AN: So here is the next chapter, sorry it has been a while. Have been on holiday recently and well I was not really in the writing mood. I am back now though and with a big old chunk of story for you.
I am glad people have been so positive about my last few chapters. I really appreciate the comments and a number of them have been very useful for how I tackled this chapter.
One thing I will bring up though is a few people's concerns over how the tone of the story seems to change between being light and humorous and then between dark and serious. I actually did that for a reason. As in my mind life is not entirely light and easy but nor is it entirely dark and difficult. So I kind of did it with that in mind, where there is good there is bad and where there is bad there is good. It is also making it so the story is not to intensely serious that it would put people off nor that it is so slap stick that people would get bored of it. Not sure if that makes sense to people but yeah.
SO anyway on with the story, I hope you like it and leave a comment of a review afterwards!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Highschool D xD
( - )
(Last Time)
"My Lord what should we do?" Rossweisse asked Harry cautiously, her gaze flicking form Harry to the headless body of Arthur, the former wielder of Excalibur Ruler.
"You go back to Heaven." Harry decided having come to a decision. "Gather the pieces of Excalibur I believe it is time for that blade to be re-forged and bestowed upon a new champion. Also keep an eye on Kuoh and the Devil influence there. Also make sure to keep track of Kokabiel, I want to know what he is up to."
As Harry rattled off his order Rossweisse nodded along, committing what he said to memory as she prepared to teleport back to Heaven. Before she did however she paused. "What will you be doing my Lord?"
Harry blinked at that before he looked at the greatsword he was still carrying, absentmindedly absorbing the divine energy it was made from as he caused it to dissemble.
"I will be going to Atlantis to meet up with Poseidon. I think I am going to need a symbol of power if I am to stand up to my siblings as I am now, and who better to make me one than the Elder Cyclops, the ones who forged Zeus's Bolt of Lightning and Poseidon's Trident." Harry said his mind whirling as he thought about the information he had just been given. Things were far more complicated than he had thought. Things were slowly spiraling into chaos, and not just with the Biblical Factions, and Harry knew and dreaded what would come from that chaos.
( - )
In a humongous chamber of marble, a figure stirred, a pair of corrosive yellow eyes opened. Shifting slightly in the throne like chair it was seated in, the being looked down at the dozens of robed figures in front of it, each of them kneeling down their heads lowered in reverence.
Eyes gleaming with barely contained malice and glee, the being said. "The time for change has nearly arrived."
( - )
Chapter 9
(Within the Throne Room of Atlantis)
Atlantis, some scholars believed that Atlantis was once an island, one that was home to an advanced and mighty civilization before it was deliberately pulled to the bottom of the sea by a jealous god. Those scholars were mostly right; Atlantis was indeed an island that was home to a city that shared the same name. The people of that island were more advanced than the primitive humans of the time, what the scholars either didn't write or did not know was that the original inhabitants of Atlantis gained their strength and power by praying to one of the four Chaos Gods.
They would raid the mainland, capturing and enslaving anyone they came across. These people would then be sacrificed to the dark gods, offerings given in return for the God's favour. Suffice to say their actions were not appreciated by Greek God of the Sea, Poseidon. After all their raids were aimed at coastal villages and settlements, most of which worshipped Poseidon in one form or another, and so he showed them his wrath and dragged their island beneath the waves.
Since then Poseidon had moved into the old city and expanded it as his kingdom grew. Making it his realm beneath the waves, Odin had Asgard; the God of the Bible had Heaven so why shouldn't Poseidon have Atlantis? That was how Poseidon thought anyway, let the other Greek God's squabble over Olympus as far as Poseidon was concerned Atlantis was his realm, his home and he liked it.
Currently Poseidon was sat on his large coral throne, a bemused expression on his face as he watched the latest episode of Magical Girl Sera-tan's adventures on the supernatural television network. What could he say, Serafall Leviathan was hot and he was a guy. Chuckling slightly Poseidon was oblivious to all else as he lounged around in his open Hawaiian shirt and baggy swim shorts. That was of course until he heard someone knocking on his throne room door.
Looking up nervously, he grabbed his trident and transported his television away into one of his pocket dimensions, a useful trick a friend had taught him a while back for storing his things away, in a place where his wife Amphitrite won't find it. Clicking his fingers he transformed his Hawaiian shirt and shorts into scaled ocean green armour before he leant back in his throne striking a noble pose as he did so, his sea green eyes fixed on the entrance to his mighty throne room.
"Enter!" Poseidon commanded in a deep booming voice, as he looked on majestically, the God currently being in his towering twenty foot form, giving him an intimidating and somewhat overwhelming presence. Casting his gaze to the large ornate double doors, Poseidon waited for them to open and for the person who annoyingly interrupted his television programme to enter.
When no one did however he scowled in confusion and irritation.
"So tell me Poseidon old buddy, did I just interrupt you when you were watching porn?" An amused voice suddenly spoke up.
Looking around for the source of the voice Poseidon boomed out. "Who dares speak to the great and mighty Poseidon like that within his own throne room?!"
"The great and mighty Poseidon? You're laying it on a bit thick; don't you think old buddy, old pal of mine?" The voice replied in amusement.
Poseidon twisted around in his seat at that as he once again tried to find out who was speaking, when he couldn't find anyone he turned back around only to see the source standing smugly in front of his throne.
It was a short five foot eleven man, with shaggy black hair and twinkling green eyes. It was also a person Poseidon could not recall ever meeting before.
"Long time no see buddy, how's things?" The green eyed man said as he looked up at Poseidon's towering form with a slight smirk.
Looking down at him it took Poseidon a few moments to realise that he recognised the power that was coming from the man in front of him.
"YOU!" He shouted as he pointed down at the man in surprise.
"Me?" Harry said with a smile on his face.
"You're supposed to be dead." Poseidon accused as he looked Harry up and down noticing the changes in his old friend's human form.
"Am I?" Harry questioned. "Well bugger, no one told me that."
Leaping up from his throne Poseidon quickly shrank down to a more manageable form as he landed in front of Harry, now standing at a mere eight feet tall. Reaching out Poseidon grabbed Harry, pulling his much smaller frame into a hug that would have crushed a lesser being.
Harry though only took it as a challenge, as he squeezed back.
"Okay, okay I give!" Poseidon wheezed as Harry let go, allowing Poseidon to take in a few ragged breaths as he attempt to recover from Harry's return hug.
"It is good to see you again!" Harry said with a smile as he slapped the larger man on the shoulder. "How have the last few centuries been? We definitely need to have a catch up soon, you me and Odin like in the good old days!"
Poseidon chuckled at that. "Things have been boring, occasionally smiting mortals and slapping other factions down if they tried to cause any trouble in my seas. Other than that it has been dull, the wife Amphitrite is still a pain in the arse sometimes and the son Triton can be an arrogant little shit. How about you? I suspected you weren't dead, but was never really sure, you did always say you had a plan, I was just not really sure if you were serious?"
"Well it's been interesting that's for sure. Spent some time as a human called Harry Potter, by the way the name is Harry now. Found my Deathly Hallows and got reborn into my true self again. Other than that just been trying to get back into the swing of things, one of the reasons I came to see you actually."
"Oh really?" Poseidon replied easily as he stepped back from Harry looking him up and down as he did so. A part of him knew that Harry, as he was calling himself now, was not telling him everything. "And there I was thinking it was because of my winning personality."
"Nah there are a much better things I could be getting up to than talking to you fish face." Harry replied with a chuckle.
"Fish face? Really?" Poseidon replied with a loud booming laugh, as he flash Harry a large grin.
"Yeah not my best, but to be fair I am just starting up, give me a decade and I will be back on form." Harry said.
"Okay then you mentioned you came to me for a reason. Might as well get that out of the way before we reminisce about the good old days." Poseidon decided as he clicked his finger, the marble floor responding as two throne like chairs took form, the marble almost like liquid as Poseidon reformed it. Throwing himself into his seat Poseidon looked up at Harry curiously. "Go on then, I am all ears."
Harry took his own seat as he looked curiously over at Poseidon, a thoughtful look on his face as he thought about what he should and should not tell him. He trust Poseidon a lot, but the Sea God was unfortunately a bit of a loud mouth. Meaning he could accidently reveal one of Harry's secrets if he wasn't careful.
"I need your Cyclops' to forge me a Symbol of Power." Harry said bluntly, Poseidon was also a pretty straight forward guy. He didn't care for politics or subtly, the guy wasn't called the God of Sea because he was predictable and subtle.
That was not what Poseidon had been expecting.
"A Symbol of Power?" The God of the Sea asked in confusion, idly scratching his beard with his hand. "Why would you need such a thing, Symbol's of Power focus's a God's power and helps them to control it and with enough skill amplify their power? But you're pretty much the strongest God to have ever existed and one of the oldest, why would you need such a device?"
Once again Harry frowned as he thought on what he should and should not reveal. Nodding he replied. "My transition into a God was not as simple or as easy as I described. I believe I will be involved in a fight soon, one which I need to be prepared for, which is why I think it is time I get me a Symbol of Power."
"Fighting eh?" Poseidon chuckled. "No doubt against those puffed up, pretentious Devils. Gods they have become insufferable since your absence. I take it you are going to use your Symbol of Power as a crutch then, at least until you get you full strength back?"
Harry nodded at that, Poseidon always was a smart God, people were often deceived by his rough and carefree demeanor, but beneath that was a keen intelligence. "So how about it? Fancy doing me a favour?"
"Shouldn't be a problem. What is a Symbol of Power between friends?" Poseidon chuckled. "I will inform the Cyclops to start firing up their forges and getting the materials they will need together."
"How long do you reckon that would take?" Harry questioned, knowing as he did that the process of making a Symbol of Power was very complicated, after all you had to create a vessel that was strong enough to channel a God's full power. This for Harry meant that it had to be monumentally strong. Harry liked to think of it like creating a wand, except times a million. It was also a very specialized process, Harry himself couldn't just snap his fingers and create it after all he didn't have the skill or knowledge how.
No there were only three sets of magical creatures who had the knowledge and skill to make Symbols of Power. The dwarves who were hermits and wouldn't piss on a non dwarf even if they were on fire, the Goblins who would try to extort whoever came to them for a fortune in gold and favours, and then finally the Cyclops who served Poseidon and only Poseidon , meaning you had to have his blessing to have one forged by them.
Poseidon looked thoughtful at that, before he shrugged. "Probably a week to prepare give or take a few days."
"Great." Harry muttered to himself sarcastically.
"Hey now, no need to be a bitch about it. The Cyclops's have not forged a true Symbol of Power in millennia and the materials needed aren't exactly easy to acquire." Poseidon said with a frown on his face.
Harry sighed at that, knowing he shouldn't have let his impatience get the best of him. "Yeah I know, I am just a bit stressed is all. Ophis and the Great Red are up to no good again."
"Ah those two." Poseidon replied in a dark tone and a nod of his head, now understanding why Harry was impatient. He had met the two before, Ophis in his opinion was a frigid bitch who would happily knife her own brother in the back if it suited her purposes and the Great Red was literally or at least in Poseidon's opinion the God of Bellends.
So yeah he wasn't a fan, though of course he wasn't exactly a fan of Harry when he had first met him. He thought he was a bit of a pretentious prat, especially for one so powerful and old. But after getting to know him he had come to like him, though he did find it a bit daunting sometimes. Harry had after all known Poseidon's father Kronos, and his grandfather Ouranos and whoever came before him, this sometimes made Poseidon feel like a child when it came to dealing with Harry. But he had gotten over it mostly.
"So speaking of family how is yours?" Harry asked deciding to move the subject on from his own family.
"Well Zeus is still a dick, and well you have met my family. Hestia, Artemis, Apollo, Hermes and Demeter are the only decent ones amongst them." Poseidon replied irritably, Harry wasn't the only one who didn't get on with his siblings. "Though there is some good news, I had a kid a couple of years ago. A little Demigod called Perseus; he is a cute little tyke must be almost twelve by now."
"Well I look forward to meeting him." Harry replied with a slight smile on his face, Poseidon for all his bluster was a good man, and Harry knew without a doubt that he loved his newest son just as much as his other ones. "Bet Amphitrite was pissed."
Poseidon let out a bark of laughter at that. "Oh yeah, she went with the old deny me sex routine. It's been eleven years now but I am wearing her down." Poseidon chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.
"Well that explains the porn." Harry replied with a grin.
"It wasn't porn." The God of the Sea vehemently denied.
Clicking his fingers, Harry summoned Poseidon's television form his pocket space, after all he was the one who taught him the trick.
"Wait!" Poseidon cried out as he made to stop him.
"Oh Poseidon… for shame…" Harry said as he solemnly shook his head.
All the while Poseidon's Magical Girl television show continued playing.
( - )
(With Harry a few days later within God's Throne Room)
Harry was once more sitting on his throne, the power surging through the throne speeding up his body's transformation from being mortal to being divine. He had a contemplative look on his face as he sat there, his thought going over the information he had received from Poseidon and Ophis as well as going over how his carefully laid plans were progressing.
So far, his plans to strengthen Heaven had born fruit and Heaven was in a much stronger position than it had been previously. With his changes to the System to prevent Devils from gaining Holy Swords or Sacred Gears, as well his manipulation of the Sacred Gears themselves linking their strength to their wielders faith in him, he had taken great steps in weakening the other factions who sought to take advantage of the gifts he had given to humanity.
When this was combined with his creation and training of new Angels, Heaven was more than equal to the Underworld at the moment. Already within barely two months Heaven had nearly returned to the state it was before Harry died, give it a few more years and he knew it would recover to the strength it was before the Great War when it was at its peak.
So yes things were going well, Harry was subtle weakening the positions of the other factions while secretly strengthening his own. If the worst came to be Harry knew that they could probably defeat the Underworld and even the Grigori if it came to war, though not without heavy losses, though that was without counting on the help from they would receive from Asgard and Atlantis if a war were to occur.
Of course, he did not want war; he had seen enough of the horrors of war. He had seen how it impacted on the sides involved and those innocence who were caught up in the middle. But like they say, "When you desire peace, prepare for war."
So yes on that front things were going well.
He had even organized, through using Michael as a proxy for a meeting between the Three Factions in few months time. It had taken a lot of political maneuvering and talks with the Fallen Angels and Devils but it had finally been agreed to be scheduled during the end of summer. A part of Harry didn't like it, after all the Fallen had betrayed him and the Devils… well they were Devils. But he also knew that that kind of archaic old fashioned thinking would just bring about more war and death. Which considering the threat posed by whatever his sister and two brothers were up to was something Harry did not want.
No as far as Harry was concerned, he had a new body so it was time to start acting like a new man.
With that thought in mind, Harry let out a slight sigh as he looked down at his Brave Saints cards, contemplating his latest dilemma.
When he'd thought of creating his own set of Brave Saints cards, ones that would make reincarnated humans into Archangels, he'd only thought of strengthening Heaven. There was supposed to be seven Archangels, including Michael, in the Heavens. The role of the archangels was to act as his Authority on Earth and to enforce his Will. The Seraph were never meant to actually be warriors, having been meant to act more like Executive Directors in charge of their own division here in Heaven.
Basically, while Raguel was the Seraph of Justice and Vengeance, the Archangel of Justice and Vengeance was the embodiment of the concept. They were literally empowered by the ideal and dichotomy between Justice and Vengeance and therefore, their power was separate from his own in a way. It was for this reason that Michael and the other remaining Archangels had managed to maintain most of their power after Harry's death. As the Archangel embodiment of the Prince of Hosts, his power drew on the faithful's belief in the Heavenly Host, meaning that he could tap into the same power Harry could in order to empower him.
This was good because it meant he had to expend less of his own power to empower his Archangels. However, this also meant that they couldn't Fall.
Falling occurred not when Angels sinned; so much as they defied his Will. The Fall occurred since defying his Will caused him to automatically strip them of his divine and holy power, turning their wings black to symbolize this. However, Archangels didn't draw their power from him but from the concept they embody. Archangels were therefore in a way similar to God's of the other Pantheons, as in they had domains from which they could draw their power. What this meant however was that they had a source out power outside of Harry, meaning that they couldn't truly Fall.
While this may seem like a good thing, Harry now knew that it could be very dangerous. Being an Angel didn't mean you were good, just like being a priest didn't mean one carried out His will. Lucifer was a prime example of this, he had cast his favourite son out of Heaven but despite this he had not Fallen he had retained most of his power, which he went on to use to turn himself and his three companions who fallen with him into the first Devils, the Original Satans.
Harry over the last few months had learned of many of the dirty secrets of the Church, a human establishment created and run by humans in His name. The Holy Sword Project, some of the actions of the Iscariot Order as well as the Burial Agency... the list just went on.
So yes Harry had forgotten one major thing about his followers: their tendency to use him as an excuse for their actions. The biggest example being the so called Holy Wars against the Muslims during the Middle Ages. All to win the city of Jerusalem which they said was on His orders, he never ordered such a thing, it was merely selfish and stupid men of the cloth taking advantage of people's faith in Him for their own gain. Those men were all suffering now for their arrogance and idiocy. Many people thought the crusades were defensive, which was propaganda perpetuated at the time, the land they were fighting over never belonged to any European's in the first place despite people's claims, the real motivation was greed.
This reminded Harry that making someone into a powerful being basically free from persecution, since no matter how evil their act they wouldn't Fall, was very dangerous. If they fell off the wagon, so to speak, the only way to stop them was death. Once again Lucifer was one such Archangel, one who became dark and twisted. Harry had been forced to throw him from Heaven and lock him in what became the Underworld since Harry couldn't bring himself to kill him.
That show of mercy came back to bite him in the ass rather spectacularly as you can imagine.
Anyway, it meant Harry would have to be careful who he reincarnated as an Archangel. To make sure, he had made only six of Brave Saints cards capable of reincarnating someone into an Archangel. The other six would reincarnate them as simple Angels who could work their way up the angelic ladder, so to speak and maybe even rise to the position of Seraph. Two of those he had already used when he had turned Hermione and Andromeda into Angels, a third one he had decided to save for when his godson Teddy grew up, at which point he would make him the same offer he made his grandmother.
Harry looked up as Rossweisse entered the throne room alone. "Where's Asia and Raynare?" asked Harry in confusion.
Rossweisse stopped in front of him before speaking. "Asia is with Gabriel, learning how to improve her manipulation of your Holy power while Raynare is simply wandering around. The latter seems especially happy to be back here again after so many years."
"I would imagine so," Harry said wryly. "It has been around five centuries since she was last here, after all." He smiled widely as he remembered something, a slight chuckle leaving his lips as he did so. "She kind of looked like a kid in a sweet shop when we arrived."
It was true. When they'd arrived, Raynare's eyes had almost sparkled in delight at the sight of her old home. After being assured that she wouldn't be attacked in any way, she'd gone to visit her old haunts and maybe even see some old friends.
Harry turned to Rossweisse with a serious look on his face. "Rossweisse, I need your opinion on an urgent and important matter."
Rossweisse stood straight and at the ready, after all the last time he had given her that look they had traveled to the Island of Azkaban and confronted the Ouroboros Dragon herself. "What is it, my Lord?"
Harry waved his hand and an illusion of a spear and a sword appeared hovering between them. "Should I make my symbolic weapon a sword or a spear?"
It took everything Rossweisse had not to face palm then and there as she heard Harry's question. She was still getting used to Harry eccentric and capricious nature; seriously what was it with incredibly powerful beings and their strange quirks.
When he had first spoken she'd thought he was going to want her opinion on the ongoing issues revolving around the Khaos Brigade, or his plans for his psychotic sister or the relations between the different factions, that or he wanted to bounce some ideas off her on the problem of Archangels being incapable of Falling. It was also possible that he was going to want to discuss the recent thefts of the Excalibur fragments, three of which had been stolen from the Church only hours after Harry had recovered Excalibur Ruler, Rossweisse suspected Ophis had something to do with it. Whether Harry thought the same she didn't know.
What she had not expected was to be discussing the aesthetic qualities of what his Symbol of Power should be and look like, especially when there were other more important things going on. Besides surely Harry knew himself well enough by now to make his own decision on the blasted thing, he had after all had the last few days to think about what he wanted. Besides he had already asked her opinion on it, twelve times already… and that was just today.
"I'd originally had more choices," Harry said with a contemplative look on his face before he smiled as he saw the put upon look on Rossweisse's face. "I'd originally thought of something big and impressive like a mighty warhammer but then as you know I decided against it, after all a warhammer looks like something a barbarian would use instead of a sophisticated and just ruler like myself, besides I fancy something with a blade" Harry said as he looked to Rossweisse with a frown. "Besides Odin's brat Thor has already got a hammer that Mjolnir thing as his Symbol of Power, wouldn't want to be seen copying another God. That would just be embarrassing."
Rossweisse rolled her eyes at that, Harry had already complained about this to her, as well as having complained about how all the good weapons were taken and how he didn't want to be accused of copying any of the other gods.
"I discarded some of my other possible choices like maces and clubs for the same reason, this has left me with a spear or a sword, yes they are not exactly unique weapons but the design of the weapon could be unique. If I am honest I'm probably more partial to the spear," Harry said absently as he enlarged the image of the spear. "It has a longer reach and it can just look so badass in the right hands. I mean just look at the Titans; Hyperion, Atlas and Ipateus they all used spears and trust me they were deadly with them. My original body still had a few scars as proof of that. The problem is, of course, that Odin already has a spear as his Symbol of Power, he has Gugnir and using one would feel like I'm just copying him. Plus he would throw a fit if he thought the one I had made was better than his... which I suppose would be a bit funny…"
"As for the sword," Harry continued, ignoring his secretary's incredulous look at the topic of this 'serious' conversation. "It's an oldie but goodie. It can be incredibly deadly in the right hands and has the right visual effect on others in the right circumstances. But swords are sort of played out nowadays, everyone seems to have a sword. It's why I'm partial to spears, again there are a lot of named spears out there but not as many as swords and the versatility of a spear is much greater than that of a hammer or a mace." Harry looked up at Rossweisse with sincere confusion in his eyes. "So what do you think, what should I pick?"
Rossweisse simply looked at her boss her mouth agape and silently wondered why oh why all powerful gods were this eccentric. Was it the power that turned them a little insane or was it that they were all senile?
"I-I-I...," stuttered Rossweisse before she took a deep breath and regained her composure. "I think you should go with the spear. Angels are already known for using light spears so it would be a show of solidarity amongst you and your children. As you said before the uses of a spear are very versatile, depending on the design you want you could increase this versatility greatly. As for Odin trade marking using a spear... technically every weapon had been trademarked by one god or another so it would be a moot point."
Harry seemed to think about it before nodding with a smile. "Spear it is then. All that's left is the name and I already have one in mind. Solarion, the Spear of Light."
Rossweisse looked confused for a moment before giving Harry a blank look. "Solarion? Isn't that the name of the spear from that game Diablo 3? The one that arrogant Archangel, Imperius I think his name was, used?"
There was a beat of silence as Harry fidgeted in his throne. "No?"
Rossweisse glared at her boss. "Copyright is wrong, not to mention illegal."
Harry crossed his arms and pouted on his throne childishly; delighting in the fact that he could occasionally have these moments of fun and amusement. After all life may not be all fairies and unicorns, but it wasn't always doom and gloom either. Besides he had been feeling a bit stressed recently with his siblings antics and running the Kingdom of Heaven. "I'm God! I'm above such petty things like copyright!"
"No, you're not," Rossweisse said firmly her own lips twitching as she fought to contain a smile. "Aren't you supposed to be fair and just? Stealing another's idea isn't very fair or just, is it?"
"I'm not stealing it," Harry said stubbornly before averting his eyes. "I'm just... giving it adequate praise by naming my spear after it." Harry had played the game before all this had happened, using it as a way to escape his boredom after defeating Voldemort and leaving school, that was of course before he had been reborn and regained his memories. "Besides as God I created humanity so technically I had a hand in creating the idea too…"
It was a tenuous claim they both knew that.
Rossweisse just sighed and shook her head in amusement, already knowing she wouldn't win this argument. "Whatever. But if someone calls you out on it then it's your problem."
Harry smiled like Christmas had come early. "Huzzah! Solarion it is!"
Rossweisse sighed and rubbed her temples, wondering if other people in her position had to go through things like this.
( - )
Somewhere in the Underworld, Grayfia rubbed her forehead at her husband's antics before pinching his cheek and giving him a patented Grayfia Lecture. She inwardly wondered if other secretaries/maids had to put with this.
( - )
Back in Heaven, Rossweisse cleared her throat as she got down to business. "That's... very nice, my Lord. But I wished to talk to you about the recent Excalibur thefts."
At this, Harry became serious and sighed, his face darkening as those precious few moments of light heartedness came to an end. "Yes. It's concerning, especially since I was planning on recombining the fragments into one again upon my return from Atlantis."
"Could there be a spy within the Church, my Lord?" Rossweisse asked half-curious, half-concerned. "The Church has been corrupt since its inception; even you would not be capable of routing out every bit of corruption."
"We could have missed one," Harry admitted slowly. "It…it is possible that it could also be an Angel here in Heaven. The System that causes them to fall still isn't perfect and unless I know how they circumvented it, I won't know how to fix it."
"Have you thought my Lord… have you thought about the possibility that it might be…" Rossweisse spoke up an uncomfortable look on her face as she did so.
"My sister, Ophis?" Harry interrupted a frown on his face as he saw Rossweisse nod. "I have considered it, but somehow I doubt it has anything directly to do with her. She wants my help and knows I would suspect her, so I somehow doubt she would act so rashly and antagonize me, especially since she wants my assistance and had just given me Excalibur Ruler."
Rossweisse nodded at that, understanding the logic behind his words.
"What are you going to do, my Lord?" Rossweisse asked curiously. "We know for sure that the thefts were carried out and that the blades were stolen by Fallen Angels so why haven't we reacted yet?"
Harry smiled as Rossweisse unconsciously said 'we', adding herself to the faction. "We aren't going to do anything yet. I've sent Gabriel to talk to Azazel and he has assured her that he had nothing to do with it. I'm inclined to believe him. Azazel was always more of a scientist than a warrior and definitely not a thief. He's more interested in figuring out how to create his own Sacred Gears than in Holy Swords. He was there at their original creation, after all, and he knows he can't recreate it."
"So if he's not behind it," Rossweisse said in confusion. "That means that there's another faction of Fallen Angels, ones that have rebelled against Azazel?"
"I doubt it is an entire new faction, I would be more inclined to believe that they are just rebels within the Grigori," Harry corrected gently, a contemplative look on his face as he thought on what could be going on. "Azazel, like I said, is more of a scientist than a leader. He has the charm and charisma to lead, but he simply lacks the ruthlessness needed to keep his men in line in times of peace. Oh don't get me wrong, he's a brilliant strategist and tactician in times of war, which is how he survived against me for so long during the war, but his heart isn't made for the tough decisions necessary to keep the peace. I wouldn't be surprised if he passes on the mantle of leader as soon as a true peace between the factions is established."
"So the plans for your peace summit are still going to go ahead?" Rossweisse asked as she made a note.
Harry nodded before sighing, rubbing his forehead as he did so. "Rossweisse a serious question this time... do you think revealing my survival is a good thing?"
Rossweisse looked confused at the question, and so he elaborated. "With my death, a ceasefire happened almost immediately, something that would have probably have been impossible if I survived. Things are tense yet peaceful now and the news of my survival might upset all that and cause war to break out. Wouldn't it maybe be better for Michael to continue to pretend that he's the acting God whilst I stay in the background, at least until I am fully recovered and our position is unassailable?"
Rossweisse sighed before smiling up at her boss. "I can't answer that, my Lord. While it's true that a tentative cease-fire was formed after your death, we cannot say it wouldn't have happened after the original Four Satans deaths'. You told me that by that time you just wanted the war to be over, correct?"
Harry sighed and shrugged. "More or less. The war had gone on for millennia and it had weighed on me heavily. Especially the amount of humans killed in the cross fire. I was so angry and eager for it to be over by the end that it made me reckless. I normally wouldn't have faced all four Satans in my weakened state if I wasn't so eager to end the war. I paid for it and if it wasn't for my planning ahead, I would be permanently dead and Heaven… well Heaven would have slowly faded into obscurity, despite the admirable job Michael has been doing."
Harry had confided in Rossweisse the truth of how he'd died and been reborn, just like how he had told others he trusted like both Odin and Poseidon. She had accepted it and even said it proved his foreknowledge and intelligence since other gods would have been too proud to admit the possibility of death and defeat.
"Then it's possible that the ceasefire would have occurred either way," Rossweisse said confidently, her light blue eyes meeting Harry' s emerald. "I don't doubt that you would have accepted a ceasefire even if you hadn't died."
Harry nodded but privately had doubts. The old Him had been too proud, too stubborn to accept anything but complete victory over those who betrayed him and the Devils he had grown to hate. His second life had tamed him of that but not completely cured it. He still, more often than not, blamed Devils and Fallen Angels for the many things wrong in the world. He was slowly coming to terms that humans most times did evil without any prompting but it was slow going. He was a very ancient being, and like all old things he was very set in his ways. It took him living as a human for a while to change this much, without that he very much doubted he would have become the man he was today.
Harry sighed before getting up and walking to Rossweisse and placing his hands on her shoulders with a smile, causing said Valkyrie to blush heavily. "Thank you Rossweisse. I would be completely lost without you."
Rossweisse felt her heart skip a beat before it began beating like crazy at her Lord's words. This feeling had become more and more common the last few weeks and it didn't take Rossweisse long to realize she was coming to have feelings for the man before her. She'd always thought he was attractive and came to genuinely care for him as her friend and Lord but the increasing amount of time they spent alone working on projects as well as the increasing amount of trust he was placing in her made it hard not to fall for him.
Harry, the God of Gods, the Primordial of Creation and Existence, he was a charismatic, handsome and brave man, one who never asked others to do what he wasn't willing to. He saw the best in people and never looked down on them and not for the first time, Rossweisse wondered how this wonderful man could be best friends with a disdainful and arrogant bastard like Odin. Certainly, she knew Harry wasn't perfect, nor did he profess to be, which considering his siblings was understandable, but it was hard to reconcile the Odin she knew, mocking and ungrateful of her hard work, with Harry who was both kind and thankful in his actions towards her.
She remembered the one time she drank a little alcohol. She knew about her extreme weakness (some might even call it allergy) to the drink but she had wanted to celebrate with her new Lord and his Angels. As expected, she had been sick and vomiting for hours before passing out. She'd awoken to find herself being taken care by Harry himself, who had blamed himself for her condition, saying he shouldn't have invited her to drink. He had then nursed her back to health himself without once mocking her weakness or inability to hold her drink. It was that moment that she first felt the feeling currently in her heart.
To tell the truth, Rossweisse knew she was falling in love with him and it became increasingly hard to hide her feelings. Especially when they were alone like this with no one around. A part of her suspected he knew, after all for all his eccentricities he was very observant.
Harry had indeed noticed, but he had not dissuaded her from having these feelings. Rossweisse was after all a very beautiful woman both inside and out. Her light blue eyes combined with her silver hair made her look almost ethereal. When she channeled magic, it boosted her to goddess-like beauty that Harry could honestly say rivaled the beauty of Aphrodite the Goddess of Love herself, in fact he would go on to say that it outshined Aphrodite for the simple sake that Rossweisse was just being herself, her beauty was natural and effortless unlike Aphrodite who purposefully changed her form to fit in with a person's ideal of beauty.
It wasn't just her looks though that he found beautiful, her personality was also something special. Her strange quirks, the amount of effort she puts into her job even when Harry was acting a bit childish, her loyalty to Harry and her bravery, for he knew she would happily follow him into the depths of Hell if he asked her. So no he had not dissuaded her from developing feelings for him, but nor had he encouraged it. He left the choice in Rossweisse's hands, if she wanted to try and pursue a relationship then great, if she didn't then Harry would accept that too.
Blinking slightly as he realized he had been staring into Rossweisse's eyes for longer than was appropriate, Harry shook himself slightly as he looked away, though a faint smile did remain on his lips all the same. As he did so he missed the disappointed look that momentarily flitted across Rossweisse's face, before she regained her calm and professional demeanor.
"Well anyway, I think I am going to go see how Raynare is getting on," Harry said with a smile before gently placing a kiss on her forehead. "We'll talk later, Rossweisse."
"Y-Yes, my Lord," Rossweisse responded, trying vainly to hide the darkening of her cheeks and the sudden hammering of her heart.
With a smile, Harry left the throne room, leaving a red faced Rossweisse holding her chest with a small yet pleased smile on her face as she watched her Lord leave.
( - )
(Elsewhere in Heaven)
Raynare sighed as she looked out over Heaven, a happy smile on her face as she gloried in being back here after all these centuries. She had never thought this day would come, she had thought she would die on Earth forever cut off from Heaven's light. A part of her knew she would have died in that Church in Kuoh, looking back on it she knew she had been foolish, baiting the Gremory girl like she had. She knew she had made a mistake by not destroying that Issei boy's body when she had killed him, just as she knew that if not for her Father's intervention it would have come back to bite her in the arse.
How she knew this she couldn't say, call it foresight or premonition, or just hindsight, she didn't know, nor did she really care. It was in the past and she was in the present, standing here in Heaven, a place she never thought she would see again.
It had been centuries since she'd last been here and yet it felt as if she'd never left. Raynare basked in the Light of Heaven, trying in vain to push back the tears as nostalgia hit her.
Closing her eyes and thinking back, she could still remember the feeling of being cut off from Heaven's Light. She could remember the helplessness, the unending sorrow and loss of purpose it caused. She could also remember how she latched had onto Azazel, clinging to the elder Angel as she felt the last motes of Heaven's Light he gave off until even that faded.
Looking back, she hadn't really realised just how many of her actions had been caused by her overwhelming homesickness. She had kept wishing for more power, to become stronger and all out of some vain attempt to fill the hole that had been left behind by her Fall: the feeling of serving a higher power, of righteousness, of being complete. All that she had lost in her Fall and she'd tried to fill it by making Azazel love her and by striving to become as powerful as she could, all so she could feel what it was like to be what she was before she had Fallen.
It was foolish looking back on it, Azazel's love even if she had managed to get it would have paled in comparison to the love her Father had for her. And power, a stolen and corrupted power could never be better than what she had lost when she had Fallen. In the end she knew, even if she had achieved both of her desires she would have still felt hollow and empty, maybe that was the true curse of Falling, that you would never feel content with what you have when compared with what you lost.
But now she was back in Heaven, even if only temporarily and already she felt happier and more content then she had in centuries. And one day, Raynare promised herself, one day she would earn her way back to Heaven permanently, one day she would show Harry that he was right to be proud of her.
Unfurling her wings as she thought that, Raynare looked at them critically. Her wings pervious had been a shade of black just a little lighter than normal black, now though they had taken on a mottled grayish colour, with small patches of white beginning to appear. They weren't how they were before she had Fallen, but they were on the way. When she had first noticed this occurring she had asked her Father what was happening, he had simply smiled before he told her that his presence as well as her redeeming herself in taking care of Asia was the cause of the change. Soon, he had told her, soon they would be pure white once more and she'd be an Angel of Heaven again, and not only that but now that Harry, had returned her Fallen brothers and sisters would get the chance to redeem themselves and return home.
When she had asked him why, he had told her that he was no longer going to stubbornly hold onto grudges and hurt feelings of the past, he had told her that his time as a human had changed him and had shown him that there was a middle ground between condemnation and absolute forgiveness, and that that was the route he was going to use when it came to dealing with his misbehaving children.
But for Raynare however she knew that the reason she was gaining her redemption was not just because of her Father and his new stance on life. But it was also because of the influence Asia was having on her. Raynare smiled at that thought. It was strange to think about it but Asia had probably become her closest friend, she would even go as far as to say Asia had become her best friend. She was closer to Asia than she had been to Kalawarner or Mittelt despite knowing them for centuries. Asia's naivety and innocence had never failed to get Raynare to laugh as she misunderstood certain things that others took for granted. The two had had a great many times since they started attending high school and for the first time, Raynare had actually begun to look forward to going to the mortal school, just so she could spend more time with the girl.
So yes for Raynare things were going well, she was happy then she had been in centuries and she would want to change a things.
Except maybe she would try to tone down just how much her beloved father embarrassed her. Raynare blushed as she remembered how he tended to dote on her in public, both here in Heaven and in Kuoh; often he called her his little Ray-Ray and hugged her all the time. God, it was so embarrassing! Yet at the same she relished her 'Daddy time' as he called it. It felt good... to be loved.
Speaking of the said embarrassing God, he appeared next to her in a flash of golden light, a gentle smile on his face as he sat down beside Raynare, that smile growing to a grin as he saw how he had started the (former?) Fallen Angel.
"Hey, Ray-Ray," Harry said a large grin on his face as he sat down next to one of his children. "Enjoying the view?"
Raynare blushed and fidgeted at having her beloved Father take the time out of his no doubt busy day just to stop round and ay high, soon though her tsundere protocols activated. "Tch! It's... alright, I guess." She replied as she looked away from him with a slight pout.
Instead of being bother by it Harry just laughed, it always delighted him to see how different his children all were, Michael was serious, Azazel was curious, Gabriel was overly affectionate and Raynare… well Raynare was to coin a phrase 'a bit of a tsundere'. "Aw, you're so cute, Ray-Ray!" And Harry knew just how to deal with one of those.
Raynare blushed and didn't hesitate at shooting a glare at her father. "Mo-Moron! Don't say such embarrassing things!"
"Yeah, yeah..." Harry said with a smirk large smirk on his face.
The two stayed silent for a moment before Raynare spoke. "So, why did you bring me here?"
"What?" asked Harry innocently. "Can't I hope to spend some time with my beautiful, adorable little girl?"
Said adorable little girl blushed beet red at his words.
"I mean, it's not like we hang out together that often so I thought a little trip together would be nice," Harry gave Raynare surprisingly cute wide eyed puppy dog look, playing the role of a dorky dad perfectly, "What's wrong, Ray-Ray? Don't you want to spend some quality time with your Papa- YEOWCH!"
Raynare pulled back the foot she used to stomp on her father as she hovered over him. "Sh-shut up! Li-like I would f-feel happy at hearing such s-sweet words from the likes of you! stupid father!" She was yelling so loud that her eyes were closed and the blush reached from her forehead to her chin. "A-A dog's words are worthless! Worthless! Stupid Dog Father! Chihuahua! Shih Tzu! Terrier!"
"Owwww..." despite the force of Raynare's stomps, Harry was unharmed and continued to smile. "You're too mean to your loving father, Ray-Ray..."
"Hm!" Raynare crossed her arms under her bust and looked away, trying in vain to hide her blush. "It's only what my idiot father deserves!"
"But... I love you," Harry whined with a hidden smirk, when he was Harry Potter he had grown up without a family and without love. What this meant for the reborn Harry now that he remembered he had family, probably the largest one in existence, it meant that he was going to go out of his way to shower his children, all his children with affection. It may be a bit late, but it was always worth the effort.
Raynare promptly went so red that she would probably be able work as a stop sign in the middle of the night. "W-What!? L-Love?! I-I-I-I..."
Harry stopped Raynare's stutters by the simple expedient of grabbing her in a hug and sitting her in his lap with her back to his chest. "There. Now be a good girl and let your father pamper you."
Raynare fought to stop a stupid happy smile from crossing her face. "Li-like this would make me happy. You silly old man." Despite her words, Raynare curled up slightly in her father's impossibly warm embrace, basking in his presence as she did so.
All at once, the feeling of completeness returned and Raynare was brought to tears because of it. All the regret and pain of what she'd done hit her and she started to sob.
"I'm sorry, Daddy," Raynare suddenly began sobbing as she clung to her father, bawling into his shirt. "I'm so sorry! Please let me come back home! I'm sorry!"
As Raynare continued to bawl into his shirt, Harry smiled sadly and hugged her to him, memories of the past coming to him.
Before his resurrection, he would have never had allowed the Fallen Angels redemption. He would have simply killed them for their sins and considered it a mercy.
Yet as he had told Raynare and some of his other children, his life as Harry Potter had changed that. It had allowed him to see it from a different point of view. He remembered how Mrs. Weasley had pampered her children, almost a bit too much at times, and the way she had welcomed him into her home without a single complaint. He remembered her ferocity in defending her children and the way she had welcomed that prat Percy back despite his betrayal without a word, only telling him how much she loved him.
He remembered her bawling over Fred's body, denying the truth before her eyes and wanting nothing more than to bring her son back. The pain in her tears back then still brought tears to his eyes now. He remembered how even the Malfoys had abandoned their beliefs in favor of their son and how their love for him was enough that they willingly went to Azkaban in his place. Luckily for the little ferret they had been released before Ophis had gone on her rampage.
Harry thought back on his own memories as God. He remembered Azazel's 'birth'. Back then, he didn't create them as adults but let them grow up like normal human children. He remembered the many headaches Azazel gave Harry as he was growing up, always fighting and arguing with Michael and Azrael. He remembered the pride he felt when Baraquiel learned Holy Lightning as well as Shemhazai learning to wield Holy Flames alongside Uriel. He even remembered the love he had had for Lucifer, his little Lightbringer as he constantly went out of his way to make Harry proud.
He loved his children, Fallen or not. The war had turned him into a hard, unforgiving person but in his hearts of hearts, he loved all of them, even the Fallen. Every Fallen death had carved a scar in his heart and it had only been when he was reborn and regained his memories that the scars had healed and he'd remembered how much he'd loved his Fallen children.
As Raynare cried into his chest, he just held her and wondered if he'd ever reconcile with his other lost children the same way someday.
( - )
AN: So things are progressing as we move into the stolen Excalibur blades. I have a couple of ideas for this which will take the canon and twist and change it to fit in with my story. There will be some very different things, some surprising things and some nostalgic things.
It also will involve the Kuoh students again, who haven't really been seen this much as Harry is a busy guy and does not have time to go to school with a bunch of kids. That being said I have plans for them to and for the upcoming peace conference between the three factions.
Also could we be approaching the point of Harry's reveal?
Find out next time.
Please leave a comment or a review.
See you next time.
Seagate.
