A/N: All right, if you thought you were confused before, that is nothing compared to what this chapter may do to you. Hell, I'm writing it and sometimes I get confused. That's why it took me a bit to finish this.  I suggest you read through this a few times if you're having troubles, as most things are explained in here. And the more you're confused, the happier it makes me. I love messing with people's heads. If the Catholics are right, I'm going to spend an extra week in Purgatory for enjoying this too much. *grins unrepentantly*

Random inquiry: I'm thinking about going back and writing the back story of the universe; how it was created, what the Guardians are, and how everything got started including the conflict that I mention in this chapter. It would be a piece of original fiction that I might pursue getting published. Would any of you be interested in reading that? And if it does get published, maybe buying a copy? Let me know.

Thanks to Raven Eades, who not only is my wonderfully awesome beta for the past couple chapters, but also is an incredible writer herself who has completed her first novel. I sincerely acknowledge her talent by temporarily borrowing part of her creation for my own pleasure. **winks**

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Co. are property of JK Rowling and whoever she's leased them out to. No copyright infringement is intended, for they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Not making any money period, not from this story or anything else I'm doing, so suing me is completely pointless. However, I do own the Guardians, the Shamak'la, Eva and this alternate universe I've created. Do not use them without my permission.

Chapter 35

Harry looked around the golden chamber of the Council of the Guardians, trying to take it all in.

Six Guardians sat in chairs that resembled a cross between a judge's stand and an emperor's throne, with one left empty at the far end. That one had to be for Death, who stood beside him proudly, almost regally, emanating waves of power around her that he had never felt before.

On the floor in front of him sat about 15 or so beings, some humanoid, others of a structure so strange they defied classification as Harry knew it. They were grouped in some sort of pattern, as if assigned to one of the Guardians. Harry saw the silver one who had summoned them by the first lady's chair, next to a solid-looking creature of rock and soil.

On either side and behind him sat more of these beings, the ones Fate had called Shamak'la. These must be the workers who carried out the Guardians' orders. He let his eyes wander over them, skipping past some that made his brain hurt just to look at them, then he started.

He thought he caught a glimpse of a familiar face lurking towards the back. He blinked and looked again. She was gone.

Then the first lady who spoke, the one with the clothing woven of plants, interrupted his inner musing. "Lady Death, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Death said quite calmly, "I have only done what was needed to be done. The Prophecy has been fulfilled, wrongs made right, and power has re-shifted. I no longer take orders from another."

The lady with the book and the long black hair sighed. "That is not sufficient. Why have you done this?"

Death looked at her with a hard glint in her eyes. "I would not have had to, Destiny, if you and your sister had stuck to your jobs."

Fate shifted in her seat, brown hair gaining tints of Weasley orange in irritation. "Death, you violated your Code long before we did anything. Why?"

Death looked her right in the eye. "Because I was ordered to."

The boy with wildly messy brown curls leaned forward, intrigued. "By whom?"

Death gazed around at all of them, meeting their eyes with her own silver ones to emphasize her words. "It was a combination of you and circumstances, but eventually came down to him." She gestured at Harry.

Immediately the Guardians started muttering amongst themselves, and Harry recoiled in shock. "What?!" he blurted out. "What the hell are you talking about? You've been ordering me around!"

The Guardian who looked so much like a sixteen year old boy chuckled. "And the plot thickens. You seem to be at the heart of everything."

Harry glared at him, anger and weary confusion overriding his common sense that was screaming at him to shut up. "Who are you? Who are all of you? And what exactly is going on here?"

The Guardians all looked at him, then the boy stood up. "Very well. You deserve a formal introduction. I am Chaos, master of random destruction, mayhem and general confusion."

The old woman with bright golden eyes stood next to him. "I am Love, purveyor and controller of the greatest of human conditions." She gestured towards the beings at her feet. "These are my Shamak'la: Eros, Agape, Ameritus, and Narcissus." The four beings nodded to Harry as they were introduced.

Next the plant lady, who reminded him a bit of Professor Sprout, stood. "I am Nature, mother and guardians of all living things and the elements. These are my Shamak'la: Flora, Fauna, Fire, Wind, Earth, and Water." The first two nodded respectfully at him, but the four Elements bowed low to him in homage.

Nature smiled at Harry. "They pay honor to one who has proven himself by pledging his life for their mistress. You control part of them, which they gladly submit to." Harry nodded in understanding, eyeing the beings as the vows of his staff once again echoed in his mind. He hadn't quite realized the full ramifications of that until now.

The young man who reminded him so much of Dumbledore rose. "I am Time, keeper of secrets of the everlasting and controller of eternity. These are my Shamak'la: Past, Present, Future, and the little ones are Chronos and Kairos." They nodded, but the two smaller ones, children really, smiled and waved, eliciting a small smile from Harry.

Destiny stood. "I am Destiny, mistress of the realms, scribe and recorder of Time and writer of the books of Life."

Fate stood last. "I am Fate, sister of Destiny, the Lady Luck and master of chance."

Death smiled slightly. "I am Death, keeper of souls and the great equalizer. These are my Shamak'la: War, Sickness and Age." Three rather nasty looking beings gave him a half-bow from the edge of the group, as close to their mistress as possible.

Harry looked at all of them staring at him. "Er . . . hello?"

Nature smiled a bit with motherly amusement. "And you are?" she prompted, and Harry flushed slightly.

"Oh! Sorry. I'm . . . I'm Harry Potter."

Destiny nodded in recognition. "Phoenix Lord, War Mage, Boy Who Lived and Child of Light. We have watched you for a long time, young phoenix."

Harry rolled his eyes at the titles, hating them. "I'm just Harry, thank you. And what does that mean anyway, Child of Light?"

Destiny raised her eyebrows. "It is a common honorific given to those whose lives are bound by prophecy. You represent a nexus of possibilities and hope to those around you. Your life dictates several possible lines of destiny and is a bright spot in my books."

Fate snorted. "Not this one."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "So basically you mean I'm your pawn. A plot device to drive the story forward."

Destiny hesitated. "Well, I would not put it that way."

Harry frowned, but Fate grinned widely at him. "Don't worry so much, young phoenix. For a while now, no one has been able to control you. You messed up Destiny's plan so much more than I or Chaos ever could. Chaos has been especially proud of you."

Chaos grinned. "Yep, you and those Weasley twins. The Marauders were also a lot of fun to watch, but they were a bit more deliberate about their pranks."

Destiny leaned forward a bit so she could see the boy and frown at him. "Your encouragement doesn't help. Thanks to this mortal, my books are completely useless." Now she turned that frown on Harry, who scowled back.

"Oh, so you're mad at me for exercising free will instead of going along with your predestination. If you had done your job, Destiny, you would have foreseen this."

Love interrupted before any further arguments could erupt. "Let us get back on track. Death, why did you take it to yourself to begin taking mortals before their prescribed time?"

Death shook her head. "That was not my idea. I was bound to do so by orders."

Time frowned. "I must admit that I am perplexed. How did a mortal, by your own admission, gain control over a Guardian to the extent of violating the Code? Especially as he seems to be unaware of doing so."

Death glanced first at Fate, then at Love. "Who was it who began the whole prophecy fulfillment 20 mortal years ago?"

Love blushed delicately, then her features shifted and changed to that of James Potter, including the messy hair and glasses. Harry started a bit in shock and stared wide eyed at the teenage version of his father. They were right – he did look a lot like his dad.

Love said, "James loved Lily, and she returned his feelings although she was reluctant to admit it. From the beginning they were soulmates. Their love strengthened each other and those around them, especially in such dark times. Fate just had to give them a push."

Fate sighed a bit. "I checked Destiny's books before I did anything. It pushed up the possibility of the prophecy a bit, but not outside of limits and the outcome should have remained the same."

Harry frowned. "What do you mean, pushed up the possibility? Are you saying it wasn't supposed to be me in the first place?"

Destiny shook her head. "No, young phoenix. It actually hadn't been decided yet. I only write so far ahead in my books, and as I said, a Child of Light is a nexus of possibility. From the point of your birth the line splits into several probable paths to take, waiting for one event to show the right path.

"I knew that one was to be born, but at any given time there are at least five Children in existence. The previous one had set off a chain of possibilities, and only in two of those did you as the next Child exist. Fate gave a push, James married Lily, and the possibility of your existence became a reality."

She shot a glance at Time, who was smiling triumphantly at her. "I guess Time had it right. If the Prophecy had waited any longer, it could have turned out much worse for all worlds."

Incredulous, Harry exclaimed, "Worse?! How could things have been worse?!"

Fate arched her eyebrow and smirked at him. "Your realm could have self-destructed and ceased to exist."

"Oh," Harry said quietly, a bit abashed. "Yeah, that would have been worse." He looked up at Death with a frown. "So why did you take my parents early?"

Death sighed. "With your birth, possibilities shifted. Your parents were questionable, but still destined to live a long time. But certain circumstances . . . changed things. Peter Pettigrew was not supposed to turn traitor, and Tom Riddle was not supposed to gain the knowledge of the beginning rituals of immortality. Those are forbidden, as they shift the balance of power out of my hands. In face, that type of knowledge is supposed to be mine alone."

Nature leaned forward, eyes wide. "You think Lucifer took them when he left?"

Death nodded a bit sadly. "Yes. I did not know, since he held them for so long without using them. He took that power out of my hands and gave Riddle a measure of control over me. I could not take him, banned by my own power."

She glanced sideways at Harry. "He was slated to die years ago. He was not supposed to become Voldemort or kill your parents, but he did anyway. I had to take them. But your life was protected by prophecy, which is why you survived. His power was diminished with defeat and partially given to you, which included most of his physical immortality. Between the two, you gained greater control over me."

Harry rubbed his forehead. "Wait. If a prophecy shields a life, then why hasn't anybody else controlled you before?"

"Well, nobody's ever really directly challenged Destiny's plan before. Prophecy usually determines what people do in life. Rarely does it determine the time of death for the Child of Light, and even then that fits into my Code, for they fulfill their purpose beforehand."

Harry sighed heavily. "What makes me so different?"

Time rapped his fingers on the arms of his chair as he regarded the young man. "You are part of a conspiracy that has existed for millennia, one that stretches across the realms of time and space to when we were first created."

Destiny nodded and tapped her book. "The Prophecy of the Talismans."

At his confused look, she elaborated, "Most prophecies are made by those mortals who, by Fate or ability, are granted small glimpses into my books. They can speak of times, events, peoples or places, but rarely do they determine outcomes of actions. But this one has existed since before your race and realm were even thought into existence."

Fate shifted in her seat, absently rolling her dice along her fingers. "Never mind that now. Death, you say that you had no control when you violated your Code, that others dictated your actions. Yet what about him?" She gestured at Harry. "Even if he is the one controlling you, he should not be here."

"In fact," Destiny piped up, "he does not have his time marked. You should not have been able to touch him."

Nature frowned. "And you certainly should not have been able to send the others back. Even though they were removed early, to resurrect them is . . . unnatural. It violated not only your Code and your limits, but mine as well."

Harry and Death looked at each other, and Harry said quietly, "You weren't supposed to have any contact with me, were you? Directing me to the talisman, letting me search the shadow archives, showing me that dream about Snape, telling me about my parents – you were violating orders even then, weren't you?"

All the Guardians sucked in sharp breaths and Harry could see they all were shocked. "You . . . you spoke with him before?" Nature murmured. "Took him to the shadow archives? How . . . why?"

Fate narrowed her eyes, calculating. "They only way you could have done that was to . . ."

Death interrupted, "Yes, I did. I had to."

Chaos chuckled dryly and settled back in his seat. "Well, that explains a lot then. Although I can't imagine that you of all of us would be so stupid. Did He drop you on your head when you were created?"

Fate snorted. "You should talk. Whose idea was it again to let them discover explosives? Or television? Or alcohol for that matter? Nothing like Jello shots at a frat party for some good old fashioned carousing."

"Hey! Don't knock the fireworks! And alcohol was a perfectly good idea and amusing at that. The execution may have been a bit off, but . . ."

Harry furrowed his brow, confused, as he turned from their little by-play to Death. "What did you do?

Death refused to look at him, so Destiny quieted her sister and leaned forward, eyes hard. "Tell him, Death. Tell him what you did to him."

Death scowled at her, but said without looking in his direction, "That summer, every night when you fell asleep, I killed you."

Harry simply stood there, blinking in shock and unable to do anything else. "What?!" he finally managed to choke out.

Death nodded grimly. "Those were no dreams. I took you every night, but every night you fought back to life, eluding my grip. I could not control you, not the way my Code said."

Chaos smirked. "I think you've died once for each time Trelawney said you would over the years. You should be a super-concentrated ghost or something."

"You ever heard that old saying, 'Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger'?" Fate leaned on one arm casually, gray-green eyes fixed intently on Harry. "For you that was literally true. Every time she took you, you took a little power from her in order to live again, but ended up controlling her through that power."

Death didn't acknowledge that statement, but Harry could tell that it was the truth by the slight slump in her shoulders. "When I found that Lucifer was searching for the talismans, I had to take action. I could not allow him to gain control of them, so I did what I could to stop him – set you on the path to them."

Destiny glared at her furiously. "That is a direct interference with my duties. You were out of line," she said with icy menace.

Death straightened and met her glare for glare. "You were not going to do anything about it. I saw your books. Your plans called for him to find the talismans years from now. You did not even see that Lucifer already had his servants searching for them in earnest."

Fate sputtered, "He shouldn't have been able to find them at all! We forbid him from direct interference in that realm to keep him away from them!"

Death snorted softly. "Like that could stop him. He finds ways around rules; you know that." She turned back to Harry. "I tried to use you to find and destroy the important one, the dagger. If you had destroyed it as I told you to, none of this would have happened."

Harry rolled his eyes at her. "We've been over this. You approved of my plan when I told you I was keeping it."

Time stared at Death intently with his piercing blue eyes. "You had to know what it was going to do to him." Death glared at him, but he still asked, "Why did you do it?"

Once again in her matronly form, Love had been keeping silent for a long time, preferring to watch Death, but now she spoke. "You have a strange attachment to this mortal."

Death froze, then slowly turned her silver gaze to Love. "What do you mean?" she asked in a carefully composed voice, but Love simply arched an eyebrow at her.

"I did not think that my powers could affect another Guardian, even one in your condition. This is unexpected."

Death shook her head, silver strands whipping about her face. "No. You are wrong. You cannot influence me. Your powers have no control here, not over me."

Love shrugged lightly. "Say what you wish, but I recognize my own signature."

Harry looked between the two of them, steadily growing more confused even as the words made him uneasy. "What's going on?"

Chaos grinned mischievously at him. "Seems Lady Death's got the hots for you."

"WHAT?!" Harry shouted, taking an involuntary step back. "That . . . . that's impossible!!"

Fate frowned in his direction, eyes raking him up and down as if evaluating him. "Yet another mandate of mine she flouted," she groused, and Love turned a golden eyed gaze on her.

"Serves you right. I don't like being banned from people just for your peace of mind."

"My peace of mind?" Fate scoffed. "That's Destiny's deal, not mine. And besides, look how much trouble you've caused.. I didn't want anything to screw up the plan, but somehow your interference strikes again!"

Nature shook her head. "Do not blame Love. It is in their nature to love, and very unnatural for one to never truly know some form of it. There are many who wished to love him, but it was your decree, Fate, that drove him to ignore them and deliberately weaken himself."

Fate hissed, "Love makes the strongest men weak, a crack in an otherwise flawless armor. Our warrior could have no weaknesses."

Time curled his lip. "He is mortal and imperfect, and therefore has weaknesses. Love is a strength as well as a weakness. A mother's love saved her child, a friend's love could have guided and supported him, and a woman's love would have held him back from the abyss."

Fate exhaled heavily, holding up her hands as if to ward off the attack. "Am I now the one on trial? I followed my mandate set in the Code of the Guardians. Death broke and bent them for her own purposes and power until they came around and stabbed us all in the back!"

Chaos snickered. "Getting a little defensive there Fate. One might think you were hiding something."

Fate's lip twitched as she retorted, "The only thing I'm hiding is my irritation with you, as well as a baseball bat to hopefully knock some sense into Death unless she quits with the finger-pointing."

Chaos' eyes lit up as he ran his gaze appreciatively over her tight clothing. "You're hiding a bat in there? I'd like to see that."

Eros giggled as Fate's eyes bulged out and flashed pink then red as well as her cheeks. Harry looked down at Fire and asked softly, "Are they always like this?" Fire nodded with what might have been a sly smile.

Destiny bit her lower lip with amusement at her sister, then turned back to Death. "Lady Death, you have not given an adequate justification of your actions, nor shown understanding of the consequences. Why did you take it upon yourself to intervene and circumvent our jobs instead of warning us and letting us take action as determined by our mandates? We are all supposed to work together here."

Death shook her head. "When one law is broken, sometimes it takes another broken to fix it again."

Nature smiled. "Fight fire with fire?"

Time let out an undignified snort that made him seem more like Chaos for a moment. "You call your solution fixing it? Your fire burned more destructively than the original embers."

"Death, I know you hate to lose control, same as I," Destiny said in a soothing tone. "The restrictions must have chafed. But your actions did not let you regain control or your own power. Instead you stole it from us."

Death bristled a bit, and a ripple of power washed over them all. "Do not try and play friend and counselor to me, Destiny. You cannot comprehend what it is like, what I have suffered through. If you had your way, I would have remained in that state forever, a second-rate Guardian restricted from her own power and Code.

"You drove me to do what I could to end this however I could. And if that meant inconveniencing you, so be it!"

The last shouted words echoed around the chamber, and Harry stared at Death in amazement and a touch of fear. Even the Guardians seemed taken aback at her outburst. Death was usually so composed and ice cold, emotionless as possible and stoic.

But now, with her hair a bit mussed, her eyes flashing dangerously and her elegant hands clenched in fists, she resembled nothing so much as Molly Weasley in full saber-toothed tiger mode.

Whirling on her heel, Death stalked out of the chamber, steps echoing like staccato gunshots. The doors clanged shut behind her, and silence descended over the assembly.

Finally Chaos shook his head and remarked, "Well, that was unexpected."

Harry turned, only then realizing that he was standing alone in front of a bunch of strange beings and hopelessly confused. He sighed and rubbed his forehead, wishing he could go somewhere else and sleep for a decade. But his mind whirled with far too many questions.

"Will somebody please tell me what's going on?"

The Guardians looked at him, then at each other as if debating who should break the bad news. He half expected Chaos to shout out, "Not it!"

When they still hadn't spoken, Harry scowled and turned to Destiny and Fate. "Let's make this easier. What was your plan for the Prophecy?"

Destiny sighed and opened the tome on her lap. "That hardly matters now. But very well. You were marked at birth as the Phoenix Lord and Child of Light to fulfill the Prophecy set when our own mandate was established."

Harry frowned. "I thought it was foretold after the creation of the talismans."

Fate shook her head. "No. Aren't you listening? This was the last piece of the universe the Creator gave us to manage. He set down our laws and gave us governorship over the realms, and this Prophecy was supposed to be our last test."

"You mean . . . this whole thing was a . . . a test, a puzzle for you to solve?" Harry spluttered, "A game to beat?"

Chaos shrugged. "I guess you could put it that way. I prefer to think of it as an obstacle course."

Harry gave up. "All right, fine. So what was I supposed to do, Destiny?"

She tapped her finger on her book. "I had planned on you growing up as a normal wizard with your parents, going to Hogwarts and finding a DADA teacher who would train you and teach you enough so that you could later discover the existence of the talismans sometime in your sixth year, and then finding and destroying them around your 21st birthday."

"But what about Voldemort?" Harry pressed. "Even if you hadn't originally planned on him being a threat, once he did you had to plan something. How was I supposed to defeat him?"

Destiny allowed herself an ironic smile. "Actually, I hadn't planned on you facing him at all. The Prophecy was enough. But once he attacked you unsuccessfully and you became the Boy Who Lived, then I knew you had to at least survive if not be the one to kill him."

Harry scratched at his neck. "But the Prophecy said I'd be the only one to defeat him."

Destiny laughed. "You really think that Voldemort is the great evil 'more terrible than any before'? My young phoenix, sometimes you have a very narrow worldview. Yes, he was attempting to become immortal, but so have many others over the centuries, some with greater success than he. He only became truly dangerous when he entered into full alliance with Lucifer. Before that, he was just a powerful mortal angry at the world."

Fate snorted as she crossed her legs. "Grindlewald would have brushed him aside without a second glance. Hitler would have shipped him in a cattle car to a gas chamber without fuss. The Mayan shamans could have torn him to pieces like their Muggle sacrifices and drunk his blood with dinner. The Dark ones who helped destroy Atlantis, who were also in league with Lucifer albeit indirectly, could have used his body parts as flotation devices after their country sank beneath them."

Nature chuckled. "Wizards today certainly have gone soft."

Harry tried to contain his anger at their condescending tones. "If the Prophecy wasn't about Voldemort, then what?"

Destiny hesitated. "Well, at first we though it might be Lucifer, but as things have worked out, I believe that it is the talismans."

"You believe?!" Harry hid his eyes and groaned. "Somebody please straighten me out before my head explodes."

Destiny flipped a few pages back in her book as Chaos snickered at Harry's confusion. "Very well. I'll go through the Prophecy and explain each element as we interpret it." Harry nodded gratefully and sat down with a sigh, stretching out his legs.

Destiny began to recite, "'A great evil shall arise, more terrible than any before.' As I said, I believe this refers to the talismans. Their power has destroyed and ruined much more than any other, including Lucifer and his demons.

"'A shroud of darkness will fall, enslaving all.' Again the talismans. They've affected every single realm in some fashion, ruining what was once a fine work of art with a creeping disease. For instance, it was actually their creation which crossed another realm with yours, giving magic to humans.

"Since then, your world has been wracked with war, distrust, suspicion, ambition, witch hunts and genocide. Magic can be used for good, but its overall effects have been negative. Humanity has been limited by superstition and division, until the entire magical community was driven into hiding, separated from their kin by a gift they cannot help or control. What was once whole has been split in two, magic and Muggle."

She cleared her throat and read on. "'Impenetrable save for one.' This leads into the identification of the one who can destroy them. 'A child shall be born of light', indicating one dictated by this Prophecy. 'The blood of the four in his veins.'"

Destiny paused, and Harry spoke up, "I was lead to believe that referred to the Hogwarts founders: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. And the convergence of these four bloodlines led to the heir of Merlin."

Fate grinned, bright blue eyes twinkling. "Ah, but if that was so, then how come you don't have a drop of Slytherin blood in you?"

"Er . . well, when Voldemort attacked me," Harry stammered, and Nature shook her head.

"No, young phoenix. There was a power transfer, yes, but not blood. Now while power is sometimes blood-linked, it is not as potent as some purebloods like to believe. Why else would your Hermione Granger be such a powerful witch compared to say Draco Malfoy?"

She shot an amused glance at Fate, who looked very pleased with herself judging by her satisfied smirk and blond hair. "Random biological mutations and inconstant heredity, especially in terms of magic, is one of Fate's finer works of art."

Harry shook his head. "So if not the founders, who are 'the four'?"

Destiny gestured towards Nature's seat. "The four Elements. Blood is not a strict translation, for in your tongue it can also mean power. Single Elemental magic was a rare Mage characteristic, but all four Elementals was unheard of before. That mean that although you were human, you were to be greater in power than the original Phoenix Lords in order to accomplish your task.

"A Child of Light indicates general prophecy, but Warrior of Light meant that you were meant for this Prophecy. As an embodiment of life, you were to be given the blessing from each Guardian, and the Elementals were Nature's gift to you."

Her finger traced over the lines in her book again. "That leads us to the next part. 'Bright as a star, the heir of Merlin joins with angel's light.' The Shamak'la, in your tongue, roughly means 'starlight.' So you were to be as powerful as they are. This is strengthened by the title 'heir of Merlin,' for few know that Merlin was the last Phoenix Lord."

A Shamak'la off to the side rippled until it became the well-known wizard and waved at Harry with a grin and a twinkle not unlike Dumbledore on lemon drops. Harry nodded at him with a slight smile of his own, then turned back to the Guardians. "Okay, I get that. What about the 'joins with angel's light' part? Another Phoenix Lord reference?"

Destiny hesitated, and they all looked around with uncertainly. "Well . . . actually, we haven't been able to figure that part out," she admitted softly with a light flush on her cheeks. "Nothing seems to fit, no matter how you translate it."

Harry stared at her, incredulous. "You've had this prophecy to puzzle over for countless millennia with nearly infinite power and knowledge at your disposal, and you can't decipher a childish rhyme?"

Chaos interjected, "Actually, none of it rhymes. It's prose. If you want rhymes, check out Shakespeare. Or Mother Goose."

Love put an elbow in his side none too gently, and he shied away with a smirk. Time rolled his eyes. "Quiet you. And you, young phoenix, do not seem to understand just how confusing this Prophecy really is. We have been trying to decipher this since He gave it to us, but we had to work with thousands of realms and untold numbers of possibilities and lives and circumstances."

Chaos nodded, keeping an eye on Love's sharp elbows. "It's worse than trying to find a needle in a haystack. At least the needle is shiny."

Destiny shot an annoyed glance at Chaos and cleared her throat. "Moving on. 'He alone can shoulder the burden, holding the fire in his soul.' Obviously you, marked by the phoenix with its fire in your soul, were the only one who could find and take the talisman."

Harry furrowed his brow. "But there are two talismans, and I only found one."

Fate nodded. "Yes, but there was originally only one. The dagger was created by Lucifer, and that one you found. The orb was created by us to siphon off some of its powers, to keep it from being used at full strength against us. Voldemort found the lesser one."

Destiny tucked her hair behind her ear as she leaned over the pages. "The orb was neutral, but the dagger was the dangerous one. And only you can destroy it, since 'only he can defeat the darkness, with the fire of the sky as his sign' – your scar," she said, glancing at his forehead, and Harry rubbed it self-consciously.

She continued, "'And the strength of the lion in his spirit.' The lion is a worthy animal, king of the beasts, and is often seen as a strong savior and protector. You have demonstrated this all your life; bravery, nobility, chivalry, strength of will, stubbornness, loyalty and ferocity. This is why you chose Gryffindor for your family."

Harry nodded in acceptance of that, but frowned. "Wait, I have a question that Death refused to answer. You say that I am the only one who could destroy the talisman, but everything I've read said that the whole reason you didn't take care of it was because its destruction would have sacrificed another realm. So how was I supposed to do it?"

Fate flipped her dice from hand to hand as she stared at him. "I believe I gave you instructions shortly after you found it."

"What is with those damn instructions?" he muttered under his breath, then said in a louder tone, "What do you mean? I never received anything having to do with the talisman, especially not from you."

Fate rolled her eyes and pointed at his chest. "What are you wearing right now?" Harry looked down at his shirt, still dirty and bloodstained from the battle another realm away in another time. "No, not your shirt. Beneath it. Around your neck."

Harry touched his neck and the metal chain encircling it, and for the first time in a long time he remembered the pendant that Ron gave him for his birthday. He brought it out from beneath his shirt and looked at the phoenix and serpent carvings again. The emeralds glinted in the light, and the script along this edges seemed as strange as the first time he saw it. But this time he didn't feel like he should know them.

He looked up at Fate, frowning as comprehension began to stir. "Are you saying this pendant has instructions for destroying the talisman? And I've been wearing it the entire time?"

Fate nodded. "I used your friend Ron to make sure the pendant got to you. The instructions are right there, written in the ancient language the Shamak'la used on Earth as the Phoenix Lords. The first time you held it in the presence of the talisman, it began to translate for you. But you stopped before it could complete, and you haven't looked at it since."

Harry fingered the pendent, the metal warm from his flesh. "Why did you have to encode a piece of jewelry at all? Why not a book or something? Or better yet, why didn't someone just tell me?"

"Because I thought this would be easier and more secure," Fate frowned at him as her hair tinted orange again. "Obviously I underestimated your intelligence and insight. For all your powers and maturity, you still think like a teenage boy."

"Maybe that's because I am a teenage boy," Harry shot back. "I like clear instructions, not obscure hints. Giving things with hidden meanings like jewelry and flowers is for girls. I'd expect that to fall in Love's department, not yours."

Chaos snickered at Fate. "What is with you and unclear directions? Remember when you tried to tell Christopher Columbus how to get to India? Or better yet, that debacle in the Solari system with the slum sparrows?"

Fate seemed ready to grab Destiny's tome out of her hands and chuck it straight at Chaos' head. The Shamak'la shifted, like an audience waiting with bated breath for a fight to break out. Harry sighed. "I can see why they keep the two of you separated," he remarked as he rubbed his forehead.

His fingers traced over his scar, and suddenly he paused. "Wait a second. 'The fire of the sky as his sign' . . . the Prophecy says I'd have a lightning shaped scar. But that was from Voldemort's attack on me. So how can you say that I wasn't supposed to have a connection with Voldemort?"

Nature smiled. "Don't you have another scar just like that?"

Harry frowned, thinking hard, and Nature prompted, "On your chest, right by that pendant?" After a moment, recognition flared and he placed a hand on the scar left over from the lightning strike last spring.

Chaos grinned at him. "That wasn't accidental, much as I like to do that. Lightning is representative of the four Elements. They were claiming you."

Harry rolled his eyes. "They have horrible timing. At least I caught the Snitch first. And frankly I find it a bit too coincidental that Voldemort gave me a lightning scar first."

Fate tossed her hair behind her shoulders. "There are no coincidences, young phoenix," she stated imperiously.

Destiny blew out a breath. "We're almost finished. The last part says, 'Darkness rises, darkness falls, but the light will always prevail.' This is His guarantee that we will not completely fail or be destroyed, no matter what comes against us. It is His promise of protection." She slammed her book closed and regarded Harry with solemn dark eyes.

"I had a plan, but somehow we were all thwarted by you. Your powers have grown strong, much stronger than you should have, and Death has taken advantage of this."

Harry looked around at all of them, and said slowly, "If it's my fault, why exactly are you so mad at Death? What has she done that's so bad?"

Love sighed. "Simply put, she made a deal with you that she was not allowed to make and you were not supposed to agree to. You defeated Lucifer and Voldemort and placed them back under her control, restoring part of her stolen power, then gave yourself to her before your purpose was fulfilled. But you made a binding agreement with her, which extended to her all of your own power and therefore the power to flout the Code of the Guardians.

"You still have your power, but you are hers and by extension everything you are and have is also hers. That is why you are still here, belonging to Death but not dead, when the talismans still exist. The Prophecy has not been fulfilled. You made a deal with the devil herself and made her tyrant over us. We are weakened, and nothing can stop Death. No laws can hold her now."

Harry could only stand there, opening and closing his mouth like a landed carp. "But . . . but why?" he stumbled over the words as she hips seemed numb with shock.

Time pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed at his eyes wearily. "It is because she was weakened and longed to be whole again. You see young phoenix, Lucifer used to be Death's Shamak'la, her right hand servant. He was her messenger and her voice, her herald. He often appeared in your realm as a raven, which is why it became known as the bird of death."

Nature folded her hands and continued the story in a solemn voice. "Lucifer became tired of his role, always at the feet of Death but never to stand with her. So he tried to confront her, to make her recognize him as an equal. But the Code forbid it, and she slapped him back into his place.

"Burning with hate and jealousy, he secretly began to search for ways to make himself more powerful than Death and to weaken her. He covertly seduced a section of the Shamak'la over to his side, then sacrificed them and their power in order to draw on the energy of the universe and shape it to his will in the form of the talisman. It took so much energy that its creation obliterated an entire realm, erasing it from existence.

"In the confusion that followed, Lucifer convinced over a third of the lesser Shamak'la to join him, and our battle began. In a sudden surprise attack, they started a devastating war that raged through all realms that lasted millennia."

Now Destiny took up the narrative, eyes far away as if seeing it all in the past. "Somehow Lucifer gave Death the talisman in secret, and even as we fought to contain the damage he was doing, she was being changed. The talisman strengthened Lucifer while it drew her powers, but contrary to his initial conception it did not siphon her powers to him.

"Instead the dagger took her powers and essence, and as it had nowhere to contain them, it funneled them back into her in a different form. The opposing forces within her battled each other, unseen to us until it was too late. In the end Death was split in two, each part at a little over half strength since they shared a link still."

Destiny sighed as she ran a hand back through her hair, for an instant looking weary and disheartened. "The talisman is possibly the most dangerous artifact ever in existence. Its powers are greater than those of any Guardian and has a terrible affect on anybody it touches. This is increased by the fact that it also has an addictive quality, making the wielder unwilling and incapable of giving it up."

She looked carefully at Harry. "You tasted that power, the raw energy of the universe, when you first touched it. Frankly, I'm surprised that you survived, let alone with your mental capabilities intact. If you had done it properly, you would have known not to touch. As it is, you know well the addition of the dagger."

He just looked at her, and so with a shrug she continued the history lesson. "Meanwhile the war was going badly; the Shamak'la had outposts in all the realms, images of this city. They were all destroyed, and we were losing control of the realms. It was only after Death was divided that we figured out the talisman's powers, and so combined our powers to create the orb talisman to drain the dagger and, by association, Lucifer.

"Atlantis was the outpost in your realm, and where the last battle was fought. Lucifer and his followers destroyed the city and most of its inhabitants, both wizards and Muggles, in a last desperate effort to escape. But that exertion in addition to the influence of the orb weakened them enough so we were able to defeat them.

"We exiled him into a half-created realm designed to hold him. You have been there, in what you know as the Dream Stand. Lucifer was banished there, unable to connect with other realms, but his followers escaped and scattered through the realms to wreck random havoc. They became the demons that you fought against, only able to come together if their master bid them to follow another.

"Now that he was contained, we had to decide what to do with the talismans. Their destruction would mean the sacrifice of another realm, and we could not risk that. That was when we figured that the Prophecy must refer to the talismans, and the One would come to destroy them. So we sent some loyal Shamak'la to hide them in your realm, planting the clues and the obstacles in your path to make sure none but the One found it. And then we waited."

Fate spoke next, her face and tone pensive. "The problems with you only really began after you entered Hogwarts. Voldemort in the overall scheme of things was insignificant, but your connection to him had already helped shape part of your realm, and we had no choice but to incorporate that into your destiny. It hadn't been the original plan, but it was working.

"We were debating which Shamak'la to send down and begin your training, but we could not come to an agreement. Destiny hadn't written whether or not you were supposed to defeat Riddle or not, so we didn't know whether to train you for war or not. While others dithered," she shot a glare at her sister, "you went through a succession of teachers, none of which equipped you properly for anything, and Voldemort targeted you again.

"Death must have mentioned this to some of her charges, your parents and ancestors, and they decided that they would pick the trainer. They charged her with the task of training you, and so she took you away to fulfill that charge. That was never supposed to happen, not in any conceivable plan. She trained you a little too well, young warrior, yet only focused on the mortal battle with nothing about the talismans.

"Once you returned and started you shadow war, Lucifer managed to contact Voldemort by assistance with his demons and offered him an alliance. Again, that was not supposed to happen. From there things spiraled out of control, and that is when I believe you began to control Death. Your actions preempted Destiny's books and dictated a new one, and in her weakened state Death was forced to follow.

"That is why she took it upon herself to influence you directly, even to the point of giving up some of her own power to further you along your path. She used you to empower herself in the end by stealing from others: us, you, even Lucifer. He's now back in her control. Now she who was weakened is stronger than us all."

The last word rang through the chamber, echoing off the gold walls. Harry sat there, chewing his lower lip as he assimilated it all and thought hard. "So you can't stop her."

Chaos shook his head. "She is too powerful, to the point where she is able to do all our jobs herself now. No one can challenge Death."

Harry narrowed his eyes as a thought occurred to him, and he turned to Love. "You said she had a strange connection with me. Does she love me?"

Love paused, then gave a single nod. "I do not believe she realizes it herself, but yes, she does. That is part of the reason why she chose to help you, even give part of herself to you. She cannot help that she feels what she feels."

Harry nodded to himself and scrambled to his feet, stretching out a kink in his back. He bowed briefly to the guardians and began walking towards the huge entrance doors. Fate called after him, "Young phoenix, where are you going?"

Harry paused and looked over his shoulder without turning. "Love can be one's greatest strength or weakness. It all depends on how it's used."

Chaos furrowed his brow, wrinkling an otherwise unmarred visage with worry. "What will you do?"

Harry faced forward again and strode through the doors as he said fiercely, "End this. I'm going to conquer Death."