A/N: As always,
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: All characters of the Harry Potter series (hereafter known as 'legal property') are the sole ownership of J.K. Rowling (hereafter known as 'owner of said legal property'). No infringement on any copyright of owner of said legal property of the legal property is knowingly intended. Published by author (hereafter known as 'other') for entertainment purposes only. No monetary or personal gain was knowingly made by other with the publication of this story, which was based on ideas and characters created by owner of said legal property as they pertain to legal property. No plagiarism of legal property or of any ideas of the owner of said legal property was knowingly intended by other. This statement is fully transferable and is legally held binding for all chapters of the story Family Ties as they are presented under different chapter headings and titles for individual chapters.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE: CONFRONTATION - PART THREE
Slowly working to get his bearings as he cautiously looked around, Heudros reacted almost immediately to the voice that addressed him, practically snapping to attention as he rounded about to face the head of the Unspeakables.
"Mr. Bbbbbaaaaalle!" He stammered out quickly.
"I believe you and I have unfinished business. Mr. Barantor."
"Business?" Heudros asked carefully. "What business?"
Orin directed Heudros' attention to where Richard hung suspended in the air by the binding spell.
Orion quickly looked about for Orin's brother, who stood now in one corner of the room, Richard hanging suspended well in front of him. To look at the two, one would never suspect Eric had anything to do with Richard's current circumstance. But what Orion didn't miss was the purely amused look on the dark 'Power's' face. Whatever Orin had planned, Eric clearly approved of the idea.
Richard, however, wasn't about to let an opportunity go by. As soon as Heudros caught sight of him, the boy went after who he perceived in even the smallest way to be a possible ally. If handled right.
"Master!" Richard called out. "You can not leave me like this! You can not leave me to them!"
Heudros stared at the boy for several moments before answering him with a simple question. "Why not?"
"You called me!" Richard shot back. "You owe me protection!"
Heudros walked over to where the boy was hanging in the air. "Just like you owed me loyalty, Richard?" He asked, staring up at the 'Power'.
"I gave you loyalty."
"Attacking me and trying to kill me are your idea of loyalty?" Heudros scoffed. "Based on your perception of the word, Richard, I can very well leave you to them since at this point, you are of no further use to me."
As Heudros started to turn away, Richard sensed he was losing his last chance at escape. "No use?" He practically yelled at the man's back. "Have you forgotten the very reason you called me to begin with, 'Master'? I can still do those things for you. You want power? I can make you the most powerful wizard of the age. The dark lord himself would be no match for you. You would have riches, power, admiration. Others will look on you with envy and speak your name in awe."
"Honestly, Richard." Heudros replied in a bored tone. "If you have to sing the same song, couldn't you at least change the words a little to try and disguise it better? Those are all the same promises you made to me at our first meeting. And where did they get me? Locked up in a cell waiting for you to grow tired of your games and finally finish me off."
"Those are Becca's lies!" Richard yelled back. "I was never going to kill you."
"And being locked in the cell?" Heudros asked past a raised eyebrow.
"I...I had my plans to deal with. I...I needed you secure...and safe. Out of harms way. You were my host! I could not kill you!"
The statement raised the smallest reaction from the dark 'Power' behind the boy, who simply raised a finger at the comment. "Not true." He said, then fell immediately back into silence.
"I would never have killed you." Richard reiterated. "You were my host, Heudros. You were my friend." He pleaded.
Heudros stared up at the boy for a few more moments. "You must take me for an utter fool." He finally replied. "You lied to me, you tried to steal Becca from me, you locked me in a cell, tried to kill me, and now you are back again, claiming to be my friend?" Heudros stepped up to the 'Power', sneering up at him as he did so. "You and I were never friends, boy. I was your master. You were my slave. Nothing more."
"You and I had a bargain, Heudros." Orin stated, pulling the man's attention away from the other 'Power'. "One which you fulfilled your end of. You helped us capture Richard. In return, I promised you that you would be able to protect yourself from anyone who might seek to harm you."
"What you promised," Heudros put in, "was that you would raise my level of magic to be equal to Richard's. That was what you promised."
Orin simply nodded. "That is quite true, Mr. Barantor. And I fully intend to honor that promise. Your level of magic will be exactly what Richard's is."
With a single fluid movement, Orin reached out towards where Richard still hung suspended in the air. But the body bound by the spell suddenly went ridged in its invisible bonds, the mouth opened in a piercing, silent scream.
As the body hung frozen in the sir, suddenly a small white light was pulled from it, which headed directly for Bale's open hand. But before the light made contact, the 'Power' closed his hand and directed the ball of light instead towards the man standing next to him.
If Heudros would have even had a second to think about trying to avoid the projectile, he never got the chance as it struck him in the center of the chest and disappeared.
Standing for a moment as though stunned by the act, Heudros slowly came to life again, cautiously pulling himself upright again as though testing that all the parts of his body still worked properly.
"You're perfectly fine, Mr. Barantor." Bale assured him. "You haven't been physically harmed in any way. Another part of our 'bargain'."
Heudros looked about, his gaze finally settling on Richard. "What about him?" He asked, nodding towards the now apparently unconscious body still held by the suspension spell.
"You would do well not to concern yourself with Richard's body." Was all Bale said in reply. But the implication wasn't lost on Heudros.
"His body?" He asked. "What do you mean 'his body'?"
"The body is merely a shell, Mr. Barantor. A place for us to live so that we can function in your very physical world. Richard, as any of us, is really little more than..." he added, turning to Heudros with a small smile, "...a force of magic."
Heudros positively paled at the comment. "Magic." He echoed, his expression shifting to genuine unease as he began to sort through things. "Where is Richard then? Now?"
"For us to have a body of our own is really a very unique thing." Bale continued on as though Heudros hadn't spoken. "Mostly we exist as nothing more than..." the 'Power' frowned slightly, then continued on, "...parasites, I suppose is the right word."
"Speak of yourself." Came the dark comment from the corner of the room.
Bale barely acknowledged his brother's statement before continuing. "We exist through our hosts." Bale added. "Living within them and enhancing their magical abilities."
Heudros didn't need to hear anymore. "You...you put that maniac in me?"
"You were his host." Eric answered from his corner of the room. "You were the most logical choice of what to do with him. Put him where he was always meant to be and solve everyone's problem."
"What about my problem? That lunatic is inside of me now! He'll kill me!"
"He'll do no such thing if he's wise." Bale replied.
With a sudden grab, Bale grabbed Heudros by the throat and pulled him up to him until the man was only inches from his own face. "Now you listen to me, Richard and you listen well." Bale stated. "I have done you far more mercy than you ever deserved. You are where you were always meant to be in this realm. Living within your host's body. And you will stay there until I or Eric see fit to release you. Though I would not be looking for that day any time soon. And should you think to free yourself," Bale added with a sneer that just bordered on being a smile as he pointed to where the body still hung in the air before Eric, "know that any harm, any thing at all, even the smallest ailment unleashed upon this body, will result in your immediate return to that body. And where it will be will be of my choosing. And you will remain there until this realm is no more. Do you understand?"
For several seconds the body in Bale's grasp simply stood still, two eyes fixed on his. But abruptly the body gave a sudden shudder and threw itself free of the 'Power's' hold.
"He's thrilled." Eric stated.
On the floor Heudros was struggling to regain his feet. "What...what about me?" He stated in a near panicked voice. "You've locked that lunatic inside of me. He'll live out his misery inflicting it on me."
Bale met the man's tirade with an almost bored expression. "Were you paying any attention at all, Mr. Barantor?" The 'Power' asked. "Richard can't seriously hurt you. If he does he will be forced back to his old body. And I can promise him most assuredly, he does not want that to happen. He will behave, I am quite sure."
"Suppose he decides to just kill me?"
"Same result." Bale answered flatly.
"What about my power?" Heudros asked sharply, pointing a finger at the 'Power'. "You promised to enhance my magic."
"I promised you you would be as powerful as Richard, Mr. Barantor. And I kept that promise. As Richard's host, all of his power is now at your disposal."
Heudros studied the man in front of him for a few seconds, then pulled out his wand. Pointing it at the opposite wall, Heudros let loose a spell that flew out of his wand's tip with such force it nearly knocked the wizard off his feet.
Striking the wall, the spell erupted into a massive explosion that left very little of the entire wall once the dust settled.
"Satisfied?" Bale asked in the same bored tone.
Heudros stood staring at the remains of the wall with a stunned expression. But finally he turned back to the head of the Unspeakables, giving him a slight nod.
"Tell him all of it." Came a sudden voice from the side of the room.
Bale turned to face his agent. "All of it?" He asked innocently.
Orion stepped up to the 'Power'. "You know very well what I'm talking about." He stated. "Tell him all of it."
"What else?" Heudros asked, his stare fixed once more on the 'Power' before him.
Bale seemed to consider his answer carefully before he spoke. "It's a very small matter really." He finally replied. "Normally wizards and witches in your realm tap into only a very small fraction of the power in ours. Basically, they really only use what they can handle. It accounts for why some magic users are stronger than others. It's all based on how much of the power in our realm someone in this one can control."
"What has this got to do with what Black is talking about?"
"The force of magic within you, Mr. Barantor, is pure magic. No bars. No limits. You can tap into it, 'use it', as it were, but the question then becomes...do you control it, or does it control you?"
"You said Richard couldn't hurt me."
"True enough. But our experience has been that those of us who come to this realm and are forced to seek a host to exist here, do not have exactly the most ideal of circumstances."
"Get to the point." Orion stated.
Bale turned to the man next to him for a moment, then turned to face Heudros again. "It has been known to happen that those of your kind who tap into that magical force, very often can not handle the strain of it. In the end they end up either nothing short of comatose...or utterly insane."
Heudros stood for nearly a full minute simply staring back at the man in front of him.
"You are telling me...," he finally stated slowly, "that you have trapped that lunatic inside of me, given me his power, and if I use it, I'll go insane?"
"That would be the general idea, yes."
Orion barely caught the man as he lunged at the 'Power', with Heudros still managing to grab hold of Bale's shirt.
"You filthy, lying, despicable bastard!" Heudros yelled, his knuckles going white as he gripped Bale's collar. "You tricked me! You lied to me! You lied!"
Wondering how he was going to get Heudros off of his superior, Orion stopped trying as the man he was holding on to suddenly stopped struggling against his hold. Heudros' face contorted from anger to surprise as his gaze remained fixed on the man in front of him. But as Orion watched, slowly each finger of Heudros' hands began to pull back, slowly releasing their grip on the 'Power'.
For Bale's part, his expression and over all demeanor never changed.
"You can let go on your own, and we can discuss this." He stated calmly. "Or I can break every one of your fingers. Your choice."
Orion never relaxed his own hold until he felt Heudros slowly letting go of Bale's shirt.
"A very wise decision, Mr. Barantor." The 'Power' stated. "Now, let's discuss you, shall we? You are hardly blameless here. And for the crimes you have committed, you could easily have found yourself in Azkaban, a great deal worse off than you are now.
As things stand, you are still free, and you are likely to remain that way should you agree to a few stipulations."
Still panting to catch his breath, Heudros kept a murderous stare on the 'Power' before him. "Stipulations?" He asked. "What other tricks do you have to play on me?"
"No tricks, Mr. Barantor. Simple facts. As I said, you are far from blameless and have a great many crimes to answer for. However, as Richard's host, and having seen how manipulative he can be, as well as deviously clever, I do not feel that having you out of my sight is a good idea. It is unlikely Richard would let such an opportunity go to waste to 'test his limits', as it were."
"Test his limits?" Heudros asked, the panic creeping into his voice again. "In what way?"
"That's hard to say. As I stated, Richard is devious. And I wouldn't expect him to take his punishment quietly. I have no doubt in the future he will, from time to time, check the validity of my words. Or try to find some loophole in his imprisonment."
"And what will this mean for me?"
"Momentary discomfort if you're lucky."
"And if I'm not?"
"More discomfort for a longer time period."
Heudros gave a deep sigh as he crossed his arms in front of him. "All right. What are my options then?"
Bale seemed to consider the question for a few moments before turning to the man again with a pleasant smile. "As things would have it, Mr. Barantor, you are in luck. For as it is, I find myself in need of a clerk."
The murderous look returned almost immediately. "A clerk! You expect me to work as your clerk?"
Bale said nothing in reply, but only stood staring at the man.
"I was one of the most powerful wizard's of this decade! Even the dark lord himself feared me!"
"You irritated him. He never feared you." Orion put in.
"And you now expect me to lower myself to being your 'clerk'?"
Bale gave the man a small smile. "Suppose I loosen Richard's bonds a little, Mr. Barantor? Give him a taste of possible freedom?"
Heudros watched for some gesture from the 'Power', but nothing happened. But unexpectedly his whole body suddenly convulsed and threw itself to the side, slamming into a chair before convulsing again and collapsing to the floor, where it flailed around as though in the grip of a strong seizure.
"Enough!" Bale suddenly shouted.
Almost instantly the body ceased its erratic movement and lay quietly on the floor.
"That was just a very small taste of Richard's reaction should I loosen my hold on him even a little, Mr. Barantor. A very...small...taste."
Heudros was slowly pulling himself back to his feet. "You said he couldn't hurt me."
"He can't kill you. Or cause you serious harm. But he can make things unpleasant for you, as you have seen. But as long as he knows I'm close by, I believe he'll behave."
Heudros stood up and faced the 'Power'. "Your clerk?" He said.
Bale nodded.
"At a good pay grade, I'd expect?"
Bale nodded again.
"And how are you going to watch over Richard when I'm not working?"
The small smile returned. "I think you'll find your new living accommodations quite agreeable."
"Living accommodations?"
"You'll be living at my house from now on, Mr. Barantor. I'll need to be in close proximity to you at all times. You are not to go anywhere or do anything that I am not apprised of."
Heudros swallowed hard before going on. "For how long?"
Bale's expression fell as flat as his tone. "How old are you?"
The explanation wasn't lost on Heudros as he let out a loud sigh and turned to the ceiling. "This is for the rest of my life then."
"You're alive, Mr. Barantor." Bale stated. "And you are fairly free. Certainly more than you deserve. Should you feel the situation is not to your liking, I can change it at any time for you. Now, do you agree to the terms or not?"
Heudros gave another loud sigh as he turned once more to face the 'Power'. "My choices are as limited as my freedom."
"But they are still choices." Bale relied. "Kindly make one."
Heudros stood for a very long time simply staring at the 'Power' before him. But finally he nodded. "All right. Your clerk then. At least it's a job I know how to do."
Bale favored the man with another small smile. "An excellent choice, Mr. Barantor. I'm sure you'll find things not nearly as unpleasant as you first think."
"Don't bet on it. I have a very active imagination."
"And a very negative attitude." Bale sighed. Turning to Eric he gestured towards where Richard's body still hung suspended in the air. "You'll deal with this?" He asked.
The dark 'Power' nodded and immediately disappeared, taking Richard's body with him.
Q&A
Silverfox:
"Of four of us here, Richard is the eldest in terms of how we judge age."Well five Powers here, Becka's the youngest, Orin calls Richard elder ... I guess Bo's not going to explain, eh?
Actually, Orin very carefully only included four of them. Becca, Richard, Eric, and himself. He purposely left Bo out. And for good reason. He has no idea how old Bo is either in this realm or in theirs. And having seen him 'in action', so to speak, he's starting to question just how powerful the boggart may be.
All reviews are as of 10/31/2010.
And remember;
A very happy Halloween to all my readers.
