Welcome back, one and all, to another chapter of The Philosophy of Fear.
Where we celebrate Harry's birthday with the Hunt, solve a mystery hanging over the story for the last two books, and Harry meets someone whom he has only seen in a reflection.
On with the show.
Harry Potter, July 29th, six miles north of Glover Peak, Wyoming.
Harry walks under the light of the waxing moon overhead, through the forest that surrounds the entrance to Melinoë's cave. He was enjoying the quiet of the night and the chirping of insects and small animals rustling in the underbrush. He was following a small game trail when he heard it overhead, the sound of familiar wing beats and soft hoots in the night. He pauses in his walk before tilting his head to the left as the weight of Harry's oldest friend lands on his shoulder, her talons digging into the leather of his jacket tightly, almost hurting him as she does.
"Hello, Hed- ow!" Harry says, trying to greet his friend only for the snowy owl to bat him with her wing. "Hedwig, that- ow! Ow! Bloody hell!" His feathery friend wasn't hearing it from him as she whacked him again before pecking at his ear angrily. Harry flinches and cowers at the wrath of his protector before she hoots and barks at him angrily.
"Hoot!"
"I know, I'm sorr- ow!"
"Hoot! Hoot! Hoot!"
"Ow! Fuck! Hedwig, stop! I know! I- ow!"
"Hoot!?"
Harry reaches up with the arm Hedwig wasn't currently using as a perch to assault him from to grab her head softly to stop her from pecking his ear to mince meat.
"Hedwig! Stop!" Harry commands her forcefully, something that he loathes to do beyond any and all words.
"Please, Hedwig. Stop," he says far more softly before he begins to stroke the irate avian gently before turning and pushing his face into her feathery chest. "I'm sorry," Harry can say without sobbing, even though his chest burned with the want too. Hedwig, in her mercy and love for her fledgling finally calms down, hooting far more softly at Harry. "I'm so sorry girl, I wasn't- I had to take some time. I had to figure somethings out, I'm sorry I didn't bring you, I'm sorry the thunderfucker did that to you- I'm sorry,"
Hedwig pauses, listening to her fledgling words before adjusting herself and bending her head to lay on top of his to nuzzle Harry.
"Hoot…"
"No girl, no. I would never leave you behind willing, you know that,"
"Hoot,"
"I know, I know. I missed you too," Harry confesses back to Hedwig, nuzzling her as she does to him. Owl and fledgling, master and pet, and two old friends stand together under the waxing moon for a long moment embracing one another as the pain of being separated from one another finally begins to fade.
"Is mom nearby?"
"Hoot,"
"Take me to her,"
Hedwig needs nothing else as she spreads her wings and jumps off of Harry's shoulder to take flight into the night. Harry watches Hedwig fly east, deeper into the mountains and forests that surround them. He smiles a bit as he watches his owl fly free into the night before he begins to walk in the direction she is flying in, following the game path once more. He walks for what feels like hours before coming across the first signs of the Hunt in the forest, trotting paths through the forest that criss-crossed each other in patrol routes, snapped branches and sticks from where something around Harry's height dashed through the forest. Impressions on the ground on the ground where wood and branches were picked up to use for firewood, wood chips where a hatch broke down larger sticks.
Hedwig would hoot and bark overhead, Harry returning the calls to make sure she knew he was following along. It wasn't until it was too late that he thought something else had heard her calls into the night and followed them. A blur of silver and rage slammed into Harry from his side, taking him off his feet and flinging him off the game trail and into the underbrush. Harry hits the ground and rolls back to his feet feeling as if he was just hit by a truck.
"Ow! Fuck! Wait- stop! It's me, Harry!" He calls out as he holds his hands up in surrender.
"Oh, I know," the last person Harry would expect says back to him, her words coming out like a growl as she spoke them. Daisy, the she-wolf comes stomping through the underbrush, her face twisted into a glare. "You have some fucking nerve!" She hisses at him before charging at him once more.
Harry quickly stands and sidesteps Daisy's charge, only for the she-wolf to stop on a dime and spin, bringing her leg up into a snap kick aimed at his head.
"Daisy, wait-" Harry says, hoping to reason with the girl as he ducks the kick. "Hold on a minute!"
Daisy doesn't wait, using the momentum from her snap kick to spin into a spinning heel kick that Harry is forced to block. The older girl growls before Harry watches her readjust her stance as he gives her space. She brings her arms up into a boxing stance that Harry knew by heart, it was the same one Atalanta had taught him years ago.
"You think you can just- just walk back into camp!" Daisy yells at him as she begins to throw lightning-quick jabs at him. Harry brings his arms up, blocking each hit as it feels like he is blocking hits from the Lioness herself. "After everything you put us through- everything you put our Lady through! Your own mother!"
"Daisy! It wasn't- I was going through some stuff-" Harry tries to say as he blocks a haymaker from the older girl, but the she-wolf isn't having it.
"What!? You think you were the only one mourning her death!" Daisy snaps angrily at him, freezing Harry as he can see the tears building in her eyes. Her hand snakes in between Harry's guard, grabbing his jacket and dragging him close to plant a knee in his guts. But Harry sees the move coming and brings up his knee to block hers. "Did you think you were the only one that lost a sister!? A mentor!?" The she-wolf spits at him before twisting herself around and dragging Harry over her shoulder to slam him into the ground.
Harry's feet hit the ground first, allowing him to twist in her hold to face her once more. He brings his arms down on her elbows before sweeping them up and under her hands to break Daisy's hold and shoves her away.
"Daisy, I'm sorry. Okay! But you've got to stop so I can explain!" Harry snaps at her, but she-wolf doesn't listen as she swings at Harry once more. But to her surprise, Harry merely raises an open palm and catches her punch. "That's enough, Daisy. I get that you're mad at me, but you can't beat me," Harry says softly as he holds back her fist, rings of gold entering his eyes.
"She can't-" a voice growls out behind Harry and as he swiftly turns, his eyes widen and he feels the blood drain from his face as Zoë, looking livid with golden-yellow eyes, is behind him with a raised fist. "-but I can," she tells him, her face twisted in anger before her blow sends Harry's world spinning along with his body. Harry lands in a heap, feeling as if he was just kicked in the head by one of the golden hinds. As his head swims he looks up to see Zoë stalking forward, her form hunched over like a mad beast hungry for the kill.
"Oh fuck, she's pissed," was Harry's feeling thought as he began to push himself back from Zoë. Harry knew his eldest sister well and knew she only drew on the Hunt if she was enraged by something. Even if she was all but immune from the side effects of drawing on too much of the domain's power thanks to the divine ichor flowing in her veins. "Zoë! Zoë, wait!" he pleads raising his hands in surrender.
"A trail of blood!" Zoë spits at him, causing Harry to freeze. "Your jacket! Abandoned!" She snaps as she looks over him, glaring down at him. "What do you think we thought happened to you!?" She all but yells before reaching down and grabbing him by the collar of said jacket and easily hauling Harry to his feet. "I was the one who found them; I thought you were you were," Zoë tells him, her lower lip trembling as she couldn't even speak the words.
"Zoë- big sist-" Harry says, the Hunt leaving him as he spoke. But his eldest sister wasn't having it as she spun and slammed him into a tree, raising her hand to hit him again. Harry flinched and closed his eyes, but the blow never came. Harry cautiously opened his eyes to see Zoë's face was set in grim and angry face, but her eyes had tears in them.
"We had no way of knowing what happened to you, do you not understand that?" Zoë says far more softly as she lowers her hand from striking him. "You aren't a part of the Hunt, we don't know if we could feel you pass on. All we knew is that Lady Artemis could feel you and that you were alive, but that was it," she explains to him, and Harry feels a stone drop into his stomach. He had all but vanished when Melinoë kidnapped him, and other than when Hermes showed up, he truly didn't give any thought to what had happened when he vanished.
Harry looks down and away from Zoë; a feeling of shame growing in his chest. "I'm sorry Zoë, I- I didn't mean-" he lets out a sigh, heavy with weariness. Zoë pulls him into a hug, surprising him for a moment before he returns it, wrapping his arms around his eldest sister.
"Stupid, foolish boy," Zoë mutters into his shoulder before stepping back from Harry. "We all have been worried about you. We searched for days before Lady Artemis called upon Lord Hermes to send you your jacket, only to get a vague letter back," she tells him, her voice tired and more than a little upset.
"Zoë, I'm-" Harry tries once more before Zoë holds up a hand to cut him off.
"Enough," she says sternly, her face set into a hard look. "I will hear your apology and an explanation soon, but not before we go see Lady Artemis. She has been affected the most by your…disappearing act," Zoë tells him before turning to Daisy, who has been standing quietly with her arms crossed and glaring at Harry the whole time. "Thank you for sending the wolves to find me, Daisy. You are dismissed; please resume your patrol," she issued her command and watched as Daisy nodded her head.
"Yes, Lieutenant. Is he going to be punished for this?" Daisy asks, nodding her head toward Harry.
"I will see to that myself," Zoë tells the she-wolf before turning to glare at Harry who gulps at the look in his older sister's eyes. Harry doesn't know what Zoë has planned, but he knows it isn't going to be fun by any stretch of the imagination. Daisy nods her head before turning on her heel and walks off and into the forest to resume her duties. "Come," she orders Harry.
Zoë and Harry swiftly moved toward camp, and before long they passed the rows of the silver tents that made up the encampment. It was late at night by the position of the stars and the only hunters awake at such an hour were those on watch. Zoë and Harry made a beeline toward the largest of the tents, the one that housed the leader of the Hunt. The pit that started to form when Zoë was informing him what had happened after Melinoë…picked him up- as Harry refused to call it kidnapping even in his mind, started to grow heavier and heavier as they approached Artemis' tent. Zoë swiftly pulls the curtain that separated Harry from his divine mother's wrath before walking in.
"My Lady, you have a visitor," Zoë says from inside the tent as Harry takes a deep breath before walking in himself.
"Tell them to go away," the voice of Artemis says, grumpy, sad, and forlorn as she lays under layers and layers of hides and skins. She had rolled herself up like a cinnamon roll in them and faced the back of the tent. "If it is Doe, tell the good agent that the Hunt will not be accepting any requests at this time," she says with a huff as she squirms deeper into the hides.
Harry looks over at Zoë, his face drawn up in confusion but all his older sister does is roll her eyes. "She's been like this since she got the letter, not wanting to move at all. I even heard a few of the sisters offering to run to a nearby city to pick up some ice cream for her," she informs Harry with a shake of her head and a sigh.
"Did you- no, It doesn't matter. Leave, whoever you are! I do not wish to see anyone or hear them speak," Artemis says, her voice raising before she abruptly stops as her voice breaks and her moppy tone comes back in full force. Zoë looks at Harry with an unamused face as she crosses her arms and nods her head toward Artemis.
"Why are you rolled up like a Cheesy Bug?" Harry asks out loud, causing Zoë to sigh and pinch the bridge of her nose at Harry's words. The form of Artemis stills its wiggling before, moving very slowly; Artemis rolls over to look at Harry, her eyes wide and full of tears.
"Harry?" Artemis asks as if she couldn't believe her eyes, her face looks splotchy and red as if she had been crying recently. His guts twisted with a bit of guilt as he looked at Artemis.
"Hey mum," Harry says, a weak smile crawling onto his face as Artemis quickly escapes her cocoon of furs to charge at him. Artemis morphs mid-step into that of her adult look; Harry quickly opens his arms to catch her as she slams into him, drawing him into a hug.
"Where have you been!?" She shouts at him as she crushes him to her like something irreplaceable. "I looked everywhere for you! I even got Apollo to help me, but he couldn't find you either! I had to get Hermes to send you your jacket but when he showed back up with your letter, he wouldn't tell me where you were! I've been so worried!" She screams at him, half in relief and half in anger.
"I'm sorry, mum," Harry grumbles into Artemis' shoulders as he hugs her back just as tightly. "I'm sorry I worried you and everyone else, it's just- I just had something I had to work through myself with a bit of help," he admits as Artemis draws back from their embrace, her eyes watering as her hands still clutches at his shoulders as if she was afraid he would leave again. She inspects him, her eyes trailing up and down him, looking for any wounds or damages.
"Are you okay?" Artemis asks, her look of concern deep on her face.
Harry opens his mouth, those old words on his lips waiting to slip out, to mask and run anyway for old habits are hard to break. But Harry chokes down the words, looking to his feet for a moment before turning back to Artemis.
"No, not- not really," he admits to Artemis and watches as concern and surprise grow in her amber eyes. "But I am working on it,"
Harry Potter.
It had been a long few days for Harry.
He had spent the first night with his mother, explaining his absence as best he could without mentioning Melinoë to Artemis. He had, in the end, deflected any questions about who he was with or where he had gone and simply told Artemis he wouldn't talk about it, but he had gotten the help he needed. That alone had placated Artemis enough for her to drop it, even after dropping off the face of the world for a few days, she still trusted him.
As the night grew darker, Harry finally allowed himself to open up to Artemis and Zoë. They sat under a blanket of stars and spoke until the sun began to rise, their voices blending into the gentle rustle of leaves and the distant chirping of crickets. With each word he spoke, Harry could feel the weight on his chest lifting as he shared the events that had taken place at Mag Turied - his fight with the monster, the freeing of the Formorians, and the strange Mantling he experienced with something called "Didi".
Artemis' expression turned to one of horror as she listened to Harry's account of being invaded by this unknown entity. Her eyes held a mixture of fear and sympathy as she admitted to not knowing anything about a divine being known as "Didi". In agreement with Harry's own thoughts, she saw it as an alias for a greater force.
But that was only the beginning. As the early morning light illuminated their faces, Harry continued to lay bare his struggles from the past month. He spoke of Sirius' and Atalanta's deaths, and how he carried the burden of blame for both. He revealed his failure in killing the monster that led to his Mantling with Indech, and his crippling fear of losing anyone else to Voldemort's cruel hands. And finally, he told them about the pit beneath Paititi and his encounter with the last remaining goddess within its depths - and how he made the decision to end her suffering with a mercy kill.
Both Zoë and Artemis sat and listened as he spoke, only asking questions to clarify something or to nudge him back on task when he was spiraling away from the topic. Zoë had called him a fool when he admitted to blaming himself for the death of Atalanta and Sirius and smacking him in the back of the head before hugging tightly. "Atalanta may have never been my favorite sister, but I know she would not want you to blame yourself for her death, Harry. She loved you like a lion loves her cubs, do not disrespect her warriors death by thinking you are to blame," Zoë had whispered to him as they embraced.
Harry then told Artemis of the events that led up to his disappearance. Being ambushed by Bellona and Virtus, Juno showing up to save his skin and the deal he had struck with her. Artemis had frowned at that last part before explaining that her step-mother has been acting…strangely as of late. Disappearing from Olympus for days and even weeks at a time, Artemis herself had no clue what she was doing, but she had heard rumors of other minor gods following her only to be sent packing when the Queen of the Gods found them snooping in her affairs.
But then, Harry told them about meeting Athena and what she had said to him.
To describe Artemis as "angry" after that felt like a severe understatement, Harry personally thought "nuclear" was a far more accurate term. Harry had watched as Artemis' mortal form began to crack and her skin peel away as the silver light of her wrath came to bear. Zoë had thrown herself over Harry, forcing his face into a pillow as she screamed at Artemis to claim down lest she accidentally kill Harry. It took a few moments for Artemis to restrain her anger but she calmed down eventually but afterwards her eyes were molten silver and her face set hard into a look that promised nothing good.
They had called it a day after that and let Harry get back to his tent that was already set up for him. Only for him to be dog piled by Sophie, Brittany, Britomartis, and nearly every other Hunter in camp all either wanting to hug him or hit him- most however, did both. Zoë had come from Artemis' tent to send the rest of the hunters back to their duties before dragging a grinning Britomartis into Artemis' tent. Harry was allowed to take a shower, eat a quick sandwich, before passing out for a small nap snuggled up with Hedwig.
When he woke up, Harry was onced more dog piled, but this time it wasn't for his return- it was for his punishment that Zoë promised Daisy.
He was stripped of his weapons, hogtied, and gagged before being brought to the peak of a nearby mountain. Where Zoë explained the rules of his punishment, for running away and abandoning the Hunt and worrying his sisters for nearly a week; his sisters were going to take it out of his hide.
"It's quite simple really, all you have to do is make it back to camp and all is forgiven," Zoë had said with a perfectly straight face, as if it was going to be a walk in the park. But Harry knew better by how Zoë lips twitched as she dropped his hunting knife in front of him.
For nearly eight hours, Harry was made into a hunt for his sisters. They, of course, used blunted arrow heads and non-lethal traps while he ran and evaded them as best he could. But it didn't stop the lucky shots that hit him, or when one of the vanguard of the Hunt burst from the underbrush with wooden weapons to clobber him. Brittany's ambush honestly took him by surprise as she fell from a tree onto him to start smacking him with two sticks. Or when he heard the mad cackle of Sophie somewhere in the distance as she fired rubber bullets to lead him into even more ambushes. Daisy bursting from what felt like nowhere with speed that could keep up with him and wolfish features to drag him into a fist fight they started the night before. All culminating in Harry running into Zoë not thirty feet from camp as she held a wooden training sword and a vindictive smile on her face.
Could he have fought back? Sure.
Could he have moved faster? Without a doubt.
Could he have avoided the punishment by just telling Zoë and Artemis about Melinoë and her kinda kidnapping him? Of course.
Did he scream like a little girl at parts? He refused to say.
But Harry didn't and took his licks to protect Melinoë from Artemis' anger, no matter how bruised and sore he was the next day. Besides, it was better to take the punishment now and let his sisters get their resentment and anger out now then letting it simmer and blow up later.
But thankfully as Harry crawled his way past the first tent due to Zoë's mercy, the Hunt was over and he was taken into the tender care of Phoebe in the first aid tent. After Phoebe gave him a once over to make sure nothing was broken nor there wasn't any internal bleeding, he was given a potion for aches and pains(one she made herself from the books Dumbledore had given her years ago) she had hugged him, telling him she was glad he came back in one piece. As Harry left the medical tent and headed off to his own, he was stopped by nearly every sister- they smiled at him, hugged him, told him that they forgave him before telling him they would always be there for him.
Harry made it to his tent, sore but otherwise fine to find a surprise within.
Cecilia had looked up to him from where she sat at his desk, a soft and loving smile on her face. "Hello Harry, I've heard that you've- that you were having a hard time with a few things. So, I came as quick as I could," she told him, her smile never wavering.
"Hey, Cecilia," Harry returned her smile with his own. "Kinda, I got some help. But…" he trailed off before sighing.
"But it doesn't feel whole yet," she finished for him, and Harry nodded as he watched Cecilia pats his bed. "Come, get off your feet. I'll go get us some food and a few drinks, then we can talk," she told him, and to Harry, that sounded like the best idea ever.
Hunter's encampment, six miles north of Glover Peak, Wyoming, July 31st, 8 PM.
Harry was in his tent, repacking his trunk and making sure he hadn't forgotten anything. He had spent the last few hours talking with Artemis about his plans- plans that would see him going home.
Needless to say, Artemis wasn't happy with it. She tried to talk him out of it, but Harry was nothing if not stubborn when he made his mind up on something. She tried to order him, but Harry rarely listened to adults and he was about to start now. She argued and yelled, but Harry refused to flinch in the face of Artemis- he had committed himself to this Hunt, his hunt, and he refused to back down. Harry was going to hunt and kill the monster, with or without her blessing.
In the end, Artemis relented to his plan, afterwards letters were quickly written and sent off with Hedwig to New York. Harry was asking a lot from the two people he had written, and he was hoping the deal he was offering the second person was tempting enough for her to accept it.
"Harry! Are you decent!?" The panicked voice of Zoë calls out from his tent flap, but before Harry could even call out that he was, the flap is thrown open as Zoë walks in.
Harry, still kneeling in front of his trunk, turns and looks at her. "And what if I wasn't?" He asks his older sister in frustration.
"Then you'd be a jackalope, but that's not important at the moment," she quickly answers back.
"That sounds pretty important to…" Harry begins to say in exasperation before trailing off as he takes Zoë in. She was fidgeting, her eyes shooting toward the tent flap then back to Harry, her eyes were wide as worry and anxiety reflected in them. "Zoë, what's wrong?" He asks after a moment.
Zoë opens her mouth before closing it and looking away from Harry before taking a deep breath. "There has been a…request, one that Lady Artemis can not deny," she admits as she looks back at Harry, her hands fiddling with each other.
Harry blinks as a wave of deja Vu hits him. "Am I about to fight someone to the death?"
"What!?" Zoë says as her face twists in confusion. "Why in Hades would you think you have to do that?"
"Because the last time someone told me that exact statement was right before we had our big fight," Harry says deadpanned as his eyes narrow almost to slits as Zoë blushes from embarrassment from the memory.
"I…see your point," she admits slowly before shaking her head. "But no, no death matches it's just…well, you'll understand soon. Come with me," she tells him as Harry frowns but stands and follows after her.
She leads him towards Artemis' tent in the middle of the campground, the first thing that Harry notices is the smell of tobacco smoke in the air. The smell makes him wrinkle his nose and look around, Harry knew none of the Hunters smoked so his first thought was that Agent Doe had shown up knowing the man was one of the rare few males allowed to enter the campground unmolested. But as they approach the tent, Harry doesn't see the impeccably dressed man but he does spot a woman leaning against the outside of the tent half covered in darkness with a could of fag smoke around her.
"Who is-" Harry begins to ask as Zoë stops just outside the tent, she reaches out and begins to straighten out his clothes and jacket. "Oi! What gives?" He asks, trying to push Zoë's hands away.
"Stop that! I'm trying to make you look at least halfway presentable," she snaps at him before correcting the collar of his jacket before licking her thumb to remove a smudge from his face.
"That's disgusting," Harry says as he jerks his face away from her thumb. But it was for not as Zoë grabs his head and forces him to still so she could wipe away the smudge.
"Listen to me," Zoë snaps at him but without any anger in her voice. "Mind your manners and be polite," she warms as Harry scoffs.
"I'm always polite," Harry says, brushing aside the backhanded insult but Zoë gives him a look to show how little she believes that statement. Harry rolls his eyes, "Alright, fine. I'll be nice," he says with a sigh before Zoë sticks a finger in his face and gives him a stern look before she turns and enters the tent. Harry just shanks his head before following her. "The things I do for family,"
Harry pushes his way into the tent, watching as Zoë quickly slips into her usual spot next to Artemis. But, to Harry's surprise, Artemis wasn't her normal collected self. She was sitting ramrod straight and fidgeting as her amber eyes held no small amount of anxiety and fear as she was sweating bullets and avoiding looking at the person standing in front of her. Other than Harry, Zoë and Artemis, there were four more people in the tent. One was Apollo, laying down on some of the large pillows off to the right side looking between Artemis and the person standing in the middle trying to keep a straight face and his snickers to a minimum but falling to do so. On the left side, much to Harry's surprise were two cloaked figures, one in a scaled black cloak with rows of black feathers worked into the cloak around the shoulders, like some sort of mantle.
But it was the second cloaked person who gave away who they were, because the smaller second figure was in a simple red cloak and sat far shorter than the taller black cloaked one. Macha of the Morrígna looks from under her cloak, her blood curly hair bouncing as she looks at Harry with a wide smile and sparkling black eyes.
Harry forces himself to look away from the Morrígna to the person standing in the middle of the room. She was tall with long dark brown hair hanging down her back with streaks of gray running through it, she stood tall and proud over everyone in the room with her hands crossed over her chest. She wore a floral brown sundress that hung long and past her knees with a slim leather belt around her hourglass figure. While Harry couldn't feel any power rolling off the older woman, he didn't doubt that she was in full control of everyone in the tent somehow. It was imposing, like someone you knew you had to listen to or else a punishment would come swift and with little mercy. It almost felt like…
"Nephew!" Apollo suddenly says, sounding elated as he turns to look at Harry, the twin suns burning behind his sunglasses light up at the sight of Harry as he sits up. "There you are, I honestly thought Arty here was hiding you from us,"
But before Harry could answer the god back, the woman in the middle of the tent turns to look at him. Soft chocolate eyes looked into his, crows feet and laugh lines marked her face as her face morphs from a stern look to a soft smile that felt like it was only meant for him. A soft gasp escaped his lips as Harry looked at the woman, because he had seen her before. Long ago he had carved the face of everyone he saw in a mirror that showed not you, but your heart's deepest desire. She stood in the far back of the gathering of people in the mirror smiling softly at him with proud eyes, just as she was doing now.
"Well, there you are," the woman says as she turns to face him fully, her eyes sparkling with mirth and warm love. "Don't be scared now, come here. Let me take a good look at you," she gently coaxed him as she planted her hands on her hips.
Harry's eyes shot over to Artemis who nodded quickly, telling him to do what the woman wanted, so Harry swallowed the lump in his throat and stepped forward. The woman from the mirror reaches out grasping his chin in firm but soft grasp and tilting his head up. Her soft chocolate eyes slowly trace his face as a soft smile grows on her face, she tilts her head to the side as she smiles. Her hand leaves his chin to caress his cheek as her thumb traces just under his eyes.
"You look like your father alright, the same hair, the shape of your face. But you have your mother's eyes and cheekbones, though I bet you hear that enough from everyone else," she tells him looking him in the eyes, her lips twitching with good humor. "But you have some of Artemis in you, like your complexion, a bit darker than someone from England should be. And this nose-" she pulls her hand back from his cheek to boop his nose. "-that's all Artemis right there," she says with a warm smile before turning back to Artemis.
"Arty dear, however do you keep this boy in your camp? I'm surprised that the girls haven't eaten him alive yet," she says in a teasing voice, causing Zoë, Artemis, and Harry to blush as the woman bursts out laughing at the sight of the three hunters. "Oh- oh! The look on all of your faces!" The woman says in between her laughs, they were warm and gentle, brought on by a lifetime of love and good humor.
"Mother!" Artemis snaps before reaching over and smacking Apollo for laughing as well. "My hunters are true to their oaths to me, none would dare break them with Harry of all people," she near yells at the woman as her face burns red. But Harry doesn't hear the words past the first, his head whipped to the woman with wide eyes after Artemis had called her- called her mother. The woman- goddess really, turns back to Harry with playful eyes and a smirk of good humor on her lips.
"You're- you're-" Harry tries to say but the words don't come out.
She smiles wider before reaching out and taking Harry's hands in hers. "My name is Leto, I am the Titan of Motherhood and the mother to Apollo and her older sister Artemis. Which means…" Leto says with a guiding smile, helping Harry get out the words.
"You're my grandmother," he says in a near whisper as Leto's smile alone could have powered Los Angeles for a whole week.
"Bingo," Leto says before pulling Harry into a hug. "Oh, it's so good to finally meet you, Harry. I've been trying to see you for the past month since I heard you were in the states, but Artemis was holding you hostage," she says into Harry's ear as she gently squeezes him. Harry stood frozen for a moment, not once in his life had he ever thought he would get to do something like this. Both sets of his grandparents were dead, one dying in the last war with the monster and the other around the same time. Harry slowly brings his arms up, wrapping them around Leto before burying his face in the crook of her neck.
"I've heard so much about you," Leto tells him as she tilts side to side with him. "So many things I'm so proud of, and so many I'm so sorry that I missed. But I am so very proud of you, Harry, you've grown up to be such a wonderful man," she tells him before letting him go and stepping back to grasp his shoulders, tears in her eyes.
"I- er, I- hi," Harry says lamely, tears in his eyes just like Leto.
Leto just giggles before wiping her tears away. "Hello to you too, Harry, and happy birthday," she finishes with a smile as Harry blinks, confused.
"It's not-" Harry begins to say before his eyes shoot open. "Oh, is it?" He asks turning to look at Zoë, his sister just rolls her eyes before nodding her head. "Oh, I didn't- a lot has been going on I guess I forgot," Harry says before quickly wiping away his own tears.
"That's more than okay, dear. Lucky for you, I like seeing all my grandchildren on their birthdays at least once," Leto says with her warm smile back in place before gesturing to the others in the room. "And as luck would hold, Apollo was free for a bit to drop by and say hi as well as running into these two on the way here," she informs Harry.
The dark cloaked figure finally pulls her hood down to reveal herself. "Hello, Harry," Anand says, turning to him with a smile on her face. "It's good to see you more you," she tells him.
"HARRY!" Macha screams as she rockets herself across the tent and plows into Harry, nearly blowing him over. "Oh, it's so good to see you again! How have you been? Have you gotten me any gifts!?" She screams at him as Harry begins to struggle to pry her arms off of him.
"Macha! Macha, stop!" Harry says through gritted teeth, he can't even comprehend why the brat now attached to his waist would even think they had a friendly relationship. "Macha! Get the hell off me you little pain in my ass," he growls.
"No," Macha tells him before looking up at him with a huge smile. "Now, by my command! You will allow me to have a piggy back ride!" She tells him and Harry flinches, Both Harry and Macha freeze, waiting for her order to take effect but after a long moment of everyone staring at them nothing happens.
"Macha, dear, did you forget your orders won't work outside of the islands?" Anand asks, amusement coloring her tone.
"...oh no," Macha whispers, horrified as Harry smiles at her, wide and menacing. "Anand! Help me! Harry's gonna-" the oldest crow starts to cry as she lets go of Harry and turns to run to Anand, but Harry reaches out and snags her red cloak and yanks her back.
"Got'cha, you little-" Harry growls out angrily before spinning Macha around, wrapping her red cloak around her and cocooning Macha within. He then picks up the struggling girl with both arms before looking at everyone gathered in the tent. "I'll be right back," he tells them all before turning around to leave the tent.
"Help! Help me! I'm too young and innocent to be molested by a hunter in the woods!" Macha tells out in a panic as she struggles in Harry's grasp as they leave.
"Ah, should we be worried about that?" Apollo speaks up as he watches Harry and Macha leave with an amused look on his face.
"No," Zoë, Artemis, and Anand all deadpanned as one before Anand turns to Apollo. "Macha has earned her fate at least four times over with Harry. I've warned her before in the past about abusing her ability, especially on one who is so favored by our Queen. Macha is just reaping what she had sowed," she says with a smirk on her dark painted lips.
It doesn't take long for Harry to show back up in the tent, dusting his hands off with a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Best birthday ever, bar none," he says all too pleased with himself. Leto, Artemis, and Zoë all shake their heads with fond smiles as both Apollo and Anand start laughing.
"Well, as much as I'm sure you enjoyed giving Macha her comeuppance, we were sent here for a reason," Anand says before turning to Artemis as if she was asking for permission, Artemis nods her head once, looking far more relaxed as Anand stands. As she walks over to Harry, she pulls a box from the folds of her cloak. It was made from white almost ash colored wood and as long as his golden spear, she held it out for him to take. "Gifts and letters collected by your teacher and sent here by my Queen, they are from your friends and loved ones. Mostly snacks and treats from them I am lead to believe,"
Harry's face twists into a mournful look as he takes the surprising light chest from Anand, his lips thinning thinking of the words that the chest held within.
"I know you've had a rough time of it these last few weeks, Harry. You struggled with much and now find the path clear, let them remind you of why you chose it so when you finally come home, you can show them all the answer to my question," Anand says, causing Harry to look back up from the book to her smiling face.
Hero. Hunter. Killer.
Harry nods as Anand smiles at him. "Now, if you'll excuse me my lord and ladies, I need to find Macha so we may be off," she says as she turns to the gathered immortals in the room before bowing at the waist to them.
"Oh, nonsense," Leto speaks up after Anand stands from her bow. "You and the little one are more than welcome to stay a bit longer to visit my grandson. Besides, we haven't even gotten to the cake," she informs the other aspect of motherhood in the tent. Harry perks up at the mention of cake, but before he could say a thing, the tent flap is thrown open and Macha marches back in. She was soaked from head to toe, her dress clinging to her as a fish struggled back and forth in her hood.
"He threw me in a river!" Macha yells red face and anger while pointing at Harry, but no sympathy was to be had from anyone as they all begin to laugh.
Harry Potter, passing out cupcakes.
Forty-five chocolate cupcakes with emerald color cream cheese icing Leto had baked for the Hunters for Harry's birthday. His grandmother had told him she had also sent forty more to the temple of Artemis for all the handmaidens to snack on as well. She had roped Harry into helping her pass them out to all his sisters who smiled and wished him a happy birthday as he handed them the small cakes.
It was after he was coming back from the mess tent with the last one. He had no clue who it was for as all his sisters were now either relaxing in a tent or around the bonfire happily munching on one that he found out who it was for sense his was back in his tent along with the box of letters that Anand had given him.
The smell of tobacco smoke was still in the air as he walked back towards Artemis' tent, only to hear Leto arguing with someone.
"-him, and all you've been doing is hiding outside and avoiding him," Leto says sternly, as if she was scolding a child. "I thought you wanted to-"
"Don't talk to me like I was one of your children, Leto. All I said was that I'm curious about the boy, not that I wanted to meet him," a voice cuts Leto off before pausing and exhaling. "You're the one who dragged me along, I was happily enjoying my evening at the Smithsonian before you showed up," the voice says, aggravated over being dragged off.
Harry would have rushed over to punch the person speaking to his grandma in such a disrespectful tone if it wasn't for the fact that he knows that voice. He almost dropped the last cupcake he held over the pure shock of hearing the voice again. After a moment of pause and making sure he wasn't just imagining the voice.
"You are the most stubborn goddess I have ever met, do you know that?" Leto says with a huff as she crosses her arms over her chest.
Another exhale of smoke. "Have you met your baby daddy?" The voice asks with contention.
"Oh, that's definitely the voice," Harry thinks to himself as he begins to briskly walk over to where he could see his Grandmother standing next to the tent. Leto sees Harry coming and narrows her eyes and smirks a bit in victory, whoever she was talking to seemed to have noticed before spinning around to look behind her.
She was old, older looking then even Leto. Her short bob hair cut was fully gray and the wrinkles and lines on her face were far more prominent than on Leto's. Unlike Leto, the woman didn't have any laugh lines or creases where she spent a lifetime of smiling. No, if anything she looked…sad, her lips pulled down into a permanent frown as her silver eyes held nothing but a lifetime of unspoken pain. Faded thin scars criss crossed her face from forehead to throat and looked to be impossibly old.
The woman takes one look at Harry and curses before turning back to glare at Leto's smiling face. "You sly old bitch, you set me up," the woman accuses Leto, who just smiles like Ron winning a chess match.
"A mother always has a trick or two to deal with misbehaving children," Leto says with a coy smile before walking around the woman and up to Harry, the woman following Leto with a glare. "The last cupcake is for her, I'll be in Artemis' tent if you need me," she tells Harry before giving him a quick hug and a peck to his cheek before leaving.
Both Harry and the woman stand not ten feet from each other, Harry holding the last cupcake and the woman holding a fag between her fingers. Neither of them speak as they both look at one another as if they were separated by a wall. Harry takes a deep breath before taking a step forward toward the woman as she brings the fag up to her lips to take another drag of it.
"I know you," Harry admits as he walks toward the woman.
"First person in three hundred years to recognize me is some brat," she mutters with a scoff. "Well, congrats kid, you want a gold star or something?" The woman says with a scowl directed at him as she exhales the cancer smoke toward him.
"No, I'm more of a trophy guy," Harry snarks back before waving his non-cupcake holding hand through the smoke. "But I'd rather know your name to be honest,"
"Listen shit for brains, I'm just a grouchy old goddess who got dragged along by Leto to this. You don't need to be nice to me or pretend to ca-" she tries to say before Harry cuts her off.
"Fafnir," he says, cutting off the woman and causing her to look at Harry like she was lost.
"What in the name of the moon landing does that greedy scally of a dwarf have to do with anything?" She asks Harry, confused.
"I was fighting him when we spoke. I was using an ice shield to block his fire breath-"
"You're not the brightest crayon in the toolshed are you?"
"-And when I was reaching for more magic to keep the spell going- fuck you ornery bitch, I ended up reaching for the moon and well, you started to talk to me," Harry tells her, stopping a pace or two away from her. "You should me how to reach out to the moon, and I wanted- wanted to say thanks I guess,"
The woman stands there, looking at him for a long moment before taking another drag off her fag and blowing smoke in Harry's face, causing Harry to cough and wave his hand through the smoke.
"Come on, really?" He says before coughing a few more times. "I'm trying-"
"Selene,"
"To be nice here, you don't have to be such a cunt, ya know- oh! wait. Aren't you dead or whatever?" Harry asks as he looks up to the silver eyes of Selene.
"I assure you, shit for brains, the rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated," she says with a smirk as Harry snorts and rolls his eyes.
"Sure, whatever you say ya ornery bitch," Harry tells her before holding out the last cupcake. "Do you want this or not? Because if you don't eat it I will," he tells Selene flatly and watches as the goddess smirk sharppen before taking the cupcake.
"You know what kid, I think I may be starting to like you," Selene tells Harry as the boy grins back.
"I've been told I'm adora-" Harry begins to say right before Selene slams the cupcake into his face before laughing at him.
"Happy birthday, Harry," she says with a smile she watches Harry wipe the remains of the cupcake off his face with a smile.
Harry Potter, ten minutes later, at the nearby river.
Harry was washing the remains of the cupcake from his face, though he couldn't help the small smile on his face. Selene may have been a bit of a bitch, but he had liked her. She didn't hide her feelings and, like Harry, wasn't a big fan of socializing but most of all the verbal spars and insulting each other was fun. He sighs before wiping the water from his face and standing up.
"Here," says the familiar voice of Artemis says as she holds out a towel to her son.
"Oh, thanks," Harry says before taking the towel and drying off his face and glasses.
"I'm sorry about the ambush from my mother, she was rather…insistent that she meets you," Artemis says before sighing at it all. "But I am glad you two got alone, for a moment there I thought that- well, it doesn't matter."
Harry puts his glasses on just in time to watch Artemis shake her head. "What? Didn't think that she'd like me or something?" Harry asks with a frown.
"What? No, I knew Leto would love you as soon as she saw you. No, it was more than you might have opened your mouth and said something that would have upset her," Artemis admits with a shrug.
"Oi, I'm not that bad," Harry defends himself as he tosses the towel over his shoulder and glowers at Artemis.
Artemis turns to look at Harry with a flat look. "Remind me if I am wrong, but weren't you just insulting Selene like you were a drunk sailor not five minutes ago?" She asks and watches as Harry's face drops.
"Okay, but that was different, and you know it. She was being a bitch on purpose," Harry points out as Artemis chuckles.
"Yes, Selene has been like that for a long time. Do you know my brother doesn't even recognizes her anymore with how much she has changed?" Artemis says and watches as Harry rolls his eyes.
"Are we sure he doesn't recognizes anything without a pretty face?" Harry shots back, causing them both to laugh a bit at his joke, before they both fall back to being quite. Then, as one, both turn to look up at the moon hanging over head in its waxing state, after a long minute filled with peace, Harry speaks once more. "Why is she like that? Selene, I mean. Does it have to do with losing the moon to you?" He asks, looking back to his mother with a raised brow.
Artemis frowns. "No, Selene never held any bad blood against me for that, and she knows that she is always welcomed in my camp. The reason why she is like that is because…she lost her siblings, Helios and Eos, they died a long time ago," Artemis admits, her voice was mournful as a deep frown tugs at her lips. "She's been alone for a long time, remember enough to have just enough power to survive but always inches from fading from human memory. I think she wants to fade at times, just to finally get it over with," she whispers under her breath before shaking her head and turning back to Harry.
Harry matches the sad look on Artemis' face, he knew the want for everything to end- just to stop fighting, to stop the struggle and finally rest. But as he looks down at the skull ring that Melinoë had left for him, he sighs, and decides to say nothing about it.
"I just realized that I don't have anything to give you for your birthday," Artemis suddenly says, Harry huffs before rolling his eyes.
"You've given me enough mum, don't worry about it," Harry says looking back at Artemis just in time to see a deep sadness flicker in her eyes tinged with regret.
"I would say I haven't given you nearly enough, Harry. I often wish I could go back and do it all again, to make sure you, Lily and James were safe from Voldemort. Possibly kill him myself before that prophecy was ever made," Artemis says sadly, shaking her head and looking away from Harry and back to the moon.
"Hey," he says, catching Artemis' attention. "We can't change the past, and you've given me the thing I've always wanted- a family, and trust me, that's enough for me," Harry tells her with a sad smile.
Artemis sighs before looking back at the moon. "You're right, no one can change the past. Not even my grandfather," she tells Harry before turning to face him. "But we can prepare for the future, and I think I know how I can do that for you?"
"What? Look me up in your temple and throw away the key?" Harry asks with a grin, referencing what she had said when they talked about him returning to England.
Artemis just rolls her eyes. "No, my foolish boy," she says before a smile blooms on her lips. "I can, however, teach you how to properly use Atalanta's bow and the myth it was carved from," she tells her confused-looking son, before, after a moment, his brow shoots up and a wide mischievous grin spreads across his face.
Harry Potter, one hour later, his tent.
Letters.
Pages of parchment and the smell of ink filled his senses as looped words carved into the sheet with fine points spelled out sorrow and hope in equal measure. They lacked the resentment and anger he thought would be buried in them, from them, and of them.
Hermione wrote of recovered health and her ever-present hunger to know with curious questions that were tempered by her humanity as other words spoke of her own sorrow over the death of Sirius and Atalanta.
"...and I can't even begin to tell you how I felt at the news of Atalanta's and Sirius' passing, I know no words could express mine nor could they even come close to what you are going through. But know this Harry, Ron and I are here for you- through thick and thin; like always…"
Hermione didn't blame him for getting hurt, nor regretted going to Mag Turied with him. Only that she wasn't there for him in the aftermath of Sirius and Atalanta's death.
Ron's crooked slants of quill strokes were, as always, difficult to read but heartful nonetheless. He wrote only a single passage about attending Sirius' funeral and how he left flowers on the old dog's grave for Harry, but otherwise Ron stuck to lighter topics of the upcoming year and remarking on the success of the twins with their joke shop.
"... Honestly excited about the Quidditch season this year, mate. With you as the new captain we're sure to snag the cup again this year, I mean sure, we need to find a replacement for Angelina, Fred, and George but I know Ginny is going to go after the open chaser position and she's wicked on a broom…"
Harry smiled at Ron's word, trying to see the silver lining in everything and the fun that could be had instead of lingering on the bad. He was trying to make everything sound normal and fine when they both knew it wasn't, but that's what Harry liked about Ron.
Ginny's handwriting was blocky and in print, making it easier for Harry to read. He was grateful to whomever had cast the translation charms onto each of the letters so he could actually read them. Unlike Ron and Hermione, Ginny was pragmatic and upfront with what was happening on the Isles while he was in the states.
"...It's bad here, Harry. I know Ron and Hermione want you to stay away, to heal, and all that good stuff but I know if we all did that then you would be angry that we didn't tell you sooner. Let me be clear, I'm not asking to come rushing back for us, I just need for you to know how it is here if Ron and Hermione pull their punches…"
Ginny was worried, scared, but most of all, hopeful. He had been her hero once before in her darkest time, and she didn't doubt for a moment that he would be that again once Harry was ready to return. This time, Ginny told him that she would stand with him to help save everyone else.
Theodore had written to him as well. Of all the people who went with him to Mag Turied that night, Harry thought Theodore had more reasons than most to hate him. After all, Fúamnach had died for Harry and because of him, but Theodore wasn't angry with him, he was sympathetic.
"...While I don't know how it happened, I do feel the same loss that you undoubtedly feel, Harry. Fúamnach was like the grandmother I never wanted or asked for, but she grew on me, like some weird, teasing fungus. Her death hurts and it will continue to hurt for a long time, so I like to think I know a bit of what you're going through and when you return, we can sit and have a drink to all the memories that we have of them…"
Theodore held no resentment towards him, he didn't blame Harry in any way. Theodore goes on to tell him he was spending a lot of time with Malfoy of all people, that his mom was sending him over to his house as much as she could get away with during the summer.
The next letter was from Mr. And Mrs. Weasley, having nothing but love and understanding in their words. Of how much they missed him and hoped to see him by the time September first rolled around, but Harry doubted he would be there for the train. The next was Tonks letter, a terrifying three pages front and back but it was the first letter that shocked Harry.
"Dear Harry,
I'm sorry it has taken so long for these letters to reach you, and I'm sure I don't need the comment on what you would be feeling right now. Me and Remus are going through the same and Apologies for the duplicity but I had to make sure you were reading this before I started and didn't want to announce myself.
Do you know my cousin has written like six drafts of this same letter? I nicked one of her desk to write this. It's like she has a crush on you or something, which isn't at all weird if I stop and think about it. Sarcasm, I know, very unlady like or whatever that tosh is.
But, shall we try this again?
Heya, Pot-Head,
Miss me?"
Delphini's letter had her signature playful words throughout it, and of course, she explained nothing. Not how she nicked the letter, not why she was at Headquarters, not how she snuck it into Dora's letter; Nothing. She expressed disappointment mostly, in him, in herself, in her mother and the "Sperm Donor" as she called Voldemort.
Delphini was disappointed in him because Harry didn't stop for two minutes and let her explain anything, that he had listened to some black-haired bimbo bitch over her and stormed off in a rage.
Delphini was disappointed in herself because she had lied to him. It wasn't the entire time they had known each other, mainly during last year, Delphini explained everything that led up to her playing the role of the spy for Voldemort.
"...other than telling him how your Lunar-synchronized, I didn't tell him anything else. I lied to him more than I lied to you, Harry. I swear…"
Delphini told him how Bellatrix and her step-father tried to marry her off as soon as they could into some loyal Death Eater family to gain access to the Lestrange vaults once more, but Delphini had stabbed the guy when he touched her.
"...Mum got pissy that I stabbed the old prick, but honestly I could care less about it. I've decided that there is only one male allowed to touch me in any private type of way and he wasn't him…"
But everything else he would want to know she had left out telling if he wanted the details they would have to talk alone and in private when he came back, hoping he would come back. Her closing words were the remorse over Atalanta and Sirius dying and wishing that she could have gotten to know them better as people, not just actors in Harry's stories.
Dora's letter filled him in on what was going on across the isles and the Ministry at large, it was clinical and detached. Like she didn't want to spill too much of herself into it for some reason, she did, however, made a comment by the end of the letter about Remus being distant with nearly everyone. Combined with the fact that Remus was one of the four- the others being Fred, George, and Luna, that didn't send him a letter made Harry a little worried.
The last letter in the box was sealed in a black envelope, Harry didn't need to open it to know who sent it to him and he was right because the letter wasn't even signed.
"The time for your greatest Hunt is almost upon you, my champion. We will hold the line until you return, just don't keep us waiting,"
The Morrígan was still expecting him to come back, to come home and fight the battle she couldn't. She was right of course, he would be going back to England, just not yet. He just needs a little more time before heading home and he was hoping his own letters would be answered soon. Harry had just put away the letters in his trunk, he had taken time to read them in private and away from his sisters. So he isn't surprised when the tent flap opens up and Zoë walks in, her own cupcake in hand.
"Do you have a moment?" Zoë asks, her brow raised as she wiggles her own cupcake at him. Harry smiles a bit before standing and nodding his head.
"Sure," he tells her before walking over to his desk and picking up his own cupcake before taking a seat as Zoë sat on his bed. "Where's everyone else?" Harry asks as he peels away the paper around the cupcake.
"Lady Artemis is talking with her mother, Lady Leto, though your grandmother is expecting you to come say goodbye before she leaves," she informs Harry as she does the same as him, pausing for a moment to point at him with a stern look on her face.
Harry smiles and nods once more.
"Anand and Lord Apollo left with one another after batting their eye lashes at each other and talking about weird, cryptic things that involved something called Shibari," Zoë says with a roll of her eyes as both she and Harry take large bites out of their respective cupcakes.
"Wow, that's pretty good," Harry mutters after a moment of chewing and swallowing. "But yeah, didn't need to know that Apollo and Anand ducked out with each other. Actually, if Anand left, what happened to Macha?" Harry asks before taking another bite of his cupcake.
"Oh, her," Zoë says with a bit of scone in her voice. "She's technically a maiden, so she is under the protection of Lady Artemis and is asleep in her tent," she says before taking another bite out of her cupcake. "Which reminds me, do you…do you mind if-" Zoë begins to ask before Harry cuts her off.
"Get a sleeping bag. Cecilia, Sophie, and Brittany are joining us so it's gonna be a bit crowded," Harry says, cutting her off before finishing off his cupcake and sending a sly smile over at Zoë.
"Wipe that look off your face, brat," she says angrily but with a smile twitching at her lips as she wads up her cupcake wrapper and throws it at his head. Harry dodges while laughing at Zoë, his own smile growing on his face as she stands up from the bed. "Well, I'll go get the sleeping bag and change into my pajamas. You may as well come with me to say goodbye to Lady Leto,"
"Zoë," Harry calls out softly, stopping his sister at the flap of his tent and causing her to turn and look at him. "I was told by…someone, that they knew another that may know Didi's identity," he admits as he watches as Zoë turns to him with narrowed eyes and crosses her arms over her chest.
"Would this be the same someone you spent a week with?" Zoë asks, one brow raising in question and a grumpy look on her face.
Harry hesitates for a moment, but nods his head. "Yeah, it was," he says, looking toward the floor as his hand absentmindedly begins to fiddle with the skull ring on his hand. "They- they said that if anyone knew who Didi is, it would be the mistress of the House of Night. They also said you would know who that was," he tells his sister before looking up at Zoë. Her face had twisted into a cold and angry look, one that had recognition in her eyes and a scowl on her lips.
"Ayy," Zoë whispered in the same way she had spoken about Persephone almost two years prior. "Whoever you were with isn't wrong, if anyone knows it would be her," she says, almost fearfully.
"You know her?" Harry asks, curious.
"I've had…dealings with her in the past, yes,"
"And who is she?"
Zoë looks away for a moment before taking a deep breath before making an odd little symbol with her hand over her heart, three claws bent forward a bit with her thumb and pinky tucked into her palm.
She lets out a deep breath, as if she was silently praying for a moment. "Nyx, her name is Nyx. She is the mistress of the House of Night, and one of the most dangerous and feared divine beings the world over," she admits in a fearful tone.
Chapter done!
Sorry about the late update but I got caught up in somethings.
Not much explaining needed in this chapter, but in the next we head to the House of Night and Harry meets his biggest fan.
Kingsaxcul, out!
