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SIYE Time:9:14 on 29th March 2024
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After
By Senator of Sorcery

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Category: Alternate Universe, Asylum Challenge (2013-3), Asylum Challenge (2013-3)
Characters:Albus Dumbledore, All, Draco Malfoy, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Lily Potter, Luna Lovegood, Minerva McGonagall, Other, Ron Weasley
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Romance
Warnings: Dark Fiction, Death, Disturbing Imagery, Violence
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 105
Summary: *** Winner of Best Overall, Best Drama and the People’s Choice Award in the Asylum Challenge ***
*Nominated for 2014 April/May and November/December DSTA for Best Romance and Best Drama* *Nominated for 2016 January/February DSTA for Best Drama and Best Completed*

Ginny's plans for the weekend were just perfect: a day out in Hogsmeade with her girlfriends. Spend the morning window shopping and wishing, then lunch at the Three Broomsticks, and then to the local theater for a production of the Scottish Play (Macbeth).


Unfortunately, the bad luck of the Scottish Play strikes before it even starts. The village is invaded by Death Eaters, Dementors, and a man she had hoped to never see again in her life.


And in the middle of the battle, Ginny sees something she'd never thought she'd see. Voldemort and one of her greatest friends dueling; Harry Potter and Voldemort fighting so fiercely, she lost focus on her own battle. Harry Potter, crying out, falling, and hitting the ground. Dead.

And then, someone she never expected to help her saves her from Voldemort’s wrath.
Hitcount: Story Total: 167864; Chapter Total: 4826







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Chapter Twenty-Six
Demons Run When a Good Man Goes to War

When I woke, I couldn't tell where I was. There was no light but for a pale ball of white light hanging high above my head and it did little to illuminate my surroundings. I lay on hard ground but something cushioned my head. There was no sound.

I sat up. Someone was sitting next to me, leaning against a rock.

"Hello?" I whispered. The person raised his head, and smiled at me.

"You're awake," Harry said with relief. "Do you feel better?"

I nodded, and reached up to rub the back of my neck. It felt stiff. "What happened?"

"Echidna's magic messed with your head," he said. "It made you see stuff; it got so bad you couldn't recognize me."

I frowned. "I don't remember that."

Harry nodded. "Wild said you might; he used his magic to calm you down and put you to sleep. He's put up some sort of barrier in your mind between the things you've seen and you. Said it should help keep you sane until we can figure something more permanent out."

I shifted so I was sitting next to him, and rested my head on his shoulder. "Okay," I said with a yawn. He put his arm around me and kissed my temple.

"We have to start heading towards the demon soon," he whispered after a moment's silence.

I groaned. "I know," I muttered.

"Ginny."

I looked up. Romancer had decreased his height and stood at some six feet. "How are you feeling?" he asked softly.

"Tired," I answered. "But ready to kick butt."

Romancer grinned. "Good, because it's now or never." He held out a hand and pulled Harry up, then me.

"Gather round," Dreamkeeper called. Those that could not help kill Echidna had joined our group now, including Dumbledore. "Let's touch base real quick before we move on. First things first, we need to educate those who know little about the demon on his methods of attack."

"And would now be a good time to tell us who exactly the demon is?" I asked. Dreamkeeper bit her lip.

"Well," she glanced at a tunnel entrance behind her. "I suppose. But I know very little as it happens, and I am the most knowledgeable historian in the group."

"What can you tell us?" Harry said.

"He feeds on fear," Dreamkeeper said. "He can twist reality and bend it to his will. He finds the pain of others to be a great hilarity."

"What else?" Dumbledore prompted.

Dreamkeeper gave a shrug. "That's all I know."

"Really?" I said. "Nobody has more information?"

No one spoke for a second, but slowly, the eyes of the Lords around me moved to the Punisher's face. A shiver slithered down my spine as her gaze locked onto mine.

"I can tell you more." The Punisher's voice was lower than I imagined it would have been, but just as harsh. "To start, his name holds no power. He only wishes you to believe that because he hates it more than anything else in any world."

"What is it?" Harry asked.

Punisher inhaled through her nostrils, as though bracing herself for some great shock. "Eros."

"Eros?" I repeated. "As in Cupid?"

"That is the name the Roman's gave him, yes," Punisher said. "But his true name is Eros."

"Does that mean he's some fluffy-winged baby with heart tipped arrows?" Harry said with a confused frown.

"No," Punisher scoffed. "It means he can twist your pleasures and confuse your morals. The Greeks thought of him as the god of enticement and desire. Truly, he is the demon of love, and the King of Demons. There is no love strong enough to resist his will and no hatred righteous enough to spurn his desire."

I blinked. I was being driven mad by Cupid?!

"Punisher," Romancer said slowly, shock and sudden understanding on his face at the same time, "if he is Eros, then that would make you —"

She shot him a look of anger. Her pure black eyes sparked, but for an instant, instead of the pale skin and angered features, I saw golden eyes and caramel skin. Then, her anger faded and she raised a hand to her face.

"That would make me Psyche," said Punisher with a sigh.

"Psyche?" Harry asked with another frown.

Punisher closed her eyes and tilted her face upward. "Psyche, his wife."

"Then you must know how to kill him!" I said eagerly.

Punisher's eyes snapped open and fixated on me. I sucked in my breath; Harry squeezed my hand.

She was silent a moment longer, then her voice came slow and while full of anger was also regretful. "Yes I know how to kill him. But he is my husband no matter how far he has strayed into the dark; I will not kill him. I will only help you seal his prison."

"Punisher," said Dreamkeeper sharply, "we have been sealing that prison for millennia. My husband lost his mind to keep yours from destroying the world. Eros has had his chance at redemption and he has spurned it. It is time for his judgement. Either you help us or you help him. If you wish to remain a Lord of the Light then you will give us the knowledge we need to rid the realms of him once and for all."

Punisher's eyes sparked again; her hair fluttered as though in a breeze and electricity arched in her fingers. She and Dreamkeeper stared at each other with such intensity that even the Lords around them looked away. I could not tear my eyes from the scene though my senses were screaming for me to look away.

And then, the Punisher uttered one word. "Messiah."

Dreamkeeper was stunned. She stumbled backwards, catching the hand of the Romancer, who was staring at Punisher with equal shock.

"There must be another way," Storyteller said hurriedly. "Messiah is — was impossible to control —"

"No one else has the power or the state of mind needed to kill the Demon King," Punisher snapped. "You want my help? Then give me the keys."

"What keys?" I said. "Who's Messiah?"

No one answered my question. I glanced at Luna, whose hands were clasped over her mouth. Beside her, Frost and the Ghost King were whispering to each other hastily. Others around Punisher were avoiding her gaze, or standing there in shock.

"There is a reason we locked Messiah away," said Storyteller. "If we unleash it, then we risk destroying the entire realm!"

"If we don't, then you can't kill Eros," growled the Punisher. "Those are your choices: Seal the prison, or release Messiah."

Storyteller and Romancer both opened their mouths and started arguing; Dreamkeeper was trying to calm them down, Wild had jumped into the conversation, so had many others. And then they were all shouting above each other, no one made any sense and no one could hear even what they were saying over the din.

"Who's Messiah?" I yelled. They all stopped arguing and turned to look at me. Silence for a very long minute.

"It's more of a thing," Storyteller said.

"Then what is it?" Harry asked. I felt his irritation, and honestly I agreed with it. It was an irritating situation.

"Messiah was a project, a program you might say," Dreamkeeper said. "Long, long ago, the Judges tried to find a way to round up and capture the evil demons throughout the realms. They asked several beings to create a device to do this. What they created was an energy source of incredible power. Their theory was that a being could use the energy they had created and pull all sources of negative energy towards it. In theory, Messiah worked well. But the kind of energy needed to be a negative magnate twisted the test subjects and they ended up releasing greater negative energy. It fed on their negative emotions and turned them to the dark, attracting everything that influenced those emotions and turning them dark as well."

"It turned them into energy vampires, sucking everything with a positive force and spitting it back tainted with dark magic," said the Storyteller gravely. "If we used Messiah on any of us, we'd do more harm than good!"

"What about on a mortal?"

All eyes turned back to me. Storyteller knit together his eyebrows and Romancer looked considerate.

"No," Harry said, suddenly realizing what I meant. "No, you can't."

"Why not? I'm already insane, a little more insanity won't kill me. Besides, I'll bet the people who created Messiah never tried it on a mortal. Storyteller was right: Messiah on any of them would put them on Eros's side. But if it fed on my negative emotions, it would find Eros's spark of insanity and then suck him in."

"And then Eros' could control Messiah," Harry said.

"No."

We turned. The Lady was looking at me with a new appreciation. "No, he couldn't," she repeated. "Messiah inhales sources of negative energy, and reverses their polarity. The energy source used to create Messiah is a fountain of positive energy, so Messiah can't be fueled by negative energy. The reason it works in theory is that Messiah takes dark magic and turns it to light to fuel it's own magic. It follows it's host's passions and stays true to the host's side. It's the energy source that turns the host and causes Messiah to work against what it was intended for. If the host is evil, Messiah inhales the light and turns it dark. If the host is good, then Messiah takes darkness and reverses it."

"Could it work?" I asked. "Could I host Messiah without turning?"

The Lady was silent a moment as she thought it over. "To be turned by the energy, you must have a spark of greed in your soul and a certain flexibility. The original creators of Messiah tested it on Tamed and Untamed beings and a few elemental demons. They did last the longest, but they all caved. With Eros' insanity in you and the Fire demon seed, you would be considered irrationally stubborn. You should last long enough to reverse Eros' magic from dark to light and to release Messiah before the energy corrupts you."

"No!" Harry exclaimed. "It's too risky."

"What other choice do we have?" Dumbledore asked.

"None," said the Punisher with finality. "It's this or reseal the prison and wait for him to break through again."

"I have to do this," I said. "It's like you have to go after Voldemort. No one else can do this."

"But what if you don't make it?" Harry asked. "What then?"

"If the energy corrupts her, then we would be forced to shut Messiah down," said the Lady.

"And what would happen to her?" Harry demanded.

"The host would be shut down as well."

"It's worth it," I insisted.

Harry's shoulders slumped as he stared at me. I gave his hand a squeeze.

"If we're going to do this," Romancer said, "we should begin Messiah's awakening. Harry, you'll need to let go of her."

Harry gave Romancer a glance before fixing his gaze on me. He stood there dumbly a moment, then pulled me into a fierce hug.

"You'd better come out alive," Harry murmured in my ear.

"I'll do my best," I promised. Harry moved back and cupped my cheeks with his palms.

"No, you don't just do your best; you do it," he said in a low, demanding voice. "If you don't come out, I'll go in and get you. Do you hear me? Come back."

I nodded, not knowing what else to say. Harry kissed me, and stepped back. The Lady stepped in front of me; she pressed her hands together and closed her eyes, as though praying. Dreamkeeper took a stance beside her, but instead of copying the Lady's prayer pose, she held up her hands with her wrists crossed and her palms facing outward. The Storyteller moved behind me; I glanced over my shoulder to see him with his hands held flat in front of him, palms facing each other but not touching. Wild closed the circle with his arms held out palm up. Romancer, Punisher, the Lord of the Realm of Ghosts and the Lord of the Realm of Flight encircled the circle.

"Stand still facing the Lady, Ginny," Storyteller said. "Close your eyes and listen."

I turned back to face the Lady and caught one last glance of Harry before I closed my eyes. A loud reverberating note rang in my ears, the vibration shook the ground and stole my breath. Then a low hum filled the air; gentle and sweet, it relaxed my body and allowed my breath to return. I heard whispers in a strange language, then the hum grew louder and my breathing slowed. There was a flash of bright light that penetrated my closed eyelids. And then, I heard a shout that forced my eyes open.

The cavern I had stood in had faded. The colors had leeched from their places, and everything stood still. Before me, the Lady's eyes were open and glowing white. I turned and saw the Dreamkeeper's eyes glowing purple, then the Storyteller's red, and Wild's charcoal. In the next circle, all stood with their hands clasped together and their open mouths frozen in a chant. Dumbledore stood behind the Lord of Ghosts, holding onto Harry, who was straining to move forward. The Fire demons, Frost and Luna were looking at the circle with looks of awe on their faces. No one moved, no one even breathed.

"Hello?" I called.

The white outline of a person appeared on the outskirts of the circle. "Hello," it said.

"Are you Messiah?" I asked. The person shrugged.

"No, I am Messiah's last host. I died a long time ago but my soul was trapped inside the program. Are you here to release me?"

"Who are you?"

"Nobody," the person said. "Just the subject of a failed test."

"I'm here to host Messiah," I told it. "How do I release you?"

"You just did." The white outline vanished in a flash.

I looked around again. "Messiah?" I yelled. Heat flared beside me; a ball of fire appeared next to me and hung there.

"Are you Messiah?" I said.

"Are you a host?" The voice came from everywhere at once.

"Yes."

"Then I am."

The ball of fire shot forward, straight into me. I stumbled with the impact; white fire ran down my arms, legs and body until I could no longer see myself through it. My arms moved without instruction, I took a step forward and a step back.

"What is your name, host?" said a voice in my ear.

I tried to open my mouth, but my jaws wouldn't respond.

"Think, host."

'Okay,' I thought, 'Ginny.'

"Ginevra Molly Weasley, born August 18th 19881. Daughter of Arthur Weasley, sister to William, Charles, Percival, Frederick, George, and Ronald. Single soul match to Harry James Potter, born July 31st 1980. Soul nemesis of Tom Marvolo Riddle, born January 24th 1926 alias Lord Voldemort. Magical affiliation: Light. State of mind: Bordering clinical paranoia. Cause: Eros the Demon King. Please affirm."

'Um, yes.'

"Registering... Registered host Ginny Weasley. What is your request of Messiah?"

'Err, get Eros and reverse his magical polarity.'

"Please rephrase."

'Kill Eros.'

"You wish to kill the Demon King?"

'Yes.'

"That is not affiliated with light magic."

'It's necessary.'

"Other available light side options: Capture and imprison Eros."

'We tried that already, it doesn't work.'

"Capture and release Eros to the Judges."

'If we don't kill him, he will kill us.'

"Capture and reverse Eros' magical affiliation."

'That's what I said the first time!'

"Incorrect. Your words were" — I heard my own voice playing in my ear — "'Err, get Eros and reverse his magical polarity.'"

'That's what I meant.'

"Very well. Please choose a course of action."

'Capture and reverse Eros' magical affiliation.'

"Thank you, host Ginny."

The scene before me unfroze and color flooded it. Everything was more vibrant than before; I could hear the Lady's breathing and felt the vibrations of Harry straining to escape Dumbledore. My eyes darted around the room, Messiah still controlling my body. They settled on the tunnel entrance and my legs started moving. I heard people talking, but Messiah was paying them no attention so the words were garbled. Messiah moved me through the tunnel swiftly and effortlessly. I felt detached from my own body; my muscles contracting and relaxing without my input — even my lungs filled and emptied in a way foreign to me. I heard people following, but Messiah still paid them no attention. Then, Messiah stopped my movement. My eyes darted over the obstacle in the path: A huge, black metal slab extending from ground to roof, glistening in the light of the white fire surrounding my skin.

Messiah turned my head to glance behind me; no one had caught up with the stride Messiah had set. Messiah raised my arm and aimed my palm at the metal slab.

'What is it?' I thought hurriedly.

"Magic," Messiah moved my mouth to say it. "Solidified magic."

I was startled, but Messiah left no room for confusion. My palm heated, and a blast of the white fire shot from my hand to the slab. It engulfed it and the solidified magic melted immediately. Messiah moved my feet through the hole, and walked forward.

If I had been in control of my body, my heart would have been pounding heavily. But Messiah prevented the fear from causing my heart to beat irregularly. Instead, my breathing was deep and my heart beat was quick only to keep adrenaline rushing through my veins. Messiah moved my eyes to scan the room, taking in the dirt floor, walls and ceiling of the small cell-like room, the orb on a pedestal in the center of the room, and the dense darkness shying away from the light of the white fire.

"Eros," Messiah called out, its voice mixing with mine. "Surrender. This is your only chance."

The darkness shifted, and a silhouette appeared in the shadows.

"Who are you to challenge me?" Eros shouted.

"I am Messiah. I inhabit the body of Ginevra Weasley. I will kill you."

"If you know my name then you know I am the King of Demons!" Eros said with a cackle. "No man or woman can defeat me!"

"I am Messiah," said the program controlling me. "I am neither man nor woman. I will kill you."

'Not kill,' I reminded Messiah, 'reverse his magical affiliation.

Messiah seemed irritated. My head jerked as though to ward off a fly. Messiah raised my arm and held out my hand palm up. The white fire upon my palm glowed brighter and brighter; Eros peered at the fire and let out a snort of laughter.

"Seriously?" Eros said. "I may be made of darkness but I won't be killed by a light."

"This is not a light," Messiah said with my mouth. "This is a vacuum."

Eros was silent a moment, then he glanced at the orb and let out a yelp. He tried to run past me, but my arm shot out to block the exit. White flames filled the hole, daring him to run through them.

The black silhouette of Eros started to flutter; Eros grabbed the orb and flung it at me. Messiah deflected it with a flick of my other hand and stepped forward. Eros' shadow of a body started to smear, stretching towards my hand.

"No!" Eros screeched. "No, I've worked too hard!"

"Your reign of terror comes to an end, Demon King," said Messiah. "What are your final words?"

"I — will — not — succumb!"

Messiah moved my feet closer. "That is not an adequate final message for your subjects, Demon King. Are you sure that these should be your last words?"

Eros only grunted with the strain of resisting the vacuum. There was an inch of empty space between a single fragment of his silhouette and the vacuum sucking it in. Messiah narrowed my eyes, and the fragment was inhaled. Eros screamed and an instant later, the shadow was gone. Messiah lowered my arm.

"Host Ginny, please remain silent while Eros is reversed."

Unsure of what to do, I kept my thoughts quiet.

Messiah closed my eyes, and an image of a man in shackles appeared before my mind. The white ball of fire appeared beside him.

"You are given a choice, Eros," Messiah's voice came from the ball of fire. "Allow me to reverse the taint and corruption of dark magic you harbor, or die. Choose."

"I am not tainted!" Eros spat. I took a closer look: He was fairly tall, built like a runner with dark hair and eyes.

"You gave into the lure of the dark path at the creation of the Mortal Realm," Messiah said. "Is this true?"

"I accepted its power," he said, straightening his spine.

"You turned to the dark."

"There cannot be a dark without a light," Eros said. I considered this; he had a point. I frowned. Where did that thought come from?

"You cannot woo me to your side," Messiah said. "You will only further my host's insanity."

"And that's a bad thing how?" Eros sneered.

"Answer my question."

Eros rolled his eyes. "Yes, I turned to the dark."

"Would you like to die?"

"Of course not! What kind of a fool do you take me for?"

"I give you a choice at my host's request: Repent or die."

"What kind of choice is that?!"

"Your only choice."

Eros tried to sneer, but the worry was etched too far into his face. "What kind of repentance?"

"Let me remove the dark taint in you and you will live."

"And what's to stop me from relapsing?"

"I will take your magic as well as the taint."

Eros' eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "What? No! I need my magic; I must have it!"

"If you want to live, you must surrender it. Choose now, or I will kill you."

Eros wrung his hands in worry, his eyes darting around the empty space. He mumbled under his breath and bit his lip.

"Choose," Messiah said.

"All right!" Eros cried, throwing up his hands. "I give in. I want to live."

The ball of light floated forward. It stopped inches from Eros, and grew larger. It wrapped around Eros' chest, pulsing brightly. Eros squeezed his eyes shut, an expression of fear and dread on his face. I watched until the light grew too bright for me to continue watching. I held up a hand to shield my eyes, and as I did there was an silent explosion of light; Eros let out a scream, and all went black.
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