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Post by Voltaire Rothschild on Aug 6, 2008 22:32:01 GMT -5
Voltaire laughed and held his stomach. "I-I" he took a deep breath and looked at Charles and said " I blame you and you know it." he said finally after calming down. "Sorry Isa, I couldn't help it. He says he doesn't know why he's here, he can't really go anywhere and no one but me and Natalie can see him. I'm not sure what any of that means." he said still chuckling at the thought of a Charles and Vincent pairing. "You could write bad love poems Charles, it would fit you!" he chuckled again.
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Aug 9, 2008 10:26:43 GMT -5
Isabella thought about this for a moment. She was truly baffled as to how something like this could be happening. "This is all so odd. I've never seen that kind of behavior in a ghost. Usually, they either choose to be a ghost out of fear, or they have some sort of unfinished business or need for vengeance. It doesn't seem like Charles fits any of those qualifications. It isn't as if he just died or anything, either. Was today the first time you'd seen him?"
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Post by Voltaire Rothschild on Aug 11, 2008 21:22:35 GMT -5
Voltaire felt his familiar worms of guilt, he was so used to living with them that he hardly noticed them, but now they were seething in him and he wanted to say 'Yes' it had been the first time he had seen him, but the only way to feel at all better was to eventually say the truth, "He had yelled at me when we first got Connor back, I thought all he needed to move on was to realize that you'd be happy and safe with me, and it had seemed to be that way, or so he thought because he told me he felt like he hadn't existed and that he felt no pain, and the suddenly he was back again, and blamed me for it! As if I'd want him back." he said crossing his arms over his chest and frowning.
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Aug 11, 2008 22:35:27 GMT -5
"There must be some other force at work here," Isabella said thoughtfully. She took another nibble of her macaroni and cheese as she stared at the space where she assumed Charles was. "Perhaps he's not really a ghost at all. Maybe some sort of spell or a soul fragment..." her voice trailed off, as she became lost in thought.
She remembered a long ago lesson from back in school. Something about splitting one's soul in two in order to prolong one's life. But it was a half-life, as the maker had to sacrifice one's own humanity to create it. It might explain how Charles had managed to continue his existence, but in such a fragmented manner. But it wouldn't explain why only Voltaire could see him.
"There's something called a horcrux.... when you split your soul in two... we learned about it at Durmstrang, but the magic is really powerful. I don't know if anyone even knows how to do it... You didn't make a horcrux, did you, Charles?"
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Post by Voltaire Rothschild on Aug 11, 2008 23:04:01 GMT -5
Voltaire gaped "There's no way a person could live like that! be half of anything!" it was faintly disgusting in fact. "He's still himself Isa, wouldn't half a person lack something?" he asked her not wanting to believe anyone would really cut their own soul in two.
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Post by Charles Mortensen on Aug 11, 2008 23:09:09 GMT -5
Charles shook his ghostly head. "No, I didn't create a... what was that again? Horcrux? Sounds painful, ripping your soul in two like that. No, I didn't do anything funny... I'm just here and I don't know why." He couldn't imagine why anyone would want to do such a thing, just to live forever. What good was half a life?
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Post by Voltaire Rothschild on Aug 11, 2008 23:14:32 GMT -5
Voltaire shrugged and said "He said he didn't make any of that, never had the talent for it." he grinned and said "No he wasn't interested in a half life, living forever wasn't his ambition." he said seriously. he stood up and popped a shoulder. "he's not like muggle ghosts either, they get really violent, or so i've heard because not enough of them is left to make a wizard's ghost." popping the other shoulder he popped his elbow then his wrist, all with loud pops.
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Aug 13, 2008 22:52:17 GMT -5
Isabella winced as Voltaire popped his shoulder and elbows. "Ugh, Voltaire, must you do that, darling? It's so... uncouth. Do you need a massage or something? I wouldn't mind giving you a backrub, so long as you stop making that noise." She had already forgotten all about Charles' ghostly presence, and didn't think how her suggestion would affect him.
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Post by Voltaire Rothschild on Aug 13, 2008 23:11:42 GMT -5
Voltaire knew his body just made odd noises, but if it earned him a back rub and then some, he'd make more! "Why I think that just might help it a bit, maybe then I can give you a nice foot rub." he said smiling, forgetting for the moment that Charles would be gaping and sputtering or yelling again once a coat was removed or a shirt.
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Post by Charles Mortensen on Aug 13, 2008 23:21:45 GMT -5
Charles made a grotesque gagging noise in the back of his throat. Or what would have been his throat, if he'd had a throat. How exactly did that work, anyway?
"Oh, have mercy, someone... make me do that vanishing thing again. No one should have to see that!" he yelled.
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Post by Voltaire Rothschild on Aug 13, 2008 23:25:36 GMT -5
Voltaire looked at Charles and laughed. "Sorry! what would you of done?" he asked the dead man as he made to take off his coat, then he stopped and said "Oh I guess we'll have to wait till Charles feels fit to leave me talking again." he said sitting back down and giving a finger to his son to stick in his little mouth. He liked feeling his son's little grip on his finger.
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Aug 15, 2008 23:21:23 GMT -5
Isabella had finished eating and was feeling full and sleepy. If they hadn't been sitting on the floor in the middle of her office with a baby and a ghost present, she might have wanted to conjure up a bed so she and Voltaire could cuddle up together. Instead, she yawned and leaned back against her arms. "I take it Charles is still here?" she asked Voltaire.
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Post by Voltaire Rothschild on Aug 15, 2008 23:30:00 GMT -5
Voltaire sighed and said "Yeah he's still here." he pulled Isa from the floor and said "Do you think Wesley might know of some book or something or other that would help him move on? Like a muggle self-help book for the dead?" he thought for a moment and said " Like a hippy Guru or something?" he asked wondering if she would know any American vegan hippies.
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Aug 15, 2008 23:43:21 GMT -5
Isabella thought that over for a minute. She hadn't seen Wesley since she had stolen the locket from him. Sure, he didn't know that she had stolen it, and she'd done it at Natalie's urging. But still, she couldn't help but feel guilty about it. Even worse was the fact that she hadn't even told Voltaire about it. How would he feel when he found out what she had done for the sake of getting their son back?
"It's a good idea, actually," she said. "I don't know about muggle handbooks or anything like that, but he used to be an Unspeakable, he might know a bit more about some of the strange things that can happen. Or, at the very least, he should know how to research the situation to find out if there have ever been any similar cases."
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Post by Voltaire Rothschild on Aug 16, 2008 0:25:50 GMT -5
"I don't think muggles would have the right kind of answers...but the books they have written on the subject of self help are usually written for about a twelve year old!" he said thinking of the only one he had ever looked at in his life. It was about how to make friends and whatnot. "Wesley I'm sure would know something about ...whatever he is." making a vague motion toward Charles. "Hey Charles?" Voltaire asked suddenly " You can't posses bodies can you?" the idea had struck him.
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Post by Charles Mortensen on Aug 16, 2008 0:40:01 GMT -5
Charles, who had been boredly doing backflips in mid-air again, stopped abruptly and floated back over to them. "No, I don't think so... I suppose I could try, if you want. But as far as i can see, I've been unable to affect anything at all in the world, and if it weren't for the fact that the little miss can see me, I might almost believe I'm not even really here and just a figment of your imagination."
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Post by Voltaire Rothschild on Aug 16, 2008 0:56:33 GMT -5
Voltaire groaned "You would of had me really believe you were brain damage!" he glared at him "You're evil! that's why your stuck...You're just plain evil." he said crossing his arms and looking stern. "Possession is a sign of how strong a soul or ghost is, if you can't do it, you can't do a whole lot of anything." he said logically.
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Post by Charles Mortensen on Aug 16, 2008 1:41:58 GMT -5
"Well, I suppose that makes sense," Charles said bitterly. "I wasn't a whole lot of anything when I was alive, either, was I? Sure, I played Quidditch a few years, made a bit of money, had a bit of fame, but I was also a womanizer, and a drunk. I was a lousy Death Eater until Izzy gave me the bloody locket, and that only led to my death. The only good, important thing I ever did was help you two get your kid back, and what do I get for it? Stuck in this world as just a floating shadow. Helpless and impotent."
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Post by Voltaire Rothschild on Aug 16, 2008 20:30:07 GMT -5
Voltaire looked confused for a moment "Izzy? Isa gave you a locket?" he said the information processing in his head "Wait, you don't mean The Locket?" he asked turning slowly to look at Isa, then back to Charles "You sure you can't be drunk? or confused?" he asked slowly, as if Charles was going deaf or if he was a touch dumb.
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Aug 16, 2008 23:49:03 GMT -5
Isabella hadn't really been paying attention when Voltaire first started talking to Charles. Listening in on half of a conversation was frustrating at best, and at worst, downright annoying, so she tuned it out and began cooing at Conor. But when Voltaire mentioned the word "locket", she looked up at him guiltily. Was Charles telling Voltaire about the locket?
"What's he saying?" she asked him.
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