WINGS OF SIN

CHAPTER 2:

AN OVERDUE EXPLANATION

Before the crow monsters could act, Harry heard a voice that was both welcome and unwelcome. "Hold! Stay thy hands, lest thou forfeit thine lives for thine actions!"

The crow monsters watched the newcomer, Priscilla, approach. "Lady Priscilla…we were dealing with this intruder, this apostate who profanes Lady Velka's temple."

"Thou art committing a grave folly thyself. This is Lady Velka's son, sired with a mortal sorcerer in another world," Priscilla said. As the crow monsters looked at Harry in shock, Priscilla continued, "Furthermore, he hath only just learned of his lineage. He is understandably addled with shock and confusion. He also has a companion, another mortal, a girl of the same age. She is to be treated as a respected guest. Threaten either of their lives, and thine own will be forfeit, to do with as Lady Velka sees fit. I trust mine words are understood?"

The crow monsters immediately backed away, bowing and muttering apologies and obsequious excuses, before they left elsewhere. Then, Priscilla turned on Harry, still looking angry. "And thou…thou art a fool, Harry Potter, for fleeing into the unknown! The residents and guards, diminished though they are, are ample to put paid to thy life. I understand that thou art addled by what thy mother told thee, but…"

"She is not my mother!" Harry snapped back. "She's an impostor, and if she wasn't, she would have come back for me sooner! So why the hell does she turn up just when I've been dropped in the deep end, again, huh?"

"Quiet and calm thyself, and I shalt explain," she said, gently resting a hand on his shoulder. Despite how slender it was, Harry could tell that if she wanted to, said hand could easily crush his shoulder, or indeed any part of his body, into mince and powdered bone. That her touch was merely gently helped. Whatever Priscilla was, if she meant him harm, she was doing a good job of hiding it.

So, reluctantly, he acceded, following her…

Down interminable corridors, they walked, until they came to a vast terrace, overlooking a magnificent landscape. Well, it would have been more magnificent, and yet, there was something dulled and dimmed about it. The sun peeked through clouds onto forests, mountains in the distance, with a massive city on top of one of the more distant ones.

"Where is this place?"

"Dost thou mean the Temple of Velka? It is between the lands of Lordran and Carim. Thou art on another world, Harry, different to thy Earth in many regards," Priscilla said, sitting down on a bench, clearly one modified for her. She indicated for him to sit next to him, and, reluctantly, he did so.

"Another world?"

"Before thou rouse thine anger, we can take thee back at any time. The ritual has been readied. But Lady Velka wished to say her piece," Priscilla said. "It falls to I, now, to explain what she wished to. I know not the full story, I must confess, but she told me much, once she remembered thee. Thou hast done her a grave disservice, and while thine mistrust is understandable, thy words and actions have torn at her heart."

Harry bit back a retort at Priscilla's rebuke when he saw her. For all her inhuman features and her cool anger, she seemed ill at ease. She certainly didn't seem truly hostile, and she had saved his life from those crow monsters. And if he was on another world, then getting back wouldn't be easy, not without their permission.

So, reluctantly, he said, "So, tell me…why did it take my mother 14 years to come back for me? And how come she's a goddess?"

"Tis a long story…"

"Finding a place to begin is a bit tricky, but I suppose it started a long time ago," Lily said, looking at Hermione. Lily was now seated next to the bushy-haired witch, bitterly regretting that she couldn't explain things to her son herself. Hopefully, Priscilla could do so, and given that Priscilla had not reported back with Harry, she assumed he would be alive and well. "I am a goddess of sin. Not committing it, but rather, pardoning and punishing it. I suppose you could say I am not unlike the Furies or Erinyes of Greco-Roman myth, or perhaps Nemesis, the goddess of divine retribution. But, one day, I became discontent."

"How?"

"I was accused by many I had judged that I lacked perspective on sin, and what deserved pardoning or punishment. I discussed the matter with my counsellors, my priests and pardoners, before I decided on an unusual course of action. I would become mortal for a lifetime, without my memories, and once I had lived that life, I hoped to have gained a fresh perspective on mortals and their sins. However, I have many enemies in this world, and even without them, I knew that many of my followers would jockey to earn my favour by seeking out my reincarnation and raising them. Therefore, I decided to be reincarnated on another world entirely. The ritual was tricky to perform, but eventually, I allowed my spirit to be born as Lily Evans."

"So you really were Lily?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, though I would think being more sceptical would help, Hermione. Scepticism is good. In any case, after going through Hogwarts, I ended up in the middle of Voldemort's uprising…"

"Thy mother learned of a prophecy that thou would be born with the power to vanquish Lord Voldemort," Priscilla said. "But he learned of that very prophecy too, and thy parents were forced to go into hiding."

"I know they had to go into hiding, but this is the first I've heard of a prophecy," Harry mused.

"I report only what Lady Velka has told me," Priscilla said. "While most of her memories as Velka were buried within her soul, her crisis brought forth memories of rituals that affect the soul. One, she believed, would protect thee, but with the sacrifice of her corporeal form…"

"In hindsight, I messed up. A half-remembered protection ritual based on my Karmic Retribution miracle?" Lily mused. "My thoughts were to protect Harry first and foremost. However, when it triggered, I ended up back here, with only part of my memories of life as Lily Evans, up until just after graduating Hogwarts. I had forgotten about Harry, or what I had done to protect him. I don't know whether it was the ritual going wrong, or someone else took a hand. Either way, I ended up back here, taking up my duties once more."

"…And that involves pardoning or punishing criminals?"

"Yes. This world is lousy with gods, and people worshipping them and being involved with Covenants, devoted to either a god or some creed or other. Breaking or betraying those Covenants, even for the best of reasons, requires a penance. It's a bit like the indulgences that the Vatican used to sell off centuries ago, though I also want sincere penitence. I'm sure more than a few of my Pardoners sell them anyway."

"But what about Priscilla?" Hermione asked.

"Ah, yes, I was wondering when we'd get to her. Priscilla's parentage is…a painful story…"

"I am what is known as a Crossbreed, offspring between god and Dragon," Priscilla said, clearly struggling to admit what was a painful memory for her. "My mother was Gwynevere, Princess of Sunlight, and beloved daughter of Lord Gwyn. And my father…was Seath the Scaleless."

"…I don't know those names," Harry said.

"I know. Seath…betrayed the Everlasting Dragons during the Age of Ancients. His own kind. He seduced many fair maidens afterwards, including my mother. A bastard child was I, and a Crossbreed, one of few in the world. The only other that I knew of was an aunt by the name of Yorshka, born of Gwyn and a dragon concubine, and she was sent into exile. I was fortunate enough to be claimed by my father, and I spent much of my life in his domain, the Duke's Archives. But…he was not a loving person. My own mother, while loving, had to distance herself from my person. But…thine own mother visited me, originally on business for Seath…but more and more, she visited for my sake. She became more like a mother to me than my own."

"So she replaced me," Harry said bitterly.

"Not in the way thou believe," Priscilla said. "Lady Velka missed her memories, but some part of her recalled being a mother. She saw that I needed a mother. She obliged me. She was one of the few to reach out her hand in any true kindness. And I became indebted to her when I developed a power the gods feared…"

"The Lifehunt. An ability that corrodes the very lifeforce of those she touches, even immortals. She has it under control, a control I helped teach her," Lily said. "When she first manifested it, the gods of Anor Londo grew fearful of her, for the Lifehunt could threaten their very lives. There was talk of her being possibly executed, or else exiled, not into another country, but into another world, a Painted World. I believe they were considering the artist Ariamis for creating it. But when I learned of that travesty, I came forth, and offered to teach her control, and make her my priestess. It took considerable persuasion to do so. In truth, her position as a priestess is almost entirely ceremonial. It's a polite fiction, with the truth being that I adopted her for her own safety. Then, about a week ago, for Priscilla and I at least, I regained my memories as Lily Evans."

"How?"

"I…got hit by Priscilla during a sparring accident. I'm not sure how that did the trick, but it did, and I realised what I had left behind…"

"When she remembered, thy mother began preparations to return for you, with all due haste," Priscilla said solemnly. "I had rarely seen her act with such concern. During that time, she spoke to me of thee. It took time to prepare the ritual, but eventually, we were ready. She latched onto a source of Fire that had appeared in thy world. As we prepared to leave, we heard a commotion, but we saw little, and by the time we arrived in thy world, we could do little. But…something or someone meddled with our ritual, for while little time passed in thy world, centuries, at least, hath passed here. Lord Velka is awaiting the return of her agents, to learn what has befallen the world."

"Couldn't those crow-things tell her?"

"What they could tell her was limited," Priscilla said. "She wishes to confirm, beyond what rumour, hearsay, and legend would say. So, know this, Harry Potter. Thy mother, once she remembered thee, did everything in her power to come back to thee."

"If she really is my mother. How can she prove that?"

"Through her actions." Priscilla looked across the landscape. "…I know thou hast little reason to believe us, in hindsight, for I am but a stranger, and thine mother died when thou were but a babe in arms. But…we mean thee no harm."

Harry still couldn't say he trusted Priscilla, or the woman claiming to be his mother. But…Priscilla, despite the antipathy she let slip during her revelations, wasn't truly hostile. It was more that she seemed protective of Velka. And despite her size, Priscilla did not act like a monster. If anything, there was a sorrow there, and a solemnity.

Another thing nagged at him. He looked at his hands. "If what you're saying is true…I'm a demigod?"

"Though thine power is chained. Thy mother did so, lest thy power be seen as abnormal by the wizards. Even not knowing what she was consciously, she still knew on some level, and thus, what thou were."

"Fat lot of good that did at the Dursleys," Harry muttered darkly. Then, he was surprised when she gently pulled him closer.

"…Lady Velka hath been like a mother to me, and I hath little doubt that she will do the same for thee," Priscilla said gently. "I understand all too well that trust should be earned, not given freely, for I hath been an outcast, due to my birth, my breeding, and my power. I also know that thou hast been thrust into a world thou know little of. But I shalt do my best to help thee, for thou art the child of my lady."

Again, while Harry couldn't be sure how sincere her vow was, it seemed sincere. And while he was right to be suspicious, he felt, about his mother coming back from the dead, he'd also just been through a lot in the past day, let alone his whole life. And in any case, Velka was the one holding the keys to getting back home.

Maybe his reaction wasn't due to admittedly justifiable paranoia. Perhaps it was a reaction against something he wanted more than anything in the world. He had fame, true, and money at Gringotts…but he'd never known a loving family, just the Dursleys, and Molly Weasley's well-meaning attempts only went so far. If someone claimed to be his mother, only to betray him, then he wouldn't take that well.

And yet, here he was, being offered his mother back. And more than that: training, for the Tri-Wizard Tournament was supposedly meant for older students, and he needed to get better if he intended to survive it. If Velka offered training, and she was genuine in said offer, then Harry should take it up.

As he considered this, he heard a voice. "Greetings to thee, my lord and lady. But hold, art thou not the Lady Priscilla?"

Priscilla and Harry looked over at a man approaching, clad in leather robes and a dark helmet, open at the face, showing weathered features almost perpetually set in a sardonic smile that always seemed a touch too wide. He looked friendly, albeit in a twisted way. "I am. But who art thou? By thine raiment, thou art one of Lady Velka's Pardoners."

"Ah, my apologies, Lady Priscilla," the man said, sketching a bow. "I am Pardoner Oswald of Carim. I hath heard tell that Lady Velka hath returned to her demesne at long last, and as I was passing by, I believed it would be most remiss of me not to visit and confirm this. The Lady's Ravens, Hugin and Munnin, were the ones who told me, and they should be meeting with the Lady Velka soon, if not at this present moment." His pale blue eyes fell onto Harry. "And who, may I ask, is this? Hath thou found a paramour, Lady Priscilla?"

Priscilla blushed, before she snapped, "Mind thy insolent tongue, Pardoner, lest it get thee into strife! This is Lady Velka's son!"

"Ah, I see," the older man said, seemingly unfazed by Priscilla's outburst. "My apologies. Still…it seems much has changed since thou left. A thousand years and more have passed since that day. I know of it only through the tales spoken by the Pardoners and other adherents to Lady Velka." He turned and looked across the landscape. "The world is not what it once was. Lord Gwyn has left Anor Londo, as have most of the other gods. Few remain in Lordran, or indeed anywhere in the world. And there are portents of worse to come…"

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Harry has had a talk with Priscilla, and Lily has spoken with Hermione. Plus, we get an appearance from everyone's creepy Pardoner, Oswald…

No numbered annotations this time.