Change is Coming...
The journey through the back alleys of Avalon was uninteresting and they travelled in relative silence until Freya decided to be chatty.
"Tracey," she said sagely. She felt the need to teach the naive girl some real truths. She sensed a lot of weakness in her. "This fate that has befallen the world is a gift."
Tracey stared at her as if she was an idiot.
"You're kidding," Tracey said her voice low and filled with ridicule. "It's hell."
"Not if you're strong," Freya replied. "If you're strong, its pure freedom."
Harry's perception of Freya shifted. "I agree." Moments when other human beings agreed with his point of views was rare. Non existent in fact.
Freya looked at him, her eyes sharp and acknowledging. "You might be an asshole but I know a predator when I see one." She laughed. "And met a lot who thought they were stronger than me," she added. She could see it in his eyes. Arrogance born from invincibility.
"So you think you're the top dog?" Harry's mind flickered to a cackling Bellatrix who probably thought the same.
"Do you?" she countered, teasingly.
"I created the Desert. I can safely say none of you can take down in a fight."
Freya's eyes widened with shock and she stopped in her tracks. She turned to Tracey with an incredulous look on her face. "Did you know?" she asked, disbelievingly.
"Yes."
"And you want to hang out with him?!" Freya was stunned. Was a girl this weak that stupid as well?
"I don't have a choice!" Tracey defended. "My alternative was being a slave to sadistic egomaniacal bitch with the desire to cut me into pieces…. slowly and make it so that I feel every slice like a hot poker through a lung! Or..."
Harry was impressed. Bellatrix had a creative mind.
Freya grimaced. Such were the woes of the weak and she wished the girl would learn. "Avalon is a beautiful place and it has it's dark side. There's no place on Earth that doesn't have one. Alright, I get it now. You don't have to worry anymore. I'll take you to safety."
She turned to Harry, her expressive passive now. The shadow of her hat cast mystery onto her eyes and her white hummed softly.
Harry couldn't help himself. He felt taken in by this woman. The way she dressed, her attitude, the way she was structured, everything about her radiated confidence. And through that confidence she had summoned a power he could not understand. What had she done to get it that he hadn't? The thought annoyed him.
"You still think you can stand toe to toe against me knowing it was my power that changed our worlds?"
May be if she used it, he'd understand. Should I provoke her? He wondered.
"Anyone can break the world," she retorted softly. "It's the ones who rebuild it, better and stronger; they are the ones with real strength."
"So not you then," Harry replied coolly. She was just a traveller. A decent hearted one.
Freya laughed. "No, not me. I just think Desert is refreshing. It's just what humanity needs."
Tracey felt irritation. "Why do you keep saying that! And don't give me that if you're strong bullshit. Accepting the weak instead of rejecting them is real strength and you know it. You are strong, I can feel it. But you're fucking insane if you think the Desert is a good thing!"
Harry waited with baited breath. A positive opinion on the desert was something that excited him tremendously. He wanted to know. He wanted to know what thought his creation had given birth to in the mind of another strong enough to survive it with relative ease.
Freya sighed. "Sure got a lot of questions for someone who wants to escape," she said.
"Answer the question," Harry said softly.
The tall woman of seemingly South European descent rolled her eyes at him.
"You see," she began thoughtfully, "the main problem with society is they bring up their children in an environment of false security and safety and then they teach the children how to maintain that illusion, one of them being, good and bad. There's only necessity and the Will that sustains it.
"The Desert reminds us it's that Will that matters in the long run of human evolution. If we forget about it, we face extinction sooner rather than later. But now, we have a chance."
"There's a positive spin on things," Tracey muttered.
"Tracey," she said knowingly. "Can you guess why this kid is the way he is?"
She was playing games, Tracey realised. She was just like Harry. "How?" she asked with a sigh.
Her eyes turned mischievous. "Your friend here craves attention. He pretends he doesn't want it and keeps to himself because he know's he's a freak. You were abused as a child weren't you?"
Tracey gaped. That wasn't the wisest thing to say to a psychopath in her opinion.
"Yes I was," Harry replied, his voice calm. He had accepted it. It was over and he had moved on. "And know that it doesn't define me."
Freya scoffed. "You're the worst case scenario of it kid! You're more predictable than you think."
"Well," Harry said softly. "Go ahead and try to exploit my weakness. We'll see if I'm predictable."
Freya chuckled and resumed walking. "Consider this a defining moment of the evolution of the human race, Tracey. Now chose whether you want to live through it or die before the cocoon cracks open. That's what I mean."
Harry was impressed. Her perception was spot on and his respect for her rose. The end game was simple; evolve or die. "The universe has more dimensions that I thought," he muttered to himself as they continued their path to the Badlands. He couldn't wait to be along and start reading his new book.
He felt like there was an epiphany hiding in there… waiting to be found.
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International Space Station.
"It looks like an EM field storm." the Chinese said, his eyes glued to their equipment monitors. "But there's something else. some other field. our sensors are detecting some kind of abnormality. We need to recalibrate the system. Its almost like its growing outwards from the Earth."
The United Nations had been forced to reveal the truth and the astronauts of the ISS had a front row seat as anarchy became the natural order of the masses. Military rule has been declared unanimously by every government. Dragons had attacked and the mountain top towns became their breeding grounds. Strange creatures preyed on them in the night and one by one, cities began to lose power. When the sheep realised no was there to protect them, evolution took its course and taught them to be wolves. The Militaries began a shield for the rich and powerful to protect their way of live for as long as they could while they pooled their resourced in figuring out a way to entire end the madness or end the people causing the madness.
While the Government's hid behind big guns, the scientific community continued to find a way to stabilise the atmosphere. The rapid fluctuations in wind currents was creating havoc with weather patterns. The EM bursts from the hole that was the United Kingdom had morphed and were now travelling with rapid speed in strings over continents, affecting everything it could influence.
"Got a location?" asked the American.
The communications monitor beeped and a message came through. Most of their communicators had gone dead but they were still able to exchange small messages on low band frequencies.
"No… it… it feels like its everywhere."
"Feels?" she laughed. "I'm going down to the Pantry. You want something?"
"No," he muttered, his mind working on the readings. "Just ask Jim if control station figured out how to get us back to the planet."
"Roger that, Jin."
They had important data that needed to be back on Earth to be analysed and that was not possible with the limited means of communication that they had right now.
Their final option was to descend into the atmosphere, sacrificing the station and their lives, just for a chance to transmit the data. It was their only hope.
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Gringotts.
The battle was over.
Flitwick and Voldemort had managed to turn the tide of battle until the branch manager's head rolled to a stop on the blood soaked battle field.
Seeing their leader fall, the Goblins turned and ran back into the tunnels they came from.
Yet, no one was celebrating.
There were not even a hundred of them left.
There was nothing but emptiness and tunnels left.
Miraculously, he had survived.
Draco climbed out from under the dead bodies he was buried in and looked to the sky with wonder.
"I'm alive," he whispered.
"Yes kid. You're alive. Congratulation."
It was Moody. Of course the Mad Eye had survived.
"Oye!" he shouted. "Everyone into the bank! Find the fucking pot roast hidden in there!"
There was tremor of humour among the survivors and they tiredly limped or crawled to their safe haven. For most, the only goal was to find a nice spot to sleep.
One by one they disappeared into the interiors of the bank to take a break from surviving hell until four remained near the entrance, staring at the dead as the setting sun glittered like rubies in their blood.
"What are you going to do now…. Tom?" Moody broke the silence. "Still hell bent upon World Domination? Should be easy now. There's hardly anyone left."
Flitwick just sat on some rubble and ignored them all. His mind was on Hogwarts. His true home. He wanted to leave and find it. And perhaps find Albus along the way. The tired professor sighed and looked at the Malfoy boy who was lying flat on some left over marble and staring into the sky with a stupid grin on his face.
"Alastor Moody," Voldemort murmured. "Looks like you won your war." His eyes flickered towards the closest mangled corpse.
Moody didn't miss the hidden sarcasm. "And you lost yours… to a what… a thirteen year old kid?"
"There's no shame in losing to Harry Potter," Voldemort countered smoothly. He was missing a hand and yet looked the most regal amongst them. His coat even smelled laundered.
Tom Riddle was feeling like his old self. The feeling of being the dominant one side in a battle and beating down those wretched creatures had made him remember what it felt like to be the Dark Lord after being dominated by the desert.
"He was the chosen one. Whether we bowed down to him or tried to break his back, this was always going to be his victory." An older prophecy stuck out in his memory. One that had been directed at him in passing but never really gave much relevance to as at that time it seemed obvious it was referring to him.
"What the fuck are you babbling about Tom," Moody snapped. Even though the battle was over, even though they had won, even after literally everyone had passed out from exhaustion, even though Voldemort had fought by their side to win; he was still on his guard. He lived up to his name. Constant Vigilance "Mad Eye" Moody.
"What I talk about, Moody, is nothing you can hope to comprehend. So I'll keep things simple. I don't care about you or your survivors. I'll do what I want and leave when I want.
Draco felt the world of dreams calling him. His adrenaline was finally over. His eyes were drifting shut and before he passed out he had the strength to say what was on his mind. "All of you are fucking inbred dicks," he said tiredly. "Instead of barking at each other you should all bow down to me. I'm the purest of all you morons here."
Flitwick was stunned. Draco said that and passed out. "I don't think he quite understood who was around him, I think," he squeaked with amusement. "You should get some rest Alastor. You've lost half your weight. We'll need it back in full if we want to survive to old age."
Moody glared at Tom. "Make up your mind by tomorrow. If you stay, you follow our rules. If you leave, I hope you die alone."
Tom smirked. "Oh I think I've made up my mind," he said cryptically. He wondered when he should drop the bomb that he had battled Dumbledore to near death and the old man was probably dead.
Flitwick eyed the dark lord fallen from grace. He was looking at a broken man. Voldemort was looking for a way out. Even a once feared dark lord had been brought to his knees by the Desert.
The charms professor, stared into the sky, his eyes charmed to see the runes.
"What a work of art," he murmured in awe. "If it weren't for your madness Tom, this probably wouldn't have been a desert, it would have been a paradise."
"You blame this on me?" Voldemort laughed, his voice high. It never failed to send shivers down Flitwick's spine. Voldemort at his core was Dark. Harry on the other hand always felt on the edge to him. "It was your dear old headmaster who chose to leave the boy with those magic hating muggles," Voldemort continued. "It was false righteousness that brought this desert upon us all."
"All to fight you. To prevent you from destroying the world," Flitwick said sadly.
"And look what that led too."
Flitwick sighed. What indeed.
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