A Story of a Short Ending | T.R

Chapter 39 - The Rulers of Nothing

Metallica - King Nothing

The night was dark and surprisingly cold for the middle of August weather. The darkness was followed by silence, which was only broken by the sound of footsteps. Twelve people walked through the Manor grounds into the forest to apparate away and start one of their most important tasks given to them by their Dark Lord. He was the Dark Lord to some, Riddle to others, and scumbag to the remaining bunch.

What they had to do was fair in a way, it was an act of war and when lives were at stake all methods were great. They knew that the people they were going to visit weren't the ones to poison them or even step foot in the Manor during the ball. Most of those who did were dead, their bodies taken care of.

Those, however, were people who voted for this to happen. Who hated their guts so much that they were going to poison them in their own home. Not that they knew that, but to the Death Eaters that didn't matter. Their lives were taken a shot at and the responsible were going to pay. Dumbledore was at the head of the entire operation and if he led his people to making these decisions, there was no issue with making those people pay. Especially since Riddle told them clear as day, no murder. Well, thank Merlin it was night.

They had their paths and plans laid out before stepping into the chilly night air. They knew exactly where to go, what to do and how to behave. What the women didn't know was Riddle's little meeting with his Death Eaters a couple of hours before they had to leave. They met in the dining hall with the doors tightly shut, discussing one simple matter.

The women.

The men had an additional task for tonight as they were to observe, notice and remember how they acted, how they behaved. Riddle couldn't risk coming along, he had more important matters to take care of. Yet he needed to know the progress they had been making. He knew well enough that none of them apart from Laion would jump to his side if they were put in front of the choice, but now he was trying to determine a more important fact.

How likely they were to act up and rebel against him.

He knew that he excelled in every single magical category, he was smarter and faster and better by any metric he used to compare them to himself. Yet, he wasn't a fool. He considered himself to be above everyone who walked this world, as there was no match for him. Somewhere deep in his soul, he allowed a thought of being greater than his long time ago living descendant, Salazar Slytherin.

Tom didn't want to allow himself to be taken by surprise. He hated surprises and relied heavily on planning ahead and sticking to those plans. If even the slightest detail went south, he had no choice but to replan everything and change the whole trajectory of events.

Just like right now he wanted to know just how much the women would listen to him when he wasn't there. He knew that they would stay away from the task as much as they could, but how they were going to do that was his focus. Were they going to stand there and watch? Were they going to knock over a vase, say 'boo' and pretend that's enough of their participation? He wanted to know the details and he made sure the Death Eaters were going to deliver those to him.

The two groups stayed in silence, as they knew well enough where they were going and what they were going to do. The village was chosen strategically, with a large number of people, big shops, and close to the capital city. All of it gave them a strategic advantage they were going to use. One of the groups would storm in from the main gate, while the other would come from the flank. They would circle them, play with them and draw terror upon the villagers.

Dirca held Avery's hand as they walked through the forest and then apparated. Even in moments like these, she was not going to let him go, neither did he. They stuck together through thick and thin, and even tasks like these wouldn't tear them apart.