Chapter 11 – Wrath of the Goddess
"MURDERER!" Britomartis Vox roared.
"Martis!" Severus Snape raised his arms before his face.
A force blast sent him flying across the quad and into the side of a classroom building. He fell to the ground, forcing himself up on his hands and knees. His robe was shredded and his clothes were now smoldering from the fiery blast.
"SHUT UP!" She clutched her hands together, which began to glow brighter. "I gave you everything, nurtured you, cared for you, and began to love you! And it was YOU WHO MURDERED MY FAMILY!"
Her sunglasses slipped off her face, showing green eyes glowing with too- earthly power, as the ground below her feet shimmered and yielded its energy to her. This was the Earth Energy, the earth magics - and no light or dark arts could hold a candle to the power of the living Earth itself.
"I was not a Death Eater when your family was killed!" he responded, shielding his head.
A force blast tore up the ground toward him, the dirt grabbing him and swinging him around. "BRITOMARTIS!" he shrieked.
She slashed her hands down, crashing him into the fountain. Severus raised his head, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth with the remains of his right sleeve. He lay in the shredded marble of the fountain, feeling every muscle in his body scream in pain and demand to get up and defend himself.
'No, I won't fight back.'
He forced himself up on his knees. "Martis, please ... listen to me - "
Another blast sent him end-over-end over the building, landing on the stone walkway to the Great Hall.
Britomartis hopped up on the roof of the building, looking down at him. "Listen to you?! A creature from the pack that murdered my family begging to be listened to??" Her robe spread out as she descended to the ground. "I have waited five years to get my hands on one of you - "
Severus inhaled deeply, then lay back on the ground, facing up, his limbs stretched outward, his hair spread over the ground. "Then kill me, Martis! Allow me to die so I won't carry the Mark anymore! Kill me! KILL ME!!!"
A golden double-axe materialized in her hand, her chin quivering, and liquid spilling over her eyelids and down her face.
He closed his eyes, whispering, "Kill me, end this, and free me from this hell, save me one more time, my Martis ... "
When the axe-blow never came, he opened his eyes and found her collapsed next to him, sobbing hysterically. Albus Dumbledore was beside her, his old gnarled hand on her shoulder. The double-axe was gone, the golden glow no longer around her body.
"Why did you stop her?" Snape demanded.
Dumbledore shook his head. "She stopped herself, Severus." He hugged the woman's shoulders. "Britomartis ... there are some things that I must explain to you." He offered his other hand to Severus. "Can you walk, son?"
Severus nodded, uneasily getting up, then falling back to the ground, out cold.
Dumbledore inhaled, patting Britomartis' back. "My poor children."
* * *
It had been two days since that night.
Severus Snape awoke in the infirmary, his eyes focusing on black and green cards set up beside his bed, all of them from his pupils ...
'Get well or we'll kill you, sir.'
'We miss you yelling at us in class.'
'Come back - it's boring in potions class!'
'We love you, Professor Snape - NOT!'
He groaned, feeling the bruises all over his body. Martis gave him quite a beating, and she had every right to.
"You're awake," her voice said softly.
He turned his head, finding her entering the room and sitting next to his bed.
He automatically recoiled.
Britomartis bit her lip. Her green eyes were normal now, haunted with old and new pains. "Professor Dumbledore explained what he could," she said, her voice quietly echoing over the room. "He said ... he said you became lost after you graduated, and had joined the Evil One ... then came back ... "
Severus looked down at the foot of the hospital bed. "It was Dumbledore who sent me down that path." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "You had left me. I could have lived with that, even with the Marauders. But then ... Sirius Black sent me to the Shrieking Shack under the Whomping Willow and I found out Remus Lupin was a werewolf."
"Great Mother," she whispered.
"He tried to kill me. Then ... " His lips curled into a bitter frown. "James Potter of all people saved me from Lupin. I owed him. And the final break - Dumbledore telling me to forget the whole thing and allowing those monsters off the hook." He looked up at her, his black hair in his face. "Losing you, losing my dignity, losing respect, losing the one person whom I thought wanted me as his own son - I had no where else to go. The Dark Lord offered me a position." His voice began to tremble and his eyes filled with remembered horror. "My talent with potions would be useful ... but he wanted more ... " His black eyes glazed, looking down at the sheets again. "I did dark things ... horrible things ... things that even the mention of would taint those around me ... and I ran. I failed yet again. I failed at being evil." His black eyes became normal, now glittering with tears he could not shed. "I hid and ran for months, until I returned here ... Despite everything, despite what I've done - what I've become - " he raised his bandaged arm with the Dark Mark. " - he took me back and treated me with more respect than I deserved." He looked up at her. "He made me Potions Master when Professor Sartoris retired, then House Master a few years ago." He inhaled deeply. "I was not a Death Eater when you ... lost your family. I left because of things like that." He paused. "Oh, Gods, Martis ... I didn't want you to know ... That I failed you, that I fell into darkness, that I was once part of the pack that - that ... "
Severus broke into tears, laying his head back on the pillows and squeezing his eyes shut. He did not expect her to gently wipe the tears from his eyes nor settle on the bed next to him, her breath warm on his face.
"Severus."
He opened his eyes, gazing back into her green eyes ... beautiful moss green eyes with streaks of gold running through the green. "Martis?"
"When I ... you didn't fight back. You didn't even defend yourself. You allowed me to beat you mercilessly."
"How could I?" he answered. "You were in righteous fury, and you had every reason to be."
"But it was for the wrong reasons." She sat up, caressing his hair out of his face. "I've spent the last two days searching through my mind and soul and looking at everything through every possible angle and view point."
"And?"
Severus found himself holding his breath, ready for disappointment, ready for darkness to descend upon his life once again.
"You're not losing me this time."
He exhaled loudly, a smile of relief crossing his face.
"If you can forgive my leaving ... then I can accept your past." She swallowed. "You came back. Those in true darkness would not. They would stay in it and fester and kill their souls. You found your way back to light. It's for that reason I know where your heart is and why I wish to stay."
Severus forced himself up, pulling Britomartis into his bandaged arms and kissing her deeply, expressing everything from relief to love in the embrace.
He suddenly pulled back. "The Chamber - and the monster - "
"All taken care of," she assured him. "Young Mr. Potter saved the day and the girl in distress." She brushed his hair back from his face. "The victims are recovering, the monster is dead." She smiled a brilliant smile. "And the best news of all - Goldilocks Lunkhead had his mind flushed. He's a babbling loon."
Severus Snape broke into laughter. "That's the best news I've heard yet!" He pulled her into another kiss. "Besides keeping you."
Britomartis giggled. "Snips and Spirals are back together again."
"And nothing's keeping them apart this time." He kissed her again, this time a long, slow, moist kiss.
Albus Dumbledore turned from the door of the infirmary where his 'children' had found each other at last, smiling to himself.
Next to him, Minerva McGonagall knotted her brows. "But, why, Albus?"
He inhaled. "Because, Minerva, Severus needs all the strength he can get when ... " His smile became sad. "When he's ready."
She nodded. "Light cuts through darkness."
"Exactly."
-End-
"MURDERER!" Britomartis Vox roared.
"Martis!" Severus Snape raised his arms before his face.
A force blast sent him flying across the quad and into the side of a classroom building. He fell to the ground, forcing himself up on his hands and knees. His robe was shredded and his clothes were now smoldering from the fiery blast.
"SHUT UP!" She clutched her hands together, which began to glow brighter. "I gave you everything, nurtured you, cared for you, and began to love you! And it was YOU WHO MURDERED MY FAMILY!"
Her sunglasses slipped off her face, showing green eyes glowing with too- earthly power, as the ground below her feet shimmered and yielded its energy to her. This was the Earth Energy, the earth magics - and no light or dark arts could hold a candle to the power of the living Earth itself.
"I was not a Death Eater when your family was killed!" he responded, shielding his head.
A force blast tore up the ground toward him, the dirt grabbing him and swinging him around. "BRITOMARTIS!" he shrieked.
She slashed her hands down, crashing him into the fountain. Severus raised his head, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth with the remains of his right sleeve. He lay in the shredded marble of the fountain, feeling every muscle in his body scream in pain and demand to get up and defend himself.
'No, I won't fight back.'
He forced himself up on his knees. "Martis, please ... listen to me - "
Another blast sent him end-over-end over the building, landing on the stone walkway to the Great Hall.
Britomartis hopped up on the roof of the building, looking down at him. "Listen to you?! A creature from the pack that murdered my family begging to be listened to??" Her robe spread out as she descended to the ground. "I have waited five years to get my hands on one of you - "
Severus inhaled deeply, then lay back on the ground, facing up, his limbs stretched outward, his hair spread over the ground. "Then kill me, Martis! Allow me to die so I won't carry the Mark anymore! Kill me! KILL ME!!!"
A golden double-axe materialized in her hand, her chin quivering, and liquid spilling over her eyelids and down her face.
He closed his eyes, whispering, "Kill me, end this, and free me from this hell, save me one more time, my Martis ... "
When the axe-blow never came, he opened his eyes and found her collapsed next to him, sobbing hysterically. Albus Dumbledore was beside her, his old gnarled hand on her shoulder. The double-axe was gone, the golden glow no longer around her body.
"Why did you stop her?" Snape demanded.
Dumbledore shook his head. "She stopped herself, Severus." He hugged the woman's shoulders. "Britomartis ... there are some things that I must explain to you." He offered his other hand to Severus. "Can you walk, son?"
Severus nodded, uneasily getting up, then falling back to the ground, out cold.
Dumbledore inhaled, patting Britomartis' back. "My poor children."
* * *
It had been two days since that night.
Severus Snape awoke in the infirmary, his eyes focusing on black and green cards set up beside his bed, all of them from his pupils ...
'Get well or we'll kill you, sir.'
'We miss you yelling at us in class.'
'Come back - it's boring in potions class!'
'We love you, Professor Snape - NOT!'
He groaned, feeling the bruises all over his body. Martis gave him quite a beating, and she had every right to.
"You're awake," her voice said softly.
He turned his head, finding her entering the room and sitting next to his bed.
He automatically recoiled.
Britomartis bit her lip. Her green eyes were normal now, haunted with old and new pains. "Professor Dumbledore explained what he could," she said, her voice quietly echoing over the room. "He said ... he said you became lost after you graduated, and had joined the Evil One ... then came back ... "
Severus looked down at the foot of the hospital bed. "It was Dumbledore who sent me down that path." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "You had left me. I could have lived with that, even with the Marauders. But then ... Sirius Black sent me to the Shrieking Shack under the Whomping Willow and I found out Remus Lupin was a werewolf."
"Great Mother," she whispered.
"He tried to kill me. Then ... " His lips curled into a bitter frown. "James Potter of all people saved me from Lupin. I owed him. And the final break - Dumbledore telling me to forget the whole thing and allowing those monsters off the hook." He looked up at her, his black hair in his face. "Losing you, losing my dignity, losing respect, losing the one person whom I thought wanted me as his own son - I had no where else to go. The Dark Lord offered me a position." His voice began to tremble and his eyes filled with remembered horror. "My talent with potions would be useful ... but he wanted more ... " His black eyes glazed, looking down at the sheets again. "I did dark things ... horrible things ... things that even the mention of would taint those around me ... and I ran. I failed yet again. I failed at being evil." His black eyes became normal, now glittering with tears he could not shed. "I hid and ran for months, until I returned here ... Despite everything, despite what I've done - what I've become - " he raised his bandaged arm with the Dark Mark. " - he took me back and treated me with more respect than I deserved." He looked up at her. "He made me Potions Master when Professor Sartoris retired, then House Master a few years ago." He inhaled deeply. "I was not a Death Eater when you ... lost your family. I left because of things like that." He paused. "Oh, Gods, Martis ... I didn't want you to know ... That I failed you, that I fell into darkness, that I was once part of the pack that - that ... "
Severus broke into tears, laying his head back on the pillows and squeezing his eyes shut. He did not expect her to gently wipe the tears from his eyes nor settle on the bed next to him, her breath warm on his face.
"Severus."
He opened his eyes, gazing back into her green eyes ... beautiful moss green eyes with streaks of gold running through the green. "Martis?"
"When I ... you didn't fight back. You didn't even defend yourself. You allowed me to beat you mercilessly."
"How could I?" he answered. "You were in righteous fury, and you had every reason to be."
"But it was for the wrong reasons." She sat up, caressing his hair out of his face. "I've spent the last two days searching through my mind and soul and looking at everything through every possible angle and view point."
"And?"
Severus found himself holding his breath, ready for disappointment, ready for darkness to descend upon his life once again.
"You're not losing me this time."
He exhaled loudly, a smile of relief crossing his face.
"If you can forgive my leaving ... then I can accept your past." She swallowed. "You came back. Those in true darkness would not. They would stay in it and fester and kill their souls. You found your way back to light. It's for that reason I know where your heart is and why I wish to stay."
Severus forced himself up, pulling Britomartis into his bandaged arms and kissing her deeply, expressing everything from relief to love in the embrace.
He suddenly pulled back. "The Chamber - and the monster - "
"All taken care of," she assured him. "Young Mr. Potter saved the day and the girl in distress." She brushed his hair back from his face. "The victims are recovering, the monster is dead." She smiled a brilliant smile. "And the best news of all - Goldilocks Lunkhead had his mind flushed. He's a babbling loon."
Severus Snape broke into laughter. "That's the best news I've heard yet!" He pulled her into another kiss. "Besides keeping you."
Britomartis giggled. "Snips and Spirals are back together again."
"And nothing's keeping them apart this time." He kissed her again, this time a long, slow, moist kiss.
Albus Dumbledore turned from the door of the infirmary where his 'children' had found each other at last, smiling to himself.
Next to him, Minerva McGonagall knotted her brows. "But, why, Albus?"
He inhaled. "Because, Minerva, Severus needs all the strength he can get when ... " His smile became sad. "When he's ready."
She nodded. "Light cuts through darkness."
"Exactly."
-End-
