Yo!
All I can say is welcome to another chapter of "Road to Power".
Enjoy!
Chapter 21. Consequences
4th of March, 2008, Location: Unknown
As much as I would love to let Laura sob into my shoulder for a little bit longer, we just couldn't let our guard down yet. This entire forest was an enemy territory that could be swarmed with more Hydra agents any second. Hell, with the magical backlash from the appearance of Obscurus, some of the wards that definitely hid the place could have collapsed. I would rather not try to explain what happened here to any authorities.
A shiver ran down my spine at the thought of anyone discovering what I and Laura went through here. One cage was enough to last me a lifetime, no way in hell I was risking my and Laura's freedom because the magicals just might help us.
My gaze lingered on the entrance for a second and I shook my head. Was Whitehall dead? Who knew... Was there something of value inside the base? Oh definitely, but once again it wasn't worth the risk of wasting hours scouring the entire place. I made a lot of bad decisions in the past few months and there was no place for another one.
Sighing, I looked down at the quivering girl in my arms, "Laura," I whispered, the girl's eyes snapping to me. Puffy and red, I almost flinched, "We need to leave soon. It's too dangerous here. Okay?"
The girl looked me straight in the eyes as if searching for something. For a moment I worried that she would refuse, but instead, I received a shaky nod.
"Good girl," I smiled down at her, "Sit down for a moment, gather your breath. I will just take a quick look around and come back in a second."
Extracting myself from Laura's death grip, I quickly scanned the area and moved. Even if going back inside the base wasn't an option, leaving the bodies of the dead wizards and agents would be a sin. Especially when I had no clue where in the world we were. I knew no spell to check that kind of information.
Approaching the first wizard, I grimaced slightly. Legs and arms bend in all wrong directions, chest half caved in and the head... Yeah, let's not even look at that mess.
With a speed gathered from years of pickpocketing and stealing, I went through the man's bloody robes and any other pockets I found.
Some shrunk documentation immediately went to the pocket of my torn pants. No matter how useless a bunch of papers were to me now, they could still shine some light on the people helping Hydra if I ever crossed paths with them again.
A broken wand. Just peachy.
Vials of empty potions could be useful, but there was no way I had enough wandless control to shrink enchanted glass.
And finally a device. Smartphone — a quite ancient one when you consider I died in 2019 in my old world —, or at least it was one before its upper half got crushed along with the man's ribs. Still, as I flipped the phone on the back, I grinned, noticing the sign of a wand intertwined by an eastern-style dragon. This was the logo of those technomancers I read about. It seemed I was getting my enchanted electronics anyway, no matter how damaged they were.
Hopes high, I dashed towards the wizard still lying face down in the blood-soaked dirt, my transfigurated blade nowhere to be seen after it did its job.
Similarly, the man possessed some documents in his robes along with empty vials, but those things didn't matter to me. No, I only cared for the brown wand in the man's hand and the undamaged smartphone that instantly went to my pocket. I would figure it out later.
My wrist flicked and the unknown wand shot into my waiting hand.
I grimaced. There would be no deep bond between us as the wand almost burned in my hand. Not that I cared too much. As long as it helped with spells that were beyond my wandless capabilities, I couldn't complain.
"Point me, Hogwarts," The familiar rush of magic, shot through my body, traveling towards the wand. This time though, I was fully focused on the flow and felt specks of another energy intervening with my magic. Even if I had it only for a while, I recognized it well from my Terrigenesis and the weird teleportation.
What are you? I mused, barely noticing as the wand in my hand spun like possessed.
"Shit, not good," A whisper left my lips as I canceled the spell. The wand either really didn't like me, the spell failed or I was just too far away from my target and it was too small to locate.
To confirm which option was true I tried again, "Point me, England."
Again the wand flipped a few times, but this time it stopped struggling after a few seconds and firmly pointed behind me, which, judging by the position of the sun, should be the east.
"Not good indeed," I sighed. If the spell only struggled a bit this time and pointed me to the east then I most likely was somewhere in North America. Adding the bone-chilling wind into the mix, it was the north of the north. But that left the question, where was the snow?
Oh well, I'm not complaining, it could always be worse.
Russia for example, I had no good memories of that country. Apart from vodka of course.
I shook my head and slipped on the refitted trench coat, courtesy of the dead Hydra wizard. I had one more stop to make, the Hydra soldiers.
There I didn't even waste any time searching their pockets thoroughly. I only grabbed another spare cell phone and went for my main target here. Two Sig Sauer handguns along with their holsters and a few spare mags. Might be useful if for some reason I couldn't use magic. Well, that and Laura could also use some sort of self-defense weapon that didn't include going full dark cloud of death on their enemies.
Here I'm, planning to teach an almost twelve years old girl how to shoot. My life is really fucked up, I snorted, but for now, I just strapped the weapons to my belt. By Laura's curled-up position, I doubted she would be shooting, or hell even walking anytime soon.
"Hey, we need to go," I said, crouching before the girl.
"I-I don't know if I can," Her face was much paler than a few minutes ago. The whole ordeal and transformation must have taken a lot out of her. Though no physical wound scarred Laura's body, her healing factor couldn't help with the fatigue or mental health. Not good.
I quickly pointed the borrowed wand at her, out of Laura's sight. The warming charm encompassed us both like a blanket. That was the most I could do, healing magic was beyond me.
My hand extended toward the now still girl, "It's fine. I will carry you," I motioned to my back, "Hop on and just try to hold onto me okay?"
Eyes wide, Laura nodded and did as was told.
As a twelve, almost thirteen-year-old, I definitely shouldn't have enough strength to carry a girl of my age for more than a few minutes, but I wasn't exactly normal eh?
Magic and the new energy already gave me an edge, add to that the rituals and Hydra's experiments and you get a child bordering on superhuman capabilities. Oh, I definitely did release a silent grunt as I stood up, after all, only Hydra messed up with any strength enchantments. I should definitely remember to look into some of those in the future...
"Here we go," I trekked forward, south. My hand constantly channeled magic into the ground to cover my tracks. What good would be running away, only to be tracked step by step. No, the time for complete stupidity had long passed. Though I had to wonder what had happened to the Trace. We already left the boundary of the wards and nothing happened.
Had Hydra dismantled it to avoid any problems? Maybe the Terrigenesis destroyed it during transformation... I knew that the Trace extended to every magical country, so my new position didn't matter.
It doesn't matter anymore. If it is gone then fantastic. If not, then well, I will figure it out later. It's not like I can stop using magic now, not in this situation.
"Logan, where are we going?" Laura's barely audible voice suddenly reached my ears.
A sigh left my lips, "I don't know," I truly don't, "For now, as far away from here as possible. And after that? We will see."
"M'kay," The yawn she released was telling.
"Get some sleep, you deserve it," I glanced at the head hanging over my shoulder, "I got you."
Laura hugged me tighter, her head falling to my shoulder, "Be careful, okay?"
I chuckled as I felt Laura's breath even out, "I will kiddo, I will."
To my surprise, we came upon another ward boundary only a few minutes later. This one I couldn't feel. No, this one for some reason possessed an illusion ward that created the perfect copy of a beautiful forest, just like the one I was in.
Careful to not wake Laura, I stabbed the boundary with my borrowed wand and tried to feel for any nasty surprises, just like Salazar taught me during a quick lesson about basic warding.
My eyes narrowed when my search came completely blank. Hopefully, it meant that no one ever set up any dangerous wards or they just collapsed with the other ones during Laura's rampage.
Well then, no time like the present.
Carefully adjusting my hold on Laure, I stepped through the illusion...
And barely avoided face planting into snow that appeared out of nowhere. It was like traveling from a mildly cold region to a middle of a fucking Alaska.
Hold on. Snow, forests without any humans in the area, hills, and more snow. Well shit, if we aren't in northern Canada or Alaska then I'm a saint.
The temperature already began to bite into my skin and from the increased grip on my neck, Laura felt it too, even during sleep. I quickly added another layer of warming charms and another handy spell that shielded us from the wind... At least it wasn't snowing. For that, I didn't have any spells apart from transfigurating us some better clothes. Thought for later.
Taking a last look at the illusion barrier, I sighed. Of course, they had to create a weather control ward for a simple underground base.
"Idiots," I scowled, turning away.
And so I waved through the ocean of snow and clouds of bushes, avoiding anything that could prove even slightly dangerous. For a few hours, I continued like that. No matter how much my feet ached or my stomach growled. I couldn't stop now, not before the lingering traces of magic from the base disappeared from my senses. At least water wasn't a problem when you could summon it with a flick of a wrist...
Only when the Sun decided to cover behind the frozen horizon, did I find a nice rocky cliff inside the forest. Perfect place to set up a temporary camp and some basic wards. Though their strength left much to be desired without any wardstone to bind them to.
By the end of the entire process, my knees buckled and sweat run down my brow as I transfigurated a fallen trunk into something resembling a mattress and a large blanket. Now that was a workout.
"Shit," I scowled, sitting down on the stone-like brown mattress, Laura sleeping right next to me. The girl didn't even move an inch when I laid her down. Though with the quality of my transfiguration she would definitely feel it when she woke up tomorrow.
"Logan," a muffled voice spoke behind me, "I'm pretty sure there was no snow when I fell asleep."
I groaned, "Idiots created a weather and illusion ward around their base. I am pretty sure it will collapse soon," My brows scrunched when the girl scooped next to me and hugged her knees, "You should rest. As you see we have a long way to go tomorrow."
"You should too," She shot back, her eyes glued to the sky full of stars, "I can keep watch."
Stubborn girl, I smiled. As timid as Laura sometimes appeared, there was steel in her. Hardened by months of pain and suffering. Her young age didn't really matter in face of everything she went through. It was something I had to remember well.
"I know you can, but it isn't really necessary. My wards will alert me if anyone will try to come close and animals won't touch us. We can both go to sleep," I replied, fiddling with the working smartphone. It unlocked with the wand I took from the dead wizard, but it didn't prove useful.
No signal, no map, or any other applications that would help me find our current location. The bloody phone only had a few random numbers that didn't mean shit. Useless ancient technology...
A snort brought my attention back to the girl next to me, "Then why are you up?"
No good answer to that question, "Thinking. Trying to figure out what to do next. We're in the middle of nowhere, without any food and with people who might as well be trying to find us at this exact moment."
To be honest, only the possibility of someone finding us troubled me. Shithole it might be, but if we were somewhere in Alaska then sooner or later we would find a road by going south. And food? I ain't no hunter, but with magic, I could and probably would have to find us something to eat tomorrow.
"Can't you teleport us away from here? You said a wizard can do that," Laura once again asked, her head tilted to the side as she waited for an answer.
"I wish I could," I frowned, "Usually only someone above seventeen can legally use this technique. Oh, I'm pretty sure that with enough practice and good instructions anyone can learn it sooner. But well, I had enough stuff to learn as it was and teleportation was left forgotten. I definitely regret it now," I finished with a murmur, glaring at the snow surrounding us.
Probably not even a minute later, Laura spoke up, "Logan," I hummed, "What did they do to us in that chamber? I know we are different now, I can feel it and," She raised the clenched left hand, and in an instant two, foot-long black shadowy claws slid from between her knuckles, "I couldn't do that before the cocoon released me."
My mouth opened, eyes widening as my head spun.
Laura, Logan. Both special individuals. Both were affected by a shady organization trying to create a perfect soldier. One pretty much received their abilities from the other...
Holy fuck. How didn't I see it before? This is an X-23 of my universe or at least a very, very different version of her. Multiverse and all that shit...
Though why our inhuman abilities were different, I had no idea. Shouldn't I have her claws or the opposite?
No, no, no. This is not the X-gene, but Inhuman DNA. I have no clue how those two work, but there must be a difference. Fuck this is so confusing. Why couldn't I be some Marvel comics specialist, I bet it would all be easier to understand...
"Logan," I almost jumped as Laura shook my shoulder, a frown on her face, "What's wrong?"
I took a deep breath, "Nothing. I was just surprised."
Laura narrowed her eyes, "So you don't know why I gained those?" She waved the inky-black claws in front of my face, "The Obscurus isn't happy about this. Somehow those things draw on its power. I can feel its rage, it doesn't want to help me anymore," she slumped as her claws retracted, the pierced skin melding in a matter of seconds
Okay, that's bad. Instead of adamantium, she got claws powered by an entity of darkness and hate. Just lovely.
"No, Laura," I ran a hand through my face, "I'm almost fully aware of what happened to both of us," Her mouth opened to ask the obvious question, but I raised my hand, "I will explain everything, but please don't ask me how I know those things, okay? I will tell you one day, just not now."
To my surprise, Laura gave an almost immediate nod.
"We're called Inhumans. To my knowledge, we're Humans with a dormant part of DNA that went through the process of Terrigenesis, thus awakening the DNA and our hidden abilities. Claws bonded with Obscurs for you and unknown energy for me," I explained, summoning a few sparks of the blue-green power to my hand. That was the most I could do at this moment.
"When Whitehall kidnapped me and told me straight in the face that I will finally bring him closer to his goal, I should have known what he meant. Fucker is crazy about anything mystical and some time ago he set his eyes on Inhumans. Luckily he doesn't know what we really are, or at least he didn't. I have no idea how he found out about Terrigenesis. Or how he obtained Terrigen crystals," I ranted, not trying to hide anything.
Laura deserved to know. And currently, I was the only person she trusted in her life. Pretty sure she was also the only alive person I trusted. I'm sure someone is laughing at me now.
"The crystals with the mist," She whispered, brows furrowed.
I nodded, "Indeed. Even with everything I know about Inhumans, I wouldn't know where to find one." Complete truth. I had no idea how to find the Afterlife and other Inhumans. Hell, I didn't even know I was one a few days ago.
"So you had this weird DNA that can give you special abilities when awakened," Laura summed up, "I understand that, but what about me? The bastard always called me the perfect subject. Special and adaptable. He never mentioned any personal goal."
"Because from what I understand, you didn't have any Inhuman DNA a few days ago. Remember the night when you came back feeling like shit?" She nodded, "I told you back then about my theory. They took something from me, my DNA, and tried to make your body adapt to it. It would explain your illness and why the Obscurus couldn't fully heal you and why it's angry now... Somehow, even dormant, the part of DNA must have forcefully bonded to the dark entity."
Laura leaned her forehead against her knees, her voice barely a whisper, "And now the Obscurus is constantly raging, fighting to escape again," She turned her gaze to me, "For now I can push it can back quite easily, but with every attempt, I can feel it getting slightly stronger. What will happen in a month or two Logan?" A lone tear fell down her cheek, "I didn't escape from this hell only to be destroyed by the one thing that kept me alive there."
My fist clenched. So that's the real problem here.
I scooped closer to Laura and hugged her to my side, "Don't worry. We will find a way to stop it. Together, just like back there, in our cell."
"Thank you," she murmured, eyes closing.
Who would have ever thought that I could care for anyone? A reincarnated man, thief, murderer. I chuckled internally and slipped the discarded blanket over our bodies. People always say how life isn't worth it if you don't have anyone to share it with, be it siblings, parents, a partner, or children. I never agreed, and I still don't think it's necessary... But I won't lie that having someone to talk to without any barriers isn't something I could get used to.
And so silence fell upon our small camp. Howls of different animals sometimes echoed through the snowy valleys and forested hills, their songs joining with the hoots of owls that began their nightly hunt. To a normal human who lived their whole lives in a city, spending a night like this under the light of the moon in the middle of nowhere could be nerve-wracking. Or even deadly considering the temperature and snow.
But to Laura and I, it sounded like freedom. No more constant screeches of machines or screams of soldiers. No more waking up bruised after a night you couldn't even remember.
Here only the tunes of nature accompanied us after months of imprisonment.
6th of March, 2008, Location: Headmaster's office, Hogwarts
Usually, Albus preferred to travel alone by apparition. In his old age, the feeling of squeezing through a tube left him the most functional out of all methods of travel. As such when a letter with a portkey attached appeared in his special box for high priority ICW correspondence, Albus' face soured in a second for two reasons.
One, he would be required to travel in a few minutes by his most disliked method of travel — leaving him almost unable to walk for a minute wasn't Albus' preferred way of arriving at an important meeting. And two, high priority ICW letters always meant trouble. Trouble that took days to fix.
With a resigned sigh, Albus grabbed the letter and read its short content, his eyebrow raising slightly.
To Supreme Mugwump,
With the permission of the President of MACUSA, I ask you, Albus Dumbledore, to arrive at the recently identified HYDRA base in the span of two hours of receiving this letter. The portkey is officially verified and will take you straight to the investigation area. We are hoping to help each other with solving the cases that resurfaced between our governments in the last few months. Time is the matter.
Signed
Lorene Volpe, Head of DMLE
Albus stood up and grabbed the coin attached to the letter. Now that was a message he didn't expect to receive in his lifetime.
"Time is the matter," The coin activated, swirling, consuming the elderly Headmaster in a matter of seconds.
Here you go.
I hope you all enjoyed today's chapter.
Have a good day/night.