//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Waking Up // Story: The Alicorn Of Death // by WhalenJP //------------------------------// Chapter 11: Waking Up & Questions Harry woke up from his strange meeting with his future self on a bed, a familiar bed that made Harry internally groan in frustration… A Hospital Bed… Harry Potter’s bane of existence… After his vision cleared til it was less blurry than normal, he scrounges around on the end table that was next to his bed for his glasses... Only to be handed them by a white blob with rainbow colors… As soon as Harry got his glasses on, he saw that Princess Celestia was sitting in a chair next to his bed, with a tome in her hands, a pair of reading specs placed on the edge of her muzzle… “ I’m glad to see that you’re awake, Harry.” She said, a neutral tone in her voice, which caused Harry to become slightly worried about what happened that made him black out. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Harry spoke, his voice raspy from dehydration, “ What happened, Princess Celestia?” The alabaster Alicorn set the book down on the empty end table, and put away her specs, folding them up and placing them into her inner breast pocket of the white suit jacket she’s wearing. When she looked serious, it means something BAD happened… She contemplated something for a few more moments, before asking, “ Do you remember what happened last night, Harry?” At the shake of his head, Celestia sighed, rubbing the back of her neck to get the kinks and cramps out of staying in one position too long as she read a book. She then began explaining the details of the Grand Galloping Gala, how a bloodthirsty and arrogant dragon by the name of Thor crashed the party, literally and started to cause mayhem, trapping Queen Chrysalis in the process, then dying… It actually threw Harry for a loop every time he died and came back… It was HILARIOUS… “ I died again, didn’t I?” He murmured to himself, slightly embarrassed that his ‘Saving People Thing’ as Hermione called it got himself killed once again. It wasn’t like he constantly wanted to get himself killed whenever he wanted to save someone, it just… happens. Celestia’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second at that, before narrowing with the look that only Molly Weasley could pull whenever her children were about to get a stern talking to. “ What do you mean, ‘Again’?” She asked, her tone, even though it was gentle, there was the slight undertone of ‘ you-better-tell-me-everything-right-now, before-I-kill-you’, which made Harry flinch a little bit, his childhood memories of Aunt Petunia using the same tone with him whenever he was used as a scapegoat for Dudley’s bullying coming to the forefront in his mind. ...He’d rather not think about that right now… Apparently, Celestia caught that, and her light purple irises contracted a little at the small thought that cropped up in her mind. But she put the slight theory to the side for later, focusing on getting a straight answer from the Sun-Damned enigma that was Harry James Potter… Harry sighed, ruffling his messy hair in nervousness as he tried to think of a way to explain his immortality to the Sun Goddess. “ It’s because he’s immortal, Princess Celestia.” Said a voice. Harry and Celestia turned towards the open door and there stood Helphia. The Changeling Queen trotted into the room, her blood-red eyes that vaguely reminded Harry of Voldemort’s, were glowing in the dark. “ He was immortal when he first arrived in the castle, I could sense it and the scent of Death surrounding him.” After seeing Celestia tense, she added, “ Don’t worry, Celestia. He ain’t here to kill anyone. In fact…” Helphia sat down in a chair on the opposite of Celestia, on the other side of Harry’s bed, who watched the Queen with resignation, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to keep his immortality a secret any longer, enjoying that he was normal for a day and a night, before the dragon. “ He is the Master Of Death. The one true power that, from your everyday citizen to the darkest force in the land they wanted to achieve.” She looked into Harry’s green eyes and smirked lightly. “ How you came across this power without going mad, I might never know…” Her smirk turned into a smile, “ But I am eternally glad that it was you that obtained the Deathly Hallows, so they won’t fall into the wrong hands. Thank You.” Harry took a breath for a moment, and nodded his head, the feeling of trepidation washed over him as he explained how he obtained the Deathly Hallows, and how the Final Battle of Hogwarts went, then explained briefly of the prophecy he and Voldemort shared, and how the Dark Lord killed his parents but died trying to do the same thing to Harry himself when he was one year old. Celestia had a tear going down her left cheek, where neither Harry or Helphia could see it. The Solar Diarch’s mind put the pieces together as Harry very vaguely explained his home life with the Dursleys, making her gut grow hot with fury, a feeling she recognizes as her other side tried to break free of the seal Celestia placed a thousand years ago. It felt… different than the other times Daybreaker tried to break out of her prison; instead of just an urge to set aflame the entire world and rule over a pile of smoldering ash like every time, she just felt a motherly rage as she listened to Harry explain his life to both of them. Celestia planned to speak to Daybreaker...Tonight… … … … It gives you shivers, doesn’t it? After the last year of explaining the 2nd Wizarding War, Harry saw that Celestia’s left eye turned from a normal purple pupil to a fiery serpentine, glowing very dimly in the darkening room. It reminded Harry of Nightmare, who was pacing in Luna’s mindscape, trying to figure out a way to obtain a permanent body in the living world, and be by Harry’s side without having Luna near, taking up the Lunar Diarch’s time as well. Harry had thought he oughta talk to Nightmare next time he saw her, and explain the sudden kiss the night before at the ball after he killed Thor... Things are gonna get… Heated up next chapter… isn’t it?...