Gemini

Gemini

Prologue

The tower of Centum-Cellas, in Belmonte, was a really stunning sight, but the two women who had just entered it didn't seem very impressed. Their expressions were blank, though the older one was breathing with extreme nervousness.

As they approached the entrance to a room, the younger woman suddenly stopped and turned to her companion.

"I think it would be better if you stay here, and I continue by myself, Luzia," she said in a faint voice.

Luzia widened her eyes. "Milady, please," she whispered, "I will follow you. You cannot continue alone."

"I have to be alone when I meet the creature. Your life will be at risk if you take one step further."

"Then why did you insist on my company, milady?" Luzia scolded.

"You may enter when you hear the creature scream, but not before," the younger woman said, ignoring her companion's protests. "Please, do as I command."

"But why - Milady, I don't understand -"

"You have read the prophecy," the younger woman cut her off, determination in her voice. Luzia lowered her eyes, her face somber.

"Yes, milady."

"Get Blackwing and take me back to Alvorada" the younger woman continued. Luzia nodded in agreement. "I wrote a letter to my brother, and another to Lord Ingarnal. Make sure that they read them."

"Of course, milady."

"Thank you, Luzia," she said with a sigh. "You have been a good friend to Francisco and me throughout the years, and I want you to know that I have always been thankful."

"It is I who should be thankful for serving you, milady," Luzia replied timidly.

"Now stay here. No matter what you might hear, do not enter the room before the Asterlyth screams."

The younger woman removed her silver cloak, revealing a suit of armor underneath, which probably had fitted like a glove a long time ago, but now looked too big for the frail-looking creature using it.

Luzia grabbed her lady's cloak, and asked, "How can you be sure it will scream?"

"If my plan works, it will," the younger woman said with a smile. As she opened the door, she turned to her companion a final time and smiled.

"Goodbye," she mouthed.

And with this, Gwendolyn Gryffindor entered, closing the door behind her.

Luzia paced up and down the narrow corridor for a while, but ultimately gave up and sat on the floor. With nervousness, she removed a rosary from her left pocket and began to pray. After what seemed like half an hour, she began to hear voices from inside the room.

Putting the rosary back in her pocket, Luzia approached the door and placed her ear very close so that she could hear the conversation.

"I am ready," she heard Gwendolyn say.

Another voice - most certainly belonging to the Asterlyth - was then heard. "I thought you would want revenge, after all I have done to you?"

"You want revenge as well," Gwendolyn replied.

"Of course I want revenge! Look at me! This body belonged to a Sertorian. It shouldn't decay like the ordinary bodies I took over."

Luzia wondered how the body the Asterlyth had taken looked like. She had the urge to open the door just so she could have a peak, but thought better of it.

"And it's now time for you to destroy me before I destroy you for ever," Gwendolyn continued.

"You are taking this very lightly," was the Asterlyth's arrogant response.

"Like I said, I am ready. After everything that has happened, I'm embracing death like a blessing."

"You really believe that you are lucky to die?"

"What I believe is that this is all far from over."

"You are mocking me." It was clear that the Asterlyth was not amused.

"You forget who I am," Gwendolyn replied with a mocking tone. "You cannot take my body. It will be the end of you, remember?"

"I remember," said the creature, grimly. "But I have other means to destroy you."

Then, Luzia heard the chilling sound of metal being ripped. A whisper she couldn't decipher was followed by a few seconds of disturbing silence, and then the pained scream of the Asterlyth exploded.

It took a while for Luzia to remember what this meant. Trembling, she slowly opened the door, and the vision that greeted her made her heart stop.

Lady Gwendolyn was lying on the floor, face down, and a pool of blood was growing underneath her. A pile of smoldering ashes stood now where the Asterlyth was supposed to be before.

As soon as she found the strength to move again, Luzia ran towards her lady and turned her. The blood coming from the young woman's chest was now soaking her robes, but she didn't seem to notice.

A wide smile was on Gwendolyn's face and her eyes were closed in tranquility, as if she was just about to fall asleep.

"This was your plan all along, wasn't it, milady?" Luzia asked with some bitterness. "Using yourself as bait to trick the creature and -"

Her thoughts were interrupted by an explosion coming from the pile of ashes. Luzia turned, and her whole body petrified as she saw a menacing black cloud hovering above her. Five red eyes and what seemed like crab claws were clearly visible from the dark mist.

For a split second, it seemed that the cloud/crab creature was about to attack, but it then let out another piercing scream and vanished without a trace.

Screaming with the shock, Luzia strengthened her grip on her lady's body and stumbled out of the room and into the corridor. She tried to run, but the weight of Gwendolyn's armored body was too much for her to do that.

"B-Blackwing! Blackwing!" she began to shout into the air. The weight she was carrying seemed to increase with each step she took, as she advanced towards a balcony. When she arrived to her destiny, she found nothing but empty air.

"BLACKWING!" she screamed as her panic grew.

A loud whoosh was heard in response, and an enormous Thestral appeared from nowhere. As it noticed Gwendolyn's dead body, the Thestral began to flap its bat-like wings with enormous strength, letting out desperate cries.

"Blackwing, stop that," Luzia pleaded. "Don't do this now... I need your help."

The Thestral seemed to understand, as it stopped almost immediately. However, its uneasiness was still strong, and its pupil-less white eyes were painfully fixed on the sight of its dead lady.

"Good girl, Blackwing," Luzia continued. "We need to take our lady back to Alvorada."

Blackwing bowed her head, and approached the balcony to receive her two passengers.

***

The journey from Centum-Cellas to Alvorada was long, but Luzia didn't feel the time pass by. Her mind was replaying the events of the past few months, ever since Lord Francisco had been sent by his father to join King Sebastian at the battle of Al Kasr al Kebir. Unwilling to be separated from the man she loved, Lady Gwendolyn had disguised herself as a man and followed him. The result of this adventure had been tragical: the king had disappeared without a trace, Lord Francisco was murdered, and a strange curse was cast upon Lady Gwendolyn, who was being consumed with each passing day.

Luzia didn't understand exactly how these things had happened. Nobody who had remained in Portugal did. She also didn't know what part the Asterlyth had played in the whole incident. In an attempt to understand her lady's motives, she had requested that she could read the prophecy book that Gwendolyn revered so much. However, though some of her questions had been answered, others had remained unsolved, and new ones had come out to torment her mind.

When they had finally reached the small house at Alvorada where they were staying, Luzia managed to take Gwendolyn's body to her room unnoticed. Once there, she cleaned and changed the body, so that it would look like she had died in her sleep - something she knew Gwendolyn would have wanted, since the only pleasure she had after the battle was the knowledge that Lord Ingarnal was feeling guilty for what had happened to her.

After placing her lady on her bed, Luzia advanced towards a table where the letters to Lord Ingarnal and to Godfrey Gryffindor were lying. As she suspected, they both bore messages of goodbye, but while the letter to Godfrey told the whole truth of Gwendolyn's intentions, the one to Francisco's father was filled with guilt-inducing lies, as well as a request for her to be buried alongside his son, which Luzia was certain Lord Ingarnal would feel obliged to accept.

Sighing, Luzia left her lady's bedroom and advanced towards a large window in the corridor, where she rang a small golden bell that was placed there. Immediately, five large birds resembling silver crows appeared from the outside.

"I need two of you," she said. "I need to send a letter to Colegio Ingarnal, and another one to Hogsmeade in England."

Instantly, the two larger birds advanced, as if volunteering, and Luzia handed them the letters.

"I have no time to explain to you what has happened, as these letters need to be delivered immediately. However, I'm sure you all know what must have happened."

All five birds bowed their heads. The two volunteers took flight at once, leaving without looking back. The others remained at the windowsill as Luzia turned back towards her own room. Once there, she picked up her wand and looked at it. There was one last thing she needed to do...