A/N: This story is a direct continuation of "Stormseeker: Unwanted Destiny". It might be a little confusing if you haven't read that, but I've tried to keep things clear if you want to jump in here.

This is based off the "Harry Potter" series by J. K. Rowling and the video game "Geneforge 2" by Spiderweb Software.

Chapter 1: Possibilities

My name is Lexen Chelseer, the Stormseeker, and I am an inborn Time Mage. Whenever I die, I usually jump back in time to the last time I woke up, although some things will send me all the way back to the first day I died. Unfortunately, my power is more limited than I would like, and I have found that simply not really being able to die doesn't mean I'm going to actually succeed at anything I try to do.

I've just woken up in Torn Elkandu once more, on the day when I first died. I came back voluntarily this time, the first time I've ever done so intentionally. It's actually something of a liberating feeling, like I actually have control over my own life for once.

I'm in my dorm room in the School of Thought in Torn Elkandu. I get up and look down at my ten year old body, and feel small. That's easily fixed, however. I strip off my pajamas, since it won't change them, and focus upon my Time Magic and will myself to be older, stopping at around twenty-five. I pull out a wizard's robe and jeans and transfigure them to be large enough to fit me properly. It's not perfect, but it's the best I can do without a wand. I make them a little on the baggy side. Better to overshoot as too large rather than too small.

I head out of the dorm room and down the hallway to the cafeteria. A smile spreads across my face as I get a whiff of the delicious smell of pancakes. Since there are pancakes being served on my first day in any new life, they've become something of a symbol of hope and possibility to me. I stop and get a bite to eat before doing anything else.

I step out from the School of Thought and onto the rune-lined streets of Torn Elkandu. I pause for a moment to stare up at the swirling purple-black sky. There's no real sun in Torn Elkandu, no moon or stars to gaze up at. Just the surreal expanse of the Ethereal Plane. I don't understand what it all really means. Maybe someday I will learn.

I move on to the center of Torn Elkandu, to the Nexus. Eight rune-covered obelisks in a circle, humming with raw magical energy. This powerful arcane relic is the connection to all worlds, the teleportation device that enables travel across the multiverse. And in six hours, Torn Elkandu will be attacked, and the Nexus will no longer be usable for me.

The Nexus is currently being monitored by Keolah the Seeker, my distant cousin, an elf woman with strange silvery eyes staring off at nothing in particular. I don't need to talk to her right now, however. I know where I'm going. I step into the Nexus and focus upon my destination. Diagon Alley. I picture the streets lined with shops firmly in my mind, and will the Nexus to activate. Glowing mists surround me, and when they fade, I'm standing in another place. It's a much more pleasant and subtle sensation than Apparating.

"Lexen!" calls a woman's voice, bringing a smile to my face. A dark-haired woman stands nearby, having clearly been waiting for me. She looks around the same age as I do, but looks can be deceiving.

"Cassie," I say brightly. I go up to her and embrace her tightly, and we exchange a passionate kiss. "I'd been worried for a moment that it wouldn't work after all," I whisper.

"It worked," Cassie says quietly, mindful that we're in a public area. Not that it matters, anyway. It's not like we'll be spending long on Wizarding Earth. "I remember everything. Our souls are linked together now, so you dragged me back with you when you came back."

And the fact that Cassiopeia Black doesn't look like she's in her eighties is telling, as well. "Here, I'll show you how to get to Torn Elkandu."

She's never been there before, and there isn't a portal on this world to simply walk through, that I know of anyway. I hold her hand and Recall back to the Nexus, taking her with me similar to how I would with Side-Along Apparation.

"Oh, my," Cassie says, looking around at everything. The sky, the runes, the Nexus. "This place is incredible!"

Keolah blinks for a moment, finally actually noticing that there's someone new here. Silver eyes focus upon us. "Ah, a newcomer? Welcome to Torn Elkandu. I am Keolah the Seeker."

"Cassie, mind if I leave you here to look around or chat for a bit?" I say. "I still need to go get the others. And Keolah can tell you how to get here on your own in the future."

"Of course," Cassie says. "Tom and Grindelwald will need a little help getting here, after all, given their situations."

"Right now, I mainly just want to see what I'll need to do to get them here and how long it's likely to take," I say. "I'll be back in a bit."

I step into the ring of obelisks again. I picture in my mind's eye the image of Malfoy Manor, and will the Nexus to activate. Glowing mists surround me and take me away to another place.

I politely knock on the door. After a minute, the door opens, and Lucius Malfoy is standing inside, looking out at me a little quizzically.

"Good day," Lucius says. "Is there something you require?"

"Greetings, Mr. Malfoy," I say. "My name is Lexen Chelseer. I'm a time traveler from the future, and I require an object that was given into your keeping some years ago. May I come inside?"

Lucius frowns in puzzlement and stands aside, allowing me to enter and closing the door behind me. "Do you have any proof for what you say?"

"The object I'm looking for is a Muggle-style diary with the name Tom Riddle on it," I say. "Our master gave it to you to keep safe. I require it in order to restore him." He stares at me for a moment, and I go on. "It's in the secret room in the basement, the one you get into by tapping the hidden door with your wand in an S motion, and saying 'Sanctimonia Vincet Semper'."

"The fact that you know that gives a small amount of credence to your claim," Lucius says. "But I do not see how this proves you are actually from the future, nor am I even familiar with who you are."

"How about you go and get the diary, and write in it asking if it remembers me?" I suggest. He should, considering Cassie remembered me, but I can't be certain that Tom actually went back to the diary or what. "I'm afraid I don't have the time to tell you some future event and wait for it to come to pass or not. I'm on a very limited timeframe here at the moment."

"Very well," Lucius concedes after a bit of thought. "Please have a seat and wait here."

"Of course, sir," I say. I take a seat on a small couch, and close my eyes, letting out a deep sigh and trying to relax for a moment. I'm more wound up than I thought. Not a few hours ago, I was storming the Order of the Phoenix headquarters and dying repeatedly in the process. Adjusting to a new life is always shaky at first.

After a while, Lucius returns, and hands the diary to me. "If this is some sort of trick, it's one worthy of Salazar Slytherin himself."

I snicker softly and take the diary from him. "Did he tell you off?"

"He told me things that only the Dark Lord could have known, and confirmed your story," Lucius says.

I give a nod and stand up. "Thank you. We'll be off now. You probably won't be seeing us again. We're heading off to take over another universe or something now. Farewell. Oh, and tell Draco that Hermione is the Heir of Atlantis, and the goblins can confirm it."

I grin mischievously and run off before I start giggling. I do so love messing with Draco. Once outside, I Recall back to the Torn Elkandu. I step out of the Nexus and open up the diary, and mutter, "Damn it, I don't have any pens or anything on me."

Words appear on the page. "No need. There's plenty of energy here to make up for it. What is this place?"

"Torn Elkandu," I say.

"There is so much energy here, I think I can manifest physically without even requiring anything else!" Tom writes.

Before me, the handsome form of a dark-haired sixteen year old boy shimmers into existence. Once he's fully formed, he pauses for a moment before using my Time Magic to age himself up to adult. Tom lets out a deep breath and hugs me tightly.

"Well, that was easy enough," Cassie says, looking over at Tom and giving a small smile.

"It's good to see you," Tom says. "It's good to actually be here for myself, and not just seeing it in a Pensieve. This place is incredible! I've never felt such a powerful concentration of magic before."

"Wonderful," I say.

"Another new arrival?" Keolah says.

"And there's one more coming, too," I say. "I'm going to go get him now. This one might be a little trickier."

"Good luck," Tom says.

"Ugh, never wish me luck," I say, grimacing. "Every time someone wishes me luck, it seems like something horrible happens to me."

"Sorry," Tom says, chuckling in amusement.

Back to the Nexus, and this time I focus upon Hogsmeade. When the mists clear, I'm tucked away in an alley near the Hog's Head. Dumbledore will be inside. This might not be the best way to go about this, but it's the only thing I can think of, especially since I have no idea where Nurmengard actually is.

I step inside the pub, which is currently unoccupied but for Aberforth and Albus Dumbledore. They look up at me as I approach.

"We're closed right now, sorry," Aberforth says.

"I'm not here for a drink," I say. "My name is Lexen Chelseer. I'm a time traveler, and I'm afraid that I have about five hours to get something done. And I need Albus's help with it."

Dumbledore frowns at me. "A time traveler?"

"I need Gellert Grindelwald," I say. "I know you once loved him. And I know he probably deserves where he is. But he came back with me from the future, and I made a promise to him. You have no idea how much I owe him. He won't be a threat to anyone else here, I can assure you. We'll be leaving this world again once I can collect him."

Dumbledore stares at me for a long moment. "This is a strange story you tell."

"Sounds like he's got your number, Albus," Aberforth says with a bitter smirk.

"In one future, you told me that to get you to trust me and convince you of what I say, I should tell you that you see your sister Ariana in the mirror of Erised," I say. "Although I have to wonder if that's actually true. Perhaps you just told me that to let yourself know that I'm from the future, without it actually being the truth. Perhaps it's Gellert that you see instead."

"No more," Dumbledore says, his voice sounding a little shaken. "Say nothing more. I will help you."

I've never seen Dumbledore looking quite so disturbed before. But there's no help for it. I can't do this on my own, and I'm not going to abandon Grindelwald.

Dumbledore bids Aberforth farewell for now, and pulls out a butterbeer cork. "Portus," he says, tapping it with his wand. "Take a hold of the portkey as well."

I put my hand on the cork. There's a pulling sensation behind my belly button, and we're pulled across space to someplace else. Before us stands a grim fortress with impregnable walls, tall, dark, and oppressive.

"Gellert is being held at the top of the tallest tower," Dumbledore says, leading me inside. "I hope that what you say is true, although I do have to wonder how you came to this situation."

"It's a story longer than I have time to tell right now," I say. "But suffice it to say that, when it seemed like all the world had turned against me, he was one of the few still willing to stand at my side. I've walked a dark path to get where I am, but I'd like to think I've done some good in the process, saved some lives, made some worlds better places than they were before."

It's a long climb to the top of the tower. We finally reach the top cell. The man inside is neither the old man I remember as Grindelwald, the History of Magic teacher, nor is he the young child who went by the assumed name of Gerard. He has aged himself down with my Time Magic to his twenties or so. I suppose it would be easiest to think of him as Gellert.

"Albus," Gellert says, grinning in amusement. "You've gotten old."

"Gellert?" Dumbledore says, looking at the other in surprise.

"Lexen, good to see you," Gellert says. "Nice to see you came for me after all."

"So his story is true..." Dumbledore says.

"You better believe it," Gellert says. "But don't worry, Albus. I don't care about this world anymore. There's a multiverse out there to explore, and I want to see it all. And I've got new friends waiting for me."

"New worlds for you to subjugate and slaughter your way through?" Dumbledore says.

Gellert snorts softly. "Like Lexen and Cassie would let me, even if I were still so inclined. No, I can regret my past, but it's nothing more than that. The past. It doesn't matter anymore. The only thing that concerns me now is the future."

Dumbledore gazes at him inscrutably for a long moment, and then turns for the door. "Come. But I do hope Lexen's words are correct, and that I won't see you again in this world."

"The feeling is mutual," Gellert says lightly.

"Dumbledore," I say. "Is there an easier way to do this, so I don't have to go through you to get him out next time?"

"It might be too far for you to Apparate directly here," Dumbledore muses.

"No, I have a device that can send me anywhere, even to other worlds," I say. "Distance isn't a problem."

"Then probably the easiest way would be to simply fly in to the top of the tower," Dumbledore says.

"Ugh, I hate flying," I say. "But it would still beat climbing up all these stairs and getting past all the defenses. It seems like guarding against flying would have been an obvious defensive choice."

"I hadn't really thought of it when I designed the place," Gellert says. "And now I'm grateful for my own oversight."

We finally step outside of the prison and get past the wards. It took us over an hour to come in this way.

"Thanks, Dumbledore," I say. "We won't bother you anymore. You won't see us ever again."

Dumbledore gives a nod, and says, "Lexen... You were correct about the Mirror of Erised, in part. I see my family there, healthy and whole, and Gellert is a part of it." He gives a long look at Gellert, and shakes his head. "A dream that can never be. Good luck to you both." He Apparates away.

"What was that about?" Gellert wonders.

"He still misses you," I murmur. "He never really got over you, I guess."

"Well, that's fine, because I'm over him," Gellert says, sighing. "Let's go."

I take Gellert's hand, and Recall him back to the Nexus. It looks like Tom and Cassie must have been here talking to Keolah the entire time. Tom is examining the runes on the Nexus very carefully.

"The Nexus..." Gellert breathes, looking around the place and grinning broadly. "I'm glad to actually be here at last."

"And who might you be?" Keolah asks Gellert.

"Gellert Grindelwald. Who- and what- are you?" Gellert wonders.

"I am Keolah Kedaire, the Seeker. I am an elf. Specifically, a song elf from Lezaria."

"Well, you have pointed ears, and your eyes are a little odd, but aside from that you look mostly human," Gellert says.

"Not a house-elf sort of elf," I explain. "I don't know why our worlds give the name 'elves' to two very different sorts of beings, but such as it is."

"Another Soul Bond?" Keolah says, raising an eyebrow as she seems to look through us. "How many of those do you have, Lexen?"

"Only these three," I say.

"You can see that?" Gellert says.

"She isn't called the Seeker for nothing," I say. "They say if Keolah can't find it, it doesn't exist." I smirk at her. "And she's also easily distracted."

"I am not," Keolah says. "Say, Stormseeker, I thought you were ten years old? Oh... you're a Time Mage, did you change your age?"

"Case in point," I say. "You just noticed that?"

"Stormseeker, are you aware that you are Soul Bound to a demon?" Keolah says, peering at Gellert.

"I am aware of this," I say.

"Is that a problem, Seeker?" Gellert says, smirking defiantly at her.

"Oh, no, not at all," Keolah says. "I'm glad to see that foolish prejudice hasn't colored your vision, Stormseeker. I always believed that greater strength can be had from different things working together toward a common purpose."

Gellert grins broadly. "My thoughts exactly. Sadly, that doesn't tend to work out so well in practice."

"Quite right," Keolah says, sighing. "I'd dreamed of the Elkandu being a neutral group, accepting of all people. And things seemed to work well at first. But then I was betrayed. Sedder stole a powerful magical artifact from me, and went off with Sardill to splinter off a segment of our people into the Dark Elkandu."

Sedder, the Dark Elkandu who made me watch as he tortured my young cousins to death, poor little Helga and Hilda. That was a long time ago, though. Nearly two decades worth of experiences in my mind.

"Would you like to go somewhere today?" Keolah asks.

"Nowhere, really," I say. "I'm just waiting for Sedder and Sardill to show up and attack Torn Elkandu, killing everyone."

"Is that likely?" Keolah says.

"It'll happen in a few hours," I say.

"Oh, I see," Keolah says.

"I don't know if we have any hope of going up against Sardill," I say. "But we'll be here to defend the place and see how it goes. This loop, at least. Failing that, we'll be heading off into another world to gain more power before we come back to today again."

"Time travel is a little confusing," Gellert comments.

"No one but Hawthorne tends to be bold enough to voluntarily go up against Sardill," Keolah says. "And in her case, it's more out of recklessness than having any hope of success."

"Who is this Sardill, anyway?" Tom asks.

"Sardill is a Catalyst. He can manipulate magical energy in any way he wants to," Keolah says. "And he's had ten thousand years of practice at it. None of us are anywhere close to matching his power. He's effectively a god."

"I don't even understand why he's doing this," I say. "But I think it's because of me, somehow. 'Try again, Stormseeker', he kept telling me right before killing me."

"It's strange," Keolah says. "Sardill doesn't normally get involved in things directly. He prefers to manipulate events from the shadows. He spent millennia starting wars against himself on Lezaria."

"Why would he be interested in me?" I wonder.

"Your Time Magic, perhaps?" Keolah says.

"I suppose," I say. "Maybe I should ask him myself. See if he'll actually give me an answer this time."

We spend the remaining time chatting with Keolah and looking around Torn Elkandu. It's wonderful to be able to share this place with my friends, even if it's only for a short while. We make plans for our next life as well, charting out a grand adventure.

"Cassie, could you go to Diagon Alley and pick up some supplies before meeting up with us here?" I say. "One of those bags that holds a lot of stuff, a nice tent, stuff like that?"

Cassie nods. "Alright. It's not like the Black family vault couldn't stand to be slightly dented."

Soon enough, the runes on the Nexus activate, glowing vibrantly for a few moments. Mist fills the circle between the eight obelisks, and the Dark Elkandu appear.

My friends and I call forth all the magic we have against the Dark Elkandu, but it's not enough. Not nearly enough. Some of the Dark Elkandu are killed in our assault, but in the end, Sardill sweeps us aside with barely a flick of thought.

"Sardill, why are you doing this?" I ask, groaning softly, laying broken on the rune-covered street.

"Because you are the only one who can change what should not become," Sardill says. "You have the potential to shake the multiverse, and shape the Trayziak Tatalyar."

"Isn't that like, the name of the multiverse or something?" I say.

"Uttermost Confusion," Sardill says. "Ultimate Chaos. The universe branches like a fractal tree, and even the tiniest variations hold weight. And you can change time itself. The Book of Truths told you about this."

"How did you know about that?" I ask.

"I am the Catalyst," Sardill says, not answering me. "I am the one who starts things in motion. But you are the one who needs to make them happen. Try again, Stormseeker."

Sardill waves his hand, and the world goes out.

I'm back in the dorm at the School of Thought, ten years old again.

That was strange. Every time I talk to Sardill, my view of the universe makes even less sense than it did before.

I shift my age, transfigure my clothes and get dressed, and go to eat some pancakes. I think I can appreciate the potential, the possibilities, a little more now. Especially if even half of what Sardill says is true.

I head out to the Nexus and teleport to Malfoy Manor. I pick up the diary again, convincing Lucius to bring it out a little more quickly this time. With that, I Recall back to Torn Elkandu. I'm hardly back there for a few seconds before the diary starts glowing brightly, and Tom Riddle manifests in front of me.

"Welcome back," I say, grinning at him.

"You know, this level of available energy is really nice," Tom says. "It's a pity that we don't have access to it more."

"Take advantage of it while you can," I say. "Did Keolah explain how to use the Nexus? You want to go pick up your wand?"

Tom nods. "Peter Pettigrew stashed it at Riddle Manor. I'll take care of that. You go get Grindelwald."

"Right," I say.

I step back into the Nexus and teleport to Nurmengard. It might be easier to fly, but at least now that Dumbledore has shown me, I know how to get inside and break Gellert out.

"Would be nice to be able to get out of here by myself," Gellert grumbles as he follows me out.

"Be grateful for what you've got," I say, chuckling. "Besides, unless something goes horribly wrong, it'll be years before we have to do this again, anyway."

Once outside, we Recall to Torn Elkandu.

"Meet back here in four hours, and we'll head to the new world," I say. "I've got a few more things I want to do first."

"I suppose I'll need to buy a new wand," Gellert says.

"Ah! Right, you don't have any money on you, either," I say. "Alright, come with me for now, then."

I step into the Nexus with Gellert and teleport us to the Chelseer estate in Wishingsdale, on the world of Lezaria. I go inside and locate my great-grandmother, Hawthorne.

"Huh, who are you?" Hawthorne asks, peering at us, her eyes settling upon me. I have the same distinctive green eyes and dark hair that she does. I haven't seen anyone outside of our family with this particular shade of green eye color. "I didn't think I had so many relatives that I'd forgotten who they are."

"It's me, Lexen," I say. "I'm a Time Mage. I can change my apparent age at will. Actually, this is my chronological age. I'm twenty-eight now. I've been doing a lot of time traveling."

"That sounds like fun," Hawthorne says. "And who's your friend?"

"This is Gellert Grindelwald," I say. "Gellert, I'd like you to meet my great-grandmother, Hawthorne Chelseer."

"Nice to meet you," Gellert says.

"Hawthorne, do you mind if I borrow your sword for my next adventure?" I ask.

"Oh, sure," Hawthorne says. She pulls off the belt and scabbard and hands it over to me. "Have fun. Kill lots of people with it!"

"Uh, yeah, I probably will," I say.

Strapping the magic sword around my waist, I head down to the family vault. I pull out a few gold bars and a bag full of gemstones.

"Why'd you want the sword?" Gellert asks.

"Figure it'll come in handy, where we're going," I say. "You have no idea how many monsters I wound up having to kill last time I was there."

Valuables in hand, we Recall to the Nexus and teleport to Diagon Alley next. We head into Gringotts to get some galleons for our wands, and then over to Ollivander's.

"Hello, Ollivander," I say. "I'm a time traveler, here to pick up my wand again. Accio my wand!"

From one of the shelves behind Ollivander, a wand flies out of a box and toward me, and then clatters against the wall next to me, completely ignoring my outstretched hand.

I mutter, "And I still need to practice that spell better."

I pick up the wand and give it a wave, and blue sparks shower out of it. I put it on the table in front of Ollivander, and count out the galleons for it.

"Pine, dragon heartstring, thirteen inches," Ollivander says, staring at me.

"Hmm, out of curiosity... Prior Incantato!" The wand shows the last several spells that have been cast. Nothing particularly remarkable, just some miscellaneous spells, but definitely more than there reasonably should have been.

"Strange," Ollivander says. "I'm sure no one has cast anything with that wand before."

"I think the wand remembers me somehow," I say.

"Most fascinating," Ollivander says. "I've never seen anything quite like that before."

"I'll let you toy with that mystery in some other timeline," I say. "Right now, my friend here requires a wand as well, and unfortunately I don't know which one is likely to pick him, so we'll need to do this the hard way."

"Very well," Ollivander says, bringing out wands for Gellert to test.

After trying out a number of wands, Ollivander finally matches him with a wand of aspen and dragon heartstring, twelve inches.

With Gellert's new wand in hand, we return to Torn Elkandu. Tom is back, and Cassie has arrived as well by now. She smiles at us when we appear in the Nexus, and tosses us each a bag, blue for me and red for Gellert.

"I thought I'd go all out and get each of us one," Cassie says. There's a purple bag for herself, and a green one for Tom.

We spend a bit more time in Torn Elkandu hanging around, relaxing, resting. I show them around the School of Thought, and we pop into one of the classes where the teacher is going on about magical theory. It's very different from the sort of magical theory taught in Hogwarts. I'd like to think that it's the Elkandu who know more about how magic really works, but what do I know? It's very likely that the Elkandu aren't really any closer.

Then, with around an hour left until the attack will occur, we head for the Nexus. I picture our destination firmly in my mind from the last time I was here. A lovely place called Nodye Coast. I will the Nexus to activate, and the glowing mists take us away to the world of Terrestia.