Gonna post the first chapter of the crossover arc, don't have time for the author's notes, just know that I love the feedback and reviews, and encourage you all to keep writing them— I'll try to read them during my vacation!
Anyways, please enjoy!
(11-12-2022 UPDATE: Fixed the spelling of Herminone's name while in the airport bathroom.
The 'Forbidden Forest', the ancient grounds that housed many mysteries and mythical creatures, just outside the borders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, held a significant amount of memories for the eighteen year-old prodigy. Harry Potter, the 'boy who lived', had been in-and-out of the vast floral maze of trees and roots more times than that of most students.
From all the times he had to venture into the bowels of the extremely-restricted woods with Hagrid, Ron, and Hermione, the most memorable moment in Harry's life within the forbidden forest was the day that he had died at the hands of the 'Dark Lord' himself— Voldemort. Although traumatic for him to the point where he was visibly able to play the memories of that night as he specifically ventured deeper into the woods, Harry Potter's intentions of being there wasn't to receive closure, far be it.
Harry was there for the practical purpose of retrieving the Deathly Hallow that he had dropped a year ago, the 'Stone of Resurrection'. Back then, he figured that the artifact capable of calling the spirits of the fallen wasn't going to serve him any use after his mother and Godfather gave him the comfort he needed before facing Voldemort.
After all, he never planned on his mother's love protection spell or the Elder Wand saving him from Voldemort's death spell, 'Avada Kedavra', and Harry sure didn't want Voldemort taking it from his body, so to him back then, it made sense to drop it in the forbidden forest. And that's where it would have stayed, had it not been for his circumstances changing.
While Harry still had no intentions of using the stone, due to him having moved on and accepted the passings of his loved ones, he was only interested in retrieving it on behalf of his girlfriend's own personal mission, Hermione Granger. The purpose of possessing the Resurrection Stone was for the sake of Hermione being able to summon the soul of the witch who created the 'Oblivate Charm' responsible for erasing her from her parents' memories.
Hermione never regretted the decision of essentially giving her parents both new identities and manipulating them into moving to Australia— she did that during an unsafe period where the 'Wizarding War' was essentially a powder keg about to explode. However, now that Voldemort's army, including himself, were no more, the young 'mud blood' witch was seeking to undo what she had done to her parents.
Was Harry even sure that the witch responsible for creating the charm would be capable of assisting with creating a spell to reverse its effects? No, he wasn't, but that didn't mean that he was going to try on behalf of his girlfriend's sake.
Although Harry would have preferred to go on his excursion for the lost relic with Herminoe him and underneath his own Deathly Hallow, 'The Invisibility Cloak', she made a point in telling him that what they were doing already was grounds for administrative punishment, for breaking the rules by entering the Forbidden Forest, so she needed to stay behind to cover for both their skins. That, and Hermione mentioned to Harry that he needed to retrace his steps, and her being with him would only distract him from remembering key landmarks necessary to pinpointing the exact location of where he dropped the incredibly small Deathly Hallow.
'I think I might have passed that log three times now… Damn it, I could have dropped that stupid thing in the 'Organized Orchrard'— no, it just had to be this mess of a place… Might as well have just thrown it in the English Channel while I was… Hold on, what the bloody hell are those people doing here?!' Harry thought to himself with a shocked look in his blue eyes, the moment caught sight of an entourage of vastly different looking people following behind a blue-pale four-armed doll leading the group.
'Holy hell, what is that thing supposed to be?! Is that a witch under that giant umbrella-of-a-hat?! D-Damn it! They're coming this way… I… I have to stay still, they don't like they're friendly,' Harry thought to himself with a wave of dread washing over his body, as he immediately came to a standstill to avoid having his footsteps possibly alerting his presence to them within the eerily quiet forest.
Being completely unaware of the fact that there was a young man within their immediate area, Kira, Melina, and the rest of the other White Suits followed closely behind Ranni, as she zeroed in on the first Deathly Hallow that her magicka guided her towards, the moment she first stepped foot into the new universe. "I must ask, why are you all so tense right now? We are walking through a peaceful forest; such a lavish environment usually has the opposite effect on most," Ranni mused with a slight smirk on her porcelain lips— commenting on the silence amongst those she was leading.
Having been familiar with Ranni for the longest, Melina cleared her throat before replying, "We're treading unknown land, of course cautious is to be expected… None of us can truly say that we're safe out here."
"I can," Ranni argued smugly, while raising her two left hands up to once again get a sense of all the magicka flowing through the sea of trees around them. "While I can't speak on behalf of others, I can safely say that while this forest does possess malevolent beings, it is mere child's play in comparison to those walking the Lands Between," Ranni reassured, before lowering her doll-arms down, until she came to the spot amongst the forest floor that her magicka guided her towards. "Halt!" She shouted in an authoritative voice, which made Harry's heart race as he stood only a meter away from where Rannit was standing.
Seeing right through the air and being none-the-wiser about there being an eighteen year-old man standing within range of her greatsword, Ranni grabbed a hold of her frilly-white skirt and hiked it up as she carefully got down on her knees— unknowingly giving Harry a perfect angle for him to stare directly down at her widow's peak, where he caught an eyeful of her pearly-white cleavage.
Holding her skirt up with only two of her right hands, Ranni reached down with her two left arms to begin brushing away the fallen foliage that had piled up on top of the forest floor— digging through decayed leaves and mud with her porcelain fingers, until she came across a glowing red stone. "Ah… So this is what it's like to hold onto a Deathly Hallow? Yet… That's odd," Ranni muttered to herself, as she got up from her floor with the Resurrection Stone in her right upper hand.
"Is there something that I should be concerned with?" Kira asked, as he adjusted the white-and-red kimono that he had on.
Shrugging her shoulders, Ranni turned her back on Harry as she continued to admire the Deathly Hallow that she was holding up closely to her one-good eye. "I cannot say for certain… You see, my magicka guided me towards this little beauty— it's very, very noticeable to those who are able to sense these sorts of artifacts… However, standing here, I… I can sense the other two Deathly Hallows. One is an instrument of some kind, perhaps a staff or a wand… And the other? Well… I'm sensing it close by, yet… Yet, it's throwing my senses off— like no matter how hard I try to seek it, I just can't pinpoint it."
Being well versed in the legends of the Deathly Hallows, Melina decided to once again speak up. "Word has it that one of the relics is a weapon that possesses ultimate power, and allows whoever is its master to be undefeatable in combat. The other, from what I've heard, is a blanket, or perhaps a cloak… Nevertheless, if it's capable of hiding the user from Death itself, then not even 'The Demigod of Luna' will be able to locate it so easily."
Narrowing her eyelids while her confident smile wavered at the shade being thrown her way, Ranni remained silent for a moment before immediately summoning her 'Dark Moon Greatsword' in her right arms. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there… Servants! Restrain your false masters!" Ranni ordered with a surprising noticeable amount of aggression in her voice— leading Melina to believe that her words truly got underneath the porcelain skin of the self-declared 'genius'.
One-by-one, the three men belonging to the White Suits gang were shocked when their servants were summoned by the witch's command. Even more terrifying for them was the fact that their own servants did as instructed without any hesitation, and soon each of the three men had their arms held behind their backs as they were forced to kneel in a circle.
"W-What the fuck?! KIRA?!?" One of the White Suits demanded, as he looked up with a look of betrayal on his face at the man who the witch left alone.
Glaring back at the man who called his name, Kira appeared ashamed and angered at what he was allowing to happen. Closing his eyelids, Kira muttered, "Forgive me… The road to heaven is a hard one," before turning away to avoid having to watch as Ranni made her way to each man to begin slitting their throats clean open with her giant sword.
Horrified at what he was witnessing, Harry held his hand up to silence his own gasps as he watched each man begging for their life as the witch collected their blood using a large glass flask she conjured into her left lower hand. He wanted to fight, but Harry knew better than to interfere when he was alone and outmatched six-to-one, and he couldn't possibly allow such a cold-hearted witch to possess the Resurrection Stone.
Waiting for the perfect opportunity to snatch it and run, Harry tried to avoid vomiting from what he was having to witness by averting his gaze elsewhere until he heard the last of the three bodies hit the forest floor. Terrified, adrenaline coursing through his blood as his heart pounded in his chest, Harry reluctantly lifted his gaze up to watch Ranni raising the flask up to swish the fresh blood around in it, before whispering an incantation through the top of the bottle.
"… Kindling Maiden, you need only to unlock the magicka within this glass— I've already done most of the legwork for you, so you shouldn't have any issues with this," Ranni instructed with a still condescending tone in her voice, as she plopped the Resurrection Stone into the flask full of 'summoners' blood', before putting her thumb over the top of the flask. Shaking the blood flask like a bartender would shake a drink-mixer, Ranni was able to get the blood to begin glowing brightly with the same eternal-crimson magicka endowed inside of the Resurrection Stone, before she finally handed it to Melina.
Taking only a brief moment to admire the beauty of the magical contents within the large glass bottle, Melina for a brief moment appeared to be hesitant to follow through with the plan. "… The Lands Between were devastated by those seeking to become the Elden Lord… Is there no other way than this?" Melina asked, with a pleading look in her singular eye, which did nothing to soften the witch's heart.
"Unless you personally would like to endlessly, and pointlessly, search this entire universe for an artifact the size of a comforter, then that's something you can do on your own time," Ranni replied sarcastically with her arms lowered down and crossed over her waist. "That pretty little rock and the weapon are the easiest Deathly Hallows to find, Melina; the cloak is too difficult for us to obtain on our own. I ask only that you summon 'Queen Marika' for the purpose of using the Greater Will to find it for us, and that is all. Nothing else, and it is only a temporary summoning— she'll be gone before you know it, I promise. Besides, it'll only be her spirit, not her."
Frowning at the persistence of the witch, Melina shook her head with a concerned look in her own eye, as she continued to stare at the ominously glowing flask in her hands. "You speak of your hypotheses as if they're proven methods, Ranni. You've never done this ritual before— I am willing to go as far as to say that you are meddling with powers beyond even your comprehension…"
Although visibly calm and collected on the outside, Kira could tell by the way that Ranni's two right hands were tightening around the grip of her lowered sword that the witch was not taking Melina's words of caution, and instead saw them as insulting. Before the situation became even more tense, Kira took a step forward and placed his hand down on Melina's black-cloak that was covering her shoulder.
"Melina, I can promise you that I have no intentions of delivering harm onto this world. I'm asking for your help not as an associate, but as your friend," Kira said with a charming voice, while the nervous maiden was able to take comfort from the way his glistening blue eyes stared into her one good eye. "Please… Please, help me. Once we take the Throne, I shall give you your own paradise, where there's no more pain, and no more heartache to be had… An infinite existence without war or hatred… Isn't that worth fighting for, friend?"
Feeling her heart pounding in her chest from the way that the handsome and tall blond man smiled at her, Melina swallowed back the lump in her throat as she felt the corners of her mouth curl upwards. "I… I-I suppose it is… A world where one can lord their own paradise… No more sadness… Only joy," Melina whispered quietly, as she couldn't help but to imagine what it would be like to have an entire universe centered around what she wanted, where her morals and thoughts would be followed without question. "… Do you promise that you won't let anyone here suffer needlessly?"
"You have my word as a man," Kira replied with a warm voice, before slowly retracting his hand from Melina's shoulder to brush his blond hair back. "Now… We're ready only when you are, Melina. On your mark," Kira said, while trying to elude to the Maiden that she was the one in control.
Looking back at the man who was daring to call himself her friend, before turning to see the freed servants who stood at attention for her, Melina's eye wandered over to Ranni, who remained seemingly emotionless as she waited for the maiden to summon Queen Marika the Eternal's spirit. Swallowing her bottom lip slightly, Melina took in a deep-nervous breath and smiled anxiously before her body became engulfed in a glowing holy-fire.
Becoming a conduit to open up a gateway through the multiverse, the crimson light of the Resurrection Stone illuminated the surrounding area enough that everyone, even including the immortal servants, had to shield their eyes to prevent them from becoming blinded by the sheer power being transmitted before them. Falling to the ground from the way the drawn power was violently shaking, Harry squinted his eyes and grabbed on tightly to the Cloak of Invisibility in his hands, where he saw the manifestation of a goddess looming over the heavens above them.
Noticing that her spell had worked, and that Queen Marika's spirit had appeared above them like an angel, Ranni lifted her chin up to stare down into the eyes of the goddess who had her head lowered, while her arms were outstretched in the same position that one would have if they were being crucified.
"MARIKA, QUEEN OF THE ETERNAL!!! AS YOUR STEP-DAUGHTER, I ASK OF YOUR GUIDANCE!!!" Ranni shouted from the top of her lungs, just so her usually quiet voice could be heard over the high-pitched ethereal chimes that the powerful incantation was making from opening a gateway through the 'Throne', just so the goddess could exist in two universes at once.
It was putting enough strain on Melina's psyche and soul that the usually reserved and quiet woman was now screaming in agony, as every piece of her body and spirit felt like it was boiling alive. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before Melina would succumb to the spell, Ranni screamed out, "REVEAL TO ME WHERE THE INVISIBLE DEATHLY HALLOW IS!!! BESTOW UPON ME ITS LOCATION!!!"
Appearing to be slow in the way she was pulling her arm off of the throned vines that kept her wrists suspended, the glowing golden outline of Marika lowered her enormous arm down to point directly toward where Melina was violently seizing up while standing. Ranni's nearly stoic expression was immediately overcome with an absolute look of confusion that lasted only a few seconds before her eyes were filled with panic.
Knowing that he was doomed if he stood still any longer, Harry immediately threw caution to the wind and decided to tackle Melina to the ground from behind her— causing the violently-shaking woman to drop the flask onto the forest floor. Sensing the magicka in the air becoming unstable and volatile like a ticking nuclear bomb, Ranni decided to cast an instant teleportation spell on herself to save her save herself— leaving everyone behind as the golden outline of her step-mother became brighter-and-brighter.
Before needing to flee the area as well, Kira moved faster than what Harry thought possible. Still covered by the Invisibility Cloak, Harry laid down on the floor and watched as the blond man swiped the Resurrection Stone before he and the three servants standing behind him fled the area fast enough for the wizard to mistake their speed for teleportation.
With seconds left before the immediate area was going to be left as nothing more than a crater, Harry Potter took out his wand while leaping over to grab the unconscious woman. Cradling her head against his chest while gritting his teeth, Harry raised his wand up in the air before shouting, "APPARITION!!!" And before he and Melina could be vaporized by the powerful explosion of magicka, Harry was able to teleport both him and her out of the Forbidden Forest, and into the safety of the 'Room of Requirement' within Hogwarts' seventh floor.