Zero wasn't sure what the hell One was doing, but she was pretty okay with it. Coming to a school? Blowing all their magic on a stupid tournament? They might as well have sent her a fucking invitation.
If they wanted to die so badly, it'd be easier to just do it themselves. Well, whatever.
She didn't mind cleaning up.
Anyway, she owed Michael a meal now. Something fancy too. He got all prissy if they bet food and she tried to make him some of her usual. It wasn't like it was that rotten, and the shit he ate was raw anyway.
Zero snorted. Like she was ever going to pay up.
She couldn't believe he actually managed to bite that kid out of the sky, though.
Michael didn't disappoint.
One's usual righteous bullshit interrupted her impressed reverie.
"Zero. Gone too long without committing murder? I shouldn't have expected a psychopath to be able to control herself."
Zero snorted again, "Gone too long without bitching at someone? I'm not the one using a bunch of brats as human shields."
By now, the crowd was screaming and panicking, and McGonagall was trying to use her position as commentator to organize some kind of evacuation – Bagman's voice conspicuously absent.
The other Intoners emerged from the arena passageways, Gabriella taking off down into the arena. She took flight again after a quick pickup of the Intoners, One and Three atop her back and Five and Two perched on her curled claws, as the red barrier dissipated into glowing dust on the wind. A short flight deposited them atop Armaros' walls, where Four swiftly joined them.
One took the lead, as usual.
"Students, not shields. And I have no intention of hiding behind anyone."
"Feel free to land old man. You really think those decrepit wings can keep you in the sky that long?" Gabriella chimed in, aiming a taunt a Michael.
"Ha! Bold words from a whelp! I shall take you up on your offer, before burning you to a crisp!" he threatened back. True to his words, Michael landed atop Armaros, but lower, in the shadow of its outer wall.
Zero dismounted, taking a few steps with what could only be described as a cocky strut.
"Whatever you wanna call it. But let's cut the bullshit and get to the part where I kill you."
"Zero, please! This doesn't have to end in violence. We're sisters, so let's talk this out!" Four cried. Her singing had paused, and Armaros was… frozen. Not just stopped, but well and truly stuck in place. Even the wyverns attached by chains were stuck mid-wingbeat,
"Sure. You talk, I stab. Fair enough?"
"Ehehe, you're really funny sometimes Zero!" Two chimed in.
"Yeah, and you're a moron."
"Such a sharp tongue. I can think of… better uses for it," Five suggested.
"Ugh. And I think you need a fashion sense that isn't hooker crossed with skank," Zero flipped her hair with a disgusted grimace.
"But… Zero… I think you'll like what we have to say?" Three followed.
"Yeah? Does it involve you; dead?"
"No. But it does involve you living, sister." One again. It always came back to One.
This time Zero actually paused. It'd been a while since they'd met in Cathedral City and she'd taken the first step to ridding the world of this shitty flower. They hadn't known a damn thing then, but what about now?
"I'm listening. Talk."
"Are you certain of this Zero? You were quite resolved, earlier, and this is surely some kind of trick," Michael asked.
"It's fine. We'll just kill them when they're done," Zero nonchalantly suggested.
"Insane as always," One derided, "I'll spare you the logic, since I doubt you're capable of rational thought. Simply put, the power of a dragon can suppress the insanity that creeps into the Utautai, and there is a magic that can bond souls. More than two souls, in fact. Form a Pact with Michael, and with our sisters to halt your encroaching madness. A contract with a dragon is the only salvation that exists for the Utautai. You hold in your hands the ability to save all of them, and yourself."
Zero was silent a moment.
"Oh yeah? And why don't you just use that overgrown lizard behind you?"
Gabriella snorted derisively and muttered, "I'll show you lizard…"
One ignored her, "Gabriella and I formed a Pact before I was aware of its effects. The situation was… urgent. And they cannot be modified or undone."
Zero seemed to think, before raising her head in acknowledgment.
"That shit you pulled in Cathedral City. Your pet dragon blew her wish to fuck up that weird robot, then went berserk. You did something, got small, and she went back to normal."
"Indeed. There is a physical price to pay on our end to form a Pact. My price was age, but it will likely vary for each of us."
"Hey, I resent that! Pretty damn bold to call someone a pet in fire breathing range. And I wouldn't have had to blow it if you weren't weak as all hell!" Gabriella complained.
Michael snorted, "Every dragon is granted one wish, and it is meant for reincarnation. Once more you prove yourself a shame of a dragon wasting it to save an Intoner."
"Sham," Zero absently correctly.
"Gah! Cease with your pointless semantics!"
His retort was pointedly ignored.
"Just think about it, sister," Four pleaded, "We can live peacefully. Isn't this what you wanted? To spare us from going crazy? It isn't too late for us to be a family, please!"
Zero snorted, "No, pretty sure I wanted to murder you. Still do, really. Anyway, do all of you really believe her bullshit? None of you look surprised that you've been slowly losing your damn minds. She just come up and tell you that? And obviously, she just happens to know the only cure. Are you morons, or what?"
Two spoke up, "Um, well. It's actually pretty terrifying? But… it's not like we haven't always felt like something was wrong, you know? I always had, I dunno, a sense that the other shoe was about to drop. I just… ignored it. Even though I knew it was a bad idea," she smiled miserably.
Five was next, "And besides, sister dearest, it's not like you're telling us the truth. Even if it's not the full story, One at least explains why she's keeping her cards clasped so tightly to her bosom. She even helped us see through our fake memories. You just fed us a lie about why you wanted us dead."
"Tch. I haven't lied about a damn thing. I said I wanted the full power of every Intoner, and I damn well plan to collect."
"… That's not all of it. Zero… You don't care about power. My hypothesis… you value free will. Utautai are connected, loosely. We can feel you, too, sister," Three droned.
One seemed overwhelmed, for maybe the first time in her life. "All of you… you don't understand how much your faith means to me."
She turned to Zero.
"Well? Will you join us? Or do you insist on your pointless path of self-destruction?"
That caused Zero to still. Obviously, One had figured out pretty much the whole story. The Flower, the purpose of the Intoners, the whole truth behind Zero wanting to kill the Intoners. Probably even how they were born.
It had really been a kick in the teeth; the first time she'd heard One's dreams. Saving the world.
It was Zero's fault, honestly – her failure to kill them before they grew egos of their own. Before they had lives and people to care about and dreams and aspirations.
Now they didn't even get to die without knowing. At least One seemed to agree that if they really died here, if Zero didn't screw this up again, that it was a mercy to be ignorant.
Or maybe she was just trying to buy time. Not tip them over the edge by telling them the whole truth.
That the Intoners were born to end the world.
That Zero had died a long time ago. That a flower had brought her back to life. That it had told her what she was alive again to do.
That she'd told it to go fuck itself, and tore her own heart out.
That roots from that flower had only burrowed deeper, and now she couldn't even try to kill herself.
That it had fucking bloomed from her chest, and five little girls popped out – each looking like someone from her past. All faces she'd killed, once upon a time.
That the Intoners were little fragments of her own personality, aspects and caricatures that slowly learned how to be people. That they were born for the same reason she was brought back to life.
There was a Zero now, but there hadn't been back then.
The Flower had decided they were One through Five – so she'd decided she would be Zero. To finish what she'd started. Clean up the loose ends. There wasn't any special reason behind it, or any deep philosophical shit.
It just pissed her off to be told what to do, and she'd really wanted to stay dead.
Michael had gotten the Black Flower back in Cathedral City, so all that was left were the Intoners.
It was just suicidal spite, really.
It was also why One's offer wasn't all that convincing.
Zero looked up, and met One's eyes.
"I've got your answer."
"Oh?"
"Yeah – fuck off and die."
One seemed genuinely upset, "Why, Zero? Why do you insist on our deaths? It isn't necessary – you don't even care! What about us offends you so much that we are not even allowed to live?!"
Zero shrugged, "Honestly, I just don't trust you not to fuck it up."
One clenched her jaw, Four looked distraught, and Two seemed on the verge of angry tears. Even Three was unsettled. Having hope dangled in front of your face like that, just to be taken away probably felt like shit.
Only Five seemed unphased. Like she'd expected nothing less.
It was vaguely irritating that the slut had the best grasp of her personality.
"So be it. If you reject the Utautai, then we shall reject you in turn," One's anger had become ice cold, her composure regained, "Die, Zero. Die for our future."
Zero brought her sword up in a challenge, and grinned.
"Bring it."
Everyone tensed. The time for words, for pleading and bargaining was over. There had never been a chance of their voices reaching one another.
Only violence was left, and Zero was a goddamn expert.
The air of calm before the storm was broken by Michael.
"Hold, Intoners."
Zero let out an aggrieved sigh, "What now?"
His maw was solemn, and he seemed in no mood for their usual banter. Zero sobered up from her pre-battle frenzy, though still a little irritated, at the look on his face.
"You do not trust her words, Zero. Am I correct?"
"What about it?"
"They are true. You know a dragon is the only thing capable of suppressing an Intoner's power – of killing an Intoner."
No surprise from the peanut gallery. One had already filled them in about that little detail, then.
"I am confident. If a magic exists that can bind together souls – even a dozen Intoners cannot corrupt me. I can certainly keep you frail lot free of the Flower's taint."
"Well, you're usually about half as good as you think you are, so that's six. Lucky you, you only need to handle five," Gabriella snarked.
"Hmph. A fair sight better than one, whelp."
"As delicious as the sexual tension between you two is, I'm not sure that's enough to convince Zero," Five pointed out.
"The slut's right," Zero agreed.
Five giggled, "You say the nicest things, sister."
Michael rumbled, "Then perhaps this is enough, Zero. The situation has changed. I will side against you, if you continue down this path."
Zero's eyes got deadly serious, "Yeah? I've beaten you before. You really think I can't take all of you?"
"Hah! Perhaps you could. But will you? Slaying the Intoners would be a great victory for the world – but swaying them to the side of righteousness has a more poetic justice. You are tired, Zero, but not lifeless."
The Intoners were waiting with baited breath, bar One – who simply seemed resolved for whatever was to come.
Zero herself was divided. Michael was important. More than just someone to kill her when this was over. A friend and confidant – how much had they been through together?
She didn't want to compromise. Didn't want to risk it. Didn't want to take the chance that this was all another cruel joke – another golden opportunity that turned out to be a pile of shit.
Living hadn't been terribly appealing for a long time, anyway.
Her sisters…
They mattered. Not as much, but they did. It's just that she wasn't about to roll over and die just because some piece of shit flower was going to use them as hostages.
But Michael didn't have to go down with them. She believed him, when he said he could easily hold off the Flower. Hell, she'd watch him turn its main body into smoldering ash. But the only way she could ever be sure, ever be really and totally free was to tear it all apart.
Drag what was left of it down to hell with her.
Three was a psycho, but she wasn't wrong. Zero didn't give a damn about much, and that firmly included rules, purposes, and destinies. If you flipped that, maybe it meant she did care about being free.
She'd killed enough people just trying to live her own way of life to say it was true, at least.
Still, in the end it was what had gotten her caught and executed. She'd just gotten tired. Of killing people to live, to stay free. It was more the killing that she'd tired of, than the living. They just happened to come hand in hand for her. It was a scale, and it had stopped balancing out.
Was it out of balance now? Did she care enough about her freedom to keep up her bloody crusade against the Intoners?
It was all piling up.
Maybe she could've handled slaughtering her sisters even when they had a new-found chance to live their own lives.
Maybe she could've handled turning her sword on Michael – if only to hold him off long enough to finish off her sisters.
Maybe she could've handled how dull and heavy her sword felt and routine and reflexive killing had been for so long.
But she wasn't sure she could handle all of it.
No, she was pretty damn sure she couldn't.
Zero broke the stare she'd leveled against Michael.
"Fuck it. Whatever. Tell me what to do."
One sighed, "This isn't how I wanted to convince you, but I suppose it will do."
Four was almost in tears, "Thank you Zero! You won't regret this! None of us wanted to fight you."
Two babbled happily, "Oh, this is going to be great! What kind of food do you like, Zero? I'll cook us a feast and we can swap stories and get to know each other and oh gosh, I'm so excited!"
Three was silent, but smiled eerily. Creep.
Five just licked her lips. Creep number two.
About thirty seconds later, and they were on the ground. Armaros had landed, and been dismissed.
One had taken the time to fill Zero in on how to perform the ritual, and she could only marvel at how this had all turned so damn fast.
The stadium was vacated, bar a ring of Aurors in the stands that held them at wand point.
Dumbledore was at the head, a half eaten corpse behind him, and a few brats sobbing over it behind him. One kid had stood up when Armaros was dismissed, and had furiously drawn their wand, only to be gently held back by Dumbledore.
Zero didn't recognize any of them, and only knew the headmaster of Hogwarts through rumor. She hadn't expected him to be a threat, and still didn't.
One called out, "Hold. I understand your fury, but there is more at work here than you realize. This is Zero, the eldest of the Utautai, and Michael the White Dragon. Their minds have been altered. We have suppressed it for now, but there is little time. Investigate to your heart's content, but we must perform a ritual to cure them first."
Zero snorted, and barely had time to turn her head down to keep from giving it away.
"It's not untrue," Four scolded in a whisper, "you are affected mentally, and you were affecting Michael with words. She's not lying."
Say it a few more times, maybe you'll convince yourself.
To none of the Intoner's surprise, that was more than enough to get the Aurors to, if hesitantly, back down. Zero doubted One had told the others that they slowly brainwashed people who heard them sing, even talk to some extent, and wasn't sure she'd ever tell them. But it wasn't like they'd ever lived without it, so how would they know it was strange for people to just back down so easily?
Dumbledore and the brats seemed either resistant or furious enough to brush it off, and were clearly shocked at how easily One talked the Aurors down.
"Yeah. Totally. Let's do this before I go on a murderous rampage or something," Zero added sarcastically.
Even if they were shocked, the unaffected group seemed either unwilling or too stunned to contradict the Aurors.
The Intoners, bar One, stood in tight circle around Michael's looming head.
Five voices overlapped, as Zero lead them in a chorus, each line a different voice taking precedence.
"By the power of my Song," Five.
"I hereby forge a pact in exchange for the lives of the Intoners!" Four.
"Gods of the east," Three.
"Goddesses of the west," Two.
And Zero, "I offer up the flame of my life as payment."
Each Intoner plunged a hand into their own chest, slowly, agonizingly pulling out a small glowing orb. Each second seemed to strain them as they struggled to remove the tiny orb. Sweat flowed profusely, and cheeks flushed with effort.
Michael seemed to have an easier time of it, simply – if somewhat difficultly – regurgitating a similar orb from his mouth.
Each bore a different color, different from their magic but somehow similar. Less clear, murky and shifting, but still the same general shade. All six orbs hovered a foot of so from their hands (or teeth, respectively) and were pressed into the center.
The blended, but not at all easily. Each centimeter they pushed was a fight to bring them together, But they'd already made their choice. Zero didn't doubt they all felt the same impossibly deep unease – the vertigo of baring their very souls – but none of them lacked the will needed to continue.
Eventually, six orbs became one. The color was impossible to describe. It wasn't a blend, or even multicolored. It was somehow seeing all six at the same time, and also a whole different seventh color that didn't even exist.
It was probably just her head trying to fill in the gaps. Her eyes weren't opened to a whole new range like her ears had been when she'd been reanimated as an Intoner, so there was no way she was seeing whatever it really was.
The orb, their souls – no, now their soul – vanished.
From the corner of her eye, Zero could've sworn One looked a little jealous. Mixing souls with her sisters seemed like something One would be into.
Well, whatever.
A blinding flash of white light interrupted her thoughts.
Zero's sword, held off the side became heavy. Not like the metaphorical bullshit heavy she'd been thinking about earlier, but actual heavy.
She had no choice but to drop it, and as she blinked spots out of her eyes, she noticed, oh she fucking noticed alright, that she was fucking tiny.
"You've got to be kidding me," Zero squeaked. Squeaked!
Zero did not squeak.
One smirked, and, if Zero still had the upper body strength, she definitely would've knocked a few teeth out.
Five grinned widely and hugged her, "Oh, you are just adorable! I could just eat you up!"
Zero had no recourse. This was how she was going to die. Suffocated by Five's goddamn cow tits.
"It seems I was wrong on one count. You did share the same price as myself, though perhaps yours is a bit more severe," One said.
Yeah, no shit? One had lost maybe four years of age. Zero had lost, like, ten.
She was a goddamn child. A child Intoner, with the mind of an adult one. This was wrong on so many levels.
Michael seemed contemplative, "Hm. Perhaps what you lost was instead your ability to fight? It would explain the difference in years lost."
Three seemed interested, "Perhaps others would be interested in Pacts. Something to experiment with. Discover different prices, and what determines them."
"Yeah, maybe don't," Gabriella denied.
"Can you quit being a pervert for two minutes, Five? Literally even One gets sick of your shit, sometimes. I mean, Zero's a kid right now. Maybe stop suffocating her with your cow tits before she decides to murder us all again, huh?" Four lambasted.
Everyone stared, shocked. Four most of all. Zero was just glad that Five had gone slack, which meant she could breath again.
"You forgot your princess act," Zero pointed out, "Did you get laid in the last ten seconds, or something? I thought you'd die before you got that stick out of your ass."
"Haha. Really funny Zero. Coincidentally, you also forgot to be a blood-thirsty maniac. Or was killing a kid enough for your daily quota?" Four snarked, still utterly dumbstruck by her own words.
Two giggled nervously, "I guess Four lost her filter?"
Five smiled ear to ear, genuinely ecstatic, "I like this Four! So catty and honest. It's kind of hot. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I lost my sense of taste. I guess it's a good thing I've been on a bit of a food kick lately – losing my sense of touch, now that would've been tragic. It's not as dramatic a price, but it's still a bit disappointing to lose."
Their attention was next drawn by a pair of scissors clattering to the floor, and a distraught looking Three.
"My fingers… I can't control them very well. I can't experiment like this… I… can't make any dolls…"
She was obviously devastated.
One reassured her, "Then we will make them together." That seemed to actually reassure Three, "The Utautai are whole and free, and we shall remain so – as long as we have one another."
"Intoners," Zero corrected.
One gazed questioningly.
"Utautai is what that shitty flower stuck in our heads. Intoner is what we translated it to. So, we're Intoners. Or whatever."
One nodded, "Intoners, then."
Two raised her hand timidly.
They all turned to stare.
"Uh… It doesn't matter, I guess, but for the record I think I lost my strength?"
It wasn't funny in the slightest, but for some reason the complete non-sequitur set them off. A round of hysterical giggles swept through all of them, even drawing a few from Zero. Hell, it made One smile, which was a miracle and a half.
Gabriella pulled them out of it, "Right, right, you're all adorable little psychos, we get it – but if you keep laughing like that after Zero just murdered a kid, I'm pretty sure even Intoner bullshit isn't going to get you off the hook."
Four, having recovered from her shock, snorted, "As if. The Ministry's lead by a freak more insecure than me. Plus there's a ton of rumors about favoritism and a bunch of jealousy about the Potter brat being famous – people like me hate it when someone with fame and fortune acts like its a huge burden. Self-righteous little shit had a lot of enemies, with a lot of money and influence. Some brainwashing here and there and they'll call us heroes."
One, doubtlessly already plotting all of that, commented, "I wasn't aware you knew of that ability."
"Well, it helped out here and there. Made me way more comfortable, knowing people had to like me if I talked to them enough. Plus, do you have any idea how smug I was when I realized you knew about it and kept quiet? That you weren't a perfect do-gooder, One? Because I rode that sense of superiority for weeks," came a smug Four.
"Er," Two cut in hesitantly, "What's this about brainwashing? Isn't that bad?"
Five stroked her hair soothingly, "Don't worry your precious little head about it. We're a bit like Veela – only people tend to like us better the more they hear our voices instead of as they see us. It's not really mind control."
"It can be, if you try," Three corrected, "I tested it on animals. It only soothes the target, unless intentional effort is put in – then, depending on the magical and mental fortitude of the subject, it can progress to blind fanaticism to the level of cheerfully committing suicide."
One sighed, "So most of you knew already. I doubt I need to say that isn't something you should use unless lives are at stake."
Two looked a little queasy, "Did you have to test suicide?"
Three nodded, "Better to understand the effects in their entirety on animals. If we tried – or were forced – to use it without knowing what it could do on a human, it could be disastrous. Without knowing how absolute it is, we could've used it foolishly and been accused of casting Imperious curses. Plus, it was basically just hunting."
Two considered it, "That's true, I guess? Mm, yeah it makes sense."
Zero, who had been trying not to draw attention to her condition (and had been spent that time being silently mocked by Michael) spoke up.
"This is great and all, but you're all handling the magic cops. I tend to stab first and talk second," if she could even do that right now.
Four smirked, "Can you even hold a sword like that? You know, you really are a cute little sister."
Zero was going to stab a bitch, and no one was stopping her.
"Well, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it," she finished.
"Are you certain, sister? With the price of your Pact," One cautioned.
"Quit nagging me, One. Obviously, I'm freaking out inside, but if I can't lie to people's faces anymore I'm going to take every little bit of enjoyment I can while explaining exactly how pathetic I think these Aurors are, and then I'm going to make them thank us for doing their jobs," Four brushed off, angelic smile apparent.
One shook her head fondly, "Best of luck, then."
"Huh," Gabriella said, "I actually like her more now that she says all her bitchy thoughts out loud. Is that weird?"
Nah. Zero thought so too.
A sense of contentment settled.
There was a great deal left to take care of – they still had to sweep Harry's death under the rug, deal with an inevitable break with Dumbledore, adapt to their new disabilities. There were more truths to the Intoners that Zero and One had to share among them, and there were whole new lives to live.
Oh, and the inevitable blowup that would occur when Zero realized One had hidden a particular detail of Pacts from her.
Namely, the one that meant if any of the bonded Intoners died, so would their pact partner. Michael.
Still, with time and familiarity, it was almost a certainty that by the time Zero either discovered herself, or One revealed it, they would be able to move past the deception.
After maybe one or two brawls.
The timeline wasn't free of the Flower's influence, however. Even with the dragons Michael and Gabriella suppressing its buds in the Intoners, the inevitable day would come when they passed on, and the Intoners yet lived.
The dragons could no longer slay the Intoners as they had formed pacts, and there was no other suitable permanent solution yet discovered.
Truthfully, it was unlikely one would be, bar discovering another incredibly rare High Dragon. More so, one powerful enough to defeat Zero. The influence of the Flower preventing her suicide likewise prevented her from simply allowing herself to die – and it wasn't like that influence was rolled back. It was merely that further degradation had been halted.
Michael was known as the strongest dragon, and Zero had bested him in combat before. If one day Zero fully succumbed to the Flower, she would likely be less deadly in a one on one battle due to madness, but it was still unlikely another dragon of the necessary caliber even existed.
A Pact was a stopgap measure at best.
Zero was doubtlessly aware of this, and planning to finish them all off herself – and be finished by Michael – when the day came. All without knowing it would be impossible.
And, equally doubtlessly, that was a very beneficial side effect that One was very aware of. This was a truly irreversible decision for Zero.
Perhaps, rather than saying that One would spend the time leading up to Zero's inevitable discovery of this trick attempting to help her adapt to the idea of risking Michael's life, it would be more accurate to say she would be attempting to help her adapt to the idea of the end of the world.
Another ten or twenty thousand years for humanity, but still a looming end.
It remained to be seen, but even if the near future was bright, the far future was grim.
Grim enough that the odds of this timeline being successfully purged of the Flower's influence was low enough to no longer merit observation. A mark was made, recommending a medium priority sealing.
Accord closed her notebook, stood up from her suitcase that had doubled as a chair, picked it up in her other hand, and began to walk off, deep into the stadium. She would call this… Timeline A. Simple, but classic.
With a silent wish for good luck to the Intoners of Timeline A, she rounded a corner. Had anyone been following her, they would've only seen empty air around that corner.