Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling

Chapter 12—Demon Battle

"Focus, Boo. It's not about you," Charlie said with a smirk in his voice. Charlie couldn't look at Ricardo without grinning. Ricardo couldn't stop retching. The only one who wasn't reactive was Maria Therese. She gave Ricardo a hard look, but didn't say anything.

The three made their way back to their headquarters. The army was getting ready for the battle at Ares camp. The air was filled with an electric charge that was palpable. Once Charlie, Ricardo and Maria Therese returned to the camp, there was a visible sense of relief. The soldiers were waiting on their leader.

The first thing Charlie did was ask that Azura be brought to him. They would be leaving within the hour for the village for the 'prisoner exchange.' The memory charm had been implanted several days in advance so that she would settle into her new memory with more ease. As the interrogators told him previously, her memory was a layer of story, some completely implausible, and the one they hoped Ares would stop at was a realistic scenario that sounded like real information was being given away.

"So, Azura," Charlie said in a genial manner. "Are you ready to go back to Ares? I hope that you'll tell him you were well treated and not abused in any way. We wouldn't want any ill-will between us," he said sardonically.

Azura was just as surly and profane as she was when she was taken into the camp. The wizards had talked about making her friendlier, but Charlie told them not to bother. They could fake that as well.

"You think you're going to be welcomed back as a hero, do you?" he asked after she'd spit on him for the second time. She called him every foul name she'd ever heard of. Charlie's personal favorite was 'cocksucker.' She was such a cute, petite thing; her mouth was totally out of sync with the way she looked. "Ares is going to scramble your already scrambled brain to get information he thinks you have. I hate to see a pretty little thing like you fucked over by that worthless piece of shit." He shook his head sadly. "Oh well, that's not my problem anymore."

"Ares is going to kill you," Azura said dramatically. "And I can't wait to watch him fuck your dead rotting corpse in the ass."

"Azura," Charlie said mildly, making a tut-ing sound. "How can you expect to have a career as a magician when you clearly have no people skills? And you should really think about anger management."

Charlie turned to the interrogator and said, "Maybe you should have used a memory charm that makes her a wee bit more likeable. Let's get ready." The wizard started to take her away. "Wait." The wizard who was holding on to her arm tightly stopped and turned around.

"Yes, jefe?" he said. Azura tried to pull away, but she was overpowered. He jerked her by the arm and she yelped, muttering curses under her breath.

"Clean her up. Give her a new set of robes if we have them. I want her to look better than when we got her." Charlie chewed thoughtfully on his thumbnail. "I'll pick her up on my way out," he said. "And thank you for all you've done. You do an incredible job." Charlie smiled at him then turned to concentrate on the paperwork on the table.

"Gracias, senor." He said humbly.

Wolfgang entered the tent as the interrogator and Azura was leaving. He steered clear of the kicking Azura.

"Ah, Wolfgang, my favorite spy. What do you have for us?" he asked cheerfully.

"It's pretty much like you expected. There looks like movement from half of the wizard army. I think they're going to try an assault on us while Ares is with you."

Charlie nodded in agreement. "Makes sense. I'd do it. How many?"

Wolfgang shrugged. "Not sure, probably 700." He said, remembering that Charlie always wanted to know his best guess.

"What's special about them?" he asked.

"Nothing that I could see. They're highly motivated. That's about it. I didn't see any great magic; probably a protective spell, cloaked. They think they have the element of surprise because Ares has told them we are unprepared." Wolfgang chuckled. "He believes the demon army is all he needs to get to you and whomever you decide to bring with you. He really is a fool."

"That's what I'm counting on." Charlie said.

"How did it go with Zephas?" he asked. "I haven't seen Ricardo and Maria Therese is busy with her witches."

Again Charlie shrugged. "She agreed to fight the demon army, but who knows? She's supposed to meet us in the village. We'll see."

Charlie had no idea how Wolfgang was able to get such credible information until he figured out that Wolfgang must be an animagis. That would explain how he recovered so quickly from his near-death experience. He probably didn't have time to make the transition when Ares army attacked earlier. It was no small wonder that he was able to obtain information so easily without being captured. He decided he wasn't going to ask Wolfgang about it either. That could be his little secret.

He didn't know if animagi were required to register in Mexico or the United States like they were in England. There were a lot of differences between the countries. America seemed to have a more open attitude with less regulation, but he wasn't as familiar with Mexican magic control.

There was one more meeting with the leaders before Charlie left and the battle was to begin. The new intelligence changed the face of the battle. The soldiers would be waiting for Ares's army in the desert away from the actual headquarters. They would have the element of surprise and would have the advantage.

The leaders and Charlie went over their plans again and again to make sure everything was understood and they were as prepared as they could be. Satisfied that they were indeed ready to do battle, Charlie choose a platoon to accompany him and his prisoner. He knew Ares would expect him to bring soldiers even though he was supposed to come alone. Everything was going according to plan.

The platoon and Charlie were given a protective charm and also a blessing from the spiritual leader. That was something else that Charlie wasn't used to, but the Mexicans were highly spiritual and superstitious people. He found their faith endearing.

"Let's get this party started," Charlie said finally. He went by, as promised to pick up Azura on his way out. The interrogators had cleaned her up nicely and stunned her so that she wouldn't fight him. It was going to be a long day and Charlie didn't need to fight a crazy little blond Tasmania devil every step of the way.

As soon as Charlie and the platoon headed out, the rest of the army, with a battalion sized group staying behind to defend the headquarters should Ares's army get past the soldiers, took off to the pre-arranged location. Charlie saluted the leaders and the soldiers.

The village where they were to meet Ares was located on the other side of the desert in a very remote area. It was a native village and as far as Charlie could tell, the outside world wasn't aware that the village had been destroyed. There was no outside communication. The only hint of the modern world was the anthropologists who were embedded in the community. The two college graduate students had been killed with the rest of the village. They probably wouldn't be missed either for several months.

Maria Therese's witch platoon had taken care to clean up the carnage. They buried the dead and left their disappearance a mystery. The village looked like everyone had just walked away from it into the desert. The villagers were taken by surprised and didn't have the chance to put up a fight; not that they could have if they had had the opportunity. It looked like the demons had come in silently in the dead of night, slaughtering every man, woman, and child. Even the animals were destroyed.

Charlie knew there was a chance he would be killed today. He tried not to think about it. The village was eerily quiet. Ares was probably there, watching them, but the quiet was deafening. He smiled an encouragement to the men and instructed them silently to spread out and find cover. Ares would expect that, and he didn't want to disappoint.

Charlie seated Azura at the village square at the communal watering station. She was quiet; the spell was working nicely. He wanted to make sure that Ares saw that she was all right.

He had no idea if Ares was still going to pretend he had Jessica. The thought was ridiculous. Could Ares really be that stupid? Or maybe Ares didn't give Charlie enough credit. No one knew that he and Jessica were back together and he intended to keep it that way.

While they waited on something to happen, Charlie thought about what he had said to Jessica before he left. He had been caught up in the moment and had thought about his own mortality. Jessica deserved a hell of a lot better than him. Still, he wasn't going to back down on his promise just because he was getting cold feet. Yeah, he thought, who'd believe Charlie Weasley was getting married? He smiled to himself; the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea.

Charlie heard a rumbling coming up from the east. A giant cloud of dust was approaching; Ares no doubt. He sat calmly at the watering hole waiting. He crossed his legs and leaned back on his hand; his face tilted toward the hot sun. He looked like a man at his leisure; not a care in the world. Then he heard another rumbling; a giant black cloud was approaching from the west. It looked like the clouds were going to collide somewhere approximately where Charlie was sitting. The cloud to the west looked bigger than the one in the east. He hoped the bigger one was Zephas. Both clouds rose above the ground and ran into each other head on. The storm that resulted was worse than a tornado in its ferocity. Lightning flashed across the sky. Thunder-like sounds boomed all around. It must be a hell of a battle, thought Charlie as he watched the sky. The storm raged for what seemed like hours, the clouds churned orange-red, then black and back to red. At this point there was no way to tell who was winning. He heard voices in the clouds and from a distance it probably looked like the end of the world. The ground beneath the storm however was calm. The clouds rose and fell as the battle continued; the sounds of the battle echoed throughout the desert.

And just as suddenly, it was over. The clouds turned from red to white and finally dissipated, leaving a brilliant sun. Before the clouds dissipated, though, a fine red and white mist fell to the earth, making the ground look like a bloody snow storm. Then as quickly, as it appeared, a cleansing warm breeze blew it away.

The battle was over, but Charlie did not know who won. He was anxious to talk to his men who had witnessed the battle; to assure them that everything was all right. His only concern was not knowing where Ares was. He hoped that Ares had run away, but he doubted that.

"Where's your boy friend?" he asked Azura who was watching her reflection in the deep community well. She leaned over the well, apparently mesmerized at her reflection.

As if on cue, a black wisp of rolling smoke formed in front of Charlie; and as if he was being poured into shape, Ares appeared. Charlie jumped up, his wand at the ready. As soon as his shape solidified, Ares pointed his wand at Charlie and executed a curse, which Charlie blocked effectively.

"Where's your army, Ares?" Charlie said, chiding him.

Ares face was a mask of fury. He continued to throw curses at him which Charlie deflected expertly. Ares was being reckless and Charlie was sure that he would hit Azura, but Charlie didn't think he cared. He was angry, no, incensed.

"What's the matter, Ares?" Charlie taunted. "Lose something?"

"I wouldn't be so arrogant if I were you. Are you forgetting who I have?" Ares said angrily.

"Oh, right. Right. Jessica." He said thoughtfully, chewing on his bottom lip. "Did you bring her? I thought this was supposed to be a prisoner exchange." He turned around expectantly. "I brought your little girl friend. Where's mine? Look, I'm not giving up my prisoner until you give me yours." Charlie smiled smugly. "Give it up, Ares. We both know you don't have Jessica; you never did. You've lost."

"That's where you're wrong, Weasley," Ares said. "I've already defeated you and you don't even realize it." He laughed derisively. He grabbed Azura's arm and the two of them disapparated before Charlie could stop him.