Disclaimer: I do not own xxxHolic, Death Note, Harry Potter or any or their associated Characters or Fictional Locations.

The Traveller

Chapter Two

Nathan L. Times had his eyes closed. The reason for this was that, when he had tried to travel through the multiverse with them open, he had quickly found that it was an effective way to induce vomiting. After this, he kept them firmly shut.

But now he felt as if he was nearing the end of his journey. The pressure had been continually fluctuating, changing intensely quickly (the popping in his ears had gotten extremely annoying) was now becoming steady. Hopefully, this way, he wouldn't die of the bends.

Nathan became aware of something. He had begun to have a strange...circular feeling, as if he was on a giant string and someone was spinning him around on it. Or he was in a giant tumble-drier.

Seconds later, it was as if the tumble-driers lid had burst open, and thrown him out of it. He felt reality slamming down on him. He opened his eyes, but his eyeballs rolled back into his skull before he closed them, relying on other senses for the meantime. He breathed in air which seemed too sharp, too cold, after the humid air of the space between mulitverses. The surface he had landed on felt too hard.

Basically: everything felt harshly, wonderfully real.

He would never under-estimate the quality of reality again. Nathan just sat where ever he was until the world stopped spinning. After five minutes or so he opened his eyes and examined the area around him.

What? was his first thought. Where was he? He was in a small, enclosed space full of darkness (thank goodness he wasn't claustrophobic). Despite his first conclusion of his landing place, he was actually sitting on something quite soft. But anything would feel hard after the softness -no, not softness, the immaterial of the space between realities. Gradually he became aware of muted voices. Suddenly, a bell rang, laud and harsh. Nathan jumped, smashing his head against something. Something fell on him...A broom?

Then it clicked. He was in a broom cupboard. He could hear footsteps around him, voices jeering, laughing, talking. Someone blowing a whistle and shouting at someone. Nathan realised where he was.

He was in the broom cupboard of a high school

Anywhere in the universe- no, mulitverse, he berated the ring silently. And you choose a high school?!

Unsurprisingly, the ring didn't answer.

The voices and sound outside his little prison quieted down and Nathan began to seriously hope the broom cupboard was able to be opened from the inside. However, in about three seconds, he found out that he didn't need it to be.

Sudden light was shed on his situation -literally. the door to his broom cupboard was opened. A janitor stood there, looking at him from under unusually bushy eyebrows.

"Get out of there, kid," he ordered in Japanese. Nathan obeyed without hesitation, the cupboard was getting too stuffy for liking. "Cutting class will get you nothing but my job!" As Nathan thanked him politely and walked off, he heard the janitor's wheezing laughs change to coughs. He sighed, relieved that he'd been rescued sooner rather than later. As he walked, he looked around him. he decided that, rather than have someone find out he didn't actually go to the high school and arrest him for trespassing, he would try the ring again and get the hell out of there.

He tried to turn the ring. The red stone refused to move. He looked at it closer, removing his hand from it. While he watched, the ruby shivered on the gold band, went one way, then span another.

That's strange, Nathan thought to himself. It looks as if it's getting ready for travel. Suddenly he felt what the gem was trying to do. It was trying to go into the dimension he'd specified, a different one to the one he was in, but something was stopping him. As the ring pushed to complete the rotation and send him into another dimension, he felt as if some great force was pushing him from all sides, like a steel press custom made to his shape. It suddenly ceased, causing him to stumble. He panted, frantically thinking what could possibly cause such a reaction.

He was near an open door revealing a small internal park with a cement path. He looked on, curiously, as a black notebook fell from the sky.

Well... that's not something you see every day, he thought to himself. A second later a male student walked by and retrieved the note book from the ground. Something drew Nathan's eye to the ring, and he saw that it was now shifting uncontrollably, the ruby spinning from half-way left and back again in less than second . As the boy with the note book walked away the jerking descended to the same faint shivering movement as before. Nathan looked up. That note book must have been what was keeping him from being where he was supposed to be. There was nothing else that he could see that could be interfering with the ring, if he was to continue on his way it had to be destroyed.

*****

It took Nathan a few hours to track down the boy. He had lost him when he had walked off. Nathan had held back, not sure of how long he would have to wait before following him to assure that he wouldn't be spotted. Unfortunately he had waited too long and lost the boy. He had made his way to the administration section of the high school and had sat in the back, looking through one of the year books, telling the lady that he was waiting for a friend. After an hour of flicking through the year book and getting more and more concerned looks from the administration lady, he had found him. Still going with the 'waiting for a friend' excuse, he had asked the lady the details of 'his friend who had apparently forgotten to meet him', this 'Light Yagami' person. The lady, who was, thankfully, taken with his British accent, gave him the details and offered him a lollipop. He declined.

After finding his way to Yagami's house, he had seen the boy eating with his family through an uncovered window. Everything was set for Nathan to find the note book and destroy it.

*****

Ryuk had a problem.

No, that was inaccurate. he had several problems. The apples in the Shinigami realm were too dry. He was bored. The rest of the Shinigami were annoying him with their willingness to lay around and gamble all day.

But now he had another one. Someone had picked up his note book, which was good. But he couldn't get to him.

Something was stopping him from getting through to the human realm.

Something was blocking him.

*****

Nathan sat glumly outside the Yagami house, to be more precise he leaned on the fence outside the Yagami house. What was he going to do? He could hardly walk up to the Yagami boy and demand the notebook, and if he tried to break in the chances were the strong looking middle-aged man in the window would probably break him in several places.

Well, actually, he knew what he was going to do. His rumbling stomach and itchy eyes were telling him exactly what he was going to do: eat, drink (preferably water. He was ,in no way, an alcoholic) and sleep. Reluctantly he eased himself off the Yagami fence and began his search for sustenance.

*****

Park benches were very solid.

Water from water fountains, to which anyone could do anything to, made him nervous.

You actually couldn't live off leaves.

There were the things Nathan had learnt by trying to sustain himself from everything that could be found in a park. Made all the more uncomfortable due to his previous life of luxury. He was now stretching, trying to get the kinks out of his back. He became aware of a broadcast coming across a large television set onto a nearby office building. Some 'L' person was speaking about something. He became intrigued as he watched the broadcast. The murders of criminals had begun right after Light Yagami brought the note book home. Coincidence?

Somehow, Nathan didn't think so.

As Nathan watched 'L' proclaim that he would find 'Kira', he thought about how he could get to the note book. He jumped when 'L' suddenly clutched his hands to his chest and died, then relaxed when he saw the ruse that 'L' had played. He nodded appreciatively. He always enjoyed finding others on his intellectual level. That proclamation that L would find Kira no matter what send the cogs of Nathan's mind spinning.

So...He wanted to fin Kira? Well, Nathan could help. And, surely the detective would want the note-book destroyed... if he could contact this 'L' he may well gain an invaluable ally-

Nathan's stomach rumbled again, reminding him of the stabbing pain in his abdomen. But before that I need to find some food!

*****

Yuko was looking down on the situation through a crystal ball.

"I can't believe you actually have a crystal ball," mumbled Watanuki, simultaneously trying to clean and peek into the crystal ball. However whatever images it held for Yuko it showed him nothing more than a distorted image of the witches face.

"That is called 'karma'," Yuko said to him vaguely without looking around after she heard the thud of him hitting the ground as he tripped over some unnameable object. Her mind was somewhere else, she was following the ventures of the curious dimension-traveller as he changed the future before her very eyes.

"He is already changing everything..." Yuko muttered, wondering whether she should step in or not... if did it may constitute interference, if she didn't Nathan's actions may well lead to Kira's world coming to pass. There was no way to tell...

She decided to let it play out...

...For now.

Author's note:

Pangie: This was both my and MRegent.2's efforts. Tell us what you think by reviewing!

-XOX

MRegent.2: Pangie wrote the bulk of this, I'll be writing most of the next chapter. Anyway the poll for which world Nathan goes to is now for which one he goes to next. If your choice si not there then PM and it'll be up there within twenty-four hours!