Scars of Time

Scars of Time

Chapter Four - Trouble Brewing

* * * *

Draco sat on one of the plush couches in Cid's mansion. He looked around him. The usual extravagant scent was in the air. He shook his head, slightly miffed. Was everyone in Bavelle rich? He wondered if he should stay there and indulge himself into opulence again. Cid, Rikku, Lulu and Wakka were discussing about Yuna. Cid, a bald middle-aged man, was shocked and angry when he found out that Yuna was imprisoned.

Draco was half-asleep as they talked about their plans on saving Yuna. He could not understand half of the things they were saying, partly because Rikku and Cid talked in another language that was certainly not understandable. He yawned, and met Wakka's warning glance. Sighing slightly, he wished that everyone would stop feeling so 'wrapped up'.

He glanced at Hermione, who was listening to them attentively. I wonder if she understands what they're talking about, he thought, bemused. He looked outside through the window. The sun was setting, and the sky was now the color of ginger. He remembered swimming in the waters of Schmaera. It was truly a blissful memory, and he wished that he could go there again. He wished that he could swim in the crystallized blue-green ocean once more.

"Are you tired, Mr. Malfoy?" inquired Cid.

"Yes, he is. He's been through a rough day today," Hermione answered for him. He stared at her for a moment, slightly angry. He did not need anyone to answer for him, like he didn't exist, like he was mute.

Cid smiled at him briefly. "Well, you can go and rest in the guest room upstairs. Go ahead."

Draco got up and went upstairs, noticing that Hermione was following him. When he entered the guest bedroom, he sat down on one of the beds, and sighed slightly. "Why did you follow me?" he asked, frowning up at her. "You should go hang out with them." Hermione flopped on the bed next to his.

"Why should I?" she said, to his surprise.

"Why shouldn't you?" Draco remarked.

"Malfoy, I am not one of them. I am just a stranger--we're both strangers. And besides, the only reason I want to tag along behind them is so that we can go home."

"Is home that important, Granger?" Draco murmured uncertainly.

"It probably isn't to you, but it is to me," said Hermione in a slightly irritated voice. "I've already told you about this..."

"I know, I know," Draco bit back. "Do you always have to be angry with me?"

Hermione stared at him for a moment, taken aback. It was obvious that she had never considered his feelings before. She shifted, looking away from him. "Isn't today the day your father will be executed?" she began, an apprehensive look on her face.

"He's already executed," he snapped.

"Are you sad because of that?" she asked, looking at him primly.

He whirled around, staring at her, amazed. "What?" he began, in a defiant voice. "I am not sad!"

"You are," said Hermione, shrugging a little. "I know you are. The way you looked while we were downstairs... Come on, Malfoy -- your father deserved it."

"You don't know anything about my father," said Draco harshly. Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off. "Or me, either!" She sighed and did not say another word after that. Yes, nobody understood his father. No one, no one at all...

Draco and his parents had just arrived home from the Quidditch World Cup. Lucius immediately dragged Draco up to his room and shut the door behind them, looking at him grimly. "Why did you let Harry Potter and his friends escape?" he snarled, shaking Draco's shoulders roughly. "The Dark Lord wanted him, and you've let them escape!"

"But father--I didn't even see them," he lied.

"Do not lie, Draco," said his father desperately. "Don't lie. Why are you lying? Aren't you my son?"

"Of course I am," said Draco. He looked down at the floor. He did not want to give Potter and his friends away because he didn't want his father to get hurt. Everyone knew that Harry Potter and his gang were protected. But it was apparent that his actions had been wrong. He had let them get away, and his father was more hurt than he could ever imagine. Lucius looked betrayed.

Lucius raised his wand and shouted, "Crucio."

Draco screamed and yelled as pain went through his body. "Stop it, father, stop it! The only reason I didn't give them away was because I didn't want to see you hurt! They're well protected, father! Everyone knows that!"

Lucius stopped torturing his son and seemed to consider this piece of information. "Fine," he said," but don't get in the way of my job again."

"Yes, father," answered Draco soberly.

"You will need an older girl for a wife," Lucius said suddenly. "So that she can take care of you and beat you up when you get all foolish." He smiled at Draco. "What do you think?"

"I'm not interested."

"When's your birthday, Hermione?" asked Draco, snapping out of his reminiscing. Hermione stared at him, caught unexpectedly.

"19^th September, why?" she asked, puzzled.

"Oh," he mumbled. "Mine's in October,"

Hermione's honey brown eyes reflected confusion over his suddenly random self. Draco wanted to laugh. So Hermione was a few weeks older than he was? He shook his head. No wonder she was such a pushover. He watched in amusement as the Gryffindor huffed and turned away from him in annoyance.

* * *

Meanwhile, downstairs, Lulu, Wakka, Rikku and Cid were talking about them. They told Cid everything Hermione and Draco had informed them about Tidus; that he was somehow 'alive' and living in Schmaera. They were immensely surprised that Cid did not deny this news. "One of my sources, who happens to know Tidus, saw him wandering around on that island. I was curious, and I wanted to find out if he was telling the truth." Cid paused, taking a short breath. "But at my age, I am not strong enough to face the 'new Sin'."

"So--they were telling the truth?" Wakka asked in a small voice.

"Perhaps so," said Cid, nodding.

"What do you think of them, father?" questioned Rikku. "You're well-known for judging people correctly!" At this, she punched him playfully on the shoulder.

Cid put a hand on his head. "That girl has wisdom beyond her years--she knows much more than we do," he said thoughtfully. "And that boy--I cannot see through him. He is hiding something, yes; he seems to have a secret of his own. But I can tell that he is a cold, demanding person. Not very nice."

Rikku gulped. "Let's hope he's not the next Seymour. You know how awful he was!"

"Where do they come from?" asked Cid.

"We don't know," said Lulu, shrugging. "They said they're just travelers in search of Yuna."

Cid frowned. "For what, I wonder?"

That question was simply unanswerable.

* * *

Hermione and Draco met up with Rikku, Wakka and Lulu that evening in front of Cid's mansion. Hermione was feeling quite anxious. Were they going to let her and Draco follow them to where ever Yuna was? She certainly hoped so. Of course, the thought of facing dangerous obstacles was not really what she had in mind--but she wanted to go back. No matter what.

She did not understand why Draco seemed to be reluctant to go home. Maybe it was because his riches were taken away from him, or maybe it was because his father was dead. Whatever it was, Draco did not look very happy whenever Hermione spoke about returning to Hogwarts.

Frowning slightly, she glanced at Draco, who was wearing a blank expression on his pale face; his steel eyes held no emotion. Hermione could not read him at all. It was simply impossible. Not to mention a waste of time, she reminded herself.

"We talked to Cid," said Wakka, breaking Hermione's thoughts. "He said you two can come with us--if you want to."

"Of course we do," said Hermione fervently.

"I've got to remind you of something," said Rikku, looking at Hermione as if trying to scare the wits out of her. "This is not some 'game'. Corel prison isn't what you think it is. It's dangerous and horrific down there. Like a living Hell."

"Sounds interesting." Hermione said, disgruntled and unmoved by her remark. She had been through more 'Hell' than anyone would expect.

"Of course," said Draco dryly. "Battling strange, hideous mutants, getting green gooey stuff on our clothes, blood, screams, torment. Sounds familiar," he rolled his eyes.

"Don't talk like you've been through it," said Wakka angrily.

"Don't talk like you know everything," said Draco, looking at him frostily.

"Enough, both of you!" said Lulu impatiently. "If any one of you fight with each other again, then I strongly suggest you jump overboard."

"Not another ship, I hope?" asked Draco hopefully.

"An airship, dummy," said Rikku, laughing.

"And where is this 'airship', anyway?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

The sound of rumbling engines answered his question. Hermione looked up to see a big airship flying above them. It appeared modern and technological--certainly more advanced than the Muggle airplanes back in her world. "How is it going to land?" she asked.

"That's the beauty of it," said Rikku, snickering. "It won't!"

"How silly of me," she muttered.

"Heads up! Heern is going to throw the ropes!" Wakka shouted.

"Brilliant. So we have to climb up that thing?" Draco said scornfully.

"No. It's going to pull us up!" said Lulu, catching one of the ropes. "These are not ordinary ropes, Draco. Your fingers won't hurt when the machine pulls you up, and they're very, very strong."

"I should've known that they invented microchips for ropes here," said Hermione caustically.

"Microchips?" Rikku asked, confused.

"Are y'all ready?" The pilot, Heern, shouted.

"Ready!" Wakka yelled back.

Hermione held the rope tightly as the machine pulled them up. When she reached inside the airship, she released her grip on the rope, feeling slightly dizzy. "All right there, Granger?" asked Draco without much interest.

Hermione rubbed her hands together, ignoring him. She glanced at Rikku, who had her right hand on Draco's shoulder. "Ew," she muttered under her breath. How could someone even consider touching that evil persona?

Draco noticed that Hermione was looking at them, and he smirked. She saw the triumphant glint in his eyes and gritted her teeth, resisting the urge to slap his face. That prat!

* * *

"Me and Lulu are going Macalania to investigate more on why Yuna was captured. According to Cid, a well-known shaman there, Locke, knows many things about Icarus's father. Perhaps we can find out why Yuna's imprisoned," Wakka informed Rikku.

"So you want me, Draco, and Bushy Haired to go to Corel Prison?" asked Rikku. "Just the three of us? Isn't that kind of risky?"

"Of course it is, but I doubt you'll have any problems with your fighting skills, Rikku. Lulu and I need to do this."

"I'm fine with it all, but can't Bushy Haired go with you?" Rikku grumbled. "She's spoiling everything I have with Draco."

"It's better to have the three of you than to have only two." Lulu interjected, her voice stern and firm, leaving Rikku wordless.

Hermione, who was listening nearby, frowned when she heard what Rikku called her. Draco sniggered. "What a perfect nickname," he said, grinning from ear to ear. It was clear that he was entertained.

"Shut up," she snapped. "Why don't you go have sex with Rikku? She'll crush your mouth and then you'll have nothing to say for a long, long time." Hermione instantly placed two hands on her mouth when she said that. Since when did she talk about dirty things? Draco laughed harder, his face now red with amusement.

"Well, maybe I should," he said breathlessly. "It is a form of pleasure, after all."

"Oh, just sod off, Malfoy!"

"What's going on here?"

Both Hermione and Draco looked up, startled to see Rikku. "Nothing," said Draco blatantly. Then, he added, in a careless voice, "It seems that Granger seems to have a dirty mind now. What a shock."

Rikku certainly looked astonished, and started to titter. "I am surprised. I thought she was a serious, goody-goody two shoes."

"Don't pretend as if I'm not here," said Hermione tightly.

"Granger, people always ignore you. Shouldn't you have noticed that by now?" asked Draco.

"She needs her head knocked first," said Rikku. "A really good, hard knock."

"I can't say I disagree," he nodded.

"Gee, Malfoy, don't you realize that all of your sentences are incoherent, and you, don't you realize that it's rude to act like a spoilt brat in front of people whom you've just met?" Hermione gave Rikku a long, hard stare. "Who do you think you are, anyway? Do you actually think that you're much better than me?"

"Certainly. Smarter, and much stronger," said Rikku challengingly. "What do you have, Hermione? Nothing. You have no strength--nothing."

"Uh, you wouldn't want to go there," murmured Draco.

"Oh yeah?" Hermione said, her face filled with anger. "Would you like to feel total pain, Rikku? Would you like to feel thousands of knives stabbing you?"

"I wouldn't really mind, since you're unable to do that anyway," said Rikku, laughing airily.

Hermione inserted her hand into the pocket of her skirt, ready to attack Rikku with the Cruciatus Curse. Before she managed to do it, Draco was beside her like lightning, and he gripped her hand tightly, not letting it go. "What are you doing?" Hermione hissed.

"Don't do it, Granger," said Draco coolly, looking at her meaningfully.

"I thought you were ignoring me," she said softly. "Get your filthy hand off me, Draco Malfoy. You're not going to stop me!"

"Rikku, leave us," said Draco.

"No," said Rikku. "I--"

"I said leave us. Which word did you not understand?" he asked acidly. Rikku backed away and went off to the cockpit, bewildered.

"Granger, wake up. We weren't being serious," said Draco, his hands still gripping hers. "Why are you acting this way?"

"Did you hear what she named me? She actually believes she's superior and that I am an underdog!" Hermione yelled. "That's uncalled for. How dare she!"

"But if you use one of the Unforgivable Curses on her, then we'll be kicked off this ship and we'll never find Yuna," he said self-righteously.

"You don't even care about going home, you don't care about anything! You act as if everything isn't important when it is. It is, Malfoy. I am tired of you and your selfish ways, I am tired of you. I hate you! You're a mean, foul, evil, rotten--"

Irritated, Draco placed a finger on her lips, silencing her. He was surprised at how soft they were to touch. He felt Hermione's hands now clutching his tightly. For a moment, Draco forgot that he was on an airship. For a moment, Draco forgot all about his father. Just by looking at her. "Silence," he said, noticing that his voice was slightly shaking. "Just be silent. If you're willing to be quiet then I will not bother you anymore. In fact, if you want me to get off this airship, I will, and you can go home instead. Hogwarts does not have any meaning to me, Granger.

"Just shut up when I'm talking to you." Draco put down his finger and released his grip on Hermione.

After a moment of awaiting her response, she said, in a small voice, "All right." Draco nodded in satisfaction. He wanted to ask her whether she wanted him to go away so that she could continue the journey alone, but a loud bang interrupted him.

"What was that?" Hermione exclaimed.

Both of them went to the cockpit, where Lulu, Wakka, and Rikku were gathered around Hermaan, their faces scrunched up with anxiety. "What's going on?" asked Draco.

"The Guardian of Corel Prison, Utherial, is going berserk. We have to advance forward and drop you off now," said Hermaan.

"What's Utherial?" asked Hermione.

"A dangerous giant sand scorpion," said Rikku. "It likes to spit sand at flying objects. The only thing that guards the outside of Corel is Utherial, but with some magic, he's easily beaten." She looked at Luly expectantly.

"I am not going with you, Rikku," said Lulu, rather regretfully.

"Take this backpack, and Yuna's staff," said Wakka.

"Sorry for disturbing, but you have to go, like, now. The sand won't break your bones, and you'll be easily camouflaged from Utherial," said the pilot urgently.

"We're jumping off?" Draco said vehemently.

Hermaan got up and pushed open the door. "Get out! Or else this thing will get damaged and Cid will kill me!"

"I'll go first," said Rikku. With a wink at Draco, she ran as fast as lightning and leapt off the airship. He glanced at Hermione, who seemed unusually calm.

"See you later," said Hermione, and she too, jumped off the airship.

"Why are all the women brave?" Draco wailed. "I hate heights, I hate jumping..." Suddenly, he felt himself being shoved forward. He was at the edge of the airship now.

"Jump, you coward!" Wakka crowed.

"No way!" said Draco, backing away.

"Damn it, get off this bloody ship!" he yelled and kicked Draco in the back. The next thing, Draco found himself falling down... down... down...

* * *

"I can't believe he's a weakling," said Hermione, kicking the unconscious Draco's legs gently. Rikku giggled, putting a hand on his forehead. "We have to wake him up though. Utherial might come."

"I'll give him a kiss," said Rikku, laughing. "He'll wake up after that."

"Urgh..." Draco moaned, his eyes fluttering open. "That hurt."

"No it didn't," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

"Aw, I missed my chance," said Rikku, groaning.

Draco got up, brushing the specks of sand off him. "Did any of you see Utherial?" he asked, curious.

"No," said Rikku. "No one can see him anyway. He's actually underground, but Wakka and Hermaan did not know of this." She sniggered. "They actually thought that the sand might be a camouflage, but no. Utherial can hear our voices, each of our footsteps, and the smell of blood. No one's seen him before anyway. He watches over the outside and the inside of the prison. There are still guards though, so we have to keep our cover. Actually, no one has ever seen Utherial. But it's true that he squirts his poisonous saliva on them, and they don't get the chance to tell the story because they'll be dead. They know it's a scorpion because of the name 'Utherial'. It comes from ancient Bevellian language and it means 'king of all scorpions'. "

"Do you think Yuna's been...'squirted'?" asked Draco.

"I don't think so," said Rikku. "It's going to be a stiff mission, since none of us have magic powers."

"Heh," Hermione chuckled.

"Well then," Rikku said, glancing at Hermione, confused. "Let's go."

Draco glanced up and saw the black fortress of Coral. It certainly looked like a place where people were tormented and tortured to the death. He thought that he could faintly hear people screaming. "Why did they send Yuna to such a frightening place?" asked Hermione, perplexed. "She's not bad, right, Rikku?"

"Of course not," said Rikku immediately.

Rikku was in front of them as she lead the way to Corel Prison. Once Hermione was sure that she was not looking back, she whipped out her wand and pointed to the ground. "Silenciro," she muttered.

"Clever, Granger," said Draco, smirking.

"It's temporary," said Hermione. "Magical waves cannot disrupt sound very well."

Rikku opened her backpack and handed Draco and Hermione ragged, brown cloaks. "Wear these. Brown is the prisoners' colour. Most of the jailers here are blind and deaf, because they're too old. They won't be too smart to notice that we're outsiders."

"Why old men?" asked Hermione.

"They don't want jailers to escape and blurt out to people what they do in Corel," she whispered.

The three made their way into the prison, and immediately, the scent of rotting corpses filled the air. Draco glanced at a corner and saw a mangled woman's head lying on the ground, flies flying above it. Suddenly, he realized, there was but a small possibility that Yuna was still alive. They entered the fortress, the sound of their boots echoing in the dark, empty hall. "This is where they used to gather the bodies," Rikku told them.

"No wonder," said Hermione, making a face. "It has a foul stench."

All of a sudden, they heard unfamiliar footsteps. Draco and Hermione glanced at each other, gripping their wands, ready for battle. "Quick, hide in the shadows!" Rikku whispered urgently. They went into a corner and watched the long bearded guard trudging slowly towards the entrance.

"Damn," they heard the guard whispering to himself, in a hoarse voice. "Those careless men just don't know how to lock the door."

With bated breath, they watched as the old man locked the gigantic entrance to the hall, then went back to his post. "This is too risky, Malfoy," said Hermione, biting her lip. Draco did not want to say it, but she was right. Corel was a prison after all, it had to have many guards lurking around.

"We need to cast a humongous sleeping spell," said Hermione. "Then everyone can fall asleep and we'll have no problem walking about."

"What about invisibility?" asked Draco. "That's much more practical."

"What on earth are you talking about?" asked Rikku. "Spells?"

"Yes," he said. "We're... magical people."

"Magical people? Is that the best you can come up with?" Hermione hissed.

"Just watch us," said Draco, irritated. Rikku, with widened eyes, watched as Draco took out his willow-made wand. As he waved it around, blue sparks began to appear behind them. At this, Hermione began to frown. Draco saw this and paused. "What is it?"

"Nothing!" said Hermione quickly. "Go ahead and cast the spell."

"Loriestiro," he whispered. Rikku let out a shudder.

"Scary, isn't it?" asked Hermione, pleased to see her reaction.

"We're disappearing!" Rikku hissed, panicking. Sure enough, the trio's bodies were fading away. "I'm going to die!"

"Shut up!" Hermione snapped. "You'll see your so-called beautiful body again."

"Come on," Draco said softly. "Make no noise, everyone. Not the slightest. I think Hermione's Noise Disrupter spell has worn out."

"You cast a spell before we came in?" Rikku demanded.

"Yes, but that's not important. Move!" Hermione told her.

"How are we going to find Yuna?" he asked, looking at Rikku expectantly.

"I think we should ask the head of Corel Prison, Victor Pires. His office is on the second floor, I should think," said Rikku. Then, she added, in an unsure voice, "but I doubt that interrogation will work. That man is practically the devil."

He did not say another word as they walked up the worn stairs to the second floor. Hermione was troubled. She sensed that Draco was planning something. They crept up to Victor Pires's office, and once they were outside, Draco winked at Rikku. "Observe my utter brilliance."

"Displode!" The door burst open with a loud bang. They entered to see a startled, thin, old man whose expression was worn and tired. But there was something about the glimmer in his eyes that reflected the massacres he had committed.

"Who's there?" Victor yelled. "Who's there?"

Rikku caught him by his collar and held him high. She gritted her teeth and her face filled with fury. "Where's Yuna? What have you done to her?" she asked scathingly.

"Whoever you are, I won't tell! Over my dead body!"

Hermione pointed her wand at Victor. "Imperio," she murmured. Suddenly, Victor stopped struggling and fell under the Imperius curse. A wave of dark aura surrounded Hermione, for it was the first time she had ever used the Imperius curse. "What have you done to Yuna, and where is she?"

"She... was... beaten..." Victor stammered, gasping for breath. "She... is... still... alive... Cell 104..."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Rikku snarled.

"He is," said Draco. "The Imperius curse rarely lies."

She released him, and Hermione lowered her wand. Victor's eyes were bloodshot with fright. "GUA--"

But Draco cut him off by saying the two most feared words of the wizarding world. "Avada Kedavra." Victor slumped and fell to the floor. He was dead before he hit the ground.

"I can't believe you did that!" Hermione said, trying to control the volume of her voice. "That was against the law!"

"We're not really in our world, so there's no Ministry trying to catch us," said Draco, shrugging. "Besides, I've always wanted to try the Killing curse."

"Another world? Excuse me?" Rikku exclaimed.

"I didn't say that," he said nonchalantly.

"He didn't say that," Hermione agreed.

"Come on, we still need to go to Cell 104," said the boy briskly.

They ran as if they were whirlwinds, passing through cells, hardly looking at the living skeletons that were in them, not wanting, too. They were nearing Cell 104. "Yunie, we're coming!" Rikku called out.

They were now in front of her cell. There was a figure hidden in the darkness. Slowly, it stepped into the light. "Rikku?" a small, gentle voice piped up.

"Yunie!" Rikku exclaimed.

Draco and Hermione looked up to see a beautiful woman with shoulder length brown hair, pale complexion. But her eyes--they were different; mismatched, to be more specific. Her right eye was green while her left was blue. She was dressed in brown rags, but there was something about her that made her look very powerful. "How did you get here?" asked Yuna. She was thin and she seemed unwell.

"We--"

A loud rumbling sound came from downstairs. No, from the ground. A loud unearthly wail was heard. "Did you kill the Head of Corel?" asked Yuna, her eyes wide with alarm.

"Yes," said Rikku. "I mean, he did."

Yuna turned to look at Draco. "You have roused Utherial's wrath. He will kill everyone in this prison. He will hunt down the person who killed his master. He has excellent senses, and he will know the smell of his master's corpse on the murderer."

"Great," Draco grumbled. "And I was just rejoicing over my first murder!"

* * *