Cold seeped up into his thighs and back like burrowing moles, seeking out all warmth and sapping it away. It left his skin numb to the touch and tingling with faded senses. Yet Goku didn't move to get more comfortable or stretch to try and rid himself of the prickling under his skin. Instead he welcomed the numbness that was provided, willed the cold to spread faster. Surely it was better than the bitter anger and drowning sorrow at finding out that not only was the wish to the Eternal Dragon made- to Oolong who wished for a pair of bloody underwar- only one wish could be done in a year and the Dragonballs had scattered across the earth once again, turning to stone.
It was information he wished Bulma had given him earlier. He would've been able to catch his grandfather's Dragonball at least, instead of allowing it to blast off wherever. Now he'd lost his Grandpa's Dragonball, he hadn't been able to make his wish, and now he was stuck in a room with a glass roof that was designed to bake him and everyone else within it alive as soon as the sun rose.
On top of it all he was worried about Harri. She'd told him two nights ago that she'd go down to her school's forbidden corridor in order to make sure the Philosopher's Stone wasn't stolen. By now he should have heard about what had happened and his insides were eating at him not knowing nor being able to help.
"Goku?" From the opposite end of the room Bulma walked over to where the tailed boy had isolated himself from the others and sat down nearby. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the wish sooner..."
At the words some of Goku's defenses fell. With her apology there was nothing left to be angry at. "Doesn't matter," Goku stated gloomily. "Even if I can wait an entire year to get my wish, we're all gonna be roasted come mornin'."
It was a long slow death too, not quick like his Grandpa's had clearly been. The most agonizing about it though was that he wouldn't get to tell Harri about what happened, how he failed to get her wish and wouldn't get the chance to make another. She'd call eventually, if she wasn't seriously injured or dead herself, only to find no one here to answer and she'd have no clue why. He wanted to shout and stomp and rage but the reality was that he wanted to be able to open that Window too, open it and tell Harri everything that happened, tell her that those Dursley's wouldn't run her life forever and she could get away from them again soon enough- even if that future didn't include him.
~
Flashes of a nightmare danced across Harri's vision. A room surrounded by fire. Ghosts rising like smoke from a body turned to ashes. Hands burning at the touch of another's skin. Something inside her stretched so thin it nearly snapped at the strain. Then darkness. Familiar darkness where she was left alone to sit and contemplate everything. Darkness where she had first learnt of her ability to call out to another world entirely and let that world fill hers with light.
Eventually Harri let out a groan as she came to, eyes fluttering open groggily. The first person she saw was Dumbledore, the Headmaster of the school who had told her about the Mirror of Erised after Christmas and who had spoken for the start of year speech.
On one hand Harri knew she should be in great trouble. She'd snuck into the forbidden corridor with her two friends and faced the trials down there knowing that there were no teachers who were willing to help. Then one by one her friends fell back and Harri was left alone to face the one person who wanted the stone so much they had plotted and waited all year to get to it. It was suicide at best.
On the other hand the Headmaster had told her about the Mirror of Erised. Well after curfew too. None of the trials that they had faced in the forbidden corridor were set with knowledge given of the magical world beyond first year either. The only real challenge would have been the troll, but Harri and her friends already faced one and killed it at Halloween, while the troll in the trial was already dead when they'd arrived. And why would the stone have been there in the first place, protected by all these things, if the Professors didn't already think that someone was trying to get to it?
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Across To Elsewhere
FanfictionIf Goku didn't know better than he'd say that his Grandfather's hut had gained a brand new hole behind it. When he'd first seen it, Goku's Grandpa Gohan had described the hole as a Window or even a Mirror. As for the girl who showed up on the other...
