Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter.
AN: There are a number of creatures from Magic: The Gathering mentioned or described in this chapter and onward. All those familiar with the game, see if you can spot them!
Chapter 9 Fiery Swords and Cherubim
Harry stood at the edge of his Paradise, glancing worriedly at the sun for a moment, scanning the abyss-like horizon for the Guardian. Lily was injured and returning. Somehow, he knew. He felt her pain, her raw agony as if something in his mind was being torn apart and broken and battered.
As he had lain there over three days ago, clutching his cranium in brutal Purgatory, he discovered a price to pay for his power of Creation. When he crafted something, it had to come from somewhere... and Harry's creations came from his very psyche. The destruction of his creations was destroying his mind.
Sweeping his emerald orbs over his island, he wondered briefly if the destruction of Paradise, of everything he had Created... if that would destroy his mind completely.
Pushing the morbid thoughts aside, he continued watching, and waiting. Idly, he plucked a small, heart-shaped purple fruit from a low branch and bit into it, feeling the meaty, juicy, sweet taste flooding his senses, and wondering if all of it was within his mind, if the tastes, textures, if all of it was just in his imagination.
Such thoughts were not rare for Harry, and on many occasions, his perceptions blurred and he feared he was going insane... and other times that he was already.
A new shape in the horizon broke Harry's reveries. A single, tiny dot too far to see, but in an instant, he knew that the Guardian had returned. His stomach quailed at the thought of injury to his pseudo-mother, but he cringed at the thought of the return of that uncomfortable confusion, that feeling of ethereal illusions that came with spending time with her.
Tossing aside the half-eaten fruit that bounced carelessly away, he strode forward to greet Lily, but with each dreading and eager step, he felt as though he were walking away from reality, and into a dream.
Lily was a mess, Harry noticed with a wince. One wing had a vicious slash across it, her side was bleeding profusely, and her left arm was broken in a particularly gruesome fashion. Her once pure snow-white robes were dirtied with blood and dirt; her ivory sword lay limp in her right arm, which dangled tiredly. From the look of her right shoulder, and from Harry's own... intuition, about his Guardian, he deciphered that it was also broken. Her once strong golden brown eagle wings were now flapping tiredly, lagging after each stroke that heaved with effort after flying wounded for over three days straight.
Finally, she landed, or rather, crashed into the soft soil of Paradise, sending up small showers of dirt around Harry as she lay prostrate and weary at the feet of her Creator. Her blade slipped out of her numb hands and fell and bit into the soil as she panted with effort.
"I... I have failed you... Please absolve me of my sin of failure Master." Lily beseeched wretchedly, weeping bitter tears of disappointment, failure, and defeat, on her knees, clutching Harry's feet for dear life. "I could not destroy your enemy..."
Sighing, Harry knelt and pulled the Guardian's face up with one finger on her chin, looking into her eyes. "You have not failed me. There is nothing to forgive."
Lily shook her head, sending tears splashing like rain to the ground. "I failed. I could not destroy Voldemort."
Something spiked in Harry's mind. A phrase... And either must die at the hand of the other...
Shaking himself mentally, the Creator attempted again. "It was my fault. I should have anticipated that there would be more enemies. You are my Guardian, but you are but one warrior. The blame lies with me." Harry exhaled. "I should not have sent you alone."
But the Guardian seemed inconsolable. "I failed you... and now I can no longer protect you. I am broken." Lily wept once more, falling to Harry's feet in grief.
Harry chuckled, a small, low chuckle of amusement and intoxication of power. "Do you not think that I can restore you?" He asked, and immediately, the angel's head shot up, shaking violently.
"No! I would never doubt your power Master!" Lily nearly cried out, affronted and horrified.
"Then do not despair." Harry closed his eyes, and imagined the Guardian, healthy, strong, and, gathering the memory of the armor he had crafted, he imagined her wearing that golden armor, strengthening both angel and armor against curses and attacks.
Opening his emerald eyes, he smiled. Lily stood now, her wounds healed and her body restored, her stained robes replaced with pure golden armor, her wings flapping strong and healthy. Panting slightly with effort, he watched as the angel laughed, happy with her restoration as she grabbed her blade.
But now a new thought was already working within the Creator's mind. Enemies would come to strike against Paradise... and the Guardian would not be enough. The destruction of this island would destroy him; destroy his Eden, his peace, his everything. That was unacceptable.
Paradise required more defenses. An army would be rallied now. He would have to spawn an army of abominations, of terrors, of monsters, of all the dark things that crept within the Creator's mind and soul. His Paradise would now have to house demons, and the isolation of it would grow extensively. But these things had to be done to protect such perfection. Harry sighed, knowing that his task would not be an easy one on his mind or his body.
Within Hell, or at least an equivalent of it, the Devil raged and seethed and burned with hatred. His missing limb plagued his thoughts, and his fury only grew, his hunger for death augmented. His humiliation only fueled his ire. To be defeated, to be utterly routed! The mere idea made him scream furiously, cursing the walls of his hidden fortress.
The fortress itself was one of several hideouts he had bought and renovated in the First War, and this was one that had never been compromised. It could hold hundreds of the demon's servants, could hold almost as many prisoners as Azkaban with its dungeons, and had enough space to train new recruits for the growing army of Death Eaters. With it, the Dark Lord could plan out his campaigns, and wage a war of Darkness.
But now all his thoughts were bent on the angel, that apparition that had fought him and won. The memory of his loss burned like the lost limb's wound. He had already vowed in his pain and fury that he would find that creature and hunt her down, no matter where she ran.
Servants scurried about, desperate not to see their Lord of Darkness. Even Bellatrix, who had done substantial damage to the Ministry and its Aurors in her assault, dared not come near the furious red-eyed devil.
The furious devil paced furiously, and a single, fearful knock reverberated about his chamber. "Enter." He hissed furiously, knowing that there was only one person who would even dare to knock at this time.
The Death Eater entered slowly, holding a long, medium width box carefully. "It is done, my Lord." His servant rasped with a voice that was exhausted and weary, not daring to speak any louder.
The Devil, the Dark Lord smiled at long last as he took the box and opened it, revealing the artifact inside. "Excellent..." He hissed softly, admiring the craftsmanship and the power he could feel emanating from the artifact. Glancing dangerously at the Death Eater, he asked in a deadly hiss, "It is perfected?"
The servant of Darkness gulped nervously, blinking away his exhaustion. "Ye-yes, my Lord. As you requested."
"Then leave." That was all the Death Eater needed, and he scurried away from his dark master.
The Dark Lord smiled wider. Although he had been wounded and defeated, he would again show the world why he was so feared. Why, despite the fact that he had been at the very edge of Death before, he had returned from the Stygian abyss.
Lord Voldemort would show the world that the Darkness could never be beaten back for long.
As the Guardian flew over him, obviously doing her instinctual duty to protect Harry, the Creator decided to stall, to wait to create living warriors... nay, monsters. Instead, he would first bend Nature to his will, and create his own natural defenses.
Around the island there was nothing but welcoming open water, and the mental picture laid firmly within his mind as he began his work. Slowly, he added spires of black rock over a mile high to the mental picture, spires that surrounded the island in a single range of solid rock and went all the way down to the bottom of the sea, an insurmountable wall with only one opening that was protected by several jagged protrusions of obsidian. He knew that he would add creatures to the area to help defend the opening, but for now, this would do.
Next, the water slowly began swirling in his mind, swirling outside the spires of black rock, and the wind and rain and clouds began to become violent, and the Creator summoned feelings of anger to aid their creation. Violent winds began to grow around the island, outside the black rock, always pushing unwelcome visitors farther away with only a few small, randomized areas in which the wind broke. The water became dangerous and unfriendly, but within the cove he created, the water and sun and wind remained calm.
Harry opened his eyes and smiled grimly as everything he imagined became reality. The first defense had been set.
Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk, silently praying to whatever higher power would listen to calm the veritable storm of voices that chorused, either inquiring on his health, the appearance of the winged Lily, or just being indistinct and yelling for people to be quiet so that they could talk.
"Quiet." The word spilled from his mouth, harsh as a desert wind and stronger than tempered steel, laced with his power. Immediately, the room quieted, as if they were all still children being chided by their Headmaster.
"I do not know what happened, but I believe it is in our best interests to find and contact this..." Albus struggled to find the words, "pseudo-Lily."
"She mentioned a master of sorts... perhaps someone else is pulling her strings?" Remus suggested, teeth bared fiercely at the thought of anyone using the image of Lily Potter as a puppet.
For a moment, Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes went out and widened, but then the look was gone, replaced with an immovable look of calm. But gears were now working within the octogenarian's mind, gears that were placing the pieces of a puzzle together.
A single idea, an impossible one, but one that fit almost every mystery within Albus Dumbledore's mind perfectly, solving them. Is it possible...
"I watched her with my eye," Mad-Eye Moody added, and everyone's eyes instinctively glanced at the rotating sapphire orb in his eye socket, "She was headed out west. My guess is that's where she came from." Slowly, his hand went into his robes, and produced a single vial with ruby liquid in it.
"And I also found this." Moody growled. "Its that thing's blood. We can use that to find her, or at least figure out if she's the real Lily Potter."
"She's not." Remus said flatly.
Before an argument could rise, Dumbledore cut in. "Severus," He asked, glancing at the dour Potions Master, "Analyze this blood sample. See if you can determine anything. Let me know if anything... unusual comes up." Turning towards the rest of the group, he said wearily, "Dismissed. I'll gather you all again soon."
Harry panted wearily as he lay spread-eagled on the soft black earth, feeling sweat fall off in droves. He had never attempted such mass creation before, but it had to be done. Somehow, he knew the Enemy would come in but a short time.
After a few moments, he sat back up, and smiled softly as he glanced at what lay before him. Adding more land to Paradise, he created a barrier, a jungle barrier filled with marshes and thickets and soon, deadly creatures. All of his previous creations had been peaceful, and he hadn't strayed too far from what his memories provided him. But this jungle had to be dangerous, if it was to protect the rest of Paradise from harm.
Behind him, a stretch of tall grass fields separated this jungle from the gentler forests and lands of the interior of Paradise He knew that about a good distance away, the jungle ended and the beach began, all within his mental image and in reality. Sighing, he stood up, and brushed himself off. Now he would fill the jungle with far more tenacious creatures, creatures that would provide his Creation with protection.
Closing his eyes, he first pictured a vaguely humanoid, but far larger shape with rippling muscles underneath crimson fur, with a slightly hunched, but predatory stance. Summoning up feelings up rage and fury, he infused the creature with the feelings, and then added three more to the picture, two of them female.
Opening his emerald eyes fearfully, hesitantly, he saw the first of his monsters. The lead creature, a male gave a gruff snort to its creator, and then delivered a harsh blow to the skull of the other male, sending it crashing to the ground. The second male gave a loud roar and hurled himself at the leader, sending the two crashing to the ground. The two grappled, but Harry merely turned away and left, knowing the conflict would be resolved, feeling a harsh weight temper within his gut.
Such creatures hadn't deviated far from his vague and unclear memories, but now they had murder in their veins.
Still, they would make powerful protectors. But a nagging feeling of guilt continued to persist, something... unclean and almost... Evil.
The Creator collapsed to the ground, feeling the soft ivory sand beneath his body, feeling the sweat fall like rain from his body, and feeling the guilt over his evil deeds fester within him. He knew that what he had done was a great sin. There was no other word for it. He had sinned, abusing his power to create demons.
He listened to the lapping waves that now hid dangerous creatures. The last creature he had created, a massive, long, scaled serpent that pushed through the deep blue abyss easily, dangerously.
Above, a swarm of sky blue drakes circled, eying the land for prey as they screeched their battle cries. Their claws glistened like steel in the fading sun as they flew onward.
Behind him, he heard the loud, agonized scream of one of his creatures, before a loud and vicious crunch of bones, as if they were devoured cut it off, and then silence rained. A morbid chuckle broke through Harry's mouth that lay buried in the sand. One of his creations had hit another creation... specifically, a bone shredding plant.
Within the deadly jungle, he heard a few loud howls from the wild mongrels that now lived within as they began their first hunts.
He had done his dirty deed. He had protected Paradise with a barrier of life.
But that protection had come at a cost that Harry knew would be great.
Today, Innocence had died. Purity had impurity. Good had Evil. Paradise had been tainted.
In this moment in time, Harry had spawned abominations, and for the first time, had done something with the complete knowledge that he what he was doing had the full intent to kill.
Such was the duty of the Creator when Good was surrounded by Evil, when perfection was surrounded by imperfection, when Paradise was planted in Hell.
To seal up Eden with fiery swords and cherubim.
Thanks to Nimbirosa, Khadon, Pleione, fhippogriff, Cattatra, PinkyTheSnowman, Quillian, angelkitty77, japanese-jew, Lady of Masbolle, Wren Truesong, arekuruu-inabikari-no-She, Bobboky, FroBoy, nogoalielikeme, Bujiana, Surarrin, Aagwyn, E.A.V, SeekerTLK, Laura, Illucia, DarthDylanBlue, and Silver Warrior for reviewing!
QA
Nimbirosa- MWHAHAHA! You cannot fight the Man (the Power, Corporate Evil, the Government, etc). My power is absolute!
Khadon- Yeah, Lily didn't actually disappear, but I guess I might have implied that. She flew off very, very quickly. But on the idea that Lily is more than just wings and a sword? No comment.
Cattatra- You're really quite a fan of Lily, aren't you? Yeah, she has white robes on, so she's not naked. Now, as for if Lily, or for that matter, anything Harry creates, has free will, that's an issue Harry has to grapple with. For example, Lily herself was created with a single, absolute dominating purpose. Protect Harry. So, does she do it out of free will or because that is what she was created to do? Yeah... this could get a bit deep.
PinkyTheSnowman- Jeez, alright already. I updated the day after! Glad you enjoyed everything... and perhaps there will be more cursing of Voldemort's sneakiness later...
Lady of Masbolle- Nah, Harry doesn't remember that bit about Destiny. And when he does... whoo boy, you'd better get ready for some twists. Both sides do have minions... and now, as you can see, Harry and Tom have armies too.
Wren Truesong- Harry's going to be grappling with more moral issues than my Social Justice class. I've got to do something since Harry isn't able to obliterate hundreds of people with one hand.
Bobboky- Harry's memories come in flashes, and he's been suppressing some of them. Sirius' animagus form is one of them.
Aagwyn- Yeah, I did. It is kind of the same ideas, but I'm taking them in a few different directions.
E.A.V- Thank you for such constructive criticism. First off, No, Harry no longer has a sunburn, but he did back then. I'm trying to work with the characters more, to bring them to life per se, but Harry's kind of dominating most of the monologues, since the story kind of revolves around his issues. Now, I was trying to make it a bit smarter, but I also didn't want Harry's philosophies to sound a little too complicated for a sixteen-year old amnesiac, and he was just starting out with his powers, so he isn't dipping into insanity yet.
Next, truly fertile ground would be black, which I didn't know, thank you for that (I'm no expert). Now, Harry (albeit myself) doesn't know how to fully construct an ecosystem, and Harry, through both not having gone to muggle school after the age of ten and being an amnesiac, doesn't know about microbes, proteins, all the basic building blocks of life. He knows goldfish. His powers know how to make Life, but they take directions from Harry. He just says to them what to do, and they do it. You can drive a car without knowing all the mechanics of a car. Same deal.
Harry doesn't have the power to "send" her reinforcements. He has to be physically there, or at least have more than a glimpsing image of a place to create things. Which also answers the question of if he can transplant things.
SeekerTLK- Well thank you. I definitely agree that the plot is kind of steering me around, giving me an idea to work in from time to time.
Illucia- Yeah, don't worry about the H/G. I will be mentioning the creation thing soon enough too.
DarthDylanBlue- I still do love the world of MTG, but alas, times for such things grow rare. When I started this, I knew that I was using elements of a world that few, if any, had heard of, and I'm glad to see there are fans of MTG out there. I am making this story a definite priority, and I am absolutely endeared by how different it is. You're right that this is short, but you're estimation is off, as there are still a few plot twists that haven't yet shown themselves. Good point about the average MTG book too, looking back over them, they are fairly fast paced and bloody.
Silver Warrior- Me too. The only time I've read D/G was in the Psychic Serpent Trilogy, and that's only because I knew it would turn H/G. Its also in there that I realized how much I loathed the pairing.
AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! A review would be a nice thank you (wink wink nudge nudge).