He took no notice of Silver or Mordred who was still sobbing on the ground. Finitevus examined his own body, he felt his chest, his arms, his face. He held out his hands and flexed his fingers, his expression rapt and exultant. Finally, he said "My Talismans, Mordred". Mordred forced himself to stand and with only one hand he retrieved the gauntlets and cape and helped Finitevus put them on. Finitevus stared at them as if they were old friends and he gave small laugh. Mordred was on his knees in front of him "Master…You-You promised" "Hold out your arm, Mordred". Mordred gave a great sgh of relief "Master, thank you". He extended his still bleeding stump "Thank you" "The other arm, Mordred". Mordred frowned but did as he was told and opened his right hand. The Dark Mark symbol was on the palm. Finitevus examined it carefully, ignoring Mordred's weeping "It is back. They will all have noticed. Now we shall see". Finitevus extended one finger and pushed it onto the centre of the symbol. Silver felt his head sear in pain again. Mordred howled in pain from the Mark. Finitevus removed his finger, the symbol was glowing now. With a look of great satisfaction Finitevus looked up at the sky "I wonder how many will be brave enough to return when they feel it? And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?". Finitevus paced around the graveyard waiting for whatever was coming. He stopped at Sonic's body. He leaned down and grabbed his face to look at him with his cold eyes "Oh, what a shame. Such a handsome boy" "Don't touch him!" Silver yelled. Finitevus looked up at him and then a cruel smile formed on his face "Silver…I had almost forgotten you were here".
He approached him "Three years since I last saw you. You've grown. And now you stand upon the remains of my late father. A fool much like your mother. But they both had their uses, did they not? Your mother died to defend you and I killed my father, and see how useful he has proved himself, in death". He pointed up at the old house in the distance "You see it there, Silver? My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was. He didn't like magic, my father. He left her and returned to his Muggle parents before I was even born and she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage. But I vowed to find him, I revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name Sam Tund". He looked angry but then he laughed "Listen to me, reliving family history. Why, I am growing quite sentimental. But look, Silver! My true family returns". Figures started to appear around the graveyard, wearing the same glowing armour Silver saw at the World Cup. They all moved forward slowly and cautiously as if they couldn't believe their eyes. Finitevus stood in silence waiting for them. A very tall Nocturnus removed his mask but it was too dark to see his face. He knelt down and kissed Finitevus' feet "Master…Master". The others all followed his lead and then backed away forming a circle entrapping Finitevus, Silver and the crying heap that was Mordred. There were spaces in the circle as if waiting for more people. Finitevus however didn't seem to expect more people. He looked around the circle, a rustling seemed to run around it as it shivered. Finitevus' gave a strange smile "Welcome, my Nocturnus. Thirteen years, it's been. Thirteen years since last we met. Yet you answer my call as though it were yesterday. We are still united under the Dark Mark, then! Or are we?".
His smile disappeared "I smell guilt. The stench of it! Why?". There was another shiver as if every member of the circle wanted to back away but didn't dare. Finitevus paced around the circle "I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers intact, such prompt appearances! And I ask myself why did this band of wizards never come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty?". No one answered, no one moved except Mordred who was still sobbing on the ground. Finitevus let the silence last before saying "I seem to have to answer myself. They must have believed me broken, they thought I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and ignorance, and bewitchment. And then I ask myself, but how could they have believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death? They, who had seen proofs of the immensity of my power in the times when I was mightier than any wizard living? Perhaps they believed a still greater power could exist, one that could vanquish even Lord Finitevus. Perhaps they now pay allegiance to another. Perhaps that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Locke the Echidna?". At the mention of Locke's name, the members of the circle stirred, and some muttered and shook their heads. Finitevus ignored them "It is a disappointment to me. I confess myself disappointed". One of the Nocturnus suddenly broke the circle and fell at Finitevus' feet. Finitevus stared at him and waved his hand, the armour disappeared in a puff of smoke revealing a grey wolf in a red suit and a purple cape. The removal of his armour in this way seemed to cause him pain as he gasped. He trembled "Master, forgive me! Forgive all of us!". Finitevus laughed and raised his hand "Crucio!" the wolf fell over and writhed in pain screaming. Silver desperately hoped someone could hear the screaming, begged that the police would come. Finitevus closed his fist stopping the spell. The wolf lay flat on the ground gasping. There was no sympathy in Finitevus' face "Get up, Sleet! Stand up! You ask for forgiveness? I do not forgive. I do not forget. Thirteen long years. I want thirteen years' repayment before I forgive you. Mordred here has paid some of his debt already, have you not, Mordred?".
Mordred said nothing, "You returned to me, not out of loyalty, but out of fear of your old friends. You deserve this pain, Mordred. You know that, don't you?". Mordred finally faced him "Yes, Master…Please, Master" "And yet you helped me". Finitevus turned to look down at Mordred. Sleet still gasping got to his feet and rejoined the circle. Finitevus kneeled down "Worthless and traitorous as you are, you helped me and Lord Finitevus rewards his helpers". Finitevus waved his hand and a ball of what looked like molten black metal appeared. It hit Mordred in the chest and formed around him creating black armour. It covered his entire body except his head and tail. As it moved up his left arm it formed a robotic hand at the end. Mordred's sobbing stopped abruptly. His breathing harsh and ragged, he raised his head and stared in disbelief at the armour around him, and then finally at his replacement hand. He flexed the shining fingers, then, trembling, picked up a small twig on the ground and crushed it into powder. Mordred kneeled "My Lord, thank you. It's beautiful. Thank you". Finitevus caressed his head "May your loyalty never waver again, Mordred" "No, My Lord. Never again". Mordred joined the circle, his eyes glistening with new tears as he admired his armour. Finitevus' approached a gap in the circle "Some of us to my knowledge are on Prison Island. They were faithful. They went to Prison Island rather than renounce me. When Prison Island is broken open, they will be honoured beyond their dreams. The Prelates will join us, of course. They are our natural allies. We will recall the banished Yetis. I shall have all my devoted servants returned to me, and an army of creatures whom all fear". He began walking around the circle, passing some of the Nocturnus in silence but some he would stop in front of. He waved his hand removing the armour of the ones he spoke to causing them pain just like Sleet. The first was a familiar Walrus "Tundra, destroying dangerous beasts for the Ministry of Magic now, Mordred tells me? You shall have better victims than that soon. Lord Finitevus will provide".
Tundra gave a great sigh of relief "Thank you, Master. Thank you". Finitevus moved on to two others removing their armour revealing two skunks who looked like older versions of people Silver knew "And here we have Rough. You will do better this time, will you not, Rough? And you as well, Tumble?". They both bowed "Yes, Master" "We will, Master". Finitevus then removed the armour of a blue wolf "The same goes for you, Falke" "My Lord, I am at your service. I am your most faithful-" "That will do". He stopped at the final member of the circle "Not even you…Clutch". With a wave of his hand, Clutch's armour disappeared but despite the pain he didn't flinch. He bowed "My Lord, I was always on alert if there was any sign, a whisper of your whereabouts-" "There were signs, my slippery friend, and much more than whispers. You are still ready to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture, I believe? Yet you never tried to find me, Clutch. Your exploits at the Sky Chase World Cup were fun, I daresay but might not your energies have been better directed toward finding and aiding your master? Instead, you ran from my Mark, when a faithful servant sent it into the sky last summer?". A twinge of fear appeared on Clutch's face "I regret my folly, My Lord. But I swear to you I have never renounced the old ways. The face I have been obliged to present since your absence, that is my true mask". Finitevus looked him up and down, considering him "We shall see. I expect better of you in the future". Clutch bowed again "Of course, Master. You are merciful. Thank you".
Finally, Finitevus reached the largest gap in the circle "And here we have six missing members. Three dead in my service. One, too cowardly to return, he will pay. One, who I believe has left me forever, he will be killed, of course. And one, who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already re-entered my service". He grinned and turned back to Silver "The same servant responsible for our young friend here being present for my return party. One might go so far as to call him my guest of honour". Silver was so desperate to escape he even looked to Clutch but he didn't look back. Clutch merely stepped forward "Master, we crave to know. We beg you to tell us how you have achieved this-this miracle. How you managed to return to us" "Oh, what a story it is, Clutch. And it begins and ends with our young friend, here". Finitevus lazily walked over to Silver so that all eyes were on the both of them "You know, of course, that they have called this boy my downfall? You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill him. His mother died in the attempt to save him and unwittingly provided him with a protection I admit I had not foreseen. I could not touch the boy. His mother left upon him the traces of her sacrifice. This is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it, but no matter". He grinned and turned to Silver "I can touch him now". He extended one of his fingers and pressed it against the middle of Silver's forehead. Silver thought his head might burst from the pain. He screamed as loud as he possibly could.
After what felt like eternity Finitevus removed his finger and continued to address the Nocturnus "I miscalculated, my friends, I admit it. My curse was deflected by the woman's foolish sacrifice, and it rebounded upon myself. Aaah, pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the worst ghost. But still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not know. I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. You know my goal, to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it. Nevertheless, I was as powerless as the weakest creature alive, and without the means to help myself for I had no body, and every spell that might have helped me required the use of a Talisman. I remember only forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to exist. I settled in a faraway place, in a forest, and I waited. Surely, one of my faithful Nocturnus would try and find me. One of them would come and perform the magic I could not, to restore me to a body. But I waited in vain". The shiver ran once more around the circle of listening Nocturnus. Finitevus let the silence spiral horribly before continuing "Only one power remained to me. I could possess the bodies of others. But I dared not go where other people were plentiful, for I knew that the Diamond Cutters were still abroad and searching for me. I sometimes inhabited creatures, but I was little better off inside them than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill adapted to perform magic and my possession of them shortened their lives; none of them lasted long. Then four years ago the means for my return seemed assured. A wizard, young, foolish, and gullible, wandered across my path in the forest I had made my home. Oh, he seemed the very chance I had been dreaming of, for he was a teacher at Locke's school. He was easy to bend to my will. He brought me back to this country, and after a while, I took possession of his body, to supervise him closely as he carried out my orders. But my plan failed. I did not manage to steal the Chaos Drive. I was not to be assured immortal life. I was thwarted. thwarted, once again, by Silver the Hedgehog".
Silence once more; nothing was stirring, not even the leaves on the trees. The Nocturnus were quite motionless, the glittering eyes in their masks fixed upon Finitevus, and upon Silver "The servant died when I left his body, and I was left as weak as ever I had been. I returned to my hiding place far away, and I will not pretend to you that I didn't then fear that I might never regain my powers. Yes, that was perhaps my darkest hour. I could not hope that I would be sent another wizard to possess. and I had given up hope, now, that any of my Nocturnus cared what had become of me". One or two of the masked wizards in the circle moved uncomfortably, but Finitevus took no notice "And then, not even a year ago, when I had almost abandoned hope, it happened at last, a servant returned to me. Mordred here, who had faked his own death to escape justice, was driven out of hiding by those he had once counted friends and decided to return to his master. He sought me in the country where it had long been rumoured I was hiding, helped, of course, by the wild Chao he met along the way. His little friends told him there was a place, deep in an Poloy Forest, that they avoided, where small animals like themselves had met their deaths by a dark shadow that possessed them. But his journey back to me was not smooth, was it, Mordred? For, hungry one night, on the edge of the very forest where he had hoped to find me, he foolishly stopped at an inn for some food and who should he meet there, but one Agnes Hopkins, a human witch from the Ministry of Magic. Now see the way that fate favours Lord Finitevus. This might have been the end of Mordred, and of my last hope for regeneration. But Mordred, displaying a presence of mind I would never have expected from him, convinced Agnes Hopkins to accompany him on a nighttime stroll. He overpowered her. He brought her to me. And Agnes Hopkins, who might have ruined all, proved instead to be a gift beyond my wildest dreams. For with a little persuasion, she became a veritable mine of information. She told me that the Emerald Championship would be played at Soleanna this year. She told me that she knew of a faithful Nocturnus who would be only too willing to help me, if I could only contact him. She told me many things. but the means I used to break the Memory Charm upon her were powerful, and when I had extracted all useful information from her, her mind and body were both damaged beyond repair. She had now served her purpose. I could not possess her. I disposed of her".
Finitevus smiled his terrible smile, his gold eyes blank and pitiless "Mordred's body, of course, was ill adapted for possession, as all assumed him dead, and would attract far too much attention if noticed. However, he was the able-bodied servant I needed, and, poor wizard though he is, Mordred was able to follow the instructions I gave him, which would return me to a rudimentary, weak body of my own, a body I would be able to inhabit while awaiting the essential ingredients for true rebirth. a spell or two of my own invention. a little help from my dear Ifrit". Finitevus' gold eyes fell upon the continually circling creature "A potion concocted from Sprite blood, and the venom Ifrit provided. I was soon returned to an almost living form, and strong enough to travel. There was no hope of stealing the Chaos Drive anymore, for I knew that Locke would have seen to it that it was destroyed. But I was willing to embrace mortal life again, before chasing immortality. I set my sights lower. I would settle for my old body back again, and my old strength. I knew that to achieve this, it is an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived me tonight. I would need three powerful ingredients. Well, one of them was already at hand, was it not, Mordred? Flesh given by a servant. My father's bone, naturally, meant that we would have to come here, where he was buried. But the blood of a foe. Mordred would have had me use any wizard, would you not, Mordred? Any wizard who had hated me as so many of them still do. But I knew the one I must use, if I was to rise again, more powerful than I had been when I had fallen. I wanted Silver the Hedgehog's blood. I wanted the blood of the one who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago for the lingering protection his mother once gave him would then reside in my veins too. But how to get at Silver? For he has been better protected than I think even he knows, protected in ways devised by Locke long ago, when it fell to him to arrange the boy's future. Locke invoked an ancient magic, to ensure the boy's protection as long as he is in his relations' care. Not even I can touch him there. Then, of course, there was the Sky Chase World Cup. I thought his protection might be weaker there, away from his relations and Locke, but I was not yet strong enough to attempt kidnap him in the midst of a horde of Ministry wizards. And then, the boy would return to Soleanna, where he is under the crooked nose of that Muggle-loving fool from morning until night. So how could I take him? Why, by using Agnes Hopkins's information, of course. Use my one faithful Nocturnus, stationed at Soleanna, to ensure that the boy's name was entered into the Flame of Solaris. Use my servant to ensure that the boy won the tournament. That he touched the Emerald Cup first. The cup which was a warp Gate. A Warp Gate granted to function within the protection Soleanna. My servant simply added an extra destination to it, which would bring him here, beyond the reach of Locke's help and protection, and into my waiting arms. And here he is. the boy you all believed had been my downfall".
Finitevus moved slowly forward and turned to face Silver. He raised his hand "Crucio!". It was pain beyond anything Silver had ever experienced; his very bones were on fire; his head was surely splitting. His eyes were rolling madly in his head; he wanted it to end, to black out, to die. And then it was gone. He was hanging limply on the headstone of Finitevus' father, looking up into those bright gold eyes through a kind of mist. The night was ringing with the sound of the Nocturnus' laughter "You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that this boy could ever have been stronger than me" said Finitevus. He turned back to them "But I want there to be no mistake in anybody's mind. Silver the Hedgehog escaped me by a lucky chance. And I am now going to prove my power by killing him, here and now, in front of you all, when there is no Locke to help him, and no mother to die for him. I will give him his chance. He will be allowed to fight, and you will be left in no doubt which of us is the stronger. Just a little longer, Ifrit" he whispered, and the creature glided away through the grass to where the Nocturnus stood watching. Finitevus waved his hand and the statue dropped Silver to the ground "Now, Mordred, give him back his Talismans".