Chapter 10: Ax
My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. My human friends call me Ax.
To say that this baffling and unusually protected place was irritating is an understatement. I had spent the entire day forever flying back and forth from this school of magic, as impossible as such a thing sounds, and had yet to even determine the source or epicenter of the illusion. Normally the eyes of my northern harrier morph could identify any illusion. I couldn't see through to what was within, but the hologram or cloak itself would shimmer and ripple like water. However, this castle looked exactly like the ruins I had seen with my natural eyes right up until I was a mere few inches from its walls, much like the grounds had looked like a barren wasteland until I was inside them. it had caused me to almost fly into the magnificent, hidden structure more than once, not having expected a piece of stone artwork or wall to be in space that previously appeared empty. This magical illusion was at least as advanced as a Chee hologram, something that irritated what Marco called my Andalite ego greatly.
Fortunately, I had determined where it was safe to fly and where it was not by the time the sun began to set. Prince Jake's wishes had given me plenty of time for exploration.
Prince Jake had not been happy when he and Marco managed to reunite with me and track down Cassie. He was grinding his teeth the entire time I explained how Rachel's desire to acquire an interesting creature had resulted in her being confused for a student. He had remained quite rigid until we had found Cassie nearby, though knowing that Tobias was monitoring not only her, but a pair of potential candidates for our plans did not settle him very much. On the contrary, he only waited until we had found a safe place to hide before asking me to monitor the castle and find out what was going on. When I had returned with the knowledge that Tobias and Rachel had split up and were each monitoring a candidate inside the castle, he released what Marco and Cassie assured me was a very rude sentence that I should never repeat and asked me to keep an eye on them. I was to monitor the time and make sure neither became trapped in morph. Tobias and Rachel then decided to use me to relay information to the others whenever I needed to demorph.
That was exactly what I was going to do now, assuming that I did not pass out due to extensive morphing. The place Prince Jake and Marco had picked was exactly twenty yards within the forest next to the lake. A round crater the size of a bug fighter was situated there, surrounded by thick shrubbery, leaving them invisible to anything beyond it. Cassie had declared that no large creatures had been in the area for a long period of time. It was the safest place we could establish.
/Prince Jake. The candidates will be having a meeting in two of your hours./ I informed him as I landed, already beginning the morphing process. /They will be proceeding to a place Tobias says is called the Room of Requirement. In the initial meeting, involving all of their allies, the leaders will be informing the others to be cautious of people being controlled. As they are unsure of who they can trust at this moment in time, they are going to explain to them that they believe the dark wizards are using something called the Imperious Curse. After this meeting, the leaders are going to have a meeting of their own to inform each other of everything they know about the Yeerks./
"So what those boys saw last night?" Cassie asked from where she was sitting and carefully examining a pile of vegetation before her. As we had been hesitant to enter the grounds, even the short length to a vegetable garden, on foot, the others had had to resort to wild plants for food and she was the only one who had any idea what was edible and what would poison them.
/According to Tobias, a girl the boys associated with has also claimed to have discovered more throughout the course of the day. Rachel has also informed me that the boy she is watching has been suspicious of another 'player in the game' due to the aid you provided them. He has apparently mentioned the term 'Animagus', though Rachel is not entirely sure what that means./
"The blonde." Cassie nodded without a trace of doubt. "I heard him last night. He was very suspicious of me for multiple reasons. I think it's safe to say that he is of the intellectual type."
/Rachel claims that he is from something called Ravenclaw. She also informed me that everyone from this place is a 'bookworm', 'egghead' or 'just plain weird'. In addition, to enter their dwelling, you must correctly answer a riddle or the door won't open./ I continued as my natural form completely revealed itself, forcing myself to stay upright and graze. As much as I wanted to lay down and rest, I needed to absorb nutrients.
"Has Tobias mentioned anything about the other one and his friends?" Prince Jake asked, Marco looking highly intrigued beside him.
/They are Gryffindors, whatever that means. Tobias has informed me that they are a very bold, headstrong group of people. They are openly appalled to these dark wizards moving around the castle./
"Our potentials are a mix of brains and action enthusiasts. Though, clearly they're all insane." Marco declared, mulling it all over.
/Both meetings will also include people from a group called Hufflepuff. Both Rachel and Tobias have informed me that someone named Ernie is the Hufflepuff leader./ I added, finally full enough to rest. /I have also been informed that the boy Rachel followed is called Anthony and that the only person he has told about the Yeerks is a very strange girl called Luna. Tobias' charge is called Seamus and the people he informed are named Ginny and Neville. Tobias has also stated that Neville appears to be the leader of the entire group./
"So we talk to the leaders first. At the second meeting. We can decide what to do about the rest of their group later." Cassie suggested, smiling victoriously as she tossed away a group of plants and broke the rest into three even piles.
/The rest of this group, known as the DA, is currently Yeerk free, according to an eavesdropped conversation with the man who appears to be leading the infestation in the castle./ I offered. /However, while the Yeerk do not wish to infest the group as they are well known for their active position on the losing side of this strange war, they do intend to infest a few in order to manipulate them./
"We shouldn't be giving this power out to an unknown number of people in this situation anyway." Marco stated firmly. "These leaders, even without knowing all that much, are still clever enough to know that they can't just tell their allies. Some of them could have been infested already, since that conversation and no one will know it. Our secrets could be exposed to the Yeerks if every one of them was offered the power and that's a risk even without any infestation. The more people with a new power popping up, the harder it will be to keep the secret. And even if you ignore the Yeerks' side to it, there's still the dark wizards."
"What about them?" Cassie asked, raising an eyebrow. "If the good guys are losing, then they need all the extra power they can get, just like we do. It would be a benefit to them."
"Yes, until the dark side got a hold of the information or control over one of these new Animorphs we intend to make." Marco argued. "The leaders are warning the others about mind control through a curse instead of the truth, right? And who knows how many truth spells or mind raping tricks these guys can pull up? We know nothing about their magic except huge concentrations of it mess up technology and it pulls off perfect illusions. No, it's best we only make as few Animorphs as necessary, keep the knowledge of the power and its source as secret as we can. We don't need another set of super powered bad guys coming after the box."
"I agree with Marco." Prince Jake nodded, staring hard at the Escafil device at the edge of the crater furthest from the school. We had already determined that if it moved even a few centimetres closer to the castle it would stop working and if that happened then I would have to take it apart and fix it again. A time consuming process. "Besides, they do have powers already, as he keeps pointing out. Maybe even transformations if...Anthony is suspicious of a wolf. Animagus might be the name for shapeshifting magic. We're only offering our power if they need it for a leg up, they can already protect themselves from Yeerks, if not other people. I think a maximum of ten, minimum of six would be best."
Conceding to the point, Cassie merely shrugged as she grabbed a bucket of fresh water I was unsure as to how they'd acquired and washed a few berries before sticking them into her mouth.
"So how are we going to do this?" Marco asked, rolling a berry of his own around his fingers before following Cassie's lead. "I mean, we have to convince them to trust us and we can't take the cube into the school. I doubt we can drag them out here before they have all the facts. They're living in war conditions."
"You two will stay here and guard the cube." Prince Jake responded immediately, though the look on his face was one of annoyance. "Ax and I will get Rachel and Tobias to lead us to the meeting and talk to them when the bulk of the group leaves." It was clear that he did not want to leave Marco and Cassie behind, for more than one reason. Just as he was upset and worried about the others running around the castle right now without at least me there to keep watch over them, he did not want to leave Marco and Cassie alone in the dangerous forest, despite the relative safety of our position. The other reason was that of all of us on this mission, they were the two who were most capable of reading people and determining their natures. Prince Jake would much rather have their input on the worthiness of potential candidates at the first confrontation then anyone else's, but it was not possible under the circumstances. Rachel and Tobias were already inside, the leader of our team would need to be present and I would be needed to help with ensuring that they are not infested and the explanation and proof of extraterrestrials and the source of our power. We would have to settle for gaining their approval when we convince the candidates we approve of to come here with us.
Growling at the ground, Marco flopped down, unhappy, but conceding to Prince Jake's decision, clearly seeing his unmentioned views while Cassie merely sighed and finished eating her portion. Neither had any sufficient argument to make. The only way my form could expose a Yeerk was if they weren't prepared for me. therefore, my part in the explanations could not wait and we could not leave anyone down in the forest completely alone. All any of us could do was accept it as it was.
Prince Jake let his eyes linger one more time around the group, no doubt hoping someone had a better strategy before giving up with a sigh moments before brown and white feathers started sprouting over his entire body as it shrank into his clothes.
"Ax, come find me half an hour before the meeting's due to start. Until then, rest up. I'll fly over the castle and try to get directions from the others."
/When the ruins look like a castle, search out an area that looks lower than rest, shaped like a large, rectangular prism. That is the Great Hall, where the inhabitants eat their meals. At this point in time, Tobias and Rachel will likely be in that vicinity./
"Thanks Ax." Prince Jake nodded, right before his heads reshaped to that of an owl. Within a few human minutes, he was already silently soaring through the owl filled air.
...
An Earth hour later had Prince Jake and myself flying silently into a window on the seventh floor of the structure. It was a good distance from the place Tobias had informed us of when the three from this Gryffindor place decided to arrive at their hideout early, but it was the only place on the level from which we could safely enter unnoticed. From there, Prince Jake decided to morph dragonfly while I morphed fly and caught a ride on Rachel, who was following the Luna girl.
/Imagine finding you two here./ Rachel commented happily in the form of a hello before growing a little more serious. /Hopefully there will be a safe place for us to demorph in this secret place. According to the watch on Anthony and my internal clock, I'd say I have about twenty five minutes morph time next./
/Why are you following her anyway? Why aren't you still with the blond boy?/ Prince Jake asked, though his tone was merely curious.
/Trust me, he's clean. He's been telling this girl far too much about the Yeerks to be a Controller. But I can't get a read on her at all./ Was Rachel's response, openly exasperated. /She doesn't seem with it at all, always dreamy, and then she says or does something that just happens to be the most logical thing on Earth. And seriously, who wears radishes as earrings? Even the wizards are ripping her off for it!/
/How much does this Anthony know already?/ I asked as she snuck out around a corner. This was not knowledge that Rachel had not reported with much detail.
/He knows pretty much everything that doesn't involve outer space and technology./ Rachel answered, her exasperation disappearing to make way for happy amazement. She was clearly impressed. /He knows that they're parasites, almost as much as we do about the strategy the Yeerks have for the wizards in the school and their feeding cycle. He's theorised that they have full access to their host's minds and memories from observing and comparing the nature of a known Controller around free wizards and away from them. He's even used educated guess to figure out just about everything about the Taxxons, though he admits to being close to clueless about the Hork-Bajir which are apparently guarding the Yeerk Pool located in a very ancient, deep and evil chamber. He claimed that it was probably because almost no one knows where it is, so no one will ever find it without them and it's so far down that the magic in the air is weak enough for technology to work. Sounds like the perfect place for their hellhole to me. Oh, he also spent an hour before dinner searching a list of Animagus for someone who could turn into a wolf, but came up empty. Apparently, there's only seven in the entire country and one of them is a teacher here who turns into a cat. Only a cat./
/So they can turn into animals, but few do it and can only turn into one ani- whoa, ghost!/ It took me a moment to determine what Prince Jake was talking about with my shattered, short ranged vision, but I too felt myself stiffen in surprise as I actually saw two transparent humans floating along the corridors, talking lowly to each other. My stiffness turned to shivering a moment later however, as they floated right through me, Rachel doing the same at the exact same time. I felt like someone had filled my entire internal system with ice while simultaneously coating me in the substance. A very unpleasant experience.
/AUGH! That's the third time that's happened since last night! They don't pay the slightest bit of attention to where they're going./ Rachel growled, her fur bristling around me. though it only lasted a few seconds before almost casually ran behind suit of armour.
/Almost...gotta time it just...success!/ Prince Jake cheered as he zipped up the Luna girl's body right at the moment Rachel ran up to her feet. /I'm hidden in her hood and under her hair./
/Ax, get ready to switch taxi services. A door just appeared out of nowhere./ Rachel called, not sounding nearly as shocked as I was as I looked up. Watching from a thousand different angles at once only made it more astounding to watch as a solid stone wall rippled and changed. Within moments, it had transformed into an enormous wooden door, complete with a brass handle. /I'm not gonna go in. As much as I'd like to, it might be better if I stay out here. there's no guarantee that I could demorph in there in the next twenty minutes./
/It's probably better if someone stays outside in case we need help getting out anyway./ Prince Jake conceded. /Someone can help break us out if we need it./
/Assuming the door doesn't disappear again./ Rachel responded as she rubbed her body against the girl's legs, her whole body vibrating as she purred. Taking that as my cue, I shot into the air like a human rocket and latched on to the first sign of the black, flowing substance that could only be the wizards' version of unnecessary artificial fur, or clothing as they call it.
"Sorry kitty." It took me a moment to get over just how dreamy this girl's voice sounded. It should not have been so pronounced to the fly's vibration based hearing. It was so strange that I barely missed the fact that there was even a knowing air to it. "I believe you have learned enough for one day. Anthony and I will be happy to talk later."
/What the HECK?/ Rachel cried, relinquishing any chance she had to maintain her cover as she froze. I however, could not chide her for it, for I had done the same thing. This girl knew that Rachel was spying on them all day. Somehow, she had known that Rachel was not a real cat. Had she seen Rachel morphing? Or maybe connected the dots between a cat frequently seen and the wolf Anthony spoke of?
"You best run off now. If the others discover you, they will think you are spying for our enemies. They will not be so understanding." She added airily as she opened the door.
/How does she know so much about me?/ Rachel cried again, confused and exasperated. /I made sure no one was around when I morphed and everything./
/Who knows about you?/ Tobias' nervous call was another unexpected surprise. It was loud and clear as if he was only two feet away, which did not make sense to me. We had been keeping our thought speak open for all Animorphs in the area. If he had only just come into our range, his voice should have been faint and most likely bearing holes in his sentences.
/The girl, Lu.../ The sudden absence of Rachel's voice was just as disconcerting. It disappeared the vibrative bang of something large struck my body. I assumed it was the door.
/Rachel? Rachel, can you hear me?/ Prince Jake shouted, clearly distressed. However, he got no response whatsoever.
"Hey Luna. I thought you were planning to come here sooner." Another voice commented curiously as Luna approached someone with what I think was long strands of red hair.
/How long have you guys been nearby?/ Tobias asked, sounding more confused than panicked. /You guys had to be talking before Rachel's scream, right? I hadn't heard a thing until then./
"I decided to take a detour. I enjoy the company of felines and thought it would like a tour of the castle." Luna replied, her head staying as dreamy as before.
"Ok then." Another voice, this one stronger, responded a little awkwardly. Clearly this girl's behaviour was not that of the standard member of this society as I had been suspecting. This only made her more baffling to me. Perhaps she had some mental condition.
/You should have been in range for a while. Just like Rachel should be able to hear us now. What's going on?/ Prince Jake was growing a little more hysterical as time went on. I believe that being 'cut off', as humans put it, from the outside world was causing him to worry more and more about the cousin that was left more alone and vulnerable than before. Plus, we could not receive any help if we needed it now. It was a stressful situation. /How is it possible that they're blocking our thought speak? Do they know we here? This Luna did, at least she knew about Rachel./ It also appeared to be causing paranoia.
/Prince Jake, I believe it has something to do with this room, not the people in it./ I stated calmly as Luna appeared to sit down. Suddenly I was resting over her knee. /We did not here from Tobias until the door opened and Rachel was disconnected from us when it closed. Perhaps, like the Ellimist's trick protecting the Hork-Bajir Valley and the castle walls, this room has unknown...magical protection from the outside world./ I couldn't quite suppress the distaste I felt as suggested such an unpredictable, uncontrollable possibility.
"The others should be here any minute." A new voice announced. However, unlike the others I had heard before, this one came with an air of authority. Much like Prince Jake's when we enter a battlefield. "Remember, we're only warning them about possession and that there are large numbers of those centipedes in the forest for now. We'll talk about everything else between the leaders later, but it's best that we observe our other allies and inform them of the truth in small, controllable groups later. Don't let anything slip."
"Oh, and here I was about to blurt everything out the second that door opens again." The other, deeper voice responded, giving me the sense of what Marco called light hearted sarcasm. "Come on Neville, we've already been over this three times since breakfast. Have some faith in us."
/GUYS, WILL YOU ANSWER ME ALREADY!/ Rachel's rather loud scream reverberated through my head and shock my so much that my fly brain broke free of my control and took off into the air. At the same time, the heavy vibrations of the door opening was detected and a mass of black with flickers of yellow entered my horrible vision.
/That answers the question about the magic shielding./ Tobias commented, sounding quite as pained as I felt at the unwelcome scream. /Rachel, the room seems to block our communication. We can only talk to you while the door's.../
BANG!
/open./ He finished rather pointlessly. The door had closed again.
With that, our mission reached its waiting and observing portion. Tobias guided us to a large place out of sight behind a strange mirror and bookshelves that proved sufficient for us to hide and morph within when we would need to. He was staying there in his hawk form, poking his head out occasionally so as to maintain much more useful visual and audio surveillance. Jake decided to spend all of our time there in dragonfly morph, preferring a less visible form and closer interaction with the people assembling. I merely continued to use the fly morph, but placed myself on the boy called Neville. Tobias assured us that he was the overall leader of the organisation called the DA and I felt it best to stick as close to him as I could.
"Alright, it looks like we have all arrived." Neville's voice shook my fly body's hairs and echoed throughout the entire room, following the telltale bang of the door closing again. "Now we can get down to business. I'm going to start by saying that the giant centipedes appear to be here intentionally. My sources have informed me that there are a lot of them and they appear to be working on something in the forest. Watch out for them, they are very dangerous. Unfortunately, that isn't all we've collected. Our spies have brought to my attention that some people in the castle, such as Slughorn, have been acting very out of character. The signs suggest the imperious curse is being used."
He stopped there as I was bombarded with so many vocally created vibrations that I could not identify more than one or two words. The rest merely registered as garbled nonsense and made the fly brain insist on buzzing around crazily.
"How do..."
"Why would they..."
"Anyone..."
"...trust..."
"ENOUGH!"
/OW! Man, Irish boy sure has a set of lungs on him./ Tobias complained, sounding quite discomforted. /Or maybe it's that wand he's got pointed to his neck./ It appeared to be so, for Tobias assured me that he moved it away as everyone's gaze fell on him and, sure enough, when he spoke next, it was much more bearable.
"The last thing we need is for the lot of us to fall into a panic." He stated calmly, taking a moment to speak again. Most likely, was making sure all were paying attention. "What this means is that we have to be more careful with what we say and do outside this room and keep an eye on each other. It's a lot harder to take control of two prepared wizards than one vulnerable one. Avoid going out alone as much as possible and keep an eye out for strange behaviour from both DA members and everyone else."
"Basically what we're doing already." A new, strong voice agreed. Like Neville, this one also held an air of authority and much greater confidence. I believed he was the leader from this Hufflepuff. The only other option would be someone who wished to be leader. "We just need to be more thorough."
"Precisely." Neville agreed. "Now let's move on. Ravenclaw, Luna has informed me of the list of unique and advanced shielding spells you've found and deemed useful. Be ready to teach the rest of us. We'll start on them as soon as we've finalised our plans to interfere with the next example Snape's planning to make. According to what Hannah and Susan have discovered, it's going to be in the Great Hall and the victim will leave with very painful, long lasting injuries and I don't intend to let that happen."
It was rather surprising how smoothly the meeting ran as they moved on to their curriculum. Though they were only teenagers and there was a much larger number of them then Animorphs, they worked very efficiently and effectively, much like a well trained military force. Coloured lights were quickly following strong cries in what Tobias and Prince Jake believed was a dead language called Latin. Even with my poor vision, I was left speechless as the heat of fire would occasionally join the displays, followed by the appearance of walls and fly furniture. At one point, Prince Jake and I were hit so hard by a vibration that it stunned us. We both had almost hit the floor before we regained control of our wings. According to Tobias, a girl from Gryffindor had fired a spell that a boy from Ravenclaw blocked by making a gong appear out of thin air. I still found it hard to believe that, even with magic, something like that could come from nothing. The others however, were much more filled with wonder. As I was demorphing, I had wondered if that was merely because they could see what was going on much better than I could or if they had a greater belief in the impossible. Being a scientifically superior Andalite, the difference might be that I am very bias, as much as I do not like to admit it.
"Time to test reflexes." The voice I believed to be Ernie's commanded at the very moment I returned to my fly body. It appeared that I was quite lucky, both for my timing and position, for at that moment, a great assortment of items placed around the room were lifted from their places and flew right toward the wizards and witches.
/Whoa! Duck and cover./ Jake cried. I had to put extra effort in restraining the fly mind's fear as the carnivorous insect that was Jake buzzed by.
/This is so cool!/ Tobias cheered gleefully, making a number of impressed and excited noises common to humans. /Wow, did you guys hear that small explosion? There was no fire or anything involved, the girl I've watched just waved her wand and a small shelf burst into dust size particles. Oh, and that guy just made a chair disappear! And a redhead girl just chained a dummy to the ground. Oh, wait, that was a student, he looks shocked and she looks really sheepish. Hey look, a book just got turned into a dove. It's flying around like crazy./
/Now that is ridiculous./ I stated, having enough. I would not believe that for a second. /You cannot turn a nonliving thing into a living creature. It is simply not possible./
/Tell that to the witch that just did it./ Tobias' reply was far too excited for my liking. /I'd think you'd lose that.../
"Protego Maxima!" Judging from the vibrations, multiple voices had shouted the same thing at once and the immediate response was a large dome of white light surrounded a group of students and repelled or destroyed everything that collided with it. What made it even more fascinating was that thought the dome remained complete, lines of brighter, white light were forever moving around its surface. It was quite the astounding sight.
"It is very beautiful." Luna's dreamy voice commented. "Very powerful too. The union of each casters' magic must have been perform flawlessly."
"I'll say. Very nicely done." Neville agreed proudly as the light disappeared. "I think this will do for tonight. I'd like for the House leaders, Seamus and Anthony to stick around to come to grasp with all the details of our various projects, but everyone else is welcome to go and some rest. We'll all need it for tomorrow."
"Why Anthony?" A female voice queried, though to my surprise, there was no hostility. She merely sounded curious.
"I was made Seamus' partner. It was deemed that I should stay up to date in case Seamus is busy or forgets to inform me of anything." That was the first time I'd heard from this Anthony all night. I not surprised either. He was soft spoken, a bit nervous.
/He's not used to the front lines or the spotlight./ Tobias informed us as the group murmured words assent. /Last night was his first active mission. He and Seamus are stealth units, not known as active troublemakers at all. Normally, he's only noticed for his high grades and for being a House Prefect, but no one outside his house tends to take his authority seriously./
/You've learned a lot. Especially since you watching the other guy./ Prince Jake commented as the groups started leaving in twos and threes, mumbling the whole time.
/Seamus spent a lot of time with Ginny and Neville comparing his actions last night to what he'd known of Anthony before. They were all very impressed./
/Really? I couldn't tell with Luna./ Rachel commented, finally able to rejoin us. /I've just snuck in in cockroach morph by the way. I got bored out there. But yeah, Luna seemed to out of it and the only boy who took any notice of him, Terry Boot, only mentioned that he'd never seen him more nervous or excited in his life. Of course, Anthony refused to tell him much about what he'd seen and done outside the Taxxons, so there was no way I was discovering any major differences through Terry./
/We'll find out soon./ Tobias replied. /There are only six people left besides us. They'd have to be all the leaders./
With his words, all my curiosity and rebellion of the claims of magic dissipated to be replaced with focus and determination. This was what we'd truly been waiting for. When we could truly determine the worth of these people, how they acted behind closed doors. By the time any one of us left this room, we would know once and for all if the leaders of the DA were fit to be reached and allied with the Animorphs. This meeting had no room for bias natures or petty disbelief. What they were and what they could do no longer mattered. All that mattered now was who they were. And we could not afford to be wrong.
I refused to ever be the reason that we were.