Chapter 10: Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On – Big Maybelle
POV: Harry
"Up high left!" Fingers growled, kneeling behind a rectangular block of white stone and opening fire at the ledge.
"Two dead ahead!" Adam added, firing several shots in the indicated direction, forcing the raiders there into cover.
Harry winced at how loudly the continuous stream of gunfire sounded in the quarry, every noise seemingly amplified and echoing with a disconcerting effect in the dim underground passages.
Sighing at the delay, Harry scanned the irregular passage/room and saw that the two raiders ahead of them were taking cover behind an ancient, rusted excavator. Nudging Daphne with his elbow, he motioned toward the vehicle with his wand and made a pushing motion with his free hand.
She nodded in understanding and lifted her wand, both of them working in tandem to force the excavator back violently. One of the raiders managed to dodge aside before the ancient machine slammed into the quarry wall, the other was far less lucky. In his attempt to move free, he had jumped upward onto the machine and ended up with his legs crushed between the flaking yellow hull and unyielding white stone.
His screams of anguish were silenced by a well-placed shot from Adam's combat rifle, the man continuing forward to flush out any remaining raiders in the immediate area. Despite the shielding charms the team had been blessed with, he continued to move tactically from cover to cover.
The entire area groaned ominously and a stream of stone dust showered them with white powder, making everyone glance upward in fear.
"Eyes!" Shouted Lilith.
Squeezing his eyes tightly shut and bringing his face down saved him from being blinded by the brilliant flash. Still, the lightning was so bright that the glow penetrated his eyelids to tickle painfully at his nerves. The accompanying thunder shook the entire quarry, forcing everyone to grab hold of something to keep from being thrown.
"Ok, no more lightning in the tunnel!" Harry shouted over the ringing in his ears.
Many of their more destructive spells were proving ill-advised in the tunnels beneath the quarry. Fire would consume precious oxygen and leave them gasping for breath to die hundreds of feet beneath the surface, a grizzly fate no one desired. Now lightning was proving to be more trouble than it was worth, for the single raider Lilith killed, the tunnel now groaned even more dangerously than before.
Harry was determined though, and pressed his team onward through the quarry. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss, however. That there were far fewer raiders inside then they were expecting not the least among their worries.
A few minutes later found them waiting patiently while Fingers disarmed the explosive weight scale beneath the third terminal they had come across. Harry had been carefully reading every entry, perusing them for any information that would help his people face off against the darkness below. He had been disgusted at the clear disregard for safety the old Dunwich Company had had for the workers back in the pre-war era, but mused that part of that blasé attitude may have been 'normal' by the standards of American culture of the time as well as the insidious influence of some enigmatic force or entity.
Harry pressed past his moral outrage and found information regarding both the raider presence and of mysterious circumstances that dated back as far as the quarry's heyday.
The raiders occupying the site were apparently a part of a larger group operating somewhere called, 'Saugus." On the second terminal, he had read of the disappearance of a group that had been sent below to clear out some ghouls.
"Alright, let's keep moving." Harry ordered, trying not to wince at how small his voice sounded.
Several more battles with scattered raiders later, the team found themselves overlooking a massive pit, at the bottom of which was some kind of large pump and a pair of raiders.
"Ah, yep. They've spotted us." Fingers announced, placing her rifle against the rail for support before proceeding to open fire on the approaching raiders.
Harry couldn't help but feel a twinge as he watched the pair approach at a run, their lumbering steps up the circular stairway wrapped around the edge of the pit, odd and stilting. Adam, Lilith and George added their firepower to Fingers' their movement jostling Harry from his stupor.
Mere feet from attaining the ledge with Harry's team, the last of the raiders slumped against the wall and stood very still. They stared at the body for what seemed an interminable time, a distant echoing drip their only meter for the passing ticks of the clock.
Finally summoning up their nerve, Harry led the way toward the slumped raider, nudging the woman with his toe. He stepped back and hit the rickety rail as the body slid down in a heap on the floor.
Harry released the breath he didn't realize he was holding and chuckled nervously at the others.
"Lumos" He murmured, feeling an odd sense of unease regarding the flood lights. He trusted his magic far more than any muggle technology anyway, especially in this place, where it seemed that the chindis' presence suffused everything with a palpable aura of trepidation.
Reaching out blindly, he clasped Daphne's hand and gripped it firmly when he heard her relieved sigh despite how clammy both of their hands were.
Taking the lead, Fingers and Andrew led the way down into pit, a large mechanism sitting squat and ugly in the middle of the floor. A terminal was mounted along one side that Fingers moved to while Andrew kept watch.
"It's not locked, I…" Finger's hands froze over the keyboard as she looked at the flickering green screen her already pale face turning a ghastly shade of white.
Harry peered over her shoulder and the words sent icy fingers of dread tickling down his spine.
'I'm safe in the light. I'm safe in the light. I'm safe in the light. I'm safe in the light. I'm safe in the light."
Over and over and over again.
"Any chance we're done here?" Lilith asked nervously, chuckling a bit to try and dispel the ominous shadow of dread settling over them. Her voice sounded tiny in the vast cavern and ended in a barely perceptible squeak.
"Is it at all weird that she wrote that… yet was sitting in the dark when we found her?" George wondered, seemingly less affected by the place that the others. His eerie companion, the 'vault-boy' stood canted at a strange angle and giggled as George reached down to pat it on the head.
Doing his best to ignore both the creepy animate doll and the pervasive aura within the bore itself, Harry reminded the group to renew their shielding charms then led the way toward the darkened tunnel.
POV: Harry
"No, they're all dead." Lilith announced, straightening up from where she had been examining the withered husk of ghoul's corpse. Her statement was punctuated by a deep earthly rumble, which sent streams of dust flowing like grey rivers from the ceiling.
"We'd best hurry… all this action is making the area even more unstable." Harry announced, following behind Andrew and Fingers as they led the way deeper.
Stepping through the chained wooden gate was like stepping into a different world, they all sensed… something pensive, as if a silent observer was taking note of their passage and was deeply invested in their progress.
Harry gave Daphne a slight smile of reassurance, her face having gone even paler since they first entered the bore.
"Do you feel it?" She whispered to him, her eyes twitching about to the bodies lying all about them.
Harry took a breath to respond when suddenly the scene about them changed.
It was like viewing the world through tinted goggles, the blurred sepia tones reminiscent of old silent films. They saw living men working and talking to one another, though their lips moved, no sound issued forth.
It was a window into the past, Harry realized, a snapshot of history from before the Great War.
As suddenly as it came it disappeared, the stark gray reality slamming into him like a physical blow. Confusion marked the faces of his companions, affirming to him that he was not alone in bearing witness to the vision of the past.
They had no time to ruminate on the implications, as Lilith suddenly cried out in terror, her right arm wrenched painfully and pulled into the slavering maw of a creature directly from some horror film.
Harry was nearly frozen in shock and terror, yet managed to raise his wand and blast the nightmarish creature from her. Lilith collapsed onto the ground, whimpering and holding the bloody ruin of her arm. Straddling her protectively, Andrew fired into the sudden press as more and more of the hideous creatures assailed them.
Fingers cried out as she was clubbed from behind by a man shaped creature that looked as though it had been a man once, though horribly charred and yet didn't have the good sense to lay down and die. She slammed face first into an outcropping of stone, her blood leaving a spatter on the white surface as she staggered back from it.
Despite the risk, Harry knew his team needed the breathing room and so enacted a powerful spell. He pointed his wand at the ground and fed the growing dweomer his considerable power, sweat beading on his forehead as his body trembled under the strain.
Releasing the power, a force wave of immense strength rolled out from his focal point to pass harmlessly past his friends but having a markedly different effect on the 'creatures'.
Helpless against the tidal force acting against them, the horde was flung back with terrifying strength, several of them impacting the walls of the quarry hard enough to shift the rock. Those slid down the rock wall and lay still, their body's broken and their living death finally spent.
Still, enough remained to be a threat and Harry didn't rest on his laurels as they were pressed again.
Andrew cried out as the charred ghoul he was fighting knocked his weapon away and bit down hard on his shoulder. Fingers, having somewhat recovered despite the copious blood running down her face, pressed her pistol to the ghoul's head and blasted it away from him.
Lilith groped along the ground with her left arm, her right hanging useless and bloody and her eyes blinded by the pain induced tears. Harry nudged her wand into her questing hand and turned his attention to Daphne, who was busily fending off another of the ghouls.
Before he could act, she flung it straight into the air and brought it slamming back down on one of its fellows like a fleshy hammer, the crack of breaking bones audible even over the horrible screeching of the other creatures and the weapon fire.
George fought with the last two, his eerie puppet stubbornly clinging to one of the creatures and distracting it long enough for George to vivisect the other.
"Eeww. Remind me not to use that one again." He muttered distastefully, his 'sectumsempra' having effectively quartered the attacking ghoul, "Unless there is some pressing need for ghoul stew."
"God, George." Fingers remarked, "Really?"
George shrugged apologetically, his face taking on a very chagrinned expression as Lilith vomited loudly into a corner.
"You mind… that last one there?" Andrew shakingly pointed out, his skin taking on a pale, waxy appearance as blood poured from his ghastly wound.
Hurrying to his side, Daphne murmured a quick charm to close the wound and pulled out a stimpack to further stabilize him.
George turned in the indicated direction and noted that the last ghoul was still struggling against his 'vault boy', the anime puppet clubbing it about the head as it twirled in a mad attempt to dislodge the thing.
He waved his wand with an almost lazy air, sending an angry red bolt into the creature's chest and putting an end to its struggles. It fell face first into the rocky floor, the puppet still beating on it as it toppled.
"That's it boy. You can stop now. Good job."
The 'vault boy' giggled at the praise and walked over to stand next to George, its gleaming eyes seemingly aglow with pride.
Harry suppressed a shudder at it, wondering if George had imbued the thing with some semblance of personality.
"Think we're getting close?" Harry joked weakly, as he moved to check on Lilith.
She looked up as he crouched next to her, her eyes wide and teeth chattering as if the woman was chilled. Harry frowned with worry as he examined her, and found that the creature had madly mauled her right arm.
"We'll get you patched up, but I think you three need to go back up."
"We ca…can't le… le… leave you da… down here." Lilith stuttered, her voice going quieter as she swayed unsteadily.
"You're bad off, Lilith." Harry explained, "Your arm is probably broken and Andrew there isn't much better. Fingers probably has a concussion from meeting the wall like that. In fact, George should probably go with you to make sure you all make it out safely."
The area was suddenly filled with their clamor as they all loudly and vehemently opposed Harry's assessment. Harry stood firm and was grateful when Daphne lent her support for his plan.
"Well, at least take vault boy with you." George added when he finally conceded the point.
Harry's blanch must have been emphatic, for the others chuckled at his expense, even Daphne, who laughed aloud at his sudden fear of the doll.
Daphne's laughter turned into a shriek as the vault boy cocked its head to regard her and perfectly imitated her tittering laugh.
Shifting their supplies around, the group prepare to separate despite their misgivings. Harry smiled reassuringly at them all as they turned around to look back at him and Daphne, their faces still reticent over the decision to go back to the surface. Harry waved them on and determinedly marched away, Daphne following in his wake.
POV: Harry
They moved gingerly past the evidence of previous battles, the ill-fated raider expeditions to clear out the ghouls in order to access more salvage for their operations at Saugus.
They had sent the 'vault-boy' on ahead, thinking that if there were any further traps or ambushes awaiting them, better for it to fall upon the creepy doll than them. Both of them looking anywhere except directly ahead at the scampering gait of the child-sized toy.
They didn't have long to wait, as a short time later as the twisting passage widened into another cavern, the 'vision' took hold of them a second time, again transporting them into the past. As the echoes of a bygone age faded from their eyes, a torrent of horrifically scarred ghouls again appeared to assail them, only this time, it was only the pair of them.
Much better prepared now, Harry evoked an image from his own memory. He remembered the cavern of the false horcrux, and the inferi that haunted that terrible place. He remembered Albus Dumbledore, mighty wizard, who had conjured a wall of flame that kept them at bay.
Summoning up his inner strength, Harry did now what Dumbledore did then, waving his wand around above his head as a tendril of flame, like a red-orange serpent, coalesced and mirrored his movements. He grit his teeth in concentration as he pressed… more, More!
The serpent became a river, then swelled still further into a mighty torrent of hungry fire. The ghouls shied back from the flame, but Harry did not allow them surcease, widening his wave of fire to at first lick at their flesh, then to consume them utterly.
He closed his eyes against the raspy cries and horrid gasps of pain, tears tickling at the edge of his eyes either from the heat or from the devastation he was wreaking on the poor souls trapped within shrouds of irradiated flesh.
He started as something cool pressed against his arm, so much that his flames died away and he opened his eyes to see his love standing before him, sweat beading like tiny diamonds on her forehead.
"It's done, Harry. They're gone."
He looked around at the evidence of his fury and saw for himself the truth of her words. The ghouls were indeed gone, save for small smears of ash along the walls as the remnants of the ghouls were swept up by the flaming river.
He sagged as he released a pent up breath, tired from the exertion of conjuring such powerful magic. Daphne conjured a cool breeze and let it waft about them both, the vision of her blonde hair dancing around her head bringing a smile to Harry's face.
He leaned in and clasped the back of Daphne's head, bringing her in and drinking deeply the taste of her lips. He tasted the sweetness mixed with salt, her soft lips parting to accept him fully. He lost himself in the kiss, his body reacting on impulse to the sensation of her soft skin against his own, of her breasts pressed against his chest. He felt her breath quicken and her heart hammering in her chest as their kiss became more frantic, as if endowed by the fiery wave with a fierce heat that eclipsed all else. Or maybe they merely exulted in their life and their love, despite being surrounded by despair and decay. Both of them desperate for some reassurance that there was more to the world than grumbling earth and hungry spirits.
Emotionally spent, they withdrew from each other and gifted one another with a satisfied smile, their hearts and spirits buoyed against the darkness. Hand in hand they moved further, walking slowly but determinedly for the dark passage at the other end of the cavern.
Harry paused when he felt resistance. Looking back curiously, he spied Daphne bending over to pick something up off the ground. Admiring the view for a moment, he nearly missed what she said.
"Hrmm… sorry, what?"
Daphne straightened and looked back at him, a sly looking coming over her features as she inferred what had distracted Harry. She winked at him, with all the vivacious innuendo that the gesture implied, a suggestive smile gracing her face and the unspoken promise of ecstasy writ all over her.
Setting that aside for now… with difficulty! Harry looked at what Daphne had found. A small figurine of a blonde man in a vault suit in a pose that suggested he was trying to be stealthy.
"Doesn't Jonathan collect those? I remember seeing a few of them at his home." Harry mused.
"He does. I don't think he has this one. Hopefully he doesn't mind it being a bit… melty."
"Can you still read it?" Harry asked.
"Mhmm… 'The safest route between two points is a shadowy line'. Well, if it's supposed to say that, then I guess you can."
Harry grinned at the poor joke and led Daphne onward toward the tunnel. They had barely stepped within when a third vision overwhelmed them under a blanket of dread.
Far different from the others, this vision depicted a scene of blissful worship, otherwise normal people kneeling on the ground with their faces twisted in grotesque expressions of adoration. They were arranged in a semi-circle around a pool of water which surrounded… something. Harry couldn't quite make it out from the angle and when he moved closer, the vision suddenly came to an end.
The horrid raspy screech served as the prologue for yet another attack, though somehow Harry had the distinct impression that these wretches were the worshippers from the vision.
The light from his wand dimmed noticeably and he recoiled at the mad glimmer in the creature's eyes. Daphne gasped as shadowy tendrils exuded from the reaching arms of the closest ghoul and touched them with like the sibilant whisper of a serial killer.
Their initial shock dissipated as they realized the mortal danger they were in. Wands raised in determination, the pair unleashed their power into the approaching group, blasting them back and breaking their ruin upon the rocky floor.
As each ghoul fell under their assault, a black shadow seemed to detach itself from the falling corpse to scream into small pool of water beside them. As the last enemy collapsed in pieces, the final shadow seemed to glare at them with malevolence before joining its fellows in the still pool.
The water was like black glass, perfectly still and reflected almost no light… it seemed to drink in the light from Harry's wand and added to the gloom of the chamber.
"We have to go in there don't we?" Daphne asked tremulously.
"Afraid so. The chindi escaped down there and to put a stop to this… we have to follow."
A macabre titter from the side reminded them of the doll's presence, a discomfiting
Her sigh was almost a whimper and Harry tried to comfort her briefly with a hug. Girding themselves against the fear of the unknown depths… they stripped down to their knickers and cast a bubble head charm on themselves.
Dipping a toe tentatively into the pool, Harry pulled it back with a hiss.
"What is it?!" Daphne gasped in alarm.
"Cold… very cold." Harry warned, his entire body shivering to shake off the brief contact.
Armed with that new information, they quickly casted charms to protect themselves from the unnatural chill. Harry graced Daphne with a reassuring smile and dove in before he lost his nerve. Daphne took a deep breath and closed her eyes tightly before diving in after him.
POV: Harry
The instant his head broke through the water's surface, Harry felt as though he had entered another world. A tiny sphere extending a mere few feet around him was the extent that his lumos charm could pierce the gloom. The water seemed to drink in all sound as well, leaving him in a silence so profound that he could hear his heart thundering in his chest like a percussive drumbeat. He could only hope that it didn't portend his doom.
Harry pulled up short when a metallic glint greeted his light, his sudden stop making Daphne crash into him from behind. Looking at her pale face apologetically, he motioned toward the bottom of the shaft to the closed eye of a massive metallic statue or formation.
The water carried reverberations as the complex shook once again, their curiosity suddenly depleted with the overt reminder that their time was limited. Looking around, Harry found a single side passage and took hold of Daphne's arm to point her in that direction. Nodding at him, she followed as he swam for it.
At some point in the past, the unstable cavern had deposited the altar of the cult or whatever deeper underground, the side passage having widened into a small chamber which looked remarkably intact despite the instability of the quarry around it.
Before they could investigate more closely, a discordant series of wails assailed their ears and nearly sent them scrambling back up out of the shaft.
Disparate shadowy entities coalesced all around them and before either could react, the shadows dove straight into them, sending a jolt of supernatural cold surging through their bodies.
POV: Harry
Harry convulsed as he felt his nerves set on fire. He could feel the spirit trying to overwhelm him with sheer willpower, commanding his body to move even as he attempted to maintain control. It was trying to possess him!
Harry summoned up all the memories of his lessons with Professor Snape, and as the foreboding Potion's master had instructed, attempted to discipline his mind.
He felt the other will abate under his iron control, his own will asserting its dominance. He imagined himself 'pushing' the influence from his body. When he next opened his eyes, it was with a flash of triumph, for he remained Harry Potter.
He glanced at Daphne and his heart stopped, for the red malevolence in her gaze told him that she had not succeeded in her battle. With a screech he should not have been able to hear, she lunged at him, her sharp fingernails cutting into his arms as they grappled.
Her mouth opened wide in a grotesque pantomime of passion, her teeth glinting like white steel in the feeble light. She lunged again and again for his throat while he struggled to keep her at bay. His heart was torn between the need to protect himself and the desire to not hurt his love.
POV: Daphne
Tears sprang unbidden from her eyes as she fell back under Harry's murderous gaze, his strong hands grasping her wrists painfully as he bore her down. She had come out of the battle of wills triumphant, but it appeared that her beloved had not.
He licked his lips lasciviously as she thudded against the floor, her moans of pain and despair seemingly driving him to greater heights of madness. He stunned her with a vicious slap, she recovered only to find his fingers wrapped around her neck closing like a vice.
'Where is my wand!' She screamed in her head, even as black dots swirled in her vision. His fingers were like cold iron wrapped around her throat, not even a whisper of air making it through to her burning lungs.
Her hands scrambled along the rocky ground as she groped for her wand… searching for some advantage.
POV: Harry
She hissed in delight, a line of saliva dripping from her lips to spatter on his cheek. Harry closed his eyes to shut out the awful vision of his sweet Daphne so twisted… wait. Something…
They were underwater and had used the bubble head charm to breathe. Sound was so muted that he could hear his own heartbeat yet how was it that he could hear Daphne clearly and become splattered with her drool?
He opened his eyes again, focusing his gaze on Daphne despite his instinctual revulsion. No bubble head charm! In fact, the chamber they were in was lit by candles… candles! Underwater! It wasn't real!
His palpable relief was stymied by the very real sensation of her claws digging into his arms. Despite the sharp pain, he looked calmly at her and said, "This isn't real."
The remark actually made the apparition of Daphne pause in its assault.
"THIS ISN'T REAL!" He screamed, actually driving the nightmare from him and forcing it back.
POV: Daphne
Daphne's chest heaved with the need for air as Harry choked the life from her, his face twisted and evil as it leered over her. As if from a great distance, she actually heard Harry's voice, but not coming from the man above her.
'This isn't real.'
"This isn't real?" Daphne repeated… her shock at being able to speak despite being choked reinforcing the message.
She cleared her throat and spoke firmly, "This isn't real."
With a moan, the vision of Harry broke apart in black shadows and the real Harry, his eyes filled with concern took its place. Her relief at the sight nearly sent her into a renewed frenzy of sobbing cries. She choked it back with difficulty as he reached down and grasped her hand gently in his own. He pulled her up, bracing himself against the chamber wall and took her in his arms, the dark and cold water again robbing them of almost all sound.
POV: Harry
The relief he felt at holding Daphne, HIS Daphne, was without bounds. He clung to her desperately, as if reassuring himself of her warm presence merely through touch. After what seemed an eternity, he let her go and looked at her questioningly.
She nodded and smiled, indicating that she was alright. He returned her smile and looked back at the altar, anger spiking through him at the torment the chindi had visited upon them. He made to swim over to it when the light of his wand suddenly went out and icy cold water suddenly rushed in and slammed into his face.
Had his bubble head charm expired already? How long had they been engaged in the mental contest? Holding his breath, he brandished his wand, repeating the charm.
Nothing.
His forehead creasing in concern, he tried again… nothing. Keeping his mouth closed as best as he could, he mouthed the incantation for light, but again… nothing.
He felt Daphne begin to struggle beside him, and horror spiked through him as he realized that Daphne was also unable to use her magic. He felt her begin to panic and thrash beside him, nearly clobbering him as she began to swim desperately. He grabbed her, almost roughly and pulled her to him, fumbling in the cold, dark water until she calmed somewhat.
'This was it.' He thought morosely, 'This is how we die.'
The contest of wills and the deception was merely a distraction. The chindi bided their time and made it so that their magic would expire, leaving them at the mercy of whatever magical suppression ability they had so that they would simply drown and join them in their watery grave.
His lungs burned and he had to clamp down on his rising terror as his body fought almost on its own to find precious air. He held on to Daphne as tightly as he could, at least they would be together. He felt her hand questing along his face to his mouth, then her lips were on his. A final tender kiss.
"The chindi have power only over feelings and perceptions."
Helena! She must have followed them somehow! Harry focused on what she had said… chindi only have power over feelings and perceptions? Then their magic isn't suppressed at all? That realization was all that was needed, for he found himself suddenly able to see, both he and Daphne still protected by their bubble head charms.
Daphne's eyes and mouth were shut tight against the vision that still assailed her so Harry, thinking quickly, began to tickle her relentlessly. Her eyes popped open in surprise and before she could stop herself, a giggle escaped her mouth. She laughed for a moment then shut her mouth tightly again, her eyes widened in shock.
Her face screwed up in confusion when she realized the implications of her mirth. She took a deep breath and looked around, relief making her shoulders visibly slump. Her face took on a look of annoyance, telling Harry that she was more than done with this place.
The shadowy apparitions of the chindi glared at them as they rose from the altar, both Harry and Daphne wilting beneath the combined malice in their gaze. A flash of a nude and desecrated Daphne flashed in his mind, making him gasp and his heart shudder. A similar sound escaped Daphne's throat, telling Harry that she too experienced some kind of vision.
The circle of chindi wafted forward through the murk, as Harry saw Hermione and Jon crucified above a burning Salem. He heard his mother screaming in the backdrop of a nuclear explosion, the wall of fiery death sweeping away everything he held dear.
Like a dementor's kiss, the chindi were robbing them of positive emotions and placing nightmares in their place… but Harry knew how to combat that sort of attack.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
The room, which had not been lit in hundreds of years, was suddenly awash in silver light as Harry's patronus surged from his wand and drove back the dark feelings and horrible visions. The chindi hissed and fell back from the shield, their movements frenetic as they appeared to scramble around each other to escape it.
"Drive them into the god they worshipped in life!"
"What?" Harry muttered, his concentration firmly on driving the chindi away.
"The statue, Potter! The statue! Their god slumbers but his hunger is eternal. It will devour them and still not awaken."
Harry made a note to ask Helena just how she knew so much about this place but followed her advice. The chindi were becoming even more frantic when it became apparent to them what he intended. Still he pressed onward, forcing them back even as they tested the shield constantly. Whatever fate awaited them with their 'god' was starting to overwhelm their fear of the patronus, and it was starting to wear on him.
"Expecto Patronum!" Daphne cried, and suddenly his waning shield was bolstered by hers. Their faces a twin of the other in their grim determination, the pair stalked forward, the chindi unable to withstand the positive energy of their combined patronus. The spirits went into a frenzy as they were forced down the shaft, Harry and Daphne struggling to maintain their focus while swimming downward.
The first of the evil spirits unleashed a hellish shriek as a tendril of its form touched the metal face of the somnolent god. It tugged and pulled to no avail, the wispy shadow of its form captured by an even darker presence that pulled it in and consumed it utterly.
The remaining ghosts renewed their struggles but were powerless to effect an escape. Harry got the distinct impression that their pitiful wails were the equivalent to a desperate plea for mercy. Unfortunately for them, he reserved his mercy for the living. The last of the chindi winked out of existence with a discordant chorus of dying shrieks, as the last tones of dismay fell to silence, a new sound rose to take its place.
The water cleared somewhat upon the death of the chindi but began to darken again as earth began to slough off from the chamber walls and muddy the waters. Realizing that the chamber was on the verge of collapse, the pair of them wasted no time in getting up and out of the water. Judicious use of the ascendio charm launched them clear over the lip of the pool to come crashing down in the dry passage.
The entire quarry was rumbling ominously now, streams of dust and gravel raining from the ceiling and an unrelenting cascade.
George's puppet friend was entirely bereft of animate energy, it merely stood hunched and still, bearing no further vestige of its former creepiness.
Logging that mystery for later, Harry helped Daphne to her feet and together they ran for the larger chamber, hoping that it would prove more stable.
That hope was dashed as blocks weighing tons fell like thunder all around them, the entire complex clearly on the brink of collapse.
"Daphne! We have no choice! We have to apparate to the surface!"
She made to reply but sucked in a mouthful of dust, hacking and choking on the grit but nodding vigorously despite it.
Harry closed his eyes tightly and grabbed her arm, focusing his will and sending them magically to the surface.
POV: Harry
There was a loud ringing… that much he knew.
His stomach cramped and for the third time in as many minutes, he emptied the contents of his bowels onto the stone floor.
He was only barely aware of the concerned looks and friendly hands that grasped at him, his vision blurring amidst the pain and nausea roiling around in him. He reached out and clasped a clammy hand and hoped that it belonged to his Daphne as another wracking pain ignited in his stomach. Blessed darkness overcame him as a sharp pain penetrated his arm.
POV: Hermione
Her foot kicked up 200 year old dust, the ancient dirt tickling her nose and threatening to send her into a sneezing fit.
"Achoo!" She squeaked, unable to restrain her impulse.
"Bless you." Jonathan grinned.
She blushed at him in chagrin, cringing a little at the less than auspicious start to their 'quiet' infiltration.
Correctly guessing the source of her embarrassment, "It's not any louder than these two." Jonathan remarked, indicating the pair of robots that accompanied them.
Ada had been refitted to more fully emulate the factory specification assaultron, though her armor had been hardened and augmented well beyond those pre-war standards. Despite all his attempts to dampen her noise and yet maintain her deadly grace of movement, her footsteps still echoed with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer pounding on sheet metal.
The other robot, an automaton that Jonathan lovingly called, 'Tesla', was even less stealthy than his counterpart. His body was a true kitbash, with the treads of a robo-brain, the body of a protectron and the arms of a sentry-bot. He was their heavy fire support, sporting a gatling laser on one arm and a lightning gun on the other. He was certainly not built for stealth, with his treads grinding on the pavement like a giant chewing gravel.
She smiled in gratitude at his attempt to assure her and to make up for it, cast a quick charm that dampened the ruckus the robots made as they moved through the old Robco storefront.
"Hrmmm…" Jonathan mused, as he studied the arch criss-crossed with numerous lasers, "What do you think? Kinda get the feeling we aren't wanted…"
Hermione rolled his eyes at his lame attempt at humor. She moved next to him and had to catch herself at the involuntary shiver that always seem to catch her off guard whenever she was close to him. She coughed to cover her momentary lapse and peered at the electronic barricade.
"Confuto." She murmured, waving her wand in a small circle toward the arch.
She smiled triumphantly at her newly crafted spell's effect, cocking her head expectantly to the General as the laser lights flickered and winked out.
"That's handy! What exactly did you just do?"
"I researched a new charm while you were playing with your robots." Hermione explained excitedly, "It temporarily changes the way electricity flows through an object, which from what I know of muggle devices, tends to disrupt their operation."
"Magnificent! You came up with a brand new piece of magic while I was… ahem, 'upgrading' Ada and Tesla? Is there anything you can't do?"
Hermione positively glowed from his praise, her cheeks reddening as she turned to face him and realized just how close he was to her. She could feel the heat radiating from his body and his scent filled her nostrils and sent tingles throughout her body. If she didn't know better, she would have believed that he had doused himself in love potion to elicit that kind of response.
He grinned, clearly aware of the effect he was having on her, for it was the same effect she had on him. Impulse seized him and he cupped her left cheek in his hand and pressed his lips down on hers. His blood became afire when she moaned against his mouth, her lips opening and her hot breath mingling with his own as she pressed her body against his.
They were lost within each other until the clomping stride of Ada broke them from their reverie.
"I believe the dampening effect of your magic is waning." Ada provided, drawing their attention to the low hum building up in the re-activating arch.
They hurried through before the arch could completely reactivate, Jonathan quickly noting the strange looking turrets located above each doorway along the short passage. Gently pushing Hermione along with him, they came out the other side with the robots in tow.
Moments later, the lasers flickered back to life and the passage was once again warded against entry.
"Maybe we should hold off on any snogging until we're done here?" Hermione suggested sardonically, raising her eyebrow at a flustered General despite the hammering of her own heart.
"Right." Jonathan stated flatly, but winking at her to assure her of his light intent.
"You! So the foul scourge of the Commonwealth dares to invade my sanctum? I will end your tyranny for the good of the…"
Jonathan blasted the eyebot into scrap, more than tired of listening to the Mechanist's rhetoric. The man had a confusing habit of reversal, attempting to levy the ills of the Commonwealth on them while continuing to parrot his intention to bring good to the people of the Commonwealth. Hermione doubted very much that being murdered by robots is what the people considered 'good'.
The shattered remnants of the eyebot had hardly settled on the ground before red warning klaxons blared and flashed, while pods opened with a hiss of steam and angry looking robots emerged, weapons raised.
Hermione and Jonathan went back to back, while Ada leapt into the fray and directly engaged the closest robotic adversary. Tesla's programming kept it from activating its weaponry, as it's sophisticated IFF kept it from firing so close to allied combatants.
Hermione wielded a whip of lightning, the crackling energy spitting off arcs as she swept her wand in front of her defensively. The bare mechanism of the protectron-type robot spat and hissed as its components reacted poorly with her conjured lightning. In moments, the surges of electricity overcame its paltry defenses and it fell to the ground in jerking spasms as molten bits of circuitry 'bled' from its frame.
Opposite her, Jonathan quickly dispatched two robots, his specially modified plasma repeater sending super-heated bolts of green energy into their neck joints. The first robot's head simply exploded up and away from its torso from the deluge, while its partner simply disintegrated into a sludge of goo.
Ada swept her flaming sword arm up and out through the chestplate of the robot she had been fighting, the critical gash spewing hydraulic fluid like a spray of blood. It fell with a crash and Ada stepped back, her own IFF radar scanning the area.
"Area clear sir." She announced.
"That's a good start!" Jonathan announced cheerfully, noting that no one had been hurt of damaged.
"Let's hope that our luck holds out." Hermione murmured grimly, aware that this underground factory complex could be host to an army of mechanical menaces.
POV: Hermione
Hermione crinkled her nose at the jars of disembodied brains, the green hued glass reflecting their torchlight grotesquely.
Jonathan frowned distastefully as he stepped back from the terminal he had hacked, nearly bumping into the menacing machine that seemingly served the dual purpose of creeping her out and of extracting brains from their 'subjects'.
"This whole place is disgusting. They took prisoners, mentally-ill patients, healthy men and women… even children. No matter how our confrontation with the Mechanist turns out… we're destroying all of this."
Hermione laid a hand on his arm and nodded in agreement, her own morality unsettled by the macabre experiments conducted to create these, 'robo-brains.'
Continuing through the labs, they followed some auto-gurney tracks into what looked like a massive morgue.
"Watch out!" Ada shouted, Jonathan and Hermione trusting her so implicitly that they leapt back without even thinking.
A flash of lightning scored the wall where they just stood, and soon the entire area was lit by muzzle flashes from machine gun turrets and a massive tank like robot, which thundered at them with smaller robots flanking it.
Jonathan primed a pulse grenade and threw it underhand to skitter across the floor, the envelope of electromagnetic energy bursting open directly beneath the abomination. It skittered to a halt and seemed to lurch, but quickly recovered and began to spool up its laser weapons.
Hermione leaned over Jonathan's crouching form and placed her hand over his eyes. Trusting her, the General closed his eyes tightly.
"Baubilious!" She shouted, a massive torrent of lightning assailing his optic nerves even through his closed eyelids and her protective hand.
He opened his eyes and blinked away the spots of color that danced in his vision, gently guiding a similarly impeded Hermione aside as he raised his plasma rifle and fired several bursts at the obviously damaged robot.
Recognizing a cascading system failure, he pulled Hermione close to him and shielded her with his body just as a wave of heat washed over his back. His armor and Hermione's protective charms did their work well, for he barely felt the licking flames or the patter of shrapnel against his back.
Hermione peered out from Jonathan's protective embrace and noted that she could barely make out anything past the roiling black smoke belching from the metal monstrosity. She used her wand to blow the smoke away and noted that the escorting robots had been immolated in the blast but the turrets were still active.
Now that she had cleared the air, the turrets could 'see' them again, and began to rain fire on their position. Jonathan turned and fired with a speed and accuracy that was supernatural, destroying the first turret, rolling to a kneeling position and destroying the second in the same breath.
"Whew." He breathed, "Maybe we should have Tesla take the lead from now own… he can take more of this kind of punishment than we can."
The mute robot seemed to agree, as it issued some kind of grumble from deep within its frame and rolled forward to do just that.
POV: Hermione
Hermione couldn't help but be a little put off by the foul smelling sludge that they trudged through. The air was heavy with the scent of sour oil and burnt electrical components, the acrid combination of which tickled her nose uncomfortably.
Tesla continued to roll ahead of them, which had proven to be a wise move considering the number of times it had taken the first few hits of a robotic assault.
"Here we go again." She breathed, immediately regretting opening her mouth as she could now taste the oily patina on her tongue.
"Just be glad this stuff isn't volatile." Jonathan shouted, over the sudden clamor of combat, "We'd be in deep trouble if this stuff was flammable."
'I'll be glad when I'm not trudging through two hundred years of dead robot juice.' Hermione seethed, smashing aside a robot before it could fully land, breaking its body against the gantries lining the sides of the large chamber.
"I think we need to head up that way." The General grunted as he lifted a robot from the ground and hurled it at another as it rose from the muck. He drew his sidearm and finished them off with precise shots to their 'heads'.
Hermione looked up and saw what he was referring to, some kind of large metal door high up along the far wall. Sighing dramatically, she flourished her wand and lifted the four of them without preamble up toward a gently swaying gantry. She couldn't quite suppress the glee as Jonathan yelped, kicking his feet ineffectually as he rose from the muck unexpectedly.
"You mind letting me know the next time you do that?" He grumbled, to which Hermione could only laugh. He flashed her a quick grin, letting her know that he was meant the comment lightly, despite the faux dark look plastered on his face.
The four of them continued deeper into the Mechanist's lair, fighting off the occasional waves of robotic resistance before finally arriving into some sort of staging area, a curiously constant clackety clack noise filling the cavernous space and putting to Hermione's mind the sound a multitude of giant metal insects might make.
"So! The foul villains have penetrated my sanctum and to face me!" A heavily synthesized voice boomed, "Your reign of terror comes to an end, cretins! I will cleanse the Commonwealth of your filth and bring peace to the people!"
"The peace of the grave? I don't think that's the sort of help MY people need!" Jonathan retorted, his voice thick with anger.
"Silence evil one! Your words will avail you nothing here! I will end you, here and now!"
"Evil one?" Hermione murmured quietly, what was this 'mechanist' playing at?
"What are you talking about!?" Jonathan roared in frustration, "You are the one murdering innocents!"
"Enough! I will hear no more of your lies! My robotic army will put an end to the scourge… that is you! Sparks! Initiate plan 9!"
The lights in the room noticeably dimmed as a heavy grinding sound reverberated through their feet and rattled their teeth uncomfortably.
"Look out!" Hermione cried, as she raised her wand and blasted a robot just as it entered from a previously unseen cargo door. Jonathan raised his gauss rifle and began to scan and fire at the multitude of robots surging in from seemingly every direction.
"A valiant effort! But my minions are Legion! The Commonwealth deserves justice, and I will be its arbiter!"
"I'd pay real money if he'd shut up." Jonathan muttered, kicking at a robot as it cleared the lift that opened right at their feet. Its head popped off with an audible clang and struck the chest of another robot as it bore down on them.
Hermione cried out as a laser burned along her arm, the stinging wound bringing tears to her eyes. She gritted her teeth and lashed out with her power, shattering the automaton who had shot her. She turned and locked gazes with Jonathan, whose eyes were filled with worry for her. She shook her head and nudged him to keep his mind on the maelstrom of enemies swirling about them.
"Sparks! Activate the minebots!"
"Minebots… that doesn't sound good." Hermione murmured, as much to herself as to the General.
A veritable wave of eyebots surged into the room, and from the ominous blinking red light they each had, she hazarded a guess that they didn't want them to get too close.
"Hold them off for a moment!" She shouted over the clamor. She felt more than saw Jonathan's nod.
"Ada! Tesla! Suppressive fire! Keep those eyebots back!"
"Compliance." Ada monotone, her rapid fire laser cutting through the swaths of approaching eyebots. Each one struck exploded and showered the immediate area with white hot shrapnel.
Tesla let his actions be his response, as he spooled up his gatling laser and swept his weapon from side to side, not even bothering to engage his targeting protocols.
Hermione drew deep within the very core of her power, feeling it coil within her like a ball of lightning. Sweat stung her eyes and she closed them as she felt the tingle of excess electricity make the hair on her neck stand on end. The sensation bordered on painful, the power tapping against her nerves like a musician and surging a profound tremble throughout her body. She opened her eyes and nearly closed them again to shield from the glare, a nimbus of blue white light radiating from her entire body. Lifting her wand, she focused the power into its tip and whipped it around, defining the boundary of the enormous wave the sprung into life around them.
The blue white energy swirled with electrical currents as it expanded outward from Hermione's protected area, growing as if to fit within the confines of the staging area. To her regret, she couldn't make the wave front sweep through the Mechanist's control room without also affecting their two robotic companions. However, she smiled in grim satisfaction as the wave of electromagnetic energy swept the room clear of robots, the eyebots exploding in a rippling wave of orange fire against the backdrop of the blue curtain of energy.
"What?! You will not escape justice so easily!"
"Easy? That man is a nutter." Hermione growled.
"Sparks! Reroute power!"
A series of answering bleeps, most of which sounded rather forlorn, seemed to prophesize the sudden loss of power that darkened the room and leaving the chamber with a heavy silence that had a tone of finality to it.
Red emergency lighting sprang to life as the Mechanist railed behind his shielded command center.
"Now that's enough! We came here talk! Will you finally stop this nonsense long enough to listen?" Hermione's tone indicating that she was prepared to tolerate very little else from this costumed antagonist.
"Very well." The Mechanist sounded rather defeated, "I will listen to what you have to say."
A ramp descended to the left of the command center and the so-called Mechanist marched partway down the metal slope, his eyebot floating serenely at his shoulder.
Jonathan laid a hand on Hermione's shoulder and spoke up, "Mechanist. We are not the 'evil' that you assume us to be." He turned, indicating Ada, "This is Ada. She was built by a trader named Jackson and was travelling through the Commonwealth for trade and salvage. Your robots ambushed and massacred that caravan."
"Impossible! Lies!"
"I'm not finished!" Jonathan roared, his voice so powerful and bellicose that it even made Hermione step back in intimidation.
"We resolved to stop these robots and tracked several of your 'robobrains' including one called Jezebel. After analyzing their programming, we discovered that they were given a directive to provide aid to the people of the Commonwealth. However, the robobrains found that the best way to provide that aid, was to kill them and spare them a life of toil and suffering."
Jonathan tossed up a holodisk, with a bit more force than was necessary. The Mechanist managed to grab the storage device and regarded it as one would a poisonous insect for a moment before handing it to his eyebot.
'Sparks' took the offered holodisk and inserted it into a nearby terminal, a screen unfolding and glowing green text began to scroll as the information decompiled.
The Mechanist studied it for a moment, "What? This… it can't be. I… but it's here. The logic, its sound. But… that's not." The man's shoulders visibly slumped and he leaned heavily against the console. A long silence stretched out uncomfortably as the information damned the so-called savior of the Commonwealth with undeniable facts. With sudden violence, he wrested off his helmet and let it drop with a dull thud on the corrugated metal floor, revealing his…. Her face at last. The Mechanist was a woman!
Her voice sounded tiny and uncertain without the helmet's synthesizer, "I wanted to help. My robots were meant to save people, not kill them. Oh god… What have I done?"
"Who are you?" Hermione asked, the witch working hard to keep any hostility out of her tone.
"Isabelle. Isabelle Cruz. I… I just wanted to help. My settlement was always getting attacked by raiders and super mutants. I know computers and robots… I don't do social all that well. I… wanted to use my skills to help protect people. I never…" She broke off, her voice failing her as the enormity of her sin pressed down on her soul.
His voice was tinged with sympathy as the General walked slowly up the ramp, "I know that you meant it for the best. But the fact is, you are responsible for a great deal of suffering. You can either sit here and wallow in self-pity over your mistake, or you can make amends."
She turned her tear streaked cheeks toward him, the tracks slicing channels through the grease that marred her features.
"How can I ever make up for this?" She sobbed, "273. That's how many my robo-brains reported as 'saved'. That's how many people my robots killed. All because of a mistake I made. I would understand it if you killed me. That would probably be best."
Her voice had gotten smaller and smaller as she spoke, until the last that came out as the barest of whispers.
"No. You'll not escape responsibility like that. I am the General of the Minutemen, and under my authority I hereby sentence you to live and serve the Commonwealth. But right now, if you don't mind, how about we stop those robots you have out there right now?"
"Oh my god. Yes! Here, this is the password for the main terminal. Initiate the emergency recall command that will override their programming and force them to return to base."
Jonathan took the holodisk gingerly and strode purposefully into the control room, the slack arms of the robots at their stations unnerving him somewhat as he wriggled his way passed them. Reaching the main terminal, he inserted the holodisk and clicked the recall command when it appeared. Suddenly, power came back on in the facility and the robots all around him immediately resumed their clackety typing.
"Is that it? Is it done?"
"Yes." The woman murmured, "The recall command temporarily halts the production lines and reduced the tracking transceiver power by 58%. We can see their progress here."
The Mechanist quietly led Jon to another console where the screen showed a crude map of the Commonwealth. On it, five icons flashed as they slowly moved toward the Mechanist's lair. As Jon studied it, the five signals suddenly became four.
"What just happened?" Hermione asked.
"Um, I don't know. We just lost contact with one of the groups. It could be a glitch, programming error… it could be anything."
"I don't like the sound of that."
"Worst case scenario, is that the robobrain is refusing the recall command for some reason and has gone renegade."
"Shit!" He cursed, turning to Ada, "Ada?"
"Yes sir?"
"Are you and Tesla up for some hunting?"
Tesla provided a few indignant sounded bleeps, Ada turned to him for a moment before responding, "Our systems are fully operational, sir."
Jonathan turned back to the Mechanist, "Do you have any other combat models that can be placed under Ada's command? I'd feel better if my guys had some backup."
Within the hour, Ada and Tesla, along with four other hastily patched up robots courtesy of the Mechanist, Isabelle Cruz, departed the hangar bay to apprehend the renegade forces.
In the meantime, Hermione and Jonathan talked Ms. Cruz into placing herself under the authority of the General, and to put her genius to work helping the Commonwealth under his supervision.
"I'm going to have some of my men come here and garrison this location. We'll establish a provisioning route from one of our other settlements to keep you stocked on materials and supplies. For now, I want you to concentrate on building support robots, Mr, Handy's seem to be really good at farming crops and I know the settlements could use some construction based robots for the heavy lifting. We'll hold off on building any combat models until we've worked out the kinks in the system, and from now on, none of your robots will operate autonomously aside from Sparks there."
The eyebot beeped brightly, as if in appreciation of the acknowledgement.
"I will get to work right away. I.. want to thank you for this second chance. I won't let you down." Isabelle replied, meekly.
"Hermione? Would Salem even want robots there? I know you guys have your own way of doing things."
"True, but there are so few of us, I don't think Harry would really turn down that sort of help. We'll talk to him once we get back, but I don't see him refusing."
"I hope not, it will go toward repaying the massive debt we owe to you and yours."
Hermione cocked her eyebrow at him for a moment, before a smile split her face, "There are no debts between friends."
A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, I want to apologize for how long it has taken to get this chapter out. Seems my inspiration and motivation to write has flagged somewhat as of late, partially due to how busy I had become with family, work and school. I do have the outlines for the next two chapters done, so hopefully I can get those chapters knocked out faster than this one. Unfortunately, I have neglected my other fic for far too long and need to focus some of my efforts there. That will delay updates for this story for at least a month as I work on wrapping up the Fall of Phaeton. Stick with me folks, I will keep updating this story. Thanks for reading and as always, I welcome reviews, even that last one that seemed more of a flame than an actual review. (Though constructive criticism works better, IMHO)