Reverse Rebirth
Chapter IX: Possibility
(BGM: Wild Arms – The Power Which Supports the World)
She stood floating over the battlefield.
What's going on?
Below her she saw the demonic forces of Lord Voldemort battling against the students of Hogwarts. Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort battled fiercely, away from the rest. The two seemed evenly matched. Every spell launched was either evaded or deflected.
A battle?
Above her, the sky distorted as a gigantic swirling rift appeared. Everything stopped. Every combatant, good or evil, gazed skyward. From the rift emerged the spire of a castle. The castle was atop a large island and for some reason, upside-down.
What is this?!
She watched as glowing flickers of light gathered around the castle's top. Symbols, Runes, Markings, all appeared arranged around what seemed like the gigantic transparent face of a clock. Waves of color washed over the world from the island, until it spread throughout the whole universe.
I don't understand this…what am I seeing?
Silver light gathered at the center of the clock face…and then fired in the form of a blinding beam upon Hogwarts Castle. Upon impact, the beam splintered as its silver rays surrounded the planet, reaching out to everywhere the initial colors touched. A feeling of great pressure washed over her as the whole universe seemed to reverse itself. Eventually the swirling planets and stars blended together in a wall of white, and for a time, she was blinded.
Ow! This bloody hurts!
Suddenly, her vision returned. Below her once again was a battlefield. Hogwarts students against the forces of Lord Voldemort…however…there were fewer of the enemy than before. As like before, Voldemort and Harry Potter battled away from the rest…only this time Harry Potter was dominating. She heard a voice familiar to her call out to the Last Potter, to end the battle here. With a nearly blinding flare of white, Voldemort was erased from existence.
However…there was one problem.
…Bloody Hell…
A few minutes after everyone gave a loud cheer, a violent rumbling shook the earth. A beam of black light erupted from the ground where Voldemort fell. After a few moments, the beam began taking shape…but the watcher was unable to see what…for it was then that she began to awaken.
What? No! I have to see more!
Her wish was granted…only what she saw wasn't what she had hoped for. Like with her first vision since entering Hogwarts…once again, she saw the death of her favored Professor…a giant claw through his torso.
(BGM: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (hereby referred to as TTGL) – BafBaf! Sonna ni Moeru no ga…Suki Kai)
The room stood silent. Zero was propped against a wall, awaiting their response to his tale. Hermione was the first to find her voice.
"You…you turned back time?"
"Yerp."
"But…wouldn't that-
"Nope. I reversed this entire universe. Meaning everything that ever happened to ANYONE in this universe reversed itself. For the most part everything just happened all over again. It's only this particular world that I started fooling around with…to make sure shit went right."
"Then why the bloody hell haven't you offed You-Know-Who if you're so damn powerful?!"
"Ronald!"
"Actually…" Dumbledore began, "That's something I wonder myself."
"Clotho may be dead, but the things she put into motion before this point keep me from killing the prick myself. Honestly, the same question could be asked of you Old Man. While the Prophecy stops anyone but Harry from offing Snakeass entirely, it would have been pretty simple for you to track down his essence and seal it into something. I mean fuck, Clotho only bound him and Harry because nobody did anything about him you old codger! You had multiple opportunities to at least severely stall him to a point where it'd take a couple decades before he'd be able to start up again. But no, you're a dumb old fuck that can't even do something that simple right."
"I beg to-
"Oh shut up you fossil. I may not like him, but Zero raises a point. I don't know the whole story of this world, nor do I care honestly, but I can tell you are, or at least were a man of great power. If this…Voldemort, was such a threat, you should have been right up his ass every time he made a move."
"See? Even Miko-chan agrees."
"Don't call me that!"
Momentarily forgetting her place, Molly Weasely chimed in.
"Show the Headmaster some respect!"
Before Zero or Mikoto could respond, Snape cut in.
"It's no use Weasely. Those two are too idiotic to perceive such a request. The girl's mother was the same way no doubt."
That…was the wrong thing to say.
Mikoto bolted out of her chair, blade in hand, ready to cut the bastard in two. Just as she was to reach him she froze, a look of horror on her face.
(BGM: Bleach – enemy unseen)
A cold feeling washed over all present. Waves of visible dark energy began swirling around Zero, who stared at Snape with a much hated look. The cold surprised the greasy bastard, but otherwise, the man was barely intimidated…until he felt a strange prickling on his arm.
His eyes widened in shock as he watched hundreds of tiny insects crawl out from a sudden hole in his palm. At the same time his body began to shudder as he felt unending heat coming from within. Inside his body, his blood was beginning to heat rapidly, draining him of nearly all oxygen. Snape began to pant while he watched the insects crawl along his arms. There was a loud snapping noise and the man gave a hoarse scream of pain as his ribcage suddenly inverted, piercing both lungs and his heart, which continued to beat, sending unimaginable waves of pain through his body.
Blood began to bubble out of his mouth, covering the insects and slowly eating away at his flesh. Every hair on his body suddenly became rigid, transforming into small but powerful needles that rocketed inward, piercing both muscle and bone. The insects mutated from his blood, turning into flying red swarms that whirled around him, tearing at his exposed muscles. His nerves were alight with flame as the blood pumping through his veins turned to acid, searing his body from within. The acid burned at his eyes, causing them to shrivel and then burst. All twenty of his nails suddenly ripped off, spurting blood everywhere.
The screaming never ended…even when it turned into a hissing gurgle.
The man's brain was overloaded, the grey matter generating far too much heat…and actually beginning to melt. His spinal cord snapped in multiple places, the bones shattering and shredding muscles everywhere. He lost control of bladder and bowels, expelling shite and urine at the same time, before his anus practically exploded, as the man's testicles burst from within. The man dropped to the floor, nerves still active though his brain turned to mush, the now liquefied substance dripping from his nasal passages, his ears and from the sockets where his eyes used to be, his body twitching as insects released small jolts of energy, electrifying his muscles, causing them to move, which then spread the acid farther, as well as snapping more bones in his body.
And then the world returned to normal.
Mass vomiting ensued. The headmaster's office was covered in the contents of every being present…Zero excluded. The oppressive dark aura receded into himself as Severus Snape lay on the ground, drenched in shite, urine, vomit and sweat…but otherwise unharmed. The Potion's Master lay twitching on the ground, his voice silenced by the shredding of his vocal cords.
Even Dumbledore was sick to his stomach. He'd seen dangerously disturbing things in his life…but that combination of events…
After cleaning herself up, still shuddering, Mikoto quietly spoke.
"You really did love her…didn't you?"
"If I could…I'd rather she be here than I. There is nothing more of my entire life I regret than not being able to fight the power off…"
"I see…you are…a far crueler man than I imagined…but…you show it only to those that deserve it…"
"Fear…is a very powerful deterrent. If one fears you, but does not feel trapped by you, they will abstain from acting. It is when one feels trapped that one lashes out, one plans against their captor. Respect is a better tool to wield when attempting to gather others…but if people need to be controlled, monitored…fear…is the strongest weapon…when used properly."
"What…what was that?!"
"That…Harry Potter…is a powerful ability called a Reality Marble. It is formed when a sufficiently strong enough person is able to create an "enclosed space" in which they are god. It requires an unknown amount of power, but to activate, let alone sustain it, you have to be near god-like."
This time, Hermione spoke.
"B-but…the power requirements a-are cut in h-half…if you hold the p-power of Creation…r-right?"
"Yes. Because you are doing that which only those aligned with Creation should be able to do, if you are indeed aligned with Creation, it is far less taxing to maintain, and requires less of an investment to cast."
Dumbledore tried to shake off the effects, but Luna beat him to the punch. Her own natural serenity helped restore her mindset to its previous level.
"What will happen to Professor Snape?"
"Because he's such a slimy git, I've localized the Reality Marble to be within his mind. He'll go through that torture repeatedly for the next five days, with things constantly varying slightly so he doesn't grow used to it. Each time, it will be triggered from an action he has previously taken."
McGonagall was disturbed. "All because of an insult?"
Ginny snarled. "Didn't you pay attention?! Snape was talking about her mother!" She pointed at Mikoto. "Aura, the wielder of Creation in an age LONG before our time! A woman that shouldn't have died when she did, but was killed because Clotho fucked around with the balance of powers! Not to bloody well mention all the fucking sheer BULLSHIT that greasy fuck has pulled over the years! Zero happens to be the bloody Shinigami himself! He could have done MUCH worse to the bastard!"
The mark on the back of her neck began to glow a fierce Violet. Luna quickly placed a glowing palm on Ginny's shoulder, trying to envelop the red-head with feelings of calm. Slowly the glow faded as Ginny relaxed. She was still irritated but gave Luna a small thanks before sitting down in a huff.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "What you are saying is that you cannot do anything about Voldemort?"
"Not without undoing everything I've been trying to do. Imagine Voldemort as a locked door. Harry here is the key. I could bust down said door, but the door is a valuable one that is connected to one of the key support frames of the building, and knocking it down through sheer force could bring the whole place down on us before anyone could do anything. I and possibly Mikoto would be safe from any harm, because we are not from this world, we are outworlders, beings of a higher plane, therefore happenings on this world can't truly effect us unless we allow them to. However this world, and all of you, would feel the repercussions of said actions. What I can and have done, is even things out for your side. While Voldemort has quantity, in both Death Eater and Genma, though soon the Death Eaters are going to revolt because of his alliance with the Genma, you now have quality, in Luna, Ginny, Hermione and Harry himself. The four of them can now access greater levels of power than even you Dumbledore. Of course, once this war is over, I'll be sealing at least half of that immense power."
Harry frowned. "Why?"
"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Hermione nodded. "I understand."
Ron didn't. "Then bloody well explain it Hermione!"
"He's going to seal our power, not remove it. We'll still be able to access it in times of need, but generally we'll be reduced to probably around Dumbledore's if not a tad bit weaker, because there will be no real need for the level of power we've acquired."
"Exactly. Think of it like this. Aura and I used to seal our excess power all the time, and leveled it off. I've continued to do this, and created a series of mental and physical transformed states matching the level of power I need to access. There's me as I am now, my base form. Decent amount of power, able to basically do whatever I want within reason, battle capabilities are high-average. Then there's my Demonic form, which adds a great deal of physical and magical strength, while nearly doubling my already insane speed, my God-Dragon form, which is the third strongest form I have, due to both its size and power. That one is used mostly against a mass army, or one bigass bastard that my more humanoid forms can't handle. My God-Demon-Dragon form, which is basically a slightly stronger version of my God-Dragon form, only it pilots on pure rage, therefore it's not as…smart, due to the reverting to baser instincts. Absolute Zero, which is what I call me when I'm pissed to the point where I don't even feel anything at all. That's my second strongest form, the one that can take out a God Class being with minimal effort, and then is my Shinigami form, my true power. Every bit of energy within my body is set free. So far, nothing has been able to stand up to it…but that one requires a very specific series of events to happen, and I can only access it freely in the Realm of the Gods."
Tonks wondered. "Why's that?"
"Because as long as I am upon a Mortal Plane, I myself, though very difficult to kill, am mortal. It was one of the restrictions I allowed placed upon myself. I can be killed on mortal soil. It doesn't always mean I'll stay dead, but my body can be destroyed. In the Godly Plane, however, unless someone has the ability to wipe out a soul of immense power, I cannot die in any form. I can be knocked unconscious, I can be drained of a great deal of energy to the point where I must rest to recover it, I can be injured, though it'll just heal in a second, but I cannot truly die. At least…I don't think I can."
"I see." Dumbledore turned his gaze upon Ginny. "Miss Weasely, I believe it's time you told us exactly what it is you can do. We know what He and your friends can do, but not yourself."
She glared but sighed. "Fine, fine…it starts back in my First Year-
That's when a loud cracking noise shot through the room. A massive shockwave erupted from before Zero, knocking Mikoto backward and pushing everyone else back a few paces. The ground in front of him shattered inward as the form of a little blonde haired girl appeared.
"Maya?"
Crying, the blonde girl leapt at Zero and held on for dear life.
"Whoa, hey! What's the matter kit?"
"I had...a vision!"
"Hey, hey…relax, its ok. Take a deep breath and tell me what happened."
"I…I don't know…I saw…I saw Harry Potter and You-Know-Who…and then…a big castle…and then a bright light."
Eyebrows rose all around.
"Ok, what else?"
"I saw Harry Potter and You-Know-Who again…but I saw him beat You-Know-Who…but…but…Something came out from his body and killed you!"
Zero gave a coy grin. "Gee…with the amount of times you see me dead in the future, one would get the feeling you didn't like me."
She gave a small glare and swatted him on the arm. "Prat! I'm serious!"
It couldn't be helped. "No, I'M Sirius. You're Maya. Get it right kiddo."
Maya whirled around and shot the most heated glare at Sirius, who backed away, arms raised.
"Did you see what it looked like?"
She shook her head. "No…the vision faded in between whatever it was appearing, and then you getting run through…"
"Hmm…well, that is a problem…"
"Zero…didn't you say you were weaving the thread of this world? Can't you just…stop all that from happening?"
"I…could…but I won't. Maya has no connection to the fates, which means her vision came from the World itself. This means that it is an event that must take place for the world to continue. Maybe not the part of me getting run through, but whatever appears has to appear for this world to continue properly. I'd believe Maya had the vision because of the severity of the path, and it was to be a warning that the supposed final battle may not be so final."
He looked down at the blonde clutching him.
"You wanna head back to sleep?"
She shook her head violently. "No! I…I wont be able to sleep for a while…can I just…stay here for a bit?"
"Eh, sure."
"Now wait a moment, I don't think-
"When do you ever think? Anything she hears here is well within her right. She does have the power of Sight after all. And apparently she can see past events just as well as future…considering she was able to see my actions here…which…honestly doesn't make sense but whatever. I stopped questioning how Sight works lifetimes ago…"
"So can I continue now?"
"By all means Ginny."
"Well…most of us here know how in my first year I was manipulated and possessed by a fragment of Voldemort through an enchanted Diary. Well…his possession went deeper than I or anyone else knew."
"What she means is that Tom left his natural power over Darkness within her. It fused with her natural power of Flame, and gave birth to those lovely black flames she hurls around."
"Because Tom also forced my body to replicate the power of Parseltongue, I've…retained…the ability to talk to serpents."
"Tom's remaining essence grew and overlapped with Ginny's own personality. But since it had been within her for so long, her magic accepted it as part of her, and broke his essence down and fused it with her own. She already had a temperamental personality, but combined with Tom's own natural charisma and intellect, now made a fusion of the two: the beautifully snarky and sarcastic girl in front of us."
"Oh go blow a donkey."
"Case in point."
"And the markings?"
"Because her magic knew that which she didn't, when I placed the base seals on all three of them, her magic twisted it into the seal of Black Flame, which best suits those with great darkness within their souls. It is the most temperamental of the seals, reacting to even the slightest bit of anger, but it has to be actual anger. It can't just be momentary irritation. They've all reached the level where they can call upon its power at will, but Ginny's will always be the first to react."
"Very well…I believe that should sedate our queries for now…just one last thing…who…is she?"
Mikoto turned her head.
"She is…I guess you could call her our 'daughter'. Honestly…she was just a little girl the two of us had taken an interest in…who was thought to be killed in that battle…"
"The clash between Creation and Destruction destroyed the world you two were battling on. With Mother's death at your hands, and you absorbing her power into yourself, returning the power of Chaos to the universe, the sudden removal of such a great force sent an echo through the worlds. I was…changed…by those echoes, because of the connection the three of us shared. It was Clotho that found me…bullshat me into believing that you'd slain Mother of your own will…and trained me to destroy you. She always underestimated you, assuming you suffered a severe power reduction for being in the mortal realm…"
"Good thing the bitch is dead then."
"What? I thought you couldn't kill a Deity unless they were currently mortal!"
He held up his arm, on it flashed a violet ring. Harry's ring echoed the pulse.
"Wait…you have one too?!"
"I have the original. It was Aura's creation…an object strong enough to change the very properties of things…the one thing that could destroy even Gods."
"And by killing her in the Realm of Deities, you ensured she would never revive…brilliant…"
"Thank you my dear Hermione."
"Alright, we know who you two are, and what you can do. Now where do we go from here?"
"Well Moody, the best course of action would be for things to keep going as they were. Those Marcellus were sent by Voldemort, which means he's able to summon the stronger of the Genma now. He's soon to attack, I believe…but we'll be ready for him."
"I pray so. Very well…this meeting has reached its end. Classes will resume in two days, to repair the damage to the Quidditch field and surrounding areas."
"Hey…Mione…mind taking Miko-chan to my quarters? I wanna walk Maya back to her common room."
"Alright. Zero…I…"
"Hey…don't worry about it ok? Everything'll turn out fine."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Lot more serious this time through. I'll explain the whole 'Maya apparating into Dumbles' room' thing next chapter.
D&S Master: Yeah, she did get whupped didn't she? I hope this one answers a few questions.
Hmm…I expected more people. I must be losing my touch…real life seems to have that effect upon me…