Chapter 10:

A.N : Sorry for the late update. Thanks for the comments. Some of you noted that there's not enough action or the fic is too cute or wtv. I promise it's going to get more active from now and a bit more dark.

Ajas was sleeping, but it was nowhere near calm. He thrashed around violently, his entire body spasming. The sheets wrapped his body like chains, holding him like a warm yet eerie cocoon. Whimpers were heard…

And he heard them, the screams, all over again ; he saw himself standing on a cliff. The screams echoed like a soft wind caressing him. He was enthralled by them, he wanted to have them, to join them! He looked down, seeing a sea of dead souls. They raised their hands at him, trying to lure him to jump and Ajas couldn't resist the song of the souls. He wanted to have them, he wanted to taste them ; his feet reached the borderline when he attempted to plunge head first, piercing the ethereal darkness. But something grabbed his arm, pulling him back on the cliff. He looked at the tall shadow behind him ; ruby slit eyes, deadly pale skin holding him back to the physical world…

And he jerked awake in full alert, grunting. His muscles ached, his jaws were clenching and his fingers clawing the sheets. A thick layer of sweat covered his body as he breathed heavily. He waited for a while, his mind trying to clear out all the foggy thoughts when a warm feeling rooted at his chest spreaded through his veins. It felt comforting and slowly, each of his muscles relaxed as drowsiness took over him. He fell asleep once more, oblivious to the fact that the locket hanging at his neck was emanating a warm silvery glow.

The next morning he woke up, feeling as moody as ever when he noticed several owls waiting nearby the window. He recognised Pig and Errol, the Weasley owls ; they were all carrying heavy packages. Hedwig was back also, eyeing Balthazar suspiciously. Ajas stood up, groaning before remembering it was his birthday. He inspected all the packs he received, his left hand hovering above them making sure none contained tracking spells. Rage crossed his features as he felt his fingers vibrate when he scanned Ron's present. He expected Ms Weasley's pack to be bewitched but never would he thought that Ron would betray him like this. Yes, that's what he felt ; utmost betrayal. He already made it clear that he had no desire to be found yet his "friend" tried to trick him. Yes, he knew that Ron wanted what was best for him, but he couldn't help feeling outraged by his childhood's friend attitude. He casted counter spells on several packages ; Ms's Weasley yearly cake, Ron's chocolate frogs and magical creatures minature set, Dumbledore's letter.

He was honestly glad that Hermione, the Weasley twins and Charlie didn't take part of this conspiracy and so he unwrapped the presents unsuspiciously. Hermione sent him The Book of Scandinavian Runes, Of Blood and Magic which were surprisingly, mildly dark books. Ajas remembered that he mentionned in his previous letters to Hermione about his studies and she seemed to fully support his project (although he skipped several parts concerning him studying the darkest arts ). She was a true friend ; maybe he should meet her within the next month. The twins sent him some dungbombs, instant darkness powder in small bags, a shielding coat and Charlie sent him dragon hide silencious boots. The presents were quite useful, Ajas thought, as he attached the small bags to his belt – who knows when it might come is handy. In their letters, the twins spoke about their new joke shop in Diagon Alley so Ajas thought he'd want to go there at times. He wasn't sure about how much he could tell Hermione ; maybe it was a trap set by the Order of the Phoenix. Maybe they did it on purpose so that he'd trust her more and be baited…he slammed the books on the desk and sat down, his thumbs pressed on his temples.

Angrily, he snapped the books open and started reading them even if his mind couldn't absorb anything. He tried to distract himself from his anger, learning further about runes when a raven entered his flat via the window. It carried an envelope – most unusual, Ajas mused as he ripped it open. A small obsidian ring fell out; a very simple band of obsidian yet very beautiful one. Balthazar approached, sniffing it and poking it with his tail.

:It is safe: he confirmed.

Ajas picked it up, rolling it between his fingers at eye level. It was then he discerned the written latin words "Hodie mihi, cras tibi".

:Today me, tomorrow you: Balthazar translated. Ajas frowned before unfolding the letter that came with it

Happy birthday.

It was not signed, but the script was the most beautiful one Ajas's ever seen. The writing was regular, the loops were perfect and the capital letters extravangant. It was unusual and Ajas couldn't recognise it, so he decided he should drop the matter for now and wear the ring. He wrote a thank you note and gave it to the raven ;

"Please, give this to whomever sent you to me" He instructed. The raven cocked it's head,staring at him before taking it's flight. He then accio'd the cake and ate a part as breakfast before casting a preserving spell on it. He stood up and crossed the living room, opening one of his cupboards.

The knives from the black vault. It was time for him to start training with knives ; he had promised himself since the beginning of the summer but he forgot it after a while. Having knives and knowing how to precisely throw them is an important asset. And so he trained the whole morning, throwing the knives, spanning them all around and calling them back repeatedly. He managed to aim correctly when he stands still, but he missed his targets when he threw and moved. It was tricky and took a lot of concentration – Ajas swore to himself that he will master it by the end of the summer. Meanwhile Balthazar was singing something in parseltongue and Ajas suppressed the desire to slam a heavy book on the snake's head, cussing at it instead.

At noon he went to the muggle world, going through the end of the cul-de-sac. He had lunch at KFC and then bought a muggle cd player, some heavy metal music albums such as Tears don't Fall – Bullet for my Valentine, Vulgar Display of Power- Pantera, A Sense of Purpose – In flames, Reise Reise and Liebe ist Fur Alle Da – Rammstein. He then spent half of his afternoon bewitching the cd player before giving in to some heavy headbanging session. He needed it, the music carried away his anger and frustration – it made him feel better.

Later in the afternoon, after talking with Mai about what she wanted to study (the girl didn't have any precise idea), Ajas decided to go out again, to Diagon Alley this time. He needed to purchase ingredients for his potions so he dropped by at the apothecary. He noticed the vivid colored façade of the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes joke shop and smiled ; it was the only joyful looking thing in the Alley lately. He walked for a while when an idea took life in his mind. He entered a rusty shop, through a shabby door that had written over it the golden letters "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C". A sound of a tinkling bell rang in the depths of the shop, announcing his arrival.

"Good Afternoon" Greeted the eerie voice of Ollivander. The man looked at Ajas, a strange flicker appearing in his liquid looking silvery eyes. "You never bought a wand here…"

"I never did" Ajas replied coolly.

"Yet, you look familiar. Very familiar….no. You're not him" The man spoke to himself, taking in once again the appearance of the young man standing in front of him. He looked stunning, no doubt in that, considering the stirring ntural beauty he posessed. A tall lithe frame and ivory skin, complimented by pure black and straight hair that seemed to drift down his emerald eyes. His greek nose completed the look with his high cheekbones, creating an angular face. All added to the feeling of gamiliarity he felt emanating from the boy… "Which is your wand arm?"

"I am not here for purchasing. I am a natural wandless" Ajas said, politely. "I am wondering if you take apprentices?"

The old man was classifying his stack of wands when he halted midtrack. "You are interested in the art of wandlore?"

"Not myself. I am asking for a friend – she is 15 and has experiences in oriental staff making. She seeks apprenticeship"

"I would like to see her first…" The man murmured. Ajas smiled dismissively before continueing

"You may know her. Her name's Mai and she possibly bought a wand here 3 years ago. Vietnamese girl"

Ollivander's eyes lit up, before offering Ajas a quivering grin. The sight was very strange because he was pretty sure Ollivander DOESN'T grin. "I remember. 11 inches, frangipani wood, unicorn's heartstring. It was an experiment wand – frangipani wood and unicorn's heartstring is not conventional in wandlore. I feel she will have talent in the art of wandmaking…Tell her to write to me this evening and set up a schedule. I am interested in teaching her"

"How much would it all cost?" Ajas questionned

"25 galleons per month for the first 6 months. If she is talented and passionate, then after the 6th month trial the apprenticeship will be free" Ollivander answered, his eyes as dreamy as ever. Ajas nodded when loud screams were heard outside of the shop, sending jolts of terror down his spine. He cautiously approached the window while Ollivader cowered under his desk, letting out a fearful gasp.

A dozen of cloaked and masked figures were firing curses at the passerbys, filling the atmosphere with colorful halos. Hundreds of hexes flew by, hitting civilians, the more frequent used being Avada Kedavra and Crucios. It was obvious that their aim was to create a climate of fear as they didn't differentiate between man, women and children. Ajas joined the battle, starting to fire spells at the attackers and he wasn't above using their own weapons against them and Aks were sent from both sides. Some Aurors joined the battle and Ajas decided to use his abilities. Some Death Eaters backed off as he approached them , wandlessly throwing off curses. He gracefully dodged and attacked, seeming to perform a deadly dance. Using the fact that the attacker's attentions were diverted from them, people tried to get their loved ones to shelter, ignoring the corpses laying on the alley.

As he surveilled the ungoing fight, Ajas felt his heart stop. A girl, no older than 3 or 4 years old with brown curly hair was right in the middle of the battle, crying her eyes out in front of her mother's body. Nobody was doing anything to get her out of there. Ajas didn't have to think twice before he ran to the girl. He knew that, considering her position, it was just a matter of time before she was hit by a curse. He ducked and dodged through the spell exchanges with an agility obtained in fights against Voldemort and Death Eaters. He was almost there when a masked man dodged a curse that was fired at him and the spell now headed straight to the little girl. Ajas didn't hesitate as he caught the hazel teary eyes. With a speed he didn't know he posessed, Ajas dived and pushed the girl away from the curse.

An orange light filled his vision and Ajas waited, waited for the curse to hit him. The liver melting curse, he recognised before closing his eyes. Yet, he waited for the blow but nothing happened. It couldn't have been his shielding wristwatch, powerful shields can't counter this particular hex. He opened his eyes and felt something burn on his finger ; the onyx ring took an orangy glow before returning to it's original color. Ajas felt perplexed but he had no time ; he made sure the little girl was safe in a shop before plungeing back in the battle.

"Glacialis Statua!" He screamed and one of the DE turned into ice. "Confringo! Stupefy!" Another death eater fell unconscious. Ajas decided to move on to the nastier spells. "Interstringo statumen!" He shouted and watch a man fall limply on the ground. The man made a gurgling sound before his ribs stretched and broke out from his sternum, piercing his chest's skin before diving back, ripping his lungs apart. Ajas stared horrified at his own spellwork but he did not allow his emotions to take over. Several pops were heard and Ajas saw the battlefield being surrounded by order members and aurors. Wearing a satisfied smile, Ajas reached a building before slowly melting into the shadows. No one noticed about his whereabouts ; only the little girl stood there, staring at his invisible self, wide eyed. Ajas approached her slowly before whispering out

"What is your name, little girl?"

The child smiled, knowing it was her savior speaking. "I am Alexandra Underhill…" Ajas recognised the name – it was one of the old pureblooded family holding several seats at the wizengamot.

"Are you alone?" He questionned

Tears rolled down Alexandra's cheeks as she sobbily replied "My momma…she…she…" Ajas shushed the girl as he held her comfortingly in his arms. "Follow me, I will bring you home" He whispered. He took Alexandra with him, becoming invisible again and walking into the leaky cauldron before discreetly floo travelling to the Underhill Manor. He left the girl there before grabbing some powder again. He winced slightly as he reached the chimney ; his entire body was in pain. Several cuts and gashes were visible on his limbs, latching out blood.

"Wait!" Alexandra held his arm, before asking him, her shiny eyes pleading "You saved my life. What is your name?"

"I am Ajas. Ajas Mephysto." Ajas smiled, before flooing back to his home, leaving Alexandra staring at the chimney.