Chapter Six: Psyche and Debts
Now, to go back a step, or two. :D
Last time:
"Ah." Lady Rhianna breathed, holding her fan to her lips. "Do you feel better now?" The man nodded, odd, silver-gray eyes quickly searching the room, before falling back on his host.
"Just one question though, where am I?"Silver-grey eyes stared out to the stars as he sat within a Wizard Tent, tattered and dirty clothing hanging from his emancipated form.
I'm…free. Wow, I never did plan out this far. What…can I do now?
~(*)~
Lady Rhianna smiled charmingly, raising a hand to cup her cheek, the fan held behind her ear.
"You are at my private living district; the Emerald Valleys located in the northern sector of my court Bloody Silver, Lord Black." The black by blood blinked rapidly, a hand shooting up to touch the nape of his neck
"I am not the Black Heir." He stated instinctively "I am the younger son." But even as he spoke the words he knew them to be false, could instantly feel the Black motto burned into the skin of his nape Toujours pur blister against his skin.
Salis laughed, a column of smoke escaping his mouth as he through his head back, pulling the hand with his cigarette to his forehead
"Do we need to tell you any more, Regulus?" The youngest son of Walburga and Orion Black winced slightly, pulling his hand away from his neck to see blood.
Lady Rhianna frowned slightly as he felt his skin.
"Burning the mark into the chosen child is so barbaric." She murmured "And the punishment for denying your inheritance is so childish." Salis laughed again, letting himself fall back onto the couch so his hair fanned out around him, one leg bent to rest in the edge between the padding and the armrest
"You should know the ancient way that Purebloods do things in England is disgusting, Mother." Salis said, throwing a hand out so a burst of magic escaped his fingers, flashing black and silver in miniature fireworks. Lady Rhianna watched Salis release another plume of smoke and sighed.
"You need to go to your Mate." Salis bent his head backwards to glance at her, and then turned to Regulus, green eyes slightly glazed
"Why go so far to find that asshole when someone much more willing stands here?" Lady Rhianna sighed as she stood, gracefully pushing Regulus out of Salis' sight as she tapped Salis lightly on the nose, using a minute amount of her magic to startle him. The teen blinked once before sighing.
"Forgive me for such words." He murmured, putting a hand to his face as he stood. The cigarette gone from his hands he clenched his fingers into his hair for a brief moment before visibly calming down, hands falling to his sides.
"And I have been an ungrateful host to you, Lord Black." He continued, placing an arm before his waist as he bowed. Regulus simply blinked at him before ingrained customs reared their ugly head and he returned the bow, murmuring
"The pleasure is all mine, Lord Prince, and…I owe you." Salis rose, an eyebrow raised.
Regulus smirked, the Black charm evident as he persistent "A Life Debt, for you saved my life from the never-ending torture that the Dark Lord Voldemort had cursed me with. If not for you, and My Lady Queen Vinvajun, I would not be here to gain my inheritance and use magic once more." He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath as Lady Rhianna and Salis exchanged glances.
"So therefore I acknowledge the Life Debts I owe to you both, and am willing to do whatever maybe requested of me, in Merlin I so swear." His magic, as the heir to the blood of his forefathers flashed black and silver, the colors separated as they burst, trundles falling onto the two whom sat silently before him.
"So mote it be." Lady Rhianna whispered. Regulus sighed as part of the pressure resting on his shoulders lifted, and then turned to Salis, then younger teen staring at him with slightly narrowed eyes, head tilted. He turned to his Queen, seemingly in confusion, and then back to Regulus, eyes wide.
"I know how you can fulfill your Debt to me, Regulus Black." Regulus nodded, falling to one knee. Lady Rhianna gazed at him for a moment, before placing a hand an inch above his head
"When you swear to me that you will protect, serve, and guide my son, known as Arikin Salis Vinvajun by my blood, your debt to me is null and void." Regulus let his head rise minutely, turning to look Salis dead in the eye
"What is your birth name?" The teen stared at him for a moment, before closing his eyes with a sigh
"Harry James Potter."
Harry awoke with a gasp, eyes snapping wide open as he was abruptly thrust into consciousness. For a moment, he simply lay stunned on the ground, staring up at the heavens, where he could see dark blue clouds trying to hide the red sky.
All around him, north, south, east, and west where…trees? The Dursley house was gone, replaced by rolling fields of grass, and a small wooded area where he lay
This…is the mindscape. He mused to himself, blinking lethargically, then his eyes went wide as he shot up Oh, No! How am I here?? Memories were flashing though his mind as he slowly rose
Created form nothing to kneel at his master's feet, indigo silver and emerald eyes peering down at him from shoulder length hair.
"You are an echo." The other told him bluntly "A mirror me, the reflection I want the world to see." Slowly, the master knelt, looking him in the eye "Never think that you are truly made, that you are human alone. If that starts, I'd have to destroy you and make another Psyche from scratch, and that is a waste of half my core." Master stood, his frame childish, gaunt and thin, but his eyes held a higher intelligence glittering beneath thick lashes
"My magical core is split in two right now, and you have access to half of what is available. The other half maintains this space you see around you." A slender finger touched his cheek, sliding up to his forehead, the Master's other hand reaching though heavy bangs to touch his scar with his pointer and middle fingers
"This will hurt." Before he could say a word, a bolt of magic gathered at his fingers, collecting at his hand for a brief moment before shooting to hit his forehead, a surge of magic and pain following it to flow through his body. "now you have the scar." The master removed his hand after tracing the scar once, then backed a step, turning to the empty air around them
"now for a personality…" Lifting a single finger the master let is magic leak free, turning in a circle as he traced signs into the air. Pieces of wood of every size appeared out of the air, all tanned in color. The master pulled one down about the size of his face to peer at it, free hand lightly tracing the path of the wood.
"I need to be able to see through your eyes, but not speak." A single eye fell out of the wood to dissolve into nothing, the master turning to look down at him. "To hear without being heard, you need to be innocent, naive and out of the way. Intelligent understand the things around you, but don't draw attention to yourself." A hole at the ear, wings along the left cheek, a sheep with a shadow larger than it's self on the right cheek. The master knelt again, raising the mask to press it against his face
"Psyche, I created you to take my place on the outside world so when that other world collides with us-me, they will not know the true self, and this underestimate us. You are Harry Potter now, and I am Salis." He pressed the mask against his face, a finger to his forehead with a spark of magic to bond the mask to his face
"These masks create your personality, and I can change it with a stroke of a brush. I will change it from time to time. Now go. Remember this only when I call you again."
Harry shook his head, blinking as the mask became known to him once again
Why am I back here?
Pain at his ankles and wrists, the magic bound to his skin
If my magic is bound…why am I inside, and the Master not??
Agony flared in his chest and he cried out, feeling his ribs start to give way under the pressure
"Salis!"
…Psyche? The words echoed around him, hoarse and pained. You are at the mindscape then. At least you weren't destroyed. He moaned then, a low noise that made Harry shudder
Closing his eyes to the world around him, Harry felt out for that spark, the ball of magic that gave him life
You need magic. Salis seemed to blink at him I can give you what I still have, so you can heal.
But you might destroy yourself in the process. The magic was already flowing out of him, flouting though the air in thin lines of black and green
I live to serve, remember?
Something to dish out, to keep this somewhat alive.