Honoured
Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Wizengamot Member Legilimens Occlumens
237
posts
0
likes
I have nothing to say.
|
Post by Gordon Flintock on Jul 15, 2009 2:58:05 GMT -7
"Natalie..." Gordon began, suddenly taken aback. "We have to do this. Or else we might never know what happened to you, and then we can never help you, and we can never catch who did this to you. That's your job, remember? Catching dark wizards, it's what you loved and what you lived for. Helping other people. That's why we're doing this!"
Gordon leaned down and moved closer to Natalie. His eyes darted to her bedside table where he could see Natalie's wand lay just out of her reach ((checked this with Natalie)). He leaned near her bed and took her right hand in both of his, smiling up at her as warmly as he could. "Okay?"
|
|
Roleplayer
Strong Legilimens Auror
90
posts
0
likes
I have nothing to say.
|
Post by Natalie Armitage on Jul 15, 2009 3:03:25 GMT -7
"NO!" Natalie shouted. "You can't. I won't let you!"
She darted to her left, reaching for her wand, but Gordon was quicker; he grabbed her wrists and pinned her to the bed. Natalie let out an incomprehensible scream of rage, struggling violently; but two years of starvation and abuse had taken their toll, and whatever muscle mass she'd had before her kidnapping was gone. She was too weak to do more than wiggle a little bit in his grasp.
"Let me go! LET ME GO!" She burst into furious tears and spit in Gordon's face, continuing to struggle even though she knew it was completely useless.
|
|
Honoured
Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Wizengamot Member Legilimens Occlumens
237
posts
0
likes
I have nothing to say.
|
Post by Gordon Flintock on Jul 15, 2009 3:13:21 GMT -7
Gordon grimaced, his left eye shut tight after being spat on. He struggled to hold the flailing and screaming Natalie down to her bed. Even though he was far stronger than her especially in her current condition, he felt uncomfortable being forced to hold her down like this. "I thought you said she knew!" he yelled at Fayre.
Gordon shifted his weight onto her so that he could hold her down safely with his left arm, using his right one free to do magic. "Incarcerous!" he cast, withdrawing his left arm now too, leaving Natalie tied down to her bed with ropes around her hands and feet. He tended to his eye, assuming Fayre would give her some sort of sedative or something.
|
|
Junior Member
Head Healer, Spell Damage Ward at St. Mungos
35
posts
0
likes
I have nothing to say.
|
Post by Fayre Thackary on Jul 15, 2009 3:33:29 GMT -7
"She did know! You were with me when we went over it!" Fayre cried. Natalie was still screaming and swearing on the bed.
"Natalie! You have to stop, you're going to hurt yourself!" Fayre said firmly, leaning over the irate woman. "Calm down, so we can talk this over rationally. No one is going to force you to do this, you understand? You need to calm down, or I will be forced to sedate you!"
As Natalie continued to glower, Fayre turned to Gordon. "My guess is that this is the portion of her personality that tells her to 'hush' when she tries to think about what happened," she explained. "It appears that her mind has...fractured. However, this might work to our advantage - perhaps this alter remembers. Natalie?" She turned back to Natalie questioningly. "Do you remember what happened? Can you tell us without having to go into your mind?"
|
|
Roleplayer
Strong Legilimens Auror
90
posts
0
likes
I have nothing to say.
|
Post by Natalie Armitage on Jul 15, 2009 3:35:06 GMT -7
Natalie lay fuming on the bed, struggling against the ropes Gordon had bound her in. "I'm not telling you anything," she snarled. "Give me back my wand! NOW!"
|
|
Honoured
Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Wizengamot Member Legilimens Occlumens
237
posts
0
likes
I have nothing to say.
|
Post by Gordon Flintock on Jul 15, 2009 3:40:10 GMT -7
"Natalie..." said Gordon in a slow, calm voice but which sounded a little threatening. "Just calm down. Like Healer Thackary says, we need to talk about this rationally." He took her wand from the table and slid it into an inside pocket of his cloak. "I think I'll be keeping this for now, yes?" Gordon turned to Fayre with an exasperated look on his face.
|
|
Roleplayer
Strong Legilimens Auror
90
posts
0
likes
I have nothing to say.
|
Post by Natalie Armitage on Jul 15, 2009 3:46:33 GMT -7
Natalie opened her mouth to shout obscenities at the two of them; once more, however, she froze suddenly. A few seconds later, a dreamy, Luna Lovegood-esque expression drifted across her face and it was evident that she was back to her "old" self. "Sorry about that," she said pleasantly. "She doesn't want me to do this, she thinks that if I remember I'll try to kill myself. I don't mind if you go ahead though." She looked down curiously at the ropes binding her, and pushed experimentally at them. "Is this part of the experiment?" she asked contentedly. "They're a bit tight."
|
|
Junior Member
Head Healer, Spell Damage Ward at St. Mungos
35
posts
0
likes
I have nothing to say.
|
Post by Fayre Thackary on Jul 15, 2009 3:48:14 GMT -7
This was undoubtedly one of the stranger things Fayre had ever seen. One moment, Natalie was screaming, the next, she was idly discussing suicide in the same tone that one might say, "Nice weather we're having, isn't it?"
She looked to Gordon, unsure how to proceed. She knew that without Natalie's consent, they could not perform the experiment; but when one half consented and the other violently opposed...it was sticky. They could always declare her mentally unsound, of course, but if Natalie were opposed, and they forced themselves into her mind, there was no telling what damage would be done.
"Natalie..." Fayre began, and then stopped. She had no idea what to say.
|
|
Honoured
Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Wizengamot Member Legilimens Occlumens
237
posts
0
likes
I have nothing to say.
|
Post by Gordon Flintock on Jul 15, 2009 3:55:15 GMT -7
Gordon frowned, concerned. He pointed his wand at the ropes on her bed and loosened them a little, but decided to keep them on in case Natalie's other side decided to come back as abruptly as it had left. "Yes, Natalie," he answered her. "It's for your safety." This wasn't exactly a lie, either. Though the image of Natalie tied down to a hospital bed with a wand pointed at her forehead was a little disturbing. It rather made Gordon feel like a monstrous mad scientist, the kind who valued the knowledge that these kinds of medical experiments could bring no matter what the consequences. Though, of course, they still had a private room, and Gordon's personal ego had dealt with far worse before.
"You're sure this is the best option?" he asked Thackary, because she seemed hesitant and he did not want to overstretch his welcome in her patient's room. "I mean if it's her best chance at normalcy and at catching those who did this to her then I have no problems doing it, but..."
|
|
Junior Member
Head Healer, Spell Damage Ward at St. Mungos
35
posts
0
likes
I have nothing to say.
|
Post by Fayre Thackary on Jul 15, 2009 4:01:44 GMT -7
"It's complicated," Fayre tried to explain. "If we go in against her wishes, we could cause permanent brain damage, if she resists you too much. But if we don't..." She gestured towards Natalie. "She might stay like this the rest of her life."
She crossed her arms and pursed her lips. She knew Gordon wanted information; personally, she could care less if he ever found out who'd captured Natalie. She was more concerned with actually curing Natalie. "I don't know," she said after a minute, frustration evident in her voice. "I don't know what to do."
|
|
Roleplayer
Strong Legilimens Auror
90
posts
0
likes
I have nothing to say.
|
Post by Natalie Armitage on Jul 15, 2009 4:05:32 GMT -7
"You can do it," Natalie said happily. "I don't mind. You musn't pay attention to her, she's always angry. Bad things happened to her," she whispered confidentially. "She was beaten, you know. And starved."
She began looking around the room, humming quietly to herself. Mid-hum, she switched sides again.
"You don't understand," she said pleadingly. "Don't make us go through it again. Please."
|
|
Honoured
Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Wizengamot Member Legilimens Occlumens
237
posts
0
likes
I have nothing to say.
|
Post by Gordon Flintock on Jul 15, 2009 4:11:34 GMT -7
She was beaten, you know. And starved.
This peaked Gordon's interest. Had Natalie remembered this herself, or just picked it up from her own condition or what she had heard from Gordon or the Healers?
"We might not have to," Gordon said softly. "If you can remember. You can tell us. But you can't block it out forever; you need to be brave like I know you are, and push on through, or else forever live in fear and depression."
|
|
Roleplayer
Strong Legilimens Auror
90
posts
0
likes
I have nothing to say.
|
Post by Natalie Armitage on Jul 15, 2009 4:20:55 GMT -7
'Other-Nat' sighed, and sagged back on the bed. "I don't know who it was." she said tonelessly. "I know you want me to tell you who kidnapped me so you can go arrest them, but they never showed me their faces. I don't remember the actual kidnapping. The last thing I remember is Adam asking to meet me, and then..." she stopped.
"Oh yes, she was beaten regularly," Nat said chattily. "Every day. Sometimes they crucioed her, just for fun, to see how long it'd take before she stopped twitching. Sometimes, she'd go a week without food. They wouldn't let her go to the bathroom, either, and if she couldn't hold it, they'd crucio her and not let her bathe for a few days. Right horrible, really." She began her mindless humming again, her toes wiggling along with the tune.
|
|
Honoured
Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Wizengamot Member Legilimens Occlumens
237
posts
0
likes
I have nothing to say.
|
Post by Gordon Flintock on Jul 15, 2009 4:31:16 GMT -7
"Thank-you, Natalie, that's great," Gordon said. He walked over to Fayre, who appeared to be writing feverishly. He would be sure to grab a copy of her notes once they were done.
"I think the resistant side is trying to trick us," Gordon whispered, pretending to be reviewing what she had written in the hope that Natalie would not get suspicious. "Or is it possible that they actually remember different things?" Gordon suspected not, given Fayre's earlier theories about one personality being dominant and how she seemed to stop the other from speaking. But he wasn't the expert, of course.
|
|
Junior Member
Head Healer, Spell Damage Ward at St. Mungos
35
posts
0
likes
I have nothing to say.
|
Post by Fayre Thackary on Jul 15, 2009 4:37:51 GMT -7
"I'm not sure," Fayre replied. "It's possible that they both remember; I think the most likely scenario is that one Natalie remembers everything as if it happened to someone else and she was told about it, while the other remembers everything as it really happened. The mind is a tricky thing, Gordon; it has incredibly strange ways of protecting itself. My guess is that this fracture occurred to keep Natalie from...killing herself."
|
|