Private Regina in Potestate

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Regina in Potestate
Location: Katrine's chamber, The Schwartzweld Original Outfit: This (no mask) New Outfit: This
Tag: Aston Hawk Scherezade deWinter Alwine Bergen
​

Part One: Sunt Superis Sua Iura
Part Two: Spiritus ad Spiritium
Interlude: Truth in Your Eyes​

Little Kat had always wondered about the moon of her ancestors.
Little Kat had never felt welcomed among the Witches of Dathomir.
She knew she was different, unique among her peers.
Out in the galaxy, she had found adventure.
On Figaro Favoura VII, she had found a home and built a family.​

When Katrine set out to explore the Van-Derveld stronghold, it was because much of it had remained undiscovered through the years of living here. Larentia was growing up, becoming curious and wandering around the abandoned hallways, and the Lupine knew she could no longer delay her inspection of those wings.

She hadn't expected to find a restless spirit among these walls, harbouring such hate and anger. Wulfram Van-Derveld was everything the Van-Dervelds no longer were. He didn't know Lupines could procreate with other species to deliver their pure-blooded species; he didn't know the family flourished because they had left the moon, and he didn't allow for any impurities as he had seen them.
​

This bigotry made him almost kill her daughter.
Larentia would have been dead now if it weren't for the Warrior of Ulf.
It wasn't for her adult daughter sacrificing her life.​

Katrine offered one small smile to her mate at the end of their conversation, letting her eyes wander back to Alwine and Pebble for a moment before she looked down and realised her old suit of power was damaged on the arm. "That's another strike for Wulfram," Katrine quietly commented.

This armour had many memories of her past life, from the time she was made Nightmother of the Mandragora, but it was also a remnant of her past and something Katrine was no longer attached to. She was the First Mother of the Spirits, the ichor-imbued Nightmother of the beyond. Yet, the black no longer suited her.

Without saying a word, she snuck into her closet, taking off the old and pulling out pieces of clothing without thinking. "I am the Nightmother; I am the First of the new age."The spirits themselves guided her hands as she pulled out and dressed, chanting away through the process. "I am the White Wolf, the deliverer of the future bright." Jart perched at her side, strengthening her shoulder blades as Doashim embraced her in an invisible hug.

"I am not an option. I am the only choice." Katrine continued her chant as Lylek tapped its legs against the fabric. This new outfit altered in colour at the chant, representing her natural colour, the platinum of her natural hair colour and the white of her fur. "I am the storm. I am the only destiny."

Katrine emerged from the wardrobe at last, the spirits surrounding her. She was the only one in the room now privy to them, but she knew they were here.

"I want to end this before dawn." Katrine declared to the three people still in the room. One Dathomiri, two Wolves, and a Bloodhound against the spirits of her ancestors, and only she was capable of reaching into the ichor. It would ultimately come down to her and Wulfram. "The other spirits will bend to my will, but Wulfram needs to be banished."

Her sapphire gaze moved between them. She knew both Aston and Pebble would stand with her now, but she wasn't entirely sure about Alwine. Their bond was turned from one-sided enemies to accepted. If Alwine wanted to stay out of the Van-Derveld battles, she was free to do so now. "Alwine? This isn't your fight if you wanted to sit it out." She didn't have to question her sister if she would stand with her.​

 

[Alwine Bergen]

It had been quite the eventful evening. Alwine had ripped herself apart from her children to come running to the Van-Derveld house, believing Katrine and Larentia had been in danger. They had indeed, but by the time Alwine had arrived, the immediately danger had passed, leaving room for another chapter in the Van-Derveld history to unfold live, before her eyes.

Her eyes followed the white wolf as she offered her to join the fight.

What an odd request. Alwine did not exactly know all the details of what the night had unfolded, but she understood the deeper meaning of it. Whatever were to happen tonight, it would decree the future of the Lupines as they knew it. A threat was to be undone, or it would be turmoil and chaos again, in the way that none of those involved were willingly going to allow to happen.

Yes, there had been years in which she would have let them solve it on their own. But that was in the past. Now, things had changed, and for the most part, they had changed for the better. Her children and Katrine's children were dear friends and considered part of the house and family when they were around. There was a respect between the two women now, both mothers, both after very different goals that had somehow twisted into the same vine that would yield a similar result for them both.

And so when she looked to Katrine again, her eyes softened. Some hardness remained, yes, but that was because Alwine was hard from within her core, and not for anything she was about to say or do.

"I understand that this fight is important," she said softly, "and while I cannot put the why into the words, I am aware that how it concludes will affect all of us, and our children. I will stand and fight with you with pride, Katrine Van-Derveld. Whatever may happen tonight, we will make tomorrow better for our cubs, and eventually their cubs, or we will be undone in the attempt to make it so."

No doubt in her words. No question behind her physical gestures. Alwine knew what she was signing up for. What she did not know though…

"So I hope you will explain how one is the banish a ghost," she grinned, "for it is not knowledge I possess in any way."

 

[Aston Hawk]

"I want to end this before dawn."

"It has to be, there is no other way." Aston spoke plainly looking between the remaining indivduals left. He glanced to Katrine giving her a determined nod and then over to Alwine, as it was as Katrine said. This wasn't her fight, yet her help would prove to be incredibly beneficial.

Together with all of them, their combined energy would be enough to aide Katrine in her task to force the other spirts to give in to her command. It was for them all. It went passed just Katrine, but to the others that live and would live on. Long after they were gone, it was their future that they were to be fighting for. He had never abandoned or let Katrine down before, he wasn't going to start now.

And with everything else that was on the line, they would see Wulfram banished.

Katrine Van-Derveld Alwine Bergen

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Regina in Potestate

Location: Katrine's chamber, The Schwartzweld
Outfit: This Tag: Alwine Bergen Scherezade deWinter Aston Hawk
​

Katrine waited with a patience that took years to grow, allowing Alwine to make up her mind and process whatever was going through her mind. She had given her a chance to go, and this would be without any hard feelings. The two women were not friends in any sense of the word, but they had grown to respect each other as the years went by, and their children, unaware of their history, took to each other with ease.

When their eyes met, she could almost swear she knew the answer.

Alwine recognised the importance of this battle, even when she wasn't privy to all aspects of what transpired here tonight. She couldn't seem to explain it herself, the why, but it impacted all of them. Katrine gave the tiniest nod to her words, knowing this was true – everything depended on ridding themselves of what was and embarking on the future without the baggage of the past.

She would stand and fight with her with pride. Katrine felt her expression soften as she smiled. She wasn't the only one who had grown in the years that had passed. Alwine had changed so much, too. It would affect them all, but their children more than any one of them, Katrine agreed. Even when Pebble revealed Alwine wasn't Lechner by blood, she grew with them. No doubt Wulfram would have something to say about that too, given the chance. They would make sure he didn't get it.

"Exactly. We do this for our children." Katrine hadn't been in any danger before, not until Larentia admitted her parentage. This had set off the spirit beyond repair. They had no choice but to banish him.

This plan brought on questions. Alwine didn't know how to banish a spirit. Her arm rose and palm faced behind her as she concentrated, summoning the correct scroll from the shelves in the corner, her private stash of spells that Ren was too young to use and were protected by magic to only be claimed by Katrine. Someday, Ren would be allowed access to them and would inherit them when the time was right. But until that day, Katrine knew she wasn't strong enough yet to use them.

Her hand twisted as the scroll moved towards Alwine, calling her to take it, to read it.
​

"That is the spell. I have only chanted it once before," Katrine confessed. "It will focus the spirits to unite. The main weapon will be my sword that came to me from the ichor." Just as ichor ran through hers and Ren's blood, it was the source of her main weapon. Katrine had never been Jedi or Sith, and though she had wielded a lightsaber as part of her training at some point, it was never her main choice of combat tool. It had always been swords. And the sword she had now was perfect for her calling, and for this was the right weapon for this battle.

She looked to the middle of the room now, remembering Larentia had been able to combat the spirit with her swords. The Warrior of Ulf was gone, disappeared where she had been left to lie, as if she had never been there. Her two swords remained through. Katrine moved over to them, lifting them to inspect. "Not all weapons should be able to touch a spirit," the Witch commented, looking them over closely.

Was it because Larentia wielded the weapons, or was there something special about them? Katrine couldn't tell. It was her blood on the blades that made it strong Doashim advised. She nodded.

"Larentia's swords are imbued with her blood. It's enough to cause damage to the spirit." She had three by her side, and two weapons for them to wield. It came down to who wanted a sword to fight with and who didn't. Katrine chose her magic before weapons, but the ultimate blow would have to be delivered with her sword.​

 

[Aston Hawk]

Aston had been silent through it all, standing near them. The very air thickened with the gravity of their choice, each word exchanged another stone laid in a path that led straight into the jaws of something sinister.

He'd seen Katrine in battle before, seen her wield strength that seemed carved from something older than the rest of them. He trusted her blade, trusted her magic, but he also knew the cost. Tonight, he could almost feel the ichor inside her humming in anticipation, as if the weapon at her side already sensed its purpose.

Their words — for the children — struck him in a place he didn't often let himself linger. Aston clenched his jaw, not from doubt, but because he knew it was true. This wasn't their war alone. Their children would inherit whatever was left after the spirit was banished. or whatever ruin it left behind if they failed.

The sight of Larentia's swords caught his eye then, blades dark with the memory of blood. Katrine's voice carried a strange certainty as she explained their power. Aston didn't doubt her, he didn't doubt them. He would stand by and do as they asked.

But this wasn't a soldier's fight. This was older, stranger — the kind of battle you fought with faith as much as steel. And so Aston remained still, eyes on the women, ready to follow and protect them until the very end.

Katrine Van-Derveld Alwine Bergen

 

[Alwine Bergen]

Aston Hawk Katrine Van-Derveld​

---

"Exactly. We do this for our children."

Alwine could do little but nod in agreement. And then the hairs on her arms rose as Katrine summoned a scroll out of seemingly thin air. Sometimes, it seemed like centuries had passed for the two of them to grow. And sometimes, Alwine's inner instincts behaved as though they were still meeting for the first time on Stewjon, the witch-related things demanding to be taken down by the angry wolf. One breath was all it took to bring those demands back though. This was not then, this was now. Alwine did not trust 'magic', but she trusted Katrine, and that was enough.

With a careful hand, she took the offered scroll and read the words. Why saying those words would work was beyond Alwine's ability to understand, but it seemed simple enough. But then came the explanation and the Lupine found herself confused again. Words to make spirits unite, that part was easy enough, but how that would affect the witch's sword… No. She would not go into spirals about it inside her head.

If there was something that Alwine was proud to have learned over the years, it was to better tell when the time was to take charge, and when the time was to merely follow. And in this, she would follow. She would put her fur on the line just as she put her trust in Katrine to carry this through in the best way that would benefit their future, their children. It was all that truly mattered.

"So we are all to… chant, these words, and then you are to use ichor sword," she nodded.

Her eyes followed to the swords, and she shook her head. Just as she had learned when to lead and when to follow, she knew very well that her combat skills were lacking. Every person in the room would be able to perform better with them.

"I shall stick to chanting duties," she confirmed, "unless there is something else that I could be doing that does not involve the usage of a sword better equipped by another."

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Aston Hawk Katrine Van-Derveld

---

Unlike Alwine, Scherezade's preference was to always use swords. Things with pointy ends that she could stick in other people, or things, or… Well, ghosts, in this case. She noted Aston opting not to use a sword either, and since Kat wanted to use one… That left one shiny blade for the blood hound.

She took it without pomp, giving it a nice swing in the air, testing for balance. It was not a sword she'd used before, but that was all right. She could be more than deadly enough with a blade a fourth the size of this one, and she could use this one as well.

For a moment, her gaze froze as she looked at the other women. Three women were a good sign, from what she recalled. Yet though their experiences in lives varied greatly, she doubted they could assume the mantles of Maid, Mother, and Crone. Not until one of the other two had grandchildren, anyway. For Scherezade, it was a dream she didn't yet know whether or not it existed, but for the time being, she was the only one among them who had none, and thus the whole gravity of the situation about leaving a better future and all that stuff, spoke little to her.

Then again, she didn't need it. Knowing this was to protect her Renfair was more than enough.

"Let's kick ghostly buttocks!" she exclaimed with a proud smile.

Kat would take the lead. Alwine would chant. Aston would support. Scherezade would stab.

Seemed like a solid enough plan.

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Regina in Potestate

Location: Katrine's chamber, The Schwartzweld Destination: Heart the Schwartzweld, Central Courtyard Outfit: This
​

She allowed them to make their choices, waiting in silence. Her sapphire gaze shifted to Aston for a moment as Alwine accepted the spell, recognising its importance. The second Lupine chose to stick to chanting duties. One was not enough, though, not when Alwine herself didn't have a magical background, but there was one person here who could lend her the strength of foremothers. "Aston, you carry within you the bloodline of powerful witches," she softly reminded. It was not an aspect of her mate that often came into play but was potent nevertheless.

While there was much of her own origins Katrine didn't fully understand due to the little details provided on Avarisa's and Ceta's origins, Aston was Satara's son. He carried within him the strength of his mother, of Zaltana, of Ceta and many others. His power would empower Alwine as well in the chant. The invocation of a Hawk wouldn't only give strength to the spell; it would summon the spirits that would help them.

Alwine offered herself for another role. "No, the power of two will be relevant here. You and Aston will give power to this magic together." Even when the Lupine was not a witch herself, she had power of her own. Together, they could support her fight.

And Pebble? She took one of the swords from her. Katrine swung the other one with the hilt offered. "I give you both. I have no use for them, but they will give you the edge against the dead." The Witch would wield her own weapon, the just ending for the malevolent spirit they faced. But to have Pebble carry both of Larentia's swords, imbued with the blood of ichor and her own magical training to boot, would make them formidable opponents against Wulfram Van-Derveld. She took one more look at her army, content with the power shared between them, and nodded.

It gave her the confidence that this battle would end in their favour.

"Let us begin," the First Mother simply commanded and walked out of the room, marching first. She knew where their battleground would be. It would not be her domain or Wulfram's, but instead the open courtyard just beyond. There, they would combat the dead under the rising moon.
​

Aston Hawk Alwine Bergen Scherezade deWinter​

 

[Aston Hawk]

Aston felt the weight of Katrine's sapphire gaze before she even spoke his name. Now, Katrine called it forward.

When Katrine spoke, he could not deny the truth in her voice. The blood was there, as much a part of him as bone or breath. His gaze flicked to Alwine, the scroll in her grasp glowing faintly under the wards. She was no witch, yet her resolve burned. If she could step into this, then so could he.

Aston inclined his head slowly, deliberately. "If my blood can strengthen the spell, then it will be yours to call upon." His voice was low, steady, the kind of tone that belonged to vows spoken on battlefields.

Inside, though, something stirred, the echo of foremothers he had never met but who seemed to lean closer now. The courtyard beyond the walls already felt charged, as if the rising moon itself waited to see what would become of them.

His fingers curled once, loosening only when he exhaled. Aston stepped closer, not only to Katrine, but to Alwine as well, placing himself fully within the circle of power they were about to weave. Whatever came next, his blood, his strength, his very name would be bound into this fight.

Katrine Van-Derveld Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Scherezade grinned as the second sword was offered to her. She grasped it with her right hand and made a few moves, twirling both swords. She was ambidextrous and fought with two hands most of the time, but it still felt great to get to do it in front of friends and family. She wasn't certain why.

With a light step, she followed Katrine Van-Derveld into the court yard along with the rest of their merry little band. Aston and Alwine had taken positions and only now Scherezade realized they were doing the circle thing, and she positioned herself properly as well.

For a heartbeat, the swords felt off in her hands. She was used to smaller and lighter blades, not these monster weapons that Larentia had seemed to favor. That was all right thought. A blade was a blade. And these would work on the ghost of the dude they didn't like that day. Pointy end goes in, dude they don't like goes out, problem solved, eat and feast.

She wished life was that simple more often.

But the non-simple things would follow after that. Scherezade didn't envy the near future between Aston, Kat, and Renfair. Growing up was hard. It was nice to see someone managing to do it not with one, but with both parents in tow. Whatever happened, Larentia had more support than any of them had when they were younger.

Everything was going to be just fine.

And if it wasn't? She had numerous blades to stab people with until they were.

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Regina in Potestate

Location: Central Courtyard, The Schwartzweld
Outfit: This
​

Aston was the first to accept, embracing the blood of Ceta within him for this mission. While they spoke at length about their past, about how their bloodlines differed through the use of the Force, and the intervention of his birth father, he was a Hawk despite it. Even when his experience with spells might have been limited compared to Katrine's, it did not relinquish his potential in the ancient magicks.

Just as Katrine had helped Pebble unlock her potential in this, she knew it hid inside her mate as well, waiting for an opportune moment to flourish. Tonight, under the light of the moon, he and Alwine would achieve this together.

"We're ready then," the Lupine announced with a nod.

Pebble took the second sword, wielding both to test their strength. Katrine knew her sister could do this; she had seen her in combat many times before. Like the warrior of Ulf, her adopted sister possessed a skill still uncommon in the galaxy. It would serve her well today, with the weapons imbued to combat their opponents.

They walked with her through the halls of the grandiose home, her hand gesturing as she summoned the Force to her. The double doors pushed open, allowing them to exit to their destiny. Under the light of the moon, the place was bright and clear at night. She looked up into the source, the folklore of worlds speaking of the full moon bringing forth the wolf. Van-Dervelds were not slaves to it, but they did relish in its light.

"Wulfram!" Katrine roared, demanding his presence.

Everything remained still for a moment. "Wulfram Van-Derveld, face me!" The woman didn't only bear the strength of her family, but the three spirits that remained with her. Through their markings, Katrine possessed the strength of three, the power they shared with her.

He comes, the wise Jart revealed. "Get ready," Katrine conveyed the message to her comrades.

The opposite doors slammed open, green ichor flowing through the edges as Wulfram entered. He had obviously rallied the ancestors to his side. Katrine suspected that it was fear, more than anything, that made them follow him. But he was wrong to think the spirits would fear him more than they feared her. "I have no qualms with you, girl. Is she dead?"

Her brow raised at the question. "I guess that means you're not all-powerful as you claim to me," Katrine taunted the malevolent spirit. She could feel the confusion in the energies surrounding him, the doubt in the forces he commanded.

"What?" Katrine smiled just slightly. "You failed, Wulfram. My daughter lives."

The malevolent spirit roared with anger at the news. She could tell he was, too, confused. Wulfram had come here convinced he had won, that he had eradicated what he thought was an abomination, only to find out that wasn't the case at all. "How?"

"By the sacrifice of her adult self." Katrine offered nothing more. Wulfram began to pace in front of her. "Impossible." He seemed unable to understand. "Nothing is impossible when you believe in the foundation of magicks, Wulfram. I am Witch born and raised, and so is my daughter." The malevolent spirit couldn't comprehend the ways of Dathomir or Mandragora, or the power they could wield.

He would learn. Her head turned to the side, giving a nod at Aston and Alwine. "Don't stop chanting," she ordered. The spell itself couldn't banish a spirit deeply rooted in a place, but it could weaken him and allow them that extra edge they needed, summoning spirits and drawing from the danger.

Wulfram roared, understanding enough to know she was about to attack.

He called forth the spirits, pointing at them. They were coming.

Katrine summoned her sword from the ichor; the object appeared as the spirits came, forced by Wulfram."We got this, Pebble," the Lupine called, launching herself at the first attackers. Doashim roared himself, Jart perched, and Lylek hissed, each of them joining the battle with their First Mother. The spirits that attacked were on their playing field; they could hurt them.​

Aston Hawk Scherezade deWinter Alwine Bergen​

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

She didn't have to say anything as their merry band walked to the courtyard. Katrine took the lead, Alwine and Aston were doing the chanting thing, and all Scherezade had to do was just stand there awkwardly while Katrine spoke with the Wulfram guy. He didn't fully understand what had taken place. To be frank, neither did Scherezade, but it seemed she was having a much easier time dealing with not knowing everything than this dude did.

Kat said they had it. It seemed only now Scherezade saw the spirits coming up.

She smiled.

The air crackled around the spirits that had appeared with tremoring lines of light ripping through the dim like fractures in glass. Scherezade stood her ground, Larentia's twin blades humming faintly. She breathed once, twice, and then the world broke open for her. The ghosts might have been screaming. They might have not. But in Scherezade's world which was shrinking rapidly into tunnel vision, she heard the screams of memories of voices, howls of loss and hunger, of fury, sounds that came into her consciousness from what they might have once been.

Scherezade moved. The left blade sliced through the frontmost spirit, and the air itself seemed to recoil. Where steel met ghostlight, it tore its essence, a spillage of phosphorescent mist. Her other sword followed, a mirrored arc that drew sigils through the air, sealing the rent as fast as she made it.

One tried to get behind her, and so she twisted, laughing with a childhood freedom, because this was the kind of wrong she understood how to fix. Her heel skidded across the stone as she ducked, drove both swords outward in a cross, and the spirit dissolved like fog under sunrise. Another lunged from the side, wailing. She spun, let it pass through the afterimage of herself, and cleaved it clean when it turned back, its shriek trailing off into glittering motes that hung briefly in the air before fading.

Nothing mattered in that moment. That night had never been about her, and would never have to be about her. This was Katrine and Larentia's night, and she was here to support them both. But Sithspit, she was having a blast, dancing in her element, killing spirits left and right with swords that didn't belong to her but moved as extensions of her arms with cold blooded precision.

Her senses sharpened, she took the briefest of moments to glance at Katrine. She assumed her adopting sister would be the one to take Wulfram on, and she wanted to make sure she could. So any spirit that even just looked like it would come for Kat, Scherezade was on it in an instant, moving like she was born to do this, the smile on her face almost impossible to miss.