Masquerade
Intermission
A/N: The official first chapter of the second arc will be posted up soon.
All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players-Shakespeare
Often times fate is out of the control of man's hand. As humans we can only create the illusion that we are in charge of the decisions we make and in complete control of the rewards that we reap from such choices. We live in this facade, in this false comfort that we can control where our lives go, but when time comes when the pretenses drop away and we are left stripped of our hope and of our dreams by some cruel twist, that is when we truly see what our lives are and that is that they are meaningless.
Meaningless in the grand scheme of things. We are but a speck of dust in this world compared to everything that is waiting for us out there in the universe. Yet we believe our own individual lives to be more important than the persons next to ours and that is because human nature is selfish and to truly believe that another human life is equal in worth to ours, or even worth more, is an absurd idea.
Of course the wizards thought they were different than the humans; that they had a chance to succeed in controlling fate where humans had failed. The wizards foolishly believed fate was like an animal, something that could be controlled and eventually mastered. But fate is wild. And unpredictable. And she is not kind to those who wish to temper with her.
Yet the wizards continued to foolishly power on, more foolish than their human counterparts because where the humans had learned the error of their ways in trying to control destiny, the wizards continually sought to tame that which could not and should not. They believed that with all their magic and might they were indestructible and could bend their destinies into the paths they sought them to weave upon. And they had many tricks to achieve this. They had the Deathly Hallows, three items of such magical potency they corrupted all those who used them. But the Philosophers Stone could only bring loved ones back from the dead momentarily, and the Elder Wand gave endless power but not without equally as powerful repercussions for its use. And the cloak of Invisibility was a cowards way out of troubles.
When these three items failed to garner the results expected of them, wizards turned to other magics, some so dark and ancient it was as if they were older than the very universe themselves. And they were so volatile and unsteady many were fearful of using them. And for those who did not dare to dabble in them, they created cheap imitations of ways to change the outcome of their future, of their luck, of their power and riches, and of who lived and who died.
What these witches and wizards didn't know was that there was a greater force than fate that they should be worried for, something that even made fate tremble. For it wasn't fate that judged them and the fruits of their lives in the end, but three men whose words had the power to send a poor soul into eternal damnation, eternal mediocrity or eternal glory. And no magic that wizards could produce would ever be able to break through the barrier of the worlds the judges resided it. That is, no one outside from these worlds could do anything about it. But it was an entirely different matter if the people inside these worlds rose up and fought for their humanity, for the right to regain what was lost.
It had been done before. Over the countless years of the judges rule only five souls had ever escaped from their grasp. Five lone souls who had no idea what it was they were escaping from and fighting for.
But then there had been these two souls, unlike any others the judges had seen. Not only had these two souls been taken in close timely proximity but they had meet up and worked together. This was unprecedented and the judges only grew infuriated at having their rules countered and at their persons being attacked. They fought to restrain these souls, as one was dangerous and the other as equally dangerous if not more, yet they could not. For the first time in their existence the judges had failed in their job and having no other option but to give up, they relented and let the souls return to their realm of existence.
But as the two souls, now in mortal flesh, were going to find out, once one returns from such a place there is no way they would ever be whole, ever be who they had originally been. And instead of their problems having ended they only extended, adding more strife and grief to a world that was cloaked so heavily in despair it was a wonder the people could even breathe through the thick air.
However, the two souls did not despair and that was only because they didn't know the truth. The three judges had given them parting gifts, three to be exact. These tricky and malignant gifts would forever change the course of the two souls destiny and that of their close friends and even the wizarding worlds as well. For the judges were vengeful and would not tolerate being outsmarted by mere magical beings. They were going to make sure the two souls regretted ever taking a stand against them and the way they ran things.
Yes, the judges would have their revenge.
It would be swift.
It would be merciless.
And in the end the two souls would be broken and crawling on their knees begging for redemption. Redemption they would never receive as the judges plunged them into the deepest and worst of the punishments they could offer.
The judges would have the last sentence.
Like every judge always did.