After The Fall ((closed))

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Loki was young still, no older than eight. He was standing in the center of a large crowd. All the people around him were shouting and some were crying. Loki was surrounded by three large men. One, he thought to be his father, Aiden. Another was a man named Romulus, Loki looked up at the old man, admiring the way he stood so tall, even though he walked with a cane. Romulus had always been so distant to Loki, as if he was half statue half man. He rarely spoke, only nodded, shook his head, and grunted. It was as if words were beneath him. Loki liked Romulus very much though, he taught Loki to see. The other man was not as commanding as Romulus was, but he was just as big. The man’s name slipped Loki’s mind as he stared to his right at him. He was a large man, with dark hair and dark eyes. His face held a proud smile, nearly a sneer. Loki took his gaze from that man, to the scene in front of him. There was a woman on her knees, and there were two boys behind her. They looked like they were praying. Loki cocked his head to the side and took a step forward and it was as if he had broken some sort of trance in the woman. Suddenly she began to wail. Asking if Loki would bless her sons; they were ill with some disease. A hand reached out and pulled Loki back, it was the third man. He shouted some orders over his shoulder, and quickly at least five men pushed their way from the back of the crowed. They pushed in front of Loki, so that the boy couldn’t see what was happening. Loki yelled and kicked for them to move, he could not see! What were they doing? Who was that woman!? But by the time the men had disappeared back into the crowed, both the woman and her two sons were gone.

Loki opened his eyes slowly, his head heavier then it usually was when he woke up in the mornings. He yawned and suddenly he was cold. This was definitely not his bed, it was too hard, to cold. Loki opened his eyes and looked around, he was in a cave. In the center there was a lantern, which was burning too dimly to be lit by magic. It had to have been a muggle fire. Loki took a deep breath and then coughed slightly, unused to the damp, stale air that must have been inside this cave for far too long. To his right, on the far wall, there was what looked like a tunnel, but Loki could only see into it about two feet before the lantern light was insufficient. Loki shook his head and closed his eyes; this must have just been a dream. In a few moments he would wake up in his bed and then get dressed and go to meet Carey. Loki opened his eyes again. He was still in the cave. He raised his hands to wipe his eyes and found that his wrists were bound together. He growled to himself and tried to tug the ropes apart. “No use. But if you promise to behave, I can cut them for you.” Loki heard the voice and it took a few minutes before he recognized it. He let his eyes trail over to a more dimly lit corner, more so then the rest of the cave, and frowned as his eyes fell on a man. He tried to remember the man, but the only connection he made was to his dream. It was the third man, the man who made the orders. Loki shook his head slightly and watched as the man stood up and made his way towards Loki. When his face was lit more brightly by the lantern, Loki’s memory connected the events to the face. Anubis.

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Anubis:[/b]

Anubis sat in the corner for a long time. Anubis had told the other two men to go on ahead, not being worried about needing physical force. The front entrance had been sealed, so there was no way Loki would be able to leave...even if he got passed Anubis. And getting passed Anubis would be something. Especially in the state Loki would be in when he awoke. The contents of the vile that Anubis had put into Loki’s drink, had taken effect long before Anubis had assumed they would. This of course must have been a reaction to the fact that Loki was young, and he wasn’t a normal wizard. Anubis had only used the vile on wizards before, never a werewolf. It had most definitely not been a problem that Loki had fallen asleep before Anubis thought he would, it had only given Anubis more time to think over where he was going to start when Loki finally came to. Anubis had had Loki’s hands bound, only to demonstrate his power over Loki. There was really no need, Loki did honestly have the right to leave whenever he wished, but Anubis would not let him know that. Anubis had to make Loki think he was being kept there. He had to keep Loki there to make the boy understand. He had missed so much in his years of absence.

Finally, after an hour or so, Loki awoke. Anubis smiled, watching the boy survey his surroundings before he realized he was tied up. Immediately Loki tried to tear the bonds, but the ropes would have none of it. Anubis spoke up at this and Loki looked at him like a rabbit looks at the fox about to devour it. Loki had missed much, and he had missed out on his lesson on controlling his fear, on controlling his confusion. Loki’s eyes gave much away, that would need to be fixed. Anubis stood, pulling a dagger from his belt as he made his way to Loki. He had discarded his wizard robes, in exchange for a tunic and pants. It was much more appropriate for the place he lived in. The flashiness of robes was only used on certain occasions. Loki was far too out of it to put up a fight, so Anubis cut the bonds on his hands. “Don’t worry Loki.” Anubis said as he sat on a rock near the boy. “You’ve no reason to fear me. I am terribly sorry we had to make you take that nap, but i knew that convincing you to come with me would be rather a hassle. And I don’t much like discussing personal matters in a pub.” Loki’s confusion was slowly rolling off him and Anubis smiled at it. Loki had a good head on his shoulders; he was able to push past many physical barriers that Anubis had not foreseen. A normal man would still be groggy and dizzy for hours after awaking from the potion, but Loki was picking up fast.

Loki looked around again, working his jaw in one of his hands as if he had just been hit in the face. “You are probably wondering where you are Loki? That is one of the simpler questions to answer.” Anubis stood and made his way to the lantern. He leaned over, turned a knob on it, and let more light out of the thing. The fire suddenly lit up the cavern, which was much larger than it had looked before. “Welcome home Loki.”

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Loki was in the middle of a circle of boys his own age, now Loki was around six. He was large for his age. Not in height, but in bulk. He was bigger than most of the boys his age. There was another boy standing opposite him, a taller boy, obviously a few years older. All the boys in the circle were chanting, and suddenly Loki realized he was walking around and around, circling with the boy opposite him. At once, the older boy launched forward at Loki, but Loki stepped to the side. The older boy stumbled upon himself and fell into the circle. Another boy from the other side of the circle stepped in to take Loki’s place. All of these boys were older than Loki, but Loki was faster by far. The newcomer too threw himself at Loki, and this time Loki did not sidestep. Instead he threw all of his weight at the boy as well, and the two of them fell to the ground, rolling over and over, throwing punches left and right. The boys fought for some time before a man’s voice broke the chanting of the boys. Loki stood up, having been on top of the older boy. Loki’s hair and clothes were ruffled, but other than that he looked as if he hadn’t been hit once. The older boy on the other hand, struggled to his feet, wearing a bloody lip and black eye. Loki had gotten the best of the fight. Anubis smiled down at him proudly.”

Loki looked around the large room, the room he remembered fighting in so often. There were millions of drawings on the cave walls, pictures of wolves and all other sorts of beasts. There were pictures of men and of men being devoured by wolves; and there were pictures of half men. They were in the middle (most obviously) of a very gruesome transformation. Loki lifted his gaze all the way to the top of the dome and looked in awe upon the moon that had been painted there. A full, round, white, moon. Dropping his gaze again, he saw that Anubis had moved away from him and was running his hand over the far wall, tracing various images. Loki stood too and stared around. “I remember this room.” Anubis only grunted in acknowledgement. “I was here a long time ago. When I was a boy. They told us stories here.” Anubis turned around to look at Loki and Loki took a step towards him. “I remember you. Stopping a fight here once...twice...maybe more times. I remember fighting a lot.” Anubis nodded with a smile and pointed to a picture of a circle of people, two wolves in the center. Loki walked towards it and then ran his fingers over the image. “It was a test? To see who was the strongest.”

Loki blinked and at once remember that he had no intentions of staying in that cave. That cave was full of bad memories. He turned around and glared at Anubis. “You will take me home. People will know I am gone, they will look for me.” Anubis laughed and sat down on a nearby rock. Loki growled. “I have a life Anubis, I have things to do. You cannot keep me here. People will worry about me!” Anubis shook his head and motioned toward a nearby rock. “You will have time to write your girlfriend later Loki, for I know that is what you are worried about. For now though, I have a story to tell you. One you have not heard before.”

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Anubis:[/i]

Anubis waited until Loki was seated, and then he looked around the decorated walls. He was looking for a specific image. Aha! There it was. Anubis pointed to it, planning on beginning his story. Loki seemed still calm enough to listen, and interested too. The image Anubis pointed to, was more of three images in one. One part of it, held a roman solider, his helmet in his hand and his sword raised. Drawn right across from him was a Viking leaning against his ax. Above them, making a pyramid was the final man, dressed as an Egyptian with a sickle in his hand and a pharaoh’s hat on his head. The three men made a triangle, as I said before, and in the center there was the face of a wolf. Anubis looked at it for a while, and then sighed. “Do you know what that picture there symbolizes Loki?” Anubis didn’t wait for the boy to reply, it was a rhetorical question. “That picture symbolizes out origin Loki. Mine, and yours, and all the rest of werewolf kind. With them, is how it all began.” Anubis leaned back against the wall of the cave and closed his eyes as he began his story. The man on the left is Romulus, the first Greek werewolf. The man to the right, is Fenrir, the first Norse werewolf. And the man on the top, is Anubis...the first Egyptian werewolf, and my forefather.” Anubis opened his eyes to look at Loki, to see if the boy was following.

“A long time ago, there were no such things as werewolves, but there were wizards. Romulus, Fenrir, and Anubis were the greatest wizards of their times, as far as they knew. The three of them, had an obsession. An obsession with wolves.” Anubis looked back at the picture. “They delved into the dark arts, in search of a way that they could take on the form of their obsession, and after much searching, somehow, they found a way. They were the first werewolves.” Anubis looked below the first picture, to a picture of the three men, all bent over in desperate pain. “It is said, that they regretted their actions terribly when they found what a curse their lycanthropy was. They searched for a cure, but they found none. They destroyed the magic they had used, hiding it away from the rest of the world so that no one else would ever make their mistake.” Anubis followed the drawings down, past images of books being burned in huge fires to the images of a moon and a wolf attacking a man. “They soon found out the full extent of their disease, and their ability to pass it on. They realized how dangerous they were, and found their numbers to be increasing more and more each month. Soon, they knew they had to do something about it.” Anubis lifted a hand and followed the drawings down, past scribbled numbers to the image of a large city underneath a dome. “The three founders had a city built. A city underground. Here, they brought all of the werewolf kind they could gather. The countryside around here is vast you know? Full of wild horses and some cattle too. On full moon nights they were allowed outside, there weren’t any people around so there was no danger.”

“Soon they developed their own culture. The society grew to be enormous. Not because people were being bitten, but because people were getting married, having children. Occasionally a stray would find his way here, bitten by some untamed werewolf and lead here by legends. But we try to keep rumors of our location down. It is nearly impossible to find this place...unless of course you have the sense of a werewolf.” Anubis grinned proudly and looked over at Loki. “Surely you have made the connection between the werewolves of old and some that you know of today? Fenrir Greyback is the descendant of the original Fenrir, just the same as I am the descendant of the original Anubis. You, too, have a connection to one of them, but that bit of the story will come soon. First, I must tell you about the downfall of our kind, and the man who ruined us. Your Patron. Greyback.” Anubis stood, walked to the center of the cave, and took up the lantern from the ground. He looked at Loki, nodded his head toward the tunnel, and began off down it.

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Loki stood from the rock he had been sitting on, but his eyes were still on the drawings Anubis had just used to tell his story. In some part of his mind he could remember hearing the story before but he couldn’t recall it. It was a fascinating story really, to see where it all started. Loki could say honestly that he’d always wondered. No one really knew where it all started. For all everyone knew werewolves had always just been there, but Loki had always known that there had to be something in the beginning. Something had to have started it. There was a beginning to everything; Loki was a firm believer in that. And so there had to be a beginning to werewolves, they didn’t just pop out of nowhere. It was strange though to think that three men could have done it all. That three men could have started the disease that now plagued so many people; the disease that had torn so many families to pieces, the disease that had been responsible for numerous deaths, and all because of their selfishness, and their irresponsibility. Loki wondered what they must have been thinking when they decided to perform the magic that they had. Did they not consider consequences?

Loki looked after Anubis, and then looked behind him at the direction in which he knew the entrance to be. Slowly the place was becoming very familiar. But, if there was one thing Loki knew best it was that they would have blocked off the entrance. It was as much to keep people out as it was to keep people in. Loki had just learned the sole purpose of this place. It was a cage, built to keep the werewolves away from the rest of the world. It was funny to think about, and Loki did in fact think about it as he followed Anubis reluctantly down the dark passageway, that the werewolves were just as responsible as everyone else was for their discrimination. Werewolves had successfully kept themselves hidden for so long that they had allowed all of the horror stories to spread in people’s minds. There is nothing more frightening then what you cannot see. And the werewolf culture had definitely made itself nearly invisible. From what Loki understood of the story he had just heard, it was rather new for werewolves to leave the den and go out into the wizarding world. Which means that there were hundreds, possibly thousands of years during which werewolves were never seen, only heard. Of course people were to be frightened.

Loki hurried to catch up to Anubis, who had gotten quite the head start when Loki had debated leaving. “What do you mean I have a connection to one of them?” Loki had completely forgotten that he did not yet know why he had been brought back to the culture, except that he was being held there. He had become so entranced by the stories that the real questions he wanted to ask had slipped his mind. Anubis had already explained the basics, but Loki needed more....if he really thought about it. Anubis looked over his shoulder at Loki, a wide grin on his face, and then turned back around and raised the lantern higher, to show Loki that the two of them were about to begin descending down a flight of stairs. They were not steep stairs, which just made Loki wonder, how many stairs were there? And how deep did they go...

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Anubis:[/i]

Anubis and Loki finally reached the stairs, and Anubis lifted the lantern above his head so they could see. When they had been going for a while, torches began to appear on the walls. Each was lit, just as Anubis had told the two other men to do when they made their way back. Anubis stopped their walking for a moment and put out the lantern. He then began their walk again, down the flame lit decent. If you didn’t know any better you might feel as if you were descending into hell. The hallway was thin, only wide enough for men to go through in a straight line, one behind another, and the flames of the torches made it hot. Anubis rolled up the sleeves of his tunic as he walked, debating how he wanted to answer Loki’s question, or if he wanted to answer it at all. It wasn’t an easy question to answer actually. It was rather difficult. It was one of those things that you had to lead up to, you couldn’t just shout it at someone because that created all means of chaos. If there was one thing Anubis had learned from governing the werewolf society it was to avoid all manners of chaos. As much as possible. Though werewolves themselves could be chaos.

“I will answer your question in good time Loki, do be patient.” Anubis smirked to himself. The stairs were beginning to grow more and more steep, which meant they were getting closer and closer to the city. Oh that was a sight for sore eyes, Anubis had only been away for a day now and he already missed his home. “As the three original Elders died, for that is what we called them Loki,” Anubis turned his head around to look at Loki, “The Elders. You should remember that for future reference.” Anubis turned back around and continued the walk. “As the three Elders died, their sons took their places, and their names. The privilege of governing our society was passed generation to generation between father and son. And if a son was not granted, then the Elder would choose a successor, and he would patron the lad, and give him his name. And so, the duty was passed along a line of men, all the way down to the last three Elders. Fenrir Greyback...” Anubis paused for a second with a scowl. “It is not common for an Elder to take any more of a name then his predecessors...it was a large insult when Greyback decided to take on his own unique name...he stated that he wanted to be individualized, known for his deeds and not mixed in with the Elders before him. But, Greyback was a fool.” Anubis rarely referred to the man as Fenrir for this exact reason. He was not a Fenrir of legend; he was just Greyback, as he wished to be; one, stupid, man. “I digress; there was Greyback – though only because of his father, if the others had had their way he would have been exiled for disrespect – I digress again. There was Greyback, Romulus, and my father Anubis, and all three of them shared in their powers. They were a single unit, or at least, they were supposed to be. That didn’t last long though, not with the god complex old Greyback had. He decided that he was the wisest of the three, and began to ‘prepare the others for a time of battle’. My father, and Romulus were foolish old men, and they feared Greyback. So they went along with his ignorant plans.

“Greyback became the single Elder, or at least, in the eyes of the people he did. He destroyed the unity he was supposed to promote, and tore the culture apart with his foolish ideas of a revolution. He was running us into the ground. By this time, I had been born of course, I was in my twenties I believe. But no matter.” Anubis once again turned around to Loki, gave him a quick glance, and then turned around. “There was a prophet amongst the people, a seer. He began to speak of a boy whom would be born, who would one day lead our people out of the devastation of an evil far greater than we have ever experienced before. The next birth in our community...was you Loki. You, even as a baby, developed a following. Your father began to spread rumors out of the sight of Greyback, and you were pushed onto a pedestal higher than even Greyback was. When it came time for your patronage, Greyback fought adamantly to patron you himself. The Elders agreed, for Greyback had yet to father a...legitimate...child of his own, seeing as the man was not married, and so they granted you to him.” Anubis scowled. It had been common knowledge that Greyback’s antics amongst the women of the society were far less then acceptable. He had been accused of fathering a son to a woman who was already married more often than once, and you can bet not a one of the women agreed to have consented to him.

“As you I’m sure know, Greyback had no time for you. He was off planning battles and such, and so in his absence, you spent your time amongst the rest of the Elders.” Anubis grinned as the stairs began to even out. There was a light far ahead. “My father passed when you were eight Loki, and I stepped up into his place. More and more rumors began to spread about you being the child of the prophecies and Greyback became frightened by your power. Finally, when you returned from Hogwarts, Greyback decided it was dangerous to have you alive any longer. He used your schooling as an excuse, and commanded me to have you, and your mother, and your traitorous father killed.” At this Anubis chuckled, he and Loki were finally breaking into the light, and the two of them appeared to be on a rooftop of some kind. Anubis walked to the edge and looked down at the vast city his ancestors had built. “I had Aiden killed that was sure, if I hadn’t then there might have been more conflict then was necessary. But you see Loki...it would have been very difficult for me to have killed your father.” Anubis turned around to face the boy who was still a few steps behind him. “That would have been suicide...son.”