The Crossroads of Fate

Chapter 29: The Medieval Relics

A/N: Hi, Nobody. Erm… perhaps it wasn't clear but there isn't any fan art, just the covers that were drawn and can be viewed next to the title of the story.

Incommodo no longer looked like Incommodo, he looked like a mixture of Herpo and Ink. Albus could not believe the Ancient Greek Wizard had returned. It was over. The war was truly over. Like Merlin said, once Incommodo regained his original body, with the Scepter's full power, and the merged magical power levels of both Mortimer and himself, he was truly a menace. This time, he had Voldemort too. This seemed to be a downside though. Incommodo seemed, if anything, unstable. His eyes kept going from red to yellow and red again, as if unable to make up its mind as to what its color was. His very nose seemed to shrink and grow as well.

Many Hogsmeade residents fled the fear he emanated, Melvin just shut his eyes while men and women with their children rushed past him, stampeded over him, stepped over him to the Portkeys. In minutes, every Portkey was gone and still countless residents were stuck there, trapped between mountains with Goblins or Hogwarts with Incommodo.

"This battle is over, I think," Incommodo said quietly. He spoke with a different voice. It still had a wispy air about it but it sounded stronger, more capable of yelling, more capable of use and it had a tingle of coldness from the Voldemort aspect of him. "The new Empire begins here, in Hogwarts! Not Greece but for now it will do, won't it? Doesn't everyone agree? And it's really thanks to your efforts. Impressive how you manage to hold my forces off but you were doomed from the very beginning. We will destroy whatever plagues this land, the Reservation, the Goblins, the vampires, the werewolves, Centaurs, yes, the Centaurs too, and the House elves, anyone who isn't a Wizard, really. Filthy half breeds. Muggles will be put in their proper place and the Goblins punished for their insolence. And all of you, witches and wizards, are free to join me in my new Empire, provided you follow my rule! MINE!"

Incommodo did look mad, just as Seth had said. Incommodo turned to address the students of Hogwarts, some of whom had actually fainted. It was very ironic, seeing someone commanding so much fear but speaking with a powerfully, maddened voice. "Back to the castle! It's your prison until graduation, your workplace for whomever I deem fit. This acts as my new Kingdom and little by little, this Kingdom shall spread with the Arsenal taking over and I as the immortal Lord." He laughed gleefully, as if something he'd been waiting for, for so long had finally come to fruition, the desires of both Voldemort and Herpo were being realized. He was mad. As he laughed, his reddish yellow eyes danced, Albus was not entirely sure if his merging with Mortimer's soul was entirely stable.

Incommodo shot the people of Hogsmeade one last frightful look before returning to the castle. "I'll give you all time to… mull it over, shall I? Consider you surrender. One month and I shall"-

A note dropped from the sky, interrupting him. A single envelope which incinerated upon touching the ground. Dubium's voice spoke through it.

People of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts,

This is your Praetor Putus Dubium. I will herald a coming age of purity. The man before you seeks to include Half-blood and Muggle-borns but I- I seek to erase them from the face of this earth, I seek to rule over you all and you will bow down before my power or face my never-ending wrath. In one month, this area will see an inferno and only one side will come out victorious. Only one side will see the end of this war. The rest of you will be destroyed and they will be destroyed without regret or remorse. You have allowed the scum to take refuge for too long. This is my final warning to all, including he who fancies himself immortal or any sort of powerful being. Expel the scum from your lands and hand them over to us, to me, or I will not hesitate. I will kill every last man, woman, and child who dared to allow themselves to be plagued. This is indeed your final warning before my assault. A full scale assault of witches and Wizards, Goblins, Acromantula, Werewoles, giants, Necram and all at my command willing to do my bidding. Your final warning, Wizarding world, before you are destroyed.

Incommodo looked impassive to this. He left the people rooted to the spot, the gates shut, leaving the residents of Hogsmeade terrified. So much had happened now. Albus himself was shaking, he was only half aware of someone burying herself into his chest. Albus had never known the terror Herpo had inflicted on people. How the Greeks had managed against him, he would never know. The witch in the memory made it look so easy. Albus knew now it was borderline impossible to kill Incommodo. Yet Dubium certainly thought he could manage. Dubium seemed confident that he was capable of defeating Incommodo and ruling for himself, as Praetor despite Seth having part-command.

The village was left for a whole month to decide for themselves whose side to take. Albus knew that many outside the DA and the Guard would choose the Reservation or Incommodo. Whoever promised them a better life, perhaps. For the first time, Albus hoped it would be Dubium. He seemed like the better of two evils this time. He collapsed to the ground, on his knees, shocked at the loss. They might have pushed the Arsenal back but they had lost. Incommodo had returned, his eyes alone struck more fear than he ever managed. Albus remembered Incommodo's introduction to Albus' life. Even then, in the grounds of the Potter house, he was nothing like now.

The threats hung over for what felt like the longest time. As Portkeys were being set up again, Hogsmeade residents began to flee in larger numbers than ever. Aries did not seem too bothered for some reason. In fact, she was telling Madam Rosmerta something important and Rosmerta seemed to be listening in as well. Aries waved her goodbye and walked off, looking a little strange. Albus was rather impressed by how the Hogwarts Guard ultimately decided to stay. Four years back, Scorpius might have fled but he was remaining as was Proxima Greengrass. She seemed a little off about something though. Something seemed to have changed in her mind and Albus could not tell what it was, except she stared at Simon more often and considered Alpha when he was sleeping.

It became clear what Alpha and Proxima were thinking of when Proxima took Simon aside and muttered to him something. Alpha, meanwhile, walked up to Albus, Mark and Lily shakily. Albus could only guess what was coming and so, it seemed, could Lily. Alpha seemed to be trying to psyche himself up for something and Lily braced herself. He did not look nervous or even hurt, just neutral. He sat across from them, eyes fixed solely on Lily. It was a good thing Hugo was not there.

"Lily…" Alpha took a deep breath and went on. "I'm sorry," he said again for what must have been the fiftieth time. "For- for everything. For earlier this year above all."

"Do- do you remember things? Is your mind any better?" she asked neutrally, her face betraying little emotion.

Alpha nodded slowly and uncertainly, "Sort of. It hurts to, but I sort of remember. So… I'm sorry- for everything."

Apparently, Lily agreed. She rolled her eyes but she nodded, "Yeah, I know. Only you apologized about fifty times in the last year alone."

"Ho-how did you react when I apologized?" he asked almost fearfully.

"You don't remember?" she asked. "I forgave you fifty times. Once after your first apology, once after you had the giant squid word the apology with its tentacles, once with fireworks, once when you bent down and asked me out- which the answer is still no by the way- once in a dance, once in a letter,"-

"We get it," Proxima sighed.

"Alpha… don't be so insecure," Lily told the shaking boy. "You're better than that. You're playing into Rojer's hands."

"I did that already," Alpha sighed. "I-I- I'm n-not… look, what happened earlier, when I- when I was taken over, it- it's"-

"I don't hold it against you," Lily assured him.

"It's my fault," Alpha told her frankly and bluntly. "It always will be. Father p-picked on the worst parts of my mind, of my personality and who I-I am. I have a pretty good mind, you know. Always have. I get good grades, I could've been great if I wasn't so… worthless. But, he picked on my deepest feelings, exploited every last weakness I had."

"Alpha"-

"Please, let me finish"-

"I know what you're going to say, I"-

"No, you don't," Alpha insisted. "See, even without my father, I was always bitter and hateful. He made me that way, even when I denied him, I worried he may've been right. I hated everything behind my mind. I hated my sister, my cousin, my mother, my father, even you, I hated myself for being so weak. All my problems, I blamed on everyone but me. All my problems, they're my own fault. When I tried hurting you, he exploited my anger because you never liked me, I remember feeling so hateful, wanting to go after my sister next, wanting to kill my cousin, and- and if-if I hurt you, if anything happened to you or my sister on my account"-

"Alpha"-

"Let me finish, please!" Alpha pleaded. Lily went silent. Albus didn't know what to think of this. At least Alpha was being brutally honest but angry, even at Lily? "I never would've forgiven myself. But you saved me. You hate my guts and you still saved me."

"I never hated you," Lily told him. "I just- wished you'd leave me alone."

"Thank you," he said quietly. "You gave me something to latch on to, helped me come back. I'm still a little off but- I'm better. And… I'm leaving."

"What?"

Even Proxima looked shocked but Alpha did not look regretful. Proxima tried telling him it was a stupid decision but he shook his head, "This is the best, smartest decision I've made in my life. I'm taking Melvin and Morpheus, and we're going to hide in the Greengrass home. We'll be save there. And we'll just- wait it out. Don't follow, Proxy." She looked on the edge, like she wanted to beg him to stay but even she knew he was right. "I want some time alone. Just… don't forget me. I want to become Alpha Greengrass, the Heir to the Greengrass name and a worthy person. But I can't do that right now." Albus and Mark were both mystified but Lily just stared in shock.

"You already know this, but my love for you is unconditional," Alpha told her, lowering himself to her level. "I'm happy I even met you and… I do hope we meet again, when I'm wiser."

Alpha ignored everyone else. He just seemed dead set on what he said. As he walked away, Lily folded her arms, "You're just gonna say all that and not let me respond?"

Alpha stopped and considered. "Yeah, I am. Only I don't think I can handle whatever you might want to say, no matter how good or bad. I only came to say goodbye."

Albus, Mark and Lily watched him leave, Proxima chasing after him. Scorpius watched outside as he left, a little confused. Alpha's departure was taken the wrong way. Everyone else seemed to think he left out of fear and yet, he never came back. Albus half expected him to regret this and return, he seriousl considered going to the Greengrass home himself and convince him to rethink but he was safer there. Even Mark half wished he could join him there, if only the twins were not combatants in the war he hated so much.

The Guard slept together more often now, as if afraid of being attacked. With the three Broomsticks bar closed now the owners had left, including the bar lady, the bar itself was open. The tables and chairs had moved to the side and they just took out sleeping bags that Fauna had conjured for them. Still, nobody could sleep. Even by three in the morning, everyone was tossing and turning. Two bags away, Lily was muttering something to Hugo, Nate and Gabriel were just staring up, and Fora was trying to catch Hugo's attention. Alice had an arm on her crush. Lorcan seemed to be pleading with Laura about something. Everyone seemed on edge. Both sides had given Hogsmeade one month to decide its loyalties. Most people had left but the fighters had stayed.

"You know, guys," Lysander said mistily with a yawn. "If we're not gonna sleep, we could at least try to talk through this."

"Because talking is going to solve all of our problems," Mark muttered but nonetheless got up. Alex, Eric and Laura followed and Aries yawned and sat up too, looking disheveled and uninterested though she did try combing her hair back with her fingers. Alexis too seemed rather messy with her hair and immediately tried straightening her clothes as the candles went on again and the former students started moaning. It was like the very suggestion bothered them but everyone nonetheless complied, seeing nothing better to do than to at least try talking about what had happened. Even with one of their numbers dead and the majority of Hogsmeade residents fled, some seemed to have to talk about it.

"Ok… so, we're in a little pickle," Simon muttered.

"Little?" Proxima snapped. "Try big! Try gargantuan! We wouldn't have been in this pickle if your genius idea of trenches wasn't thought of."

"My fault?" Simon said incredulously."Really? Wow, Proxy you're good. You're really good. Incommodo's the bad guy and I'm getting yelled at. The village was saved and I'm getting yelled at. You'd think we'd be better off if the Arsenal won and we suffered that guy's appearance every day! I suppose I asked the people to flee too?"

"Not all of them fled," Aries said.

"Looks like it," Sierra said bitterly. "Never seen such an exodus. If Seth wasn't here, I'd leave too."

"There's a difference between fleeing and a strategic retreat like we had from Hogwarts," Aries told them. "Which we now know was the better option. Our presence was getting students imprisoned. If we'd still been there when Incommodo came back, it's would've been worse."

"Aries, they took a Portkey to another country," Mark told her.

"Think whatever you want," she waved off. "We'll just say I had a couple of words with Madam Rosmerta before she left."

"Look," Lysander said in what actually sounded like a rational voice. "It may look hopeless but to be honest, it always looked hopeless. That's why we have the Relics. I always thought Incommodo would be beaten too easily with the Relics. Just one could do it before. Now we really need all seven… to beat the Reservation and Incommodo. And on the bright side, if we beat Incommodo this time, he can't come back. He'll be dead. For real."

Albus and Alexis were more silent than the rest. Others just moved shiftily, unsure of how to respond. Lysander seemed so sure of himself, Albus did not know what to believe. Lysander was sure of just about any miraculous thing so it was rare when he talked enough sense to be believed. Lorcan who usually rationalized Lysander's words, if not put them down, was silent, still staring into space, still affected by the pains of the Cruciatus Curse. He had been in recovery for a long time, almost a whole month and it did not look like he'd be back to normal by the time their last month was up. He was still capable of speech but Albus saw, even during the battle, how poorly he performed.

"You know," Fauna said slowly. "He's right. I was always confused by how easily the Reservation has proved to be beaten. The ship was destroyed last year which means it's possible. But Incommodo is something else. He will need the Relics."

"But he has one of them," Alex reminded her.

"He has the Ancient Artifact, the Soulless Scepter," Alexander sighed. "We have the Medieval Relics."

"Ok, so let's sort it all out then," Sophie urged. "What do they do and how would they help?"

"Ok," Aries said, slowly taking her Amulet off from around her neck. "The Enchanter's Amulet. This thing has absorbed so much magic over the centuries, it grants its wearer enormous magical reserves. But its use is limited and its main purpose is enhancing defensive spells. That's why I could stop spells from working in fifth year. Now, it's sort of weakened. It broke, the Goblins reforged it obviously but it doesn't have the power it used to have."

"So, how is it limited?" Alexis asked curiously.

"Only someone of my bloodline can use it," Aries said simply. "And if it's used with ill-intention, it would stop working. It doesn't stop me but it would stop someone like Incommodo from tapping into its extra powers. The most the Goblins could ever do is expel the magic it absorbed. And it'll have to absorb more magic before it's back to its former glory again which could take years."

"Which is what killed Hagrid," Lily recalled. "So it's still very powerful."

"Well, extra powers is sort of like my own sword," Fauna said, tapping it over her lap. "It has Fiendfyre and Basilisk venom imbued so it's really powerful. Godric enchanted it so the wielder will claim at least one victory so long as the sword is in hand."

"One victory?" Sierra moaned. "Just strike him."

"I could… but it doesn't stop him destroying the sword," Fauna sighed. "He shouldn't see it in the open before I'm close enough to use it on him and that might be difficult. I'm not sure what his Scepter can do but I'm pretty sure it's nothing good."

"The yellow orb on top kills you," Alexander said tiredly. "And if you attach a wand to it, its power increases up to four times its usual destructive level. It can take up to three…"

"And raise mountains and sink islands from what I've seen," Albus muttered, remembering Incommodo's memories. "And I don't want to know what else."

"Strictly Dark Magic," Alexander responded without looking at him. "Mostly Elemental."

"But it can hit multiple targets," Albus remembered. "I saw that myself."

"And it held Incommodo's original soul fragment," Mark reminded them. "So it'll be even more powerful and we'll have to get rid of the Scepter to beat him for real. Which really makes our job much more difficult."

"I can take care of the soul," Maria insisted. "The Black Orb houses those sort of things. Get me close enough and"-

"Please, he'll kill you before you get the chance," Eric scoffed. "Then what? Can you use it when you're dead?"

"I have a question," Laura said slowly to Maria. "How does the Orb absorb souls? In what manner?"

"Similar to a Dementor's Kiss," Maria explained, letting it out of the protective cloth surrounding it. "Touch it and your soul just walks out. You're actually still alive you'll just be… empty."

"Then… what if it's put back in," Laura asked quietly. "You put it in and we talked about putting it back in, so what if that happens."

"If your body is still alive, then you should be fine," Maria said. "And it depends which soul is sacrificed and what the Orb's allegiance is. If it's whole and untainted by murder, then it'll heal and you'll be fine. If a tainted soul was sacrificed like Dubium did and it still is, then you should die by the end, regardless. The more tainted souls given, the more powerful and defensive it gets so it's hard to destroy right now. But sacrificing one untainted soul would destroy its essence and change its allegiance. So it really depends how things go and what the factors are. It depends on so many things. But just touching the Orb does it. If Incommodo touches the Orb, even by just throwing it at him, his soul will be sucked and his body powerless and beaten."

"How do we know which soul is tainted?" Simon asked.

"Well," Maria touched the metal base of the Orb. The Orb slowly glowed white. "All souls have a whitish color. If there is a crack in the white, it is tainted. I am still whole… for now. And you?"

"Definitely?" Simon said, touching the base too.

"Seth?" Maria asked curiously.

Seth slowly replaced Simon's hand with his own and touched the very base of the Orb safely. That was when it changed. There were several cracks in the white. He was tainted. Seth then asked for Albus to come up and Albus did. The Guard knew for a while what he did to Ridge so if Seth was wrong and Albus was tainted, they would know. The Black Orb changed and it had a single crack running through. Seth seemed placated enough and Maria nodded.

Slowly, Neil Nott crawled up and offered his hand. He seemed very uncertain. Albus knew why too. Neil felt responsible for his sister's death. He had also killed Stella by an outburst of magic, an unconscious desire to see the vampire dead. If there was one crack, it would be understood but two cracks would mean he was indeed responsible for his sister's death, however unintentional it was. He touched the base slowly and the Orb changed again. Two cracks. One for Stella. He withdrew his hand immediately, before anyone else could see besides a shocked Maria and an apathetic Seth. Neil just nodded silently and backed away, deep in thought.

"We could drop it on him where he least expects it," Seth suggested. "A flying snake of mine holds it, and drops it. My staff has enough power to summon and enhance snakes. There's no way he"-

"It won't work, he'll wave it away," Aries said with an arched eyebrow.

"Fora and I could hide Maria in the cloak and she touches him with it," Kabe suggested with his sister nodding beside him. "The cloak takes the properties of whatever is in front of it so a Supersensory Charm wouldn't even work. It'll be cake, almost."

"You're forgetting that using the Orb still keeps the Reservation in the air," Mark reminded them. "Destroy it. Eliminate the threat. The Reservation will be weakened and they'll probably be destroyed in seconds. No ship, no sacrificed souls, they'll be freed…"

"And Incommodo is still around," Maria finished. "Sorry, but it takes fire to fight fire. Incommodo isn't going down unless we have something to take away his very essence. What makes him who he is and what he is. We already established he's too powerful to take down magically so what do you expect? Sacrifice an untainted soul, change its allegiance, and the ship goes down. We use it to destroy Incommodo and end it there."

"And if you like, I can direct the effort with my Quill," Alexis suggested. "Make sure it does work, make sure that whoever's soul is sacrificed can return safely, make sure we successfully take Incommodo down in that manner. The Quill can do anything under reasonable demand, make the demand reasonable and a possibility, then I can make it happen."

"Then we have our plan," Mark said quietly. "We sacrifice a soul. A soul. Someone's essence. You've just given up to Dark Magic of the most advanced. You're telling me there's no other way?"

"I must admit, I'm also iffy on this," Albus admitted. "We shouldn't have to sacrifice a soul. We can't take that risk."

"We have to," Seth and Maria said at once. Seth continued with his usual apathetic voice. "That's war, you have to make sacrifices. Any other way would cost more than what Maria is proposing. Using the Relics would maybe cost us our lives, at least now we're making sure only one has to die.If Albus sacrificed himself, he could pull his plan off, and get rid of Incommodo and the Reservation at once."

Albus sighed and Seth whispered something to Maria. Maria nodded shortly and said, "Look, the sacrifice has to be pure and innocent if the Orb will change allegiance so if none of you want to, we won't. Otherwise"-

"I'll do it," Laura said suddenly.

Mark almost scoffed out of laughter, "No, Laura, so not. You're not doing it."

"How else do you plan to beat him?" Laura asked, folding her arms. It was the first time she argued with anybody as the group stared at her, some with shock and others with surprised admiration. "Can you think of anyone else here willing to give their souls up to some Black Orb? Is anyone ready to take my place?"

Albus knew how the others felt. He felt the same way. Either they stayed silent out of some deep-seated conviction to live, or they were simply too scared to die. Albus would've spoken up, he nearly did, but if he did then they'd turn on him next. His plan was secret and would stop Laura anyway. Could they even? Was Laura even really ready? If the sacrifice needed to be willed, did Laura really feel ready to die? Did anyone else? Albus' stomach sank as realizations came to him. This was why Laura was quiet. She'd been coming to terms with something. She spoke so readily, like she'd been thinking about it for ages, a year probably, ever since her father died and her brother begged for her to mature a little bit. Laura. Sweet little Laura Creevey, the innocent, somewhat naïve blonde girl. Always smiley, playful and somewhat childish. She had everyone's liking in just that way.

"No," Mark said again, standing over her, perhaps in an attempt to intimidate her. Even as a mature adult, Laura still stood at a shorter height than Mark. She eyed him firmly. She was not backing down. "You, of all of us deserve a life."

"Yes, I do," she agreed. "But not in this world. Do innocent people really belong in this sort of world?"

"I'll do it," Simon suggested readily. "I was raised for this sort of thing, sacrifice is in my blood. And"-

"And if I have to break your legs and arms to stop you from sacrificing your soul, I'll do it," Seth told him harshly.

Mark started getting drastic. He whipped his wand out and pointed it at Laura, "You're not. And if I have to stun you to stop you, so be it."

A few people clapped but Maria folded her arms, "How else do you propose to stop Dubium?"

"The old fashioned way," Mark said simply. "We use the Relics like Aries said we should, we destroy the ship, we kill Dubium, and that should weaken the Orb's power enough for it to be destroyed. But first- first we take Dubium's side and fight Incommodo. He goes down first. Then we'll beat him the way we were meant to. It's simple and nobody has to sacrifice themselves to a Black Orb, Black Magic, NOT YOU!"

"And if it doesn't…"

"WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING?" Mark yelled. "You're ready to watch people die so easily?"

"For the greater good, yes!" Maria said loudly. "Are you?"

"NO!" Mark yelled tearfully. "I already lost a friend, I'm not losing another. Laura is my childhood friend… I'm not losing her too. I'm not."

"Ironic, Mark Wallader, the one who says he's willing to sacrifice for the greater good, can't sacrifice one girl," Seth scoffed.

Albus was not sure if Mark's pleas moved Laura any. She just looked at him curiously. Mark Wallader and Laura Creevey. Those two were always an enigma to Albus. In third year, he was almost positive that the two were dating but Mark claimed they never did, that they had one date and Mark called it off and not a moment too soon. Mere months later, Aries had returned to his life. Albus too had feelings for Laura when he was third year, Mark might have, but Scorpius was the only one who ever acted on those feelings and he stared at the girl in shock. Even then, she seemed ready, the only one of the Guard who did.

"Look," she said rationally, reasonably, making Mark look away. "Try what you can, ok? Try the Relics. Try taking Dubium down with them. But if even then, the Orb is not destroyed, if it proves that Incommodo can't be beaten even if we do ally with Dubium which alone is just as bad, I'm doing it. Ok?"

"Laura"-

"I made peace with myself one year ago," Laura said quietly. "I realized who I was and what kind of person I can be. If I live, great. And I might. But I was sorted into Gryffindor for a reason and it was not to be a babyish, innocent girl fawning over better people than me. I'm Laura Creevey, I lost an Uncle, I lost a father, and I even lost my big brother. My death should be no big deal."

"Well, it is," Mark said frankly to her.

"Guys did you hear me?" Simon asked.

"We did hear you, but Seth threatened to break your legs," Proxima told him. "If you must die, I prefer you do so whole, not with broken limbs. So, your offer is null. Sorry."

"Guys, let's stay off the subject of sacrifice," Aries said. "That's Dark Magic, Creevey. If you sacrifice yourself, there's no going back. And your sacrifice is to stop the Reservation, it won't affect Incommodo in the slightest. If there's another way to beat Dubium, and there is, then don't be so hasty."

"Don't try to change my mind."

"Why, afraid of living?" Lorcan asked with a smirk. "Sorry, Princess. That's sort of our plan. You may not want to live yourself but your friends do want you to live. I do."

"In truth, the Relics have the power to destroy anyone," Lysander said honestly and mysteriously. "They grant the wielder of all seven ultimate power over everything. Life, death, time and even their own mortality."

"But that can't happen," Aries said simply. "The power is there but the capability is not. Each Relic takes someone of a certain mindset to use. I for one can't use my Amulet if I am governed by ill intentions. Someone like me can't use the Orb and the Amulet at once. And neither can Incommodo. The Amulet is meant for defense and solely defense, as soon as we start misusing it, it stops working. It's a failsafe to prevent unwanted hands from tapping into its true power."

"So, the fact is, there are other ways to beat them both, Dubium and Incommodo," Mark said frankly. "We can beat Incommodo by teaming up with Dubium and throwing our best at him, and we can beat Dubium by striking the ship when we can. With Curses that can break through shields."

"Ok, I have a better idea," Fauna sighed. "Let's see the Reservation stay true to any promise once I do… this!" With her sword, she struck the Orb. A burst of flames surrounded the orb, looking darkened and dangerous. The Orb glowed green, as if taking in the Basilisk venom and then enflaming, using it as fuel. For a second, it looked like the Orb would be destroyed. Then, the fire extinguished. The orb went back to normal, the souls still swirling inside. Fauna stared in shock, looking at her sword as if it failed her. "What the…"

Even Seth blinked in surprise. "You know, Basilisk Venom is really supposed to destroy soul fragments. I thought it would work."

Fauna still looked shocked, staring like both the Orb and the sword offended her. She actually looked disconcerted and bothered. The sword had failed her. It had Fiendfyre and Basilisk Venom, it was a sword, a razor sharp sword that offered victory to the wielder and it failed. "Well, that's the victory part tarnished," Alexander sighed.

Then, without the warning, the Orb shattered into pieces. Some closer to it actually backed away but the fragments of glass stopped in midair and converged where they were before, remade as an Orb. It repaired itself looking the same as ever. "Ok, so technically, you have your victory," Alex said. "You just have to do it all over again."

"So… we don't have a choice then, do we?" Fauna asked.

"We do, we just don't use the Orb," Mark said simply. "We use it to get Incommodo in and that's it. The Reservation is dealt with the old fashioned way. Again, I say, if Phoenix can do it, so can we."

"Phoenix was exceptional," Maria told him. "Besides, maybe they've added more souls since then to make the ship more defensive. It's not that difficult to think of. I do not think we can beat them by destroying the Orb."

"And to be honest," Seth said neutrally. "We may yet try to defeat them the old fashioned way but if it doesn't work, we may have no choice but to change the Orb's allegiance."

With that negative note to think about, the Hogwarts Guard returned to bed. After talking for so long, they found it a bit easier to get to sleep. Albus for one got to sleep much easier. He had to admit, he was quite worried when the Orb was nearly destroyed. He caught Seth's look. It would not be Laura sacrificing herself, it would be Albus. He still had a pure soul. It was established now.

Maria was sitting by Seth, trying to get closer to him, telling him something quietly before crawling over to where Alexis was. Lysander was writing up a long letter and Albus was trying to sleep. Abus thought he heard Maria telling Alexis something in whispers but he didn't hear what they were saying. He fell asleep. Albus' dreams were disturbed. He dreamed he was dueling Laura and she was putting a fight up, the Orb between them. It kept changing from white to cracked white, undecided on who was touching it. Voldemort entered the fight and Albus cast a Killing Curse on Laura. His vision went red, ignoring the guilt screaming inside of him and Mark's yell of fury. Screaming, "Al! Al! Al! Al!"

Albus snapped awake in a sudden movement when it turned out Alexis was calling his name. He blew out a sigh as he stared up. No one was around but her. He sat up, sweating as he looked around. Laura was ok, then. And he had never killed anyone. Albus stared up at Alexis' brown eyes but she wasn't staring into his, she was staring at his exposed forearm. The one that held the Rune. Just looking into them, he knew he had to tell her. He owed her that much. Just dying like that wouldn't reflect well, she had to know the truth. Not a garbled version from Seth.

"Al… what's this?"

"Alexis," Albus muttered.

Crap. It was time. It was only fair he was honest with her. He liked her optimism but if she assumed he would live when his death was more or less decided, it would break her. "I'm going to be honest." He sat up and revealed his forearm. He knew her mind was working, was coming to the right conclusion. She said nothing. "Incommodo is sharing his fate with me. I'm easier to kill, so…"

"Al…"

"I'm sorry," Albus told her, looking up at her. "But… it's… you have to admit, it's better this way."

"No," she said, suddenly getting firm. "No, Al. No. No. No."

"Alexis"-

"H-how," Alexis stuttered quickly. "How do you do this? I'm trying to save you. You got rid of Voldemort, you're you again. You're Albus Potter. Your job is to fight, fight back like everyone else!"

They were walking across the room now, to the upper floors. Alexis seemed pretty weak though, Albus' words were definitely having an impact this time. "Incommodo can die quickly and easily. No fighting necessary. Dubium can die with the shields down. Everything is easy. And all we need is my death. What would you do?"

"I don't care what I'll do," she said and she looked tear-strained. "Al… I'm not letting you."

Albus and Alexis faced each other. As he met her eyes, he stopped. Crap. She had her Quill, if she wanted to stop him, exploiting the single doubt he had in his mind, she could. "So gonna use the Quill?"

She scoffed, "No. You made up your mind. I won't control you… but I can stop you. I'm a smart girl, Al, I know how."

"Alexis, please"-

"Please what?" she challenged. "Please let you die? Please let you kill yourself? Listen to me, your plan is no surefire way of killing him. That madman has three souls now. Three. Two are merged into one but this makes him very unstable and certainly provides him with a backup soul if two are destroyed. Al, your idea of killing yourself won't necessarily do it."

"It could"-

"Are you really willing to take that risk?" she asked with her arms folded. "It's too risky. Fate is shared, but the Rune goes to the soul itself. With a third, unaffected soul in Incommodo now, it might not. Especially since that soul is symbiotic with you, we don't know how it'll ac t, the soul is too delicate a subject for us to assume anything. You could end up dead for nothing. Then what?"

Albus stared at her, they never had such a tense stare-off but he was surprised at something else. He knew she was right, knew that there was every likelihood this was for nothing. He still thought it was worth a try, at the very least it would weaken Incommodo which needed to happen. Now he thought of it, this was done thinking Al had two souls like he did, now he had one and Incommodo had three, things were in the air again.

"Alexis…"

Alexis threw herself on him so suddenly, it knocked him down and they sat instead, embracing tightly. Well, that did it. Albus wondered how composed Alexis could keep herself and here it was. She was sobbing over his shoulder. Albus did not often have to deal with Alexis crying so hard but that was it. It was really only a matter of time. They had grown so strong together, five years ago it seemed absurd that the two would ever end up dead. Never did it seem as much as it did now that they were really living on borrowed time. Albus hugged her back, tightly, unwilling to let her go.

"Why- why?" she muttered. "Why like this?"

"I- Alexis,"-

"It-it's not that, Al, it's… it's everything," she muttered. "Everything! I- I was worried about m-myself but here I- I see we might both just die. D-did you ever re-real-… did you ever think I would survive the duel with Dubium or Incommodo? We can't survive this." Her voice went quiet, "We're going to die. Truly now. The war has gotten too intense. We really might- might never see each other again. I- I can't bare the thought of leaving my brother, or worse actually losing him. Here I have to deal with the possibility of losing you! I just- I-I wanted a long- I wanted…"

"Alexis," Albus said with a small smile. "Nothing is going to happen to your brother, ok? We're keeping him out of the battle. Get him to safety before it happens and he'll be fine. You work your Quill…"

"Oh, I'll work my Quill, I'll save both of you," she vowed.

"But if I send him anywhere, it'll have to be in America with mum," she said miserably. "And he doesn't like her since she left us during the war. I dunno how he'll take it, how she'll take it, or anything."

"If we live, take him back," Albus suggested.

Alexis broke off from him, staring at him curiously, and then left. Albus wanted to go after her, make sure he didn't let her use her Quill on him. If not on him, who? Albus was left in the bar room for an hour wondering that when he got his answer in the form of Seth. He stood before Albus and folded his arms. Albus knew what was coming before it did, "Al… I've made my decision."

Albus rolled his eyes. "And…"

"I'm not gonna kill you," Seth told him firmly, with absolute resolve. "Find somebody else. We fight this war honestly and if somebody happens to kill you, great. But I'm not doing it."

Albus opened his mouth when someone yelled suddenly "There you are!" It seemed to have been Aries who yelled, apparently angry at them, like they did not have the right to be inside at that moment. Her stormy gray eyes stared angrily at them like whatever had happened was their fault. Wait- what had happened? If Albus had another death to get over, he was going to flip. He did not think he could handle another Guard death on his conscience. Aries did not speak. She just motioned for them to follow her and they did in silence. In any case, it had become clear enough once they got outside. There were throngs of people by the Portkey center and countryside asking questions. Pointing to the prison cells, Albus saw them in pieces. He didn't need Aries telling him that Aramaster's crew had escaped.