Previously, on the Caretaker...

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

You can see the door almost closing, wind pushing out of it as it does.

“Brandon! Vhat do ve do?!”

“Im thinking, one second!”

“Brandon!”

“...”

“BRANDON!”

“Agh, son of a-RUN! WE TOOK SALAZAR DOWN BEFORE, WE CAN DEAL WITH WHATEVER HE WAS TESTED WITH!”

You feel Willow pull you alongside her, she is way faster than you so you are almost being dragged by her.
The closer you get to the door, the more you can see thanks to the bit of light that's still pouring out of it, the blue sparks dim out as you get closer, the floor goes from rugged and rocky to smooth and evenly flat.

But you made it, the giant door closed behind you and you could have sworn your prosthetic foot was about to get trapped in between the doors, luckily for both of you, you managed to get in with just a moment to spare.

Being here makes your eyes hurt, you have to raise your arm to block the light, but you realize it's doing nothing since the light comes from all places, it's not just a singular source of light, it's like you are INSIDE the light, it's blinding.

“Ugghh, zhis is making my head hurt”

“Are you ok?”

“Ja, it's just…it's coming from everyvhere, now I can't see for an entirely different reason, and closing my eyes isn't helping a lot.”

You try it, and just like she said, it's so bright it's like you are staring directly into the sun even with your eyelids closed.
You force yourself to blink, one, two, three times, expecting to slowly get used to the new environment.

What you didn't expect was for the light to suddenly disappear in between blinks and be standing in the middle of Hogwarts, clear as day, though there is something off with it, the castle looks…younger.

“Willow…i think you can open your eyes now”

She slowly does so.
“...huh…”

The sky is getting darker, stars slowly blinking into existence as the sun hides behind the mountains.
There are a few students still roaming around the outside of the castle, you can see most of them heading towards the main entrance where you are currently standing next to Willow.

“Are…are ve back?”

“I think we are? im not sure…Hey, excuse me, could you-”
You begin talking to a student, but stop the moment he walks through your body.
“AAHH WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“OH MEIN GOTT! ARE VE DEATH?!” Willow slaps her hands across her whole body, testing to see if she can go through herself.

You were about to do the same but a familiar face shows up, walking across the road that leads to the main entrance. It makes you freeze in place.

Merlin himself, wearing a dark forest green robe, a shorter, black beard and looking younger than what you could see when he was in your head but still older than you.

He walks past you and into the castle, completely ignoring you as he does.

You and Willow follow him, you try interacting with him, but stop trying soon after realizing nothing you do in this place has any effect on anything.

“We must be in some sort of…illusion or memory of some kind.”

“Merlin´s memories perhaps?”

“No…im positive this is part of the test…and remember, this hasn't reassembled yet…this has to be from Salazar's point of view”

You both follow Merlin into the castle, you notice how the floors, the walls, the bricks, all of the material that was used to build the castle, it all looks almost brand new.
You slide your fingers across the brim of the bricks on the walls, they are still perfectly cut and “sharp”

“This was definitely a long time ago…”

you quickly arrive at the entrance of the Great Hall, just in time to see Merlin open the doors and walk in, you follow.

The first thing you notice is that this room didn't have its current use back then, instead of being a sort of communal dining room, it was instead the founders main office, with each founder occupying each corner of the room. Each area is filled with their respective colors, decorations and tools for their specialties.

In the middle of the room, a singular big square table overflowing with paperwork and parchments of all kinds, you can't tell exactly what they contain but you are willing to bet it's an early draft of the school´s usual paperwork.

“I see that you at least still have the honor and common sense to show up when you are called here.” Godric Gryffindor begins as he walks from his corner to the table.
“I was half expecting you to hide in the mountains and us having to hunt you down”

“Im sorry that you feel that way, but i have to admit i also feel a bit offended and disappointed to have the great Gryffindor think so low of me” Merlin answers, you could hear a bit of venom in his voice, though you could tell he was trying his best to remain neutral.

“You would be wise to hold your tongue, Merlin.” Rowena Ravenclaw interrupts.
“You should consider yourself fortunate that you have not been struck down where you stand after disobeying our commands”

Merlin says nothing.

“You were warned not to dabble with ancient magic, yet you disregarded our warnings, you caused a disaster!” Gryffindor barks at him.
“Hundreds, perhaps thousands are now dead! because of your stupidity and arrogance!...What reason could you possibly have had to ignore our clear warnings?! what is it that you were planning to do with such unstable and untamed power?!”

Merlin stays quiet.

“You say nothing…is the reality of your actions finally catching up to you? Is this why you do not explain yourself?”

“Oh, now you want me to talk? Ravenclaw said I should hold my tongue, I was simply obeying your commands” Merlin says almost mockingly.

Merlin crouches under a red volt which you and Willow end up instinctively avoiding when it was going your way. Gryffindor´s wand being the source.

“Is this a game to you? does the loss of so much human life not weigh on you?!”
This comes from a familiar feminine voice, you find that it came from Helga Hufflepuff herself.

“She sounds like…” you say in a whisper.

“None of you could even begin to understand, this is a necessity, im making sure that the world survives, making sure that we have a future” Merlin says, interrupting your train of thought.

And then, from the shadows in the last corner, the final founder shows himself.

“You are a fool, a stupid child pretending to be wise, a cockroach playing god!”

“You are a disgrace to the Slytherin house, you are a disgrace to yourself, so much power, so much talent, so much potential…and it's all attached to the dimmest of minds” Salazar says with clear disapproval of Merlin.

“None of you would oppose what I had to do if you had seen what I've seen! I alone am keeping us from a future that would end our existence as we know it, I alone have saved our world from the greed of humanity! Countless times have I already protected all of us from certain doom, taken the hardest decisions that none of you would dare to entertain! If it weren't for me none of us would be alive now!”

“And was it worth it? to sacrifice so much for…for…a premonition? something that wasn't set in stone, you saw a glimpse into the future and decided to take the most drastic of actions, instead of looking for alternatives, instead of waiting just a bit more to be sure…the first thing you do…”
Helga Hufflepuff says, it sounds like she is holding back tears and despair.

“And because of it, we are alive now, we can forge a better future!” Merlin shouts back.

To your surprise, it's Salazar who speaks next.

“You eradicated countless magical families! generations of pure blood magic! Your actions alone have put the stability of the magical population in jeopardy for generations to come! and all for what?! SAVE A BUNCH OF MUDBLOODS AND LOWER FAMILIES?!”

“Salazar! That's enough of that” Gryffindor commands.

“Those “lower families” will be more valuable in the future than any of the stuck up elite that you so desperately tried to bring to power”
Merlin says without a hint of doubt nor remorse.

“Regardless of their status, we simply cannot ignore the atrocity of your actions, “lower families” or not, the ritualistic sacrifice of so many people will not go unpunished. I'm afraid that your days of freedom are done, you are no longer allowed to roam free to do as you wish and will be dealt with accordingly, it is over…”
Rowena declares matter of factly, not as a suggestion, but as a law that she and the rest of the founders will undoubtedly carry on.

Merlin sighs and folds his hands together, making sure that they go inside his sleeves as he does so.
“No…no, it's never over…”

And in the span of a second, Merlin pulls out a familiar looking wand of legend, it had bulbous orbs of white bone going across the length of the wand which was made of elder wood.
At the same time, reacting faster than anyone else thanks to his experience in combat, Godric Gryffindor stood in the way, defending his comrades by absorbing the full brunt of the magical blow.

Gryffindor was the first to fall, Ravenclaw followed soon.

Hufflepuff and Slytherin worked together, fighting like they have never fought before, an unprecedented dance of green and yellow against the pale violets of Merlin and the Elder wand.

But not even the founders of Hogwarts could stand against their combined power.

After a long duel, Hufflepuff fell, she managed to injure Merlin, but it wasn't enough to stop him, in the end, only Slytherin remained.
Severely wounded, tired and without any aces under his sleeves left, Slytherin went down, but not before making an oath.

“You fool…So many wizards and witches…my comrades, all sacrificed for something so vague, something you aren't even sure will happen!”

“Their sacrifice will ensure that it will happen, im sorry professor, but this is something i must do, even if it takes the lives of so many innocent bystanders and yours, in the end, this will be a footnote, but it will be worth it”

“you are interfering with destiny, you are keeping things from how they are meant to be! I promise, even if it takes me a thousand lives, I will see that you don't accomplish your goal, that I swear! I will avenge every single innocent life you have taken!”

Slytherin made one last effort to stop Merlin, but Merlin ended him before he could accomplish anything.

With all founders dead, Merlin took their souls and their magic, and then, everything froze in time.

The memory ended and everything went back to being a white void.

You and Willow stood side by side, unmoving trying to understand what you just witnessed.

“So…vait, hold on…Is Salazar zhe “good guy”? but…Merlin is also a good guy? i zont understand…”

“I think it's a bit more complicated than that…it appears that they both had their motives, they both wanted to “do good” but it was at the expense of other people…and they both committed unforgivable acts to do so…we might still lack some information to make an actual judgement, though…i´ll have to ask Merlin about it later…”

“You still vant to talk vith him? Did you not see vhat he did?! he murdered hundreds, THOUSANDS! for something he vasnt even sure, for all ve know, zheir deaths could have been for nozhing! Ve have to confront him about it…Vhat if he does the same vith us?”

“And we will, but we have to make sure that we have all the facts before we do anything”

“But…vhat if Salazar ends up being right and ve are helping the “bad guy”?”

“I don't think Merlin is a bad guy…maybe a bit extreme, but he surely must be doing all of this for a reason…”
You turn to look at Willow.
“...Right?”

She looks at you with worry and doubt on her face, neither of you sure of anything as of this moment.

You look away from her and into the distance, and notice a golden ornate door appeared suddenly where there wasn't one before.

“I think that's the exit! come on!”

Both of you run towards the door, it opens as you get closer to it, but before you could leave, you notice an unusual scene next to it, it doesn't cover the entire place nor does it suck you into it like the previous one did, this one is just a small room you could see into.
In it, a small boy with golden blond hair is on top of a beaten and old bed. He appears to be holding a pillow firmly over something, but it's too small for you to see clearly what it is.
2 different voices cry at the same time, one sounds smaller and muffled while the other sounds desperate and fearful.

You are not sure how to interpret this or what to think of it, but it makes you feel…sad and pity for whoever that child is supposed to be.

“Brandon!”

“...Coming”

You walk through the golden door and finally leave the white void.

When you step out of the door, the first thing you feel is a chill wind hitting you in the face.
As your vision slowly adjusts, you can see a blue sky with a few grey clouds covering part of the sun, there is a lake with a single island with lots of trees in its center, everything else around the lake is nothing but green plains with small hills here and there, all of this surrounded by mountains far away, creating an enclosed but huge area from which you can't see any other road or path going nor coming.

You hear a small *click* sound behind, you turn and see that the golden door is now gone, leaving you and Willow stranded in this…place.

“Look, over zhere!”

Willow points towards the island at the center of the lake. In there, you can see a silhouette disappearing into the trees.

“There you are…Let's go, we have almost caught up with him”

When you get closer to the lake, you see a small dilapidated pier with a couple of small row boats strapped to the poles of the pier.
You and Willow board one and begin rowing towards the island.

The waters are calm, it's an easy trip so far.

“So…” Willow grunts in between words each time she rows along with you.
“Vhat are ve *grunt* going to do vith *grunt* Salazar?”

You do the same.
“What do you *grunt* mean?”

“Are ve going to kill him vithout knowing Merlin's side of zhe story? Are ve going to just stop him and drag him back? are ve taking his side? Vhat are ve going to do?”

>”We can stop Salazar…we can stop Merlin if necessary, im going to kill him, we'll figure out the rest later”
>”It might be more work, but i'll drag him back so we can hear Merlin's side of the story first”
>”...If he has an actual GOOD point to all of this and stop Merlin…we might join him instead…we´ll see”
>Other (Write in:)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
And now, we continue.

You stop rowing, Willow stops after she notices you deep in thought for a moment.
The boat slowly crawls to a complete stop in the still waters of the lake, a small breeze gently rocks the boat from side to side.

“I think…i think it might be more complicated than what we expected, definitely more work, but we have to drag him back to Merlin, if everything we have seen, known and deduced so far is true, then we are going to need as many facts and details as possible, the fate of…everything and everyone might depend on it”

“I only hope ve are enough to take him down and all the vay back to Hogwarts”

“Well…” You hold the paddle tightly, suddenly lost in thought, feeling its texture, its weight, you doubt yourself. But then, you think of all the things you have gone through, the battles, the questions, the previous doubts.
You and Willow have gone through all of them, it's the reason you are currently in the middle of this lake rowing towards a mysterious island.

No, you have made it this far, there is nothing stopping you, not before, not now.

“...We are both here, that should be more than enough proof that we can, right?” You give Willow a confident smile.

She smiles back.

“Right! Ve have both made it all the vay here, if nozhing stopped us before, zhen nozhing can do it now!”

“Thats what I like to hear! come on! we have a lunatic to stop!”

You both continue rowing, more determined than ever.

…

You pray to god that you both are enough…

…

After rowing for some time, you finally make it to shore.

You beach the boat and step into the gravely dirt of the island.

Without you needing to say anything, Willow pulls out her wand, readying herself for the worst.
You do the same.

“This island doesnt appear to be that big, but i wouldnt trust even that in here, keep your eyes open”

“Vay ahead of you” She says as she casts a gripping spell on hers and your wand.

“Thanks”

You stretch, making sure that your joints pop.

“Let's do this”

Both of you leave the shore and venture into the small forest.

As you walk between the trees, you notice that their canopies cast thick shadows, the overcast weather becomes foggy the deeper you wander into the forest.
The trees are slim, yet tall, with grey pale trunks and dark green leaves on their branches. They are close to one another, but not enough to make it too hard to navigate, just a bit tight.

You feel Willow hold your hand. It almost startles you for a moment, but you managed to control yourself.

“I dont like zhis place…could it be anozher test?”

“I…never thought about it…”

You look around, fog is getting thicker, trees disappearing from view from closer distances than before.

“It might be…do not let go under any circumstances, ok?”

“Ok”

You even make sure to intertwine fingers so you´d have a solid grip on her hand.

You continue walking in as straight of a line as you can, only doing small turns when the trees create an almost solid wall, too thick for you to go through.
Not because you couldn't, you could easily cut them down with a single spell, maybe even a strong enough kick, the trees were thin enough for you to think it was possible, but because you didn't want to blow out your cover.

*Kroom* *Kroom* *Kroom*

Far in the distance, you could hear…something…crashing into something else, it sounded heavy, powerful.
You couldn't tell what it was, the fog was too thick, but whatever it was you didn't want to alert it.

“Vhat is zhat?”

“I can't tell, but I'm sure that Salazar has something to do with it”

You both whisper as you talk.
“Shh, dont move…”

You stand still for a moment.

*Kroom* Kroom* *Krack*

…

The crashing sound suddenly stops.

“Vhy did it stop?”

“Shh, dont-”

A white volt goes flying a few meters away from where you are standing, it disturbed the fog, leaving a long, tube shaped hole in the fog before quickly reforming and leaving the mist just like it was before, solid and unperturbed.

You and Willow crouch, trying to make yourselves as small as possible.

Several volts of magic whizz by pass you, none of them being that close to hit you, but getting dangerously close with each one that goes by.

You simply put your finger in front of your lips, Willow understands.

“I am outside of your domain, creature! i bested you! stay in the fog where you belong!”

You think that's Salazar, but he sounds different, he sounds…younger, but also bigger…and scared.

Another few volts of magic go by before it finally stops.

You whisper with the softest voice you can possibly make, almost mouthing the words.

“We must be closer to the exit than we thought, he sounded really-Willow?”

You turn to look at Willow once you are sure that no more volts are coming your way, but to your horror, she is no longer there.
You look at your hand and see a ball of mist shaped like a hand holding yours, it disappears soon after you notice it.

A chill runs down your spine.

“When did she-Where-How?!” You think, but even those thoughts seemed to have been too loud.

Another volley of volts come from outside the fog.

Your chest hits the ground and you cover your head, spells getting closer this time.

A short time later, the spells stop and you could hear footsteps running away.

“That had to have been Salazar, what was he so afraid of?”

You slowly stand up, making sure no more spells come your way.

“Wait, did he say “creature”?”

You hear some of the gravel on the ground shift…somewhere around you.
The mist appears to swivel and form small spirals that you can barely perceive.

“Willow?”

You then notice 2 small white dots deep in the fog, those are eyes…

…And definitely not Willow´s.

>Forget about Salazar for now and look for Willow in the fog, but something else might be in the fog with you. Roll 1D100, Highest roll will be used against an opposing roll.
>Willow is strong and can take care of herself. You can't let Salazar escape, follow the sounds of Salazar's running steps. Roll 3D100, your LOWEST roll will be used against the HIGHEST opposing roll.
>Other: (Write in)

File: IT BEGINS.png (369 KB, 706x402)

369 KB PNG

Well, the holidays are over! time to continue and finish this quest!
i hope you all had some nice holidays and a great new year so far! lets hope it stays like that the whole year!

Rolled 24, 99, 6 = 129 (3d100)

>>6358400
>>Willow is strong and can take care of herself. You can't let Salazar escape, follow the sounds of Salazar's running steps. Roll 3D100, your LOWEST roll will be used against the HIGHEST opposing roll.

>>6358476
a fucking 99's got to be enough to balance back out the 6

>>6358477
yeeeaaah...sorry anon, your 6 will have to fight against whatever comes out in an opposing roll.
your only salvation is for the other vote to win, that somebody else has an amazing roll to overpower yours or for my rolls to suck MAJOR ass.
...i´ll roll when i get back home

Rolled 45, 44, 72 = 161 (3d100)

>>6358400
>Willow is strong and can take care of herself. You can't let Salazar escape, follow the sounds of Salazar's running steps. Roll 3D100, your LOWEST roll will be used against the HIGHEST opposing roll.

Rolled 29, 47, 66 = 142 (3d100)

>>6358476
>6
>>6358708
>44

i will not proceed to add these 2 results together and the result (50) will go against an opposing roll, good luck

>>6358819
holy shit, it was actually close, not enough tho, but since it wasnt that far off, it wont be THAT bad...still bad tho

You stare at the white dots, they don't appear to move…You wave your arms at it, just to be sure, but they appear to ignore you.

Whatever, you don't have time to focus on that, you need to find Willow…But the sound of the steps are getting further away, fast.

You look back and forward between the eyes and the white deepness of the fog behind you.

“...I trust you, Willow, please be safe”

You make your way deeper into the fog, following the steps of Salazar.
*step step step step*
Left…
*step step step step*
Right…
*step step step*
Right again…
*step step step*
Left?
*step step*
wait…
*step…*
You stop, the fog is getting thicker and the steps are becoming harder to hear.

“Shhhit…”

You turn around, you look to the sides, you even look up and down, but all you can see now is the gray fog all around you, you can barely see the ground under your feet.

“Salazar! show yourself! Coward!”

…

“Salazar!? Salazar!...Willow?”

It suddenly becomes quiet, too quiet, so quiet you can start hearing your own heartbeat in your ears, slowly becoming more aware of it, the beating becomes stronger as you start to panic.

There is nothing in front of you, there is nothing behind you, just a solid wall of mist in every direction…And then you see the eyes again, same distance, same position, never moving from where they are.

Are they following you? or did you not move at all?

It's getting harder to fill your lungs, you take deep and long breaths each time trying to control yourself.

You struggle with it, but you manage to get your panic under control…barely, and take another look, trying to find your bearings inside the fog.

But just as you are about to fully fall into a spiraling panic, you hear him.

“Get away! creature!”

Salazar.

But something isn't right…

“HAHAHAHA!”
“You never had a chance, rubbish boy!”
“STOP IT!”
“Filthy blood traitor!”
“HELP!”

His voice, it comes from all directions, asking for help, cries of desperation, old taunts you know all too well.
They sound both far away and right next to you.

You are about to hold your wand and cast a spell in a random direction, when suddenly, as you turn around looking for the latest source of his voice.

“FUCK!”

Without any warning, in the time it took you to blink once, the white eyes are right in front of you.
You curse at it, adrenaline quickly running through your veins due to the sudden jumpscare.

You fall and try to crawl backwards away from the eyes, but no matter where you go or how fast you move, they are always in front of you.

And then…

“There you are!”

You turn, the eyes finally disappearing from your sight, only for you to find green robes and a long gray beard, Salazar standing a few meters away from you.

You roll away from a sudden blast coming your way, debris flies away as a spell hits the ground where you just were and use the momentum to stand up and be in a battle ready stance.

“Salazar! stop this! I will take you to Merlin one way or another, so save us all the trouble and give up!”

Salazar laughs.

“Oh don't worry! I'll go by myself and I'll make sure to take your lifeless body to him!”

He throws another spell and you jump out of the way and counter attack with some of yours.

“I really want to see his face once he realizes everything he has done vith you has been for nozhing!”

“Wha-” You are interrupted by another spell going your way.

“And once I'm done vith you i´ll go right after your little mudblood girlfriend!”

He continues throwing spell after spell, not giving you much space to counter attack.

You quickly look around and see nothing but thick fog.

>Stand your ground and fight.
>Hide into the fog and run away.
>Other (Write in:)

REGARDLESS OF YOUR CHOICE:
Roll 2D100+15 against an opposing roll from Salazar.
1st result will get the +15 and will go against the opposing roll.
2nd result has no bonuses and has to beat a DC: 75.

>Stand your ground and fight.

Rolled 28, 48 + 15 = 91 (2d100 + 15)

>>6360255
>Stand your ground and fight.

Rolled 67, 18 + 15 = 100 (2d100 + 15)

>>6360255
>Hide into the fog and run away.

>>6360305
if you could please roll, that would help a lot, thanks

Rolled 27, 79 + 15 = 121 (2d100 + 15)

>>6360255
>>Stand your ground and fight.

Rolled 3 (1d100)

>Highest 1st roll: 67+15=82
>Highest 2nd roll: 79
well, looks like you managed to beat the 2nd roll, lets see if you can beat the 1st one, good luck

>>6360660
>almost a critical fail
holy shit, you guys just keep winning somehow...

>>6360660
>>6360663
i thought we were going to lose hard on that one before HeadQM showed up lmao

>>6360755
oh, dude, i was already getting ready to write shit going down, HeadQM came down with angel wings and a halo and saved you all

>>6360755
>>6360974

I aim to please, after all

You look around you, nothing but fog.

Running is not an option now, you have no idea what's in this fog and if you get even more lost then it's over for you.

No, Salazar is here, you are ending this, here and now.

But…

You dodge another one of his attacks, but in between his many taunts…

“You have no chance against me, rubbish boy! might as vell save us some time and give up!”

Wait just a second…

Salazar continues his attacks.

“Expelliarmus!” “Immobulus!” “Petrificus Totalus!”

Those….he never used those before…

“Rictusempra!”

“Ok, thats enough”

You parry the tickling spell and fire back with one of your own.
He blocks it and immediately starts going into defense mode, he dodges, blocks and tries his best not to get hit by your attacks…he is surprisingly agile for somebody that old.

You continue your barrage of attacks, pushing him back into some of those thin trees, until…

While walking backwards trying to defend himself, Salazar collides with one of the trees, slightly shoving him to the side and under some of its branches.

“Locomotor Mortis!”

Your spell lands and his legs immediately lock together, making him unable to walk.

“Accio!”

Using the summoning spell, you try calling on one of the branches of the tree, but it doesn't break away from it, instead it bends, just like you wanted.
You end the spell and the branch flicks back, slapping Salazar in the face and knocking him down.

“Petrificus Totalus!”

With barely any sweat, you paralyze Salazar and he falls to the ground, completely immobile.

“Well!” You begin as you get closer “That was unexpectedly easy!”

You crouch next to him, putting the tip of your wand on his nose.

“But that's because you are not Salazar…are you?”

Salazar mumbles something, but you can't understand any of it since his mouth is shut together thanks to your spell.

“Right…”

You wave your wand a bit, letting his head free.

“You insolent child! I vill destroy you zhe moment I get zhe chance! you'll regret ever crossing paths vith me, rubbish boy!”

That accent…no…

“...Willow?”

“Salazar” thrashes as much as he can, but all he can do is move his head side to side, all while screaming insults and taunts at you.

“What the hell? Willow? what happened to you?!”

You get closer and try to touch his face, but he tries to bite you the moment your hand gets close.
You take your hand away, you dont want to risk your fingers.

You stand up and point your wand at him.

“Finite incan-wait-wait-wait…”

You look around you once again, you feel like you are being watched…

“Lumos”

The light that comes out of the tip of your wand illuminates a tiny area, not enough to cut through the fog, but you notice that some swirls form in the distance, almost as if reacting to it.
However, you feel a tug on your wand and the light disappears.

“You don't like the light, do you? Alright…Lumos Solem!”

A ray of sunlight comes out of your wand, it cuts through the fog like a laser.
For a moment you can see a clearing not too far ahead of you.

There is a screeching coming from behind you and before you could get out of the way, the white eyes show up once again and tackle you to the ground, they are enveloped in a misty, swirling figure, it almost reminds you of a dementor but there is no cloak or body, just an angry mist around those eyes.

You try getting up, but it feels like something or someone is on top of you, holding you by the wrist and pinning you to the ground.

The eyes are right in front of you.
You try aiming your wand at them, but its hold is too strong.

You try kicking it away, but your feet go through it, and that's when you notice that the fog is becoming thicker, you see all of it converging into a single spot right on top of you and from it a maw begins to form right under the eyes.

“What.the.hell. are you?!”

It says nothing, instead it just opens its misty jaws and clamps down on your left shoulder.

You scream in pain and try your best to get away from it, but it simply holds you in place as it tries its best to rip your arm off.

“AAAAAAH!!”

And just as you feel something about to tear in your shoulder.

“Lumos Solem!”

A beam of sunlight goes through the creature, splitting it in half, both pieces fall to each side and disappear with a “puff” in a cloud of mist.

You crawl away as fast as you can while holding your shoulder and see Salazar making his way to you.

“Brandon! are you ok!?” Salazar says with Willow´s voice.

You shake your head and rub your eyes to make sure your mind isn't playing tricks on you.

Salazar´s body quickly dissolves into thin air and from it you can see Willow step out.
She runs to you and kneels to your side.

“Vhat the hell vas zhat?!”

“Willow?! oh Merlin´s beard, there you are! i-i dont know, i´ve never seen anything like that!”

“Vell…at least it's dead now, right?”

She extends her hand to you and both of you stand up.

“What? no way, a most likely ancient…creature? curse?...thing? all the way down here? There is no way that a bit of sunshine is enough to kill it.”

You look around you, the mist from the…thing…is dispersing back to how it was before, slowly expanding but not rising to form a solid wall of fog like it did previously, this time it only reaches around your shins.

“Lets get out of here before it comes back”

“Vait, what about your shoulder? are you ok?”

You rotate your shoulder a bit, pain is still there but not nearly as bad as you expected.

“I think I am, whatever that thing was, it wasn't doing any physical damage, otherwise I wouldn't be able to move my arm at all, I think it was messing with our minds instead.”

“Vhy do you think zhat? Vait, is zhat vhy you looked like Salazar?”

“You too? Is that why you were attacking me?”

“Ja! i vas right behind you and zhen you disappeared right in front of me! Before i knew it i vas lost in the fog until i saw Salazar and decided to attack, but i guess zhat vas you instead…Sorry”

“Dont worry, at least we managed to figure it out before we did any real damage to each other…but if that's the case, then Salazar couldn't have gone far”

Now that the fog is low to the ground, you can see the rest of the island.
It curves from both sides, creating something closer to a crescent moon shape. The trees are visible now, hundreds, maybe thousands of trees all over the island, you can see apples hanging from their branches.
Far in the distance, you see a singular giant apple tree, standing tall far above everything else, you are 100% sure that tree is magical just from looking at it.

From where you are standing, it appears that you are directly in the middle of the island, a small but jagged mountain is right in front of you, it has a shallow cave, you can easily see the end of it, if anything it looks more like the curved back wall of an opera stage, there appears to be a white structure inside of it, you can't really make out the details, but it almost looks like a mausoleum…it appears there is movement inside of it.

Where would you go?
>The mausoleum
>The giant apple tree
>Other (Write in:)

>>6362103
>>The mausoleum

>>6362103
>the mausoleum

>>6362103
>The mausoleum

“Not far indeed, over there”

You point to the mausoleum and Willow turns to watch.
There is indeed something moving in there and as far as you know, there are only 3 people on this island.

You both make sure to cast a few healing spells on each other to make sure you don't have any injuries or pains that would hinder your movement, luckily for you, you made it all the way here with nothing but bruises and scrapes, things that the spells can easily take care off, the only lasting pain is that one in your shoulder, but it's quickly fading away now that you are out of the fog monster's maws.

Once you make sure that everything is fine with both of you, you make your way to the mausoleum, making sure not to make any sound. After all, if you have the chance to end up this quickly and without a battle, a surprise attack is definitely something you are willing to do.

You make your way through the rows of apple trees until you reach a clearing next to the mountain, letting you see a simple stone path that goes all the way to the white building, the path is flanked by small wooden posts with extinguished torches strapped to them.
And as you walk along the path, the mausoleum gets closer and closer, and with it, the sound of rock against rock.

*Kroom* *Kroom* *Kroom*

You see him, a hunched figure, lifting his wand up and down, levitating a big boulder over what appears to be a white coffin. You can't tell why or how, but something tells you that somebody in another life, in another world, did this exact move to help save the world, but now it's being done to doom it, it feels almost blasphemous.

*Kroom!* *Kroom!* *KRACK!*

“YES!”
The figure celebrates as it jumps into the coffin.

You use his own distraction to run up until the entrance of the building and stand right outside of it, protecting yourself behind the walls, You on the left, Willow on the right.

But just as you are about to jump in and unload everything you got into him…

“Where is it…? WHERE IS IT?!”

“That…doesnt sound good” You think as you take a peek inside, only to jump out of the way as a giant slab of white rock is thrown right at you, destroying the entrance of the mausoleum and the wall where you were hiding.

“YOU! WHEN DID YOU TAKE IT?! WHERE IS IT?!!”

His voice is different, younger, yet still arrogant and angry, but despite talking with another voice, you recognize the malice of Salazar Slytherin, using a body with blond hair and a few freckles on his face.
You recognize this kid, he was the brother of that little Hufflepuff girl that hung around with creatures most of the time, the student who offered to help you in the battle in the infirmary, Apollo Pertinger.

You stand up from the ground, not even bothering to dust yourself up, Willow at your side doing the same.

“WHERE DID YOU HIDE IT?!”

He pulls out his wand and throws some of the debris around him.

You and Willow defend yourselves by blasting the boulders away.

You are almost sure he is talking about that piece of The Beast that was supposed to be here, so you decide to play along.

“Play nice and i might let you see it, Salazar, maybe i´ll even let you play with it, just give up and come with us…nice and easy…”

He scoffs and stands up properly, he dusts himself up, removing some bits of debris from his gray cardigan and black trousers. He then chuckles for a moment.

“Im sorry, im sorry, i let my emotions get the best of me”
He combs his fingers through his hair and exhales as if forcing himself to relax.
“That would be giving you too much credit, it's obvious that you don't have it and are simply trying to bluff, i respect the attempt but i know better than that”

“Had to try” you respond with a smirk.

“However, despite everything I've said, I have to give you credit, both of you. Not anyone has what it takes to make it all the way here…Perhaps i treated you too harshly”

“I guess i can appreciate the compliment, after all, its coming from one of the founders, too bad it had to be you”

“Hmm, haaa that's a shame, really…you possess a gift, to have such superiority over everyone else and you squander it without giving it a second thought.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your blood, your purity! an incredible gift that becomes rarer and rarer as time moves forward and you do nothing with it, you mingle with…things…like that” He waves at Willow as if too disgusted to even point in her direction.

“Dont tell me you are doing all of this because of your stupid blood purity thing”

Even Willow rolls her eyes, unable to believe that this is the reason for all this trouble.

“Oh how i wish that were the only reason, sadly for me but luckily for all of you…im doing this because im trying to fix Merlin´s mistakes…Im trying to save us all!”

“Yeah right, like you are actually trying to save us all, vhy vould you even do zhat?” Willow asks.

“Despite what you might think, little mudblood, there is still one use for people like you, you make excellent play things”

Salazar throws a spell at her but you manage to divert it with one of your own.

“She only gets to play with me, you filthy snake”

“Hmm so you rather mingle with those things instead of taking our rightful place as the rulers of this world? So be it, once i get rid of you, nothing will get on my way of taking the world back to its rightful owners”

“Not happening, worm brain”

You attack with some red volts to begin, but he blocks them with something you were not expecting.

Holding it in his hands, Salazar blocks your spells with a bright, silver sword.

“You know, I was disappointed when the piece of The Beast wasn't there, but there was a nice consolation price”

“Is zhat…?”

“I think it is…shouldn't that thing be nailed to an anvil on top of a rock?

“I thought that too, but it appears that the legends were wrong and he was buried with it instead”

Your throat becomes dry and you struggle to swallow your nervousness.

“N-no matter, we can still take you down!”

He chuckles and simply beckons you with a hand gesture.

>BOSS BATTLE: VS SALAZAR SLYTHERIN
>Roll 2D100+30 (1 roll for each +15 for each) Both rolls must beat an opposing roll from Salazar
>This is the first battle, you must beat 2 out of 3 battles in order to win.
>good luck.

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>>6365492
>forgot to add the gif for dramatic effect, god dammit...

Rolled 60, 83 + 30 = 173 (2d100 + 30)

>>6365492

>>6365574
feeling good about these rolls

Rolled 19, 77 + 30 = 126 (2d100 + 30)

>>6365492

>>6365627
good thing we already have a 75 for the first roll

Rolled 86, 41 + 30 = 157 (2d100 + 30)

Rolled 50, 48 + 30 = 128 (2d100 + 30)

>>6366009
>>6365627
>>6365574
>Highest first roll: 86 for a total of 101
>Highest 2nd roll: 83 for a total of 98

Salazar has to beat these two, good luck.
Salazar´s Bonus 1: Prowess of the Founders +15
Salazar´s Bonus 2: Excalibur, Sword of King Arthur +15

>>6366080
>Highest first roll: 50 for a total of 80
>Highest 2nd roll: 48 for a total of 78
...jesus christ...

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>>6366080
>>6366081

You look at his hand, another taunt…You are not falling for it.

Instead, you hold your place, wand in hand, solid as a statue, legs tensed and ready to explode at the most minimal of movements.

You steal a quick glance at Willow and she does the same, both standing perfectly still.
You have never seen a movie before because you have lived your entire life in the wizarding world, but this sounds exactly like to what Willow describes as a “Mexican Stand-off”
The only thing missing is the lonely tumbleweed rolling across the soon to be battlefield, but there are no wind currents down here, it's all perfectly still, even the water could be mistaken for ice due to how solid and unmoving it was.

“Well?...”
Salazar begins and you almost jump out in a random direction thanks to the suddenness of his voice.
“...Are you not going to make the first move? I'm giving you a chance…”

You steal another glance at Willow, no words needed, you both already know what NOT to do, so you stand still.

“Oh, I see what you are trying to do, you are expecting to answer to whatever I do first, aren't you? Well, two can play that game”

He holds the sword in front of him and then…he opens his hand, letting go of it.

But instead of falling to the ground, the sword floats and aims itself towards you.

“Now, which one will attack first? Me? or the sword? care to take a guess? Hmhm”

You were not expecting that, the sword floats menacingly in front of Salazar, pointy end aimed at you, is he controlling it somehow? Is the sword moving by itself? you can't tell what it is, you´ll have to-

“CONFRINGO!”

Salazar attacks and you react, you jump to the side to try and get out of the way, but the explosion does not come out of his wand, it comes out from the tip of the sword.

And you jumped directly into its way.

You close your eyes and cover your face with your arms, expecting to be blasted to the other side of the island.

“PROTEGO!”

You fall behind a barrier of magic, Willow being its source.

You pat yourself, making sure you didn't receive any damage, but besides landing sideways on the ground you are pretty much intact.

You look at Willow and smile.

“Thanks! He got into my head for a second there”

“Dont vorry, i got you. Now let's teach zhis snake a lesson!”

You stand up and quickly assume your battle stance. Knowing that Willow is right by your side, it fills you with confidence and determination.

Salazar looked annoyed.

And so, Salazar makes the second move…and third and fourth.

He attacks, one spell after another, creating a lightshow of spells heading your way, both coming from his wand and the tip of the sword, the spells are headed directly at you.

But you stand your ground, the first spell is blocked by Willow, the second by you, the third and fourth are parried and dodged.
The ones that you can't dodge or counter are instead blocked by Willow, she covers your blind spots and you cover hers.

It takes a minute or two of pure defensive movements before Willow starts firing back when you block something.
She stands behind your shields and attacks when they go down for a moment so you can start making some ground.

You take a couple of steps, a shield goes up and then down, followed by a small and quick barrage of spells, it's an almost perfect dance, one you can almost not believe you are pulling off.

Salazar looks like he can't believe what his eyes are seeing either.

“no…NO! Dont even THINK that you have a chance! not against ME! EXCALIBUR! PESTIS INCEDIUM!”

From the tip of the sword comes out a stream of fire and begins to pour out like a firehose, it falls and pools on the ground like lava and from it, a pillar of fire erupts.
It has a mouth and a forked tongue, slit eyes and a long body, a snake made out of fire, it crawls and slithers out of the pool of lava, scorching the ground it moves on.
The sounds of the fire sounds like a hiss, the cracking rocks under it sounds like a rattle, it's a haunting sound that ironically chills your soul.

And it looks at you, with paradoxically cold eyes and an evil gaze.

“Fiendfyre…” The same spell that killed McGonagall in her office that night.

“SPLIT!” You command and Willow obeys just in time to escape the fire snake lunging at you.

It explodes when it crashes into the ground where you just were, only for it to also split in two and chase both of you at the same time.

You run and Salazar laughs.

“Yesss! YES! RUN! RUN! RUBBISH BOY! HAHAHA!

There isn't much you can do with that thing chasing you, you try throwing some water spells at it.

“Aguamenti!”
A stream of water shoots out of your wand, but it fizzles out the moment it makes contact with the fiery snake.

“Meteolojinx!”
The magical sky is suddenly covered with dark clouds and an almost torrential rain drops on top of the island, it slows down the fire, but it's still not enough.
The enchanted fire burns too hot to be smothered by the rain, it leaves a path of burning trees and melting rock as it chases you.

But then…an idea.

Instead of running away, you run towards Salazar.

“HAHAHAHA haha haaahh…no NO!”

Once again, he starts shooting spells at you, trying to make you change course, but you parry, block and counter attack, maintaining your path towards him.

“Hey Salazar! I found your pet!”

“You think you are clever?! I CONTROL THAT FIRE! IT OBEYS ME AND ME ALONE!”

Just as you are about to reach his position and tackle him, he waves his wand and the fiery spell disappears, immediately you feel the heat in your back cool down, it's an almost soothing sensation, but it was the perfect distraction for Salazar to land a hit on you.

The spell hits you square in the chest and it knocks the wind out of your lungs.

You fall at his feet, directly in front of him.

“Immobilous!”

Your body becomes numb and you suddenly can't move anymore.

“What's the matter? things didn't go according to plan?”

He raises his foot and stomps on your chest.

You grunt in pain but try to tough it out, not wanting to give him any satisfaction.

He stomps again.

“I got to say, usually I would have used a spell to do this, but right now i really want to feel your bones break under the weight of this new body!”

He stomps once more.

“What even was your plan? run straight at me and knock me down? This new body is too big and heavy for you to do that”

You try to respond and cough instead, hurting inside your chest every time.

“Di-*cough*-dis…”

“Whats that? speak up, i cant hear you over the sound of your broken ribs”

He stomps one more time and you can feel something crack in your ribcage.

“AAAGH! *cough cough*...Dis…traction”

“huh?”

There is the sudden sound of a sprint followed by Willow landing a knee strike on the back of Salazar´s head.

…

This is the 2nd roll. You can end the fight right now if your rolls are good enough.
>Roll 2D100+15 (Only the first roll will have the +15) against an opposing roll from Salazar.

The first roll (+15) is to end the battle.
The second roll is only in case you don't roll high enough.
both rolls will go against an opposing roll.

Good luck.

Rolled 3, 13 = 16 (2d100)

>>6366895

Rolled 7, 69 + 15 = 91 (2d100 + 15)

>>6366895

Rolling

Rolled 36, 26 + 15 = 77 (2d100 + 15)

Rolled 70, 90 + 30 = 190 (2d100 + 30)

>>6366937
>>6366958
>>6367232
>Highest first roll: 36 for a total of 51
>Highest 2nd roll: 69

oh no...
if there is any moment in this entire quest where you need your luck to really clutch in, this is it, best of lucks fellas.

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>>6367267
>51 vs 100
and
>69 vs 120
oh..this aint good

Rolled 78, 41 + 15 = 134 (2d100 + 15)

>>6366895

Rolling for fun.

Sorry. Been very ill for the last month.

Good battle scene so far, fun twists.

I had also planned for Isolt to go go on a murder spree to kill anyone with his blood and other things for a while. Great minds think alike, to ensure his line ended with her. She obviously missed some.

*THWACK*

You heard the sound of his skull rattling and making some kind of almost hollow sound, she for sure cracked something on the back of his head. But it appears that the hit was a bit too strong for her too, she lands and rolls on the ground, but when she tries to stand up, she falters and limps, falling on the ground next to you.

Willow holds her knee in pain for a second and shortly after hits you with a “Finite Incantatem” to free you from the paralyzing spell.

The moment you can feel your body move you take a deep breath to fill your aching lungs with precious air, every moment is filled with pain as you feel your lungs expanding and shuffling your broken ribs around.

“Vulnera Sanenteur!”

She then uses the common spell to heal wounds, but it doesn't do much on most of your broken bones.

“I'm sorry, i dont know the spell for healing bones, but zhis should be enough, ja?”

You stir and slowly sit.

“It´ll do for now, but I'm going to need medical attention after this”

“Ve are technically still under St.Mungos, ve shouldnt have problem fixing you up after ve get out of here”

“Yeah, lucky us, huh? now, lets finish this before he wakes-”

*KUCHAK*

Willow tries to scream, but the sword on her lower back is too much for her to fully process what's going on right now.

She lowers her hand down to her stomach, you follow her movement and see the tip of Excalibur coming out through her red tank top, a stain of darker red growing around it.
Instinctively, she grabs the sword, wrapping her hand across the sharp edges, but the flesh of her hand is cut open when Salazar pulls out the sword from her and then kicks her to the side.

Standing in front of you, Salazar holds the bloody sword, smiling, one of his eyes is fully red now, it appears that the hit on the back of his head bursted something inside his skull and is now internally bleeding, but that's still not enough to stop him at the moment.

“That…felt really good”

It suddenly feels both very cold and very hot at the same time.
You can no longer feel the pain in your chest.
Your limbs, skin, mind, all of them feel numb in an instant.

Your vision turns red, yet tears roll down out of them.

He is standing in front of you, taunting you like he always does, his body appears to wobble a little, you can't tell if it is because of the hit he took to the back of the head or your vision playing tricks on you due to the seething rage inside you.

But you don't care which is the cause.

You are taking him down, now.

It takes no effort standing up, even with your prosthetic foot. You throw yourself at him, using your entire body weight in a rage-filled attempt to knock him down.

But despite your best attempts, the body he stole is too big for you, the most you could do was to push him back a couple of steps, but he hit you with the handle of Excalibur, knocking you away from him and into the ground.

You try again, anger too powerful to just let you give up.
This time, you land a couple of hooks straight to his face, but again, he knocks you down and kicks you away with a powerful kick to the stomach.

“What's the matter, rubbish boy? Did I hurt your girlfriend? HAH!”

You try to stand up, but the best you can do is to throw up after that kick to the stomach.

Your vision is blurry, feeling is returning to your body and with that, pain.

Your body trembles from both anger and a cold sweat, if you don't stop him now, nothing will.

You feel your wand inside your sleeve, still tuckered and protected where you always leave it.

You have one chance left.

This is the 3rd and last roll. You MUST beat him now.

>Fuck Merlin, Kill Salazar now and destroy his soul.
>Merlin will have a better punishment for him, take him back alive.

Regardless of what you choose, Roll 1D100+15, must beat an opposing roll from Salazar.

Good luck…

>>6368736
Ayyy! glad to have you back, sadly, you rolled a bit too late and those numbers still arent enough.
Still, thanks for trying, maybe you´ll do better in the next one!

Hope you feel better soon enough, you have been gone for quite some time, i was getting worried about you.

Rolled 24 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>6369090
>>Fuck Merlin, Kill Salazar now and destroy his soul.

>>6369231
oh no

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Rolled 55 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>6369090

>Fuck Merlin, Kill Salazar now and destroy his soul.

He hurt the waifu. Rip. And. Tear.

>>6369237

Maybe a hero will appear for a clutch save, or Sally will shit the bed. Him getting a 1 would be amazing.

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>>6369242

We can tell you deleted that post. Kind of sketchy. Not cool.

A 55 again for people w/o 4chanX or something.

>>6369256
i saw it too

>>6369256
more likely they got wiped by jannies than deleted the post here

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>>6369260

Who knows? I don't know why they would do that. Jannies and mods barely pay attention to this board.

Guess it is up to the bossman if it should count or not; it was, for a period, a valid roll.

>>6369260
>>6369264
tell you what, i´ll roll the opposite roll when i get home.
IF you guys CANT beat it with what you currently have, THEN i´ll allow >>6369260 to roll once more since his number was indentical to yours >>6369237

Rolled 70 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

Shit, I've been away for a while because life happens, and now... well, let's see if I can help

Rolled 39 (1d100)

>>6369090
dice addiction

Rolled 11 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>6369231
>>6369237
>>6369260
>>6369418
>>6369419
>Fuck Merlin, Kill Salazar now and destroy his soul.
i think the guy who got his post deleted also voted for that and we got 2 voteless rolls, so that pretty much makes it the winner vote.

>Highest roll so far is 70 for a total of 85 (thanks headQM >>6369418)

Well, this is it, beat Salazar´s roll and you are pretty much done with him...but if you dont...

Good luck...

>>6369456
>11 for a total of 41

You lucky bastards...
i saw that some people on /qtg/ were organizing for the possibility of another king and queen event and "luckiest" character was a category, if Brandon gets somehow nominated, he HAS to win that one

>>6369456

Hahhahaha. Ate shit at the last minute. You have to love it.

>>6369457
Brandon's luck has been insane

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Aaaaaaaalllllllright!
1st of all, apologies for taking so long to update, i actually had to rewrite the entire thing like 4 or 6 times before i ended up with something i liked. After all, this is the final result, it HAS to be cool, so i tried my hardest to cook something good...i hope you like it.
For now tho, the update is almost ready, i just need to do some proof reading and i´ll post it after i wake up, cya soon!

This is your last chance, you feel it in your body, your soul.

You stumble while trying to stand up, Salazar chuckles mockingly.

“Really? a couple of hits with the back of this sword and you are already stumbling? I'm disappointed, what happened to the pain in my behind that I´ve had to deal with all this time? Are you really going to make it this easy?”

You are sick and tired of this guy, he has been nothing but problems in your life, you just wanted a simple, quiet and calm life…

You remember the deaths of Lily and McGonagall.
You remember the feeling of your missing foot that got stolen by Peeves.
You remember the deaths of your parents and how you will never be able to find whoever was guilty for their demise.
You remember the poor kid who died in the infirmary room.
You remember Salazar stabbing Willow a moment ago, you look at her, lying on the ground, hand on her wound, thankfully still alive but in severe pain.
…
You remember the promise you made to Merlin: “Bring him alive.”

“...Yeah, Fuck that”

You shake your head, shaking the dizziness away and clutch your stomach as you stand up.

Like hell you are letting this guy get away with it that easy.

Once you are on your feet, you pull out your wand, rotate your shoulder a couple of times and stand in your usual combat position.

One way or another you are taking him down, end of the world be damned, this is personal.

“I must say, I admire your dedi-”

“Shut. Up.”

“...Hmm, so be it”

Salazar brandishes Excalibur but you cut his display short with a Bombarda spell that he barely had the chance to evade.

He jumps out of the way of the explosion, but you refuse to give him the chance to recover, one after another, you cast all kinds of spells in his direction.

Bombarda, Confringo, Glacious, Diffindo.

You quickly feel your body tiring, but you keep going out of sheer spite.

Salazar attempts to counterattack, he even manages to parry a couple of spells, but the moment he throws something back, you block it and return it back to him.

You feel a strange sense of Deja-Vu, but you can't quite put your finger on what's causing it.

You stop your barrage of attacks for just a second to catch your breath, but that was a small mistake that Salazar took advantage of to switch the course of battle and take his turn in the offensive side.

He casts wordless spells at you, things you haven't seen, magic with shades of green, wand movements you can't easily predict, spells that change directions back at you after they missed.
It's a barrage of magic that you are somehow dodging almost unscathed.

…Yet, it becomes a stalemate in which you keep mutually dodging and attacking.

But then, you see something in his movements, something you have seen before a long time ago.

Salazar attacks and then twirls to the side, evading what few attacks you can throw and ending in the perfect position to attack with another spell.

He moves just like…

“Professor Potter, of course”

Now you know where that Deja-Vu feeling was coming from, he moves just like Potter did in that battle you had with him in the DADA classroom.

““Ah nicely done, Brandon! This is exactly what I want! be creative with your spells, make anything you know and own work in your favour!””
Potter´s advice replays in your head.

“He is too big to beat physically and too good and powerful to beat magically, strategically it is then” You say as you plan the next steps in your head.

You look at the floor you are both standing on, it's just ground with small patches of grass here and there, a couple of small boulders slightly protruding from the ground.
Besides that, it's just plain dirt, nothing else to it.

It's perfect.

You evade one more attack from Salazar going your way and start enacting your plan.

“Confringo! Defodio! Bombarda! Defodio! Defodio! Expeliarmus! Defodio!”

With each attack you make sure to sneak in the digging spell as much as you can.

Salazar still twists, twirls and dances around the explosions and attacks, but you notice that he is slowing down a bit, he is making sure not to step into the holes you are creating and he seems to be slowly making his way away from the area.

You can't allow that, he has to stay there.

“Ventus!”
A strong gust of wind shoots from the tip of your wand directly at him, pushing him back just a bit.
You follow by casting another couple of Defodio´s around him and finish up with…

“Aguamenti!”
A powerful stream of water burst out from your wand, enough to give Salazar a final push to make him step back into the digged up ground.

You keep pushing and pushing, making sure to spew as much water around as possible, some of the holes you made even start to fill up and the area around them, making them almost completely disappear from the surface.

“ENOUGH!”

Salazar counter attacks with some spell you cant recognize, whatever it is, you don't want to get hit by it, so you stop your casting and jump out of the way, splashing around a bit as you fall and roll.

“This is getting sad, rubbish boy! i was expecting an actual battle, not these pathetic beginner tricks, it feels like fighting a 1st year student”

He then brandishes Excalibur once more and it begins casting fire from both his wand and the sword.
You create a solid wall from the ground and cast Protego around you in order to protect yourself.

“Come out! Fight like a man!”

He continues throwing fire at you, your dirt wall won't hold up for long.

“Last part of the plan…”
You lift the left hem of your trousers and fiddle with your prosthetic foot for a moment.
“Alright, here we go…”

You brace yourself and jump away from the protection of your wall, barely ducking away from the fire and starting another barrage of attacks.
Once more, you cast Aguamenti to push him back and extinguish the flames before they burn you.

As the flames die down for a moment, you burst into a sprint heading straight to Salazar.

When he sees that you are heading straight to him, Salazar changes positions, no doubt about to cast another spell to block your path or worse.

So you do the only thing you can do, and throw one more spell.

“Expulso!”

A blue volt of magic shoots out of your wand, it flies across the space between each other…and it gets blocked by the sword, blasting the spell away with a swing…

…And from behind the spell, comes out a flying prosthetic foot.

You don't know if it was too unexpected, or if Salazar didn't see it coming, but he is unable to block it on time.

The foot hits him straight in the nose with enough force to give him whiplash.
He stumbles backwards and you take the chance to push him back even more.

“Expluso! Expeliarmus! Ventus! Aguamenti! Incendio!”

You throw everything you know at him, you push him, cut him, soak him, burn him, everything while you continue running as fast as you can with a heavy limp.

Finally…

“Immobilus”

He stands still, one hand over his nose and the other stuck mid-cast.

And without stopping from your limping sprint, you punch him in the face, knocking him down and into one of the many water-filled holes you created.

“GLACIUS!”

The water freezes around him, turning him into a human sized popsicle, legs being the only thing sticking out from the frozen water.

He is not going anywhere.

You fall on your knees and exhale.

You give yourself a second to catch your breath before crawling your way closer to him.

There are a few puddles around the block of ice, they feel very cold on your legs and hands, but you ignore the feeling, right now, the hatred you need to muster inside you needs to be colder.
You take your wand and dig into the ice with the tip, just enough to make sure you won't mess this up.

You recall the pain, the struggle, the nights wandering around the castle, the many lives he took, both the ones you know and the countless ones you don't, the suffering.

You are focused and almost ready to do it, but…something is missing, you are not sure if you are capable of-.

You lift your gaze and look at Willow, not too far away from where your battle took place, she is still on the ground, looking up to the sky, hand pressing into her deep wound, her chest moving up and down with difficulty.

You look back at Salazar, his legs are barely moving, struggling and trying his hardest to escape.

“Avada Kedavra”

The incantation is plain, controlled, with a hint of raspiness in your voice, but other than that, casted like any other normal spell would.
There is a green flash going from the tip of your wand and into the ice.
The block becomes illuminated from the inside for a brief moment, and then, his legs become limp.

“And dont…FUCKING move”

Shortly after, you hurriedly make your way back to Willow, foot already back in place.

“Willow, Willow, Willow, it's ok, I'm here!” You say as you kneel next to her.
“How are you feeling?”

She looks at you and coughs a bit of blood.

“I'm feeling just p-peachy, vha-vhat do you zhink?”

Still, she smiles through the pain.

You chuckle once, just for an instant before the worry returns to your face.
“Right, stupid question, sorry”

You take out your wand and aim at her wound.

“Vulnera Sanentur”

But the wound refuses to close up.

“It's not working, why is it not working?! Vulnera Sanentur! Vulnera Sanentur!”

“St.Mungos is above us, you can take me zhere, zhey´ll know vhat to do…”

“Its too far away, i dont want to move you too much and risk hurting you more”

You try the healing spell again, but it still doesn't work.

“Theres got to be something i can do”

You look around but only see rows of trees, fog and the mountain behind you.

Willow holds your hand, staining it with her warm blood.

“It's ok, at least…you took him down, right?”

“Yes, yes i did, he is gone, its over”

“Good…good” Willow slowly starts slurring her words.
“Its…its getting a bit cold…in here…”

You take your coat and lay it on top of her after making sure to dry it and casting a quick spell on it to keep it warm.

“Dont talk, you need to save your energy”

“Sssshure…ssshure…”

Again, you look around and make a quick survey of the area.

Behind you is the mausoleum that Salazar was graverobbing.

To your left and far into the edges of the island, you can see the giant apple tree.

To your right, is the battle zone you created to defeat Salazar.

In front of you, rows and rows of small apple trees surrounded by fog.

>You might only have time to explore one place, where will you go?

>The Mausoleum: Salazar was looking for something there and it wasnt the sword, maybe something there can help you.
>The Giant Apple Tree: You can tell it's magical, but the nature of its magic is unknown to you.
>The Battleground: Salazar's frozen dead body is in there, Excalibur is poking out from a puddle in the ground
>The field of fog and trees: The place where the fog monster was chasing you.
>The pier at the edge of the island: You remember the door to get here disappeared, but maybe you can row back to the mainland and find an exit to take Willow to St.Mungos in time?
>Other (Write in:)

>>6374889
>>The Mausoleum: Salazar was looking for something there and it wasnt the sword, maybe something there can help you.

>>6374889
>The Battleground

>The Mausoleum

i´ll leave it open for a bit longer in case anyone wants else wants to vote and close the votes early tomorrow, so if any lurkers wishes to vote, now is the time

ok, im closing the votes, The mausoleum it is
Writing.