CHAPTER 5:
TRIALS OF LEADERSHIP
Lily sighed quietly as she listened to the 'urgent' report. To be fair, it was actually somewhat urgent, not an emergency per se, but important intelligence from one of her allies. Namely, Yukime of the Lawless City. The Fox Therianthrope hadn't joined Dun Scaith after the incident that led to Lily saving her from her former fiancée's attacks (with Lily glad she had cut Gettan down), but Yukime was still grateful.
Even Dumbledore recognised you needed someone on the other side of the law to provide you with goods, services, and intelligence that it would be hard to get normally. Unfortunately, he chose that flaky fuck Mundungus Fletcher. For all that Remus Lupin was one of the main suspects in being the traitor to the Order, Lily personally suspected 'Dung' more at the time. The stupid spiv was an opportunistic rat who fled at the first sign of trouble and had a tendency to get drunk or go and do a shady deal rather than do his assigned duty.
Yukime, on the other hand, had a sense of honour and a code of ethics. Although she refused to join Dun Scaith outright, she sought her own way to power. But Yukime never lost sight of her heart or soul, despite how hard it must have been, and she recently became one of the rulers of Lawless City, a couple of months before they discovered that rift leading back to Earth. And given that the Cult of Diablos had seduced Gettan into working for them, and thus were behind the demise of her clan and her mother, Yukime devoted considerable resources to tracking them down within her territory. She certainly acted as a contact on the black market, offering access to potentially illegal resources for a somewhat fair price, and part of the report was Yukime offering certain magical items and reagents for sale, having 'fallen off a supply train' near Lawless City.
Gamma, or rather, Hannah(1), delivered the report with her own analysis. Gamma's knowledge was mostly specialised in business and economics, but there was no denying that she was one of the smartest members of Dun Scaith. The dark-haired buxom Elf could also have passed for a woman in her 20s with her mature and elegant manner and appearance…though she was somewhat clumsy, especially in heels, and Lily had to persuade her to use shoes without heels. It was part of the reason she firmly vetoed any attempt to put heels into their slime bodysuits. She didn't want anyone tripping up in combat.
Eventually, Lily said, "I approve of purchasing these items." She circled three of them on the list and scribbled down a quantity for each. "Two of these, if I recall, are substances Eta needs for her experiments. The third, I intend to use for my own research. We have enough leeway in the budget to cover this?"
Gamma chuckled from where she was seated. They'd wanted a throne room, but Lily insisted on it being a round table, her chair no finer than anyone else's. A shame she didn't have Excalibur, though. "Lady Scathach, we could buy out the entire stock of what Lady Yukime has to offer tenfold and not have to worry. We may not have finished construction of the Evanescence department store, but we have begun selling many of its wares through mail-order channels. Chocolate and coffee are already proving to be popular items. Between that and what spoils have been taken from bandits and Cultists, our budget does have some not-inconsiderable funds to spare."
"True, but that's all the more reason to be prudent with them," Lily said.
"Of course, Lady Scathach. We do not know if and when the supply of funds will dry up," the buxom Elf said. She was far from an idiot, Lily knew. Lily had said so not for Gamma's ears, but rather, for the other Shades sitting at the table, especially Zeta and Epsilon. Zeta was impulsive, though far less so than her fellow Therianthrope Delta, and Epsilon grew up in nobility, and thus had a natural haughtiness even Demonic Possession and banishment didn't rid her of.
"I'll have Alpha and Beta look this over before I finalise the approval," Lily said. She tried to ensure that the Seven Shades collaborated with her and each other in decision-making. She trusted the decision-making processes of some of them, but others…well, Delta and Zeta, being Therianthropes, were creatures of passion and impulse, and Lily had to confront Zeta about her plans for her and Dun Scaith. Eta was basically a mad scientist when she wasn't being slothful. And Epsilon, being ex-nobility and having an even more vicious desire for revenge against the Cult, had a tendency to lose herself to that anger, and also had a haughty and rude nature at times from her upbringing that reminded Lily uncomfortably of the Purebloods. That, and she was insecure about her petite figure: Lily had to stop her from using her slime bodysuit to give herself a more curvaceous figure, and counsel her for her body image issues.
Alpha, Beta, and Gamma were sane enough, and intelligent. They had foibles, true, but Lily trusted them to be her commanders in her absence, or to work on things without too much supervision. Indeed, Alpha was the leader of Dun Scaith normally when Lily wasn't around.
On that, Alpha entered. Lily sighed, wishing Alpha would answer more to her birthname. But the events around her Demonic Possession meant that she wished to discard her past, and as much as Lily didn't want her to do that, she did at least mitigate matters. Alpha didn't mind answering to either name, but when on Dun Scaith business, she answered mostly to Alpha. Beta was the same, albeit a little less so.
"How is he?" Lily asked.
"He's still coming to terms with matters, but he seems to be coping better than I thought, Lady Scathach," Alpha said.
Lily nodded, before turning to the others. She'd allowed Delta to rest, but the other Shades were here, seated and anticipating what she was about to say. "As I had reported to you prior to going through the portal, I had discovered a portal leading to Britain. After consultation with my old friend Croaker, I learned of what had transpired in my absence. My son Harry was recently expelled from Hogwarts, and his prospects did not look good. I made him an offer to join us, and he has accepted."
This, of course, provoked a clamour. Epsilon was the first to speak above the others' commotion. "Lady Scathach…is this wise? Does he have any investment in our cause?"
"Not yet, but from what Croaker told me, Harry is quite skilled for his age. I've also had my notes on the Horcrux removal techniques I was considering using. I think we can use that combined with the artificial amplification process Eta had formulated on Harry."
"Will operations continue on Earth, though?" Zeta asked.
Lily shook her head. "Aside from getting supplies and technology we normally cannot get on this world, our operational presence on Earth will be minimal at best, for now. As tempting as it would be to track down and wipe out the Death Eaters completely, we're already busy dealing with the Cult of Diablos here on this world. I don't want us to be stretched out too thinly. What's more, cultural paradigms are different on Earth, as is the technology used, and we risk exposure and conflict with the local authorities more than we do here. Circumstances could change, but for now, that is my decision. Once the Horcrux is removed, I intend to hand over any and all data to Croaker, so he can track down any others Voldemort made, though I have reason to believe that at least one, a Diary belonging to Voldemort, was destroyed by Neville Longbottom over a year ago, and another, a locket once belonging to Salazar Slytherin, was destroyed thanks in part to Andromeda Tonks persuading a House-Elf belonging to her former family to divulge its whereabouts."
Alpha then asked, "Lady Scathach…if your son does join Shadow Garden, will he be one of the Numbers?"
Lily shook her head once more. "But neither will he be one of the Shades. He is yet to prove himself. However, I have a tentative codename for him, one that is outside the usual nomenclature of the Shades and the Numbers, Named or not, especially as the vast majority of Dun Scaith operatives are female, due to recruiting from victims of Demonic Possession, the Possessed. My codename, as you all know, comes from the mythology of Ireland back home, a country my family came from on my mother's side. Scathach was a warrior woman who ruled Dun Scaith, the Fortress of Shadows we take our organisation's name from. Scathach trained many warriors, but the most famous was Cu Chulainn, a warrior whose epithet means the Hound of Chulainn, known for defending Cooley from the forces of Queen Medb. Before he became known as Cu Chulainn, though, he was born as Setanta. Pending approval from my son, that will be his operational codename when out in the field: Setanta."
The murmurs that followed were approving, thankfully, though the final say belonged to her son. While she could be accused of favouritism and nepotism, Magical Britain ran heavily on both, and Harry would still need to earn his place here. It would be tough, but Lily had faith in him. He had the character and the will. He just needed the magical and physical strength to fight alongside Dun Scaith.
The former he had to some degree. He was no Dumbledore or Voldemort, but Harry's skill at picking up spells was pretty good. Remus, apparently, managed to teach Harry how to use the Patronus at thirteen years old, something not many adult wizards were capable of. It took Lily until she was fifteen to cast her first Patronus, and she was proud of her son for surpassing her. And his power was pretty good for a kid his age. Lily suspected that he would take to using the Magical Power Enhancement techniques of this world handily.
Physically was another matter. Harry was fit, true, and fitter than a lot of wizards. But she and the senior members of Dun Scaith had been training their bodies for the past four years at least, with Lily training herself even beforehand. Physical fitness was a good asset in a duellist, Professor Flitwick taught her. Harry would have a lot of catching-up to do, and even if he specialised in areas other than physical combat, he still needed to be trained in some areas.
Hence his being a potential guinea pig for Eta's new enhancement process. It wouldn't improve him that much physically, but magically would be another matter, and using magical power to enhance strength, speed and durability (along with healing, though that was standard back home, if tricky) was standard on this world. And yet, it was something that would be a game-changer back on Earth. They already knew wizards and witches, thanks to magic reserves, had an average lifespan longer than Muggles. Dumbledore was over a century old, but could have passed for someone at least a few decades younger. There was also Griselda Marchbanks, who was still in possession of her marbles, despite being older than Dumbledore. And neither had access to the Philosopher's Stone that the Flamels had created.
But they didn't know how far lifespans could be pushed through magical energy enhancement. Lily suspected that her own lifespan was increasing over time thanks to her training and magic reserves, to the point where she was sure she would potentially live for centuries, plural. It was possible she would even outlive her son without his being trained, to say nothing of a number of her friends. It wasn't immortality by any means, but it wasn't far off it by many human standards, and it was something she felt ambivalent about, especially after learning Zeta's thoughts about her and Dun Scaith not so long ago. Zeta meant well, but in a twisted fashion that Lily had to set straight. World domination as an immortal shadow ruler was not her style.
She idly how long her son would live, before she decided he would live as long as he wanted to. Once she had this Horcrux removed from him, anyway. Then, he could live without that particular Sword of Damocles hanging over his head.
"Are there any further urgent matters that need to be brought to my attention?" she asked. They shook their heads. They knew that Lily didn't like her time being wasted with 'urgent' matters that turned out to be not so urgent.
"Good. We'll come back here for lunch, and you can meet my son in person then," Lily said, standing up. "And thank you for your hard work in our absence, short though it was, all of you."
After the grateful replies, the other Shades left, leaving Lily with Alpha and Beta. "You two okay?" Lily asked.
"Yes. Why wouldn't we be?" Beta asked.
"Well, sometimes, you get too much into your writing, and you were pretty quiet a lot of the time on Earth, Beta," Lily said. "Same with you, Alpha, and I know you overwork yourself."
Alpha winced, looking away. "You know why, Scathach. Every moment we dally, the Cult continues inflicting its depravities on the innocent. How many people like us or like the Numbers are suffering and dying as we speak? We even know of a few of them. Viscount Grease's daughter Millia is still out there, somewhere, assuming she isn't dead. For all that man's depravities, he did care for his daughter. It's hard to rest knowing that a moment's laxity could cause innocent lives to be lost."
"I know, Alpha. I felt the same way. I've told you this before, but when I was fighting alongside the Order of the Phoenix, too often, we'd come too late, with the Dark Mark hanging over the victims' homes. The Ministry of Magic didn't do enough, and frankly, neither did the Order, if only because Dumbledore felt being proactive would cross a line. More than once, I was tempted to break it off and found my own vigilante group, which is pretty ironic given what we do now. But the fact remains that we can't save everyone. But we can save as many as we can. And there's no use burning ourselves out through overwork. Otherwise, we will be of no use to anyone."
"…I understand what you're saying, Scathach…no, Lily. I just…I remember the pain and agony I was in. The thought of innocent lives suffering like we have is appalling. It feels like every moment I rest is another moment someone dies from Demonic Possession, or from the Cult's experiments, or the Cult simply sending one of their pet murderers to silence their enemies or critics."
"I know, Alpha. But the sad fact is, I am not omniscient or omnipotent, and neither is any one of us. We're not gods, despite Zeta's notion to have me undergo apotheosis. And you'll be helping nobody if you collapse or worse from overwork. Which is part of the reason why we're watching a movie after lunch, once I set up the DVD player."
Beta's eyes lit up. The silver-haired Elf always loved new stories, and Lily had regaled her with tales of movies and TV shows. "Oh? What movie are we watching?"
"What else could it be but the original Star Wars film?" Lily said with a smile. "Hopefully, George Lucas won't have buggered it up. Let's enjoy ourselves for a little while…"
CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:
This chapter was mostly shown as an illustration of how Lily's presence has changed things. I basically killed Gettan off because of what he did to Yukime, but given what I read about his actions in Volume 3, killing him off may prevent at least that form of economic warfare between the Cult and Dun Scaith.
Also, when they're on the clock, as it were, Lily does call Alpha and the others by their codenames rather than their birthnames.
Anyway, this is also an illustration of how different Lily's attitude is to her take on Shadow Garden. Cid revels in sitting on a throne, flanked by his underlings. Lily, on the other hand, insists on an Arthurian-style Round Table, even though she is the strongest and most experienced of those present. Cid mostly lets the girls do their own thing while he goes and does his own. Lily, however, while she doesn't micromanage, likes to be kept in the loop more, and to keep others in the loop. Cid loves to be enigmatic, while Lily does her best to communicate. Cid is egotistical, while Lily, while not truly humble, is more humble and empathic than Cid. And finally, Cid is a delusional chuunibyou who thinks he and Shadow Garden are playacting, while Lily (despite having had fantasies to be basically Batwoman) is someone who has a firm grasp on reality and morals.
I also wanted to have a bit of a glimpse into Alpha, given that she's been a bit in the background for the initial chapters. Cid calls her a workaholic in canon, and I wanted to discuss why that would be. Because her relationship with Lily is closer to a sisterly one or even maternal, and Lily is more open in showing her faults than Cid ever was, Alpha is considerably more vulnerable than she was in canon, or at least willing to show her vulnerabilities more. And thanks to Lily, Alpha also retains some empathy for outsiders to their group, as long as they aren't affiliated with the Cult or mistreat the Possessed.
As for giving Harry the codename of Setanta, well, it fits, and I wasn't sure whether to give him a Greek codename or not.
1. I chose Hannah as Gamma's true name as a bit of a joke. Hannah can translate to 'grace' (albeit God's Grace), and graceful movement is something Gamma badly lacks.