HP: The Arcane Thief-Chapter 69: Encounter with a Metamorphmagus, And news about Atlantis

During the past few days, Axel had been refraining from taking action even when someone had been following him. The first reason was, of course, because the person seemed quite skilled. This was the first time someone had thwarted his Arcane Eyes, and if someone can do that, then they must be damn good.

The other reason was, Gorski had warned him that the organization might be coming for him soon. So, the chances of this mysterious person being from the organization are very high. He wanted to act immediately, but considering the fact that he knows next to nothing about the organization and this person, he had been testing the waters and making some preparations until now. He had to first judge whether he could actually afford to confront this person based on the stalker's skill level, behavioral pattern, and reaction to sudden circumstances. After that, he had to plan in order to catch the person with a method that won't fail, but also won't be crippling in case it's not someone from the organization. And that's what he had been trying to do these days.

From what he can gather, this person is very skilled at concealment, but also very shitty at Stealth and Tracking. They'd randomly do things that will blow their cover. It has been very hard for Axel to pretend that he didn't notice anything.

Their skill level seems to be quite high, but their reaction to sudden situations is… absolute shit. He can take advantage of that. That is also why he can't wait much longer, since he has to be the one to make the first move to have the element of surprise instead of letting the stalker take the initiative.

It would have been better if he waited a day or two more, but, he isn't willing to delay it any longer.

'Let's just get this over with,' he thought as he recalled Daphne's forlorn appearance throughout the day. For forcing him to be the reason for that, this stalker is going to have hell to pay.

...

Nymphadora Tonks had been having a very hard time these days. And it was all due to a certain second-year student.

When Aunty Bella had given her the responsibility to protect a boy, she had been very surprised. That black widow, actually caring about someone's well-being? No way. She had thought that the boy must have some extraordinary background, important enough to jeopardize Aunty's position. But turns out, the boy was just an orphan.

More curious than flummoxed by the situation, she had still decided to do this easy job anyway, lest Aunty send her back to the boring Auror training again. Since it's a hassle to keep on the disillusionment charm all the time, she borrowed Rose's invisibility cloak and began her mission. But, who would have thought that she would fail spectacularly at such a simple task?

It has been a few days already, but she still hasn't been able to keep track of him most of the time. She can only see him during the class hours and in the great hall. The rest of the time, the time when someone is actually supposed to attack him, he somehow always manages to escape her sight very easily. How is she supposed to protect him if she can't even see where he goes half the time?

She would accept that she wasn't very good at stealth and tracking, it wasn't her forte, but she didn't think that she would be so bad to not even be able to keep track of a 12-year-old. The boy somehow manages to escape her sight every damn time she's following him.

There's no way she's that bad. It's the person she's following who's out of the ordinary. That much is clear enough after keeping an eye on him for a few days.

He's got the Greengrass Heiress showing puppy eyes for him, he's sometimes seen talking to the Princess of the Valentino Family, and then there's the daughter of the, Brazilian Minister, who was fawning over him tonight.

And then, there was Rose, who was currently training day and night after knowing that he'd be playing for the Slytherin team, obsessing over defeating him.

This guy, who you'd somehow usually overlook when looking at the crowd, is unexpectedly quite popular. Even her mom and aunty Bella are worried over him, which is extremely puzzling.

'Is there something I don't know, that's making him so interesting?' she thought, unable to see the point.

The boy is handsome, she'll accept, but the women included in the list aren't the type to be swayed by mere handsomeness.

And of course, she didn't think he had used some bewitching magic or something, since Aunty Bella was also included in the list. And that woman has so much protection that even a killing curse might not do anything to her.

Another question is, why the hell is his life in danger? Aunty wouldn't give her details until now even after asking multiple times. All Tonks has managed to get out of that woman is that some Organisation from Atlantis is after him. That had been enough for her to start taking her job seriously and increase her curiosity even more. Atlantis is the most mysterious magical civilization, closed off to the outside world. And an organization from that place is after Axel? That generates so many questions!

So, to find the answers, she followed him very closely tonight, in order to make sure not to lose sight of him at a corner like she usually does. No matter what, she has to stop failing at such an easy task.

'Nice...'

Maybe because her luck today was good, but she managed to follow him for quite far this time. Usually, she'd lose him after just a few corridors. But this time seemed different. He seemed to be traveling along the corridors which she hadn't seen much before. She couldn't help but notice that this place was nowhere near the Slytherin dorms. The corridors kept getting darker and gloomier, until they were in an area with no lights or torches at all.

'This... this doesn't seem right?'

Things were not looking good at all. The boy was somehow walking familiarly through the complete darkness, as if he was completely accustomed to it, while she almost couldn't even make out what was in front of her.

'Would it kill this guy to use a Lumos?' She thought, resisting the urge to use it herself. She can't light up her wand without blowing her cover.

How familiar does this guy have to be to walk so confidently in such a dark and gloomy place with no fear? It only means that he's been coming here very often. In this environment, even she is afraid of the dangers that might be lurking in this dark, abandoned part of the castle, let alone for someone so young. How is he supposed to protect himself if some kind of dark creature shows up here? It's difficult to even see anything, let alone react.

'Well, it seems I'll have to use 'that'.'

The lens of her eyes enlarged and shifted closer to the retina, allowing her to see much better in the dark. Still not satisfied, another layer of the membrane formed behind it, bouncing back all the light on the retina.

'Thanks, aunty,' she thought as she was suddenly able to see well. The Black family has had many metamorphmagi over the centuries. She only knew the true uses of her ability after Aunty Bella started to train her.

"This ability is wasted on you,"—she'd said when she realized that all Tonks had been doing with her ability was pulling pranks like changing the shape and color of her nose and changing her appearance to someone else's. Metamorphing is an ability that lets you manipulate your physical body. The degree of Metamorphing increases the more you train and also through some rituals. And her aunt hadn't spared any expense at either of those. So, it was safe to say that Tonks could be very dangerous if she wanted to. But, after teaching her all this, that heartless woman has also forbidden her from using these things unless absolutely necessary.

Just now, Tonks had copied the characteristics of an owl's eyes into her own, allowing her to have a sort of night vision. Owls are nocturnal creatures that are able to see much better in the dark. She just adjusted the structure of her eyes to make them similar. This was just one of the many uses of her ability.

Though, when she surveyed her surroundings, she got a surprise when she looked at the ground. Huge footprints could be seen, going in the direction Axel was going.

"Gulp."

'Troll footprints…' she recognized from her training. Where was this boy going? Now Tonks was debating whether to keep following the boy or just stop him. But curiosity got the better of her and she decided to follow. A Troll would be a bit difficult, but nothing she can't handle.

Finally, she saw him entering a classroom after walking forever. Interestingly enough, the troll footprints were also leading into the classroom.

'What the hell are you up to?' She thought as she hastened her footsteps. By now, she was sure that this boy was up to something shady. Why else would he come to this place at this time of night? Certainly not to sleep. No one can sleep in such a creepy place.

Curious to find out, she went into the room and was surprised by the scene inside. It looked like a Troll fight had taken place here. There were a few craters, and large footprints, with ropes lying everywhere. She had taken just a few steps in when she felt like her foot just snapped something.

!!!!

"WHAT THE—!!!"

Before she could even look down to investigate, the ropes that were lying on the ground suddenly went taught, binding around her hands and feet, leaving her suspended above the ground, unable to move. Her years of training with her aunt suddenly kicked in as her hands transformed into huge and sharp talons in order to cut through the ropes. Though, by that time, she had already been hit by a few spells at the exposed parts of her body.

'So… it was an Invisibility cloak?' Axel realized in astonishment as he looked at the stalker who was half exposed now. He had, of course, thought of this possibility, but his arcane eyes could see through normal invisibility cloaks. And he didn't want to think some cloaks could actually thwart his eyes out there.

He looked at the person who had been exposed after the cloak had come off.

'The fuck is that?!' He thought, looking at the half-transformed hands of the person and the half-cut ropes. He was glad he hadn't trusted the traps. They hadn't worked against the troll, and they didn't work on this stalker as well.

He further removed the cloak, exposing the face of the person, and got a surprise.

"You…?! You're that Auror chick, right?" Axel didn't know if he was more disappointed or more irritated at that moment.

The person turned out to be an Auror. Now, she'd either be from the organization, which would mean that the Organization has already infiltrated the ministry, and if she's not from the organization, then it'd mean that an Auror had been following him. Now, if he had been an upstanding, law-abiding goody-two-shoes, this wouldn't have been too worried. But too bad, he was so opposite of those things that he couldn't even count the number of crimes he had committed.

Sighing, he freed only the girl's head from the state of paralysis.

"Speak. Why have you been following me?"

Tonks scrutinized the boy who was currently pointing his wand at her in a threatening manner. She had panicked at first, but after knowing that it was the boy who had designed all this, her fear disappeared. "Auror chick?! Seriously? I have a name, alright?"

"...." This doesn't seem like a response a person caught harboring intentions to kill him or kidnap him would have.

"What IS your name? Why have you been following me?" He demanded, tightening the ropes.

"Ouch! Hey, stop it! I'm not into this shit!"

"Your name, and purpose."

"I'm Tonks! I'm on your side, you idiot!"

Axel unconsciously loosened the ropes at that, "Tonks...? Do you have any relation with Andromeda Tonks?!"

"Yeah, that's my mum," replied Tonks with an eye roll. "Now, can we talk like civilized people instead of people with weird fetishes?" She asked, indicating her bindings.

"So, you're that daughter on training, huh?" muttered Axel as he looked at the girl. Well, the resemblance from that woman was clearly visible, her heart-shaped face had similar aristocratic features as her mother, but they weren't as sharp, giving her more of a girl-next-door vibe. Of course, the beauty gene seems to be present in all members of the Black family.

'Sigh… what the hell is up now?' Though, Axel was only further annoyed at the mention of that connection. Seriously, he tries to forget the family but they keep popping up from time to time, reminding him of that day.

"You still haven't answered my question. Why have you been following me?"

Tonks glared at him, "It's not like I want to, ok? But Aunty Bella forced me to guard you since your life is in danger."

Axel's eyes narrowed at that, "What did you say?!" He squashed down his irritation at Bellatrix's involvement and instead focused on the key point, "What kind of danger?"

Is this just a coincidence, or does she actually know something? Come to think of it, Bellatrix Black is the minister of magic. It could be possible for her to know about the organization coming after her. After all, she did know his father. But, he wanted to confirm. "Tell me, what kind of danger am I in?!"

"Free me first, alright? I thought that we'd at least established the fact that I'm not trying to hurt you by now. This position is a bit embarrassing," protested Tonks.

Axel scratched his head. Well, she WAS indeed tied in a rather disgraceful matter, but it wasn't his fault, alright? He couldn't even see the target and he couldn't afford to miss, in case the person had ill intentions. But, he wasn't about to let up just yet. "Well, you might be deceiving me with those word since you can't actually hurt me anyway. First answer what I asked! Tell me everything you know about the danger I'm in."

Tonks sighed, "Look, I really don't know much. Aunty Bella refused to tell me the details. All she's told me is that an organization from Atlantis is after you."

"??!" Axel was shocked to hear that answer. An organization is after him, she was right about that much, but... Atlantis?! Now that was news to him.

But Tonks had more to say, "And, you're wrong to assume that I can't hurt you," she said to the still shocked Axel.

*Snap*

Her tongue suddenly extended and licked Axel's cheek lightning quick while he was still distracted by her words.

!!!!

Axel backed away as he looked at Tonks incredulously.

The woman gave him a smug grin as her tongue sharpened. And as if to demonstrate, she cut a rope near her with it before retracting it.

"That... could have been you."

'.....Fuck...' Axel was flabbergasted. This.... just now, while he was distracted due to the shocking revelation, this woman might have actually succeeded in taking him out if she really wanted to. He had to admit it was his fault, he really hadn't anticipated that she might be able to do something like this and neither had he calculated this in his plans. She had been paralyzed from neck down, but she was able to attack him with just her mouth.

"You have a 'sharp' tongue," muttered Axel with some envy. He definitely wants this skill.

"Thanks. I get that a lot," Tonks accept with faux humility.

Axel raised his wand at her in resignation, as if he was about to free her. "You really don't know anything else?"

"Yep, that was about it. Are you going to free me now? This is really uncomfortable." She demanded, wiggling her body as she tried to close her legs which had been spread apart.

"Yes." Axel finally agreed after thinking about it.

"Brillian—

"Stupify"

But before Tonks could celebrate, she had been hit by a stunner. "—But only after I confirm it," finished Axel, re-paralyzing her head for good measure.

Does this woman actually think he'd free her after she revealed such a scary ability? She could have almost taken him out using just her tongue, what would happen if he freed the rest of her body?

Nope, he can't do it unless he's sure about her intentions. He has issues trusting even his friends, let alone a stranger.

"Let's see," he thought, prying open the girls eyelids. He was about to use Legilimency on her. Though, since he still wasn't much proficient in it, there are chances he might damage her or his own mind if he dug too deep or worse, get detected by her. If she finds out that he had infiltrated her mind, too many problems would crop up. So, it's better if he just found the information on the surface.

"Let's see... Legilimens!" He muttered, using the spell in the way he learnt from the system. By now, he was skilled enough that he could at least access the surface thoughts of the person without getting detected.

At once, his mind entered hers. Inside, there were thickly built shields, but Axel was able to get past them. The Legilimancy training provided by the system was obviously much superior, and Tonks' Occlumency shields were fully developed yet.

When he finally reached her surface thoughts, a slew of information bombarded him, making it very difficult for him to navigate through them.

'Let's see. Metamorphmagus ability...only acquired through inheritance? Too bad....Damn, she had so much planned in case he was hostile? Couldn't tell with her casual bubbly persona... what? there's a wet patch somewhere? Maybe being tied up wasn't bad? Unrelated.... Here it is! Stupid Aunty, can't even tell the details, why does she have to act all mysterious? Just an organization from Atlantis? Yep, this is it.' Since he got what he wanted, he exited her mind since he can't use it for too long yet.

"So, she WAS telling the truth, huh?" muttered Axel with some surprise. It's hard to believe, but there actually is someone who wouldn't lie in captivity. It would seem that she really didn't plan to harm him and the information regarding Atlantis is true.

Atlantis… damn. This makes so much sense! Why else had he been unable to find anything about the Organization? It would make perfect sense if it's from a place that's shut down to the outside world. But, how did that minister know about this? Is it because she knew his father? If his father had been a part of the Organization, then… does that mean he's also an Atlantian? What about his mother? Where was she from?

How much did that Minister know? Does she know more about the organization?

Would he actually have to face her and ask, after what she had done a year ago? Axel had so many questions.

Just fuck it, he'll think about that later. Right now, it's already very late and he also has a dangerous Auror to deal with.

…

—Atlantis—

Deep inside the ocean, a huge city, spread over hundreds of thousands of miles, filled with space extension magic was hidden. In this place filled with ancient architecture, a huge castle dominated the central land, spanning over a few hundred miles.

The castle was Luxurious and lavish, with different kinds of jewels shining with magic embedded in it. Powerful wards surrounded the castle, giving it an even more grand and intimidating air.

But, this was just a show. The castle had lost its power with no one to rule it. Thus, Atlantis wasn't as peaceful as it looked anymore.

Inside this castle, in a luxurious bedroom, an old man was lying on a majestic bed. Though contrasting from resplendence around him, the old man appeared rather pale and haggard.

"Father… Is there really no way…?" Asked a woman with dark blue hair and eyes. She had an exquisite appearance, worthy of someone from the royal family, but currently, her eyes had traces of tears and she looked exhausted.

The old man coughed, "None that I could.. cough… think of, my daughter. At this point, the throne… can only be inherited if you have absolute power. Forgive me... Antilla, cough…I've been an incompetent ruler…and father."

Antilla, the second princess of Atlantis only shook her head, "No, father. It is I who has been incompetent. If I was only as capable as sister, it wouldn't have come to this."

Hearing about his lost daughter caused the king to go into another round of coughing. "Atlena…" he whispered the lost daughter's name between coughs.

The princess grew frantic as she fished out a box from the beside, "Father, do not worry about sister," she said, opening the box and revealing a brightly glowing blue pearl inside. "See? It's still completely fine."

The king took the pearl in his hands as only then did his breathing relaxed. Both father and daughter looked at the pearl with worry and hope. Because they knew what the pearl signified. It was their only source of hope left now.

For as long as the pearl was glowing, it meant that Atlena, the powerful first princess of Atlantis was still alive and well.

Looking at the king who had fallen asleep clutching the pearl, Antilla sighed as she let her weakness show on her face once again.

"Sister… where ARE you?" She wondered, recalling the explosion that shook Atlantis more than a decade ago, taking away her sister along with her sister's lover.

.....

A.N.: Axel now knows about Atlantis. This reserves a trip, right? And the first princess is actually alive? How? And where did she disappear to?

3600 words, the biggest chapter. And it's chapter 69, my favourite number.

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