Catalyst

Chapter 53: Advent

Dumbledore clicked his wand against his pensive, the sudden disappearance of the zerg covered planet casting a silence over the windowless room. No one was making so much as a peep. Well, aside from Adeviar's labored breathing. The poor man's scars always flared up after looking at this. He was shaking, holding himself still even as his yellow eyes flared with focus.

Dumbledore returned his attention to the assembled muggle leaders. To his pleasant surprise, they were already turning to their attendants and peers, discussing, looking through what few documents had been prepared.

"What methods have you been using to fight them up until this point?" The question rang out into the chamber, Dumbledore wasn't sure where from.

"Our more destructive magics have been shown to work, although we lack many who can use them reliably," Dumbledore responded. "Heavier muggle weaponry has also proven effective, but I will defer to my muggle counterparts there."

The doors burst open to let a man come through, running and breathing heavily. He sprinted to the desk of one of the muggle governments, China if he was remembering his flags correctly. He leaned over and haltingly whispered in the ear of the man sitting there.

"What rate have the zerg been spreading at Chief...Warlock?" said the person Dumbledore believed to be Australia's Prime Minister, setting aside the mess of papers at his desk.

"I'm afraid I couldn't quite tell you. Scouting on the zerg has been a dangerous exercise. They seem to have taken control of a number of dragons with which they defend their nests vigilantly, and some of their creatures even seem able to see through disillusionment charms and invisibility cloaks. Your own flying cameras seem to have a better view-" Dumbledore stopped speaking as he noticed the Chinese leader stand up and begin to talk in a language he couldn't follow, but Dumbledore still found notes of what sounded like distress in his tone. His mind went wild with possibilities, whirling even as the quill on his desk scratched out the translation. He stopped after the first sentence, however, and had to re-read it just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

The zerg have invaded our coast.

(Transition)

Despite the comforting layer of creep, Luna couldn't help but shift around nervously in the once ornate armchair. Thoughts kept bouncing around in her head like a puffskein in a crowd of children. She didn't know why. She had a lovely view of the former Malfoy manor, with all the pretty little curling spines and the shimmering threads of the weavers' threads arcing over the grounds. The shaky first steps of the wards' emerging consciousness were providing a delightful tickle at the back of her mind. It was lovely, a microcosm of everything Luna had expected when she made the choice to join the Swarm.

Unfortunately, the beautiful scene just wasn't doing anything for her. The whole scene felt paper thin, like it could rip away at any second, as though a splash of water would wash away all of the scene's vibrant color. That was it! It was like those puzzles in the Quibbler. It was fun, even entertaining, but ultimately it was just a bunch of patterns on a flimsy piece of paper which couldn't do much more than wrap around the solid brick currently occupying the center of her mind.

Was she doing the right thing?

She thought that she was, she had been so certain. Everyone had seemed so happy, so eager to join once she had brought them in and showed them a glimpse. No one had said no before. No one had said they didn't want to join the swarm, no one at all. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen many of them say anything at all after they got back to Abathur for the full induction. Luna was so busy recruiting more that she'd never had an opportunity to talk to them afterwards.

Luna brightened up, using her tentacles to fling herself out of her chair. That was it! She just had to go and talk to some of them, that would clear everything right up! The world outside took on a nice shiny coat of paint as she skipped out of the room and towards the more industrious sections of the new hive, pushing open the manor doors and heading outdoors