Chapter 2 : The Master and His Servant

"Don't fool yourself, we are all agnostic. The Greatest atheist with his science cannot disprove the existance of God, whereas the greatest theologian with his tales cannot prove the existance of God."

-Pope John Paul II

It was two weeks after the incident with the car before it truly faded out of Harry's mind. Like many children, it was easy to move on and on to something else. Routine made the oddness of the past weeks disappear. With Dudley still going to Preschool, and Harry still being carted off to Miss Figg's home everything fell in to place once more.

That, and he Aunt had gotten him new glasses. But they were still of the same make, the same thick black frames that took up a large space on his face. But they had gotten a new prescription, something about the eye-doctor saying his eyes had gotten a little bit worse. But with the right lenses they should get better. He had said a bit more, had taken his Aunt off to the side and Harry had just looked to the little letter chart to occupy his time.

His Aunt didn't look that happy when she had grabbed his hand to move out. But she had started helping him a lot more since then.

Only, his Aunt had shoved him out earlier then normal this morning. Last night, he had gotten rather ill, eating some of the food his Aunt had made. Harry thought the food had tasted a little off, maybe it had turned rotten when they weren't looking. Dudley seemed fine, though. But that boy seemed to have a stomach of iron along with having multiple ones. Though, his Aunt had lessened his portions just a bit, Harry noticed it even if Dudley didn't. That extra bit had gone on to his own plate.

He hadn't slept too much last night, and this morning his Aunt made him wake up early to give him some nasty cough syrup. She had told him that because he hadn't finished eating what had been given to him, God had made him sick. Harry honestly didn't know that not finishing the plate would do that. But his Aunt had said so..

Harry stopped walking, closing his eyes and yawning. From his left hand hung his usual bag. Inside was a banana, a note to Miss Figg and a few papers and used crayons his Aunt had supplied. Instead of going to preschool, Harry just had a babysitter. Though, maybe just doing whatever he really wanted to all day was better then going with his cousin. Sure, the woman was odd, weird and all those other words his Aunt loved to use. But she was nice, but even Harry could consider the woman strange. Though, it seemed to fit that his babysitter was as strange as he himself was.

A boy who had dreams of flying motorcycles and a babysitter who loved cats more then anything else. Harry has seen her talking to them, too.

"Meo-" "GRAAHHH!" Harry shrieked, dropping his bag and spinning around, flailing his arms as he turned and looked down to.. the black cat.

Harry felt a chill run up his spin, looking into the deep, dark violet eyes on the cat that was looking at Harry… Kind of like how Harry imagined a cat would look at a fish. Or maybe even a mouse. Harry shuddered and slowly reached down, picking up his bag from where he had dropped in during his flailing, not removing his eyes from the still cat.

Harry didn't know why he felt so.. uneasy. All he knew was that the cat wasn't supposed to be there. "H.. hello mister k.. k.. kitty.." Stuttered Harry as he eyed the cat. Both hands were grasping the plastic handles of his bag as he watched the cat with wide, wary eyes.

"Maste-" "AHHHH!" Harry shrieked again as he jumped away.

The cat! Look at what it had done! It had spoken. Harry felt as though his eyes were going to pop out of his head and his frantic little heart was going to fly away. "Oh my.. oh my.." Mumbled Harry, mumbling those words repeatedly as he backed away. And the cat merely followed, narrow violet eyes fixed on Harry.

And Harry couldn't look away. "N.. nice kitty. G.. good kitty." Spoke Harry, trying to sound soothing. Was this thing rabid? After all, maybe he could just be hallucinating. After all, he was still a bit ill, or maybe that was just him making an excuse. His Aunt had given him some cough syrup. Wasn't there a new program that had said too much could cause hallucinations?

"Master.." The cat's deep voice went again, before the cat stilled and dipped his head low, before setting his bottom onto the ground and looking up at Harry. Harry stopped his backpedaling. Looking at the cat that was a good arms length away from him. Harry calculated how much time he would need from this spot to run over to Miss Figg's. Not too long. So Harry deemed himself safe from a most gruesome end by a black cat.

"Master, look to me." The cat said, and Harry's eyes that had looked away from the talking, universe-breaking cat looked back to the cat after looking at a street sign.

"I'm dreaming, aren't I?" Harry spoke, blinking at the other rather owlishly. That would explain everything. If this was a dream though, where was his flying motorcycle? He'd rather have a puppy then a cat, too.

"You're not dreaming, Master.." The cat spoke again, dipping his head.

Harry bit his bottom lip, and then spoke after a moment. Looking honestly confused with himself, "why do you keep calling me master?" Harry gasped and stiffened as the cat jumped up and bounded to Harry's feet with one small leap. He started to move prowling around Harry's legs as he spoke. "Because you are my master, Lord Raenef."

Harry decided it was a good time to faint again.

Harry drew back into the world of the living a few bear minutes later, the back of his head aching. Like that time he had fallen down the stairs, tripping on his loose trousers. He had landed on his back at the bottom, and the back of his head had landed on the bottom step. His aunt had taken him to the hospital, and they said he had gotten a concussion. They wouldn't let him nap for almost a whole day. His Aunt had been considerably nicer that day. Even his Cousin and Uncle. Though the next day was back to normal, though they made sure to clear out of his way once the tripping frenzy started.

He remembered his aunt had taken him to the hospital soon after that, and they had found out he had needed glasses.

Harry slowly raised and hand and pressed it over his face, pushing the metal frames down so he could feel the faint pinch on his skin. He was sweating a bit, and there was such a heavy weight on his chest. He was really ill this time, wasn't he? His Aunt might even take him to the hospital to see a Doctor again. Harry removed his hand from over his face and squinted at the glare.

Did he pass out while working on the garden?

"Are you feeling alright, Master?" Spoke the voice of the black cat that was lying on his chest while they were lying on the sidewalk. Harry stiffened immediately after spotting the creature. The cat dipped his head once more, gluing its regal violet eyes to Harry's face. Harry himself was too, well. Stuck. He didn't really know what to say. A few moments of silence, and Harry opened his mouth and spoke.

"Why do you call me.. Master?"

"My name is Eclipse. I have been a teacher and Guardian for the Reanef line for a long, long time. You, my Master, are the Demon Lord Raenef the 7th." The cat spoke, and Harry couldn't look away from those eyes. Eclipse's eyes were drawing him in, calming him and making him listen.

Until he mentioned 'demon'.

".. I'm a demon?" He was human, human! "I don't want to be a demon!" Harry spoke as his eyes grew wet and he started to move, sitting up. Or he tried to sit up, a sudden weight pressed him down, like the very air around him grew hands and were pressing him down. Harry's face scrunched as he started to cry.

Demons didn't get to go to heaven. His Aunt had called him a Demon and a heathen when he had said he hadn't wanted to go to Church on Sunday with them. She had taken him aside and sent Dudley into the kitchen and told him that the Lord needed penance for human sins. And if you didn't go every Sunday, you were nothing more then a demon. Harry hadn't been convinced till she said that he'd never see his parents after he died, if he went to hell instead of heaven.

Harry had been going with them ever since. Or at least when he was allowed to go. Sometimes his Aunt just left him at the babysitter's place. But that rarely happened.

Harry flailed, and he cried, but eventually he calmed down, unable to move from his spot. The neighborhood was empty. The cars out of the driveways, the windows shut. Today was a cleaning day, if the faint sound of vacuum cleaners from a few houses were any clue. Besides, people would ignore him if they thought he was having a fit on the sidewalk.

"Yes, you are a demon, my master." Eclipse spoke again, and Harry's eyes threatened to spill over in tears once again. "But that doesn't mean you have to be evil. Raenef the V, you would have liked to meet him. He was very kind." Those words seemed to have calmed the boy, so Eclipse continued on.

"I am to train you as I have trained the Raenef line before you." Eclipse went on, easing the pressure spell off of Harry as he spoke. The boy nodded slightly, with a small sniffle. "I.. I'll go to heaven, I want to see my parents. E.. even though.." Eclipse blinked, looking down at the boy.

"I see no reason why not." Harry gave the cat a small smile, before he shifted. "May I.. sit up?" Harry asked and Eclipse nodded and gracefully leaping off of his perch and stepping onto the sidewalk.

Harry sat up, rubbing the back of his head but remained sitting.

"Why are you a kitty?"

Eclipse's whiskers seemed to twitch as he raised his head to look up at Harry. He looked irritated, or at least Harry got the feeling that he was. "I.. had thoughts of retirement during the time of the Demon Lord Raenef the VI, but that man and the demon seer named Meruhesae joined forces to trigger a curse. When my last Lord died, this fell upon me. The seer said I would return to normal, after training the 7th Raenef Lord. You, my master."

Harry turned his eyes to the road. This had to be a dream. An amazingly long dream that he could possibly wake up from any second from now or maybe it was a dream that wouldn't end until he died? But he would still wake up eventually. Harry looked back to him as he said "what happens if you don't teach me..?"

"I'll be like this, forever."

Harry flinched. This may be a dream, but that, that was truly scary. "How long is that?"

"A very long time, without any doubt."

"I want to learn.."

"Very well."


A/N - I have to be very, very honest right now. Because there is no real reason for why this took so long. I just.. didn't feel like writing. The lack of wanting to right dampened it. I am very, very sorry for the long wait. And I know this chapter is short. But the next one is much longer. You may have noticed, the final meeting and get together is different from the first. But I like this one better. More detail will come later, but till then, I'll upload the next chapter. I hope the fact that there is another chapter dampens any potential flames for shortness.

Read and Review..