Inception: Rise of the Heir
Tom Riddle disappeared for 10 years. Where did he travel and what did he do during his absence? This is my feeble attempt at a Tom Riddle backstory, right before he rejoined the world officially as Lord Voldemort.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except for my o/c's.
"Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you."
― Friedrich W. Nietzsche
April 1958
The fog across the harbor was thick, unnaturally so for April. The sun in the sky was slowly rising as the massive ship made its way from the bay, into the harbor and into port, the waves lapping and licking at its immense frame as the ship started to slow its speed. The hour was early aside from the crew, most of the passengers were still below deck, in their rooms & cabins, still tucked into bed, sleeping peacefully as the sun had barely even began to poke its fiery head above the horizon. All were asleep, except for one.
A tall dark figure was standing above deck alone, packed and waiting silently alone in the mist that had seemed to settle on the upper level of the vessel. Aside from the clothes on his back he carried nothing, except for a small weathered suitcase that was placed directly alongside his feet. He had been watching the water swell and rise and fall for hours, alone in his thoughts and musings and finally looked up slowly as he watched the foreign cityscape approach. A long pale hand rested firmly on the iron railing, as he took in a new skyline he had never seen before. His dark eyes remained unchanged and indifferent as they raked over the distant towering buildings, smoke and noise that seemed to radiate off the city that he was told "never slept".
"New York City..." He thought as the ship neared closer and closer to its final destination.
He was irritated. He was never fond of muggle transportation, especially after he was introduced to the wizarding world and what layed beyond. As a child he had always known he was different. He was different. He had had abilities that no other person he knew possessed and when Albus Dumbledore had come to visit him, what to him seemed like only yesterday, his suspicions were confirmed. He was special and finally he had a chance to show the world how truly great he would be. He had excelled at school, where others had performed below him, content to wallow in the mediocracy they felt safe and comfortable in. Only he himself had pushed the boundaries of magic and had gone farther than any he knew to ensure he would become legend. To him, travelling in such conditions, like a common muggle was repulsive.
His journey had taken days, most of it spent below deck in a dark private room away from prying eyes. He had only stepped above deck at night, when all the other passengers had taken to bed, enjoying the silence and solitude he felt most comfortable in. He took his meals in his room and spoke to no one, a walking ghost on a ship he would soon be glad to leave behind.
Despite his dissatisfaction with his method of travel, this was the only option he had entertained. It had been years since he was forced to interact with members of muggle society and the idea of flying in a muggle made cage of steel thousands of feet in the air with no other form of control was unsettling and unacceptable. Airplanes, he recollected them being called and he had been riddled with nightmares about them in his childhood. Nightmares that were made real, when he had spent his summers at the orphanage in London, summers full of ruin, of rubble and dust, of death and decay. While the wizarding world was immersed in its own war, preoccupied with Grindelwald and his radical followers, the muggles had entered into their own world war and had produced weapons of mass destruction on their own, advancing far more in the few years than anyone had anticipated. Now, not only could they cause devastation on land, they now rained fire and hell from the sky as well as under the sea.
He remembered the pit of despair and fear in his stomach during the first air raid.
He remembered crawling under his desk in his shabby room when he first heard the sirens scream and echo through the city, the explosions too near for comfort, he himself wondering if the orphanage would be next, a giant pit of debri and wood and stone where he had just been laying.
He remembered how the bile had tasted on his tongue when his stomach had emptied its contents onto his bedroom floor, waiting for the bombs to drop.
Waiting to die.
Waiting to become another faceless body in the throws of that stupid muggle war and how powerless he was to stop it. Even then at the time his magical abilities were far too inexperienced to shield him from death.
"So weak…"
It was then and there he had decided he would find a way to defeat death. To never cower at its feet again. He would not die, not there, not ever. He would become the greatest wizard in the world and death would not take him like it had so many before him. He would bow to no one.
He smiled as he felt the handle of the wand hiding in the sleeve of his coat, rubbing the yew wood softly and absent-mindedly with his thumb, reminiscing back to when it had first chosen him back in the tiny, dusty wand shop in Diagon Alley. He remembered how it had felt when he first grasped the handle of what would be the vessel for his power. An electric shock had taken over his arm and spread like a blanket of fire all over his body, golden sparks sprouting from the tip. He felt the power he was capable of right away and it consumed him. Greatness had chosen him.
The old man of course warned him about his wands capabilities, how he should take care in handling such a wand, a rare pairing between wood and core he had yet to see before, but he didn't remember anything else the old fool had been babbling about, he just remembered the feeling. It was addictive and he had wanted more ever since that moment.
His name would be remembered.
All would bow at his feet.
The ship's foghorn blew loudly as it entered port, interrupting his thoughts and he quickly turned his head towards the skyline as the ship was suddenly surrounded by smaller boats, easing it into its slip at the docks. As the ship neared closer and closer he watched as muggle men quickly scurred around the deck and on land like rats to tether the boat to its final resting place.
The sun poked through the clouds, shining brilliantly as he ran his hands impatiently through his tousled dark black hair. He anxiously awaited for when the boarding plank would be lowered and he could finally escape his watery prison. He sniffed indignantly, to apparate off the ship would obviously be the easiest and most preferable way for him to leave, but he had been warned of this foreign country's policy regarding magic and how the community within operated.
He wanted to remain a ghost, a shadow on the wall, learning whatever dark secrets this country had to offer and he planned to disappear once again like smoke on the wind. He had no intentions of making his presence known to any unnecessary persons, nor did he have any intention of letting their nosy wizarding government poke their noses into his affairs.
As the sun took its permanent place in the morning sky, he heard the clanging of the steel plank being lowered decks below him and lowered his arm slightly towards the suitcase.
"It's time" he thought quietly to himself.
The new world had everything to offer him and he intended to crack open the delicate shell it was encased in, the old magic and the dark and everything that had been a mystery to him across the sea at home. His heart started to beat faster at the thought of the magic he had yet to discover.
The wooden tip of a wand lazily poked out from the cuff of his jacket, pointed towards the suitcase at his feet. In a flash, the suitcase propelled up from the deck floor, its handle landing perfectly into his outstretched hand, the sunlight quickly glinted off the golden nameplate in the front of the suitcase as he started to make his way below deck to unboard and start his journey.
It read: T .M. RIDDLE .
First chapter finished! I know it was a little short, but I really didn't want to cram too much into the first chapter, hopefully it was a decent read and you'll stay tuned for the rest, I'm a little rusty on writing, I JUST created a new account and I haven't written in years, I guarantee it'll get better as the story progresses!
I do want to establish that past maybe the first few chapters, i really don't intend to use too many original characters besides Tom Riddle/Voldemort in this story. The whole purpose of this fic was to write a story based on the missing 10 years of Tom Riddle's life and what he learned while he was missing. This fic WILL end up being romantic...eventually. Slow burn ya'll. So don't forget to follow and favorite!
Don't forget to review, reviews are rad!