Now, I'm posting this simultaneously with the first revised chapter, because I'm impatient like that. For the first revised chapter, go back, or else you'll be confused by Harry's current state...
AZRAEL RISING (REVISED)
CHAPTER 2:
EXPLANATIONS
Raynare felt the excitement building in her chest. Azazel had actually asked for her personally! While the times when the man she held a torch for, ever since he disappeared, actually noticed her existence were admittedly few and far between, moments like this made it worthwhile.
Especially as her usual cell was currently separated. Mittelt was, as mentioned before, currently manning the comms spells switchboard. Dohnaseek and Kalawarner were currently off dealing with some trouble in the US. Some Sacred Gear user had started a crusade against the Fallen over there, and they were under orders to capture him alive to test that new extraction process Lord Azazel had developed.
Still, she knew, despite her excitement, that this wasn't the best of circumstances. She had just been involved in interrogating that stupid Squib Leopold and his followers. Idiot wanted to become the next Voldemort, only leading the disenfranchised of Magical Britain to greatness. The Squibs and Muggleborns. Unfortunately, she couldn't kill the fucker. He had to be sent to the DMLE, as they technically had jurisdiction.
And now, they had the Boy Who Lived, the most infamous living celebrity of Magical Britain, if not the entirety of that inbred hidden community of wizards, lying unconscious. Shortly after he used powers he wasn't known to have. Which could be tricky.
She came to the infirmary where Azazel was poring over the unconscious form of Potter with a special instrument. While she loved wearing her habitual skimpy clothes into battle, partly to show off her body and partly as a means to distract opponents, when in more casual settings, she preferred leather trousers and a jacket, along with a T-Shirt with the Latin word 'Peccavi' on it. It was a perverse joke, as 'Peccavi' meant 'I have sinned'.
Azazel didn't look up as she entered, and she fought down a wince of annoyance. He still wouldn't notice her. All he seemed to have eyes for was the Boy Who Lived, or at least scanning him. However, he did say, fairly soon, "I got the preliminary report you gave Shemhazai. The actions you took are the best you could have made under the circumstances."
"Lord Azazel, have you determined whether or not Potter is of non-human extraction or else holds a Sacred Gear?"
"In answer to both questions, no. It's difficult to disprove either of those, and there's some irregularities in his soul and magic, but biologically, he is human, and he possesses no Sacred Gear, as far as I can tell. I'm triple-checking just to be thorough. Of course…there's a possibility that I'm considering. It's a bit far-fetched, but based on what you said he said as he attacked Azal, I need to be thorough."
"Yeah, what was with that 'Evening Bell' shit he was spouting?"
Azazel chuckled. "I forgot…you were born long after he Fell, and when you Fell, he died or disappeared soon after. It was something Azrael used to say."
Raynare's eyes widened. "The Angel of Death? The Grand Assassin of God? The Fallen Reaper? That Azrael? You're right…I was fighting on the front lines at the time. I only heard stories about him from Dohnaseek."
"Yeah, and more than you'd think are true," Azazel said. "Long story short…I don't think it's a coincidence that the Peverells first gained the Hallows at about the time Azrael disappeared. My main hypothesis at the moment is that, due to possession of at least one of the Hallows, Harry gained a temporary ability to tap into Azrael's power. And before you ask why he didn't use it against Voldemort, well…he's currently not in the best of conditions. Attacking Azal caused a massive drain on his magical prowess. Had he done this five years ago, during the Battle of Hogwarts, it could have proven fatal. As it is, it's now merely dangerously exhausting. Again, this is just a hypothesis. Anyway, he needs an explanation. So, as you're here, you're going to give it to him."
"Me, Lord Azazel?"
Azazel stood, before looking her in the eyes for the first time since she arrived. His look was stern and searching. "I've heard whispers of your discontent, Raynare. I know you enjoy seduction and seek-locate-destroy missions, but you hunger for advancement, to be noticed. You don't understand what the responsibilities are needed for command."
Raynare bit back an angry retort. Azazel was one to speak of responsibilities, when he was a soft coward who would rather negotiate than take the fight to the enemy, to say nothing of him lazing around and playing video games when he wasn't obsessed with tinkering with Sacred Gears. Instead, a little tightly, she said, "So, what do you want me to do, Lord Azazel?"
"Explain the situation to him, calmly and civilly. Explain that no, he is not our prisoner, nor are we going to conscript him. You can't just show him a little cleavage or use over-honeyed words on him, or at least not expect them to backfire badly. He was pretty much manipulated his whole life by Dumbledore, even if the old goat had the best intentions. Explain to him the situation with the Three Factions as objectively as you can manage. And assure him that Shacklebolt and Robards currently have Leopold and his group in custody, and their victims are being debriefed. Once you've done that, you can bring him to me. I've got to contact Sirzechs to let him know that the Stray Pawns of that idiot cousin of his are now ashes."
Raynare scoffed, crossing her arms under her bust. "Damn Baels…I'll give you this much, Venelana is tolerable, as are her children, and you have to admire that meathead Sairaorg for training as hard as he did to make up for his lack of the Power of Destruction, but most of them make the pureblood wizards in this country look like paragons of virtue. Then again, the same could be said for a lot of the Devil clans. The Phenexes, the Astaroths…have you heard about that brat Diodora and his nun fetish? Ugh, disgusting. Fine, I'll try and break it to Potter gently. Though why are you going to this much trouble, Lord Azazel?"
"…Because if he can channel Azrael's power, then he can be a useful ally. Even if we can't recruit him directly, it would do well to make a good impression. Don't tell him about Azrael, though. I'll do so. If he asks, just say he tapped into an unknown power to attack Azal. Let me know when he's ready…"
There were a number of sights both pleasant and unpleasant that Harry had woken to before. Having 'Angela Mercury' looking down at him, her expression impassive, but dressed in clothing that wouldn't look out of place on the street, was not too bad. Though a million thoughts went through his head, few of them good.
She held up a hand. "Okay, you might want to hold up on your questions. I know who you really are, Harry Potter. I saw through that alias and illusion spell the moment we met. So, if you must know, 'Angela Mercury' is the alias I use most in Europe. My real name is Raynare."
"…Raynare, huh? Okay…my memory's a little fuzzy, but…I remember you having wings, and being dressed like a stripper with a thing for BDSM. I have to say, these clothes actually suit you quite well. Anyway…I'm guessing…you're not human? Azal called you a Fallen, which means…Fallen Angel?"
"Nice to see you still have some of your marbles at least," Raynare said.
"And those things?"
"Stray Devils. It's a long story, and my boss wants me to fill you in on it before we go see him. He also wanted me to tell you that you're not a prisoner, that we're not trying to conscript you, and apparently Shacklebolt and Robards have got Leopold's little cocksuckers in custody. Dunno who Robards is, though I'm pretty sure Shacklebolt is your current Minister of Magic."
"Robards is the current head of the DMLE."
"Ah, gotcha. Anyway, you mean the British DMLE. We're not currently in Britain."
"Then where are we?"
"The Underworld. Think of it as a pocket dimension where Devils and Fallen Angels reside. Look, as long as you're with me or Lord Azazel, you should be fine. And you're free to leave once we're done debriefing you. Like I said, you're not a prisoner, we're not going to pressgang you into our organisation, we're just here to tell you what's going on. I mean, if what Lord Azazel said is true, then you don't like being treated like a mushroom, fed bullshit and kept in the dark. And if you'd give me a chance, I can answer quite a few of your questions."
"…Go on."
"Right, so…I know you're thinking, if Fallen Angels and Devils exist, that means that God exists. Yes, He does. True, He's been pretty quiet for several centuries, but Heaven and its Angels are real. So are other pantheons. Greco-Roman, Norse, Hindu, Shinto…I could go on, but I won't. The important thing is, a long time ago, there was a Great War between the Three Biblical Factions. God and His Angels, we of the Grigori, which is the main governing body of the Fallen, and the Devils, led by the Four Satans."
"…Four?"
"Right…the Devils were ruled by a quartet of bloodlines: Lucifer, Leviathan, Beezlebub and Asmodeus. These rulers are called either the Four Great Satans, or the Devil Kings, depending. Long story short, the Great War ended centuries ago in a ceasefire. Not actually a peace, as no real treaties were drawn up, we're just in a state of war without any real battles. Simply put, there were simply not enough of us to continue on either side, not without causing complete genocide. Not that that deterred the Four Great Satans. They wanted to continue, even if it meant the destruction of their people, so a civil war erupted amongst the Devils, and the Old Satan faction, as they became known, were overthrown, and the New Satan faction currently runs the show. The current Devil Kings took on the names of their vanquished opponents as titles."
"…And how bad are they?"
Raynare scoffed. "Oh, a lot of them are still as depraved as Biblical Devils. You have to realise, not all of what's in the Bible and Church dogma is not all propaganda. But…some of them are, compared to what they used to be, not unlike more hedonistic humans. In any case, they don't go for the whole Faustian deal much anymore. You know, giving humans stuff in exchange for their souls. They instead feed off minute amounts of their life-force or mana, if they're magical. Nothing serious. But…you have Strays, like you and I encountered. Most Devils look more human than they did, but Strays feed directly from humans, and this corrupts their appearance as you saw."
"But why call them Strays?"
"Because they're servants who either left their masters, or killed them. Biting the hand that fed them. Look, in order to replenish their numbers, the current Beelzebub developed a system. Each pureblooded Devil over a certain age, or indeed any Devil over a certain amount of power, basically gets a set of enchanted chess pieces, which are called 'Evil Pieces'. When used on a person, it converts them into a Devil. Each Devil is expected to have a coterie of servants recruited this way, known as a Peerage. How they treat them is, well, up to them. They can be servants, harems…though a few get treated like friends and comrades. It's like how you wizards treat House Elves, though to be fair to Devils, their Peerage at least has a chance at advancement." She rolled her violet eyes in disdain at the whole thing, and Harry got the impression that she really, really didn't want to say anything positive about Devils.
"What about you Fallen?"
"We have to reproduce the old-fashioned way. Well, unless more Angels Fall," she added bitterly.
"…I'm sorry to hear that. But…what happened? I mean, how did I end up here?"
"You attacked Azal. He retaliated, and you managed to pull off a desperate attack. You don't remember?" He shook his head. "Right. Keep in mind, Azal's attack was painful as hell, but it wasn't actually damaging. Arsehole took me by surprise. But…it was sort of sweet that you did that, and while I'm not overly fond of humans, I'm not without gratitude."
He got the feeling that was a bit of a lie. Not that she didn't have gratitude, only that she showed it when she felt like it. "But why bring me here?"
"To make sure you were all right. Plus, I had a hunch that you used a Sacred Gear to defeat Azal. And of course you don't know what a Sacred Gear is. I'm not surprised. Most of you wizards have never heard of them. Basically, they're artifacts with special abilities, granted to humans or those of human heritage by God. Weapons, healing items, magical armour…chances are, if you make a half-decent list of heroes or famous figures from myth or history, you'll find at least one or more Sacred Gear user on that list. Lord Azazel researches them, and I thought he could determine which one you had. Oddly enough, he doesn't think you have one. But he still wants to talk to you."
"And do you normally work with humans?"
"More than you'd think. Mostly disaffected Exorcists who've left the Vatican or the Anglican Church. And I'm not talking like Max von Sydow from The Exorcist. I'm talking more like Iscariot from Hellsing…actually, have you ever heard of that series?"
"Actually, yes."
"Right, so we're on the same page. So, that's pretty much it. I'm sure there's plenty of other details I haven't mentioned, but I've brought up the more pertinent points."
"Just out of curiosity…why weren't you involved when Voldemort wreaked havoc here?" Harry asked.
She rolled her eyes. "Personally, I was on assignment with my cell, keeping an eye on Vatican interests in Italy. The Grigori in general…well, because of the ceasefire, none of the Three Factions wanted to get involved in something that could devolve into a proxy war, and one that could ignite another conflict. Of course, if Voldemort was stupid enough to attack one of our bases, it would be another matter. Same goes for if he attacked a major church. Besides, we try to avoid your wizarding society. Too much of a mess happened the last time we did. I'm sure you have more questions, but Lord Azazel is the one you should ask. Come on, let's go see him…"
Harry was expecting someone like Snape, or like Lucius Malfoy, someone cold, haughty, and dangerous. What he got in the cluttered office was someone who seemed to painfully resemble Sirius, in both looks (well, he had a scruffy goatee, and his fringe was blonde) and demeanour. Harry couldn't believe it at first, the fact that the leader of a group like the Fallen was so laid back. But his eyes, while as lazy as the rest of him, nonetheless had a sharpness to them.
After introductions were made, Azazel said, "Thankfully, we got this mess sorted. Kingsley is familiar with me. The civilians are being currently dealt with. Unfortunately, that Auror that was investigating this mess got eaten by the Strays. As for Leopold and his group, they're going to get a quick trial before the Wizengamot, before being sent to Azkaban. A shame they don't have Dementors there anymore. People like him deserve that. I understand he got a bad start in life, but still…what he did to those people before he fed them to those Strays…anyway, we're not here to talk about that. I'm sure Kingsley will want you to make a full report to him. I imagine you have quite a few questions."
"Yeah, but the one I want answered most is…how did I kill that Stray Devil?"
"Honestly? I can only speculate. The power seemed to be that of Azrael's, the Angel of Death. He Fell after an argument with God over the deaths of the Firstborn in Egypt just prior to the Exodus. It was around the time that he disappeared, presumed dead, that the Peverells supposedly gained a hold of the Deathly Hallows, and the Potters were the descendants of Ignotus Peverell. So maybe that bloodline or one of the Hallows gave you that ability. Oh, by the way…" He handed the Invisibility Cloak to Harry. "The cleanup crew managed to bring it back. I've been examining it. Brilliant craftsmanship, and it certainly has a small amount of Azrael's power in it. But it belongs to you."
"…Thanks, I guess," Harry said, a little uneasily.
"Look, don't be offended. Sacred Gears are my biggest passion, but research into magical artifacts of all kinds is really my thing. The Hallows, Holy Swords…ugh, don't talk to me about the mess that faction of the Vatican made trying to research wielders of those. Anyway…I'm sure Raynare has told you already, but we're not here to conscript you or keep you prisoner or as a guinea pig. I'm sure you'd react badly to those anyway. But, well, Devil's End nearly ended up as a major clusterfuck, bluntly, because we haven't been in contact with the Ministry for a long time."
"Good luck getting any wizard to work with a Fallen Angel," Harry scoffed. "Half of them are close-minded idiots. And I got the impression from Raynare that not too many of you guys like working with humans."
"You'd be surprised at how many Fallen are on good terms with humans, but it's true, many of those working with me aren't that well-inclined towards humans. Sometimes, it's a superiority complex, other times, it's resentment at how much God favoured you guys. Still…" He looked Harry up and down. "Maybe we could use someone like you. Most humans would be repulsed by the Fallen, but I can tell you try to judge us on our own merits. Of course, like I said, we won't conscript you, and I'm not sure what we can have you work for us on, but if I make an offer, would you be willing to consider it?"
Harry frowned. Azazel was clearly trying to avoid pissing him off, which he appreciated. But at the same time, he was disturbed. Did he somehow channel Azrael when he blacked out during Azal's attack?
As much as he was wary of the Grigori, he had to admit, Azazel may have the answers he sought. And as long as he wasn't doing anything he found personally objectionable, he may just take Azazel up on his vague offer. He just hoped he would find it to his liking…
CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:
So, a bit of an infodump for Harry, courtesy of Raynare and Azazel. Plus, Raynare in casual gear. I get the feeling that she would wear normal clothes in more social situations, and use the more stripperific clothes for battle as psychological warfare. Then again, in the light novel and manga, Raynare dresses normally.
No numbered annotations this time.
