Author's Notes: An early gift. I might take a little longer with the next, but hopefully I won't reach the two week span!
Thanks to Menecarkawan for beta-reading and sending this back sooner than I expected!
Song: 'Ai No Melody' and 'Chouwa oto -with reflection-' by Kokia (From Gin-iro no Kami no Agito - movie)
Ch. 19: A Dark Symphony
The fourteen year old looking boy was hidden in a cave along with his familiar. The fire bird chirped as it flew around in alertness, making sure that its human wouldn't be captured any time soon. So far they had kept hiding from the dark lord and Al wondered when his luck would finally change for the worse. He had kept trying to create a link with Harry, but his only attempt hadn't gone well at all. He had been discovered by the evil lord and had almost been caught. He and Fawkes had managed to flee yet again, but from then on contacting Harry had turned into an impossible task.
Al tried everything in his power to contact Harry again, but something was wrong. Harry's mind had become volatile, clouded and thus had closed itself making it difficult for The-Boy-Who-Lived to be reached.
The boy that had been Dumbledore didn't give up easily. He kept manipulating magic, trying to make his mind soar, looking for the teen he had believed needed his help. It didn't matter that Harry seemed unreachable. Al had to keep trying because he didn't want Harry to go through the same things he had. He knew things that Harry didn't and could almost curse himself for having always been so awkward with the Potter boy. He could never erase the image of Harry's anguish after Sirius Black's death and had never stopped blaming himself for it. He should have trained Harry in Occlumency himself, but had thought Severus would be a better option. He should have known better. The hate Severus had felt for James was still being channeled against James Potter's son.
Dumbledore smiled at his familiar. "It's alright, Fawkes. I'm sure that we'll be safe here for a while." The phoenix trilled and landed on the auburn haired boy's left shoulder. It pecked the boy's ear and Al started to caress the bird's crown, making it emit a sound that sounded like a giggle. "We won't be able to remain here for too long, right? He is tracking us, that lord." The boy sighed. "I have to keep trying Fawkes. I have to find Harry, but he is blocking me unknowingly! There's some magic in him that has completely taken over his mind. I wonder if he already found the summon with which he will combine-- Just like when I chose to combine with Phaisanny... I have a bad feeling Fawkes. I fear that Larakain and Earth might collide at some point. This dark lord is doing something strange and I truly hope he won't penetrate Hogwarts. Not even Voldemort has been able to do so, but unfortunately, Miss Granger revealed to the dark lord from this world, an almost easy way to enter."
XxXxX
Baskuran wasn't very far from Pakkon, but throughout the short journey, Harry was in a foul mood. Something kept stirring inside him, something that desperately wanted to rip his body apart. He could feel some sort of spirit that kept trying to take over his body, his magic, and his senses. For now Harry kept those feelings tamed, but he knew that it would only take a few more drops to make the water spill, a little more air to make the balloon burst.
He was suddenly panting and crouched on the ground. Angelus placed a hand on his left shoulder and spoke not to Harry, but to Harry's spirit: "Not yet. Just a little longer, but not yet." Harry felt a calm sweeping over him and he relaxed. He stood up and they kept on walking toward the city where many winged unicorns were suffering from slavery.
XxXxX
The winged unicorn with a shimmery pink alicorn kept staring at the other creatures of her species. She was in chains just like the others and if they kept whinnying as a means of complaining, they were whipped. So far, she had been whipped ten times and her whole body hurt. Her right wing was bleeding and probably broken, but she couldn't do anything about it. Her magic had been cancelled through a special ring placed on her horn. She couldn't even transform back into a human.
She occasionally glanced into the distance, wishing to see her friends coming, but wondered if they would even consider rescuing her. Tears came from her pink eyes as the sensation of complete abandonment encompassed her. They had a mission and that mission would never include rescuing her. After all, Nemaisse had been rescued by mere coincidence. The bounty hunter caravan had just happened to come by...
Just then, a man in armor came and grabbed the muzzle of the one next to her. He was a silvery winged unicorn with a yellow horn and hair.
Dianeia observed as her neighbour's ring was removed from his alicorn . They were testing his magic, but he wasn't a mage. They were indeed magical creatures, but not all of them were mages. Only a few were, but the horns always had great magic and were sold at exorbitant prices on the black market. She did come from a family of mages, but wasn't sure about the luck her neighbour winged unicorn would encounter.
As she had feared, she saw when the man in armor shook his head and a dark mage came with a special scimitar. She closed her teary eyes as the scimitar came down and cut her neighbour's alicorn. She heard the painful neighing and the sudden human form of that winged unicorn falling limp on the ground. She opened her eyes and saw a yellow haired young man of about eighteen years old in chains and unconscious and with his forehead's gem missing. Seeing that he was so young immediately reminded her of Harry, her Harry. She wondered if Harry would ever come for her or go on. She wished Harry would go on and complete his mission, but at the same time, she wanted to be rescued. It was a great dilemma and now she felt that she had failed Nhuriel and would never see Harry again.
Lost in thoughts, Dianeia didn't even notice when they were observing her just like they had with the young man that was now being taken away by two soldiers. As he was technically a child, he would be sent to the dark lord's domain, the land of Azfarath.
Dia came out of her reverie and with a saddened gaze saw as the man in armor approved of her, even without removing the ring that cancelled her power. They wanted her whole and not just her alicorn, but she knew that could be temporary luck. Some mages had ended up hornless after being drained of plenty of their magic in hard labour that required lots of magical life energy. The hornless children were sent to Azfarath while the hornless adults were sent to slavery in the magical stone mines of Pliarash.
The man in armor started to pull her chain to separate her from other winged unicorns. She wondered what they wanted and fear crept through her as she heard a man that looked like a bounty hunter speaking to the dark mage. "Of course I'm sure! When we got them she was sharing a bed with the boy."
"Were they naked?" the dark mage asked.
"No, sir. They were both in sleeping garments."
"Then they were just sharing the--"
"No, sir! We observed them for three days before we captured them and it was obvious that she was romantically involved with the boy. As the children from the other world escaped we can use her as bait to get them back!"
The mage looked very interested in what the man that had been evidently involved in the kidnapping in Chikbo Town had revealed. She would never be used to lure Harry. She preferred death to being the cause of Harry being captured again if he had escaped. "It's true that our great lord, Nebureth, has been enraged after learning that those children escaped. Perhaps your idea might be a good one. We will use the winged animal then." Dianeia felt fury inside her at being called an animal by the dark mage, but she shouldn't have expected less. Her heart still quivered at the thought of being used. She started to thrash in the chains knowing full well that she could bring a lashing upon herself, but she didn't care anymore. She wanted to break those chains.
In her desperate attempt, she felt excruciating pain as the bone in one of her hind legs snapped. She immediately lost her balance and fell just as the whipping came. The tears kept coming from her eyes as the agony swallowed her whole, but her worst agony wasn't physical. Her worst agony was the hurt screaming inside her.
Right after the whipping stopped the dark mage caressed her mane almost tenderly. She felt nauseated as she noticed the smirk adorning his lips, but was surprised when she felt the healing magic surrounding her with warmth that she despised. Even her broken bone and wing were healed. She wondered why the mage was healing her, but had her suspicions. They probably wanted to make a spectacle out of her and they probably needed her to look unharmed for that purpose. She wanted to spit in the mage's face, but refrained from doing so, but no matter what she was going to look for a way to escape.
XxXxX
Harry and his companions were fighting yet again. Ever since they had started to approach Baskuran the fiends seemed to have multiplied. Neville finished destroying a blobbed creature with a combination technique of a water spurt and a high kick. As the monster vanished, Neville was surprised to see silver cuffs that he immediately used to replace his old bronze ones. In a while, they noticed that the blobbed monsters always left those kinds of cuffs behind so in a short while they were all wearing silver cuffs, including the ones from that world.
They arrived at the entrance to Baskuran when another kind of fiend blocked their way. Two immense minotaurs stood in front of them, smoke coming from their nostrils. Harry tried his sword and confirmed that weapons weren't good against those fiends. He was about to summon Lamorte, but Neville beat him to it. They all saw a black parallelogram come from the boy's left palm and hover above the minotaurs. The minotaurs looked upwards and started to send some magic bolts against the parallelogram, but it descended on them. The two creatures fell to the ground as if a force was pushing them, then the black figure completely crushed them. By the time it lifted itself to return to Neville, there was nothing left in front of the adventurers.
Neville grinned at Harry and said, "You've just met Gravittos."
The group proceeded towards the city, but Angelus stopped them. "Something is not right. They are expecting us."
Harry raised an eyebrow and started to ask, "How do you know--" But he was unable to finish the question as he saw a winged unicorn being suspended in the air by chains. It thrashed between the chains trying to free itself, but the chains shocked her, obviously hurting her. "Those monsters!" Harry started to run and Angelus tried to stop him.
"No, Harry! Not yet! You have to wait! WAIT!" Angelus' words were carried away by the wind.
Harry didn't care about anything else except for getting Dianeia out of those chains. As he got closer to where Dianeia was suspended a strong wave repelled him. He fell on his back and tried to lunge again, but the wave threw him backwards once more. He was getting angrier and angrier and not even knowing what he was doing, he placed his right palm on the earth causing the whole perimeter to shake and the force field to start crumbling.
Dark mages that saw Harry start to destroy the energy wall smirked triumphantly as they sent some energy ropes to bind the boy. Harry screamed as he felt those ropes trying to neutralize his magic, but to the mages' surprise and horror, he reacted fast and repelled the ropes. They weren't going to give up easily though. They kept trying to send neutralizing binds, but an almost glowing Harry kept sending them away. They kept bouncing on him as if he had some sort of protective barrier around him. At that, one of the mages became very angry as he saw Harry cutting the chains that held Dianeia with different spells. Just as the last chain was ripped apart, the enraged mage threw a spear at Dianeia and the winged unicorn was completely pierced through, emitting a terrible scream before falling to the ground. The other dark mage quickly went and with a scimitar cut Dianeia's alicorn in front of Harry's eyes.
Harry couldn't believe what was happening. His whole mind clouded as he screamed, the hurt lurking inside him completely ripping his soul apart. The spirit inside him snapped completely and the skies darkened and became thunderous above them.
Neville fearfully turned to Angelus. "An electric storm? Harry is producing an electric storm? And is she dead?"
Angelus shook his head: "Something worse. I think I was wrong about his mutation after all. He did choose right. We have to look for cover fast because this will turn very ugly although not even a building might be safe for what's coming. No one can stop it now because he is broken." Angelus turned to Luna. "You have to produce the most powerful shielding ellipse you can. The rest also have to help sustain the shield. About the woman... I have no idea."
Luna and the rest looked alarmed and nervous, but started to work on what had just been requested from the white haired man. Luna created the elliptical shield around them while Kroy, Nemaisse, Neville, Soshlan, Janryu, and lastly Angelus placed lots of their magic on it to support it, still not knowing exactly what was going to happen. They had seen everything and were shocked as they saw Dianeia regain her human form on the ground, but with a spear through her body.
As the heavens became almost pitch black the thunderstorm worsened and Harry screamed again as his body started to change. He felt his clothes becoming one with him, as though blending into his skin, as he had seen happen with the other magical people from that world. The image of Dianeia being pierced through and her horn being severed wouldn't leave his mind and it haunted him, making him lose his mind even more into his new form. Soon he didn't know what was happening anymore except for the rage that wanted him to destroy everything in sight.
"Oh no..." were the words that escaped Soshlan's lips as he saw what Harry had become.
"Not the legendary one... This can't be! A human was the one destined to--" Kroy was full of disbelief as he saw what had previously been Harry take flight.
"He looks scary," said Neville.
"No. He looks gorgeous," Luna stated with dreamy eyes.
Nemaisse lips trembled as Janryu made an expression of confusion and asked: "So, is that dark or light?"
Angelus replied: "Both. Now get ready because it comes!"
Everyone screamed or gasped except for Angelus as the creature ascended and seemed to merge with the blackened heavens and a rain that was certainly not water began. Rocks of many shapes and sizes started to enter the atmosphere. The meteors crashed against the earth causing the whole ground to shatter. Buildings were being destroyed under the dangerous downpour. Neville paled as he saw the meteors crashing everywhere and destroying the city almost leveling it to the ground, but at the same time, by some sort of miracle some sporadic buildings seemed to be shielded in the same way they were. That detail also caught Angelus' eyes and he said in a soft tone: "Smart boy. He feels where the innocents lie." The others stared at Angelus for a few seconds, but the meteor shower kept thundering around them and the adventurers blanched in fear, expecting one of the giant rocks to collide against their protective barrier and crush them. Angelus sighed and reassured them: "If you watch closely you'll see that some buildings are being protected. Do not fear. He won't exterminate us, not even by accident."
Screams kept coming from the city that was being bombarded, but the creature wasn't completely mad. Like the adventurers had observed there were shields protecting every being that was innocent, but all of the dark lord's servants were being consumed and killed instantly, not only by the smashing meteors, but by fiery rocks that were also pouring from the sky.
Luna blinked as she saw buildings and soldiers being crushed until nothing was left of them. The terrible storm didn't last long though. It only lasted about ten minutes, but to many, it seemed like the longest ten minutes of their lives. Angelus seemed relieved when he said: "It's finally over."
The city lay in ruins and the land was full of impact craters, but with many shields somehow protecting the places full of innocent lives in the midst of the many fires and smoke. Luna summoned Undine and the female looking summon flew upwards until she disappeared into the sky like what Harry had become did. Just as the rain started, a black winged bicorn with jet-black hair with shimmery sapphire streaks started to descend from the heavens. The creature had two onyx alicorns with golden spirals around them instead of just one horn, which would have made it a unicorn. The frontal alicorn was smaller than the one behind.
From the strange winged bicorn's nostrils came smoke, clearly implying that it could breathe fire. It looked majestic as it slowly landed on the ground in front of a shielded body that had been pierced through. The creature started to nuzzle the seemingly dead body's face and then it dropped on its legs, steal nuzzling the girl as it silently wept.
Angelus motioned for the group to follow him. They all stopped close to where the obsidian winged bicorn and the girl's limp form were in the middle of the constantly falling water. Undine descended when the fires subsided and the strong rain changed into a mild drizzle as Undine returned to Luna's body. Luna and Nemaisse were both crying as they saw Dianeia like that. The possibility of Dianeia being dead was beginning to sink in and not even knowing who she was embracing Luna held the first person she found in front of her. Nemaisse did the same, hiding her face in a man's stomach, which was where she reached. The mas was Kroy, and he carefully placed his hands on Nemaisse's shoulders while Janryu embraced Luna back.
Angelus and Neville approached the creature and the woman and the still mysterious man cut the spear's edge that protruded through Dianeia's back. He then proceeded to cut the shaft. After doing this, he uncovered his right glowing hand and placed it on Dianeia's chest. He closed his eyes and a magical aura formed around the girl. All through this, the bicorn observed, not trying anything. It looked completely numb and its emerald eyes with sapphire borders were wet.
The mysterious man's eyes were closed, but then he opened them and his golden orbs brightened. Neville stared as the man removed his other glove and prepared both hands. He made the rest of the spear vanish and placed a hand on each hole before the blood could spurt. In seconds, he had sealed the girl's wounds and he turned to Neville: "Summon the girl's alicorn."
The boy nodded and whispered: "Accio Dianeia's alicorn." He was almost surprised when the horn came to him from under some ruins. Even though the dark mage that had severed it had been turned into nothing under the 'meteor-rain' the horn had been magically preserved.
"Thank you," muttered Angelus as he received the glittery pink alicorn and attached it to Dianeia's head. It immediately turned into the pink gem the girl always hid under long headbands that weren't unusual in the world called Larakain, so not exclusive to the unicorn people. Neville gasped as he saw Angelus starting to remove his mask for the first time. He expected to see something ugly or an abnormal mouth, but certainly not what he was seeing. Angelus' face was childlike and truly angelic, but Neville was sure Angelus was no child. The deep voice the man had certainly didn't match such juvenile and beautiful features. Angelus opened his mouth and connected it to Dianeia's, making Neville cringe. Neville almost expected Harry to attack the man by that point, but the black bicorn simply remained seated, waiting.
After Angelus broke the connection, he glanced at the bicorn and spoke: "I need to merge some of your blood with hers." The bicorn looked hopeful and inclined its head. At that gesture, Angelus took a breath and as he did a dark violet sphere came from inside the bicorn. Angelus carefully held the small sphere with his golden glowing hands, opened Dianeia's mouth and inserted it. He then quickly covered his hands and half his face again. "Now we have to wait. Can you transform back?" The bicorn stared at the man and shook its head. "You're simply not ready, but soon you'll be able to regain your human form."
The others approached the scene and sat close to Dianeia. They waited for half an hour until the girl opened her eyes. She looked extremely weak, but was alive. Angelus looked at her and said: "You must be one of the most blessed people I've ever met. That spear missed your vital organs by mere centimeters."
Dianeia gave the man a faint smile, but gasped when she saw the obsidian winged bicorn. Realization slapped her and she looked horrified. "Harry? Oh my God... Not the legendary one! But this can't be! Why are you dark and light at the same time?" She sat up with difficulty and touched the creature. It relaxed under her soft slender fingers. "Oh Harry... I'm so sorry... Now I'm not sure if they'll accept you..."
"Why not?" asked Kroy. "He is the legendary black winged bicorn! Why wouldn't they accept him?"
"Because even if he might be worshipped by some, others will never accept the fact that he is dark and light at the same time. In human form he has white wings while in magical form his wings are black, light and dark. In a certain sense, he is now like you," Dianeia replied while caressing the bicorn's slightly wavy mane. She then added almost in a whisper: "By the way, thank you, for coming for me..." Just then, the bicorn started to lose its form and Harry slumped into Dianeia's arms, holding her firmly, not letting go. It almost seemed like he feared that she would vanish from his arms if he loosened his grip on her. In the end he softened his embrace, but captured her lips, ignoring that everyone else was there watching.
Angelus cleared his throat making Harry break the kiss and look at him. "I'm glad that she is alive too. I won't link her to me because she is now linked to you by blood, but that is not the important thing. We have to free the people that are here. Nebureth must have perceived the strong magic deployed here so we have to free the slaves and flee from this city toward Xaphan, which is our next destination."
Shortly they had entered the destroyed city of Baskuran and looked in every one of the still miraculously standing buildings, rescuing winged unicorns everywhere. They removed the rings that didn't allow the winged unicorns to regain their human forms and soon the creature filled ruins were full of human looking people. There were chests with alicorns that were placed back on their owners, but there were more alicorns than people there due to the ones that had been already sent to other places. A man with long orange hair named Kymo agreed to protect the alicorns. He would take them to his people where they were to be properly saved until their owners were rescued.
Harry was amazed as he saw how many people he had saved from being crushed under the meteor attack even when there were so many craters everywhere. He still couldn't understand why he could control meteorites. Just trying to think about it gave him a headache, but not as much as his magical form. He wasn't sure if he loved his magical form. He felt it was hideous in comparison to the whiteness and silveriness of the normal winged unicorns. There was also the fact that he wasn't a unicorn, but a bicorn. Kroy told him that when the bicorn reached a full adult form both horns would be of the same size, and Harry would be bigger. That was a bit scary as the bicorn was impressively big from what Neville had described to him.
The leveled down city was left empty and full of smoke after the span of two hours. Harry and his companions continued toward Xaphan, wondering what they would encounter there. Harry knew it wouldn't be a fragment. The next fragment was in the land called Zanoa. The order they were following came from a map Angelus showed them, but Harry couldn't understand why it had to be in that order.
XxXxX
The dormitory was in darkness and the remaining boys were peacefully slumbering. Ever since the first day of school, two beds had remained empty. Those beds were Neville Longbottom's and Harry Potter's. The other beds contained the sleeping forms of Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Ronald Weasley. The tall red haired boy slept in tranquility, ignoring the image that had been taking shape in the full-length mirror in their room. Two putrid looking enlarged hands had formed and had started to come out of the mirror, the arms growing, looking like tree branches. Those arms kept making their way toward its sleeping target, knowing exactly which boy had contacted another in Larakain. The arms could only touch the boy that had made contact and soon the decaying hands opened the bed's curtains.
Blue eyes fluttered open and the boy's face turned to see the open curtains and the hands there. The boy's lips parted and trembled as his eyes could see what was there even in the middle of the dark. Ron straightened himself and pressed his back against the wall, not knowing what to do. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out as the hands approached his waist. One of the hands grabbed part of his button down pajama shirt while the other caressed his red straight hair before sliding down to the shirt like the other hand had. The redhead's right hand moved between the blankets, looking for the weapon hidden in between, but the fear caused by those branch like horrid arms were preventing him from accomplishing grabbing the much needed stick. Ron swallowed and closed his eyes as his hand finally grabbed his objective and the hands full of warts closed around his waist to take him away.
Thanks to lovenotknown, Fk306 animelover, and bandgsecurtiyaw. Hope you enjoyed Harry's mutation.
Please review. :)
