Beta-Read by Weasley 8799
Song: 'Noizy Tribe' by m.o.v.e
Ch. 23: Brothers
Harry stared at the man in front of him, wondering how the man knew that he, Neville, and Luna weren't from Larakain. Through the corner of his eye, he saw Luna activating the scanner attached to her right wrist's cuff. He clearly listened to its beeping sound, but when his eyes connected with Luna's protuberant gaze she shook her head. The strange man Soshlan had awoken couldn't be read as fiend by Luna's scanner. Neville hardened his gaze and used his own scanner too, Kroy supporting him the whole time, but like Luna he got no readings on the man that had introduced himself as Damnian either. Was this strange man friend or foe? Harry had no idea, but he felt his skin prickling all over his body and the man's satinated voice made him feel even more strained.
"Why do you look at me like that?" Damnian studied Harry with golden eyes that reminded of Angelus. He started to walk softly towards Harry, making Harry and his companions walk backwards even more. "Are you frightened of me? I don't consider myself... intimidating."
More shivers traveled down Harry's spine. The man certainly did look everything but intimidating. Still, there was something terribly wrong. Harry could feel it, but couldn't explain it. "How did you know that me and my friends are not from Larakain?"
"I know many things, Harry," Damnian purred.
"Are you related to Angelus?" Luna asked surprising everyone, including Harry.
Damnian smiled in an almost seductive way at the girl. "So you've been traveling with my older brother? And he is calling himself Angelus? Yes, Tenshi is my older brother."
All of them gasped and Harry almost felt faint. If what Damnian was saying was true then Angelus and Tenshi had to be the same person, but why? If only things were clearer... "Why were you dormant?"
"Because my power was sealed and I was placed under a sleeping curse."
"Who put you under that spell?" asked Harry with a very serious expression.
"It was my own brother, centuries ago."
"Why?" Harry wasn't satisfied.
"So many questions! You're tiring me, Harry. I don't know why Tenshi did this to me." Damnian's facial expressions saddened.
"It-It's alright," Harry replied with uncertainty. "Angelus might join us again. What will you do about it?"
"I'll have to face my brother sooner or later. It will be just fine with me. I do wish to see Tenshi... Angelus, once more."
Something nudged in Harry's mind. He was sure Al had told him of a sleeping man in what had seemed like a dream, but what exactly had Al told him? Harry tried to remember. He tried to concentrate with all his might, but then realized something. Al had never told him what to do about the sleeping man in Zanoa if they encountered him.
XxXxX
"Never!" Hermione replied one more time. She was dressed in a long peach colored sleeveless Roman style dress and chained to a wall, and her hair had been combed and done into a bun that was adorned with peach laces. "I'll never ask my friend for help!"
"It's the only way for him to know that you are here, just like him. He will never know that you are here if you don't contact him one more time. It might make him get to me faster."
Another voice spoke from the other side of the room. It came from a red haired young man who was also chained to a wall, dressed in baggy gray trousers and a blue-gray long sleeved loose shirt. "Who are you anyway? What do you want from us?"
A gloved hand caressed Hermione's face before the man turned around to face his other captive. "I am Nebureth and what I want is power. But before I put you to sleep I need you to contact that wretched boy once more!" The last words were spat with anger. "You will contact him like you've done before and you will also contact Al."
"Who the hell is Al?" Ron asked bewildered.
Hermione remained quiet. She knew very well who Al was and Ron knew too even if he couldn't add two and two at the moment. What Hermione wondered though, was why Nebureth wanted them to contact Dumbledore when the headmaster had disappeared from Hogwarts. To her it was simply confusing. "We don't know where Al is."
"He is here, just like you, my dear. Look." Nebureth summoned a maroon cauldron with a hand gesture and showed it to Hermione. It was a method almost like a Pensieve, but it showed in what seemed like water too, recollections of what Nebureth's soldiers had seen. He could record whatever was seen by one of his soldiers even if the soldier died. An image formed in the transparent liquid and Hermione gasped as she saw a boy fighting soldiers and fleeing from them.
"Why does he look like that? What did you do to him?" Hermione's lips trembled. She knew the boy was Dumbledore, but she couldn't understand why he looked younger than she and Ron.
"Do you like it? I've turned him into a child. I need him like that."
"Why?" Hermione asked on the verge of tears.
"You'll learn very soon. Now, to what I want from you--"
"I won't contact any of them!"
"Oh yes, you will." He patted Hermione's head as if she were a pet while with tear filled eyes she glared at him.
XxXxX
Al studied the golden whip an elf called Hollrik brought to him. He tested it several times and a smile formed on his lips as he noticed he hadn't forgotten how to wield the weapon. Fawkes glided around the empty hall while Al continued training, hitting floating spinners that had great speed to move about the room. He started to run around the room loosening himself and quickly regaining the ability he thought he had lost. He kept at it, concentrating hard until no more spinners remained floating. In a corner of the hall, there was sudden clapping and Al raised an eyebrow. "How long have you been there?"
Ureilhia smirked at the boy that was staring at her curiously. "Just got in by the end of your training. Do you really want to venture out there to look for that student of yours?"
"Yes. I have to find him."
"We can provide at least one companion for you. It would help us feel more... at ease."
"I don't want to intrude on you like that. With this weapon I think I can manage by myself."
"Still, it would be better for you not to be by yourself. I have a very bad feeling Nebureth is currently very happy for some reason."
"Why would you think something like that?"
"Follow me and see for yourself."
Wondering what Ureilhia meant with Nebureth being happy, Al followed the elven woman out of the building where he had been practicing and saw how many of the elven villagers were staring into the distance. Red smoke rose into the air and many of the elves looked either frightened or confused. "What is the meaning of that smoke?"
"Usually we see red smoke coming from Azfarath when Nebureth manages to capture an extraordinarily powerful child. We know that from stranded soldiers we've captured as our village is so close to the dark lord's territory. So far we've seen red smoke coming from there four times before. We've investigated and we know that the first time it was because Nebureth obtained one of the fairy princesses. The second time it was because he captured a fifteen year old gifted human mage. The third time was when he obtained two of our children that were very magical, and the fourth time was when he got a half-blood girl that was a blend between phoenix and fairy. The case of that girl was quite rare as I had never heard of anyone actually bonding with the Phoenix people for they didn't look human. As for today, we are clueless as to what child he has got."
Al looked nervous all of a sudden and he asked: "Could it be--"
"I don't think so. You're students are probably very far from these lands."
Al nodded, but still had a very bad feeling creeping inside him, something that kept screaming in his mind that he knew the children Nebureth had recently captured. He suddenly looked at Ureilhia and said: "I need a mirror."
The pointy eared blonde woman smiled at him and led him into the building they had just left minutes before. He followed her into a room and there was a mirror there. Al closed his eyes and chanted, feeling certain that he would be able to contact Harry. He waited as patiently as he could and suddenly an image formed in the mirror. It was Harry alright with people that had to be his companions, but Al gasped when he saw a man with them that shouldn't have been there. Right next to Harry was the green haired man that had been asleep and Al just couldn't bring himself to blurt anything about it. "Ha-Harry?"
"Professor! I mean, Al? Are you alright?" Harry asked looking relieved and excited at the same time.
"I'm fine, Harry. Are you... Are you still in Zanoa?"
"Yeah, Damnian here had just joined us when I felt I needed a mirror. He provided the mirror as we are still in his... palace."
Al swallowed, his eyes traveling from Damnian to Harry and from Harry to Damnian. "Y-You woke him..."
"It was an accident actually. One of my companions woke him. Why?"
"N-Nothing! Everything is fine!" Al's voice trembled and he looked faint.
"You don't look so good," Harry stated with honesty.
"Maybe we can find each other, Harry. Where are you heading now?"
"I haven't checked the map yet. Wait a second." Harry immediately used the map he also had inside him and saw that their next destination was called Mortghre. "Mortghre."
"I'll see you there then."
"Then you really are here?"
"Yes, but I can't explain now. Just remember that Mortghre is also known as the land of the dead. You'll find many undead creatures there and you have to be very careful with the--" Al gasped and the connection was suddenly lost.
In the mirror was Nebureth and he spoke to Al: "So you are with the elves! I should have figured as much. I'm very glad you decided to contact that boy. You've just saved my new pets from having to do it themselves... against their will." Nebureth sneered. "Do you wish to see my pets?" Al's breathing came in with difficulty when he saw Hermione and Ron. "I'll be coming for you, not so mighty Al."
Nebureth's image vanished from the mirror and Al's eyes watered. He tried to hide his face from Ureilhia in vain. It was humiliating for a man his age to cry. "Who were those children?"
"Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley," he muttered barely audibly. "They should have never contacted Harry. They only opened a gap for Nebureth to get them easily."
"You can't do anything for them. His idea is to lure you to his castle. It would be foolish of you to head there by yourself."
"I know I'm no match for him. I don't have summons... I'm heading for Mortghre." Al said in a resolute tone.
"You will have to leave now. He knows you're here." Al nodded at Ureilhia's words. He had to abandon the village fast.
Al easily prepared to leave and the elves provided him with food, potions, and many other things he would need. They also gave him a companion, a twenty-three year old female warrior named Sailka.
XxXxX
Harry was about to leave Zanoa along with his friends and exactly at the city's outskirts. Angelus, who barely glanced at Damnian, joined them. Angelus made the travelers follow him and to their surprise he escorted them to the strange airship, the Kokoshyon. Harry even wondered if there was some sort of joke going on around him when he saw that Angelus and Aklashya already knew each other. Without questions, the adventurers found themselves boarding the flying vehicle yet again. It wasn't until the Kokoshyon was flying that Angelus addressed Harry.
"Now you possess the summon that will merge with your magical form. It will happen soon enough."
"Merge? Like becoming one with the summon?"
"Exactly, but do not be frightened about that. You will only use that technique when you have the entire summons. When the time comes and you reach the final battle your summons will instead merge together and become the final summon that will consume all evil."
"Does Neville have the summon with which he will merge?"
"That is correct. He already knows everything about it just like you knew about Baetylus the moment she entered you."
"What about Luna?"
"Her time is coming. Just be patient."
"Is Damnian really your younger brother? Why did you seal his power and put him to sleep?"
Angelus remained quiet at that question. From the corner of his right eye, he saw Damnian approaching him. Gracefully, Damnian sat on the floor next to Angelus. "Long time no see, brother!"
Harry stared at the two men that were seated on the airship's floor in front of him. Angelus didn't even raise his eyes to see his younger brother while Damnian's eyes seemed to bounce with excitement as he fixed his eyes on his older brother. To Harry, it was a very odd scene and he wondered what secrets lay hidden between those two mysterious men.
Damnian suddenly got closer to Angelus and embraced him, but Angelus didn't return the gesture. The white haired man seemed numb and expressionless as his younger brother showed affection that Harry wondered if it was genuine, but having a feeling that it wasn't. He was sure that if he had had a brother and that brother had sealed his power and put him under a sleeping curse Harry wouldn't have shown any affection towards that brother at all. There was a chance that Damnian could be doing it to give a conscience or place some guilt within Angelus, but Angelus didn't seem to care at all. Still, Harry could have been mistaken, for as Damnian hugged Angelus even more and then buried his face on Angelus' chest Harry thought he saw wetness in Angelus' golden eyes and a single tear being wept.
Thanks to: Rainbow Phoenix, HitoshirenzuKage, lovenotknown, and bandgsecurtiyaw for your reviews!
