I woke up where?!
Corvus Black woke up with a splitting headache.
His head was pounding, and his ears were ringing. He didn’t even attempt to open his eyes and slowly closed his occlumency shields. The pounding subsided but the ringing lowered to a dull constant tone.
Eventually he opened his eyes and was met by what was not his bedroom. The familiar walls were replaced by what looked like exposed rock. From the floor to the ceiling there was nothing but rock and what appeared to be glowing mushrooms.
It was then that he realized he was not in a bed, but in fact on the ground.
“Death there better be an explanation to this.”
Corvus looked up at the laughter and was met by the corporeal form of Death. Her signature black dress was form hugging and her black hair was braided into one messy thing that hung over her shoulder. She was smiling at him with her red eyes and Corvus palmed his face.
“I died?”
“Yep!”
“You’re too excited over that fact.”
“Hey at least it was a peaceful death!”
“Fuck you.”
Corvus ignored her sputtering and complaining and stood up. He noticed that he wasn’t wearing the clothing he went to bed in. He now had on black boots, black socks (he checked), black trousers, and black underwear. He also had a black shirt and black robes on.
Now he was all for representing the Black family, but this was a little much.
“Where the hell are we?”
“Corvus, I must offer a most sincere apology for my sister’s behavior, she can be most crude when sh-”
“We brought you to a new universe!”
It was at this moment that Corvus’ mind screeched to a halt. New universe. This could not be happening. He had already lived two lives already why were they pushing a third on him? In a new universe no less.
“Which universe?”
“STARWARS!”
“The Star Wars universe by George Lucas.”
Corvus looked up at Fate (who also had a corporeal form) and saw the apology written in her expression. She was the complete opposite of Death, with loose robes that covered her entire body and blonde hair pulled neatly into a ponytail. Sad blue eyes looked back at him. She was the more levelheaded of the two and clearly a pushover.
“Why couldn’t I have gone to heaven like normal people?”
“Because you’re special!”
“Death has unfortunately marked you.”
“He’s special! That’s why I marked him.”
Death had a manic grin on her face and was clearly not giving any ground.
Corvus didn’t know he was marked. He had checked his body in the mirror multiple times in his previous life and there were no visible markings on him. So, his soul had to be the thing that was marked. Damn.
“Okay, it’s been a while since I saw or read anything about the Star Wars universe. When and where are we?”
“The Clone Wars has entered its sixth month and we are on an uncharted planet.”
“Dammit I already fought in one war and prevented another! I just want to go home and see my-”
Corvus couldn’t stop the tears from falling. His godchildren. He would never be able to see his beautiful godchildren again. He wouldn’t be able see his “Right Hand” Narcissa or Andromeda or Chief Unspeakable Bellatrix or any of them ever again. They were as good as dust for all he knew and Corvus did the only thing he could.
He screamed.
It ripped from his throat and echoed around him. His magic flared out and grabbed onto anything within reach that wasn’t bolted down and crushed it.
His family was gone without so much as a goodbye.
Fuck!
His occlumency shields were failing and he slammed them shut before he hurt himself. He would deal with the emotions later.
Corvus took off the black robe and transfigured it into a full body mirror. It was too dark to actually see any detail so one muttered “lumos” later and a ball of light was floating in his hand. He was met with the image of his nineteen-year-old self. While he did die at fifty-one years of age, he was happy that he kept himself in good condition, so he didn’t look fifty-one. Staring at his nineteen-year-old self was jarring.
His face was smoother and had fewer lines, but he also saw scars that he shouldn’t have at nineteen. The line going through his right eyebrow that nearly took his right eye had been courtesy of some death eater. So, if that was there…
Corvus tore his shirt off.
His body was covered in scars that he had earned during the First Wizarding War as well as the various duels he had with Bellatrix. She was vicious in the dueling ring, and he had the scars to prove it. Scars from cuts and burns and blasting curses were all over his torso and he couldn’t help but smile at them. At least he had the scars of the duels with him. As well as the memories of his family and his past life.
They weren’t truly gone.
It was only then that he noticed his necklace.
The necklace with the shrunken trunk attached to it.
Corvus was knocked off balance again.
“Why can I use Potterverse magic in the Star Wars universe?”
“You were marked by Death the moment you were born into the Potterverse as the son of Alphard Black. Therefore, the magic of that universe has traveled with you into this one. The scars on your body were derived from that magic and thus also traveled with you along with any magical jewelry. Which is why the necklace with the trunk is also here.”
Corvus brought a hand to the trunk necklace and touched it almost reverently. It was still here. The life that he had built was not all lost. Some of his prized possessions were still with him!
He took off necklace and unshrunk the trunk and placed it on the ground in front of him. It was exactly the same as the day he had received it. Covered in the finest dragonhide and embossed with his initials.
C. A. B.
It brought a smile to his face. It had been a graduation present from Narcissa and the inspiration that Nymphadora needed for her nickname for him. As much as he hated it, “Cabby” had grown on him.
He checked the wards that he had placed on the trunk with a wave of his hand (he mastered wandless and nonverbal magic years ago). He had spent the better part of the summer after graduation going through the Black family library for anything relating to wards. The end result was a trunk so heavily warded with Dark Magic that it was illegal to own in half of the Wizarding World.
No matter how many people hated it, he would never give up blood wards.
He reshrunk the trunk and put the necklace back on. The chain itself was warded and charmed to be invisible to only those he allowed to view it and to be removable only by himself. Seeing as the only people he allowed to view it were now in a different universe it was safe to say that no one would ever find it.
“So, do I have the force?”
“Yes! Come on you have to try it!”
Death was practically vibrating where she stood and Corvus couldn’t help but smirk. For being primordial beings, they sure acted childish when they wanted to.
Seeing as he had a mirror in front of him, he stretched out a hand towards it and tried the first thing that came to mind. The force was described as something influenced by emotions as well as one’s mental strength. Magic was also similarly described and since Corvus had mastered occlumency this shouldn’t be too hard.
He pooled in magic around his hand and thought of lifting the mirror a foot off the ground. He felt his magic surround the mirror and lift off the ground without any wavering or shaking. Just straight into the air.
“Is this actually the force or am I just using magic here?”
“Does it matter, you just lifted a mirror with the wave of your hand!”
“It does matter dear sister and to answer your question Corvus. We cannot really tell. You are magically powerful and with you bearing Death’s mark there is an added layer of power. You have mastered every form of magic with the exception of potion making and divination-”
“Which is complete bullshi-”
“and with the magic and the force both being influenced by emotions and strength of one’s mental facilities it can be difficult to differentiate between the two.”
The more Corvus thought it over the more confused he was. If they both were influenced by the same thing, were they any different? Would anyone even be able to tell the difference? While cool and all the force didn’t really offer the same thing as magic. He couldn’t transfigure anything with force. While you could read minds with the force, he could do that a whole lot better with legilimency. As far as he was concerned the killing curse couldn’t be blocked by any form of armor, so it was infinitely better than lightsabers or force lightning.
Speaking of force lightning.
He lowered the mirror back down to the ground and with the same hand pooled his magic again and thought about lightning shooting from his fingers.
Nothing happened.
“I would make a joke about performance issues bu-”
“Shut it, this is only my second time using the force.”
Thinking back on his Star Wars knowledge, force lightning was always associated with the Dark side. Was it like Dark magic? Intent was part of the reason spells were so effective and why some spells were harder to cast than others. You couldn’t just cast the killing curse as an afterthought.
The Dark side of the force for all he remembered required you to use your emotions. But did that mean you had to be angry to use force lightning? But if that was the case than how did the Jedi get anything done with their whole no emotions schtick?
He chose to go with the intent theory first.
“This can’t be too hard, just like using the killing curse. Right?”
Fate gave him a sympathetic smile while Death had got herself a loveseat and was lounging in it.
He was mentally in his seventies dammit. He wasn’t about to get stage fright now.
Thinking about the intent to kill he stretched out his hand and Avada green lightning shot from his fingertips and right into the transfigured mirror. The glass shattered and the metal frame warped.
The clapping made him turn towards his spectators and he found Death with a huge smile on her face and a glass of what he assumed was alcohol raised in congratulation. Fate was the one clapping and had a more reserved but still impressed smile.
“Oi! Here this is for you!”
Corvus looked towards Death only to see what appeared to be a lightsaber flying towards his face. He instinctively threw up a shield and glared at Death as the lightsaber fell to the ground.
“If I could, I would send a stinging hex at you.”
“Oh god I’m so scared.”
“Maybe a crucio instead.”
“You wouldn’t. I know you love me.”
He ignored her and accioed the lightsaber. It fit the palm of his hand perfectly. Completely black metal that shined in ball of light he created. The grip had dragonhide leather and a small golden “B” right under the power switch. It weighed slightly more than his wand did but that could be fixed with a simple charm.
That got him thinking.
“Where is my wand?”
“Your wand did not make the transition between universes as it was not attached to your body at the time of your death. So, the lightsaber is compensation.”
“How very thoughtful of you.”
“Just turn it on!”
He didn’t like Death’s tone nor the fact that she was giggling like a schoolgirl and wasn’t surprised when he flipped the switch.
Crimson red shot out and filled the cave with its light. A low hum filled the space around them and Corvus was met with a familiarity that he only had with his wand. He felt something in his core and looked at the lightsaber with new appreciation. Come to think of it, his wand was the same black as the lightsaber and in place of the gold ring around the wand was the letter “B”.
He felt tears coming to his eyes again and this time he couldn’t feel happier.
Of course, Death had to ruin the moment.
“Ha! I told you he would cry. Now hand over the broams!”
“Sister, we will talk about this later.”
He shook his head at their antics and focused on the lightsaber. The very thing that had the exact same bond as the one he shared with his wand. It felt as if he had just found something that he didn’t know he had lost, and it felt great.
“As great as this is I don’t know how to use it.”
“That my love is why we have given you the muscle memory for it!”
He must have looked skeptical at that because Fate stepped in.
“More accurately we have implanted memories of you training with the blade to master all seven lightsaber combat forms.”
Corvus didn’t know how to feel about that. Part of him was grateful for the implanted memories as he didn’t need to learn yet another form of combat. Another part was angry that he was thrown into, yet another universe and this time had his mind tampered with. Part of the reason he mastered occlumency so early was for this very reason!
“While this was a breach of privacy and very selfish thing to do on Death’s part to mark you in the way that she has. It was agreed that this was suitable compensation for the moment.”
He turned the blade off and clipped it to his belt. A very convenient belt that seemed to be specifically designed for this purpose and given to him in advance. He sighed at that.
“Fate I do not fault you for the current predicament that I find myself. If I’m being honest, I did enjoy life in the Potterverse. Magic and the family I had were both things I grew to love. Fighting a war wasn’t a great experience but in the end was an enlightening one.”
He gave Fate a smile and then turned to Death.
“You on the other hand are the reason I’m even here. The reason I met the people I consider family and the reason I’m stuck in this new universe. You can be a sick bastard when you want to be, so you can go fuck yourself for that. But I also need to thank you for allowing me to even live past the age of nineteen.”
They were all crying now, and he did the first thing that came to mind.
They hugged it out.
It took him about thirty seconds hugging to realize what he was doing. The realization also dawned on them as well if he was going by their faces. He immediately pushed Death out of the hug and sent a stinging hex at her. She screeched and fell back into the loveseat.
“What was that for?!”
“I did promise to hex you.”
Fate let out a snort that devolved into a full belly laugh. It was infectious and he soon found himself laughing as well. She leaned on him for support and the affronted look on Death’s face only made them both laugh harder.
“Some sister you are. Laughing at my suffering.”
Corvus found himself laughing even more before another realization hit him.
“Wait, if I can hex you does that mean you could die?”
Now he didn’t ask to be grouped with these two, but they had grown on him. He couldn’t see his life without them anymore and if they were corporeal now that meant they were vulnerable.
He looked at Fate for his answer.
“No Corvus, while we may be able to produce a corporeal form in this universe, we are still both primordial beings and thus immortal. Sending a killing curse at my sister would do nothing more than cause her pain. That is also only when we are fully corporeal. In any other state the spell would just go straight through. The both of us are not subjected to any outside force unless we allow it.”
Corvus had went from panicking over his lifelong friends to feeling fully relieved. The rollercoaster of emotions was starting to get to him and found himself crying again.
“Oh, thank god.”
“You do love us!”
In seconds he had an armful of Death as she cried into his shoulder. He hugged her back and couldn’t help but shaking his head nor the smile that touched his lips.
“Dammit but I do. For all your faults I still love you. Both of you.”
He pulled Fate back into the hug and for the moment the three of them just basked in the embrace.
After what felt like lifetime, he broke the embrace and looked at the both of them. They were family. For better or for worse he was stuck with them and they him. It made him smile and it didn’t hurt as much that the rest of his family wasn’t here, but he wouldn’t mope around over it. Bellatrix would hex him for it and Narcissa would probably join in.
“So now what? If this planet doesn’t have a spacecraft of some kind, we’ll be stuck here.”
“Oh, do not fret my love. This planet will be subjected to a Republic investigation in the coming hours if my time is correct.”
He took a step back with what must be a bewildered look.
“An investigation? What the fuck are they investigating here?”
“We are currently standing within an ancient Sith temple that the Jedi order have recently discovered while looking through their archives. They have sent a team of Jedi out to investigate.”
He palmed his face and sighed.
“I would like any important information to be told to me in advance instead of having to ask for it.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
He sent another stinging hex at Death and got a yelp in return.
“Do you know which Jedi are coming?”
“We do not.”
“Of course not. Okay, we need to get to the surface.”
“You mean you have to get to the surface.”
He sent a stinging hex at Death for the snark, but she was already gone. He looked at Fate and she gave an unsympathetic shrug and disappeared as well.
“Assholes.”
“Hey I heard that!”
Corvus didn’t dignify that with a response and turned to look around the cave once last time. He transfigured the remains of the mirror into oxygen (it had taken him eight years of training to finally accomplish that feat of transfiguration magic) and made his way to the only exit that he saw.
The cave walls soon turned into something more defined. The uneven edges turned into machined lines. Red rock of the cave slowly morphed into that of something he would have recognized in one of those catacombs he had explored in France. Though it seems to be devoid of life. Even those glowing mushrooms stopped appearing the farther he went into the corridor. He had to put more power into his little ball of light and when he entered what appeared to be a large chamber, he let it expand and fly into the air.
It was definitely a Sith temple.
Statues of what he assumed were Sith lords lined either side of the rectangular shaped room, ten on either side. They were all easily near twenty feet tall and from the looks of them were untouched. All of their faces were covered so he couldn’t recognize any of them and there was no discernable text to identify them.
They were faceless sentinels that permeated with Dark side.
Corvus felt his skin prickle and he realized he forgot his shirt in the cave. It wasn’t even cold in the temple, but the statues just exuded this feeling to him. He hadn’t felt this much Darkness since his last visit to the Department of Mysteries.
All twenty statues radiated with it. Swirling around their bases and making their way up the ceiling the Darkness flowed all around him in an almost endless current. Corvus could easily feel the power in the air but didn’t understand why here of all places. There was nothing tying all this Darkness together.
He made his way to the center of the chamber and with each step he felt the Darkness around him swirl. It dogged his every step and poked at his core. Were Corvus anyone else he might have been concerned.
But he was a Black.
The Black family had played with Dark magic for as long as they were able to. He had read every book in the Black family library and delved into its depths. He had done it all and came out of the other side intact. He didn’t allow it to consume him like it had Voldemort. The thirst for power and immortality did not drive his every step and therefore he was able to be so much more.
So being surrounded by Sith lords who probably fought one another in a futile quest for power had no power over him.
The center of the chamber was not empty as he once thought but had a sarcophagus sunken into the ground. Plain red stone and ornamentation around it that meant nothing to him were a little lack luster in his opinion.
He checked the sarcophagus with a wave of his hand. There were no wards or curses or even simple traps around it. It did seep with the Dark side of the force but there was nothing else around it.
“Pretty pathetic if you ask me.”
One feather-light charm later and the lid of the sarcophagus was thrown to the side to reveal not a corpse but a-
“A Sith Holocron!”
Death became corporeal again next to him and bounced on her feet at the site of the red holocron. The thing reeked of dark magic like a horcrux did and that thought festered in his head. Could a force user split part of their soul and put it into a holocron? He knew that holocrons were a force users’ way to record information down but who was to say that you couldn’t record consciousness down.
“Don’t I need a kyber crystal to open this?”
“That may depend on the type of holocron that this is as well as the preference of the creator in terms of security.”
Fate became corporeal as well as was much more reserved in her reaction to the holocron. She looked at it the way that Narcissa would look at some muggle invention that he would leave lying around his home. He pushed that thought away for the time being. There were more pressing issues at hand.
After enough time of staring at the thing he grabbed it with both hands and was hit with a wave of Darkness. He made sure his occlumency shields were in place and quirked an eyebrow at Fate as the Darkness roiled around his body. It poked and prodded at him and his magical core for a way in as if he would crumble under the pressure. Corvus flared his own magic and was met with resistance from the holocron. Dark magic and the Dark side of the force met, and it was odd how similar the two felt.
There was no great explosion or reverberating around the temple but a low rumble that he felt in his core. His magic had a clear advantage, but it wasn’t a total domination.
“Very interesting. Your magical core, which is more attuned with the Dark, is reacting with the veritable fountain of Dark side energy that is the Sith holocron.”
“Should I be worried?”
“I don’t see any adverse changes happening to your physical or mental state and your magic is not changing the way that this universe functions. It appears that introducing the variable of a different from of magic has no affects. But this will require more research on my part.”
“Boring, just open it already!”
Corvus gave Death a look and took off his trunk necklace. Rifling through it he found one of his warded metal boxes and placed the holocron inside it. He followed the horcrux procedures in securing the holocron, no need to let everything else in his trunk get fucked for his laziness.
Death pouted as he put the trunk necklace back on tapped it just to make sure it was there. The magic within the necklace hummed back to him and sent a warm feeling through his body.
“I’m the one running the show here so suck it up.”
Death was muttering something under her breath, but he ignored her and made his way towards the end of the chamber. There was light coming through the doorway and he suddenly had the urge to be outside into fresh air.
What he found was not exactly fresh but was better than nothing. There was not visible plant life anywhere around him and he was met with what looked like the surface of mars. Red rocks of various different shades as far as the eye could see. There were steps leading down to a large open plaza filled with more statues, all of which had seen better days. Half of them had fallen over and they were all worn down, their features indiscernible.
It was surprisingly warm and looking around he couldn’t see any other forms of life. There were no other major landforms around and he sighed as he took a seat on the top of the steps that led up to the entrance of the temple.
Looking up at the sky he could clearly see what looked like a moon and three little shapes next to it.
“The fuck is that?”
“That is the Republic force that has been sent to investigate the Sith temple we are currently sitting in front of.”
“You got any more bets on this?”
Death only stuck her tongue out at him, and he snorted.
Knowing Death, she probably had several bets going on how this interaction was going to pan out.
Leaning back, Corvus instantly regretted the action as the steps chiseled into the ground were too hard and cast a cushioning charm so that he was somewhat comfortable and watched as a little speck in the sky grew larger the closer it got.