(St. Petersburg) самолеты без небa умрут (Zoya)

It was amazing that the summer holidays always started with the white nights in St. Petersburg. Admittedly long days and very short nights were something that the new school location also had to offer. However, St. Petersburg was truly magnificent during the summer months. It was not only never really dark outside, there were also special events everywhere. Tourists came from all over Russia and actually from around the world to see the white nights. It was a time when the city did not seem to sleep at all.

To Stanislava's big disappointment she had not managed to meet her friend Zoya for a night out in the city at the beginning of the holidays. They had written each other regularly, seen each other occasionally, but they hadn't got a chance to put their plan into action and spend a whole night outside exploring.

No matter how upset Stasya had been because of the missed opportunity and the fact that she had spent a lot of time at home with her step sisters, she was now overjoyed to meet Zoya in town. The weather did not look too promising though, dark grey clouds hovering over the city, occasionally offering an unwanted shower to those who had found their way outside. Stasya had hurried to reach the Kazan Cathedral as she was supposed to meet Zoya below the colonnade at 11 am. Having arrived early, she took shelter there and observed her surroundings for a while.

Having grown up among muggles, Stasya did not stick out as anyone who did not belong here – she wore blue jeans and a t-shirt that her older step sister, Svetlana, hadn't wanted anymore which was pale blue with a logo on it that meant nothing to Stasya. She watched a man who offered passers-by to take a white dove on their arm. What a funny way to make money on the street, the girl thought, shaking her head. She wondered if she still had enough time to cross the street and get into the Dom Knigi to take a look at books but she figured that Zoya might want to join her there.

Hopefully, given the bad weather now, her friend would like to visit a museum and go exploring somewhere inside instead of outside. Then again Stasya figured that it did not matter what they'd do if only they got to spend some time together and away from home. She had tried to talk to her mother if she could invite a friend over the other day and the conversation had not gone well. Her mother had reminded her not so kindly that she had to be grateful that Gennadiy accepted that she lived with them despite of what she was. It had been hurtful but Stanislava was already used to it. What had been different from previous arguments had been a casual comment her mother had made without thinking. She had told her that if she didn't like living with her she could, after all, go and live with her father. It had confused Stasya and she had immediately asked her mother what she meant and that she had always told her that her father had died. However, her mother had told her that Stasya should forget what she said and that she was just tired and, of course, her father had died all these years ago.

Stasya wanted to share this information with her best friend but it hadn't felt appropriate to fit it into a letter. Therefore, she was more than glad to meet Zoya today. It was easier to talk about this in person or so she hoped at least.

As she spotted her red haired friend, Stasya's face lit up. She offered a little wave at her approaching schoolmate and made a few steps towards her as well. “Zosya!” she exclaimed brightly, totally forgetting her pensieve mood for a moment. “So glad you could make it! How are you? I wish we had better weather but it might change and we can always start with a visit to a museum?” She added the last bit in a hopeful tone. While the girl had dragged her grandfather into the Fabergé Museum the other day she still wanted to see many more.

@Zoya Chernova
OOC: I hope this works for you <33 let me know if I need to make any changes.

It was way too early to be up during summer, Zoya had decided, and the bags under her eyes showed that clearly as she walked lazily down the street. She blinked, rubbed at her eyes, and yawned loudly just before turning the corner to the colonnade and looked around the Stasya. They had been planning this trip for some time but Zoya was a night owl, especially when school was out of session. She stayed up all night, enjoying the peace and quiet that came around 4 am in her loud house. And she usually slept until far past noon, if no one woke her up (which happened more often than she'd like). The witch couldn't wait until she was old enough to perform magic at home because she already had the locking and silencing charms memorized.

Strolling up to Stasya just a few minutes past when they planned to meet she had her hands tucked into the little pocket of her sleeveless sweater. It was a light material, perfect for summers in Russia, it had a hood in case it rained and pocket across her stomach just in case she needed to hang on to things. She felt odd without her wand but bringing it would have just been a liability. She'd hid it under a baseboard that was loose in her room and then put the foot of her bed on top of it. Stained blue and green sneakers clashed against the old stones under her feet and Zoya's long red hair was wound up into a bun above her head, for now.

"So. Early. Stasya." She whined head tilted back, squinting into the overcast sky, but really she was excited for the day. SHe'd robbed her cauldron bank and taken every last sickle she had saved for today. (It wasn't much, but it was something). And they had all sorts of things planned. Plus it was like never going to get dark, it was energizing, when Zoya wasn't in the middle of a yawn. Not bothering to cover her mouth she offered her friend a great view of the couple of metal fillings her grandparents had paid for and then blinked a few more times. "Is it supposed to rain?" Zoya was not the type to "prepare" for inclement weather, that was what magic was for, and she never faired well when they had to readjust to not being able to magick every little thing away during the summer weather.

"Which museum do you want to go to?"

“Oh come on!” Stasya exclaimed, laughing. “Early? I'm awake for hours already! Could have easily met you at 9 am or even earlier than that.” Sometimes it amazed her that her friend who had to get up early during the school year could slip into such different sleeping habits so quickly. The time for their meeting today had been a compromise and she thought that it was a decent one for both sides.

“Well, you know how it is...” Stanislava said with a glance towards the sky. “It can always rain… When I came here it was drizzling. The forecast on tv said that we can expect some heavy rain showers today but also a few dry hours.” She shrugged. Truth be told she did not find the forecast to be very meaningful. She could easily make a forecast like that herself without knowing anything about meteorology. It seemed like the chance for such weather was always equally high.

“Oh,” she said, blushing ever so slightly. “I'd like to sneak into the Eremitage but we could also go to the Peter and Paul fortress.” The Eremitage was huge and there was always something new to discover no matter how often she had been there before. “I've got some muggle money. Should be enough to spend a great day here.”

Remembering how she had got this fair amount of money from her mother, made Stasya look thoughtful and she chewed on her lower lip, wondering how to tell her friend about what she had heard. “I… I need to tell you something, by the way,” her voice was a lot more serious now and the girl looked around nervously as though she feared that someone might overhear their conversation. “Maybe we can start by going to the Aleksandrovkiy Sad and find a place where we are undisturbed...” Admittedly the park wasn't exactly a deserted place but the girl figured it was better than being close to the Nevskiy Prospekt anyway. They might find a bench where they could sit and talk if the weather was kind enough to stay dry for a long enough time.

Nine am!? Was her best friend drunk? "Who gets up before nine AM when they don't have to?" Zoya asked incredulously, fighting back another yawn just from the mere thought of being up that early. She could barely manage to drag herself out of bed during the term, let alone summer! Most of the time she relied on the other girl to even remind her to set an alarm, if not for Stasya, Zoya would be perpetually late for classes. The little witch moved on from yawning to opening and closing one eye at a time, wiling herself awake, and trying to be alert enough for the day they had planned. "Yeah, I know," Zoya nodded along as Stanislava updated her on the weather, still blinking away the last fading effects of sleepiness. Soon enough she would be hyperactive and full of energy, the severe swing in her energetic ranges was quite common.

"You had me at sneak in," Zoya said with a smirking, her eyebrows waggling as the idea of sneaking into the museum rather than spending money perking her right up. She moved away from the column she'd been leaning up against and looked out across where they were standing. There was a lot to do and they had all day to do it, though she hated waking up early, she knew Stasya had been right about getting an early start. Of course, the teen wasn't going to say that out loud or anything, oh no no, she was too smug to admit defeat. "Let's go and then get something to eat and then the fortress and then we can make fun of the silly muggles and maybe walk to one of the bridges?" So many things to do, and so many words escaping her lips, Zoya was waking up.

And just in time, it seemed too. "Oh?" She breathed the question, tilting her head to one side and her fiery red hair tilted with the movement. "Well, go then, you've got me curious." The teenage spitfire said quickly, motioning toward the Aleksandrovskiy Sad was and hoping they would get a quick move on. There were many things Zoya disliked more than getting up early and near the top of that list was not knowing what others new. She hated being left in the dark, and it was rare for Stasya to keep things from her (it went both ways) so her interest was certainly piqued. "What's going on Stasya?" Zoya asked as they walked closely toward a hopefully empty park.

"Well, I was awake by 8 am," Stasya said with a shrug, "I did not actually get out of bed then. I easily could have though. In fact, I just picked up a book and read for a while." The girl smiled, she knew that Zoya would understand that, not necessarily at the named time of the day, but at least in general. She was reading through Russian classics these days, after having enjoyed 'Anna Karenina', 'Voyna i Mir' was a bit of a challenge though, mainly because of its length. The girl hoped to be finished by the start of term, knowing that at school things could get busy and she'd hate to be stuck in this book with only like a hundred pages left.

She smiled when Zoya accepted her Eremitage visit idea simply because she had chosen the word 'sneak in' in her suggestion. Sometimes it was so easy to influence the other girl and then, at another time, she had no chances at all. The girl couldn't help but burst into giggles when Zoya shared her idea of how they should spend the day, thinking that they'd surely need a timeturner to get all of this done but appreciating that she was finally turning into her awake self. 

"Yeah..." Stasya nodded when Zoya said that she had made her curious and they began to walk towards the park. "It's..." Stasya sighed. "Let's hurry to the park," she said, walking fast until they reached the Aleksandrovskiy Sad. She looked around and made a nod towards an empty bench below a huge tree. Once they had sat down, the girl looked at her friend, feeling incredibly nervous and excited all of a sudden. Emotions were welling up inside of her, making her eyes a little watery. 

"You won't believe it," she stated. Not to make Zoya any more curious but because she couldn't believe it herself. "My father seems to still be alive, after all." She said in a slightly trembling voice and then bit her lips to try and keep her emotions under control. "She always told me he was dead!" she finally burst out in a rather shrill voice. "I don't know what to think anymore." She looked at her friend, hoping that Zoya could make sense of this news.

"8 Am?" Zoya asked, wiping the last yawn from her mouth as she looked at her friend, "That is because you are a crazy person." She teased, shaking her head at Stasya with a smile on her lips. Zoya was never the early rising type, it was one of the few things the two witches would never have in common, but she did enjoy a good book just as much as Stanislava. So at least she could get behind that part. Giggling, alongside her best friend as they discussed the many, many plans, they shared for the day Zoya started to wake up. She felt more energetic, which was good because, soon enough, they were on the move and quickly kept up.

They reached the park, and it seemed quieter than Zoya remembered, probably because it was so early, but she didn't mind that at all. She wanted, no, she needed, to know what was on Stasya's mind, and the wait was like torture. Zoya had never been very good at being left in the dark, she had to know what the others knew, she hated being left out. She was so impatient it was almost funny. Her leg bounced eagerly, anxiously, as they took a seat on the park bench, and Stasya began to speak.

Mouth falling quite nearly to the floor, the redhead had to blink a few times to really let this news sink in. "I'm sorry, what?" She asked, still processing, finding this revelation quite a surprise. She had been expecting to hear something about the upcoming term, classes, maybe her mother, but never this. Never ever this. "Well, shit, we have to find him then?" Zoya cursed smoothly as her mind reeled, already putting together plans and schemes. "Did your mother tell you his name?" She asked, her lips pursing as she was about to ask more and more questions. The giant list already forming in her head. And then she paused, sighed, and gave Stasya a much softer look.

"Are you okay?" She asked, having no idea how this might have made her friend feel, and really caring.

"Yeah," Stasya said, her voice sounding a little strange. "You've heard correctly." She had to pause as emotions were welling up and she didn't want to end up sobbing. Taking a deep breath, Stasya looked at some distant spot in the park for a brief moment before turning to face her best friend again.

She nodded as Zoya said that they'd have to find her father then, biting her lips to stop herself from crying. "Yes," she whispered. "Yes, we do."

Then she shook her head sadly when Zoya next asked about whether her mother had told her the name of her father. "No, she hasn't told me his name. She didn't want to talk about him at all. I got no answers to my questions. I first thought that..." she took a deep breath, "I thought I might be the product of a one night stand and that she just didn't know him well enough. It's probably true to some degree but... they have been in contact after I was born. Maybe not often but I am sure they talked at some point. All I know is that he is alive and a wizard..."

She looked at Zoya as her best friend asked if she was okay. She tried to compose herself and then shrugged. "I really don't know. It's kind of a shock." A second later she shook her head in disbelief. "Can you believe it though?" she asked, her voice sounding shriller than usual. Immediately she looked around if nobody was overhearing them. "He is alive! I actually have a father and nobody ever bothered telling me! The information just escaped my mother casually..." Tears were now watering Stasya's eyes and she looked down. She was clearly not okay now that she could finally talk to Zoya about it and try to process the news she had heard.

"What kind of father is he that he never wanted to get to know me? Why does he let me live with my family where I'm..." she was sobbing now and didn't feel able to finish the sentence although the word 'unhappy' was on her mind. "Am I not good enough for him?" she asked, looking at Zoya through watery eyes, not really expecting an answer from her friend.

Zoya felt a mix of emotions as Stasya started giving her more details. She was curious of course but also a little bit angry about the whole thing. And as her friend started to cry, the anger rose. Zoya was the sort who jumped quickly to conclusions, assumed the worst about everyone, and preferred getting even over forgiveness. This situation was no different. It didn;'t matter that it was Staysa's life, she felt equally robbed by the fact that her best friend had a father who had abandoned her (she assumed) and that she was now in such pain. Zoya narrowed her eyes on the same distant spot in the park that Stasya had, using it to steady herself, but she was fighting back rage and not tears.

"Your mom sucks, we know this." She declared, barely careful of what she said and meaning every word of it. Zoya had come to the conclusion a long time ago that all parents sucked. They were better off without them really, but it didn't make this situation any less messed up. She felt sad for Stanislava and she hated feeling sad. "Explains where the magic came from at least," Zoya wasn't trying to look on the bright side with her statement, optimism wasn't something she was capable of right now, but was merely stating facts. Stasya's mother was a pitiful excuse of a muggle and in no way capable of magic but at least now they knew for sure where Stanislava had inherited it from. Not that it really mattered, but at Durmstrang blood lineage was always a question that lurked in the shadows.

Sucking in a hard breath as Stasya began to sob Zoya reached out toward her, wanting to provide any amount of comfort that she could, but pulled back quickly before slamming her palms on her knees. They made a muffled clapping sound against her legs and the red head spoke sharply. "No, no don't you dare think that," Asstertively she shook her head at Stasya. "This is not your fault, you didn't do anything wrong," The idea that her friend could think this was because of her made her angrier than before. "Trust me because I am an expert at having shitty parents." Zoya said, not even able to bring her sassy self to pull a little smirk at the sarcasm.

"But that is on them, not you."

Zoya was right, of course. Her mother was a terrible parent to her. However, who else did she have? Her grandfather was nice, of course. She got along well with him and she had Zoya who was a great best friend. However, Stasya wished she had a normal family, parents who actually loved her and not a mother who merely acknowledged her existence and a father who had never bothered to get to know her.

“Yes,” Stasya said, her voice brittle as she continued speaking. “That's why I think they've talked by the way. I'm sure it was because of him that I got into Durmstrang and surely they must have spoken around the time I was about to go to school.” She wondered why they hadn't sat her down then, explained it all to her, introduced her to her father and simply given her a chance to understand who she was.

“But...” Stasya began as her friend told her that this was not her fault. “How do you know? Maybe I've disappointed him? Maybe...” she buried her face in her hands now and tried to calm herself. It wasn't easy now that she had for once allowed herself to speak openly about it. She had been dying to talk to Zoya, had believed that with her friend she would be able to make sense of the whole thing but, right now, she felt like nothing was making sense at all.

“Why would they do that though?” she asked, looking at Zoya again. “I mean, they must have had a reason not to tell me… I just don't understand it. I don't understand why my mother claimed that he was dead. I don't understand why he never approached me.” She sighed and shrugged helplessly.

Zoya was so mad at Stasya's parents for doing this to her. Watching her friend so upset made her want to curl up her fists and hit something. She chewed on the inside of her lip, trying to keep her emotions in check, and still comfort her best friend. This was just awful. She couldn't even imagine why they wouldn't have just told her. What was her father? Some sort of criminal? Or maybe a spy! There had to be a good reason for it, right? Or maybe there wasn't. The thought occurred to the redhead, and her frown deepened, if there was no reason for it, that was even worse!

"No, stop that. Maybe nothing Stasya," She demanded as she shot up from the bench they were sitting in. Zoya put her hands on her hips and leaned forward with a large amount of attitude after Stasya started down the path of thinking this was her own fault. "How could you have disappointed him? He doesn't even know you!" The teenage witch began to pace back and forth in front of Stasya as she continued. "I know you, you're awesome." She said, stopping to point and then returning to pacing with her hands on her hips. "And besides, would you really even want to meet him after all this time?"

She stopped dead in her tracks and turned on a dime to stare at her best friend. "Are we going to find him? I think we should, but like only if you want to, but I think we could." Zoya shot off her thoughts as they crossed her mind. She was prone to rapid-fire chattiness, especially when she was excited (or angry) about something. And suddenly, this moment checked both of those boxes. "Give him a piece of our, I mean, your mind."

It felt strangely comforting that Zoya was so agitated, that she shot up from the bench and was just so demanding and strong. Although she told her to stop her train of thought Stasya appreciated Zoya's reaction as it clearly showed her that she cared. If this did not mean anything to her she wouldn't show such a reaction, after all. She watched her pacing up and down in front of the bench and listened to what her best friend had to say. thinking that she was really lucky to have her.

She smiled a little timidly as Zoya said that she was awesome and would have said that she thought that Zoya was awesome herself but the redhead was already moving on. “I'm not sure, I mean… hmm…” Stasya sighed and threw her head up, looking at the sky as she tried to figure out if she wanted to meet her father. “I just want to understand it, I guess,” she then said, shrugging. “I mean, why… just why did they keep this a secret. I think I need to know my father to really understand who I am. Does that make any sense?”

As Zoya stopped her pacing to look at her and ask if they were going to find her father, Stasya chewed on her lip for a moment. “Yes,” she said after a few seconds. “Yes, I do want to find him and I certainly want to give him a piece of our mind.” Stasya offered her best friend a grateful smile. “I don't think I'd dare doing this without you but… well, as a team we'll find him and confront him.”

"Well, then I say we find him!" The Russian witch declared loudly without a second of hesitation. Her skinny freckled arm shot up into the air, and then she realized the scene she was creating. Hand rushing to cover her chapped lips, Zoya returned to the seat next to Stasya slowly. She spoke quietly once more with a calculated breath, whispering almost like they were planning something. Which they absolutely were.

"Did your mother tell you anything else? Or do we need to spy?" Not that Zoya minded sticking her nose in other people's business, but any information they already had would be a head start. They already knew Stasya's surname wouldn't be of much help, since it had come from her mother, but maybe there was something else they had overlooked.

"Think she has anything back at the house? Oh, or maybe," she shot up again, unable to keep herself still while they were in plotting mode. "Maybe we can find your birth certificate at the Russian Ministry?" She wrinkled her nose for a moment, deep in thought as she traced possible steps in her mind, "Not that I'd particularly care to go to that stuffy old place, but maybe?"

Stasya blushed when Zoya loudly declared that they'd find her father. While she did not expect anyone to be around who knew them and could thus make any sense of what they were saying, she felt awkward that their secret conversation was not quite so secret anymore now. She smiled anyway as Zoya realised her mistake and sat down next to her.

Stasya sighed and shook her head sadly. "No," she said quietly but still angrily. "She didn't say anything." The girl shrugged helplessly. Yes, she did want to find her father and figure out why nobody ever told her that he was alive. Yet, how should she do this if she had nothing more than the information that, somewhere out there, he existed?

"I don't really know. Maybe she hides something somewhere." Then Stanislava looked at Zoya, her eyes widening slightly. "You mean, we could just go to the Russian Ministry and take a look at my birth certificate?" She asked, sounding both intrigued and doubtful. "Given all the secrecy he might not even be listed there," she mused.

Then she frowned slightly. "We might have one tiny little hint," It wasn't a lot and maybe it was entirely meaningless. "My mother took on my step father's surname and, as you know, I got it, too. My patronymic is not derived from his name though." She looked at Zoya, curious what her best friend would make of this.

Wrinkling up her nose Zoya didn't like it when they hit roadblocks, but she knew they would. If only they could go to the ministry, demand information, and make it out in time for lunch. She knew it wasn't possible, but wouldn't it have been nice? Instead, the witch pressed her back against the park bench and crossed her arms. Listening, she nodded her head to either side, knowing Stasya was right, and then sat forward again. She could never sit still for very long. Especially not now that she was starting to properly wake up, and they had a mystery to solve.

"Well then," she began, finding it amusing and strange that they hadn't started at the patronymics. Everyone had them, it was just a thing that happened where they were born, but the possibility that Stasya had somehow inherited hers from her real father was big news. It could be a vital clue unless it was something super common like Zoya's.

"What's your patronymic?" She asked, waiting for the answer and hoping it was something so rare that it would really give them something to go on.

Stasya was relieved that she could count on Zoya to help her with her quest. With her best friend at her side it would still be difficult, maybe impossible to find her father but it made her feel better for sure. The girl smiled gratefully at Zoya, happy that the other girl was her friend and also rather glad that the fellow Klyk was finally properly awake.

"Ivanovna," Stasya muttered, shrugging helplessly. Ivan was not a particularly rare name, especially not among people that had the right age to be a parent. Among the students of Durmstrang the name might be thinly spread but in the Russian wizarding world in general it clearly wasn't a lot of a hint.

She stared at some spot in the far distance and sighed. "That's not really helping us in any way, is it?" 

Flinging her hands up, Stasya now turned to face Zoya again. "My mother won't tell me anything no matter what I do and all that we know is that my father is still alive, a wizard and his first name is likely Ivan." She looked down, feeling like it was impossible to find her father and that it was probably wiser to call off the search already. "We could try and go through her things when the rest of the family is out but they rarely go out all together and it's risky."