PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Erin
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Post by claire h. fernsby-alighieri on Sept 11, 2022 18:29:13 GMT -5
Don’t stop
Trying to find me here
Amidst the chaos  At this point, all they really had to go on was the lead, so that was exactly what Claire had decided to do. Not wanting to ask the Order to risk anything more for her, she instead asked her family. Olivia and Gen had both agreed immediately, jumping at the opportunity to find and rescue Emma. They were all they had left, so they had to try to keep the family together. Claire didn’t have to explain the risks to her sister and wife, but she did just that anyway. They went over Marianna Lestrange’s frightening strengths several times before concluding that should any one of them come up against her alone, they ought to run for help rather than fight single-handedly. It wasn’t known if anyone else might be there, but Claire maintained some hope that Marianna would be alone in her manor, save for Emma. That was, if Emma was even there at all. After reviewing the property’s specifics a few times, the three of them had formed a plan. Claire and Olivia would move in from the back of the place, almost certainly setting off the wards and drawing Marianna outside. Once inside the property, Claire would work to disable the anti-apparation wards to allow them to leave. Olivia would look for signs of Emma, but would be prepared to see Marianna herself. Gen, meanwhile, would wait a little longer before crossing onto the property. She would enter from the side where they hoped Marianna might maintain a dungeon, sneaking in while the lady of her house was distracted. And with a spot of luck, Gen would find Emma and be able to leave as soon as they both could, with a signal on their Order devices to let the group know they could flee as well. Claire hated that Gen would be left alone, but could only hope that she was unexpected, and therefore could slip through the cracks unnoticed. A few hours before dawn, Claire found herself gathering alongside her sister in the little wooded area behind the house. ”I hope we’re right,” Claire whispered to her sister. Olivia merely nodded in response, focused entirely on the task at hand. Claire leveled her eyes at the manor. With a short nod, the two of them stepped across the property line and immediately launched into action- Olivia sending spells at the house and Claire going after the wards. MADE BY VEL OF GS |
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Marion
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Post by marianna elizabeth lestrange on Sept 12, 2022 15:55:32 GMT -5
you die, i thrive, and so it goes, Marianna had been clear with Thalia that whatever prisoners were kept in the depths of the manor would need to be disposed of or moved in time. The young woman was ambitious, bringing with her one of the Emma Fernsby and depositing her before making a hasty exit. After picking through the information housed within her mind, the Dark Lady left the captive well enough alone. She was, after all, Thalia's problem and she could deal with it. She had other things taking up her time, namely her daughter.
Now that Bastian was well and truly out of the picture, Eleanor was the only obstacle in her way. Knowing where she was put her mind at ease. Eleanor was a lot of things but Marianna was sure she wanted a baby badly enough that she wouldn't harm Bella. That fact wasn't enough to keep her from forming her plan but it made it easier to sleep. With Ivan Alucard's assured favor, she knew that by the end of the month her daughter would be back and safe in her arms.
In the months of her pregnancy, Marianna had to come to terms with the lack of silence in the manor. A baby would have kept her attention, with cries and laughter filling the space. Another life within the walls. Now, it drove her mad. No matter the music she played, how many books she devoured, all the plans and plots she drew up, none of it entirely filled the void. The manor was still as silent as ever she was roused from her sleep, drawn awake by the wards enclosing the property being tripped. She dragged herself out of bed, pausing to take in the flashes of light that struck the front gate with some ferocity behind them. There were two there, but a third had definitely entered from somewhere else. They were, in all likelihood, there for the prisoner now housed in the subterranean maze beneath the manor. She apparated out, an almost unnoticeable arc of black smoke that settled before the intruders, revealing the mistress of the house.
There was snowfall on the lawn, leaving a trail of prints behind the two girls before her. Another would give away the still missing final guest. Green eyes surveyed the two before her, noting one familiar face.
"Miss. Fernsby," she said, wand drawn and held between lithe fingers. The other pulled her robe closer in an attempt to combat the cold, the silk gown beneath offering little protection against the elements. "To what do I owe this pleasure? And at such an early hour." |
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Erin
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Post by claire h. fernsby-alighieri on Sept 18, 2022 13:38:42 GMT -5
Don’t stop
Trying to find me here
Amidst the chaos The wards of this place were a complicated mess, which Claire had expected, but she now knew would take quite a bit of time to work through. She only had to tackle the anti-apparation wards, of course, but wards tended to be tied together, often lined up in such a way that others had to be undone first before the one you were after. Claire tackled a ward on the house, presumably one of the alarms, just as Marianna appeared in a cloud of black smoke. It was impressive, the magic the mistress of the house had undergone to be able to apparate between the building and the garden. But it also gave Claire a lick of hope that Gen might be able to do the same- apparating herself and Emma into the garden before fleeing the premises. That would be a worst case scenario, of course, as Claire hoped she’d be able to allow apparation from any part of the property. ”Miss Fernsby. To what do I owe this pleasure? And at such an early hour.””Miss Lestrange,” Claire acknowledged, pausing in her spellcasting for a moment to point her wand at their opponent and face her. There was a pause as Olivia stopped casting as well, training her wand at Marianna as she stood by Claire’s side. ”I think you know well enough why we’re here,” Claire commented, knowing their family resemblance would be strong enough for Marianna to interpret that Olivia was the third Fernsby sister. Out of the corner of her eye, Claire caught the look she got from Olivia and the two of them struck in unison, sending two spells directly at Marianna. Olivia sent a barrage of spells after, while Claire put a shield around the two of them. She attacked the wards once more, focusing on the house itself in hopes that Gen could escape as soon as she located Emma. Claire could only hope that part of their plan was working. MADE BY VEL OF GS |
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Marion
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Post by marianna elizabeth lestrange on Sept 18, 2022 17:31:33 GMT -5
 WORD COUNT388 words BY MINNIE OF GS you die, i thrive, and so it goes, Claire Fernsby was resilient. It was a quality Marianna could have admired if it wasn't so annoying. Right now that resilience was set on dismantling the wards around the manor. Though the current lady of the house had woven her own magic into them, the tangled web was generations old, each stacked on top of one another in an impossible maze. It would take years, or many skilled magic wielders, to break them down in full. However, the Dark Lady assumed that wasn't the goal of this operation. It couldn't be, not with so few of them.
The girl paused her spellcasting to turn in her direction, offering her the blandest of retorts to her inquiry. "Miss Lestrange, I think you know well enough why we're here."
"I can assume it has something to do with Miss. Tomaras and whatever business she's been conducting on my property," Marianna said with little care. It hardly mattered to her what Thalia was really up to with the last Fernsby down in the basement of the house, only that it had brought intruders. That was business she would have to rectify with the Fernsby jailor at a later time. "I have no hand in that mess; you girls can take your business elsewhere."
The sisters shared a glance, an obvious tell to whatever plot they had in mind. They were quick, with one casting a shield while the other hurled a barrage of spells in her direction. Marianna deflected them with ease, sending the bright flashes of light in different directions. Her own spells lit up the air, breaking down the shield around the two until it fractured, leaving an opening just big enough for her to tear it apart.
Her wand remained aimed at the defensive sister, the familiar curse leaving her lips without thought. "Crucio!"
Olivia fell, her writhing form further marring the powdery snow that had settled on the lawn as Marianna turned her eyes to Claire, whose wand was now pointed at her directly. She felt it then, the tale-tell sign that someone had made it into the house. "Who did you send into my house?" She demanded as she flexed her hand, listening to the cries of the screaming girl grow.
"The best liars come from my own family, so I suggest not attempting that nonsense." |
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Erin
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Post by claire h. fernsby-alighieri on Oct 17, 2022 17:08:05 GMT -5
Don’t stop
Trying to find me here
Amidst the chaos ”I can assume it has something to do with Miss Tomaras and whatever business she’s been conducting on my property.”Miss… Tomaras? Claire started at this mention, surprised by the name Marianna so casually threw out. The problem was, there were two of them. The other problem was that they were both in the Order. So, one of them at least was a traitor. But there was no time to consider that now, Claire could only hope that whichever Tomaras twin it was, she wasn’t in the house at the moment to come across Gen. Claire and Olivia still had a job to do and Claire was hellbent on doing it well enough to get her remaining sister out of this hellhole. ”I have no hand in that mess, you girls can take your business elsewhere.””Ah, then you wouldn’t mind just handing her over?” Claire asked with a little laugh as Marianna attempted to dismiss the two of them. ”I didn’t think so, so here we are.” Their attack was deflected almost too easily- Marianna had spotted Olivia’s look. They’d need to be subtler and even more coordinated. Perhaps they should’ve practiced, but there hadn’t been time. Emma could be dying in that cellar; each hour was precious. ”Crucio!”The shield cracked just as Marianna launched the curse, which felled Olivia in an instant. Claire screamed along with her sister, launching herself forward as she fumbled with her wand. This would all be for naught if she lost Olivia in an attempt to save Emma. The wards were still holding firm, they’d made no progress, but she had to get Olivia back on her feet. ”Who did you send into my house? The best liars come from my own family, so I suggest not attempting that nonsense.””Defodio,” Claire muttered, opening a large hole in the ground under Marianna’s feet. She placed a shield in front of Olivia, yanked her sister up with her free hand. Olivia panted beside her, taking precious seconds to gather herself and put her wand in front of her once more. ”Whatever you do, don’t stop sending spells at her,” Claire whispered to her sister as Olivia launched the next set of attacks in the direction Marianna had been. ”Another Order member, what of it?” Claire yelled over the darkness, belatedly answering the dark lady’s question. She didn’t need to specify who it was, but it almost didn’t matter if Marianna knew anyway. Claire sent three spells in rapid succession at the house, breaking a couple of the wards. Gen was inside; if nothing else, Claire had to make sure her wife escaped. MADE BY VEL OF GS |
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Marion
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Post by marianna elizabeth lestrange on Jan 4, 2023 15:07:30 GMT -5
you die, i thrive, and so it goes, "Ah, then you wouldn't mind just handing her over? I didn't think so, so here we are."
Claire Fernsby was a pest, and by extension, so too were her siblings. That the lot of them had the audacity to come trespassing on her property was enough to warrant the level of force that would come down on them. Whatever Thalia was up to did not concern her in the slightest, but now had gotten out of hand. When she was done with these foolish girls, she'd have to turn her attention there.
Her curse hit the Fernsby sister with an accompanying scream from them both. The girl writhed there on the grass, unaided by her sister as Marianna relented. Claire was a better opponent than her sister, though not by much. The spell was a sad attempt to keep her distracted, the ground crumbling from beneath her feet meant to catch her off balance. The former Dark Lady disapparated, vanishing in a haze of dark smoke before reappearing, while the girls still launched spells at where she had once been.
"Another Order member, what of it?"
"Surely not another you're attached to; you couldn't be that stupid, could you Mrs. Fernsby?" Marianna said with a laugh. The younger one, to her credit, was relentless as she hastily sent spells in her direction, though in their speed they were sloppy and easily deflected. "You couldn't possibly be stupid enough to send them into a house with generations of powerful witches and wizards lending their skill to protecting and fortifying its walls." She knew the wards around the house were elegantly braided together, a collection of skills all working toward the goal of survival of the bloodline and its wealth. It would take more than two girls to destroy that.
The spell Marianna deflected hit the shield charm surrounding the two, fracturing it before it shattered completely. The two put up a fight, she could admit that, but not enough to be there alone as they were. As she disappeared again, firing spells at Claire from the cover of the night, she descended on the younger one and dragged her away from her sister. Her fingers tangled in her hair, holding her in front of the Dark Lady's taller form like a suspended puppet.
"Yet, you are that stupid, aren't you?" |
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Erin
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Post by claire h. fernsby-alighieri on Mar 2, 2023 20:16:03 GMT -5
Don’t stop
Trying to find me here
Amidst the chaos Claire’s distraction worked, in a sense. Instead of falling into the hole or being forced to dart out of the way, Marianna had simply disappeared, reappearing a few feet over and continuing her attacks. She strutted with impressive confidence for someone who had just given away how weak their own wards were. That she could disapparate within the borders of her home was actually good news; it meant Claire was close. It did not, however, mean that Claire and Olivia would be able to disapparate themselves. Marianna’s wards were old, intricate, and tied to the family’s magic. She was foolish, though, in allowing Claire to know all those things by her actions. And as Olivia continued her defense of the two of them, Claire was able to break the wards down further. The anti-disapparation ward on the house broke, letting someone come from the house into the garden. ”Surely not another you’re attached to; you couldn’t be that stupid, could you Ms. Fernsby? You couldn’t possibly be stupid enough to send them into a house with generations of powerful witches and wizards lending their skill to protecting and fortifying its walls.”Claire heard the words, but she didn’t bother listening to them. Marianna liked to showboat, liked to talk about how clever she was and how fallible her opponents were- it was why she was so terrifying to many. But even as she brazenly threatened Claire’s wife, Claire realized that the threat had no real merit. ”And yet, you’re out here with us,” she muttered, starting to crack at the wards around the garden. A little part of her glimmered with delight in thinking how much effort Marianna would have to spend to wind her wards back together again after this. Olivia had a hell of a challenge with Marianna flitting to and fro across the property, never in one place long enough to be hit. Yet, she managed to keep the former dark lady at bay for quite a while, holding shields around Claire and managing not to get hit herself. If Claire hadn’t been so busy, she would’ve felt quite proud of her older sister. Olivia had only joined the Order a little while ago and hadn’t had nearly as much dueling practice as Claire. Just as a glimmer of success crossed her mind, two spells came her way, forcing her to stop and deflect them. As she did so, Marianna disappeared again. Before Claire had a chance to look for her or wonder if Olivia would set up another defense, she felt a hand against her head, threading through her long hair and yanking her painfully backward, away from Olivia. Marianna reached her arm aloft, pulling Claire’s head just high enough to force her onto her tiptoes to avoid her hair ripping out. ”Yet, you are that stupid, aren’t you?”Damnit. Yes, yes she was that stupid. Claire felt the wand at the back of her neck and looked wildly over at her sister, who had frozen in surprise, staring at the two of them now a dozen feet away. Olivia pointed her wand, but at what Claire could only assume was a glowering look from Marianna, slowly lowered it to her side in resignation. She held up her non-wand hand as if in surrender. If Claire was getting out of this, it would be up to her. There was a beat of silence as the only sound was the panting of all three of them from the exertion of the fight. She was so damned close, too, the wards were nearly down and then Gen could just disapparate home with Emma without even having to cross paths with this lethal monstrosity. Claire breathed in slowly, tightening her grip on her wand as she thought of her wife. They’d get out of this. They had to. Her wand sparked with light as she drew her arm up and around in an arc, slashing down behind her. The ground split beneath them, causing just enough of a disturbance for the grip on her hair to loosen. And Claire, who’d never been known for being athletic, launched herself forward into an awkward tuck and roll that left her sprawled on the ground beside her newly created rift in the garden. Breathing heavily, but knowing she wasn’t out of the woods yet, she cast a shield around herself without bothering to stand and looked out over the newly created terrain. Marianna had recovered neatly, of course, and now stood opposite Olivia. Claire would’ve thought the duel would just start once more until she realized her sister wasn’t looking at their opponent; she was looking directly at her, one hand still in the air. Helpless. Claire screamed. MADE BY VEL OF GS |
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