I do not own Fire Emblem or Harry Potter. Fire Emblem belongs to Nintendo and Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. All song lines belong to their original singers. I own all original characters and the plotline.

Chapter IX:

Interesse Malriposto

. . . I feel like I'm trapped inside these walls, trying to find my way . . .
-'No Way Out' by Leann Rimes

Limstella's golden eyes looked disgustedly around at the humans in their . . . city, she supposed. It was a street crammed with crooked buildings, all overcrowded inside with people and items. The women were dressed too skimpily, if they were on Elibe they might have been considered whores, and the men were idiots, to put it nicely, winking at her annoyingly. She hated having to switch her favored indigo coat and white trousers for the common attire of this world but, hopefully, she wouldn't have to put up with this scum too long. Her hypnotic eyes were hidden behind tinted black glasses, her wavy hair pulled in a ponytail that brushed her mid back while all of her golden jewelry was missing from her person. Dressed in a black skirt and a turtleneck, along with her old boots, most regarded her as another 'gothic teenager-wanna-be.' How she longed to kill something, it had been a while since she had, though none of these people has any worthwhile Quintessence.

". . . God damn freak, that fucking attack hurt . . ."

She turned around out of interest, her eyes flashing behind her glasses. A boy, as scrawny and weak-looking as Elbert's stupid brat, was with two boulders of humans. His hair was near colorless and the left-hand side of his face bore a wound she knew could only be inflected by a Flux Spell. It was tinged with a slight purplish edge, making it look poisoned, though in reality it wasn't. So some of the Lycian army had already gotten to boy; that was interesting.

'Probably that blasted Druid of theirs, Canas was it?' she thought, walking over to the boys and leaning nonchalantly against a chair of a plastic table. Though the blonde boy's bodyguards were low in soul and life energy, the boy himself had very powerful Quintessence, especially for somebody so weak looking and small built.

"They should have been kissed, my opinion. Heh, Aunt Bellatrix would get a kick out of that."

'Kissed?' she thought with mild interest that did not last too long. Against her better judgment, she listened further and crossed her arms over her chest. Her master would be pleased if she could get the boy's life power, but he had information about where Eliwood's army was, and she wanted to know what else that child knew.

". . . Why did that old fart have to get control over the ministry? Otherwise those bloody bastards could have gotten their reward. That bitch laid her hands on me too! How dare that blonde bimbo do such a thing! Doesn't she know who my father is?"

'My, this human brat sure has a big mouth for such weak physical power. But, he seems likely to know of the boy master wants.' Limstella spoke in her monotonic voice, one that could have belonged to anybody. "Boy, I have a question to ask you." The boy turned, disgust written all over his face as he looked her up and down.

"Watch who you're calling boy, I am Draco Malfoy." His voice was so egotistical and proud it was disgusting to hear.

"I'm looking for a boy by the name of Harry Potter, where is he?" she asked coldly. He sneered at her and turned away, his robes flaring dramatically about his legs. "Why do you care? I'm not telling you even if I know," he said with even more disgust, turning his back on her. Quick as a flash, she grabbed his wrist and gripped hard. He yelled in pain, his bodyguards moving lazily in towards the two.

"Answer my question. Do you know where he is?" she spoke softly, narrowing her eyes behind her glasses.

"I don't know!" he yelled, fear written all over his face. It was a shame he had such strong Quintessence, he could have made such good use out of it and yet he remained a fearful little coward, blinded by his bigotry and pride.

"But you know him well enough." She was amazed that his two 'bodyguards' weren't doing anything. Then again, they looked too stupid to know anything other then a dog's commands, and it interfered less with her problems. With her free hand, she took off her glasses. He stared into her apathetic eyes, deep in a hypnotic state of mind as a spot of drool entered his mouth.

"You will give me as much information as you can about this boy over the year. Tell me everything you know about him currently," she said coolly, "And in return, I will give you power."

He gave a nod, his eyes losing their life in seconds. Her lips curled into a smile, finally recognizing where his Quintessence must come from. She let go and he spoke in a monotone that matched her own. He told her about how Harry Potter defied this world's Dark Lord five times, of his friends and attitude, his fears and strengths. He then began to recount everything he knew about this world, about its customs and powers, telling her of his family's power and wealth. Eventually, Draco Malfoy's bodyguards had gone while Malfoy himself had talked himself hoarse. Limstella nodded as he spoke, drawing a small bit of his Quintessence away to satisfy her own lust of power.

Yes, Malfoy would suffice as her little spy of this world.

Firefly stood out like a sore thumb in the crowds with her bright hair and clothing that didn't match any other. Many people gave her odd looks, shooing away from her and Farina, commenting beneath their breaths about the Pegasus Knight's short skirt and the tight vest Firefly wore beneath her cloak. She didn't care though, she was looking for a place to house her and the other four mercenaries she was forced to command. Firefly tossed back her blonde hair again and gave an impatient sigh.

"St. Elimine, doesn't this place have an inn!" she said, turning to Farina. The Pegasus Knight was attracting far more attention, and it was evident that it was starting to wear thin on her already meager amount of patience. They had already encountered about twenty men who had asked them out, and it was written all over her face that she wished she had her Killer Lance.

"Hey, I have an idea, oh brilliant tactician," she said with a sly smile, "These men seem to like us so much, why don't we try and get a room with them? That'd save us some money for sure."

"Great plan, I LOVE IT!" squealed Firefly, her eyes glittering in the late afternoon sunshine. Farina smirked and walked over to a set of twin boys with bright red hair who were joking about something near by and lazily tapped one on the shoulder. He turned and stared, wide eyed at her. Firefly couldn't tell if it was Farina's clothing, her face or her long tan legs, but there was something about the Ilian that had the boy struck dumb. His brother turned and grinned widely at Firefly.

"Hello there!" he said brightly, waving lightly. He had the same strange accent everyone else here had, a sort of lame and less airy form of an Eturian one.

Farina put on a seductive smile and leaned close, speaking in a cooing, overly sugared dialect. "You look like nice men. My friends and I are in need of place to crash for a couple days, do you have the room?" she asked innocently, her bottom lip trembling and eyes glistening with crystal tears.

'She's good.' Firefly came up, smiling too. "Hi there, you wouldn't have room for, five people would you?" The tactician wasn't as good an actor as Farina, but she could fake a good voice. When Farina shot her a glance, Firefly cleared her throat. "Oh, five people and a Pegasus? Pwease?"

They looked edgy, exchanging glances, but both soon cracked identical grins. "Of course we do! We don't mind at all, do we Fred?" asked the one who was eyeing Firefly.

"Of course not George! So, who are your friends? More lovely ladies?" responded his twin, one blue eye still on Farina's face. Firefly grinned, thinking of the others who would have gladly murdered the boy for even suggesting they were 'lovely ladies.'

"A knight, a warrior and a swordsman," smiled Firefly, "We'd be willing to pay some rent." Farina shot her a nasty look as Firefly pulled a handful of gold from her cloak pocket. It was her month's wages for serving under Lords Hector and Eliwood, five thousand gold. The Pegasus Knight muttered something about her own paycheck beneath her breath.

Both twin's eyes grew wide at the sight of the money and George (at least, she thought he was George) cried out, "Holy mother of shit! Of course you and your friends can stay with us!"

"Money makes the world go round, remember that Farina," said Firefly as the boys lead them towards a building. They'd go back to get Harken and the others after finding the location of their new accommodations, though now all she really cared about was getting something to eat.

Farina sighed exasperatedly, running her gloved hand through her dark blue hair. "I already knew Firefly, and please don't state the obvious."

"Unpleasant Visitors

This morning at dawn, reports Rita Skeeter, the Minister of Magic arrived at work to find five men, all carrying medieval weapons, in the atrium of the Ministry. At once, all five were put under arrest and are being charged as Death Eaters. Head of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, says that she has orders to kill these men.

Clearly these men were on an assassination mission by He-Who-Must-Not-Be- Named. We can assure the public that these Death Eaters will be killed in a sharp, painful way to remind everyone that the auroras have the upper hand over these barbaric disgraces to the wizarding world. Article continued on pages 6 and 7."

Tonks was fuming as she threw the newspaper to the table, her eyes flashing various colors. Most Order members knew that to toy with the auror while her irises were like that was like inciting a hungry lioness. "Damned Minister, damn them all! Didn't Dumbledore tell him to look for anybody in armor?"

Louise, now happily back in her regular clothing and rid of the blood and dirt from their battle with Sonia, was looking at the picture heading the article Tonks had rid herself of. The countess's violet eyes were following the enthusiastic movements of Cornelius Fudge, while in the background were two men in armor and three others at wand point by aurors. "Amazing, so you can make an instant panting of someone or something that moves?" she muttered to herself, ignoring Tonks' outburst.

Fiora folded her arms across her chest, chewing her tongue. She had a headache throbbing in her temples, similar to the one she had felt non-stop since the events on Dread Isle two months ago, and it was not getting any better. "Well, shouldn't you be doing something? Like making sure people don't kill our comrades?" There was an icy tone in her voice as she turned her turquoise eyes to Tonks.

The young woman tried to tower over Fiora, failing to do so even on tip toe, and finally settled on narrowing her now garnet eyes. "Fudge doesn't listen to anything we say even if it's pure logic! Last year he tried to kill Harry because he's a conceited bastard who likes a cushy job on top of it all!"

Louise sighed and ran a hand through her silky hair. "So are most Eturian dukes. If I were in your place, milady Tonks, I would ask Lord Dumbledore to speak with this 'Fudge'.

"For us, we have to make sure that nothing happens to our charge," said Fiora, her voice icier then it normally was. It was the tone she often used during battle or in discussions about pay.

'Damn mercenaries,' thought Tonks and turned on her heel, marching out of the kitchen with her hair mirroring the state of her eyes. Louise sighed and drummed her fingers on the scratched wooden tabletop.

Although being back in Gryffindor tower would have normally comforted Harry, he didn't feel pleasure very much. He was seated in an armchair in the tower, eyes closed in contentment. He enjoyed being alone, it gave him time to think about the events of the day.

His mind lingered the most on those siblings, Ninian and Nils. Why was it, why was it that he felt he had known them before today? Their voices, their soft and unique voices, reminded him of something that gnawed at his insides, while their ethereal eyes were burned into his mind. Harry knew, he just knew that he had seen those kind of eyes before.

"You're going mad," he said with a smirk of mirthless humor, "They're from another world, why would you know them?"

'Because you see yourself within their eyes.'

Harry yelled in shock as he jerked up straight in his chair, looking around for the speaker. He couldn't tell whose voice that was, it could have belonged to anybody, but nobody was in the common room. Grinding his teeth behind his dry lips, he tried to calm himself by gripping the chair's arms very tightly.

'You see their fear, their horrors, and you see yourself cowering behind them as well. You are as weak and childish as you were the day your parents died. You're still a baby.'

He leaned forward, running his hands through his hair. "Shut up! I'm not a coward!" he yelled, knowing how very insane he sounded.

'You're a liar. You ran away from everything last year, ran from knowledge and logic because you wanted to prove yourself. You wanted revenge on Dumbledore for keeping you locked up, because you knew that you were better then him. You knew that you could defeat Voldemort on your own with nothing more then five years of magical talent and insane luck, while he had forty five years advantage and immoral talent on his hand.'

"JUST SHUT UP!" he yelled, standing and feeling his throat tighten. Anger was burning inside his chest, his temper flaring just below the surface point. Though the voice did not laugh, he knew it was amusement when it spoke again.

'Face it. You are a coward, who hides behind your friends. Hermione is the smart one, you could never be as smart as her, even if you studied yourself to the bone. Ron is the brave one, he'll charge out into a Quidditch field knowing he'll lose and still fight to the end. He gave up chances to live long and be normal just to be with you. And Dumbledore, you follow him blindly because you are incompetent in your own right. Do you really think people follow you because you're talented? Because you're heroic and brave and loyal?'

He tightened his fists even more and – with a slight wince – saw blood trickling down to the golden carpet. He hadn't even noticed his fingernails pierce the skin. "They follow me because they trust me!" he yelled, "SO JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!"

'The follow you because your lucky, and your famous. You are unattractive and unintelligent, cowardly and weak. All you have to your name is that scar upon your brow. So why don't you just shut up and realize the truth?'

"GO TO HELL!" he roared and the portrait hole creaked open, revealing the pale green hair and haunting eyes of Ninian. She had a sickly sort of flush to her face, probably from how wet and cold she had been this morning, though her dress was dry now. She gave him a slightly startled look, seeing his bloody hands and red, angry face.

"Oh I'm so sorry sir," she said, backing out of the common room, "I didn't know you were in here." The scared edge to her voice unnerved him and made his insides squirm in a sort of embarrassment.

"Oh, no, it's okay, really," he said, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, "I just . . . was thinking of something unpleasant."

She adjusted the thin shawl about her shoulders and entered the red and gold room, gently closing the Fat Lady's portrait. Her eyes examined the rich murals that adorned the roof of the common room in amazement, then looked to the elaborate fireplace mantel, carved from stone and featuring exotic magical creatures. He had never really given it much thought before, though now his emerald eyes turned to the lizard form of a dragon on the right hand side of the grate. Ninian seemed most captivated by that carving, and most frightened by it.

"Do you have dragons in your world?" he asked, wiping blood off his hands and onto the knees of his jeans. She jumped violently as though he had slapped her and turned to him, her face and eyes sad again.

"We . . . There were dragons, a thousand years ago, but they left the land after the war between them and humans. Lord Eliwood's trying to stop their return . . . since it would mean certain destruction." Harry thought about Norbert and the Hungarian Horntail from last year, not really thinking they could be too much of a hassle, when properly contained of course.

"Well, erm, the dragons here aren't as intelligent, I guess," he said, trying to ignore his stinging hands, "They certainly aren't smart enough to have a war with humans." She gave him a sharp look, turning her head so quickly she might have gotten whiplash.

"Really?" she asked in a softer voice then he had heard her yet use, "Are they . . . like animals, or more . . . intelligent?"

He thought back to his experience with dragons and winced slightly. "They're like giant, fire breathing wolves, really. Plant a human in their view and it's gone in seconds." Her already pallid coloring went marble pale and she fell backwards for a moment, leaning against the mantle to steady herself.

"Are you okay?" he asked quickly, reaching out a hand in helpfulness. She shook her head rapidly. "Dizzy spell, I'm sorry . . ." she said, "I just need to sit down . . ." She walked over to an armchair, collapsing into it.

"So, what's your world like?" he asked pathetically, trying to get his mind off of the disembodied voice from before. She twirled one of her many rings and spoke quietly. "I'm afraid I can't give too much of a good description. I don't stay in one place too long, since . . . my brother and I travel a lot and I don't pay much attention to the surroundings . . . Lady Firefly will be able to give you a wonderful description, she's been so many places . . ."

"Lady . . . Firefly?"

Ninian smiled lightly, rubbing at the engravings on a silver ring. Her eyes had lost their sad quality, which made him feel slightly better. She looked beautiful when she was happy. "Her real name's Alexandria, but she wants us all to call her Firefly. She's our tactician, and wonderful to be around. You can talk to her about anything . . ." Her eyes were sad again and the dancer stood, pulling her shawl tighter about her shoulders.

"I could give you a tour of the castle, if you like," he offered. He felt better just talking to her, something about her presence had lifted his mood. Since Sirius's death, he had mainly wanted to be alone, though now he just wanted to be with somebody, not alone with his thoughts. She nodded delicately and smiled.

"That would be nice. Do you mind if Nils accompanied us? He's in the library." Harry smiled and shook his head.

Sonia was used to being in charge, used to barking orders to the underlings in the Black Fang's forces. It brought her happiness, and most other things did not. This was why she did not bode well with people treating her inferiority. Masked men and women in black cloaks watched her every move, the intoxicating scent of Quintessence filling her nose. Most magic-users, even including people like the Marquess of Wrigley, would feel ill at the very whiff of such power emitted by these people. She kept a calm face as she spoke with a cool, unconcerned voice. Normally, around people of power, she adopted a sugary tone, but it was not needed this time.

"My master, Lord Nergal of Valor, finds your plans very interesting. He will back you with all his might, including a score of assassins and golems that can steal the very souls from a mortal body." A soft wave of muttering flickered amongst the masked vassals at her words, lasting only a second but proving their interest in her proposal. "All he asks in return is a simple request."

The vermilion, demonic orbs of whom she was speaking to flickered in enjoyment and contempt. "What might your master's request be?" he asked in a hissing voice, strands of his snow colored hair falling across his snake-like face.

Sonia licked her lips in a luscious sort of manner. A figure – woman, by her figure – twitched slightly. "Murders, lots of murder. An insolent general by the name of Eliwood of Pherae has been a thorn in my master's side for many months, and certain members of the group he wishes to be rid of forever. If you kill these people, my master will grant you true immortality and power beyond your dreams." Her foxish eyes flickered in the dim lighting, giving her an even more ethereal effect. "He will tell you the secrets of the gods, the power to give life to your own blasphemous creations."

The red irises widened as a mad smile crossed his lipless mouth. The black-scaled python by his feet lifted its head and gave a small hiss, as if agreeing with her. The man – could you call him a man anymore? – nodded his head slowly. "We have a deal, Sonia of the Black Fang. Tell your master then it will be an honor to kill those people."

She gave a bow, her bangles jingling and her dress moving to reveal more of the ivory skin upon her legs. Several men followed her every move, looking in disgusting lust at her body. Sonia knew, by the emotion in their eyes, that they wanted her viciously and that brought a twisted smile to her face. "My master will be pleased," she finished speaking with a bitter taste in her mouth, "You will not be disappointed, Lord Voldemort, that you chose to aide Lord Nergal."

End Chapter IX: Interesse Malriposto

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