A/N: This is another interlude, if the chapter title didn't clue you in. This takes place about two weeks after Chapter 12, which is why it's being posted directly after Chapter 12. Things here get a bit ugly, but I honestly didn't intend them to be that way. Everything comes with a price.
Enjoy, and please review on this or on the actual chapter, or both if you so desire.
Oh, and as a bit of a challenge: See if you can guess where I got the name for the place Choronzon inhabits. It isn't hard, and if you read it aloud, you should be able to get it. Read it as though it were Romaji. If you don't know what Romaji is, then I suppose you can just make wild guesses or something. :P
Disclaimer: The fun about this sentence is that you don't realize it doesn't say anything until you've finished reading it. Also, I don't own Dragonball Z or Harry Potter. I write for fun, not profit. So don't sue me, kthxbai.
"This" - is dialogue.
'This' - is thought.
This - is emphasis, in place of CAPSLOCK.
MagicKi: An HPDBZ Story
Interlude: Meeting with Choronzon (1)
"Are you positive about this, Supreme Kai?" Kibito asked, well aware that he had repeated that question well over twenty times by now, and would get no answer from the Supreme Kai.
Then again, the Supreme Kai was full of surprises, and he answered. "Yes, Kibito, I am as sure as I can be that this is, although not an orthodox method of interference, the best plan we have so far. I understand that you're nervous about being in the Erician Realms, but please try to portray as calm an image as possible."
"Yes, Supreme Kai," Kibito said, looking down and noticing that his hands were shaking. He clenched them into fists. 'Why am I so nervous about being here?' Kibito asked himself, and, truly, he was at a loss for an answer. The Supreme Kai obviously had been here before, or he wouldn't have walked through the different realms so confidently.
The Erician Realms, Kibito observed, were indeed the polar opposite of the Naicire Plain. The Naicire was named after the lake that flowed through it, and the Lake Naicire was the nexus of all the nether realms of any galaxy in the universe, being a mainstay in every place. People sometimes didn't know the name for the giant red lake that looked as though it were full of blood, yet never congealed and always retained a surface as smooth as glass. But the associations they made were always the same, and always correct: that lake was not friendly to any creature but those that had the ability to travel between realms in different galaxies and dimensions.
'A creature like this broker we're supposed to be finding,' Kibito thought, and had to clench his hands again to keep them from shaking.
He looked around and took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. He was not in the Naicire Plain, he reminded himself. He was in the Erician Realms, which were the complete opposite. These were paradise. Named after the flowers that grew everywhere, the Ericium euphorium (2), the plains stretched on farther than any eye, aided or not, could see. These fields held the recently departed souls, as well as the souls of the truly good beings. Music played ceaselessly, but never in such a fashion as to be annoying. And the scent of the Ericium flower was said to transcend any sort of description. It was that scent that washed through Kibito's nose, making him smile in spite of himself.
"Careful, Kibito," the Supreme Kai said as he looked behind him. "We're almost there, and Choronzon strongly dislikes expressions of happiness and joy."
"Why?" Kibito asked, curious in spite of the creeping fear that swept through him every time he thought of this supposed interdimensional broker.
"Because such expressions serve as a living reminder to what Choronzon cannot have," the Supreme Kai answered solemnly. Then, he said, "This is it."
Kibito found that he and the Supreme Kai were in front of a nondescript-looking fountain. Or, at least, a fountain that was as nondescript as possible in a place like the Erician Realms. He looked closely at it. It was the color of alabaster, or porcelain, and had a figure of some sort on it. The figure had wings, but the entire thing was corroded. 'That makes no sense,' Kibito thought. 'Why would anything in what could very well be called Heaven be in such a dire state?'
The Supreme Kai looked at him again, and Kibito assumed as serious an expression as he could muster. Apparently, it was enough to satisfy the Supreme Kai, as he nodded and turned back to the fountain. He pulled out a knife with a very ornate hilt the color of snow and embossed with gold patterns, and pricked his finger. His blood, silvery in color, slowly rose to the surface of the break and began to collect on the Supreme Kai's fingertip.
Holding his wrist, the Supreme Kai began tracing a pattern of some sort on the rim of the fountain. Kibito tried to determine what the pattern was, but all he could figure out was that it was a symbol of some sort before it glowed a brilliant white color and began to seep into the rim of the fountain. Kibito watched, transfixed, as the entire fountain began to darken in color until it was almost black. Then, the figure on the fountain started to move.
"Shin," Kibito started, in his trepidation forgetting to address the Supreme Kai by that title. "What's happening?"
"Watch and see, Kibito," Shin said, sucking on his fingertip before looking at it and seeing that it was clear of blood.
The figure's black exterior started to crumble, and then burst off in a shower of black dust that glittered darkly as it fell into the fountain's basin. "Shin," a voice deeper than the deepest reaches of space said slowly. "What is it you require?"
"Choronzon, I require the retrieval of two souls. However, the souls I request reside in another dimension. Will you bring me those souls?"
The figure straightened to reveal that it was a male, or so it appeared to Kibito. The figure's hair was white, like Kibito's and Shin's, but it had black streaks in it and was spiky, hanging over a face that was so pale it looked like death had embraced this man long ago. He looked up, and Kibito saw that his eyes, in stark contrast to his skin, were jet-black, and reflected no light. It was like looking into two bottomless pits, and it made Kibito feel as though he would fall into them at any moment. Whether or not Shin was likewise affected, Kibito couldn't tell; Shin hid it very well.
"I require the names…and the price," Choronzon said finally, and Shin relaxed almost imperceptibly.
"The names are Remus John Lupin and Sirius Orion Black. The price is up to you to name," Shin replied, and Choronzon closed his abyssal eyes.
Eventually, he opened them again and said, "There are…issues."
"Issues?" Shin asked, eyebrow raised. Choronzon did not respond, except to say,
"Yes, issues. Complications. Problems. Impediments." He would've continued, but Shin waved his hand to show he understood what the word "issues" meant, and instead went on to name the actual issues. "One issue is that, not only are the souls you request in another dimension, the plane of existence they inhabit in that dimension is different than in this one. The realm they inhabit is the equivalent to this dimension's Dead Zone."
Shin clenched his fists, but made no reply, and Choronzon continued. "Another complication is that, not only do those two inhabit the Dead Zone of that dimension, two other souls also inhabit that plane, so inextricably intertwined that one would be hard-pressed to separate two from all of them."
"Who?" Shin demanded.
"One Lily Evans Potter and one James Charlus (3) Potter, biological parents of Harry James Potter," Choronzon replied, and Shin closed his eyes.
"Yemma, why didn't you tell me about his parents?" he asked himself quietly, shaking his head slowly. Looking back up at Choronzon, he asked, "What will it take to bring them?"
"There is a third problem," was the reply, and Shin made an exasperated noise, which Choronzon ignored. "Remus John Lupin is afflicted with lycanthropy. Meaning that at every full moon, he transforms into a wolflike creature, albeit much larger, faster, stronger, and, when not in control of himself, infinitely more dangerous."
"Is that all?" Shin asked impatiently; obviously, he hadn't planned this to be such an issue.
"No, it is not. There remains one final impediment," Choronzon replied, and continued before Shin could respond. "The one Sirius Orion Black. His Animagus form is that of a canine. However, his death was…unnatural. As such, Death itself marked him, and he cannot become a full canine, but something in between. Not unlike Remus John Lupin."
"What will it take to bring them here? All four of them, lycanthrope, mascot of death, and Harry's parents?" Shin asked tiredly. 'Maybe I shouldn't have done this,' he thought. 'Not without making sure Yemma had all the facts straight.'
"I can bring them here, but you must make changes to them," Choronzon replied. "The one called Remus, you must make him the reverse of what he was before he died. He was a man in his natural state; you must make him a wolf in his natural state. And the one called Sirius must be changed into his half-canine form, which shall be his own natural state. When Death calls upon him to perform a task, he will change, but that is not for you to decide. Only Death knows, and when she decides to make it known, everyone shall know simultaneously."
"And what is your price?" Shin asked.
Choronzon closed his eyes again, kept them that way for a number of long moments. When he finally opened them again, they had acquired a slate grey glint to them. "My price is thus. The four of them cannot stay permanently. When the time comes, two must return to the dimension from whence they came."
"Which two?"
"That…will be up to Harry to decide."
"What?!" Shin demanded. "You cannot be serious. Those four must be the four most important people to him, and he'll have to choose to send half of them back to an eternal existence in a Dead Zone?"
"That is my price," Choronzon replied, eyes retaining the glint they had acquired, signifying that he was speaking as a liaison with the primal force of the universe. That was his curse, to be a broker, a conduit, with no powers of his own. He made bargains with creatures on behalf of the Primal Abyss, and would continue to do so for all time.
Shin sighed, and Kibito said, "Supreme Kai, do you think it's really worth it? Why give Harry a chance at happiness, only to snatch it away later on?"
"…He will just have to remain unaware of that particular stipulation until it is time to fulfill the contract," Shin said, though his face was tight and his mouth was a thin line.
"But, Supreme Kai - "
"I can do nothing, Kibito. I must accept, or we waste not only our visit to the Erician Realms, but a chance at giving Harry the confidence he needs in order to defeat Vegeta and Nappa." Standing as tall as he could, Shin looked at Choronzon and said two words: "Price accepted."
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A/N II: Harry just can't get a break, unfortunately. That's just the way the cookie crumbles, I suppose.
Footnotes:
(1) - Choronzon is the name of a demon who is said to be the demon of dispersion, who guards the Abyss. I got the name from the Demon Dictionary, an alphabetical listing of far more demons than I ever knew existed. It can be found here: http:// demonslair .50webs .com/ demonnames .html. (Just take out the spaces.)
(2) - The name Ericium euphorium is one I made up. I just put two words together that sounded vaguely Latin. Why I picked Latin to name a plant in a universe that probably has never heard of Latin before, I will never know.
(3) - Charlus Potter is widely speculated to be James Potter's father, and his mother is speculated to be Dorea Black, according to the Harry Potter Wiki. There is some debate as to whether or not those are actually James' parents, based mainly on ages and timeline concerns, but, for the purposes of this story, we'll just assume that they are. The article on Mrs. Potter is here: http:// harrypotter .wikia .com /wiki/ James_Potter's_mother. (Just take out the spaces.)
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