"One bright sunny morning,
In the middle of the night
Two dead boys got up to fight
Back to back, they faced each other
Drew their swords and shot another
If you don't believe my lie, it's true.
Ask the blind man, he saw it too…."
- The Ballad of Impossibilities
The man was memorable but at the same time fleeting. He was not standing but merely existed, floating like a specter several paces away. He was incredibly pale but entrancing to look at, his face darkened but welcoming. He was reaching towards her, and calling to her without moving his lips. The voice was low, barely above a murmur but struck to some deep corner of her heart.
She knew that voice, and feared it.
He called to her again, and she realized that she was walking towards him. As she took his hand, she felt the fingers curl around her own. She shivered from the icy touch. She looked up, inhaling. "Who are you?"
"Don't you know?" The man asked, drawing his hands across her shoulders, and then trailing down her back. He leaned down to her ear and whispered. "I am your father, brother, and lover. I am…"
"You are…my Master, aren't you? My Coven…" Kaiya struggled to keep her mind clear. The man leaned down, nuzzling her cheek.
"I am your Lord…"
"Voldemort," Kaiya whispered, realizing too late whose name she uttered. Her eyes widen with terror.
The man laughed as his grip tightened. She tried to pull away but couldn't. She thought maybe she screamed…
"Kaiya!"
Kaiya awoke in Choice's arms. He rubbed his eyes, "What's the matter?"
"I…felt him."
"Napoleon?" He asked dumbly, looking around for the cat.
"Choice, you know who I'm talking about."
"It was just a dream." Choice soothed. He smiled and began to rub her legs gingerly. He continued this action for several minutes, not speaking but being there nonetheless.
She stared at him in the darkness before leaning forward and kissing the corner of his mouth slightly. "I love you, you know that?"
He whispered. "And you know what? I'm here for you, Kaiya. No matter what happens, I am here for you. Don't let go of hand, alright?"
Kaiya looked up, "I won't."
"Good, because we belong together." Choice whispered. "We were born for each other."
"How can you be sure?"
His strong cobalt blue eyes poured into her, as his took her hands into his. "I just know."
Kaiya stayed awake long after Choice had returned to sleep. She was stroking the back of his neck with the very tips of her fingers, wondering how someone so strong and gentle could have been entrusted into her care. She didn't know when they had begun exactly; there had been no grand date, no formal declaration of love. It had just always been Choice and Kaiya.
He'd been there from the moment she left to Hogwarts, to when she returned the following summer, a little wiser, sadder and with a father and past she couldn't begin to understand. He had listened to her story-all of it- with serenity and had yet to leave her side. It was almost like he had been chosen to stay by her side till death parted them.
"Choice?"
"Hmm?"
"I love you."
Choice smiled sleepily. He pulled her unto his chest. "Go to sleep, Alchemy. No one is going to hurt you while I'm here." He waited till she had drifted into a soft sleep before slipping out of bed and walking out into the grounds of Hecate Compound.
It was very early morning and the sky had yet turned from dark blue to purple. He sighed, feeling the cold air against his frame. Turning towards the wind, he wrote something unto the air. It was a calling symbol meant to bring others to him and sure enough before he had finished the glyph, a man, slightly older then Choice, appeared. "It's a little late to be calling me, don't you think Blade?"
"Brother, what is it on the air? Do you feel it as well?" Choice asked.
"We all do." Garridan began to walk, beckoning Choice to follow. "It's a resifting of power. Our elders are dying, Choice. The Coven is being hunted."
"Hunted? By who?"
"Can you think of no one who would benefit from our deaths? No one would wish to see Voldemort human and fragile upon his return."
"You don't mean the Prince."
"That is exactly who I mean. His disloyalty was known even back then, do you really believe that he does not feel the Dark Lord's return as we do."
"But such an open attack on us?"
"Desperate men do strange things."
Choice shook his head. "It doesn't make any sense."
"I know, but these hunters have already claimed Declan, Isabel and Charlotte. Declan was the best Dueler of us all."
"Have you called on the other factions? The Valkyries or the Throne, they could…"
"The Valkyries cannot move by order of the Ripper and the Crown has no real power. They lost it when they tried to overthrow the Prince."
"Are you telling me we're powerless while we are hunted like rabbits?" Choice shouted. "Still, this isn't something the Prince could do alone. Who's helping him? Do we at least know who it is that hates us enough to openly declare war on Voldemort's children?"
"We don't know yet, but Alistair wants you prepared in case a gathering must take place."
"A Coven last stand?"
"Something like that." Garridan whispered before inhaling sharply, his hand going to his stomach.
Choice followed suit, shaking from the pain. "He's getting stronger everyday, Garridan. What will become of us if we are beckoned back?"
"If the Dark Lord returns it would be Alistair's fault we did not bring him back."
"How many of us are left, Garridan?"
"You, me, the twins, Alistair, Elizabeth," He inhaled and motioned into the building. "And our prodigal."
Choice's eyes followed his. "She's an innocent now, Garridan. She didn't swear to give her life for Voldemort like we did. She should not be involved."
"Choice you know the game as well of any of us. Our fates, all of them…are connected and less there are of us, the more important life becomes. Our powers are linked, to each other and to Voldemort. I've been protecting you and her from feeling the deaths but pretty soon, I won't have the strength to continue doing so. What then?"
"What are you asking of me?"
"I'm asking where you will stand in this final battle. I know your feelings for this…prodigal. You love her, even as they are those who are trying to destroy us. In the end, by who will you stand? The traitor…or us, your family and Coven."
Choice bowed his head. Unlike Kaiya, he had known the Coven as his family his entire life. They were the only thing he had been certain of, and the only life he knew. "If it comes to war, I will fight."
The Castle Ardennes was among the most secure and solitary of Lord Voldemort's many hideouts. There was a string of places Death Eaters chose to meet, from the bars like the Looking Glass, and the Snake Pit pub to strongholds like Ardennes and the Coven House. Old and long since forgotten to Muggles, Castle Ardennes held the air of an epic darkness looming that seemed only fitting. The building itself harkened back to the golden days of the Hapsburg Empire with huge, dangerous looking gargoyles paired beside angelic looking statues that watched those who entered Ardennes.
Inside the castle, the halls were vast, freezing cold and devoid of almost any form of decoration. Occasionally, a fierce looking man who leered at one as they passed would be guarding a door. Laughter could be heard behind some doors, crying and pleading behind others but it was the ones from which no sound came from that truly conjured fear.
For those were the ones that held the darkest of Lord Voldemort's secrets.
Outside the wind was rushing towards an end with a deafening shriek. It chilled the hearer to the bone with thoughts of what would done before the night was over. Looming, massive storm clouds gathered on the horizon, as the echo of distant thunder warned of upcoming danger.
Tonight, a storm would break.
Tonight, people would die.
And although this was by no means a revelation to Severus Snape, it chilled him. As he walked, his footsteps echoed eerily against the stone. He noticed, somewhat uneasily, that Ardennes was even more abandoned then usual. That meant that everyone here tonight was either a Throne of Soul, or the leader of a sect of one of the Death Eater sects.
Such secrecy meant that tonight's quarry was of the utmost importance and that Voldemort wanted nothing to endanger it.
Severus had not been invited to this meeting of the Death Eater's Country Club. That could never be a good sign. He stopped at the entrance of the Throne room and inhaled deeply. He nervously tugged on his coat, bringing it closer to his slender frame, and forced up his most arrogant and self-assured grin before opening the doors, and entering like some conquering hero.
Erskine Raine had been speaking when Snape interrupted and currently he turned and glared hatefully.
Snape ignored this gaze and remarked dryly. "The gang's all here, I see. Look's like I missed a party."
"You were not summoned, Severus." Voldemort whispered. He was standing but his haunting face seemed twisted in a struggle to keep pain from his voice. His words were terse but not entirely angry. "Explain why you are here."
Snape had to admit he hadn't thought far enough into his plan so he decided to improvise. Too bad he never was very good at that tiny but very important talent. "A summoning of the generals and your prince not invited? Surely, I have not displeased you?"
The Dark Lord smiled. "I would rather that my Prince remain safe, while my life is risked."
"Risked?" Snape repeated, stunned by the choice of the words. He stepped forward, ignoring Jackie and Galen's beckoning him to stay where he was. He crossed the room, and stopping just shy of Voldemort's seat. There he waited. "In what way risked?"
"I'm going on the hunt myself, Prince, and last I recalled a Prince should bow in front of their master."
"My Lord, I beg you, let me travel with you."
"Kneel, my Prince."
"Gladly but what business is so important that you would risk your life and deny your Prince the right to protect you?"
"Kneel, my Prince!"
"What is this madness?"
"Severus." Voldemort called softly. "Kneel."
Inhaling, Severus kneeled down, and rested his hands on the armrest. Softly, he spoke, keeping his head bowed. "Tell me what is it that would risk your life for?"
"Revenge." Voldemort spoke, standing. Snape stood beside him, offering his arm to brace the older man. "It is time, I did away with the Order of Phoenix once and for all."
"Attack Hogwarts? But the defenses on the school alone…"
"You should know, my Prince, that it is not always a direct wound that is fatal. Sometimes, the best way to kill a man is by aiming for his heart."
Snape took a step back, finally acknowledging the others presence by curious glances. Jackie simply shook her head in disagreement. Galen folded his arms and stepped closer to Erskine, his eyes darting to Raine as if in warning. "…Who?"
"Why who else but the golden ones of Gryffindor House."
Severus recognized that taunt from his schooldays and searched Lucius' eyes for confirmation. "The Marauders?" He turned back. "My lord, they are Dumbledore's chosen fighters. They would not be waiting for you to discover them, they could be hiding anywhere…"
"The Potters are at Godric's Hollow, my Prince and a charm is the only thing that hides them from me. Thanks to one of the Potter's blessed friends…I know exactly how to get to them."
Severus used every skill at his disposal to keep his face straight even as he longed for his mask. The idea that traitor among the Marauders existed was lunacy. He had seen them together in school, and in truth, had envied the closeness, and hated them for it. It hadn't been till Hecate that he even got an inkling of what friendship like theirs could have been like. And now, Severus could feel an old hatred well up in his throat. One of these unbreakable friends had betrayed the rest. The exact reasons didn't matter to him, only the crime did. One group of friends was betrayed by one of their own, again. Angrily, Severus searched his mind for the possible guilty party. He would personally make them pay for such a sin.
Naturally his mind went towards the most despised of the Marauders: Sirius Black.
Snape swallowed down his rage and turned back to Voldemort.
"And this will be my Master's private victory?"
"It is."
"Then, I honor you for your victory." Severus said, bowing deeply. As he rose, an unpleasant thought stuck him. James had a son…
Snape felt his heart twist painfully.
James would be dead before nightfall that was certain now. There was no way Severus could get to Dumbledore in time before Voldemort reached Godric's Hollow and nothing would be gained from Snape dying with James tonight.
But the child… Snape had never met him, only vaguely hearing that the child was a boy whose name escaped him. The mother, Snape knew a little better. Lily had been in his year, a member of Gryffindor House and if he remembered correctly (and if certain scars on his arms were any indication) she was amazing when it came to Charms.
Snape grimaced. Yes, he ought to remember that fact, she had charmed a classroom for the Marauders on which upon his trying to enter caused him to get thrown several feet back, into a suit of armor.
Yes, she was very good at Charms. But probably not good enough to fight off Voldemort in a duel, even Snape had trouble doing so.
"Allow me to go with you." Snape asked suddenly. "Let me go and fight by your side. I am your Prince, it is my right."
"I shall go first, follow if you can." Voldemort instructed, tiredly. "The rest of you…away to your tasks."
"And the matter we were discussing, my lord?" Raine spoke up.
Voldemort glanced at the man, then to Severus and back again. "What you do, do quickly, Raine…and be wise." Walking pass Raine he called to Jackie. "Ripper, take McKenna, and go keep an eye on Hogwarts, make sure this spy that has been plaguing me does not warn Dumbledore of my plans."
Jackie glanced at Severus once before nodded and strolling out behind Voldemort, calling for Galen to follow. He bowed to Raine then Severus and followed Jackie out. Severus looked at Raine for a moment, then nodded and moved to exit.
It was then Eoin Malone appeared from the shadows, his hands folded innocently in front of him, and eyes trained on Severus.
"I don't think you're going to be leaving just yet, Severus." Raine said as Snape took a step back.
Snape glanced at Raine and understood. He gazed at Eoin again, laughing. "Well, didn't think the Kaga would be involved in any sort of coup d'état. I'm impressed." He was walking away from Eoin, knowing his chances were best against Raine.
"My Prince, it would be better if you bow quietly."
"Now, now, Eoin where the fun be in that?" Severus glanced at Erskine who was drawing his wand. "Tell me Companion…what are my chances?"
Eoin raised a brow, and glanced at Erskine. "Against him you stand a better chance but you know I won't hesitate…"
Their eyes met for a brief moment as an understanding passed between them. It was then Severus knew he would die. He swallowed hard, oddly comforted that his death would be by the hands of a fellow Hecate prodigal. He looked up at Eoin, and nodded briefly. It took him a long moment to find his voice and when he spoke, his voice broke slightly. "I only ever wanted to do my duty."
"And because of that, you'll die an honest man." Eoin soothed. He pulled his wand out. "But now it's time to sleep."
"These woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep." Snape said backing towards Erskine. "And miles to go before I sleep."
Severus swung around, punching Raine in the temple. Eoin stepped forward, bring his knee hard into Severus' midsection.
And outside, the first clash of thunder broke and brought rain.
Author's Note: See, Ping, I changed it just for you! As for the rest of the readers, I'm really sorry I haven't updated in so long and believe me, this story will be finished way before I ever come close to killing Son of the Morning so be patient with me. As always, enjoy and get check out my online journal. Oh yeah, and Severus quotes Robert Frost's "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening." Read and review, please.
