The ritual
What occurred a week later was something that was unheard of. It was so preposterous that if anyone found out about it they'd never believe it! What could possibly fall under this category?
Heimdall and Loki joining forces and actually getting along without yelling! Loki had already made the arrangements with Yamino. Night was not to be told about it until it was ready and Mayura must NOT interrupt them at any point! The only place this could be accomplished was Heimdall's apartment. He made sure that Freyr didn't get in the way by making Gullinbursti disappear for a while. (Freyr would be too busy trying to find his flying metal pig to disturb Heimdall. And Gullinbursti couldn't get out until Heimdall release him personally!)
"Are the circles ready?" asked Heimdall.
"Almost. Give me a few another minute and then we can get started," replied Loki.
The circles Loki was drawing looked a lot like the alchemic kind. They were close, but not quite in the same category.
"And…done. You ready to get started Heimdall?"
"Let's get this thing started."
They knew that Odin was most likely watching them in disbelief. If they could have seen his face when he realized he wasn't seeing things, they both would have had a good laugh!
Heimdall started to chant and Loki brought out his staff. The circles slowly started to glow eerily. Feathers of all shapes and sizes flew through the air. They began to encase the two gods who were protected inside the circles. Then the circles themselves began to levitate. Heimdall finished his spell and Loki handed him the staff.
Loki started chanting his own spell; which had similar, yet very different results. A second set of circles started to glow below the first. The feathers started flying again, only this time they were joined by a divine flame enveloping the room. A cloud of darkness shielded the two as Loki continued his chant. Heimdall kept a firm grip on the crescent moon staff as it started to glow violently. Finally Loki finished his half of the spell.
"So far, so good…" said Loki.
"Now for the boring part…" griped Heimdall.
Both gods took hold of the moon-shaped staff and began chanting in complete synch with one another. It was creepy to hear; it was almost as if they were speaking in one voice! They had to keep this up until the sun rose 12 hours later. (They started this at 7:00)
The next morning, Loki and Heimdall were finishing the chant, both weary from the magic required. Fortunately they could take an hour's rest after they finished it. Finally, their chanting ceased.
"Man, I forgot how hard it was to keep that up for twelve hours straight!" said Heimdall.
"Yeah really! At least we're nearly half-way done!"
"Ugh, this is soooo tiring! Just being around you gives me a headache!" griped Heimdall.
"It's almost time to start the hardest part…you ready?" asked Loki.
"Let's get this thing started!" said Heimdall as he stood back up.
The hardest part about the ritual was the shaping of the soul. Once they completed that they could finish the rest quickly.
They started with the basics. They both agreed on the soul being male and around their true height. Then came the first roadblock. Hair color and style.
"I agree on the part about the hair being similar to ours as well as Nights, but I don't think reddish-brown hair would look right!" said Heimdall.
"You may have a valid point…should we go with bluish-purple?"
"That might work…"
The hair color decided, now came the basic hairstyle.
"I think we should go with his original hair and lose some of the spikiness. It looks too much like something off an anime!" said Heimdall.
"True. But we definitely can't go with yours…"
"Why not?!" growled Heimdall.
"Your hair blocks your right eye, remember? His depth perception would be hindered by the hair."
"Good point. A combo of yours and his?" suggested Heimdall.
"Works for me. We'll add a bit of yours in the mix, just to shake things up a little."
The hair finally finished, next came the facial features. This is one of the few things that had both of them in a heated argument. Finally they settled on three things.
"So the right eye will be the one you lost and the left will be…" said Loki.
"The left will be Night's original eye. But what about the color?"
"It wouldn't look right if they were different colors…how about a crimson red?" suggested Loki.
"That works for me. At least the colors won't clash!" laughed Heimdall.
"But how should the eyes themselves look like?"
"Let's stick with Night's normal eye pattern. That would work better than ours would…"
"True. But what about the rest?"
"Let's mix up all three and see what the result is. If it looks bad we can always go back and fix it!" said Heimdall.
"Works for me."
Now came the easiest part. The rest of the body was easy compared to the hair and facial features!
"We'll definitely stick with Night's normal legs. He's more graceful than we are on a good day!" said Heimdall.
"And the upper body?" asked Loki.
"Which of us has more muscle?"
"Probably you. But we have to keep the arms limber. That will make his lock-picking a lot easier." Loki said reasonably.
"And the feet?"
"Narrow, yet not too small. If they're big then he'll be clumsy!"
The body finished at last, now came the final part. When they did this, they would be finished for the day. The final detail? Magical and divine ability.
Loki put the most magic into the soul; Heimdall put in half as much as Loki. All they needed was Night's natural magic. That's where they were stuck.
"Great. How the hell are we supposed to finish this and keep it a secret from Night?!" griped Heimdall.
"I believe we may be able to assist you on that part."
"Jormund and Hati?! Where did you…?!"
"We followed you two and waited until you needed Night's inherited Magic," barked Hati.
"What kind of magical abilities does Night have anyway?" asked Heimdall.
"He has many abilities; several of which he isn't even aware of."
"Name a few of them," said Loki.
"He can control creatures with lunar powers. And he can manipulate any shadow at will. Though I doubt he'll ever use that one…"
"Can we finish this? I really need a nap…" said Heimdall with a tired yawn.
Hati and Jormund walked up to the soul and placed all the magic that had been changed or affected by Night's soul. It was more than Jormund and Hati had realized. Then came the final contributor; one that none of them expected! It was a strange floppy-eared rabbit-like creature with red eyes!
"Kyu!" it said as it placed the final magic into the soul. Finally it was ready.