Acknowledgments: Rpeh for the beta work.
Chapter 8
Harry spent a few moments tracing his nails over Elena's back before he extricated himself from the bed. His bedwarmer made a noise that could be best described as a complaint before burrowing into the furred blankets. Harry watched her for a moment before dressing himself.
Seth had given him the morning off, citing business he needed to take care of in Rome. When pressed on it the older man shrugged and didn't answer any further. Which caused the girls to gossip about what they were sure would be an addition to their number. Harry suspected they were doing it merely to tease Renata, but when he'd asked Elena said Seth's mysterious trips often ended with additions to the household. Mila and Delia in particular seemed able to get under her skin with taunts about how someone younger and prettier could be taking her place. Renata spent her entire day preening and playing with various makeups. She'd tried to get Elena to join her but Harry kept her busy, to much giggling.
Well, at least she'd told him to tell Renata that he needed her that morning because, as Elena said, a jealous Renata was intolerable. Harry obliged her and they'd spent an extended morning in his bedroom which had been far less amusing than Harry had hoped. They'd lazed around and talked for most of the morning until Elena grew bored and they turned to other activities which led to a few more hours of dozing before Harry decided he felt like being awake.
He wandered to the kitchens and conned a hunk of bread from a disheveled looking Mila before walking into what he'd come to dub the classroom. It obviously wasn't. It might have been a study at some point, but there wasn't much in it besides bookcases and a couple of couches. But it was where he and Seth talked about magic without interruption. And where Seth had him openly practice it.
He paced the room while eating the bread. He peered at the books on the shelves, his eyes trailing over the leather-bound tomes. The only markings on the spines were a single golden symbol he did not recognize. He assumed they were some type of numeral. He picked one at random as he finished the bread and pulled it out.
It felt good in his hands, an obvious quality to the binding. He took a moment to wonder how anachronistic it was. In his mind he remembered scrolls and papyrus from his classes on ancient Greece and Egypt. He wondered if the Romans had invented some sort of publishing mechanism that he was unaware of.
Somehow, he doubted it. He closed his eyes and focused on the book for a moment. He could feel a lingering magic in it and he figured that was his answer. Seth must have made the books himself. He looked more closely at the bookshelf and noticed it was completely filled with them. Upon closer examination he noticed the color on the bindings shifted every fifteen to twenty books and the symbols on them seemed to reset.
He opened the one in his hand. The pages were absolutely filled with a small flowing text. He couldn't read it but, much like the other book he'd seen Seth paging through, he thought it looked vaguely Arabic. Although something else about the text felt oddly familiar. Like he'd seen it before and something in his brain was telling him it hadn't been on anything he would have considered Arabic. But he had no better explanation. Once again, he found himself wondering if that was anachronistic. He thought it must be.
He knew that the rise of Christianity happened toward the end of the Roman Empire. And he was fairly certain Islam came after that. Did the Arabic language come from Islam or was that simply a stereotype he'd assumed? He had no idea. He'd always sort of assumed that had simply spoken Latin until they didn't. But, the more he thought about it, the dumber that idea seemed in his head.
He paged through the book, finding the sheer amount of text on each page to be daunting. Most times it was hard to differentiate between words. Nothing in them gave any hint as to what secrets it could have contained. At least until a thought struck him.
Proper nouns should be the same regardless. After all, names were names. He paged through the book looking for anything he could recognize as such, at least until he realized he was being an idiot. While Rome might still be Rome, or Circe might still be Circe, it wouldn't matter if he had no concept of the alphabet. Maybe if someone were reading it to him he could start to piece it together, but looking at it would do him no good. He closed the book and replaced it on the shelf.
It only took him a few moments of looking at the rest of the books to realize the activity was rather boring to him. He moved to the wall next to the bookcase and waved his hand in a semi-circle as he'd seen Seth do countless times, directing some of his will toward the wall as he did. The wall shimmered into a green portal and he stepped through it.
He'd been in the next room a few days before as he'd followed Seth through the portal. It wasn't anything explicitly hidden. In fact, it was quite obvious if you knew what you were looking for. And the portal worked much like any other doorway would. But Seth had explained it was a place where he could go and be completely alone as the girls lacked enough magical talent to open the way.
Harry had asked him to elaborate on that, as one was either magical or not. Seth had only raised an eyebrow at him, rather patronizingly, in response, before he'd grabbed a bag off of the desk inside and walked with Harry out of the room.
Now he had a much better chance to look around the room. A large writing desk sat against the back wall with a high-backed chair pushed out from it. A book lay open on the desk. A stylus and ink rested next to it. The right wall of the room covered in bookshelves. They reached to the ceiling and were completely filled. Most of the books had words in the same language he'd stared at in the other room on the spine, but about a third of them had Greek or Latin on them.
The shelves on the opposite wall were far more interesting to him than the books. They were filled with objects and when he turned to them, he found his senses absolutely assaulted. He didn't need to close his eyes or focus to feel the magic in the items.
His eyes drifted over the shelves, trying to take an inventory in his mind. Countless objects were organized there. And, while at first glance it seemed like clutter, it only took a moment to see there was some sort of organizational quality to it all.
He noticed the weapons first, various swords, daggers, axes and the like littered the shelves. As he moved along, he saw necklaces, bracelets, rings and all sorts of other decorative items, such as masks, shrouds and a shimmering cloak that felt familiar but looked far too ragged to be his own invisibility cloak.
But his curiosity brought his attention further down toward the end of the shelves. The final items he saw on the shelves were a trio of nails about eight inches long with square shafts. Next to them, mounted on a wall near the desk, was a strange orange sword.
He couldn't resist his curiosity. He could feel the magic radiating from these items even as he stood a good twenty paces away from them. He started to move closer to get a better look but he could only make it about ten paces before he started to physically hurt. The magic emanating from them was so powerful he could have sworn his entire skull was vibrating as he tried to move nearer.
The nails, at the very least, didn't seem to be anything other than basic chunks of metal. Yet the power there was palpable. He would have focused on them if not for the other object nearby. When he looked at them, his head seemed to pulse with the power emanating off of them. Emotion flooded through him. It took him a moment to place it but he felt a strange sadness as he peered at them. It was like they knew they'd been misused and mourned for it. He could feel that they wanted to fight to rectify the wrong.
Which he thought was strange, given that they were chunks of metal and as such not sentient. But thinking about it any further made him feel like a crazy person so he shifted his gaze to the orange blade.
The sword was utterly intoxicating. He wanted it. All he could do was stare at the strange orange blade as the metal of it flickered around, seeming almost sentient.
It became harder to move the closer he got to it. He struggled forward, wanting to grab it, to claim it, to use it. Nothing, he thought, could possibly harm him as long as he had that sword. It didn't even matter if he didn't know how wield one. There was a power thrumming from the blade as stared, beckoning someone to take it up once more.
After two more steps he couldn't get any closer. The magic radiating from the blade was oppressive. It felt like someone was dropping weights on him with every inch he tried to move. He had to stop. He sank down to his knees and stared up at the sword. He closed his eyes and focused on it.
The more he focused on it, the more it seemed to vibrate through his entire skull. The dull throbbing of it focusing on his brain and causing his head to ache.
The energy felt familiar though. He focused his mind on that and after a few moments it came to him. The magic in the sword felt much like his wand would after he'd cast a series of spells. Except it didn't feel like his power. It clearly belonged to someone else. Someone shockingly powerful. The same thrum of power would only stay in his wand for a few moments, almost seeming to heat it. It would fade away after a few moments and return to cold, inert wood.
The sword, though, was not returning to anything. The magic welled in it, as if waiting to be left out. Harry reached out, thinking that maybe if he couldn't approach the sword he could summon it to himself. He reached out for it, but nothing happened. He tried again and nothing happened. He tried a third time and a portal appeared on the wall. Seth stepped through it. He was carrying a golden lyre and he looked at Harry, then at the sword, then back at Harry.
"You okay down there?" he asked as he stepped toward the shelves of items. He walked past Harry, the sword, the nails and neared the end of the shelving without a single indication that the power bothered him in the least. He pushed aside a strangely pulsating ruby and an Egyptian looking headcloth and placed the Lyre between the two.
"Uh, fine," Harry said. He pulled himself to his feet and peered at Seth. The power from the sword shifted away from him. Harry felt it channeling toward Seth but the other man didn't seem to notice. Still, he had to take a few steps away from the sword before he found himself able to compose a coherent thought. "What is that?"
"The incipient mage using it thought it was the Lyre of Orpheus," Seth said. He adjusted it once on the shelf before turning back to Harry.
"Is it?" Harry asked.
"Doesn't matter," Seth said. "He thought it was and he had enough power to charm it, whether intentional or not."
"That's not how magic works," Harry said.
"Of course it is," Seth laughed. "Ardent belief coupled with a little bit of power? That's exactly how magic works."
"That's not," Harry frowned. But he knew better than to argue any further. He mulled it over in his head for a moment before continuing. "What was he doing?"
"Creating followers," Seth said. "Those that heard the song were compelled to do his bidding."
"And that was?" Harry asked, wondering if Seth would ever volunteer information without being prodded.
"For the most part it was convincing young daughters of senators to do whatever he liked. And to talk him up to their fathers. His goal was to gain enough political clout before he could have himself declared a God and take over the Empire," Seth said.
"I see. Could he have?" Harry asked.
"I doubt it," Seth said.
"Then why does it matter to you?" Harry asked.
"Thirty bodies with no sign of stopping and a perversion of magic around him? He was coercing them to willingly sacrifice their lives to boost his power. I approached him about it and we discussed why it was wrong. After our discussion was over, he gave me the lyre," Seth said.
"He just handed you a magical artifact that he thought belonged to a deity?" Harry asked.
"Orpheus was a talented musician. He was certainly not anything that could be classified as a deity," Seth said.
"Whatever," Harry rolled his eyes. He thought he saw Seth smirk at him. "He still just gave it to you?"
"I took it from his hands," Seth affirmed. Harry raised his brows as the next question popped into his head almost instantly.
"Was he alive when this exchange happened?" He asked.
"Yes," Seth said. Harry raised his brows further.
"And for how long after?" he asked.
"Ten, maybe fifteen seconds," Seth said.
"Is that what you do?" Harry asked.
"Kill people?" Seth shot back.
"I guess," Harry said with a shrug of his shoulders. It wasn't the right question, but he wasn't quite sure what the right question was at the moment. He could tell there was a point Seth wanted him to get to, but his mind wasn't quite there yet. It didn't help that he kept being distracted by the powerful objects in the room. Seth appraised him for a moment before answering.
"I prefer when it doesn't come to that. But I let them make their own decisions. I offer to help them discover another way. Most are too riled up with the first real power that they have ever encountered and think they're invincible. They never seem to know when to concede. Some, though, see the error of their ways. Most aren't evil just…misguided," Seth said.
"That doesn't seem fair," Harry said.
"It isn't," Seth responded.
"So why do it?" Harry asked.
"It wasn't fair for the thirty people he killed either," Seth said. "I looked into him and saw what would happen if he was left unchecked. And if left unchecked it would have been thousands."
"Looked into him?" Harry asked.
"Yes. If you choose to you can look into someone. It's why most powerful users of magic avoid sustained eye contact. It's basic," Seth said.
"I hadn't heard of that," Harry said. But he paused after he said it. Dumbledore, he figured, was likely the most powerful wizard he knew. And Dumbledore never met your gaze for more than a few moments. As he recalled, Circe tended to look away from him as well. "How does it work?"
"Sustained eye contact lets you see what they really are. It stays with you, though. Seared into your brain. You never forget what you see, the good or the bad. It's not something that should be done lightly," Seth said. "It doesn't tend to develop in most until they're older. I suspect your school advises it later in your education."
"Maybe," Harry said. "Could we do it?"
"Physically? Yes, we could. But we aren't going to," Seth said.
"Why not? Are you hiding something?" Harry accused. He felt bad immediately as he did. But Seth chuckled.
"I'm not sure you would survive," Seth said.
"That's a possibility?" Harry asked.
"Oh yes. There are some things you are not ready for," Seth said. He sounded almost sad as he said it. He turned his attention back to the shelves on the wall and paced toward the desk. Harry decided it was best to change the subject.
"Is that what all this is then? Trophies?" he asked.
"In a sense. For the most part it is items that need to be kept out of the world for a time," Seth said.
"How do you know that?" Harry asked.
"I don't," Seth said. "It's just a hunch with most. Sometimes you can feel a greater purpose in them."
"Can you show me?" Harry asked.
"I can try," Seth said. He waved a hand toward the shelves and the three rusted nails floated over and landed on the desk. "They seem to have a great deal of power. Focus on them."
"What are they, exactly?" Harry asked.
"Nails," Seth said. "They were used in an execution. The blood stained onto them had an impressive amount of lingering power. Now focus."
And so Harry focused, closing his eyes and clearing his mind of everything but the nails. That only lasted for a moment though, before he opened one eye and looked at Seth.
"Whose execution?" he asked. Seth shrugged and raised one hand in a gesture that made it clear he didn't know and hadn't felt that to be pertinent information.
"I don't know. I found them after the fact, discarded and pulsating with ambient magic that I sensed from miles away. Now focus," Seth ordered. Harry nodded and closed his eye again and turned his attention back to the nails. At first, he felt the thrum of leftover magic again. Less than from the sword, but more than everything else he could focus on in the room.
It took him a few moments before he could get anything but power from the items. He opened his eyes to stare at them for a couple of seconds before closing them and using the images in his memory instead.
When the images in his mind changed, he thought it was his imagination. But as he forced those thoughts from his head, he realized that there was something more in there. He got flashes of power, and something else. What felt like words flashed to the front of his mind. But they didn't fully form.
As he focused he felt a sense of longing from the nails. Like they wished to be part of something more. To accomplish something more. There were flashes of something more in his mind. But it wasn't definite. It was fluid, confused. The flashes continued, feeling like a word on the tip of his tongue as they flashed by at lightning speed until it was too much for him.
"Woah," Harry said as he forced his thoughts away from the nails. "I see what you mean."
"Most of them aren't that obvious," Seth said.
"What does that mean?" Harry asked.
"No idea," Seth said. "My best hunch is that they won't be in my possession for long. Closer to their real purpose than the rest of the items I have."
"You'll just give them away?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Seth said. "When the right receiver comes around, I will."
"Is that wise?" Harry asked.
"Things need to be allowed to achieve their true purpose. As is two people have already inquired about the nails," Seth shrugged. Harry stared for a moment, a bit of clarity flashing through his mind.
"Who?" Harry asked.
"One blustering man who called himself the Taxiarch. I expressed my annoyance at his intrusion and sent him away. The other didn't give his name but saw no issue with my stewardship for the time being after we spoke. I liked him," Seth recalled.
"I see," Harry said. He paused for a moment finding that word oddly familiar but pushed the thought from his head when nothing immediately came forth. "Does that being allowed to serve their purpose thing include people?" he asked.
"Of course," Seth said.
"And is that your purpose? The protection and, well, I guess stewardship of all of this?" Harry asked.
"I served my purpose long ago," Seth said, his voice growing hard as his whole body tensed. But after a moment and a deep sigh he relaxed and continued. "I like to think this is productive enough work though. Making sure the people can live their lives seemed a worthy penance," Seth said. He moved his hand and the nails shifted back to their place on the shelves.
"Would you consider a genocide to be something you'd interfere with?" Harry asked.
"Almost certainly," Seth said, his tone changing slightly, becoming almost defensive. "Why?"
"In my past there was an event where a madman killed twelve million people in the span of a few years. Why didn't you stop that?" Harry asked.
"Twelve million?" Seth asked.
"Yes," Harry said.
"I don't know," Seth responded. He looked away from Harry and for a moment seemed lost in his own thoughts. But he continued. "I can think of a few reasons."
"Like what?" Harry asked.
"It was necessary," Seth said. Harry blinked at him. The older man shrugged his shoulders. "Although I do admit that rings false. Perhaps the easiest explanation is that I'm not around any longer by that point. Perhaps I met my end long before it happened."
"You are thousands of years old," Harry commented. Seth nodded.
"We'll all die eventually, Harry," Seth said, sounding melancholy. Harry paused for a moment. It occurred to him he'd told the man when he was from. And if his death was something that would prevent his interference, he may have inadvertently signaled how long he had left.
And Harry had no idea how time worked for someone who'd been around as long as Seth. Had he just told him he only had the equivalence of a few years left to live? Had he triggered something in Seth's mortality?
He frowned to himself as the other man stepped away from him. He peered at the wall as if looking out a window. Somehow, Harry knew Seth could see whatever was outside, even if the wall was obscuring any possibility of the sort. After a few moments Harry reminded himself he should speak, to try to pull the man back into the conversation.
"Could anything else do it?" he asked.
"A promise," Seth said.
"What?" Harry laughed. He didn't mean to but he couldn't help it. In that moment, something about such a simple answer struck him as funny.
"I could have made a promise to not get involved," Seth said.
"And that would be more important to you?" Harry said.
"It could be. Your word is one of the most valuable and powerful things you possess, Harry. It's important to keep it true," Seth said.
"I feel like I'd be willing to sacrifice that for some things," Harry said. To his surprise Seth turned to face him. He was smiling and he looked almost proud as a genuine warmth came from him. Almost as if Harry had given the correct answer to some mystifying question.
"I hope you never have to make that decision," Seth said. "But if you do, know that it will weigh on you far more than you expect. And know that what seems right or obvious on instinct is often an emotional illusion."
"I'll, uh, keep that in mind," Harry said, mulling the worlds over in his mind. He couldn't think of anything that would have prevented his acting. But that was Seth's point, he supposed. If it was so obvious then it would be, well, obvious. And if that were the case the decision couldn't be difficult. So, until it was a difficult decision, he couldn't possibly know or fathom it.
He realized his thoughts didn't make much sense in that moment so he decided the best course of action would be to continue the conversation.
"Have you made such a promise before?" he asked.
"Twice," Seth said. He frowned and looked away from Harry as if trying to hide something. Harry saw him reach up and brush the back of his hand over his cheek.
"And how did that go?" Harry asked.
"One broken and one still in progress," Seth said. His eyes flashed to the sword on the wall. But a moment later he moved away from the display.
"You mentioned penance before. The broken promise is what you're seeking atonement for?" Harry asked.
"In a sense I suppose that's true. Although I sleep better thinking I'd be doing it regardless," Seth said.
"And you're not going to tell me what the promise was?" Harry asked.
"One day I will. But that information would do you more harm than good at this point," Seth said.
"Knowledge isn't detrimental," Harry said. Seth turned to him again, smiling once more. Although this time it was his bemused smile. Something more akin to what one may give a beloved pet.
"What a world it would be if that were true," he said.
"I can't imagine knowledge being bad," Harry said.
"Try harder," Seth said. Harry couldn't help but glare at him.
"That's not…" Harry started.
"The inability to fathom is laziness, Harry. If you can't think of something, you're not trying hard enough."
"I don't think that's true," Harry said. But the older mage didn't respond.
"Seth?" A voice rang out throughout the entire room. It only took harry an instant to recognize Mila the cook. But in that time Seth turned and walked through one of the walls. He came back a moment later looking pensive.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"The girls aren't back," Seth said.
"So?" Harry asked. In his time there the girls seemed to be able to come and go with impunity.
"The four of them went shopping," Seth said. "After Mila picked up groceries, she decided to return home. Elena told her she thought they'd been back in an hour. It's been two. And Elena…"
"Is punctual," Harry finished.
"That works as well as anything," Seth said. "I'm going to go look for them."
"I'll come with," Harry said. "But I should change into something of the era I suppose."
"Don't bother," Seth said and Harry felt magic wash over him. He looked down and noticed his clothing hadn't changed from the athletic wear he'd been given.
"Illusion?" he asked, trying to pinpoint the spell based purely on feel, something they'd been working on here and there.
"Very good," Seth said as they left the study and moved through the home. Harry watched as Seth summoned a black cloak to him. He merely held up his arms and let it float around him and on him, before adjusting it, with magic, as he walked through the atrium.
Harry followed him as they moved outside and into Surrentum. Seth stopped briefly as one of the shopkeepers who rented one of the storefronts on the villa yelled something at him. He walked over for a moment and chatted briefly with the man. Harry caught enough of the conversation to hear that the man was thanking Seth for something. But not enough of it to know exactly what he was being thanked for.
"What was that about?" Harry asked as Seth approached him. Seth shrugged.
"Newer tenants. Can't believe how little I'm taking off the top from them," Seth said.
"Nice of you," Harry commented.
"A screw up," Seth. He looked down the street outside of the villa. First, he looked to the left as if appraising the direction, then the right, before walking to the left.
"How so?" Harry asked as he followed. It wasn't his first time in the city proper as both Seth and Elena enjoyed going for walks. He still found the city fascinating. He let his gaze wander toward the merchants, or the people rushing around, or the children playing. An odd sort of familiarity in all of it amused him. He wanted to wax poetic about the nature of life, but he figured it was best of he kept his mouth shut.
"I forgot when I was. When I needed to fill the spot, I did it at a rate more equivalent to two centuries ago," Seth said.
"What does that matter?" Harry asked. "It doesn't appear that you need the money."
"I do not," Seth agreed. "But I need the attention less. They'll talk, others will get annoyed. I'm sure someone will try to bring it up with me and it'll lead to conversations I'd rather not have."
"That you can quite literally handwave away," Harry commented.
"Yes. But it isn't always that easy. People will go insane if you use enough mind magic on them. They know they talked to you even if they can't remember. It makes them paranoid. Makes them look closer. It's best to avoid it and move on when they become too aware," Seth said.
"Somehow I doubt I'll ever have that problem," Harry said.
"Maybe," Seth shrugged. Something in his demeanor seemed off. He often felt like Seth knew far more than he would say. Part of him knew it had to be intentional. But he wasn't quite sure if it was naturally reticent or if he saw value in people assuming he knew more than he did.
Still, his mind flashed back to something else. But he couldn't quite place the memory. It was of talking to Circe in London. That much he knew. But he couldn't remember her words, or the specifics of the conversation at all. He thought it had been about rubbish, but that didn't make sense.
He followed Seth down a few streets, turning into a part of town he wasn't familiar with. Of course, if he was honest, that was most of the city. Despite all of that, Seth appeared to know where he was going.
"How do you know where to go?" Harry asked.
"I charmed Renata's earrings," Seth said.
"To track her?" Harry asked.
"No," Seth responded. "Although that's not a terrible idea."
"Then what?" he asked.
"She hates polishing jewels. I made it so she didn't have to," Seth shrugged as if it was obvious.
"How does that help?" Harry asked.
"I renewed the spell last night when…" Seth let his voice trail off. "Anyway, I can't quite sense where it is. But I can follow where it's been."
"That doesn't seem easy," Harry said. "Following the signature on a charm hours later?"
"I doubt I could do it if you'd cast the spell," Seth said. "But I know my magic. Centuries of familiarity."
"Be better if you could Apparate there," Harry said.
"True," Seth agreed. They shifted down a tight alleyway and through a few more streets. Harry noticed right away that this part of town appeared to be far less affluent than where Seth resided. Smoke lingered in the air and there were quite a few women leaning against doors of buildings, in various states of undress. Men milled around, occasionally ducking inside with one of the women. The street seemed lined with such establishments as they walked down it.
"Why would they come here?" Harry asked.
"They wouldn't," Seth said. "At least not on their own."
"Oh," Harry said as the pit of his stomach fell out. Up until that moment the thought that something could have happened to Elena seemed unlikely. Especially with Seth around. Yet here they were.
He found himself wondering about crime statistics in Ancient Rome. Something, he noted, both his magical and muggle educations had been sorely lacking. He figured that crime had to be common enough. And a group of unarmed girls would have seemed to be an easy target.
"Should we have let them out alone?" Harry asked.
"There's nothing inherently dangerous about walking to the forum to shop," Seth said.
"Then why are we here?" Harry asked. Seth didn't respond. Instead he kept walking, doubling back down an alley past a woman saying she'd give them a great rate together. Harry did his best to ignore it as they continued on their way.
It was another twenty minutes of walking before anything changed. Harry watched the sun drift behind some of the buildings as they turned down yet another street. He thought they had to be walking in circles, but Seth didn't seem deterred in the least.
"Shit," the older man said abruptly. He stopped walking and his eyes shot directly at the building. Harry noticed his hands clench into fists.
"What is it?" he asked. But Seth ignored him and walked through the wall of the building. Harry paused for a moment and then closed his eyes as he followed. He thought that he'd walk straight into the wall, but the impact never came. He saw Seth disappear through the next wall as soon as he entered the first. He continued after him, doing his best to ignore the trade being practiced inside the building.
The workers and clients didn't pay any attention to him as passed through. He found that odd at first, but when he looked down, he noticed his body was shimmering and translucent. He ignored it and continued on the way. Three more walls and they were back outside. Seth turned a few steps ahead of him. Harry moved to catch up.
"Excuse me," Seth said. Harry caught up to him. He opened his mouth to reply until he realized that Seth wasn't talking to him. They were standing at the entrance of a dead-end alley and Harry instantly noticed the three men were blocking their view. One turned around to face Seth.
"Get out of here," the man said. Harry noticed his eyes were sunken and his skin a pasty gray. His hair was long and pulled back, something he didn't remember seeing on other Roman men in his time there.
"What are you doing?" Seth asked. It didn't take long for Harry to figure it out though, and he was sure Seth did as well. Renata was cowering in the corner of the alley. Her dress was torn nearly cleanly in half across the middle. A knife lay on the ground a few feet from here, the blade had been cleanly snapped in two. Blood seeped down from her brow, and a multitude of cuts were visible all over her body.
Still, despite the obvious injuries, she still managed to position her body between the three men and another slave. Harry recognized Tulia's golden hair as she cowered behind Renata.
"None of your damn business, go back to your villa and forget you ever saw us," the man said.
"I don't think so," Seth said. The man laughed and said something to his companions. Both of them shifted around and Harry saw the fourth then. He was crouched on the ground, kneeling over the body of another girl. All four of them looked more or less the same. There was some variance in hair color and size, but they all had the same chalky skin.
Elena, Harry thought. He could see the top of her head past the man's body. It only took him a second to realize she wasn't moving. He felt the anger rise in him as the leader spoke once more.
"Last chance," he said. He shifted his stance and took a step toward Seth in an obvious challenge. And, to Harry's surprise, Seth stepped back. The men all laughed at him as they sensed the inherent weakness of prey ready to flee. One jeering to run along home now.
"No," Seth said, his voice icy, his entire demeanor calm. "Those are mine. Leave them now and I'll let you go."
"Fine then," the man said. "Three bodies, five bodies, it makes no difference."
"No one needs to die," Seth said.
"And you should have left. You have no idea what you're getting into," the man said. He smiled before he added. "And you never will."
The next part happened so fast Harry only just managed to follow it. The man shifted again, his knees buckling with his stance and then he pounced. He moved so quickly it was almost impossible for Harry to track the movements as he charged at Seth.
Harry could feel the elation from the man. He could sense that the man thought his victory was all but assured, that there was absolutely nothing Seth could do to prevent his own death. And, in a way, the man was right. To Harry's surprise, Seth did nothing.
He didn't move at all. There was no shifting, no attempt to guard himself. And, as far as Harry could tell, he didn't even call upon his magic. He saw the attacker's smile widen and then, there was nothing there.
A pile of dust littered the alley directly under where the man had been. Another of the assailants roared in confusion and then made the poor decision to charge as well. Seconds later a second dust pile fell a few feet from the first. The third and fourth men reacted at the same time. The third charged, the fourth ran. Seth turned and watched him go, not even bothering to look as the third man melted to dust. He paused for a moment and then muttered under his breath.
"Fuck," he said. But Harry didn't question him. He ran, nearly tripping as his foot slipped through one of the dust piles, until he stood above Elena. Her eyes were frozen and glassy, the color seeming to fade from them as he watched. Her dress was little more than rags around her. Her stomach was ripped clean open, entrails spilling out, and a chunk of her neck about three inches wide was missing.
Human bite marks littered the rest of her body. They were red, bloody, and everywhere. They trailed down over her arms, they circled around her breasts, and they ran down her thighs and legs.
"What the hell," Harry said as he stared at her body. He summoned up his will and started to close the wounds. His focus starting on her stomach as the wound started to close itself. At least until Seth interrupted him.
"There's no point," Seth said. "She's dead."
"We could have stopped this," Harry said. Seth nodded. He peeled his gaze off of Elena's body and turned to Renata. She was shivering on the ground, still trying to cover Tulia. The smaller girl was shaking against her.
Harry watched as Renata's injuries slowly vanished from her body and her dress reformed. She didn't move though, still shivering and cowering. She didn't even seem to notice as she lifted into the air and Tulia floated out from underneath her. Her clothing was torn in a few spots but she appeared otherwise unharmed.
"Tulia, Renata, can you hear me?" Seth asked as he set her on the ground. Tulia nodded. Renata shivered for a moment but then nodded.
"Yes," she mumbled.
"Can you walk?" he asked. Renata pondered that for a moment before she pulled herself to her feet. Her legs wobbled underneath her. The broken dagger on the ground flew into Seth's hand. Harry felt Seth charm it as he waited for Renata to respond.
"I think so," she said. She spoke slowly and looked down at herself, as if surprised she was still in one peace. She was tense and seemed to be doing everything in her power not to look toward Elena's corpse.
"Good," he said. He pressed the dagger into her hand and reached for Tulia's hand. Once he took it, he placed it into Renata's hand.
"I don't think I could make it far," Renata admitted.
"When you get home," Seth said, ignoring her, "Eat. The heartier the food the better." She nodded her understanding and then Seth spoke a word Harry didn't quite catch and the two girls spun off.
Harry turned his attention back to Elena as Seth walked over toward the three dust piles. His mind racing, counting every single way he'd failed her that day. He should have paid more attention, he should have known their schedule better, he shouldn't have bothered getting out of bed with her until Seth returned from Rome.
Already he could think of a thousand ways in which she'd still be alive. And then one more sprang to mind.
"Can you bring her back?" he asked. Seth paused before responding.
"It doesn't work right," Seth said.
"What?" Harry blinked, finding himself surprised the answer wasn't an instant no.
"Reanimation. It isn't resurrection. They don't come back what they were," Seth said.
"She didn't deserve this," Harry said.
"No, she didn't," he said.
"We should have done more," Harry said.
"If you let those thoughts fill your head, you will only suffer more," Seth responded. "And we have work to do."
"How can you care about work right now?" Harry spat.
"Do you want more people to die?" Seth responded. And then Harry got it. He wasn't sure what caused the epiphany but he knew what Seth was implying.
"You let that one go," Harry said.
"I'm tracking him," Seth agreed.
"What are they?" Harry asked.
"Vampires," Seth said.
"You're sure?" Harry asked.
"The injuries would have given it away regardless even if they're excessive. I'd suspect they're young, sadistic, and high on their own power. But only vampires turn to dust when they die," Seth said. He paused for a moment before continuing. "Actually, most magical demi-humans die differently. Fairies turn into a sort of purple goop for example. But vampires turn into an ashy dust." He waved his hand over the dust piles and they vanished. A moment later he did the same thing to Elena. Harry swallowed hard as she vanished and turned to Seth.
"What now?" he asked.
"There will be more than four," Seth said.
"Ah," Harry said. "Lead on then."
"What do you know about vampires?" Seth asked as he started to walk away. Harry spared one last glance toward the bloodstained ground where Elena laid moments earlier before turning to follow Seth.
"A bit," Harry said. "We covered them very briefly in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Lockhart droned on about them in one of his books, too. But I don't think we covered much of importance. Just the really basic things like garlic."
"They're stronger and faster than you," Seth said. "And some can be surprisingly durable. Almost none of them can do magic. I'm not sure if it's because most of them weren't magical when they were changed or if there's more to it. I never cared to research it more."
"I see," Harry said.
"Don't let them bite you. Like most things with flesh, fire is the best way to deal with them," Seth said.
"You do this a lot?" Harry asked. Seth shrugged his shoulders.
"I hate vampires," he said as he weaved through people in one of the alleys. "Any chance to quell their numbers should be acted upon."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"They're all idiots," Seth said. "They think…well they tend to think they're now a big fish in a small pond."
"I don't get it," Harry said. The two of them ducked down another street. Harry saw a hole near the ground in a building nearby. It was hastily covered with wood that tossed itself across the alley when Seth looked at it. He sighed in annoyance and slid down into the hole. Harry followed him into the darkness.
He slid downwards for perhaps ten feet before landing on his feet. He peered around, the only light in the darkness was Seth's glowing blue eyes. He waved a hand at Harry and the room seemed to lighten. The walls and floor were all dirt and an earthy, almost metallic smell emanated from all around them. Seth continued down the path.
"They were often irrelevant in their lives. Something about it seems to attract people to the life. And then they get a little bit of power and a little bit of longevity and suddenly think that everything else on the planet is catering to their every whim. They think they're far more powerful than they are. And that often leads to them acting in stupid ways that I have to clean up," Seth said.
"Couldn't you tell them what's expected or something?" Harry asked.
"They're all given a chance. Think of it like you crushing a bug. They were used to being a bug, and then suddenly they're the human. What they seldom realize is that they're still the bug," Seth said.
"I see," Harry frowned. "And now we're going to hunt them?"
"No," Seth said. Up ahead Harry saw some dusty columns worked into the wall. "We're going to have a chat with them."
"And you think that will work?" Harry asked.
"Worth a shot," Seth shrugged in a way that told Harry he did not think it would work. They continued for a few steps in silence. Until they stepped through the columns. Harry felt himself shiver the moment they did. He felt ice shoot through his veins and every hair on him stood on end. The warmth he'd started to associate with his magic faded from him in an instant.
"What just happened?" Harry asked as he felt for his magic. It was still there, but it felt much smaller than it should.
"Threshold," Seth said.
"What?" Harry asked. Seth raised his brows and looked at him.
"You passed over a threshold on a home that we were not invited to. Every home has one. It's primal magic on a par with guest right. Magical homes are stronger. It will hinder your ability to do magic. Some spells might be entirely impossible," Seth said.
"I've never had that happen before," Harry said.
"Have you been in many magical dwellings uninvited before?" Seth asked. Harry frowned and thought about it.
"Couple of shops," he said.
"Places of commerce have too much coming and going to have a strong threshold. My own home has a weak one because of the stalls in the front. But given that I'm me I'm not concerned about that," Seth said.
"I see," Harry frowned. "Still feels like something they would have taught."
"They did not seem to teach you much about the more primal nature of magic," Seth said. Harry frowned and another thought came to him.
"Circe never invited me in," Harry said. "I just woke up there."
"You woke up in a place where she'd taken you, cared for you, fed you and gave you your own room," Seth said. "Sounds enough like an invitation to me."
"I guess," Harry shrugged. "We're going to be at a disadvantage if it's a fight."
"You will be," Seth responded. After a few more steps they saw light coming from ahead. Seth stepped in front of Harry and led him into a large circular chamber lit by torches.
A beautiful woman sat on a throne in the middle, the torches leading straight to her. She had long blonde hair, pale skin and dark eyes. At a glance she reminded him of someone he'd seen before, but he couldn't quite place where. It wasn't anyone he knew, he could tell that right way, but perhaps a photograph? But the more he looked at her the more that thought faded. She sat perfectly still, looking almost like an intricate statue as they entered. Her eyes focused on the two of them, shifting between them.
"Hello," Seth said in what Harry felt was the most anti-climatic greeting he could imagine.
"We were expecting you, Setesh," the woman said. Almost as if on cue other vampires started to filter into the room. Harry lost count at a score and turned his attention back to the woman on the throne, trying his best to not look worried.
"It's Seth, actually," Seth said. "May I have the honor of knowing to whom I am speaking?" Seth asked
"We know who you are," she said, ignoring his question.
"I don't think you do," Seth said.
"I assure you we do," she said with a warm smile. Seth shook his head but decided to continue the conversation rather than dwell on it. "We've planned an introduction for a while."
"I hope this wasn't your plan. Your men killed one of mine. I consider that getting off on the wrong foot," Seth said. "They are protected. I trust we won't have a misunderstanding like this again."
"You killed three of mine," the woman said, nodding to her left. Harry looked more closely around her and saw the fourth vampire from before standing there, in the middle of a throng of perhaps ten more as she spoke.
"All three of yours attacked me, unprompted, with intent to kill," Seth said. "I reacted in kind."
"Regardless, three to one," the woman said. "That does not seem balanced, does it, Setesh? More so given that the one who wronged you still lives."
"Seth," Seth corrected, annoyance in his tone.
"I feel it's only fair you give him a chance to defend himself," the woman said.
"Mistress?" the vampire, the one who'd been feeding on Elena and chosen to flee, sounded astonished. Harry got the distinct impression this was not part of his plan. Seth sighed and turned his gaze toward the man.
"Fine," Seth said.
"Oh no, not you," the woman said.
"What then?" Seth rolled his eyes.
"You killed three of my youthful fools. It seems like it would be fairer for your protégé to fight one of mine. A bound duel. One on one, no interference," the woman said. Seth stared at her in silence for ten solid seconds before he nodded.
"Fine," Seth said. He held up his left hand and drew a circle in the air. Harry felt a ring form around the cavern. He found himself standing on one edge. He could see the boundaries in his head. And he knew he wouldn't be able to cross them. He felt suddenly cut off by it all.
"What?" Harry blinked. Seth turned to him.
"He'll be faster than you and if he gets close to you, he will be able to tear you apart without much effort," Seth said. "But you have magic and are more powerful than you know so it should be an even fight."
"I've never done something like this before," Harry argued, fully aware of how alarmed he sounded.
"Fought for your life?" Seth asked. "You've done this more than most. And I'd hazard a guess you've done it more than he has."
"Those situations were far less premeditated," Harry said.
"So, they had fewer rules," Seth shrugged. "That should make it easier."
"I can barely feel my magic," Harry argued.
"You might want to work on that," Seth said. He pushed Harry forward, toward the middle of the room where the vampire had stepped in front of his mistress.
Harry noticed the vampires had fanned around in a circle. He reached for his wand, wondering if the focus would help him. It was reassuring in his hand, he felt the warm thrum of power as his fingers slid over the wood.
He turned his gaze to the vampire before him. He wondered what Seth had done to obliterate the ones in the alley. He should have asked about that before. He turned to look over his shoulder and ask but in that moment the vampire charged.
Harry dived to the side, casting a stunning spell toward the creature. The red light looked feeble as it left his wand and struck the vampire in the chest. It paused for maybe a second mid charge. Enough time for Harry to duck out of the way of its attack, but not much more than that.
The creature slashed back at him, the firelight from the torches reflecting from his nails and Harry jumped back again. He tried a cutter, shooting it straight at the man. It tore his shirt, but did no further damage.
He dodged away from another attack and raised his wand once more. He realized he was already breathing hard. It felt like each spell, while being incredibly ineffective, was taking more and more out of him as he tried to cast.
He didn't bother to think of his third spell. Instead he launched force toward the vampire hoping that it would distract the creature and that it would be less taxing than forming the magic into something specific. It powered through the spell with a roar. Harry waited for it to lunge and apparated to the other side of the room.
The world wobbled around him as he came to. He struggled to stay upright, knowing full well that falling would signal the end of the fight and the end of him. The creature spun around with alacrity and darted for him.
Harry slashed his wand over toward the one of the torches that illuminated the room and summoned it to him. It flew across the room rather slower than he'd expected. The vampire was faster than it but he managed to ram it into the creature before it hit him square in the back.
The vampire spun around and snatched the torch out of the air. He swung it around at where Harry had been moments before, but he'd retreated. The vampire snapped the torch in half and tossed the halves away before he charged again.
Harry took a deep breath as the creature approached. He closed his eyes and focused on his magic. It felt weaker than it should from where he was. But that didn't matter. He focused it into one blast.
He could sense the creature approaching and shot his hands forward, his eyes flashing open as he did. Force sprung from him, a shockwave erupting outward from him. It hit the vampire full on and sent it flying.
He watched the creature hit, neck first, against the far wall as the magic flashed through the entire room. Out of the corner of his eye he saw maybe six or seven of the other vampires stagger as the force hit them. He noticed Seth across from them didn't falter.
The vampire he'd been fighting slid down the wall. Its body twitched slightly but given that the head was nearly sideways on the neck, Harry figured the fight was over. He frowned to himself at the spell. He'd meant to add fire to it, but it hadn't worked how he'd intended. Still, he thought as he tucked his wand into his pocket, it was over. He spent a moment trying to stabilize his breathing and slow his heart.
"Is that all?" he asked, turning to face the blonde leader of the vampires. She raised her brows at him.
"No," she smirked, her gaze shifting over his shoulder. Harry froze for an instant as realization dawned on him. He spun around in time to see the vampire's shoulder smash into him.
He flew backwards about ten paces, landing on his back and skidding across the ground. Pain flashed through him and his vision blurred as his glasses slid from his head. He felt the magic shift to his eyes so quickly he wasn't sure if he was the one doing it. But regardless, his vision refocused, his mind straining with the effort of it all.
He saw the creature charging at him once more. Its head was still tilted comically to the side. It twitched back, as if trying to heal itself as the creature attacked.
Harry tried to push himself further away from the creature to buy himself any sort of time. His feet slid across the dusty dirt of the crypt as the creature closed the gap. His breathing quickened, his eyes started to lose focus as panic stripped him of whatever spell he'd managed unconsciously.
And then, in his blurred vision, he saw the glowing orange orb flickering on the ground where the torch had landed perhaps twenty feet from him. He thrust his left hand out toward it, reaching for it.
But he didn't want the torch. At least not as it was. He pulled the fire from it and forced the flames to come to him. They crossed path with the charging vampire, pulling through him on their way to Harry. He let go and the fire engulfed the creature.
It wasn't enough. The vampire continued toward him. It shrieked in pain as it moved but Harry realized that the fire might kill the creature, but it wasn't going to kill it fast enough. He tried to add more power to the flames. Three or four steps, that was all the time he had before the creature would be on him. And then it would be over.
He tried to think of something he could do to save himself. Anything at all. But nothing came. He watched the vampire close the final steps. He was at least content in the knowledge that the creature wouldn't outlast him by much. He closed his eyes and waited for the flash of pain that would signal the end.
Instead he sneezed. An embarrassing way to die he thought. His eyes flashed open as an ashy dust floated down over him. He sat up, and grimaced as he noticed the pile of grey ash resting on his chest. The cavern was silent for a moment, until the blonde woman shrieked.
"You cheater!" she yelled. "Kill him!"
The vampires reacted instantly upon her orders. Flashes of movement he couldn't fully follow shot past him. One moment they were there, shapes swarming and attacking Seth. In the next, there were only piles of ash littered around the room. The blonde woman stared at him. Her expression filled with a mix of confusion and fury.
"How?" she pleaded as Seth walked toward her. "There's rules even you have to follow. Primal rules. We had you. You are behind a threshold. You shouldn't have been able to interfere in the duel…"
"What was the point of this?" Seth's voice boomed with the command as he approached. The woman flinched away from him. But when she spoke, Harry felt a primal truth in her voice. Her expression led him to believe she couldn't believe she was speaking the truth.
"I was going to be the first one to drink a God…you were the only God we could find," the woman admitted. She flinched against her words. Seth tilted his head to the side and stared at her.
"There's no such thing as Gods," he said. She snorted.
"I am five hundred and twenty-eight years old. I've seen you in four separate centuries. And you did this to all of my men? We know who you are, Setesh," she said. To her surprise, Seth laughed at her.
"Half a millennium and still an idiot," Seth shook his head.
"What?" she snapped.
"If I was who you thought I was, why on Earth would I care about rules?" Seth asked. The woman's expression shifted to one of confusion. And then, after a moment, her eyes went wide with what looked like realization to Harry. But then she was gone. Melting slowly into ash before his very eyes. Seth watched before spinning and starting toward the exit of the cavern. Harry pulled himself to his feet to follow as another voice shrieked through the cavern.
"No!" it yelled. Harry turned to see a dark blur shoot past him, straight toward Seth. It felt for a moment like she was going to succeed, like she'd caught him at the perfect moment. But when she was mere feet away Seth she leaped toward him. Seth turned and their eyes met. And then she landed hard on the ground, sliding away from him, her body immobile.
She was beautiful, Harry thought. Her build was similar to the blonde woman but her features were different, younger. He'd have guessed her age at eight or nineteen. She had long blonde hair, pale eyes, and plump lips.
"What was that?" Harry asked as he managed to walk over to Seth.
"We saw each other," Seth said. He waved his hand and two vials appeared in it. His forearm opened and blood started to flow. He filled the vials and stoppered them before levitating them to the girl's body.
"That's what you talked about before?" Harry asked. "Seeing what people are, but never forgetting?"
"Yes," Seth said.
"And you're not killing her?"
"She wants things to be better. She's free now. We'll see what she decides to do," Seth shrugged. "I'll give her a chance. But she'll have to dig her way out. If she rations the blood she shouldn't starve. Well, if she recovers."
"I…." Harry frowned as he looked toward the still immobile girl. He couldn't feel any magic coming from her, no binding or anything. "What did she see that left her catatonic?"
"Me," Seth shrugged. "Come on. We have work to do at home still."
"Okay," Harry said. He stared at the girl for a few moments, wondering just what could have stopped her in her tracks like that. At least until he remembered something else he'd spoken with Seth about. Thoughts weren't that hard to see, if you wanted to. He hadn't tried it yet. But they'd discussed just how to get into someone's head, to see what they were seeing. He focused on the girl as he stepped backwards to the exit of the cavern.
The cavern shifted around him, the ethereal shimmering that gave away most poorly cast illusions seeming to coalesce into something more real. A large ornate throne sprouted out of the ground. Seth sat across it, one leg hanging lazily off of the side. He wore pale blue armor. His hair was shorter, his features felt more angular. The orange sword from his study was in his right hand. The blade of it pressed firmly into the ground as he used it to prop himself up on the throne. He looked exceedingly arrogant and bored as he peered out before himself.
Behind him was carnage. Tens of thousands of skulls littered the area. Most were man shaped, but there were others as well, giants, dragons, and beasts Harry couldn't put together. They stretched on to infinity behind him, far deeper than the cavern should have been. All of them had one thing in common. They'd tried to attack the man on the throne. None had succeeded.
He blinked himself back to reality. There was more to whatever the girl was seeing, he knew. He could feel it, like there should have been emotions along with the vision. But he couldn't place exactly what it was. A sort of determination, he thought. Or perhaps an inevitability.
"Come now," he heard Seth's voice from the hall that led back to Surrentum. "I'm going to seal it soon."
"Sorry, coming," Harry said. He spared one last glance for the girl before following after Seth. He wondered if any of his questions would ever have something that resembled an answer. Or if there would only be more questions. Or, he thought, if it was even his place to know.
Author's Note: As always thanks for reading. If you'd like, I am on PAT RE ON now at te7writes and I would appreciate any support you're willing to give to allow me to devote more time to this hobby.
Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays!