Heir of the Immortals Resurrection
Chapter 14
ignoring Dumbledore, Herald stared at Flora, his eyes roaming over her face. Instantly, tension-filled his body. There was something wrong, this wasn't the Flora he knew, the way she held herself, the air she gave off, it was all wrong.
She still possessed the same pale pink skin he remembered, but dark green veins spread through her body like the roots of a tree. Her once pure white eyes were now dark green. The flowers that made up her hair, always colorful and shifting with her emotions. Now resembled a wave of dark green vines cascading from her scalp.
His hand curled into a fist.
Mary moved in front of Harald, cutting off Dumbledore's monologue. Brown eyes locked with deep red, "I'll handle her," she nodded at whoever was in Flora's body, "you handle Merlin."
Harald glanced at the woman that was once his first love, he knew there was something wrong, he knew it wasn't the woman he remembered. A part of him wanted to be strong enough to fight her himself, but with their history, he knew he would hold back, and that could prove deadly.
"Fine, but get me answers, and by the way, his name," he nodded to Dumbledore, "is Albus Dumbledore."
In a blur of motion, Harald disappeared the ground cracked as he broke the sound barrier. As the world slowed down around him, he covered his body in an outline of red telekinetic power.
The building shook, and Mary's Auburn hair whipped around her as Herald moved. In a blink, he and Dumbledore vanished, the wall of the room exploding into pieces in their wake.
Slowly, she reached up, removing her katana from its sheath in a smooth motion. A blue aura mixed with black swept over her body, covering her like a second skin. Holding her blade in a two-handed grip, blue fire danced along its edge.
Sending a pulse of telekinetic power through her feet, she vanished.
Her pink skin deponent burst into leaves the color of fall.
–XX –
Albus Dumbledore winced as he was slammed through another wall. He could feel his bones break and heal with each impact. Unfortunately, this regeneration left a burning hunger roiling in his guts, a fire that almost felt like it was eating him alive. Pale milk-colored claws emerged from his fingertips, piercing his opponent's sweatshirt and digging into his skin, only to meet resistance.
Black glass exploded around him, and warm sunlight bathed his face. On instinct, he tensed.
–XX –
Herald drove Dumbledore through wall after wall, plaster, concrete, bits of plastic, metal, and wire seemed to hover at the speed they were moving.
Before hitting Dumbledore, Harald had outlined his body in a layer of telekinetic power that not only increased his strength but also acted as a shield.
As they neared the black glass window, Herald felt a shift in Dumbledore. His cheekbones became more pronounced as his face narrowed. Fangs emerged from his top and lower jaw. His yellow irises turned a deep dark red, their round pupil becoming a vertical slit.
In his mind, he felt pressure being applied to his shield.
In that instance, they slammed through the black glass window. The shards seem to hang in the air glittering like Ebony-colored diamonds before gravity finally took hold and pulled them towards the earth.
Cool air stung Herald's skin as they descended downwards at incredible speed. Curling himself into Dumbledore's body, they slammed into the ground.
Snow exploded upwards in a mushroom cloud.
Rolling away from Dumbledore, Herald rose into a crouch as cracks in his skeleton regenerated and a dislocated shoulder popped back into its socket.
Pulling his sweatshirt away from his body, Herald watched the bruises on his torso and arms go from dark purple to an ugly yellow before fading completely. His telekinetic barrier protected him from a lot of the damage, but it couldn't protect him completely from the force generated by the speed he was going and the impact with the ground.
Something to remember since he didn't know the extent of his healing factor. He knew it was good, but he was assuming he would need his brain intact for it to work.
Movement in the crimson-colored snow before him brought him out of his thoughts.
–XX –
Albus Dumbledore lay in the snow, his limbs twisted at odd angles, his chest caved in, and blood soaking into the Canadian snow. Slowly, his limbs twisted back into place with a sickening crack. His chest reinflated, and the blood-soaked in the snow reversed, being pulled back into his body.
Slowly, he rose to his feet, his legs shaking from phantom pain. Over the past couple of years, they were able to mass-produce the blood fruit. While the blood fruit allowed vampires to walk in the daylight, it limited some of their more supernatural powers, hence why he didn't turn into a fog when Herald grabbed him.
Wind picked up, swirling snow around him as dark clouds rolled in overhead. Flashes of light lit the sky as thunder rumbled.
"It appears, he does not want to play," spreading his arms wide, the blonde vampire soared into the air.
–XX –
"So," Mary began as she reappeared in an empty hallway, "who are you? By Herald's reaction, I'm guessing you're wearing the body of his old love to mess with his head, but he's smart enough to know the difference."
The woman straightened up, the seared slash mark on her shoulder healing into raised scar tissue. "Since it doesn't seem to have worked, I guess there's no harm in telling you." She ran a hand in a slow sensual motion down her hip, "I am Pomona Sprout. Harald and I had a run in a while back that left my previous body destroyed," a smile curled dark red lips, "I have to say I'm not missing it."
Raising an arm, the sleeves of her dark robes fell back. The pale pink-skinned appendage transformed. The skin took on the color and texture of bark as her fingers merged to form an approximation of a javelin. Her body rose from the floor slightly as her feet curled in on one another, transforming into a wheel shape.
"Maybe it will have more of an effect if I wear your body!" In a burst of speed, she shot forward, her javelin level that Mary's chest.
Forcing telekinetic power through her feet, a wave of pale blue energy speckled with black washed away from Mary flooding across the floor.
Pomona Sprout froze as she came in contact with it, a layer of power crawling up her body. Her muscles flexed, the veins popping out on her face as she fought to move, but the force holding her did not budge. She lashed out with her will, but the ground was too far away.
Mary moved forward at a sedated pace, blue fire engulfing the blade of her sword. "Your hunger for revenge blinded you. You came here in search of revenge without taking into account the battlefield. Your powers seem to be plant-based, and you are far from the ground."
Drawing back her sword, Mary swept it forward with a twist of her wrist. Heat warmed the air as the blade bit into Pomona's neck. The moment the blade sliced the skin, the fire on the blade leaped off to cover her body.
Pomona screamed as Mary sheathed her sword in a well-practiced motion.
The woman's form thrashed briefly in the flames before disappearing. The Echo of her agonizing screams continued to reverberate off the walls.
She was pretty sure the woman was dead, but given the fact she could jump from body to body, she had to be sure.
Stretching forth her hands, the flames brightened, slowly transforming from blue to white. Beads of sweat poured down her face as she maintained the flow of energy into the fire.
The floor sagged to beneath her feet as the marble melted. With a force of will, she contained the fire, molding it into a sphere that she lifted from the ground. With shaking arms, she compressed the flames. Streamers of black fire curled around the sphere as it grew smaller in jumping starts.
At the size of a softball, it grew no smaller. She stared at the sphere the heat radiating from it blackened the walls and evaporated the sweat from her skin. What was she supposed to do with this now? She couldn't release it Harald had said something about other mutants being in the building.
She glanced at the black glass windows at the far end of the hallway. Pushing her will forward, the sphere shot forward, elongating as it cut through the air. It smacked into the window, but instead of shattering it, it left a small chicken eggs-sized hole in the glass.
Molten glass glowed orange around the hole's edges as glowing orange crystalline tears ran down to drip onto the floor with a hiss.
The sphere exploded, sending spiderweb cracks through the windows. Warm air rushed down the hallway, ruffling Mary's clothes as she fell to her knees. Her Auburn hair fell to frame her face as she supported herself on shaky arms, her chest heaving.
–XX –
Dumbledore looked to the side as a white flash lit the sky. A wave of heat slammed into him, ruffling his clothes and hair. "Looks like Pomona didn't make it."
"You are one cold bastard."
Dumbledore spun around, only to find no one was there, "Enough games! Come out and fight me you coward!"
"This is not a game," the voice seemed to come from everywhere. "Before I was limited in what I could do, I have changed since then." Harald shimmered into existence before him, his hands tucked into the pockets of his grey sweatshirt. "So, Hermione Granger now has control over time as well as dimension. She'll have to be dealt with."
Dumbledore's eyes widened, "How?"
Herald tapped his temple, "It's all here in your head. Hermione went back in time and grabbed a piece of Pomona. Since the woman in question was a plant parasite, it was easy to put her in a new body," his eyes hardened, resembling rubies as he stared holes in Dumbledore, "it was your idea to use Flora Brandywine. You assumed I wouldn't be able to attack her. You are most likely right, but I'm not working alone anymore. However, that wasn't the only reason you chose Flora, was it?"
He floated forward, "You drained her dry. If Pomona wouldn't have needed a new body, you would've turned her into a vampire. All because she escaped your clutches." He shook his head, "I would like to torture you, but honestly I don't think I have the time."
Dumbledore screamed as thorns emerged from his skin, rivulets of blood ran from the new holes to drip off the tips of his fingers.
"That being said, I better make it last."
–XX –
Herald stared down at Dumbledore's mangled body. His limbs were twisted at odd angles, his chest had exploded open revealing his grey innards. His yellow eyes were glazed over. Drool trailed from one corner of his mouth.
The moment they had impacted the ground after leaving the building, Dumbledore's mental defenses shook. In that instant, he slipped inside the man's mind. To make his illusions more realistic, he allowed the events around them to play out in real time. That is how he witnessed Pomona's death.
Raising his left hand, he curled his fingers. Frost began to rise from the man's skin as it took on a blue color. A cracking sound filled the air as the liquid in his body froze. Opening his hand, he thrust his palm at Dumbledore, sending out vibrations that shattered the man's body.
With a force of will, his pieces floated into the air. Each one vibrated before disappearing in a burst of light and heat.
For a moment, he just stared at the spot where the pieces had been. Dumbledore started down this path to fix his sister after she had been accosted by humans, he shook his head, such a noble quest ended in blood and pain. Still staring at the spot, his body folded in on itself, twisting as he teleported away.
–XX –
Hermione Granger stood in the ritual room beneath Neverland, her hands resting on her cane. A dark yellow aura the color of puss flared around her. Unbidden, her pale Brown eyes slid to the tear in space, locking on the tree that produced the fruit of the divine spark.
He was coming, she could sense him approaching. Dumbledore was dead, along with Pomona, her hands tightened on her cane. She'd given up years of her life, aging her body to bring back the woman, and she went and got killed for revenge.
She tore her gaze away from the tear. As much as she wanted to use the divine spark, she wouldn't waste precious resources while she was in this decrepit state. Raising her cane off the ground, she slammed it down.
The rounded walls of the chamber shimmered. Symbols crawled across it like a slithering snake. When it was complete, a circle of runes had formed. She knew this would be a possibility, so she prepared.
It was difficult without interrupting the magic that created the pocket dimension, but while transporting Narcissa Black and Sarah Kinney into the past, she followed. It put more strain on her and took more years of her life, but it gave her the time she needed to accumulate more magical knowledge.
Pointing the egg-shaped top of her cane at the runes, they pulled away from the wall to spiral down her cane. Her back arched as the red symbols crawled up her arm, burning with crimson light.
Her skin smoothed, runes merged to form lines that link together to form tribal markings across her body. A wave of white light swept through her hair, returning the vitality to her graying locks. She dropped the cane to the ground. Her back straightened, her spine cracking as years of aging was reversed in a moment.
She had discovered that for all the differences between magic users and mutants, their powers could be applied similarly. So, once the mutants needed to create the pocket dimension were captured, she inscribed her own ritual on the walls of the chamber.
She had to be careful, the pocket dimension was the pride and joy of Lily Potter, if she had made it fall, she shuddered, there were worse things than death.
Like what she did to her husband. Shaking her head, the glow from her body faded. The ritual allows her to store 1 percent of the energy used to create the pocket dimension for her use.
As long as she made sure to win, her deception and risking of the dimension would be forgiven. If not, then she would be dead and out of reach for any repercussions, she hoped.
–XX –
Herald and Mary moved down the hallway, piles of ash lining either side and staining the pale walls with grey dust.
"Are you sure we're headed the right way?" Mary asked.
"I can sense the minds of the mutants ahead of us."
Mary glanced around, "Do you find it weird that most of the vampires in this facility are in stasis?"
"There are two reasons for that, one is the fact that it's daytime and at least younger vampires have to sleep during the day. The second is the blood fruit I told you about, the fruit that allows them to walk in the sun during the day, alters the body ever so slightly after eating it. Stronger vampires can fight through the sleeping effects during the alteration, but most of the ones here seem to be of the younger variety."
"If I had to guess, I would say most of the workers we've seen here; are people that were drawn by the immortality of vampirism. Add to that that the blood fruit they're creating this time came from repeatedly cutting out the heart of Laura Kinney and implanting a seed into it. This caused the fruit not to be as potent as it would be if it was planted inside a living being, granted using a ritual and containers of her blood, they were able to grow more trees without kidnapping people."
"I suspect, however, that the people Sirius Black was purchasing from Benedict Kine were heading here, but I'll have to finish going through Dumbledore's memories to be sure."
"I know she has a healing factor, but to cut out the heart of that little girl repeatedly," she shook her head, "there are some sick people in the world."
They stopped before a plain white wall.
"They're on the other side."
"How do we get there?"
"You don't."
Both jumped back as a woman appeared before them.
She stood 5'8" tall. She was lean and muscular with a small bust. Freckles decorated the skin on either side of her nose. Brown eyes shone behind a pair of half-moon glasses.
Her lab coat and bushy Brown hair billowed around from the puss-colored aura that surrounded her body but the thing that drew the most attention was the tribal markings that covered her exposed skin.
They burned with crimson energy as bright as the sun, mixing with the aura to create the color of an infected wound.
"Hermione Granger," Herald began, moving in front of Mary, "I saw from Sarah and Dumbledore's mind you survived." He shook his head, "more than survived, Lily taught you a new way to use your powers. From their memories, that prematurely aged you, but it appears you were able to fix that."
One of the lines that made up her tribal tattoos began to flake off, the chip of color disintegrating before it hit the ground.
"However temporary that might be."
Releasing a breath, Hermione Granger focused her temporal magic into her body. Her major muscle groups bulged as the sickly yellow aura around her was sucked inside. In a step, the world around her slowed. Holding her hands away from her body, black particles formed into two obsidian daggers.
In an instant she closed the distance between her and her opponent, her temporal magic increasing her speed. She brought her daggers together in a scissoring motion, aiming to slice Herald in half.
In a blur of motion, Harald backflipped out of the way, her blades moving through the air millimeters below his left foot. Coming up in a crouch, his red eyes blazed as crimson energy boiled off his body, twisting to form wristbands.
Raising his fists, three bone claws emerged from between the knuckles of each hand, also shining with energy.
Twisting, Hermione vanished. Appearing in the air to Herald's left, she thrust one of her daggers forward, the curved point poised to pierce his temple.
The blue-skinned man raised his arm, red and black sparks shot into the air as the blade met his wristband, deflecting the strike up and away.
Two strands of dark hair fluttered to the ground.
Grinning, Hermione thrust her left hand forward, a black tear like a scar on the world opened in the air. Her arm disappeared inside.
Throwing himself to the side on instinct, Herald winced as a black tear opened behind him. Hermione's hand appeared from the tear, her dagger slicing into his side.
Hitting the ground, he turned his fall into a roll that brought him back to his feet.
Pressing a hand to his side, it came away wet with blood. He could feel something in his wound pulling at his blood. His healing factor was replacing the blood he lost, but whatever was inside him was preventing it from healing the wound. Releasing telekinetic energy around his body, he formed an invisible dome.
He spun around just as Hermione appeared behind him, her movements were slowed by the telekinetic energy. He stepped away, thrusting his right palm forward. His dome exploded forward, throwing the curly-haired woman away.
As she hit the ground, the floor became like mud, pooling up around her as she carved a path through the marble floor. When she finally stopped, the floor hardened around her holding her in place.
Hermione lay there, her chest heaving, sweat stinging her eyes as she fought to catch her breath. She tried to use her time powers, but with her body restrained, she was unable to move.
Footsteps echoed around her as Herald closed the distance between them. As he knelt before her, she debated on what to do next. She could use her dimensional powers to escape the bonds, but most of the energy she had taken from the mutants was used up. There wasn't enough time left for her to escape and attack before the energy ran out and returned her to her elderly form.
With a huff, she stopped struggling and relaxed into her bonds.
Red eyes stared into Brown as the last of the tribal tattoos flaked away. She felt her body shrink, out of the corner of her eye, her Brown hair turned grey and her vision dulled.
"Was it worth it?"
"What?" Hermione rasped, her voice becoming a croak with age.
"Was everything you've done for the magical world, and the price you paid," he gestured at her form, "worth it?"
Hermione was quiet for a moment, staring at the drop ceiling above her. Was it worth it? She learned more than she could ever imagine. Magic that could bend the very fabric of time in space, but in the end what does she have to show for it. Years of her life gone, few friends, she had long since abandoned her family, and no love.
Her tongue licked her wrinkled lips, "Some of it. There are some things I would've done differently."
Inclining his head, Herald reached forward, placing two fingers on her forehead. His eyes flashed as he reached out with telepathic power.
Her back arched as he reached into her mind. Wrapping tendrils of power around every drop of knowledge in her head, light poured from her eyes and mouth as he pulled it free.
The light converged into a pyramid that's point entered his forehead.
When it faded, Hermione Granger lay on the ground, her mouth slack, her eyes glazed over.
Steam began to rise from the fingers on her forehead. Her body burst into flames the heat of which melted the marble holding her in place. The temperature of the hallway rose as the smell of cooked meat and burning hair filled the space.
Mary backed away; her right arm raised to shield her nose.
Herald knelt on the floor, flames dancing around his arm burning away the sleeve of his sweatshirt. Black smoke boiled to the ceiling, and the light of the fire elongated his shadow. His dark blue skin combined with his red eyes reminded Mary for a moment of something from the pit.
Fear and excitement shot through her body. As her hand began to drift, the heat died down, there was nothing left of the woman but a few piles of black ash.
Shaking his hand free of the dust, Herald slid across the floor, pressing his back against the wall. Closing his eyes, he flooded his body with telekinetic energy, wrapping his power around the dimensional particles Hermione's daggers left in his wound. With a force of will, he pulled them out, sucking in a breath as the wound regenerated.
Eyes still closed, he leaned back against the wall taking a moment to catch his breath.
According to Hermione Granger's research, magic users had a unique gene that allowed them to not only produce a certain amount of magical energy but also absorb and manipulate that magical energy that was produced by the universe.
Part of him wanted to keep Granger's body and study it to find out exactly why he couldn't replicate the powers of the Magical's, but the more pragmatic part of him decided it was better to get rid of her. Especially with two opponents having already come back from the dead.
His thoughts drifted to Flora. Was she alive when she fought Mary or was her spirit being repressed by Pomona's will?
He shook his head, according to Dumbledore's memory he felt her heart stop when he drained the last of her blood. With the time it took to get here from Flora's farm. She was definitely dead. He didn't know whether to take comfort in that or feel sorrow that he didn't get to say goodbye. There was so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted to apologize for.
He should've tried harder to make things work. Excluding that, he should've kept communication with her.
"Are you alright?"
Herald opened his eyes to find Mary staring down at him, her hands on her hips. "I'm fine," he pushed himself to his feet with a groan. Turning to the blank wall ahead of them, he moved forward.
Mary fell into step beside him, "You know I could've helped you fight right?"
"I know, but I've already lost someone I love, some would say twice, I didn't want to repeat the experience today."
Mary looped her arm through his.
Stopping before the wall, Harald raised his left hand.
The wall shook, sending vibrations through the building. Dust rained down from the ceiling as it softened, becoming the consistency of clay.
Slowly, he curled his fingers, molding the wall with each movement.
Red energy flared along the wall as he mixed his portal creation with his Geokinesis. The wall shifted, forming into an arch made of Roman-style columns.
As the energy slithered its way across the arch, it left behind four runes in the shape of Chinese characters. One on each side at the top of the arch, and one on each side near the floor.
Mary stared at the arch that appeared to be made out of the same brick that formed the wall, her gaze lingering on the runes that burned like stars. She glanced at Herald, taking in the sweat running down his face and the wrinkling of concentration around his eyes, "What was that?"
Herald relaxed, his face smoothing out as he took in a deep breath, "This room existed in a pocket dimension, I had to combine two of my abilities to create the door." He ran his left hand through his hair, "if it wasn't for my knowledge of runes, it wouldn't have been possible. I no longer possess the ability to travel through dimension."
Mary raised an eyebrow but said nothing as they moved forward.