Of Death and Fire

born of death and fire


Author's notes: Here we are! New, shining chapter, slightly dark as well.
A million thanks to everyone who has shown his/her support during the recent act of censorship from FFnet. But I'm still alive and kicking.
RivanKnight: Thanks for *all* the reviews.
Limyaael: Thanks for the review. Morgaine's body was bloodied due to the previous fight that included more physical elements, like the stones. As for the 'choice' issue, it was partly a thing of Fate -her child was trapped in a loop of time&space not by her conscious decision- and yes, she'd rather avoid sacrificing anyone. Anyone close to her, that is.
Sarah, Stefynae, Andrea, Shadowycat, Zarive, Snape's Slave, thank you all for your support and reviews.
 
 
 
CHAPTER 40: Born of Death and Fire.
 
It seemed to her eyes that the Great Hall of Death turned even darker, as soon as she spoke her consent. Dark shadows danced in the far off corners, as if celebrating her surrender. His face gleamed in triumph, as He raised one fleshless hand and waved at her. Unsure of how to respond, she moved one pace forwards.
However, His gesture was not aimed at her, but at the unborn child in her womb.
He uttered a few words in a language unknown to her, one that human ears had rarely heard in the past aeons, and none had survived to repeat them. Death addressed His brother Time, and the protective cocoon around her child was shattered in a million ethereal pieces that pierced her soul like shards of melting glass. As the creature inside her begun to change, all Morgaine could feel was pain. And she collapsed on the ground.
Inside her womb, her son moved and stirred, dying and coming to life once more. He choked to death and faded away inside the primal fluid that resembled the waters of Lethe, the river of Forgetfulness. And then it came back to life with a silent scream, dead and yet living, the child of a dead woman.
Just like Morgaine had been.
The fire inside her stirred and fought the change, but in vain. Her soul, which had been an amalgam of flames and darkness, gave in to the will of Death, and the child kicked and clawed his way out of her womb. Morgaine felt her body convulse in waves of pain, despite the fact that her intellect kept reminding her that this was impossible. The dead should feel nothing. But the pain was very real and so was her agony, seeing a bright shape crawling its way out of her flesh. Drenched in flames instead of blood, her son left her body and crept to his new master, leaving a trail of iridescent residue behind him.
The newborn changed with every inch he moved closer to the Black Throne. From a ghostly figure that resembled a human baby, it slowly transformed to this of a three-year-old boy. He turned to face his mother and smiled. And Morgaine's heart bled, knowing she would never hold him in hrms.rms. He would look so much like her, with the almond shaped eyes and the long, slender limbs. But he had his biological father's dark hair and, by the looks of it, his nose as well.
But his true father was seated on the Black Throne, grinning with approval.
Morgaine reached out with her hand and carressed the boy's hair, leaning forward to kiss his cheek. And then she picked him up and placed him on her Master's knees. When the boy raised his eyes to the skeletal face, there was no fear in them; just affection.
Born by her fire and through hiath,ath, a Dark Angel had come into being.
~*~
The hooded woman next to Death took the boy away and Morgaine, feeling numb inside, turned to face her Master.
"I have kept my part of the deal. It's your turn now," she said firmly.
Death stared back with His crimson eyes that revealed amusement.
"I think the deal is somehow changed," He said in a velvet voice.
"What?" It was the only thing she could say, her eyes wide in shock. And then her gaze intercepted Aurion's gentle face and realised there was more in this.
"I have been thinking of letting you return to the world of the living," Death said with a grin.
"But how? I died there," she begun to say, dizzy from this new development.
"Actually," she heard Aurion's affectionate words, "this sort of thing has happened before. Alkestis, for instance-"
His voice was cut off by Death.
"Thank you for the lecture, Aurion," he said. When the old necromancer started lecturing, he could easily annoy the calmest of souls.
"There was also Eurydice, who-"
"Thank, you, Aurion." Now it was getting really annoying.
"Not to mention that incident with Lazarus, who-"
"Shut up, Aurion." The necromancer would be a fitting addition to the torturers of Tartarus, He thought. Perhaps on a later time. And this time Aurion complied with his Master's request. Death turned his attention to Morgaine, who had been left shocked and speechless by the prospect of returning to life.
"It will not be that easy," He said standing up. "Walk with he he added and headed for the barren land outside.
Morgaine walked behind Him without a word, taking Aurion's hand in hers as they followed their Master.
~*~
They stood over the dark waters of Acheron, the river of Woe. Death's hand moved over the dark surface and it changed to a mirror, a window between the worlds of the dead and the living. Through it, Morgaine saw Severus still holding her broken body, unaware of the creature that moved in the shadows behind him.
"I will let him decide," He said. "If he chooses to live, you will have a chance to return back. If he chooses to die, well, how can I object?" His ivory teeth gleamed in the twilight. "In any case, you will be together, my child," Death added. For the first time, it seemed to Morgaine that she detected a hint of kindness in His voice.
"Does he know that?" she finally managed to say.
"No. His decision should be coming from the heart."
Morgaine gulped. If she had been in Severus' place, the only thing she'd wish for would be death, fast and painless. And then a new thought came to her mind.
"Why will you do that? Why would you let me return to life?"
Death looked at her for a long time before replying, and she couldn't help wondering if she had somehow offended Him. Deities are not accustomed in explaining their choices.
"For two main reasons," He finally said. "First, it has been the request of both my Guardians. They rarely ask for anything, so I felt it was time to reward them for a service well done. And second," he added in a grave voice, "I want you to deliver a message to Voldemort." Morgaine jolted in the sound of the name. "No one can escape me for long, as he has. Additionally, Voldemort believes he can eventually take my place in the hearts of the mortals, replacing my authority with the fear of the Dark Lord." He stood straight and Morgaine saw Him in all His might. "I am the only Dark Lord from the beginning of time. If he does not show the proper respect, and I know he will not, he will meet my wrath." His fleshless fingers brushed her face. "None other than my faithful servant can deliver such a message. Take your time to heal and rest, should you return among the living, but then confront him."
Morgaine nodded in response. The prospect of seeing Voldemort again was not a welcoming one, but if was the price to see Severus again, then she'd gladly pay it.
And the images from the world above moved again inside Acheron's waters.
~*~
Severus Snape held the cold body in his arms. He knew he should go. Dumbledore should be informed of the recent developments and her death. But he found it impossible to move, to release her weight from his arms. His heart had somehow been pinned on the ground along with the bloodied remains of the woman he loved. The prospect of returning to a life she would not be in was unthinkable. So he stayed there, passing his trembling fingers over her face as if expecting her eyes to open any minute now.
And then he felt movement behind him. Had any of the Death Eaters returned? He looked over his shoulder and his heart lost a beat.
A dark shape across the blackness of the night, the creature of death and shadow slowly crept closer. Looking a lot like a dementor, it was attracted by his pain. Instinctively, he jumped on his feet and walked a few feet away, taking out his wand. But what kind of spell could sent it away? It was considered one of the hardest creatures to vanquish even by the Necromancers' Guild. One the other hand, if it bore any similarities with the dementors, a Patronus charm might ward it off for a while, at least to provide him with a time to concentrate on disapparating.
The creature moved closer, and for a moment it stood over Morgaine's lifeless body, as if studying the mortal that had shared a portion of its essence for some time. And Snape knew his chances were slim. He had never had any good results with the Patronus charm. This spell relied a lot on the caster's positive thinking, on one's happy memories and thoughts. He rarely had any of either. And now, after Morgaine death, his thoughts were anything than cheerful. Both his heart and mind were filled with anger and grief, and now fear.
He watched the creature sliding slowly on the cold earth, as if it was floating slightly over the moist ground. And his heart sunk to his feet. At that moment, Snape found no reason to live. He had nothing more to lose; nothing left worth killing or dying for. He might as well end it here and fall into oblivion. And if the creature would feed off his pain, he doubted if it could survive such torment either. Perhaps this would be a fitting end to both of them.
"Do you find my agony to your taste, demon?" he challenged the creature that still hovered a few feet away, over Morgaine's dead body. Calling it out of its meditation, it raised its head and looked at him. Under the shadowy hood, Snape saw a pair of burning eyes staring at him with unspeakable hunger. Slowly, it began to move again. With a gesture of final surrender, he bared his chest and throat, turning his head lightly on the side.
"Here is your feast, demon. Come and take my pain and my life. I have nothing more to lose." And he closed his eyes, waiting for the creature's kiss.
~*~
Staring at the dark waters of Ache Mor Morgaine had witnessed the whole incident. And her heart broke once more, seeing him surrender like this.
In a few minutes, it would all be over.
~*~
An owl cried in the distance, and Snape opened his eyes to see what took the creature so long. It still stood a few feet away from him, unsure of how to proceed. Such reactions were rare, because most mortals fought against its kiss with spells and fire. But then it began to move again, accepting his despair as genuine.
The owl cried again, as in mourning. And the clouds parted, letting the full moon shine in all its glory. A silver moonbeam fell on Morgaine's bloodied hair and for a moment it shone as if it was aflame by silver tongues of light and fire. And Snape, for the first time in his life, realised he had his own share of positive thoughts. She had been his happiest of thoughts, one of the few things that ever mattered in his barren life. Her face, her laughter, the way she had made each day a new experience, it all returned to his heart and mind. With one last desperate move, he pointed the wand to the creature and spoke the incantation.
"Expecto Patronum!"
His wand vibrated with a life of its own, as a bright cord was slowly forming out of its tip. The creature paused its advance and it, too, watched the shape that was forming. At first it seemed as if it would be a raven, but then it changed to this of a cat. As the cat became more solid, detaching itself from Snape's wand, it began to transform again. And Snape moved two paces back, as he recognised the form the Patronus was taking. He had never heard of anything similar and yet it happened before his very eyes.
The Patronus had taken the form of a woman. As her ethereal, argent body turned and looked at him, she smiled and his heart leaped. She resembled Mine ine in every detail, even the faint marks of her tattoos. She was rather transparent, floating slightly above the ground. And as her attention was focused on the creature of death and shadow, her ghostly form was set on fire.
She flung against the dark shape faster than it could move away. It shrieked in agony, knowing it had no power over this manifestation, but it could not escape her grasp. She lowered her face to its shadowed features to complete the embrace she had begun one year ago inside the volcanic caves. As the kiss deepened, the creature seemed to slowly fade, its essence being absorbed by the bright figure that held it still. And in a few moments it vanished into thin air, leaving only a layer of dust on the ground.
Snape, still shocked by the unthinkable sight he had witnessed, walked to the ethereal woman. And she turned to face him, smiling with love. Her silver glittering had changed to a darker shade, as streams of black and crimson flames were dancing in unison inside her, changing her soul to its original form: An amalgam of Death and Fire.
He reached out with his hand to touch her face, to say goodbye. But she slowly dissolved into the night air, her shape changing once more. She became a shinning mist and rose above him like a cloud. And the cloud became an iridescent rain, with brilliant droplets falling on his skin, sharing with him a part of her soul. But the most part of the bright shower felt on the dead body on the ground, sneaking inside it through every pore, through every cut of the skin.
Unaware of this change, Snape was left standing in the dark clearing, feeling empty. But his despair was gone, and he would somehow learn to live again. And then he heard it. Not trusting his senses, he dismissed the sound as an owl crying in the distance. And then he heard it again.
The woman on the ground had moaned.
~*~
When Dumbledore apparated on the site some time later, alerted by Morgaine's brother, he found Snape holding her cold body in his arms.
Cold, but breathing.
Morgaine had returned among the living.
 
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My shameless self-spamming: Those of you who haven't already been informed of this, Aurion's adventures continue in an original story of mine at FictioPress.net, titled "Brother Sun, Sister Moon".