Chapter Thirty-Five
Undead
A small crowd gathered in what seemed like a huge hall made of stones. Torches surrounded the perimeter of their cavernous room, and as far as Jack could see, many wizards wandered seemingly aimlessly through the cave. Dean and Seamus guided him forwards, and as the wizards began noticing them, the gathering formed around the trio.
"Dean! Is it true then? Y'all got to see the dragon?"
"We have broadcast the signal, we're still waiting for a response..."
"The muggles intercepted our transmission, we're being shushed all around…"
The questions were shot at such a speed Jack had to shut his eyes and his ears from all the commotion.
"Who is this?" A deeper and broader voice reached them.
"We found this one wanderin' off Saint Chapersbole avenue;" Seamus replied with a proud smirk. "Not much of a talker, but he says it's true."
The wow's and amazed faces ran the small gathering like a wave that overwhelmed Jack with fear. Soon the questions were shot like mad bludgers. "How was it like?" "How did it look like?" "Did you see the rider?"
"Okay, errybody stop," Dean stepped forwards again, pulling Jack by his shoulder as he pierced through the gaping wizards. "We'll give you answers as soon as we have any, now we need Granger."
"She should be coming down any minute now," Said another wizard with platinum blonde hair that gave Jack a familiar feeling, "Says there's a conference we should all attend."
"I'm gettin' tired of those conferences, Malfoy" Another one said. "Too much talking for too little doing."
A strong feminine voice surged from the depths of the torch-lit caves. "Attention, everyone."
Even more wizards and witches from all over crammed into the grand cavernous hall. The woman Jack recognised from all those years ago stood on a hastily made stage. Around Jack, the crowd seemed to squeeze him until he disappeared behind everyone's shoulders. She raised her hand, and immediately the conversation died out - she seemed surprised at the lack of effort it took.
"Thank you everyone for attending this Extraordinary Meeting." She said, and her voice was not as welcoming as he remembered it being, but instead filled with a mixture of drive and grief. "I've got some things to say. And I am sure there will be questions - which will be answered after I am done speaking."
"I have sent a small search party to the location of the supposed dragon sighting today, and I expect an answer, can we confirm the sight of the Dragon Rider tonight?"
Next to Jack, the wizard Dean took one step ahead. "We have just returned from the hot-spot. We found the destroyed site and an eyewitness who confirmed the dragon rider was there tonight."
A great cheer erupted from the wizards.
"Thank you, Dean," Hermione spoke from the top of the platform. "But until we have confirmed contact from the Dragon Rider, there is no confirmation that they will be joining us tonight."
"Now, I have gathered you here for a more urgent topic. Earlier tonight, I sent a secret selection of Aurors to investigate a raid south of the country. You all know why these searches have continued. I have been looking for the authors of the Raptum." The murmurs crossed the crowd like a swarm of bees. "And this time we have found something. An attack in the village of Godric's Hollow by what we have confirmed to be an obscurial parasite." The news reverberated around the room. "We have managed to subdue the Obscurial, and we have for a fact experimented its sensitivity towards Dementors. It looks like the Obscurial Parasyte is incredibly vulnerable to the draining nature of the Dementor. We have brought her in. Keep your wands ready."
From the back of the hall, four figures materialised behind Hermione. Two big Aurors walked in, their wands conjuring what reminded a huge bubble, holding a witch with wild, curly ebony hair, her black robes torn and ripped as if there had been a terrible fight. Jack recognised her immediately. She was contorted in a strange angle, her skin visibly pale and sweating, and her eyes were fixed on the hovering cloaked figure of the dementor next to her. A thin wall of silver magic held the creature inches away from her skin, the Patronus Charm holding back the dementor. What surprised Jack the most, however, was the cold. It felt like someone had opened a gate to a glacial storm, a strange frost spreading against the walls. A sinking feeling took hold of the boy's heart
"I thought the Ministry had banned the use of Dementors, Granger." A blonde wizard hissed from his position as gasps and cries raised up in the hall.
"It was a necessary break of rules, it seems to repel the parasite-"
A horrible shriek escaped the Obscurial witch, whose terrified eyes wandered around the room until they met the boy's. And for a moment, a flash of recognition crossed both their faces.
The Dementor hit the shield.
"Minister, the Dementor feels another threat here in this room."
The Obscurial-witch converted inside her bubble, exploding into her obscurial form and then back into human, earning screams from the crowd of wizards beneath. But that small distraction was enough to unleash the Dementor, who lept off the weakened Patronus charm, straight into Jack's aim.
There was a massive roar, and the boy felt cold bony fingers latching to his skin, before everything went dark.
"We can't just not go, Astrid!"
"Oh, I see plenty of reasons we should not go."
"Like what?"
"We nearly just died, Hiccup!" She yelled. "It was a miracle we've found this place, already, and now you want to... what, go look for 'whoever they might be'?" Hiccup frowned at her, shaking his head. "Your words, not mine."
"Don't act like you didn't hear what I did, Astrid, we know damn well who that voice belongs to. We can't ignore a call like this."
"I beg to differ, what if it was a trap?" The boy sighed at her words. "What if you get lost, what if we get caught with witch-hunters again?"
"What if they're waiting for us?"
"Them who?"
"You know that was Aster's voice. What if he's not alone? What if he's with Azel? Or Merida?" The girl swallowed drily. "People who cared about us, who we are not even sure if they're still alive; people we left behind, Astrid."
"Hiccup…" She tried.
"We can't turn our backs on that!"
"Please…" She shut her eyes, but Hiccup ignored Astrid's denying expression, he knew she could not run from the truth.
"We both know who that was." He said. "We heard Aster, you and I, don't act like we didn't."
The girl looked down, defeated. A heavy silence fell over them. To the window, Toothless still watched the night sky alert to any disturbance.
"I can't dare to hope he's alive." She spoke finally.
"I know."
"And the idea that he might still be there somehow, it thrills me. Except the truth is, we saw him dying. He won't be there, I can't dare to hope. And even though-" Her voice failed. "...we might end up seeing Merida, Azel, or Jack… We don't know where they are, or if they're still alive… but Aster might not. And that is what kills me. And if we go out there, and I lose you, I don't know what I am going to do."
Hiccup remained silent, suddenly too filled with emotion. A distant lightning illuminated the room, the low rumble of the thunder following after.
"You will fight." He said at last. "If I go down, you will move on. Like we moved on from Aster, and from Jack, and you will keep fighting. Because I can't promise you won't lose anyone anymore, and that's what we do. We fight, you hear me?"
A tear drew a line down Astrid's cheek. She nodded, defeated.
"Rest now." Said Hiccup. "Tomorrow, we'll leave with Toothless. I'll hold on to the radio, you go get some sleep."
Jack woke up with Flee's screams in his mind. The black-haired boy opened his eyes to blackness. It was so dark where he lay, safe for the tiny luminance that seemed to penetrate the wall by his feet. He realised he was inside one of the vaults. He vaguely remembered the hideous face of the Dementor that had attacked him, but even more vividly he remembered his little sister's final scream. The street, the sky, the black smoking figures of the Death Eaters. He tapped around himself for his wand, but found nothing before he heard a booming knock on the vault's door.
"Keep yer parasite in, Ether, we're coming in with a Dementor." He recognised the thick Irish accent from yesterday's wizard.
The door swung open, and a pair of wands aimed at his chest. He raised his hands in surrender. "I'm stable."
"On yer feet, we're going fer a walk." Seamus's pale face focused on his vision.
The boy yanked Jack by the collar of his robes, dragging him out of the vault, into the cavernous corridors. "Ye seemed to keep yerself togetha' just fine last night," He said harshly. "If only I knew the danger ye've put us in…" The cold air from the Dementor had finally made noticed. Jack gave it a worried look, and Seamus shook his head. "Don't ye worry, me Patronus is excellent."
And indeed, the monstrous creature seemed trapped into the silver smoke. "Lovely," Jack mused.
A small cart hurtled its way towards them, and the boy stepped in next to Seamus, who remained silent for the whole turbulent trip, watchful of the Dementor he repelled. Every now and then, a curious pair of eyes peeked outside to watch the passing wizards.
"Enjoy it, yer' famous." Seamus nearly screamed above the roaring wind.
Soon they stopped in front of a huge vault, with a black metal door trapped with countless different locks on the outside. Seamus knocked them with the tip of his wand, and with a loud clang, the door dematerialised before Jack's eyes.
That must have been the brightest and the whitest room Jack had ever stepped into. This vault was much, much larger than any of the previous ones. The natural earthy textures were exchanged for white marble walls, plain clear floors. It was so clear that he actually felt nauseous with the contrasting difference. A woman with a wild mane of curly black hair sat cross-legged in the very middle of the room, eyes closed in peaceful meditation. Jack recognized her immediately.
"The vault has been magically hedged, there's no way either of ye tryin' to flee here." Seamus spoke as he gestured for the boy to step in. "There's a shield between yer both, so stay within yer half. We have eyes and ears here. Yer have five minutes before we pull yer out. No funny tricks."
The boy gave a short nod, before the door behind him was shut again. It was just him and Gothel now.
"I am very pleased to see you again, Jackson." Gothel greeted him in such an elegant tone that seemed to age her wisdom much further than her looks. Jack moved closer to her. She remained unmovable, the wild dark hair framing her beautiful slender face, all the blackness in the room seeping from her in a white ocean. "Or should I say Ether? You have chosen a terrific name for yourself, I couldn't have come up with something better myself." She played with the words so eloquently it was hard not to imagine a crown sitting on the top of her head. "Ether… Æther..."
"Close. But not quite." Jack answered, sitting in an equal manner in front of Gothel, crossing his legs.
"Then why was it?"
"Aster." He stated, and a look of understanding ghosted her face.
"Ah, the pretty boy… It wasn't our intention to harm him, you know. He just stood there in the wrong place, you know how it goes."
"I do know how it goes. Doesn't make you less guilty either way."
Gothel smirked. "Look, dear, none of us were supposed to have made it out. At least you had your final words."
Jack gritted his teeth. "You would never have let them simply take you down this easily. You wanted to come and see me." Her smile stretched wider. "Why?"
"To think you'd be so clever… Richard was right to be proud of you. First let me take in your hair, black does suit you. Makes you tragic."
"Don't stall."
"Do you truly believe you are safe here? Do you think anyone near you is safe when you carry our curse in your blood? Let me ask you, has the venom of the Obscurial already appeared on your skin yet?"
Jack eyed her suspiciously. Then slowly, brought his hands to his shirt's collar, unbuttoning the top ones and exposing his chest, where small black veins marked his pale skin, like tree roots. Gothel examined with knowing interest, as if she had been right all along.
"I'm dying, ain't I?" Jack said ever so casually, not at all phased by his words. The witch nodded again, her smirk unfailing.
"We don't make it too far, that's the curse of our kind." She exposed her inner wrists, where similar lines displayed, although hers were darker, angrier veins than Jacks.
"You made it quite far."
"How old do you think I am?" She feigned offence. "Erebos made his choice when he jumped into the Æther."
"What was the Æther, Gothel?"
"Oh, the golden question, I thought you'd have this one figured out."
"Tell me." He demanded.
"The Æther is… just magnificent. Every known civilization had their own particular set of 'Holy' relics. A gift from the Gods to set their prophecies right, to place the world order. Many of them happen to be right. Call it magic, myth, science, the list goes on. For us, it was the Hidden Ark. Or Æther, it's one and the same. Though, there are too many names for it, Ambrosia, Amrita, you choose."
"Where does it come from?"
"We don't get to track the source of an Elemental relic, my boy, they taught you nothing in that school of yours?" She scolded. "They have been found again and again in every last myth, a huge prophecy that sets a whole… cataclysm in motion, that's natural law. The Greek had their deluge, the Vikings had their Ragnarök. Nowadays some people have, what do they call it? Apocalypse?"
"So the Black Order is like what, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse?"
"That's a catchy name, isn't it? Regardless of what you call it. Every myth holds some version of the truth. It's up to us to find the parts of the missing puzzle."
Jack took in her words with an awful silence. "And I helped you open Pandora's Box."
Gothel smiled sadly. "You can't dodge from the path of fate. We all tried, we have all been there. We all failed."
"You forced me to it."
"You would have landed in the path of the Æther either way. There's no escaping this. You are part of the Order of the Seven from your birth. The curse that you have run from is also what has kept you alive for so long. Do you think a simple Obscurial child lives that much carrying our parasite, our disease?" Jack could not bear to look at her. "This is what you have been living for your whole pathetic life. Be glad you got to reach the purpose of your fate. Most people don't."
There was a long silence.
"You should be thankful." She said.
"This is madness." He whispered.
"This was the work of fate. We are merely instruments." She concluded.
After a minute of silence, heavy steps echoed outside. His time was running out. "You haven't brought me in here just to point out that I'm dying, now, did you?" He asked.
"No. There's one more thing. Your work with the Order isn't done yet." The steps sounded louder, closer. "But you have to be alive for that. Fate has kept you alive for a reason. Now find a way to keep it that way."
"How?"
The doors opened. "Let's go, time's up." Seamus ordered from the entrance.
"Let Fate take its course. You'll find the answers soon enough. Just run with it." She warned one last time, before a pair of hands pulled Jack by his shoulders. He allowed himself to be dragged away, feeling Gothel's stare penetrate deep into his skull.