WIZARD OF ELPIS

CHAPTER 2:

CONCORDIA

Harry walked into the Up Over Bar, wincing at the trance blasting from the speakers. Janey had headed to her Emporium, while the would-be Vault Hunters were going through Nurse Nina's decontamination. The burly Slavic nurse was a Vladof deserter, apparently, and set herself up on Elpis as the moon's equivalent of Dr Zed, who did the medical vending machines across Pandora.

As he made for the bar, his eye was caught by a pair of figures, one of whom was dancing, the other standing there stoically. His eyes widened when he recognised them. He'd never actually met them before, but he knew of them by reputation. A year ago, they had opened the Vault on Pandora, shortly before he got back to Elpis. One was a slender woman with pale skin, crimson hair, and golden eyes, blue tattoos visible on her arm and collar where exposed. The other was a tall, muscular dark-skinned man with a military bearing.

He decided not to bother them. It was a matter of some small urgency that he saw Moxxi, so he went to the bar. Tending it was a woman of indeterminate age, though Harry was sure, given that she had at least two adult children, that she had to be in her forties at least. But she looked younger, her utterly ravishing heart-shaped face painted with pale make-up and blush marks that gave her an air like a clown, though the effect was more sexy than clownish. Her dress was closer to a stewardess on a spaceliner, although her usual outfit was closer to a fetishized Mad Hatter outfit.

"Hey, sugar," Mad Moxxi said with a welcoming smile. "Nice to see you back in Concordia."

MAD MOXXI

Don't Fuck With Her…Unless She Wants You To

Harry returned her smile, albeit tiredly. Moxxi, since he got back to Elpis and she had opened up her bar here a few months back, had become almost a motherly figure to him. It was a bit weird to say that, given how sexual she was, but Moxxi, underneath her glamorous and sexualised persona, was a warm and caring person beneath. "It's good to be back, Moxxi. Janey says hello. And yes, I explained it to her that she was making you feel uncomfortable. Which I still think is weird, as you not only put on the walking sexpot persona, but you don't care about gender. Besides, you've dated worse, right?"

"Yes, I know. But…I'm not looking for someone like Janey at the moment. I came to Elpis after a bad breakup, and I don't want to hook up with her on the rebound," Moxxi explained. "Or with anyone, for that matter. Besides, Janey deserves better than me. Now, what can I do for you, sugar? Business or pleasure? I mean, you look like you could use a drink or ten."

"Unfortunately, I have to be sober. Can we…discuss this in private?"

"…That bad, huh?" She indicated the two Vault Hunters on the dancefloor. "Can they come?"

"They'd be a big help if they can. What are they doing here?"

Moxxi led him to a back room, albeit after signalling to the Vault Hunters to follow her. "They're here for a holiday…though I have the feeling that things might escalate to a point where we need them."

The burly dark-skinned man entered the back room, with the redhead in tow. "What's the problem, Moxxi?"

ROLAND

AS

THE SOLDIER

Badass Soldier with an Adorkable Streak

"Roland, Lilith, I'd like you to meet Harry Potter."

"Ah, yes," Lilith said, smiling and holding out her hand. Harry shook it, and then Roland's. "You're the one who sent those guys to New Haven. Wizards are real, of all things."

LILITH

AS

THE PHASEWALK SIREN

Quite Literally Fiery Redhead

Harry chuckled. "Yep. Then again, you're a Siren."

"Hermione misses you, you know. She's been helping Dr Tannis with her work on the Eridian dig sites. So has Lupin. Actually, I happened to find them in bed together shortly before coming here, and…"

"TMI, Lilith, and I'm sorry, but it's an urgent issue. I haven't got all the details yet, but…Helios Station is under attack. By Dahl troops."

"…And the bad news is?" Lilith asked.

"Lilith, not everyone in Hyperion is that bad," Roland said.

"Hey, we had to clean up their little fuck-up with the Claptraps," Lilith said. "And Moxxi's ex is apparently a code monkey working for them, albeit one well-positioned and in charge of Helios."

"…Wait, are you talking about Jack?" Harry asked.

"You know him?" Roland asked.

Moxxi smiled. "Harry used to live with the Dahl contingent here before the Crackening, remember? His adoptive mother took him to a clinic here in Concordia when he showed his powers. He met Jack at the time, as well as his daughter. Apparently she was a Siren too."

Lilith frowned at this. "Really? Your ex had a Siren daughter?"

"I only learned through Harry. Jack apparently sent her away from Pandora for her safety after her mother was killed by a bandit. Said bandit was enticed by a bounty on Sirens," Moxxi said with a shrug. "Anyway, there seems to be more to this than rogue Dahl forces attacking Hyperion's orbital penis substitute."

Harry nodded, and gathered himself. "…Moxxi…the one leading the Dahl forces is my mother. Colonel Zarpedon."

Moxxi's eyes widened, while Lilith and Roland shared a look. "Zarpedon was the one who adopted you, right?" Roland asked.

"Yeah." Harry paused to marshal his thoughts, before continuing. "Something's wrong with her. She's attacked Helios, and her eyes in her avatar…all glowing purple and shit." He checked his ECHO device, and began playing back the transmission it intercepted.

After it was over, Lilith frowned, and looked at Roland. "Why did Zarpedon call them Vault Hunters? Does that mean there's a Vault on Elpis, of all places? And why is Athena working for Hyperion? Last I heard, she was going around, wiping out Atlas installations around Pandora."

"Who knows? We're mercenaries ourselves, remember? She's not much different." Roland looked to Harry. "So, what's the situation?"

"They need to find a jamming signal messing with Helios' defences that's being broadcast from somewhere on Elpis, presumably by allies of Zarpedon," Harry said to the dark-skinned Vault Hunter. "Janey and I directed them to either you or the Meriff, though I figured you'd be more helpful, Moxxi."

"Thanks, sugar," Moxxi purred, albeit with a warm smile. "Look, I think Janey has transmitters. Go to her, and get some ready so we can pinpoint where this jamming signal is coming from. It'll be good to see Athena again. Though it's weird. Jack may be a low-level programmer, but that just means he works directly with machine code, not that his position in Hyperion is that low down. But why would someone like him need a body double?"

"Or one of the most infamous enforcers to come from Hera," Roland mused. "And we've heard about this Nisha woman. Not far from a bandit, albeit one who preys on other bandits."

"In other words, something stinks to high heaven," Lilith said, crossing her arms. "Zarpedon is the priority to be sure, but for this to happen just as Jack sends for Vault Hunters?"

"I agree, Lilith, something's not right. But Zarpedon should be stopped. Still, there's some small consolation, sugar," Moxxi said to Harry. "You don't need that little project of yours anymore. Zarpedon's alive."

"It's not much consolation, Moxxi," Harry said bitterly. "She's attacked Helios, and she hinted that her future actions will brand her a monster. In other words, taking over Helios is just the beginning of some bad shit. What the hell happened to her?"

"…I don't know, Harry. Why not try to call her? Find out?" Moxxi asked. "I'll give you some privacy, unless you want me to stay?"

"You can, Moxxi. Roland, Lilith, I'm sorry, but I don't know you two that well. Could you…?"

"Sure," Lilith said with a nod. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry." With that, she and Roland left.

Harry stared at the ECHO device, thumb hovering over the button that would connect him to his adoptive mother. The one who raised him, cared for him, looked after him. But he was hesitating, like a man about to jump off a building to commit suicide. He wasn't sure he could do it.

He remembered the time he first met her. It had been after a bad beating by the Dursleys. He'd been in the cupboard, shivering from pain and misery, before he felt something within him change. And then, suddenly, he was reeling within what turned out to be the cargo hold of a massive spaceship. He had collapsed…only to wake up with the stern features of a woman peering at him. But she gently questioned him, her kindness showing through her stern façade.

She didn't believe his stories of where he had come from. According to her, it was the 30th Century, not the 20th1. Earth, and with it, Britain, was hundreds if not thousands of light years away. But she believed that the Dursleys had abused him, when nobody else would. Eventually, she made the decision to adopt him, eventually believing him to be someone who was somehow put into stasis for nine centuries.

She had a daughter whom she had given to relatives earlier, when her military career was more hectic. Britannia, Harry's sister was called. However, she was already a teenager by the time Harry came onto the scene, and Harry, as long as he didn't wander anywhere he shouldn't have, was allowed on the Drakensburg, the ship his adoptive mother commanded. He'd even befriended the AI in charge of the ship, though he thought that weird computer technician, Keith something or other, didn't like him getting so close to her.

Of course, there was the time when his magic showed. When Zarpedon took him to see someone at a clinic here in Concordia, and when he met a man called Jack Clarke, and his daughter. A daughter whom he promised to send emails via ECHOnet…until they were blocked one day. Jack claimed his daughter was nearly kidnapped because of her Siren powers, and he had to send her somewhere secret for her own safety. That hurt, but not as much as getting kidnapped at the age of fourteen did.

It happened during the Crackening. He was trying to reach his mother, only for blue flame to surround him, and deposit him in an old castle that turned out to be Hogwarts. And he found out he had been conscripted into a lethal magical tournament, and he was infamous for surviving an instant death curse wielded by a warlock terrorist.

Harry was far from happy, to say the least. And the next few years proved a trial. The Tri-Wizard Tournament, Voldemort's resurrection, Dumbledore's reluctance to send him back, his horror at Harry's rather direct methods of dealing with his enemies…and so on.

Harry still learned much. Although nowhere near as professional or disciplined as his mother, he knew that you had to be as pragmatic as possible. Thanks to his godfather and honorary uncle, he learned Legilimency, though he rarely used it, as it was effectively mind rape in some cases. He learned combat magic. He learned so many things…but he wanted to go home. Elpis was an arse-sphincter of a world even before the Crackening, much like Pandora, but it was home then, and it was still home now.

But he came back to find his mother and her entire legion declared KIA. Indeed, he himself was considered missing, presumed dead. But he had met Janey Springs not long before the Crackening, and the scrap merchant and dealer agreed to let him work with her, his magic useful for repairs and the like. Their friendship deepened, and he hoped Janey would find someone who would make her happy. She lost her first lover to the kraggons infesting Elpis.

But now, his mother was alive…and doing horrible things. And he wasn't sure he wanted to confront her about them, as he wasn't sure he'd like the answer.

Eventually, he pressed the button. After a long time, the ECHO device was answered. "Who is this? Who's using this line?" came the familiar voice, sounding angry. Gunfire echoed in the background.

"It's me, Mum," Harry said quietly.

"…Impossible…I saw you die…consumed by blue fire," hissed his mother after a long pause.

"I know, I know…look, it's a very long story. Short version? I'm a wizard. I know it sounds unbelievable, but the long version will have to wait until later. If you need to know it's me…the men named their mascot after me, calling it Hal when you vetoed Hadrian. You used to catch me talking a lot to the Drakensburg AI without authorisation, and chewed me out once for showing her clips of GLaDOS from Portal. For my fourteenth birthday, you got me enough ECHOshop credit to complete my Doctor Who collection."

"…It is you," she said after a pause. "…Harry…listen to me. You need to get off Elpis right now. Britannia is on Elpis at the moment as well. Find her, and find passage off that moon now. Get as far away from Elpis and Pandora as you can."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Harry demanded. "I thought you were dead! And now, here you are, attacking Hyperion with no reason! If those Vault Hunters find out I'm your adopted son, I'm dead meat. Same goes for if Jack found out. Whatever the hell you're doing, you've got to stop it now!"

"I cannot. The burden of a soldier is when they have to do appalling things for the Greater Good."

Harry felt something ignite within him at that turn of phrase. Something that he associated with Dumbledore, even if he hadn't actually used the phrase. "What did you say?"

"…The entire universe is under threat, Harry. You wouldn't believe me if I told you the truth. If killing thousands is the price to pay for saving it, then I will gladly die, my reputation stained forevermore, if need be. Elpis must be destroyed, even if it means my death, the deaths of those on Elpis, and even on part of Pandora."

"…What the hell have you been smoking, Mum?!" Harry snapped, his anger welling up inside. "I managed to come back, and I've been trying to find any trace of you. Hell, I've been working on something specifically to save you, something I brought back from where they took me…and you're doing this, justifying mass murder with such bullshit?"

"…I do not expect you to understand me, Harry. Just leave Elpis…please."

"Not when there's innocent people you're about to slaughter. True, there's Scavs here and bandits on Pandora like maggots on a corpse, but there's decent people here too! So the phrase I'm going to use is over my dead body." Harry gritted his teeth, feeling an absolute firestorm of fury within. "I guess they were right after all. You really did die in the Crackening. Because my mother would never do a thing like this! My true mother is Lily Evans, not a deranged monster like you!"

There was a long pause, and when Zarpedon's voice came back, the tone of hurt breaking through her professionalism nearly got through to Harry. "…Perhaps you're right. We've both changed, you and I. Please, heed me, and leave Elpis. Take Britannia and any friends you have with you. I can even arrange for a ship to get you out of the Pandora system. I don't want to have to kill you. Goodbye, Harry." And with that, the connection cut off.

Harry snarled in anger and fury, but Moxxi gently hugged him, and his anger cooled down a little. Enough so he could think straight, or as much as he could. If he was calmer, he'd appreciate the feeling of Moxxi's prodigious bust pressing into his chest, but he couldn't. Instead, some of his anger sublimated into sorrow and despair, and he began to weep quietly, as Moxxi gently murmured apologies to him.

Eventually, Moxxi let him go. "…So, what are you going to do now?"

"…I've no idea," Harry confessed. "I'm no Vault Hunter."

"Harry…you're every bit as badass as one," Moxxi said. "You told us of what you went through when those wizards kidnapped you. Fighting a dragon, facing off against that warlock son of a bitch and his inbred lackeys so many times, sneaking into that facility and taking that artifact…you've got balls, more balls than a lot of people on Pandora or Elpis."

"…I just wanted to have a quiet life. A good life, with my mother. It's why I stole that thing from the Department of Mysteries," Harry murmured. "Don't get me wrong…I'd gladly go and kill Scavs or bandits threatening decent people…or not-so-decent people who still have a decent streak in them." He shot Moxxi a sardonic smile.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Harry. But…you're saying you don't see yourself as a Vault Hunter, as a hero? I beg to differ. I see it…underneath the skin." She poked him in the chest. "You have the heart of a hero. Jack may have a hero complex, but having slept with the man, I know there's something very nasty squirming away in his soul. Now, let's go. I'm sure Jack's hired help will be here soon."

Harry nodded, wiping his face with a tissue from a nearby box. Even so, he wasn't sure he agreed with Moxxi. Living on Elpis was enough of an adventure, and he'd had enough of more dangerous adventure while at Magical Britain. Even now, he wasn't sure whether that was time travel, a parallel universe, or something weirder. Hermione had posited that the timestream acted like a river, meandering and even looping back near itself, and that this point in time was, somehow, closer to their own time than others. It was as good a theory as any.

But…could he fight his own mother? With the very fate of Elpis, its people, even those on Pandora at stake? Even with magic, he wasn't sure. Magic didn't make you invincible, any more than wielding a gun and bearing a shield did. Each conferred a special kind of recklessness, inflicted a kind of stupidity.

As he emerged back into the bar, watching as a newly-arrived Athena conversed with Lilith and Roland while the others looked on, he honestly could say he didn't know what to do. Not at all…

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Harry's had a rather gruelling conversation with his adoptive mother.

Now, I like using Moxxi as a maternal figure, despite her fetishized nature, which she is here. Moxxi is a mother twice over, and while she hasn't exactly been a sterling success story, she's caring towards her kids. Moxxi recognises Harry's pain after his row with his adoptive mother. I was tempted to have Moxxi sleep with him in earlier, pre-Harry Zarpedon versions of this story, but I decided against it. Instead, Moxxi has become a confidant to Harry over the past little while.

1. According to the Borderlands wiki, Pandora was colonised some time in 2864 (as part of the blurb for the original game). I decided it had to be at least some decades after that, so I decided on early-to-mid 30th Century.