Just on the outskirts of New York City, chilly grey water lapped gently at the sides of a vast lake. Peaceful green mountains pierced the swirling sky of rolling thunder clouds, and jagged boulders were scattered across the landscape. The atmosphere was a gentle hum of activity.
With a sharp crack, twenty-six aurors materialised in a small clearing at the base of a hill, all clutching a musty brown bowler hat that was swiftly taken by one of the team leaders and stashed into a bag for later.
The first thing that Tina did was check that she still had the silver key. Shortly after the meeting was over, she'd found a length of string, and threaded the key onto it before tying it around her neck.
It hadn't moved from its spot on her collarbone, the chilled metal resting against her skin, and she relaxed a little, then took some time to gulp down her surroundings.
Assessing the area, Tina was mildly surprised. She might've expected a few rocky hills, yes, with buildings and shacks and bustling tourists everywhere. But this... this was beautiful.
She never would have guessed that she lived so close to it.
Next to her, Theseus breathed in the crisp autumn air, his tense mission face slightly slackening.
Bushy pine trees towered around them, their peaks like spiny green hands stretching towards the sky.
The cluster of aurors murmured in amazement to each other, until Travers silenced them with a sharp hand gesture.
They trekked quietly, skirting the lake, and avoiding making any noise while walking. Shining blue pebbles and coiled white shell fragments crunched under their feet anyway. That was inevitable in a place like this, Tina supposed.
A grumble of thunder overheard masked their near-silent footsteps as Graves and Travers lead the group past the lake and through a broad ravine.
Layers upon layers of metallic grey rock, tiny, tiny bands of red and orange running along the sides. Brushing her hand over the wall of the crevasse, Tina felt some of the grey rock crumble easily away. She withdrew her hand and slowly turned it over, inspecting it. Her fingers were dusted with black.
They trekked further and further through the ravine, moving swift and agile, wands poised and all senses alert.
Theseus had shrugged off his coat a while ago, claiming under a hushed voice that New York was considerably warmer than London.
Although they weren't too far from the city, it didn't feel quite like home to Tina. Then again, in the strangest way, it did.
It was if this place was alive... it was alive, Tina reminded herself. All kinds of wildlife were stirring around them. But it was a different kind of alive at the same time. There was a strange sensation of magic around them.
The deeper the group moved, the denser the air got. Tina's skin started to tingle. The atmosphere was charged with dark magic, shifting all around them. Pulsating. Thrumming gently, like a panther lying in wait, preparing to pounce.
"It's here," breathed Theseus. He didn't need to say it for her to tell, but Tina nodded anyway.
She could feel it too.
She felt it before she saw it, but when she did, any shred of doubt hovering inside her was whisked away without a second thought.
The box was definitely here.
A worn, weathered slab of a building, perched sadly at the top of a green hill. Grey-black with soot, worn from years and years of use, then more years of neglect. No door was visible from the outside, and the glass panes in the window were cracked and dirty, making it impossible to see inside.
The air was denser than ever, loaded with traces of magic. It was starting to make Tina feel cornered. Fear began trickling its way into her veins at the realisation of how important this mission was.
Up until then, she hadn't been worrying, too preoccupied with everything else that was going on.
Now it all abruptly crashed into her like a giant worry tsunami.
Tina stopped walking, unsure of how to act. What hung against her collarbone, the metal pressed cold to her skin, suddenly seemed to weigh ten times more. She'd been trusted with such a huge responsibility, could she do it?
Ahead of her, Tina saw Theseus spin around, noticing that she wasn't by his side anymore.
Casting his eyes between the rest of the group, moving steadily onwards, and Tina, he finally walked back to her, the crisp grass crunching under his shoes.
"Tina?" Theseus prodded. She lifted her eyes to meet his.
"I don't know about this," she admitted bluntly. He furrowed his brows, confused, but didn't respond for a couple seconds.
"Tina, your whole job is doing this. You love it," he answered slowly, still puzzled.
"I know, I know. It just..." she dropped her voice to just above a whisper. "What if this doesn't work?"
When she didn't receive an answer, she continued, her tone rising a notch.
"What if someone gets hurt? I couldn't save Newt last time- what if this is the same?"
A breeze blew through the late afternoon, ruffling their hair. Theseus and Tina stared at each other, the former looking more and more ready to turn around and go right back home.
"You're acting like he's dead," said Theseus flatly. Upon seeing her look, he nodded, sliding his hands into his pockets and watching the grass.
"Alright. You're worried you're going to stuff this up." Tina numbly nodded, fingering the key looped around her neck. "Tina, you were given that responsibility for a reason. You're one of our best aurors," he said, trying to catch her eyes.
Tina lifted her eyes to meet his, studying his concerned expression, and a miscellaneous subtle observation popped into the back of her mind.
He's got very grey eyes.
An automatic comparison followed before Tina could stop it.
They're different to his brother's. Newt's eyes are blue-green.
Tina snapped down a mental barrier on her train of thought. It hurt thinking about Newt.
She had no idea what was happening to him. Newt could be in surgery again- for a third time... Newt could be dead at that moment, and neither of them would know.
It was Grindelwald's fault, Tina reminded herself, and the river of fear running through her morphed into rage.
If Grindelwald hadn't attacked Newt, if he hadn't put him through the pain- put all of us through the pain, then we wouldn't be in this mess we're in now.
He wasn't even trying that day- he was toying with us. He wanted us to suffer.
I hope we get those damn files. I hope we make Grindelwald hurt. I hope we steal them from right under his nose, and when he realises they're gone, the shock kills him.
Without answering Theseus, she clenched her wand tighter, pulled the key out, and let it rest over her blouse. Let them see it. Let them see that she was chosen for this responsibility.
She damn right deserved it.
Turning on her heel, Tina strode, shoulders back and head held high once more, after the group. Theseus' shoes crunched quietly on the grass as he jogged to reach her side again.
Without glancing sideways, she could tell he was smiling. Tina felt her own face breaking into a radiant grin.
"I'm going to kill this son of a-"
"Shh," hushed Theseus suddenly, though he wasn't bothering to mask his even wider smile. "Don't get too excited."
But Tina couldn't stop herself. She was going to make Grindelwald suffer for what he'd done.
For Newt,she promised herself.
Hi. I know it's a short chapter, but please bear with me? The next one will be super exciting.
How's it going? Hope u liked dis :3
I just realised- as of today, I've had an account on ถถา๕ษ็ว๘ for exactly six months. Yee! So I just wanted to say thank you to you all for being with me from the beginning :) thanks for being my fellow fangirls that I can always turn to, thanks for reading my books (even though they suck), thanks for being the gang of people I can share theories, thoughts, ideas and fanfictions with- I love you all <333
Something else: I convinced two of my irl friends to start writing books on ถถา๕ษ็ว๘, so that's pretty big for them. It would mean so much to them if you dropped by their profiles and maybe left a vote on their stories?
The first is How2BanIntrovert. I'm sure you've heard me mention them before. If you like musicals, like Hamilton, In the Heights, Newsies, Dear Evan Hansen, etc, they're definitely worth checking out.
The other is Grapox31, who's writing a really good adventure/mystery story called The Pieces He Left Behind. I've read the first couple chapters, and they're really good!
It would make their day if you checked them out :)
Thank you so so so much, guys ^^
Cateye992, out!