The Divine Darkness

Chapter 37: Beat me to the Ground

Voldemort struggled to regain consciousness. He's done this process before. Once his body died, he would travel to the Inter Universitas, the plane between the living and dead. Once he reached the plane, his spirit would pause before entering the plane of dead and become attracted back to the plane of living because of his Horcruxes. They would pull his spirit back to the nearest Horcrux before he could cross into the death plane.

But this was... not right.

His eyes opened and instead of looking down at the battle through the eyes of a wandering spirit, he was in a body. A rather familiar and small body.

Looking down, he blinked at his small body that looked oddly like he was eleven again. His teeth snapped together in a hiss and he surveyed his surroundings. The air was light, yet difficult to breathe in. Around him, there wasn't a body or soul in sight. It was empty, it was desolate. He was leaning against a stone pillar, looking at the brilliant red train. The train was still, smoking slightly from under the track.

He was in the Inter Universitas. Somehow, he was stuck between worlds.

Fear and panic sunk in his chest as he struggled to sit up. He was always confident that his Horcruxes were anchored to the land, but what if they were all destroyed? What if they were destroyed without his knowledge? But that was impossible; he would have been destroyed entirely when that Avada Kedavra struck his body. He would have been in the land of dead now if that were the case. Not here. Not in between worlds.

Voldemort narrowed his eyes at the train, unsure of his next step. His magic was gone. He was a weak and vulnerable child once again. Would he be destined to stay in the Inter Universitas his entire existence? No... he would find a way out.

"Dumbledore," Voldemort whispered childishly as he watched a form slowly make its way off the train. Almost if he were waiting for him. "I should have known you were the cause of this. You couldn't just stay dead, could you?"

The old fool gave a grim smile toward Tom. "I'm afraid I have planned this far before I died. I have been waiting here since my death, waiting to guard over your soul. You won't be able to go back to the wizarding world, Tom. Not as long as I'm here."

Tom glowered, but he remained silent. He had to hand it to the old fool. It was a brilliant trick.

"You choose to sacrifice your own happiness to watch over me here? In this land of nothingness?" Voldemort contemplated. "I would think you were eager to join your dead sister in the other plane, no?"

Dumbledore's face twisted slightly, his lips thinning for just a moment at the mention of his sister. "If it means the wizarding world will be absent of your presence, than I am ready to sacrifice myself to stop your spirit from going back in the land of living."

Voldemort chuckled softly, his voice coming out in childish laughs. "And you honestly think Harrison won't continue on with the battle? With winning the wizarding world? He's my Match, he shares the same ideas as myself."

The old fool calmly sat down on the stairs leading up to the train, his face oddly calm and composed. "As much as you think Harrison follows directly in your footsteps, I disagree. Harrison is his own person. He is not as sadistic or vicious as you are, Tom. I suppose, if I had to choose between who would lead, I would pick Harrison. You are far too cruel for the innocent men and women of the world."

Voldemort just grinned. The old fool knew nothing of his Match.

But then Dumbledore sighed, his face twisting into remorse. "Alas, Harrison is a Seer and will cross over to save you." Voldemort perked up at this, his small body struggling in this plane. Dumbledore caught Voldemort's interest and gave a grim smile. "Seer are able to cross over to this plane, to this land between worlds. The good thing is, whatever the end result is, I win."