years too much. She couldn’t begin to imagine what it was like to be an employee here. It had to be constant chaos.

Bianca explained that the Aurors that worked for her kept things running smoothly, and that was why they would be required when going to the archives. Simple enough, though it made Fae realize that there was an almost infinite number of these Aurors hanging around on standby. And here she had thought that the entire force of them had been placed on Hy-Brasil back in October. The scale of the Ministry always stunned her, and she disliked that immensely. “Whomever you believe can locate the information we may need the quickest,” she stated. She was sure that meant that the records would have to stay within the Ministry and she already knew that someone would probably be watching over her shoulder, if not by Bianca herself.

“James is fascinating. He took me to the pub that his father runs. I did not know that one could grow up in an establishment like that. It did not strike me as being a stimulating enough environment for a child…” she paused to think about the little restaurant that she had been taken to a few days earlier, right after arriving on the mainland. “But I have been wrong before. He has been helpful with getting me to where I need to be, and on time.” That made it sound like he was watching a child, which, in a way, he sort of was doing. Her almost infantile knowledge on how the mainland worked was stunning to even witches and wizards that only devoted their lives to magic apparently. At least she didn’t go around putting chains on animals just to walk them outside, or killed trees and plants to pave a road. She knew that was a necessity for muggle mainlanders, but the magical folks knew better. Maybe the return of Yrisle was the world’s way of telling them to stop what they were doing. Though if that was the case, it wouldn’t dislike the druids as much as it did…

Bianca Alia Rivera ● 1,122 ● Carte blanche by Coeur De Pirate

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Bianca Alia Rivera]

Bianca felt more grounded, now that they had finally begun to discuss concrete steps moving forward. She had come to realize that meetings were her least favorite element to being a Department Head – there was a great deal of talking, but very little action that ever came from the discussion. Ministry workers loved to talk, she had realized, about anything and everything. Complaints about other departments, complaints about the support staff, grandiose ideas for future directions the Ministry could and should be heading towards. They never stopped talking, and planning, and writing up detailed proposals that somehow never said anything at all. That wasn’t Bianca’s style. It was true that her entrance into the Ministry had been as a foot soldier, more than anything else. The tough Aurors that smashed their way through obstacles and then asked questions later. Being assigned to a desk job after her incident in the field had been a difficult transition, not only because she’d needed to learn the proper methodology and format for reports, but because suddenly her problems weren’t ones she could blast away anymore. There was more she could do as a Department Head, that much was obvious…but not if she couldn’t force her employees to move from rhetoric into action. Bianca constantly sent back reports and interrupted at briefings to point out that she had only been told the ‘what’ – what the problem was, what had just happened. She didn’t need that. She needed the ‘so what’ – where to move next, how to solve the problem with concrete insights and recommendations.

She and Fae were finally reaching that point, and Bianca felt herself relax minutely as some of the tension left her shoulders. Fae’s observation that Hy-Brasil could only play a limited role didn’t surprise her, nor did it upset her. Yes, the burden would mostly fall on the Ministry to send out the manpower and expertise to seal the island. But the institution that contributed the most also got the most say, and had more power to influence the future trajectory of their investment. So it meant more work for Bianca now, but she could already see the beginning of a plan forming in her mind, future leverage that could be highly effective if it was used properly…it was time for the Ministry to be more active. To finally use the advantage it had of being the most powerful magical government in this area.

Bianca didn’t respond immediately, but picked up the dagger to study it vaguely. “The island recognizes druids as a threat?” she asked, although her eyes trailed over the diamond blade, scrutinizing the flawless surface. “That’s a good sign. It means the answer to our problem must be connected to Hy-Brasil. We’ll see what the Ministry archives say.” Her gaze lifted to glance over Fae again, and Bianca noticed the minute changes from earlier. Her hair had been changing color before, but now it settled on a pale ash-gray, like even the presence of the dagger was making the High Druid ill. Her face also looked troubled, like she was processing an unpleasant thought, and Bianca wondered what memories and emotions the dagger evoked from Fae. She knew what it did to her – all those memories of her past failures, all the times she had felt weakest…and she wondered if that was the case for the druid too. The thought of praising Rhys might be enough to make Bianca the ill one, but she put on a brave face anyway. She had to face the facts, after all, and he was more qualified than she was for a mission of this type. “He has experience with artifacts, and dangerous magic. And I’m sure he also has connections that will know more too. He’s…ugh, he’s the most competent person for the job.” There had been a time after the island where all food had tasted like ash, and it had been difficult to force herself to eat. Another visit to the island had reversed this irritating effect, but Bianca still remembered the sensation. Complimenting Rhys brought back the taste of ash.

Thankfully, the reminder that Bianca would have to organize the logistics of sending valuable information to Hy-Brasil was enough to make her forget the cursebreaker. She didn’t want to send any more Aurors if she could help it – their absence would be felt in other areas, and she couldn’t afford to be understaffed right now. Even sending James to escort Fae on her trip around London had been a sacrifice, since Bianca needed all her Hit Wizards available and she trusted James more than most. He was competent, he was a Potter, but above all he was a member of the Order and therefore trustworthy. Bianca had slowly been delegating more tasks to him – on his end, it might look like she was dumping work on him that she didn’t want to do. But, in reality, it was a sign of her trust and a signal that she wanted him to take more responsibility moving forward. He might never stop talking, but he was still a valuable resource and the kind of presence needed to counterbalance Bianca’s ‘ready-to-murder’ attitude.

She was about to comment more about the analysts – explain that they received both technical and physical training, and were some of the brightest minds in her department – but Bianca was sidetracked by Fae’s descriptions of her security escort. She couldn’t help herself, and a snort escaped. “Fascinating is a good word for him,” she agreed, even though Bianca thought they might mean it in different ways. ‘Average’ certainly wasn’t a word anyone would think of when describing James Potter. Bianca shrugged as Fae wondered how a child could grow up in an environment like that. “Children are heavily influenced by the environment they grow up in. My father took me to his precinct fairly often, and I ended up here. James spent his childhood learning how to talk to people. Now he never stops.” Despite the criticism, there was a faint smile of amusement on Bianca’s face, and maybe even mixed with a tinge of nostalgia as she thought about her own experience growing up. Merlin, she missed her papa. But she never allowed herself to think that way.

“It sounds like we have the beginning of a plan, then,” she said sharply, more for her own benefit than Fae’s as a reminder that she was in a professional setting with a senior official. She set down the dagger heavily on her desk, unaware that she’d been holding it all this time. “I’ll reach out to my coworker so he can begin to organize his next trip to the island. And I’ll contact you by owl when I’m ready to send the archives to Hy-Brasil so you can investigate that staff. I have three researchers returning by Floo network from Paris in a few days. But as they’ve never visited Hy-Brasil, you may need to arrange an escort on your end for them.”

fae iona cloudbreaker

[fae iona cloudbreaker]

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If she was the type to scoff, she probably would have at Bianca’s statement about Yrisle treating druid folk as invaders. The unnerving ripple of ancient magic that countered that of the natural order she and others like her were so used to was so uncomfortable that she didn’t know the best way to describe it. Obviously if there were stories of the island that dated back centuries through oral tradition, that meant her people were aware of what originally happened. That was exactly what she had been trying to point out for quite a while now, and would have been able to have done it months earlier if reports of Julia’s vision had reached her immediately after it occurred. Playing catch-up with a seemingly sentient body of magic that had no intent of going away seemed like such a losing game that this was exactly why they were having this conversation now. At least the right people were in agreement now. If she had been sending warnings months ago, the Ministry probably would have called her a loony again and written her off. So much for their ‘co-existence’ that some within the mainland government were always preaching about. Fae knew what they really wanted, and having the druids and Hy-Brasil caught off guard throughout this whole ordeal was perfect for their plans. It was too bad that she was done playing around now as well. She got the feeling that Bianca was the independent sort too, or at least didn’t like being shackled down by her superiors all that much. Fae was willing to break a few rules here though, as the alternative had such greater, unknown consequences for the whole world.

“It knew I was there the second I stepped foot on land,” she said quietly, remembering the sudden rush that had hit her. “Like with the dagger, my metamorphmagus ability reacted out of control. That was the first time I had ever seen it be controlled by something aside from myself.” There were other stories of druids that had tried their luck venturing onto the island, but Fae had no intention of ever experiencing that feeling again unless absolutely necessary. Meaning if she had to go back to seal the island away again. While she didn’t enjoy thinking about that, there was a possibility that it would have to be done by her, assuming the research that she was about to conduct was going to reveal that the previous person that had sealed the island was a High Druid. She had utmost faith in the old gods, so if that ended up being her fate, then so be it. That would only fall into line with her being born during The Time of Passing…

Bianca having someone that could deal with a dangerous item like the knife was good. Fae couldn’t say if there were any curse experts or dark magic experts left on Hy-Brasil, as they weren’t allowed to partake in it. She understood the reasons why, and while she would never do that herself because of the repercussions, the practical application and dissection of magic like that was extremely important on the mainland. Hy-Brasil simply didn’t require anyone like that to be around.

Maybe it was the overabundance of community on Hy-Brasil, but Fae had never not had a situation growing up where she was told not to inquire about things she was interested in or wanted to know about. She had never contemplated that children on the mainland did the same, just in their own environments. While her entire world was situated on an island, James’s went in and out of the pub door, offering an almost unlimited amount of experiences. Maybe that was why she had been so intrigued by his conversations? “For me, I would have eventually became a griffin farmer,” she commented, trying to share her own story. Despite having done island tours, that only took up a little time. Working on the farm had always been the alternative. Now she was here.

A plan was in motion, it seemed. Information and research was going to be collected and sent, and the dagger would be inspected. This was only the first step, if even that, but she was already starting to feel better about the whole ordeal than when she left Hy-Brasil a few days earlier. This was actually something, and the last couple of days had given her a lot more information that she had anticipated leaving with. “Arrangements are no problem,” Fae stated. That had been her old job, after all. “I will be returning tomorrow myself, so if you need me again before then, contact James?” She said as she turned to leave, finally breaking her eye contact with the dagger as Bianca set it down again. She assumed that James was still going to be her guard until she left, or at the very least would know where she was supposed to be. “I look forward to working together. I believe that with the right people, we can send Yrisle back to where it was.”

[Fae End]

Bianca Alia Rivera ● 848 ● The List by Maisie Peters

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Bianca Alia Rivera]

Every description Bianca had received of the island seemed to be different from the one before it. There had been some attempts to draw a map, but the teams of Ministry officials sent to do the job had never finished. They reported unnerving effects from simply being on the island too long, and so the maps and diagrams they’d started were unfinished and lying somewhere in Bianca’s office amidst the mountain of paperwork on her desk. Her own experience had been thoroughly negative, starting from the moment she had stepped on the beach and felt a wave of unease sweep through her. She’d felt unwelcome, like an intruder, and the way the fog seemed to attack her once she had wandered by that unnerving lake…But Rhys had said something different. He’d been cautious, on-edge about exploring such a dangerous new location. Still, he hadn’t felt that same level of discomfort, and he’d suggested it might have something to do with being a werewolf. That he was somehow more welcome on the island.

Now Fae was suggesting that the island had recognized she was a druid and reacted accordingly. Bianca didn’t like thinking of an inanimate object as being sentient, but she’d seen the fog herself. It definitely had a presence, like it was aware of things and how it felt towards them…but it only made her more confident that the answer must be in Hy-Brasil. “The magic on that island isn’t right. My spellcasting changed while I was there. Like I was using someone else’s wand, and arm, to do it…” There wasn’t a better way to explain how foreign it had felt to cast magic on the island. Bianca had used simple cutting spells a hundred times, not to mention lighting her wand or using it to summon objects. But it had felt different on the island, like it wasn’t even her magic anymore. Like something had woven its way through and was trying to claim it. No, she didn’t want to spend an extra minute on the island that she didn’t have to, and she would certainly try to limit how much magic she used in the future. There was no telling what might happen otherwise.

They didn’t have a concrete solution by any means, but they had the beginning of a plan and that allowed them to move onto lighter topics. Bianca gave the faintest trace of a smile as Fae mentioned griffin farming. Is that what her parents did? She had read through almost every file the Ministry had on druids, every previous instance of contact between Hy-Brasil and Magical Law Enforcement. Still, they never seemed to comment much on druid customs or culture. The documents stayed on the political level – which Ministers had put forward which proposals, what the druid leaders had said back. Dry material, nothing truly interesting. So Bianca didn’t know the simple things, even whether children were expected to enter their parents’ trade or if they could choose their own futures. She had only visited Hy-Brasil for the first time yesterday, and the visit had barely lasted a couple hours. There’d been nothing informative about it.

“I hope so,” Bianca acknowledged Fae’s final statement with a nod, moving to her feet as the High Druid stood and prepared to leave. She didn’t really know if the island could be dealt with at all – why it had reappeared after being hidden for so long, whether that meant previous solutions wouldn’t work anymore. But she was determined to try, because one fact had become abundantly obvious to her: the island had its own will, and a resentful one towards druids and wizards. That meant it was a danger to magical society, and Bianca would never let that stand while she was in the position to do something about it. “We’ll be in touch. It’s a shame we didn’t meet earlier…we could have started this process months ago.” Bianca had never thought to turn to the druids before March, or at least she’d hoped that they’d gone further on tackling the problem than the Ministry had managed. But there was a small network forming of people who were in some position to contribute to a solution. And that, for now, was enough.

fae iona cloudbreaker
[End Bianca!]