Blood is Thicker than Water

[Nautica Anderson]

(For context, check out this thread and its conclusion... in a story that needs to be posted still, some other characters met Rhysln's reflection in Hogsmeade and found her to be chaotic and destructive, nearly burning down the Broomsticks while interrogating them to find Nautica. The real Rhysln arrived and chased off her reflection and sent the two students who were attacked back to Hogswarts, deciding she needed to try and handle the matter herself to try and keep it under control. The two students ended up having to run away as Rhysln fended off Nautica's reflection as well.)

Nautica was walking across the lawn, coming back from near the Care of Magical Creatures classes, though it was late in the evening. She had gone to go see if something she’d seemed to have lost was still there, but alas it seemed to be truly lost. She sighed before stopping as a shiver went up her spine. Slowly she turned and looked around, trying to figure out what she was sensing.

Before she figured it out a spell hit her in the back and sent her sprawling on the ground. She gasped as the air rushed from her lungs with both the spell and the hard impact on the ground. But she couldn’t delay getting up, someone just attacked her. She wasn’t fast enough as a weight crashed into her from behind, a hand going into her hair and smacking her head onto the hard ground. She was seeing stars, gasping for air, and she was pinned down, unable to defend herself.

A voice suddenly whispered in her ear, “With eeeeeverything that’s going on…. You were so foolish to come alone?”

Realizing it was Rhysln’s voice, Nautica went pale and felt her whole body went cold. This was the thing she was afraid of the most. She felt her head get yanked back and then crash into the dirt again.

“You were always so haughty… sooooo sure of yourself. Weeeell, about time someone taught you a lesson eh?”

Something slipped around Nautica’s neck and squeezed, causing Nautica to panic, but Rhysln’s knees were pressing her shoulders down, she couldn’t bring her hands up—she clawed at the grass and gasped desperately for air. No, this wasn’t going to be the end of it. She wasn’t going to lose to some fake version of her sister. She grit her teeth, digging into the depths of whatever strength she had, thrashing until got an arm away. She reached up and yanked at the thing around her neck before managing to get her off and rolled over as Rhysln got back to her feet. Nautica managed to get up, coughing and sputtering- was that blood she tasted? She spit before drawing her wand and pointing it towards the shade who grinned and held up her own.

“The only lesson I’ve learned is that I really want to wipe that smirk off your face. And make sure to make it clear to anyone who sees you before we figure out how to stuff you back where you come from that you’re not my sister,” Nautica snarled.

Rhysln scoffed, “As if I’d want to be mistaken for her,” she said, “Oh no, where I’m from, you and I stopped using our real names a looooong time ago, thoooough your shade seems to be from somewhere different still. Like that mirror reached through the realms to find the versions of yourselves that were the worst possible outcomes,” she mused as she started to stalk around Nautica, “No, idiot girl, I don’t use that old name anymore because she all but died. Noooo, I was given a new name. I am Storm,” she grinned at her. She tried to catch her off guard, but Nautica managed a protego then a stupefy in response, knocking Storm onto her back.

“Well that’s good,” Nautica muttered, “Then I won’t feel half so guilty if I end up killing you,” she said, trying to muster up the courage.

“Oh ho ho hooooo,” Storm said, laughing as she got back to her feet, grinning wildly, “Clearly I didn’t teach you a good enough lesson, little Naughty Nautica,” she tutted, wagging her finger, “You’re still far too sure of yourself,” In what felt like a blink, the reflection was up on her, not even using a spell, but straight punching her in the face, knocking her to the ground again. Storm kicked her wand away before stomping down on her hand, causing Nautica to cry out in pain, “No matter what world we end up in, you’re always the same. So reliant on magic to save your skin, you never bother to learn how to properly fend for yourself,” Storm spat before kicking her hard in the gut, leaving Nautica sputtering and gasping.

“Seems you’ve got some learning to do yourself,” Rhysln’s voice cut across the space and a powerful spell hit Storm sending her flying, before rushing to Nautica’s side, quickly using a spell to heal any broken bones, though Nautica cried out from that, “Sorry,” Rhysln murmured, “You’ll thank me later,” she added before throwing up a protego as Storm shot a spell back, “How far must we have fallen to go after our sister?”

“Fallen?” Storm scoffed, “I’m finally free! I stopped pretending I had to bear the weight of everything! Magic is power! Why cage it and pretend we care so much about the rules!? Why spend our lives protecting that brat!?”

“Because she is our sister, forever and always, with or without magic. Touch her again and I’ll make you rue the second you stepped from that mirror,” Rhysln growled, all pretense of proper behavior gone. Sure the sisters didn’t get along on the best of days anymore, but Rhysln knew why. She knew she’d cast a shadow so large Nautica was drowning trying to get out of it. Her own ambition didn’t allow her to hold back though, she wanted to see her sister outdo her. So to see her on the ground, crying and bruised and broken… Rhysln didn’t have to muster the courage before letting off a wordless hex that had Storm dropping to her knees, writhing in agony, “Better yet I’ll do it anyways,” Rhysln said through her teeth.

Nautica, gasping a bit still, managed to get back onto her hands and feet, “Don’t,” she said to Rhysln, who didn’t seem to hear her at first, but Nautica reached up and grabbed her arm, pulling it down, forcing her to stop the hex. Storm collapsed in a heap, gasping for air herself as Rhysln knelt by her sister’s side, “She’s not worth you dirtying your name,” Nautica managed, still holding onto her sister’s arm, shaking a bit.

Rhysln frowned, shaking her head, “My name’s not important, Tica,” she murmured, putting her other hand on her sister’s, “It’s an intangible thing. It means whatever I make it mean,” she tried to give her a reassuring smile before looking up and swearing. Storm had used their moment as a distraction and had slipped away, “I think I made my point, nonetheless,” Rhysln shook her head before looking to her sister, “C’mon. Let’s get you inside,” she said, helping Nautica to her feet.

“Just not the medical wing,” Nautica muttered, “I don’t have the mental capacity right now to lie my way around these injuries,” she admitted, “And I know that look on your face, you wouldn’t do a convincing job of it right now either.”

Rhysln gave a bit of a laugh, “Fair enough, not tonight then. But you’ll come and stay with me. I want to make sure that head injury’s not too serious,” she murmured noting the blood along Nautica’s hairline, but didn’t point it out, not wanting her to reach up and touch it. So instead, she started to help her back towards her quarters, supporting her weight and keeping an extra little protego going until they were back inside the castle.

Once the door closed behind them, Nuka stepped out the shadows from where she’d been standing, hands in her coat pockets, staring in the direction Storm had gone, “Sooo. The newbie’s keeping secrets,” she murmured under her breath, “Let’s see how far she’ll take it,” she smirked as she looked towards the door the two had gone into, then shook her head and walked back to where she had been watching from before to make sure nothing else came out of the woods.