Disclaimer: Usually I write out a very specific disclaimer explaining exactly what it is I don't own but I find myself not really interested in doing so this time as it is very tedious. Suffice it to say I own nothing that was created by anyone else and I am not making any money off of this story or any of the other stories I have written.
AN: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.
Chapter 38: One Step Forward and Two Steps Back
Harry sat buckled into the passenger seat on the shuttle that would be taking him and his squad back to Crystal Valley; Wolfstar in no state to fly though the sentient suit was once again on-line. Like a sick or injured puppy, the suit 'whined' and fussed from the moment it had regained consciousness and Harry only managed to keep it calm and 'sleeping' by once again carrying the suit around with him everywhere he went. The child-like suit was currently curled up in the seat next to him, partially hidden by Harry's over shirt, his little hands clinging to Harry's undershirt.
Takoda, Jack, Eric, and Hilde were seated just a few seats away, their four suits currently secured in the cargo bay of the shuttle where they could be launched at the first sign of trouble. Heero and Abdul were up in the cockpit running through the pre-flight check as the two of them would be piloting the shuttle; dropping Harry's group off in Scotland and picking up Wufei before heading back to Saudi Arabia and the Winner Estate. Seated directly across from Harry was Major Sally Po, self-assigned chaperone for Dorothy Catalonia who would be making the trip under the influence of yet another sleeping potion as Harry didn't really trust her enough to allow her to know exactly where she would be ending up.
Dorothy had already been secured in a medical gurney not far from where Sally was seated and where the medical officer could keep an eye on the unconscious teen. Just prior to sedating the young sixteen year old, Harry had personally contacted Duke Dermail to let him know that Dorothy would be enjoying his hospitality for the foreseeable future. When Duke Dermail protested and claimed that Harry had no right to kidnap his granddaughter, Harry coldly reminded him that OZ and the Romefeller Foundation had had no right to kidnap his baby brother and they had done it anyway – resulting in said brother's death.
He also told him that the Foundation had had no right to order himself taken with the intention of performing a series of medical experiments on him but they had tried to do so anyway. Dermail had paled slightly over that bit of information, especially when he realized exactly who Harry was; including the fact that Harry was the Demon of the Stars. Dermail then demonstrated his colder side by callously dismissing his granddaughter as a failure and traitor (which wasn't completely unexpected).
Harry had nodded and told him that he had expected just such a response from a man heartless enough to burn the world beneath the fires of war simply because he craved power. Harry then promised Dermail that if he did not step down and disband the Romefeller Foundation (and by extension OZ) by the end of January that Harry would give Dermail the war he was so desperately seeking. It was no idle threat since the Freedom Fighters had destroyed over seven thousand mobile dolls and suits (the additional numbers coming from the back up suits and dolls that had been dispatched when it became apparent that their routing of Treize and the invasion of the Sanc Kingdom was on the verge of failing), close to a hundred transport shuttles, and three naval fleets over the course of forty-eight hours.
That of course, proved that even though the Freedom Fighters had far fewer numbers than any of the other factions currently fighting in the war they were by far the superior force and that the only reason they'd not utterly destroyed everyone else is because they chose to fight for the people and protect the innocents instead. The rest of the world and the colonies took a step back to contemplate the message that had been sent to the entire universe in the wake of the failed large scale invasion. Two factions in particular were most angered (and more than slightly intimidated) by the Freedom Fighter's success in stopping the invasion.
The Romefeller Foundation was angered because the failure was a huge slap in the face; both to their ideals and to the superior military power they believed they had wielded. The group calling themselves the White Fang on the other hand were angered because they'd hoped that the mobile dolls would lay waste to a good portion of the world as the leader of that group, Quinze Quarant, sought revenge against those on Earth. Quarant had been the mastermind behind Operation Meteor along with Dekim Barton; both men one time followers of the original Heero Yuy and both of them blamed all of Earth for Yuy's assassination.
The Rebel Alliance (those who had not joined the Freed Fighters with Sally Po), were disheartened and downtrodden by the events that occurred on the fourteenth and fifteenth of December due to how weakened their forces were due to all of the fighting and Major Po's shift in allegiance. Many of those that had been a part of the Resistance in space felt remorse (those that still lived as many had died over the course of the months since Harry and the others had split from them) and more than a little regret. Treize's group, on the other hand, had been demoralized and humiliated over the fact that Zechs and the Freedom Fighters had stepped in to protect them from the dolls that had been sent to annihilate Treize.
Many of those who'd stayed loyal to Treize were now looking to Zechs for leadership, leaving that small faction even smaller and more broken than it had originally been. Treize himself was more than a little bitter over what he saw as Zechs' betrayal and the loss of Une; the former leader of OZ completely unaware that Lady Une had survived and was currently recovering. By New Years, all three groups (Treize's faction, the Resistance, and the former Alliance) would have disbanded completely; the individual members flocking to the Romefeller Foundation, White Fang, and the Freedom Fighters depending upon their personal beliefs.
Treize vanished completely around the same time; the man looking to lick his wounded pride as he plotted revenge on those he blamed for the loss of everything he'd held dear. He took with him the Epyon; a Gundam he'd secretly built after he'd stepped down as the leader of OZ that had an operating system remarkably similar to the Zero interface in the former Wing Zero (based off information he'd pulled from the Lunar Base network prior to Wufei and Duo unleashing their virus upon the base's mainframe where it had quickly spread to OZ's entire network).
Harry remained blissfully unaware of the chaos he'd left behind after his not quite private conversation with Duke Dermail (the entire conversation having been broadcast across all of the various public networks by his brothers without his knowledge). Chaos that was creating ripples even as the shuttle carrying him home banked to the left and headed north and west towards Scotland.
The wizard was far more focused on mentally going over everything that he would need to take care of the moment they landed; foremost was checking on the creatures and beings under his care. He also needed to meet with Dr. Watanabe in order to get a status report on the various viable embryos that had been growing at the time he left. A thread of unease ran through him when his mind briefly touched upon and then shied away from the knowledge that one of said embryos was in fact his clone. He was also trying to figure out what he was supposed to do with his unexpected guest.
He knew there was no way in hell he was letting her anywhere near any of his computer equipment or any of the suits but could she be trusted to help with the animals? Would she be willing to help with the animals? Did she have any experience with children and if she did, would she be willing to help take care of the cloned children that would be due to be 'born' in roughly eight months? Did he even dare trust her with the children? What did she see herself as doing? Did she expect to be treated as a prisoner or maybe as a guest? Questions he would need to pose to the young lady to obtain the answers he needed which meant he'd be finding himself spending far more time in her presence than he felt completely comfortable with.
Some five hours later, Harry watched as Takoda, Eric, Hilde, and Jack dropped down out of the cargo bay before he hit the switch to close the bay doors. The four pilots would be spending a couple of hours patrolling the entire Valley for any problems before returning to the castle. Harry then returned to his seat as the plane banked sharply as Heero and Abdul prepared to land on the small airstrip that the Maganac had built over the train tracks that had once carried the Hogwarts Express between Hogwarts and London.
The former Hogsmeade Station (which had been in ruins like the rest of Hogsmeade) had been rebuilt and now housed a small control tower and a garage for the jeeps that had been brought in to make traveling between the castle and the airstrip easier without constantly using the mobile suits as a ferry service. A large hanger had been built off to one side to house any airplanes that expected to hold over for a couple of days though none yet that belonged to the reserve (Harry did have plans to buy, borrow, or steal a couple different types aircraft once winter was over though).
"Are you ready to see the unbelievable?" Harry asked as he settled into the back of the jeep beside Sally Po some twenty minutes later.
"As ready as I'm ever going to be, Taliesin," Sally replied with a smile. "I've been looking forward to this day ever since those fine young men you call your brothers returned to the Winner Estate with tales of mythical creatures. I will be the first to admit that I was skeptical at first but what woman wasn't a little girl who once believed in unicorns and mermaids and wished she'd get to see them with her own two eyes."
"Merfolk aren't all they're cracked up to be or at least they weren't but unfortunately they most likely did not survive," Harry corrected with a sad smile. "Once summer arrives, I intend to send an expedition to the bottom of the Black Lake in the hopes that I'll be able to find a small number of survivors or barring that an intact skeleton or two that can be used to bring them back. The unicorns on the other hand, though small in number and close to extinction, still live; there's only about fifteen in total. They have five young foals that were born over the last three and a half years and we'll use cloning to increase their numbers to insure that they continue to survive."
"The population counts of the various species are truly that low?"
"Fawkes, the phoenix that flame-napped me from the Winner Estate, was the very last one of his kind and he'd only hung on as long as he did waiting for me. He sacrificed himself, first to bring me here, and then to allow us a chance to clone him so that phoenixes would live again. Obduro is the last of the centaurs as well and while I've managed to extend his life by several months and hopefully at least another year or two, he won't be with us for long because he too is fairly old for his kind."
"Goblins, veela, satyrs, sphinxes, dragons, and hundreds of others have all disappeared due to there not being enough magic to sustain them; unless, by some stroke of luck, they managed to find shelter at another nexus. Sure, there are some species that most people would think we could do without because they aren't exactly nice but what most people don't realize is that magic, like nature, requires balance. If I can't reestablish that balance then nothing I do will ever work because magic will continue to die; only it will be drawn out over a longer period of time and eventually without the presence of magic even the Earth will begin to die until it is unable to sustain life at all."
"So you will seek to bring back even those that are dangerous?"
"Do I really have the right to decide which species has the right to live just because they aren't cute and cuddly?" Harry countered with a shrug. "I will do the best I can and try to reason with those that have some capability of understanding in order to allow us to live in harmony without disrupting the natural order of things and the others I will have to find a way to control to a certain extent to insure that they don't cause problems. There are only five types of beings I can't or won't bring back. The first is a creature called a dementor and they are an abomination; an experiment gone wrong and allowed to thrive because they were 'useful' as creatures of war and destruction. I see no need to twist and corrupt the world with foul monstrosities. As for the other four, I don't know if it is possible to recreate them."
"Why? And why would you be hesitant to do so?"
"I don't know if the curses that gave rise to their 'species' still exist or if that was one of the first types of magic to die during the slow and steady decline. I certainly have no wish to recreate those curses as I wouldn't wish their conditions upon even my worst enemy let alone a child. That doesn't mean that magic won't recreate them at some point or that it won't be found somewhere down the line."
"And these beings you are referring to?"
"They are vampires, werewolves, hags, and warlocks; all four of them cursed humans. The former two being cursed or rather 'turned' by a carrier of the curses while the latter two are corrupted by their own magic through their own actions. I understand that not all beings afflicted with any one of those curses are bad people, hell my honorary uncle and all time favorite professor was a werewolf; I named Wolfstar after him. But the curses are terrible and they do cause pain for those afflicted."
"If I find any of them still living, then I will not seek to harm them nor will I send them away should they come seeking sanctuary unless they are running around turning people at the drop of a hat or murdering people indiscriminately. Out of all four types of beings the only one I could potentially clone would be the werewolves since vampires, like phoenixes, turn to ash or dust when they die. Hags and warlocks were far too human and their magic would have been lost over time since they can't reproduce (a side affect of their curse) or they were far too visible and were exterminated entirely. Those two have the highest chances of one day coming back on their own after a few generations of witches and wizards have come and gone since there will always be a few individuals that lack morals and seek power and immortality."
"I can see why you wouldn't wish to curse someone with such a terrible fate. I find myself impressed with the maturity you've displayed in making your decisions. And yes, I realize you are eighteen despite appearances but few of the eighteen year olds I have met through my life could have handled such a heavy responsibility as that which has been placed upon you."
"I was never really allowed to be a child before my godfather saved me by shoving me through time; though my friends and former friends tried to teach me how, they weren't quite successful. I think the closest I came to having a childhood were the six weeks I spent with Trowa at the circus. I know that if it weren't for those I now call my family; I wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of saving the magical world. Merlin, I doubt I would have stuck around long enough to even contemplate accepting the responsibility because I was far too insecure and bitter before I met Heero and the others."
"It was hard work knocking sense into his thick head too," Heero interjected from where he sat up beside Abdul in the front of the jeep.
Harry mock growled at his brother as the jeep pulled to a stop in front of the castle and Heero took off running with a laugh as Harry chased after him. Sally and Abdul both laughed at their antics, both adults pleased to see the teens act like… well teens. It was not surprising when Duo joined the frolicking pair in the snow as he hit them both in the back of the head with snow balls. What was surprising, for Sally at least, was when Harry pulled out his wand and charmed dozens upon dozens of snow balls to chase and repeatedly attack the long haired teen using a spell the former Weasley twins had taught to Harry back during his first year at Hogwarts over that first winter holiday he'd spent in the castle.
The brief moment of silliness and play ended when an ancient centaur approached the group and Harry immediately stopped fooling around to bow to the elder; treating the aging magical being with complete respect both for his age and his knowledge. The mismatched pair then headed off in the direction of the clinic after asking Sally to help Heero set Dorothy up in one of the unfurnished rooms on the first floor while Duo was asked to find Wufei and Cathy.
Harry intended on extracting an oath from Dorothy before allowing her to run about free or even learn about any of the creatures. He would be doing this using a special type of parchment, a binding potion, and a contract quill; all of which he'd salvaged from beneath the ruins of Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop in Hogsmeade. He had business to attend to first though and Dorothy would sleep for at least another two or three hours.
Harry spent the next two hours down at the clinic discussing the collection of genetic material for the various creatures that were currently living on the reserve with Dr. Watanabe. The geneticist was concerned about the chances of actually finding unrelated samples so that a larger range of genetic variances could be used in their re-population efforts. A graveyard hunting expedition was discussed, with Obduro agreeing to show Harry the general locations of where some of the different creatures had been laid to rest over the past several centuries.
Also planned out were trips around the world to investigate other known magical forests to find out if there were other survivors aside from those that had been at Hogwarts; those trips would have to wait until after winter was over since Harry wanted to stay close to Hogwarts during what was a high risk season for the creatures. After their discussion, Dr. Watanabe dragged Harry into the lab so that he could inspect the viable embryos that were currently growing. There wasn't really much to see as far as the young centaurs and the little witches and wizards were concerned but the two phoenix embryos were approximately half of the way through their incubation period.
Harry reminded the doctor to let him know when he thought they were going to be 'hatched' so that he could provide the ashes they would need to survive for their first three months of life. Harry left shortly after that, his eyes studiously avoiding the human embryos as he still felt highly uncomfortable with the idea that he personally had been cloned; still feeling that it wasn't right to curse a child with his bad luck. He understood why it was necessary but that didn't mean he felt any better about it.
Once inside the castle, Harry sagged back against the wall for a minute; slightly overwhelmed by how quickly things had been moving. The moment didn't last long though, Harry couldn't afford to allow his insecurities to get the better of him; he had far too many lives depending on him to permit himself to wallow in self-pity and self-doubt. Pushing away from the wall, Harry strode towards the store room he'd set up to hold everything he'd salvaged from Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. He then spent the next half hour digging through the crates looking for the contract kits he'd salvaged. Once he found them, he grabbed one and went to hunt down his brothers and his self-invited guest only to practically crash into Cathy, who'd been looking for him.
"Oh, there you are; Dorothy woke up a short while ago and I've been looking for you."
"What a coincidence I was just in the process of hunting down the room where she'd been taken," Harry replied as he fell into step beside his sister. "What do you think of our… guest?"
"She's polite and intelligent and right now completely confused," Cathy replied. "Haven't you told her anything about what is going on?"
"Cathy, she's the only granddaughter of Duke Dermail and up until just before we wiped out thousands of mobile dolls sent to crush the Sanc Kingdom she was a spy for the Romefeller Foundation. Do you really think me foolish enough to risk the lives of those who depend upon me simply to put one little girl's fears to rest?"
"Okay, I can understand your reasoning but remember her world has been turned upside down and that she has feelings too."
"I'm not heartless, Cathy; why do you think I simply had her sleep through the flight over instead of tying her up and tossing a sack over her head? All I want is a little security for my charges and to know what she is willing to do to keep herself occupied while she stays here. If she's expecting to be a pampered guest she's in for a rude awakening because we're short handed enough as it is without having to cater to the wants and whims of a spoiled aristocrat."
Cathy huffed but said nothing further on the subject as they walked the rest of the way in silence. It didn't take them long to reach the rather small room where Harry's brothers and the others were waiting. He noted that Dorothy did seem a bit more stressed than she had when he'd first handed her the dose of potion that would allow her to sleep for the duration of the flight. A glance around the room brought to mind the dungeon Harry had stayed in at the Luxembourg Castle only far cleaner and he gave a mental snort as to how she might have viewed waking up in a stone room with nothing but a cot, a table, and two chairs.
"I trust you suffered no ill-effects from the potion, Miss Catalonia?" Harry asked by way of greeting as he dropped the contract kit on the table and began unpacking the various supplies.
"I'm fine, just a little nauseous this time."
"Glad to hear that, I had selected one of the milder potions this time. I'm guessing that you might be allergic to one of the ingredients and will keep that in mind when offering you future potions since most of those meant for ingestion use similar ingredients," Harry replied as he finished arranging everything and sat down across from the teen. "I'm certain you're a little confused and disoriented right now and I do apologize for the necessity but there are some security procedures that you will need to go through before I can have you shown to where you'll be staying while you are here."
Pausing, Harry looked up and pinned Dorothy with a raptor's gaze as he continued in a tone that let her know he was dead serious. "Hundreds of lives depend upon me to protect them and I will not risk their security or their safety needlessly. As such, you will be required to sign a contract and abide by a very strict set of rules. If you don't think that is possible then I need to know now so I can send you somewhere else where you will not endanger those under my care."
"I have already made up my mind, Mr. Bard," Dorothy stubbornly replied as she tipped her chin up just the slightest bit; only her eyes betraying the uncertainty she felt.
"Then let us get down to business," Harry declared in a slightly less intimidating tone.
Thirty-eight minutes and one signed contract later, Harry rose to his feet and pulled out his wand for the first time in Dorothy's presence (at least where she could see it) and used magic to pack everything back up. Dorothy's mouth dropped open in disbelief as the table, chairs, and cot promptly shrank down to the size of doll furniture that were soon tucked into Harry's pockets.
"Would you care for a tour, something to eat, or maybe a place to rest for a while?" Harry asked with a slight smirk on his face as she continued to stare at the ground where the chair she'd been sitting in had once stood.
"How about an explanation instead?" Dorothy half demanded as she collected herself.
"Ah… tour it is then since it is much easier to show you than tell you."
Her reaction to the various creatures was amusing and the fact that she was the only one currently living in Crystal Valley that could not see the thestrals was very telling (Harry had learned that only those who had witnessed death could see the thestrals just a few months earlier when he'd done some research on the creatures). She understood the concept of death well enough but she'd not personally witnessed someone dying (videos and one's imagination not the same thing as seeing death with one's eyes apparently); all of the suits that Harry had destroyed earlier in the month having been unmanned dolls. It meant that despite her status as a spy, her grandfather or someone else close to her had at least tried to shelter her, though Harry suspected it would have only been a matter of time before she'd seen someone cut down.
Dorothy then surprised Harry by asking what he needed help with the most (having already told her that while she could have a choice of chores, she would be pulling her own weight around the reservation). Harry, after giving the matter some thought, told her that what he needed most was more information on every single magical creature or being that ever existed. He needed to know what they were called, where they were found, their environmental needs (habitat), their social behavior, and their breeding or mating habits. As well as their dietary needs and preferences and where they sat on the food chain (i.e. if there were other creatures that preyed upon them or that they preyed upon regularly).
It was also important to know their classification (harmless, dangerous, deadly, pest, or pet), if they had been a source of potion ingredients (hair, fur, scales, skin, blood, bones, eggs, etc), and whether or not they were considered a source of food or raw materials for making clothes (dragon hide, spider silk, wool, meat, etc). He also needed more help with taking care of the actual animals but Dorothy wasn't all that comfortable around the majority of the creatures as she'd never cared for a pet before and while she rode horses she had never actually taken care of them beyond learning how to saddle and bridle them.
Needless to say, she readily agreed to research the animals rather than help feed and care for them and Harry set her up with a small office on the first floor of the castle. He provided her with a desktop (one without an internet connection, that was disconnected from the reserve's network, and warded against tampering), a printer, and close to three hundred books on the various magical creatures and beings (some of which had been published way back in the thirteen hundreds).
Before he returned to the Winner Estate, Wufei (the research guru of Harry's self-made family) helped to create a tracking program for the information that she would be transferring from all of the books that would make accessing what would in the end be a rather daunting database far easier than searching through a series of archaic books. Hilde and Patricia would end up helping the blonde with the large project in addition to their other duties. Harry, in the mean time, spent most of January repairing and upgrading Wolfstar with Duo's help.
As they worked, the two of them quickly discovered that in addition to the stress related structural damage the battle had inflicted upon the sentient suit, Harry's magic had once again changed the suit. The sheer amount of magic running through the entire suit (specifically through those parts that were made from Gundanium) had given the suit a fluidity that it hadn't had before; turning his armor into something more akin to skin or scales and his inner mechanics into something more along the lines of bones and muscles (though they were still made from metals, metal-like alloys, and plastics).
Additionally, the suit picked up a secondary alternate form; his primary form being suit mode and his first alternate form the flight or bird mode. While shocked that the suit could now transform itself into a third distinct form, Harry was not shocked to find that the third form was that of a wolf (the suit was still obsessed with the lupine species after all). Now, instead of sitting on Harry's shoulder in chibi-mode (Duo's name for when Harry shrunk the suits down) or flying along behind him in flight mode, the sentient suit was often found trotting along at Harry's heel.
It was kind of cute, or rather would have been cute if the suit had stayed around chibi-size (around a foot and a half tall) but Wolfstar preferred a slightly bigger stature that had him standing nearly four feet tall at the shoulder (not counting his wings which remained separate from his wolf body and added another two feet to his height). That, of course, put the sentient suit right about the same height as Harry when he was walking on all fours and more along the lines of a small horse or large pony rather than a wolf. In fact, Harry occasionally ended up riding on the back of the suit after it had seen Harry sitting on the back of an old hippogriff so he could better groom the feathers on the back of its head and neck.
While Harry was working on and with Wolfstar to fix the damage done during the battle and upgrading his systems so the next time they fought there would be less of a chance of Harry pushing the suit passed its limits, the world outside of Crystal Valley was changing. Out of the ashes of the destruction Harry and the Freedom Fighters had wrought in seeking to protect the Sanc Kingdom (and therefore promoting Relena's idea of total pacifism) came a new world order. Or rather, the beginning of a new world order rose into being as the war ground to a complete halt on the eighteenth of January when Duke Dermail formally surrendered to Princess Relena (the man considering her far safer to deal with than the Demon of the Stars or any of the Gundam Pilots).
The various leaders of the world in addition to the leaders of the various factions that had been fighting (minus those from White Fang and a handful of others such as Treize since they were not pleased with the recent turn of events) gathered in the Sanc Kingdom to discuss treaties and peace. Harry might have been interested in attending (as the default and de facto leader of the Wizarding Nation) but he had far more important things to worry about and he wasn't ready to announce his floundering nation to the world just yet.
One of those important things was the first in a series of planned forays into the wild forests, cold mountain peeks, and snow filled canyons surrounding Hogsmeade and Hogwarts in the search of the remains of the various magical species that had once made the forests their home. An expedition that Harry would be taking alone, aside from the ever present Wolfstar, as Obduro was far too old to go trekking about the forest in the middle of winter and those other individuals on the reserve couldn't be spared from their current jobs for as long as Harry intended to be gone.
Brian and Haddock would be periodically monitoring his progress from the skies but with winter still in full swing it was more important that they keep watch for any magical creatures that might need their help (especially those that had not taken refuge in the castle or at the clinic). The solitude didn't really bother Harry since it was a rare chance to let himself unwind and think without a hundred different distractions pulling him in different directions constantly. Not that he was ever really completely alone or out of touch given the fact that he had Wolfstar with him in addition to his laptop and he checked in with those at the castle first thing every morning.
The trip was not exactly easy for Harry since his right hand and arm ached constantly from the ever present chill (the damaged nerves still highly sensitive to the extreme cold even after more than a year had passed since he'd first injured the arm). The special glove he wore helped some but it was not perfect and the longer he traveled through the cold the worse it got and there was only so much that could be done with warming charms. He refused to give up though because he knew how important the samples he was trying to gather would be for the future of the entire magical world.
His first successful collection of a mountain troll's skeleton was rather ironic and brought a smile to his face as it was technically the first magical creature he'd ever had close up contact with (if one didn't count half-kneazles and postal owls). It had also been a troll that was the catalyst for the friendship that had sprung up between him and Hermione. He carefully made note of where and when the skeleton had been found and packed up the entire thing (including the club) before searching the area for the remains of any other trolls or other creatures (making use of various locating spells, detection spells, and tracking spells; which was how he'd found the troll skeleton in the first place).
By the end of the first week, Harry had collected a second mountain troll (this one obviously far younger than the first), a trio of red cap skeletons, what he thought might either be a river troll or possibly a forest troll skeleton (both very similar in structure and size but nothing at all like the thick and heavy boned structure of the mountain troll), the partial remains of a bicorn, and a trio of long dead augurey eggs that he'd found in an abandoned nest. Not long after that, Harry reached the first of the burial grounds that Obduro had marked on the map for him; this one being where the centaurs had reverently laid to rest those animals with even the smallest connection to horses (those creatures that centaurs considered their lesser cousins).
Harry found the skeletons of hippogriffs, unicorns, winged horses (several different breeds from all around the world), thestrals, kelpies, rare winged unicorns (a creature born of a winged horse and a unicorn), and rushlows (a fairy-like creature no bigger than a house cat that is horse-like in appearance with the wings of a butterfly). He spent three days carefully cataloging each skeleton or partial skeleton that he carefully packed to take back to the castle (using spells to insure that he gathered three or four unrelated specimens from each breed, species, and sub species present).
Once he had everything packed up and ready to go, he contacted Takoda to arrange for him to pick everything up so he wouldn't have to continue hauling it around. He also asked his friend to bring him supplies; mainly more packing crates, specimen bags, and labels since he carried everything else he might need on him. He met the now twenty year old pilot several miles away from where he'd gathered the equine samples in order to keep his word to the centaur (that no human but Harry and his direct descendants would ever walk the sacred burial grounds and graveyards of the magical creatures and beings).
Takoda ended up camping with Harry that night because Harry was feeling a bit lonely after having been out on his own for over week without another person actually there with him. Sure, he talked to people every morning and throughout the course of the day and he was enjoying the solitude but sometimes it was nice to see people face to face and just hang out.
The next morning they parted ways as Takoda returned to Hogwarts and Harry headed up into the mountains to search for the abandoned nests and remains of the various magical birds that preferred the higher altitudes. He also hoped that he might find the ashes of a phoenix or two since the only phoenix ash he had was that of Fawkes's final burning and there really wasn't enough for two phoenixes let alone dozens of them if he managed to find extra phoenix tears, blood, and feathers amidst the potion ingredients he had in his supplies or had found in Hogsmeade the day Fawkes had brought him back to Crystal Valley.
That of course led him to thinking about what Fred and George had said about Gringotts possibly still standing beneath superior wards and if any thing or one had survived and still lived hidden beneath New London. Making a note to do some research and question the twins and some of the other portraits about the bank and other important buildings (such as St. Mungo's and the Ministry) that had once stood in London once he got home, Harry returned his attention back to the task at hand.
Eight days later, Harry stumbled across the tragic remains of the last flock of diricawls (also known by muggles as dodo birds). They'd been one of the few magical creatures that hadn't sought sanctuary at the castle as they were naturally mistrustful of humans. Harry found them by quite literally stumbling over one of the recently expired bodies when he thought he'd tripped over a rock only to find the unseen feather covered frozen body that had been invisible at the time it had died (and when Harry had tripped over it) with a quick detection spell when he couldn't find what he'd tripped over.
All seventeen birds had frozen sometime in the last two months with the last few perishing just a day before Harry had arrived. He sighed over the needless loss and wished he'd found them sooner but knew the birds would not have welcomed his presence anyway – the birds didn't even trust centaurs. Harry gathered up each of the seventeen corpses and secured them in crates that he placed under stasis spells to prevent them from decaying further.
During the process of gathering the flock, he came across a large clutch of eggs that had been kept warm by a simple fluke; the hen that had been incubating them had been protecting them from the chill and she'd been the absolute last one to die (her death less than twenty-four hours old). Harry immediately cast warming spells around the nest before casting diagnostic spells on the eggs and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that ten of the twenty-eight eggs still lived. Harry decided to call an end to his trip so he could rush the still living eggs back to the clinic because he didn't think he could keep them alive, even with spells, for very long up as high as he was in the mountains.
In the back of his mind (as he loaded up his find into Wolfstar) he also acknowledged the fact that he should have gone home after he'd finished collecting the magical equine skeletons even if his stubbornness might have saved the diricawl eggs. The cold in the valley and forest below had been bad but the harsher temperature and the constant beating of the frigid winds that cut across the mountains made it so he could barely hold his wand due to the pain. He'd only continued on because he needed to feel like he was doing something to help restore the dying populations since it wasn't like he could help with the technical or medical aspect of the cloning.
Sighing, Harry settled into Wolfstar's pilot seat and let the suit take them home while he focused on keeping the small crate, which carried all twenty-eight eggs, warm and stable while ignoring the throbbing, stabbing pain of his right hand and arm. His early and unexpected return (he'd not bothered calling ahead to anyone but Dr. Watanabe) caught most everyone off guard as he hadn't been expected back for another two weeks. As luck would have it, Trowa (who'd traded rotations with Heero for the month of February) caught sight of Wolfstar landing practically on top of the clinic (something that Harry normally wouldn't do) and immediately assumed that something was wrong.
Trowa had immediately contacted the rest of Harry's squad to see if they'd known what was going on even as he hurried across the grounds to the clinic. He'd also contacted Cathy to see if she knew what was going on before trying to raise the staff at the clinic (who were all too busy dealing with the fragile eggs to answer). Harry had just finished explaining his find to Dr. Watanabe and the condition of both the nest and eggs at the time he'd found them when Trowa burst into the room and skidded to a halt.
"What the hell happened? Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" Trowa demanded as he immediately strode up to Harry and began giving him a physical inspection.
"Trowa! Trowa, stop! I'm fine!" Harry protested as Trowa tried to peel off his flight suit.
"Then why did you drop out of nowhere practically on top of the clinic without even letting anyone else know you were coming back early?"
"My mind was a bit preoccupied with the eggs I was transporting and I called the clinic before I landed just outside because I didn't want to carry the eggs through the cold air any more than I had too. And will you please stop trying to undress me!?"
"Explain!" Trowa ordered as he ignored Harry's request as he dropped the top of the flight suit to Harry's waist and pulled Harry's outer shirt off to check on Harry's wings. "And stop squirming… I want to make certain you didn't do yourself further damage out in the cold."
Right about that time Hilde, Patricia, Dorothy, and Cathy poured into the room; the four young ladies concerned after Trowa had called both squad members as well as Cathy just a few minutes earlier (the four of them having been working on entering magical creature data into the database at the time). Dorothy gasped in shock as she had not been aware of Harry's wings and he hadn't really planned on telling her either which is why he was currently glaring at Trowa. Trowa was ignoring him though as he checked for any signs of ice building up between the scales of the wing or blackened edges on the scales which would indicate the presence of scale-rot (as he'd developed after being partially exposed to the cold in space).
Frustrated with his brother's mother-henning, Harry used his freed wings to lift him out of Trowa's grasp and land several feet away. When Trowa tried to chase him down, Harry pulled his wand and threatened to hex him only to end up dropping the wand as his hand chose that moment to cramp up after being exposed to the warmth circulating in the building for a short time (the rather abrupt and vast change in temperature after the many nights of being subjected to freezing temperatures playing havoc on his damaged nerves).
"Merlin's sagging left…" Harry started to curse as he cradled his hand to his stomach.
"Now will you please let me see just how much harm you did to yourself running about in the middle of winter all alone without someone to keep you from ignoring the obvious?" Trowa demanded as he scooped Harry's wand from the floor before Harry could lean down and grab it.
Resigned, Harry huffed and pulled his wings in tight against his back as he allowed Trowa to steer him into the nearest seat. He absently noted that the good doctor had disappeared at some point and that all four ladies were still in the room (Cathy purposefully blocking the only exit – the second door leading into the genetics lab where he'd just delivered the eggs and not an actual way out). Trowa further embarrassed Harry by making him strip down completely to the waist (the other teen not caring that the girls were present) and Harry's entire face and neck turned beet red when all three younger girls openly stared at his bare chest and wings.
"Take off the glove; I want to see what your hand and arm look like since you're obviously in pain and having trouble using it."
Harry complied and yanked the glove off only to immediately regret it as it made the pain triple since the charmed glove was no longer protecting the damaged and sensitive nerves. Normally, Harry's right arm and hand only seemed slightly pale in comparison to the rest of his body (a result of constantly wearing the glove for protection) and the fine scars (due to frostbite from when his suit failed after he'd failed to completely block the multiple blasts from the colony) barely visible. Now, however, the skin on his right hand and arm was currently splotched bright red and pink, indicating that the skin was cold and irritated and it made the fine tracery of scars on his skin stand out sharply in contrast.
"Do you have any of that cold cream with you?" Trowa inquired as he noted just how much pain Harry was in and the current state of his arm.
"Yeah, I have several jars down in my trunk."
"Go grab a jar and a roll of gauze so I can do something about your arm. And Taliesin, you do know you're damn lucky that you didn't end up frostbitten again, you know that right?"
"I honestly didn't think it was that bad. I'd been trying to be careful but I sometimes forget that even magic has limits. I also know I shouldn't have attempted heading up into the mountains until winter broke but I'd been heartened by my first successes and pushed on even when I knew better. If not for the fact that the nest I found still contained live eggs and chose to bring them straight here in order to give them a higher chance of survival I would probably still be out there now."
"You are not to be taking off into the wilds alone again for so much as even one night for the duration of the winter or so long as the temperature remains below forty-degrees Fahrenheit and I don't want to hear one word of complaint or protest from you. Now, go get the cream and the gauze; and don't even think about sitting down in the trunk sulking or attempting to take care of your arm yourself."
Harry scowled at his brother as he removed the leather cord from around his neck and held out his hand to his brother. When Trowa just frowned at him and arched an eyebrow, Harry growled and deadpanned, "I need my wand to restore the trunk, Trowa. Unless you intend to stand around for a few years waiting for me to suddenly develop the ability to cast wandless spells?"
Trowa snorted and passed Harry his wand, albeit somewhat reluctantly because Harry had at least considered hexing him just a short while earlier. To the green-eyed teen's relief, Harry didn't use any spells on him, was only gone for three minutes tops, and merely tucked both wand and trunk away as he passed the requested items to Trowa (his wand taking up temporary home in his back pocket and the necklace of trunks back around his neck). Harry then held perfectly still while Trowa spread the cream over his arm and hand before wrapping it up in gauze; the numbing of the pain making Harry sigh in relief as he sagged back in his seat.
"I didn't even realize it was hurting that bad until now, now that the pain is gone," Harry honestly stated as he closed his eyes and tipped his head back against the wall behind him. "I guess I slowly got used to the pain because the cold started making my hand and arm ache even through the charms right after the first snowfall back in October and I just ignored it since I thought I was protected well enough by the glove I'd made. Maybe its time I dig through my supplies to find me some acromantula silk to weave a proper glove that I can line with basilisk or dragon hide to offer better protection since normal leather just doesn't hold spells as well as magical products do."
"How about you just listen to your body when it tries to tell you something is wrong instead of pushing your body beyond its limitations?" Cathy half growled as she walked up and thwacked Harry on the ear with a finger. "And here I thought you were supposed to be the mature, older brother setting an example for the younger teens."
"S'not like I do it on purpose," Harry groused as he rubbed his now stinging ear and pouted up at his honorary sister. "I just feel like I'm forever one step behind and I'm the only one who is able to find what we need in order to bring back all of the creatures that have been lost over the last five centuries."
"You have a life time ahead of you in which to rebuild."
"I do but not all of the creatures depending on me do and if I had tried harder the diricawl could have been safely ensconced in a special coop for their protection where they would have been safe and out of the cold. Only I didn't think that far enough ahead and an entire species paid for it. Ten fragile eggs out of a total of twenty-eight eggs that had been laid over the last two months; that's all I was in time to save. All seventeen adults were already dead. And even those ten might not survive."
"Even if they don't, you know Dr. Watanabe will be able to create and clone more," Trowa pointed out logically.
"That won't change the fact that I failed the ones that died," Harry snapped back as he stood up and put his shirts back on. "Yes, science allows us to recapture what was lost in the physical sense but each death takes a toll on the rest of the world magically speaking because it's another piece of magic that is forever lost and right now there isn't much in the way of new life replacing what was lost; which further endangers the rest of the creatures."
Harry pinched the bridge of his nose once his wings were safely hidden once more and sighed contritely as he realized he was taking his frustrations out on his brother. Letting his shoulders sag, Harry glanced over the rim of his glasses as he apologized, "I'm sorry, Trowa; I have no business yelling at you for something that is in no way your fault. I'm just tired and frustrated right now. It just seems that for every step forward I manage to take I find myself sliding two steps backwards."
"Go get some rest, Taliesin; I'm sure a hot meal and a warm bed will do you a world of good. Both for your health and your frustration," Trowa suggested as he dropped his hand on Harry's head and ruffled the shorter wizard's hair (letting him know he hadn't taken offense).
"Before you leave, Taliesin; did you wish to check on the progress of the fetuses?" Dr. Watanabe inquired as he stuck his head through the door. "The phoenixes are expected to 'hatch' any day now; we've given them simulated egg shells in order to make the process as natural as possible and we'll need those 'ash nests' you spoke of creating for them soon. The centaurs have reached their sixth month and are developing as well as projected while the first human fetus is well into its second trimester with the second three just approaching their second trimester and the newest four are past their first month; all thirteen are completely healthy."
Poleaxed, Harry stared at the aged doctor and swallowed thickly as he fought the urge to run far and fast while attempting to form a reply at the same time. When he finally did manage to speak, his voice came out a bit high and cracked every couple of words, "I'll get the two nests prepped for you by tomorrow afternoon. And uh… I need to… I've got to… go." And then he was gone, the door slamming shut in his wake from the force of his rushed (and desperate) exit.
"What just happened?" Dorothy asked curiously as she glanced at the sad and morose looks on Trowa's, Cathy's, and Dr. Watanabe's faces.
"That was Taliesin in a panic," Cathy replied softly. "We've been trying to help him get used to the idea of children but he's having a hard time coping."
"Can you blame him? Taliesin once told me he didn't want children because he didn't wish to curse a child with his bad luck," Hilde sadly reminded them as she stared after the child-like teen she had once feared but now respected and followed.
"If he didn't want any children then why are you trying to force him to get used to the idea of having children?" Dorothy asked in confusion.
"You have to understand," Trowa explained in a pained voice as Dr. Watanabe disappeared back into the lab once more now that Taliesin had left. "He's not just trying to save a bunch of rare and special creatures; he's saving an entire world. He is the only survivor of a race of humans that were born with an ability to manipulate energy and matter on a level not seen in close to five hundred years. If he were to die then the world he is trying to save will die with him because he is the only one that can give them what they need."
"You cloned him," Dorothy interjected as she realized exactly where Trowa was leading with his explanation.
"Yes. One of the eight human fetuses currently in the middle of their gestation period is an exact clone of Taliesin. The other seven are clones created from the remains of the people that Taliesin found buried in the damaged section of the castle at the end of summer. Taliesin understands the need to restore the population of his own people in addition to the creatures and other beings he is trying to save but that doesn't make it any easier for him to accept that he will soon become father and teacher for an entire race. And like Hilde said, he feels as if he's already cursed one of those eight precious children because he in essence has given it life."
AN: Late again… but hopefully the next chapter won't take quite as long to get out. Next chapter will take a closer look at what is happening with the Leaders of the World and a bit of drama between Harry and Dorothy. I'm certain there was more I wanted to say but my mind is running on fumes right now. Anyway, thank you to everyone that has left a review; they are much appreciated and even though I've not been replying I do try to make the time to read all of them, I just haven't had much time lately as real life is encroaching on my fun time. Rude that. Anywho, I'll try to have the next chapter up soon. ~ Jenn