Vindico Atrum

by FirePhoenix8

Harry carves out his own path to become something beyond a Dark Lord. Durmstrang, Dark Arts, dueling, powers, heritage, horcruxes, hallows, Necromancy, Voldemort, Tom, Draco, Grindelwald. Sequel to The Black Heir.

35. The unraveling of ancient matters

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

AN:

It seems I didn't manage to clearly convey some points in the previous chapter. So let me clarify! *winks*

First, just some quick facts to briefly point out:

The Kraljica Mati only said Orion's son with Voldemort could be –and most probably will be- more powerful than Orion, but the same doesn't apply to his other two children. They will be powerful and with special magical abilities, but not more powerful than Orion.

Orion has never experimented with immortality since he values the integrity of his soul above anything else, and has never seen immortality as something to be particularly desired.

In the summary of this fic, there is no explicit pairing mentioned like the 'HP/LV' of the Black Heir, simply because I knew Orion would be with others during this fic, so there wasn't any misinformation given from my part – at least not wittingly because I thought readers would notice just what I've mentioned.

About Orion's relationship with Draco, it has been changing and evolving throughout the fic, starting as cousins and childhood friends, then Draco's attraction towards Orion, asking for the kiss and such, Orion later admitting to himself it hadn't felt like kissing a brother at all, but that he still wasn't interested in Draco that way –back then he was with Voldie- and then the whole absorbing of Draco's soul essence when Orion wore the Resurrection Stone right after ridding it of Voldie's piece of soul, which caused Orion and Draco to have a very strange and unique bond between them, and after that Orion not only feeling tied to Draco due to it, but also due to the feeling that he needed to protect Draco after the Death Eater attack on Hogwarts. All that, added to his slow realization that he was not only deeply attached to Draco but also attracted to him, made Orion realize that he wanted Draco just as he wanted to be with Lez and Voldie too.

I think it's necessary to fully read this fic to remember all the twists and details, which as I've mentioned many times before, all come to play in the plot at some point. I understand if some of you skim over parts, read quickly, or just ignore what seems boring, but I can't really do anything about it when then things seem illogical to a reader when one character does something or other. For instance, I find Lezander's reaction to be quite natural given what happened to him. And Draco for his part, has always despised halfbreeds, yes, but he's in quite a different situation now, so it can't be expected for him to remain exactly the same –same attitude and ideas- and not evolve at all during the entire fic. Of course neither of them will do a 180 degree turn in personality, but they will change a bit in some ways, as everyone does in real life, I believe, when they go through experiences.

*grins* Well, that's just some short remarks which I hope will clarify things, and I must thank the reviewers for bringing them up, since I always appreciate to know what remained unclear.

Now, I'll give longer explanations for other issues brought up which are also related to the above quickly mentioned:

Firstly, being the VA isn't about being a breeding mare, not at all. Orion is the most important dark wizard for wizarding kind, Gaia chose him and no one else, not even his children are as important to the Dark Source as he is. It's just that if he is to have children, the Dark Source wants him to have them with Voldemort, Draco, and Lezander, respectively, so that his children are as powerful as possible and can continue his work. Yes, the Dark Source wants Orion to have those children, but that's just a detail, his mission is much greater than simply popping out children.

Just like the Kraljica Mati said, Orion is Gaia's Tool, the Weaver who will make things happen, who will make dark wizarding kind much more powerful both in magic and politically… As mentioned repeatedly throughout the fic, the VA has tasks involving making the dark pureblood lines purer so that offspring and descendants will be more magically powerful, thus making the weakened Dark Source 'stronger'; upholding dark pureblood values and traditions, allowing them to use Dark Arts publicly as well as at home, without fearing persecution for using them; allowing their children to learn such Dark Arts not in secret at home, but in schools like Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, so that they don't have to send their kids to other countries to learn; giving dark wizards more political power in the currently Ministries controlled by light wizards, so that they have a voice when deciding matters of the magical community; and such.

In short, Orion will be the main force of change for wizarding kind, and then, Gaia wants his children to continue his legacy in their respective ways, as simple as that. But Orion will still be the one and only VA - the most important wizard for dark wizarding kind, he's their awaited 'prophet'. Even if his son with Voldemort grows to be more powerful than Orion, the boy won't be the VA. Orion is that, and there will be no other. All depends on him.

And I must point out that even though Orion's son with Voldemort can end up being more powerful than Orion, it does not mean he'll have as much magical knowledge as him. Those are two separate things. Much like how, at present, Voldemort knows much more about the Dark Arts than Orion. Both power and knowledge are important: if a wizard lacks one without the other, he's quite useless and could be bested by some other wizard who might not be as powerful but who knows more and how to wield his magic better. So Orion's son with Voldemort could be more powerful magically, but it doesn't mean that he will be more 'powerful' on the whole. I think that's partly the reason why the boy could become a threat, because he would be immensely powerful without full knowledge backing him up to allow him to make the right decisions –or 'jaded', biased knowledge misguiding him-, just as an example.

Secondly, Orion still has his Gaia-induced visions in his dreams. Even though I haven't repeated the visions for quite some chapters, it's implied that he's still having them every night. They are simply not mentioned because they are the same as in chapter 24 'The barge in the lake & the Holy One', and Orion has become quite used to them, so he doesn't wake up alarmed and panting in the middle of the night.

Thirdly, Orion's seemingly easy acceptance of what he's been told doesn't mean that he's being complacent. He's simply learning as much as he can about the matter, and then he'll have to decide what to do. If he seems to have smoothly decided to have the three children, it's because not only has he always wanted a large family but because now he understands how important they could be.

It doesn't mean that he's going to rush to have them; his concerns about having a baby during wartime, and the problems that it entails, are still present. But at least now he has realized that he wants to bear those children, some day.

Fourthly, nothing about Orion's relationships is set in stone. I know many of you don't like the idea of Orion being in a 'threesome' relationship with Lez and Draco, or of Lez and Draco pairing up due to it, but I must say that it's just how things are turning out at present - given Orion's decision when he found out about the things he did in the previous chapter, due to his attachments to Draco and Lezander, and due to Lezander's 'solution' as well. That's how I imagined Orion reacting to those circumstances. And I'm trying to do it as realistically as possible, meaning that maybe it will happen, maybe not, and even if it does, it doesn't mean it will endure forever.

Things will continue to shift in his relationships with others; that's life, that's inevitable. So don't rule anything out and don't despair thinking Orion won't pair up with the character you want, in the end. *winks* I'm not planning on having Orion constantly juggle with multiple relationships at the same time, because I don't think he would be able to, realistically, or want it in the end. But still, he's a teenager, so he's going to go through several experiences before 'settling down' or determining his true desires. (This fic is not like in canon that when Harry finds out he likes Ginny, he stays with her for the rest of his life. I never thought that to be very realistic at all, since people don't often marry their highschool 'love' and live happily ever after, and my Harry has a much more complicated life, so things in that arena are not as simple.)

Lastly, Lezander might be a bit changed after what he had to go through, but I tried to hint here and there that he's still the caring and gentle person of before, only that he has to think about his duties as the Rege and that he was forced to make a difficult decision after what the Kraljica Mati told him. He did it thinking about Orion first and foremost. Perhaps this will be clearer further ahead.

Oh, and as a perceptive reviewer pointed out, the Kraljica Mati said the future wasn't fixed and yet she stated that Orion would be the VA. The reason for her assertion will be clear in this chapter, and one has to remember that she stated that after she tasted his blood – thus confirming to herself the bloodlines he carried.

Note:This chapter is absolutely and utterly filled with a lot of information, much more than the previous one, and it ties most of the knots in the plot of both fics- finally! *grins* I would have liked to have made it 'lighter' and more easy to absorb, but all the info is related to one another, so there was no way for me to split it up between chapters so that it could be more easily 'digested'. So I hope you arm yourself and have patience when you read it!

That said, I hope you enjoy it and tell me what you think!

And Happy New Year! I hope all of you start 2010 with a blast!

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Chapter 35

At present, Orion found himself in a situation he would have never imagined in a million years. Indeed, it rang as absurd and humorous in his mind.

There he was, seated on a plush settee, sipping the tea a millenary vampire had so cordially offered to him the moment he had stepped into her quarters in the highest level of the highest tower of Sdravkul Castle. The Kraljica Mati acting, by all means, as if they were in a garden tea party, with the only difference that while he was munching some scones with his tea, she was sipping Merlin-knew-whose blood from a golden goblet. And all the while, she pleasantly chitchatted inquiring about his day.

About that, he didn't have much to tell. The night before, after leaving her presence, he had simply returned with Lezander to Zraven Citadel and gone straight to bed, without beeping a word. From hence forth, he had gone through the next day as if in auto-pilot mode, quite feeling like a muggle robot.

He had had breakfast with the Zravens, with Cyprian and Râzvan fleshing out the particulars of how the vampire fighters should be best employed in the war in England, while Mireilla acted as the most attentive and charismatic of hostesses and while Lezander kept shooting him concerned glances - both mother and son obviously giving him his space, in their own ways.

Indeed, he had barely crossed two words with Lezander, still. There was much on his mind and it must have been clear on his face that questions at that point would not be welcomed. And even though he could tell that Lezander wanted to discuss matters with him as soon as possible, the new Rege didn't press him.

Orion went through the training drills Cyprian subjected him to, with utter obedience, yet his mind had been far, far away. Even when Lezander gently aided him, showing him how to best grasp a sword, demonstrating a multitude of fighting stances for different situations, and displaying a patience with him that Cyprian utterly lacked, Orion had still gone through his lessons in sword-fighting feeling as if he was alone in a planet of his own.

By midnight, an exasperated Cyprian had barked at him to disappear from his sight, and without a word or back glance to anyone, Orion had done so. He had rushed out of the barracks' courtyard and wasted no time in mounting a thestral and flying to Sdravkul Castle.

And throughout the day, thanks to Lezander's understanding acceptance of his desire to be left alone in his deep musings, he had had the time to decide and realize a couple of things.

First, that it had been Gaia affecting him all along which had done it. The suspicions raised by Gellert about his strange behavior when he had been a boy, about the possibility of an external influence bringing about his desire to staunchly support the Dark at the age of ten, the way he had delved into Dark Arts books as soon as he found the library in Grimmauld Place, the things Kreacher had pointed out to him, and even Gellert's suspicions regarding the 'coincidence' that Sirius had escaped from Azkaban just in time to find him fleeing from the Dursleys – all of it, now made sense to him.

All of it, must have been due to Gaia. There was no other explanation, nothing and no one else who could have done it.

And Orion knew, in his deepest level of instinctual awareness, that Gellert had figured it out. That the wizard must have known what the Death and Life wand did, that it was a link to Gaia and that if Orion had it, it was because he was meant to be the VA. That must have been why Gellert told him about his suspicions just before dying, so that he would figure it out for himself some day. The wizard had never casually told him anything without a further motive behind it – in the very same way in which Gellert had mentioned his mother ever so conversationally, so that he would discover how he was the man's grandson.

Moreover, the whole matter also had to be why Gellert decided to willingly die to give him his magic – not only because he was the wizard's grandson, but because the former Dark Lord had realized that his heir was the Dark Source's Chosen One. It hadn't been sentimentality or deep attachment to Orion which had driven Gellert to sacrifice himself –not mainly, at least- but practicality and the knowledge that he wouldn't have been able to become the VA since the Death and Life Wand had chosen Orion and not him.

Secondly, Orion determined that no matter how much he longed to create the three children the Kraljica Mati had shown him and told him about, no matter how much he realized that they were important and that he deeply desired to have them, he wouldn't act precipitously.

He still had misgivings about having children during wartime – the problems involved were numerous. He had much to do and couldn't encumber himself with such responsibilities, and he wouldn't have the time for it, either. Yet, several solutions popped in mind, since there was no doubt, given his visions, that he would have the children –at least his firstborn- not very far from now.

This was clear because in the vision where he saw himself killing Voldemort, both of them didn't look any older. And surely he would be bearing the wizard's son before killing him, so it couldn't be happening more than a few years in the future.

And his grim musings on that very same thought, had brought him to his last, most firm decision. No matter how much the Spirits insisted that he had to kill Voldemort soon, before the Dark Lord discovered the existence of the Deathly Hallows, no matter how much Komorov demanded that he started acquiring all the horcruxes for that very same reason, and how much both parties constantly pressed that he had to absorb Voldemort's magic to be powerful enough to survive the VA test, Orion still wouldn't kill the wizard he had loved for so long unless given a very good reason.

To him, it didn't matter if he failed in becoming powerful enough after undergoing Necromantic training, and if that was one more reason in everyone's mind for him to kill Voldemort and absorb the wizard's raw dark magic that lay dormant deep inside the man's magical core. To him, it didn't matter that the prophecy was almost fulfilled, and as such, according to Trelawney, nearly impossible to halt from becoming true and thus having him ultimately kill the current Dark Lord. To him, it didn't even matter that Gaia was purposely showing him how he killed Voldemort.

Long ago, he had decided to do things his way without regarding external pressures, and Gellert had fomented this rebellious independence in him. Therefore, prophecy or not, visions or not, he wasn't going to kill Voldemort. Not for the Spirits, not for Gaia, and not for anyone else.

He refused to believe that he couldn't change something so vital to him. He refused to lay down and complacently walk the path shown to him by the Dark Source. In this matter, as far as he was concerned, if Gaia wanted Voldemort dead she might as well boom out of the Earth's core and do it herself. He wouldn't be her Tool in that regard.

If he ever killed Voldemort, it would be for a reason of his own – one that had to be grave indeed. And none so far seemed like it, in his opinion. Power he could gain through his Necromantic training, and if that failed, he didn't mind undergoing the VA test even if he wasn't thought to be powerful enough to survive it. He had faith in his own strengths and abilities, and he would trust no one's opinion about it but his own. When he felt ready, he would do it, Voldemort alive and kicking or not.

"Would you care for another one?" said the Kraljica Mati, gesturing at a plate filled with pastries and scones, lying on top of a small round table by their side.

Orion held up his half-eaten scone, and gave it another bite before swallowing. "I'm fine with this one. Thank you."

The ancient vampire nodded and then pleasantly smiled at him. "I am sure there is much you are curious about. And, indeed, there is still much I feel you should know." Her expression turned distantly musing. "Yet, I am still pondering where to begin. Perhaps you could be gracious enough to ask me what you wish to learn about first."

"Er… well," said Orion with a deep, pensive frown, as he set down what remained of his scone on his tea saucer. "Um, there are a zillion things I want to ask you…"

He shot a glance at the portrait that hung above the tea table and which still made shivers run down his spine. Then he gazed at the pillar made of strange black marble veined with crimson and golden streaks, which held the Book, mere feet away from where they sat.

Orion looked back at her, his frown deepening. "The Hallows first, I suppose." At her expectant silence, he sighed and clarified, "I know that I need all three of the Deathly Hallows to undergo the VA test, but you said that they, like my wand, are linked to the Dark Source. So what do they do besides what I already know?"

He cast a puzzled glance her way, and shot an exasperated hand into the air. "I already have the Cloak, and I can get back the Resurrection Stone from the Guild whenever I want. So what am I supposed to do with the Hallows when I finally get the Elder Wand?"

"The Hallows," said the Kraljica Mati quietly, "are a key, divided in three parts. Joined, they will form it again."

"A key?" interjected Orion, blinking at her with utterly surprised befuddlement. "A key to what?"

The old woman's lips quirked upwards. "Ah, that is the crux of the matter, is it not?" Abruptly, she leaned forward on her seat, pinning him with an intense gaze, as she whispered, "They form a key to something long lost. To something which was, by nature, linked to the Sources. Something you will be able to access when you join the Hallows in a precise location you will have to find for yourself."

She leaned back and stared at him, to which Orion blinked again, his mind spinning as he demanded, "What location?" The old vampire impassively arched an eyebrow, and he huffed, grumbling under his breath, "Right. I have to find it for myself. But at least tell me what-"

"When you gain access by using the Hallows," interrupted the Kraljica Mati conversationally, "then will you be thrown into what is called the Vindico's Ultimate Test. If you survive it, you will be changed and you will become the Vindico Atrum."

"That's all very well, but I'll gain access to what?" pressed on Orion. She remained stoically silent, and his mind swirled, countless thoughts rushing and some clicking into place.

Suddenly, he stared at her as if he had never seen her before, as he breathed out, "Who are you – really?"

"I am the Kraljica Mati of the Sdravkul Clan, of course," said the old woman, arching an eyebrow at him.

"And before that?" whispered Orion, pinning her with a searching gaze. "When you were… human?"

"Oh, my, you are a clever, perceptive one, indeed!" exclaimed the old woman, clapping her hands with an ecstatic expression on her face, as she let out a joyful bout of pleased laughter. "Excellent, excellent! You surpass all my expectations."

In a blurry flash, the Kraljica Mati rose to her feet and waved a hand, making the tea table and its contents disappear in the blink of an eye. She now stood before the creepy portrait, and Orion observed with horrified fascination how she trailed a caressing finger along the portrait's fleshy cheek, to then push her fingertip into its mouth.

Something sickly churned in his stomach as he saw sharp incisors digging into her fingertip, the portrait's slanted eyes abruptly snapping open, pinning the old woman with its black gaze, as its throat gulped down her blood, slurping noises echoing in the room.

"He was my husband, and I made this portrait of him after he died," said the Kraljica Mati calmly, still feeding the… thing. Her eyes gleamed, and she made a swift zipping motion over her mouth. "I made it mute."

"Er… good for you," said Orion waveringly, the portrait creeping the hell out of him as its eyes flickered from her to him and back, while it continued to gulp down her blood, the mouth sipping and slurping.

"Would you like to feed him?" said the old woman, as if it was the greatest honor to be had, while she withdrew her finger.

"No, thanks, it's alright," replied Orion quickly, his face paling.

The Kraljica Mati knowingly smiled at him, before she gestured at the portrait. "He became my husband, my first and only, after I chose him as a means for an end. After I spent several centuries expanding my lifespan by undergoing many rituals and realizing that I would need to do something more drastic to live long enough to reach my aims, to work for and see the rise of the Vindico Atrum."

"So… you decided to ask a vampire to turn you into one?" said Orion slowly, staring at her.

"Yes, but I did not ask just any vampire," interjected the Kraljica Mati, shooting the portrait a proud glance. "I chose a man of great learning, wisdom, and strength of character. A King to his country, a leader of his people, and the foremost warrior of his religious faith. I heard rumors about him, about the war against the Ottoman Turks he had led and won, at great personal expense. I heard muggles whispering, terrified, about what he had become during the battles. Indeed, he had been turned by a rogue vampire, a Turk in his enemy's army." She pointedly stared at him. "I chose Vlad Sdrav-"

"Vlad Dracul?!" interrupted Orion incredulously, remaining still on his seat as he gazed up at her disbelievingly. "Lezander told me it was pure rubbish! Surely you're not going to tell me that the muggle novel-"

"Lezander did not know the truth until very recently," interrupted the Kraljica Mati with a wave of her hand. "Indeed, my past is hardly something I share with others." She gazed at him, and added curtly, "And it is not 'Dracul', but Sdravkul. History is rarely recorded accurately. And you, of all people, should already know that to every superstition there is some truth. To every murmured rumor, there is some fact. The muggle novel was based on the frightened mumbles of Rumanian peasants."

Pausing, she shot him a pointed glance. "In the same way that the seemingly innocent Tale of the Three Brothers was created by a bard who had heard rumors regarding the Peverell brothers, turning such rumors into warning metaphors."

Orion stared at her blankly. "So you're Elisabeta? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"No, indeed not," said the old woman calmly, arching an eyebrow at him. "When Vlad set out for war, he was betrothed to a young muggle woman of great beauty he deeply loved, called Elisabeta, the daughter of a nobleman in Vlad's court. And she was indeed the one for him, since when he was turned into a vampire, he then knew instinctually that she was his lifemate. But before he could return to his country from the war, she-"

"Killed herself," interrupted Orion, his mind spinning as he tried to quickly sort things out. "That part is true, then? That she committed suicide believing he had been killed in battle?" The old woman nodded, and he continued quickly, as he searchingly gazed at her, "But he was a vampire, and not a magical one, since he had been a muggle. So you heard of him and came to this country, to find him? And you helped him, perhaps, to understand what he was. And then you…"

He trailed off, frowning pensively. The Kraljica Mati smiled at him, and prompted, "Yes, and then what did I do?"

"You were a dark witch," muttered Orion, his frown deepening as he fixedly stared at her to detect every twitch in her wrinkled face. Her smile widened as if in confirmation, and he continued slowly, "He didn't know about the magical world, and you must have revealed it to him when you helped him understand what he had become. He must have been deeply grieving and torn apart after losing his lifemate, but you still ended up marrying him. He ended up turning you into a vampire…"

Abruptly, his eyes widened, and he blurted out, "You made a deal with him! He turned you, made you his mate and Queen, and thus gave you the long lifespan you desired. And in exchange, you gave him children – magical ones! And thus he turned his bloodline into a powerful magical one, thus the two of you founded the Sdravkul vampire Clan!"

"Precisely," said the Kraljica Mati, shooting him a pleased smile, "after much persuasion from my part."

Orion gaped at her, as he jerkily carded his fingers through his hair. "Merlin's beard! So who were you before all that?"

"When I was a dark witch," said the old woman calmly, "I was related to the-"

"The Peverells!" cried Orion, jumping to his feet while his mind spun in a havoc of rushing thoughts, as the realization struck him like a lightning bolt. He stared at her with wide eyes, and rambled quickly, "Of course! Through Mireilla, Lezander is your direct descendant, the last one, since I know Sanguini isn't-"

"The current Rege of Sdravkul Clan," interjected the Kraljica Mati conversationally, "comes from the line of Vlad's younger brother. In a political coup and due to plots from within the court, both Radu cel Frumos – Radu the Handsome – and Vlad were taken as hostages by the Ottoman Sultan, when they were young. Radu, just a boy, was taken by the Sultan as a catamite, no matter how much Vlad tried to protect him. Vlad was released not long after, but Radu was not. When both brothers met time after, they did so as enemies in the battlefield. Radu had grown into a young man, still a favorite of the Sultan but no longer a boy, thus no longer his catamite. Yet Radu had been raised by the Sultan and had become loyal to him."

Her lips tilted upwards, as her deep voice lowered to a pleasant murmur, "And once Vlad understood the power he had as a vampire, he did the only thing possible to recover his only brother left. He followed my advice and concerted a meeting to negotiate a truce after winning the war against the Sultan, with the condition that Radu had to act as one of the Ottomans' representatives. In the meeting, Vlad the Impaler, as he was called by then, slaughtered everyone except his brother, who he swiftly turned into a vampire. And who was soon persuaded by both of us to join us in creating the Sdravkul vampire Clan."

"Yes, yes, whatever," said Orion impatiently, waving a hand dismissively. "But the point is that Sanguini isn't your descendant. I didn't particularly know exactly how he wasn't your descendant. And it's all very well that now I know that it's because he is the descendant of this Radu person and whichever witch he took as a mate, but it hardly matters to me!"

He pinned her with his gaze, and added frenziedly, "What matters is that I'm sure you were related to the Peverells! It finally clicked in my mind." He stared at her with wide eyes, and breathed out, "The three of them come from Peverell lines, that's why they are my 'bonded mates', one way or the other, so to speak. Voldemort comes from Ignotus, through the Gaunt bloodline. Draco has some of Cadmus' blood in him, because my line, directly descending from Cadmus, frequently mixed with the secondary Black bloodline of Narcissa's family. So it's evident that Lezander must also have Peverell blood – from you! That's why I'm his lifemate – Peverell blood in me calling to Peverell blood in a vampire!"

Pausing, Orion heaved in a deep breath, wildly looking at her. "And that's why Gaia wants me to have children with them, because my children would be the result of crossing the Peverell lines once again! Us, the four remaining descendants of the Peverells, would be uniting our lines. And my children will be so powerful due to it, since in me the three Peverell lines are already merged! Am I right?!"

The Kraljica Mati smiled at him with satisfaction. "You are."

"So who are you?" pressed on Orion, piercing her with a searching gaze. "A cousin of the Peverell brothers, an unknown sister, a-"

"Indeed not," interjected the old woman impassively. "There were only the three brothers, no other Peverell lurking about."

Orion stared at her befuddled, and then snapped accusingly, "But you just admitted to be related to the Peverells!"

"Ah, but I did not say I had been their contemporary," said the Kraljica Mati stoically. She arched an eyebrow at him and pinned him with an intense grey gaze. "I was an ancestor. Surely the suspicion regarding where the brothers came from has entered your mind. From whom they descended-"

"The Spirits," choked out Orion faintly, his eyes wide as he plopped down back on his seat, his mind spinning chaotically. "Yes… it had entered my mind… And I believe Calypso's as well, though we never voiced it to one another…"

Shaking his head to clarify his jumbled, jumping thoughts, he took in a deep intake of air, and said slowly, "So…the Peverell brothers were Mordred's descendants... That's why the brothers were so powerful and why the Spirits worked so hard to improve the Peverell lines by making them, through manipulating the minds of many, cross with other powerful dark bloodlines like the Slytherin, the Black, the Grindelwald, the Malfoy… and even former dark lines like the Potter… and Merlin knows which other else! The Spirits have been improving their very own line…"

He laid out his palms open on his knees, staring at them with wide eyes, not quite knowing what to feel, as he breathed out, "Then I'm Morgana's and Mordred's descendant, the most direct one, the purer one, the most powerful one, because in me are the bloodlines of all three Peverell brothers…"

"My child," said the Kraljica Mati, her lips curving upwards, "you are much, much more than that."

Orion's gaze snapped up to her. "What do you mean?" He frowned, pierced her with narrowed eyes, and bit out, "And who the bloody hell are you then? You said you were the Peverells' ancestor, so you must mean that you're related to Morgana and Mordred. Then who-"

"I was once called Vivian," interrupted the Kraljica Mati calmly.

Dumbfounded, Orion stared at her as if she had just told him she was Merlin reincarnated himself. His eyes grew wide like saucers, flabbergasted, his mind spinning frenziedly, and he choked out faintly, "The Lady of the Lake."

The old woman widely smiled at him.

"The Last Mistress of Avalon!" cried Orion, jumping to the air, finding himself standing on wobbly legs. "Morgana's aunt! Calypso told me about you – she incessantly pestered me until I was forced to read a bunch of books about you!"

"Ah, historians," said the old woman with a dismissive wave of her hand. "They hardly ever get the facts straight. Allow me to inform you that most of what is written about me, and my times, is glaringly inaccurate."

Blinking, Orion stared at her dumbly, and pointed a finger at her. "You're the Lady of the Lake."

"Yes, I thought we had already agreed on that," said the Kraljica Mati, arching an amused eyebrow.

"Merlin's sagging scrotum, you are-"

"Yes, I am!" snapped the old woman impatiently, a scowl on her deeply wrinkled forehead.

Feeling faint at the mere thought of who was before him, Orion clutched the back of an armchair, and he croaked out the first question from millions which popped into mind, "Then what do the joined Hallows grant access to?"

The old woman brightly smiled at him, and rushed out quickly, as if she had waited ages, as indeed she had, to finally impart such information, "Why, to Avalon of course. Long lost, ever after long sought out, and finally possible to reach again by the Vindico Atrum, after Morgana's spirit found a way to create a key to it – the Hallows."

Orion was still dazedly staring at her, when she said briskly, "Snap out of it, child! This is of the utmost importance!"

Jerkily shaking his head, as if he had been doused by chilly cold water, Orion wildly gestured with his arms. "And what I am supposed to do in a bloody mythical island, pray tell?! How will stepping into Avalon 'throw' me into the VA test, as you put it?!"

"That," said the Kraljica Mati coolly, "you will discover once you join the Hallows in a certain location, and once you are in Avalon." She shot him an impassive gaze. "And Avalon was not an island, but two."

"Two?" repeated Orion slowly, his mind spinning incoherently.

"Yes, two," said the old woman shortly, pinning him with a stern gaze, "separated by mere inches – twin isles. One I could access, as well as any other powerful dark witch or wizard could have if they knew where to look and if I allowed them, and which I reigned and controlled in my time, as the Lady of the Lake. The other, though I tried, I could never enter. I believe Merlin was the only one who ever had. I expect you will be able to enter the former and not the latter."

"By nature linked to the Sources, you said…" muttered Orion, staring at her piercingly. "You were referring to this. To Avalon. To its two isles."

The Kraljica Mati pleasantly smiled at him. "I am glad to see your wits are coming back to you."

"So you're telling me," said Orion with a deep intake of air, boring scrutinizing eyes into hers, "that one isle is linked to the Dark Source and the other, the one Merlin could go to, is linked to the Light Source?"

"Exactly!" exclaimed the old woman, clapping her hands together, looking thoroughly satisfied. "One linked to Gaia, the other to Gaius."

Orion's eyebrows shot to his hairline, and he couldn't help himself. A loud, boisterous laughter erupted from his throat, tears of mirth leaking from his eyes, as he clutched his stomach, laughing so hard it hurt.

"It is no laughing matter, child!" snapped the Kraljica Mati, shooting him a jaundiced glare.

"It's too rich! What idiot came up with that name?"

"Merlin did, of course," said the old woman sharply. "Gaius means-"

"'Light' in old Latin," interrupted Orion, now sniggering under his breath, using a fingertip to squish a tear of mirth from his eyes. "I know, I know. It's simply funny. He could have been a bit more creative. Gaia and Gaius…" He shook his head and then shot her an amused grin. "I'm starting to pity the poor Sources now-"

"They were lovingly given names," interjected the Kraljica Mati sharply, "and accepted them as the tributes they were."

"Fine, fine," said Orion with a last chuckle, waving a hand. He shot her a quizzical glance. "But still, they are genderless. They are Forces from which we take our magic, to which our souls go to after their Ultimate Transcendence as mere metaphysical fodder, and which absorb our magic back when we die." He arched an eyebrow. "Yet when Gaia speaks in my visions, the Dark Source uses a female voice, so is it-"

"Both Sources, as far as I know, can use any voice," said the old woman stoically. "But long since, Gaia uses a female one and Gaius a male's."

"Oh. To each his own, then, I suppose," said Orion with a careless shrug. He frowned, and shot her a piercing glance. "Hang on. So the isles were respectively linked to the Sources 'by nature', and you told me that Gaia never gave you visions, but she somehow showed you things. So are you telling me that Avalon had-"

"There was a cave in Gaia's Isle," interrupted the Kraljica Mati in a low whisper, boring her dark grey eyes into his green ones as she leaned towards him, her tone secretive and urgent. "A cave with a small pond, which we called The Scrying Waters. On the pond's rippling black surface, I was shown things. And when I meditated with deep concentration by its side, I could hear Gaia's voice in my mind, she could communicate with me, by that means." She shot him a pointed glance. "I have long since believed that the waters of that small pond came from a deep underground river, plunging to depths-"

"Reaching the Earth's core," breathed out Orion, his eyes wide, his mind working fast. "The Dark Source found a way of magically connecting with a deep underground river. A river that if not for magic, would have never reached such depths, since temperature and pressure alone would have evaporated it."

The old woman widely smiled at him. "Precisely. Gaia found a way to break to the surface and to communicate with her children, dark wizards and witches – us, who were in Avalon and protected it."

"And the Light Source?" asked Orion with a pensive frown, feeling breathless. "Did It manage to do the same?"

"I know not," replied the Kraljica Mati impassively. "I never confided in Merlin in regard to Avalon's Dark Isle, and he never confided in me about what he knew of Gaius' Isle."

Orion's frown deepened, and he eyed her closely. "But it's still a possibility... You said Avalon was lost, and that Morgana's spirit invented the Hallows, and obviously instructed the Peverell brothers to create them so that Gaia's Isle in Avalon could be accessed again, by the VA. How was Avalon 'lost'?"

"I scarcely know how or why," replied the old woman, heavily sighing. "When I lost everyone I loved, when Arthur was killed, when my sisters had died, when Merlin disappeared, killed by Morgana, and when Morgana and Mordred fled…" She shot him an intense glance. "In essence, when Camelot –as our country was called back then, not yet 'England', but still a union of small, previously warring kingdoms, united by Arthur following Merlin's aims- broke into small fiefdoms, Avalon could simply not be reached again. I could not part the magical mists that had always enveloped it and kept it hidden from muggles. I believe that Gaia was weakened then, by our actions and the atrocious consequences."

"I see," murmured Orion pensively, his mind spinning. He glanced up at her, closely inspecting her. "Is it possible that there's something similar to the Deathly Hallows, but which works to grant access to Gaius' Isle, as you call it?"

"You are thinking about the Dumbledore boy, Arian Valenor," stated the Kraljica Mati, her eyebrows climbing up.

"Of course I am," said Orion flatly, a scowl on his face. "He's already the Vindico Lumen – I have no doubt he was honest in that regard, given his power. And you've told me that to become the VA I must find and go to Avalon's Dark Isle. Hence, it only follows that Arian, at some point, managed to enter the Light Isle. And thus, he did whatever he had to do to become the VL." His eyes narrowed to slits, and he bit out, "Therefore, I want to know what he used to accomplish it, if there is such thing."

"I believe there is," whispered the old woman, leaning towards him as if revealing the greatest of secrets, her innermost suspicions. "Excalibur-"

"You must be joking," interjected Orion disbelievingly, a snide snort about to issue from him. "The sodding sword?!"

"Muggles and their flimsy legends," said the old woman with an annoyed expression on her face, her tone crisp. "It was never a sword!"

"What was it, then?" snapped Orion, leveling at her a hard, demanding gaze, starting to see that she was indeed being serious.

"That, I never knew," said the old woman shortly. "Merlin kept his secrets as much as I did. But I assure you that it was a light magical artifact created by him, and certainly not a sword plunged into a rock waiting to be pulled out by the future King!"

Orion warily rubbed his forehead. "Alright, alright." He shot her a shrewd glance. "So you believe it was created to be linked to the Light Source, much like my wand and the Hallows are to the Dark Source, right?"

She stiffly nodded at him, and he pressed on, "And it's possible that-" he grimaced at the name "-Excalibur, whatever the bloody hell it was, could still exist. And that Arian could have found it and used it to access Avalon. Correct?"

"Yes," replied the old woman coolly, "it is possible."

"So," said Orion sternly, piercing her with narrowed eyes, "what can you tell me about Arian?"

The Kraljica Mati arched an impassive eyebrow at him. "Need you ask?"

"He's Merlin's descendant, isn't he?" bit out Orion, jerkily carding his fingers through his hair, feeling as if something was heavily plummeting to the pit of his stomach. "I am Morgana's and Mordred's, and by all means, also yours, and he's Merlin's! All of the bloody business is about those times. The Vindicos chosen by the Sources from bloodlines that had to do with you people, respectively. The Light Source, of course choosing one of Merlin's descendants. The descendant of the most powerful light wizard in history, who could happily trot around Gaius' Isle. And the Dark Source choosing me, the most powerful descendant of the most powerful dark bloodlines of those times, of you, Morgana and Mordred, who I'm sure could access Gaia's Isle just as you could."

"It is possible that the Dumbledore line comes from Merlin," she conceded calmly, piercing him with her grey gaze. "If there was such a line, I believe it could only be, indeed, the Dumbledore one. But Merlin could not have children, of that, I am certain. Yet, I also know he had always secretly planned on magically adopting a child who could carry his magic, and thus produce a line for himself."

"Right," said Orion tartly. "In short, Arian is his descendant, however it came to happen." He wildly shot a hand into the air. "Bloody fucking fantastic! Just what I needed-"

"There is no cause for dramatics," said the old woman sharply. "You will be his match when you become the Vindico Atrum, and that is all there is to it, child."

Orion shot her a sour glare, and then scoffed, squaring his shoulders. "Fine. Let's get back on track to the important stuff. I'm starting to understand a couple of things…"

He took a mere few steps to reach the Book perched on the pillar of strange black marble, and swiftly opened it to its first page, to point at the picture of the faces of the three young women. "You're Morgana's aunt - that one. And now that I know this, I know who these two must be. From what I've read, they were your sisters. The beautiful blond one with green eyes, Morgana's mother - Igraine. And the youngest, the red-haired with brown eyes, who raised Mordred, was Morgause. Right?"

The Kraljica Mati nodded, her gaze fixed on the pictures with longing, grief, and a whole other mesh of emotions Orion couldn't quite decipher. "Yes, but there was no youngest or oldest between us. We were triplets, as hard as it must be to believe given our vastly dissimilar features."

She shot him a brief glance, before gazing back at the illustration, as she murmured, "And that was the only thing we knew about ourselves when we were children. We were found in a forest, you see. Three small babies crying in the night, a muggle servant found us and took us to her mistress. A great Lady, a barren muggle woman married to the King of a small principality, one of many in what now is called England and back then had no name, for it was a land fractioned in many fiefdoms. Our new 'mother' was good to us, since she could have no children of her own. And her husband gave us our names as well as his surname."

"If you didn't know who had been your parents," said Orion puzzledly, "how did you know you and your sisters were triplets?"

"Oh, it was obvious to us from the moment we realized we were special," replied the Kraljica Mati, a wide smile on her face. "Since the moment we realized we could do fantastic things, 'magical' things. You see, we shared a unique link between our minds. And one day, when we were merely five years old-" she chuckled under her breath "- we escaped from the tyranny of our nursemaid and went to explore a nearby forest rumored to be the home of Druids."

Orion blinked at her, and said flatly, "Druids?"

"Quite so, because we had heard they were people who did 'strange' things, and since we were 'strange' given the magic we could do, we had the fanciful idea that perhaps one of them had been our father," said the old woman, her lips tilting upwards in remembered amusement. "Of course, it was not the case. They did not know anything about us, but they did cast a spell on us, to see and confirm to us if we were triplets as we believed. And we were." She chuckled again, shaking her head. "It was Morgause who threw a temper tantrum and made them yield to our demands. She was always the most unscrupulous of us three, as well as ruthlessly ambitious. She even…"

She trailed off, and glanced at him uncertainly, before her expression smoothened as she said impassively, "Merlin was much like us, with the difference that he was found when a baby by the Druids themselves, many decades before we came to be. He was raised by them, as well. And, obviously, he was a light wizard, not a dark one like my sisters and I."

A slight frown spread on her wrinkled forehead, as she added quietly, "He once said he had discovered his origins… that he was the Light Source's child… the result of Gaius' insertion of His 'magical seed' in a woman…"

Orion was shot a brief glance, as she continued in a low, hesitant murmur, "Morgause came to believe similarly about us. She claimed once to have undergone a ritual of her own creation to ascertain if we were Gaia's direct daughters, the result of a magical conception of sorts. My sister claimed it was true-"

"Is that even possible?" gasped out Orion, gaping at her uncertainly, thoughts jumbling in his mind. "I mean, for the Sources to have done that, respectively creating-"

"I know not," interrupted the Kraljica Mati curtly, briskly waving a hand dismissively. "I am merely relating to you what Merlin and my sister claimed. I was never shown proof of it, by neither of them. And I never sought answers from Gaia about that matter – the audacity it would have been for me to even attempt to do so!" She leveled a hard gaze at him. "Daughters of Gaia or not, in my mind, all of us, dark wizards and witches, were her children and I would not ask for anything more."

Orion slowly nodded at her, not quite convinced, and knowing that he, in her shoes, would have delved into it until knowing everything, even if it meant disrespecting a Magical Source which evidently was considered God-like in those times – and currently, still. But he wouldn't press the matter, since he could see that the old vampire was quite unwilling to explore it and he didn't want to be kicked out before knowing about all the rest.

"Alright," he said nonchalantly, clearing his throat. "So you and your sisters went to the Druids, but why did you-"

"You must understand how different those times were," interrupted the Kraljica Mati calmly, her expression smoothening to a pleasant one. "The Celtic Druids were the only ones who held magical knowledge, and they kept to themselves. We had no one else to turn to." She waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, there were people with magical abilities scattered here and there, intermingled with muggles. But there were no magical schools, and most simply went through their lives as muggles, never using their magic and quite forgetting about it. Very few became wizards and witches, and most of those who did was because they sought out the Druids and asked to be taught. As we did."

Riveted in her story, Orion asked quietly, "You went back to them, then?"

"Certainly," she said firmly. "As often as we could slip out of the castle without being detected. Oh, our 'mother' knew what we were, and it frightened her, I believe, and did her best to bring us up as noble, 'normal', young ladies. But she was still good to us. You see, in those times, a woman's sole duty was to bear children. If she failed in that, she was useless. Therefore, she treasured us greatly, despite we did 'strange' things, because her husband and lord had accepted us as his own."

The Kraljica Mati caressed the pictures on the Book, as she added in a murmur, "In the end, it was thanks to the Druids that we became young witches of great understanding in magical matters. They were the first ones, in our lands, to realize the differences between them – in essence, to discover that some of them had dark magic and others light. And they had already formed their little clusters depending on the kind of magic they could wield, and thus study to better understand their abilities and to create more spells."

Orion frowned at her. "But the Egyptians, Persians, and Hindu Indians, to name some, had already-"

"Yes, that is true," interrupted the old woman, sharply nodding at him. "Wizards in other civilizations had already discovered much, they were much more advanced. But we lived in what is called now England, yet an island back then to which only news and some knowledge filtered through from merchants and passing-by travelers and scavengers who went here and there to make a nomadic living where they could – bards, and the like. There was hardly any communication between civilizations, in those times. And our kind had as many difficulties as muggles in that respect, since apparition was not discovered until much later."

"So it was from the Druids that you learned of Avalon, wasn't it?" said Orion, closely regarding her, his mind swirling.

"Precisely," said the Kraljica Mati, shooting him a pleased smile. "They chose me in the same way they chose the previous Lady of the Lake. I was taught how to use my dark magic to see it, to part the mists, to enter it, and there learn from the Druids who lived in Gaia's Isle, forming a small community of dark wizards and witches."

"Only you. What happened to your sisters?" prompted Orion, listening intently.

"Morgause was not pleased to be excluded," replied the old woman with heavy sigh. "But by then we were fourteen, already young women of marriageable age, in those times, and she married a great Lord of a kingdom in the north. That, at first, satisfied her ambitions." She shot him a wary glance. "Much later, when Mordred was born, Morgana entrusted her son to Morgause, and my sister raised him as a vehicle to attain power. It did not end well."

"I expect not, given what wizarding history books have to say about the matter," said Orion with a grimace. "And your other sister, Igraine, simply married as well, right?"

"Oh, but quite differently," interjected the Kraljica Mati, with a soft, yet pained smile on her face. "Igraine was the most powerful of us three, and also the one with fewer aspirations other than forming a family. She simply wanted to be a mother. I believe that was why the Druids chose me instead of her, despite she surpassed me magically. Igraine simply wanted to have a loving family, she didn't care much about power."

She looked at him, and added quietly, "She married Gorlois, a Lord of his own land and castle, and a dark wizard as well, though he never trained his magic, learned, or had any interest in it. He was simply a warrior king. Igraine loved him deeply and she bore him Morgana."

"So Morgana was a pureblood," piped in Orion musingly. "And I know what happened next if the stories are to be believed. Merlin wanted to unite all kingdoms under one rule, so that the land wouldn't be ravaged by the constant wars and there could be peace among muggles. Uther Pendragon was the strongest Lord of those times, his kingdom vast and his army great. And-"

"And he was the greatest enemy of Gorlois and lusted after Igraine," interrupted the Kraljica Mati shortly, her expression hard. "Yes. And Merlin, allied to him, and known and beloved by all muggles as a great wizard of goodness, aided Uther with magic to pose as Gorlois and bed Igraine just after Uther had killed Gorlois in battle."

"And so Arthur was born," concluded Orion grimly.

"Yes, and Igraine died in childbirth," murmured the old woman, her tone somber, "and I believe, from the grief of losing the husband she had loved so deeply and bearing the child of his murderer."

She shook her head, and pierced him with her grey gaze. "Despite what is believed by wizarding kind, Arthur was never a light wizard. He was a dark half-blood, reared by Merlin as a light wizard and as a muggle warrior and future king. Merlin did not need Arthur to be magically powerful. He simply needed a son of Uther, since the muggle Lord had the greatest claim to the throne of several kingdoms besides his own, and thus, so did his son. Merlin just needed a Pendragon. Therefore, after Igraine died, Morgana being too young to take care of her newborn brother, I tied to Avalon due to my duties as the Lady of the Lake, thus unable to rear him or take him there, and my remaining sister Morgause uninterested in him, Merlin took the baby and raised him under his wing, as was Uther's wish as well."

She paused, and then added matter-of-factly, with a quick wave of her hand, "Years later, Uther died when conquering a neighboring kingdom, passed his throne to Arthur as well as all claims to other thrones, and Arthur, a young man by then, started his campaign, as was Merlin's plan. Arthur led his Knights and armies in wars across the lands, and soon united all kingdoms and named the new nation Camelot. By then, Arthur was in Merlin's clutches and none of us could change it when we realized what had happened. He revered the old man."

"And you acted then," interjected Orion, piercing her with a narrowed gaze. "You took a leaf out of Merlin's book, didn't you? That's why Morgana and Mordred hate you so much. As you said, Igraine was the most powerful of you three, and more so was Morgana since she was Igraine's daughter having the addition of more dark magical blood from her father, Gorlois, a dark wizard, however uneducated in magic."

He paused, his eyes narrowed to slits, as he added crisply, seeing where all of it was leading, "You wanted someone powerful in dark magic, and decided a child of yours wouldn't do as well as a grandson of the powerful Igraine. One with Igraine's blood, two-fold, so he could be even more powerful than otherwise. So you made Morgana unwittingly sleep with her own half-brother. Those stories are true. You made Morgana conceive a child with Arthur, during a Beltane fertility celebration, both masked and unrecognizable to each other, since they had been parted since childhood when Merlin took Arthur."

"I did," whispered the Kraljica Mati, a torn expression on her face. "And I regret it to this very day." She shot him an intense, stern glance. "Morgana had been my apprentice. She would have become the next Lady of the Lake. The greatest one, since like her mother, she surpassed me magically. Either of them, Morgana or Mordred, could have taken my place. Mordred, most of all, was of vital importance, since as a mere child, when Morgana brought him to me, he could already access Gaia's Isle-"

"What's done is done," interrupted Orion caustically, then letting out a snort. "You wanted Mordred and he ended up in your sister Morgause's clutches, because Morgana turned against you the moment she realized what you had made her do. Though, I don't think Morgana could have suspected what her other aunt would end up doing, betraying her as well."

"Indeed, Morgause raised Mordred to hate Arthur," interjected the old woman in low murmur, "since she wanted him to be King and thus wield power through him. She was ruthless in her ambitions-"

"And it all went pear-shaped," interrupted Orion shortly, with a wave of his hand. "You were the only one to survive, and Morgana and Mordred fled to find a remote place in which to found a school and pass on their knowledge in the Dark Arts."

He frowned musingly, and added sharply, "Avalon was 'lost', you spent some centuries roaming about and expanding your lifespan through rituals, until you heard rumors about Vlad Sdravkul. And just like yourself, Morgana and Mordred realized that their natural lives would not give them enough time to attain their goals. And they went through whatever ritual they used when sacrificing their lives, and turned into souls anchored to this plane. And so, the Spirits and you worked separately to bring about the Vindico Atrum Gaia had 'told' you about, or shown you, in The Scrying Waters."

The Kraljica Mati calmly nodded at him. "Yes, indeed, but-"

"No," bit out Orion crisply, holding up a hand. "There's nothing more I need to know. It was from you that Morgana and Mordred learned to manipulate in order to get what they wanted. Their idea of doing whatever it took, without any consideration to anyone, in order to cross bloodlines throughout the centuries, came from what Merlin did to Igraine and what you later did to Morgana. That's clear. And to think I despised them for it, when it was basically Merlin and you who started-"

"You are missing an important fact," interrupted the old woman stoically, pinning him with a severe gaze. "There is one last realization you must come to, one last matter I need to convey. It is of the utmost importance."

"What is it?" prompted Orion flatly.

"There were several things I mentioned before and which you failed to recognize," said the Kraljica Mati calmly, intensely staring at him. "You were told you had named the Dark Source 'Gaia'. You were told that you are much more than simply Mordred's direct descendant through the Peverells. And you were told Gaia had chosen you, that you were her favorite. Do none of these things make you realize anything?"

Utterly befuddled, Orion frowned at her, and snapped impatiently, "What on earth are you trying to get at?"

The old woman shot him a dissatisfied glance, before her hand moved in a blurry flash, two things instantly happening at once. A small table popped into existence right in front of them, and something came shooting from a small cabinet at a corner, its doors flinging open.

When it was resting on top of the conjured table, Orion finally saw what it was, and he glanced up at her, his eyebrows shooting upwards. "A pensieve? You have a memory to show me?"

"I do," said the Kraljica Mati sternly, whipping out a wand from the pocket of her dark purple, long gown of vampire fashion. In the next blink of the eye, she was already extracting a silver tendril from the side of her forehead, instantly laying it inside the empty pensieve. She gestured at it, and said shortly, "After you, child."

Orion shot the basin an apprehensive glance, before he sighed and dipped his head inside. Immediately, he was plunged into a dizzying swirl, and then he found himself standing besides the Kraljica Mati who was already by his side.

He looked around, now very curious about what the memory was showing him. They were in some kind of great courtyard, adorned along its walled sides by beautiful flowers and statues scattered here and there, whilst people paraded about in small groups. They had to be muggle nobles of the Arthurian court, given their rich attires with thigh-long doublets with puffed out sleeves, their tights, and the thick, gemmed necklaces their wore. There were also some ladies with flowing gowns similar of those of pre-medieval fashion, many of them with small silver diadems on their hair with encrusted gems.

He also saw some men who looked like warriors… No, like knights, given their mesh armors, their swords, and the long capes they wore. All of them certainly looked prosperous. There was no doubt Arthur Pendragon had managed to create a wealthy kingdom which ran smoothly.

However, he could detect that there was something bothering them, since they moved around in tight groups, whispering among themselves with troubled expressions on their faces. And even if he strained his hearing, the few words he caught here and there didn't remotely sound familiar. He realized they were speaking in some kind of mix between the saxon and welsh languages – it was Old English, he surmised. Though there were some very few words he caught which vaguely sounded like modern-day English, like 'father' and 'king'.

"Merlin had disappeared the day before, and Camelot was already in a state of great commotion due to it," said the Kraljica Mati conversationally, still by his side. "Morgana killed him, though I know not the particulars or what was done with his body. Most surely, the corpse was not buried but vanished, since many wizards have tried to find his remains throughout the ages and have never succeeded."

She lifted her hand, and pointed with a finger. "Look there. Soon, it will happen."

With curious puzzlement, Orion's gaze followed the direction, and he caught sight of large, high archways at one end of the courtyard, with steps leading to a great, magnificent castle beyond them. Then, he saw them striding out from the archways, their appearances imposing and with an air of utter self-confidence and efficacy.

They were knights, but their armors were more magnificent than the ones he had seen before, and the capes of these knights were pure white lined with golden thread, with a red symbol in the middle back – one he recognized from books as the symbol of Arthur's Knights of the Round Table. Knights made Lords, with equality of vote among all members, which was quite revolutionizing for that age. They had been Arthur's chosen to help him lead Camelot and decide matters of the kingdom, and his closest, most trusted friends. According to books, that was.

"Let us move closer," said the Kraljica Mati, and he followed her until they were mere paces away from them, and she started gesturing at several knights. "Sir Gawain, Sir Lancelot, Sir Percival, Sir Caradoc… the youngest one, Sir Galahad, Lancelot's son… they were all muggles Arthur had grown up with, of noble families. Such associations had been machinated and fomented by Merlin."

She paused, and then said calmly, "Ah, here we are." Orion snapped his gaze to where she was looking at, as she continued, "Arthur called me to Court, worried about Merlin's disappearance and soliciting my advice. He had also asked Morgana to come, since they had been close friends and deeply attached to one another from the moment she discovered, and told him, that her son was his. Their attachment grew deeper when his arranged marriage to the muggle Guinevere started failing."

The Kraljica Mati sighed grimly, before she added shortly, "Neither Morgana nor I knew we were going to see each other this day, not until we met with him in the castle." She shot Orion a brief glance, and murmured, "Arthur never knew I had been the one to orchestrate his physical union with his sister, so many years ago. Morgana never told him when she discovered I had been behind it."

"So he still trusted you because you were his Aunt," concluded Orion, his gaze fixed on the three people who had arrived coming from the archways while the Kraljica Mati had been speaking.

There was no doubt. The middle aged woman dressed in flowing dark blue robes was her – not the Kraljica Mati yet, not for many long centuries, but Vivian. She looked much like in the picture in the Book, only that her ugly face already showed some wrinkles on lip corners and around the eyes. And the young woman -quite beautiful, he saw- of long glossy black hair and dark eyes, had to be no other than Morgana.

Both women were dressed distinctively like witches, with long robes, nothing like the gowns of the noble muggle ladies around the courtyard. Yet no one was batting an eyelash at them, so it was clear they were well-known, trusted, and accepted by Arthur's Court.

Morgana and Vivian were quite resolutely not looking at each other, but they were still close together, flanking a man and obviously speaking to him, as they made their way towards Gawain, Lancelot and the other Knights.

An eerie shiver ran down Orion's spine when he fixedly gazed at the man, and he frowned. It was Arthur Pendragon, no doubt, given the crown amidst golden curls on his head. He was regally handsome, with a gentle and wise expression on his face and in his hazel eyes.

"FATHER!" shouted a young man who had suddenly appeared from the archways, and a long litany of furious words followed, which all sounded like gibberish to Orion's ear.

He froze, something coiling in his stomach, and then was simply grateful that he had understood 'father' at all, since it allowed him to comprehend that the young man was Mordred, who was dressed in black robes of a wizard. Mordred could not have been more than sixteen, yet he was already as tall as Arthur, and his constitution strong and clearly trained and exercised. But his handsome looks certainly came from Morgana, with his short wavy black hair and dark grey eyes. Yet, his expression was nothing like his mother's; it was dark, ominous, bitter, and enraged.

"Mordred had just discovered that Arthur had not made him his heir to the throne," was saying the Kraljica Mati. "He could not be, since it was known that Mordred was illegitimate, and many believed the accurate rumors that he was Arthur's and Morgana's son. His mere existence the most abominable of sins for muggles, and he was despised for it."

Mordred was rushing towards him – no, towards Arthur and his group- yet Orion was right beside them, seeing as Mordred quickly approached, still irately spitting out words. Then he caught sight of red hair suddenly appearing in his line of vision, and he instantly recognized the woman as Morgause. Her expression looked crazed and vindictive as she shouted madly, while she ran along Mordred's side, in a clear show of support.

Abruptly, one voice rose above all others, and even though it was gentle, it could be heard clearly, its tone appeasing and soothing. It was Arthur's, as the man stepped away from his Knights and took several steps to approach his son.

Yet, the Knights he left behind stood tense and wary, while Morgana was looking at her son with a grieved expression on her face, but she did not speak, approach, or said anything to Mordred. Vivian, on the other hand, also with the Knights where Arthur had left her and Morgana, looked impassively stony, just a mere slight frown on her face, her eyes riveted on Morgause.

"Arthur is trying to explain to Mordred," murmured the Kraljica Mati by his side, "why he cannot be his heir, and why he appointed Lancelot to succeed him if he died before his time. And Galahad, Lancelot's son, to take the throne after Lancelot passed."

Orion was mere paces from Arthur, as the man widely extended his arms, as if pleading to Mordred to join him in a conciliatory embrace, while he kept talking with his gentle, calming voice.

"Arthur is speaking of love. Of the love he has for Mordred. He is beseeching him to understand and accept his decision, since it was made for the good of the Kingdom."

Mordred halted, his expression still furious, accusing, hurt, and murderous, but there was a flicker of hesitancy in his eyes, a torn expression briefly sweeping across his handsome face. But all hesitation vanished from the young man's face when Morgause, by his side, whispered something sharply to his ear. The witch still had a mad expression of hatred on her beautiful features.

"It happened due to my sister's influence on him. Neither Morgana nor I suspected then the poison that Morgause had spilled into Mordred's mind, for years, as she reared him as her own son, as her vessel to attain ruling power. I should have known, yet I did not imagine what would happen. I did not believe them capable of it."

Orion barely heard her at all. He was frozen in place, his mind spinning chaotically, his blood chilling in his veins, his heart thundering frenetically in his chest. He felt as if he couldn't think, he couldn't breathe, as the scene unfolded before him, ever so familiar, thus ever so horrifying.

Mordred's expression had smoothened, and Orion saw how the young man took the two steps required for him to be in front of Arthur. Mordred tightly embraced his father then, as if he was clutching a lifeline, and Orion could see both their expressions clearly. Arthur's relieved as he lovingly embraced his son back. And Mordred's displaying a mesh of emotions, as he tightened his arms around his father.

Orion heard Mordred's whispered and longing "Father" into Arthur's ear as if it was being breathed into his own ears, while he saw the emotions flickering in Mordred's dark grey eyes - deep pain, hurt betrayal, desperation, but also seething hatred and a firm, resolved intent in them.

And then it happened, just as he knew it would, the same details, the same whispered word, the same expressions, everything exactly the same. There was a glint of sunlight gleaming on iron, as Mordred plunged a dagger into Arthur's chest, pressed in their embrace. And as Arthur's face morphed into an expression of utter shock, blood gurgling from his lips caused by a wound clearly lethal, a direct stab into the man's heart, Orion could not take it anymore.

"LET ME OUT!" screamed Orion frenziedly, as he jumped away from the pair in the memory. "Make the memory stop, and let me out!"

The Kraljica Mati instantly tightly grabbed his arm, brusquely pulling him back. "WATCH!"

And Orion could do nothing but, even though he felt as if the floor had been yanked from his feet, even though blood rushed through his ears, making them ring as if someone was shrieking into them, even though he felt as if he was choking on his breath. Despite it, he could do nothing but watch, petrified.

The scene had instantly exploded into a mesh of confusion and screams, everybody moving at once. Arthur had dropped to the stone floors of the courtyard, copious blood spurting out of his chest and gurgling from his lips, though the man was evidently already dead. His hazel eyes unseeingly staring into the blue skies, the pupils completely dilated. The expression of shock frozen on his white, gentle, handsome face - the rigor mortis of a corpse.

There was a loud cry of immense grief which was heard above all others, and Orion saw Morgana flinging herself at Arthur's body, tears spilling from her eyes, sobs wrecking her frame as she cradled her dead brother on her lap.

The Knights, letting out roaring bellows, had already jumped into action, wielding their swords to kill Mordred. But Morgause was also moving. The witch looked deranged as she lashed her wand in the air, beams of light shooting everywhere, eerily reminding Orion of Bellatrix. Curses flew which easily tore into the Knights' mesh armor, blood spilled from deep, gaping wounds, and cries of fury and pain fused together. The Knights didn't stand a chance with their swords. Even less when Mordred seemed to come out of a frozen trance, peeling his gaze away from his mother and father, to whip out his own wand and start casting spells.

Orion saw the court ladies and nobles scattering away and fleeing as quickly as they could, their screams high-pitched and terrified, but some were struck down by flying curses. And then he saw Vivian rushing towards Morgause, the two sisters soon focused only on each other, locked in a fierce duel. It was soon clear that if the Knights hadn't stood a chance against Morgause, she didn't stand a stance against Vivian.

There was a loud shriek of agonizing pain and fury, and then Morgause's body laid on the floor in two separate parts in a pool of crimson blood, her body having been cut in half along the waist with a dark curse. And Vivian stood gazing down at her sister's body, a grim expression on her face.

There were arrows flying now, and Orion saw archers standing on a long balcony at the castle's second floor, which gave them a clear view of the courtyard below, and more archers were rushing into position.

Mordred was easily protecting himself, casting shields of magic against the arrows solely shot at him, while he cast spell after spell at the Knights of the Round Table who had circled him like pack of wolves, Mordred incessantly blasting them away or shooting dark curses. Yet Orion noticed that Mordred wasn't killing them, but just injuring them enough to put them out of commission.

Abruptly, a curtain of glimmering magic appeared like a round wall between Mordred and the Knights, and Orion saw Morgana standing on her feet, holding up the wand which had obviously cast the shield to protect Mordred. Her once pale green robes were drenched in her brother's blood, and her expression was somber and utterly overwrought with anguish and grief, but there was also a hard, determined glint in her dark eyes, as she placed a hand on Mordred's shoulder.

The young man glanced at her with disbelieving surprise, clearly not having expected his mother to aid him in any way, but rather kill him. It was obvious that mother and son had not been close for most of Mordred's life. They looked like strangers gazing at each other for the first time, with a certain spark of understanding of each other passing between them, and surprising them both.

In the next second, Morgana firmly took Mordred's hand in hers, and they were fleeing without a backward glance or word to anyone, simply running as fast as they could, casting spells over their shoulders to halt arrows and the Knights who gave them chase.

The last thing Orion saw, before they disappeared from sight, was an arrow plunging into Mordred's shoulder, but the boy didn't miss a step and mother and son didn't pause.

And in the lingering chaos, remained Vivian, standing as still and quiet as a statue, her gaze fixed on where Morgana and Mordred had disappeared through, as she stood amidst the ravaged courtyard, surrounded by the cries of the many who had been wounded and by the few bodies of those who had died.

Suddenly, Orion felt the Kraljica Mati tightening her grasp on his arm, and he was plunged into a spiraling whirlwind. Gasping, he found himself back in the old vampire's quarters, standing over the pensieve.

"Do you realize now?" murmured the old woman quietly, taking a seat on a plush, ornate armchair, as she collected her memory back into her mind with her wand.

"It's not possible!" spat Orion, plopping down on the settee, frantically gazing at her, his heart thundering so fast and hard that his chest seemed to ache. "I cannot be Mordred-"

"Oh, so you do have reason to believe what I am trying to make you see?" interjected the Kraljica Mati, spearing him with a scrutinizing gaze. "You knew you had been Mordred-"

"I knew nothing of the sort!" bit out Orion heatedly, pointing a finger at the pensieve. "But of course I have reason to believe it now, don't I?! One of my memories of a past life is exactly like what happened in there. I remember it clearly because it was so emotionally taxing that it burned itself into my mind, just like a memory of some other life when I was a little boy being burned at the stakes by muggles just because I had conjured a flower for a girl I fancied and she ran screaming!"

He paused to take a deep intake of air, and then gazed at her narrowly, as he snapped crisply, "Sure, the memory was brief. I embraced a man, whispered 'father' to him, felt a bunch of emotions and stabbed him in the chest. The next thing, I'm running for my life alongside someone and an arrow hits me in the shoulder. And the bloody man I hugged was Arthur, because he looked exactly like the Arthur of your memory. And I know that the feelings I felt were Mordred's, because I could see the same emotions on his face in your memory. So I damn well say that it proves that I was Modred, but I'm telling you it's not possible!"

The Kraljica Mati folded her hands on her lap, and calmly gazed at him."Indeed, why not?"

"Are you fucking pulling my leg?!" hissed Orion under his breath, angrily glaring at her with narrowed eyes. "It's quite obvious, isn't it? I have seen Mordred's spirit many times – his soul anchored on this plane! So how could I be him reborn, how could I have his soul? And he has always felt like a spirit, and I can physically touch him when I'm imbued with my Necromantic abilities, so he must be a spirit!"

"Ah, I see where the problem lies," said the Kraljica Mati placidly. "You simply know not that the rituals Morgana and Mordred used were different rituals in which they sacrificed what remained of their natural lifespans to attain what they desired."

She didn't give him a chance to retort, as she pinned him with a piercing dark grey gaze. "As I have told you, Mordred – you, were Gaia's favorite. When Morgana brought him to me when he was a mere child, he could already access Gaia's Isle and he spent much time at The Scrying Waters. It was then that he –you– named the Dark Source 'Gaia', because you felt She was like a mother to you, and because She always called you her child."

The moment she saw Orion opening his mouth again, she held up a hand. "I know not what Gaia showed you then, you never told anyone. But I believe, given the rituals Morgana and Modred chose to undergo, that Gaia must have told you about the Vindico Atrum matter. I am quite certain of this, since Morgana underwent the most drastic ritual so that you did not need to do the same. Indeed, Morgana sacrificed her life and became a soul anchored to this plane, as you put it, with her magic tied to her soul, available to her and only starting to dim after many ages passed. As the magic of the ritual diminished through time, the restriction on her spirit's mobility tightened-"

"Yes, I know all that-"

"Let me finish," said the Kraljica Mati curtly, spearing him with an intense, urgent gaze. "When you underwent the ritual, you had already fathered a child with a dark pureblood witch of your express choosing, and thus, you commenced your plan. You must have known that you would become the Vindico Atrum, but not during your life, not when you were Mordred. A Vindico Atrum candidate who would succeed in becoming It, needed to be much more powerful than you already were when you were Mordred. That is why they have crossed bloodlines for so many centuries, improving, as you said, the Peverell lines by mixing them with other dark bloodlines, not only powerful but with special magical abilities as well-"

"Yes, I see," interjected Orion sharply, deeply frowning as he closely regarded her. "But I still don't understand what he is, then, or how it's possible-"

"-not only that," continued the Kraljica Mati, utterly turning a deaf ear to his interruption, "they started with Mordred's child, and went from there forth. Indeed, the Peverells came from Mordred's sole descendant at that time, a great-granddaughter who had married a Necromancer, and thus infusing such new ability in Mordred's line, and resulting in one of the three Brothers being a Necromancer himself."

She paused, while Orion remained defeated in silence to intently listen to her, and she pinned him with pointed stare. "In essence, making Mordred's line as powerful in dark magic as possible, so that the Vindico Atrum came from such. But you see, you wanted to be the Vindico Atrum, thus the ritual you used was quite different from Morgana's. You sacrificed what remained of your life, yes, but not to turn into a spirit, but to die and have your soul reborn again and again along your lines of descendants, along the very same lines that you and Morgana would perfect throughout the ages. That is why you will become the Vindico Atrum, because Gaia must have showed you in The Scrying Waters what you had to do, and you followed Her plans."

"The pattern in my rebirths... and the swiftness of my reincarnations," croaked out Orion, his voice shaky, staring at her with wide eyes as everything started to dawn on him. "Then it's all because of him, of me, of what I did then?" His jaw clenched, as anger boiled in him without really knowing who he was furious at, and he gritted out crisply, "So I've been basically manipulating myself all this bloody time?! That's why Mordred's spirit, or whatever the hell it is, kept ranting angrily about all the sacrifices he had made and demanding the same from me. I was demanding it to myself?!"

"In a manner of speaking, yes," said the Kraljica Mati pleasantly. "He always was very strict with himself. And you are much different now from who you were when you were Mordred. I do not think he liked to see himself so changed when he must have believed that such changes were for the worse, seeing your empathy for others and lack of merciless ruthlessness as grave weaknesses."

"I cannot believe this!" cried Orion, jerkily carding his fingers through his hair, his mind messily swirling, not quite knowing what to feel or think. He repeatedly shook his head, and finally frowned at her. "So what is he, then? You speak of it -him, whatever!- as if he could think. And I know he must, because I've talked to him several times. So what is he? I know he's not a ghost!"

"Indeed it is not," interjected the Kraljica Mati calmly. "I do not think there is a name for it. The ritual you employed had never been used by anyone but you, you created it. You wanted to leave some awareness of yourself behind you, as Mordred, so that you could help Morgana's spirit accomplish all the necessary crosses between bloodlines. What it is has no magic, unlike Morgana's spirit, but it can think. It thinks like the Mordred you were."

She briefly paused, slightly frowning musingly. "I have always thought of it as being like a soul's portrait, with the only difference that due to a property you included in the ritual, every time you died in a following rebirth, it gained the memories of such life. And it must have always wanted to shape you, and all the others you were in past, in Mordred's image." She shot him an amused glance. "That is why I believe it dislikes you."

"And it surely 'disliked' Regulus too, then," grumbled Orion, his mind still chaotic though he had managed to calm himself so that he could begin thinking matters over carefully. He frowned, and searchingly gazed at her. "So it remembers all my past lives..."

A realization suddenly struck him a like a lightning bolt and he jumped to his feet. "And I must have been Mordred in my soul's first life! That must be what Arian spoke about – and he was in love with me, with Mordred? Do you know who Arian was back then? Do you know if I had a lover, or-"

"I certainly have no way of knowing if Mordred was your first life," cut in the Kraljica Mati, her eyebrows shooting upwards, "and much less in whom Arian Valenor's soul was in, during those times. If he had a life in that time at all, which is not certain either. And I know not anything about your intimate affairs when you were Mordred." She frowned at him. "What is all this business with the Dumbledore boy about?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing," muttered Orion with a frown, waving a hand dismissively. Abruptly, he snapped his head up and pierced her with a demanding gaze. "Have you told Lezander about this?"

"I told him you were Mordred," replied the old woman impassively, arching an eyebrow, "but not anything else regarding this matter."

Orion sighed out, "Good." He carded his fingers through his hair, nodding at himself. "Yeah, that's alright, I guess."

"Very well," said the Kraljica Mati rising to her feet. She gazed at him, her lips tilting upwards. "I am glad to have met you and wish you success in every endeavor-"

"You're kicking me out?" gasped out Orion disbelievingly. "But there are still so many things I would like to know and flesh out-"

"I have done my duty," said the old woman stoically, then warmly smiling at him. "I have imparted all the information I believed you should have known all along. It will help you attain your aims."

"But… but," spluttered Orion, staring at her with wide eyes. "Surely this isn't good-bye? I can come back, right? You will receive me if I come whenever I need to-"

"No, no," said the Kraljica Mati pleasantly. "This is, indeed, a farewell. I prize my solitude, my child, and there really is not anything else I can help you with or any other useful, pertinent information I can share with you." She brightly smiled at him. "Yet, if I am still alive then, I will pay you a visit to see your firstborn. I would like to see him, at the very least, if not the other two, as well."

Orion stared at her blankly. "Er, alright, I suppose…" He sighed and carded his fingers through his hair, before he bowed to her. "Then, it is good-bye until then."

"It is," said the Kraljica Mati pleasantly, before she abruptly moved forward and planted a small kiss on his forehead. "I wish you the best."

"Um, thanks," muttered Orion quietly. "I wish you the same."

The old woman shot him an amused glance, but despite it, Orion was nearly frogmarched through the threshold, and the door was instantly closed shut on his face the moment he was on the other side.

Orion blinked, and then shook his head, muttering under his breath as he started climbing down the endless spiraling stairway of the tower, his mind speeding and brimming at full capacity.

---

The following evening, it was remarked to Orion by a surprised yet satisfied Cyprian that he was putting all his efforts into his vampire training with a sudden zealous fervor, as indeed, he was.

Orion's mind had been spinning ever since he had parted with the Kraljica Mati, and he had gone through every word she had told him so many times and with such deep concentration and effort into analyzing every little thing, that all her revelations were branded into his skull. And due to it, was his urgency in training hard and learning as fast as he could. For it was just as Gellert had told him, everything for him would just get harder as closer he came to being the VA and much more after that.

He had been Mordred, that was clear. He had done everything to himself, he no longer had anyone to be angry at, no one he could accuse for what had happened to him, and no one to blame for the burdens on his shoulders. And though knowing now that he had been Mordred finally made him understand every little thing which had previously perplexed him to frustration, it didn't make anything easier.

Quite the contrary. As Mordred, he had masterminded his own future rise as the Vindico Atrum, and he would follow through for the simple reason that his motives might have changed from those of when he had been Mordred, but his desires hadn't. He still wanted to become the VA, and he would, as plain and simple as that.

Yet, the decisions he had come to before his second and last visit to the Kraljica Mait, had not changed. Thus, everything was clear in his mind, but also much more complicated to attain in life.

The pattern of his past lives explained, the knowledge he was the one who would certainly become the VA, the realization that he had always been Gaia's Chosen One since times immemorial, that he had planned it all and made it happen through many self-inflicted sacrifices, the understanding that he couldn't and wouldn't give up just when he was about and could accomplish his main and ultimate goal, the comprehension of what Arian had been speaking about when alluding to their first life and 'They'…

All of it, added to his immutable desire to see his possible children exist, while having to do something so that his oldest wouldn't turn out 'bad', to manage his relationships to have such children with their respective fathers while also being fair with his 'mates' since he wanted the best for them, and foremost, added to not killing Voldemort no matter how many prophecies and visions there were and despite that it was the simplest way of becoming more powerful - everything, now made sense in his mind, but he didn't have the foggiest idea of how he would put it in practice and accomplish it.

Oh, some thoughts had popped into his mind, but he knew he had to tread carefully, patiently, and quite simply – experimentally. Taking some more decisions here, some others there, see what happened, adjust his plans a bit, try again, and so forth. Yes, with some bold moves here and there, and some other small ones. It was the only way, since he felt he was on shaky grounds that could break under his feet and pitch him into an abyss in any moment.

But he would try to bid his time. He had to be calm and composed to make all future decisions, no matter the urgency he currently felt due that it all seemed to be rushing and speeding forwards. There was also the war to think of, after all, and a misstep could be catastrophic.

Therefore, Orion had firmly kept the decisions he had previous taken, thought about some others he could apply to accomplish everything, and then he had single-mindedly focused on his vampire training and on his studies for his PRIMEs during the breaks between lessons.

It had resulted in Cyprian currently clapping once his hands with satisfaction when Orion managed to par a sword thrust while disarming his sparing partner, Lezander. Even the young Rege's eyebrows shot upwards, a wide smile breaking on his handsome face.

"Well done!" said Lezander warmly, slapping a hand on Orion's shoulder before he bent down to retrieve his sword from the floor.

Orion took a step towards him, and hissed accusingly under his breath, "It's no accomplishment. You're going easy on me!"

"Easy?" said Lezander with a frown, shooting him a glance as he wielded his sword in an offensive stance. "Of course I am. You're just starting-"

"I might be just starting," bit out Orion angrily, clutching his Gryffindor Sword's hilt tighter, "but I only have one month to learn sword-fighting, to learn how to use my sharpened senses, to quicken my reflexes, to build up my body, and to all together learn how to use and hone the vampiric traits I got from you."

"Relax your grip, Orion! It must be flexible," ordered Cyprian sharply, who stood by the sidelines of the training room in Zraven Citadel in which they were, supervising Orion's practices after the usual drills at the barracks' courtyard. "And go back to your place-"

"Give us a minute, Cy," said Lezander briskly over his shoulder, before he snapped his head back to pierce Orion with his pale blue eyes.

Orion frowned angrily when he saw that the Commander of the Zraven forces merely nodded before mutely obeying his Rege and moving to the furthest corner of the room, to check the numerous long swords, daggers, katanas, throwing knives, battle axes and other magically-enhanced weapons held in racks along a wall.

"What are you doing?" snapped Orion crisply. "I don't want to stop-"

"You've been acting like a possessed madman during the whole day," said Lezander sharply under his breath, closely regarding him as he took a step to be inches apart. "And knowing you, I know why-"

"I've just been giving my best," bit out Orion impatiently. "Now let's continue!"

"You haven't said a word to me about your visits to the Kraljica Mati," said Lezander quietly, a deep, hard frown on his face. "And I know what she must have told you and I know it must weigh heavily on your mind, but I also know that you must have come to some decisions – you always do." He bore his pale blue eyes into Orion's green ones, and added in a soft whisper, "And I've waited for you to say something to me, but you haven't. But seeing you like this today… well, it's clear we must talk about it."

Orion sighed, and rubbed his forehead with his free hand as he murmured, "I know there's much to discuss, and we will, because I know that you're pending to see what my decision is regarding Draco, and…"

He shot Cyprian a glance, and seeing the vampire seemingly utterly engrossed in his evaluation of the state of the weapons, he glanced back at Lezander, whispering, "And about our, er… well, future son, and all that. But I won't discuss it now, here. Just wait until tonight-"

"ORION!" shrieked a female voice frantically.

Orion nearly jumped into the air at the sudden scream, and he wildly looked around, until his name was urgently called once more. Perplexed, he glanced down at the dragon-scale crimson armor which had been fitted for him and which Lezander had gifted to him the very moment he woke up earlier in the day.

He heard the shout again, coming out muffled from one pocket in his vampire fighting clothes. His eyebrows shot upwards, and deep worry instantly surged in him as he dug in a hand and plucked out the two-way mirror, seeing Titania's face on its otherwise reflective surface, her expression frantic.

"Thank Circe!" came out her voice, as her eyes peered at him, her face slightly relaxing. In the next second, her expression turned as urgent as before. "You must come at once!"

"What happened?" demanded Orion instantly, holding the mirror up to his face, his chest clenching with misgivings. "Were you found by Aurors, did they break into the manor, did they-"

"Just come, I'll tell you everything here!"

Orion sharply nodded, and said quickly, "Where are you? Rosier Manor-"

"No, everybody else is in Rosier's," rushed out Titania's voice. "I'm in yours. In Potter Manor, in front of the door to your rooms."

"I'll be right there," said Orion swiftly, seeing her exhaling with relief before her face blurred and disappeared from the mirror's surface.

He glanced at Lezander just as he pocketed it back. "I must-"

"Go," cut in Lezander, staring at him worriedly. "It sounded serious. Perhaps I should come along, to help you in case Aurors-"

"I can manage," said Orion shortly, merely giving him a grateful yet wan, small smile, before he closed his eyes and instantly dissapparated from Zraven Citadel, leaving the Gryffindor Sword behind, dropping and clanking to the floor.

The moment he appeared in front of his master bedroom in Potter Manor, he saw Titania standing nervously a few paces away, wringing her hands, her expression still troubled as her eyes met his.

"We didn't want to concern you," she rushed out without the need of being prompted, her otherwise faint American accent becoming more marked with her jittery nervousness and worry, "that's why I didn't contact you before… but yesterday, we went to Rosier Manor to continue training the DA who're staying there for their hols, just as Calypso told us you wanted us to do. But just as we finished the last battle simulation, Calypso said she had something to do and then simply left."

She took a deep intake of breath, and gazed into his eyes. "I'm not going to ask you what's going on. You left before meeting the Elite when we came - Calypso explained why. Then, that very same night, the whole manor was awoken when we heard yells coming from a room, and when we reached it, we found Draco finally conscious, furious, trashing furniture and yelling like a loony at Calypso."

The moment Orion opened his mouth, Titania held up a hand and shook her head. "Only I understood some parts of his rants because I'm an Aux, but it's clear that there's much more bothering him besides Calypso obviously telling him about you and the Vindico Atrum issue. I'm not asking what, but I think you should know what's been happening here since you left-"

"Tell me whatever you want," interrupted Orion quietly, a frisson of apprehension coiling in his stomach, "and then just get to it, Tita."

She sharply nodded at him, and said quickly, "Whatever it is, I've never seen him so mad before. Not even Evander, Kara, and Viktor said they had, and they know him much better and for far longer than I. We were all worried. But then, the following day, even though he snapped and glared at everyone, Calypso took him to her manor with the rest of us. And he was introduced to the DA and he certainly wished to train with us. In fact, he's quite good in the Dark Arts, his father surely taught him well, but he's training as if his life depended on it, which is partly true given his situation…"

Pausing, she slightly frowned and shot him a pointed glance. "Well, the point is that we're all helping him and he's having no problems in catching up with the rest, though he's acting strangely and he's in a foul mood twenty-four seven. But that's not the issue. The problem is Calypso. Yesterday, she left Rosier Manor the moment we finished the DA lesson for the day, and she didn't return here at night-"

"Where is she, then?!" demanded Orion impatiently, feeling as if his frenetically pounding heart had lodged in his throat. "Did you check her manor-"

"Of course we did!" snapped Titania, glaring at him with indignation. "We spend most of our days there training and only come back here to sleep. She wasn't there or here! She's been gone for a whole night and day. But there was nothing we could do other than keep preparing ourselves and the DA for the war, so today we went to Rosier Manor as usual, to continue training. And just mere minutes ago, that house-elf of yours, Dubby, Dibby-" she waved a hand briskly "-or whatever its name is, popped in front of me telling me that I had to come here, that Daisy had sent him to fetch me from Rosier Manor. The rest of the Elite stayed there. I didn't even tell them anything." She pierced him with her hazel eyes, and added nervously, "And when I got here, I was told that Calypso had finally appeared…"

Titania paused, pointing a finger at the door across from Orion's bedroom. "…that she had apparated into her room. And I've heard her crying inside, but she won't open the door!" She glanced at him with frustration and deep concern. "She's locked it with countless wards and I can't get inside. It's obvious that something's happened to her, but she won't even answer or say anything when I try to speak to her through the door!"

"Then thanks for contacting me," said Orion shortly, instantly reaching the door of Calypso's bedroom, whipping out his wand to start testing the wards cast on it.

Titania nodded at him, and mumbled quietly, "I'll leave you alone. If there's anyone who can get through her, it's you."

And with that, she was gone with an inaudible 'crack', undoubtedly apparating back to Rosier Manor, and surely going to break the news of Calypso's sudden reappearance to the Elite, to allay their worries.

The moment the young witch was gone, Orion knocked hard on the door, and yelled loudly, "Scaly, open up! Do you hear me? It's me, Orion – open the door!"

Orion frowned when he heard some muted sound coming from within, but she didn't respond and the door certainly didn't open or dropped its wards. With his jaw clenching, he instantly got back to work, constantly flicking his wand, detecting and pulling down ward after ward. Ten minutes must have passed when he finally broke the last ward, and he didn't waste a second before he yanked the door open and ran inside the room, both angry and deeply worried.

He halted in mid step, and just concern ruled him, when he caught sight of Calypso awkwardly curled in one corner of the bedroom, near the bathroom: her legs splayed on the floor, her head bent down as she was covering her face with her hands, her shoulders slumped and hunched forwards, her clothes wrinkled as if she had slept in them, her appearance all together disheveled.

Orion almost flew around the four-poster bed to reach her in the bat of an eyelash, and he instantly dropped to his knees in front of her, as he whispered softly, "Come, Scaly. What happened, what's going on? Everyone's worried sick."

A mix between a hiccup and a sob came from her, but she simply pressed her hands tighter against her hidden and bowed face.

Orion tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder, as he said gently, "Please, Scaly. Just look at me. I won't ask questions if you don't want to tell me where you've been. But I'm worried and need to know if you're alright."

"Orion?" came her voice muffled by her hands, sounding small and soft to his ears, almost vulnerable, he would say.

He instantly felt relieved that she was responding to him at all, and said with feigned loftiness, "Of course it's me. Who else could have broken down all your wards without breaking a sweat?"

She snorted as she lifted up her face, her fingers slightly spreading while she peered at him from between them. "What on earth are you wearing?"

"Vampire armor and fighting clothes," said Orion proudly, trailing a finger over the crimson dragon scales on his chest, while he covertly inspected her closely.

He saw that she had certainly been crying. Her eyes were red and puffed, and he caught a glimpse of tear-streaks on her cheeks, as well as dark circles under her eyes.

"You look awful," he said nonchalantly, grinning at her. "And here I believed that you had grown up to be beautiful enough to even tempt me."

"Prat," she scoffed, her hands dropping to her lap, as she eyed him with a slight frown on her face. The next second, she was biting her lower lip, glancing around. "Oh, no. Tita asked you to come, didn't she?" Her gaze flickered back to him, and she deeply sighed as she murmured softly, "I didn't want to worry anyone, and least of all make you leave Zraven Citadel and interrupt your training-"

"That doesn't matter," interrupted Orion calmly, folding his legs to sit on the floor instead of on his knees, making himself casually comfortable, as he eyed her closely. But to his puzzlement, from what he saw of her expression, she didn't look frightened, hurt, sorrowful, anguished, or anything indicating she had gone through something bad. "So… here we are…"

"I've been an idiot," muttered Calypso, wearily gazing at him. "An over-confident one, at that."

She dropped her face, and just when Orion thought he had been mistaken and that she would start crying, she began to angrily gesture with her hands. And when she looked up at him, he saw murdering fury and hatred in her face, not tears.

"It was Moody, Orion!" she rambled irately. "I went to Diagon Alley to buy some things –I thought I wouldn't be seen, I thought that I didn't need to apparate to another country- but someone must have recognized me or there were Aurors covertly patrolling the Alley, because the moment I stepped out of the bookshop, I was surrounded by Aurors! I couldn't do anything-"

"That's where you've been?" breathed out Orion, finally feeling himself relaxing and at ease, though still a spark of apprehension remained. "But they couldn't have done anything to you except hold you in a Ministry cell for the night and ask you questions, right? They can't do much else-"

"You don't understand," snapped Calypso heatedly, her puffed black eyes gleaming with fury. "You were right about your suspicions of Scrimgeour being allied with the Order of the Phoenix! The Aurors did make me stay in a cell overnight, and of course that I didn't answer any of their questions, but the next day-" she gestured angrily at herself "-today, the Auror that was watching me disappeared and Mad-Eye Moody came into my holding cell!"

Her jaw clenched, and she spat out, "I won't mention the stuff he said about my mother or Uncle Evan, things surely meant to make me angrily rant at him and spill information without knowing, part of an interrogation method, no doubt. But he was holding a vial of Veritaserum - to force me to drink it! Totally illegal, since I'm not yet seventeen, and still illegal if I was, because he's not a bloody Auror anymore – hasn't been for ages. He had no right to be there at all, it was Scrimgeour's doing for sure. Their pathetic light Minister knows that they don't stand a chance against you and the Dark Lord combined, and he resorted to using Moody to interrogate the only link they had to you – knowing, of course, how I would be affected by seeing Moody in person, the murderer of my mother!"

Visibly paling, Orion said quietly, "I won't blame you if you told him stuff under the influence of Veritaserum, Scaly-"

"I didn't," bit out Calypso sharply. "He didn't get the chance. Shacklebot suddenly came in, and my, did he look angry." Orion grimaced with dislike, and she shot him a sharp glance. "You can hate him all you like for attacking Lez in the Department of Mysteries, but he saved my neck today."

She scoffed, and rolled her eyes. "Not because he cared two figs about me, of course. But it's clear that he's a law-abiding Auror, with fair principles, at least. He certainly didn't know that his underlings had allowed Moody in to interrogate me, and when he saw the vial of Veritaserum, he was mad as hell. Even though they're both in the Order, he practically threw Moody out, and he returned my wand to me, told me I was free to leave, and apologized for what his Aurors had done. He looked pissed and indignant." She shot him a feral smirk. "I even heard him lecturing Moody about 'proper procedure' and doing things by the rules."

Orion searchingly gazed at her. "So… you're fine? Then why did Titania say to me she had heard you crying? And I can see for myself that you must have-"

Abruptly, Calypso grasped his hands in a vise-like iron grip, her eyes glinting with murdering hatred, as she said fiercely, "I cried because I was locked in with Moody and couldn't do a thing! I would have killed him on the spot if I had had my wand – I wouldn't have cared about the consequences at all. I felt pure impotence and rage, Orion – surely you understand what those combined can do!" Her grip tightened painfully, making Orion wince, as she fervently bore her eyes into his. "Promise me that you'll let me have him. Promise me that he'll be mine, and solely my prey, when we encounter him in the battlefield!"

Orion frowned at her apprehensively. "He's a very experienced ex-Auror, Scaly. I don't think you should fight him alone-"

"Please, Orion, promise you'll leave him to me!" interrupted Calypso beseechingly, her expression hard, with a vehement and feverish glint in her eyes. "I've waited my whole life to kill him – I plunged into the Dark Arts and trained during my whole life to avenge my mother!"

Orion eyed her with sympathy and understanding, and finally said with a sigh, "Alright, he's yours."

"Thank you," she exhaled out, shooting him a bright smile as she released his hands.

Orion flexed his aching fingers and then caught sight of her expression: she was clearly plotting all the evil, tormenting agonies she was going to put the ex-Auror through while slowly dismembering him with the most gruesome of dark curses. He shook his head with amusement, but then stood up as he decided that it was best if she didn't dwell on it for any longer, for the time being. It was clear that anything related to Moody still deeply affected her.

He extended a hand towards her, and shot her a grin. "Up. I have much to tell you before I go back to the Citadel."

Calypso instantly snapped her head up to peer at him with curiosity, and then her eyes widened. "Of course, you've already managed to see the Kraljica Mati, haven't you?" She took his offered hand, and he gently aided her to stand up, as she rambled excitedly, "Oh, if you really have the time, then I would like to know-"

"I have," said Orion simply, conjuring two chairs for them and pulling one for her to take a seat. He shot her a glance before he snapped his fingers, calling for a house-elf. "But first, I would like to hear your opinion about something else."

The moment the house-elf popped before him, he ordered instantly, "Bring the pensieve from the study."

Mere minutes afterwards, he had poured the pertinent part of his interaction with Snape into the pensieve, inviting her to see the memory. And finally, after what seemed like ages to Orion, Calypso pulled her head out of it and then stared at him with wide eyes.

"Is all that stuff about this genetics thing true?" she breathed out excitedly, a large, beaming smile on her face, wheels turning and plans and plots certainly spinning in her mind. "Why on earth didn't you agree with Snape? Don't you see what our kind could do with it? All the things that could be discovered and also done so that our kind is more powerful-"

"Scaly-"

"Oh, I'm with you that Snape shouldn't publish his work using muggle terms or basing it on this new muggle science," went on Calypso, waving a hand. In the next second, there were stars in her eyes, as she continued eagerly, "But if he wants to abduct some muggles and put them to work, then by all means, he should! And if he's right about these genes things, then imagine what our kind could do with them - from what I could understand, if our kind researches into it like Snape wants, there's no limit to what we could accomplish some years from now! We could give magical traits and abilities to magical babies in the womb, we could make our kind's children more powerful, the lines purer-"

"Calypso!" finally barked Orion, pulling her out of her dreams of triumph and glory for dark wizarding kind. "I understand what you're trying to say in your ramblings, and it has crossed my mind as well. But I'm not only wary of the consequences if we started messing around with such things, but I also think that Snape-"

"Oh, trust you to be concerned about remote consequences," interjected Calypso with a roll of her eyes, before she leaned forward on her seat and grabbed his hands, her voice turning vehement. "Such research could be controlled and regulated, so there's no reason to fear anything. I think it should be done, and you did give your oath to Snape that you would help him in-"

"So you truly think it should be learned and researched to be used by our kind?" cut in Orion, eyeing her with a frown on his face.

Nodding, she said adamantly, "Absolutely!" Suddenly, her eyes went wide, and she gasped out excitedly, "The Byzantium Ars Medicina! And Mistress Petra Podroff!"

Startled, Orion blinked, before he stared at her with a deep frown on his face. "What does our Healing Dark Arts professor have to do with-"

"Have you heard about the Byzantium Ars Medicina?" interrupted Calypso, gazing at him expectantly, squirming in her seat with nearly unrestrained giddiness.

"Of course," said Orion shortly, waving a hand, yet he was looking at her puzzled. "I've seen it mentioned here and there in textbooks. It's an Institute that researches the Healing Arts. I know it's very famed and has impeccable reputation, both the institute and their healers and researchers. Allegedly, most healing spells were created there."

"Yes, but not only that," rushed out Calypso, staring at him intensely. "The Byzantium Ars Medicina is ancient, it was founded in 310 BC in the city of Byzantium, and it attracted knowledgeable Greek healers when the city was conquered by Alexander the Great, and even more renowned ancient healers when the city later became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Healers from all over the empire and beyond went there to study and to be accepted as apprentices and scholars. It's even believed that the very Rod of Asclepius was brought to the Byzantium Ars Medicina, ages ago, by a Greek healer who wanted to gain access to BAM's library, since their scholars had Hyppocrates' original manuscripts-"

"Hold your hippogriffs," interrupted Orion, holding up at hand, as he musingly frowned at her. "Are you telling me that the Rod of Asclepius - the magical artifact believed to have been long lost, named after Asclepius, the mythical Greek god of medicine, and made by the ancient Greek healer Hyppocrates, who even muggles call the Father of Medicine- is in Byzantium Ars Medicina?"

"That's what's rumored, and has been for ages," said Calypso, her smile widening eagerly. "After all, the image of the Rod of Asclepius is the Byzantium Ars Medicina's symbol. And supposedly, all the healing spells and breakthroughs throughout the centuries were accomplished by BAM's researchers because they have the Rod in their possession and have always been using it."

"So…" said Orion slowly, his expression deeply pensive. "You think that I should let Snape look into genetics, that muggle geneticists should be taken so that Snape can learn from them and possibly imperio them to make them work on Slytherin's research by using this new muggle science, and that the Byzantium Ars Medicina should be contacted so that they are involved in this."

"Exactly! But I also think that it would be best if the whole wizarding research into this gene stuff is conducted by BAM," piped in Calypso, a wide, sly smile on her face. "And that Snape should be allowed to work with them and lead the research about the crosses between magical and non-magical blood types. You gave him the task to improve Slytherin's research and to prove his discoveries. Therefore, Snape should be heading that research project in BAM." She pierced him with her eyes, her expression resolute. "You should help him make a deal with them."

"Alright," said Orion musingly, before he shot her a demanding glance. "But tell me this, what type of wizards and witches work in the Byzantium Ars Medicina? Are they dark or light?"

Calypso deeply frowned, and said hesitantly, "It's said that light and dark wizards work jointly in BAM. Supposedly, their healers and researchers work collectively for the same aim without caring about differences in their magic. And I think it must be true since BAM creates and makes public healing spells using either light or dark magic, creating as many light spells as dark ones, clearly without showing favoritism regarding which wizarding kind they help the most."

"I see," said Orion calmly, nodding at her. "Then it means that they watch and control what goes on in there and that they don't allow one of them to use their knowledge and discoveries for their own aims or solely for the sake of their respective kind – which is a relief. It means they strictly regulate themselves. Then, yes, I'll think about your suggestion of involving BAM in this matter."

He paused and gazed musingly into vacant air. "Perhaps, the consequences would be positive if wizarding kind developed a new branch of magical studies based on muggles' genetics science, starting from there to discover the ways we could use it through magic."

Calypso shot him a cheerful, utterly satisfied smile. "That's exactly what I believe would be best."

"Very well," said Orion, glancing back at her. "So I suppose the Byzantium Ars Medicina is in the same place where it was founded, right? In Byzantium, which later became Nova Roma, then Constantinople, and finally Istanbul." He quizzically gazed at her. "So I can find it there – in modern-day Turkish Istanbul?"

"I believe so," replied Calypso, then staring at him dismayed. "But you can't simply trot around Istanbul, somehow hope to find wherever the BAM building is, and then waltz inside. Its precise location isn't public knowledge and no one has found it without being invited by them in the first place."

Orion nonchalantly arched an eyebrow. "Then I assume you have a suggestion which would solve this small impediment?"

"I do," piped in Calypso brightly, looking thoroughly smug. "Once during class, I caught a glimpse of the necklace Podroff was wearing, almost hidden under her professor robes – it had a pendant in the shape of the Rod of Asclepius. I knew what it had to mean, and I was curious. So I asked her about it after class." She shot him a conspiratorial smirk. "I couldn't glean much from her except that she had been an apprentice in the Byzantium Ars Medicina for five years before becoming a full-fledged healer. So that's your ticket in."

Orion's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "Mistress Petra… who would have thought. My, she does go around."

"Well, we all knew she had been an excellent healer before becoming a teacher," said Calypso with an expansive wave of her hand. "So it didn't surprise me much. Most famed healers have come from there, though they never breathe a word to anyone about their years there."

Orion hummed, before a frown crinkled his forehead, and he eyed Calypso closely as he said quietly, "I didn't show you the memory to discuss what should be done about genetics in our world, though I thank you for your suggestions…" He heaved in a sigh, and pierced her with his eyes. "Scaly, didn't you notice anything strange in the memory? Don't you think that Snape wasn't behaving quite like himself?"

"What on earth do you mean?" said Calypso, blinking at him with puzzlement. "He was excited about this genetics thing, which is understandable since it could help him with his research. And maybe his plan about kidnapping some muggle scientist is a bit drastic, but I can understand his desire to learn about genetics as quickly and as easily as possible. And if you help him do it, then I see no problem."

She paused and cautiously eyed him. "I think you're being a bit-"

"Paranoid," said Orion flatly, with a slight frown on his face. He shook his head and piercingly gazed at her. "Perhaps, but not to the extent of imagining things. Something was up with him. The whole thing was weird."

She stared at him, and then shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't get the impression that anything was amiss."

Orion heavily sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Never mind, then. I still have much to tell you."

Calypso's face instantly brightened as she looked at him expectantly, and Orion didn't waste a second longer before starting to explain everything he had learned from the Kraljica Mati, also finally telling her about what the Dementor Cadmus had done to him and his past lives, as well as the bits he hadn't told her about his interactions with Arian regarding mentions of having known each other in past lives.

As usual when Orion extensively informed her of things, she kept silent without ever interrupting him, though her face clearly displayed her reactions in the way her eyes widened, her expression blanked and then became troubled or deeply pensive; added to some gasps, frowns and gaping jaws.

The moment Orion said his last word, Calypso stared at him as if she had never seen him before, her expression mesmerized and then becoming feverishly fervent, as she breathed out shakily, "You are Mordred… I scarcely know what to say… I can scarcely believe it, yet I do!"

She started to wildly gesture, her eyes widening, as she rushed out, "It all makes sense! I had the inkling that the Peverells must have been Mordred's descendants given things, but I never imagined that his spirit wasn't really a spirit, or that you're Lezander's mate because he has Peverell blood from the Lady of the Lake herself! Or that the Lady of the Lake didn't die ages ago as books tell - that she has been living during all these centuries, and that's she's the Kraljica Mati, of all people – but it all makes sense, specially why the Zravens sent Lez to Durmstrang due to her maneuverings! And about the things Morgana's spirit and Mordred's 'whatever' did… and your children! Oh, I can see why you want them… And Avalon, Gaia, and the twin isles! Oh, and your wand and the Hallows, and Excalibur, and the … but… but, the things Arian has been saying to you… and the past lives you remember… why didn't you ever tell me about what Cadmus had done to you? And about you being Sextus Black, Cadmus' son… and about you having been Regulus and what you did then in that lifetime, and Snape finding out about you being Regulus, and you telling your father… Orion? Orion, are you listening to me?"

"Er… yeah," muttered Orion, who was frowning deeply at vacant space, since something had been tickling the back of his mind ever since he had ended his narration of events to her.

Yet he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he knew it was there, something that was about to click in his mind.

He shot her a brief glance, vaguely remembering her last ramblings, and retorted flatly, "You're complaining that I've been keeping secrets? That's rich, coming from you. I didn't tell you about my past lives in the same way that you still haven't told me what's been up with you during the year."

"Oh, um… well," mumbled Calypso, looking contrite and chastised.

"I KNOW!" suddenly bellowed Orion, shooting to his feet, his expression triumphant, puzzled, and eager at the same time.

Startled, Calypso stared at him as if he had gone mad. "Um…you know what-"

But Orion was already running to the door, and she cried frantically as she rushed after him, "Wait! What's going on?! I thought you had time before going back to Zraven Citadel, and there's so much I would like to discuss with you. What are you going to do with Lez, Draco, and the Dark Lord? Will you fully bond with Lez, will you do as he asked regarding Draco? And I have to tell you about Draco! And how are you going to-"

"You can tell me about Draco on the way!" shouted Orion over his shoulder, still speeding along corridors and down a stairway towards the manor's front doors.

Then, as he remembered how exhausted Calypso had looked and that she had spent a whole night and part of the day in a Ministry cell, he halted right in front of the doors and turned around to wait for her.

Calypso finally reached him, heavily panting and puffing, disheveled and looking a bit peaky.

"On the way where?" she panted out, placing a hand on the door to support herself while she recovered her breath.

"I don't know yet," replied Orion, devilishly grinning at her. "But I will, soon." The moment she eyed him weirdly, shot him a quizzical glance and opened her mouth, he added quickly, "Don't ask. Just help me out."

Orion didn't even give her time to nod before he grasped her hand and swiftly opened the ornate doors, nonchalantly striding outside and taking the path that would lead them to Potter Manor's gates, slowing his steps to match Calypso's, gently pulling her along.

"Are you mad?!" hissed Calypso under her breath the moment they crossed the gates, the last wards tingling over them as she started to jerk him backwards. "We cannot go outside! We could be seen, Aurors could-"

"The only light wizard who knows about Potter Manor is Arian," cut in Orion, shooting her a soothing glance as he continued to firmly drag her after him.

"I still don't think we should-"

"Here," said Orion, releasing her hand when they finally reached the graveled road.

He swiftly whipped out his wand and gave it a flick, a shimmer of magic instantly appearing around them, wrapping them in a sphere, while a pleasantly chilly summer-night breeze flapped Calypso's robes and rustled his hair.

"A disillusionment bubble, satisfied?" said Orion glancing around, faintly seeing the rolling green hills dimly illuminated under the starry dark sky.

"Not really," huffed Calypso, scowling as she shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. "What, exactly, are we doing standing in the middle of the road?"

Orion grasped her shoulders, frowning pensively as he moved her around to stand precisely where he wanted her to, as he muttered, "He stood right here... Stay exactly like that - don't move." He released her, and took two steps back. "And I stood here." He gently clutched Calypso's chin and made her turn her head around, his frown deepening. "And Arian glanced this way… There, stay absolutely still, don't move an inch and stare right ahead of you."

The second she was facing the same direction he remembered Arian looking at, he released her chin and his gaze followed hers.

"There," he said, pointing a finger in that direction, his frown turning puzzled when he saw nothing but more hills in the distance. "Arian glanced that way when he started to strangely remark about Potter Manor's location, saying it was 'very practical given things'."

Calypso snapped her head around to gaze at him with raised eyebrows. "What are you-"

"This road is called Druids' Path," interrupted Orion, dropping his hand as he pierced her with his eyes. "Merlin knows when it was named as such, but it had to be before purebloods started building their manors along the road. DRUID, Scaly!"

Staring at him with round eyes, she suddenly gasped and said slowly, "You think that Arian was dropping a hint? That he was looking at-"

"Yes," said Orion, triumphantly grinning at her. "And I'm not wasting a second longer to see if I'm right or not." He then instantly shot out a hand towards Potter Manor's gates. "Accio broo-"

Instantly, Calypso abruptly clutched his wrist, pulling it down. "Oh, no, we're not! I'm not getting on a broom-"

"We?" interjected Orion sharply, narrowing his eyes at her. "We are not going anywhere. I am. You are going back to Potter Manor, and to bed, safe and sound-"

"I'm coming along!" snapped Calypso briskly, glaring at him. "It could be a trap! Arian could have Aurors or Order members waiting there for you, expecting you to go wherever that direction leads to-"

"Arian doesn't want me to get captured," scoffed Orion with a roll of his eyes. "He could have done it himself already, numerous times. He wants me to become the VA, Scaly. So for now, all his hints should be trusted and followed-"

"Arian is the last light wizard on Earth that should ever be trusted, Orion!" interrupted Calypso adamantly, her expression firm and resolute. "Especially after all the things you know now, after everything the Lady of the Lake disclosed to you…"

She trailed off, staring blankly into vacant space, and suddenly her expression brightened, and she cried, "Oh, I have just the thing!"

And with that, she vanished into thin air. Orion blinked at her abrupt disapparation, and he blinked again when she suddenly appeared before him mere seconds afterwards, with something large tucked under her arm.

She shot him a smirk and dropped it to the ground, and the moment she snapped her fingers, Orion finally saw what it was. It seemed to have sprung alive, unrolling on the ground and then floating into the air in front of Calypso's knees; the moonlight bathing it and showing its ocean blue, silk strands and fringe finished with gold threads.

"Your magic carpet!" said Orion exultantly, gazing at it with deep admiration, feeling utterly thrilled.

"If we have to explore the area, then we're travelling in style," said Calypso airily, lifting her nose up, "as comfortably and safely as possible, and not on a flying stick."

She grinned at his fascination and then slowly climbed on the carpet, wobbling on it as she then attempted to balance herself to sit on her folded knees. The young witch seemed to have second thoughts when she glanced at the ground several inches below her, a grimace on her face, undoubtedly already missing having her feet safely firm on land.

But then she sighed, and shot Orion a glance as she patted the place on the carpet besides her. "Hop on."

Orion didn't require any further encouragement. He widely grinned at her, and was about to take a leap when her horrified scream made him halt and stare at her, dumbfounded.

"I didn't mean it literally, you dolt!" shrieked Calypso, her face pale as she frantically clutched the front corners of the carpet, gripping the fringe threads. "If you jump on, you'll make me fall-"

Orion stared at her incredulously. "You're less than half a feet above the bloody ground, Scaly!"

"I could still break a limb if I fell and landed awkwardly," she hissed under her breath, bristling. "Now, please, get on like any civilized wizard would!"

"You spoil all the fun," grumbled Orion mutinously, but in the end he carefully climbed on the carpet under her watchful, strict gaze.

"Well … here we go…" mumbled Calypso as soon as he was settled besides her, slowly pulling up the corners of the carpet, her face increasingly paling further as more distance was put between them and firm land. "Which direction was it again?"

"That way," replied Orion eagerly, pointing a finger into the distance.

Soon, they were flying forwards, much slower and lower than Orion would have, but still with the surrounding landscape flashing by, as they shot ahead under the dark skies, with the disillusionment bubble enveloping carpet and passengers in a shimmering sphere, making them invisible to all.

"There's still nothing but more hills and the road twisting here and there," remarked Orion with a frown on his face, as he gazed over the edge of the carpet, with his hair blowing in the wind in all directions, his wand in hand, alert and on guard. "And we're about to leave wizarding Wiltshire and enter the muggle area of the county."

"Perhaps it's something muggle?" offered Calypso not sounding very confident, briefly side-glancing at him before she concentrated back on steering the magic carpet, still grasping its front corners with a white-knuckled tight grasp.

"Not likely, is it?" muttered Orion, his frown deepening as he started seeing small muggle towns to his right and left, in the distance but still distinguishable. "And look, the Druids' Path continues, even though there's nothing here. It must lead somewhere, since it's going in the same direction that Arian glanced at."

Not long after he had said that, his face dropped when the gravel of the road below them scattered on grass-covered grounds, the path losing its definition until there was nothing left of it, ending.

Calypso shot him an apprehensive side-glance. "Now what?"

"Keep on going," muttered Orion tensely, a dark scowl on his face as they flew over it, then seeing the end of the road disappear behind them.

From hence forward, they kept silent, but it was evident to Orion that Calypso was having his same thoughts – that it was quite pointless to do so: there was nothing but hills and distant muggle towns to the sides, they had left behind the wizarding section of the county long ago, and they didn't know what they were looking for, exactly.

Suddenly, when he had lost all hope of miraculously finding anything, he frowned when he felt his wand vibrating in his hand. In the next blink of the eye, he yelped in startlement when it burned his fingers and shot out of his tight grip on it.

Gasping, Orion saw his Death and Life wand surging up into the air, spinning, vibrating, and glowing white with twisting swirls of blackness. Abruptly, it shot straight ahead of them, like an arrow sizzling and flying into the darkness of the night.

"Follow it!" shouted Orion urgently.

In the next second, Calypso's reaction not quick enough for him, he was leaning forward to clutch the corners of the carpet, swatting Calypso's hands to take control, and immediately making them rush after the wand.

Calypso shrieked with terrified alarm, her face draining from all color, but she didn't attempt to gain back steering control and ended up gripping Orion's arm in a vise-like clutch, holding on for dear life.

"We must be close – my Death and Life wand has a link to it, it's clear!" he yelled over the noise of the rushing wind, as they soared up high into the dark skies, following the glow of the wand in the distance ahead.

"It's showing the way to you," breathed out Calypso into his ear, pressing her side closer to his, her grasp on him tightening jerkily, "to the future VA... The Lady of the Lake must have known this would happen when you went out to look for it and when you were close enough for your wand to react…"

Suddenly, Orion saw his glowing wand make a sudden dive ahead of them and he instantly plunged them downwards to quickly follow after it. It was when they shot out from under a cluster of clouds, that he caught sight of the shadowed shapes contrasting against the moonlit background. Ahead of them, with his wand flying directly towards it, was a small hill with a flat mound looking as if monoliths had sprung from it.

Calypso gasped by his side, at the same time that he muttered with a dark frown on his face, "This cannot be it. It's a prehistoric monument that was erected by muggles around 2500 BC-"

"No, this is it! You were right – this is what Arian hinted to you," interrupted Calypso breathlessly, while she frenziedly shook his forearm, which she had clutched even tighter in her excitement. "Wizarding archeologists believe its construction evolved in several phases spanning at least 1500 years, and that most of it was done by Druids in the later stages – that they used it for ceremonies, rites, and Circe knows what else. And it's claimed that intensity-measurements of magical fields in its very center are off the charts, but no one has ever discovered why! It's a famed mystery!"

Her breathing turned loud as she side-glanced at him to pierce him with her wide-eyed gaze, as she said slowly, as if the revelation was fully sinking into her own mind, "It has been called the Druids' Circle, Orion. Ages ago, the road must have led directly to it. This is it."

Orion shot her a brief glance, before he nodded in understanding and then mutely started to pull down the corners of the magic carpet. His heart was thundering in his chest and his blood rushing through his veins as their destination speedily drew closer, his glowing wand way ahead of them flying straight towards it.

They were reaching Stonehenge.