Heir of the Immortals Resurrection
Chapter 15
Harry and Mary stood a few feet inside a circular room. Sunlight poured from a gash in space in the middle of the room. Around the tear was a pentagram. At the five points of the pentagram sat high-tech caskets.
Different colored energy floated up from each casket in a stream that combined to form a multicolored beam that entered the center of a Pentagon in the middle of the domed ceiling.
Kneeling, Herald touched the white stone that made up the floor. Closing his eyes, he sent a pulse of telekinetic power through his hand. In his mind's eye formed a picture of the room and a detailed image of the runes carved into the floor and ceiling.
While he could make out the total array, the edges of the runes were blurry in his mind from the magical energy filling them. Opening his eyes he rose to his feet, wiping his hand on his jeans.
"So, what's the verdict?" Mary asked leaning against the archway they had entered through.
"I'm going to have to replicate the powers of these five mutants."
Pushing off the wall, Mary moved to stand in front of him, "Why?"
"The runic array is funneling their powers, if we want to remove them from it, someone else has to take over control of the energy or," he made an explosion with his hands.
Mary placed a hand on his shoulder, "Are you sure you can replicate that many powers? I mean I know you did it when you met Logan, but you left shortly thereafter and took at least a day to get used to them before using them."
One corner of Herald's lips curled, "I guess we'll find out."
"Before that, use your powers to identify these people," she gestured at the Caskets around the pentagram, "and their powers."
Herald raised a dark eyebrow, amusement shining in his Ruby eyes.
"What? If you're going to do something stupid, I want to know what to expect."
Without saying a word, Herald moved forward. Stopping before the first casket, he reached out with his mind connecting to both the woman in the casket and Mary.
The green energy trailing from the woman's tank flared at their connection, and information flowed into the duo's minds along with an image.
Lorna Dane was 5'7" tall and slender with a moderate bust that was highlighted by a dark green T-shirt. Long green hair was tied back in a ponytail that highlighted her high cheekbones while accentuating her green eyes. Tight jeans highlighted the curve of her hips. Knee-high black boots completed the look.
The green energy flowing from her tank flickered slightly as symbols became visible to Herald.
Raising his hand, the symbols floated towards him. As they soaked into his palm, his eyes glowed, and he began to understand the ability of electromagnetism once again.
Along with metal manipulation, a lot of the old information he replicated from Magneta came back to him. However, the most useful tidbit was something new, metal morphing, the ability to merge metal with other materials.
As the glow in his eyes faded, Lorna's personal history began to filter into his mind from their telepathic connection.
Lorna Dane is a mutant, born of an affair between her mother Suzanna and Max Eisenhardt. Her mother's husband, Arnold, later learned of this affair and confronted his wife while he was flying her and Lorna on his plane. An argument erupted, upsetting the infant Lorna whose desperation to make her parents stop fighting caused an early manifestation of her immense magnetic abilities, which caused a magnetic pulse that destroyed the plane and killed her parents. It also changed her hair and eyes to an Emerald green color.
Lorna survived the crash and was found by her true father, Max Eisenhardt, who had been drawn to the location by her magnetic pulse.
Believing that she was not ready for her abilities or the life he could offer her, he had his associate Mastermind use his illusion powers to re-write Lorna's memories of that day, leaving her to believe that her parents died in a plane crash when she was an infant. Lorna was raised by Arnold's sister and her husband and grew up thinking that they were her real parents.
When she was nineteen years old, she went to a concert with some college friends. While at the concert, she was abducted by vampires working as security for the magical world. She was then brought here, where she was put in cryo-sleep and her abilities studied and put to use for the magical world's ends.
Jerking back, Herald broke the mental connection. To think, the Magical's were that determined to hunt down mutants, it was time he took a more active role in his opposition of them.
He moved to the next tank, sending a tendril of telepathic power into it. "Eva Bell," he muttered as an image of the woman appeared before him.
Eva Bell was 5'7" with short dark hair that had white running through it. Her blue eyes, slender body, and prominent bust were highlighted by the sleeveless white T-shirt she wore. Accented further by her formfitting dark jeans.
The golden energy flowing from her casket fluctuated, becoming a stream of symbols and letters as the knowledge of her ability flowed into him. She possessed Chronokinesis, the ability to manipulate time.
As the last of the knowledge flowed into his mind, a red sphere appeared around him and time froze outside the sphere. Closing his eyes, he concentrated and the sphere slowly faded away, time resuming as the last of it dispersed.
Locking his crimson eyes on Bell's sleeping form, he absorbed her history.
Eva Bell was out with a friend one night when they spotted David, a boy for whom Eva harbored a crush. The evening went well until Eva's fiercely protective brother, Steven, showed up and began to brawl with David and his friends.
Frustrated and scared, Eva's powers manifested forming a temporal sphere about the size of one city block and stopping time inside it for twenty hours. At this time, she met Iliana Rasputin, who helped her control her abilities enough to displace the time dilation. The two went on many adventures together.
Eventually, she was teleported to a future with Iliana, where she met her husband, Danny Warburton. The two had a daughter named Doll.
During this time, mutants were persecuted and hunted by sentinels. Together with Iliana Eva mastered her powers and the two planned to take the persecuted mutants through time to the past where they could build something together. At the moment they tried however, Hermione Granger appeared and pulled Eva to her universe. She then rendered her unconscious with her magic and placed her in a coffin-like device that would channel her powers in any way Hermione desired.
Backing away from Eva's prison, Herald thought over what he learned. The Magical's were desperate to get these mutants. From what he learned from Hermione's memories. it was because of them they were able to create the pocket dimension that was essentially a small universe, but why they were plenty powerful enough as they were. What was the purpose of this divine spark fruit, why where they wanting power?
Moving to the next container, he placed his hand upon its bottom. Energy flared from his eyes as he connected with the mind inside.
Dia Sloan was 5'7" tall with the tan skin of someone of Italian descent. Long dark hair with a green streak in it flowed down her slender back. Brown eyes stared out at the world with a haunted look. Even in her mind, her arms were wrapped around her, unintentionally drawing attention to her breast as they were pushed together and up.
"What happened to you?" Herald mumbled as the red energy flowing out from her prison shimmered into the familiar pattern of symbols and words that were his mind's interpretation of her powers.
The words and symbols broke into streamers that flowed towards him. Unlike the others, the two streamers of energy slammed into his body, flying into his eyes and heart.
Harald gritted his teeth, her memories searing into his mind.
Dia Sloan was born to Italian immigrants Mario and Margaret. From a young age, Dia was taught to be self-sufficient, since both her parents worked, her father at a steel mill, while her mother worked in furniture as a seamstress. She grew up happy until at age 12 she started developing headaches.
Her parents took her to doctors, but the doctors could find no cause for the headaches, so Dia suffered for four years. By age 16, the headaches caused her grades to drop so much she flunked out of high school. To find relief from the pain, she started abusing illegal drugs. Unfortunately, not only did this create an addiction, but it also got her involved with an abusive man named Jared Beekman.
At age 17, her parents had enough of her drug use and kicked her out of their home. She tried to explain it was the only way to alleviate her headaches, but to her parents, that was no excuse, especially since it got her involved with an abusive boyfriend.
Needing money, Dia took a job as a waitress, but her boyfriend took almost all of her money to feed his habit, so her headaches returned. However, this time they were different. The headaches caused her to pass out, and when she would wake up, the environment around her would be subtly different. She went home to her parents, but strange things continue to happen.
Jared in a rage that she left him, came to her home, and attacked her parents, putting her father in intensive care. Afraid for her family, Dia hired Jessica Jones as a bodyguard.
When Jessica went to confront Jared, it was revealed that he could make small changes to reality. A battle ensued in which Dia was revealed as a mutant. During the battle, it was revealed that Jared had split the good from his body. Wanting to stop his evil half from hurting others, the good Jared attacked the evil half, only to get stabbed. Unfortunately for the evil half, this caused his good have to merge back with him.
During the process, he was distracted long enough for Jessica Jones to knock him unconscious.
Even though Jared was arrested and her parents were safe, Dia ended up fleeing from the scene.
However, because of her heightened emotional state, she was altering reality around her. This drew the attention of the police and just as they surrounded her. A portal opened behind her. A voice from within told her they can help. Desperate, Dia went through, only to be knocked out by Hermione Granger.
Coming out of her memories, Herald swayed back and forth, his eyes and focused. All he could see was Dia Sloan's face. Slowly, his gaze swept around the room, taking in the caskets.
These people, what they had lived through was exactly why he wanted to create a safe place for mutants. His powers proved that they were stronger together than apart.
Mary moved forward, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he gave her a tired smile, "each one of these women has a powerful ability. Magnetic manipulation, metal manipulation, metal morphing, and energy absorption from Lorna Dane."
"Time manipulation from Eva Bell, and reality manipulation from Dia Sloan. It's just a lot to take in at once," he glanced at the arch. "If I knew this place was safe, I would take a few hours to meditate and assimilate them properly, but we don't have that kind of time."
Placing his hand over Mary's, he squeezed it before moving to the next container. As he drew closer a light caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Looking around, he found that the circular room he was in seemed to be put together like a puzzle piece. Staring at the strange vision, he knew instinctively that he would be able to rearrange these pieces to make anything he wanted into reality.
He shook his head, he would think on that later, placing his hand upon the casket, he reached out with his mind grimacing at the throb at his temples.
Leonard Leroy Jenkins, known to the mutant community as Blowhard was five foot even with grey eyes, a bald head, and a rounded belly. He was dressed in a drab trench coat that's buttons strained to hide his belly. Black gloves covered thick fingered hands.
The white energy trailing up from Leonard's prison release the tendril that curled around him. Aerokinesis, Herald muttered as his eyes drifted closed.
His eyelids fluttered as he viewed Leonard's history. He could save time by just replicating their powers. But he wanted to know the people he was rescuing. If they were a danger or a detriment to the mutant species, he would deal with them. Shaking his head, he focused on the memories.
Leonard Jenkins was born to Leroy and Danielle Jenkins. He lived a normal life, until his sixteenth birthday. As he blew out his candles at a small party, he generated a vortex that shattered the windows of their house. Though afraid Leroy and Danielle love their son and sought to teach him to control his abilities.
Through trial and error, they discovered he could use a pipe as a focus to control his abilities. During this time, they found that his strength and durability increased as well.
Leonard went on to graduate high school and took a job as a construction worker. With his enhanced strength, the job was easy. One day, while working at the top of a high-rise, Leonard slipped and fell.
On instinct, he used his powers to save himself. Unfortunately, this revealed him as a mutant and he was shunned and fired from his job.
Having lost his parents a few years before, Leonard had no one to support him after the family home was burned down. During the fire, he escaped into the sewers so that the mob that burned down his home would think he was dead. In the sewers, he shed his past, calling himself Blowhard. He eventually met other mutants who were either rejected or were too afraid to live in the world above.
Known as the Morlocks, Blowhard stayed with the group as he struggled to build a home beneath the ground. Too bitter about what he lost; he was not content to hide. Eventually, he came to see the others around him as weak, too afraid to fight and claim what was theirs by right, so he joined the Drained Dwellers, a fringe group of Morlocks, brought together to fight for mutant rights by any means necessary.
One night while stealing food, he was captured by Benedict Kine and sold to Sirius Black.
Opening his eyes, he stared at the tank. Once he had brought the first part of his plan to fruition, he would contact these Morlocks and Drained Dwellers. No one deserved to raise a family in the sewers. His eyes narrowed. He really needed to find Benedict Kine. A man like him would not stop just because he got caught once.
Approaching the last mutant on the pentagram, Herald's limbs felt heavy. His mind buzzed with the powers he had replicated. Possibilities opened to him and ideas long discarded became possible now. Stopping at the foot of the container, he reached out with his mind.
James Prindle was 5'11" tall with wiry muscle hidden by a well-tailored grey suit. Short Brown hair topped his head. High cheekbones and a narrow chin drew attention to his pale-yellow eyes.
The blue energy from his tank shifted into the familiar symbols and letters. They floated towards him in two streams. The streams connected to his hands and it felt like fire sizzled through his veins as he staggered backward.
James Prindle called this power alchemy, but from what Harald could understand it was transmutation, the ability to rearrange molecules into another shape. As the burning in his veins faded, he stared at his hands. With this power, he could finally go toe to toe with the wizard's magic.
While each magic-user had a branch of magic that their magic was attuned to. They could all transmute objects, levitate objects, cause pain, or a variety of other useful abilities using just pure magical energy.
Shaking his head, he approached James Prindle's prison again. Connecting with his mind, Herald reviewed his history.
James Louis Prindle was born to Jeff and Janice Prindle twin brother to Joey. From a young age, the brothers competed with each other but were close. Both excelled in school, each pushing the other to do better, and they were happy until James's thirteenth birthday. On the morning of his thirteenth birthday, James woke up and the world seemed to be brighter than normal. This caused him to have headaches throughout the day.
At lunchtime, the twins had a party with their friends. As the twins prepared to blow out the cake, James's eyes flared yellow, transforming the cake into confetti. This scared the family, but for the sake of the children, they played it off, pretending like they had planned the event. The rest of the day went off without a hitch, James's headache fading after his first use of his alchemical powers.
That night, James practiced with his ability, repairing some of his old toys, and transforming others. Each time he used his abilities, his body would glow with a yellow light. Eventually, he tired himself out and went to bed.
The next day, Charles Xavier arrived at the Prindle family home and offered James a place at the school. At first, James did not want to go without his brother, but with Joey's encouragement, he went to the school. For the next five years, he studied at the Xavier Institute for gifted youngsters. Over time, he began to change, viewing himself as better than others because of his abilities.
At nineteen, he left the Xavier Institute and began touring the world showing off his abilities. During this time, he forgot about his family too caught up in the limelight and the joy of the attention he was getting. One night, after leaving a show, a woman (Hermione Granger) approached him. The two talked, and James asks her if she wanted to come back to his room. Once they arrived there, Hermione froze time and teleported James away.
While James didn't consciously remember any of this, his optic nerve still saw it, which allowed Herald to recover it from his mind.
When time resumed, James found himself in a cold sterile metal room. It is at this time, he tried to use his abilities but found he no longer had them. As he began to panic, gas filled the room and he fell unconscious.
Withdrawing from James's mind, Herald moved back until he leaned against the wall. Slowly, he slid down resting his arms on his knees. James Prindle seemed to be arrogant because of his mutant abilities. Hopefully, this experience would at least help him to reconnect with the family he gave up for fame.
Mary moved in front of him. Kneeling, she stared into his eyes, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, it's just replicating all these abilities and taking in the histories to find out how they ended up here is a lot."
"Take a break, I'll keep watch." She turned to walk away, but Harald grabbed her wrist and rose to his feet.
"I would rather not take a break in enemy territory." Releasing her arm, he moved past her. Stopping a foot away from the pentagram, he sat down cross-legged.
Raising his left hand, he closed his eyes and sent a pulse of power through the ground paying particular attention to every room that made up the lines of the pentagram. After three more pulses tendrils of fire began to rise from his left palm.
At first, it was a smaller version of the pentagram that fit in the palm of Herald's hand. Then it began to shift. Runes moved around or faded away. Some rotated until the shape and Herald's hand was no longer a pentagram.
A large circle made up of five smaller circles connected by runes floated above Herald's hand. In the center of the circle was a small oval made up of what looked to be Chinese characters. Lines made up of lines and dots ran from the oval, connecting to the five circles.
Opening his eyes, Herald willed the flaming shape hovering above his palm into the tile in front of him. As the symbol touched the tile he poured more energy into it, causing the flames it was made of to burn blue.
Light washed over Herald as smoke filled the air.
Mary moved behind Herald as the light faded, "What is that?"
"To remove the five people at the points of the pentagram, I needed to create something to stabilize the tear in the middle of it." Rising to his feet, he moved around the pentagram, dropping four more symbols at strategic points. When he was done, he moved back to his original position.
Flicking his left hand, the ground shook a little as trenches about the width of a human finger were carved from the symbols to the lines that enclose the pentagram.
"Are you sure we can't just let it collapse? With your teleportation abilities, we may be able to outrun the explosion?"
"There are at least three more innocents inside, and I'm not sure what would happen. I know for sure it would explode, but before that, it could create a black hole that we couldn't escape from." Red energy flared around his right hand, coalescing into a curved dagger. Slashing his forearm, he willed five tendrils of blood to rise out of his arm.
His blue skin paled as the five tendrils of blood floated to the previously placed symbols. They sank into the runes burned into the tile before flowing across the trench. With each symbol filled, he allowed his wound to heal.
While taking a moment to allow his healing factor to replenish his blood, Mary placed a hand on his shoulder, "Are you alright?" Her gaze flicked to the blood-filled symbols, "Please tell me there was a purpose to that."
"The ritual pentagram is powered and anchored by the mutants at its points. To remove the mutants from their containment, I needed to replace those elements. Since I now carry their abilities, my blood can be used as a medium to act as a temporary anchor."
Flicking his right pointer finger, a flame shot to the oval in the center of each symbol he placed. "Now for the hard part." Flipping his palms upward, a portal appeared beneath Lorna Dane's containment. As her prison sank into it the tear in the center of the pentagram fluctuated.
Light shone from Herald's symbol, burning with the green energy that flowed from Lorna's prison. Once Dane disappeared, the green flame in the center of his runic circle released energy that floated upwards, connecting with one of the runes that formed the Pentagon in the ceiling.
The four other flames flickered, their color changing to match the white of blowhard, the red of Dia Sloan, the blue of James Prindle, and the gold of Eva Bell.
Slowly, each mutant disappeared through a portal, the tear in the center of the pentagram flickering each time before a flame released colored energy that corresponded with the mutant that disappeared. It connected to a symbol that made up the Pentagon above them.
Sweat poured down Herald's face as he finished. He had thought by using his blood as a medium that it would burn through his blood, but he was mistaken. At this moment, he was powering a runic circle meant for five mutants.
Forcing himself to stand straight, he moved towards the center of the pentagram. "We need to hurry; I don't know how long I can hold this."