Depths of Death

Chapter 8

I was in a corner, rocking. It was all over. I couldn't wait for the beast to eat me. Then it would be all over and then I would come back, perfectly unharmed. Then I wondered how I would taste to the beast, and almost bit myself to see what humans tasted like.

I could see Zoe and the rest making plans, but I had nothing to say. No ideas. I was done, out. I laughed to myself. It was funny. The leader that kept everyone together is the one that lost it first.

"That's just so hysterical," I giggled. "I'm losing it. I'm losing it! Whee!"

They glanced in my direction, but I didn't get any more notice than that. Whatever. I was going to die anyway.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of light. I looked over to see the old hag- I mean, Niah- and Sira in a golden light, walking to the beast.

And I snapped out of it.

"Diraculus," Niah said reproachfully. "What gave you the power to take the young girl hostage?"

The beast roared something that I would have taken as swearing in Ancient Beast, but Niah and Sira must have understood it.

"Who is you new master?" Sira cried. "You belong to us! We gave you life, Diraculus! You are the guardian of the Depths of Death! You guide those lost back to the surface. Do your duty!"

"Sira...?" I finally said. "This thing is the guardian? Why is it so... hideous?"

"He's not hideous," Sira said. "He's adorable. Mean, yes, but adorable."

I stared in disbelief. "Okay, not important. How do we free Tonks?"

Niah looked to the cage above Diraculus's head. "I recognize that design," she looked to me. "Have you encountered any other shadow beings on your way here?"

"No," I replied. "This is the first. How do we free Tonks?"

"The hero must break it," Sira said. "If I'm not mistaken... the hero is you, Sirius."

"M-me!" I stammered. "I'm no hero. Didn't you HEAR me? I was giving up about five minutes ago."

"Yes, but that does not mean you are not the hero," Niah said. "Sirius, you must know that the hero is not always the strongest, the smartest, the fastest, or the most clever. Often times, it is he who believes himself to be worthless or unworthy to be the hero. You are the hero, Sirius. It was written in your fate to be a hero in a different time." Niah stared at me like that should have given me super-strength or courage or something. I got nothing.

"Go, Sirius," Sira said. "Go quickly, and have Remus come down. We can't stay longer, but you need them to distract Diraculus. He is unreasonable right now and will destroy anyone else that goes to the cage."

"Cheery," I said. "MOONY. GET DOWN HERE."

"What is it?" Remus said sourly. "Dora's not exactly happy right now, Padfoot. I need to get her out."

"Apparently, I'm the only one who can open the cage. So I'll climb up. But you have to distract Big-and-Ugly over there."

"On it!" Remus replied, and ran off screaming his head off and throwing things. The others, minus Zoe, followed suit.

I turned to the wall that Remus had scaled in under thirty seconds. It was big, pointy, and probably going to be difficult for someone whose Animagus was a dog and not a werewolf.

Climbing the wall?

Perilous.

I jumped up and got the nearest handhold, and started to climb. I had always known that I wasn't meant to be a monkey, but this was a perfect excuse why not to be one. I was not agile, nor fit, and I couldn't climb things to save my life. Which, actually, my life DID depend on me climbing this wall.

"You can do it, Black!" Tonks yelled. Apparently, her old spirit had come back. "Get me out of this hellhole!"

"Shut up," I yelled back. "It's not easy doing this, and SHOUTING isn't helping!" She did shut up after that, but was obviously going to be mad when I did get her out.

Each rock wanted to stab me through my hand. Or my leg. Or anything in the vicinity, really. But I was the hero. I had to do this. Sira believed I could, and if she thought I could, chances are that it was possible. But no one said it was going to be easy.

"Right hand, right foot, left hand, left foot," I grunted. "This is no sweat. I think I'm almost to that ledge. Just about... a million more handholds. No problem."

I kept climbing higher and higher. When I got to the cage, the last thing I wanted to do was break it open, but there was no option to back out.

"Come on, Sirius," Tonks teased. Don't be a baby. Open my cage."

"Shut up," I said, and pulled at the bars of the cage. It was like ripping through foam. Not as hard as I had imagined. I ripped out nine bars, and Tonks climbed through. I looked for an easier way down, but there wasn't one. The left side wasn't rocky, but sloped down almost like a slide. Which gave me an idea. I broke off the bottom of the cage, some extra handles included. "Maybe to steer? Okay, Tonks, hop in."

"Are you crazy!" Tonks said. "We're gonna get killed!"

"Nope," I said. "See your crazy husband over there? He's distracting the beast."

"No! I mean the walls! It slopes down, and curves, you idiot!" Tonks shrieked. "We'll smash into it."

"Got it covered," I said, and sat in it, leaving space for Tonks. "I think."

We zoomed down. It was the worst ride ever. I did figure out steering after scraping against the wall a few times, but that was the best thing that happened. Tonks was screaming behind me, and I was regretting trying this idea. When we made it down, Tonks slapped me across the face.

"You're an idiot!"

I kinda deserved it, honestly. But it still hurt.

"I guess that's one way to thank the hero," I replied. "Even if said hero isn't the smartest."

"DORA!" Remus said, running up to her. I think he almost suffocated her when they hugged, but maybe it was just me. "Dora, Dora, Dora..."

"Let's get out of here," I said. "Come on, Thorins, Kili, Fili! Let's go!"

"Coming!" Kili said, dragging Stonehelm, Fili, and Oaksheild behind them.

"Runningwind, are you coming?"

"Nah, I'm good," he said. "I've been down here too long to want to go back up. Thanks, though."

"Thanks for everything," I said. "We never would have made it without you."

"I know," Runningwind said. Then he disappeared.

We got in a circle, but didn't go yet. "What happens now?" Fili said. "Where do we go after this?"

"Are we staying together?" Kili asked. "Or is it goodbye?"

"It's never really goodbye," Zoe said. "Not when you live in the land of death."

"Let's go home," I said. "There's someone I want to see in person."

We linked arms and I listened to the spell Kili, Fili, and the two remaining Thorins chanted.

"Home is where the heart will lie, giving us a place to dream and a place to be," I noticed that it was like a thing. About home, where they wanted to go. "Let's go home and let's be free to dream, to be who we are, where we know ourselves and can forget the world."

We disappeared in a flash of light.

We arrived outside their complex. It was midday, and the sun felt absolutely amazing. I looked to the water, and across from it, the Lands of Punishment, and wanted to dive in to be free of the dirt and grease I collected from the Depths of Death.

"Home!" Kili said. "Maybe we will talk to you later. In the sunshine."

The four left us.

A lot had changed since we'd left. There was a bridge leading to a secondary island, where new stories were going to go, and some old ones too. I looked to the left, where I used to stay, and I saw my building that once again said "HARRY POTTER" in large lettering.

I grabbed Remus's arm, and waved goodbye to Zoe, who was running for her own building.

"Home!"

I rushed inside, and saw that there was space again. Lily and James were sitting in the lobby, and looked up when they heard the door.

"Welcome back!" Lily said. "Look what you did, Sirius. You're a hero to all of us."

"...hero..." I said. "You have no idea..."

"It's been four days," James said. "Padfoot, Moony... Tonks. It's good to have you back. You three are rooming, seeing as even with more space, there is still a lot of us, with Lily and I. The rooms are bigger, though, and there are less of them, so we're buddying up. But no more Voldemort with us, yeah?"

"It's fine," I replied. "What room?"

"Oh, third floor, room 14C," Lily said. "Please shower. You look like you went swimming in an oil drum."

I laughed and walked to the elevator.

"It's so good to be back."

xxx

Not-So-Short Author's Note: And they get home. :3 I'm trying to make it so that I can have a sequel, and more time for romances, which is my favorite to write about. I think I'm going to have one more chapter, like a closure for some other loose ends.

I didn't use my original idea, or this chapter would be the same length as the other one, only two pages in Open Office. This one is almost five. :D I'm pretty sure it's my longest chapter to date, which is good because I love writing long things for people to read. I have an idea for a sequel, but I don't know if I want to write one. Maybe I'll write it after giving some of my other stories some love. They're pretty neglected. Especially Drawn to Life... I might delete that one, seeing as I don't remember what I was going to do with it. The same thing is for Emma Snape, and pretty much all of my stories, but I won't delete them because people are actually reading them. Not Zelda. I might temporarily take them down and when I have time/inspiration to write them, I'll re-post them so I don't have years in between chapters.

Well, I think that's enough ranting for one chapter. Please review! I'm begging you, invisible readers! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!

!ZaBrIaRoSe!