"Ní mhaireann solas na maidine don lá." // "No morning sun lasts all day."

Emerging out onto the other side, they were instantly greeted with a dense crowd of wizards. Looming high above their position, was a large staircase, and it was absolutely covered with people. Massive banners sprung up in different positions throughout the crowd, the moving images of the ceremony beginning to take place at the very top of the mountain rippled out across the tapestries.

As the group began to subtly make their way through the thick crowd and towards the stairs, Vogel’s visage appeared on the banners as he began to address those assembled. 

“I thank the candidates for their words-” he was saying, gesturing to the three other wizards standing at his side: Liu, Santos, and Grindelwald. “Each represents a distinct vision of how we will shape not only our world, but non-magical world as well. Which brings us to the most important part of our ceremony; the walk of the Qilin!”

Tara and her group began shoving through bodies a bit faster. On the banners that they passed by, they would catch the occasional glimpse of a Qilin being placed down in front of the three wizards. The creature moved forward carefully, tilting its head from side to side before eventually coming to a stop.

Directly in front of Grindelwald.

And it bowed.

There was a long, tense moment of silence. During which, even Theseus, Tara, Lally, and Kama had stopped dead in their tracks.

“The Qilin has seen.” Vogel’s voice boomed over the mountainside. “Seen goodness, strength, qualities essential to lead, and to guide us. Who do you see?” he asked, the question directed at the crowd.

Every single one of the assembled wizards on the mountainside, spare a handful, pointed their wands at the sky, firing off spells that matched the colors of their respective votes. But the moment that the streaks of light reached the clouds, they merged together, turning into a singular, sickly green color.

On the banners themselves, they all could see Grindelwald smirking in deranged satisfaction.

Tara swallowed a growl, immediately beginning to push through the crowd again. 

“Gellert Grindelwald is the new leader of the magical world by acclamation!”

The mob roared in equal parts excitement and disgust.

As Tara made her way through the last few rows of wizards at the top of the mountainside, she was finally able to glimpse what was transpiring over the crest of the final step.

Craning her neck, she watched as two large Acolytes, much like the ones that had been pursuing them throughout the village, pushed their way into the main circle of wizards, roughly dragging someone along with them.

It was Newt. Caseless.

Grindelwald gestured forward with his head, silently commanding someone across the eyrie from him. In response, a tall, slender female witch shoved two more bodies forward. A man and a woman. The latter of which was someone she had only seen and heard about in passing; Queenie Goldstein. Sister to Tina, the American Auror, and the Legilimens that had supposedly flipped to Grindelwald’s side back in Paris.

The man at her side was none other than Jacob Kowalski. But Grindelwald’s witch had quickly dragged him straight up to where the dark wizard was patiently waiting at the center of the circle. And Queenie was restrained by the same gaggle of Acolytes that had brought Newt onto the scene.

Once the woman and Jacob landed in front of Grindelwald, she handed him what looked to be a wand. The dark wizard looked down at it for a moment before turning his attention back out towards the crowd.

“This is the man who tried to take my life.” he announced, his voice carrying down the entire mountainside. “This man who has no magic, who would marry a witch and pollute our blood. This forbidden union will make us less, make us weak, like his kind. He is not alone, my friends. There are thousands who seek to do the same. There can only be one response to such vermin.” he declared darkly, throwing down the fake wand and brandishing his own.

Immediately, a bright red spell burst forth from it, nailing Jacob directly in the center of his chest and sending him sprawling out across the stone. The crowd at the edges of the circle parted ever so slightly, watching as he began to writhe in pain. 

“Crucio!”

Tara’s breath caught in her throat loudly.

“No!” she heard Newt scream from somewhere off to her right.

“Make him stop!” Queenie’s sob came next.

“Our war with the Muggles begins today!” Grindelwald roared, earning some cheers in response from his supporters.

Tara’s stomach lurched as she began to once more shove wizards aside, her wand in hand. But just as she managed to break through the final line of bodies, an arm materialized around her waist, holding her back with all of its strength.

The witch fought against Theseus’ grasp, demanding that he let her go. And in the middle of the commotion, Grindelwald’s attention had somehow been drawn towards their position. Despite his magic still fully concentrated on the withering Jacob, the moment his eyes fell upon the witch that was trying desperately to leap forward and attack him, he threw his head back and began to cackle loudly.

In the midst of the growing chaos, Santos raised her wand, casting a defensive spell in front of Jacob and effectively dispeling the Cruciatus curse. The Muggle had gasped in desperate relief. And somehow, Queenie broke forward, falling at his side and fiercely pulling him into her arms.

Grindelwald turned around with his arms outstretched to either side of him, clearly basking in the feeling of his imminent victory.

Tara was still fighting, rather violently, against Theseus’ attempts to keep her held back. So the Auror was forced to add a second arm to his efforts.

“Don’t.” he spoke directly into her ear. “This is exactly what he wants.”

“I don’t care.” Tara immediately barked back.

It was at that moment that the sharp cry of a bird sounded from high above their heads. Tara wouldn’t have paid it any mind, had Grindelwald not pointedly turned his attention up towards the sky himself, following the slow path of a falling feather. It landed directly on the side of his face, turning to ash upon impact.

The dark wizard squinted in what appeared to be a sudden onslaught of concern, his gaze quickly flying back towards the crowd in front of him. 

That’s when a body pushed its way through, only a few paces to the left of where Tara and Theseus stood.

It was Credence.

Tara froze.

She hadn’t seen the boy since Paris all those years ago. His hair had grown out long, and now hung in stringy strands down to about his shoulders. He looked terribly pale and weak, as if plagued by a violent illness. But still, he pushed himself to walk forward, approaching Grindelwald with seemingly no fear at all. 

The dark wizard watched his every step with a careful intensity.

Once Credence came to a stop, he slowly reached a hand up as if moving to cradle Grindelwald’s face. But instead, he swiped a single finger across the collection of ash on the man’s cheek, smearing it with a purpose.

In the confusion of the moment, two more shapes stumbled out of the crowd, following what clearly had been the path that Credence had taken. It was both Dumbledore brothers. 

The sickly wizard boy turned to address the assembled population.

“He’s lying to you.” he called out weakly. “That creature is dead.” 

He pointed to the Qilin.

Whispers immediately began to ripple through the crowd.

Speaking even so few words seemed to have used up most of Credence’s energy, for the boy soon fell to his knees, reaching up to brace a hand on the center of his chest. At the edge of the circle, Aberforth had made a move as if to run towards him, but Albus was quick to hold him back.

Across from them, Newt finally managed to escape the two Acolytes that had previously had him bound, stumbling out into the center of the eyrie himself.

“He did it to trick you.” The Magizoologist continued Credence’s statement. “He killed it and bewitched it so that you might think him worthy to lead. But he doesn’t want to lead you…he just wants you to follow.”

Grindelwald shook his head in protest.

“Words,” he spat. “Words designed to deceive. To make you doubt what you’ve seen with your own two eyes-”

“There were two Qilin born that night.” Newt quickly interrupted him. “A twin. And I know that- I know that…” he stumbled over his words, emotion suddenly wracking his body.

Grindelwald stared back at the wizard with pure malice.

“Because…? Because you have no proof.” he sneered. “Because there was no second Qilin. Am I not right?”

“Its mother had been killed.” 

“Then where is it now, Mr. Scamander?”

Newt finally fell silent. For he truly did not know the answer to that. 

Grindelwald’s expression had momentarily morphed back into a triumphant one, before suddenly his attention was drawn past the Magizoologist as a hooded figure emerged from behind the crowd of wizard dignitaries. As they stepped out into the gray sunlight, Tara could see that they were carrying a light brown leather case. 

Arriving at Newt’s side, the person brushed back their hood, revealing none other than his indispensable assistant- Bunty Broadacre.

“No one can know everything, Newt. Remember?” she said quietly, handing the case to him.

The moment that she did so, the small woman seemingly became aware of just how many eyes were on her, and swiftly turned to disappear back into the cover of the crowd.

Newt wasted no time flicking open the latches of the case, placing it flat down against the stony ground. He then slowly opened the lid, a silence falling over the entire mountainside as he did.

Everyone was still for a moment, before suddenly a small head poked itself up and out from inside.

The Qilin glanced around at the crowd with wide and curious eyes.

Newt smiled down at the creature, seemingly more in relief than anything else. With his assistance, she carefully crawled out of the case, slowly getting her bearings.

As if smelling something in the air, her head instantly tilted to the left, honing in on where the bewitched Qilin was still standing, unmoving, at Grindelwald’s feet. It let out a few soft, repetitive bleats, but the other creature did not react.

“She can’t hear you, little one.” Newt said heartbrokenly. “Not here. But perhaps somewhere she’s listening in.”

Tara felt a hot tear fall from her eye.

Vogel suddenly surged forward, scooping up the Qilin still standing at Grindelwald’s feet, only to hold it up in the air for the crowd to see.

“This is the true Qilin!” he announced. “Look at it! You can see it with your own eyes. This is the true-”

As he spoke, the creature's head slumped to the side, instantly becoming limp in his hands. 

“This can’t be allowed to stand!” someone from within the crowd shouted. “The vote must be taken again!”

“Come on, Anton! Do something!”

But Vogel did not move, just continued to stand there, stunned.

Back behind him, the living Qilin had walked away from Newt, only to begin trotting around the edge of the circle of wizards, as if looking for something, or someone, in particular.

“No, no, no, please.” Tara suddenly heard Dumbledore begin to whisper from off to her left. But by that point, the Qilin had already come to a stop at the professor’s feet. She stared up at the wizard for a moment, her eyes shining with a wise innocence, before slowly lowering herself to the ground in a pointed bow.

Dumbledore shook his head, quickly kneeling himself down to the Qilin’s level.

“I’m honored.” he said quietly, swallowing back some emotion. “Just as two of you were born that night, there is another here. Equally worthy. I’m certain of it.” he urged, gently running a hand down the Qilin’s head before whispering one last “Thank you.”

The creature eyed Dumbledore for a moment longer before finally adhering to his wishes, turning and trotting its way back around the circle. She then seemed to turn her attention inwards, looking at the smaller collection of wizards gathered in the center of the eyrie. And after evidently thinking for another long moment, she finally landed in front of Santos, dipping into a low bow in front of the female wizard. One that Santos had immediately returned, her hand pressed above her heart.

Grindelwald immediately sneered in response, re-brandishing his wand.

Seeing this, Credence launched back up onto his feet, placing himself pointedly in between the creature and the dark wizard. But this didn’t seem to make Grindelwald hesitate in the slightest, instead he continued to cast his spell forward.

Just as fast, however, a bright, white shield of energy appeared in front of the frail wizard. It’s source stemming from two wands in particular; those of Aberforth and Albus.

Grindelwald’s attention immediately snapped towards the latter, his eyes wide in what seemed to be genuine surprise. 

At first, it seemed like nothing happened, the two forces of magic simply burned together for a long moment in front of a cowering Credence.

Then suddenly, there was movement. Something shot out of Dumbledore’s front coat pocket.

It was the Blood Troth.

Tara followed its path with wide eyes, watching as it dove down toward the ground, spinning in a violent spiral towards the stones of the mountaintop.

All around them, the other assembled wizards had already begun to shoot up streams of yellow sparks in a show of support for Santos. 

Then the Blood Troth hit the ground. It immediately shattered into a thousand different pieces, red smoke rising up from the point of impact.

Grindelwald’s eyes darted from the broken accessory to the thousands of wizards surrounding him. All of the banners dotting the mountainside had since changed from his murky green, to a pleasant yellow color. 

And soon enough, hundreds upon hundreds of wands were pointed in his direction.

Knowing that he was beaten, he wasted no time in apparating himself back towards the very edge of the eyrie. Many wizards released their spells upon his movements, forcing him to throw up a transparent shield of energy in order to protect himself. Once the initial barrage stopped, his eyes scanned the hostile crowd before once more landing on Albus.

“I was never your enemy.” he declared for everyone to hear. “Then or now.”

And before another collection of spells were fired his way, Grindelwald fell backwards off of the side of the cliff, disappearing from their sights in a sharp snap of wind.

Tara finally managed to slip out of Theseus’ grasp, all but sprinting towards the edge of the summit, a few members of her party quickly following.

But when she arrived, all she found were clouds.

Grindelwald had gotten away once again.

Tara dug her fingers into the stone wall in front of her, hanging her head in frustrated defeat. Lally, who had since appeared at her side, placed a hand on the witch’s shoulder, but otherwise said nothing.

With another shake of her head, Tara glanced back at the crowd she had left. She watched Aberforth disappear back down the staircase, carefully ushering along a weak-looking Credence with him. Newt and Bunty were both busy coaxing the Qilin back down and into the case, talking quietly amongst themselves for a moment as they did. And Jacob and Queenie were embracing each other tightly a few paces away to their right.

A small breath escaped Tara’s throat.

Yes, Grindelwald had gotten away once again.

But everyone that she cared about was okay.

And that would have to do for now.

Hands suddenly materialized on either side of her shoulders.

“You alright?” Theseus asked.

Tara just stared up at him for a silent moment. Her anger over Grindelwald escaping dissipated the very instant that his eyes found hers. The instant that she was able to see the way his shoulders were rising and falling as he breathed.

Reaching up, she gently grabbed a hold of both his wrists, keeping him anchored to her. She then glanced back to her left, staring out into the cloud-covered depths of the mountainside.

Taking a particularly deep breath in, she returned her attention to Theseus, managing to nod in response to his question. She watched the path of his emotion as it rippled across his face. His hands then slipped behind her shoulders, pulling her into a particularly tight hug instead.

Tara let out a shakier, more unsteady breath as her face found momentary refuge against his chest.

The two of them stood like that for a few long moments, wholly ignoring the hubbub of movement and chatter going on behind them for as long as was physically possible for them to do so. In fact, it was only when Newt had taken the time to join them at the cliff’s edge that Tara finally managed to lift her head again.

The witch reached out a hand, grabbing at her friend's arm with a purpose.

“Are you okay?”

The Magizoologist answered with a simple nod of his head, a small smile playing at the very edges of his lips. Tara sent him back one of her own before releasing his sleeve.

Theseus reluctantly dropped the complete hold that he had on Tara, but notably kept one arm tightly resting around her shoulders. As if part of him was still worried that at any moment she would turn around and leap off of the cliffside in pursuit of Grindelwald.

Dumbledore was the next wizard to make his way over to their small group, his eyes briefly staring out at the cloudy landscape. After a long moment of silence, he unfolded his palm, allowing those gathered to see the shattered remains of the troth that laid there.

“Remarkable.” the professor mused quietly.

“But how?” Newt questioned. “I thought you couldn’t move against one another.”

“We didn’t.” Dumbledore replied. “He sought to kill. I sought to protect. Our spells met…let’s call it fate.” he said, smiling slightly as he fully turned towards the group of three. “After all, how else would we fulfill our destinies?”

Tara took a single step forward, causing Theseus’ arm to fall from her shoulders. She stared forward at Dumbledore, her intense gaze taking a moment to trace his expression. 

“Albus…” she began to speak, her voice low. “Promise me you’ll find him.”

The professor smiled back at his former student before eventually nodding his head, sealing his oath earnestly, but silently.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡☆ﾟ.･ ───