Note to older readers: some changes have been made to this chapter. It is largely the same, but there are a few key points that are now different.

Chapter 5: A History of Magic

The Barthomeloi were perfection personified. They were perfect magi, inherited perfect magic circuits, and had perfected dead apostle hunting into an art. Perfection was everything to the family and because the family was perfect that name was the only one that mattered to them. Their given names were irrelevant.

The Queen was a perfect example of this perfect family and had a perfect record against the most monstrous of creatures, the dead apostle ancestor. And then she became that which she despised above all else. She, a Barthomeloi, the perfect Queen was perfect no more. She was a Barthomeloi, and yet she was now a dead apostle- an ancestor even! The Barthomeloi were a perfect family and she was their pride and joy, perfection given form! But now she, Lorelei, was an abomination. Lorelei was no longer worthy of using her family's name and her world fell to pieces around her.

She had fully expected her family to appear and remove the stain on their honor- her existence as a dead apostle ancestor. Lorelei fully expected them to do so quickly or face ridicule from the magi of the Clock Tower as they would take malicious delight in the fall of the Association's top family. But they never did. They never contacted her, never even mentioned what had happened. In some ways that was even worse for the formerly perfect Lorelei. Her family did not attempt to execute her or to throw her out or have her removed from her position as vice-director. Instead they acted as if she had never existed, and the magi of the Association followed their example.

After recovering from her year-long coma, Lorelei remained locked in her office for months as the world carried on without her, until she had finally had enough. She had always been told that she was perfect, that she was the greatest the family or the Association had ever seen. And now she did not exist. Had it all been lies? To throw her away without a second thought, not even attempting to regain their honor by fighting her but simply erasing her existence, was that perfection? No! Her family… former family… was not perfect. If it had been they would not have hesitated in attempting to destroy her, and she would have let them do so. But they had not instead insisting she had never been born. They were all liars, and their self-proclaimed perfection was a lie because of it. The illusion shattered and anger began to slowly burn within her.

She, Lorelei, had been perfect and her family would not deny that from her. Lorelei was an apostle now and thus not perfect, but she would fix that in time. As an apostle her original perfection may no longer be attainable, and now she was seeing that it was likely more self-delusion than it had been perfection, but nothing would stop her from striving for perfection anyway.

So what would make an apostle perfect? They were stronger than humans, faster than humans, more magically powerful than humans, and far harder to kill than humans with their limited immortality, but none of that had ever stopped Lorelei before. Dead apostles had several fatal flaws that had to be removed if she was to attain true perfection. Their weakness to sunlight and water, while a huge flaw, was not insurmountable. Powerful apostles could overcome them. The 21st ancestor, Sumire the Water Demon, was a prime example as she lived underwater and could often be found sunbathing on tropical beaches. The bigger problem was the reliance on blood. If Lorelei was to attain perfection she had to find a way to break her reliance on human blood for continued existence.

So that was one question answered, to become a perfect dead apostle she had to overcome her new weaknesses to sunlight and water as well as find a way to eliminate her need for blood. There was one other thing she could do to improve herself as an apostle: increase her ranking among the ancestors. Lorelei had already been given the position of 12th ancestor by Altrouge, and improving that would be ideal. Taking the position of the 1st ancestor was impossible as Primate Murder was Altrouge's pet. Likewise taking the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th positions was also impossible as The Dark Six (#2) was regenerating, Brunestud of the Crimson Moon (#3) had been destroyed by Zelretch (#4) who was an ally, of sorts. The 5th ancestor, ORT, the Ultimate One of Mercury, would be nearly impossible to beat unless she was a magician. A possible target for the distant future, but not a good one at the moment. The 6th ancestor, on the other hand, was affiliated with the insufferable Altrouge who had caused her condition. Six was also half of twelve, so if she killed Rizo-Waal Strout not only would she have her revenge on Altrouge, but she'd also prove herself to be twice as good and no one would be able to deny her perfection.

With that decided it was time to reaffirm her position and reclaim the Clock Tower regardless of what fools stood in her way. Lorelei was an order of magnitude stronger now as a dead apostle than she had been before and would only strengthen with time. The world would look upon her might and despair.

August, 1986

Lorelei leaned back in her chair with a sigh of relief; the day's paperwork was complete. It had been five years since that fateful day when Altrouge Brunestud visited and she became the twelfth Dead Apostle Ancestor. And today, a beautiful August day in London which she could not enjoy because she was a vampire, she had finished her work early. There were no pressing demands, no petty squabbles between department heads, no fires to put out, no apostles or sealing designates to send squads of enforcers after. Just peace and quiet, almost too good to be true. She leaned back and closed her eyes and was just about to nod off when she felt something.

A distortion appeared in the air a few feet in front of her desk, light appearing to bend and twist around a singularity which suddenly expanded and stabilized into a translucent green portal.

"Zelretch, I knew it was too peaceful to last," she grumbled.

There was a sudden flash and the portal pulsed outwards encompassing the room before suddenly vanishing. Zelretch always was one for theatrics. He'd probably get along well with that rumored "Shakespeare dragon" if he didn't already. Three people stood before her, she knew all three but had never expected to see them together like this. As expected Zelretch stood with a mischievous grin and an unpleasant glint in his eyes. To his right was the one who got her into this mess in the first place, Altrouge Brunestud. And next to Altrouge was the last person she expected to see, as her latest intelligence stated that she was still sleeping in her castle and that she and Altrouge were bitter enemies. Arcueid Brunestud had also arrived, the blond True Ancestor looking around her office curiously. Interestingly Arcueid's hair was waist-length instead of its previous shoulder length. Altrouge must have returned what she had stolen at the conclusion of their legendary battle.

Lorelei reached under her desk, opened a hidden compartment, and removed a bottle of whiskey. Whatever those three were here to talk about was bound to give her a migraine, but perhaps a few glasses of strong alcohol would stave it off.

Lorelei poured herself a glass, downed it, and addressed the source of her distress, "So what brings the three of you here today, surely there is someone else you can bother."

"You are going to take Harry Potter Brunestud on as your apprentice," Zelretch stated, his infuriating grin still plastered onto his face.

"Ok."

"Thanks. We'll be off now then. Ta-Ta." And with that, the three of them made for the door.

Lorelei's brain finally finished processing Zelretch's statement. Apprentice? Harry Potter? Harry Potter Brunestud…? Wait a second, did he just trick her into agreeing to take on Harry Potter as an apprentice?

"Now wait just a minute! I'm not taking an apprentice." She yelled slamming her hands down on her desk.

"You just said yes, are you saying you lied? I thought that was beneath the Barthomeloi," he said turning back to her, shaking his head in mock disappointment.

"I never agreed to take on an apprentice. Besides, it sounded like you were stating that I would take him, not asking."

Zelretch's grin returned, even wider than before. "That's right."

"And why would I simply take an apprentice? Especially one that would cause so much friction with the wizards if they were to find out. Also, last time I checked I was your boss, not the other way around!"

"You owe me for sorting things out with your family."

"It's Altrouge's fault that was an issue in the first place! Why are she and Arceuid here anyway, wasn't Arceuid still supposed to be asleep?"

"Blame Zelretch," Altrouge responded. "I am here because I am Harry's guardian. As for Arc, she's been living with us for the last two years. A bit of advice regarding her, never EVER allow her into a kitchen or near a cleaning implement, it will only end in tears."

"Hey!"

"Remember the couch? Or the spaghetti? What about that time you tried to shovel snow, or do the laundry, or clean your room, or sweep the porch, or the Bacon Incident? I can continue if you want."

"Point taken," Arceuid grumbled.

"Getting back on topic, why should I take the kid as my apprentice?"

"Because I cannot teach him properly and Zelretch would probably make him go insane."

"And what makes the great and mighty Altrouge unable to teach a child?"

"I've never been human and we learn magecraft in a very different manner than humans. Using magecraft has always been more of an innate ability than a learned one for me, so to start him down the path and teach him the basics is impossible. Once he's advanced enough I can take over his studies, but not before. Not to mention, he most likely has the element of wind like yourself because he's a Potter."

"I'm still not taking him."

"Very well," Zelretch said with an exaggerated sigh. "You leave me no choice but to give a copy of these to every magus in the Association if you do not agree," he said tossing an envelope to Lorelei.

She picked it up and opened it, it was full of pictures. Very embarrassing pictures, ones which would ruin her reputation and standing in the Association. How did Zelretch even get most of them?

"Ooh, I like that one best," Arceuid said looking over her shoulder pointing at a picture of her as a teen reading Twilight and wearing a t-shirt that said "I heart vampires". A large poster of Edward was on the wall behind her.

"Huh, I had completely forgotten about that. Maybe discovering that reality was so different from the books is what triggered my irrational hatered of the vampiric race."

"That does seem like a reasonable explanation, but why were you reading Twilight in the first place? It's not even a good story. In fact, how did you even get it into your room considering the beliefs of your family?"

"Rebellious phase?"

Meanwhile at the Barthomeloi Estate

"Sir, we have planted the book in young Cynthia's room as directed."

"Excellent, in a few months once she has been completely captivated by the series we'll take her on her first dead apostle hunt. With a bit of luck, she'll end up hating vampires as much as that one once did."

Back in the Clock Tower

"Well I don't seem to have any choice in the matter do I?" Lorelei asked.

"Nope!" Zelretch cheerfully responded.

"You also won't stop pestering me until I agree will you?"

"Nope!"

"Fine, I'll train the kid but those photos had better be destroyed, got it!" She ended in a huff, before continuing with a confused expression. "How exactly is he Harry Potter Brunestud? I thought that name had special requirements before you were allowed to use it, that's why the two of you are the only ones that have it."

"It does, and I just don't care," Altrouge responded flippantly.

"That's not how it works!"

"Look, I think we can all agree that Crimson Moon was a total jerk. So, I'm just going to ignore the requirements for using the name and give it to him anyway. Besides, I've adopted him. Aren't children supposed to have the same last name as their parent?"

Lorelei found herself unable to respond.

One Week Later

Harry, now seven, stood in front of the large desk, fidgeting nervously. He had been told, just a week earlier, that he was finally allowed to learn magecraft and that he was to be taught by the best. A few minutes ago, Zelretch had dropped him off in a large and well-furnished office. A strict looking lady sat behind the desk filling out paperwork. She had not yet spoken.

A few minutes later she finished her work and spoke, "You are Harry Potter, correct?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Now have you learned any magecraft yet?"

"No ma'am. They said I was too young."

"Do you know much about magecraft?"

"Not much, they wanted to leave it to you."

Lorelei sighed. Damn those lazy vampires intentionally teaching him nothing to make her own job more difficult. "Do you know anything about the wizards?"

"Only that they use a different sort of magic and do not get along well with magi."

"Very well, so we start from the beginning. Now," said The Queen, "before I actually instruct you in the ways of magecraft, you must learn about how the magical world became the way it is. As you said, magi and wizards do not get along. In fact, they dislike each other so much that they ignore the other's existence creating two completely separate magical worlds.

Originally, in ancient times, this was not the case. There were those able to draw upon mystical energies and cast spells, and there were those who could not. As time went on and the magicals became more advanced it was found that there were two types of practitioners. There were those who drew upon significant stores of internal energy to cast their spells, which were intent based and very versatile, but lacked power. And then there were those who drew most of their energy from the surrounding environment. Their spells were largely limited by their element, though this was not discovered for another few centuries, but were far more powerful. Both types of magic required tremendous effort to learn and were dangerous to use.

Time went on and further distinctions were found between the two. The most important of these was the ability of magus families to accumulate mystical knowledge and power and pass that on to their descendents in the form of magical crests. Wizards, as they are now known, were unable to do so. Now by this time most magicals were capable of using both wizardry and magecraft due to intermarriage between the two groups. Due to the strength and importance of the magical crest, which wizardry was unable to match, magi developed a superiority complex against those who used wizardry. Wizardry would have become completely extinct by the time of the Romans if it were not for the invention of the staff.

A young magus created the first staff as his personal mystic code, or magical artifact, with the goal of increasing the power of his magecraft. It failed. Instead, it made wizardry ten times easier to use and channel while leaving its power intact. This created a revolution of sorts. The new ease of wizardry meant that there was no longer a form of mutual exclusion between the two types of magic, it was now possible to learn both. This, naturally, angered those at the top of magical society. Partially because it threatened the status quo, and partially because they had been the most adamant critics of wizardry and most had already removed its "taint" from their bloodlines. A few decided to use marriage to regain wizardry now that it was useful and were shunned by the others.

Time went on and a new equilibrium was reached. Wizardry, despite the new advances, could not hope to match the power of magecraft. Instead it was relegated to mostly mundane activities due to its enormous breadth of ability. Weaker magus families and those unable to use magecraft at all decided to focus on wizardry as they were unable to compete with the top magi. And so, a type of caste system was formed with families of magi at the top as scholars and warriors, and families of wizards at the bottom, as farmers and tailors. Over time a rift opened between the two groups until they acted as almost entirely separate communities.

This break within the magical world was widened with the invention of the wand. Now staves had slowly been improving over the centuries, but suddenly the Peverell family had a major breakthrough. They created the first wand. It not only made accessing a wizard's internal store of energy easier than a staff, but it also boosted the power of a wizard's spells to some degree, and was very portable. It was a truly historic moment. As an aside, the first wand, which was made of elder wood, thestral hair, and a drop of Type-Moon's blood, was the most powerful wand ever created. It is so powerful that it passed into legend and became a noble phantasm- an enchanted object or weapon that draws a great deal of its power from the legend surrounding it. In this case, the Elder Wand not only became more powerful, but it also gained the property of "never losing a duel" and "being usable at full power only by the one to defeat its last master". I believe that it is currently held by Albus Dumbledore, the so called "leader of the light".

That would have been the end of the story were it not for King Arthur. At the time the wizards were more progressive than their magus brethren and many had moved to the outskirts of the Roman Empire, including England. Now it is well known that a powerful young magus of the prestigious Emrys family, named Merlyn, was responsible for his meteoric rise to power. He, along with several other magus families and most of the wizarding ones, united behind the charismatic young king who challenged the Roman Empire, the seat of magus power. And then the upstart won. Those magi who had sided with him were cast out of the magical world and have remained in the wizarding world ever since. While the actions of King Arthur and Merlyn are now revered by both sides, at the time they drove yet another wedge between the two factions completely separating them into the Wizarding world and the Moonlit world, in an event known as The Great Division.

Now the magical war raged on until Arthur's death, even after he had won and made peace. After his death both sides decided that something had to be done as another war could wipe them all out. So they called upon Lady Altrouge. She was very young then, and respected rather than feared. Altrouge was often called upon in those days to enact and enforce magical pacts and contracts, and this was her greatest work. It was also her downfall.

The Great Division was Altrouge's masterpiece. It, with the assistance of both wizards and magi, created an impenetrable magical divide between the two groups effectively creating two magical worlds. There was no way for wizards and magi, barring those who had sided with King Arthur, to physically interact with one another. In a sense the contract created two parallel dimensions: the moonlit world and the wizarding world, although both shared the same mundane world. Altrouge, being the lynchpin, was the only one who could interact with both worlds, with the exception of Zelretch once he gained mastery over the Kaleidoscope. This division was enforced for 1000 years, ending around 1600.

Now, while there was no physical way for magi and wizards to interact, they maintained full knowledge of each other. This turned out to be very bad as when the medieval witch burnings began both sides blamed the other for starting them and claim that the burnings were used as a tool to indirectly damage the opposite magical world. This made reconciliation impossible once the divide finally did come down. The burnings also eventually lead to the current laws regarding the secrecy of magic on both sides and a total lack of communication between the two groups. Strangely enough, even magical creatures were divided by Altrouge's actions. The wizarding world has vampires, beings cursed with vampirism and several weaknesses but remain living and are barely stronger than the rest of the wizards, while we have dead apostles who are far more dangerous. Anyway the end result is what you see today. Two completely separate communities that barely even acknowledge one another, though the resentment has finally begun to fade as both sides forget about the other."

"So the magi were envious that wizards were able to do magic so easily and forced them to the edge of society, then a series of events including a war broke the magical world into two and they no longer talk right?"

"Correct. It seems you have been paying attention. Now there is a lot more to it than that, but you do not need to know more for now."

"What did you mean by the divide being Altrouge's downfall?"

"Ah, that. It would probably be better to ask her yourself but the way I interpret it is that the sheer magnitude of her act scared a lot of people so badly that they abandoned her. She was no longer called upon to assist with contracts, rituals, or ceremonies. She was no longer respected and beloved for her gifts. She was shunned, isolated, rejected, and no longer had any she could call 'friend' as they had either perished in the war, or come to fear her. Altrouge was a very young apostle and everything had just been stripped from her. She did not know what to do, so she did what any young child in that situation would do: she threw tantrums."

"Tantrums?"

"Loud and violent calls for attention, which were, in her case, of the dead apostle fashion. Destruction of towns, rampages leaving hundreds or thousands dead, using immense rituals to do unspeakable things etc. It did get her the attention she craved, but it was entirely negative. Wizards and magi quickly learned to fear her name and everything to do with her, forgetting the past in which she walked among them as a friend. Other apostles commended her actions and held her up as a shining example of their kind. And so things continued to spiral downward for her until she created the black plague as a way to drain the life from millions to increase her own power, fought her sister Arcueid, and met Zelretch. Altrouge has been more stable since then and less prone to violence, though her acquisition of Primate Murder throws the second point into doubt. But now that she has family, I think the scars of her youth are finally beginning to heal. Perhaps she will once more become the kind Mistress of Contract instead of continuing on as the bloodthirsty Eclipse Princess of Black Blood.

Anyway, with the history lesson out of the way, it is time to start on magecraft. One thing you should know is that your family was one of the families of magecraft that sided with King Arthur and was thus thrust into the wizarding world. You are capable of both wizardry and magecraft."

"Really!" Harry said, quivering in excitement.

"Yes. In fact, you should have a large amount of magical knowledge stored somewhere, most likely in a vault, to assist with your later studies. Unfortunately, the location of your family crest is unknown, it may be locked away as well or it may have been lost over the centuries or even destroyed."

"If my family knowledge is locked away, then what can I learn?"

Lorelei chuckled at his enthusiasm. "There is plenty that you can learn, but it mostly depends on your element and origin, those they shouldn't have too much effect on what types of wizardry you can learn. There are a number of different types of magecraft that are not aligned to a specific element, such as formalcraft, and can enable the use of elemental mysteries outside of your proficiencies. But first we need to know your element. Now come, let us move to my workshop so I can begin preparing to test your capabilities."

A few minutes later Harry was looking around him in awe at Lorelei's workshop. There were bookshelves filled with magical texts, shelves above counters and tables covered in magical artifacts of unknown use and numerous contraptions bubbled away making the place appear similar to a chemistry lab. The white lab coats and goggles only contributed to this image. The room was quite large and the center of the room was clear of objects and had several ornate magic circles on the floor. Lorelei approached one and snapped her fingers causing it to vanish in a flash.

"It will take a while to create a magic circle to test your element and origin, especially to account for the possibility of them being non-standard. Sit on that chair over there while I work."

Harry dutifully went and sat on the chair she indicated, watching in fascination as a complex magic circle took shape.

"What I am doing right now is known as formalcraft, the use of magecraft through magic circles. If skilled enough you can perform almost any magecraft through use of formalcraft, though it tends to be rather slow. I believe that Altrouge is a master of this craft. Do you know what the five primary elements are?"

Harry shook his head.

"Very well, we'll start with that. The five elements are as follows: fire, wind, earth, water, and the fifth imaginary element ether. Most families focus on a single element and tend to be aligned to that element. My family, for example, are masters of wind magecraft. Some magi are able to use multiple elements, and rarely all five. Those capable of using all the elements are known as "average ones" and there are almost always less than three living at any given time. There are also sub-elements, such as lightning being the sub-element of wind, or completely different unusual elements. I do believe that one magus had the element of "flesh" and had to be hunted down as he used his command of flesh to twist creatures into monstrosities. There have also been known users of the "light" or "dark" or "shadow" elements, though they are rare. More common are people who can use two elements and combine them to create a compound element such as the Archibalds who combine water and wind for "liquid manipulation".

As for a person's origin, it is quite literally who you are and provides much greater detail about the type of magus a person is. These are quite diverse and, on occasion, someone with dual-origins is born. They are even rarer than Average Ones. Even more rare than the dual-origin a magus whose element and origin are aligned. This is so rare that it does not have a proper name, although some have taken to calling them 'incarnations'. This alignment makes the magus uniquely capable of using that element to the exclusion of all others. An incarnation of fire is, for all intents and purposes, fire. They will be very passionate and quick to anger as well as able to use fire-based magecraft at a level the rest of us can only dream about. At the moment, there are no known living incarnations."

A few more minutes passed before Lorelei finished the circle and had Harry lay down in the middle. She activated the circle and it glowed a soft red color which slowly increased in intensity to a burning crimson. Then, it was gone.

Lorelei stood to the side the whole time writing rapidly in a notebook as the circle worked. After it was finished she looked over the results, eyes widening comically as she read the conclusion. "Oh my, this is going to be fun." She said to herself, "to think that my apprentice would provide me with this opportunity..." And with that, The Stoic Queen, Strictest and Most Noble of All Magi, began giggling like a schoolgirl. It quickly transformed into maniacal laughter, and Harry retreated under a desk on the far side of the room.

Fifteen minutes later Lorelei calmed herself, realizing her error in breaking her carefully crafted mask. "You will never speak of this to anyone," she commanded Harry, who nodded instantly. Who knew what the rest of the magi would do if her breakdown ever got out. She never noticed the active video camera Zelretch had left there earlier that day, which suddenly vanished from the room.

"Sorry about that but I couldn't help it, every magus has a Mad Scientist side and learning your alignment activated mine."

Harry remained on the other side of the room, close to the door.

"Now your test results are very interesting. First, I will inform you of what Zelretch found when he tested you a few years ago. He performed a separate test, one to test your ability in magecraft. Unlike with wizards, whose magical cores grow as they age, a magus' potential ability is set at birth with their magic circuits. Now magic circuits are what we use to channel our magical energies to actualize our mysteries." At Harry's blank look she clarified, "to cast our spells."

Seeing the realization spread across his face really was amusing. "Now, magic circuits are part of our soul, but are also present in magic crests, but I'll get to that later. The number and quality of a person's circuits determines how much magecraft they can perform by setting a maximum limit to how much energy they can channel, which if surpassed can cause permanent injury or even death."

"You have 42 circuits. This is a tremendous amount, A-rank by our ranking system. The average magus has only 20, which is considered C-rank. Ranks are not that important, just a way of classifying power. Similar to grades at school, higher is better. Unfortunately, the ranking system is rather confusing as it is different for almost everything it is used for. The only real similarity is that C-rank tends to mean average.

Now, as stated there are two important parts to determining magical strength. The number of circuits and the quality of the circuits, or how much energy each one can channel. The average, C-rank, is 20 units of prana. Don't worry, I'll explain what prana is later. Now you are able to channel an astounding 50 units of prana, which is A+ rank quality making you capable of channeling up to 2100 units at once which is more than five times greater than the average magus."

"What about you?"

"Myself? I was born with blue-blood circuits, which is my family's pride and joy. They are EX ranked quality, which means that their quality is so great they cannot be properly quantified as they are a category of their own. Somehow, upon becoming a dead apostle, they gained even more quality and almost doubled in number. It is practically impossible for me to channel their full capacity."

"Woah! When Alt said I was going to have the best magus for my teacher she wasn't kidding!" Harry exclaimed in awe.

Lorelei grinned, she was beginning to like the kid. "Now, as I said you can channel 2100 units. This does not mean that you can use spell after spell each using 2100 units, but that that is the maximum amount you can use through continuous casting without rest. A good night's sleep will reset that amount, and even a few hours of downtime between major spell casting will reduce it and allow you to channel more than 2100 in a day. Either way, 2100 is a truly enormous amount and you are unlikely to ever need to use all of it at once, so you can consider yourself lucky. It seems the Potters have been quite diligent over the years in continuing their magecraft even though their crest is now missing."

"So what was it about my element and origin that cause you to go mad scientist on me?"

"Ah, that. You, my friend, not only have an unusual and possibly unique element for a human, but also happen to have an origin so unusual that my tests cannot determine what it is. There is so much we can learn together!" And with that Lorelei began laughing again, the camera mysteriously reappearing in a dark corner once more.

Harry waited patiently for her to stop. He figured this would happen fairly often if he really was an incarnation and they were as rare as Lorelei said they were. Once she had he asked, "What do you mean by 'possibly unique for a human', and what is it?"

Lorelei, having finally calmed down once more was embarrassed that she had lost control like that again. Harry had to ask his question twice more before she heard him.

"The reason for that, is that I do not know of any other human with your specific element but do know of many dead apostles which have it, Altrouge being the most prominent which will make things easier. As for what it is, you, young Harry, have the dual elements of blood and wind."

-End Chapter 5-

Author's Note:

Blame Zelretch for weird quirks in the timeline, like Twilight being published in the 60's. And yes, Lorelei is going to fight stronger ancestors to raise her rank eventually, perhaps even ORT if she can become a magician.

Some of you are going to have questions about my explanation of Altrouge's past in this chapter, specifically why it is different than in chapter 2. The reason: this is Lorelei's interpretation of her actions while Chapter 2 was how the magical world at large sees them. Her occasional rampages now might be fueled by boredom, but Lorelei's explanation about her behavior in the distant past is probably close to the truth, not that Altrouge will ever admit it.

This chapter had a quite a bit of exposition. Chapter 6 is the same. These are primarily world-building chapters- explaining why the magical world ended up divided and how magic works in this AU. Chapter 7 will be introducing a few beloved Fate characters and should be quite fun while the newest chapter (as of March 26, 2018) is chapter 8 which expands on that.

About Harry's element and origin: I originally had him be an incarnation of blood, but have since changed my mind. He originally (before Voldemort) had the single element of wind but gained a second element of blood for several reasons:

1) His mother's blood protection spell

2) Being hit by a killing curse, having the blood protection spell reflect it, being a horcrux

3) The blood wards (or whatever the protection was) at his blood relative's house

4) Voldemort (in canon) used his blood to revive himself

5) The whole blood purity thing that Wizards are obsessed with

6) The "power he knows not"

7) He was raised by Altrouge

8) It's awesome

While those are some traumatic events, it's not enough to erase his original element or align his origin to blood like what happened to Shirou after the fire + Avalon messing things up. As for why I gave Harry the element of blood, it's because blood-bending is awesome! There will be more on what that means next chapter.

Omake: Arcueid's Housework Adventures Part 2

It was Christmas morning and Arcueid was very excited, it was her first Christmas outside of the castle. The ground was covered in a layer of snow and more flakes drifted down from the heavens. Altrouge and Harry remained asleep on this glorious morning so Arc decided to head outside to make some snowmen as she waited.

Several hours later, Altrouge's rest was interrupted by what sounded like explosions. She looked at the clock, it was barely 7 in the morning and she would have gone back to sleep had Arcueid not crashed into her room, through the window, covered from head to toe with snow.

"Altrouge help! We are under attack by deranged mutant killer monster snow goons! I can't hold them off much longer; they are rapidly multiplying and heading for town!"

"What did you do?"

"Made a snowman."

"And how did it turn into something from Calvin and Hobbes?"

"It ate a Baconator."

"Don't tell me you tried to cook breakfast as well…"

The look on Arcueid's face said it all. "Fine, I'll go clean it up. Just go back to bed or something." This was going to be a long day.