Chapter Thirty-Five: War and Peace Pt. II
August 24th, 5231 CE or 2000 S.C | Milagre, Lusitania
After only a day in Milagre, Harry Potter felt comfortable in the fact that he had memorized Andrew Wiggin and Peter II's philotic structures. So at noon, he called the group that had discussed the subject the day before to Andrew's home. They all met in the living room, where Harry sat in a chair across from Peter, their knees touching. Andrew and Valentine sat on the couch to Harry's right, while Eleven and Val - Young-Valentine - sat on the couch to his left. They were all watching him patiently, all holding a sense of urgency and fear behind their eyes as if Peter would blow up if Harry did something wrong. After a minute, Harry sighed. "I can feel the anxiety coming off of you all. Calm down and take a deep breath,"
Andrew and Valentine did so immediately, taking a long deep breath to reign in their emotions. Eleven closed her eyes, no doubt falling into her occlumency shields to control her thoughts and emotions. But Val seemed unable to control herself. She seemed on the verge of hyperventilating. She reached out towards no one in particular and caught hold of Harry's arm. He didn't particularly care that she had grabbed his arm, and instead turned his focus to Peter, who was watching Val with a grin. But Harry could see the concern in his eyes. The man was human after all. Harry took his own deep breath, addressing Peter directly. "When I exit my body, you'll feel me trying to gain entrance to your body. Your instinct will be to fight me for complete control, but you need to give it to me, ok? If you do that, I'll be able to pull this off without any issue,"
"Right...are you sure you can't just let me live as I am?"
"The way you're living will end in Andrew's death. His body is the weakest of the three, so it will face the most strain. And while you and Val will be fine for a few years - maybe even decades - the Aiúa split between you will wish to be whole. It will push and pull until one of you dies as well. And seeing as you are oldest, Peter, it will be you that goes, leaving Val behind. We can do that, or we can give you two brand new lives that will last until you're both in your nineties. Sound good?"
"I...suppose so,"
"Good," Harry wasted no time. He dispelled himself from his body, sending out his Aiúa while ensuring his anchor remained behind. Harry watched the shape of his body slump in its chair, and he could hear the reaction from Val. He saw her shape get to her feet, moving to his side as she tried to shake his body. Eleven's shape rose as well, peeling Val from him as they both sat back down. Eleven was explaining that Harry went into suspended animation every time he left his body, making it appear as if he had died. Turning back to Peter, Harry approached the man's philotic structure. He took a moment to memorize it once more, before touching it. The Aiúa within lashed out, firing several tendrils towards him.
Harry easily sidestepped the attack and reached out towards the Aiúa. He was calm and careful. "It's me. Harry. This body is mine, remember?"
"No. It's mine" Peter countered, sending more tendrils towards him.
"Peter. You're fighting me," Harry spoke, using his anchor to speak through his body.
"I'm trying not to. You didn't tell me how to do this," Peter growled.
"You need to believe that you don't belong in your body. That it's not yours. That it's mine," Harry replied. Peter gritted his teeth in concentration, and it seemed to be working. The tendrils sent by Peter's Aiúa were quickly retracted, giving Harry room to draw closer. "This body is mine, Andrew. You don't want this body. Remember? You hate Peter" The Aiúa didn't respond. It merely watched as Harry drew closer. "Andrew. Focus on pulling the Aiúa back to your body. Away from Peter. Ok? Focus on ensuring that it leaves Peter's body," He heard Andrew hum his response, the older man was deep in concentration. Harry turned to the Aiúa in Andrew's shape. It was pulling on the bonds between both Peter and Val. "Not both, Andrew. Only Peter. Focus on Peter, not Val,"
After a minute, Andrew stopped pulling on the bond between himself and Val, focusing solely on the bond between him and Peter. The increased focus resulted in Peter's Aiúa being yanked out of its spot in Peter's body. It tried to put up a minimal fight, but the Aiúa knew it belonged with Andrew's Aiúa. Harry chose then to do it. He fired hundreds of tendrils at Peter's Aiúa, creating a line of sharp tendrils that cut a slim piece of the Aiúa off from the rest. And with that, the Aiúa slipped from the body and flew towards Andrew. The two Aiúa's merged within Andrew's body, glowing twice as bright as before. But there was still a connection between the sliver residing in Peter and the newly joined Aiúa in Andrew.
Instead of cutting the connection, Harry grabbed hold of the miniature Aiúa and held it in place within Peter's chest cavity. Then he turned to Val. He cut off an equal-sized sliver from her Aiúa and pulled it into Peter. She didn't even notice. Good. Harry fused the two with some philotic twining and proceeded to call a new Aiúa from the Outside. It was blank. Empty. But he guided it down into Peter's body, fusing it with the slivers of Aiúa belonging to Andrew and Val. The Aiúa immediately responded, glowing bright blue as it began to sprout very basic connections based on Andrew and Val. It connected to Valentine, Andrew, and Val, while also oddly connecting to Harry. But Harry hadn't finished. The new Aiúa was still connected through bonds to Andrew and Val.
With two well-swung tendrils, he cut the bonds down the middle, watching as the philotes returned to their respective Aiúa. It was done. There was no pull between Andrew and Peter. And nothing between Peter and Val. It had worked. Harry opened his eyes, which fell on Peter as the man remained unconscious. Andrew had opened his eyes, looking a lot healthier than he had before. After a minute of complete silence, Peter's eyes snapped open and he took in a long deep breath. He didn't sit up and merely sat there with his eyes scanning the room. "Are...you ok?" Eleven asked.
Peter froze. "I...yes...I think so..." He seemed confused. Lost. But he soon shook himself and sat a bit straight in his seat. "Yes. Yes, I'm fine. Thank you,"
"Peter...saying thank you. That's an odd one," Valentine said with a smile.
"I...right," Peter frowned. "I'm getting the urge to make a comeback, but I can't find it in me to do it. Is that normal?"
"Your mind isn't ruled by Andrew's subconscious version of your personality. The choices you make are now your own,"
"Right...of course. I make my own choices," Peter told himself.
"When can you do mine?" Val asked.
"Tomorrow. I need time to study you and Valentine's philotic structures. I spent all of yesterday and today memorizing Andrew and Peter's. I'm going to need the same amount of time to do the same. But don't worry, you'll be fine until then," Harry explained.
"Any luck on Echo Squad?" questioned Eleven.
"Hmm? Oh, right. I was able to track them down through our connections to my home universe in 1996. They're there already, most likely waiting for us to join them," Harry answered. El nodded in relief. Harry continued, facing Andrew and Valentine. "We've got our own war to fight, so unfortunately we can't help you in your rebellion. Once I'm done helping Val, Eleven, and I will have to go retrieve our third member and her squad. I hope you understand,"
Andrew smiled, nodding. "We understand. You have priorities of your own that you need to deal with,"
Peter clapped his hands together, suddenly drawing everyone's attention to him. But he didn't make a dumb comment or say something stupid. He only smiled and spoke. "Great...whose hungry?"
August 25th, 5231 CE or 2000 S.C
In the late afternoon the next day, they all sat in the same positions as before, only with Peter and Val having switch seats. Harry and Val now sat across from each other, their knees touching as the two stared into each other's eyes. Harry was accessing her mind, implanting the memories Valentine had given him that took place from her birth to her twentieth birthday. It was a bit too much seeing as Val was physically fourteen, but whatever. Harry couldn't judge. When he was done implanting the memories in her mind, Harry retreated and spoke. "We're doing the same thing as yesterday. You're going to convince yourself that you don't belong in this body and that it belongs to me. Once you've done that, I'll do the rest,"
Val seemed hesitant. "Does...does it hurt?"
"No," said Peter. "It's peaceful. I felt relieved after it happened,"
Val seemed to relax at Peter's words, her shoulders dropping as she continued to stare at Harry. He took her determined expression as a sign to move forward with the 'procedure'. Closing his eyes, Harry exited his body once more, his Aiúa searching the room for Val's. He found it easily, approaching gently as he had done with Peter's. Val didn't fight back. She merely watched him come closer before accepting him inside the shape. Harry was impressed. Val's determination to get this done had driven her subconscious into overdrive. This would be a lot easier than before. "Ok, Andrew. Start pulling on the Aiúa," Harry spoke. He spotted Andrew's shape nodding, and then the pull began.
But it was different from Peter's pull. While Peter had fought, Val put up no resistance. Her Aiúa slipped right out of Val's shape, rushing toward Andrew. "Wait!" Harry called out, firing tendrils towards Val's Aiúa as well as her shape. He caught her moments before she entered Andrew's shape, keeping her in place as occupied Val's shape. That...was too close. Harry gently pulled on the Aiúa, new tendrils shooting out to cut out a sliver of Val's Aiúa. Once the sliver was cut, Harry let go and watched as Val's Aiúa merged with Andrew's. The old man's Aiúa grew brighter than Harry had ever seen an Aiúa grow. Harry wanted to reach out and examine it, but he had no time. What was left of Val's Aiúa was disconnected from Andrew's. He had to be quick.
He started the same way he had with Peter. Harry cut off a very tiny portion of Valentine's Aiúa and pulled it off into Val, connecting the two slivers of Aiúa. She - like Val before - didn't seem to notice. Good. Harry proceeded to call a new Aiúa from the Outside, guiding down into Val's shape until it rested on top of the two combined slivers. With a bit of twining, the three Aiúa's combined into one bright blue Aiúa, a new soul. Once that was done, Harry did his repairs on the parts of Val's philotic structure that had begun to break down, and then stepped back to admire his work. It was the second brightest Aiúa next to Andrew's, and it was beautiful. The shape of her Aiúa was different from anything he had seen before, and it seemed to fit excellently in the philotic structure of Val's body. It even looked as if it was growing out the philotic twining that made her philotic structure. That was...odd.
A voice called out. "What the-"
Harry opened his eyes, his gaze falling on Val. But what he had expected to see wasn't there. The fourteen-year-old girl that had once sat in the chair across from him was gone. Instead, Harry watched what looked like a girl in her early twenties. It was still Val...only older. Harry was stumped for a moment, before realizing what exactly had happened. He turned to Valentine. "Your memories. You gave me everything from your birth to your twentieth birthday. Her Aiúa is catching up to her mind. She's twenty now,"
"That's...weird," Valentine spoke, clearly unsure of how how to react.
Reaching forward, Harry placed a hand on Val's knee. "Val?" Her reaction was immediate, her eyes instantly opening to reveal her bright blue eyes. Val sucked in a long deep breath, her eyes scanning the room for a moment. Then her eyes settled on Harry, her breathing slowing slightly as she calmed down. His hand still resting on her knee, Harry spoke. "Are...you ok?"
"Yeah...I'm fine. Great actually...relieved," Val replied, glancing towards Peter.
"Do you feel...different?"
"Yes...I feel bigger. Taller," Val peered down at her hands, gauging just how much larger they were to her once small hands. She got to her feet, stretching her long legs for the first time. She was smiling brightly, something that proved contagious seeing as everyone else took on wide smiles. Even Peter. Harry got to his feet as well, examining her carefully. "Any personality changes? Do you feel different in any way besides your body?"
"I remember things I didn't before. Valentine's memories," Val replied. "And I feel...less scared,"
"More confident," Valentine supplied.
Val nodded. "Yes,"
"Is everyone healthy?" Andrew asked, motioning between himself, Val, Peter, and Harry.
Harry closed his eyes, examining their Aiúa's once more. Andrew's was as bright as before, branching out to retake and repair the philotic structure that had been damaged due to immense strain. The pink tint that resided beside Andrew's blue Aiúa was growing brighter too, within both Andrew, Peter, and even Val. Peter's Aiúa had adapted to the new body and vise versa. He was whole again. And the same was happening to Val. Her new Aiúa was flashing brightly in what looked like a strobe pattern. It was making connections to Andrew, Valentine, Peter, and - not surprisingly - Harry. Opening his eyes, Harry smiled. "Everyone's healthy, yes. Peter's Aiúa has adapted to his body and vise versa. Val's Aiúa is doing the same, repairing her philotic structure while establishing new connections with most of us. And Andrew, your Aiúa is as good as new. It's the brightest in the room, the largest, and the healthiest. You'll live a long time,"
"Thanks to you," Andrew spoke. "Peter and I would have died if you hadn't been here,"
"Well, I'm glad I could help," Harry replied with a shrug.
"You did...help," A voice spoke. Harry turned to the voice and spotted a disembodied head floating above the computer terminal not far from them. It was the head of a girl. Not young, but not old. She held a look of complete innocence, yet something in her eyes displayed deep sorrow and tragedy. She looked tired. This was Jane. The sentient lifeform resided within the philotic connection of the Ansible. Eleven had told him about her. "But we still need your help. Even if you cannot give it," she said. "Soon, the Starways Congress will shut down every Ansible in the Hundred Worlds. And when they do, I will be erased. I've taken precautions to store myself elsewhere, but we can't be sure if it will work. I'm going to die,"
Harry raised an eyebrow. "What are you asking of me?"
"I'm asking you to save me, Harry Potter. I need a body. A human body I can reside in so that when Starways Congress does shut down the Ansible, I can live on in a human form. But I can't lose my connection to the Hundred Worlds. It's a part of me. I can't..." Jane explained. Harry frowned. She wanted him to create an entirely new body that would house her own Aiúa, as well as ensure her connection to the Ansibles of the Hundred Worlds remained intact? That was asking a lot of him. "I know you said you can make mistakes. But I don't care. What you've done for Andrew, Peter, and Val showed me that I can trust you. Please. Help me,"
"I..." Harry sighed. "I'll do it,"
"Thank you," Then Jane disappeared.
"Can you do it?" Val asked, worried.
"I think so. But I need to know if she has any type of shape in particular. I only have a few women's patterns in mind, and I'm not sure I want Jane to look like any of them," Harry replied.
"I prefer this form," Jane spoke once again. She appeared over the terminal once more. She was small above the terminal, but Harry could see her just fine. She was completely naked, but Harry didn't mind. It let him take in exactly how she wanted to look. Everyone turned away in embarrassment except for Harry and Valentine. He ignored the older woman and examined Jane. She had a petite form, slim waist, small breasts, thin arms and legs, short black hair, brown eyes, and glasses. Got it. I can do that. No problem. Once he confirmed he knew what she looked like and had committed it to memory, she shyly returned to the head view. "Can you do it now?"
"Yes. Are you ready?"
"I am,"
For the third time in two days, Harry retreated from his body and searched for Jane's Aiúa. For the first time, he spotted it and instantly made the connection. Her Aiúa was bright pink. The same pink that resided in Andrew, Peter, and Val. She had stored herself inside Andrew's Aiúa, and when he had split into Peter and Val, she resided in them too. Genius. Harry stepped up to Jane's Aiúa and examined it with interest. She had pink connections going everywhere. She really was connected to all of the Hundred Worlds and all of its technology. It was quite an amazing sight. But with her Aiúa spread out so far, Harry wasn't entirely sure what to do. He weighed all of his options and decided to go with something.
Harry called on a dozen Aiúa's from the Outside, guiding them down before clustering them together in one very bright Aiúa. He then started around that. Harry created a new philotic structure stemming from the new transparent and empty Aiúa, watching as it branched out. He kept the image of Jane and her body in his mind as he went. And before he knew it, Harry had once again created a new shape. Once constructed straight from his mind. Harry kept the twining intact with a bit of strength and proceeded to call out to the tiny piece of Aiúa that resided in the computer terminal nearby. The Aiúa followed his calls and eventually spoke. "Harry Potter"
"Yes"
"This is mine?" Jane asked, referring to the empty shape.
"Yes. It is. It's yours. Take it. It belongs to you. You'll be safe in there" At Harry's words, Jane slowly made her way to the new body. With Harry's help, she slowly seeped into the shape, and before long the massive Aiúa within began to glow bright pink. It was hers. And it had worked. The new Aiúa was still connected to all of the Hundred Worlds, as well as Andrew, Peter, and Val. It had worked. Harry opened his eyes once more. His eyes turned to the location of the shape, which was empty. But after a minute of waiting, Val gasped. "Oh my,"
White lines appeared from nowhere, spreading out from a central spot in the air. Before long, the lines were spread out into a human shape. A body. And then the same thing that had happened to Harry and Eleven happened to Jane. Her body began to form. Bones, nerves, veins, muscles, organs, everything. And when her skin began to form Harry conjured a blanket and held it out in front of her. She would be born naked, just like Harry and El had. And when the skin was fully constructed, her short hair grew in and her eyes shot open for the first time. Jane took in a long deep breath and fell directly into Harry's waiting arms, who took that moment to wrap the blanket around her.
"That was...something else," Valentine spoke, visibly surprised.
Harry wasn't listening. He was examining Jane, trying to determine if he had screwed anything up. From the outline of her body, Harry assumed he had gotten it right, but he couldn't be certain. After a minute of silence, she spoke. "I...can feel. See. Smell,"
"Yes,"
"I'm alive," whispered Jane.
"You are," Harry replied.
"Thank you," Jane got to her feet, careful not to let the blanket around her slip. Harry took care of that with the wave of his hand, transfiguring the blanket into clothes that wrapped around Jane. He had turned it into the tight long-sleeved shirt she had been wearing before, the blue jeans, and the black sneakers she had worn over the terminal. She smiled gratefully.
Andrew got to his feet, his eyes watching her carefully. "You're here," he said. The two pulled each other into a long hug. Harry smiled, glad to have helped as he turned toward Eleven. She understood at once. It was time to go. She hadn't needed to pack anything because she hadn't brought anything. So El got to her feet and joined him by the terminal. Her movement had caught the attention of everyone in the room, and they turned to face them. Harry smiled. "I'm glad I could help you before we had to go. But Alyssa's still lost out there, and we need to find her. But I can't leave knowing you still need help with the Rebellion. So I'm going to give you this," Pulling out a copied data chip similar to the one he had given Harrison, Harry tossed it to Peter, who caught it easily. "It contains all of the technological achievements my universe has achieved. Faster than light travel, planetary shielding, plasma weaponry. The Hive Queen will know what to do with it all,"
"You're just giving this to us? What do you want in return?" Peter asked.
"He wants nothing," Valentine replied.
"I don't need anything. I helped make everything on that chip to better the lives of humanity and later the Formics. If I can add the Pequeninos to that list, that's even better," Harry explained. "Besides. When that fleet arrives to find the Descolada gone, and several technological advancements being offered to them, I think Congress might be more willing to forgive Lusitania for the Rebellion,"
"Thank you, Harry," Andrew stepped forward, pulling Harry into a firm handshake that Harry quickly returned.
"It's no problem, Andrew. I wish you the best of luck. Tell Novinha I offer my condolences for your son,"
"I will. I will,"
Harry stepped back, pulling out his suit and enlarging it before stepping inside. He was about to put on his helmet when Val spoke. "Let me come with you," Harry paused. He hadn't been expecting that. He frowned. At that look, Val stepped forward, motioning back to Valentine. "This universe already has a Valentine Wiggin. It doesn't need me. But your universe doesn't. I can be someone there," She explained. "And I can help you fight that Voldemort guy. With Ender's Aiúa, I know how to fight. To hold and use a gun. I can be useful there,"
"I can't let you get hurt," Harry replied.
"I won't get hurt. Not with you around,"
Harry frowned. Val was putting a lot of trust in him. Something that he wasn't used to. On Earth, he had gained the respect of many through his inventions and his position in the International Armed Forces. But none of that meant anything here. Here, he was just a wizard and shadowmancer stranger who could do some things no one had seen before. It was odd. "I..." Harry turned to Andrew, but he didn't seem to have an answer. Neither did Jane or Peter. Valentine looked thoughtful for a moment as if questioning whether to agree or not. "Your life is here, Val. With them,"
Despite the hurt expression on her face, Val's determination could not be detered. "My old life was. You gave me a new life. One I can make for myself. I choose to go with you," Harry understood what this was. She looked up to him. In what way Harry wasn't sure, but it was the truth. Val was eyeing him carefully, and she did the same thing to him that El did. Her eyes softened and her face contorted into a frown. El even had the gall to let out a soft laugh, clearly seeing what he was seeing. Harry narrowed his eyes at the now young woman, but he sighed, turning to Andrew and Valentine.
"You two seem to know a lot. What do you say?"
Andrew sighed, turning to Val. "I don't want to see you go, but if you think this is what you want to do... then I can't stop you," Val beamed at the older man, clearly happy to know that he would support her. Val turned to Valentine, who still seemed unsure.
"Valentine?"
"I don't know how I feel about you leaving," Valentine said honestly. "While I agree with your previous statements about one Peter, one Ender, and two Valentine's, I don't know how I would handle your disappearing to an unknown fate. You're me. Only younger. Even with your own Aiúa, you have my memories," She sighed, taking a deep breath. "But if you want to go, there is nothing any of us can do to stop you,"
"Thank you," Val stepped forward, pulling Valentine into a tight hug that the older woman quickly returned. The two held each other for some time before Val pulled away. She turned to Andrew and hugged him as well. He buried his head in her hair, whispering something into her ear. Harry didn't listen in. That was a private moment and he wouldn't stoop down to doing something like that. After a moment, Val pulled away and turned to Peter. He did something quite mature, holding out his hand for a polite handshake. But Val merely scoffed and pulled him into a long hug, one he hesitantly returned. After a minute, she pulled away with a smile. And after exchanging a hug with Jane, Val stepped to Harry's left side. Eleven - who was on his right side - smiled brightly.
"Right...well then. I suppose it's time for us to go," Harry spoke.
"Good luck," said Andrew.
"To you as well, Andrew. To you as well," Harry pulled on his helmet and peered down at the medallion on his chest. It lit up in a bright blue color, the interior ring spinning round and round with a hum. Harry focused on Alyssa and her Aiúa, and after some time he was able to find it back in their universe, only it was somewhere different. Lost. In danger. Harry cursed himself. She was in danger, and he had stayed here for two days. They needed to leave now. "Grab hold of me," he said. He felt both women grab hold of his hands. Harry didn't complain, his focus being purely on reaching Alyssa. He pulled along the connection, and with a flash of bright blue, the three were gone from the world.
"That man amazes me," Valentine spoke.
"He's odd," Peter added.
"Should we see what's on this?" Andrew asked, holding up the data chip. Those left in the room nodded and Andrew stepped up to the terminal. He placed the tip of the chip against the terminal and watched as the transfer began. It didn't take long for all of the files on the chip to transfer to Andrew's terminal, and once they had he opened the 'Files' folder. "Hmm...Planetary Defense Ring, Dyson Sphere, HoloTank, Exoskeleton Mk. I, FTL Drive, Firefighter, Fireship, and Plasma Rifle Mk. I," Andrew didn't scroll down. He instead clicked 'Planetary Defense Ring', and was surprised. Not only were the plans for the ring present, but there were also images of an already built ring - or two rings - around Earth. They had already built it in Harry's universe and it worked.
Jane grinned. "That's impressive. Do you think the Hive Queen could make one of these for Lusitania?"
"In a year? Maybe. I don't know. But we can ask,"
"Lets. It's one thing between us and the Little Doctor," said Valentine. So it was agreed that they would go to the Hive Queen with these files first thing in the morning. If anyone could construct such things, it was her. And according to Harry, she already had constructed most of them. The future was looking very exciting for the citizens of Lusitania. And Andrew Wiggin knew that thanks to Harry Potter, perhaps they had a bigger chance of surviving than they had once thought. One other thought came to Andrew's mind. 'I need to visit Novinha'.
