Chapter 11
Cling.
11:27 am 2nd November, ?
In a nondescript room which only held one overhead light a steel table and 9 chairs for the people gathered in it a very important discussion was underway, the topic being the youngest combat operative of the Shadow Hit Wizard Initiative who went by the moniker Freak Boy, at least for now as far as Poseidon was determined.
"Gentlemen and Ladies, thankyou for the mission reports you turned in yesterday, they were highly informative, and contributed many pieces of import, but let us not beat around the bush and get to the matter, how was Freak Boy's performance on the mission?" said a man who was well in his 50's, dressed in grey formals, hair white from his years of experience yet his posture was straight, it spoke of authority and confidence.
Lone Wolf took a look around his companions who had accompanied him to the previous mission and taking their non-participation as consent began, "Director Hennessey, as stated in reports yesterday, agent Freak Boy has terrible teamwork, he lacks coordination that comes not only from his inexperience, but also from what it seems to be serious psychological issues, mostly issues in his affect paired with low to non existent common sense, on multiple occasions he took actions on the council of none besides himself, putting both the team and mission in jeopardy, though his skills more than made up for it, his combat prowess are a deadly combination of swift, unconventional, and above all overwhelming, overall he could be improved dramatically if someone were to guide him properly".
The now identified Director Hennessey took a few moments to process what his agent said and then closing his eyes let out a small sigh, "this has become far more complicated than i hoped it would, but thankfully not more than i had expected it to, I would like to have more opinions before making a final decision, so please if you have anything to say make yourself home".
Poseidon spoke up, "Director what exactly do you plan to do with him? He isn't an unstable agent who might turn rogue, and I doubt that any of us exactly have stones to throw at him when it comes to psychological issues, and though i admit his issues impact the missions, he could be trained as wolfy said".
Said wolfy turned to look in her direction, with what was probably a glare from under his mask though was ignored.
"Poseidon, the question you pose is exactly the one going in my mind, normally yes training could help but in this case there are many unknown variables here, that close our other avenues too, along with the preferred one, and the consequences of mishandling the situation would be quite dire to say the least," said the aged man.
A brunette who had been taking notes next to him furrowed her eyebrows at that and questioned what he meant by that.
With a mild smile on his face he answered, "Spectre my dear student, you still have a lot to learn, under normal circumstances, we wouldn't even be having this conversation, but still to humor the possibility if our youngest combatant didn't have his psychological issues and we faced similar problems with him, I would have asked him to leave because it would be possible to a degree and take proper preemptive measures to counter the fallout".
Spectre nodded to this and Hennessey could see others were listening to what he was saying.
"But this situation gets all the more complicated with the issues that are present, he is unpredictable, best case scenario i tell him to leave and he leaves with the standard procedure of signing the non disclosure and emergency force contracts, a good one he leaves but doesn't sign the contacts yet remains an honorary member, a neutral one he leaves and suspends any form of communication, bad he kills me and those with me the moment I present the idea to him, worse he becomes the kind of threat we were made to fight against and we fail to stop him" he continued grimly.
Everyone in the room was looking at him with horror as comprehension and gravity of his words dawned on them.
Nodding in satisfaction he continued, "and those are just the major outcomes, of one of the major options I can think of at the moment, the others being to kill him, to train him, or lastly to isolate him and let him remain on solo missions".
Slowly Brain Splatter spoke up, "you can't kill him because not only would you be wasting what could be used as a potential trump card, but all the people that will go down trying to kill him because I doubt we'll be lucky enough to simply assassinate him, best chance is to ambush him with numbers and hope one person manages to hit him, if that fails he will without a doubt destroy everyone and everything within his sights, training is a wild card, too many factors too many things could go wrong, while leaving him alone leaves him as a ticking bomb".
Hennessey gave a nod of acknowledgment and began again, "an apt summary Brain Splatter, of course real life is far more complicated and even the best of the plans rarely survive contact with reality, I suppose, well all accounted for this wasn't a bad discussion and i'd like to say thank you for your time today i'll let you know if something comes up and …..".
And before he could have said anything further Poseidon spoke up with all of her gusto, "Oh! Oh! Director, I was thinking we should rename Freak Boy to, get this, Frank, hah! Awesome isn't it ? I mean come on he's always too frank, if you get what i mean," and then she started to laugh at her own joke.
"More like Frankenstein the monster who creates other monsters," Brain Splatter muttered.
And before it could go any further Hennessey gave a small chuckle and said, "Yes, yes, your suggestions have been noted Poseidon, and yours too Brain Splatter, like i said enough for today, and I hope we have good fortunes ahead of us after all our motto is Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat".
=0=0=0=0=0=
07:22 am 6th November, Great Hall Hogwarts.
The hogwarts rumor mill was working overtime to discuss the petrification of the infamous mrs Norris, no one except Filch was upset about it but everyone was wondering who could have done it as petrification, even of an animal, was not exactly an easy feat.
A red headed girl was also thinking along the same lines and was asking her friend about his thoughts on the matter, except her friend wasn't exactly human, her diary Tom was now a days her most trusted confident as of late, he would hear out her troubles and advise her on what to do, just like now.
"Hey Tom, who do you think could have petrified mrs Norris? Do you think they could harm me or my friends?" wrote Ginny in the best handwriting she could manage.
"It has to be someone in the 7th year, at least, petrification as you know is not easy to perform though there are some spells to do so they're easier to perform on beasts when compared to humans because of our magical resistance, now though there isn't any way to counter the petrification aside from mandrake draught which we can't brew, not to mention the school intends to do it so we don't need to, but if it makes you feel safe there are a few spells that you can learn to use to keep yourself and others safe," came the reply from the diary in a smoot cursive font.
"Really?" she wrote back, she had been excited at the prospect of getting stronger ever since Tom advised her on how she could get Nevile's attention.
"Of course, why would I lie to you? Now follow my instructions as soon as we're at our usual place the first spell we're going to start practicing with is..." continued Tom, and poor, naive Ginny didn't even question how Tom knew so much about petrification which was an obscure topic in itself, but also countering it which was even more so.
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09:17 pm 7th November, Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts.
Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office with the four Heads of House in front of him, all of them were worried about what opening of the Chambers of Secrets meant for the school and what could they do in such an uncertain situation.
Pomona questioned, "Headmaster what is the opinion of the aurors?"
"I've talked about this with Amelia, and as much as she hates to do nothing, she agrees that for now waiting and letting events play themselves out is our only option because of the lack of information we have on the whole subject," he replied.
Pomona gave a small sigh, while Minerva's lips thinned and as she was about to speak Dumbledore raised his right hand in a placating manner and spoke, "yes i understand that you are on edge with all that's happening, especially you Minerva, as ms Warren's death still weighs on your mind, despite how long ago it was, after all you were just 17, and even though you were the head girl there was nothing you could have done, and finding a dead body in general is not something one forgets".
Minerva let out a small sigh and closed her eyes, it was true that when it came to the subject of Myrtle she always thought that if she had been there earlier she many have been able to do something and that poor girl wouldn't have died that day.
"The last time the Chambers were opened they were machinations of a young Voldemort, and this time too I suspect he is involved, though how i do not know so I ask of you to keep an eye and ear on your students, they may be helping him, and not necessarily willingly, or even knowingly," warned Dumbledore to his subordinates.
Snape and Flitwick were the first to nod because they knew that children could be cruel, and dangerous, and above all easily swayed by charms of words which Voldemort held mastery towards.
Minerva did not look happy, at all, if her vanished lips were any indication, and if anything she was probably even more upset on the inside than she was letting on but she too nodded.
Pomona was reluctant but seeing her other three colleagues, she squared her shoulders and gave a small nod.
reminiscing in the future they'll realize just how close to the truth Dumbledore was without knowing it.
=0=0=0=0=0=
09:45 am 10th November, underground meeting room no 13, ICW Iran Headquarters.
"Thank you for gathering here on such a short notice, especially both of you Magenta and Brain Splatter, given that you had no reason to do aside from your willing participation," began Hennessey, with Spectre beside him.
Everyone gave him a curt nod, except Poseidon who waved her hand at him and loudly greeted him, all of them were dressed in their mission clothes.
"I'll keep it short and simple, we've decided to train agent Freak Boy, and we'd like if you people were the ones who did it, you were the first team with whom he went on a mission, and he has some amount of rapport with Poseidon, and I would like both of you Magenta and Brain Splatter, to accompany us in our efforts because one, you're muggles that means you have a broader view of the world and its happenings, and two again, since you're muggles you're more… vulnerable to certain magics and that might make him more cautious and careful for his teammates well being," he said.
Both of them looked at each other for a minute, conversing non-verbally in a manner that developed from years of partnership, and slowly Magenta nodded to Brain Splatter who turned to Hennessey and said, "we accept."
With a smile on his face Hennessey gave a small nod and began, "I thank you, all of you, and with that some important information id like to pass on, given his performance in your team mission Freak Boy has been assigned the new name Hades, yes Poseidon in reference to the greek god of death, it will help us forge a new identity for him, hopefully one that is more cooperative with us if not outright loyal, another thing one of your duties when training Hades will be to ensure aside from his training that he mingles with as many people as possible."
They gave a nod of understanding without questioning any of it.
"Soon Hades will be coming here to be briefed on new instructions including his new moniker, I hope that this transition goes as smoothly as possible since it'll make a lot of things easier for everyone involved.''
It was around quarter past 10 that the newly named Hades walked into the meeting room, he too was wearing his combat suit, he strode past everyone without so much as looking in their direction and stopped in front of Hennessey giving him a small bow as a greeting.
"Welcome Hades, and a very good morning to you, i assume you've read the package that was delivered to you yesterday?" began Hennessey.
The boy simply signed "Yes," using his hands, that was new, it wasn't a shocker that he knew how to sign but thus far he hadn't bothered with it, for whatever reason he changed his mind was probably something they weren't ever going to lear.
"For the foreseeable future you have been assigned as a team member to all the seven who accompanied you on your mission on Halloween, how the groups are formed depends on the parameters of the mission, is that clear?" asked Hennessey, his voice was authoritative, despite the fact that the boy in front of him probably had enough power and skill to kill him on the spot he wasn't going to simply bend down, he had work to do and he didn't come this far without taking risks.
Hades for his part simply signed affirmative again.
Hennessey extended his empty hand towards Spectre who in turn placed a manila - which she got from god knows where - who in turn gave them to Hades and simply said, "these are your future assignments, who will accompany you on which mission has been decided already for most of them, the few that are left you can select for them on your discretion, and that would be it for today's business, you're dismissed."
And at that Hades disappeared from where he stood, the rest of the people found themselves utterly surprised at their unsurprised attitude at the boy disappearing from what was probably the most fortified building in the country if not the continent.
=0=0=0=0=0=
03:23 pm 12th November, Zephyr Cove, Lake Tahoe.
The eight of them along with Hell Hound and his apprentice Cub, the tracking specialist of ICW, were searching the area for a - as cliche as it sounds - hidden lab belonging to one of Thanatos' old acquaintances, someone who called went by the name Moriarity, the insane man had the equally insane idea of trying to mix a muggle biochemical bomb made with Basilisk venom, if the notes they had found at Thanatos' old base were any proof, which they were for them, the story on how they found the said base and notes is for another day, but apparently the necromancer himself hadn't been able to find the lab, to the best of their knowledge, hence why they were here trying their hand at it, they had divided in 5 groups of 2 men cells.
"Like really? Who was the fucking idiot who thought it was a good idea to name this place Lake Tahoe? Like really? Lake Lake?" Poseidon complained, she had been in a bad mood since the start of the mission and the name of the are irked her for some reason and she kept grumbling about it, much to her partner Lone Wolf's annoyance who was repeatedly chanting in his head, 'Shadow Hit Wizard Guideline, Article 3, Point 2, "It is forbidden to attack anyone without justifiable grounds, …"' and for a second he wondered if the director would be willing to make an exception in his case given his standing and past record.
Meanwhile Hades along with Izanami was checking out a nearby cave, he had been instructed to follow her lead and coordinate with her for everything, both minding their own business and silently carrying out their work, then Izanami spoke up, "Hades, why exactly did you join the initiative?" she was of the mind that either they boy would reply to her question or outright ignore her, she felt he wasn't one with the patience to play mind games or bother with unnecessarily convoluted conversations.
Though before the boy could do anything they heard their radio's static to life and it relayed, "Cub and Baba Yaga cell here, we've found something 1.4 km to 58 degrees, from our starting point, I repeat, we've found something 1.4 km to 58 degrees, from our starting point, requesting backup over and out."
The First to reply was Lone Wolf, "Affirmative, Lone Wolf and Poseidon on their way."
Barely a second after them were, Hell Hound and Brain Splatter, "Hell Hound and Brain Splatter here, Ditto."
Without hesitation Izanami followed "Izanami and Hades on their way."
As soon as she had spoken, Hades grabbed her wrist abruptly and they were once again displaced from where they were and Izanami found herself in front of Cub and Baba Yaga.
Both Izanami and Baba Yaga had enough control on themselves and experience with Hades to stop themselves from going into combat mode, just barely, but they managed it, Cub on the other hand did not hence why the moment they appeared the young apprentice shot a spell chain of Reducto, Bombarda and Confringo in their general direction with lightning fast reflexes, which were effortlessly blocked by Hades.
"What the fuck? How the hell did you just appeared out of nowhere? Even if you apparated - which I doubt you did - but even if you did that it would have meant you've seen where you need to be, which you didn't so what the actual fuck?" shouted Cub, ever since they arrived in this forest they were unable to apparate anywhere, so someone appearing out of nowhere freaked him out.
Baba Yaga on the other hand said in a calm manner, "Izanami, Hades, good to see you here so soon, though I too find myself curious on how this happened, I would assume that this is a product of Hades' doing as i know Izanami well enough that I know this isn;t the kind of thing she would do, not to mention from what I read of her body language she didn't expect it either." not to mention when he disappeared last time.
Izanami simply gave a short nod, while Hades on the other hand brought out his notepad and pen and started writing a reply, which was as follows "mission parameters dictated that it is imperative that all the agents return back alive, preferably uninjured and there were no restrictions on methods to achieve this, following that I simply tagged all of you with some monitoring charms, to reach here I simply followed those charms letting my magic to act as a guide for where I wanted to appear."
Both Izanami and Baba Yaga nodded as if he was stating the obvious while Cub stood stupefied, then Izanami posed a question, "why did you not inform me that you were going to …. Teleport us here?" she hadn't been sure what to call this unique Apparition of his so she simply went with teleportation, not knowing how close to the truth she was.
In turn he wrote out, "On the radio you informed Baba Yaga and Cub that we're coming to back them up I assumed that was permission to use whatever means necessary to arrive here, was I wrong in assuming so?"
"No, while your assumption wasn't wrong your execution was, next time onwards unless it is a situation where you don't have time to inform your comrades always make sure that everyone involved is informed and you have their consent to perform whatever it is you're going to do, it saves a lot of time and prevents confusion and mayhem." Izanami informed him.
Hades wrote out , "Affirmative."
Izanami turned to Baba Yaga and questioned him, "what exactly did you find here? I can sense something from here but I fail to comprehend what it is."
"And that in itself is the problem, there's something here, both of us felt it but what it is we have no clue," was his reply.
Then Hades wrote to her, "Permission to analyze the magic present?"
"Granted," was her simple reply as she didn't see any down side to it.
Hades started to wave his wand around in intricate patterns with occasional lights as a result, meanwhile the other three were waiting for Lone Wolf and Hell Hound because they had more authority in these situations, and if Hades was able to find something in the meanwhile it would be some progress.
Nearly half an hour passed before either one of those teams showed up, and when they did Izanami briefed them on the situation, while Hades continued what he was doing.
Lone Wolf interrupted him, "Hades have you found anything yet?"
Hades turned towards him and started writing, "here is what appears to be a seismic Focal point, to simplify it they are artificial Ley lines created by certain rituals, they take a lot of time and effort to create, and there are two other Focal points connected to this one both are in opposite direction at 128 degrees, both of them are at an even distance of 1 kilometer away from here, permission to explore them?."
Lone Wolf turned to Hell Hound who gave him a nod, then turning back to Hades he said, "yes, but take me with you, it's better to have back up and not need it than need it and not have it."
Then Hades wrote out to him, "permission to teleport to destination? On that note which one should we go to first the one on the right or the one on the left?"
"Permission to teleport granted, and what's your opinion on which one we should check out, is there any difference between them? Aside from their positioning that is," replied Lone Wolf explaining what he meant to avoid any confusion.
"None i can sense from here, and I propose that we go to the left one because Shadow and Magenta are near the right one, should anything go wrong while we are exploring the area they would have enough time to escape to safety," Hades replied.
Everyone blinked at that, it was good reasoning and the seven were quite happy that he was showing concern for them in a way even though his focus was mission parameters rather than their well being.
"Very well then left one it is, let's go," Lone wolf said
As soon as they left Cub exclaimed, "what the actual fucking hell is he?"
Izanami simply looked at Cub and then letting loose a small sigh she began, "Cub, what's the standard recruitment procedure for combat operatives?"
"Umm we observe and scout for talent across the globe via our contacts in different institutes especially schools, duelling rings and inactive aurors what's that got to do with any of this?"
"Why is it that we have no structured institute to train our members? Especially the newer recruits," Izanami questioned back ignoring his question.
"Structures bring patterns, patterns bring predictability, and predictability brings vulnerability, not to mention less chance of corruption due to lack of the said structure," he replied.
"So what do we do when an 11 year old child, almost 12, comes knocking on our doors asking to be recruited?" she asked.
For a few seconds he didn't answer, and then slowly he began, "say what? I mean aside from high level officials the people who know about the initiative yet aren't related to it don't even amount up to double digits, so if that brat somehow managed to find us once, it wouldn't be hard for him to do it again, randomly obliviating him is not a good idea as it could affect his mind, so... it'd be better to keep him where we can observe him," he finished as it dawned on him.
"In part yes, also he has a tendency to casually defy common sense, probably something among the lines of he can do it because he doesn't know its impossible, and given how magic is that's totally possible," she elaborated.
"What?" asked a confused Cub.
"Have you ever heard about a Fiendfyre, take an absolutely corporeal form and follow it's creator like some kind of pet?" she asked rhetorically.
"I have heard about both Grindelwald and Voldemort having good control over their Fiendfyre, but what you're saying sounds so far fetched that it sounds like school rumors, like Balthazar Dion's legendary orgy with the teachers, but I know you, i know you won't do something stupid like that, so i guess that guy has to be one hell of a fighter," he said.
Everyone in the initiative knew of Cub's crush on Izanami, it was often a subject of humor for other agents, especially Webber, their intel specialist, and Izanami's wife.
Half an hour passed before Hades and Lone Wolf returned, and then as they appeared Lone Wolf activated his radio and began, "Lone Wolf to Shadow and Magenta, come here as soon as possible, we've found something major." while Hades was just standing still with his wand in his hand.
It was another 20 minutes before the remaining two members gathered over and then Lone Wolf began with a firm voice, their attention focused on him, "when we first arrived we were informed by Hades that he found a Seismic Focal Point, or in other words an artificially created Ley Line, which was connected to two other, and then we followed them, we found that there are a total of 7 such points spread in a heptagon formation around here, and apparently they serve as an anchor for another dimension, where the lab is, Hades says it is possible to go - there given enough time to prepare - though he can't say what will happen once we're there, too many unknown variables, so how do we proceed from here? I want each man to decide for themselves.".
Without taking any time to think all of them replied at once, "I am coming with you."
Turning to Hades who had not changed his position or pose he began, "Hades how long do you need to make preparations in order to take us there?"
"I can take you right now, all the preparations have been made," was his reply.
"Give us five minutes and we'll be ready," pronounced Lone Wolf.
When the said five minutes passed Hades removed a Long gray rope and a vial filled with a red liquid - blood if their judgement was anything to go by - from a bag that was in his pocket, and flicked his wand thrice, after the first flick the rope started to levitate, spread out to its full length of around 28 feet, by the second flick the red liquid in the vial started to gush out of it and coat the rope thoroughly, and there was far more liquid then a normal vial of that size could contain, an undetectable extension charm nothing out of common, the third flick came when the vial ran out of blood the rope snaked itself around the wait of all the people present, starting with Hades and then the rest of them, and what happened next was as best described by Poseidon and Magenta as being thrown on a roller coaster without anything to catch upon and it lasted an eternity, though it was less than a second, to make matters worse when the trip ended everyone was disoriented, except Hades of course, everyone had expected to find themselves tumbling around so when they landed on their feet they were thrown off balance and promptly fell on their butts, Poseidon who had a lot of experience tumbling around in tidal waves was barely bothered while Magenta similarly was used on going actual roller coasters with such conditions, others weren't so lucky and nearly lost the contents of their stomach including the usually unflappable Lone Wolf and Izanami.
When everyone had reoriented themselves they noticed they were in a blue colored room that was empty for the most part except four doors on each side of the said room, then Hades took out his wand and shot a small flame at the rope he had used to get them here turning it to ash which was promptly vanished, at which Cub exclaimed, "Hey wouldn't we need it to go back?" he wasn't a fan of how they had gotten here, and wasn't looking forward to going through it again, but that option was far more appealing than being in a maniac's laboratory for any longer than he necessarily had to be.
Hades wrote back, "I will create a new rope when we go back, it isn't feasible to use the same one twice, its efficiency drops by 52%."
And no one said anything to that, then Lone Wolf gave them their orders, "okay so we're still going in two men cells, though we're changing the pairings a bit, Hades and Magenta, you're taking the north, Cub with me in the south, Baba Yaga with Poseidon in the east, Shadow and Brain Splatter in the west, and Hell Hound and Izanami stay put, you know what to do, any objections?.
And then when there was no coming forth he started their search, much to their surprise they found everything they wanted soon, there were notes and his experiments, they cleared the whole base in an hour and a half out of which they spent the better part searching any hidden compartments or the like because there was not much for them to take, when they were done Hades took them back outside and then teleported them to the California base of ICW Shadow Hit Wizard Department.
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12:22 pm 19th November, Sahara Desert.
The usual eight were being accompanied by a man named Abasi, who contrary to his name's meaning was quite joyous and light hearted man, their mission today was to subdue and transport a Manticore that was going to a breeding farm for some reason they nor knew nor cared enough to, this was a favour to the director some political bullshit they weren't interested in, and after all orders were orders.
Not to mention they got to see Poseidon being miserable, part of why the whole gang was there despite not being needed, especially Lone Wolf who volunteered for this mission despite having a holiday.
"Ah ha ha ha! someone kill me! Like right now! Ah ha ha ha!" exclaimed poor Poseidon, who was totally out of her element, the heat wasn't agreeing with her, and though no one was out right laughing at her she knew the bastards were having fun. Oh how she wished she could simply be apparated to the reserve the manticore was being kept at, but the reserve and surrounding area was heavily fortified with wards to prevent just that, and they knew however efficient Hades' teleportation would not be appreciated by the staff, not to mention it was a better idea to keep it a secret for as long as possible so their only option was to travel by a vehicle the reserve was kind enough to provide, which much to her dismay turned out to be an open roofed truck, usually used to transport XXXX and above creatures like the Manticore they were here for, rather than an AC equipped SUV, their clothes were meant for practicality not comfort and she sucked at charms, especially cooling charms.
"I would agree with her, I think we've had our fill of fun, now I suppose we should help her out however we can," Abasi said with a chuckle, he understood that there were team dynamics between them he wasn't aware of, but there was only so much before fun became bullying, not to mention the poor girl reminded him of his own daughter a lot so he took pity on her.
Heaving a dramatic sigh Lone Wolf began, "fine Abasi, Hades can you help her out somehow?" he wasn't not helping her due to some childish grudge, mostly, but because he wanted to see how Hades would tackle the situation, he wanted to understand the young boy as much as he could to help him.
The said boy brought his wand out of its holster on his wrist and waved it in Poseidon's direction once, a sphere of water formed around her submerging her up to her neck, and the water was quite cool and reliving if her squeals of happiness were anything to go by.
That was something, and Abasi looked quite impressed if his facial expressions were anything to go by.
Soon they were at the reserve and it was quite big from the outside alone, it was a big white dome with two smaller domes flanking it, how big it could be from the inside which was without a doubt magically expanded was questionable.
"We keep the more excitable ones at the further end of the main building, and before we go in i need you to sign these few acknowledgments, you know the standard non-disclosure about what you see to anyone unauthorised, and the other usual ones," Abasi, said with a shrug that conveyed his unsaid 'what can you do its protocol?' Across.
They took a few moments to go through the contacts and finding them to be satisfactory signed them.
Soon after they entered they started being led to wherever it was they needed to be they were, on their way they were intercepted by a harried teenager, who looked utterly relieved upon spotting Abasi and he soon started speaking between gasps, "Abasi!... the Thestrals….. running again….., need help."
Giving a light chuckle Abasi said, "You worry too much Romeo, that's both good and bad, though I'll send whoever i can find to help you out, meanwhile i have some guests to escort."
The now identified Romeo just noticed the entourage that was with Abasi and suddenly started greeting them hurriedly.
"Izanami, Hades, Poseidon help out Romeo will you?" said Lone Wolf, and the three he called out to stepped forward without any hesitance.
"Hmm very well," said Abasi, "I thank you for your help, and ask Zana who'll be there at the Thestral enclosure to guide you at the meeting point." he knew these people weren't exactly the touchy feely type and if they're willing to help solve a situation it was best to simply thank them and move on.
Romeo looked really confused but didn't question Abasi, something they all noted.
After the quartet departed to do what was required of them they resumed walking where they needed to be, 15 minutes later they were standing in front of a heavy looking oak wood double door, beyond it was a huge room of around 2000 sq ft, though that was it there was nothing else they could see, soon Abasi conjured a long rope and tapped it with his wand for a few minutes, the rope glowed blue for a few seconds and then again looked like a normal rope, then he said, "this my friends is a portkey that'll take us to our destination, I hope you all can handle portkey travels, so we'll leave as soon as you grab it."
They all took the rope with some hesitation, which Abasi noticed but refrained from commenting upon.
Soon they all found themselves in what looked like a huge zoo with all the animals around, animals that could kill without any problem at all, Abasi guided them to the cage of the Manticore they were, it was big around 15 feet, and quite vicious, the beast's human head was rested upon its feline limbs, upon spotting Abasi with his guests it smirked and said, "ooh, lookie who's here, with new dinner at that, thank you so much Abasi!" and started cackling.
It didn't bother them at all, they had seen and heard worse, much worse, and some thanks to their youngest team mate, but that didn't make the threat any unreal, they knew a single mistake could cost them their lives.
It kept taunting them and they stood silent, not bothering responding, soon 10 minutes later their comrades being led by Zana arrived at their position, and then as soon as the Manticore saw Hades he immediately changed his tone, "what in the name of magic is that thing! Get it away! I'll do whatever you want just get it away!"
They had expected a reaction when the best saw Hades, magical creatures were sensitive to magic, the more delicate type of creatures like Unicorns, Abraxans, or Occamy, were really uncomfortable when Baba Yaga came near them, they figured if both Baba Yaga and Hades were near the beast it would even make a predator like Manticore uncomfortable, ergo vulnerable, but they hadn't expected such a profound reaction.
Lone Wolf stepped closer to the cage and said, "very well, as long as you don't cause trouble for us we'll keep him away from you, agreed?"
The Manticore took a long and fearful look at Hades then turning to Lone Wolf in a grudging whisper he said, "Agreed."
Soon the Manticore who had remained subdued - though glaring at Hades as if waiting to defend himself should he ponce - was loaded in a closed off box that had been expanded on the inside and then promptly hauled on a truck that was similar to the one Lone Wolf & co. had arrived in.
Later the cage was hauled on an airplane and taken to where it needed to be.
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05:00 am 28th November, Training area no 8, Washington ICW Base.
Things had been fairly awkward for the past few days, though they had gone on a few other missions after that, the incident with the Manticore had rattled them all quite a bit, they had known that their youngest operative wasn't exactly going to be riding Unicorns any time soon, but that was reaction was… utterly unexpected, the Director had been informed about it and he too had frowned which for someone like him was quite a reaction.
Hence why today they were practicing today, team work apparently, they didn't have a problem with remaining professional with the boy, but it was unsettling to know that the boy they, or at least that's what Poseidon thought, had come to care for, was drowning so down that things that crawled in the dark, things whose base instinct was to kill were afraid of him.
She wasn't sure what to do but she wanted to help him that was sure.
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04:20 am 10th December, underground field, Nazarovo, Russia.
They had received intel about a huge trading mob that had formed from coalition of 6 different ones, there were muggles and magicals working in it together, they were trading in organs, humans, exotic animals and weaponry both magical and non-magica, and apparently now they were doing something with a nuke.
It was an all hands on deck situation, all the combat agents had been called including muggles in the know like Magenta and Brain Splatter, they had ambushed the enemy base which was underground quite a lot like the Britsh Ministry of Magic at exact 03:00 am and started decimating their forces at a quick pace, all of a sudden multiple explosions rocked the landscape, and everyone did what they could, on both sides the muggle combatants tried to take down as many as they could as fast as they could without pausing while trusting their magical comrades to make sure that their battlefield didn't come crashing on them.
Hades along with Poseidon and quite a few others went further below, where they expected the captured prisoners could be, while Hades would have made for a heavy weight attacker, they didn't have enough time to ensure that Hades unique tactics caused more problems than worth, and he was also proficient in healing from what he had said, it was time to test his mettle in the field.
Unfortunately they were too late, probably one of the explosions earlier was from here, because there was nothing more than a sea of bodies burned and utterly destroyed bodies, the stench of burning flesh nearly overwhelmed them to the point where most threw up.
Then what could only be called a miracle occured, in future some might even call it fate, but Hades, as he was about to use detection spells to look for some signs of life, felt something around his leg, when he looked down there was a toddler, around a year old if it was anyone's guess, she had golden blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes, she was clinging to his legs like a drowning man clings to a plank, in retrospect she was drowning in dead bodies and no one had noticed her till now, and they saw she was bleeding from her ears.
With a pace Poseidon had never seen Hades display before he started waving his wand around the girl and she started to glow like a tree with christmas decorations, then soon he tapped his wand once against both of her ears, and then three times on her head, the girl glowed in a white/red light for a few moments and started to cry but didn't move physically at all, then turning to the carnage in front of him he started casting what she recognised as detection charms, while the girl continued to cling at his leg.
A/n : whew 7k + words my biggest chapter yet, this too was a filler chapter, though i need it to introduce some important characters like Director and the young Blond.
For Director imagine Ian Mcshane in his winston persona from John WIck series.
Yes i am going down the whole assassin finds a child route to help harry, its cliche i know but they work for a reason.
And oh before i forget, whenever i've said Harry/Hades replied it implies he either signed it or wrote it and not verbal communication, as he doesn't understand the importance of verbal communication, nor can he speak at the moment, so carries on with writing or signing, and his emulation of voice is a skill he uses when it has utility and not regularly.
Till later, thanks for reading.
