The original/full summary is: "It is commonly understood that the multiverse exists ... millions of possible earths all diverging from singular points of change. In one world Doctor June Moone was compelled by an ancient evil called the Enchantress to break open the idol that held her spirit. When June Moone climbed back out of the Enchantress's tomb she brought the once witch-god out with her.
And in another world? In a different world the thing that climbed out of tomb was neither June Moone nor the Enchantress. The ramifications of this change are far reaching and endless. "
I am also on Ao3, which is where I originally posted under the name Queer_Queen. Enjoy
In one world Doctor of archaeology, June Moone, was compelled by an ancient evil called the Enchantress into breaking open the idol that held her spirit. Allowing this former goddess to possess the young doctor. Even though that June Moone had not been in her right-mind and had been controlled into making the action, she still made it, allowing the magics holding the Enchantress to over-ride June's will, because in a way it was her will that freed the Enchantress.
(This is also one of the reasons why other archaeologists hadn't found the Enchantress's resting place, magic and logic do not mix.)
In that world June Moone and the Enchantress were two sides of a coin, entwined together, but not actually together. There was no true matrimony between their souls, which was why June Moone could not access the Enchantress's powers or memories, and why the Enchantress could not access June's body - instead imprinting her image on it - and June's memories.
But, of course, every choice has a consequence, or in this case June's not-choice. In this world June made a different choice. Something - strange, unquantifiable, it could have been the very spirit of the temple, or just her archeological integrity to not break things - caused her to take a moment, to look around this masterpiece of a finding. This was what would make her career, this finding would be the finding that put her on the proverbial map. She would go down in history for this!
Taking out her camera she spoke, "I fell down a hole at the top of the temple," she waved her camera and light to the entrance she came from, "this appears to both be a burial chamber, and a trap. Shares some similarities to Egyptian pyramids in the overall structure." She moved on to the skulls, "My estimations of the age of the temple are not incorrect, there has been some process used on these skulls to keep them from wearing and aging with time," moving on she begins to examine the artifacts, "the very walls are covered in dirt and grime, but this appears to have been a conscious choice … perhaps to allow plant growth, as you can see there are many different idols, all appearing to be around the same age." She continues, documenting what she sees and smells.
And due to her inattention she did not notice that her steps had caused a slight nudge, allowing the dirt underneath the shelf holding the idol to crumble, allowing the idol that held the Enchantress' spirit to fall to the ground and break.
To magic, this action does not count as a purposeful action. June did not mean, in any way, to harm any of the artifacts in her latest and greatest find (you could say the same about her compulsion but magic and logic do not mix). So the Enchantress' spirit was released, and instead of having a nice, willing host, she had an unwilling host. Much as she did centuries ago, when she stole the body of a young woman, whose story has been lost to history, but whose mother placed just the right symbols on the Enchantress' grave to ensure that if she were to escape, she would be punished for the actions she took.
Doctor June Moone did not know any of this, and while this narrative is important to the outcome of her story, it can be skipped over. All Doctor Moone knew was that a prized artifact had broken, and then a woman, looking like her but reeking a malevolent aura (and reeking other things as well) had appeared before her. Moone's brain was able to catalogue several facts about her - the headpiece was strangely lunar for her calculated age of the temple, the bra was something from at least the 1900s (ancient civilizations did not consider breast coverage as important as ours do) and did her hair really look like that? - before the woman (spirit?) broke into dust and flew at her.
Doctor June Moone knew no more.
An ancient withered heart, wrapped in straw, beat once and then never beat again.
What climbed out of that ancient temple was not Doctor June Moone … but she (they?) were no longer the once-god called the Enchantress either.
Authors Note:
I'm up to 11 chapters in Ao3, I'll try and get this one back up to pace as well.