Chapter Thirteen: Rise and Fall of Civilizations
Harry's POV
He frowned slightly as he laid on top of the soft covers of the bed provided to him in the tower. He had already received notice that all training was halted due to a small issue with fleet provisions that would no doubt take up all of the time of both Admiral Blake and Admiral Pushkov. Miyumi didn't have anything else for him to do that day as anything involving government process was actually getting handled by the Governors. His hand twitched as he focused and the small paperweight floated through the air in front of him. He idly wondered if having it levitated above his head was a good idea but waved that off as it spun in place. His hand twitched again and the small crystal orb gently lowered onto the nightstand beside him. He sat up quickly as he realized just how boring it would be to spend all of his time in the suite and shuffled into the large office.
The moment he sat down his hands blurred over the holographic keyboard and information pulled up on the display in seconds. He frowned slightly at the scarce amount of information actually being provided and aside from the possibility that since what he was looking up was from an age where technology hadn't yet become the defining feature for news outlets it didn't explain anything he wanted to be explained. 'It's pretty clear if I want to know I'm not going to be getting the information from here.' He thought pushing himself back and rolling with the chair. He spun slightly looking out the window into the clear sky. He could see a large storm front in the distance and from what the exceptionally accurate weather system stated it would be inside the city center in thirteen minutes. It wouldn't affect anything in the system, technology was so advanced now that inclement weather wasn't anything more than a minor annoyance at best, it couldn't damage technology any more nor could it really cause danger to anyone, hell the city could continue functioning through a class five hurricane easily.
He waited out the time and moved for the hallway outside his floor as the storm collided against the windows. He bit his lip as he thought about his next move, while the escape fighter wasn't meant to be used for personal use it was his only option, he didn't exactly want to run the risk of denial from his security team for a trip to England. He had spent to much time today wondering, and while he didn't really want to go, something inside was forcing him to see, most likely his curiosity, he always had been far too curious for his own good. He shifted slightly as he settled into the cockpit of the fighter and glanced over the control running through the quick pre-flight checks in an almost automatic way. He stopped with his hand hovering over the thruster controls for a moment as his mind waged war over this move. The quick thoughts of his friends were slowly wearing down his resistance and he flexed his fingers slightly before pressing the thruster controls forwards.
He blinked in surprise as he went from a dark small tunnel to swirling storm and rain. he tightened his hands on the controls and accelerated faster breaking through the cloud coverage and pulling over the ocean. he glanced back seeing the massive storm behind him and he felt mild surprise as he raced over the water. The system in the ship calculated his flight time in order to reach England and he nearly let go of the controls at the readout before he schooled himself and chuckled slightly at his own surprise. "Heh, I should have expected this." He said before relaxing slightly in the seat as he slowly adjusted his heading every so often to account for the curvature of the earth and its rotation.
Smith's POV
"I disagree with this move." He stated calmly glancing over the soft frown on Miyumi's face. "Listen I've spoken with several people, this avoidance isn't healthy, He needs to face the truth." Miyumi said getting him to stare coldly at her. "You do realize you run the risk of him breaking down, we've already done several searches, nothing remains, at least from what we can actually access, you are throwing the stability of the entire government at risk." He said slowly getting a small sigh. "And, what if he found out later when he had already faced extreme hardship, what would you say then?" Miyumi asked getting a small snort. "He would be prepared, he could handle more stress and make sense of it, but he isn't even finished with fleet training, this is going to distract him, it's not going to help prepare him for the war that's coming." He said getting a surprised look.
"What war?" Miyumi asked getting him to sigh. "Several intelligence posts have intercepted deep space communications, the state of the galaxy is on the precipice, several small empires have rebellions in the making, if they haven't already broken out, two Fallen Empires currently have high tension between them which could cause a galactic war, and there are two growing threats on the other edge of the galaxy." He said getting a surprised look. "Why weren't we informed?" Miyumi asked getting a small frown. "We were waiting to tell him the information when his training was finished so he would be properly prepared for what is to come." He said getting a small scowl. "He should have known!" Miyumi yelled as he stared into her eyes. "Yes, he should, but he wasn't ready for it, and if he isn't ready for that how could he be ready to hear his entire society is gone, everything he knew is gone, without a shadow of a doubt?" He asked watching her turn away.
"How did you even get him to go?" He asked turning back to the display as it showed an image of the ship as it tracked over the water. "A slight change in the implants, we issued an emergency medical code and pumped a few drugs that could influence his mind, on top of giving small allusions to what he was looking for before and he finally took the leap." Miyumi said sounding ashamed of the deception. "I never thought you would have had it in you, you realize when he finds out he won't be happy." He said getting a small scowl. "It was the best option at the time." Miyumi said as she took a seat. "Right, This isn't going to end well, if anything I have a feeling there is going to be some massive structural damage to the historic buildings in that area. I'm going to send Melani in to provide cover for him if anything having her nearby might be beneficial to calming the Commander down." He said slowly as his hands slowly ghosted over the keyboard.
He glanced over a monitor seeing the newest agent running around in a panic looking for her wayward principal. "Agent, we are sending the current location and the estimated future location of your principal, it would be best that you get to him as soon as possible, your objective is to ensure his emotions are kept in check." He said calmly through the internal communications array. The sight of the woman freezing before making a quick pace towards the elevators inside the tower was enough to bring out a small laugh from Miyumi as she watched over the monitors. "Are you certain that she will succeed, on top of that, we are going to have to tell him about the use of the implants, we had promised not to abuse their function and yet I had done so anyways." Miyumi said making him frown slightly. "It is possible he will be furious, but it is more likely that after an initial outburst he will have too much on his mind to care too much over something like that." He said getting a slow nod.
"He has had some time to play around with his Psionic's, one of the reports from the Special Operations Commanders expressed that." Miyumi commented off hand. "What? Why wasn't I informed?" He asked turning to the woman quickly. "I had thought you knew, he was using it today, or at least he seemed to be training in it." Miyumi said slowly getting him to stare at the monitor anxiously. "This could turn out much worse than I had initially thought." He said slowly before sighing as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Why?" Miyumi asked a small frown on her lips. "Psionic users in the past had rather violent bursts of power at moments of heightened emotions, based on what little we know, his connection is incredibly powerful, and he seems to be the only living Human channel for the power." He said getting a small grimace. "I will contact the development department, we might need to rebuild quite a bit after all." Miyumi said with a small sigh.
Harry's POV
He felt a strange feeling fade quickly and he blinked as a coastline became more noticeable in the distance. Part of him was growing more excited, another was weary and as he passed low over the landmass he could easily pinpoint the massive fairly well taken care of city that was London. The automated systems providing an amazing amount of upkeep on the city that now existed as a historic landmark. He angled the ship towards the location the Leaky Cauldron was located and slowed the speed drastically. He wasn't going much faster than the average speed on a highway, ignoring the fact that the ship had the advantage of not being confined to roads making the route linear rather than restricted based off the cities construction. He pulled the accelerator back and held the ship over the center of the roadway lowering slowly until he felt the slight shudder as the ships landing gear connected with the asphalt roadway.
He climbed out of the cockpit the small hiss having died away when the covering opened. He stumbled a bit as his feet connected with the ground and he rolled his shoulders as he looked around the desolate and quiet city street. He felt the tension in his body grow at the completely unnatural stillness that was covering the once bustling city and what had once been a major city for a proud nation. He turned away and walked into the bar only to stop and stare at the dust-filled building with an unreadable expression on his face. He took a long hard look at the room and held back any immediate thought moving for the side alley leading into the hidden shopping district of the magical world. He raised his hand and hesitated slightly as his finger lightly dragged over the first stone needed to open the passageway. He wasn't entirely sure if it would work without a wand but he tried channeling the magic to his finger and could feel the Amp respond to his wish.
The slightly purplish glow on the end of his finger caught his attention before he shook it off and pressed the sequence quickly waiting as the wall slowly shifted and rearranged itself into an entrance. He grimaced as the enchantments were clearly waning and the wall almost resisted the command given by whatever magic was placed on it so long ago. He blinked in surprise as the dead silence spoke volumes about the area in front of him. He took a step in and felt his foot connect with something on the other side. He glanced down seeing an old weathered magical newspaper. He pulled it up and tried reading over it only to toss it away in annoyance as it was too damaged to be used for any form of information. He walked slowly through the cobbled streets and glanced at each building as he passed hoping to see some movement, even the smallest of movement in one of the buildings.
He had paused several times as he thought he had seen something only to realize it was nothing. His fists clenched slightly until he relaxed them pushing forwards in determination towards the white marble beacon that was Gringrotts sitting in silence in the distance. The carvings were still there, no damage was noticeable on the building and the doors looked as new as when he first saw them. He pressed against the massive heavy doors and winced lightly as they groaned open noisily. He stopped as he noticed the remains inside the bank, bones were strewn across the hall and several stacks of old money were laying across the ground as though thrown around in a battle, deep gouges in the floor and walls spoke of a massive assault inside the bank itself. "What the hell happened here?" He wondered aloud as he searched the large lobby.
He stopped at the far end teller station ignoring the skull the lay on the desktop and reached for the stack of papers covered in dust. Most of what he found was pointless finance sheets and outdated stock information, but he did manage to find a somewhat informative news copy. The information inside angered him, nothing big, nothing important was listed at all, as though an average day was there even when the result of the hundred of years laid before him. He threw the paper out watching as it impacted against the wall only to have part of that wall crumble under the force, the purple glow around the paper went unnoticed as he punched down on the table. He lost himself in rage, the large shockwaves of energy wreaking havoc on the building and much less noticeably the shopping area outside and some of London itself was feeling effects.
He laid both hands down on the desk and held himself up as he slowly calmed to a sudden numbness. Part of his could feel the simmering rage underneath and another part of him was so closed off he couldn't even work up the energy to feel it. He grabbed a seat on one of the nearby benches and he leaned back looking over the empty room with dispassionate eyes. "To think my greatest hope was turned into my worst hell." He said bitterly with a small snort of amusement as he thought about them having finally advanced and gotten out of the ass-backward dark ages. He sighed softly as he rubbed his temples the dull ache in his mind taking over as he felt everything at once. So many emotions and at once, it was almost impossible to focus on anyone, and instead, he had to bury it like he was so used to doing in the past.
Melani's POV
She shifted nervously in the transports seat the harness digging into her right should slightly as she leaned closer to that side. "Holy Hell, that's some bad damage." One of the pilots said in mild surprise. "The reports say it's from only a few moments of Psionic activity." The second said in awe. "You have to be shitting me." The first said disbelief in his voice. She glanced towards the open door and almost unlocked her harness to go take a look. "Ma'am just take a look out the back, you'll see what we mean in a second." The first said as the rear doors opened mid-flight. The damage was unlike anything she had seen herself, it was nearly as bad as some of that seen during the rebellion war. Large gouges in the earth, roads ripped apart and buildings crumbling, most of it seemed centered around a certain point, although there still seemed to be a somewhat clear path to the center of it all.
"Good luck." The first pilot mumbled as the ship slowly hovered a foot above the ground, or what was left of it that looked stable. She swallowed slightly as he stepped off only to duck as the jets sped up letting the craft leave quickly. She waited as the wind died down before taking a look around the area seeing the fighter the commander had used to get here sitting mostly unaffected although it was tilted slightly when a piece of the road underneath collapsed. "Right, luck, I'm going to need that." She said aloud as she walked slowly towards the pub near the fighter, the street camera's had easily seen him enter the pub itself. The silence brought tension with it, and with the now uneven terrain, she was forced to move slowly in order to avoid accidentally injuring herself. "Agent, once you are inside, you will have to slowly search for his location, this is an as of yet unexplored portion of the planet, for us at least." Smith said in her ear making her sigh as she stopped at the strange brick archway.
"Hmm, seems like early Psionics were much more streamlined, this was a regular brick wall based on our records, I wonder what the mechanics behind it are." A voice called from her ear making her stiffen in surprise. "Dr. Renchi, How did you get in the operations booth?" Miyumi asked her voice carrying over the ear comm. "Hmm? I let myself in, you do all remember I was supposed to stop by and speak with the Commander about getting him Psionic Training, ever since his use of them hit my ears I have been planning a course he could easily unleash his powers on to get a judge of them." Dr. Renchi said smoothly making a heavy silence fell over everyone. "We never received any request." Miyumi said calmly. "Hmm, I may have forgotten to send it then." Dr. Renchi said almost making her trip at the thought of a doctor forgetting to do anything. "Is an open comm really necessary?" She asked only to hear silence in return. 'At least that got them to shut the connection.' She thought as she walked along the cobbled street and slowly looked over the buildings nearby.
The film of dust on most windows and doors made it easy to see that the Commander hadn't entered any of the buildings along the route but the open large doors to the Marble structure in the distance said otherwise. She picked up the pace and soon enough found herself looking into the building ignoring the skeletons for the most part, even if the structure to them was far from human. "Sir." She called quietly seeing the commander sitting on a bench in silence. "Do you need any help?" She asked quietly getting a small mirthless laugh in return. "That depends on how exactly you plan to help." Harry said slowly before leaning back a bit. "It's not as if you can simply send me into the past, return me to a world that isn't like this." Harry said sarcastically. "I can't, but maybe talking about it will help." She said slowly getting a small amused snort. "Why? Isn't the old saying that Civilizations Rise and Fall?" Harry asked getting a small nod.
"Yes, but it is still part of your past, and in order to move forwards sometimes you simply need to express what you feel about that past." She said letting the room fall into silence for a moment. It was fairly clear from the look on Harry's face that he wasn't looking to speak at all about it for the moment. "Is it alright if I just don't. Not right now at least." Harry said getting her to nod slowly. "That's fine, maybe we can talk about more enjoyable memories." She said getting a small smile. "Sure, that sounds fine, actually I can tell you about my experience getting a wand." Harry said as he slowly stood up. "Wand?" She asked slightly surprised. "Yes, they used wooden wands and waved them around to perform magic, or psionics, it doesn't really matter how you list it." Harry said as he slowly moved towards the exit. She followed after as they moved down a different street towards an old building with a sign above saying Ollivanders.
"This place is amazing." She said making Harry laugh softly a slightly bitter tone lacing his voice. "It was, more so back before I found myself here now." Harry said softly making her go silent quickly. "What happened?" She asked getting Harry to stop in place for a moment as his face changed from concentration to a soft from. "The records don't say, although I didn't really expect them too, in all honesty, I probably shouldn't be surprised by this." Harry said softly as they entered a small shop. "What do you mean?" She asked getting a small sigh. "Things with them would have gone one of two ways, considering the world I knew before finding myself in a coma." Harry said quickly as his hands ran over the rows of small boxes. "With how they were it was highly likely that they never would have rejoined the greater world and with the divide between the purebloods and muggle-borns its highly likely several civil wars would have lead to a drop in a population large enough to remove them from existence." Harry explained with a small shrug as though he wasn't all that bothered.
"But that clearly isn't the case." She said getting a small laugh in return. "And that is why it is so much worse! They went through so much change, they reintegrated with the world and found a new place in its society, being understood and accepted by the general populous and in the end, they still fell victim to their old ways, and in the end died with the rest of humanity." Harry said making her blink in confusion for a moment. "What do you mean fell victim to their old ways?" She asked getting a small snort. "Do you remember the look of the skeletons in the building you found me in, the bank?" Harry asked making her nod slowly. "Those bodies belonged to Goblins, and what seems to be some humans mixed in, and from the state of the room its pretty clear what went on, you see there were several rebellions made by the Goblins, they did so for a more fair and just system where they weren't second class citizens." Harry explained while rubbing at his temples.
"From what I can tell, they came in and cleansed the bank of Goblins slaughtering an entire species, or at least the Goblins in that bank, but taking the information from the Network and knowing you never came across a species that looks like them on Earth, its pretty easy to read between the lines." Harry said with mild annoyance as he pulled a box out and opened it. "The world I left behind, the one I was hoping so much had managed to hide something away didn't really change at all, I had so much hope after learning that they reintegrated back into the world that they had changed for the better, and on top of finding out they are truly dead, I also find out they never really changed, they were still the same moronic and closed off people." Harry said scowling softly to himself at the end. "I supposed I can see how that would look." She said getting a laugh.
"There isn't much of another way to look at it, I know that for a fact, the only information you have on this alley is what I just brought you and some vague rumors on old forums that seemed too unrealistic to warrant a look." Harry said making her wince lightly at the accusation. "But isn't that what normally happens with time, a Civilization falls and a new one rises up from the ashes?" She asked getting silence for a minute. "Yes, but that's just the thing, Magicals, Psionic users, whatever, have lived on the earth through the fall and rise of so many different Civilizations, the Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Crusades, I can list a calamity or Empire that doesn't exist anymore and they lived through it, and that's why its so frustrating, it would have been so easy to hide!" Harry said punching through an old wooden panel on a shelf.
"Going back to before they integrated into the world, a separate area, somewhere we couldn't or wouldn't find." She said making him nod slowly. "It was waiting for them, and they never used it, its been here for all this time and you never even knew until I walked through the archway, Honestly the only way I could see them not using it is if they had completely abandoned it after integrating in the regular world, which would be impossible since some die-hard purebloods would never accept leaving their own homes and land." Harry said with a small shrug. "But if only a few remained they would have died out after a generation or two, it has been eight hundred and sixty-seven years since you entered a coma. That is more than enough time to have all those things happen." She explained slowly laying a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah I guess so, it's just not easy to think about, all the memories, having known what this place looked like and seeing it how it is now, it just makes me so angry. Why couldn't they have just thought? why couldn't they have just done what was needed to survive?" Harry asked angrily his fists clenched. "From what you've explained it didn't seem like they ever really would have." She said getting a small snort of amusement after a moment of silence. "Yeah, I suppose that's true. Still looking back on the past isn't why I brought you to this shop. I don't exactly know everything but I can at least explain a little of what I know." Harry said as he pointed towards the rows of shelves with small boxes inside. "From what I do know is that back before Psionic Amp's, Wands were needed to perform spells." Harry explained making her shift in place at the word spells.
"I can literally feel you shifting in place, trust me I know how archaic and mythical it sounds but that was how they referred to things so bear with me here." Harry said getting her to stop moving and pay more attention. "Most spell work require fine movement and very particular wand motions, as well as time and focus. For each person, they were attuned to specific materials that make up the wand, wood and core for more basic wands." Harry explained as he pulled a box from the shelf and opened it setting the box back down before doing the same with another. "These two wands are different in their wood and most likely their core, although I wouldn't be able to tell with it being inside the wand." Harry explained letting her glance over the two. "So each person would have a fairly unique wand?" She asked getting a small smirk and nod.
"In the Magical world, there were multiple different possible uses for wands that were broken up into classes, conjuration, transfiguration, charms, runes. The list goes on, and most of those classes have books to teach their discipline." Harry explained before pulling a small list of household charms from under the desk he spotted. "From the mundane to the truly devastating." Harry explained before shrugging softly. "So what will you do with it all, its pretty clear you haven't found what you really wanted." She said getting a small sigh. "I guess I will take what I can, most of what's here in this world will still be useful, in war or at least later, but I can't really just give up yet, there are multiple places on earth that were magical havens, maybe someone is still out there." Harry said clenching his fists slightly. She winced at the blind hope and held back from killing it.
Harry's POV
He blinked at the slight wince and gave a slightly bitter and yet amused smile. "No need to hold back what you think, somewhere inside I know its futile, but like I said I don't exactly have it in me to give up." He said simply before turning around and exiting the store fairly quickly. "You say that but your smile isn't really all there." Melani said making him blink in surprise for a moment before he shrugged slightly as they moved slowly down the stretch of road, passing shops as they moved around the more under traveled areas. He stayed in silence as he mulled over her comment and tried to work out how exactly to say what he was feeling. "What do you see when you look around, aside from somewhere that hasn't been seen before?" He asked getting silence as his answer for the moment. "Well, it's similar to most other places on the planet, just empty, abandoned." Melani said making him chuckle slightly.
"You aren't wrong. To me, though I see so much more, I can still picture the masses of people moving through here and buying things, even if some of those masses are arrogant arseholes. This place has so many memories, of it thriving. The obvious desertion isn't exactly something that's easy to come to terms with, I can push it back I guess but this is a jarring disappointment." He said having searched for the words for several minutes. "On top of that, I have the knowledge that once I leave here I have to go back and continue working towards an end goal I don't really understand and perform a job that I am way out of my depth for!" He said growing exasperated and frustrated. "I am sorry that is the case, sir, but we don't really have any other option, you are the last Human we know of and while we wish we didn't have to force it on you we can't really continue as we were without failing." Melani said trying hard to explain away the move.
"But why? I mean I guess I understand, it's a shitty situation all around but so many things made this happen and now I'm out of place, out of time, and given so much power that I'm afraid to even use a small amount of it! He yelled angrily small Psionic lances ripping out towards some of the shops only to bounce off the small protections the runes on the shops gave. "I mean just look at that, I don't even really Have control over my magic anymore, I was thrown into Military training so fast and I had to wing my first interaction with an outside force! This is so far out of my capabilities!" He expressed rubbing at his head in frustration. "Yes, you have, but think about it all, You don't have any control... We will find a way to help you gain it. You were thrown into the military. Don't you think that training might have helped you, even right now you are calmer than any would expect you to be. And you handled that first contact well, honestly you may be out of depth and winging it but you've done everything very well so far." Melani said making him snort before sighing and thinking over what she said.
"Yeah Maybe, it's still a lot to think about, I have so many responsibilities that I'm not really sure how to handle it all." He said calming down slightly. "Maybe, but that's why you have so many people around to advise you, to help take the burden away." Melani said making him sigh and nod before making for the exit back into London. "So where do you go from here then?" Melani asked making him sigh. "I don't know, this news isn't something I'm just gonna be able to brush off, but I guess actually seeing it is better than ignoring it. Right? I know it's not exactly healthy but I guess I can focus on what issues come my way for the moment. There is a lot I have to do." He said getting a small frown. "How's the weather anyways, I saw the storm rolling in after I left." He said getting a small look of surprise. "It should be clearing up in several hours." Melani said slowly as she thought about it.
"Let's get out of here." He said only to stop as she held him back. "Are you sure, you just went on about the advantages of books from this area wouldn't you want to grab some, make use of them?" Melani asked making him blink. "Listen, I'd rather get out of here as fast as I can, we can always send a research team and several hundred people to grab everything later, but the more time I spend here the less likely I'm going to remain composed." He said slowly getting a small hesitant nod. "Besides, I honestly think the research teams would have a better time figuring out half the stuff in this place than I would, or they would consider it a challenge I guess." He said crossing the archway into the small alley that divided the magical and regular world. "How many things will I have to focus on once I get back anyway?" He asked slowly as he stopped by the cockpit to the fighter. "Several important documents are waiting for you, as well as I believe a meeting with the last person to have close encounters with a Psionic user." Melani said making him spin in place.
"You found someone, I figured most who fought in the old war would have the experience." He said getting a small shrug. "Not exactly, yeah they have memories of the fighting, but very few have memories of essentially learning beside a Psionic user, and having the knowledge behind it explained to them." Melani said making him blink before nodding slowly. "Is he waiting? The sooner I get a grasp on this the better, especially if I can make it translate into spells." He said trailing off at the end. "No, he is on his way though and should arrive there when you get there." Melani said making him nod and climb into the fighter. "Well, no use waiting around. Are you gonna be alright? I can always bring you back in the fighter, it won't be the most comfortable fit." He said hesitating slightly at the end getting an amused smile. "No thanks, there should be a transport here soon for me." Melani said getting him to sigh and nod.
A/N: Alright, I literally don't want to continue this chapter, I have struggled through this one for a while, I felt good about it in the beginning but near the end I struggled to keep it going, Mind you the story will still go on, but I feel like I am going to have to delay his true reaction to the entire event in order to convey it properly, besides some level of denial will continue until he breaks down when reality hits him like a train, so I have plans for when that will happen, there wasn't much else I wanted to put in here since it didn't fit with the feel of the chapter and would seem like such a jarring change to how he reacted in most the chapter to how he would react once he got back. besides a little over six thousand words isn't to bad for a chapter that I struggled a bit with. I'd prefer it to be 10k but we cant always have what we want I suppose