~A/N>I have to say thank you to HarryJamesNorton who e-mailed me today and gave me the inspiration to get this
chapter finished. I had tried all week to get it done, but had no idea where I wanted it to go. I'm pretty happy
with the outcome, but I have to say I'm sorry for leaving you hanging at the end. I am going to try to post another
chapter by Wednesday. I wrote "The Power Within" in four weeks, I've been writing this one now for four
weeks plus I started a new story. So, I got a little burned out. I am back up to par now, and I will try my best to
post sooner next time. I hope you enjoy, and as always, please review!! :)
The group made its way into the hotel lobby to check in. Waiting there were three men, who stood out simply because they were fully dressed.
"Are any of you a Mr. Arthur Weasley?" one of the men asked.
"I am" said Mr. Weasley, stepping forward. "Are you our guides?"
"Yes" said a dark skinned, dark haired man. "My name is Eli Christos, and this is Zarek Mikolas and Owen Akil." Mr. Weasley shook hands with all three men and proceeded to introduce everyone in the group to them. Harry was glad when he introduced him by his first name only. Once the introductions were over, the men noticed the packs they had brought with them.
"You will not be able to bring all of that with you" said Zarek "it will weigh you down too much and make the trek almost impossible."
"So what do we bring?" asked Harry. Zarek looked at him and said "all you will need is your wand and some water. And make sure to wear warm clothes."
"But it's hot outside" said Ron "why do we need warm clothes?"
"The deeper down into a cave you go, the colder it gets. By the time you reach the end, you will be freezing if you go the way you are dressed right now" explained Eli.
The group proceeded up to their rooms to leave their packs. Harry and Ron were sharing a room, so they went in and picked a bed, setting their pack on top of it. Grabbing their canteens, they each filled them with water from the bottles they had brought with them. After shrinking them, they put them into their pockets and placed their wands into their back pockets. They would take them back out as soon as they got to the caves, in case there were any muggles around. Grabbing a sweatshirt and heavy coat, Harry walked out into the hallway to meet up with everyone else.
"Everyone ready to go?" asked Remus when he saw everyone was there. When everyone nodded their heads, he said "ok, Harry's group, you'll be going with Owen. Arthur, you'll be going with Zarek and Tonks and I will be with Eli. Any questions? Everyone got their coins?" He looked around and saw three gleaming gold coins held up in the air. "Alright, let's go."
They made their way down the lifts, out of the hotel and back onto the beach. They made their way towards the hills that were behind the resort, where the caves were located. When they got to the base of the hill, they split off into their groups. "Eli, take the Sentoni Zoniana Cave. Zarek, you take the Gerani Cave and my group will take the Diktaian Cave" said Owen, taking command. The other two guides nodded in approval and turned in the direction of their cave, their groups following.
"What are we looking for" Owen asked, looking at Harry. "My wife, Hermione" Harry replied, noticing the surprised look on their guides face. "No one informed you beforehand?"
"No, we were only told by the Ministry to meet you at the hotel" replied Owen. "You look awfully young to be married" he observed.
"It's a long story" said Harry, walking next to Owen as they started to make their way to the cave they were assigned to search. "My wife has been kidnapped by a man name Lucius Malfoy; he took her from the restaurant we were at last night."
"That's terrible" said Owen, walking briskly now. "I lost my wife two years ago" he said, sounding sad.
"Can I ask what happened?" Harry asked, truly concerned. Owen looked down at him for a moment, as if sizing him up, and said "Voldemort killed her."
Harry just stopped in his tracks for a moment, then hurried to catch back up with Owen. "I'm so sorry" said Harry.
"There's nothing you could have done. No one even knew he was back at that time" he said.
"I did" said Harry quietly. Owen stopped walking and looked at him. "How could you have known?" he asked.
"My last name is Potter" he explained, and noticed the recognition to his last name on Owens face.
"He killed your parents when you were a baby" said Owen sadly "and you supposedly killed him at the same time." Harry watched as Owen's eyes sought out the lightening bolt scar on his forehead.
"No such luck. Last year he kidnapped Hermione when she was pregnant and in labor; it was horrible."
"You have a baby?" Owen asked, surprised again.
"Yeah, his name is Conlan and he is almost a month old. I promised him I'd bring his Mum back" Harry looked at Owen with a determined look on his face "that's one promise I fully intend to keep."
"Well, Harry Potter, I will do everything I can to help you find and rescue your wife" Owen said, smiling at him.
Remus was following Eli up the hill to their cave. He could see it from where they were at; it would take them about ten more minutes to reach the mouth of the cave.
"Ow!" yelled Tonks as she stumbled over a rock. Remus rolled his eyes and sighed; that was already the third time she'd tripped over something. Stopping to wait for her to catch up, Remus watched her carefully walk up to him, minding where she stepped.
"Are you ok?" he asked her, trying to suppress the smirk on his face. She just narrowed her eyes and glared at him.
"I'm glad you think this is funny" she said "maybe you should just search the cave with Eli by yourself."
He looked at her seriously now, walking up to her. "I'm sorry" he said "it just seems that you trip over blades of grass sometimes." She just continued to look at him angrily. Remus looked behind him at Eli and noticed that he was looking up at the entrance of the cave. Turning back around, Remus leaned in quickly and planted a quick kiss on Tonks lips. He almost laughed at the shocked look on her face. Her shock slowly went away and she gave him a big smile.
"Apology accepted" she said.
"Good, let's get going" said Remus, grabbing her hand and walking slowly up to where Eli stood waiting for them. They continued up to the cave, Remus catching Tonks every time she stumbled so she didn't hurt herself. Finally they reached the cave and stepped inside, illuminating their wands. They made their way slowly through the cave, looking for any hidden passages or fake walls that could be in place. After about three hours, they hadn't found anything.
Arthur, Ron and Ginny followed Zarek up to where their cave was located. No one said anything the entire way, seeming lost in their thoughts. They reached the mouth of the cave about twenty minutes later and put on their warm clothes. Pulling out their wands, all four of them murmured "lumos!" and held their wands in front of them so they could see inside the dark cave. They walked slowly, examining the walls of the cave for any markings or writings that might give them a clue as to where Hermione or the scepter could be. As they made their way deeper into the cave's depths, Ron could hear a strange noise that sounded like it was far away from them.
"Do you hear that?" he whispered, putting out his hand to stop the other three. They all stood stock still and listened intently, trying to see if they could hear anything. Ginny looked up and said "I think I heard it too."
"What does it sound like?" said Arthur, unable to pick up any noise.
"It's a strange clinking sound" said Ron, straining to see if he could pick up anything more. Zarek looked at him and said "I hear it too."
The four of them pressed their backs up against the left wall of the cave, carefully side stepping further into the cave and trying not to make any noise. Zarek put a hand up to stop them and whispered "there's a light up ahead." He crouched down on all fours and, as quietly as possible, crawled a little ways ahead. When he peeked around the corner, he saw three men with pick axes attacking the right wall. He could see that they had revealed the see through wall, but didn't know the spell to pass through it. Zarek watched them work diligently, trying to get into the tunnel that was on the other side. He almost laughed; this wall was just a shortcut to the end of the cave, a faster route than the one they were currently on. He quietly made his way back to the Weasley's and whispered "I believe there are three death eaters up ahead."
Mr. Weasley looked at him surprised. "Do you think Hermione is in this cave?"
"No; they are trying to use pick axes to break through a magical part of the cave wall. It leads to a different tunnel that will take you to the end of the cave faster than the one we're in now; you have to know the spell to pass through it."
"What should we do?" asked Mr. Weasley, looking at Zarek for answers.
"There's three of them and four of us; we can take them" he answered.
"But two of us are only children" said Arthur, surprised at Zarek's answer.
"Obviously you trusted in their abilities enough to bring them along on this trip. Have faith in their abilities Arthur." Mr. Weasley stared at the guide for a moment, trying to decide whether he wanted to put his kids into that kind of danger.
"Dad, we went up against the Death Eaters in the Ministry by ourselves; there weren't any adults around to help us then" said Ron. He wasn't one to back down from a fight, especially against Death Eaters. They'd caused enough trouble as it was. "Maybe we can get them to tell us where Hermione is."
Arthur looked at Ron and said "It's against my better judgment, but ok, let's try to capture them."
Zarek nodded in understanding and said "ok, let's crawl up to where I was before. There's a curve in the tunnel that will hide us until we are ready to advance."
The three Weasley's nodded and crouched down on the floor of the cave the same way Zarek had done just minutes before. They slowly followed him to the hiding spot and waited behind him for the signal. As soon as it was given, the four of them ran out from their spot, shooting off spells as they ran.
"Expelliarmus, Stupefy, Confundo, Petrificus Totalus!" Each of the four watched as three of their spells hit the Death Eaters; two of them lay stiff on the floor as the other one wandered around with a confused look on his face. Only Ginny's disarming spell had missed. Zarek walked up the them and pointed his wand at each of them in turn, saying "incarcerous!" Thick ropes shot out of the tip of his wand, wrapping around each of the three Death Eaters, making them unable to move or get away.
"I'm going to go to the Ministry and get some Veritaserum; maybe we can get Mrs. Potter's location out of them" said Zarek.
"We'll keep a close eye on them" said Mr. Weasley. Zarek nodded and then with a soft 'pop', disappeared.
About twenty-five minutes later, Zarek returned with a small potion bottle full of clear liquid. Walking purposefully towards the three men that lay bound on the floor, he put three drops of the liquid into the first Death Eaters mouth. After waiting about a minute, Zarek asked him "what's your name?"
"I am Iason Feodras" he automatically answered.
"Do you work for Lucius Malfoy?"
"Yes" came Iason's answer.
"What were you doing down here?" asked Zarek.
"We were ordered to find the scepter of Zeus. We were told to come to this cave and break through the magical wall. That is where the scepter is supposed to be."
Zarek looked at Mr. Weasley and said "there's no way the scepter is in this cave. That's the only magical wall in here, and like I said before, it leads to a shortcut."
Arthur walked up to the same man that Zarek had been questioning and asked "where is Hermione Potter?"
"She is in Hades" replied Iason. Arthur looked at Zarek, confused by the answer.
"Are you saying she's dead?" asked Zarek, hoping to get a clear answer.
"No, she is in Hades, with our Master."
Owen, Harry, Phoenix and Pyrena had finally reached the mouth of the Diktaian Cave and started to walk deeper and deeper into it's heart. The tunnel seemed to spiral downward, which seemed strange to Harry. "Do all caves usually slope down?" he asked.
"No, they usually go straight for a ways and then slope either down or ascend up into the hill. This one is different; it's one of the first caves ever known to exist in Crete."
They continued to walk, and Harry noticed how silent the twins were being. When he looked back, he noticed Phoenix's eyes were glowing, a sign that his fire magic had flared alive inside him. "What's going on Phoenix?" he asked.
"Something doesn't seem right" Phoenix replied. Owen turned to look at him and did a double take.
"What's wrong with his eyes?" he asked, staring at the young man.
"It's a natural defense mechanism he possesses" explained Harry, not telling Owen the whole truth.
"It's a little frightening" said Owen, staring at him for a moment more and then continuing his trek into the cave.
"I'm not going to engage my fire magic" Harry whispered to Phoenix "I don't want to tip Owen off any more than possible. Who knows who we can trust anymore."
Phoenix nodded and said "if I feel that we're in immediate danger, I'll send off a fireball to let you know."
"Just make sure you don't hit me with it" said Harry, eyeing Phoenix warily.
The four turned another corner and found themselves in an opening; the small tunnel had opened up into a small cavern, where a stream cut through the middle. As they advanced, a huge three headed dog emerged from a hole in the wall opposite them. Harry looked at it in horror; it had a tail that was a smaller version of a dragon and heads of snakes all over its back, instead of fur. "W-What is that?" he asked.
"It can't be what I think it is" said Owen, staring at the dog fearfully.
"What the bloody hell do you think it is?" asked Harry, starting to get worried.
"Cerberus" Owen replied. Phoenix and Pyrena looked at him in disbelief.
"That's not possible!" said Pyrena, her eyes wide with fear. "He's a myth."
"What's Cerberus?" asked Harry.
"It's the dog that used to guard the entrance to Hades; it kept the living from entering and kept the dead from leaving. Its brothers and sisters are the Hydra and Chimaera; like Pyrena said, it's a Greek myth" explained Owen.
"It sure looks real to me" said Harry, watching as it paced back and forth across the stream from them.
"According to the myth, the only way to get past him is to play music, it puts him to sleep" said Owen.
"Just like Fluffy" said Harry. When he saw the other three looking at him curiously, he explained "the groundskeeper at Hogwarts kept a three headed dog named Fluffy in the school my first year there. He had leant it to our Headmaster to guard something very important. The only way to get past him was to play music to put him into a magical sleep."
"We can't let this thing live" said Phoenix, staring at the beast. "What if it gets loose? It would make it's way into Crete and kill loads of people."
"What do you suggest we do?" asked Owen, also watching the beast as it continued to watch them and pace the bank of the stream.
"Kill it" answered Phoenix. When he saw Owen and Harry just looking at him as if he were daft, he said "Harry and I could use our fire magic to dispose of it."
"Fire magic? What is that?" Owen asked, looking from Phoenix to Harry, waiting for an explanation.
"It's a form of magic that was passed down to the descendants of Prometheus" Harry explained. He turned to Phoenix and asked "how are the two of us supposed to take care of a three headed dog with a dragon for a tail and snake heads all over its body? It sounds like suicide to me."
"We have to get rid of the heads, remove the dragon from the body and incinerate them all, body included" Phoenix explained.
"Bloody hell" Harry muttered, thinking over what Phoenix had just said. "How do you propose we do this?"
"You're actually considering this?" Owen asked in disbelief.
"Phoenix is right" Harry said, the words leaving a bad taste in his mouth. "If we allow that thing to live, there is a chance that it could get loose and kill innocent people."
"We don't even know how long it's been here" said Owen "for all we know, maybe it can't leave this cavern."
"Or maybe Voldemort brought it to life to guard this place so that we couldn't get to him and my wife" said Harry.
"Voldemort is dead" said Owen, looking confused.
"No he's not; when I incinerated his body, his spirit escaped and inhabited Lucius Malfoy's body" Harry explained. "That's why they're trying to get the scepter of Zeus, so that Voldemort can gain immortality. They kidnapped Hermione because she knows where that scepter is."
Owen stood there staring at Harry, looking as if his worst nightmare had come to life. "Voldemort is still alive?"
"Yes; if he finds the scepter, he will be able to get his body back again and become immortal" Harry replied.
"So then it's almost certain that this dog from Hell is a product of his Dark magic" said Owen, looking at the beast with an angry expression on his face. He sat staring at it for a few moments and then looked at Phoenix. "Ok, what's your plan?"
~**The names in this chapter were found at www. 20000-names.com . All the cave names in this chapter are real caves found in Crete.**~