AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, I'm starting this chapter today (April 8, 2011), so hopefully I'll get it done in a week or so. I'm not going to waste anymore of the space so I'll have more words to write. I make it a minimum of 1, 500 words and no maximum limit. This time, I'm aiming for over 2, 000. Wish me luck!
OH! I just forgot, on my newest one-shot, Dancing Moonlight, I've gotten a lot of anonymous reviewers who absolutely love to make me feel horrible about my story. This is a message to them (not all you nice people who comment on my story or just read it, this is to those people who seem to enjoy taunting people): Your technique would work if I cared what you said. If it's positive criticism, or just criticism, fine. You seem to forget that if you don't like a story, there is a hand little thing called a BACK BUTTON. USE IT. Otherwise, if you have any intention of bashing my story or stories to make yourself feel better, go *beep* yourself, cause I don't care. And if you've found anything I've written, offensive, I apologize, but I'm not going to stop writing because of that.
On to the story!
Chapter 15: Revelations and Contemplation
His every instinct was screaming at him to run. The man was standing right in front of him, and even though he was in a disguise, there was no way he couldn't recognize him.
The tanned coffee skin, the single leather fingerless glove on the man's right hand, the one with a familiar insignia, the glint in the man's eyes when he got over his shock of seeing him here, the insane grin that was spreading on the man's rugged features…dear Maker, it was most definitely him.
"Well, well, well," the man purred, dark eyes gleaming as they watched him scuttle further up on the bed; further away from the other man. "I never thought I would see you in the Dark Lord's strong hold. Especially since I am aware he doesn't know of you, Shadow." The man advanced on him with each word, each word had him backing up further on the large bed until his back hit the headboard. He watched with wide eyes as the dark eyed male smirked at his show of fear, but he couldn't help it. This man had been responsible for the torture he endured as a small child on his first mission. This was the man whom his night terrors were centered on, the man who had betrayed him after he had trusted him and told him everything, the man who sold him to the experimenters….
"Something wrong, petit?" the man's voice was like velvet as he neared, using the small endearment he had always used. The man hurt him so much that the once cherished endearment now felt like a stab in the gut with a hot knife, sweet words twisting it deeper. This man had taught him everything…he had been his mentor. And with a surge of energy and anger, he looked up and met the gaze of the dark eyed man, who was now only arms length away on his right side.
"Isn't it obvious?" he drawled in a bored tone, sounding a bit like his cousin. His eyes, which had held fear only moments ago, now held boredom and amusement, but a spark of deviousness and cunning was visible to only those who knew to look. The man paused, a smirk sliding on his face as he observed him. The man's chin raised slightly in approval. He felt the corners of his lips turn upwards in a semi-smile. His own verdant eyes narrowed as the man's smirk grew. He didn't need the man's approval now, even though he still sought it subconsciously.
"You still seek my approval, petit," the man noted, grinning, "I'm glad to see my opinion still counts for something." He glared at the man.
"It doesssn't count for anything." He hissed, almost lapsing into parseltongue in his anger. The man's eyes widened slightly at the lisp, and then narrowed.
"There is a reason you are here, isn't there. I assume the Dark Lord of Britain would know whom he housed." The man spoke as if they were discussing the weather, not thinking of past betrayals and torture. The dark eyed male smirked when he saw his eyes narrow. "Well, petit, speak up. There is a reason for your presence here. The Dark Lord wouldn't hire me and then ask me to come up to your room to discuss plans for torturing an important victim from the Light side if you weren't involved somehow, and I highly doubt you are the victim this time, petit."
Just as he was about to snap another answer back to the man, the doors opened and both their eyes turned to the figure in the doorway. Crimson eyes surveyed the scene, narrowing slightly at seeing the expressions on their faces. He turned to the dark eyed torture specialist.
"Barty." He said in greeting, inclining his head minutely. The man nodded back to him.
"Lord Voldemort." The man replied, a smirk on his face. The crimson eyed man raised an eyebrow, almost in question, before turning to him. Only now did he realize that he was ever so grateful for his father's intervention. The man raised a questioning brow to his thankful expression; he shrugged, not wanting to anger the man at the moment.
"Harrison." The man said, almost fondly, which he was sure befuddled the dark-eyed male. He realized, belatedly, that the other man was about to learn his most guarded secret, but could think of no way to stop it from happening, as common etiquette demanded that he returned a greeting to his head of house by the man's proper title.
"Father." He responded, softly, watching the torture specialist out of the corner of his eye. He saw the man tense, and his eyes widen slightly in surprise, but then narrow in contemplation. He saw the scheming glint in the man's eyes and knew that if he attempted to take the other man down, he would be going down with him.
And as the other man met his eyes, his thoughts were confirmed; the man wouldn't let himself go without revealing secrets he would rather be kept a secret. If the specialist went down, he would crash and burn.
Shadow
She glared at the bars once more.
She had been glaring at the bars since he left two hours ago. She had known that he had betrayed her, her community, her friends, and her partner who was also like her brother in all but blood. She knew, but until know she didn't know the extent of how much he had betrayed them. After she had been captured, he had demanded to see her, to talk to her. And of course, since he ran the operations here, his wish was a command. She had been enraged to see him walking free, but calmed herself long enough to speak with him. She refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her lose control.
She should've known it would happen anyways.
Flashback
The man chuckled at her icy declaration. His grey eyes glinted with something dangerous while his lips curled into a malignant grin. The man's chin length auburn hair framed his ivory face along with his sharp features. Those full lips curled into a demonic grin at her outrage and slight fear. She knew the man took pleasure at seeing her at his complete mercy.
"Yes, "the man said with a grin, "me. It's been a while since I saw you last, Morrigan." Her eyes narrowed in hatred and disgust flickered across her face.
"Only my friends have permission to call me by my first name, youceased to be a friend when you betrayed Shadow to the Experimenters." She spat. She saw pain flicker across his face, but then it was gone, concealed beneath the mask all Hunters were forced to learn.
But she saw it.
Her eyes narrowed at him, before she smiled. She knew her action had taken him by surprise, just as the results of her next one would.
"How could you? How could you betray him? He considered you his older brother for the Maker's sake!" large crocodile tears clung to her long inky black lashes, acting as though her mask had fallen, as though she was furious at herself and sad because of his betrayal. Inwardly, she smirked like a Cheshire cat; her acting skills were equal only to Shadow's and Raven's. No one else could top them, and no one could see through them.
She saw the pain flash over his face, only this time it remained in his eyes as he looked at her.
"I did see him as my brother." His words took her by surprise; they were said as a dry rasp, they tumbled from his lips without his dictation. His eyes widened as he realized what he had said, but he didn't try to cover up. It was futile with her, and he knew it. The next words came without further prompting.
"He was my baby brother, they promised he would be safe with them, and he was." His eyes narrowed on her slumped form. The grey gaze assessed her before deeming her worthy. "They were improving his magical capacity; they were helping him, even if it wasn't willing on his part." She felt faint, improving ones' natural magical capacity, especially when it was so high above the average already, would be excruciatingly painful.
"His magical capacity will continue to increase as his body grows. Once he stops growing in body, the increase in his magical capability will stop growing, but not his magic. It is why his magic fluctuates at the worst times; it is creating new canals and passage ways for his Coming in three years." She stared at him in horror and slight shock. This can't be real, she told herself.
"Have you ever thought of what you were doing to him?" she nearly shouted at him, her mask finally crumbling underneath her rapidly swelling anger. "Have you ever considered that those experimenters were doing more to him than just adding magical capacity? Have you considered that the pain they put him through is the reason that he. almost. DIED!" she saw his rapid paling, and decided that no, he had not thought of that. But, she thought, as she saw his anger rapidly growing to match her own, he knew more than I do. Perhaps angering him wasn't the best way to go about this.
"He'll become strong enough, soon, to keep the wards up." The statement was said with the utmost calm; it completely understated the reaction she was having inside herself at that statement. Inside, she was recoiling in horror.
The wards were made before Merlin's time, when the High Elves still lived on this plane. Before the Elves moved to a different plane of existence, one of the High Princes created a set of wards around an island unknown to the human race. This island was the gateway to the Hells, the lands beneath the Human Realm. The wards kept the vile creatures locked within the Hells, out of the Human Realm. A few hundred years later, a massive attack was staged near the island, nicknamed Hel's Gate, and the wards were severely battered in a massive onslaught of magic from both the Human Realm and the Hells at the same time. The wards weakened to a point of nonexistence as the years passed, letting monstrous creatures, never meant to leave the Hells, into the Human domain.
A hundred years of suffering passed before two magicals were born with incredible magical capacity. Merlin Ambrosias and Morgan Le Fey represented dark and light, respectively. They tethered the beaten realm to reality as they fought the vile daemons from the Hells beneath their feet. Nearly a hundred years passed before they discovered Hel's Gate. The final battle at Hel's Gate took all their magical and life energy. They died at Hel's Gate, and the subsequent release of magic from their dying bodies strengthened the wards to their strongest point.
As the years passed, the legend of Merlin and Morgan changed. The stories misinterpreted the sides of the two magicals and pitted them against each other in their versions of the battle. The daemons and the location of Hel's Gate were all forgotten by the turn of the century. Forgotten by all but few.
The sole descendent of Merlin and Morgan recalled everything with perfect clarity. He knew that there were still monsters and daemons from the Hells in the Human Realm. He called his closest friends and allies and formed a group that was now called The Hunters, its original name lost to time, to deal with the threat before the rest of the world discovered it. The location of Hel's Gate and the secret of the sacrifice of the two were passed on through generation upon generation of hunters, the story never wavering in its validity. Only recently had it become known to the Hunters that the wards were now wavering in their strength. Creatures from the Hells had been pounding at the wards for centuries upon centuries, and now, they were finally making progress. The last of the sacrifice from Merlin and Morgan was nearly gone, and as soon as it went, the wards would fail. When the wards failed, the creatures from the Hells would have free access to the Human Realm, and they would be powerless to stop them.
Now she saw why they had kidnapped Shadow. He was the most powerful child of the age, almost to the point of immortality. If he was sent to Hel's Gate in order to renew the wards, his magic would probably stabilize the wards forever. The only problem was that he would most likely lose his body in the process. His would still feel just as every human would; only he would be composed of pure magic and would be restricted to the isle of Hel's Gate. He would be immortal, no need to eat, drink, or breathe, but she knew it would be a miserable existence. He would forever be alone, protecting the world from the vile creatures in the realm below.
Her gaze snapped to the man studying her coolly from outside the cell, her anger rose considerably when she realized that this was what they meant to do. It would protect Shadow, it would enable him to live forever in safety, allow him passage to the living realm and the realm of the Dead, and it would keep the rest of the world safe.
But to her, it was too large of a price to pay.
End of Flashback
She clutched at the bars blocking her cell door, cursing softly in every language she knew. She had to find a way out of here and tell Shadow and HQ about this. It was the only way they would be able to stop it.
"Psst!" she heard a voice hiss from across her cell. "Psst! Huntress Morrigan!" her sharp brown eyes snapped to a figure in the cell opposite from her. They widened when she recognized the figure with white-blonde hair and eyes shining as bright as mercury in the moonlight.
"Drake?"
Wahoo! I'm done, I did it!
Completed on: Friday, April 08, 2011 7:51pm ET
Hello, everyone, I bet you guys didn't think I'd get another chapter done within a week, but I did! I even surprised myself on this one. I didn't show much of Harry or his father in this chapter, but I introduce Huntress Morrigan to the story! She will play a major role. And uh-oh, here's DRACO! I wonder how many people saw that coming? Anyways, I'm putting a poll on my profile to decide and finalize who the grey-eyed man will be. If you want to vote, please go right ahead. I will be putting short descriptions of each name if you wish. This story clocks in as my longest chapter yet with 2, 705 words. =) I'm really proud of this story. Thanks everyone! Please read, enjoy, and review!
Em =)