A/N: Fair warning in this chapter for religious people. There will be talk about God and heaven and hell in this chapter. I'm certain that some will feel offended about the way I speak about the Christian belief, understand it was not meant to do so and I have merely changed it to fit the story.
Enjoy the chapter people.
After the Rebirth
"Those circumstances wouldn't happen to have something to with a hot elf with black skin and red eyes would it?"
Harry felt like slamming his head into the table. Of course Amorpha wouldn't have let him postpone his suffering for a while. He was slowly trying to figure a way out of this issue that didn't involve a violent maiming by his beloved counterpart.
"After breakfast, this is going to be a longer explanation" replied Harry in Mandarin
"You better, Ace"
The two then returned to their breakfast, though Harry could feel Vanessa trying to drill a hole in his skull throughout breakfast.
The day then began to pass and the two went through their classes one by one. Though Harry really was starting to get annoyed with Vanessa's constant glaring, he knew that he might have kept a few things hidden but damnit the woman was starting to grate on his nerves of steel!
So Harry did the only thing he could think of, he dragged Vanessa into the nearest broom cuppoard and sealed the door with so much magic that even Dumbledore would have to strain himself when attempting to open it.
"Okay woman, what the hell is your problem today!? I know I have kept secrets before, so why is this one so bloody special?" asked Harry with bare contained anger
Vanessa looked at him strangely for a moment, as if she was surprised by his rather sudden outburst.
"Wrong with me? You are the one that decided to sleep around with some strange woman that I don't even know what to call her!" yelled Vanessa, anger making her magic flare about her.
"Sl-Sleep around!? God damnit woman, I slept with Amorpha when I was still in my sixth year originally. If I'm not wrong then that is a good few years before you and I were even introduced" returned Harry with a growl
"Don't you fucking dare lie to me Ace! I saw it clear as fucking day myself, that crazy bitch even had the fucking gall to show me a vision of her and I going at it!" Vanessa's voice was beginning to echo slightly as her magical aura began turning a dangerous black color
Har… Ace looked ready to hit her right in the jaw for that particular little piece of commentary, Vanessa even expected it to happen. Surprising both of them, Ace decided that rather than punching his love he would do the sensible thing, so he grabbed both sides of her head and slammed their lips together in a kiss that didn't befall anyone below the age of twenty-one.
When the two finally separated tears were falling from Vanessa's cheeks as her young eleven year old body reacted much harder to the display of affection than her thirty- two year old body did.
"Now will you let me explain just what my connection is to Amorpha, and what the images she showed you meant?" asked Ace with a calm tone
"*Cough* Am I interrupting?" asked a new voice
Both of the occupants of the broom closet turned and looked towards the wall where the voice had come from, only to see that the entire wall was gone and in its place was an open door leading to a completely white office.
Inside the office was a single desk with two comfortable leather chairs in front of it. Behind the desk sat a woman that Harry recognized quite easily.
"Huh, your John's secretary or something right?" asked Harry
The woman nodded and gestured for both of them to step inside "That is correct Mr. Potter. Though I am not his secretary, I'm his co-worker. I merely found you on the floor, in honesty you should have made your own way to his office"
"Oh… thank you for that then" muttered Harry as he sat down with Vanessa
"Don't mention it, Mr. Potter. Now the reason I'm here is to, first, tell you both congratulations on your soul bonding" the woman saw both of them looking at her a little strangely "A soul bond is, simply put, when two souls are so intertwined that they follow one another even after death. John was quite impressed by that little stunt Mr. Potter"
"Wait, I did it?" asked Harry in clear confusion
"*Nod* though not on purpose of that I'm sure. Your love for young Miss Weaver was simply strong enough for you to pull her soul out of hell and back to earth with you" replied the woman with a smile
"Hold a moment! I went to hell?!" yelled Vanessa
"… surely you are joking Miss Weaver? You and Mr. Potter here are both on Hell's hiring list. They want you as part of their torture department… though they are a bit cross with Mr. Potter for pulling you out of there before they could even off you the job" replied the woman
"We are on hell's hiring list?" asked Vanessa wide eyed
"And on Heaven's black list for that matter" added the woman
"So we are never getting into heaven?" asked Harry
"You killed God's great-granddaughter less than 24 hours before dying, so no Mr. Potter, you will not be getting into heaven" drawled the woman in reply
"The crown princess of Britain was God's great-granddaughter? Oops…" muttered Harry
"I told you it was a bad job, Ace!" yelled Vanessa
"Wait a moment… was that why the suit looked so close to pissing himself? He knew who we had just offed?" asked Harry
"I assume he did. But could we get back on track then?" asked the woman
"Sorry Miss… ehh what was your name again?" asked Vanessa
"*Sigh* Like with John you wouldn't be able to pronounce my name correctly. Call me Rose if you must call me anything" replied the newly named Rose
"Sorry then, Miss Rose" added Vanessa
"No problem, child. Now back to what I was saying. I'm here to offer my own and most of the Soul Departments thanks for doing something we thought nigh impossible" said Rose
"Ehh for what?" asked Harry
"Due to a choice you made, Mr. Potter, a new soul has been created and will come to us at some point in the future" replied Rose with a smile
"Isn't that a rather normal occurrence? I mean like with children?" asked Vanessa
"Quite, but it is the nature of the child that is unique. You see the soul Department has been trying to get their hands on a soul from the Ashwoods for almost ten millennia. Thanks to your future son, we finally have one" replied Rose with a large smile
"My son?" asked Vanessa clearly confused
"Have you not told her yet, Mr. Potter?" asked Rose
"I was about to when you interrupted me" replied Harry
"Oh… I must apologize for my poor timing then. Do you wish for me to leave for a moment so that you can explain?" inquired Rose with an apologetic look
"No, no I'd rather you stay. You might be able to support what I say, if not actually answer some other questions I have" replied Harry
"Okay I'm about at the edge here" began Vanessa "What is this about our future son and what does it have to do with the vision that Amorpha sent me?"
Harry heaved a large sigh before beginning his explanation. He started out with how he had met Amorpha in his sixth year when he had first run upon the Ashwoods. He then moved on to explain the specifics about his Staff and how he had paid for it with Amorpha.
He then explained the rather hefty price he would have had to pay should he ever break his staff. It was after all a gift from the leader of the Dark Elves. But he had done so none the less and had to face the punishment. He quickly covered what he knew about the Dark Elves being exempt from time and then looked towards Rose.
"The Ashwoods are a separate realm entirely, Mr. Potter. The Soul Department has no jurisdiction over their realm, as Amorpha said to you, only their Goddess may change anything in that realm" supplied Rose
Nodding his thanks for the explanation, Harry continued his own. He covered his trip to the Ashwoods and his encounter with Amorpha, then he reached the part about his punishment and he suddenly fell short of words.
"I don't really know how to say this, other than being painfully blunt. But Amorpha ordered that she be given our first born son in payment for breaking my staff…" said Harry as he finished his tale.
Vanessa's face managed to pass through quite a range of emotions at an impressive rate. Though it was the one that she ended on that had Ace scared… that small smile that never reached her eyes… that never spelled good news for anyone…
"So what you are saying… is that the queen cunt of the dark elves thinks I'm going to be handing over my son to her because she wants me to?" said Vanessa in a sickly sweet tone
Ace had his hands on hers in a moment and gave them a small squeeze as her eyes focused on him.
"My Queen isn't going to hurt him. She has great plans for our son, and it isn't like we won't be allowed to see him. In fact I think that if we chose to move to the Ashwoods when the he was born, then he would be allowed to live with us until he comes of age" said Ace quickly
That didn't seem to help any on Vanessa's current state of mind. In fact the look in her eyes darkened a little as she spoke.
"First off, what's with the "My Queen" business. Secondly, how is that any fucking better than her taking him away from us? We aren't even allowed to see him if we don't move to their stupid world?" inquired Vanessa, her tone now quite a bit darker
"*Sigh* I'm a citizen of the Ashwoods, have been since my sixth year. You didn't think that my Queen would let some random British wizard touch her just like that, or build him a staff for that matter?" replied Ace in his own questioning tone
"Mr. Potter, are you really a citizen of the Ashwoods?" interrupted Rose
"Yes, why?" asked Ace in turn
"Because that would explain why John had to fight for your soul with the Dark Elf Goddess… you know we only managed to reacquire your soul after promising to bring you back to life. Their Goddess was even quite ready to march straight into Hell and inform the current Devil about your *ahem* change in employment" replied Rose with a bit of awe in her voice
"Interesting, really. Getting back to what you asked me, Vanessa. The reason Amorpha wouldn't want us to have him outside of the Ashwoods is because of who he is going to become. If any other the Ashwoods enemies found out, he would be targeted by all of them" said Ace
"And pray tell, Ace, who is our son going to become?" asked Vanessa, venom lacing her voice
"I don't know his name for obvious reasons, but he will be the captain of the Obsidian Guard, the personal bodyguard of Queen Amorpha… and the prince consort to the Dark Elven people, and father of their next queen" replied Ace with a passive voice
Vanessa seemed to digest that information for a while, her expression never changing.
"I don't like this, Ace. Not one bit. So you better arrange for a meeting with your Queen, because I certainly have a few words to say…" Vanessa growled as she turned towards Rose once more
"I take it you wish to move on with our business?" asked Rose, when Vanessa nodded sharply she continued "I have been authorized to give both of you a reward for your service to our department. It can be almost anything you wish, as long as it is within our departments boundaries"
Ace and Vanessa both looked thoughtful for a good long while. They weren't really sure what they could ask for, sure they both had things they would like but most of it they could get on their own as well.
"What are you going to ask for?" asked Ace
"I'm not sure… this is one of those situations you try and plan for because it's fun to think about, but when you are put on the spot…" mumbled Vanessa
"I know what you mean… would it be possible for us to hold on to the favor until we figure it out?" asked Ace towards Rose
"Certainly Mr. Potter, simply state quite firmly that you have made up your mind and I shall be around to grant your request" replied Rose with a smile "Now if you two have no more questions, I'm a busy woman and I have more people to see today as well as lunch with very annoying sister in law"
"Just one more thing, does the resident of the Ashwoods refer to the Soul Department as "The Divines"?" Ace asked as he stood from his chair
"The Divines is a term used by most of the Ashwoods to describe both my own department and that combination of Heaven and Hell. Why do you ask Mr. Potter?" inquired Rose, now obviously curious
"Amorpha gifted me with a new staff" said Ace as he pulled out his wand and turned it in his hand until it took on its staff form and then sat it back on the ground
"Thymea, Heart of the Forest… Mr. Potter do you have any idea what that artifact you are wielding is?!" yelled Rose
"Amorpha explained it to me, yes. I take it there might be a little more to it than that?" asked Ace in confusion
"Mr. Potter… did Amorpha award you with a title along the staff?" asked Rose now clearly in full business mode
"She called me "The Herald of the Goddess" before I left" replied Ace
Rose seemed to blink owlishly for a few moments; Ace saw her cheeks reddening as if she was constraining a laugh.
"You two may leave… and good luck Mr. Potter, you will need it" said Rose in a slightly squeaky voice
The two slowly left the room and exited into the broom cupboard once more, just before the door closed they both swore they heard Rose mumble "herald of the goddess" quickly followed by "John fucked up" before breaking into uncontrollable laughter
Once the door closed it seemingly melded into the wall and left the two youths in the darkness of the broom cupboard once more.
"So!" announced Ace "That just happened… and I'm so sorry" he breathed the last bit
Vanessa turned towards him and smiled a genuine smile before pulling her lover into a comforting embrace.
"I think you're a prat for hiding this from me… and I don't think I'm going to like this Amorpha woman very much, but I think we can work it out" she said
"I hope so… by the way, a thing I didn't mention in there. Amorpha wants to build you a staff" said Ace with a lopsided smile
"She does? I imagined the woman would have a bit of distaste for me…"
"Why would you think that?"
"Didn't I take you from her, isn't that why she is demanding our child for you breaking your staff?"
"Vanessa. Amorpha and I never shared anything but a purely sexual relationship, and it was a onetime deal. I didn't speak with her until just yesterday, before that I hadn't spoken with her for almost sixteen years. She certainly holds no ill will towards you; rather I think she fancies you a bit. You are just the type of woman she likes, fierce and determined and a mouth fit for a sailor"
"So she is really taking our first born simply because you broke the staff?"
"That and she just doesn't want to admit the she wants her future husband around right from the get go. Amorpha can see through time itself, so she knew very well what our son would become to her. So claiming our son is really just her punishing me for breaking the staff, and ensuring that she knows her future husband is well taken care of"
"And she doesn't think we can take care of our own son?"
"She knows we can, and trust me when I say that when we go to get your staff created. She will try to convince you to come live in the Ashwoods to raise our son"
"Well she is going to have one hell of a battle ahead of her…"
"I don't doubt it, love. I just hope I can get some popcorn for the event!"
"Prat!"
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I will be seeing you all in the next chapter.
Also just as a side note, this story is rapidly spinning out of control from its original idea so I'm not even sure where we are ending up now… just warning you all.
-TheLemonsWillSeeYou