《The Unknown》Chapter 36: A walk through the mind
Advertisement
Loki was the first to move, he grabbed Dahlia's neck tightly lifting her feet off of the ground, not wishing to harm his daughter if she could see him through the possession but to seem threatening. Voldemort just giggled as Loki demanded, "get out of my daughter this instance or I will come in there and tear you out myself before ripping you apart!".
"You kill me in this body and you kill her, but I shall return," Voldemort said sounding confident and happy with himself. Loki hesitated but eventually released Dahlia's neck and stepped back when she fell onto her feet. Voldemort then looked to Dumbledore and said, "and what of you, Dumbledore?"
"Release the child, Tom. You will only make the situation worse," Dumbledore said calmly.
"This child, as you call her, has caused me enough trouble. I think it's time for her to be taken care of".
Loki's fists clenched, restraining himself from hitting the creature inside of his daughter. He sneered, "you dare-"
"And what will you do?" Voldemort asked condescendingly, "you weren't there the first time. When I struck the woman you love down. When I sent the Killing Curse to your pathetic, weak daughter, when she cried out for her father. You weren't even there to protect your other children".
"Grave error," Fenrir said, seeing his father's restraint, "bringing us into this. You see, the last time we were surprised, we didn't know we had an enemy. This time, we do". Fenrir took a few threatening steps forward and semi-changed into his wolf form as he changed his eyes and released his claws and continued, "this time, you are our enemy and we know your strengths and weaknesses, and we will destroy you".
Voldemort seemed disinterested and looked to Jörmungandr and then began to hiss. "What the hell is that?" Tony asked quietly.
Bruce answered, "he's a Parselmouth, it means he can talk to snakes. It was in the file Fury gave us," Tony shrugged obviously overlooking that part or not even reading it to begin with.
It took a few moments but Jörmungandr laughed as Voldemort seemed to lose his smirk and said, "you think because you can speak to snakes you have power over them? You think that because I am one, I should join you?" He began to move closer, next to his brother, and wished he had the power to stand alone as in his current state he didn't seem as threatening. "You are nothing but a stupid mortal that believes he can take on a family that can destroy him with a click of our fingers. We've faced gods, creatures beyond your imagination and yet you believe you can destroy us...we will destroy you in every way possible until you wish you were dead and then we will grant you that wish".
"There is nothing worse than death," snarled Voldemort.
Dumbledore spoke lightly as he said, "that is something you have never understood, Tom. Your failure to understand that there are worse things than death has always been your greatest weakness".
"Excuse me, right here," Falcon said and Voldemort looked to him. "I am Death," he said and took great pleasure in the fact that Voldemort took a step back in fear. Falcon began to walk towards Hela and stood by her side as he said, "clearly none of you have died because I've never taken any of your souls, but you, Voldemort...well you're special, aren't you? You've always known you were".
Voldemort smirked as if Death was admitting he couldn't touch him.
Advertisement
"Special because you don't have a chance of getting into Valhalla, not even Lykke, you will go straight to Mareritt on Niflheim and in case you aren't aware, Mareritt is what you consider hell. It translates to nightmare in your language. Hell is where you're going as it is the only place for you...now, I can understand that to some there are worse things than me, such as losing someone you love. But when it comes to the likes of you, Voldemort, conceived under a love potion, you can't love. So, I am your worst nightmare and I will take your soul. It may not be today or tomorrow, or the next, but I will have it and I will deliver it to my Queen," he gestured to Hela who now stood next to him, but her eyes were closed, and her hand wrapped tightly around her necklace, concentrating on something.
Voldemort glared at Falcon and said, "you kill me, and I will return".
Falcon hummed not wanting to let on that he knew of the Horcruxes as he knew Hela wouldn't have told her father or brothers. "Maybe, maybe not, but you will suffer eventually, just like your family. I know you can't love but it must ignite something within you when I tell you this. The second you killed Lily, all members of your family, all those who believed in pure-blood supremacy when they lived were sent to Mareritt. All the way back to Salazar Slytherin. Even before you murdered Lily, Salazar renounced you. You have no family and the people you share blood with wish you dead and your soul destroyed. How does that feel, knowing you're a powerful wizard here but once I claim your soul, you'll mean nothing to anybody, you'll just be forgotten".
"Never," Voldemort sneered, "I am powerful, I will go down in history as the most powerful wizard who ever lived. I will live on".
"No, you won't," Hela said finally opening her eyes and smiled, "you will die and then you will face justice, a form of justice that all in the universe fear".
"You cannot kill me," Voldemort smirked.
"But my sister can. After all, she's destined to destroy you".
"Not if I destroy her first," he said and went to move but Hela gestured for two of her soldiers to hold him. Two soldiers quickly approached and took either arm, holding him in place so that he couldn't move to hurt Dahlia's physical form.
"What are you doing?"
"Stopping you from hurting my sister," Hela said bluntly as if it was obvious. "Papa, brothers, I'm going to need your help in getting this parasite out of Dahlia".
The three males looked confused, as did everyone else, as Hela walked closer to Dahlia, but they followed anyway. Hela stood facing Voldemort while her father went to her right and her brothers to her left. She took off her necklace and then said, "Tenk på all vår smerte. Hver gang du har blitt skadet eller torturert. Han vil ikke være i stand til å stå på det" (think of all of our pain. Each time you have been injured or tortured. He will not be able to stand it).
Hela held out her hand and Jörmungandr and Fenrir placed their hands on top of hers as Loki asked, "Dahlia vil se?" (Dahlia will see?)
Hela shook her head and replied, "Jeg fortalte henne å løpe til de dypeste delene av hennes sinn. Hun er trygg" (I told her to run to the deepest parts of her mind. She is safe).
Advertisement
Loki nodded and placed his own hand on theirs and Hela began to twist her necklace around their conjoined hands.
Steve asked Thor, "what are they doing?"
Thor shook his head and said, "I do not know. They are talking about pain".
"As you can see Minister, Dumbledore is a danger to the school," they all heard except the small family that was concentrating on Dahlia and many turned or glanced over their shoulders to see Umbridge coming down the hill with Minister Fudge along with several Aurors.
Dumbledore would have moved to greet them, but he concentrated on what the family were doing in order to get Voldemort out without harming Dahlia.
Ignoring everything that was going on around them, Hela looked in Dahlia's possessed eyes and said, "you think you know everything, but you don't. You see, my sister is strong and powerful and loyal but the one thing she fails at is following rules. Each time she's defeated you, she just didn't follow the rules, which is what led her to you. I had one rule for her on Niflheim and that was do not go to the south wing of the castle. You see it's in the south where Mareritt lies and from one of a few windows, she saw the torture that is inflicted on those who do wrong and that scared her enough never to go in the south wing again...do you want to know a secret?" Voldemort tried not to but he was scared. "What she saw is only the beginning. Only the people who are there for a short time, weeks at most. You think you know pain and suffering, you think your sixty-nine years of life show you misery? Let us show you thousands of years of pain and suffering that we know".
Hela closed her eyes along with her brothers and father and the four of them said, "memoriae". The necklaces glowed across their hands, but it wasn't long before the screaming started. Voldemort screamed, and it was hard for everyone listening to hear Dahlia screaming but they had to remind themselves that it wasn't her.
"What are you doing to that child?" Fudge demanded as he got closer.
The Avengers intervened before the soldiers got their hands on them and stopped Umbridge, Fudge and the Aurors from getting through. "Believe me, you don't want to intervene," Steve said.
Auror Williamson said, "this is Ministry business, it does not involve you. She is a wizard child".
"Technically only half," Tony had to point in and the others glared at him.
"You intervene," Clint pointed out, "then the hundreds of soldiers there will surely kill you".
"Albus," Fudge demanded and he turned but not fully as he wanted to keep looking at Dahlia.
"Cornelius, I believe they are right. It would do well not to intervene," Dumbledore said calmly but was full of curiosity.
"As I said, Minister, that is Dahlia Potter or whatever her last name is," Umbridge said. "Dumbledore is allowing his pupil to be hurt".
"It is not like that, Dorlores," McGonagall snapped at the woman before anyone thought bad of Albus.
"Then what is it like, Minerva?" Umbridge counter-questioned.
Dahlia's head was thrown back and black smoke flew out of her mouth. It formed a man to the side for a moment, just enough to see its face, and Voldemort said, "this is not the end," before he flew away.
Loki quickly caught Dahlia's falling body as Hela untangled the necklace and shouted, "GET SAIDA NOW," and the family of five and Falcon ran, well as best as Jörmungandr could, while the soldiers went to their tents and the ones who stood guard refused to let anyone past.
"It was him! You-Know-Who! It's really him," Auror Williamson said and others nodded but everyone stood still in their places not quite believing that he was back.
"Yes, yes," Fudge mumbled, "how-how could it be-how-"
Dumbledore turned to Fudge and said, "you have now seen with your own eyes what I have been trying to tell you for the past ten months. He is back and is assembling his army once again, he is the reason for the breakout, you've been chasing the wrong man. It is time for you to listen and believe what is right in front of you".
"Dumbledore, you need to tell me exactly what happened, what's been going on," Fudge said almost in a whimper, staring between the headmaster and the camp of the dead.
"Nothing else to say, Dolores?" McGonagall couldn't help herself but ask.
Umbridge just looked angry while McGonagall smiled, and the Avengers moved to leave but not without Natasha saying, "you might also want to do a little investigation into the types of punishments the pink lady has been implementing," they then walked away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dahlia was taken to Hela's tent and no one stopped to stand in awe at the sight of how big it was. There was a wooden layout of Britain, as if she would be attacking someone and she had it for planning, a sitting area, a large table and chairs that could seat ten, desk and chairs, a bathroom and a bed that could sleep at least five, and another smaller bed. Most of the areas were cut off; sheets were drawn from one end to another separating the bathroom from view, just like the bedrooms, from anyone entering the tent.
Dahlia was immediately carried to the large bed while healer Saida carried her belongings that she needed. Hela stayed to the side as did the men while Saida worked, clearly giving Dahlia more antidote than she probably should have and showed her instant displeasure when she checked the wound. Hela gasped when she saw the wound was even worse, how the thick black lines had now spread and covered more than half of her abdomen and travelled up to cover half of her chest. Falcon was by her side and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her in for comfort and her hand touched his on her waist. This action didn't go unnoticed by Loki, but this wasn't the time to be scaring off any possible suitor his daughter may have.
"Milady, with her condition, she can't stay in her mind for long. I do not know the effects this could bring about during healing," Saida said.
Hela nodded and then thought for a moment before she looked to her brothers and said, "you two need to go into her mind and get her out".
"What?" They both exclaimed.
"It'll take papa and I to do the spell. You need to go in there, she'll be hiding in one of her memories. It'll be like opening a door, I give you my word. It'll be one of her memories, an important one that impacted her life in a way, that'll be your way back," Hela said quickly.
Both boys hesitated, not wanting to intrude on their little sister's mind but if it helped her, they'd do it. They nodded, and Hela moved out of Falcon's arms and gestured for them to get onto the bed. Fenrir took Dahlia's right side while Jörmungandr sat on the bed and threw his crutches to the ground as he took Dahlia's left.
"Holds hands with her," Loki said and the boys did while Loki and Hela took their hands forming a line connection.
"Any advice?" Jörmungandr asked.
"I'll try and make it as simple as possible for you in there. Hurry up," Hela said and let off a small nervous laugh.
Saida commented, "going as deep into the mind as you need to, time can pass differently. If she isn't in one memory, I advise you to leave that memory immediately and try another. You may also meet creatures and beings that your sister has, avoid them. Run if you have to".
Both boys nodded as they took deep breaths and Hela asked, "you ready?"
Nodding once again, they closed their eyes as Hela and Loki began to mutter in a language that they didn't recognise. It was clearly the language of the ancient ones who created Aesir magic. For a moment they didn't feel anything, then it was like they had been punched in the stomach as they had the air knocked out of them and both boys felt like their very souls were being pulled from their bodies and into Dahlia's.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gasping, the boys woke up on the floor of some castle that looked to be Hogwarts but without the students or teachers, and the paintings that they did see didn't move. They could only tell it was Hogwarts by the fountain in the courtyard. Both boys stood, Jörmungandr finally being able to stand and walk unlike his physical form. They stood and looked around for a moment, assessing to see if there were any creatures around like Saida had said there might be, but it was clear. Turning to one another Fenrir said, "so any idea where we start?"
Jörmungandr shrugged and said, "your guess is as good as mine, brother".
"Let's try...this way," he pointed down the right and the boys went on their way.
It took a few minutes before they finally came across any doors but during that time Jörmungandr began to ask Fenrir, "so what do you think about all this?" He gestured around him.
Fenrir answered bluntly, "that we shouldn't be in here, but we have to be. We need to get her out and then kill the bastard that is after our family".
"Yes of course," Jörmungandr said and looked down for a moment before he stopped which meant Fenrir stopped and questioned what he was doing, "I meant what did you think of papa having another child while we were banished, sent away?". Fenrir gave him only silence. "Come on, Fen. You're usually the one who feels the most when it comes to family, call it your wolf instincts of packs. Tell me truthfully, what did you think?"
It took a moment, but Fenrir took a deep breath and answered, "I was angry, like I assume you were, or are. We were banished, separated, injured, tortured and yet papa found love and had another child. I'm not upset that he found love but...it just makes me think whether he truly tried to find us, if this Lily truly understood, or did he simply forget about us when he was with her?".
"Same," Jörmungandr said, "I mean, I know she's our sister and like we always say, we protect our own, but...we're in her mind, vulnerable to outside attacks when Odin could show up at any minute and try and destroy us".
"I know. Which is another reason why we need to find her quickly...look, I know you're probably angry over papa but from what he told me, he never gave up looking for us. Besides, we can't really be angry at our youngest sister, especially with all that she is facing or has faced. Remember when Hela was little, we made a vow and I think we should make the same one now".
Jörmungandr walked closer to his brother and held out his arm and Fenrir took it. They placed their hands on each other's forearm and Jörmungandr said, "always protect, never let her feel alone, never let anyone harm her even if it means we have to stand in the crossfire".
Fenrir nodded and added with a smirk, "and never let any suitor who we think isn't worthy near her".
Jörmungandr laughed and said, "she is our little sister after all".
They removed their arms and Fenrir gestured for the closest door to them. It looked like any other classroom door, nothing specific or unique about it, but it was the memories that it held within that scared them. Fenrir opened the door and the boys stepped in, the door closing behind them.
It was dark at first, but the memory made itself clear to them. It was like they were really there with the pillars and steps, it was dinghy when they walked closer and they saw a younger version of their sister, a mirror, and a man with two heads. "What in the gods is wrong with his head?" Jörmungandr exclaimed.
"Papa told me about this," Fenrir said looking at his sister, "she's eleven, in her first year at Hogwarts, and this teacher has been trying to kill her all year. At the back of his head is Voldemort when he was nothing but a spirit, and this man, Quirrel, allowed him in as he seemed powerful. They were after some sort of stone that would give Voldemort the power to fully return".
"Seriously, what sort of school is this that an eleven-year-old faces the bad guy?" Jörmungandr said throwing his hands up in the air in frustration.
Instead of leaving like they knew they should, they watched as Voldemort tried to reason with Dahlia so she would hand over the stone. He was promising power and her family but of course, their sister was smarter than that. It was when Voldemort ordered 'kill her' did Fenrir step forward to protect her, but Jörmungandr held him back and said, "it's a memory, we can't change it".
It was especially difficult for both boys to watch and not help Dahlia as Quirrell began to strangle their little sister, but they found great amusement when Quirrell, and ultimately Voldemort, began to burn when Dahlia touched them. "Lily's protection," Fenrir said as his brother looked surprised at their sister's magic. They watched as Voldemort escaped Quirrell whilst he fell to pieces and their sister collapsed before the scene started again as it was the end of her memory.
Advertisement
Cultivating Civilization
Cultivating Civilizations are horrible places for people to live. Abducted from his retirement, Jack was placed into such a world. He has two options. Either he can follow the traditions of the world and kill his way to the top, or try to change the world into one where people don't have to. Follow him on his path as he tries to balance his past life's morals with this life's realities. Jack doesn't care that a sea of people stands in his way, he will nurture a sea of his own and drown them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey guys! I hope you like my novel. If you want to read advanced chapters then you can visit this site. You can visit the novel's Discord through this link. I will post at least 1 chapter per day here.
8 160The Galactic Salt Road: Albert’s Kitchen
All that Albert wanted was to cook food and to share it with people. He's a great guy, a real people person, and has found happiness in his small eatery. Life in Ceres was great, if not exceptional. That all changed when he got involved with something he shouldn't have seen. Now, Albert unwillingly had to leave his peaceful existence in Illustratum to be a cook in the Woglinde, a warship of the Red Tiger Mercenaries when his eatery was blow up by slavers. Can Albert still serve food while dodging laser fire? Will the Woglinde be the unexpected opportunity that he was looking for? One thing is for certain, it's a whole lot different from before...
8 192Heller: New World
Two friends killed on Earth before their time, Alex and Mark are given another chance to survive on a new and dangerous world where the residents wage unending war against the terrifying monsters surrounding them. This is a story of Reincarnation, Martial Arts, Magic, and the opportunity to ascend through the heavens and become an Immortal. Our tale is told through the point of view of Alex, the main character, as he journeys through life and death, struggling to surpass boundaries set by the very Gods themselves! (Heller is an Original fiction, influenced by works such as: Coiling Dragon, Stellar Transformations, Desolate Era, Tower of God, Forgotten Realms, and many others.) Contains: Reincarnation, Gods, Immortals, mild RPG/Game style elements, and more. August 2020 Edit: Hello all, Mike here! My goal as of 2020 is to write full time, but I am still a fairly new author (and this is my first real work), so please be patient with me as I learn and grow. I know I am far from perfect, but I hope to be able to improve with experience! Warning: May contain very occasional swearing or gore (not heavy enough for warning), and I try to avoid profanity when possible.
8 141Curse of Immortals: Tempestatem
[Participant in the Royal Road Writathon Challenge] Once a talented, young gymnast, Daiden resents his existence after a career-ending injury. In death, he is offered a chance to traverse into Mioverold, a decaying world cursed with immortality.With a new body and reawakened ambition, Daiden now prepares for life in a fantastical, war-torn world, with a simple promise - to leave a generational mark. -- Posting Schedule:- One Chapter/ Day- Two Chapters/Week (After catching up with the original buffer)
8 99Welcome to the Caped Club
The world has changed dramatically, and Max is having trouble coming to grips with real live superheroes popping up and running around. He's been away, you see. While he'd prefer to live a nice peaceful life, villains, criminal organizations, and monsters make that hard. It's even worse when assailants try to kidnap a kid right in front of your face. What's a guy to do? To beat 'em, he'll have to join the heroes, and see if the day can be saved.
8 271Debut or die
Associated NamesDebut or DieI'll Die If I Fail to DebutIf I Fail to Debut, I'll Get a Killer Disease데못죽데뷔 못 하면 죽는 병 걸림A 4th year student who was preparing for the Civil Service examination, suddenly he found himself in an unfamiliar body 3 years ago.As well as a status window displaying a threat in front of his eyes![Outbreak!][Status Abnormality: 'Debut or Death' Occurs!]A diary about the transformation of the main character, who was suddenly challenged to be an idol even though he has never been in the industry before due to sudden threat of death.※Speciality: He used to take and sell idol's data.i don't own this translation, for offline purposes only
8 160