«You know, now I'm starting to think that what happened to Lex was his stupid and unfunny joke. - said the tired sister, sitting at the table buried under a lot of waste paper.
«I don't think he'd joke around with his own company. - I replied, looking at another report from LexCorp's newly built biotech complex. Lex had hoped to get Superman's DNA, but so far he hadn't succeeded, but various strange meteorites were already in the labs. These "strange" meteorites are green in colour and they were found in the town of Smallville, which is not too far from Metropolis.
«There's so much money involved here, I never thought of dollar figures like that. Hundreds of millions of dollars for military fighter jets, another ten million for building maintenance... my head is spinning. - the girl admitted.
«So I'd leave most of the work to the secretary.
«Did you see the look in her eyes? I think if she had her way, she'd tear us apart on the spot... that Mercy obviously doesn't like us very much. Maybe she and Lex are having an affair. - Lena exhaled heavily. - Even so, she's doing a pretty good job.
The first day my sister and I joined the company was difficult enough without Stark's knowledge. Going straight into big business after university is a little confusing. We both adapted to it quickly and even started to partially understand what was going on and what we actually had to do.
My sister is officially still at university, but she had to skip it, not that she lost much though. Like I said, she's got more than a good head start and could have graduated early.
LexCorp worked in many areas, but the most important one for me was that engineering was underdeveloped. To be more precise, there just weren't enough specialists, and everyone who could work in that department was now working on military orders. The company had contracts with the U.S. Army, but the contracts were about to come to an end and we didn't think about extending them. However, now they might not want to renew other contracts with us because of the uncertainty of how we would manage the company.
It was for this reason that I decided to take over the engineering department, as it was not far from the main building in the centre of Metropolis, literally a street away from where we lived. And since I'm now one of the two owners of LexCorp, I can remodel the place to my liking. And preferably build a place to experiment somewhere else, not in the centre of town anyway. Or underground. I've got a lot of work to do.
***
«Beam of Annihilation! - There was a flash between the red-haired beauty's hands, and soon the black-red energy in the form of a ray drew its way up the hill at a staggering speed. The beam's contact with the rock caused an explosion and raised dust, and when it descended, a hole tens of metres in diameter could be seen coming out from the other side of the hill.
«Fu-fu. - The black-haired beauty with violet eyes laughed into her hand. - Rias has learnt a lot from her Chat boyfriend. - The girl muttered ambiguously.
«Well, Tony-kun really helped me with that. - The red-haired girl either didn't understand the background of her friend's words or just ignored them.
«You've been training really hard this week, literally every day after class. - Queen Rias said in a more normal voice. - And looking at you, I don't want to just stand idly by.
«You've been training too. - Rias didn't quite understand.
«Yes, but not like you. - Akeno's gaze changed to serious for a moment, but then she covered her mouth with her palm and laughed again. - And I need to stretch my wings a little. - The girl began to release demonic power, which swirled around her and in this vortex began to sparkle lightning. Two wings emerged from the girl's back, one black with feathers showing that she was definitely related to the Fallen, and the other a bat wing - a demonic wing. Rias knew that her queen hated and despised her Fallen Angel side, exactly the same feelings she had for her father and the other Fallen.
«Are-are, I'll try something new too.
«I may have to turn to my brother. - The girl said a little while later. Her pride didn't want it, but she wasn't what she used to be, you could say her eyes had been opened. She's been training well this week, but she's not sure about her servants, how exactly to train them, they have different fighting styles and strengths.
***
In the classroom of one of the last human settlements sat a green-eyed boy who was sighing heavily and quietly banging his head against the window. It was perfectly obvious from his face that he didn't like being here.
«Yuichiro Hakuya, it's not easy being your army instructor. And how will he ever be able to make even one friend with that attitude? - A thought flashed through the mind of Shinoa, who was sitting just behind him. She doesn't particularly like sitting in this class either, after all, she already knows all of this. Living as an outcast of the Hiiragi family left her plenty of time for self-digging and reading books, well, and feeling sorry for herself. At the last thought, the girl hummed.
The order to keep an eye on this guy had been more than easy, he hadn't even noticed her appearance in class. Or rather, he was rarely here himself, so he hadn't noticed. Most of the time he hunts Horsemen with members of the Imperial Army, but he's obviously very keen on hunting vampires... stupid. If even a regular vampire gets caught he'll have a hard time, after all, they're all much stronger than regular humans. But recently he had disobeyed a direct order and rushed into battle, for which he had been punished, and now he was sitting here.
Hermione Granger: I can't believe that a virus could do that... most of the world's population.
Hermione Granger: We've had various plague outbreaks too, but never such a huge number of deaths.
Shinoa Hiragi: It was an unusual virus that swept across the Earth.
Hermione Granger: And that no one was able to react in time? What about the world health organisation? The authorities?
Shinoa grinned again at Hermione's words. Not because of mockery or any malice, just because of the naivety of that one. She grew up with loving parents and became a wizard, and even though she had some trials in her school, but all that pales under the story of Shinoa herself, who despite her age was already an adult, albeit with some reservations. Her story was many times more complicated and sad, which is why she looks at the world differently, without that naive tinge.
Anthony (Admin): Hermie, I love your naivety, you're very charming when you say that, but it's more complicated than it seems. Do you really think that a common virus can sweep the entire Earth and kill most of the population so quickly?
When this message appeared Shinoa frowned her eyebrows slightly. In their world it's simply called 'Catastrophe' and there's not much of an explanation, a virus just appeared out of nowhere. Tony-kun clearly knows about her world, which means he also knows about history... and her, which had been clear for a while now. Sure, a worm of doubt gnawed at the young girl's soul and she had an interest about the 'Real Memory' of her world, but... the point?
Hermione Granger: What do you mean?
Anthony (Admin): I'll put it this way... in her world, some very 'smart' people decided to do something they shouldn't have done without the proper training and confidence... it all went down the drain, as humans tend to do.
Hermione Granger: Are you saying this virus was man-made? But why would anyone let it out?!
Anthony (Administrator): Human stupidity. Well, and the manipulations of one old experimental vampire with a god complex.
At Tony-kun's last words, the girl's heart clenched, Shi, the demon inside her, must have sensed her sudden agitation. She knows the world isn't that simple and there's definitely someone behind everything that's going on... but who is the vampire experimenter? With each passing day she wonders if her older sister knew something that caused everything to happen?
***
Keeping track of events that one knew something about was nothing new to Hermione, think back to the previous year and the time wheel. But there she was using a magical artefact with Professor McGonagall's permission and she was using it to study, but now it was different. When students from other schools - Charmbaton and Durmstrang - arrived, the girl once again confirmed that everything was more or less going according to Real Memory. The fact that she was once again trying to prove to Professor McGonagall that she knew the future and that Professor Gryum was actually a dark wizard only resulted in her being put in the hospital wing, as they suspected overwork.
Since she wanted to prove that she wasn't a liar, she told Harry and Ron that students from other schools were to arrive and she even explained exactly how. That is, the former by carriage across the sky and the latter from underwater by ship. And while Harry still decided to believe her and started watching Groom more closely, Ron still thinks she got insider information somewhere...if he even knew what that was.
Headmaster Dumbledore is a very busy wizard and is often absent due to business at the Ministry or whatever, so the girl decided not to disturb the old wizard's work. But it was almost past her allotted time to throw her name into the Goblet of Fire, and she was worried about her friend. She often came to the main hall and tried to make sure that Gryum stayed away from the Goblet, but even so she realised some of the futility of doing so. She was already being squinted at several times more than before because of her behaviour, she didn't want to make it worse.
«Hermione you're being boring again, let's go to the hall where Krum is! - Ron exclaimed as soon as he entered the library.
«Shh. - Madam Pince obviously didn't like the shouting.
«I'm sorry. - He looked at the woman and waved his hand as he headed back... well, talking to his idol was more important than his friend.
«Forgive him you know he's a fan favourite Victor. - said Harry, who had been following Ron and after he ran off he decided to come over.
«Aren't you? - She asked him in a whisper with a raised eyebrow.
«I..." he swallowed and his gaze flicked up and down, and he also put his hand to his forehead, or rather to his scar, and the girl immediately realised what was going on.
«Are these dreams again? - She asked anxiously. Hermione couldn't help but worry about her friend, after all, she only had two of them. She knew about the strange dreams that plagued him, and after watching Memories, she knew about the way he lived. She had talked to him about it before, but he was dodging the questions... it was obvious he was uncomfortable talking about it with the girl. Remembering what Shinoa had offered her to help him, she couldn't help but almost blush...what a pervert. She and Harry aren't in that kind of relationship! She had tried to prove it to her in Chat, but she kept laughing at her!
«Yeah, you know... they come and go. I've seen... strange pictures. - he didn't say anything very informative.
«Maybe we should drink a dreamless sleep again. - she suggested.
«N-no, I'm fine. What are you doing?
«What you and Ron prefer not to do. - she said with a little judgement. - Studying and learning.
«Yeah, yeah, I was wondering... you were telling me about what Gryum....
«Professor Gryum. - She corrected him, and then she realised that he wasn't really a professor at all.
«..that he was a dark wizard. He used unforgivable spells in the first lesson, could he really do that?
«Grym is the most experienced dark wizard, but yes, you're right. I already told Professor McGonagall about it... and she said he couldn't have done that and started looking at me like I was sick again. - she said, a little unhappily.
«Why didn't you call Ron and me? Or the others? We would have confirmed it.- You didn't have much faith in me about the possible future back then either, and I don't socialise with the others that well. I think they would have been afraid to get on Grum's bad side. - The wizardess answered him.
«And... well, what's the possible future? - The scarred-headed man inquired.
«Harry James Potter, have you finally deigned to believe your mate? - Adding a slightly more imperious note to her voice she asked. According to Toni in her world it was best not to tell anyone about the Chat, for it was too fantastic... which she agreed with, but she didn't like lying. It wouldn't be a complete lie to say she got a vision, though. And the fact that he-who-can't-be-named might soon be reborn was weighing heavily on her mind. She had learnt about mind-reading, and she had been looking for books about it... maybe she should ask the headmaster to read the knowledge about the possible future.
***
The whole story is already available at:
patreon.com/posts/124888009