Chapter Two:
Bonding of Souls
With a start, Harry sat up in his bed. 'Had it all been a dream?' he wondered. Quickly, he got out of bed and looked at himself in the mirror, almost feinting in the process. His reflection was no longer that of a skinny 15 year old boy, but that of a tall young man. It seemed Harry had grown considerably while in the timeless place. He guessed he was about 5'10 now, and he assumed he would continue to grow in the future. His hair now reached a little past his shoulders (he hadn't been able to cut it while training, and he found he liked his hair long) and it no longer looked untamed. He had more muscles due to his training with Arthur and was now pretty well built for his age.
"Look out Malfoy. I have a feeling you'll lay off for a while this year." Harry muttered to himself as he smirked, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
He quickly dressed in an old pair jeans and a shirt he had. They didn't fit very well, even though he had grown, but he promised himself he would go out and buy some good muggle clothes to wear as soon as he got the chance. He would have to make a stop in Diagon Alley to change his wizard money of course, but he needed to go there anyway.
Once he was dressed, he looked at his clock. It was 9 p.m. Three more hours and he would officially be fifteen years old. And he knew that the phoenix would come then. He didn't know how the phoenix would come; he just knew that it would.
Harry then headed downstairs and found the Dursleys sitting in their living room watching one of their favorite programs. Petunia was the first to notice his entry and his new appearance and shrieked at the obvious changes that had happened to her nephew. This alerted Vernon and Dudley and they too yelped in surprise at what had happened to Harry.
"Y-you…you've been doing magic in this house boy!! H-how dare you! You didn't look like that yesterday!!!" Vernon continue to babble while Dudley and Petunia hid behind their husband (well Dudley tried anyway).
'Yesterday? Haven't they noticed that I've been in my room asleep for two whole weeks?' Harry wondered, but then realized that Merlyn must have done something so that they didn't notice his absence.
"I haven't been doing magic Uncle. I've simply had a…growth spurt. It's quite common among us magiks."
Vernon, who now had to look up slightly at his nephew, was seething with rage. He had said the M word.
"You ungrateful brat! I told you never to use that word in my house. I'll beat you so badly you won't be able to attend that…that school of yours! You'll be lucky if I let you even go to the hospital! You freak! Just like your parents, they were freaks too, should have been shot-" That was the last straw for Harry.
"Don't you dare talk about my parents." said Harry angrily, while a definite magical energy seem to grow inside the room, shocking the Dursleys enough to make them be quiet.
"You don't know anything. My parents gave their lives so that I could live. That's more than I can say for you three. I didn't ask to stay here! I didn't ask for your so called charity for the last fourteen years! I didn't ask to be different from anyone else!" Harry was starting to calm down; doing a mental exercise Merlyn had taught him.
"But that's your problem. If it's different then it must dangerous, freakish, deadly, or downright WRONG. Well guess, what, locking a child up in a cupboard because he is different from you is WRONG."
Harry turned and walked back upstairs, leaving his relatives still cowering in fear of Harry.
Harry was sitting on his bed waiting for the clock to hit 12:00 a.m. It was currently 11:58. He had exactly two minutes more to ponder how much his life was going to change. Would he look different? Would he feel different? What exactly would change about him, if anything at all? Harry cursed himself for not asking Merlyn these questions before. He certainly didn't have to go see him now, what with the phoenix coming and all.
11:59, one more minute.
Harry sighed and wondered why time was so slow when you were waiting for something.
Finally, there ten seconds left, and more questions flashed through his mind.
9….How powerful will I become?
8….What will Ron and Hermione say when I'm able to tell them?
7….Should I tell Dumbledore?
6….What was it like for Mum?
5….Will there be things I can no longer do?
4….What sort of powers will I receive?
3….Are they sure I'm worthy of this?
2….Does Voldemort know?
1….Why can't I be normal?
The clock blinked 12:00 a.m. At first, nothing happened. All was quiet, even the crickets outside his window. But after a few moments, Harry felt it. It was the same feeling of energy and goodness that he felt in his dream of Vivian, the feeling that had led him out of the dark place to Fawkes.
Not sure what he was supposed to do, Harry simply sat there and waited. The feeling growing closer and closer with each passing moment until finally an extremely bright light flashed in his room. It was so bright; Harry was forced to cover his eyes with his arms. But it seemed to be no use. As he tried to protect his eyes from the bright light, he felt something pass through him. It was only slightly painful , but it was shocking to say the least. Finally the light in his room vanished and cautiously Harry opened his eyes, only he was surprised to see that once again, he was no longer in his room. Instead he was in a very odd place. All around him was a deep blue haze, and a light, silvery fog hovered just below his waist. The place was eerie, yet beautiful at the same time.
[[[Hello Harry]]]
Harry spun around but found no one. Whoever had said his name, it sounded like more than one voice speaking at the same time. Harry continued to look around him in fright. He wasn't sure if this was what was supposed to happen.
[[[Do not be frightened young light, we will not harm you. You know us from Merlyn.]]]
"You're the Akitians. But, why can't I see you?"
[[[We are the Akitians; the race before humans, and the magic of the world. You can not see us because our souls are not yet bonded enough for our auras to become one. That will happen after we have been fully bonded enough. When that happens, you will be able to see our true form or the forms of individuals of our race]]]
"You mean, we're already bonded?" Harry asked.
[[[Yes]]]
"But Merlyn always talked about having to prepare me for our bonding. He said that the amount of energy I would receive could destroy me if I wasn't prepared for it! All I felt was something going through me. It didn't even really hurt."
[[[That is because Merlyn was unaware of a one detail young light. The reason Voldemort sought to kill your father and yourself is because he believed that your father was bonded to us and that when he killed him, we would bond next with you. Voldemort did not know that it was in fact your mother who was bonded to us, which is why he had no interest in killing her. But when she sacrificed herself for you, her love, along with a part of our soul went into you, helping to protect you from the Avada Kedavra curse. So you see, the pain of completely bonding with us now wasn't as painful as it should have been because we were already partially bonded to you. The reason we did not completely bond with you when you were a baby was because your body was already too weak to handle so much more energy. So we decided to wait until the day we felt you were ready. That day is today. Now do you have any questions?]]]
Harry stood there for a moment as the pieces of his past and Voldemort finally came into place. A million questions rushed into his mind. But he decided to ask the one that had been nagging at him for quite some time now.
"I do have a few questions. Firstly, if my mother was bonded to you, why didn't she just defeat Voldemort on her own? With you bonded to her, didn't she have enough power?"
[[[Good question young light. It also brings us to another reason you felt so little pain from our bonding. You see, with each new person we bond with, we bestow upon them different gifts. Merlyn, we gave the gift of life and from that gift stemmed his abilities. Because we in a sense created him, he inherited some our powers.
Others, we bestowed the power of voice, voice to reach out to people and touch their hearts to accomplish peace. Some we bestowed some our power so that they could defeat great evil. Your mother, we bestowed a very different gift. Our gift to her was you Harry.]]]
"Me? What do you mean?" said Harry shocked.
[[[Soon after your mother married your father, she discovered that she was unable to have children. Not even the magic that wizards and witches are capable of in this world could help her. In her despair, she cried out for someone, anyone to help her. And we answered. We told her that we would bond with her, and make it possible for her to have children, so that she and her husband could share their infinite love with the child that they had wanted for so long. We did not create you as we created Merlyn, but we did help to bring about your existence. By helping your mother, and creating Merlyn, who you are a descendent of. So you are as much a part of us as we are apart of you. You are now completely bonded with us, and we are completely bonded with you.]]]
Harry stood there a moment, trying to absorb all he was hearing. Finally he asked another question.
"So what exactly is your gift to me?"
[[[Before we became one being, the prophet had another vision. That of a young boy, who would rise up in the midst of darkness like a phoenix from flame and bring hope to all those in need. He would bring everlasting peace to the world and create balance between good and evil. He would have the help of the wise fox, the lord of the skies and the earth, and the eternal healer. That boy is you young light. That boy is you. And because of this, we are now forever bonded to you, more so than any other we have ever bonded with. You have our power, and our guidance. But most of all Harry, You now have yourself.]]]
"Malfoy! What news of the ministry and Fudge?" A Snake like man hissed to a figure that was bowed before him wearing black robes and a mask of a skull. The snake like man was Voldemort, newly resurrected and beginning to organize his deatheaters into a stronger force than they had been during his first reign of terror.
"Master, that idiot Fudge still refuses to believe that you have returned. Only a select few believe that muggle-loving fool Dumbledore. But his influence is great, and he will soon gain more assistance."
"I see. And the dementors?" Voldemort hissed.
"They do not believe me when I say that you have returned. They say that if you have truly returned, they wish to see you for themselves."
Voldemort smiled evilly.
"Tell them they will see me soon enough. And when they do, I will have a nice treat for them."
"Yes Master."
Lucius Malfoy then left his master's chamber quickly.
"Wormtail!"
A cowering figure with a silver hand came forward and bowed low to his master.
"Y-yes m-m-my lord." He stammered.
"You are a fool and a coward Wormtail. You are lucky that I keep you alive, which I only do because you may prove more useful to me later on."
"Y-y-y-yes master."
"Have you located the Giant village?" asked Voldemort.
"Yes m-m-master. They are located in a large forest, in northern Ireland."
"Then what are you waiting for you fool!? Go to them and offer a deal." Voldemort hissed angrily.
"Of course m-master! I'll leave immediately!" Wormtail turned around quickly and began to leave the room when he was suddenly hit by the crucius curse. As he writhed around on the ground in pain, Voldemort said icily, "I don't remember giving you permission to leave Wormtail. Perhaps this will teach manners." Voldemort laughed as he watched Wormtail scream in pain. All the while, a small spider crawled out a high window, and headed for a place called Hogwarts.
"So when will I be powerful enough to defeat Voldemort?" asked Harry.
[[[It will take you quite sometime to master your power. We will help you in any way we can. You will be able to talk to us any time you want. Simply reach out with your mind and we will always answer.]]]
"Thank you, umm..what exactly do I call you?"
[[[You may call us whatever you wish. But our King's name was Kainan, Kai as his many always called him.]]]
"Kai it is then."
Harry began to think of himself as leaving the place where he was able to meet with Kai. He soon found himself back in his room. And he noticed that he didn't feel any different. Walking over to the mirror, he didn't see anything different.
[[[Look at your back Harry.]]]
The voice spoke in his mind and it startled Harry.
"I'll have to get used to that." He said as he took off his shirt and looked at his back in the mirror with awe. On his back was a tattoo of sorts of a beautiful white phoenix with a silver tail. It was rising from dark blue flames, and instead of the blue eyes Merlyn had described the phoenix as having, this one had green eyes.
[[[That is your mark. The mark that shows you are the one true phoenix, the last remaining memory of the Akitians.]]]
Harry smiled and lay on his bed, extremely tired. The sound of phoenix song lulling him to sleep.
Authors Note: Thank you to all who reviewed!
StuffedTiger: Thank you for your compliment! And don't worry, I plan to.
Della Luna: I've got the whole Akitian thing in my head (it just popped in there one day, don't where it came from) and I'm trying to explain it as clearly as possible. If you think I need to add anything else, just let me know.
Jamesoletmebe: Don't worry, Harry will have to grow into his powers. And you're right; there wouldn't be much of a story without conflict. And by the way, I love recommendations, they help me write better. ;)
Songhamdragon: I try to keep chapters coming as soon as possible. I can't always though, but I do try.
Billy: Thank you! I was going for interesting, and I think this is atleast a little original.
Nexus: Thanks, any suggestions let me know.
Bucky: The H/G will come soon. I'm a big fan of the H/G ship (their soul mates, and that's all I have to say on the subject!! :P) so I wouldn't dream of leaving it out.
Hexwa: I will! I promise!
Ian: I thought the dream sequence was a little overdramatic, so I wasn't sure about it. But I decided to go ahead with it. As for the power thing, well, he'll have to grow into it. So its not like he's all of a sudden "Don't mess with me, I'm a god." And he actually never will be. We'll just have to see how things play out.
A: Thank you for your compliment. If you have any suggestions, or if I stray from my path, don't hesitate to let me know.
Heather: Well kind of. He only saw himself because all he was thinking of was his own guilt. He hadn't yet mature enough to realize that some things are simply meant to happen for reason. It also represented the fact that he had yet to say aloud that he wished his parents had lived and he had died, same with Cedric. When he said it aloud, the images of what could have happened finally showed themselves in the mirror. Sometimes, to see the truth, we have to acknowledge our own ignorance.