Across the Borders of Land, Sea and Mind

Chapter 4

The new week broke in quite uneventfully. Hermione noticed a reserve in Skylier's attitude, however. She seemed quieter, moodier. She wasn't cracking jokes here and there, as she was known to do, and she jumped at every little noise. Cardinal seemed different too. He was nervous, and kept eyeing Skylier worriedly. Hermione wanted to ask them what was wrong, but when Skylier was in a bad mood, nobody dared disturb her for love or money.

At the Ministry, however, they were their usual selves. Nobody else seemed to notice any change in either of them.

One morning, Lucas Regham strode into Hermione's office.

"Good news," he said brightly. "Your friend Garret Calabrecht is on trial recall. He's set for Thursday."

Hermione smiled. "Good. Any leads on him? Did anyone question him?"

Lucas nodded. "Weirdest thing in the world. He admitted to everything. Said he's been working for Voldemort since he rose again. And he says all that time he's had an inside source in the Ministry, though he wouldn't say whom, which means we're going to need Skylier there for administration of Veritaserum."

Hermione bit her lip, remembering Skylier's reaction to Calabrecht's first trial. "Okay, I'll talk to her. Anything else?"

"Yeah, he has an undiscovered tattoo we thought should go in his description." He handed her a piece of paper. "We had a picture blown up for you."

Hermione studied the design. It looked very similar, if not identical, to the one on the base of Skylier's neck. It was a Celtic looking design, a pattern of twisting and interlocking solid black lines.

"Sky has one like this," Hermione murmured more to herself than Lucas.

"Yeah, I know. That's more the reason I wanted to show you."

Hermione eyed him curiously. "How did you know she has a tattoo like this?"

"She wore a halter top dress and her hair up to a Ministry Christmas party once," he replied simply. Hermione knew that he had a reason for remembering everything Skylier wore, said and did. He had had a secret liking for her for a few years now.

"Hm, well I'll do what I can to get it in his description. I've got connections in the Library." She paused. "He didn't by any chance say anything else about Skylier, did he?"

"Um, not that I know, why?" Lucas replied curiously.

"Oh, personal reasons of Skylier's," Hermione lied easily.

"Right, well, it looks like you have lots to do, so I'll leave you alone," Lucas said, grinning as he surveyed the mound of paper work on Hermione's desk.

As soon as he had left, Hermione didn't hesitate before walking over to her full-length mirror and saying clearly, "Skylier Lantiera."

The picture wobbled, and then Skylier's lab was visible in the glass. She was bent over something bright blue, goggles over her eyes and her crisp white lab coat already stained with something dark crimson. She took a step back from her cauldron, and stretching out her hand, dropped a few dark green, diced leaves into it. It created a small explosion, bright purple smoke spilling over the top of the size 6 cauldron. She pushed the smoke away with her hand, and picked up a small vile. She once again stretched out her hand and poured the vile into the potion. She jumped back very quickly as the blue liquid burst into flames. When the fire subsided, Skylier reached over and picked up three ice cubes from a bowl. She dropped them carefully into the mixture, which fizzled and steamed and turned a bright white.

She turned and spotted Hermione in her mirror.

"Oh, hey," she said. "I didn't know you were here."

"I didn't want to disturb you," Hermione replied. "What's that?" She indicated the steaming white potion.

"Oh, new healing solution," Skylier said, grinning. "Made specially for burns, as Voldemort seems to have so many dragons in his service. Burns are becoming quite a problem, I've been told."

"Yeah, that's what Codicious said."

"Yep, so I have accidentally and conveniently burned myself, so I guess I'm the test subject. We'll just wait till these melt." She prodded one of the floating and quickly disappearing ice cubes with her wand.

"What are the ice cubes for?" Hermione asked.

"Just to cool it off faster. Fortunately, it doesn't get watered down or anything." She prodded the ice cube again. Apparently satisfied, she picked up a glass eyedropper and sucked a bit of the mixture into it. She rolled up her left sleeve, revealing a blistered red mark on her wrist. She dropped three drops of the healing liquid onto the angry spot, and winced slightly. The white potion fizzed, and hardened. Skylier grinned.

"Alright, success is mine," she said triumphantly. "Been working on that for two weeks." She poked at the blob of hardened potion with the end of her fingernail. "Doesn't even hurt anymore. Just leave it on for 20 minutes and it should be gone." She lowered her sleeve. "You wanted something?"

"Yes, Lucas just came to me with the news that Calabrecht has been recalled for Death Eater suspicion." Hermione watched Skylier's reaction. Skylier turned back to her cauldron and began to wipe up the remnants of spills with a cloth.

"Figures," she said, apparently trying not to show too much emotion. "Can't expect much more from him."

"You know him, don't you?"

"Yes," Skylier admitted rather resentfully. "I've known him a long time. Not something I'm proud of, mind you."

Hermione wasn't

"Did you know he was a Voldemort supporter?"

"No, but it doesn't surprise me."

"Did you know that he had a tattoo just like yours on the back of his neck?" Hermione held up the picture.

Skylier nodded. "Yep. He's always had that."

"Where did he get it done?"

"Somewhere back home."

"Same place you did?"

"I don't know, maybe." Skylier shrugged. "Am I being interrogated here or what?"

"No, not really, I suppose," Hermione replied. "You just know more about him than any one else."

"And what I have told you is just about the extent of my knowledge," Skylier said.

"Okay, well anyway, you're requested in court for administration of Veritaserum on Thursday." Hermione figured it would be wise to end the conversation, as Skylier obviously found Garret Calabrecht an uncomfortable subject.

"Right, gotcha," Skylier said, giving her a thumbs-up. "See you later then."

When Hermione disappeared from the mirror face, Skylier swore loudly, throwing the cloth she had been using to wipe up her mess angrily to the ground. She looked at her mirror and said, "Cardinal Lantecieraveri."

It blurred, and Cardinal came into view. He was bent low over something that resembled a disfigured toaster, and was sprinkling floo powder into it.

"What are you doing?" Skylier asked.

"Oh, hey," he said, looking up. "I have nothing to do for the next 15 minutes, so I'm trying to find out if you can travel by floo powder through a toaster."

"You can't fit in a toaster," Skylier pointed out flatly.

"I know, but I figure if you just -" He stopped abruptly, seeing the look on Skylier's face. "What's up?"

"Hermione's just been to talk to me," Skylier began, a hard tone in her voice.

"And..."

"Garret has been set up for a recall on the basis of Voldemort support." Skylier began to pace.

Cardinal sighed. "Great, just what we need. His name spread around again."

"Yeah, but you haven't heard the best part. I have to go for administration of Veritaserum." Skylier scowled and continued to pace.

"Well, I suppose it's just procedure," he said, shrugging. He knew that this wouldn't do any good.

"So? If I go in there, and they ask him questions about me, he's going to tell them. He's going to tell them everything. Oh, crap, what am I gunna do?" She pounded her fist on the table.

"Sky, he can't tell them everything," Cardinal said, epiphany dawning on his face. "Veritaserum doesn't affect him. Not that strongly, anyway. Remember back in Benelentia, when they tried to interrogate them there, and it didn't work and Demorian got mad and threw him in the dungeon? If he tells them, he's in trouble too, and he knows it. He won't blab, trust me."

"It doesn't matter," Skylier said, shaking her head. "Hermione is starting to figure it out."

"What?"

"She's putting two and two together. She found out that I'm connected with Garret. They found the seal on his neck, and they think it's a tattoo. Hermione recognized it because she's seen mine. They think we got it done at the same place. Either that or we're some sort of cult. Good thing they haven't seen yours."

"They found the seal? And they didn't recognize it for what it really is. It's in their history books, well, one of them anyway. I'm surprised Hermione hasn't figured it out yet, now that she's seen the seal." Cardinal rubbed his forehead. "Now what? We can't tell them."

"No, we defiantly can't tell them. We can't tell anyone. Only Dumbledore knows, and let's keep it that way." Skylier pulled on her hair and yelled through clenched teeth. "What if we have to tell her? What if something goes wrong? What if he comes back for me? What if SHE comes back for me? What if - what if -"

Her vision blurred and she fell silent. Her head spun with faces, words, and horrible memories. She put a hand to her head and staggered. Cardinal knew what was coming.

"Just a sec, Sky, I'll be right there," he said quickly.

"Neris nerere," she whispered. "Neris nerere." She collapsed on to the lab floor.

Cardinal swore and Disapparated. When he reappeared in Skylier's lab, he lifted her head onto his knee. He pointed his wand tip to her heart and muttered, "Enervate."

Her eyes fluttered open and she groaned. She sat up and rubbed her head.

"You alright?" Cardinal asked, a little worried.

"Yeah," she mumbled.

"You haven't done that in a long time," Cardinal murmured.

"I know." She looked up at him, fear in her eyes. "SHE's back, Card. Either that, or it's Garret doing this. I don't know, I don't know! I'm worried, Card!"

"I know, me too," he replied softly.

Five days later...

"Right," said Minister of Magic, Alexander Bishner, folding his hands on the table and clearing his throat to get his employees' attention. "Let's begin, shall we?"

The arguing and chatting Ministry members silenced themselves and sat down. They were gathered for their weekly meeting in a large room, with fake windows overlooking the whole of London filling one side. Hermione, Skylier and Cardinal were among them.

"Right," Bishner said again to the awaiting heads of department and chief executive officers. "We've got three major things to cover today, the first being the goblins. They're rebelling again, as you well know, and we have to do something. They say they want more rights. Jordan Quincy of the Department of Regulation and Control in the Goblin Liaison Office has a report on this," he said looking at Quincy.

"Yes," Quincy said, looking tired. "They demand certain privileges. They say they will break away and join the Dark Lord if they are not given the right to build another city, and upgrade their educational system. They also want wand rights, which in it self is preposterous. We can't afford to let them build another city or upgrade education, not during this war, anyways. Besides, they are the ones who pay for they're education. They have certain freedoms. I don't think that they'll turn from us, but they will threaten us. They're very sneaky, goblins, but not generally smart.

"But the other problem with them is that they have weapons and they have threatened to use them. But we don't know how serious they are about that."

"Well we can't take anymore chances," said Codicious Moody, who was there as well. "I'm sure you all remember what happened back in 1973?"

"Total bloodshed and disaster within a 1 mile radius. Killed 12 of our men and about 20 of theirs plus all the innocent bystanders in under 3 hours," recalled Emery Baldwin, head Documenter of the Ministry Libraries.

"Alright," Bishner said. "I want the goblin commander in my office tomorrow morning for negotiations. We can't take any chances. We can waste no more lives." He cleared his throat again. "Second issue, these invisible terrorists. They're a serious problem. They're causing complete and unholy havoc. Stealing, burning down occasional buildings, abducting people, and nobody knows who's behind it, let alone caught them. Any comments on this?"

"I think it could be sprites," Skylier said. "Or poltergeists. I mean have you ever seen what they can do? Lift people off the ground and hide them in distant lands, produce fire by snapping their fingers, and I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to come across an angry sprite flying off who knows where. Just give them a good invisibility potion and they're off."

"Do they have the ability to make a potion like that? It's very complicated," someone asked.

"Yes," Skylier said. "They're actually supposed to be quite skilled in the art of potion making, and they're more than open to the proper ingredients."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "That makes sense, and we're looking into it, but the people don't want to think it could be sprites. Few people have ever seen a sprite."

"That's right," said Quincy. "Sprites like to stay hidden most of the time. People don't even want to investigate the possibility of their existence because it would mean another species for us to govern. Therefore, they believe that they don't exist."

"Because they've never seen one," Skylier said. "Some people have trouble believing things they can't or haven't seen. Like God, or thestrals, or-"

"Or Benelentia," interrupted a new voice. This voice belonged to Maradasa Loposki, who had a general dislike for Skylier and Cardinal. She was looking shrewdly and intently at Skylier.

Skylier stared at her and turned her head slightly. "Er, sure," she said, glancing at Cardinal, who was also staring at Maradasa.

"What is Benelentia?" asked Adlar Garkade of the Floo Network Authority.

"Benelentia," explained Baldwin, with a hint of mysteriousness in his voice. "Was the capital city of the mythical Taleian Empire. No one knows where exactly where it is supposed to be because Lord Lantecieraveri hid it during the mythical Taleian Wars for protection. Of course none of this is true, but the tale was discovered in a storybook in the ruins of a city about 3 hundred years ago. People used to tell their children the story of the war and how the Taleias, a warring, elf-like people, used to torture wizards who misbehaved."

Skylier and Cardinal had both flinched slightly at the sound of the name Lantecieraveri. Maradasa noticed and spoke up again.

"Wasn't Lantecieraveri supposed to be the last dynasty before the disappearance of Taleia and the end of the Taleian Wars? Sounds a bit like Lantiera, doesn't it Cardinal? Where are you guys from, anyway?" She smirked at them, as if thoroughly enjoying this.

Skylier didn't seem to be able to speak, so Cardinal did for her. "Scotland, but we moved around a lot as kids." He glanced at his sister, who still seemed to be in mild shock.

"Well, enough mythical history and back to the real present," Bishner said, feeling the tension between the three people on either sides of him. "There's one more thing we have do discuss. We have an escaped convict."

"What?"

"Who?"

"Garret Calabrecht disappeared from Azkaban last night sometime before 3:00 A.M.," Bishner read off a sheet of paper.

"Wasn't he convicted of bringing a Muggle into Diagon Alley?" someone asked Hermione.

"Yes. His trial was two weeks ago," she replied, awestruck. How did he get out? She glanced over at Skylier.

She was mouthing wordlessly, her eyes were wide, and she looked terrified.

"How can this be?" she demanded in a hoarse whisper. "How did he get out?"

Everyone stared at her.

"We have no idea," Bishner said. "He just disappeared."

Skylier shook her head, and everyone continued to stare curiously at her. "You people don't know how dangerous he is! You don't know what he's capable of! He has to be found!"

"Skylier, what are you on about?"

"He's out! Cardinal, what are we going to do! He's going to come back for me!"

"Sky, are you alright?" Quincy asked concernedly.

"No! No, I'm not alright! You people don't know what kind of power he has! He's no ordinary Death Eater! Actually, he's not even a Death Eater! He's something much worse." She fell silent, her huge eyes staring straight ahead.

"Sky?"

There was no reply.

"Skylier!"

Still, she said nothing.

The meeting continued until almost noon, and afterwards Hermione and Cardinal used their lunch hours to take a still silent Skylier back to their apartment. When they sat her down in an armchair, she sat with her back straight to it. Cardinal sat opposite her on the coffee table. Hermione sat in a chair next to him. He looked at her, and then at Skylier.

"Sky?" he said gently. She looked up at him with an expression of fear, shock and bewilderment.

"She knows, Card. She knows."

Cardinal didn't say anything, but merely looked at her, his eyes larger than usual.

Realization dawned suddenly on Skylier's face. "The letter," she said. "She sent the letter. She knows, I don't know how, but she knows." The life and sanity was coming back to her now. Hermione desperately wanted to know what Maradasa knew, but Cardinal looked at her, and she held her tongue. Skylier spoke again.

"She told me. She told me she knew. She can communicate telepathically. But, how?" Her eyes widened again. "And it was in the old tongue. How does she know how? Only we were taught how." She glanced at Hermione, but what Maradasa had told Skylier telepathically, she didn't know because when Skylier told Cardinal, she spoke a different language. None that Hermione recognized, and she recognized quite a few. It sounded a bit like a mix between Gaelic, ancient Egyptian, and maybe even a bit of Latin and/or Greek. Cardinal, however, seemed to understand and was moderately horrified. His eyes were wide and yet incredibly sharp, and his mouth was slightly open. Hermione couldn't hold it in any longer. She stood up.

"What is the matter? What was Maradasa talking about and who is this Lantecieraveri person? What language was that, and what is Taleia?"

"That 'Lantecieraveri person' is Lord Demorian Owen Lantecieraveri III. The language was Taleian and Taleia is an empire. An ancient empire that most believe does not exist. The people who dwell there are called Taleias. They are an Elvin people, skilled in the art of war." Cardinal paused, looked at Skylier, and continued with the faintest bit of bitterness in his voice. "Elves, fairies, nymphs, whatever you want to call them. Mind you they're not 3 feet tall with wings, green skin, and squeaky voices that live in hollow trees. They are closer to the Romans or the Egyptians or the Celts. Majestic creatures with strange powers. They built great empires over the centuries, the greatest rumored to be here in Britain. But as Baldwin said, Lord Lantecieraveri, the lord of the northern province of Taleia, hid all the Taleian cities including Benelentia, the capital and 2^nd largest city in all the empires."

"Garret!" Skylier blurted. "Garret knows, and he's here, in London. Card, there's something wrong with him. He's not the way he used to be; he's changed. How could he get here, and then into Diagon Alley? How did he find me again? Why isn't he in Benelentia?"

"He didn't change. The bloody bastard's always been the same. How he got away from them and to here, I don't know. But to get into Diagon Alley he'd have to either be with a wizard or be-"

"Like us," Skylier interrupted. "But he's not. They would have found out like with us. But in court they said he was, which of course makes no sense."

Hermione suddenly made two connections at once. The Garret that Skylier was talking about was the same Garret that she had sent to prison. The same Garret that had disappeared from prison.

"Wait a minute, you guys are mad! You're talking like Taleias and Benelentia are real. What are you saying?" Hermione asked, cautiously.

Skylier and Cardinal looked at each other, and for fleeting moment, Hermione thought that they were going to put a memory charm on her, but they didn't. Instead, they exchanged nervous glances.

Skylier spoke finally. "Well, um, yes, they are real. But please don't mention that we told you to anyone else."

This sounded almost funny to Hermione. Even if she felt like telling, nobody would believe her anyhow. "Er, okay..." she said slowly.

"No, I mean nothing we say here leaves this room."

"Okay."

"Right, well I suppose now that you know, we have to explain everything to you."

"Yeah, starting with your real names, what are they?" Hermione asked. That was the second connection she had made. The file said that Skylier's and Cardinal's real name was Lantecieraveri.

Skylier swallowed and sighed. Cardinal coughed.

"Skylier Lantecieraveri," she said followed by her brother.

"Godric Lantecieraveri."

"Right. As in Lord Lantecieraveri?"

Skylier drew herself up proudly. "I am Skylier Murin Rhiannon Tasmin Lantecieraveri, youngest daughter of Lord Demorian Lantecieraveri III, ruler of Benelentia and the Northern Empire of Ternatia." She slumped back down. "And I have made a royal mess of myself."

Hermione sat down again, slowly. "You - you can't be serious."

"I assure you it's true," Cardinal said solemnly.

"So you'd be his son then," Hermione said. He nodded.

"What proof do you have that this is true?" Hermione asked.

Skylier held out the ring of a sky blue stone on her finger. "You see this?" she said. "This is an eska, a Taleian gem. It belongs to the house of my father. I kind of - erm, kept it. If you check your historical library over there, the seal on the underside of this ring matches the seal found on the wizards who were killed in the wars. It is the seal of Benelentia. And we both have the same seal imprinted on ourselves, to show that we are citizens. Not even polyjuice potion will transfer this mark onto another person, and it is impossible to duplicate. Show her, Card."

Cardinal turned around and pulled down the back of his collar, revealing a small black tattoo of the same symbol at the base of his neck, the same tattoo that both Skylier and Garret had. Skylier got up, and ran quickly up the stairs and returned with a carved wooden box which she ran her finger down and it clicked, showing that it had been unlocked. She opened it to reveal several items: a tiny hourglass, a jeweled necklace, what seemed to be dried pussywillows, a gold dagger, six small gold keys on a ring, a picture featuring about 20 people (Skylier and Card's family, Hermione supposed), and much more. She dug through it until she found what she was looking for, two pieces of folded parchment. They were birth certificates:

Name: Skylier Murin Rhiannon Tasmin Lantecieraveri

Gender: Female

Parents: Lord Demorian Owen Lantecieraveri III and Lady Caitlioness C. Lantecieraveri

Title: Lady

Place of Citizenship: Benelentia, Ternatia

Place of Birth: Benelentia, Isle of Skye, Ternatia

Date of Birth: April 26, 1257

Cardinal's was the same except that his name was Godric Owen Tiernan To'mas Lantecieraveri. Hermione looked at the pair of them.

"But - but," she stuttered. "It just can't be possible. I mean look at this date. 1257? That would make you-"

"746 years old," Cardinal said.

"747 in April," Skylier said a hint of gloominess apparent in her voice. "Happy birthday us."

"It can't be possible!" Hermione's tone was logical. "It's just a myth!"

"It's not," Skylier said. "After the Treaty of Altrient, which ended the Belligriares, or Taleian Wars as you call them, people wanted to forget about the whole thing. The Taleias encouraged this, of course. They just wanted to be left alone. This was nearly two thousand years ago, and most of it has turned to myth over the centuries. Things that should not have been forgotten were lost. But now things are being stirred up. Memories, books, prophecies, and the Taleias are getting nervous."

"Why?" Hermione asked. "What's going to happen?"

"Well," Cardinal continued for Skylier, who had dropped back into thought. "There was a prophecy, even before the Wars began, that the monarch would leave and abdicate the throne and that 2000 years after the treaty, the heir would return to reclaim the throne. But with the heir, a new problem would arise, an old enemy. Nobody really knows which old enemy it speaks of. Many say the wizards, but the scribes and archivers say no. They've had many enemies. During the Wars, before, and after, a lot of information was lost, and now people are remembering the things that they never should have forgotten."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "I noticed that neither of you include yourselves in either the wizarding or Taleian groups. Why?"

"Nothing gets past you," Cardinal chuckled. "That would be because we are both, and we are neither. See, Taleias and wizards both have different powers. The ability to cast spells, Taleias can't do much of that. Not in the same way, anyways. And mental telepathy, wizards can't do that. Anyways, we're what you would call MTW's or Mayriatin Taleian Wizards. Mayriatin is a Taleian word meaning 'honor of the north'. We used to be highly respected until a few of our kind betrayed the Taleias during the War and cost them a whole city. We're very rare, you see. There have only been 7 of us in the last 800 years. Our parents didn't discover that we were MTW's until we were about 20 and we went to school when we were 71. My father managed to get us in when we would appear the same age as the other students."

"I just can't get over the idea that you guys are 746 years old."

"How else do you think we could have achieved so much? We're the heads of our departments at the Ministry; Skylier is the most knowledgeable of potions in the whole of Europe. She taught at Hogwarts for 22 years. I helped invent reflecting 13 years ago. I couldn't have managed that when I was 14," Cardinal said.

"You taught at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked. "Does that mean Dumbledore knows about you too?"

Skylier nodded. "He's one of the only three living wizards who do. Except maybe now for Maradasa."

"You guys have a lot more explaining to do," Hermione said checking her watch. "But we have to get back to work."

"I think you'd better stay here, Sky," Cardinal said, looking at Skylier who had dropped back into a half-trance. "I'll tell them she's sick."

After putting Skylier to bed, Hermione and Cardinal walked back across the bridge and toward Ireland Road. On the way, Hermione asked a question that had risen in her mind.

"Card, why did Skylier react like that when she heard your father's name and when we started talking about Benelentia?"

Cardinal stopped and looked at her. His blue eyes were sad. "It's because of some of the memories she has about that place and my father," he said, starting to walk again. "She has seen a lot of things other people, including me, haven't, and it really messed her up."

"Like what?" Hermione's curiosity was growing, but she tried not to show it too much.

"Well, don't tell her that I told you, but when we were pretty young, 21 I think, which is about 7 to you, she alone witnessed the death of our oldest brother, Adrian. He was tortured and she was forced to watch." He said all this very quietly, his voiced slightly strained. "Another is her engagement which ended horribly before we left. Another is that we left. It was highly embarrassing for both of us, and she still carries a grudge against my father for it."

"May I ask why you left?"

Cardinal sighed again, as if dredging up painful memories. "Again don't tell Skylier I've told you all this for various reasons, but basically we were exiled for a crime we didn't commit. See, after we went to Hogwarts and everything, we came back to Benelentia to live our lives. Some people didn't fully trust us, but we were well liked enough not to be considered dangerous. About 500 years later though, a wizard was discovered in Benelentia, and naturally, we were blamed for it, as we were really the only ones associated with wizards. My father tried to defend us, but no one would hear him and I suppose I can't blame them. But Skylier can. She's madder than hell at the whole lot of them. But I suppose 75 years of living here can do that to a body."

"You've been here 75 years?" Hermione asked, surprised. "That explains the date on the restraining order."

"Restraining order?" Cardinal asked almost sharply.

"Yes there was a restraining order in both Skylier's and Garret Calebrecht's files. It was from 1941."

"Oh, that," Cardinal said, his tone resentful. "I suppose you made that connection too. Between that Garret, the Garret that Skylier was on about earlier, and the Garret you put in prison and escaped?"

"Yes," Hermione admitted. "Why did Skylier react so weirdly to him too at his trial?"

"I'm afraid that she's the only one who has the right to explain that. I don't even know if she'd want anybody to know. You'll have to wait till she tells you about it."

"His real name is Candrecia, isn't it?"

Cardinal nodded, his expression resentful. "Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. Garret Candrecia is a Taleia as well, but after Skylier and I left, he stalked her all the way to the English borders. It took a Ministry restraining order to get him back into line and back to Benelentia, where to the extent of my knowledge he was kept under control. But that's not why she hates him, oh no. The odd thing is though," Cardinal said, pausing to think, "is that they let him leave the city. Nobody was ever allowed into the wizard world without a damn good excuse and now he's found her again." He cracked his knuckles threateningly. Even though he didn't look it, he was very strong. "If he tries anything..."

"Do you think Skylier will be okay by herself?" Hermione asked changing the subject, seeing the look upon Cardinal's face.

"Oh yeah, she just has to cool down. It makes her to sad and angry to remember everything and she kind of hyperventilates, but she'll be fine when we get back," he said as they turned the last corner and onto Ireland Road. He was wrong however.

When they got back however, Skylier was thrashing with rage. It was stiflingly hot in the apartment. The oven was on, and several pies, hot dishes and other varieties of food were sitting on the counter.

"It's what she does when she gets upset," Cardinal explained. "She cooks."

She was brandishing a piece of paper at Hermione and Cardinal, who had arrived home before the others.

"We've got another one," she said, stomping over to them, shaking. "Look at this." She held the paper out to Cardinal. He took it and read another typed message:

Your time here is growing short. The whisper of darkness is heard in Teradome. You betrayed them. The prophecy will be fulfilled and the Three will come to Thetalia. Go back to Benelentia. Go back before it's to late.

Cardinal lowered it and looked at his sister.

"What does it mean?" she asked.

"The prophecy," he answered quietly as though someone outside could here him. "The Book, 3^rd age, 2^nd chapter. 'And the three shall come and be seated by both sides. One will be of your own descent, and the others of different. They will reunite and rise up. Only they can create, and only they can destroy. Should they turn to Thetalia, the Empire shall fall. Should they turn to Benelentia, SHE will be overthrown and Taleia shall reign gloriously until the end of their days'".

Hermione recognized his words, but from where she did not know. It seemed like she had always known them somewhere in the back of her mind.

"HER," Skylier said in a frightened whisper, her rage fading. "I remember HER. And Adrian. It was HER. SHE told me. Neris nerere." She froze. Her eyes glazed over and she passed out, Cardinal only just catching her, as Harry, Ron and Ginny came through the door.