Avalon,
Just as Zelretch's Observatory remained outside the timelines, Avalon remained outside the authority of all Harry Potter timelines as well.
It didn't use magic similar to the Observatory, though. It used exactly the same concept, bestowed upon them by none other than the Father of Jewel Magecraft Himself.
In the central tower, within the grand, domed hall, the Six Seats were seated around the round table.
The Six Immortal Artifacts were bobbing up and down, washing the dim surroundings of the hall in a multitude of colors.
The seventh seat, carrying a faint indigo glow, was empty.
Today, behind that empty chair, stood Darcie Malfoy.
She had grown tall, gaining a few centimeters over Draco. She was wearing a white t-shirt over blue jeans, with her white-golden hair sprawled openly on her shoulders.
This was quite an unusual look for Darcie, who preferred to wear gowns.
However, this wasn't the only unusual thing to notice about her.
There was a sadness on her face, as dim as the hall's dark corners. If it weren't because of the Six Seats' immense experience, this sadness would have gone entirely unnoticed.
On the night of the attack, which had resulted in the Diagon Alley Disaster, Lethifold had disapparated with Darcie, appearing at Avalon.
Madam Villanelle and Professor Dumbledore had appeared shortly thereafter, the former solely in concern for her cherished pupil and the latter seething with the desire to demand answers from the Order as well.
Darcie did not know what the Order had told Professor Dumbledore.
By the time Madam Villanelle had finished checking up on her, he had already gone… destroying half the tower to ruins in his wake.
If it weren't for the magical nature of the tower, Dumbledore's anger might have left permanent scars, just like Voldemort had left on the Staff of Merlin.
Presently, Darcie had already spent weeks at Avalon, as Dumbledore scoured the world, hoping for retribution.
This… would have been impossible and disastrous before.
As per the System, Kai could only maintain the host's appearance (i.e., remain as Darcie) for 7 days. This was called the Crisis Timer. After these 7 days, if he didn't assume his original appearance, then he would be forced back to his original body, which was termed the Identity Period.
The Identity Period could last for as long as 3 hours, if Kai wanted.
Or, he could instantly resume Darcie's body.
However, no matter how instantaneously he did this, it was nigh impossible not to be found out.
Changing from Darcie to Kai and then back to Darcie meant dropping his Storyline Character status, becoming a Contestant, and then back to Storyline Character.
Even one change was enough for even Dumbledore to pick up on the oddity. Much less needed to be said when there were two changes involved, and it happened under the watchful eyes of the Order's Six Seats.
But things weren't the same anymore.
First, Death's Cloak of Disguise could mask Kai's Contestant signature from all eyes, making it impossible to tell if he was a Character or Contestant.
Yet, Kai had never put it to the test at Avalon because even if he could pass as a Character, he was helpless about his Mana.
That… had changed recently.
Now, Kai was as much a magical existence as the Characters of the Harry Potter timeline were.
No.
That would be a little inaccurate.
Kai was a greater magical existence than the Characters of Harry Potter Bubble could ever hope to be.
Not just because he had gained Magic Crest and Crest Worms, but also because he was a Mage of the Fate Bubble — which had inherently stronger laws when it came to Magic because of the deep involvement of The Root.
So, combined with Bioalchemy, Kai could switch between Darcie and himself and back to Darcie in a fraction of a second when the Crisis Timer ended, making it impossible for anyone to find out his true nature. Unless that someone was a Deep One on, or above, the level of Death the Artificer.
"It is not your fault…" The Green Seat, the Witch of Endor, said, seeing the faint downcast expression on Darcie's face. "It took our combined strength to find he was hiding within your Magical Suitcase. It would have been a miracle among miracles if anyone else had discovered it beforehand…"
Red Seat scoffed. "I had been asking to scour the entire timeline forever!" she hissed. "If you had agreed…"
Darcie lifted her head. "… timeline?"
"Circe…" Violet Seat, King Solomon, put his hand on the table. "Not now."
"Darcie…" Green Seat asked gently, "… there are some things we cannot tell you, unless you become the Indigo Seat."
"Indigo Seat?!" Darcie hissed, staring at the Witch of Endor with her green eyes. "My friends… people… innocent lives are being murdered! And all you care about is me sitting on a damn chair?!"
For a moment, all the Immortal Artifacts lost all movement.
Even Circe gaped as the girl in front of her panted after her unexpected emotional outburst.
"Do you want to grow strong?" The Yellow Seat asked. "Strong enough to confront the Yellow Warlock?"
The rest of the Six Seats frowned.
Darcie took a deep breath and nodded.
"… There's a way, then," The Yellow Seat said.
"Abdul…" Green Seat shook her head.
"… A way to go beyond the limits and surpass all myths…"
"Abdul…" Hermes and Circe together called him out this time.
"… A way to step out of the definitions of good and evil…"
"Abdul…" King Solomon grabbed the table, his voice booming.
"I am Abdul Alhazred!" The Yellow Seat spat, darkness surrounding him like fire. "It's my duty to prepare for the worst. Can you give me Karmic Oaths that all our plans will end the Yellow Warlock?!"
When silence answered Abdul, he looked at Merlin, who had remained quiet all this while.
"Darcie…" the Yellow Seat said, continuing to look at the Blue Seat, "… you need to learn to control the Chaos within."
All the colors churned.
Merlin lifted his head, two green blobs of light pulsating under the hood.
"You…" A green-robed figure said, appearing right behind Darcie, wielding a staff. "… need to learn how to control the Obscurus."
At the same time, tying a leash around a black dog's neck, Black's mouth twitched.
*****************
AN: Up to 60 more chapters are available in advance across three Tiers. [Use the link in my Webnovel profile to access all options.]
You can even subscribe to the Trial Tier for just 1 dollar to have an experience of exclusive chapters for an entire month. I hope a few of you will consider supporting the work.
100 Power Stones/day: +1 Bonus Chapter next day