Ending of Antithesis Explained
@artemisedendelacroix, thank you for starting us off here! I realized the ending could have been confusing, but I decided to help by making a post for everyone who needed it.
Spoilers below.
The Prophecy
The prophecy portion isnāt as important, but easily mistaken if you donāt read the fine text.
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ...
Lets break this down.
Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... For this bit, the 'him' refers to Adrian. The idea of a Dark Lord is basically a "powerful being which is dark", since the parasite is inherently dark and Adrian is powerful, he fulfills the requirements in a weird backwards way. Plus the fact he was the heir to Voldemort, he inherited the lord position after Voldemort died. In the chapter Abuse, towards the end Mylla states how Adrian's parents have failed him three times, first as a son, second as a student, third as a human being. This directly relates to the 'born to those who have thrice defied [Adrian].Ā
born as the seventh month dies .. This was a fun bit, because I always wondered if the prophecy meant that it was the prophecy child or the Dark Lord in question that was born as the seventh month dies. In this case, it's both.
And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... Marking him as his equal. There are multiple instances where Adrian does this in subtle ways- having Skylar hold him upright while facing Voldemort, allowing Skylar to be with him in his final moments. Generally, this ties down to Adrian giving Lutain to Skylar, marking him as his equal. The power that the Dark Lord knows not can be the general information regarding a Horcrux which Adrian never really learned about, or the basilisk fang he had in his pocket when he met and consoled Adrian on his deathbed.
And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... Either Skylar dies at Adrian's hand (assumed at wandpoint which is why it's hand), or Adrian dies at Skylar's hand. This boils down to Adrian dying at Skylar's hand- literally, since Skylar stabs and kills Adrian with Adalonda's fang at his request. In turn, Skylar dies at Adrian's hand by infecting himself with the parasite (also tying into the marking as an equal). Skylar can't survive if Adrian lives due to the deal he made where Adrian is allowed to murder Skylar; Adrian can't live if Skylar does due to his own mental illness obsession with murdering Skylar.Ā
Adrianās Monologue
The part in particular Iām referring to is his rambling words towards while on the bridge. This starts right after Skylar infects himself with Adrianās blood.
āOh Skylar,ā Adrian laughed although it sounded pained, āyou donāt know what youāve done.ā
āThen tell me.ā Skylar challenged. āTell me everything.ā
āOkay,ā Adrian agreed with a bloody grin. Skylar reached out, and handed the basilisk fang over.
Adrian started to talk.
ā Iām going to tell you a story, although itās a bit long. Iām going to make you listen, because I want you to understand every single way you have made me into this bloody monster. Iāll call this story antithesis, and youāre going to learn every single moment where things went wrong. I want you to cry, and beg for me to kill you, and when Iām done with this, youāre going to want to do that to yourself. Youāre going to listen, because in the end, you owe me that much. You owe me so much more, but here we are, and this is how itās going to end. Who knows, maybe this useless battle between you and me and this bloody world, well, maybe we always were fated to kill each other.ā
This bit is actually The Summary for the Entire Story. If you read into this, you can interpret that the entire story of Antithesis that youāve just finished reading, is Adrianās retelling of his life while on his deathbed. I know, takes a while to kill him, doesnāt it?
Thestral Lore
Okay, this is all pretty much Original Content so hang on. Most of this is explained in chapter 67 anyways.
"No," Mylla mused, soft and gentle although barely that at all, "we were born out of desperation. A curse, that lasts in the world like the Werewolves. Thestrals are made, when we suffer and beg for death under the venom of a basilisk."
"Thestrals are born the moment we accept it, the moment we know it and we beg for it."' Mylla hissed out almost in delight. "The moment we stare that wretched demon in the face and beg for mercy. The moment we beg not for our lives but for the relief of just dying already. We explode from the spine, dripping blood and gore and we are cursed to exist forever because we can never die."
Adrian didn't realize he wasn't breathing until the hot exhale forced air into his lungs. Mylla pulled back, looking down at him with something similar to pity. "It is an irony, that thestrals are doomed to live forever and you are fated to die."
"You're lying." Adrian's voice was scratchy, barely a noise between them.
"No, I'm not." Mylla huffed, her long tail swishing. "I am cruel because time has made me so. The difference is that eternity has made me this way. Creation, made Adalonda as so."
A little bit further down itās explained once more:
āSalazar Slytherin died from the debt he owed to Morgana for the curse she inflicted to create me." Mylla spat out, looking more furious than ever before. "Blood and bone to create blood and bone. Adalonda never forgave him for his devotion to me, even in death. I told him, how how she poisoned my blood and he hid me from all of those who had never seen death. Basilisks, from their eyes and vanity, have never directly seen death."
Adrian's heart chilled and he shook his eyes, "I- but basilisks use their eyes-"
"And they are blinded for that moment." Mylla hissed back. "I told my father of how his precious monster murdered me out of spite, and he was too caring to ever slaughter his other child, no matter how foul. He sealed her away, and the price of my curse came true and he passed away in years. The lineage carried on, broken and twisted and unknowing of Adalonda's spite from the secret he took to his grave."
Basically, Thestrals exist due to a curse which exists everywhere. This curse is free-roaming, and basically latent unless a specific set of parameters are met. The curse was developed by Morgana Le Fay, and in exchange Salazar Slytherin died.Ā
A child (Myllaās age or below, which was 17) must be bit by a Basilisk
A child must be in utter agony and on the verge of death (excluding minor bites or healed bites)
A child cannot be killed from a Basilisk stare
One infected, the child has no memories of their past life until of age equal to their original age (for example, Ginny died at 11 so she would need to be 11 years as a thestral before remembering)
A thestral is only able to be understood by those related by blood
A thestral can only be seen by one who has witnessed death.
A thestral can never die, and exists in a state of limbo where it is not alive or dead, but exists as an entity comprised of stolen soul in a physical body (like a wraith, Dementor, etc.)
The curse of the thestrals steals the childās soul through unnatural artificial means, and forces it to remain in the physical world in a corrupted body.
How did the Parasite break the curse?
There was something fascinating, about Vitaedax. About a simple little parasite which drove humans to insanity.
Not many things infected the soul, or managed to warp it beyond recognition. A dementor could remove it, a selkie could sense it.
A thestral was born from it.
A vitaedax destroyed it.
What a strange thing, for a parasite which survived by gnawing and shredding soul and soul connections, to find itself suddenly assaulted by basilisk venom and exposed to a very unusual curse. What a strange thing, for a vitaedax to chew and gnaw and feast until something, something gave way.
What a strange thing, when thestrals began to drop, when their leathery bones started melting and the Elder Wand split in two over a core which fizzled out of existence.
The vitaedax kept feasting, because a curse that transformed soul was never a match for a parasite.
This passage very roughly translates to the common ideas and concepts of microbiology that we use today.
In Microbiology in the study of vaccination, parasitism, microorganisms and other related science, there is no synthetic vector superior to natures own constructions.Ā This means, that we can create synthetic ways to try and destroy organisms but our own natural biology is always going to be superior.
This relates to my idea for the thestrals. The thestrals were an unnatural physical manifestation, of a soul tethered to the human world. These ties were forced upon them, and could not be broken by human means. The parasite feeds on the soul and the soul tethers of a human. Since the parasite was rare, and the thestral requirements were also rare, they had never come in contact. When Adrian was infected with the venom and subsequently pulled into the thestral world, he was a carrier and infected all the thestral species with the parasite- which worked by consuming soul ties. Since the parasite was an organic creature made to destroy soul tethers, and the thestrals were synthetic constructions of soul tethers, the parasite won and the thestrals died.Ā
Thus, Adrian, and Luna, died.
