Streets of town- Friday night

[sia_later]

There were plenty of reasons for Sia not to be out today: the increase in violence, the fact that she'd been seen with someone who'd managed to escape stabbings, and the fact that she'd used her powers on one of the people who would now want to bring her in. Her days of flying under the radar were effectively over. But she wasn't a coward, and

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[broken_empath]

Raven usually spent most of her time in detention, tending to those imprisoned there. Rarely did she come into town, but despite the fresh Imperio binding her, she still felt unsettled enough to seek out...something away from the school.

Restlessly she prowled through the dark streets, seeking out any sign of rebellion. Troublemakers had to be dealt with. She felt a little spike of anxiety that led her to someone hurrying through the streets toward the warehouses.

She teleported herself in front of the person, appearing in a burst of black smoke and blocking their path. "Who are you and where are you going?" she demanded.

[sia_later]

Well. She certainly knew how to make an entrance.

Rather than showing how startled she actually was, Sia drew herself up. "I was going for a walk to clear my head. It's been a stressful week."

[broken_empath]

"You are out after curfew, and that is against the rules," Raven said, already probing with her gifts to see if she could detect anything suspicious in her emotions, like guilt or defiance.

"I will have to report this. Give me your name."

[sia_later]

She'd definitely pick up some fear- which Sia hated herself a little for- but otherwise she was being very careful to keep herself even.

"I would much rather return to my room, if it's all the same to you," Sia said. "I've been warned, and it will not happen again."

[broken_empath]

"It will not, for I will be bringing you back to the school myself to face punishment," Raven decided. She liked the little taste of fear, and wanted to inspire some more.

[sia_later]

Sia's options here were very limited and she knew it. Running from someone who could appear right in front of her wouldn't work, which also meant she didn't know what fighting would do, and she was not willingly going to be punished.

"That isn't going to happen."

[broken_empath]

"Defiance," Raven said, "will not be tolerated. You will come with me now."

She wasn't sure if she had just a scared student or an actual member of the resistance on her hands here yet, but that would be for someone else to figure out.

[sia_later]

Oh, she had not yet begun to show defiance.

"Why? To be cursed? Thrown into detention? All I did was take a walk," she said. Which was a damn lie but she wasn't wavering from it if she thought she didn't have to.

[broken_empath]

"You broke the rules, and rule-breakers must submit to appropriate punishment," Raven said. "Headmistress Umbridge will decide if detention is merited."

Rules had to be obeyed. She had to, and this girl had to.

[sia_later]

"Report me if you must. I can't stop you from doing that," Sia told her. "But I don't submit."

This was probably not the best time to go all haughty princess, Sia.

[broken_empath]

Raven smiled sharply. She was going to make it a challenge.

"You will," she said, deceptively pleasant. She tried to bring her empathic powers to bear on Sia, seeking out some sort of fear to exploit against her. She wasn't expecting resistance.

[sia_later]

Sia was still in training. There was still a lot she didn't know about her powers and what she could do with them.

But when you had access to most of the sensitive information you didn't want the other side getting a hold of, your shields got strong early.

The instant she realized what Raven was doing, Sia clamped down on them, shutting her out completely. "No."

[broken_empath]

That caught Raven by surprise. "Interesting," she said, stalking closer to Sia. "What are you? A telepath? I do not like telepaths."

She tried again to break through, harder this time, sending a little jolt of pain to try to distract her from shielding her out.

[sia_later]

The shields didn't falter, and if Sia felt any pain, she didn't show it.

"It's really none of your business what I am," she replied.

[broken_empath]

"Well, now I must definitely bring you in for unlawful use of powers," Raven said, undeterred, though there was frustration in her voice at her inability to penetrate Sia's shields.

"You will surely go to detention, and then I will be able to play with you every day until you are too weak to fight back."

[sia_later]

"I'm sorry, you seem to have misunderstood, and are under the impression that this is going to work out the way you think it will," said Sia. "Let me clarify: it won't."