II. Nurmengard
"I have everything I need." Yugi told Joey and Solomon as he sealed up his suitcase, "Clothes, basic supplies, dueling deck…I'm good." He looked at the two men next to him. "I don't know who these people are or what they want. But whatever they want me to do, just wish me luck doing it."
"Of course, Yugi." Solomon said warmly; Joey reached into his pocket.
"Oh and, Yug; before I forget, I just want to give this to you…" He held out a Duel Monsters card; Yugi's eyes widened.
"Jinzo?!" he said incredulously, "But…that's the second strongest card in your deck!"
"And I want you to use it for whatever mission these guys got planned for ya." Joey told him, "Think of it as me being with you in spirit when you use that; y'know, like how we used to fight side-by-side, like at Duelist Kingdom and Battle City?"
Yugi looked down at the Jinzo, looked at Joey again, smiled, and took it. "Thanks, Joey. I promise to look after it and make the most of its power."
"You better." Joey warned jokingly, "I didn't crush some psychic wannabe just to win a card that'll get killed in the first turn!"
Yugi laughed and combined the Jinzo with the rest of his deck. He shook Joey's hand and patted his grandfather on the shoulder. "See you…whenever I get back."
"What if you don't?" Solomon asked suddenly, worried; Yugi smirked.
"If I don't, I'll have my comrades send you an owl with my deck and a letter saying 'Sorry I won't be making dinner tonight.'
Solomon whacked Yugi across the head, as the legendary duelist laughed and picked up his suitcase.
"I trust you'll tell the others." Yugi called as he left.
"Got it!" Joey called back, as the Game Shop door closed; the Champ looked at Solomon. "You're just as suspicious as I am, aren'tcha?"
"Oh yeah." Solomon replied gravely, "Still; with all Yami taught him, he'll be good."
"So what the hell exactly does this mission entail?" Ginny Weasley Potter asked her husband, who was going all over their bedroom gathering his things; after a few minutes of futilely trying to keep up with Harry, Ginny, who was carrying little Albus Severus, gave up and sat on the bed. "You don't have a time estimate, and for all we know the Death Eaters may have scattered all over to do their own thing; they are leaderless, after all."
"Damn." Harry said, stopping in his tracks, "I didn't think about that." He looked at his wife. "I'm gonna have to talk to Ron about that." Finally he gathered all his things: Invisibility Cloak, Marauder's Map, and his trusty wand. He went over to Ginny and kissed her. "I'll be back. I'll try to write you when I get the chance."
Ginny waved the promise away. "Don't worry; as long as I don't get that owl post, I'll always assume you're still alive. Just be careful, and don't so anything stupid."
Harry looked hurt. "Do I ever do anything like that?"
"When you're with Ron, YES." Ginny replied forcefully but with a smile.
There was a knock on the door, and a young boy entered. "Harry?" he asked uncertainly, "You're going off on a mission?"
Harry knelt down so he'd be level with the boy. "Yeah. Remember that Azkaban breakout, Teddy? They're sending me and your Uncle Ron to catch the criminals."
Teddy Lupin beamed. "Cool! You're gonna go kick dark wizard butt!"
"That's right!" Harry laughed, "I won't be around for a while, which is why I'm leaving it to you to help your Aunt Ginny take care of the boys. Can I trust you?"
Teddy nodded.
"All right! Now go ahead and play, while I get my dark wizard-fighting gear!"
With that, Teddy ran off, as Harry and Ginny watched; Ginny smiled. "He's a good kid. I'm sure he'll do well when he grows up."
Harry nodded. "I know he'll do well. After all, he's got his father's mind, and his mother's heart."
There was a loud CRASH! coming from the kitchen, followed by, "Sorry! I'll clean that up!"
Ginny sighed. "That's not the only thing he got from his mother.."
"How is she?" Ron asked, patting Hermione's stomach.
"They said I'm getting along well." Hermione replied, "I wish I could go with you. It could be like old times."
"Don't worry." Ron said, "I'll think of you whenever I have to Alohomora a door."
Hermione smiled, and kissed Ron. "Be safe out there."
"I will." Ron reassured her. He bent down and kissed Hermione's stomach. "I'll see you later little Rosie." He straightened up, gathered his things, threw Floo Powder into the fireplace and entered.
Link entered the door at the foot of the Nurmengard Tower staircase.
Inside was a medium-sized room with a pedestal in the center that had a treasure chest, flanked by two torches. He opened it. "The Dungeon Map." He said to himself; the Map was a 2-floor map: it said he was on 1F: 1st Floor. There was another level called R, which Link had to assume was the roof. Then, he noticed: "Portions of the drawing are missing; the portions that correspond with the steps that don't exist. All there is is black where the steps should be drawn." He couldn't figure out how to repair a staircase that had apparently been broken for years, maybe decades. "I'll cross that bridge when I absolutely have to." he said to himself. He turned to leave.
Suddenly the torches went out, the temperature dropped drastically, and the room darkened. Link drew his Hylian sword and prepared for the worst
"Beware…" the male voice that welcomed him into the tower whispered, "The lurkers of the dark are many in this cursed stronghold. Will you have the courage to overcome them?" Then, deathly silence…
followed by a hollow, death rattle-like breathing sound. Standing before Link was a tall, cloaked figure with a decayed hand. The creature extended its hand and beckoned Link tauntingly to "come here", before gliding backward, passing right through the door. Link took pursuit.
Back at the main room of the tower, he saw the shadow glide into the door at the first gap, which was immediately filled with steps that magically appeared out of nowhere. Link understood: "That thing is in command of this entire Dungeon! Only he can allow me to continue! And I think I know how to make him continue to fill those gaps. He ran to the steps that had not been there a minute ago; they were much cleaner and newer-looking. He entered the chamber.
Inside, Link saw the creature in the center. With a wave of its hand, the room darkened and it glided right past Link to leave the room; Link felt his heart rate plummet as it passed. He walked to the center of the room.
Suddenly, an entirely circular, roofless steel cage lowered around Link. And seeming dropping from the ceiling was what looked like the biggest lion he has ever seen with an all-red mane and fur coat.
Link drew his sword and prepared. The lion charged. Link jumped to the side, rolling onto his feet to face the beast. The lion roared and charged again. Link bent his knees. As the lion neared him, he rolled to the side, but only made sure one foot touched the ground; he used that foot to catapult himself onto the lion's mane. He climbed onto the now-bucking creature and began driving his sword into the back of its neck repeatedly. Finally, the lion fell on its back. Link tumbled off and regained his footing, then rushed to the lion before it could recover and drove the blade into its side. The beast let out a great roar, and stopped moving; it was dead.
A chest appeared, as the room lightened again. Link opened it to retrieve the compass. He merged it with the Dungeon Map and looked at it: He noticed that the single circle that made up the "R" floor had a skull symbol in the center. "So the source of the curse is on the roof." he said; he gathered the newly-completed map in his tunic.
The cage lifted, and Link left the room. He didn't' even need to check if the second gap was filled; he just opened the door and entered.
Once more, the room's dual torches went out as the shadow left the room. Link looked around. He sensed a coming threat. Drawing his blade, he turned 180 degrees and fluidly slashed a badger in half that had jumped with the intent of biting the back of his neck. He noticed more badgers dropping from the ceiling in swarms. They surrounded him and prepared to attack.
But Link was the nephew of one of the finest sorcerers of Hyrule; gathering himself, he raised his arms into the air, and then punched the ground. A dome of fire appeared around him, and expanded throughout the room, incinerating all the badgers. The torches relit, though that had nothing to do with the Din's Fire that Link cast. Another chest appeared. Link opened it. Inside was what looked like a foot-long wooden stick. He read the small piece of parchment that was with it:
"You got the Magic Wand! This item is a must for any magic-user. Equip and use it to enhance the three spells you already know. As your quest progresses, you will learn more spells to use this wand for. Simply cycle through the spells you have learned in your mind, select the spell and use it when the situation calls for it."
Link put the Wand in one of his two quick-draw pockets; his tunic came with two pockets that were placed on a place of his armor so conveniently that he could draw the weapons held in them in a heartbeat. The pockets were labeled "X" and "Y". Whenever he needed to use an item he would always take the item from his main equipment bag and set it to either X or Y. In this case, he set his wand to Y, and left.
He ran up to the third gap, which was filled. He entered the room.
Inside was a room that could not possibly exist in this tower unless by magical means, mainly because this room was just a tall and wide as the tower's main room. He noticed that sticking out from random parts of the wall were tree branches. Suddenly, Link heard a screeching sound; he looked up. Swooping down was a fairly large eagle, carrying a book in its talon. The eagle came so low that Link had to hit the deck to avoid getting skewered by the bird's beak.
He drew his sword and waited for the eagle to swoop down again. But it just came to a rest on one of the tree branches. Link ran near the branch, which was halfway up the tower. Link saw several objects dropping from underneath the bird: Eggs!
"She's giving birth to minions!" he exclaimed, as he ran to where the eggs were. Too late. The eggs hatched, and mini eagles were swarming around Link, pecking and confusing him. Link slashed like crazy but the agile creatures dodged his slashes. Finally he took out his wand and performed Nayru's Love. The shield not only expanded outward, but upward! The eagle screeched and flew to the ceiling. But it was pushed up against the ceiling by the force-field. Link then saw something else drop: the book it was carrying. Link ran to it and picked it up. Inside was a question followed by two answers: "Would you like to learn this spell?" There were two choices: "Yes" and "No." Link chose "Yes".
"Incendio: A fire-casting spell. Can be cast in the form of fireballs, or a stream of fire."
Link closed the book as it vanished. Link raised the wand and aimed at the eagle, which was perched on a branch.
"Incendio!" He shot the branch, which caught fire, causing the bird to abandon its shelter.
Link, figuring out how to beat it, kept incinerating the branches as the eagle perched on them. Finally, with no more safe places, the eagle went for broke and swooped down. Link got ready, and with a single, perfectly-timed slash, he beheaded the bird. The torches lit and he left for the final room.
Link ran to the final room. But as he approached, he heard the male voice again: "Beware…the darkness…grows…angry…with you…" Swallowing hard, he opened the second-to-the-last door.
Inside, the creature was waiting. Link got ready. Then, the male voice whispered: "Beware…The Dementor…"
The Dementor took a sharp intake of breath. The room got colder, and Link began feeling sad and depressed. The feelings didn't cease with the dementor's leaving the room. He saw, rising out of nowhere on the ground, serpents made of black, smoke-like vapor. To demonstrate its abilities, a stray rat came out. A black smoke snake entered the rat as it inhaled it. Then, the rat began shaking…then, it spit out a bone! It spit out another bone. And another. And another; until the rat had finally regurgitated its entire skeleton. Even without its bones, the rat was still alive, albeit limp but convulsing, like a pathetic tiny living rug. With no more bones, it began regurgitating its organs, finishing off with its own heart, killing it at last.
Link's eyes widened with horror as he shook his head fast. "NO! I'M COURAGEOUS BUT I'M NO FOOL!" He ran to the door to open it, only to face the dementor, without its hood. The thing put its single mouth to Link, who pulled away and shut the door. He turned, and pinched his nose just in time to stop a snake from entering him. Link began running to evade the small snakes. Eventually the snakes combined into a giant serpent. Link swallowed and inhaled deeply, and held it. Then, he saw on the other side of the room, a book similar to the one in the eagle room. Managing to hold his breath still, he sprinted to the other side. He picked up the book, and opened it: "Would you like to learn this spell?"
"YES!" Link shouted frantically.
"Expecto Patronum: Summons a spirit made of light that will take the form of a creature that brings good memories to the caster; must be thinking of a happy thought while casting."
Link focused: he remembered seeing Epona for the first time.
"Expecto Patronum!" he shouted. A silver wolf came from his wand and dispelled the black serpent. The room lit up again. He took a breath, and opened the chest that appeared: The Big Key. "Good. Now, to the roof."
Link returned to the main room and took the rest of the staircase to the top. He unlocked the Big Lock and opened the door.
On the roof, Link came face-to-face with the dementor. He raised his wand and aimed at the hooded monster, prepared to use his Patronus.
All of a sudden, the dementor launched into the air into the black cloud that hovered over him. Link's heart dropped. "That's no cloud." he said to himself, "That's an army!"
Thousands upon thousands of dementors were flying around. They spotted the lone boy below them and lowered themselves over the tower. Then, they all gathered and combined to form a giant, ultimate dementor.
DARK PHANTOM OF DESPAIR: DEMENTOR LORD.
The Boss looked like a giant dementor at first sight, but was in fact just a formation the dementors used to resemble one. The creature hurled several dementors from its arm at Link, whose heart rate slowed, and who was overcome with despair. But Link regained himself, and aimed. "Expecto—"
The giant dementor lowered itself on him, as if trying to devour him whole. Link let out a scream of sheer terror, the likes of which any who knew the young warrior would never think would come out of his lungs.
Darkness surrounded Link, who was curled into the fetal position. He could hear the voices: "It is time for you to choose: Surrender, or die." "I, the Great Mido, will never accept you as one of us!" "Pur-DEE hate YOU!" "The wind…it is…blowing…" "Just look above you. If it's something that can be stopped, just try to stop it!"
I can't stop it! Link thought, Nothing can stop it!
Suddenly, the Triforce mark appeared on his hand; the right triangle was glowing brighter than the other two.
Immediately the dementors retreated. Revived, Link arose. He focused: "Do you know why none would call you King? It was your eyes, Zant!" "When I look at you, I remember…him. If you see him, tell him…I'm sorry for making fun of him." "How-DEE!" "Ganondorf! May you drown with Hyrule!" "Friends are a nice thing to have."
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A massive wolf leapt and latched onto the giant dementor and went for its "jugular"; the dementors broke formation.
The giant wolf landed in front of Link and howled loudly. All the clouds in the vicinity scattered, exposing the sun. Immediately, all the thousands of dementors evanesced like smoke. Where the shadows were, a heart container fell. Link picked it up, and was rejuvenated.
"Thank you." the same male voice said; a skinny man appeared to Link. "My name is Gellert Grindelwald. In life, I was a dark wizard. In death, I repented my sins. But the dark magic I had done throughout my life manifested in the form of those dementors. But you have cleaned my conscience. You have redeemed me and allowed me to move on. And as a reward, I shall tell you a story…
"Long ago, in Egypt, three brothers were at a most treacherous part of the River Nile. They knew that many a man had died at that area. But the three brothers…they were Priests: servants of the Pharaoh Aknemkanon. And with their knowledge of the ancient Shadow Magic, they survived the river. But Osiris, the God of Death, was most displeased. To get revenge, he took advantage of the brothers' arrogance by giving each of them a gift. To the oldest, combative brother he gave an unbeatable wand called the Elder Wand; to the middle, arrogant brother, he gave a ring that can bring the dead back from the Netherworld, called the Resurrection Stone; but the youngest, humble brother asked simply for a Cloak of Invisibility, which Osiris granted. Over time the first two brothers fell into Osiris's hands. But the third brother actually walked into the God of Death's hands. These three ancient artifacts, the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone, and Cloak of Invisibility, are called the Deathly Hallows. According to legend, he who wields all three artifacts will become the Master of Death.
"I tell you this tale, because even now, malevolent forces are after the three sacred relics. If they succeed, they will plunge this world into eternal darkness. And it will not end with our world. Soon their malice will spread to other realms…even your own land of Hyrule…"
Link gasped. "No. Never."
"You must stop them!" Grindelwald urged.
"Who is 'them'?" Link asked, "Who wants these Deathly Hallows?"
"A wielder of dark magic." Grindelwald replied, "One who, like the three brothers, was skilled in the ways of shadow, but unlike the brothers, is overflowing with sadistic, malicious intent. And I say this: this isn't the first time this dark being has tried to gather ancient powerful items. Years ago this monster also tried to capture three powerful relics as well, but luckily only ultimately ended up with one, before losing that one too. But now that the evil has returned, this hunter of rare items will begin a new quest, this time for items almost as rare as their original target. You must stop this shadow. And I can guide you."
"How?" Link asked excitedly.
"Go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Grindelwald told him, "There you will find those who can help you. Go there, meet your allies, and find the Deathly Hallows before the hunter does. With the Hallows on your side, you will surely be victorious.
"Thank you once more for freeing me. I leave now with no regrets. I go on to the Netherworld with a heart free of pain. Farewell…"
And with that, Grindelwald's ghost faded away.
And Link was alone on the roof of Nurmengard; the sound of seagulls and ravens, and the crashing of waves on the island was all he could hear. Then…
"Link." a new male voice called out.
In front of Link was an old, regal-looking man with red robes, bald with very little hair on his head, but a well-pronounced white mustache. Link recognized him instantly.
"RAURU!" he exclaimed happily, "Rauru! The Sage of Light! The last of the original Seven Sages!"
"It is I." the man confirmed; Link was beaming.
"You helped the Hero of Time vanquish the Dark Lord Ganon one thousand years ago!"
"I did." Rauru said, "And now I am here to help you. The other Sages have agreed that since I have the most experience, I would be best suited to be your guide. From now on, I will be your guide and partner on your quest. If ever you need help or aren't sure what to do next, call on me. I can appear to you and others like this if you need, but I will spend most of the time in your mind. You can communicate with me mentally. If you are stuck, need help, or are facing an adversary you can't seem to vanquish, I will help you. You are destined for great things, young one, just like your predecessor. Now…" He extended his hand. "I do believe we have somewhere to go?"
Link nodded. Hogwarts here I come. And with that, he took Rauru's hand, and they both vanished from the tower in a flash of light.