Note: Sorry about the delay, people. You were all patient, I assume, so I thank you for that. Now, last time several things happened. Some of them were important. Some, not so much. Alder's story? Not so much. Loor's? Yes. Bobby and Harry? Very. Gunny? You'll see. And what about Loor's story? Evil travelers when least expected. Saint Dane on the outskirts. Voldemort on the rampage. Get ready. It's about to get rough.
As Gunny lay, breathing heavily, under the collapsed building, he thought back on what had happened to him since leaving the void.
That's when everything went to hell.
After saying his goodbyes to the rest of the Travelers, Gunny returned to his home territory of First Earth to find it in a big mess. Ruined. The first thing he did was find a newspaper. It read:
December 19, 1940,
Terror in the Territory!
Late last month, every zeppelin that flew over the United States from Germany has gone down, beginning with the Hindenburg. The German people as a whole believe it to be sabotage, and thus, an act of war. The results of these beliefs to be reported at a later date.
It was now January 12th. Gunny could see from the wreckage that had been downtown New York what the Germans had decided to do.
"Saint Dane, you monster," he muttered, dropping his head. Then he heard a laugh behind him and whipped around to see what might've resembled a man at some point, but no longer.
"Now, now," he said, shaking his head. "Everyone always assume the work of that muggle is to blame. But no, it was me, fool. And there's nothing anyone can do about it."
"But you've caused the deaths of millions of innocent people!" Gunny protested. "You can't do this!"
The man frowned-or was it a scowl?-at him. "All of them would've have died at some point. Now," he said, pulling out a long stick and pointing it at Gunny, "it is your turn. Avada Kadevra!"
A flash of green flew from the stick into Gunny, knocking him off his feet and causing him to hit his head against a nearby fire hydrant.
But I didn't die, he thought. I should have, but I didn't. So I WON'T die here!
Taking a deep breath, he began to dig his way out of the wreckage of the building that had fallen on him.
Alder walked cautiously around the mine, watching as people silently dug for…something. He did not understand why, with all of the advancement the people here had made, there would still be a mine. Even more so at the way it is used: as a punishment. The people here must known the mines could kill after prolonged exposure.
"You there," Alder said, addressing one of the miners. The miner put down his tool and said, "Yea? What do you want?"
Alder looked the man in the eye. "What is it you are meant to mine here?"
The man laughed until he realized Alder was serious. "Oh…we don't really mine for anything in particular. They just gave us the tools for something to do until we get out. We don't usually stop mining, though…" The man broke off and went back to his job, sighing in defeat. Alder took another look around. There had to be someone in this place who had hope enough to escape with their lives and help the people.
Just as he was about to pick up a tool and look it over, Alder heard a man's voice call him.
"Alder? Is that you? Alder!"
He looked around in alarm. "Who speaks my name? Where are you?"
The voice laughed. "Really, you do not remember your own brother?"
Alder gasped. "Brother? How is this possible? You are…" "Dead? I have heard the same said about you, and yet here you stand." he replied calmly.
"Well said. What is it you think we should do to help these people, brother?" Alder asked, furrowing his brow. His brother did the same as he thought about it.
"I have an idea, but it will not be simple. And we will need their help if we are to help them."
"But what do you plan to do?"
Alder's brother frowned. "We will have to continue mining."
"What do you mean? We need to help these people so that mining does not kill them!"
"And the solution," his brother said, folding his arms, "is deep within the mine."
Alder's jaw dropped. "You do not mean…?"
He was silent.
Remus ran to the door to see to Sirius.
"Are you alright?" he asked bringing him into the house. Slowly, he changed back into a human.
He coughed and cleared his throat before speaking. "I saw Lucius and MacNair lurking about. They said that Voldemort hasn't sent them any orders lately, but that they were going to organize an attack on the Ministry to keep up appearances."
Lupin was shocked but nodded. "So, then how did you end up like this?"
Sirius scowled. "Malfoy recognized me. They both started casting curses at me. They missed me, but the pavement that they did hit did a number on me. So, what are we going to do?"
"We should alert Dumbledore. He needs to know that Voldemort isn't calling the shots right now, then he'll decide what to do about the Ministry."
"To hell with that idea! I say we go there and take them on on our own, for old times sake. What do you say, Moony?"
He shook his head. "I think those years as a dog made your ideas as wild as your fur. I'm going to alert Dumbledore."
"Fine." Sirius moaned. "Tell the teacher. You always were a goody two-shoes. Well, I'm going anyway. Bye."
"No, wait--!"
Pop.
"Oh, great. Now I have to tell Dumbledore about this all the more. I just hope Harry doesn't find out…"
Patrick felt himself rising to his feet the next time Voldemort pointed his wand at him. He grunted him pain; he was pretty sure he'd broken his arm.
"So, muggle, are you ready to tell me where Pendragon is yet, or will I have to kill you and find him myself?"
Patrick managed a rough chuckle. "If you're going to kill me and search for him anyway, what was the point in coming here and ruining my life and dropping a building on my friend?"
Voldemort brought him to his face. "Because, fool, I do not like you. I do not like Travelers and I hate muggles. As you're both, I would have killed you eventually. I may as well make you useful first."
"W-well…you failed."
"Perhaps. But you still get to die. Avada Kadev--arg!"
Patrick looked around to see what had happened as Voldemort dropped him to the ground. "Gunny!"
Yes, Gunny had climbed out of the wreckage of the building. Apparently, he'd thrown a rock a Voldemort.
"Fool! You think you can defeat me with a stone? I am the most powerful sorcerer ever known!"
"Nope, I didn't think I could defeat you. But I distracted you, didn't I?"
Voldemort grimaced and turned around. Patrick was gone.
"NO! If you truly cannot die, then tell me how you like this. Fiendfyre!"
Once he escaped the quig bees, Siry decided to head into the forest to see if he could find anyone from Ibara.
He searched through every hidden "fortress" he knew about, but to no avail.
"Come on!" he shouted to the trees. "Where is everyone?"
Suddenly, he heard a rustle behind him. He whipped around. "Who's there? Hello?"
A girlish laugh echoed through the trees. Siry followed after the sound and continued to call after it. Finally, when he was about to give up, Telleo stepped from the trees.
"Hello, Siry. Are you lost, too?" she asked, walking over to him.
"Telleo? Oh, I'm so glad to see you! But where's everyone else?"
She pointed to a group of trees. "I think I saw more people just through there. Why don't you take a look?"
Siry ran towards the trees and went in. What he saw almost made him lose consciousness. The whole tribunal, tied to trees. They were dead, their throats cut. Siry backed away too fast and tripped. When he got back up, he ran out to the clearing where he saw Telleo.
"Telleo, the tribunal, they're--Telleo?"
But she was gone. All was silent, except for the cry of a lone raven.
Harry had had bad days in his past. He'd almost died in a few quidditch matches, fought a basilisk and (barely) lived, fought a mountain troll, escaped a dragon, faced over one hundred dementors at once, faced Lord Voldemort, and danced at the Yule Ball. But he wasn't sure what to make of the news he had just received from Dumbledore.
At the same time, Bobby had been sure that the worst threat he'd come across was Saint Dane. But then Snape and Albus told him about this "Lord Voldemort" character. To Bobby, he sounded like bad news wrapped in a cape. So when Albus brought the news he'd just received, Bobby wasn't too thrilled.
"Harry," Dumbledore said, sitting at his desk, "fetch Mr. Pendragon. I believe he should hear this, too."
Harry nodded and went to find Pendragon.
Bobby looked up when Harry entered Snape's office. "Dumbledore wants you. He has to tell us something."
"Okay, let's go."
Once they were both in his office, Dumbledore began. "I've just received word from Remus that the Death Eaters are planning an attack on the Ministry of Magic."
"Death Eaters?" Bobby asked. "What are they?" He hoped they weren't some kind of quig.
"They're followers of Voldemort." Harry answered impatiently. This Pendragon was rude, however useful he might be. "Go on, professor."
Albus nodded. "Well, there's more bad news to this. Sirius heard this directly from Lucius Malfoy: Lord Voldemort has disappeared. The Death Eaters are acting of their own accord by attacking the Ministry."
Bobby gulped. If Voldemort wasn't in their territory…no, it's wasn't very likely.
Dumbledore continued. "Now, Harry, this is the part that I ask you not overreact to. Sirius has gone ahead to intercept the Death Eaters on his own. He seemed to think it would be enjoyable.
"So, I take it this 'Serious' isn't all there, is he? Taking on all of Voldemort's followers." Bobby said, looking from Harry to Albus.
Harry jumped up. "You watch what you say, Pendragon! Sirius is my godfather!"
Bobby shrugged. "All I'm saying is if he keeps up this behavior, he'll be your late godfather."
Just then, Hermione and Angelina burst in. "Harry, did you push--oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."
Bobby looked around at the two girls. "It's okay, we were just discussing…things?"
He wasn't sure if they were supposed to know anything, so he looked at Harry, who nodded.
Harry stood up and went to Hermione. He whispered something in her ear, then she nodded and left.
"So," Dumbledore said, "we're clear on this: Harry, you will not go to the Ministry to find Sirius, I will send some of the Order to his aide. Correct?"
"Yes," Harry said. Bobby noticed he did not look into Albus's face.
"Very well. I will inform you when Sirius is safe."
Bobby left the office after Harry. When the reached fifth floor, Harry stopped and turned around. "Pendragon, can we trust you?"
Surprised, Bobby nodded. "Yeah, sure. Why?"
Harry sighed. "Because I'm going after my godfather anyway, and I'd like you to help me."
As Loor ran through the streets, she ran into a fleeing Batu. She grabbed him by his arm. "What is happening?" she asked him. "I thought that the tribes were at peace. Who are these people?"
The Batu shook his head frantically. "I do not know! They just appeared a few nights ago."
Loor let the man go. He tried to run away, but was hit with a stray arrow and fell to the ground.
She looked for the source of the arrow and found herself looking at Nevva Winter, head of a group of the invaders. When she noticed Loor, she smiled and waved before showering more Batu with arrows.
Loor shouted in fury and ran at the group with her stave out in front of her.
Press Tilton wasn't entirely sure where he was. Since he had been to every territory, this was a very bad position to be in. But he had run into an acquaintance.
"I didn't expect to see you, Jen. What's the occasion, my friend?"
Jen Remudi, the former Traveler of Ibara, laughed. "Of all the things you could have asked me. You haven't changed, Press."
Press laughed too. "Neither have you."
"Being dead a couple of years tends to have that effect."
"It does," Press agreed. "But tell me, at what point before you died did you turn to the other side?"
Jen sighed. "Not the other side, per se. I'm still out to stop Saint Dane. I just don't follow the rules anymore. Cross a boundary here, innocent casualty there. As long as it gets the job done."
"That's not the way it was meant to be." Press said, looking down.
"Yea, well, what about all of this? Were the territories meant to fall? Was Saint Dane meant to topple them? Why are we here when we're supposed to be dead? This is not the way it was meant to be. I'm just following that pattern!"
"If I had the answers to your questions, we wouldn't be in this battle. But you can't just--"
"I can, Press. I can and I will. Just try and stop me."
Press shook his head in frustration as Jen left. "Bobby, wherever you are, I hope you don't have a similar problem."