Acton's Heir
Authors Note: Thanks for reading, and a special thanks to Lungs, AridLegion, Plothole, CheddarTrek, Menace, and the host of people on DLP. You all rock.
This is the edited version of the Prologue
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~/Prologue/~
Revolutions have never lightened the burden of Tyranny; they have only shifted it to another shoulder.
George Bernard Shaw
/~/~/
How do you tell a woman that her husband is dead?
How do you tell a boy that his father is never coming home?
Those were the questions that refused to leave his head as Sirius apparated to the edge of the forest surrounding Renascentia; a small and quaint village in Wales formerly known as Godric's Hollow.
Quickly flicking his wand in an upward slash and tapping it on the crown of his head, Sirius waited just a moment for the tell tale chill of a Disillusionment charm before he began to rush down the forest path towards the village gates and the source of his sudden appearance: Potter Cottage.
Closing the distance between the forest edge and the only entrance into the walled and well guarded community, Sirius let loose a low curse.
A caravan of what all men and women of the Empire knew to be Black Death was heading towards the gates; soldiers garbed in solemn dark colors walking in a marching tandem, the occasional beat of a drum sounding through the night. And on closer examination, Sirius' fears were realized.
The Vollstreckers were here.
Like a flood gate, the stories that had haunted him as a child began to come back; "If you betray the Emperor, he'll send the Vollstreckers for your head!"
They were his hands; assassins and thinly controlled tools of destruction. They were the elite of the Emperor's men, and we're both idolized and feared by all of the citizens of the Anglo-German Empire.
And they were here in Renascentia; which despite it's origins as the revolution, it was still largely a small no name village.
Meaning but one thing; The Emperor knew. Somehow he knew where the family of one of the resistance's leaders resided.
He had thought the death of the Prewett twins merely bad luck. The capture of the Longbottoms unfortunate. Even when several of the Resistance's members were found dead, he never made the connection until now.
A traitor is among us. That was the only logical way such a thing could happen. Sirius knew at that moment that the raid was not a mere coincidence, because only a select few knew. A spy resided amongst their ranks,and had been the cause of all of their sufferings as of late.
Namely, the death of his two brothers in all but name.
And Sirius came to a startling conclusion: he was alone. He couldn't trust anyone. Anyone could be an enemy.
And so Sirius began to formulate a plan of action that only a grief stricken man could create.
He vowed that he would not allow the death of his brothers to be in vain. He would avenge them, that he knew.
/~/~/
Sirius looked down at his hand. In his palm lay three rocks of differing size and shape. Sirius furrowed his brow.
He had gathered the first rocks he could find so he could transfigure them into dogs as a distraction for any guard on station, but he was beginning to have doubts.
He was no transfiguration master, and he now felt the pain and sorrow once more, knowing that if James was still alive he could've easily done what Sirius planned.
Stay together Sirius. Gotta do this for Harry. For Lily. For James.
With renewed strength, Sirius lifted up his right hand. Gripping his blackthorn wand tightly, he silently cast his spell.
Suddenly the rocks in his hand began to morph into a parody of a skull; pointed fangs were growing from it's upper jaw, and indents appearing where eyes should have been.
Then the rock-skulls began to turn white and grow in size,with bleached bone reaching out from them until they resembled the skeleton of a dog.
Before long organs began to grow as if out of thin air, and Sirius nearly vomited from the horrific sight of the beating organs up close.
Then, as if by a godsend, skin began to knit itself together on the skeletal frames, and hair began to grow soon after, until where once there were three rocks, now stood three black haired dogs, snarling and baring their fangs.
Sirius cast a compulsion charm on the three before they decided to attack him, and with an upward flick, the beasts were disillusioned. Staring intently, he could just barely make out the shimmering forms of the three. Motioning for them to follow, he quickly began the trek towards the gates.
/~/~/~/
In front of the gate stood two guards; men wearing simple blue robes that signified them as lowly militiamen. Men who lived in the village, men who probably had families, who had children and friends and dogs and...
Sirius quickly shook his head and forced the thoughts out. I have no sympathy for collaborators.
Motioning to the three dogs behind him, he signaled them to attack.
The three creatures rushed forward, going in breaking neck speeds that made a shimmering blur around them.
The guards had no time to react.
The first was killed instantly, his throat crushed by the powerful jaws of one of the quickest dogs. The beast had jumped up on him before either wizard could react, and was easily identified by the soaking blood maw it now had.
The other guard was not so lucky. The remaining dogs quickly ganged up on him, but the man seemed to be more skilled than his fallen partner. Letting loose several cutting curses with each horizontal slash of his wand, he killed the dog that was happily eating his fellow collaborator. He didn't realize until too late that there were two others, and that his friend was long gone.
His screams told off the Vollstreckers, who hearing a ruckus opened the gate and quickly exited.
While the two dealt with his transfigured beasts, Sirius entered through the archway, and began following what he figured to be a main-street. He paid no mind to the screams of the dying guard, or the howls of the mutts.
He had other things to worry about, his conscious least of all.
/~/~/~/
It seemed as if the village was deserted. Houses were boarded up, and all was quiet, as if completely devoid of life. With the Vollstreckers around, they very well could be.
Sirius let loose an involuntary shudder, but continued on his way all the same.
Entering into a small open spaced area that Sirius believed was the the village square, there resided a statue.
A man, his features handsome and sharp, kneeling with his arms outstretched. If he had a crown of thorns, he couldn't be more portrayed as some Wizarding savior.
But all he was, was a tyrant hiding behind the trappings of a revolutionary promising the world.
Promising freedom. Promising an end of hiding.
He ended hiding, but took away all the freedoms the world had to offer. If you didn't follow his rhetoric, problems would lay ahead for you and your family. He robbed the world of it's beauty by making the "War to end all wars" a never-ending one. He was a tyrant, and seeing his image filled Sirius with such an unrelenting rage that he wanted to destroy the statue, but he curbed his urges.
He would use this rage for later, for when Lily and Harry were safe. For when the traitor was revealed. Sirius went on his way, ignoring the statue.
He never noticed the statue's eyes seemed to be following each movement he made, disillusionment be damned.
/~/~/
Sirius knew something was wrong the minute he saw the smoke billowing overhead.
He rushed down an older cobbled road in some disrepair and saw to his horror a burning cottage; it's stone seemingly melted due to the intensity of the flames.
Where once there was Potter Cottage, a bizarre and grotesque parody stood in it's place.
He rushed into the Cottage with a reckless zeal, hoping that they had escaped, or hidden, or...
He let loose a grief-filled howl when he saw the half-burned remains of Peter Pettigrew.
Half of his body,was shriveled and blackened by fire, whereas the other was near unrecognizable with all the bruises and welts that layered his skin. Sirius could easily see his nose had been broken, and a few stubby fingers were missing from Peter's smaller than average hands. Sirius bit back a gag; He didn't know if it were from the fact one of his best friends had been tortured or the putrid scent that was burning human flesh.
It spoke ill of the future of the other remaining Potters.
Peter had been sent here to protect Lily and Harry incase the mission had failed. He'd obviously been tortured for where they were hiding in the house,and while Peter may had been a Gryffindor, Sirius doubted any man could stand the tender nursings of a Vollstrecker Interrogator.
With that thought, Sirius rushed up the stairs, dodging fallen debris ablaze. He immediately began to head towards what he remembered to be the nursery.
Looking around, he saw an empty and slightly scorched room. The room was a mess. Wallpaper was ripped clean off the wall, leaving scorched wood behind. a small clock lay shattered on the ground, it's glass scattered all throughout the room.
Harry's crib was destroyed and burning, as if someone had taken their anger out on the wooden contraption.
Swishing his wand downward, Sirius whispered the incantation for the Augamentus charm.
"Augamenti." A spray of clear blue water flew from the tip of his wand, dousing the flames until it went out. Steam quickly filled the room, and Sirius couldn't help but start coughing.
He became aware of crying, so low it took him a double take to even notice it was real rather a trick played by his mind.
Looking around quickly, he pinpointed the sound from a cupboard, and when opened it revealed the huddled forms of Lily Potter holding a crying Harry and a light blue shimmering Cloak that Sirius recognized as James'. Sirius quickly helped her up from the cupboard and hugged them as if for dear life. Letting them go, Sirius looked meaningfully into Lily's eyes.
"I took you for dead after seeing what they did to the cottage and... to Peter. What happened?" Lily winced.
"I was just about to put Harry to bed when I heard it." Lily's eyes seemed distant, and Sirius was hesitant to ask.
"Heard what?" Lily began to cry now, shaking like leaf.
"The Vollstreckers, Sirius! Peter screaming as they tortured him, as they burned him alive!" She wailed, remembering the lose of her friend. Sirius pulled her into another hug, holding her and Harry as both weeped.
After Lily's cries turned into a dry heave, Sirius pulled away once more.
"Lily, We have to get out of here." Lily nodded her head, but then seemed puzzled by an unanswered question in her head.
"Sirius, where's James?" Sirius silently cursed and looked away.
How could he break it to her?
Harry began to cry once more.
"Sirius, where's James?" Lily said this more forcibly, demanding an answer she'd be better off without at the moment.
Harry began to cry a little louder.
"Lily, this really isn't the time. I'll tell you when we get out of here." Lily shook her head.
"Sirius, Goddamnit! Where is my husband!" She screamed the last part, angered that Sirius refused to tell her.
Harry cried and cried and cried. Sirius snapped.
"Would you all just shut up!" Not waiting for a response, He silently cast a silencing charm on Harry. His face morphed into a silent cry, and Sirius felt a pang of guilt, but ruthlessly crushed it. It was necessary, and Harry's wailing made it impossible for him to think. Lily looked on in shock at his sudden outburst.
"Sirius... What happened?" Sirius diverted his eyes to the floor, refusing to meet Lily's emerald greens.
"It was supposed to be a simple rescue mission, Lily. A simple snatch and grab. All we had to do was break in." Sirius was rambling now.
"Break in where?"
"Freiheitgard." Lily's face morphed into myriad of emotions; Horror, hate, and anger all quickly forming. Lily was known for being temperamental, and Sirius could tell so much rage coursed through Lily's veins.
So Sirius was not surprised when Lily used her free hand to slap him across the face. He ignored the slight pain, and didn't care as a hand shaped bruise began to form on his face.
He let loose a deep sigh, and continued on with his story.
/~/~/
"We had found out from a sympathiser working as a guard that many of the captured members in the England Cell were placed there. They were on the lower levels, so it was deemed low risk. James came up with a plan to break them out. Based on the information we had, only a small team of two or three would be able to get into the wards unnoticed between the guard shifts. Remus and I volunteered to go, and James insisted he go as well. He was... stubborn, that way." Sirius heaved in a great breath of air, and stared for a second at Lily's blank expression; that was not at all unlike a slab of stone. He looked down once more and continued.
"There's a three minute divide in between shifts where no one is near the cells, so we thought a small team could easily get in. We were wrong. More guards were on duty than normal. All of them were Vollstreckers, Lily, Vollstreckers! It was an ambush, and Lord Moody himself lead them." Sirius began to tear up, but he ruthlessly rubbed away any forming tears.
"And... and I was the only one that got out." Lily took this all in, her expression never changing, her eyes duller than Sirius had ever seen. She stood silently, leaning against the door frame.
"How... how could you be so stupid Sirius? How could all of you be so stupid! Freiheitgard is called the Tower of the North for a reason! It's as bad as Numengard, if not worse!" Lily let loose a deep sigh, as if trying to calm herself.
"Did... did you see them die?" Sirius was taken aback by her question, and quickly shook his head in a negative. Lily rounded on him, holding his shoulders in a surprisingly strong manner. "Then why didn't you stay, why didn't you help them!"
"I was afraid!" He began to weep, and Lily backed away slowly, nearly entering the hallway.
"It was Alastor Moody, Lily! Can't you understand that? He's like the Devil himself; He's head of the Vollstreckers for a reason! How do you kill the Devil? How?" Sirius continued to weep, his eyes beginning to blur.
"Sirius?" He wiped away his tears and looked up towards her. Lily was pale, shocked from his sudden outburst.
"Yeah?"
"Help." That was when Sirius noticed the growing puddle of crimson blood surrounding her feet. She held both hands onto her stomach, trying to hold back the torrent of blood. Before he could do anything, Lily's eyes went wide, and rolled back into her head.
She fell to her knees, her head a few seconds behind. Blood continued to spout from her neck, gushing up what seemed to be gallons. Part of her spine was poking out, as if to say hello in the most horrifying way possible. Sirius retched, near puking from the sight.
Behind her, a lone Vollstrecker stood, his right hand outstretched and tightly holding onto a dark-shaded wand. He wore the mask standard to them; a black mask whose carved in features were made into a horrifying grin, forever smirking on its prey before giving the killing blow.
But Sirius would not be this monsters prey, not a head for the hunter's mantlepiece.
Sirius would live, and he would avenge all of the people who had died tonight.
Grief, Sorrow, Anger all hazed his mind, and Sirius reveled in it.
Sirius raised his wand and violently slashed it across, letting loose a silent severing curse. The Vollstrecker easily dodged it.
"Is that the best you can do?" A deep and clearly artificial baritone voice resounded through the room, and Sirius could detect a hint of amusement.
He growled in response, and let loose a bone-crushing curse with a flick of his wrist.
The Vollstrecker slashed his wand to the side just as the bone-crusher was about to land, and it sent the curse flying up to the rafters, hitting one of the long wooden beams.
As wooden splinters and chunks showered down from above, The Vollstrecker raised his wand high.
"Conglacioro!" The debris stood frozen in mid-air. He flicked his wand. Sirius, his eyes widening in shock, quickly dropped to his knees and rolled to the side.
He narrowly missed death from the debris, but didn't come out unscratched. Blood was seeping from his arm because of a deep wound on his left shoulder, and he was barely able to move it. His head, having been hit with one of the splinters, was cut rather deeply, and there was no doubt it would scar.
Ignoring his pain, he quickly leaned up against the wall, trying to formulate a plan.
He was broken from any thought he may have formed when the Vollstrecker began to laugh, a sort of gurgling noise that made Sirius instinctively connect to a weasel, and annoyed more than scared Sirius.
"This is what you rebels have to offer? A sad excuse for a man who can't even save his friends? I'll be more than happy to put you down like the diseased dog you are." Sirius seethed quietly, and dared not take the bait. He wouldn't live long if he did. Waiting a moment, Sirius fired a banishing curse without seeing, and quickly rushed out the door.
He fired several bone-crushers in quick succession, hoping to catch the man off guard.
Still reeling from being launched into the wall, the Vollstrecker could not dodge the numerous Bone-crushers, and he raised his hands in a defensive stance to lessen any damage to his vital areas.
He screamed in agony as his bones broke the skin, protruding and sticking out from arms. Sirius felt some justice had been done.
And then the Vollstreckers screams turned into a high-pitched laugh, filled with mirth and a touch of psychosis.
He began to pull himself up from the wall, smearing his blood and bits of flesh against the wooden surface. It shocked and revolted Sirius.
"I saw your friends die, you know," the Vollstrecker said between laughs, "They died weeping for their mothers and the whores they called wives. They begged mercy. But no mercy is given to worthless and spineless cockroaches like you traitors."
Sirius roared in rage and rushed at him, tackling him to the floor and pounding his face in repetitively.
"You bastard!" cracks began to form on the mask.
"You fucking cocksucker!" a long line formed in the dead center of the mask.
"I'll make sure you burn in hell, you piece of shit!" The mask shattered revealing a face that Sirius' eyes could not see. His mind too clouded with rage, too withdrawn to care.
"You son of a whore!" Again and again he punched him until the Vollstrecker was in it's natural form, a disgusting and misshapen creature that was no longer human.
finally, Sirius was spent, and he collapsed down onto his knees.
"Wear your mark proudly Cain." The voice was not of the baritone voice of a Vollstrecker, but of his younger brother Regulus.
And Sirius began to weep. He wept for his brother, and he wept for Lily. Most importantly, He wept for himself.
/~/~/
As Sirius lay there, his robes soaking up the pool of blood, he became aware of shouting outside. The shouting of orders. Reinforcements had arrived.
He bolted back to the nursery, intent on getting Harry, who he had ignored and forgotten about during the fight.
Sirius found Harry near the remains of his late mother. He was lying in Lily's blood and flesh, silently crying still. He was covered in the crimson life fluid, making him seem more like a newborn rather than the one year old he was.
Sirius scooped him up, and realized on closer examination that a lightning bolt shaped scar marred his forehead; the results of a passing debris.
Grabbing the Invisibility Cloak, he covered them both with the shimmering fabric.
As silently as he could, he slowly walked down the stairs, moving around all of the flaming debris.
Reaching the bottom floor, he silently cursed when he saw several Vollstreckers standing about, most likely waiting for his dead brother.
"Where do you think he is?" One asked, his voice the same artificial baritone that had once come out of his brother when he was behind his mask.
"Probably playing with his food. The boy definitely has a chip on his shoulder." Both men chuckled, and Sirius was horrified at the implications.
They knew he was coming!
Scanning the room, he was relieved when he saw the doorless frame that would lead him to outside the house, and to freedom.
Inching forward slowly, he made it to the door without being heard, and he quickly ran forward on the road, hoping to reach the gates without any confrontation. He needed to get out of there before he met anymore Vollstreckers.
He didn't notice the shadows that were too numerous for the small buildings around him, following his every step.
Reaching the small square, he realized something was wrong. Up until that point, he had met almost no resistance, not seeing a single guard.
While odd, this hadn't been very noteworthy to his mind at the time, but what he saw in the square horrified him.
When he had arrived, the square was dark, the lamps untouched. But now, all of the lamps were lit, their flames burning bright and embers dancing lazily in the air. Shadows hung to every surface, and it was a discomforting sight. Sirius urged his feet to walk a bit faster.
"No need to run boy." His eyes widening, Sirius turned his head and looked around to where the gruff voice could have come from.
He nearly hyperventilated when he saw the originator of the voice.
A tall man stood alone where once the statue resided. Towering over his surroundings like a half-Giant, he was looking towards Sirius with a bored expression planted on his face.
His hair, a dark brown that was graying at the sides and his aristocratic features made him look like a distinguished gentleman. His eyes, caramel brown, we're filled with mirth as if he was thinking of a joke.
But this was not a kind aging man. This was Lord Alastor Moody, General of the Emperor's Northern forces. He was known as Grindelwald's Butcher for the many massacres and atrocities he had personally committed during his tenure as head of the Vollstreckers.
And he was looking right at Sirius, cloak be damned.
"Might as well take the cloak off, Sirius. I can see you anyway." Sirius began to slowly inch away. General Moody chuckled.
"Just as surely as I can see you, I can kill you. It wouldn't be a good idea to try to escape." Sirius stopped, but refused to take off the cloak and reveal himself.
General Moody shook his head. Sighing, he arched his wand before making a sweeping motion, making the cloak fly off his head and fall down next to his feet.
"Ah, much better."
"How? How did you see me beneath my cloak?" Moody smiled at that, revealing sickeningly white teeth.
"The thing that all Wizard and Witches seem to forget, is that just because you're invisible, doesn't mean I can't hear you. I dare-say I could hear your footsteps a mile away. Now, why don't you surrender and we can call this little debacle a day?"
Sirius, more than a little frightful of the man, still liked his odds in a one on one fight.
"No." General Moody let loose a sigh at this, showing his obvious displeasure in Sirius.
"Don't make us use force."
"Us?" Moody sighed, and scanned the square, before nodding his head.
The shadows surrounding the square began to morph and grow, becoming men before Sirius' very eyes.
Where it was once just Sirius and Moody, now it was Sirius and nearly forty Vollstreckers surrounding him.
Seeing he was cornered, Sirius decided he needed answers and time to formulate an escape.
"How? How did you know about the raid? About the Potters? How!"
Moody chuckled. "The Emperor knows all and sees all. It was easy enough to find out what you planned and where you were hiding. Are you going to come willingly?"
Sirius shook his head, even though it was signing his death sentence. Moody sighed.
"Why couldn't you had been more like your father? He was a hero, loyal to the Empire. He was even more respected than I was, after leading the conquest of Indochina. But he lost all respect because of his naive bastard son." Sirius silently seethed, but said nothing. There was nothing worth saying to the man.
He couldn't escape this. So he decided that if he were to die tonight, he'd die in a blaze of glory.
Taking a deep breath, he thought of the darkest spell he knew, a spell his father had taught him. Smirking, Sirius couldn't help but think, Who knew Irony could kill?
Pointing his wand quickly at Moody, he focused on the images of Lily's and Regulus' corpses. The sickly paleness of their bodies, dried up, no blood left in their veins. The look on Lily's face before her head was cut from her neck. Regulus' bashed in forehead...
"Tabescetcaro!" A sickly yellow curse flew from his wand, hitting Moody squarely in the forehead before he could react.
He flew back, landing on his back some ten feet away. Sirius could see from his vantage point black lines crisscrossed from the point on his rather rectangular forehead, snaking down towards his neck. Tears of blood began to fall in a steady waterfall down his cheeks, and his eyes began to change color into a puce yellow.
"My face! It's burning my goddamn face!" bits of liquified skin dripped from him, forming a sickening puddle around him. Moody began to claw at his eyes, the pain overwhelming him. Soon bits of his brown eyes joined the puddle.
The forty wands trained on him let loose spells ranging from Bone-crushers to Eye-gorgers, but it didn't matter.
Dodging the brunt of them, he pointed his wand at the sky, and shouted to the heavens.
"Inferis Flamma!" A demonic flame burst from his wand, dancing merrily amongst the heavens, before raining back down. It was as much a paradox as any Sirius had ever seen. At once it seemed joyful and yet vindictive. It morphed constantly, changing from horses to bulls, Centaurs to Phoenixes. It rushed forward, going at speeds Sirius never thought possible.
The Fiendfyre was soon out of Sirius' control, and it began attacking anyone nearest to it, as if it had a mind of it's own.
The smoke of human flesh, reminding Sirius of a barbecue, rose into the air.
The sounds of screaming men rose into a crescendo that was music to Sirius' ears.
Moody's troops tried everything to bring an end to the destructive flames of hellfire, but nothing worked. Nothing would work.
Fiendfyre had no equal, it was destruction in its most base form. Water would do nothing.
The Vollstreckers seemed to sense the futility. Many tried to flee, but the fire surrounded them, blocking all exits.
"Bring down the Apparation wards!" one of Moody's men shouted. Brought out of his pain-induced daze, Moody tried to stop his men.
"No you idiot, he'll escape!" But it was too late.
With a pop, Sirius was gone.
/~/~/
Sirius woke up clawing at his sheets, his voice hoarse from screaming. Harry was standing in the doorway of the small shack the called home, looking on fearfully.
"Go back to sleep, Harry."
Harry stood stock still, not moving an inch.
"You had the dream again, didn't you?" Sirius said nothing, and that said all that needed to be said. He'd been having the dreams for years, ever since the night in Potter Cottage.
"... Are you okay, sir?" Sirius cringed at his use of sir. Even when he tried, he could never get much closer in relationship to Harry beyond an authoritarian Uncle. He could never understand why Sirius pushed him so hard, or why they left places so often. In these eight years since they had left Britain, Sirius had heavily pushed Harry's studies and encouraged him to self-teach. But Harry could never grasp why he had to spend hours learning magical theory or math when boys his age were playing amongst the streets.
In these eight years, he'd tried to justify what he'd done, to make amends. But it would never last. Sirius would not, could not forgive himself for letting his friends die and killing his only brother. So he pushed Harry, making sure he would always be strong enough to protect his friends.
"Uncle Sirius?" Sirius was broken from his daydreams by the soft voice of Harry, and turned up to look at him.
"Yes?"
"Why are we here?" They had left the small Canadian town they had called home for a year sometime ago, when Sirius had first gotten an inkling the Vollstreckers were near. Throughout the years, Sirius had learned to trust his gut when it came to the monsters, and so left whenever the feeling came on.
They had lived all over Europe by the time Harry was five, and by the time he was eight he'd lived in more countries than most ever even saw. The Vollstreckers made sure of that. They'd followed them relentlessly, never far behind.
But this time it was different. They'd been living in America for two months now, and they hadn't seen nor heard of the Vollstreckers anywhere near.
Despite efforts from the Federal government to copy the other major countries' measures, no Magical Registry had been set up. With large portions of the west unsettled or near lawless, it was easy for the two to slip in between the cracks and make a life for themselves.
They'd become farmers in the frontier of California, and Sirius was never happier, until he fell asleep. Then the memories would come back and haunt him, forevermore.
"We came here to start a new life, to get away from the bad things that follow us, Harry."
"Well, It's over with now, right?" Sirius' mouth morphed into a pained smile. He couldn't break it to the boy, couldn't destroy the last vestige of innocence. That it would never be over. That they'd never stop following them. That they wouldn't stop until both of them were lifeless; their bodies broken and destroyed...
"Right."
/~/~/~/