"So. You're not blind," Harry raised an eyebrow, glaring at his new friend.
Matt sighed, leaning on the wall of the alleyway.
"I mean, I am… sort of. I can't see, but I can still… experience everything around me. I can hear what's around me, like echolocation. I can smell when people are coming, I can feel vibrations going through the ground, I can taste everything in the air. It all melds together to give me a sort of picture of the world,"
"Huh. So you're blind, but you can still see?" somehow, wrapping his mind around this was kind of difficult. Strange, considering he was a wizard, on the run from a giant monster, with an all-powerful dark book strapped to his back.
"Essentially," he grinned. "Pretty neat, huh?"
"Neat? Neat? Seriously? You can see better than I can!" Harry spluttered, his mind spinning around this insane concept.
"Well, yeah, but you've got glasses, so…" Matt smirked.
"OK, 1, it's really creepy that you know that. And 2, YOU ARE BLIND! You shouldn't be able to tell how many fingers I'm holding up, let alone flip over a MOVING TAXI!" he held up his hand expectantly.
"1 finger, and that's just uncalled for," the not-so-blind-after-all teen chuckled.
"Oh I'll show you uncalled fo-" Harry was interrupted by an ear-splitting roar to their right. "Run,"
"Way ahead of you!" Matt sprinted down the alleyway, leaping over trash cans. Harry followed him, a second behind him.
The behemoth lumbered after them, crushing trash cans underfoot as it chased the pair. Harry groaned as he saw how close the creature was.
"Go up!" He shouted, leaping up to a nearby fire escape. Matt, ever the daredevil, jumped up to a different escape and vaulted off it, over to
Harry. "Showoff," They bounded up the steps like a spider, Harry narrowly avoiding a swipe from one of the creature's tree-like arms as he vaulted himself to safety on the roof, his heart racing.
"OK, huff, my turn," Matt caught his breath, then glared at Harry. "What the hell is that thing? And why the hell is it chasing you?"
Harry groaned. He was hoping it wouldn't come to this. "Look, I'm sorry, but I need you to trust me. I can't tell you why, I'm not allowed. All that matters is that you get as far away from me as possible, it's the only way you'll be safe,"
"Uh, yeah, no. Something tells me that no matter where I go, weird stuff is gonna happen,"
"But-,"
""I don't need to see to understand that the world's been getting crazy, okay? I mean, I'm a blind kid that flips over taxis, remember?"
"Matt, I don't want you getting hurt. I'm dangerous company,"
Matt smirked, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "Harry. I was born and raised in Hell's Kitchen. Danger's in my blood,"
Harry sniggered, rolling his eyes. "OK, fine, fine, but I'm still not gonna tell you what's going on,"
"Fair deal. So what's the plan?"
Harry groaned as his stomach rumbled. "First off, I need a decent meal. Ibex meat and scraps can only go so far," he tried to laugh his discomfort off.
"Okay, come with me, the sisters'll get you a meal and a bed," he offered with a smile.
Harry nodded, slumping and throwing his arm over Matt's shoulder. "Oh, thank God! I am so tired. The rocks I've been sleeping on are terrible for my posture," He laughed weakly, putting his weight on his friend as they walked to his home.
"Are we there yet?"
"No…"
"Are we there yet?"
"No…"
"Are we there yet?"
"Yes..."
"Really?"
"No!" Matt groaned out exasperatedly, thumping Harry on the shoulder. "Are you always this irritating?"
"Only when I'm hungry, and boy, I could eat a planet right about now,"
"Who are you, Galactus?"
"Maybe…" He waggled his eyebrows suspiciously, inciting a laugh from his human walking stick.
"OK, it's right around the corner," Matt assured him, smirking as Harry's stomach sang the song of a thousand angry bears.
"Thank every Vishanti in the multiverse!"
"What?"
"Oh, uh, nothing," he waved him off, sighing happily. He walked up to the Church, and pushed on the ancient wooden door. Or, he would have. The problem was, 5 yards from the door, he encountered… a bit of a snag. He was pulled back harshly by the ropes tied around the Darkhold, falling on the floor with an "Oof!"
"You okay, pal?" Matt helped him to his feet, and Harry groaned, rubbing his butt.
"What the hell?" He tentatively took a step forward, but, just as before, the Darkhold didn't budge. If anything, it seemed to start smoking! "Oh, that's not good…" he mumbled.
"What is it?" Matt questioned.
"You ever heard of the Necronomicon?"
"Yeah?"
"Yeeeeeah…"
"And you're just CARRYING IT AROUND?!" Matt almost tore his hair out.
"Well, I mean, a pedophile wants to take over the world with it, so I kind of don't have a choice," He rubbed his eyes. "No rest for the goddamn weary, I guess,"
"Actually, it's no rest for the wicked," Matt corrected him instinctively.
"Yeah, that fits too," he grinned evilly, then sighed. "It's alright, mate, I'll sleep on the pavement,"
"Sidewalk,"
"Pavement,"
"Sidewalk,"
"We're not getting into this right now, Magoo!" Harry rolled his eyes, plonking himself down on the PAVEMENT.
"Sidewalk or no food," Matt smirked, folding his arms triumphantly.
"Sidewalk! Sidewalk!" Harry exclaimed with wide, terrified eyes.
There were many things he would do for his pride, but not that. Never that.
"Thought so," as he walked into the Church, Harry tried to get himself comfortable, humming God Save the Queen under his breath.
"Evil, manipulative bastard,"
"I heard that!" Matt called out in a singsong voice.
One meal and a nice, relaxing conversation with a slightly confused (but very kind) nun later, Harry was tucked in under a lovely blanket, trying to get some shuteye. The Darkhold was being used as a pillow, which was about as ridiculous as the most powerful metal on the planet being used to make a plate, CAPTAIN. He'd had one hell of a day, and it was good to finally not have anything to wo-
"Open the Darkhold, boy,"
"First off, please don't call me boy," he mumbled deliriously. "Years of psychological abuse, y'know. Second, uh, who are you?"
"I am the Other, the almighty creature tasked with guarding the knowledge within the Darkhold,"
Well, shit. "So you're the one who's been giving me nightmares? What is it, resentment for your parents calling you The Other?"
"Insolent mortal! I am one of the most powerful creatures in the universe!" Harry snickered, he could feel the indignation in the creature's voice.
"You live in a book," he deadpanned. "What do you want? I'm trying to sleep,"
"I want you to open the Darkhold. Use the spells within,"
"I promised Wong and Stephen I wouldn't, it's that simple, so kindly bugger off,"
"Are they not imprisoned by Morgana at this very moment? How do you expect to save them?"
"Eh, I usually make this sort of thing up as I go along, and it's worked out well so far," he ignored the funny looks he got from passers-by as he apparently talked to himself.
"But this is Morgan Le Fay. She trained Mordred, the man who murdered King Arthur,"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I actually paid attention in that history of magic class," he turned over in his makeshift bed. "Can you please leave me alone now? I want to go to sleep," This 'voices in his head' thing was getting really old.
"Ugh, my point is… you cannot defeat by being impulsive. She is more powerful than you could possibly imagine,"
"I know that, I'm not going to go in all wands blazing! Believe it or not, I'm not an idiot. So for the last time, leave me the hell alone, at least until morning," he silently cast an enchantment on his mind, to prevent prying consciousnesses from waking him up. Such a powerful enchantment, of course, took a lot out of him, and he collapsed into a stupor, finally able to rest.
Meanwhile, thousands of light-years away…
"My apologies, my lord, I was distracted," The Other bowed lowly to his master.
"What happened to waylay you, Other?" a booming voice asked.
"There is a boy in possession of the relic known as the Darkhold. While I swore my fealty to you, my soul is bound to it," he explained.
"What is so important about this boy that you ignored your duties?" the voice seemed aggravated.
"My sincerest apologies, my Lord! It is only, that, well, he is powerful," he spluttered, creating a hologram of the human. "More powerful than the so-called 'sorcerers' that deign to wield the Darkhold's might. I believe, that if he can be persuaded to use this power, then perhaps, when he matures, he will be a valuable ally in your cause,"
"When he matures?"
"Well, he is still a child at this time. Perhaps, if we give him time, he can hone his power, and then…
"And then…" the great Titan Thanos stood from his throne, eyeing the hologram of Harry with intrigue. "He shall become my newest son,"
"-rry. Harry. Harry!"
Harry was shaken awake by Matt, who handed him a tray of porridge and milk. "Morning, Matt. Thanks for all this," he said this more earnestly than he expected to, smiling weakly.
"No problem, man," he sat down next to his friend, biting into a granola bar. "So what's the plan?" he mumbled, making Harry flinch a little.
"Well step 1 is you stop talking with your mouth full," this earned him a thump in the arm.
"Don't. You sound like sister Miriam," Matt rolled his eyes, chuckling. "Seriously, though, what's our play?"
Harry sighed. "If you really are insistent on helping me out," he groaned internally as Matt nodded, "then we have to be sneaky. We can't deal with Mor- this problem… by running in headfirst punching anything that moves. We're going to be outnumbered and outgunned. God, I wish Ron were here…" Harry felt a pang of longing.
"Ron?"
"My best mate from school. He's crazy good at chess, he won a game where he was basically playing with 3 kings. He's a brilliant tactician," Harry smiled, remembering his friends fondly. He still hadn't opened the letters they'd sent him. He never found the right time, or he just forgot. The shard of Erised around his neck suddenly felt incredibly heavy.
"Sounds like a cool guy," said Matt, biting into his own granola bar.
Harry clapped his knees and got to his feet, stretching and rolling his neck. "Alrighty. I'm ready. Last chance to back out from this deadly life-threatening certain doom mission of death," he looked and sounded hopeful, then instantly became downtrodden when Matt rolled his eyes and began stretching himself. "Alright, fine. But you have to promise me something. Whatever you see today, you will never, ever, tell anybody,"
"Yeah, sure, no problem," Matt seemed skeptical of the need for this, and Harry groaned.
"I'm serious, mate. You have to promise me that not a word of this gets to anybody. Swear on something that matters. Please,"
Matt seemed to pick up on Harry's desperate tone, and his expression softened. "I swear on Him,"
Harry's spirits lifted insurmountably as Matt pointed to the crucifix above the church door. "Thank you, Matt," his expression became steely. "Let's do this," he ran down an alleyway, Matt in hot pursuit. "The secret keeping begins now!" he put on his Sling Ring, and drew a portal.
"Holy shit!" Harry laughed as he ran through, closing the not-exactly-inconspicuous portal after his stubborn friend followed him.
"OK, Bleecker street's just around the corner," Harry drew Dragonfang and readied himself.
"Wait, we're in the village?!" Matt scream-whispered, and Harry couldn't help but giggle.
"Yeah, this is all going to take some getting used to. Long story short, I can teleport, and we're about to take on an ancient evil witch who may or may not be a kiddyfiddler," he sighed internally. Honestly, his life was so weird, he had no idea how he coped.
"O...kay…"
"Still don't want to back out?"
"Not a chance, let's do this,"
"Worth a shot," Harry rolled his eyes, peeking around the corner. "OK, the coast is clear, let's roll," he stepped onto Bleecker street, hoping that he didn't seem out of place. That was quite possibly the most stressful 50 step walk that Harry ever took. Upon reaching the ornate green door, he signalled to Matt to take a step back. He took a deep breath and slowly pushed it open, just enough for the two preteens to squeeze through.
The moment they stepped over the threshold, Matt gagged and choked.
"What the hell is that smell?!" he groaned, desperately pinching his nose.
Harry sniffed, wrinkling his nose. "Oh yeah, that does stink, doesn't it?"
Matt retched, his eyes watering. "God, it's disgusting!"
"We'll spray some Lysol once we've saved everyone and taken back the sanctum, okay?" Harry rolled his eyes. "And keep your voice down. Whatever's making that smell is probably around here somewhere, and if they're anything like our friend the ogre, they're not exactly going to put the kettle on,"
"God, you're so British,"
"Shh!" they snuck through the eerily quiet main hall, keeping to the shadows as best as they could. For Matt, the putrid smell of septic waste crossed with rotting flesh was getting too much to bear. He wrapped his scarf around his eyes and nose, to stop himself from vomiting all over his best friend.
"I would ask how you see like that, but…" Harry whispered, peering into what looked like a trophy room. "Jeez, even I haven't been in this room yet, they must be deep!"
They crept into the room, Harry eyeing some of the beautiful relics on his way. He would have marvelled at them with more wonder, were it not for the looming threat of being caught by an evil sorceress and the notion that all of his mentors were somewhere tied up, ready to be used as magic batteries. The unlikely pair reached the door at the other end of the room, and Harry groaned in exasperation. The bloody thing was magically sealed! "Damnit!"
"What is it?" Matt asked, a tone of worry in his voice.
"There's an enchantment on this door, and a pretty strong one at that. I reckon Stephen and the others are somewhere on the other side. I need a couple of minutes to break the spell,"
Matt nodded, audibly gulping. "Yeah, uh, that's great and all, but I'm pretty sure that's not an option," he muttered as the sound of heavy footsteps rang from the hallway.
"Oh. Shit."
Harry's mind raced. Had they been found? He leapt behind what he recognised from books as the Cauldron of the Cosmos. He would seriously be freaking out about this in literally any other situation, but now was not the time to be cherishing relics.
"Can you tell what it is?" Harry mouthed to Matt, who closed his eyes, focusing. After a second or two, the colour drained from his face. He felt the steps entering the room, smelled the pungent scent getting stronger, and heard the sniffing of the creature's snout, as it growled lowly. "Is it that thing from yesterday?" he nodded.
"Is this thing-"
"Yup,"
"Do you think we can-"
"Nope,"
"So we're gonna have to-"
"Yyup,"
Matt gulped, nodding. "Okay then. So… plan?"
Harry racked his brain. They can't take it head on, they'd be crushed. He needed to get through this bloody door. "OK… distract it. Keep out of its way, and keep it away from me. If we can get this door open, we're good. Got it?" Matt nodded, gripping his cane tighter. Harry had to admire his chones. "OK. 3… 2… 1… now!"
Harry leapt towards the door, and Matt leapt over the cauldron, yelling inanely. Harry stared in awe for a moment as the little kid from Hell's Kitchen dove around the giant freakish ogre. He slapped himself, he had a job to do! He focused his mind and began performing the disenchantment, the golden trails from his fingertips forming an ornate symbol in the air.
"Too slow! Ha! Missed me! Come on, man, I'm over here!" Harry snickered as he heard Matt taunting the ogre, ignoring the roars of frustration. There was an audible SNAP, and Harry's heart leapt. The enchantment had broken. Unfortunately, the sound had garnered the attention of the hulking creature, who was now lumbering towards Harry with death in its black eyes. "Look out!"
Harry slid to the floor, narrowly missing being swiped by a giant meaty hairy hand. His hands shot up, forming a barrier just in time to save him from being crushed. He grunted as the ogre beat on the shield over and over, cracks forming in the golden mandala. "Matt… do something!"
Matt did something alright. He jumped onto a glass cabinet, leapfrogged into the air, and mid-flight twisted his cane, revealing a thick wire inside. He landed on the spiny back of the creature with a thud, wrapping the cane-wire-thing around its thick neck. As he pulled with all his might, the ogre began to stumble back, flailing its massive arms in an attempt to grab its assailant. Matt smirked, releasing it, smacking it over the head with his cane, and flipping off its back to the other side of the room. "Hey ugly!"
Harry sighed as the shield dissipated. He wasn't done yet. He got back to work undoing the lock, sweat dripping down his forehead. Making sparks in the hospital wing was easier than this! The ornate golden symbols span and floated around him as he desperately searched for the next opening. Jesus, Morgana really was powerful, he wondered how long it would take Stephen to break this. Probably about ten seconds, if he was honest with himself…
From what he could hear, Matt was doing pretty well. The crashes and shattering sounds weren't exactly comforting, but Matt's life was way more important than thousand year old relics containing untold power and wisdom.
"How much longer, Harry?!" Matt yelled, sliding under the ogre's legs, making it fall over its own feet in an attempt to grab him.
"Not long, I'm almost done!" he shouted back, his hands moving furiously. He span through every disenchantment and counterspell he knew unti- there! An opening! The tiniest of holes in an otherwise impenetrable wall of spells. He thrust his mind into it, channeling the mystical energies of the multiverse through his mind, body and spirit, widening the hole further and further until…
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The sanctum shook, the power of the spell making the windows and remaining cabinets shiver, dangerously close to breaking. The ogre roared, clutching its ears. "Alright, come on, Matt, let's go!" he shouted, but heard no response. He turned and gasped. The ogre's roar had muffled Matt's own scream of agony, and the poor kid was curled in a ball, clutching his ears. "Matt!" he sprinted over to him and slung him over his shoulder, running through the door just as the giant creature began charging towards him. He slammed the door closed and placed a simple but powerful spell on it, just in time too. The walls shook as the ogre rammed into the door over and over. "Come on, mate, let's go," Harry muttered to the pained kid over his shoulder.
They snuck down the long stairs to the dark and dingy cellar, and Harry got a stab of longing to hear Snape call him a fool, or to see Hermione's smug face as she completed yet another potion before him, or to see Neville light up as he got a passing mark. He set Matt down on the floor and sighed, finally catching his breath.
"Unh...What happened?" Matt groaned, clutching his forehead. "I feel like I got hit by a truck,"
"Yeah, sorry about that. I broke the lock spell, but it was sloppy. Sonic boom. I should've been more careful, mate," he smiled apologetically.
"Don't worry about it. You probably saved my life in there. I just need a minute,"
"Oh, I'm afraid you won't live that long, my dear," a smooth, refined voice echoed around the room, turning Harry's blood to ice.
"It's her," Harry breathed, drawing Dragonfang from his hilt and dropping into a defensive stance.
"The pedophile?"
"Mhm. stay low and quiet," Harry paced around the dank room, looking for any signs of her. "Where are you, Morgana?"
"Oh, I'm right here, wizardling," she crooned, the creepy echo giving no indication of her location, not even to Matt.
"Yeah? Why don't you show yourself then?" Harry called out, adrenaline pumping around him like a steam train made of spikes.
"Because this is so much more fu-,"
The voice stopped mid-taunt, at the same moment that Harry felt himself bump into something tall and soft. The world around him shimmered like ripples in a pond, and for a moment, his heart stopped. There, right in front of him, stood Morgana, an amused smirk adorning her lips. He had walked right into her, and his face was now firmly in her belly.
"Uhh-," before he could say any more, he was blown back into the far wall. Morgana had fired a green sphere of energy right in his sternum. He groaned as he pulled himself to his feet, ignoring the cuts, burns and scrapes that now covered his arms and front. He looked around the room, gasping. Stephen, Wong, Hamir and Lao were all there, in far worse shape than he. They were bound in diamond chains, their heads slumped, red stains where pools of blood dried out underneath them. Hamir and Lao were unconscious, their arms covered in green burn marks. Wong's gi had been half torn, revealing what looked like claw-marks on his chest and down his face. He was mumbling, his words being lost through his battered and bloody lips. Stephen's eyes, despite being black and bruised along with the rest of him, were wide in terror when he saw Harry.
"Now then. The Darkhold. Give it to me," Morgana held out her hand expectantly.
Harry chuckled, raising Dragonfang and forming a Mandala in his off hand. "You just tossed me into a damned wall. If you want this book, then come and get it you creepy bitch,"
"No… Harry… run…" Stephen pleaded weakly, earning a slap to the face from Morgana. She turned back to him, her playful smirk replaced by a hungry snarl.
"So be it," she growled and leapt into the air, firing six blasts in quick succession. Harry barely dodged the first 5 and managed to block the sixth. He threw his mandala, which spun around her, sparking with energy. Morgana idly waved her hand, shattering the disc instantly. This was exactly what Harry wanted. He took his chance, running at her silently in her distraction. His slash barely missed as she span out of the way. Quickly recovering, he brought his elbow back into her stomach, uppercut her with his other hand, and then kicked her in the chest, making her stumble back. He jumped back, throwing two more golden discs at her. There was a flash of light, and the ensuing explosion kicked the considerable amount of dust off the floor. Harry breathed heavily, forming another shield.
"Come on, I know you're not do-whoa!" he lifted Dragonfang just in time, a great tongue of green flames came barreling towards him. The enchanted blade split the fire, his clothes only getting slightly singed. Before he could react, Morgana punched him in the face, kicked him in the stomach, threw him to the wall with another blast. He spun in the air and vaulted off the wall, but was caught by emerald tentacles of energy that burned his wrists and ankles in searing pain.
"I'm bored of you," she muttered, strutting over to him. Harry grunted and yelled. The more he struggled, the tighter the tendrils gripped him, and the more they burned. She smirked maliciously at him as she ripped the Darkhold off his back. Harry screamed as he felt both his shoulders dislocate at once, pain rushing through him like there was fire in his veins. "Such an infant. You think this is pain?" She punched him hard in the stomach. "You think you know suffering?" she slapped him in the face. Harry coughed up blood, Stephen's tired pleas for her to stop falling on deaf ears. "That old fool Emrys trapped me in a cage of hellfire for nigh on a thousand years. Every second of my existence was pain and death, over and over and over," she opened the Darkhold, and Harry could feel the dark power radiating from its pages. It felt as though it was… reaching out to him. "Since I cannot claim my revenge on him, I will tear this world asunder in his stead," her eyes glowed a midnight blue, a wind whipping up around them. Harry winced as her mouth opened…
But no words came. All he heard was the irritated grunt of a thoroughly pissed off Morgana. He opened his eyes to see Matt squaring up against her, the end of his cane square in her jaw. Harry gasped as the binds on his wrists and ankles disappeared, dropping him to the ground. He couldn't move an inch, his energy was completely spent. He watched helplessly as Matt engaged in combat with the most powerful sorceress to ever live. He did his best, even getting a couple of good hits in with his cane, but Morgana was too powerful. She caught his weapon, turning it into black smoke. He tried to go for a sweeping kick, but she simply lifted the ground beneath him, contorting it into a cage of rock that slowly shrank.
And in that moment, Harry only saw two things. His friend, 6 inches of rock away from a gruesome and painful death, and the Darkhold.
"You know what you have to do," The Other whispered in his head. Harry drew on whatever energy he had left, reaching out of himself, extending his spirit to make contact with the power of the Darkhold…
And everything went black.
ARGH A CLIFFHANGER! Well well well, it's been a long long time, hasn't it folks? Sorry about the terrible April Fools joke, y'all, I couldn't resist. I hope you enjoyed this longer chapter as compensation for blue-balling you these last few months. Life has been freakin hectic, what with exams, and visas, and mental health stuff, and coursework, and oh man it's all just crazy at the moment.
More importantly, AVENGERS ENDGAME! First of all, it's changed my plan for the end of this fic, so thanks, Joe and Anthony! Second, HOW GOOD IS THIS MOVIE?! Leave a review telling me about your favourite bit, I wanna talk to y'all of y'all about this! This movie has to be the highest grossing movie of all time, guys! #watchendgame #beatavatar!
Now for the last riddle, the answer I was looking for came from Nicole Winchester, who said February! Because it's the shortest month, so there's less time for people to eat food. Get it?
And for the next riddle, hmm, let's see… A man walks into a bar and asks the bartender to give him a glass of water. The bartender starts to look for something under the bar. All of a sudden he brings out a gun and points it at the man. The man says, "Thank you," and leaves. Why?
Also, random question, but you know Chris Traeger from Parks and Recreation? Do you think that he'd be worthy of Mjolnir? Because I think he would be.
Last thing! I'm going to MCM London next week, the 24th to the 26th of May 2019, is anyone else going? I'm super excited to meet Sebastian Stan and Steven Amell, and cosplay, and get a bunch of pins and badges for my backpack, and I can't wait GAAAHHH!
Anyways, inane ramblings over, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I look forward to your reviews!