Disclaimer - I don't own anything. As the corporations say these days, you will own nothing & be happy. I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or Disney or any of its characters. With that out of the way, let's goooo!
Siberian Taiga[1998]
–Newt Scamander—
He walked inside the compound, walking past several species of magical creatures that had been either declared extinct by the ICW or were on the verge of extinction. That is all the ICW could do these days, declare stuff.
He lost count of how many times he tried to get Dumbledore or any of the people in power to actually do something about the problem with their world, but no, they were more worried about the newest Dark Lord that arose because of their own policies.
Over the decades, he understood their role and how useless they were in matters of true magical importance. So, he had to take it upon himself. He, when he had become a geezer due to all the stress of running around, trying to save animals, as many as he could, had to start over again.
Turn a new leaf.
Speaking of turning a new leaf, his cane slid open the curtain as he walked into the dining room, watching Sev feast upon the food they had available here. Another magical thing about magical creatures that the rest of the wizarding world simply did not understand.
Mother Nature thought of everything and if one hurt her children, she hurt the ecosystem back. More magical creatures in an area means more congregation of magic, more magic being pumped into the air, water, and food around the area. Food and water that is taken in by the other wizards, creating stronger wizards.
How blind does one have to be to declare him a lunatic based on that theory? The ICW could shove itself, which is what he had done. Disappeared.
Left nothing behind. Not a note. Not his suitcase. Not a single iota of his memories, and just disappeared. Came here.
Elysium, he named it but even he knew that it was nothing more than the hope of a dying old man. Bonding with Voltrok had taken more out of him than he had told anyone, even Severian, who looked up to him even now, when he was more a husk of magic than anything else.
He was lucky he discovered Voltrok and this space before anyone else, or rather, he was lucky that the person who gave him the clues to this place, chose him for some reason because he could just imagine the fate of a tropical paradise such as this if it fell into the hands of a typical wizard.
Even if they were not the selfish and deaf to nature's cries kind, they would simply be unable to bear the burden of this place. Greed would overcome them and inadvertently expose it to the world, resulting in its destruction. No, he could not let that happen, which is why he had to soldier on, stay alive until he could find the right person to pass Voltrok on.
Sadly, Severian could not be the one to bear that burden.
"Done stuffing your face, I see," He snarked as he walked in, assuming the mean persona he did whenever Severian was around. He sat down on the comfortable furniture, built by the wood from this place, leaning back into it, as he concentrated on his bond with Voltrok, to get his bonded to share his senses with him.
"I see it, you know," He opened his eyes, halting the sensory transfer, looking at Severian, who was looking at his food, playing with it, refusing to meet his eyes.
"What?" He asked, having a hunch as to where this was going. The boy was far too observant for his own good.
"Your health. I can see it. The little trembles. Holding onto that stick of yours. You know you don't have to do stuff around here. I can bring people here, criminals, and keep them in line and make them do the work so that–"
"So we become human traffickers then?" He cut in dryly, knowing that the intention was good but unfortunately, in this world of theirs, good intentions are usually paved to make the road to hell.
"No, what if we gave them a choice? There ought to be bankrupt people outside, wizards or otherwise. We can offer them a large sum of money to stay here for the rest of their lives."
"And where are you going to find that money? Do you have an inheritance hidden somewhere? Because I don't. I emptied all my pockets trying to lobby for stricter laws and all I got for it in exchange was a monitoring program."
Then he glared at the boy, "I hope you were not thinking of selling stuff, were you? Because that would just have me ousting you from this place and doing everything by myself, or maybe I would have Young Damian outside start working here, he surely seems to have the aptitude for it."
He regretted the words the second they came out of his mouth, his passion about the magical creature trade dulling his sense of secrecy. He should not have said that, he wasn't even sure of that. Voltrok had a hunch and he hadn't been wrong ever since they met but he was not about to give someone who was his son in all but blood, false hope.
As expected, Severian stood up, chair clattering behind him, as he took in two large steps to kneel in front of him, with an eager look on his face, "Truly? Damian has it?"
He rolled his eyes at the bad acting, "Oh, please. You wanted it to be true, which is the whole reason you brought him here. And no, I haven't checked yet, but Voltrok has a special interest in him and we both know that it means that Damian is something special."
Pushing Severian back with his walking stick, he huffed, "Now, I have some work to do. I don't think Damian is a normal child because no normal child would have survived that forest. I want you to go out and check all the sections of the forest, to see if Damian had some dwelling or something. Do not go near the forbidden zone. It is named as such for a reason."
With that, he walked out of the dining room, as he began walking to the backside of the cabin, overlooking a small cliff, with a river at the bottom.
Taking a deep breath, he felt the breeze hitting his face stop as he opened his eyes and found himself looking into the eyes of Voltrok, who was looking at him eagerly. As Voltrok requested, he closed his eyes and found himself looking at the Shack where Damian was supposed to be sleeping.
Instead, what he saw was him unloading some rocks from the small bag he had, along with carefully placing down a bottle of milk, how did he get that? And a bag of something else. Abruptly, as if sensing something, Damian began looking around before looking straight up, at Voltrok's gaze.
Smiling, he opened his eyes and looked at Voltrok, surprised that the boy could sense Voltrok's subtle magic this early. If he wasn't sure that the boy was not a vampire, or any other ageless, he would have ejected him because of all this suspicion. As things stood right now…
"Let him rest," He said quietly, then added, "We can confirm stuff tomorrow."
Voltrok, worried about his health but getting his message, nodded and flew into the sky, disappearing within seconds, as his powers over this space allowed him to move about the pocket dimension with ease.
"Tomorrow, huh?" He chucked to himself, waving his walking stick, conjuring a nice reclining chair, and settled into it to enjoy the view in front of him. The boy did not even have a wand yet, but could do runes and enchantments, of very high quality if Severian's familiar's words were anything to go by.
Mobile full body shields capable of blocking physical projectiles. Magical spells and Unforgivables were yet to be tested, but even just that part screamed a magical genius to him..
He did not have long, he knew that. A decade, at most but even so, he did not regret a single bit. He should have been able to live up to 150 years old, with ease, if only he hadn't stressed himself to the point of turning his hair white.
Now, he was only 101 and already feeling death creeping up on him. It was a good thing that he had no regrets then, right?
He couldn't wait to meet Tina again, that's for sure.
"Only a decade more to go," he smiled feebly, before settling into the chair, looking at the sun setting in this magical utopia. He hoped he could see Voltrok in the hands of someone capable of before passing away.
After all, Voltrok was the soul of this place. The guardian borne out of magic, the collective will of the magical creatures here, and Mother Magic herself.
The Guardian of Elysium, Voltrok.
With that thought, sleep claimed him as he dreamed of Tina and all the memories they shared together.
If you would like to support me, read ahead(12 chapters rn) on this & other stories, commission more stuff like this, or vote in Snippet Polls, you can head on to my P*treon.