Prying into the mystries of Lethifold and Kai's findings

Darcie's weekend at the Malfoy Manor passed in calming her mother's wrath.

As they'd expected, the Minister of Magic asked nothing of Darcie after their return. She did, however, show a great exhilarating smile as if a mountain-worth of weight had lifted off her shoulders. In just a few moments, the older witch had become much younger.

The thing of astonishment was that even a great witch like Millicent Bagnold could not tell the real identity of Lethifold. She had shown a look of worry and doubt upon finding the young Nundu in Darcie's arms, but a few words from Madam Villanelle had calmed her down. Not to mention, her mentor had taken away the cub, placing many Charms over it on the spot.

More important and worrisome had turned out to be Darcie's state, though.

The scratches over her body were all but superficial. Yet, the injury she had suffered on her chest was no small matter. She had been bleeding internally, and the skin over her chest had become blue and purple. The only thing to be thankful for was that these injuries weren't magical.

It was the wind and trees who had given her scratches, while the chest injury had been inflicted by young Thunderbird and Nundu.

The combined magic of both the Minister and Madam Villanelle healed Darcie to her optimum state in no time using the ministry's resources, without leaving a scar on her body.

Yet, it wasn't the scars she had been worrying about, then.

As expected, when Darcie took the Floo Network home, she found anger dancing at the tip of her mother's nose. Darcie's explanation of touring the ministry's headquarters and sharing an evening tea with the Minister herself did nothing to soothe Narcissa, either.

Spending time away from home, and that too, without writing a personal letter? The little girl seemed to have grown large wings lately…

Narcissa had found it would be good enough to clip the tips of those wings a bit, throwing Darcie into the book-less Velvet Room as a punishment.

Darcie hadn't minded it at all, as she had just too much to think about. Her mind kept going back to the events of Saturday, the meeting, and her experiences.

And then there was Lethifold.

But the most exhausting had turned out to be the ceaseless dreams of hisses and whispers, making her feel like she was dreaming the entire Sunday while wide awake.

So, Darcie had waited for Monday's arrival with great anticipation, hoping to know Order's arrangements for her training that was supposed to start next week.

Alas! Madam Villanelle had acted as if the matter of Avalon was just a mystical dream, and no such chain of events had ever happened, to begin with. Darcie could do nothing but wait for her mentor to bring up the matter by herself.

Monday afternoon and evening passed by in accepting congratulatory remarks from the various managers and shopkeepers of Diagon Alley.

Now, Darcie wasn't just a young lady who had become famous or infamous because of the rumors about her birth, her shady background, her family name, and one published paper.

She was the U-11 British Champion of the Alberta Toothill Young Wizard Chess Tournament, a National-level tournament that the Daily Prophet had covered with meticulous details. Not to mention, the wizardkind had seen this girl with their very eyes.

At least, her brilliant intelligence and marvelous bearing weren't in question anymore.

Darcie Malfoy had finally done what she wanted to do from the beginning…

- To step out of the shadows and walk on the path to Greatness.

*

*

Tuesday, 6 January 1987

02:00 am

A black cloak, like a veil made of the purest silk, fluttered in the library within the suitcase.

From dozens of feet away, Dementor-Kai looked at it with his dead hazel pupils under the hood, his thoughts unknown. Behind him, Petyr and Cersei looked at their master's tall back and sensed the oddness of the atmosphere.

An hour had already gone by since the start of the Identity Period.

Hiss!

Selene slithered out of Kai's chest and came to rest on his shoulders. She flicked out her forked tongue and kissed his chin, not minding his rotten skin at all. Then her blind eyes came to rest on the Familiar like the rest of them.

Kai didn't know if Lethifold came under the purview of the System's warning of someone relating his Self to his reincarnation. But, after careful deliberation, Kai and the group had confirmed these Spirit Companions were a major exceptions to everything related to the two Systems and Stats, as shown by his Glitch's lack of response in their presence.

One must not forget that the Glitch's notification even activated in Darcie's form, when there was no concept of the Systems. So its unresponsiveness meant that there was truly something strange about the Familiars.

-What do you feel, Selene?- Kai hissed, his tone indifferent and full of biting-cold.

-Absolute danger,- one Selene said profoundly.

-It will never replace me,- another Selene said concernedly, her smooth, draconic scales rubbing against Kai's neck, full of affection.

Kai just wanted to hear the third one, for this Selene was the most daring, murderous, and wild of her three personalities.

Sure enough, Selene hissed once more, hissing out only one word in the vilest tone possible. -Power.-

Kai frowned.

Then he flew toward the creature, icy fog roiling in his wake. Behind him, Cersei cried, "My lord…"

Dementor-Kai ignored everything, and came to a stop a foot away from the rippling cloak, his tattered robes billowing behind him in silence. -I am leaving it to you, Selene- he hissed, closing his eyes.

Selene's entire body went tout, her body coiling around Kai's shoulders. -This world will burn to ashes before I let something happen to you, master,-

Kai blew out a foggy breath, relaxing his mind. With time, his entire body seemed to melt into his surroundings. To others, it must have even felt as if in the very next moment Kai would scatter, becoming one with the air.

Just as it seemed Kai had done with these low breathings, Kai clenched his teeth and hissed out a red-colored breath.

In the next moment, his entire body got covered in blood flames; there color a touch darker and sinister.

Now, Kai already knew why his Glitch hadn't activated upon nearing these creatures. They were Familiars, something out of the basic definition of Magical Creatures. Kai wasn't trying to forcefully activate his Glitch, either. He wanted to sense the Lethifold, its intelligence, and its intentions, depending upon the dark and evil nature of Dementor's blood essence. He wanted to know what it truly was at its core.

Now, Kai's awareness, his Perception, was greater than ever.

He forgot everything, including his worries, plans, and soul-tearing pain he was experiencing now and then, because of the many cracks his imprint had experienced on Saturday, almost ending his Comprehension.

And gradually, he even forgot himself.

Kai didn't know, but at this time, one could see a touch of yellowish ripples around him. His Instincts, the Observation Haki according to the Kings, had reached a never-known height now, concentrating on the vile magical being in front of him.

With this, a new awareness presented itself to him; incomprehensibly vast.

Dementor-Kai felt a great blackness in front of him. In this blackness, he was a speck of dust; almost nothing. And there was nothing here but absolute barrenness.

It was then that Kai sensed gazes. One, two, three, four… and they kept increasing, reaching an uncountable mark. An infinite number of gazes were looking at him, the dust, trying to make a sense of his worthless existence.

Kai's eyes snapped open. They had become redder than red.

'What a bizarre presence!' He reflected upon his experience, the blood flames vanishing around him, along with his Dementor's appearance. 'I have a feeling that if Darcie Malfoy had gone to Avalon before the reincarnation, even then this Lethifold had chosen her. It truly has nothing to do with me or anything upon me. No wonder it's so passive to me and Selene. Darcie is childish to think that Lethifolds are misunderstood. This creature… is a horror beyond horrors.'

Kai lifted his hand, making both Petyr and Cersei shudder in fear. He touched the silk, felt its smoothness, and rubbed it between his fingers.

And then he sighed.

Kai resolutely turned around and walked back to the chair near the hearth, where a fire was roaring and crackling with a life of its own. Cersei came to sit to his right, and Petyr's place was in front of him. Both were looking at Kai as if they had never truly seen him, his madness, and his courage before.

Selene hissed at them, flicking her tongue. It almost felt like she was sneering at their looks and their unseen expressions. With an explosion, she burst into a silver mist and entered Kai's body, coming to a rest in his heart. That was her place; her home.

"It won't accept my commands," Kai said, at last, his gaze deep and dense. "It's treating me as nothing but another Familiar watching over Darcie. Quite troublesome…"

Kai's gaze was deepening, thinking if there was a connection between Dementor and Lethifold.

Petyr dared to end this thought, his question dealing with the elephant in the room.

"What about Lethifold's Stats?"