From Fire

16th of July, 1996.

Kato hummed softly as he pushed a loaf of bread into the oven. He felt a lot better even though he was weak still.

"Good morning, Kato," Fleur said as she walked into the kitchen. She had arrived two days earlier only to find both Kato and Bill in the Hospital tent. Once she had arrived, they had at least been released to their home tent, but they were under strict orders to not use their magic for another few days at least.

"Good morning, Fleur," Kato responded.

"I see we're getting freshly baked bread for breakfast," Fleur said.

"I need to do something," Kato said. "I don't like doing nothing. I don't mind the no magic rule as long as I can move about."

Fleur nodded. "Maybe we should take a drive to town then," she said. "Take a look at the local non-magical sights and maybe refill your stocks."

"As long as I can get a hold of somewhere to exchange my money," Kato said.

"There is an exchange hub, but they can be really slow," Bill said as he entered the kitchen his hair still dripping wet from the shower he must have just taken.

"I take it one of you can drive?" Kato said.

"You mean you can't?" Bill asked, surprised. "I thought that with everything else you have decided to learn driving would be up there."

"Oh, I'll get it rectified as soon as possible," Kato said. "Right now it is very impractical that I don't know how to and that might very well happen again. I might bring Hermione along for some lessons. She'll be old enough in a year and I might as well make sure that she can get a license as soon as she turns eighteen."

"You might want to talk to her parents first though," Fleur said.

Kato nodded in agreement. It probably was better to talk to her parents first. Though, he doubted they would disagree with his plan; they just might want to be part of it. They could always give her lessons as a collective birthday gift. He told Fleur and Bill as much before he went looking for pen and paper so he could write the Grangers and ask them.

They were heading to 6th October City. Fleur was driving and Kato was map-reading. Bill had fallen asleep in the backseat. He was recovering slower than Kato was so they let him sleep.

In the front seat, Fleur turned up the radio but they couldn't really find anything they wanted to listen to. Instead, Fleur turned the radio back off and they spoke of Gabrielle and Fleur's friends.

"She wants to see you again," Fleur said after a while.

"I was thinking maybe we could celebrate Christmas or Yule or whatever you want to call it together this year," Kato said.

Fleur smiled. "Mama and Papa would love that too," she said. "And Gabrielle would be ecstatic."

"I gather as much from her letters," Kato said. "She really wants me to come to their performance in December. I've told her I need my schedule before I can agree to come, but I will do my best."

"Maybe we should make it a bit of a surprise?" Fleur said.

"We certainly could," Kato said. "Would she appreciate that though?"

"I'll think about it," Fleur said.

Kato chuckled and looked out the window at the sand.

They found a mall complex in the city and decided to have a look around. It was a good thing they had Bill with them since neither Fleur nor Kato spoke Arabic. There were plenty of merchants that wanted to sell them things and it was up to Bill to guide them away. There were clothes and jewellery and a little old lady who was trying to sell them some kind of health stones. Fleur did buy a beautifully colourful scarf for Gabrielle and some sweets. She found a set of bottles that she knew Céline would love. They ate shawarma before heading to the grocery store. Apart from what Kato needed to stock up on, he also bought several types of legumes and some grape leaves. He found a recipe book that had been translated into English and bought two. One for him and one for the elves at Hogwarts.

"Felling done?" Fleur asked.

Bill yawned. "I'm tired," he said.

"Let's head back so we can force you into bed then," Kato said.

Bill grumbled on their way back to the car, but once they got going he was far asleep within seconds so he probably needed to rest.

19th of July, 1996.

Kato, Bill and Fleur were walking around the sights. Bill and Kato were finally cleared to use magic again so Bill was teaching them about the different pyramids and what they had found inside them. They made a bit of an apparition jump between sights and landed among the tents. They hadn't been walking for long when Kato's eyes narrowed. He had felt something familiar. Something not from this world. He stopped in his tracks and looked around. His eyes widened as a tent went up in flames.

He was running before he even noticed that he was. "Stay back!" he shouted as he got closer to the tent. He held his hands up and spread his fingers as he reached the tent. "Extinguish the fire on three!" he shouted. Thankfully no one was arguing with him. He counted and as the charms went sailing a figure draped in fire became visible.

"Flame atronrach," Kato said softly. Who, but him, on Earth could summon one of them? He released his spell and sent the fiery apparition back to oblivion.

"No, sir don't go running off!" a healer shouted as a man ripped free of the tent and started running towards the dunes of the desert. "Please someone stop him!"

Kato and Bill were already moving. "What in Merlin's name was that?" Bill asked.

"A flame atronach," Kato responded. "They are a creature from Oblivion and can be summoned. I can do it. I just choose not to unless I really need to."

"Wait, does that mean that man is from Nirn?" Bill asked.

"Could be," Kato said. "I won't know until we catch him." He whispered a few words in Dragon-tongue and rushed ahead. He slid on the sand and grabbed for the running man.

A storm atronach appeared and slammed its great fist down on Kato. A blade caught the hand. "Arniel please calm down," Kato said. He tried to calm his former College associate but Arniel was very resistant. He cast a blasting curse at the atronach and moved in front of Arniel so he was looking at him.

Arniel's eyes moved all over the place until they finally landed on Kato. His brow furrowed and a strained twitch appeared along the left side of his face.

Kato sent the atronach back to Oblivion and let go of Arniel. "Arniel, I'm Kato. Do you recognize me?" he asked calmly.

Arniel looked like he was in pain as he studied Kato's face. "It didn't work," he said. "I just wanted to… the Dwemer." He grabbed Kato's shirt. "You know. Don't you," he said desperately.

"I know Arniel," Kato said. "You are summoning atronachs Arniel. You need to stop."

"Step aside mortal. This one is mine."

Kato stepped away and motioned for Bill to stay back. This was Daedra talking, not Arniel. He didn't have time to explain things to Bill. He had to bind this Daedra and send them back to Oblivion. He reached out to Oblivion himself as he summoned his flame atronach. "Please my Lady, I need your help," he said.

Her flaming cloak was blue and green. Her golden eyes focused on Kato. Why have you summoned me human?" she asked.

"I have a wayward Daedra here. I do not believe they belong. Would you be willing to aid me in this endeavour?" Kato asked.

Lady Lyrefhe looked from the human that had summoned her to a human who was clearly possessed. "The easiest way would be to bring the shell along," she said in a hollow voice.

"I would prefer not to," Kato said.

"Then it would be kinder to kill him," Lady Lyrefhe said.

"I had a feeling you would say that," Kato said with a sigh. "I guess that might be best, all things considered. Arniel isn't complete. It would be kinder to kill him."

"As you say, Human," Lady Lyrefhe said.

"If you bring their soul to Oblivion I will gift you magic, my Lady," Kato said. He was already moving towards Arniel.

"Do you truly believe yourself powerful enough to face me, human? I am Yoozyrth. You are less than a worm to me, human. A speck in the grand web of the universe," Yoozyrth cackled.

Kato didn't respond. Instead, he signalled Bill to attack the atronachs as he reached Arniel.

"You know this man. You cannot kill him, human. I can see it in your eyes. You don't have it in you. I will…" Arniel's eyes widened as Kato's sword pierced through his chest. At that moment his face softened and he looked upon Kato with clarity. "Thank you, Kato," he said.

"Just know that you did make it," Kato said. "The dwemer are here."

Arniel smiled. "I made it," he said happily as he fell backwards.

Kato raised his hands with his sword clutched in the right one and started chanting in Tamrielic.

Lady Lyrefhe moved up next to Kato and a beam of fiery light shot from her hand. It hit the struggling spirit of Yoozyrth and they screeched in agony and anger.

Kato finished his incantation and Yoozyrth was no more. He turned to Lady Lyrefhe and held his hands out. "For your aid my Lady," he said and magic seemed to gather within the palms of his hands. He offered the gathered magic to the flame atronach and she took it and left.

Bill sat kneeling next to Arniel's body. "Was that truly necessary?" he asked.

Kato gave him a pained look. "Unfortunately, yes. Something went wrong when he travelled here from Nirn and he was acting as a conduit for the forces of Oblivion. Leaving him alive might have caught the attention of a Daedric Prince eventually. No one would have liked that," he said. Maybe he was bending the truth just a little, but he didn't want Bill to hate him for what he had done.

"Those things would have kept coming?" Bill asked.

"It would have gotten worse than that. There are Daedra that can twist your thoughts," Kato said.

"Like the Wolf Queen?" Bill asked.

"There are Daedra more powerful than the Wolf Queen could ever hope to be and they cannot be killed," Kato said. He was trying his best to relay the severity of the situation to Bill as Fleur walked up next to her boyfriend. She looked at Kato sadly. She hadn't seen exactly what had happened, but she had understood that Kato knew this strange man.

The Healer reached them and sighed. This really wasn't her job. When they had first found this madman he had just been confused. Then those things started appearing and he started hurting people around him. She wasn't sure how many healers had cared for him before her, but for some reason, no one had wanted to lock him up. She was actually kind of relieved that he was gone.

Goblins walked up to Kato and he left with them.

Hours later Kato walked into his home tent. He looked tired and felt even worse. He needed to explain and show a lot of things about Daedra. The Dwemer had no issues believing him. They just wanted as much information as possible so they could be prepared in case something else like this ever happened.

"Is everything alright?" Fleur asked as she walked up to him. She looked like she had worried about him while he was gone.

"I'm tired, but apart from that everything is fine," Kato reassured her. "I need to sleep. I should be alright tomorrow." He hugged her before heading into his room.

22nd of July, 1996.

Kato chuckled as Fleur dragged Bill out of the tent so they could head off somewhere. He was glad that Fleur was happy. She certainly deserved it. He was considering inviting her along for a few days to Ennerdale. As far as he knew she had kept in contact with both Neville and Hermione so it made sense to invite her to his and Neville's gathered birthday party.

Before Kato left he needed to make sure that the Sanctuary was open and that the Dwemer knew how to open it. At least the ghosts and skeletons were gone. He had heard that they were bringing a Naga in, but he couldn't stay until they arrived. He had other things he both needed and wanted to do.