The Fifth Descender | Chapter 2 by AnotherDemon, literature
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The Fifth Descender | Chapter 2
Everything hurt. His back felt like it was burned, his side felt like it was on literal fire, his pulse was pounding against the inside of his skull- everything hurt. The worst of it all, though, was the nausea. He wasn’t sure what had woken him or how he was even awake in the first place. Beyond the pain and the nausea, he was exhausted. It dragged at him, keeping him in a weird limbo between unconscious and alert to the point that he was certain he dreamt at times. There was no way he and Kaveh were out in the desert with him feeling like this but he had this vague impression of Kaveh against his burning side taking his weight, talking like always, - not that he could remember what Kaveh had even said - and the grit of sand in his shoes. There wasn’t enough sand near home for him to have it in his shoes so it had to be the desert; but there had also been so little light and the terrain didn’t give like sand normally did so it definitely had to be a dream. The nausea got
Harry Potter and the Altered Timeline | Ch 13 by AnotherDemon, literature
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Harry Potter and the Altered Timeline | Ch 13
Sirius muttered some curse into the lid of his hot chocolate before taking a drink. Severus understood his frustration. Even reiterating the events from Halloween made it even clearer how poorly things were being handled. Sirius bit out, “And nothing happened afterwards? Nothing for the parents?” A pause as if it dawned on him. “Nothing for the kids?” “The few nightmares that were reported were discussed and only two students were prescribed Dreamless Sleep.” Severus sighed. “But, no. Nothing more was done.” “Fuckin’ hell.” Silence settled between them, filled by the sounds of the world around them. Godric’s Hollow was anything but a sleepy little town late that Saturday morning. Severus could hear kids playing somewhere on the street behind them and quite a number of cars had passed since he and Sirius had settled against the fence. There had even been others who had walked through the graveyard and most bid respect to one of the many gravestones. If any had been inclined to
The Fifth Descender | Chapter 1 by AnotherDemon, literature
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The Fifth Descender | Chapter 1
Kaveh was still hovering, not that Alhaitham was surprised. It had only been a day since he had returned to work so some hovering was to be expected; no, the thing that was odd was the nature of it. Usually by the time Alhaitham returned to work, Kaveh was less attentive, less present in a sense, and oftentimes antsy to get back to work in a greater capacity. Kaveh wasn’t behaving like that. Alhaitham watched him, book lying open and temporarily forgotten on the table, as Kaveh quietly worked on some illustration. From what glimpses Alhaitham had managed around Kaveh’s normal behavior of hiding it before Alhaitham could really see it, it didn’t look like Kaveh’s normal work. It had looked a bit too abstract, less focused, or perhaps too complex for a simple sheet of paper to hold, like Kaveh was trying to capture how the stars hung in three dimensional space in a two dimensional image. But despite Kaveh’s appearance of working diligently away on his latest piece, Alhaitham knew
Harry Potter and the Altered Timeline | Ch 12 by AnotherDemon, literature
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Harry Potter and the Altered Timeline | Ch 12
Harry stared at Severus, school robe halfway on with his hand caught in the other sleeve. “What?” he asked, the word coming out more like a squawk than an actual word. It returned inertia to his body and he haphazardly shoved his arm into the sleeve. “Why? What are the other kids receiving?” “Detentions,” Severus offered crisply, though the softened edges of the man’s expression was enough for Harry to know it wasn’t simply being brushed aside. “A few will only serve a day or two. Mr. Malfoy will be serving two weeks.” “But I’m supposed to suffer through mine until Winter Break!” Severus sighed as he knelt. “I know it seems unfair right now but this truly has your best interest in mind.” Harry initially backed away from Severus’s reaching hand but seeked it out as the man talked. Severus’s hand carded through his hair, grounding and reassuring in equal parts. “Hogwarts lacks a lot of what you are used to back home and this will guarantee you spend some time not studying. While I
Harry Potter and the Altered Timeline | Ch 11 by AnotherDemon, literature
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Harry Potter and the Altered Timeline | Ch 11
“There, look. See him?” “Where?” “The one wearing the glasses?” “Did you see his face?” “Did you see his scar?” For not the first time, Harry felt endless gratitude towards Sirius, Severus, and Remus for doing all they could to keep him out of the public eye. With no such protection now, Harry found whispers tailing him even in his own common room and it weighed heavily on him. It was understandable people were going to be eager to see and meet him but at least the Hufflepuffs were trying to be normal about it. It helped that he had some buffer with Hannah, Susan, Cedric, and even surprisingly Roger keeping most of the overly eager at bay but the rest of the student body wouldn’t be as satisfied with just seeing him. The Great Hall wasn’t nearly as full as the night prior when all of the student body was present for the Start of Term Feast but it certainly wasn’t anywhere near empty. Sure enough, as soon as he approached the open doors, eyes and words were quickly focused on
Harry Potter and the Altered Timeline | Ch 10 by AnotherDemon, literature
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Harry Potter and the Altered Timeline | Ch 10
The shout was probably just as loud as every time before but tucked within the hat caused a weird muffling that barely dampened the sound; he flinched. His Sorting was finally over and done with. He quickly pulled the hat off as he slipped from the stool and placed the hat on it. His legs felt strange, wobbly and weak in a way he didn’t like, but it barely registered under the enormous relief he felt as he hurried over to Hannah and Susan. It barely registered just like the odd way the hall was full of noise barely registered. The hat had listened. For a heart stopping moment, he had thought it wouldn’t but the hat - sounding very amused with either itself or the situation - had placed him in Hufflepuff like he’d wanted but hadn’t been able to voice. The whole thing was exhausting and left a weird buzzing beneath his skin. Even his hands were shaking. No, wait; they weren’t shaking but it certainly felt like they should be. Before he could do anything with the sensation, though, he
Wayward Souls at Halftrot Inn | Chapter 2 by AnotherDemon, literature
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Wayward Souls at Halftrot Inn | Chapter 2
Chapter 2: Ilravis's Deceit The soil was hard beneath his thin shoes as if the rain that had drowned the world the day before hadn’t happened. Even the flash flood that had been brought on by the previous day’s torrential downpour had only left a veneer of clay mud clinging to the remnants of buildings and marked where the waterline had reached on the trees. The mud squelched beneath each step and clung incessantly to anything it touched. Those unfortunate enough to fall in it wore the mud like a second skin. It clung to his legs high on his thighs and plastered his pants awkwardly to his skin. Either the plaster-like clay itself was cold or it was making his pants increasingly damp and he hated it. Laughter rang out from what remained of a building to his left and habitually he glanced over. If there had been a second floor, it had been obliterated right along with the rest of the town. Most of the walls were under half of their original height, the shortest points being on the
Harry Potter and the Altered Timeline | Ch 9 by AnotherDemon, literature
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Harry Potter and the Altered Timeline | Ch 9
“What are those?” Harry looked up from the snacks, a colored pencil caught between his teeth. He hadn’t even realized he had stuck it there until the rather familiar voice had cut through his thoughts. He grabbed it with the hand holding five other colored pencils and asked, “What are what?” “Those.” The speaker - where had he seen someone with platinum blonde hair before? - pointed at the small bundle of colored pencils in Harry’s left hand. “Colored pencils,” he stated simply as he turned his attention back to the food trolley and picked up another packaged Liquorice wand. Three ought to be enough along with the small box of Liquorice Comfits. “Colored what? Are those a muggle thing?” Harry looked at the strangely familiar kid again in surprise. “Colored pencils,” he repeated. He was fairly certain he had seen colored pencils in a wixen supplies shop before though they may have been called something else. But when he didn’t answer the latter question quickly enough, the
Wayward Souls at Halftrot Inn | Chapter 1 by AnotherDemon, literature
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Wayward Souls at Halftrot Inn | Chapter 1
Chapter 1: Niko’s Visions Halftrot Inn was never truly still no matter what time it was. Granted, three o’clock in the morning was far quieter than three in the afternoon but there was always someone at the front desk doing something and at least two other staff members working somewhere on the property. Niko loved those early morning hours. Not because of the quiet - oh Gods, no; she lived for the noise and bustle of the day and the secrets and information that slipped through it - but because of the occasional body that wasn’t supposed to be up at those hours. It wasn’t very often someone bustled in from outside too early in the morning to be considered normal - or unconcerning - and it was even less common for someone to leave, but it happened. It always happened. The clock had just chimed the quarter hour past four when the front door opened. She stilled her hand, pen lifted from the page to not blot the ledger. Two individuals entered before the door was shut with some care
Harry Potter and the Altered Timeline | Ch 8 by AnotherDemon, literature
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Harry Potter and the Altered Timeline | Ch 8
The mid morning crowd of King’s Cross Station swallowed them as they entered the massive building, a familiarity that came from traveling often. Harry expected the same comfort that always came from that familiarity but the apprehension remained heavy in his chest. He hated it. There was no need to worry; he was well aware that there was no point in worrying. Everyone had reassured him multiple times that Sirius taking Harry as himself would be fine, that anything that could go wrong could be handled. But for Sirius to be at Harry’s side with no hint of disguise or as the all too familiar large black dog was setting off every warning bell Harry had and he couldn’t quiet them. Sirius ruffled his hair, the trolley listing slightly to the right despite the weight of Harry’s trunk. “You’ll have a great time at Hogwarts, Harry. Don’t you worry.” He offered Sirius a soft smile, one he knew Sirius would see as appreciation. Harry couldn’t correct him. It would only lead to the same
Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 21: Sleep by AnotherDemon, literature
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Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 21: Sleep
When the door closed behind the woman’s departure, Bethany turned a disappointed and confused look on him. “So what’s so significant about this echo thing?” “It…” But he found that he didn’t actually know. He frowned, gaze drifting down as he searched for the information he could have sworn had just been there. When he came up with nothing, he turned his gaze to Tolnoran. “Have you seen anything like it before?” Tolnoran shook his head. “That was a first for me.” Elias spoke up. “I know most if not all the creatures in the Second Plane but I’ve never seen anything like Tolnoran described, nor anything called an echo.” Frustration churned in his chest. “It’s the translation of the name. It has one like Dlmor or Kret but I don’t know how to say it.” That drew Elias’s curiosity. “Can you spell it?” He gave the man a flat look. “I can hardly say it and you expect me to know how to spell it?” “Then how…” “I’d heard it. The thing had spoken it.” Bethany placed a hand on his
Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 20: Coral by AnotherDemon, literature
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Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 20: Coral
Everything was heavy and he hated the fact that he was waking up. It took a moment before he realized that he couldn’t remember taking whatever the healer had wanted to give him, let alone actually falling under its sedation. At least his head didn’t hurt and his thoughts seemed rather clear compared to the last time he had done this. There was something on the edge of his hearing that he didn’t quite understand until the voices became discernible. It took the words a bit longer to make sense. “...seen him that shaken before.” Elias’s voice was low, rough, but he took comfort in the fact that they had done their best to keep their promise to him. A voice he didn’t recognize drifted through the room. “You asked him what had happened, then?” Elias snorted. “Of course I asked. Sheer curiosity would have driven me to ask had my duty not.” There was a heavy pause. “I’m going to write up a report but I don’t think I can repeat what he had told me. If you want the story, you’ll have to
Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 25: Buddy by AnotherDemon, literature
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Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 25: Buddy
“By an Olnvorox?” Elias clarified. “Buddy, you can’t be serious,” Cass cut in, her words wavering with the fear she was trying to hide. “How would an Olnvorox even get in here?” “Does it matter?” he challenged, frustration blending with the echoes of emotions from whatever it was he lived through. He suddenly became aware of the headache that was pounding inside his skull. He closed his eyes against the pain, putting the weight of his head back into Elias’s palms. The man’s hands flexed against his neck and skull but took his weight with apparent ease. “It got in and it got its hands on me.” He opened his eyes only to meet his uncle’s gaze. “It toyed with me, killing everyone I knew and have come to know with such ease that it’s terrifying. The power these things have is terrifying. If an Olnvorox ever decided to actually take us out, this entire compound would be eradicated in a matter of minutes.” His breath shuddered in his chest but he couldn’t stop now. “The thing took everyone
Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 18: Trap by AnotherDemon, literature
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Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 18: Trap
The three higher ups walked away leaving the door wide open. “Ysle,” Tolnoran softly commanded. The Kret moved to the door and pushed it closed before laying down against the bottom. Artemis looked to him. “I take it they’re not the best of company to be around?” Tolnoran snorted. “Oh, Colonel Conner and Cass are great people to be around - some of the better, in fact - but it’s the other higher ups that aren’t all that great to be around. Leader Fox runs a tight ship but there something about him that’s always put me on edge. Madam Drev I don’t know well enough to have an opinion of but the way her Jaun behaves has many of us thinking there’s more broken about her than what we’re seeing.” Artemis looked to Dlmor. “How did you know their names?” He caught Tolnoran looking over sharply out of the corner of his eye as Dlmor finally let him go. “Vulren came by the first night you were here, curious no doubt, and happened to be a bit more chatty than was probably wise. Jaun are not
Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 26: Hide by AnotherDemon, literature
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Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 26: Hide
Tolnoran smiled at him. “That’s all we can ask.” Elias approached, whatever conversation he had been having with Lora now over. Lora, for her part, gestured for Bethany as Artemis caught sight of Cass returning with the healer from before. Bethany left his side as he returned his attention to his uncle and Tolnoran. “Tolnoran, is there any-” The words stopped abruptly as Elias’s head snapped towards where Cass and the healer were coming from. Artemis followed his uncle’s attention with his own, finding Cass had stopped as well. The healer either hadn’t noticed whatever it was that had grabbed Cass and Elias’s attention or hadn’t cared much about it. The healer knelt beside him but didn’t say anything. Maybe he misjudged the healer’s take on the situation. His gaze snapped away from the healer as he heard the faint echo of something that sounded oddly like- “Was that gunfire?” Bethany whispered. Dlmor growled low under him as he watched Belvren take a step in front of Lora and his
Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 23: Rip by AnotherDemon, literature
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Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 23: Rip
He looked to Cass. “So why send me along?” Cass glanced at the other two men, visibly confused. “Are you sure he doesn’t have memory loss?” She looked at him again before they could answer. “Do you not remember what you did?” Was this a trick question? “What do you mean?” “You took out the majority of the Ilnu in a show of crafting that I have never seen and that hasn’t been seen in generations.” His gaze snapped to Elias and gained a sharp pulse of pain for his endeavor. The man’s expression tightened. “She’s not lying. I only know two other people that can levitate their creations but neither of them can handle more than three let alone throw them without actually touching them with such pinpoint accuracy.” It was like trying to recall a half remembered dream. He remembered the spear he had summoned and he could recall what he knew now were the cores of all the Ilnu being pierced by the things he had crafted but anything around that wouldn’t stick. There was the faint echo of
Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 27: Music by AnotherDemon, literature
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Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 27: Music
“Which means we can’t trust anyone we run into to not turn on you, or give you up to Leader Fox,” Cass added tartly. She looked between the two older men. “There is no way we’re going to get you out onto the field to cut off the incoming Kret. Especially not now that you’re injured.” Elias glared at her. “I don’t care if we’re stuck behind lines but someone has to go out there and cut the Kret off especially if the Crell are within our walls.” The man winced but kept talking. “Make sure someone - a good, solid team - gets sent out there, Cass. If you don’t, the Crell will overtake us because of the Kret inadvertently helping.” “I can still take a team out, Cass,” Tolnoran offered softly. “I can take Artemis with me out of any hands that could be working for Fox.” “I can go with,” the healer offered, gaining a surprised look from the three soldiers. “Once I have him stable, there will be no reason for me to stick around. I could send in one of the people I trust in case you do have
Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 22: Chef by AnotherDemon, literature
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Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober Day 22: Chef
“Artemis.” “I’m ok,” he assured Dlmor. “Just...worried.” Dlmor chuckled. “Aren’t we all?” A sharp turn and suddenly they were in the midst of whatever was happening. Trevak was massive, hissing and snapping as it used its tail to throw people and creatures back. Elias was nowhere to be seen, not that the chaos of bodies made finding anyone easy. He gained the urge to go fight, to join in, but he gripped at Dlmor’s fur, urging, “No. We have to find the Olnvorox.” Dlmor sidestepped an incoming body. “If we don’t, then fighting will be useless.” “Then where to?” Dlmor growled. “Find the starting point. We’ll go from there.” Dlmor took off through the chaos, weaving this way and that as Artemis’s head whipped around this way and that frantically searching for any sign of the things that were causing all of this. But trying to traverse quickly through a space that was not meant to be fought in rapidly turned into a nearly impossible task. Several times Dlmor was forced to stop
“Are you serious?!” He snickered as he ducked behind the decrepit wall, glancing back at the companion currently shouting her head off. “You have to got to be kidding me!!”
“What happened, Anna?” he called out mockingly, not even flinching when a portion of his hiding place was obliterated. “Run out of ammunition?”
“Shut it, Marcus!” she shot back hitting him square in the face with a flip flop. She pointed at him, glaring for all her worth. He was trying very hard not to keel over laughing. “I am not in a good mood to put up with your crap!”
“No, really?”
She reached blindly for anything to grab as her legs went out from under her. Hands reached for her and she flinched away. This caused her to lose her hold on whatever had been keeping her upright and she felt her knees collide with the ground as her other palm scraped against the hard surface. More hands, more trying to get away.
She recoiled from those that had gathered, catching sight of a figure parting the crowd, suddenly opening up space around her. She blinked, her vision clearing and focusing on blue eyes that were all too familiar. She reached out to him but her hands were shaking. He intertwined their fingers and pressed his forehe
Slice Of Life/Science Fiction by AnotherDemon, literature
Literature
Slice Of Life/Science Fiction
08:00
The alarm went off, filling the room with some song randomly chosen the night before. He looked towards the main room from the private bathroom, toothbrush still in his mouth. Stepping out, he smiled around the utensil at the sight of his partner currently burying himself deeper into the bedding. He tapped the alarm off and returned to the bathroom to finish up.
Two minutes later, he stepped out and walked back over to the bed. He prodded his partner in the ribs, chiming, “Time to get up.”
“Don’ wanna,” came the muffled comeback.
His smile turned into a grin. “Are you sure about that?”
He st
He grabbed his gun before slowly edging his way towards the mouth of the cave. He hadn’t come this far to get ambushed by some animal.
Turned out that it wasn’t an animal but a person and an injured one at that. He pressed the barrel of the gun to their head, instantly recognizing them as one of his pursuers.
“Give me a good reason not to blow yer brains out right here,” he challenged in a drawl, his hard eyes not leaving the top of the stranger’s head.
“Because then you would be rightfully committed, just for the wrong murder,” the stranger snarled, glaring up with striking blue eyes.
It felt lik
He came to in a body that would no longer work properly and he hated it. He hated every morning he had to get up in a body that could not function without assistance and he hated the fact that Bruce was forced to take care of him. He knew that Bruce didn’t care, that Bruce was more than happy to help him. Heck, the man had married him after he had started being unable to walk and he had wanted to punch Bruce in the face for doing such a thing but he couldn’t. Bruce loved him and for as much as he resented himself and what the world had dealt him, he loved Bruce and wouldn’t trade anything to change what he had.
He rolled ov
The contents crashed to the floor as the table was overturned in his anger. “Leave me!” he bellowed, his wings out around him as his tail lashed around his feet. The servants and creatures scattered, leaving him alone in his private study. How could this have happened?! He lashed out in rage, destroying a good number of furniture. Books and paper flew about but he paid them no heed even as his magic picked everything up and tossed it about.
One airborn book smacked him in the face and he grabbed at the accursed thing, ready to set it on fire for daring to collide with his face. But the magic for the spell dissipated as his curios
The actress on stage shouted some line as the power went out and every phone in the place lit up, all giving that same tone that many were familiar with. But those that had turned off the amber or weather alerts were confused that their phones were going off as well. Even the actors on stage were confused as a stagehand came out to tell them to hang tight with a flash light.
It was about the time the stagehand was leaving that an uproar broke out in the audience. There was mass confusion and a mad shuffle. There was a sound, high and loud, that made the entire audience flinch. A voice quickly followed the noise.
”Ladies and gentlemen,
She flinched away from the crowd. She noticed she hadn’t been the only one to flinch. Her companions had as well and the male was not looking pleased. She reached out to him and he offered her a tight smile as he gave her hand a brief squeeze.
The crowd was going nuts but it was clear many were forgetting the rules in place. She forego the crowd with her companions and started for the end of the walkway. Security swarmed past them in the opposite direction. There was the sound of a megaphone activating behind them but the announcement was cut off as the door closed behind them.
It seemed liked a curse. As soon as the door clicked shut
“Easy partner,” the younger man urged in a soft voice, neither of their gazes wavering from the creature.
The night air was almost still, the faintest of breezes barely detectable. The moon was a sliver in the sky but they didn’t need its light to see the creature.
Pure white and seeming to glow on its own, the creature drank slowly from the river, hooves not even making a sound on the rocks. The younger man shifted closer to the older, asking breathlessly, “What the hell is it doing all the way out here?”
“I don’t know,” the older man grumbled, his face set into a disapproving glare. “
The car puttered by as he crossed the cobble street. He barely gave a glance to the growing city as he hastened up the front steps into the apartment building. Shaking out his coat and fedora, he slowly made his way up the flights of stairs to his home.
The key stuck in the lock like it usually does. The apartment was dark and cold, just like he left it. He shut and locked the door before he crossed to one of three light sources in the flat. The bulb lit up as fiercely as it could but shadows still remained. He draped his coat over the back of a chair before entering the kitchen. It was tiny but it had a stove and a fridge so he didn’t
Updates happen on the 2nd of any given month, though an update is not guaranteed. While projects are currently in flux, Harry Potter and the Altered Timeline has remained one of the prominent pieces still being worked on.
With the posting of Gaster's Involvement | Chapter 6 another story has completed and The Othertale Timeline story is finished, a feat years in the making. At this point, the only thing I have planned is continuing to work on Harry Potter and the Altered Timeline. Outside of that, I have a number of original works I would like to touch after a year of not having the drive to but I'm not committing to a set plan quite yet. I make no promise on any sort of schedule for anything outside of HPAT remaining on a three month cycle, meaning there will be at least one chapter posted April 2nd. I do not plan on changing that any time soon. I am looking at potentially taking a break from writing on the off months for the time being. We will see how my muses take the free time. I hope life is being kind and muses are staying strong. ~AnotherDemon