11 Chapter 10

Perseus, Adamastos, Lelantosand Ellas made their way towards a lone house amidst a field. They stood behind a tree and within moments they saw movement inside the house.

They had entered the city, with Perseus's help by using his helm and turning everyone corporeal and had gotten them past the wards. Everyone was invisible except Lelantos, who had transformed into a patrol guard and as such everyone seemed skittish around him.

"Do you think she is alone" Ellas asked.

"Yes" Perseus replied, easily able to see inside the house. The powers of the helm were astounding, not only was he able to see past solid objects, but it also allowed him to look past wards.

'I wonder if it can transcend the magic of a fidelius charm' Perseus thought and then they all moved towards the house. Perseus knocked on the door and they waited. After a few seconds a woman opened the door. She appeared to be in her mid fifties and she was startled to see a city guard on her doorstep, as everyone else was still invisible.

"Yes?" she asked in a shaky voice to which Lelantos replied.

"How are you lady Isabelle, we meet again after seven years?"

"I am afraid I do not recognize you, I can't recall ever meeting a city guard who looks like you" she stated.

"Ah yes, off course you do not recognize me "he said and then reverted to his original self and said.

"Perhaps now you will recognize me"

Reorganization dawned upon her and she looked startled by Lelantos's appearance and then she became angry and said in a furious tone.

"YOU, what are you doing here. After you failed to fulfill your end of the deal and then you vanished without any trail and now you dare appear in front of me"

"That is why we are here "he said.

"We?" she said inquisitively. It was then that within a blink of an eye, Adam turned visible and stared into her eyes, his own glowing a bright golden and said in a commanding tone.

"You will not scream neither will you alert anyone of our presence, you will not attack us nor will you flee. We are not here to hurt you, we just want some information and whatever is asked of you, you will answer it invite us in, do you understand?"

"Yes" she replied in monotonous tone. Ellas was definitely surprised by this ability of Adamastos or at least Perseus thought so, if his intake of breath was anything to go by.

"Please come in?" she said again. They all followed her and she motioned for Lelantos and Adam to sit but they stood still. It was then that Perseus turned visible again and sat in the offered armchair , motioning Isabelle to do the same. She appeared startled by his presence, but she complied with Perseus's wishes, still under the powerful compulsion of the elder vampire.

He then conjured two more armchairs and said

"Lelantos will you please guard the perimeter?"

Lelantos, understanding fully that the discussion that was about to take place was not meant for his ears, he was a bit hurt by it a bit but acknowledged the dismissal with a nod and left the house. Ellas taking the cue too became visible and both he and Adam took their respective seats, adjacent to Perseus.

"Lady Isabelle, Lelantos informed me that you once hired him for a task, to find a boy." Perseus stated.

"Yes" she replied like a puppet controlled by strings

"Why?" Perseus asked to which she replied.

"He is my friend's son"

"Please tell us the whole story, from the very beginning?" Perseus asked and leaned back in his seat as she started narrating everything.

"My friend Katherine was a very good person, a sweet girl. We were good friends. even our families were very close to each one day, during our vacation in France she fell in love with a man we met in France shared a brief relationship. That man, happened to be none other than Theodore, the prince of Moria and soon to be the king"

She took a pause as if to collect her thoughts and started speaking again.

"Theodore was an explorer, he would often go on expeditions to find lost treasures, he loved history. The prince had even proposed to Katherine for marriage and my friend was supposed to become one day, the queen of Moria. He promised to marry her after one expedition. It was a very crucial one and would change the future, or so he claimed "

She gave a small smile and then said again.

"And everything did change, just for the worse. For while he was away, Katherine discovered that she was was a good news but the timing couldn't have been worse,because while the prince was away, his half-brother, Theokoles had taken over the throne of Moria after his father had died under it was a boon indeed that he didn't know about Katherine's relation with the prince. "

"Then what happened?" asked Perseus and she replied.

"It was indeed fate's cruelty that Theodore returned back handed, his brother then laid a trap to assassinate him and the mercenaries hired for the job nearly succeeded. He met Katherine moments after she had given birth to a boy. It was then that Theodore revealed to us that he had not returned empty handed as he led everyone to believe. And from his chest he brought forth an armor that appeared to be in the shape of a vest and appeared to be made of silk and pitch Black in just like that he put that armor over the newborn child and the most amazing thing happened next."

"What happened "Adam asked and the witch looked at him and said in a tone that made it appear as if she still did not believe what had happened

"That armor, softer that any silk, merged with newborn's skin and faded away, as if absorbed by the skin. The prince had claimed that the armor will protect him from any possible attack and will grant him immense powers. But by then the mercenaries had discovered our hideout. The prince told us to take the child away and to run while he kept the mercenaries at bay and so we ran towards the ocean but from the distance we witnessed Theodore being killed by those mercenaries and we had no choice but to run, we hid for a day, during which Theokoles had crowned himself as the king, we couldn't tell anyone about the child, for that would bring shame to Katherine and her family but will also paint a target on that child's head."

"Seeing no other option, we carried out an act that would forever put a Black mark on the relation of a mother and her child."

"What did you do "Perseusasked, but hoping that it wouldn't be anything too heinous.

"We placed him in a chest, I then stepped towards the ocean and placed the chest on the flowing tides and it bobbed away into cry of Katherine's womb escaped through her lips and she tried to slip into the ocean. But I held her back. And after some time, the bobbing casket disappeared, exhausted she sobbed on my shoulder. I caressed her back and led her back to her family."

She said with a faraway look in her eyes.

"Where is she now" asked Perseus in an angry tone.

"She and her family had moved to France and after some time I got to know that she had married king Jason and is now the queen of Velos "

Perseus had heard of fathers being jerks and abandon their children;His personal experience, but he found it hard to believe that a mother could do such a deed.

'And surely it must be fate's cruelty that Alexander grew up in Velos, so close to his mother, yet he never encountered her' he thought.

"A woman like queen Katherine should be cursed with infertility, yet she was blessed with other four deed was that of a snake, not a witch." Perseussaid, seething with anger.

"You have to understand, if the truth were to come in the open, it would have meant the end of Katherine , her son and her entire family. King Theokoles is cruel man. she was a young, scared girl with no one to support or comfort her" she said.

"Then why did you look for him after all these years "Perseus asked

"I was once in a nearby village, where I heard rumors about a powerful wizard in Archnae institute. The rumors were that his skin was impenetrable and he was immune to all kind of attacksand then some more rumors about him and an I thought that it must have that child we set afloat in the ocean, so I hired a tracker to find him but he never returned with any news "

"One question" Ellas asked abruptly, as he had remained impassive and quiet the entire time.

"Did that armor have the engravings of a three-headed snake over it "he asked

"Yes, how did you know that" the witch asked sprang forth in her eyes. But Perseus said before Ellas could reply.

"Why don't you wait in the kitchen for a while"

And she complied with his command. then Perseus asked Ellas

"What is it? You know something Ellas, tell us"

"That armor, I know of it; The Armor of Styx. Hephaestus and my father forged it as a failsafe, if the Olympians were to train their weapons against them. They had fashioned it after an armor that was a piece of legend even for us elves." Ellas said and then Perseus said inquisitively

"The armor of Helios"

"Yes, it was after sometime, that Hephaestus gave that armor to Achilles. With that armor Achilles was an invincible warrior, even the Olympians could not touch him. But some time before the end of the battle of troy,Hephaestus requested that armor back which resulted in the fall of that hero."

"Why didn't anyone else wear that armor" Perseus asked.

"Hephaestus hid the armor somewhere, no one knows Theodore must have discovered it" Ellas said and Perseus nodded and got up from his seat and the two followed after. He then told Adamastos.

"Well we should leave now, not even a single soul other than the three of us should learn of this; Adamastos, wipe her memories of our meeting and any memory related to Alexander. We will wait for you outside"

The elder vampire nodded as Perseus and Ellas made their way outside and met Lelantos. soon they were joined by Adamastos who nodded at Perseus conveying to him that he had done as commanded.

And they all vanished from there using a portkey. Had they stayed there for a bit longer, they would have encountered the soldiers of Moria who had somehow learnt of intruders in the city and had come to investigate. And upon failing to answer their questions properly, the soldiers had killed the old witch and had burned her house down to ashes.

The next morning the goblins returned as promised. Perseus, Alistair and Ellas left with them to a small island not far away from England. There the goblin took them to a cave. They entered the cave and found a tunnel inside.

Before entering the cave the old goblin gave a crooked smile and said

"I warn you that they do not take kindly to mere humans in their kingdom."

"What do they say about mere immortals?" Alistair asked cockily.

"We shall see, shan't we?" the goblin said dubiously. "It's a long trip, I hope you are ready."

"Let's go."

Perseus followed the goblin through the rocky hallway. The elder goblin stopped in front of a door and poked his head in. After a few minutes of harsh goblin-talk, they were walking down a less used hallway, both holding a pair of torches.

They passed many nondescript rooms, portraits and other artwork before they went off down another side passage. This passage was very dirty, and had an unfinished feel about it.

Sure enough, about 30 minutes of brisk walking later, the passageway started sloping downhill.

The straight cut tunnel gradually turned into a rough hewn tunnel. One would think it was a natural occurrence, if it wasn't for the footpath.

Perseus questioned what the hell he was doing, but didn't say anything. He questioned this because the walk took at least a day. It was hard to tell how long they actually walked, as there was no light, but he was dead tired.

Some parts of the tunnel were very terrifying. There were parts where they had to crouch for an hour at a time. Other parts of the tunnel opened up into wide caverns that the light of the torch couldn't fully reveal. And even some parts were just a ledge and an unfathomably deep abyss.

After hours of prolonged walking, they arrived at a very large metal door. Perseus marveled at the craftsmanship of the door. It felt like a very hard metal, but the artistic quality was amazing. There were simply no words in the English language to describe it. There were probably 30 or 40 Dwarven words to describe it, none of which Perseus knew.

The goblin gave a knock on the door and a few seconds later a hidden window slot in the door opened up. Perseus saw, what he guessed was a Dwarven face, appear in the hole.

"Who is there?" A gruff voice called out.

"Chief Ragnok the Sixth and Master Perseus Black." The goblin replied. "He wishes to speak with the King about contracting some Dwarven workers…"

"Very well Chief…and wizard." The Dwarf gave a booming laugh. "Follow me. No funny business or we will throw you n the forges."

The dwarf was surprised by the presence of the vampire but did not object .They followed the dwarf who didn't introduce himself. Perseus thought it was rude, but if the dwarf was just a gatekeeper, then he figured it didn't matter too much. The dwarf didn't look outwardly hostile, other than the large axe casually resting over his shoulder, and his metal helm.

It was then that the goblin said

"I have done my part of the deal, now give me the axe"

Perseus waved his wand and summoned the axe, the goblin inspected the axe and he seemed that the goblin returned leaving Perseus, Alistair and an invisible Ellas with the dwarf.

The dwarf led them through a massive antechamber. There were many pillars, each of which were similar to the design at Gringotts, but far superior in craftsmanship and quality.

"There was a new king crowned this cycle, and this is a time of celebration. The old king would spit upon you wizard. And maybe that is why it is good that the old king is dead." The dwarf explained with a shrug

After they passed through the massive antechamber they arrived into the main city.

"Welcome to Kilgirn lad!" The dwarf exclaimed.

"How many cities are there exactly?"

"This is the largest city within a fortnight and a half walk. There are other outposts and strongholds. That is as much as I can tell an outsider." The dwarf apologized.

'three weeks then' Perseus thought

The dwarf continued with a brief tour of the city.

"Over there be the forges."

Whatever Perseus was expecting, the forges were not it. It seemed as if they were controlling the lava right out of hell itself. There were hundreds, if not thousands of dwarves working the vast system of forges and anvils. Perseus could see armor, weapons, chains, doors, wheels, goblets and anything you could think of being created here.

"Amazing." Perseus said breathlessly.

"Thank you human." The anonymous dwarf replied. "Not many of you land dwellers ever get to see them the last person to enter our realm with permission was Aristaeus the great. And the only reason you were allowed was because you are his descendant and the dwarves are indebted to him in many ways."

"What did you mean by 'the last person to enter our realm with permission" Perseus asked.

"Ah yes, not many years ago, that old senile wizard, Albus Dumbledore entered the city without our invitation or permission. In an inferno of fire he appeared along with his familiar to talk to our king." The dwarf said and Perseus detected from his tone that while the dwarf was not happy about that incident, he was no doubt in awe of the headmaster.

Alistair too was amazed at the scope of the huge city. There were thousands of dwarfs walking around; it reminded him of London circa 1970's. The amount of businesses were only limited to your imagination in what you can sell. He has never interacted much with the dwarfs before; their blood was of very poor taste.

About 30 minutes of walking through the vast city, and receiving many stares along the way, they came upon the grandest building of them all. The wide double doors were solid gold, with an unfamiliar symbol made out of diamonds.

They passed through the double doors and inside there was a large room with an equally large table with about 20 seats and there were 3 seats open at the head of the table, one of them being a solid crystal throne.

The dwarf led them over to the seats, which they hesitantly took.

What was shocking the most was that the dwarf that the assumed to be a gatekeeper, sat down on the throne.

"Welcome to kauling, the Iron Citadel. From these halls our forefathers and our forefathers' forefathers have guided our great kingdom. I am King korwak the First. How can the Dwarven Kingdom be of service?"

Perseus looked shocked for a few seconds before answering. The goblin chief looked amused. "My name is Perseus Aries Black; I have heard that Dwarves create the finest masterpieces in the land. I wish for you to create the finest city known to not only the wizard kind but to any magical being.

Some of the other dwarves seemed to snicker behind their beards. The King began to stroke his beard, lost in thought. One of the dwarves jumped up suddenly and threw his tankard against the wall. The dwarf cursed a few times in Dwarven before walking out of the room.

It was then that the king said to Perseus

"We cannot do that for you lad, wizards did not help us in our war against goblins, and as such we cannot aid the humans in any way, no matter if you have brought a vampire to threaten us."

"Threatening you was not my intention, I was assured my someone that the dwarfs would never say 'no' to him" Perseus replied

"By whom" the king asked, sitting upon his throne, now a bit curious.

"By me" Ellas said turning visible once again. The dwarfs could not believe what they saw, they all stood from their respective seats, even the king got up from his throne and walked towards him and said.

"Never in all my years, did I think that I would be blessed and fortunate enough to meet one of your kind, Sire." He knelt on one knee and bowed his head and Perseus was shocked to see that every goblin followed suit, except the one who had gotten angry before.

"Please rise," Ellas said calmly .

"The Dwarven nation will definitely help you sire." the king replied

"That is all I ask, I am certain that you will build another masterpiece "Ellas replied, but before anyone could say anything, the dwarf who had gotten angrier earlier shouted something incoherent and then said in English.

"Are you really going to help a wizard,korwak? Their kind abandoned us when we needed their help. And this elf, it's definitely a trick, some sort of illusion, the elves went extinct a long time ago, I say kill the lot of these vagabonds, and –"

But whatever he was going to say was cut short as the goblin king with great speed and strength cut his head off with his axe, his head went flying a few feet. The king then looked at everyone present and said in a commanding tone.

"No dwarf shall insult an elf,especially in my presence, if you do so then I am sure you are aware of the punishment dwarf will ever refuse an elf, that was our law. Their kind gave us the knowledge that made us the masters of our are the reason we have lived lavishly all these centuries."

The king then looked at them again and said in respectful tone.

"The dwarfs will build the greatest and the grandest structures known to the world, it will inspire awe in anyone who's sight will fall upon it. Greater that of the Olympus, more beautiful and advance than Asgard. The city will glorify the Blacks for eternity, I give you my words and I will head this project myself"

"I am grateful to you king korwak" Perseus said and then Ellas said again.

"Thank you for showing me such respect, I am glad to know that our decision of teaching the dwarfs was a right one, unlike those ungrateful goblins"

"Sire I grew up hearing tales and legends of your kind;our is I who is grateful that you considered us worthy of this task, I just hope I do not let you down "the king said.

"I am sure you won't, and If you have no objection, I too will like to be included in this project, I will create the wards of Oceania" Ellas replied.

"We will be honored to work alongside you, sire" he replied.

"Very well, shall we discuss some details then , for instance , how much time will the whole process take and how much will it cost" Perseus asked

The king then motioned for a servant to get some instrument and some parchments and a quill. The instruments were very strange and Perseus had no idea what the dwarf was doing with them, but it seemed that Ellas understood as every now and then he would nod in agreement and sometimes even in appreciation.

After about half an hour the dwarf looked at them again and said

"We have around five thousand dwarfs who will work on this project onsite, about a thousand will work in the forges and then some five hundred who are skilled with enchantments and ruins will work under Sir Ellas"

"We will build three tunnels from here to Oceania and it will take approximately a cycle and a quarter more." He said and after that he again did some calculations and then nodded to himself before saying

"It will cost you around a million of those golden coins the wizards of Europe use" he finished and waited for theirresponse ,Perseus having no idea about the details other than the fact that the dwarfs were charging them 2.5% of what the goblins proposed. He looked at Ellas who nodded and said

"It is a profitable deal, my lord "hearing the elf address Perseus as his lord, the dwarf looked surprised but he composed himself. And Perseus told him

"Very well, we have a deal then "and they both shook hands.

"We must leave now" Allistair said to which the dwarf replied

"Please stay, enjoy our hospitality "the king said but Perseus said

"we will, but I am afraid we are on a tight leash today, some other day perhaps"

"Very well then, the drilling of the tunnels will be finished by the quarter-quarter of a cycle, we will then begin the construction work, till then we will draw the blue-prints and have Sir Ellas approve them" he said and Ellas and the king finalized their communication details and then the trio portkeyed back to Oceania.

Helena stood at the balcony adjoining her room and looked at the beautiful scenery in front of her; the beautiful city of Olympia. She had just returned from her birthday party after bidding every guest goodbye. Even Nick had left early, stating he had to appear for an interview the next morning.

Helena couldn't help but smile with pride at the achievement of her best friend, so engrossed she was in her thoughts that she didn't even notice her grandmother; Annabelle Angelis who now stood beside her, till she said

"Well you are definitely happy about something, child. What is it?"

"Just thinking about nick and his interview" Helena said to which the queen of Olympia replied

"Ah yes, it is indeed a great achievement, to conjure a patronus at the mere age of twelve, I am sure his grandparents are proud too. "

"I know right. No one has ever done that in the last four centuries, not even Perseus." Helenasaid, although the mention of the Black heir caused her smile to falter and it also led her to think about Perseus and she got even more had invited him and Cedric to her party too, but Cedric was in Japan and so he could not make Perseus had just sent a very clipped note saying ''will not come. –P.A.B''.

"You talk a lot about this Perseus, most of the time you seem infuriated with him" Annabelle asked to which Helena replied

"Well, he is a jerk, he is too full of himself, he thinks he is better than everyone else just because of who he is"

Here her grandmother gave a smile and said in an amused tone

"Well my dear, you just described every member of that family"

This caused Helena to smile a bit and then she said in frustration her arms flailing

"I invited him to my party but how did he respond by saying 'will not come'. Mind you, not something like saying that he could not come and apologize for the same while giving some reason for it. But NO, he had to reply in a manner as if to convey that he had better things to do, that pretentious jerk"

"He didn't even send a greeting or even a present "Helena said again and her grandmother said in somewhat grave tone

"I told you child, to be wary of him. if there is one thing that every wizarding house of England knows is that one should never mess with a Black."

"But he didn't have to be rude "Helena replied but the answer came not from her grandmother but from a tall man who stood a few feet behind them. He had blond hair, his dim golden eyes displayed wisdom and they seemed to carry a lot of regrets. He was accompanied by a young man who appeared to be in his teens and an old man who wore a crown on his head.

"I guess my princess, that his clipped reply was a result of the history that the houses of Angelis and Blacks share "

"What history, what are you talking about Aaron" Helena said hurriedly , eager to discover anything about the enigma that was Perseus Black

"Perhaps it is time that you hear that tale" he replied

"What tale" asked the young boy who stood beside him.

"A tale of love, betrayal and death,Prince Victor" the man named Aaron said and then with a faraway look in his eyes he recited the story

"Once upon a time, about 4 centuries ago,a daughter of house Angelis;Elena and Cygnus, the youngest son of the Black family, fell for each Elena's father had other plans, he had already arranger her wedding with another. Elena sent a letter to Cygnus, taunting him to send his warm wishes on her wedding and dared him to abscond her. And that is what Cygnus did, despite constant attempts from his sister to prevent him from doing so. But blinded by love, he did not heed her advice ."

Here he paused for a second and looked at the prince and said

"He was such a skilled wizard that he snuck in and then out back with Elena, transcending the wards of the ancestral manor of Angelis in England. But en route to his manor, they took shelter in a safe house to let the situation cool down. But then the unfortunate happened, Elena's brothers and her intended found them. Elena fearing for her brother's life since she knew Cygnus to be an excellent warrior and knowing full well that if they were to duel with Cygnus holding a wand , no one other than him would be remain alive after that fight."

"Fearing the consequences, the future where all her sisters-in-law would become widows and thinking that her brothers would spare her and Cygnus at her behest, she did something that would not only forever give the Angelis clan a reputation of being untrustworthy but would also lead to the destruction of their house and place in England"

"What did she do" Helena asked and it was the king of Olympia who replied

"She broke his wand and her too."

This caused Helena to gasp and victor's eyes widened .and the king continued

"When Cygnus woke up from sleep, he was furious at Elena's betrayal, but he did not agree with Elena's plan to plead in front of her took his sword and went to fight , skilled he was, that with just a magical blade in his hands he took down 11 wizards with him. After his death,Elena too committed suicide but the problem did not end with sparked a war between the two houses. And even with an army and aid from some other nations who we were friends with, we were defeated. The Blacks raised an army of wizards, trolls, giants, vampires and even dementors,and attacked us and defeated us and burned all our houses. It was only by luck that one member of the family survived and continued the line. But the wrath of blacks did not end there, they then went after those nations who had helped us and unleashed their fury upon them too"

The king finished the tale which left both Helena and victor Aaron spoke up

"That incident sowed the seeds of hatred between the Blacks and the Angelis clan. No Black has set foot in Olympia in the last four centuries and I hope it stays that way."

"But it is stupid, this grudge over something that happened four centuries ago, it's bizarre "Helena said to which Aaron replied

"It is stupid I agree, but the Blacks are known for holding grudges for a long time, they never forget and like a snake they attack at the right moment. I have always wondered and I still do as to what kept someone as powerful as Arcturus Black from attacking us and my gut tells me that the next time a Black would enter Olympia, he will bring a lot of chaos with him"

"Don't worry Helena, I will show that Perseus his place in the tournament this year by beating the shit out of him" Victor said boastfully

"That is what I wanted to discuss with you my lord" he addressed the king of Olympia and continued speaking

"I believe it would be better if Prince Victor were to back out of this tournament, I do not think it is wise for him to face Perseus Black, "

"What? No" victor protested

Just then thunder rumbled and thick clouds started rolling towards Olympia from all directions and lightening looked at Aaron and what she saw stunned him as for the first time she saw a look of terror on his face.

"Oh no, why would it attack Olympia "he muttered then said out loud

"Come with me princess, I will lead you all to the bunkers. Victor assemble the soldiers "he said

But just then lightening flashed right in front of them and a beautiful bird with pure white feathers emerged and it landed on the balcony and extended its claws towards Helena ,Aaron tried to take the parcel but the thunderbird screeched at Aaron , which caused excruciating pain in his head and he recoiled away, getting the warning all too well.

Helena took the parcel and the thunderbird flew away in a flash of lightening.

"It is from Perseus" Helena exclaimed and she left the room, smiling.

"So the rumors are true then" Victor said and his grandfather said to Aaron

"It is really disturbing for a Black to have a beast that can lay waste to an entire city and is indomitable as his familiar "

"Indeed" Aaron said "it is a matter of worry, but I am more concerned about the wizards that not only defeated that indomitable beast but even tamed hence my point for prince victor to back off from the tournament and now I hope even more that the Black heir will not visit Olympia"

"Yes, he must be an extremely powerful wizard to achieve something that even Dumbledore could , skilled and must have learned from his grandfather." Annabelle said

"Yes and if rumors are to be believed from within the vampire community, I won't be able to defeat him either " Aaron said which surprised everyone

"What, what rumors" the lord of Olympia exclaimed

"The rumors are that Perseus Black encountered Adamastos and defeated him too. This has earned him a dangerous reputation amongst the vampires have formed a code of sort to accept Perseus's superiority"

"But how can one defeat an elder vampire" Victor asked

"Well I was defeated, wasn't I" Aaron replied

"Yes, but you were defeated by Aristaeus the great"

"That should tell you a lot about his strength, after all Adamastos was the strongest of us three and Perseus is a descendant of Aristaeus" Aaron said causing the older couple to ponder and Annabelle said to Victor

"Aaron's words carry wisdom Victor, you should abstain from facing the Black heir"

"No way, I will fight him and I will teach him humility" Victor said and walked away leave the trio in worry over history repeating itself.

Perseus Arcturus Black, Tyler and Adamastos stood a few meters away from a cliff, on the edge of a cliff stood a tall tower in the shape of a triangle. it was a dark and imposing structure.

It had been two weeks since the thunderbird had attacked Oceania. The said thunderbird had then decided to stay with Perseus as his familiar and Perseus has named him 'Zeus'. But that was not all, then came another alarming matter regarding Tyler.

Perseus looked at Tyler and remembered that day

-FLASHBACK BEGINS-

Tyler has locked himself in his room for 4 days following the visit with dwarfs, finally Alistair, Perseus and Arcturus Black has forcibly entered his room to figure out the matter.

And what they saw surprised them, there in the corner of the room, sat a half naked Tyler, shivering and looked at them all with uncertainty and fear in his eyes.

"Stay away from me lord Black, please" Tyler said in a broken tone

"What happened to you child, tell me and I can help you out" Arcturus said

"No one can help me, please don't come near me, I am cursed, I could hurt you " Tyler said and this alerted Perseus and Adamastos but before they could do or say anything Tyler started shaking and then suddenly changed into a damn big wolf.

A dire wolf to be exact.

This shocked Perseus and he recalled the tale of the shape shifters that Adam had told him earlier. He looked at Adamastos and he nodded and confirmed his theory. Then Adamastos stood protectively in front of Arcturus Black and took an attacking stance and his fangs came forth. His eyed darkened and turned the shade of red.

"No, wait" Perseus said as he moved in front of him and looked straight in the eyes of the massive seven feet tall wolf.

"I know you can understand me Tyler, just do as I say, first of all don't panic and calm down" he said and the wolf did as instructed

"Now try to think of your human form and try to convert back and don't be disheartened if you fail at first, just keep trying"

And after an hour of trying Tyler did succeeded, he then looked at Arcturus and Perseus and asked them

"What am I?"

"You are an extremely gifted wizard child" Arcturus Black said

Perseus then asked Adamastosto tell everything about the shapeshifters to Tyler. Then Tyler asked him

"If you killed them all then how come I have that power"

"You didn't kill them all did you Adamastos" Arcturus Black asked him

"Indeed "he replied," there was a woman who was with a child, and I could not kill them, I guess I still had some humanity left in me at that time. I asked that woman to run and told her to stay low and to find a way to mask their power. You must be the descendant of that woman" Alistair replied

"But no one in my family had that power, than why me" Tyler asked Alistair to which he replied

"I guess that woman did find a way to chain the wolf within that baby and in his descendants, but when you met me, the wolf within you must have recognized me and it broke its chain"

-FLASHBACK ENDS-

After his transformation, Tyler had discovered his powers, he was almost as strong and as fast as vampires in his human form and could easily crush vampires in his wolf form. But he could still not match Adamastos in any aspect, much to his charging.

His metabolism too was as good as the vampires and the only advantage he had over them was that he could do magic, although his magic was now a lot stronger, his attacks more powerful and coupled with his increased stamina. He had grown a lot in terms of power.

Perseus had spent the last month training, increasing his skill with nullifying powers and had started studying to be an animagus ; something voldermort never bothered with and hence Perseus had no knowledge about it.

He had learnt most of the magic from voldermort's soul and hence in some twisted way, voldermort was like a teacher to him. But he still have to perform some of the magic that the dark lord had dabbled in, but he couldn't yet. His powers were nowhere near his level yet. Due to all the rituals that the dark lord had performed to boost his power.

And hence the majority of his time was spent learning more about rituals , Perseus had even started making his own rituals . One of his goal was to perfect the ritual that created the vampires. He had tried using the thunderbolt too; but he had only used it once and had sent a powerful attack on a mountain, using the master bolt as a foci. The result was a massive explosion that had destroyed everything in 30 feet radius but Perseus had fallen unconscious due to magical exhaustion. All of his magic spent at once and he was unable to control it's flow.

Ellas had later informed him that explosion was like a candle compared to the sun; which were Zeus's attacks , the king of Olympus could lay waste to entire cities with one blast and could do so many times without getting exhausted . This made him realize that he still had a long way to go in terms of raw power . he might have more skills and knowledge that most wizards , but when it comes to raw power ; he knew the likes of Dumbledore voldemort , y, z, and gridlewald would crush him. Dumbledore was most probably even more skilled and knowledgable that the rest including himself .

That was one reason Perseus was so persistent on having grindlewald in their camp . the only man who knew Dumbledore the best . He was brought out of his musing when he heard his grandfather say something to him

"The prison was initially built on the order of Grindelwald himself, to serve as his base of power and also to imprison his enemies " Arcturus Black said as the moved inside the prison. The wards fizzling out of existence when Perseus went near them.

Perseus has learnt this from the grimoire of Diana, who possessed the knowledge the art of manifesting one's nullifying power and to cause disruption in the wards.

"This place looks deserted "Perseus asked as they made their way towards the uppermost level of the prison.

"It is so, because this prison holds only 4 people" Adamastos replied

"What about the security, who guards this place?"

"There is no security here, but the wards around this prison are impenetrable and it would have taken a lot longer to bring them down had you not learned about your nullifying powers." Adamastos said

"But if there are no guards, then how are they fed "Perseus asked

"Elf, an elf delivers the food and water to the prisoners" Adamastos replied

"Who are the other prisoners" Perseus asked

"Three other prisoners other than Grindalwald, they are in the level below Grindlewald. His generals, loyal to him and extremely powerful"Adamastos said

"Tell me more about them" Perseus asked.

"Lord Black could tell you more about them since he defeated them in the battle. It was three against one and yet lord Black emerged victorious." Adamastos said which caused the Black lord to smirk a bit. And then he said.

"The first of them is Xerxes, the most powerful of them and Grindelwald's second in command, he was a fearsome warrior and each of his spell packed a lot of power but he was also a master of elemental magic. They called him the lord of storms. Rumors are that he had even rediscovered the lost war hammer of thor "

Perseus was awed by the description of this warrior and then Arcturus Black spoke again

"Then comes Dastan, he comes from a long line of necromancers from Egypt and he was also a shadow mage. He was the spy master; they say he had spies in every nation and that he knew every dirty secret of all the prominent figures in europe"after a moment's pause he said again

"And lastly, the most fearsome of them all, for he possessed the knowledge of old magic thought to be lost, magic that I have only witnessed being wielded by my master Aristaeus, although not to that extend. That knowledge was passed down to him from his ancestors. A master of trickery and illusions. But that is not all for he was even more feared for one power that no one in Europe possessed at that time, he too was a parseltongue like you Perseus. they say he even knew parselmagic since he came from a long line of parselmouths in the east somewhere from around the region of Himalayas." here Arcturus gave a slight shudder as if recalling something unpleasant.

"Plus like every wizard from those regions he wielder fire like a demon, he had such control over fiendfyre that I have not seen in anyone ever. They say he possessed the silver tongue and could literally sway anyone with his words. He was considered as the most knowledgeable wizard and the wisest which is why he was also Grindelwald's ambassador."

He finished speaking and Perseus was surprised by the skills and power possessed by these men.

'And to think grandfather defeated them all' Perseus thought in amazement

"You must be wondering child, how I defeated them all" Arcturus said

"Yeah" Perseus said sheepishly

"I was trained by the best Perseus, oh how much I wish for you to just meet my master once and you would realize why everyone hold him in such high regard" Arcturus said and it was then they realized that they had reached the uppermost level

Arcturus waved his wand and unlocked the door. He and Adamastos entered the cell, Perseus activated his helm and he too entered.

There sitting on a mattress was a bald man, who appeared to be in his seventies, and for a man of over 100 years of age who had spent 35 years in prison he looked strong. His eyes landed on the visitors and he said

"I never expected to get another visit from you Arcturus and that too accompanied by an elder vampire, you have made a strong ally I must say." He then looked at Adamastos and said

"I have met the mighty Aaron, and you don't look old enough to be Salukis, so I would hazard a guess and say that you must be Adamastos"

"And you would be correct in you assumption" Adamastos responded in a clipped tone and then Arcturus spoke up

"I must say Gellert , for a man who has been in prison for over 35 years , you are in pretty good shape and here I thought that you would have died of old age." arcturus said

"Ah yes, but did you doubt your master's words Arcturus" Grindelwald asked and gave a knowing smile

"what does that mean" Adamastos asked to Arcturus Black in confusion but before he could say anything, Grindelwald himself said

"My master, Aristaeus the great, had granted me a boon. A boon that I would not die of old age, I would remain untouched by the graze of time. I can only be killed and would only die an unnatural death, a lot like your kind Adamastos"

"And you believe it?" Adamastos looked at Arcturus and asked him

"I do" Arcturus said which surprised both Perseus and Adamastos and he then continued speaking

"For I am sure you can see that Grindlewald looks even better than Dumbledore and he has been in prison for thirty-five years "

And indeed his words had merit. Arcturus Black then conjured two armchairs and he and Adamastos sat down and Grindelwald asked them

"Why are you here Arcturus?"

"To get you out of here off course "he replied and Grindelwald just laughed and after a few moments said

"And what makes you think I wish to be free, do you really think that I could not have escaped from the very prison I built."

"Exactly, and that is why I am here, for I know that you feel remorse for your actions and what you did" Arcturus said to which Grindelwald did not reply and Arcturus then asked again

"But I have always wanted to ask you one thing, why. I mean what set you on the quest of conquering Europe"

The former dark lord just looked at Arcturus defiantly but after a moment his shoulders slumped and he replied in a low tone

"I just, I just wanted to make our master proud, and as such I wanted to do what he did, what he had accomplished. He had conquered every nation in Europe and Asia and that too alone. But I am not as strong as him and as such I had to amass an army to accomplish the task "

Here he gave a small pause and the spoke again

"It was a tiring task, to create an army from the scratch, to train them. But I did it nonetheless. But I don't know when my quest of conquering Europe changed to the one of terrorizing Europe. And I would have succeeded too but Albus decided to confront me. But the skill and knowledge Albus possessed, it surprised me for a moment and it took me some time to realize that Albus had learned from master Aristaeus too."

Here he gave a soft smile and continued

"All that time I believed that Albus was unwilling to fight me, but he was training all that time .But with an army at my disposal I could have defeated Albus too. But then you came forth Arcturus and held my army at bay and I had to fight Albus alone. Where my attacks packed more power, Albus was more skilled and you know what happened then"

He gave sigh but then said in an accusing tone

"But had you not intervened Arcturus, I could have succeeded too but you betrayed me"

"I didn't betray you Gellert" Arcturus Black roared

"Yes you did, we were not suppose to fight each other and out of respect I had for you and Aristrodemos, I did not attack Velos and Oceania. But you didn't reciprocate my actions, you fought against me" Grindelwald said in a harsh tone to which Arcturus replied

"I had to, your actions were bringing shame and disgrace to our master's name. Your aim might have been fine but the path you choose was not"

After hearing this Grindelwald deflated and slumped down back on his bed. It was then that Perseus made his appearance and said

"Arcturus Black is not the first person to say this to you, isn't that so, do tell what lead you to feel remorse Gellart Grindlewald"

Perseus sudden appearance shocked the former dark lord and he just looked at Perseus in wonder. He then said

"Who are you and when did you come"

"My name is Perseus Aries Black and I was here the whole time" Perseus said

"He is my grandson and my heir. "Arcturus added to which Grindelwald nodded and said

"I can see through Disillusionment charms, but I could not see you, I am impressed"

"Thank you, but you didn't answer my question" Perseus said and Grindelwald looked conflicted for a moment before he said as he looked at Arcturus

"Master Aristaeus visited me in prison sometime before you did. And the look in his eyes; regret. He regretted teaching me and that broke me Arcturus"

Perseus stepped ahead and knelt to Grindelwald's level and looked him straight in the eye and said

"Then make him proud, with your actions so that the next time you meet him, he would look at you with pride"

"And what can I do to achieve that" Grindelwald said in tone that sounded mixture of sarcasm and desperation.

"don't look where you fell, look where you slipped . Take the very path that was taken by my grandfather and Dumbledore; to protect those who can't protect themselves. And if you are willing to do that, I offer you the position of the chief commander of the army of Oceania" Perseus said and this must have shocked the former dark lord for he exclaimed

"What"

"Yes, if you take an oath to protect Oceania and its people, and swear fealty to me and the house of Black, I promise you I would provide you with the chance to fulfill your goal of conquering Europe and that too through the right means."

Grindelwald was too shocked by everything but he soon came out of his stupor and seemed to be contemplating on Perseus's offer and after a while he stood and asked for a wand which Arcturus gave him his own.

He held the wand in his hand and put its tip on his chest and said

"With my magic as witness I swear I will serve Oceania with all my power and will protect it and its people from every threat"

A soft bluish glow engulfed him for a moment which died down after a moment he then handed he handed his wand back to Arcturus and took hold of Perseus forearm and Perseus reciprocated then Grindelwald said

"Do the honors Arcturus"

Arcturus raised his wand and a bluish white thread of magic wrapped around their arms when Arcturus Black spoke up

"Do you Gellart Grindlewald swear fealty to Perseus Aries Black to serve him in any way he so desires? "

"yes"

"do you swear to always work in his best interest and swear allegiance and fealty to the house of Black "

"yes"

The thread of magic seemed to dissolve and both Perseus and Gellert feel the oath coiling around their heart. Perseus then said

"Very well, let us go now"

"Wait, we need to free my generals too" Grindelwald said

"Very well, we will free them on our way out but they will have to swear the same oath that you have" Perseus said

"They will, they will do whatever I ask them to "Grindelwald replied

And that is what they did; they freed each one of them, the three prisoners looked to be in mid forties which was surprising given that they have been in prison for thirty-five years. They then swore the same oaths that Grindelwald had and then they made their way out.

All of them stood a few meters away from the looming tower and the cliff. Perseus knelt down and started muttering a chant.

"What is he doing" Dastan asked and it was kali who responded

"Master Black wishes to cause an earthquake and destroy nurmengaurd which would hide our break out."

And that is what happened, Perseus jabbed his wand on the ground and after a moment violent tremors started all around and the cliff on which nurmengaurd stood; collapsed, along with the dark prison and fell in the river flowing below.

Perseus then stood up and faced Grindlewald

"Now, you all are dead in the eyes of the wizarding world, get ready to begin your new life" Perseus asked

"Yes but don't you think that certain people would recognize us" kali asked

"Yes, but to avoid that we will perform a ritual, I am sure general kali knows what I am talking about" Perseus said and understanding dawned on everyone's faces

"Let's go back then, we will perform the ritual at the earliest "and they all, except Arcturus and Perseus, grabbed the portkey that Alistair was holding and vanished from the cliff. Then Perseus and Arcturus too vanished. Moments after they had left a massive earthquake shook the entire area; an earthquake which came out to be of magnitude nine on Richter scale.

Arcturus Black and Perseus appeared at the edge of an all wizarding village, the only one in England; Hogsmeade. They then made their way towards the train station and arcturus said to his ward

"I wish you luck for the tournament child. If possible, I will come and visit you. But you need not worry, Adamastos will be with you at all times."

"Thank you grandfather" Perseus replied and noticing the hesitant and worried look on the aged wizard's face he asked

"You want to ask me something grandfather"

"Ah yes, I am worried Perseus "he replied

"About what" he asked

"About you" the black lord replied which surprised Perseus a bit.

"Why" he asked with a bit of uncertainty to which arcturus said

"You are gathering allies, soldiers and warriors as if you plan on waging a war in the future"

"Whatever gave you that impression grandfather?" he asked

"Child. All these men; Akram, Grindelwald, Adamastos and now even Tyler. You are building an army. it is very clear" he replied

"Yes" Perseus said in a low whisper," I am creating an army, but not for the reasons you believe. one does not create an army to wage wars"

Seeing a confused lord black he continued

"One creates an army so mighty that no one would dare fight you and that is what I am doing. creating an army, my powerhouse so that no one, not anyone, not even Dumbledore or the ministry would dare risk any confrontation with me "

'And Voldemort' he added in his mind. That was his ultimate step, to create a third faction to the war he knew would approach one day, knowing completely well that Voldemort will return.

"Be wary Perseus, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. stronger men in the past, have succumbed to the madness of power." He said and paused for a moment and then continued in a grave tone

"Madness you see, is like gravity. All it needs is a little push"

They both stood in silence for a minute before Perseus asked him as he turned his back towards his grandfather

"You fear that I might become a dark lord, a tyrant"

"My fears are well founded" arcturus black replied

"I assure you grandfather I won't tread that path. I don't need to. I am already stronger than most. heck if need be I can take over the ministry in one day" Perseus said as he turned and looked at his grandsire, his eyes again glowing slightly, revealing the power within him

"you believe that you can defeat the likes of Dumbledore" he asked

"If need be, then yes" Perseus answered and Arcturus shook his head slightly before saying

"Your powers have blinded you child, I hope you won't make a mistaken this intoxication of power that might ruin your life. You are not the only prodigious strong wizard in this world. There have been many before you and many will come still. There are many out there who are stronger "arcturus said and just as Perseus was about to retort he continued

"Perhaps your competitors in this tournament will help you understand my point"

"I will win this tournament, I am sure of it." Perseus said

"You will have to employ everything, every power at your disposal to do so . Perhaps that will teach you some humility "he said

"You are worrying over nothing grandfather" the boy replied just as they heard the approaching Hogwarts express. Perseus then said, changing the topic

"I heard about aunt Cassiopeia's health deteriorating "

Arcturus had a faraway look in his eyes and pain too as he replied

"Alas, no matter how powerful one is, the strongest is still time, no one can best it"

"Not true, many have escaped the clutches of time, if only one's soul or body is strong" Perseus said as he thought of the Flamels and even of Voldemort'shorcruxes.

Here Arcturus's eyes widened for a moment before he composed himself and said

"Do not practice or explore that branch of magic child. " he then placed his hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes and said

"Perseus, temper with the deepest mysteries – the source of life, only if prepared for the consequences of the most extreme and dangerous kind"

Perseus saw the wisdom in those words and hence he nodded in understanding just as the Hogwarts express entered the station

"That's my cue to leave, write me if you require anything Perseus, I wish you all the luck" Arcturus said and hugged his young charge as Perseus mumbled a 'thank you'. Arcturus then let Perseus go and just as students started stepping out of the train, he Apparated away.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter; I also hope it answered some of the questions many were asking. Perseus's powers and where he stands in comparison to other wizards will be revealed in time.

Next chapter will be the preparations for the tournament. An interesting Interaction with nick and another correspondence with lily potter.

And any guesses about the tournament, what it will be like? . will Perseus and Victor fight, will someone get hurt or worse killed?