Well, it's Friday again, and not a moment too soon. This time, hopefully, most of your questions will be answered. Not all…but most.
My thanks, as always, to those of you who have read, and even more thanks to those of you who have reviewed:
To the ever faithful KRP – Don't worry, your confuzzlement is understandable. I hope this chapter will clear up most of it, although there are still a few threads to the story which will only be revealed in time. As for the use of a whole hospital division to work on Katie, you have to remember that New Demnin has many more than just one. Even if one division expended all their resources, the hospitals in town are still going to be fully stocked and capable. And now we come to Death and Demnin, a most curious pair. I will have to leave this a mystery for you. All I will tell you is that Death is a new character, so you haven't missed anything, and their roles will be clear by the end of the series.
To the ever faithful Estel A Duath – Behold, I am proud to bestow upon you the title of ever faithful reviewer. Review with pride. And I don't think the Patroni will help Esdras or Katie, but they will definitely be needed as you will see.
To the ever faithful Snood – Writing the curse and hospital scene was one of the hardest things I've had to do yet. As for the martial law, you're right that Dementors are under asylum. However, they are still the major protective force for Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. In an emergency situation, they still have the ability to lock down the school and town and go into defender mode (like in the last book, only with more troops). Thank you for trusting me in regards to story development with Death and Demnin. Like I told KRP, this will be a bit of a mystery so you'll just have to see where it goes. I promise it'll be worth the wait.
To our newcomer perrinette – Welcome to the GoA family! Updates are every Monday and Friday, so I look forward to hearing from you again. I'm glad you've enjoyed my stories so far and I certainly enjoy hearing from you. I try to write Esdras and all the Dementors as just normal, every day types of people who are out there doing their jobs under very unusual circumstances. Their society is an extension of that, a proud people glad to be who and what they are, and very proud of their monarchy.
All the rest of y'all out there who haven't reviewed should consider it. I enjoy hearing from you, and your reviews and comments both help to make me a better writer and keep me motivated. So go ahead, press the blue button there at the bottom of the page and let me know what you think. I'd enjoy hearing it.
And as always, my standard warnings. All text in italics is in Azkabaaner and I don't own HP.
Chapter 7 – Inconsolable Loss
The voice was mortal and familiar. It sounded hopeful. He felt someone squeeze his hand. "I think he's coming around. Esdras, can you hear me?"
The Dementor illuminated his eyes and groaned softly. He looked around and took account of his surroundings. He was in St. Mungo's Hospital, surrounded by mortals and Dementors. Aaron Reaping floated at the foot of his bed, holding the Oracle. Dumbledore and Tonks were on the left side, and on his right were the Bells. The person holding his hand was Mrs. Bell. Esdras sobbed, his voice cracking. "I…I'm sorry. I tried to save her."
The matriarch smiled softly and stepped to the side, revealing the next bed over. Katie lay unconscious, glowing in his eyes with a full mortal soul. Mrs. Bell wiped a tear away and squeezed the Dementor's hand. "It's alright, Esdras. She's alive, and so are you. I couldn't ask for anything more."
Esdras looked in awe at his girlfriend. Before he could ask another question, the door to the ward opened to reveal Christine Reaping leading Dr. Transom and a mortal healer. The Dementor doctor let out a sigh of relief when he saw his patient was awake. "You gave us quite a scare there, majesty."
The Dementor king would not be denied. "How is Katie?"
The healer smiled and looked over to his patient. "She's in a deep coma. Physically, she's far better off than she should be, especially considering the kind of spell damage Madame Pomfrey said she had incurred. All we can do is wait for her to come out of it on her own. You're fine, too, but we'd like to keep you overnight for observation."
Esdras nodded. "I thought she died. I remember watching her die, then screaming, and then nothing… How did we get here?"
Here, the healer merely shook his head. "I have no idea. The people down in the reception room said that there was a brilliant flash of light, and then you appeared with her in your arms. You collapsed after that and you both were brought in for treatment. Doctor Transom here arrived a few moments later."
The king sighed and rubbed his face before looking to Aaron. "Tell me everything that happened. Don't leave anything out."
The Azkaban prime minister nodded and began the story. "Initial reports from Malachi in Hogsmeade indicate that the cause of Katie's cursing was a silver and opal necklace. Our current operating theory is that she was Imperiused to take the necklace into Hogwarts, but that the package broke along the way and she touched it by accident. We have no clue as to the perpetrator of the Imperius charm. Katie knows how to throw an Imperius, though, so it would have to be someone close to her in order to surprise her like that. Even then, it probably would have been incredibly difficult."
Tonks, at Dumbledore's side, nodded. "Aurors have the necklace in custody right now. We're already planning on working together with your spellcoders to determine exactly what curses were on it and, if possible, to remove them. Either way, it won't be hurting anyone again."
Aaron continued. "Here's where things get difficult, Esdras." He sighed and continued. "Katie did die. She was clinically dead for about thirty seconds. We believe that her death registered with the portion of your soul in her body. That triggered a transformation." He ran a nervous hand over his hood, and then spoke quickly before Esdras could ask any questions. "Esdras, you became Demnin. For about five minutes, you were the god of death. That back-triggered a transformation in Katie through the bond, and she became a physical manifestation of mortal Death. But apparently it wasn't time for Katie to die and she resurrected her body, then you reverted as well."
Esdras stared wide hooded at his friend, then laughed. "No, seriously, Aaron. What happened?"
Here, the tiny bundle of the Oracle shifted in Aaron's grip. She pulled away from the prime minister and floated down to hover over the king's chest. Angrily, she pulled her hood back. Esdras stared in shock; her eye sockets were no longer a blind white, but black. The Oracle spoke with a tearful voice. "He is serious, and this is what the mighty Demnin did to me." She cried, icy tears falling down her cheeks. "He took away my foresight and gave me sight. I will grow and age now. I am no longer an oracle. I am useless."
The king of Dementors sat up quickly and wrapped his arms around the tiny cloaking. She sobbed loudly and buried her head into his cloak. Esdras held her for a moment before he spoke firmly. "You are not useless, Kara Grim. No Dementor is useless."
Aaron spoke up from the foot of the bed where his wife had joined him. He had an arm around her waist and they both looked at the crying cloaking. "Christine and I will take her until a permanent home can be found. I'm certain the entire First Infantry will want to look after her. With what has happened to Admiral Grim, she doesn't really have any family left, and it would do her good to lead a normal life."
Esdras nodded and Kara shuffled in his embrace. She looked up into the hood of the king and spoke quietly. "The god Demnin did give me one final prophecy." She steeled herself and recited it carefully. "The path must now be trod alone and blind, and the Demnin king will travail to rise to the Demnin god. No foreshadows shall grace this path; only by his own merits will he proceed. And when the darkest hour is nigh, the Demnin king and god shall become one, the instrument of salvation, first of the lost child, then of the lost people."
The Dementor king sighed and fell back into his bed. He was quiet for a second before speaking. "We will ponder the meaning of this divine prophecy at a later time. For the moment, I think we would do best to stabilize the situation and prepare for the days to come." He turned again to look at his unconscious love. "You say you have no idea how long it will take for Katie to wake up?"
The healer shook his head. "It could be days, it could be months. There's no way to know."
Dumbledore saw where this was going and looked down to the king, worry written all over his wizened face. "Esdras, Katie's Patronus is the main food source of New Demnin. With Katie unconscious…"
Esdras interrupted the headmaster, his voice steely cold. "I know. Without Katie, it will be all but impossible to feed my people."
The night shift at St. Mungo's was hard at work, and the lights in the wards had been turned down low so that the patients could get their much needed sleep. In the ward he now occupied, Esdras had moved his bed so that it was beside Katie's. He held her hand in his and spoke to her, begging her to come out of her coma. When his voice finally gave out, he lay quietly beside her, hoping that she could find her way back by the feel of his hand in hers.
Around three in the morning his voice returned, and, for lack of anything better, he began praying to Cerah, the Azkaban goddess of medicine. There was a form to such prayers, but Esdras opted for a more free form appeal. "Ancient Cerah, guardian of vitality, born before us of the shroud of Demnin, look after this mortal child and guide her back to our transitory plane. I pray to you in the name of Demnin the mighty, whom I seem to be…"
Again, the young Dementor king fell silent, this time for lack of anything better to say. Time passed with inexorable slowness in the ward, and Esdras had no mind for sleep. He wanted to be awake if Katie woke during the night. It was some time later when the door opened to reveal a tall, cloaked figure. Dr. Transom glided in slowly and took the seat that was beside the king's bed. "You should get some sleep, young prince."
Esdras laughed despite himself. He turned to face his doctor, the one who had brought him into the world. "Three hundred fifteen years and a coronation later and you still call me young prince?"
The doctor inclined his hood. "Old habits die hard, Majesty."
The king again laughed softly. "Stick with young prince. It is comforting."
Michaelis Transom nodded. "As you wish, young prince." He was quiet in the darkness for a while before he spoke again. "I have something to tell you that I didn't want the others to know about. I didn't know if you would want this to become common knowledge."
Esdras looked up. "Go on."
The doctor sighed and drew his wand. Overtop of the hospital bed, he cast a specialized triage charm, one designed specifically to determine the status of the supersolenoid organ. Despite Esdras' earlier diagnosis of being perfectly healthy, there were small spots of warning yellow on the uniform green display. Transom enlarged one of the yellow spots and magnified it to the cellular level. There were two types of cells distinctly visible. "It seems that your transformation into a divine being did not leave you completely unscathed. These cells here are normal supersolenoid cells."
The bedridden Dementor nodded, he was familiar with what supersolenoid cells looked like, and their silver glow was a comfort to him. He looked at the other cells, which glowed with a platinum hue. "And the other ones?"
Transom shook his head. "Without access to the ancient medical texts we brought with us from Azkaban, I can't be sure. But given what has happened today, I'm prepared to venture a guess. I believe that these are residual metasolenoid cells, cells of the divine metasolenoid organ. They are left over from your time as Demnin. If they are, they will be able to produce ichor on their own without exposure to soul or Patronus energy. I want to do further tests once we get back to New Demnin to make sure, and to see if they are spreading."
Esdras stared at the triage spell for a long time; the platinum cells glowed happily, churning out ichor. Ichor, the precious liquid that was the lifeblood of his people. He lay back in his bed and stared at the ceiling. When he spoke, his voice was quiet. "How long do we have until we have to worry about starvation among the populace?"
The doctor shrugged slowly. "Aaron returned to New Demnin to discuss the matter with Admiral Kirin. He said that he would bring a report on status of the Strategic Ichor Reserve when he arrived tomorrow." He gestured to the comatose Katie. "But I personally think we will be fine for a while. Katie had an entire month to help us create the reserve. I know for a fact that she would occasionally cast two or more Patroni a day, that's over a million soul equivalents each day."
The king nodded and turned his head to face the comatose mortal. He squeezed her hand gently. "I know, and we have much to thank her for. I just hope she will wake up in time for us to be able to give her thanks."
True to the healer's word, Esdras was discharged the following day. The Bells had shown up and gave him hugs, telling him that Katie would be fine and reminding him that he had a duty to his kingdom as well as to his Katie. The Dementor king, in return, swore a full infantry division to protect her and that he would visit her every day. So, with heavy heart, the king of Azkaban signed the necessary check out forms and left the hospital to return to Hogwarts.
Esdras' return to Hogwarts was subdued, and it soon became apparent that most of his friends were walking on eggshells around him, whether out of fear of upsetting him or fear of his terrible transformation he would never know. Only those closest to him were totally unafraid. And after the Dementor had disappeared halfway through the day, only the bravest went searching for him.
In this way did Ginny Weasley find herself in front of the door to the Room of Requirement. She stepped inside and immediately found herself in a dark chamber, illuminated by torches and glowing green stones which she recognized to be fire emeralds. Even without being able to see the ceiling she could tell that the chamber was expansive. She walked slowly through the room until she came to an ornately carved doorway. This she opened to reveal another chamber, larger and better lit than the first. Ginny gasped as she entered, for the room was filled with immense statues of the Azkaban gods, each one more than a hundred feet tall. The chamber was so tall that it made her dizzy to look to the ceiling. She called out into the cavernous space. "Esdras?"
The voice came from above her. "I am here, Ginevra mashavades Weasley."
The mortal smiled. "I was worried about you."
Esdras appeared at the waist of one of the statues, a Dementress divinity, and looked curiously down. "Your Azkabaaner has improved dramatically."
The redhead scoffed. "I'm fluent now, thank you very much. Hermione helped me a lot over the summer. It's not that hard when you put your mind to it."
The Dementor king lowered himself to ground level and took human form. "Once again, you prove my theory that you are the most dangerous of the Weasley children."
Ginny smiled. "I'll take that as a compliment." She looked around the cavernous room and let out a low whistle. "So, where are we?"
Esdras smiled. "This is a recreation of the North Mountain Pantheon. I wanted a place where I could pray to the gods in private. This is what I got."
The mortal looked around and nodded. "It's very impressive. But Katie is mortal, shouldn't you be praying to the mortal God?"
The Dementor laughed softly. "I did that a few hours ago. I got a very impressive looking cathedral. I didn't even know where to start, so I just prayed." His laughter grew in volume and took on an almost riotous quality before fading away into a soft sob. "I prayed and I prayed and no one answered."
Ginny put her arms around Esdras and hugged him tightly. "The gods have not abandoned you, especially not now when you're going through your greatest trial, when you're rising up to stand as one of them." She smiled at his shocked expression. "I was there. My Patronus might not be as strong as Harry's or Dumbledore's, but I helped as best I could."
Esdras nodded, taking her hands in his and squeezing softly. His voice was heartfelt. "Then I am in your debt, as I am to many of my friends. Any request you may make of me, Azkaban herself will answer and fulfill."
The redhead nodded and put an arm around his waist. "Come on, it's dinner time and I figured that you wouldn't eat anything if you weren't found. I think Katie once called it 'going guard' on her."
The Dementor laughed as they walked through the imitation caverns and out into the halls of Hogwarts. "I haven't done that in a while, thank you very much." He lifted the mortal onto his shoulders and floated quickly down the hall before going into freefall in the stairwell. When he finally placed his feet firmly on the ground and let Ginny down, he squeezed her hand softly. "Thank you, Ginevra."
She narrowed her eyes at the use of her full given name but still smiled softly. "Anytime."
The pair walked into the Great Hall and immediately stopped in horror. At the Slytherin table, plain for all to see, Draco Malfoy was standing, arms outspread, making a high pitched, falsetto scream. Both Ginny and Esdras knew what it was supposed to be, a representation of Katie in her spell damaged state. Before the redhead could react, Esdras had cast his animagus form aside and roared with fury. His heavily accented mortal voice echoed through the hall. "Death to you, Malfoy!"
No one was fast enough to react. Esdras shot through the air with full afterburners and grabbed Malfoy, slamming him onto the table and clearing plates, silverware, and serving dishes off half the table as they skidded to a halt. They finally came to rest near a pitcher of pumpkin juice, which promptly froze solid as Esdras clamped his mouth overtop of the blonde Slytherin's. Candles extinguished and bitter cold filled the room as the other Slytherins at the table began screaming in fear. At the High Table, Dumbledore quickly drew his wand. "Expecto Patronum!"
The shining Patronus flew forth, but instead of backing away, Esdras actively attacked it. He grabbed the phoenix by the wings and engaged his afterburners again. Eight powerful jets of ichor plasma flew out, processing the Patronus' energy and scorching the table below him, setting fire to the mortal's robes. Still locked in the Kiss, Esdras felt the soul pull completely from Malfoy's body and held it in his mouth before kicking off the table and flying away from the Patronus. Once he was clear of the bird, he spat out the soul and held the glowing crystal in his outstretched hand. He spoke only to Dumbledore. "You saw what he was doing, how he mocked her! He does not deserve this! Let me destroy him now!"
Panic reigned in the hall below him, but Esdras only paid attention to Dumbledore. The wizened wizard regarded him calmly as he stepped out from behind the table and walked towards him. "You are angry, Esdras, and I understand. You have every right to be, his actions were not in the best of taste."
Esdras screamed in fury. "He mocked the infirm! Under Azkaban Law, what he did is grounds for him to be put to death!"
Dumbledore remained calm. "But he is not an Azkaban citizen; you cannot hold him to the same laws. Besides, the King of Dementors is a merciful king. Do not forget the broken sword you wear at your waist."
The reference to the Sword of Mercy was not lost on Esdras, and, with a growl, he released the glowing crystal. He stared icily at Dumbledore as the crystal found its way back to its body and Malfoy sat up. "By the hand of the King of Azkaban, mercy is thusly granted. But know this; I shall exact a terrible vengeance upon this mortal. I will wash my hands in his blood and spit upon his grave." He took mortal form again and turned to face the terrified Draco, a maniac gleam in his glowing eyes. "And have no doubt, mortal. I will bring you to your grave."
