Wow, sorry guys, this chapter has so much dialogue :/ but it's important so you understand what's happening a bit more, even if it is confusing. I mean, we finally find out why Ruhtra's REALLY doing this. And, if you're observant, a few more things.

Argh this is riddled with paradoxes. My brain hurts.

Longest chapter yet, at over 3k words and 4 hours (plus research). I should probably get started on the inevitable holiday homework.

Hehe, this time we're going for Harry Potter references. Don't get me wrong, I'm just not actually a huge fan ^_^. Remember Jolene? I almost called her Hermione, but I decided against it because it would start turning into a Xover.

Enjoy!

"How dare he?!"

"W-what is it?" Romania asks, startled by my outburst.

"Emmakala's being held hostage. In iron chains." My voice wavers at the last few words. "Sight or no sight, we need to save her."

He doesn't respond.

"Romania?"

I hear the sound of a hand connecting with a face, leaving me momentarily confused until Romania scolds himself for his own stupidity. "Well, I nodded, but you couldn't see."

I roll my eyes. Which is equally pointless.

"Come on," I beckon. "We're going to rescue her."

"Got it," he replies. "Wait, which way are we going?"

"The way we came from."

"Which way is that?"

"Uhhh..."

I hear footsteps as Romania blunders through the darkness.

"Ow."

"Well done," I mumble sarcastically, realising he probably walked into a wall.

"Oh, shut it," he replies. "Don't you have your energy back now?"

"Probably," I reply, chanting the light-casting spell again, experimentally.

It works, and a new glowing orb illuminates the tunnel.

"So, which way are we going?" he queries, looking both ways down the tunnel.

"I'm not sure, but I doubt it'd be wise to randomly select a direction this time," I answer.

Just as I'm saying this, the spark from earlier returns to me.

"That was convenient," Romania exclaims, starting to walk off in the direction the spark came from.

I follow behind him, but soon overtake him with lengthened strides.

"Whoa, slow down!"

"I'm worried about Emmakala," I explain, "and I'd rather get there as quickly as possible."

He takes the hint and speeds up to match my stride. Soon, I hear two people bickering.

"Hide!" I hiss, and we dive behind a nearby rock. I motion, panicked, for him to cover up the light, which he does using his arms.

I stay pressed against the rock, only just hidden out of view, and attempt to listen in on the conversation. However, I can't hear it from this distance.

"Stay here," I whisper, cautiously peeking over the edge of the rock. I creep out from behind it, hunched over, and sneak closer.

A faint glow from a lamp on the wall allows two figures to be seen. They must've lit or placed that lamp just now, because there was no light earlier.

"...why do these tunnels have to be so poorly laid out?" That was the unfamiliar voice speaking: Rimidalv.

"You were just too lazy to go the normal way! What is Aea going to think about this?" Ruhtra replies.

"What's she going to think about you kidnapping that worthless fairy girl?"

I flinch, biting my lip to stop myself from retorting. How dare he refer to her in such a manner!

"Besides, that was unnecessary. It even involved you being in the human world," he continues.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Oh, I don't know," Rimidalv replies sarcastically, "IT'S FORBIDDEN!"

"It got him back here sooner, didn't it? And it brought someone else here, which means you have a job now."

"It's not Vladimir's time yet," he responds. "One nation at a time, remember? He's not even supposed to be here yet, and the entire system is going to get messed up now!"

"Calm down!"

"What am I meant to do? I haven't gone through all of the training yet; I don't know what he has to remember or how to make him relive those memories!"

"I don't know, do nothing?"

One of them (presumably Rimidalv) hisses in fury. "Why did you have to summon him here? I can't rest until he's gone!"

"So he's attached to me in some way?" whispers a voice from behind me.

"What are you doing?" I reply. "I told you to stay there!"

"I was curious," he mutters, crouching on the ground behind my right-hand side.

Romania, however, doesn't get much of a chance to listen in on the conversation; Rimidalv storms off after hurling a couple of profanities at the other.

Ruhtra stays motionless as his companion abandons him. Once he's not only out of sight (a few metres in this darkness) but out of earshot, he turns around to face me. I presume that he can't actually see me because it's too dark over here, and hopefully that's the case.

"Arthur, Arthur, Arthur," he says mockingly. I tense up. "Did you really think you could hide from me? I can sense your presence by magical means as well as by sight."

"Ruhtra," I respond, infuriated. "What have you done to Emmakala?"

"Oh, her?" he laughs. "I knew that she would make the perfect bait."

"I was going to come looking for answers sooner or later, anyway." I emerge from the shadows. "Free her immediately. I don't fear you."

He begins to laugh maniacally. "Free her?" he echoes. "And you don't fear me? Oh, stop, stop, this is too much!"

"Release her. She doesn't deserve this."

I let one hand slowly drift behind my back as Ruhtra's distracted by his own laughter. Discreetly, I point down the tunnel, as a hand signal for Romania to sneak past and rescue Emmakala.

"I didn't believe your ridiculous story of feeding on memories for a second. I never trusted you, and with good reason."

"Really? You seemed to fall for my acting, though. Liar."

"I didn't fall for anything," I reply through clenched teeth. "I just have compassion for other people. Unlike you."

"Admit it. You're gullible and fell for it."

"I've had a lot of seemingly impossible things happen to me. And I might not have trusted you, but I felt some degree of pity for you. Considering how terrified you were of your superior the first time I entered this world..."

"I-I knew you were there! That was an act!"

"I don't believe you for a second," I reply instantly. "Now, if you're not going to free Emmakala, I'll have to do so myself."

I move forwards, planning on walking straight past him, but he sidesteps and blocks my path.

"I can't let you do that, Arthur," he says, obstructing me. "Your friend," he practically spits the words, "isn't going anywhere."

"What's your motivation for all of this?!" I cry out. "Why did you have to get Emmakala involved?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he responds, eyes glinting with insanity. "For too long our lives have been shunned. My kind used to be respected, but we were driven back by all of you."

I raise an eyebrow. "What are you babbling about?"

"Have you never heard of the War of All Time?"

"I've witnessed a lot of wars in my time, and I've never heard of that one."

"Really? It's the most famous war I've heard of. Because it was the only one in which humankind fought another species."

I raise an eyebrow incredulously. "That's ridiculous. No other species is capable of actually being at war with humans."

"False. Namuhkind could."

"Namuh...? Oh wait," I roll my eyes, "this is another of your stupid reversed names, isn't it?"

"That's because we have always been in the shadow of you humans."

"Just tell me what's happening already!" I snap. "You're not making any sense!"

"Well, let's start at 512 BTR..."

"BTR?" I repeat.

He sighs exasperatedly. "Before the Return?" he expands.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"It's an important date in our calendar. In your human calendar, I think it'd be..."

He ponders for a moment, giving me a chance to think over and figure out what he's trying to convey. War of All Time? Is he making this up?

"...2079. Your society began to collapse. Countries started to lose their individuality as everyone tried to be on peaceful terms with one another, which led to many world leaders declaring that all borders should be ignored, and they would all come together to form Pangaea Beta. There would be no distinguishing between cultures, and everyone could roam freely. It sounded like a perfect world," his voice turns sour, "then you had to intervene."

"Well, of course! If countries ever became ignored, we would all simply cease to exist!"

"Precisely," he comments, nodding. "You and your fellow nations didn't want that to happen. So you all got together and, using new technology of some kind, tried to...I don't know exactly how to explain this. You split yourselves into other lifeforms so that you couldn't die."

"Like Voldemort?" I cut in.

He cocks his head in confusion.

"Never mind, carry on," I mutter. I don't know why I thought he'd be familiar with 'human' forms of entertainment.

"That's where namuhs come in. We were created by a mixture of technological and magical means, and looked very similar to you. You personally weren't satisfied with our sentience, and had us locked up, seeing us as burdens. You'd wanted inanimate objects-"

"Basically horcruxes, then?" Maybe that isn't the most considerate thing to say, considering that his rage would be understandable if this is a true story.

He stares at me irritatedly. "I don't care about your human terms." He clears his throat. "Anyway, we spent many, many years in complete darkness. We only found solace while asleep, and gradually spent more and more of our time asleep, until we never woke. Being magical, we had no needs, therefore there was no reason to be awake. Gradually, our dreams became more lucid, and merged together. Without knowing how, we slowly came to control the land of dreams, and made many networks below the ground. Observe."

He gestures around us. "Centuries passed in perfect harmony, until we were woken up by one of your kind. We were informed that rumours of our existence had leaked, and a vote had been cast to free us. Thus, we somehow got to our feet after having slept for so long, and were led up to the surface. Instantly, the sun blinded us."

"This sounds far too intricate for you to have made up," I comment.

"That's because it's all true."

"So how did you return to this time?"

"I'm getting to that," he replies hostilely. "Our skin was burnt in the blink of an eye. I remember feeling hands drag me into shadows. The stench of charred flesh was so strong, humans ran in all directions. I could hear their screams, their hurried footsteps, but I didn't care. It was insignificant due to the searing pain," he narrates.

His words are slowly becoming more pained, to the point where I'm almost convinced that this happened, or should I say, will happen.

"I felt something being draped over me - a soft cloak with an almost silky quality to it. Around the year 2190, a human perfected the art of clothes-making, finding a cloth that was durable, comfortable and cheap. I still wear this same cloak." He gestures to himself. "However, that's off topic. Next thing I knew, I was being led to a room, and laid down on a hard plastic surface. I have no way of knowing what happened, but I remember the moment when my sight was restored. Humans were observing me from above, and I almost hugged them out of joy. Instead, I just sat up, and saw the rest of us around me, all in hooded cloaks. Their eyes were barely recognisable as eyes save for their positions - they were small, glowing circles. A mirror was shoved into my hands; I accepted it and held it to my face. The sight I saw was horrifying. I, too, was like them with two yellow gem-like eyes, and everything else was shrouded. I didn't dare to see what was underneath."

"What did you look like beforehand, then?"

"I was a clone of you, obviously. Except I needed to look different, so nobody would confuse us. Therefore, I was genetically engineered to have pointed ears, just else all other namuhs, and I had...well, this was a while ago so I can't remember perfectly. I think I had jet-black hair with red eyes. Not that it matters now," he sighs.

My eyes widen with surprise. "But that's...what I look like now."

He looks at me and finally seems to register my appearance. In disbelief, he takes a step back. "That can't be."

"Okay, things are beginning to make a bit of sense. Just give me the end of this story already, will you?"

"No need to be so impatient!" he remarks, breathing deeply in preparation for continuing the story. "Namuhs and humans lived in relative peace for years afterwards, but you still weren't happy. You hated our existence and believed that there was no need for it. Against better judgement, you stubbornly stuck by your views."

"What? Why would I be like that?"

"Face it, Arthur, you always get angered when you lose and hold grudges forever. You were the only one who wanted to exterminate our entire race through unreasonable hatred," he spits.

I stagger slightly from the verbal blow. "That doesn't sound like me."

"Yes it does," he continues. This is all a lie and I'm not willing to believe it! "It took you years, but you convinced the world that you should reintroduce countries. At first you were heavily opposed, but then you delved into the past and taught them of what you thought to be the 'amazing differentiation of cultures'. Like brainless sheep, humans and ex-nations alike were actually swayed by your argument and began to reinstate borders, making ex-nations into nations once more. Your immortality was restored, and you were closer to accomplishing your goal."

"I do consider myself to be a somewhat eloquent orator, but not to that level. Is it even possible for one person to change the entire world?" I ponder aloud.

"It's possible when civilians of the time were so stupid as to believe your argument had a point. Following these events, you spent your days capturing us in our sleep, with the help of weaker nations. It was easy for you because we still spent so much time asleep. Then, when you had all of us, you exiled us from that time."

"Time travel's possible?" I query.

"In your future, science and magic will join forces. A lot of things are possible if that happens."

"Right, so I'll become evil in the future and send you back in time? That seriously doesn't sound like anything I'd do."

"It doesn't matter what you think now. I just need to make you realise how bad your judgement was then and prevent you from doing it."

"However," I intervene, "if I don't send you back in time, you won't be here to stop me, thus creating a paradox."

"Actually, it'll make no difference because I'm already here, and my existence won't be erased until another version of me comes to exist in several decades' time."

"Right. I'm not going to send you back in time or anything if that actually happens. Now let Emmakala go," I demand.

"You're not going to stick to your word," he chuckles. "I know you won't. Because I'm here, aren't I?"

I furrow my brows in confusion. "You just said that that wouldn't prove anything!"

"I lied," he replies mischievously.

"Well of course you did. You were lying the whole time, and I was humouring you. There were several faults."

"Oh? Do tell," he says condescendingly.

"Firstly, with the way you forced me to relive that memory during the Blitz, you were making me start to dislike you. You wouldn't be trying to do that if you wanted me to like you. Come to think of it, maybe my future self would have hated you because of what you're about to do now." I realise a flaw in my argument. "Hang on, then I wouldn't have sent you back in time to torture me..." I seethe. "Blast! This makes no sense!"

"How about I take your mind off of things? Say, with a little poetry, perhaps? What if I brought it to life? I'm sure you'd like that..."

"I'll have to reject your offer," I say bluntly, but I still feel the surroundings fading away, including Ruhtra.

I step back in surprise. I notice that I'm in a valley of some kind.

"Now which poem to begin with..." Ruhtra's voice continues, in my head. He pretends to be deciding which poem to recite. "How about this one!" he exclaims in feigned victory. "It's written by a British poet, so you should like it. Let's see...his name is Lord Alfred Tennyson. What's the title of this poem again?"

"Stop acting like you don't have this information readily available and get to the point!" I snap, regardless of whether he can hear me.

The sound of rapid and numerous hoof-falls reaches my ears, and I whirl around to see an oncoming cavalry of several hundred.

Six hundred.

"The title of this poem is..."

The horses' hooves kick up clouds of dust as they race through the valley towards me. This scene is all too familiar.

"No...no, Ruhtra, DON'T!" I howl to the sky.

A man rides out in front of the mass of bodies, and I recognise him immediately. Captain Louis Edward Nolan.

I stand there, petrified, watching the last few seconds of his life go by in a flash. He rides forward, his intentions unclear even to this day, and I turn away as a Cossacks' artillery shell nears him.

The group comes closer to me, and I force myself not to look at Captain Nolan's bloodied corpse. Instead, I look up, seeing the Russians on both flanks of the horsemen.

"Make it stop," I whisper, not sure whether I'm talking to Ruhtra or some higher power. "Don't let this happen, please!"

"Is everyone ready for today's poetry recital?" asks Ruhtra in a mocking tone. He coughs lightly. "Our first poem will be...Charge of the Light Brigade."