The First Salvo (IV)

Cassiopeia and Arcturus were completely taken aback by the sudden twist of events, no pun intended. Even the two of them never thought that Destiny would kill the girl in such a manner… In fact, they were thinking that Destiny might try to induct the girl… At least, her death was probably painless…

Destiny finally turned toward the rest of her captives and found all of them crying while glaring at her in pure hatred. Destiny simply inclined her head… Even though she felt bad for killing the girl, it was necessary. She needed to make a point and she was only going to suffer unnecessarily throughout the rest of her life if she lived…

Destiny focused her gaze on Seraphina… From the looks of it, the woman seemed to be screaming in anguish while glaring at Destiny. After a few moments, Destiny finally turned her gaze toward Jackson Picquery, Seraphina Picquery's husband. Destiny strode toward the man with an indifferent look on her face. Destiny finally arrived in front of Jackson and waved her hand, removing the Silencing Charm placed on the man.

"Was it really worth it?" Destiny asked solemnly and the man simply glared at her hatefully.

"Why? You said you will let her go…" After a few moments of silence, Jackson bit out in a painful tone as he continued to hatefully glare at Destiny.

"I never lied… I said that I was not going to punish her for the crimes of her mother. That is why I released her…" Destiny answered with a serene look on her face.

"Grahhh!! You bitch!!!" Jackson snarled in anger after hearing Destiny's answer. Jackson started to struggle in his binds, but the vines didn't budge in the slightest.

Instead of getting angry, Destiny simply inclined her head. "I probably deserved that" Destiny pointed out. She just killed his daughter, so she could at least take some insults with a straight face. "I would have allowed you to grieve, but I have other places to be…" Destiny said and Jackson finally started to sob for his daughter.

Destiny pointed her Wand at Jackson and then without wasting any more time, she cast the same Spell, Seraphina had used to remove Gellert's tongue. Jackson gasped in surprise when all of a sudden, his tongue disappeared. Moments later, he finally realized what had happened and started to scream. Destiny waved her hand and reapplied the Silencing Charm with an annoyed look on her face.

"How does it feel? You don't like it, do you?" Destiny growled in anger. Even if Destiny haven't applied the Silencing Charm, Jackson couldn't have answered her as he was already missing his tongue. At best, he could have only made some unintelligible noises… Then all of a sudden, Destiny's raised her free hand and grabbed Jackson's Wand arm.

"This is your Wand arm, right?" Destiny asked in a menacing tone as she started to grin viciously. "I will be taking this too" Destiny declared as she pointed her Wand at the arm. Jackson started to frantically shake his head as soon as he realized what Destiny was going to do. One quick Spell later, Destiny had Jackson's Wand arm in her hand… "Hmm… I think…" Destiny threw away the severed arm as she started to rub her chin with a thoughtful look on her face.

"I think, you still have too many limbs… Let me fix that" Destiny said with a look of realization on her face and then she proceeded to remove his feet and remaining arm. Destiny stared at Jackson for a few moments before she ended up making a face… "Now that I think off it… You are also not going to need any eyes" Destiny revealed and pointed her Wand at Jackson's face. Right now, Jackson was barely conscious due to the pain and since Destiny wanted to keep Jackson alive, she cauterized the wounds as soon as she cut off his limbs.

Two quick Spells later, Jackson no longer had any eyes… Jackson continued to scream in pain and anguish even though no sounds could get past the Silencing Charm Destiny had used. "Now… now, you look perfect" Destiny grinned as she waved her hands at Jackson Picquery… The man was now a legless, armless, tongueless, and eyeless thing, and Destiny was quite pleased with her handiwork. This is what Destiny had planned for the members of the Picquery household…

Cassiopeia and Arcturus also realized the fact that Destiny was right… Death would have been a much nicer fate for the members of the Picquery Family…

Destiny finally turned around so that she was facing Cassiopeia and Arcturus. "So, what do you guys think?" Destiny asked with a grin, but Cassiopeia and Arcturus didn't have an answer for her. They didn't even know where to start from… To be honest, while they understood that Destiny needed to make an example out of this Picquery Family, they felt that Destiny has gone overboard, but they weren't going to say that out loud.

"...It is up to you, my lady. I don't think it is our place to say anything…" Arcturus started to speak after a few moments of silence when he noticed that Destiny was still waiting for an answer.

Destiny simply inclined her head as she turned her toward the rest of the members of the Picquery Family. "Then, would you like to do the honors?" Destiny asked Arcturus as she gestured toward the remaining members.

"My Lady, I…" Arcturus started to sputter and Destiny simply released a snort. Arcturus might have heard or read a lot of cruel things, but this was real. It was the same with Imogen too… She might be learning Black Magic, but she was completely useless when it came to killing…

"It is fine, Arcturus. You do not need to push yourself…" Destiny simply waved him off with an amused look on her face. While she was disappointed, she wasn't going to hold it over Arcturus, after all, fighting and killing are not for everyone and there was always a chance that Arcturus simply needed a push in the right direction, but it wasn't her responsibility to give him the necessary push.

"What about you, Cassiopeia?" Destiny asked as she glanced toward Cassiopeia who stepped forward with an indifferent look on her face. Cassiopeia pulled out her Wand and glanced at Destiny.

"I don't know the Spells you were using" Cassiopeia pointed out, but from the look on her face, it was pretty clear that she wanted to learn the Spells and help Destiny. While Cassiopeia felt that Destiny was probably going overboard, it wasn't her place to complain. Cassiopeia wouldn't pretend to know how the world worked… After all, this was the first time, she was outside Magical Britain, so she would simply follow Destiny's lead. Destiny was making a harsh example out of the Picquery Family, but a harsh lesson was probably what the world needed…

"Ah…" Destiny nodded her head in understanding. After that, Destiny simply smiled and looked into Cassiopeia's eyes. The green-eyed Witch immediately realized what was happening and lowered her shields so that Destiny could easily gain access to her mind. Moments later, memories started to flow into her mind. Cassiopeia quickly sorted through the memories. "You can practice the Spells on them. This is how Gellert taught me Magic" Destiny added and Cassiopeia gulped loudly due to nervousness.

To be honest, Cassiopeia never imagined that she was going to learn Magic by practicing on live subjects, and now, Arcturus was feeling stupid for not being able to accept Destiny's offer. He not only ruined his chance to learn new and powerful Magic but he also ruined his image in front of Destiny. He ended up showing weakness and not only that, right now, he was representing the House of Black. His father was going to be so disappointed in him…

Meanwhile, Cassiopeia was about to make her way toward Seraphina, but Destiny stopped her by grabbing her arm. "No, she is off limits. I still need her" Destiny said and Cassiopeia simply nodded her head in understanding before turning toward Jackson Picquery's brother. The man started to frantically struggle against his binds when he noticed Cassiopeia's gaze focus on him. Cassiopeia strode towards the man with her head held high and twirling her Wand in her hand.

Cassiopeia raised her Wand and pointed it at the man's head so that she could remove his tongue by using the Spell Destiny showed her. A white flash erupted from Cassiopeia's Wand and the man's head exploded like a ripe watermelon. Some of the gore, blood, and grey matter also landed on Cassiopeia as the head exploded in every direction. Cassiopeia looked at her handiwork for a few seconds with a dumb look on her face, and then all of a sudden, she hunched down and started to hurl out the contents of her stomach.

Meanwhile, Destiny simply facepalmed… She glanced toward Arcturus, who was faring a lot better than Cassiopeia. Arcturus also had a few bits and pieces on him, but he was already removing them with Magic and Destiny was fast enough to protect herself from the meaty shower by erecting a translucent shield Wandlessly. Destiny gave Cassiopeia another look, who was still puking out her guts, and shook her head in disappointment…

"This is going to be a long fucking night…" Destiny groaned with an irritated look on her face…

<Line Break>

"This looks much different than our Ministry…" Arcturus mumbled as he looked around his surroundings. It took them a couple of hours more to finally finish dealing with the Picquery Family members and now that Destiny was finally done with the Picquerys, they decided to visit the MACUSA Headquarters to complete their main objective.

Cassiopeia was still looking slightly pale and she was still embarrassed from the last incident so she refrained from making any comments even though she wanted to say something… Cassiopeia knew very well that she had messed up, so decided it was better to keep her mouth shut. To be honest, Cassiopeia never expected the head to explode, and then she was showered with some meaty bits… That did it for her. While Cassiopeia did not have any problems with gory deaths, she wasn't okay with the meaty shower…

"Are you okay? You are still looking slightly sick" Destiny inquired without looking back. After Cassiopeia's blunder, Destiny decided to pick up the reins once again… She didn't mind the gore or anything, but she hated the fact that one of the Picquerys died. She wanted to punish them by crippling them but keeping them alive. If they died then they were getting an easy way out… Destiny wasn't happy with that.

"I am still feeling slightly under the weather…" After some time, Cassiopeia finally answered in an embarrassed tone and Destiny simply snorted in amusement after hearing Cassiopeia's answer. Even she wasn't expecting what happened with Cassiopeia or she would have never asked Cassiopeia to do the honors.

"By the way, what are we going to do about the guards? I mean they aren't going to let us walk around and take him out, right?" Arcturus asked curiously. He had been wondering how they were going to save Gellert Grindelwald for quite some time. From the looks of it, Destiny was planning a frontal assault, and to be honest, he did not think that it was a good plan…

While he believed that Destiny could probably take on all the guards and come out victorious, it did not mean that he thought it was a good plan. Yes, they had Seraphina Picquery with them, but having her with them did not mean that the guards would allow them to enter the prison and take Gellert with them. Yes, they could always try to use Seraphina as leverage to get Gellert out, but Arcturus did not believe it was going to work.

"Don't worry, I will take care of it…" Destiny waved off Arcturus' worries nonchalantly… Destiny already had a plan in her mind and it only involved full-frontal assault. Yes, her plan was completely Gryffindorish, but she had to power to back it up… She was no longer the little child who possibly couldn't take on 20 Aurors…

"Everything will work out completely fine" Destiny said with a small smile as she slightly turned her head so that she could look at Arcturus, who simply decided to nod his head after hearing Destiny's words.

"Are you sure that the guards aren't going to realize that she is under the Imperius Curse?" Cassiopeia asked somewhat nervously as she nudged her chin toward Seraphina who was walking at the front of the group. Cassiopeia was still embarrassed, so she was still somewhat reserved.

Destiny cocked her head sideways as she glanced toward Seraphina was currently under her Imperius Curse. "It won't matter… In fact, the guards would want to avoid her if they realize that she is being held under the Imperius Curse… That is how human nature works" Destiny explained as she continued to stare at Seraphina who was walking at the front. Cassiopeia simply hummed as she did not know much about human nature, but she was going to trust Destiny on this.

After Cassiopeia's mess, Destiny decided to reclaim the reins. She did not want anyone else to die and she was also on the clock… She needed to get this over with as quickly as possible. After all, if they wasted too much time then someone was bound to notice that something was wrong, after all, the Aurors Department would realize something was wrong if none of the guards reported back.

So, Destiny simply vanished the mess Cassiopeia made with a wave of her hand and after that, she decided to move on to the remaining members who already had tears in their eyes. Destiny didn't know if they were crying for the death of their son, or they were crying for their fate… Well, Destiny simply shrugged and started to remove Arnold Picquery's limbs, and after she was done with him, she moved on to his wife.

Regardless of what Arcturus and Cassiopeia believed, Destiny felt really bad for doing this to the Picquery Family, but an example must be made to warn the others. That is why Destiny decided to spare the Aurors. These Aurors were only guarding Seraphina Picquery, they had no other connections with the Picquery Family.

After that, Destiny placed Seraphina under the Imperius Curse and brought her along with them to the Woolworth Building, so that Destiny could have Seraphina standing beside her when she freed Gellert… Destiny could have crippled Seraphina like the rest of the adult members of the Picquery Family, but Destiny had other plans for her. Obviously, Seraphina wasn't going to live to see another day, but her death was going to be anything but peaceful.

The group finally reached the elevators, and Destiny mentally ordered Seraphina to take them to the prison. The prison was not accessible to the general public… A person needed to enter a special code to gain access to the prison. Seraphina entered the code on the panel and the elevator finally started to move. Destiny slowly pulled out her Wand and held it in her hand with a neutral look on her face as she decided to stand right behind Seraphina.

Destiny was already quite familiar with the prison layout as she had looked around the prison in her Astral Form and she had also seen the prison layout in Moira's and Seraphina's memories… That is how she knew that there were two Auror Guards right outside the elevator doors. The elevator finally reached the prison floors and as soon as the doors opened, the two guards started to turn toward the elevator.

The two of them were already on guard as they were not supposed to be hosting any visitors at this time… True, it might be some sort of surprise inspection, but they still needed to be on guard until it was proven that it was some sort of surprise inspection. The guards somewhat relaxed as soon as they saw Seraphina inside the elevator, but they did not lower their Wands as Seraphina was being accompanied by some unknown people, but before the two of them could do anything, two red beams slammed on their chests and they dropped lifelessly on the floor.

Arcturus gaped at Destiny's speed like a fish out of the water while Cassiopeia did not show any outward reaction as she was already quite familiar with Destiny's training sessions, where Destiny was way faster. The group finally arrived in front of a large staircase and that is when Destiny waved her Wand over the group of Disillusion themselves. Destiny did not wanted to be seen by any of the prisoners.

"It would be best if none of the prisoners saw us" Destiny explained apparently to no one, but both Arcturus and Cassiopeia appreciated the explanation as both of them were wondering why Destiny decided to turn them invisible… Seraphina was the only one who was still visible as it wouldn't matter even if the prisoners saw her.

Arcturus and Cassiopeia kept looking around the prison in intrigue as the two of them were quite impressed with the prison layout… It was simply impossible for the prisoners to escape without a Wand. The prison cells were stacked over one another. So, if the prisoners escaped by any means then they would simply end up being a blood stain on the floor.

"Where are the guards?" Destiny heard Cassiopeia's voice from the back.

"Almost all the guards are posted near Gellert's cell as he is the most important prisoner and as you can already see, it would be extremely hard for prisoners to escape" Destiny explained, and Cassiopeia simply hummed in understanding whereas Arcturus simply inclined his head even though none of them saw each others' reactions.

The group finally arrived at the most guarded part of the prison… This was where Gellert Grindelwald was being kept. Right now, Gellert Grindelwald was the most high-profile prisoner in their prison, so he was the only one who was being kept in the high-security wing and almost all the guards were assigned to his wing for the same reason.

There were several Wards at the entrance of the high-security wing, which made it completely impossible for anyone to sneak inside without alerting the guards. Yes, with given time, Destiny was confident that she could dismantle the Wards, but time was something she did not have at her hands. With a snap of her fingers, Destiny removed the Disillusionment Charms since the Disillusionment Charm would be completely redundant.

"The two of you, get ready to defend yourselves… I will be way too busy to keep an eye on the two of you" Destiny stopped as she turned around to address Arcturus and Cassiopeia. "The Aurors are allowed to use lethal means so they might use the Killing Curse too, so be careful" Destiny warned the duo. Arcturus and Cassiopeia nodded their heads in understanding with determined looks on their faces.

This is why Destiny wanted to come alone… She wouldn't have the time to babysit anyone during the upcoming fight. The group finally entered the high-security wing with Seraphina at the front but as soon as Destiny crossed the Wards, an alarm was triggered. Destiny already knew that this was going to happen since she wasn't keyed to the Wards, so wasn't surprised when the alarm was triggered.

Neither Arcturus nor Cassiopeia were ever going to admit that they jumped slightly in surprise when Destiny triggered the alarm. The two of them became somewhat nervous after Destiny warned them about the guards. Moments later, the guards came pouring out only to find their President at the entrance followed by some strangers. The guards didn't waste any time to aim their Wands at the strangers and some of the guards even aimed their Wands at Seraphina Picquery.

There were at least 30 guards aiming their Wands at them, but Destiny wasn't fazed even though she stopped moving forward and mentally ordered Seraphina to stop. Arcturus and Cassiopeia simply decided to follow Destiny's lead and they also stopped moving forward. One of the guards stepped forward and pointed his Wand at his throat.

"Madam President, who are your companions?" The guard used the Sonorus Spell to amplify his voice so that everyone could hear him loud and clear.

Seraphina simply smirked… "That is something I can't do, Mr. Kart. After all, I do not have control of my body" Seraphina answered in a mocking tone, but it was all Destiny's doing. From Seraphina's memories, she knew who the man was, so she didn't have any problems addressing the man. "I have been placed under the Imperius Curse" Seraphina added with a grin, shocking all the guards.

To be honest, some of the guards suspected that Seraphina was being held under the Imperius Curse, after all, she would never willingly bring some strangers into the high-security wing. Though they could have never imagined that the person controlling Seraphina would reveal the fact so easily… They were expecting the person controlling Seraphina to try to deceive them. That is probably how anyone should have reacted…

Julian Kart has been the warden of this prison for 23 years and this is the first time someone had dared to break into his prison so brazenly… To be honest, Julian had been expecting such an attempt for quite some time. After all, he had Gellert Grindelwald in his prison and the man a huge following in Europe. Someone was bound to try something to break Gellert Grindelwald out of the prison, but he never expected the said person to be so brazen. He was expecting something subtler…

Julian would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised… Julian Kart was a simple man, he never cared about the Muggles nor did he ever care about their impact on their society. There were only two things he cared about… His family and his prison. He was from a minor Pureblood Family and he even gave up the Head of the Family position to his younger brother so that he could look after his own family and the prison.

That is why he never paid much attention to what was happening throughout Europe. He didn't care even care much about what Gellert Grindelwald was doing in his own country… He only cared about the fact that Gellert Grindelwald was one of his prisoners and he was going to treat the man as such, but now, he regretted not paying attention to anything happening around the world.

Now he was going to get involved in a fight without even knowing anything about the reasons… Oh, there was no way he was going to allow Gellert Grindelwald to escape his prison, but he thought that it would have been better if he knew why he was even risking his life… Moments later, he shook his head. None of that was important right now. Someone was trying to break Gellert Grindelwald out of his prison and he needed to do everything in his power to stop them…

The alarm was already triggered, it was going to take the Aurors nearly half an hour to arrive to give them a hand. Julian would have preferred if the Aurors response was faster, but right now the whole building was empty except for a only couple of Aurors. It would take the rest of the Aurors to arrive since most of them were off duty and the rest were busy doing their rounds.

Julian glanced at the others accompanying Seraphina… All three of them had their Wands in their hands, but he had no idea if they were also under the Imperius Curse or not. There was a high chance that they were also being held under the Imperius Curse, but could he risk the safety of his prison and his men on chance? The answer was simple… No, he couldn't. Even if they were under the Imperius Curse, he needed to incapacitate them.

"Drop your Wands and surrender, if you don't drop your Wands by the time I count to three, then we will be using any means necessary to subdue you" Julian loudly declared, but none of them showed any outward reaction. Julian internally sighed, he was confident that he could easily stop 4 people with the help of his men… At least, he would be able to hold out long enough for the Aurors to arrive. So, he finally decided to start counting since he had given them enough time to consider their options, or at least, that is what he believed…

"One!!" Julian screamed as he gestured his second-in-command to get ready for action. "Two!!" Julian screamed and all of his men stepped forward and got into their fighting stance. Julian looked at his men and nodded his head in satisfaction… He was extremely happy that none of the men were underestimating the situation.

Then he turned back toward the entrance and none of the members of Seraphina's group were looking ready to surrender, so he decided to finally commence the attack, but before he could count three, the crimson-haired Witch decided to make the first move. Julain haven't paid much attention to the crimson-haired Witch until now, as he was more worried about Seraphina. The other three were strangers while Seraphina was the President of their Government.

Killing her was not an option, so they needed to subdue the woman as gently as they could, but now he realized that he should have paid more attention to the others too… With a grimace on his face, Julian quickly erected a Protego shield as he recognized the Spell as some of Stunning Charm. The other guards quickly raised their own shields to protect themselves as they also recognized the Spell as some sort of Stunning Charm.

Destiny used an area-wide Stunning Charm as she wanted to see how capable these guards were, but the Spell was easily blocked by the guards. While Destiny was slightly disappointed, she couldn't help but feel excited at the same time. She was going to have a lot of fun taking all of them down… Destiny didn't waste any more time and moved Seraphina away with a wave of her free hand.

Julian's and his men's eyes grew wide in surprise at the casual display of Wandless Magic… Julian's eyes grew even wider when he noticed the woman's reptilian eyes glowing eerily. Destiny started to wave her Wand and her hand soon turned into a blur as she started to use various types of Spells to attack the guards. While Destiny wanted to have fun, she knew she couldn't waste time as the Aurors were probably already on their way…

Julian couldn't believe his own eyes… All of them were being pushed back by a single person, it was something unbelievable… Julian had assigned all of his best guards to the high-security wing since Gellert Grindelwald was the most important prisoner he ever had in his prison. He was quite confident when it came to their skills with Wand, but now he wasn't so sure anymore…

It was much harder than Destiny expected… Taking on 30 trained Wixen without using any lethal means was much harder than Destiny imagined. She was yet to take any of them down… As soon as someone faltered, someone else was already there to protect him or her…

Destiny growled in frustration as she swatted away another Spell with her bare hand and then she had to side-step to dodge a Killing Curse. At least, only a few guards were using the Killing Curse… The Killing Curse might seem quite simple to cast, but in reality, not everyone could cast the Spell, just like the Patronus, or the Cruciatus Curse as most people could never gather the necessary emotion.

Destiny also realized that she needed to take down some of the guards in a more permanent way… She wanted to avoid killing anyone, but she was kind of short on time, so needed to wrap this up as quickly as possible. So, Destiny finally decided to take off the kiddy gloves. Destiny raised her Wand over her head and flicked it, releasing a massive flame whip followed by several Organ Liquifying Curses and Skin Rotting Curses.

The guards saw the flame whip coming so all the guards at the front erected Magical Shields to protect themselves, but all of them were taken aback by the power behind the flame whip… Their shields buckled under the power and shattered like glass. At least, their shields held up long enough to stop the flame whip, but they quickly realized that they weren't out of the water as they saw the rest of the Spells coming in their direction…

Some were able to raise another shield to protect themselves while some weren't fast enough… The hall was filled with horrifying screams as soon as the Spells hit their target. After witnessing the horrific deaths of their colleagues, some of the guards froze up and stopped casting. Destiny used this chance and waved her Wand in the air to Conjure several ice spikes in the air and then she banished the ice spikes in the direction of the guards with a wave of her free hand.

"Incoming!! Raise your shields!" Julian screamed in desperation as soon as he saw the incoming ice spikes. He was also taken aback by the horrific deaths of his men, but he was able to quickly regain his bearings.

While most of the guards were able to raise a shield in time, the guards who froze up after witnessing the deaths of their colleagues weren't fast enough and they were skewered by the ice spikes. Unlike the previous batch, their deaths were at least quick and painless. Destiny removed more than half the number of guards in only two moves.

Julian also realized that this wasn't a fight he could win, so he decided to give it a last-ditch effort… This was his prison and he had been protecting this prison for more than two decades… He won't allow this prison to fall as long as he was alive and kicking…

"Lethal Spells only!! We will protect this prison until our last bre…" Julain was cut off when a Spell slammed on his back, knocking him out. Julian never realized he was the last one standing, except for another guard, but he was no longer on Julian's side. Not only Julian, the said guard also took down the remaining guards before taking down Julain.

Meanwhile, Destiny simply raised her brows in interest as she saw one of the guards turn on the rest of the guards and she had to admit, the guard was really fast. Destiny didn't know why, but the guard reminded her of Gellert… Even though the guard reminded her of Gellert and the guard was probably on her side, she wasn't going to take any chances.

'Since he took down the rest of the guards, I will spare his life' Destiny decided inside her mind as she launched various types of Stunning Spells at the guard.

The guard simply batted away her Spells, which surprised Destiny. The guard slowly looked at Destiny with a deadpan on his face. "Stop it! It's me!!" The guard screamed at Destiny and raised his Wand in the air and it took Destiny only a moment to recognize the Wand…

Destiny inclined her head with a gobsmacked look on her face. "Gellert?" Destiny asked dumbly as she slightly lowered her Wand and the guard beamed at Destiny with a bright smile on his face…

~~SEASON-I ENDS~~

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