Travelers

Chapter 18 - The Next Enemy

Jacob tried his best to ignore the impromptu battle going on around him as he searched through the masses for Lyndsey. It didn't take long before he found her. Standing idly by while the centaur's attack injured many of the students at the game, as well as many of the players.

"What are you doing here? Tell me the truth this time." He called to her. They locked eyes, and Jacob recognized something in her gaze. Without her saying anything, the answer came to him. "Vince," he said under his breath, "She's just like him." It must be in the blood. They were corruptible travelers, turned dark by the power of the travelers. Jacob had originally thought that the darkness was simply an effect for Alex for how the story had to play itself out, but maybe it was more. It really revealed more about the nature of traveling than he had ever known. In his contemplation, she turned and slipped out of the stadium. Jacob was left with a battle and a realization. Soon the centaurs retreated, leaving many injured. Surprisingly, there were none dead, as if that had been the intent of the attack.

"Guys," Jacob said when the others all regrouped, "I think that we have never saved any worlds from themselves, only from other travelers. I am glad Alex isn't here, because I think Ryan was a traveler. It makes sense doesn't it. Wherever heroes arrive, a villain must arrive. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction."

Cat pointed out that they were in a world where the laws of physics didn't really apply. Jacob agreed, but noted that it wasn't just a rule for physics. "So you're saying that whenever a door opens for us, a door opens for some villain?" Mal asked for clarification.

"Yes, but whenever a door opens for a villain a door opens for us too. Ryan must have gone through first, dragging us into our first adventure," Jacob answered her. They weren't saving this world, they had been the ones to bring it into danger. But of course, they would have to be the ones to save it.

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Cat hated the idea that Jacob was probably right. She didn't want to have been the cause of so much pain. She had watched as centaurs had trampled several students, and she had been forced to hurt living things. She hated that she had had to do that. No matter how much they traveled and went adventuring, she would still never stop hating the idea of having to hurt other things. I just seemed like she was the one evil to them. It was these thoughts that were going through her head as she entered her house common room through the portrait in front of their door. Just on the other sight she was met by the sight of many students nursing small cuts and bruises. Those with more severe wounds were in the hospital wing. She went to the couch and sat down, staring at the fireplace. The world seemed to flow by her in a blur. No one stopped to say anything to her, and everything merged together for a few moments. Then that strange sensation broke. It was shattered by someone who did notice her, and stopped. Cat looked up from her staring match with the cold wood as Jacob sat next to her.

"Hey, how you holding up? I know this might be pretty hard on you. Just know that we tried our best to save as many as we could, and we stopped them," he said, locking eyes with her, "anyway, I never did get to say thank you. You know, for what you did back in the forest. You know... um... stopping that centaur. The last thing I'm going to say, I promise, is this: You are amazing as a cat, I didn't even see you following me, or even hear you, and I was making sure nobody was." She broke the eye contact and said nothing at first.

Slowly, she let five words slip, "Why are we even here?" At first, she wasn't even sure why she asked it, but then she found that it held more meaning than she thought, so she continued, "I mean, we entered Middle Earth by accident, but this? We came here on purpose. Now we let people get hurt. We wanted to be the heroes, but no hero can save everyone. We came here as a team, and now we are all separated into our houses. The only team here is you and me. We need to change that if we plan on stopping this, then going home." She looked him in the eyes one more time, then leaned forward, transforming into her animagus. She prowled the halls and watched as many people hobbled to their house common rooms. She slipped into the library, and transformed back. She approached Madam Pince and asked, "Where would I find the most recently published books? There is one I would like to read." She was guided to a shelf closer to Pince's desk, and she selected the newest book she could find. She looked at the cover and read the year. It read 2018.

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Mal met Cat in charms the next day, and found herself overwhelmed by Cat's theory about the situation. She understood that a book published in the same year they lived in was impossible because Dumbledore and Cedric Diggory were still at Hogwarts. Cat explained how she thought that this world might be an impossible place. It simply held many of the ideas captured by Rowling's books, but it was completely outside the timeline. She had originally been worried about bringing a villain into a world of real people, but all of them must have been drawn from the books and put into this fake world. Mal knew that the books happened near to the beginning of the 2000s, so how could a book from the present be in the library. They had always thought that their adventures would actually fit into a timeline with the books, but it would make sense if they went into a world where everything was not relevant to time. She had a lot to process, so, as soon as Flitwick dismissed the class, Mal headed straight to the quidditch pitch, grabbing her broom. She took off at top speed and felt the wind rushing through her hair. It felt good to have that feeling back. She still remembered the joy of riding her horse through the open fields of Rohan. Looking down she noticed that Cedric was on the field waving to her.

She landed, explaining, "I come here to clear my head, and I have a lot think about." Cedric nodded silently and mounted his own broom. They flew together in silence, both thinking about something. Finally, they both broke the silence at the same time.

"You go first, Cedric," Mal said to him

"Very well. I die don't I? Not just any death, either, a dark one. I will be killed, won't I? You said that you lived in a world where I am nothing more than a character in a book, but tell me, am I still just a character? Now that you can travel between these worlds, do you think of us characters as expendable still? Why didn't you tell me? When you first heard my name, you looked like you saw a ghost, because you did, didn't you?" Cedric started, "Don't I deserve to know that I am destined to die before my time? I guess I'm already dead to you anyway, so why warn me? That was cruel."

"I didn't tell you because I didn't think you would believe me!" Mal snapped, defensively, "I was worried about how me telling you might change one of my favorite books. I didn't want to change anything, because I didn't think I could. Tell me, what year is it Cedric? Is it 1998? 2000? 2018?"

Cedric looked downcast for only a moment, and then he began to descend. Landing, he gripped his broom as he headed for the exit to the pitch. Suddenly, he stopped and seemed to reach for his wand, but from the air Mal couldn't tell for sure. suddenly, a red light shot from in front of him in the doorway. He was thrown back and Lyndsey stepped onto the field, wand at the ready. Then, just as Cedric had done only a moment ago, She was thrown forward past him, and Richard entered behind her.

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Richard reached down and helped Cedric up. He drew his wand, and the two of them approached Lyndsey cautiously as Mal landed next to them, wand out. Lyndsey rolled over on the ground, so she was face up, locked eyes with Richard and laughed out loud.

"Whoo, I was not expecting that," She said between breaths, "Good shot Richard." She began to stand up, but Cedric took a step forward, pointing his wand at her. This only made her laugh more. "Three of Hogwarts finest students right here with me. Mal, Richard, and Cedric all for little old me? and what about my friends?" She finished, pointing past them. There, they found several centaurs, weapons drawn. At first Richard readied himself for battle, but noticed that Cedric had held his hand out to stop him. "Now, wands please," Lyndsey commanded. They handed them over, and began moving with the centaurs.

"What do you suppose they want?" Cedric asked, "Is he a traveler too?" Richard shot a glance at Mal, wondering if he should tell Cedric the truth, and she nodded.

"Yeah, I don't know if I am technically a traveler, or if I just piggybacked off of the others," Nate told him, "Unfortunately, that is Lyndsey. She is also a traveler, but she seems to have been twisted by traveling." They were walked off the fields, and Mal looked back as she had left her broom on the field. They walked away as captives.