Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 135: Al Azif
Arthur tilted his head, the purple glow in his eyes flickering with curiosity. "Not from our world? What nonsense are you spouting now, Merlin?"
Harry ignored the taunt. His mind was trying to piece together all the fragments of knowledge he had gathered over his two lifetimes.
"I found a book once," Harry said, keeping Excalibur raised, his eyes never leaving the black stone. "A long time ago, during my travels. Before Camelot and before I ever met you."
Arthur's grip on his dark blade loosened slightly. "A book?"
"I found it inside a temple made of black stone, buried beneath a desert. The moment I touched it, I felt…drawn to it and became obsessed with learning its secrets." Harry's voice grew quieter. "I spent years trying to decipher its contents. The book was written by an Arab sorcerer who lived long before the time of Christ. His name was lost to history, but he called the book Al Azif."
Arthur's eyes narrowed. "Al Azif..."
"It's an old word," Harry explained. "It refers to the sound of insects at night. But the author believed it was the howling of demons. The book claimed to be a transcription of an even older text…one that the sorcerer claimed to have found in a forgotten city. A text that contained knowledge not meant for human minds."
Harry took a slow step forward. "The last pages of Al Azif were different from the rest. They weren't written by the Arab sorcerer. He claimed they were direct copies from that original, ancient book. And they were written in a language I could never decipher. No matter how much I studied, the symbols refused to reveal their meaning."
He pointed Excalibur at the stone around Arthur's neck.
"But I recognize those symbols, Arthur. They're the same ones carved into that stone. And in the last pages of Al Azif, there was a drawing. A drawing of that exact stone."
Arthur's free hand moved to touch the black stone, almost protectively. His purple eyes flickered.
"I never understood the text beneath the drawing," Harry continued. "But I always suspected it was a warning. There is something about that stone…something dangerous and otherworldly."
The chamber fell silent. Even the purple mist seemed to hold its breath.
Then Arthur laughed. It was a hollow, brittle sound. "A warning? You think I care about warnings? The stone has given me everything. Power, purpose, and a way to live beyond my miserable, mortal years."
"Where did you get it?" Harry demanded. "Where did you find that stone?"
Arthur's laughter faded. He looked down at the pulsing artifact, his gaunt fingers tracing the symbols. "I merely found it. Or perhaps…it found me."
Harry's jaw tightened. "That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you'll get." Arthur raised his dark blade again. The purple mist swirled around him, thickening. "Does it matter where it came from? The stone is mine now. It's part of me. And I will never give it up."
Harry saw it then…the utter futility of trying to reason with this creature. Whatever Arthur had once been, the stone had consumed him completely. There was no king left. Only a puppet, dancing on strings made of shadow and corruption.
"I'm sorry," Harry said quietly. "For what it's worth…I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner. Maybe I could have helped you back then. Maybe I could have saved you from this fate."
Arthur's expression flickered. For a brief moment, something almost human appeared in his eyes. Then it was gone.
"Save me?" Arthur whispered. "No one can save me, Merlin. Not even you."
He charged.
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The second clash was even more violent than the first.
Arthur's dark blade came down like a thunderbolt. Harry raised Excalibur to block, but the force of the impact drove him to one knee. The stone floor cracked beneath him. Golden and purple light exploded outward, sending shockwaves through the chamber.
"You always thought you were better than me!" Arthur roared, pressing down. "Smarter! More powerful! More worthy!"
Harry gritted his teeth, pushing back. "I never thought that!"
"LIES!" Arthur swung again. Harry rolled aside, and the dark blade carved a trench in the floor. "You looked down on me! You and Morgan both! Talking about magic, about runes, about things I could never understand!"
Harry came up swinging. Excalibur's golden edge caught Arthur's side, cutting through the corrupted armor. Black ichor sprayed. Arthur hissed but didn't stop…instead, he backhanded Harry across the face, sending him spinning.
Harry crashed into a stone pillar. His vision blurred, and blood dripped from his lip.
"The stone showed me everything," Arthur said, advancing slowly. "Every time you smiled at Morgan. Every time you praised her progress. Every time you looked at me with that pity in your eyes."
Harry pushed himself off the pillar. "The stone showed you what you wanted to see. Your own insecurities and your own jealousy. It fed on them and made you believe it was all real."
Arthur stopped. His purple eyes blazed. "And what about Guinevere? Was that my insecurity, too? Was it my imagination that she spread her legs for Lancelot?"
Harry had no answer for that. The pain in Arthur's voice was real…however twisted by the stone's influence.
"I loved her," Arthur said, his voice cracking. "I truly loved her. And she betrayed me. Just like Morgan. Just like you."
"I never betrayed you," Harry said. "Not once. This is just the corruption talking."
Arthur stared at him for a long moment. Then he shook his head. "It doesn't matter anymore. None of it matters. All that matters is ending this…ending you."
He raised his dark blade, and the purple mist converged around it, forming a massive, swirling vortex. The corruption was concentrating, condensing into a single point.
Harry felt the pressure in the air. Whatever Arthur was about to do, it would be devastating.
He raised Excalibur and poured his remaining magic into the blade. The golden runes blazed until they were almost white.
"Arthur…" Harry whispered.
They charged at each other.
The golden light and the purple shadow collided in the center of the chamber.
The explosion threw them both across the room.