Chapter 58: Healing and Transference

Healing and Transference

Sage stared at his Uncle as the man seemingly contemplated the news that he was more powerful that Dumbledore. The man's reactions were certainly true to life, but this interaction simply could not be real. He had not left his Llywen yet, he could still feel it. Sage's mind knew Severus enough to know how he would react, that must be why it seemed so real.

Suddenly, Sage felt his heart speed up for no apparent reason. His eyes started to cloud and then he was torn in two. He felt as if he was being ripped out of himself, and he vaguely heard himself snarl in pain. He felt his body impact roughly with the floor, but he did not remember falling.

He opened his eyes and saw his Uncle kneeling next to him, not sure of whether he should try and help or not.

A bruised feeling spread up his body and it felt as if it were pulsating. A headache had come on out of nowhere, as severe as if his head were being cleaved in two.

Sage whispered, "It was real..."

He had been in his Llywen in the material world, the real world. But wasn't his Llywen an Otherworld?

Sage cringed as Severus touched his shoulder, and he hurriedly slapped the man's hand away.

"No, don't touch me. Just, just let me be," he said, his deep voice cracking with strain as he fought to keep the pain from showing.

"Don't be so daft," his uncle answered, curtly.

Sage sucked in a wavering breath and exhaled forcefully through his nose, shaking. A cold sweat had come over him. He laid back on the stone floor, his knees still bent up in front of him. His skin was beginning to look like sticky dough.

Growling under his breath, Severus sat down on the floor next to him. "You require a pain killer."

"No," Sage answered, cooly but rapidly.

"You do," Severus stated, nodding his head slightly, affirmatively.

"I can bear it... I can wait it out." But it was clear from his shakey voice that he could not.

"No, you cannot. You are not strong enough, skilled enough, or practiced enough."

"I can never become what I do not try to be," he answered, cheekily.

"Don't lecture me, boy. Do you think I know nothing of what you are, or of these Arts?"

Sage scowled and glared up at his Uncle.

"I could have this, I FELT it," he said, raising a hand and then grasping nothingness into his fist. "I should have it. All I had was a moment's time, and I know now that this is what I need to be able to do."

Again, Severus reached out and touched Sage's chest, over his heart.

"You can have it and you will, but not now. This was just a glimpse, a foreshadow of what is to come for you. Don't be stupid enough to follow this without the knowledge you require. You will only end up going through needless pain."

"Needless pain," he spat, "I have been going through needless pain all of my life!"

"It is the curse and blessing of what you are. As I said to you long ago when you were a little boy. There will be a time in the future where you will be thankful for all your gifts, even though they have brought you pain."

A shudder passed through his body as he lifted his head slightly to look at his Uncle.

"You are in pain." Severus stated again, obviously wanting to force something into Sage to ease it.

Sage put his head back down onto the ground.

"I wish the pain would just go away, I wish it could not do anything to me, that I could beat it. Or that I could heal myself."

"You will be able to, but you do not know how yet and it is best not to try something like that without proper skill."

He lifted his head up again slightly, and focused on the man's hand on his chest.

"But you can," Sage said simply.

"Yes, to an extent. Not what you fully require," Severus responded.

"You are powerful," Sage whispered softly, losing consciousness quickly. "You can hold it."

Severus frowned, not entirely sure that Sage was making sense anymore. The boy was probably lapsing into a preconscious delirium.

"Hold what?" He asked, humoring his nephew.

"My power. If I transfer some of it to you. You can use it, perhaps, with your skill and your knowledge, to lessen the pain since I cannot."

Shaking his head, Severus responded, "A potion is much simpler and safer."

Sage smiled slightly, his breathing become shallow and infrequent. He put his far hand over Severus's hand on his chest.

"Uncle, I am sorry."

"For what?"

"Because the potion that you give me during my visions, sir, it does not work. It dulls the pain only slightly and it restricts my body from acting on the perception of the pain. This is the same pain."

Severus nearly pulled his hand away from Sage in aggravation, knowing that the one thing he had thought he was able to do to help his nephew through the visions had never helped him much.

"Why did you not tell me?"

"It does calm me to an extent and dulls the pain a bit. I never told you because I knew that it was easier for you this way. It is painful for those around me to see what happens to me when nothing restricts my body."

"You are telling me, basically, that the pain was not gone. I was creating for you an itch that you could not possibly scratch."

Sage nodded at the metaphor, "Will you try this for me, Uncle?" His voice quivered again as a ripple went down his body. "You are powerful enough that it will not hurt you."

"That does not concern me." He snapped, then he continued softer, "I am concerned about it hurting you."

"You cannot hurt me in a greater way than anything I have yet been through."

Severus put his other hand on Sage's bent knee, silence reigning the room for what seemed like a long time. "If you can manage to create the transference, I will do it."

Sage closed his eyes and opened his mouth slightly, letting air slide in. He felt beads of sweat slowly slide down his temples, cheeks, and chin. Slowly, he closed his hand more around Severus's.

"Transfero Potestas," Sage murmured.

Severus took a deep, fast breath as he felt the power course through him, feeling like a maelstrom within his chest. He moved his other hand to Sage's chest as well, feeling a deep warmth permeate the area.

Severus closed his eyes, forcing himself into a pseudo-meditative state, and focused. Vaguely, he felt Sage's hand fall away from his.

Within minutes he had held his hands over Sage's entire body, concentrating the healing energy as best as he could, but he had never been strong enough to use it like this.

As he felt the force waning, he opened his eyes and pulled his hands away.

Sage's eyes were closed, completely passed out cold, but his face had started to take on more color. His lips were no longer tightly pushed together.

Severus frowned, he had managed to actually direct Sage's power. He had never experienced transference before and it was simply remarkable. Sage had done it before, many times, so that was not surprising or a particular accomplishment. What was surprising to the Potions Master was that he had been able to harness it and to use it as if it were perfectly his own for a sustained amount of time.

He steepled his hands and rested his chin on the tips of his fingers. There was only one feasible explanation for why the transference had been so successful with that great an amount of power for that long of a time: he, Severus Snape, was a lot more powerful than even he knew. Sage had been right when he had said to him that he was very powerful, and this was enough to convince him that it must be true. Transference was often considered Dark Magic, and it was very, very difficult for the receiver to control. The only lurking doubt in his mind was that he was stronger than Albus.

The days following had left both Sage and Severus contemplative; both were wondering exactly what powers were inside of them and how they could harness them. Severus was particularly frustrated, because it would likely take him longer than it would take Sage, because he was not a Magi. Sage was also likely to progress faster because the younger the wizard, the easier it is for them to find balance. Severus had led a very torturous and painful life and it had left its mark on him in more than one way. He would never be able to achieve balance in the same way as his nephew.

Severus circled his living room, pacing and questioning Sage as he had done for the passed two days.

"How can you not know how you participated in the real world through your Llywen? Do you not remember?"

Severus was growing frustrated.

"No, sir. I told you, Uncle, I did not do anything to do it. Merlin told me to turn around and it just happened."

"Explain to me what it felt like again."

Sage raised his brow briefly, "Distractionless, sir, that's the best way I can describe it to you. I felt aware, controlled, relaxed. I'm not sure what you are really looking for..."

"You have not been able to duplicate it, correct?"

"No, despite hours of effort. Although it was better than sleep."

Severus continued to pace around, whispering to himself, and making hand gestures.

"Your Llywen has been a meadow before this, with no sounds, no wind, and neither warmth nor cold." He stated, more to himself than to Sage.

Sage answered anyway, "Yes, it was a place that I could not help but focus."

Severus spun around on Sage and grabbed him roughly by the shoulders.

"A place you could not help but focus!" He exclaimed.

Sage stared at him wide-eyed. This was not exactly up to his Uncle's level of decorum.

"Of course! You Llywen is generally so because you need it to be so, because then you can focus. That place has been teaching you how to use it. Most people who reach their Llywen probably never leave that safe, calm place. The more powerful you become, the stronger you are, the more balance you are, you will not longer need that place. You will no longer need such a calm environment."

"What?" Sage was completely perplexed at his uncle's expression and demeanor. Sage imagine that this would be the way he would react if he discovered an anti-avada kedavra potion that protected one from death in battle.

Severus grabbed his shoulder, "Your Llywen is not a physical place if you remember, it is an altered state of consciousness, one generally associated with not being in the waking world but not being in the sleeping world either. It is like hypnosis. That altered state of consciousness can produce any sort of a perception, but in its highest form you must be able to be wakeful and the real world becomes like another place that your Llywen has created."

"But when I am in the real world and in my Llywen it retains the altered state that makes me feel focused and balanced."

Severus nodded, a smirk playing on his face.

Sage stared at the vast maze in front of him, wondering what things may lie in wait for the champions, hoping that Harry would not have too much pride to send up red sparks if he needed to do so. Hermione gripped his hand tightly, as if she too was having that exact same thought, only to her it was more of a worry.

They had a very good seat, as they had walked out with Professor Snape when he had to leave in order to inspect the grounds with the other professors to make sure it was safe. Sage was certain that his Uncle simply did not want to leave him alone with Hermione, fearing that Sage would go into his chambers for some quality time with Hermione. Severus has suggested that they come with him to the field early, however, he had suggested in such a way that it was impossible to refuse him.

The large maze was directly in front of them, and they were a ways up the bleacher seats so that they were not simply staring a a green hedge.

Sage turned and raised an eyebrow at Hermione.

"Are you that worried?" he asked.

Quizzically she answered, "What makes you think I am worried?"

Sage rolled his eyes, "Because you are squeezing the blood right out of my hand, and you are biting the inside of your lower lip."

Ron chuckled from Hermione's other side, "Oi, and you're squeezing the blood out of my forearm too!"

Hermione frowned and let go of Ron's arm and Sage's hand.

"Fine, I'm concerned, all right? I just have a bad feeling that something is going to happen to Harry in there. He is always such a target, and he'll be all alone in there."

"Sheesh, you wouldn't be so concern if it were me in there!" Ron said.

Sage shook his head negatively, "You aren't a magnet for trouble like Potter is."

"You two!"

Sage turned his glare on her softly.

"I just want this to go smoothly for once," she said, looking back at his blue-eyed stare.

"For once is right," Sage added, turning his eyes back to the maze, "I think they are about to start down there," he said, inclining his head to the green hedges.

"There's Harry," Ron said, pointing. "He's off!"

"Oh, Harry, be careful."

Sage rolled his eyes as Hermione grabbed his hand once again.

He watched the maze critically, looking for some sign of movement or spellwork, but he could see nothing of significance. It was, in effect, very boring to watch. He felt himself glaze over, his eyes not blinking as they stared at the unmoving green hedges.

Suddenly he frowned, loosening his grip on Hermione's hand unconsciously.

"Sage, what's wrong," she asked, concerned at his concentrated frown.

He did not answer, instead he cocked his head sideways slightly, still staring at the maze.

A hot blue flame with bright orange tips came before his eyes, and he jumped in recollection. How could he have forgotten? He had seen this before. Indeed, he felt the same feeling spreading through him like intense dread. He had seen the maze go up in smoke instantaneously after the hot blue and orange flame had been set upon it.

But there was nothing on the maze now, why would he be recalling it? What did it mean? His heart raced in anticipation of something unknown happening, and he wished that he had spent more time in Lyon Llyonyss so that he could have learned how to direct his visions and have them at his will.

A/N

ElenaT - Thanks for the review! Since you left your email, do you want me to add you to my email list for stuff about the fic?

Xiomara - Saying anything is cool enough for me! Thanks for letting me know how you like it. ;-)

Lucius and Snape Rock - Did you finally get a chance to finish? How do you like it in comparison to the last one?

VD - I wouldn't hug Dumbledore! Hee hee. Although I have to admit, he does SEEM more inviting. Although I do think that he is rather detached. Linden pointed out to me that we never actually see him physically touch anybody in canon. He only touches them if they are going to fall over or something. That is something ot think about. ;-)

Linden - wow, that was an analysis. Actually you are not far off on a lot of counts. Good job. However, there is more to it than just that. It was great that you took the time to look into it. It was so exciting! I hope to talkj to you on IM soon. (