Title: Saishū Yume
Author: Remus J. Lupin-Black
Rating: R
Genre: Action/Adventure/Alternate Universe/Romance
Pairing(s): Remus/Sirius, Severus/Harry, Hermione/Ron, Albus/Minerva
Summary: It starts, as a simple kidnapping. It will become an adventure unlike any other as a group of mismatched heroes find themselves drawn into a war for not only their lives, but also their very souls.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Note: This chapter was difficult for me to write and I'm very displeased with the ending. I would appreciate some feedback on this chapter. Also, a big thank you to my beta reader for putting up with my ability to speak so glibly about killing characters and dealing with the not up to par ending for this chapter.
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Chapter Thirty-Six
Power
-

He was aware of hands on his own, warm and strong. Someone was speaking, but he couldn't understand the words. He opened his eyes and the voice changed, becoming more insistent. He felt the fingers on his palms and a fleeting thought, a memory of those same hands, clutching his wrist, trying to keep him from leaving. He struggled to hold onto this sliver of memory. To put a face to the hands and understand why this person was holding so tightly to him. Emotions welled up and then dispersed as the memory faded and he was left staring at their entwined fingers, wondering whom they belonged to.

Looking up, he expected another Inferi, but was met with amber not silver eyes and brown hair highlighted with strands of sun bleached gold rather than black. The person, dressed in white robes, was kneeling on the ground before him, holding his hands and gazing worriedly at him as he stared blankly at them, trying to place them. Some part of him was attempting to identify them and he could feel frustration welling up at his inability to do so. Still, he did nothing.

"Sirius," he blinked, looking away from the amber-eyed man still clutching his hands.

"I want to go with you."

"Who?" he asked, looking at the dark haired boy standing nearby, green eyes shimmering with unshed tears. He watched impassively as the boy blinked and then began to cry, covering his face with his hands.

"Did Sirius break your heart?"

"Hardly."

His head started pounding and he pitched forward a bit, his eyes slamming shut. One of the hands entwined with his pulled away and pressed against his forehead. He leaned into the touch unconsciously. Who was Sirius?

"Sirius?" he opened his eyes and stared into concerned amber ones, narrowed with concentration.

"I was called that," he said, his voice sounding strained as he spoke and a spike of pain lanced through his skull. "Many people called me that."

"Stop it!" the green eyed boy shouted.

Sirius – that was his name wasn't it? – looked at him.

Green eyes filled with fire gazed at them from beneath a fringe of messy black hair. The rest of the black strands fell in a sort of waved tangle to his waist. The features were neither masculine nor feminine though now that he was looking for it, he could see nothing distinctly female beneath the black cloak.

"Yes, but only if you help me."

"Harry don't shout," the man at Sirius' feet was speaking now, his voice gentle, but laced with steel, his eyes locked on Sirius' face. "It is not helping."

"He's just being difficult," Harry said.

"Severus!" a small body dressed in a black cloak and hooded came barreling across the small helm. The hood fell down onto thin shoulders as Harry levered himself up to kiss the mage. With a sound of surprise, Severus wrapped one arm around Harry's waist, lifting him from the ground so that he could kiss him properly.

"Actually," a voice filled with sarcasm spoke and Sirius looked over at the black robed figure standing near the one called Harry, "the blank stare is rather becoming of you, Sirus."

"Becoming of me?" he asked.

"You know this means that he's a werewolf."

A werewolf? Who's a werewolf?

"Having a little trouble?" Sirius looked behind him to find a figure dressed in black, leaning casually against the wall, holding a staff in his hands.

"Hello, Severus."

He shook his head, fighting against the strains of magic that were threatening to erase these two people from his mind; Harry, the boy with green eyes who belonged to the summoner village and Severus, the half-elf and prince of Slytherin. He had forgotten them. Why? Who was the man with the amber eyes?

"You call this friendship? Going off by yourself and leaving us to worry about you?" he looked into sharp blue eyes, narrowed in contempt. Long blonde hair fell across the woman's forehead, across her shoulder, and down her back.

Friendship. Friendship?

"I'm starting to understand why I lost to you. I lost to your way of thinking."

"Sirius," he looked back down into amber eyes.

"Y-you think you can just…you can't…you," he brushed angrily at his hair, forcing the long strand back from his face, only to huff in annoyance when they flew back into place. Sirius laughed and reached out; sweeping the honey colored strands away and before he could protest, kissed him.

"Can I kiss you?"

Remus blinked, unsure for a moment as he gazed at Sirius, both of them soaked through with water and floating out to sea with the tide.

"Yes," he ­answered, so softly that Sirius almost missed it.

Smiling, Sirius leaned forward and pressed his mouth to Remus', his hand resting at the back of his neck, holding him in place.

Someone made a sharp sound nearby and took a step forward, metal clanking loudly in the silence. Weasley.

"Don't," a soft voice – Ginevra – said.

Sirius remembered.

"I love you."

-

"We thought you were dead!" Harry shouted, still crying, though he was smiling happily at Sirius as he struggled to feet.

"Oh," Sirius said dully, looking at everyone as they watching him. "I…"

"We were worried," Ginevra said softly. "Why did you come here by yourself?"

Sirius shook his head, looking around the room as he stood slowly. Remus stood slowly with him and smoothed down his robes, watching him worriedly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked testily.

"We came to save your ass," Narcissa said moodily, arms crossed over her chest as she stood beside Ginevra and Hagrid.

"You went by yourself!" Harry said angrily. Severus placed a hand on the summoner's shoulder and he huffed in irritation, glowering at Sirius as he looked at them, trying to find a way out of this. This was his problem. He had to deal with this alone.

"Leave me alone," he said finally, gaining his footing again and pulling Angel Bless free from it's holding on his back. "This has nothing to do with you."

"Like hell!" Weasley growled, Ginevra, her hand all ready on his arm, merely uttered a soft word in elvish and he fell silent, fuming at the thief.

"There you go," Severus said sardonically. "You're being a bit arrogant if you think you can handle this on your own."

Sirius ignored him, walking slowly from the room. It was the same room that he had been in with Voldemort before. A door had been opened along the back wall. Without hesitating, he walked through it, Harry at his heels. He turned on the summoner and scowled.

"Don't try to be so tough," Harry said. "Let's–"

"Shut up!" Sirius snarled. "Just shut up!"

Harry fell back in surprise and Severus was there a moment later, looking ready to kill him.

"Sirius," he said dangerously, but the thief had all ready turned his back to them and left the room and Weasley was right behind him as he stepped into a long hallway. The knight reached out and grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn around. He looked dully at him for a moment and the knight frowned.

"You can't leave," he said sternly. "I have not yet concluded if you are worthy of His Highness."

"I won't trouble you anymore," Sirius explained. "Just leave me alone."

The knight released him, looking surprised, and Sirius turned back around and kept on his trek down the hall, his weapon in his hand, and head bowed. He could feel the walls around him pulsing with magic. He couldn't explain it now and he didn't want to, but he concentrated for a brief moment and a gate appeared in the middle of the hallway, slamming down and blocking the others from following after him.

"You need to work on your timing," he spun around, ready to shout at whoever had slipped pass and came face to face with Remus.

The prince was gazing worriedly at him and he calmed slightly, looking at the floor for a moment and avoiding Remus' eyes.

"You can't do everything by yourself," Remus said softly.

"I don't want to cause more trouble."

"Aren't we friends?" Sirius looked at him for a moment and then shook his head.

"I want to think so," he said softly. "That's why I all ways tried to…look, I'm not from your world. I helped to destroy Godric's Hollow! I remember it. That's when Regulus left me on Gaia. After we destroyed Harry's village. I got to Ravenclaw somehow, but…I could have been the one to destroy Gryffindor! I can't…."

The prince reached out, placing a hand on Sirius' wrist.

"You've protected us," he said easily. "We want to protect you as well."

"Remus…"

"Sirius, I'm not leaving you," the thief gazed sharply at Remus.

"Why?" he asked finally.

"Because we care about you," Harry shouted angrily from the other side of the gate.

"I haven't beaten you," Narcissa said easily. "You really think I'm going to let you out of my sight?"

"Chivalry requires a knight to look after his comrades in arms," Weasley explained.

Sirus laughed, shaking his head at them.

"What am I going to do with you guys?" he asked exasperatingly

"The feeling is more than mutual," Severus snapped.

Remus smiled, leaning up and pressing his lips to Sirius' cheek. The thief's eyes widened in surprise and he fought back a wide smile.

"Come," the prince said, "you need to figure out how to make him gate disappear."

"That's the easy part. I'm still wondering how I can do it period," Sirius said, closing his eyes and feeling once again the magic of the castle flowing into him. There was a shift in the air around them and then he felt Harry's arms around his chest. Opening his eyes, he met Remus' over the summoner's head. The prince smiled softly and turned to Weasley who was speaking to him.

"Now what?" Hagrid asked, patting Sirus on the shoulder, buckling the thief's knees and nearly sending him to the floor.

"We have to stop Voldemort," the thief said shaking out his arms.

"We?" Ginevra asked good-naturedly. "I thought you had to do it alone?"

Sirius sighed.

"You guys are too stubborn," he explained. "First you wouldn't let me lose my memories and now you won't let me alone. I suppose I'll just have to deal with you guys."

Severus rolled his eyes.

"Save the sentimental bullshit for later," he growled. "We have a job to do."

"Right," Sirius nodded, and leading the group deeper into the castle, up flights of stairs and across wide voids of space on narrow, dimly lit pathways, he told them everything Voldemort had said and everything he had learned.

"So," Harry said quietly, walking behind Remus across an empty room, "you're more powerful than Regulus?"

Sirius sighed.

"Yeah," he replied. "I think…maybe it's the Animagus thing. I mean…after your father transformed at Mount Philosopher to save you, Regulus just left."

"Perhaps he wishes to become one himself," Ginevra said.

"Maybe," Sirius said, taking a deep breath of the thin air. "We're here."

They stopped outside of a massive door, similar to the one at the castle where they had found the Philosopher's Stone. Sirius gazed at it, swallowing back a wave of emotion as he turned to the others.

"This is it," he said. "Your last chance to leave."

"I'm not leaving," Remus said easily.

"None of us are," Severus said.

Sirius nodded, his expression grave, Angel Bless held firmly in his hands as he turned toward the doors. Reaching out, he touched the black wood and the doors fell open beneath his fingertips.

-

The room was massive, open to the sky above and the land stretched out below. Sirius could see the Inferi village far off on the horizon on the opposite side of a massive lake. Blue energy swirled between large black stones standing in the middle of the water. Sirius recognized it immediately as the portal to Gaia.

"There is the observatory," the others turned as Voldemort materialized into the room at the edge of the balcony.

Sirius did not look at him, choosing instead to cross the room, his gray eyes on the smaller tower that was attached to the main tower. He heard Weasley draw his sword, moving forward to strike out at the Voldemort, but he heard Remus give a soft command. The knight stepped down.

"This is my fight," Sirius said easily, looking at Weasley and then turning to look at Voldemort.

"I see you broke the magical barriers on your memories," Voldemort said darkly. Sirius nodded. "Excellent."

"You know why I'm here," Sirius said sharply. Voldemort turned away from him, toward the land below.

"You told me that you would be my angel of death," he said coldly. "Think for a moment, Sirius. Life is death. Life must destroy other life so that it might survive, even killing those that it shares blood with. I am offering you a chance to live in a world in which life and death are one. You will transcend life and death. Your memory will live amongst the stars forever. I ask you, Sirius, once again, who are you?"

Sirius shook his head.

"I am me," he answered easily. "I know more than you it seems…we know more than you, but we're not perfect. We help each other. That's more than enough of a reason for me to live."

Voldemort's face darkened as he turned to look at Sirius.

"Then show me," he said harshly, lifting his arm. "Tell me again when you and your friends are on the verge of death."

There was no time as black energy crackled to life in Voldemort's hand, racing toward Sirius.

"Protego!" white light flashed and Sirius fell back, pain lancing through his chest. He looked over to find Harry and Remus clutching hands nearby, both of them panting. They had combined their magic again.

"Are you going to rely upon your friends to save you?" Voldemort demanded.

Sirius moved toward the mage, but he Disapparated. Cursing the thief brought his weapon down through the air where he had been just moments before and turned around. A hand fell upon his shoulder.

"You need to try harder," Voldemort whispered, a bolt of magic shot through Sirius' body and he cried out, falling to his knees. There was a flurry of noise as Weasley drew his sword again and rushed toward Voldemort. Sirius looked up just as the knight moved past him.

"Damn!" the knight said as Voldemort Disapparated again, Ginevra leapt up onto the door leading down into the staircase that they had come from, her spear in hand. Harry and Remus were still standing quietly in the background, murmuring under their breath.

The air swirled with magic as red, blue and white magic surrounded the group, going from one to the other and leaving a faint purple light in the air around them. Finally, it returned to the two summoners, twisting around them both and then dissipating as Voldemort Apparated beside them both, striking out with a blast of gold lightning magic.

"No!" there was a crack of magic and Voldemort flew backward, crashing into the door.

The two summoners, panting at the expense of energy, gazed at Voldemort in surprise as gold energy crackled around them and then disappeared. Harry released Remus' hand and cheered and Remus closed his eyes.

Hagrid took his place beside the two summoners as Ginevra leapt into the air and struck, landing the first blow on Voldemort, knocking him back to the ground as he stood up, her spear catching him in the shoulder, driving the sharp tip into his shoulder. She leapt away a moment later and Narcissa, standing closest, drew her sword and prepared to drive the blade home.

Voldemort stood, sending a bolt of lighting toward the bounty hunter. It slid off the barrier around her and crashed into the wall. Red eyes widening in realization, Voldemort Disapparated again and reappeared behind her, catching her by surprise. She fell to the ground, unconscious just as Weasley struck. Voldemort moved, and then realized his mistake. Turning around, he saw Sirius standing before him near the edge of the balcony, the prince a few feet away, lost in prayer.

"I win," Sirius said, driving Angel Bless forward into Voldemort's gut, twisting the blade harshly as warm blood gushed from the wound.

With a grunt of pain, Voldemort collapsed to his knees.

"You fight well," he gasped. "You used your magic to help you in this fight didn't you? A shame you waste such power."

"Give up," Sirius said, jerking his weapon from Voldemort's body.

Red light swirled around Voldemort and Sirius stepped back in surprised even as Voldemort's own eyes widened in shock.

-

The Invincible glowed with red light, swirling through the air as Regulus stood by and watched, his gray eyes wide with amusement as he watched from the airship the fight below.

"Poor Voldemort," he said with a grin. "Bitten by his own dog. Fate has chosen me to be the new ruler of Terra. Time to finish this."

-

Sirius stood uneasily on the top of the tower, the others behind him. Narcissa was nursing a bruised shoulder, and Harry was healing Ginevra's wounds. Voldemort was on all fours, clutching his body as red energy swirled around it.

"I must say," a voice said with a laugh, "that I love you all. Not only did you break the seal to Terra, but you did me the favor of killing Voldemort. Sirius…you truly are an extraordinary Inferi, deserving of my love."

The thief nearly growled as he turned to face Regulus who had just Apparated behind them.

"What are you doing here, Regulus?" he demanded.

"You know," Regulus tucked back a strand of black hair, "that's not a very nice way to greet your brother after all these years."

"Shut up!" Sirius started forward, Angel Bless at the ready. "You're no brother of mine!"

Regulus ignored him, striding across the massive balcony to Voldemort's fallen form. A sardonic smile on his face, he gazed down at Voldemort and laughed.

"What are you planning?" Voldemort gasped.

"Planning?" Regulus asked. "Nothing. Watching as I defeat these enemies of Terra."

Turning to the ground, he laughed again.

"We'll defeat you," Sirius said angrily, stepping forward.

"Ah," Regulus held up his hand. "That, dear brother, is where you would be wrong. You see, I have discovered the power of the Animagus and I intend to gain that power, without the hindering of an animal form. I will rule this planet and there is nothing you can do about it."

Sirius stepped forward and twisting Angel Bless into the air, struck his brother, the blade sinking deep into the flesh of his arm. Regulus hissed in pain and he fell back a step, blood pouring from the wound.

"That was all I needed," Regulus said, his voice cold, as red energy swirled up around him, seeping into his body. "Thank you."

It seemed for a moment that he would transform into an animal his body shifting wildly for a moment, and then Regulus' eyes closed and the energy that had been surrounding Voldemort's body joined that around Regulus. The energy poured into Regulus' body, staining his body and clothes.

It was simple that such a major change could be so easy and yet, as the red highlights in Regulus' hair finally showed in the sunlight and his robes, now a deep blood red, moved smoothly and easily with him as he gazed at his hands, it was nothing to be taken lightly. Red eyes snapped opened, narrowing to slits as they landed on Sirius, standing at the front of the group, Remus and Severus just behind him.

"This…this is the true power of souls," Regulus said softly. "The true power of an Animagus. Let me show you. Ultima!"

Raising his arms, red energy pulsed through his body. The sky above was ripped open violently as a flashed of white light erupted from the sky and then fell upon the group standing before the red-eyed mage. Watching with narrowed red eyes, he laughed.

-
Author's Note: -shakes head- I don't like it, but I tried.

Next Chapter: Regulus reveals just how powerful he has become…