Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Author's Note: Once again, I do not speak French. I am using a dictionary/translator on my computer, so I'm aware it won't be perfect. If you do speak French, I would like to apologize now for any slaughtering of the language I may have inadvertently caused. Otherwise, what do you care, right?
French translations: ((example))
Responses to Reviewers: tkmoore, witness my redemption. lol! you are the review queen, as usual! Cloaked, as always, you are a goddess! Angie, thanks! sillysun, totally spectacular review. typical. LOL me, awesome review!! thanks!! otaku sae, thanks so much! hope you like this chappie, too! Fallen, hope you like this one! love ya! el chikita joules, THANK YOU! Carmilla Zabini, thanks for the review, dear! love ya! VirginVixen-666, you should like this one, lol. Haunted-Shadows, as always, a million thank yous! a:sam, as usual, THANKS! Wicked Not Evil, here's an update, please don't kill me! (snickers, then runs and hides) aoi-yuki-yume, yes, yes, I do love you, and here's an update! angelfire33, love ya, hope ya like! babykelyse, hope you dig this one! Meryl12, thank you!! AnitaBlake/BuffyFan, thanks, as usual! you're the best! Tytianne, thanks!!!! power of the stars, I'm glad you're still with me! :) Corinne, thank you so much!! ladyize, here you go! wouldn't want your health to fall…lol. musiclover86, more, as you requested! Lithui, and I love you! thanks for reviewing! quimbytimmons, thanks a million!! chrissyangel, hope this was soon enough! little-munchkin-poo, don't worry about it! thanks for reviewing at all! :) Miss-Elina, THANKS! bigreader, don't worry; I use 'awesome' way too much too! :) mz.sammiz, thank you! Psi, thanksthanksthanks! short arse, (snickers) hope you like this one! gin rose raposo1, thank you so much!!!! dorkprincess, deep breaths…take deep breaths…now read on! lol zhizhi192, hope this was soon enough! AineSironaTsuki, got your review just before posting! thanks, and here's an update!
A special, belated thanks goes out to Cougar, hottemptress and Sphinxtress, who reviewed for Ch. 25 and didn't get put into the review responses because I got them after I posted. So, thanks you guys!!!!
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Isis stretched leisurely as one of her lions got into another squall with one of Sebek's crocodiles, a fond smile crossing her lips. Those two were always bickering. A roar and a hiss later, they'd both fallen headfirst into the Nile. Smirking at the thought of what mortals would say if they could see a lion larger than most of their cars battling with a crocodile the length of a bus, she reflected that it was good to be a goddess. She couldn't resist visiting Egypt in the flesh every few years, even though she hated seeing what most of the people had been turned into. But fate flowed like that, and she knew that it would all be righted soon enough. Soon enough to her, anyway.
She knew that her people would sing and worship openly in the streets again; she had Seen it long ago when she'd let Cleopatra place that serpent to her breast. She could smell change on the wind, change for all, god and mortal alike. But what kind of change she didn't know, and the Lady was not answering her calls for the first time since the last of the First Born had been called to Pass. It worried her, but not overly much. Not until she felt a pull that she hadn't felt since the fall of Rome. One of her charms had just been activated, the frantic wish slamming into her consciousness like a thousand sharp knives.
Abandoning the Shadow Realm instantly, she relaxed once she was back within the Dark Court's Hall. The agony receded, and she was able to examine the situation. To say that she was shocked when she discovered who asked for an age-old form of aid was quite an understatement. Why in Chaos would Cocidius's Chosen need her help? Cocidius matched her in power, was probably even stronger, truth be told, but…No. No, no, no. Scanning the ripples of the flame-haired princess's emotions revealed more than could be possible. No one would dare…Turning her attention away, she seeked out the missing two.
There, she thought, finding the quivering wisps of their passage in the ether. They were in the Light Realm! What in the Seven Hells was going on? Where was Cocidius? Reaching out for him with long familiarity, she nearly lost her link to his Chosen when she felt…nothing. For the first time since the Dawn of the World, Isis, Queen Goddess of Magick and Life, felt fear. Then his Chosen were being moved again, back to the Shadow Realm, and she followed mentally. When the deity holding them prisoner tried to kill them, she deflected the first blast out of anger, not even thinking of the charm. And when that energy collided with hers, she knew who it was.
Howling in fury, she threw bolt after bolt of his power back at him, drawing on her own divinity and not having time to be surprised at just how strong he'd somehow become. She saw him give up, saw his foul deeds, before letting the connection go. Someone was shaking her, and she looked up to see her son, Horus. Feeling as if she'd literally been stabbed in the back, she saw his startled expression when he met her wild, infuriated eyes. Slamming her hands on the floor underneath her, she started channeling the power of the Dark Court, ignoring the other gods who appeared in the room when they felt her doing so.
She felt more than saw Osirus kneel beside her, and his mind joined with hers. Enjoying the feel of his igniting rage as he learned what she had, she continued calling power. They would find Cocidius. They would set him free. She would honor his Chosen's wish to the best of her ability, just as she had always done. She sensed now that the time was approaching, the time of the changes that she had foreseen. War loomed before them, awakening her battle lust for the first time in millennia, and she knew not how it would end. But she knew one thing. She would scour the universe from end to end to until she found Hell's favorite Prince.
And when he was freed, when his constraints were undone, all of Heaven would quiver at their feet.
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Padma slowed once she reached the water's edge, her eyes scanning the horizon. She was somewhere in the tropics, although she had no idea where. She could find out by asking the land, but it would eat precious time, and it was essentially unnecessary. Umethi had told her that her friends were almost fifteen leagues offshore, and she needed to reach them swiftly. Making up her mind, she chose the fastest bird that she could name off of the top of her head, pictured it, and shifted. Long seconds of agony creeped by, her world compacting, and then she was shooting through the air, over the rolling waves.
The small body of the White-throated Needletail that she had selected was quite aerodynamic, and the shifter blood in her veins guided her movements, making them smooth and graceful. She had never shifted into a bird, only into different types of great cats so far, and it would have been exhilarating had she not been so driven, one thing and one thing only being at the forefront of her thoughts. Her sleek new form cut through the air like a razor through foam, and she felt as if she were racing time itself. It did not take as long as she'd thought to make it out fifteen leagues, but she had only a moment to marvel at the bird's speed.
She couldn't know if she was exactly in the right spot yet, but Umethi had said fifteen leagues and straight to the east, and that's where she was, high in the clouds. Stilling her wings, she turned her beak downwards and tucked them in tight, diving for the ocean surface far below her. As she neared it, she knew that she only had one shifting option considering how deep she needed to go according to Umethi. Focusing her concentration, she would have screamed had she been able, that transformation hurting much worse than the other had. She felt herself become huge and bulky, felt her legs melt together and her arms bend and reform.
And then she was slicing through the water, all of her senses reeling as she became accustomed to those of a sperm whale. Her eyes became useless, but the world that sonar opened up to her was vast. She never stopped her dive, sending her song out around her widening circles and registering all that was sent back with more than a bit of wonder. Umethi had outlined the permanent landmarks for her to seek out, and it was remarkably easy. She was in the right spot after all, thank the gods. As she went ever deeper, a giant squid tweaked the whale's instincts and nearly distracted her from her course, but she fought it and continued down, down, down.
It didn't seem that she would ever reach the bottom, and the sloping walls of what she guessed was a ravine seemed almost claustrophobic. She usually liked the feel of the earth all around her, but her fear for her friends grew with every fluke-flip. Flashes of them swam through her mind even as she swam for the ocean floor. Flashes of Draco laughing at her and telling her to concentrate, that she could do any spell if she'd just take her head out of the leaves for a minute; flashes of Blaise's mocking grin as he'd taunted her into fighting harder during sword practice, into giving her all and holding nothing back. And flashes of Virginia, happy and safe and sane in their arms.
Then, miracle of miracles, readings of the bottom finally reached her. A new spurt of energy coursing through her, she swam ever harder, frantically searching for the pole and the coffins. There! Just ahead and to the left, she finally found them, and nearly released all of her air in relief. Swimming to the pole, she threw a shield around herself so that the crushing pressure wouldn't kill her when she shifted back to her human form, and so she could breathe. The transformation was relatively painless compared to the last, and a ball of witchlight inside her shield cast an eerie light over the two davascian prisons, the sight of which made her heart pound.
Loosing the dagger from her belt, she moved closer, her shield easily overcoming the weak, careless ones that Dagda had placed around them. He obviously hadn't expected anyone to find them. His mistake. Wrapping one hand in the thick chains attaching them to the pole, she ignored the searing pain and brought the dagger down, putting all of her strength behind the blow. The thin blade bit through the damnable metal, meeting resistance for a moment before going all the way through. The chains sagged in her hand and she dropped them, not paying attention to the ugly, blistering welts that had already spread over her skin.
She'd only touched them for a second, but she could feel the loss of power that second had caused her and cursed. No matter, she wouldn't have been able to haul them back up and to the shore by those chains anyway. She had only one real hope besides trying to Apparate them, which would be risky at best. She couldn't use the portkey that Umethi had given her yet, as the wards stretched out over this part of the sea, so she did the only thing she knew to do, and hoped with everything in her that it would work. Expanding her shield to include both coffins, she looked back and forth between them, wishing she could see through the metal.
But she couldn't, so she brought the blade down again randomly, stabbing it through the metal of the one on her right. Nothing. Damn it! All right, the other one then. That or she was going to have to take her chances of splinching them. The dagger sunk into the other coffin, and that time she knew it had worked immediately as the water outside her shield began churning violently. She swore she could hear it roaring in pure rage, but she didn't have time to ponder it before they were shooting up and she was hanging onto the burning chains desperately, trying not to be ill as they rocketed for the surface.
Just when she knew she couldn't hold on any longer, when she was sure that she was about to be sucked away from them, they erupted past the top layer of waves and into the salty air. Bobbing uselessly, her strength mostly gone and eaten by the metal, she wondered if she would drown. But the water seemed to be holding her up, and she glanced around, seeing the two coffins floating next to her when they should have been sinking. Dropping her shield and ripping off the cloak that quickly became soaked, she threw it over the nearest one and leaned onto it, trying to figure out what in the hell to do next. It's not like she'd had a load of time to plan everything out.
Excited, chippery chattering broke through her scheming, and she felt like sobbing in relief when her cheek was bumped by the long snout of a dolphin. More chattering and energetic splashing came from all around her, and she saw that the majority of them were swimming around the coffin opposite her, which undoubtedly made it Draco's. The dolphin next to her nudged one end of the chains before flipping around and waving its fluke at her. It repeated the process and she realized that it wanted her to tie the chains to them. Half of the pod lined up before the davascian boxes, and she was glad that the chain was so long.
Using the cloak to save her hands any more damage, it took nearly twenty minutes to get them all hooked up where they could still swim, and her hour was long up, leaving her feeling completely wasted. The last of her energy went to ripping the cloak into long pieces and fashioning them into a sort-of harness, since she knew there was no way that she'd be able to hang onto the dolphin's fin all the way back to the shore. They started out as soon as she'd gotten situated, and their strength surprised her. They didn't seem to tire at all, their pace staying steady and smooth, quick and easy. The cry of a gull was the first thing that she was aware of again for a long time.
Looking up, she saw that there was a huge flock flying over them, and several were lighted on the coffin right in front of her, slipping over its surface due to the bumpy ride. Other birds were caught up in the flock as well, as if all of the ones in the general vicinity had come, and she heard a faint whistling that had her realizing the cause. The wind had found Blaise through the hole she'd put in his coffin. A little more alert, she choked back a gasp when she saw the number of fins surrounding them. Those are not all dolphins, she thought with a shiver. She hated sharks. She hated fish in general, actually, but especially sharks.
Thankfully, the trip to the shore wasn't too much longer, and she had no choice but to take a moment and commune with the earth when she hit the sand. She had to drag the coffins onto the beach, and she needed strength. Five valuable minutes ticked by before she could stand, and the dolphin waited as patiently as it could while she removed the harness before spraying her affectionately, bumping Draco's coffin again, and zooming off with the others. It was like a finned and feathered escort that disbanded once it had made sure that they'd made it to land. Shaking her head, she made temporary gloves out of the soggy scraps of velvet.
She got the coffins out of the water, shooting paranoid glances over her shoulder at the labyrinth behind her, praying that Dagda wouldn't show up suddenly and try to finish what He'd started. She doubted it though, as He had no reason to think that they would be found, and His wards weren't set to alert Him to everyone that passed through them, since so many did, as Umethi had explained. Taking out the dagger again, she started prying it under the lids' seals until hisses of air signaled her success. She waited until both were done before opening them, because if it was bad, she wanted to get it over with all at once.
She lifted them ever-so-slowly, and the sight that greeted her was so like the one that she'd been confronted with in the common room that she nearly let the lids slam shut again. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to flip the tops all of the way off and onto the sand. Their eyes were closed, not open, and they weren't breathing, not that she'd expected them to be after over a day and a half at the bottom of the ocean. But they were vampires, and they didn't need to breathe to survive. It was more like habit than anything else, she supposed. But that didn't mean that they were alive, either. She didn't have the heart to pry their eyelids open, so she improvised.
At any other time, she would have used herself, but she just didn't have it in her. Casting her senses out, she searched the labyrinth to see if any inside were still alive. Hmm…There were four in an underground room playing cards, one pacing back and forth to the north, and one…And one who was unlucky enough to be asleep behind a sand dune not twenty yards from her. Calling the power of the earth up through her feet with every step, she had the wizard in hand moments later, a spell cutting off any screams he may have let loose. He looked at her as if she were a demon, and she might as well have been for all it mattered to him. His end would still be bloody.
Taking him back to the coffins, she knocked him unconscious to stop his struggling instead of wasting more magic on a spell, and then slid in between the boxes once more. Getting behind him on her knees so that his weight fell against her chest, she stretched both of his arms out, holding his wrists with her hands and guiding them until they hovered over her friends' mouths. A simple shift was still simple, and her thumbnails grew into deadly points, slicing through ligaments and veins carelessly. Blood began flowing darkly from the deep wounds, splattering in thick drops on their blackened lips, and she waited with baited breath for a small eternity.
The seconds ticked by, ringing impossibly loud in her ears, and the tears rising in her throat shocked her in a vague, detached way. She hadn't thought she'd had any left. Still the blood dripped and still they stayed unmoving, and she wondered if she'd been too late, cold fear filling her from head to foot at the thought. But the water and the dolphins and the birds…Surely that meant they were alive? Or would the animals of their domains still hearken to the calls of their corpses? She really didn't want to find out, and her mind whirled, trying to think of something. Unbidden, a song of lamenting and rebirth spilled from her lips in ancient Gaelic.
She kneeled there, her voice rising and falling, and she called out to them as she called out to her god, wanting to feel Him back inside her more than anything. Everything had been so empty since the failure of the trip to Nor Gorgun. So empty and lifeless and dull, and she wanted her friends back, she wanted her god back. And then, like the first glimpse of the moon on a starless night, a single silver eye cracked open the minutest bit, followed on the other side by a splash of brilliant blue. Her song died as she started in surprise, her hands clenching and causing the blood to flow faster. With a snake's sudden quickness, lips parted a second before they struck.
Their hands shot out and grabbed the bleeding offerings, dragging them to their mouths and sinking fangs deep into the flesh. The wizard woke up then, his eyes widening in horror when he saw that he was being feasted upon, silent screams pouring from his throat. But she had no compassion for one who worked for a tainted god, and she could be as cold and heartless as Mother Nature when angered. That's why she let him stay awake that time, let him see his death as it closed in on him from all sides. His blood flowed faster when his heart was thrumming in primal fright anyway. And then he was slumping, his eyes glazing and falling shut as it beat its final time.
Letting him sink to the sand carelessly, she watched breathlessly as her friends' fingers curled around the edges of the coffins, as their eyes opened fully and their tongues darted out, licking the stray blood from their skin. Then they were rising and she was sobbing, kicking the acolyte out of her way as she held a hand out to each of them. They took them without even looking, their gazes glued on the stars, and she pulled them out of the cursed coffins, leading them away so that the metal wouldn't accidentally brush against them. They turned to her slowly and she threw her arms around them, feeling as if she would explode right then and there from sheer joy.
They returned the embrace after a few hesitant seconds, as if their memories were only slowly resurfacing, and then their arms tightened around her as they started shaking. She knew, on some level that had nothing to do with magical connections and divine Marks, that everything was coming back to them too swiftly, and she let her voice rise in song again, enveloping them in the soothing touch of the earth underneath her. They needed more blood and they needed it quickly, so she drew away once their breathing had evened out. Running her eyes over them, she studied the extent of their injuries, trying to decide the best course of action.
The wounds had healed only fractionally, and they were too severe for them to be able to draw on enough energy from the wind and water to heal themselves while they were still so weak. And she…Well, she was running on borrowed time herself. They needed to get out of the wards as soon as possible. She opened her mouth to tell them so, when Draco and Blaise's eyes met and the rest of the world seemed to fall away. It seemed they had not seen one another until that moment, and there were entire galaxies of meaning in that single meeting of silver and cerulean. They did not see the burns and the blisters, did not see the charred skin. They only saw each other.
She turned away when Blaise's fingers rose in wonder, tracing over one of Draco's cheekbones as if he could not believe his eyes, and she let herself fall back onto the sand. Let them have a moment, she told herself. You would wish it too if your last thought had been that you'd lost your soulmates forever. Her eyes rising to the heavens, she sought out her favorite constellations. There was Cetus, which she had always thought looked like one of the strange mooncalf creatures that made crop circles, then Cassiopeia, which looked a lot like the symbol for earth in the old tongue, then Gemini, the constellation of her birth, and, of course, Draco, although it looked more like a snake to her than a dragon.
"Padma?" Their voices jolted her back to reality, and she shot up quickly. "Where is Virginia?"
"Back at the castle. We must go. Can you walk?" She asked, getting to her feet, small thrills of happiness oozing through her at the thought of taking them back to Virginia, of seeing the girl smile again. And just at the thought of them alive. They were really alive!
"Oui." They said, rising slowly to their feet, their wounds obviously still bothering them.
"Then come. We must sneak back through the labyrinth and get out of the wards. I have a portkey from Umethi to get us to Hogwarts." She said, and ghosts of their usual smirks drifted over their lips.
"Umethi? How typical." They replied, and they started off across the sand, her in the lead since they had no idea where they were going.
They reached the maze of stone passageways soon enough, and she made them wait behind each corner while she scouted ahead. She was stronger, which was quite sad considering her condition, but she was too drained to cast her senses out again, and they couldn't risk a fight right then. Draco and Blaise were, for once, too weak to argue with her. She was pretty sure that they were almost out when she came to a dead end. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled, because she was positive that there had been a door there before. She was in a medium-sized room that was filled with shadows, but the single scrap of tapestry on the wall confirmed that it was the right one.
Shit, she thought acidly. Well, this is just bloody fabulous. Starting a circle of the room's perimeter, she ran her fingers over the wall, searching for some sign of the missing door. But there was nothing. She was about to give up and go back to her friends, when a long coil of hated metal wrapped around her throat and drug her to the floor. Scrabbling at it as it ate through her skin and stole what little power she had left, she felt her insides turn to ice when a hooded figure wielding a scimitar came to stand above her. No. No, not now. Please not now. But there was no changing this fate, this nightmare from her vision.
She didn't even scream as her sister brought the blade down and into her chest.
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Blaise couldn't remember ever having been so tired in his life. Okay, well, maybe a few times, but not since their fathers had died. He needed blood. Soon. Every minute that passed made the hunger gnaw at him more and more viciously, and he knew Draco was experiencing the same. All he wanted right then was to get back to Hogwarts, snog Virginia senseless, drain a few fifth years, and collapse into a healing sleep for an age or two. Instead, he was crouched beside Draco in some dingy hallway that was filled with dirt and sand, waiting for Padma to find their way out of this hellhole maze. Life had definitely taken a turn to the shitty side.
But then again…Draco was beside him, and that could make any situation bearable. And the last thing he'd seen were Draco's eyes falling shut in what he'd been sure was death. But he was alive, gloriously alive, and seeing him that way when they'd been freed had been like swimming through a pool of rapture and contentment. Draco was alive, Virginia was safe at the castle, and continuing to exist wasn't nearly as hard with those two things as incentive, even though his body was screaming in torment every time he so much as breathed. Needless to say, he'd given up on that a while ago. Chilled fingers ran down his cheek, drawing him from his thoughts.
"And what makes you smile so?" Draco asked in a low whisper, and goosebumps ran over the parts of Blaise's flesh that hadn't been melted and burned.
"You, of course. You and our lady. Do you think she's missed us?"
"If she hasn't, we'll make her remember why she should have." Draco replied, as much of a teasing lilt as he could manage entering his voice.
"I thought you were dead." The words left Blaise's mouth before he even thought of speaking them, and Draco's hand wrapped itself in his hair.
"I know. I thought you were too." Draco said, his silver eyes dulling briefly with remembrance. "Do you remember being trapped?"
"Oui." Blaise responded after a few moments, the lightest of shudders running over his skin. "I thought I was in Tartarus. I had to watch you both burn and scream, and I could do nothing."
"What did He do to us? It had to have been a spell, or—" He stopped when they both heard a dull thud around the corner. "What was that?"
Blaise shook his head, not sure. Their senses were dampened along with their strength, but it didn't stop them from going to investigate. They took the corner and crept down the hallway, scanning everything they could. Silence covered all thickly, until the unmistakable sound of a blade sliding through flesh and bone met their ears. A shared glance later, they were moving as quickly as their abused bodies could manage, and they went through the doorway seconds later only to have rage engulf them from head to foot. Flashes of Padma and Virginia's vision slid through their minds, intertwining with the reality before them.
Padma had a curved sword sunk in her chest, and Parvati stood over her, laughing. Then her eyes lifted and met theirs, and she paled rapidly, moving back and nearly tripping over her own robes. Oh yes, Blaise thought vehemently, be afraid, little witch, be very fucking afraid. They might have been weakened, they might have been fighting just to stay conscious, but they were still more than a match for that traitorous little Gryffindor slut. Draco had wanted her dead for years, ever since Blaise had come back to the common room livid and snarling, her scent coating him like a foul cloud. They moved toward her now, and there was nowhere for her to run.
She met her end on razor sharp claws, and she screamed and screamed as they sliced her into ribbons. They did not feed off of her, refused to, and they went to Padma's side as soon as Parvati's lifeless corpse hit the floor with a wet 'splat'. Their friend wasn't breathing, her eyes closed and her face slack, but her heart was still beating ever-so-slowly, and they saw that the scimitar had just grazed the right side of it. Her spine had been severed, her left lung punctured and she had less than a minute before she Passed, even with her self-healing skills. She was too weak, and so were they. That really left only one choice besides snapping her neck and ending her suffering.
They looked at each other, a million unsaid thoughts racing between them, and they sliced the skin of their wrists open simultaneously. There was no question of morals, no questions of right or wrong, no hesitation and debate on whether or not she would regret it or loathe them for it later. They simply moved to either side of her and let their blood pour between her open lips and down her throat, working its dark magick and latching onto her soul, becoming a part of it as surely as her love for the earth was. They sat there, unmoving, until they knew they were about to pass out, before pulling back and then striking, sharp fangs piercing her own wrists.
They repeated the process, over and over and over, until both were so weary that they couldn't so much as blink without wanting to die. Padma still wasn't breathing, not that they'd expected her to be, but her eyes were opening and her spine and heart were long healed. The transformation heals any physical wounds one has at the time, barring the separation of the head from the body, and their blood was strong even if they weren't at the moment. She gasped suddenly, tiny fangs flashing, and they knew their work was done. She would live. Now it would just be for an eternity. Neither realized they were falling back until they hit the floor, and blackness started eating at their vision.
"What happened?" The voice that had always been rich and soothing was doubly so now, and Blaise couldn't help a small smile. He was light-headed, and distantly felt like he was floating. Strange, he thought idly. I wonder if I'm truly dying now.
"Hmm." Was all he was able to manage though, and he felt his hand being taken in an iron grip.
"What have you done!?" Padma shrieked, losing her cool completely. "Fools! You were half-dead to begin with! My life means nothing compared to yours! It means nothing compared to Virginia's sanity!" That name cut through his foggy thoughts like a hot brand, and he wondered what she meant. Virginia was safe in Slytherin, wasn't she?
"Wha—?"
"She went mad when you were taken." Padma sounded as if she were being ripped in two, and her grip on his hand tightened as she spoke words that horrified them as nothing else could. "Your corpses showed up on the second day. She thinks you dead and lost to her. And I was so close to having you back…"
Oh gods, no. No, no, no. Would they have been able to survive the same thing? Yes, his mind hissed at him, you would have endured long enough to drag their murderers with you into Hell.
"What do I do now? Y-You're dy-dying." She continued, her voice breaking with a sob. "And I'm still so weak. I don't know what to do, I can't think properly, and I'm being eaten away by hunger as we speak, though I know not what I hunger for."
"Bloo-" He heard Draco try to explain, and Padma caught on quickly enough.
"I figured so. Now how do I get you out? I will not let you perish here!" She exclaimed, and her conviction would have been touching had he been able to feel anything at all. "We need help." She finally admitted in a broken whisper, and he silently agreed. Their situation definitely didn't look good, at any rate.
"Well, I suppose that's what I'm here for, yes?" A voice like liquid night said from somewhere above him, and he heard Padma's startled, in-drawn breath. Trying to focus, he could only make out floor-length hair as black as his own and streaked with blood-red strips, huge shadows to either side, and a face that could make gods weep when confronted with its dark radiance.
"Who are you?" He heard Padma ask shakily, and the answer made him wish desperately that he could see clearly.
"Me?" The delectable being questioned, and there was a world of power in that utterance. "Why, I'm here to be your savior, as ironic as that is. But you may call me Lucifer."
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Virginia rifled through their closet, passing row after row of clothes until she got to the very back. Each item that she touched, filled with their scent and with lingering traces of their auras, only solidified her fury and her longing grief. But she had spent three days grieving; it was time for revenge. Revenge and then release. If killing Voldemort didn't kill her, then she'd do it herself afterwards. Her fingers finally found the thick Egyptian cotton robes that she was looking for, and she smiled, pulling one that had been made for her down before heading back into the bedroom. It slid on without any problems, tailor-fitted and molding to every curve.
It was designed to leave her weapons at an easy reach, the slits and slices in the fabric strategically placed and nearly invisible to one who didn't know they were there. She'd already slid her boots and the sheathes off in order to put on a tight black catsuit, and had then replaced everything before going for the robe. Walking over to one of the huge, floor-length mirrors, she braided her hair back in three thick plaits before twining those together into one and letting it hang down her back. She studied her reflection for a moment, before intoxicating laughter reminded her of her purpose. She had things to do, people to kill.
It was time to break free.
Annoyed at her lack of magic, she stared at the fire pit for a few moments, trying to think of how she was supposed to make a fire when she couldn't call in any wood. They were mages, damn it. They didn't have little piles of the shit lying around. Soft laughter and a cold hand turned her around, and she attempted to figure out what they were trying to tell her. All she could see were the divans and the bookshelves, and she definitely wasn't burning the books. She'd set a house elf on fire first. More laughter, as if they knew what she was thinking, and then she understood. She wouldn't burn the books. But she would burn the divans.
Breaking them up was mildly difficult, as they were made from sturdy wezdink wood, but she had a considerable pile in the pit within minutes. Fire wasn't hard to come by, the room was littered with candles and torches, and she took one of the latter off of the wall. Taking it with her, she walked to the far corner by the bathroom and spoke the password to open the hidden cubbyhole there. Reaching in, she felt around until her fingers brushed over leather and an icy charge slid over her skin. She could feel her own magic weaved inside it as well, and pulled the book out before shutting the hole once more.
It was her lovers' Book of Shadows. She still had her own from before she'd gotten with them, but it had been abandoned in favor of the one she now held. It resonated with their energy, fire, ice and lightning trapped within its pages, and she stroked the cover fondly. Had any hand but theirs touched it, a most unpleasant death would soon follow unless they counteracted the curse. She supposed that Padma and the twins could handle it, but probably only if their Marks were functional. Do not think of Cocidius, she told herself sternly. Do not think of the aching emptiness. She had to be strong. She had to keep fighting off her madness until her work was done.
But it was there, like a hungry wolf nipping at her heels, and it wouldn't be ignored much longer, no matter how strong her will. Her grief was too great, too breaking, for her to overcome it. She didn't even want to try. There would be no 'moving on' for her. Because they were, quite simply, everything. And without them, she was nothing. Even her body agreed with her there. She knew that she had faded in the last few days; she knew that she was slowly dying. But she had no intention of waiting for that dragging, agonizing death. No, she would go out in a burst of glory just as they had done. She would make them proud.
Opening the book, she sprinkled a circle of salt around the fire pit as she recited the words of an old Celtic chant. Her magic couldn't escape into the circle to charge it, but the salt would still do its job, and the book's magick aided her. The spell she needed was towards the middle of the book, if the thing even had a beginning, middle or end. The pages in it would never be filled, as a blank one waited at the back no matter how many times it was used. To find a certain entry, you simply had to concentrate. She could still do that, thank the Lady, and her eyes ran over the spell. Yes, she'd remembered correctly. It could break her binds.
Finishing her circle, she sat beside the fire pit with the book and the torch, and she lit the kindling, watching the play of flames over wood. The popping and crackling melded with her lovers' laughter, which had started anew when her circle closed. She threw the torch in with the rest, and laughed herself when a spark flew out and hit her cheek. Its warmth was brief, instantaneous, nothing at all like what she was about create. Her voice began the spell slowly, making sure that her pronunciation was correct, before the reservoirs of power in the book opened up to her. They were there in case of an emergency like this one, and she soaked it all in greedily.
Once she was filled with it, once she tingled from head to toe, she began the true spell, the one that would set her loose, that would break the magickal ties that thought to keep her quiet and docile. The void rushed in, filling her and her circle, and the rest of the world melted away. She was surrounded by the living blackness, and a small, purple glow was all that she could see. It grew larger and larger and she saw that it was a cage, a cage with her inside, and the other her was beating at the bars of it. Gliding over, she examined it and knew the book's power could break it. Her lovers had prepared well for such an event.
She was slightly surprised at the ease of ripping that cage into sparkling pieces, and she gasped when the other her collided with her and melded into her. Feeling her magic returned to her, she howled with triumph and glee. Free! Now she would make them see. Now she would make them realize their folly in trying to trap her. Slamming back into her body, she let her power build and build, let it flow into every cell and vein, let it stream down to the tips of her hair and run over and under her skin in ruby torrents. Reaching the level where she would usually have stopped, she continued channeling energy, continued feeding the inferno growing within her.
But that inferno soon morphed into something different, something infinitely hotter and deadlier, and this, this was why her beloveds called her their sun, their raging star. Her skin became flames, her hair molten lava, and the fire inside her core became a nova waiting to explode. Flowing to her feet, she broke her circle with the smallest psychic push, and her light burst forth from it, blinding in its intensity. Pure heat rolled off of her, and she had to make a conscious effort not to incinerate everything with ten yards of her glowing, flickering form. Floating to the portrait, her toes barely skimming the marble, she blasted it open, along with the shields around the room.
Sliding out into the hallway, it was a swift trip to the common room. Nearly everyone was there, and they'd come running at the sound of the explosion. They were soon running the other way, however, as the heat and light she was giving off forced them back. The twins were the first to recognize her, and she could see them fighting off the effects of a sleeping draught as they stared in disbelief. She did not want to fight them to get away, and lips like lightning brushed over her ear before a ghostly whisper gave her an idea. They had bound her in love, she knew that even past her anger, and now she would return the favor, and more.
Before they even knew what was happening, binding spells of her own snapped up over the entire House. It would not keep them from their magic, but from leaving. Then shields, shields to keep them safe, and she was gone. Apparating through the wards of Hogwarts should have been impossible. But she was fire then, purely fire, and she was the most powerful witch the world had seen in millennia. No light magic wards could stop her, not anymore. Tom wanted to play games, wanted her. Well, he had gone too far this time, much too far, and he was about to get both. He should have paid more attention to the old proverbs, for one held true no matter what world or Realm you called home.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
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The first thing that Draco was aware of after their trip to…wherever, was blood sweeter than ambrosia sliding down his throat and pooling inside him, strong and eternal. His lips clamped on the bleeding flesh at his mouth eagerly, wanting moremoremore. He could feel his power coming back, could feel his wounds healing and his mind sharpening, and he would have screamed in ecstasy, but that would have involved him removing his teeth from the blissful fount of dark divinity that was returning him to full strength so rapidly it was making his head spin. It stayed there, feeding energy into him, long after a mortal would have been dead.
But finally, eventually, it gradually drew back, and he was so sated that it didn't even occur to him to fight to keep it there. His vision was swirling with a plethora of colors, his skin was hypersensitive almost to the point of being deliciously painful, and he absurdly felt like giggling madly. The only time he'd felt anything like it was after feeding off of Cocidius, but it was not his master's blood that was currently overwhelming him, although it was strangely similar. Hallowed fingers ran over his bloody lips and down to his throat, continuing in a trail down his chest and stomach that had his body and senses coming fully awake and aware.
Those perfect fingers brushed over his groin and his eyes shot up, the caress finally registering in his brain. He was confronted with a majestic creature full of more dark beauty than he had ever seen any being infused with, and recognition lit within him. His gaze ran over chiseled cheekbones and blood-red lips, over raven hair as black as Blaise's, over the muscled form encased in midnight leather, over two huge, feathered obsidian wings, and then his eyes met those of the first god to ever Fall. Eons filled those ebony orbs, eons filled with pain and suffering and hate, with joy and laughter and love. He had always wanted to meet Lucifer, the Bane of the Burning God.
"My lord." He intoned reverently, and those crimson lips quirked.
"Silver Prince." The High King replied in a voice that reverberated with sensual seduction and the promise of all things wicked. "It is good that you wake. Long have I wished to speak with you."
"Blaise? Padma?" He asked, sliding into a sitting position. The huge, glorious wings blocked his view of most everything around him, not that he truly minded. Another hand snaked under the layers of feathers, elegant, black tipped fingers intertwining with his, and the wing shifted, allowing him to see his lover's flushed cheeks and glowing eyes, his bloody mouth and healed form.
"Safe, as you can see." Lucifer said softly, and the other wing drew back to reveal Padma, who was just coming to her senses.
They were on a bed that seemed to stretch on forever, the sheets as soft as clouds and the air heavy with the scent of blood and myrrh. He could not see anything but for the bed, the void encompassing all and the only light coming from their skin. Lucifer lived up to His name, and his bone-pale skin was alight as if he were lit from within by a thousand suns. The Morningstar, indeed. He was almighty and supreme, celestial and mystical. He had Fallen from Heaven ages ago, and ruled Hell with a velvet fist that would comfort as quickly as it would crush. He accepted all forms of magic as His rival did not, and wizarding children of dark families worshiped Him as well.
They knew next to nothing about His counterpart, the Burning God, besides the fact that He had slaughtered their people for centuries, but they knew as much about the Son of Morning as they did about the other gods. He associated with few other deities, but Cocidius had told them that they had been friends (and more than likely lovers) since long before the vision of humans was put into play. As His Chosen, they had nothing to fear from this Lord of Hell, and therefore reveled in His presence. They knew that muggles cursed His name, swearing Him evil, and they were probably right. But He was magnificent in His depravity. Muggles were fools.
"The Dark Court hunts for Cocidius." Lucifer told them, feathers tickling over their flesh and making them shiver in delight. "Isis had a most disturbing revelation."
"Is He alright?" Padma asked, her voice slightly pleading. Draco knew how she felt. The absence of Cocidius was like a knife in the soul, one that kept revolving and twisting and causing wave after wave of never-ending agony.
"We do not know yet. I've linked to her, but she searches still. We know only that he's been trapped by the power of the Light Court." He replied, acid creeping into that honeyed tone. "I find it stupid of them to consent to such a thing, and I wonder now if they did. They know that what has been done to him means open war between the Courts."
"The gods are going to war?" Blaise asked, and curiosity, not the expected fear, filled his blue-but-not-blue eyes, causing Lucifer to laugh. They all gasped as the harmonious, nefarious sound of it rolled over them, feeling as if those feathers had just run the length of them with a lover's familiarity.
"Trust it to be the Chosen of Cocidius who find that prospect enticing. He always did get all of the good ones." The Morningstar commented wryly, ebony eyes running over them with appraisal. "Perhaps he'll share." His bewitching smile became razor-edged and feral.
"I think not, O Mighty Son of the Dawn." A husky, predatory voice said from behind them, and another shift of fluttering wings revealed Hades, the Greek God of Death and the Underworld, the High King of Tartarus. He could have been Lucifer's twin but for the lack of wings and His inky black lips and tongue. "If these Shadow dwellers are shared with anyone, it will be me."
"Don't you have something better to do?" Lucifer asked, turning that devilish smirk on the other god. "It is winter in Greece, after all. Surely Persephone grows lonely."
"I've come to tell thee to quit dawdling." Hades responded, His gold and silver crown flashing in the flickering light. "We think we've found him, and they must go before their lover dies."
"Dies?" Draco and Blaise questioned in unison, beginning to rise until Lucifer motioned them back. Reluctantly they slid back down, waiting for the rest.
"You found Cocidius?" Lucifer questioned, and Hades gave a barely perceptible nod.
"We believe so. I haven't seen Isis and the other Queens so enraged in…Hmm. Since the last war, I suppose." Hades said, moving closer and falling to His knees beside Lucifer in front of them. "They are quite beautiful, are they not?"
Well. That was certainly off subject, Draco thought dryly.
"Exceptionally so. And have you seen the other? Like our Realms' fires, she burns bright and fierce."
"I'm aware of that. The entire Court felt her unleashing earlier. The ether shook with it." Hades said, and Draco's patience, even with gods that he adored, was running thin. What unleashing? What had she done? Where was she?
"Do not frown so." Lucifer teased, looking between him and Blaise with a smirk that could enchant demons. And had.
"Thee still has time." Hades added, his voice as musical as the other's, though the tones were slightly different; unique.
"Time for what? Is she in danger?" Draco asked, itching to do something, itching to see her, feel her, know that she was safe in their arms.
"Yes. But not from what she thinks. She has gone after that miscreant Dark Lord to avenge your deaths." Lucifer told them, and they very nearly died right there on the spot. Their love, their heart, their soul, had walked into a viper's nest that she couldn't comprehend.
"Where is Dagda? Is He there? Fuck, we have to go, we have to get her out of there…" They were already rising, the bed turning as hard as a floor underneath their feet, and when they looked down, they saw marble instead of silk.
"No, he's not there, not yet." Lucifer said, going around behind them and starting to plait their hair. They would have lavished in His attention at any other time, but they couldn't then, not while Virginia was in trouble. Padma watched all with her calm, serene eyes, and they felt steadier just knowing that she was with them.
"It is like this, Chosen of Cocidius." Hades started, offering both Draco and Blaise one of His pale wrists. Fangs split divine flesh readily, glad for the extra strength, and they somehow kept their wits about them enough to listen as He continued speaking. "Gods and mortals alike will soon be at war. And thee four…Oh, that does feel good. Now I remember why we were so often drawn to vampiric Chosen…As I was saying, thee four were created to fight it on both fronts. But now is not the time. Cocidius will be weak when he is freed; he's been channeling too much power in order to break his bonds, and Dagda will be strong. And we cannot interfere, it's written in the Lady's stars. Cocidius and Dagda must fight, but not now. And if the flame princess kills the traitor's Chosen, Dagda will kill her, therefore throwing destiny askew and damning us all. Lovely news I bring thee, yes?"
"Very." They replied, drawing back from His addicting taste and licking their lips as they considered what He'd said. "So, all we have to do is stop her from killing Voldemort?"
"Yes."
"And if Dagda comes while we are there?" They asked, and the High Kings looked amused, Hades' left wrist extending toward Padma.
"You have the blood of three dark gods in you." Lucifer reminded them. "Just wish yourselves gone. The ether will listen to you now, and you are free to travel it." He said, referring to the psychic roads through the void that the gods used to travel from place to place. The ether was everywhere, in everything, and could carry emotions and disturbances along its paths as well as it could creatures and gods. "And here. I have a gift for you." He extended His hand, and four bands of silver appeared on His palm. They were gorgeous, the detail exquisite, the runes of all four elements twining around them over and over in a ceaseless pattern.
"What are those?" Padma asked, and He laughed again, before giving one to each of them and holding out the forth.
"Consider them your birthright, like your swords. They will help you focus your elemental energy, as well as give you access to the other three through one another. The forth one is for Virginia, of course. I wish for you to bring her to me, sometime before the war gets underway. I have another gift for her." He said, and Draco nodded at Blaise to take the ring. He did, vanishing it and sliding his own on next to his signet ring.
"Go now." Lucifer said, and kissed all three on the lips, sending their spirits soaring. "I will go to Cocidius. You will know when he breaks free. Get in and get out. Your time to fight is not this day." Then He waved one elegant hand, and their world was graying and spinning as they rode the ether, seeking Virginia.
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Nor Gorgun had been abandoned. Looking at its empty halls and dead wards, Virginia had felt a wash of pride. So, her boyfriends had spooked the Dark Lord with their easy infiltration. Good. Finding a Death Eater after leaving hadn't been nearly as difficult as she'd imagined it to be, and he had died a nasty death after giving her the information she needed. Voldemort had retreated to the Dark Hall, Grindelwald's old refuge that had been abandoned in 1945 after Dumbledore took off his head. That last part was rarely publicized, but her grandfather had been there. He had seen that battle; he had seen the wizard's head rolling over the blood-splattered grass.
So to the Dark Hall she had gone, and she had swept through its corridors like a Lady of Death, merciless and unpitying. All that she had met had died, except for the rare few that she recognized as her lovers' spies. Over a hundred and fifty fell to her wrath, eighty before the alarm had been raised. Fools. Coming at her in a large group had simply given her the chance to clear out quite a few at once. Her rage burned hot and cleansing, and she scorched the filth from the very stones as she passed. She had sensed the Dark Lord far below her, and she had wound her way to him, stopping only when a random idea had given her quite the brilliant plan.
Thinking of Grindelwald was what had done it, and the next Death Eater she'd come across had found himself missing a head. It now hung, spelled and changed, inside a cloth pouch at her waist, hitting her thigh every time she took a step. It was her ticket; her ticket to get close enough to use her poison. Voldemort was cunning, yes, but he was also foolish. She knew it would work. Casting out her senses, she smiled cruelly when she sensed only seven still alive. That was twice in less than a week that his followers had been wiped out on their home turf. If it hadn't been for the Bane, many would have abandoned his ranks by then.
Nearing the throne room, another smile stole across her face. This was going to be fun. She would greatly enjoy watching the one who had caused her lover's deaths writhe in soul-eating pain at the base of his own throne. His god might have been the one to actually take them, but she didn't think for a second that he had argued. It all came back to him in the end. And now it was time for him to pay. She threw open the doors with a thought, stalking into the room and seeing him lounged carelessly in his throne, still and quiet as if he hadn't felt the deaths of those loyal to him all throughout the Hall over the last hour.
"Well, hello there, Tom." She purred, her dead boyfriends laughing in her ear. Gods, how she wanted to die.
"Virginia." He replied, his scarlet eyes following her every move. She made it fifteen feet from him before he bade her to stop, and she did, which caused the smallest flicker of surprise to manifest itself in his gaze before it was gone. He waved a hand and the doors slammed close, wards springing up in front of them. She felt no fear, though. She had come here to die. Just not alone.
"Aren't you pleased to see your key?" She asked, and that time he couldn't hide his disbelief. Then his eyes narrowed suspiciously, and she smirked openly.
"Why are you here?" He demanded. "Besides this little revenge mission. How stupid are you, that you would still come, even knowing what you do?"
"Not stupid at all, Tom." She said silkily, sauntering forward another step and looking up at him coyly. "I've come to join you."
He laughed. "Do not lie to me. You would never join me."
"Wouldn't I?" She asked, running her tongue over her lips. "I wish to rule. I've discovered that power suits me. And with my lovers gone…" She trailed off suggestively, even as her words ate at what little was left of her soul.
"I do not believe you." He stated, his eyes running over her. She wondered how much he could see through the flames that she was made up of, and dampened them a bit. Taking another few steps toward him, she undid the pouch at her waist.
"But you should." She argued. "And I've brought you proof. I wish to collect on the deal you offered my late lovers."
"And which deal would that be?" He asked sarcastically, but instead of answering, she wrapped her hand in the head's hair and drew it out slowly, enjoying his look of growing shock as she revealed her 'prize'.
"You didn't!" He exclaimed, rising from his throne in one graceful move, triumph obscuring his beautiful features.
"But I did. Dumbledore's head, my lord, just as you requested." She said, the title feeling vile on her tongue even as it came out sugary sweet. She tossed the graying, wrinkled head at his feet, and almost crowed in victory when Voldemort turned smoldering eyes on her and beckoned her forward. She moved towards him, absently scratching her arm as it started itching, and she had to force herself to kneel, had to force herself to remember that the end result would be worth it.
"You will be my Consort, of course." He started, and she glanced up at him briefly through her hair, which she had let loose of its braids before coming to see him. He continued on, detailing how great and unstoppable they would be, and she discreetly slid the vial of blood and tears into her hand. The cork disappeared down her sleeve, followed shortly by the vial, and the mixture sat heavily on her tongue, waiting to heal or kill at her will.
She wondered if it would kill her as well should she wish it.
"Rise." He finally said, wrapping his hand in her tresses and yanking her up by them roughly. "You have lost some of your beauty since their deaths," he commented disdainfully, "but you shall gain it back, and you shall be my greatest weapon, my greatest whore." He crooned in her ear, and she had to stop herself from spitting in his face.
Then his lips were on hers, his forked tongue snaking into her mouth, and three things happened at once. She grabbed his head, opened her mouth to his and forced the poison down his throat; the Mark on her arm flared to life for the first time in much too long; and the doors leading into the room burst open, flying through the air and hitting the opposite wall. Voldemort threw her back from him, gagging and spluttering as his skin started smoking, and she braced herself to hit the floor hard. But she never did, and when she looked up, she very nearly fainted. Because Draco had caught her, which was impossible, and Blaise stood in front of her, his hand raised to stop any curses that the Dark Lord might attempt.
She could do nothing but stare for a long, never-ending moment, and that tinkling laughter sounded behind her again, before the two skeletons that had haunted her came into view, waved once, their bony hands swaying, and stepped into the two visions before her, melding with them and becoming one. Something vital within her shifted back into place, the wounds around her bleeding heart sealing up with the rush of divinity that confirmed she was not hallucinating, that they were real and her god was truly back. Then she was sobbing, throwing her arms around Draco as if he were going to disappear, and she fisted a hand in Blaise's robes, dragging him down to her. Fuck the stupid Dark Lord. He was dying anyway.
"Oh gods, you're alive! How are you alive? No, I don't even care. Alive!" She said ecstatically, laying kisses over every inch of them that she could reach, her hands running over familiar muscles and robes of utter blackness that were like the ones the Lady had given them, but different. They were alive, with her, whole, unblemished, and ALIVE, and she couldn't breathe through the absolute, engulfing joy that threatened to make her completely insensible. They embraced her just as tightly, brushing the tears from her cheeks (that hadn't evaporated) away with soft lips and darting tongues. And then, cementing her returned happiness, Cocidius spoke to them and her heart soared, even though His words were a warning.
'He comes. Go, take her and go. I will come for thee later. We have much to discuss. Be safe, beloved Chosen, and know that I am with thee.'
'Will Voldemort survive? Can Dagda heal that?' Her lovers asked, their eyes on the smoking form of the Dark Lord. 'Lucifer and Hades said that it was not his day to die, that—'
'Yes, Dagda will more than likely heal him. The leech has the power, for the moment. Now go! I am not strong enough to fight him yet.'
"Come on, love." Draco said, helping her to her feet. She glimpsed Padma for the first time, off to the side, and something was different about her. But she didn't have time to figure it out yet, as she could feel the growing presence of a different divinity coming towards them. She did have time for one thing though, and she walked to Voldemort's side, her boyfriends at hers, before leaning down and meeting anguish-filled crimson eyes that burned with hate. She recalled the words that she'd spoken to him once before, and repeated them to him then, in his darkest hour, before disappearing with her returned lovers.
"In vengeance, Voldemort."
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Whew. Things are definitely heating up! Please (begs on hands and knees), pleasepleaseplease review!!!!
(Sebek – Egyptian God of Water and Crocodiles)
(Horus – Egyptian God of the Sky and Sun)
(Osirus – Egyptian King God of Death and the Underworld)
(Persephone – Greek Queen Goddess of Innocence and the Underworld)