Interacts with: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

Mistakes.

They were a thing as old as existence. Clearly existence itself is a mistake as it seems that nature and physics always tries to seek a balance and equilibrium of nothingness.

However, mistakes are far more common amongst living being. And for none more so than humans.

And of these there is one type of specimen that is even more likely to make mistakes.

Children.

Normally parents would find a way to mitigate this issue. Keeping watch over them and preventing them from doing anything stupid. However, in the case that one did not have guardians or in the case that they were muggles and not keeping an eye on a sly Slytherin. Well in that case then there are far fewer safety measures.

Thus it was that the pair of Aida and Alexander arrived in the city of Edinburgh. Without parental guidance, without magic, and with only a little money. The Albino and Blonde boy stood there on the station and Alexander looked around. A small sense of wonder and adventure in his eyes. His raw enthusiasm at exploring new lands and tasting the forbidden fruit of autonomy and independence at least for the moment dominating his more somber thoughts.

He just enjoyed the moment. He looked through the old city and saw the classic and old architecture. The sense of culture in this place. And he just breathed in and out and enjoyed the moment.

Alexander's turned to Aida, a small smile on his face. "I guess this is where our adventure starts."

The wind blew through the streets of Edinburgh as the bustle of cars and people rushing all around gave the air a certain electricity. It felt like they were free, as much as Aida thought they could be at this stage in their lives anyway. No teachers or house elves or groundskeepers were watching their every move with the intent to correct their “mistakes.” Out here, it no longer seemed to the albino that punishment was lurking around every corner. It was just like those days not long ago when she lurked through the back alleys of Glasgow, with no one to tell her where to go or what she could and could not do. No one here was an authority figure subtly controlling her inner thoughts of what she would do, hidden behind a murky veil of threats. Even the muggle police were just another gang in her mind. They too demanded their protection fees and provided services if it suited them. It had been less than a year since she had first witnessed drug deals and police corruption, but her time on the streets had not improved her respect for “authority.” Having read her history books about the Gargoyle Strike of 1911 and other stories, the Ministry seemed worse than the muggle police by far, however. The Ministry was a threat to her even now, she supposed, but she was determined to not let it hold her back.

Back in Glasgow there had been no one to help Aida, but Aida’s whole life had been a story of having to grow up fast and take care of herself. When she ran away just prior to her 11th birthday, Aida had come to trust no one anymore. No humans, anyway – deceitful and controlling as they were. Capable of sadism and mind games as they were. The girl despised herself for having been just like them for so long, and even now she still felt filthy for being human, capable of manipulation and lies. Yet, during her time at Hogwarts there was one person in particular who had begun to reopen her mind about other people. Someone she swore to herself she would treat the way she wanted to be treated. By some miracle Alexander had not been alienated like so many others, and now Aida was not all alone on the streets of freedom.

A small smile on his face, Alexander addressed Aida: "I guess this is where our adventure starts." Aida looked back at Alexander, full of hope.



“Aye,” replied Aida, her Scottish Highlander accent growing heavy again after having been suppressed for the last several months. It was so tiresome when people could not understand her basic English, after all, but Alexander seemed to have no problem understanding Aida anymore, even when her accent went thick in times of great stress. “And we can go anywhere we please.” Even if the statement was not strictly true, the sentiment behind it was that she would not let them be stopped regardless. “Let’s go learn from some mistakes… Find ourselves some adventure,” she continued. She shifted a large satchel onto her other shoulder, heavy with basic field supplies. With her meager scholarship savings she had purchased a number of items for their use: two sleeping bags, a sleeping pad large enough to accommodate two children with a bit of free space on any given side, a huge waterproof tarp, and a stainless steel pot with a well-sealing lid. On her person she still had a small knife and a lighter from when she had run away. Tucked away in an inner satchel pocket was clothing, homemade baking soda toothpaste and deodorant, a toothbrush, sunglasses for her very light-sensitive pale eyes, one heavily weathered letter, and her mother’s pearl necklace. The final contents of her bag contained a rope that was going to gift Alexander due to having sunk the one from the Blossom Ball, some rations she had prepared from food from the Great Hall, and a couple of bandanas (one given to her by Pericles and the other made from the leftover cloth of her Blossom Ball coat project)... and one mysterious jar-shaped object that was sticking oddly out of a side pocket.



Edinburgh awaits! thought Aida with pleasure.

Interacting with @Alexander Varellion

Walking down the street with Alexander, the sun was shining and the temperature was perfect. Aida held fast in her heart the promise she had made about helping to uncover Alexander’s lost past… but they had been through a lot together in the last few months and Aida wanted to see if she could bring a little joy back into Alexander’s life, too. Back when they had first met they smiled and laughed often, but for a while now their smiles had been much smaller, like candle flames clinging to too little wick. Aida remembered when they had first met, back when his voice was subtly different and his skin was stained with small patches of ink. He had studied a lot back then; Aida could tell that he must have spent hours every day studying in order to have gotten as far as he had, especially having gone to a muggle school for most of his life. Now, though, she got the impression that he had lost the focus he once had. It was clear that something, probably the memory loss, was haunting him every day. Aida still didn’t have a good grasp of what had happened to him, but she understood that he was missing years, just as she had been missing time with him during the house elf incident.

Time, indeed. Aida knew the sand in the hourglass of their lives was slipping down, and from the numerous near-death experiences they’d had recently, she didn’t want to waste a single moment… especially moments like these with her best friend.

“Oh look, there’s a music festival today!” said Aida, reading a flyer that had been wheat-pasted to a pole. “It’s a benefit event, so it should be free!! Oh, do you want to go?” said Aida with some excitement. The white witch sounded like a shadow of her former self, but she was still enthusiastic beneath all the layers of sleep deprivation. “It looks like it’s on the opposite side of this bridge, which is where we were headed anyway.” At the bridge Aida stopped and looked over the edge of the low wall. “Are you afraid of heights?” she asked, getting a little vertigo. Then, after thinking about something she remembered something that she had in her pocket. Pulling it out, Aida offered a tented colorful box to Alexander. It was an unopened chocolate frog. Assuming he took it, Aida smiled and decided it had been too long since she had been on a run. With the heavy bag she would not go fast nor make a serious effort at it, but it would help to get their blood moving. Slowing down at the other end of the bridge, Aida stopped at a table that was situated as to utilize the natural choke of the bridge to attract the attention of foot traffic. “Alexander, it’s a fortune teller! He does tarot. Do you want your fortune read?”

The gnarled-looking old man at the table was not clearly magical nor muggle. A pair of crooked glasses perched on the end of his nose. Perhaps he was a half-goblin, or he could have just been a pretty weird old human. If he was part-goblin then he would probably not be a seer, but even non-seers could have some powers of divination. With the old man’s white hair and odd appearance it was hard to tell anything definitive about him.

“You, boy. I will read your cards, boy, just show me your hands. Palms. No charge. Only your hands. Tell me your question now. Then cards. Then hands. Then you leave.”

Mentions: @Alexander Varellion

Mentions: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

Alexander looked around, observing the streets of Edinburgh. The architecture, trying to get a good view of his surroundings. Something to keep him occupied, to keep his thoughts away. Trying to keep himself distracted, distracted from the constant pit in his stomach. The heavy load that seemed to constantly lay on his heart. The feeling in the morning, where he had to push himself to get out of bed. To push himself onward for another day. In the hope that this day would not be lost.

He shook his head, think about other things. Better things. His head jerked up as Aida said something, something about a music festival ? He hadn't really caught it. Distracted as he was. Though what she said seemed to reinforce what he thought Aida might have said.

A music festival, like a concert ? Maybe there were some nice musicians. People often said that music helped soothe the soul. He was not entirely sure about that statement being true, but at the very least it would serve as a distraction. Thus he said with a small smile, that was only partially forced, "sure".

They then walked towards the bridge, and looked over a low wall. The great height between the bridge and the water. His white-haired friend then asked him about if he was afraid of heights. He considered his question for a moment before answering. "I mean, I am a little queasy about them. But never scared. Like, heights can be dangerous, and thus something to be careful of. But it never truly scared me." There was then a brief silence after that. A missing sentence left hanging in the air.

He was then surprised as a chocolate frog was given to him by Aida, he then looked around. Suddenly quite aware that they were in the middle of Edinburgh. Then gave Aida a small smile as he accepted it. "Thank you... I'll open it later. If we opened it right now it might get loose"

Then they walked towards the bridge and saw the fortune teller stand. In his mind he heard his parent's voice warn him to watch out for strange people out on the street. Which brought him back to reminiscing about them, about past time. Again Alexander shook his head, in an effort to distract himself.

Following this he thought about the Tarot reader, for a moment, then shrugged. They were in open daylight. If the figure was shady he wouldn't do it here. And what an old man could do was far lesser in comparison to what he had already suffered.

"It certainly would be an interesting thing. Though it might be best for one of us to keep an eye out. Might be a pickpocket or two using this as an opportunity." As he spoke he could not help but let a little of his cynical self shine through. Even after all that happened, if it was possible he was still a careful man ? Boy ?

The old man spoke to him. He could not help but feel a bit queesy. Seeing an old man like that brought him back to unpleasant times he could sometimes barely recollect. The image of his parents arguing with their grandparents.

Then he realized he had to have something to ask question about. Alexander took a few moments to think about what he would like to know. That could be gleaned through Tarot cards. Pondered on it. The man could only speak through vague symbolism. Then he had an idea, and said. Eyes narrowed and his voice cautionary.

"What is it that dominates my past ?"

Heeding Alexander’s warning, Aida decided to be on guard for pickpockets so that it might allow her friend to focus better on his reading. She eyed warily a grubby child as he passed a little too close, and the kid averted his eyes.

“Hughmfphh...” said the old man, shuffling a deck of beaten cards. “A draw for your question at the end. It means nothing if you do not see the whole picture.” As the man worked the cards, Alexander noticed that several had broken-off corners or were otherwise marked with stains. Laying down each card in Celtic cross formation, the alleged diviner’s hand shook with age as each card struck the crushed velvet lining his wobbly table.



“At the center stands the questioner. A man with unusual powers– the magician: he who manifests his will while the common man struggles with the mundane. Crossing the mage, the inverted 6 of cups betrays him: he is stuck in the past, unforgiving and tortured. The man has no moment of now, for he is lost to what came before.

“The crowning card shows what dominates his conscious mind. The man hides two swords behind his back, but he is blinded by the rain. He is at an impasse. The decision is not clear, and ignorance and avoidance weigh him down.

“Below the surface of the man’s twisting thoughts, his subconscious mind cannot hold in the great battle of red and white dragons upon Vortigern’s tower. His mind’s foundations break apart, built upon this wild upheaval. The chaos and turmoil show a truth that cannot be buried without destroying the man. As the tower collapses the man has a chance to awaken to what was in denial.

“In the man’s past, the inverted three of cups. Isolation, breaking away from others to be alone. The strength of others became lost to him. The turmoil caused by others was pushed away.

“In the man’s future, the queen of cups indicates compassion, care, someone with strong intuition.

[I did not choose this, Tatsu rolled it. Take it up with the bot lord.]

“At the base leading up to the situation’s resolution lies the man’s attitude: a page of swords. Possessed with a thirst for knowledge, it behooves the mage to use his innate curiosity, new ideas, and passion to his advantage rather than curse himself with it as a diseased obsession. Two sides of the same coin, it is his choice how to use this force.

“In your environment, eight spears mark a fast-moving journey. Rapid movement, action, change. The path opens up before the man and he has the freedom to move forward, but if he does not go onwards the opportunities will leave him behind. The white stag presents itself but is about to bound into the distance.

“The questioner’s hopes and fears yearn after this card: Justice. With the ignorance and upheaval in his two swords and the Tower, what justice does the man deserve? Will he receive the justice he imagines? What consequences will there be for the man’s actions?

“The outcome: Judgment. Rebirth. That which calls to you will weigh the actions of your past and what you choose to do now. Then, a judgment shall be passed.”

The old man cracks his knuckles with a grotesque sound. Staring at Alexander above the rim of his glasses, the codger’s eyes narrow. “And now to answer your question: what dominates the questioner’s past?”

Pulling a card missing two corners from the top of the deck, the man’s shaking hand strikes the card down on the table before Alexander.



“The answer is Death. Beneath a veil of secrets waltzes the specter of death. Duplicity, duality, secrets all betray Death.”

With a disturbing smile the old man stands. “And now I will take my due.” In a flash the man grabbed for Alexander’s hand, alarmingly fast for someone who seemed so weak.

Alex avoid old man grab: evasive maneuvers 1-10
t!dice 1d100
[d100 : 59] In the end, the result was: 59: Fail

Evasion: t!dice 1d20+9
[d20 : 6] + 9 In the end, the result was: 15: Fail

The old man was able to look for a solid 30 seconds at Alexander’s palm regardless of any struggle. His eyes grew large then squinted as he read. Finally a horrible glare overwhelmed the bumps and ridges of the codger’s face. Gripping the wrist of Alexander’s dominant hand with one hand, the man’s other hand came streaming fast from his pocket:

Alexander strength check
t!dice 1d20+3
[d20 : 7] + 3 In the end, the result was: 10: Fail

The codger had obtained the correct angle to prevent the boy from escaping his grasp. Alexander could not escape the old man’s grip as his other hand poured a vial of red, red liquid over Alexander’s hand.

Aida, who had been watching for pickpockets, heard something amiss and spun around too late. The old man laughed severely at the young boy and, as if spinning, attempts to apparate.

t!dice 1d20
[d20 : 19] In the end, the result was: 19

Experience was on the old man’s side as he successfully disappeared in an instant.

A slight wind began to pick up and tousle the cards on the table that was left abandoned. Looking around, Aida wondered if anyone else had seen that. Three people at the edges of the street were staring at them.

Alex’s dominant hand was now stained a brilliant red that would not simply be wiped away.

Alexander would carefully listen to the predictions of the old man. Which seemed painfully accurate. Though he supposed that was the trick of Tarot Card Readers. To read the personality of the person they are seeing, and get a set of cards that seems to fit them. Yet this rational knowledge did not help the shiver as the final card was revealed.

Death, it was death that dominated his life. Even if he did not realize it. Then the man grabbed Alexander's hand. He tried to pull back but the grip was too hard. As he tried to pull away Alex spoke through gritted teeth."Let go of me" But the strength of fully adult hands were stronger than that of a young teen. Then he saw the old man grab a vial of red liquid and then goosebumps spread across his body and he really started struggling. But his strength was not enough as he felt the red liquid spread over his hand, a stingy sensation as it quickly dried up and went into his skin. As he looked up from his hand he saw in the last few moments how there was some kind of distortion followed by the figure vanishing.

Alexander then looked around, saw that the table and the tarot cards were still there. He was still in Edinburgh, Aida was looking at him with some concern as were some three muggles. ALexander's face twisted into a look of confusions as he muttered. "By merlin's bloody beard what just happened ?" Then, as he tried to process what just happened Alexander muttered. "Bloody adult- "
"hobos"
Alexander said the latter part as he realized that they were still in a muggle city. And he had enough problems as it was without breaking the statue of secrecy. He then quickly walked towards the river or some water source and tried to scrub the red away.

Aida’s face, like always, displayed her emotions crystal clear: rage and concern. She spun around trying to figure out where the old codger had gone, unsuccessfully. Meanwhile Alexander muttered wizard curses but began to backpedal as awareness returned of the muggle city around them. Seeing people staring at them along the sides of the street, Aida put her hands on her hips and glared back at them until they moved along. Then a gust of wind suddenly blew in and Aida felt her heart thumping in her chest. Spinning back around, Aida turned to check on Alexander. He was still there, but if that guy could suddenly disappear like that, maybe she should not turn her back on her friend. That guy could come back and grab him, even. Shaking her head, Aida breathed in slowly. She would not lose Alexander again.

“Hey… are you okay?” asked Aida, trying to examine Alexander’s hand. Looking up at his face Aida read that Alexander did not seem in physical pain, so she felt a little reassured.

Aida observation check of Alex's hand: [d20 : 13] + 10 In the end, the result was: 23

“What a bright red… why would someone do that? And just disappear? I don’t get it...”

Alexander quickly headed off to the river bank and Aida followed, making sure that they still had all their belongings with them. The river bank was lined with pollution: crushed plastic bottles, tangled fishing line, and clumps of some unidentifiable city refuse. However, the cold water ran through his hands dutifully as Alexander tried to scrub away the red stain.

Try as he might, however, even if he continued for several minutes the most he could do was remove a caked-on veneer of the substance. Alexander’s hand became smooth again and the tacky feeling of the substance disappeared. It seemed the red had soaked deep enough into his skin that it could not be scraped off even with the aid of finger nails and water. Aida shook her head. This was not the place for spellcasting, even if they knew the appropriate one.

Aida wisdom check about stain types
[d20 : 9] + 10 In the end, the result was: 19

Alexander wisdom check [d20 : 5] + 8 In the end, the result was: 13; no one hit 20 total

“Oh man, the water’s not working… maybe some alcohol?” asked Aida. “When I get things like tree sap on me, alcohol does pretty well,” she said, eyes narrowing darkly as she recalled the knocked-over bottles of Scottish vodka that constantly accumulated in the old ranch house. She wondered how many there were there now that she was not around to clean them up. Looking over at Alexander, Aida thought to try to be cheerful. Whatever had just happened to him, it did not seem as bad as, say, almost getting eaten by a giant flaming spider or having your mind adulterated by house elves. Something as basic as removing a stain was something they could surely handle, right? In either case, Aida wanted to make Alexander’s day just a little brighter. Taking out of her bag a small box of raspberries and opening it, Aida offered some to Alexander with a smile.

“It’s okay if you’ve got a red hand. All kinds of good things in this world are red. Now you’re just like them,” said Aida as she popped a raspberry in her mouth. Aida's wry smile tried to convey some reassurance that whatever happened regarding the stain, they would get through it okay. Yet... it did bother her. Why someone would do that....