Hurray for another week and another wonderful chance to post! I am very please with the direction the story is proceeding in, and all the wonderful comments I've been receiving as well. Keep it up! So, remember the three 'R's. Relax, Read, and of course, Review!
Chapter Twenty One
Skyfall
The lights of Coruscant's many spires and terraces permanently lit the night sky, but sleep was the farthest thing from Fae Coven's mind regardless. Wandering the corridors of the Jedi Temple, she dwelled on some of the darker revelations she had experienced from the Force.
Master Coven had sat restlessly through the most recent meetings of the Jedi Council, deeply lost in thought. It had been several weeks since the Jedi Shadows had last checked in, and the Jenet Jedi Master feared the worst. In addition, the now ever present taint of the Dark Side seemed to be growing in strength, yet still none of the other members of the order believed that there was any danger whatsoever.
Fae had even gone so far as to contact groups of Force users that existed outside the Jedi, and every time she returned with the same lack of any definite response. It was as if the Force itself was shielding this darkness growing within it, which made no sense to the Jenet Grandmaster, unless… unless the long held tradition of the Jedi that the balance of the Force could only be achieved with the destruction of the Dark Side was not true.
Perhaps, and Fae was frightened even with the traitorous thought, but just maybe the Force was seeking to bring the Dark side back into power, to balance out the Jedi and other Force groups that were strongly oriented toward the Light.
The Jenet was so lost in her own thoughts and distress, that she nearly bypassed a youngling who was quietly sobbing, tucked away in the alcove of a statue. Stopping short, Master Coven looked at the distraught child, and searched her memory for the youngling's name. Whiskers twitching in recognition, Fae sat upon the tiled floor and beckoned for the youngling, "what is the matter, young Dek-Swen-Hess?"
Eyes still shining with tear, the young Tiss'shar child emerged from the statue, and shuffled over to the Jedi Master, "I can feel them…" he stuttered, trying to hold back more sobs.
"What can you feel?" Master Coven gently urged.
"My world…" Dek-Swen-Hess said miserably, "they're all crying out in pain."
Fae understood what the young Tiss'shar meant immediately, and sadly glanced out the grand windows over the wide expanse of Coruscant. The people of Tiss'shar, like many beings in the Galaxy, had a strong sense of community and were deeply connected to their place of nativity. This connection was only magnified when one such was gifted with the powers of the Force, and could easily produce such effects despite the Jedi never truly knowing their family or world.
Comforting the small reptilian jedi, Master Coven slowly led him back to the youngling dormitories, instructing Dek-Swen-Hess to draw peace and comfort from the Force, and know that it mourned with him.
Once the boy was settled, Fae continued her restless wandering, this newest piece of information making her more unsettled than before. Despite her attempts, something horrific and tragic had occurred on the world of Tiss'sharl, and the Shadows had still not responded to her attempts to contact them.
All seemed hopeless to Master Coven. There was no one who would want to believe that the Dark Side was rising again. She herself was uncertain of what The Republic was about to face, be it the long lost return of the Sith or some new threat.
A thought struck the Jenet Master, a risky, somewhat crazy idea, but one that would definitely provide some sort of answer to the question of who or what was causing the resurgence of the Dark Side. A journey to the dark home world of the Sith would allow Master Coven to immerse herself into the heart of darkness, and see past the cloak and shadow and view in clarity its source.
The first difficulty in this plan however, was leaving Coruscant without the rest of the Order trying to stop her. Powerful and influential as the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order was, she would be the first to admit that she was well past her prime, and age was starting to make its presence known, despite the Force. But she still had her ways, and those within the temple that would assist her off world, no questions asked.
With an elaborate plan forming in her mind, Fae Coven retired to her chambers, the desire for sleep finally returning to her worn body.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anguis awoke bright and early the day he was to leave Malfoy Manor for the majority of the summer holiday. Try as he might, his time at home was just as shamefully dull as the year prior, and Anguis had found himself sneaking off every spare moment to meditate or find a solitary place to drill in Niman.
And those moments were few and far between, which caused great anxiety and strain on the young Force user. Both Lucius and Narcissa were determined to spend as much time with him as possible before he left, and when he wasn't with them, house elves kept popping in to check on him and see if he needed anything.
It was stifling, their constant need to baby him. Anguis was thirteen years old now, and with the power of the Force at his side, he certainly didn't need his parents holding his hand for every little thing, such as packing his own trunks for instance.
By the time Anguis had returned from bathing and dressing, the house elves had already apparated into his room and were levitating clothes and other possessions into them.
Bristling at the sight of his lightsaber casually put aside, as though an unimportant trinket, Anguis stormed over to the bustling elves.
"What do you think you're doing." He said hotly, causing the elves to jump in surprise.
"W-we is packing for master's trip," one of the elves said, stuttering as the little creature looked up at Anguis.
"No!" Anguis yelled, his rage bubbling over unexpectedly. Throwing both elves aside with the Force, he snatched his lightsaber up and dumped both trunks onto the floor, sending the contents scattering. The elves huddled back, terrified at the display of intense anger. "Don't ever touch my possessions again, do you hear me!"
A knock sounded on the door to the hall, and Anguis quickly felt his rage vanish away in shock. How had he not sensed his mother coming the minute he started yelling at the elves, "Draco, is everything alright in there?" she called, before turning the knob and entering without permission anyway.
Anguis turned away, not wanting to risk his mother seeing the effect that the Force was starting to create on his eyes, and forced his body to calm down. "Oh, my dearest Draco," Narcissa continued, embracing Anguis and completely misinterpreting the scene, "I know it's hard for you to be sent away like this, but trust us. All we want is to keep you safe and happy, but sometimes one conflicts with the other."
"I know mother," Anguis said, masking the remaining anger from his voice and pointedly looking at the mess he had created, "Can I just pack by myself today instead of the elves…"
"Of course, sweetheart." Narcissa said, smiling down at him with a strange expression before leaving him alone once again. One the door closed, Anguis sank onto his bed, looking confusedly at his own hands, struggling to remember why he had even been angry. The emotion seemed to just sweep through him without any cause, yet the effect was obvious. His mother might be able to conjure a reasonable reason for it, but she was about as distant from his life as Lucius was, too caught up in the glamour of the wizarding aristocracy to pay any real attention to him.
Things would change soon enough though, Anguis vowed to himself. Once he had sufficient power with the Dark Side, he would prove to his parents that he was no longer a child, and take a more active role in shaping the destiny of their family. The petty squabbling of the upper crust of the wizarding world was but the merest fraction of what was out there, Anguis was certain of it. And he planned to make absolutely certain that house Malfoy staked a claim of the much larger political pie that existed in the greater Galaxy.
These ideas and more danced through Anguis' mind as he lifted the trunks back onto his bed with the Force, and floated object after object into them. Soon enough he would have all the resources to start enacting his dream, and the engine of the Sith would be the vehicle to carry his family into the future.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Darth Millennial studied the singed, black book for what seemed like the hundredth time, still not fully understanding what he was looking at. Veneficus had brought it to him the minute they had returned to the Manor, claiming that it had had a highly similar magical signature to himself, and had projected a phantom, much like the gatekeeper of a Holocron, that attempted to kill several students in the school by commanding a monstrous creature, possessed a young girl several times, siphoned life essence from same said girl, and had attempted to kill Veneficus himself before the Sith apprentice ripped the wild Force energy from it violently.
The human mutant had examined the books several times over the few weeks before the Malfoy boy was scheduled to arrive, and the majority of what he had discovered was that the book was, or at least had been, exactly like the ring and cup that were hidden away in the vault that also housed the skull of Gor-lak, but little else.
He was currently comparing the book with the other two objects for the last time before the blonde boy arrived, when he felt the presence of the Ork spark into being. "So, you've returned," the voice said absently.
"I have," Millennial responded neutrally, knowing that the long dead spirit was still desiring a body of its own, not that finding one was truly a priority for the Sith Master, but he was keen to avoid interacting with the skull just to prevent the Ork from getting too suspicious. "I am trying to riddle out this mystery that has plagued myself and my apprentice since we arrived on this world…" he continued absently.
"Riddle about what? Those Horcruxes?" the voice of the ancient creature asked, feigning innocence. Millennial stopped, glancing at the skull for a long moment, before finally taking the bait and responding. "The what?"
"Those three objects of yours, they're Horcruxes, or soul containers, and from the same person from the smell of the magic."
It was the vital piece of information that the Sith had been searching for. Without another word Millennial scooped up the three objects, striding for the exit as quickly as befitted a Master of the Force. He found Veneficus lounging in a side parlor, awaiting the arrival of his acolyte, but at the stern gleam in his master's eyes, the young boy quickly abandoned his seat and followed Millennial to a private room.
Laying the book, cup and ring on a small table, Millennial turned back to his apprentice. Before the boy could even react, Millennial pulled him forward by the shoulder with one hand, and sharply pressed a finger into the jagged scar on Veneficus' forehead.
The reaction was immediate. A yelp of pain, the violent jerk away from the point of pressure, but Millennial's eyes were on the objects, two of which rattled along the table in the same instant, while the burned book remained motionless.
"Yes, yes yes!" Millennial said, victory at solving the mystery ringing in his glee, "This is it, the answer!" turning back to Veneficus, who was clutching his forehead as though Millennial had tried to split open his skull, Millennial launched quickly into an explanation, carefully omitting the presence of the ancient Ork spirit for the time being, as Veneficus had more important things to focus on.
"So you see, my apprentice," he concluded after several terse minutes, pacing across the room, "The man who attempted to kill you, who placed that scar upon your forehead, was creating containers for his soul, trying to achieve immortality. Something happened when he attempted to kill you, something that turned you into one of these containers…"
Millennial paused, trying to imagine what sort of madness led the man called Voldemort to such a brutal path, nearly Sith-like in itself, but far more chaotic.
"What will we do with this information Master?" Veneficus asked, and as Millennial turned to glance back, he saw that the wheels of his young apprentice's mind were already spinning, hatching his own plan of vengeance and destruction on the supposed Dark Lord. "I will leave this challenge to you, my apprentice," Millennial said coolly, "However, firstly I would advise that you seek out the remainder of these such containers, if there are more, so that when and if you choose to do away with them and Voldemort along with, the deed will not go unfinished."
Veneficus nodded, "No loose ends," he said simply, earning a respectful smirk from Millennial. The boy had grown much in the last two years alone. Ironic though it was, that the strategy of his master, Darth Cognus, which had been to keep Millennial underfoot at all times, had produced the perfect master for Veneficus, one who would give him freedom to find his own destiny, within well defined limitations naturally. It was the perfect mirror of natural parentage, Millennial mused, the parallel of their darkened relationship that worked despite itself being one of the few things that either of them had viewed as a constant for so many years.
The fireplace back in the parlor flared to life, and Veneficus departed to welcome his acolyte, but Millennial hung back for a few moments longer, deep in reminiscence. The power of the Force had drawn them together, just as it had for every master and apprentice since the time of Darth Bane, and while Millennial saw much of the future, his immediate fate was one of the few unknowns to him still. He knew that Veneficus had great power, and that he would indeed rise to the challenge of taking the mantle of Sith Master, but the time and place seemed to constantly shift in his visions, changing often from sooner to very far off yet in the distance.
Placing these thoughts of the future aside for the time being, Millennial finally emerged from the side room to greet the Lord and Lady Malfoy before they took their leave for the remainder of the summer holiday, slipping easily into the role of gracious host and warm father figure. The moment the pair were departed however, the Dark Lord of the Sith returned from behind his mask, and watched as the young boy that served his apprentice shook with suppressed nerves and uncertainty.
Beckoning them with one hand, Millennial escorted both young men down to the training section of the compound, commanding the Malfoy boy to leave his belongings, as one of the neophytes would take them to his temporary quarters for him.
Pressing a button on a nearby console casually and summoning two combat droids, Millennial noted the wide eyed curiosity of the young acolyte, who had clearly never seen anything technological in his life. Signaling for Veneficus, the Dark Lord indicated one of the droids. His only answer was the snap hiss of lightsabers before his apprentice flew through the air at his opponent.
Within seconds the raven haired boy became a whirling dervish, slashing and stabbing at the droids high articulated defenses, while simultaneously twisting and flipping around the retaliatory attacks. Millennial felt a twinge of pride when Veneficus dispatched his opponent with apparent ease, the droid's programming clearly not sophisticated enough to keep up with the Sith apprentice's vicious style of aggressive combat.
Nodding in approval, Millennial turned to the Malfoy boy, "Now it is your turn." He said, activating the second droid remotely, and watched as it activated its yellow training saber. The boy swallowed hard, trying his best, and failing under the gaze of the Sith Master, to hide his intimidation, before pulling out his saber, and slowly advancing on the machine.
Naturally Millennial did not expect the boy to come close to comparing with Veneficus' level of combat prowess, and had the droid's programming altered accordingly. Not that the boy was going to be told that.
Veneficus stood off to the side, neither offering judgment nor encouragement, and the boy gingerly stepped into the ready stance for Niman, which Millennial felt was an odd choice, but reserved judgment until after he saw how the boy had progressed under Veneficus' tutelage.
The first few exchanges went decently, the boy's nerves holding him back from pressing the clear advantages in the droid's attacks, but he still defended himself from being hit. The pressure seemed to overpower young Malfoy soon enough however, as the metallic body slammed into him, knocking the wind of the small body and sending him skidding across the floor.
"Get up," Veneficus said coldly, "use your fear, do not allow it to use you." Malfoy struggled to his feet, and the droid attacked again, catching his crimson saber and overpowering the boy's grip on it, the weapon uselessly flying from his hands and bouncing closer to Millennial. Defenseless, the boy had to dodge away from the droid, which quickly backed off from an unarmed opponent.
"Sloppy!" Veneficus spat, raising his arms. The boy clearly knew what was coming, and flinched just as the volts of blue-white lightning slammed into the thin body. For mere seconds he lay there, convulsing on the ground under Veneficus' wrath, before Millennial felt the boy's own rage start to surface, cold and slow burning, yet long lasting. Veneficus clearly sensed it as well, and relented in his punishment, commanding the boy to rise and attempt again.
Malfoy made to call his saber back to himself, but paused as he stared at the overlarge sleeve of his robes. Millennial nodded in approval as the boy immediately ripped the garment over his head and tossed it away, leaving him in dark colored, tight fitting breeches and a short tunic-like shirt. Glancing at the discarded robes, Millennial caught Veneficus' eye as the younger Sith smirked, also showing his own approval for the boy's choice of discarding the bulky, movement restricting clothing.
Snatching the lightsaber out of the air as it soared back to him, the Malfoy boy whirled to face the droid, steely determination surrounding his Force aura. Upon activation of the crimson blade, the droid charged, swinging its arm-saber high in an overhead arc. The boy dodged, executing a perfect Soresu spinning sidestep, while one handedly parrying the strike into the place he had vacated, lashing out with a solid force shove with the now free hand to destabilize the droid's legs.
The machine staggered back, allowing Malfoy to readjust his footing, advancing in a basic Makashi line, slashing and stabbing to keep the droid on the retreat, finally sidestepping another strike from the droid as it attempted to reassert its offensive, and leaping into the air, cutting deeply into the droid's non sword arm as he arced over the its head. A fatal wound for a biological opponent, but it didn't even slow the droid's pace as it spun to attack as the boy landed.
The battle raged back and forth for several minutes longer, the two Sith watching the young boy carefully as he cycled through the different forms with great ease, as the discipline of Niman taught, in order to adapt to the circumstances of the conflict. Finally the end came, as Malfoy lashed out with a very weak form of Sith lightning, short circuiting the droid long enough to deliver a solid Djem-So horizontal slash to the head, carving the processor in two pieces.
The metallic form crumpled, and the boy shut off his weapon, drenched in sweat but beaming in triumph, more so it seemed for producing his first blast of lightning than in defeating the droid.
Millennial clapped slowly, showing his approval of the display, as the young blonde turned and bowed deeply to him, before collecting his robe and returning to the pair of Sith.
"Impressive technique," Millennial said coolly, carefully placing his praise, "very rough still, but with time we will forge out your impurities and mold you into a powerful weapon of the Dark Side."
"Thank you my Lord," the boy responded, suppressing his excitement while in the Sith Master's presence.
"Get something to eat, clean yourself and prepare to leave," Millennial ordered, to which the boy responded with a confused glance to Veneficus.
"You honestly didn't think we were staying on this miserable rock for the next several months did you?" the Sith apprentice added with a slight smirk. The boy's eyes widened comically as he understood, before quickly following Veneficus out of the room to prepare for their departure.
Millennial would not be joining them this time around however. He had confidence enough that his apprentice would keep both young men safe and far away from the probing eyes of the Republic and by extension, the Jedi. The reasoning was that, aside from pressing political duties on the planet, both Sith Master and Apprentice had their own projects to work on, their own secrets to unravel, and it was tradition for the Sith to not interfere so long as said plans had nothing to do with the destruction of one or the other.
And if anything was to happen, both Zhar Quelmok and his young neophyte would be with them to handle any situation that could arise.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione had a very busy summer holiday. Her parents had wanted to off to France for a romantic getaway for the family to bond, but she had been heavily distracted by the things she had left behind in the corridors of Hogwarts, namely the ever increasing enigma of Harry James Potter.
She had found several small pockets of wizarding communities in the country as they toured about, and had purchased a few books about wizarding history and legend, just on a whim. She had been more interested in seeking out any indication at what the mysterious black haired boy had referred to himself as during their last major meeting before she was attacked by the 'Basilisk'.
That memory also led to her second mystery. Hermione had been mulling over what Harry had told her about Professor Lockhart and his setting up the school to be falsely attacked so he could write a new book, her mind and heart battling over what was the truth. Logically Harry's thoughts and argument made sense, but at the same time something in the back of her mind kept persistently urging her to investigate further, that all was not as it seemed.
Naturally with Lockhart's disappearance and Hermione in France that avenue of investigation was closed off for the time being, but she could still work on Harry's riddle of what he was.
'I am many things: a beginning, an end… The future, the past… Harmony, yet chaos… weakness, and yet power… I am death, but I am also life… a servant, but also a master… A craver… and an embodiment…' he had said, and Hermione did not have the tools at her disposal to decipher it alone. So, she turned to her greatest friends and allies; books.
It was therefore to her greatest dismay when several trips to libraries and bookstores yielded very little answers. The only helpful book she found was an old English poetic dictionary that Hermione found by pure accident. With it she was able to break down the individual lines of the riddle and understand more of their possible meaning, but little else.
'I am many things,' was obvious, while the quartet of being a beginning, an end, the future and the past was far more interesting. The book provided a lot of basic information, which reiterated what Hermione already assumed about the phrases referring to four different traits that were not mutually exclusive.
Hermione rationalized that whatever Harry considered himself to be, he had hinted that it was the first of something, as well as the end of something else, which both traits could easily merge into him being the future of something, dragging behind him the past of whatever he was replacing.
Hermione quickly started to realize that Harry had done everything but truly provide her with useful information to that question, especially with the next six ideas, harmony, chaos, weakness, power, death and life. Just as with the first sets they were opposites that weren't opposites when analyzed, but without a more defined subject they told Hermione just as little.
The last four were more informative, a servant, meaning that there had to be someone higher than himself that he worked for, person or ideal. Yet Master, meaning either he in turn had people under him, or some skill or power that he was extremely proficient in. Hermione was leaning more to the latter on that thought with the final pair, craver and embodiment. Harry desired something, desired it so badly that it was a physical addiction. Hermione instantly thought of Harry's continuous debates over the idea of power. It was definitely a clear cut option of what the boy desired more than anything else.
Finally there was embodiment, which while she had no proof to the connection, Hermione felt strongly that it was related to the line of being a master. Suddenly, a thought struck her, causing Hermione to drop the book in amazement.
She paused for a moment considering, then rose and paced the room as she added each piece of the riddle. It all fit, the answer that had been in plain sight all along. Hermione mentally slapper herself for not seeing it sooner, Harry had only spoken of it with her many times.
Harry Potter believed himself to be a visionary. Not a magical seer, blindly seeing the future with little effect on it, but a person with knowledge that would shatter the world as it is, and bring it into a new age.
Hermione smirked to herself as she abandoned the book to return to her parents and enjoy her summer. Once she returned to Hogwarts, she would have a lot more questions, and she would be far more prepared for true answer this time at last.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Veneficus smiled from behind the controls of his master's Sith Infiltrator. Beside him Zhar Quelmok was prepping the ship to take them both, plus Anguis and Zhar's acolyte Septin on their journey across the Galaxy. Normally they would have taken the much larger freighter, but the stealth generator that was hastily installed on it by their forces on Dromund Kaas was starting to give out, and wouldn't be safe to use until they returned with parts to repair it with.
Their impromptu chaperone glanced sidelong at Veneficus as together they went over the final sequences for liftoff. "Hard to believe," Zhar said, turning back to the controls, "that you've never flown one of these before, being Millennial's apprentice…"
Sitting behind Zhar, Septin smiled weakly, before looking away quickly from the narrowed eyes of the Sith Lord. Anguis was thoroughly distracted by the sheer amount of technology surrounding him to listen to anything the others were saying.
"Well, the Sith tend to view training more structurally than the Jedi." That silenced the two ex-jedi immediately, but Veneficus continued coolly, "And naturally with the addition of the meditation sphere learning piloting is rather obsolete isn't it..."
Zhar snorted, "I don't care what sort of ship you got, nothing will be more responsive or faster than a force user behind the controls."
Veneficus ignored him, but continued to observe as the man took the controls and activated the cloaking generator, lifting them off for a moderately lengthy journey to Dromund Kaas. Unknown to anyone however, even Darth Millennial, the dark world that housed the bastion of their dark side acolytes was not to be Veneficus' or Anguis' final destination.
No, they had a far more interesting adventure planned, at least Veneficus had, Anguis was far too impressed with everything he was seeing for the first time to really be of terrible use until he became comfortable with Galactic technology, and Veneficus was willing to wait the time needed for him to familiarize himself with the basic tools before they departed for the temple of Sith Lady Valik Kidank, hidden away in the nearby Tascollan Nebula.
The Sith Lord spent the majority of the time in the cramped cockpit, meditating and studying the controls for the ship. While he was unwilling to allow Zhar Quelmok to think himself capable of showing up the future Lord of the Sith, he was humble enough to accept the value of his words. Piloting may have been an unneeded skill for him up to this point, but eventually it may become useful, so Veneficus saw no detriment to learning the basic controls and maneuvers subtly as the older human flew.
They made several brief stops to alter their hyperspace route, following the same course that Lord Millennial had mapped out years previously. As Veneficus looked over their route in the large holographic Galactic map he was once again amazed by the wonders the Force could do in bringing Veneficus and Millennial together so many years ago. Outside of the Force's own will, it would have been impossible for even the Sith Lord to traverse the unknown regions of space and find the tiny remote world on which he had been born.
The time passed slowly, and Veneficus drifted in and out of Force induced trances, partially to ponder this or that thought that entered his mind, and in part to escape from Anguis' seemingly endless chatter as the young blonde struck up an in depth conversation with young Septin in the pair of seats behind the pilot and copilot seats.
Mercifully, the well established route that had been perfected by the Sith's movement back and forth from earth to Dromund Kaas only took mere hours, instead of the typical days of travel that other similar distanced routes would have required. It was still a relief to Veneficus when the blue white starlines faded from view to be replaced by the massive sphere of Dromund Kaas, the glowing beacon from the main temple flashing even from orbit as a tiny pinprick of light.
As the Infiltrator settled into a smooth landing sequence, Veneficus glanced down at the temple roof beneath them, and saw a growing assemble of assorted beings, all wanting to see the new arrivals.
The ship landed and secured itself to the stone building, and the four prepared their things to disembark. As the ramp lowered to permit their departure from the ship, Veneficus took a moment to savor the look on Anguis' face as he saw his first nonhuman being.
Supreme Prophet Dass'in, stabilizer mask firmly placed on the orange skin stood proudly in the forefront of the assembled masses, watching with a serene sense of calculation as the four humans set foot on Dromund Kaas.
"Welcome back Lord Veneficus," he wheezed, the Dorian bowing his head slightly as the Sith Lord approached, which Veneficus returned. Anguis looked visibly shaken, and Veneficus turned to him, sending a pointed glare to shock him back to his senses as he made introduction, "Supreme Prophet Dass'in, meet my acolyte, Lord Anguis."
Dass'in offered his hand to Anguis, the three large, orange digits flexing in the foreign gesture. Anguis for his part only paused momentarily before returning the gesture. "Welcome To Dromund Kaas Lord Anguis." Dass'in said, voice offering only a minimal amount of warmth, "I hope you learn much during your stay on the ancient Sith capitol."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Severus had a mission for the summer holidays. Neither he nor the headmaster believed the story about Lockhart attacking students for a second. It was simply too, convenient, of an explanation, while still answering very little. Albus personally feared that the monster might still be out and about, and was planning to make a very thorough search of the castle once again for the Chamber, albeit the Headmaster had admitted his doubts that anything would be uncovered this time.
Meanwhile, the more pressing matter had been the growing darkness around the precious Boy-who-lived, especially during the time from Miss Granger's petrifaction to the end of term. Severus had personally felt that something was off from the first night in the castle with the boy, but Albus had clung to his hopes that Harry would fall in line with whatever scheme the old man had cooked up for his golden boy. Obviously very little was going according to plan, not that Severus was privy to what the plan was, but he still was sent to gofer for information at the Headmaster's beck and call.
Currently, he was being sent to the bland and boring muggle neighborhood of Privet Drive, to investigate the old house that Albus had dropped an infant Potter off so soon after the loss of Lily and Potter Sr.
Severus was both surprised, and yet not so surprised to find that the house, number four by the street signs, had remained completely vacant since the Dursley family had been found murdered within its walls. No one had even so much as removed the furniture of the late owners, and the rooms were covered with thick layers of dust and grime from the years it had sat fallow.
The first thing Severus had sensed upon entering was the massive wave of foreboding magic that wafted over him like a thick shroud, explaining immediately why the house remained abandoned. No muggle, even the most skeptical, would have wanted to remain for long periods of time in a place so infused with what Severus could only explain as pure evil. Even the sights of the Dark Lord's most brutal murders paled in comparison to the magical residue that this house clung to. Whatever had happened, it was among the foulest and most depraved acts possible.
Pushing past the initial darkness with great effort, Severus was drawn by thin tendrils of neutral residual magic to various locations within the house. There was a vast amount in the kitchen, the flower beds in the back yard, and of all placed the small broom cupboard under the staircase.
These wisps of magic were far more innocent than the oppressive darkness in the front room, indicating the presence of a wizard child, living a simply day to day existence, but it was off slightly. The magical residue wasn't the purity of a happy child at home, but something more become of distress, and to Severus' horror, undiluted terror.
Pieces of a past life started to trickle into place in Severus' mind, while at the same time the long held image of a pampered little Potter prince shattered into little shards, each one ripping through his soul. The house rang with the lingering remnants of abuse and neglect, concepts completely foreign to the wizarding world, as no witch or wizard would dare raise a hand against their own child for any reason.
Yet here, the evidence was apparent in the ambient magic all over the house. The Potion's Master made three more circuits of the house, deliberately avoiding the front entry and living room, feeling the tainted magic and trying to follow it to its source. Puzzling enough, it led him straight back to the little cupboard in the main hallway every time. Steeling himself for what he may find within, Severus drew back the curious latch that held the door shut and pulled. Fire blazed behind his eyes as the tiny room was lighted, revealing its contents.
The child sized cot was still mostly intact, with a single threadbare blanket draped over it, no pillow. Common cleaning supplies and other unimportant object lined the walls, giving what little room in the middle a claustrophobic feel. One thought pounded through Severus' head over and over as his stared blankly into the tiny space. 'Lily's son slept in here. Lily's son slept in here. Lily's son slept in here. Lily's son slept in here.'
Rage poured through his veins like living fire. Staggering to his feet, Severus slammed the cupboard door, causing one of the rusted hinges to break from the force. It hung awkwardly as the man stormed toward the one room he had fearfully avoided long enough.
As he swept into the room, the cold indifferent hate that already dwelled within swarmed around him, mixing with his own anger. The magic in the dark hate began to manifest, and Severus' eyes widened as a scene from long ago began to play before him. Petunia, tall and horse-faced, along with husband and child, each looking like whales, cowered in the room while twin shadows approached from the entry way.
The family screamed as they looked at the smaller of the two dark figures, before a horrible crimson light filled the room. The figure approached Petunia's family, lifting the deadly looking beam of power, and they screamed again. Severus ran from the house before the beam fell, even his stone heart not capable of withstanding the sight.