The world at war
After removing the saddles, they let the horses graze and headed inside the lounge. They curled up together, cups of tea warming their hands. They had enjoyed the first part of their adventure but were glad to be home. They would take a few days to relax and recharge, then randomly choose a new location for another adventure. They would return to Westeros soon but would try the other places first.
Both Hermione and Harry luxuriated in running hot water and proper plumbing, in comfortable one layer of clothing, and in clean, clear air that didn't smell of sewage and sickness.
Two days later, they approached the door again, flicked the dial to "Os Alta," opened it, and stepped out into a busy street. Furthermore, they had the wide-area notice-me not up so they could make any changes and shrink the door, which they did with a flick of their wands before they were tucked into place again. They started walking through the city, enjoying the beautiful architecture and the interesting clothing people wore and listening to the conversations people were having. While Hermione was talking to a bookseller in a marketplace, Harry became aware of a fellow in a red jacket following them. He was pretty good at remaining inconspicuous, but as Harry knows himself, when you try not to draw attention, someone will notice. After the bookseller, Harry started leading Hermione zigzagging through the stalls at a gentle stroll allowing for stops along the way; in doing so, Harry was able to see that the guy in the jacket was following them. To decide if their follower was hostile, Harry was never for the cloak-and-dagger approach; he much preferred straightforward confrontation. So Harry tapped a seemingly random pattern on the underside of Hermione's arm, letting her know that Harry would go and see what their follower wanted.
Fedyor had been following a couple for the last half an hour. They were dressed like upper-class residents of the city, but they were acting like tourists, they bought things, bulky items, but they carried no evident bags; they were dressed like civilians but stood and moved like soldiers, the man more than the woman, the woman seemed to be trying to act more like a civilian, while the man was much less effective at hiding the tells. Hand constantly drifting to a location that used to carry a weapon, always watching, military stance, and military tidiness with a too-put-together appearance of casualness. All of these things had gotten his attention, but the real kicker was what he could sense. With otkazat'sya, he can just feel their heartbeat, the blood rushing through their veins, but otherwise blank. With Grisha, he felt not only their heartbeat but also their little science; for most, it starts in the heart and spreads into the hands, as hand movements were how they controlled their abilities. But with these two? It was like they had two heartbeats, the blood rushing through them overlayed and stuffed to the gills with fast-moving…power. With the woman, it's controlled, almost lining up perfectly with the movement of blood around her body. The man? A barely controlled wildfire, ready to consume and overwhelm at a moment's notice. It was what made him spot him in the first place.
He had been walking through the city with Ivan when he spotted them; he had frozen where he stood—bringing Ivan into full focus mode, who spotted them a moment later. They had had a quick conversation as Ivan had wanted to follow them, but he was very conspicuous, especially when he was in work mode. Fedyor wanted him to go and get the General, so he could decide what to do with them while Fedyor continued to follow and watch them. Ivan had finally reluctantly agreed and set off to get the General. Fedyor wasn't worried Ivan wouldn't be able to find him again, no matter how far they had moved through the city. His Ivan could find him anywhere. He had just taken a moment when he spotted a lovely scarf that would look lovely on Ivan, that when he looked back at the two he was following, he couldn't spot the man anymore; the woman was continuing her browsing with barely a care in the world. Her heart hadn't changed the pattern, so he knew she was completely calm, but he couldn't spot the man.
Fedyor had just lifted his foot to step in the woman's direction when the man he was looking for stepped out between two stalls. The false casualness was gone, replaced with military laser focus. He stood, feet planted but ready to move at a moment's notice, his eyes which were an almost unnatural green, were completely focused on him. And then he shifted, and before him stood a charming fellow with a cheeky smile and an indifferent slouch. If Fedyor hadn't been watching, he would have missed it. This man was dangerous, even more so than he initially thought.
"Hello, kind sir. May I ask why you've been following my wife and I" Wife? Fedyor could almost groan. No one was more protective than a man protecting someone he loves, especially from another man who could be a threat. He'd have to talk fast as he could see that extra power within the stranger had started focusing and pooling in his chest. If he didn't give a good enough answer, Fedyor didn't know what would happen.
Fedyor put on the most harmless smile he could "Hello, yes, my name is Fedyor I'm an officer in the second army; I'm a Corporalki" At the man's indifferent look (the power was still pooling and focusing) Fedyor continued "It means heart render, I can sense what is happening within people around me's body." The power had stopped building, but now it seemed almost watchful, waiting to see what he would say. "As a heart render, I can sense your power, so I can see that it is pooling in your chest, ready to attack if I prove to be a threat. So, I am just curious because I can also see that this situation isn't worrying you either because I can sense your heartbeat." Harry cocked his head to the side and smiled. "Well, both Hermione (and from behind Fedyor stepped the woman he had been following to join the man in front of him), my wife and I would have preferred if you just approached us up front. You've probably noticed that both of us have served, so being followed around doesn't put us in a good mood." Fedyor nodded. It probably would have been a better idea, but what could he do now but be friendly and try not to make an enemy of them? It was just then that Fedyor was joined by the General in his signature black, and Ivan came up on the other side of the General. Fedyor thought that the now-named Harry and Hermione would show signs of fear or anxiety, but their heartbeats remained the same. They either had unbelievable control, or they'd been through so many stressful situations that they no longer exhibited flight or fight signs or symptoms.
Harry and Hermione looked at the (postering) threesome in front of them. It almost looked like they were allowing their outfits to do the intimidation; they were gorgeous pieces. They could agree on that, but without context, there was no meaning; it would have worked if they were residents of this world. But as they were not from this world, it didn't. Since the end of the second wizarding war, they were no longer intimidated by postering, they respected power and those capable of wielding it, and so far, this world hadn't shown anything to be intimidated by.
Aleksander Morozova, now known as General Kirrigan, stood looking over the map in his war room, trying to see how he could use Alina to make changes to the board. The Shu were constantly encroaching on Ravka's borders, the Fjerdans killed his people in droves, and now the West was trying to become independent, just what he did not need. Not that having a new enemy was new to him; he was hundreds of years old, after all. There was a knock on the door as Ivan, one of his best soldiers, burst into the war room.
There was a frenetic look in his eyes when he said that they found something in town that they thought he should see and that he'd left Fedyor following them. Them. Aleksander now understood. In any situation where Fedyor might be in danger when Ivan wasn't with him, Ivan would not be happy until he was by Fedyor's side again.
They quickly made their way through town, following Ivan's tracking of Fedyor; they turned a corner to see Fedyor facing two individuals, which made Ivan almost start to run to him. When Ivan told Aleksander that those were the two they had originally spotted, the two of them made their way towards them. Aleksander suppressed his shadows that wanted to come to defend him, but he knew that was not a good way to gain allies or get information out of unknowns with unknown abilities.
The introductions were made, and then the General asked about their power, which was different from their own, while showing him pulling shadows into his cupped hands. Hermione, being fascinated by anything new or interesting, stepped forward and stuck her finger into the shadows.
"Ooh! This is really fascinating; I would love to find out the limits of the abilities. Is it just a lack of light, are you pulling shadows from elsewhere, are you producing them yourself, or is it a mix of both? Do you know if it's only effective when there is light, or can you still manipulate shadows when there isn't anything to cast one, ooh, ohh, what about solidifying the shadow to carry you around or block someone from entering a room? Oh! The possibilities are endless! Tell me everything! Start from the beginning." Harry rolled his eyes in fondness as the three other men blinked in confusion. There had been tension building until Hermione had started with her intellectual pursuit and they were kind of dumb founded. Ivan on the other hand was pretty surprised that they weren't drawing attention, the General being who he was tended to draw people or push them away, but people seemed to just pass them by, not even seeming to see them, just automatically walking around the group. He turned to look at Harry, knowing Hermione hadn't done anything too focused on drilling the general for information. Harry was smiling down at his wife (while also keeping an eye on the three in front of them and the people around them in general), but when Harry felt Ivan's eyes on him he looked up at him and smirked.
"How are you doing this? People don't even seem to know we are here." Harry hummed.
"It's a mix of a notice me not charm and an area wide barrier, the two together make people walk around us, and not even notice they are walking around us. Very useful for walking through a crowd or setting up a safe camp." Ivan's eyebrows raised, he would not have any idea how something like that could even occur. It was unbelievable, but he could see the results in front of him. "Why are you here?" Ivan said, he couldn't contain his suspicion any longer. Harry smiled.
"We ended a civil war not long ago based on blood and right to live. There was a lot of racism and bigotry through the whole thing and now that it had ended, everything seems to be falling back into old patterns with the racism and bigotry just now with a pretty veneer. Hermione and I as part of the people who fought for our rights didn't want to continue to live in that sort of society, nor were we willing to fight an up hill battle to try and change it, so we left. Originally we planned to just separate ourselves from that society. But every where we looked there was just the same idiocy. So we decided to look for our paradise elsewhere… In other worlds. So far we have seen a world still in the time of knights, horses no in door plumbing. It's a nice place to visit, but its not our forever home. Then we came here, only to find out that you are just in never ending war, with even more racism, bigotry and extremism. So, knowing Hermione we'll stay so she can learn everything she wants to. Then leave to try somewhere else."
While Hermione had been walking around admiring the sights Harry had done what he always had done, observed and collected information. This world showed all the signs of poverty in the poor, continuous wars and casual racism towards those who were different. It hadn't been just Fedyor trying to be inconspicuous that had drawn his attention it had also been the reaction of people around him, seeing him that drew his attention. A hate and fear so deep it was ingrained in the people. Now he had his answer for why that was occurring, they were different, hated for something they were born with. He guessed everywhere they go, it will just be more of the same. Discriminating against people. Harry was thoroughly sick of it.
Hermione had listened with half an ear to Harry's answer. Knowing that this was a sticking point for him, it was a sticking point with her too, but knowing him as she did, Harry would not want to stay here long, even if he knew it would make Hermione happy. Hermione would learn as much as she could as quickly as she could, collect enough books that she'd be able to take away and study so they wouldn't have to stay there long. She also knew that Harry was trying to find a place where it wouldn't be dangerous to use and be open about their magic. This wasn't that place.
All three men had also listened to Harry's speech, Aleksander listened as his world was compounded into a few short true sentences, because that was the basis. Where Aleksander continued to try and find a place for him and his people Harry had given up on his people. He had completely thrown the baby out with the bathwater as he didn't see the baby as enough to keep the bathwater. He could try and make them stay and help him to change it, but he knew from his speech that they had no interest in trying to change things from the experience of seeing them never change, no matter what was tried, what was sacrificed. There was nothing he could offer them as he had nothing they wanted, nothing he could threaten them with, they did not fear his shadows. He just hoped that if they ever did come back, he'd be able to see them again.
Aleksander invited them back to the little palace, he hoped to make their visit here as pleasant as possible, so that if they ever did come back they might think fondly of them and could help them. Even just a little. It couldn't hurt anything.
When they arrived at the little palace they came across Alina. To Harry and Hermione it looked like she was one inconvenience away from getting the hell out of dodge. When they found out that Alina was meant to be a hope for their people? Harry (when behind closed doors) told Aleksander that if he wants Alina to work with him, he would have to be brutally honest about their goals, their history, what they want, everything. Or she would resent him and not try as hard as she could or she'd run. Either way, she would not work with him. Aleksander took that as advice from someone with experience with being used as the people's hope that was lied to and used. Afterall, Harry had run. Aleksander did not want Alina to run from him.
By that night Harry was itching to leave that world, just walking through the halls of the little palace reminded him of why he left. People watching him, judging him for being different (dressed as a otkazat'sya among all these kefta wearing individuals). Hermione was in agreement, she had spent the afternoon chatting with people in the little palace and found them to be a mix of naïve and jaded. She wanted to go back to their Hobbiton. She had tons of books (some she had duplicated from the Grisha library) to keep her occupied but, she wanted to go home.
They left during the night, having told the General that they weren't going to stay past the night, no matter how much he tried to convince them to stay longer. The next morning when he asked the guards he said nobody left, when he knocked on the door, there was no answer. On opening the door he found it clean, and empty.
The General sat contemplating what their visitors had said. He fought with his natural inclination to keep information and his real identity to himself, but was he willing to ignore their device and have Alina run from him.
No. He wasn't. Later that day he asked Alina to join him in the war room. He ended up explaining everything, his true identity, his plans (especially with the fold), the country, the royals, everything. Alina had sat silent through his explanation, then finally asked what made him tell her now? He paused then said the visitors you met yesterday were from another world, because apparently there were other worlds now? Where he had been in a similar situation as you. People had kept information from him and he had come to resent those who kept things from him. He didn't want the same thing to happen here.
Alina nodded, and told him that she was glad he told her as she had been feeling very adrift not knowing what the real end goal was and that she'd like them to work together to get the best result possible. Aleksander being the control freak he was, didn't particularly like not being in control but knew that this would have a better outcome than them working at cross purposes.
Hermione and Harry spent a couple of relaxing days in their Hobbiton. Those couple of days turned into a couple of weeks. Harry's PTSD had flared up quite badly and they weren't willing to chance going to another warring world when he was in this state. He needed to talk with someone, he needed mind healing but Harry's general lack of trust for other magical people(except Hermione) meant that Harry would continue to refuse. What could Hermione do?