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Actually Harry didn't know that was still the case, but he wasn't going to get into that right now. "You remember Dr. Druid nearly killing himself trying to use a simple transfiguration spell? His magical core wasn't up to powering the spell, not since his injuries against Selene. The point is, I have recently discovered that you don't have to call on an elder god or any otherworldly being to kindle your magical core. Simply being in a magically rich environment, like, say Hogwarts or around, um, me, is, well, is enough to do it."
Ororo almost stopped breathing as the implications of that and Harry wanting to talk to her hit her. "What are you saying Harry?"
"I don't know if it's just you, or maybe something that runs in your family I don't know enough about your ancestors for that to…" Harry stopped at her look.
Gulping he went on quickly. "Anyway, I have looked at your core, and Illyana's, and Kitty's, as well as several others. But the reason I mention the three of you in particular, is because all of you have magical cores now. Yours is actually very large already, I'd estimate its size as matching Professor McGonagall, and she was the most powerful which in the UK at the time of my self-imposed exile." That was only because he had killed Bellatrix well before he left, but again that was a side note. "What I'm asking, I guess, is do you want to learn how to use it? Do you want to be my apprentice?"
Ororo responded by leaning over and kissing him deeply on the lips. "Of course I do you foolish man!"
Harry breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of joy filling him He had found out through his studies recently that a magical core once ignited could have deadly consequences if it wasn't regulated, teaching Ororo would prevent that from happening. And magic would retard her aging process, removing a fear that had been slowly growing at the back of Harry's mind, that he would eventually outlive the women he loved. Jean, as the avatar of the Phoenix, might well be immortal, but Ororo was still mortal. Yet now, with a magical core, and the size it was already told him she would be very powerful indeed, she could live for far longer than he had feared. Of course Emma was still all too mortal, but that, and whether Harry would let his fear in that direction stop her from joining them, was a problem for the future.
He pushed her back slightly. "I'm happy you thought that, but we need to think about this a little more. Like I said, you're not alone here, there is also Illyana whose core is developing, a little faster than I am happy with to be honest. And then there's Kitty. I don't think she'll ever be as powerful as Illyana or you have the potential to be, but it's there already. What I'd like to do, is for the two of us to sit down and hammer out a basic Vow."
"You capitalized that when you said it, Harry." Ororo said sitting down again beside him. "What is this Vow you speak of?"
"A magically binding oath preparatory to any magical training." He said simply. "I don't think you or the other two ever would, I don't want to, either now or in the future, accidentally let loose someone who will abuse their magical powers. I want to make certain from the very beginning that they understand what they're signing up for. That's why I won't start training anyone until their Kitty's age 15 or 16, old enough to make their own choices, young enough to be taught yet not so young that they'll come to resent being forced to sign something like this in the future.
"So you're not really worried about the three of us, but those who come after us." Ororo mused, then nodded her head. "That actually makes a lot of sense in my opinion. You wish to do this now?"
"Actually, I want to ask you another question. When you and Kitty first met, was your connection, did you…" he faltered. "What I mean is did you have a connection almost immediately, were you drawn to her in some way?"
Ororo frowned thoughtfully. "I believe I was actually, I thought she was very amusing, and fun to be around and nice, I'm not certain how to put into words but there was a sort of connection there."
Harry nodded smiling faintly. "In my world, there were many ways to become an apprentice to a master. One of the ways which was almost unheard of and yet was in many ways the most powerful, was to simply meet a person that you had an instant connection to, not in the terms of possible soul-mates or something, those things really don't exist no matter what certain Teen-witch magazines used to say about them. But master apprentice relationships occurred, though they were astonishingly rare."
"I felt something like that when I met Illyana, and I intend to take her on as my apprentice in a few years. Before that I'll be giving her some instruction, basic mental organization, a few defensive spells that she can could call upon, enough to start her on that path before we hit her with the vow. But Kitty's old enough right now, and while her magical core is still developing, I think the two of you…"
He stopped then as Ororo's lips was on his, a wide smile on her lips at the thought of teaching magic to her younger sister in all but blood.
The proceedings were interrupted by a voice neither had ever heard in their lives speaking out suddenly. "I honestly hate to interrupt this, truly I do, but I've waited years for my chosen to recognize her full potential, and I'm afraid it's past time the two of us talk."
Harry and Ororo wheeled in two directions, a spell in Harry's hand and a lightning bolt forming in Ororo's, but instead of releasing their respective attacks, they stopped and stared. The woman who spoke was indeed someone they had never seen before, but it wasn't that which stopped their attack, quite the opposite really.
No, it was her appearance and the sheer overwhelming presence the woman gave off that stopped them. She gave off more of a presence than even Cytorrak had when Harry 'met' him the first time, more than even Mehpisto in his own realm. Despite this, she was dressed simply, in a long, flowing toga/skirt of green cotton. On her feet were a pair of equally simple sandals, with small bangles of bronze and silver adorning her ankles, while on her ears she wore small ringlets of gold.
In appearance she looked like a painting of motherhood come to life, with long brown hair, a welcoming smile on her lips and a full figure. She seemed middle-aged, but somehow ageless. Her body was that of a human, but her eyes told a different tale. They were green and blue swirls, shot through with white. "Good reaction time Defender, but you have no need of this martial ardor for me. My chosen knows me."
Harry looked over at Ororo, to find her on one knee, looking at the woman in awe. "Goddess…"
The woman laughed, a throaty yet cheerful sound. "That is what I am known as in the Savannah my dear. But please, stand up, you have never come to me on your knees before, don't start now. Your lover hear has probably heard my original name. I am Gaea."
At that name Harry allowed his spell to dissipate, his own eyes widening. He had heard from Dr. Strange that the Earth itself had a personification in this universe, but hadn't really believed it. Yet based on the books he had read about deities, Gaea was one of the most reclusive yet positive towards humans in general terms. According to what he read she had become the 'mother' of many of the main godly pantheons, and she had been around well before even the gods that Strange called upon, the only one of that first group of primordial gods who hadn't fallen into darkness.
He shook his head. "Well I suppose that answers who you are, and if Ororo trusts you I will trust her judgment, though how you got through my wards with nary a whisper is a question I'd like answered."
"Do you think you could build a ward to keep out the spirit of the very earth they are placed on?" The woman asked, arching one eyebrow. "I am Gaea, my power infuse every rock and tree of this world, to a greater or lesser extent. This castle is situated on the intersection of several of my veins, what you call ley lines, making it all the easier."
Harry frowned a little at that, but Ororo's hand on his arm made him simply nod. He still didn't like the idea of otherworldly deities in general, but Gaea was one of the few he should be able to trust. Ororo smiled at his acceptance before turning back to the deity that had suddenly appeared before them. "My lady, I am honored beyond words at your presence, yet I must ask, why have you come?"
Gaea laughed again. "I have come to speak to you my dear. You do not know this, but you descend from a powerful line of sorceresses, all of whom looked to me to, in your lover's words, kindle their powers. Those ancestors were queens in Africa based on their power, though it alas dissipated in your great-grandmothers time during what Europeans call the colonization era. By the time your grandmother moved to America, it was barely a whisper in your line. In you however it has come back."
"That and your powers make you a perfect chosen for me. No this is not the same as an avatar, oh suspicious wizard," Gaea laughed again as she looked at Harry's dubious expression. "I would simply train her in her magic, Ororo would not draw power from me or have to invoke my name, but she would learn spells and abilities that you would not be able to teach her. Moreover, I can use my own magic to speed up time in her mind so that my chosen will come into her power that much faster."
"Why?" Harry asked, still suspicious. "Why is it important to you that Ororo studies with you, Gaea? Everything I've heard about you says you look at the long term, and you don't routinely show interest in one human, or even one family."
"My reasons are twofold," Gaea replied before Ororo could take umbrage at Harry's suspicions of her goddess. "One, I speak the truth when I say that your powers make you a perfect match for me, Ororo, and two, that I do have a historical connection to your family. I am happy to see that you have chosen a love worthy of you, unlike your grandmother, who was taken in by glib phrases and 'a life of luxury' in those sprawling concrete constructions you humans are so fond of."
The scathing tone in her voice brought brief smiles to both her listeners. "I also have a vested interest in humanity as a whole, and what you and your faction are about benefits all of humanity, though most will be blind to that for some time, and you will continue to run into opposition there."
Ororo and Harry exchanged a glance, speaking as couples do without words for a moment, then Harry waved one hand at his weather witch, indicating she should be the one to answer. Ororo smiled, and nodded her head. "So long as I can learn the skills and spells that Harry would teach me, my goddess, I agree."
"Excellent!" Gaea clapped her hands in joy, though the sound had an odd timbre to it, like the toll of a bell for some reason. "I will appear before thee tomorrow morning then. Be warned however, I am a stern taskmaster. I will have your best, nothing less." Ororo nodded and Gaea moved forward, touching her forehead gently. "You are so much more than I had any hope to dream my chosen, you and your Harry both."
With that she disappeared, leaving Ororo and Harry to themselves for only a moment before Jean came up the steps, stopping momentarily as she took in her lover's expressions. "Hey you two, what did I miss?"
OOOOOOO
True to her word, Gaea did appear the next morning, and her mental instruction of Ororo began. At the same time, Jean was finishing up her own projects with the stuff they had up absconded with from Russia.
Harry however, since he wasn't needed down at the construction site today, teleported to California to meet with Reed Richards at last. The two of them had been so busy lately they hadn't had time to meet despite Harry's wish to do so. But Reed, at Harry's behest, had been able to clear today to meet with him, the same day that Wyatt and Harry had set up to go and meet the mutant cousin Wyatt's friend had heard about, Danielle Moonstar.
He smiled as he ported it into the small area that Reed had opened in his defensive scheme, wondering really what would have happened if he hadn't. He was in no rush to find out firsthand however, but if Reed agreed would be willing to see what would happen to something which was portkeyed in. Getting Reed's agreement would be relatively simple, this would be an experiment that they would both benefit from.
His thoughts broke off as Ben opened the door at the far end which led into the rest of the FF's suite. The orange goliath's craggy face was split into a smile. "Hey a magic boy, how's it going?"
"I'm fine Rocky." Harry replied smiling as he reached out to grab the larger man's hand in his own.
Ben raised an eyebrow at the surprising strength of that grip, and asked, "Expecting trouble or something?"
"No, I've recently gone through a few changes, and one of them seems to be that my physical form is a lot stronger without my activating my magical strengthening technique. Let's just say I've had a few interesting adventures of late."
"Yeah interesting times abound." Ben said grimly, shaking his head.
Harry looked at him as the two walked down the corridor one eyebrow raised in query.
After a few steps Ben sighed and shook his head. "We've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to spend with Alicia, and things aren't… going well there."
Harry winced a little and shrugged. "Er, if you want my advice, it would be to sit down with her and simply talk about it. If you two want to make it work, you'll both have to make it work, and that means putting in the time. In your case that will be damn hard, I understand, but she has to understand that too. If you can't put in the time for whatever reason, or if she's not waiting willing to wait for you to put in that time, if she doesn't understand that you have other priorities, then I'm sorry to say but it might not be the best relationship for you, Ben. That doesn't even consider other things."
"You sound like Susan!" Ben laughed, though there was scant humor in it. But it ain't like there're that many fish in the sea for a man who looks like me, ya know."
"There are probably more than you think." Harry replied shrugging. "Besides…" He paused and looked around making sure they were alone, "What, um what would've happened if you two had gone, y'know, um all the way? I mean you need a sort of… er stronger girl just um…" Harry trailed off uncomfortably.
After a seconds shock, Ben began to laugh. He laughed loud and long and he reached out to slap Harry on the back with a rocky fist. That pat would've sent the old Harry to the floor, now Harry simply took it with a somewhat embarrassed but warm smile on his face. "I hadn't thought that far ahead!" Ben laughed shaking his head. "I'll have to think about it."
"There's no rush, keep trying with Alicia, you don't want something like that to just peter out, it leads to hard feelings on one side or another." Harry shrugged, and the two stopped in with Wyatt, watching as Hedwig took a small letter from the Native American before winging off, with Wyatt joining Ben and Harry to the main sitting room.
There they found the Fantastic family all spending time together. Their days had been incredibly busy lately, and moments like these will had become few and far between yet all the more dear for it. Reed and Susan smiled in welcome while Franklin clapped his hands, seeing his old friend.
Harry smiled at them all, his first friends in this new dimension and the tyke he who had begun to heal Harry's sanity without even trying. "Hi guys. I wish this visit was simply to hang out, but I am afraid I do need to talk to Reed for about a few things, nothing serious I hope, but still."
"Yes, Johnny mentioned that you had taken one of my energy scanners. Did you want my help in figuring out what the energy reading meant?"
"That and this," Harry replied, holding up what looked like a vial of blood. He sat down and Franklin immediately waddled up to him. Harry absently picked up the baby as he handed over the pile to Reed. "I took that from a corpse after a battle three weeks ago." He paused. "God has really only been three weeks?" He shook his head and from there he went on to describe what he had run into in Russia, leaving off just enough to keep the conversation light about what they had run into.
Ben and Reed glanced at one another able to read between the lines there rather quickly. Both knew that the fight had been much more serious than Harry was letting on. Still Reed looked at the vial thoughtfully. "And you don't think this was some form of mutant?"
"No, I don't though I couldn't say why, it didn't look human really, I know that doesn't mean much, but… Something tells me it's important."
"I'm not going to question your instincts about this." Reed pressed a small button on his cufflinks and a small robotic drone floated through the air buoyed by two small vent fans. It floated in front of Reed for a moment, its back opening up to reveal a series of holding areas. Reed placed the blood sample into one of them then turned back to Harry as the drone zoomed off.
The wizard reached into his newly finished expanding pouch at his side to pull out the scanner he had borrowed, smirking a little as Susan and Ben gasped at that feet. Reed however looked only a little interested, and Harry wondered, not for the first time, if something like this would be possible via technology eventually. Still Reed took the scanner, punching in the commands to bring up the last scan, which after a moment sprouted into being in the air above him.
Looking between the image and the actual energy reading, the elastic genius frowned suddenly, shaking his head. "I'll need time to tell you more, but I can already tell you one thing about this. The spike here in the omega-waves and this one here in the phi-wave intersecting it at precisely equal points, that tells me this was a spacial opening of some kind, either space or dimension, I'll have to look closer at the output to tell you which."
Harry's eyes squeezed shut and one hand rose to his face rubbing at it irritably. "Fuck," he muttered just low enough so that Franklin wouldn't hear it. Not, he thought wryly looking over at Ben and Johnny, that he probably hadn't already been exposed to something like that.
It definitely wasn't low enough because Susan said sharply "Language Harry, there is a child present!" Harry nodded ruefully waving one hand placatingly and she looked at him closely. "This friend you say was possibly abducted, was he or she a close friend?"
"She, Betsy Braddock is her name, a young telepath who used to work for the British government until a horrifying assault forced her medical discharge. Honestly I think we would have been closer if, well you know how time gets away from you. I just didn't have any time to…" He frowned guiltily. "I just didn't honestly think of spending time to, you know keep in contact with her with everything else that has happened lately, and all my responsibilities. That's going to eat at me for a while, until we get her back."
"I'll look into this further and see if I can't narrow where this portal came from down for you. Reed replied simply, handing that to another droid that whizzed up through the air at his command.
The two of them then began to discuss what Harry had offered those months previous, a laboratory in space. In return Harry wanted some kind of scanning device that he could use as an early warning system that would cover all the approaches to Earth.
"You can't honestly say that you are pleased with how little movement there has been in the space program can you, Reed?" Harry asked looking at both him and the others one after another. "After your accident, nothing, no manned ships, no probes even past the moon. And yet some of your adventures show conclusive proof that there are aliens out there and that they aren't exactly friendly. I looked over your case files, and the Skrull you faced sounded more like a special operative rather than regular military, do you agree?"
Reed shook his head slowly. "I have long been concerned about what could happen if a alien race launched a major invasion, but I had hoped to have years to work on the project, and to have more public support in that direction. That there hasn't been anything in that direction concerns me greatly, when I have time to think of it at any rate."
"It does me too, and almost smacks as if someone is trying to prevent us going into space, but if that's the case then we might've already been invaded and just don't know it yet. Hence why that blood sample might be more important than I initially thought, if that woman was just one of many."
"Like the Skrull you mean? Ben asked shrewdly. "Not a full-bore invasion, tryin' to take us out with brute force, but infiltratin', maybe ta turn us against one another."
Reed nodded. "I already have several devices that could be used for that purpose, a gravitational scanning device would be best I think for an early warning system or at least the best in terms of range. I'll look into it and get back to you either tomorrow or the day after. That's a firm promise Harry, whatever else happens you're right, we need to start moving on this."
"I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so." Harry responded. "I will say that I've been setting up my own team, and once we get fully up and running, we'll be able to handle space-borne threats just as well as you guys can."
"Good to know," all four of the Fantastic Four replied as one.
Franklin then took command of the discussion, irritated that no one had been paying attention to him. For the next half hour or so Harry and the others simply talked and chatter about mundane things while playing with the toddler.
Eventually Wyatt came in with Hedwig flying before him. At Harry's behest, Wyatt had used Hedwig to send a letter to the address of his acquaintances family, which would allow Harry to apparate the two of them to that location. "Are you ready to go Harry?"
Harry nodded, but before Wyatt and Harry could teleport out Reed coughed to gain the wizard's attention. "Could I speak to you alone for a moment Mr. Potter?"
The younger man blinked at the formality but shrugged and moved off with Reed into a corner. "You are an observant person Harry. I know that you have noticed that there is something… odd about Franklin. Odd powers, telekinesis for certain, maybe others." Harry nodded and Reed went on. "I have determined that he might be a mutant, though the mutant power might have been given a jumpstart by the gamma radiation that he was exposed to in his mother's womb. I hate to ask this, but I want him to receive training in how to use his powers, and particularly how not to in a few years, as well as making contact with others who have powers his own age."
"I'm glad you brought it up but I was going to offer it in any event." Harry said simply reaching out to grab the older man's shoulder squeezing lightly. "I'll see to it personally Reed, if that's possible. If not, as I said I'm setting up an entire school at the elementary level now for students. When he's ready to go to kindergarten, I'll enroll him there regardless of whether or not his power's mutation based."
Reed breathed a sigh of relief and grasped the other man's hand firmly. "Thank you, that is a load off my mind." In their short acquaintance, Reed and Susan had both come to respect Harry, both his integrity and his abilities, and neither could think of another person who they would rather have teach their son how to use (and most importantly not abuse) his powers.
Harry, Hedwig, and Wyatt left, heading back to the teleportation area and then, after Harry spent several minutes communing with Hedwig, they teleported out.
One moment they were in the plane, unadorned room in the Baxter Building, the next they were standing in the sparse desert of the Colorado Plateau.
Wyatt gasped, not having traveled by this method before.. "That was rather bizarre." Wyatt muttered, showing considerable self-control to not fall to his knees.
"It takes people like that the first time." Harry commiserated, holding the broader man by the shoulder for a moment. Wyatt quickly recovered however, and the two of them looked around. Hedwig had decided on a small knoll near the house the Moonstars had moved into after Danielle had begun to exhibit her odd powers. The knoll overlooked the house from the eastern side. They their way down quickly, following a little trail through the scrub brush that was all that was green in this area, and Harry looked around interestedly. He had never actually been in a desert environment before, unless you count a few Negative Zone worlds that were pretty much all desert.
Soon they were at the front door the small yet well kept house, and Wyatt was knocking on the door. The house was a single story affair, broad at the back with no garage, but space for two cars by the gravel road that lead up to it. Harry looked around, noticing that the nearest house was barely in sight miles away, despite there being nothing between them to block his sight.
The door opened revealing a middle-aged native American woman with a severe countenance. She was heavily weathered, the look of a woman who spent most of her days outside working. On top of this she looked like she hadn't been sleeping well, with bloodshot eyes, bags under her eyes and drooping expression.
But she came alive when she saw who was at the door. "Wyatt!" she exclaimed. "Oh thank goodness, we got your message but... Her powers, over the last week they've been activating on and off more often, we don't know what to do!"
"Calm down, Peg." Wyatt said, keeping his voice level and phone. "We're here to help. This is Guardian, I mentioned him to you as Mr. Wizard, but he changed his codename."
"Ma'am." Harry said bobbing his head briefly. "Maybe you should just take us straight to Danielle?"
Peg nodded distractedly, letting them inside. "My husband's gone off to work, in fact he's been staying over there at night. We just can't handle it anymore! We know she's not doing it on purpose, she sometimes turns them around on herself, and those are the worst moments for her, though they give us a brief rest."
"What exactly are her powers?" Harry asked calmly, deciding he would leave a dreamless sleep potion with the woman, she looked about a second away from a nervous breakdown. Thankfully he still kept an emergency set of potions on him at all times.
"We, we don't know. At first we just thought that she had a way with animals, but lately she seems to be able to create images taken from people's minds around her, most of the time it's, she…" Peg stammered going a little pale, visible despite her Native American coloring. "M-Most the time is our fears. Deep fears."
She shuddered. Peg would never forget the sensation of suddenly falling deep down into a well of pitch black, which encapsulated the two things she was most afraid of, heights, and darkness. And she didn't mean night time, in the night even out here there were always the stars above to give light. But that had been simply a blank nothingness of darkness, like the deepest cave. She loved her daughter dearly, but that, she would never forget it and she couldn't get past the fact that it had been Danielle whose power had forced her to see it.
Peg and her husband William had initially been a little leery of sending their daughter off, not just because they didn't want to, but because they didn't really know anything about this foreigner, and it was to a foreign school from What Wyatt said. Danielle's grades were good in the public school back in Boulder where their real home was, but how would she stack up against the students in a private school? Would they be able to come and see her whenever they wished, and how would they get there in any case? It wasn't like they were made of money after all.
Now however… After the past few days Peg was more than happy to see her daughter heading off to a place that might be able to teach her how to control her powers. As it was, Danielle was a danger to anyone around, not physically, though her illusions were getting more and more detailed despite the fact that she couldn't control it, but mentally. Both she and William had decided this was for the best.
The beleaguered woman quickly showed them to the small room set against the kitchen that did for Danielle as a room while they stayed here. The young girl was laying out on the bed, her hands covering her eyes.
Danielle looked up as the door opened and pulled her hands away from her eyes. "Mom, get away! I can feel it coming again!"
Peg bolted back out the doorway, shuddering and shivering already. Wyatt followed quickly at Harry's nod, but Harry made his way forward. 'Get away!" the girl shouted again, then it happened. Something, almost seen but not quite, a wave of some kind of energy, telepathic in nature for certain but not quite as solid as the energy Harry recognized as true telepathy flashed out from the young woman.
It wavered over him, not finding any kind of purchase thanks to Harry's special mental defense. It also seemed to have a distance limitation, because after a second it retreated, not having found a mind to grab onto.
The girl looked up at him in astonishment and Harry smiled. "I'm a bit unusual myself, my dear." His smile turned into a smirk as he conjured a chair to sit on next to the bed. "My name is Guardian, or for now you can call me that anyway. It's my nom-de-plume I suppose you could say."
That actually won a tired giggle from the girl and she collapsed back onto bed, but her eyes remained locked on Harry's face. Any other time she would have been blushing a little at having a handsome older man (she had a thing for them, she knew) in her room, but right now she was too tired and too exhausted to care about that. "Mom and Dad mentioned you. I suppose, I mean I guess I was a little leery of going away from them but now, get me out of here, teach me how to control this, how to stop it!"
Harry leaned back looking at her and smiling briefly. Danielle Moonstar was a rangy seventeen year old. She looked almost as coltish as Kitty did in many ways, but in her case it was the sprightly appearance of a youth who spent most of her time running around outside, which matched with what Wyatt had mentioned once about her being a track star.
Yet for all her coltish appearance there were hints of what would be an amazing womanhood. She had a heart shaped face, tear streaked of the moment and ragged with lack of sleep, yet despite that still beautiful. Her hair was done in an intricate braid down her back, showing her heritage with a few feathers here and there, and what looked like something written on a little leather disk of some kind halfway down its length. Her eyes were also very expressive, and he wondered how Illyich, who continuously attempted to flirt with Paige and Amara, would take to her.
"I'm here to indeed offer you a place at the school I've set up Danielle."
"Dani," Danielle interjected. "I prefer to be called Dani, thanks."
Harry nodded. "Well, Dani,
Harry went on. "I have a telepath there who can hopefully help you figure out how to control your powers, and until then she can set up temporary shields in the minds of everyone around so you won't be able to affect them. I also have a training area where you can practice control. I noticed that your power has some kind of range limitation, is that right?
I'll warn you though it isn't just a school to train your powers, but an actual school as well. In fact I hope that you and all the other teens that join us will be able to go on to college eventually." That caused Danielle to smile at the very idea of going on to college, which she would only have been able to do if she got a scholarship, her parents would never have been able to pay for it.
The girl nodded. "It doesn't seem to go very far, about ten to fifteen feet I guess, in all directions around me. But I can't control it at all! At first, you know, I thought it was interesting because I seemed to be able to talk to animals, get them to do things for me, get them to understand me and even the reverse. But then, it seemed to spread, but not in a good way." She shivered. The ability to manifest other fears was not exactly pleasant.
"Good to know." He nodded. "In that case, if you can't control it while you're asleep and it doesn't look as if you've gotten any sleep lately my dear, we'll have you bunk down in one of the family areas. Eventually most of the students will be up in a tower, and you'll join them there eventually, but only after you have control of this. Don't worry, as I said we have a telepath who will be able to help you."
The girl nodded relieved. She was so relieved in fact she found the courage to ask. "So what are your powers?"
"Me?" Harry laughed. "I'm a Wizard." He tapped the chair he had conjured, and it disappeared. "Unfortunately, while there are offensive spells to attack the mind, I don't know any ones to give another person a defense, though I will ask Jean to start you on the mental discipline that takes the place of meditation in magical circles, it seems to work better than the mundane equivalent for some reason."
That actually wasn't an area he had actively looked into, giving someone else a mental defense through magical means. Certainly in his own dimension there hadn't been any such, but he vowed to himself to make certain that was case here. Later, in a discussion with Stephen he would find that this was indeed the case. Minds were so individualized that there was no spell you could cast that would last over long to defend someone else's, and they would only defend them from other spells, they didn't quite have the correct waveform as it were, to defend from a telepathic assault.
He helped Dani to her feet, and though she was shaky once on her feet she shrugged off his aid, standing there proudly. This power had bothered the hell out of her, but Harry could see Dani still had her sense of self.
"By the way." he began, probing a little for information that could affect her training. "was surprised that when you're power failed to find a target it didn't rebound on you. Your mother said it had affected you as well."
"It only does that when I'm trying to sleep." Dani shook her head irritably. "And I figured out a way to fight it anyway. It tries to manifest my fears in my head, in my dreams, but I…" She paused. "I suppose you could call it a dream avatar? I put myself in whatever dream it is, and have my avatar create a sort of spear of light, which I use to destroy whatever fear is. It's actually been somewhat good for me, I've come to grips with a few of my fears this way, and beat them. For me, when I make them disappear it goes away permanently."
"Lately," And here she smirked a little despite her exhaustion. "It's had to work hard to find a fear to work on. It's even begun to do other things at least to me, other dreams."
Dani Blushed and looked away but Harry didn't question what kind of dreams her power was manifesting subconsciously. In actuality she'd had a very tawdry dream of herself being a Bond girl. She played the part of the young skater Bibi Dahl in For your Eyes Only, which had just come out on VHS. But with Dani playing the part instead of repelling her advances Sir Roger Moore had given in.
Who says blondes have more fun she thought now, a little amused despite herself and the total exhaustion she felt. That was the other downside, her powers forced her mind awake, and she hadn't actually gotten any REM sleep for a few days now.
Her mother was looking relieved as Harry led Dani out, and Harry smiled at her. "As soon as Dani has control of her powers, we'll get back in touch with you. Until then, I'll be leaving a phone number here for you to contact me. If you have any questions later on don't hesitate to call, myself or one of my senior aides will always be available for questions, so long as you remember the time difference between here and Scotland." Senior aides at this point meant Jean or Ororo, though for questions about schooling Jean would have to refer to Ms. Brown, who would eventually take over that aspect unless she and Ororo were able to vet a actual principal.
Peg nodded, then reached out and pulled her daughter into a fierce hug. "Stay safe Danielle, and call us as soon as you have control of whatever is doing this to you! Don't think we don't love you, we do, but this, it, it's just too much!"
The young girls eyes watered slightly and hugged her mother back fiercely while Wyatt and Harry moved away, letting the Moonstars have their moment. "I will mama, and don't worry I know how bad it's been for you and Dad both. I love you!"
As Wyatt led the way outside where they would teleport away, Hedwig alighted on the girl's shoulder. Harry wondered absentmindedly if this was proof that the girl might have magical spark in her, or if merely a sign of the girls empathy with animals.
Nonetheless, as he crossed the threshold Harry turned to face the girl's mother. "I have a potion that is called the 'dreamless sleep 'potion that I can give you to take now. It will send you straight to sleep, but it will keep you asleep until your body's revived from this ordeal. Do you want to take it?"
She actually had to think about that for a moment but she shook her head. "No, now that Danielle will be with you, my husband and I will finally be able to sleep easily, and I think we would both prefer that sleep to be natural."
Harry nodded. "Again, don't hesitate to call if you have a question. Dani's schooling won't begin until her powers are under control, at which point you, your husband and she will sit down with our academic advisor to hammer out the details there. We'll continue to work on her power after that, see what its limits and limitations are, and of course keep working on her control of it, but after she has enough conscious control to stop it lashing out, we won't let that bother her scholastic development."
The woman nodded, but Harry could tell she was already almost falling asleep on her feet and he ended the conversation there with a firm handshake and another promise to keep in touch the moment Danielle was under control.
He left the house, to find Wyatt looking at him closely. "Tell me Mr. Guardian, do you think you have a place on your team for me? I realize I don't have any powers, but…"
Harry was already shaking his head, causing Wyatt to stop speaking. "I'd love to have you on the team honestly, if you can take the position of sniper and since I know you're a biathlete I think you can, that will free up our current sniper for other duties. But I have to ask why you want to join up? I would think that helping the Fantastic Four out on a few of their adventures as you have would've been enough for you."
"I've realized lately that I want to fight for something bigger than myself, and the mutant/mundane equality cause is a good one. Besides, I'd like to keep an eye on Danielle." T he younger girl blushed and pushed at his shoulder embarrassed. She'd had a bit of a crush on Wyatt for a few years now, but it wasn't that big a one, more on the line of her crush on Roger Moore. It was a little irritating however to have the man talk about taking care of her while she was standing right there as if she was a little girl.
"I would advise you to talk to Johnny at the very least about joining us, if you still want to join up, have Reed contact me, and I'll make the arrangements."
Wyatt nodded agreeably, and after warning Dani of what to expect Harry teleported the three of them back to the Baxter building where they dropped off Wyatt. Harry, after telling Dani his real name, allowed her time to gush over meeting the Fantastic Four and the cute toddler. He was amused that every girl he'd met so far had a soft spot for the kid. After a few minutes however the two of them made their excuses, and Harry teleported them to Hogwarts.
His smile didn't last. Almost immediately upon their arrival however, Danielle grabbed her head and screamed "It's going to happen again!"
Luckily, Jean was in the dining hall where Harry had teleported them, showing something to Paige and the other teens using the hard light holograms. Harry looked over at her quickly. "Jean, cover her in a telepathic shield that'll keep her powers inside or protect everyone else's minds, whichever is fastest!"
Jean acted quickly, bringing up a hand to her temple and throwing her telepathic power around the girl, creating a screen from her own mind around the other girls. This actually didn't cut off Daniela's mind from everyone else's, it simply connected her mind and Jean's right outside Jean's own mental defenses, which made quick work of the girl's powers, smacking and smashing it away with their tentacles. Belsham-trees for the win, she thought to herself sardonically as the assault ended and she lowered her hand from her temple. Still, I need to start practicing my telepathy more, I've let that power atrophy too much. Emma can help me there I'm sure.
After her powers attack finished, Danielle was gasping, swaying on her feet almost utterly drained. Her power used up a lot of her mental strength, and since she hadn't been sleeping she didn't really have a lot of that to spare.
"Dreamless sleep potion for you I think," Harry said grabbing her by the elbow and escorting her past the teens who are all looking around at her in question, wondering what had gone out on just then, save Illyich who was sizing this girl up just has he had Magma and Paige after they first arrived. "Jean, I think you'll need to start training with her tomorrow."
Jean nodded, not asking any questions at this point simply taking Danielle's other elbow to help Harry lead the Native American girl to a room on that level.
Harry transfigured the classroom in under a minute, complete with bed, dresser and a shelf for things. He however couldn't conjure up electronics, even simple light systems that quickly. It took him a while to visualize those, so he simply let the lighting be for now, and the two of them helped Dani into the bed before Harry administered the dreamless potion.
In seconds Dani was asleep, a small blissful smile on her face as she finally succumbed to her exhaustion. Jean looked down at the young girl shaking her head. "This just serves to remind me that not all powers are beneficial in nature even if they don't come with physical deformities." she sighed then shook her attitude off. "So, self-control and mental discipline?"
"That's about it yes, I'm not telepathic so I can't tell you how to train her Jean." Harry said shrugging his shoulders. "Occlumency seems a good starting point, but I want her to get some control quickly, otherwise she'll remain a danger to those without mental defenses. Until then, you'll be on guard duty I'm afraid."
Jean frowned a little. "In that case, I'd suggest we keep the younger kids at least away from her. What are her powers exactly?"
After Harry explained he knew of the Native American girls powers Jean's frown deepened and she nodded firmly. "Definitely keep the kids away from her. I can block her powers easily enough, I've got the feel of them now so I don't actually have to be on site twenty-four seven, but it's best if they're not in the same room just in case it takes me a few seconds to realize was going on. A dedicated, link from her to me is a certainty though, and a house elf watching her round the clock."
Harry nodded, gripping her should shoulder in thanks and then moved his hand around her waist and led the way out of the room. "The meeting with the FF went very well, they're on board. Reed has already devised several space-based detection systems. He seemed a little surprised when I said we'll just try them all, but that's Reed for you: always looking for the perfect solution rather than simply bundling all the solutions together to overpower the problem."
"Well when you're as smart as Reed Richards I suppose continually searching for the perfect solution makes more sense. Oh, Dennis and Emma came up with a few names we might want to bring in eventually on the medical side, you mentioned looking into anti-aging solutions, there are a few names in the medical field that I thought looked interesting, though were not in that position just yet. I'm heading out now to purchase some more equipment for my lab, is that okay?"
"That's fine by me Jean, we have more than enough money, and I finally cleared the rest of the gold we got from your second cache of Selene's. I'm thinking of just handing the gold over to the bank and letting them figure out what to do with it."
"That was Emma's suggestion wasn't it?" Harry nodded and Jean laughed. "Probably the best thing to do, though she'll never forgive you for turning over those gold coins you know. She really did want to create a bed of gold coins to make love on."
Harry shrugged. "Honestly, if I wanted to I could probably create a mountain of gold rather easily these days, though I couldn't actually use it for anything. It's an odd thing, but magic users who try to use money they create via magic always end up in a bad way, something about the law of monetary balance or some such." At least that was the case back in his own world, but he still wasn't about to try it here.
"Something to bear in mind I suppose," Jean laughed, then kissed harry on the lips before moving back toward where she had left the teens.
OOOOOOO
Death sat on her throne in the castle that time could never touch, in her realm, where nothing changed except by her will, where nothing lived, save in a very existential way, her. She felt the reverberation of a higher being's death, and held up a single hand. A week ago countless thousands of souls, human and non, had passed through her realm, souls which had previously been out of her reach, bartered away to a higher Demon Lord. The particular Demon Lord in fact, whose soul she now held in her grip. It was a disgusting scabrous, pulsing sickly green, oozing disgusting white pus down onto her hand. Yet despite the mess it was leaving on her bony hand, she smirked as she closed her grip on it making it disappear into little motes of light, dissipating forever.
Death looked towards the wall, her eyes seeing through it and through the dimensional wall, beyond through time and space. She saw the jackals of his fellow Demon Lords ripping and tearing what remained of Mephisto's realm apart in an effort to grab what power they could. All of them were also fighting one another in this neutral territory, and weakening themselves further though none would perish from it. Mephisto had been so weakened, and his connection to his realm so eroded and chaotic that he could no longer take sustenance from it even as he tried to defend his realm. Even so he had fought as well he could, holding out for many days.
In actuality, Harry had gotten quite lucky. Without his ability to destabilize the spell that originally created Mephisto's realm, thereby messing up that connection so badly Mephisto could no longer access its hoarded power without making the problem worse, he would have eventually lost the battle.
Still, she thought to herself, for someone who is a Defender of Life, he seems to be doing very well in clearing up my paperwork. One technically alive soul returns to the mortal plane, for one hundred fifty million and seven technically dead souls returned to my power to be cleansed and once more returned to the universal wheel. While he in no way is doing this for me, such things need to be rewarded.
Death gestured with one hand and suddenly Hela was standing before her one leg raised, wearing absolutely nothing at all. . Hela's raven colored hair was plastered to her neck and face. Her body, with its pale yet healthy skin, high, full D-cup breasts cherry red nipples and long, firm legs were on display, glistening with water, because Death's summons had taken Hela from getting out of her bath. She looked around, her eyes wide for a second but recovered quickly, snapping her fingers to summon up a bathrobe which she pulled over her body. "My lady." Hela said, bowing.
Death raised a finger, and again the soul of Mephisto appeared dangling from it by a bluish string of power. She didn't want to get anymore Mephisto on her hands after all. Hela looked at it and gasped in shock, not having watched the events in Mephisto's realm since a battle had occurred in Vanaheim earlier that day, and she couldn't look into Mephisto's realm, since the dead there very clearly belonged to him, and his powers kept her own out.
Death said one word "Potter."
That made hell his eyes widen even further. "He killed the demon lord?!"
Death shook her head. "Weakened, allowed others to kill him." She looked at her avatar in the Asgardian pantheon, and gestured again forcing Hela to turn her head to look at what had just appeared. Behind her there appeared a globe of Midgard, with a few dancing lights on it, each a different color of red. "A gift. You intend to pursue him." This was said as a statement, not a question. "When you approach him, you will give this to him, from me. Potter seems to have a bit of a mad on for demons, knowing who has made a deal with said should help him."
Death could have just implanted the knowledge in Harry's head, but this time she had decided not to. Firstly, this time the payoff was much larger, and gifting him something physical seemed more appropriate. Secondly, she knew she was becoming too interested in him, and didn't want to meet him again 'in person' like that. She was Death, objectivity was a necessity, no matter how interesting a particular mortal, which meant a lot more than most humans would assume when used by Death, was.
Hela thought to protest being used as a simple errand woman. She also hadn't yet figured out a way to introduce herself to Harry just yet, nor had Hela figured out what she wanted to do in relation to his current lovers. She was still oscillating between wanting to simply displace them all, get them out of the way in some fashion, or somehow coexist with them. Of course any such thought was premature, she had to meet the human in person, to see if he was as interesting in real life as he was in her scrying pool.
Still, one did not argue against an edict from Death. So Hela merely nodded. "By your leave then, I shall leave, though it might be some time until I can gift it to him."
Death gestured again, and both the Globe and Hela disappeared returning to her realm in as guard, leaving Death alone once more to stare at Mephisto's diseased soul. She chuckled, a sound that despite its sepulchral tone was a happy sound, as she once more closed her fingers around it destroying the soul again and dissipating it into tiny little notes which disappeared into the ether of her realm, to never be seen again.
That this once more held her attention so much that she missed her would-be paramour's attempts to once again get her attention did not register at the time.
OOOOOOO
Odin frowned, setting aside his mug of ale, looking beyond the physical for a moment as he felt the death of a Hell Lord. The cause was beyond his ability to discern, and he knew it would be beyond Heimdall's All Seeing Eyes. That name after all was a bit of a misnomer.
Yet again his wife noticed his preoccupation, sitting next to him at the front of the dining table which dominated the feasting hall. "Are you well, husband?"
"A Hell Lord has died," he said, and the noise of the feast going on around stilled as many heads turned toward him. He waved them off, staring thoughtfully at one or two as the noise level rose again. "I sense the power rising on Midgard is behind it, yet this power is such that it is hidden from my sight. It behooves me to discover if it be friend or foe. Yet forsooth, it is not easy to decide on who is to be sent as my emissary, 'tis a task most in Asgard t'would be ill suited for."
"If you would listen to my counsel, I would send either Sif, Baldur, or Thor." Frigg said simply. "Sif can be diplomatic as can Baldur, and Thor may well go himself the moment you mention Midgard. As such it is better to give him a task, where he knows you will be looking over his shoulder rather than let him sneak past the 'all seeing' once again."
That last was said rather dryly and Odin chuckled into his beard. "I will consider it further, but your suggestions have merits wife."
Unfortunately for Odin, Thor, headstrong in all things, had heard him mention Midgard, and was already making plans to head there. Not so much to seek out this new power, though that would be Thor's stated reason, but to see Jane Foster once again.
The reasons Odin had wanted him here in Asgard had faded, a series of sharp, bloody battles against the trolls and their dark elf allies had set them back, and Thor himself had slain the trolls champion, Ulik. So Thor had no need to be here any longer, and a very good reason to leave, at least in his mind. The other half of his father's speech to him, about how Jane would age and die while Thor was still young and powered mattered not at all. He would rather have love for a day then sorrow for a year. And for all that his parents had assumed he would marry Sif, there wasn't any emotional or mental connection there beyond that of friends.
Now, he thought to himself, I will find Jane, after that, we will see what we will see.
The next day, Odin learned that his son had 'anticipated his orders', and went to Earth realm himself. He growled angrily and shook his head. "Fool boy, loving a mortal! Such is not a worthy lover of the son of Odin." He looked up, and a messenger raven alighted on one of his arms from the rafters high above. "Seek out the Sorceress, I have a task for her."
With Thor gone however, Odin was left with the choice between Baldur and Sif, and after much deliberation, decided to send Baldur instead. He was more diplomatic than Sif, and closer to the throne which would add to his credentials as an emissary. He also had a passing knowledge of Asgardian wards and the spells of their race, which might help him find this new power rising in Midgard.
What neither Thor nor Odin counted on however, was that gossip travelled very quickly regardless of realm. It would not be long before Asgard's enemies learned of Baldur and Thor's absence from the halls of power.
OOOOOOO
That evening Harry sat down with Jean and Kitty one evening to discuss what he and Nikolai called battle rattle. Harry laid it out in simple terms. "One of the main problems that wizards always faced, at least in my old dimension, is that they relied too much on a single trick. It seems to be a problem with a lot of mutants as well, which is why I was so pleased that Charles let me look into developing some tools and weapons for the X-Men, even thought that didn't go as far as I could hope. But I understand that they are still training with many of them?"
Kitty nodded. "Yep, Scott is pretty religious about that kind of thing. He trains with a knife every day, as well as a rifle and Rogue is actually able to shoot at things and hit them one out of every four times now. Kurt and Evan have continued their weapons training too, though that slowed down since Logan left. The new Danger Room subroutine for martial arts training is good, but not as good as a live person."
She didn't actually take part in those, Kitty was firm in her belief that she was now a support member of the team, and had no desire to persuade Scott otherwise, especially after this last mission. She still kept up with the exercise regimen that Ororo taught her, and she was always armed with her bag of runic tricks that Harry had gifted her with, but that was it.
Harry nodded approvingly. Scott had performed well as group leader of that mess in Kentucky, yet it was always good to have confirmation that he hadn't slipped back into his more arrogant ways. "Up to this point," he went on, turning back to the main topic. "We've used magic a lot as defensive measures, I want us to look into using it to create some battle rattle while also maximizing the amount every team member can carry."
"I'd like to see what magic and tech could do together too," Kitty said seriously looking over at Jean. "For instance, I noticed last evening during dinner that you were grumbling about still not having solved the heat dissipation issue on your sniper rifle system?"
Jean nodded looking at the girl with interest. "No I haven't, it's still a major problem. It doesn't slow down the operation of the rifle any longer, that part I fixed, but it still makes the person using the rifle stand out like a sore thumb in the EM ranges. I have no doubt it made Nikolai's duel with this Domino woman that much easier for her. And sooner or later we're going to run into people who can see through your illusion spells Harry, or someone's going to find a scientific way around them, which will make the problem even worse."
"There are already several of those, for instance I can't do anything about pressure sensors, a disillusioned person still leaves footprints, though obviously flying makes that tougher. Though even then, the wind of your passage might give you away against a prepared enemy. And in terms of disillusioned spells yes, heat sensors and suchlike can see through them."
"Kind of like the predator's cloaking device from those horrible sci-fi movies," Jean laughed. "Still, I can't deny that the weapon still has issues."
"Well what if we modify the runic array for the runic doorways? Stick a few of them onto a pylon or something and stick it into the lake outside. Water is a great heat dissipation element."
Jean blinked at that then looked at Harry. "Would that work?"
"I have no idea, but that's precisely the kind of idea I want to see you to work on, using magic to enhance, or ease the use of weapons. Every member of the team will have weapons on them which will include stun weapons both at range and in close, not just their superpowers. I'll be working on creating a few 'bottomless' pouches. Eventually they will be voice activated to summon up the item the user wants. For example…"
Harry waved his hand in the air for a moment and said. "Knife." Suddenly in his raised hand he held a serrated trench knife. He waved his hand again and the knife disappeared. "That wasn't conjured." He explained looking at their amused faces and holding out his hand turning it over. "While this isn't something I'd want you to do Kitty, figuring out the array would be a good project for you." He pulsed some magic into his hand, and a small barely visible, runic array appeared on his palm. This is linked to a pouch that I carry disillusioned here." He said canceling that charm on the pouch by his waist. "I haven't figured out how distance affects this just yet, but I will."
"It's like you're teleporting weapons directly to your hand." Jean murmured excitedly. "That right there is a phenomenal breakthrough Harry, though how would it work on someone who doesn't have magic?" I also wonder if there's an upper limit to what we could port in, say a combat suit or something? Hmmm….
"That is for the two of you two to figure out. Figure out how, copy it into a bit of clothing then experiment with it. See if distance matters to the amount of bio energy that is required to power them, figure out the low-end for the bioenergy quotient, figure out how to power it during a combat situation. Get with Nicolai, see what he thinks, then figure out what all everyone wants to carry. Assume... that the team we've got right now is the team we're going to be going into the field with for a time. Banshee hasn't gotten back to us just yet, but until then this is it."
"Storm, myself, Colossus, Vanguard, Magma," Jean counted off on her fingers. Will you be letting it Danielle or Paige join us when they are ready?
"I don't know just yet. Their powers are interesting, but I'm not going to make that kind of the decision on power alone, plus Paige still hasn't gotten her mother's consent yet, and she only sixteen. We'll see how Dani does with your training in first, then check out her combat skills before making a decision there, though it's obvious she wants to fight."
Jean and Kitty both smiled approvingly at that. Danielle Moonstar was a warrior born, but she was still young barely a year over Kitty's age, and Kitty knew that the things Harry and company would be dealing with would definitely be a step more deadly than what she had been trained to be dealing with as and X-Men.
With that Harry leaned back and let the two girls dominate the discussion, while interjecting a few notes of his own. Yes, he thought to himself, things were really beginning to form here. He only hoped they had time to put it all together before the next crisis hit.