Wow. I'm feelin' a little guilty for not having updated for so long, but I blame it all on lil' Sevvie-poo (my muse) for failing to inspire me. Plus I had this one scene running through my head that is a little later on in the story, and I had a shit load of school work to do and… well… other stuff too… sigh.
Meh. It's good to be back!
Chapter Fourteen: Last One AliveThere's a place not that far from here
Where people go when their dreams have died
As I walk from its faceless streets
I must be the last one alive
Where are you?
You're not with me
Numb my mind with this fantasy
Watching people live and die on screen
Where are you?
You're not with me
Where are you?
I'm free
— Last One Alive by Vast
Severus woke as if from a dream, the edges of his vision blurred into darkness, as his eyes adjusted and he realized that it wasn't just him; the cavernous room they were in was dark. Mavet had fallen into the most striking, luxurious, throne room (there was no other word for it, even though he wasn't sure if it even served that purpose in the first place) that the wizard had ever beheld. The floor was made of black marble, which had intricate streaks of silver running through it, and the walls looked like they had been coated in hematite. A strange purplish-black light rayed in from above, creating the illusion of perpetual twilight.
Mavet heaved a sigh of relief, and Severus dislodged himself from her collar, fluttered to the floor, and resumed his human form. As he did, however, he noticed a small brown form, which rustled just past his robes and smacked nose-first into Mavet's reptilian ankle. The Angel turned to investigate and, at the sight of the creature, smiled and bent to pick it up. The small rodent-like animal waddled efficiently through Mavet's grasp, causing her to bend awkwardly, nearly falling on her face.
"Uriel! You little rat! Come back here."
The small, spine-covered rodent turned back to face her, and immediately transformed into yet another Angel. This one had decided to take a female form, and had deep, olive-tanned skin. Her eyes were chocolate brown, as was her short, messy hair, which was spiked, and tipped with creamy blonde. Her wings bore the same appearance.
At once, she launched herself at Mavet, throwing her arms around the dark Angel's neck, and buried her head in the crook of Mavet's neck. "You're back! You're back! Why didn't you tell me? You stupid, stupid, bird-brained idiot! How did you ever get past the Metatron?" Mavet struggled to calm the wildly questioning Uriel, and finally dislodged her from her neck, ending with both of Uriel's hands clasped in her own.
"You pulled yourself into my realm, Uriel, you little rat. I could have you punished for that," Mavet hissed, somewhat amused.
Uriel decided to call Mavet's bluff. "Hedgehog, birdbrain, hedgehog, not rat. Now why don't you tell me what's going on? And who's your human friend?" she asked motioning towards Severus with a flick of her wing.
"Uriel, meet Severus, my Lieutenant. Severus, meet Uriel, Prince of Earth. Uriel flashed Severus a suggestive grin, while Severus simply glared at her, and Mavet continued. "As to what's going on, I hardly think I must say more than 'Lucifer'." Uriel looked grave, and Mavet slowly released her, giving the shorter, and somewhat younger-looking Angel a quick glance. "You know, I think the Metatron might find that offensive," she quipped, noting Uriel's khakis and tank top that were covered in green and brown army camouflage colours. At that, Uriel grinned and began giggling as if she behaved as well as appeared like she was merely seventeen.
"It's a good thing I haven't run into him lately, then." Then on a more serious note, "What can I do?"
Mavet sighed heavily. "You can return to Heaven and notify Ariel, Mephistopheles, and a human named Lilly Potter that I will meet them in a while at the Metatron's palace. If you run into Michael, you can kick him for me, but do not tell him where I am. Understood?"
"Undoubtedly." Uriel grinned at Mavet, winked at Severus, and with a flap of her wings, she was gone.
"Angels can apparate?" asked Severus.
"Not from realms that are not their own," Mavet said with a smirk. "The only way to enter or leave the Void is the means through which we came." Se motioned behind them, and Severus turned to stare up at a giant silver hourglass within which, swirled strange black sand that seemed not to be bound by the laws of gravity. Situated at the center of the bulbs, and slowing the rate at which the sand flowed between them, was a swirling sphere of black gas that may or may not have concealed a muggle light bulb. "Touch the top bulb and you will be transported back to the Metatron's palace in Heaven. The bottom bulb will send you to Hell, and to Lucifer, while touching the orb between the two will put you back at Stonehenge."
"Ah. And why are we to meet the others back in Heaven? Why not go straight to Earth when we are done."
"Because that may or may not be considered an act of rudeness or hostility on our part, and I would prefer not to have to fight both sides of the spiritual realm if I can avoid it."
"Mmm… Good reason," Severus muttered to himself.
Mavet led the way to the back of the room, where twin staircases swerved their way up to a second smaller level, which seemed to be empty save for a large tree which was situated at the very center, it's roots spiraling through the marble floor, seemingly not in need of any sustenance whatsoever. The tree was beautiful, and seemed to glow in alternating patterns of gold and silver, the green leaves and their fruit made of brightly coloured gems.
Severus stared at the tree, entranced. It seemed to call to him, pull him. He would have asked Mavet as to exactly what it was, except that she caught his wrist moments later, carefully positioning herself between him and the tree. Severus blinked, and saw that his hand was mere inches from one of the glassy, orb-like pieces of fruit that dangled, glistening, beckoning.
"What—" but Mavet cut him off angrily.
"Don't even think about it," she warned.
"I did nothing!" Severus protested, as he wrenched his hand away. "What is that?"
Mavet gave a cynical laugh. "Nothing except the tree of everlasting life."
Severus blinked. "Ah." He made a mental note to resist all further temptations of the tree. Eternal life was not something he desperately wanted, to be stuck with anyway. Severus considered it a curse. At least with Mavet he had a choice.
From behind Mavet, however, came a soft, yet sinister laugh. Mavet and Severus both turned to face the sound, and were greeted by a seemingly docile, gorgeously glinting, golden serpent peering through the crystal leaves. He flicked his tongue (which Severus noted was not forked) and flared his hood as he cocked his head to inspect the pair.
"Ha! You see, Angel? It was not the fault of the serpent, but the tree!" The cobra grinned (though how he did this without facial muscles, we will never know) and bared his fangs. Then he turned to Severus. "Greetings, human, what brings you to the Void?"
Severus stared. Then he turned to Mavet and asked, "Am I now a Parselmouth as well? Because I could have sworn I just heard and understood what that snake just said."
Mavet grinned uneasily, as if she were preparing to back out of a possibly dangerous situation, which Severus could see this had just become, due to the now-affronted serpent glaring inches from his face.
"Parselmouth! How dare you, human? I daresay I can speak the wretched tongue far less than you!" And with that, the gold cobra darted back into the trees from whence he came.
Severus looked startled, and then turned to Mavet as if to inquire as to what had previously transpired.
"Naga is a firstling; one of the two first snakes ever created. Every snake now living on earth is descended from Naga and his mate—"
"Former mate!" interrupted Naga from his leafy perch.
Mavet sighed. "… former mate, Nagini." At this, Severus's eyes grew wide in realization. "Because Nagini tempted Eve, her tongue was split. Naga's was not."
"Ah, so that's where the Dark Lord obtained his familiar," Severus mused. "Lucifer."
"Indeed." Then Mavet turned back to the tree. "Naga, Severus apologizes, and I must speak with you."
"Really?" inquired the snake. "Then I wish to hear it from his own Parsel-less tongue!"
Mavet rolled her eyes and looked at Severus pleadingly.
Severus sighed in response. He was not one to be known for apologies. "I apologize deeply for offending your obviously un-split tongue. (He still could not believe he was apologizing to a snake.) Please excuse my actions, for I was previously unaware." Severus groaned inwardly at his overly elaborate use of vocabulary for the benefit of a reptile, whether or not it was the symbol of his house. He wanted to hang himself. A random handful of neurons fired, and he supposed that someone might be laughing at him 'up there' except for the fact that he happened to currently be 'up there'. Oh, sod it, he thought; it was probably Mavet.
Naga instantly poked his head back out of the surreal foliage as if he'd known all along that Severus would apologize. "Good."
"As it would seem," he continued, oh Merlin, shut me up. "I've happened upon this former mate of yours, Nagini, and she is ever as despicable as you've inferred."
Naga's serpentine face darkened. "Treacherous bitch," he muttered angrily. He instantly perked up after that, however, most probably on account of niceties. "What did you want with me?" he asked, turning to Mavet.
"How did Lucifer get the sword?" Mavet asked sharply, nearly snapping at the reptile.
"What sword?" Naga asked, cocking his head.
Mavet's face darkened. "Don't play coy with me!"
"Don't be absurd, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"The sword! The Black Blade! I want to know how Lucifer got his hands on it." She grabbed Naga's throat in her fist and shook him slightly, as if this would refresh his memory. As more of a reflex, than an actual attempt to harm Mavet (how could a snake have harmed an Angel, anyway?) Naga's mouth snapped open, and his long, dripping fangs hovered millimeters from her wrist. He hissed, which was more of a growl, and closed his mouth slowly, standing his ground.
"Well, if you were talking about that sword, you should have said so in the first place," he growled in annoyance. "Now release me before I decide to cause you unnecessary pain." Reluctantly, she did and Naga yawned as he re-hinged his jaw. Then he did a double take and peered curiously up at Mavet. "I thought you already knew about that."
"I do!" Mavet replied. "I know that Lucifer has the sword and that he's gotten a living wizard to use it on his behalf."
"But then don't you know why the Metatron has declared a state of hostility?"
Mavet rolled her eyes. "Obviously, he's pissed at Lucifer and he wants the Blade back."
Naga's thoughtfully coy expression froze for a moment and then turned to one of dry cynicism. "Sadly, no. I'm afraid you're mistaken."
Suddenly, Severus spoke up. "What other reason could there possibly be? More importantly, why wouldn't he want to ensure the safety of a weapon that powerful?"
Naga looked at him for a moment and then spoke again to Mavet. "He's taken Morpheus."
"What?" Mavet yelped suddenly.
"That's how Lucifer was able to steal the sword in the first place," Naga explained. "He took control of Morpheus, being very careful to not have Morpheus actually touch the thing, and was able to sneak him into the Void to retrieve it." Naga let this sink in before continuing. "It was perfect, really; Morpheus is close enough to you that he wouldn't seem out of place, yet just enough out of touch with reality to have been easily manipulated. Once he'd realized what was happening, it would already have been too late."
Mavet looked stricken. "So where is Morpheus?" she asked quietly.
"Nobody knows," replied the snake. "I assume he is still under Lucifer's control. But you do realize that the only real reason Heaven has supported you is because of Morpheus. The Bright One doesn't care about the Blade."
"Why not? Lucifer could destroy all of the Upper Kingdom!"
"Yes," Naga agreed, "but at the moment, the Metatron has nothing to lose by letting Lucifer have the sword momentarily. In fact, he has everything to gain from allowing Lucifer to go through with his plan."
"That's absurd!" cried Mavet, flailing her arms in confusion. "Lucifer's only goal is to capture and eventually obliterate a human boy! What could the Metatron possibly—"And then it clicked. Mavet froze as two and two suddenly came together in her mind to make a startlingly disturbing four. Harry Potter wasn't just some human boy, his soul was half Angel; he was a Nephilim. The Metatron had ordered her to eliminate the Nephilim, but she had refused and now he was letting Lucifer do it instead. She was a tool. She was a tool that had fought back and now she had been thrown aside, dropped to the floor as a useless husk. There was no higher power pledging loyalty; she was alone and friendless in a small dark corner of the universe. And now she was angry. The tool had fought back, and now it wanted the blood of those who had trespassed against it.
Mavet growled dangerously, a deep menacing sound in the back of her throat that was almost a purr—but Severus knew better. She turned angrily on her heel, startling both Severus and Naga, and hurried off to the side of the second level of the Void Fortress, continuing up the tightly winding spiral staircase. Severus would have been right behind her, were it not for the large venomous snake that had seized his wrist in its mouth.
"I'm coming with you," Naga said imperiously, as Severus carefully studied his hand. "And no, I was careful enough not to actually bite you, now hurry, or we'll lose her!"
Severus blinked in astonishment. He had half a mind to set this arrogant creature straight by informing him that in no way would he take orders from a creature less than half as evolved as he. But there was the small fact that Mavet climbing steadily higher. To where, Severus did not know, but he suspected this serpent might, and it just so happened that said serpent was now coiled about his shoulders like an extravagant gold scarf, with his head tucked close to Severus's own, his tail draping down the wizard's back. And that was how Severus Snape, Hogwarts Potions Master extraordinaire, and double agent against the Dark Lord for the Order, had come to be hurtling through the air on wings that were not his own, in a fortress of the spirit realm ruled by a woman who was not a woman, but who currently claimed the title of 'Severus Snape's Love Interest'. Oh, and he had a talking golden cobra coiled around his neck. Yes, Severus's life had definitely taken a turn for the weird.
The newly formed muscles that joined Severus's borrowed wings to his shoulder blades burned wearily as Severus fought to climb higher and faster, barely keeping Mavet's tail in sight. Just when he was wondering if this spirit tower could possibly rise any higher, he heard the sharp clickety-click of talons on marble. Banking so sharply that Naga nearly lost his perch and was reduced to holding on by constricting Severus's trachea, Severus landed clumsily on a platform to his left, loosened his serpentine 'scarf' with a quick jerk of his thumb, and was sprinting down the long, dark, corridor only seconds later. If only his students could see him now… if nothing else, they'd be surprised at how fast their professor could move on those incredibly long legs of his.
Having nearly caught up to his Angelic counterpart, Severus reached a large heavy door carved intricately out of ebony, left open a mere three or so inches from having been shoved violently open several moments prior. Furiously shoving his hands between the doorframe and the door, Severus wrenched the door open and had to shield his eyes against what he saw within. Bombarded by moonlight so bright it surpassed the sun, dust and smoke tendrilled its way through the air; hellish clouds that finally parted, no longer obstructing his view of Mavet, though he was no longer sure that this was a good thing. Cries louder than the angriest wind thundered around him, as a tempest roared like a whirlwind around the black form of Death. The silvery smoke finally separated itself from the surrounding air and took the shape of three women, floating ghostlike as they drifted down to sit upon the floor at Mavet's feet.
The faces of the three were twisted into sinister glares and smirks as they hissed and jeered at the Angel of Death. The one on the left looked about twenty, with long silken ice-blonde hair that would put Narcissa Malfoy to shame. The one in the centre wore a guise of a middle-aged woman, amber hair just starting to grey, and the third was an old hag with hair as white as snow, and a mask wrought with wrinkles. Drawing on his link with Mavet, no doubt, Severus recognized each as the Maiden, Mother and Crone. These were the three Fates who presided over the future, present, and past, respectively. The youngest one, the Maiden of the future, cackled with glee as she spied Severus striding into the throne room, and Mavet turned briefly to acknowledge him.
"Ooh, look, sisters, the Angel has brought us a human!" The blonde Fate clapped her hands together and eyed Severus hungrily. Severus merely glared in response.
"QUIET!" snapped Mavet as she violently unsheathed her sword and held it millimeters from the Maiden's throat. This put an instant stop to the trio's maniacal laughter, yet they retained their sardonic grins.
"What's the matter, Dark One?" rasped the Crone. "Must you keep such insipid company as help, now that you're no longer perched safely on the top rung of the ladder?" The other two chuckled at the comment, and Mavet's gleaming silver blade quickly traveled to the wiry neck of the Crone.
"Where is Mephistopheles?" she hissed so quietly that Severus barely heard her. He recognized her tone, however, much to his amusement; it was the same tone he used with Neville Longbottom when he felt so inclined to explode his cauldron all over Severus's dungeon.
"Where do you think?" the Crone replied with satisfaction.
"The problem is that she doesn't think," laughed the Maiden.
"Or," began the Mother, "maybe he is where she doesn't think he is, which if you are correct dear," she motioned to the Maiden, "could very well be anywhere, especially where he in fact is."
Severus would swear later that he hadn't even seen the blade twitch. The next thing he remembered was the Mother's stately head rolling across the floor, and the looks of complete seriousness on the other two Fates' faces as they stared interestedly at it's motion away from it's former body.
"Bitch!" cursed the rolling head of the newly decapitated Fate, and Severus realized, wide-eyed, that he'd been a fool to presume her dead.
"Indeed," said Mavet dryly, causing the corner of Severus's mouth to quirk slightly upwards. Finally sensing that she wasn't going to get anything but ridiculous riddles from the three Fates, Mavet turned on her heel with an angry growl, and stormed out of the sinister ballroom.
"Lucifer will annihilate your Nephilim regardless, Dark One," the Maiden called out after the pair. "I have seen it," she laughed. "It will be a glorious end!"
At that Mavet froze, and turned silently to face the malicious Fate. Severus made to grab her arm, but Naga quickly wrapped his tail around the offending limb, shaking his head furiously for the wizard to remain still. Slowly and calmly Mavet walked back to stand before the Maiden, wings slightly flared, and a look of frightening calmness on her angular visage. She didn't bother to draw her sword. She turned suddenly, extending her wing, and with a sharp 'CRACK' of air, the Maiden's head went rolling along to land beside that of the Mother. Two more lightning quick flashes of the Angel's wings and the Maiden's arms were severed as well.
Ignoring the venomous onslaught of curses and insults that followed, Mavet strode from the room, grasping Severus's hand tightly as she came to him, and they finally left the room of the Fates. Slamming the large, heavy door with a bang that echoed throughout the entire spire for several seconds, Mavet drew Severus close and finally sagged against him, her strength nearly sapped. She pressed her face into his chest and released a ragged, dry sob of complete and utter despair.
"There's no hope anymore, Severus. Harry is as good as dead. I've failed, and now his soul will be torn apart and thrown to Lucifer like a corpse thrown to dogs!"
"Don't be stupid," Naga hissed from somewhere by Severus's shoulder as said wizard tried to comfort the near-hysterical Angel.
"What do you mean?" asked Severus as he wiped away Mavet's tears with a sweep of his hand.
"Well," Naga began, and Severus could have sworn he saw the snake grin. "Haven't you always wondered why there are some humans who are wizards and some who are muggles?"
"Well, certainly, but–"
"And haven't you realized that Angels possess powers similar, yet more enhanced, to those of wizard-kind?"
Apparently Mavet realized what Naga was going on about because she began to smile, but Severus was still clueless; something that he absolutely despised being.
"Will you just get on with it already?"
"Jeez, temper, temper," Naga huffed. "My point is that this same thing happened thousands of years ago, and nothing horrible came of it. Although I must say that my decision about that may change somewhat after meeting you, Mr. Snape," he added wryly.
Severus merely glared.
"What he means, Severus," Mavet continued, "is that the first generation of Nephilim went on living. At first they were immeasurably powerful, but as the Angelic essence continued to mix with that of other humans, their power diminished somewhat, and the result today are the witches and wizards of what you call the magical world. Harry Potter is the last true Nephilim alive."
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