3987 words
Hello! Chapter 2 should be a little better than the first I hope, this one is just showing each of their reactions to waking up in their surroundings. The next chapter will be when the real beginning starts!
Enjoy~
Chapter 2: Torn Away
Harry groaned as he woke. The first thing he noticed was how uncomfortable his back was, as if he were laying on pointy rocks. He tilted his head to the side feeling something jab his cheek and cracking an eye open he saw that it was in fact, a rock or more like a few small pointy pebbles. He huffed as he sat up shaking his head to clear it of the fuzziness he felt, taking a look around.
His glasses were on his face but they were cracked and slightly bent. 'Oh great, just what I needed' he thought to himself as he tried to locate his wand. "Where the heck is it?" he muttered checking his pockets while looking around him. He paused when he heard a thump, turning to see an empty looking brown canvas looking satchel where it wasnt a few seconds ago.
He looked around to see if someone might of thrown it there, but it was just him at the mouth of a cave. The outside had a pretty big clearing with no where to hide until you reach the trees a few yards away. He became suspicious of where he was when he noticed his scar wasnt burning as it had been doing as of late.
'I wonder if Tom finally got me and is just playing with me now', he thought as he scooted closer to the bag, frowning when he saw his name written in a fancy cursive writting. He pulled it onto his lap noticing lightweight feeling, 'it must be a charm' he thought as he opened the flap. Taking a peek inside his brows rose at what he saw.
'Tom must be playing some sort of survival game now. The crazy nutcase, but he'll see, i'll beat him at his own game!'. There were dozens of pockets, each of them had name tags of what was in them. There were things like: food, medicine, clothes, tools, books, stationary, blankets, and lots of other things.
He pulled the zipper of the first one that said food. At the bottom of the bag he saw a small sandwich wrapped in plastic appear with a thermos of what he quickly discovered was water. He pulled it out, slowly unwrapping it smelling the delicious bread, ham and lettuce that looked fresh but hesitated, 'what if its poisoned or drugged?'.
He decided if Tom wanted him to suffer he wouldnt of made it so easy, and he hadnt been eating well in a week, so he took a small bite. When no negative effects kicked in a few minutes after he dug in with gusto. Giving a noise of appreciation at the great taste he quickly finished the rest, licking his fingers when he was done and drinking most of the water. He began to plan how he was going to get out of there, or for a more important matter, find out where he even was.
He let out a satisfied sigh when he finished the water, beginning to put it away into the bag. When he closed up the bag and made to stand he roze when he heard a low growl. He looked up and around trying to find where it came from but he saw nothing. Slowly he hung the bag on his shoulder while he stood up preparing to move away from there.
"Growwwwwll!" he froze as he heard it again but much louder this time and figured it came from inside the cave. He turned around only to see three yellow spots with black dots in them looking towards him, then four rows of razor sharp teeth revealing themselves as it let out a guttral growl. He was no fool as many claimed him to be so he turned around and ran, he ran to the trees he saw out front, not stopping for a second.
He heard the thing run after him and he thanked his running and dodging skills to Dudley as he shifted in and out of the thicket. He took a peek back seeing what looked like a giant lizard on steroids, but much more mutated looking. It kept trying to get to him by jumping from tree to tree but there were too many branches for its big girth.
He turned back around planning to run until he lost the monster or until it got him, but either way he was going to keep running. He never noticed that his clothes didnt fit him right anymore, or that he was shorter, it wasnt until he finally tripped over his long pants after running a while that it came to him.
Sebastian lay still as he came around, taking in his surroundings while making sure there were no threats. After assuring himself that it was only him there, he stood up and stretched. He looked around finding that he was in a dead forest. Black trees, wilted bushes, shriveled vines, cracked dirt, there was no life there.
The sky was a blood orange color with black clouds rolling by with the occasional grey spot. He looked around once again but this time his eyes caught sight of a travel bag that looked empty. He didnt bother looking around anymore, his senses knowing nothing had been there that he could catch so he made his way over to the unassuming bag.
He saw a tag with his name written in elegant cursive and a note sticking out. Pulling the note out, he read it aloud :
"Sebastian Michaelis, you have been chosen to help a child fix this world of the cruel anomalies and creatures that reside here. In this new world you must help, guide, and teach him to kill these vicious monstrosities that lurk the shadows.
There are four others, two adults and two other children, the other men reciving a similar note. You are to all work together if not you will all be stranded here on this god foresaken planet together. There is a lesson to be learned through all this a different one for each and everyone of you. The children are all alone and by the time they awaken, they will of found themselves in a very hard situation in which you are to either save them, or help them, but you will not harm them.
Should you or any of you decide to try and harm each other there will be reprecussions. None in which will be pleasant. Until this world is manageable, and the hosts who live on it can contain these creatures themselves, you will work to decimate them, as well as study them. There are books in your bag in which you will fill out and complete, a homework of sorts if you will.
The children are clueless and unless in a dire need to know basis or your 'dying', in which by the way will be impossible for any of you since on this planet you are essentially immortal, they should not know about it. All they need to know is that you were sent there to help them, as they will also help you in ways you did not know before.
Sebastian Michaelis you are being told, you are to protect, guide, and foster the child you are assigned, and you must also watch out for the other children when one of their soon to be mentors cannot. You will all look out for each other for if not, the pain that can be passed onto you is immeasurable and insaitable. Once more, this is a new world with new rules, you must each look out for each other, if not may God try and bless your helljourned soul.
Yours Truely,
The Death of Life"
Sebastian was a bit curious "have to help this child hm, I wonder who it could be?" he tucked away the note, looking into the empty feeling bag, quickly figuring out how its used. It had a good supply of souls with a few other things for a child, like small clothing, sustenance, and a few entertainment items along with other basic survival nessecities. He slid the bag onto his shoulder looking around, extending his hearing to see if he heard anyone of the five he was to meet.
His ears picked up a sound quite a whiles away, it sounded like wild animals fighting each other but then he though, what if it wasnt an animal but one of the children? He began to head in that direction, wondering what it was he was going to face and who he was going to meet.
Tom growled as he began to awaken. When his eyes opened, they were a violent glowing red. He quickly looked around, he anger slightly deflating as he took in his strange surroundings. He was by a cliff looking out into the ocean that was almost black. No sun was seen, yet there was light, the sky was bloody with black clouds rolling slowly through it. The sand was grey and the cliff's rocks were shrouded with illusionistic shadows. He saw something strange slither in the water down below but didnt care about it as long as it left him alone.
On the other side of the cliff was what used to look like a city. Buildings and homes were burnt down and were overgrown with weeds. It was a little too quiet, no birds crowing or squirrels scavenging for food, it was like something was waiting for him to enter the once city.
He felt around for his wand not finding it making him begin to look around. He saw a hangmans rope holding a small duffel bag while it hung from the tree, a non existent wind making it sway. Cautiously he neared it, narrowing his eyes when he made out his name across the front.
He stood in front of it looking at the tag with his name and the note. He quickly skimmed through the note, a sense of unease drifting through him. He discerned he was no longer insane, that he was actually quite level headed... Well a little bit anyways. He pulled off the bag and opened it, realizing it was a wizarding bag for travelers.
He had one back at his mansion for when he went to other countries for a long while. He wandlessly checked it over for any curses, admonishing himself for not doing that first, and when it seemed clear he put the strap over his head looking around again, searching for any kind of life from the other five he was supposed to meet.
He made his way to the demolished city but kept to the edge of it, not wanting to cross something that would be lurking in the bigger buildings. He began on thinking what child he was 'supposed to help, guide and teach' would be and who the other two adults were. He was hoping they would be able to at least manage to hold decent conversation if he was to be forced with them.
He was walking for about five minutes when he heard some commotion comming from within the city. He was wary of going in but if it was one of the little rodents he was supposed to look after he guessed he had to go and find out. He disillusioned himself, not completely sure if it would work, then quickly walked into the city going to where all the noise was comming from.
Nightwing silently awoke, his body feeling exhausted as if he went a couple rounds with Bane. He listened for any sounds to tell him if he was alone or not but it was dead silent. He opened his eyes feeling his mask was off. He reached to fix it but caught sight of his hands, they were bare and a lot smaller than he remembered.
He sat up looking down at his body, realizing he had shrunk since his costume didnt fit him properly anymore. He looked small and scrawny, just like he did whe he was younger. He looked around trying to figure out what was going on since his head wasnt able to piece it together just yet.
His surroundings looked bleak and lifeless. There was a brick wall that was crumbled behind him and half a house on his right, the other half was gone, revealing a dark forest. He heard a creak along with a soft thump making his eyes instantly look to the source. By the half shattered window was a black rucksack that was flat.
He looked around wondering if someone had thrown it there but he couldnt see much since it was kind of dim there. He reached towards his belt only to find it gone along with his wrist brace and shoes, all his weapons were gone. He looked back to the bag eyeing it suspiciously, but curiosity won as he walked over to it.
He saw his name written on the tag, and after a slight hesitation, he pulled it over peeking inside. All he saw were names on zippers and as he pulled the one labeled clothes he yanked his hand back as he felt something appear at the bottom. Slowly he put his hand back in the pulled out a black shirt with long sleeves that seemed just the size he was now. He looked to his uniform debating weither or not he should change.
Finally he decided to change since his suit wasnt going to help him much right, now so he put his hand back in the bag, and pulled out black kevlar like material pants. He also found some running shoes like the ones he had except without adjustments along with some socks, body suits and a sweater with a hoodie.
He quickly changed shoving his suit in the bag, hanging it over his shoulder, as he walked to the other end of the fallen house. He peeked around, checking for anything lurking in the shadows his eyes playing tricks on him, since the lighting was at that point it hurt sometimes. He saw one end looked lighter than the other so he made his way there, hoping it wasnt some sort of trap.
Walking through the charcoal like trees and dead plants he felt as if he was being watched. He wanted to pull his hoodie over but then he wouldnt be able to keep an eye on himself from behind very well, so he just shoved his hands in his pockets and walked on, staying alert for anything unusual.
As he was nearing the lighter side of the woods he heard crunching behind, making him quickly turn. At first he didnt see anything, but then he saw a shadow begin to flick around, two dark green spots suddenly appeared with red dots in the center. He vaguely realized that they were eyes he was looking at.
He saw something pink begin to open and saw it was its mouth it had no teeth but it did have tenticles that were crawling out heading towards him. He turned around and ran picking up some sticks and rocks throwing them at the tenticle things while he flipped to get out of one's reach.
He kept running until he was in a lighter area, the first thing he noticed was that the sky was a dark red with black clouds in it. He ran to the spots that had the most light since the things seemed to not be able to fully enter those parts while managing to squish one of the buds of the tentacle making the creature shriek and recoil but chase after him with more fervor.
He yelped as the thing wrapped around his ankle lifting him into the air, the red hole that was its mouth, began making sucking noises giving him the impression he was going to be flushed. Suddenly he fell down hard while all he saw was another black blur but he suddenly felt too tired to try to figure out what it was as he fell into the consuming darkness.
Slade was stalking through the forest, thinking how he was going to mutilate whoever it was that took him there and how he was going to take great pleasure in it. He whacked down another branch growling at the pack that appeared behind it. It had been appearing for the past three hours and everytime he tried to dispose of it, it just returned.
He yanked off the bag throwing it aside but this time it didnt leave his hand. He tried taking it off with the other but it just stayed stuck to his hands. He gave up when he used his foot getting it stuck there too and just put it on his back after checking the inside finding it empty.
He began wandering around again comminting everything to memory. Suddenly he heard a strange high pitched growl that sounded almost like a whine. He stopped and listend for any sound only hearing nearly silent footfalls from behind him on his right and at the last second he swirled around catching something by the jaw before it attacked him unaware. He fought it for a bit, the beast looking like some strange overgrown lizard and vaguely his mind supplied that it looked like a velociraptor.
He managed to break off its bottom jaw making it shriek and step back in pain before trying to attack again. He picked up a thick branch shoving it striaght into its skull, killing it immediately. He looked down at the dead body, looking it over curiously wondering if he had somehow got sent back in time.
That idea went away when he looked up again and saw a city upahead, but it didnt look like the historical ones shown in history books. It looked modern but it was a dead city, vines, trees, and overgrowth was everywhere, it looked abandoned with the crumpled buildings and burnt down homes.
He continued walking around the perimeter of the city and forest, keeping an eye out for any other sort of life that he didnt deem a threat. After another half hour of aimlessly walking he heard a ruckus not too far away and decided to investigat. Steadily he walked around a dilapidated building and saw a dark haired man with red eyes being cornered by what appeared to be rabid dogs but they also looked sane since they werent yet attacking him.
He watched from aside the building how the dogs were acting and before they attacked the man, he whistled attracting their attention. They looked to him and the other guy but it seemed since he was more active they ran towards him. When they were a foot away from him he took a big step to the side and watched deattchedly as they all ran into the crevis that was behind him.
He looked back to the man and saw he was leaning against some rubble breathing heavily and slowly turned to look at him. Slade noticed the guy had a strange look to him, then noticed it was his skin, it was unusually pale. Both of them just stared at each other until there was another growl and the man groaned trying to get up but collapsed back down. He looked close to fainting struggling to stay awake.
Slade saw with his unbeliving eyes, a Tyrannosaurus Rex slowly stalk out of the trees, it seemed to still be a hatchling since it was small, but it was still large. He stood still, wondering if the facts of standing still were true. It seemed to be true since the other man shifted garnering the juvenile's attention. It began to cahrge towards him, so he ran to the other man, picking him up by the arms adjusting so he carried most of his weight and ran off into the city since the other way was currently blocked.
Ciel had donned a confused look as he took in the room he was in. Laying on the rotting floor outside looked so odd and inside was full of decay. There were bugs everywhere with overgrown plants except for the corner he was on. It was empty with only a bag laying a foot away from him with his name sewn in it. He pulled it over with some curiosity but also a bit wary.
When he opened it he saw it was empty but the pockets were labeled. He opened the one named 'food' and felt his mouth water when he smelled something that smelt so devine. Putting his hand inside he pulled out a vial filled with a clear slivery tintish fluid on the inside. He frowned as his mind registered it as a soul, and a very good one at that by the almost pure silver color it had.
He tried to take the stopper off but hesitated since he wasnt sure how he would 'eat' it. When the airy fluid touched his tounge though when he leaned in to try it, he began to gulp greedily, reveling in the wonderful taste of what he was drinking. When he was finished he felt his tired body feel more rejuvinated and wondered how it had gotten him so energized.
He shook his head, he felt so satisfyingly full and rested. He shoved the empty vial back inside standing up, feeling another presence nearby and it didnt feel friendly. He walked to the 'windows' that were almost completely obliterated and saw the outside looked just as gloomy as the inside, just less bugs.
He turned around making his way out, he needed to find out where he was and who else was there. As he headed out he peeked from the corner taking everything in again making sure there were no surprises. He walked near the buildings feeling a little more secure with one of his sides covered while he just looked around at the strangeness of everything, how the shadows seemed to move from the corners of his eyes to the red sky above.
He began on walking with a random destination to see where on earth he was or if he was actually taken to hell. He stayed alert of his surroundings, knowing better than to let his guard down. For a while he just walked aimlessly until he heard a scuffle a little bit down the road. He silently walked to see what it was and regretted it a moment later when he was on the floor rubbing his head as he glared at what had done it.
He saw someone a few feet away from him holding onto their head as well, it seemed they had crashed into each other. "Watch where your going wont you" Ciel grumbled as he stood back up, but as soon as he was on his feet the other one grabbed him by the arm and began dragging him away "sorry but when theres things chasing after you, you just run and hide as best as you can! Now stop dragging your feet and run!".
Ciel looked at the other boy about to retort when he heard thumping footsteps behind them. He managed to turn around to see what it was and when he did he kept up with the other boy even managinng to end up dragging him along. They ran through the buildings trying to lose the beast after them but to no avail.
That was, until they fell through a covered hole in the ground the thing couldnt get into. They just stared at the monster trying to get in the crevis, it had bulging bug eyes, and yellow waxy looking skin with chameleon looking arms trying to snap at them. They began running down the torched pathway, not caring they might be heading into more monster beneath, just as long as they were way from that one, they were fine.
