In His Memory
Part Ten: Battle of Wills
By: WeasleyTwin2
If I could reach you
I'd guide you and teach you
To walk from the darkness
Back into the light
From the musical Jekyll and Hyde
Have I fallen so far and is the hour too late
That nothing remains but to cry of my hate…
From the musical Les Miserables
"Master… they have reached the castle," said a leadened voice in a dull whisper. The pale, shadowy form bowed deeply before him though it floated about a foot from the floor.
Seth-Ra laughed his deep, evil laugh.
"Excellent! They will never return with whatever that seek. My minions will see to that…" he stared at the ghost that floated before him. "You are beginning to learn at last, my unwilling servant. It was such a pleasure to break you to my will. Yes such a joy to turn you to darkness, who was once so true to the light. To steal that light and set my darkness in it's place."
Trapped inside his own mind Harry Potter shivered, remembering the endless hours of pain and torture. The pain from the Cruciatus Curse was still running through him though he was uncertain how Seth-Ra had managed to cast it on a ghost. It should have been impossible to accomplish and yet it had been cast on him. The pain had been ten times worse then when Voldemort had cast it on him. It had sapped his will and left him with no hope at all in his heart. Ever since Seth-Ra's spell had imprisoned him here, he'd been seeking escape…but there seemed to be none. His body, such as it was, would no longer obey his will. There was another will had been set in its place, one that obeyed only Seth-Ra and his commands, and try as he might Harry couldn't break through the spell that held his own spirit imprisoned. He was trapped within walls of pure darkness and no spell he'd attempted to cast had the power to break through it. He didn't have the strength to break it and with every failed attempt he felt the Living Darkness becoming more and more a part of him, driving his spirit farther and farther from his "body". He shivered again within his mental prison as he felt the Darkness rising within him, claiming still more of him. Seth-Ra's laughter echoed in his mind. Hopelessness and despair warred within him. This was the worse torture: to watch as he lead people…friends…into the traps Seth-Ra had laid for them and to help drain them of all their powers… and them their very lives. He'd been unable to stop himself and felt tainted by the evil that he'd become an unwilling part of. Harry began to cry, as he had before, and slammed into the dark walls of his mental prison trying to free himself once more. Feeble golden light began to glow around him and the Living Darkness rose to meet his attack. Harry struggled for some moments in silence, hoping…praying that this time he would succeed and break the spell holding him. It was not to be…the Living Darkness swallowed the feeble light that surrounded him and he was forced back into his prison as the Dark claimed still more of him. Seth-Ra's face smiled its familiar smile distracting him and the eyes of someone he once thought of as a friend turned cold.
"And yet, you will not tell me what they seek or where you've hidden your powers. If you would…things would go much easier for you."
Harry grinned, although that grin was more like a grimace. Seth-Ra would never be able to get the information he sought from Harry. Before he had left to rescue his parents, he had performed a Fidelius Charm on himself to hide that information from Seth-Ra forever in case he was captured. He would not and could not be made to betray the secret even under torture nor even in his bespelled state. Seth-Ra could never do anything to make Harry tell. His will and the spell would hold firm even unto "death". Seth-Ra descended from his throne and walked around Harry's ghost, studying him a moment. Then he came up behind Harry and grabbed him by his shoulders. A shudder moved through Harry and then familiar pain ran through his body: a burning, stabbing pain. He slumped to the floor, screaming as the curse ran through him, unable to stop himself. Seth-Ra grinned evilly, his eyes glinting as they gazed down upon Harry. Harry looked up at him through a haze of pain as the pain continued to course through him, defiance lighting his eyes for a moment. He rose unsteadily to his feet and floated there a moment pale and weak yet still resolute.
"You will tell me what I wish to know or your friends will die the most painful death I can devise…" he paused for effect and then continued. "Yes…they will die…and by the hand of one they trust…you will kill them…"
"NEVER!" said Harry weakly but still defiantly, swaying on the spot.
Harry could say nothing more for at that moment his bespelled self took over and replied, "Yes, Master…Of course, Master…they must all die."
Seth-Ra smiled his cruel smile and then said, "It's good to hear you say that…you are learning, Horus that was…Now…bow!"
Harry felt himself sink to the floor, obeying Seth-Ra's command without pause even as he struggled to remain upright.
"Fear not…I will discover the truth soon…You have not been fully broken yet, Horus that was…but you will be…You will do my biding…your powers will be mine and you will kill them for me…Think on this…they will fall and by your hand…this will be their punishment for defying me and yours as well…"
He swept from the room, his cloak of darkness billowing behind him. Harry tried to force himself to rise from his bowed position but his body remained unmoved. He cried again but no tears came to his eyes. There was no change in his situation…
"And there will never be…" he thought bitterly to himself, berating himself for the foolish move that had lead to his capture.
* * *
Hours later, Harry was still kneeling on the stone floor. His knees and back were stiff and the coldness that always seemed to pervade this room was seeping into his body. No one had come to tell him he could rise from his kneeling position on the floor and the room had gone absolutely pitch black. The darkness was impenetrable and it had settled around him like a cloak. He was alone in Seth-Ra's Living Darkness without benefit of the Light that had once been so much a part of him. Inwardly, he shuddered though he moved not at all. How long could he hold out before his spirit became warped by evil forever? His spirit began to fall under the cloud of despair that hung over him. There was no Light, no hope, no…anything…anymore.
Seth-Ra had drained him of everything, leaving only enough behind to keep him very aware of what evil he was being forced to perform. This was the punishment that Seth-Ra had devised especially for him and him alone of all: to see his actions and not be able to prevent them, to see himself turned to darkness, to be a servant of the Night Bringer and Soul Stealer, to perform evil deeds that forever tainted his soul and to lose the Light that once shone bright within him. All because he'd so foolishly given his powers away…had granted them to another…to…
"NO! I will not tell…I have made a promise…a sacred vow…that cannot be broken…"
Harry trembled before blows that came from Seth-Ra's will though he could feel that Seth-Ra was currently miles away…no doubt laying a trap for someone. Harry's will struggled with Seth-Ra's own until it grew too weak to continue and Harry felt himself falling as if he'd been physically attacked.
"You foolish vow has gotten you nowhere, Horus that was."
Harry tried to lash out at the voice in his head with the powers he no longer carried and once more a weak, watery golden light glimmered around him but it was too weak to last for long. It slowly faded and when it disappeared completely, he felt despair settle heavier around his heart, squeezing it like a vise. Seth-Ra's laugh echoed around the room and then slowly faded from hearing. There was no hope in Harry's heart now; it had died a slow and painful death. The part of him that still existed grew weaker and weaker as grief, despair and hopelessness battled with one another for the tattered remains of his spirit. He sunk deeper and deeper into the glum and darkness never to rise from it again. Lost forever.
* * *
Later, in the darkest part of the night just before dawn, a faint sound penetrated the glum that had settled like a great weight around Harry. Whether it was a noise from outside the room or within his own mind, he couldn't tell but he concentrated, searching for the source of the sound. The deep, impenetrable darkness around him had the power to muffle all things so he listened with all his power. He closed his eyes to concentrate better and was at long last rewarded for his effort. The noise became crystal clear for a moment and he recognized the soft chanting he'd heard when he had first awakened to find the Light and Dark battling for his spirit…but the Darkness had driven the Light away…or had it?
The chant of the Light rose and fell around him and he strained his ears trying to make out the words carried by the invisible singers. He listened with his whole heart and being, kneeling on the cold, stone floor in the dark, a part of the Greater Darkness. Slowly, the voices became even clearer then before: several men and women in chorus and above them…their voices soaring in bell-like tones…two voices: a rich alto and tenor. The two voices were familiar to him…so familiar… but their names evaded him.
Harry tried to make out the words of their chant, surrounding himself with the song, immersing himself in it. The chant rose and fell around him, surrounding him in warmth almost like a blanket. It felt exactly like someone was calling to him from a great distance. He strained against the spell, which held him bound to the Darkness, but though he strained against it, it remained the stronger of the two. Harry fell back into the darkness, weaker and more discouraged then before.
"I can't break free…no power left…no reason for hope…no light…sorry…so sorry…I can't…don't ask me to…so sorry."
His head slumped forward and tears ran down his face. He had begun to sink back into the darkness when the chant around him grew stronger. Desperately, he began to search the song again for its words. He strained his ears again but only one word became clear to him, sung by the two soaring voices: "Hope…" He felt a small spark of Light pierce the Darkness within his spirit and for a moment it shone feebly in that deep darkness. Then it grew steadier and stronger, golden white and glimmering. The Light was very small-the tiny flame a mere pinprick in the Greater Darkness-but it was strong and it spread its Light before it into the dark world that Harry had become a part of. It had the will to survive and thrive in this present Darkness and, one day, it would burst free. Light and hope had reentered Harry's dark and despairing world.
"Maybe all is not lost…maybe I can still win free of Seth-Ra's power," he thought as excitement moved through him in a wave. He watched the flickering flame as he had once watched his mother's spirit. Surely this light, like his mother's spirit before it, would lead him out of this Darkness and back into the Light… maybe not right away…but surely it would lead him to freedom. His mood lightened and he grinned though no one could see it. Hope had been restored within his heart and from this moment on there was nothing that Seth-Ra could say or do that would cause him to lose it again. The flame grew stronger and stronger…driving away the Darkness before it.
"Freedom…"
He kneeled quietly and waited for the time of testing to begin.
Well…I'm back from vacation! Sorry this took so long to post. I had hoped to post this part before I left but things being the way they are when you are getting things ready for vacation… Anyway here it is finally. Please read and when you've finished review it too. It would make me happy. In His Memory Part 11 will be titled Set(h) –vs- Osiri(u)s. I hope to have it up in the next few days.
WeasleyTwin2