Darkness and Light
Chapter Eight
Updated as of 5/9/10
My, so sorry this took so long! Cosplay, end-of-year projects, and a change of major, but it's now summer, so hopefully this should go much quicker now. I really do appreciate the patience of everyone sticking with this updating process. It's actually a lot of fun!
The first part...is kind of just fluff xD And, um, yes I know that at the very end, there's a terrible time continuity issue (it was afternoon, then suddenly it's late night) but, um...I could only edit the story so much without tearing my eyes out. Sorry x.x Enjoy.
The night before the Quidditch match...
The rain that pounded relentlessly on the castle walls was a soothing sound to many, but did nothing to relieve the pounding inside of Severus Snape's head. Neither did the stirring of his potion, nor the fumes that came from the stirring which may have been the cause of the headache. Yes, that was the cause. He was not getting sick, or so he told himself. He had a very good record of never missing a class and intended to keep it until he could be relieved of this infuriating teaching position. But as the candles in his personal office grew dimmer, Snape found that he could no longer breathe through his nose and his throat was getting dry and it hurt to swallow. How annoying. It was, however, some sort of miracle he didn't get sick more often, what with all the students running around who didn't know something as simple as a good cleansing spell after visiting the lavatory.
Or it could have had something to do with the late nights he had been putting himself through lately. Ever since those girls came back, there was just something nagging him at the back of his mind, not letting him sleep until he actually made all the potions Poppy requested instead of the half that she would actually use, or the potions that stocked a box inside of the Quidditch changing tents, or about half a dozen mundane things that Snape would get to eventually but usually put off in favor of doing things such as getting at least five hours of sleep a night and eating a proper meal. But their very presence put him on edge. He had to keep moving and do these things, not even he knew why he was acting the way he was.
But he did know that three hours of sleep a night, combined with the ever-present pain stemming from the dark mark on his arm and the usual annoyance of his students was taking a toll on his body. He looked at the green swirling mass in front of him; he could leave it until the next day. This was a potion that could sit, as it was developed in war times. The knock on the door made up his mind for him - he stood up quickly and left the room, making his way to his private quarters where the knocking came from. He opened the door to see Setsuna standing there, that small, calm smile permanently etched on her dark face.
"Good evening, professor." She said in her low voice. "Though not so good for you, it appears." She added, looking the man up and down.
"No." Snape agreed shortly, not really wanting to talk to one of them tonight, least of all the one who actually retained her memories.
"But being a potions master, you must have the cure for most everything right in your bedroom, don't you? How convenient is that." Setsuna continued in a very nonchalant manor.
"Except for relieving headaches, it seems." Snape muttered under his breath. Standing up had made him dizzy and talking with this woman just irritated him more. "What is it you need?"
"I need to talk to you, Severus." Setsuna said, the smile suddenly vanishing from her face. "May I come in?"
The man didn't even get a chance to think about answering before the woman stepped in, green hair floating along hypnotically, reminding him of the potion he was just tending to. Did he remember to douse the flame under it? Snape couldn't remember, and it was troubling him that he couldn't remember such a simple thing.
Setsuna made herself comfortable on one of the black couches, Snape sat on the armchair opposite from her. The woman was staring at him very intently now.
"I do really hate to always have to be so tight-lipped." She started, staring off at the closed door that lead to his private rooms. "But it's my role. I always have to keep secrets from friends, lest throw off the balance of time. You know what that's like, yes?"
"Not the that extreme, but yes." Snape agreed. He tried nodding, but that only made his vision swim. He needed this woman gone, now. He needed sleep. The next day only held a Quidditch game, he didn't have to attend at all. He could actually let himself rest for once. If he fell asleep right then and there, would Setsuna care? Did he care?
"I knew it was you all along." Setsuna continued. "Last year. I knew that you were the reincarnate of King Osiris."
"Ah." Snape said, not sure what she wanted from this conversation. Talking about that was really not on his agenda tonight. Or ever.
"Not just because I could look ahead or into the past, but you really are just like him. You just lead a very different life. Even when I had to leave Hogwarts, and King Osiris came to the ball on the moon, I could tell quite easily that it was you holding Serenity and not the man I once served."
"Very good, is there a point?" Snape urged her. He was only half listening, he was still thinking about the fire that may or may not still be burning in his office. He was growing very cold and didn't really mind so much if his office decided to combust. At least it would be warm.
"Sorry, I don't mean to prattle, I just do miss talking to Osiris, and I guess I get carried away since you essentially are him..." Snape glared at Setsuna, who paused and continued. "Anyway. I needed to talk to you about Draco."
"He remembers bits and pieces from last year." Snape said without thought. "And I've made sure that he won't cause anything else to breach the school again."
"Yes, that I learned from Rei." Setsuna said, waving her hand. "But this is a little more, well, different. He-"
"One moment," Snape muttered, getting up quickly. It was if he could hear the fire crackling through the stone walls! He made his way to his office, throwing open the doors and brandished his wand. But there was no fire under the cauldron, he had indeed extinguished it. Snape sighed and breathed heavily. Why was he imagining such things? And why was his office so damned cold?! The man gripped onto his desk for support as black spots suddenly marred his vision; he had stood up much too quick. He couldn't see a thing now, he felt himself stumble backwards, and after that it was still very black.
He didn't know what time it was when he finally came to, but he knew time had passed. The rain outside was still coming down, though not nearly as hard. He realized he was in his own bed, now, and he realized very quickly that despite being under three layers of sheets he was freezing. He removed the cold washcloth that had somehow appeared on his head and placed it on the pillow next to him, as far as he could reach. He couldn't sit up, though. He couldn't move anymore, all he could do was pull the blankets over his head and let his hot breath insulate his little cave.
Something outside the blankets moved and spoke, and soon he was looking at Setsuna. Right, she was there.
"You're up?" She asked rhetorically. As his vision slowly became more clear, he noticed her hair was messed up and her clothes were a bit disheveled. "Merlin, you had me worried! You almost split your skull on the stone floor!"
"What time is it?" He asked, voice cracking.
"It's around three, I think." Setsuna replied. "Do you remember what happened?"
"For the most part." He groaned. Her hand was suddenly on his head, thankfully it was warm for he didn't have the energy to remove it.
"You really need to get out from the sheets, Severus, you're burning up!" Setsuna told him. "I'll go get you a fever reducing potion from your stores, but-"
"Miss Meioh," Snape growled, sitting up the best he could, "I am a grown man and I can go into my own stores and get my own things, and I'll have you know that this room is anything but burning at the moment."
"I swear you're burning up!" The tall woman replied, concern in her face. "Your face is red, I can feel the heat coming off of you."
Snape knew it was useless to try and feel one's own fever, but he felt his head anyway. She was right, he was hot! If he could actually feel it, he must be hot, though he felt so cold. He sighed; it wasn't even two weeks into the term, why did he have to get sick now?
"Severus, I really think you should take a cool bath and change into fresh clothing," Setsuna told him. "I'll even get it started for you."
Snape would have loved nothing more then to remind her again that he could take very good care of himself and that he knew what he needed, and that her presence did absolutely nothing to speed up his healing. But he was still weak and didn't really have the strength to yell or be snide. That and...it was three in the morning. He had invited her in sometime around ten, and it was obvious by her appearance she had stayed in his quarters the whole time. She had stayed here, and not told Dumbledore, and not sent him to the infirmary where his students could gawk at him. For that last one especially, he was grateful.
"Fine. Do what you want." He said, lowering himself back onto the pillows. Setsuna smiled and made her way to his bathroom. He heard the water flowing and rushing, and Snape noticed that at least his headache was gone.
It had almost hurt to be in a tub so cold, but he had to admit that he no longer felt extremely hot or cold. Setsuna was waiting for him when he was finished, now looking as composed as she did as she came in, with a few of his own potions already properly measured out, along with one he didn't recall ever brewing.
"You have everything you need?" She asked him as he took the potions quickly. "I assume you wanted me gone as soon as you had things covered."
"Yes," Snape nodded. "Though I did wonder, I couldn't find any evidence that I fell. I suppose I owe you thanks for healing me."
"Oh, you never actually hit the ground." Setsuna nodded. "I came in right before you fell. Being the guardian of time does have it perks sometimes." She smiled serenely.
Snape thought about this for a second, and looked at the bottle in his hand. He definitely never brewed this potion. "Might I ask, was there ever really anything you needed to talk about, regarding Draco?" He looked up at the woman, who didn't seem to know what he was talking about. "Or was that just an excuse?"
"Of course I had something to talk about, Severus." Setsuna said, not missing a beat. "But, it can always wait until you're well." She turned on heel and left through the wooden door, bidding him a quick recovery as it shut behind her. Snape set the bottle down on the bedside table and had to let out a dry laugh as he settled back into his bed. Those girls, they were all quite annoying.
When Snape awoke the next day, he hardly remembered a thing. A quick check of the clock told him that he was indeed going to miss the game, lest he jump out of bed and rush to get ready, something he really did not want to do. Slytherin wasn't playing, what was the point? He felt, though, that something was missing...pain! Snape shot up and realized that, for the first time in ages, the dark mark wasn't hurting him a bit. He looked at it, and noted that it was as dark as ever. So then...
...the potion. Snape had been much too out of it the previous night to really care what liquids he was being given. Was there something that could mask the burning effects of the Dark Lord's magic? Such a thing existed in this world, and he had overlooked it? He sniffed the bottle that the mystery potion had come from. He could identify the usual pain relieving ingredients, even a whiff of a rare extract of something-or-other that suppressed dark magic, but...something else lurked within this potion, something that Snape could not identify just by scent. There was no potion left in the bottle, he had downed it all the previous night when he had no sense of taste. The man sighed and put the bottle down; for a second, he was again executed about his profession. He doubted the guardian of time would tell him what he had been given, not without some sort of persuasion.
But if this potion was really the cause of his pain relief...Snape thought of the now-remorseful Draco, and Cho constantly sobbing about her pain. Madame Pomfrey couldn't do a thing about it, but this potion very well could! The man got out of bed and got dressed into fresh clothing. Setsuna didn't seem one for Quidditch, she was probably in her office. Snape headed up the empty staircases to the third floor, where Setsuna was indeed abut to enter her office.
"Oh, good morning, Severus." The much older woman smiled. "You look much better today, I'm glad."
"Yes." Snape said, wanting to rush things along. "I suppose I owe you thank for foreseeing my illness."
"Don't worry about it." Setsuna smiled, knowing very well he wasn't paying it any mind. "But you'll have to tell me what it is you need today, my mind's a bit preoccupied. I'm actually about to meet Hermione now."
"Miss Granger can wait." Snape said quickly. He pulled the empty bottle from his robe pocket and held it up. "This. What is it?"
"A bottle." Setsuna said very seriously. A look at Snape's face and she continued in a very quiet voice, "I assume it worked then? You can't feel his pain?"
"Not a bit." Snape said, speaking in whispers as well. "Do you have any idea what sort of modern miracle this potion is?"
"Not at all, seeing as its main ingredient comes from the Silver Millennium of the past." Setsuna said. "I just happened to have a bit on me, brewed it up in case of an emergency or something, but bringing back any more is surely breaking some sort of inter-dimensional space-time rule."
"Last year you brought princesses back from the past, I don't see how a potion ingredient is as terrible as that!" Snape replied. Setsuna laughed a bit at this. "You don't seem to understand, this potion could aid those like Cho Chang who were marked forcefully by the Dark Lord!"
The green haired woman put a long finger to her lip in thought. "I didn't think about that. Didn't know, really." She nodded to herself. "And she's playing in today's game, isn't she? Right, I'll see what I can do. Poor girl doesn't need any more stress, she always seems so upset."
"And she's not the only one." Snape added. "The Dark Lord is making this a little game of his, putting his mark on innocent children."
"I see." Setsuna nodded again, no longer whispering as the plan had already been formulated inside her head. "After I meet with Hermione, I'll get right on that."
"What, is Granger complaining because someone actually blocked one of her spells?" Snape asked satirically.
"No, I think she just wants to know a bit more about her role." Setsuna said. Snape had no idea what she was talking about. "Oh, didn't Albus tell you? It seems Hermione has somehow inherited the powers of Mercury. She's one of us."
Snape wasn't sure what look he had on his face at that news, but whatever it was seemed to amuse Setsuna to no end, as she suddenly burst out in laughed, something he wasn't aware she was capable of.
"Go back to your rooms and rest, I'll bring you some of the Morovian as soon as I can get it," Setsuna said happily, turning towards her office door.
"Morovian," Snape repeated with a sigh as he turned around, making a mental note to look it up once he returned to his rooms. Granger was now a warrior? He wasn't exactly sure how he felt abut this. And Albus knew, and hadn't told him?
It wasn't even thirty minutes later before Setsuna knocked on his door, bearing an old, musty box.
"I've already made a bit for Miss Chang, and I made sure Draco got some of it, and he's going to make sure Cho gets it as soon as possible. He's headed for the pitch now." Setsuna told him. Snape opened up the box and saw the plant-like object known as Morovian. It was a dull sort of purple and resembled a sea anemone, with a short, fat base and many limp tentacles branching off of it. "It came from Mare Serenitatis. It obviously died out once Metalia and her army attacked the Moon Kingdom, though I think a few earth scientists tried to grow it once or twice. Oh, and I have the instruction with me, it's very simple and very quick to make, but very easy to mess up as well."
The man nodded and took the piece of parchment offered. He then thought for a second about what Setsuna had sad earlier, "You gave some to Draco?"
"Rei told me about what had happened with him." Setsuna nodded. "Maybe I shouldn't have, he seemed very upset that I knew."
"No, the boy's been giving himself grief that he forgot that he was fighting against his farther." Snape said, looking the recipe over. "He needs a break."
Setsuna nodded yet again and looked at Snape, watched him as he read the same line over and over, not really reading at all. "Go ahead and ask me. About Hermione."
"She inherited the powers of Mercury?" Snape repeated what she had said earlier. "I thought only the lunar line could do such a thing!"
"I don't really understand either." Setsuna said, sitting on the arm of the couch and looking off to the side, at one of the many bookshelves. "I'm thinking that, sometime in the future, Mercury gave her powers up and they now awakened because of Voldemort's interfering."
"Do you think that if you had never come here, this wouldn't have happened and she would have remained normal?" Snape asked.
"Yes." Setsuna said without even thinking about it. "I do blame our presence for this. And she's not the only one."
"Not the only one?!" Snape repeated, forcefully placing the box onto an end table. "You mean more students here...?"
"That's what it seems like." The woman said, a bit of sadness in her voice. "I'm not sure just how or why yet, but it seems that there is an entire new generation of us that seems to be something of an emergency system...like the soldiers of the future knew this would happen, so they gave up their powers and sent them here."
"That isn't supposed to happen!" Snape said, getting suddenly very upset. "Only the lunar line--! No one else was supposed to bear the burden!"
Setsuna looked at the man before her, the reincarnation of the king of the ancient Moon Kingdom. His life was so different from that of King Osiris's, he seemed not to care for the old kingdom one bit, yet here he was, enraged over such a thing. It was, to Setsuna, sort of heartwarming.
"Only the lunar line." Setsuna nodded. "Queen Serenity, to Usagi, to Chibiusa, and then to Chibiusa's offspring. Everyone else, it was just supposed to be them, reincarnated maybe once or twice, then left to rest for a new generation of planets and stars. I don't know why Hermione was chosen, nor anyone else at this school. Quite frankly, I don't think any one of them is ready to fight, nor do I understand any sort of connection to us. I'm as confused as you are."
Snape stared at her, lips pressed together tightly. There was something else..."I think Queen Serenity may have had another heir."
Setsuna looked up at him very suddenly, not smiling a bit. "Queen Serenity had no other child." She said very seriously. "I don't know what you're suggesting-"
"I'm suggesting that a very small piece of her starseed made it to earth when the kingdom fell and was reincarnated with everyone else." Snape said firmly.
The green haired woman looked at him like he was crazy. If her queen was there on earth now, wouldn't they feel her, such a strong entity? "Why do you say that? Where is this woman?"
"She's dead now." Snape said. He knew she wouldn't believe him. "And I know it was her, because those from the Moon Kingdom seem to only...love...one person."
Setsuna thought about what he said. Snape was the reincarnate of the king, and if the queen was, or had, been on this planet, he would have surely found her. She was already sitting, but she wished she wasn't, the shock of what he had said so great. Her queen had been on this planet, and she didn't even notice! What a terrible warrior she was! "And...she had a child? With you?"
"Not with me." Snape said. "But she did have a son. And I'm worried that he'll somehow inherit that power. He cannot handle it, nor does he deserve it."
"Usagi has the queen's powers." Setsuna replied. "And Chibiusa, hers. But, Hermione somehow has Ami's." She nodded, eyes at the floor. With a sharp breath of air, she stood up quickly and turned on heel. "Our two weeks here is almost up, but I feel that I must stay. I see your concern, Ill see what information I can uncover. The future is one big, blurry mess at the moment, but...yes, I'm afraid I must be going now, I'm needed in the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey will be flooing you in a moment asking for some burn healers. Seems Mars's powers have been passed on, now."
Usagi had wandered nearly every aisle of the dark, candlelit library and now decided that she hated libraries very much, especially this one. It was much too creepy and much too quiet! Where was Hermione?
Finally, the blonde found her, sunken into a big, fluffy armchair and buried in a book.
"Hello!" She greeted the brunette cheerfully. Hermione held up an index finger as she finished off a sentence before looking up at her friend.
"Oh, hi-" She started. Usagi noticed Hermione seemed to be looking in two directions at once and suddenly lurched forward, her feet knocking over her island of books. Usagi quickly knelt down and caught the girl before she could hit the wooden floor.
"You ok?!" Usagi asked, not caring if the beak-nosed librarian glared at her for talking loudly.
"I think I've been reading in the dark for too long," Hermione replied after sitting up. "I'm fine, promise!"
"You know, Hermione, you don't have to figure it all out right now," Usagi said, not only speaking from her own, lazy point of view, but from careful observation of the brunette. "When me and Ami and Rei started fighting together, we had no idea why this was happening to us or where our powers came from, but even Ami accepted that she couldn't know everything about being a senshi in one go. It just came to us one day and it'll probably come to you guys as well!"
"Mm." Hermione nodded, realizing Usagi was really worried about her. And today, she had forgotten her own boyfriend, and promised him she would stop...With a sigh of relief, she put the book in her lap on the table and scooted it far away from her.
"Great!" Usagi smiled. "Except, um, I came in here because I needed help finding a book for Rei." She said sheepishly. The blonde looked at the pile of books by Hermione and found the one she was looking for in the mess. "Oh, that was easy enough1"
"Oh, is she still fire reading?" Hermione asked, noticing the title of the book. She then realized, Sirius was due to make an appearance in the fire very soon. "It's getting late, isn't it? Maybe she should take a break."
"Maybe, but she never does." Usagi sighed. "I guess she's trying to find out the same stuff you are, but really, I think we should all just relax!"
"Yeah." Hermione said. She took the book from Usagi without thinking and began flipping though the page. A lot of it dealt with something about errors with fire reading...somthing about positive and negative...something about floo...Floo?! Hermione actually started paying attention to what it was talking about.
"According to this," Hermione said aloud, her way of memorizing things, "Divination like Rei's is a form of "positive" fire energy...and something unnatural, like Floo Powder is "negative"...and positive and negative should never be combined because...oh, what a terrible pace to have smeared ink!" Hermione cried softly, staring at the anti-climactic ending of the section.
"Well, what does Floo have to do with anything?" Usagi asked. Hermione looked up at the blonde, she swore Harry and Ron she wouldn't tell! But Rei or Sirius could be in danger, or maybe not...
"We need to get back to the common room," Hermione said simply, not even bothering to put her books back before racing off, leaving the lost Usagi behind.
The clock struck one and Hermione's insides lurched. She didn't know how, but she could feel that something just went wrong. After avoiding Peeves and a prefect patrolling the hallways and practically yelling the password to the Fat Lady, Hermione leapt through the portrait hole where she saw a sickeningly familiar sight: fire. Fire had seemed to encircle Rei and the others, and it seemed like poor Ginny had come downstairs at the wrong time as she too was being attacked by the fire. She had to make a split second discussion - Ginny was the only one there who was not a warrior, and her life was currently in danger. Hermione found her wand and held it in the air.
"Mercury Power! Make Up!" She found herself yelling. There was a chill in the air, and she then found herself in the sailor outfit which had become so familiar from the training she had been doing with the others late at night. "Gelidus Orbis!" Hermione cried, bubbles and ice flowing from her wand and onto the fire. The girls closest to the fire were free, but for some reason, the fire around Ginny would not be dispelled!
But suddenly the fire seemed to e engulfed in green, were those leaves? Just as Usagi came busting in, shrieking at the sight, and just as Ron and Harry cam downstairs to see if Sirius was there, The fire was gone, eaten up by leaves. Ginny stood alone, but she now wore a sailor outfit, just like Hermione.