Chaptrer 3: Failure?
((Note that Emily and Anya (along with another other characters I will add in the future) are not tied to any particular religion unless otherwise stated. The Ritual/ Offering/spell I am adding in this story is merely my mind making this up along with a little research. So please, I would not like to be flamed for anything they do if they do not meet anyone's "expectations." Anything that is seen as flame like will be ignored and removed if possible, unless you honestly manage to anger me then expect retaliation. I am not afraid to punch back, even more so on the internet where arguments can come up easily. Other than that enjoy my story and I am sorry this has to be so long 3 ))
To say she was freezing would be an understatement.
Of course, not many other words came to the teen's mind as she walked through the snow. Her arms were wrapped securely around her body as she made her way to the lake. In her small town, everyone knew about it and over the past year it had become more and more known as the "hang out spot" for all the younger kids. No one was exactly sure but no one worried to much about it anyways. It was a well-known fact that once the lake had frozen over, it wouldn't be until April when the ice would be too dangerous to walk on.
Not that there were any kids hanging around the place in the middle of the night, on the solstice no less. No, it was just Emily and the crunching snow to help keep the silence from being too unsettling.
"Damn….n-next time I'm not doing this in the w-win-winter." Teeth chattered lightly, as the girl cursed the weather once more. Why couldn't the weather man be right for once and it didn't have to be so windy tonight? Honestly, it felt as if someone was blowing the cold air at her on purpose.
Well, at least he was right about it being a clear night. It would have just made things more problematic if the teen had to do everything by the light of a candle.
Speaking of the moon, the solstice seemed to make it particularly bright tonight. Looking up, Emily couldn't help but wonder what looking at the earth from the sky was like. She had always figured it would be breathe taking, something so out of this world to see but she wondered what it felt like, to see the world you once though so large to be diminished into something so small.
Then of course the teen tripped and her philosophical train of through came screeching to a halt.
"OW!...dammit it all…" Pushing herself up, the girl struggled for a few moments as the snow seemed to try and keep her in the ground. With several grunts and curses later, she was free and brushed the snow off her clothes before she became too damp. Emily shivered once more as the wind blew another cold breeze; she could have sworn it was laughing at her for falling.
"Thanks a lot…..I'm here all night." She mumbled, not entirely sure why she had even bothered to say it our loud at all. Another cold breeze followed but this one seemed gentle, almost like a pat on the back for her witty response. For a moment the teen wondered if perhaps a spirit was watching her but shook the though from her mind. What spirit would be following her? She was no one important and Anya had trained her well enough to avoid most tricks spirits loved to use on humans.
Emily shook her head and continued walking to the lake. Now wasn't the time to let herself become distracted. All her focus had to be on this ritual, the girl didn't want to lose the one major connection she had to the spiritual world around her to lose a chance to see these things because she was old? It just didn't seem right to the teen at all. Her whole life, she believed that there were other things out there so, it wouldn't be fair if she lost this sight right? She deserved to have a chance to try and keep it didn't she?
It was then that the girl considered turning back. Perhaps she should just let it go. Did she really deserve this chance at all? What is the spell didn't even work? Was this all for nothing? Emily's fist clenched as the second thought began to swirl in her mind. No, she wasn't going to let this chance go. She had to at least try; just the thought of having the chance but never going through with it drove her mad. Emily was not one for the "what if's" in life. If there was a chance for her to try something new then she would do it. So, with that final though, the girl pushed the doubts and second thoughts as far as she could into the back of her mind and finally made her way to the lake.
The teen then began to set herself to work. She set her bag down and pulled out everything she needed. The ingredients required for the spell, a small offering to the Moon to increase her favor and the written incantation required to tie it all together.
Emily took a deep breath as she began to mutter her starting prayer, and drew the circle required for the spell in chalk on a flat rock by the lake. Her hand carefully moved with practiced precision as the symbols were written around the circle. The praying continued as she then lit a few small candles and placed them around the circle, allowing the smoke to swirl around in the air for a few moments before placing the ingredients in her mortar.
Twisting the pestle around the bowl the girl silently waited for the mix of herbs and nuts were finally made into fine powder. Pulling out a bottle of oil from her bag, the teen then added that in and then mixed it around, waiting for everything to retain the constancy that was required. She then set the bowl in the center of her circle and held her hands over the bowl.
"Oh potens ens Lune, audi hoc petenti. Voluptas humilis animæ coram te spem de exauditione. Indicium si adesset ut te dari muneris." It was eerily silent as the teen kept her eyes on the circle. Her body remained rigid as she waited for the response she so craved. Suddenly the candle nearest to her blew out. It's smoke curling about before fading into the winter air. The teen's hear hammered against her rib cage of the excitement grew.
"Oh potens Luna, hoc parvo anima gratias agit, te pro dans auditi. Summa reverentia magni donum munus accipere meditatae." Carefully, Emily removed the necklace that hung around her neck. On its simple string hung a small ring made of white sandalwood, the first gift Anya had given to her on her birthday, something the teen had always kept on her for luck and cherished deeply. Her fingers gently caressed the wood before laying it in the bowl. "Si ergo placet indicium."
Once another candle had been blown out, Emily slowly took out a box of matches with shaking fingers. Lighting the match she watched as a small flame grew on the stick. She held the match over the bowl before saying her final part. "Gratias ago tibi oh princeps nocte. In huius nocte peteret officiis te frangat ista donatio non est me dignus. Permittit fieri potest videre quae vos videtis hanc terram dilecti. Pateretur dicere coram te da regna aliorum. Audite hoc placito et concede vera. Malevolentia sine caritate tibi dabo eam et exibit cum omni virtute. Iura dabunt pretium vel insultationis arbitrium pro monstro."
All the young teen could hear was her heart beating as the match was dropped into the bowl. The oil held within quickly reacted to the heat and it was filled with a warm fire they gave off a dark blue smoke. Leaning forward, the girl allowed the smoke to enter her mouth and into her air ways. She breathed deeply and held back the urge to cough out strange and foul smelling fumes. Her blue grey eyes watered as they felt the sting of the strange smoke. Silently she waited for something to happen, for a spirit to suddenly be seen before her, for a sensation of power to course through her body, for anything to show it had worked.
Minutes passed and the teen began to feel the disappointment creep into her mind and heart. Her fists clenched and she was about to give up when she felt something lurch within her stomach. For a split second hope had returned only to be turned into disgust as the teen ran towards the nearest bush and vomited. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes as the disgust and disappointment welled within her. The world seemed to blur before her before focusing back into the clear picture of reality she had always seen.
"Dammit…." Came out the hoarse curse, her throat stung from the acid and her stomach still ached from emptying its contents. The bitter taste in her mouth only seemed to match the resentment she felt toward everything at that moment. It had failed; something she had placed so much faith in had failed her. The girl ran a hand through her reddish brown hair as she sat on the ground, not caring about the cold snow that made her body shiver slightly.
"Figures it would be a bust…"
"Oh shut u-" The teen sat up straight and looked around. Who had said that? Suddenly, she caught the sight of a pale boy clad in a blue hoodie and shepherds staff, staring right back at her.
"….You can see me?"
"….Who are you?"
A/N Haha I updated really fast this time! :D I'm not particularly proud of this one but since I'm sticking to Emily's POV it was a challenge for me to write.
Hopefully, everyone read the nice big bold stuff at the top but if you skipped and are somehow reading this little A/N then I'll do a more in depth explanation of myself.
I would like to say that my upbringing wasn't particularly religious in my eyes. My parents certainly believe in god but they never tried to force anything into my mind about him. Like them, I do believe in god but have no set idea or views on the whole matter compared to most religions. As such, my knowledge of the world of multiple gods goes only as far as the history books and what I've seen in the media. I have done some research and while I don't want to sound lazy, there is just so much to look into for a story I'm doing for my own pleasure.
That is why Emily and Anya have no set religion, since I don't want to insult anyone that actually follows these beliefs. So what I have decided is that will probably mix what I find and what little I know and would like into whatever belief system they have. This is why the ritual was very vague. It was also like that due to the fact I wasn't quite sure how a ritual for something like this would work since I'm sure no religion has anything like this. If they do, feel free to send me the information about it and I'll see what I can do.
To end on a happier note, YAY Jack Frost has made an appearance ladies and gents (….if the male population of the fandom is even reading this ^_^;; ) I'll see you all for chapter 4!
**Also, thank you to BlackKyu for telling me about the typo (is that what you can call it?) in chapter 2 :3
**Also, I used an online translator for the Latin. If it is wrong then feel free to correct me and tell me how it should be properly. I will give you credit if you do :3
