Chapter 45: Gatekeeper
When they arrived at Canterlot Castle, Riddle Tome saw an extra set of soldiers standing guard outside his employer's bedchambers, the white-gold colour scheme of the day guard contrasting with the blue-black colour scheme of night. With any luck, their presence here meant that things were speeding along nicely.
As if to prove his guess, the day guard opened the door to reveal two sister alicorns and the smell of dinner. That was no surprise either. It was still a holiday – the grand meals of the castle had been suspended to allow the staff and the royal court time with their families.
"Riddle Tome," Celestia nodded to him, inviting him in with a gesture.
He didn't move, but he did nod back with a moderate amount of courtesy. The fact that she arranged for this to happen over the course of one day was worth that much. "Celestia."
"Are you hungry?"
He shook his head. "I have already eaten. I would prefer not to delay."
"In that case, there is something that comes first. My sister has something she'd like to do for you before we accompany you to the mirror. I will wait out here. Think of it like practice." She stood from her seat, stepping out and aside to admit his passage.
Mr. Tome tilted his head, waited three seconds, then shrugged and entered. He had already prepared for this. He was ready to make the honest statements to her sister that would prove he meant no harm to Celestia's precious little parallel universe.
The bedchambers were just as he left them early this morning, save three noticeable additions. First, the food table. Second and third... those additions were not welcome.
"If you intend to bind me with a Vow," he said with careful calm, "I refuse."
Gilded Horn and Keen Eye sat at the small dinner table. He had nothing against either unicorn personally, but he wasn't about to take a Vow on somepony else's terms.
His employer smiled with apparent fondness. "Not you, fool." She made a motion with her hoof at one of the unicorns. "Keen Eye, come forth."
The artist touched horns with the princess, their faces as far apart as the position would allow.
His employer's gaze turned to Gilded Horn. "This shall be thy final Vow. Afterwards, thou will be depleted of magic, as thee wanted to be. Thy last chance to change thy mind is now."
The unicorn shook his head. When he spoke, it was with firm resolve and a horn that glowed in readiness. "Magic that flows in me, bind this vow."
His employer looked back to Keen Eye. "By the trust that I hold for you," he said, "be you held."
"Heed my words, fool." She continued in the Royal Canterlot voice. "Sense the magic you taught me and know that I will never betray what I am about to say."
Mr. Tome noted with mild curiosity that her violating the Unbreakable Vow's standard verbal format did not stop the ritual magic entwining the two horns.
Then, with that magic still active, she spoke.
"I vow that I shall not, by any act of mine, betray the trust of my fool. I vow to help him find happiness, to help him find friendship, to help him find love, if I can, and so long as he wants to find them as well. I vow to keep his secrets, to not act upon them without his consent. No matter what he may have done, or what he may do, unless he hurts an innocent pony in the future. In that case, and only that case, I may speak of that harm, and only that harm, to my sister. I shall do nothing else that goes against his best interests, no matter what I learn of him. By my own free will, so shall it be."
Mr. Tome stood still, somewhat stunned. So did the other in the room, not including the princess or the Vow binders.
At a look and a gesture from their princess, Gilded Horn and Keen Eye left, genuflecting before they departed and closing the door behind them.
That left only two alicorns visible in the room.
"I meant the promise I made you," said the Princess of Night to her enigmatic fool. "Now there shall be no room for your doubt." She stood a bit taller. "I do want you to be happy, and I will continue to try no matter what I learn of you." She held up a hoof before he could speak. "And no, this does not mean I expect you to tell me anything you haven't already. I am not prying. I am simply making myself available in a manner you can truly trust, if you ever decide to share."
Riddle didn't reply. It was true, he could trust what he'd just seen in a way he couldn't trust anything else, even Bellatrix Black. Even Mr. Potter with Parseltongue. Since the Vow binds on the basis of intent, there are no clever tricks of wording to exploit, no lies by omission, no loopholes to escape through. Aside from the one she included overtly, and even then, she said it in such a fashion that she can only betray future actions he might take. If they harmed her subjects. Anything she learned of his past could not be used against him.
"Well?" she asked invitingly.
"I don't know what to say."
His employer smiled. "I can think of one thing."
"Namely?"
"Step forth."
He did so.
"Closer, fool."
He did not.
She rolled her eyes and said, "My sister and I are changing our ritual policy. The laws will be updated in a manner that appeals to you in the near future. I do not find legislative overhaul pleasant, and so you will come forth so that I may hug you."
He hesitated. He really should insist that he hadn't agreed to this in advance... but then she might retract the offer. He gave a heavy sigh and stepped forward. It was only a hug.
"The thing that is said," Princess Luna spoke quietly, her voice reaching him from behind his ears once her neck was wrapped around his, "is 'thank you'." She met his gaze. "Thank you for your gift. It was the best birthday gift I have ever received."
"You're welcome," he said uncomfortably, hoping that would bring the embrace to its end.
There was a long pause as the princess looked at him expectantly. "Now it is your turn."
"My turn for what?"
She stared at him, searching his eyes for something that had nothing to do with Legilimency, though he didn't know what it did have to do with. Hints of dishonesty, maybe? Whatever she was looking for, she didn't find it. "Fine," she sighed. "I will not force you to say it. I will only request that you answer one question honestly." Without giving him time to refuse, she asked, "Did you feel more positive emotion or negative when you witnessed my Vow?"
The question came as a surprise. It wasn't the kind of question he anticipated, the probing kind that made him want to deny her request on basic principles. It wasn't the ambush he expected, the sudden inquisition he thought she'd force upon him. And yet, he still felt ambushed.
His own response, as he thought about the question, as he thought back to how he felt when he understood the princess's actions, came as even more of a surprise.
There had been some snide internal remarks about her stupidity. If she ever did learn of Voldemort, she would regret that Vow. But the negative thoughts which he'd been training himself to notice under Silver's tutelage had been dwarfed by shock. Shock, and something like relief. The magic she just undertook to prove her benevolent intentions was not trivial. If he ever made some mishap in her presence, or wanted something to be known without it getting out to anypony else, the Vow could be relied upon to keep her from speaking.
"Positive..." he answered. "I think."
"Good," said the Night Princess. She lifted her head and left the embrace. "Then you can thank me later," she said, a wry mischief in her voice. "Come, let us go to the mirror. I confess, I am curious about it myself. You can assure me that you mean no harm as we walk."
Silver, following the two alicorns out of the room while still beneath his invisibility cloak, thought about what he'd just seen.
He thought about Princess Luna swearing to help his mentor find happiness, no matter what she learned about him. He thought about all the Equestrian psychology books that focused on finding happiness. He thought, once again, how it was possible that the Mirror's trap had arranged for wish fulfilment.
He wondered if it was all coincidence, or...
In his usual fashion, Riddle was deceptively honest to her probing.
He assured Princess Luna that he meant the mirror no harm, that he meant no ill will towards the world Celestia described. He assured her he had no interest in the world Celestia had visited, and would even do his honest best to avoid activating the mirror in such a fashion that Canterlot High was invoked. He was hiding something, as always, but all of those statements had not been lies, as far as Princess Luna could tell.
When Celestia asked if he meant any harm at all, he said he couldn't make any promises. If, say, an eldritch monstrosity emerged from the mirror, he would certainly mean it harm, if for no other reason than self-preservation. When Celestia asked if he truly thought that could happen, he said no, but he wasn't ruling out any possibilities for such an ancient and mysterious device. More questioning resulted in similar responses.
Riddle Tome asked only one question himself: May he use non-violent magic in the room, so long as the mirror is not the target? A light spell, for instance, or a noise-cancelling charm.
Celestia said that he may, so long as Luna did not object.
The Princess of Night found it amusing that security took twice as long as the walk to the vault. Even with her sister personally performing the magic, it still took many minutes of waiting.
When the door and the wards had been opened, her fool nodded to her sister (in thanks, perhaps?), then walked forward after a brief hesitation. She followed in his wake, both the wards and the door closing behind her. They would remain firmly shut until she signaled her sister to open them again, which would take more long minutes of unraveling.
The magic mirror that her sister said led to another world was the only item in the room, and the room itself was spacious and circular, with the mirror placed in its exact center.
Her fool stopped barely five paces into the room. "Before I begin," he said, turning to face her, "I ask that you regard anything you might learn in this vault as secret."
"Does that not defeat the purpose of supervision?" she asked suspiciously.
"It might," he shrugged. "Feel free to tell your sister if Canterlot High is invoked, or if something bad happens to me or the mirror. I only meant that you will not speak of anything that seems like it has to do with my own personal background. I do not know what might happen when I stand before that mirror. If, say, it turned me into a human, or somehow revealed my deepest desires, you will not tell your sister or anyone else."
"...Very well," said Luna. "I will consider such things as your business, even if it does not seem that way."
"Good."
"What is your goal in all this?"
Riddle stared intently at the back of the mirror. "I intend to see if I can open a portal to another world."
She instantly became alert and apprehensive. "I thought you said you had no intention to visit the human realm."
"I did," he confirmed. "I have no intention of visiting the human realm that your sister described." It wasn't a lie, but...
"Then what is your intention?"
"To see if this mirror can access other realms as well," he answered. "But before I even do that much, let us hope it does not react to an illumination spell. It's a bit dark in here."
The room was suddenly lit by a soft golden glow, cast by many lights in all directions. One by one, those lights went out, but the brightness didn't, leaving the illumination behind without any apparent source. The final visible light bobbed up and down on the other side of the room, in front of the mirror's reflective side but well back of it. Then that light went out as well, and Riddle nodded in satisfaction.
"You are lucky that did not set off any wards."
Her fool ignored her remark and disappeared. "I am about to step in front of the mirror," said his voice from the empty air. "Do not allow your own image to be reflected. The mirror might or might not respond differently depending on who stands before it. Celestia invoked the realm of Canterlot High, and you might do the same. Stand next to the mirror, just behind it, if you are worried about something happening, but do not go further."
At that, an audible clicking of hooves left her side, growing quieter as he crossed the room.
Luna did as her fool requested, wondering to herself if he actually knew what he was doing. When she stood in position, her fool appeared directly in front of the mirror.
She saw his eyes – already focused on the mirror's surface – widen slightly at what must have been his own reflection appearing from nowhere, and although he did not seem physically exhausted in any way, she suddenly heard the sound of heavy breathing.
There was a space of time where nothing happened, during which her fool continued to stare at whatever he sighted. The panting continued, though it quickly died down.
Then Luna heard a heavy sigh, though it did not come from her fool. "I hope this does not mean that all is lost."
She almost jumped at the new voice. It sounded old and tired, like a weary soldier ready for retirement. It was definitely male, but she had no clue where it came from. It certainly wasn't her fool's voice. It was far too ancient.
"Hello," it addressed... her? Or Riddle?
Her fool did not react to the voice at all, his eyes staying fixed on the mirror.
“You seem like you might be an intelligent creature,” the voice continued, and she realized it must have been coming from the mirror. “Do you understand what I am saying?”
She felt deceptiveness coming from her fool when he did not respond. Then his gaze flickered to her, then back to the mirror, and he nodded.
“Are you capable of speech yourself?” asked the voice.
Another nod.
“Would you mind if I asked for your name?”
Her fool did not answer.
"His name is Riddle Tome,” Luna said, seeking to speed things along. "And although thou cannot see me, I am Princess Luna. What is thy name?"
Her fool's gaze locked onto hers so fast it looked like his head flickered into position. There was a brief, hateful look that she'd never seen him direct her way before.
And then she heard laughter. She could not tell if it was warm or mocking, but she could tell that the one responsible was having trouble breathing. She wondered if the owner had fallen down, it was so loud. She wondered if he even could fall down, given that he was... in the mirror? She desperately wished to see the mirror's surface, but she didn't want to upset her fool any further. He was clearly agitated, though with a sudden wave of almost-visible deception, his expression grew very calm.
It took some time for the laughter to die down, for the voice to ready itself to speak again. “Riddle Tome?" it asked in joyous amusement. "I see. Ah, what a form. What a fate. The new body suits you, Tom. I admit, you make a dashing unicorn.”
Luna realized then that her fool did indeed look like a unicorn at the moment. He was wearing a new cloak, bereft of all enchantments so it could pass through security, but still wide enough to cover his wings. It was actually closer to formal scholar's robes than a cloak, and even included a tie. Riddle Tome did not wear his glasses, as those had been enchanted, so his full horn was visible, while his wings were not.
Riddle tilted his head, and she felt another spike of deception. "She said Tome," he replied mildly, "not Tom."
The words were factual, she noticed. But the intention was clearly to lie.
"Feigning ignorance, are you?" said the voice, clearly disbelieving. "I shall ask her then," the voice stated, seeming to address Luna instead. "Clever beyond clever. Cunning beyond cunning. Icy and brilliant. A perfectionist, a strategist, and a manipulator. Charming, perhaps. Extremely powerful, and not in any way a warm or loving person. Does any of that sound familiar?"
Yes. It certainly did sound familiar.
Luna looked at Riddle Tome. "Do you know whoever that is?"
He did not answer her.
"I am surprised you have not said 'no', Tom," the voice observed. "Does that realm prevent lying?"
"Not the realm," said Luna, her features twisting up in worry. "But I can always tell."
"In that case, it would be foolish to expect further comment from him, either confirmation or denial. Let us try this then. I will speak a certain truth about the nature of this mirror. Stop me if you hear a lie, and we shall see how he reacts." Then the voice addressed Riddle again. "Though I tried to prevent it, I am responsible for trapping a group of beings outside of our Time, myself included. I am also the one responsible for keeping them trapped. If he is who I think he is, then I am his gatekeeper. He will never be released until I allow it. And I will never allow it."
She had not stopped him, because he had not lied.
There was a brief pause.
Then Luna felt a spike of deception unlike anything she had ever felt in her entire life.
"I don't think this is productive," Riddle said in a mild tone. He walked towards her, past her, and stood by the door. "Notify your sister that I wish to leave- no, I can I do it myself."
His horn glowed in activation and she briefly wondered how on earth he'd learned that spell, but then she remembered where he had been studying over the past year. As they waited silently, Riddle clearly not in the mood to talk, his horn would occasionally flicker, as if in agitation, and she could perceive brief bursts of repulsion charms. She'd seen that habit before, in unicorns who broke things when upset. But she'd never known Riddle to have that habit, even when he didn't have a horn. Furthermore, nothing was broken or shoved by his charm, just the empty air.
As soon as her sister had led them through the wards, she heard a brief snap and her fool disappeared.
She stared at where he had just been.
In a bewildered voice, her sister asked, "What happened?"
Just as soon as the door clicked shut, leaving him locked inside the kingdom's most secure vault, Silver removed the hood from his cloak and marched up to the door that a series of shoving charms had prevented him from approaching.
Before he could say or do anything, he noticed a piece of paper appear- no, not appear. It transfigured from a long, thin strand of black hair. Could Riddle do delayed transfigurations? Or remote ones? Or was that somehow a timed detransfiguration?
Silver picked up the parchment, noted that it wasn't addressed, and read what was written.
Convince him. Apparate out before 1 hour. Vanish this.
Silver stared at the note.
He stared at the note, wondering if his mentor really thought it would be that easy. And even if it was that easy to do something so difficult in less than an hour (i.e. before the ward-circumvention spells ended), did his mentor really think Silver would just go ahead and play along without a number of concessions first? Like, say, no killing people all the time when they get back. No cruciatus. No Voldemort.
And that wasn't even addressing the difficulty of the problem if Silver does get those concessions. Nothing short of watching Tom Riddle succeed at casting... would... convince...
Silver felt a massive grin stretching across his lips.
Sure.
Sure, he could convince the gatekeeper. Oh, and vanish the note, too, "Everto!", can't forget that.
This is it.
This is the final part of the plan, the final puzzle piece clicking into place.
Also, he's convinced now. It couldn't be coincidence. The ancient device in the middle of the room had to have arranged all this, somehow. Not that he minded in the slightest.
With a spring in his step, he pranced over to the mirror, his cloak hiding his face once more.
Once he got there, he drew it back again.
The mirror changed.
"Hi, Heh," Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres, currently within the body of a pony, addressed the Headmaster of Hogwarts. "How's it going?"
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Two faces of Brothers Grimm?
Luna doesnt exacty have the mentality to do things like defusing situations?
Is Luna making another foolish mistake here by not indicating "sentient being" instead of "pony"?
Even Equestria has Diamond Dogs, minotaurs, etc.
So Dumbledore was here the whole time? Though, he did seem a bit more talkative, and definitely sarcastic than I thought he would be.
11207767
Hmm... good point. Maybe I should have had her say "Equinoid," and then made it so all sapient creatures on the planet are technically considered Equinoids, even Daimond Dogs and Dragons. Or something like that. I DID want to have it so humans are excluded... but then again, binding on the basis of intent means that Luna herself probably considers her exception to apply to ALL innocent sapient creatures, not just ponies, and if Riddle hurts/kills a non-pony sapient being and thinks she can't betray him for it thanks to her wording, then that'll be an interesting situation.
I've written a decent amount of future chapters, but no situations like that have come up yet, so I couldn't say if it'll matter in the end.
11207805
He's SORT OF been here this whole time. Next chapter will touch on the nitty-gritty details of HOW. And that wasn't sarcasm; Tom does indeed make a dashing unicorn. If you meant that he's meaner than expected, well, I went back and re-read 110, and I tried to picture how Dumbledore would feel after that conversation with Voldemort. I tried to picture how he would feel if Tom HADN'T won after all, and the proof of it was standing right in front of him.
On my part, maybe I should have done better to convey that his laughter was supposed to be like the what happened when he first saw that Harry = Good Voldemort, back in their second meeting in his office, when he was being blackmailed. I was NOT trying to convey that the laughter was like Voldemort's evil schadenfreude, but then again, I wanted it to be close enough that Voldemort would take it that way.
is this still the only story you will post one this site or will there be more eventually ?
11207969
Probably the only one.
Que Harry being both a little turd and too clever for anybody's good. "Will you let us out if he can successfully cast a Patronus Charm?"
11209855
:)
11209855
Harry is about to give Dumbledore such a splitting headache, it will resonate through Time and destroy Atlantis.
11327118
Well, we know that Time generates a single consistent world working both ways at once, so, it's perfectly compatible in this setting that there was some massive Atlantean prophecy about the end of the world, that caused Merlin to try to make his line unbroken AND the interdiction, which instead of fixing the problem just caused Voldy, Dumby, and Harry.
...
oddly, that just seems to *fit*.
Did I accidentally stumble on a deep truth?
Spelling -- a,n,s, not a,s,n.
Magnificent, so it is after all their connection.
I wonder if the Mirror has just one connection or is like a Stargate with multible pathways.