Chapter 8- A Feeling Of Nausea
As usual, the sun would rise up and creep inside through the sewer drain. To the rebels, every morning that came, every sun that rose and set, and every new day was hope that Voldemort would be defeated.
Although few of them have seen Voldemort's most recent works of destruction, the death and decay that Voldemort had inflicted during the time before their hiding was still etched in their minds: the horrid screams that filled the night every time the Dark Mark shot up in the air; murmur of dementors, giants, dragons, and other fierce, horrible, or uncontrollable creatures roaming; the rapid beating of one's heart as they made a desperate escape to the last safe place they know- Hogwarts. Until now, most have been so horrified by their experience that they would refuse to climb out of their beds, and just hide under their blankets, shaken by their dreams.
The few brave witches and wizards left that could stand up to the shroud of Voldemort, took up arms and did battle against him... many were lost. The efforts of the valorous were futile, and those who needed comforting were still out in the harsh cold. It was a losing battle.
Yet, with hope remaining in everyone's heart- even ones that were so miniscule that they had to be fanned every moment to be kept alive- Hermione, considered to be the most clever student of her class and now commander of the rebellion, discovered a possible way of vanquishing the Dark Lord.
At first, it had fallen unto deaf ears: no one would believe her. But finally, she had proven their existence. Together with Dean Thomas and Cho Change, she nabbed the first jewel from an unknown but menacing dark creature. Then, although it was not actually rehearsed, she demonstrated the capabilities of this one jewel.
Filled with a renewed hope, the hiding rebels offered themselves to Hermione's aid. With a vengeance and an undeterred will, they marched into the two other temples, where the sword and the gauntlets lay. Under the cloak of Draco Malfoy, they stealthily grabbed the two other jewels and returned to the safety of the tunnel undetected.
Getting hold of the two jewels was no easy task. For each temple, like the first one before them, housed an ancient beast that lurked about with the purpose of protecting the powerful objects from any who wished to take them. However, with the whole rebellion in participation, victory was at hand.
The first of the two temples was home to an enormous creature of stone. It was molded into the shape of an armored warrior. In its hand was the sword that held the second jewel.
The stone warrior swished, and hacked, and cut with precision: it was an expert swords master, and very quick for something made of stone. For a while, the witches and wizards around it were quite busy avoiding its attacks. All the spells that the rebels shot at the monster- twice taller than they- rebounded from its smooth grey surface like ping-pong balls.
It took a combination of Dennis' invisibility charm, Hermione's speed spell, and several other wizards using levitation charms to propel Ron and allow him to snatch the sword from the stone's stiff fingers. Without the enchantments bestowed upon it by the jewel, the stone warrior crumbled and fell to the ground.
Four weeks after, they moved to take the third jewel. It resided in a thick woody forest not so far away from Hogsmeade. Here, stealth was the least of their worries. The thick branches that seem to intentionally block the path, or the evident howls of ferocious beasts in the distance were what really troubled the crusade. Upon finally reaching the golden halls of the third temple, they had to dust off the clinging particles of forest, and then solve a gigantic labyrinth.
The maze was enormous and difficult. It was also brimming with traps, ancient curses and powerful beasts. There would be switches on the floors and walls that shifted the entire maze, increasing the frustration of those who tried to overcome it. Not only that, they were given a set time of twelve hours to complete their task, or the whole temple would explode with them inside it.
Fortunately, it did not take the rebels twelve hours to solve the gargantuan maze; it did not take them even six hours to solve it. Terry and Cho cleverly found the shortest path through the maze and took the gauntlets that rested exactly in the middle, on a massive golden trophy-looking stand. This was done in less than two hours.
Amidst the cheering of everyone else, the walls of the maze vanished and Cho and Terry could be seen holding the gauntlets high up in the air with grins on their faces. Yet, their troubles were not over; they quickly realized this as they saw that the monsters in the maze did not vanish along with the walls.
For another half hour, the rebels spent their time firing several spells in an attempt to vanquish the monster. Luckily, most of the monsters were not as immune as the former monsters... or it was Cho Chang's incredible spell casting. Though her hands were shaking under the weight of the gauntlets in her arms, she continued on sending stunning spells at the creatures. While other stunning spells were reflected right back at the caster, Cho's spells paralyzed them instantly.
Cho's reputation was never the same after this. Not only was she very knowledgeable with the legend of the Celestial Warriors and the priestess, she was also one of the leading members that helped in gathering the jewels.
Everyday, mostly during breakfast, crowds would gather at Cho's table, like she was some kind of wise sage, and they would repetitively as her to tell the story of the seven warrior and their priestess. Yet, even with the constant whining and irritated, pleading, frowning, and glaring looks, she would refuse to tell it with a shake of her head saying, "No!" in a firm, decisive voice. People would slowly disperse muttering angrily to themselves, or whispering loudly to everyone else about how Cho was such a killjoy because she never told them anything that she knew. Their curiosities still got the better of them, however, and the next day they would regroup at Cho's table again.
This routine had gotten so irritating to Cho (most of the time she would not get a chance to eat) that after eight weeks of constant torture, she finally agreed to tell the story of each warrior as they collected the jewels. The eager listeners, glad this mini-triumph agreed to Cho's meager settlement.
Since the rebels had agreed to wait for four weeks before setting out on another quest to capture another jewel- so that they would be invisible to Voldemort's radar-, Cho spent most of the four weeks, as they waited for Hermione to tell them the date of their next venture, telling and retelling the story of how the priestess found an ancient book called "The Universe of the Four Gods", and had been absorbed into the book to find seven celestial warriors to summon the sacred God-Beast and make three of any of her most inner desires come true. (This was always followed by a shocked reaction from the audience)
"So Miaka and Tamahome met first," Cho would continue while tapping her chin gently trying to remember the story her grandmother had told her, "and it was love at first sight." A few sniggers from the listeners. "She was separated from him after that, and that was when she found out that she was the priestess of Suzaku."
"You know, it must've been hard for her." Dean surmised, interrupting Cho's story. Cho stared at him with her mouth hanging open. This shocked expression was now normal whenever Dean came about. He had been injured so frequently that he was considered to be Luna's roommate. He looked terrible: red eyes, body bruised badly, a slight uncontrollable shiver, and a pale face. Other than that, however, one would consider him as quite normal. Ignoring everyone else's gaping mouths, he continued, "I mean look. She was transported back to ancient China. It wasn't even Japan; it was China! I wonder how she looked like the folks there. I wonder if she felt lonely sometimes," Everyone was not staring at him with shock now; they were glowering at him. He gave them a what's-wrong-I-was-just-wondering-aloud look, then walked away shaking his head.
Cho looked worriedly at Dean as he entered Luna's room but had to continue telling her story. "The emperor, who also happened to be a Celestial Warrior, told her that she was a savior." Cho had probably retold the story a million times before to everyone but she still got perplexed looks. "With her three wishes, she could save their empire." Remembering Dean's comment, although he wasn't there, she added, "That's why priestesses were received so well." The room was filled with nods of comprehension. "So there's two warriors," Cho said as she counted them off with her hand, "Well, the third one." She smiled to herself as she remembered this one, "Well, she was... I mean, he was... he was gay." Some of the crowd covered their mouths with their hands; others mouthed an "Oh"; others looked at the rest frowning at them implying that they were overreacting. The third of the crowd who did not think that there was something of a big deal shot a glare at Cho.
"There's nothing wrong with that!" Cho instantly snapped defensively. "Well, anyway," she tried to go on, "she was discovered after he used her powers to do something. I forgot what it was exactly but she was at the emperor's palace because she was working for him." She shrugged and smiled at the audience. "So there you have it! All three!" She concluded.
"So how exactly did you use her- er- his gauntlets?" Dennis Creevey asked; his hand high up in the air.
Cho sighed (it was one of the many times she had to explain this). "Well, it was an experiment, I guess." She began playing with her fingers as she tried to remember what had happened. "It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. I just thought: Well, if her powers enhanced her strength, then maybe it enhanced her magic too. I know it sounds weird," Cho blurted out as she noticed some of the confused faces, "but you know, it worked. And that's all that really matters." She smiled sheepishly. Some of the crowd nodded their heads slowly and wore understanding-but-not-quite faces; others looked like they were compromising.
"That' all for now!" Hermione urgently said feeling quite uptight. "You can hear it again tomorrow," she added with a sarcastic lash of her tongue. Then she turned to Cho beaming. "You're a really good friend." She hugged her.
"I'm sorry I couldn't stop them," said Cho frowning, "They were really insistent."
"It's okay. As long as you don't get to the part when-"
"Yeah, I know," said Cho giving Hermione a comforting smile. "You know, I was actually jealous with you once."
"When was that?" Hermione asked curiously.
"I was jealous with you and Harry," Cho laughed at herself after saying this. "Well, Ron wasn't really getting any hints. I thought you and Harry were, you know." Cho shrugged.
"No, it was actually me and Krum back then," Hermione reminisced smiling. "And Ron was like a brick wall. A red brick wall." They both laughed softly.
"Harry was so brave. Naïve, proud, reckless maybe... but still brave."
"A perfect image of a Griffyndor." Cho and Hermione frowned at the thought of Harry.
"Let's not talk about him," said Cho holding Hermione's hand and squeezing it gently. Both women stared into the wall opposite them for a moment, thinking.
Hermione stood up after a while saying, "Well, I better wash these." She motioned to the plates they had used.
"Nah. I'm feeling a little magicky today," Cho interrupted waving her hand. She pulled out her wand from her dirty robes and aimed it at the plates, "Scourgify!" The dishes became of soil in an instant.
"Lazybones!" Hermione teased. "I'm going to my darling, Ron, k?" Cho nodded. Hermione had walked two paces when she felt a wave of nausea coarse through her body. Her hands slammed on the table as she tried to keep balance. Her vision was suddenly blurred. She felt as though there was something inside her that needed badly to come out.
The thud on the table had alerted the remaining people in the meeting room. They gathered around Hermione asking, "What's wrong?" or "Are you alright?" but Hermione could barely make out what they were trying to tell her.
Cho was rubbing Hermione's back saying, "It's going to be okay."
Hermione felt a cold rush quickly in her body then a quick warming sensation traveled all over her next. She was swaying, trying to regain her balance. She tried to tell them that she was fine but everytime she opened her mouth she would get this feeling that something was going to come out of it. She stood there for quite some time with her hands stretched out and her face sweating. One of the wizards who had gathered around her had broken off from the circle and was knocking at Hermione's bedroom. Then Hermione felt it: a strong wave coming from her stomach that worked its way up quickly. Hermione could not help but open her mouth as she felt a bitter, semi-solid stream escape from her body. Everyone around her jumped back and recoiled in disgust as what looked like everything she had insider her stomach came splashing down the ground.
"I'm fine," Hermione finally said then fainted. Ron, who was still half-naked and groggy when he answered the door, caught her on time. He looked intently at Hermione for a while then started slapping her pale face gently, trying to wake her up.
The face felt very cold and lifeless as Ron became filled with panic as his slaps quickened and he whispered, "C'mon!" hopefully every time. He looked angrily at the wizards that were gathered there, their mouths hanging open and their eyes widening in shock. He stared at them angrily as though the stupid look on their faces were the worst offense in the world and he waited for them to act quickly but did not get what he wanted. "What are you waiting for?" He yelled in fury. Why were they just standing there? Are they stupid or something? Hermione is dying and they are just standing there! "Call Luna now!" He roared angrily.
