Walburga kept her eyes on the thick register in her hands as she studied the information about various hooligans that had been taking the spotlight in recent times when she'd gone away.
"It's mostly them…" Walburga whispered, pausing for a moment to take a sip of tea from her ornate cup made from the bones of some magical creature.
Except she frowned softly while giving the cup a strange look when it touched her lips and placed it aside before leaning back on the chair to rest her burdened back as she closed her eyes and relaxed.
'The brat promised me that he'd let me meet that suspiciously intelligent and all knowing Gehrman Sparrow for us to discuss a cooperation to take 'Him' down…'
'But it's been a few months already…and not a word yet.'
'...'
Had it not been for Loki already being the Blessed of a True God, evil or not, Walburga would've thrashed him for delaying things so much.
But she too knew that it was unwise to rush matters regarding Angels and other High Level Mysticism occurrences if one didn't want the entire situation to explode in their faces.
As such Walburga had been waiting patiently, even if the wait was slowly turning particularly torturous.
After all, those of the sleepless pathway didn't need to sleep a whole lot. And so she had the dead silence of the night to let her thoughts wander.
With her eyes closed Walburga thought about the news she'd received from Bones earlier in the day, about the kids from Hogwarts being sent to 'dangerous' missions, she was worried for a second, wishing for Loki's safety, but quickly caught herself.
'Hmm…good for him if he gets into trouble…he kept ruining my sleep schedule with all those midnight letters of his…'
'Although, given the marriage proposal between him and Bones, I wonder if he's found someone…'
'He better not have scared her off with his terrible dressing sense…'
Just thinking about Loki's clothes and general style from the first few months she spent with him made Walburga shudder.
She was about to pick up the perpetually cold tea cup she'd set aside earlier when her hand froze.
A thick grey fog descended in her vision as a message played out.
"Mr. World sends his regards. He has an instruction for you. When he gives the word, he wants you to kill as many members of the Aurora Order as you can."
Walburga's first reaction was surprise as she heard Loki's voice out of nowhere, watching him kneel in front of an altar and speak directly to her, followed by a deep sense of focus and urgency as she processed what Loki was telling her to do.
"This brat!" Walburga nearly cursed up a storm, only managing to hold herself back as she realised she was still surrounded by a sea of grey fog.
'What does he think the Black family is!? Are we hitmen for hire!? We're supposed to be the ones doing the hiring!!!'
But feeling a gaze wash over her, Walburga quickly stood up from her chair once the vision vanished as she knelt and paid her respects to the 'Evil God' she'd come in contact with before.
However, even after she finished her prayers, Walburga remained kneeling.
'Kill as many members of the Aurora Order at once?'
'What good would that do?'
'While I'd already planned on doing so to reestablish the Black Family's dominance to secure some funding for the war to come, isn't this a bit too hasty?'
'What would killing off a bunch of lunatics have to do with the supposed intelligent and crazy follower?'
'...whatever it is, I'll make sure that the Black Family earns the lion's share of the pie!'
'And I need to make sure Loki learns his lesson once he's back! He keeps using the Black family resources like he's at a gambling den!'
'...well at least unlike Sirius he wins in the end…'
With that Walburga stood up, downed the chilly tea in one go before clearing her throat, setting herself upon her chair like a ruler as she spoke.
"Kreacher!"
There was a sharp crack in the air as Kreacher apparated to her side, bowing in subservience as he kept his large dropping ears open.
"Spread the word in the slums. Masquerade all the crimes the Aurora Order has carried out in my absence. Focus especially on how they've fought like cowards to steal only from the weak by turning them on each other."
"Yes Lady. Kreacher can do so. Anything else?" Kreacher whispered in his hoarse tone as his large pointed nose touched the floor, flopping like a dead fish.
"Yes. Make sure to send a message to the Order. If they're to interfere in what's coming next, the Black family will pull their support from Britain. Especially from Gringotts."
"...." Kreacher shuddered as he heard Walburga's icy tone that suggested something far deeper than she was letting on but it wasn't his place to ask and so he stood by until he was dismissed by a wave of his Lady's hand.
…
"Nick!!!" Prenelle rushed over, caring not for the several little mechanical servants she trampled on as she arrived by Nicholas's side.
"What happened!?" Nicholas asked with a face full of seriousness, his eyes not even lingering on the rather precious rare to obtain materials that were so easily destroyed.
"It's Loki!"
"Huh?" Nicholas said as he felt a thin sting in his chest.
It was a feeling he'd only felt as he watched his particularly close friends leave one by one as they grew older and failed to advance, sometimes dying by his own hands.
"No way…I know that brat! Nothing could've happened to him! You saw him during the world cup!"
Prenelle matched Nicholas' gaze and bit her lips with a tinge of worry.
"It hasn't happened yet. But it seems like an Angel is targeting him."
"Angel? Who? Which pathway? It can't have been Dumbledore! I've talked to 'Him', 'He's' downright terrified of messing with anyone under 'Her' protection!!"
"I don't know. But that's what Fleur's letter says. She sent it urgently after someone from 'His' organisation told her that an Angel is interested in killing a student we know."
"..." Nicholas paused. His gaze turning cold and sharp as he thought through things, his sharp analytical mind a gift of the Savant pathway combined with the prowess of an Angel giving him the only other possible explanation.
"....the Aurora Order?"
"Yes. I thought so too. But they couldn't have gotten a Sequence One, they have a True God, even if he's maddened and evil and no one above Sequence 5 because they are 'evil'." Prenelle rejected the question, or rather only affirmed Nicholas' true thoughts.
"It can't be Dumbledore…"
Nicholas paused, his thoughts slowly rolling off his tongue as if he were in disbelief.
"....so it's someone else from history?"
The meaning of his question clear, 'If it wasn't someone from an established pathway, how did they survive for so long without help from the True God of their pathway!?'
Was it another hidden God like the one who had met him?
But that couldn't be possible could it? To hide a God was not easy. Especially not without the help of the Darkness pathway.
So the only other way would be that they kept themselves hidden? But what God could hide themselves from other Gods so easily, vanishing from History, even if they could hide themselves from commoners like him and Prenelle.
The entire scenario seemed like an enigma.
…
A soft shadow extended from the base of a man's feet.
It felt like there was a depression beneath him.
He walked calmly.
His footsteps echoing the rowdy corridors, bringing a sense of rhythm to the chaos, amplifying it with each step, making people eat their own fingers, rip apart their faces with their bare hands, vomit blood in each other's mouths, the usual.
He'd seen his own followers do a lot more bizarre things so he wasn't fazed in the slightest.
Hell, he'd done much worse things himself.
'All for the Lord.'
'Hehe~ Lord! Accept our sacrifices!!!'
'No!! My!! Mine!!! My sacrifice!!!! Please Lord, you must take me!!!!'
Voices rang in his head as usual, filling his otherwise silent outwardly appearance with a chattering background.
His eyes pierced through the obstacles in his way. Locking straight onto the target he'd been assigned to by his Lord.
'Hahaha~ His head will serve as our Lord's conduit to spread across the universe!!!'
'Blasphemy!!! Our Lord doesn't need such a silly gift!!! This is but an appetizer to prepare the world for his unshakable presence!!!'
The man kept his gaze locked onto the flowing disturbances caused by the boy's aura in the Spirit World.
His eyes 'listening' to the boy's every move, every ability, every secret and every mystery.
The boy looked like a normal Sequence 7 Beyonder of the Mystery Pryer pathway. To an extent that one of him was confident that if he were to graze the boy the most he would get in return would be a mere Sequence 7.
'Is it truly as that man proclaimed?'
'Blasphemy!!! How dare you question the Lord's orders!!!!'
'He must be exorcised!!! Baptised by the Lord's loving grace!!!'
The man continued walking.
His gaze steady.
Fixed solely on the boy's location as he travelled deeper and deeper into the depths of the dense structure they were playing in.
In a way the situation seemed poetic.
The boy was digging a grave for himself.
Going deeper and deeper, sinking into the darkness as he brought about a cover from above to fully bury the boy alive and watch as life slowly left the boy's eyes while squirming in his grasp.
As the three faced saint walked deeper into the corridors, he never realised a man walking right behind him, Gellert Grindelwald.
Looking disinterestedly at the show that was being put on around him, Grindelwald occasionally paused to pull out a small doll from thin air.
He'd look at the doll, frown slightly and then toss it back into the void it had originated from.
They walked together, slowly, as if revelling in their own thoughts, neither acknowledging the other, one out of power, the other out of inability.
Soon they entered the first elevator where Grindelwald pulled out another figure from the void.
The figure was of a long bearded old man with a hooked nose that looked like it had been broken at least twice wearing a long purple glitter studded gown.
The projections eyes were unfocused for a moment before they regained a stark and a clear sense of clarity and focus.
"....Gellert? You called?"
Grindelwald nodded, his face all smiles and a harmless sense of measure as he spoke quirkily, "Have you written it yet? It doesn't seem to be working."
"I have…" Dumbledore said, stroking his beard, looking more interested in the Saint in front of him who was burdened by a stark brand of madness but still in control.
But he soon lost interest and turned to judging the shininess of his beard as Grindelwald spoke again.
"She's interfering again?"
"Not quite." Dumbledore shook his head, "You've kept her busy, I'm sure of that. It's 'Them' I'm truly worried about. I can't write any more since 'Their' influence is at its peak. Any more and I believe I'll be losing my only opportunity, so pardon me my old friend."
"Ha~ Truly? A friend? After all we've done together?"
Dumbledore looked at Grindelwald and gave him a quirky smile, his eyes twinkling, almost as bright as his purple gown as he spoke softly, "Now now Gellert. You can't go reminding me about such things now. I've got front seats to an apotheosis ritual to take part in. Forgive me for now, but I promise to guide you into the new era at the most opportune moment."
"Heh~" Grindelwald chuckled and shook his head, "Don't worry, forgiveness isn't something that you need to keep tabs on with me. I will make sure to keep your seat warm!"
…
"Hmm…?" Loki looked straight up through the ceiling, spotting the reason for his weird feeling and then looking back down.
'Just a saint?'
'Why are they so sure that I'll die?'
Loki's fists clenched in anger.
Loki could clearly see the blood and bits of flesh dripping off the Saint of the Hanged Man pathway above him. The bits and pieces floated into the air, mixing with it in the form of a bloody mist as it corrupted and set everyone inside it in a spiraling sense of despair.
Loki tried his best to remain unaffected by the madness and remain calm, but seeing so many innocent people be so ruthlessly tortured didn't fit in.
It was like taking a salted lemon to a fresh wound.
Things were bound to get painful.
But Loki didn't let his guard down.
No.
Instead he doubled down on his plan.
Loki turned his head away and continued working, playing along with the trap he'd set up, he was just the bait, a mere worm, dangling helplessly on a hook, swaying left and right in the gentle breeze as the warm rays of the sun slowly cooked it to perfection.
Although the strange appearance of the Saint of the Aurora Order pathway from the top of the base had thrown off his tempo a little, he stayed silent.
Fighting against an Angel wasn't something one could do on a whim.
After all, the only fighter truly strong is the one that survives in the end.
'I hope Nicholas and Prenelle act soon, if not this is going to become a big mess.'
…
Hermione stood up slowly.
As soon as the ritual had ended she'd felt a heavy burden on her spirit.
Her head throbbing lightly as she felt waves of foreign spirituality clash with her spirit body as it was inexplicably removed before it could harm her.
And after a few seconds, that excess burden stopped, as if whatever Mr. Error had done had taken care of all her problems.
But a bitter taste still lingered in Hermione's mouth.
'Help is on the way?'
'So I was right? Something dangerous is going to happen?'
Hermione frowned.
Just then Tonks grabbed Hermione's hand tightly.
But Hermione found no fear in her gaze, instead Tonks seemed rather eager.
But before either of them could speak, Ron interrupted them.
"Argh…bloody hell…who took a broom to my head!? I feel like someone just dunked me with a jar of purely aged Lovage."
Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to look at Belmont who looked bewildered himself.
"Wh..what just happened?"
Hermione paused for a moment and was about to explain truthfully knowing that with Tonks having seen everything she couldn't just hide it without permanently obliviating some of her memories, but Tonks beat her to it.
"She used a spell to steal away the charm affecting you!" Tonks said, giving Hermione a wink causing her to breath a sigh of relief.
Ron noticed this, but said nothing, he didn't want to have another spell rearrange his face.
Either way, he knew from his memories that the last bit of time was all fudged up, and so he chalked it up to a coincidence.
"But why do I still feel so terrible? It feels like something is hammering away at my head?" Ron mumbled causing everyone else to frown too.
And before they could even begin to inspect themselves to see why they weren't, the officers beside them all suddenly started to collapse to the floor.
The sudden action caused Hermione's heart to drop.
She pulled out her wand to try and stop whatever was happening but the force that had just receded earlier returned with full force, sending her spiraling to the floor.
The world blurred as her legs started to feel wobbly, like jello.
Tonks beside her fared even worse than everyone else. Her instincts ringing alarm bells as a raging thump echoed in her chest, it almost felt like her heart was about to explode.
Hermione managed to force her eyes open, fighting as an unending sense of despair began to blaze in her chest like a bright star.
That was when she saw it.
And it sent a violent fit of revulsion through her.
The officers were all on the floor, some crawling over each other, trying to strip the other of clothes by using their teeth, chewing through the kevlar, ripping their gums in the process, snapping their teeth, others simply biting their nails off and forcing it into their eyes and a few that had managed to scoop their eyes out with their hands and were in the process of chewing it.
It all happened without any opposition.
In fact the officers were all smiling. Their bleeding mouths painted an eerie picture as their eyes gazed tenderly at the blood pooling around them.
It looked like they were in love.
Suddenly Tonks pulled out a straw doll from her pocket and tossed it into the open air.
Hermione recognised the doll instantly. Its straw patterns were the same. And if she couldn't recognise that she could easily see their eager march towards death.
They were the straw dolls that were tied up in the Department of Mysteries that always tried to kill themselves.
"Run!" Tonks shouted, pushing Hermione in the opposite direction to wherever the straw doll tumbled towards. Hoping to keep at least her alive.
But Hemione held on, she didn't leave.
She'd left people to die because of her inability once.
And now that she could save someone else. She'd rather do everything she could.
Her mind debated only for a second before she rushed to pull the fallen and confused Belmont and Ron towards herself.
She then placed her hand in the open air and pushed out her spirituality.
An enchanting spiritual door formed almost instantly, leaving Tonks bewildered as Hermione pushed the door open.
However, as soon as she did, Hermione froze.
Not just because the door had instantly taken on a reddish crimson hue, filled with blood and whispering deathly mumbles that caused her mind to slowly descend into madness.
But because at the other end of the door were people she did not recognise.
'Are we going to die?' Hermione thought to herself, feeling a sense of deep oppression from the people in front of her.
They looked down at her equally bewildered but then surprisingly-
'Smiled?'
'Why are they smiling!?'
"I told you it'd work, Nick!!"
"You're still just as reckless as ever Prenelle…you really broke into a random person's teleportation spell…"
"Whatever it is! This young witch might've just saved them all!"
The bickering couple walked through the door Hermione had kindly still held open as they looked at the unsightly officers on the floor without even batting an eye.
That was when Hermione's mind clicked.
'Nick? Prenelle?'
'Nicholas Flamel!!??'
Hermione nearly screamed causing Nicholas to actually turn around and wink at her, as if he was reading her mind.
However he turned around and became serious the next.
"Get ready to take them somewhere safe Prenelle."
"You don't need to tell me more." Prenelle whispered as she began to flick her wand, causing a large amount of runes to erupt from its end.
Hermione recognised some of them, but that some was not even a drop in the ocean when compared to the amount pouring out.
It was pretty clear that Prenelle was doing something strange if not outright crazy.
After all, no spell needed such a large amount of runes for anything.
'What does she want to teleport?'
'The entire Launch Facility?' Hermione scoffed in her mind causing Prenelle to give her a soft giggle with a wink before she focused on her work again.
"No way…" Tonks mumbled, having only just figured out the identities of the two legends before her. "Are they…?" she asked, looking at Hermione who nodded unsurely.
Her mind already racing, thinking if this is what Mr. Error meant by 'help' being on the way.
The tension that had stressed her out before started to lessen slowly as she fell into a soft lull of comfort because whatever Prenelle was doing seemed to induce a sense of calm and effortless warmth in the surroundings.
"Let's get out of here." Tonks whispered to Hermione as the latter quickly pulled a new door into existence, however, before the door could fully form, it shattered.
Hermione's eyes widened in surprise, not being able to comprehend what had just happened as she searched the area for the cause and found-
-Nicholas pointing his wand at her, "Don't do that." he said, slightly annoyed. "You were lucky earlier that it was just us who arrived here through that."
Hermione's eyes widened further.
'How could I be so stupid!'
'This is clearly a battle between High Sequence Beyonders!'
'I might've let our enemies know our location and reach us so easily if they had the ability to move like me!!'
Hermione wanted to apologise but she didn't have the time or the energy since the shadows around them all suddenly exploded, not into corrupting murmurs or even spikes like the Shadow Ascetic from before, but into a searing gaze that looked like it could pierce through their souls.
Tonks clenched Hermione's hand tighter while Ron broke out into hives as Belmont bared his fangs in a hiss~!
The shadows felt like they were staring at them. Studying them. Understanding them in maddening detail as if they were mere prey on dishes, waiting to be eaten by a hungry beast slurping its drippings.
Nicholas noticed and almost immediately flicked his hand and for a second Hermione felt something terrifying brush against her core.
For a moment she felt like her soul had been touched but she didn't have the capability to feel it yet and hence she couldn't discern it that was what had happened.
But the brush faded as soon as it arrived, skipping her entirely.
Its effect however was plain to see for everyone.
Almost immediately distorted creatures crawled out of the shadows. Falling in hordes, flailing around as they screeched in pain and horror as a wealthy mass of mist floated out of their bodies and towards Nicholas.
It all happened in the span of a few seconds.
The beings that had just felt like an insurmountable threat to the low level beyonders present were solved just like that, with a flick of Nicholas' wrist as he used the enhanced ability of an Arcane Scholar, life extraction.
And while Hermione felt a little carefree as she realised that Nicholas Flamel was someone truly powerful, she couldn't help but feel fear again when she saw shock and surprise in Nicholas' face as he mumbled-
"How!? No way!? This…how is this possible!?"