Chapter 20
Kayden was excited when they reached the vault. The ride on the cart had been the best thing he had ever been on. Master Balin had instructed each of them to place a hand on the vault door while Master Balin inserted the key. He then ran a finger down between their hands and the key in the door turned golden. Once it had Master Balin turned the key.
"The Vault is now registered with your blood as well as the key, two more are being made, you'll pick the other up before you leave the bank. The last one will stay inside the bank for access by your account manager who will send you an owl with a statement of the account, you'll receive these monthly."
When the vault door came open the sound of air rushing into the vacuum was loud as green smoke billowed out from it. Kayden stared in awe at so much gold, silver, and bronze coins. They were split in two piles and he could see the silver line that ran down the middle of the vault. Kayden looked at Phoenix, knowing he was pretty much overwhelmed just as he was. Master Balin explained the coins and how they exchanged rates with each other as well as with the muggle world. He gave each of them a bag that had their names embossed upon them that the bank supplied for first time withdrawals.
"How much should we get?" Phoenix asked.
"I would recommend four stacks of each coin, and one stack of gold gallons to be converted into muggle money for your first year." Master Balin said. "That should give you enough money for full complete wardrobes of wizarding wear as well as muggle wear. Master Kayden you are to the left of the vault, Master Phoenix you are the right. Your wergild trunks, have separate compartments and can only be open by yourselves. Your names are already embossed magically and can magically change into your new one once your father has recognized you as his heirs. No one can even reach into those trunks, doing so may very well cause limb damage."
Kayden walked over to his side and put the stack amounts that Master Balin had advised into the bag he held with his name on it as Phoenix did the same.
"Can we use the wergild trunks for school?" Kayden asked.
"That would be highly useful." Master Balin said. "I'll explain the runes to you for each compartment."
He walked over to Kayden and pointed to each rune without touching the trunk. Phoenix came over to look as well.
"The first rune is for the wardrobes, all clothing as well as armor is inside this compartment. You touch the rune and the trunk will open to that compartment. You can get dressed inside that compartment and the trunk will provide you a way to get back out easily. The second rune is for the library, all books and parchments are inside this one. Going in and out of each compartment is the same. The third rune is for gold and jewels and any other valuables that was placed inside. The last rune and this only works on wergild trunks, is a room for whatever you have need of, the trunk's wergild magic will sense what you want when you touch it and change into that room. This will only work however, if the item has been placed inside that compartment. Let's say you want a place to sleep. A bed needs to already have been placed inside this compartment in order for it to work. Any questions?"
Kayden shook his head. These trunks were amazing in his opinion.
"Are they bottomless or something?" Phoenix asked.
"Wergild trunks are the only trunks in the magical world that are and should be considered bottomless. I have never not known them to not hold whatever the wergild master wanted." Master Balin said.
Kayden and Phoenix watched as Master Balin pointed out the runes on the side that would make them feather light, hovering, shrinking, and resizing.
"I'm going to give you one word of warning for these trunks. Gringotts has a vault of these trunks that we are still trying to open for the heirs of lines that have had a wergild trunk. They can only be open and items removed by the master of the trunk. Before you die, remove everything from the trunk. If everything is removed the trunks vanish, if not the trunks remain and become a complete nightmare for the heirs."
Kayden noticed his looked like his brothers other than the names written on them. They looked like a hewn stone of blacken marble that had lightening scored around it. It was like a work of art just by itself and very cool one at that. Their names where in rune shapes of lightening bolts which spelled out their names.
"Last piece of advice, I would take out the gold and allow your bank manager to invest it wisely so your money continues to grow." Master Balin told each of them.
Kayden knew one thing, he was taking this trunk with him. It wasn't staying. He watched as Phoenix raced back to his own trunk and went inside one of the compartment.
Kayden heard the echo of his brother's voice as he started opening his own money compartment. "How do we get it all out?"
"The bag you were given place it inside that and climb back out." Master Balin said loudly so Phoenix could hear him.
Kayden climbed down inside his own compartment. The gold piles inside the trunk looked to be four times the amount that was inside the vault. As he started pushing all the coins inside he couldn't help but wonder how the bag didn't ever need to expand, magic was so cool. It took quite a bit of time to get it all inside the small coin bag but once it was done the trunk made stairs to walk up out of it. It was like it sensed what he needed and three steps up and he was out of the trunk once more. He could see the relieved look on Master Balin's face as he and his brother now stood before him with the wergild money inside the money bags.
"I will remove it now. Your account manager will know exactly that this is wergild money, it will be listed as such." Master Balin said as he waved a finger over each of the bags.
Kayden watched as they opened and the coins came out like a fountain spray and stacking around both him and Phoenix on each side that was their own. Once it was all finished Kayden noticed the vault seemed to have expanded all on it's own while the stacks of gold, silver and bronze increased.
"The next time you come in if you want to remove anything else out of the trunks, you can. It will be cataloged by the vault as wergild property and will not be able to be removed from you. I would advise you to remove some of it, then this vault will never be able to be locked down by any person whatsoever as long as a wergild item is inside it. Let's say if your father wants to lock the vault until you are of age, which is done in the wizarding world, if there is no wergild item inside it will lock till you are of age. If there is one, even he can't shut this vault. The wergild magic will not allow it. So I would advise go through the trunks at your leisure, but return to take items out and place them inside the vault."
"Not a problem, do we try on the rings now?" Phoenix asked.
"Yes."
Phoenix had been expecting a land of shadow, not that he knew what it actually looked like, but not this. Not to be in the middle of a field of lilies in all sorts of colors. He looked over at Kayden who stood beside him.
"What went wrong?" Phoenix asked.
"Nothing went wrong."
Phoenix and Kayden spun around and saw a very old looking wizard that was at least what he thought it was.
"Where are we?" Kayden asked then he pointed.
Phoenix followed where Kayden pointed and he could see Harry sitting off further behind the old wizard who stood in front of them.
"You are in the Peverell wergild realm. Your brother, my heir, is behind me with his father."
James Potter, Phoenix groaned, he didn't want to meet him. Then he said Harry was their brother. "Harry doesn't have any of our mother's blood."
"Not yet he doesn't. I am Ignotus Peverell," Then he gestured to the form that was walking towards them. "That is Antioch Peverell, and walking behind him is Cadmus Peverell."
Phoenix and Kayden listen to the tale of the three brothers, what they had done to the items they had made, and what would happen if an heir tried to kill another. Then listened as they were told they would be seeking out Cadmus Peverell's heir. One by one, all three brothers touched each weapon that the two of them had and the rings they had on, they watched as the swords and daggers started hum and throb as Peverell magic was added to the weapons.
Antioch knelt before Phoenix. "Though you are not my heir by blood or magic you are standing in for me. The two weapons you now hold will forever be imbued with Peverell wergild magic. They will work in the realm of shadow and the living magical realm. Once this is over for rendering vengeance on an heir the weapons will continue to work in the living magical realm, for they have been added to the wergild as long as the original three items remain in the living realm. You will be able to pass them down to your future heirs, for the Fidelius will be broken upon them once Cadmus's heir is dead."
Phoenix watched as Ignotus basically said the same thing to Kayden. Then he stood back up. Ignotus looked at the both of them.
"As for the rings, the cloak will be removed from them once they are destroyed. There has never been invisibility rings before. A very good ambition in life would be try to make your own. You will need to become masters of gray magic." Ignotus said with a smile.
Antioch then said, "Some spells require light magic, others require dark."
"I will give you the first step on the bridge to becoming masters of gray magic." Cadmus added. "What is done on the right side has to be also done on the left."
Phoenix narrowed his eyes. "You mean like writing, be able to write with both hands."
Cadmus smiled. "I'll use your example. To write with both hands at the same time. While one hand writes your first name and other writes your last at the same time."
"I get it," Kayden said. "To have each side work independently but to achieve the same goal."
Antioch, Ignotus, and Cadmus laughed. Antioch looked at both of them, "I will give you the second step and the most important as seeing it is the last step as well. Brother wands are needed."
Phoenix looked at Kayden. "Duel wielding."
"That is going to be a lot of practice." Kayden said.
"A lot of time and patience as well. It can't be mastered over night." Ignotus said. "Follow me before you depart. Someone has a few words to say to you."
Phoenix didn't mind seeing Harry sense he knew he was still his brother or at least would be when Cadmus's heir was killed. That had been way to much knowledge quickly, but he would talk with his brother as soon as they got back to the flat and compare to see if they got it all. They followed Ignotus as well as his brothers. Harry stood up and ran to them, he gave each of them a hug.
"I hope we can become brothers soon. I don't like how it is at the moment." Harry said.
Phoenix looked at Kayden. Kayden gave a nod. He turned back to Harry. "It is just a matter of blood. You are still our brother. We'll figure something out. How much do you remember?"
"All of it from you." Harry told Phoenix.
Ignotus cleared his throat. "You boys will have plenty of time to get things cleared up. James, I do believe you need to say something to these boys."
Phoenix watched as James Potter stood up and looked at the all three of them and lingered on Kayden and himself the longest.
"I took a life debt from your father, Severus Snape." James stumbled over the name. "The life debt was his to give not to take away. I took his blood and used it to create my heir."
Phoenix noticed he looked at Harry with affection. At least he loved his son.
"And?" Ignotus said.
Phoenix watched as James looked to Ignotus then back to them. "I'm sorry for what I've done, it has effected Harry, and the both of you."
"Phoenix, you were born inside the wergild. Lily, your mother, gave the life of Severus Snape's son back. I'm returning the life debt, in the greatest form that magic allows the life of another heir." Ignotus said. "When he accepts you as his heir all bad blood will be canceled by magic between his line and my Peverell line heir. This is stop and cancel any blood feud that would happen between our lines. For you two see Harry as your brother."
He understood, he wouldn't have been born otherwise. And they now knew who their father actually was.
"It is time for you to return. The next time you put on your rings you will be in the realm of shadow. Hunt well, kill quickly, the rings are to be destroyed last." Ignotus said.
"Wait," Cadmus said. "One piece of advise. My heir has followers he enslaved attached to him. Free as many as you can, that you can find in the shadow realm. They do not need his fate, they need to be freed from his fate."
"A dead Death Eater is better than a live one." James said.
Ignotus spun on him. "Be silent. Cadmus was right to give them this advice. Those witches and wizards do not need the same fate as Cadmus's heir."
"Death Eaters?" Kayden asked.
"That is what my heir called them. Find them and free as many as you can to spare as much magical blood as possible." Cadmus said.
Phoenix felt this now seemed as much as a rescue mission as it did as killing one. "How many are there?"
"25 chained souls, I do not know their names, just how many there are that are chained to his." Cadmus said.
"Start with Severus Snape first." James said. "I know you told me to remain silent, but if they don't start with him first, they won't know who to go to for the names of the others. I wasn't thinking, their father is one of them."
"So you finally came to your senses, about time." Ignotus admonished James.
Antioch looked at both them. "That is all the help and advise we can give. Study well, fight well."
Phoenix along with Kayden took of the rings as they looked at each other. The bank vault reappeared and they saw Master Balin jump as they reappeared.
"About time. Three hours. What were you doing for three hours?" Master Balin yelled at them.
Phoenix and Kayden explained whom they had met and who their father was. They also told him the Peverell brothers had endowed the weapons and the rings with even more magic. Master Balin led them out of their vault once they collected their trunks and the bags of gold and he led them up into the main part of the bank to retrieve the muggle money and the other key. The last item they were given was the siegel which they would have to return once they had their wand. He had told them to go straight home and call for Gisly after they got there. That they had to bond with her. They kept their cloaks up and headed the wall to leave the wizarding world and go back to the flat. They had to beat Robert home.