Dorcas wasnât surprised when Mary arrived at the safe-house in a flash. She appeared manic, the way she was asking frantic questions with few breaths between questions. Dorcas wasnât one to judge this however, considering she was often in too quick of a hurry she hardly ever had time to breathe between sentences herself. Today was one of those days and, while it was nothing out of the ordinary from her usual adrenaline-filled work, she was vividly aware of just how high the stakes were this time. They were by far the highest stakes of all, pained with the heavy reminder that if they failed then they did not just fail themselves, but Fabian and Alice as well. It was too great of a burden for Dorcas to bare, who forced herself to confidently stand tall for the sake of those who had answered her call.Â
Gideon appeared with Frank not far behind, and Dorcas turned to Mary with a solemn look on her face. She didnât know quite how to respond to one of her closest friends other than by simply placing a hand upon her shoulder and reassuringly squeezing it. â I found some evidence that was never accounted for correctly. It leads to a house that was never searched, â she explained as she placed a small bag on the tabletop. â I think there was a reason the evidence was never logged correctly and the house still hasnât been searched, â she suggestively concurred as she slung various pieces of official hit-wizard armor from her bag. â Put one of these on, â she directed to Mary and Gideon in particular as Edgar arrived on-site.
Amelia toted along shortly thereafter him, and Dorcas immediately stuck a finger in the air as her friend protested his sisterâs arrival. â We need her, sheâs going to be a valuable asset. â She shrugged off his annoyance as she continued rifling through her bag, retrieving a particular piece of armor that she handed to Amelia. â Amelia, we are apart of an organization called the Order of the Phoenix. So is Alice and Fabian and, while Iâm not sure why Edgar wants to keep you in the dark, I think that you can help us and vice versa. â She paused, looking back at Edgar. â I think that she needs to be able to protect herself if something ever happens and in order to do that, she has to know everything. â
Dorcas had no idea what to expect if they were to leave the security of the safe-house. In typical missions they were always supposed to do recon beforehand, but there was a dire sense of urgency this time around. Fabian and Alice had already been missing for two weeks and it sickened Dorcas to even think about the statistics in a case such such as this, but she couldnât help it considering the amount of people being killed each dayâbodies she was often forced to cross paths with numerous times because of her job. She refused to lose Fabian and Aliceâshe would not them become two more tallies representing the ones lost in vain in this earth-shattering war. The only thing they could hope to do was beat the odds, and that would require the group to act on this information as quickly and quietly as possible.Â
The Hit Witch exhaled a shaky breath as she circled around to examine everyone. â Thank you guys for coming so quickly. Iâm going to answer all your questions as best I can, but we donât have a lot of timeâ â she began as her mute-blue eyes skimmed across everyoneâs faces a second time. â This is everyone, â she confidently responded to Edgarâs question. It was a lie, but it was a damn good one; Dorcas didnât even flinch as she told it, but felt the nauseating feeling that arose in the pit of her stomach nonetheless. If she was honest with herself, she instantly felt like she had been punched in the gut when she realized Benjy was the only one not present. How he couldnât be bothered to answer her call, she hadnât the faintest clue. The inner dialogue of various voices began playing in her head, and she wondered where he was and what he was doing that could possibly be more important than this. She didnât think he would allow her to do something like this without himâshe wouldnât even dream it, but maybe she was wrong. And no matter how badly a piece of her wanted to wait for him to join forces with the rest of them, there was no time to waste.
She still felt resolute in her actions regardless, and confident in the groupâs abilities as a whole. She remained fully composed, despite the feeling of her nerves being fried raw. As an occlumen she was grateful she was able to hide this from her friends, who were steadfast in their resolve. â As most of you know, things have been more than a little off with The Ministry for quite some time. I think itâs safe to say theyâve been infiltratedâ â she trailed off, staring down at the last object that was still stowed away inside her bag. She dipped into the bag again, revealing an old silver goblet, which she placed directly in the center of the table so it was easily accessible for everyone.Â
â This port-key will take us to where I believe Alice and Fabian are being held. Itâs an old abandoned manor on the outskirts of town. Now, it has never officially been searchedâhowever, a lot of unusual activity has been reported there. Even more so in the last two weeks, according to these reportsâ â Dorcas shuffled a few pieces of paper around before pointing one out one with particular interest. â âpeople claiming theyâve seen weird things, or even heard screams, but the house appears relatively abandoned. Which got me thinking, so I did some digging and I found an original set of blueprints that reveal a secret system of tunnels beneath the manor. I think that if we follow this series of tunnels right hereâ â she pointed out the small scribbles representing tunnels on one of the maps sprawled across the table. â âthen I think it leads to some type of room unaccessible through the house, which would allow us to take whoever is there by surprise and rescue our friends, â she finished firmly.
She looked around at her friends one last timeâher hand already hovering mere inches away from the port-key adorning the tabletop. She could feel her heartbeat accelerating in her chestâtaste the warm anxiousness as it seeped from the back of her throat and rolled across her tongue. â I am obligated to say that you guys do not have to do this if for any reason you do not want to. This mission is not sanctioned by The Ministry, or anyone else for that matter. I am acting on this information on my own accord because I honestly believe this could be what ultimately leads us to bring our friends home, â she bluntly said. The last thing Dorcas wanted to do was push anyone into a situation that may potentially be dangerous if they felt nervous and unprepared. â I am doing this thing no matter what, and I have a feeling you guys are also willing to do anything no matter the costsâ â she finished with a seldom glance as she motioned for everyone who intended to join her on this mission to latch onto the port-key. She lingered an extra secondâeyes anxiously darting around the room one last time to see if anyone else managed to sneak in, but it was still just the six of them.
Six was a perfect number, however. Six was the number of hit-wizards it took to make up a hit-squad, and a bloody efficient one at that. This Hit Witch confidently felt like she somehow managed to assemble the perfect squad. While it was obvious their skills all varied, they had one very important characteristic in common and that was how much they cared for Alice and Fabian. That made them more qualified than most nowadays, who apparently would rather label them with an impersonal case number and move onto the next. Ridding that thought from her mind, she finished motioning for everyone to latch onto the port-key and placed her aggressive grip near the base of the handle before it finally activatedâchewing them up and spitting them back out on a weed-choked terrain near the entrance of the tunnel system.
TAG, YOUâRE IT:
@maryâmacdonald
Tag an Order Member & keep it going.
Like if you want to be tagged by someone.
In the Order, there existed a hierarchy, and within the hierarchy, Mary fell rather close to the bottom â above the new, younger recruits but below the warriors who fought for a career, the older and more experienced leaders. Despite her lionhearted haughtiness, this rank never bothered her. After all, she only snapped pictures for a meager living. But still, she accepted commands, her chin raised not with defiance but with an honored confidence, and she waged war like the soldier she signed up to be, without dissent, without disobedience. She didnât sign up to strategize, didnât volunteer to investigate or devise, couldnât offer any of that to the battle. But Mary could fight with an imperative fearlessness, and so she would. Whatever Doe told her to do, sheâd do it. No questions asked, no evidence needed.
Leave it to Doe, though, to find evidence that the rest of the law enforcement skimmed as unimportant. Her friendâs hand on her shoulder and offering a reassuring squeeze, Mary sucked in a breath, her stomach suddenly erupting with a stampede of anxiety from the determination laced into the familiar panes and angles of the Hit Witchâs face. Her jaw tightened with furious trepidation. There was no time to voice harsh protest against the Ministryâs fucked up handling of Fabianâs and Aliceâs disappearances, so Mary â for once â remained quiet and glanced over to Gideon instead, reaching out to him for a quick, fleeting moment to lace her fingers within the empty spaces of his and give his hand the same reassuring squeeze that Doe gave her shoulder. His family would be home soon; they were here to make sure of that.
While Dorcas turned to address the bickering Bones siblings, Mary took to shuffling through the stuffed bag sheâd thrown on the tabletop, full of hit-wizard armor for the six vigilantes to borrow for the night. She claimed a smaller set for herself before passing the goods off to the two men at her side. The black dragon scale armor weighed solid and sturdy in her palms. Frantic fingers combed her long waves up and secured her mane in a ponytail, then she strapped the chest piece over her shirt, adjusted the leg bracers over her jeans, and passed on the facial protection, deciding that she didnât want to  chance obstructing her vision, and well â she didnât give a shit if anyone recognized her, either. Silent as Doe continued to speak and the rest of the team suited up, Mary gathered her own accessories from own bag â the leather utility belt and hip sheath for her blade that she buckled into place around her waist and thigh, the wand holster onto her forearm, the sheath that fastened on her calf for a more concealed blade if she found herself that desperate (hopefully she would not), the black fingerless gloves she finally pulled on last, her digits curling and then flexing to inspect the fit. She balanced the sharpened weapons of choice in her hands, reacquainting herself with their dangerous gravity before she stashed each into the appropriate place. Â
This is everyone. Spine straightening, light brows furrowed with the swift realization that they waited on no one else to join their little group for tonightâs adventure. Hardened blue eyes searched to capture Dorcasâ in silent, astonished inquiry. Her lips parted, mouth opening to object or perhaps chastise the disloyalty of the members who ignored Doeâs distraught call to arms, but the words died somewhere in the vicinity of her molars, and her mouth snapped shut. Sheâd ask Doe once they returned. They would come home in a few hours, Fab and Alice with them, and she would bother Doe about all of this over a much-needed glass or three of whiskey as life as they knew it ticked back to some semblance of normal.
Still, once Dorcas briefed the rag-tag clique of fighters on the situation, Mary huffed a soft scoff from her nose, her pretty face taut with enraged resolution. âIf it brings Alice and Fabian home, doesnât matter what the hell it takes â weâre doing it âŚArenât we?â Bone of her jawline rigid, she shifted insistent glare to each of the surrounding five. Her voice cracked slightly. âEither one of them would put their lives on the line for one of us, yeah?â Her flickering gaze concluded upon Dorcasâ. Swallowing the creeping spider of fear crawling and lodging in her throat, Mary reached out a gloved hand to grip the portkey, radiating a passionate tenacity. And then the room lurched, twisted, whirled. She opened her eyes again only after hearing the crunch of parched sod, flattening under the stomp of her boots.
Around them, the night suspended with an eerie, ominous calm, oppressive in its undeserved stillness. Mary squinted into the shadows beyond, hand ready and impatient on her wand. âThose tunnels â over there? Whatâs the plan?â
TAG, YOUâRE IT:
@sirgidecnxprewettâ
Tag an Order Member & keep it going.
Like if you want to be tagged by someone.
