The Sempra Deck 20 - Judgement
Aug. 21st, 2011 11:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teddy_radiatorThe amazing ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mimimanderly has just released the next card of The Sempra Deck, a set of Major Arcana cards forming the Tarot. Each time Mimi posts a new card, I will post another edition of the story, so you can see how the story and the cards meshed together. Here is the next card - 20 Judgement, and here is the next chapter of the story.
This Chapter is rated PG for content and language. Happy Reading!
The Sempra Deck is dedicated to the real mystic goddess Mimi Manderly; to her beloved SeverusMuse, and to my precious Dahlra. All characters with the exception of Mimi Manderley, Peter and Dahlra belong to JK Rowling. I make no money from this publication.
Epilogue - The Hinges And The Clasp Part 3
Dahlra nodded absently, and picked up the first card off the top of the deck. He turned it over. It was the Judgment card.
Severus’ interpretation of this particular card showed an avenging angel, pointing an accusatory wand at the wicked and the unjust figure at his feet. The Angel of Judgment was standing on a hill, dressed in black, and he was bearing down on a figure below him in white.
Mimi studied the card closely, then glanced up at Dahlra, a look of wonder lighting her face. “The figures on the cards move!”
Dahlra gave her a mildly chastising look, as if to say, Severus created them – what did you expect?
She stared at it, watching the faint movements. “Have they always moved?”
“Of course. You didn’t notice it before because you did not know how to notice it. You are looking at them with different eyes now.”
Mimi looked back at the card. Different eyes. Why did that seem so important? Together, she and Dahlra studied the card, as the black-robed Angel of Judgment passed sentence on the old man, who repeatedly held out his hand as if to plead for mercy. Mimi could not help thinking that the Angel looked like Severus, and the old man the spitting image of Dumbledore. She told Dahlra this, and looked more closely at the card more.
He frowned, his handsome brow furrowed in thought. “Judgment. Judgment is all about atonement and repentance. It’s not so much about meting out punishment and retribution, but of demanding an account of past actions and experiences. If the one being judged is truly repentant, his own shame is often punishment enough.”
Mimi looked at the figures. The Angel’s expression seem to indicate he took no real pleasure in meting out his judgment, but the old man’s imploring face told of contrition and regret.
Mimi chewed on her lip thoughtfully. “A Horcrux is made when a witch or wizard takes a life, and their soul is torn. The only thing that can destroy the Horcrux is remorse; truly being sorry for what you have done.” She looked up at Dahlra. “I can’t imagine that Severus was terribly repentant for killing Dumbledore, after all he’d suffered because of him.”
Dahlra shrugged. “Do you think not? I would argue that point with you. He knew he’d made his own mistakes; what was unforgivable was how Dumbledore used Severus’ remorse for his own agenda. I think he lamented what he’d done almost the moment it happened, if I know Severus.”
Mimi banged the table in frustration. “Then the Horcrux would have been destroyed – yet here it is!”
Her outburst did not faze Dahlra in the least. “As I said, Mimi, this isn’t a Horcrux. Only very much like one.” He turned pensive again. “Perhaps it was not Severus who needed help in repenting his wrongs.”
Mimi nodded. “Perhaps Severus was not the one who needed to ask forgiveness for what he’d done…” She felt her excitement stir again. “Perhaps it was Dumbledore!”
Dahlra looked at her approvingly. “You know, I think you are right!” He beamed at her again. “Well done, Mimi!”
Her elation was short-lived. “Well, that’s all well and good, but the fact remains that we don’t know what I’m supposed to do with the box.” She looked at the box, then the card again. “Perhaps we have to do a reading."
Dahlra looked dubious. "A reading?"
Mimi nodded, her brow furrowed in thought. "In essence, a reading could be used to get a message to find out what he has to say-“
Dahlra interrupted her. “Whoa! Back up, back up! What did you just say?”
Mimi repeated, “Maybe we should do a reading– “
Dahlra became excited. “No, no, you said, ‘in essence’.” His face was ablaze with excitement. “Essence! Severus infused his essences into the cards, and they found you! He infused his essences into you, and they were the catalyst to send you back! I think his essences were used to create the box as well!”
Mimi stared at Dahlra, her mind frantically trying to solve the puzzle her lover had given them. He was trying to tell them that Dumbledore had asked him for forgiveness, to not be judged for what he’d done to Severus. But what did that have to do with anything?
Mimi picked up the card again and looked at the figure in white. There was no doubt about it; the figure looked like Dumbledore to her. He held out his hand, as if to ward off a retributory blow, and something about the hand caught Mimi’s attention. She studied it; it was a long, elegant hand, as she remembered, and on the middle finger was a large signet ring of some kind.
Mimi peered closer to the card. There was something on the ring, but she couldn’t quite make it out.
“Try this,” a warm, rich voice murmured, and Mimi looked up to see Dahlra handing her a magnifying lens. She took it, with a puzzled smile.
“How did you-“
“While I was not told all the details, I was told to provide you with whatever you needed to solve the mystery.” He tipped her a wink, and she found herself laughing. With a little shrug of incredulity, she bent down over the card, looking at it through the magnifying glass.
Mimi looked carefully at the ring, and dropped the magnifying lens. She looked up at Dahlra, breathing hard.
“I think I have it.”
Dahlra gave her a look of dawning hope. “You do? Well, spit it out, Mimi!” She laughed with him, and stood. To Dahlra’s surprise, she started unbuttoning her trousers.
The look on his face was priceless. “Um, Mimi, what are you – “
“Relax, Splendor In the Grass!” She handed him the magnifying glass. “Here look for yourself at the ring on the Dumbledore’s finger, and I’ll show you why I’m stripping!”
Dahlra looked at it, then looked at Mimi, just as she revealed the small tattoo Severus had given her before she left. He looked at her hip, then back at the card.
Mimi’s tattoo and the ring bore the same exact mark: The twin green ‘S’s. Mimi, her mind kicking in high gear, turned over the letter that had contained the key and the piece of paper, and cried, “Ah ha!”
The wax seal was the same. “I didn’t think about that wax seal until just now, but I noticed it the day I got the key and the paper with the word ‘Sempra’ on it!”
The smiled at each other triumphantly. Dahlra said, “Okay, now we’re getting somewhere! Where did you get the tattoo?”
Mimi replied, “Just before I returned from his time, Severus gave it to me, so that I’d have proof that it wasn’t just a dream.” They both regarded it for a moment, trying to decipher the meaning of it all.
Dahlra scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Proof. If we can just crack this puzzle, you’ll no longer need that to have that as proof.”
Mimi froze for a moment. “You mean, if we can somehow retrieve Severus to this time, I wouldn’t need the tattoo, because he’d be here.”
Dahlra nodded. “Exactly, but I just can’t se – “
Mimi grabbed his arm. “But I do see! Essences! Severus used his wand to give me this tattoo, but he gave one to himself first. He siphoned the ‘ink’ from his body to mine to…” Her eyes grew wide. “Make the…tattoo…”
She jumped to her feet, and instinctively grabbed the box’s key. With blazing eyes that reminded Dahlra of his friend Severus, Mimi held up the long, skeletal key and cried, “The box isn’t the fake Horcrux, Dahlra – I AM!”
At her words, the key made a little clinking noise, began to vibrated and shapeshift before their eyes. Her heart pounding, Mimi quickly placed the key on the desk, where it jittered and flipped about as if possessed. Mimi was almost hyperventilating in excitement as the key grew, expanded, twisted and changed colour, then morphed into Severus’ wand.
Dahlra was looking at her with joy shining in his lovely eyes. He gave her a great bear hug. “Well done! I knew you could do it! Well done!”
Dahlra suddenly pulled away, picking up the wand. “Please don’t be afraid, Mimi,” he said.
He pointed the wand at her hip and whispered, “Elementum suo!”
Mimi felt a sharp pain in her hip, and made a startled sound of surprise as the ink began to bleed out of her body, and waft through the air as if carried by a current into the waiting wand. Dahlra held the wand expertly, and watched Mimi’s body carefully as the dark green ink withdrew from her body like a stitch of thread unraveling from a garment.
It did not so much hurt as felt strange, as if she were tattooing the air from the ink which bled from her. Mimi could feel it sliding through her skin as it rose from her flesh toward Severus’ wand, but she knew in her heart this was right. This minor discomfort was nothing, if they were correct.
There was a sharp, stinging pinch as the last drop of the ink was tugged from her body, and Mimi watched, fascinated, as the ink twirled in the air as if suspended in liquid, held aloft by Dahlra’s incantation.
When he was sure it was stable, Dahlra pointed the wand at the box, and murmured the incantation, “Reverto delecto , Severus, revertu vita… Reverto delecto , Severus, revertu vita… Reverto delecto , Severus, revertu vita… Reverto delecto , Severus, revertu vita…”
The ink spiraled from the wand onto the box’s surface, and was immediately absorbed as if the box were a sponge. It began to glow with an unearthly, dark radiance that was at once familiar and otherworldly.
Dahlra’s voice was beautifully hypnotic and entrancing, and Mimi eyes began to droop. She shook her head to clear it; she knew she had to watch and wait… The box began to shudder… Reverto delecto, Severus, revertu vita… Mimi had to rest her eyes, they were burning with exhaustion… Reverto delecto , Severus, revertu vita…
Suddenly, the box split open, and blinding light shot from it, lighting every corner. A rushing wind flew from the box and blew through the room, scattering the cards and billowing Mimi’s unbuttoned shirt. Through the incredible light and wind, Mimi saw Dahlra calmly lay the wand down beside the box.
Dahlra smiled at her, as serene and placid as ever, and even through the howling wind, she heard him.
“Well done, Mimi Manderly. I think my task is done.” He gave her a mischievous look. “After all, I do have my own goddess to look after.”
The room was so bright Mimi could barely keep her eyes open. Shielding her eyes with her hands, she could see him backing away, preparing to leave. She cried out, “Wait! What do I do now?”
“Oh, I shouldn’t worry, goddess. You’ll know.” He gave her a little wave, and the fabric of space in front of him split open as well, and even more blinding light assaulted her eyes. This time it was a bright iridescent beam, and the wind rose to a deafening, screeching crescendo, until finally Mimi had to close her eyes and put her hands over her ears.
Then, as suddenly as it had arisen, the wind and light imploded on itself, rushing down into the box so quickly Mimi barely had time to register it, and with so much force the entire atmosphere of the room changed and it felt as if all the air was being sucked out of her lungs. Her eardrums bowed outward and Mimi felt her blood pressure drop. She fell unconscious onto the filthy floor, thoroughly blinded and deafened…
mimimanderly has just released the next card of The Sempra Deck, a set of Major Arcana cards forming the Tarot. Each time Mimi posts a new card, I will post another edition of the story, so you can see how the story and the cards meshed together. Here is the next card - 20 Judgement, and here is the next chapter of the story.
This Chapter is rated PG for content and language. Happy Reading!
The Sempra Deck is dedicated to the real mystic goddess Mimi Manderly; to her beloved SeverusMuse, and to my precious Dahlra. All characters with the exception of Mimi Manderley, Peter and Dahlra belong to JK Rowling. I make no money from this publication.
Epilogue - The Hinges And The Clasp Part 3
Dahlra nodded absently, and picked up the first card off the top of the deck. He turned it over. It was the Judgment card.
Severus’ interpretation of this particular card showed an avenging angel, pointing an accusatory wand at the wicked and the unjust figure at his feet. The Angel of Judgment was standing on a hill, dressed in black, and he was bearing down on a figure below him in white.
Mimi studied the card closely, then glanced up at Dahlra, a look of wonder lighting her face. “The figures on the cards move!”
Dahlra gave her a mildly chastising look, as if to say, Severus created them – what did you expect?
She stared at it, watching the faint movements. “Have they always moved?”
“Of course. You didn’t notice it before because you did not know how to notice it. You are looking at them with different eyes now.”
Mimi looked back at the card. Different eyes. Why did that seem so important? Together, she and Dahlra studied the card, as the black-robed Angel of Judgment passed sentence on the old man, who repeatedly held out his hand as if to plead for mercy. Mimi could not help thinking that the Angel looked like Severus, and the old man the spitting image of Dumbledore. She told Dahlra this, and looked more closely at the card more.
He frowned, his handsome brow furrowed in thought. “Judgment. Judgment is all about atonement and repentance. It’s not so much about meting out punishment and retribution, but of demanding an account of past actions and experiences. If the one being judged is truly repentant, his own shame is often punishment enough.”
Mimi looked at the figures. The Angel’s expression seem to indicate he took no real pleasure in meting out his judgment, but the old man’s imploring face told of contrition and regret.
Mimi chewed on her lip thoughtfully. “A Horcrux is made when a witch or wizard takes a life, and their soul is torn. The only thing that can destroy the Horcrux is remorse; truly being sorry for what you have done.” She looked up at Dahlra. “I can’t imagine that Severus was terribly repentant for killing Dumbledore, after all he’d suffered because of him.”
Dahlra shrugged. “Do you think not? I would argue that point with you. He knew he’d made his own mistakes; what was unforgivable was how Dumbledore used Severus’ remorse for his own agenda. I think he lamented what he’d done almost the moment it happened, if I know Severus.”
Mimi banged the table in frustration. “Then the Horcrux would have been destroyed – yet here it is!”
Her outburst did not faze Dahlra in the least. “As I said, Mimi, this isn’t a Horcrux. Only very much like one.” He turned pensive again. “Perhaps it was not Severus who needed help in repenting his wrongs.”
Mimi nodded. “Perhaps Severus was not the one who needed to ask forgiveness for what he’d done…” She felt her excitement stir again. “Perhaps it was Dumbledore!”
Dahlra looked at her approvingly. “You know, I think you are right!” He beamed at her again. “Well done, Mimi!”
Her elation was short-lived. “Well, that’s all well and good, but the fact remains that we don’t know what I’m supposed to do with the box.” She looked at the box, then the card again. “Perhaps we have to do a reading."
Dahlra looked dubious. "A reading?"
Mimi nodded, her brow furrowed in thought. "In essence, a reading could be used to get a message to find out what he has to say-“
Dahlra interrupted her. “Whoa! Back up, back up! What did you just say?”
Mimi repeated, “Maybe we should do a reading– “
Dahlra became excited. “No, no, you said, ‘in essence’.” His face was ablaze with excitement. “Essence! Severus infused his essences into the cards, and they found you! He infused his essences into you, and they were the catalyst to send you back! I think his essences were used to create the box as well!”
Mimi stared at Dahlra, her mind frantically trying to solve the puzzle her lover had given them. He was trying to tell them that Dumbledore had asked him for forgiveness, to not be judged for what he’d done to Severus. But what did that have to do with anything?
Mimi picked up the card again and looked at the figure in white. There was no doubt about it; the figure looked like Dumbledore to her. He held out his hand, as if to ward off a retributory blow, and something about the hand caught Mimi’s attention. She studied it; it was a long, elegant hand, as she remembered, and on the middle finger was a large signet ring of some kind.
Mimi peered closer to the card. There was something on the ring, but she couldn’t quite make it out.
“Try this,” a warm, rich voice murmured, and Mimi looked up to see Dahlra handing her a magnifying lens. She took it, with a puzzled smile.
“How did you-“
“While I was not told all the details, I was told to provide you with whatever you needed to solve the mystery.” He tipped her a wink, and she found herself laughing. With a little shrug of incredulity, she bent down over the card, looking at it through the magnifying glass.
Mimi looked carefully at the ring, and dropped the magnifying lens. She looked up at Dahlra, breathing hard.
“I think I have it.”
Dahlra gave her a look of dawning hope. “You do? Well, spit it out, Mimi!” She laughed with him, and stood. To Dahlra’s surprise, she started unbuttoning her trousers.
The look on his face was priceless. “Um, Mimi, what are you – “
“Relax, Splendor In the Grass!” She handed him the magnifying glass. “Here look for yourself at the ring on the Dumbledore’s finger, and I’ll show you why I’m stripping!”
Dahlra looked at it, then looked at Mimi, just as she revealed the small tattoo Severus had given her before she left. He looked at her hip, then back at the card.
Mimi’s tattoo and the ring bore the same exact mark: The twin green ‘S’s. Mimi, her mind kicking in high gear, turned over the letter that had contained the key and the piece of paper, and cried, “Ah ha!”
The wax seal was the same. “I didn’t think about that wax seal until just now, but I noticed it the day I got the key and the paper with the word ‘Sempra’ on it!”
The smiled at each other triumphantly. Dahlra said, “Okay, now we’re getting somewhere! Where did you get the tattoo?”
Mimi replied, “Just before I returned from his time, Severus gave it to me, so that I’d have proof that it wasn’t just a dream.” They both regarded it for a moment, trying to decipher the meaning of it all.
Dahlra scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Proof. If we can just crack this puzzle, you’ll no longer need that to have that as proof.”
Mimi froze for a moment. “You mean, if we can somehow retrieve Severus to this time, I wouldn’t need the tattoo, because he’d be here.”
Dahlra nodded. “Exactly, but I just can’t se – “
Mimi grabbed his arm. “But I do see! Essences! Severus used his wand to give me this tattoo, but he gave one to himself first. He siphoned the ‘ink’ from his body to mine to…” Her eyes grew wide. “Make the…tattoo…”
She jumped to her feet, and instinctively grabbed the box’s key. With blazing eyes that reminded Dahlra of his friend Severus, Mimi held up the long, skeletal key and cried, “The box isn’t the fake Horcrux, Dahlra – I AM!”
At her words, the key made a little clinking noise, began to vibrated and shapeshift before their eyes. Her heart pounding, Mimi quickly placed the key on the desk, where it jittered and flipped about as if possessed. Mimi was almost hyperventilating in excitement as the key grew, expanded, twisted and changed colour, then morphed into Severus’ wand.
Dahlra was looking at her with joy shining in his lovely eyes. He gave her a great bear hug. “Well done! I knew you could do it! Well done!”
Dahlra suddenly pulled away, picking up the wand. “Please don’t be afraid, Mimi,” he said.
He pointed the wand at her hip and whispered, “Elementum suo!”
Mimi felt a sharp pain in her hip, and made a startled sound of surprise as the ink began to bleed out of her body, and waft through the air as if carried by a current into the waiting wand. Dahlra held the wand expertly, and watched Mimi’s body carefully as the dark green ink withdrew from her body like a stitch of thread unraveling from a garment.
It did not so much hurt as felt strange, as if she were tattooing the air from the ink which bled from her. Mimi could feel it sliding through her skin as it rose from her flesh toward Severus’ wand, but she knew in her heart this was right. This minor discomfort was nothing, if they were correct.
There was a sharp, stinging pinch as the last drop of the ink was tugged from her body, and Mimi watched, fascinated, as the ink twirled in the air as if suspended in liquid, held aloft by Dahlra’s incantation.
When he was sure it was stable, Dahlra pointed the wand at the box, and murmured the incantation, “Reverto delecto , Severus, revertu vita… Reverto delecto , Severus, revertu vita… Reverto delecto , Severus, revertu vita… Reverto delecto , Severus, revertu vita…”
The ink spiraled from the wand onto the box’s surface, and was immediately absorbed as if the box were a sponge. It began to glow with an unearthly, dark radiance that was at once familiar and otherworldly.
Dahlra’s voice was beautifully hypnotic and entrancing, and Mimi eyes began to droop. She shook her head to clear it; she knew she had to watch and wait… The box began to shudder… Reverto delecto, Severus, revertu vita… Mimi had to rest her eyes, they were burning with exhaustion… Reverto delecto , Severus, revertu vita…
Suddenly, the box split open, and blinding light shot from it, lighting every corner. A rushing wind flew from the box and blew through the room, scattering the cards and billowing Mimi’s unbuttoned shirt. Through the incredible light and wind, Mimi saw Dahlra calmly lay the wand down beside the box.
Dahlra smiled at her, as serene and placid as ever, and even through the howling wind, she heard him.
“Well done, Mimi Manderly. I think my task is done.” He gave her a mischievous look. “After all, I do have my own goddess to look after.”
The room was so bright Mimi could barely keep her eyes open. Shielding her eyes with her hands, she could see him backing away, preparing to leave. She cried out, “Wait! What do I do now?”
“Oh, I shouldn’t worry, goddess. You’ll know.” He gave her a little wave, and the fabric of space in front of him split open as well, and even more blinding light assaulted her eyes. This time it was a bright iridescent beam, and the wind rose to a deafening, screeching crescendo, until finally Mimi had to close her eyes and put her hands over her ears.
Then, as suddenly as it had arisen, the wind and light imploded on itself, rushing down into the box so quickly Mimi barely had time to register it, and with so much force the entire atmosphere of the room changed and it felt as if all the air was being sucked out of her lungs. Her eardrums bowed outward and Mimi felt her blood pressure drop. She fell unconscious onto the filthy floor, thoroughly blinded and deafened…
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-08-21 04:24 pm (UTC)I'm glad that Mimi was able to figure out the puzzle, because I was thoroughly confused.
LOL at Dahlra's reaction when Mimi started unbuttoning her pants! That cracked me up!
I can't wait for the rest!! Need more NOW! Not that I'm demanding or anything....
no subject
Date: 2011-08-21 04:25 pm (UTC)What does Reverto delecto , Severus, revertu vita… mean?
no subject
Date: 2011-08-21 04:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-21 05:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-21 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-21 06:47 pm (UTC)I'm not sure what has happened that Mimi is blinded and deafened, but I'm sure Severus knows what he is doing. Can't wait for the final card!
no subject
Date: 2011-08-21 06:56 pm (UTC)I'm amazed how quickly Mimi has drawn these beautiful cards, and I am just so honoured to be part of this story. I personally think it's one of the best fics I've ever written.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-21 07:39 pm (UTC)I think I'll go copy her on this commet for this latest card.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-21 08:09 pm (UTC)I know she'd love to hear from you. She really is one of my Muses.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 12:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 01:37 am (UTC)