THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
Chapter 20: ...To die or not to die
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners.
-TRNT-
"Acwellan!" The purely norse spell erupted from the Elder wand and rocketed forward in the form of a ball of crackling magic with the sole purpose of destroying whatever stood in its way. Asgardian magic was battle oriented, after thousands of years of being used for destruction, the majority of the norse spells were made to be used in war, even the most basic of spells tended to cause destruction even when not meant to. It was just sad that the majority of Asgard could not wield magic in it's normal form like the likes of Harry, Loki and Odin did.
The ball of magic slammed into the side of the castle with a clap of destruction that had almost half of the castle being completely reduced to rabble.
The castle had been curved from a mountain and even from just looking at it, one could still perceive it like a mountain. The mountain was colored red and black, spiked, and altogether horrible looking. It was as if someone had heard of the Gothic style to sculpt every crenellation and tower with demonic figures and had taken it to the nth degree. Every one of the faces seemed to be slightly different, as if the person whose face it had been based off had died from a very specific torture. There were thousands, millions of faces everywhere Harry looked.
The sight was intended to inspire terror, both in the demons that worshiped him as a god and any people foolish enough to enter his realm, yet, in this instance, it failed. Those faces held no fear for Harry who had invaded his realm this time. Only fury at Mephisto for daring to touch what was his and the determination to show the rest of the world it would be foolish to ever try something like that again.
Harry didn't have to wait long as a moment later, Mephisto appeared, striding through the rubble that had previously been part of his castle, even as it repaired itself behind him at his wordless command. Mephisto was a tall creature, his facial features somewhat humanlike, yet so very not, somehow perverted and vile, with slanted yellow eyes and thin, pointed face, topped with a wild mane of maroon hair. His ears were long and pointed, larger than the fantasy ideal of elves. His skin was a pinkish hue but not a healthy pink, just pale pink, like a crayon color. His hands in their gloves were long and elegant yet tipped with claws. His clothing was a formfitting red suit of leather along with a cape not so different from Harry's only his was a deep red.
"Harry Potter." He started as black feathered wings erupted from his back and he flew up to float before Harry. "Welcome to my humble abode. You should get comfortable, you are going to be here for a long time."
"I'm sorry but once I'm done with you, you won't be able to host any one else." Harry replied as he dispelled his wand. "You made a very big mistake when you came after mine, and I plan on rectifying it."
"And how do you plan on doing that, godling?" Mephisto smirked at him and Harry smirked right back.
"You're about to find out." And without another word or even a gesture, a massive spear formed of pure magical power slammed into Mephisto, blasting him away from Harry. With a roar, Harry charged after him through the air faster than he had flown before and punched the Hell-lord in the face hard just as Mephisto had oriented himself from his uncontrollable flight.
There was a mini shockwave as Harry's fist impacted with Mephisto's face and he was blasted towards the ground where he fell hard formed a small crater.
Bloodaxe axe appeared in Harry's hand before he threw it at the demons position. Mephisto barely managed to roll out of the way before he could be cut in half but the axe released a wave of magic as it buried itself in the ground. The wave threw Mephisto away but he flapped his wings and managed to control his flight before throwing himself at Harry, almost too fast for Harry to follow. He dodged to the side and blasted Mephisto's back with magic.
The hell lord grunted as the blast hit and burned his back. Before he could follow up, he had to materialize his axe to cut the half dozen demons that had just flown at him. This gave Mephisto a chance to get a breather as he turned back at Harry. The two stared at each other for a second before Mephisto smirked.
"You are strong for one who recently ascended into godhood." He commented as he called upon his own magic. "But you will find that in my realm, I am the only God!"
Harry didn't answer for a moment and he just summoned his wand in the place of the axe while he prepared his magic in his other hand as well. He looked back at Mephisto, emerald eyes glowing with power.
"You are no God, Mephistopheles." Harry said and the hell lord twitched at the use of his full name that he hadn't used ever since he and the others were thrown out off heaven. "But you are going to find out what one is capable of."
Mephisto grabbed power from the dimension that was his home and his creation, hurling it at his opponent with every kind of spell under his command. Illusions, direct assaults in the form of conjured creatures, conjured fire, conjured lightning, conjured ice, darkness, and pure magic came at Harry in a near unending assault. And he met all of them head on, blocking or dodging every attack before, retaliating with lightning mixed with pure magic and holy light back at the Demon Lord. Any demon that tried to come near the two combatants was swiftly incinerated on the spot from the amount of magic they were throwing around.
Spells were flung between them, those that struck healing almost instantly on either end. An ice spear slammed into Harry's shoulder but he didn't even flinch as it disappeared and the wound was healed a second later. A lance of fire ran through Mephisto's torso sending the demon Lord back a few feet but it too healed a second later. Spell after spell, attack after attack was exchanged but nothing was doing any significant damage to the other. One attack almost blew off Harry's head but his return spell actually blew off Mephisto's arm which grew back almost instantly. As if coming to a mutual agreement, the two suddenly stopped casting and stared at each other. There were barely any other demons in their vicinity, most of them watching warily from a far.
"Do you honestly expect to match me in magic combat for very long in my own realm?" Mephisto asked and Harry just raised an eyebrow at him. "You're not very talkative, are you?"
"I didn't come here to make conversation." He replied, calling back his axe before shooting towards Mephisto and the fight resumed, this time more physical than magical even though magic wasn't given up completely. Mephisto conjured an large eldritch sword and met Harry's attacks with his own.
Each weapon was encased with magic of some kind and the very air around them was slowly distorting due to the number of spells cast actually beginning to degrade the ancient spell that had created this dimension in the first place, eons ago. Mephisto managed to land a kick to Harry's chest and he was pushed back greatly giving Mephisto space to cast some spell. Even as he dodged the disc of blackest darkness that wailed as it went past him, a small part of Harry's mind was able to wonder what would happen to them if the dimension itself came undone. However, the spell he dodged split, each bit of darkness becoming larger than the whole had been, joined by more of their fellows fired from Mephisto's outstretched hands and they all came at Harry.
"Expecto Patronum!" A wave of pure white light erupted from Harry's chest and spread away from him incinerating the darkness with shrieks. Mephisto himself was blasted back by the wave, something that not even Harry had expected. It made sense though, the patronus spell was formed to combat dark creatures and Mephisto was probably as dark as they came.
Harry flew after the demon lord and slashed his axe sending a variation of the patronus spell in the form of a curved blade. Against any other person, this would have simply gone through them without any effect but for Mephisto it was different. The demon lord swiftly raised a shield but the spell went right through and he barely managed to move to not be sliced in half. His left hand was not so lucky and it was sliced cleanly off from the wrist as he instinctively raised it to shield his face.
"RRHHHH," Mephisto glared at Harry, backing away slightly and looking at his hand as he willed his regeneration ability to heal the wound. It didn't respond, however, something in the wound, which he could now see was cauterized, was fighting it. It was healing but so slowly he could actually feel pain for the first time in decades. He turned to stare at Harry. "What have you done Potter, what have you done!?"
"That...is just the beginning of your suffering."
Mephisto roared and charged, magical spells flinging from his hands and body with abandon, but Harry met the assault with equal force. He realized however that even with his endless source of magic that was the life tree and almost limitless stamina, it wouldn't be enough to offset the fact that Mephisto was battling him in his own realm, which fueled and powered every gesture and spell he sent at Harry.
He grunted in agony as a spell exploded right beside his face, sending shards of red glass into the side of his hastily raised arm. They weren't deep, but he could feel some kind of poison fighting against his healing ability. Mephisto took the momentarily lull in Harry's defense to send a blast of magic at Harry's head intending to blow it off. Harry instinctively raised a shield that protected him but he was blasted towards the ground from the force behind it.
His head was still ringing from the earlier attack and it became even more pronounced when he slammed into the ground. Mephisto was there before he could even stand up right and slashed at his neck with a blade of black nothingness. Harry barely managed to raise Bloodaxe in time to block the blade and got into a tug of strength with his taller opponent. As soon as he had arrived on the ground, Harry began to fight two battles; one against Mephisto's physical presence in front of him and the other against Mephisto's control of the power that had completely saturated the dimension. Now Mephisto was attacking him on two fronts as the very world around him started attacking as well.
Harry dug deep in him and sent his divine energy into the ground directly before him through his feet. He could feel it fighting against the dimension but soon it won as Mephisto's power, despite being massive was nothing compared to divine energy. Had Mephisto been a god, Harry would never have been able to over come him, even in a small area like below his feet. Somehow, Harry doubted any other god other than a god of life could have done it. As soon as it got a grip however, Harry's life giving divinity started spreading ever slightly, quite literally healing the dimension.
Mephisto tried to smash him down with an overhand hammer blow of pure magic as his other hand conjured up a spear of fire thrusting it towards Harry's chest but Harry's axe caught the first and his hand caught the second. The magic he had encased his hand with died and Harry could feel his hand begin to burn under the spell and he wrenched it back, hurriedly disengaging, the damage was already done, his hand now a claw of twisted and burnt flesh. His healing ability was already kicking in however as Harry conjured a sword made of fire and thrust it into Mephisto's chest as the spear went through Harry's.
Suddenly, Mephisto couldn't feel his dimension where it was around Harry anymore. Where there had been the ground, covered with what he rather fondly called blade grass and the bones of his victims, there was now unblemished soil and that too disappeared as grass started growing around Harry. Mephisto gaped at the undoing of a portion of his realm, not even stopping Harry as he jumped backwards.
Harry called up more of his divine energy even as he called upon his wand and sent spell after spell at the demon lord. Mephisto blocked, dodged, or destroyed nearly all of them but his eyes were growing wider and wider with every second as he felt Harry's influence in his realm rippling out now. The patch of purified ground Harry had created was now spreading, leaving Mephisto unable to draw further power from it himself, lest he cause the damage to spread even faster.
Mephisto was feeling the loss of the power his realm provided, having become more dependent on the constant loop between him and his plane, the loss cutting into his concentration. He started to take more damage, his spells faltering at times. Another spell like the cutting spell that had taken his hand hit him in the side, only his last second dodge having saved him from being cut in half. Mephisto screamed again, throwing Harry back with a blast of pure magic and slamming him away Into the sky with another spell which, to Harry's shock, shattered the front of his Asgardian-made armor. Pieces fell away around what looked like a fist shaped dent in the metal and Harry grunted in agony, his ribs creaking.
As another spell, this one looking like some kind of cross between a purple axe and a missile, tried to impact his head, Harry returned fire. Another light based spell slammed into Mephisto's face causing him to cry out in pain, even though it wasn't very powerful. Harry pressed his advantage, getting in close and smashing Mephisto with spell after concussive spell, keeping Mephisto off balance. Even then, Harry's control through the realm continued spreading, the larger it became the faster it spread, now no longer needing Harry's direct input.
There was now real terror in Mephisto's eyes as more of his precious dimension was taken from him. He fought wildly, putting as much as he could in his spells, but Harry dodged and blocked, and occasionally throwing back some of his own. Mephisto had millennia of experience on him but the sheer ferocity and power of Harry's assault, coupled with the pain he was in, was enough to offset that. It was touch and go until Harry suddenly teleported for the first time since the battle had begun and appeared behind Mephisto, a sword made with the same power as a patronus on his hand.
He stabbed the demon lord in the back, teleported again and appeared infront of him before stabbing him in the chest. The surprise of the attack along with the lack of concentration because of his disappearing control of his dimension gave Harry enough time to hack at the demon lord over and over with barely any opposition. He sliced the demon's arms at the shoulder, stepped back and blasted a hole through his torso sending him flying. Harry once again appeared at where the downed demon had fallen and stabbed the light blade through his back and straight through his heart and into the ground.
Mephisto cried out as Harry stepped back and stared at the defeated form of the demon lord. More than half of Mephisto's realm had been usurped from him by Harry and it was spreading even faster now. Now, without his realm, Mephisto was just like any other demon. There was a possibility that even if he left him like this, Mephisto could survive and regain his control over the realm no matter how impossible that seemed and so Harry wasn't willing to risk that.
He stepped on Mephisto's back and grabbed the massive wings in either arm. Mephisto who was barely capable of moving suddenly tried to struggle when he realized what Harry planned on doing. He knew he couldn't completely kill the demon lord, but he needed to send a message to others as he knew they would find out. Also, he needed to leave his mark on him which he would remember for the rest of his existence.
Harry pressed his boot harder into Mephisto's back and started pulling. The demon-lord screamed as Harry pulled with all his might, intent on ripping the wings off right from their roots. He had just started feeling them start to give way when he felt a heavy presence. The dimension seemed to be resetting itself, Harry's influence swiftly being reversed like it had never existed. In a matter of seconds, all Harry's efforts had been undone. He looked down at the hell lord below him to see if he was somehow the reason but he looked even more afraid than he had been when Harry tried to rip off his wings.
Stepping back, Harry knew that someone else was coming. Someone that even Mephisto was afraid of. He tried to teleport away as the air became thick with magic but his magic refused to respond.
"This is my home, Harry Potter." A voice seemed to come from everywhere. The power and authority behind it nearly drive him to his knees. "I do not appreciate it when someone tries to take even a fraction of it from me."
Harry gripped his axe and wand in either hands as he looked around.
"Looking for me?"
He spun around and came face to face with a...human. Or someone that looked like a human as there was no way a human could be leaking that much power. The being looked like a man, a very tall, unnaturally handsome man that put an Asgardian to shame, in a form fitting three piece black suit. He looked at Harry with dark eyes that conveyed no emotion even as he smiled warmly at him.
"Who are you?" Harry managed to ask, somehow not chocking on his words.
"Lucifer." The man said in a perfect imitation of Harry's british accent. "Lucifer Morningstar. Pleasure to meet you."
Harry stared at the man, the Devil. "Are you going to kill me?"
He asked with a raised eyebrow, readying himself for a fight even though he knew how futile it would be.
"Nope, not worth my time." He smirked. "Just here to punish a disappointing servant who got beaten up by a godling."
Mephisto whimpered from where he was still impaled as Lucifer walked past Harry without a care in the world and approached him.
"Oh, you may go. No other hell-lord will be coming after your earth in any form ever." He said looking back over his shoulder at Harry. "You have the devil's word, now off you go."
"And the ones already there?!" Harry shouted. "As well as my friend's soul?"
Lucifer paused and glanced back at him as if he couldn't believe that anyone could still question him.
"Way to ruin my line." The devil actually pouted. "You can do with them as you please."
With just a gesture, Harry was banished from Hell and he found himself standing in the Haldane's backyard.
-TRNT-
While Harry had been fighting Mephisto in his realm for less than an hour, by the time he returned, it had been almost a full week on earth. When he returned, he had a long rest and when he woke up the next day, the Ancient One was waiting for him in the living room. Shevaun was away in England while Ranulph was there, not looking particularly happy to host the Sorcerer Supreme.
"I am here to apologize, Harry Potter." The Ancient one started as she stared at him. "I have grown complacent and over reliant on the Eye that everything that happens I've been aware of it before it does." She paused. "Untill I met you, that is."
She had told him that she can't see his future, or any future he is involved in so Harry understood what she meant.
"Even after that, I didn't take any steps that I am well aware I should have, and with that I put the world at risk and you almost lost your lives for it." She continued. "If you had lost that fight with Him, it would have meant doom for us all. And so I thank you for doing my job for me."
Harry glanced at Ranulph, uncertain on how to deal with this.
"Well, I was fighting for my life so my intentions weren't as noble as you might think." Harry said with a shrug. "Besides, no harm done...mostly atleast." He frowned. "So, what happened exactly?"
"As you're aware that I can't see any futures you're involved in, I wasn't surprised when you suddenly showed up on my door and so I let you in." The Ancient one started. "Only it wasn't you but Mephista, daughter of the demon you just fought. She can change herself to a molecular level and her imitation of you was flawless enough to fool even my senses."
She paused to look at them each.
"As soon as I had admitted her into the wards, Mephista attacked me. I beat her off but she managed to escape before I could kill her, which was why I attacked you the other day when you and Ms. Haldane arrived just moments after she escaped." At least that explained her behavior that day. "What I wasn't aware of is that she left something behind, an artifact which manipulated one of the energies I use making me weaker by the day without me realizing untill I was weak enough to control."
"Mephista got her to lower the spell that kept demons out." Ranulph added. "And using the New York Sanctum as a base, she would over run the world with demons before turning it into an extension of His dimension. With the help of my buddies of ofcourse."
"Well, what happened then?"
"When I lowered the protective barrier, the other Sorcerers mobilised and attacked the New York Sanctum as was protocol when I didn't follow the required steps in lowering it." The Ancient One continued. "Together with Mr. Haldane, the Sorcerers managed to beat the five mages and Mephista along with all their demons."
"The mages died while Mephista is now imprisoned at Kamar-Taj. We have been constantly fighting demons that kept appearing from Mephisto's dimension untill when they stopped yesterday when you came back." Ranulph finished the explanation. "Also, I got my soul back, so I believe that has something to do with whatever you did."
"I beat Mephisto." Harry stated. "I tried to cut off his wings when the Devil showed up and promised me that he and any other Hell-lords won't be bothering my Earth ever again."
"You met Lucifer?" The Ancient one asked with clear shock in her voice.
"Yeah." Harry replied. "It probably had something to do with the fact that I was almost taking full control of Mephisto's realm so he came and put a stop to it."
The Ancient one left soon after while Ranulph and Harry filled in each other with the details that might have been left in the explanation. The fact that the other mages only after their souls had been returned to them also meant that Ranulph was capable of dying now.
"I don't have very long." Ranulph said after a moment of silence. "Magic is trying to keep me together but the truth is that my body doesn't belong in this time and soon will be breaking apart."
"We can get for you a new body." Harry told him. "And then transfer your soul into it."
Ranulph shook his head.
"I made peace with my death a long time ago. The only thing that stopped me from actively seeking it was the thought of leaving Shevaun to His mercy." He smiled. "Now that we are free from him and I know that she will be safe with you, I can finally rest in peace."
Harry knew the man had made up his mind and there was no convincing him otherwise. "What do you want me to do?"
"You have done enough." He answered. "Just keep being my little girl's friend, and be there for her when she needs you. She will be taking over my everything along with that which belonged to the other members of Mys-tech. She has been prepared for it since birth, all she needs is someone constantly standing by her."
Harry nodded.
"I have made preparations." He continued. "All the different companies are all under on cooperation with trusted people under contracts that will keep them loyal to her." He paused. "She is smart, much smarter than anyone I know so she shouldn't have any problems adjusting to her role."
"She won't be alone."
"No she won't, seeing that the two of you are the majority share holders."
"What?!"
"The two of you own seventy percent of Haldane International with Shevaun holding forty and you holding thirty." He said, completely ignoring the look Harry was giving him. "I'll always be grateful that you came into our lives Harry and this is my way of saying 'Thank you' for all that you have done for us."
Harry was still frowning at him.
"Hey, don't look so glum, you're currently one of the richest people on the planet." He scolded. "You want to make the world a better place? You now have the resources for it, magic alone can only take you so far." He said. "People tend to listen to you more when you have more money than them. What, did you think you were going to be saving the world every single day?"
Honestly, Harry knew he wasn't going to be meeting world-ending threats every day, and he didn't know what he would be doing with his free time. There was no way he was going back to school, not after everything that had happened. Either way, time would tell.
-TRNT-
Ranulph died about a week later looking downright ancient. Shevaun had already accepted his death and while sad that she wouldn't see him again, she wasn't that affected by his passing. They buried him on an island he owned that he had prepared just for this. It was pretty large actually, with a huge mansion and open grounds that had been cultivated as a place to get away from everything every once in a while.
The ceremony was a quiet affair with about ten people in attendance including Harry, Shevaun and the Queen who had actually been a close friend of his since her childhood. The rest were managers of the different companies under Haldane International who knew most if not all of his secrets. Once the burial was done, they were all returned to their homes and thus marked the end of the last of Mephisto's servants.
Life went back to normal after that for Harry, atleast as normal as it could be for a young god with a growing religion. Shevaun was admitted at Karma-Taj and she continued her studies in magic as well as her normal education. Harry for his part went back to Hogwarts and continued studying magic while also becoming a member of staff to teach fighting, both magical and physical to anyone that was interested. The day-to-day running of the magical world and England was left to Hermione and those she decided on.
Integrating the magical world into the muggle England was also going well. They had known since way back when Hermione had brought up the idea that the main issue would be the muggle world accepting the wizards and witches. So, Harry and Hermione had made plans to deal with it, plans that had been applied for the past years.
The first step was to remove the nonmagical population's fear of magic. In order to do so, Hermione with a number of other muggleborns had been using books. They had spent their free time for the last few years re-writing Wizarding tales and bedtime stories along with writing a number of their own that changed how magic was depicted by the muggles. They had then flooded the markets with these children's stories in order to get the next generation of children and the current generation of parents familiar with Witches and Wizards, their customs, abilities, and quirks.
For the past five years, children had been growing up on such stories. Even their parents, atleast the younger ones had grown used to the idea of magic and thanks to the shops that had been set up all over England that sold 'magical knickknacks' by the time magic fully became common knowledge, it wouldn't be as much of a shock as it otherwise would have been.
Days went by and they became weeks. A wizard or two would occasionally appear in a public place, do something that intrested the people before they would disappear. Some times they would appear in groups and after getting the attention of people, they would stay around and answer a few questions before disappearing. Stories of wizards and witches appearing allover England were on the news and internet. Their actions were talked about everyone untill the prime minister came out one day and confirmed that indeed there were wizards and witches in England.
There were all sorts of reactions but they were mostly positive and Hermione was happy about it. Give it a decade and magicals will be living alongside non-magicals without much of an issue.
The dome around England did its job. Not only at cleansing the world but at also keeping out other magicals. The international magical community was not happy about England outing the existence of wizards and witches which had forced most of the other settlements to meet their muggle counterparts and discuss how to handle it. Many decided to further hide away from the muggles while others together came up with ways of integrating themselves into the normal world. Any attempts at contacting those in England were ignored.
Harry's followers kept growing in number, not only among the magicals but also the muggles. A few muggles who truly believed suddenly found themselves capable of performing some minor healing magic. They set up areas which they used to treat people from minor injuries and diseases, something which the wizards and witches had not planned on doing. These places soon became temples dedicated to Harry and he had to show up to set up barriers to ensure that they wouldn't be attacked by other believers.
Life went on for Harry and those around him. When he wasn't at Hogwarts teaching or attending meetings for the company, he spent it with Shevaun as they grew closer. By the end of the year they had officially started dating. They weren't exactly your typical young adults and therefore nothing about their relationship was typical. They went to dates of course which usually ended with ground-breaking sex. And Harry trained her as much as he could without breaking her. Both in combat and magic.
She grew close to the Ancient one and had it not been for the fact that the woman already had her successor in mind, she would have picked Shevaun. She trained her as much as possible, knowing that her time was drawing for her to leave this world and Shevaun would have to take over untill Stephen Strange was ready to become Sorcerer Supreme.
When the Ancient one had revealed the name of her successor, Harry had been surprised as the man was quite well known. He was a known doctor, one of the most successful and accomplished neurosurgeons in the world and nothing about him showed any inclination towards magic. However, neither of them could see the future like the Ancient One so they remained completely ignorant and decided to take her word for it.
Christmas was a jolly affair at the island with Harry and Shevaun inviting a number of people. This included Hermione who had somehow become close enough with the Queen to invite her as well, along with Tonks, Sirius, and a number of their close friends. Shevaun invited The Ancient One, a Sorcerer named Wong and a few other friends she had made at Kamar-Taj. The New Year was an even quieter affair with only Harry, Shevaun and Hermione who Shevaun had managed to string into their relationship.
Things were quiet for the better half of the next year. The company while well known was mostly a background kind of company which meant it didn't often make big news like other famous companies. It grew from outside the public eyes and any problems that arouse were handled swiftly and quietly. Unlike companies like Stark Industries headed by Iron Man also known as Tony stark.
Harry and Shevaun were currently watching the news from the Mansion in California about what had happened at the Stark Expo. Apparently someone had come up with armor similar to Stark's and had attacked the Expo. Stark had been attacked a few days earlier on a race track by someone with an exoskeleton powered by an arc-reactor.
"He seems to be more of a trouble magnet than both of us combined." Shevaun commented from where she was lying with her head in Harry's lap.
Harry laughed. "Seems that way doesn't it?"
"Attacked in the same week, battling enemies left, right and center?" She shook his head. "Our lives used to be way more interesting more than that."
"I don't mind the peace and quiet." Harry commented.
"You wouldn't, would you?" Shevaun scoffed. "You're not the one who occasionally has to track down hordes of demons every two days."
Ever since the Ancient one had taken down the protective spell, there had been attacks of demons every now and then. They had put it back up but it wasn't at the power it had been and the demons always found weak point and got through. The only reason Harry had not personally gotten involved yet was because they had things in hand. There was a way the Sanctum could detect the demons and as soon as one appeared on earth, it was swiftly dispatched.
Harry also remembered Lucifer's promise that the Hell-lords would leave Earth alone so he knew that any demons that came to earth were coming on their own accord and not because of some nefarious plans by their lords.
"I mean look at you, if this keeps going on for another month, you'll get fat." Shevaun added and Harry frowned.
"First of all, I'm literally incapable of getting fat. And secondly, let's not temp the fates, shall we?"
"You can get fat." Shevaun argued. "Didn't you say that one of the Warriors three is fat? Also, for a supposed 'God' you sure love hiding around."
"I would like you to know that Volstagg the Valliant is not fat and would take offense at being referred to as such." Harry replied. "Also, the Norms are a cruel bunch of sisters who love to bugger the lives of anyone, god or not. It's best for one to avoid their attention at all times."
"Huh, the fates actually exist?" Shevaun shook her head. "I would imagine someone like you would have their attention."
"They messed with my life enough before I was even born." Harry shook his head. "Also, there are way more interesting beings out there than a godling barely into his powers. As I am right now, I am not even worth the attention of anyone that doesn't already know about me."
"You grow powerful by the day though." Shevaun pointed out. "So it is only a matter of time before you appear on other beings' radar."
Harry leaned down and kissed her deeply. "Then we should enjoy this moment for as long as it lasts."
Before they could go any further, they both felt a tug on their minds and looked up to see someone standing in their living room.
"Heimdall." Harry said by way of a greeting as he stood up to look at the warrior's astral form. "To what do I owe the pleasure."
"You have been summoned by the Allfather."
"Can't it wait, we were in the middle of something here." Shevaun complained.
"It is unwise to keep the Allfather waiting." Heimdall stated, pinning her with his heavy gaze.
Harry went and kissed her. "Don't worry, I don't plan on staying for long."
Transfiguring his clothes into his armor, Harry turned to Heimdall. "Well Scotty, beam me up!"
Shevaun chuckled and even Heimdall's lips twitched slightly, clearly getting the reference. A second later, the bifrost shot down and engulfed Harry in light. When it cleared, he was standing in Odin's private study. The Allfather looked from his desk and Harry got down on one knee.
"Get up Potter and take a seat." He barked and Harry followed. "I have called you here because I need your help." Harry inclined his head to show that he was listening. "My time draws near, and Ragnarok draws ever closer. Unfortunately, I do not believe that my heir is ready to ascend his place as king of Asgard."
Harry waited for him to continue but he just stared at him. "And what do you want me to do?"
"A series of events will be happening soon, events that will prepare Thor for his eventual ascent to the throne of Asgard." Odin said. "Mjolnil will appear on Midgard and your task is to ensure that it does not fall in the wrong hands."
Harry frowned. As far as he was aware, only Thor and Odin can lift the legendary hammer, how else would it fall into wrong hands when it already had Thor as its wielder?
"And unless Thor's life is truly at risk, you are not to get involved in anything that he may go through."
"And if it puts my people's lives at risk?"
Odin's eye twitched. "As the god of life, you can bring anyone less powerful than you from the dead."
In other words, Harry was to stand by and let people die and later bring them back after Thor was done with whatever tests Odin was planning.
"Anything else?"
Odin stared at Harry as if considering what to say.
"I understand nothing I do makes you accept Asgard as your home, but these people, they will be here centuries later and will be the only ones that truly know you." He said. "There will come a time when you will fight alongside them, when you will have to lead the armies in their defense, and despite your reservations you will have to accept them as your people as well."
He paused as he stared at him.
"You are Harry Potter of Midgard and Asgard, one day you will have to accept it." He turned around to stare at the window of his study. "I just hope it won't be too late for either of them."
-TRNT-
Two days later, Harry was floating above Harlem watching a green hulking monster fighting an even more hideous looking monster as they destroyed everything in their path. He couldn't help but shake his head at the sheer destruction the two were capable of. He didn't know the full story, but what he did know was that the green monster was a transformed Bruce Banner, an accomplished scientist. He wasn't sure how the transformation had come about but he knew magic had nothing to do about it.
What had brought him here was the amount of lives being lost as the two monsters rampaged through the streets. The death rate wasn't too much to tip the balance but that much loss of life had been enough to draw his attention and he had come to investigate. He had been watching for about two minutes now and was just about to intervene and put a stop to the fight when a portal opened on his side. Hermione and Shevaun were seated on the couch and waving at him and beckoning him to get through.
He spared the fight below him one last look before entering the portal, his armor disappearing as he set down.
"Harry, you need to see this." Hermione called and he walked over to see the news clip on the TV.
"Remember how you have been looking out for a hammer since you returned?" Shevaun said gesturing at the TV. He had told them about Odin's request.
"How did I not know about this untill now?" Sure enough, on the news was Mjölnir as several people tried to move it in vain. The news channel said that the clip was taken six hours ago and it was clear that it was still day when it was taken.
"I think SHIELD tried to suppress the spread of its existence but wasn't entirely successful." Hermione replied. They knew about SHIELD, many of their agents had been trained by one of Haldane International's security firms.
Harry was very familiar with Mjölnir's distinct magical signature and should have been able to sense it the moment it arrived on Earth. Or so he thought.
Either someone was actively making sure he didn't feel the hammer's arrival or something even worse was going on. Harry did not like either option.
-TRNT-
AN: So, a few things I need to point out.
First of all, Mephisto is very powerful but that power comes from his dimension. Harry taking over his dimension greatly weakened him and it was the only reason he beat him, otherwise Harry would have had a harder time winning that fight if he could at.
Also, this is the first time Harry goes all out so I hope you can estimate how powerful he is from that fight.
Secondly, Harry may not like it but he is still one of Odin's subjects and unless he is rebelling against him, Harry cannot refuse to take part in his schemes. Not with his current power levels.
Another thing, we have been going along with canon for now but things will be changing soon, by the Avengers' events, we'll probably be kissing canon goodbye.
Mutants are a thing, and they will be making an appearance soon enough but for now they are keeping to themselves.
Any more questions, I'll answer then in your PMs.