G. Lippert - JAMES POTTER AND THE VAULT OF DESTINIES

"The bargain," Petra said, still whispering. "But… I didn't kill Izzy. The dreams I had at the beginning of our journey were wrong. Izzy didn't die in the lake on that night. I called it off. The bargain was never completed."

"You didn't kill Izabella," the woman corrected, "but you did kill. You sent your stepmother into the lake in your sister's place. By doing so, you only changed the conditions . The bargain itself was fulfilled. Your destiny insisted upon it. Thus, rather than recalling your beloved mother from the afterlife, you got… me. I arose from the lake on the night that you murdered your stepmother. You recalled me from the mists of the netherworld, my dear, in the place of your mother. I wish I could say that I was sorry, but alas, I am not."

" Who are you ?" Petra asked again.

"This is still not the question that begs to be asked," the woman replied impatiently, "but if you must know, I am a Fate. There are three of us, although not in the way that you might think. The other two Fates do not know their own identities, and for now that suits me just fine. My true name would be unpronounceable to you, so you may simply call me Judith or the Lady of the Lake. I enjoy both titles."

"Why are you doing this?" This time, it was Lucy who approached. She stood next to James.

"Why?" the woman said, raising her eyebrows in a surprised smile. "Because it is my destiny. And because I enjoy it. Need there be any other reason?" She laughed. "The truth is, I have been working toward this end for nearly a year by your time—almost since the moment I arose from the lake's surface. It took me some time to find all of you, but once I did, I knew that you would lead me to where I needed to be. I even assisted when it was absolutely necessary. And sure enough, you led me to Alma Aleron and that delightful device known as the Vault of Destinies. The rest was eerily easy."

James felt Zane and Ralph join him now. The group was once again complete.

Petra's voice turned cold as she said, "What is it you want?"

"Still the wrong question," Judith scolded, her smile turning brittle. "Soon I will grow impatient with you. Stop wasting our precious time. We have work to do."

Zane spoke up then, his voice trembling slightly. "Give us back the crimson thread!"

"That is a demand, not a question." Judith sneered slightly, turning her pretty face piggish for a moment. "And I cannot grant your demand at any rate."

Petra made to reach for the brooch, around which was twined the tantalizing thread, but Judith chided her warningly.

"I would not be so bold, dear one," she teased. "The brooch can only be taken by she who owns it."

"But I ow n it!" Petra exclaimed. It was nearly a plea.

James took one more step forward, placing himself at the head of the group, his hand still intertwined with Petra's. "Will you," he asked, framing the question with great emphasis, "give us back the crimson thread?"

" That's the question I've been waiting for!" Judith cried out, clapping her hands with glee. "And I have an answer for you, James Sirius Potter, you wonderful, bold young man. The answer is no."

"Why not?" James demanded, barely stopping himself from reaching for the thread-twined brooch again.

"Because that is not th e crimson thread!" Judith exclaimed, delightedly. "And because the real crimson thread does not wish to go back!"

As Judith spoke, James perceived movement inside the beam of the light. He turned toward it and saw that there was someone else in the castle with them, someone who'd been there the entire time, seated on the high-backed chair, turned away from them. A pale hand moved on the arm of the chair, gripping it as the figure stood, arose to her full height, and turned around.

"You wonderful fools," Judith breathed triumphantly, gazing at the young woman who now stood in the beam of light. "You failed to understand the true meaning of the Loom. That length of thread you see wrapped around the brooch is only a symbol. She is the true Crimson Thread, drawn through the Vault of Destinies from her own dimension, just as the symbolic thread itself was plucked from the Loom. As long as the symbolic thread stays here with us, so… does… SHE ."

James was speechless. He stared into the beam of light, unable to take his eyes from the young woman standing there, smiling weakly. Her hair was long and dark, framing a face he knew very well except for the eyes. There, he saw only a hollow deadness, lurking just under a pall of misery. Except for the eyes, the young woman standing inside the light, at home in that odd bedroom assembly, was Petra herself.

"Izzy," the other Petra said, her voice cracking into tears. "I'm so sorry I killed you."

"It was you I dreamed of," Petra said, staring at her sudden twin. "Not me. In your world, you were too late. You killed her."

The other Petra nodded slowly, not taking her eyes from the Izzy that stood just outside the light.

"So that's your brooch," James said, nodding toward the jewelry box. "You never went on the ocean journey with us, so you never lost it."

"This is not the Petra you know, James," Judith replied, finally moving into the light. "In her world, she never came to your home seeking refuge. Instead, she gave herself over to the destiny that claimed her on the night she killed her sister. She has abandoned good and forsaken love. She has nothing left, which is why she was so willing to join me. And after all, why wouldn't she? I am her mother. She paid for me. She paid very dearly."

The other Petra responded to this by leaning her cheek onto Judith's shoulder.

"Petra," James called out sharply, speaking to the young woman in the light. "That isn't really your mother! Haven't you been listening? She's some evil beast from the netherworld, bent on creating chaos! Petra, she's not even really human!"

"Don't call me that name anymore, James," the young woman in the light said sadly. "Petra is no more. Now there's just me, Morgan."

Judith nodded slowly and smiled. "My 'daughter' and I have been very busy ever since I drew her into your world. You see, the rules of the Nexus Curtain do not apply to either of us. She is not of your dimension and I am not human. We may pass through as we wish, although doing so does have its consequences. Dimensions don't respond well to two of one person occupying them at the same time. Whenever my Morgan passed into your world, your Petra fell asleep. In truth, I suspect she even faded from your world, and slept here, on this very bed, trading places with Morgan. I suppose they could exist at the same time in the same world—for a time, at least—but it would not be without its own strange consequences. The fabric of existence would reject such a duality, and would strive to annihilate one of the dimensional twins, all in the name of balance. But this is neither here nor there. The fact is, we have passed through into your reality, on several, important occasions. We have, in fact, had quite the busy little lives in your world."

James suddenly thought he understood. He narrowed his eyes angrily. "You!" he exclaimed, pointing. " You killed the leader of the W.U.L.F. and took over! You're their new leader!"

"Oh my, no," Judith laughed again, delightedly. "No, no, no, you silly boy. I'm not the leader of the W.U.L.F." She gestured affectionately toward Morgan. " She is. She killed Edgar Tarrantus. Frankly, she was doing the man a favor. He'd grown so very political in his old age that he was very nearly a joke. More importantly, she killed the Muggle politician. They'd had other plans for him, of course, but Morgan here can be quite persuasive. In death, Senator Filmore will serve a much greater purpose. And besides, American politicians are, as they say, a dime a dozen." She laughed as if she'd made a small joke at a party.