[G.Hall] Snakes and Pancakes [Open]

[Noah Yves]

"Better edible than not," Noah's voice had become concentrated with its true essence. Neutral charm, encompassing humour - it was absorbed into a seriousness that was buoyant with secrets. It lowered to a whisper automatically within seconds, as if ready to tell. "Oil paints are toxic, are they not?"

The wand was a single point, held so still by Narcissus' hand that the pressure was a proof of his technique before his strength. Noah knew he was the opposite, and the challenge in Narcissus' eyes was mirrored in his own even as the smirk outlined his lips. "Careful," The Gryffindor's wand had joined Narcissus' between them, a stampede of horses colliding with a veela's charm. "You don't want to look bad in front of your peers."

Their duels were legendary. Though not uncommon between snakes and lions, they especially drew attention due to the fact Noah and Narcissus were, by definition, best friends. And yet, their spells were brutal and precise - never faltering with their smiles. Aimed to destroy; to win. The only time others truly saw them as opposing forces, placing one as a Slytherin and the other as a Gryffindor, even though neither belonged in such constraints.

[Narcissus Drachen]

‘Lilandra would resent such a remark,’ he murmured, lips motionless. To the cold-blooded eyes surrounding them they communed in silence, verbal menace replaced by the gathering clouds on their eyes’ horizons – Noah, conjuring up a hot front to meet Narcissus’s cold one, approached with equal force. It would be glorious and devastating upon collision.

Smiling in provocation, Narcissus invited the blunt tip of Noah’s weapon to bruise him. Oak, Aethonon plumage, an impressive ten inches. Narcissus knew it well; for Noah, having often switched their wands in the name of experimentation, knew his with similar intimacy. How many times had they forced one anothers wands to assault its own master? Cruel, they admitted, but exhilarating.

In one lithe movement they ascended to the tabletop, pewter cutlery resounding against the floor. All faces were summoned in the direction of the Slytherin table, two ruby and emeralds clad figures pacing in opposite directions up the length of it.

With the strange instinct of ritual, they knew exactly when to face each other. ‘The same rules as always,’ he spoke only to Noah. His voice was not audible above the rising tide of students, but Noah read him perfectly. He always did. ‘None.’

‘Praeumbro caliginosus.’ From the enchanted ceiling descended a veil of blue-grey mist, an obscuring obstacle. ‘On your word, Yves.’

Noah’s cyclonic power versus Narcissus’s light show. It was time for a demonstration of both beauty and destruction.

[Noah Yves]

The silvery fog breached every corner, growing stronger with each exhale of frost it met. Noah could feel the very fear resonating from the four contrasting tables as the weakest students gasped for air, suddenly short of breath. In the destruction, Noah smiled, the core of it hidden by his wand.

Smartly, the mist hid the duo from view - The Staff Table became blissfully unaware of their plight, Narcissus' intelligence as advanced as his spell.

"Tenebrae," Noah only mouthed the word, taking advantage of the distraction. At the last syllable, the Great Hall was enveloped in a heavy darkness. It was deeper than a simple Nox charm. Instead of relinquishing visible light, it brought forth blackness from every spirit. Both Narcissus' and Noah's irses became charcoal, their bodies only visible when the silvery mist - the only source of light - hovered past them.

The spells served as initiation. Ironically, Narcissus' brought forth suffocating light while Noah's peeled back darkness.

"Simulacrum equus!" Noah yelled, his eyes illuminating briefly in the fog. The Aethonon in the core of his wand seemingly came forth as a phantom illusion. Its mane tangled in the fog, the ghostly and translucent body shooting across the table toward Narcissus as if it were gliding. There was a sudden thundering of strong hooves that resented that fact.

The mist, solitary of its master when Narcissus breathed a new incantation, wrapped invisible fingers around the throat of the nearest watching Slytherin. In the midst of war, it silently quieted choked sobs.

[Narcissus Drachen]

Narcissus felt at home in the darkness, just as everyone did – siphoned from some deep depression in their minds, it was all too familiar to them. It stained their eyes like ink, and forced them to look inwards. In this womb-like warmth the mist took on a colder, shimmering quality, providing a weak twilight wherever it drifted. But it was not entirely benevolent; Narcissus smiled knowingly as it passed into the sinuses of a nearby Slytherin, viral and invisible. Right now, he would be feeling something close to sensory deprivation.

Noah uttered his first verse.

A great, smoky stallion charged forth, the sound of its pounding hooves delayed half a second behind it.

‘Debilito radius.’ Soft light escaped Narcissus’s wand a moment before encounter, the phantasmal horse collapsing over him in a harmless, feeble vapour. A clever trick of Noah’s, of course - a mere tease. We'll do it your way then.

‘Multimodis deperdo murus,’ between them, the air crystallised into a thin, opaque wall. If there had been light to catch, it would prove to be a multi-faceted prism, as high as the ceiling and wide as their platform. Beautiful but potentially disastrous, it added a new dimension to their game – their hexes now had the ability to backfire.

‘Evoco prodigium!’

Narcissus’s monster never failed him, however. From the pores of darkness around them gathered a hulking, black beast, its tremendous, scaly chest inhaling the mist as easily as oxygen. ‘You can’t run from your demons, Yves. OPUGNO!’

Razor teeth bared, it leapt forth toward Noah.

[Echo Keir]

A stark shaft of light blistered into the Great Hall as the double doors swung wide for a moment. Within the light wasa silhouette the the dueling boys, if they were paying attention, would recognize well: petite and lithe, with clearly unkempt hair and clothes. Though unseen, her face drew into a malicious grin as the doors swung shut. 'Tut, tut' she thought disapprovingly 'Starting without me again, boys? Guess I'll just have to teach you both a lesson...' despite their inability to read her mind, she knew that her Porthos and Aramis would know exactly what was going through her head. They had spent far too much time together for it to be any other way.

In the thick blackness even her gentle bare footsteps seemed to reverberate across the room. Every breath from every soul in the Hall was a deep, tense chill in anticipation as spells swept swiftly from one side of the Slytherin table to the other. She didn't dare chuckle, as she was tempted too. It would ruin the atmosphere of the moment, and it was clear Noah and Narcissus had gone to some lengths to create a mood for what would be yet another epic battle to add a notch into each of their proverbial sheaths. To assist in the madness, Echo drew her own wand and whispered "Volatilis Coma". Erratic colored lights flashed for moments at a time around the room, dull, just barely bright enough to allow people to see for a second or two before the aching, seeping darkness would set back in. 'Beautiful...' Echo thought to herself as she watched the battle continue under the spontaneous illumination.

"Propero", she spoke again, waving her wand into the brilliant prism between the boys. The translucent purple spell shattered upon impact with the glassy monument, and wrapped itself around both boys, twisting around and seeping into each of their limbs. In a moment or two they would begin to feel the effects as the magic began speeding up every aspect of themselves, whether they wanted it to or not. Speedy duels were always fascinating, though she'd never seen Yves and Drachen in one. It was high time she got to see how they performed at top speed... well, in a duel anyways.

[Noah Yves]

Thick, monstrous vibrations resonated in the room, though the heart of it echoed in Noah's ears. The beast moved swiftly past the faces of the prism, flickering in soft streams of light before wilting like a shadow against the blackness.

"Medicatus prodigium!"

A stream of inky silver wrapped around the beast's neck like rope, but Narcissus' spell was not without cause. The monster did not solely leech perilous mist, but fed off energy. As of that moment, Narcissus would feel a burst of endurance while Noah's stamina was cut in half.

"You're still here?" Noah grinned, a sinister expression amidst cold light, while the monster stared at him, dazed. "Let me put you out of your misery--"

Perfect timing. The ill-placed Gryffindor felt a brisk chill as a beam of light masked both his and Narcissus' faces. Echo. He knew her presence well enough by now.

The beast was suddenly illuminated a scalding white as one of Echo's lights caught Narcissus' prism, piercing it. Around the hall was a similar effect - faces flickering bone white in the room periodically.

"Eradico!" The monster faded, revealing Echo's ghostly face. Noah caught her eye, and smirked. There was no denying her welcomed involvement as the purple mist seeped into his pores, replenishing him. His limbs were a blur, even to him, as he sliced his arm through heavy, magic-soaked air. "Dominatio aqua."

It was a whisper, lost in the sudden teetering of hundreds of goblets. They fell over, clattering against tables, shocking students, while the water they held collected at the top of the prism. From the ceiling, Narcissus' birds screeched siren calls as storm clouds collected overhead.

The tidal wave that rushed at Narcissus roamed with furious intent.