Hello everyone! I apologize for my lateness between chapters, but I accidentally lost chapter seven and had to rewrite the whole thing… (DREADFUL SADNESS FOR ME!) As well, FF.Net had some server problems and were down for several days. But, alas, here it is: chapter seven in its entirety… I hope you all enjoy…
Chapter Seven: WeaponHere by my side, an angel
Here by my side, the devil
Never turn your back on me
Never turn your back on me, again
Here by my side, it's Heaven
Here by my side, you are destruction
Here by my side, a new colour to paint the world
Never turn your back on it
Never turn your back on it, again
Here by my side, it's Heaven
Careful, be careful
Careful, be careful
This is where the world drops off
Where the world drops off
Careful, be careful
You breathe in and you breathe out
For it ain't so weird
How it makes you a weapon
And you give in
And you give out
For it ain't so weird
How it makes you a weapon
Never turn your back on it
Never turn your back on it again
Careful, be careful
Here by my side, it's Heaven
— Weapon by Matthew Good Band
That night, both Angel and wizard kept a watchful vigil over the entrance to their hiding place, each taking a two-hour shift peeking out the fissure in the rock, looking for any and all signs of Voldemort's fellows. Because the makeshift cave was lacking in size, it was preferable that only one human form take up space at a time. Therefore, Severus spent his watches as his human self, seeing as his bat eyes were ill adapted to scoping great distances. Mavet curled up as a raven for the night, often snuggling into Severus's lap, her avian vision far surpassing the norm.
At dawn Mavet awoke, Severus having had the last watch, and resumed her angelic form in hopes of making a last and final check that their pursuers were nowhere to be found. She edged her way out of the crevice, clinging to the rock wall by her claws, the wind ruffling her feathers in an almost threatening manner. After she had had a long, hard look around, Mavet reentered the cavern in a wave of relief.
"I think we should leave now, while the light is low," she began. "If we're lucky, we can make it back to Hogwarts by nightfall."
"No. Not yet," spoke a defiant voice behind her, with a nasty edge to it. "I want some answers before I move an inch."
Mavet turned sharply and found herself at sword point; Severus was grasping the pearl and aqua hilt of the glittering silver blade that was positioned millimeters from her throat. She looked down at the weapon, and then back at Severus, her eyes wide.
"Severus," she began calmly, collectedly. "Put the sword down."
"Not until you answer my questions. You've been keeping us all in the dark for far too long. Tell me what I want to know."
"Put the sword down and I'll answer your questions." Mavet reasoned.
"Answer my questions and I'll put the sword down." Severus challenged.
Mavet looked down at the blade again, and she tried to back further away from it, pressing her back to the wall. It was then that Severus finally understood.
"This sword," he began, "you fear it. Why?"
Mavet was becoming more and more flustered. "It's the Sword of Water, Severus," she said quickly. "Just put it down!"
"Water…"Severus mused, but nevertheless, he lowered the blade, though he still held it at his side.
Mavet sighed, and slid into a sitting position. "Water is the element that brings life, Severus, and I'm the Angel of Death. Wound me with that weapon and it will slowly drain my powers."
Severus didn't need to hear more. He quickly sheathed the sword, and sunk down so that he was facing Mavet at the same level.
"I still want answers, Angel," he said fiercely.
Mavet simply laughed. Then she sighed heavily. "Very well then, since your simply dying to know…"
"Firstly, what was that spell the Dark Lord used," Severus began. "I've never seen magic like that."
"Oh, that was no spell," Mavet said darkly. "Did you not see the weapon?"
Severus furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What weapon? You saw it? Then he does have it, I assume?"
"The sword he was carrying… you saw it as well."
Severus narrowed his eyes. "That's it? It's a sword? The greatest weapon ever to exist, and it's a sword?" he asked, somewhat skeptically.
"Did you not see what it did?" cried Mavet in outrage. "You do not fully understand, nor appreciate the power of that weapon, then."
"So why don't you explain it to me?" Severus said slowly and dangerously, as he gritted his teeth.
Mavet nodded. "That sword… it… well… for lack of a better word, I guess you could say that it eats souls. You saw what it did to the muggle woman?"
"Her body just… shriveled." Severus said, trying not to dwell on the experience.
"Yes," agreed Mavet. "That is what happens to muggles who are wounded by the sword: the sword absorbs their souls by drawing blood. The longer the blade remains in the wound, the more of the soul is devoured."
Severus nodded. He suddenly realized something in the wording of Mavet's information. "You said that's what happens to muggles," he began hesitantly. "What happens when a wizard is pierced by the blade?" He still wasn't quite sure whether or not he really wanted to know.
Mavet chuckled grimly. "You wizards are slightly more fortunate. The magic that flows through your veins fights the nature of the sword, and will keep you alive and hold your form together for as long as it can. By doing this, a change occurs in the flesh closest to the wound and spans outward for as long as the blade remains there." She sighed and looked away, but she continued to speak, still. "The more the soul is destroyed, the more the sword warps the form of the victim. Slowly, they will change, their flesh becoming that of a Demon. Because Demons have no souls, the sword cannot harm that flesh. Therefore, the sword will efficiently turn any magic-ridden being it strikes into the demon spawns of Hell." She spat the last part bitterly, and continued to stare at the floor. "Why do you ask? Do you see yourself standing in its path any time soon?"
"Knowing you, probably."
Mavet chuckled, slightly amused. "Is that all?" she challenged. "I had assumed that a person of your intellectual stature would have more to ask than that."
"Why does Lucifer want the sword?"
"Same reasons as always… He wants to maim and destroy, and in the process, create an army of demons so that he can overtake Heaven. Nothing changes really, he's simply gotten better at what he does."
"But then why give it to the Dark Lord?" Severus mused aloud. "Why not use it himself?"
Mavet laughed harshly. "He can't. No immortal being aside from myself can touch the sword. He's tried to use it many times before, I assure you."
"Ah, I see. But then why would the Dark Lord agree to a plan like this? You said that to create Demons, Lucifer has to kill witches and wizards… But the Dark Lord has always been after muggles…"
"I don't know," Mavet admitted. "Maybe they've agreed to only kill certain wizards, or maybe Voldemort isn't aware of Lucifer's true motives."
Severus snorted. "I doubt the Dark Lord could be fooled by anyone's lies."
"Never underestimate Lucifer. He has more power that you could possibly imagine. Not physical strength, mind you, but strength of mind. He's always been a thinker, a planner. A devious little rat who can never be trusted, no matter how appealing he may seem. Lucifer's greatest power was always to be able to convince anyone of anything."
"They say that the Devil's greatest achievement is that nobody really believes he exists," Severus quoted, though where he had heard that particular phrase, he could not remember.
"Hmm… Yes." Mavet nodded, but she appeared to be thinking of something else.
"Doesn't this sword of yours have a name?" asked the Potions Master for no apparent reason. "I mean, wouldn't it get a little confusing if no one could figure out which sword in particular you were talking about? You Angels seem to be rather fond of them. "
Mavet snorted. "Would you name something that terrible? You wizards still fear to speak the name 'Voldemort' yet you would put a name to the most thoroughly destructive weapon in existence?"
"You must call it something…"
"We call it the Black Blade," Mavet said simply. Somehow the name didn't seem as grand and threatening as it should have.
"Ah, I see… So, can I ask you something personal?" asked Severus.
"You can ask, and I'll answer if I can."
"How did you get that scar across your eye? And why is it now red?"
"Are you so sure that it wasn't always red to begin with?" Mavet said enigmatically, but she proceeded, since Severus couldn't think of anything to say to that. "A short while ago, I believe it was during the mid-1940s—"
"A short while ago? It was before I was born!" protested the wizard.
Mavet simply glared at him indignantly. "Yes, well, forgive me, but when you've existed for billions and billions of years, half a century can seem to slip by like nothing. Anyways, during that time, I believe your dear Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, was ridding the planet of one such Grindewald. At the same time, Lucifer had made another attempt for the throne. Remember when I said that the events of the ethereal and the substantial worlds could often seem entwined? I believe that the same thing can often be said about the wizarding world, and the muggle world.
"So, Lucifer had stolen the sword in an attempt to hinder my abilities for a short while. In a futile attempt to use it, he managed to give me quite a nasty cut across my face, resulting in the appearance you see now."
Severus nodded. "I gather that his red eye was caused in much the same way?"
"Yes, but that was much earlier… many centuries ago." A wave of unhappy nostalgia passed over the Angel, and she shook her head to clear her mind of troublesome memories. "May we leave now, or do you wish to press me with more questions?"
"Just one." Severus said quietly. "Why are you here? Are you going to kill the Dark Lord or not?"
"Eventually…" laughed Mavet.
"I'm serious, don't play games with me."
"Then I cannot say."
At that, Severus stood and made to grab the sword at his side. Mavet didn't even try to stop him.
"Oh, please, Severus. Do you really mean to incapacitate me when we are less than a mile from Voldemort's keep?"
"I want answers, Angel," he spat, harshly.
"And I cannot give them to you!" she replied. "Don't you think I want to? I do, Severus, oh, how I do. But there are forces at work that will not allow me to do so. This would all be so much easier if I could tell you everything. But you are still mortal, Severus, and I do not know how these answers will affect or change what you do. Our actions are being manipulated, Severus, by the ones who have all the answers and hold all the cards. I do not even know if I am on the right course. How can you possibly know how your actions will be affected by what I tell you? How can I know that I am doing the right thing by telling you in the first place?
"You're a spy, Severus, you know how dangerous too much information can be." She peered up at him, past the quivering silver blade at her throat. "I ask you to simply leave it alone for the time being. You will know soon enough."
Hesitantly, and with much inner conflict, Severus once again, sheathed the blade.
When Mavet spoke again, her tone was upbeat and slightly humorous. "You must appreciate the irony, though: the sword you carry, the one you just threatened me with," she added in mock anger, "bears the inscription 'To Keep Silence'." She laughed again. "Do that for me, Severus: keep the silence, and you will have your answers eventually."
"Agreed," spoke the wizard, "but I believe you said something of escape?"
"Yes, I believe we should leave while the light is still low, so there will be less of a chance for them to spot us."
"You're forgetting one thing: we no longer have the Thestral, and I'm not flying back to Hogwarts as a bat."
"I never expected you to. But if you change back into a bat, it will be easier for me to fly us both back to the castle."
Severus looked appalled at such an idea. "There must be a better way," he reasoned.
"Well, unless you would prefer that I become a griffin and fly you back as a human…" she let it hang, knowing fully that Severus's integrity would force him to choose the first option.
"Fine," he sulked, crossing his arms defiantly. He transformed back into the bat, and fluttered up to Mavet's shoulder, where he hung by his claws to the neck of her shirt and the leather choker around her throat.
Mavet smiled and edged her way out of the fissure, climbing up the rock walls, wings folded tightly against her back. She peeked over the edge of the gorge, and took a last long look at the fortress, making sure that she couldn't be seen. With a sad sigh, she let go of the wall and fell, twisting in mid air, righting herself. At last, she spread her enormous wings, and soared off into the sky.
Heh heh… poor lil' Sevvie, has to travel as a cute lil' fuzzy bat! I want a bat… Oh well… C'mon people! REVIEW! Review for lil' fuzzy Sevvie-poo!