SERPENT HEART° TOM RIDDLE

049. LITTERA SCRIPTA MANET

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
— the written letter lasts

    "RHEA!" ASTREA'S HANDS FALLING ON RHEA'S SHOULDERS PULLED HER FROM THE PLACE. Rhea fell onto her back, startled by Astrea's voice as she looked around at the Room of Requirement surrounding her. Astrea's head appeared in her line of sight, a look of concern on the girl's face as she pulled her brows together. "What happened? I wasn't able to see anything at all. At first I thought you were just having a normal vision, but then your eyes turned completely black. I don't know what happened. I'd never seen anything like it before."

"Neither have I," Rhea recounted the whole vision she saw to Astrea, telling her of Calypso and Ophelia Krane. When she told her of their mother and what she had done, Astrea's frown became even deeper.

"That doesn't make sense. No witch or wizard has ever been able to sense when someone is using the Sight, at least from what I know. We need to find out who they are. If they're related to the Krane's then you must write to Atlas. Their mother must be an extremely powerful witch and maybe your vision was leading you to her."

Rhea winced.

She could tell by the wide-eyed look on Astrea's face that the girl was quite excited to find this woman and learn more about her. But, Astrea seemed to have forgotten that the woman had kicked Rhea out of the vision. If Astrea had seen the woman's face when she had done it, she would understand. She had looked at Rhea with such disdain and hatred that it had taken her aback. It was not the look of strangers, but one that made Rhea question if it were possible that she knew the woman or that the woman knew her. Something was important about that vision and Rhea didn't think that was all that she was supposed to see.

"Something else happened after she told me to go away," Rhea continued, brushing past Astrea's comments. Astrea raised a brow, leaning forward eagerly. "I was taken somewhere, though I'm not sure where. There was nothing around except for darkness, but I heard a woman's voice. She told me a riddle,"

Rhea repeated the riddle for Astrea.

The Ravenclaw instantly perked up, the answer on the tip of her tongue though Rhea had already figured it out.

"Fate!" Astrea exclaimed, her eyes wide. "Rhea, while you were in the vision I was taken to that same place. My family calls it 'Nowhere' because it's neither here nor there; almost like a veil between life and death. Sometimes, when The Sight takes over I am taken there too. A woman — Sybil — speaks to me in riddles too. This time she said, 'A nightmare for some. To others, a savior I come. My hand's cold and bleak. It's the warm hearts they seek. What am I?'"

"Death," Rhea answered. She paused. There was no coincidence in these riddles, but Rhea was certain that she and Astrea would need to continue their lessons in The Sight. Something happened when they were able to use their powers together, though she did not know what.

"What do you think it all means?" Astrea asked as the girls began to rise from the ground and prepare to leave the Room of Requirement.

"I'm . . . I'm not sure yet. I think next time we should try getting me to go back to the vision, if possible."

Astrea frowned.

"I can't promise that it is. Most wizards with the Sight aren't able to even remember most of their visions. It affects everybody differently and going back to a previous vision seems nearly impossible. Why would you want to go back?" Astrea asked.

"I need to get inside of that cottage."

Rhea and Astrea stepped into the empty corridor of the sixth floor as the door to the Room of Requirement disappeared behind them.