85: Reason why I had fallen

(Jacob POV)

I opened the letter and read its content again. There wasn't much in it. She was never that much of a writer before Nathan came into her life. She had totally become a new person. I still remember the day when we brought him back to the mansion. He was...…. Scared. I had no idea what those bastards did to him back there but it was definitely not anything good. That was when she changed herself. And this was the first time since then I was seeing her genuinely angry.

I pulled out my wand and cast a spell.

"Tempest" Time appeared like a fog from the tip.

(hmmm its almost time. She will be here soon.)

And my calculations were spot on.

*VUP*

I heard a sound.

"Right on time.... As always." I said without turning. A man has to keep his cool in front of his love you know.

"Time is the greatest treasure a person can possess. You must give value to time. More than people sometimes." She replied in a playful manner.

(OOOOWWWW my heart.)

I turned to look at her. She was in her battle gear. It looked totally normal. Black pants and a black shirt. And she was wearing light plate armor as well. But what distinguished it from regular clothes were the several layers of magical protection that were laced into the threads and the metal. It looked blinding to my left eye. Although if I removed it, I could have easily cracked every single magical formula that was behind those protections, develop an anti-formula, and rendered them useless but who cares.

She slowly walked towards me. Her face had a gentle smile. I simply watched as she approached me. Slowly she got so close that I could feel her breath on my face. And then she placed both her hands on my shoulders. I closed my eyes and went in for the kiss that was coming.

........

But it never did.

Instead after a moment, she had me down in a headlock. It was tight. There wasn't any room left for the air to pass through. How was she this strong? The reason was beyond my understanding. And soon my lungs started to beg for air.

"Okay okay..... you won..... I apologize... Sorry... Please let me go." I tapped on her arms while wheezing.

"Oh I will let you go...… but not right now."

(OHHHH SHIT)

I knew what was coming next were moments of pure misery.

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(Nathan POV)

It had been a few days since my encounter with Beatris in the great hall. I wondered how my sister was doing at this point.

(She must have solved the problem and would be enjoying herself.) was what I thought to myself. But I could be wrong. Maybe the problem is bigger than what they could handle. Maybe they have built a nest. That surely would take her along. But that isn't possible.

I reassured myself.

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(Jacob POV)

"They have made a nest," I told her the truth.

"THEY HAVE WHAT?" And as I thought. She was not at all glad to hear about it. This day was not going well at all. I just had had one of the worse beatings in my life. I was bleeding from several places.

(Damn she does not hold back when hitting someone does she? I mean I know that I am a vampire but still. It hurts and now I am low on blood.)

"Here you go." She pulled out a packet of blood from her pouch.

"You brought it for me." I snatched the blood from her hand. Boy was it the best or what. Well... only after Nathan's. His was definitely the best but this wasn't much further behind.

"Wait but why did you bring a blood pouch with you." It suddenly hit me. Why would she carry it with her like that.

(Was she worried that I would get hurt in a fight? But she did not know about the nest. So why did she...….)

"I knew that I would beat you and you will need blood. So, I bought some with me." She smiled innocently.

(Wait wasn't I the vampire? THEN WHY IS SHE MORE IN HUMAN THAN ME?)

"So, what is the situation?" She asked seriously.

"As I told you. They have made a nest." I rubbed my neck which was still throbbing.

"And the kind...." She asked again.

"Spiders.... The worst nightmare of an assassin."

Spider demons were one of the most sensitive species among the demon kind. And since assassins relied on stealth, thus, worst nightmares.

"Well... You've had it rough...… But still, this does not explain that why you let it come to this. I mean how did you miss a crack." She was shocked. And she had every right to be.

"I don't know what happened. My speculations are that it was protected by some third party. That is the only plausible explanation." I walked and stood in front of her.

"A third party...… J..... you are still thinking that it was the rouges aren't you?" She frowned.

"YES." I opened my arms. There was nothing to hide. "I do and I have every right to...…. Come on Ann...….. you know what those guys did. I know that we do not know their motives but you don't need to defend them….." I said in an irritated voice.

"I am not defending them J, but a nest does not mean that it was the doing of the rouges. I mean how could they have even made one in the first place." She asked calmly.

"I don't know. But something did interfere. Even the artifact did not pick up the signals until recently." I pointed towards the bracelet on her wrist.

"That is indeed true." She agreed. "And that is the only thing bugging me. The artifact was fooled I get that but how was your eye...…." She fell quiet. It always happened whenever my eye was brought up. She probably wanted to say something along lines of 'how did they fool my eye' or something. But she did not.

"We were not here." I cleared her suspicion.

"And where were you. What was so urgent that you had to abandon your duty to the family." I could tell that she immediately regretted what she had said. I ignored it. It was fine. Even though I did not have any sense of duty towards the previous generation of the Morningstars, the current head was the girl I had fallen in love with. So I had made it my duty to protect her. And also it was not a duty towards the Morningstars but towards humanity so. It never bugged me that I was exiled from the house or whatever. I had things to do and no one was going to stop me from doing them.

"it was a really important errand." I wished she would not ask again but she did.

"And what exactly was this important errand.

"Drac summoned us." I looked away in an attempt to not meet her eyes. I did not know what expression to make at this.

"DRAC?" She was astonished as well and considering all the circumstances….. it was genuine. I nodded.

"DRACULA? AS IN COUNT DRACULA?" She asked again this time with his full name. And I nodded again.

"As in the first vampire, THE KING OF VAMPIRES. THAT COUNT DRACULA?" This time she held her head. And I nodded once again.

"Yes, the one and the same." I shrugged my shoulders.

"This is... unexpected." She spoke in a low voice. "What did he say." She asked.

"It was some kind of a warning," I replied and after looking at the questions in her eyes I clarified. "It was ambiguous. But what he mostly said was that something was stirring. 'The cogs of fate are moving in an unexpected order.' These were his exact words." I explained.

"Now this is something else I need to look out for." She massaged her temples. "But first things first. We need to destroy the nest and seal the crack. So how many men have we got on our hands right now." She asked getting back to the point.

"Not many," I replied. And then I whistled. There was no sound. No sound that normal human ears could hear. But I was a vampire and so were my men. Instantly out of the shadows, about a dozen men appeared and stood in different locations near us.

"13?" She looked at me.

"I was a little short on men...…. So" I scratched the back of my head.

"No, I did not mean that." She cut my sentence. "I was saying… thirteen? That's too many. Three would have been enough for this stage of the nest."

(Ahhh I had forgotten her title.)

"This will be easy." She sat down and stretched her legs. "Shall we get going then?" She asked.

"After you, my lady." I gestured.

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(Nathan POV)

I was walking back from my training when I saw it. Kids from I don't know which house was surrounding two children. They seemed to be first years. One was a boy, and the other was a girl. I immediately knew what was going on. It was Anna and Aug. As usual they were being bullied. They were the easiest targets. Two muggle-born orphans out of which one could not talk and the other were so frail that it seemed she would break if the wind blew hard. I was immediately enraged and wanted to mop the floor with those guys but, I remembered what had happened the last time I lost it. I had nearly killed someone. While keeping my rage in check I walked toward them.

(I must help them or else they might seriously get hurt.)

But something was not right. And I realized that when I got a little closer to the bunch. I was not expecting anything like this, so it astonished me to no end. It was not the seniors that were bullying them but the other way around. I am pretty sure that what those two were doing was probably self-defense. But damn.

As I reached the crowd, I saw that one of the students tried to punch Aug in the face. But Aug simply raised his hand, and the punch never reached him.

(A BARRIER SPELL.)

I could see a blue hue surrounding the kid.

(A FREAKING BARRIED SPELL. AUG IS CASTING A FUCKING BARRIER SPELL.)

The kid who could not cast a single spell because he could not talk was now casting advanced magic without saying a word. And moreover... WANDLESSLY?????? HOW????? Anyone would have been shocked. But that was not the only shocking thing that was happening. Anna was beating guys older than her by years with her fists. THE FRAIL GIRL WAS FIGHTING BAREHANDEDLY. HOW????

I could not move my eyes from the sight and my jaw was touching the ground. And in mere minutes All the students but those two were running while shouting.

"Well get you next time for sure."

"you will do well to remember this."

"you guys were just lucky today."

"Wow... how did you do that." I approached them. And they turned towards me. For a split second I something in their eyes. It was scary. A hate so big that it could swallow the whole world and then it was gone.

"Big brother Nathan." Anna smiled cheerfully at me.

"Hello, Anna. How are you?" I asked smiling.

"I am really good thank you. Did you see me fight?" She asked me with stars in her eyes.

"Yes, I did. You were amazing. And so was Aug." I ruffled up his hair. "But how did you cast that magic?" I asked him. He looked at me and then spoke in sign language.

<DID YOU SEE THAT MAGIC I JUST DID? PRETTY GOOD RIGHT?> He spoke hastily in sign language.

"yes, you did excellently….. But who taught you this." I asked.

<MR TOM RIDDLE.> He spoke without hesitation.

"Who?" I haven't heard that name before. Or at least that was what I thought.

<MR TOM MARVELLO RIDDLE.>

(WHO WITH THE WHAT NOW?)

"Tom Marvello Riddle?" I asked again to confirm.

<YES> he nodded.

I was right. I haven't heard of the name before. But at the same time, this name somehow felt familiar. Seems I had heard it before. So then where had I heard it before?

"Can you take me to him?" I asked them. I had to know who this guy was. There was an uneasy feeling in my mind. I had to get rid of that.

"Yes, we will. Come with us." Anna said. And both pulled at my sleeves.

"Okay okay." Don't pull like that.

And both started to lead me toward the castle. On our way, I passed by some students.

"She is sitting over there."

"Really. We should not approach them. Let's go back inside."

It did not take much to guess what they were talking about.

"I will join you guys later. Anna, Aug," I spoke. "Please I remembered something."

"Okay."

< It's fine>

Both answered. And then they went inside. I started to walk in the direction that the students were pointing towards and yep just as I had thought. Indeed, Beatris was sitting under a tree alone.

She was sitting in the shade her head in between her knees. Probably crying. The school was discriminating against her because of her ability. Everyone thought that she was the heir of Slytherin. Ask me. It was a dumb assumption. One the girl was way too nice to do such a thing. I mean I could have but her, never. Two, she was still too weak to do some sinister dark magic or to control some legendary creature. Three, almost all of her friends were muggles. It was absurd to think that she was the heir of Slytherin.

I looked at her. She was using her hand to wipe her eyes. Her back was towards me so I could not see her face. No one from the school except Hermione was talking to her and even Ron had left her. Well, It was not my place to intervene. It was a matter between two friends. I was just thinking.

(Should I say something to her or should I not? Hmmm) And then I decided I should not.

The only problem was that whenever I looked at her I was reminded of myself.

('Stay away from me')

('It's the cursed child')

('Run or the red-eyed demon will get you ')

('Don't you dare come close to my children ever again you demon.')

('kids do not play with him. He is cursed.')

Whenever I saw her like that I was reminded of my past and all those voices came back to hunt me. That was the only thing stopping me from going away. I knew how it felt to be all alone in the world. It was horrible.

(But still. This is not something I should stick my head in.)

And with that in mind I simply chose to walk away.

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(Beatris POV)

The whole of the school was against me. Even Ron had left me alone. Only Hermione was standing with me. But I saw how badly she was treated for it. So, I told her not to follow me. I hope for her sake that she too abandons me. That way she will have a decent school year. Because I did not think that this mess was going to be cleared.

My eyes were wet from tears. I had no family. My uncle and aunt always treated me like a slave, and I thought that I had finally found a home in Hogwarts but that was apparently also not true. Hogwarts had shunned me and now I was all alone. I did not like this feeling.

"Of will you give it a rest Potter." I heard a familiar voice and quickly wiped my tears. "What are you doing here sitting like this? Where are your friends you hang out with so much." He spoke in his usual tone.

"I am seriously not in the mood right now Nathaniel, So just leave me alone." I said forcefully. Using all my might so that he would not know that I was crying.

"I don't ever recall asking you for a dance which you are not in a mood for." His replay vexed me. I had never wanted to punch him so badly before. And then he sat beside me.

(What the hell does he want.)

"You here to make fun of me as well?" I asked.

"That was not the plan but if you want then I can?" His tone was the same, vexing.

"What do you want?" I simply gave up. I had no energy to deal with him. So, I plunged my head into my knees again. "Whatever it is. Just do it and leave me alone."

"I know that you are not the heir of Slytherin."

(huh?)

"I know that you are wrongly being accused and that you did not commit any of those crimes."

(What?)

What was he saying? I was totally not expecting those words from him. I raised my head and saw his face. He was not looking at me but towards the front.

"I am saying this to you, only because I know how it feels. I have been there…."

(NO you haven't. No one can feel what I am feeling right now.)

"…. And I can relate to your situation. I know that...…." He fell quiet for a bit and then continued. "....how lonely it gets." Now I was bewildered. I looked at his face again. But what I saw there was even more astonishing than the words he had said. His eyes... looked sad. Nathaniel Morningstar looked sad. Something I could never think he would look like.

"I know it is difficult but...… don't sit here alone. It will drive you to madness. Granger believes you. Hang out with her and you will feel better." He completed his sentence.

I was mesmerized. I don't know for how long I had been staring at his face but with the words he was speaking, I knew that he was speaking from experience. Only God knew what he had been through but the only thought that I had in my head when he left was.

(Beautiful...…..)

As the heat rose to my cheeks, that was when I knew how hard I was blushing.

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(Jacob POV)

We appeared in front of the crack. Well not right in front because we could not. Whenever a crack appeared, it created a no-magic zone around it. It was in the form of a large black dome. That slowly extended outwards, eating all the magic in the air to grow its size.

"Okay, everyone. Beyond this point, wands will not word." I briefed my men. Ann was checking the protections on her armor. Mostly magic like this uses the magic in the air as fuel. But since we were going in a no-magic zone, we had to create something that would work even there. She was wearing that kind of equipment. How did it work? Who cared? At least I did not. It was related to blacksmithing, and I was not related to blacksmithing near or far.

"So, you all ready." She asked.

"Yeah" I replied.

"Then let's go." She ordered.

"Wait a moment. Ann." I pleaded.

"What now."

"Listen. You know that as an assassin I am a really bad match for spiders, right? So I was wondering if….."

"You don't need to do a thing J. Once we are inside, just do one thing. Locate the mother." She placed a hand on my shoulder. "Okay?" She asked.

"Yeah."

(That was shameful. I was going to use my class as a bargaining chip to stick with Ann but that backfired.)

Spiders were one of the most sensitive ones and we had to face a whole nest of those. I had less force and there was also a crack. I was no good at sealing a crack, so I had to contact Ann for it. We entered the no magic zone. Immediately I felt the energy around me vanish. The magic was gone, and I could feel it.

"Now, everyone split," Ann spoke while holding two daggers in her hand and then she was gone.

(What? But why daggers?)

I could not understand why she could not just use Grimlock. I also looked around. We were in a jungle but inside here there were no trees. The no-magic zone was eating at the life force of the jungle. We had to be careful or else it might suck out ours as well. I pulled out my daggers and removed the eye patch. Immediately I knew where the mother was. Now all I had to do was reach the mother and then contact Ann. It was not going to be much trouble. I started to run at full speed. Whatever came in front of me I cut it. The no-magic zone was the best for me. I was an assassin, and I could hide in plain sight. It was something I could do. What I was trained to do. And, I could use my magic to merge with shadows. So yeah, darkness was pretty much my domain. And after running for only a few minutes I had reached the core of the nest. And surely it was right in front of me. It was hideous. A giant spider-like creature. It was completely black with no visible features. Dark black fog was emanating from its body.

(I should just kill it without calling Ann.)

And using my ability I merged with the shadows and started to travel stealthily.

Wondering how I was using magic in a no-magic zone; well, I had no idea either. It was taught to us what this phenomenon was, but I never did like theories.

I reached the perfect spot for a sneak attack and then in a swift movement I attacked it. My dagger hit the creature in the abdomen, and I slashed it using both daggers in my hand. The wound was fatal, and I knew that it would die. The mother screeched loudly and then it fell on her back. Its body disintegrating slowly.

(That was awfully easy.)

I was strong but I did not expect it to be this easy. The spider had not sensed me at all. But now that I was out of the shadows the spiders around the mother had sensed that something was wrong and started attacking me. But they were small fries. I did not even need to hide to deal with them. The mother was dead. This would lift the veil of the no-magic zone and the nest would be destroyed. Our work would be done. There was just one teeny tiny problem. The mother was dead, but the veil was not lifting.

"What the hell...…" I said that as I slashed another spider. "Why isn't..." That was when I sensed it, but I was too late. My hands busy cutting the small fry, I could not move because there was some substance making my feet stick to the ground. I had fallen into a trap. Something hit me from the side, and I went flying. As my back hit the ground, a giant spike impaled my body to the ground.

*COUGH*

I coughed out blood. It was the leg of the mother spider.

(What is going on. Where was she. I did not see it coming at all.)

I had no idea how she had hidden from my eye but there was another mother in the nest. It was not possible. Nothing made any sense. Two mothers. There could never be two mothers in a single nest. But that was not the time to think. I had to do something or else I would die. I was impaled to the ground and could not move. Blood was draining out of my body and after a few minutes, I would become devoid of blood and go in a state of blood madness. That would be bad. I needed to get out and heal myself.

(think Jacob think.)

But there was no way out of it. I could feel the leg sucking the magic from my body. I was going to die. And then the mother raised its other leg. It was aimed at my head, and then she brought it down.

(SHIT, should have called for Ann.)

These were going to be my last thoughts. I could not believe that. My life was coming to an end just because I had let my guard down. I was arrogant although I knew that spiders were hard for me to hunt. But still I tried to take it down alone.

(I should have known that something was up when I killed the other one so easily.)

The leg came at my face with a blinding pace.

I shield my face with my arms and closed my eyes but what I received was not the leg but a screech.

*SCREEEECH*

I opened my eyes and saw the leg that was impaling me starting to disappear. It had been cut from the main body. And then I was enveloped in a greenish hue. It proved that I was being healed. I had no Idea how it was even possible. There was no magic around here.

"What would you ever do without me J." But boy was I glad to hear Ann's typical teasing voice.

"I would die obviously," I smirked back.

"Well then. Isn't that nice for you?" She was facing the spider that was missing two legs with daggers in her hands. They were glowing, showing that she had casted the healing magic. And then she threw the daggers away.

Now, these were the moments when I was always reminded of the fact that why she was considered one of the strongest Morningstar even if her magical power was average?

Why they created a whole new class to place her in?

Why was she known as the 'The Berserk of the Morningstars' and later as 'The strongest Morningstar'?

"Come to me.... GRIMLOCK." She spoke in a calm manner and her arm turned black. It was as if some black slime was covering her whole arm. Then it slowly moved towards her hand and then out of it forming a long weapon. And in a second a giant black scythe appeared in her hand. It took but a single swift motion and the head of the mother spider went flying. Its body disintegrated and the head disappeared. Immediately the veil was lifted, and the color returned to the world.

She looked at me with a smirk on her face and Grimlock placed on her shoulder.

"Well, it got beaten just like that. Damn you have gotten weak." She smiled

And exactly these were the moments when I was forced to remember why I had fallen for this crazy crazy girl.