HP: The Arcane Thief

Chapter 152: Return of Daphne's Memories

Axel cursed under his breath. He still had so many questions remaining.

A sigh escaped his lips.

"Peaceful life..." he muttered looking into empty space. A peaceful, worry-free life. That's all he had wanted. But he could now see it going further and further away.

See, he couldn't live in peace if the world is going to be conquered by someone like Voldemort.

He had to destroy Voldemort first. And the system said doing that would require him to use the key. How to use it? The system said he had to find out for himself.

He knew that the organisation and Gorski knew about its use, so he figured he'd get the information from Gorski or the Organisation.

He could find neither.

The only option left was to draw the Organisation's attention to himself since Gorski had warned him that he is recognisable by Kraken.

Even that failed. The members that came for him were executives, and their security is strong enough that he couldn't breach their mental barriers. And the organisation can remotely kill its members from a distance.

So now, not only is he no closer to stopping Voldemort, since he still doesn't know what to do with the key, but he has discovered that there's another entity he needs to stop if he wants peace.

Another bad news? Both are Dangerous with a capital D.

He had roughly gauged the power levels in the Wizarding world, and according to his calculations, he thought that the Organisation and Voldemort wouldn't be a big deal.

But these muthefuckers turned out to be far more powerful.

The Organisation is not simply just a bunch of villain wannabes that his dad had pissed off. No, they had powerful Relics of interminable power in their possession and that 'he' they mentioned was someone even these two powerful beings feared and obeyed. Not to mention that those barriers were so expertly created that even he had trouble breaking them without completely destroying the memories within.

And Voldemort…

He's just an entity several leagues ahead right now. Axel has to make sure to keep Rose and himself out of his reach for now, so that monster can't get back into this world.

'Whatever,' thought Axel. It wouldn't do to keep dwelling on this matter. He has to quickly get out of here.

"Oh right." And he also has to contact Martina and Akiko. Those two, especially Martina, must be freaking out right now.

Axel chuckled, imagining their reaction when they teleported with his severed hand. "Ah, I shouldn't laugh."

He just hoped his hand would be fixed now. The Wizarding science had improved by leaps and bounds since last time, so reattaching his hand shouldn't be a big problem.

Axel spotted his Magimirror lying a distance away. He tried getting up, but found that it was a useless endeavour.

"[Limit Break]…" Axel sighed.

He had to use the skill to the limit. That's why his physical and magical strength are currently extremely difficult to access.

If the system's words are to be believed, he shouldn't do magic at all for a while. And there's a recovery routine he has to follow to strengthen his soul again.

All he has available is his mental strength. He gestured with his fingers and the hand made out of water manifested, which brought his magimirror back to him.

Axel switched it on, only to almost drop it when he saw what was displayed on the screen.

Call Ongoing…

10:12 mins

Daphne

"Fuck!"

How is that possible?! There's no way Nerio didn't call her, or pick up her call for that matter. Did the man really do it? But then he noticed it. The screen was covered with a fine layer of water droplets.

Another curse escaped his lips. The humidity! It was so high that it caused water to gather on the cold surface of his screen. That could have been the reason for the call.

But the question is… what now?

Axel looked at the ceiling. 'When will you stop torturing me?! I need a rest!'

He put it to his ear. "Hello?"

There was a sniffing sound from the other side. "It's me."

Axel's eyes widened.

"You should have tortured the bastards more."

It was definitely Daphne's voice, but something was different.

"You…" Axel gripped the Magi-mirror tightly. He couldn't believe it! "Did you get them back?"

....

A few minutes earlier...

'Still not found...'

Daphne bit her lips. This was not good.

When she heard that those people couldn't find Axel, she had just thought that it wasn't a big deal. After all, he's a mysterious and private person. For all you know, he might be training somewhere.

But after a school-wide hunt for him was launched by the minister of Magic, and he was still not showing up, now that was something unusual.

Axel should have just turned up at this point, since it would be more troublesome if he isn't found.

Now Daphne couldn't squash down her apprehension. For the past few months, he has been keeping his distance from her in public because a mysterious organisation is after him.

For him to suddenly disappear now, she couldn't help but connect the dots.

'Are you an idiot?! How can they kidnap someone from Hogwarts?!' Daphne chided herself.

But it doesn't seem that Axel is in Hogwarts right now, or he would have shown up by now.

'I should call him, just in case he's still not aware...' she thought, picking up her magimirror.

But unfortunately, her call didn't connect this time.

Sighing, she began typing a message.

-Hi, I just called to check in...

Daphne shook her head. Too casual.

-Hi, why didn't you pick your call?

Daphne shook her head again. Too demanding.

After a long while, she managed to write one big message:

-Hey, you didn't pick up your call. Are you alright? The minister of Magic came to see you, but you couldn't be found anywhere. You've been declared missing. There has been a school wide search for you. I know I shouldn't bother you, but a month ago you said there's an organisation called the Kraken that will come for you, and now you've vanished. That's why I'm getting really worried. If you're alright please reply.

To her surprise, her message was instantly seen.

Daphne began typing again furiously.

-Oh! You've seen my messages!

-Thank Merlin!

-Are you alright?!

But of course, no reply came. Frowning Daphne called him again, this time it got picked up instantly!

"Hello?"

But instead of a reply, she could hear voices instead.

"--How did you know?!" She heard someone say in a demanding tone. It had a certain sleaziness to it that made her frown.

"You both are dead very soon."

Came the reply. Daphne knew this voice very well. It was Axel! But his tone… Daphne didn't know why, but even though it was a calm voice with no fluctuations, she felt that Axel was furious.

"A direct threat. You are getting agitated," said the sleazy voice. Daphne frowned. This situation doesn't seem right. Why would Axel need to give someone a death threat?

At this moment she heard a chuckle, which was made by a new voice that was rough and booming.

"What do you say, brat? Is that a threat? Shall we go and pick up your girlfriend? She's rather pretty. It'd be a pity to ruin that cute face."

Daphne widened her eyes. What… the hell are they talking about, Daphne couldn't understand the situation. Why were these guys threatening to hurt Axel's girlfriend? And WHO is this girlfriend?!

She heard Axel sigh at this moment.

"I shouldn't be bothered by dead people's talk."

This time, Axel hadn't bothered to hide his anger. And Daphne felt a chill down her spine. She had never heard him so mad before. Axel right now was dangerous. Too dangerous.

"Oh? And how would you kill us?"

Though, the sleazy voice guy didn't seem to take the threat seriously, as he mocked Axel further. And the reason was revealed by his next words.

"Just look at yourself. One of your hands is cut off, you have lost a lot of blood, you got attacked by that monster and somehow survived, so you have no physical and magical strength to speak of."

"You've been subjected to the worst torture one could be inflicted and there's no way you can resist since you are currently bound by the chains made from Neptunium. They're unbreakable and they're restricting your magic. And even if you break through somehow, you shouldn't forget how strong we are. You haven't seen our full power yet."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daphne's heart almost stopped beating upon hearing that.

"No…" She couldn't move. What… were these people saying?! They cut his arm? They tortured him?! They have him in chains?

"NO!"

"How do you think Daphne will react to the Tormentacle?"

"You might be immune, but I bet she's not."

SHE was the girlfriend they were talking about. Now they're threatening him by using HER? Daphne got up, wanting to do something. She HAS to do something.

"It'd be pretty easy to kidnap her. I just have to message her using your Magi-mirror. I bet she'll come running," said Nerio, fidgeting with Axel's Magi-mirror. "We'll call her to a remote location, open a portal, and bring her in. Won't even take 5 minutes."

"It's good that you didn't tell us your secrets. Now I get to torture her," said Theron gleefully. "She'll pay for your smart-assness."

Daphne ran. She has to get help. Where are the professors? Where is Dumbledore?

At this moment, she felt an overwhelming sense of powerlessness. Axel was in trouble, but there was nothing she could do to help.

And then, anger came. At herself for being so useless, and at those captors, who are hurting Axel. How DARE they?!

Her heart was beating very fast, and the blood flowing through her veins felt as hot as lava. There was a faint glow on her forehead, and as if a dam had been broken, memories rushed into her mind.

!!!

What…?

At first, it was painful. But then, things suddenly began to fall into the place.

Daphne breathed. For what felt like the first time in months! She felt like an important part of herself that had disappeared, was back again. She now remembered it all. The first real friend she made. The person she could interact with without her mask. The person who cured Tory. The person who permanently invaded her heart.

Countless memories that had been associated with him, which had become a part of her character, part of her life, part HER… suddenly settled back into their places, giving her a sense of completeness that had been absent for so long.

Daphne slowly regained her composure.

'It's Axel!'

She was the person with whom he had spent the most time with. She knew better than any person in the world.

The person she knew… was tenacious to the extreme. Now the panic was gone, only anger remained, for hurting her Axel.

Daphne put the Magi-mirror back to her ears, now much calmer. She wanted to hear his voice. It had been so long.

"Why is it so sweaty?" The person with the booming voice exclaimed.

"Mist? Where did this come from? Wait… It's you, isn't it? What are you doing?!" Demanded the sleazy voice, suddenly sounding alert.

"Well, I've been fishing." Then, she finally heard it. Axel's voice. And she instantly felt relieved. Because, it was a voice which clearly said, 'I gotcha bitch!' It meant he was up to something.

Sure enough, there was a slashing sound, immediately followed by the painful howls of the sleazy person.