Author's Notes: Managed to write the 2nd chapter already! Just don't get used to it. Writing this took me quite a long time (like 5 hours with breaks!). For real! I hope to update this every Friday as max, but of course there might be sometimes when I just can't do it in time. Hope you don't mind. Enjoy!
Song: Kimi to Yakusokushita Yasashii Ano Basho Made - U-ka (Yuuka) Saegusa (From Detective Conan)
Ch.2: Magic, Sword, Staff, and Guns
Mr. Filch had been very nervous ever since what had happened. He couldn't help blaming himself and thus he prepared his resignation letter and went to Dumbledore's office. His features still reflected his fear and shock of having seen the three teens disintegrate in front of him.
The students had been very silent after the mysterious disappearance while the teachers had gone berserk bombarding the Headmaster with questions. To their horror Dumbledore had simply chuckled and told them that those three students were going to be back, even if it was in a matter of months. Some of the teachers had left talking to each other about Dumbledore being out of his mind. Snape on the other hand seemed happy of having gotten rid of Potter and hoped Longbottom, Potter and the loony girl were gone for good. Those three were an unecessary nuisance after all. To the Potions Master it was a pity that the two remaining Weasleys and the know-it-all Mudblood weren't included.
Filch almost hesitated in front of the door to Dumbledore's office. He had already gone past the gargoyle and the spiral staircase, but took him more than five minutes to knock. The Headmaster's voice told the caretaker to come in and he at last entered, parchment in hand. Argus placed the letter on Dumbledore's desk and was going to leave without saying anything when the ancient Headmaster told him to sit down and have a lemon drop. Filch looked at the old man incredulously, but complied. Soon Dumbledore told him that he was not going to accept the resignation under any circumstances and even more when school had just started and they did need a caretaker in the castle.
"But sir! It's my fault those students disintegrated! I should have asked you about that stone... In my greed I..."
"Stop blaming yourself, Argus. The school needs you and that's that. About the incident, those students did not disintegrate. They were simply transported to another place. They'll be back. I already told you along with Mr. Potter's friends that they'll be back. In regards to the stone, it's true that you should have seen me first about it, but you have all your right to get rid of it. It's your department after all so you can sell it. I will ask you though to inform me of any strange objects when you decide to sell them or somehow get rid of them. That would be all."
"Thank you, professor. You are very kind." Filch managed to drag himself out of the office and Mrs. Norris started to purr as she walked between his legs, pressing her body against the lower parts of his trousers. "Come on, Mrs. Norris! We have to see if we can find students out of their beds and punish them." The old man smirked and continued on his way to completely abandon the Headmaster's office and quarters. He didn't really want to leave Hogwarts. It was his home and he was glad Dumbledore had let him stay.
Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were still in Gryffindor's common room talking about what had happened. Hermione knew that the stone had worked almost like a portkey, but at the same time it had been different. With portkeys there was no blinding light. She was extremely worried about Harry even when Dumbledore didn't seem that worried. Sometimes she actually wondered if the old Headmaster was actually out of his mind, although she suspected Dumbledore knew more about the stone than what he had let on. Maybe it had happened before and Dumbledore had been a teacher then. The stone was a confiscated item after all. So much she and Ron had learned about it after Harry disappeared with Neville and Luna. Hermione even thought about doing something else. She was going to visit the school's library and revise every book on Hogwarts to check about mysterious disappearances from Hogwarts and if the students indeed came back.
XxXxX
Harry woke up early in the morning after having slept very little. He quickly put on his glasses and his eyes locked with Neville's. "Morning. Did you actually sleep, Neville?"
Neville looked exhausted and shook his head. "Too nervous. I could listen to my heart beating loudly most of the night. I am also nervous about Trevor. Who will feed him?"
Harry laughed a little. "I'm sure Trevor can look for insects on his own, Neville. Is Luna still asleep?"
Both boys looked at the girl. She was indeed still completely asleep, but stirred when she heard her name. Her protuberant eyes fluttered open and she looked at the two boys and smiled: "Good morning!"
Harry raised an eyebrow: "Did you sleep? For real?"
The girl sighed happily. "Oh yes! Never thought you could sleep on a futon comfortably. I think I slept through. I feel great. Hope we get weapons and kill some monsters today. Sounds amazing, don't you think?"
Harry and Neville looked at each other in disbelief, but just then Samiria entered their room. "Morning! I prepared a bath and clean clothes for you three. You cannot expect to fight anything with those long rags you've been wearing... I'll prepare some breakfast now."
As the woman left Neville muttered out loud: "Rags?"
The three Hogwarts students shook their heads and got up. They got out of the room and Samiria made a gesture for them to follow her to the place where the bath was ready. They were surprised when she led them to a big bathroom that had what looked like a pool of steamy water in it. Luna smiled before saying: "It's a communal bath. We are supposed to bathe together." Her gaze was dreamy as she stated this.
"WHAT?" Harry and Neville reacted at the same time.
Samiria simply locked the door leaving them there together. They could hear her from behind the door: "Remember to come for breakfast after the bath!"
Luna started to undress in front of the two boys without even asking for them to turn around, but Harry and Neville turned anyway and remained turned until they heard her enter the water. Both turned again to face the pool and Neville reddened as he saw Luna's clothes on the floor. The girl waved at them to come into the water. "Come on! It feels really nice." Her dreamy gaze never left her eyes.
Harry started to undress, but noticed that Luna had her dreamy gaze on them. Harry moved to one side and her eyes followed him. "Luna, stop that! Look at Neville!"
The girl complied and started to look at Neville then, who had gotten to another corner to undress. The chubby boy had heard Harry and when he noticed Luna staring now at him he reacted: "Hey! Don't look at me!"
Harry had just finished undressing and tried to run into the water when Luna's eyes were on him again. He froze and his hands quickly covered a particular area before jumping into the water. "LUUUUUNAAAAAA!" He managed to scream as she laughed. That girl was scary sometimes.
Neville also joined them quickly, wondering if Luna had seen anything of him. It was truly embarrassing.
Harry took his glasses off and placed them by the pool before submerging. The bath was truly relaxing. The bubbles prevented them from seeing each other, but he felt a shiver down his spine when Luna spoke: "Nice. I had never seen a boy naked before so I was curious. Sorry. Harry, yours is bigger than Neville's."
Harry didn't know who was more embarrassed, him or Neville. He simply submerged again for the longest time possible. Then he swam under water, but crashed against someone. He got out of the water and was face to face with Luna. Neville quickly reached them. "What happened?"
Harry was beet red, but Luna comforted him: "You simply crashed against my right thigh. It's alright."
Neville had also turned red and for some reason seemed to want to get Harry far from Luna as he started to push The-Boy-Who-Lived out of the way. Neville kind of liked Luna even if she was so strange.
After finishing bathing the three teens wondered who would get out first. They started to look at each other, waiting. Luna shook her head with a smile and got out first, Neville and Harry gaping as she let them see her with no care. She dried herself, put on some underwear, and checked for what she was supposed to wear. It looked like a beige short jumpsuit composed of a sleeveless shirt that tied with strings in 'x' forms, and shorts. Luna had to enter her feet in the shorts first and get the jumpsuit upwards to insert her arms in the sleeveless shirt and tie it properly. "I like it. My father never lets me use anything short. Pity he can't see me now." She looked at the two boys: "When are you going to come out?"
Harry and Neville were still gaping, but closed their mouths and with bravery both got out at the same time, making the girl laugh. Harry took his clothes and studied them first. His combination was composed of long black pants that were a little baggy and a black sleeveless shirt that also tied in 'x' shapes in the front just like Luna's. Neville's clothes were brown pants similar to Harry's and a short sleeved white shirt that was long enough to reach almost mid thigh. The shirt also tied in two 'x's in it's collar only. There were also belts for each of them that had different sacs attached. Harry figured that one of the sacs had to be the one for money, but wondered about the others. Harry's belt was black while Luna's and Neville's were brown. There were also cuffs that they had to connect to their wrists and Harry wondered what was the purpose of the cuffs. The cuffs were all black.
When they were all ready they looked at each other and managed to smile. Neville pointed at Harry: "You look good."
Harry laughed: "You too."
Both looked at Luna, who was wearing her dreamy gaze. Neville and Harry said at the same time: "You look good too."
"Why thank you. You two look nice. Harry, maybe you should do something about your glasses. Make them unbreakable?"
Harry took out his wand from his robes that were disposed on the floor and tried something, but like Samiria had mentioned the day before the wand didn't work. Harry then took his glasses and concentrated in channeling his magic to his hands. His glasses changed into black strong goggles that he could put on attached to his head. This way they would never fall or get into a bad angle during battle. He put them on. "What do guys think?"
Both Neville and Luna had their thumbs up in approval and Harry laughed. They made their way for breakfast and Samiria smiled when she saw them and looked curiously at Harry's new addition. "Much better. I was worried about your ability in battle with the previous pair. How did you change them?"
"I concentrated hard in what I wanted to do."
"Without your wand?" The teen nodded. "As I perceived you are indeed the most powerful. You shouldn't have been able to use magic yet. Not without the first magical orb."
Harry seemed shocked at the revelation and felt even worse when Neville and Luna stared at him, but ignoring those details he ate his breakfast of ham, bread, and cheese.
After breakfast Samiria took the three youngsters to the village, but before entering the Armory she checked their hands and frowned. Their hands were delicate and that meant that at first it was going to be very difficult for them. Still, she had to figure what would be appropriate for them and make recommendations. She looked at Harry: "You have used a sword before." It was a statement, not a question. Harry nodded. "You might want to go for swords then. Your first sword will be given here in this Armory in front of us, but afterwards you will find other swords, more powerful swords. You might exchange your sword several times during your journey. You will be provided with special gloves so that you won't hurt your hands wielding the sword and here, attach this scabbard to your back with this vest. It will be for your sword." The woman removed her own scabbard vest and Harry took it and did as told. Samiria turned to Neville: "You have strong hands so you might consider wearing knuckles for fighting in close range combat. Those strange shoes you all have will be exchanged for boots now." They all looked at their trainers, but Samiria proceeded with Neville. "Your boots will be special ones also for kicking in close range combat because I can see you have strong legs too. Still, you will also be provided with long range weapons. You will have two fire guns." Neville blinked and nodded. Samiria turned to Luna. "You look delicate, but you're not that delicate. You will need gloves to protect your hands too and special soft fur boots for quickness. I think you might do great with a staff. You'll learn how to use it quickly with the proper skill orbs." She looked at the two males: "That applies to you two also." They all nodded nervously. "Now follow me."
The three teens got into the Armory and Samiria spoke to the owner. The man looked excited and looked at the three teens. He quickly provided strong boots for Neville and Harry and soft boots for Luna. Then he showed different swords to Harry and the boy chose a partially woodened one as a starting sword. "Wise choice! You will get the handle of swords in no time." Neville put on some leather knuckles and chose two small guns. Luna chose a woodened staff.
The Armory bloke then gave gloves to both Luna and Harry. The gloves had no fingers, but they both preferred them that way. Harry was still nevous and shocked about their situation, but was recognizing that they didn't have much of a choice. Neville was the same, following what was stated, but confused. Luna was the only one who saw it all as completely normal. Samiria turned to Luna and asked her: "Do you have the key?" Luna searched in one of the sacs and took out the stone that had brought them there to the surprise of both Harry and Neville's. "Very good. Don't you ever lose it. It will be your key to go home after you complete your journey. Now that you three are equipped I am going to take you to the temple where you are going to get your first orbs and learn about your mission from the Elder.
The teens yet again followed the woman, but on their way to the temple two monsters appeared in front of them. The creatures were purple and looked slimy and as if they were melting. It was a very disgusting sight for Harry and Neville. Luna's eyes went wide with excitement. Samiria spoke: "This is bad because you still don't have skills, but you will have to fight."
Harry moved first with the sword and hit one of the creatures, but the sword went through the slime not harming the creature. "My sword doesn't work!" managed to conclude Harry in seconds as he leapt back from the creature. The creature went at him and a slimy arm hit Harry hard on the gut making the boy fall backwards feeling weak all of a sudden. Luna went against the slimy monster with her staff, but got the same result Harry got. The monster retaliated, but Luna dodged as the monster leapt back. Neville took out the guns and fired at the monster with very bad aim and the only shot that hit went though the slime unharming the monster. The monster attacked Neville hitting the boy on the chest and Neville fell on his knees. Then the two monsters at the same time produced lightning, but Samiria interfered by creating a spherical shield that absorbed the bolts.
Harry got up from the ground, saved his sword in its scabbard on his back, and raised his hand. Concentrating as hard as he could he created water and sent it against the first slimy creature. The monster melted as it received the water blast. Harry then turned to the other monster and did the same. Both monsters were gone, but Harry fell on his knees panting. Samiria gave him a replenishing potion immediately and Harry gave a quick 'thanks' feeling re-energized. "You might want to stock yourself on potions, all kinds. Now let's go to the temple and for next time, those monsters can only be destroyed with elemental magic that opposes the one they use against you."
Harry thought about the irony of needing potions in that world. Snape would have loved to hear that. Not that he would ever tell the greasy git... They followed Samiria, but couldn't avoid a second encounter. This time the creatures were bird like and Harry quickly knew that he and Luna wouldn't reach them with their weapons. Neville aimed as best as he could with the guns and hit the two birds, but then the birds retaliated against them by pecking at them. Harry covered his face with his arms, and felt the skin in his arm opening. He yelped in pain and could hear yelps from his companions. When he removed his arm he could see it was bleeding. He also noticed Luna's left hand with a gash and Neville had an open wound on his shoulder that had also ripped his shirt, which was now tainted red. Harry used a lightning bolt on one of the birds that turned it into dust instantly, but the second bird threw something at him that looked like smoke. Harry reacted: "I can't see a thing!"
Neville used his guns against the remaining bird and the bird dropped and turned into dust. After this Samiria went to Harry and let some drops fall on his goggles. Harry was now able to see and stared at the woman. "That bird cursed you with blindness. Amongst the items you will need you'll need this." She showed them the phial. "It's an eye drops potion. It clears up the blindness. Check your sacs. You might notice that some of these items have magically appeared in them. You might also have enough money to buy other necessary items."
They checked the sacs and were surprised to find that they had started to fill themselves. Harry, Luna, and Neville looked at each other in obvious shock, but Neville looked sad. "I suck!"
Samiria shook her head: "No you don't. You just need orb skills and will be able to learn how to aim properly in no time. You did a great job. Never let yourself down. Now follow me to the temple. You will need to heal before you speak with the Elder." The teens followed the cloaked dark skinned woman and at last entered the temple without anymore encounters. Samiria took them to a fountain and told them to bathe the wounds in it. They were yet again surprised as they saw the wounds heal. Neville's torn shirt also mended and the blood stains vanished. "Now you were able to use this fountain, but you will have to learn magic to heal yourselves. Come."
The Elder was a blind man who looked extremely old. He touched Harry's face and did the same with the others. "Samiria, you've found them." The woman smiled. "I still remember when the other boy came. I was younger then. His name was Al or at least that's what he told everyone that asked. What are your names?"
"Harry."
"Neville."
"Luna."
"Harry, you are the most powerful one... I think you might be more powerful than Al was, but he was younger than you when he came. Such a vivacious boy I remember. He had very beautiful blue eyes that twinkled with excitement at the smallest things. I could see then, but now I am too old. You see, I am two hundred years old."
Harry was curious about the boy that had also been there and asked: "Was Al completely by himself?"
"When he came, yes, but he met allies along the way that separated from him when he was ready to leave this world. You will also meet allies. You'll see. Now I will explain what you have to do."
Sooo... What do you think? 'Shiemi sucks!' No, please! Not that! It took me hours to write this because I had to look up many words. I should bang my head against a wall for starting to write something like this when I lack so much in terminology!
Two reviews! Thanxxxx! I'm being pathetic, right? Oh, well...
