Hey!

So here we go again, boys! And while writing is rather slow these days since I'm putting 12 hours a day on my book and all that goes with it (designing the goodies, looking for the best price, and so on...

I still intend to see this adventure to its end, even if it's probably the most ambitious I've ever tried given that it's a three-way cross-over between my Shadow, an alternate universe of Harry Potter and an alternate universe of the whole Rick Riordan's universe...

Anyway, hope you'll enjoy!

Intro

It was the first time she felt the call.
It was, she would reflect later, probably the first sign of her powers growing and taking their own flair – accommodating her role not only as Death and Chaos' sister, but as Shadow, goddess of heroes and keeper of balance.
Her life as Hatake Yagami wasn't over – but in the world of shinobi, people knew of her true nature, and her body had evolved into a true Avatar, immortal and ready to welcome her soul back whenever she wanted – between the reincarnation into other worlds that were the core of her duties as a goddess.

Naruto – wasn't the clingy brat afraid to lose the people he loved anymore; and while he'd always love her, he understood better than most the urge to do your duty, having taken the hat he'd dreamed of at the age of 25 and still holding firmly the position nearly fifty years later.
At nearly eighty-year-old, the blond Uzumaki didn't look a day over forty, something rather common in this world where hanyou and daiyoukai had finally stopped hiding their presence among humans, and were mostly found among shinobi.
Yagami and Ren spent their life between Earth and Gaia, and while it was far from unexciting, it was rather peaceful since the end of the Great War. Not to say that there hadn't been conflicts between nations here and there, or missions gone awry.
But nothing as world threatening as a mad goddess bent on taking over the planet.

Now that her body was immortal, the Moon Clan Head had dropped into the Immortal Realm, Ren following as soon as his body had reached the same status of Avatar as her own, when he first set foot back on Gaia, a thousand years and a reincarnation later.
As such, she had casually mentioned the fact that her senses were telling her that there was a job for her.

The other High God had shared worried looks – the same kind of look they'd had before sending a lone, far too young goddess to Hagaren, where she'd ended up healing Truth, or when Chaos had granted her the power of the Abyss.
"There is another Chosen One that'll soon awaken in your world." Fate had said, "But I doubt this is what you've felt."
"It's not." Yagami – or rather Shadow, as she was in the Immortal Realms – agreed, "I've already meddled enough with this world for now. If they never have to take arms and defend themselves, they'll forget how to live."

"Indeed." Order agreed – since she'd managed to defeat Kaguya, the cold goddess had considerably warmed toward her, Shadow had realized
"But we've received numerous pleas for a bargain recently." a god stated
Yagami tilted her head in a very canine fashion, twelve tails waving lazily in her back as she mused, "I don't think I've ever seen you around?"
"You haven't, child." the man agreed

He was rather reminiscent of her first brother, Death, Shadow mused – a calm and collected front that she could feel was holding back godly powers and emotions just as strong as her brother's own.
He had straight white hair, woven in an intricate braid, that nearly touched the ground, and piercing silver eyes that reminded her of the indescribable color of her invisible cloak back in her first life, before she'd ever ascended.

¤.¤.¤

His smile was small, but sincere as he introduced himself with a rather old fashion bow, "I am Time&Eternity."
Light's eyes widened at the introduction – Higher deities all had a counter-part…

Life and Death.
Chaos and Order.
Peace and War.
Knowledge and Oblivion.
Dream and Reality.
Love and Hate.
And themselves – Shadow and Light.

¤.¤.¤

The god nodded, acknowledging their simultaneous realization.
"I am my own counterpart." he said, "And the oldest among all of us High Gods."
Presentation done with, the god went on, "I am responsible for the oldest worlds."
This was rather logical, both Shadow and Light knew, as the older the world, the more powerful it was – just like it was for the gods themselves.

"And recently, a world that had been an Edge World for a very long time has all but become an Abyss World." he frowned, "I've rewound time again and again, granted different bargains…" he all but threw his hands in the air, "And this blasted Harry Potter always ends up dying, one way or another, provoking a chain reaction that dooms this world!"
"We'd been debating making this reality a Lost World." Chaos whispered despondently, "Nobody likes it… But if it is impossible to save…"
Shadow and Light shared a stunned glance.

For the goddess to have felt the pull, right when the gods were about to abandon a world where a version of herself was failing his destiny – that couldn't be a mere coincidence.
"This must be what I've felt."
"But what Chosen One can you help? He can't even seem to survive his childhood most of the time!" Time protested heatedly – clearly, the situation was getting to him

"There's one thing you forget." Shadow pointed out with an amused smile, "I was born Harriet Potter."
The oldest god froze, and watched her carefully, clearly considering the situation.
"Don't tell me…" Order started to protest
"That's it! I haven't tried with another Chosen One Potter!" Time proclaimed excitedly

Chaos was crowing happily about the idea – his counterpart looked torn between strangling him or Time and banging her head against the nearest wall.
"I mean, arranging things for you to be sent is going to be a bit finicky…" Time mused "But by rewinding a bit farther, changing a parent here and there, granting the right bargain at the right time… It could work!"
"We're really doing this?" Order protested, "Helping heroes is one thing… Replacing them is another!"

"This hero is doomed to fail, and this world a Lost World if someone doesn't pick up their slack." Time pointed out, "This may well be our last chance to save this world, Order."
The goddess stopped protesting, the argument hitting home.
While she still felt replacing a hero to be a rather big interference – nobody wanted to doom one of the infinity of worlds under their watch.
So, with a sigh, she settled back, and asked, "So, how are we doing this?"