trans_9 | Spared [Open]

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Spared [Open]

"Reducto!"

Cedric had found a spot in the grass of this strange city's park from which to work on his spellcasting, starting with some target practice. He'd pushed back the sleeves of his plantsuit as far as was possible and made long movements with his wand, alternating between creating fast streams of bubbles and shooting them down. The almost childish game of bubble-popping was a simple diversion from the stream of thoughts that was flowng just as fast, one that hadn't stopped since the moment he realized he was alive: I'm about to die. It was hard to comprehend, when it seemed like his life had been going so well just hours ago.

Yet these Ohm had thrown everything off balance. Cedric had gone straight to Stacy to ask for his memories restored, as he'd never rest until he knew the truth of what happened. It had been just as hard to remember as that unicorn princess had predicted. Sure, the curse that was meant to kill him had been thrown off by another attack, but he'd heard awful yells. Harry's. When the sedation had worn off and he'd opened his eyes, he'd had to struggle not to scream.

That was what had happened to disrupt the course of history. For now, he had been given days, weeks, maybe months or a year or two to live, that long until he left this crew behind and met his fate. People had talked about their worlds being restored after the war. The Ohm were supposed had something that would fix things as they were meant to be, and 'meant to be' was his death. If he didn't die during the war, he'd be meeting his end immediately afterward. Time couldn't be changed, not even with a Time Turner. It had to happen.

Cedric was living on borrowed time. No one knew how long it would be until they won. They were going to win, he was sure. A small selfish part of him hoped that it would last a while, that he would have time to finish his unfinished business and learn more, but that was unfair. He couldn't allow the needless deaths to hang over his conscience any longer than necessary. The countless innocents killed during the Ohm's attack needed to live, not him. Billions of lives resurrected in exchange for his death, that was fair. He was the spare, not them. No matter what his father said or the Goblet decided, he wasn't special in the eyes of the universe, was he? He was just...

The spare who had been temporarily spared. A bubble waiting to be popped. Pop, pop, pop went the bubbles as his wand moved more precisely. If this was all the life he had left, he might as well do it right.

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Atom expected that kind of sentiment coming from someone else -- someone like Gesicht or Epsilon, maybe, who'd want to give all they had for what they felt was right. But Cedric was just a kid. A human kid. The adults of his world should want to protect him, not let him get killed off just to make sure their futures were all okay. In his upset, Atom even forgot he was supposed to be sounding like he was twelve.

"So things won't happen the way they're supposed to. Is that so awful? I mean, does your death suddenly inspire a whole bunch of people to fight off some evil villain or something? And even if it did, why does it have to be you? Is everyone just going to sit around and... and let you die because it'll make what they want happen?"

Actually, it did, but Cedric hadn't thought to request a posthumous account of life on his world yet. He'd get to that soon enough. But still...

"I don't think they want to let me die, I just don't think I can stop it. It happened before anyone else could lift a finger."

That, and it might actually be impossible to change the course of events.

Atom relaxed a little at this. "Can't you get like a... a magicproof vest or something?"

~~like in Back to the Future~~

"There are shielding charms, but nothing can block the killing curse. If it's cast on you, you're a goner."

Usually. Unless you're Harry Potter, but that was a fun speculation for another time.

"Oh." Atom fell silent for a moment. "Maybe you can duck or something when you get back."

He brightened. "Or hey, maybe you don't have to go back in the first place! I mean, what if you get off the ship before it happens? Then they won't be able to reach you and make you go back, right?"

"I wish it were that simple," Cedric really did. He wanted to live. "But I don't think they'll stop until I'm dead. I'd have to think of an escape, and even then...it might ruin the flow of time."

He's still not entirely sure what he's going to do. "I'll need some time to consider it, I think. Sounds like it'll be a while yet for us."

With that, he cast another ring of bubbles and gazed up at them. "Will you be all right, going back?"

"Huh? Me?" Why were they talking about him?

"Yeah, I'm fine. I have my family and the Professor and everything."

Cedric was glad to hear that. "The Professor? Is he a teacher?"

He liked good teachers, they were the best mentors.

Atom thought about that for a moment. "No, well... I guess he does lectures sometimes. But mostly he's a professor of robotics, and he's the head of the Ministry of Science. Everyone asks him to do all kinds of stuff that isn't his job, though. Like decide what kind of car design to give to the police department. That's why he's always saying he needs to go on vacation."

"Oh, so he helps you! He must be quite smart." Cedric would have so many questions if they ever met. There was more and more to know.

"So, Atom, have you thought about what you're going to do here? What you like?"

"Yeah, he is. He's one of the best roboticists in the world! He even made my family..."

Atom gave him a little smile. "I'm going to help out any way I can. I want to make sure the people here don't have to be afraid."

"So he's like a father?"

Right. Robots were made...that was still hard for him to grasp. People made other people, and not through the normal way. But Atom seemed fine by him. And he was so optimistic and kind...had he gone to Hogwarts, Cedric was sure they would've been housemates.

"You know, I think I'd like to do that too. It's hard not to be afraid of all of this."

"Um... kind of, I guess. Or maybe like... a grandpa?" He liked that idea, thinking of Professor Ochanomizu like a grandpa, even if the Professor already had a grandson of his own.

Atom smiled at Cedric. "Then let's do it together! I'm sure there's lots of stuff we could do to make people feel better." Of course, he wasn't quite sure what those things were yet, but he'd figure it out.

Cedric nodded. Yes, he could do that! Speaking of grandpas...

"Maybe we could start by offering support. Most of us lost our families, and not everyone's used to feeling alone out in the world. Is there something we could do there?"

"Maybe..." Atom frowned a little, thinking. "But I don't think there's anything that can replace someone's family. It'd be nice if we didn't all have to stay in those weird living rooms, though. I mean, they're okay, but they're kind of creepy."

He might be getting a little off track here.

"No, but I like that. Let's find somewhere for them to go. Could one of the buildings here work, do you think?"

Cedric had passed quite a few interesting-looking buildings on his way here, but he had yet to explore any of them. Maybe there was something nice inside.

"Okay!" Atom set off on foot (after all, without his broom, Cedric couldn't fly, right?), looking over his shoulder at Cedric. "This way, right?"

Even if they didn't find anything, exploring the City could be fun!

"Coming!" Cedric scrambled to his feet, brushed the grass from his suit, and set off after Atom. There was so much to see. They were by the river, tall buildings on every side. Some sort of white building, a dome, a house, something like a garage, a school---there was even a castle, though he was disappointed to see that it was not Hogwarts. Wait, that assumption was silly. Hogwarts couldn't have gotten here, it was gone.

"How'd it get an entire city down here?"

"Hmm... I don't know. I guess the same way we got here? Maybe a mass teleportation device..." He looked around; his vision showed him a giant gate in the distance. Had that been used to get some of the buildings in here?

"Whoa, that castle's pretty cool. I don't know if it'd be good to live in, though, since it's made of stone." He made a note to explore it later.

"You can't move things around with magic?"

"You could, but it wouldn't be easy. Stunning a large dragon takes a whole team of wizards, so moving a whole stone castle would take a massive amount of magical power. I doubt there were enough wizards to do it."

He smiled at the castle before they moved on, though. "My school was a castle. It was even bigger than that one." And he would most definitely miss it.

On their way, he happened to spot a large wheel moving in the distance. "Hey---your vantage point's better than mine. Can you see what that spinning wheel is?"

Atom flew upward, hovering without effort in the artificial sky. "Hey, it's a ferris wheel! I didn't know there was a park here."

There was a sign in the distance that Atom could read with his enhanced vision -- 'Awesome World'. He lowered himself to the ground. "You want to see what it is? I can fly us there."

"An amusement park?" Well that was an unusual choice of things to keep around. Cedric stared in the distance, trying to get a good look at the thing.

He was surprised by the offer. It would take a while, but he could walk, but...

"You sure? Wouldn't want to bother you."

"No problem, I've carried bigger stuff before." Lots bigger. Hmm. But what was the best way to fly Cedric? In the end, Atom settled on locking his elbows under Cedric's arms, sort of hugging him from behind. That should give Atom a pretty sturdy grip and also allow Cedric to get a good bird's eye view of the City.

"Hold on tight, okay?"

Cedric had been about to assure Atom that it was quite all right and that he could walk when he felt arms encircle him. He was really determined, wasn't he?

"Where---oh," Cedric scrambled to find a hold, but he was quite relieved when he did. This might just be all right. He could almost feel the ground vibrating under his feet, the way he sometimes felt right before takeoff. In those moments, he knew the exhilaration and freedom that was waiting for him up there.

"All right. Let's go!"

And they were off, zooming through the City's skyline in a bright blue trail of energy. Maybe not quite like riding a broom, but plenty fast! They could even see some guy's mansion in the distance, and the train tracks and everything. Atom set Cedric down gently at the entrance to the park, watching curiously as a robot caretaker walked by.

"I wonder who built this place. It looks like everything's working."

Spared [Open]

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Anything in particular you want to find?

Awesome World? Still need to talk to cast about world buildings.

Re: Awesome World? Still need to talk to cast about world buildings.

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