Inception: Rise of the Heir
After the murder of Hepzibah Smith, Tom Riddle disappeared for ten long years. He sank deeper into the Dark Arts & pursued knowledge that others could only dream of, consorting with the darkest members of wizarding society. With his eyes set on North America, he has no idea that the magic he so desperately seeks will shape his life & his inevitable future for years to come. TomxOC
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except for my o/c's and my own storyline.
Tom narrowed his eyes towards the small bracelet and picked it up carefully, the delicate chain dangling between his long fingers.
"Clever."
It had been a shot in the dark, he knew there were not many logical reasons that could justify the nagging suspicions that had been swirling around inside his head, but after uttering a few short spells, the answer was lying there plainly for him to see, extinguishing any remaining doubt he had held in his mind. The bracelet, although appearing outwardly innocent, had proved to be quite the opposite and he found himself suddenly faced with a situation far more unsettling. His discovery had inadvertently shed new light onto previous events that had bothered him and he now felt his mind swimming with a variety of new questions.
"But how could she not have known?" He pursed his lips as he continued to stare at it, the candlelight around him casting a warm glow against the large stone in it's center. "That is perhaps the most important question…to wear this and not have realized its purpose. After all this time..."
"She needs to know."
Snapping his eyes away from it, he suddenly stood up and stuffed it into his pocket, grabbing his wand. The hour was late, but the matter could not be delayed, he needed to speak with her. The tent lay still and quiet, the soft flickers of light danced weakly across the canvas walls as the candles started to die out, signifying they had not been tended to since he had left. Ignoring the still air around him, he peered over towards her quarters and noticed the door slightly ajar, his figure moving towards it quietly. Gently placing his hand upon the door and pushing it open, the tip of his wand started to glow as he quickly flicked it, holding it before him to illuminate the dark room. To his dismay, he found the space devoid of her presence, the sheets upon the bed were undisturbed and as he continued to glance around through the curtain of black before him, the only thing that he could see was her small black bag, lying lazily atop the soft down comforter.
"She wouldn't dare leave. Not after what we had discussed."
He scowled in anger as he fled her room, searching the tent furiously for any clue as to where she might have gone. Leaning against the back of the chair he had sat in only hours ago, he looked towards the small table next to him, noticing a small folded piece of parchment carefully placed against the bottle of wine she had partook in earlier.
He picked it up slowly, noticing that it had been addressed to him and he stared at it venomously for a moment before his fingers trailed one of the words he hated most in the world.
Tom
He felt the anger start to fester in his chest at the familiar handwriting as he hastily ripped it open, dark brown eyes scouring the small note that she had written.
There's something I need to do and I must do it alone.
I'll be back by morning.
Lyra
Clenching his jaw, he crumpled the piece of parchment in his fist and threw it to the ground in a blind rage.
"What good is she to me if she does not obey even the smallest of requests. She was given specific advice to not leave this tent alone. I should end this ridiculous charade now before she does something to jeopardize my own interests."
The fury he had tried to stave off for the last few moments had finally welled over and before he could stop, he felt himself grab the empty bottle of wine next to him, throwing it against the floor in a fit of anger. Without pause he began to destroy everything he could find around him, his hands reaching out for anything he could break or tear to pieces. Immediately, he felt himself reach for his wand and with a violent flick of his wrist, the chair before him exploded, the beautiful fabric that had covered them ripped to shreds, clouds of downy feathers floating through the air as they listlessly fell to the ground around him, all victims of his turbulent emotions.
Tom felt his chest heave as he suddenly snapped back to reality, his head slowly pounding in pain with each breath he took. Looking at the damage he had wrought, he slowly wiped the sweat from his forehead in frustration and pulled at his clothes to straighten them out, ashamed that he had lost control in such a manner.
"This will not do. Self restraint is key, you know that." He thought to himself quietly as he felt the broken glass crunch under his weight, staring at the tattered remains of the furniture around him. He scowled for a moment and slowly waved his wand, watching as the innards of the chairs floated black into place, the wood and fabric of each mending themselves until they were completely whole again, the broken glass upon the floor floating towards one other until they fused and became a bottle once more, each shard back where it had belonged, unbroken and intact. He bent down slowly and picked it up off the floor, placing it atop the small table gently.
"You need to contain your emotions...what if she had been witness to that little display of yours?" He frowned to himself as he ran a hand through his hair. He let out a choked sound of disgust and slammed his hand onto the back of the chair, annoyed with the fleeting thought. "Yes, what IF she had seen? She should know my wrath, my rage - "
He grasped the chair once more, digging his nails into its frame. " - It's her fault to begin with. She SHOULD be here to know how it is when I am disobeyed, when I am angry -" He thought about what it would feel like to see the fear in her eyes, the trembling of her voice...
Feeling his disposition start to sour once more, he pulled his hand from off the furniture in disgust and curled it into a ball at his side. "Patience. All will be right in time...right now, you cannot let your temper dissuade others from you. Their combined efforts will be necessary in the future...you must be calm, collected...anger must only be seen when necessary."
Lost in thought and pacing the floor for a few moments, he found himself unable to regain his composure and instead sat down in the armchair before him, ripping the bracelet out from his pocket. His insides were still scathing with a white hot rage, his cheeks flushed and red, infuriated by her disobedience - but for some reason, although he knew it would solve most of his problems - abate his anger, quell the shame he felt at the core of his being whenever his mind strayed to her - he could not find it in himself to leave.
"To leave now would be admitting defeat...and that is the one thing I cannot - will not - do. I have nurtured the idea of what her talents could provide for me in the future for so long...what I have desired is so close...to leave it behind now would be foolish...an act of weakness. I must persevere."
Tom reasoned with himself that in time, Lyra would come to understand him better. She would learn to acquiesce to his demands and he consoled himself by acknowledging that if she refused to concede to him, she would have to face the repercussions of her actions, like others had before her. Regardless of his attachment, he knew her spirit would have to be tamed - and with time he could achieve it.
"In the future she will learn to put her trust in me, rather than herself." He felt his anger morph into annoyance as an unwelcome whisper of concern flashed through his mind, pulling his emotions in a different direction.
"It is dangerous for her to be alone, now more so than ever." He scowled as he tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair impatiently. "Her recklessness could not come at a worse time...but - I must admit - the blame cannot be laid entirely at her feet. I have not been open about my suspicions, I have not let on to what I've discovered so far...instead I chose to leave her in the dark, keep her ignorant...I see now that that decision may have been an oversight on my part. If Lyra had known then she might not have left as carelessly as she did…"
Tom narrowed his eyes toward the empty hearth before him and let out a soft breath. "Her letter stated that she would return by morning. I will give her the benefit of the doubt until dawn. If she hasn't returned by then..."
He grimaced as his thoughts trailed off and flicked the bracelet repeatedly against his leg, his troubled eyes distant and far away.
Tom dipped his hands into the water filled basin atop his nightstand and splashed the cool water against his face, scowling at his reflection in the mirror. He watched the cool beads of liquid roll off his chin as he pushed the dark wet strands of hair back from his face and reached for the clean cloth next to him. The night had been long and the hours had passed by slowly, Lyra had not yet appeared and the anticipation of her return had kept him awake for the rest of the night. From the same chair, he had watched the pitch black of twilight gradually lighten, morphing into the familiar red and orange hues of dawn and he felt the frustration building inside him as the sunlight started to drift into the tent.
"It is unlike her to not stick to her word."
In the note, Lyra had clearly expressed she would be back by morning and in the months he had come to know her, she had done many things, proved herself unpredictable in many ways, but she had never fallen short on her promises.
"She can be guarded at times, imprudent...but she has always been punctual."
He had of course counted the time diligently as the first hour had passed him by, followed by another and eventually he gave up entirely as the minutes had bled into each other, his concern growing steadily as more time had passed. In this aggravating form of limbo he had found himself pulled into, his only distraction had been the bracelet, his eyes focused on the small insignia embedded deep into its face as he tried desperately to understand its meaning.
"I've discovered all your secrets except one…" He thought as he rubbed his thumb absent-mindedly over it. "...the final remaining piece to tie it all together."
"B." Tom whispered softly. "B...what does it stand for?"
He stared at it for a few moments until he found his concentration disturbed by a small buzzing in his ear and moved his head in annoyance as a bug landed on his cheek, his hand swatting at it until the small insect finally landed instead on the arm of the chair.
"Useless creature.."
He watched in revulsion as it moved around, it's motions jerky and crude and he flicked his wand in annoyance towards its small body, watching it's legs grow stiff before finally ceasing to move entirely. Brushing the bug away from him in disgust he tried to look at the bracelet once more, only to find that the precious silence he prized above all else had been replaced by more noise as the outside world started to finally float in through the open door.
He stood up, aggravated by the endless buzzing and as he raised his wand to cast a quick spell to clear the tent of the noisy and unwanted intruders, a confused look spread across his face, followed by another more enlightened expression of realization.
"Of course...something so small...so simple…"
One of the answers he had been searching so desperately for had finally made itself clear to him, the concept something he had entertained earlier, but could not quite say for certain. It would explain everything that had transpired over the course of these past few days. How simple minded he had been to overlook something so small, so insignificant, so unremarkable!
A new question popped into his mind and he furrowed his brows, "But for what purpose...and whom…?"
Tom stared at the jewelry once more in his hands and felt the answer to his question present itself to him as he gazed upon the elegant "B" carved underneath the gemstone, a dark expression suddenly spreading across his face like wildfire. He felt himself grasp the small bangle tightly until it started to pierce his flesh, his fist shaking.
"It all makes sense now."
"Lyra." He felt her name fall from his lips and he quickly made his way to his room, waving his wand across his desk as his belongings quickly zoomed into the case. "There's no time to waste." Before he closed it, the strange book of shadows caught his attention and he pulled it from the case, setting it aside.
"I don't know why, but I feel like I should keep this close, it might have something to do with everything that has turned wrong in the past few days."
Tom hastily threw his robes over him and stuffed the gruesome text into the inside lining of his coat, before grabbing his case from off the wooden desk, murmuring quietly in parseltongue as he felt it lock beneath his fingers. He would not leave his belongings behind. Quickening his pace, he walked out from his room and into hers, grabbing her small black purse from off the bed.
"She never would have left this behind if she did not plan to come back."
As Tom grasped the small bag in his hands, he heard something hit the floor with a soft clack, the sound, sharp and hollow, like wood hitting the floor. He looked down and felt his stomach fill with trepidation, Lyra's wand lay on the floor before him, seemingly abandoned and forgotten.
He knew instantly that something was awry as he knelt to retrieve it, she would have done something as careless as this, which meant surely she had planned on returning faster than her note had made it seem. She was capable of magic without it, but no witch or wizard would have ever left their wand behind without good reason.
As he walked through the tent, making his way towards the exit, he felt his senses heighten, unsure of what lay ahead, preparing himself for the task ahead. Stepping out into the bright light of the day he turned towards the tent and pulled out his wand, slowly murmuring a few incantations of his own. The shelter would remain protected, hidden from prying eyes that might wander its way and with the last of its enchantments only Lyra or himself would be able to apparate within the barricades he had placed around it.
"Now...if I were in her place, where would I go?"
Tom was unsure of where to even start searching for her, her whereabouts were unknown and more than likely he knew he needed to acknowledge that the chances of her being alone were slim. The odds were stacked against him, he was unfamiliar with the territory, his surroundings harsh and seemingly endless, but he did know of one place nearby that held significance to her, one spot where she might have revisited.
With a loud CRACK, he disapparated from the canyon, the loud thunderous sound echoing off the vast rocky walls.
The world was pitch black around her and her skull throbbed as if it had been split in two, the pain radiating behind her eyes every time she took a ragged breath. After her head had hit the ground she could not hear, nor see anything, the darkness she had been thrust into had seemed to swallow her whole. She felt as if her entire existence had been erased, the only evidence of her being was the steady, yet painful thumps of her heart and the damp air that filled her lungs. This agony was unfamiliar to her and unlike anything she was used to. For the first time since she could remember, this pain was not of her own making or from her own affliction, it came from elsewhere, from someone who wanted her to suffer.
Touch was the first sense that came back to her and a stranger's hands were the first sensation she could feel against her skin, rough and unwelcome, tearing at her body like thorns and no matter how hard she tried to escape, it was no use. Her body had betrayed her, it would not respond to her demands and as she tried desperately to scream, to move her limbs, her fingers, her head, all she could feel was herself start to fade once more, the energy slowly leaving her body.
"What is wrong with me?" She thought to herself desperately as her face rested against a cold damp surface alongside what felt like earth and rock caked against her face, tearing into her cheek. "Where am I?"
The stench of sulfur and iron filled her nose and she held back the urge to spill whatever little contents her stomach had held onto the ground next to her, yet she could not shake the familiar feeling that she had perceived such smells before, in the past, in what felt like another life. Trying to stave off her nausea, she felt her desperation turn into anger, furious with her own weakness. "When I find out who is responsible for all of this, they will pay...dearly."
As her face lay pressed into the ground, she could make out voices, faint and distorted, as if she were under water, their tones unrecognizable through her obscured hearing but she knew they were closer than they appeared, for the earth beneath her trembled with a set of footsteps that approached, circling her body like a predator ready to descend on its prey.
Without warning she felt her body lifted off the floor, hard hands enveloping her frame when a burst of sharp pain exploded from her forearm, the ache familiar and for the first time almost welcome, a faint glimmer of desperation rising in her chest.
"Tom."
Her mouth dried up as she started to regret her decision. How foolish she had been to disregard his concern, to betray his trust. He had warned her against branching out on her own and in her own hubris she had ignored his request...
"...and now look what has happened."
"It was not supposed to go this way." She argued with herself angrily as she felt the hands around her softly place her down on another surface, smooth and cool. "I was supposed to be back before he even awoke. My letter was only precautionary."
Lyra felt her heart jump as she thought back to the letter she had left him. It was the only reason he was searching for her. It was the only thing that would assure him that she had meant to return. She felt the hand move to her face and in a strange turn of events, she tried to shrink in horror as it brushed up against her cheek, moving the hair away from her face before pulling away and disappearing once more.
"Coward." She thought as she felt her heart beat heavily in her chest. Whoever had done this to her purposely attacked her from behind to save themselves from her wrath, from her strength. "This would not have happened if I was met face to face. If I had not been so preoccupied with such foolish ideas…"
As time passed, Lyra relinquished the anger she had felt towards herself and instead felt her heart drop as the searing mark on her arm started to subside, uncertain of what it signified. She wondered if Tom had given up and resolved to go off on his own like he had originally planned, leaving her to her own devices out of spite.
"I would if I was in his place. I would not bear him any ill will for that decision…it's what he should have done from the start."
She lay there bitterly, trying to regain control of her body once more while her mind wandered and held her breath when she realized the sounds around her had begun to sharpen, a shrill and raspy voice that she did not recognize, speaking angrily to another whose voice was still slightly dulled and unintelligible to her ears.
"Fool! We've wasted enough time. Your repeated weaknesses have already made this more difficult than necessary!"
The others reply was inaudible and she could not make out what was said, but she had a feeling that while her current situation was undesirable, it was about to get worse.
"I need to figure something out. Now."
Aaa
Tom knelt down by the disturbed earth next to Sani's tomb and grimaced, looking around him at the strange marks in the sand.
"She was here."
A small shape in the ground made his chest burn as he noticed a pair of footprints leading towards it and he stood up quickly, pulling his wand from his pocket.
"Appare Vestigium."
Billows of gold smoke blew around him as he saw the scene unfold before his eyes, watching Lyra collapse by where he stood, her assailant attacking her from behind as her body hit the earth in a crumpled heap. A few moments passed as the cloaked figure approached her motionless form slowly, scooping it up from the ground as if she were a ragdoll and he watched them both vanish, leaving a cloud of halcyon mist into the canyon behind them.
He felt his chest fill burst into a murderous rage as the golden figures disappeared and growled at his newfound discovery, which had left him at a dead end. For the first time in his life he had hoped that he would have been incorrect, that she would be waiting for him high above the clouds on the cliffs, her mind distracted by her grief or whatever other ridiculous notion that filled her head, causing her to forget her promise. But what he had seen now dashed whatever doubt he had left in his mind and he now needed to think quickly if he was to find her alive at all.
"If she's still alive."
There was no clue left behind to show him where he needed to go next, no leads as to where she had been taken. Struggling to think of a viable place of interest, he started to pace, his brain racing with all the information he had uncovered and all the malice he felt in his heart.
Something had been taken from him. Someone that belonged to him. It did not matter how much or how little he felt towards her, that was not important. He had branded her as his own. When she had accepted part of him and taken it into herself as he had done likewise, they had formed a mutual agreement, a bond that could not be broken unless death parted them. Her fate belonged to him, no one else. As he looked down, he pushed aside the fabric covering his arm and gazed upon the dark serpent upon his arm in anger. Tracing the cursed tattoo with his finger he noted that the ink, although dulled, was still there.
Which meant she was still alive.
A small spark of hope flickered through the crushing feeling that weighed his chest down as he pressed his wand to it, watching the mark turn pitch black and raised.
"If Lyra is unharmed, she will return to me. Or at least she'll understand that she needs to buy herself some time before I can get to her."
He mentally cursed himself for not attempting to use the bond between them earlier, when it might have mattered, but the idea of it was still new to him and as useful as it was, he found himself cautious to defer to it, still aggravated by its two way connection. He did not want her to abuse its power, to realize she could call him whenever she pleased. But it seemed that once more he had given too much clout to his own angst and as a result, a mistake had been made once more.
As he suspected, she did not appear, but the fact that it had still worked, meant that she was still strong enough for the curse to work.
"I need to think logically. Where would they have gone, for what purpose would she have needed to be taken in such a way -"
Tom thought back to their argument earlier, her melancholy opinion that she should go off alone and froze as a single thought entered his mind.
"The cave." He whispered to himself as another frustrating idea came to his attention, one that could not be overlooked. He had never actually visited the place, so how could he ever find it? The laws of magic were extraordinarily complex, one could not disapparate to a location unless they had been there before, seen it with their own eyes. Time was of the essence and he had no time to search for it on foot, especially with so little to go on.
Tom swore under his breath as he started to feel the hot sun beat against his face, bearing down all of its harsh torridity upon his flesh and he felt small beads of perspiration start to form on his forehead, rolling down his face as he tried to come up with a solution. Raising his hand to wipe the sweat from his chin, a realization suddenly hit him.
"I have seen it."
Albeit only briefly, but through Lyras memories and the jumbled images in her mind that she had allowed him access to, he had inadvertently been given exactly what he needed. It did not matter if there was no entrance, if it looked differently from the outside, he had been shown enough information to picture the location clearly in his mind and that was enough. When her mind had been tampered with it had been done inadequately, in more ways than one and it would turn out to be a grievous mistake for the original spellcaster, but it was a fortunate blunder that would help to aid him.
As he closed his eyes, he envisioned the place in his mind. An ominous looking sanctuary nestled in between the dunes and scorched rock that led to the opening of its mouth. Brittlebush and tumbleweeds scattered the landscape around it, lending a funereal cast to its dismal appearance. He felt his body start to pull forward, the familiar sensation of feeling like he had been pressed through a sieve and as he felt the ground give way underneath him a grim thought crossed his mind.
"I can only hope that by the time I reach her it's not too late."
Sorry for the delay in updating the story. It has taken me AGES to finish this chapter and it was A LOT of work. As this story winds down and as I continue, I had to re-read through the story and make sure there were no gaps and that all the information and all other plot lines make sense Totally NOT an easy feat. I've literally had so many notes on how this story needs to end that it took me forever just to go through those at all and I'm sure it's not a shock to anyone, since we're still in the midst of a pandemic, we're all on our phones and computers more, but looking at computer and phone screens have been just giving me awful migranes. That was a hurdle in itself hah!
So I wonder if Tom will be able to make it to Lyra on time if everything works out for him, or it could be the end of the road for her. He's angry and determined and we all know how that goes!
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and yes there will DEFINITELY be more coming, so don't forget to review, follow and add it to your favorites if you liked it! Really still amazed by the amount of traffic and hits this story gets, it's truly humbling and I'm glad to see others enjoy it as much I enjoy writing it! :3