Previously, on the Caretaker...

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You stop in an instant after hearing his voice, you didn't imagine it, that came straight from the pillar of light.

“Brandon! Into the light! Now!”

“But. Sir…”

You try communicating with him, but unlike when he was inside of your head, it doesn't feel like a 2 way road, you can hear him, and you can certainly try to talk to him, but you are almost positive he can't hear you.

“Quick! Brandon! We don't have much time!”

You look at the light, then back at the castle, then back at the light.

“...Fucking hell”

You look back at the castle and make up your mind.

“I'm sorry. Sir.”

You run through the gardens, around the enchanted hedges and into the castle just as the ground begins shaking again.

*KA-CRRRRRAK. CRUUUMMMMMM*

You hear something big splitting and rocks falling, you are not entirely sure what it was, but you are not staying put to find out.
Without stopping, you venture deeper into the castle, shouting her name with each turn you take inside the corridors.

“WILLOW! WILLOW WHERE ARE YOU?! WILLOW!”

Another powerful shake of the ground makes you tumble. You steady yourself next to a wall and wait for the tremor to end, but not only does it NOT stop, the wall cracks and splits.
Lucky for you, nothing collapses, yet.

“I need to get out of here fast, WILLOW!”

You remember the last time you saw her, it was when you just stepped out of your room, she was heading to-

“The Great Hall!”

You turn to make your way directly to The Great Hall, praying with each passing moment that she is indeed in there.

With each step you take, you see parts of the castle cracking. They make a thunderous and worrisome *CRACK* every time that you see a new fissure forming on the walls.

At the same time, you see the many pets of Hogwarts that were left behind in their hurry, each creature, regular or magical that students had as their familiars or companions, running, flying or slithering away from the chaos, heading straight to any of the many exit doors of the castle.
You continue running in the opposite direction, quickly looking inside empty classrooms in case Willow is inside any of them.

“WILLOW!...WILLOW!...WILLOW!”

You find nothing, each room that you pass making you more sure that you’ll find her in The Great Hall.

Soon enough, after taking one last turn and avoiding a falling piece of ceiling, you reach The Great Hall.

“WILLOW!”

“BRANDON!”

There she was, trapped in The Great Hall, balancing herself on top of the staff´s table at the end of the room, half of the floor gone and replaced with a drop so deep you can't see the bottom of it.

“BRANDON! VHAT IS GOING ON?!”

“That's not important right now! We have to get you out of there now! Can you make your way out of there?!”

That was a stupid question, there was no way to cross the chasm that went through the hall and there were no other paths to take out of the hall.
Yet, she looks around, searching for a way to get out of there.

“I-i zhink i can do a small wall run and hang from the pillars of the walls! but it's too far to make it all the vay across! Can you do any magic to catch me?!”

“I don't think that's such a good idea right now! The magic is acting weird!

“Vhat!?”

There is another shake of the ground and the chasm grows in size, the hole only widens and widens as chunks of the floor tear themselves from the ground and fall into the depths, followed by the Gryffindor table.
You see the heavy table fall and slam against the wall a couple of times before splitting in half when it takes a particularly strong hit. It then disappears.
The red tablecloth with the Gryffindor crest follows.

File: wallrun.jpg (41 KB, 1280x720)

41 KB JPG

You see the long tablecloth falling and swaying in the air as it does.

“...That can work…Willow! I need you to do the wall run and then JUMP towards me!”

“VHAT?! I just said it's too far! I'll never make it!”

“Listen! When you jump I´ll throw you one side of this!”

You go to the Ravenclaw table and take the tablecloth from it, just as long as the Gryffindor one but in its distinctive blue color.

“You´ll have to catch it and i then i´ll pull you back up!”

“ARE YOU CRAZY!? ZHAT VILL NEVER VORK!”

“We don't have the time to plan something else!”

“IM NOT GONNA MAKE IT!”

A big crack appears on the ceiling, both of you look up and see it split the entire thing in half.
Pieces of it begin to fall, crushing the Slytherin and Hufflepuff tables under huge boulders.

“JUMP!”

Against her better judgment, Willow jumps off of the staff table and runs as fast as she can towards the wall.
With her running start, she jumps into the wall, her feet twist in an almost unnatural way as she begins the ascending part of the wall run, her hand drags behind her while keeping it as close to the wall as possible.

When she reaches the highest point, she kicks away from the wall and jumps into the chasm, stretching her hands as you throw the tablecloth in her direction…

“CATCH!”

>Roll 1D2, 1=she grabs it, 2= she doesnt. need 2 out of 3 rolls to succeed.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
And now, we continue.

“CATCH!” you shout.

And she does.

She grabs the blue tablecloth, clutching at it for dear life.

Immediately you feel the pull of her weight on your arms as the tablecloth tenses and pulls you closer to the chasm, but you plant your feet solidly on the ground and begin pulling back.

The building continues collapsing around you but that doesn't stop you from using all of your might to get Willow out of the hole.
The both of you might end up with some rope burn in your hands, but you simply ignore the pain until you see Willow´s head peeking out, and as soon as she can hold herself from the edge, you grab her hand and pull her out, both falling back on the ground behind you and lying down for an instant.

“Zhank you!”

“Dont thank me yet, we still have to-”

A huge brick falls next to you, missing you by a few centimeters, it explodes when it crashes into the ground, sending debris everywhere.

“SHIT! OUT! NOW!”

You both turn and make a run for the big doors, there are a few boulders blocking the way but at this point you know that looking for another path is out of the question and magic is not an option, so instead you climb.

Willow cups her hands to use as a step and push you upwards, when you get on top of the blockade you detach your prosthetic foot, letting the hook where your real leg and the prosthetic foot connect exposed and lower your leg so she can hang from it and pull her up.

“Ugh zhat vas veird…” She says as you reattach your foot.

“Hey, it worked, i might to have to add some attachments to it later, looks useful”

You both jump down the boulders and finally exit the collapsing building.

>Perfect escape, Willow earns a +10 to her physical bonus and Brandon reduces his negative one by 5.

As you step outside into the gardens, you turn to look back and witness the emblematic building that houses the Great Hall, split and crumble, its great windows and century old arches, all twist, bend and finally break and fall.

It all collapses onto the ground with a thundering and deafening sound.

But just as you think that everything is finally over and you can focus on the next problem…
…The ground begins to rumble.

There is a weird sound unlike all the previous ones, it sounds like thunder but it's muffled, as if it were underwater.

The ground then shakes once, twice and then something finally gives.

There is splashing in the lake, you see the tentacles of its giant resident, the giant squid, flail frantically as if trying to get away from something, then simply go back underwater and disappear from view.
Then the Selkies followed, they could be seen swimming away from Hogwarts main island, splashing and dashing away from something, they jumped out of the water as they swam away, but one by one they all disappeared and never came back to the surface.

There was a moment of silence before you could figure out what was happening.

You see the water starting to move all in one direction, slowly sinking into a specific point before quickly turning into a whirlpool.

It's the point from where that pillar of light was coming from, the whirlpool surrounding it as whatever that was down there sucked and drained the water from the lake.

You hear his voice again.

“BRANDON! WHERE ARE YOU?!”

“I'M COMING, MERLIN!”

“Merlin?!” Willow asks.

*CRRRUUMMMMB*

The cliff where the Great Hall used to be, breaks away from the main island and piece by piece descends into the lake, from where it splits you could see the dungeons, the kitchens, the Hufflepuff and Slytherin rooms and some classrooms, all hanging from the face of the new cliff that was formed as the previous one gets devoured by the whirlpool and disappears into the light.

“Dont you even ZHINK about it! Ve JUST made it back from zhere and now “zhere” it's GONE! Are you CRAZY?!”

“Merlin is down there! we have to get him out!”

She holds your hand and doesn't let go.

“Brandon! Zhis is too much! Ve dont know vhat is happening and ve dont know vhat is down zhere! Please dont go!”

You look into her eyes and you see worry, genuine worry along with some tears of fear forming at the corners of her eyes.

For a moment, your world freezes and the entire weight of…everything falls on your shoulders.
It is now when you finally realize the scale and magnitude of everything you are currently involved with.

Without letting go of her hand, you turn to see the purple pillar of light coming out of the whirlpool.

You see a chunk of Hogwarts missing along with a piece of the island where that chunk used to be.

Far in the distance away from the castle, you see all the students and professors, all bundled together and getting away from Hogwarts territory.

During all this time, you knew and kept saying that everything you did for Merlin was to help avoid the end of the world, to help prevent some sort of beast being unleashed into existence.
You kept saying that, you kept hearing that from Merlin, but you never really understood the magnitude of it, not until now.

You think back on everything you have done so far, you learned some ancient spell, you stopped an evil wizard twice, thrice even! you lost part of your leg…but despite all that, it never felt like you were doing much, it never felt like your actions were making a big impact, never felt like you were in real danger.

But now, seeing one of the most recognizable fortresses of the magical world, crumble and fall into the lake that surrounds it…something clicks inside your head.

Hell! The most impressive thing you have done so far was to banish an annoying poltergeist! You are WAY out of your league here!.

How is it that you managed to survive until now?! you are just the caretaker, you are the guy that picks up trash and cleans up children's messes.

How did you get involved in all of this!?

“BRANDON!”

You hear him once again, Merlin calling your name.
The most powerful wizard of all time, and he is calling for you with fear and despair in his voice.

“BRANDON! WHERE ARE YOU!?”

You turn back to look at Willow once again.

One of the tears that formed in her eyes finally rolled down her cheek.
She is terrified.

“BRANDOOOONN!!”

Merlin keeps calling for you.
He is terrified.

You look at your hand, still holding Willow´s hand and you see them trembling.
You are terrified…

…

“No…”

Willow looks at you, puzzled.
“Vhat?”

“No, I have to do it, Merlin needs me”

“But zhis is too much! i vont let you go zhere!”
She hugs you tightly and shoves her head on your chest.
“Nein!”

You hug her back.

“Listen, I need you to go with the rest of the students and professors, if it becomes too dangerous then you can just-”

“NO!”

“Willow-”

“NO!”

“...”

“no…i vont let you go…not alone…not by yourself”

“...huh? no, no! you are not coming with me! It's too dangerous!”

“It's also dangerous for you! don't zhink im going to let my boyfriend go into who knows vhat all by himself, i either go vith you or you don't go at all, I don't care if it brings zhe end of the world, im not leaving your side!”

You want to be mad at her, but instead you smile.

“You are crazy…”

“Not more zhan you, so you can't talk”

You gently hold her head in your hands and look at her straight in the eyes.

“Are you sure of this?”

“Ve still have a long road ahead of us, but i vant to travel ALL OF IT vith you”

You kiss her.

“It will be dangerous, hell, im terrified right now”

“Im afraid too, but i vould be more afraid if im not vith you”

You touch her forehead with yours and give her a small kiss on her nose.

“You are incredible”

“VE are incredible”

She returns the kiss on your nose and separates from you.
“Lets go” she says

“Lets go”

You both run towards the edge of the lake, you have to slide down some steep slopes and jump over the broken stone staircase that takes you down to the boat house, but eventually you make it.

Near the shore, you see the whirlpool and the pillar of light coming out of it, inside the light you see a human figure, it has no distinguishable features, but you already know it's him.

“Merlin! Sir! we are here! what do we do!?”

Immediately, you feel the figure looking at you despite not having any eyes…or a face.

“Brandon! it's too late! The Beast! it won't let itself be conquered! It now wants to escape its prison and reform itself! I'm the only thing stopping it from escaping into reality!”

“H-How do ve stop it?!” Willow asks and you now realize that she can also hear him.

“It's looking to complete itself, we must not let it! I can no longer focus on obtaining the remaining pieces, not while stopping it from coming into reality! Now you must do it, Brandon”

“What!? Me?! but, i dont-”

“Brandon, it HAS to be you, only you have some form of experience with ancient magic, you have used it before, you can do it again, find the last pieces and put an end to this!”

“But how many pieces are there? we know where some of them are, but we don't know if those will be enough”

“They will, I saw it”

“Vhat do you mean?” Asks Willow.

“This place, it allows me to see…everything” Merlin begins, there is something in his voice that you can't really identify, but he sounds…in awe, start struck, at the edge of…madness?

“Its not perfect, i see…endless possibilities, i've seen places that shouldn't be, things that never happened, things that WILL happen, but its all too much, i cannot choose what to see, i just do, but in one of those things i saw, i saw us, you, in a perfect world, where everything is fixed, the dead come back to life, unbothered and perfect, injustice is over, evil never was, it was all i ever wanted…it was…paradise.”

“Umm…Merlin?” You interrupt him.

He remains quiet for just a moment too long before coming back to his senses.

“There are millions of pieces out there, but they are all scattered across the branches, each branch only has a few pieces, so you can only obtain a certain amount from an entire branch”

“By branch…you mean…”

“Time, the Beast became so powerful, so everpresent, so omnipotent that when it was shattered it dispersed across every different timeline it had access to”

“...So we are locked out…”

“Not exactly, there are ways to access other timelines, but not even i with all the magic in the world would be capable of jumping to another branch, there are some secrets not even i know”

“So, how many pieces are in this one?”

“There are 4 pieces in total, we already have 1, we know where the 2nd one is, we suspect where the 3rd one is, and the last one we still don't know”

“But, I need your help to get those pieces, only you can contain them”

“That is not true, you can contain them too, all I've ever done was to help you with the transfer process, you will just have to do it without my help this time”

“But, what about the magic? magic is gone now, Hogwarts itself is falling to pieces!”

“Its not gone, just relocated, its being absorbed back into its point of origin, the source of all magic”

“Hogwarts is the source of all magic?” You say, pointing at the whirlpool from where the pillar of light is coming out.

“No, not Hogwarts, this is just a point of access, an entrance to the true source of magic, there are many across the world, but it seems the beast managed to open this one as a way to escape, it created a wound on reality”

“Vait! so zhe beast's true prison is in the one place vhere all of zhe magic comes from?! Vhy is it in zhere!? Zhat's like locking down a guy in a cell along with a nuke!”

“I do not know why it was trapped in here, nor is it important, we just need to stop it from escaping and destroy it once and for all, and for that we need all the pieces we can get! Now stop wasting time and go! I can only hold it for so long!”

“Dont worry Merlin, we´ll get those pieces for you!

“Thank you, Brandon, now make haste!”

“Hang in there, Merlin, we´ll be back soon!”

You step away from the shore, Willow following close.

“So…vhere are the pieces again?”

“Well, we know Lockheart has one, that's how he became some sort of “seer” or whatever he is. The other one should be close or under St.Mungos if what we felt before was correct, the last one though, i have no idea”

“So, St.Mungos it is then?”

“St.Mungos, yeah”

“Just one problem…how do ve get zhere? magic is gone, that means the floo network vill not vork and ve cant apparate, its like a 10 hour trip by Thestral and I haven't seen any magical creature since the castle began crumbling down”

“...Wait…you are the Muggle studies professor”

“Umm…yeah, vhy? i dont zhink zhere is much i can do vith zhat right now”

“Dont you teach about cars in later years?”

“Vell, yes, but i dont-” She stops mid-sentence then bursts into a sprint towards the castle…the one side that hasn't been destroyed yet.

“Please be intact, please be intact, please be intact!” She repeats again and again the entire time she runs back to the castle. You follow closely behind her.

“Is it a fast car?” You ask.

“Its not going to vin any races soon, but it should be fast enough to get us to London before it gets dark”

“Can i drive?”

“Do you know how to drive?”

“...Fine, you drive”

You reach the training grounds where the flying classes are held and head straight for one of the castle's outer walls, in there you find a set of wooden double doors locked with chain and lock.

But the walls surrounding the door appear to have collapsed with all the shaking of the land.
There are some pieces of the wall near the doors, you also notice how the doors are splintered, as if they were slammed by some of the falling boulders or cracked under the pressure of the wall.

“...Please be intact” Willow says one last time before opening the lock and removing the chain.

>Roll 2D100
>1st roll to see if the car has any damages
>2nd roll to see which car she got for her class

Thanks to everyone who has stuck around for my shitty quest!
with this thread, i think we have officially entered the homestretch for this quest...i think, we might still have another thread for later, but we´ll get there when we get there

Rolled 69, 19 = 88 (2d100)

>>6317390
inb4 it's her parents' old Trabant

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>6317380

>>6317405
you did the wrong roll, anon.
that was the recap of the last update from the previous thread

Rolled 91, 76 = 167 (2d100)

>>6317390

Rolled 51, 52 = 103 (2d100)

>>6317390
"not going to win any races" my ass.