May the bridges I burn light my way (Louis/Mari)

After moving in with Jake Marilyn sent a letter announcing that she wanted to speak to her grandparents in Caldwell Place. Jake she left at home, asking him to just stay put and not leave the flat, Jagger reluctantly staying with him. With a long kiss she apparated outside their front doors. Her trenchcoat swished around her legs as she strode straight on in, though the double doors, to the parlour room where she found her grandmother seated and her grandfather was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is he?" She asked calmly, not bothering to take off her coat, eyes scanning the room and ears scanning the house.

"Feeling restless, dear?"Gwen asked with a raised eyebrow, remaining seated, "Do try to remain in control-"

"Don't. Push. Me." Marilyn snarled, eyes flashing with unhidden bloodlust for just a second, her speech a hiss, baring her teeth like fangs. "Evan." She called out, "We have to talk, come down here, now." Mari called out, only slightly louder than a normal speaking voice.

"The bloodlust suits you, Marilyn, has your muggle seen it, yet?" Evans voice came before she could see him and in an instant she was poised to move before seeing him suddenly in the doorway, door slamming behind him.

"He's a wizard and you know it. Blood purity never bothered you before."

"He's a wizard, fine, but does he know what you are? What you are right now? Even your grandmother knows, uncontrolled your bloodlust makes you no better than the monsters you two are trained to catch-"

"Evan." Gwen stood and moved next to him, "Don't push her."

But he ignored her, about to lash out before Mari interrupted him.

"We moved in together. We're- We're a family, we love each other and we always will. I. Choose. Him. And I'll choose him every day of my life."

Evan recoiled, expression a mixture of shock and dislike, "You- You are just like her." He spat, "You're going to end up just like her and that tart she married, abandoning everything for 'love', abandoning your family for infatuation-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence before Marilyn, shaking, lost it and lept at him, nails tearing at his suit and his hands at hers, Marilyn's teeth flashing, magic radiating from his hands, burning through her ress sleves as she tried to ensnare him with ropes he easily tore though until Gwen separated them with a whiteflash, both on the floor away from the other.

"You're making me choose! I don't want to go! I'm not her, I'm not mum! Let me love whom I choose to love!" The young heiress exclaimed, face scrunched up with emotion and the struggle to remain in control. Gwen turned on her husband quicker than you could say 'quidditch'.

"Now look here, Evan," She cupped his face and made him look at her, "I'm only going to say this once. Faith was weak. She was never trained, was not my heiress for a single moment after we got Lynnie. She was weak and she couldn't deal with it all. But my granddaughter is now laying on our floor and she's. Still. Fighting. Look at how strong she is," She made him look at the defiant girl on the cold stone.

"She's strong, but more importantly, she needs us and we need her. Don't abandon your family, Evan, don't abandon me." The woman whispered, gazing into his eyes and pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

Evan looked torn, and tired. So very tired, Mari had never seen him so tired. "I wouldn't ever, Gwen, you're my life, I just can't-"

"And you won't." Gwen murmured, moving away to help Marilyn up and hold her hand.

Evan stood, hand still slightly outstretched to his wife from where she'd just stood, trying to regain his own control. "He isn't good enough. And I don't want him here. But if your grandmother feels so strongly then you don't have to choose, yet. I shall allow this to happen and develope. But not here in my house. I will not have it. And you are not going to marry him."

"You can't decide whom I marry, you can't just let me be with him to 'get it out my system, he'll never be out of my system, he saved me and you hate him for no reason. I love him and though we are really not ready to even talk about marriage I can't say it won't ever happen.

"Evan, that is not what I meant you know it, accept it. It's done."

"Maybe for you. She's your main heiress. It's your fortune she lives on. But I will not accept her throwing herself at some want-to-be-auror who failed the first time around. Now leave. I want to hear no more of this. Do what you want, but not in my life." An with that he was gone and Gwen was quick to turn but Marilyn was already gone, apparating straight to the only place she could think of.

Clement Manor.

(Mari)

Guest

The weekend had drawn in, and Louis had accepted his wife's invitation to spend the day with her. However, he'd still brought work home, not quite ready to let go of his work for the woman who now shared his name. After breakfast together, Louis had excused himself to the library, Adelisa needed to change again, and he was quite happy finding a book to immerse himself in.

It had been a short while before the witch had joined him, taking a seat at the desk and taking out a quill and parchment. As she started to write, Louis looked up from his book, taking in the woman before him. The concentration on her face brought a small smile to his lips as he watched, before he spoke. "Who are you writing to?" He asked softly, he didn't mind her writing to anyone, Merlin knew the manor was more than too big for the two of them.

"To my mother, just letting her know how everything is going." Adelisa replied with a small smile. "I was wondering... if you might show me the garden, if you have time?" She asked, her tone as hopeful as it could possibly have been as she looked towards him.

Louis had thought about it for a moment before nodding slowly. "As you wish." He replied, his eyes moving back to his book. Louis found it hard to make conversation with the woman, because he simply didn't know where to begin with anything. Interests he was sure he was going to get a learned answer with little originality, so he hadn't tried, merely answering her where needed and going little further.

Stubborn, some might call it.

But before they could so much as continue any conversation that may have been coming, a crack of apparition caught his attention on the sofa to his left in the vast library, and the figure that appeared had Louis on his feet in an instant and next to the witch in less than two seconds. "Marilyn?" He asked, confusion evident in his eyes. But they were quick to work, noticing the burns quickly and looking back to his wife.

"Adelisa, le cabinet de mon lit, les potions boîte, se il vous plait." He instructed, not realising she was already up and on her feet before he'd spoken. Louis hadn't wasted time, vanishing the coat without a thought and then working quickly to cut the dress sleeves and vanished them too. Not a moment later, Adelisa came back in the room with Louis' potions set. It took only a few moments to find the paste he wanted, but instead of being able to move to tend the wound, the phial was taken from his hands.

Adelisa had sat down beside Marilyn and gently undone the phial. "Cela peut faire un peu mal ... Je suis désolé." Came the soft French tones of the older witch, and Louis simply moved to take Marilyn's hands in his own.

"It's okay, you're safe." The Frenchman told her gently, stemming his anger because he knew the witch needed him more right now. "The paste will heal the wounds... Who... did this?" Louis asked, his mind going to the Newbury boy but not quite sure if he was even beginning to be in the right field of thought.

"Cela peut faire un peu mal ... Je suis désolé."

Marilyn didn't really react much to the witch specifically, tears streaming down her face as she let Louis take her hands, her bracelet cooling instantly from the warmth it had been radiating.

"The paste will heal the wounds... Who... did this?"

"Je suis désolé, je ne voulais pas paniquer Jake sur, je ne savais pas où aller, ma grand-père -" she cut off, trying to breathe as the pain began to sting more before starting to subside. What had even just happened...she was still her Grandmothers heiress, but her grandfather seemed to want nothing more to do with her...

"Je ne voulais pas de mal à personne, je perdu le contrôle et il a attaqué, je ne comprends pas pourquoi il ne veut pas de moi, je ne l'ai pas fait quelque chose de mal, je l'aime Jake, pourquoi est-il si mal?"

Guest

With tears running down Marilyn's cheeks, Louis took out his handkerchief that was fresh and reaching up to dab her face gently. He didn't tell her not to cry, because he knew it was a helpful to a lot of people. There was a brief moment as Adelisa moved to the other side to continue her work. Louis' eyes were only on Marilyn, trying to decipher what was going on.

Her apology made Louis shake his head. "Don't apologise, you're always welcome in m- our home." Louis told her softly, correcting himself when he remembered his wife beside him. He was trying, but right now was not really the time for sentiment.

Adelisa had finished with the paste and gently moved from the sofa, saying something about tea as she departed the room. Leaving the two of them alone just as Marilyn asked why it was so wrong that she loved Jake.

"Non, mon enfant, ce ne sont pas de votre faute." Louis assured her, placing his finger under her chin and bringing her eyes up to meet his. "It's not your fault. I promise you that this isn't your fault at all. Your grandfather... is simply... not understanding the feelings you have for one another." He summarised, not knowing a better way to explain it than to express the blatantly obvious point there.

The door opened, and Adelisa returned with a house-elf in tow. The house-elf placed the tray beside the sofa on the table and the witch poured the tea before bringing a cup to Marilyn, offering it without a word. "Would you like me to bring Jake here?" Louis asked softly, he wasn't sure how to move on with this, this was surprisingly out of his control, but he wouldn't for a second go back on his word.

Louis would never go back on his word of supporting her no matter what choice she made.

"Non, mon enfant, ce ne sont pas de votre faute." Louis assured her, placing his finger under her chin and bringing her eyes up to meet his. "It's not your fault. I promise you that this isn't your fault at all. Your grandfather... is simply... not understanding the feelings you have for one another.

Marilyn nodded slightly and slowed her breathing moderately, only looking away from Louis' calming gaze when his wife came in. His wife... Oh! "Thank you, Madam," she spoke softly but genuinly, eyes meeting his wife's as she shakily sipped the tea, her arms now just slightly sore, but the shock of everything still affecting her.

"Would you like me to bring Jake here?"

"No! Please, don't. I already have to find a way to tell him about what I can do, what I am. I can't bear the thought of him beating himself up over this, he'd think it was his fault I got hurt, but it wasn't. It wasn't. I don't know what to tell him. My grandfather never wants to see me again unless I agree to an arranged marriage, which I never will, I love Jake, I choose Jake- What if- What if it's too much for him? My grandfather...and then finding out what I am...what if he doesn't want me then...my grandfather called me a monster..." the words tumbled out, jumping from worry to worry, her high adrenaline mixing with her restlessness, causing her mind to race, "I don't know what to do..."

Guest

As Marilyn thanked Adelisa, Louis looked to the older woman and gave her a small smile of appreciation. He hadn't known of her capabilities to act so accordingly in such situations, but now... well, Louis was man enough to admit that even her could be wrong.

Adelisa simply waved away her work with a comment of it being no trouble, and once she was sure she was done, the woman left with an excuse of things to do. Louis knew she was giving them space and once the door had closed, the Frenchman took the seat beside Marilyn.

Gently, Louis brought her close, not speaking as words tumbled from Marilyn's lips, just holding her close and comforting her as he softly rubbed her back to try to calm her. "You don't have to know right now, just relax, you're no good to anyone when you're panicking." Louis told her softly, he was aware of her capabilities, but even with the witch this upset he knew he would be able to control anything she tried to do. The Caldwell Huntresses may be powerful, but Louis was always ahead of the game.

After a few moments had passed, Louis began to address her worries in nothing more than a whisper, holding her close throughout so she knew she wasn't alone. "You're going to tell him the truth. From start to finish. If he loves you, there won't be a problem." Louis told her softly, truly believing that. "Your grandfather will either come around to the idea, or throw away one of the best people in the world for his stupid bout of arrogance. You cannot control that, only be patient."

But the last one...

The last one he couldn't answer to, not in a helpful way...

"Everyone has a monster in them. Jake, Waters, Mycroft Holmes, myself. But it's the control we put over the monsters that defines us, not the monster. You have control over your abilities, so you're not a monster. You'll never be a monster. You're Marilyn and nothing less." He insisted, his hands subtly curling in to fists at the thought of Evan Caldwell calling his granddaughter such things.

"Everything is going to be okay." Louis added once more, his head adding that even if it meant burning every last man who told her otherwise, Louis would make sure she was okay.

"You don't have to know right now, just relax, you're no good to anyone when you're panicking."

Marilyn closed her eyes and let Louis hold her close, taking in how comforting his presence was to her, calming her gently, the scent of citrus and spice and warm musk filling her senses. He was right, she told herself, she needed to calm down...she needed to find her center and regain control, any control. So the witch tried to even her breathing to match his and it slowly began to work whilst she listened to him address her worries.

"You're going to tell him the truth. From start to finish. If he loves you, there won't be a problem." Mari held back a soft whimper that. This could make or break them, but he was right, she loved and trusted Jake. And he loved her, no matter.

"Your grandfather will either come around to the idea, or throw away one of the best people in the world for his stupid bout of arrogance. You cannot control that, only be patient."

Marilyn nodded, wiping her eyes with her fingertips. His reply regarding the monster in everyone hit home hard. It was their choices that made them who they were.

They spent another fifteen minutes calming her down and making sure she looked alright. Then the woman hugged Louis tightly and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you. So much. For everything. It means the world." She murmured, still closely cuddled before biting her lip and pulling back, "I'm going to go tell him now, or I'll lose my nerve and never do."

Guest

Louis could feel the witch relaxing in his arms, and slowly he began to relax too. He knew there was a long way to go, but he was quite sure the danger that may have presented itself was now gone.

The soft whimper made Louis hold her close, continuing to rub her back to keep the calm moment. He knew it was scary, but there was no running away from situation. "It'll be fine." Louis assured the witch softly, because he believed it.

"Thank you. So much. For everything. It means the world."

"You don't have to thank me, I'm here for you, any time, any place." Louis insisted, waving away the thanks because those words were unnecessary.

"I'm going to go tell him now, or I'll lose my nerve and never do."

Louis nodded, moving away from the witch and motioning to the fireplace. "You can floo back, to save your strength." Louis told her softly, getting to his feet and moving to her coat, fixing it without much effort and magicing the dress sleeves back in to place without looking. "Floo me later, but I'm sure you'll be fine." Louis told Marilyn, collecting the pot of Floo powder and waiting for her to come to the fireplace.

"Good luck, and remember that this is not your fault, and that if you mean as much as he says, he won't mind." Louis assured her.

» Does it burn? (Arsen Lafayette)
» light speed (victoria)
» Mari Caldwell
» Curiosity at its Best (Mari)
» Louis Delacroix