A/N: Chapter One! Enter the new world, Narzga! And the whacky Gods, the Auld Gods! Two updates in one day… My fingers hurt. By tomorrow I will definitely have VoV3 up, okay? Or not... We have house inspectors coming today.

Sword Sage – CHAPTER ONE

There was bright white colour. That was the first thing Harry noticed. He felt disconnected from the world around him.
The swirling stream of what he somehow knew to be souls rushed past, some bright and vibrantly colored, others dull or menacing. He was like a rock in a tsunami.

A hot pink soul rushed through him, and Harry knew that she was a young girl from Japan who had been killed in a gas explosion caused by terrorists. She was six. Harry now had a fairly basic understanding of a six-year olds mind.

She traveled down, towards the light, along with other bright souls.

Harry looked at himself, even though he knew he didn't have material eyes. His soul was a metallic silvery-grey, shot through with bright greens, blues and gold's. There was a small black star where he supposed his heart would have been on the mist that made up his soul.

Suddenly, there was the sensation of something, a large hand, grabbing his around the waist and dragging him through the souls.

Old woman, murdered by… young man, brilliant scient-… woman, murderer… man, robbed… child, run over by… girl, raped to de…

It was a kaleidoscope of sensations and images. Harry passed a carver who had accidentally stabbed himself, a martial arts master who tripped down his stairs, a young girl who had ran to get a ball from the road… He knew their memories, and used his strength of will to hold onto himself.

He was… Lilly, Jason, HARRY. He was Harry. Harry… Porter, Prater, Puma, POTTER. He was Harry Potter, a Wizard. Lizard? Wizard. He was powerful. Betrayed, Fighting evil. Friend's dead. Life. Cupboard under the stairs. Beatings. No food. Scared. Nice Castle. Talked. Listened. Learned. Fought. Always fighting. No rest. Prison, agony, memories, Uncle. 17. Adult. Juan. Cici. Jewel. Death. Revolt. Here.

He was no Lilly Porter. He was not Jason Puma, or Cecilia Prater, not Andrew Crofter married to Clove Painter.

He was Harry Potter. He wished he wasn't.

Harry gasped for breath, but he didn't have any lungs. Struggling, panicking, he fought against the gentle hands that held him.

" Shhh, my little mage-ling, my sword dancer, my childe. All is well. Sleep, childe. Sleep…"

Lady Magic, otherwise known as Rosie, looked up at her husband. He laid a gentle, comforting hand on her shoulder as she bowed her head to hide her tears. Kyale, Lord Consort of Magic, previously Lord of Dreams, took child and wife into his arms, singing a wordless lullaby.

It broke his heart to see the seventeen-year-old boy. " He will be okay, dearest of my heart. He is strong." His voice echoed hollowly in the great hall, and his wife raised red-rimmed golden eyes to his green ones.

" He is too strong, dear heart. What have those monsters done to him? No one should scream and thrash away from a kind touch. What have they done?" she wept, cradling the teen closer.

The whisper of feet sounded on the white stones of the Palace of Worlds.

" How fares he?" whispered Gaia, her voice quiet but strong. She was a woman as timeless as the Palace itself, the Mother of all Worlds. Her white, sightless eyes and silver hair may have marked her age, but her face was still youthful, her robe clad body still young.

" They have done damage to him, mother. I do not know if even Dari could heal him of his scars… but he is so strong. He is our Grey Champion, our Chosen. I only wish to punish those who have hurt my childe." Answered Rosie, her voice still thick with tears.

" I have punished them well enough, child. Do only trouble yourself so with your Champion and his choices. He is needed one more time yet." Her voice whispered through the air, twining around their bodies.

" If you so wish it mother."

" If you so say, Gaia."

" Wake him." She commanded, ignoring Lady Magic's protests. " He is strong enough to travel the Way of Souls. I wish to meet your Champion face-to-face. Wake him."

" I am already awake."

" Ah, childe!" cried out Rose, clutching him closer. She fluttered her hands anxiously, noticing the blood for the first time. " You have awoken! Oh, happy days, dearest, happy, happy days!"

Harry looked bemused. " Excuse me, but… where am I and who are you?" He asked, looking around. There was an old woman, with blind white eyes, who seemed to be the most powerful of the three. The blue-haired, golden eyed woman who was hugging him seemed familiar, as did the brown-haired man with the green eyes standing near them.

" I've seen you… In my dreams." Harry murmured, gazing at them in wonder. " But, where are the others? The man with the green hair and silver eyes? And the lady with golden hair and brown eyes? The girl who sang so prettily, with the blue eyes and red hair?"

Rosie laughed, a tinkling sound that seemed to light up the whole room. Hall, more accurately. They were in a massive hall, covered with white stone and decorated with black marble from head to toe.

" I am Rosalind, Lady of Magic. Beside me is my Consort, Kyale, Lord of Magic, previous Lord of Dreams. In front of you is Gaia, the Mother of Worlds, and my true mother. The man you mentioned in Morpheus, current Lord of Dreams and Lord of Elements. The golden lady you described is Lady Luck and Lady of Fate, Cordelia. The Lady of Music and the Lady of Peace is Persimonne, also the Lady of Nurture. The last Auld God in this place is Roya, a man, the Lord of Nature and Weather. He has black hair and silver eyes. The others have gone on journeys or quests far from this Palace of Worlds." She explained, lifting the small teen up to let him stand on his own.

" And why have you brought me here, Lady, Lord and Mother?" Harry asked, a strange blanket separating his mind from his emotions. He suspected he had gone into shock.

" We are giving you a choice, childe." Came the whisper-strong voice of Gaia.

"A choice?"

" Yes, childe. You have two options. We offer you death, so that you can be at peace. Or, we offer you the chance of another world, where you would find strength, friendship and perhaps even love. There is only one thing. The world we would send you too is quite archaic, and you would be required to once again face evil." Warned Kyale seriously, gazing at him with stern green eyes.

" I… I get to choose?" muttered the dark-haired teen in some disbelief, staring at a spot on the immaculate floor. He looked up sharply. " Do I get to keep some abilities? Such as my minor metamorphic abilities, and my animagus forms?"

" Hmm… Mother?"

" I believe you should receive your forms, yes. They will be useful to you. As for your other abilities… No to the metamorphic. It is unfair. But… I notice you only know of those two. Do you not know of your other abilities?" Gaia asked, frowning slightly.

Harry gave a short laugh. " How would I know? In case you have forgotten, The first 16 years of my life were spent being beaten, abused, fighting Voldemort and having the whole of society turn on me, plus I spent the last twelve months in prison for trumped up charges and then died. I didn't have much time, what with planning a nation-wide rebellion and trying to keep my sanity intact." He ended bitterly, with a sardonic smile.

" Yes. I rather liked that rebellion, actually. Speaking of that… The gift, from the goblin Griphook. What is it?" asked Rosie.

Harry smiled. "I asked him, as soon as I knew I was going to be arrested, to give all but an Extended Space Pouch full of gold to the rebellion movement I was planning. I then asked him, as my manager, to gather all the items he deemed valuable and rare, mainly books, seeds and eggs, and to put them in my special trunk. I didn't want them to fall into bad hands. I was going to get Juan, the Dementor, to give it to Hermione once I was dead."

" Mother?"

" Aye, childe. Know that this counts as yours and mine gifts to him, though." Gaia sighed, closing her eyes. A twist of the wrist later, and the miniaturized trunk hung snugly around his neck. " I added some."

"Thank you." Harry breathed, impulsively striding forward and hugging the old woman tightly. After a moment, she gingerly returned the hug. " This has my parents journals, and all of their work."

" Now… Morpheus has given you his gift, as has Cordelia, though you don't get to know what they are, yet. Persimonne has given you a gift of Music, and Roya something truly special that I am sure you will discover in due time. Know that, childe; if you choose to die, our best wishes still go with you. Our gifts do not."

" However... I can release you from thy chains." whispered Gaia, raising her hands with the slow, ponderous inevitability of a mountain. "Champion of my Daughter, I will relieve you of thy burden." Intoned Gaia, holding her hand up, palm towards him. Her hand shot forward fast, touching once, twice, thrice on the forehead, then once on his heart, his stomach and between his shoulders. " Thy seals are not blocked, thy powers are free. As I Will It, So Mote It Be." She chanted, and six black flashes of light burst from where she had touched.

" W-what did you just do?" stammered Harry, backing away. It hadn't hurt him, but… He began to panic. He darted his eyes around, looking for an escape route. Suddenly, a familiar and deeply hated voice came from in front of him. The black lights had coalesced into a dark mist, which projected the image of the ruins of Godric's Hollow.

" Well, my boy. You are a truly powerful little wizard. We can't have that, oh no. You might challenge me one day. What to do, what to do…" muttered Dumbledore, stroking his beard. He gazed down at the baby Harry, before smirking. " I know. I'll just seal all that power away. Maybe even take some for myself…"

The old wizard in the bright yellow robes raised his wand, and began to chant, ignoring baby Harry's wails.

The image faded before his eyes, and the teen looked furious. " What did he do to me?" Harry asked with a deadly calm.

" He blocked your powers. Since that body is your soul, I could remove them. There were three magic-binding blocks, three ability blocks and inheritance blocks woven together, and a spell which bound them all to your scar and let him feed off you." Replied Gaia, gently drawing the tense boy into a hug. He clung to her, weeping.

" So many people might not have died… If I'd known…" he sobbed brokenly, clutching at Gaia.

" You didn't know, and it was not your fault." Said Rosie decisively, nodding sharply. She startled a laugh from Harry when she began to rub her hands together evilly. " Him, on the other hand…"

" I'll go. To the new world." Harry broke in, interrupting their plans for revenge. "If I can save other people by going… Then, I'll go."

" That's our childe!" All three crowed happily, dancing around him with delighted smiles.

"You'll need a new name. How about... Hariel, the Angel of Death. Nightstalker would make a nice last name... Oooh, and I've always loved Eragon. How about... Hariel Ellesmero Nightstalker?" pondered Gaia, stopping their victory dance.

"Lovely, Mother. Ah... It suits him..." sighed Rosie, hugging her husband close as she began a crooning song.

Ah, crap. I'm going to a new, unknown world, being helped by gods crazier than Bellatrix, and yet saner than me. How do I get myself into these things? Harry groaned. He was already starting to regret his decision. The gate they told him would send Hariel to Nirzga, the new world, reminded him eerily of the Veil in the Department of Mysteries.

With a heavy sigh, he stood. Walking towards the gateway that would lead him to his destiny, he cast one look back at the happily waving threesome.

Oh, Lords and Ladies. I'm doomed.

And so Harry Potter, now Hariel Ellesmero Nightstalker (HE hadn't chosen the name.) walked through the rip in space and time towards his destiny with a deepening sense of foreboding.

I'm absolutely and utterly doomed. I bet Ron's laughing his ass off in Heaven right now. With friends like mine, who needs enemies?