Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Bloody Skies	By : TokiMirage Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 44832 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: JKRowling owns Harry Potter. Everything else is mine. I do not make any money writing this fic.

Chapter List
- 23
- 24
- 25
Bloody Skies
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Chapter Twenty-Four:
oOo
Warnings: Oh you know, the usual. Mentions of gay sex. If you're still reading this story after having read my epic warnings list, I really shouldn't need to be saying anything at all...
oOo
Cyrus rolled out of bed with a groan. Peering blearily through half-closed eyelids, he stumbled to the bathroom, only realizing that he wasn't in his dorm after he nearly walked into a wall. Turning around, he headed for the door before padding quietly down the hall. Ashawyn rented a bachelor's apartment in Sector 2, so all the rooms weren't connected like he was used to. Slipping into the small bathroom, he didn't bother to close it all the way as he relieved himself, staring blearily back at his reflection in the mirror.
He looked... well-fucked.
It wasn't an expression he was used to seeing on his face. Hell, if someone had asked him if he liked... taking it up the ass a year ago he would have knocked them down with a few well-placed hexes.
Yeah, the sex was… great. Mind blowing even. But… Well, maybe it was a fae thing. Or… Ashawyn just had that much experience. He certainly seemed comfortable with the whole thing. Like he'd done it before. A lot. Or maybe that was Cyrus reading into it too much. Guys had sex all the time, didn't they? It was a guy thing. If the sex was great, what was there to complain about, right?
Cleaning his mouth with a wandless charm, he finished his business and washed his hands in the small sink. This was the first time they'd come back to Ashawyn's place, and only the second time they'd had sex together. Last night they'd gone to a rather wild bar with strippers, lap-dancers, and some very obvious drug use. The fae had asked him if he did anything, but thankfully hadn't pushed the matter or offered that they try something when Cyrus had said no rather vehemently. Instead they'd done some drinking, making out, groping, grinding, and then Ashawyn had transported them back to his place and pounded Cyrus into the mattress.
His ass ached, so he focused healing magic into the bruised tissues while he washed his hands and dried them on the towel. Making his way back to the bedroom, his thoughts lingered on his and Ashawyn's rather new relationship. Well, at least, it was new to him still.
Slipping back into the bed with Ashawyn, he rolled onto his side with his back to the fae and shifted, wondering whether it was a good idea to sleep more with all the homework he had to do. He felt… twitchy. When Ashawyn's arm slipped around his stomach and pulled him back into warm, toned, hard flesh, all he could think about was the crazy week he'd had, all the homework he had to do, and that little red guy.
Was it normal for him to be this distracted? For him to want to leave? As Ashawyn's hand caressed his stomach and began to trail lower, he couldn't stop the frown that furrowed his brow. Was it normal for him to not want to have sex again? He had no past experiences with relationships, and any dating advice he'd ever picked up had always been for straight relationships. Yes, Ashawyn took him out on dates and they enjoyed each other's company. Yes, the sex was great and Cyrus felt like he should be getting addicted to it, but he…
Wasn't.
It felt like there was something he wasn't getting. And having no past experiences to compare and contrast, he couldn't figure out the reason why he felt this nagging...
A pair of warm lips landed on his neck and gently began to tease at his sensitive skin. Closing his eyes, he tried to calm the chaotic feelings churning in his stomach. They hadn't fallen asleep until five in the morning, and Ashawyn wanted to go at it again already? Cyrus had too much homework this weekend to have sex again.
"You up for another round?" the fae murmured into his ear, and he could hear the smile in that smooth voice.
Cyrus bit his lip and glared down at his morning wood. It obviously wasn't agreeing with him about the homework. "I'd rather nap for a bit before I get started on the homework, actually." The hand on his stomach paused, and the body behind him tensed.
"What? You're thinking about homework? Now?"
The human craned his head around and tried to keep the scowl off his face. "Yes. I don't know how much homework you did or didn't have at the school you went to, but I have a lot of shit to do this weekend."
The look on Ashawyn's face was amusing, to say the least. "You… would rather do homework than have sex."
Seeing that the fae was not on the same wavelength, Cyrus slipped out of the bed again and rubbed the grit from his eyes. Obviously he wasn't going to get his desired nap, so he might as well leave. There was no point in staying there any longer. "I have a shitload to finish, and right now that puts it higher on my list of priorities."
Pulling on his boxers, he glanced at Ashawyn and saw the fae sitting up in bed, looking absolutely smoking hot with his pouty lips and lithe chest.
When the fae saw his tactics weren't working, he frowned and looked genuinely confused. "Why are you leaving so soon?"
"Because I have homework to do."
How many times was he going to have to repeat himself? Shaking his head slightly, he bent down to grab his pants and started pulling them on. Just as he was about to pull on his shirt, too, he found cool arms wrapping around his torso and pulling him back into a solid chest.
"Don't leave yet," the fae murmured in his ear, bending his head to nibble, lick, and kiss at Cyrus's neck.
The human twitched and started tapping his foot impatiently. "Ashawyn," he said more sharply, "I really have to go."
"Homework can't be that important. Not when you can…" the fae groped him through his pants with a pair of expert hands.
But Cyrus wasn't feeling it. Pulling out of the embrace, he jerked his shirt on and summoned his socks to him, feeling the inexplicable urge to leave. Walking out of the room to get his shoes, he tried to ignore the naked fae padding along behind him. Before he could get all the way to the door, though, a hand caught his arm and gently spun him around.
Ashawyn's face was a little more closed off, now, showing not only confusion but a little bit of annoyance. It was that 'why are you being such a difficult human' look that he got from time to time, whenever something happened that made Cyrus remember their cultural differences. For fae, sex was like... eating fruit, he supposed was a good analogy. And they ate a lot of fruit, since they were vegetarians...
But Cyrus had a life. As it was he had so much homework he would have been praying the study break started sooner if it weren't for the fact that Yankovich had now promised him to a certain little red demon for that entire week. Which left him just a little bit stressed.
"Are you mad at me or something?" the fae asked. "I don't see why you're turning down mind blowing sex with a fae all weekend for-"
"I'm really busy this week," he snapped, tired of saying the same thing over and over again, "and I'm not going to have spring break off. I don't have the time to fuck you all weekend."
Ashawyn's lips twitched upwards, making him look annoyingly smug. "It would be me doing the fucking."
Cyrus snorted and walked away, going for the shoes. Before he could pick them up, however, cool hands spun him around and pushed him against the apartment door before a pair of lips landed on his mouth and kissed him. It fell flat, and he pushed the fae away.
Ashawyn didn't look sheepish in the slightest. "Had to try one last time," he said nonchalantly.
Cyrus didn't believe that innocent look for a minute. "Right." Not caring how close it would put his face to Ashawyn's stiff cock, he leaned down, grabbed his shoes, and disapparated.
oOo
No one was in his room when he showed up, and he was infinitely glad that that was the case. In his current mindset, he probably would have cursed the interloper regardless of identity or intentions. Was this what other people had to deal with in relationships? Probably. Maybe. Alright, he had no fucking clue, and that didn't really make him feel any better. Was it a fae thing or a guy thing?
Hermione might have known. Tara would probably look at him like he was crazy for refusing the sex. Xanthir... would ask that he not bring up gay sex because the werewolf had never asked him about straight sex. And Yalmireth...
The demon was still off with a stick up his ass, doing only god knew what. Cyrus wasn't sure what the demon was still pissed off about, but he certainly wasn't going to just bow down and ask for 'forgiveness'. As far as he was concerned, Yalmireth had been way out of line.
Well, that was what he remembered his opinion being. He couldn't quite remember exactly what they had fought about because of the crazy week... month... year... Eugh. Whatever. He knew that he was right and he was sticking with it – simple as that.
Feeling just a little bit dirty, he decided to take a shower and stripped off the clothes he'd put on just minutes prior. Tossing them along with his boots on the floor, he slipped into the marble shower stall and activated the water facets, setting the temperature to what he preferred. The warm water beat away a lot of his tension, and he ended up staying inside for a good half an hour before he forced his tired ass out of it. As he dried off his hair, he cast a tempus charm and winced at the time. Eleven. He'd only gotten around five hours of sleep that night, after the crazy Friday he'd just had.
Shaking away the tension that was building again in spite of the wonderful shower he'd just had, he turned his thoughts away from sex and a certain fae's obsession with it and instead turned it to all the homework he had to get done that weekend. He had to study Runes, do a paper for Dark Arts and Their Defense, have a 5-page list of spells learned wandlessly for his practical on Thursday, as well as start making plans for a large-scale zombie project Yankovich had given them a week ago to start thinking about. It wasn't due until two weeks after the break, but the demon had been quick to beat into their heads that if they waited that long to figure out what they wanted to do, they would be fucked once they started trying to get it working.
For example, some of the 'ideas' he had suggested had been along the lines of 'control the zombies so they can do a Kachiwitz dance' or 'act out a small play with zombies.' Which, of course, was a lot more complicated than 'see carcass? Raise carcass.' The classes were starting to focus on more fine-tuned control than just raising zombies for the sake of raising them.
Which of course meant Cyrus was fucked.
His only consoling thought was the little red man who had said he would train Cyrus during the break. Maybe afterwards he'd finally have some semblance of control.
Hopefully.
He spent the rest of the morning doing aforementioned homework, and was just about to leave for the training hall with the spell dummies when Xanthir came flying through his door.
At the sight of Cyrus, sitting at his desk with a bewildered expression on his face, the werewolf let out a panted breath of relief. "Whew! Am I glad to see you. I'd hoped you'd be back from Ashyhole's place by now."
Cyrus coughed and couldn't suppress his blush. "Uh…"
Xanthir didn't let him even pull a thought together, however, rushing forward and closing the book Cyrus was currently reading. "Enough of that. I need ya to come with me, or Caylor's goin' to feed my balls to the local snakes. Up!"
After the morning he'd been having, Cyrus wasn't exactly agreeable to being yanked around. "What the hell, Xanthir!" He pulled himself from the werewolf's rough grip. "Chill out. What's going on?"
Xanthir blinked. "Well aren't you snippy. Didn't get laid this morning?"
Cyrus's eyes narrowed. "I didn't want to get laid this morning, not that it's any of your business."
"Yeesh, calm down. Don't get your panties in a twist. Caylor needs your skills as a healer. The bastard poisonin' the pack is back at it. He got some of the adults this time, though, since the kids are bein' more careful after their scare."
The human sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Great. "Let me grab an apple and then we'll go."
Xanthir was literally twitching on the balls of his feet as he waited for Cyrus to walk into the kitchen and pluck an apple from his fruit bowl. Were the werewolves' conditions that bad, or was Xanthir just anxious to save his balls?
"You might wanna get suited up, just in case," the werewolf said as Cyrus slipped the apple and a couple other snacks into one of his bags. Sighing, the human went to the chair set next to the side of his bed and slipped out of his boots and clothes to get the bloody armor on. He hadn't planned on leaving the room that day, so he hadn't bothered to wear it. And yet here he was.
He was beginning to notice a pattern to his life.
"Can't you get that thing on any faster?"
Cyrus's eyes narrowed and he shot a glare at the twitching werewolf. "I get it on as fast as I fucking get it on. Take a valium."
The twitching stopped for a moment as Xanthir tilted his head to the side in confusion. "What's a valium?"
Rolling his eyes – Tara would have gotten the joke – he zipped up his outfit with a manipulation of wandless magic and pulled his clothes back on over top of it. Only then did he put his utility belt back on and cut a hole in his left pant leg that would allow him easy access to his wand holster. The creepy old pervert lady had done well to meet his expectations of the armor. He just wished it had come with a little less… precise measurement.
"Alright. I'm ready," he said, turning back around, and scowled as he got no warning before Xanthir disapparated both of them. He hated side-along apparition. It was bad enough when he had perfect control over it, but when someone else took him for the ride?
Well, he landed on his ass this time. Xanthir wasn't exactly known for precise control.
Unfortunately, he landed on his ass in front of a gathering of werewolves. What a great way to make an entrance.
"Cyrus Obsidian, I appreciate your coming back."
The human closed his eyes and took in a fortifying breath as he pushed himself to his feet as gracefully as he could to limit humiliation. "Uh… you're welcome," he said carefully, not really knowing how he should address the alpha of a pack. No one had lectured him on werewolf politics yet, and he wasn't taking any cultural classes until next year.
Yay.
"I… apologize for the abrupt retrieval, but the level of poisoning is much higher this time than last. The poison was hidden inside a local heard of… elk." He started walking down a familiar hall to the sick room as he spoke, motioning for Cyrus to follow. "I don't know how long they have to live, but I want- would appreciate it if you would heal them as soon as possible."
Cyrus nodded slightly, even though Caylor wasn't looking at him. "Will Macey be there to assist me again?"
This time the werewolf glanced back at him. "Do you prefer her?"
Cyrus blinked. "Uh… I mean, it doesn't really matter, I'm just… familiar with her."
Caylor nodded succinctly and barked something off in another language to one of the cronies following him. The werewolf slinked off into a side hallway and disappeared. Cyrus wasn't really sure how to feel about this… 'catering', but he figured since he was sort of the pack 'healer' that Caylor wanted him to feel… as comfortable as possible?
Honestly, he had no fucking clue. Pack politics meant nothing to him.
Caylor held the door into the sick room open for him, and Cyrus inclined his head slightly as he passed. The werewolf didn't respond, and Cyrus wasn't sure whether it was because he took for granted that everyone would show him respect, or because Cyrus was just a human.
As soon as he caught sight of two men and a woman straining against restraints as they howled in pain, all thoughts of clan politics were wiped from his mind, and he rushed forward to do a quick assessment of the man screaming the loudest. Shit. This was bad. Really bad. Doing an internal evaluation of his magical stores, he was relieved to see they were almost completely recharged. He might need a magical transfusion before this was over, though. The amount of poison in the werewolf's body was staggering.
Not wanting to wait for Macey to show up, he turned to the person putting a damp cloth on a sweating forehead and got her attention. "You, whatever your name is, I'm going to begin extracting the poison from his brain and vital organs before moving on to one of the others. I'm going to keep cycling between them until they're all stable. I need you to catch the poison as I remove it, understood?"
The woman's eyes were slightly wide and glazed from all the screaming and the scent of pain and fear in the air, but she nodded her understanding and picked up the bucket that was probably used for vomiting into.
He summoned a chair from the wall with an angry flick of his wrist, not bothering to apologize when it nearly clipped someone on its way to him. He snapped it into place by the bed and sat down, putting his hands on the chest of the man shaking and twisting in his restraints from the agony. He whispered a restraining spell that kept the body completely immobile and got to work on the brain.
Once he'd removed all the poison from the vital organs, he moved to the next victim. Macey had shown up at some point during the process, and she quickly replaced the twitchy werewolf who had been in shock for a while now and sent the younger woman away. Cyrus appreciated the calmer assistant, and focused more of his energy on the poison removal instead of wondering whether his assistant was going to pass out and spill poison everywhere.
He was just finishing the woman's organs when the third man's screaming abruptly cut off and his body went completely still. Eyes widening, he cussed loudly and stopped what he was doing in the middle of the extraction, healing the wound shut and stuffing the poison into a group of skin cells that wouldn't kill the woman as soon as he left her. Racing to the other side of the room, he put his hand on the man's chest and cursed when he saw that the heart had stopped. Casting the spell that manually started pumping the heart at an even rate, he got to work on removing the poison from the man's bloodstream to keep it from spreading again and undoing his work once he got started on the tissues.
He didn't let himself think about what would happen if he was too late.
Unfortunately, just when he was about to get started on the brain his magic chose to start sputtering on him.
"Macey! I need a magical transfusion, now!"
But she just looked at him with wide eyes and said the words he did not want to hear at that moment. "I don't know how to do that."
Cyrus felt dread curl in his stomach as he looked at the man whose body was slowly failing even as they sat there staring at him. Shit. Magical transfusion was something you learned in Healing class, wasn't it? How could he have forgotten that? Standing in a flurry of motion, he barked at the other two people still in the room and asked if they could transfuse magic. Their wide eyes told him all he needed to know.
"Fuck!" he shouted, fueling his frustration into it and ignoring the flinching of the werewolves in his vicinity. Striding furiously from the room, forcing the fear clogging at his throat back down, he banged into the small waiting room that separated the sick room from the long hall outside and was pissed when he saw no one there. Going out into the main hall, he saw there was no one there either.
Casting a sonorous charm, he barked, "Whoever in this bloody cave knows how to do a magical transfusion, get your ass to the sick room NOW."
He heard a flurry of steps, and werewolves along with Caylor himself showed up within a few minutes.
"What's wrong?" Caylor demanded.
Cyrus wasn't in the mood for the alpha crap. "Do any of you know how to do a magical transfusion?" When they stared at him, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Does ANYONE in this pack know how?"
They shook their heads, and one werewolf asked, "Why do the sick need magical transfusions?"
That he even asked such a retarded question only pissed Cyrus off more. Even Caylor was beginning to look irritated now, but Cyrus ignored it as an idea started taking form in the back of his mind due to his agitation. "Who here has the biggest core?" he asked, interrupting whatever the alpha had opened his mouth to say.
A woman stepped forward, and she was obviously a soldier. In fact, most of the werewolves that had shown up at the sick room door appeared to be warriors. He moved towards her to put his hand on her, but she took a step back.
Cyrus was on the edge of furious now. A patient of his was dying and this little- "Stand the fuck still," he barked, "or that poor bastard in there is going to be dead in two minutes."
He took another step forward, but she backed away again, looking highly disdainful.
"Marilia. Do as he says," Caylor ordered.
She stiffened, but obeyed, shooting Cyrus a dark look. The human ignored it entirely and put his hand on her chest, acting on instinct he didn't even know was right or wrong or- His magic sensitivity exploded with sensation and input as he reached, and he found himself swaying slightly at the sheer power of it. Shaking his head, he focused on sending 'hands' reaching into Marilia like Yankovich had done with him all those months ago in their first Necromancy class.
It certainly wasn't as easy as Yankovich had made it out to be. Trying to push past her skin was like trying to force himself inside a walnut without cracking it, and he didn't even know if he was doing it right in the first place.
"Relax and let me through," he muttered. "Every minute out here is shortening your pack mate's life-span."
She growled at him, but he felt the hard armor of magic under his fingers shift a bit, and he kept trying to push until finally a dam broke and it felt like every nerve in his body was being electrocuted at the same time like a crucio cast by Voldemort himself and he yanked his hand back. He stared at the innocent appendage in shock as the pain began to fade slightly, but not completely go away. Jesus fuck that smarted. Was he doing something wrong? Putting his hand back on her chest, he leaned in again and tried to push past that barrier again, hissing as the familiar fire tore up his arms. Steeling his nerves, he pushed through the pain and started trying to pull her magic into him. It fought him the entire way, 'ripping' and 'tearing' his hands until his eyes began to sting.
Getting pissed off, he reached deep down into her core and started siphoning it off into his body, wanting to get it done as fast as possible so he wouldn't pass out from the pain. It stubbornly refused to follow his direction, so he, recalling the method he'd used to transfer magic in the raising he'd done to save Marianna's life, created a magic 'shunt' out of his magic and forced the magic out of her and into him.
He was unprepared for the influx of power and how quickly it would drain her, however, and the force of the extraction threw him back and into the wall. Marilia collapsed onto the ground, looking dazed but still conscious, while Cyrus fought with the magic that felt like it was tearing him up inside. Exerting his will over it, he tried to get it under control and failed miserably.
Damn, but it hurt like a bitch. Why the hell did it hurt so much? Was it because he was magic sensitive? Was this what Yankovich had warned him about in that first Necromancy class when he'd explained what magic sensitivity was? That it could either cause great pleasure or pain?
He just hadn't realized it would hurt that much. Fuck. Calling on his reserves of magic, he tried to assimilate the magic and change it to his own wavelength before it tore him apart inside. Was this actually damaging his channels? It took him a few painful seconds of fighting, but finally his magic managed to swallow it and 'purify' the magic of whatever it was that made it Marilia's magic.
It was the most painful ten seconds of his life.
Finally, when the pain faded to a dull ache and the magic was no longer scraping at his insides, he pushed himself off the wall and opened his eyes again. Caylor was next to Marilia on the floor, who looked dazed and exhausted, but seemed to be fine otherwise. The other werewolves were keeping a wide berth from him. Not having the time to worry about what was going through their heads, he spun on his foot and burst back into the sick room. The failing body was waiting for him there, and he ignored Caylor's questions behind him as he threw himself into the chair at the side of the sick man's bed and got to work.
Putting one hand on the head and the other on an unmoving chest, he worked as quickly as he dared to remove the poison from the tissues of the brain and heart before he started in on the rest of the vital organs.
Some time later he finally had the man stable and was able to remove the spell that kept pumping his heart artificially. Using a precisely controlled burst of electricity, he started the heart back up again after three tries. Slumping back in the chair with an explosive sigh, he gratefully accepted the glass of water that one of the other assistants in the room held out to him. He felt… fatigued. Not as tired as the last time he'd done this, but still exhausted. His magic stores were very low, as he'd used up the majority of his magic and burned through all of the werewolf magic he'd 'borrowed'.
"Are you finished already?"
Cyrus craned his head around and saw Caylor there, watching him with unreadable eyes. "No. I've stabilized all three of them, though. I have to warn you that this guy's heart stopped for a while. I kept the blood pumping, but the fact that his body failed… anyway. He might not completely recover or be… all there." He made a vague motion to his head. Caylor inclined his head slightly, but his face was as blank as it had been before. Feeling a little uneasy, Cyrus blathered on. "I mean, I did the best I could to heal him. I took all the poison out of his brain right away, and then his heart, but… You may need to take him to a mind healer. If he has complications, it would be above my skill set by a large margin." Like Svea had pounded into their heads – if they didn't know what they were doing, go find someone smarter than they were.
"I… see. I hope it's not necessary."
Cyrus nodded and took another sip of water. "I'm out of magic for the next couple of days, unless I do more magic transfusions."
Caylor's eyes widened. "Marilia's magic was not enough?"
Cyrus snorted. "I barely healed him with that little amount of magic."
Caylor was looking at him now as if he were some strange animal he'd never seen before. "She has one of the largest cores in our pack."
The human shrugged, not sure what the werewolf was implying with that comment.
Caylor was staring at him now, and it made him distinctly uncomfortable. "You really do have an enormous core. Would another healer be able to deal with this level of poison removal?"
Cyrus made a thoughtful sound. "Well… I just know the process requires a lot of magic. I don't really know much of anything about Healer practice, so maybe they have solutions for that kind of thing." Svea hadn't, but he was only one man. A team of healers might have been able to handle it.
The alpha's head tilted to the side. "I… see. And how did you take Marilia's magic in that way?"
Cyrus kept his face smooth and blank, lifting his eyebrows slowly in a look of innocence. "Who?" He didn't know how in the world his sickness had allowed him to suck magic out of other people and convert it for his own body's use, but he certainly wasn't going to go around blabbing the particularities of his illness to someone he wasn't entirely sure he could trust.
"Hm." Caylor stood there and watched him a while longer, making Cyrus feel very uncomfortable and awkward. Finally, he spoke again. "Do you know who is poisoning my pack?"
This was beginning to feel like an interrogation. He didn't like it. "No, I don't." Time for a distraction. "Where's Xanthir?"
A flair of annoyance in golden eyes. "I sent him away so he would not distract you."
Uh huh. Like Cyrus believed that. His werewolf friend was smarter than that.
"You must have gleamed something from the encounter with this… Dorcas."
Cyrus shrugged. "I was unconscious for half of it."
Caylor didn't fall for his diversion. "You have resources and connections he does not."
"Not really. Who do I know that he doesn't that… might…" He stared into space for a moment, wondering. He hadn't talked to Severus or Remus recently. Perhaps they had done some investigating since he'd last seen them? Besides, it wasn't like they couldn't defend themselves from Caylor's stubborn tenacity. Why not throw him a bone to get him off Cyrus's back? "I could get in contact with my guardians and see if they know anything."
Caylor's eyes gleamed in the magic lighting. "And who are your guardians?"
"Well, Severus is a vampire and Remus is the Alpha of-"
"Cyrus!" Xanthir interrupted, busting into the room. He looked very annoyed and growled at Caylor as he walked to the human.
Cyrus felt annoyed at the bad timing. Why couldn't the werewolf have shown up before Caylor started trying to pry information from the poor little human.
"Are you alright?" Xanthir asked, and the concern in his eyes lessened Cyrus's irritation somewhat. "Caylor hasn't driven you to exhaustion yet has he? I heard your call, but they wouldn't let me leave to come find you since I didn't know how to do a magical transfusion either." He glared at Caylor, standing to Cyrus's side as if to protect his back in case Caylor 'tried' anything.
The Alpha didn't look happy at the interruption. "Your presence wasn't required, Xanthir. Leave. Obsidian and I are in the middle of a discussion."
Xanthir snorted and sneered. "More like you're interrogating him for information. You don't have to share anything with Caylor, Cyrus. It's not a part of your contract. He has no business forcing you to do anything."
Cyrus frowned. While that was true, telling Caylor about Remus and Severus would serve two purposes. First, it would get the werewolf off his back, and second, if Remus and Severus actually knew something that resulted in Dorcas getting his head chopped off, Cyrus wouldn't be worked so bloody hard. "I want to stop these poisonings as much as the next person, Xanthir. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm the one getting magically exhausted every time this happens."
The adolescent werewolf frowned, chewing his lip indecisively. "But-"
"I know you and Caylor have some… issues, but we don't need anyone else dying. I almost couldn't save the last one, Xanthir. The poisonings are getting worse, and soon it's going to get to the point where I won't be able to do anything." Giving the werewolf a look, he was relieved when his friend seemed to acquiesce and back down with a grumble. Turning his attention back to Caylor, he continued. "Severus is a vampire and Remus is the Alpha of a pack in Human Realm. Remus was the first to be poisoned, I think, and Severus went to investigate on the poisons origins. They might have more information than I'm privy to."
Caylor's eyes glowed. "An Alpha? You have an Alpha as a guardian? From what pack," he demanded.
Cyrus frowned in thought. "Uh, I dunno. I've never asked him."
He was getting that 'what do you mean you- oh my god, you're such a human' look again. Tara gave it to him so often he was getting professional at recognizing it.
Xanthir, thankfully, filled Cyrus in on what he was missing. "It's odd for a werewolf to have a human for a pup, Cyrus, and even more so for him to be involved with a vampire. Our species generally don't get along. And if you were to bring Remus here, there'd be a shitload of politics involved."
Cyrus rubbed his forehead. Great. Politics. "So, what, do I contact Remus? Bring him here? Let you guys duke it out? How's this shit work, already."
Xanthir patted him on the shoulder with a grin. "Just be glad you don't have to deal with it on a regular basis." He completely ignored Caylor's growl. "In order for Remus to come onto Adelphos Pack lands, he would need to bring a gift."
Cyrus frowned. "But it's your clan that wants something from him, not the other way around."
Xanthir grinned. "A valid point. But what if our pack was to offer him something to come here, arrange it all, and then he knows nothing? That would cause a shit storm in itself. And arranging to meet on the neutral lands of another pack would be even more complicated."
Cyrus grumbled under his breath and rubbed his temples. "Why can't I just bring him with me back to Human Realm so he can meet them and ask them?"
"An Alpha go without his entourage and proper protection? Not gonna happen."
"This is fucking ridiculous. I'm already getting a headache."
"Welcome to the story of my life."
"Well then how are we supposed to arrange this 'meeting' with the least amount of frustration?"
"Politics aren't really my forte. Tara's better at that. And besides, generally you need a neutral party to figure out this shit because one side is always trying to get more out of the other and they never agree on what's equal trade or payment."
"Why can't they just meet at Shikaan? Remus brings Severus, who also might know information, and Caylor brings one trusted bodyguard."
Xanthir opened his mouth to answer, but it just flopped like a fish for a few seconds before he looked at Caylor. "Uh, Shikaan's neutral ground, right? Do you think Kyranes might allow it?"
The werewolf watched his nephew with a stony expression. "I do now know your Headmistress personally, Xanthir."
"I could ask Severus to ask her. He seems to know her, at least."
"But what if she says no?"
"Well… um… I could ask someone else for neutral grounds? Maybe Tara knows a place."
"You can't bring vampire politics into it, Cyrus. Shikaan is neutral ground, Tara's house isn't."
"Damn. Well, then let's just ask Kyranes."
Xanthir's eyebrows rose. "You're just going to waltz into her office and ask?"
Cyrus pushed himself to his feet and shrugged. "Well, either that or ask Severus. We don't even know if Severus and Remus are willing to meet with Caylor at this point. Should probably start with asking them." Rolling his shoulders to crack his stiff back, he checked how much magic he had left. Enough for traveling, he estimated. "I'll be right back." Before either could utter a word, he disapparated with a pop.
And reappeared in a living room that was being occupied by two distinctly naked bodies. Spinning on his foot, he went straight into the kitchen and stuck his head in the fridge. He didn't need to see that.
"Cyrus? Uh, what are you doing here?"
"Visiting. But apparently that was a miscalculation on my part."
Remus coughed quietly. "Sorry about that," the werewolf said, walking into the kitchen with a pair of pants pulled on and a housecoat around his shoulders. "What brings you back?"
Awkward. "Well, it's… a bit complicated, you might say." He closed the fridge and snagged an apple from the fruit bowl. "There's this werewolf pack in Other Realm, called the… Adelphos Pack? Anyway, my friend Xanthir is a part of it. Severus has already met him, I think. And this clan has suffered poisonings on two separate occasions from that poison that nearly killed you in the past month or so."
Remus's eyes widened, and Cyrus took a bite out of his apple. He was starving. "What do you mean, in the past month? The poison is being circulated in Other Realm? I thought he was only attacking British packs."
Cyrus shook his head. "No. Around sixteen or so kids got poisoned from a contaminated creek a while ago, and I ended up healing them all. It was… complicated. Anyway, I've sort of become the pseudo healer of the pack now, and they asked me to come and heal another three cases, except this time they were adults and the level of poison content was the highest I've ever seen. One of them went into cardiac arrest before I finished stabilizing them all, and I'm nearly drained of magic just stabilizing the three. I've already had one magic transfusion today. If the bastard doing this keeps it up, I'm going to die of magic exhaustion in a week." So what if he was feeling a little dramatic today. It was true! "I've got studies to worry about, I can't become a full time healer and be magically exhausted all the time. If my magic stays that low for too long, my death magic's going to go bat-shit."
Remus blinked. "You…" He chuckled softly. "You barely sound British anymore. I never paid it much attention before, but you're definitely picking up someone else's accent."
The human stared at him. "I tell you all of that and all you can think about is how British I don't sound?"
The werewolf shrugged. "You said 'bat-shit', what am I supposed to think? But getting back on track, why exactly are you the healer of this pack? Surely you're not obligated to heal them. Why can't they go to proper healers instead of taxing a student? You're far too young for them to be taking advantage of you like this. It's not your responsibility."
Cyrus frowned. "It- they- Remus, healing this level of poisoning isn't as simple as sending them to St. Mungos. Healer Svea couldn't heal you because he didn't have a large enough core to do it. This isn't something that you can just walk into the local hospital over, and I don't even know if Other Realm has a hospital. I mean, they said something about not being able to get a contract with the Aengar, but I don't know what the fuck that means."
Remus looked thoughtful. "But didn't you say earlier that you healed 16 children? Even with such a large core, that makes it sound as though it's not very hard."
"Children are a third of the size of a normal man, and I had a transfusion from Tara that day."
"Aah. I see. Interesting. So what would you like me to do about this situation you've found yourself in?" Remus put the kettle on the stove and started setting up a pot of tea. His movements were graceful and reminded Cyrus of a stalking predator.
"Caylor, the Alpha of the Adelphos Pack, wants to speak to you on neutral ground concerning who's poisoning his werewolves and why."
Remus's movements paused for a moment, and then deadly serious eyes focused on Cyrus. "You do realize how difficult that is going to set up."
"I figured if you bring Severus, and Caylor brings a bodyguard, then the meeting will be less about the power of the packs and more about the actual problem at hand. I suggested we meet at Shikaan, but I needed to see if you were even up for it before I tried to bargain that one with the Headmistress."
Remus hummed thoughtfully as he poured the magically-boiled water into the pot. "Is Shikaan often used for diplomatic relations?"
"I have no idea."
"Hmm. And what's the alternative if you can't arrange that meeting place?"
"No idea."
Remus sighed. "You still jump into situations without giving it much thought." Cyrus scowled. "Very well. I will meet with this Alpha if he has agreed to these terms, and we will discuss further after meeting at Shikaan."
Cyrus nodded. "Um… I was kind of wondering if Severus wouldn't mind asking Kyranes if we can meet there?"
"That would be unwise," the smooth and slightly cold voice said from the living room. "I am no longer a Shikaan student, and so my words have very little weight in that school. It would be wiser if you were to ask her yourself."
Cyrus grimaced. "Alright." He finished off his apple and tossed the core in the garbage. "I'll see you guys in a bit." He disapparated.
It was like the day that never ended.
He reappeared in one of the main hallways near Kyranes's office. Gathering up his courage, he walked towards the Headmistress's door and quietly knocked. It swung open, and he blinked before hesitantly slipping inside.
"Take a seat Mr. Obsidian, I'll be right with you."
Licking his lips nervously, he did as instructed and picked a chair to sit in. Glancing around, he took in the sparse decorations and professional atmosphere and gulped. Why had he decided to do this again? How old was Kyranes, anyway?
"What can I do for you?" she asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Uh…" Great. What a way to start this intelligent conversation, you idiot. "I came to ask… a favor?"
Kyranes watched him. "Are you aware of what it is exactly that you are asking when you ask for a favor from a vampire?"
The human blinked. Er… "Not really."
She nodded, but didn't sneer at him or otherwise make him feel any more like an idiot than he already felt. "Asking a favor from a vampire is a rather difficult matter. If you are not careful in establishing the rules of this 'contract', so to speak, you may trip and find yourself enslaved to them or doing a favor for them in return that results in your death."
Cyrus's eyes widened in shock. That definitely hadn't been what he expected…
"I would suggest you take some time this summer to immerse yourself in the cultures of Other Realm. If you stumble blindly for too long, you may run into trouble. I will not give you a favor, but you may make a request and I may or may not decide to grant it to you. For a price."
What was the difference between a favor and a request? But no, that wasn't his question… "I need neutral ground for two Alphas to meet on to discuss some… things."
Kyranes inclined her head in understanding. "I see. It is not unusual for alumni of Shikaan to ask to borrow conference rooms for a time."
"I don't think either of them are alumni."
"I see. So you are requesting that two strangers enter and conduct their business on school grounds?"
Cyrus bit his lip. He couldn't read the look on Kyranes's face. "Um, yes?"
"I see." She leaned back in her desk chair and stared contemplatively at her bookshelf for a time. "What is it they are discussing?"
Well, it wasn't like she couldn't figure it out some other way, right? Or use spying charms? "There's been a few poisonings lately. Something that completely incapacitates werewolves and slowly kills unless it's removed from their bodies. It's incredibly painful, and few healers have enough magic to completely heal one poisoned person."
Two lilac eyebrows rose in surprise. "Really? That is interesting. I recall Rivehn discussing that with Yankovich in the past. Apparently there is a human vampire in Human Realm who discovered it. The clans are currently working on locating him."
Cyrus's eyes widened. "They haven't found him yet?"
"Apparently he has learned well the ways of hiding. I will allow these two Alphas to meet on school grounds." She reached into her pocked and pulled out a key with a metal card attached to it. "This is the key to conference room 4. It's located on the top floor of the East wing."
Cyrus blinked as he stood up to take the key from her hand. "You're giving this to me for free?"
A mysterious smile crossed her face. "I never said that. Have a good day, Mr. Obsidian. Continue to work hard in your classes," she dismissed, turning back to the papers on her desk.
The human hesitantly stood and went to the door, glancing behind himself to see Kyranes sitting there, writing something. Shrugging to himself, he left the room.
If it wasn't free, then what exactly was she getting out of this?
He went to look for the room before going to get the two Alphas, not wanting to drag them around Shikaan on his search for it. It didn't take him long, but he almost missed it because the door was hidden away behind a rather interesting statue of a water nymph. Slipping the key into the hole, he turned it until he heard a click. Slowly opening the door, he peaked his head into the unfamiliar space and blinked at the much brighter colors. Shikaan was built mostly out of black marble, and while there were gray and white lines in the stone, it didn't exactly make for a warm, homey, or bright atmosphere. This conference room, however, was made completely out of white marble with pink and green used for design. The only thing that had been spared were the wooden chairs that surrounded the table that mushroomed out of the floor.
Walking inside, he closed and locked the door behind him. Didn't want someone interrupting, now did he? He could feel the wards activate as soon as the lock was turned, and the power of them really was amazing. He wished he could create some for his room to keep the vampires out instead of having to use that ridiculous and annoying web of lights to get rid of shadows. Getting curious about how they worked, he activated his rune sight. Five minutes later he knew that it must have been Rivehn who made them, as the style and structures were very similar to what he saw in class every day. From what he could gleam from the wards, they would let whoever had the key in, and anyone inside out.
Satisfied that he could bring Remus and the others here with no problems, he disapparated from the room and back to the house.
Remus and Severus were dressed now, thank Merlin.
"Did she agree?" the werewolf asked.
Cyrus nodded. "Yeah. We have a conference room to use now. I'll take you there," he said, holding out his hands to them so he could side-along apparate them. His magic wasn't completely depleted yet, but he wouldn't be casting any more spells than necessary for the next few days. Usually it took three days for his magic to recover itself after a draining – if the draining wasn't related to his illness.
After taking his guardians to the conference room, he returned to the sick room back in Caylor's caves.
Xanthir was leaning against a wall flipping a knife in his hand, while the Alpha stood in the middle of the room with an impatient expression on his face. When Cyrus appeared with a pop, he raised an eyebrow. "Well?"
Cyrus looked at Xanthir. "We have a go. I've arranged for a conference room at Shikaan, and Severus and Remus are already waiting there."
Caylor's eyebrows rose. "So soon? The Headmistress was rather quick to agree."
Cyrus shrugged. He wasn't entirely sure what ulterior motive Kyranes might have had that she would say the key wasn't free, but he wasn't about to share his misgivings with Caylor. "If you'll give me your hands, I'll side-along you to the conference room."
Caylor motioned to a man with a blank expression who stood near the door to the room. Cyrus hadn't noticed him before, and when the man moved he couldn't help but feel threatened. Bodyguard?
"I'll meet you back at Shikaan, Cyrus," Xanthir said, spinning his knife one last time before sheathing it.
The human nodded and took the proffered hands of two men who could probably break him in two pieces with little effort at all. With a squeezing sensation, he disapparated.
And reappeared in the white marble room. Remus and Severus were standing by one of the walls, looking like they'd been interrupted in the middle of a conversation. When magic started churning and tension in the room rose, Cyrus took a step back from the apparently-volatile situation and watched with careful eyes.
Remus and Caylor grandstanded for a moment before Remus seemed to calm. The werewolf moved toward the table and took a seat, Severus moving to stand behind him. "Perhaps we'll get more done if we stop trying to intimidate each other?" Remus smiled, and if Cyrus hadn't just seen it with his own eyes he wouldn't have believed the normally docile man could go from animalistic to diplomat in half a second.
Caylor said nothing, but took a seat as well.
Remus turned to Cyrus. "As per the rules of this negotiation, you can't be here Cyrus."
The human nodded. "I'll be at home." He disapparated to his room to get his homework before leaving Shikaan altogether. He had a feeling he was going to need the time killer.
oOo
Remus and Severus didn't return until late that night. However, the lack of angry shouting or tension upon their arrival indicated things had gone… at least somewhat well. Closing the Dark Arts text he was taking notes from for his essay, he looked at the two inquiringly. "So, how'd it go?"
Remus went straight for the tea. "It was long and painful, but we have a Treaty established now."
Cyrus's eyebrows rose. "Wow. So this went beyond just information transfer."
Remus nodded. "Yes. Caylor was unaware that you were a part of a pack when he contracted you for assistance, so this put the negotiations in my favor. He's been taking advantage of one of the assets of my clan without proper payment, and even though you said that you didn't want payment for your services, technically it is up to the Alpha to decide that. So, to put it simply, your contract with him became null and void, and we worked out a new contract. He was unwilling to completely let go of you as a healer, so I was able to negotiate for more than I would normally be able to get away with."
The human stared at him. "You used me as a bargaining chip?!"
Remus sighed. "It was necessary, Cyrus. He was taking advantage of your kindness. Now he is unable to ask for your services unless someone you trust is there to make sure you don't work yourself to death, among other things. He can't call on you for something like the common cold, either. If it can heal naturally, he can't ask for you, and if you are unable to heal it due to you only being a first year Shikaan student, he is unable to seek retribution. Even if someone dies."
Cyrus's eyes widened, and the werewolf sighed. "You really need to be more careful when entering a contract, Cyrus."
The human scowled. "So everyone keeps telling me. Where am I supposed to learn this shit, exactly?"
"Experienced people, books, courses…"
Cyrus felt like banging his head against the wall. "Great. Whatever. So you have this thing with Caylor figured out?"
Remus nodded. "Yes. I'll explain the details to you in more depth later, if you'd like."
"Might as well know what I'm dealing with."
Remus started cooking a late dinner after that, which consisted of a lot of meat and very little else. Cyrus didn't mind, really, and found the table conversation of Voldemort's activities interesting. Apparently the Order was having a hard time pinning him down, as he kept moving about in search of something. One week he was in Egypt, the next he was in Australia. Either it was bad intelligence, or the Dark Lord was really spastic when deciding on places to look for this 'thing'. There seemed no logic to his search.
"Dumbledore's being his usual irritating self," Remus muttered. "He has yet to call off the search for you, even though it's been dead in the water for months."
Severus snorted. "Dealing with ignorant children was difficult, but walking through the webs Dumbledore weaves is something I am glad I no longer suffer."
The werewolf shook his head with a rueful smile. "He still asks the Order if any of us have heard from you or know your whereabouts. According to the new 'spy', you're brewing some secret new weapon for him."
Severus scoffed. "That new spy is a farce, merely a show for the Order. They are hardly deep enough into the Death Eaters to discern anything before it is too late."
Remus nodded. "True."
Cyrus took a sip of his tea. "So, what exactly is this thing he's looking for? And what's happened since he attacked the Ministry?"
Remus sighed. "Ah, yes. Baldrick Nott is currently running for Minister. Scrimgeour was assassinated some time ago, and ever since then Voldemort has been trying to insert someone malleable into the position. Apparently Amelia Bones is giving him some trouble, though. The Order has been trying to 'protect' her, but most of them are hardly soldiers. I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking, bringing people like Molly Weasley into what is essentially supposed to be a hit wizard team. More like Dumbledore's little army of drones. Half of the Order is not suited for combat of any kind and do not have the training to last against a real Death Eater for any length of time. It is a ridiculous situation," Remus bitched before taking a big bite out of his steak.
Cyrus was staring at him with a mixture of mild fascination and surprise. Remus was definitely very… opinionated on that subject. Then again, he was the Alpha of a pack now. He had been training with Severus, and he was quite capable of holding the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. Being forced to fight alongside what were essentially civilians must be frustrating.
"How many get themselves killed with each raid?" he asked, curious.
Remus let out an irritated breath. "They always arrive too late to do anything whenever there is a raid, and Voldemort has been cutting back on those recently. He's been using his resources for whatever it is that he's looking for."
Cyrus made a thoughtful noise and nibbled at a piece of steak. Well, he was glad he didn't have to deal with that on a daily basis. He could only imagine what kind of hell he'd be in right now if he were actually in Hogwarts or the Order. He probably wouldn't even know four shielding charms, Dumbledore would probably have been mysterious about Voldemort's activities all year, and some mystery would have popped up that he was supposed to solve. Thank Merlin Remus and Severus had gotten him out of that snake pit.
"So, how's school going for you?" Remus asked, obviously wanting to change the rather ire-inspiring subject.
Cyrus let out an explosive sigh and finished off his tea before preparing another cup. "Crazy, not that that's new." He sighed. "Someone tried to assassinate me – three times. My death magic went out of control and nearly blew up Shikaan. And some bastard called Guylan challenged me to a fight because people were spreading rumors about me thinking I was more powerful than him, which of course is shit because I didn't even know who the guy was. Then he tried to kill me with some ritual spell, and it was only my death magic nearly blowing up Shikaan that saved my life. So yeah. It's been a busy couple of weeks." Not to mention he got laid, but he wasn't going to mention that. Not under threat of torture.
Severus and Remus were staring at him like he was crazy. "Assassination attempts? Who did you drive to homicide, Cyrus?" the vampire asked with what was unmistakably humor in his voice.
Cyrus scowled. "Hell if I know. Bastard keeps coming back for more, though."
Remus shook his head. "You really should visit more often or send letters, even if it's just so we know that you're alive."
The human shrugged. "Or you could get a magi-com so I don't have to do that owl crap."
"What's a magi-com?"
And so Cyrus proceeded to educate them on the benefits of having a 'portable fire' to make 'fire calls'. By the time dinner was finished, they'd gotten him to promise that he would get them both a magi-com so they could contact him and each other more easily.
"If Shikaan is so dangerous, why do you sleep there?" Remus asked as they moved into the living room to continue their discussion of his school life.
Cyrus grumbled and poured some fire whisky into his tea. Neither Remus nor Severus said anything about it. "Basically, there's some sort of unwritten rule that since Shikaan is technically a boarding school, you have to sleep there. I think it only applies to weekdays, though. I mean, people leave to go home on the weekends pretty often."
"Well, if you want a break from assassination attempts," here Remus sounded like he couldn't decide between humor or worry, "why don't you get a place off campus or come here?"
Cyrus scoffed. "With what happened earlier today? I walked in on you in the living room. Not sure I want to visit much after that. I'd have to call you before coming over or risk inevitable mental scarring, and renting some place that I wouldn't even live in for most of the time is a waste of money."
Remus had the decency to blush, though Severus looked like he could care less as he sipped at some blood. "Why not use one of the Potter estates?" The vampire drawled, tone snide as he said 'Potter'. "I am sure there is at least one that would suit your purposes."
Cyrus stared at him. "What? Potter estates?" And then he remembered that trunk of properties and papers back at Gringotts. "Holy shit. Why didn't I think of that earlier?"
Severus snorted and muttered what might have been 'Gryffindors' under his breath. Cyrus pretended not to hear it as ideas started pouring through his head. He could relax for once on a weekend. Sleep without magic lights getting rid of all the shadows. He got up to leave for Gringotts right away before realizing that they were probably closed for the weekend. Not wanting to look like an idiot, he went into the kitchen and fixed himself another cup of tea.
He was spiking this one too.
oOo
Cyrus went back to Shikaan the next morning, since he'd finished with the Dark texts he'd taken from the library and needed new sources for his paper. On the way back to his rooms afterwards, he caught sight of Guylan and made a quick escape before the human could do more than scowl at him.
Remus had explained his new 'contract' with the Adelphos Pack more thoroughly later that night, and Cyrus's head was still spinning from the amount of shit that constituted werewolf politics. He'd learned enough for his immediate situation and had told Remus to stop after that before his head exploded. The werewolf had just laughed.
The rest of the weekend was spent in his rooms studying or in one of the training halls working on the giant list of spells they had to have learned for Claerant by Thursday. He'd popped by Kyranes's office to drop off the key on his way to the library for more textbooks, and while he had had a few close calls with Guylan, he successfully managed to avoid him for the rest of the day as well as Monday and Tuesday. He went to Gringotts Monday afternoon, and had picked out a property quickly enough, in New Zealand of all places. Who'd look for him there? The vacation home was situated on a rather nice beach too, with wards that kept it disconnected from the muggle world and hidden from magical eyes as well.
Well to be honest, Rivehn probably could have found it if he had been looking for it, and it wouldn't keep out anyone with a decent knowledge of runes or vampires – since the wards didn't block that kind of magical transportation since it had been Human Realm wizards that made them – but the fact that no one knew he was there would be protection enough really.
After that was done he'd returned to the Adelphos Pack to finish healing the poisoning victims, since his magic had mostly recovered. Xanthir hadn't sent him any dramatic texts or phone calls demanding he return right away, so he figured he was allowed to rest and recover. When he showed up at the sick room to see that his patients were up and moving, if in a great deal of pain, he finished cleansing their systems and told them to call him if they weren't fully healed in a few days.
When Wednesday morning rolled around, Welkins was his usual stick-up-the-ass slave-driver self. The instructor told them they would be beginning weapons training with Ouragan after the break just so he could beat their lifted spirits back down with another obstacle course – more like maze from hell – that reminded Cyrus of the Third Task and the subsequent battle with Voldemort. Xanthir had skipped for some reason that morning, too, so he didn't have an ally watching his back as the other students tried to… 'thin' the competition. Afterwards, when he was walking to Runes after healing many broken bones, extensive bruising, and an array of lacerations, he paused at the end of a hallway and frowned. He swore he could hear-
A muffled crack echoed through the marble halls, and before he even realized what he was doing, Cyrus's legs started jogging down the hallway. Casting a silencing charm to keep his boots from making a ruckus, he made his way to the corner and came to a stop before peaking around.
"-k off, Lihmeth."
"Aw, is poor little brother unable to defend himself? A full semester at Shikaan and you're still as weak as you ever were. You're-" a loud smack of flesh hitting flesh, "-always going to be a weakling."
The smaller guy on the floor scoffed and spat out a mouthful of blood. "I'm weak? Father pounded your ass too, Lih-"
"DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT!" Cyrus watched with wide eyes as Asteras – the vampire he'd remembered to avoid after getting bit in the middle of the night, the asshole that he'd nearly fried the balls off of, the bastard that Rivehn had insulted and banned from biting him again – kicked the shit out of the guy huddled defenseless on the ground. "I know you did something, you little fucker! It's your fault they're gone and we're left with nothing!"
The guy on the floor protected his face with his arms. "And you'd rather it stay the same as it was and have all the money?"
"Anything would be better than the ridicule I have to suffer now!" he shouted, landing another kick to the guy's stomach.
The guy on the floor scowled. "Oh? Is big brother too weak to deal with a little-"
Asteras let out a furious shout and pulled out his wand, snapping out the words of a rather Dark spell that could easily kill a human being.
But Cyrus was already reacting, a silent summoning charm pulling the guy on the floor through the air towards him. The human caught him with an oof, and was quick to erect a bubble shield to protect them from the volley of Dark curses flying their way as Asteras fumed. Cyrus had no idea what they were fighting about, but he did know that Asteras was a bully and an asshole. A bully who beat on his own family, like Dudley used to do to him.
And that wasn't acceptable.
Drawing his death stick, he sent an explosive hex blasting down the hallway, destroying the magic lights on the ceiling as well as most of the statues that got in the way. When the fire receded and the smoke plumed up to the ceiling before dissipating, he saw no sign of Asteras. Eyes narrowing, he spread out his senses and found the vampire coming at him from the shadow behind him. Casting wandlessly, he sent the same blasting hex out through the channels of his back, throwing them forward while attacking Asteras at the same time.
He caught sight of the vampire hissing at him and cradling his bloody, torn arm before he disappeared into the shadows and left them in peace.
Well, a modicum of peace.
The guy in his arms was struggling like crazy now that the threat was gone, and when Cyrus didn't let go in his surprise, two fangs sank into his forearm and went right to the bone. Letting out a cry of pain, he tried to pull away only to have the fangs refuse to let him go. As the potent venom went through his system, he found his body slowly slackening and becoming heavy. He could feel two hands settle on his forearm to hold it in place, but he couldn't find the strength to pull away.
"Wha…" he slurred, trying to keep himself upright but slowly tilting forward to lean against the guy's back. "Can't… mo..ve…" And then a wave of heat spread through him and had him gasping and hardening beneath his suit. Letting out a low moan, he grunted as he was abruptly released and collapsed to the floor. The guy was staring at him with wide eyes, mouth covered in his blood. A pink tongue slipped out to lick two bloody lips.
Cyrus, freaked out about his current condition, focused his attention inward and found both the aphrodisiac and something else spinning about in his bloodstream. Not particularly caring about getting a hard-on, he focused on the other and started pulling it out through the holes in his arm. Once he stopped it from reaching his brain, he found himself able to move and quickly stumbled to his feet and away from the vampire still on the floor.
It didn't take him long to remove the poison, as most of it was in his bloodstream and he could 'catch' it as it left one of his arteries and then direct it to leave by his arm. Tilting his bleeding arm downward, he forced the poison of sorts out and heard a plop and drips as it and his blood hit the floor. Satisfied that the poison had left his system, he closed the bite wound, all the while keeping his eyes on the vampire he had saved and then been attacked by.
A vampire that was still on the ground, looking up at him with a peculiar glow to his eyes. Was he getting high off the magic in his blood? Tara still did that, even though she'd been 'getting used' to his blood for a while now.
"You can move," the vampire slurred slightly, still staring at Cyrus with that slightly dreamy glaze to his eyes.
"Er… yeah."
"You're immune to my venom?"
"No. I know how to extract poison."
"Oh."
They stared at each other, the vampire still licking his lips and using his thumb to catch some blood and then bring it to his mouth. "You taste delicious. For a human." His head tilted to the side, the glow in his eyes beginning to fade slightly and the glazed expression becoming blank and slightly cold. "Thank you for your help," he said, pushing himself to his feet and cracking his broken arm back into place.
Cyrus grimaced at the sound. "Uh, want me to heal that for you?"
A darkness flashed in the vampire's eyes. "What do you want?"
Cyrus frowned. What was with this guy? He was just trying to help. Why was he getting all defensive? "To help."
"For what price?"
Now he was the one scowling. "I'm not- it's not going to cost you anything," he bit out impatiently, sheathing his death stick.
"There is always a cost."
"Yeah well, I don't do that. So if you want me to heal your arm, I will. If you don't, I won't." He crossed his arms over his chest and gave the vampire an assessing look.
The guy looked positively befuddled. Well, that's what Cyrus would like to say he could read in the guy's face. And the only reason he was even making that kind of guess was because he'd been in close quarters with Snape for a few months.
"It is not necessary. With the blood, it is already healing."
Cyrus grunted and cast an eye at the red liquid that had spilled onto the ground. Waving his hand, he vanished it so no one else could get their hands on it. The vampire twitched at the movement, but when Cyrus did nothing more than clean up the mess, his tension relaxed slightly.
The silence was awkward. "Well… I'll… er, see you later then, I guess," Cyrus stumbled, turning around to go back the way he'd come. He was probably late for Runes at this point.
The vampire mumbled something quietly behind him, but Cyrus didn't catch it so he just assumed the guy had been speaking to himself.
Hopefully Rivehn wouldn't kill him for being late. At least his hard-on had faded. It would be embarrassing as hell to walk into the room leaking arousal like that. Slowing from his jog, he slipped through the classroom door as quietly as possible, taking a seat beside Xanthir.
Copying the notes on the board quickly, as Rivehn was in the middle of a lecture, he tried to pretend he'd been there the whole time.
He wasn't that lucky, of course.
"Mr. Obsidian. What would happen if I were to use a kilarian execution sequence instead of a jarvitz when creating a Dark spell?"
Cyrus grimaced. Oh he was very glad he'd started studying this weekend. "You'd blow yourself up, sir."
Rivehn eyes flashed in the lighting with what Cyrus hoped was amusement and not ridicule. He hated it when he didn't know the right answer to one of Rivehn's questions. "That is correct, Mr. Obsidian." The human let out a breath of relief. "Can you tell me why that is?"
His brain froze for a second as he tried to remember why. "Uh… Dark spells are dangerous and unstable and the kilarian execution sequence is usually used for… charms?"
"Very good, though you are missing a few important elements." And thus continued the lecture. Rivehn didn't put him on the spot again after that, and by the end of class Cyrus had multiple pages worth of notes that would be very helpful for the test on Friday. However, just as he was about to get up to leave class, Rivehn asked him to wait behind. Grimacing, he looked at Xanthir and saw the werewolf giving him a sympathetic expression.
"I'll wait for ya outside," he said quietly, patting Cyrus on the shoulder before leaving with the rest of the class.
Nervous, Cyrus wondered if he should stay seated in his desk or stand up. That decision was made for him, however, when he made to stand up and Rivehn motioned him to stay where he was. Plopping back down into the chair, he tried to keep the grimace off his face. Was the vampire angry at him for being late?
Green eyes watched the tall vampire's lithe form, decked out another muggle dress shirt and pants, as Rivehn made his way up the stairs. The vampire sat down on top of the desk in front of him, his long legs crossing, one arm braced for balance while was thrown casually across his lap… and he was still tall enough to stare down at Cyrus despite the fact that the classroom was like a lecture hall.
"How is your tutoring with Soterios progressing?"
Cyrus's ram-rod straight spine relaxed a bit. "Uh, pretty good."
"You are no longer having such difficulties with understanding Transfiguration?" When Cyrus shook his head, the vampire nodded. "Unless you are planning to continue in Transfiguration, I would suggest that you begin focusing your time on the end-of-year project. Have you decided what you are going to do for it?"
Cyrus's mind blanked as he stared at his professor. This was very… odd. Rivehn usually didn't go to the student and inquire about these things. In fact, unless you were very insistent and a hard worker in his class, he wouldn't even let you use up any of his office hours, as he reserved that free time for his upper years usually.
"Mr. Obsidian?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Cyrus felt blood rushing to his cheeks at the intensity of the amethyst eyes staring at him. "Uh… no, I haven't decided." When Rivehn's eyebrows rose, he bit his lip. "Uh, not that I haven't been thinking about it!" Close save. Now, as he hadn't actually been thinking about it, what could he do a project on…? "I'm, ah, rather interested in warding. I was thinking of doing something like that."
Rivehn's eyebrows rose even higher. "Warding? That is rather… ambitious, considering it is not something you learn in class until third year. Why not create a spell instead?"
Cyrus shrugged. "I haven't made up my mind yet, really."
Rivehn made a thoughtful sound. "I see. I would suggest you choose to create a spell instead, as we have been covering theory for that all year. One that interests you or you have been looking for but have been unable to find." The teacher unfolded his legs and slipped smoothly off the desk in a motion that Cyrus never would have managed to make look so se- er, smooth. Yeah.
Shrinking his book bag and slipping it into a pocket, he got ready to leave the classroom.
"And Mr. Obsidian. Do not be late to my class again."
The human twitched and nodded his head, making a quick escape. Xanthir was waiting outside, just like he promised, and soon they were walking to the Main Hall for some grub.
A curse came flying his way, and he cast a shield spell to block it easily. Turning around, his eyes narrowed when he caught sight of Troy Guylan. "What the hell?" he asked, hand slipping down to draw his death stick. Why was Guylan being so bloody insistent? If the bastard wanted to play dirty, Cyrus would play dirty. He had done a bit of research on that weird circle and triangles shit on the ground, and he knew it was ritualistic now. Still didn't know what it would have done to him, but the fact that it took more than two minutes prep time indicated to him that Guylan had set him up with their dueling location, and that didn't sit right with him. When dealing with an enemy you intended to kill, who cared about fair? But in a duel between two people measuring their skills? As far as Cyrus was concerned, Guylan was a cheating bastard he didn't want to deal with again if he could avoid it.
"You keep avoiding me. Our fight on Friday was interrupted, Obsidian! There was no winner."
Cyrus's eyes narrowed. "I could have killed you with my death magic and turned you into a pile of ectoplasmic goo. What's this contention about who's the winner? And on top of that, you picked a location for the duel where you'd already prepped a ritual! That's fighting dirty, asshole."
Guylan scowled, but looked slightly confused or surprised. Was it because Cyrus wasn't letting the human push him around like last week? Or was he used to getting his way all the time? "Rituals weren't included in the rules for the duel, and you used death magic! That's dirty!"
Cyrus snorted. "Well, even if we were both fighting dirty, I still could have turned you into a pile of sludge."
"Not if my ritual didn't kill you first!"
Green eyes narrowed. "So the ritual was intended to kill me."
The crowd watching the show fell silent, and Guylan's eyes widened and twitched to the side to gauge the audience's reaction. No one was impressed. If you were going to kill someone at Shikaan, do it in a way that it couldn't be tied to you. 'Airing the dirty laundry' was something you did not do at Shikaan. Killing wasn't completely looked down on, but if someone started to get 'known' for killing other students to solve all their problems, then they might find themselves poisoned or portkeyed into a volcano in their sleep.
"In regard to who is the more skilled or powerful human," Cyrus began, senses open in case Guylan decided to attack him again by surprise, "I could care less. You challenged me, and I fought you. If you're still not happy with your 'measurements,'" he paused here, wondering if people would get the reference to Tara's comment about Guylan's dick size. From the snickers that spread, they did. Probably thanks to the gossip mill. "Then you'll have to find someone else to compare yourself to. I'm not fighting you again, as it's obvious you're willing to kill to keep your 'reputation'," he said sarcastically.
Guylan's eyes narrowed with fury. "You little-" a spell came flying at Cyrus, and he reflected it with a powerful shield. Only, it didn't reflect and instead mixed with the shield and exploded in a flash of light, sending a concussive force in Cyrus's direction. Trying to keep his feet, he was unprepared for Guylan to appear right in front of him with a dagger in hand. Before he could finish the attack with his dagger, Xanthir appeared in front of him with his sword out and blocked it before using sheer physical force to push the enhanced human away.
Guylan glared. "Why are you interfering, werewolf? The human can't fight his own battles?"
Xanthir glared at him. "You have proved yourself a dishonorable person, so I am in my full rights to protect an ally of the Adelphos Pack."
Murmurs spread through the hall like wild fire, and Cyrus frowned and looked at the whispering people in confusion. What?
Guylan's stupefied expression was quite amusing, though. "Ally of your pack?"
Xanthir's eyes were glowing in his anger, and he growled, "That's right. So if you kill Cyrus, there will be consequences."
The human looked pissed. "How the fuck did some no-name human become the ally of a werewolf pack?"
Cyrus watched the exchange in confusion.
Xanthir smirked. "By being more valuable than you are."
Ouch. Cyrus grimaced. That was a low blow. When the hell had this happened, anyway? He was a Healer for the Adelphos clan weeks ago, and Xanthir hadn't stepped in then. What had changed? Was there something he didn't know about being the ally of a pack? Probably. Maybe he should have asked Remus more about it. Not that the other werewolf would know the politics of Shikaan enough to answer his current slew of questions. He'd have to ask Xanthir later.
Guylan scowled, but sheathed his dagger and walked away. The students gave him a wide berth, and Cyrus watched curiously as some of the non-humans hissed or bared their teeth at him as he walked away. Huh, that was interesting.
Once the tension in the hall began to fade, Cyrus relaxed his guard and turned to Xanthir, who was watching Guylan until the human turned a corner. "What was that all about?" he asked the werewolf.
Xanthir turned to look at him, his eyes slowly losing their glow. "We're allies now. I'm in my full rights to help you," the werewolf said, as if that explained it all.
Cyrus frowned. "But why didn't you help me before? I mean, we were friends."
Xanthir scratched the back of his head, ruffling the spiky orange locks. "Uh, it's a little complicated. As friends, I can't help unless you ask otherwise I would be implying you can't take care of yourself, but as an ally and because of your… situation with the pack, I have to. I have no choice."
Cyrus didn't really get it, but he figured it must be one of those… Other Realm things.
They continued on to the Main Hall for lunch and met up with Tara at their usual table. Cyrus caught sight of that guy he'd helped earlier sitting alone at one of the tables and would have waved, but the vampire wasn't looking in his direction. Shrugging to himself, he plopped down into his seat and sighed, pulling the menu closer to himself. Quickly tapping the first thing that looked good, he put the menu back into the middle of the table and took a long drink from his water and lemonade.
Tara was quick to accost him once he'd settled. "So, what happened in the hall, eh? I was just talkin' with a friend before you came in here and she said some shit went down with Guylan."
Cyrus sighed. "He tried to pick a fight. I told him to fuck off. Taunted him, and then the idiot let it slip that he was trying to kill me with that ritual he used during the duel."
Tara's grin was positively feral. "You tricked him into admitting that? Good jooob, Cy-Cy. Everyone's going to think he's a total noob now." She snickered.
The human frowned. "Well, that wasn't really my intention. I just wanted him to leave me alone."
Tara barked out a laugh. "You never intend for anything to happen, Cyrus. It just does." She giggled, eyes glowing red as she sipped her glass of blood. "Ha! I can't believe he was stupid enough to admit that! And the stalemate coupled with how horribly he's taking it just eats away at his reputation. He might lose a few allies over this. If you have the chance, fuck him over good. He's not going to live this down – he'll be after your ass." She slapped him on the pack with a proud grin before a thoughtful, predatory look crossed her face. "Maybe I'll do a little bit of huntin' tonight… No one tries to kill my Cy-Cy."
Cyrus raised an eyebrow. "What am I, a pet?"
She grinned and ruffled his hair, making irritating purring sounds by fluttering her tongue. Xanthir laughed at the look on Cyrus's face, which wasn't a pout. It wasn't.
"So, I heard a lot of other shit happened this weekend, too. Xan filled me in. You've been a busy little bee. Got your guardian a contract with the Adelphos Pack." She whistled. "Nice job." Her humor dissipated slightly as she leaned in conspiratorially. "So, what did you find out about the poisonings? People have started asking questions. Werewolves keep dropping like flies, and the Aengar are being swamped with poison cases that they're having a bitch of a time dealing with. It's like no poison they've ever seen before. From what I've been hearing in the Bast clan, they're contemplating sharing their information and turning it into an Other Realm matter. The politics with that are a bitch, though. I mean, making this global… as soon as two species have acknowledged it in the Other Realm Council, the shit has officially hit the fan."
Cyrus felt like his brain was spinning. "Huh?" was his intelligent response. "Other Realm Council?"
Tara rolled her eyes. "You really do need to pay more attention to Other Realm politics, Cyrus."
The human moved his plate out of the way so he could thump his forehead on the table. "I knooow. I'm going to go to summer school somewhere to learn this shit."
Tara 'aah'ed. "That's smart. Then you won't feel so stupid all the time."
He tilted his head to the side to glare at her.
-Toki Mirage-
This was the second most hellish chapter I have ever edited in my entire life. :P The Trial was the worst, hands down Hahaha. Marms and Roos gangbanged me (Roos dared me to say it rofl) for three hours and then another two hours on top of that. So, suffice to say, this chapter has Golden Roos Stamp of Approval. I made her squeal. XD Mwhaha. Two words: Tara's pet. (Quote: "Cyrus is Tara's pet, and our slave.")
Anywho, might not be able to update again unless I procrastinate A LOT. :) Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Thanks for reading! (And reviewing, to those who do.)
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