A/N: You may have noticed (MAY) that I've changed the description from Harry/Ginny to Harry/OC. This is NOT a pairing. i'm NOT SURE of the pairings and since its obvious I'm going to write more about Harry's childhood, currently its NO PAIRING. I'll decide the pairing later on.


Chapter 3: The Enigma

The sun was shining brightly overhead as Gura enjoyed his favourite pastime: lazing around on his hammock, the trees providing him shade and his magic cooling the air. Very few people realized that his lazing around was a cover to practice his magic discreetly and a way to exercise his brain. And currently, his mind was in overdrive.

Shadow Elves were the elves of lore. They had formed a pact with the Lunar Society. This was similar to the pact that the Nymphs had created with the Edafos clan, or the one between the Sea People and the Agua clan. The pact was a magical bond, which lent the Elves some of the abilities of the Shadow Sprites, such as travelling through shadows (or Shadow Walking), stealth, and to some extent, Shadow Morphing. In return, the dying magic of the sprites had been rejuvenated by the introduction of the Elvin magic.

Now, Gura was not an ordinary Shadow Elf. Unlike the other elves, Gura's specialty was not the control of shadows, but that of air. In the Shadow arts, he was the same level as that of an adolescent elf. As a child, it had been difficult to accept that his magic was one of the weakest among the elves. However, all this changed when one day, while sparring with his father, his magic had taken over, and he had blown his father away with a huge gust of wind. The two soon realized that his true calling laid in the wind arts. In order to help his son, Ulthias had taken Gura on a journey across Gaia. Along with the help of Arche, a wind sprite they met during their travels, he had soon grown into a strong and able warrior.

Two years after they started their journey, Ulthias returned home to look after his wife and daughter, while Gura travelled with Arche to learn more about Gaia. On his travels, he had met with others who were like him, people who could use more than one type of elemental magic. He heard stories of their adventures, how some of them, including their families, shunned them for not following the path of their tribes, while others resented them for their abilities. He had learned that very few accepted them as individuals with different talents. All their tales had one common factor, the support they received from the Tribunal and from the Chief Mages of the various sprite clans.

They had travelled through the three continents of Gaia, as travellers with a goal to see as much as possible before they had to go back home. The Northern Continent was their first stop. Home to Arche, and the other Wind, as well as Earth Sprites, both master and apprentice enjoyed their three-year long stay. The Northern Continent was the largest continent, with three quarters made of tropical forests and lush green fields. To the extreme north lay tall, snow-capped mountains, the nesting grounds for Dragens. The continent was heaven for a bird-watcher. There were many species of rare non magical birds there, as well as magical beings like hippogriffs and griffins. Wild horses also could be seen running free with unbridled joy. Farms had been built and managed by Harpies and Nymphs, with the help of wind sprites. Cows, bulls and various poultry grew fat and healthy due to the clean atmosphere and healthy land.

Here, Gura learned how to harness his ability to manipulate air from the master of the Wind Arts. His swordsmanship improved under the tutelage of the Grand General of the Edafos tribe, Ryu Kushin. He became friends with the Dragen, Lord Raiken, who would become a member of the Tribunal by the time Gura had completed his travels. From his mentor, he learned how lazing around could be just as beneficial as hard work. The air, land and food helped him grow into a strong, albeit young warrior. The Beast-speaker Vishnu taught him to respect all creatures. Gura enjoyed the feeling of air whipping his face as he rode hippogriffs, and also witnessed the hatching of four new next stop was the Southern Continent. The Northern and Southern continents were separated by a thin strip of land that was accessible only at low tides, with the ocean on both sides of the strip. Ferry services were operated by the sea people, where beings would be transported by boats as well as sea creatures like blue whales, when they were willing to help and people were willing to take the risks. The Southern continent was a polar opposite of the Northern continent. Smaller than the Northern continent, it mainly consisted of large deserts, home to the Agni and Illuminatus tribes. The Agua clan had, with the help of the Edafos tribe, created a series of Oasis for travellers to escape the scorching heat of the land.

The Southern continent was instrumental in helping Gura stabilise his magic. The main weakness of all shadow beings was light. With the sun shining for around eighteen hours a day, Gura's magic had to help him overcome his weakness. Although Arche helped him when necessary, she mainly let his magic do the work, for she knew that he had to yet accept the Air magic as a part of him. After about a month, Gura had finally accepted his powers as a part of himself, and took care of that particular chink in his armour. He helped protect a family of salamanders from a group of rouge trolls, earning him the title of 'Protector'. He made friends with ashwinders, got bonded to a king scorpion, and impressed the fire sprites by defeating their top swordsman. He learned of heartbreak, when he fell in love with, and was rejected by Kshira, a fire sprite and daughter of one of the leaders of Agni.

One year after they entered Southern Continent, master and apprentice made their way to Atlantis, home of the Sea People and the Agua tribe. While the three continents made up 70 percent of Gaia, the remaining 30 percent was the domain of Agua, who were helped by the Sea People. During her younger years, Arche had often travelled to Atlantis on missions for the Enlil tribe, and was therefore welcomed to Atlantis by her close friend and ally, Mera, Queen of Atlantis. The people of Atlantis were fierce warriors, known for their skill with spear and sword. On the very first day, Gura had been challenged to a fight by one of the most skilled warriors of the region, where he had lost the match due to his unfamiliarity with a spear. However, what he did not realize was that the match was being watched closely by Lord Zakai, the ruler of Atlantis. What followed was six gruelling months of training under the king, while Arche spent her time gossiping with Mera.

Four and a half years after he left on his journey, Gura returned back home to Regalia, home of the Lunar Society. Regalia was the smallest continent, with most of the land covered in thick forests, and mountains so high they blocked out the sun. The main inhabitants of the land were the shadow sprites and shadow elves, as well as other shadow beings like Shadow Hounds, ancient wolves that had also formed a pact with the Shadow elves. Regalia also had a clearing at its eastern coast, a land called Avalon, in tribute to Merlin. It was the place where all the tribes held meetings annually, and was also the headquarters of the Tribunal. So, it was back in his homeland that Gura entered the final phase of his training.

He learned to sense the flow of magic in the air. He soon developed a way to combine this talent with his weapon skills, which would one day make him a premier swordsman of Gaia. The talent to sense magic paved the way for a form of Mage Sight. This ability allowed him to sense any concentrated source of magic, thus enabling him to see the magical cores of all beings, provided they did not mask their magic. He also could not see his own magical core.

Presently, it was this very ability that had caused his mind to work overtime.

While he was tending to Harry right after his travel from Earth to Gaia, he had used his Sight to check for any anomalies in the child's magic. However, what he had seen had both astonished and frightened him. The boy's potential had been staggering. When he had activated the first level of his Sight, Gura had seen the amount of magic that flowed through the body. And that had had him immensely scared for the boy. He wondered how any child could handle such large quantities of magic without causing harm to his body. He had soon come to the realization that the magic had helped the boy's body recover from the poor lack of proper care that was a result of his stay with his biological parents. Satisfied with his theory, he had then activated the second level of his Sight. And then he almost fainted.

A spot on the child's forehead positively reeked of evil magic. It was similar, yet very different from Harry's own magic. At one glance, no one would be able to differentiate between the two types of magic present in the child. However, with his Sight, Gura could see the constant battle for dominance between the external magic and Harry's own core.

And yet that wasn't the end of the surprises. Once he got over the fact that the boy had two warring magic sources in his body, the next step had been to examine his core. Generally, every living being had a core that varied in size. All cores were in the form of solid spheres, with patches of different colours. Each colour represented the various abilities the being had, though it varied from being to being. However, Harry's core seemed to be a combination of small spheres, interconnected by various tube-like channels. Each sphere was made of a single colour, with no patches on it. It was the first time Gura had seen such a core and it had him stumped.

He was broken out of his thoughts by the arrival of two strong magical beings. Recognizing one of the signatures, he leapt out of his hammock, hoping to meet them before they met the child.


The two cloaked figures walked silently, wondering how the talk would go. They had planned for various scenarios, but both of them were experienced enough to know that it was very easy for even the best laid plans to tumble down like a house of cards in the wind.

As they were about to reach the house, they were intercepted by an unusually excited Gura.

"Long time no see, Lord Raiken."

"Yes, it's been what, five months since we last met?"

"Your memory is as good as ever. How have you been my lord?"

"I am well. Thank you for your concern Gura."

"May I be so bold as to enquire about your companion's name?"

"This here is my dear friend, Lord Dhaos, Chief Mage of the Lunar Society."

Chief Mage was the title given to the leader of the shadow sprites, and in turn, the shadow elves. When Gura realized exactly who was standing in front of him, his eyes widened comically for a second, before he fell on his right knee, head bowed in respect and admiration.

"My liege, I welcome you to our humble abode."

This had the effect of Dhaos making a choking sound, while Raiken had an ear splitting grin on his face.

"Yes, yes, I owe you a dinner Raiken. Now wipe that smug look off your face. Rise Gura, thank you for the invitation. And the next time you do this when not in official settings, be ready to have your posterior kicked to the other side of Gaia."

"As you wish, my Lord,"

"Now you're just plain irritating."

"That was the plan," interjected Raiken. "It's been six years since I first met Gura. I gave up trying to stop him calling me lord after six months. It's just his way of being irritating without offending anyone."

All three beings had a good laugh at the young shadow elf's antics before their talk turned to that of the human child.

"How is he Gura?"

"He is better physically. Mentally, it will take some time. But considering his age, I don't think it will take longer than a month. What I'm worried about is his magic though."

With that, Gura launched into a lengthy explanation, detailing his findings regarding Harry's core with as much detail he could remember. Once he had finished reporting his observations, Dhaos had a contemplative look on his face, while Raiken was eyeing Gura with open admiration.

"You have come a long way Gura. No longer are you the child who was confused as to who he was and how he fit into the greater scheme of things. Arche will be happy. I would advise you to visit her soon though. She has been heard grumbling about uncaring apprentices and what she would like to do with them. Gave the listeners more than a few goosebumps I assure you."

As much as he tried to, Gura could not stop the shiver running down his spine at that thought. The last time he had been punished was when he had disregarded her advice and fallen into a trap, from which he had to be saved from by Arche herself. He swore that his right buttock never remained the same after that day.

"As amusing as it is to hear about Arche's punishment techniques, I think we should get back to the topic at hand. Now, normally, Raiken and I protect our cores from being discovered by Sight users like you. However, I think it's time you got a proper look at our real cores and not the fake images that we feed you."

Curiosity piqued, Gura activated his Sight. Just as Dhaos had said, the cores that had appeared to be regular cores that were bigger than usual had been replaced by cores similar to the one that belonged to Harry. On closer observation, he saw that Raiken had one sphere more than Dhaos. And yet, he could have sworn that Harry had at least one sphere more than that of Raiken. Ending his Sight, he turned his attention back to the two lords.

"The cores that each of us have are what we termed as Magus Cores," explained Raiken. "They were termed so, due to the fact that such cores were mainly found in beings that eventually became Mages or Grand-Mages. The specialty of such cores is that each sphere corresponds to a different ability. It is similar to normal cores, where there are patches that correspond to the various abilities. However, since each ability has its own sphere here, it means that the person can obtain full control of that ability. Tell me Gura, can you see your own core with your ability?"

"No. Is that even possible?"

"Yes, when you reach the third and final level of your Sight, you should be able to see your own core, as well as see how much a person has mastered his abilities. Since you are unable to see your own core, Lord Dhaos, would you please tell us what it shows."

"You could have done that yourself, you lazy ass," Dhaos retorted with a sigh. "Hmm. Congratulations. There are six spheres, just one less than my count. The sphere corresponding to Air magic is the largest, while that of Shadow magic seems to be the smallest. Both of them are completely full, so that means you have mastered the two magics. There is another sphere that is half full, and has a size comparable to that of your Air magic. From what I've heard, I would guess that it belongs to your skills in weaponry. The sphere belonging to your Sight is filled slightly more than half, and is away from all the other spheres, with no connections to any of them. I advise you to try and combine the two magics and strengthen the connections between them and the sphere for weaponry. It will help you to use your abilities more freely. The last two spheres are completely empty and have an average size. I am sorry, but I cannot tell what they correspond to. It is something you will have to uncover on your own. Do let me know once you uncover them."

As he tried to grasp what he had just been told, Gura missed the look that the two Lords exchanged with each other. After a minute or so, Gura shook himself out of his stupor.

"There's one more thing. I'm not too sure, but I think the child's core is still slightly different from ours. For one, I'm pretty certain that he has nine spheres. But it's the arrangement that scares me. I think it would be best if the two of you see it with your own Sight. And I'm also worried about the dark magic around his forehead. How will it affect Harry? He already shows an unhealthy amount of hate, although there is no doubt as to why and whom it is directed towards. Can we say for certain that it is not influencing him?"

With a weary sigh, Dhaos replied, "It is something we were expecting to address. Why don't you locate Ulthias and bring him to the boy's room in two hours? It will give us some time to talk to the child in private."

Eyebrows raised in curiosity, Gura's first instinct was to badger the two for an explanation. However, he realized that although they were friends, the two beings in front of him were still Lords who would have reasons for their actions. With a nod of acceptance, he left to find his father, while the two Lords made their way to the enigma that was Harry Potter. They were slightly worried about the presence of the Dark Magic in the boy. The hate the boy possessed also was a bit concerning. Hopefully in their care, Harry finally would find peace with himself and be able to put the past behind him.


A/N:Hope you liked the chapter. I tried to explain what Gaia looks like and the administration of the land.

The next chapter won't be up for atleast a month. Bear with me please.

Reviews and suggestions appreciated.