A/N: Okay, I'm gonna shake things up a little here. Going to put the author's note at the beginning!
Thank you to all those who read my little note I posted not too long ago. I'm glad my writing is not a total mess. I did the note because I wanted to make sure everyone got a shout-out that deserved it for supporting my writing skills and its potential growth. An addition to the shout-outs to Chocolover27 for following along!
Now, thank you for reading and after, please leave a review! Hugs to you all!
The fires of the pit below them burned at their faces. Far into the depth of the pit, the flames reached the highest. The sky was even orange from the fire that reached up into it. There was no darkness here, but the darkness of fire. Scared of the height that they were at, Neville turned quickly and made to go to the outer edge of the realm, where once they were. But the swooping of wings sounded before he could make it more than a few steps from where the rest of them stood.
The demon growled. It did not speak nor showed any capacity of speaking. It was large, molten, and dark. Its wings took up the span of the horizon and a fiery whip was in its clawed hand. Horns like a ram curled down towards its jaw where they were met with sharp teeth. Two more figures joined it, and with their wings spread out, there was no escape.
"No one belongs here," Morgana whispered more to herself than the others.
"What do we do then?" Harry asked, now trusting her enough to not do anything beyond her orders.
Morgana looked back at the fires. "I have a theory…" She stuck her bare arm out into a flame reaching up at them. The fire did not burn her, but it was hot. The three demons snarled and snuffed at the air and her actions. "Do you trust me?" She turned to the boys that accompanied her.
The three nodded. With her back turned to the fire, Morgana allowed her feet to slip from the edge of the ground and she flew backwards into the pit. Harry, Neville, and Draco watched in horror as the girl that was their guide fell into the fires. Behind them, the three demonic creatures growled so much louder and closer to them that their breaths were on their necks.
"Trust me, my Dragon. Follow the path I lead," Morgana's voice echoed in Draco's mind. Closing his eyes, he jumped head first into the fires, but not without yelling at the two others to follow. With his eyes still shut, the heat of the fires escaped him, but the sensation was quickly replaced with a rushing of thickly water around him. Draco rushed to break the surface before he drowned even though his sight was gone from him.
As Draco's head broke the surface of the liquid, the sound of two bodies falling into the same pool as him echoed in his ears.
"Draco." He could hear Morgana's voice call to him. "Draco, get out of the river!" His eyes searched everywhere, but he couldn't find the source. Morgana soon called out to Harry and Neville. Following the sound, he swam to what he assumed was shore. "Follow my voice, and you will find me."
Her voice was on the wind, but it only came from one direction. Blinded by everything, the three men kept swimming even though their muscles ached. They hardly noticed that the water that splashed around them was scarlet red. It wasn't until their arms felt like they were falling out of their sockets did they reach where Morgana was. It was a shore, but there was no sand. Just brown dirt that mixed into mud. Only once they grasped onto land did anyone notice that the dirt was being mixed with red water.
"Is t-that… b-b-blood?" Neville stuttered out.
Morgana nodded in his direction as she wrapped her arms around Draco's torso. "The river of blood and fire. Neither of you felt the fire because it feeds from the place we last visited. I'm so glad you never killed Dumbledore when you were supposed to." The latter part of her speech was more intended for Draco than anyone else.
His questioning gaze pushed her to continue. "The river was meant for those who commit violence against neighbours – which plainly means murderers.
"Come now. We must continue," she said as if nothing had happened. She held onto Draco's hand as they entered the heavy woods of the forest. The air was silent except with their footsteps, but there seemed to be something whispering to them as they entered. Suddenly, something small fluttered across their path and the beating of fast, little wings whirled into their hearing.
"Harpies, Neville. That's what they are. Half-bird, half-woman. They're horrendous little creatures that feed on the wood here. All that noise that's too dull to hear? That's the trees. They're lost souls who gave themselves up to death through suicide," Morgana explained to all of them. More harpies came and ate at the wood, and the sounds grew up around them.
"Fuck! Get off of me!" Harry was suddenly heard exclaiming from the back of the group. The party looked back to see a harpy had chosen to peck at the odd bark that was Harry's flesh and hair.
"Oh, Harry…" Morgana tutted. She dropped Draco's hand and walked back to where Harry stood with a harpy fluttering around his head. "You did enter your death willingly that night at Hogwarts. Oh, stupid Dumbledore."
"What are you talking about? And get this bloody bird away from me!" Harry swatted away at the harpy, but it was relentless.
Morgana walked right up to him and placed a hand on his cheek. Green eyes stared wide back at her dark ones. The harpy even fluttered over to another tree when Morgana laid claim on Harry. "You have to stay here, Harry. I'm sorry."
"I've never killed myself though," Harry tried to reason with Morgana.
She shook her head. "You entered your death and willingly allowed Voldemort to take it from you. That dream or vision that you had that night in your head? That was you at the crossroads. You died, Harry. You won't suffer here though, but you can't go pass this point."
Morgana rummaged around for her deck. At the top of the deck was the image of the Hanged Man. The colourful card was raised above her head and was snatched up by a harpy. The creature pecked at the card until holes were put through, completely ridding the image of the man. The scraps that fell grew at the roots to become hollow, colourless copies of the card. Ten black-and-white cards.
"They're really milking him for who he is, eh?" Draco asked as he picked up all the cards for Morgana.
"Even Hell knows he's The Boy Who Lived. The Devil doesn't want the Master of Death coming back so easily," she easily mused.
The three remaining members of the party walked through the rest of the forest in pregnant silence. Sounds drifted around them, but the groans of the trees and chewing of the harpies were too weak to make any of them speak. As their legs grew weary, the trees thinned to open a plain of desert sand, covered in a fiery storm.
"How are we going to make it through there?" Neville asked tensely.
Draco watched from the corner of his eye as Morgana shut her eyes and bowed her head. Her exposed skin glowed to match the fires that fell from the skies before them. Both he and Neville could feel the heat radiating from her. The intensity didn't falter as her glow grew until it seemed as if she was on fire herself. Her eyes that opened were no longer the darkness but were of pyre instead. Grabbing both their hands, they nearly pulled back in scorching pain, but it subsided as they walked across the sands.
The heat radiated through the soles of their shoes, but it didn't melt any rubber away. The hands that were encased in Morgana's were hot as well, but neither of them blistered at her touch. The fires of the sky didn't touch them, but evaded them as they marched through the desert. They stepped along for miles until the faint sounds of running water hit their eardrums.
"Is that water?" Draco asked his companion.
"Don't let go," Morgana simply instructed. Her grip on them tightened as the sound intensified. As the resonating sound got louder, the fire and heat didn't falter. It wasn't until they were standing on the very edge of a cliff did Morgana finally let go of their hands.
"What do we do now?" Neville shook out of his throat. The words fell from his lips down into the abyss below them without an immediate answer.
"He should be here by now," Morgana whispered below her breath. No one heard her, but all she could visualise were the words falling into the darkness below them. There was no sign of what she was waiting for. The falling of the fire behind them was no longer audible and nothing around them disturbed the rock they stood upon. Seconds passed slowly for all of them as they waited to just fall.
Quite suddenly, the roar of the fiercest of creatures erupted from below them. Neville nearly lost his footing but fell back against the scalding sand instead. The searing of skin reached Morgana's ears. With swiftness no one knew she had, she picked up Neville gruffly by the wrist until he was once again standing where he nearly fell.
"It's just Geryon. He won't harm you as long as you're with me," Morgana reassured the nervous, young man. Just as he was mentioned, the creature hovered in front of them, creating a strong gust with each flap of his wings. No fear, worry, or guilt held her back. With no bravery but just knowledge, Morgana swung her leg over the back of the fearsome beast. She ushered her hand out for Neville to take. Draco followed his heart and straddled the creature he had never come across before.
"Neville, you chose to be brave! Bravery isn't what you are – it is the choices you make. Make this one," Morgana insisted of the one still standing on the solid ground of the realm he did not belong in. Underneath her bottom, she could feel the heat of Greyon's frustration.
Neville was still frozen as he stared at the gentle hand that was outstretched to him. He didn't want to stay where he was, but the fear of being the next one left alone glued his feet to the edge. The choices flashed in his rapid moving sight. His senses seemed to dullen and the time around him slowed, but one sound flowed through his eardrums, louder than his pulsing blood. 'Choose wisely, Neville. Be brave.'
It was like his mother's voice, something he has only heard in infant memory. He was so immersed in the voice that he had barely noticed the hand that had partially reached out to meet Morgana's.
"No," he said to himself.
He hadn't said it any louder than his own breathing, but Morgana heard it. Draco's insistency was now ghosts on the wind despite it being right by her ear. It was only Neville's decision that she could hear.
"May the gods be in your favour. Believe in your bravery for you are your only hero now," Morgana wistfully said as Geryon lifted them down to the depths below them.
"Will he be safe?" Draco asked above the howling of the wind.
"He will be unharmed, but the harpies might have their fun. I never took you to care for the Gryffindors."
"They were my peers once. They were just allowed to show what choices their hearts decided upon." His eyes wandered over the scene of darkness below them, and as it connected with the depth, black abyss swallowed the iciness of his eyes.
Morgana was about to respond until a voice overtook her own. "You are coming close, Princess. I have been waiting so long for you."
She was frozen in her thoughts. It had been years since she heard that voice. Ice filled the marrow of her bones as lava seemed to flow through her veins. The voice was one she had learned to forget, to ignore, but it was stronger than any fortress she could build. It was her nightmare and her dream.
"Take us to Judecca, Geryon."
A/N: The next chapter will be the final one in Hell! And I have a feeling there will only be two or three more chapters until the end. I don't know if at the end of this to do a sequel or not, but I will leave that up to all of you, lovely readers. I have ideas, but nothing concrete enough to start a sequel. But if there's enough support for a sequel, I will summon inspiration enough to do it!
In other notes, I have ideas about doing a completely different story to make us muggles/no-majs to feel imagine what life would be at Hogwarts for us. I got inspired by reading some posts recently from Muggleborn Head Cannon and want to experience it as an imaginative story.
Lemme know what y'all think through reviews or PM! Thanks for reading! ^_^