Color Me Adventurously

AquilaStar, formerly known as Bellatrix Lestrange, would never admit this out loud, but she loved the beach. She, Narcissa, and the bloodtraitor scum used to the beach every summer. Those were good times.

AquilaStar stretched out on the hammock tied between two palm tree and sipped her tropical drink contently. To be perfectly honest, this drink was well deserved. After all she had fought off Clangs and Torties to get the coconuts and then she had to go all the way to that Merlin-forsaken tree village and a little passed that to steal bananas from Lupins. And let's face it, anything with the name of Lupin was her enemy anyway.

Well, was. Turns out that fighting the Lupins was very therapeutic.

She sipped at the tropical drink again and sighed. This place was absolutely perfect. It was like a private get away and when she started feel anger welling up in the pit of her stomach, well, there was no better treatment than to go through the next portal and knock some Lorang over the head with her staff.

There were once rumors circulated in Hogwarts saying Bellatrix Black was not only off her head, but that she was destined for a life of blackness. Well, maybe they said darkness, but she liked blackness better. It was quite a bit darker than darkness. She blamed these rumors for her descent into the realm of the Dark Arts and her Lord for madness.

At any rate, when it was all said and done, AquilaStar had to admit she had been a touch out of control. That whole situation with that mudblood girl had been...well...madness. It would have been much more sanitary to just crucio the truth out her, but no. She'd gone and got her hands all bloodied up, wasted precious time, and displeased her Lord.

It was quite embarrassing.

But that was all in the past. The new and improved witch was – new and improved? She thought about this for a moment. If something were new, how could it be improved? It's new. New meaning never before having existed. But if it's improved, well then it existed before but it's better. Improved does not equal new and therefore new does not equal improved. So that whole new and improved spiel is an oxymoron.

She'd been robbed by a bleedin' newbie. She sighed and took another sip of her tropical drink before laying back in the shade of the palm leaves.

Three Hours Earlier

AquilaStar wandered into the Free Market, searching for something that would make her stronger than this silly staff. It was somewhat weak and besides, she needed a new dress. This one wasn't making much of a statement. At least it didn't compared to those powerful ones who popped up from time to time. Or the ones who treated Henesys like Bellatrix had treated the Slytherin Common Room. Basically, they just lounged there all day talking nonsense to one another.

Ah, the good old days.

As good as Henesys was, she was quite tired of looking so drab next to those who she was quite sure were not as pure as herself. Not to mention she had plenty of mesos to kick around. All she had to do was fame someone who was selling them and, boom, she had 300,000 mesos.

And if she didn't get her money, Merlin help them.

Of course she couldn't hit them over the head as she normally would have, nor could she crucio them into submission, avada them and take all their mesos, or have their wands then themselves burned, so she had to be threatening in a different way. Thus she learned the wondrous skills of defamation. Lucius Malfoy, that blithering lump of uselessness her Cissy had married, was very skilled at this and after using it once she understood why.

It was easy to bring down the flames of hatred onto others. All she had to do was say horrible (and often untrue) things about them and BOOM! That was the sound she imagined their ego made when their dreams of fame and glory crashed onto the very sharp and pointy rocks of failure.

Often, the threat of defamation was enough to get what she wanted, but sometimes she didn't get her way. She got revenge instead. It was sweet, but not nearly as sweet as the tropical drink she'd be drinking later.

At any rate, she was rich and she wanted pretty things. Shiny things. Powerful things.

And she found it in the new and improved, Maple Staff. It was red and green and rather pretty. It was also powerful.

“S> New & Improved Maple Staff 3mil @@@@@@@@@@@@”

AquilaStar double-checked her wallet. Yes, she had more than enough.

“S> New & Improved Maple Staff 3 mil @@@@@@@@@@@@@”

“S > Ores, plates, jewels, and other mining goods @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@”

“S> Cheap Scrolls – Send trade for info@@@@@@@@@@@@”

“B> Scrolls, equip, and ores @@@@@@@@@”

It was so loud in the Free Market and for a moment she wondered how in the world she was going to make this deal if she couldn't be heard. Then it hit her!

“S> New & Improved Maple Staff 3 mil @@@@@@@@@@@@”

“S> Cheap Scrolls @@@@@@@@”

“B> Maple Staff 3mil @@@@@@@!” AquilaStar declared loudly, wondering why in Merlin's name she'd just said 'at' seven times.

“B> Scrolls, equip, and ores @@@@@@@@”

Oh, that's right. Because everyone else did to make themselves heard. Apparently it worked and a moment later she got a request for a trade.

The dealer held out his hand for the mesos and held the staff out to her gripping it firmly. “Does it work properly?”

“Yep, it's new and improved.”

“How is better and newer than the other Maple Staffs?” AquilaStar questioned while holding out the mesos, finding she was quite reluctant to part with it. If only she could avada this kid. No one would care if she did. There was so much coming and going and staying and jumping about that she doubted anyone would even notice. But alas!

“Because I've made it better. Want it?”

“Yes.” She made the trade and decided that 3 million mesos was quite enough to spend in one day.

“Thank you!”

“Whatever.” She stalked off, back into Henesys and brought her stolen bananas to the rather stout woman who made her tropical drink in Florina Beach.

Now

Well, lucky for that kid they weren't in her world. They were in this Maple World which had the very therapeutic advantages of lovely bright colors practically everywhere you looked, and endlessly wonderful beach, and monster Lupin who could respawn for venting purposes. All in all, she really, really liked it here.