Title: Immortality

Writer: Moirae

Rating: PG-13

Genre: General

Period: circa 3000 . . . or 4000 or . . . 5000

Pairings: None . . . Except mythological Dark Lord of Nemisis/Soldier Lady of the Sun and Virgin Lady of the Moon/Soldier Lady of the Sun. We could also say the main character, Tom Marvolo Riddle/Lord Voldemort has fond feelings towards the Soldier Lady.

Word Count: 940

Summary: The war ended. Harry Potter fell beneath the Dark Lord's valour. His battle ended, Tom Marvolo Riddle never thought that his greatest accomplishment would prove to be his greatest folly. But every night, he overcomes this folly. Of course, it fails to mean anything in the end.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The plot, however, is created by the writer and is not to be replicated by another.

Writer's Notes: The theory of Nibiru and Nemisis is one I researched upon having an interest in the theory of Planet X. Tom pretty much explains the theory in his ramblings, what must be known for this ficlet to make sense, at any rate. This version has not been beta'ed, but I don't want to wait to archive it anymore.

Immortality

a tom riddle reign

Eastern skies bled mauve across the horizon, veins emptied into distant pools of dust. Death-Gods savaged the lands centuries ago, they left nothing but amber bones and crystallised fossils. History slumbered beneath fire-harvested fields cradling emerald saplings; their roots warped around chipped earthenware or electronically challenged motherboards.

Mountains embraced Northern-west lands; they wore top hats of ice and had discarded their canes-like paths decades ago. Frigid airs collected pterodactyl birds with leather wings that hunted in the moonlight. They lived in caves, you knew because you had been there, and shredded their prey into thin strips, drunk blood as an inexpensive wine. In the morning, you walked out into the rising sun, whispering your goodbyes to those felled with you.

You had never made that mistake again.

You squinted against the early morning sun, her fiery waves cleansed over you. The amethyst, cloudless sky fractured into tears--heavy, they hammered into the ground, washed away last night's bonfires and gave sustenance to the gophers and lizards.

The sun walked along with you as you crossed the starched-fields, kept you a companion--hers had died long ago. Probably too long for her to remember clearly, so you readily remind her everyday. "It was nearly a millennia ago," you began, and you felt more important in this world than you did a mere second ago. "Or maybe two. I've lost count, m'dear. It could have been six, for all I know. The Planet of Crossing, or Nibiru as I knew her, entered our solar system, her orbit an ellipse with two suns as the points, and brought with them the Sky Giants and Apocalypse. Asteroids from the kuiper belt scorched across our skies, collided with planetoids that begot their ways. The skies bled fire and the polar caps melted, flooded the Earth before freezing into a wasteland of glaciers and snow.

"The Sky Giants reaped the benefits of our land--they left nothing but the invisible auras of a new magick that we easily harnessed and used to our advantage. That is, if there were wizards left to wield them. I cannot remember, it's been many years, m'dear." You stopped and stared at the intense sphere of fire hovering above you. "Three and a half millennia later, they went home, as following their orbit, back to their father Nemesis, the Dwarf. Oh, you know about Nemesis, don't you m'dear? A dark star is he, casting his shadows over Nibiru and other planetoids I do not know the names of. Oh, but you declined his affections and set your eyes on the beautiful moon.

"I have never loved as you have. A burning passion for another human I have never felt. However, that means I have never lost as you have. And for that, I am appreciative. Bits of rock and ice flashed by Earth, some hit Venus and Mercury and burned into you while others crashed into the moon, shattering her to pieces.

"I heard your screams.

"I think I was the only mortal who did. Of course, I wasn't mortal long after that. The war was soon coming to an end. I was victorious; the light was slowly retreating into the ravenous darkness. My subordinates were easily influenced into battling for my causes. They feared me, which was the greatest power I've ever experienced.

"Oh! But when did the Sky Giants come? Before or after I drank the potion . . ."

The sun flickered as debris crossed the skies, like a light bulb you could not remember in an attic you were never sure you had. You gave the sun a fleeting smile and apologised for your lapse in attention.

"It was a stupid way to end the war"--you snorted--"that potion was immortality, it was what I hunted for fifty plus years. Who'd have thought Dumbledore had it all that time. Everything--the deaths, the destruction, the tears and the pain--could have been avoided if he gave me that potion! Oh, but I had it within my grasp eventually. He too was felled to my power. For much too long my body was ravaged by magicks, I thought I would never again experience the ecstasies and distresses of human nature. It took a while, you see, for my body to become human again. I no longer needed the power the seventh circle of hell bequeathed upon me, so I released my agreement with the Hoofed One.

"I saw the end of a war. I saw victory!

"A few years later, as I remember it now, the Sky Giants came upon the Planet of Crossing. And gave us this"--you held your arms towards the sky, indicated to everything surrounding you--the mauve skies, icy mountains, pterodactyls and a small band of savages you just now noticed.

And you chuckled.

"Now? They're early, m'dear. But you might enjoy this."

They wore white war paint over dark complexions that reminded you, uncannily, of those little warrior moneys you once saw in the zoo . . . albeit three or four or seven millennia ago. Their furs were mammoth or black bear; you had yet to decide but were leaning towards mammoth. They approached swiftly; spears held tightly in their white-knuckled hands, their mouths' tongues clicked with some dialogue you couldn't understand.

These were all that was left of a once-prosperous race.

And you dropped easily beneath their waterfall of spears--you had learnt long ago that fighting wouldn't change your fate, and in the morning, the outcomes were all the same. Above your lifeless form, the sun smiles and continues her journey across the sky. She would meet up with you again in the morning. You are, after all, an immortal.