And here we are with the second chapter of Phantom Pain. Hope you guys enjoy...

PHANTOM PAIN

CHAPTER 2:

MALENIA THE SEVERED

She dared not think about how long she had slept. She couldn't think about that. All Malenia the Severed could think about was her new lease on life. That he showed concern towards her was heartening enough, even if she believed it would turn to fear and loathing in due course. They spoke little about the matter for now, though. Instead, she turned her attention to Miquella's Needle, the last gift from her twin, one she was unworthy of, and yet…if she was to walk abroad, it would help immensely. She took a moment to marvel at its elegant beauty, before she cleared her throat.

"What's wrong?" Harry Potter asked.

"…I'd like you to look away until I say otherwise," Malenia said, blushing a little. "For modesty's sake. I need to plunge this into my breast. Worry not, this will not harm me. Quite the opposite, in fact."

"…Okay," the young man said, his tone laden with scepticism, turning away. Malenia moved aside the robes of her battle outfit aside, steeling herself for the pain. Then, she plunged the needle into her chest with a grunt.

The pain was brief, but it soon sank into her flesh. And then, she felt it. A sensation she had lived with for much of her life receded. The presence of the Scarlet Rot. The itches and aches, the whispers, all receded.

Unbidden, a chuckle left her lips, and with the needle absorbed into her flesh, disappearing thanks to the magic imbued within it, she readjusted her clothing. "You may turn back around."

"Did it work?" he asked as he turned back.

She couldn't help the smile that touched her lips. "I do not deserve this last gift from my brother…but I will accept it all the same. I am now far less of a danger to you and others. Though Ariamis told you that Ranni also worked on it?"

"Yeah. You know her?"

"She is my half-sibling. We were not always on the best of terms, but…I know not how long I have slept." She looked up at him. "You claim not to be from my world. Assuming you are correct, then have you any tidings from my world?"

The young man shook his head. He looked and felt like a Tarnished, like those warriors her mother took Grace from and banished, but if he came from another world, he may not have had Grace in the first place. Well, it mattered little. Grace still shone within Malenia's eyes, but it was a gift she wanted little of. The Golden Order was a cruel order. It took Miquella's death, and what happened afterwards, to truly open her eyes to this.

She did feel some small curiosity about him. If he spoke the truth, he was from another world. She may not have had the same thirst for knowledge as her twin Miquella or her half-siblings Ranni and Rykard had, but she was far from intellectually indolent. And if he was from another world, then he was something novel. Curiosity did not outweigh duty and honour in staying with him, but it certainly counted.

Still, she tried to avoid touching him, for now. The Needle may be suppressing the Rot within her, but she wanted to be certain first, and old habits died hard. Ariamis may have had her unsealed, but it remained to be seen whether that was a good thing.

"Actually," Harry Potter said, holding out the envelope, "Ariamis left this for you."

Malenia frowned, before taking it, and opening it up, revealing a letter in the distinctive messy scrawl of the painter. She began reading, and unfortunately for her, it made grim reading. It told of the Shattering, of the civil war started with the death of her siblings Godwyn and Ranni, and escalated with Marika and Radagon's disappearance, and the shattering of the Elden Ring. Her surviving siblings had claimed the shards, Greater Runes, and warred over them.

Malenia felt shock and horror at such a revelation. To think, Godwyn and Ranni were dead. Godwyn was the most beloved of them all, and in Malenia's heart, he certainly came a close second to Miquella. And Ranni, while she wasn't always on the best of terms with her, was nonetheless someone whom she was able to share her discontent with the Golden Order and her parents with.

However, with her iron will, she tamped down on any potential outburst. She needed to learn about what happened, not to wallow in despair. And then, there was the worry of unleashing the Scarlet Rot, even with the Needle within her. True, she had desired the collapse of the Golden Order, but she knew the innocents would have suffered.

After the dust settled, Ariamis had written, the Lands Between had fallen into a stalemate. Praetor Rykard and his Recusants hold Mount Gelmir, sallying forth to erode the Golden Order through petty assassinations. Godrick follows in his treacherous sire's footsteps, grafting all and sundry to him to gain power, and holding onto power barely in Limgrave from Stormveil Castle. Radahn lies paralysed in his stronghold in Caelid, still managing to hold back the stars despite his state. And the one who put him in that state, Morgott, rules over Leyndell as the Veiled Monarch, sending agents after any Tarnished, or indeed anyone who may break the status quo. Where Mohg resides, I don't know, but I suspect he is the potentate of the Church of Bloody Rot, a murderous cult that roams the Lands Between, indulging in murder and abduction.

Malenia…I will not ask you not to seek revenge. What the Greater Will and its puppets in your parents did to you was out of proportion to what you did. It was by accident that you unleashed the Rot on your brother, and there was nothing that they could have done to punish you that you did not do to yourself. But I ask that you delay going back to the Lands Between for a time, at least a few days. Harry's world is very different to yours, with different wonders and horrors. What is more, he is someone who has fought against evil, saving his country from the depredations of a vile warlock. He will be willing to listen to your story, if nothing else. You need that time to consider your desires, and to temper your revenge.

Whether you opt to stay in that world, or go back to your own, is up to you. You deserve a chance to have a happy life. I hope that whatever you choose, you will be happy in the end.

Ariamis

Malenia folded up the letter and set it to one side for now. "I thank you for your patience," she said to Harry Potter. "Ariamis has written tidings of my own world. I wished to read them."

"Fair enough. Are you…all right?"

"…No," she admitted with a shake of her head. "The tidings were not good. But…I will grieve later."

"…Well, did you want to stay at my home for a time? Until you're ready to go back home?"

"So forward of you," Malenia snarked. Of course, she saw little lust dancing in his eyes. Desire, yes, but no more than any man seeing a beautiful woman, even one as marred as she was. She knew that, in spite of her missing limb and the Scarlet Rot within her, many a man and even a few women desired her. If he had less than altruistic motives for his offer, he hid them well.

But Ariamis was right. Heading to the Lands Between as she was now would not end well. The pain of what her parents put her through was still too fresh, and her body was still getting used to moving after its long slumber. And it would be prudent to allow Miquella's Needle to fully quell the Scarlet Rot first.

"Still, I will accept your offer of hospitality," she eventually said. "Kindly do not abuse it."

Harry looked at her prosthetic arm pointedly. "Uh, hello? I'm a wizard, yes, but I know better than to piss off very tall women with prosthetic arms with a katana built into them. That sounds like common sense to me."

Malenia couldn't help the bitter smirk that touched her lips. "I believe common sense is an oxymoron in your world just as it is in mine…"

Malenia hadn't taken anything else, barring that helmet, the one that made her look like some kind of Valkyrie. Thankfully, the pair of them emerged without issue into Potter Manor. "Right, I should've mentioned this, but given how tall you are, you might need to duck under a few things," Harry said to Malenia.

"I have eyes. And the situational awareness of a warrior," the red-haired woman said, her sword folding up into her prosthetic so it was less likely to hit the walls.

"Didn't you just say common sense was an oxymoron?"

Malenia merely harrumphed, even as she followed Harry. "So, where are we going?"

"The kitchen, to have some tea," Harry said. "The House Elves are busy cleaning up the rest of the manor, and I've had to tell them that I like making my own food and drink. Oh wait, you don't have House Elves where you come from, I'll bet. Do you have tea, at least?"

"We have a great many beverages, including tea. And thank you for the kind offer. At least hospitality is a universal concept."

Harry snorted. "You wouldn't know it given some of the people I've met."

"Then your parents taught you well."

"…My parents died when I was a year old. And my guardians weren't the best examples of hospitality to me," Harry said bluntly.

He heard Malenia stop behind him, and turned to look at her. She was grimacing at her faux pas. "I apologise. I spoke well-meant praise out of ignorance."

"No, it's fine, you didn't know," Harry said. "Besides, it's probably an achievement that I learned such a thing when living with my relatives."

"…You despise them, do you not? I see it in your eyes, and hear it in your tone. I…know what that is like."

"Your parents sealed you away, didn't they? Ariamis mentioned that," Harry said.

Malenia nodded, looking away, gritting her teeth. "And many of my so-called family took great pleasure in my downfall. Others did not…but two of them died. Only one of those who supported me remain among the living, if Ariamis' missive is any indication. Two, perhaps, but he did not mention my youngest sister, Melina."

"…I'm sorry to hear that," Harry said quietly.

"…'Tis fine. I had resigned myself to never see them again when I was sealed away. I had already lost my twin brother, Miquella." She looked back to him. "Ariamis told you a little of what happened, but I should warn you, when I was born, it was discovered I was afflicted with the Scarlet Rot."

"That sounds like some sort of disease."

Malenia chuckled sardonically. "Indeed…but not just any malady. 'Twas the manifestation of a vile Outer God. Some decades ere I was born, there was an outbreak of the Rot, and it was stopped largely by the actions of a blind swordsman, my mentor, Ichi(1). But it manifested itself in me. Why did you think I needed that needle? 'Twas dearest Miquella's contrivance, albeit finished by my half-sister Ranni. I say this only to warn you. I am dangerous, not merely because I am gifted with the sword. I lost control of the Rot in a moment's weakness, and Miquella paid the price. The needle will keep the Rot at bay, meaning that I am far less likely to lose control. But I am not a fool. There is still a chance it could happen again."

Harry, after a moment's thought, shrugged, before voicing those thoughts. "Honestly, I've done more stupid things than this. As long as you try to keep it under control…"

"I will do more than try, Harry Potter," she said solemnly.

The warm sweetness of the tea was soothing as it slid down Malenia's throat. True, while she had been insensate in stasis for what had to be centuries at least, given Ariamis' missive, she had not been expecting to wake up. So a simple pleasure like a good cup of tea was to be savoured.

True, the chairs and table were not quite right for her larger frame, but she had coped with that before. Same with having to duck somewhat to avoid hitting her head on the ceiling or light fittings. At least she didn't hit her head. She doubted it would be painful, but it would certainly be embarrassing.

"My thanks," she said, smiling gently, before looking around the kitchen once more. Some of the items and devices looked familiar (though to be honest, most of the times she had been in the kitchens at Leyndell was to sneak in and steal treats for herself and her siblings), but others did not. The kettle Harry used hadn't been put on a fire, but rather, it boiled at the flick of a switch. The lights were strange too, not being candles or lamps or luminescent crystals. She made a note to ask later, out of curiosity.

"You seem to be taking the fact that you're on another world in your stride," Harry observed.

"It is said that my parents' people, the Numen, came from another world," Malenia said. "Ariamis is not the only traveller across the veil between worlds who has come to the Lands Between. He is not known for deceiving others. Quite the opposite: he tends to give blunt truths that cause offence all the same. That being said, I have never seen a kettle of that ilk before, nor these strange lights."

"Oh, right…don't you have electricity on your world?"

"…Electricity? As in…lightning?" She remembered many scholars at Raya Lucaria experimenting with such things.

"I guess you could say that. Not many wizarding households have electricity, really," Harry said. "Magic's actually hidden on this world, just so you know, and there's not many on this world."

Malenia nodded thoughtfully. "Mages are in the minority and in hiding? How curious."

"Speaking of curiosity, I should warn you, one of my friends, if she learned you were from another world, would talk your ear off with questions about your homeworld," Harry pointed out.

"A scholar, or an inquisitor?" Malenia asked.

"…A scholar, obviously," Harry said, aghast. "You have inquisitors on your world?"

"One of my half-brothers ran the Inquisition for the Golden Order," Malenia said, scowling at the thought of that vile serpent Rykard. "I did not get along well with him. What of your Inquisition?"

"Not really around these days, not in the imprisoning and executing heretics type," Harry said, before scowling himself. "Of course, that's in Muggle society, amongst those without magic. Some bitch called Umbridge managed to get herself named High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. There were no executions, though I'm sure she would have wanted nothing more than to execute those she despised, but she would have imprisoned anyone she could get away with, especially me. But that was tame compared to what the actual Inquisition was supposed to get up to, and I suppose this half-brother of yours went with torture and executions?"

"Indeed. He was one of three children my father had with his first wife, a wife he abandoned for my mother, Queen Marika the Eternal. I got along better with Rykard's siblings. Ranni and I were at odds much of the time, but we were on otherwise decent terms, and she was the one who completed my twin's masterpiece. And Radahn…" A smile touched her lips. "'Twas my dream to one day duel him as an equal, and triumph. To win against Starscourge Radahn…" The smile dropped from her lips. "But alas, thanks to the treachery of another, he remains paralysed, a shadow of his former self. An ignoble fate for the finest warrior I have personally known, aside from my mentor."

"…I'm sorry. I mean, it sounded like he meant a lot to you."

"Godwyn, Radahn and Melina were the siblings I got along with best, aside from my own twin, dearest Miquella," Malenia said. "I had killed Miquella, even if 'twas an accident, a lapse of willpower that allowed the Scarlet Rot to claim his life. Godwyn died with Ranni to assassins, if what Ariamis wrote is true. Ariamis did not mention Melina, and I know not whether that is good or bad news, as she was little more than a child when I was sealed away."

"Well…if you want to talk about it…I do know something about losing loved ones," Harry said. "We just went through a war, and…not everyone I cared about made it."

They had met but a little while ago, and Malenia wondered if it was wise to discuss things with him. But he seemed to speak the truth about going through a war. His eyes told that story, too young, even by the standards of the Lands Between. He may have lost his parents at too young an age to remember them…but he had lost others since, it seemed.

"Mayhap later," Malenia said. "But for now, I…"

And then, the door to the kitchen opened, and a young woman with bushy hair came through. "Harry, I need to discuss your tuition in…oh," she tapered off when she saw Malenia.

"…Okay, this is awkward," Harry muttered, before he said, "Hermione, this is Malenia. Long story short, she comes from another world, and I set her free from her imprisonment. Malenia, this is Hermione Granger, one of my oldest friends. Please, play nice…"

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

So, there you have it. Malenia has come to the Potterverse for now, and has met Hermione.

1. Malenia's mentor does not have a name in the game, but I named him 'Ichi' after the famous blind swordsman from the Zatoichi films.