Chapter 23

"Oh my, you've seen better days." A claw swipe almost tore away at his face. Archilles chuckled at the blonde vampire child's efforts. Marianne trailed demurely behind him as expressionless as she could be. "Don't be so temperamental child. Sins of the father must be repaid. As disgusting as it is you allowed a human boy to be your sire. I would offer to replace him once he's dead but I'm afraid you'd hate me by then." He smirked in self-satisfaction. "As it is, Hadrian Potter has already found this hideout. Morgana knows how he achieved that but I assure you, neither he nor his puppets are leaving this place alive." Naruto growled. "Don't be so sure. Harry's the strongest person I know." Archilles grabbed his chin faster than he could blink. "His ability to manipulate shadow will do nothing for him here; I took measures against that. Without those, he might as well be a helpless babe for all my experience and skill." Naruto wrenched himself away, wiping the blood off the indents in his skin. "No matter how experienced you are, a stake to your heart will leave you dead." The vampire lord narrowed his eyes.

Before he could retort Sasuke spoke up. "I hope you didn't come here just to brag." Archilles sneered but composed himself all the same. "I see you haven't killed the Malfoy yet. Your control is admittedly impressive." Naruto grinned, all teeth. "Good tutoring does that." "All for the better because I don't mind playing dirty." As soon as the gate swung open Naruto lunged for him. It was all in vain. Runes flashed a dull white, briefly lighting the room. Naruto screamed. The protective barrier threw him across the cell to collapse in a heap on the floor, his body smoldering from the heat of the electric attack. The other two froze in shock. "Did you really think these flimsy bars would be the only line of defense?" Archilles boasted. Sasuke searched for a pulse and was relieved to find one. He glared at Archilles who had entered the cell. Wasting no more time he grabbed Draco and Sasuke was helpless to protect him. The blonde was dragged from his sight, all the while Archilles laughed in mirth.

It was a moment later that Sasuke realized the woman hadn't left. She stared intently at him for a long while. "My son. Is Trevor safe?" Not knowing what else to do Sasuke nodded. She nodded resolutely and walked away, her heels clicking ominously in the silence.

~Scene Change~

Some hours later Sasuke was still awake and exhausted beyond belief. The lack of nourishment had taken its toll. Draco had graciously provided his blood to quench his thirst, however, considering the weeks he went without feeding the meager offering Draco could give him was barely satisfactory. Naruto literally had to drag him away from the blonde after a few mouthfuls, enough to keep him coherent for a few more days. The blonde still lay unconscious on the floor, head propped on his legs. He was pale, a stark contrast to his normally tan skin. His burns were taking longer than normal to heal. Injuries inflicted by magic were naturally harder to heal and the blood deficit wasn't helping.

A distinctive sound reached his ears, a displacement of air similar to an apparition but not. He whipped his head to see Obito just stepping out of his kamui dimension. He almost cried, his joy was so great. The other Uchiha smiled, thumbing his nose playfully. "Yo, Sasuke! Your light and hope has come to relinquish you from your misery." He joked. Sasuke couldn't quite speak past the lump in his throat. Obito's features softened to a gentle smile, sharingaan eyes not as threatening as usual. "I hope we're not too late." The raven shook his head and cleared his throat. "Naruto." Obito nodded. "Got it." He gingerly picked the blonde up, frowning at his state. "That bastard. Come on Sasuke, let's get you out of here." "How about Draco and Mr. Malfoy?" "Close to Archilles. In that case, Harry and the others will take care of them." Sasuke nodded, following after the man.

The kamui dimension was a strange place. It looked empty yet had a packed feeling as if it could fit the whole world yet didn't have space for a single human. Only its creator's whim could bend that in either direction. Sasuke never felt comfortable here, it was dark even to his enhanced sight and the magic that made it up was stifling. That made him all the happier to come out of it. Kabuto waited for them on the other side clearly prepared to receive them in whatever state. The sight made the reality all the more real. They were free. It was all just a horrible nightmare and he was about to wake up to his normal life. That's what he thought as Kabuto placed him in a healing sleep even if he knew the scars left behind could haunt him for years to come.

~Scene Change~

He was scared, no he was terrified. This is the second time he's been in this position; bound and helpless. The thick metal collar was heavy and bit painfully into his skin. He had been wearing it for weeks now, its weight made his neck ache. It restricted his magic so he couldn't even feel it. Luckily his son wasn't treated so harshly. He was being held by the neck facing the door. Lucius wasn't sure about the details but the castle was under attack. He could feel his dominant was close. It made him happy that Harry had come for them, and made him feel shame to know it had to come down to this. A child had to come and free him because he wasn't capable of protecting himself and his heir. He was afraid they wouldn't make it out alive.

The commotion outside halted, bringing their attention to the door. The few guards that converged into the room shuffled toward the only exit, wands raised threateningly. The door suddenly caught on fire, the black flames eating away at it and the magic imbued in it. The black inferno spread forward quickly, catching some of the guards by surprise. Their screams echoed around the room shortly as the flame ate away at them. Some tried in vain to douse the flames with conjured water or spells. The flames seemed to feed on their efforts and soon left ashes in their wake. Lucius watched all this in shock. 'Unquenchable flames. Fiend fire?'

The remaining soldiers stood their ground warily out of range. The black fire at the door cleared out so Harry walked in. Accompanying him was a red-eyed man, a silverette, a blonde, a redhead, and a man that reminded him vaguely of a sea creature. He glanced at Archilles. The vampire had pulled out a dagger to place at Draco's throat. His breath hitched. He tried for the nth time to break free of his bonds. They didn't budge an inch.

"You think you can come in here and threaten me?" Archilles asked. "You're weak little child, hiding behind your stronger servants." "The pot calling the kettle black." Harry retorted. More vampire lackeys came from further within the building to surround them and block the entrance. Hidan at his side shifted in anticipation, spinning his scythe lazily at his side. Archilles shook Draco as if to bring attention to the blonde. "How exactly do you plan to defeat me, hmm?" Harry languidly drew his wand. "You'll find out soon enough." He dashed forward faster than a normal human being. Archilles was faster however and he slit Draco's throat before the boy had crossed half the length between them. The look of terrified shock on Harry's face made him cackle. "Too slow!"

Harry suddenly smirked. "Am I?" He apparated away. "Katsu!" Deidara exclaimed in triumph. Draco swelled grotesquely within a fraction of a second and exploded before Archilles even knew what was happening. That one explosion sent the vampires into a frenzy of movement. Kisame flourished his wand and summoned a dragon made of water. It roared mightily as it went head first to the vampires around the door. They were swept away into the next room. Another flick of the wand froze the water into solid ice so those trapped inside couldn't move. The survivors collected themselves and had to brace themselves for more attacks from Kisame and Hidan. Itachi and Nagato went further into the building, intent on leaving no survivors. "Jashin-sama will feed on your souls." Hidan said, licking the sharp edge of his scythe. A collective chill went down the guards' spines at the manacing look on the two Akatsuki members' faces, made all the worse when Kisame drew a wrapped sword that practically hummed with magic.

~Scene Change~

'Impossible.' Archilles thought while getting to his feet. The explosion had thrown him clean across the room. His arms and parts of his face were seared black; he could smell the cooked flesh and it pissed him off. His body was already repairing itself. It would take him precious minutes to regenerate fully, however. This is why he concealed himself with an advanced spell. It seemed that he wasn't Harry's focus at the moment. The boy had gone to free the Malfoys. The younger Malfoy looked suitably traumatized after being snatched abruptly from the jaws of death. Lucius was already freed and was given a Portkey to take them both away. He was grateful for the reprieve because he didn't think he could fight until he at least could at least hold a wand. Luckily his robes were damage proof.

At the moment his attention was drawn to the blonde Akatsuki member. His main weapon seemed to be bombs of some sort. There was a pouch on his hip where he summoned some white clay. He noted with surprise that he fed these to some mouths on his hands which would in turn vomit active clay in various shapes. Birds, tiny insects, replicas of himself, or some cat-like creatures were sent his subordinates' way and would explode within their proximity. He wasn't just sending them randomly either. Deidara's disadvantage was his inferior speed and stamina compared to the vampires so he battled to counter that. He used his bombs in sync with concealing spells he seemed to have mastered to an art. He would offer distractions that drew attention away from his constructs so they could sneak up on them at the worst of times. Each time the creatures would aim for vital points, conscious of the vampires' regenerative abilities. The neck seemed to be the point of choice. All the while he had a big bloodthirsty grin plastered on his face.

He scowled when the blonde replaced himself with one of his puppets when two vampires managed to sneak upon him. "Katsu! Art is an explosion, un!" The fake Deidara shouted and exploded as soon as one of them touched him, blowing most of his right arm side off. 'You'd think he's never heard of spells.' Archilles' thought at the lackey's stupidity. The lucky other turned out to not be so lucky because Deidara seemed to materialize behind him to cleave his head right off with a sword made of pure magic, which he then proceeded to drive into the injured one's head. The magic absorbed back into his wand and the blonde agilely dodged a stream of fire from three others, simultaneously throwing up a shield to protect from the heat. The spellfire made a good cover for the six lions that burst from the blaze and made to latch onto them. Two managed to come out of it mildly injured. Deidara took great pleasure in beheading them between one second and the next.

Archilles almost growled. It seemed the Akatsuki was more than suited to defeat normal vampires. He was the only elder vampire in the clan. His brothers and sisters in other countries had the pleasure of finding members as old as or even older than they. With numbers on his side, he never thought he'd lament that too much. After Akatsuki annihilated one of his larger covens he lost a good number of soldiers. The few he had here were those willing to fight for the clan. The rest were either too scared or incapable. He couldn't force them to fight lest he have an uprising on his hands. The vampires here might as well die in vain and his clan scattered across the continent. No, he cannot let it end here.

And Deidara couldn't have looked more surprised. Just as he blew his last opponent to pieces Archilles had materialized from the shadow right beneath him. The poisoned dagger sunk deeply into his flank. While the blonde was gasping in pain he grabbed him by the throat and slammed him to the floor. There was a puff of smoke and his fingers were wrapped around the parts of a shattered log. It seemed Harry had decided to conclude his own battle with the lackeys. The shadows converged around him, wrapping around his limbs then pulled away as if to tear him to pieces. He momentary weakened the shadows' strength so he ripped himself away from them. They melted back to inanimateness. He turned around to see his attack on the blonde wasn't in vain. The blonde had staunched the bleeding but could do nothing about the poison rotting away at his flesh. Harry was at his side chanting a spell that seemed to slow the process but by the look on his face, it wouldn't do much.

Harry gave Deidara a portkey. "I've never encountered a poison like this. Only Orochimaru has a chance of figuring out how to help you." Deidara scowled but nodded, taking the pendant. He stared Harry in the eyes. "Come back alive, danna." Then he was whisked away. "It's just you and me now." Archilles noted. The spellfire outside was still intense as the other Akatsuki members dealt with his limited but still many soldiers. The entrance was now frozen solid so no one could make it in or out.

"Not that I'm complaining but why didn't you add anti-apparation or anti-portkey wards? It was all the easier to add our own. You cannot leave this place now." Harry asked. "I never expected to be found so easily, and the rune work that prevents magical transportation within their perimeter is rather flawless." Archilles replied amiably. He tilted his head in curiosity. "By the by, how did you bypass those?" "Yahiko's a runemaster, it wasn't hard to come up with a plan for it." Archilles scoffed. "Such an excuse won't fool me, child. What archaic and obviously dark magic did you use to cross into a pocket dimension created by black and forbidden arts. Something equally as black and forbidden I'd wager. I'm leaning toward Necromancy."

"Why did you not protect against it if you knew it could bypass your protections?" Harry fetched. Archilles responded. "I never met someone willing to butcher their soul for another. Guess we learn new things every day, don't we Mary?" He turned around and in a flash had grabbed Marianne by the throat. The woman gasped, a dagger dropping from her limp fingers. "I always thought you a useless weakling, now a traitor to boot." "You…monster." She forced out through her restricted airway. Archilles clicked his teeth in playful irritation. His grip tightened and her neck snapped. She immediately went limp, eyes staring unseeing into his.

He threw her to the side and turned to face Harry again. "Women, right?" He picked up the dagger. The boy didn't even flinch at the sight of a life ended so uncaringly. "She'll be your last." The vampire lord threw the weapon right at Harry's forehead. The raven scattered into a murder of crows that converged into a shadow. The shadow sought after Archilles. Another shadow rose up like a blanket to wrap around the dark tendrils. They melted into the ground and disappeared. Before his hold on the shadows could be relinquished Archiles had to move away from an arc of lightning that might have cut him in half. Harry materialized from a shadowed corner wand already finishing a string of motion. The debris flung up from the last attack transfigured into large lions that sought to tear out Archilles' throat.

The vampire lord brought out his wand for the first time since the fight started. With a flick, the rock creatures disintegrated to dust. Said dust flowed violently in Harry's direction. Harry conjured a strong wind to scatter the particles. A shadow swallowed him just in time to avoid the fire that was cloaked by the dust storm. His appearance was sluggish and he realized Archilles was smoldering the shadows with his own. He was almost too late to avoid a claw swipe to his throat. He had grabbed the hand at the wrist and tugged at it. Archilles was startled by his unexpected strength and the motion made the knee driven into his gut all the more painful. He drove his elbow into Harry's back. The boy didn't even flinch as a puff of smoke revealed a shattered log. A shadow wrapped around his midsection and threw him into the ceiling.

He quickly righted himself so he landed on the ceiling on his feet. He looked down at Harry. The boy had writhing shadows surrounding his and his body was covered in black tribal swirls that shifted with each movement. He scowled. He didn't even sense that last attack. It seemed the boy's control of the shadows had gotten stronger, such that Archilles couldn't even control most of those around the boy. 'I've seen such control only is shadow daemons. Is the boy…?' he didn't get to finish that thought. Another shadow had managed to sneak up on his and nearly took a chunk out of his side. He pushed away from the ceiling to avoid any further attacks. The dark appendages chased him down. With a flick of his wand, he called up holy light. As expected the boy screamed in pain. He stumbled backward trying to get away from the light. The shadows scattered away from him with audible shrieks. Capitalizing on the opening he created Archilles caught the teen in the invisible grip of his wand to slam him into a wall. He conjured magic-resistant chains to bind him there.

'Shit!' Lelita cursed as soon as she saw the thrice-damned holy light. No daemon, not even Fae, could stand light borrowed from the angels for long. Harry was still young and had never been exposed to holy light so its pain was debilitating for him. Luckily Harry had managed to call on a minuscule amount of shadows to coat his skin so the damage from the light wasn't crippling. The impact with the wall disoriented him more and he couldn't stop the chains from holding him down. 'What do I do about the light?' Lelita replied. 'There's very little we can do about holy light Master. If he uses it again all will be lost.' Harry groaned in both frustration and pain.

Archilles sauntered up to him. "So you're a shadow daemon. No wonder the Akatsuki grovel at your feet. You're a superior being to them. But inferior to I it seems." He chuckled. "Holy light. I bet you didn't see this coming. Comes to show how much more knowledgeable I am to you." "You talk too much!" Harry snarled. Before Archilles could retort he jolted in pain, back arching with the force of whatever drove into his back. It turned out to be Harry's dropped wand, which he had summoned toward himself. It was only convenient that Archilles was directly in front of him. The chains around himself fell away. He called his wand, making Archilles gasp in pain when it ripped from his back toward Harry. Archilles gripped his wand desperately and called the holy light again. Only Harry had disappeared. The room came alive with shadows, the dark apparitions hissing as if touched by fire due to the light but persisting nonetheless at the will of their master. They shot forward, aiming to kill. The holy light shrunk into a sword of light that Archilles used effectively to hack at the shadows. It sliced into them like a hot knife through butter and the shadows fell apart around it.

The next few minutes were filled with a cacophony of shrieks and explosions as Archilles took apart the shadows that sought to harm him, and stabbed at the shadows lining the walls and floor in an effort to draw Harry out of them. Once half the room was destroyed Archilles skewered the right shadow. Harry jumped out of it in time. He didn't pause at the near miss, body already moving to avoid the next strike. He stumbled back as a lance of light left an angry burn on his arm. Red eyes glared at the vampire and he called the shadows. The wreathing mass converged on him in a sort of living shield that blocked the next light lance Archilles threw. The shadows in direct contact with the attack died instantly. The rest formed twin dragons that wasted no time to make short work of the vampire.

Moved back a few paces to create much-needed distance between him and the dragons. He brought up a beam of light that sheared right through the constructs. The burst of light made so he didn't immediately notice the next attack. A snake made of rubble shot out to constrict around him, its 'skin' coated in strengthening magic and squeezing so hard his bones creaked. The pain made him scream. Thinking quickly he drew and internalized as much of the ambient magic as he could and released it in a wild burst. The rock snake disintegrated. Harry was thrown into the wall.

Archilles collapsed to a knee, light sword still held tightly in his grasp. Harry had gotten to his feet but didn't look much better than he was. His darkened skin was peppered liberally with shallow cuts, a nasty bruise was blossoming on his shoulder and showed all the way up his shoulder. He was panting in exertion. His body was screaming in pain, the holy light having sapped away some of his energy. Though his shadow manipulation ability was much more impressive now that he had shifted into his creature form it still took a lot to brute force control over so many shadows despite the holy light.

Archilles eyed the leathery wings that had sprouted from the boy's back at some point. "You're a Shadow Fae. I thought they died out millennia ago." Either Harry didn't have the energy to deign him with a reply or didn't feel like it. A powerful thrust of his wings launched him toward Archilles. The vampire lord thought the move was stupid but an advantage for him. He swung the sword, sending a lance of light toward the boy. He burst into a murder of crows that flew around the lance of light and forming spikes that continued to barrel toward him. Having overextended his arm Archilles wouldn't be able to react fast enough.

The spikes penetrated his body with a sickening squelch and some even pulverized his bones and came out the other side, displaying the mighty strength that was put into the attack. Archilles dropped to his knees, the holes in his torso dripping blood all over the floor. Harry fell to the floor almost as quickly as Archilles. "You…" The vampire lord coughed violently, splattering more blood on the floor. With the little strength he had left Harry wrapped the shadows around Archilles, turning him into a gory facsimile of a mummy, then squeezed. The was a loud snap and the shadows melted away to reveal the broken body of the once-proud vampire lord.

Harry continued to pant on the floor, body shaking. A violent shudder went through his body. This brought on harsh coughs that wrecked his frame painfully. Blood spilled from between the fingers that were over his mouth, still hacking violently. He ended up on his side, trying to curl up into a ball to stave off the sudden pain. 'Lita.' He thought desperately. The daemon seemed to know what was happening. 'You overextended yourself, Master. A severed soul is an eternal wound and you never gave your magic time to at least get used to the consequences of such a wound. It split itself both ways to try and cover up the tear in your soul while also lending itself to you for the fight.' The violent coughs finally subsided and he could breathe again. He took large gulps of air to regain that which was lost, a shuddering mess on the floor. Lelita continued. 'To compensate for this stretch ambient magic was drawn into you in short bursts throughout the conflict. You must understand wild magic is dangerous if taken in raw without any filter. It damaged your body extensively. You didn't realize it due to the adrenalin dulling the pain.'

She went silent for a moment, only the sound of his ragged breathing reaching his ears. The battle outside seemed to be winding down too. It made Harry wonder how long his and Archilles battle had dragged on. Hours, minutes? 'I'm so tired.' 'It's only natural, you need your rest. And medical attention. I advise against apparition; it'll damage you more.' 'I can't muster up the energy for that anyway.'

Minutes later he managed to drag himself to his feet. He stumbled to the door and unsealed it. The next room was just as damaged as the one he came from. It looked as if a typhoon had swept through the room. Large chunks of ice were scattered throughout the room, some holding the broken pieces of what used to be living things. It seemed Kisame and Hidan were in the next room over to the right. He came upon them finishing off the few remaining vampires that remained. Kisame saw him first. He whistled. "Archilles did a number on you, Leader-sama." Hearing that Hidan whipped around to inspect the boy himself. His eyes widened at the sight of him. He was beside the teen in an instant. "Harry-sama! That heathen bastard did this to you? Tell me he's dead." Harry could only nod as he slumped into Hidan's side. The taller man wrapped a steadying arm around him.

"Take us home won't you?" Hidan didn't question the request. He brought out the ruby pendant they all had. He didn't even deem Kisame with a warning before the portkey whisked them both away. Kisame huffed, swinging the blood-drenched sword to flick away the blood. "Well, I guess we're done here. I'm so hungry. Hopefully, Harry-sama would be well enough to make a celebratory feast soon enough." He frowned worriedly then shook his head. 'Harry-sama's strong. He'll be staring us down cutely again in no time.' With a chuckle he activated his portkey too, leaving behind a corpse-infested castle that would forever be lost in a pocket dimension.

A/N: Whew! That took me three hours; a lot of time for me to stay in front of a computer screen. The time just flew, I was so engrossed with it. Hope you enjoyed it.

Ja ne.