Chapter 92: Loop Closed
A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07.
—
Slowly, with repeated groans sounding around the hall, the Unspeakables start waking up. As they start standing, already vigilant when their minds catch up, I keep watching them, going through all their minds at once, to weed out the worst of the criminals, from those who only reluctantly committed the crimes that they did.
No one's innocent here, that much was true. Unfortunately, I can't just kill all of them and be done with it. 1358 Mages and Sorcerers disappearing from the world won't be much of an issue, no. However, the Ministries will know they're missing, and they might become afraid of an entire Department within all their Governments going missing.
I could use the Runes of Kof-Kol to erase the Hemmelig Forsker and all its branches from the minds of everyone, however there's a problem. I will meet Unspeakables, when I return from defeating the tentacled demon that I believe to be Gargantos, the day that Steve will drop the plane into the Arctic Ocean in the Hydra base.
I could still mind control a few Wizards and have them stay, but it's too much work for me.
The Unspeakables right at the front hold their wands pointed towards me, and I just watch them, bored. They remain silent, not saying anything, but I suppose their minds are a bit conflicted now, with the lack of the vows/oaths/contracts holding them loyal to the Hemmelig Forsker. None of them try to attack me, which is good for them, but I feel some common questions running through all their minds.
Who is he? What happened to our Oaths? Did he kill the Designate?
The last question, of course, came only to the minds of the Head Unspeakables of each branch. No one else knew about the Designate. They only knew about their Head Unspeakable, and someone who was a hidden leader.
Waving my hand, I use Telekinesis to float 76 of the Unspeakables in front of me, and as they struggle in the air, I look at the others, and say, "You will all stay silent like you are now, until I allow you to speak. Why should you listen to me? Because if you don't.."
I snap my fingers, more for show than anything else, and conjure dark blue flames of my Kasha form on the bodies of the 76 floating Unspeakables. The fire covers their clothes first, burning them to ash within seconds, and then, within a couple more seconds, the fire burns the wizards and witches themselves to ash, killing them immediately, and almost painlessly. They felt just two seconds worth of intense pain, and then they died.
The 76 people were the worst of the worst, when it comes to crimes committed by the HF. Those were the psychopaths, murderers, torturers, people who love to experiment on other people. Those kinds.
Hell, half of them were criminals even before they were forcefully recruited by the HF, while half of the remaining half just volunteered to serve the HF as long as they got to fulfill their sick scientific fantasies. The remaining.. They found themselves enjoying killing, researching Magic without having to follow any specific laws after they were forcefully recruited.
The people startle seeing their companions die so easily, and they get even more wary. Some, however, drop their wands in fright, as they start running out. They slam into an invisible barrier that prevents them from leaving the hall.
"I didn't say you could leave, now, did I?" I say, raising my eyebrows.
Fearfully, one of them asks, "Wh-what do you want?"
I look at him, admiring his bravery for a second, and say, "Your Master is dead. You must have felt your newfound freedom from the oaths that bound you to her. I killed her because she had committed many crimes against Magic in the name of Research. Just like 76 of the Unspeakables that I just burned. Now, you have three options."
"First, you will go back to your Branches, continue working as Unspeakables, but under new Oaths, new Laws that you WILL be governed by. I will write you new laws about what can be done, and what absolutely won't be done under the banner of your Branch. Be it the Department of Mysteries of Britain, or the French Institut de Recherche Magique, or the Japanese Mahō Kenkūjo."
Pausing, I look them all over, and say, "The second option is available for only very few of you. There are those here who were forced to work for their branches, those who only reluctantly broke the laws of Magic, those that hated doing what they did, although they did like researching. They will be allowed to leave the Hemmelig Forsker, although they will also have to enter Oaths and contracts that will prevent them from breaking any more laws, or telling anyone about the Hemmelig Forsker."
The reason I give them that is because they were forced, manipulated, drafted. They committed crimes, yes, but so did I. A lot of them. If they actually want out of this business, which I can feel some thinking about, I will allow them to leave.
"And the third option is for anyone who doesn't want to accept one of the two given options. Death. Think it over, talk it out, and then choose carefully." I finish, and lean back, enjoying the sound of them talking while sending furtive glances at me.
Tarene.. she fucked a lot of people over in her quest to become a Goddess. And while not all of them are innocent, I could see this still working.
—
"How'd it go?" Selene asks me, as soon as I enter the Castle.
Smiling, I peck Selene on the lips, and say, "Perfectly. Only 900 chose to work for their organization once again, while 200 chose to leave this life behind and start anew. The rest.. they tried to gather together and attack me, hoping the others would follow their lead and join in. As you can see, I am still here."
Selene chuckles, and says, "And what of the Prisoner?"
I sigh, and ask, "Have you seen her mind? Her memories?"
Selene nods, and looking at me weirdly, she says, "Of course. What do you take me for?" I chuckle, as she continues and says, "Her mind.. it was already snapped when she was one of the last two people alive in her entire Universe. She had already lost all hope of survival. Losing her universe, losing the man she no doubt loved, and then, suddenly being dropped here. Everything took a toll on her mind, and she.. changed. She became desperate for survival."
And don't I know it. I've been in her mind too, I've seen all this, and more.
I slowly say, "She's… not a bad person. Or at least, she wasn't a bad person. She tried to save this Universe from the fate that befell her own, but as they say, 'The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.' While trying to save Magic, she committed so many crimes against it that I also can't let her go out in the world."
And her crimes were numerous. Other than taking over the minds of the first three Unspeakables, and subsequently forcing the following Unspeakables into servitude, she also experimented on Magical humans(Mages, Witches, Sorcerers, and even Druids), and even Magical creatures.
Hell, Tarene was also the one responsible for the extinction of Druids as a Magical race. It's just a religious belief now, within Magecraft.
"So? Kill her and be done with it. You know as well as I do how heinous her acts have been. And let's not forget that she threatened your livelihood for years. You could have become the Time Mage that you are now when you were 20 itself."
I smile at her confidence in my learning abilities, and say, "I know. But.. I can't help but feel sorry for her, despite everything she did to Magic. She lost her home, found herself in a new place, and found all her hopes of returning to her home, back in time, lost little by little. Me? Even when I went back 2000 years in the past, I knew that I could return home, I had hope still. She.. didn't. She just lost all her hope."
Sighing, I shake my head, and say, "But, I still can't let her go unpunished. I was going to trap her in her memories, forced to relive her life from the beginning to the end, until she learns her lesson. What do you think?"
It was all confusing, for me. She had good motives, but her methods were evil. She forced people to work on researching Magic, but she also unintentionally prevented countless tragedies from occurring due to failed experiments. I wanted to get rid of her, and whatever influence she has on the DOM, but I can't just kill someone who lost their way because they lost their entire Universe. But I also can't let her go free.
As I said.. confusing.
Selene nods, and asks, "Shall I suggest something?" Once I nod, she says, "Allow me to cast a curse on her. This is one I had invented during my Sorceress Supreme days, and it allows me to turn any enemy into a friend, or at least a neutral party over a period of time."
Curious, since I hadn't heard about it yet, I ask, "What will it do?"
"The curse will change her Soul, allowing it to be susceptible to minute changes in her character, always on the good side. It will also give her a changed introspection in life, ensuring she treasures her life more, and has an overall good view about it. That, along with your own Memory trap will ensure that whenever she wakes, our prisoner will be a changed woman. She will be either our friend, or a helper. If not these two, then she will at least go back to becoming the Hero that she was within her own Universe."
This.. this could work. Being forced to live through her entire life, thousands of years of it, and Selene's curse making her see what she did wrong will ensure that she becomes.. good.
Widening my eyes, I say, "Did I mention I love you?"
Smiling, Selene says, "Just this morning, but I won't mind hearing it once again."
Shaking my head, I kiss her, and teleport us to the Dungeons, right in front of Tarene's cell. The Dungeons were a maze, an inescapable Prison. Each cell had a bed, and a partitioned bathroom, for the sake of privacy. There was enough room within the Cell to give any prisoner the opportunity to roam around.
L
It would have been useful for Tarene, if she was awake.
"I wonder how different her Universe was to ours. What her memories of Earth told us is that there are some differences, the existence of Mages for one, but what else?" Selene asks, as we start casting our curses.
Smiling, I say, "Well, I didn't exist in her Universe, that much was sure. It could have been fun to visit. If only it wasn't eaten by the Dread Lord."
Sigh, so much disappointment. An entire Universe, destroyed by one Being. And Mjolnir.. I didn't even know Mjolnir could do that, shatter Universal barriers. At least, I don't think the Mjolnir from this Universe can do that. Sure, Hela shattered the Mirror Dimension gateway, but shattering a gateway is very different from actually Creating a hole in the Multiverse.
Honestly, it scares me. What if there's another Universe out there, very similar to Tarene's own in its history, and another being comes here, through Mjolnir's barrier shattering feats? What if in that Universe, neither Thor, nor Tarene are good people? An Evil Thor will be way harder to beat than Tarene.
Multiverse.. how we know so frighteningly little about its capabilities, and yet, people still manage to pierce the barriers every once in a while. I'll have to stay vigilant, for any such occurrences.
---
1945:
A year passed, with not much done on my part. Tarene was still asleep, both of our curses still working, and I doubt she'll wake anytime soon.
As for the Hemmelig Forsker, they were back on track, back to researching Magic for the sake of Scientific curiosity. I had set up new Rules and Laws regarding the Organization, and how it recruited people, and how it researched.
Firstly, every person they feel like recruiting will be approached in a place they feel comfortable in, for example their own house, and the application for their recruitment should be sent to the Minister and I first. Well, for now, it was sent only to me. Whenever the next Minister is appointed, they will begin getting these letters and it will be as if every Minister got them, but they just didn't tell anyone.
The recruit will be asked to sign NDAs, magically binding of course, and then given the recruitment pitch. If they refuse, they will be left alone, but kept an eye on, just in case their research messed something up. If they accept, they will be given new contracts to sign, and then they will join the Hemmelig Forsker.
No one will be forced into joining the HF, and no one will be barred from leaving, whenever they want. And if they leave, then they will be asked(forced) to sign more NDAs, and forms, so that they don't use anything they learned in the HF for bad reasons.
As for the research itself, the HF now follows strict rules regarding it. No experimenting on anything alive without their consent. Even animals. No trying to break or circumvent the Laws of Magic. No breaking Time by trying to change stuff in the past(which they already followed, surprisingly enough.)
The secrecy was still in place, and so were the other duties of the HF. They still provided additional security to the Ministry they were a part of, still helped with maintaining the Floo network, and monitoring the Anti-Apparition Wards around the nations. And they also guarded the Time Turners, Prophecies, and the Veil, until their need comes.
All in all, the HF was going from a shady criminal organization steeped into the Governments all around the world, to a secret place of research that is shrouded in mystery, which it was always supposed to be.
Selene and I had kept up with travelling the world, since despite the centuries we have lived together, there are a lot of places we haven't seen. Plus, we enjoy roaming places together.
As we lay in bed, after a night of fun, we suddenly see a pair of candles light up with green flames. I sigh, annoyed, and turn towards Selene, who also scowls, and ask, "What could it be this time?"
Selene snorts, and says, "Most likely someone new will be introduced, or someone has his death announced."
Hah, that's highly likely.
The candles were special ones, made tens of thousands of years ago, from the wax of a breed of large Magical Bees that no longer exists. One belongs to Selene, while the other belongs to me. There are thousands of other such Candles, around hundred of which are currently in the possession of people, while the rest are either lost, or kept in reserve, in case the need for it comes.
And the lighting of our candles indicated to us that the Candle holders were called to a meeting. A meeting of the strongest, and oldest in the world.
A meeting of the Immortals.
---
The next day, exactly 12 hours after the Candles lit up, Selene and I pop into existence in a large Temple in Africa. I walk in, Selene holding my hand, and we feel a soft ripple in the air when we pass through a Magical Ward that's twice as Old as I am.
The Temple of the Long Living is a Temple dedicated to the Immortals, built by the Immortals, for the Immortals. It is the only place on the entire Planet which is a completely neutral ground when it comes to all the superpowers around the world.
The Ward that we had just passed through made it impossible to attack anyone else inside through any means. No Magic, no technology, no melee weapons, and not even Poison will work here. Killing is completely impossible within the Temple.
The Temple was built in 3000 BC, by a group of Immortal Wizards, who wanted to become Gods. They originally began making people worship them. But then, barely a few decades later, the Gods of Africa took offense to that and.. well, obviously, they're not here anymore. The Temple was found by the Externals, and used as their headquarters for a while, after which the Sorcerer Supreme at the time forced the Externals to hand it over.
Magical Temples shouldn't be ruled over by non magicals, he had said.
And thus, it became something else. The gathering place of the Council of Immortals.
Hearing a pop, I turn back to see a Chinese man, around 40 years old in looks, appear in thin air and do a three point landing as he dropped on the ground.
"You know, those aren't good for your knees, Wenwu." I say, grinning at the man.
He looks up at me, scoffs, and says, "Not all of us can teleport without external help, Wizard Athreos. And I prefer landing on my legs rather than on my face."
Xu Wenwu, a Muggle conqueror that has remained almost undefeated for a thousand years. Alas, he's only a muggle, and so, he cannot teleport normally. Since he never learned Sorcery, and no one is willing to teach it to him now, he's forced to rely on Portkeys to teleport here whenever a meeting is called.
Surprisingly, he wasn't the only muggle that had managed to become Immortal on Earth. There are currently 9, of which 3 were muggle Vampires, one had managed to accidentally develop a connection to a Timeless Realm, and the others had used one method or another to attain Immortality.
Ignoring me after the first exchange of words, Xu Wenwu walks past us, and into the Hall of Immortals, where the meeting would take place. But that's to be expected, us Immortals were not friends with everyone.
Xu Wenwu was someone I had fought with in the past, when he came to Hogwarts with his army to conquer it. And while the Founders and other professors at that time were a lot of things, martial artists they were not. Even Godric, one who was.. competent in swordsmanship, would have easily been defeated by Wenwu.
And so, it was up to me to fight him. He retreated, but as it is with Chinese culture, I earned his respect that day, and also his ire. He doesn't like me, but he respects me. His Rings were a work of art, that's for sure. A mixture of Magic and technology, made from a metal I couldn't even identify without actually studying them, which he won't allow me to do.
"Stop fantasizing about the Rings and come on. I can see Tilda waiting for us." Selene's voice brings me out of my fantasies, and we start walking once again.
"I wasn't fantasizing." I lie, which Selen just snorts to.
Seeing someone else on the other side of the Hall, I say, "Say hi to Tilda from me, would you. I'll be over there."
Selene nods, and goes towards Tilda with a hug for hello.
Meanwhile, I go towards an old couple, and cheekily ask, "So you two oldies found time to come out of your labs?"
The man snorts, and says, "Look who's calling us old, Nelly, the man who knew ancestors of our ancestors."
The woman known as Nelly shakes her head with a smile, and says, "He just likes making fun of our looks, Nick, you know that. Anyway, Athreos, do you know what this is about?"
I shrug, and say, "Selene suspects someone has lost the privilege of calling themselves Immortal. Knowing her like I do, she probably knows who it is."
Nicholas Flamel, the immortal Alchemist, sighs, and says, "Now that you say it, it has been some time since I saw Marius Black."
Huh. I look around, and sure enough, he's nowhere to be seen.
Marius Black, a Mage from the 15th century, who became immortal by making a deal with Thanatos, the Greek God of Death.
"You're talking about Marius?" An extremely annoying voice says, making me groan.
This guy just had to come here.
I turn around, look at the young-ish man of around 50, and ask, "I thought you had gone on to the afterlife. They kick you out once again?"
The man waves his hand, and says, "Dying got boring. You know how annoying it is to keep dying again and again, but still have some version of yourself alive in the multiverse? Usually, those alternate versions of me are very much happier, and more successful than I am. I came back just to avoid looking at all their happy lives."
Merlin, Myrddin, the fucker, the dick, the asshole, the annoying bastard, the Sorcerer Supreme, Barry Wee Willy Winkle, he has many names, and many powers and gifts. One of them grants him the ability to peek into the lives of his alternate selves, whenever he wants. Alas, as a drawback, he's crazy as fuck.
Being connected to all of them, all the time, every time, means that he's pretty much immortal, even if he dies. How he can return to life after actually dying, I do not know. It's not like he will tell me, or allow me to experiment on him.
I snort, and say, "One Merlin is enough for us. Maybe witnessing multiple Merlins live out their lives, again and again, is how you're forced to pay for all your crimes."
Merlin puts his hand on his heart, and asks, "You still haven't forgiven me for trying to kill you and destroy your home? Such a tiny little thing? You know I was a different man then. Get it? Different man? Because I was older looking then than I am now?"
For fuck's sake.
I open my mouth to say something unflattering, and probably insulting, but suddenly, someone climbs up on the stage that is reserved for making announcements, making me hold my tongue.
The man, or boy more like, was small, just 5 feet tall, and wore clothes reminiscent of rich British aristocrats. His face, meanwhile, was sunk in, making him look like a 17 year old vampire who hasn't eaten anything for years. Alphard Bones, a Necromancer who sacrificed thousands of human souls in 3rd century AD to attain a longer life. For each life he had sacrificed, he got 10 years more to live. Which means, even after living 1600 years, he would still go on to live at least 10,000 years more.
As long as no one kills him.
One drawback, other than his body's aging cycle, is that after the time is up, he won't be able to do anything to extend his life anymore. Using Necromancy to delay life will do that to you.
He sighs, and says, "I won't waste any more of your time. There are only two announcements to make for today's gathering. Marius Black, the Champion of Thanatos and Hades, and Isis, the Champion of Osiris, have both died in battle. Marius killed Isis, but he was spotted by the Warring mortals who killed him using their explosive weapons. That brings our number down to 217, of which.. 73 are missing from today's gathering. That's it for my announcement."
Of those 73 missing, Apocalypse is no doubt asleep. I can see Garbha-Hsien and the large blue form of Crule, while the other Externals are not here either.
The Council of the Immortals, which is what the Temple is the Gathering place of, is limited to mortals who became Immortal. Mutants, Sorcerers, Wizards, Muggles, Vampires, Werewolves, these count. Gods and Eternals don't.
And it doesn't have to be complete immortality. The Flamels can still be killed by anything that can kill a normal man, their Elixir of Life just gives them a longer life. Same for Xu Wenwu's Rings, and the Vampires, and as Alphard just said, Marius Black and Isis.
On the other hand, not everyone who's longer living is invited to the Council. Wolverine and Victor Creed never even made the short list. Only other members of the Council can invite more members, and that happens only after a meeting has been called to discuss it.
The purpose of the Council is so Immortals can keep an eye on other Immortals, and make sure there is a neutral ground in case there are grievances. Like Marius and Isis, they were enemies, since they were champions of Death Gods of two different Pantheons. While they still died fighting each other, they still were neutral when inside the Temple.
That's the rules.
What you do outside is none of our concern, just don't harm the Temple, or anyone in it.
More than half of these people are those I would love to kill, painfully. Alas, while killing one or two might be accepted by the council, unless I want to make an enemy out of all of them, I can't kill them all. Maybe someday, but not yet.
Selene joins me near the Flamels and Merlin, along with Tilda. For the next hour or so, we talk amongst one another, catching up since the last time we met, which happened 60 years ago. And then, after the catch up part is done, all of us return to our homes through different methods. The muggles had the reusable Portkeys, while the magicals all used different methods of Teleportation. Selene and I simply disappear from the temple, and reappear in Sanctuary.
---
29 April, 1945:
Wearing my old army clothes, transfigured of course, I check myself over. I was once again Mason Aves, the Wizard, and not Athreos Aetos the Immortal Mage Sorcerer. My Magic was changed to mimic my old, 24 year old form, and in my hand I held Galadmagol, my old sword.
I had forged another sword, replicating my Galadmagol and all its enchantments, just for this day. My Glamdring and Orcrists were most definitely superior to Galadmagol, but I needed something inferior today.
Holding my right hand out, I say, "It's time."
Selene smiles at me, and says, "I would have preferred if you didn't feel the need to do this, go back to your old life."
I smile back, store Galadmagol in Nowhere, and say, "I won't stay away for long, my love. And As much as I love my current name, Mason Aves is something I feel especially attached to."
Besides, Grindelwald killing Mason Aves would still be depressing to the World. His defeater miraculously returning to life? That's something that's bound to boost morale.
Sighing, Selene says, "Very well. We will meet in a few days, when you wake up."
And with that, Selene opens up a portal to the Boreas dimension, and shoots a beam of its magic onto my right hand.
"Argh!" I cry out, when my entire upper right forearm freezes completely, and shatters by a single twitch of my bicep muscles. My upper hand was still blue, corrupted by Ikthalon's Magic, and I could feel it spreading slowly, hindering my Healing factor.
"Sorry." Selene mumbles, as I drop down to my knees.
I shake my head, and say, "It's alright, I knew what I was getting into. Now, just one last favour. Could you create a portal to Nurmengard?"
Selene just shakes her head, and with a single wave of her hand, creates a portal to Nurmengard, and pushes me in Telekinetically. I close my eyes, my old injuries reforming with my imagination, and then, I enter my mind. Right before I fall down on the ground, I use my Telepathy to force myself into a small coma.
It was time for Mason Aves to return to his own time. The Loop has come to an end.
---
A/N: The next chapter finishes up the Time Travel Arc. Maybe Time Travel will appear again, maybe it won't. But this Time Travel is done for now.
It will begin after Ch 52, which is when the Flashback to the Past began.
The credit for the Council of Immortals goes to athass_prkr on WebNovel, who gave me permission to use it. It could belong somewhere else too, but I couldn't find any such things by quick google searches. There is the Council of Immortals in DC, but their goals are fighting an enemy.
These ones just want to keep an eye on other Immortals, and have a safe place to meet other Immortals without worrying about treachery.
The Credit for Merlin's identity as Barry Wee Willy Winkle and him trying to befriend Mason goes to Justin Smith on Pat-reon! He's been my supporter here for months, so I really am grateful to him.
Hope you liked the fate of Tarene, and the changes in the Unspeakables. This DOM is what the DOM in canon actually becomes. Secret knowledge seekers, but not manipulative criminals.
Anyway, thank you for your support! Tata!
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