Chapter 55: The Rat and The Spy
Moody took something out of his pocket. It was a small orb. He conjured a chair lousily and put the orb on it.
"Libera," he whispered and pointed his wand at the orb.
The orb began to smoke profusely and seconds later Remus Lupin's unconscious body appeared on the chair.
"My God, Remus!" exclaimed Lily. "Enervate!"
Lupin opened his eyes. He didn't seem shocked or confused.
"Hello, who are you?" asked Moriarty politely.
"Took you long enough," said Remus with a smirk. "I'm Barty Crouch Junior. A pleasure to meet you."
Lily's eyes hardened. Moody wasn't happy to hear that either as he murmured something unintelligible.
"Mr. Crouch would you be kind enough to tell me why you are spying for Eve Morningstar?" asked Moriarty softly.
"Because she is my mother," said Remus with a silly smile.
"Not another one!" moaned Filch.
"Were you supposed to watch Harry and Hermione? Or was it me that you were after?"
Lupin laughed. " Well, actually both. This is my job, you see. I infiltrate and suck as much information as I can. Sometimes I have to do some other stuff, too. My real job, however, was to let you find me."
Moriarty's calm was gone in that instant. His face turned pale.
"We already knew you would send them to the Magi works. We knew you would try to fool us. So Lilith decided to teach you better. As we speak it's already too late for you to do anything."
Remus laughed as Moriarty slapped him in the face.
"You should … see your… face!" said Barty almost incoherently as his laughter intensified.
"Are we royally screwed?" asked Filch.
"We'll find out soon enough," said Moriarty vacantly.
"Can you please explain, Barty?" asked Dumbledore calmly.
"You don't want to use the truth serum this time?" said Crouch with a chuckle.
Lily put her wand on Lupin's neck and just looked at him. Crouch wasn't laughing anymore.
"Peter Pettigrew is on our side. Does that clear things up?" said Crouch.
"Not very much, but I did not see that one coming," said Filch. "When did he start working with your lot?"
"I don't know, Peter has been there from the very beginning."
"I see," said Moriarty. "That makes sense."
"How does that make sense?" asked Lily.
Moriarty walked from Remus and stood by Fawkes. It looked at Moriarty and moved its head down letting Moriarty pet it.
"When you think about it you can see how significant Peter has been. Peter was with Weasley's for many years and they are very much trusted by Dumbledore. He could have chosen any other family but he chose to stay with the enemy. Peter then stayed until he was forced to leave. Now, one thing never made sense to me; why did he go back to Voldemort? I never could understand why until now. Why didn't he do it earlier? How come he never tried to hurt Harry despite being capable of it? Now it's starting to make sense. I think he was trying to make sure Harry was a Magi which he did after he confronted a basilisk as a twelve-year-old. What happened next is just me guessing, but he somehow goaded Sirius to escape the Azkaban and come after him. That way him going to Voldemort would sound more natural to the guy. After all, you just don't show up to resurrect a Dark Lord after so many years. He would have an excuse for doing it. Next, he brings back Voldemort and uses Crouch. And he knows Crouch obviously, who has been hiding with his father waiting for orders to come which indicates that Peter is his superior. That means Peter has been with Morningstar for a very long time."
"Which means he's not Peter," interjected Filch.
"Let's not jump to conclusions so fast. I need to check a few birth certificates. However, even without that, I can tell you Peter has been doing this for a very long time. So Peter has Voldemort's trust and… and I'm an idiot."
"Why is that?" asked Dumbledore.
"Because Voldemort has a child that I found out about today. And they asked Peter to get it out of the mess. And if he is the spy, Morningstar has the baby."
Moriarty facepalmed and rushed to the door leaving it open as he left the office. Everyone looked at Filch.
"The blood of sisters. It can be used for tracing."
"So after all his careful planning, Moriarty has failed to keep them safe," said Moody. "Why am I not surprised?"
"How do we get Remus … unpossessed?" asked Lily.
"Oh, I'm not possessing him. I'm just impersonating him," said Crouch as his body morphed into his original shape and form which was Regulus Blacks. "He is with my people. An exchange could be arranged. He's not hurt and in fact, he's asleep."
"You stole Regulus Blacks body," said Dumbledore.
"Well, I needed a body. He didn't need it anymore."
"The Philosopher's Stone is in his body," said Filch. "I say we take it out and bring Perenelle and Nicholas out of the coma."
"No worries. My body is stable enough to have it removed."
Moody looked at him suspiciously.
"You don't mind us having it?"
"How does he know these things," murmured Filch to himself and then he continued loudly, "Moriarty just sent a mental message that removing the stone might get Lupin killed."
Crouch smirked. "Oh, I get it why he is the man whom my mother calls her eternal rival. He is really smart."
Moriarty returned an hour later. He was not happy.
"My people cannot get close to Nurmengard. We tried but there is a magical barrier that makes any breach impossible. I have tried almost anything. Even tunnels didn't work. That place is impenetrable!" said Moriarty. "So what do we do next, Mr. Crouch?"
"Well, you get your man back," replied Crouch with a smile.
**Filch**
It took exactly two weeks and three days until Moriarty decided that they weren't getting Remus back. Yet he would not let go of the idea of not harming Remus Lupin, by leaving Crouch untouched. Filch had done his best to convince Moriarty to remove the Philosopher's Stone from his chest. Moriarty had flat out disagreed.
That morning Filch went to Moriarty's office, going through secret passages he knew to avoid being seen. Once he reached there, he opened the door without knocking. Moriarty wasn't alone; Sirius and Lucinda were there, too.
"Argus, a bit of discretion is advised," said the DADA teacher grumpily.
"Have you thought about points I made yesterday?" said Filch angrily.
"I have. We are not removing the stone," replied Moriarty, avoiding eye contact.
"I quit!"
"You what?" asked Lucinda.
"You heard me. I'm not standing this. I cannot let you risk everything for some silly sentimental reason," cried Filch.
"Argus," said Moriarty with a sigh. "We cannot remove the bloody thing. Not just because Lupin might get hurt, but because this might be a trap. That stone is very dangerous and …"
"As of the moment of birth as Salazar Slytherin to this moment, I've never heard a more lame excuse than the stone being dangerous. Keeping Crouch here until this winter solstice passes is not going to be easy when he wants to get out."
"I hate to say this," said Sirius. "But I think he is right. Can't we go trade the stone with Remus?"
Moriarty sighed and stood up.
"No."
"It's not so easy, Sirius. You know that," said Lucinda. She seemed very upset. Moriarty patted her shoulder.
"Don't lose your hope. Patience is the key to success."
"Omission is a better word for what we are doing here," said Filch.
"Don't let your desperation get to you," said Moriarty.
"Do you know something you're not telling us?" asked Lucinda skeptically.
"No, Lucinda. The thing is there are things that I don't know and hence I'd rather observe the chain of events," said Moriarty.
"Speaking of observation, have we found out anything new?" Filch conjured a chair for himself next to Sirius.
"Lucinda was actually about to tell me what she had found." Moriarty pointed at Lucinda who cleared her voice before speaking.
"We found some connections between Morningstar and a company that has the same name. They work for the muggle army and build satellites. She does not work for the company officially, but her grandfather is the President and a major shareholder."
Filch leaned back on a chair and waited for her to continue.
"They have very important contracts with armed forces and governments. She is transferring a lot of money. We believe it's related to some sort of project. Unfortunately, there are no signs of magical interference. So we don't know what to look for. Unspeakable Reed, who is currently working on the data, has been assigned to you Argus. "
Filch nodded. "We will find something eventually. How is everything going on up there, Jim?" Filch pointed at the ceiling.
"A huge mass of Magi. I have reliable sources who have seen Gog and Magog entering. The timing in Avalon is different, of course. That's why we hear about a big player being added every hour or so."
"She's confident enough to amass an army, her plan must be going through," said Sirius.
Moriarty chuckled softly. "When I was Merlin, I heard Arthur say the same thing. She did not succeed because we had faith that we could defeat her. It's not so different from back then."
"Yes, and unlike now I was on her side back then," said Filch. "You know the reason she failed was not you or Arthur. She defeated herself by killing the love of my life. Just like how you will defeat yourself by not pulling that stone out."
"That's what she does," said Moriarty, ignoring Filch's last comment. "She lacks real empathy and that's why even as a mother she easily ignored your love for Elenore. Caring is the most powerful force in the world, feeling is the strongest magic there is. Morgana, John Dee, Morningstar, they all had one fatal flaw; they were so consumed by the goal that they failed to care for those who came to love them."
Lucinda sniffed. "You speak as if they are different people."
"For those who loved them they were. And to be honest Morningstar's characters are different from one another. John Dee's taste in food was different from Morgana's. If I recall poor Barty's wife never liked aubergines. Dee loved them. I don't think that was just pretense."
"I always knew my mother was crazy! She has multiple personalities," said Sirius.
"Not necessarily," replied Moriarty.
"Developing multiple personalities may be a sign of mental issues for humans who live short life spans. However, Magi live indefinitely and even if they are killed they will emerge from nothingness after a few centuries. It is a coping mechanism for them."
"You could live a thousand years and still not know much about them," said Filch, pointing at himself.
Moriarty chuckled. He could sympathize with Filch. He had lived for six millennia and yet his knowledge was fairly limited. What he knew was mostly gifted to him by Yahweh. The Magi were tight-lipped when it came to their history and they were stingy when it came to their technology and magic.
Ten minutes later Filch left Moriarty's office, he found himself scolding a few students on his way to Dumbledore's. Once he got there he made sure no one was around when he uttered the password.
"Chocolate chips."
He dragged himself up the stairs. Even though he was immortal that didn't mean he wouldn't suffer from joint pain. He had been immortalized too late for those pains to go away and the one who had done that couldn't be bothered with fixing minor inefficiencies of his body.
He gave his usual report to Dumbledore about the school.
"Oh, and before I forget, Albus. Draco Malfoy and Fred got too excited at Professor Yami's class."
"They are with Poppy, I'm sure?"
Filch nodded before limping out of the office. He found Mrs. Norris waiting for him downstairs.
"Hello, Mrs. Norris. Caught some naughty students again?"
Mrs. Norris had been a bit under the weather for the last month. Filch was worried about her, but what could he do. Her old age was catching up to her. She was at least 15 and in his experience cats usually didn't live more than 20 years. Their life expectancy was even less in a non-magical environment.
This was why Moriarty hated familiars and even pets. They all died before he could get used to them. "Even Phoenixes die after a thousand years," he used to constantly remind Filch, who would get depressed upon losing a familiar.
"Mrs. Norris, let's have that old Grubbly-plank have a look at you, huh?" he said softly to the poor shaky creature.
"Ah, the caretaker is here," said a silky familiar voice. Lucius Malfoy was there wearing a silly muggle tophat and emerald robes.
"That Harry doesn't suit you, Mr. Malfoy."
"I don't believe that concerns you, Mr. Filch," said the blond man. "Is the headmaster in his office?"
"Yes, ask the gargoyle to let you in."
Filch couldn't help noticing the letter Malfoy was carrying on himself. He could already guess what it contained; A list of potential successors.
Dumbledore was an immortal and laws were clear on that. He had to go on a very long sabbatical, die in a foreign land, and preferably with credible witnesses, then go and make a new life somewhere he was less known. That was the usual process for every immortal human. It was a good thing that there weren't many of them around.
It seemed that Lucius Malfoy wasn't getting enough sleep. Impersonating Stiltskin had been harder than they had assumed. You understood how much an employee did when they were not there to do it. Malfoy also had to make an appearance as himself regularly. It was a miracle that he hadn't been exposed so far.
***HP***
Harry was sure they had been there for only two days or even less. Yet it felt much longer. Kaminari would not waste a second to teach them about this new world they were in and their powers. He had helped them understand their powers better, but had also warned them that mastering those powers could take decades or even centuries. Kali spent most of her time with Luna who was very keen to keep socializing with Harry and Hermione despite her mother's disapproval. Mr. D was constantly drinking and offering others to drink with him. No one would be crazy enough to oblige. Anubis was mostly watching Harry and Hermione. He probably did not trust Kaminari enough.
In Harry's opinion, Magi did not trust each other very much, and that must have come with their very long lives. Deep in his mind he still considered himself a human something that he had accidentally found out he shared with Mr. D.
"You know. One of these days I wake up in a pub and I find out this Magi crap is all a dream," he had told Harry when he was far from being sober.
"How can a human live for about six thousand years without going mad?" said Kaminari. "That Jim Moriarty must be a very unique person."
Kali huffed.
Kaminari continued, "I mean even Magi that old experience personality change. I hear he has been the same all along."
Anubis tightened his eyes.
"You know something about that, Kaminari?"
"Nanda kimi? Did I say that?" said the God of Thunder.
"Only a fool makes the deal you made with him," said Kali.
"Well, forgive me, Kali. But why should I be worried about a human whose entire life isn't as long as my marriage with my first wife?"
"Don't you ever underestimate anything," said Kaminari. "Even if it's a tiny spider."
"Something is wrong!" said Harry suddenly. He felt something bad was about to happen.
"Harry, your Nargles are dancing madly around your head."
Kali suddenly stood up. Her body began to change. Two extra sets of hands grew out of her body and her skin got dark blue. Anubis did not move but his body took an even more drastic change. His head morphed into what looked like a dog. Gone was Olivander's face.
"A window just opened nearby," announced Kaminari, who kicked Mr. D to wake him up.
"This can't be right," said Kali. "I can feel at least five major powers coming for us with ill intent."
Kaminari whispered a word and closed his eyes. He stayed like that for a few seconds before opening them.
"I'm sorry children, but we have a very bad company. A group of demons and gods are coming for us."
"Who?" asked D.
"Odin, Mephistopheles, Amaimon, and Xey," said "There is also a human that I don't recognize."
"Xey? Who is that?" asked Kali. Anubis and Mr. D seemed clueless.
"Ah… an extremely old Yōkai," explained Kaminari. "His reincarnation was Phobos."
"And how old is this Xey?" asked Hermione.
"As old as me."
Kali suddenly lost her dark blue color and reverted to looking normal.
"Forget about fighting!" she cried, "We're out of here!"
Kali grabbed Luna and before anyone could stop her they disappeared.
"Well, she could have taken us too, couldn't she?" said Anubis.
"I don't think she ever intended to do that," said Mr. D.
"You don't have much time," said Kaminari calmly. "I can take you to a window that I used to come here, but the time there doesn't go as fast as here."
Anubis didn't like the idea very much but what could they do?
"How can we help?" said Hermione.
"Keep close to Dionysus, Miss Granger," said Anubis. "You two are their target. Given their age, we better not engage."
"Let's have a quick recap," said Dionysus, "Mephistopheles and Amaimon are fire and earth demons. It's safe to say that Amaimon will dig a tunnel in a matter of minutes. Mephisto will be with him. Odin is their real weapon of course. I don't know much about Xey."
"Let's say we're about to experience the greatest fear of times, my fellow Yōkai," said Kaminari. "It's interesting. Xey was neutral during the previous war. The fact that she has joined Lilith means he truly believes she's going to win this war. "
"Of course, if she succeeds what chance do we … I mean … humans have against her?" said Hermione
"The war isn't about humans," said Kaminari, "Anubis-chan, what were you told on Earth about this war?"
"That Lilith wants to make humans immortal and bring back the dead. And don't you think you can get away with using chan for me."
"You guys have really been out of touch with what's been happening up here. I thought you knew," said Kaminari with a smile. "Lilith might very well do what you said. It's been her agenda for thousands of years. However, this is a much bigger war. Lilith is coming to bring a new order. She's coming to rule over the entire Yōkai."
"That's ridiculous!" said Dionysus and laughed and then he realized Kaminari was being serious.
"I guess this is why Apollo sent me to you guys. Maybe I could help you preserve the freedom of our race."
Suddenly, a terrifying sound got their attention. There was a crater in the wall and from it emerged a thin man with green hair and sunglasses.
"Oy … look who's here?" said the man with an American accent. "Y'all having a nice party right? The Earth King just joined the party!"
Suddenly he was pushed out of the hole and fell on the ground comically another man came through shadows.
"Hello gentlemen," said the man softly. Strangely he reminded Harry of Snape with his long black hair and expressionless face. He was dressed similarly too. "We do not wish to fight you so please hand us the children. No one needs to get hurt."
"I took them from James Moriarty and I will only give them back to him, Mephistopheles," said Anubis.
"Well, are Dionysus and Kaminari with you on this stupid plot of yours, Anubis?"
"Have some respect, Mephisto!" said Dionysus.
"For whom, Dionysus?" said Mephistopheles, "A failed king? A half-crazed Yōkai? Or a drunken man with daddy issues?"
"Bakabakashi Mephisto. Kimi wa baka desu." said Kaminari [Stupid Mephisto. You are an idiot.]
"So desu ka, Kaminari-sama? Yoko miru." replied Mephistopheles. [Is that so, Kaminari-sama? We will see.]
Mephistopheles' eyes turned red and fire erupted from his body hair and even shoes. Now Harry could tell why they called him a demon. He looked the part.
Harry noticed that Amaimon was about to jump on Hermione who was focused on Mephistopheles. His magic reacted instinctively and Amaimon stuck to the group before he could finish jumping. As a result, he tripped and fell again.
Mephistopheles shot a ball of fire at Dionysus, who dodged it and put his hand on the ground. Veins magically grew and trapped Amaimon on the ground. Dionysus laughed. Kaminari grabbed Harry and Hemione and pulled them back. Suddenly, the Earth where they had been collapsed, and Dionysus fell into the resulting hole. Amaimon let the soil surrounding the veins soften and easily freed himself.
Harry could tell he was the kind of warrior who would play the fool. Mephistopheles was busy with Anubis who had the upper hand. Amaimon used his magic to force the ground under Anubis give in but he remained on the surface. Hermione smiled. "He's levitating. That's smart."
Anubis pointed at Amaimon and Mephistopheles with his index fingers then brought his fingers together. His adversaries, as if pulled by an invisible string, collided and stuck to each other. At that moment Dionysus emerged from the whole Amaimon had created. They had won.
"Too soon for a victory lap," said Dionysus seeing Harry and Hermione's foolish grins.
"Odin and Xey will be waiting outside," said Kaminari.
Anubis rendered his captives unconscious. Amaimon and Mephistopheles looked like two very strange lovers.
"There is a reason they never reached godhood," said Anubis. "I hate arrogant people. Which makes me like you two very much." He pointed at Harry and Hermione.
Anubis led them to a secret exit and soon they were outside. It was pitch dark. The wind was cold and nothing in the sky but tiny red stars which hadn't been there before.
"How did they find us?" said Dionysus.
"Those who seek, find, my friend," said Anubis. "The Serpent is very resourceful. I wasn't expecting our mission to go as smoothly as it has."
Harry could feel something get closer to them. Apparently, Kaminari had sensed that too.
"Hurry up. Go against the wind. That's where the window is. We're being followed. Quick!"
Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and they levitated.
"This way is faster, Harry," she said.
The Magi levitated too and they all flew to the window as fast as they could. The enemy was perhaps even closer than before but they didn't dare slow down to look back. After what felt like less than ten minutes Kaminari asked them to stop. He stood on the ground and whispered something. Lightning struck out if nowhere and a circle of fire appeared on the ground having no more than two yards in diameter.
Harry could feel the enemy behind; they weren't far away.
"Into the circle," commanded Kaminari and he was the first to step in. He immediately disappeared without any trace. Dionysus pulled Hermione into the circle and they both disappeared. Harry followed them. He was in a totally different place in a heartbeat.
"Wow, it was so smooth," he said. They were standing in an abandoned neighborhood. It looked like a muggle one. Especially the ones he had seen in Eastern movies with huge neon signs and extremely tall buildings. It was a ghost town. Time hadn't been kind to that place.
"I didn't know Magi could build such tall buildings," said Hermione.
"They don't anymore," said Dionysus. "This belongs to a different time."
"Of course they do," said Kaminari. "You have not seen Avalon Dionysus. Once you see that city this one will look primitive. Though I have to admit some technologies here might be forgotten by our people. We may never rediscover them."
"Who built this city?" asked Dionysus.
"I believe Kaminari did," said Anubis behind Harry. "They won't be finding us through the window. I redirected it to The Great Swamp."
"Oh, Odin will hate you for that," said Kaminari.
"That shall teach them well," said Anubis with a unique madness in his voice. His animalistic face changed into a human one. Apparently, he and Odin went far back.
"I have a safe house in this city. It is well protected. If the enemy comes we can stall them," said Kaminari.
"Are you sure we are the only ones here?" said Dionysus.
"No," said Kaminari curtly and then he faced Harry and Hermione. "Can you two teleport?"
"Magical humans call it apparition," said Anubis.
"Thank you, Anubis. My language spell is sometimes off when it comes to European languages."
"Don't worry you are speaking just fine, sir," said Hermione. "I can apparate,"
"I passed the exam," said Harry. "But I haven't tried apparate far distances."
"Well. I guess Hermione could help you," said Kaminari. "See that tall building over there. On the roof, there is a lift which is the only path to the safe house. Get yourselves there."
Saying that he clapped his hands and disappeared with a buzz. Suddenly Harry could spot him on the roof of the building. Hermione grabbed Harry's have. Strangely they didn't apparate. Instead, the world around them was obscured and then came to focus again. They were on the roof with Kaminari. Hemione sent a mental message that he shouldn't tell the Magi about her ability.
"I learnt this from my father," she explained to Harry mentally.
Anubis and Dionysus appeared by Kaminari who was working on what seemed to be an electronic panel.
"I think the Hefitaf is broken," said Kaminari.
"Hefi what?" asked Dionysus.
"Hefita," said Anubis. "It's like a transistor."
That made Dionysus even more confused.
"This one is out of commission," said Kaminari, yanking out a tiny orb from the panel. "Technically it should be functional with one Hefita."
He was right, the lift started to buzz softly as electricity - or perhaps magic - coursed through its wires. Tiny lights bulbs flashed and lit its interior.
"You don't find any of these in the human world," said Anubis. "It works with magnetic fields. They're much safer than ordinary lifts."
Harry was a bit nervous about getting on the lift. He had never liked them since he had once been trapped in one. Dionysus didn't trust the odd contraption either.
"It's so interesting, you know," said Anubis as they were descending. "Humans have built the same device that we devised thousands of years ago, and they've done it without knowing such a technology had existed before."
"I've been away from human civilization for at least a few centuries," said Kaminari. "You must show me how their cities look like."
Their descent was so smooth that Harry failed to notice it stop. The doors slid away and they were presented with a very well decorated home.
"Japan 6th century I guess?" said Dionysus.
"Yes. Looks like Inari-chan has had her influence on you," said Kaminari with a chuckle.
Dionysus grunted and removed his shoes. The others followed suit. Kaminari had some food magically preserved. As they ate he explained who Xey was.
"Even for an ancient Yōkai, Xey is considered old. He represents a very old aspect of emotions, too. Fear is perhaps the oldest of feelings. Only preceded by the pain itself. He was trapped on Earth for years. I don't know how he got rid of his eternal chains. I could tell he had come back quite recently. His clothes were not of this place. His greatest power is to generate panic in people. I have seen it first hand as he taught Pan."
"Pan knows the guy?" exclaimed Dionysus. "He never mentioned that!"
"It's strange," said Anubis. "I have lived for a very long time. But I had never met Xey."
"You might have forgotten," said Kaminari. "Lilith or Yahweh might have taken that knowledge away from you."
"Yes, about that …" Anubis leaned forward. "How can I get my memory back if that has happened?"
"I would not recommend that," said Kaminari with a smile. "You might have requested the erasure. It would make sense if your mind was damaged by him."
"How long will we stay here?" asked Harry.
"I assume the passage of time is different here," said Hermione.
"You are correct. This one is rather close to the one we left but time is only half as fast. So we will be staying for about four weeks, minus one or two days. You might feel some joint pain at first. This planet is denser than Earth. It used to be a very popular destination but it boo longer has the resources to house great populations."
Hermione got angry. "That is… horrible!"
"I agree," said Kaminari. "I remember when this planet was nothing but a wasteland. The elders filled it with animals and plants. It was a paradise. However, this was nothing but a short timed investment. My kind does this to every place they go. First, we build and then we ruin. There isn't much left underground here, most useful minerals are already taken. We left nothing but a shell. However, there is some good to it. There are some forms of wildlife here. This plant may one day become as crowded as Earth."
Hermione seemed to have calmed down.
"I think we are very useful to these kinds of ecosystems," said Anubis. "Take humans for example. They have a fertile and livable planet that they did not bring to life themselves. And they have done nothing but to destroy it."
"Anubis you sound like old slave owners," said Kaminari. "Someone might think you sided against Yahweh in the Great War."
"Can you please tell us about it?" said Hermione, finding that moment to be the best opportunity to know about that particular event.
Anubis looked a bit uncomfortable. Kaminari was thoughtful and Dionysus seemed as interested as Harry and Hermione.
"I wouldn't mind hearing about it," he said.
"Well," said Anubis, he paused for a few seconds before continuing, "I suppose it started with us going to the Earth. It was two million years ago. I still remember the air I breathed once I walked through the portal. We had just found this new land with living creatures in it. It looked nothing like the places we had seen it created before. The plants were unknown but the animals were slightly familiar. We believed that they had similar origins of our own. There were also some … primates that resembled us, although they had no magic. Earth was not magical until we set its magical pipelines in place."
"Ah, I remember that time," said Kaminari. "I actually participated in the process. But I must say we had never been forced to do that. It was the first planet with preexisting life and no magic whatsoever. The most unnatural! Yahweh and Lilith were the designers of the magical layout. No one could have done a better job than they did."
"Anyhow, we found Magi-like beings and gave a group of them some unique advantages," said Anubis, "They became smarter but we didn't share our magic. We would occasionally give them specific magical gifts to carry out our demands."
"But they were mostly kept as slaves. That's what he says," said Dionysus.
"Yes, that's what we collectively as a society did," said Anubis. "The Mad Scientist and the Serpent didn't exactly approve."
"So they helped humans?" asked Harry.
"Well, it didn't happen instantly. They worked on it patiently. They have always been good at that. One day the Magi opened their eyes and realized their servants were too smart to remain slaves. They had been changed over generations. Those kinds of changes are easily omitted. When the first magical man was created we figured out things would never be the same again. 28 magical families of humans were created and they led the army of man against the army of Magi… Well, they led a part of an army that was fighting for The Mad Scientist and his wife."
"And that's where my uncle became a veteran," said Dionysus amusedly.
"You fought that war, too, Dionysus," said Anubis irritably.
"I fought for the last hundred years. You were involved for … I don't know … a thousand years?"
"He died nine times," said Kaminari. "Last time you came back you thought Ra was your father and not your younger brother."
"It bothers me when people call my father Ra," objected Dionysus.
Kiminari and Anubis looked at him flatly.
"You know I should probably make some pizza," said Dionysus nervously and hurried to the kitchen.
A/N: The next chapter will reveal Morningstar's most important spy. Who do you guess he/she is?
P.S. Sorry, I don't know what's wrong with the site, but it was displaying the HTML file which is not supposed to happen.
