A/N : May seems not to be a good month for my HPFF either (if you remember what I said about March sucking). Last year on the first part, I lost nearly half of the first part of this story due to my parents' word processor deciding since there wasn't enough room on the disk that it'd make room by deleting it from the disk - that was about a dozen chapters and notes on other that I lost. Luckily my then beta reader had them and resent them to me and I only had to redo five or so. This year, I did not lose as many, but they were only on my disk as that they are the chapters I'm currently (and soon to be) working on - chapters 21-25. I only lost eight pages of information, which isn't nearly as much as the fifty or so I lost last year, but it's still going to be hard to replicate as that it contained much of the information for the events that will forever change Voldemort and Lena's relationship. Luckily I remember much of it, but unless I get motivated and inspired, I don't know how long this will take to redo…and that might mean another break in the writing of the story. Granted, I'm only updating once every two weeks or so now so what's the difference, eh?

A/N 2 : I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not, but I am currently thinking of splitting this second part of the trilogy into two parts - cutting off this story when Voldemort returns to England after his years abroad. The second part would be all about his rise to/time of power, the Marauders (yes, they will be in it, they're important), the events at the Potters, and the subsequent trials of Death Eaters. This would make this part of the story only around 30 chapters and the other part about the same. What do you all think of this? Should I split up these sections? Do you have no opinion? Or do you think I should continue on and make this part around 60 chapters? I'd love some feedback.

Chapter #13 – Masks of the Soul

Before Tom was taken to the meeting, Pei Shen made him put on a full-face mask made of plaster. It was rather plain and the only explanation that Shen gave was putting on one himself, though his was far more elaborate with real hair and decorated so that it looked like a real face, though it looked nothing like Pei's own face. Lena passed on the chance to go to the meeting, saying that she much rather preferred reading her book than mingling with Chinese Dark wizards. Shen grinned at her behind his mask then took Tom to the meeting place, which was northwest from them in Hanchung.

The local sanctum of the Gaoji looked to Tom like it had at one time been a palace. It seemed like there were hundreds of steps leading up to the main building, which was painted vibrant red. At the base of the stairs was a pair of Tien Kou - fierce dogs that were usually considered destructive creatures and were not to be confused with the benevolent guardian Fu-dogs. Several ropes hung between the building and the trees on either side of the base of the stairs with dozens of white paper lanterns on them, lit by a magical glow.

Pei Shen led Tom up the stairs, which took a while, for they went slowly and there were a lot of stairs. Once at the top, they passed under a high porch, which was supported by four large round columns. Vine decorated white paper lanterns swung in the breeze on the porch, shining their enchanted light around them. The closed, realistically painted doors were intricately carved with clouds and serpentine dragons, which actually moved, eyeing the visitors. Windows along the porch were covered with a screen of very finely woven silk over them, which was thin enough to see heavy black curtains through and the faintest glow of candlelight.

Shen knocked four times on the door then they both opened quietly before him. The hallway that led into the sanctuary was long and dimly lit. Long black curtains blocked any other passages off from this hall from view. On the far side of the hall was a set of closed doors much like the ones they had just come through, but their carvings were rather different. Instead of more clouds and dragons, these doors had a few stands of bamboo and fierce looking tigers moving across them, which growled at the two that approached. Tom drew back some when this happened. Shen took note of this and smiled at him reassuringly, though the young wizard could not see it.

"They won't attack you. They only attack if you weren't…invited. But there are other methods of stopping intruders besides the doors."

Knocking again four times, these doors opened for them as well. Tom had expected these doors to open onto another room where the Gaoji would be assembled, but they opened onto a large courtyard. The courtyard was green with trees and grass. Stone paths wound their way through it, around weather worn boulders and several statues. As they passed by the statues, Voldemort noted that they were all of people with the most horrible expressions of pain imaginable on their faces. Shen told him they had been playthings for the Gaoji before they had grown boring and turned to stone in the midst of their pain. Tom found that rather interesting.

All around the edge of green courtyard was a covered walkway with doors leading to other rooms hidden in the shadows. Shen did not veer off of the direct path across the garden courtyard and stopped at yet another door, this one an uncarved and unpainted door. Shen knocked four times once again and this door, too, swung open silently.

Beyond this door was a room draped in black silk. A heavy air of incense wafted through the room, coming from the five censers spread equally about the room in a circle. Tom felt slightly dizzy from the suddenness of the scented smoke. Oil lamps lit the chamber, casting flickering shadows on the floor from the fourteen robed and masked figures gathered in the circle of censers. They all turned their masked faces towards the two that entered and Tom knew that they were interested in this new comer, for of all the masks being worn, only his was plain.

"Your guest, I presume," said a male voice from behind a mask with a grimace on its face, black hair framing the mask that hung to his chest. The face upon the mask seemed rather feminine.

"He is." Shen bowed. "He is called Voldemort."

"Hn." The man walked to them and looked Tom over with dark brown eyes. After a moment, the eyes reflected the unseen smile on the wizard's face. "He does seem powerful. The flow of chi in him is great. And there is certainly an unmistakable darkness in his heart and mind. I think he will be a fine addition to our group."

And with that, Tom was enveloped in the folds of the Gaoji Zongpai Anwutianri…

The first task that was set for Tom was to kill a Muggle. Any Muggle. It mattered little who it was or where he or she was found or what he or she did for a living. This was part of the initiation into the Gaoji. For them, this was typically their first kill, though not always. Tom had no problem whatsoever of killing some random Muggle. It was the second task, though, that bothered Tom somewhat.

Once he had killed this Muggle, it would be their face his mask was made to reflect. Most of the Gaoji had gone for beauty in their victims, but Tom did not care what they looked like, really. The thought of going out to kill randomly made him feel a joy he had not known since he planned his father's death. He had not killed anyone since that time, he had been too wrapped up in his studies. It seemed rather a waste of his abilities with the Killing Curse after all the practice he had put into learning it. But he had not been around anyone that he had wanted to kill since he had left England…not really, at least.

All he did was sit around the nearest Muggle village for half a day to find someone that appealed to him. And the one Muggle that did strike him as the one that should be his victim, who to him had a perfect face for his mask, was a little old woman with charcoal gray hair and a look about her that showed she held great wisdom. She was a simple seamstress who lived with her three grown children, their spouses, and seven grandchildren near the edge of the Yangtze. She disappeared from her home that night and was never seen again. Tom made his mask with ease, putting the woman's wizened features onto the mask with a simple spell – and when it was complete his desire for the deaths of Muggles was once again burning as bright as it had when he was still at Hogwarts. He went back a few days later and killed the rest of her family for the mere pleasure of doing it. He left them in their home, their looks of shock still emblazoned on their faces.

Once his mask was done, he underwent the long process of final initiation. It consisted of several tests - all of which he passed - and was followed by an elaborate and formal ritual that included chants, drums, tons of incense, and a living sacrifice. It was nearly overwhelming for Tom, as he had never encountered anything like this anywhere before. But he did feel changed afterwards. He felt a part of the tight knit little group they had in Hanchung. More so than he did when he was part of the Nychta Paidia.

Now that he was initiated, he learned the inner workings of their group. Corruption of the Wizarding government, blackmail, experimentation, Muggle hunts, and revels were just a taste of what went on in the dark, incense filled rooms of their sanctum. Tom learned more from them in a month than he had from the Nychta Paidia in the three years he was associated with them for they had left much of the inner workings to those that were permanent members of their group. Tom had, after all, just been a temporary member, and they had known this very well.

Of all the things the Gaoji did, though, what Tom loved the most was the Muggle hunts. Much like the first part of the initiation process, these were times when random Muggles from various parts of the country were gathered together and set loose to literally run for their lives in a dark forest. But there was never any escape for them, for they were trapped within the forest by magic. They were easily killed or recaptured for use in experiments (in which they died anyway).

When Tom was not dealing with the Gaoji or studying with Shen, he was usually studying something new, but was most especially searching for more information on immortality. He had slowly become more and more interested in learning this dangerous path. It could quite easily end up killing him or permanently incapacitate him if he were not careful about the potions for they were fickle things. He did not care about the consequences, though, for it was a goal he wanted to attain. And his ambition would not allow him to fail at any of goals…especially his search for immortality, for the memory of when he had nearly died still weighed heavily on his mind.

What took up most of his time was his search for eternal life. Voldemort had studied the three books he had gotten in Greece thoroughly, as well as the one Lena had obtained for him hardly a month after their arrival in China. Then he had turned his attention to studying immortal or near immortal creatures. Many of those creatures had "parts" that were needed in most of the potions that was going to try. He wanted to know all he could before he started making the potions or casting the incantations (which were long and complex things that had to be committed to memory and could only be used once). Though, when he finally started making the final preparations for all of these things, he would never know if they had worked at all unless he was actually faced with death. But he did not want to be faced with death again.

To my reviewers -

(insert name here) - giggles I think that's become your name for me, you know "(insert name here)"… Hmm, no, Lena can't see her relationship with Voldemort ending (though honestly I don't think he can see it ending either). I'm glad you noticed the name changing, I thought that it was appropriate, and it makes it easier when I finally start calling him Voldemort all the time. Like you said, he is changing, so I need to reflect that. If you pay really close attention, you'll notice the usage going up more and more in each chapter until he's only called Voldemort. Yes, to some people that "truth" is already something that they would think of, but remember, very few wizards are logical (Hermione said so). What does it mean for creation of spells? blinks I've honestly never thought of "spell" creation. Potions are so much easier to figure out in my opinion and that I know, but the interchanging of ingredients isn't that uncommon, I'm sure. Wandless magic is something I think he's going to keep practicing but he'd never be able to use it for the Unforgivable, they're just too difficult to do that way, at least in the HP universe - so says its goddess, J. K. Rowling. Gradually working to a point? Some people actually can't stand that about me - I explain stuff too much and they just want me to get to the point quickly usually. But, I like explaining things, it makes it easier to understand sometimes because some of the concepts I use aren't known to everyone.

Mayhem El-Diablo - Lena and Muggle torture? What's so great about those things? And I'm not going to go into great length about the Muggle torturing/hunts here because you'll get more of those later on…evil grin And China is great, isn't it.

Liv - Lena isn't related to Severus that directly. Cousin, yeah, but all purebloods are related, right? Lena will never have children, anyway, so she couldn't be Severus' mum. Voldemort thinks she's helping her father spy only because she tells him everything…but he can't sense her lying. She might be skilled in Occlumency…or she might be telling the truth. You'll find out later. It's one of those suspenseful things, you know? And if I had to eat rice at every meal, I think I'd be sick of it, too, after a while.

lord archimonde - Norse runes and magic for immortality? blinks Why the heck haven't I thought of that one yet?! That's perfect! Thanks! I have a book on the main runes around here somewhere, and there's plenty of stuff on the internet. That will be very good for him to do when he returns to Europe and I'll make a note of it, but I don't think he'd really look in to that until then as that it's sort of a cultural thing and he didn't like runes in school because it was what Dumbledore taught in my story before he went to Transfiguration (I think…been a while since I looked at that part). Glad you enjoyed that last chapter.