Thanks to Kitty Qin for following me. I'm not sure if this is the story you're reading, but it's the only one posting right now so this is where the thank you goes.
Disclaimer: I do not own HP, SINF,
Chapter 54
Olivia touched down just in front of the smoking train car and threw the broom aside. Nicholas Flamel and an man Olivia did not recognize were standing to her right. It looked like they had been fighting. She assumed this was the John Dee Flamel had warned them about. It appeared Perenelle had not gotten back in time after all. Aiden stood in front of her with his hands raised like he had recently performed magic. The air was thick with the smell of campfire smoke, peppermint and rotten eggs.
"Aiden, come we need to get out of here," she said.
"Nick needs us," Aiden responded. "Dee will win if we leave."
"We will die if we fight," Olivia said. "I have learned that not even the Flamels believe we are the Twins of Legend any longer."
Nicholas Flamel quickly ran to Aiden's side. "We have no reason not to believe in you," he said. "Your very presence here proves you fought Riddle and lived." There was a murmur throughout the students at the name.
"Perenelle left to get the location you would find the real Twins," Olivia said. "She was fighting You-Know-Who when I left. She led me into a fight against the greatest wizard of the age without telling me and you agreed to keep me in the dark. You are just as guilty."
"Olivia, I -" Flamel started.
"And where is she now?" Olivia continued. "You both knew this man would attack the school yet she left, took me with her. She promised to return before the fight, but where is she? Huh? She picked her petty wants over the safety of this entire school. And you; you swore to protect this school and these students and yet you have let your best fighter leave when you knew a fight was coming."
"Give him credit young girl," Dee said, picking up Excalibur from the wreckage of the train and walking to her side. "Normally he runs and hides when he catches wind that I'm coming. He is a coward. It is good that you have seen this now. Most times the Twins only see it as they are dying."
"Not all the twins are dead John," Flamel said.
"True, some have remained," Dee said. "But they remain alone. Once one dies, or goes insane, you leave them behind to their own devices. You forget about them."
"You liar!" Aiden screamed. Fire erupted along his entire left arm and he ran at Dee, ready to punch him.
"No Aiden!" Olivia screamed. Her silver aura erupted around her. Water erupted from the ground in front of Dee like sprinklers, dousing Aiden's arm.
Dee laughed. "It would appear your slaves are divided Nicholas," Dee said.
"They are not slaves," Flamel replied.
"Aiden, please. Leave with me while we still can," Olivia pleaded.
"I stand with Nick," Aiden said. "If you don't, then you are against us."
"No Aiden," Olivia said. "I am the only one on your side!"
"Nick is the only one on my side!" Aiden said. His golden aura appeared around him and both arms erupted in flame.
"Get to the school!" Dumbledore shouted as Aiden began flinging fireballs at Olivia. One hit a seventh year Hufflepuff student. The students screamed and all ran as fast as they could toward the school. Only a few Gryffindors remained, but were easily convinced to follow. Dumbledore looked back only briefly before running and protecting the students.
Olivia dodged the fireballs she could, and created a shield of auric water around her body to put out those she could not. Over Aiden's shoulder she could see Flamel and Dee fighting; Flamel sending spells from his wand and Dee using his aura.
Aiden caught Olivia in the chest with a fireball that she wasn't prepared for. She was thrown back five feet and landed hard on her back near a small house which was on fire. She summoned enough water to contain the blaze.
"Aiden, look!" she shouted, getting up and pointing to the building. "Look what you have done. Stop!"
Aiden cupped his hands together and a fireball a foot wide appeared between them. "I'll stop when you're out of our way," he said.
Both twins fell down as the earth beneath them shook violently. Flamel was thrown twenty feet in the air as a large mound jutted from the ground at his feet. His wand landed a few feet from Olivia.
An almost invisible ball of energy floated from where Flamel had landed to where Dee stood. Dee was too busy laughing to see it. When the ball hit the ground, there was no sound, but a nearby tree splintered and fell slowly. The burning building collapsed upon itself and Dee was thrown several feet in the air, landing right next to Flamel's wand.
His laugh was truly evil as he rose to his feet, holding the wand close to his side. "Is that all you got?" he asked. "I'm glad I left your service. I would have been held back."
"I'm just getting warmed up, my old Apprentice," Flamel said.
"No, you're done and the Codex is mine," Dee said. He raised the wand and shouted Avada Kedavra. A jet of green light flew from the wand and slammed into a shocked Flamel. Flamel crumpled to the ground.
"NOOOOOOO!" Aiden screamed, waking from his shock and jumping to his feet. His entire body burst into a column of flame, which Dee ignored as he walked toward Flamel. "You murderer!" Aiden shouted from behind his wall of flame. A bolt of fire shot at Dee, who raised his arm and the ground lifted to block the firebolt a few feet from his back. Dee was searching Flamel's body with increasing frenzy.
"Aiden, you're going to kill him!" Olivia said, raising a wall of water around herself, dousing Aiden's increasingly stronger shots at Dee. "Don't stoop to his level Aiden! Let's leave now!"
The fire around Aiden's body turned blue.
"Aiden! Stop! Stop now!" Olivia shouted. The ground around Aiden was now singed and nearby grass had caught fire. He sent another foot wide ball of blue fire at Dee, who had just stood up from Flamel looking disappointed. The blue fire caused Dee's earthen shield to finally crumble. The air was thick with a foul, bitter smell.
"Aiden, look at me!" Olivia shouted, realizing that the fire was beginning to weaken.
"Help me!" Aiden's voice shouted as his fire flashed red and then turned blue again. There was panic in his voice. Olivia put more power into her aura as Aiden's fire turned red again and flickered in and out. She pushed the aura to right above Aiden's head. A massive cloud formed above Aiden and began to pour rain gently down on him.
"Help!" Olivia shouted to Dee, who had walked back to the smoking train. The fire around Aiden was shrinking.
Dee smelled the air and frowned. "It's too late," he said. Dee grabbed Olivia's broom from the ground, kicked off from the ground and disappeared down the tracks.
Olivia stopped the cloud as the fire around Aiden finally subsided. He had a face of panic and shock on his face and his skin was pale and ashen.
"Olivia," he said. His voice was soft and airy. "I'm so sorry. You were right. I love you."
"I love you too," she said. "Come, Madam Pomphry…"
Olivia stopped. Aiden's skin cracked and flaked off in the wind. Within a minute, there was nothing but a pile of clothes where he stood.
Aiden found himself standing at the back of an old cathedral. The pews in front of him were filled with children wearing the clothing of different centuries and different regions. The children turned and looked at him. They all looked the same as Olivia and himself.
One of the boys got up from near the front of the cathedral. He smiled wide and walked toward Aiden.
"Welcome," he said.
"Where am I?" Aiden asked.
"Notre Dame," the boy said, spreading his arms wide. There was a stone hook in place of his left hand. "My name is Josh. All of us were twins for the Flamels. All of us died under their care. Well, all except for me. This is where we haunt Nicholas."
"Do we stay here then?" Aiden asked.
"No," Josh said. "This is one of the docking places in a Shaddowrealm known as 'The Underworld' or 'Heaven' in your Shaddowrealm. You'll need to stay here for a day or two to get aclemated, which will imprint your soul here. It acts like an anchor while you're in paradise."
"And you?" Aiden asked. "You don't look like an imprint."
Josh chuckled. "No I'm just passing through here. I need to travel through those doors behind you and do what I can for your sister."
"Let me do that," Aiden said. "It's my responsibility."
"None of this is your responsibility," Josh said. "Your death, and all of these children's deaths, are on my head. My sister and I are the real Twins of Legend, but I've given Flamel tips over the years to keep him looking. It was I who suggested that Dumbledore bring Flamel to you. And it was I who led Flamel to Dumbldore in the first place." Josh motioned to a beautiful girl near the back. She was one of the oldest people there. "I try to make sure you all land easily. And I help those they leave behind to cope. It's my job to help your sisiter; it's your job to enjoy the afterlife." With that, Josh walked through the back doors and Aiden took a seat next to the girl in the back.
A/N: One of my friends recently informed me of a good rule for writers: never kill a character unless it is absolutely necessary. It is my belief that either Aiden or Olivia had to either die or go completely insane, like Ariana Dumbledore, in order for Flamel to leave and be in position to find Josh and Sophie. Death is the more merciful of the two options in my opinion. Ariana wound up imprisoned by her own family. I also do think Josh would try to ensure they have a good afterlife.
Now the story will begin to truly "set the stage" for the two series. Please stay tuned!
