Alchemised

Alchemised is a dark romantasy novel by SenLinYu. Originally published as a work of Harry Potter (1997) fan fiction under the title Manacled in 2018, Alchemised is SenLinYu’s literary debut. In SenLinYu’s dystopian fantasy world, Helena Marino wakes up in captivity unable to recall her past. While in the custody of the cruel Kaine Ferron, Helena begins to piece together fragments of her recent personal history. She is a healer who was studying at the Alchemy Institute when a war broke out between her people, the Resistance, and the enemy, the Undying. Over time, Helena’s fractured memory offers her answers to who she is, what she’s lived through, and what she believes in. Written from a third-person limited point of view, the novel explores themes including Reclaiming a Fragmented Identity, the Love as a Catalyst for Personal Growth, and The Contested Terrain of Memory.

This guide refers to the 2025 Del Rey hardback edition of the novel.

Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide include sexual content, cursing, and depictions of graphic violence, rape, sexual violence, harassment, physical abuse, emotional abuse, pregnancy termination, suicidal ideation, death by suicide, physical injury, illness, death, and substance use.

Plot Summary

The novel is broken into three sections. Part 1 is set in 1788. Part 2 begins in 1785 and spans to 1787, and Part 3 spans from 1789 through 1799. This summary mimics the chronology of the novel.

In Part 1, Helena Marino wakes up in a dark tank, unable to move her body or see anything. She repeatedly loses and regains consciousness. Finally, she overhears her captors discussing her condition. She has been captured by the nation of Paladia’s High Necromancer, Morrough. Morrough wants to use her, but no one can access Helena’s memories. Helena realizes she has no access to her past either. Morrough then tasks his minion, the High Reeve Kaine Ferron, with recovering Helena’s memories using his magical powers.

Helena is shipped to Spirefell, where she is held in captivity under the watchful gaze of Kaine and his jealous wife, Aurelia. Throughout her imprisonment here, Helena is subjected to torturous sessions with Kaine wherein he tries to access her buried recollections. No matter how hard he tries, Kaine can’t find what he wants. Meanwhile, Helena tries to remember her past on her own. She does not understand what Kaine or Morrough could want. She does remember a recent war between the Order of the Eternal Flame—comprised of alchemists and their followers—and the Undying. The Undying are immortal individuals who have been manipulated by the Necromancer to do his bidding; they allegedly cannot die.

Helena wonders if dying by suicide might free her from her captivity. If she were dead, Kaine wouldn’t be able to access whatever secret she has in her mind. Meanwhile, however, Helena starts to feel affection toward Kaine, though she’s unsure why. Then one day she discovers that she has other powers she didn’t remember. She is a vivimancer and an animancer—she can access people’s minds, heal the wounded, and revive the dead.

When Morrough discovers Helena’s capabilities, he forces her and Kaine to produce a child for him. Helena gets pregnant. Shortly thereafter, her memories crack open and she gains access to her past.

In Part 2, the narrative shifts into the past. Helena is working as a Healer with the Resistance. One day, she advises the Resistance Council to use necromancy to revive their dead soldiers and combat the strengthening Undying forces. The Council ejects her for heresy. Helena is called to a meeting with Council members Jan Crowther and Ilva Holdfast—her best friend Luc Holdfast’s aunt. Helena knows that Resistance member Kaine Ferron is loyal to Morrough and wants to work against the order. Ilva and Jan ask Helena to win Kaine’s trust and relay any information she learns from him about the Undying back to Ilva and Jan.

Over the course of their numerous visits, Helena and Kaine get to know one another. They identify with one another’s isolation and loneliness. They find hope and connection and eventually start having sex. Helena fears that she is both using Kaine and betraying the Resistance. She feels constantly caught between alliances. Finally, she decides that the only thing she cares about is Kaine. Together, the lovers learn that Morrough’s power source is the Undying and that the Holdfasts are only engaging in the war for their own greedy interests. They engage in numerous battles, perpetually vowing to save and protect one another.

In Part 3, Helena wakes up and remembers everything. She realizes she is pregnant and that she and Kaine might still have a chance of making a life together. Then she learns that Morrough has stolen a part of Kaine’s soul, and his strength is waning. Desperate to keep her lover alive, Helena manages to retrieve and replace Kaine’s stolen soul fragment. The procedure works; Kaine lives, and Morrough’s power dulls.

The lovers flee to a remote island, where they meet back up with their estranged friend, Lila Bayard—Luc’s former lover. They stay together for a while. When word spreads that Morrough is regaining power, Lila decides to kill him once and for all. Kaine teaches her combat skills, and Helena makes her a bomb. A year and a half later, Lila succeeds.

Helena and Kaine raise their daughter, Enid Rose Ferron, on the island alone for many years. When Enid grows up, she sails back to Paladia to study with Lila’s son, Pol.