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Sean Malloy-1: Sorry about the delay; stuff kept coming up
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LXG 2004 2: Lazarus
Harry blinked in surprise at that last statement- a whole species was on the line!
Then he looked back at Selene and Michael once again.
Could he trust them?
He shook his head, angry at himself.
How could he even think something like that?
He was a member of the League now; he couldn't turn away people who needed his kind of help, no matter what he thought might happen.
"Come in," he said, standing aside. He looked back at where Ginny had hidden. "It's OK, Gin; I think they're all right."
"Well, that's a relief," Ginny said, as she stepped out from behind the corner, slid her wand into her pocket, and walked casually towards Michael, holding out her hand. "I'm Ginny Weasley, Harry's girlfriend; you are?"
"Michael-" Michael began, but Ginny stopped him.
"I already heard that; I was more asking for a what, not a who, if you don't mind me asking," she explained. "I mean, since you mentioned something about a species being at stake, would I be right in guessing you're not exactly human?"
Selene seemed about to protest, but sighed and nodded.
"Your assumption is correct, Miss Weasley," she replied, as Harry shut the door and walked over to stand beside his girlfriend. "We aren't exactly… fully human."
"So, what are you then?" Harry asked.
"Simply put?" Michael asked, smiling up at Harry. "She's a vampire; I'm a vampire/werewolf hybrid."
Harry and Ginny looked over at each other in confusion and surprise, and then Harry turned back to look at Michael.
"Um… two small points?" he said, raising a finger objectively. "Firstly what kind of vampire are you?"
"What's normally called the 'Warrior' class," Selene explained. "We aren't vulnerable to crosses or holy water, have reflections, and don't go feeding on humans freely like the kind of vampire your friend Angel used to be."
"Ah," Ginny said, nodding briefly; she vaguely remembered Harry mentioning a part-vampire called Angel…
Then she glanced over at Michael. "By the way, how can you be a vampire/werewolf hybrid? I always thought the two immortal breeds could never mix?"
"Not normally, anyway," Michael replied, as he stretched slightly and briefly flexed his fingers. "However, I'm a bit of a special case; I'm a direct descendant of Alexander Corvinus, the original immortal."
"Huh?" Harry asked, looking at Michael. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"It's not exactly a short story," Selene said.
"Well, I assume we have a bit of time," Harry said, indicating the sitting room. "Shall we get comfortable and you can tell us all about it?"
In reply, Michael walked into the room and crashed onto the large couch opposite the fire. Selene sat down beside him and Harry and Ginny took their places in the two armchairs around the couch. Neither of them objected to their guests' taking the sofa; they looked like they could use a good rest.
Selene spoke first. "I only learned this myself a few months ago, but I am one of only three people who know this story, to our knowledge; Michael is one of the others, another has gone missing, and the third…"
She sighed, and Michael spoke up.
"He's pretty much the reason we're here," he explained. He looked over at Selene. "Do you want to continue, or shall I?"
"No; let me," the beautiful vampiress said, before looking back up at Harry and Ginny. "Alexander Corvinus was a Hungarian warlord in the fifth century, who came to power just as a plague ravaged his village. He alone survived, because, somehow, by means nobody's ever fully understood, his body was able to change the disease... mould it to his benefit. He became the first true immortal, and, years later, he fathered at least three children, two of whom inherited the same trait."
"And, let me guess, they became the first vampire and werewolf?" Ginny asked.
"Correct," Selene said. "They are now known in legend as the sons of the Corvinus clan; one bitten by bat, one by wolf, and one to walk the lonely road of mortality as a human. His line is known to continue in the vampire side, although the fate of the werewolf descendant is unknown, but his human descendant…"
She smiled slightly, and placed an almost affectionate hand on Michael's shoulder. "He's sitting right here."
Harry blinked in surprise.
"Ah," he said, before looking back at Michael. "So, let me guess… since you're his descendant, you can become both vampire and werewolf without any actual harm being done to you?"
Michael nodded. "Pretty much, yeah," he said, stretching slightly as he tried to make himself a bit more comfortable.
"So, what is the second point you wanted to make?" Selene asked, looking over at Ginny.
"Well, the obvious question really; what are you doing here?" Ginny asked, looking at the beautiful vampiress curiously. "I mean, when a vampire and a half-vampire/half-werewolf drop in on our world's most renowned wizard, and request the assistance of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, it's hardly likely to be a social call, is it?"
Michael nodded. "Correct, Miss Weasley," he said, the formal tone sounding odd in his mouth; evidently he wasn't used to referring to people by their titles. "The problem can be traced back to over eight hundred years ago, when lycans- werewolves," he said, noting Harry and Ginny's confused expression, "were the servants of vampires, acting as their guardians in the daytime. One lycan, Lucian, fell in love with a vampire princess called Sonja, and the two of them married, even conceiving a child."
Harry blinked in surprise. "I thought vampires were sterile," he said, looking over at Selene. "I mean, no offence, but aren't you guys technically, um…"
"Dead?" Selene asked, smiling slightly at Harry's discomfort. "In most cases, yes, but not for my species; we remain mostly alive, but we get all the more traditional aspects of vampirism. Enhanced strength, a sensitivity to sunlight, a need for blood…"
She shrugged. "But, otherwise, we're perfectly human."
"I see…" Harry said, before turning back to Michael. "So, what happened to them?"
"Sonja's father, Viktor, found out about them," Michael continued. "He regarded the child as an abomination, so, in order to kill it, he had Sonja chained up and trapped in a pit where she was exposed to the sunlight. His own daughter, burned alive…"
Michael swallowed as he looked back up at Harry and Ginny, pain almost evident in his eyes. "All because she fell in love."
"Yikes…" Ginny said, staring at Michael in horror. "What happened then?"
"Lucian escaped," Michael continued. "He spent the next several hundred years trying to find a way to gain enough power to kill Viktor, whose age as a vampire gave him incredible physical strength. He eventually discovered the rumours of Corvinus's mortal descendant, and became determined to find the heir, believing that he could use the heir's blood to turn himself into a hybrid. About two years ago, he found the heir."
"You?" Harry asked.
Michael nodded.
"So what happened?" Harry asked.
Selene took up the story now. "With the aid of a vampire traitor called Kraven, Lucian killed Amelia, another ruling vampire, and acquired a sample of my blood. However, I discovered the truth about the plot…"
Ginny interrupted at this point. "That reminds me; where do you fit into this?" she asked, looking inquiringly at Selene.
Selene looked back at Ginny, and, after a few second's hesitation, replied.
"I was, essentially, Viktor's adopted daughter," she explained. "He had never been able to obey our rules about not hunting humans, and attacked my family over a century ago, but when he saw me, he was reminded so strongly of Sonja that he couldn't kill me."
She swallowed. "He… he claimed that lycans had killed my family, rather than him, and turned me so that I would have the strength to 'avenge' them."
She looked up at Harry, a slight tear on her cheek. "I spent over a hundred years hunting them for something they didn't even do, and didn't even know it…"
"Um… you didn't know any better?" Harry said, uncertain what else to say.
Selene, rather than continuing to talk, just turned away, a tear in her eyes, and Michael took up the story once again.
"Selene and I met when she realised a lycan she'd tackled earlier had been following me," he explained, looking around at the two wizards. "We managed to escape another attack, but Lucian had bitten me already, infecting me with the lycan strain. Selene managed to save me from being dissected by the lycans, but then…"
Michael swallowed. "I was shot with silver bullets."
"Ouch," Harry said, sympathetically; he'd never actually seen a werewolf get exposed to silver before, but, from what he understood, the effect was similar to shooting a human with bullets composed of pure cyanide. "So, was that when you became a hybrid?"
"Yes," Michael said, looking back at Selene, who was staring vacantly at the wall. "Selene, on the encouragement of a dying Lucian, bit me, turning me into a hybrid and giving me the means to survive the silver. The two of us then tackled and killed Viktor, and…"
He sighed. "Ever since, for the past two years, Selene and I have been on the run from both sides; the war seems to be continuing even after almost all the people who know the truth have been killed…"
He looked back up at Harry and Ginny. "That's why we're here," he said. "We need the League's help to end this war."
Harry and Ginny looked over at each other for a few seconds, then Harry sighed.
"I'm sorry about this, Ginny," he said to his girlfriend. "But, well-"
Before he could finish, the front window crashed open, and two large, dog-like creatures were standing in the middle of the living room.