Welcome back to another chapter of Bad Moon Rising, in which we end this Hunt!
Chapter edited by: Politically Problematic Prose Pundit
On with the show!
Harry Potter, having the time of his life.
There were very few things that Harry considered himself "good" at. He wasn't like Hermione who could immediately grasp any concept put before her and bend it to her own stubborn will. He wasn't like Ron, who could look at a problem and figure out the easiest path to overcoming it in a short amount of time. He wasn't like Delphini who could find loopholes in anything to slip through a situation untouched while laughing all the while.
No, Harry was good at Quidditch, flying, hunting, and fighting, and right now, he was very much in his element.
Harry ducked and dodged the swift swipes of Cath Palug, spinning and dancing around the cat, slicing and cutting shallow trenches into its flesh that wasn't disjointed and floating. The only problem was the fact that it was getting harder to get close to the monster due to it being on fire, though, admittedly, that was his fault. He had used a spell from the book of Elemental Battle Magic he had gotten from Hermione on his birthday. It was filled to the brim with neat spells and theories on the subject. It may be true that Harry wasn't much of a theory guy, but when said theory explained how best to use the magic he learned, he tended to pay attention to it, as hard as it was sometimes.
There was a whole lot of talk about the contemporary elements of battle magic and what they meant to help you envision the spells more clearly. Fire is progress, Metal is structure, Water is life, lightning is inspiration, earth(or wood depending on who you ask) is stability, and finally, Entropy is cessation. Depending on where the spell fell within these six elements, the spell could be more difficult to cast or much easier with entropy, water, and fire being hands down the most difficult spells to cast in that order. Lightning, metal (depending on the metal), and earth being the easiest to bring to life at the end of a wand. The spell he had used to take the fourth life of Cath Palug came from the very back of the book and if it wasn't for the domain of the moon, Harry probably would have puked up his guts trying to cast it.
Now, if Harry knew that The Armaments of Flame spell was going to light the giant cat who was trying to kill him on fire, he probably, maybe, would have hesitated to use it on said giant cat.
Harry ducks and dances around the next few swipes of Cath Palug, dodging the sword-like claws that slash down a mature tree like it was wet paper. Harry swings his spear to slice through the arms of the giant cat's body, but thanks to its new floating body parts, it passes right through the air as the Beast moves them to avoid the strike. While the Dismantling Hex had taken a life(and something Harry was somehow going to get Ron to teach him), it made fighting Cath Palug much more annoying. It just kept adapting after each life lost making it harder and harder to kill, Hermione crushing it made it able to slip through trees effortlessly, and Atalanta's arrow made anything fired from a distance slow or outright stopped before it landed, the Dismantling Hex made it where it was now a bloody chore to land a solid hit on the fucking thing.
Did he mention it was also on fire!?
Its fur had taken on the scarlet color of flames and reminded Harry of the Nekomata he killed in the hedge over a year ago. He understood why it took four gods working together to kill Cath Palug when it was at the height of its power, Harry was just counting whatever lucky stars that weren't trying to kill him that it only had eight lives to take when they encountered it. Harry could tell thanks to swift death and what were the eight pulsating points across its body there were beating like hearts within it. He was half tempted to use the Gaé Bolg to rack up another kill, but he had a feeling that using it wouldn't be the best idea unless it was on its last life.
Cath Palug roars before leaping away from Harry who is cutting apart the floating pieces of its body. It rears back, the fleshless skull that was wreathed in crimson flame tilting back before unhinging its jaw to gather flames in its mouth. Harry's eyes widen a fraction as his wand snaps into his hand and he quickly conjures a wall of stone and titanium around him before charming it to resist the heat that came flying from the maw of Cath Palug.
The wave of flames smashes against Harry's shield with almost unbearable heat. "Oh, great now it breathes fire!" Harry hears Ron's angry yell off to the side before a wave of water hits Cath Palug from the direction that Ron's voice came from.
"Britomartis!" Harry yells as the roar of fire dies down as the great cat's roar shakes the forest. "Can you do something about it coming apart!?" he asks with a roar of his own.
"I'm trying! But the fucking thing is getting too smart, I hate it when it gets like this!" The minor goddess yells off from the side Ron was one. "Here, let's see you slip from this, you flaming cunt! Bear trap!" she yells just before Harry hears the sound of a giant spring being released followed by a roar. He jumps backward and out of his dome-like shield before, with a flourish of his wand, removing the titanium to form it into a floating shield and banishing the stone right at the trapped beast. The stone wall nails the great cat right in the face, rattling its braincase as Harry lands before slipping his wand back into its holster and charging forward once more with his spear ready to split Cath Palug's head in two while it was dazed.
Or, that was what he would have done if something hadn't fallen from the sky like a bolt of lightning. The force of its landing knocked Harry off his feet before flinging him through the air while the laugh of the horned god filled the forest. Harry heard the cry of his name as he was flung away from Cath.
"There you are!" Cernunnos yells with mad glee before drawing back his fist and slamming into the face of Cath Palug with a loud crack. Cernunnos was wreathed in lightning from the storm above, and the smell of ozone filled the forest as the horned god let out a cry like thunder. The great beast roared in pain as it was sent flying back through the woods, slamming and crashing through trees and catching underbrush aflame. "Where the fuck do you think you're going?" Cernunnos yells before, like a bolt of lightning he charges after the Beast. He smashes into Cath Palug's body with his shoulder, laughing all the while as the skulls that made up the underside of its body snap and bite at Cernunnos.
Harry tries to right himself mid-air to land on his feet, but to his surprise, he feels someone catch him like a falling princess from behind before they both land safely. Harry looked up at his savior, expecting Atalanta or maybe Britomartis, but to his surprise, it was neither. "Mom!" he says in shock as the amber eyes of Artemis look at him with a smile that shows her amusement with everyone going on.
"Hello, Harry," Artemis says with a smile before letting her son fall to his feet beside her. "Are you enjoying the hunt so far?" she asks with a tilt of her head as the sound of Cernunnos fighting with Cath fills the forest.
Harry smiles back at her, a wicked glee filling his morphed eyes that were an emerald copy of Artemis' own. "Fuck yeah!" he says before looking over at Cernunnos hacking and slashing at Cath Palug as the Beast weaves in and out through trees and Britomartis' golden ropes that try to bind it. "We've already killed it four times, we just need to end it four more times for it to stay down for good," Harry says before looking at Artemis, missing one of Hermione's arrows hitting a tree next to Cath Palug and transforming it into a giant serpent.
Artemis blinks, confused for a moment. "How can you tell that?" she asks, not missing the second of Hermione's arrows hitting the wooden serpent as it sinks its fangs into Cath's neck and wraps around it. The serpent transforms from wood to copper as it tightens its hold on the beast and Cernunnos continues to beat on it.
"I don't," Harry admits with a shrug. "Instant Death?" Harry asks, his face scrunched up in confusion as he speaks. Artemis' eyes narrow a bit as she inspects Harry as the boy turns to watch the fight between Cernunnos and Cath Palug.
"Instant Death shouldn't be able to tell that," Artemis thinks to herself, "Instant Death should show him the best and quickest way to kill the beast, not how many times it has to die," it made no sense to Artemis, Harry shouldn't be able to sense death like that, only how to inflict it. But as she ponders this, she senses the atmosphere become enriched by divine power and her head snaps over to Cernunnos; who had raised his spear high over his head.
"Behold Beast!" Cernunnos calls out to Cath Palug as it is picking itself up off the ground from where Cernunnos slammed it. "THE SPEAR OF CERNUNNOS!" He shouts before swinging his spear down.
"EVERYONE!" Artemis yells before grabbing Harry and leaping back. "Get back!" she screams as a bolt of lightning as thick as a New York subway train cart falls from the sky and directly onto the Beast of the Hunt. Cath Palug roars in fury and pain as it is struck by Cernunnos' bolt. The Hunters of Artemis and Ron had heard the goddess shout and ran for the blast zone that Cernunnos' attack created as it leveled trees and made a crater where the Beast once stood, Cernunnos laughing all the while.
When the light from the blast died down, there was no Beast to be seen, only the horned god standing at the lip of the crater, an unseen smile on his face. "Now that's how you kill a Beast!" he says with a roar and a laugh of his own as Harry watches on with wide eyes.
"Did he actually put it down for good?" Harry asks as Artemis puts him down once more.
"If Cath Palug could be put down so easily, it wouldn't be a Beast, Harry," Artemis says as her eyes scan the forest around them. Ashes blow in the cold wind around Cernunnos as he continues to laugh, there is a spark behind him before a faint crack of electricity can be heard as a claw forms behind the horned god. Artemis' eyes widen a bit, "Cernunnos! Look out!" she cries out her warning to the horned god, who barely had time to turn and look at her before the paw sweeps at him, striking him in the back. Cernunnos goes flying through the trees from the force of the blow, sending him screaming across the woods, curses falling from his lips as he flies.
From the paw, the body of Cath Palug reforms as it once more rejects the concept of death taking what killed it and making it its own. It was now ghost-white with neon blue stripes running up and down its body, its fur still flickered and flashed like fire but now sharp cracks could be heard when it snapped to and fro. Its skull was now wreathed in lightning as it hissed at Artemis, Harry could see electricity flashing around it in the aura that slowed and stopped the arrows of the other hunters in the woods.
It hisses and growls at Artemis, seemingly knowing what's about to come. Harry's knees bend as he ready his spear once more with a smile on his face Artemis sighs a bit before both hands reach behind her back. "Well, it seems to be my turn to kill it, care to lend a hand, Harry?" she asks before drawing out her two hunting knives before they grow and lengthen, she looks at Harry with a smile while he just laughs back at her.
"You don't have to ask me twice," He says with a feral smile on his face as he spins his spear and braces himself for the charge. "But can you keep up, Mom?" he asks, looking at Artemis from the corner of his eye.
Artemis scuffs at her son's words. "Cheeky little brat, just where do you think you get your speed from? Barring Hermes, I'm the fastest among the Olympians," she boosts as she too prepares herself for the charge.
Harry just chuckles before they both face the great sin of the Hunt, each mirroring one another smile. "Let's Hunt!" They both cried as one before mother and son charged at Cath Palug as one.
Sirius Black
Sirius was having second thoughts about coming on this hunt. When he first agreed to come along he thought it was an opportunity to spend time with his Godson and Atalanta doing something they both loved to do, to grow closer to both. But with Harry's crazy stunt of jumping out of Artemis' sleigh, who was quickly followed by Ron and Hermione, he had lost them in the dense woods the hunt was in. If it were for the towering pillar of fire(which he was sure was Harry's doing somehow) he wouldn't have any idea where the fuck he was going.
Which led to his current problem, he was out of shape. Sirius had been running through the woods for almost ten minutes, sweat was pouring down his face, he had a stitch in his side, and was huffing, puffing, and wheezing for air as he ran towards the pillar of lightning that fell from the sky. He stops for a moment to rest against one of the trees, trying to catch his breath that comes out in long puffs of steam in the cold December air as he questions, once again, just why he is doing this.
With a long crack, he jumps and turns just in time to see a large white cat go flying by him in the direction he had just come, spitting and hissing the whole way as it crashes through the forest. It was quickly followed by two silver blurs, one being Harry from the yelling voice shouting "Get back here!" as it passed by.
They were quickly followed by two other silver blurs. "Come on Dogbreath, you're missing out on all the fun!" Atalanta calls out to him as Britomartis' laughter can be heard right after her.
The last two blurs ran past him, moving slowly enough to make out Ron and Hermione giving chase to the monster and the others, laughing as they went.
Sirius stood there leaning against the tree watching as they ran off into the deep woods before pushing himself off the tree and running back in the direction he had just come from, cursing all the while.
Amid a Hunt.
Artemis' blades find soft flesh and carve down the spine of Cath Palug in a shower of gore as Harry's spear finds roost in between the shoulder blade and body of Cath Palug, and with a twist and a sickening wet pop her son dislocates the shoulder of the arm that swung at Hermione. Both of the hunters in silver feel the building power and cracking of electricity and jump from the Beast as it roars in anger. Lightening shrouds Cath Palug as it thrashes in pain, Artemis watches as the superficial wounds bubble and heal over as if she and Harry had done nothing at all to it.
Cernunnos comes crashing into the clearing, charging at the Great Beast, and drives his spear into Cath Palug's exposed flanks before booting it off in a savage manner. The great cat flies and crashes through a few trees as Artemis lands on the branch of a tree with little effort. She frowned a bit before turning to look at Britomartis who was trying to bind the cat's limbs at every turn, slowing it down so she could pull the other hunters out of the way of the Beast's attacks.
"Britomartis!" Artemis calls out, gaining the other goddess' attention. "Lock Cath Palug down! I'm going for my kill before Cernunnos steals it!" she yells and watches as her former hunter's eyes widen a fraction, knowing what she was asking before nodding her head. "To all other Hunters! Get back and hide behind a tree away from the Beast and close your eyes, and no matter what do not look!" Artemis yells, her voice ringing with authority as she puts away her blades and summons her bow.
"Fuck!" Atalanta answered back as she turned her heel and charged at Ron, scooping up the boy before running in the opposite direction of Cath Palug. "You heard her kiddos, get your ass to cover!" the Lioness yells as she falls back, Hermione following a few steps behind her. Artemis looks down at Harry who is shin-deep in snow and looks up at her with question-filled eyes.
"Remember the things you're not meant to see?" Artemis asks him and watches as Harry's eyes widen before he nods. Artemis sighs in relief as she watches Harry follow after Atalanta before jumping down from her perch among the trees and landing next to Britomartis who meets her eyes with a nod. Their flesh begins to crack and peel away before burning like paper in the heart of a hearth, revealing to the world their true godly forms, one of golden light and the other of silvery moonlight.
Britomartis was dressed in furs and hides of deer and elk with nets woven through each section to capture them all with the scales of sea serpents and ancient fish woven in as armor. Upon her brow sat a Celestial bronze helmet from her homeland, adorned with her holy symbols that have long since been forgotten by the world. She brings her net-covered arms up and takes a deep breath. Watching as Cernunnos moves in once more for the kill on Cath Palug before drawing on her remaining power. "Bring and bind, never untwine and be undone! Gordian Knot!" Britomartis yells, forcing the world around her to remember the legend of the knot that no mortal man could untie.
The golden binding ropes burst from all corners of the forest around Cath Palug, twisting and encircling it in a tight ball. The Beast thrashed against the ropes but could do nothing more as they encircled it from all sides and directions, wrapping it up into a tight ball suspended in the air by golden ropes.
"What the!" Cernunnos yells as he too is wrapped in the ropes of the Gordian Knot and pulled into the binding as well. Artemis smirked as she lifted her bow and took aim with her single silver arrow.
"That's what he gets for trying to steal my kill," Artemis thinks to herself before layering her domains onto her arrow. She lets the arrow fly true, punching through the Gordian Knot and Cath Palug's heart both with a smug smile on her face. Britomartis lets out a breath as the Gordian Knot vanishes into gold dust as she stumbles a bit, Artemis looks over to her with concern coloring her face both of the Goddesses of the Hunt bring their mortal forms to bear once more.
Artemis catches Britomartis before she falls flat on her face. "Are you okay?" she quickly asks her old friend.
Britomartis nods quickly. "Yeah. Sorry, just don't have the amount of power you have," she tells Artemis who nods at her words, while Artemis would never call her old friend a "Minor Goddess" it didn't detach from the truth that she was weaker than her.
"Fall back then, tell Atalanta and Hermione that arrows can no longer kill but they can still be used to harass it," Artemis orders Britomartis who nods in return before running off to fulfill her orders as Artemis turns back to Cath Palug. The great cat was currently standing for another death once more, pinning Cernunnos under its massive paws as a thick bone-like carapace began to grow over its fur, shielding it from any more deaths from arrows. But all Artemis does is smile, there is a reason she liked hunting Cath with the Old Man after all, and besides that, Harry still had his spear.
"Harr-" Artemis tries to call out for her son to come forward, but the words catch in her throat with the feeling of fangs wrapping around her windpipe. Her head snaps to the left, eyes wide as she feels the Hunt raging within her, but she isn't the only one affected by the feeling of fangs, ancient and primal, at her throat.
As Artemis hears the pained and fearful cries of her hunter. The Horned God Cernunnos pauses in his struggles to push Cath Palug off of him, his eyes widening under his mask as the feeling sinks into him.
But unlike Artemis, he knew this feeling and knew it well.
He redoubles his efforts to remove the great Beast from him. "Off! Get the fuck off of me! Now! I do not want to be here when-" Cernunnos says in a panic before the singular sound silences him. With the snap of a twig, Cernunnos freezes like Artemis and slowly turns to look to his left as a silhouette that shined in golden light steps into the clearing.
"To think, the god I passed my authority over the Wild Hunt to would find himself under the claws of a Beast he was sworn to hunt," a new voice says, young and strong as who it belongs to struts into the clearing. He was young, looking to be in the prime of his life with long wild dark locks that fell down his back, a short dark beard sat on his scowling face as he glared at Cernunnos on the ground. While he did not have the stature or physique like that of Cernunnos, everything about him spoke of power and strength. From the coils of taut muscles hidden under his flesh to the scars that adored his bare chest, arms, and back that was a testament to the battles and hunts he had fought in with dark war paint in spirals all over the god's flesh. Artemis would not have known who this god was if it were not for the silver arm that glowed like the coming dawn and the scar that ran from it, up and across his right bicep to his neck and finally his face where a fake silver eye sat. "How disgraceful, Cernunnos," Nuadha spits out.
Artemis looked at the elder god with wide eyes but refused to listen to the human-like instinct to turn and run from the clearing, to gather her hunters and make a wild dash across the islands to escape Nuadha. Her head snaps back when she sees Cath Palug shift, but what she sees isn't the Sin of Hunt preparing itself for a pounce, but taking a step back. Cath Palug was without a doubt afraid of the god that had stepped into the clearing.
For in all her years and all the times she had hunted Cath Palug, Artemis had never known the Beast to be afraid of anyone or anything. Always charging ahead, always meeting any god it was fighting head-on, without fear…until now.
"Ah," Nuadha says with a feral grin as he catches Cath Palug's movement. "So, you do remember me," the elder god says as he walks slowly into the clearing, with every step he takes, Cath Palug takes one back away from Nuadha. "It is a shame that my sworn brother can not be here to enjoy this hunt like we used to back in the lands beyond the Hedge. But you remember those days, do you not, Beast?" Nuadha says with a growl and a sneer at Cath Palug who hisses in return. "But worry not, for while Oberon is not here, I am," Nuadha says before bending his knees and kicking off the ground toward Cath Palug.
The great cat turns to run in fear of the god rocketing toward it but only meets the god face to face. Nuadha's smile was wild and savage before he began to fight Cath Palug, with his bare hands. Jabs, hooks, punches, elbows, and knees flow from Nuadha like a hurricane, each one landing on Cath Palug faster than even Artemis could track. The blows rained down on the Beast of the Hunt like a roaring tempest, Artemis could hear the cracking and breaking bones as she watched in awe as Nuadha proceeded to beat Cath Palug to a pulp all around the clearing.
The bone plates crack and break under Nuadha's onslaught, and the burning fur and crackling lightning that no doubt struck and burned the elder god were laughed off by him as nothing more than a nuisance. Every blow slammed into the great cat heedless of the force of gravity around it at full force and with pinpoint accuracy. The blows crushed bones and gouged out meat from the Beast with each blow from Nuadha's silver arm. Cath would try to swipe at Nuadha, but the god in his youthful form would easily duck out of the way before delivering another blow that would shake the forest. When Cath would try to run, Nuadha would deliver a kick that splintered bone to the hind legs of the Beast causing it to fall and stumble enough for Nuadha to continue his beating.
With a final uppercut, Nuadha sends Cath Palug flying backward. The great cat's body begins to bend backward from the blow as Nuadha laughs before the god reaches out and snatches Cath Palug by the throat before it falls too far back. Nuadha, still holding Cath by the throat, proceeds to turn in place and brings the great cat with him as he lifts it into the air before suplexing the Beast of the Hunt back to the earth. Nuadha pops back up, still laughing as Cath Palug tries to roll back onto its legs, but Nuadha reaches down with his burning silver arm and grasps the bone-like plates that compose the armor of Cath Palug before, with a great heave, Nuadha tosses the great Beast skywards.
"Hear me hunters in the night, and listen to the proclamation of King Nuadha!" the elder god roars into the sky, watching as Cath Palug flies through the air. "You humans were never meant to be touched by the Hunt, never meant to harness the domain of fang and claw! But you took to the Hunt like a seal to the sea and learned to pick up the spear and bow, to hunt without claw and fang away from the fires that you huddled in front of out of fear of what hid in the darkness of the night!" Nuadha says as he draws back his silver arm into a fist and braces himself.
"This Beast-" he spits the word like a curse, "-was born from when you abandoned the Hunt, to plant and grow rather than gather and hunt as you should have when the Hunt embraced you and your kin. Your sins reflect upon us and our domain and turn them into this disgusting, pitiful, creature that was born from hunting more than what you need, the slaughter of whole species, growing fat and lazy off the wild places of the world you destroyed to plant and grow!" Nuadha yells as his arm begins to glow with the light of the sun as Cath Palug begins to fall.
"But fear not little mortals," Nuadha says in a softer voice, a kinder one as if he was talking to a small scared child. "That is what we are here for, to guide you, to accept you, and to forgive you for your transgressions. For you are a part of the Hunt, as it is a part of you, embrace it as it embraces you, and learn to walk with the wolf instead of fighting it," He says softly and firmly in a way only a father could as he smiles as Cath Palug comes within his range. "Now watch as I forgive you of your sins in the only way we hunters know how," he says before taking his last swing at the Sin of the Hunt, his fist colliding with its spine. Light burst from the fist of Nuadha that rivaled the sun, blasting into the sky like a tower of light that consumed Cath Palug whole in purifying light.
With a final sigh, the light of Nuadha's silver arm dies down as his youthful form begins to rapidly age to his older-looking aspect. His arm falls to his side as the now older-looking god folds reality to cover himself in the same cloak, shirt, and sling that Artemis first saw him in. Nuadha wore a sad look on his face as his eyes filled with something akin to nostalgia as the Hunt that so readily had Artemis by the throat died away.
"It's been a long time since I've done that," Nuadha says, a hint of a smile fighting against his frown. "I do have to find Old Oberon one day soon, if nothing else but to chat about the old days," he says in a whisper as he watches the tiny golden motes that were spawned from his final strike against Cath Palug drift down like snowflakes. Artemis doesn't know if he is talking to her or merely muttering out loud to himself, she doesn't get the chance to ask as the sound of footsteps from behind draws her attention.
"Bloody hell," Ron says as he jogs up with Harry and Hermione with Atalanta and Britomartis following shortly behind them, all three of the children have looks of awe on their faces as they look at Nuadha. Artemis could hardly blame them, the spectacle she had just witnessed had even awed her, for she had never met a god strong enough to kill Cath Palug with their bare hands.
"That was awesome!" Harry cheers with a laugh and a smile. "You boxed Cath Palug and won! Bloody hell old man, that was as scary as teacher is," he tells Nuadha, who sniffs at Harry's words, and for a second Artemis had thought that Nuadha had taken offense to Harry's words.
But Nuadha scoffs, "Oh please, that bitch is far more frightening than anything I can do. She can actually kill a god," Nuadha says with a slight laugh as he places his silver arm back into his sling.
"But where is Cath Palug?" Hermione asks, her eyes scanning the clearing to find some sight of it reforming, her new arrow already notched into her bow, ready to shoot at a moment's notice.
"Dead," Nuadha says flatly as he holds up his good arm, calling forth his cane. "I burned away what was left of the sin stored in its body, if it was fully manifested it probably wouldn't have worked. But it was just a kitten compared to the thing Oberon and I hunted past the hedge," He says dismissively before he begins to limp back the way he came.
That was until a growl echoed around the clearing, causing all the hunters to turn with wide eyes to see…
A Snowy Tiger.
It was a bit bigger than the Tigers of China and India, standing at around five feet at the shoulder, but otherwise looked no different. It was undoubtedly Cath Palug, missing the sins that would have normally empowered it with unholy endurance to even reject death. It was backing away from the group of hunters, its eyes moving back and forth, looking for an escape.
"Huh, didn't think it would have done that," Nuadha says under his breath, confused about why it wasn't obliterated from his attack.
"Well, looks like his pelt is mine then!" Cernunnos yells before charging at the giant cat with his spear in hand.
"Harry!" Artemis snaps as Cath Palug sees Cernunnos' charge before it turns tail and begins to run. "Use the Gaé Bolg! Kill it before Cernunnos can!" she yells at her son. If Harry could kill the cat before Cernunnos, his claim on the cat's pelt would be greater than the Horned God and she had the perfect place to hang it in her temple.
But it would be neither Cernunnos nor Harry who got the last kill, for as Harry lifted his spear and began to call upon the curse of Dún Scaith, Cath Palug made it to the tree line with Cernunnos almost on him.
But a shadow steps from the darkness of the forest swinging a mighty blade.
With a scream of defiance, Sirius Black swings Gramr with all his might. The blade broken and then reforged anew was created to carve through the unbreakable scales of Fáfnir, the soft fur and flesh of Cath Palug's neck offered no resistance as the blade cut the cat's head from its shoulder.
"Ahhhhhh!" Sirius screams as the body of Cath Palug falls to the ground, he is breathing heavily with sweat dripping down his face as he huffs and puffs. "This sword is fucking awesome!" Sirius cries out with a grin as the rest of the hunters look at him in shock before Sirius walks over to put one foot on the body of Cath and raises Gramr above his head. "I am Sirius Black! Slayer of the mighty Cath Palug! Eat your heart out King Arthur!" he yells with a hysterical laugh.
"Should we tell-" Britomartis begins to whisper to Artemis, but the Moon Goddess just shakes her head with a smile.
"No, Let the guard dog have this one," Artemis says, smiling as she watches Sirius celebrate his kill as Ron, Atalanta, Hermione, and Harry begin to laugh.
Grimmauld Place.
Kreacher shouldn't be here, Kreacher shouldn't be doing this. It was a betrayal, a betrayal of the House of Black that his and his blood was bound by iron chains to serve, it was a betrayal to The Queen, the lady of winter and starlight.
Kreacher shouldn't do this, but he had no choice.
"Go to blood," his mistress whispered to him from years in the past. Her final order, "Do not leave unless it was to Go to Blood, the true blood, not the blood traitor muggle loving fool, but the true Blacks still alive," it echoed in his mind and ears like banging pots and breaking plates.
Kreacher was on the second floor, in the great library of the Black Family that held the secrets of magics they had uncovered over the long history they have called the islands home. He crept silently through the shelves, hoping that someone would find him, to order him to stop, to order him back to his room. But to his despair, no one does. He walks up to the empty portrait that stands in the back of the room, in a place of honor for what one of the ancestors of the Black family had accomplished in his time alive.
Kreacher stops, weeping silent tears as he claws at his head, hoping to bleed the orders from his mind like bleeding poison from a wound. But little Bella's orders were like an iron collar around his neck, heavy and binding.
"Bring me the Eagla Dearmadta. The grimoire stole from them, the Circle of Starlight and Winter, bring it to me and let no one see you, let no one hear you, let no one know," Little Bella ordered him and Kreacher could not fight against it. So with weeping tears and dripping blood, he opens the portrait with a tap of his claws before crawling inside the false back of it. Passing by the Legacy of the Black family written in the blood of their enemies and bound in the flesh of monsters that no longer walked the aisle.
The black leather-bound book sat upon a lecture and was bound in chains both physical and magical. The screaming face inscribed on the leather that was twisted in fear and terror sat still unmoving as Kreacher was forced to approach it. Kreacher doubted that the blood traitor knew what was stored in the tome, Kreacher doubted any of the current Black Family members knew what was in it.
But they would find out soon enough.
Kreacher snaps his fingers, shutting the portrait behind him and unbinding the grimoire all at once before he reaches up with shaking hands to take the tome into his arms. With weeping tears and blood, Kreacher vanishes with a soft pop to deliver the greatest secret that the Black Family knew. The secret of where True Fear slept silently in death's solemn embrace. And none in the townhouse heard him; for it was the mark of a good house elf to never been seen or heard.
Harry Potter, Dreaming of what was.
"No," that word rang hollow in Ignotus' head. That was how she answered him, No, No she would not help him, No she would not tell him, No for she was waiting for someone else. After all he had sacrificed, after all he had done, her answer was simply "No,".
"Go back to your love, Ignotus. Fall to your knees and beg her for forgiveness and let this foolish dream of revenge die and live a normal life. For you will find nothing but disappointment and death if you continue down this path," were her parting words to him on the banks of the loch before she vanished as rose petals in the wind. Out of everyone and everything on earth, Ignotus had thought she would have agreed with him, to help him, for she had lost her family to the Romans as well.
He had returned home after she had left, to his tiny hovel in the City of London, and drowned his sorrows in wine and ale before in a fit of rage he destroyed everything within his reach. His books, his research, his desk, everything was shattered in his rage and magic.
He hated them, he hated them all. The Demigods that killed his mother, the gods that let it happen, the circles that didn't care and abandoned them, and himself for being too cowardly to do anything about it.
He wanted them all dead, but how could a lone mortal kill the gods that reigned upon high?
He fell asleep that night, slipping into an exhausted and drunken stupor with anger and injustice still in his heart. He dreamt that night, but not of his sweet Alyssa, nor the death of his mother that has haunted him all his life.
But of a pit.
Of golden eyes that shifted like sand in an hourglass
Of the being that called himself the father of time, Kronos.
And from him, he learned that his revenge could be achieved, that his life's goal wasn't in vain, and what more he would need to sacrifice to achieve it.
A way to kill the very gods.
Harry Potter, Grimmauld Place.
Harry awakens from his dream with a start, jerking himself from the black void under the earth with a pit that reeked of evil. His eyes snapped open to look around to find himself in his room at Grimmauld Place, he reached up to rub the sleep from his eyes, confused about how he got there. The last thing he remembered was being in Artemis' sleigh, flying back to London after their hunt for Cath Palug.
"Are you okay?" Harry hears whispered to him in the dark of his room, almost causing him to jump out of his bed. He looks up to find a set of amber cat eyes looking at him with concern, picking his head up and looking around he sees that he's not alone in his bed. Daphnis was behind him, facing the wall with one arm hanging off the bed as he slept, Atalanta and Hermione were on the other side with Hermione tucked into the death grip of Atalanta as they snuggled and slept. Harry could hear Ron's chainsaw-like snores coming from the foot of the bed that had to be magically extended to fit them all. Artemis was lying in between the boys and girls with Harry tucked into her arm as he slept soundly on her.
Harry smacks his lips in an attempt to break up the gummy feeling on his lips but nods his head to Artemis' question. "Yeah, just a catnip dream," Harry mumbles before laying his head back down.
"Oh? What about?" Artemis asks, sounding vaguely curious about it.
"Ignotus Peverell," Harry says as he snuggles closer to Artemis who hums in thought at his answer.
"One of the three brothers from that story, correct? That made your cloak?" Artemis asks and Harry shrugs the best he can.
"Probably," Harry answers, not knowing for sure. "But he wasn't making anything in my dream, he was looking for something. He had some theory that he needed to confirm or something, so he went looking for a god to do that," Harry tells Artemis who nods but otherwise remains quiet as Harry talks, only pulling him closer. "He found one, I-I think it was a Dé Danann, the one that wasn't sealed,"
"Brigid, I believe her name is or was, at the time. I remember Mars and Jupiter throwing a fit over her getting away, she had fled the isles and taken refuge with Old Man Odin and his kin," Artemis informs Harry. He could tell she wasn't mad or disappointed that Brigid got away, merely a statement of fact.
"What-" Harry says before pausing, unsure how to ask. But he swallows his uncertainty and decides to be blunt, just as his mother would be. "What was your part in the war with the Dé Danann?" he asks and hears Artemis let out a sigh.
"I've been wondering when you would ask me that," Artemis says under her breath, she was neither angry nor bothered by his question. "In honesty, my part was very little. I was to hunt down Cait Sith and see him sealed with the help of a few Roman Wizards, that was it. I disliked the idea of invading another pantheon's land but we had no choice with the Flame of the West preparing to move. When the vote was called on what we should do, I, Mercury, and my Uncle Pluto were the only ones against invading the isles like that, but in the end, we were outvoted, and the rest was history," Artemis says, seemingly unbothered by what her family had done to another.
"But what was Ignotus asking Brigid about?" Artemis asks after a moment of silence, hoping to not delve too much into that particular piece of History that was the Dé Danann/Olympian war.
Harry is quiet for a few seconds before answering. "He wanted to know if it was possible to kill the Roman Gods. He had some theory about how to do it, but he wanted to know if he could, he wanted revenge," Harry says and feels Artemis turn her head to look down on him.
"What did she tell him?" Artemis asks, now sounding truly interested in his dream.
"Nothing, she refused to answer if it was possible or not. She told him to go back to his wife, to abandon his want for revenge, and to live a normal life," Harry tells her and hears Artemis hum in thought.
"I'm surprised that she didn't tell him anything," Artemis says as she brings her hand to Harry's head and begins to run her hand through his hair absentmindedly. "But why did he want revenge?" she wonders out loud.
"The Roman Demigods killed his Mom and Dad while looking for the ninth legion's standard, he watched as one of them used another standard to kill his mom," Harry tells Artemis, enjoying the feeling of Artemis running her hand through his hair.
"Ah," Artemis says, as if finally understanding something. "The March of the Bloody Eagle, that makes sense, they would have been alive between-" she says her words slowing to a stop, even her hand stopped moving causing Harry to worry for a moment before she spoke again. "Harry, have your dreams shown you if the three brothers were a part of the Circle of Starlight and-" she begins to ask as Harry's head shoots up to turn and look at Artemis.
"Winter, yeah, they were. But the Circle was slaughtered by…" Harry says, his word dying in his throat at the dark and grim look on Artemis' face, her amber eyes flashing with something akin to anger. "You," Harry finishes breathlessly as something clicks into place in his mind. "The Roman gods were behind it, weren't they?" he asks, clarifying what he meant by "You" and watches as Artemis nods her head, her eyes hundreds of years into the past.
"You have to understand, Harry, I do not spend a lot of time as Diana. The Roman Demigods are far more organized than their Greek counterparts, even back then. Camp Jupiter sat in the middle of the City of London and was highly defended. They did not need me to patrol the wilds of the islands to hunt monsters so I spent much of my time on the continent where Camp Half-Blood was on the banks of the Seine River," Artemis says, her voice far away as she recalled the past.
"Other than keeping my domain in order, my other job, if you wish to call it that, is to help Demigods find their way to the camp and make it safe for them to travel. So I did not set foot on the islands a lot, even back then, but there was one time an emergency meeting called by the Roman council that demanded every god to attend without exception and we were to bring our champions with us. The last time a meeting like that was called was when the Flame of the West was moving, so I went to Olympus with Zoë in tow. At first, I thought it was my father who called the meeting, but I soon found out it wasn't him but…" Artemis tells Harry before her eyes dart around the room with a sliver of fear in them, as though what she was about to say would anger something unspeakable. Harry had only seen one other person do this in winter, and that was Zoë a year ago.
"We call her the Dread one, and she is by far one of the oldest in our pantheon. She called the meeting to inform us of three foolish mortals who had tried to meddle with something that should have been left well enough alone. All the gods were in attendance, even my Uncle Pluto and each had with them their strongest Roman child. Even the Council of Wizards and a member of the Circles were there, each mortal was sworn to secrecy before the crimes of these mortals were discussed and not even an hour later we came to a decision," Artemis says grimly as Harry swallowed the lump in his throat, already knowing what they had done.
"The crimes of the Circle of Starlight and Winter couldn't be forgiven, what they attempted to do was blasphemy of the highest order and went against what us gods stood for. So the order was given, all men folk were to be put to the sword, and their Circle was to be destroyed completely and utterly. The Demigods, the wizards, and the other Circles worked together to pull the Circle of Starlight and Winter up by the roots, to prune every branch, and to burn their homes to the ground," Artemis says, her voice full of hard anger for what they had done and almost did.
"It had been centuries since we gods were behind such a slaughter, and it has been just as many since then. The Dread one said she would handle mortals behind the crime herself and as far as I know, she claimed two of the three, but she could never find the third until it was too late. He had died from natural causes and his soul had simply vanished, it didn't enter her domain nor the Celtic afterlife, it was simply gone. I had long wondered how a mortal could escape the eyes of a god before putting it out of my mind, but now, now I think I have found out," Artemis says before turning her eyes to Harry as she completes her story.
Harry understood as well and his own eyes widened in shock. "The Cloak," He says breathlessly, "Ignotus created the Cloak, he used it to hide from the gods, from what he had done," Harry says in awe as Artemis nods at his words.
"Yes, I believe so. I never cared enough to learn the mortal's names, they were not my concern at the time. I was to track down any escaping members of the Circle and eliminate them, I wasn't even allowed to recruit any of the females but deliver them to the Wizards Council to be married off," Artemis says with an angry sigh.
"Did you?" Harry asks with growing unease.
Artemis just shakes her head, not wanting to tell her son of the grim and bloody work she had to do. Not even to tell him that she had given each girl a choice to be delivered to the council or be killed and they all chose to die rather than submit. Artemis had made their deaths quick and painless out of respect for them.
Harry sighs before putting his head back down. "Close your eyes, Harry. Go back to sleep, we will have a few hours still in the morning, and I'd rather spend them in the now, and not the darkness of the past," Artemis whispers to him, and Harry feels himself slipping away into the darkness of his dreams.
Where cold hands cradled him before running through his hair as a voice whispered to him…
"Soon, My Harry, so very soon,.."
Artemis and Daphnis left late afternoon the day after, with Britomartis returning late into the early morning hours the night before. The goodbyes were bittersweet and filled with promises of seeing the rest of the hunt during the summer now that nothing was stopping Harry from crossing the pond. Harry had turned over the standard of Vulcan to Artemis, telling her he didn't care what she did with it, so long as it was off the islands and out of his home; Harry didn't want something that dripped with so much blood where he lived.
Hermione gave back the jacket that Daphnis had lent her with a thank you and a hug before turning to Artemis, but the Goddess of the Hunt just smiled at Hermione and offered for her to keep the blessing and join the Hunt for real. Hermione had impressed Artemis with her control and ingenuity, but in the end, Hermione apologized and turned Artemis down.
"I'm sorry, My Lady. But… it's just not the life I want, but I will always be grateful for this opportunity," Hermione had said with a low curtsy. Artemis had accepted that and released Hermione from her oath before she and Daphnis left.
Ron and Hermione had left later on in the week to go back home and prepare for the trip back to Hogwarts. Sirius had thrown them a small party for their only hunt the night before they left. With the pelt of Cath Palug hanging on the wall as they celebrated with cakes, pies, treats, and dancing. Even Dora joined them and swept Harry up into a dance next to Ron and Hermione, Sirius and Atalanta.
But the final day of his vacation was met with a solemn day as Harry, Sirius, and Remus dressed in mourning black before departing Grimmauld Place with Dora, in full auror regalia, something Harry rarely saw her wear if ever. They had taken the Floo to Longbottom Manor for the memorial services before the funeral of Frank and Alice Longbottom. There was a sea of people in attendance with a mixture of black and red robes, Mad-Eye, Kingsley, Breekon and Hope, and a few other Aurors Harry didn't know had turned up to pay their last respects to their fallen comrades in arms with their boss Amelia Bones. But Harry avoided most of them to find Neville sitting with, to Harry's surprise, Theodore and Faúnmach.
They were in the middle of a conversation about druidic magic and how it could be used in combination with magical plants. Faúmnach was leading the conversation as Theodore nodded along and translated a few more complicated things to a more modern understanding as Neville nodded along and listened with rapt attention. Harry had smiled at them before leaving them be, not wanting to derail the conversation by inserting himself in it. It was then he ran into someone he never expected to be at the funeral, Lugh.
He stood off to the side, watching the comings and goings of everyone with a bored look on his face as he drank from a hip flask. He was dressed more in a muggle suit with dark sunglasses on, looking very out of place with a bunch of magical mortals. Harry was about to approach him when he felt a cold hand slip onto his shoulder and knew who it was before he even turned around.
"Hello, Harry," Talia Peverell says as Harry turns to look at her. Her dark eyes drift down to the black scarf he wore around his neck and they light up at the sight of it, it was the one she had given him a few weeks back. "Looking snazzy, if I do say so myself," she tells him with a soft smile.
Harry shrugs and shuffles a bit. "Well, I don't think it would be very nice if I showed up in a silver jacket, ya know?" he tells her, and Talia chuckles.
"Oh, indeed. But my compliment still stands, also, my condolences for your loss," Talia says softly while withdrawing her hand from his person.
"Don't know what for," Harry says before awkwardly scratching the back of his head and watching as Talia frowns at him.
"I thought Alice was your godmother, or was I misled?" she asks politely, but Harry just shrugs.
"She was, but I never met her. Can't miss someone you never knew, you know?" Harry says before looking back over to Lugh. "What's Lugh doing here?" He asks while nodding his head toward the sun god.
Talia gives Harry an odd look before answering. "He's here because I asked him to come. Our mutual enemy is thinking about letting his attack dog off her leash to sow terror during the funeral, so I brought my own to show them what real terror is if they show up," She says casually as if it were that big of a deal. But Harry feels his temper spike at the thought, his teeth clench, and his hands ball in the pockets of his robes as hatred courses through him.
"He won't be the only one kicking their ass if they do," Harry all but snarls out as Talia's eyes shift back to Harry with questions floating in them.
"Do calm down, Harry. It's a rather big maybe, she's still recovering from her stint in Azkaban," Talia says softly before placing her hand on his shoulder. "Besides, you are unprepared for them," she says before pausing for a moment. "Which reminds me, do remember to pack your armor for school," she says in a serious tone of voice, causing Harry to look at her confused.
"Why?" Harry asks, his brow shooting upwards.
"Because one day soon I will call upon my champion to fight the battles I can not, and on that day, I would rather have him at his best before going into battle," Talia tells him, her eyes momentarily flashing black as she tells Harry this.
Harry's mouth opens to ask, but he pauses and closes it before nodding in agreement. "I'll pack it as soon as I get home," he tells her and watches her nod her head. Harry paused for a moment before looking around the room once more, catching the sight of pink eyes watching him from across the room as they glared at Talia. He looks away from them and back to the woman he was standing with. "I've been meaning to ask you something if you don't mind?" Harry asks Talia who looks back at him with a raised brow.
"The location of my non-con cavern? You're more than welcome to-" Talia's lips twitch in amusement as she pauses for just a second. "-Come whenever you want," she says before her grin fully forms on her face.
"What? No," Harry says confused before shaking his head at Talia's disappointed face. "The Circle of Starlight and Winter, and what happened to them," he says before watching Talia's face drop into sadness and grief.
"Oh," She says, the word sounding hollow and dead. "That," she crosses her arms under her breasts before looking away from Harry. "What about it?"
"Aren't you mad at what the Romans did?" Harry asks while watching Talia's face shift between a cacophony of emotions.
"I am angry with the Romans for a lot of things, Harry. But that isn't one of them," she says before turning to look back at him with sad eyes. "My circle earned their fate with what they let happen, if they had taken in the brothers, if they would have given them a family, Ignotus would have never sought revenge as he did. He would have never talked Cadmus and Antioch into following his foolish plan and my Circle would have lived to see me return, but sadly they didn't, and it killed them," Talia says scornfully, her eyes reflecting the heartbreak she surely felt for her descendants.
"What did they do?" Harry asked quietly, not sure if he should pray any more than he already had.
"Blasphemy, pure and simple blasphemy and if that was bad enough, they also got away with it," Talia says, her voice cold and hard with anger. "I would have done the same if I was in the Roman sandals," she comments with a shake of her head before turning and leaving Harry where he stood, not wanting to speak about it anymore. Harry understood and watched her leave before letting out a sigh, shivering in the cold angry air that Talia left behind her.
Harry couldn't wait to be back on the Hogwarts Express, to leave all these ancient tragedies behind as he went back to Hogwarts, back to Dún Scaith, and back to the first home he had ever known.
Chapter done!
No ending note this time kiddos.
Kingsaxcul, out!