Ch 2 - A Dangerous New World

The witch pulled her wand out again and stepped directly before the barrier. She reached out with her free right hand and felt the warm buzz of magic directly beneath her palm. With one last steeling breath, she pushed her hand forward and pulled it back just as quickly. She had been startled by the cave lighting up with a bright pulse of light that traveled down its length before disappearing. The strange thing was, the lighted area seemed rectangular in nature and not the rounded natural lines of the cave.

"Fascinating," she breathed. Her honey brown eyes sparked with the delight of a puzzle to solve.

This time she stepped through the barrier without hesitation, coming to a stop only once she was entirely through. Originally she had thought she would merely pass through the barrier and be able to continue down the cave. This would enable her to find the rest of the runes she had been unable to read from her spot at the mouth of the cave. That was not to be, apparently, as she was now in what appeared to be a never ending hall of pulsating sound an light. "Wow..." she breathed. "...Readings! I have to take readings!" She tried to cast the same diagnostic spell she used outside, but the walls seemed to absorb the magic as fast as she could produce it. After a some experimental spell casting, including a harmless Avis, she concluded that the barrier was absorbing any magic she produced. She put her wand away, realizing it would be useless, and pulled out her well worn notebook.

As she wrote down what she had learned so far she realized she was starting to feel a little drained. In fact, she was starting to feel a lot drained. Perhaps the rune-scheme not only pulled active magic from the environment, but inactive as well. Was it feeding off of her? She had better cut her expedition short. While her Time-Bubble Generator protected her from time stream mishaps, it did not protect her from physical or magical attacks. If she were to pass out due to magical exhaustion, it would drain her to the point of death before anyone would even consider sending out a search party.

With that in mind she placed her notebook and quill back in her trusty satchel and turned back the way she came. Only... the hallway behind her appeared just as unending as it did on her other side. Perhaps it was just an optical illusion. She had only moved a couple of steps into the barrier. Surely once she retraced her steps she would find herself back on the cliff side.

But she did not...

Not even after twenty steps did she find the exit. Hermione would not panic, she couldn't. Even as she felt herself grow weaker, she had to keep a level head. Witches and wizards made this barrier, there had to be a way to leave this area or they would have killed themselves in the making of it. It was a puzzle is all. One she needed to solve quickly.

She took stock of her surroundings once again. The light was pulsing away from her in this direction, but when she had been looking into the cave, it had been pulsing away from her. Did the barrier purposely turn her about? Only one way to find out, as a point-me spell was out of the question at this point. She turned on her heels and went back in the direction she came from.

20 steps...

21...

22...

Nothing yet,

23, 24, 25...

Nothing, nothing and nothing again...

Hermione was starting to sweat now, the drain on her magic becoming more and more noticeable. 'Time to pick up the pace,' she thought to herself. She broke into a jog as she kept running possibilities through her mind. There was spacial component, similar to a undetectable extension charm, but on a grander scale. 'How long is this tunnel?' There was also a temporal component similar to the liquid time from the Bell Jar in the Time Room, but that could be disregarded as she should be immune. 'Should, being the main component of that sentence.'

'No, focus, no time to doubt your skills Hermione,' she told herself as she started to pant from the physical exertion on top of the magical.

Next, there was also the containment part of the barrier spell. That had seemed to be geared towards a specific type of magical creature, though. Perhaps she had misinterpreted the runes as she had never had the full sequence. Something in the missing code could have changed it to mean any magical being? Either way, it was probable that she would not be leaving back out of the barrier easily. This... area, however seemed to be a gateway of sorts. If she couldn't get 'out' then she needed to get 'in' so to speak. Hermione picked up her speed, she was sprinting now.

The other part of the magical signature was what worried her. It was a concealment aspect similar to the Fidelius Charm. If she couldn't access the 'main area' without a invite or password, she was quite screwed. Her only hope lay in the fact that she could detect the anomalies at all. That meant that part of the array wasn't as completely concealing as the Fidelius.

Ok, her core magic levels were dipping dangerously low, to the point of causing physical symptoms beyond fatigue. She was nauseated, dizzy and felt shocks jolting through her system with every step. She nearly tripped over her own feet, but was able to keep her balance. "Who ever... huff... made this... huff... barrier... was a... huff... real monster."

Without warning, an archway appeared and she stumbled through... slamming directly into a stone wall. Exhausted and disoriented, Hermione sat there against the wall with a bruised cheek and injured shoulder. She blinked a couple of times, comprehending what had just happened. "Heh... Hahaha..." She laughed in relief and slumped back against the wall, catching her breath. "That was a close one," she sighed to herself.

There was no drain on her core anymore, but that didn't undo what had been taken. Her reserves were dangerously low and she was in a strange place with unknown dangers. If the entrance was that dangerous, Merlin only knows what else they put down here. As Hermione dug her full arm into her satchel to pull out her vial of Invigoration Draught, she lamented the absence of her friend Bill. He would be quite welcomed in this situation.

Downing the small orange colored drink, Hermione could have moaned at even the small boost of energy it gave her. She stowed away the empty vial and pushed herself to her feet. She pulled her wand, knowing that she would have trouble casting even the most basic of protection spells, but feeling comfort in holding it none the less.

The potion worked its magic quickly. She was able to start walking with less of a fatigued wobble and her coordination improved as the nausea subsided. She found herself walking down a darkened stone corridor and kept a vigilant eye out for signs of traps both magical and mundane. To her relief, none were seen or triggered.

At the end of the short hall was a small empty chamber, but from the left there was an open doorway. Welcoming golden light spilled out, inviting Hermione in. It made the witch wary. This seemed to be a place of deception after all. So Hermione held her wand at the ready and peeked into the room.

It was quite beautiful actually. It seemed to once have been a thrown room of sorts, but beautiful golden flowers and ivy had taken over at some point. They were very lovely, and if she didn't know any better she would say they looked almost... manicured? Did someone live down here?

Keeping her senses peeled for magic and traps, she slowly made her way into the room. She had made it to just beside the thrown when someone entered through the door at the other end. A big someone... with fur and horns... holding a watering can?

They both froze as they locked eyes. Each as surprised as the other to find company in this place. The creature's face seemed to turn nearly mournful until his gaze found her wand. Its expression quickly morphed to hate and a deep growl emanated from it, Hermione felt the low tones in her chest and her hair stood on end. "Mage..."

"Um, yes, hello?" she spoke in a nervous voice. She realized she may be the first outsider he had met in a very long time. She also realized by his tone that the last wizard he ran into was probably not of the good variety. Falling back on her manners, she would try to diffuse the tense situation as best she could. "I'm Hermione, I come from the Ministy of Magic and would like to exten..."

"Shut your filthy mouth," he growled out. Hermione took a step back at his tone and gripped her wand tighter, raising it back into a ready position. The goat-like man threw the watering can aside aggressively. "I was beginning to let my self-doubt consume me. I never liked killing the humans who fell into the Underground, not after that first," he confessed.

Hermione felt her heart drop into her stomach, this thing was a human killer...

"But now," he chuckled darkly, "now I have been reminded of the truth of the matter." His cape was tossed over his shoulder and there was suddenly a trident in his hand and murder in his eyes.

"Please sir," she began with a side step, trying to put the throne between them. She needed to at least buy some time to find an escape rout. The only thing behind her was a one way trip to death via magic depletion. "I don't know what kind of um...mage... you've met before, but I assure you," he cut her off again.

"I said shut your filthy lying mouth. You will not weave your mind magic against me, so do not bother trying. I am Asgore! King of the Monsters!" He pointed his spear at her. "I have killed your kind in droves and you will not defeat me!"

Before she could hope to defend herself, the large 'Monster' swiped his trident at her, batting the large thrown out of the way and reducing it to rubble with no problem. Adrenaline filled her, giving her another boost of energy. She took a chance, a dangerous one, but her only option as the beast was blocking her from leaving. She was going further down this rabbit hole. Merlin help her.

She turned on the spot and appeared at the doorway on the other side of the king. Normally, with her Unspeakable training, her apparition would have been quiet, but due to her magical exhaustion, she lacked the control needed. The loud crack that sounded revealed her position and the monster turned to charge her immediately. Despite the gut wrenching nausea and sharp twist in her chest, she took off as fast as her legs would carry her.

She didn't bother looking back as it would only slow her down. Another doorway ahead was shining with golden light and Hermione could only hope this one would be better than the last. She was out of magic and nearly out of energy. The only thing keeping her going at this point was sheer will power. If she attempted even the most simple of spells, it would either fail spectacularly or kill her... or both. Either way, she would be easy pickings for the beast at her heels.

She skidded into the hallway, her trainers squeaking on the polished floor, as she turned to race down the length of the golden hall. She screamed as a figure stood in the middle of the hall turned and greeted her with the grinning face of a skull. Dodging around it, she heard the King clammer into the hall behind her.

"Sans! Stop that human!"

There was a sudden weight in her chest that stopped her in her tracks. She was barely able to support her own weight on her trembling legs.

"Good job Sans, I would expect no less from the Royal Judge." The King's voice was calmer now, though grave. Hermione managed to fight off the heavy feeling enough to turn and face her murderers at the very least.

"Are you the judge and jury skeleton man?" She spat out. If diplomacy didn't work then she would give them a piece of her mind before they tried to kill her. "And you," she turned to the larger monster, "I came here on a research mission and you attack without provocation! And you call yourself a king..." She huffed. More than a huff of annoyance at that, the exhaustion caught up to her and she collapsed to one knee.

"uh, asgore, not that I don't mind listening to you as you are the king and all, but... mind giving me the barebones of what's going on here," the skeleton asked in a smooth baritone.

'Did he just make a pun? Now of all times?'

"That thing, Sans, is a mage, the kind of human that trapped us here in the first place," his growl reverberated through the hall again. "The kind of human that saw to your own kinds near extinction in the war."

The skeleton looked shocked? to Hermione as he turned back to her. 'What kind of strange alternate dimension have I fallen into?' she wondered absently. She decided not to contemplate how a skull could emote, less it take up what was left of her precious energy. With a groan, the witch fought her way back to her feet and glared at the two monsters before her.

"My name is Hermione, Her-my-oh-nee! Not human or mage and I am most certainly not a thing! I am a living thinking creature of this world, and I have never in my life harmed one of your kind. In fact," she placed a hand on her hip, "up until a few minutes ago I didn't even know you 'Monsters' existed!"

The skeleton seemed unsure and the King's resolve seemed to falter, but then anger consumed him again. "Lies! You came here to finish the job your ancestor started. Admit it! The reports have reached my ears. The empty towns filled with dust. Your sweet lies will not save you here!"

Hermione let out a frustrated growl of her own, "I am Hermione Granger, Employee of the British Ministry of Magic, Order of Merlin First Class, and Time Researcher." That last title seemed to catch the skeleton off guard. The blue in his eye faded to white and, much to Hermione's relief, the heaviness in her chest resolved. With the added weight gone she stood taller. She would not be going down without a fight. "I have been through war and faced true evil! I will not be murdered here by a couple of... of Racists!"

Clapping sounded from behind her, startling her out of her monologue. Hermione turned only to see another human approaching. The pre-teen smiled and peered through their bangs at Hermione. "I like her Comedian," they place their hands behind their back and turned to look at Sans, "where did you find her."

Hermione only had a moment to notice the skeleton monster's hate filled gaze and the shock on the Kings face as he mumbled, "two humans?"

Realizing the danger, Hermione jumped between the child and the monsters. She would shield the, admittedly creepy, but young human. "I don't know what's going on here, but you need to run kid. These monsters are dangerous. I'll hold them off. If you know the way out, take it." Harry may not be the only one with a saving people thing.

The monsters in question took fighting stances and Hermione readied her wand. She may not be able to do much, but they didn't know that. The bluff could hold them long enough to let the kid get a head start. Speaking of, it didn't sound like the kid was taking off. "Didn't you hear me kid," she said sternly as she turned slightly to get a look at them, "I said ru... Herk!"

Hermione's breath was stolen as she found her self looking into eerily familiar blood red eyes. "No one tells me what to do..." they told her with a psychopathic grin stretched across their face. Sharp pain shocked through her system as the kid twisted their wrist.

Hermione looked down and, to her horror, saw a large hunting knife plunged into her chest almost up to the hilt. Suddenly it was jerked from her, the length that emerged from her body obscene to the witch's shocked mind. 'Oh,' she thought as she dropped to her knees, energy fading fast. There was some sort of commotion going on around her, but all she could focus on was the blood poring from the wound in gushing waves. It had a strange quality to it, almost like it glittered... 'Oh, oh no, that can't be good.' The stab must have caught her Time-Bubble Generator.

Her mind snapped back to clarity suddenly. 'Fifteen seconds, that's all I have to stop the bleeding before I lose consciousness.' She swung her satchel around. How long had she wasted staring? No time to spend on that though. 'Where is it!' She fumbled into her pack for Essence of Dittany and Blood Replenishing Potions, supplies she never failed to have on her after surviving the war. 'Where?! Ah ha, there!'

As her hand closed around the Essence of Dittany, an intense wave of dizziness hit her. There was the sound of breaking glass. She blinked up at the vaulted ceiling. 'When did I wind up of the floor?' Her sluggish mind tried to keep up. 'Dittany, I need the...' She turned her head with much effort to look at the hand that had been holding the vial. Next to it, on the floor, was the shattered remains of the potion container. Green smoke curled lazily up from the spilled liquid.

'So this is it, huh?' Hermione wondered as she realized she could no longer lift her hand. 'I'm... not ready to die yet...' Her vision faded to black.

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Thanks for reading! Next up... Talking Skeletons and murderous children.