Zinnia Lillian Potter would never have really considered herself to be a genius; that was a title that had best fit her best friend, Hermione, back in the old reality. That's not to say that Zee wasn't smart. No, she was fairly brilliant in her own way, on subjects that she either had a natural aptitude for or had made the extra effort to master. And now, being in the past on a new Earth in a new reality, while there were obvious differences, Zee could fairly well predict how the future of this world was going to go, as well, her concept of sciences not yet fathomed helped to make her appear even smarter than she actually might be. Zee should have been able to understand.
Computers and electronics, cellular telephones and the like were the way of the future. Zee knew that. And so, she made every effort to personally invest in trying to learn about the coming computer age. Sure, it was still decades away, but there was time, right?
From what Zee could discern from watching Zola work on computers that were archaic in comparison to what she remembered they had into the twenty-first century, she was an idiot. It simply boggled her mind. She had even tried to cheat, diving into Zola's mind to gain some sense of understanding. The headache was almost as bad as when she'd forced her way into Luna Scamander's head to discover the old D.A.'s plans to capture her after Hermione's death.
In the basement of the temporary headquarters of S.H.I.E.L.D., in a room filled with walls of computers, where under lock and constant supervision, scientists and other geniuses of varying fields worked to usher in the new age of technology, all under the guise of building up S.H.I.E.L.D., and of protecting the world. It was here, hidden from the blue skies and fresh air up above, that Zinnia had finally made contact with Arnim Zola… the little toady that Schmidt had relied so heavily upon – to know the hidden secrets of HYDRA's true purpose. And while Zee apparently would never personally know how computers and technology worked, she was smart enough to make sure that she held dominion over those that could understand.
Zola had cackled like an old movie villain when Zee had approached him, claiming knowledge from Schmidt (the self-proclaimed Red Skull). He had laughed, the idea that HYDRA had infiltrated the Americans' organization before it had even taken its first step. But he had seen that her information was right, though he would never know how Zee had trapped the leader of the organization alone on a barren planet across the universe. No, he chose to accept Zinnia (under the yet another alias. This time, Michelle Brady) and began issuing orders for her to follow.
She'd allow the old fool the folly of believing he was in control. He was trapped, a prisoner and unwilling servant to S.H.I.E.L.D., but through her his legacy could live on. That she could have freed him at any time, making their escape to almost anywhere, was but one of the reasons she was able to listen to him prattle on about how, as a man, he knew what was best. That this Earth was like the last; women supposedly weaker and less than their male counterparts. She had even seen it with Peggy Carter, a capable agent and administrator that was constantly overlooked and disregarded when men were supposedly making the tough and important decisions. But Zee followed Zola's instructions. At first, to humor the old man… but later, she came to see just how scarily brilliant he was.
Some of the predictions he made, under what he called a mathematical certainty, were so spot on that Zee often considered the possibility that Zola was a seer of some type.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"I wonder what Johann would have made of you, frau'lein, had the two of you met under circumstances more in his favor than yours. I wonder if I would be your jailer… or perhaps I would still be under your control, but it would be in Germany, instead."
Zinnia had made sure not to give away an indication that his statement affected her in any way. "I'm sorry, doctor." She had offered instead. "I don't believe I've ever met anyone named Johann before."
"No? My mistake. It's just that you are almost the epitome of what he was striving for: as ruthless and cold as you are beautiful. That you are every bit the monster that he claimed to be as the Red Skull, but able to hide it all under such innocent loveliness… it goes against all logical reason that you are not a byproduct, in whatever small way, of his influence."
"Really?"
"Oh, yes. Without you in the equations, it would have taken me at least two decades to have HYDRA in readiness to take control of S.H.I.E.L.D. Your presence will make it happen in half the time, perhaps less, and will help prevent many of those that are doubtless to appear later from happening."
"For who to appear?" She was honestly curious.
"The gifted, of course, dear Miss Potter." He smiled as he carefully cleaned his glasses. "The likes of Rogers and Schmidt were only the beginning. The Tesseract helped prove the existence of intelligence beyond our world, not to mention that there is something otherworldly about you, too."
He carefully placed his spectacles upon his nose and stared at her, his eyes boring into her own. "There is something about you that makes me think that the course of our history has changed significantly with you here… and possibly not for the better, and not for the cause you claim we both share. No, you are like the plagues of God, and woe be any now or in the future that dares oppose you."
She almost smiled at his words. Merlin's damnable knobby staff, but her not-reflection almost looked giddy at the man's prediction. "And that doesn't frighten you?"
"Not at all, frau'lein. In fact," he smiled. "I will help you burn the world to the ground." He paused. "Do you think Johann would approve?"
"No." Zinnia smiled back. "But only because the match will be mine."
"True."
"What can you tell me about those to come?"
Zola typed – pecked, really - at the terminal in front of him for a few moments before returning his attention back to her. "Hitler and Schmidt were both obsessed with the occult. They sought for magical solutions where science should have been the focus. Schmidt was unfortunate enough to actually find the magic he was looking for, which prevented him from delving deeper into that which we could control, could understand."
"I get that, but you talked about people that were going to be gifted." She prompted.
"Dear girl, we have proven that science can force back the laws of nature and God, making men that are of legend and myth. But if we did it now with science, who can deny that in ages past, alchemists and men of the old ways didn't do the same? Mayhap those stories were all true? Maybe we just unlocked the door to something that had bene locked away for a reason; and if we did, then who's to say that more won't start appearing faster and more often now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag?"
"But…"
"There is no alternative." He stopped her from giving a counterargument. "I personally know of three other experiments that should lead to enhancements that will create chaos in the coming years. And that is excluding you, who might be the greatest factor against my algebraic model of the days to come."
He turned to face her directly. "Technology and chemistry have opened the box, but you will be the reason it will never be closed again. Howard Stark's legacy will likely be at the forefront of much that will come, but those that left the Tesseract here will come looking again. It is just too powerful to have been forgotten. And those are just the beginning."
"The beginning?"
"Of a new age of angels and demons warring over the fate of man."
She nodded along with what he was saying. "And I'll be leading the demons, I presume?"
"No. You'll be the god watching over them."
*I like him. We'll let him live for now.*
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Who knew that money would be the start of her godhood?
At Zola's insistence, Zinnia had purchased stock into Roxxon Oil. It initially had seemed nothing more than one of several oil corporations that tried to destroy the Earth's natural resources, but in fact, Roxxon's research and development department was dabbling in Zero Matter. And while Zero Matter had created a small amount of interest with Stark and Carter due to their exposure to its unique properties, it had been pushed to the side for other immediate concerns. That left Zee the opportunity to foster the Brady persona and help steer Roxxon's development of dimensionally displaced energy. Even Zo-Kalar had taken an interest in the dark energy, claiming how it reminded him of the Ancient Great Ones… and if their divine power could be harnessed, the need for an army would be moot.
That had definitely peeked her attention.
The Zero Matter (or Darkforce, as Howard Stark often referred to it) felt almost like magical energies to Zinnia. The little amount that she had been able to get near, had fallen easily under her control – a fact that her not-reflection insisted was due to their presence, although Zee could remember feeling that sort of power well before ever donning the Hallows or becoming Zo-Kalar's Priestess, but that could wait. Roxxon could continue to study it, for the moment.
So, while Zola was busy attempting to subvert S.H.I.E.L.D. from the inside, manipulating almost everything that the organization touched and acting as the hidden body of the mythical (on this Earth apparently) hydra, Zinnia and her various aliases acted as the heads and sought out opportunities to help Zola in his quest.
Western Europe was a hot spot of for intelligence work. She had thought that adding to the chaos would further her plans, but surprisingly both the leaders of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Zola felt that adding her into the mix would be counterproductive, although their end goals were completely opposite. Instead, she was directed towards Eastern Europe and South Asia, and while Zee considered reclaiming the Daisy Black persona and visiting Jiaying, she knew that it wasn't yet time to do so. They were essentially immortal; there would be time for maybe love… maybe. Instead, the once heralded Witch-Who-Won made her way into the Islamic region of the world.
It was during her time in Pakistan that Zinnia came across a militant group of disillusioned soldiers and rebels and exiles that wanted to create positive change, but had neither the means nor the might to make their voices heard. There were several separate factions that all believed that they could make a difference, if only the opportunity presented itself. Zee became that opportunity. Using the Glamour Charm to take on a more Asian appearance, Zee approached the young men, offering them both money and weapons, offering them the chance to become something much more. To make a difference.
To each of the ten leaders, she offered a ring that she imbued with a tiny amount of magic; enough so that it would act as a minor shield versus projectile weapons, as well as protection versus poisons. The newly joined forces called themselves the Ten Rings, after her gifts, and then she named Zhang Tong, one of the most charismatic leaders as her go-between, using the codename of The Mandarin. Together, they would begin direct their groups into infiltrating the local village governments, allying together, so that they could influence the populace to demand changes in the larger elections when they came about.
Faster than Zee thought possible, under her direction through Tong, the Ten Rings had absorbed many of the other rebel factions and their influence spread across India and started making its way into Nepal, Tibet and ultimately China. She made sure that they left the villages around Afterlife alone, but she supported all of The Ten Rings endeavors to take charge of the ruling classes.
Everything was working perfectly until they attempted to make their way into southern China. Zee had been contemplating pushing S.H.I.E.L.D. to set up a permanent office in the Hong Kong area, but was constantly being rebuffed, their citing that all attempts at establishing a base of operations there had been met with disaster every time. Her meetings with Tong and the rest of the Ten Rings went very similar.
"I don't understand." Zinnia spoke into the telephone on the desk she was currently utilizing. "We paid for the office space, the permits are all submitted and in order. We even bribed the officials and inspectors. Why are we getting stonewalled?"
Chen, her go-to guy in this city, was currently setting up lunch for the both of them plus the other two that currently were a part of trying to set up a dummy corporation to sponsor their candidate for a local election. While the Ten Rings had made a lot of progress in the more rural areas of southern Asia, even getting a pretty good foothold in Vietnam and Korea, the more industrial areas of China seemed to fail before they could even get started.
Someone or something was blocking them, and Zee was not happy about it.
"We have at least two local opponents making waves against us." One of the others offered in response to Zinnia's exclamation. "We knew that the underworld was already well established out here. Plus, with all the rumors of magic…"
"Magic?"
Chen offered gestured for Zee to sit at the table. "Yeah. It's been that way always. My grandmother still tells stories of the Wu that battled the 'Yami no te' in the markets when she was a little girl."
"Wu?"
"Sorcerers. Shaman. Basically any practioner of the supernatural." Chen replied.
Zinnia took a few moments to eat. As everyone else in the room sat at the table to enjoy the quick meal, as well, she formulated how to ask the questions she needed answered. "Do we know where any of these – Wu – are? Or those that opposed them? Are they still around?"
Mindi, the other female of the small group, chose to answer so that the other two could finish eating. "Depends on what you're wanting to accomplish. All of us born here know the stories that Chen's grandmother told him. My own grandparents say that it is better to owe the ninja clans than to be indebted to the Wu."
"Do you know where the Wu are?" Zee insisted. "Or these ninja that fought them?"
The Yami no te find you, not the other way around." Chen added. "If we keep trying to do what we're doing, they will probably make themselves known. That's not to say that they haven't already started to oppose us. They could be a part of why we're not making any real progress here."
"And the stories say only sorcerers can find other sorcerers." Mindi filled in. "It's not like it was fifty year ago. Hell, even maybe just twenty years ago when there was a… what's the English word? A witch. Like a witch in every village."
She nodded as the others went back to finishing their meals when Zinnia didn't ask any more questions. These four - Chen, Mindi, Lee and Sharif – they didn't really know who she was, that Zee Evans (the name she'd offered upon introductions) was the power behind the Mandarin and the Ten Rings. No, to them and who the people of Hong Kong would see was a close approximation to what Cho looked like at twenty-five. These members of their rebellion though her only another soldier prepared to do whatever necessary to complete the objective.
Maybe these so-called sorcerers might be better receptive to her, as opposed to those that she had faced off against in London so many years ago now. In Zinnia's original reality, while China and Japan were members of the ICW, there was constant friction against the European Wizards and Witches and their arrogant regulations. Maybe it would be something similar here.
"I'm going to scout around. Make some inquiries." It wasn't that odd of an idea. Zinnia had only been here for three days; the other four having devoted months of their lives to getting the candidate instilled into the local government. "Besides, I'm due to check in with S.H.I.E.L.D. soon."
All of them nodded in agreement. Using the S.H.I.E.L.D. card would also prevent Lee from trying to join her. Cho had been unbelievably attractive and the males of the group had definitely noticed; Lee more so than the others. He had made his interest known. That she was working for the new American spy organization had put her somewhat on a pedestal to the others, and gave her credibility that otherwise might have meant she'd use some magic of her own to establish.
Lee was almost pouting when she closed the door behind her and moved into the busy street. It was still sometimes jarring to look around and see a society that was fifty years behind what she expected. Hong Kong of the nineteen fifties was practically like her old Wizarding World in comparison to the twenty-first century Hong Kong, with its skyscrapers and neon billboards and never-ending noise.
Morgana, how she missed it all.
She made her way across the street and walked for several blocks before she found a public telephone. Cellphones couldn't get here fast enough!
"Sammy's Deli. What can I do for you?" The number she'd dialed finally answered.
"Is the roast beef fresh today?" Code phrases were ridiculous. "I've got a party of twenty tonight and I'm in a hurry."
The guy on the other end of the line didn't miss a beat. Zee wonder for the thousandth time if it was actually a delicatessen or not. "Pastrami's good, but I recommend the pastrami."
"I'm good with that." So, her regular handler was unavailable and she was being redirected to someone else. Zee wondered what she'd done wrong.
"Iris?" Hank Pym's voice was suddenly in her ear, her codename sounding strange coming from his voice. "What can I do for you?"
"Doctor Pym. I was just checking in. Nothing to report that required speaking with you, sir." She stumbled a bit. Pym was a fairly big deal at S.H.I.E.L.D. and he'd become a fairly close friend… both he and his wife, Janet. For him to be answering a call from a field agent, even her, seemed a bit off. "I'm sorry for bothering you."
"It's no bother, Iris." His voice was warm. "Janet and I have just missed you. You've been several months working the Orient angle, doing good work, but we were hoping to entice you back to the States for a bit."
Zee genuinely felt a smile cross her face. "I'd like that. Things here are probably like Peggy said and not worth trying to push for a base yet. I'll probably be out of here in the next week or so."
"You've done better over there than most before you." He laughed. "Just dot the eye's and cross the tee's and get on a plane back here."
"Yes, sir." She laughed out loud. "Tell Janet that I want her chicken Marsala for dinner when I get back or I'm making good on my threat to steal you away from her."
"Never happen, but I'll tell her."
After hanging up, Zinnia considered once again what it would take to get Hank and Janet away from SHIELD, to bring them both into her inner circle. Not HYDRA, though. Both had fought too hard against them during the War to ever willingly side with the enemy, but for a friend? For Lillian Potter who they both loved and spent time with? Maybe.
Zinnia decided to think on that particular quandary later and decided to open up her magical awareness a little bit more than usual to see if there was any magical residue left behind by this world's sorcerers. There was nothing at first; no really. Every so often, she'd find hints of magic, although from what Zee had observed over the years on this Earth, there were lots of people that had some type of latent abilities that were just waiting to be awoken, and at times their passing could leave a type of magical trail in their wake.
Continuing on towards the center of the city, a pattern of traces began to build in frequency until, almost before she realized it, the actual glow of active magic seemed to be everywhere. Encouraged by this result, Zinnia continued on, never really considering that her movements and unusual path had caught the attention of several interested parties, not all working together. As the sense of magic started to reach a crescendo, Zinnia pulled up short as she realized that she had apparently found the source of the magic within the city of Hong Kong, and she felt her hope fall away at the building's appearance: it was an almost exact copy of the structure in London that had housed the sorcerers there.
She watched the building carefully. While she had not necessarily hidden her approach, she was under her Personal Glamour, so any chance at being recognized should be out unless they could perceive her magical signature, although she could remember Bill Weasley once remarking that his best wards had never been able to accept her since bypassing them required matching magical signatures and hers seemed to always be in a type of flux. Of course, Hermione had wanted to study the effect. Zee had said no.
It was only after watching that she realized that there were seven persons at varying locations around her that were too interested in observing her instead of anything else. Cho was good looking, but she was no Fleur. Something was definitely up.
No time like the present. Zinnia forwent spying on the Sorcerer's headquarters and decided to move away, not the way she'd come, but away from the bystanders and towards a fairly empty stretch of road that was somewhat isolated and would be ideal for getting answers.
Almost as perfect as if Zinnia had planned it out herself, two of those following her made their presence known first. It was almost disappointing, their initial appearance; they were the epitome of stereotypical hired thugs. Low browed, muscle that were more used to having their appearance and the threat of violence doing all of the work for them. She immediately named them Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy would be so proud, if he could have seen it from whatever Hell he was languishing in currently. Crabbe made the first move, reaching out to grab her arm while Goyle acted as lookout. It was almost painfully too easy to enhance her strength magically – just enough that she was able to grab his arm instead and twist. The awkward angle was just far enough that the telltale "crack" sounded like a gunshot in the quiet alleyway, signaling that his arm was now broken.
At Crabbe's scream of pain, poor Goyle was stuck now with only the option of looking stupid, or at least no more stupid than the gods had forced him to endure the entirety of his life so far. Both of the Neanderthals were suddenly outside of their wheelhouse, as neither had a clue of what to do… well, other than Crabbe who was busy whimpering in pain. She look pity on him and delivered a quick roundhouse kick, courtesy of Peggy's insistence that she be trained in fisticuffs, and put the poor excuse of a ruffian out like a light, which left Goyle now with way too much of a problem for him to solve.
He was saved from having to think when clapping began from behind where Zinnia was currently standing. A quick glance and she found three more of her peanut gallery deciding to make their introduction. All men, and each was more in line to be former professors than school time bullies. Lockhart was definitely the leader of this trio, his sad attempt at a charming smile would definitely not when the Witch Weekly award once, much less five times in a row, but he was trying to disarm her with his good looks. It was probably for the best that he was trying since the two to either side of him were more Moody (to the left) or Snape (to the right).
"Thank you, Thomas." Lockhart spoke to Goyle who was apparently named Thomas. And he spoke to him in Chinese. At his word, Thomas went over and picked up his comatose partner-in-crime and began to leave, apparently their part in the unfolding drama was complete.
The Lockhart wannabe turned his attention to her. "Well done, miss. Very nice." Zinnia nodded but didn't speak. If her silence bothered him, he kept it to himself. "If you would be so kind as to come with me? There is someone who would like to speak with you."
Yeah. That wasn't going to happen.
*It could be fun.* Zo-Kalar spoke up. He'd been strangely silent for longer periods over the past few months, enough that unless there was a mirrored surface for Zee to see her not-reflection, it was almost like He wasn't there… and wasn't that a frightening thought? *We could let loose for a bit?*
"No." Zinnia responded in French. Maybe it would throw them off a bit. "I'm not going anywhere with you. Sorry."
Lockhart tilted his head as he studied her. When he gestured with his left hand. Moody pulled a pistol out from his coat and aimed it directly at her. Zee didn't react, but she did send a small wave of magic towards the offending weapon, twisting the firing pin, making the gun nothing more than a paperweight at the moment.
Not knowing that the threat had already been neutralized, Lockhart smiled darkly. In English this time, he tried again. "You will come with us. Now."
At his words, the Snape lookalike sneered in an almost perfect replication of her old Potions Professor. Now all he needed was the long, black robes billowing out from behind him as he walked. It definitely made her smile.
Zinnia shook her head. "You guys are as dumb as the first two." She offered again in French.
"Fine. We'll play it your way." She watched as he seemed exasperated. "Shoot her in the leg," Her non-reaction to his threat could only lend credence to her not understanding him, although he didn't go so far as to stop henchman number one. Moody smiled as he pulled the trigger.
Click.
"What the fu-" Moody grunted his pull of the pistol's trigger resulted in no bullet being fired. Both Lockhart and Snape turned to look at him as he squeezed the trigger twice more, the result being the same each time.
"Geez. Ho, shoot her."
The Snape-looking thug pulled out his pistol of choice and took aim. Zinnia decided that a little showier might be in order, so she merely threw a shield at the front of the muzzle. The reaction was so much more fun, as the resulting explosion as the bullet's reaction at being suck caused the pistol (as well as Snape's right hand) to explode in a seriously impressive little blast.
"Aaaargh.! Oh, God! Oh, God!" And his scream of pain was even better than Crabbe's had been at his arm being broken. Both Moody and Lockhart were rooted to the spot, their master plan having literally now blown up, with no understanding of how or why things had gone so wrong.
Magic in this reality was definitely weird. The three stooges suddenly seemed to be surrounded by what Zinnia could only really describe as a runic circle made up of light… which meant the sorcerers were now going to be involved. The unnecessary light show continued to circle the trio before they all finally fell to the ground unconscious. Apparently, the sorcerers didn't care if Snape bled out or not, seeing as he was still bleeding rather badly.
The final two of the seven that had been following her made their appearance. Zo-Kalar began laughing inside of her mind as the bald woman leader of the London house stepped into the light, a single acolyte right behind her.
In French, the sorcerers asked. "Are you all right?"
Not sure exactly how to immediately respond, Zee thought to maybe try and play things cool. "I am." She responded in French, as well. "But I had it under control."
"You did, but I would prefer that the locals not report back that they were defeated by a single, independent sorcerer so close to our Sanctum. Peace is tenuous at best here, and I doubt we would be believed to not have bene involved."
"I see." She really didn't. "But you are involved now. You did your little light show and they went to sleep… I'm right that they are asleep, correct?"
"Yes, but since you will come with me, it can all be sorted out without further hostilities." As the bald woman spoke, her follower began moving his hands in some particular manner, as runes and other arcane symbols began forming. From where Zinnia stood, she could feel how he was drawing from his own inner magical core, readying for whatever the two of them had planned.
"Why does everyone want me to go somewhere with them? Asking a single woman such as myself to go off with strangers with no idea of who they are or where they might want to take me, and no one understands why I refuse." Zinnia spoke in English now. "I'm going to tell you what I told the meatheads and the stooges both; no. I will not be going with you."
"You really have no choice." Baldy spoke, her voice sad. "You are the second person I've come across that upsets the fabric of reality. I'm not going to miss out now as I did previously."
It was going to be another fight. Zo-Kalar was cackling now. Zinnia wondered if she should reveal that she was the same person as this so called 'Ancient One' had lost to before, but the idea that these sorcerers had multiple unknowns scouting their sanctums was enough of a reason for her to continue the charade.
The alley that they were all in suddenly lit up as several of those round portals started forming all around her. As Zee watched, these holes in space began appearing on the tops of the two story buildings around her, as well as blocking both ends of the road. From each, a sorcerer appeared; the backgrounds through each portal all seemingly coming from different places – but all of them were, for the most part, similarly dressed. A few carried weapons… and those weapons were what interested Zinnia the most; each glowing with inherent magical properties. One woman carried a sword that sang to Zinnia, much like the fabled Sword of Gryffindor had, back when she had been worthy of drawing it from the Sorting Hat.
She'd have to take that sword.
Eventually, the call-to-arms had apparently ended as no new portals opened. Zinnia took the time to spin in a circle, counting the sorcerers that had bene called; just under two hundred by her rough estimation. If these were all of this reality's Wizarding World, the possibility of ending them here and now and securing her place as the only Witch on Earth would be a bit of a fight, but she was confident with Zo-Kalar's assistance, she would be victorious.
It was tempting, but if they had weapons like what she was seeing, perhaps they had more stashed away somewhere else. It was enough of an idea that even her demonic patron seemed find with not killing all of them – just a few of them. Maybe most of them. Or those few that recognized that she should be in charge.
Transfiguring her clothing to something a little more sturdy and able to take some punishment, Zinnia Glamoured the magically modified clothing into looking like the Auror issued dragon-hide armor she'd had so long ago, down to the red cloak of the office. The look on all of their faces, watching her appearance change from a fairly nice dressed twenty-something Chinese girl into an armored badass that was going to teach them to respect their betters….
*Totally worth it.*
Yeah, it is.
"Let's do this."
There are several schools of thought regarding a fight against overwhelming odds. Many would try to find a solid surface to have at their back, preventing being struck from behind. A good choice, but it also leaves you with very little maneuverability, as well as having your attackers able to aim directly at you. Another choice would be to be in the middle, creating the danger of crossfire for your enemies. Friendly fire (if it could be called that) had been the final end result for many a Death Eater, especially due to the constant use of the Unforgivables. Hiding had always been considered a good choice; the opportunity to attack from a better vantage – but being able to hide after the battle was engaged was never easy.
And then there was who to take down first? Should Zinnia take out their leader in the hope that watching the best of them go down might dishearten them enough to surrender? Or would this end up being more like the battles with Voldemort where he threw everyone else at her in the hopes of wearing Zee down?
Over twenty sorcerers decided to make the first move, their arms suddenly alight with those weird magical configurations, throwing out whips of almost pure magic to capture her, while others started building that mirrored sub-pocket of reality they seemed so fond of.
Zinnia held up her left arm and allowed the tendrils of magic to wrap around; it wasn't an entirely unpleasant experience. While the sorcerers that had seemingly captured her so easily began to pull at her to maybe throw her off balance, Zee threw up a hefty Shielding Charm to prevent any of the magical bolts to come close to her… instead allowing them to ricochet off the protective barrier and into the sorcerers off to the other side.
Friendly fire, indeed.
When the multiple tentacles of magic began to tighten around her arm, Zinnia reversed the polarity of their trap and began to absorb the various sorcerer's inner core, much like a figurative magical leech or vampire. It was an easy Curse to break from, if the targets had bene able to understand exactly what was happening – but no one had expected it, and in mere moments, the sorcerers on the other ends of the ropes of magical energy began falling to the ground dead, each drained of their magic.
By the time anyone realized that their own magics were now feeding into the Shield protecting Zinnia, it was too late.
"Stop her!" Their leader cried as her followers died. Zinnia had only a few moments to prepare, as the world suddenly no longer made sense; the alleyway grew in width and length, as meters became kilometers…. and where the buildings had stood straight, if not tall, they now were turned perpendicular to how the laws of physics was supposed to work. Worse, however, was that the very skies above began to split and turn like a kaleidoscope – random colors and shapes included.
*Tricks. Illusions.*
"Great. Glad you know that. Can you help me out here?" Zee demanded as she had to abandon her Shield and catch the doorway of the shop closest to her, or else there was the chance that she would slide off the side of the world. Maybe in this pocket dimension the Earth was flat. Zee ignored that the sorcerers closest to her seemed shocked that she was apparently talking to herself.
Needing to gain some momentum, Zee started throwing lightning at anyone drawing too close while she tried to gain equilibrium. It wasn't easy since the world kept moving and changing… so much worse than the Department of Mysteries had been.
"Ooof!"
Zinnia was on the ground, having been forcefully tackled by a fairly large sorcerer. Her face struck first, splitting her lip and breaking her concentration.
"Get off of me!" She cried, just as the Shacklebolt wannabe called out in victory. "I've got her."
He was overconfident in thinking that her being on the ground under his bulk meant she was beaten. A blast of solidified air taught him his folly, though by the sound of his hitting the wall, it was his final lesson. Zinnia twisted and began to sit up when several bands on magical force picked her up and then threw her back to the ground, forcing the breath out of her lungs.
"You murdered Lena." Was spit at her by a cute redhead, although the hatred in her eyes kinda ruined the momentary fantasy for Zee. "I'm going to ri- urgh, kaa, sssssi." The magic holding Zee down was released once the sorcerers was now struggling to breath. It was a shame. Really. But in the choice of Zee or anyone else, Zee was going to choose herself.
The redhead fell lifelessly to the packed dirt the lined the alley. The newly formed Shield that surrounded where Zee was trying to sit up continued to ring like an old church bell, the spell fire dancing all around her… they were definitely not giving up. She wiped at her eyes as she tried to focus, peering through her protection to catch a glimpse of what she was now facing, only to see that except for the small area that Zinnia had magically sealed, the world had been manipulated to give the sorcerers all of the advantages of height and cover, leaving Zee with only her magic to keep her safe.
There were so many of them… perhaps she had been too full of herself.
No.
She just needed to stop playing games.
*Finally.*
Finally.
"Aaarrrrrggghhhhhh!" She screamed, releasing a near tsunami of magical energy out form where she was standing. It was not a spell, but literally Zee pushing her magic away from her body in a Hail Mary attempt at giving herself the few scant seconds she required. Everyone had been knocked back, pushed either further away or forced to hide behind their protective barriers. It had even ripped apart Zee's own Shield Charm, but it was worth the pain.
As her hearing returned, Zinnia listened as the cries of "get her" or "now" and even "charge" came from every direction. She knew that their magic was already cast. There was no opportunity to prevent the dozen of spells headed her way to be blocked, but they were shortly understand that they had lost. And lost spectacularly.
Zee had cast Fiendfyre.
She had once tried explaining to Tonks the absolute bliss that came from surrendering to the flame. In another life and with the chance to choose another path, Zinnia could freely admit that she would have been a pyromaniac. The amazing dance that the flame offered, chaos in its most pure form, as unforgiving as the sun in the desert sky…and how it called to her; sang to her. It was so breathtaking that magic could give life to something so unforgivingly fair it what it consumed. So rare was there the chance to let it out.
That Zee was now incapacitated and bound by the various magics of the sorcerers meant nothing to any of them at the moment. Their bald leader… she maybe should have learned her actual name to put on her tombstone… she was calling for those that could escape to do so, while already over half of those that followed her had been swallowed by the living flame that Zee had called.
When she had first cast Fiendfyre, it had taken on the appearance of a herd of deer, led by Prongs in all of his majestic glory. She had cried for her father then more than when he had appeared against the Dementors from her Third Year, saving Sirius. The next, before Zo-Kalar had revealed Himself, but after claiming the mantle of Mistress if Death, the flames had taken the form of what she had assumed had been a squid – its tentacles lashing the unending flames all about. She questioned if it had in fact actually been a squid. When she'd razed Hogwart's School to the ground, it had changed again, though now appeared as a sea serpent, its size too massive to really understand until you saw that it encircled the entire castle before crushing it.
As the sorcerers tried again and again to extinguish the living avatar or fire, Zinnia smiled as she watch the dawning acceptance of death appear on their faces, one after the other. There were so few left now. Zee witnessed a number that escaped this prison. A few thought to attempt coming after her in the hopes that the spell would end. She would have loved to explain that this mirror reality was the Fire's domain now and forever. One of the sorcerers would have to forever guard that this construct of reality, ensuring that the indescribable monster that her Fiendfyre had become would never escape.
Their chains faded as the magic was lost to either no longer enforcing the magic with their will, or the caster had perished… or even maybe they'd gone too far away to keep it active. It was no matter. Zinnia stood up and walked over to the body of the Shacklebolt looking fellow. This so-called Sling Ring that they were so sure was the only way to teleport around. She carefully removed it from the corpse's hand to study.
Extending her magical awareness, the properties of the ring were almost like a runic cluster that resembled the Floo Network. Given enough time, she could easily replicate its abilities… but the better though was to break the Pattern it used, making it and every other Sling Ring useless.
That sounded like a lot more fun.
The Fiendfyre was scouring the reach of its domain. Making a quick count, over half… possibly three-quarters of the sorcerers were dead (and unfortunately, the bald leader was not among the deceased). From the occasional scream in the distance, a few were still in this reality. A quick Accio and all of the Sling Rings within this false existence were in front of her, meaning either the remaining sorcerers either needed to learn how to teleport themselves, or accept that this was their new reality.
Making sure that she left nothing of worth behind, Zee teleported out.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Surprisingly, the near annihilation of the sorcerers did absolutely nothing in helping the Ten Rings to get their candidate into the elections. That would have to wait for another day… S.H.I.E.L.D. awaited. It was definitely time to return to see Hank and Janet Pym.
Though it took nearly a month and a half to get to her after she'd left Hong Kong, a letter addressed to Zee Evans had appeared at the Ten Rings' safe house, offering an opportunity to meet with an interested party in the Chinese elections of the future. It had been signed simply "Gao."