1800 reviews! Woohoo~
Anyway, it's time for the Stargate Arc to commence. I'm not sure why a lot of you thought that I had sent Harry to another dimension (namely the fairy tail universe), or to another continent, or even more ridiculous things.
I specifically stated in the previous chapter that the world around Harry shifted "into a dizzying, screeching blue kaleidoscope" before he blacked out. It was a reference to the sensations of sight and sound experienced while passing through a Stargate. Flashes of blue light everywhere, and an annoyingly persistent screech. I was honestly surprised that a small amount of people actually understood where I was going with it.
But anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any other fandom I manage to squeeze in this story.
ooooooooooooooo
Lightning Dragon's Roar
A Harry Potter Fanfiction
By Zero Rewind
© 2015
ooooooooooooooo
Chapter 56: Bubastis
"No!" I was awake in a second, sitting up instantly— and immediately regretting the action.
Pain exploded in my wounded shoulder, and I cringed in sheer agony, pressing my hand hard against the wound in an attempt to calm it down. With that pressure came more pain, but it was now more focused, more controlled.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
Relax.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
I'm alive.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
Deep breath.
Concentrate.
Where am I?
My eyes flitted across the strange surroundings. I was covered in a multicolored, rough looking quilt made from the skins and wool of different animals. More of the same material lay underneath, though it felt only slightly uncomfortable.
Most of the floor was covered in more of the same material. I could tell that there was nothing but dirt underneath it, judging from the smells wafting in my nose. I was in a hut, then?
I moved my head to gaze outside of the entrance, and had to cover my eyes slightly as I slowly got adjusted to the light. A few seconds later, I could see small looking huts made out of wood and straw, and felt the beginnings of headache forming.
I couldn't see much of the background, but it seemed to be a forest, of some sort. I could hear the sounds of people milling around. I could hear the noise of metal grinding against wood. I could hear the sound of metal slamming against metal in a constant, steady rhythm.
I saw the blue sky, overhead.
Blue, I remember being in some kind of screeching blue kaleidoscope before I got here…
Concentrate, damn it!
An image of a snarling Voldemort, with a hole in his chest popped into my mind, and my breathing hitched. That's right; I was fighting the Dark Lord Voldemort, to end the second war between wizards in Britain.
It was admittedly one of the hardest fights of my life. Deprived of Erebus, and my stronger Lightning Dragonslayer moves, I had honestly thought I was as good as dead.
If it weren't for Balthazar's pep talk, and my choice of invoking Dragon Force, I would have lost.
But I killed him. Voldemort was gone, for good this time.
So, of course he left me this going away present.
"Where the fuck am I…?" I muttered, getting to my feet with a little difficulty. A few more questions were on my mind. Where were my things? I still wore my black pants, but my shirt and jacket were gone.
Hastily checking my pockets, I sighed in relief as I found my mokeskin pouch, still tucked in my frontal cargo pocket.
Likely, whoever had saved my life found that they couldn't search my pockets, or even take my pants off, and summarily gave up after a few tries.
The wonders of anti-theft spells woven into the fabrics! Money well spent, if I do say so myself.
My wand and goblin-steel scabbard, on the other hand… I looked around the hut's inside again. A few feet off to my right, I saw the gleam of something metal underneath a torn up, black coat.
My coat.
I went to it, moved the coat out of the way, and relaxed when I saw the aforementioned holly wand and the scabbard.
§Finally awake, are you?§ I heard Balthazar's hiss, getting the mental image of it yawning.
§Hey, partner. Where are we?§ I hissed back, feeling elation at the sound of Balthazar's voice.
We— humans, that is— all craved the attention of others, no matter how slight. If I were stranded alone in unfamiliar surroundings, which I currently was, I would latch onto anything that was familiar to me.
A piece of clothing, a nice little keepsake, the smell of certain perfumes that remind me of home; it really could be anything that made me feel safe, in control.
So, it was nice to know that, wherever I was, Balthazar would be right there with me. I heavily leaned my back against the wall, digging into my mokeskin pouch for a few potions that would aid in my recovery effort.
§Not sure. The people that found you brought you to this hut.§ Balthazar began to explain, as I pulled out some blood replenishing potion, and Murtlap Essence. §They spoke English, but it was a bit odd— terminology that wasn't quite right, phrases I had never heard in my life. There were references to honored gods, and some kind of Ring of Travel.§
I nodded at the information and felt for my shoulder wound.
§Do they have some advanced magic that could help me?§ I asked, wincing as the black scaled fingers touched the burn. §The cuts I got from That Fucker's— Voldemort's— fiendlyft are already gone.§
It was hard imagining a being such as Voldemort being dead, but I had to get used to it, sooner or later. I could probably say his name without anyone popping in, at this point.
Idly, I wondered if saying Voldemort in Parseltongue would even trigger the Taboo, anyway.
§No, they seem to be non-magicals who don't even have modern technology. If I had to guess, I would say they are beginning to learn how to use the metals in their environment. But, I am the one who healed you.§ Balthazar said pointedly.
§Why do you think I took a nap, and just woke up, huh? First, I made sure that none of them would do anything stupid to you; then, when they put you in bed, I went to work. Coaxing your energy and adding my own to it was quite helpful. In fact, that hole in your shoulder is about half the size of what it was, before.§ Balthazar explained, a bit of smugness in his tone.
I paused and took in the viper's words.
§Very impressive.§ I hissed and frowned thoughtfully. §But the burn is still there.§
§Well, yes.§ Balthazar agreed wryly. §If I simply healed the burn, you would still have a hole in your chest. I'm fairly sure that would be bad for business.§
I nodded in agreement, praising my partner for his foresight.
§It's small enough to heal with Murtlap Essence, now.§ I said, bringing my wand to my shoulder, deadening the nerves in preparation for the painful healing. §I'll just have to destroy the burn with my piercer and spell the Murtlap in there to simultaneously plug and heal the hole.§
§Awfully risky, but I, too, see no other alternative.§ Balthazar hissed back.
I drank the Blood Replenishing Potion in one, quick gulp, before aiming my wand at my shoulder very, very carefully.
"Infodio." The tip of my phoenix feather wand glowed yellow before the spell shot through my shoulder, tearing through muscle and bone alike.
I cringed at the strong sensations— despite the deadened nerves— and felt the blood exit out in a spray that covered the wall behind me. Very quickly, I waved my wand and wordlessly summoned the Murtlap Essence into my wound, literally plugging up the hole on both ends.
Another wave of my wand, and bandages tightly wound themselves up around my left shoulder, preventing the blood from flowing out, too much.
With the Blood Replenishing Potion at work, I would be able to heal quite easily from this, within a few hours at best.
Even now, I could feel the Murtlap Essence doing its work. Its soothing effect calmed my hard breathing, returning me to a normal, resting state.
Listening to Daphne's advice on healing techniques, and quick fixes during that one week's break was paying off. Sure, it wasn't exactly an elegant solution, but it worked, and that was really all I cared about, to be honest.
§You could probably use some Skele-Gro, just in case that spell tore through bones or ligaments.§ Balthazar added as an afterthought.
I stifled a curse, and followed my partner's advice, pulling out the dreaded potion from my mokeskin pouch, and downing it in one shot, grimacing heavily at the god awful taste.
Potions in general tasted pretty bad, but there was just something about Skele-Gro that made it absolutely unbearable— could have been the puffer fish, or maybe the scarab beetles used in its making.
I hocked a loogie in an attempt to get rid of the aftertaste; no luck, the taste persisted regardless of my attempt.
I waved my wand again, and Vanished all of my fluids away, before gingerly putting on my tattered coat, hiding the bandaged up wound beneath its folds. The right sleeve was completely torn off, and there were a few cuts on the left one— so I tore that off as well to even the coat out.
Other than that, it looked fine, if a little dirty.
All things considered, the coat held up quite well.
I didn't have a shirt, though.
I sighed. "I suppose this will have to do."
I heard a gasp come from the entrance, and turned to see a little girl holding some kind of straw toy, standing there and staring at me.
"He's awake!" She shouted with a strange accent, though it was still English, before running out. "Elder! Elder!"
I tensed up for a moment, before remembering these people could have killed me at any moment during the time in which I was recovering.
So, instead of following my first instinct— which is to run away as far as I could— I decided to wait and see how things played out. I could see that the people had gathered outside of the hut, some giving me curious stares as they peeked inside.
I waved back, and they drew away, either in embarrassment or fear.
My money was on embarrassment; they thought they were being sneaky and I caught each of them with no effort, so it had to be embarrassment.
"Hello, young godling." A quartet comprised of two old men and women entered the hut. They wore simple, straw colored robes that looked like they had withstood decades of use in many different climates— judging by the wear and tear seen, not to mention the patchwork on several spots.
More importantly, did they just call me "godling"?
"How may we aid you, honored god?" One of the old women said, with the same accent that little girl was using. Their words seemed slower, with more emphasis on deliberate pronunciation than the actual wording structure.
"Um." Woah, excellent speaking skills, Potter! "Where exactly am I?"
"Of course." The old man on the left nodded. "We found you battered and wounded outside of the Ring of Travel. At first, we thought you were a traveler who was seized by bandits and left to die, but as we saw your arm, and your rapidly healing wounds, we knew that you were one of the gods, supposed to be sent to rule over us in place of our Lady Bastet."
"How did you know I was coming here? And where exactly is here, anyway?" I questioned lightly, already disliking the situation.
"We know this because you were supposed to be coming here this very day, with Lady Bastet from her meeting with the System Lords. And, my lord, this is the planet Bubastis, home of our Lady Bastet." The old man explained, growing a little confused at my line of questioning. "Forgive me, my lord, but may this lowly servant ask why it is that you have arrived here earlier than expected, with such extensive wounds?"
Planet Bubastis. Planet.
Suddenly Voldemort's vague curse— whatever it was he launched at me— was starting to make sense. I was on another planet altogether? It was either that, or all of these people were crazy and delusional.
I remembered those files I had downloaded from 4chan. There were mentions of a Stargate, a ring shaped device that created portals to other planets in the Galaxy. Here, they were talking about a Ring of Travel; that could be the same thing.
It was definitely worth a look, no matter how ridiculous it sounded in my head.
I considered his words for a moment, before considering my own very carefully.
"You may." I answered in what I hoped to be an over the top haughty tone, grabbing my scabbard and placing it on my back. I wiggled a bit— it stayed in place. "Suffice to say that I, the Great Harry Potter, slayer of beasts, was in a battle against our enemies, and managed to win by a hair's breadth."
"Truly, your godliness?" The old woman on the left said, before gulping in fear suddenly. "Forgive me, my lord, I did not mean it in the sense that you are lying—"
Of course, that's what she meant; old crone.
"I'm already healed, am I not?" I challenged the old woman with a pompous, affronted tone of voice. "Doubt me again and you shall greatly dislike the consequences. Now leave me, before I lose my patience with you!"
"As you wish, my lord." All four of them stiffened, bowed low and left, their forms still bowed in what seemed to be abject fear.
I waited a few seconds, before sighing in irritation. I drew my wand, and cast Silencio on the walls and the entrance. They probably wouldn't be listening in, but it never hurt to be sure.
§What do you think, Balthazar?§ I hissed out, needing someone to bounce ideas off of.
§They said we're on another planet.§ Balthazar hissed back in disbelief. §Either they're all lying to us, or they believe we're on another planet, or we actually are on another planet.§
§Yep. That pretty much sums it up, I think.§ I agreed warily. §What about this Bastet Goddess they keep raving on about? It sounds familiar, like something from mythology, but I can't quite place it.§
§Bastet is the Goddess of warfare in Egyptian mythology, usually depicted as a feline, female warrior who ruled for many years as a conqueror, and then, as a protector.§ Balthazar answered.
§How did you—§
§I learned English by reading, you know. I read a lot of things you don't know about.§ Balthazar replied, sounding a little ruffled. §I even read all of your schoolbooks, and whatever your bookworm friend left behind after she went to sleep. How do you think I got the idea to merge with you?§
§Balthazar the bookworm.§ I grinned. §It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?§
§Shut up, you asshole.§ Balthazar hissed back. §It has a terrible ring. A really awful ring. You'd better not call me that again.§
§Fine, fine. Someone's a little ruffled.§ I soothed my partner, before addressing the main issue again.
It wasn't like we were trying to be mean to each other. It was just our coping mechanism in front of something we didn't understand— which obviously caused fear to seep into our every move.
§So we're possibly not even on the planet Earth, any more.§ I repeated.
§Either that or—§
§—Crazy people, I know.§ I cut Balthazar off, trying to make sense of the situation.
§Your best shot is to see this Ring of Travel and somehow manage to find a way back home.§ Balthazar said.
I frowned. That plan seemed flimsy, at best, but it was all I had at the moment. If I had Erebus, on me, I'd be able to traverse the realms with ease, but Erebus was far away, right now, with orders to wait for me, instead of seek me out.
There was no use in expecting the Devil Arm to suddenly appear to save me. Even if he could, I doubted he would, as that would prove that I am reliant on him, and that might negate his servitude to myself.
Back to the matter at hand.
Discounting Balthazar, I was pretty much on my own for this particular adventure. I steeled myself in preparation for what needed to be done. I basically had to pretend to be some sort of godlike figure— if I faltered even just a little, I was sure that these villagers would put me to death for impersonating their deity— or worse.
"Finite Incantatem." I cancelled the Silencing Charm out with a quick wave of my wand, before exiting the hut, going into the full view of the people milling around the town. They moved to me quickly, gazing at me with wide eyes.
"Lord Ha'Ri!" They all chanted and bowed low.
I plastered a fake benevolent smile and pointed at the little girl that had called the elders. "You, there!"
The villagers looked around, before following the direction of my finger and sighing in what seemed to be relief. I supposed that those other so called "gods" did something terrible to whomever they chose out of the crowd.
The little kid, a brown haired kid in rags, holding a straw toy, walked up to me with visible fear on her face.
"Y-yes, my lord?" She said, looking down.
I frowned at the behavior for a short moment, before plastering an even bigger smile on my face.
"My thanks go to you for calling for the village elders." I said in a tone of voice that would have made the Bighead Boy himself proud. "Come! You shall accompany me for a walk."
"A-As y-you wish, my l-lord." The girl seemed even more frightened now. "Where to?"
I leant forward to her, and said. "Take me to the Ring of Travel."
Her eyes widened in even more fear, but she steeled herself, bit her tears back, and led the way with her head held high.
Boy, was she going to be embarrassed when she realized I wasn't going to do anything to her except knock her out to give me time to escape whatever this place was.
I followed her out of town, aware that the villagers' eyes were all on us, at least until we faded from their view entirely. I followed the girl around for around twenty more minutes, through the treacherous forest terrain.
She avoided a few sickly purple plants— for good reason, seeing as one of its vines snagged a shrieking rodent and swallowed it whole— and moved at a brisk, but elegant pace, until we reached the Ring of Travel.
Yep, this was either a ridiculously elaborate joke by someone who had infiltrated my password protected computer in Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, a house hidden by the Fidelius, and built a complete replica of the Stargate being used by the United States Air Force; or, all of this Stargate stuff was real.
Think I'll go with "real".
This was real.
I really was on another planet.
"Okay, kid." I said. "We can stop here."
The little girl frowned at the strange term, but nodded and stopped.
"Tell me." I said in a fake-teacher-like tone of voice. "What do you know of the Ring of Travel?"
"Only what the elders tell us, my lord." The little girl answered nervously.
I cringed at the way she addressed me; it reminded me too much Tom Riddle, and that was something I never, ever wanted to be similar to.
I was a fighter, not a lord. I didn't care for wealth, for riches.
But I had to suck it up, and pretend, since I didn't want to blow my cover.
"Humour me, child." My face twisted into a tight smile, as if I was holding back my fake irritation. The ploy worked, as the child complied and began speaking once again.
"The elders say that the gods created us in their image, and brought us out from a very faraway place by using the Ring of Travel." She said dutifully, and without inflection— a sign that the story had been told and repeated so much that it simply became second nature for her to tell it. "They tell us that we are here to serve, and worship our gods— you, my lord."
"Do you know how to use it? The Ring of Travel, that is." I cut right to the point, not wanting to listen to any more of the brainwashing tactics these so called "gods" employed on their subordinates.
The girl went completely white, at the question, and stuttered so much that her response was incomprehensible.
"Calm down, child." I smiled condescendingly. "It is a simple question, and you have my word that you will receive no punishment if you do know how to use it."
She opened her mouth to speak, but the Stargate suddenly whirred to life, spinning clockwise and stopping at a single symbol, the top part sliding over said symbol with a grinding noise. It began to turn again, counter-clockwise this time, shorter than before, and recording another symbol.
Like some kind of old-style telephone dialing a number.
Something was coming.
Likely, it was going to be the so called "gods" that the elders were talking about. I quickly grabbed the kid and fled off to a side brush, dragging her along with me.
"What are you doing!? What are you—" I interrupted her frantic questioning with a wave of my wand and a mutter of "Petrificus Totalus."
I gently laid the girl down on the ground, and watched the Stargate continue its rhythm of turning, locking in a symbol, and resuming.
After a total of seven symbols "dialed", the insides of the ring exploded in a blue stream of light, reminiscent of a rock falling into a puddle, sending the water flying high into the air, before falling right back down into calm waters.
Only it was horizontal.
The blue, water-like energy rippled as soldiers began to emerge. At least, I thought they were soldiers— what with the synchronized march and the identical uniforms consisting of body armor over chainmail, with some kind of overgrown snake helmet, and holding ornamental staves.
At least two dozen of these soldiers popped out of the Stargate, before an even stranger couple of people came.
These two were dressed in fine fabrics and golden armor, signifying their importance in comparison to their soldiers.
The two were somewhat dark skinned, with their clothing reminding me of the pictures I saw when I did a little research on hieroglyphs found in the tombs of the pharaohs of Egypt.
To add to their regal look, they were painted up with several markings on their faces, and arms, and wore some kind of golden hand ornament.
I guessed that these were the gods that the villagers were talking about. They didn't look like much, but I supposed looks could be deceiving.
I sent out my Lightning feelers in the air, slowly making their way to the two individuals, who were barking out orders at their servants.
"Jaffa! Kree!" I wondered what the hell they were saying as my energy latched onto the woman's.
It felt like I was gazing at two people at once. The first source of energy from this woman seemed human enough, though it was aged to a point that I didn't think was possible.
These people were immortal?
The second source of energy, however, drove chills up my spine. I could feel the inherent ruthlessness of the creature; it was latched onto the human energy source, feeding from it continually and forcing it to do its bidding.
A predatory parasite in a body that couldn't be touched by age.
I cut the connection quickly when it seemed the creature was going to look my way, but she simply looked to one of her servants, and barked out more of the same orders I heard before.
Idly wondering what the hell "Jaffa" and "Kree" meant, I watched as the group of soldiers marched forward, with a small squad covering the two pharaoh wannabes from the sides, and behind.
I waited until they disappeared out of view, and then I waited some more. There was probably no one in sight, any longer, but I still waited.
§I think they're all gone now, boss.§ Balthazar hissed out quietly, and I nodded in agreement, before rushing to the Stargate as fast as I could. I reached a small, mushroom shaped construct next to the ring, and scrutinized it carefully.
There were two concentric circles sectioned off to represent different symbols in different positions, with a large, red crystal in the middle.
"How the fuck do I dial home?" I asked out loud, receiving no answer in return.
I knew it took seven symbols for me to get anywhere, but that information didn't really help my odds all that much in the grand scheme of things.
To get home, I basically had to find the correct seven symbols in the correct sequence, out of one, two, three.. five.. seven… twelve.. fifteen… twenty two, thirty one… some forty symbols, and hope I get it right.
That's right; seven out of forty. The odds of me getting the correct sequence on a machine I didn't even understand were astronomical at best.
I tried, anyway. For the following ten minutes, I attempted to dial up a sequence of symbols— any sequence that would even get this Stargate working.
Nothing.
The Stargate was completely useless to me.
"Now what?" I said aloud.
§Defeat the soldiers, and force these gods to give you what you require.§ Balthazar stated after a few long moments of thought.
I nodded unsurely. §I was hoping to avoid something like that, but with the Stargate's unique dialing system, it would take me months, if not years to even figure out how to go anywhere, let alone Earth.§
§Then, it's settled.§ Balthazar said, and that was the end of that particular conversation.
Yeah, it sure was settled.
My first day out here, and I'm already picking fights with planet overlords.
I suppressed the instinct to whip out the Resurrection Stone, call Voldemort forth, and tell him he's a dick.
No matter how satisfying that would make me feel.
"That Fucker literally left me a going away present." I groused, and began to scheme.