Happy Friday!

Chapter 85

Their little gossip session concluded not long after they finished talking about Remus' love life. The Runemasters had knocked on their door and told them to be ready to start exploring the temple in two hours. That gave Jasmine just enough time to say goodbye, eat, and shower.

"I will see you all at Christmas!" Jasmine said with a wave to the mirror before James, Remus, and Lily took their leave. Sirius lingered for a moment.

"Umm, my Aunt wanted to tell you that you're invited to the Christmas Gala were holding this year. It's at the Ministry…my father wants to figure out who is going to support us in the upcoming conflict. He also wants to remind the Dark aligned families that the Black Family has the money and prestige to host a party at the Ministry."

Sirius sounded less than thrilled about the prospect of spending Christmas Eve at the Ministry, Jasmine could relate to that.

"I'll be there. Are you okay? You seem a bit quiet. Is something bothering you?"

Sirius shook his head and bit his lip before answering. "Things are just strange. I've never felt more out of place amongst my friends. Who would have thought I'd be the single one? Heir Fujiwara is nice, but it wouldn't have worked out between us. Our relationship would have felt like some kind of business arrangement and that wasn't something either of us wanted. She's really nice and is more than willing to explain our cultural differences, but she only has eyes for Moony."

"I'm sure that you've had plenty of offers, Sirius. You are the heir to the Black Family," Jasmine replied with a frown. That title tended to bring Sirius more loneliness than companionship.

He shook his head, his shaggy hair flopping as he turned from side to side. "I've been avoiding those kinds of interactions. It just wouldn't seem fair to you. I know you said that we're on a break, but I want to prove that I'm willing to commit to this between us. You are worth waiting for, Jazz. I'm going to prove it."

Jasmine felt her cheeks heat up a bit at the admission. Before she could respond he hung up.

She spent the rest of the morning in a rush to make herself look remotely human. She wanted to make sure that she was ready to meet Blaise and his fiancé. It was odd enough that Blaise and Theo were brothers…to think that he had a fiancé now. It was just so strange to Jasmine. This life had really brought about a lot of changes to her small group of friends. Though, there was a good chance that she wouldn't want to speak with Jasmine. The Mayan wizarding society at large didn't speak with outsiders outside of the Indigenous populations of North, Central and South America.

There was a distant lack of trust in Europeans in particular that had the Runemasters nervous as the group waited in front of the old temple. The weather was in their favor today. It was warm, but not oppressively sunny, it also wasn't pouring buckets down on them. The humidity was awful, but that was to be expected from more tropical areas of the world. They were surrounded by vegetation and the quiet whistling of the wind.

There was a rustling from the bushes to their left as Blaise emerged holding a branch away from a small young woman that would have to have been his fiancé. She was wearing a traditional huipil, one that spoke of rank by the intricate designs and patterns adorning it.

"This is the girl you've told me about? I expected her to be taller," the young woman said, just loud enough for them all to hear her clearly. Blaise rolled his eyes, his long hair tied back in a braid. They were no doubt speaking English for their sake since she knew from Theo that English, or any colonizer's language, is something that they try to avoid using.

"You can't base everything off of appearance. You are even shorter than she is and you are a powerful mage," Blaise replied, a soothing hand on her shoulder, she leaned into it for a moment, her small hand gripped his. The girl grumbled something under her breath before approaching Jasmine.

She stuck a tan hand out, the golden bracelets on her wrists tickled as she moved. There were scars littering her fingers. "I'm Yunuen. I've been told many stories about you, Jasmine Peverell. Many stories. They seem to span lifetimes. The gods have given you a very interesting type of gift."

Jasmine clasped Yunuen's hand. She liked the girl. She had guts. If Blaise had confided in her at all and she stuck around, she was either crazy or truly cared for him, or both. "It's something I've been told before. My dear friend here said that you had some runes to show us today."

She wrinkled her nose. "He said you were trustworthy. I believe Chatan and trust his judgement. He has not led me astray yet. You are welcome in the inner parts of the temple. It has been closed to outsiders for many decades. The Spanish tried to destroy it more than once. You do know the type of magic that we practice here, yes?"

Jasmine nodded. The Mayans, for the most part, practiced blood magic. It was more common than wand-based magic, though there was nothing inherently dark about it. At least, that's what Jasmine had been read. It was all based upon willing sacrifice. No "blood of the enemy forcibly taken" nonsense. Of course, there were people that practiced dark rituals based off of blood magic. Voldemort being a chief example, but from what Blaise and Theo had mentioned, it was really useful for finding dark artifacts and they needed that at the moment. Theo was off in Europe doing is best to locate a horcrux or two, but Jasmine was still going to need to do the brunt of that work when he had to return to the States.

Theo had given her that charm that helped locate dark objects, but if Blaise was correct, his fiancé knew a way to track them down and pinpoint their location to a couple kilometers. That would be invaluable.

"Show us the way in," Jasmine motioned with a wave of her hand. She didn't want to appear like she was leading them. Yunuen dipped her hand in a slight nod before walked up to a rough stone and putting her hand to it. It wasn't long before she hissed and pulled away. A drop of blood was being absorbed by the stone and the tip of her pointer finger was sluggishly bleeding.

The blood was gone in moments, seeping into the stone as if it was never there, and doorway materialized. Yunuen walked in without a moment's hesitation, Blaise was hot on her heels, and all the rest clambered in after them. No one wanted to be left outside to fend for themselves while everyone else got to see the inside of an ancient magical Mayan temple.

The outside didn't do the inner temple justice. While it was grand to see from the outside, the gleaming gold-plated walls and the rune etched stones were glowing with power. Many of the plates had pictures of the Mayan Empire at its height, displaying rituals and different magical practices.

"This is just a brief history of our people's magic. It is something that most of us learn as children. Our stories tend to be passed down orally, but we did make sure that we had somewhere that it was all written down. Though, the most famous piece of magic is our calendar. Even if that only extended to two-thousand and twelve. Apparently, the non-magicals ran out of energy and stopped writing it. It is supposedly superstition that the world is going to end."

If only world ending events were that easy to predict.

But, then again, here Jasmine was, attempting to stop the wizarding world from ending. She had been told up front what was about to happen over the next couple decades. "Muggles can be fairly dramatic about that kind of information. They don't have seers to tell them about the end times."

Yunuen rolled her eyes and looped her arm through Blaise's. "Yes, well, even when they did have seers from what I understand, they never listened to them." Blaise commented as he smirked at Jasmine before being pulled further into the temple.

He wasn't wrong. Cassandra was one of the more famous cases of muggles historically ignoring seers. Though, she had been cursed to never be believed, even if all her predictions were true. Whichever deity came up with that cocktail of misfortune really needed a stern talking to…though with the distinct lack of seers in the future, the sight has obviously begun to die out in the magical world. At least in European side of the world. Jasmine couldn't speak for Asia, Africa, or the Americas.

The small group continued to walk deeper into the temple. Depictions of gods and goddesses lined these walls, once again telling stories of the people that built this place. "Blood magic is one of the first things that the Spanish tried to take from us," Yunuen explained as she used more blood magic to open another door that had been completely flush with the wall a moment prior.

Runemaster Celeste nodded. "Yes, blood magic has been classified as dark magic for the past millennia in Europe. It is considered extremely dangerous to use or even consider using. Though, in our travels over the past few weeks throughout South, North and Central America we've noticed that your people seem to use it for everything."

Yunuen nodded, her hand raised to her chest, the beads in her huipil clicking against the metal rings on her fingers. "We don't use wands, nor do we want to. The way that Europeans draw magic is different from most other magical people around the world. Chatan doesn't use a wand unless it's for show. He draws power from the earth and summons golems to fight and defend him. My people use blood and the sacrifice of the willing to keep our magic flowing. Blood magic is outlawed in your lands because you only use it for evil. There is a difference between drawing blood from the willing and stealing blood."

Jasmine held back a shiver at the revival ritual that Tom had performed in her fourth year. Blood of the enemy unwillingly taken.

"The blood that you use fades the moment it touches the appropriate area or is it something in your blood that allows it to vanish like that?" Runemaster Simon asked, a small notebook in hand.

Yunuen's eyes drifted to the notebook in distaste before sighing. "It is charmed to do that. There are runes etched within the very foundation of the temple to allow for this kind of access to the lower chambers. They wouldn't open for just anyone. Only high priests and priestesses are welcome within these walls. We are welcome to bring guests, but only after you are sanctioned. Though, we cannot move much farther without breaking quite a few laws and I am not willing to do that for people I barely know."

"Take a look at all of this. It is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity," Blaise reminded them as Petunia snapped a few photos, a grin on her face as she lined up the perfect shot.

The Runemasters were pointing out different runes for Petunia to photograph. Jasmine smiled and moved to the other end of the room to look some of the runes herself. She looked through the runes on the wall and hoped to find something that could help her search for the Horcruxes. "You won't find what you're looking for in these chambers." Blaise whispered, nearly making her jump.

The bastard and snuck up on her, which was notoriously difficult to do, but she wasn't focusing on using her rune vision. She gripped a hand over her heart. "Don't do that!" She hissed and shoved at his shoulder, barely making him move.

"Don't get your wand in a knot. Yunuen and I have something to show you. It isn't something your runemasters are allowed to see. Consider it a late birthday present from me to you."

Blaise always did get her the best gifts in the past.

Jasmine nodded and watched as a new priest walked up to the Runemasters and started speaking with them and motioning for Petunia to aim her camera in different spots. They wouldn't be able to publish anything they find here, but they can use it in future wards, which is what the pictures were for.

Blaise put his hand around her arm and pulled her towards a now open doorway that Yunuen was leaning against. Her posture was relaxed, but Jasmine could see some tension in her shoulders as she approached. Blaise entered the room first, Jasmine hot on his heels. The door shut silently behind Yunuen. The room plunged into darkness for a moment before torches illuminated the space with blue flame. There was a sturdy wooden table in the center, nearly a dozen chairs were scattered around it, each with its own decorative pillow.

Yunuen settled herself in the chair to the left of the head of the table. She motioned for Jasmine to take the seat across from her. Blaise leaned against the table as he lazily traced the grains of the wood with a fingertip.

"Is it true that you are trying to destroy objects imbued with black magic? Chatan has told me that it is your purpose to destroy the man that created these abominations. I believe him, he has proven his trustworthiness over the two years I have gotten to know him. The Hawk twins have had good judgement and I want to trust you as they do. The knowledge that I am gifting to you isn't something that you can share with outsiders. Do you understand me?" She asked, and Jasmine swore that the temperature in the room dropped a couple degrees as Yunuen's magic started to permeate the air.

"What happens in this room will stay in this room. I don't want to cause any trouble. I just need to stop a man from destroying the world."

Blaise let out a snort. "If only our missions in life could be that straight forward. I know yours is far more complicated than that, Jasmine."

She stuck her tongue out at him before Yunuen cleared her throat. "Yes, well, our people have made it a mission to track down evil sources of magic. We would either destroy them or attempt to purify them in the past. Destruction is usually the only way to deal with these kinds of object, but the hardest part is usually locating them. So, I do have a few runes that might come in handy and a few blood magic spells that should help you locate the objects you're looking for," she young woman explained, biting her lip before pulling out a small pouch of what appeared to be hand carved beads.

"Those are lovely?" Jasmine began unsure before Yunuen rolled her eyes.

"That they are, but these are charmed to heat up near the cursed items and with the right spell applications can lead you to the items. Keep them on your person at all times to know if one is close. They are very potent runes. Don't stare at them too long, they could damage your sight permanently."

Jasmine bit her lip. "What kind of spells would help me locate the horcruxes?"

Yunuen smirked, her sharp canines on full display. "I'm glad that you asked, let me show you."

The rest of the afternoon was spent photographing runes and quietly talking with the different priests and priestesses inside the temple. Even with their failing vision of Runemaster Celeste she was cataloguing and coping the runes to the best of her ability. Even half blind her copies looked nearly perfect. Jasmine was a bit envious of the perfection of her craft. Jasmine's would come with time and a lot of practice. Petunia was happy to take pictures and listen to the different descriptions of the runes, even if she would never use them herself.

Towards the end of the day the Runemaster Simon decided to pull Yunuen to the side and have a chat with her. Runemaster Celeste had asked Petunia to take them back to their hotel for the evening. Her eyes had been bothering her all afternoon and she needed to rest them if they expected to leave on time in the morning.

This left Jasmine and Blaise to their own devices. He took her outside of the temple, away from public view and with a quick notice me not charm and some privacy spells the duo could rest and speak to each other with little chance of anyone overhearing.

"How have you been? I've missed seeing you in person. I know that Yunuen can be a lot to take in the first time you meet her."

Jasmine pulled her longtime friend into a tight embrace. He relaxed in her hold. "I'm fine, for the most part. This is the longest that I have been outside of the United Kingdom in any of my lives. I've missed both you and Theo. You two have always been the people I rely on to get me through hunting for horcruxes. We've done it together for so many years. It's strange that were doing it separately. Also, your fiancé seems very capable of keeping you in line. I like her a lot. I don't care if she is intimidating. The important thing is that you care for her. Theo mentioned that this was arranged. I want you to be happy Blaise."

He let out a sigh as he pulled away. "I'm happy with her. Yunuen is competent, passionate, and powerful. She is what I have been looking for in a partner for many years. As strange as this horcrux hunt may seem, I think that we'll find them all. Theo is searching right now. He'll more than likely find at least one hidden one. You need to get the ring, not to mention the stone embedded in the cursed thing from Riddle Manor, but once you do, that would mean that there would only be three left."

Jasmine squeezed his hand and smiled. "Yes, and I think he's hidden at least two in Gringotts. The cup is no doubt in a vault. It's going to be locating it and getting the goblins on my side so I can get them to destroy them that will be the hard part."

"See, we have some potential locations. Everything will work out."

"As long as we keep working together. Have you been keeping in contact with Theo through all of this? I know that he doesn't like to play the third wheel. He isn't one for relationships."

Theo wasn't one for romance or really anything that had to do with sex. He just wanted to heal people, spend time with his two best friends, and stop the Dark Lord. That's all he's ever wanted, but Jasmine and Blaise have always been there to take care of him and make sure that he's alright and not overly withdrawing into himself. They can't help him when neither of them are there to watch over him.

"I spoke to him two days ago. I check in with him at least four times a week. He's doing fine. Healed a young witch if Hungary. He'll be moving into Romania shortly. He said that he received your letter and care package and he appreciates that you're thinking of him while on your trip."

Jasmine let out a small huff like laugh. She would always remember to think of these two goons no matter where she was.

"Now, have you played around with your animagus form since your inheritance? I want to go flying with you?"

Jasmine allowed a small smirk to tug at the corner of her mouth. "That would be telling, wouldn't it?"

AND there is some new kind of magic. Figured blood magic can't be all bad right? Right? Anyway, I hope you all liked Yunuen. She's an interesting character. We got to see Blaise again! It has been some time since he's physically been in a scene. I missed him. Anyone have any idea about Jasmine's animagus form? It's going to be a few chapters before I give it another mention. I'm excited to reveal it.

Hope you all are doing alright! The world is nuts right now.

Thank you all for the reviews, favorites and follows! You guys are the best! I love hearing from you all. I just thought I should remind you all that my update schedule is every other Friday. I will post again on the 21st.

See you soon,
~Animerocker