Disclaimer- If you recognize it, it's not mine. I'm writing this with souvikkundu0017, the plot came from him, he's also checking my facts. Part of this first chapter was given to me by the author Junky, you can read the original on his profile. Anyway read and review, tell me what you think.
Basement, #4 Private Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey
Harry's POV
Within the basement of a seemingly ordinary house, located in a small family urban area was a small boy that couldn't be older than six gazing down at a chalk drawing of a circle one meter in diameter with small tiny runes covering the inside of the circle in a square like patterns.
'...Alchemy, also known as matter-transmutation or magic-pseudoscience, is an art of completely transforming one form of matter into another entirely. A Master Alchemist is even able to imbue ordinary matter with mystical affects, so long as he has the knowledge and necessary power. For example he could give a rod of steel immunity to heat, thus making it unmelt able by ordinary means and giving it a high resistance to magical fire, the prowess of these changes is again only limited to a masters knowledge and power. Of course it cannot create matter from nothing like the temporary matter formed from simple conjuration, there are after all rules that an Alchemist must conform to...'
The room was lit with pale blue light that didn't come from the light bulb attached to the ceiling, but instead from the very circle itself that he had placed both his hands on.
'...In the many branches of Alchemy there is only one forbidden taboo, Human Alchemy, as human Alchemy borders far too close to manipulating and creating life. To perform human Alchemy or to go beyond and attempt to create life is to trespass into a realm of power that mortals were not ever meant have. To do so is to bring the attention of the entity Truth, a physical embodiment of universal order. Though this does not stop some from skirting this taboo through means of creating a homunculus, after all while a homunculus may look and act human it is ultimately a tool created from raw material and programmed to think and act how its masters demand it to. Though in this case the first law of alchemy must still be followed, to gain anything you must trade something of equal value...'
The boy didn't know what he could trade, all he wanted was to leave the horrid people he had been left with as a mere babe on a cold Octobers night, many times in the past had the child tried to run away, but every time he would wake up the next day with only the vaguest memories of two people, always the same two people. An old man with a ridiculously long beard and a hooked nose man with extremely greasy hair. So here he was hoping that maybe he could trade all the spare change he had managed to get together that laid around his relative's house.
'...Despite all warnings and rumors surrounding similar dealings in the past, there are those who are either desperate or foolish enough to actually seek out Truth on their own to perform a bargain of some kind. In most of these dealings the individuals in question where almost always after knowledge of some kind and learned only to late that they don't like what is taken in exchange. In some cases it is perhaps worse than death. Most interesting however is the ritual to be summoned to Truth is so simple a person wouldn't even need to have any prior experience with alchemy to complete...'
The boy didn't care about that, all he wanted was to be free from his own little hell. The child had long ago become tired of being a slave when he knew it was wrong, all he had to do to know that was to merely look at the other people who called this street even this very house home.
Home. That was something that the boy wanted more than anything. He should have had one with his birth family, but for some reason they did not want him and had abandoned him to a life of constant misery. The boy wanted his own family, a dad that would play with him and teach him, a mother who would scold him for making her worry when he would do something silly and love him all the more for it, not the shallow mockery of a family he had now.
'...While in most cases a bargain with truth goes horrible wrong, there are a few where they asked for what they could give. It is through these that an amazing discovery was made, anything gained from Truth cannot ever be taken, whether in the case of knowledge it could not be forgotten and in another who gained the ability to transmute without a circle, his power couldn't be suppressed. In another words, what you gain cannot be lost...'
The light had been increasing in power while creating a funnel of light at the centre of the boys' ritual circle. Sparks began to dance up and down the boys arm but he refused to let go, this was his only chance at gaining freedom and he wasn't going to let it go so easily. The child didn't realize but because of the funnel of light the oxygen was slowly been sucked away but for the little boy he only noticed that he was getting out of breath.
'...A final warning for any ignorant enough to foolishly seek to make a bargain with Truth, always be clear on what you offer and what you want in return because if you should not he may take more that you were willing to give and gain something entirely different to what you wanted...'
Suddenly where there was once a floor with an intricately drawn diagram was now a hole filled with swirling light and electricity, more and more of the air around the child was taken away before he finally passed out from lack of air with one last thought 'I just want to leave'.
From the hole of light came dozens of small black hands that looked like they could be made from darkness themselves, the target the now unconscious boy. Slowly, gently as holding something precious that hands all took a hold of the child before pulling him in to the whole. With a mighty flash of light multiple things happened at once, the blood wards placed around the residence by one of the greatest wizards in a hundred years collapsed. A backlash from the wards suddenly collapsing had caused everything made of glass on the street of Privet Drive to shatter, everything from windows to TV's even mobile phone screens. And finally a small six year old child with a lightning bolt scar disappeared from the world even by magical sensors.
In a separate Dimension of pure white sat something of the same pure white as the plane he sat on. The Being, as that was the only way of describing it sat on the white floor and stared at the only other thing in the white dimension, a giant stone door inscribed with the image of a tree, impossibly detailed in its design. Suddenly the Being stiffened before turning around to stare at the person who had suddenly entered his domain.
HOW INTERESTING. SOMEONE FROM ANOTHER WORLD HERE TO MAKE A TRADE, AND A CHILD AT THAT HMM, HOW FASCINATING
SO YOU JUST WANT TO LEAVE, AND WHAT ARE YOU OFFERING, SORRY BUT THAT LITTLE AMOUNT OF METAL AND PAPER ISN'T ENOUGH
INSTEAD HOW ABOUT I TAKE THAT LITTLE BIT OF A SOUL ATTACHED TO YOU FOREHEAD
...
WONDERFUL IN EXCHANGE FOR THAT I'LL SEND YOU ON YOUR WAY
As he spoke Harry finally started to regain consciousness and for a moment all he saw was a person made of white with a mouth too large for its head. In the next instant he was engulfed in a mass of black hands that pulled him towards the stone door that had now opened. The last thing Harry saw before the doorway closed was the white being smiling a to large smile while waving at him
HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR NEW HOME KID I"LL BE SURE TO ENJOY THE ENTERTAINMENT
For Harry the moment the door closed he was assaulted by images, all of the strange. Then he felt it, his head started to feel as if it was going to split open as knowledge came with more pictures, information about alchemy stretching out like a movie reel from all around him leading to his head. As quickly as it started it was gone, so to was his headache but Harry could still remember it, he could also remember everything that was downloaded into his head better than some of his other memories.
The last thing Harry noticed was he was floating towards another hole like the one he made in his relatives basement.
Around him his world burned and humanity screamed for salvation, Harry had been sent to hell. That was the only way that Harry could describe what he was seeing. When Harry had fallen out of the portal a few feet above ground he had hoped that he would be someplace he could be happy, a place to make his own life without the fear of being dragged back. Those happy thoughts had lasted less than five seconds of seeing where he was dropped.
For a moment Harry stared in growing horror, this wasn't how it was meant to be, he wasn't meant to be here but somewhere else. He could see people burning. Men, women and children burning a horrible death. There screams penetrated his mind, all of them begging to be saved, all of them begging for someone to help them escape there horrible end and save them from the fire and for a moment it looked like Harry was going to try a help. As Harry watched them burn he burst into tears wanting to help them. He took a step then another and another and as fast as he could, he ran.
He didn't look up, not after seeing the gaping black hole above the city that's black tar it spewed out burned everything. He avoided looking at anything other than the ground in front of him hoping he wouldn't see more people dying and tried all he could to focus on the floor in front of him.
Fire roared around him, small explosions threw chunks of rock through the air and all he could think to do was ask himself if this was his price, was the cost of his freedom a horrific death. Harry's attention was caught by the falling wreckage that now blocked his path. He had to find another way, he refused to die here especially like this, so he never stopped running, couldn't let himself stop running or he'd end up like everyone else in this hell begging for a savoir that would never come, so he pushed forward and didn't stop because he would die if he did. Harry knew he was young and anyone else his age would have given into the panic and died but he had come to far now to just give up. Forcing his way through a small gap between buildings Harry continued to run, unfortunately because he had refused to look at the black hole above the city he didn't know he was now running directly under it.
The more Harry moved, the more mind scaring horrors he saw, each one cracking the very delicate mind of the six year old child. Slowly his head began to hurt, too many people were screaming, to many innocent people burning and Harry tried the best he could to shut them out. Slowly memories began to slip, the first being the names of his family. Then the reason for wanting to leave. What he did he do to leave? What happened after? How did he get into the middle of a burning city? Did he ever have a family? Harry Potter simply did not remember. Of all his past memories, he knew only his name and even then he was not so sure about that.
As Harry kept forcing himself to keep on moving he was always careful to avoid staying away from the burning black tar that he had seen kill so many others, reducing them to screaming wrecks as their bodies burned away to nothing. He had the terrible thought that he had caused it, that when he went through the hole this stuff came with him. He hoped he was wrong.
Then IT happened.
Harry had been very careful about looking up. When he looked at it after he first arrived he could feel nothing but dread and horror, Harry wanted nothing more than to be sick after just looking at it once. To keep what was left of his sanity he had not looked at it again, unfortunately he did not know he was now standing directly under it.
The black burning mud fell from the hole directly onto Harry swallowing him whole and forcing him to the ground. It bled right into him, piecing his body, mind and very soul, eroding all of it away.
His very mind and body was put in its own hell.
The starting penalty is five. Life Penalty, Body penalty, Freedom penalty, Fame penalty, Fortune penalty. Give the penalty that extends so much punishment, mud, darkness and malice. Elimination of human rights by castration, exile and execution. Torture and sadism inflicted upon the human body through digestion. Denial by consensus of the colony that eliminates all honour.
DIE
Scorn from judgment and selfishness that takes away men's fortunes. Death penalty, Penal penalty, Imprisonment, Custody, Fine Penalty, Crime from a grudge, Crime from self-interest, Unconscious crime, Self-conscious crime, Civil war, Inducement, False statement, Theft, Robbery, Kidnap, Suicide, Rape, Arson, Bombing, Violation, Negligent homicide, Mass violence, Death at work, overconfident accident.
DIE DIE DIE
Misdiagnosis, Concealment, Violation for benefit, Violation for self-protection, Violation for love, Violation for respect, Selfish. Stealing, Fraudulent, Fraud, Concealment, Murder, Theft, Crime, Crime, Personal Grudge, Attack, Attack, Attack, Attack, Dirty, Dirty, Dirty, YOU are Dirty, Atone, Atone for you crimes, Atone for the crimes of others, Atone for Every crime, Every victim, Atone for everything. The world you know is ruled by something not human. Know the conscience to reform crimes.
DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE
Know the penalty to reform crimes. People's kindness is here. There is so much it cannot be noticed. Know the violence to hide crimes. Know the power to hide crimes. People's malignance is here. It is so rare that it is noticed. A hundred acts of kindness and one act of malignance. Malignance shines bright to keep the balance and exists as a great EVIL to compete with the masses of kindness. The starting penalty is five.
DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE
No-one is innocent. All are Guilty. Everyone has committed crimes. Bathe in the sins of humanity. Know the pain of their victims. Feel their terror. Feel their despair. Atone. Atone for the crimes of mankind. Atone through death. Kill. Be killed. Atone by death. Atone. DIE.
DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE
Harry couldn't breathe, his body screamed in agony. He couldn't think, his mind filled with the horrors of the world. The black mud had engulfed him completely, head to toe, all five senses could do nothing but suffer under the power of the burning black substance. Darkness and death invaded his mind, forcing him to see things he didn't even want to admit was even real. Yet no matter what images of people committing the worst acts continued to flow into his mind, every single sin committed by every single person. All the worlds' evils.
Harry's thoughts though were not on the acts of evil committed or even the victims who suffered. All Harry wanted was for his own pain to go away, he wanted to be away from all this death and destruction that surrounded him. Even though a small voice in the back of his mind asked 'What about everyone else, There just as hurt as you? Aren't you going to at least try to help them?' Harry ignored those thoughts and concentrated on helping himself.
Then it stopped. As sudden as the images came, they had vanished just as fast. A light pushed them back, golden light that dulled the pain even though it mostly stayed, but Harry was never more grateful than he was at that moment. His pain and torment had stopped even though he could still feel the darkness within his soul. He had been tainted, his very body crippled. Cursed to spend the rest of his life rotting away, unable to forget the screams of the innocent as they suffered and be forever unable to save them.
Above him, staring down at him was a messy black haired man with dead-looking eyes holding a glowing something and gently inserted it into Harry's body. Harry realized that it was this something that had driven his torment away. And the look on the man's face - it was happiness. Happiness that he had arrived in time. Happiness that he could save him.
Only Harry knew that it was too late to save him. He could feel the magnificent power within him that was reversing the effects of the black mud in his body but Harry knew it wouldn't be enough, the effects where already slowing down as if running out of energy. Again he was worried, would he be saved b this selfless man that had done what he wouldn't. Harry didn't want to think about himself anymore, he really wanted to just thank the man above him. When Harry had ran away this man had ran forward and risked himself for others. The look on his face at been able to save just one person in this hell was something that captivated Harry. Harry truly wanted to live now, more so than ever, but so he could help people to. He wouldn't run away again and maybe, even if it's only once, he too could be as happy as the man who smiled such a wonderful smile for saving him. He wanted the curses within him gone so he could help others, if only to experience that same happiness and keep the man above him smiling. He would be a true hero of justice.
Harry was brought out of his contemplation when a powerful presence seemed to appear behind his savoir, before golden particles condensed into a golden haired man. His savior had noticed it to and spun around with a gun in his hand that had appeared seemingly from nowhere, only to be pieced with a green glowing silver sword. Harry tried to scream for his savoir but couldn't, he was unable to speak or even move. Harry could only hope his savior's injuries wouldn't be too severe and he would be all right.
The man's mouth moved and blood came along with words, speaking to the being that had appeared but Harry couldn't make out what was been said as he could no longer hear anything going on around him.
Walking into view and allowing Harry to see him was a truly awe inspiring figure. Standing at just under six foot was a man with golden hair and crimson eyes. He wasn't wearing anything and merely covered his modesty with a piece of red cloth wrapped around his waist. Just looking at him Harry could almost see the aura of arrogance that he excreted just in the way he moved and held himself. To this golden haired man all was beneath him, for him to step on and crush under his foot at any time.
He was staring at Harry as if he was nothing more than dirt before giving a cruel smile and replying to the other man's words. His arm extended out and disappeared into a golden ripple in the air before pulling his hand back holding a small silver bottle. Reaching down he forced open Harry's mouth and poured the red liquid contents into Harry's mouth before forcing it shut.
Harry couldn't describe the taste. It was not that he could not taste it but there were no human words that could describe it. All Harry knew was even if he lived for another thousand years he would never again taste something as great as this. However even as he swallowed he felt that it was not meant for him, that it wasn't meant for humans at all before everything for Harry went black as he finally succumbed to his injuries and fell unconscious.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then the world exploded.
Harry found himself in an even worse hell than before. Around him was a burning wasteland with a storm of dead ash blowing all around him with the very image of the cause of his pain above him, a deep black hole excreting an aura of burning and death surrounded by purple clouds that had red bolts of lightning streaking across the sky.
Instinctively Harry knew what was happening and more importantly where he was. The burning inferno around him was his soul and the black hole above him was destroying it. As he stood there on the cracked ground a thundering sound reached his ears but it wasn't the sound of the thunder from above. From all direction came a deluge of rosy-red liquid that had been poured into his mouth washing away anything impure. Unfortunately this included Harry's human soul. Harry didn't know why but the scene before him was something that he could remember, even with nearly all of his memories gone he knew what was happening. Before Harry's very eyes he watched an act of divine retribution, punishment for drinking something that belonged to beings far beyond human understanding and reach. His inner world, his very soul was been swept away by a power far greater than anything humans could ever imagine possible.
As Harry watched the great flood begin to close in on him, he couldn't find it in him to be afraid anymore. He might die in a few more moments but the sight before him somehow made him calm. For the first time that Harry could remember he wasn't afraid, even though he couldn't remember anything before today Harry had the feeling that this was not a usual occurrence and if anything he was at least grateful for that when something stirred within him. The infinite prana supplied to his soul by the flood had restored the power of something - Avalon, came whispers on invisible winds, implanted within him. With an almighty explosion of radiance and swirling golden energy as bright as the sun the flood froze in the air itself as if time had stopped.
The sheath Avalon was not like other noble phantasms. It was not made by gods, nor was it made by humans. It wasn't a copy based upon another sheath that could be traced to another older version unlike many other noble phantasms in existence. The sheath Avalon was Hope. Its very essence was that of hope, hope for peace, hope for joy, hope for the future because for all the worlds emotions no matter the race whether they be god or mortal there is no stronger emotion than hope. Crystallized in the womb of the planet itself and shaped by the hands and power of the fey race it was the symbol of one king's dream of the future and for its master it would defy the will of fate and Gods to ensure its masters safety, a master who was now a dying six year old boy.
Only for a single moment did the two mighty powers clash against each other in what seemed like an eternity on a battle field that was his soul. The Gods Ambrosia and The Unreachable Dream Avalon, and there caught between was his own magical power.
Before his very eyes Harry witnessed an impossibility. When the three powers clashed they should have merely annihilated each other as the natural enemies they were. But instead of destroying each other all three energies defied reason and understanding. Instead of completely erasing and destroying each other in a cataclysmic explosion of some kind they instead merged into a new singular form of power that had never before existed. All of their strengths and benefits, none of their weaknesses and drawbacks.
Slowly the red liquid began to settle and was absorbed into the ground while the golden energy of Avalon converged on the black hole in the sky before destroying it and replacing it with a ball of liquid golden fire. Slowly life began to appear around him. It was life that Harry had never seen before. Deep emerald coloured grass and trees with golden brown bark and deep green leaves of living crystal. Water falls of shimmering sapphire water and flowers made of living ice. The forests glowed and sang with soft melodies that were carried on the gentlest of breezes. All mixed together with every type of flower and tree that had ever existed. Above twinkling constellations and galaxies moved across the clearest sapphire blue sky while soft snow fell from no clouds and disappeared before they reached the ground. All around spread out floating in a random pattern were symbols and runes that few humans had ever seen before. To Harry who could no longer remember anything but burning death this place could only be heaven, it was a paradise, one where Harry would have been happy staying until the end of time itself.
Harry was so entrapped by what he was seeing that he didn't realize that it was starting to fade until he could no longer make out details of the place around him. Almost suddenly everything had gone black before he found himself back in his body just in time to see the crimson eyed man disperse into golden particles. Looking to the side he could see the man that had saved him slowly crawling towards him, leaving a trail of blood on the burnt ground before he to collapsed with his arm outstretch towards Harry, he at least hoped that his savoir would be OK.
The last thing Harry noticed before he passed out was that his hearing had returned as a masculine voice spoke behind him.
"...not what I had expected of you boy."
Behind the bleeding form of the Magus Killer and the burnt body of an abandoned child a man appeared from nowhere. Literally one moment he was not on the Earth and the next he was as if he had faded into the universe itself.
The man stood tall with broad shoulders and thick muscles. His hair a mess of silver grey and a thin beard the same colour and powerful red wine eyes that gleamed with mischief. Holding a cane and wearing what you would expect from a noble lord, all of this made this person a very imposing figure. Looking around the burning city block he couldn't help the amusement he felt when he realized where he was and just who the boy had replaced just by the acts of a single ritual.
With that thought he turned to the reason he was hear. Not a week ago he was travelling through a different dimension as a vacation away from boredom when he came across a very unique boy. The boy himself looked nothing special, in fact he looked very underwhelming considering what he and other version where meant to have done in other universes. So it was quite a surprise when he realized he had come across the abused child form of Harry Potter. And for Zelretch this was too good of a chance to cause so much entertainment he could barely contain himself, after all he wasn't called 'The Meddler' for nothing.
It had only taken several days but by the end he had done enough research to know all he needed to know to form a plan of action. The story surrounding the child hero wasn't that different from many others in existence. Born the older of fraternal twins, with the younger been a girl named Iris, he would have been set for a very normal life with a loving family. Unfortunately because of a prophecy regarding one of the twins the family went into hiding. Skip forward a year or so and the betrayal of one of their closest friends lead to the events that would later lead to the start of a life of misery for the Potter family. The younger of the twins, Iris, was given the lightning bolt scar on her forehead that would usually be on Little Harry's. Zelretch didn't know if this meant Harry wasn't the chosen one or not, but everyone else certainly thought so. It was the same day that little Isis was proclaimed The-Girl-Who-Lived. Not even days after the announcement had there been a multitude of assassination attempts against little Iris and even a few against Harry. And so a wizard with over a century of magical knowledge and experience came up with what should have been the perfect plan. Lily's 'muggle' sister wasn't quite as ordinary as people would suspect but actually a 'squib' a magical with an empty magic core and thus she was someone that could have a ward tied to. Under one of the most powerful ancient blood wards he knew, and considering he learned it from the library of a six hundred year old wizard during his apprenticeship it was dam powerful, one of the twins would live there until the Potter ancestral home was repaired and the powerful wards restored. Seeing as the majority of the attacks where targeted against Iris it was decided that she would stay with both parents while Harry would live with Petunia.
Of course there where a few things that could have gone wrong, the ward they were using could only protect three magicals beings at a time and 'squib' or not both Petunia and their son Dudley where 'squibs' and therefor magical in nature. If the Dursley family had another child that was a magical the wards would fail. This was all under the assumption that the wards would even take hold as Zelretch had discovered that the Potters and Albus believed these wards should be powered by love. So only if Petunia loved him would they activate, if not they would come up with something else. Unfortunately for them the young Albus Dumbledore had miss translated, any emotion would do as long as they felt strongly enough about it.
This had led to his next discovery. Harry Potter was most certainly abused and quite seriously as well. How the idiots who lived on the same street interacted with him on a daily basis and basically refused to see what was right in front of their eyes was beyond him, perhaps they just refused to see?
What he was generously curious about however was why Dumbledore would continue to return the boy to Privet Drive each time Harry had run away, after all the 'squib' that he had placed in the same street was sure to have reported back to by now about Harry treatment and his relatives, oh well Dumbledore's loss his gain. Still there really wasn't much time. Harry was nearing his breaking point, whether suicide or psychopath or just plain murdered, Harry was heading towards one of them and unfortunately for Zelretch all three were a little to cliché for his entertainment. He wanted something new and if a young abused little boy happened to come out better then is that his charitable deed of the decade done.
And finally he had learned that both siblings where born with ridiculous amounts of magic for their age. It was truly impressive to see to tiny children with the raw power of older teenagers and been nowhere close to their growing magic capacity. With the right training they would turn into two incredible magicals, perhaps people worthy of being trained by a real Sorcerer.
After leaving a certain book where only he would find it and a bit of subtle hypnosis on both the boy and his...err relatives and the boy was on his way to find said hidden book. Then all he had to do was to sit back, watch, wait and enjoy the free show. It didn't even take the boy a day to try the first ritual that he read that might offer him a way out and he certainly went out with a bang.
At ten minutes past twelve the entire street of Privet Drive was lit up like it was mid-day before the home of Mr and Mrs Dursley collapsed in on itself and little Harry Potter was no were to be seen. Using the power of the Kaleidoscope to follow the boy was painfully easy and when he arrived he found a scene that he had witnessed many times in many different universes, the end of the forth Holy Grail War.
However unlike before when he looked at the now rapidly healing boy he knew something in the child had changed, something had changed the boy on such a level that his own instincts where telling him to be wary of the boy. Even if it wasn't completely obvious by the utterly ridiculous amount of mana he could now sense coming from the boy compared to just a short while ago. And with taking all this into account he could only make one conclusion. He was definitely not going to be board for a very long time with this miracle kid around.
"Well kid, out of all the things you could have done, this certainly was not what I had expected from you boy."
And with those final words 'The Meddler' used his power to envelop both the boy and the Magus Killer away and without any warning or action that signalled their departure all three faded away as if they had not even been there.
The first thing that entered the mind of Kiritsugu Emiya was the surprise that he was actually alive as he had been sure that when he closed his eyes he would have died from his injuries.
For a moment his memories where blurred as he tried to recall exactly what happened after he ordered Saber to destroy the Holy Grail before it all came suddenly rushing city burning and everyone dying. Looking for any survivors only to find them all dead until he came across a stumbling dazed and scared child, one that he could only watch in horror as he was covered in black burning mud that fell from the hole in the sky. The same child he pulled from the mud and placing Avalon inside the boy to heal his grievous wounds, he remembered the pain when one of the swords from the servant archer that had somehow survived the destruction of the grail pieced his body, unable to help as he watched the so called Heroic spirit force something down the throat of the same child, then losing hope that the child would live as his body burst into burning gold light and after that everything had gone black.
Looking around the pale white room he could tell he wasn't in a hospital, for a start there was no medical equipment tied to him which he would have in a hospital. Another was that he could feel a spell matrix tied to him, what it did he couldn't tell and that was worrying as he was usually very good at sensing magic and what it was used for.
For a fleeting moment he thought that maybe he had been picked up by a member of the Einzbern family but immediately dismissed that. They only accepted him because he would have been useful in acquiring the Holy Grail. Since he had not only failed but actually ordered it's destruction he had no doubt that they would have left him to die, so he was confused as to who had picked him up and nursed him back to health.
That mystery was answered when the door to his room opened and Kiritsugu had to stop himself from groaning as who came through the door was none other the 'The Kaleidoscope' the wizard Marshall Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg himself, usually referred to as merely Zelretch. He was also someone who Kiritsugu disliked immensely.
"Oh good, you're not dead yet" deadpanned the most infuriating man Kiritsugu had ever met.
"Why did you bring me hear Zelretch? In fact why don't you tell me why you even bothered to pull me out that fire? You should have used your power to help the others who needed your help a lot more than someone like me. At least tell me why you wasted your time in saving someone who didn't want your help?" Kiritsugu angrily bit out.
"Oh I didn't plan on saving you, it just so happens that you came along for the ride, my goal was to find a boy that had gotten a little lost." replied with a friendly smile completely ignoring the hostility from Kiritsugu.
Kiritsugu growled "You mean the same kid I failed to save. I'd say good job with that but you were a little late for that weren't you!?"
"Not at all, in fact all of the kid's physical wounds were all gone in under just an hour, though his body has only recently finished whatever transformation it was forced to go through. It's actually quite remarkable, especially when you see what he has been doing even while asleep. The both of you have actually been unconscious for over two weeks." Said in the same tone as someone talking about the weather, his smile still in place.
Kiritsugu was truly shocked and a little over whelmed. It was the only accurate way to describe what Kiritsugu was feeling considering he had believed him dead. After all he had thought that when he was unable to stop the heroic servant from pouring whatever it was down the child's throat he would die, Gilgamesh had even said so when the kids body burst into light. He even had the gall to say it was better for an innocent child to die.
"He's really alive? How!?" He demanded.
"That I do not yet fully understand but I do know that he is something far above human and outside the rules that govern humanity, a lot like magic itself in a way." Now Kiritsugu could clearly see the excitement, though what it was about he didn't know.
Kiritsugu thought about that for a moment before speaking again. "I want to see him. Now if you would, I want to see him with my own eyes." He didn't know why but he wanted to see the child in person, he wanted to know that at least one person had been saved.
"Can you even walk, your body has been cursed by some extremely foul magic?" questioned Zelretch.
While his body did have a painful ache it was barely anything compared to what he had been put through before, so Kiritsugu didn't even bother replying merely gave the Wizard Marshall a flat stare before forcing himself to his feet and walking towards the door before stopping and looking towards Zelretch. "Lead the way."
With a short nod Zelretch began walking through the pristine white corridors devoid of any other being while Kiritsugu followed although his mind was occupied by something Zelretch had said earlier. "What did you mean by the kid going through a transformation?"
At these words the Wizards Marshall's eyes gained a certain glint, it was one that Kiritsugu had seen many times. It happened when a Magus found something truly interesting to study no matter how invasive of morally corrupt people might find their methods, it was a glint that Kiritsugu hated with a passion and if Zelretch thought that the Magus Killer would allow any tests performed on the boy that he didn't want Zelretch would be in for a surprise, the Origin Bullet kind of surprise. His hands had a slight tremor at the thought of fighting Zelretch to the death. Oh Kiritsugu knew he wasn't a match for the Wizard Marshall, not even on his best day and know he could literally feel his circuits burning from whatever he had been cursed by. His face must have shown what he was thinking however because Zelretch immediately picked up on his thoughts.
"Relax, I'm not about to start experimenting on the boy, I've only performed evasive tests on his magic and body capacity, nothing invasive. I'll be leaving the boy to discover his own limits, if he even has an upper limit." said Zelretch calmly.
Kiritsugu nodded in reply. "What can you tell me about him, his magic seams to impress you, something that doesn't happen a lot, so why?"
"For a start he has a duel Origin and multiple Elements, and not your usual common elements either." he replied, pausing before thinking about something that obviously had him confused. "He doesn't have magic circuits but instead magical cores, and yes I mean cores as in plural. He has more than one, while his original core has evolved into something that resembles a dragon's magic core, his is still fundamentally different. While it produces less prana in quantity, it is much denser in quality and it's strong. The magic the kid produces is… well it's completely different, it's hard to say what it is but it's something I haven't been able to wrap my head around. At the moment it has about five percent of the prana output compared to a dragon but it will grow, how far I don't even know. I think that his original evolved into something else while without performing deeper scans we won't know why he has multiple cores or where they came from."
Now that was interesting to Kiritsugu. Not only had he boy started with a magic core, something that should have been impossible as only dragons had them, and as far as he knew Altria Pendragon was the last to have one and that was artificially implanted and this boy now had more than one He was curious to how they matched up to a dragons core though. The part about having a duel Origin was also interesting as he himself also had a duel Origin allowing him to do things other magus could not. "What is the boys Origin?"
"Absolute Shield and Fantasy." Zelretch smiled, the next part would shock any one, and it had him. "And his Elements are Fantasy and the Sixth Imaginary Element."
Shocked again? Definitely.
Surprised? Even more so.
It was as if this boy was made to do everything deemed impossible when it comes to magic not to mention been an incarnation of fantasy.
Kiritsugu also knew that by just having the same Origin and Element the boy could earn himself a sealing designation, with his magic core it was a certainty that it would happen if the Clock Tower or other members of the Magus Association ever found out. Which begged the question, what is Zelretch plan if he hadn't turned him in for study. "And what of his physical changes, he hasn't grown an extra set of arms or something like that has he?"
Zelretch simply laughed off the last part. "No nothing like that, although it will take only a single doctor or hospital visit for even the dumbest of doctors and nurses to realise that he barely even resembles human on a biological level. His bones, muscle and skin are all so dense it would take no small amount of effort to pierce his skin and cause damage. His body is also in a constant cycle of active regeneration, constantly honing his body to its absolute potential. His muscle tone and completion will have him beating off swarms of women when he is older. In terms of his actual physical strength it would be just insulting to him to be compared to humans, even a reinforced magus is left in the metaphorical dust. You're best comparing him to a low ranked heroic spirit in that physically he is at least ten times stronger and faster than the best Olympian athletes. Though until we actually do some tests we won't know his actual limits.
Kiritsugu absorbed that information. Really it was quite incredible, a child on par with a servant, low ranked or not it was still beyond what most could dream of. A thought suddenly stuck him. "You haven't said but what about his mental faculties?"
Zelretch hummed in thought about what to say after a moment of silence. "If his body is impressive compared to humans then both his brain and nervous system are on a completely different dimension. Make no mistake, if there is something that will give away his inhuman heritage it will most certainly be his brain. Even I can barely understand how it functions and even then all I have are theories on that. I can't say for certain but it may be impossible to tell how he will even think, how he will even value things that a normal person or even a child would consider important. As far as I know he may not feel emotions at all or he could feel so strongly that a single death of a loved one could drive him insane. Until he wakes up its impossible tell or if we ever will, it might remain a mystery to us. Other than that he will be extremely intelligent with ridiculously strong senses. In case you're wondering he has yet to develop any mystic eyes or physic abilities, though if I were a betting man, and I am, I would bet money on him developing something down the line."
"On a completely unrelated note due to his active regeneration that poor boy will never be able to explore the wonders and delights of too much alcohol. It's truly a cruel fate, to have such power but to be forever denied the drunken wonders of surprise harems, pregnancy scares and unplanned marriages! But not to fear Emiya, I will use my vast power and knowledge to find a drink that will knock him on his back side and into the next week, even if I have to scour the universe itself!" Zelretch finished dramatically what he thought was a heroic speech, or just something to mess with his walking companion.
Kiritsugu's glare could have melted Antarctica while his left eyebrow had developed a violent twitch, but the Wizard Marshall seemed completely oblivious. Zelretch looked into Kiritsugu's twitching eyes with a serious look and clenched his fist in front of his heart. "Don't you fear Emiya, if it's the last thing I do I will find an alcoholic beverage capable of getting that boy drunk even if it means inventing the drink myself!"
Kiritsugu couldn't suppress his irritation even if he actually tried. "Shut up and take me to the boy already."
It was a little time later that Kiritsugu had calmed down enough to ask one of his earlier questions towards the Wizard Marshall. "What do you get out of this Zelretch? Why do you have such an interest in the boy?"
"Oh that simple, I planned on taking the boy and making him my apprentice if he was able to entertain me, which he certainly did." He replied back in his calm tone of voice.
"And what of the boy's parents, where you just going to leave them worried about their missing child?" Kiritsugu demanded. A strange emotion passed through Zelretch's eyes and if it was anyone else Kiritsugu would have missed it.
"I have no idea what happened to his parents but the people he was with had an awful nice slave in the boy. And before you ask no they weren't his parents, they looked nothing alike. I assume his immediate biological family dead and he was given to them as distant relatives. I had done my research beforehand they received around two thousand British pounds a month for his upkeep. Obviously the money was worth quite a bit to keep around a child they did not want."
Kiritsugu was silent. In his time he had seen many horrible things, and unfortunately he had seen this several times in the past. A distant relative wanted more money but were unable to get any inheritance except what was allowed in the stipend but it didn't stop them from trying to turn them into a broken and obedient tool that would sign away all the possessions what that person reached adult hood. He had seen what these people would do to them and it was something that he despised, people who would harm innocent children. He had seen young children less than ten years old brutalized and violated. He had seen the dead eyes of children that still lived and was one of the few things that set him off. He may be known as The Magus Killer but he had killed just as many scum bags that he had lost count.
Now however this boy had been given a second chance. If what Zelretch had said was true he had escaped to different hells and one had changed him into something greater. Kiritsugu silently swore to himself there that he would ensure that the boy would at least live the rest of his child hood happy.
After more walking than Kiritsugu would have liked they came to a plane white door with no windows, however he could feel a large amount of prana on the other side.
"A word of warning, it's not what you think it is." And before he could as Zelretch to explain the door was opened and his jaw went slack.
It was like walking through a portal into the middle of a field of glowing white roses, in the background he could see snow topped mountains and above was a clear night sky with stars brighter than he had ever seen and in the middle hooked up to medical machines that didn't seem to be plugged into anything but still worked was the same sleeping boy he had saved just without the mangled skin and burns. For a moment he thought that it was a reality marble created by the boy, he certainly had the raw prana for one but then he remembered Zelretch's words.
"If this isn't a Reality Marble, does that mean the boy is capable of Marble Phantasms like the true Ancestors?" Whispered Kiritsugu in awe of what he was seeing.
"While he may one day be capable of both this is neither, in the simplest way of describing it his power he has changed the very laws of reality inside this room. What should be possible and what shouldn't no longer matter. His own will controls reality in here. What does exist and what doesn't is up to him to decide, whether that is logic or even concepts, in here his fantasy IS reality. The only reason his power isn't affecting more is because these walls are lined with runes that stop magic from passing through and even then if he focused on them he could erase them completely."
And with those words Zelretch started to walk towards the boy even as Kiritsugu's mind slowed to a halt at processing those words.
This chapter has now been bate'd so hopefully a lot better. Leave a review or PM me to tell me what you think or if you have any questions.