Chapter 3

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."

White was the first thing that Harry registered and for a moment he thought he was back at the 'train station' and that he'd killed himself and Steve. The only thing that made him realize he was alive was the sound of someone stirring next to him.

He sat up slowly and looked around. The whiteness began to fade and he saw that he was in what looked to be a cave; there were stalactites hanging from the roof but it seemed brighter than it should have been.

There were two arches stood across from one another; they looked like the veil in the Department of Mysteries and that thought made Harry turn his attention to the person next to him instead. It took a few seconds to realize that it was Steve; he was wearing his Captain America outfit minus the helmet and shield.

Nervously, fearing that he'd disappear, Harry reached out and poked Steve in the arm, his finger went straight through him but Steve reacted to the poke anyway by opening his eyes and looking around himself; he took in all the details of the cave, though he seemed reluctant to look at the arches too.

They both stood up and looked at one another. Harry had seen Steve in memories but he'd never been able to properly interact with him while Steve was amazed to be back in his own body and able to look at Harry rather than through Harry's eyes.

"Did it work?" Steve asked, thinking of the ritual and then looking around again. "Because they don't seem like a good sign to me." He waved a hand in the direction of the arches.

"I don't know," Harry admitted. "But I don't think we're alive at the moment." To prove his point, Harry tried to poke Steve in the shoulder and watched as his hand went through him.

"Maybe it's only me that's dead," Steve suggested.

Harry frowned at that; he hadn't attempted a dangerous ritual that included killing himself just for Steve to remain in his half-alive state. Determined to find out whether they were both dead or not, Harry reached a hand out and touched one of the stalagmites that grew from the floor. His hand hit the stone without going through.

Steve heaved a sigh but followed Harry's example and reached his own hand out. They were both surprised when his hand hit the stone as well, proving that they were either dead or both half-alive.

Before they could have the chance to work out what had happened, a woman walked out from behind one of the rock formations and then stood facing them from her place in the middle of the two arches.

Harry reached for his wand the same time Steve went for his shield and both of them were annoyed to find the items missing. It worried Harry more than Steve since Harry remembered finishing the ritual with his wand in his hand.

"Who are you?" Steve demanded, moving slightly so that he could see the woman better. Harry followed his lead and frowned at her, there was something familiar about her; he felt like he should know who she was.

The woman had long black hair that fell to her waist and black eyes that seemed to shimmer with white lights. She was wearing a black long sleeved top that had a picture of a scythe on the front, a pair of black skinny jeans and black knee-high boots. A pendant of a pair of red wings with a black skull in the middle hung around her neck on a black chain.

"My name is Thana," she answered. Her voice brought memories of graveyards and sorrow, it was spoke in a whisper that was fit for someone's death bed and yet it seemed to echo around the cave as if she's shouted. "On me the portion of your time depends, my absence lengthens life, my presence ends…" (*)

The feeling of familiarity strengthened and Harry found himself speaking before he could even think about what to say. "Do you have another name?"

Her blood red lips curled up into what should have been a smile but caused a shiver to go down their spines. "I have many names, Young Harry, but I think the one you're looking for would be Death."

"Death," Steve swallowed. "So we're dead then? The ritual failed?"

Thana regarded them both for a few moments before motioning with her hand for them to come closer to the arches. They went up hesitantly; if they were already dead there wasn't much else she could do to them and she seemed to have the most power in this situation.

"This arch would take you back to your universe, Young Harry," Thana waved a hand at the arch on her left; the inside of the arch looked like a gentle waterfall flowing downwards. "If you go through it you will find yourself in the same place you were when you left. Should Steve Rogers decide to go through with you I am able to let him take his body back too."

She waved a hand at the other arch on her right; this one looked like a waterfall too but it was angrier than the other one and there was a red flash of light every few seconds so that it looked like blood was pouring down with water.

"This arch would take you to the universe Steve Rogers came from," Thana continued once we'd examined the arch. "You would go through with your body and magic, though it would be different to your own universe; more limiting. Meanwhile, Steve Rogers would remain in your head until his body is found and defrosted. The only reason Steve Rogers isn't dead already is that I put his soul inside your body until his own body can be inhabited once more."

"So, I'd go back inside Harry's head until my body was found?" Steve concluded, thinking about everything they'd been told.

"Indeed," Thana flicked a dismissive glance at him and went back to looking at Harry. Harry got the feeling that she wouldn't have explained anything if it had just been Steve on his own. "Should you choose the second option, you would discover that you could talk to each other telepathically, even after Steve Rogers gets his body back; it's a side-effect of sharing a body for so long. It will happen even if you go through the first arch."

"The arch that leads to Steve's universe looks more violent than the other," Harry pointed out. "Why is that?"

"If you had come a few years ago, Young Harry, you would have seen both arches looking the same," Thana explained. "Your universe is peaceful now, your war is finished."

"Not completely," Harry argued, frowning in thought. "The Muggles are still at war."

"They have a different arch," Thana dismissed. "They do not concern you at this moment, Young Harry."

"My universe is at war?" Steve worried. "What sort of war?"

"I cannot tell you that," she turned to gaze into the stormy arch. "I can only tell you that without you, Steve Rogers, it will be lost."

"I'm going back," Steve decided, smiling at Harry. "You don't have to come with me, go back and settle down; you've done enough fighting already."

"So have you," Harry countered. "I'm going with you. If I don't you'll spend the whole time until your body's found unaware of the world."

"Once you step through, you may never come back," Thana warned. "There is no way of doing the ritual again and going back. If you step through an arch you will have to stay there."

"If we step through an arch?" Steve repeated. "Is there another choice?"

"You could die," she offered emotionlessly, the lights in her eyes intensifying. "Well, at least you can, Steve Rogers."

"What do you mean?" Harry demanded.

"I mean what I say, Young Harry," she replied. "You're Master of Death. Therefore you get what comes with it; you cannot die until you choose, nor may you age until you wish too. You can make yourself younger but not older and you will still feel pain, even if you can't die."

"I-I can't die?" Harry repeated with a stutter. Steve grimaced sympathetically, looking like he would have patted him on the shoulder if he'd been able to.

Thana tilted her head. "Only if you choose not to. Though I should warn you that I may not allow you to die. As long as you are Master of Death, no one else may claim the title and I know you won't misuse it."

Harry pushed the thoughts that brought into the back of his mind and decided to think about it later; he didn't want to think about his mortality – or lack of it – when there was nothing he could do about it.

"I know which arch I want to go through," Steve announced, trying to change the subject; he knew that it was a sore spot for Harry.

Harry nodded and stepped forward so that he was standing between the arches. "I'm going with him."

"Then go," Thana whispered with her mournful voice. They blinked and she was gone as if she'd never been there, leaving them alone with the two arches. Exchanging silent looks, they stepped in front of the stormy red tinted arch and, after a last glance towards the universe they were leaving behind, walked through the war filled veil.

(*) This is taken from An Orphic Hymn that I altered very slightly.