As one adventure ends another is surely to begin!
By Fallensoul62
Warning: This story is a mixture between canon and AU containing a Sherlock like/powerful fem harry, character bashing, alive-snarky but nice Severus, nice Malfoys and all around occ-ness.
Guide
"Hello"...means talking
"Hello"...means flashbacks/memories
'Hello'... thoughts
'Hello'...thoughts in a flashback/memory
"Hello"...means parseltounge
"Hello"...means spells
Chapter 3
bonding and master of death! Wait what!?
-Previously-
"Do close your mouth master you look stupid with that look on your face," remarks the child with an amused wide grin before laughing at the dumbfounded/offended look upon Rose's face. It is Severus who quickly comes to his senses first, "who are you? Are you the one who brought us here?" Severus demands as his hand slowly inches it's way towards his wand, that's in a wand holster attached to his thigh under his cloak. The boy smirks before suddenly disappearing and reappearing in front of the trio, "yes i brought you here and as for my name." Here the child pauses a moment then with a flourish bows at the waist with mischief in his eyes, "i am know as death but you my call Kurai Sakibure(dark harbringer)."
...
If anyone came upon this scene they would think it was just a family simply having afternoon tea as three adults, two males and one female, sit around a low black wooden table on medium sized stone grey coloured cushions, which contrasts beautifully against the dark beige and black outlined tatami mat (1) flooring, while a child of 7 or 8 sits in the female's lap staring at something in front of him intently. In front of each of the three adults is a white fine bone china teacup and saucer decorated with blue and gold bands around the rim, and a delicate floral pattern on the body in gold. (Look up wedgwood dynasty collection it's beautiful) Suddenly the child's pale arm reaches over and towards the middle of the table for a plate, which has the same design as the teacups, that's holding various types of biscuits. With a triumphant "ah ha!" the arm retreats with a chocolate chip cookie in it's hand, where the child then snuggles back into the chest of the female he's sitting on and begins to heartily eat the cookie with a wide grin.
"Ah that hits the spot," kurai comments after he wipes his mouth with the edge of his cloak before continuing with an amused smirk, "now that you're all fed and watered i'll get straight to the point about why i brought you here." The three of them sit up straight at this and stare at Kurai with an intensity that almost puts a certain disciplinary leader to shame(next chapter dedicated to anyone who know the person i'm talking about XD): sighing Kurai crosses his arms and closes his eyes for a few seconds, "I brought you here because i'm tired of being death and so i've chosen Rose to become my heir. To take over for me when i retire." Silence fills the tea room as Rose stares down at Kurai with wide eyes while Severus' and Lucius' faces suddenly become completely blank, only their eyes showing the shocked surprise coursing through their minds.
"Dying?" That one word shatters the silence causing Severus, Lucius and Kurai to look towards, or up in Kurai's case, at a contemplating Rose who's the source of the sound, which is confirmed when she states with a serious look on her normally smiling face, "You've dying and you've been dying slowly for awhile now. It now makes sense. Arrr! Why didn't i see this before it's staring a me right in the face!" Seeing their confused expressions Rose suddenly dumps Kurai onto the cushion next to hers, and before anyone could question her she stands up rather harshly and begins to pace back and forth with one hand on her chin and the other wrapped around her just under her breasts. "As you'll too stupid to see it i shall explain. The first and biggest clue is his appearance. In all the legends and myths death has many different characteristics, yes, but he's always had the same base form of a humanoid ADULT male. Never has he had the appearance of a child."
"Second biggest clue is the raising death rate in England and Wales (2). There are 506,790 deaths registered in 2002 compared with 501,790 in 2001. A raise of 1.1%. If we split that into gender 11,213 deaths per million population for males and 8,219 per million for females. Lets not forget infant mortality rate raised in 2002 to 4.0 deaths per thousand live births compared to 3.9 in 2001, while for stillbirths there are 3,284 in 2002 compared with 3,254 in 2001. This now makes sense as Kurai needs extra energy to complete his normal duties as death. And lastly is my third biggest clue Voldermort and his horcruxes which if Kurai was well he would not of allowed to happen. All this with Kurai's appearance concludes that he's losing his power over death, and it is a well known fact that once THE 'immortal' beings start to lose their powers, it's a big indication that they're starting to die. Of course their death will be a slow one as they need to find a replacement, a person to take over for them, an heir if you will hence the deathly hollows. Am i right Kurai?"
A dawning realisation begins to spread across Severus' and Lucius' faces while Kurai only closes his eyes in resign confirming her theory. "You want Rose to become death, to be like you," Lucius pointedly states as he starts to glare at Kurai a calm anger piercing through his words as he steadily falls into a rant, " how dare you ask this of her. If you've been watching her as long as i think you have, then you will know that it will be impossible for her to take another's life,especially have her watch as her loved ones grow old and die knowing she wouldn't be able to stop it. To forever be alone, and she will, as i know Rose wouldn't want to become close to anyone if she is to see them die while she does not. Don't you think she's been through enough." Silence is Lucius' answer causing him to grow enraged, "And they call me heartl..." Lucius quickly cuts himself off at the sight of Rose's pain filled glare that's directed at him, "Luc, please! Enough!"
Rose then turns towards Kurai and stares, a soft sad look in her eyes, into his piercing blood red eyes, "Is there anyway to reverse it? To give the hollows back to you." She enquires causing a slightly guilty but sad expression to appear on Kurai's childish face. "I'm afraid the only way to be rid of them is for you to die as they are now apart of you," he answers with a grimace as tears begin to form in the corners of her eyes. Quickly Kurai tries to think of other solutions that would help ease Rose into her new life, "now i think about it I know of one way your closest loved ones and you can stay together, but you wouldn't like what is need to be done for them to stay with you." States Kurai whom then quickly goes on to explain after seeing the expectant looks on the trio's faces, "To be blunt it's a good job you already know about horcruxes and how they're made, as the technique you're going to have to use is similar to the making of a horcrux just without..."
Suddenly Rose slams her hand down onto the table top interrupting him, "WHAT! Are you crazy!? I can't make a horcrux. I won't do it, i won't kill someone in cold blood just so i can selfishly have my family with me. No matter how much i want it, no matter how much i'll miss them. I'd rather be on my own." Kurai just stares at her with a bored expression though the happy and proud twinkle in his eyes gave him away. Seeing this Rose slowly sits herself back down on the cushion confused about the look in Kurai's eyes, "As i was going to say the technique you're going to have to use is similar to the making of a horcrux just without the killing half of it. You will have to contain a piece of their soul into an object that will be easy to keep on your person, then you, Rose, will create a link between you and the object by dropping three drops of blood onto it while the soul in the object begins to settle and merge with said object."
The trio stare at Kurai for a few seconds then quickly have a silent conversation we each other using their eyes. Severus 'and Lucius' eyes squint slightly as they gain a determined gleam making it seem that like they're almost glaring at Rose, while Rose herself pleads with her family her crystal blue eyes glistening with un-shed tears. Severus slowly begins to stand making Rose shake her head no so quickly she almost gives herself whiplash, "What does she have to do?" Kurai stares at him blankly hoping none of the shock he feels coursing through him shows on his childish face, "You would sacrifice apart of your soul, apart of your very self for her." Seeing Severus nod Kurai gets off the cushion, gracefully climbs on top of the table and stands himself in front of Severus looking up at said man, as he states bluntly, " You do realise that though you will no longer be able to die you are still mortal. You will be able to feel everything as you do now even pain. You will no longer able to rely on death as a release no matter the level of pain, emotional or otherwise." Both males ignore Rose as she lets out a sob of frustration, guilt and denial after seeing Severus and now Lucius nod their heads with determined expression once again on their faces.
"Very well then," Kurai says as he sits back down on the cushion next to Rose and opposite Lucius. For the next 20 minutes he carefully and in detail begins to explain the process that Rose would have to go through as well as the many dangers and risks involved if done wrong. "Before we go through with this we need to discuss the second reason i brought you here," the trio's heads quickly snap towards Kurai with curious expressions, or lack there of in Severus' case, on their faces. A look of seriousness that seems out of place on his childish face causes the trio's eyes to narrow slightly and their bodies to become tense. "I will help you with your entrance into the new world but in return i want you to find and kill a person for me going by the name of Obito Uchiha." Seeing Rose about to protest he quickly but sternly holds up his hand silencing her, "I know that my request seems completely impossible right now, but trust me when i say that when the time comes you will be more than prepared to do what must be done."
A knowing look shines in Kurai's eyes making a jolt of fear and horror race down Rose's spine as she stares down into the large, round, blood red eyes of death's childish form. Just the thought of her future self being so comfortable with killing, let alone killing in cold blood, is enough to make her sick to her stomach. It's also something she hoped to never again have to experience after her battle with Voldermort; sighing and hands being placed on her shoulders causes her to look away from Kurai and behind her to see both Severus and Lucius, who each give her a look of understanding, sadness and determination as well as small tight smiles while giving her shoulders a hopefully comforting squeeze as if to say 'everything will be alright'.
-Time skip-
A few hours later finds the group standing in a clearing of lush green grass and bright yellow buttercups with trees so tall that they seem to stretch towards the heavens surrounding them on all sides. The only thing ruining the serene scene is is a large circle which has been burnt into the ground causing the grass to die and tun a blackish-brown. Inside the large circle is a smaller circle, also burnt into the ground, and inbetween both circles are four ruins, life to death to rebirth and to reincarnation, each facing north, east, south and west. "Now i need Severus and Lucius to place a drop of blood on each of the ruins," instructs Kurai as they walk towards the burnt circles which upon reaching Severus and Lucius do as instructed. "Good now i need the both of you to lay down in the middle of the circles with your hands clasped together. Make sure that the underside of your arms and palms are facing the sky." The pair exchange a look of curiosity before following Kurai's instructions; nodding in satisfaction Kurai quickly peers over to Rose making sure she's afe off to the side before approaching and standing on the edge of the large circle, "Rose i need you to stand off to the side till i tell you when you can move."
Kurai raises his hands, palm facing to the ground, till they're shoulder height and to the these types of rituals. The latin eerily but beautifully echoes throughout the clearing and soon the circles and ruins begin to glow a deep, pulsing blue. Seeing this Kurai smoothly reaches into his cloak and pulls out a pendant which he quickly but carefully places on the clasped hands of the duo, before gliding back out of the circles and to the edge once again positioning himself like a cross. Suddenly screaming is heard as the blue light turns in a blinding white light, the screams mixing with the latin incantation causing Rose to take a sttep towards the circles, a look of fear and worry contorting her now sickly pale face while her blue eyes shimmer with tears as she tries to see through the white light.
Meanwhile a few minutes earlier in the middle of the circles, Severus and Lucius lay there with mixed feelings of curiosity, anxiety and slight boredom coursing through their bodies, which rather quickly tenses in surprise when the circles and ruins begin to glow a deep blue. Severus turns to look at his hand when he feels something being placed upon his palm. A beautiful art nouveau, clear crystal, prism pendant lay glinting in the sunlight in his palm, the chain of the pendant a deep golden-bronze looking to be almost rustic in nature. Strangely enough it's only after the pendant is put on his hand did he notice how much he's sweating, so much so that his palm is glistening in the sunlight and his hairline is completely soaked causing beads of sweat to run down his face. This also brings to his notice how hot he's feeling not just hot but scorching as if he's burn up from the inside out. 'If i'm like this what about Lucius?' As soon as the thought runs through his head said head snaps over to look at Lucius whom has a grimace of pain contorting his face, beads of sweat dripping down his face and neck soaking the collar of his robes and cloak.
Just as Severus is about to move his head back around to look at the sky his body froze, his muscles locking causing him, them by the sounds of Lucius' distressed whimper, to become paralysed. He watches as the light surrounding them turns from deep, pulsing blue to that of a blinding white. It's then that the torturous, almost death inducing, pain hit so abruptly that it takes his brain a few moments to process what's happening. The screaming then starts, the soul screeching screams, from deep within their chests that echo throughout the clearing, though to Severus all is silent as once the pain hit his mind shut down turning into a blank sheet of nothing as it tries to cope with the pain, while all his senses dull to the point of also nothing. The only thing he could still feel is his heart thundering in his chest and his throat vibrating from his screams. Soon, though to the pair it feels like an eternity, the pain and incantations stop which goes unnoticed by them as they find themselves falling into the dark abyss both feeling numb and relief. They could distantly hear Rose shouting their names in panic and hear her running towards them before the darkness swallows them whole.
-End of chapter 3-
(1) A tatami is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Traditionally made using rice straw to form the core, the cores of contemporary tatami are sometimes composed of compressed wood chip boards or polystyrene foam. With a covering of woven soft rush straw, tatami are made in standard sizes, with the length exactly twice the width, an aspect ratio of 2:1. Usually, on the long sides, they have edging of brocade or plain cloth, although some tatami have no edging.
the original is on this website... . /peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregistrationsummarytables/2015-07-15