The Mysterious Traveler
Welcome back guys! Hope you're in the mood for some more Avatar/Happy Potter (well, technically it would be Avatar/Severus Snape) chapters. Managed to finish this one early.
I should warn you that this where things are going to diverge a little bit. Well, things will go according to plan with Aang and the others, but with Severus we're about to journey into a whole new realm of 'weirdness' (you'll know what I mean ;)).
Anyway, here's Chapter 12! Enjoy! :)
Chapter Twelve:
Unexpected Foes
Severus couldn't tell how long they had been traveling, especially with all the sorts of different places the spirit was teleporting them to and from. But he knew that it had to have been hours. It was the only explanation for why he felt tired, yet somehow retaining the ability to stay awake and feel refreshed at the same time. Ever since leaving the cavern of Hei Bai's lair they had kept on moving, never once stopping for rest.
The spirit had teleported them to different places, until they came to a forest, which bordered a world of empty space itself. Looking towards the stars in the far distance, he stared in awe at the beauty around him. He felt like he was in a mix of two different kinds of worlds.
Walking towards the edge of the forest, they stepped onto a purple pathway that led across the empty space into an ocean of stars and blackness.
He almost didn't follow, seeing that it led on for miles, with no end in sight. But he was persuaded to, on the promise that his questions would be answered by the end of the path. And so he followed the spirit, having no clue what he would find at the other side.
At one point, he looked over the edge and saw a vast ocean of nothingness and faraway stars, sending small tingle of fear through his body. Looking away, he used his Occlumency walls to push those feelings to the far back of his mind.
It was only after a while of walking did he finally break the silence.
"Where is it that we're going?"
The spirit looked at him, "The Infinite Waters."
"And what is that?"
"The Infinite Waters is a place where communicating and traveling between worlds is possible. However, all of them are guarded by the Leviathans, under the authority of the Guardians. So getting you to your Guardian is going to be a little tricky, but seeing how one of them are looking for you, it shouldn't be a problem."
"And you know all of this... how?"
"Most of us old spirits in my world are aware of this information. Well, the ones that are thousands of years old and have stronger connections with cosmic energy. But even we don't know everything. Our Guardian has a small form of communication with us, since we are spirits."
"And how old are you?"
The spirit frowned to itself, "Not entirely sure. Time can really escape someone like me. I think I'm about sixteen hundred years old."
Severus raised an eyebrow and sneered.
"Okay, so what happens when we get to this place called the Infinite Waters?"
The spirit shrugged, "Best guess is that you will make contact with your Guardian and probably get sent back to your world. Whichever one that may be."
A realization hit him, coming to stop.
The spirit turned to look at him, curious, "Something wrong?"
Seveurs shook his head, trying to push the weird feeling in his heart away, "Yeah... its just... I'm not entirely sure going back is... necessary right now... I've left fr- I mean, acquaintances behind on the... your world. If I am returning to my own world, I should at least say goodbye. To let them know I'll... be alright..."
A fearful expression appeared on the spirit's face, "Oh no, you shouldn't go back. You have no idea what kind of consequences you've already set in motion just by going there in the first place. Traveling between worlds is dangerous and are only approved by the Guardians themselves. Getting you to your Guardian is the best way to remedy the situation. There can be no further delays."
Taking the spirit's words to thought, he nodded in reply.
Resuming their journey, they finally reached the end of the pathway, coming to a large wall of water that stretched on for miles and miles, seemingly infinite. But it was the colors of the huge body of water that caught his attention. There was pink, purple, blue, green and even orange all mixed together. It would switch between one another in seconds. And as they got closer, he could feel a sense of... peace. Something that made him feel safe just being there.
Coming to the end of the pathway, they stepped onto a large thin platform of some kind, making half a circle that went into the large wall of water and disappeared to the other side.
"Who goes there?!" a voice cried out, making them stop.
Looking forward, they saw three large beings in front of them. They had the outline of a human's body, but once their faces appeared from the shadows, it became clear that they were anything but human. Their faces were skull-like, with only pale skin, light red eyes and no hair. Despite their skull-like facial structure, they had large muscular arms, chests and legs, standing over ten feet tall. And in each of their hands, they held very large war hammers, with spikes on one end and a hard, flat surface on the other. They wore armor of some kind, with symbols Severus had never seen before.
The three large beings began to move around them. Flanking every side, with the exception of their rear.
The spirit swallowed, "I'm here to deliver this one to the Guardian."
"Which one?" the middle one asked.
"The one who guards... um, well... whichever world he is from..."
"Going to need to be a little more specific," growled the one on the left.
"Okay, you've probably heard about the incident a while back. You know, the one about someone accidently using one of the Infinity Orbs? This is the one that he wants."
The three looked at each other and then turned back to them.
"Stay right there," the middle one commanded, turning around to head towards the large wall of water. As he approached it, the water parted, making a small door for him to step through, disappearing as light engulfed him.
As time passed, Severus got a good look at the two large beings that were watching them with serious eyes, tightening their grip on their weapons.
Sensing his curiosity of them, the spirit whispered, "They are the Leviathans I told you about. The protectors of every entrance to the Infinite Waters. And trust me when I say it, they are the best at this kind of job. Though a little brutal and savage for my taste."
After a little while longer, the entrance apart again and the Leviathan came on back through, this time with someone with him. A little girl walked confidently in front of him, staring down the spirit and Severus. Coming within a few feet of them, she stopped and looked them over, a serious glare deep in her eyes.
The girl stood about four and a half feet tall, her face was dark brownish, with a little hint of white. Her eyes were hazel-like, a golden, brownish color. Her hair was dark, short and straight. She wore a muggle-style t-shirt and a pair of baggy sweatpants, something Severus found amusing.
Staring deep into her eyes, he saw something for a split second, but couldn't figure out what it was. He almost could have sworn it was recognition, or some form of emotion that resembled it. If anything, it felt like she knew him. The way she stared at him felt different from how she looked at the spirit next to him.
"Is this the Guardian?" he asked.
The Leviathan behind the girl growled, "No, she's the Guardian's assistant. She's here to take you to the Guardian."
The little girl continued to look at him, a look of determination and seriousness taking over.
"Aren't you going to say anything?" he sneered, not liking how quiet she was.
The Leviathan took a step forward, bringing his war hammer against his chest, growling at him again, "Show some respect, wizard! She's a mute-" He suddenly stopped talking, grunting as his body fell to the ground with a thud.
Turning towards the Leviathan, they saw something sticking out of his back, a large knife of some kind. The body started to deteriorate. Its fresh started turning to ash, right down to the bone and muscle itself. Within seconds, all that was left was the war hammer, armor, the knife and some dust that remained.
Turning to where the strike came from, a dark hooded figure stood at the entrance of the wall of water, with the passageway still open. Its robed flapped around, a dark presence slowly creeping forward from it.
The little girl's eyes widened and signaled the other two Leviathans, using her hands to command them.
Nodding, they took positions around Severus and the spirit, with the girl in front.
But the dark hooded figure wasn't alone.
From the passageway came more just like him, filling up the platform as they ran forward, holding the very same knives that the other did. Low snarls could heard from them, their faces completely covered by their cloaks. Even their hands were covered with dark hand gloves.
Taking out his wand, Severus prepared for a fight.
"No!" the spirit grabbed him by the shoulder. "You are no match for them. We need to head back, right now."
"But I thought you said going back wasn't a good idea," he countered.
"That was before they intervened!"
The once peaceful platform had turned into a warzone. The two Leviathans were using their war hammers to strike at their enemy, knocking the dark hooded figures back or sending them over the edge and down towards the abyss below. The ones that were lucky had broken bodies from their strikes. But the moment they had went down, they only got back up, as if it was nothing to them. And though no one could see it, the sound of their bones healing back together could be heard. It felt like something out of a horror film.
Two of them came running Severus's way, knives in hand.
Bringing up his wand, he casted two stunning spells and hit each of them within a second of each other. However, the victory was short-lived as they started to get back up.
"It's him!" one of them declared in a low, dark voice. "He's the one we've been looking for!"
"What the-?!" Severus was at a loss of words. "What are they?!"
"Another story for another time!" the spirit tried to pull him back towards the pathway. "Come on, we need to get out of here!"
However, Severus's attention was immediately caught by the little girl. Despite her size, she was taking down enemies from left to right. Doing flips and kicks to avoid their attacks, they were no match for her speed. She snapped one's neck with her bare hands, grabbed ahold of its knife and stabbing it in the chest, turning it to dust moments later. Doing a cartwheel, her legs wrapped around the head of another, using her weight to pull herself up and deliver a blow to its neck.
Immediately she launched herself, midair, onto another hostile, stabbing it in the heart. As it turned to dust, she jump to the next one within reach, repeating the act.
Doing a roll on the ground, she threw the knife at one of the hostiles that Severus tried to take down and struck it right in the back. Screaming out loud in vain, it turned to ash in seconds, leaving behind only its cloak.
The other came running at him, determined to catch its prey.
Before he had the chance to react, it grabbed ahold of him and flipped him on his back. It kicked the spirit away and brought its knife down on Severus's neck.
"Remember, we need that one alive!" one of the dark hooded figures cried out from afar.
Looking up at where the face of his attacker was supposed to be, he only saw darkness and a pair of blue, purplish eyes staring right back at him. The sight sent a chill down his spine and paralyzed him, unable to think of anything to do in his situation.
However, something caught the hostile's attention as it looked up, only for a knife to be driven into its hidden face. Just as its body fell on top of him, it immediately disappeared in a puff of ash.
Quickly getting up onto his feet and wiping the ash off of him, he looked up to see the girl right in front of him, their eyes meeting. Nodding as a sign of appreciation, she nodded back, forming a small smile. However, it immediately vanished as she sensed one of the hostiles coming from behind, doing a quick spin to slice into its chest.
Feeling someone grab him from behind, he saw the spirit begin to drag him across the purple pathway, rushing away from the battle. Taking one last look, he saw the two Leviathans taking out the dark hooded figures with their war hammers, along with the little girl doing her thing as well. For the moment, they had a clean get away from what was happening.
However, two of the dark hooded figures followed them, unnoticed by the others.
The plan was set into motion as Fire Sage Shyu cried out towards the other Fire Sages, telling them that the Avatar had managed to get inside the Sanctuary. Meanwhile, Aang, Sokka and Katara waited for their opportunity, hiding behind the pillars.
Just as all five of the Fire Sages used their firebending to open the large doors of the Sanctuary, it opened to reveal Momo, who sneezing up some ash from crawling through the pipes.
Realizing too late that they had been tricked, Shyu, Sokka, Katara and even Momo all attacked the other Sages and made the way clear for Aang to rush into the Sanctuary. However he did not appear from hiding place.
"Aang, now's your chance!" Katara called out.
Finally, the Airbender did appear, but was being manhandled by Fire Prince Zuko himself.
"The Avatar's coming with me!" Zuko declared.
In their moment of shock, the Fire Sages overpowered them and began tying up both Sokka and Katara to one of the pillars, while Shyu was bounded with rope. The only one that got away clean was Momo, who flew away.
As Aang was led to the main staircase, he found his window of opportunity and managed to get free of Zuko's arms, tripping him to fall down the stairs. Rushing to save his friends, he found himself at a crossroads as the doors to the Sanctuary were being closed. Encouraged by Katara to leave them, he changed course and began running for the door, dodging the Sages' attacks and made a jump through the doorway, just inches from being caught by the doors themselves as they closed and sealed shut.
Seconds later, a bright light traced around the door and disappeared.
Attempting to access the Sanctuary with Zuko's help, the Fire Sages quickly figured out that the light was from Avatar Roku and that he doesn't want anyone else getting in.
Inside, Aang stared up towards the statue of Avatar Roku, with the red light beam from above about to reach its eyes.
"Okay, so the light hits the statue, and I talk to Roku. So why isn't anything happening?" he asked out loud.
After a few more seconds, he quietly became impatient.
"Why isn't anything happening?" He sighed, frustrated. "I don't know what I'm doing. All I know is airbending. Please Avatar Roku, talk to me!"
Just as the red light from the small window reached the eyes of the statue, a large cloud of fog went around the room and engulfed everything. And when it settled, it revealed a desert-like landscape, with mountains in the background.
And just a few feet away, stood Avatar Roku himself.
"It's good to see you, Aang," the Firbender spoke, smiling. "What took you so long?"
Despite being in a state of shock and surprise, Aang closed his eyes and bowed as a sign of respect.
"Avatar Roku."
I know I'm ending this on another cliffhanger, but I had to split this one again. The chapter just got so big that I had to. But I'm currently working on getting Chapter 13 finished. I don't want these chapters being too big, only up to 5,000 words or shorter. Once in a while, I'll make exceptions, but this one just got too big.
How are you guys liking the story so far? Like I said at the beginning, this is where things start to diverge from the source material, at least in Severus's case. I won't say anymore, because it could lead to potential spoilers.
Once again, thank you for the amazing support and reviews. It means a lot to me!
See you guys in Chapter 13!