Okay, this is a re-write of an old story of mine that was entitled Harry Potter and the Touch of Destiny. I have renamed the story, changed the plot to it, and fixed several mistakes in the older version, thus (hopefully) making it a better story.
Also, for anyone who might ask me about either of my other two stories, Mass Effect III: Union and/or Star Wars Episode Zero: Shroud of the Dark Side, they are both on hold at the moment as I am suffering a severe degree of Writer's Block where those two are concerned.
And finally, I am also working on my own ficticious series with my co-author, as well as taking college classes online, so I apologize if I'm slow in updating the chapters.
Oh, and by the way, I own not the Harry Potter series nor characters, all of which remain the rightful property of J.K. Rowling. Now, on with the show.
Chapter One: In the Valley of the Shadow of Death
{Location: GAME Island, Gulf of Mexico, United States of America}
[Thursday, March 17, 1994 A.D.]
(1:29 a.m.)
The Gulf Academy of Magical Education. A sprawling center of magical education and training founded only a year after European settlers began flocking to the New World, it is one of the largest schools of the Magical Arts in not just the United States of America but the Western Hemisphere itself. The Gulf Academy of Magical Education, known more commonly as GAME Island, is the Hogwarts of the Americas, home to over eight hundred American witches and wizards, students and staff alike. Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Divination, Herbology, Magizoology, Quidditch, Muggle Studies, Ancient Runes, Magical Government, The Healing Arts, and Magical Combat Training; there was nothing the students of GAME Island didn't learn during the eight years they attended the school.
One of the multiple ways this educational facility was set apart from its European and Asian counterparts was the way in which students were sorted and situated into their living arrangements while at school. When students first arrived, they were either assigned to existing squads of four to five students or else put together to form new squads. Each squad was assigned to one room all their own, where they would live for the next seven years while at school. In addition, the students of GAME Island weren't separated based on gender; it was almost assured that a new GAME Island student would be roomed with at least one purpose of the opposite sex, and while some viewed this controversial decision and irresponsible and careless, the founders and later staff members of the campus believed it taught their wards deeper responsibility and secured further the links of trust between the students.
Among those hundreds of students is a young up-and-coming wizard-in-training by the name of Kitch Grant. The youngest in a long, celebrated line of witches and wizards, the young teenager has a lot to live up to, from some of the greatest American sorcerers in history to one of the darkest warlocks the world has ever known, his family, both the good and the bad, the light and the dark, have left the young wizard a lot to live up to, and, on the run from the shadow his family has cast over him, he will soon discover that nothing in the magical community is as it ever appears to be and that in order to sink the massive warship that is his family history he must turn and confront it head-on, utilizing the natural combative magic powers with which he was born, offensive power he has always before been so very wary of. And, in this story of that confrontation, he will have a blessing that shall also prove to be a most terrible curse: he won't be alone in this fight.
At his side are his best friends. There's the Muggle-born Elianna Kasumi, a natural-born leader with a keen political mind and a mature sense of responsibility and wisdom well beyond her years, as well as Pax Onasi, a young pure-blooded wizarding teen who, despite his natural-weakness with offensive magic, remains one of the island's most intelligent students with natural wisdom to rival even Elianna Kasumi's, and Tabitha Harding, a muggle orphan who's found her true family among her fellow sorcerers and who also possesses a set of street-learned logic and common sense that so many witches and wizards lack.
And then there are the brothers, Duran and Billy Detreo, the last links in a long-lived and now-dead vintage line of witches and wizards. Capable of the darkest magic with the greatest ease, these two brothers have long-since set up camp on the line that divides good from evil, light from dark.
These six friends, no strangers to loss and heartache, have yet to realize the long, twisted roads their lives are even now preparing to take. Aslumber in their beds, worn out after a long day of classes and resting up for yet another, they have no idea that their lives have already begun the life-long journey down that road.
And so this story starts.
Kitch Grant, freshly turned fourteen years old, woke quite suddenly, the black darkness of his quarters swarming around him in a rush. As he pulled himself up into a sitting position he looked sleepily around the room, wondering why he'd suddenly come back to his senses, especially after the grueling day of study that had ended only hours before.
Running a hair through his sleep-tussled brown hair, he tossed back his covers and swung his legs around and off the bed, his feet automatically slipping into a dark blue pair of slippers, not bothering to pick up his wand from the table on the side of his bed.
As he climbed to his feet he could hear the sound of his back popping, just one more testament to how stiff and tired the previous day of classes had made him. He'd had to run a test maze for his Defense Against the Dark Arts class, a frightful gauntlet of dark creatures galore that had tested his young, fit body beyond its limits. And then he'd had a free period which had been taken up by his school's Qudditch team's practice, an affair made most frantic by the fact that they would be playing against the Salem Witch's Institute for the coveted title of United States Inter-League Junior Championship, where the winner got to go to the Qudditch World Cup this coming summer over in England. As one of the three Chasers of the school's team, he proudly sported the Nimbus Two Thousand he'd gotten three years ago, which, like him, had been given very little relief from the constant practices.
Of course, Kitch thought silently as he walked over to the tap to pour himself a drink of water, those two classes had been nothing compared to his Magizoology Class, where he and his classmates had been assigned to help in recovering a loose batch of Imps; the Imp Kitch had chased down had continued evading him just so it could then trip him and, as it did several times, push him into the various streams and creeks coursing across the island. He had nearly given up hope of ever catching this particular Imp when the rest of his squad had at long last arrived to help him out. Following his Magizoology Class, he'd then had another Qudditch practice, Transfiguration, Potions, and one final, three-hour long, Qudditch practice.
As the young wizard-in-training sat his goblet down, now finished with his late-night drink, Kitch looked around his darkened room, which remained silent as the other three members of his squad continued sleeping, unaware that one of their own had so suddenly woken up, no longer able to sleep.
He put his right foot in front of his left, prepared to return to his bed and try again to get some sleep, but something stopped him cold in his tracks.
At first he didn't know what it was that had stopped him, but as he stood there, listening to the silent, dark night, the silence of his quarters began to slowly seep away. So light that he almost thought he might be hearing things, he could hear the sounds of footsteps echoing down the corridor outside of his room, and immediately he chalked it up to a student out for a night-time stroll, which, while against school rules for all students below their fifth year, wasn't exactly the most uncommon of occasions.
However, he was just getting ready to ignore the student when he heard what sounded very much like the sound of something heavy hitting the floor, and it didn't sound that far off. Unable to help his curiosity any further, Kitch reached the door and pulled it backwards towards him, just barely sticking his head out into the corridor beyond to take in what, exactly was going on.
Almost immediately a grisly sight greeted the young teen's hazel eyes. The corridor to both his left and right were littered with bodies, both on the ground and standing. However, all those standing shared the same blood-crimson-colored hooded cloaks with what looked to be black circles over their left breasts, where the Human heart was located…and the moment Kitch saw this particular feature he knew what was happening.
It was also at that moment, however, that one of the closer figures looked up and, before he could withdraw back to his room, noticed the young teen now bearing witness to what was happening. The witch raised her wand, taking aim, and immediately the frozen boy thawed out, jerking his head back into his room before she could add his to the body count.
"COME ON YOU GUYS, WAKE UP!" He shouted, racing back to his bed, where his wand laid abandoned on the bedside table. "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
One of the sleeping figures across the room raised up from a top bunk, her head barely visible.
"Kitch, shut up and go back to sleep." She said, speaking with a monotonous accent. "It's barely-"
"WAKE UP ALREADY!" Kitch shouted again as his hand wrapped securely around his stick of wood. "WE'RE BEING INVADED!"
"Kitch." Another voice said, this also belonging to a girl, though her accent put her as being from the American Pacific Northwest. "Relax, okay? It's just a nightmare: we are not now nor have we ever been invaded by the Hyper-Active Space Ninja Fairies of Doom."
"Yeah," A third voice said, just as sleepily, his southern accent more closely related to Kitch's own. "They sent an owl earlier: they are not invading 'til next week."
As Kitch's mouth opened to once again try and rouse his mistaken friends from their slumbers, the door to their squad's quarters suddenly exploded into a million splinters of wood, and with panic replacing his blood, Kitch raised his arm and chanted the first spell to come to mind.
"Stupefy!"
A jet of crimson light rocketed forth from the tip of his wand, slamming dead center into the torso of the figure that had entered the room, and as the witch crumpled to the ground the rest of his squad mates were instantly awake and on the floor, their wands out and at the ready.
"What the hell was that all about?" That first female voice, belonging to the dark-skinned Tabitha Harding, barked, anger and fear absent from her voice.
"I told you." Kitch responded, unable to keep a hint of his own anger from leaking into his words. "We're under-"
At that precise moment, a second figure, a tall, lanky man, entered the room, his wand raised…
"Petrificus Totalus!" The voice of the only other male in their squad shouted out, and instantly the target wizard's body snapped to attention before falling backwards immediately afterwards.
"I theorize," Pax Onasi said, sounding as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening. "That Kitch is indeed quite correct: we are under assault."
"Just friggin' lovely." Tabitha Harding answered. "I have to run Professor White's maze tomorrow, and these fuckers wanna interrupt my sleep. Come on you guys, let's go get the staff and let them handle this."
"TABBY!" Kitch shouted as his friend went to the door. "DON'T-"
Less than two seconds after she stepped through the doorway she suddenly ducked and was backpedaling as fast as she could back into the room as over half a dozen curses slammed into the wall through the air where her head had just been.
"We're are so not going out that way." Tabitha breathed, fighting her way back to her feet as she took aim at the empty-for-the-moment door way, the other three each following suit. A moment later, two forms entered the room, and simultaneous the four friends opened up once more, now acting as a single unit, their curses felling both wizards.
"Okay, we can do this." The second voice said, this belonging to the squad's leader, Elianna Kasumi. "Kitch, a tactical mind was your gift from the Lord, not mine: any ideas?"
Kitch nodded his head, but as he opened his mouth yet more figures appeared in the doorway, and once again the four of them went to work clearing their quarters of hostile forces.
"Right then." Kitch said as the last enemy figure hit the ground. "We can't go out the front door, so let's go out the back door instead."
"Yeah, good idea." Tabitha answered. "Oh, but wait!" She added, her sarcastic tone now clear. "We haven't got a back door."
In response Kitch picked up one of the larger shards of what was once their door and then proceeded to turn around, throwing it out across the rooms: seconds later the sound of shattering glass filled their ears.
"We do now." Kitch said, flashing a roguish smile at his dark-skinned friend.
"Smart ass." Tabitha muttered as Pax Onasi approached the door. He gave his wand a wide wave and instantly four long, thick brown ropes appeared as if from thin air.
"We'll cover you." Kitch said as he, Elianna, and Tabitha placed themselves between the door and Pax, who was now working to tie the four ropes around a stone pillar in the center of the room.
Seconds later another witch came rushing through the room, not stopping as she entered the room, and Kitch, having somehow expected such a move, was the first to attack.
"Stupefy!"
Another jet of red light. Another body hit the ground.
"I theorize we are now prepared to make our hasty escape." Pax said seconds later.
"Okay, Pax, Elianna, you guys go down first while Tabitha and me cover you." Kitch responded. "Then ya'll can cover us from the ground while we climb down to join you."
"Kitch-"
"No arguing, Elianna." Kitch answered, his eyes focusing on the demolished doorway, waiting for another attack.
"No, Kitch, you might wanna see this." She said, but it was at that moment that three large, burly wizards came storming through the demolished door, their wands raised and at the ready.
"STUPEFY!"
This time, however, Kitch's voice was echoed by both Tabitha and Elianna, but amazingly only Elianna's spell seemed to hit it's mark, and even then the man the attack hit only stumbled, but kept coming.
Three green jets of light shot forward from their wands, and as the three deadly curses came zooming in towards the children the sound of something massive rushing through the air filled their ears. Kitch found himself diving to the side, and even as he landed he was rolling over onto his back, quickly taking aim.
"STUPEFY!" He bellowed, and his own Stunner made contact with the same wizard Elianna had hit earlier, but again the man merely stumbled, and only when two other Stunners hit him together did he finally fall. Of course, this left only…
Kitch's train of thought was suddenly derailed as there were two more flashes of green light. Immediately, however, Kitch's brain registered that there was something wrong with this latest scene…those last two curse had come from behind them, and the way they'd impacted each man directly in the face was proof enough that their casters had taken very precise aim beforehand…
"Look, damn it," A deep, masculine voice said, causing Kitch to spin around, his wand at the ready. "We're not going to baby-sit you kids all night. Get the move on, you goddamn rookies."
"Duran, Billy." Kitch acknowledge, his eyes traveling from one pale face to another, both of them mounted on broomsticks just outside the window Kitch had shattered moments before.
"Hot damn, Duran, the boy can see."
"Yep; before we know it he'll be growing a pair of saggy ones." The boy on the right, Duran, responded. Kitch, in turn, merely shook his head as he and his three friends approached the shattered window, each grabbing one of the ropes as they prepared to make their descent out of the besieged dormitory. What they saw once at the window, however, stopped them all dead in their tracks.
What had been, only hours before, a massive, impressive, sprawling campus of magical education was now a smoldering, burning inferno, flames rising up hundreds of feet into the air, building that had stood for hundreds of years, since the days following the discovery of the New World, were now devastated piles of rubble…and, Kitch noticed, a lump rising up in his throat, there was no sign of any resistance at all: no students, no teachers, no one at all was outside, moving to the aid of the school they called home…
"No." He breathed, his throat constricting so tightly that he was surprised he could form even that single word.
"Oh yes." Duran responded. "I'd bet Billy there that we're all that's left."
Pax nodded his head in agreement as he too prepared to climb down. "Let us escape this dormitory and then shall we see what kind of defense way may mount."
"Defense?" Duran laughed as Kitch grabbed his rope and, tucking his wand into the waistband of his pants, began his slow descent towards the ground below, his three friends following suit on either side of him. "You've got to be joking, kid: there's nothing left to defend."
"He's right, Pax." Kitch said a minute later as he reached the ground. "We'd only be wasting our remaining strength trying to defend a building from the outside that's been taken on the inside, and the rest of these buildings are beyond help."
"Okay then, Kitch, you got a plan?" Elianna asked as she too reached the ground.
"Yeah." He responded, taking up a defensive position so that he'd be able to see anyone approaching them. "They have to be after something, and it has to be something important too: they'd not reveal their return in this kind of fashion without hoping to gain something big from it."
"Their return?" Elianna asked, her brow furrowing slightly as she joined Kitch. "The way you make that sound…"
"It's the Black Suns." Kitch answered. "I recognize the robes they're wearing."
"Impossible." Tabitha blurted as she too reached the ground. "The Black Suns have been disbanded for almost fourteen years now-"
"When the Dread Lord Imperious was defeated and captured, yes." Kitch answered, suddenly very angry and very read to fight. "Still, I recognize their robes, and their emblems."
"I theorize Kitch is indeed correct with his hypothesis." Pax answered, the last of the four to reach the ground. "However, this makes so little sense; the Dread Lord Imperious is still incarcerated in the bowels of Lusankya Prison: it would be global news had he effected his escape."
Kitch nodded his head, speaking very carefully, cautious of giving away the secret he'd been hiding from his friends from the moment he'd met them. "If what I've been told is right, Imperious indoctrinated many of his numbers, and, following his capture, those who escaped justice vowed to return only when the Dread Lord had returned to them."
"Okay then," Elianna nodded. "They're after something then. The question is: what, precisely, are they after?"
"Ain't it obvious?" Tabitha asked. "They're after the Thunder Stone."
"What makes you say that?" Billy asked as the two brothers joined in on the conversation.
"Rule number one for all Muggle street urchins: never reveal yourself unless going for the biggest payday around…what bigger treasure exists on this island than the Thunder Stone?"
"I thought the Elemental Stones were just legend." Duran answered, a frown on his face.
"All legend is based on some facts, Duran." Pax answered shortly. "I theorize Tabby's assumption is correct: the Black Sun Syndicate is attacking us to gain custody of the Stone of Thunder."
"It still makes no sense." Elianna said. "Why-"
Her sentence, however, was cut off as a group of six Black Suns came charging up towards them, forcing Kitch and his friends to silence their conversation as they moved to once more do battle with a far superior foe.
Curses, a mixture of green and red, filled the air as Kitch, Elianna, Tabitha, Duran, and Billy swapped blows with their foes, while Pax, incapable of using offensive magic, used his formidable Shielding Charm to protect his fellow witches and wizards from harm. Within minutes, only the six young students remained, standing tall and proud against their enemies.
"Pax." Kitch said quickly, not stopping to catch his breath. "Doesn't legend say the Elemental Stones can only be given life if brought together?"
"According to legend there is more to the process, but yes, that is one of the major factors of birthing the Elemental Stones."
"Then we can't let them take that Thunder Stone." Kitch responded. "If they're after it then the chances are high that they might have any or all of the other Stones…as long as we keep possession of the Thunder Stone those stones are useless."
"Whoa, hang on a minute." Billy countered, stepping in between Kitch and Pax. "I'm not going to waste my time chasing around this place hunting for a rock that may not even exist. My brother and I-"
"Are going to go protect the Thunder Stone." Duran answered, finishing his brother's sentence.
"Duran-"
"Just think, Billy." Duran interrupted. "If the Black Suns are after the Thunder Stone then that's where they'll have focused the majority of their forces, which for us would mean-"
"More kills." Billy responded, a wicked grin now on his face. "Alright runts, change of plans."
"Pax, Tabitha, I have a job for you guys." Kitch said, his mind racing. "We can't hope to stop the entire force of the Black Suns here, not if they've brought even an eighth of the numbers thought to still be at large-"
"Speak for yourself." Duran muttered.
"I need you two to get to the Floo House and get to Washington. Alert the Ministry of Magic about the attack and bring in as much backup as you can manage. The rest of us will go to the Thunder Stone and protect it until the Ministry of Magic arrives to reinforce us."
"Right then." Tabitha responded, squaring her shoulders and tightening the grip on her wand, looking in ever sense as a woman about to charge the iron gates of Hell itself. "Come on Pax."
"As the Muggles would say, let us fix the bayonets, yes Elianna?"
"Ummm…yeah." Elianna answered, sounding as though she'd had to think about it for a moment.
"Good luck, my friends." Pax answered as he and Tabitha took off away from the others.
"May the Lord be with us." Elianna muttered as she, along with Kitch and the Detreo brothers began moving forward. Duran, however, laughed.
"Please, who needs God when you have the Detreo brothers?"
Elianna gave Duran a particularly sour look Kitch had never before seen on his friend's face, but she said nothing in response. They moved across the devastated campus, speaking only when casting their spells to duel with scattered Black Sun forces, which, as it was quickly becoming apparent, had arrived on GAME Island en masse.
"See." Kitch whispered as he and his friends crossed over a large, slightly damaged footbridge, beneath which a large, swollen creek was now flowing. "The Hall of Records is untouched. The Black Sun forces have been split into various forces; one to take the Thunder Stone and the others to kill everyone on the island."
"It still makes no sense." Elianna was saying. "Why not just steal the stone and escape, without letting anyone know they were ever here? Surely they wouldn't be arrogant enough to believe they could actually kill everyone here."
"Back during the height of their power, they could have done so." Kitch responded. "And besides, the defenses surrounding the Thunder Stone are too powerful to steal it stealthily. And besides, look at it from their point of view." He added on sudden inspiration. "They invade GAME Island, take the Stone, and kill everyone here, a massacre the likes of which the magical world has never before known. The entire world would know some powerful group was behind it, but people would be afraid, unsure if it was the Black Suns or some other power-hungry wizard looking to be the next Voldemort, the next Imperious: what better terrorist plot could one hatch?"
"Okay, oh fearless leader, what's your plan?" Duran asked sarcastically as they approached the Hall of Records.
"I'll tell you what our plan is." Billy answered, not even giving Kitch a chance to open his mouth. "We go through these doors and we kill any son-of-a-banshee that's still standing. Short, sweet, and to the point."
"No." Kitch said. "Elianna and I barely even know the incantation to the Killing Curse, let alone have the power to use it in combat. And besides, if we go around just blasting anything that moves who knows what kind of damage we'll cause? The Thunder Stone is on the bottommost floor of the Hall of Records; we make a beeline to the Stone and we stay there protecting it until Ministry help arrives."
"Damn boy, you're boring. No wonder you haven't got any-"
"He's right." Duran countered once more. "If they're really after the stone then that's where most of them will be anyways."
"Right then." Billy answered back, that wicked grin on his face once more. "Let's get crackin'."
Kitch nodded they followed Duran and Billy through the already-destroyed door and into the Hall of Records.
The room beyond was lit and in near-perfect condition. It was massive, the walls on both sides lined with statues of the school's great headmasters and teachers down through the years, with portraits hanging up above each statue.
"Come on." Kitch said, moving to the left and through a door that had already been blown away, now the one at the head of what remained of GAME Island's defenders.
He'd expected to encounter a magical army on the far side of the door, but to his surprise it, too, was empty, save only for a spiral staircase that led downwards into the bowels of the earth, the torches along the walls flickering weakly with blue flames.
"Where is everybody?" Elianna asked as the four of them began moving slowly down the spiral staircase.
"As Pax would say, I have a theory." Kitch responded, his wand raised. "I just pray I'm wrong."
"You don't think they've already reached the Thunder Stone, do you?" She asked as they continued their descent.
"Who cares?" Duran asked. "Whether they've reached the Thunder Stone or not couldn't matter less. All that counts is they won't be leaving with it; I'll make sure of that."
Billy laughed his consent at his brother's words.
As they continued forward in silence, Kitch finally allowed his mind to visit the storm of emotions surrounding the sudden, grim resurrection of the Black Sun Syndicate.
For as long as he could remember he'd lived under the shadow of the Black Suns and their leader, the Dread Lord Imperious. From the moment he'd arrived at GAME Island he'd strived to prove to both himself, his family, and the world that he was better than that horrible legacy. He'd always ensured that when people looked at him they didn't see the son of the Dread Lord Imperious, or the son of the woman who'd been responsible for his defeat and captured, but rather someone strong, powerful, brave and intelligent, someone destined to become better than both his mother and his father combined. He'd vowed, from the moment he'd learned the truth about his father's horrible fate, that he would be the one to erase that terrible legacy from the face of the world and restore honor to his family's name.
He'd never told any of his friends the truth about his connection to the Black Suns. Not Duran, or Billy, or Pax, or Tabitha, not even Elianna, his best friend in the entire world. No matter how often they'd visited his home over the holidays, he'd always managed to ensure that his secret remained safe. Now, however, it looked as though that secret might at last be compromised, his ability to protect it greatly reduced.
'No.' He told himself, that one, simple word lighting a fire deep inside of him. He loved all of his best friends; their friendship with him meant more to him than anything else, and he would not risk losing those friendships simply because of his father's stupidity and sins. He would do all he could to hold off the Black Suns until the Ministry of Magic arrived, and then, once they'd come in and taken back the besieged school, his secret would remain as safe as it'd ever been.
He stopped dead in his tracks as his mind returned to the present moment, and, to his surprise, they were now at the bottom of the staircase, just outside of the room where the Thunder Stone was usually kept, a place off-limits to all students. And, like so many other doors, the door that should have been there to keep them out was down, bodies littering the floor.
"Sometimes I hate being right." Kitch muttered as he and his friends approached the door, silent and ready. Kitch and Duran took the left side of the door while Billy led Elianna over to the right side of the door, their bodies pressed against the walls as they listened intently to the voices on the other side of that door.
"Come on, you lot of mangy weaklings!" A woman's high-pitched voice ordered, a maniac sound to it. "We're already way behind schedule as it is! We don't know if those guards managed to get a message off to Washington before we took control of this building or not! And Davidson, you break the case holding that stone and I will kill you!" She added shrilly. "You heard what the Dread Lord said about the stone! Only he must be the one to touch it and bind it to him!"
"Of course, Lady Tatsu, I'm sorry." A man answered dully, and suddenly it was as if someone had poured hot metal into Kitch's veins. Tatsu…he'd heard that name before, countless times in the past…he'd often dreamt of being the one to find her and turn her over to the Ministry of Magic…
"Okay." Kitch whispered. "They don't know we're here, so we'll have the element of surprise. On the count of three we go charging in like raging Manticores." He continued. "We fight our way to the stone, get it, and fall back towards the Floo House to await the Ministry of Magic."
"Let's do it, then." Billy answered. "I'm getting bored."
"On three then." Kitch whispered, raising his free right hand and lifting up three fingers, and, in silence, he counted down.
The moment his final finger had lowered they rushed forward, wands raised and curses shouting out into the large room; by the time those closest to the door had managed to begin to turn around they'd already crumpled to the ground, hit by either a Stunner from Kitch or Elianna, a Killing Curse from either of the Detreo brothers, or a mixture of all four.
"BLAST IT ALL!" The woman called Lady Tatsu barked. "KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!"
Kitch, in response to her words, sent a Stunner directly at her head, a spell that soared only inches too high above her hair. She raised her wand in response, but before she could begin her own curse Elianna was suddenly at Kitch's side, a Stunner of her own coming even closer to hitting Tatsu than Kitch's had.
A trio of witches to Kitch's left were suddenly aiming Killing Curses right at both him and Elianna, and only by grabbing Elianna's wrist and dragging her behind a large boulder did they avoid meeting an untimely demise.
For several minutes the battle continued in this fashion, Kitch and Elianna Stunning one or two enemies and then taking cover to avoid taking hostile attacks. However, this was gaining them very little ground, for every time they'd Stun a Black Sun one of the other Black Suns would come up and revive their fallen comrade. To make matters worse for the surviving defenders was the fact that Duran and Billy, the two who were using the illegal Killing Curses, were being pinned down, being given almost no chance at returning fire against their attackers.
"This can't go on for much longer." Kitch growled as more curses and spells slammed into the boulder's opposite side. "It's like slaying a monster with three heads."
"Every time one gets cut off two more take its place." Elianna answered, searching for room to launch another counter-attack. As more curses continued to eat through the boulder's opposite face, Kitch caught Duran's eyes and knew his old family's friend was thinking the same thing.
Raising his hands in front of him, Duran began making a short series of furious hand gestures, and, while Kitch knew he should recognize them, his mind was terribly blank.
"Elianna, a little help here would be nice." He mumbled angrily.
"Well, if you'd have paid more attention to Colonel Faulkner." She snapped, swinging her head over towards the older boy.
"What's he saying?" Kitch asked, ignoring his friend's reprimand.
"He says we charge them head-on all at once and take the Thunder Stone by force." Elianna interpreted. "A full-frontal assault."
Kitch mused on his friend's proposal for a brief moment. Considering they had nothing going for them at the moment now that they'd lost the element of surprise, it was better than just hiding, and waiting for death to come for them.
"I knew you wouldn't go for it." Elianna answered. "We need something thought-out, something well-planned-"
"We're going for it." Kitch interrupted, his mind suddenly made up.
"What?" She asked, nearly dropping her wand in surprise. "Come on Kitch, you can't be serious-"
"I'm dead serious, Elianna." Kitch answered, his grip on his wand tightening. "The only thing we had going for us was the element of surprise, and we lost that almost the moment we gained it."
"That doesn't matter, Kitch." She said, shaking her head furiously. "We're outnumbered half-a-dozen-to-one, and every time we take one out they're revived in next to no time at all. We're only children, Kitch! If we charge them like some great army fixing bayonets we'll be slaughtered."
"Dunno what a bayonet is." Kitch answered stubbornly. "But it sounds delicious. Look Elianna, charging head-long into a hive of dark witches and wizards with only three other teenagers is stupid, reckless, ill-though-out, and, in all likely-hoods, suicidal, and they'll know we'll be keeping that in mind."
"Then why-"
"They'll never see it coming." Kitch answered, a confident smile on his face now. The foggy haze of combat had just suddenly lifted, as though the world had never been clearer in all his fourteen years. "It's the last thing they'll see coming, and in those few, short seconds, when they're taken aback by our stupidity, our foolishness, we'll strike back as hard as we can. Can you give Duran and Billy a non-verbal message to go for the Thunder Stone?"
Kitch and Elianna had been best friends since their first day at GAME Island, and the two of them knew each other better than they knew themselves, and it was because of this bond that Kitch Grant knew exactly what his friend was thinking.
"I know it's risky Elianna, but you have to trust me. You said earlier that my gift from God was a tactical mind-"
"Of course-"
"So please, don't second guess me-"
"I'd never-"
"Please, Elianna, just trust me."
The girl nodded her head. "Always."
Kitch nodded his head and turned to catch Duran's eyes as Elianna began a series of quick, elegant gestures with her hands, and as Duran nodded to show he understood Kitch gave his friend a thumbs-up with his free hand, to which Duran gave a casual salute, visibly preparing himself for what was about to come…
The boulder behind which Kitch and Elianna were hiding suddenly began to crack, shards of rocks burying themselves shallowly in the skin of their backs, but neither gave any indication to the pain as, with his free hand, Kitch held it up, palm out and all five fingers stretched out tightly. He began the slow, steady count-down from five. Four fingers left. Three fingers left. Two…
"Yea-"
One finger left to go…
"Though I walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death-"
"I fear no evil." Kitch finished as that final finger dropped, his hand now a closed fist. He'd heard her mutter the same prayers at least a million times since they'd first met, but this was the first time he'd ever said it, and while it was different than what she normally said it was as though those words had cast an iron shield over his body to protect him from any harm that may come his way.
Duran and Billy charged out from around either side of their boulder, letting lose with a barrage of deadly Killing Curses. At the same moment they moved forward, Kitch and Elianna joined them, charging from either side of their own boulder, and as Kitch's first Stunner took out the closest target he knew he'd made the right decision.
Time itself seemed to slow down as they moved. Those immediately closest to the oncoming defenders made no attempt at hiding their surprise, their wands not moving to protect them, and even as they fell their fellows were still slow in recovering.
Closest to Kitch now was the hooded-figure carrying the glass class containing the Thunder Stone, and with no thought Kitch's next Stunner hit the man in his right shoulder. As he slumped backwards the glass case fell towards the ground, the Earth now standing still, every eye on the glass case and the young teen wizard now only inches from catching it…
"Accio Thunder Stone!" Tatsu's voice bellowed, and suddenly the fabrics of the space-time continuum were reverted back to their original state as the world around him sped back up to normal. The smooth glass surface touched Kitch Grant's palm, but the moment the Charm took effect the case went zooming away, all the way across the room to the Summoning Charm's owner, a triumphant look on her face. Once more that anger swelled up inside of him, and suddenly everyone around him disappeared, leaving only Tatsu, Kitch, and the Thunder Stone.
She turned as though she were going to leave, laughing maniacally.
"COME BACK HERE, COWARD!" Kitch roared like a lion, charging after her, not even moving to attack any more of her followers…they were irrelevant now.
As Kitch charged forward mindlessly, Tatsu, not bothering to turn around, pointed her wand behind her and suddenly Kitch's entire world went dark as dirt, rock, and dust exploded beneath him, sending the earthen material into his eyes as he was blasted up into the air and several feet away.
For the briefest of moments he thought he'd died. All sound around him died out, the world going as silent as his vision. For the shortest period in recorded history the young teen thought he'd been relieved of all wordly worries…
And then his back exploded in a fireball of pain as his body impacted the ground, making him realize immediately that he was still very much alive.
For a moment he laid where he was, unmoving, afraid of what he would discover about his injuries the moment he tried to force his battered body back into action…
Stinging from the dirt they'd taken in, sore from the blast he'd been hit with, his eyes slowly fluttered open, showing him the seen before him in a blurry picture.
Elianna, as he watched, Stunned another Black Sun as two more took aim from behind, only to be cut down ruthlessly by the Detreo brothers before their wands could issue their shots. High above the scene, the Thunder Stone in her hands, Tatsu was retreating from the battle to claim victory, confident that her forces would soon mop up GAME Island's only survivors. Her eyes, scanning the room one final time, swept over Duran, Billy, and Elianna, laughing as they tried to pursue her only to be stopped by the overwhelming number of Black Suns…and then those dark, pitiless eyes found Kitch, and even though his eyesight had been damaged he could see the challenge in those eyes, the dare she was issuing…
Even with his world completely silent, Kitch's left hand closed over a wooden handle, and the moment wand and flesh reunited, the young wizard-in-training found himself rising to his feet once more, shaking off his latest injury, and not bothering with any of the other Black Suns, Kitch Grant again charged, only one thing now mattering in his brain…
Green flashes of jets crashed and flew all around him, slamming into the ground and cave walls behind, in front, and next to him as he ran, but he ignored the dangers, brushing off the half-a-dozen near-misses as hit the stone staircase leading up to the surface, his wand held down at his side as he charged on head, following Tatsu up the stairs, his mind now full focused on the mission at hand: he'd die to make sure her mission was a failure.
The sound of her insane laughter was so great that it was the noise which penetrated his silent universe, though it sounded now as though it were coming into his brain through a long, underwater tunnel full of various junk.
Only a couple of minutes later Kitch was once more back outside, now chasing Tatsu across the GAME grounds towards the closest exit, where the school's magical wards and barriers would cease to exist, allowing Tatsu the perfect chance to Disapparate and escape with the Thunder Stone in her grasp.
"You're mine!" Kitch roared, raising his wand. "STUPEFY!"
His curse, however, missed its target, which, to Kitch's sudden horror, was no longer even there.
Then there was that distant insane laugh once more, this time followed by a voice that was no longer high-pitched and shrill but now calm, controlling, and flat.
"Come now, Kitch Grant, I would have expected the son of Lord Imperious to be far better than that."
Kitch, not stopping to think, allowed the instincts he'd honed over the years on the Quidditch Pitch to take over, acting as though this were just another game of Quidditch. The Thunder Stone was now the Quaffle, and Tatsu was now just another opponent for him to defeat.
He spun around, his wand coming up as his mouth opened to again summon his most faithful attack…
"Expelliarmus."
That, Kitch knew, was not his voice, nor was that the spell he'd intended to use…
His wand flew sharply from his hand, his spell unfinished as he was now left defenselss.
"Oh, don't think I don't recognize that look in your eyes, kid." She growled, moving closer to him. "You want to see me suffer, to see me get what's mine. You want more than for justice to be served, oh yes. You want me dead…and you want to be the one that does it."
Kitch said nothing but stared the woman down, refusing to blink, to show any fear as what he now knew to be the final moments of his life ticked back. She'd receive no satisfaction from him, no matter what she might do or say…
"Such bravery." She purred. "Such a waste." She laughed. "You are very much your father's son."
Still he said nothing as he glared into her dark, evil eyes.
"You have great potential kid. So much power is at your disposal, young Grant. You can surpass even the Dread Lord himself. Yessssss…I can sense the magical talent you have inherited, my lord…"
"Shut up, you bitch." Kitch growled. "Kill me, torture me, do whatever it is you plan on doing, but don't think for even a moment that you'll turn me into the next Dread Lord."
"Your father once said the same thing." She laughed. "He swore he'd never turn to the Dark Side. He vowed to remain 'true' to himself and his wife…and look where he is now."
"Yeah." Kitch responded. "A nice, cozy cell in Lusankya."
"Only because of one stupid mistake." She answered. "You, however, could avoid that mistake; you are far smarter and greater than your father."
"You really want me to join you?"
"I could teach you everything, and anything, you could ever want to know. I could show you magic that no other can ever hope to teach you. I could teach you how to rule the world, how to subjugate millions…I can teach you how to master, and indeed, reverse, death; Death himself would bow before you."
"You can take that offer and shove it straight up your-"
"Crucio!" She roared, cutting Kitch off in mid-sentence. It was pain the likes of which he'd never before known. His bones were on fire, a raging inferno deep inside of his body. It felt as though a trillion and more shards of glass, razor sharp, were attacking ever nerve inside of him. He could feel his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he collapsed to the ground, unable to do anything to relieve it.
'Please.' He begged silently. 'Please kill me and end this pain now, please-'
And as quickly as it had hit him the pain was gone. His heart was beating rapidly against his ribs as his eyes opened once more, taking in the fiery, smoky night around him, that far-off sound of Tatsu's voice again filling his ears.
"And to imagine that was but a taste of the full power of the Dark Side." She teased. "Join with me, Kitch Grant, and take your rightful place as the heir of the Dread Lord. Kitch, in response, laughed as he climbed up to his knees, staring her directly in the eyes once more.
"Is that the best you've got?" He asked defiantly. "If so, I can't say I'm impressed."
"Crucio!" She bellowed again, and the Torture Curse's pain was even worse the second time around. His blood, it felt like, was being replaced by molten lava that seemed to be eating its way through him from the inside out, destroying the very fabric of his being. He could just barely hear Tatsu's laughs as he continued to writh in pain along the ground, begging silently for the sweet release of death.
Again, the pain suddenly stopped.
"You are powerful, kid, I can taste it on my lips. There are none who could stand against you once you've been brought into your powers. You must join me, Kitch Grant. You have no choice except to become the next, the best, Dread Lord."
Kitch said nothing as he again struggled to his knees, collecting within him the strength it'd take to stand up.
Still, he said nothing.
"You could have everything you want." She continued, her voice suddenly soft, seductive. "You could have all the gold and power in the world, all the servants to do as you order-"
"Can I please have more of that Cruciatus Curse?" He asked, defiant as ever as he stared back into the woman's eyes. Her face instantly contorted into a look of angry race.
"Crucio!"
Even with his injured hearing, Kitch could still hear his screams perfectly, noises he'd never before made, sounds he'd never suspected his mouth capable of making. The pain was worse than ever before, but still he held his ground.
"You'll never break me." Kitch muttered as the curse again let up. "Do what you want, but you'll never break me, you God-forsaken witch, and you'll never turn me."
"Oh, I will turn you, my young wizarding friend." She cooed calmly. "Everyone can be broken down, as I proved with your father, and you shall be no different. Before I am done you will be feared just as the Dark Lord Voldemort was, just as your father is now. You will turn, young one, or you will die."
Kitch laughed, remembering what Elianna had said just before their suicidal charge minutes before.
"I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death." Kitch said, not taking his eyes off of Tatsu as he spoke. "But I fear no evil, you sorry bitch."
"Your mudblood friend has you believing that a paradise of Heaven awaits you upon your death?" She laughed. "To be so naïve…"
"Elianna may have muddy blood," Kitch responded. "But it's nowhere near as muddy as yours, Mudblood." He laughed again. "That word fits you-"
The rest of his sentence died as for the fourth time she hit him with the Torture Curse, and the pain was worse than the first three curses put together. He could hear loudly his screams of agony as the pain flooded from his mouth. He could feel (and taste) the ocean of saliva drooling from his mouth and down his lips. His head felt like it was about to explode at any minute, his heart now beating so fast that he was almost certain one could see it even through his clothes and skin…he was, he felt, only a short distance away from certain death…with pain like this there could possibly be no other fate left for him.
"Join me, Kitch Grant." Tatsu said at last, again letting up on the Torture Curse. "Join me, or die-"
"Which one was it?" Kitch asked, determined to be a rebel to the end. "Your mommy or your daddy? Was mommy a witch and daddy a muggle? Or was mommy a muggle and daddy a witch? Or maybe one of them was a squib and the other a muggle…yes, that fits so much better-"
"You insolent little bastard!" She roared.
"Now now, Lady Tatsu." Kitch mocked, laughing as he realized he couldn't stop himself from speaking. "What would the Dread Lord say if he knew his mistress was talking about him like that. Bad girl, bad-"
"AVADA-"
However, the second part of that curse died out, never to leave the woman's mouth. Looking up, Kitch saw a second figure charging forward, her wand outraised, and even through the night, even with the distance between them, Kitch recognized her immediately, and instantly he knew he was saved…Pax and Tabitha had succeeded and Lor Grant was now coming to her son's rescue.
Even with the injuries he'd sustained already, Kitch watched in amazement as his mother and Tatsu exchanged flashes of emerald and crimson light, neither of them speaking as they dueled.
The two witches continued their campaign against one another, neither of them giving ground as they warred, trading shots back and forth with such intensity that the smell of it began wafting across the grounds.
And a sudden flash of reflected light brought Kitch to his senses, registering in his brain and allowing his body to shrug off some of his damage as he began inching forward, silently closing in on the wand he'd lost so many minutes before. Tatsu, he knew, still had the Thunder Stone, and in her furious determination to save her son it was unlikely Lor Nash had noticed it…
His hand wrapped around the handle of his wand once again, and summoning the last of his courage and strength Kitch clambered back to his feet and surged forward, keeping his eyes focused solely on the prize.
Slowly, silently, he proceded forward, his wand raised and at the ready. So busy was this woman that she never saw him coming, never heard his footsteps…
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Kitch bellowed suddenly, and instantly her wand and the case with the Thunder Stone went sailing out of her hands and through the air. Though a wandless Tatsu was the best Tatsu, Kitch found himself more concerned with the Thunder Stone. As the glass case flew through the air he charged forward after it, his arms outstretched, ready to make the catch…
"NOOOOO!" Tatsu shouted as the glass again touched Kitch's hands, and as the young wizard spun around towards the dark witch he kept as firm a grip as he could on the case, prepared should she try to summon it again…
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" She bellowed, and with a rushing sound a green jet of light shot forward at Kitch, smashing into the glass case.
Shards of hot glass flew off in every direction, cutting Kitch all over as the Stone of Thunder went sailing off through the night sky. Kitch, however, refused to be defeated. Stumbling backwards, Kitch caught the now-bare Thunder Stone in his hands, protecting it as he fell backwards onto the ground.
The moment stone and skin met there was what felt like a warm, shocking jolt of power that traveled down his arms and through the rest of his body. His entire body literally tingled with this new power as the Thunder Stone began to glow, but moments later it was as it had been before, a dull yellow stone that seemed to sparkle with a mystical power.
Even as this was happening there were several loud pops all around him, the unmistakable sound of additional witches and wizards Apparating onto the scene, and with a scream of fury echoing from her mouth Kitch looked up to see Tatsu spin around on the spot, gone a second later as though she'd never even existed, a dozen crimson spells crossing the space she'd just occupied. Knowing he was now safe, Kitch returned to his feet, slowly limping towards his mother, who was now rushing towards him.
He could feel his strength fading and his body preparing to shut down non-vital systems as it began to heal itself, but even as he knees buckled from the lack of strength to hold him up, he continued towards his mother, who quickly took him into her arms and held him erect. He said nothing as he allowed her to do so, confident that she knew what he'd gone through.
"Mom." Another witch said, this voice belonging to one of Kitch's three older sisters. "Most of the island is now secure. We've found Elianna Kasumi and the Detreo brothers down in the Hall of Records. They took a beating, but we think they'll be okay."
"Anyone else?" She asked, still holding Kitch close to her.
"There are a few other children near the Floo House, which we've still not secured…"
It was as though his sisters words had lit a fire inside of the young boy, a fire whose warmth and flames energized him and allowed him to fight through the pain and fatigue like nothing else as he powered his way free of his mother's hold.
"Kitch, where-"
"Shut it, Jessica." Kitch growled, thrusting the Thunder Stone into his sister's chest as hard as he could. "Pax and Tabitha are there on my orders: I'm not going to sit here and just let them die."
"The Ministry-"
"Up Merlin's backside with the Ministry." Kitch barked, now running as fast as he could towards the Floo House, where the shouts and explosions of curses could still be heard. The pain he'd suffered was still with him, but with two of his squad, two of his best friends, in such danger he was able to tune it out like a wireless station, focusing solely on what needed to be done, his mother, sister, and their fellows chasing after him.
He crested a small hill that overlooked the Floo House, a large, long building one story high with multiple doors set into the black brick. Dozens of figures were clogging the grounds around the Floo House, the smoky night alive with almost every spell in existance. The battle here, Kitch noted, was hectic, pitched, and desparate. Apparently the Black Suns weren't keen on leaving just yet.
He was in the middle of the war before he finally found Pax and Tabitha, the two of whom were swapping blows with thrice the number of Black Suns, alone, unprotected and unaided by any of the Ministry officials around them.
Kitch rushed forward towards his comrades, sending Stunners at anyone who looked as though they might try and stop him. As he approached from behind, however, Pax suddenly charged forward, vaulting over the fallen log behind which he and Tabitha had been taking cover and moving all the while, not bothering to return fire against his attackers as Tabitha covered him constantly from where she'd been moments before. A bad feeling was beginning to rise up inside of Kitch as he slid into place next to his dark-skinned friend, neither speaking as they focused on protecting their squad's youngest member.
Pax, Kitch soon discovered, had charged forward to save an unfortunately child, no older than ten, obviously a first year, who'd been caught in the middle of the attack. As Pax attempted to rush the girl back towards safety, she took a curse to the leg, and, not breaking his stride Pax stowed his wand, lifted the child into his arms, and came charging back towards Kitch and Tabitha, ducking and weaving to avoid the green jets of light now surrounding him.
As Pax approached Kitch moved to help his friend unload his precious load while Tabitha upped the ante of her attacks as she continued providing excellent cover for the boy. Even with his strength beginning to fail, Kitch managed to sit the girl down safely behind the log before turning to face Pax.
"My good friend," Pax said. "Did you manage to recover the Stone of-"
As Kitch continued to look into his friend's face, Pax's hazel eyes went oddly blank and dark, as though someone had just snuffed the drawing room's lantern out for the night. Pax's mouth closed and less than a second later he pitched forward, rolling over onto his back as he landed.
The space-time continuum, the very fabrics of the universe itself, frozen where it was at that moment. The urgent battle around them vaporized instantly as Kitch fell to his knees next to the fallen wizard's corpse, taking his friend's hand into his own as tears began to flow down his face unchecked and an ungodly sound, the most horrible noise ever made upon the face of the Earth, roared out behind him as Tabitha Harding realized what had just happened.
"PAX!" She screamed, rushing forward to her friend's side. "Please Pax, please!" She begged, launching herself onto his body. "PLEASE PAX, YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!"
Tabitha Harding however, was shouting the impossible, Kitch knew. Pax Onasi was dead.
"Yeah, Pax." Kitch answered, unable to think of anything else to say other than to answer the boy's final question. "I got the Thunder Stone."
Kitch never knew when the fighting at last ended, nor did he really care. The moment Pax Onasi had hit the ground so too had Kitch, and not once afterwards did he again move to fight back against those who had invaded GAME Island. Together, he and Tabitha stayed by their friend's side, unable to believe what had just happened.
Minutes seemed like hours and hours like years following Pax's fall, but finally Elianna joined them, and together, at the spot where Pax Onasi still laid, the three friends embraced one another tightly, and, without caring who saw them, refusing to be given medical treatment, the trio hugged, and they cried, mourning their loss as Duran and Billy Detreo merely watched, arms folded across their broad chests.
Hours later, when Elianna's muggle parents arrived, they were still in this same position, but still, none of them cared. The last thing Kitch remembered before the overwhelming, comforting darkness overtook him was the feel of Elianna's hands in his own, giving him comfort while seeking it for herself. And then the world went black. None of them knew, though, that hundreds of miles away, a triumphant Izumi Tatsu was giving a full, detailed report to her master, the Dread Lord of the Dark Side…
And there you have it.
I believe I like this chapter better than I did the whole previous story on which this is inspired. So, any thoughts, anyone? Any questions? Criticism?
The more reviews I get the faster I update, so REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!
