Great Escape (OPEN)

[camila calderón]

May 2, 2025

The stress of her upcoming tour had certainly begun to eat at Camila Calderón. It was now (officially) the same month as her tour for her second album, Superstar, would begin in Paris, and she was busier than ever. Meetings, fittings, rehearsals, more rehearsals, rehearsals again, promotional appearances, press, meetings, more meetings… What little time she had remaining in her day was spent sleeping—or attempting to fall asleep.

It was tiring, and Camila was simply looking forward to the rush of adrenaline that she would get from being on stage in front of so many of her fans. That was what it was all about: singing and making people happy. The choreography and the flashy wardrobe and the special effects were all just add-ons.

Even with everything else happening for her, life itself went on. From what Camila understood, the Hogwarts students were still in school for a few more weeks. It was occasionally strange to go large stretches of time without seeing many people around her age in Diagon Alley, though she didn't think that she was that much younger than some of the people employed in the shops.

Camila didn't have time to browse the shop windows in Diagon Alley, though. The sole reason for her being out and about was so that she could go to the bank. Fortunately, the goblins were probably the last people who would care about her—a celebrity—being there.

Walking into Gringotts—flanked by security guards, as had become routine for her—Camila looked at the vast marble hall before her. It didn't look too busy, which was helpful. Sure, she was probably enough of a VIP to bypass the queue of customers, but she wasn't about to play that card of her own volition.

OOC: OPEN!

[Deleted]

It had been a number of weeks since Nixie had been back in London. She had just returned from Egypt with some exceptional rare and now un-cursed treasure. She had a very professional relationship with the goblins that ran the bank. She walked with one of the goblins, going over the the processing of the treasure, and what time they would give her before sending her out into the world again. She loved the adventure, but it would be nice to see her family for a little bit before leaving again. She shook hands with the being that she was talking to and he started to head back into the offices of the bank as she bounded into the main area where people came to deposit and extract their money. She had pulled some money out from her bank, and was planning on grabbing a few things around Diagon Alley before heading out.

As she observed the people and goblins in the area, her eyes landed on a young woman, she couldn't have been too much younger than she was. But the strange thing was that she had what looked like security following her. Couldn't she protect herself? Was she someone important? Nixie did think she had seen the girls face somewhere before. Nixie walked towards her, not to help her, but because she was right next to the door. "Welcome to Gringotts" She said with a friendly smile as she approached. Her thick Irish accent leaving ringing in the high halls of the bank that she worked for.

camila calderón

[camila calderón]

May 2, 2025

A young, thin woman with red hair—older than she but not by more than a few years—soon approached Camila. "Welcome to Gringotts," she said, in an accent that Camila knew wasn't the standard "English" accent. It was probably Scottish or Irish or something; she couldn't discern the difference.

Camila smiled. "Thank you," she responded. If the young woman was a fan of hers, she was grateful that she hadn't caused a scene inside the bank. She didn't think that the goblins who worked there would have been too appreciative of something like that.

One of her security guards started in. "Miss Calderón is—"

"—It's okay," Camila waved dismissively towards the security guard. So what? It was a few more minutes out of her day; that was all. It wasn't going to kill her to be nice to somebody.

@nixie

[Deleted]

The woman thanked her and Nixie thought that would be it, when one of the nameless people behind her spoke. "Ooh, scary" She said in a mock tone. This witch must be some sort of rich girl, or a celebrity of some sort. Whichever, it didn't really matter much to her. "Sorry, don't mean to insult. But it must be rough having people follow you all the time" She said to the girl with a smile.

Before anything else could happen, another goblin approached them with a clip board. "Miss McKraken, it appears that you missed a few lines to sign." Nixie turned to see who it was and took the clipboard from him "Glad you caught me Ragnok. I thought there were a few pages missed." She stated as she flipped though, scratching out her name on the lines that had been marked. "The amount of paperwork makes me question coming back, rather than just sending in what I find." She stated, talking to the girl. She finished the paperwork and handed it back to the goblin.

camila calderón

[camila calderón]

May 2, 2025

The young redheaded woman who had spoken to her was unfazed by the security presence around her, even mocking the guard who had spoken to her. She then turned her attention back to Camila herself. "Sorry, don't mean to insult," she said. "But it must be rough having people follow you all the time."

As much as she would have loved to agree with the young woman that having security around her so much got to be annoying, Camila simply shrugged. "It is alright," she assured her with a smile. It could have been worse, she supposed. They weren't with her every last second of the day, though it did occasionally feel that way.

Before the redhead could say anything more, however, one of the bank goblins appeared with a clipboard and a number of papers. He apparently wanted something to do with the redhead, whom he addressed by name.

Camila waited as the young woman finished up whatever she had to do with the goblin.

"The amount of paperwork makes me question coming back, rather than just sending in what I find," the redhead commented, and Camila realized that she was addressing her and not the goblin.

Upon realizing that the comment was directed towards her, Camila blinked. Sending in? It didn't help that she didn't understand all of what the young woman meant because of the language barrier. "Sorry," Camila apologized to her quickly but sheepishly. "I don't understand. You send… the papers?"

@nixie

[Deleted]

The woman shrugged and said "It is alright". Nixie couldn't tell if it really was alright, or if it was just something that she had to deal with. She could understand people wanting this girl to be safe. She had her own protective force. This was the main reason that all she told her parents was that she was working for a magical bank and that she was working in the tombs of Egypt. She rarely elaborated on the curses that she had to break.

Nixie couldn't help but laugh at the mis communication. "I work in the finding and procuring rare artifacts. Thank you Ragnok." She said as the goblin started to walk away. "Trusting the mailing system is another battle. It's best to come back anyway." Due to the girls accent, Nixie guessed that she wasn't from around here, but London had really become a melting pot of accents over the past few years especially.

camila calderón

[camila calderón]

May 2, 2025

"I work in the finding and procuring rare artifacts," the redhead clarified, going on to thank the goblin who had stopped her to finish whatever paperwork she hadn't yet completed. "Trusting the mailing system is another battle. It's best to come back anyway."

Camila nodded her head. She felt that she was able to get the gist of what the young woman was saying, at least, even if she didn't understand every last word. Finding artifacts meant that she must have been a rompemaldiciones—a Curse-Breaker—not that she knew the term for the profession in English. "Ah, yes," Camila replied, happy with herself for knowing what the young woman meant. Curse-Breakers had worked in and out of her former school, Castelobruxo, for years. "Which country?" she asked the redhead eagerly, wondering if there was any chance that she had been to Brazil—or even to Argentina, her own country.

@nixie

[Deleted]

Nixie thought about the her job that she had had for a number of years. She had mostly spent her time in Egypt. That was where she was coming form lately. "I just came back from Egypt, but I've also spent time in Italy, Greece, and a short time in Peru" It had been a while since she had visited south america, but this girl did reminder her a bit of the people. Perhaps she was from around there.

camila calderón

[camila calderón]

May 2, 2025

Camila listened as the redhead explained that she had just come from Egypt. It sounded fascinating to her; it was the first country in which there was recorded use of magic, after all. It also wasn't the only country that the young woman had visited, she said. She had been to Italy and Greece—with the former's being of interest to Camila because she would be touring there in only a few weeks. Greece wasn't one of her stops (at least not for that tour), but it seemed nice, too.

The young woman also mentioned Peru, which—while neither Brazil nor Argentina—was at least in South America. Peru was also a Spanish-speaking country, which gave Camila a momentary glimmer of hope as soon as she heard its name. She had had classmates from Castelobruxo who had come to the school from Peru, and she had had concerts there, though what was of primary interest to Camila was that there was a chance that the woman with whom she was struggling to converse in English spoke Spanish.

Aware that her eyes probably had lit up as soon as Peru came up in conversation, Camila smiled. "You speak Spanish?" she questioned, hoping that that was the case.

@nixie

[Deleted]

It was fun for Nixie to recount the locations that she had gone to. While she had spent most of her time in Egypt, she had gone the a few other locations for a short time. Traveling to other countries was defiantly a perk to her job. It was something that she enjoyed, even if she didn't spend too much time paying the part of the tourist.

Nixie did notice the girl seemed to brighten up at the mention of Peru. This didn't seem surprising, because she was sure that the girl was from South America, but she didn't quite see the girls question coming. She did fee a little bad "Sorry, no. I was completely reliant on translators while I was there."

camila calderón

[camila calderón]

May 2, 2025

"Sorry, no," the young woman apologized to her. "I was completely reliant on translators while I was there."

"Ahhhh," Camila nodded, her face falling a little when she realized that the young woman knew no Spanish. She might not have been completely reliant on translators for the sake of communicating in English anymore, but she certainly knew the feeling. It was frustrating and sort of embarrassing not to be able to speak a language when it seemed as though everyone else could—even if that wasn't entirely true.

With that thought, Camila's crestfallen expression turned into a smile. "I know," she sympathized with a laugh. "My English is not very good… yet." She was sure that the young woman could already tell that much. Even though some of her songs might have been in English, she wasn't yet fluent.

@nixie

[Deleted]

The girl looked sad when Nixie said that she didn't speak Spanish. She did feel bad about it, but she couldn't help it. She had picked up a few words during her travels, but that would defiantly not help her in a conversion. Nixie could really understand the feeling of being in a country where you didn't speak the language, or you only spoke a little bit.

Nixie smiled when the woman did. "My English is not very good… yet." She gave a little laugh "Your English is better than my sad attempt at Spanish." Speaking with the woman brought back memories of Peru "One one of my last nights in Peru, we went out drinking. Our translator drank us all under the table, and we didn't understand anything after that." Laughing at the memory Nixie smiled at the woman "Got me really thinking about language barrios, after that happened."

camila calderón

[camila calderón]

May 2, 2025

"Your English is better than my sad attempt at Spanish," the redhead assured her. It was hopefully a compliment, Camila thought, as she continued to listen to the young woman's story from her time in Peru.

Camila had some difficulty understanding what the young woman meant when she said something about drinking under a table. She assumed that either she had misheard what the woman had said because of her unfamiliar accent, or it was something that didn't translate completely. Was there a physical table involved at all? Probably, Camila guessed, although she wasn't too fond of drinking alcohol.

She hoped that her facial expression didn't betray her complete confusion as to what the redhead had told her. And the other girl seemed to find it funny enough—didn't she?—that Camila didn't want her to think that she was being rude.

The redhead mentioned language barriers again, to which Camila also began to laugh. She could say that again—in the proverbial sense, that was.

"I speak Spanish and Portuguese," Camila explained with a smile, "but English is…" Her voice trailed, and she shook her head slightly. English was different, and she found it much more complicated.

@nixie

[Deleted]

Nixie loved working around the world, and traveling around tombs. She loved the puzzle solving and adrenaline aspect. Sitting around and doing nothing, really wasn't her style.

She had a good guess that the girl didn't fully understand what she was saying. She had been told that her accent made it difficult to understand, especially to non native English speakers. She should have remembered that before. "I have been told that English can be hard." She smiled at the girl, as some people entered Gringotts. Moving out of the way, she caught a sense of the cold air from outside "It does seem like I'm keeping you. Sorry about that. I should let you go on your way."

camila calderón

[camila calderón]

May 2, 2025

""I have been told that English can be hard," the redhead smiled in apparent sympathy. Although her accent made her words less clear to Camila, she nevertheless spoke English with a fluency of which Camila could only dream.

A few more people entered the bank, and Camila got the sense that her security wanted her out of there sooner rather than later. The goblins wouldn't have been too thrilled by a mob of people flocked around a famous singer, she thought.

"It does seem like I'm keeping you," the other young woman observed at about the same time. "Sorry about that. I should let you go on your way."

It was rare for Camila to have a normal conversation with just anyone anymore. People spoke to her because she was Camila Calderón—either because they were doing business with her or because they were a fan. The redhead hadn't seemed to be too concerned about either; she was just a friendly person. She hadn't even asked for an autograph, though Camila wouldn't have minded if she had.

"It's okay," Camila assured her. "It is nice to meet you." If she were anyone else—even under Polyjuice as Julieta—she would have offered to teach the other girl Spanish in exchange for help with her English, but she knew how odd that would have been.

@nixie