Chapter 11

Thomas had already called a taxi before the three of them had arrived, and it picked them up shortly afterward. The driver hadn't said a word at the sight of one six and a half foot tall man with a wizarding staff, a bruised blonde woman barely over five feet, a red headed Amazonian complete with sword and shield, and an excessively handsome vampire in torn silk clothing. In Chicago, such a sight was called 'Tuesday'.

The taxi drove them back to Thomas's place, where they dropped him off at his apartment. He had taken a beating that day, and in his own words, was running on empty. They said their goodbyes, and Pyrrha apologized again for the injuries she inflicted on him.

Thomas sighed, "Don't mention it kid. Really. You don't talk about it, I won't talk about it. Sound good?"

Pyrrha smiled, "Yes, that sounds fantastic."

The others said their goodbyes, before Harry, Murphy, and Pyrrha returned to the Blue Beetle. To Harry's relief, it remained completely untouched. While he knew no one would come after an old bug, seeing Thomas get his car nicked had made Harry a touch paranoid. Well, more paranoid than usual. Point was, he was happy to see the old girl in one piece.

Everyone piled in, and Pyrrha asked, "So where to now?"

"Apartment," Harry looked to the sky, which was beginning to grow dark. "We've spent enough time out today, and I'd like to look at this stone we found."

Pyrrha frowned, "But shouldn't we be investigating those attack sites as soon as possible?"

"Not if we're tired and exhausted," Harry unconsciously rubbed at his back where Pyrrha's shield had bounced off him. He looked at Pyrrha and said, "Besides, you need your rest. You look about ready to collapse."

"What? Harry, I'm fine," Pyrrha yawned, and blushed.

The wizard smirked, and started the Beetle up without another word. The little car rumbled to life and they drove back to the apartment. On the drive, Pyrrha took out her Scroll and began skimming through the list of contacts and pictures. Better to make doubly sure that it was her phone, just in case.

After a minute, Pyrrha stopped and had to suppress a giggle, "Murphy, look."

She passed the device back to the blonde woman. Murphy looked at the screen, and let out a laugh, "You weren't kidding! Pink and frilly!"

"Um…" Harry said from the driver's seat, "What?"

"Pyrrha has a picture of her date on her Scroll. He lost a bet, so he went to their dance in a dress." Murphy explained with a snicker.

Harry blinked, "Alright then. Not what I expected to learn about today." He admitted, and parked the Beetle.

Pyrrha looked out the window in confusion. They were parked on the side of the street in an unfamiliar shopping district.

"This isn't your apartment." Pyrrha said.

"I hadn't noticed," Harry opened his door and got out. He peered back down and said, "I need to pick some things up if I'm going to analyze the stone. I'll be back in a minute." Then he shut the door.

Pyrrha leaned across the streets and at the building they had parked in front of. She frowned at the sign, "Um, Comicron-1. That doesn't look like a wizarding store. Why are we here?"

Murphy leaned back in her chair, "Harry needs bribe material. Trust me, it makes sense in context."

Pyrrha stared at her friend with a waiting expression. Murphy just shook her head and said, "You'll need to see it for yourself, otherwise you won't believe me."

"…Right…" Pyrrha settled herself back in her seat.

It wasn't long before Harry returned, with a small plastic bag that he handed back to Murphy. Pyrrha debated asking him what he had bought, but decided she would wait until they got back to the apartment. She found that waiting for the answers to come to her, while slow, could yield better results.

Luckily, the drive from the comic store to Harry's apartment wasn't much longer. They returned to the garage within minutes, and walked to the door. Harry paused to wrestle his keys out from his pocket, when a large grey-shape came rushing down the hair and shoulder tackled his shin.

"Oof!" Harry grunted, and leaned down to pet the grey thing. When he did, Pyrrha realized that it was in fact, a cat. A huge cat at that, bigger than some dogs she had seen.

The big cat pushed its head up against Harry's fingers and began to let out a rumbling purr. Harry just shook his head, "Someone's impatient today, ain't ya, Mister?"

"I never knew you had a cat," Pyrrha said.

Harry laughed, "I don't own a cat, the cat owns me."

She cocked her head to the side, "You're joking, right?"

"Mostly."

There really wasn't anyway to respond to that, so Pyrrha went with it. Harry eventually stopped scratching Mister's ears long enough to unlock the door. Mister raced inside and immediately claimed the couch closest to the fireplace, with a smug self-assurance only the feline species could muster.

"Right then," Harry said, tossing his keys on the table, "Let's get to work. Pyrrha, you might want to head to bed now, when a wizard starts wizarding, it can be dull for a non-wizarding individual to watch."

"I'd rather stay up Harry, I might have some information that could help." Pyrrha protested.

Harry walked over to alcove that housed his laboratory, and grabbed a cloth to handle the Blackstone. He set the rock on the lab-bench, and started grabbing items off the shelves. Plastic boxes and capsules, pouches full of material ranging from iron fillings to less than legal assets.

While he grabbed them, he said, "Fine. But go take a shower first at least. You've got a dozen different kinds of magic lingering on you. It could interfere with any spells I might whip up. Plus, your clothes are kind of a wreck."

Pyrrha looked down at herself and felt her cheeks start to burn. While no stranger to less than modest clothing, the day had not been kind to her outfit. She'd lost both shoes sometime during the day, her tights were ripped to shreds, her skirt was barely holding together, and the sweater she'd been given was a charred mess that exposed bits of her creamy skin in far too many pleasing locations.

"You make a forceful argument, Mister Dresden. I'll be back out in a few minutes." Pyrrha practically vanished, and the bathroom door clicked shut behind her.

Harry shook his head, "That girl is something else."

"She kinda reminds me of you, actually," Murphy said.

He glanced over his shoulder at Murphy, who had taken to reclining on the couch. Mister had decided his time would be better spent gracing Murphy with his presence, and had curled up on her stomach. Harry hid his grin and said, "Oh? I didn't think I was that pretty."

"Not like that, smartass," Murphy said, "I meant in personality. She's very powerful, even among her peers, has way too much baggage to deal with, has run in with Black Magic, and seems to have an obsessive compulsive desire to fling herself into harm's way to protect others. She's basically a female version of you, with decent manners."

"For the record, I have very good manners," Harry gathered the rest of his supplies, and turned around to the table situated in front of the fireplace. "I simply choose not to use them."

Murphy snickered, but turned her attention to Mister, which pleased him greatly. Harry finally got to work setting up a station on the table, with the Blackstone in the center and every item he might need formed in a neat semi-circle around it. At the center, a carved wooden skull had been placed with its eye sockets facing Harry.

The sight of the skull made Murphy frown, "You sure about that Harry? You've been very cautious about…well…"

"I can't go back to Butters and ask him to lend me Bob," Harry replied, "The guy is still at work, and I don't think Andi has ever forgiven me for trashing the place."

"You also attacked her and stole Bob," Murphy pointed out.

"It was for a good cause."

"It was dumb and pointless.'

Harry grinned, "Which are my specialties, according to you."

Murphy scowled at him, and turned her gaze back at the skull, "I'm just worried is all. This could be some nasty stuff, and you always said that at this age, being impressionable was kinda…"

Harry sighed, and let his grin drop, "Murphy," he spoke in a soft tone, "I know what I'm doing. I'd rather be out investigating the attack sites, but this takes priority. It could give us an insight into what we're facing, especially if we can't unlock Pyrrha's memories. It's our best bet at the moment."

Another sigh from Murphy, "If you think it's for the best Harry…"

"Think what is for the best?" Pyrrha asked.

Harry and Murphy jolted upright, and looked back at the girls voice. Pyrrha had showered and dressed in the pajamas Murphy had bought for her, a white t-shirt and short black pajama bottoms. A blue towel was wrapped around her hair, and she was practically glowing. It was amazing what a hot shower could do.

"Remember that thing I mentioned earlier?" Murphy asked.

Pyrrha raised a scarlet brow, "Yes, what about it?"

"Take a seat and you'll find out."

Skeptical, but very curious, Pyrrha did just that, sitting on the same couch as Harry and watching what he did next very carefully. She expected sigils, incantations, incense, usual wizardy stuff that she'd seen in movies and on television.

What she did not expect, was for Harry to lean forward, tap the wooden skull on the head three times, and whisper, "Morning kid, time to wake up."

Before Pyrrha could comment on that though, something bizarre happened. Two green flames ignited in the skulls eye sockets, and it yawned. The disembodied skull yawned.

And then it spoke, with the voice of a young teenage girl.

"Hello, Father. I did not expect to see you today."

Something in Pyrrha's mind promptly snapped, and her mouth fell open in surprise.

"…The skull talks…"

Harry ignored her and smiled at said skull, "Well, I figured I'd check in on you, see how you were doing. I also need a favor, but that was no reason not to catch up."

The skull's fiery eyes narrowed, "This is not another surprise morality exam, is it, Father?"

"The skull talks."

"No, no its not," Harry said, smiling. He pointed at the Blackstone resting in front of the skull. "I have something I need you to look at."

"It is a stone," said the skull, in a very observant tone.

"The skull talks."

"Indeed," Harry said, gravely. "And I need you to look and tell me what you see about it. It's a very special stone, and people could be in danger if we don't find out what it does."

The skull somehow managed to cock its head to the side, "That is… bad, yes? People we do not know, being in danger?"

"Very," Harry confirmed, "And it would put our friends in danger too."

At this point, Pyrrha's mind snapped back into place, and she found her words again. Thus, she said, "The skull. Talks. No one else is surprised by this!?"

Murphy couldn't hold it in, not anymore, she started to laugh. Pyrrha felt her face heat up again, "What!? What did I say!?"

Beside her, Harry only chuckled a little, before taking pity on the poor girl, "Pyrrha, this is Auriel, she's a spirit of intellect, and the skull is her 'home'. She's not a talking skull."

Pyrrha stared at Harry for a long minute, piecing together what he said, before responding to that with, "You live in a very strange world, Harry."

"Pot," Harry pointed at her, then himself, "Kettle."

"What?"

"Never mind." The wizard turned to the sku- to Auriel, and said, "You remember Pyrrha, yes Auriel?"

"She was naked last time I saw her, but yes, I do, Father." Auriel confirmed.

Pyrrha, despite blushing, leaned down to the skulls level and waved, "H-hello…Auriel. It's a pleasure to…meet you."

Auriel clacked her teeth together and tried to smile, which was rather difficult to do when one lacked lips. She somehow managed to pull it off though, and said, happily, "She is very polite, Father, I like her."

"I thought you might," Harry smiled, then grew more serious, "But, we do have a bit of a time limit here. You up for an out of skull experience?"

The 'smile' faded a little, and Auriel looked dejected, "I do not know. I have very little experience outside my sanctum…"

Harry had a feeling she'd say that, which is why he revealed the plastic bag filled with comic books. Auriels fiery green eyes locked onto the bag with laser-like precision, watching it sway back and forth.

Harry grinned again, "It's the newest issues," he said in a sing-song voice.

"Supergirl issue number twenty-three and Wonder Woman thirty-nine?" Auriel asked. Her voice was trembling with excitement.

"And more," Harry promised, "But, you have to help me first, okay? Do your best, and I'll give them to you."

Auriels teeth chattered again, and she nodded furiously, "Okay okay okay! I will do it Father!"

Harry clapped his hands together, "Great, then you have my permission to leave the skull for this task."

The eye lights in Auriels skull went out in an instant. Green mist began to pour from the teeth and nose of the skull, reassembling into an almost snake like figure, with two twinkling emerald points of light where its eyes would be. The fog coiled around the Blackstone until it was nearly invisible behind it.

It only took Auriel two minutes before she retreated from the rock and back into her skull. Her eyes re-ignited, but looked significantly smaller. When she spoke, the tone came out slower and tired.

"The runes are in…Ancient Sumerian and… Assyrian… They are a spell for opening a gateway into the Nevernever."

"That's it?" Harry asked. He had expected far more, given what the stone had been doing. A gateway into the Nevernever was childsplay, but opening a gate into an entirely different dimension like Pyrrha's…

Auriel shook her head, "There is… more, but it is in a dialect… not of Earth… Like the stone…"

"So what, Heaven, Hell, Nevernever?"

Auriel yawned, "No. I have no…memory of this language… and the stone is…unnatural. Forged from…hatred…contempt…pain…loneliness… It is all intricately woven together into that one stone."

Her 'eyes' looked up at Harry with a pleading expression, "May I rest now Father? It is very tiring to leave my Sanctum."

Harry had started to stare at the stone with worry, but the sound of Auriels voice shook him from it, "Hmm? Oh, right, sure. Thank you very much Auriel."

He removed the comics from the bag and set them next to her. She clacked her teeth together one more time in content happiness, and then the lights went out and Auriel moved no more.

"…Well shit," Murphy said. "This case just got a lot more interesting."

Harry rubbed his chin, "One way of putting it. I'll have to see what I can learn from this thing. There are other tests I can run. Either way, I don't like what this thing is implying."

"Neither do I," Murphy agreed.

Then she smiled and said, "But before you do that, I think your guest is taking after your 'daughter'."

Harry blinked and looked at Pyrrha. The young woman had fallen asleep where she sat, the towel falling to the floor in a heap and her long red hair everywhere. She snored quietly, but gave no other sign she'd fallen asleep.

"Heh, not tired, right." Harry said, and gently nudged Pyrrha.

She snorted and jerked her head up, "I'm up, I'm up!"

She blinked a few times and brushed her bangs out of her face. Harry jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "Head to bed kid, you're exhausted. I'll take notes, if anything comes up I want to ask you, I'll ask you tomorrow, okay?"

Pyrrha started to protest, but Harry stopped her with a raised finger, "Pyrrha, you are a guest in my home, and as my guest, it is my duty to see to your health and care. If I let you push yourself into exhaustion, what kind of host would that make me?"

Shame crossed her face, and Pyrrha slumped forward, "I'm sorry. You make a good point."

"Of course I do," Harry agreed, "Now get!"

Pyrrha got, wrapping her hair in the towel and walking to her bedroom. She stopped at the door though, and turned back to Harry, "One question though."

Harry paused what he was doing and looked back at her, "Yeah?"

"Why did Auriel keep calling you Father? She's a spirit, right?"

Harry gulped and went pale, "Oh, that…um…"

He tried to think of a delicate way to explain his relationship with Auriel, but… Murphy beat him to the punch.

"Couple years back, Harry got knocked up by a fallen angel. Spent the next few years pregnant."

Karrin Murphy, Mistress of Tact.

A/N: A very short chapter, but I did get it up before midnight! Now then, as you all saw, we had some more questions raised, and some characters introduced. Admittedly, Harry's spirit daughter hasn't actually been named in the series, so I kinda went ahead and looked one up. Auriel can translate to 'Gold from God' in some tongues, and I figured that Harry, being the sentimental sap that he is, might name her that. Lemme know what you think in the reviews.

Speaking of reviews, its question time!

First, we have Rimmer Dall who asks: "No one would hide something as dangerous and powerful as magic from the public, it would have too many ways it could go wrong. At least, that was what Pyrrha thought."

Didn't this occur after the events of Season 3?

Well Rimmer, as has been mentioned before in the story, Pyrrha can't remember what happened after Ozpin called her to his office, so all the events of Volume Three are pretty much forgotten to her. Its a bit of dramatic irony that I was hoping people would pick up on.

Next we have several questions from Parks98, most of which I can't or won't answer. But one I will be content to answer, is: When are we gonna get to see Harry cut loose against a Grimm horde?!

If I have my way Parks, by the next two chapters. Look forward to it.

Those are all the questions from last time, but don't be afraid to ask more my friends, leave them in your reviews and I will answer them here. And if you have no questions, leave constructive criticism, ideas, theories, anything you want to share. I enjoy your feedback and it helps me to grow into a much better author. Now, before I go, I will leave my standard warning here. Next chapter is going to be another Dresden File. First person perspective, lots of snarking, and it will primarily focus on Pyrrha and Harry as they head out to hopefully get her memories fixed. Yep, that's right, we're heading to the White Council next chapter!

That's all coming this Saturday, so I'll see you then.

Ta-ta for now!