"We've officially left Avalon air space," Neville said, taking a seat next to Harry. The young man was seated by one of the windows, looking out upon the ocean that stretched out before them; he hadn't moved in hours and Neville knew that letting Harry know about their depature was rather silly, since his friend could clearly see that they had left the region behind. The Ghost was now flying over international waters, Avalon left off in the distance. "We're getting a count of everyone who made it aboard."

"That will be a quick count," Harry grumped.

Neville though shook his head, taking a seat next to Harry, not bothered in the slightest that his friend wasn't looking at him. "We got a lot of people out, Harry. A lot of people. We're trying to figure out how we're going to get them all home. Enough of them are going to want to see their parents, considering that its going to be hard to let them know any time soon what happened?"

Harry sighed at that, knowing that a lot of families were going to be going to bed that night believing their children had died in the attack on Hogwarts by Nocturne.

"We did good, Harry, all things considered."

"Not good enough," Harry muttered. "Draco… he fucked everything up. He let Nocturne into the castle, ruined everything."

"He did," Neville confirmed, glad that at the very least Harry wasn't blaming himself for what had happened. That had been his and the rest of the gang's biggest concern, that he would take on the needless guilt and plaster it upon himself unfairly. "I wished you'd let us know…"

"I'm sorry, Nev," Harry whispered. "I wanted you to all know but I couldn't risk Voldemort realizing we were on to him. It was dangerous enough with me knowing and being so close to him."

"I can't imagine what that was like."

"Torturous," Harry admitted. "And I honestly don't know what good it did any of us in the any."

"You learned how to use aura," Neville pointed out.

"Its just a parlor trick at this point," Harry complained softly. He held up his hand and summoned the aura. "All that work… sitting next to the man… the creature… that killed my parents and then took over the Headmaster… all of that to understand aura… and it didn't do a lick of good when it came to the battle."

"You held your own," Neville pointed out.

"We were supposed to win," Harry said bitterly. "This was supposed to be the end of it. Just look at what we ended up with instead." He snuffed out the aura energy and let out a sigh. "Hogwarts is in ruins. We've been forced to flee… god, Neville, you realize how many times I hoped to leave there? To never have to see that damn region again? And now that its happening… its like I just threw up in my mouth." He scraped his tongue against his teeth, trying to remove the acidic taste of failure from it. "When I first heard of Avalon it was… it was a dream come true. I pester Hagrid the entire boat ride for information about the region, about Pokemon, about everything. But then the dream became a nightmare and all I wanted was t leave. To escape and never think about it again. Once more I get my wish and all I want is to go back!" He slammed his fist against the bulkhead he was sitting against in frustration.

"Its not that surprising," Neville finally said. "You wanted to leave but on your terms. That's not what is happening today." He looked out the window and let out a sigh of his own. "None of us are happy with how we're leaving things."

Harry nodded weakly at that. "Has… has anyone heard from Ron and Ginny?"

Neville shook his head. "No. We know they were getting the Slytherins out when… well, something happened." He smiled though it was a hollow thing. "Luna says they aren't dead. She would have felt it if they died."

Harry opened his mouth before clicking it shut.

"You were going to say they were captured," Neville said and Harry found all he could do was nod. "Its fine… we're worried about it too. We're hoping that they just had to take another way out of the castle."

"I hope so too," Harry murmured. "We lost enough people…"

He mentally went through the list. No one had any idea where Snape or Slughorn were. Percy Weasley had been spotted flying from the castle and Harry hoped it had been to get help and not out of cowardice. Prof. Korak had made it onto the Ghost though he had mourned that some of Team Skull hadn't made it. Korak, or Guzma as he'd insisted everyone call him since "my office is currently crumbling as we speak" had gotten in contact with Prof. Kawa who had managed to get out with a few other members of the Hogwarts staff. They were currently working on getting out of Avalon, knowing that as forgieners they were in the most danger remaining.

They were lucky. Damn lucky. If Ron and Ginny were alive that meant they'd gotten out of the disaster nearly intact.

Nearly.

"Where is Jasmine?" he asked softly.

"Her room," Neville said. "Or at least I assume that's where she was headed. She kind of tore a swatch of violence through the halls and I decided to stay out of her way." Neville rose. "Jonas is planning our next step. I contacted Barty but-"

"I'm going to see her."

"Harry, let her be by herself. She-"

"She needs me," Harry said, standing up and walking away from Neville. "For what its worth," he said as he paused at the door, "you've been the best friend a guy could ask for. I'm sorry you can't say the same about me."

"Harry-"

But he was already moving down the hall, leaving the observation deck and moving towards the residential section. While it had been a while since he'd been that way he knew the path well enough and his feet soon led him to Jasmine's room.

It was a constrast, just like her. All the rooms in the Ghost of Olivine looked like hotel rooms; the utter same, each and every one of them, with the same bed and same furniture and same carpet. But while most of the rooms were just copies of each other a few, the ones belonging to the Kenways and the few that routinely made the Ghost their home away from home, had been decorated so to cast off the blandness of their features and make them something a bit more comforting.

Jasmine's was no different. Pictures of her friends and family were all over the wall. Little knick knacks and gifts were placed all over the make the room a bit more cheery. The bookshelf all the rooms had was actually filled and Jasmine had a far better TV than Harry had in his own room set up, cords running from it to connect to her dex and allow her to stream movies or play video games.

But at the moment Jasmine wasn't focused on any of that. She was sitting on the bed, a photo clutched in her hand. Harry, ever so slowly, walked towards her. It was the same way he would have approached a Pyroar those trainer assured him was tame but he didn't quite trust. He kept his movements slow but not so slow that Jasmine would get annoyed or offended by his actions. Step by step he quietly made his way around to Jasmine and while she never looked up at all he knew that she had sensed him enter and knew exactly what he was doing.

His heart clenched when he saw just what photo she was holding. He'd expected as much, of course, as it would have been really odd if she were holding a photo of her and Fleur at a costume party or a stock photo… but it didn't make the sight of her staring down at the photo of herself at 8 years old, gleefully hugging her dad around the neck as he carried her through a park any less painful.

"Jas-" he began only to snap his mouth shut when the glass in the frame creaked.

After a moment Jasmien regained control of herself and, almost with utter reverence, she set the photo down on the bed before slowly rising up. Her shoulders were tense, her movements stiff, and he could feel the rage and fury pouring off her even as she did all she could to remain calm.

"I made him a promise last year," Jasmine finally whispered. "When he was in the hospital. After this fucking region tried to lynch him." Her fingers twisted into a fist for just a moment before she caught herself and she let out a soft sigh as she slowly, almost painfully so, forced her hand open. "He was lying there hooked up to all those machines and I asked him what he wanted… and I knew he would never ask that of me but I didn't care. I would do what he had done for me. I'd go to war. I'd become a killer. And I did… except it didn't fucking work, did it?" She took a shuddery breath. "I got him for only 13 years. 13 years. Avalon will get that 10 times over. I will tear it apart with my fucking teeth and fingers and I will make every single fucking person that lives there BEG for death! I am going to do what I swore I'd do for da… I am going to fucking burn that entire region to the ground and piss on the ashes!

"I… I am going to find every Nocturne Agent and I am going to string them up. Then I will force them to tell me what they love and then I will force them to watch as I destroy those things. I will tear out their hearts and not let them die! They will beg… they will plead… but I will force them to live! I will take their spouses and their children and bind their rotting corpses to them, face to face, so that all they can do is stare into their pale lifeless eyes before they are reduced to putrid jelly as the years go on! I will burn every inch of Avalon to the ground and salt the earth so nothing can every exist again. No!" She whipped around, eyes blazing with rage even as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'll just kill each and every fucking Avalonian I can find. Then I'll turn the entire region into a park with a single headstone, dedicated to my father! Even if I have to dig every corpse out of the ground with my bare hands and chuck them into the sea I will make sure that Avalon is left only for him! THAT is my promise and nothing-"

Harry grabbed her and gave her a hard shake, startling Jasmine from her rantings. He locked eyes with her, forcing her to actually take him in, see that he was there. She was spiraling, tumbling into a tailspin and he knew if he didn't break her out of it then she might never escape. So he did the only thing he could think of.

He kissed her.

Jasmine stiffened against his embrace and when she never relaxed Harry pulled away, worried he'd made a poor decision. Jasmine stared at him, as if she were seeing him for the first time and had found him to be some alien invader whose race she had never encountered before. She took him in carefully… before she gave him a hard shove, causing him to stumble back.

Before Harry could contemplate how he'd misjudged the entire situation Jasmine was suddenly on him, grabbing him arms and giving him now a kiss. It was hard and painful, bruising his lips and making his neck feel like she was trying to snap his head from his shoulders. But she ended it just as quickly and began to pant. Harry stared at her and saw how lost and wild her eyes were and knew she was running only on instinct. The pain of her lose, of all that had happened, of all she had been forced to do and what little they had to show for it was swirling in her soul and the only way she was able to cope was to let go.

And he found, thinking of his own tragedies… that he couldn't fault her logic.

Harry shoved Jasmine away, causing her to strike a wall, knocking a picture to the ground before he pounced, pressing her hard against the wall as he locked lips with her again. The two of them began to madly fumble about, surrendering all higher thought and replacing it with only animalistic instinct. Jasmine's hand flailed about, knocking over makeup that sat on her dresser while Harry bumped into her dex, causing it to boot up and begin playing a random song from her playlist.

A man's voice began to croon even as Harry ripped his lips away from Jasmine's and began to glide his tongue along the hollow of her throat, causing her to arch towards him. He could feel her heart beating, her fingers gripping onto his arms, begging him to never let go.

I'm waking up to ash and dust
I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust
I'm breathing in the chemicals

Suddenly Jasmine twisted him around, forcing him against the wall. He shifted to move but with a snarl she punched at the wall just an inch from his ear, causing more pictures to rattle and fall as she glared at him, making it clear that she needed to be in control. But Harry was too far gone to care and he snarled right back as Jasmine let out a cry that was more roar than scream, challenging him for dominance before she racked her nails along his sides, tearing apart his shirt and jacket. He felt his blood oozing from the cuts and it only made his heart race all the more.

I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus
This is it, the apocalypse
Whoa

When she broke away the two stared at each other for a moment, the chance to return to sanity just waiting to be grasped… and the two chose to bat it away. Jasmine tore at Harry's clothing, ripping his shirt and jacket off, leaving him bare-chested, before taking a step back and yanking her shirt off. The act left her hair a frazzled mess, like a beastial woman, and that only made Harry growl before he stalked towards her, throwing his glasses aside, hearing them shatter.

I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive

Shoes were kicked away. Why did they need shoes? Shoes were for the civilized. The cultured. They weren't either of those things, not in that moment. They were primal and with each step Harry shed away bits and pieces of his modern self. Jasmine licked her lips and stared down at him as he tossed off his belt before stepping out of his pants, leaving him only in his boxers before with a leer he sprang at Jasmine, who was more than happy to let him toss her onto the bed and begin to savagely tear at her own pants, forcing them off.

I raise my flags, don my clothes
It's a revolution, I suppose
We'll paint it red to fit right in
Whoa

She lay there panting in just a sports bra and a pair of panties that weren't sexy in the slightest. She'd come for war, not to lure in the opposite sex. They were functional, which is what she had needed.

And Harry didn't care. Because that meant she was strong. A predator like him.

Though… they needed to come off.

I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus
This is it, the apocalypse
Whoa

The last of their clothing was torn away, shredded and left abandoned on the floor. It was the first time either of them had seen their partner naked before and in another time and another life they would have savored the moment. Basked in the beauty of each other. Understood how special this was, to see the other at their most vunerable, with nothing to hide.

But they were too far gone. They needed something to release the tension and stress… and there was only one answer. The most ancient of connections.

Sentimentality was for humanity.

They weren't that anymore.

I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age

Harry had fallen on top of her at some point, feeling her heart racing in her chest as her form pressed against his and suddenly he knew this was wrong. They shouldn't be doing this at all. That he needed to correct this horrible mistake.

Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive

He grabbed her and forced her up, slamming her into the door.

They were monsters. Monsters didn't get warm sheets and soft mattresses.

All systems go, the sun hasn't died
Deep in my bones, straight from inside

They paused suddenly, Harry having lifted Jasmine's leg up, and for one final time a small bit of rationality flooded in them. There was nothing left. Nothing to hide them. Nothing to protect them. Just the two of them. And they knew what could happen if they continued. The risk. The danger.

And Harry and Jasmine didn't care.

They needed that connection. To feel something other than grief. And more than that, be it all the lose they had suffered or simply a desperation to have some control… Harry didn't care if Jasmine got pregnant. Didn't care what it would mean for their lives. Looking in her eyes he knew she didn't care either… in fact she craved it. Needed to have his child. To have this day become possibly about creating life instead of losing it.

The two kissed and toppled over the edge together.

I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive