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Post by Taxxi Jules on Jul 11, 2010 13:45:05 GMT -5
It was ancient law of Magic, the stuff rarely even acknowledged anymore, because it was so rare now. Vengeance was a dangerous motive. Constant rage bubled in her, in her mind and her heart. And of course, somewhere there was betrayal. Buried so deep under all the hurt and the pain, shovelled under a whole load of anger, there was the sting of an icey cold blade. Jason Caldwell had been a spy, a liar and a thief. He had lied to her face, and been so f**cking charming too, that it almost make her scream at the memories.
So here she was, after the news of her beloved cousin's death. Taxxi Jules was here, standing in the centre of stonehenge to call Jason Caldwell to a duel. It would be a battle to the death, no mercy, no walking away from it. Taxxi would either kill Jason, or depart to be with Jack, wherever he was now.
It had come as a total shock, while she was preparing dinner for herself in the tiny underground kitchen at 12 Grimmauld Place. It appeared like a ghost, just standing silvery white in front of the fireplace, great tears leaking from it's eyes. The Patronus of Jack DeBlanc, announcing the death of it's master to the one person Jack had not been able to say goodbye to. It was so strange, to see the great horse without the smiling man beside it, and Taxxi knew that Jack was dead. The Ptaronus said nothing, but lowered it's head when Taxxi moved over to touch it's neck, her hand touching nothing but light as the horse faded into nothingness. She was alone again. Her heart hammered, and her eyes burned with tears that welled but she blinked them back as best she could. It was then the that letter form the Ministry arrived. The last will and testament.
My dear Taxxi, If you recieve this, I am dead, and that is through my own stupid fault. I should have stayed with you, protected you, and I'm sorry. But there was work that needed to be done. I leave my crystal ball to you, and my cauldren. Plearn to use it responsibly, no brewing firewhiskey in it again! If you get the chance, burn my body with my wand. We were one. My love will be with you for all eternity, Jack.
Note added one week before the Death of Jack Pierre DeBlanc: Jason Caldwell.
The name said it all. He was reponsible, if only in part, for Jack's death and he would pay. The point of the exercise was to call the slimey bastard here, to sacred ground so they could settle a time and a place to duel. They would meet here, on ancient and sacred magical ground where no blood could be shed. And they would decide their fate there.
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Post by Jason Caldwell on Jul 22, 2010 8:53:18 GMT -5
When Jason had gotten the call to meet with Taxxi here, his heart sank. He wasn't sure if she knew or not, but judging by the place where she had requested they meet, Jason was almost sure that she knew of her cousin's death.
If that was the case, there were only two reasons why Taxxi wanted to see Jason now. The better of the options was to console her, to ask for him to help, to support her, to get her through the heartbreaking loss. The other was to confront him, if she somehow knew that Jason was with Jack the night that he died. That Jason had the Dark Mark on his left forearm, like so many others like him, and had taken an innocent Hogwarts students to his Dark Lord.
Jason prayed it wasn't the second reason.
Since Jack's death, he had been replaying the scene in the woods over and over again in his mind. He had curled up next to Rebecca's lifeless body then, his warm hand laced in her cold hand, and cried until he fell asleep. He awoke the next day, mid-morning, to screams. Someone had picked him up, and Jason felt Rebecca's hand slipping out of his. This was the only thing his brain could figure out in all of the chaos, and he screamed and jerked out of the arms of his father (all the while his mother weeping in relief that Jason was alive) and tried to get to Rebecca. But his father, the gruff Dumrstrang professor, did not allow that. He pulled Jason away from the girl and back to their mansion. Jason only saw Rebecca's body once after that, at her funeral, where he cried and told the story of how she died. Nobody believed him, not even his mum and dad. That boy had been long gone from the neighborhood. Jason must have killed her.
He shook his head as he walked onto the sacred ground from where he had Apparated to, a bit of a tear in his eye that he wiped away as he saw Taxxi just yards in front of him.
When he stopped, standing in front of her, Jason looked dark, depressed, and not as well-groomed as normal. He had been consumed by that memory lately.
"Hello, Taxxi," he said softly.
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Post by Taxxi Jules on Jul 22, 2010 17:23:10 GMT -5
Her heart was screaming at her to run, to flee from the man who so obviously felt something other than the self-assurance he always radiated. He felt guilty, or maybe shocked, or perhaps this was some other act and he felt nothing. Though he looked like hell. But Taxxi's mind begged for vengeance. A voice in the back of her head whispered all the millions of curses and hexes and terrible poisons she could destroy Jason with, and it made her feel so alive with electricity that her every nerve stood on edge.
She said nothing for several moments, her lips almost quivering with all the things she wanted to say, all the vicious nasty hurtful words in her vocabulary danced on the tip of her tongue. She had played this moment so many times in her head, her nights sleepless and filled with thoughts of how this meeting and the battle that would undoubtedly follow, would end. There were questions as well that she needed answers to, but she would find them out from somebody she wanted to kill slightly less. Taxxi remained silent until she had taken a very deep steadying breath.
"I hope you know.." She started, her wandless fingers twitching with desire for a weapon, "How much I hate[/b] you" Her lips curled back with a snarl, her teeth bared in some animalistic expression of anger and anguish. Her eyes were hard and so cold that they could burn.
Taxxi finally snapped from her controlled ridged stance, her hands balled into fists as she stepped forward to scream: "You and that f**king maniac killed him!"
Her eyes were swimming in tears, her vision somewhat blurred but her body so full of rage she suspected he would not take another step closer to her unless she was restrained. This place was magical, but that could not stop her from ripping his eyes out with her own clawed fingers.
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Post by Jason Caldwell on Jul 22, 2010 17:57:43 GMT -5
Jason stood there, staring at her, waiting for her reply for what seemed like hours. He wondered what he looked like to her - what was written on his face. Jason couldn't give a name to whatever it was he was feeling inside.
When she took a breath and spoke, Jason listened and remained silent. He had every intention of letting her rant and scream at him if needed, as long as she didn't get physical. He understood her anger, her hatred, her feelings - if only because of the bond he saw break between Jack and Syrine when the man died.
That fucking maniac... Jason held back a laugh at that. Loyal even still, Jason thought that his Lord was anything but a maniac. He was just a revengeful, angry soul, not much unlike Jason or Taxxi or anyone else who had been hurt or abandoned or who had lost someone they loved, somehow.
His eyes looked down at her feet, planted in the earth, so he knew once she spoke she was staying where she stood.
"I didn't kill him, Taxxi," he started softly, after a few moments of silents had passed between them. "But you can hate me. I'd hate me too." It was simply that true; Jason hadn't been aware that Jack would ask to die, or that his Lord would kill him. He doubted that was in the original plan, as they were both of the understanding that it was Jack's freedom for Syrine's servitude - and Voldemort needed Syrine since Jack swore his allegiance was gone.
But Jason also could have been wrong. Maybe that was in the plan all along.
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Post by Taxxi Jules on Jul 22, 2010 18:12:23 GMT -5
Her anger was spent the second he spoke, like he was evaporating all the pain with his silky smooth voice. She wished, so hard, that she could keep her rage wound up like a coil, so that she could strike hard and fast and kill him with one blow. But she couldn't keep her emotions stable enough even to speak without feeling like her soul was cracking.
"Then why," Taxxi said, her voice quiet and more like a hiss than anything "did he tell me to call upon you?" Her voice shook slightly. She could not say Jack's name for fear that she would break down entirely and all her defences, all her strength would simply disappear and she would be oh so breakable. Vunerability was never something Taxxi was content with. She always had the upperhand.
"I cant think of a single reason why he would want me to speak to you. You're one of them, a mindless puppet.. He didn't even want to know your kind." Her body was almost relaxing now, her shoulders heavy and her tense muscles feeling so weighted, like they were all made of lead and stone.
"So why, Jason, would he tell me your name. You, who I've met before but never really known. Did you tell him that we'd met before? Did you tell him that I was looking for him? Maybe he thought that you'd give me the answers I need, but right now all I want is to know who hurt him, who manipulated him, who killed him so I can blow them all to hell"
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Post by Jason Caldwell on Jan 23, 2012 13:17:24 GMT -5
Jason saw her relax, noticed her shoulders drop. Even as she insulted him - Jason was anything but a mindless puppet - he could tell that she was becoming more desperate than angry. She knew that he was a Death Eater, apparently, and that wasn't enough for her to rage at him. He thought she reminded him of how he felt when he lost Rebecca. Angry, wanting to hurt anyone, but nobody being the right person to hurt.
"I'm not sure why he told you my name, but I can guess. You see, Jack knew my kind very well. Jack would never be Marked, but he was working for the Dark Lord as well."
He paused for a moment, waiting for Taxxi's reaction before he continued. He wasn't sure how much she knew, but he figured that telling her part of the truth wouldn't hurt.
"I was arranging for his freedom - he had never been Marked - but apparently that didn't work out. But I knew Jack, I was one of the only Death Eaters he would talk to while serving My Lord. He... he knew me, very well." Jason recalled the night in the graveyard outside Riddle Manner so many months ago, where the two had talked, if only briefly, before Jason had been called inside to talk to the Dark Lord.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what else to tell you," he finally finished. Why had Jack given Taxxi his name? Surely he would have preferred Taxxi speak to Syrine.... unless he was hoping that Jason wouldn't tell him what Syrine probably would. Jason knew better than to give anyone any sort of information, but the girl needed to learn that lesson. Soon.
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Post by Taxxi Jules on Feb 11, 2012 13:06:50 GMT -5
Taxxi cringed away from his words, she couldn’t believe that of Jack. He had abandoned her for a reason, not to go run around with the crowd they so despised as youngsters. How could she believe him? He had already proved to have a very fine charm, a way of twisting everything. Taxxi was unsure, and she hated the feeling. Her grip slackened on her wand, his fingers suddenly felt numb.
“Don’t lie” She spat, the only words she could think to say. Her eyes burned with the tell-tale signs of tears that were due to come crashing down her face. She tried to be hard, to be cold and constrained. She bite her tongue inside her mouth trying to fight the weakness. “I called you here to settle this. So don’t.. Don’t you dare lie to me..”
If he was here she would have been fearless. She would have expressed her fury without hesitation, and he would be silently watching, ready to back her up if needed. But he was gone, and she was sure it was solely Jason’s fault. Voldemort may have dealt the killing blow, but that did not make Jason innocent.
“Why him?” She uttered, her voice cracking with desperate longing and frustration. Her heart gave a throb of grief and she had the urge to both blast Jason from where he stood and to run and fall into his arms. How could she possibly feel anything except repulsion and anger for this man?
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