CHAPTER 10:
NO RECONCILIATION
Transcript of ECHO recording on a device possessed by Krieg, date unknown but approximately late October 2991.
SANE KRIEG: (sighs) So, here we are. Maya's back from Athenas. She'll stick around long enough for Tina's fifteenth birthday, and that's it. Not sure whether I can see her. There's few things the big guy and I can agree on, but…we're not sure we can cope with seeing her. She's no doubt grown more beautiful, whereas me…
PSYCHO KRIEG: SOCIETAL DEFINITIONS OF BEAUTY ARE BULLSHIT ANYWAY!
SANE KRIEG: …Not that I disagree, big guy, but…I'm trying to give voice to my…our internal conflict. I mean, aside from the one we usually go through.
PSYCHO KRIEG: WE PLAY TUG O'WAR WITH OUR STRETCHY, STRETCHY SKULL-MEATS, AND I AM THE UNDISPUTED CHAMPION!
SANE KRIEG: It's not about winning, big guy. I just…want to take the reins every now and then. Be able to talk for a few minutes without you screaming about meat bicycles, poop trains, or some other disturbing non-sequitur. It's why we took up residence here at Konrad's Hold. Aside from bandits, we don't see many others here…
TINA: (distantly) Helloooo? Krieg?
PSYCHO KRIEG: (quietly) This is what they call in the industry irony!
SANE KRIEG: No…what are the kids doing here?
HARRY: I've found him, Tina! Hey, Krieg…we were looking for you.
PSYCHO KRIEG: THE SEARCHING GAZES HAVE FIXED ONTO ME!
HARRY: You make it sound like it's a bad thing. Seriously, Tina sent you the invitation and all. Hey, Krieg…both of you…it's okay. I know you don't like being around people at the best of times. But it would mean a lot to Tina if you were there.
PSYCHO KRIEG: (morosely) …No need for blood at a sunny event.
HARRY: You haven't been to one of her Tea Parties, have you? Oh, wait, you actually were, weren't you? You and Gaige stayed behind to help us set that up while the others fought Wilhelm. You were the one who knocked Flesh-Stick out and brought him back. I mean, not that the birthday party will be like a Tea Party, but…even if there's no need for blood at this do, she still wants you there. You're part of the family. Dad's getting back from offworld soon. He was chasing rumours that the Vault Key had been sold to Maliwan after the Colonel Hector BS, but apparently, they were just that: rumours.
SANE KRIEG: …It's more than that, isn't it?
HARRY: Oh, he's let you out again. I wish he'd do that more often. And what do you mean?
SANE KRIEG: Don't play the idiot, Harry. It's because you had this theory I might be her father, right? And she thinks I might be him?
TINA: Actually…
SANE KRIEG: Whoa! Don't sneak up on me like that! The big guy might take offence!
PSYCHO KRIEG: My buzz-axe will never taste their flesh.
TINA: Exactly. I'm not afraid of you. Either of you. But…it ain't because you might be my dad. I mean, if I could be, like, mega-real for a moment…I'd rather not know. Otherwise, I'd have gotten Doc Tannis or Doc Zed to take a sample from you for DNA testing.
SANE KRIEG: …Why? I'm not angry or disappointed, Tina. I'm just…curious.
TINA: Look, Krieg…I barely remember my parents. I dunno whether that's partly because of the purple shit brain enema I got, or whether my mind is blotting it out, but…I barely remember them anymore. That shizz disturbs me more than anything…but I've gotten used to it. My last memory is of my mom telling me to use that grenade I smuggled in to blow open a wall and get the hell outta Dodge. I sorta have vague memories of Dad being away a lot of the time, but…that's it. I lost my folks, but…I gained a new family. Roland took my dad's place, until Jack killed him. Now Brick and Zane are closer to it. But…if you are my dad…well, does it really mean much? You don't really remember much of your life before you got all Psycho-fied, right?
PSYCHO KRIEG: We are but dust and shadow, memories even more so. They drowned in the purple purulent poison they pissed into my person.
SANE KRIEG: You heard the big guy. I barely remember the day-to-day stuff these days, let alone stuff from my past. Hell, it's only because you guys made the effort to talk to me that, well, he lets me out a bit more. Anyway…what you're saying is, it doesn't really matter?
TINA: Look, if I got the test done, and you weren't Dad, I just disappointed myself. If I got it done, and you were Dad…well, we'd have to work on whether we start again from scratch. I think the relationship we've got is fine, Shorty. We're friends, but even if you're not my dad, you're still family.
PSYCHO KRIEG: BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP MADE OF UNICORN PISS! THAT'S RAINBOWS, BY THE WAY!
SANE KRIEG: I think the big guy agrees. Well, close enough…
Now, Tina was insane, but she was far from stupid. Her intellect was actually quite prodigious, albeit mostly specialised in explosives and explosions. And despite her social awkwardness, she was actually quite perceptive, even if she hated being in social gatherings around unfamiliar people. She also knew Harry very well, and could spot what was wrong with him quickly.
So when she saw his fist clench and his jaw set hard, she knew he was going to explode. And while she loved explosions of all kinds, one of the few she hated was emotional explosions in those she cared for. So, she took his hand gently, and squeezed. He looked at her, startled, and she leaned in to his ear. "It's okay, Flynty-boy," she whispered.
He looked at her, before his anger subsided. It didn't go away, it couldn't, but it subsided. While he was her fuse, she also kept him calm and…well, not under control, but able to avoid causing too much chaos.
Thankfully, Zane stepped forward, clearing his throat. "Professor McGonagall? I was under the impression that you were only bringing the lass, Hermione, was it? Why did you bring the other two?"
"Professor Dumbledore…insisted," McGonagall said, her annoyed tone betraying what she thought of the matter. "This is Harry's brother, Charles Potter, and this is Ronald Weasley. Charles wanted to meet his brother, and Professor Dumbledore agreed."
"Because everything the Boy Who Lived wants, he gets?" Zane asked sardonically. "And Harry's wishes on the matter don't matter?"
It was then that Charles spoke up. "I just…I just wanted to see him again, okay?"
"Why?" Harry asked acidly. "You never wanted to before. Too busy enjoying the limelight."
"Hey, don't talk to him like that!" Ron snapped.
RON WEASLEY
Redheads Have Souls, But They Also Have Fiery Tempers.
"Why? Because I'm telling the truth?" Harry retorted to the redhead, before he turned to McGonagall. "Please take us to wherever Hermione was going to tutor me, Professor. You'll probably have to escort Doctor Tannis and Doctor Zed, and their escorts, to Hogsmeade for their destination afterwards."
McGonagall looked distressed, probably because of that whole saga, but nodded. "Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, please return to whatever you intended to do this weekend before the Headmaster suggested this."
Ron seemed set to protest, but Charles, of all people, put a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "We are going to talk again, Harry," Charles said.
"Don't talk to me," Harry said, his tone not his usual one, but rather, a mocking mimicry, delivered in a cold, high tone. "I don't want to talk to you. Stop spoiling my big day, I'm trying to enjoy it. Go be with your friends…if you have any. Your words, Charlie, on my birthday, our birthday. My tenth, your sixth. Just before Moony took me on that holiday that nearly got me killed, and got him killed. Did you even care that he died, that I was reported dead? No, you didn't. You were just glad that I was out of your way, out from under your shadow. So…don't talk to me. I don't want to talk to you. Go be with your friends…if you have any."
Tina whistled inwardly at Harry's venom. She knew Flynty-boy held a lot of venom towards his brother, but this…well, it was restrained by Pandora standards, but dayum, she wasn't expecting this, and she wasn't wholly sure it was deserved, if only because she could see that Charles here was trying to reach out. But Harry's verbal bitchslap had his brother reeling in shock, and Harry left the Vault moments later. Tina followed, along with Athena and Gaige.
Still, Tina knew that something was wrong. She just hoped Harry was willing to talk about it…
After storming through the corridors of Hogwarts, having gone through a hidden door, Harry realised he was going to be lost if he went any further, so he halted. He tried very hard not to snarl in frustration. God, was it him, or was he acting like Freddie?
Freddie was a robotics engineer working for Hyperion, and who had been trapped on the Handsome Jackpot when it went into lockdown. Already a misanthrope with a bizarre obsession with his own fashion idiosyncrasies, five years trapped there had only made him more obnoxious. During the heist, they recruited him, though not anyone really liked him. They should not have trusted him, given that he betrayed them, capturing Timothy and Ava, and delivering them both to Pretty Boy. And while some would say that Tina shoving a bottle of Torgue's explosive hot sauce up his arse and then detonating it with a small charge would be cruel and unusual punishment, Harry didn't think so at all. Not when he had Ava grabbed by one of his Loaders and tortured.
That being said, Harry realised, perversely, he had something in common with the mullet-wearing would-be fashionista and roboticist. Freddie thirsted for recognition, calling himself a hero, and when he didn't get that, he betrayed them. Aside from the betrayal thing, Harry knew how Freddie felt. Not wanting fame, but recognition, and friends. Of course, Freddie made his own in the form of custom loaders, while Harry…he earned his new friends and family.
As he leaned against a wall, waiting for his temper to cool, Athena, Gaige and Tina following, he heard McGonagall say, as she caught up with Hermione in tow, "That was uncalled for, Harry. If one of my students had spoken like that…"
"…I'm not one of your students, Professor. Maybe that was a little uncalled for," Harry admitted, albeit with difficulty, before he turned to give the old teacher a look, meeting her stern, disappointed gaze. "But you can't just wave a wand and expect four years of pain and even more years of bitterness to just go away."
"He changed, Harry, and for the better," McGonagall said. "I made sure of it."
Harry chuckled bitterly. "…Like I said, you can't just wave a wand and expect everything to be better like magic. Magic doesn't work that way. He may have been a kid, but he hurt me, knowingly, and he enjoyed it. He wanted me under his feet, despite me being older."
"Are you sure that it isn't because your biological father favoured him…and made you feel worthless?" McGonagall asked. On his sharp look, she said, "Your brother has grown since attending Hogwarts, Harry. Once, he was just James Potter's puppet, a pet parrot to trot out. But now…he's becoming a fine young lad, far better than he was. I'm not asking for you to forgive him, but to give him a chance to mend bridges. James Potter's actions were done of his own will, but Charles was just parroting what his father taught him to."
Harry met her gaze, before shaking his head. "I'm not sure I can even give him that. Certainly not today. Too much has happened." He turned to look at Hermione, who was giving him strange looks. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Hermione. If you don't want to teach me, I understand."
"No, it's…fine. But Professor McGonagall is right, Harry," Hermione said. "I've known your brother since he began Hogwarts. He changed, and for the better…though the same can't be said for your…his father."
HERMIONE GRANGER
Big Brain, Brave Heart.
"Maybe…but I don't really want to talk about it. Professor, I presume you will be supervising this?"
"No, unfortunately. As Deputy Headmistress, I have many duties, and I will be busy, even over the weekend," McGonagall said. "Professor Moody will be supervising the session. He was curious to see how learned you were. Now…if you'll come with me, we'll bring you there…"
"Well, that could've gone better," Zane said with a sigh as they waited in the Vault for McGonagall to return. "Could've gone worse, really, but could've gone better. I thought me boy would have flipped his lid. Then again, considering what happened with my brothers, well…" He gave a shrug.
"Yeah, well, my brothers and I ain't exactly on what you'd call speaking terms either," Zed drawled. "I have to say, though, it'll be interestin' to see 20th Century medicine in action. It'll be interestin' to talk to a wizarding healer too, see if it's all snake oil and waving wands and castin' a Cure spell like in those games."
"From what little Harry spoke to me on the matter," Tannis said, "their medical knowledge was surprisingly indepth, at least as far as gross anatomy and physiology are concerned, though cellular and molecular biology are beyond their grasps. Their paradigm of knowledge has been ahead of the non-magicals for centuries, but they are slow to innovate, and once the Industrial Revolution came about…" Tannis shrugged. "The 19th, 20th, and 21st Centuries were times when technology truly boomed, often at disastrous cost. If it could overtax the comprehensions of the ones who developed it, what would it mean to wizards?"
Zane scoffed quietly. "Given what Harry said, many view us with condescension at best, and at worst, like we're animals. It's not particularly unique to Britain, either. Moony, Remus Lupin, he had correspondence with some guy called Newt Scamander, and he apparently said the Yank wizards were worse during the Thirties, when he was dealing with an incident in New York that turned out to have Grindlewald involved."
"Grindlewald?" Tannis asked.
"Like Voldemort, but during the Second World War," Zane said. "Apparently, he got locked up in his own fortress by Dumbledore, but he died soon before Harry ended up on Pandora."
"…Who in tarnation names these SOBs?" Zed asked disbelievingly.
"Well, Grindlewald is his actual name," Zane said. "Voldemort could be an alias, as it sounds like French for 'flight of death'."
"It is, actually," Tannis said. "While translating Harry's mother's journal, it mentioned Dumbledore's suspicions about his true identity, one Tom Marvolo Riddle, whose name can be rearranged to 'I am Lord Voldemort'."
"…Okay, I take that back," Zed said. "With a name like Tom Riddle, no wonder he wanted to give himself a French edgelord name like Voldemort. The problem is, if what you learned from that McGonagall woman is true, that asshole is still alive somehow."
"Aye," Zane said with a nod. "And if he ever made himself known to me, I'd ensure he was treated to the business end of my gun…"
CHAPTER 10 ANNOTATIONS:
So, there you have it. A rather tense confrontation.
Now, I thought I'd go with a different route this time. This WBWL was bratty in the past, but he's mostly grown out of it. However, time and experience hasn't healed Harry's wounds from that, but rather, made them worse. He recognises he is probably going too far a little, and that he's venting misplaced anger against his father, who does deserve it, but Harry is not going to be on good terms with his brother for a while. We'll see them reconcile later on in the fic, though, with Hermione and McGonagall acting as mediators.
As for the ECHO recording opening this chapter…I like the theory that Krieg is actually Tina's father, and the brief glimpse we see of what could be Krieg's family in Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck only adds fuel to the fire, as, if you look at what may be Krieg's wife closely (using Photo Mode), she does resemble an older Tina. Certainly, he has a child, as the DLC has, as a sidequest, you assembling a rather macabre nursery rhyme.
No numbered annotations this time.