Hello, everyone. Now, I know most of you are expecting an update for The Force of Change, but I am currently experiencing a little bit of writer's block in that department. I know what I want to do, but I am having trouble just... well, getting there. However, I am working on it. The update will be coming soon. This is just starting a rewrite for the Warlock's Destiny. I have decided to put this out so I can make an announcement. As many of you know by now, I am in the military. As such, there are duties and obligations I must fulfill. The greatest of those would have to be deployment. I am going to receive my first duty station soon, and I may or may not be getting sent to a combat zone. If that happens, I will not be able to update or type up stories. This gap can last anywhere from six months to two years. I should be receiving word of my first station within the next two or three weeks, so be prepared. And without further ado, let's get into the story.
EDIT: Had to make corrections to the date, and a bit of information provided. I had originally planned to have this take place during the fifth year, but decided against it. As such, there were still a few mentions of some fifth year cirumstances. I think I got all of them, but if you see anymore, let me know.
Date: Month-Unknown Year-2073
Infinite Forest
Simulation: Vault of Glass
Guardian, can you hear me? Eyes up Guardian...
Deep in the Infinite Forest, a lone Guardian lay in a pile of rubble, having just destroyed a simulation of Atheon, Time's Conflux. The resultant explosion of the massive Vex Minotaur's core had blasted her through a pillar and into a stone wall. Her Ghost had been working nonstop in an attempt to revive her. She was alive, he knew that, but she wouldn't wake up. It had been five hours since the seven year veteran had been knocked unconscious, and the Ghost was growing worried. Atheon's deceased body was terrifying enough, but at this point, he was noticing small sparks beginning to pop off of its/his head. The gender specifics of the Vex had been a matter of debate between several Warlock factions for several hundred years now, and they were no closer to coming to a head than before. Not that it mattered... A vex of this magnitude was only one thing to a Guardian. A long and painful death. He jumped slightly as his Guardian stirred, groaning in pain.
Guardian! Oh, thank the Traveller, you're okay!
The Guardian sat up with a groan, tearing off her Philomath Helmet and shaking out her short mane of messy black hair. Florescent green eyes stared out at the damage her battle with Atheon had wrought, and she sighed, "Alright... Let's not do that again." She stood up stiffly, placing a hand on her ribs as pain flared up in her left side. "Ghost, why haven't you healed my ribs yet?"
I'm sorry, Guardian, but the Dark Zone has not been lifted yet.
The Awoken Guardian looked sharply at her AI companion, her greyish skin paling slightly at the rapid movement, "Agh... What do you mean 'has not been lifted?' We killed Atheon, right?"
The Ghost looked back at the sparking body of Atheon nervously, his eye flickering uncertainly. Well... I don't think Atheon is dead. Its body is still generating energy. Or someth-"
The duo grimaced and ducked their heads as a terrifying shriek of metal screamed through the simulated Vault of Glass. The Guardian clapped her hands over her ears before the eardrums ruptured and rendered her deaf. Her eyes shot to the now spasming body of Atheon in shock as a thunderous voice boomed out.
[ERROR: DEFEAT VARIABLE NOT DETECTED. REBOOTING. ERROR: INSUFFICIENT POWER. PARTIAL REBOOT ALLOWED. SCANNING... ONE LIFE SOURCE DETECTED. AWOKEN. GUARDIAN. ONE GHOST UNIT DETECTED. SEALING VAULT.]
The Guardian's eyes widened and she slammed her helmet back on, making a break for the exit. She was five foot away when a massive barrier sprang up, blocking her path. She turned towards the fallen Vex Minotaur, who had lifted it's head up slightly and was staring at her with a strange light in its optical sensors.
[QUERY: WHAT IS YOUR NAME, GUARDIAN?]
The Guardian blinked owlishly behind the visor of her helmet, looking at her Ghost incredulously. She cleared her throat nervously, "I am Stella Black, The Queen's Wrath. I was ordered by Queen Mara Sov to assist the Vanguard in dealing with the Infinite Forest."
A broken, halting screech rang out in the Vault, something that Stella eventually recognized as laughter. The realization chilled her to the bone, and she stepped back.
[STATEMENT: YOU ARE NOT LIKE THE OTHER SERVANTS OF THE TRAVELLER. YOU HOLD A DARKNESS, LITTLE WRATH.]
"Er... Thank you? I don't suppose you'll be glad to just let us walk out of here?"
[ANSWER AND CONDITIONAL: I WILL NOT ALLOW THAT, LITTLE WRATH. AT LEAST, NOT IN THE WAY THAT YOU REQUIRE. STATEMENT: YOU HAVE DEFEATED MYSELF AND SEVERAL OTHER HIGH VEX. YOU CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO EXIST IN THIS TIME.]
Stella's eyes widened as the air above Atheon began to ripple and churn, the fabric of space and time bending to the whims of the ancient Vex. "Oh shit..."
[STATEMENT: YOU HAVE EARNED WHAT ORGANICS WOULD LABEL AS RESPECT, SO YOU WILL NOT BE KILLED. I WILL SEND YOU AWAY FROM THIS TIME, AND INTO ANOTHER. THROUGH THIS, YOU WILL CONTINUE TO LIVE. BUT YOU WILL NO LONGER INTERFERE WITH THE VEX COLLECTIVE.]
Stella shielded her eyes as the ripple erupted with brilliant light, and a wave of energy blasted her. The HUD system in her helmet shorted out almost immediately, and she forcefully brought her ghost back into her mind before the same thing could happen to him.
"Ghost! I think Atheon is sending us back in time!"
I believe you are correct. I have already sent a message to the Arcadia. Hopefully the relays are still functional and can send the message to the Vanguard or the Temple of Osiris. We're in the Forest though, so...
"Don't hold my breath?"
Yeah...
Stella scowled, looking up at the strange, gaping hole in the air. No... it was a sphere.
"Am I seeing this right? That's a sphere, not a hole."
Before the Ghost could respond though, Atheon began laughing again.
[AMUSED RESPONSE: SPACE IS THREE DIMENSIONAL, LITTLE WRATH. A THREE DIMENSIONAL HOLE IN THREE DIMENSIONAL SPACE WILL BE A SPHERE. GOOD BYE, LITTLE WRATH. I WILL RETURN YOU TO EARTH AS A MERCY. HOWEVER, IF YOU DARE TO SEEK OUT THE VEX AND DESTROY US, THERE WILL BE NO MERCY.]
The massive sphere detonated, engulfing the entirety of Atheon's Vault of Glass. Stella's last thought was: 'Ikora is going to kill me...'
Date: June 11, 1981
Highlands of Northern Scotland.
Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Great Hall
Dumbledore sighed, picking at his meal reluctantly. He had just finished a meeting with a most unpleasant individual in the form of Madame Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge. The Wizengamot had been wondering where the Potters had been for the last three meetings, and had come to him looking for answers. Answers that he could not provide...
"Albus, you need to eat..."
The aged wizard blinked rapidly, shaking himself from his train of thought at the words of Madame Pomphery. He looked up at the school nurse with a slight smile, his eyes twinkling softly, "Of course, Poppy. I'm just worried... The Potters may have gone into hiding, but the prophecy is rather adamant that Harry will be the target of the dark lord's ire.
The younger woman just shrugged, eating her meal, "What can we do, Albus? We'll just have to make sure that they remain safe."
The staff nodded in agreement, looking towards Dumbledore expectantly. The eccentric wizard smiled, "Yes. I suppose that is true. Although... with the Potters being who they are, that will be difficult."
The staff around him chuckled in agreement, before crying out in surprise as Sybill Trelawney spasmed suddenly, going into a strange trance. A strange, rasping croak poured from her throat, completely different from the airy, ethereal tone she took every day.
The Void shall consume the Darkness
All eyes went to the Divination professor as she continued the prophecy
The Chosen of the Time's Conflux, Wrath of the Queen.
They shall heal the mind of the Black Queen.
Though enemies at the start, their love shall burn bright.
They shall defend the Chosen of the Light.
Trelawney gave a shuddering breath, slumping over in her seat. She blinked owlishly behind her glasses, looking at the rest of the staff, "What? Is there something on my face?"
Dumbledore chuckled, shaking his head, "Sybill, remind me to give you a raise."
The teachers and staff let out a nervous sigh of relief. That quickly changed to screams of terror as the Great Hall erupted with a flash of light and a roar, mightier than that of any dragon. Several professors were blown out of their chairs before Dumbledore and Snape managed to erect hasty shields to defend themselves. The noise and light quickly died down, revealing a sight that immediately caused the headmaster to cast a massive notice-me-not charm over the magi.
A strange, armoured figure knelt down in the middle of a large scorch mark. The massive oaken tables that sat the students had been halfway vaporized and flung to the walls. Every window had been shattered and turned to a fine dust. The stone floor had been cracked and seared by an unimaginable heat. After a few seconds, the armoured girl let out a muffled groan and stood up. She inspected the surrounding area before shaking her head and holding out a hand. A sharp, shimmering light came into existence, followed shortly by a small, baseball sized object with shifting spikes and a single, blue "eye."
"Ghost, begin a scan of the surrounding area. We need to figure out how far back Atheon sent us."
She suddenly paused, before spinning around and summoning a rather unusual looking muggle weapon with glowing lights and a long barrel. She aimed it directly at the group of magi, not even pausing to see if there was something there.
"Alright, hands where I can see them!" Her voice was hard and cold, and though her face was hidden behind her helmet's visor, Albus could easily tell that she was looking right at them.
Albus swallowed nervously, eyeing the muggle weapon as he held his hands up. Severus attempted to draw his wand, only to freeze as two bolts of purplish light shrieked past his head and punched through the metal door behind him.
"Move your hand any closer to whatever it is you're going for, and the next set goes between your eyes."
Having been sufficiently cowed, the entirety of the staff did as they were told. The floating device she had released a few seconds ago came back and whispered something urgently. She turned to look at it for a second, before shaking her head and letting her weapon vanish in a flash of light. "Fuck... I assume that you lot own this place. Sorry for destroying your er... dining hall?" She paused for a moment, before driving on. "I'm sorry if this sounds a bit crazy, but could you tell me what year it is? And where I am?
Albus looked at Minerva, who just shook her head in confusion. The elderly man gingerly lowered his hands, "This is Howgwarts, my dear girl. And it is currently June 11th, 1981. Now, who might you be, Miss..."
The girl straightened up slightly, staring them dead in the eye through her helmet's visor, "I am Stella Black, the Queen's Wrath and Warlock Class Guardian. Now, you know my name, but I don't know yours."
Albus blinked owlishly, thinking back to the prophecy that had just been made, "Ah... Well, er... Guardian Black, I am Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin (first class), Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot."
The girl remained silent for a moment, before looking at her floating companion, "Ghost... Are you sure we're still on Earth?"
"Yes, Guardian. There is only a .000001 percent chance of error. The only other option is that we are still within a Vex simulation, but there are no traces of Radilorian Energy in the air. There seems to be a type of unidentifiable energy diffused through the air. I cannot pinpoint it's origin though, and it appears to be doing an excellent job of blocking and scattering any external satellite signals. However, it does seem remarkably similar, though much lighter than Hive magika."
The magi in the room were floored. This obviously muggle girl, looking like something out of a muggle science fiction movie, appeared in a flash of light, destroyed the great hall, and fired a muggle weapon at them, without a lick of visible magic. And now her little floating companion was claiming to be able to detect magic without using any itself (himself)? It was at this moment, that Snape decided enough was enough, and drew his wand while the strange, armoured girl was dealing with the floating eye thing. A jet of red light erupted from his wand, slamming into the girl and sending her sliding down the length of the great hall. Her companion turned to look at the black haired man, before a similar jet slammed into its metal shell, sending it flying with a yelp of pain. The rest of the professors followed suit, conjuring ropes and chains to bind the armoured girl and keep her from moving.
Dumbledore sighed, "Really, Severus. You didn't have to stun her quite so forcefully."
"No, your right." Snape's lips curled up in a sneer of distaste as he drawled. "Let's be gentle with the armoured girl who just held all of us at gunpoint."
Minerva frowned slightly, before nodding, "He's right, Albus. We can't be too careful. A muggle just managed to find her way into our castle."
Albus nodded reluctantly, "Yes, I suppose you're right. Well, let's see what we are dealing with."
The professors quickly ran over to the downed Guardian, wands at the ready. Minerva and Flitwick began casting diagnostic charms over the stunned body of the girl, trying to figure out what sort of potions or charms had been used to get her through the ward lines of Hogwarts. After about thirty seconds, Minerva looked at the headmaster, "Albus, there's nothing there. No charms, no potions. I think there's some sort of magic in her, but it's old... very old magic. Almost as if she's nearly a thousand years old."
Snape sneered and pointed his wand at the Guardian, "Why don't we ask her ourselves? Envernate."
Stella groaned, coming to slowly. What had hit her? She remembered a flash of light, but then just a muddled mess. The greasy haired man, the one with the hooked nose, he had shot some sort of energy attack at her. Why hadn't her ghost revived her? A tapping on her helmet shook her out of her stunned state, and her vision focused on the greasy haired man. She tried to lunge at him, but found that she was unable to, as they had somehow managed to chain her to the wall and stick her there without the use of nails or hooks. She growled at them, "What the hell is this? Let me go you, damned humans! Ghost, where ar-"
Her eyes widened as she saw her companion, tossed off to the side and sparking slightly from unseen damage.
"Ghost! Ghost, get up, little guy!" She glared at Dumbledore, straining against the chains and invisible bonds. "What the hell did you do, old man!? What did you do to my Ghost!?"
Albus looked slightly taken aback by the rather violent reaction from the armoured girl, "Excuse me, Guardian, but it was just one of your little muggle toys. You can get a n-" Albus quickly realized how big of a mistake that was when a massive burst of magic blasted away from the girl. Only it wasn't magic. There wasn't any intent behind it, no form, only emptiness. The chains and magic bonds were completely wiped from existence, and the girl dropped to the floor. The teachers raised their wands to defend the headmaster, but the girl only jumped over them and made a beeline to her companion.
"C'mon, little buddy. Wake up. You can't die on me. Not now. Not with all of this crap going on. I need you..."
The Ghost sparked weakly, the eyelight barely flickering. Stella held the device close to her chest, trying to hold back the tears. The magi behind her looked at each other awkwardly, realizing that there was something very, very wrong. There was a small burst of light as the girl sent the device away to some unknown location. She stood and slowly turned to look at the humans, "Which one of you did it? Who killed my Ghost?"
The humans looked at each other nervously, and several eyes flickered towards the black haired man. The human sneered and stepped forward, "What of it, muggle? You threatened us, so I did my job. In fact, I should ha-"
"What is your name, human?" Stella's hands were coated with a flickering mixture of inverted light and blue lightning.
The man sneered again, raising his wand, "I am Severus Snape. What do you think you, a muggle, can possibly do against me? We just had you bound to a wall and unconscious."
"Severus, I don't think she's a muggle..."
The potion master didn't bother listening to McGonagall, lazily flicking his wand in an attempt to stun the girl again. But to his amazement, she simply swatted the spell aside and began calmly walking towards the wizard, for she had decided to classify him as such. Snape frowned, jabbing his wand forward, and this time producing a nearly invisible spell that only caused her to stiffen for a second, before it dissipated and she continued moving. Snape's frown deepened, and he flicked his wrist twice, once to conjure a ball of silver, and a second time to banish it at her head. She wasn't expecting the move, and he smirked triumphantly as her helmet's visor shattered, and she went down hard.
"Muggle, guardian, it doesn't matter Minerva. She is out of he-"
A loud bang echoed through the room, and Snape was hit in the shoulder. The wizard spun once, twice, before falling to the floor. A pool of blood quickly began to form under him, and several of the professors backed away. Snape sat up, his already pale face an ashen grey colour. The Guardian was on her feet, holding a massive revolver weapon. The barrel was smoking slightly. She began walking up to the human, her fingers tight around the pistol grip. With her helmet dented and visor shattered, everyone could see the inhuman, glowing green eyes glaring down at Severus. She raised the revolver to finish the human off, but suddenly froze. "Ghost!?"
She spun around, sending her weapon away and re-summoning the baseball sized device. Her ghost sparked, shifting weakly as it struggled to lift itself. "Some... sort of... -Zzrrtzz- EMP... A bit scrambled... didn't do anything stupid... right?"
"Uh..." Stella could feel her face darkening with a heavy, embarrassed flush. "Maybe?"
She turned to show her handiwork to the Ghost, and he tutted, "Really, Stella? You missed him? Why?"
"Because he... WAIT, THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE MAD ABOUT?" Stella's jaw dropped as she stared at her companion in stunned confusion.
"Oh, I'm absolutely livid that you shot him... But I understand why you did."
Stella shook her head, storing the ghost away safely, "I'm running a check on you as soon as I can." She glared at Snape, before waving her hand dismissively. "Get yourself checked out. It's just a flesh wound, but it can still get infected."
Dumbledore, despite the events that had just transpired, smiled merrily, "Guardian Stella, I apologize if we hurt you, we were simply afraid of what you might be. You appear to be some sort of muggle due to your unusual armour and weapons, but I don't think I have ever seen a Muggle do what you can do. Please, can you tell us how you came to be here?"
The armoured woman remained silent, considering her options. She didn't know too much about time travel, but she did know that she had a rather unique opportunity here. 'What do you think, Ghost?'
Go for it. Just by being here, you have changed the timeline. Technically, you shouldn't exist.
Stella took a deep breath, steeling herself to do the one thing she hated most. Talk to other people. "My name is Stella Black... And I am from the future."
Well, that was fun. Anyways, this story is going to be a bit different. Some things, such as Harry's parent's being murdered, will still remain the same. Treat this little bit, and the next few chapters as a sort of prologue to the main books. For those of you good at deciphering prophecies, you can probably figure out who the titles pertain. Yes, I do actually plan on pairing Stella up with Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black. It might be a bit unusual, but hey... since when do I go mainstream? I actually do have a plan for this one, especially when it comes to meeting Harry and whatnot. Annnnywho... Read and review. And for those of you who want to lend a little support for this little hobby of mine, you can go to my page and donate. I only have one donor at the time, so I can't really implement any of the rewards. The profile name is 'Writing Soldier.' It has a picture of a thin, pale man with a tentacle tie. (Yes, I am a Lovecraft fan.
Current Patron(s):
Lu Bane Na, a.k.a. Loves2Spooge.
Hmm... Not much... Let's see if we can change that. At the moment, my first goal is 25 patrons. The moment, I hit that, each patron will be entered into a drawing to be put into the story as a cameo character. There are other rewards for the various patron tiers, but you can go check it out for yourself!
Again, please review. I love reading what you think about the stories I write. Writers like myself don't just write because we can, we write because we love to see other people enjoy the things we create.