HP: The Arcane Thief

Chapter 153: Finally Safe

Daphne heard it all. How Axel broke free, how he defeated the fuckers, then how he tortured and interrogated them until they died.

The amount of new information she received made her head spin.

Axel was… an Atlantian? And there was a crazy organisation out there trying to destroy the world?

She was so overwhelmed by what she heard, and frustrated that the bastards died too quickly.

They tortured Axel, and then threatened to harm her to make him crack. Death was too easy a punishment for them.

But it was of all of secondary importance. What was more important was the fact that Axel was alright for now. He survived.

She heard Axel sigh. "Peaceful life…" There was a bit of wistfulness in his voice. Daphne could empathize. Axel and peace have never gone hand in hand.

"Pick up the phone already, damn it!" she muttered. She wanted to talk to him. She wanted to confirm if he was alright. She wanted him to know that she was herself again, the Daphne he had created. She wanted to apologize for forgetting him. But mainly, she wanted to hug him tightly.

It seems that Axel heard her request, because there was a sound of movement on the other side, followed by a sharp intake of breath.

"Fuck!"

She heard his voice much clearer this time. Daphne's heartbeat accelerated, feeling anticipation and nervousness. What should she say? There was so much to say!

"Hello?"

Daphne became breathless. "It's me." She wanted to explain more clearly, but her mind wasn't working properly anymore. His presence always has that effect on her.

There was no answer from the other side.

"You should have tortured the bastards more," she blurted.

Somehow, Axel still understood.

"You…did you get them back?" He asked, making her smile.

"...Yes!" she breathed, feeling her nose sour. "I missed you so much..."

She really did miss him. Too much. Every minute, every second, she had missed those memories.

She was in a state of euphoria now that she finally had them back. And, she could somehow FEEL the happiness coming from the other side too.

But first things first.

"Are you going to be alright?! How badly are you hurt?! How did it happen? Where exactly are you? I'll need to get you help."

A soft chuckle escaped his lips. Axel couldn't believe it. Is it really happening? But it was definitely her.

"Me? I could dance right now. Missed you too, my best friend. Welcome back."

From the way he dodged her questions, Daphne knew that his condition wasn't good right now. Daphne could no longer contain it. She closed her eyes, letting her tears fall. "You bloody idiot. Come back quickly! I need to hug you, damn it."

Axel laughed more.

"The fuck are you laughing about?"

"Ah... nothing. I just... didn't realize how much I missed this."

Axel was feeling quite light-hearted, his earlier gloominess already gone. That's right, so what if there's danger out in the world? He had things that made it worth fighting for.

Though at this moment, he detected fluctuations in space causing him to pause.

Happiness died right out of Axel's eyes. Seriously? More?

....Had the organisation already sent back up?

There was a limit to how much Axel could handle. And for now, this was already far far over it. He really, desperately, urgently needed a break. Maybe some medical attention too.

"Damn it."

"What? What happened?!"

"Listen, we'll talk later. I need to escape from here," he said in his calmest voice before he hung up.

Very quickly, a portal opened up in space, causing Axel's expression to turn grim. This portal was quite similar to the ones the Organisation used.

Axel tried moving, but couldn't.

With no magic, the option of activating Invisibility was gone. Escaping was going to be even more difficult.

With no other choice, Axel just killed his presence and waited, gathering the water with the last of his mental strength.

As soon as the portal fully opened, figures rushed in with wands drawn.

The first thing Martina sensed after entering the room, was blood.

A strong metallic scent hung in the air, and the ground she stepped on was wet, and red.

"Where is he?!" Exclaimed Bellatrix. "Clear the mist!" She sounded quite panicked. And why would she not, when there's so much blood lying on the ground.

The mist was covering everything, and there was no sound of enemy engagement yet. And the peculiar thing was, it was going away even after one or spells.

'Not good.' Martina grimaced. This situation was not at all favourable. They were planning to catch the enemies by surprise, but since they didn't get any visuals due to the mist, their element of surprise was gone.

With Axel's condition combined with those Atlantians' aggressiveness, Martina feared the worst.

Everyone began to get focused on clearing the mist first. When the visibility increased, they followed the trail of blood and finally reached the source.

Martina gagged, almost vomiting right there.

"Holy shit—"

"By Merlin..."

"What in the world..."

Others' reactions weren't much better. There were two bodies lying on the ground. But the thing that made everyone's skin crawl was the condition they were in.

The one in heavy armour was bleeding from all orifices, and every part of his exposed flesh seemed to have been turned inside out.

The other one was even worse, both of its hands were gone, and the skin had numerous jagged bloody lesions all over the body, as if torn with thousands of small blades.

With a lurch, Martina realized that it was the two bodies that belonged to the same men who kidnapped Axel. They were only barely recognisable due to their equipment.

'He… He actually…' Martina gasped. Does this mean he's still alive?

Akiko smiled grimly, looking at the bodies. She didn't know what made her more happy. The fact that this was clear sign of Axel being alright, or the fact that her enemies had died a terrible death.

'This... this is why I admire him so much,' she thought.

Even she had no idea how he managed to do it. But with Axel, you have to stop trying to figure things out and accept them as a matter of fact. It gives her such reassurance to share the same enemy as him.

Meanwhile, the others were still thrown off by the sight of the bodies lying on the ground. But the one who received the most powerful shock was none other than Gorski.

"How… is this possible?"

The executive level figures for whom they had gathered the whole team of finest Wizards and made thorough preparations…

They were lying dead on the floor. Jacob Gorski simply couldn't understand how that was possible. He had already identified who they were.

Theron and Nerio.

Who did this? How did they manage to pierce Theron's defences? How did they manage to beat the sharp and quick Nerio?

At this moment, the mist finally began to subside, and everyone's gaze went to the faint silhouette of the only other person in the room, seemingly sitting on the chair with leisure.

Axel gripped his forehead, feeling a headache coming. He was glad to see Akiko and Martina.

But the Minister of Magic? How the hell is SHE here? And it seems like she brought a shit ton of reinforcement with her as well. And for fuck's sake, what's Gorski doing here?! He had been trying to locate the man for the whole year!

It was only because he couldn't get the information from Gorski that he had to attract the attention of the organisation. And he appears NOW? After he's already gone through so much trouble?

If not for those two girls, he wouldn't think he was out of danger yet. He slowly let the mist go, revealing himself.

At once, all the Aurors subconsciously trained their wands at Axel. It was due to the sheer intimidation he was giving off. This person was most likely the one who did that to two bodies lying there.

Axel smiled bitterly. "Ah, will you guys believe me if I say I didn't kill them?"

"Axel!"

In a heartbeat, Martina and Akiko rushed over to Axel's side.

Martina knelt by his side, gripping his hand. "You scared the life out of me."

Axel smiled at her. "Ah, sorry. Things got out of 'hand'…" he said, showing her his stump.

Martina shook her head, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "Not funny!" she said, finally hugging him.

He looked at Akiko. "Sorry, couldn't keep them alive for you," he said, nodding towards the two bodies.

Akiko shook her head, also kneeling down. "Your safety matters more," she said, surprised herself that she really meant it.

Axel glanced towards the whole group of strangers. "Am I going to be safe?" He asked.

Martina and Akiko nodded. "Don't worry about them. Don't worry about anything."

"Alright," he sighed. "Tell Daphne… I'm safe and…"

Axel couldn't finish whatever he was about to say. He just paused, his eyes staring blankly into space.

Martina frowned. "And what?"

"Axel? Axel?!" She called, shaking him a bit, but there was no response.

The Medics, who had finally arrived by now, quickly checked his condition. "Body functions are slow."

"Multiple Injuries… and unknown marks."

"Veins are bluish purple. He could be poisoned!"

Gorski's eyes widened upon hearing about the bluish purple veins. "No…" He murmured, walking towards Axel.

Gorski knew about Theron's twisted nature, and about the horror he calls his 'pet'.

They couldn't have done it, could they? Axel is a child! There's no way they'd use it, right?

!!!

Too bad, his fears turned out to be true. Axel's body had clear marks characteristic to a Tormentacle bite. In fact, there were more than one! There were far too many!

"Poseidon's sea, what have they done?" He whispered in horror.

"What is it?!" Asked Bellatrix, feeling apprehensive. She hadn't seen Gorski react this strongly before.

"The Painifera. Something much worse than the Cruciatus Curse. Just one sting can cause death and insanity due to the sheer amount of pain it causes. It's the cruelest torture one can inflict on someone." Gorski had an absurd look when saying this.

"What?!" Bellatrix looked like she was the one who had been tortured. "Those bastards..." Magical waves rose up

around her.

"What do we do now?! Martina was also panicking. She took out the Phoenix tears from her pouch. "Will this help with the venom?!" She asked.

"Wait, let me diagnose his condition properly. They must have already administered him with the antidote," said Gorski, hurriedly taking out an Atlantian equipment

"How can you say that with certainty?" Asked Bellatrix, still worried about Axel.

Gorski raised his eyebrows. "Oh trust me, I know."

At this moment, they heard an ear piercing scream, causing everyone to quickly look at the source. It was then that they found Nymphadora Tonks, who was one of the aurors who were securing the perimeter, lying on the ground, writhing i

n agony. There was a Jellyfish-like creature near her.