A/N: (falling to my knees and wailing) Mercy! I'm begging mercy for being so late with my update! Please, pretty please, don't kill me? Life is such an addictive thing, don't you agree? There is family, and work, and my cat, and all these little things, and then you get so tired that your muse turns into whisper of promise and leaves you alone with Morpheus... But I promise, I'll get better at this.

Hmm, this chapter is unbetaed, too. My usual beta teenwitch18 got tied up with life even more than me, so you get the picture... I have a hope she won't abandon me completely, meanwhile.... I would appreciate if people would point out my most obvious mistakes, at least. Don't forget, I'm not native English-speaker, so bear with me.

Disclaimer: Mine... mine.... my precious.... THUMP. Yeowch! All right, you bloody author rights. Nor HarryPotter, nor Kyou Kara Maou are mine. Never have been, and never - oh, God, how can I live with that?! (punching the wall in frustration) - never will be mine! Unless I relocate to another dimension where they never existed so I could reinvent them and introduce to the world anew. Ah, what a dream...

Chapter 11

Apparently, the castle was always full of soldiers and most of them tended to patrol close to Snape and Harry's room, cause there was no other explanation to sudden military invasion of their living quarters. Soldiers took one look at Severus in Secunda form and clutched their weapons like comfort blankets. The most brave pointed their swords at that strange-looking creature, and the most smart noticed that the boy on the bed wasn't scared at all while the creature itself wasn't behaving in aggressive manner. The situation was resolved with the appearance of Gwendal who immediately recognized facial features of the creature as his recent volunteer Eskil.

"Lord Eskil, I assume that is your another form, isn't it?

"Yes, it is so." - the creature answered in resonating deep and melodic voice.

"I see. May I ask what transpired here?"

"Hmm. I've decided to try Shifting while waiting for the dinner, but it took more time than I thought and the servant maiden saw me like this. I look intimidating I would guess, so she screamed for help. I apologize for the commotion."

"I see..." - repeated Gwendal. He glanced at the servant girl. By that time the girl in question understood that there was no threat at all and now was blushing violently looking on the floor and sneaking glances at the strange guest.

"You may go." - the Demon Army Commander dismissed soldiers. "And you..." - the girl twitched in nervousness - "...bring another tray with food, and this time, try not to drop it on the floor. Which is in need of cleaning, by the way."

"Right away, Gwendal-sama!" - the girl ran away.

Gwendal never ever saw something so beautiful and dangerous. When Maou assumed his demonic form, it was awe-inspiring and intimidating, but never threatening for his senses. Now... All of his essence screamed that he was in the presence of predator and had to be wary. With effort he managed to keep his face calm and sent soldiers away. There was no reason to keep them here. Then several thoughts at once came to him. First was that now humans will have more difficulty to believe demons to be friendly and harmless than before. That is, if they saw Lord Eskil as he was now. Second thought was about Ramiel. Was his form as beautiful and deadly? And finally, how will Günter react to this?

"This aside, are you allright here?" - Gwendal took in tired face of Ramiel.

"Oh, yes. Everything is fine." - the young man replied with cheerful tone which sounded completely fake to demon lord. Gwendal nodded to Eskil, then to Ramiel, and left the room.

The evening went rather quiet after that. Severus returned to his more human-like form and spent some time explaining to Harry what he had done to achieve transformation. Harry listened with open mouth, trying to memorize every word and forgetting for the time being about his decision not to be a burden anymore.

In the morning they wandered around the castle and somehow found themselves in the dungeons. Well, Harry followed his guardian silently lost in his thoughts, and Severus always liked dungeons where he felt most at peace. It was in the dungeons, that he hided from Griffindor and Slytherin bullies alike. It was there that he licked his wounds after "meetings" with Voldemort. More like torture sessions. It was there that he grieved for his precious Lily and later inability to change somehow his course of fate, when he realized what a fool he was to trust Dumbledore. It was there that he could hide from suspicious and hateful gazes of his students. It was there...

And now it was here that he heard that delightful laugh again. He stopped abruptly, and listened. Yes... It was further ahead, from the door on the right. He cautiously approached and knocked, Harry trailing behind him. The door opened and that demoness from before – Anissina – looked out.

"What a wonderful surprise!" - she exclaimed and dragged both inside. "You are those guests from another world! What a mystery! Would you mind answering some questions?"

Considering Snape's face, he was ready to die of starvation if need be to stay here and talk with this astonishing woman for as long as she asked. Harry tentatively checked his guardian's emotions and nearly sobbed. Such an exhiliriating joy! So much happiness! What was he going to do now? He didn't mind staying here all day, but he felt as if he intruded into something very fragile and intimate. As if he was a wall between the two. He couldn't bear this anymore and slipped from the room. I'm not a baby! - he thought angrily, - "So what if I don't know Occlumency? I survived Voldemort's torture when I was empath already! I survived the Battle! I survived! And I can be by myself! I just... I thought... Whatever.... I will just go sit in the park and try to meditate." The echo of Snape's emotions got weaker and weaker, and disappeared alltogether. Harry grew nervous and tried to go faster. Darkness and creepiness in the surroundings reminded him of the time with Voldemort. There were no people here, and emptiness where emotional background should have been made him disoriented.

Of course, with his luck, he got lost in the dungeons.

Severus spent considerable time talking with Anissina before he even noticed that the boy was gone. They discussed different uses of potions, and Anissina introduced him to her incredible inventions. It costed him all his strength not to burst out laughing after hearing the names of those machines, but he managed it. They laughed and joked, and then Severus finally noticed that Desi was nowhere to be seen. He apologized before Anissina and left frowning. Ha...Desi knew that they had to be together all the time. Stupid boy! He will only harm himself like that. Was that his tantrum or something else? Did he become hungry and went to kitchens? He checked the kitchens, but no one saw the boy there. Severus hurried to their room, but it was empty, too. With increasing worry in his heart he went to the garden where he taught Desi how to relax, but there was only Konrart there who haven't seen Desi either.

"I can't find him anywhere", - admitted Severus. - "I'm worried he could have fainted somewhere. He left when I was talking with Lady Anissina."

"Understandable." - Konrart nodded. - "Many try to run from her clutches."

Severus blinked puzzled, but didn't say anything.

"All right, I will help you."

However, the search brought no results. Seeing worry bordering with fear on Eskil's face, Anissina, Gwendal and Günter joined the search as well. Still, there were no sign of the boy...

Wolfram von Bielfield returned home late in the afternoon tired, confused and lost in thoughts. His mission went successfully and all bandits were arrested and brought to justice. However, something was amiss. As much as he was glad to finally see Yuuri, he anticipated seeing another face more. Why? Why was it so painful to think about Yuuri's friend? Murata was strange, mysterious and sneaky. He was communicating with Shinou himself. He was Daikenja, The Great Sage. Well, he was reincarneted Great Sage, but still. He was... much more great than Wolfram himself. He was handsome and smart, and brave. Wolfram may be a son of previous Maou, skillful demon-mage and warrior, but for someone like Murata... What was he for Murata? Fiancé of a friend? Hot-tempered demon brat? Well, Wolfram had to admit, he could throw a tantrum and often acted rashly, but was he really that bad? Why did Murata avoid him so much lately? Avoided being in his presence or looking at his face? And what should he do now with Yuri? Refusal of marriage after accepting proposal was a grave offence to Maou. Yuuri would understand, of course, but how could he look at anyone after that? At Yuuri himself? At Murata?

His musings were interrupted when he was literally knocked off his feet.

"I apologize!" - he heard the shout from rapidly running away human. Human? Here, in Maou Castle, human running away? It must be an assassin! Was Yuuri harmed?! Wolfram took out his sword and ran after the human. He will show those stupid hateful barbarians! How dare they attack Maou? Despite his lack of feelings of true love for Yuuri, Wolfram was definitely possessive of him. No one will dare to harm Yuuri and get away with it! He was gaining on human when on the crosssection between corridors human suddenly stopped looking somewhere to the right.

"Have you seen him?" - human asked someone in the corridor, and ...Yuuri's voice replied!

"No..."

"I haven't seen him either!" - from corridor on the left appeared Günter with worried face.

"Have you some idea why he ran off?" - from corridor on the right finally came out Yuuri with Gwendal who asked the question.

"I honestly don't know!" - human looked on the floor. - "He was acting a bit strange after lunch yesterday, but I thought we got over it. I didn't think... I should have known..."

"Will someone tell me what's going on?" - Wolfram snapped at gathered.

"Oh, Wolfram! Welcome home! I hope the mission was a success? You'll tell Gwendal later, as for what happened... This is Lord Eskil, a traveller from another world, not Yuuri's, but similar, and he seems to have lost his ward, young Ramiel. Well, not really young, Yuuri's age, apparently. We'd be grateful if you lent us help..." - Günter rambled.

"Of course." - grumbled Wolfram hiding the sword. Again he showed himself a complete fool chasing someone innocent...

"I still don't understand why are you panicking so much? We'll find him sooner or later. He is not a baby. He is a strong young man from what I gathered." - Gwendal wondered aloud.

Severus felt worthless and miserable. More than usual. In his excitement over talking with Anissina – in whom he found his twin-soul – he completely forgot about Harry. Now he reaped the results of what he sowed. Harry was nowhere to be found and Severus was ready to pull his hair out from worry. How could he?! Severus wasn't even sure, to whom his outrage applied more – to Harry or Severus himself – but he couldn't rid of this thought. How could he... And now... He either has to pull some lie on them or tell the truth... And while he was good at lying – or he would be dead long ago – he could do more harm to Harry with his lies. They have to understand why he was in such worry.

"I... omitted something during our tale. Desi... he is an empath."

"I still don't see the urgency. What is an empath?" - admitted Günter.

"It means he can feel what other people feel, right?" - Yuuri looked surprised.

"Yes."

"I reiterate. Why is such urgency with finding him?" - Gwendal frowned.

"Let me see. He was tortured for several months by Voldemort and his followers to the brink of death after being healed back while feeling all the sick pleasure and hate from his torturers, then he became a conduit for some unknown power which killed off all Death Eaters on the battlefield – almost hundred of them, including Voldemort – and again while feeling their pain and terror, and let me think... right! After that he felt all disgust and hate those foolish cowards under Dumbledore's thumb directed at their saviour! Among which were his friends, for whom he refused to break while in captivity! And now... He got bonded with me to stabilize his mental awareness. That is why I need to be always near him. For the near future, at least. Without me he could have panick attack, loose himself in memories and break completely. He is very fragile mentally now. That he was abused for all of his life doesn't help either in any way, only worsens the situation!"

Wolfram, having no previous knowledge about history of Shifters' arrival in Shin Makoku, could only gape during this tirade. What in the Shinou's name?... He suddenly flinched catching the look on his brother's face. Gwendal looked... terrifying. His face contorted in rage, chalky white with blazing eyes. Usually ocean blue, they became nearly black and narrowed into two slits. Though, truth to be told, Günter was scary in his own right. He looked furious as well and as if in deep pain. Watered eyes were questioning and accusing; Yuuri... Yuuri simply cried. Wolfram turned away. He couldn't stand to see Yuuri crying.

"And you... Just what do you think you were doing not informing us of that?!" - Gwendal lost any ability to speak calmly and hissed like an angry snake. - "In the castle full of soldiers and people who were just through the terrible war and battles! How could you hide information like this?! You should have told us!"

"Oh, you think so?!" - exploded Eskil. - "Why should I have? After being betrayed by the closest thing I ever had to a father, mentor and grand-father? After living all my life when I couldn't trust anyone, even myself, because it meant death and torture? When I had to erase my own memories to fool Voldemort and Dumbledore alike? When I had to lie to my only friend so I could save her life?! And you! You tell me I should have trusted virtual strangers whom I saw for the first time in my life with something that could be used against not only me, but my ward! The only son of my only friend who died because of me! Because I was stupid enough to tell Voldemort about Prophecy and he killed her! He killed her and tried to kill her son! And I couldn't even protect him! He was tortured! By this madman and I could only wait... For months! You hear me, for months he was tortured! And I still can't protect him! Not even from myself! I've already failed my godson! He... he was killed just two weeks ago and I was his godfather! I cannot protect them... I'm always late..." - his voice broke.

Never did Wolfram see his brother nor Günter looking so lost and helpless.

"We'll find him." - after short silence finally spoke Gwendal. - "And... I'm sorry I accused you. I would act the same in your situation, I think. I'm sorry."

The search continued for two hours already, but there was no sign of Ramiel. Anissina took on herself the park near the castle, Conrart decided to search through side buildings along with Yuuri. Günter and Wolfram went to the upper part of the castle and Gwendal with Severus went to the dungeons. After his outburst Severus fell silent and spoke little, but in his eyes everyone could see the echo of deep burning pain. Of course, Severus himself didn't know it; what he felt, however, was strange for him. He felt almost lightheaded and dizzy as if some part of the stone that weighed heavily on his heart, chipped off and disappeared. It felt good, to rant. Who would have thought? Maybe teenagers had a point in venting their emotions and thoughts in similar manner... Speaking of teenagers... Where in Merlin's name could that child hide?

Harry, to his credit, didn't panick immediately when he realized that he was lost. Really, the Castle while large was smaller than Hogwarts, and certainly didn't contain magical traps and dangerous beasts inside. He tried to orient himself by walking and holding the right wall only, but that led nowhere. Then he began to walk around aimlessly, and somehow got into the deeper part of the dungeons. Castle was built on the rock, and stretched deep into the earth. The First Maou and his faithful companion Daikenja liked to experiment, and liked to do it without watchful eyes. So they did it in the dungeons that slowly were turning into natural caves under the Castle. It was here that Harry really panicked. The coldness and darkness around were creeing into his very bones, the feeling of rough rock under his fingers reminded him of his cell, and sudden noises of invisible critters and rodents were making his heart beat wildly. He ran blindly with eyes closed stretching his arms out and bending the head. He knew that it wasn't smart thing to do, but... he had to do something. Anything. Just not to stay in one place. Not to stop moving. He ran until he bumped into a wall and gasping he opened his eyes. Absolute darkness was all around him. He went farther than the lights from last torches were reaching. Wildly he turned back and stumbled. He fell down. Briefly he felt some sharp pain on the side of his head and after that there was blissful darkness.

When he came back to conscience, everything was the same as before. Cold, dark and terrifying. He reached out and touched his head. It felt sticky and hurt, and after licking his fingers he understood it was blood.

Flashback begins...

...Blood... on his fingers, on his face, on his body...

"Do you like my present, Potter?" - high, cold and amused voice demanded. - "Do you? I brought him for you. Sssspecially." Ah, favourite entertainment.

Broken body of unknown boy lied in front of him. Still alive, still bleeding, still pleading. Harry tried to stop the blood knowing helplessly that it was no use. The curse won't allow it.

"Kill him. Stop his suffering." - silver knife thrown to him.

Eyes pleading. "Kill me! Help me! Do something!".

No! He won't do it. Never! Never... He threw the knife away asking forgiveness silently from the poor boy.

"Interesting! I see you have no mercy, Harry... What would your mother say?" - grimace twisted Dark Lord's face. "But let's see how he repays it. You, muggle! If you want to die without pain and quickly, play with him. Just don't kill him, or you will regret it. Take the knife. Curio."

Healed Muggle shook and grabbed the knife. "Forgive me... Forgive me..." Harry smiled weakly.

.........................................End flashback

Scream... Where did the scream come from? Oh, it was him. Right. Harry shivered. Voldemort was dead. No one will hurt him here like that. Never again. It was in the past. Memories can't hurt, right? They can't! Besides, he is strong! So, he is lost. Nothing new. He will just go back and find his way out. It's that simple. ...Too silent...too dark... Step by step, he was walking away from the wall. Making sure the ground was there, and no sudden stalactites from above. Step, another step. Wall. He was in front of another wall. Why was it here? Where was the exit? He went along the wall with dread. Where is the exit?! The wall seemed to be round. Column? Huge column? Feeling suddenly weak he slided down the wall and hugged his knees. What could he do now? He began to shake.

After what seemed like hours, Harry was too spent and tired to panic anymore. He felt empty instead. No one will ever find him here because no one in the first place will guess to look here. He had to think of something himself. What could he do? His eyes while improved definitely couldn't see in the darkness. His hearing was better but not by much, and there was nothing to listen to. If he were a bat and had echolocators, he could see the way, but as he was a Shifter... Hmm. Now that was a thought. Could he perhaps see in the dark in his Secunda form? His wings were useless in the caves, but what about other senses? Uncle Soteres... Snape... whatever! He turned into the second form without any problems, at first try. Harry may be younger and not so experienced – in some disciplines – but he could conjure Patronus at thirteen! He just had to have right motivation. Saving your own life was a right one in his opinion.

Harry calmed down and breathed deeply. Closing his eyes brought a strange comfort to him. He was still in the dark, but now he felt like he was in control of darkness. He slipped into a trance easily. Usually he couldn't calm down emotions for long, but now, when he felt so empty, he found it simple to do. His core shined deep inside him. He reached for it, went closer and closer. White amorphic blob with four tentacles and silver-coloured ribbon around it was brilliant. Now, which of the tentacles was the Second form? Right now, the soft blue one was pulsing slightly. There were also dark-blue, almost black in its intensity tentacle, sunlike golden with silver vines and metallic mercury-grey. Hmm... Snape seemed to know what was responsible for each tentacle of the core, but his were differently coloured. Harry slowly reached out to the grey tentacle and withdrew rapidly back. Thunder Falcon! No, he needed Secunda form first. What about deep blue one? Oh, Shadow Panther. Well, there were enough of Shadows around him, but Sirius told he had to transform in right order first. So, the only one left was golden one. He reached out and touched it. The moment he saw his form, he accepted it joyously and bubble-like laugh rose in his chest. Why did Snape said it was difficult? It wasn't! It was exhiliriating and wonderful, and not scary at all! And more than that, it was very convinient for him right now. He embraced the change and his world exploded in gold...

Deep in the dungeons strange creature awoke. Short hair, soft and shining, were brilliant pale yellow. Emerald eyes with vertical slits had narrow almond shape, and seemed to glow as well. But the most peculiar was his skin. Soft violet tinge to it contrasted with silver and golden web tattoo that covered all of the body. The face, the palms, the feet, the chest – everything – was in entwining glowing thin vines. Of course, there were also wings. The creature spread them and they dwarfed small body with their size. White as the first snow, and brilliantly shining, they illuminated the cave somewhat. He was like the sun that somehow got brought into the darkness of the caves. Eyes looked around and glowing silver lips curved into a smile.

Harry was glowing with happiness literally. He forgot about his troubles and problems. There was only now and here existing. His new senses and the suddenly clear and breathtakingly beautiful world around him. The glow from his body and wings weren't enough to lighten up the entire cave, but he could see easily anyway. And what he could see! He was right, by the way. It was a column. One of many in a cave so huge, he could only guess why the Castle didn't fall down. The walls were dark grey for his eyes, but the air... Oh, the air... He could see the air flows. Fresh air torrents were pale blue, the colder the darker, and the air around himself were tinged golden. The air high above, near the ceiling was moving fast and murky brown. Near the floor it was white with dirty-grey spots. Like dirty snow. Sometimes he could see small spirals of blue wind curling near columns. Then there were water puddles and drops on the columns shining in brilliant silver. The cave was luminiscent. It was beautiful. He forgot why he transformed and simply stared mesmerized.

He would have stared more if his stomach didn't growl like Moony on the full moon spotting a prey. Blinking he came out of his stupor and folding the wings studied the cave. Hmm. There were several spots where the fresh air was coming from. Several were too high to be the one he came from. One was somewhere far on the other side of the cave, and he decided it was doubtful he came from there. Now, not far from where he stood, was another spot right...in the...column. Strange. He approached the column and saw that the air was coming through the narrow doorway in the column. There were no stairs leading up, but the floor, while flat, was raising in zigzag spiral up. He followed blue wind. To him it seemed like he was swimming in a blue fog river. He shivered and breathed deep. Didn't he really notice that he ran in circle while he ran?

He was walking for quiet some time when the corridor became narrowier and narrowier, and finally he saw it joining with another corridor. This one was lit by torches, and Harry sighed with relief. He chose the right way. Now, should he go left or right? The air flows were coming from both sides, almost like two lanes in the traffic. He snorted and chose left. If he is wrong, he can always return back.

Gwendal von Walde was always rational and calm, so he couldn't understand at all why he was ready to run around the dungeons and shout Ramiel's name over and over. Eskil had no hesitation to do this at all. He even knocked over poor Wolfram doing so. Little brother thought him to be an escaping assassin even and tried to chase, but thankfully, the situation was clarified for him quickly. Hm, if that was Yuuri who vanished, he would run like that also, Gwendal mused. Still, how do you find someone in a Blood Pledge Castle? There were a lot of hiding spaces here, and only blind luck could help them.

Gwendal couldn't forget the intense and wary stare he received from the boy during their first meeting. When Ramiel was conscious, that is. His proud, but broken stature. His soft voice like small bells. His bleeding body in his arms as he ran to Gizela and tremulous, weak breaths... "...For months!.." , - he remembered despair and helplessness in Eskil's voice. He imagined scared young man shivering in darkness and crying for help, for his guardian. He imagined finding him in nearly catatonic state and looking into empty eyes, or eyes mad with terror, incomprehensing. He tried to make those thought s go away, but they returned with vengeance again and again. Gwendal struck the wall with his fist. Damn it all! Even if he found Ramiel, what could he do to calm him?

Gwendal tried to listen to silence hoping to hear something that could help him. No, there were no sounds here. Gwendal turned to lower part of the dungeons and went looking into each alcove and niche, checking every room, listening to every rustle. Half-hour later, he noticed something strange: there was mysterious light ahead, moving towards him. Human-shaped light, to be exact. Gwendal never heard about something like this except when Günter became Icy Günter, so he gripped his sword tighter. Could it be? The Wincott Poison was all destroyed, wasn't it?

Harry wandered among the corridors for Merlin only knows how much time and - finally! - he caught the distant echo of someone's emotion. Worry and fear, and a bit of anger... Chewing his lower lip nervously, Harry went closer to the source of emotion, but as soon as he could see the person – who looked like a human-like blub of violet lights to him – the person's emotions turned to wariness and puzzlement. Ah, that means he was noticed as well. Harry smiled weakly and approached the person shuffling his feet. It was too late to change his form now. Besides, he felt safer being like this even though he couldn't say why exactly.

A/N: So, there are super-caves under Blood Pledge Castle in my universe... Why wouldn't they exist there? Didn't Shinou hide his super-weapon underground somewhere?

Now, about Wolfram for those who are unfamiliar with Kyou Kara Maou Universe. Taken from fan-site about KKM, not made by me.

Name: Wolfram von Bielefelt

AKA: the spoiled brat, little lord brat, selfish Pooh, the fiancée, the pretty boy

Age: 82

Race: demon

Family: mother - Cecilie, older brothers - Gwendal and Conrart

Fiancée: Yuri

Power: fire magic

Likes: to have his ways

Hates: humans

Personality: arrogant and short-tempered

Wolfram is the youngest son of the former Demon Queen. He hates humans, and hated the fact that Conrart's father was a human. Because of his pride, he wouldn't admit that Conrart is his brother, even though he does care for him. He took his engagement a whole lot more serious than Yuri did. He followed Yuri everywhere to keep an eye on him. He was getting extremely jealous whenever Yuri talked to a girl or a good-looking man, and was constantly worrying about Yuri cheating on him.

And he's extremely gorgeous as well.

More details can be found at Wikipedia if someone wants to check it out:)

Now, remember, that my fic is AU and has different pairings: SS/Anissina (as if there was any doubt), Wolfram/Murata (it took me a while to find Wolfram a soulmate, but really, they fit so good each other), Konrart/Yuuri - yeah, the perfect pair:) I still have trouble believing that in anime it's still Yuuri/Wolfram, and HP/... you should really guess already, who else if not Gwendal?