[Beginning of the End 5/7] Escalation

|| It didn't take him long after his meeting with Lucedio to feel the tingles of a forming idea. Having been in his home, pondering, Aeron finally took out parchment and a quill and began writing. In the letter, he kept it short and sweet: Dear Chava, I understand things had not been the best between you, Damien or I, but having been alone for quite some time- No, that sounded too pathetic. She murders and kills. Guilt wouldn't work on her. Not that way. He takes out a new parchment and begins again: Chava, if you would do me the honours in gracing me with your presence for a short matter, I would be forever thankful. I wish to talk. This home hasn't been the same, and despite everything, you seem to be the only person to tolerate me. Okay, here he used some pathetic nature. But he saw it to be fit. If you would, meet me by Borgin. Sincerely, Aeron. Although he still felt less confident in this letter, it was better than the previous he tried writing. Just as Lucedio asked, Aeron had been working hard in reinstating himself in the Ministry, and in doing so he was able to keep an eye on his other brother, Damien. The moment he sent the letter to Chava by a charming black owl was the moment Damien was busy at the Ministry. There would be no interruptions. Once the owl was sent, the youngest brother tosses on a traveling cloak and leaves his own home, making his way out to Borgin and Burkes. Hopefully the woman would come. ||

|| The letter was a surprise. Although really, it shouldn't have been. Chava had pressed Aeron to the very far back of her mind since their last encounter, and tended not to think about him at all. She preferred not to. Reading the letter, she grunts and rubs her wrists and her neck, as if still sore and feeling the remnants of bruises from Aeron's rather aggressive torture of her many months ago. Though she tended not to think of Aeron Thorne, she also was lead to believe that the thought of this man allowed her to further power through life, with a rage that hadn't previously been there. Where once she might have pitied her brother-in-law, now she was filled with such resentment towards him that her only immediate plan was to kill him. Kill him in his own family's name, for what he had done to her, and for Damien. So when she saw the letter, her only plan was murder, not any kind of negotiations. She'd play along... just as long as she needed to. She considered herself lucky Damien was away at the Ministry, working, as she was almost certain he wouldn't let her out without him. To be fair, Chava wouldn't trust herself with such a thing either, if she were him. But so consumed was she with this need for revenge for herself, against the man who had humiliated her as he did, that she was willing to sneak out, without telling Damien a word of where she went. She figured the benefits would far outweigh the consequences. And so, with something of a sadistic smirk, she pulls on her cloak and slips her wand in the pocket, along with a few daggers to keep handy- which she stole from around the house. She made her way to Borgins, walking, waiting for Aeron to show himself.

|| He had lived long enough to learn to hide, especially from his parents. He couldn't blend into shadows, unfortunately, but he had learned to stay silent and hidden. It wasn't too long after the letter was sent when he noticed another figure approaching. The closer they grew, the more able was he to recognise the figure as the one and only Chava Roku. Aeron smiles to himself. So she had actually come? Another few steps and she was upon him. So, he steps out of the shadows, saying: "Thank you so much for coming, Chava." Of course the male remembered their last meeting. Which was another reason why he was surprised she came. "Are you alone?" He hadn't stated for her to have come alone in the letter, and he knew she was most certainly alone, but Aeron had to play every card he could. He smiles at her, warmly. He had pushed the past behind him. Her murdering his parents. Her begging to be killed and him so close to delivering. Did he regret hurting her? No. Did he feel sorry about it? Yes. He could only hope she wasn't too angry still. Until now, that wasn't a factor he calculated. But now, as he stands in front of the woman, hood down, eyes studying, his mind whirs to make sure he could plan for everything. After all, she was more than a little psychotic. One could never be too prepared. ||

|| She had to fight from getting startled at the immediate sight of Aeron, and then fight harder not to just attack him right then and there. Not in public. As it was, it was bad enough she had walked out the door without polyjuice, having supposed to be dead and all, but killing this man right outside the shop would be in much poorer tastes. No, she had to play along until they could go somewhere a bit more private... A place easy enough to hide his body and to rip the heart straight from his chest. She stares Aeron directly in the eye, as if trying to figure out why he had asked her here. She keeps a large distance between the two, the tension palpable. "Make this quick, Aeron, my... current job is too tiring." She had almost said /baby/, which would have been in bad taste as well. What if Aeron was still in contact with Lucedio? Aeron finding out she was pregnant and sending that information straight to Lucedio... All it would do is alert him that she was much weaker than usual, an easier target. She couldn't be that dumb. So she stops short of herself, pursing her lips. "Yes, I'm alone. What is it you want?" Her palm was twitching to reach for her blade.

|| It couldn't have just been him that noticed the waves of - was it? - unease and halted curiosity coming from the woman. Could it be she truly did find anger for him? He couldn't understand why. She came over and asked for death. Wanted to anger him. She succeeded. He behaved accordingly. He forgave her, and had been sure she did the same. Thinking this, Aeron decides she was just cautious, not angry. Even though she kept her distance. It was fair enough. The male holds out his arm, as if offering her to take hold of it. "Please, if you would, take a walk with me. It's been too long." A walk would get them away from prying eyes and stretched ears. It would allow him to attempt and control her. Use her in ways she would not see coming. Although he would keep her normal enough. Speech patters, thoughts. He needed her useful, not immobile. Whether Chava grabbed his arm or not, he begins to walk. He would lead them further into the dark of Knockturn Alley. The more secluded, the easier the deed would become. ||

|| She couldn't help but narrow her eyes in response to his offered hand, not even bothering to say anything. She wouldn't take it, and he shouldn't expect any more than that from her. The only reason she showed up in the first place was to kill him. The idea of a walk, however, intrigued her. Where to? She hoped to the private place she had been hoping for, so she could bind him down before he even knew what was coming. She believed if it came to it she could be stronger than him. With this kind of rage, she must be. She felt unstoppable. "A walk. Sure. But don't expect me to be too pleasant- I'm afraid that's impossible." She was placing mental bets on how long it would be before her hormonal psychopathic side came out and lunged at him for simply existing. She rolls her eyes at him as they begin to walk, starting to quicken her pace already. "I don't have time for pleasantries. Tell me what you want and allow me to go home. I'm ill." That would be the farthest she would elaborate there. The less she spoke and the more careful she was, the better her chances of getting out alive, protecting her family, and making Damien happy. "Cut to it, Thorne."

|| Aeron kept an eye upon the woman, always walking fast enough to be ahead but also to see her, to see if she whipped her wand out. His was ready in his sleeve like it always was. Easily accessible. He even carried around a blade or two. He disliked the muggle ways of protection, but that did not mean he wasn't skilled in muggle fighting and protection methods. Aeron always wanted to be prepared for anything. Within a few minutes, the male had led the two into a narrow alley. Big enough for a third person - if they were lanky and tall to avoid the curvature of both Aeron and Chava. "You're ill?" He asks, tilting his head to look at the woman as he stops walking. "Then why are you working, Chava? Shouldn't you rest?" His voice was of the sound of a caring man. And he did care, he'd always have a soft spot for the beauty, but he was also a little... curious. She was Damien's wife. Could she be that tired her words were jumbled? Or was her mind that gone? If that was the case, it would make what he wanted to do so much easier. ||

|| Coming into the more private alleyway, Chava looks left and right, before taking her place inside. It was too snug for her liking, for what she wanted to do to him, but her plans would have to suffer slightly for the end goal. If he ended up dead and regretful by the end, it would be worth it. And then Damien couldn't get mad at her for leaving and sneaking out for a while, right? She slips her hands in her pockets, one curling around the hilt of her blade and the other around her wand, both concealed. "Ill or not, there are things I have to do. I can't let this be a set back. No rest." What she didn't mention is that she actually was supposed to be resting, per Damien's request. But Chava felt this murder was rather necessary and worth it. A small, almost sadistic smile starts to creep back onto her face. "Certain things are really, /really/ worth going out while I'm sick, Aeron." At that, her knee snaps upwards, aiming to hit the man between the legs. Both hands would come out of her pocket to press the wand into his stomach, and the knife at his throat. "Oh, Aeron, you didn't really think I /forgave/ you, did you?" she purrs near his ear.

|| Aeron knew he went wrong in thinking her to be /too/ weak when he noticed, too late, the smile that took over her face. Before he could flick his wand out, he was wincing and bending over only slightly. By the gods that had hurt more than he ever anticipated. As quickly as he bent, he soon straightens, the tip of her wand pressed upon his abdomen. He wondered if she would use it. Yes, he knew she was good with spells, but to his knowledge, her recent actions had all been with blade, like the one she held at his throat. Despite all this, he does not act afraid, or or cautious. His plan could still be enacted, he just had to adjust. "I understand I harmed you, but you asked for it, Chava Roku." He almost purrs back, but instead stays monotonous. Still with "fear." "I had hoped you'd have put that bit of us in the past. I'm not proud of my actions." He wasn't. Learning that she had killed his parents, freely, had angered him. And she had called him weak. Just like his parents. That he could not tolerate. He snapped, and so badly wanted to kill her. But he never believed in killing. He couldn't kill. He didn't want to be like his parents. Like Damien. He didn't know too much about Lucedio, but Aeron could guess he's done some killing as well. He wanted to be as just as he could. Harming her like he did was just enough. Had he thought she held a grudge, he's have begged for forgiveness. Not because he wanted her forgiveness, but because he needed one of them on his side, even remotely so. Aeron stares the woman in the eyes, curious, questioning, daring. What did she have planned? What did she want to do? And when should he act on his own plan? Pinned in her deadly clutches, Aeron Thorne was calculating his next move, and trying to anticipate hers. ||

|| No matter what Aeron said, it wouldn't get through to her. If anything, it angered her more. He was weak, and that's how she always saw him. Pathetic, always clutching to whichever side he thought would win in the end. As if he couldn't make his own decisions. That's how she saw it, at least. "You wanna know what I do to people that piss me off, Aeron? Do you?" Her voice had risen to an almost childishly high pitch, purring his name, letting it roll on her tongue. The blade presses deeper against his neck. "I /kill/ them." She winces, audibly, at the sound of her old family name. There was a solid reason she threw away the name of Roku like it meant nothing to her- because it didn't. She was a new person. And now it only served to make her even angrier. "Never call me that," she hisses, pulling her wand back into her cloak in favor of her fist, drawing it back to slam her knuckles into his face. "I ought to make you suffer just as you made me. But in this game, you really die. You really really die, and I'll ship you off to your wee brother Lucy, hm?" Her eyes went dark, scarier, and she felt as if nothing could stop her as she aimed for another punch. Even her blade fell back from his neck in favor of something more physical- just as he had done to her.

|| When her voice rose, he knew this was the moment he could enact his plan. She was clearly losing pieces of her dwindling insanity the more she was near him, her mind clearly focused on harming him. Killing him. However, for his own guilty pleasure, he allows the women these few punches in. He moved his head around so her hits did not break his nose - although he moved wrong and one clipped it, allowed a slow flows of blood to fall from it -- nor so his eyes would swell to the point he couldn't see. No more wand. No more knife. Aeron himself smiles. Slow. Charming. Almost even as if he was an old lover seeing her for the first time. He drops, dipping to the height of the woman's waist before side stepping and turning up behind her. It was cramped, and he stumbles, his head pounding from the punches. But he wanted them. She needed to think she could kill him. Beat him to a pulp like he almost did to her that one night. His wand slides from his sleeves and he lurches forth, pressing his arm for Chava's neck and aiming to use his body to pin her against the wall. He had used her momentum against her, but because he stumbled and stuttered with his attack, there was a brief moment where he thought he had miscalculated. ||

|| There was a kind of euphoric feeling to this attack, and for a couple seconds there, Chava felt she could do anything. She really felt like she had done it, she was one step closer to their goal. She just had to kill Aeron, and then move onto Lucedio with Damien. It would be /easy/, she was sure of it. If she could pull this off, she could do anything. She could live, for Damien. For her new family. But there was a brief moment there, where her confidence began to collapse, Aeron's strength countering hers as she's pressed against the wall, his arm at her neck. She gasps for a breath, trying to push him away with her hands. She couldn't quite reach her wand or dagger from here. "Let fucking go of me," she snarls, kicking her feet out now as well, kicking into his legs with all the force she had. "What the fuck do you want?" she snaps, something almost akin to a whine, as her confidence grew lesser and lesser. "Here to almost kill me again, torture me? Or, or are you bringing me to Lucedio, finally?" As much as she tried to mask it and pretend it didn't exist, there was a small tremble of fear in her voice as she struggles and fights against him.

|| Aeron could almost release a sigh. He had succeeded in pinning her, although she was a fighter. Always had been. Without his consent, a guttural growl gurgles from his throat and he pulls back on the woman's clothing, only to press her against the wall again. "What did that prison do to you?" He whispers in her ear, shaking his head so faintly. "You clearly came here to kill me, yet now that I have you pinned, you question if I will kill you? If I was, you wouldn't have been able to even touch me. The moment I saw you in that alley you'd have been kissed by a green light, and we would not be here right now." Aeron raises his arm, poking his wand against the area above her heart. Soon her heart would be his. As would her mind. And body. He'd be in control of her. "No, Chava," he purrs, taking a deep breath. He ignored her attempts at fighting. He accepted any pain she continued to give him. It was welcome. It also made him more willing to do what he does next. "Imperio." He whispers. No light. No smell. But Chava should have been feeling a deep relaxation, a calming sensation, and release of herself. Her own subconscious would be pushed into the back of her mind. He waits for the effects to take place. He was strong in magic, she was weak in mind. The only way to defend against the Imperious curse was to have a strong mind and fight the control. That was something Chava could not do.||

|| Nothing Aeron said quite got through to Chava. She was simply trying her hardest to continue to fight- if not for herself than for Damien. He'd want her to fight. He'd want her to not be here in the first place. So even though he made sense in claiming to not want to kill her, there was obviously something else he needed. And Chava needed to figure that out. "Fuck you," she hisses lowly, raising a fist again, but something stops her. She barely registered the sound of his whispered spell. She couldn't even react to it before she was affected by it, and as if in a trance, her fist lowers, she stops fighting, her body becoming still and calm, not even shaky as it just was. As if nothing had happened at all. Her mind almost froze, a blank slate, open to suggestion and awaiting command. Like a little puppet. She didn't say a word, she didn't need to. She merely stares at Aeron with cautiously blank eyes, everything still. So weak, was she, that she couldn't even take the first step in fighting this Unforgivable Curse- self awareness. If ever one is to fight off imperio, one would have to start to understand that they're under a curse in the first place- that they are being controlled and not themselves. The next step, fighting it, took tremendous will power. A strong force of the mind, that which Chava did not have. This was her new reality.

|| Aeron watches the transformation happen, quite fascinated by the willingness of the woman. He banked on her mind being weak, but to be so weak within seconds she was just a host waiting to be inhabited, a carcass ready to be used for his willing; a puppet ready to be maneuvered. Slowly, the male releases his grip on the woman, watching her. No sign of the previous anger. She was... docile. Never before would he ever think Chava to be /docile./ Aeron knows the spell is not like a hypnosis. He could not affect her memories, only how she acted and behaved from this moment forth. His wand flies back into his sleeve, a smug look painting his face. "Chava Thorne, you will act how your subconscious would normally act. You will not give your husband any inkling that something is wrong. Every week, you will find a way to meet me and hour after I send you a message of where to meet." On the off chance that Damien would become suspicious and follow the woman one day, Aeron could not risk Chava meeting him at his home. Of course, letters could be easily intercepted, so he would simply use a small code. Which was: "Within each letter, there will be a sequence of numbers. You're a smart woman-" smug smile because she could no longer be exactly herself. Although he would order her to forget about this night and act like the same insanity ridden Chava they all knew. "- go to those coordinates and you will tell me everything of importance that happened that week, and answer any of my questions willingly." Was he forgetting anything? Not to his current knowledge, but he could always add on anytime he wished. He was tempted to tell her she could have excessive strength or max speed, as he heard stories of people believing and acting as so, but he truly needed her to be as normal as possible. "Repeat to me what you understand." ||

|| With all these new orders and commands, Chava's mind was spinning. She was to be herself, yes. That she could do. But there were problems. As herself, as much as she could be, she could see very obvious problems. But first, she had to repeat. "Act my usual self. Don't let Damien know. Every week I will meet you using the coordinates given and relay all information and answer any questions." She nods. She understood what she had to do. A tugging feeling presses at her. He wanted information, right? Well, Chava had plenty to give, and felt very compelled to give what she had now. Along with explaining the problems with the plan. "Damien will not let me see you. He does not trust you," she explains, before her hands creep upwards to curl around her stomach. "Damien will do what he can to make sure I never go out alone, even so much as a body bind." She doesn't even hesitate before she blurts out, "I'm pregnant, see, he won't let me out or to fight much." She couldn't help herself. The tugging kept pressing and pressing on her, and she wasn't sure why she was giving the information, she was just sure that she had to. "I wasn't supposed to say anything. We don't want Lucedio to know how much weaker I am and will be." This was too much to process... It was easier if she didn't think and just speak. Tell Aeron everything she had to. But she was unsure how she could promise to meet Aeron if Damien somehow locked her into a body bind or followed her. He was much stronger and much sneaker than she would ever be, imperious curse or not.

|| Aeron wasn't surprised at the admission. He knew Damien did not like him, it was so evident in the fact that he had blackmailed Aeron, used him. Honestly, the younger brother did not like the older either. But it was a fact he had to work around, especially if he was willing to put his wife into a body bind. By the gods, what were these two into any way? He wasn't sure he wanted to know. What does surprise the male is the admission of her pregnancy. It almost made him release all of the effects he had just caused. Knowing she was pregnant made the situation worse. He grumbles, running a hand through his head in thought. "Okay, if you believe you are in danger of being body bound, or you fear he would follow you, just send a letter to my home." In doing this would risk his secrecy, but there had to be plans within a plan. Aeron now knows that she is pregnant, and that she and Damien wanted to keep it a secret. There was no doubt in Aeron's mind that Lucedio would use the pregnancy somehow. Perhaps wait until they are born and kill one just like he was thought to be. There were so many possibilities... for now, he would keep it a secret. More so so he could continue to do what he was supposed to do without Lucedio gathering any plans that could interfere. "For the letter situation, you have a two day grace period. Two days after our supposed meeting, if I do not have a letter by you, I assume Damien has figured you out and I will inform Lucedio that you are pregnant. Then you will wish that you were dead." Aeron sighs. Should he send a letter earlier then? Perhaps he'll send early letters, tell her to remember where, and when, then burn it. In that case, she'd have time to warn him she could not make it and he wouldn't be waiting aimlessly either. "Anything else?" He asks, his voice tough. He had to make sure there were as little holes possible in his plan. ||

|| Chava flinches slightly, at his threat, but barely lets it show. This was the part of her that was herself, as she was ordered to be. She had always figured Lucedio would kill her one day. But now the possibly was becoming far more too real. "Then Lucedio can kill me," she mumbles, before he continues talking, and she's snapped back into a mindset of obeying his orders. Why? She wasn't quite sure. She just knew she had to. "I understand," she whispers, looking him directly in the eye. As if very confident in what she had to do, even if she wasn't. Was there anything else she had to mention? She didn't think so. Nothing of use, to Aeron. Their everyday lives didn't much matter in this scenario. She did have one qualm, however. "What will I tell Damien about where I was, when I return?" A brow arches. "He's very smart. He's sure to know I was gone. Even if he returns home after I do." How he would know, she wasn't sure. She just knew he would. "That is all," she finishes, with a small bow of her head.

|| Aeron shakes his head at her comment. "You obsession with your own death is quite blinding, Chava dear." The man practically hums. No more does he elaborate, however. He could almost laugh when she bows her head. That was something Aeron did when greeting or acknowledging someone. Yet she clearly did it as something other than his meanings. Perhaps understanding, perhaps a second to her understanding everything he had said. However, Aeron almost groans. He's been thinking about that. Damien would not just fall for anything. Aeron would have to look more into Damien's past, to see if he or even Chava had any other children. Regardless, he didn't think his brother had many necessities for a pregnant woman. "Go to a shop, buying a potion to reverse the effects of nausea. Tell him you were feeling so sick you needed fresh air, or something. You couldn't handle the sickness so you had to buy a potion to help ease you. Then you returned home. If he questions it more, get moody. You are the pregnant woman, after all." Seeing as that was everything, and beginning to feel the swelling of his face in some areas, Aeron dips his head. "One more thing. On the off chance we have a surprise meeting, and you have someone with you, act no different towards me than you normally you. If you need to harm me, you may. But under no circumstances do you have permission for serious mutilation or even the attempt of death on me." If she would somehow break this, he would make sure she had no mind to go back to when he released her. He says this just in case, on the off chance, Damien and she visit him again. Or he visited them. He had to be careful. His brother could not suspect that his wife was acting different. "And if he does suspect anything off about you, hell, blame it on your pregnancy. If he has serious suspicions, you let me know." Aeron takes the woman's hands, bruised and bloodied from his face and kisses them, whispering a healing spell so there was no trace left of the fight. "Take you leave, Chava. And keep me updated." Once he speaks suchs words, Aeron Thorne nimbly turns and leaves the way they came in, a smile on his face. He was one step closer to the end goal, both his and Lucedio's. ||