Sorry it took so long to update. (blushes) I can't believe I haven't updated since JANUARY! I always bitch about some authors waiting months to update and then I do it. Sorry! Now for Reviews!
aikidobrat: Thanks for the support! Besides, you helped me get through this chapter, remember?
Melissa Jooty: God do you have any clue how hard this was for me? This is one of my first real confrontations in a story. Gave me the absolute blues! It was easy to understand why you would be pissed at everyone else but forgive Molly. I mean would you be rational if your child died. I feel a little sorry for Remus. I placed that in because Remus needs to realize just what SIRIUS costs him. Hmm...that gives me an idea. Thanks! Sirius likes denial. Like that crap about being a kid when they pulled those pranks. That's bull! They pulled pranks in my high school (although those involved a sloped hallway ramp, condoms, and lubricant) but we never tried to kill anyone! And some of us hated each other!
TEC: I just hope that I gave you a good enough explanation. Understanding yourself is one thing. Explaining it is entirely different. I may have to redo this entire chapter.
Linda: Here, I'll pat it for you. Good job. Some people still had a few problems understanding things. My fault probably. I'm sorry but I gave Ash my thought processes. Things will jump into my head from absolutely nowhere! I may have another update of Second Chances either tonight or tomorrow.
TKnight: Trax? Well I'm very glad you like it!
Baculities: I'm just mean. I'll have to work on that now won't I? Thanks for reviewing.
Sinful Wolf: Like the name. Don't worry about other appearances. But maybe. And yes poor Julius. He's going to be one overworked middle man by the time I'm through with him. And I'm still working on Second Chances. Never fear!
TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew
AUTHOR: Alia
STATUS/PART: 10
RATING: PG-13
PAIRING: Severus Snape / (What have the betting polls said?)
SPOILERS: not including OotP
WARNINGS: angst, language
DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP, etc. It belongs to JKR. curses
SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Sorry it took so long. I just didn't have the inspiration to write at the moment and that can be pure hell. I thank the people who sent a few hints to get off my ass and write so thank you guys. These updates won't always be on track but I'll try to keep it to at least no more than two weeks. Please remember that I am working on Second Chances. However, the semester is ending and I'll have more time to work during the summer... Unless I get a job. Thank you my dear beta: Aikidobrat.
With Darkness Comes Anew 10
Severus was furious as he stormed past the gargoyle and out into the corridor. His hands were clenched tightly as he moved down the hallway. Severus could feel his nails slowly cutting through the skin.
Because of the heavy panting behind him, Julius could be heard running down the steps trying to catch up with the man. "Lex! Lex wait!"
Severus paused and clenched his teeth trying to regain just a bit of control. He didn't want to explain to Brea why he killed her lover. "Julius, do not follow me. You are a friend of mine but I fear that I'm not in the right frame of mind at the moment," growled Severus as he moved even faster through the halls of Hogwarts.
Lex could feel his chest growing tighter as he stormed out of the damned school. He couldn't believe those BASTARDS/How dare they have the nerve enough to judge me/ They knew NOTHING! Severus stumbled at bit. His power was being affected by his emotions which were especially negative at the moment and almost totally out of his control. Unfortunately with Chiara missing in action, his power couldn't counter itself. He was going to blow. Almost literally. He needed Alexander.
"Lex?" Julius was slowing in his jog after his friend.
Severus turned slightly, his body was beginning to shake. His breath was coming harshly as he tried to keep his control. It wasn't working. /Damn it Julius/ He looked at his friend who cringed in fear. Severus knew why. He could feel it. His eyes were flickering black now. Back and forth. In just a moment, his magic would lose total control. Taking a particularly long breath, he then whispered, "I'll be in the forest. Don't disturb me Julius."
The shaking was now coming from his friend. Severus turned his back on Julius and hurried toward the Forbidden Forest. If he could just get far away enough from Hogwarts...He didn't want to release his 'self', Alexander, until he was in that forest. As emotionally unbalanced as Severus was at that moment, Alexander would destroy the school.
He finally started running for the beautiful yet terrifying sight of the Forbidden Forest. The dark quiet of the forest was calling him, offering him sanctuary. Severus was determined to take it up on its offer.
Soon he was racing through the forest trying to get as far inside as possible. Falling quickly to his knees, Severus began to pray. He wasn't stable enough to keep calm, to not do anything...bad. So he needed someone else to.
"Parvulus of Obscurum voluptarius
Secuutus of Obscurum asks
Senior of Obscurum dico
Embodiment to order
Obscurum Exorior Volo"
The darkness, the shadows, swirled around him offering comfort and trying to get the dark mage to release what he was withholding. So he let go.
Lex hadn't gotten far enough. Even as he stood on hands and knees on the soft ground of the Forbidden Forest, he could hear the alarms from Hogwarts' wards. The alarms that he was causing. Alexander smirked. Not that he cared.
Alexander closed his eyes in ecstacy as the dark power not only pulsed through the body of Severus, his living embodiment in this world, but through the Forbidden Forest and to the school and town nearby. He grinned widely as he heard the screams of fear nearby. /All in a day's work/ he thought with a chuckle.
Alexander the Dark Knight, youngest of all the elements, the yang of the Lady of the Light, stood and stretched languidly, sexuality and danger clear in his every move. Running fingers through his now waist length silk black hair, the element of darkness let out a small yawn. He turned and glared back at the school with his black eyes. The anger on his face, that was slightly different from his living embodiment, made the now angelic features down right terrifying. /Someday.../ He knew that Severus, or Lex as he preferred to be called, wouldn't like for the mortals to die. That was the only reason he'd ran. /Should have stayed. I haven't seen a good blood bath in a while./
Shrugging, Alexander began walking away from the school, slowly stripping himself of Severus's clothing. He usually didn't have to because Severus was dressed for the occasion. Today however, his embodiment was not in leather, Alexander's favorite choice in clothing. Of course he had no problem wearing nothing at all either. /Reputations must be kept after all./ A sharp flow of power made his shoes disappear and he continued walking with no problem, only softness dared touch his feet on the floor of the Forbidden Forest. Eyes filled with darkness closed in pleasure as Severus's jeans slipped to the ground leaving Alexander totally nude.
He glanced around and saw nothing but the trees. Then some of the creatures were smart enough to run. Others, the ones his power called to, remained near but hidden. Alexander ignored them and continued walking through the forest, his movements easy and calm, yet had any man or woman seen him, they would not have known whether to rush forward or run away. The creature that resembled a fallen angel paused in his walk.
He could feel the power nearby. So ancient and old that it drew a shiver down his back. She was close. /I wonder what she's doing here. I can take care of Severus, my self. The last thing we need is a babysitter./ It was amazing that none of the Symbols suffered from severe schizophrenia. More than likely, poor Julius still didn't know who had come after him that day in his classroom. Alexander chuckled.
A Symbol was a worshiper, a mage, as well as the living embodiment of an element. Not easy to contemplate once you thought about it. Especially since there were times when they didn't have control of their embodiments, yet Severus could be called Alexander or Sarah could be called Tsunami at any time.
A Symbol was chosen as an embodiment by an element, at least in this world, for their understanding of said element. Severus had been chosen because the younger man had a good enough understanding of it. Darkness was imperfection. And it was really that simple. Darkness was the thing that made you capable of doing evil and wrong because it made you less than perfect.
Severus had learned that it was a infliction of life itself. All those who bore a type of consciousness all had darkness in them. So no matter how kind or innocent they were, no matter how honorable, they could do horrible things. Alexander had no real knowledge of when Severus came to this knowledge but it could have been after his trial.
Darkness wasn't so bad, however. Without Darkness there would be no progress, only stagnation. Then where would the world be?
/All life is chaos, a wild, unbalanced blend of the elements, especially darkness and light./ You could say that life was just a gray area. Not the perfect explanation as it had a flaw or two, but it was the simplest.
Alexander could feel the power nearby getting stronger so he took a seat.
Being a Symbol meant that you had to dedicate yourself to a power. That you had to worship an element. Alexander shook his head at the memories in Lex's mind. He was surprised that Breanna and Sarah hadn't had a harder time with it after Mother had returned their memories. Both were Christians, Breanna a baptist and Sarah a catholic, and had only believed in worshiping God. /Good thing they didn't have problems./ It would have taken time to find others to take their places.
A Symbol was also chosen for power. Severus had not been the strongest in power before becoming a symbol. Alexander could have chosen many others but Severus had a great ability for becoming a dark mage.
When they'd first been brought before Mother, she'd de-aged all of them, removing their memories of their lives, before raising them all to be mages of a certain element. Severus had done the best at dark magic of them all. The wizard had excelled at all aspects of it. He'd been pleased to have Severus as his embodiment.
Under Mother's care, Severus and the others had grown again, becoming stronger emotionally, physically, and magically. The six had the best training from not only Mother but other Symbols that she'd called from other worlds to help. They were almost perfect. Trained killers, healers, protectors, leaders and much more.
Lex and the other Symbols also grew close together, entwined with powerful bonds. /Just like their elements./ thought Alexander.
It had been when the young Symbols had regained their memories, something called an Awakening, that things had gone to hell. The Symbols had been shocked at the memories that blasted through their minds. Severus, Breanna, Sarah and Ashton had it the worst. Unlike Chiara and Terrence who'd had mostly normal lives, the others had suffered strong emotional pain.
They had almost drifted apart but the emotional support they'd gained from each other had brought them even closer. They need that. Especially after the Breaking. This was when you had to face the past. Severus had started to ignore his original past and concentrate on the life that he'd created with Mother. That could not have continued. Severus had needed the understanding his first life had given him.
So Mother had placed them all in separate rooms forcing them to emotionally relive the pain that they'd both caused and received while being physically tortured. It had not been pleasant and Alexander could still feel the reverberation of the pain that his embodiment had to go through. Hogwarts had been the main point of Severus's emotional torment. One of the reasons Alexander had no problem ever blowing it up.
He would remember one thing fondly. It had not been easy for some of them to be broken. Terrence and Chiara, surprisingly, didn't need to be broken. On the other hand, the embodiments of Fire, Water, Wind, and Darkness went through hell but fought every step of the way. The four were extremely stubborn. Every time they were knocked down, they got back up. Alexander had checked in on them all. It had amused him immensely to see the one told to torture Breanna, stop dead in his tracks because of her cursing. Even Alexander had learned a few new words that day.
Afterward, the young Symbols had banded together for support. Restoration, when they would again faced their pasts, was helpful in creating unbreakable bonds between them all. Severus's brothers and sisters had walked beside him as he went through his past. Defending him, even when Severus was at his worse, and cursing anyone that said even a harsh word to the potions master. Chiara had calmly said heaven help any of them if they had to go to Hogwarts.
"Alexander?" said a soft voice. The Dark Knight turned and smiled at Mother.
At the moment, she was taking the form of an old Mexican woman. Her dark hair was gray here and there and she wore a simple yellow dress, her feet bare. It was her eyes that always gave her away or else you probably wouldn't even notice her. Her eyes danced with color. Her pupils were circles of dark colors but her irises held much lighter colors. Unlike the Symbols, whose eyes turned a completely solid color when their elements inhabited them, it was easier to tell when Mother was looking at you. Her movements were almost ghostlike. She was so apart of everything that it seems as if she glided instead of walked.
"Hello, Mother." He stood from his seat on the ground.
Mother gave her son a gentle smile. "Hello, Alexander."
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to check up on you. Come sit back down." She sat down in the damp grass beside her annoyed son.
"Bloody hell, Mother, we don't need a babysitter!"
Mother gave her son a look. "No you don't. Most of the time," she said, answering her son as rudely as he spoke to her.
Alexander gives a soft apology. Mother rolls her eyes. Then she turns her eyes to him. "Shouldn't you dress?"
"Not at the moment. I like it like this. Besides, we won't be going back to Hogwarts for a while longer."
"Dress, Alexander. Severus wouldn't appreciate it. He's much more confident about his body and appearance but no where near your level." Mother nodded her head toward him. She always called the embodiment of darkness by his original name.
"Oh alright!" Tossing his hands into the air, he stood gracefully and closed his dark eyes. For a moment, it would seems as if the shadows themselves came to life. The darkness around Severus's body began to move slowly, to cover him. Slowly they moved from his feet to his knees, to thighs, hips, torso and chest. It stopped after reaching his shoulders.
The shadows covering him shimmered for a moment before dispersing. Mother smiled at her son. Alexander now wore Formal Symbol Attire. His long black hair was now in a long braid down his back although wisps of black hair drifted into his face. He wore a long black robe that trailed to the floor. It had no buttons and hung open to show his bare chest. Long black ties held the sleeves and shoulders together. One good pull and the robe would fall off immediately. At the moment, small glimpses of pale skin could be seen along the arms and shoulders. Embroidered along the hem of the robe were small snakes, Severus's personal touch, but they were near impossible to see as they were as black as the rest of the robe. Lastly, Alexander wore supple black leather pants that looked painted on but were easy to move in. He also were black, knee high dragonhide boots.
"Better?" he asked raising an eyebrow.
Mother laughed at him. "Much. I'm sure Severus will appreciate it."
"You would think that you wouldn't want to see me in all my glory!"
"I don't." She replied smartly causing Alexander to snort. Mother gave her child a long look. "Alexander, is Severus alright? What happened at Hogwarts?" She had no idea except that her son was rather upset. She was Nature in all it's glory but she wasn't omnipotent. She wasn't Chaos.
"He'll be fine. He's much calmer now."
"What happened?" she demanded.
Alexander gave her the short version on what happened. "In other words, they pissed him off." He sighed. "If it wasn't for that Potter boy, Severus wouldn't have even returned."
He stopped. Mother had a rather peculiar look on her face when he mentioned Potter. Now she stared into the shadows. Onyx eyes narrowed at her. "You know something...don't you?"
Mother glanced at him. "Perhaps."
"Well? I'm sure Severus would appreciate the help. He wants to help the boy and leave as soon as possible."
Mother found herself glowering at her son. Alexander found himself cringing at the look. "It's not important. I was just remembering something. And whatever it is," she snapped pointing at her son, "it has nothing to do what is happening now. I'm sure of it."
Alexander sighed. "Very well." He looked at her for a long moment. "How have you been doing Mother? Any natural disasters lately?"
"That's your sisters' jobs." She muttered sourly remembering that last hurricane in the Americas. "I went to a Council meeting a couple days ago."
Alexander knelt beside her, interest clear on his face. "They haven't called on of those in some time. Did all of you attend?" 'All' meaning all the sect leaders. A sect meaning a world. Each sect consisted of the elements of that world, which was always an even number, and the leader, who in their case was Mother.
"Surprisingly yes." There was actually a rather large number of sects. No one could give an exact number at the moment.
"What happened that the Council had to call a meeting?" Like many, even the sect leaders had to have organization. The council were the rule makers over the entire group of sect leaders. There were twenty of them, each a sect leader but the twenty were the most powerful of all the sects. Mother herself had been invited to join but she had said no. She hadn't created a sect yet although she held sway over her world.
"...do you remember meeting the Alvenas sect?"
Alexander growled. Oh he remembered them, or rather their Light embodiment. The man had infuriated Severus, telling him how inferior he was beside the light and how darkness should be destroyed. Chiara had been appalled but what angered Alexander is that not only did the embodiment of darkness say nothing, the Darkness of that world remained silent.
Mother hummed a bit at his growl. "I thought so. Apparently, the Light embodiment has been causing problems."
Alexander raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"He's trying to rise against Alvenas."
Alexander's jaw dropped. Not an image most would affiliate with Darkness. It couldn't be helped however. He couldn't believe... /How can you uprise...against your Father? It doesn't make sense./ It was beyond comprehension to him. Sure it happened with the creatures in their world, but such things never happened with sects. The Davia sect, named after Mother's real name, would NEVER even think about doing such a thing.
"I...you have to be joking."
"I am not. Gryst, the light embodiment, was combined with his element when he challenged Alvenas. Alvenas won of course, but many are worried that he may not do so next time." She decided not to tell her son of what else was happening with that sect...or that something was terribly wrong with Alvenas's dark embodiment.
Alexander leaned against the tree shaking his head. "I say just kill him and find another."
Mother shot him a disapproving look, "You know that it is not that easy, Alexander. The dark embodiment would feel the backlash."
Alexander didn't feel all that sorry for her. How you could let your ying just go wild? The Lady would whip him into shape if ever tried to do something like that, nevermind what Chiara would do to poor Severus.
Mother glanced at him. "Have you told him about the twins yet?" She knew Severus would be far from happy when he found out what happened.
He looked at her as if she'd gone insane. "Of course not!"
"You have to tell him."
"Why can't you do it!" he whined. The last thing he wanted Severus to know was what happened with the twins. Apparently being around Symbols 24-7 had its risks.
"Because you are his element!" she yelled, losing her temper. For a moment, there was a disturbance in all the elements as they felt her anger.
Alexander pressed a hand to his face. "He'll find out sooner or later. It'll be hard not to. It may not be easy for him to take."
"Time brings healing and understanding. He's recovered from Mary's death."
Alexander's head shot up and he gave her a dark look that would have killed anyone weaker and would have made even his siblings take a step back. His eyes flickered to Severus's norm for a moment. "Do not bring Mary into this..."
Mother smiled sadly at him. /For the Darkness, with all it's imperfections, loved the light. And Mary, with her kindness and compassion, had truly been of the light./
Severus had met Mary just a week after moving into a new apartment. The nine month pregnant woman had been going to her apartment when her water had broken, scaring her to death. She'd stopped at the first door she'd come across. The door had been Severus's.
The former Hogwarts professor had been stunned to find a sobbing, heavily pregnant woman at his door. Severus had brought her in and cared for her until the paramedics arrived. What the poor wizard hadn't expected was for her to hold onto to him the entire time, forcing Severus to go through not only the trip to the hospital but the birth of the twins as well.
The event, and the support a stunned Severus had managed to give Mary, had endeared him to her. Somehow, with the twins' help, the two had become friends. Nothing more would come out of it however as Severus was the exact opposite of straight. Mary had merely laughed it off when he told her. Apparently the twins' namesakes had been gay, her late adopted father and his lover.
She had become a true friend to Severus. Mary had even accepted him with no problems after he told her that he'd become a Symbol. She had told it that it was fantastic. Was it any wonder that her murder had hit him so hard?
No matter how smart or sweet Mary had been, everyone made mistakes. Mary's had always been her taste in men. The twins father, who Severus didn't know or care to, had left her the moment he'd heard she was pregnant. Emma's father...well he was getting what was coming to him. Mother smiled coldly at that. /Oh yes. He's definitely paying for what he did./
The bastard had been abusive toward her. Mary had hidden it like a professional but Severus had found out from the twins of all people. The boys had seen the man hit Mary and had let it slip while visiting Severus, who they mostly identified as their father.
He'd confronted Mary who'd begged, then demanded, that Severus stay out of it. She'd told him that she could take care of herself. Severus had agreed, although VERY reluctantly, on the condition that if her lover came over, the twins stayed with him or one of the others.
The other Symbols, who had also loved and befriended Mary, had been furious but had stayed out of it. Later Severus blamed himself. That he should have gone against Mary's requests.
She'd been eight months pregnant with Emma, when the bastard had beaten her into a coma. The yelling had attracted Terrence. All the Symbols had moved into the same apartment building as none of them liked being far from each other. The black man had stormed in just as Mary's boyfriend were headed toward the terrified twin boys.
Terrence had tossed the man into the adjacent wall, knocking him unconscious, then ran to check on Mary. Acknowledging that she needed medical attention quickly, Terry had summoned some of his healing powers...but for some reason, they only worked to save Emma and not help Mary. He'd called for help before seeing to the twins, knowing that nothing more could be done for Mary. Sometimes it was just a person's time, even if it was caused by murder.
Emma had arrived by cesarian as her comatose mother could do nothing to help with her birth. Mary was declared brain dead soon after her arrival in the hospital.
Severus had taken it hard and had been able to mourn for a short time before helping the twins overcome their mother's death and taking care of Emma, as Mary's will left him their legal guardian. Still it had been hard for all of them.
/Although/ Mother thought/it was a lot easier after they got revenge./
It had been soothing for all of the Symbols really. He'd been convicted of murder and sentence to life in prison. However, thanks to the Symbols, he'd escaped and was placed into their own prison. At the moment, the man was buried underground in some unknown location screaming at the top of his lungs. His punishment was that he remain there, a year for every harsh hand he raised against Mary or her children. Only in the final year would his body slowly decay, with him fully aware, and allow him to die when it was over.
Mother turned back to her son to see calm black eyes back to normal. /Severus./ "Better, little one?"
Lex snorted at being called 'Little one' but she called all the embodiments that. The elements were the only ones that got any respect in his view. "Yes, Mother. Don't worry. I won't go on any killing sprees."
She laughed. "Oh, I don't know. Alexander just may enjoy that." She leaned forward and pressed a motherly kiss against his cheek. "I have to go."
"An earthquake to plan, hmm?" Severus said with a partial smile on his lips.
"Not quite. Julius is getting a bit braver and is at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It's time for you to get to bed."
He nodded. He was tired and could use a reprieve. "Are you going to see the others about what happened at the Council?" He'd had full awareness of what was happening around him though Alexander had blocked out a few things.
She nodded. "Yes. I figure it will give them something interesting to talk about."
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'll see you later Mother." He turned and began walking away before pausing and looking over his shoulder. "Visit Emma and the twins while in London. I am sure they would love to see you."
The old woman laughed. "Alright dear. Now off with you." She disappeared without so much as a ripple in the air.
Severus walked toward the edge of the forest chuckling.
TBC
Alia: Okay, I'm not even going to lie and say, 'Oh I'll try to update faster!' I will only jinx myself. Review and tell me what I should write on next. I have a good idea. I just need to think up the scene but suggestions are welcome.
