Chaos Ensues
"If you were to grant the world one gift, what would it be?"
"Chaos."
The stench of blood and burnt flesh filled his nostrils as he stepped over disfigured corpses and mangled limbs, his arms stretched out at his sides and his red eyes taking in the horrific scene. He chuckled to himself as a rather slim femur bone cracked beneath his bare feet. His eyes fell upon a charred body of a child that lay in a twisted heap a little away from the bone, the blood of the child's corpse leaving a dark trail from its body to the remnants of its leg.
A little to the left lay a family of severely mutilated corpses, the rings of promise the husband and wife wore glinted on their skeletal fingers. He stepped over a broken portrait of said family, and with a flick of his wrist, sent the wretched object skittering to the side.
Climbing atop what had once been a quaint little house—now, nothing but a charred roof—he stood at the very edge of the large crater that had formed when his Dark Artifact had come in contact with impure blood. His eyes scanned the explosion site, a wry smirk twisting his lipless mouth as he breathed in deeply, allowing the rancid smell of singed flesh and scorched bones to envelop his senses.
He closed his eyes and hummed softly, his smirk growing when there was the familiar crack of Apparation behind him.
"You summoned me, my Lord?" came the purring female voice of his most loyal follower and he raised his arms, sweeping them outwards as he gestured to the sight before them.
"Behold, Bellatrix, the result that chaos ensues."
She rose to her feet slowly and stepped forwards, making sure to remain behind him, as she eyed the massacre site. Her dark eyes widened and a peal of maniacal laughter escaping her parted lips, she clapped her hands together and nodded enthusiastically.
"How magnificent, my Lord! Let this be a reminder to those of the wretched Order of what the Dark Lord can do without even raising a single finger!"
He laughed at that—her excitement was contagious and he could feel the darkness within him rumble to the surface as he raised his arm and pointed his wand at the sky.
"Morsmordre!"
He watched as dark clouds burst forth in the sky, merging together to form the mark that would let the world know of what he had done. He watched as the mouth of the skull fell open and a humongous serpent slithered out of it, lightning flashing and highlighting its twisted form. There was a low hiss from beside him and he laughed as the familiar coolness of snakeskin brushed against his ankles.
"Have you come to enjoy the show as well, Nagini?"
He held out his hand and the female snake placed her large head in his palm and hissed. He watched her until he heard the cracks of multiple Apparations from the crater brlow.
"It would seem we have visitors, my Lord," Bellatrix cackled, stepping forwards and easily deflecting the multitude of curses that came flying at them.
"Yes," he drawled, watching as over a dozen Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix were single-handedly held at bay by Bellatrix. He stepped back as she shrieked with laughter and lunged forwards, Conjuring ropes just in time so as to keep her from diving into the pit.
"My Lord!" she yelled, struggling to free herself from her bonds and go after her foes.
"Bellatrix, is it not enough that I allowed you to entertain yourself from a distance? Must you join the vermin in their fray?"
"No, my Lord," came the immediate reply and she bowed deeply—but even that did not stop her from deflecting the oncoming barrage.
He loosened the ropes around her waist but continued to keep them on her—Bellatrix was one to forget her promises to even him when she was mindlessly battling multiple enemies. He Transfigured a nearby pile of corpses into a human-throne and lounged on it, stroking Nagini's emerald head and watching as Bellatrix sent killing curses in every which way.
She had taken down more than half of the wretched fools who dared call themselves wizards, when a stray hex caught her in the side and sent her flying backwards. He didn't even blink as an array of curses came his way, barely even having to flick his wrist to deflect the whole lot of them. The members of the Order were the only ones left standing, now, and Bellatrix was on her feet and sending double the amount of curses at double the speed, towards them.
When only four were left, most of them heavily injured, they spun on the spot and Disapparated, leaving a manic Bellatrix hollering after them to get their slimy, worthless arses back.
"Enough," he said softly and rose as Nagini slipped away with a hiss, having found a meal in one of the piles of bodies.
"Of course, my Lord," she replied as she kneeled before him, her head bowed.
He eyed her bushy mane of ebony curls before reaching forwards and twisting one around his finger. He pulled, hard, and she winced, falling to the side. She hefted herself up shakily, her breathing labored and her eyes glassy.
"You're hurt," he commented idly and she inhaled sharply.
"No, my Lord—"
"Do not lie to me," he spat, kicking her in the side where she was injured. She cried out and fell forwards, trembling violently.
"F-Forgive me, my Lord," she mumbled in a strained voice, coughing up blood. He scoffed and turned away, climbing down the roof.
"Come, Bellatrix, we have much to do."
"O-Of course, my Lord."
He heard her shuffle and paused to glance over his shoulder as she stumbled towards him, one hand clutching her heavily bleeding wound and the other, still wrapped around her wand.
"You'll bleed to death before we wreak havoc elsewhere," he snapped, raising his wand and waiting only until she moved her hand, to sear the wound shut.
She let out a shuddering breath and tears streamed down her face as the scorched skin hissed and smoked. Sniffing noisily, she bowed and mumbled her gratitude. Bellatrix was not one to cry for something as petty as pain, but it was probably the suddenness of it that had caused the ugly tears to leak out of her puffy eyes. He had much to teach her, yet.
He turned and walked towards the body of the child whose femur he had broken, taking another deep breath and filling his lungs with the putrid scent of death and desecration.
"Come, Bellatrix. We must make haste in our gift-giving," he murmured as he stepped through a pool of blood, reveling at the thick feel of it against the soles of his feet.
"Gift-giving, my Lord?" she asked as she stepped through the puddle in much the same way, her eyes focused completely on him in a way that showed she probably had not noticed that she was now trailing human blood.
He smirked and flicked his wand, setting the closest pile of bodies on fire, enjoying the bloodcurdling screams of those who had pretended to be dead.
"The gift of chaos and fear, of course."
A/n: Apparently Bellatrix/Voldemort is a very sought after ship, these days, so I thought, why not?
Always wanted to write a little bit of gore from the perspective of someone who thoroughly enjoyed it. Too bad this ficlet couldn't cross a word count of 1,500 words.
Written for The Sacred Stones Competition on DAII.
The Challenge, Round Two:
Write a ficlet of between 1000 and 1500 words that is set during the First Wizarding War. Word count: 1,239 words.
Review are much appreciated, as always.
P.S, for those of you canon-freaks, I know Riddle found Nagini during his time in Albania, after his fall in 1981, but this ficlet is centred around the WWI and I wanted to write Nagini in anyway, so yeah.