Black Ascension

by Omni Black

Post OoTP will have HPB Spoilers. Harry decides that he wants to be in control and away from Dumbledore's Manipulations. Appearences and perceptions are changing, true faces are shown, secrets revealed. Independant, dark, not evil. Grims and Heritage.

18. Chapter 18

Okay, here is the next chapter. I'm starting it after I posted the last one, but I don't know when it will be finished. Hopefully soon. But this hardly matters about the story.

Read, Review, Enjoy

-Omni

Previously…

"And they said you were dead." The princess said. "But when do the wizards ever get anything right?" She asked her self softly. A soft sigh escaped her lips and Seraph noted the bright ends of her otherwise dark hair. Her aura flared slightly and Seraph saw the light blue and gold strands that made it up. The red haze that the others had was not there; instead she had a deep red ball of light at the center of her aura. Red haze aside, her aura looked familiar, like he should know it.

"What are you talking about?" Seraph asked.

"Don't play games with me, Mr. Black." She said almost playfully. "I know who you are." She said dreamily in a sing-song voice. Seraph heard an almost audible click in his head and looked at Neville sharply. The boy still looked bewildered. Seraph looked back at the princess and smiled in a lopsided, yet feral, manner. The odd grin confused the vampires for a moment before Seraph made his next comment.

"So, Luna, how has your summer been?"

And all hell broke loose.

Chapter 18: Bloody Bonds

A loud explosion rocked the balcony and some of the vampires who were not thinking of disemboweling Seraph were looking around in fear. The music stopped, the lights shut off, and screams of terror and rage filled the air.

"Princess, we must leave. Now." A vampire to Luna's right said. Luna seemed hesitant to leave, but nodded and began to retreat with the other vampires to be stopped by the glass screen imploding. The lady vamps all took a defensive position, and it was easy to see why a moment later as seven people clad in black and red body suits jumped through the now broken screen. The black and red clad figures all rolled to their feet and came out standing with weapons drawn.

"Die, Vampire!" One of the figures said with a heavy Asian accent, as it raised the long katana it held in its hands. The sword came down, only to be blocked by a dagger of one of the vampires.

"Get the princess out!" Screamed one of them as the other vampires attacked the offending black clad people. Seraph was torn between wanting to stay and try to help Luna, and knowing that this did not involve him and was therefore not his problem. Seraph heard Draco say 'Grims Keep' and saw the dim flash of the necklace, before said necklace exploded, causing enough magical backlash to send Draco into the wall behind him.

"Guess that answers that question." Seraph said to Neville.

"Looks like we have a fight, like it or not." Neville said, still looking at the unconscious Draco. Neville quickly enervated him as a vampire right behind him was stabbed in the heart. Her body began to age rapidly until she turned to dust.

"Move!" Seraph shouted, pulling his black blade out and blocking a heavy swing from a glinting silver one. The attacker looked at the blade that had blocked his blow, then to the person holding it. The man jumped back about three feet and took a ready stance, not waiting for Seraph to get ready before he began to attack him. Seraph was able to evade the first attack and blocked the second, third and fourth, before succumbing to a fifth, right across his shoulder. His robe took the brunt of it, but it still hurt like hell. Seraph backed up, only to find himself up against a wall. Seraph could just feel the grin through his opponent's hood. He backed up one more foot, until his leg was against the wall and used it as a platform to jump off of, swinging his blade at the head of the attacker. His blade was blocked as he landed on his feet behind the man, facing away from him. He could almost feel the man turn around and try to attack. Instead of turning around as well, Seraph lunged backwards, his sword pointed behind him, held between his arm and side. A gurgled gasp met him, and Seraph pulled his blade out sharply, feeling blood splatter across his back. He stood up and turned around, seeing the man with his blade still held high above him, ready to strike.

Meanwhile, Draco and Neville were having their own problems.

"Shit!" Draco said, as he had to jump to the aside to avoid being struck by another sword wielding person. He shot off a 'Stupefy', but his attacker dodged it. He had to quickly put up a physical shield to block the next attack and wished he had brought his new rapier with him.

"Laceratus!" Draco shouted, swinging his wand in an arc. A thin red wave shot out of his wand to be blocked by the attacker's sword. It left a nick in the metal. "Who are you people?" Draco asked in a panic, hoping to buy a little bit of time.

"We are something that you could not understand, little boy." An accented feminine voice said. She swung at him again. "And after this, you won't ever have to!" The women screamed as she seemed to gain a burst of speed, sending multiple slashes at Draco faster then he could see. Draco let out a pained growl as he tried to protect himself from the attack. After a moment, he realized that the sword had only struck him once, and that all the other blows had been deflected by a swirling, silvery shield. The women stepped back, confused by the shield. Draco acted quickly and punched the woman in the stomach as hard as he could, eliciting a loud 'whump' noise and a few cracks. The woman dropped to her knees, wheezing heavily. Before Draco could do anything else, he was thrown bodily into a wall by a flying black clad figure.

"Sorry, Draco!" Neville said. Up until a few seconds ago, he had been left alone. That changed when a burly man with a large club looking weapon stepped up to him. The man took a mighty swing at him and Neville tried to get out of the way, but failed. He ended up getting hit on his right forearm, instantly pulverizing the bone. Pain shot thru Neville like he could only remember in burnt memories. He let out a primal roar as he attempted to catch the man's next attack, succeeding in grabbing the club in his left hand. The pain of more cracking bones was briefly ignored as he kicked the man in the chest, sending him over the woman that Draco was fighting, into Draco. Neville quickly stunned the two, only to find that they would not work on these people.

"Try this, Vercundus!" Draco said, shooting a bashing curse into the man's head, leaving a large knot and possible brain damage, but it got the job done.

"Necto, Dormio." Neville said, shooting a binding and sleeping spell respectively at the woman, rendering her unconscious and restrained.

"Still no backbone, eh Longbottom?" Draco asked snidely, wiping his brow of a stinging red substance that was getting into his eye, his blood. He had to jump out of the way quickly as a vampire came hurtling towards him, hitting the wall and turned to ash. Of the seven black and red robed people, five had been downed, while five more had arrived. Seven of the thirteen vampires had been killed. Piles of ash and a few extremely old looking dead bodies attested to this fact. The woman who had been trying to take Luna to safety was being held at the point of a sword, the rest of the vampires in similar situations.

"Our Master requests an audience with the young princess." The man said the last word with utter contempt. The women spat blood at his face. "My, my, such…spirit, from the… undead." The man said as he backhanded the woman across the face. "When I said request, it was more of a demand, really. So hand over the little royal." He said, pointing the blade into her throat, cutting her slightly.

"Crawl back to that shadow you call a master!" She yelled at him, spitting in his face once again. Seraph looked at Neville, who nodded. Seraph looked at Draco, and motioned to the situation happening not ten feet from them. Somehow the black clad fighters had forgotten about them, and their fallen allies. Draco stared stoically back. Seraph understood, this was not their fight, and they could escape now.

"They could work for Voldemort." Seraph muttered as he looked at his blade and slashed at the air, sending flecks of blood towards the small group in front of them. The specks of blood hit one of the black fighters in the neck. The speck of blood was quickly followed by a black tanto. The blade was not designed to be used like that, and Seraph had not practiced with it, but it had worked out fairly well.

"This a private party?" Seraph asked. Next to him, Neville and Draco sent off banishing, bashing, and cutting hexes and curses at the assembled group, aiming at the black figures. Two more went down from a bashing curse to the head and another from a cut in the neck, courtesy of Draco and Neville. In the strike, one of the vampires had killed another man and two vampires were killed, leaving three of the black and red attackers and three vamps plus Luna.

"Little boys, this is no time to be playing hero." The man said as he threw his arm in front of them, sending Seraph, Draco, and Neville into the wall behind them. Neville passed out from the pain in his back, arm and hand and Draco tried to get up, succeeding in resting against the wall. Seraph had gotten up in a flash though, his sword at the ready.

"You don't work for Voldemort, do you?" Seraph asked. These people were no Death Eaters, and they weren't vampires or werewolves either. Seraph suppressed a shudder at the possible implications of a man with forces like these.

"Voldemort?" The man asked. "Ah, the Western Darkness… We are not associated… Though our causes seem to be… similar." The man said. Seraph nodded and attacked the man without preamble, catching him off guard. Seraph concentrated on nothing other then the man and the fight, the world slowing down around him. Sparks shot out as the swords clashed, again and again. He could not get any hits on the man, though he received a fare share of cuts and gashes across his coat and vest, many leaving deep gashes across his arms and chest and back. The man held his sword in one hand and threw the other towards Seraph, who was once again thrown back, but his feet landed against the wall and shot towards the man like a bullet. The man dodged, slicing into Seraph's back as he passed him. A stifled scream of pain rang out, the cut had gone through the coat and both vests, laving a long deep cut across his back. Seraph turned around, his glasses long forgotten, his silver and emerald eyes blazing. The man only smirked and made a 'come hither' motion.

The world around Seraph had already slowed down, but now some of the color seemed to drain of the surroundings. He could hear his breathing, his heartbeat, and the heartbeat of the man across from him. The Avada Kedavra green in his eyes were replaced by glowing silver, this time by his magic and not his metamorphmagus abilities. He brought his blade to the side of him in a low position and somehow felt a cold fire burning within the sword. The usual burning sensation he associated with his affinity met it, and black flames erupted across the blade. The man across from him only smirked wider, as his blade turned black with nearly invisible flames licking his sword.

"Tut tut, little Grims should be to bed by now. I suppose I'll just have to put you down." He taunted. Seraph just stared coldly at the man and attacked. His underhand arc was met with a block, sending small balls of fire everywhere. Even as the man was attacking him, new moves that he had never seen before were being assimilated into his mind and he wished he could just concentrate on fighting. They met each strike, but the man was slowly overpowering him. The man went for an overhead strike and Seraph saw his chance. He dropped to his knee, put his blade above him with one hand and shot a burst of black flame from the other. The black ball of fire hit the man's right upper arm, stopping the attack. Within seconds, the arm had been severed and the amputated piece shriveling to ash quickly.

The man let out a howl of rage and pain and grabbed something from inside his robes and threw it down, causing smoke to rise from the ground. The other two people followed this example and threw down similar smoke objects. The smoke retreated back to where it came from, leaving nothing and no one behind. Seraph fell to his knees, the pain in his back, chest, and arms now in the forefront of his mind and exhaustion and severe blood loss was taking its toll on him. He stood up slowly, using his sword as a crutch, eyeing the Vampires warily as they discussed something in hushed tones that Seraph could not hear. He turned around and saw Draco leaning against the back wall, blood flowing down a gash at his right temple. It looked like he was trying to say something, but he barely had the strength to lean, let alone talk. Heavy blood loss was affecting him also. Neville had just been woken up a few seconds earlier and was wincing every once in a while from the multiple broken bones.

Seraph suddenly turned around faster then humanly possible and his sword stopped a mere centimeter from the neck of the vampire who had been guarding Luna.

"You…assisted us." The woman said reluctantly. It was evident to Seraph that this was a woman that prided herself on her fighting abilities. She had been bested and then saved. Saved by their food for all intensive purposes. Seraph would have smirked, if he was not fighting for consciousness. "And for that, you have our… gratitude." She forced out. Fierce whispering was heard behind the 'Guardian' that finished with an airy yet forceful voice saying 'I command it.' The whispering stopped immediately and the two vampires speaking to Luna walked over to Draco and Neville. Draco flinched as the vampire smeared her bloody hand across his cheek, and the other did the same to Neville.

"You going to be coming with us, Harry. I'm afraid if you don't, you will die. This won't hurt a bit." Luna told him in an oddly serious voice. She scraped her hand across one of her elongated fangs, cutting it. She smeared her blood across his forehead as Seraph fell to his knees. "Sorry, Harry, for what has happened and what will be done."

Seraph succumbed to the darkness that was clouding his mind.

"This is not wise, Princess." One of the three other remaining vampires said.

"Father will wish to thank them personally, human or not, and he cannot do that if they are dead." Luna said, grabbing Seraph before he hit his head on the floor.

"He is too far gone. The others may be helped with conventional means, but-" The lady vampire was cut off.

"He will survive, one way or another. He always does." Luna said before the group of vampires and human vanished without a sound.

Black-Ascension

Dark stone tiled the floors made up the ground, the peculiar sheen causing odd reflections from the fire that lit the area. The walls were roughly hewn from stone, small crevices carved out to hold giant candles. The ceiling of the vast room could not be seen, shadows covered it. A sound of running water could be heard from nearby, interrupted by periodic splattering. Figures in black suits with red sash and hoods kneeled, their heads bowed so low they were touching the ground. A large wooden stage-like structure stood in front of the prostrating group of people. On it sat a giant stone Buddha, and sitting between Buddha's crossed legs was a man dressed entirely in red, save for a black sash and hood. The relative tranquility of the room was interrupted when three clouds of smoke appeared in front of the red man. The smoke receded, leaving three men, two of which immediately took the same position all of the others in the room had. The third one did not.

This man was trying to muffle a scream, holding his, or what was left of it, arm. Smoke could still be seen coming off of it.

"Togashi, what is the meaning of this?" The red man asked. He had to yell to be heard over the racket the useless man was making. "Where are the others, and where is the princess!" The man asked in a cutting whisper that anyone present would have thought it was a shout.

"Nain Kushin" The man said, making a single sign with his hand. The man stopped screaming quickly, though now he looked hesitant. The numbing would end soon, and the pain would be back, twice what it was originally.

"Arigatou, Sensei." The no longer screaming man said with a slight bow. "We have failed." The man said simply.

"Explain." The Master said, keeping his hands held together to keep from killing the man with a few movements.

"We three are all that is left of the force to kidnap the Princess. The Banpaia that guarded the Princess were dealt with quickly, but they were not alone. There were also three Reigen were there also."

"Reigen?" The red man asked in disbelief. The Reigen were their greatest enemy, and the reason why they were forced to go underground once again a couple of thousand years ago. Numbers were up though, in recent years, but nothing like the stories of old. The Reigen were a disgrace, a mockery of the teachings of the sacred arts. And if the Reigen were a disgrace, then the Banpai were humiliation. Every step that they took was a slap in the face for the Shinobi. They were the creations of their greatest master, Knoxius, to be used as powerful, but lowly assassins. They were grunts, able to kill quickly, though usually they left a bloody mess, and did not need more then blood to survive. Blood was easily accessible, either from their targeted kill or from the pigs that were slaughtered each day. But their dependence on the Master slowly waned, having gotten a taste of life without servitude from long missions.

Soon, the Half-dead abominations had broken away from the command of their creator and had banded together to fight for their freedom. When the surviving child of Knoxius broke away from his heritage in favor of the lands and power that could be had in the west, the Shinobi had declared war on them. The child, Knox, had also killed their master, but that was to be expected. No weak man should retain power and the heir of Knoxius was obviously the stronger, or at least the smarter, of the two. Knox was expected to take over the Shinobi, but instead had killed or imprisoned any that were found. The Shinobi quickly regrouped in secret and struck back, but the two sided war took its toll on them, and the body count rose each day on both sides before the child of Knoxius and the Banpai joined together for their first and only open battle with the Shinobi. The fighting had been brutal and in the end, the Shinobi had been beaten back.

Knox had left for the new western world with his group of chosen, his 'Guild of Grims', his Reigen Girudo. The Banpai broke off into smaller groups and spread out over whatever lands they could. The remaining Shinobi hid amongst the populace, passing on their knowledge and training in secret, holding large meetings only once in a century. It stayed like this until they made their presence known, gathering power quickly and decisively. The Reigen had appeared once again and fought them back. Eventually the Shinobi went into hiding again, but over the last few hundred years, they had begun to gather in larger groups once more, until Shadokira; the 'Shadow Killer' became a master and rounded up all of the Shinobi under his banner.

Up until now, the Banpai were the only group that was aware that they had regrouped. Tonight's failed mission was critical; the Shinobi needed the Princess to break one of the stronger clans, the Moon Clan. If they could regain control over them then the other clans could be beaten into submission. Once the Banpaia were under their power, they could be used for their original purpose and Shadokira could maneuver himself politically over Asia while the Banpaia were terrorizing it.

"Hai, Sensei. There were three, and they fought with the Banpaia. I managed to dispatch two of them quickly, but the third one put up more of a fight. He was…untrained, though the battle intensified the longer it went on. I believe that he is their leader. He carried his blade."

"He carries the blade…interesting. If the Reigen are indeed gathering then we should soon be able to finally be done with them. Do you believe that they are allied with the Benpaia?"

"I do not know, Sensei. They fought for the Princess though, so it is a possibility." The man admitted.

"Tell me, Togashi, how this…untrained Reigen managed to take your arm?" The red clad man's hands were glowing with a dark energy. The man, Togashi shuddered.

"The leader is one with the black flame. I let my guard down and the boy took advantage of it." Togashi said, head bowed in shame. The pain was starting to return to his arm and he bit his tongue to not make a sound.

I hope for the loss of your arm, and that of your life, that you killed the whelp."

"His life force pooled the ground as we left, Sensei."

"Do not fail me again, Togashi, or your life will be forfeit." The Master said, as he held up the palms of his hands. He made three gestures and the two men on either side of Togashi suddenly went rigid. Their backs began to curve at an unnatural angle until popping could be heard. The popping intensified into to cracking a moment later and blood began to seep out of their mouths. The curving continued until loud snapping could be heard and blood began to pool around them from their mouths and from under their clothing. Finally, one of the men's spines burst through the front of his neck, showering the area in blood, bone, and skin. The spine kept curving though, and soon snapped in half. The other man had yet to lose his spine, but his eyes filled with blood as they exploded and his spine also snapped in half.

"Do I make my self clear?" The Master asked. Togashi nodded, still eyeing the men next to him, his clothing covered in blood, amongst other things. "You have thirty six hours to heal, Togashi, and then you will be training. Obviously if you cannot defeat a boy without losing a limb, then you must not be training hard enough. Shenron will surely drive this point, I believe. Now be gone!" The Master said, moving his hand as if batting a fly away. Togashi was lifted off of his feet and sent careening backwards until he hit the door. He shakily got up and made his way towards the Isha. He had an arm to re-grow and he was sure that his back had broken from his forced exit.

Black-Ascension

Snape smirked as he slowly stirred his cauldron. The Dark Lord would be most pleased with the progress he had made so far. This is what he loved. No matter how much he enjoyed torturing muggles and mudblood's, a taste he had acquired early in his younger days and was now refining, it was never so rewarding as creating a potion. Not merely making a potion, anyone with half a brain and access to ingredients could make a potion. No, he was a master, a god among men in his field, he created potions. He could brew glory, bottle fame, and the rest of that rot he pushed onto his idiot students.

How the Dark Lord expected him to return to Hogwarts to teach, was beyond him. But his Lord willed it, so it would be done. Besides, he would be able to teach Defense against the Dark Arts, a subject that while not as interesting to him as Potions, was much more manageable. A cauldron in the hands of children was lethal, a point that he tried to make in his classes. A shame no one had been killed yet. Longbottom surely would have been a victim of an unfortunate potions accident if it wasn't for that mudblood know-it-all Granger.

Snape let a cruel smile play across his lips. She would be less of a problem now though. Prolonged lack of free will does that to people. He had been the one to make the bonding potion as well as a key component in the ritual to seal her will to the Headmaster and the Weasley. The potion was designed to break the magical core slightly, a very painful process, while the ritual was used to transfer the will of the victim to those performing the ritual. Primary and secondary wills are imposed upon the victim, one with verbal control, the other with physical control. Weasley had performed his part incorrectly, allowing Snape to achieve partial control over the girl. The boy was unaware of the foul, but the old man knew, though Dumbledore seemed to smile at this. Probably glad that Weasley had less power then he thought.

Snape frowned.

The potion was like the Imperious Potion that he had created during the first rise of his Lord. Many of the components were the same, though not all. Most had to be substituted for more potent ingredients or things that would change the properties to better fit its victims, namely werewolves. The Imperious Potion was as good as a poison to most magical creatures. Centaurs had the interesting effect of losing all their hair before dieing and house-elves simply exploded. Both were entertaining, though counterproductive. No, the abominations had to be able to survive a concentrated dose of the new potion to be effective.

He had started with his formula for the Imperious Potion and broken it down to its most basic parts and started from their. Rippler toe instead of Mermaid fin. Ashwinder eggs instead of Liquid Salamander. The list went on and on, but it was at this point in the potion where things would start to come together to make what he wanted. Snape stirred in an erratic figure eight while he lightly dusted the top of the potion with a powdered substance. The potion went from a dull brown colour to a dull green. He gave another stir and set his instrument down, five minutes of simmering before he could do anything else.

It had to be non-poisonous to werewolves, while being able to break through their natural mental defenses. There were potions that could do that on their own, but they were temperamental and went bad quickly, not to mention they were generally laced with a poison themselves. The poison, while mild, does its job by lowering the immunities before it attacks the mind. The Mentis Potion, a potion designed to weaken mental defenses over time, was long lasting, the main ingredient, Occamy skin, lasted for decades. The potion took over a week to take full effect though, that too because of the Occamy skin and because it was one of the few non-poisonous 'Mind Breakers' as they are called. 'Dementor blood might work' He mused. 'It would instill fear of the Dark Lord as well. If this potion does not work then I will ask for fresh Dementor parts. Anything that can break mind shields that easily must have their power based in Legilimencey…' Snape thought to himself as he searched for the jar that he was looking for. He found it with little difficulty.

Snape added the Occamy skin, piece by piece, stirring with each. Soon the potion turned from a murky green to a bright green. Snape dropped over an ounce of dried and shredded Giant's heart to the potion, turning it to a vile looking red before he immediately turned off the flame and blew powdered Opaleye Dragon horn over it, making it nearly as clear and translucent as water.

Snape smirked.

While the potion would take longer to affect then he would like it to have, and he was sure it was far too long for his master, it was progress. Giants, while dreadfully slow and dimwitted were amazingly powerful in strength, rivaling an adolescent Dragon most the time. While they did not have any real magic, they were highly resistant to it, which made their body parts sometimes useful as ingredients. The heart was the most powerful and it would add to the strength of the potion, hopefully cutting down the time it would take for the Occamy skin to work. The Dragon horn was used in Veritaserum to give it the colorless and odorless attributes that it was noted for. Few masters could get the consistency needed to make a potion of theirs clear, but Snap was proud to boast he was one of them.

This potion, if nothing more, was non-poisonous and more powerful improvement over his original Imperious Potion. The tardiness of the potion might actually be beneficial, for use on enemies, as it would probably take more then three days for it take effect, the administrator would not be caught. It would also last longer then the previous potion, though the original worked faster. He would experiment with using Dementor parts later. The Dark Lord had just received a few werewolves that had displeased him.

'Test subjects' Snape thought with sadistic glee. It was too bad that he could not use that abomination, Lupin, yet. But he planned on using the bastard for his final potion.

Black-Ascension

"Quickly, inform father of the attack and find the healer." Luna said to head guard, Shea. Shea nodded her head once and moved faster then most eyes would catch. Things had not gone well this night. They had attacked, something that had not happened for centuries. She had been told, of course, about them and the war, but she hopped that they would never rise again. One war was enough and she feared for her clan if both they and Voldemort discovered them. Her musings were cut short, however, when a pair of heavy double doors burst open and cracked against the wall. Her father and two women in white rushed in as well as his guard.

"Check my daughter for injuries, Dominic, take those three to the dungeons. I will not have my daughter's attackers go unpunished." Oddarious Amorbene, King and Master of the Moon Clan commanded.

"Father." Luna said, her voiced drowned out over her father's shouting.

"Clean them up; I don't want them dead before I can kill them."

"Father" Luna said, louder this time, but her father had shifted to his 'Commander' mode as she had dubbed it when she was younger.

"Cells three and seven. And you, Shea! Tell me, how is it that three children were able to kill so many of your personally trained guard?" He demanded, a nonexistent but violent wind tugging at the bottom of his cloak.

"Well, you see, sir…"

"Daddy!" Luna finally shouted, her magic amplifying her voice until it rattled that walls and everyone stopped in their tracks.

"Yes?"

"They did not attack us, they saved us. Do not take them to the dungeons, they need medical attention and he will die if we do not do anything soon." Luna said, visibly upset at the last part.

"They…saved you? Right… Medics!" He shouted, until he turned around and saw them. "Take them to the Med-Bay, do what you can." The man sniffed the air and seemed to concentrate for a moment. "Luna, there is nothing that you can do for—" But he was cut off by his daughter, her normally placid blue eyes lit with an oddly blue fire.

"He is my friend, one of my only friends. He saved us, saved me, and this wasn't the first time. He will live." Luna said vehemently, so unlike her usual self. Oddarious wondered what the boy had done, besides aiding in defeating an attacker of hers, to instill such a loyalty to him in his daughter. She had only spoken about her friends once, and this boy did not match the descriptions he could remember. He was left wondering in the atrium as the medics and his daughter made their way to the Med-Bay. He would make sure to keep on eye on the boy, all of three of them, actually.

"Your Highness, your father was right. We can heal his wounds, but not before he dies of blood loss. At the rate he is going, he will have no blood, and we don't carry blood replenishing potions, they don't work on us like they do for wizards." One of the medics told her when they reached large room. Luna did not say anything; she just gave a sad sort of smile and muttered something under her breath that the healer did not catch.

Luna rolled up the sleeves of her cloak and pulled out a small metal curved object. The intricately designed blade depicted a raven in flight through stormy skies. Before the healers could stop her, she placed the bottom of the blade at her elbow and sliced to her middle finger deeply. Pain was the first sensation she felt as she cut, quickly replaced by a feeling of cold fire and slight lightheadedness. She let the blood gather in her palms and began chanting softly. The healers stared in shock as she took her own blood and smeared it across all of the black haired boy's cuts. The cuts glowed softly before the blood congealed and they started to close slowly with a faint hiss. Her own cut had begun to heal already and she made another parallel laceration centered at her wrist. She held the cut at his mouth, forcing the blood inside and stroking his throat to make him swallow. A black mist hovered above the table before it shot into both of them and Luna passed out.

One of the healers checked Luna over quickly before she got to work on healing the flaxen boy. He too had lost blood, but not anywhere close to the other boy, as well as having minor spinal damage. He would be in pain for a while, but would survive after she got done with him.

"Should we have stopped her?" The other healer asked.

"It was a dangerous thing to do, no doubt, but do you really think we could have stopped her once she had her mind made up? We didn't know what she was doing until she started that chant. No, she would have done it anyway. The way she spoke to her father…Such fire in her I have not seen since the Mistress was killed." She said, waving an oddly white wand over the blond child. The other healer smiled slightly, revealing a set of shining white teeth and two sharper then normal canines.

"That boy is something special to her, you think?"

"Perhaps. I'll have to speak with her later. She's not confided in me since before she went to that school. I don't know why the Master sent her there; she would not have to hide herself at Durmstrang or even Beauxbatons, though I do detest the French vampires. They believe themselves to be so…slick, so greasy. May, I remember a particular fellow named Mortimer who believed he could woe me with a 800 year old bottle of mortal's blood. Claimed it was Julius Caesar's! "

"Your rambling, Dia." May said, looking at the head healer in sympathy. It had been a harsh blow to her when the princess had become more distant, finding acceptance in obscure books of magical creatures instead of her long time Nanny.

"Hmm… I suppose I am…I just hope the princess knows what she has done." Dia said.

Black-Ascension

"I call this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to attention." Albus Dumbledore said as he taped his wand against the table, eliciting a loud gable noise as well as some sparks. Albus Dumbledore, the leader of the light, and all around good guy looked old. Well, that is to say that the man was old, over a 150 at least, but he looked every year of it at the moment. The Order calmed down and Albus sighed before taking his seat.

"Kingsley, what do you have from the Ministry?" He asked the tall bald man. Kingsley cleared his throat and stood up, gaining the attention of the room.

"I have been looking through some of the new recruit and a couple of the senior Auror's files. I've found three new recruits and a couple of the seniors who, based on their history, may be interested in joining us. There are a few outside of the force that may be interested as well. EricMunch, he checks the wands in the Atrium at the Ministry, has offered to inform us of anything suspicious. We would have to give him a list of known and suspected Death Eaters to look out for and inform us if they come in as a group or at odd hours. Mr. Perkins from the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts has also expressed interest to Arthur. Basil Tipp of the Department of Magical Transportation has offered to report anything off and to give us emergency portkeys if we need them. He suspects Madame Edgecombe to be monitoring fire calls and passing the information on to Death Eaters." Shaklebolt finished and sat down.

"Very good. While it is not difficult to create the portkeys, it is a rather bothersome task. They won't be traced in any manner as well." Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "Continue with your search for new members within the Ministry and ask those who you believe may be interested to attend a meeting with me in two weeks." He told Kingsley, who nodded. "Nymphadora, have you found anyone outside of the Ministry who may wish to join us?"

Tonks scowled at the old man.

"No, not much. No one really believes that V-vol…you-know-who has returned." She cursed herself in her head. She just could not say the name, but she was working on it. With Remus' help and, ehem, encouragement. The man was quiet the animal and had changed her opinion on a few subjects. She was pretty sure that the Marauders had studied more then useful pranking material. She shook her head slightly. "If I were to try and convince them that he was back then it is possible that I would lose whatever standing I have in certain circles. One or two of the people that I have spoken with might believe that he is back, but they don't have a vested interest either way and would either leave or claim neutrality should it prove true." Tonks finished. Dumbledore sighed, that same sigh that had broken many troublesome students, dissolved Hufflepuffs to tears, and had convinced the Minister of Magic that his way was best numerous times. It was his 'I'm not mad, I'm disappointed' sigh.

"Thank you, Nymphadora. Standing or no, I wish you would apply yourself more to our cause." Dumbledore said somberly and Tonks almost felt compelled to feel ashamed until she shook her head again. She had nothing to feel ashamed for and wondered if the old man could magically charge his words. If so, she was glad that she had started to strengthen her mind shields at Remus' suggestion. He had been working with the Twins as well. She sat down, scowling at her bit of table in front of her.

"Now, Remus. I believe that you are heading up the search for Mr. Longbottom. How is that going?" Dumbledore asked the werewolf. He was concerned with his former student's recent behavior. Ever since Potter's death he had continued to become more and more agitated, going so far as to argue with him about going to see the Werewolves. Remus stood up.

"Headmaster, Mr. Longbottom is the Head of his family, thereby making him an adult. Within the law, he can do and live what and wherever he pleases. His grandmother assured us that he is staying at a home with adequate wards, and coming from Madame Longbottom, they would have to be extremely strong to earn her approval. I do not understand why-" But Remus was cut off from commenting any further.

"Remus, your report." The Headmaster said in a voice that conveyed untold irritation.

"Of course, Headmaster." Remus said stiffly. "The Weasley twins, Diggle, Dung and I have been asking around to see if anyone has seen him recently. We have been trying to get in contact with the boy's friends. Three of his, supposed," The last was said under his breath, "friends reside in this house and know no more then the rest of the Order, another, Ms. Lovegood, is unavailable on holiday, and Harry can't really comment." Remus said with a fixed smile, his voice carrying a slightly hysteric undertone as he ran his hand through his hair. Several gave him pitying, some even understanding looks. Alive or not, he still worried for the boy, his cub. Outbursts like that helped to give the allusion of mourning to the right people and let out some stress. Tonks would help him with the rest of his stress, later.

Dumbledore nodded, which was no comfort, before continuing.

"Does anyone else have anything to add?" He asked benignly. Moody nodded from the corner and stepped into the light, his face in profile, highlighting his several scars and lack of proper nose.

"There was a report of a vampire attack at a muggle club." He said, and several people gasped. "However, we are unsure of what actually happened. Ashes were found and were tested; several vampires were killed, as well as what we first believed to be Death Eaters. They weren't though, but match the description of an assassin group from Asia. The problem is, this group has not been seen for centuries. A contact I have in Japan says that they are highly trained in the martial arts, blades, Jutsu and some general magic. He suggests killing any that we see, if we can handle them." Moody said. He had a bad feeling about these people. Vampires could be dealt with, they were difficult to kill, but they knew their weaknesses. These assassins were an unknown.

"Jutsu?" Hermione asked from beside her boyfriend, somewhere in the back. It pained her to have to ask about something but took heart in the confused looks everyone seemed to have.

"Yes…Jutsu." Dumbledore started; a worried glint in his eye. "It is a branch of magic that most of us have lost the ability to perform. There are three, maybe four different branches within the art I believe. It is extremely powerful, though like the ancient magic, requires concentration and time. I myself never chose to pursue this branch of magic, as it is generally impractical, because of the time that it takes, and I know of no one who is skilled enough in it to teach. Most people who might see a jutsu used would believe that it is wandless magic, which technically it is, requiring hand signs to focus the magic. The only use of jutsu I have seen was to duplicate ones self for a short period of time to attack more times then possible. If what your contact says is true, Alastor, then this is truly worrying." Dumbledore finished, looking pensive. Many of the surrounding members of the Order nodded their heads. The silence was of course interrupted.

"They are slow, even if this juju stuff is powerful, they should not be able to hit us if they are just standing there. I don't see what the big deal is." Two guesses as to who said that. Dumbledore sighed, once again. It was not for the first time that he wanted to just kill the boy.

"Because, Weasley," Moody said coldly, "They fight without the need of wands, so their means of magic cannot be taken away. And from what I hear, they would not need to use magic to kill you twelve ways before you could blink. Witnesses from that muggle club never mentioned any unusual lights coming from the fighting, indicating that they did not use their magic to fight the vampires. Vampires, Weasley, are almost as strong as Werewolves and are much faster. Use of weapons or not, these assassins fought and killed several vampires, only losing a few themselves." Moody growled, both eyes locked on the Weasley boy's, making the redhead squirm. Others seemed to have had the same thought as the boy and paled considerably at what Moody said.

"We will need to contact the Vampires to see if this was an isolated incident and look into the possibility of Voldemort gaining these assassin's as allies." Dumbledore said.

"I'll see what I can do." Moody said. Black needed to know of this and he knew a few people in Knocturn that might be able to gain him an audience with one of the more influential Vampires. Dumbledore smiled slightly and started to speak again.

"I am sure that you are all aware of what will be happening in the coming week and a half." He said, his gaze sweeping across the room, giving the people the impression that he actually cared about each and every one of them. He suppressed a smirk, the appearance of caring was almost as good as the real thing, and these sheep couldn't tell the difference even if he told them.

"The Cannon's game?" Ron asked stupidly from somewhere in the back. Dumbledore suppressed a groan. These children were losing their usefulness quickly with Potter gone and the Longbottom boy missing. He would personally get involved with the search soon, it was imperative that Longbottom be found and trained.

"No, Mr. Weasley. Though I do hear that they have the same chances of winning as a dragon does of getting tamed." Dumbledore said with a fake smile, which Ron returned, now fully assured that his team would win and somehow go on to the world cup. The boy had the intelligence of a flubberworm, and probably would not have learned anything if it was not for Granger shoving information down his throat.

"No, the will reading for the late Mr. Black is to be held on the 13th of this month. Gringotts has informed me that Mr. Potter's will is going to be held on the same day." Dumbledore said sadly, though his eyes were twinkling merrily. This comment was met with mixed reactions.

"Harry had a will? Wonder what we'll get, better be his Firebolt…" Weasley, of course.

"He should have asked me for help if he was going to make a will…" Granger.

"Poor dear, with as reckless as he was I'm glad he had the thought to look ahead…" Mrs. Weasley.

"…" Tonks, the twins, and Moody. Remus growled, stopping people from commenting further.

"How can you people act like this!" He demanded. "Like this is something to celebrate. Sirius and Harry were both good men who did not deserve the lives that they were given. You people sit here, claiming to have been their friends, their family, Harry's at least, and yet at their death, you care more about what they left you." He said, looking directly at Hermione, Ron, and Mrs. Weasley, and a few of the other Order members. "Or what plans have been ruined." He said in a frigid voice, looking directly at Dumbledore. The old man looked momentarily shocked, before his face settled into an emotionless mask, leaving only burning anger in his eyes. "I only wish I could have seen your games and half-truths before Harry died, or been more adamant in your treatment of Sirius. You disgust me Dumbledore, you and this Order." He stood up quickly, making his chair shoot backwards into the wall.

"I'm through with this Order of Hypocrites." He said with the utmost conviction in his voice. He looked subtly at the twins, who nodded slightly as Tonks stood up next to him. He looked towards Dumbledore, catching Moody's eye. The maimed man gave a slight smirk but made no move. Remus nodded once to him, and then again for himself. "Right." He said curtly to no one and made his way to the Floo, Tonks and the Twins following him. Most of the Order were too shocked to do anything, and Dumbledore was going to let them leave, until he realized that he actually needed Remus.

"Mr. Lupin." He called, getting up from his seat. "Obviously you are suffering from the loss of you 'pack' as well as from the moon. I implore you to retake your seat. Severus may have a potion to help you." Dumbledore said. Snape had not attended this meeting but he had been told from the surly potions master that he was being kept busy making various potions, some involving werewolves, though he had no details.

"Sod off." The incensed werewolf said as he jumped into the swirling green flame of the hearth and Dumbledore saw that he was the last through. The old man's hands clenched. He had just lost his only contact to the werewolves. 'Damn' He thought furiously. Several sparks shot from his wand which was in its wrist holster and the house shook and swayed, his odd aura coming forth slightly. Dumbledore quickly composed himself and walked back to the kitchen, leaving behind a cracked indentation in the floor.

Black-Ascension

The lights were dim in a large cream colored room, not that the occupant of the room noticed. He was out cold and had been that way for nearly two days now. His two companions had been deemed fit enough to leave the Med-Bay and were currently in the auxiliary dining area. The Master had asked them not be questioned, or given information, he would do it personally, and they had not seen anyone since they had been brought here except some of the house elves and the princess. The princess, though reluctant, had informed them that their companion was still recovering and that they would see him soon. Until then, they were to use the house-elves for anything that they should need. They were tense though, she could understand that. She would have done more then tear up a room after finding out they were being essentially detained with little to no information like the larger one had. The smaller blond had remained quiet; choosing to take in his surrounding, probably looking for a way out. After he had tried to use a portkey they were searched for anything else and found another portkey and their wands.

There was something odd about these…children, the lithe vampire thought to herself from a shadow in the corner.

The three had been brought in, actually brought into the castle, by the princess of the clan and the rest of her guards. Such an event was unprecedented, no one brought anyone into the castle, especially not…humans. The master had been distraught at learning of an attack on his daughter. He had believed that the three had been the one's responsible, a foolish conclusion in her opinion. Though the idea of mortals defending vampires was equally outrageous to her, especially considering how week they looked. Although the large one seemed to have something in the way of strength, if the hole in the wall and the broken bones that one of the guards had received after taking their wands. It took two guards to subdue both of them and no one had been unscathed.

She laughed softly.

The mortals had sustained moderate to heavy damage from what she could see when they were brought in with the princess and her guard. Whatever strength that they had, she could tell from the injuries that they had received that they were obviously untrained. The large one had a few broken bones and a severe concussion, but not much else. He would have survived on his own, and in her opinion, should have been left wherever it was that they found them. The blonde child had been slightly worse off, suffering from a concussion, slight spinal damage and heavy blood loss. The blood had to be regenerated naturally, and he was placed in a light healing coma. The spinal damage had been fixed with a nerve regeneration potion and they boy had walked out the next day feeling lightheaded. The last one though, the one that she was currently studying while he slept, had had the worse damage. When he was brought to the castle, the smell of his blood permeated every room, making many (herself included) yearn for a taste. It was surprising that the boy was alive at all, considering how much blood he had already lost and the dripping trail he had left leading to the Medical Bay. She was not sure of exactly how the boy had survived, but she knew that the healers could not have done it. That left the only other person admitted into the ward.

The princess seemed to actually be concerned with her 'savior'. But then again, the princess had never conformed to the way most vampires were. No, the princess was for lack of a better word…odd. The Master had his eccentricities as well though. What self respecting vampire, a Master no less, would spend their time relaxing by writing mostly fictional literature in the form of a newspaper for mortal wizards to scoff at. She walked over to the boy's bed. He seemed slightly different then when he was brought in, besides the unfortunate lack of blood covering his body.

"Perhaps there is something she sees in you…besides the obvious. My… you do look delicious…" She purred to his prone form. She smiled wickedly, her overly sharp canines lengthening slightly. "Just a little taste…" She said, mostly to herself. Her line of thought, as well as her slowly descending mouth was stopped at the same time. A hand gripped her throat faster then she could move, taking her by surprise. She tried to wrench the hand from around her throat, but was unable to. She looked past the hand and arm until she realized that she was being held by the boy she was about to take a bite out of. He was no longer in a state of comatose but alert. She was slowly lifted into the air, her feet dangling about an inch above the ground, as he got out of the bed. She looked into his eyes and saw an intensity there that she had not seen outside of the Master's. The burning green and silver eyes flashed as she was slammed against the wall.

In her over 300 hundred years of 'life', she had only known fear a few times. From her father, from the Master, and from Dementors when she was unlucky enough to encounter one. A brief thought about the impossibility of the situation passed through her mind. This was a mortal, the thought of one of them being as strong, possibly stronger, then her…No. No matter how strong he was, he should not be able to hold her in the way he was currently. She let out a gasp of pain as she was slammed into the wall once more and a growl met her ears.

"I said answer me." Seraph said in a fierce whisper. The woman he held by the throat looked momentarily confused. 'Probably didn't even hear me.' Seraph thought to himself. "Since you can't seem to grasp the concept of multiple questions, we'll try one at a time. I'll go first, who are you?" His tone was frigid, and though his eyes were intense, his voice did not affect her as much as it would someone not used to chilling voices of displeasure. She sneered at him.

"I will tell you nothing. You will be killed, you pathetic mortal, for daring to lay a hand against-" Her condescending comments were cut off as her throat became much more constricted.

"Wrong answer, bitch. Now answer the damn question." Seraph said. The last thing that he could remember was fighting…someone. He was pretty sure that it was not the vampires, though he thought that they wanted to drain him and the others. No…there were people there as well, dressed in black, but not Death Eaters, that much he was sure. The way that they fought, hand to hand and with weapons. No, no self respecting Death Eater would stoop to 'muggle means' to get the job done. They weren't even English from what he could tell. He and their leader had fought; he could still recall the pain from the cuts and noticed the stiffness in his muscles for the first time. He had been defeated, cut down. His cloak was probably in ribbons. He smirked; he got the man's arm at least. The woman glared at him and he refocused his attention on her.

"Lea, and I live here."

"Now was that so damn difficult? What am I doing here?"

"You have enough information, mortal. Release me at once!" She screamed at him. Seraph sighed.

"You have a real superiority complex, you know that? I'll put it like this; there is an easy way and a hard way to do this. For the sake of your mind, you should choose the former. Personally I hope you choose the latter."

"You would not dare. My mind shields would shred you apart!" She screeched. Seraph thought about it for a moment before he slammed her head into the wall, dazing her. She was probably right, but mind defenses could be lessoned if the mind was in pain or other states of distress. He reached for his wand, only to realize that he did not have it. Despite his position, he was in unknown territory, alone, and without his wand, or his portkey it seemed, after he checked for it too, and left him with a cold feeling in his chest.

"Fuck it." He said to himself as he focused his will. He felt a slight pressure behind his eyes and they burned almost painfully as he thought clearly, 'Legilimens!' The boy's oddly glowing eyes suddenly sharpened into a gaze that would make one feel as if they were looking into your soul, and past it. He had yet to try Legilimencey after his gift had unlocked and was not sure what to expect. His probe felt both more solid and slightly gaseous, if such a thing were possible, able to form different shapes to get past obstacles. He quickly came to a large barrier ward that surrounded the entire mind. As such, it was relatively weak and he cut through it like it was paper. Several more wards were met, each increasing in strength until he found one that he bounced off of. He gathered his strength and flattened his probe until it was like a needle and shot into the barricade, leaving the ward still up but with a small hole in it. All of the others had been brought down as he crashed through them. It was painful, if her reaction of rolling her eyes into the back of her head was anything to go by. He finally came to a small castle. 'Who are you, Where am I, What am I doing here, How long have I been here, Why was I brought here, Where are the others?' He threw the questions at her mind and was rewarded with information, memories, and snippets of thought.

Her name was Lea, and she did live here. What she failed to mention was that she was one of the King's 'aides', more like she was indebted, by money or life he wasn't sure, to the man and was paying it off by being a servant. More then that, she was there to be 'at his service' once he woke up. Taking him to his companions was part of her job as well as answering basic questions. More information was supposed to be given to him during his audience with the 'King'.

Apparently 'here' was a castle…Moon Clan Castle, to be precise. From her memories he gathered that the castle was several thousand years old and was the original stronghold for the…first vampires? He had always thought that vampires had always existed alongside people, but apparently they were created, though she did not know by whom. 'Instruments of war… Aren't we all?' He thought ruefully. After the fight they were brought to the castle, by Luna, and this particular vampire didn't quite like that fact. He found information on the 'King'. He was the owner of the castle and with his clout, had earned the title 'King', along with being the leader of the Moon Clan gave him the title of 'Master'. King Oddarious Amorbene, Master of the Moon Clan. Draco and Neville had been healed…and were being kept in the dark about…everything, apparently. Not only that, their wands and portkeys had been taken as well. Seraph smirked as he saw Neville breaking one of the vampire's bones through the vamps memories. He dug deeper at information concerning him. He had been asleep for over two days now, almost three. He was shocked to find out that he probably should have died from blood loss. Luna seemed adamant that he would survive, and Lea suspected that the princess had used some sort of…blood magic? Yes…blood magic, magic emphasizing the use of chants to magically charge the blood to be used in a number of applications from wards, runes, weapons, and enchantments amongst other things. Lea was not particularly adapt at this branch of magic and did not know much more about it. Whatever had been done, he had lived, and he was sure that it was because of Luna.

Seraph grimaced.

He had never really thought about the people that he had saved, but they were in his debt. If he thought about, he had several. Granger, the youngest Weasley, Arthur Weasley, Buckbeak (if magical creatures could be in debt), and there were probably more indirectly. Now he owed someone his life, and it was not a feeling that he liked. Growing up, the Dursley's convinced him that he actually owed them something until he realized that they were full of shite and should burn in hell if such places existed. Personally, he hoped that there was, if nothing more then so the Dursley's could enjoy the rest of eternity in a special corner reserved just for them. He pulled out of the woman's mind. She was beginning to regain her senses and had started to push him out. Rather then fight her, he let her do it.

He released her from his hold and she slide down the wall.

"Take me to my friends." He commanded. She looked at him with an indignant expression. Seraph sighed. 'Be that way then.' He thought. 'Legilimens' He said in his mind again. His probe was met with active resistance this time, but he still managed to gain the layout of the castle. He left her there, lying against the wall in the infirmary as he made his way to where he knew his friends to be.

(Black Ascension)

"Seraph?" Neville asked, standing up abruptly from his seat. Draco looked up lazily from the bed he was laying in and muttered something about it being 'about time'.

"Neville, Draco, seems you two have been detained and withheld information in my absence." Seraph said as he stepped into the room fully.

"And took our damn wands." Draco added as he sat up.

"I got one of them good for it too." Neville said proudly.

"Come on, we need to get our stuff and get out of here. One of them wanted to take a bit out of me before I could wake up. I don't take kindly to being made a meal. If it wasn't for the fact that she seems to hate 'mortals', Draco, you two would get along swimmingly." Seraph said, smirking at the disgusted look on the boy's face. They left the room quickly, keeping to the shadows when they could.

"Where is our stuff?" Draco asked.

"Not sure. The vamp I 'interrogated' didn't know." Seraph said evenly.

"Interrogated?" Draco asked with a slightly sadistic smirk on his face.

"In a manner of speaking." Seraph said as he suddenly stopped. He had not seen, nor smelled, or even heard anything. It was more of a sense, the hairs on the back of his neck standing at attention and an anxious type feeling in his hands. He looked towards Draco, who had also stopped a second after him. Draco nodded slightly, and began looking around. Neville continued on, not sensing anything was wrong.

"So, where are we?" Neville asked as he came out of a shadow to a larger room.

"That would be Moon Castle." A voice coming from everywhere said. The dark room suddenly filled with vampires and torches came to life along the walls. The three boys stopped where they were, looking around defensively. Seraph stepped forward.

"I demand an audience with the Master of the Moon Clan." Seraph said imperiously. The Vampires were trying to scare them. Never show weakness to a possible enemy.

"And why should I grant audience to one who attacks my servants?" The voice from everywhere and nowhere said again.

"Perhaps if you kept your pets on a leash, they would not feel the need to bite defenseless people. People who are at you oh so gracious hospitality." Seraph said the last bit sarcastically, a sneer across his face.

"Not so defenseless if you could leave my 'pet' in such a state." The voice countered.

"So you approve of her attempting to bite a guest?"

"No, I do not." The voice said, suddenly in front of Seraph, who restrained himself from taking a step back. "And she has been properly reprimanded for the act. It is most curious that beings such as your self could over power a trained vampire…As much as your people have been kept in the dark, we have as well. My daughter refuses to speak with me, because of you and our hospitality, and will not tell me of you or your companions. So, I feel I must ask, who are you?" The man said, looking at the three with a slightly amused expression. Seraph tensed, and the two behind him did as well. As much as he had explained to them what the Guild was, he had not told them his place in it, nor their's. The Guild was based off a hierarchy, and the Black's had always been the leader ever since the beginning, with the possible exception of the heir not being ready to take the station. In that case the most skilled would take the position. Black's were always the head because they had the potential of mastering any of the skills that the other's specialized in. Once he had, he could truly call himself a Master Assassin. As it was, he was good at a little bit of everything, but had mastered nothing. That left him with his title within the Guild.

"And yet you do not introduce your self…Very well, King Oddarious Amorbene, Master of the Moon Clan…" He stopped though and tried to suppress a laugh, succeeding in only letting out a small snicker. Amorbene. Amor-Bene.

"Something funny, child?" The King asked, bristling.

"No, nothing, Mr. Lovegood." Seraph said with a hint of a smile. The King just stared at him, and eventually sighed, but could not help but crack a small smile as well.

"I have been found out…my daughter did tell me that it would be too obvious. However, few would bring up the fact, or believe that a Master would entertain themselves in such a matter…And you still have not answered my question." He finished coldly to Seraph's smirk.

"I am Seraph Orion Black, Lord and Head of the Black family, Alpha Grim." A silence fell on the vampires. Some looked slightly confused; others showed the barest hint of recognition. Seraph assumed that these were the truly old vampires, Elders, possibly. "My companions, Draconis Lucius Malfoy, Lord and Head of the Malfoy family, Alpha Advisor and Chief Grim and Neville Franklin Longbottom, Lord and Head of the Longbottom Family, Alpha Advisor and Chief Grim." Seraph finished. He could feel the surprise from the boys behind him, but they did not let it show. The King had a faraway look in his eyes and Luna gasped quietly.

"I knew you would find yourself eventually, Seraph." A light voice said, the owner slowly making her way from behind the vampires. Mr. Lovegood looked at his daughter with another look. He then looked to the assembled vampires.

"Leave us." He told them. Immediately the group dissipated to parts unknown. The King made a snapping like gesture with his finger and thumb, but instead of sound, a drop of blood fell and landed with a light splatter on the ground. He held his hand over the blood on the ground and it glowed briefly, before light spread from where the blood was and spread until every inch of the room glowed a light blue color. The glow suddenly receded back to its starting point and the drop of blood disappeared. Seraph could not help but be impressed. Neville looked in disbelief and Draco tried to remain impassive, and failing. Luna smiled briefly. Her father was a master in the use of blood magic.

"We will not be interrupted or heard." The man said, and sat down suddenly, on nothing, apparently. "Ah." He said apologetically, and took out a dark red wand the color of blood and conjured seats for Seraph, Neville, and Draco. Luna was sitting on a chair that seemed to be made out of a wet and moving substance. "I had assumed that you were more adept at you elemental abilities, no offense." The man said.

"Elemental abilities?" Neville Questioned.

"Well of course, their written in your aura. Earth is strong within you, though it is not yet realized fully. You two," He said, indicating Draco and Seraph, "Know you elements, your affinities if you will. And you, young Alpha. It is a rare thing to see duel elements."

"Duel?" Seraph asked. It was irritating that the man seemed to know so much. He really needed to learn how to shield his aura as Dexter had if he was going to keep running into powerful people.

"Yes, duel elements. One you were born with, but the other was gifted by a rather loyal familiar. I, like you, have the shadow element. As versatile as air or water and I personally believe it to be much more useful than any other. Though I may be slightly biased." Mr. Lovegood said. "Neither of you know how to use them though. Shadow Walking is almost natural, Mr. Black, but there is so much more…" He trailed off, holding out his hands and concentrating. All the light in the room seemed to gather at his hands and it too slowly disappeared, leaving the room in absolute darkness. Suddenly the light was released and everyone but the King, whom the technique did not affect, or Luna, who knew what was going to happen and closed her eyes, were temporarily blinded.

"Amazing…" Seraph breathed as he regained his sight. Mr. Lovegood chuckled.

"I have not thanked you or your companions for saving my daughter, and though they will not admit it, her guard as well. You cannot be taught how to use your elements, as it is slightly different from person to person how they achieve certain results. Most simple things can be explained, and through practice, obtained. But the more advanced techniques, like what I did earlier, are self taught. In thanks, I will give you this book," He said, holding out an empty hand. Quickly though, a swirl of darkness filled it up and then disappeared, leaving a thin book simply entitled 'Element'. Seraph studied the outside of the book and tried to see if there was anything off about it. It had a slight magical aura that made him feel that the book was more then what it looked like, but was not tampered with. He accepted the book and nodded his thanks to the King.

"Why did you detain my companions, take their wands, and leave them with no answers?" Seraph asked.

"For the safety of my clan. I was not sure of your intentions." He said, their confiscated item suddenly appearing on the floor in front of them. Seraph noticed that his cloak was indeed torn to shreds.

"Vulcan is going to kill me." He said to himself.

"That old man still going at, is he. I've not seen him for many, many years. Yes, I know the great Smith. You see, my clan and the Grim's Guild go back a long way. Since the creation of our race, which was by your many times great-grandfather, Knoxius, by the way." Mr. Lovegood told Seraph. Seraph nodded, he had read something about the Guild and a vampire clan in the Archives, but was not sure which clan it was. He wasn't surprised to find out that it had been Knoxius who had tried to create 'perfect weapons'.

"They helped us in gaining our freedom, and for that, we owe our thanks to the Guild. Once again our enemies have risen. I had hoped that after their last fall that they would stay forgotten, but it appears that this is too much to hope for."

"The Shinobi." Seraph said, and the King nodded, though he was slightly surprised that the boy had recognized them for what they were. Seraph was surprised as well; the conclusion had come to him suddenly. Draco and Neville looked at him in confusion then comprehension.

"Yes, them." The man said with distaste. "I believe that they had hoped to kidnap my daughter to try and break me, break the clan. But once again, the Grims have come to our aid. I am afraid, however, that now that they know of your existence, they will want you dead as well."

"I figured that." Seraph said. "Unfortunately, they are many, and we are few. And that won't be changing for a while yet. We still must train." He told him, and the King nodded. "It does not help that I am already caught up in another war." He added.

"You fight for, or against the Dark one?" The old man asked, his voice even.

"Against. The man is a monster, and I plan on killing him. I don't wish to be known, though. We will fight him from the darkness, taking out his Death Eaters, hopefully, before they are aware what is upon them." Seraph smirked. "I want them to fear every dark corner, every empty alley, and every dog that howls." Seraph told the man, his smirk turning feral.

"You are most definitely a Black, boy." The old man said, laughing softly.

"Where do you stand, if at all?" Seraph asked him.

"This clan, and many others, have claimed neutrality in wizard wars for some centuries. No, we do not meddle in their affairs, unless we are attacked, of course."

"Of course." Seraph said.

"I have heard that some of the rogue clans, those not recognized by head clans, have been approached by his people though. They are young, brash, and as such, weak. They will most likely join him. If that happens, then the Moon Clan, as the governing vampiric body of Europe, will eradicate them." He said simply. Seraph could only nod at the blunt statement.

"There are those who have been wronged, in one way or another, the 'Monster' as you called him, within the Clan. Should you ask for it, they will aid you."

"Though I am sure that they have to get approval from you first, so what do you want?" Seraph asked them man, who was grinning slightly.

"Of course. You see, with the Shinobi back, and already attacking, they will come after their target again. I think it will only be a matter of time before they realize that she attends one of the Magical Schools in Britain. When they know, they will attack again. Hogwarts' wards may be strong, but the Shinobi are ingenious. I fear for her safety." The King said, looking at his daughter. Luna said nothing, but simply glared at her father. "I think it would be too much to ask for you to keep her out of harms way, but I would like you to make sure that she survives. She can handle herself well, but anyone can be overwhelmed." He added at seeing the look on his daughter's face that had gone from a glare to vengeful. Seraph never knew her face could show anything else besides dreamy indifference.

"Do not give me your answer at this moment." The King added. "Luna, would you escort our guests to the formal dining room, please?" He asked her. She nodded her head and stood up, as did Draco and Neville. Seraph and Mr. Lovegood remained seated. Seraph had questions and he could tell that the King wished to speak with him privately. Draco and Neville looked at him questioningly, but he assured them with a subtle wave of his hand. After they had left, the King began to speak again.

"Do you know how you survived, young Alpha Grim?"

"No, I do not. But I but your servant suspected blood magic." Seraph told him. He nodded.

"Yes, by blood magic. But it was more then that. Luna performed a very dangerous piece of blood magic. She wished to save you, at all costs. I do not know why, but she felt that you had to live. The Magic that she preformed requires the donating of magically charged blood from someone to another in order to quicken the healing process."

Seraph nodded.

"For vampires."

Seraph stared.

"Do you know what the process of turning a mortal to a vampire is?" The King asked softly. Seraph shook his head. "One must drain the victim nearly dry and then give them blood that is a mixture of their's and the vampire's. I use the term 'victim' lightly hear as it is a deeply personal experience and the turned is almost always voluntary. Your blood was forcefully taken, and the blood you were given had none of your own in it."

"What are you telling me?" Seraph asked, his voice low and growling.

"I am saying that you were partially turned." The man told him. Seraph just continued to look at him. A small shiver had run through him like an electric shock.

"How much?" Seraph asked evenly.

"From your aura, I would say less then a quarter, but more then a tenth."

"Shit." Was all he said for a moment, then, "What does this mean for me?"

"From what my guard told me, you were already unnaturally quick and strong. You may not have noticed it yet, but your movements are faster and I am sure you will notice a slight increase in strength. Your teeth have all sharpened, though I doubt that you will grow full fangs. Your vision in the dark, if it was not already good, should be better. If I could gauge it, I would say that you are as strong as one of the Vampire Elders, me, or a werewolf. In speed, I would say that you are as faster then the young vampires, but not as fast as me. Luna is gifted in Blood Magic, so you may gain the ability to use it, even though you are not a full vampire."

"And drinking blood?" Seraph asked. He was not disgusted at the thought. He had received enough beatings in his life to know what blood tasted like. It did not really bother him.

"I don't think you will ever need to hunt. A kill will yield enough blood for a full vampire to live without hunger for more then a month, three before the bloodlust begins, four before their sanity wavers, and five before they either die or lose their minds and become the blood-sucking monsters that muggle horror stories are made of. With age, and power, vampires can go much longer without feeding. I myself can go nearly a century without feeding if I had to. But that would leave me tired and looking like a corpse. I feed regularly to keep my energy up. There are some Clans that do this to switch leaders every century, but the Moon Clan does not. You, I think, could go for maybe six months before you felt the need for blood. And then it would be enough to fill a goblet and you would be fine for another six months. That's not to say that you could not drink more then that.

If you are injured, then you will need more blood then a normal vampire would need to drink for the accelerated healing. A wizard blood replenishing potion may work, but probably not as well as the real thing. Even if you are able to perform blood magic, it will never be as strong as Luna's. If you do use blood magic, then you will have to drink much sooner. The more blood you drink, the more energy you will have. If you were to drink an ounce of blood, you might be able to easily go three days without sleep. I haven't slept a wink for fifteen years." He said with a smile.

"To continue, there are different types of blood. My estimates are based off of drinking human muggle blood as it is the easiest to acquire. You can live off of any blood, really, but the weaker it is, magically speaking, then the more you will have to drink. Mundane animal blood is the weakest, starting from prey animals, things like deer, to stronger predators, like bears or tigers. Then come the muggles. All muggles have a small amount of magic; they are just unable to use it. It can be found in the blood though, and then we can use it. The healthier the person, the better the blood will be. Blood with too much cholesterol can make you sick and make you feel greasy. Next come the magical humans, Witches and Wizards. The more powerful they are, the better their blood will be. Wizard's blood might tide you over for eight months at the least, depending on power level. Last but not least, magical creatures and beings. Wizards think them beneath them in power because they do not use wands. They are more powerful because whatever magic that they wield does not use require an external focus. Never ask a centaur for blood, it tastes horrible and they don't like to give it up for anything. Owl blood would be the weakest, but not bad. Magical snakes are good, Basilisk blood being possibly stronger then Troll or Giant blood. Those two will sate even the youngest of vampires for a good while. You can ask Luna if you have anymore questions dealing with blood."

"What about light, silver, wood, crucifixes and whatnot?" Seraph asked, only to be met with laughter.

"No, most of that is a lot of trash made by the muggles. Silver is a purifying metal, but vampires were created. We are not a disease like the wizards would like to think, so silver is not much of a problem, though we are slightly allergic to it, but far less then werewolves are. Wood will not kill us, but a stake through the heart made of anything will kill anyone. A crucifix is as useful to kill a vampire as 'holy water'. Light is a major annoyance to non-magical vampires, but with age, they can build up an intolerance to it. Magical vampires do not need to avoid light, but many do anyway. Garlic, however, acts very well as a 'vampire repellent'. We are highly allergic to it, mortally so. A tolerance can be built up, like I have and Luna had to, but it is to be avoided."

"And the whole 'turning to dust' thing?"

"Past a certain age, the body stops aging and requires begins to use the blood to not only sustain the body but to keep it looking…fresh, I guess you could say. At about 500 years of age a vampire will turn to dust if killed." He told him.

"Can the turning be completed or reversed?" Seraph asked after a few minutes of digesting the information. In a way, this was good. Increased speed, strength, energy via blood, and possibly able to learn a branch of magic that he could not utilize otherwise. In another way, he was fucked.

"No, the turning cannot be completed; you are what you are now. And I would hope that you would not try to turn away the gift that you were given." Lovegood said a little coldly.

"Of course not, I was merely curious." Seraph assured him.

"There is more though, and call me Odd." Odd told him. "The turning, it creates a bond between the turned and the vampire, generally called the 'Sire Bond'. Luna is not old enough to be a sire, and technically should not have been able to even partially turn you. As it stands, the bond, along with the intentions behind its creation, has left her bonded to you. It is not of a subservient nature, it is simply a bond. You may feel her emotions from time to time, possibly speak to her telepathically, but I think that will be the extent of it." Odd informed him. Seraph started to rub at his temples. All this simply because their had been portkey wards at that damn club. Of course he could go back further and blame it on Draco and his faulty 'intuition'.

"You said that you had fought with the Guild against the Shinobi. And you can call me Seraph, if you wish." Seraph said, and Oddarious nodded.

"Where you ever a member of the Guild?"

"Yes, I was. That is, I still would be if you called for the elder Guild Members. At the disbandment of the first Guild, I was told that I would not have to rejoin if I did not feel inclined to. At the moment, I might feel inclined. Why do you ask?" Odd questioned, knowing the answer.

"Because, if that is true, then Luna would have come to me after the blood call and your request for us to watch her for you would be moot. I will not be doing the calling until my Chiefs and I are trained more, but I would like to ask your daughter to join us now." Seraph told the grinning man.

"Yes, I figured that. I think she would have asked herself if given the chance, she believes the castle to be boring during the summer months. Come, Seraph, let us make our way to the Dining Room. We are having a small feast to give you our thanks." Odd said, standing up. Seraph followed him to a large chamber slightly smaller then Hogwarts' Great Hall. Though the dining room was large, the table that Draco, Neville, Luna, and a few others were sitting at was not. As they appeared, the vampires stood up and did not sit again until Odd had sat down. Seraph assured Draco and Neville that he would speak to them later and they began eating.

Seraph did not realize how hungry he was until he had eaten a pound or more of steak and other various foods. He couldn't place it, but the steak was much sweeter then he could ever remember tasting before. Thinking of it made his teeth hurt. Teeth hurt… He ran his tongue around in his mouth, noticing for the first time that all of his teeth were indeed sharper, and his canines were growing slightly. He could actually feel them growing out. After a moment, they receded to their regular size, but Seraph was surprised at how large they had grown.

"Seraph, would you care to have a shot of this?" Odd asked, holding a small shot glass filled to the brim with a viscous dark red fluid that almost glowed.

"What is it?" Seraph asked cautiously.

"Special blood, I don't generally imbibe, but I thought tonight would be a good night to have some." Odd said with a shrug. Seraph took the small glass and sniffed it. It was blood, of course, but it was not pungent but smelled like flying with a tangy kick, burning the back of his nose. How you could taste flying, he did not know, but that is how he would describe it. He threw it back and slammed the glass to the table, gaining everyone's attention. He had tasted some of the firewhiskey that Seamus had brought once. That had burned his throat, made him shoot out a ball of fire from his mouth, and turned his ears red for three hours. His throat felt like it had been melted. It followed from his throat to his stomach, burning its way down. After he was sure that his intestines had been burned through, it went to his veins. Every blood vessel was on fire, like liquid lead was racing through his system, all trying to reach one place. He grabbed at his chest in useless attempt to stop the burning in his heart.

By now Odd was doubled over in laughing and was being held at steak knife point from Draco and Neville. Luna was demanding to know what he had done and the other vampires looked on in various states of amusement or bewilderment.

Seraph let go of his chest a minute later, though he was still hunched over. The pain in his heart had lessened, to be taken over another feeling. It was best described as a rush. Suddenly all of his senses came to life. The pain was gone, washed out as if a fire hose had blasted it away. The stiffness in his muscles and what little fatigue he had was washed away as well. Then he felt it. It was overwhelming and he was sure that he heard a humming coming from somewhere. It was energy, energy like he had never felt before. The humming became louder, and he realized that it was not humming. It was growling. And it was coming from him. It was too much though, much too much. Seraph's arms shot out, his back arched slightly, and he let out a feral roar that shook the room. His eyes opened to reveal a pair of green and silver eyes literally lit up the room. Then he collapsed into his seat. Luna settled to glare at her father, she knew what had happened but wished she would have warned him first.

"What did you do to him!" Neville demanded, and Odd saw that he might actually be in danger of being cut. Neville had positioned the steak knife at the man's throat when he was laughing.

"I didn't do anything to him. He just tried the strongest stuff he's ever likely to find and is coming down from a blood high." Odd explained to the boys. They weren't satisfied though. Whatever they were about to do was cut off as Seraph sat up again.

"Holy fucking shit." He said, louder then he had meant to. His eyes were still glowing, though not as brightly, and sparks of black flame shot from his fingertips absentmindedly, burning small holes into the table and plates. "What the hell was that!" Seraph demanded. He wasn't mad, far from it, actually. It just came out that way. Odd laughed heartily, the boys backed down, and Luna wished she could maim her father.

"Well, you were going to have to have some of it soon, so I thought you might try some of the 'good stuff'." Odd explained to him.

"Seraph likes the Dragon Blood…" Luna sang.

Black-Ascension

End Chapter

Nain Kushin: No Pain. (Numbing Seal)

Arigatou: Thank you

Sensei: Master/Teacher

Banpaia: Vampire

Reigen: Grim

Girudo: Guild

Shadokira or Shado-Kira: Shadow-Killer

Hai: Yes

Isha: Medic

Yes, the chapter is done. This chapter is what happens when you discover your muse is music and a magic eight ball. Not really, but this chapter and the last have deviated so far off their original path it is ridiculous. Well, I don't think I can say that. It can't break from the path if it was not planned out, so I'll just say that I was inspired randomly and found out that this brought up a host of new possibilities.

The Shinobi using Jutsu is loosely based off of the Naruto ANIME (my gravest apoligies for calling such a show a cartoon, thanks imgonnadie) of which I will be the first to admit I know next to nothing about (used to come on adult swim, cartoonnetwork, but I don't have cable. So fan sites are the best I can do. If it doesn't fit with how it is supposed to work, tell me. If you tell me somehithing and I don't change it, it probably means that I wanted it the way it was and don't care. Hence the term 'loosely based off of'. Gives me creative license.

I'll pick at it later.

This is now the longest chapter in the story thus far, and though I said it in the last one, I really doubt I pull put out a longer one then this. The last was Chapter 14 at 14,998 words. This one is exactly 15,904. A small step up, I suppose. I really wanted to break this chapter up, but I figured I'd keep it the way it is to make up for the last chapter.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Remember to review, and tip your waiter,

I'm out.