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Last of the Fae Chapter 42: Awakening
🕑 Added 2024-09-13 19:43:20 +0000 UTCStaggering to his feet Thane ignored the heavy fatigue weighing down on his body and forced his eyes open through sheer force of will. Hearing the shuffling of feet behind him Thane glanced over his shoulder and saw Ron, Harry and Hermione staring at him wordlessly, obviously still trying to understand what they had just witnessed.
Turning back around Thane limped down the now ruined staircase approaching the silver mirror at the end of the room which in contrast had emerged completely untouched from the battle.
Standing in front of the mirror Thane stared at his disheveled reflection, but as he watched his reflection moved on its own holding out a hand in which lay a rough red gemstone that the reflection then stashed in its robe. At the same time Thane felt a weight suddenly settle in his pocket and a second later he reached inside to pull out the same gemstone in the flesh.
For having risked his life Thane couldn’t help but feel the Philosopher's Stone was a bit of a let down at least visually. Reaching into his robe once more Thane took out a small but thick walled glass vial that he uncorked before positioning the stone over the opening.
For a moment nothing happened but then the stone began to glow with a dull red light as a single drop of bright red potion dripped into the vial. Quickly corking the bottle Thane let out a long relieved sigh, ‘All that work for one tiny drop, better be worth it.’
Putting the Potion of Life back in his robe Thane turned around to face the trio who had been whispering among themselves since Thane had taken out the stone, “Potter, catch.”
“Huh?”
Thane tossed the stone and Harry balked as he juggled the priceless alchemical artifact before finally getting a firm grip on it.
“Are you mad?” Hermione asked as she glared at Thane after tearing her eyes off the stone in Harry’s hand, “What if he dropped it and it broke?”
“It wouldn’t matter,” Thane replied with a deep weariness to his voice, “That thing is nigh indestructible, nothing short of Fiendfyre will leave a mark on it. Now if you’ll excuse me I’ll be leaving now.”
“W-what you’re just going to leave like that?!” Ron stammered as Thane made his way to the end of the room, “We have to tell the teachers what just happened!”
“There is no we Weasley,” Thane replied without turning around, “Just your three who stuck your noses where they didn’t belong and through sheer luck managed to survive. I was never here.”
“And why shouldn’t we tell the professors?” Hermione demanded as she glared at Thane’s back.
“Remember your oath Granger, that goes for the two of you as well, Potter, Weasley,” Thane called out once more before the wall in front of him opened as if to welcome him home and he stepped through.
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Limping along the passage Thane leaned against the wall for support as Ingrid poked her head out of his robes before nuzzling along his jaw, “Sorry you didn’t get any of the action, next time maybe when I’m not fighting a Dark Lord that’s supposed to be dead.”
Ingrid hissed and Thane let out a long sigh, “Hopefully the ritual still works even with my pathways as shot as they are. Actually this might be for the best, reforging my body while it's injured should increase the effectiveness.”
Seeing a light at the end of the tunnel Thane sped up his limp into an awkward jog and a few seconds later he was spat out into the Room of Requirement which was still transfigured to look like an oasis. Making his way to the center island Thane found the ritual circle waiting for him, “Let’s finish this.”
Reaching up Thane pulled off his silver robe before stripping down to his underwear all while Ingrid unwound herself from around his body and retreated back to her spot in the canopy. Once he was naked Thane stared down at his left shoulder where his skin had turned into an angry welt puffy and red with blisters, ‘And that was only from a single spell.’
Thane took a deep breath as he tried to clear his mind, had Voldemort’s soul been any stronger or Quirell’s body more resilient Thane doubted whether or not his patronus charm would have done the job even as powerful as it was.
Then there was also the dreadful fact that Thane had to acknowledge there was a high likelihood that Voldemort’s soul was still out in the world. Fragmented but there were a surprising amount of ways to heal a soul and create a new host for it to possess.
‘Problem for future Thane, right now I need to make sure I haven’t crippled myself.’ Limping over to the ritual circle, Thane lowered himself to the ground and laid on his back letting out a sigh of relief as the cool grass brushed against his feverish skin, ‘Here goes nothing.’
Putting the potion of life to his lips Thane tilted the vial back, until he felt the single droplet roll down the neck of the bottle and splash against his tongue. A warm tingling sensation spread through Thane’s mouth to the rest of his body replacing the fatigue with a surge of energy.
But the sensation didn’t stop the pleasant warmth turned into a raging inferno that lit Thane’s skin on fire and soon his body spasmed and convulsed as more power it was ever meant to tolerate was processed.
In a matter of seconds Thane broke out into a heavy sweat, but instead of countless clear droplets, a thick opaque substance oozed out of his pores, first starting off as a cloudy white before becoming stained with dark black streaks.
Had Thane been in a clear state of mind the smell alone would have been enough to drive him insane, but as his body underwent countless changes Thane’s mind was somewhere else.
Delving through the very world itself Thane felt himself descend further and further as dirt turned to stone, then bedrock, then molten magma before he reached the core a massive ball of solid silver metal.
As he stared at the core of the planet Thane felt something stir within, drawing him closer and closer. As he did, hidden runes upon the sphere’s surface lit up with an intense silver light. The sphere then cracked and from the split a single sprout emerged with a single leaf large enough to fit an entire city block.
Settling down on the leaf Thane laid on his back and felt a familiar energy resonate up from the World Tree Sapling and into his body, welcoming and reassuring Thane that he wouldn’t be alone for long.
Thane’s eyes snapped open as a deep chest racking cough burst forth from his lungs, rolling over Thane tried to clear his airways only to be assaulted with the foulest stench known to man.
Thane’s eyes watered as he shot up right, his aching body momentarily forgotten as every part of him screamed to get away from the smell, “W-what is that?”
A hiss answered Thane who shook his head in confusion, “What do you mean you’ve had to put up with it for three months, I just laid down a second ago. But I guess the ritual failed though judging by the smell.”
Stumbling to his feet Thane opened his mouth to continue when he looked at the tree behind him and noticed that he was now looking at leaves instead of the trunk, “Ingrid…did the tree shrink?”
