Chapter 20 – The Third Species
Pulling back to the safer sections of the castle ruins, Snape dropped himself against a cold stone wall as he struggled to regain his breath. The reprieve from battle was far from expected, but if he hadn't known any better, he'd have assumed that Marius had returned. Though he had to admit that this was hardly convenient timing, but that was something he made a note of to discuss with him at a later date. Shell blasts still wrung irritatingly in his ears and looking around, several battered wizards who'd followed him through combat looked to him in worse shape than he'd expected, but each winced or turned their heads suddenly as another distant explosion rumbled elsewhere.
The greater surprise had been that Heliopaths had appeared beneath him even as he fought bitter hand to hand combat with his adversaries. The shock he'd received when a gnarled hand sprung from the dirt and grabbed his foot put a stone cold shiver through his spine even now, but there was no avoiding it. The Heliopaths attracted all sorts of attention when they rose, particularly from the muggles who almost stopped fighting in surprise themselves. Quickly however, the battle turned more so into a bitter strife between the muggles and the Heliopaths, leaving just the opportunity needed to pull back as many wizards as was possible back to the safety of the inner ruins. A choice of which, Snape was beginning to appreciate taking. Few of his original number had the strength left to fight on, battlefield healing was only designed to cope with magical wounds, and Madam Pomfrey wasn't always on hand to help everyone when they required it, leaving a good majority of people to sit down in untreated agony.
A loud roar brought Snape's attention skyward, just in time to see one of the few remaining dragons fly overhead in a powerful surge of leathery wings, before it took to the field and launched several jets of super heated flame into the forbidden forest, raising horrified screams of pain from what Snape could discern at the distance. From his vantage point he could see the minute human form riding the dragon in weaving motions between bright columns of anti aircraft fire that rose from the ground in a vain attempt to shoot the beast down. For a moment the dragon hovered in mid air, flapping it's giant wings in a methodical fashion, blasting the muddied and shell ridden ground below with fireballs. And then out of nowhere, a white tailed missile slammed into the side of the dragon's head, sending it to the ground with a crash, rider and all.
Snape winced at their own misfortune, recalling that he knew the names of a few of the dragon tamers. Some of them he'd been quite good friends with up until they were brought in to help defend the castle. Reluctantly, he suppressed the urge to throw up his breakfast. He'd endured far worse than this at ground level, where the fighting was fiercest afterall. His eyes darted over the field, where fiery explosions ripped the earth every so often, some of which were difficult to tell whether they'd been of muggle or Heliopath origin. Many of the tanks the muggles were using now laid in smoldering ruins towards the edges of his vision, one in particular brandishing a tall red banner, stood out as belonging to that muggle commander he'd seen so short a time ago. The man who seemed he would take no nonsense. Snape held onto hope that the man had been killed when his tank burst into flames, though he couldn't prove it beyond doubt.
The muggles themselves seemed to be lacking the vigor they'd had in the opening of the battle. With the fighting over half an hour old, the Heliopaths turned their offense into a sort of stalemate. Except that the Heliopath numbers continued to grow, their numbers constantly being replenished from the soil. As one fell to a hail of gunfire, two more would rise in their place and start tearing into their enemy the first chance they received. The muggles had begun to lose ground gradually so Snape had noticed. Line after line of troops slowly edged their way backwards across the ground they'd covered, despite the innumerable troops pushing their way forwards from behind, leaving in effect a sense of mass confusion, with the muggle advance halted where it stood. Bodies littered the ground, the Heliopaths beginning to close in an ever tightening semi circle, launching incinerating balls of flame from their hands as they went.
The battle was slowly coming to end… until suddenly the milling masses of muggle soldiers were ripped in two by an enormous explosion of blue, rippling energy that rose a good hundred feet into the air, lifting earth and people with ease. Snape shielded his eyes from the light, as another huge surge of energy annihilated a second muddy patch of ground beneath the enemy, producing a sinister chorus of screams. Quickly his eyes shot to a small area of abandoned land, where a sole, black robed figure stood with his arms outstretched and laughing maniacally.
"MARIUS!" he thought ruefully, as the figure casually launched a third blast into the crowd of muggles, tearing apart their ranks like a waves of breaking water, throwing hundreds of people into the air. Snape couldn't hide his exhilaration at the scene, as the muggle's muffled shouts of surprise quickly turned to cries of horror, before ALL of them began beating at each other to run in the opposite direction, trampling those who couldn't keep up with the masses.
'They're beaten! The muggles are beaten!' shouted a wizard behind him, and Snape whole heartedly agreed with him, producing what seemed his only true smile of happiness for a long time curling at the edges of his mouth. A final energy bolt pummeled into the muggles, destroying the slower of the lot, as though it were a parting gift of sorts, sending them on their way. The muggles were now in full retreat, running back along their path as fast as their legs could carry them, dropping their weapons in the chaos, dispersing themselves into the distance. The Heliopaths began a pursuit, yet even the nimble fire spirits found it difficult to keep up with the terrified muggles who now ran solely for their lives……
Harry emerged with Hermione and Ron a few minutes later, squinting at the dull light, which seemed blinding by comparison to underground. Slowly Harry's eyes adjusted to the changed light, and the moment they did, he gasped. For as far as his eyes could see, the soggy land had been churned to pulp by shellfire, huge holes marring the ground in stretches, like the lunar surface of the moon. With columns of eerie black smoke rising from the ground, the bodies of the dead and dying laid wherever his eyes looked, imprinting upon him a sense of suffering he'd only seen in his nightmares. Muggles, Wizards and Heliopaths laid sometimes in ranks, where whole lines of soldiers had been killed as they walked, none of them given a chance.
Hermione and Ron stood either side of him, Ron with a wide eyed look of shock, and Hermione looking so pale he wouldn't have expected anything less than for her to throw up there and then where she stood, her eyes fixed pointedly on the masses of dead. Ron gulped audibly before he spoke above the silence.
'Harry… we're too late, it's all over, the wizards have lost the battle!'
Harry looked frantically across the ground until he picked out of the smoky haze, a white robed woman kneeling to the ground beside one of the bodies, waving a wand in a complex fashion before the lying figure rose suddenly and limped away after hasty thanks.
'No!' Harry almost yelled, his spirits rising, 'The muggles were beaten, Madam Pomfrey is healing the injured. It's all over! Everything's going to be ok.'
A relieved release of air breathed from behind him, yet Harry couldn't help but wanting to smile. Despite the terrible toll on life, the muggles had been driven back from the school and for the meantime at least, the wizard world was preserved even if only for now… Strangely however, he felt somewhat hollow. A part of him wanted to rejoice at the victory, yet another part wanted to just choke. There was something missing, he could feel it… then as though his thoughts were mirrored in reality, something heavy landed on his shoulder, and he spun his head around instinctively. Before his eyes Marius appeared from thin air, his cloak materializing into that sickening black there where he stood. Ron almost had a heart attack.
Turning his cloaked face down to him, Marius bored his seemingly lifeless eyes into him, and Harry felt an odd shiver pass through him.
'I am afraid you're incorrect Harry, about a great many things…' he spoke in his knife edged way, drawing stares from his friends behind, 'The muggles have only been pushed back as far as I can tell, if something isn't done about it, they will return in even greater numbers…'
Harry turned from him to stare over the field again, the smoke starting to raise a horrible stench in his nose.
'Should something be done then?' he asked curiously, eyeing his surroundings. Marius laughed hoarsely for a moment, arching himself back.
'Look around you Harry! Do you think we're in any condition to go pursuing armed muggles across the country?! We started on the back foot from what I gather, if not for my intervention the wizards would have been surely overrun, and you would be dead…' he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder before he turned to face the two teens standing behind him, who started when noticed so suddenly.
'You two will go to Professor McGonagall and see to it that the other students are retrieved from below ground, I doubt they'd care to stay cooped up much longer, wouldn't you agree?'
Hastily, Hermione nodded her head and grabbed Ron's hand, walking in the opposite direction, obeying without question as though not thinking otherwise as she normally did. Marius turned to Harry once more, but this time holding a far more steely glint in his eyes.
'Alright Harry, where is he?! Where is Dumbledore?!'
Harry stepped back slightly in surprise as his mind reeled. That was what had eluded his mind. Dumbledore! He couldn't believe he'd forgotten about the old wizard so easily, after being caught up in his theory of a great scheme trapping muggles and wizards alike. For a moment he spluttered aimlessly, words escaping his mind as Marius continued to stare deathly towards him.
'Speak now boy, time is of the essence here!' he commanded, and at once Harry's mind triggered.
'The… the Glyph Caves sir.' He muttered, his voice coming out more so like a croak than fluent. Marius eyed him for a moment before he steepled his hands and bowed his head in thought.
'How long has he been there for?' he asked. Harry strained his mind as best he could muster.
'A few days I think. It's been a while I know that, but I've been worried since the shield fell. I've no idea what's happening with him.'
It was all he could come up with, Harry couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by Marius's ruthless stare. For a moment or two the elderly man thought to himself, his mouth working every so often as though in contemplation of a sudden thought.
'I need you to take me to him Harry, you would know better as to where he is than I. I fear that perhaps his spell has gone awry in some way, I won't know for sure until I see him, but I could use you in some way to help I'm sure.'
'Help? How could I possibly help you?'
Marius smiled a little, baring what looked like deliberately sharpened teeth.
'More ways than you know Harry. I never underestimate the use of a mere school student. Take me to Dumbledore, you'll understand soon enough.'
Harry nodded and led the old mage as best as he could. During the battle, much of the landscape he remembered had been blasted apart in some way, making it far more difficult for him to navigate his way to the cave entrance. A thought struck him as to why he hadn't seen it on the Marauder's map when it was in his possession, oh how he wanted that object back. Across shell ridden pits, over ridges and finally beyond clumps of ruined stone and masonry, Harry came to the entrance of a large dark cave. It looked simple enough in it's form, but one would ask questions at the numerous runes spread out over the cave entrance. He couldn't read them, though he assumed it meant something to the effect of a warning against entry.
Disregarding the runes, Marius walked in, his black cloak swishing in the cold draft coming from the cave as he entered. Tentatively, Harry followed, the way hardly seeming as clear as he could remember. The darkness of the cave felt ominous, but when lighting his wand, the dark seemed to pull light in unto itself despite it, making it just as difficult to see more than a few feet in front of himself. Strangely, despite the gloom, Marius seemed to know the way. Perhaps such powerful magic improved a person's vision. He didn't know. But he never put anything past Marius. Just walking before him with back turned seemed to put a bit of a scare through him, if only a little.
Harry didn't know how long it was they had walked, it felt like hours before they walking through musty old caves, each turn looking almost as identical to the one before it. Harry had trouble remembering his bearings, yet even so, Marius seemed to know the way he was traveling. A thought occurred that perhaps he may have been homing in on Dumbledore's… energy. It seemed improbable until at last they found themselves within the remains of a giant spherical cavity some thirty meters to the ceiling, and there in the middle of the giant stone dais, laid a crumpled old man in immaculate robes.
'Dumbledore!' Harry gasped, and he rushed over to the headmaster's limp form. Rolling him to one side he searched for breath but could find none, his wand light showing nothing but a pale face, devoid of life. Walking over slowly, Marius lowered himself down and roughly pushed Harry aside, grasping Dumbledore's pallid face between his hands.
'I pray you're still alive Albus,' he muttered incoherently beneath his breath, 'You're of little use to anyone when you're dead.'
A few tense moments passed, Marius's eyes closed in concentration. Then of a sudden, Dumbledore's eyes shot open, his mouth opening wide, gasping for breath. Harry stepped back unknowingly, taken by surprise, though it did strike him as odd that anything surprised him these days. As far as he was concerned, the wizard world was still a revelation to him. Why, he could still remember when he first got told he was a wizard. When everything he took as being cruelly handed fate was thrown overboard and a new identity was assumed. He couldn't summon a happier memory than that, though he knew now that Dumbledore's pitifully weak form was destined to rank amongst his more sadder memories. Dumbledore represented to him everything the wizard world stood for. Particularly pride, power and respect.
Albus wretched for a few minutes as he fought to regain his strength, every so often coughing up a breath of inhaled dust. Marius held him down on the ground with a stout arm, Albus seeming weaker than a kitten.
'You need to rest Albus, you're lucky you aren't dead. I don't think I need to ask who did this to you…'
Dumbledore looked up to his graying friend without the usual twinkle in his eyes, and struggled briefly to pull himself up.
'You were always naive Albus,' Marius spoke soothingly, a stark comparison to his usual manner, 'But I will not leave you to do further damage to yourself. You've done more than enough for us already, now lie down.'
Dumbledore reluctantly eased himself down, his breaths wheezing from the strain.
'Narcissus… he's gone to Narcissus.' Albus choked out, grabbing onto Marius's robe sleeves, 'Voldemort cannot… he MUST not reach it! You know what is at stake Morheim.'
Marius drew back slightly, wearing a commiserating look.
'Yes Albus, I know what is at stake. But this is one battle you'll have to sit out I'm afraid. Given the circumstances I doubt you could so much as enchant a pebble. Most likely Harry is stronger than you are now…' he shot a rather concerned look to Harry, '…much stronger I believe…'
Harry thought to himself. If his dreams had been true, how much had Dumbledore not told him about his strength. Perhaps he was destined to be a prodigy and Albus had known it all along. Dumbledore turned his head slightly and stared to him, his eyes full of apology the likes he'd never seen previously.
'Harry… please forgive me. There's something I haven't told you, something I should have said a long time ago… you're a child prod…'
'I know Professor.' Harry interjected suddenly, cutting the headmaster off, 'I know what I am, and what I am to become.'
Dumbledore's eyes widened in surprise, while Marius rose a skeptical eyebrow, his face refusing to shift an inch.
'Be that as it may Harry,' Marius spoke quietly, 'You are not invincible. But then… neither am I. Voldemort has traveled to the lost city of Narcissus, and there are, items there that I'd prefer he does not lay hands upon. For the sake of the wizard world, I'll need you with me Harry, no matter how much you think you have or have not got a hold of your abilities. I'd expect no less from you. You've seen what he's done to Dumbledore.'
Harry cast his eyes across at the headmaster. His breathing had become a little more stable now, but he seemed to struggle with all he did, even if only to turn his eyes a given direction. If anything that only seemed to scare him more. If Voldemort could do that to Dumbledore, then what possible chance could he stand, being just a teenager not even out of school?! Yet at the same time it filled him with anger, just to know he was there, spreading his sedition. He knew he couldn't just stand by and hope it would all just blow over. So reluctantly, he nodded.
Marius worked his mouth in a satisfied manner, looking towards a darkened corridor Harry had seen earlier, his eyes narrowing.
'No doubt he's had a very large head start. We should move now Harry, we've lingered long enough. And Albus, I realize the compunction you have sometimes to come to a person's aid, and I fear you are just simply not strong enough for that. For your protection I'm afraid you'll have to stay here. It is for your own good afterall.'
And in an instant he raised his hand, purple flows of energy spiraling around Albus's body, binding his hands and feet. Dumbledore's eyes widened in shock and narrowed ruefully in Marius's direction before the man turned on his heal and began to walk the other way.
'Why Morheim?!' Albus shouted the man, stopping the mage in his tracks, Harry slinking nearby, 'Why did you leave us when we needed your protection most? I cannot imagine the number of lives lost on the surface because of it.'
Marius stood rooted to the spot for a moment, the sides of his mouth curling in stunted frustration, his knuckles growing white beneath his armored gauntlets.
'There are some things that are done out of desire Albus,' he spoke coldly, his dark eyes going bloodshot, 'But there are some things that must be done out of necessity! My leaving was necessary, though I cannot thoroughly explain to you right now. One day Albus, you will understand that. I assure you…' And he turned in a swish of black cloak, proceeding towards the dark corridor in long, swaying strides, leaving the headmaster perplexed and bound where he laid.
'What did you mean by that professor?' Harry asked curiously as he followed, Marius's black silhouette blocking out the light in front of him.
'You wouldn't understand Harry, it's just a piece of advice he gave me years ago that I thought necessary to repeat back to him. Dumbledore can be stubborn sometimes. Hmm… he seemed rather unhappy I said that to him.' Marius chuckled jovially, 'I guess I should've expected no less, it was him afterall who gave me that advice to begin with some fifty years ago. Perhaps old Albus just doesn't like being wrong sometimes.'
'He's stubborn?' Harry asked incredulously, the thought seeming rather foreign to him, 'I'd never picture him to be stubborn about anything. He's always, I dunno… in control of things I guess.'
Marius looked over his shoulder to him, a warm grin spreading over his face as he walked.
'That Harry, comes from knowing him for near your entire life. He's a good man Dumbledore, no doubt about that. And wise too. More so than me by far, but you see, he's used to being right Harry. And sadly it's almost always the case. You can understand how he feels being wrong when he's spent the last seventy years being right.'
Harry nodded absent mindedly at the statement, though it still seemed odd for Dumbledore to want to always be right about everything. Instinctively he made a mental to note to find out more of it when he could, if he ever got the chance. Abruptly they both came to a fork in the tunnels. From the light Harry's wand gave off, neither looked as though they'd been traveled in over a thousand years. Odd that. He'd have expected Voldemort to leave footprints at the least, but then he was noted as being a wizard who got things by means of stealth. Dumbledore himself said that. For a moment Marius stood thinking on which direction to take, and he seemed quite unable to make up his mind.
Suddenly a small ball of light no wider than an outstretched hand floated before him, glowing like a blue star at night. And as quickly as it appeared, it flew from Harry's vision down the right hand tunnel, disappearing into the dark.
'That way.' Marius pointed with his finger, before continuing his stride.
'What was that?' Harry asked, feeling quite confused. Marius didn't bother to turn around.
'A Seeker Sphere Harry.' He answered abruptly, 'Small balls of highly concentrated energy that seek out areas of powerful magic. Had I been out in the country somewhere and used one, it would have led me to Hogwarts, but seeing as we're underground, it leads us to our destination…'
'Narcissus?'
'Yes. Very powerful magic at Narcissus.' And then he added beneath his breath, 'And very dangerous too.'
Harry remembered Dumbledore speaking to him about Narcissus before, and that there were people living there. Wizards he thought. If only he could remember a specific phrase…
"…a great catastrophe befell it's denizens, forcing their kin to abandon the city…" he remembered Dumbledore saying, and he gave a start when Marius suddenly stopped and turned about to face him, eyes wide in surprise. Harry hadn't realized he'd spoken aloud, but there was no pulling it back now.
'You… know of them?' he spoke faintly, or rather, disbelievingly, 'I would never have imagined anyone knowing of the Narcissans… not to mention a young Hogwarts student like yourself.' His eyebrows shot up impressively, 'Clearly you're full of surprises Harry, but alas, you do not know everything. Especially about Narcissus. Just it's general history is rarely passed down through scholars… however.'
And he studied Harry for a moment, squinting his dark eyes in the half light of the cave.
'Seeing as you'll soon witness Narcissus with your own eyes, I should tell you what you may face, there's no telling how useful the knowledge may be… Hmm, tell me what you know of the city, and how you came to know of it.'
Harry let it all out, emphasizing particularly that it was Dumbledore who told him every scrap of knowledge he held, no mater how vague any of it seemed to the mage. Marius simply nodded curtly every so often when a piece of information seemed to hold true to him, but started shaking his head vigorously when he thought otherwise of something Harry had said. And at the end of it all Marius looked at him even more impressed than he seemed before, but still held a look about him that suggested he knew a lot more on the subject than Dumbledore had told Harry to begin with.
'Quite impressive Harry, I must admit.' He complemented, stroking his chin roughly, 'I wasn't sure Albus's knowledge had extended that far… however extensive it may be though, much of it is only half truth, in some cases, the quarter truth. And I feel if you're to walk blindly in there I should set some things straight for you Harry. I'm sure it will benefit you in some way or another. Do you want to know the truth as I discovered Harry, or will you be content to walk in ignorance?'
It seemed more of a statement than a question, so Harry agreed, paying close attention to the grey haired man.
'Have you ever wondered Harry, why muggles grew so apart from wizards that they completely forgot about our existence?'
'Well… yes I suppose. But muggles are happy on their own without magic, they don't need it right?'
Marius shook his head gravely, his mouth twitching at the edges.
'Again Harry, that is only the half truth. Perhaps not even that… You see, it was not always so Harry, the world being divided up into two different societies, completely ignorant of each other. Once, many years ago, it was whole. The world was united, and the people of that time prospered wealthily, much more so than today I might add. And for one simple reason.'
'What was that?'
Marius furrowed his brow as though digging up long lost memories, his jaw working in thought.
'That reason was Principle Harry. A single all encompassing standard that stretched the world over, uniting together distant lands, from rulers and monarchs, right down to the lowliest peasant. Of course the lowliest peasant in those times was probably as wealthy as our minister of magic is today. Remember I said they were wealthy these people… But not wishing to deviate. The standard was of inner strength. That was what they called magic in those days, quite a fitting name I'll agree, and in every person that lived on the planet, each had two inner strengths. Firstly, the strength of Essence. And secondly, the strength of Creation. According to the standard every single person held both of these strengths within them and was thus, treated as equals even with royalty in the same room. That unity is something that even now we cannot achieve, and arguably, it is the greatest trait of the people living at the time.'
'But what does this have to do with Narcissus?' Harry asked, not seeing a pattern.
'This relates to Narcissus in the way that the world fell, bringing about it's creation. You see Harry, even a united world has the need to be ruled, and so a delegation of the divine nations was set to govern the lands and in all likelihood make sure that nothing in the world went wrong. There were five in all. Five divine nations participating in the rule, with a powerful mage chosen to represent each. Their names are as follows; Sean Sei-Tar of Garabon, Moreknair of Lindaria, Cosentine Allan of Sarak, Smenkharis of Zerendul and finally Merlin of Bitaan.'
Harry's curiosity suddenly spiked.
'Merlin?! The great Merlin?'
Marius stood working his mouth more furiously than before, twitching his expression into a sort of sneer.
'Yes Harry, the great Merlin. Fine old mage he was too. For over thirty consecutive generations the divine nations ruled the world in peace and prosperity, nothing coming between the members that could possibly threaten the unity… Until however, something changed. Smenkharis of Zerendul became increasingly irritated by the unity. He was more so the power seeking sort you see, and felt nothing within him for a republican government as did the others.'
'What happened to him?'
'What happened?… He left. Quite simple. However the consequences weren't as simple as that. No divine nation representative had ever fled the unity before in it's grand history. Not from the moment it was first conceived. It is believed he thought himself greater than the other nations. More complete, rather than possessing the two inner strengths that marked a person as equal. That is what the books tell us anyway, we will never really know for sure, but what is known is that with Smenkharis's absence, the unity began to falter. Smenkharis had the notion that a republican government was not what the world needed. He was a firm believer in cold, hard autocracy. That is, having the entire world at the feet of one person. A king. Him to be precise. I said afterall he was the power hungry sort, and he showed his true colors soon enough.'
'Did he ever become king?' Harry asked out of curiosity, becoming quite interested in Marius's story. The old mage shook his head.
'No. He did not. But it wasn't for lack of trying. For he committed blasphemy. Smenkharis trained an enormous army with which to take the world for his own, each one with their inner strengths so refined that they became weapons. Each a person dedicated to soldiering, for which there was no other life… Well, you can guess the reaction of the remaining divine nations. Anger. No one had dared interrupt the balance between the inner strengths and toy with the fabric of unity until Smenkharis. So the remaining representatives melded their power together and turned Smenkharis into a smoking heap of ash when he came demanding for the world throne. Such is the price of glory. Never forget that… However, Smenkharis's death did not bring about order again. Instead it wrought discourse. Civil wars broke out between those who supported world unity and some of Smenkharis's original supporters who believed the man had the right idea. And soon enough armies similar to Smenkharis's started to pop up all over the place and wreak havoc on the land, undoing everything the unity had achieved.'
Marius stroked his chin again, thinking over some deep contemplation as Harry thought to himself about what he'd said. Marius continued.
'Due to the civil wars, the divine nations themselves started to believe against their original teachings, and began to think that the entire cause was in fact every person's inborn strengths. The two of them which Moreknair described simply as being, "Incompatible", and so, with all their remaining power, the divine nations tampered with the human gene pool and produced two castes, one holding only the strength of Essence whilst the other, held only the strength of Creation. Gradually with time, both castes slowly grew ignorant of each other and changed, becoming entirely different species genetically, relying solely on their given strength, choosing to ignore the other. At present day we are now left with Wizards and Muggles. The first harnessing Essence, the other, Creation. And neither is any more knowledgeable about the strength they do not have…'
Harry stood there with his jaw hanging open in awe, stunned with disbelief.
'Wow… so that's how it happened. I've always speculated, but I never thought the reason was so complicated as that.'
Marius stood nodding his head, grim acceptance on his face.
'Yes Harry. Every word of it as true as the history books tell us. However, the story does not end there… Not everyone felt pleased about the idea of turning humanity into a caste species. And when the divine nations proclaimed it, those that disagreed fled to the deepest, most darkest stretches of forest they could find, and finally, underground, determined to hold onto their inner strengths. Those were the Narcissans Harry, over three thousand years ago, running from the inevitable, they built a city of enchanted stone beneath the earth. And it is there that we're traveling.'
And at once Marius recomposed himself and continued to walk down the dark, winding tunnel, still unable to see more than a few feet in front of himself. Harry followed quickly.
'Professor, Dumbledore told me that he'd been to Narcissus before, and he seemed quite convinced that there were still people living there. Is that true?'
Marius looked down at him from the corner of his eye, his face refusing to change expression.
'No Harry it isn't true. People don't live in Narcissus anymore. Not "People" as such. Time afforded the Narcissans the same level of evolution that it did the wizards and muggles. It changed them, more so than any one person can comprehend. They were the only people left after the great casting to still hold the two inner strengths, and their longing to return to that way of life from exile saw to it that they tried to refine their strengths further and further still, until finally, Essence and Creation together consumed them, mutating them into a separate species. One that is more dissimilar to Muggles and Wizards than either combined. They went mad with lust for power, and were irreversibly changed by it. Rumor had it that any wizard or muggle who attempted to enter Narcissus, was taken by the city folk, and sucked dry of their inner strength. That Harry, is what we are walking into, and we will be blessed indeed if we do not attract any unwanted attention by the power hungry remnants of a long lost civilization.'
Harry gulped audibly, and he became increasingly aware of the sweat starting to condense on his forehead. The Narcissans sounded worse than Voldemort and his Deatheaters combined, and he repressed the urge to shudder violently. The darkness of the tunnels beginning to seem a lot more enclosing, a feeling of being watched from all sides. But Marius walked on regardless, his face angled in such bitter control, that Harry could admire him had he not felt so scared at just the story. Marius cleared his throat and halted at the base of a sealed door, the signs of magic being used splayed about it like beacons.
'Voldemort's work no doubt.' He commented as he rubbed gauntleted hands over the stone blockage. 'He probably doesn't want anyone to follow him… Hmm, no matter.'
And from his robes pockets he drew out a long, slender piece of aged willow, elegant forms of dragons carved out on the wood's surface. Marius's wand.
'I almost never use this thing, but I guess a small amount of magic will be harder for to detect, by Voldemort or anyone else for that matter.'
The way Marius emphasized the words "anyone else" seemed to put a chill down Harry's spine, and it persisted even as Marius began waving his wand about.
'Egredior.' He muttered, and a pink stream of magic bound itself to the stone wall and disintegrated it silently, revealing what Harry could only describe as the most beautiful city of earth.
'Remember Harry,' Marius put in before he continued on, 'The people of Narcissus were renegades of a once proud world. Should you see one, run! Otherwise you may well find yourself a walking husk of flesh, without your Essence. For all I know, you may become one of them.'
Harry swallowed loudly again.
'And should that happen Harry, I swear, I will kill you as I must. They are, the Third Species, and are a force that would gladly wreak revenge on an ignorant world. Remember that Harry and everything else I've told you, because now, there is no turning back…'
'….You are bound to me!'
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And with one brave step they walked into the unknown. A merger between present and past. That is another tiring chapter to write, all done because I like you people. I admit we are nearing the end of this story... Yes yes, sad I know, but just think, it makes it closer to the day I begin the sequal, and I've thought up a name for it now too so all of you rest easy. Chapter 21 is on it's way soon so stick tight. I love your reviews, all of you, this story wouldn't have gone half as far without your well rounded comments. So without furthre ado, I better get to typing the next chapter. My school holidays start now so I'll have more time to work on such little interests like this. Happy reading everyone, I hope you all like the story.
Regards: Richard
Pulling back to the safer sections of the castle ruins, Snape dropped himself against a cold stone wall as he struggled to regain his breath. The reprieve from battle was far from expected, but if he hadn't known any better, he'd have assumed that Marius had returned. Though he had to admit that this was hardly convenient timing, but that was something he made a note of to discuss with him at a later date. Shell blasts still wrung irritatingly in his ears and looking around, several battered wizards who'd followed him through combat looked to him in worse shape than he'd expected, but each winced or turned their heads suddenly as another distant explosion rumbled elsewhere.
The greater surprise had been that Heliopaths had appeared beneath him even as he fought bitter hand to hand combat with his adversaries. The shock he'd received when a gnarled hand sprung from the dirt and grabbed his foot put a stone cold shiver through his spine even now, but there was no avoiding it. The Heliopaths attracted all sorts of attention when they rose, particularly from the muggles who almost stopped fighting in surprise themselves. Quickly however, the battle turned more so into a bitter strife between the muggles and the Heliopaths, leaving just the opportunity needed to pull back as many wizards as was possible back to the safety of the inner ruins. A choice of which, Snape was beginning to appreciate taking. Few of his original number had the strength left to fight on, battlefield healing was only designed to cope with magical wounds, and Madam Pomfrey wasn't always on hand to help everyone when they required it, leaving a good majority of people to sit down in untreated agony.
A loud roar brought Snape's attention skyward, just in time to see one of the few remaining dragons fly overhead in a powerful surge of leathery wings, before it took to the field and launched several jets of super heated flame into the forbidden forest, raising horrified screams of pain from what Snape could discern at the distance. From his vantage point he could see the minute human form riding the dragon in weaving motions between bright columns of anti aircraft fire that rose from the ground in a vain attempt to shoot the beast down. For a moment the dragon hovered in mid air, flapping it's giant wings in a methodical fashion, blasting the muddied and shell ridden ground below with fireballs. And then out of nowhere, a white tailed missile slammed into the side of the dragon's head, sending it to the ground with a crash, rider and all.
Snape winced at their own misfortune, recalling that he knew the names of a few of the dragon tamers. Some of them he'd been quite good friends with up until they were brought in to help defend the castle. Reluctantly, he suppressed the urge to throw up his breakfast. He'd endured far worse than this at ground level, where the fighting was fiercest afterall. His eyes darted over the field, where fiery explosions ripped the earth every so often, some of which were difficult to tell whether they'd been of muggle or Heliopath origin. Many of the tanks the muggles were using now laid in smoldering ruins towards the edges of his vision, one in particular brandishing a tall red banner, stood out as belonging to that muggle commander he'd seen so short a time ago. The man who seemed he would take no nonsense. Snape held onto hope that the man had been killed when his tank burst into flames, though he couldn't prove it beyond doubt.
The muggles themselves seemed to be lacking the vigor they'd had in the opening of the battle. With the fighting over half an hour old, the Heliopaths turned their offense into a sort of stalemate. Except that the Heliopath numbers continued to grow, their numbers constantly being replenished from the soil. As one fell to a hail of gunfire, two more would rise in their place and start tearing into their enemy the first chance they received. The muggles had begun to lose ground gradually so Snape had noticed. Line after line of troops slowly edged their way backwards across the ground they'd covered, despite the innumerable troops pushing their way forwards from behind, leaving in effect a sense of mass confusion, with the muggle advance halted where it stood. Bodies littered the ground, the Heliopaths beginning to close in an ever tightening semi circle, launching incinerating balls of flame from their hands as they went.
The battle was slowly coming to end… until suddenly the milling masses of muggle soldiers were ripped in two by an enormous explosion of blue, rippling energy that rose a good hundred feet into the air, lifting earth and people with ease. Snape shielded his eyes from the light, as another huge surge of energy annihilated a second muddy patch of ground beneath the enemy, producing a sinister chorus of screams. Quickly his eyes shot to a small area of abandoned land, where a sole, black robed figure stood with his arms outstretched and laughing maniacally.
"MARIUS!" he thought ruefully, as the figure casually launched a third blast into the crowd of muggles, tearing apart their ranks like a waves of breaking water, throwing hundreds of people into the air. Snape couldn't hide his exhilaration at the scene, as the muggle's muffled shouts of surprise quickly turned to cries of horror, before ALL of them began beating at each other to run in the opposite direction, trampling those who couldn't keep up with the masses.
'They're beaten! The muggles are beaten!' shouted a wizard behind him, and Snape whole heartedly agreed with him, producing what seemed his only true smile of happiness for a long time curling at the edges of his mouth. A final energy bolt pummeled into the muggles, destroying the slower of the lot, as though it were a parting gift of sorts, sending them on their way. The muggles were now in full retreat, running back along their path as fast as their legs could carry them, dropping their weapons in the chaos, dispersing themselves into the distance. The Heliopaths began a pursuit, yet even the nimble fire spirits found it difficult to keep up with the terrified muggles who now ran solely for their lives……
Harry emerged with Hermione and Ron a few minutes later, squinting at the dull light, which seemed blinding by comparison to underground. Slowly Harry's eyes adjusted to the changed light, and the moment they did, he gasped. For as far as his eyes could see, the soggy land had been churned to pulp by shellfire, huge holes marring the ground in stretches, like the lunar surface of the moon. With columns of eerie black smoke rising from the ground, the bodies of the dead and dying laid wherever his eyes looked, imprinting upon him a sense of suffering he'd only seen in his nightmares. Muggles, Wizards and Heliopaths laid sometimes in ranks, where whole lines of soldiers had been killed as they walked, none of them given a chance.
Hermione and Ron stood either side of him, Ron with a wide eyed look of shock, and Hermione looking so pale he wouldn't have expected anything less than for her to throw up there and then where she stood, her eyes fixed pointedly on the masses of dead. Ron gulped audibly before he spoke above the silence.
'Harry… we're too late, it's all over, the wizards have lost the battle!'
Harry looked frantically across the ground until he picked out of the smoky haze, a white robed woman kneeling to the ground beside one of the bodies, waving a wand in a complex fashion before the lying figure rose suddenly and limped away after hasty thanks.
'No!' Harry almost yelled, his spirits rising, 'The muggles were beaten, Madam Pomfrey is healing the injured. It's all over! Everything's going to be ok.'
A relieved release of air breathed from behind him, yet Harry couldn't help but wanting to smile. Despite the terrible toll on life, the muggles had been driven back from the school and for the meantime at least, the wizard world was preserved even if only for now… Strangely however, he felt somewhat hollow. A part of him wanted to rejoice at the victory, yet another part wanted to just choke. There was something missing, he could feel it… then as though his thoughts were mirrored in reality, something heavy landed on his shoulder, and he spun his head around instinctively. Before his eyes Marius appeared from thin air, his cloak materializing into that sickening black there where he stood. Ron almost had a heart attack.
Turning his cloaked face down to him, Marius bored his seemingly lifeless eyes into him, and Harry felt an odd shiver pass through him.
'I am afraid you're incorrect Harry, about a great many things…' he spoke in his knife edged way, drawing stares from his friends behind, 'The muggles have only been pushed back as far as I can tell, if something isn't done about it, they will return in even greater numbers…'
Harry turned from him to stare over the field again, the smoke starting to raise a horrible stench in his nose.
'Should something be done then?' he asked curiously, eyeing his surroundings. Marius laughed hoarsely for a moment, arching himself back.
'Look around you Harry! Do you think we're in any condition to go pursuing armed muggles across the country?! We started on the back foot from what I gather, if not for my intervention the wizards would have been surely overrun, and you would be dead…' he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder before he turned to face the two teens standing behind him, who started when noticed so suddenly.
'You two will go to Professor McGonagall and see to it that the other students are retrieved from below ground, I doubt they'd care to stay cooped up much longer, wouldn't you agree?'
Hastily, Hermione nodded her head and grabbed Ron's hand, walking in the opposite direction, obeying without question as though not thinking otherwise as she normally did. Marius turned to Harry once more, but this time holding a far more steely glint in his eyes.
'Alright Harry, where is he?! Where is Dumbledore?!'
Harry stepped back slightly in surprise as his mind reeled. That was what had eluded his mind. Dumbledore! He couldn't believe he'd forgotten about the old wizard so easily, after being caught up in his theory of a great scheme trapping muggles and wizards alike. For a moment he spluttered aimlessly, words escaping his mind as Marius continued to stare deathly towards him.
'Speak now boy, time is of the essence here!' he commanded, and at once Harry's mind triggered.
'The… the Glyph Caves sir.' He muttered, his voice coming out more so like a croak than fluent. Marius eyed him for a moment before he steepled his hands and bowed his head in thought.
'How long has he been there for?' he asked. Harry strained his mind as best he could muster.
'A few days I think. It's been a while I know that, but I've been worried since the shield fell. I've no idea what's happening with him.'
It was all he could come up with, Harry couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by Marius's ruthless stare. For a moment or two the elderly man thought to himself, his mouth working every so often as though in contemplation of a sudden thought.
'I need you to take me to him Harry, you would know better as to where he is than I. I fear that perhaps his spell has gone awry in some way, I won't know for sure until I see him, but I could use you in some way to help I'm sure.'
'Help? How could I possibly help you?'
Marius smiled a little, baring what looked like deliberately sharpened teeth.
'More ways than you know Harry. I never underestimate the use of a mere school student. Take me to Dumbledore, you'll understand soon enough.'
Harry nodded and led the old mage as best as he could. During the battle, much of the landscape he remembered had been blasted apart in some way, making it far more difficult for him to navigate his way to the cave entrance. A thought struck him as to why he hadn't seen it on the Marauder's map when it was in his possession, oh how he wanted that object back. Across shell ridden pits, over ridges and finally beyond clumps of ruined stone and masonry, Harry came to the entrance of a large dark cave. It looked simple enough in it's form, but one would ask questions at the numerous runes spread out over the cave entrance. He couldn't read them, though he assumed it meant something to the effect of a warning against entry.
Disregarding the runes, Marius walked in, his black cloak swishing in the cold draft coming from the cave as he entered. Tentatively, Harry followed, the way hardly seeming as clear as he could remember. The darkness of the cave felt ominous, but when lighting his wand, the dark seemed to pull light in unto itself despite it, making it just as difficult to see more than a few feet in front of himself. Strangely, despite the gloom, Marius seemed to know the way. Perhaps such powerful magic improved a person's vision. He didn't know. But he never put anything past Marius. Just walking before him with back turned seemed to put a bit of a scare through him, if only a little.
Harry didn't know how long it was they had walked, it felt like hours before they walking through musty old caves, each turn looking almost as identical to the one before it. Harry had trouble remembering his bearings, yet even so, Marius seemed to know the way he was traveling. A thought occurred that perhaps he may have been homing in on Dumbledore's… energy. It seemed improbable until at last they found themselves within the remains of a giant spherical cavity some thirty meters to the ceiling, and there in the middle of the giant stone dais, laid a crumpled old man in immaculate robes.
'Dumbledore!' Harry gasped, and he rushed over to the headmaster's limp form. Rolling him to one side he searched for breath but could find none, his wand light showing nothing but a pale face, devoid of life. Walking over slowly, Marius lowered himself down and roughly pushed Harry aside, grasping Dumbledore's pallid face between his hands.
'I pray you're still alive Albus,' he muttered incoherently beneath his breath, 'You're of little use to anyone when you're dead.'
A few tense moments passed, Marius's eyes closed in concentration. Then of a sudden, Dumbledore's eyes shot open, his mouth opening wide, gasping for breath. Harry stepped back unknowingly, taken by surprise, though it did strike him as odd that anything surprised him these days. As far as he was concerned, the wizard world was still a revelation to him. Why, he could still remember when he first got told he was a wizard. When everything he took as being cruelly handed fate was thrown overboard and a new identity was assumed. He couldn't summon a happier memory than that, though he knew now that Dumbledore's pitifully weak form was destined to rank amongst his more sadder memories. Dumbledore represented to him everything the wizard world stood for. Particularly pride, power and respect.
Albus wretched for a few minutes as he fought to regain his strength, every so often coughing up a breath of inhaled dust. Marius held him down on the ground with a stout arm, Albus seeming weaker than a kitten.
'You need to rest Albus, you're lucky you aren't dead. I don't think I need to ask who did this to you…'
Dumbledore looked up to his graying friend without the usual twinkle in his eyes, and struggled briefly to pull himself up.
'You were always naive Albus,' Marius spoke soothingly, a stark comparison to his usual manner, 'But I will not leave you to do further damage to yourself. You've done more than enough for us already, now lie down.'
Dumbledore reluctantly eased himself down, his breaths wheezing from the strain.
'Narcissus… he's gone to Narcissus.' Albus choked out, grabbing onto Marius's robe sleeves, 'Voldemort cannot… he MUST not reach it! You know what is at stake Morheim.'
Marius drew back slightly, wearing a commiserating look.
'Yes Albus, I know what is at stake. But this is one battle you'll have to sit out I'm afraid. Given the circumstances I doubt you could so much as enchant a pebble. Most likely Harry is stronger than you are now…' he shot a rather concerned look to Harry, '…much stronger I believe…'
Harry thought to himself. If his dreams had been true, how much had Dumbledore not told him about his strength. Perhaps he was destined to be a prodigy and Albus had known it all along. Dumbledore turned his head slightly and stared to him, his eyes full of apology the likes he'd never seen previously.
'Harry… please forgive me. There's something I haven't told you, something I should have said a long time ago… you're a child prod…'
'I know Professor.' Harry interjected suddenly, cutting the headmaster off, 'I know what I am, and what I am to become.'
Dumbledore's eyes widened in surprise, while Marius rose a skeptical eyebrow, his face refusing to shift an inch.
'Be that as it may Harry,' Marius spoke quietly, 'You are not invincible. But then… neither am I. Voldemort has traveled to the lost city of Narcissus, and there are, items there that I'd prefer he does not lay hands upon. For the sake of the wizard world, I'll need you with me Harry, no matter how much you think you have or have not got a hold of your abilities. I'd expect no less from you. You've seen what he's done to Dumbledore.'
Harry cast his eyes across at the headmaster. His breathing had become a little more stable now, but he seemed to struggle with all he did, even if only to turn his eyes a given direction. If anything that only seemed to scare him more. If Voldemort could do that to Dumbledore, then what possible chance could he stand, being just a teenager not even out of school?! Yet at the same time it filled him with anger, just to know he was there, spreading his sedition. He knew he couldn't just stand by and hope it would all just blow over. So reluctantly, he nodded.
Marius worked his mouth in a satisfied manner, looking towards a darkened corridor Harry had seen earlier, his eyes narrowing.
'No doubt he's had a very large head start. We should move now Harry, we've lingered long enough. And Albus, I realize the compunction you have sometimes to come to a person's aid, and I fear you are just simply not strong enough for that. For your protection I'm afraid you'll have to stay here. It is for your own good afterall.'
And in an instant he raised his hand, purple flows of energy spiraling around Albus's body, binding his hands and feet. Dumbledore's eyes widened in shock and narrowed ruefully in Marius's direction before the man turned on his heal and began to walk the other way.
'Why Morheim?!' Albus shouted the man, stopping the mage in his tracks, Harry slinking nearby, 'Why did you leave us when we needed your protection most? I cannot imagine the number of lives lost on the surface because of it.'
Marius stood rooted to the spot for a moment, the sides of his mouth curling in stunted frustration, his knuckles growing white beneath his armored gauntlets.
'There are some things that are done out of desire Albus,' he spoke coldly, his dark eyes going bloodshot, 'But there are some things that must be done out of necessity! My leaving was necessary, though I cannot thoroughly explain to you right now. One day Albus, you will understand that. I assure you…' And he turned in a swish of black cloak, proceeding towards the dark corridor in long, swaying strides, leaving the headmaster perplexed and bound where he laid.
'What did you mean by that professor?' Harry asked curiously as he followed, Marius's black silhouette blocking out the light in front of him.
'You wouldn't understand Harry, it's just a piece of advice he gave me years ago that I thought necessary to repeat back to him. Dumbledore can be stubborn sometimes. Hmm… he seemed rather unhappy I said that to him.' Marius chuckled jovially, 'I guess I should've expected no less, it was him afterall who gave me that advice to begin with some fifty years ago. Perhaps old Albus just doesn't like being wrong sometimes.'
'He's stubborn?' Harry asked incredulously, the thought seeming rather foreign to him, 'I'd never picture him to be stubborn about anything. He's always, I dunno… in control of things I guess.'
Marius looked over his shoulder to him, a warm grin spreading over his face as he walked.
'That Harry, comes from knowing him for near your entire life. He's a good man Dumbledore, no doubt about that. And wise too. More so than me by far, but you see, he's used to being right Harry. And sadly it's almost always the case. You can understand how he feels being wrong when he's spent the last seventy years being right.'
Harry nodded absent mindedly at the statement, though it still seemed odd for Dumbledore to want to always be right about everything. Instinctively he made a mental to note to find out more of it when he could, if he ever got the chance. Abruptly they both came to a fork in the tunnels. From the light Harry's wand gave off, neither looked as though they'd been traveled in over a thousand years. Odd that. He'd have expected Voldemort to leave footprints at the least, but then he was noted as being a wizard who got things by means of stealth. Dumbledore himself said that. For a moment Marius stood thinking on which direction to take, and he seemed quite unable to make up his mind.
Suddenly a small ball of light no wider than an outstretched hand floated before him, glowing like a blue star at night. And as quickly as it appeared, it flew from Harry's vision down the right hand tunnel, disappearing into the dark.
'That way.' Marius pointed with his finger, before continuing his stride.
'What was that?' Harry asked, feeling quite confused. Marius didn't bother to turn around.
'A Seeker Sphere Harry.' He answered abruptly, 'Small balls of highly concentrated energy that seek out areas of powerful magic. Had I been out in the country somewhere and used one, it would have led me to Hogwarts, but seeing as we're underground, it leads us to our destination…'
'Narcissus?'
'Yes. Very powerful magic at Narcissus.' And then he added beneath his breath, 'And very dangerous too.'
Harry remembered Dumbledore speaking to him about Narcissus before, and that there were people living there. Wizards he thought. If only he could remember a specific phrase…
"…a great catastrophe befell it's denizens, forcing their kin to abandon the city…" he remembered Dumbledore saying, and he gave a start when Marius suddenly stopped and turned about to face him, eyes wide in surprise. Harry hadn't realized he'd spoken aloud, but there was no pulling it back now.
'You… know of them?' he spoke faintly, or rather, disbelievingly, 'I would never have imagined anyone knowing of the Narcissans… not to mention a young Hogwarts student like yourself.' His eyebrows shot up impressively, 'Clearly you're full of surprises Harry, but alas, you do not know everything. Especially about Narcissus. Just it's general history is rarely passed down through scholars… however.'
And he studied Harry for a moment, squinting his dark eyes in the half light of the cave.
'Seeing as you'll soon witness Narcissus with your own eyes, I should tell you what you may face, there's no telling how useful the knowledge may be… Hmm, tell me what you know of the city, and how you came to know of it.'
Harry let it all out, emphasizing particularly that it was Dumbledore who told him every scrap of knowledge he held, no mater how vague any of it seemed to the mage. Marius simply nodded curtly every so often when a piece of information seemed to hold true to him, but started shaking his head vigorously when he thought otherwise of something Harry had said. And at the end of it all Marius looked at him even more impressed than he seemed before, but still held a look about him that suggested he knew a lot more on the subject than Dumbledore had told Harry to begin with.
'Quite impressive Harry, I must admit.' He complemented, stroking his chin roughly, 'I wasn't sure Albus's knowledge had extended that far… however extensive it may be though, much of it is only half truth, in some cases, the quarter truth. And I feel if you're to walk blindly in there I should set some things straight for you Harry. I'm sure it will benefit you in some way or another. Do you want to know the truth as I discovered Harry, or will you be content to walk in ignorance?'
It seemed more of a statement than a question, so Harry agreed, paying close attention to the grey haired man.
'Have you ever wondered Harry, why muggles grew so apart from wizards that they completely forgot about our existence?'
'Well… yes I suppose. But muggles are happy on their own without magic, they don't need it right?'
Marius shook his head gravely, his mouth twitching at the edges.
'Again Harry, that is only the half truth. Perhaps not even that… You see, it was not always so Harry, the world being divided up into two different societies, completely ignorant of each other. Once, many years ago, it was whole. The world was united, and the people of that time prospered wealthily, much more so than today I might add. And for one simple reason.'
'What was that?'
Marius furrowed his brow as though digging up long lost memories, his jaw working in thought.
'That reason was Principle Harry. A single all encompassing standard that stretched the world over, uniting together distant lands, from rulers and monarchs, right down to the lowliest peasant. Of course the lowliest peasant in those times was probably as wealthy as our minister of magic is today. Remember I said they were wealthy these people… But not wishing to deviate. The standard was of inner strength. That was what they called magic in those days, quite a fitting name I'll agree, and in every person that lived on the planet, each had two inner strengths. Firstly, the strength of Essence. And secondly, the strength of Creation. According to the standard every single person held both of these strengths within them and was thus, treated as equals even with royalty in the same room. That unity is something that even now we cannot achieve, and arguably, it is the greatest trait of the people living at the time.'
'But what does this have to do with Narcissus?' Harry asked, not seeing a pattern.
'This relates to Narcissus in the way that the world fell, bringing about it's creation. You see Harry, even a united world has the need to be ruled, and so a delegation of the divine nations was set to govern the lands and in all likelihood make sure that nothing in the world went wrong. There were five in all. Five divine nations participating in the rule, with a powerful mage chosen to represent each. Their names are as follows; Sean Sei-Tar of Garabon, Moreknair of Lindaria, Cosentine Allan of Sarak, Smenkharis of Zerendul and finally Merlin of Bitaan.'
Harry's curiosity suddenly spiked.
'Merlin?! The great Merlin?'
Marius stood working his mouth more furiously than before, twitching his expression into a sort of sneer.
'Yes Harry, the great Merlin. Fine old mage he was too. For over thirty consecutive generations the divine nations ruled the world in peace and prosperity, nothing coming between the members that could possibly threaten the unity… Until however, something changed. Smenkharis of Zerendul became increasingly irritated by the unity. He was more so the power seeking sort you see, and felt nothing within him for a republican government as did the others.'
'What happened to him?'
'What happened?… He left. Quite simple. However the consequences weren't as simple as that. No divine nation representative had ever fled the unity before in it's grand history. Not from the moment it was first conceived. It is believed he thought himself greater than the other nations. More complete, rather than possessing the two inner strengths that marked a person as equal. That is what the books tell us anyway, we will never really know for sure, but what is known is that with Smenkharis's absence, the unity began to falter. Smenkharis had the notion that a republican government was not what the world needed. He was a firm believer in cold, hard autocracy. That is, having the entire world at the feet of one person. A king. Him to be precise. I said afterall he was the power hungry sort, and he showed his true colors soon enough.'
'Did he ever become king?' Harry asked out of curiosity, becoming quite interested in Marius's story. The old mage shook his head.
'No. He did not. But it wasn't for lack of trying. For he committed blasphemy. Smenkharis trained an enormous army with which to take the world for his own, each one with their inner strengths so refined that they became weapons. Each a person dedicated to soldiering, for which there was no other life… Well, you can guess the reaction of the remaining divine nations. Anger. No one had dared interrupt the balance between the inner strengths and toy with the fabric of unity until Smenkharis. So the remaining representatives melded their power together and turned Smenkharis into a smoking heap of ash when he came demanding for the world throne. Such is the price of glory. Never forget that… However, Smenkharis's death did not bring about order again. Instead it wrought discourse. Civil wars broke out between those who supported world unity and some of Smenkharis's original supporters who believed the man had the right idea. And soon enough armies similar to Smenkharis's started to pop up all over the place and wreak havoc on the land, undoing everything the unity had achieved.'
Marius stroked his chin again, thinking over some deep contemplation as Harry thought to himself about what he'd said. Marius continued.
'Due to the civil wars, the divine nations themselves started to believe against their original teachings, and began to think that the entire cause was in fact every person's inborn strengths. The two of them which Moreknair described simply as being, "Incompatible", and so, with all their remaining power, the divine nations tampered with the human gene pool and produced two castes, one holding only the strength of Essence whilst the other, held only the strength of Creation. Gradually with time, both castes slowly grew ignorant of each other and changed, becoming entirely different species genetically, relying solely on their given strength, choosing to ignore the other. At present day we are now left with Wizards and Muggles. The first harnessing Essence, the other, Creation. And neither is any more knowledgeable about the strength they do not have…'
Harry stood there with his jaw hanging open in awe, stunned with disbelief.
'Wow… so that's how it happened. I've always speculated, but I never thought the reason was so complicated as that.'
Marius stood nodding his head, grim acceptance on his face.
'Yes Harry. Every word of it as true as the history books tell us. However, the story does not end there… Not everyone felt pleased about the idea of turning humanity into a caste species. And when the divine nations proclaimed it, those that disagreed fled to the deepest, most darkest stretches of forest they could find, and finally, underground, determined to hold onto their inner strengths. Those were the Narcissans Harry, over three thousand years ago, running from the inevitable, they built a city of enchanted stone beneath the earth. And it is there that we're traveling.'
And at once Marius recomposed himself and continued to walk down the dark, winding tunnel, still unable to see more than a few feet in front of himself. Harry followed quickly.
'Professor, Dumbledore told me that he'd been to Narcissus before, and he seemed quite convinced that there were still people living there. Is that true?'
Marius looked down at him from the corner of his eye, his face refusing to change expression.
'No Harry it isn't true. People don't live in Narcissus anymore. Not "People" as such. Time afforded the Narcissans the same level of evolution that it did the wizards and muggles. It changed them, more so than any one person can comprehend. They were the only people left after the great casting to still hold the two inner strengths, and their longing to return to that way of life from exile saw to it that they tried to refine their strengths further and further still, until finally, Essence and Creation together consumed them, mutating them into a separate species. One that is more dissimilar to Muggles and Wizards than either combined. They went mad with lust for power, and were irreversibly changed by it. Rumor had it that any wizard or muggle who attempted to enter Narcissus, was taken by the city folk, and sucked dry of their inner strength. That Harry, is what we are walking into, and we will be blessed indeed if we do not attract any unwanted attention by the power hungry remnants of a long lost civilization.'
Harry gulped audibly, and he became increasingly aware of the sweat starting to condense on his forehead. The Narcissans sounded worse than Voldemort and his Deatheaters combined, and he repressed the urge to shudder violently. The darkness of the tunnels beginning to seem a lot more enclosing, a feeling of being watched from all sides. But Marius walked on regardless, his face angled in such bitter control, that Harry could admire him had he not felt so scared at just the story. Marius cleared his throat and halted at the base of a sealed door, the signs of magic being used splayed about it like beacons.
'Voldemort's work no doubt.' He commented as he rubbed gauntleted hands over the stone blockage. 'He probably doesn't want anyone to follow him… Hmm, no matter.'
And from his robes pockets he drew out a long, slender piece of aged willow, elegant forms of dragons carved out on the wood's surface. Marius's wand.
'I almost never use this thing, but I guess a small amount of magic will be harder for to detect, by Voldemort or anyone else for that matter.'
The way Marius emphasized the words "anyone else" seemed to put a chill down Harry's spine, and it persisted even as Marius began waving his wand about.
'Egredior.' He muttered, and a pink stream of magic bound itself to the stone wall and disintegrated it silently, revealing what Harry could only describe as the most beautiful city of earth.
'Remember Harry,' Marius put in before he continued on, 'The people of Narcissus were renegades of a once proud world. Should you see one, run! Otherwise you may well find yourself a walking husk of flesh, without your Essence. For all I know, you may become one of them.'
Harry swallowed loudly again.
'And should that happen Harry, I swear, I will kill you as I must. They are, the Third Species, and are a force that would gladly wreak revenge on an ignorant world. Remember that Harry and everything else I've told you, because now, there is no turning back…'
'….You are bound to me!'
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And with one brave step they walked into the unknown. A merger between present and past. That is another tiring chapter to write, all done because I like you people. I admit we are nearing the end of this story... Yes yes, sad I know, but just think, it makes it closer to the day I begin the sequal, and I've thought up a name for it now too so all of you rest easy. Chapter 21 is on it's way soon so stick tight. I love your reviews, all of you, this story wouldn't have gone half as far without your well rounded comments. So without furthre ado, I better get to typing the next chapter. My school holidays start now so I'll have more time to work on such little interests like this. Happy reading everyone, I hope you all like the story.
Regards: Richard