CHAPTER 11:

GRAND THEFT AND GHOSTS

Ashe looked around the opulent corridors with a mixture of discontent and nostalgia. It clearly pained her to go sneaking through the palace she once called home like a thief in the night. Harry, Mjrn, and Ashe were undergoing this little sojourn, using the Cloak of Invisibility. Oddly enough, the Cloak could expand slightly, enough to cover up to three adults.

"Do you know where the treasure room is, Ashe?" Harry asked quietly.

Ashe shook her head. "My father told me he would reveal the secret to me ere he died, but in truth, while he told me the rough location, he told me not where exactly it was, or how to access it. I believe a Sunstone is needed, but that is all I know."

"Huh. Bugger. Well, hopefully, that's nothing an unlocking spell can't fix…or failing that, a Blasting Hex."

"I beg your pardon?" Ashe hissed incredulously. "I will not have you setting off explosions in this palace! Tis bad enough that I have consented to allowing you to destroy Raithwall's legacy and my heritage, but this…!" She emitted a snarl of annoyance. "I am tempted to run you through to express my displeasure."

"You can't kill me, you know."

"I do know. That is why I am tempted to do that. I imagine it would be very therapeutic to run someone through if they cannot die."

Harry looked askance at her. "I'd say you've got issues, especially anger management, but that's stating the obvious."

"Quiet," Mjrn hissed at them. "Soldiers coming this way."

"Did I forget to mention that I put privacy charms on us?" Harry said. "The only way they can notice us is if we drop the ball and let those goons run into us. Or if you start shouting loud enough for the charms to be overcome," he added, looking pointedly at Ashe.

Only to get cuffed around the back of the head by Mjrn. "Ow. What was that for?" Harry asked.

"For not telling us," she snapped.

Even so, they huddled into an alcove, and let the soldiers pass. As they did so, they heard the soldiers talking. "…New marching songs are great. I'm surprised the brass signed off on it."

"Well, apparently, old Gramis, Vayne, and half the Judges went barmy," the other soldier said. "Some wanker called Prongslet claimed responsibility."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that. I have to say, whoever did that's gotta have cojones the size of bowling balls. How would you be able to do something like that, let alone get away with it?"

"With difficulty," Harry said. "Unless, of course, you have magic this world doesn't see often, an Invisibility Cloak, and a complete apathy to the suffering of douchebags."

The soldiers didn't so much as look in their direction, and walked on. "See?" Harry asked.

Ashe and Mjrn just glared at him, before they decided to move on…

As it turned out, much to Ashe's satisfaction, an Alohamora to the hidden door actually worked…once they found it. As they moved through the treasure room, Mjrn asked, "Should we take everything, Ashe? These weapons would be a boon to the Resistance, and so would the money."

"True. But I doubt we would be able to move it all easily," Ashe said. "Tis a good thing that the Archadians haven't raided this room, as far as I can tell. Mayhap they haven't found it yet. If they had, I would have thought they would have transported much of this to Archades already."

"They'd be looking for the Deifacted Nethicite most of all," Harry said. "So if we find that…anyway, I have a bag that can hold virtually anything. Including probably all the fixtures in this place."

"Maybe, but the Nethicite is the priority," Ashe declared. "Weapons second, tomes third, and monies fourth. I am not looting my own palace."

"Give me enough time, probably a few decades to study the theory, and I could have this bag be able to steal your entire palace!" Harry declared. "I just need to widen the mouth enough."

Ashe looked over at Mjrn. "He is your consort. You'd do well to remember that."

"I chose to be with him, Princess," Mjrn said. "You can't deny that he's entertaining."

"When he isn't being aggravating, I agree."

"I'm right here, you know," Harry snarked, before opening up what looked like a statue, and grinned. "Here we go. Deifacted Nethicite ahoy!"

Harry had to admit, it was impressive-looking. The Dusk Shard was a beautiful-looking piece of blue crystal, seeming to shimmer within with light. Ashe and Mjrn gathered around it, and peered at it. After a moment, Ashe murmured, "Tis a sobering thought…to be able to hold the power to wipe out an entire city within the palm of one's hand."

"There was no good or evil, just power, and those too weak to seek it," Harry remarked quietly. "My mortal enemy said that when we met for the first time…that I remembered beyond nightmares, anyway. In the end, good and evil can sometimes be determined by what you do with power. I was pretty much at ground zero for Nabudis, Ashe. Being burned to ashes by a magical nuke isn't instantaneous. I had enough time to scream in pain. So did the others. I know because I heard them." He proffered the Nethicite to Ashe. "Can you condemn the people of Archades to that? Or of Rozarria?"

Ashe, after a moment, took the Nethicite and tucked it away. "In the end, it is my decision what to do with my legacy. In any case, now that we have what we came for, we should make haste, and…"

"Hey, whoa whoa whoa…we're not leaving just yet," Harry said. "We're deep within the Palace of Rabanastre, occupied by the Archadians, with the current Consul, some wannabe who's sucking up to that old fuck Gramis." Harry grinned viciously, pulling some items out of his bag. "We are so pranking him."

Mjrn frowned. "And what can you do with newspaper, a rubber chicken and…what is wasabi paste?"

"Oh, Mjrn, what can't I do?" Harry said with a vicious grin.

It was afterwards, when they had returned to the hideout. Ashe seemed somewhat morose, despite having gotten her hands on a family heirloom. Vossler and Basch seemed to recognise this, and gave her her space. Harry and Mjrn watched her as she toyed pensively with the Dusk Shard. "What's wrong with her?" Mjrn asked.

"She's just gotten a family heirloom," Harry said quietly. "And I've told her she needs to destroy it, sooner rather than later. And I'm getting weird vibes from this…like this is the One Ring's little cousin. If she starts saying things like 'my precious' and 'Gollum! Gollum!', then we should start worrying." His eyes went over to a corner of the room, and then narrowed. "Oh, you bastards…" he hissed.

Mjrn frowned when she looked over at where Harry, and Ashe, were both looking. "I can't see anything."

"Rasler?" Ashe asked, as the transparent, blue-tinted outline of her husband appeared, ethereal lights shimmering around him.

Harry pulled a crucifix from his bag, and thrust it at the false Rasler. "The power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you!"

Rasler seemed to blink, bemused, before fading away. Ashe shot to her feet, and wheeled on Harry. "What did you do that for?!" she demanded.

"That was no ghost," Harry snarled in quiet anger. "I should know, I've met a lot of ghosts in my time. That was just a puppet, with the strings pulled by the Occuria."

"How dare you!"

"How dare you? Ashe, if Rasler could have appeared before you before now, why didn't he? I…oh."

"Oh? And what is this thought that has interrupted your little diatribe?"

"Uhh, yeah. I should have mentioned this sooner, but…" Harry fished around in his bag. "I mean, hopefully it will work, hopefully. I mean, you might call this a trick, but…well, I guess you deserve something a little more comforting than me trying to re-enact The Exorcist."

"What is that, Harry?" Mjrn asked as he pulled out a stone, with a distinctive symbol, like a bisected triangle within a circle, carved into it.

"The Resurrection Stone. The name's a bit of false advertising, really. It only brings back the dead temporarily, as shades," Harry said.

"Necromancy?" Ashe asked, coming over and peering at the stone.

"Look, it can't make zombies, skeletons, or those ghost monsters running around," Harry said. "It's more like a telephone or radio. I'd say Skype for the afterlife, but you guys don't have that. You barely have the telephone and radio, and even those are for the military and airships. I mean, I'm sure you'll call it trickery, but…"

After a moment, Ashe took the Stone herself. "I will be the judge of that. How does it work?"

"Turn it three times in the palm of your hand while thinking of the person or persons you want to talk to. After that, well…"

It was a rather sad reunion. Ashe not only summoned back Rasler and her parents, but her brothers as well. Funnily enough, she had seven. It was a bit like watching the Weasley family reunion…if the Weasleys were royalty…and the mother wasn't a banshee. Harry liked Molly, but she was a very overbearing woman.

"That artifact…a rather disturbing one," Mjrn commented as they looked on.

"One of the Deathly Hallows. One of the reasons for my immortality. The Cloak is another, and I've got the Elder Wand. Long story short, centuries ago, Death got a bit miffed at a trio of arrogant wizards. The story the wizards tell is a bit different, but Death offered them magical artifacts as a sort of karmic lesson. The oldest brother got a powerful wand, supposedly unbeatable, but after killing one of his rivals, someone just slit his throat in his sleep. The Stone was gifted to the middle brother, who wanted to resurrect the dead and basically cockslap Death further. It only brought forth a shade of his lover, and because he was unable to bone her, he hung himself. The youngest brother was a smart one. He got the Cloak, and actually lost his arrogance. Hell, he was even…friends with Death until he finally died. Anyway, supposedly, when you reunite the Hallows, you become the immortal Master of Death."

"Your tone suggests that that's wrong."

"Of course it is! Gathering the Hallows only really draws her attention! She basically made me immortal so that I could be her agent…and to prank me," Harry said. "Though it doesn't help that I'm technically her great-great how many times descended grandson."

"…What."

"My ancestor, one Ignotus Peverell, actually fell in love with Death. When I said friends, it was the sort that comes with benefits. At times, she kept trying to seduce me, if only to see the look on my face. And I know she does it to troll me, because she looks like my mother while doing so! Apparently that's why my father and I have such strong pranking instincts: we get it from Death."

"Death…is a prankster?" Mjrn asked. After a moment, she said, "That explains so much, and yet so little. But this Stone…it's not a prank, is it?"

"Not by me, and Death wouldn't prank people with fake ghosts, not like this. She likes to think she pulls classy pranks. I call bullshit on that."

Ashe had finished by that point, and was handing over the Stone. "If that is a prank, I do not find it funny," the princess said, apparently having heard that.

"Like I said, Death has a weird sense of humour," Harry said, putting the Stone away. "Did you…I hesitate to say 'enjoy', but…"

"It was…" Ashe pursed her lips, her face still bearing the tracks of tears. Eventually, she plumped for, "…Satisfying. I have some small closure. You have my thanks, Harry. Even if 'twas an illusion, it was a comforting one, more so than that spectre I saw before. Rasler did claim he did not come to me. I truly hope that your Stone showed me my true loved ones."

"I hope so too. Ashe, I know it's hard to ask these things of you, to destroy what should be your heritage. Even leaving aside their power, the Nethicite, if the Dusk Shard is any indication, is beautiful. I don't want to destroy such a beautiful thing. But do you want to be beholden to gods who don't truly care about you and your people?"

Ashe's lips pursed, before she shook her head. "No. But I want to know for sure whether I am following the words of a madman…no, let me correct that. I want to know for sure whether your madness is born of benevolence or malevolence. I have to wonder why you are helping me."

"Entertainment. Altruism. Being fed up with people being force-fed shit and told to say thank you afterwards," Harry said with a shrug. "All of the above, really. Of course, our next course of action isn't going to make you feel any better. After all, we're going to be doing a touch of tomb-raiding…"

CHAPTER 11 ANNOTATIONS:

Geez, it's been a long time, hasn't it? This is probably the longest I have done without updating a story, and sadly, that record will probably get broken. The sad thing was, I lacked the motivation to write more for this story. Sorry about that. And it may be a while before the next chapter.

That being said, I liked that little revelation Harry did about his ancestry. That does explain so much, and yet so little, huh? Seriously, if Death was a sexy woman (like, say, Death of the Endless from The Sandman), how many wizards would be lining up for her?

Oh, and incidentally, the story that inspired this one, Getting Too Old For This by ManMadeofLasers, is actually back online after a long period offline. It really is an enjoyable story, so check it out: s/12595819/1/Getting-Too-Old-For-This

Review-answering time! diagonalpumpkin: He sees a lot of himself in Ashe, like the burden of her destiny and fame, her desire to fight, and so on. He wants to help her any way that he can.

No numbered annotations this time.