A Ballad (open)

[Lars Ulric Wilhelm]

Lars was reading The Odyssey, by Homer. Hands down his favorite book of all time, it was one of his famous epics. The Iliad, it's sequel, was excellent as well. This copy was an old original, parchment, hand-drawn scenes, and hand-painted jacket and some paintings mixed throughout as well. It was one of the most valuable books he owned, and to him the most precious. He had dissected this story again, and again as a boy. Written his own prose in the margins, and ideas for poetry, songs, and his own book.

As he was reading, he thought about Seffi Dresner, and decided he would make an epic that focused on her. She would be the central focal point of the story, but it wouldn't be a kidnapping. There would be a courtship, betrayal, revenge, broken hearts, and at the end, a tragic moment. He pulled out a piece of parchment, and a quill, and began to write The Story of the Starchild. It would be written in iambic pentameter, with the classic ballad layout. Lars vowed to himself to work on this until it was perfect, just like Seffi Dresner's beautiful face. "I will complete it."

[Christielle van Gysel]

Christielle walked to the lake. She closed her eyes and sighed, as it was the last lesson of the year, and she heard that some lehrers were leaving. She continued walking,, although slowly, and heard the sound of quill writing on parchment. Her eyes flew open. She noticed a boy, and he looked somewhere around her age.

She stood on her tiptoes, and noticed that the boy was writing... something long. A story, perhaps? She slightly shrugged and walked closer. She saw a book jut behind the parchment, and she read the title on the side. "The Odyssey. I've never heard of that... why should I, anyway? I don't... read much nowadays." Christielle thought, tilting her head a little.

"E-excuse me? Are... are you...." Christielle said, attempting to talk to the boy. She opened her mouth, but closed it again. She doesn't know what to say, so she shrugs instead and makes her way towards a tree somewhere near to the bank of the lake.

[Lars Ulric Wilhelm]

Lars heard the footsteps as soon as they were within his hearing range, and saw her coming before that. He always kept his peripheral vision alert. That was the key, focusing on one thing, but watching all. It was the only reason he was not dead. "Am I what? A student here, yes." Lars said, laughing. "Lars Ulric Wilhelm, and you are? You look like about my age, are you a first year here as well?" he asked the blonde girl.

She was pretty, but she didn't effect him the way Seffi had. Yes, he noticed, but the nervousness wasn't there, and he didn't consider her completely stunning, just beautiful. Which he bet she heard a lot. "I could use some new friends here. My uncle Jean took me out for the beginning of the year to teach me about the family business. May leave now and then, but will be studying here when not learning how to take over the company." he said, smiling to make her more comfortable.

[Christielle van Gysel]

Christielle suddenly looks up as the boy speaks. She half-smirked when the boy said he was a student, and she nodded at the same time. "Christielle van Gysel," she says. "Yes, I am a first year here. Verstand." Then she looked at the boy. "I haven't seen you around much, though. Except for classes, I think." Christielle added.

She nearly raised an eyebrow at the boy when he looked at her like that. Most did, but she didn't really appreciate it, as she didn't think she looked nice (or horrible). But she still stopped her self. She listened as the boy spoke, and nodded as he finished. "Ah, yes. I do think we could be friends..." Christielle said, mumbling the last words. She slightly smiled back. She was not used to people being nice to her--boys being nice to her, to be exact. The last one she had met was very annoying to her, but she was slightly surprised that this boy she had just met wanted friends.

Christielle would agree, of course. She was only not used to it, but there was certainly no problem.

[Lars Ulric Wilhelm]

"That is a very beautiful name. Are you named after any of your ancestors, or just your parents' thought of it. And, you are pretty, not that I am interested in dating you. But, you are beautiful, just so you know. There is another girl I met, who I really want to date if I can win her over. Seffi Dresner, you might know her. She is...well, we have a lot in common, and am writing this whole thing for her. The main character is going to be based off her, with a different name so if she doesn't like it she can just say it isn't her. Nobody would be able to prove it or anything." Lars explained to her.

"Yea, I remember seeing you in class a couple times, you are pretty smart. You and I can help Verstand start gaining on Geschick hopefully. Work together, maybe study together too, read ahead or something like that." he said, smiling. "I am sure we can at least pass Muhe if we applied ourselves, since we are just five points behind them." Lars said confidently. He was literally, a tested genius, and she might be. He didn't know yet, but she was definitely intelligent, he could tell by her eyes.

"Awesome, I can tell you don't have many friends either. I only have a couple classmates I've met. Seffi Dresner is the first friend I've made. But, hopefully, I can make more. The problem for me is trusting, and relating to people. I am socially awkward, partly because my family has so many issues I've lost count of them. The other part being I am a certified genius, and a weapons prodigy. that is why I started late, my uncle Jean who heads Wilhelm industries was teaching me about the business, because I am most likely the heir. I mentioned him just a minute ago, but I am literally testing off of the standard IQ level test. So, they are trying to come up with a better genius test. The most recent geniuses they tried to use their higher level IQ test on, well, they inaccurate, and sloppy. They are fixing them to better measure intelligence. More accurately, and consistently." Lars told her. It had caused so many problems relating to people.

"I feel ostracized from most people, because they can't keep up with me. Most of the time at least. Sometimes it is just as basic as needing a friend though. I have an Eidetic Memory, and I hate it. It feels like all my life, all I've had are bad experiences. My family is evil, they are mass murderers, liars, cheats, a couple other genius IQ's and most importantly, power-hungry." he explained to her. Maybe she knew what he meant, maybe she grew up in a similar situation.


"Each and every one of them, including myself. I am the only one who tries to reign in my lust for power though. My most effective weapons I hide, so they won't use them for mass production, and give them to evil people. I don't want to become a mass murderer, yes I will fight for Durmstrang, but I like to use my older weapons designs. Which still improve the weapons, but they don't know how much I've advanced. Gives me aces up my sleeves, which is good, because my family has hired out multiple assassins to kill me and make it look like an accident, now I am at a magic school. Learning more dangerous spells, they can probably make it look like an accident easier than when I was living at home. At the Wilhelm Castle, nobody gets in except a Wilhelm, or a special guest, who is invited. Marrying in of course, is another way to get in. But, you have to be evil to fit in to my family. I want to try and repair the damage that they have done, my ancestors, when I head the company. Until then, I must live a lie, so they think I am just as evil, and murderous as the rest of them. I am a bit, which is why I have to be careful, and keep a good check on my temper." Lars said.

"My family is such a violent group of murderers, the only person I trust is my mother, and even she I am suspicious of. I keep tabs on all of them, but so far my mom is the only one who hasn't hired an assassin to kill me at least once. If I am slightly jumpy, I don't mean to be. Just learned how to survive at a very young age. Grew up fighting for my life, every step of the way. And this head, it has so many horrific memories that my Eidetic brain won't allow me to forget. I feel like a freak, just a tool to everybody except my mother. Even her, I don't completely trust, she shows signs of being frightened of my genius at times." Lars said.

"But, anyways, enough about me. Tell me about yourself Christielle." Lars said "If you don't mind sharing that is?" he asked, giving her the choice to back out without offending him.

[Christielle van Gysel]

Christielle smiled. "Yes, thank you. It is a nice name." she replied. "I am named after my great grandmother, Chrisiella. She was killed by a British dark-wizard. Bellatrix Lestrange, I think?" she added. She nodded when he said about Seffi Dresner. "Yes, she seems familiar." she says. She continues listening, nodding every once in a while, especially when he said about helping Verstand gaining points on Geschick and Mühe.

As the boy spoke Christielle just sat down and listened carefully. After a while, there was a long pause, which was the time that he asked her to tell about her self. She blinked. "Oh, yes, of course. I don't mind." she says.

"Well... I'm actually part-French. I'm a Half-blood, with my mother as the Muggle one. There's no interesting things in my life, really. Except for the fact that I dislike Muggles, besides my mother. I... well, my father taught me some spells when I was younger. Most of them were Dark Art spells. It's probably the reason some people think I'm a genius, but I'm not," Christielle said. "I tend to read a lot, but I've been busy lately and my father can't exactly afford to always buy me some books. He's addicted to the Dark Arts. He's famous, actually. For killing, that is."

Christielle took a deep breath, and spoke once more. "I don't very much appreciate my family. With my mother dead and my father being a wanted murderer, what would you expect? Only my cat, Alletrix, is there for me. Well, besides Lehrer Vane, who happens to be fond of me." Christielle sighed. "There's none much to do around here, since I don't usually make friends. Some people say I'm usually sarcastic. I tend to be, but that's usually whenever you cross the line..." she said, mumbling the last words. She sighed once more, not wanting to say more, but she just made a new friend (which was a miracle, honestly). "The first time I spoke to a fellow student was a horrible experience. The boy, I didn't get his name, kept making snowballs run through my spine. But I've met a girl, Lucienne, perhaps you've heard of her? She's my friend now, and she's in Geschick... both of them I've met here in this very lake."

She rolled her eyes. "Gosh, I'm rambling... I don't know... there's just so many things wrong with my life that I tend to think of killing my self. But I've never done that. I have no idea what the reactions of other people would be. I heard a girl from Geschick killed herself. She's a ghost now; I've seen her floating around once in a while. I see ghosts, you see, which is unusual for my family," she explained. "I... I don't know, really, what to do nowadays besides go to school whenever I need to..." she said and mumbled the last word.

"My mother was a decent person, but my father... mu-murdered her since he came home drunk. My father tried... to... ki-kill.. me, too. But I have no idea what stopped him. Perhaps he came back to his senses. But after that incident, I... sort-of ran away from home. I left him a letter, saying that I can't take things anymore. I think losing me turned him bad. He's probably learned his lesson. That you'll never know how important it is in your life until it's gone." she sighed. She was on just the tip of crying, but she stopped it. "I think I'll just finish school, then kill my self... no idea. I just think my life's a waste already, with my father as a wanted murderer and not having too many friends here in Durmstrang..."

Christielle shrugged. "My point is, I just think there's nothing in my life to look forward to anymore." she smirked. "I don't know what I'm thinking. It's just confusing. I should probably spill all my thoughts through a pensieve.." she sighed. "I don't want to keep things to my self. I think it's great that you asked me. I always think I'd just literally explode if my thoughts don't come out of my head at all."

She finished speaking and sighed once more. She felt her uniform for a while and looked around.

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