With Andromeda still examining Harry, there was nothing the other rangers could do except wait. Ginny refused to leave his bedside but everyone else had trooped downstairs into the front room of Shell Cottage. Like the rest of the cottage, the main living area was warm and cosy meaning that it was a tight squeeze fitting everyone inside. Fleur played the perfect hostess and was in the middle to making drinks in the kitchen when there was a loud cry of surprise from the front room. The Frenchwoman ran as quickly as she could into the front room but not for the first time that day, she was surprised by what she saw.
Dean and Ron were in a pile on the floor and on top of them was a weirdly shaped humanoid looking object with a red body and golden saucer like head. Fleur looked at her husband, who had his wand at the ready but the others in the room weren't surprised to see the creature. Even Luna looked at it with a vague expression but then again, she rarely looked any different, "Do you know this thing", Fleur asked the group.
"Alpha's not a thing", Cho began, "he's a robot. He helped out several Ranger teams in the past".
In the corner of the room, Bill blinked rapidly a few times, "A what?" he asked in confusion.
"A fully sentient multi function automaton", Luna replied in her usual airily tone, complete obviously to the confused looks of the other residents.
"Right thanks for clearing that up", Bill snorted.
Hermione and Cho grabbed hold of Alpha and hauled him to his feet, "Alpha you really should've checked whether it was alright to teleport straight into the front room".
"Oh, er yes I can see that now", Alpha said with a hint of embarrassment. He then turned to Bill and Fleur, "Greeting, I am Alpha 6".
"His name came up a few times when we were in America", Hermione added, "his vast knowledge could be useful so I asked him to take a look at Harry. Maybe he can suggest something that we've missed".
The noise from the front room at disturbed Andromeda and Ginny and they came barrelling down the stairs, "Oh, you must be Alpha", Ginny breathed a sigh of relief.
"And you must be the latest white ranger", the robot began, "I heard about your injuries, could I take a look?" Ginny nodded slowly and pulled up part of her bandages, "Ay yi yi, that looked nasty", he opened a small panel in his side and pulled out a plain white tube. "This is a special medicine from my home planet, it should get rid of those marks in no time".
Ginny took the tube from Alpha's hand, she wasn't convinced but she was willing to give anything a try. She tested the product on a small area of her arm and to her amazement, the wounds began to close themselves. There were still a few white marks but they would be barely noticeable, "Alpha this is amazing, thank you", she threw her arms around the robot.
"Aww it was nothing", Alpha patted her on the back, "shall we go and see Harry", the white ranger nodded and led the robot up the stairs.
Andromeda watched in amazement as the pair disappeared up the stairs. Not only was Alpha a fully functioning robot but he wasn't affected by magic, "Everyone else saw that didn't they?" she asked.
"You mean a robot from another planet arriving in my front room", Bill nodded in confirmation.
"Trust me Bill, better get used to this type of stuff happening", Ron added. He then clapped his hands together, "Now where's that tea we were promised", he smiled at their hosts. Still not used to the strange world of the Mystic Squadron, Bill and Fleur retreated to the kitchen hoping that they wouldn't get any more surprises today.
When Harry opened his eyes again, the scene had changed from the Command Centre to something completely different, "Kings Cross station", he shrugged and continued to look around, "nope, don't see why we've come here".
Normally the station would be full of commuters but in his imaginary world, the concourse was completely deserted, "Well what did you expect limbo to look like pup", Sirius slapped him on the back, "this is the perfect metaphor for the passage to the afterlife. You enter the station when you die and then you board the train heading for your little piece of heaven".
"Or hell", his father added, "depending on how you've lived your life of course".
Harry took in his surroundings and began to chuckle leading the rest of the group looked at him strangely, "Sorry, I just realised that the first thing people will see after they die is a train station, that'll really freak out a lot of frequent commuters". He then turned around, "Did you four buy a return ticket then?"
"I'm not sure I like this new snarky attitude", Lily admonished her son.
"Sorry Mum", Harry looked a little embarrassed, "a dry sense of humour helps you deal with the weirdness of being a ranger". Harry thought they were alone but to his amazement, the station began to fill up with around hundred different people. All of the newcomers were walking around with a blank expression on their faces, almost like zombies. The red ranger was a little confused but then he noticed some familiar faces, "Dolohov", he pointed at one, "Bellatrix", he hissed as the recently deceased Death Eater walked past him. To his amazement she didn't even give him a second glance, "This is getting too weird", he shuddered.
"Poor unfortunate souls", Dumbledore sighed, "doomed to be trapped forever in limbo, all because one man was afraid to die".
"This is the price of accepting power from the Gormal", James began, "all of them were told by Voldemort that he would give them power beyond their wildest dreams".
"What he didn't tell them was that the price for this power was their soul", Lily added.
A maelstrom of emotions were building up inside Harry but the most prominent one right now was confusion, "Perhaps we'll go back to the beginning", Dumbledore began, "when the Ancient Warriors defeated the Gormal, they sealed away their souls but not the bodies of the Gormal monsters. When Voldemort broke the seal, he didn't unleash Dark Chi Power".
"He released the Gormal Souls", Harry gagged slightly as that idea hit home. One of the passing people suddenly changed appearance into the Cannontop monster. He looked around and saw four other bodies fused together. There was a flash and they changed into the creature they nicknamed Four Head.
"Unlike you and the other rangers", Sirius began, "Voldemort wasn't born with Chi power so he couldn't just grant the power to his followers. Instead he simply replaced their souls with one of the ancient Gormal warriors".
Lily looked at the dog animagus in surprise, "That was the most serious I've ever heard you talk", she quickly raised a hand, "don't even think about saying it", she added just as Sirius was about to make a joke about his name.
One by one the bodies surrounding them began to change into monsters that the Mystic Squadron had defeated over the last few months as well as the Cedals, "Did Voldemort know he was doing this?" he said with a hushed tone.
James snorted, "What do you think? If he was willing to destroy his own soul, he would be more than happy to do this to others".
"Disregarding the soul will lead to his downfall though", Dumbledore waived his arm and the monster disappeared. In their place was a bloodied looking creature, similar to the rudimentary body that Voldemort had before his resurrection, "Rather pathetic isn't it", Dumbledore looked down as the creature wailed and tried to back away from the man, "even now it refuses to be taken to the other side".
Harry knelt down and studied the thing, he knew it was part of Voldemort's soul but something felt familiar about it, "This was inside me", he whispered. He stood back up and gave his former Headmaster a dangerous look, "Did you know about this?"
Dumbledore sighed, "I suspected but I had no proof".
"I know what you're thinking Harry", his mother began, "and trust me, he's paying for the mistakes he made". This defused Harry's anger and he slowly turned away from the old man, "What Voldemort doesn't know is that he isn't immune to the Gormal", she added.
"So he's gone as well", Harry frowned.
"Not quite", James began, "the part of Voldemort's soul still in his body was destroyed by the Gormal Emperor when he broke the seals but due to his Horcruxes, he wasn't fully taken over".
"But there is an internal battle taking place with his body", Sirius traced a box in the air and an image began to play. It was a reply of the battle at Malfoy Manor, "watch that golden cup closely", he added. Once again Bellatrix pounded the cabinet with her Dark Chi but as instructed, the red ranger paid close attention to the cup. When the blast hit there was a cry from the object and dark smoke poured into the air.
"I don't understand how we missed that", Harry gasped but in all the confusion, the black smoke would've been lost amongst the rest of the devastation, "she destroyed one of his Horcruxes for us", he chuckled.
"Perhaps the real question you should be asking yourself is why was the cup even there?" Dumbledore stated, "Prior to that it was safely stored in the Lestrange vault in Gringotts, until Voldemort himself ordered it to be removed".
The penny was slowly dropping for Harry, "So you think the Emperor's soul forced Voldemort to be careless with his Horcrux".
"He wants full control but he can't all the time there still fragments of Voldemort out there", James replied. "It was a little convenient that the Sword of Gryffindor was there too, one of the few things that can destroy Horcruxes".
"The fact that it lets you access tremendous power is just a bonus", Lily smiled, "all of that power combined must've forced the Horcrux out of your head".
For a few moments Harry was silent, this was a lot of information to take it. He then remembered the parade of monsters that walked past him and something else hit him, "There was only a few creatures I didn't recognise", he gasped, "that means he's running out of souls".
Dumbledore gave him a warm smile, "Your mission is nearly over Harry but be warned, the task will be tougher than anything you've ever faced before". He reached down and picked up the remains of Voldemort's soul, "I'm afraid our time is up Harry".
The red ranger nodded sadly, "It was good to see you all again", he gave both of his parents and his godfather a tight hug, "I know I'll see you again one day", he whispered.
"Not for a long time though", Lily kissed the top of his head.
"And not before I get a grandchild or three from you and that red haired beauty of yours", James ruffled his hair as Harry's face turned as red as his suit.
"And tell Remus congratulations from me when you next see him", Sirius added, much to Harry's confusion, "he'll know what I'm talking about". Harry gave the quartet a final wave as the station began to fade away in front of him.
Harry took a deep gasp as his eyes sprung open. He quickly sat up but soon regretted that when his head began to feel a little light headed, "I don't know what you did Alpha but you're a genius", he heard Ginny say.
"I didn't do anything", the robot replied, looking at his scanner in confusion.
"Ginny", Harry gasped, "erm who's this", he added in confusion, looking directly at Alpha, "never mind I'll catch up later. I need to tell you all something", he began to get out of bed.
"Oh no you don't", Ginny practically pushed him back down, "you're going to rest up. If it's that important then you can tell me and I'll relay it to the others".
The red ranger sighed but began to explain what he had learned from Dumbledore and the others during his time in limbo. Ginny's expression changed from amazement to shock and then revulsion the more of the story she heard, "Just when I thought Voldemort couldn't sink any lower".
"But don't you see, we've only got two more Horcruxes to destroy and he's gone forever", Harry stated.
"Yeah to be replaced by the Gormal Emperor", Ginny replied, "that doesn't sound much better".
"That's why we need to more quickly", Harry once again tried to get out of bed but this time Alpha stopped him, "I feel fine Alpha, trust me".
"Harry you're vitals are still dangerously low", the robot began, "even with ranger level healing, I'm still forbidding you from doing anything for the next few days".
"Come on Alpha, it can't be that serious", the robot slowly nodded his head, "can I at least go back to Grimmauld Place".
"I won't recommend it", Alpha replied, "avoid doing anything magical, Chi based or otherwise, until your core has stabilised".
Ginny held out her hands, "Give me your morpher and communicator", Harry looked reluctant to hand them over, "I'll give them to my brother for safe keeping, at least until you're healthy again.
Harry sighed and placed his communicator in the white ranger's hand, followed soon after by his morpher. He was grounded for the next few days but at least he knew that the war against Voldemort, the Gormal and the Death Eaters was nearing the end. At least he had one crumb of comfort to hold onto during his resting period.