Celestial Convergence: Arcanaeum Part 2
Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers. Thanks to Ranger Red 2.3, Mistycharming, SA June, Sir Perfluous, decode9 and Taiski for their OC's used in this fic.
From the sky, a column of light descended upon a grassy plain from the cloud spotted sky. Once it faded, the Mythos and Occult rangers found themselves at the epicentre of where the beam had appeared, though it had left no trace of its presence on the field it touched. Around them, the swaying plains of long emerald grass seemed to extend for miles in all directions, though a few structures stood out in the distance. Far from where they were, situated in a valley, seemed to be a walled city of some sorts. Its features were obscured by the distance between them and it. The other structures that dotted the landscape were large metallic towers that resembled wind turbines, though their 'blades' were fixed in position and seemed more like ventilators. The top of each turbine-like structure seemed to have a ring of luminescent blue light humming around it.
Whatever purpose these structures had, appeared to do with Arcanaeum's most striking features. The sky wasn't simply the same blue that they were used to on earth, it was like an ocean that churned with currents and waves; teal, aqua, navy. Every shade of blue, from the greenest to deep shades that were almost purple, seemed to be present in the shifting mixture of colours melting together. Yet even that was overshadowed by the fluorescent particles caught floating aimlessly in the air. The twinkling blue lights were a mesmerising feature that seemed to be ever present as far as the eye could see, as if it was a manifestation of the realm's strong connection to the source of all magic.
The rangers were mesmerised by the sight for a few moments as they took this all in, the older members of the group savouring their first experience of standing in another world.
"Woah, this is…" Percy muttered, reaching out to touch the particles that seemed to show no reaction as his hand passed through them, as if they weren't even real, yet at the same time, they were definitely there.
"Super weird." Lexa finished his sentence for him, her psyched out grin was enough for her friends to see that she was already enjoying herself even if she didn't quite get what was going on.
Before anyone could assess the situation, the exhaustion from the transfer finally caught up with the blue Occult ranger and as her eyelids fluttered, she began to collapse. While her friends motioned to stop her fall, Emlie quickly stood behind her and caught Saya's shoulders. "Don't worry, I've got her." She smiled to reassure the others as Joe nodded.
"Thanks, guess that spell really did take it out of her."
"Don't worry, she'll be fine." Artemis patted the young red on his shoulder. "Give her a few hours to rest up and she'll be good as new, I just borrowed her energy for a little while after all."
While the others got their bearings and took in the sights, Nyssa strolled ahead a short way, her arms folded. She studied the area some before returning to her teammates and seniors. "This realm has a strange feeling about it, I'm sure you sensed it too, correct? It has a similar feeling to the Underworld."
"That's because of the higher elements." Sera answered the question as if it was common knowledge. Both the Mythos and Occult rangers gave her an odd luck, though Artemis seemed to shrug, a seemingly obvious fact to her. "None of you've heard of them before? To put it in basics, the higher elements permeate different realms, a higher element has domain in a specific realm and as such manifests greatly. Here, it's pure Mana, in the Underworld, it is Infernal energy; while the Celestial realms are the domain of Celestial energy. As a result, it strengthens the powers of those who wield that higher element while in that specific domain. And if elements clash like Infernal and Celestial, then the antithesis is weakened."
"So you're telling me when we were fighting in the Underworld, those guys were tougher than if we'd fought them on earth? Yikes and here I thought they were just that good." Max said, reflecting on the difficulties they'd faced that were in hindsight, a consequence of these higher elements.
"Indeed, but Earth's an interesting realm in that none of the higher elements have domain over it. A delicate balance between them keeps it a paradise worth fighting over, or so it says in the Celestial scriptures I've read." She summed up her crash course.
"Very interesting, I'll have to ask for more information on these higher elements when we have the time." Aaron said as he scoped the area, hand over his eyes as he shielded his glasses from the rays of the sun blinding his vision. "Now, we should get moving, Artemis, could you bring them out now?"
"Sure thing, but this was no small feat y'know. Luckily for you guys I'm literally a miracle worker!" She flashed a proud grin and pointed her arm out towards the empty plains ahead of them.
The young Witch let the magic flow out of her as the same circle that had enveloped their supplies manifested and from the magical circle arose several creatures unlike anything the Occult rangers had encountered thus far. Seven griffins stood in the field looking around lazily at the scenery, one snorted and stamped its foot, somewhat eager to get back into the air after some time held up in the pocket dimension Artemis had created.
"We don't really get to use these guys too often for some real world saving. Glad we get to give them a workout like this once in a while." Harry walked up and patted his griffin on the beak.
"Yeah, good thing we've got these guys, we don't know how far away this vault is and how long it'll take. At least they'll cut the journey down by quite a length of time." Emlie said as she carried Saya's limp form over to her griffin. "I'll carry her on mine, you guys can ride with the rest of us." She told the Occult rangers to pair up as she began to mount the majestic creature.
"And of course, you'll have to guide us, so you'll be riding with me." Aaron caught Joe's attention as he mounted his own griffon. "You're certain that you know the way?"
Joe seemed to look off to his side for a moment before nodding and approaching the veteran leader. "Don't worry, I won't let us down." He offered his hand out to get helped up onto the creature.
"Some of us won't need your help, we can fly ourselves after all." Nyssa said as she, Sera and Ellie unfurled their wings to demonstrate that they would have no problem following by themselves.
"You might wanna rethink that." Vala said as she came up behind Max and Xander, slinging her arms over their shoulders. "These are griffins, they're some of the fastest flying magical creatures to ever live. I don't think my cousin could even keep up with them!" She grinned and looked at the two not yet aware they were in her clutches. "So which of you boys wants to ride with me?" She asked with a flirty wink.
"Sorry Vala, gonna have to stop you there." Percy said as he came up from behind her and wrenched the woman off the two. "I'll take Max here. Xander, you'll be riding with Harry. She is right though; you might be able to fly but keeping up with a griffin isn't something just anyone can do.
"Well I like a challenge but I don't wanna get left in the dust either. Fine, I'll fly with Lexa, Nyssa you're with the pervy german chick." Ellie quickly and thoughtlessly sorted it out before walking off to join the pink Mythos ranger.
"And just why do you get to choose for me" Nyssa huffed, but it was too late for her to chase down the crimson ranger as Vala's hand wrapped around her.
"Sorry, you're stuck with me now. Don't worry, I'm all for a little quality girl time as well, just so you know." She smiled a bit too happily at the Fallen Angel, who was quickly beginning to regret not choosing someone else to fly with.
Meanwhile the last of the paired rangers were beginning to mount up. "So, it looks like we're all going to face Morgana and Lucifer in battle soon. Even if she's my distant ancestor and all, it's still kinda hard to think about fighting family. You know what that's like, right?"
"Huh? I don't get what you mean, I don't remember my family… or anything really since I became a Celestial." Sera quickly shook her head. "Sorry I shouldn't be forcing my problems on you, let's just leave it at that."
"No it's my fault, I just thought since- well nevermind. It's not something I should be bringing up. Let's just get going." The dryad ranger turned her attention toward the front and called out. "We're all set, ready when you are bro."
Aaron nodded and looked back to the red ranger holding onto his waist. "Point the way, we're counting on you." He said as Joe led him with Ereshkigal's guidance. As soon as the direction was set east, the Mythos rangers took off on their griffins into the sky. The magical beasts beat their wings, rapidly gaining speed through the air as they followed the directions from the red Occult ranger to their destination and the inevitable confrontation between them, Lucifer and Morgana.
[Occult Circle]
As the scenery changed below to a great forest that seemed to go on forever, Joe held on tight to the senior red. Though they'd spoken about menial things on the way, a question was still digging in the back of his head.
"Hey Aaron, so about Morgana… What's the full story? From what everyone said, she seemed so angry with you guys and well, humans in general I guess."
"I think that feeling is mutual." He said with a stern face. "We first met her back fighting another foe, where she inhabited my sister's body while advancing the goals of a Crimson High Demon by the name of Abaddon. I'm glad that he seems to be the only noble from the Underworld that had intentions to take Earth. At least according to Saya."
Joe's thoughts flashed back to his first time in the Underworld and the machinations of House Phoenix. He wondered if they would be a problem in the future. At least they hadn't pulled anything as dastardly as that slimy scion of House Satan did. At least the knew King of their faction was a humble man, even though he had his vices. Overall, the Underworld seemed safe, but with a delicate balance. He hoped that would last. "Yeah, we've had our run-ins with bad eggs on a few sides too, nothing we couldn't handle though. So you got rid of Morgana after that right?" Joe said.
Aaron nodded. "We thought we were done for good with her, then she showed up in the body of a girl called Leanne down in Summerset Valley as another battle between good and evil raged. That's a story for another day though. But something happened near the end of the fight between the Mystic Knights and the Fomorian Host. Connor, the Summer Knight, I could see the sorrow and anger when I asked him. He had to end the girl's life to free her of Morgana's hold. Something similar almost happened again when Morgana took that book of hers. I just don't want to see another life lost to her ambitions." Aaron's eyes had a sense of conviction behind them rather than anger, like he'd recklessly thrown the burden of stopping her all on his shoulders.
Joe glanced to his side where the ethereal silhouette of Ereshkigal followed them, she saw him looking and glanced away, but there was no mistaking the sadness that graced her countenance. Joe tensed up and hoped his burning curiosity could be sated with one last question. "Was she always this evil?"
A question the Templar ranger has to think hard about over the next few moments. "For as long as we've known her at least. One of our mentors is Merlin though he's off gallivanting through realms right now, stopping crises wherever they may crop up; he told me something when I asked that same question. When he first met her, she was an eager and loyal apprentice with a pure and open heart. He said how no one loved humanity more than her, how no one wanted to stop the evils this world held. But her heart was too open, the darkness in the hearts of others slowly tainted her own, twisted it against her ambitions. Her love grew to hatred and Morgana became the cruel person she is today."
Joe didn't know how to feel about the Sorceress after hearing all that Aaron had told him. She'd done wrong in her life, a lot of wrong. But if it was all because of the world around her that had twisted a once bright and beautiful soul into something to be feared, hated even… Then how different was she from him and his friends? A few of them have fallen into the murky depths of despair and brought suffering onto others. Yet they didn't give up on each other and brought them back from the brink. He knew that better than anyone. Could the same thing be done for her though? Does she even deserve that chance?
His thoughts were interrupted by Ereshkigal's regal voice. "Servant." She gestured to a clearing nearby a great lake below. "Set yourselves down there. We are almost at our destination, the rest of the journey will have to be taken on foot. Be careful though, this forest is nothing like those of the Earthly realm."
"There!" Joe copied his Patron's gesture. "The entrance to the Sable Vault should be through these woods."
"Good, though it seems with all the time we've spent so far, it will be getting dark soon. I suggest we camp in that clearing for the night." Aaron said, receiving a curt nod from his travelling companion as they guided the rest of their wing of griffins down toward their destination.
[Occult Circle]
Not long after they had landed, the supplies they had brought with them were summoned by Artemis. She then once again displayed the wonders of her magic, or in the opinions of her comrades, the extent of which she exploits her power. On their own, the supplies began to float and move into position as before the eyes of the Occult and Mythos rangers, a full camp equipped with tents, a roaring campfire and nearly a kitchen's worth of cooking equipment.
"So, what's for dinner?" Both Lexa and Artemis said in unison as they looked at Aaron, something the Occult rangers found odd as the Templar ranger sighed, his shoulders dropping. Then he gave a defeated nod.
"Of course you two would jump straight on the food. You're lucky we're on a mission or I'd have half a mind to starve you both!" He said pointedly. "At least I got that Lexa-proof food storage unit from Jamie this time…" He muttered so as not to give the pink ranger a challenge to conquer.
"Now, don't be starving my airheaded mistress." Lancelot said as he came towards them, only he was cradled in Ellie's arms as she petted him and he purred in kind.
"Lancey? You look like you're enjoying yourself." Artemis said, giving the familiar a grin, seeing the usually composed creature give in to his animal instincts for once.
He quickly huffed and turned his head. "I didn't ask for this you know, she simply came up to me and took me in her arms, then began… petting me!" He said it as though it was some kind of heinous act. The crimson ranger slowly drew her hand away and the realisation dawned on Lancelot. "I didn't say you could stop." He grumbled as she returned her hand to his head with a smile and returned to petting his head. This time though, it came with involuntary purrs from the familiar as Ellie took him away to coddle the fluffy creature further.
"Now that I didn't expect to see. I'm gonna see about raiding the food stores while I can." The pink Mythos ranger shamelessly admitted and trod off to hunt down where Aaron had secured the goods.
Speaking of, he very much hoped Jamie's work was as state of the art as he said, to keep the ravenous beasts out and he didn't mean any creatures that might be lurking in these enchanted woods. "Alright, I'll get started on some food for everyone." He looked around to see Joe and Emlie helping Saya into one of the fold out chairs. She was awake now but still seemed quite weak from the earlier transfer. He walked over to greet them. "Are you doing better now?" He asked the blue ranger.
She gave a slow and steady nod. "Thank you for your concern. I feel exhausted but it shouldn't be longer than a night's rest to take me back to full fighting form."
"Good to hear. I'm getting started on food now. Don't worry, you're in for a treat. But I could use someone to make drinks while I'm occupied." He looked at Joe. "There's ingredients to make tea and coffee, I take it you're up to the challenge?"
The red Occult ranger nodded. He'd seen Gabriel make both, it couldn't be too hard, could it? "Okay what's everyone want?"
"Well you know your team best but everyone else likes plain coffee. Just make sure you make me a tea."
"The same please." Saya said with a smile, despite how exhausted she was to keep it up.
"Okay, two teas and coffee for everyone else coming up!" He said cheerily enough and went off with Aaron to the robust kitchen equipment.
It took a while but as Aaron made it through the first stage of his cooking that warranted a break, Joe finished the drinks and everyone gathered around the fire pit that burned brightly. The two red quickly handed out mugs, making sure that they didn't mix up the two tea cups and create a disaster. Once everyone was seated the weight of their current mission seemed to melt away as they took a sip from their respective mugs.
In less than a second however, two of the group suddenly unleashed streams of semi-drank tea into the air, cries of agony as they both blurted out the same thing. "This is dreadful!" Both Aaron and Saya set their rage on the creator of these pathetic excuses for beverages, who quickly shrunk into his seat.
"Just what did you do!?" "Did you think we wouldn't notice!?" "I bet he put the bloody milk in first…" "This is an abomination, I hope you're ready to repent for your actions!" "I am never trusting another American to make tea for me again!" "If there was ever a good reason to stop loving you, this makes a very strong argument!"
While they tore Joe to verbal shred, their friends simply chuckled and watched. "Let's make a note not to let him near another kitchen, for his own good." Nyssa said, taking another sip of the coffee before her face contorted and she tipped to cup out onto the grass. "Also he clearly doesn't know us that well, I prefer it black of course."
Percy grinned as he looked around the campfire as Aaron took the two cups of whatever Joe's standard for tea is away, also checking on the progress of the large brewing pot in the meantime. "This takes me back to that time we all camped out. Crazy time. We hadn't met Harry and Vala yet though, so it's nice to experience this with them now. Come to think of it, that's the first time Morgana attacked us with that monster." He shook his head. "Still not the craziest thing that happened on that trip, right Lexa?"
He nudged her as she grinned mischievously at Emlie and Aaron as he returned. "Oh you mean Em's little tent invasion?"
Both Aaron and Emlie turned white at the mention of that little incident. "O-oh whatever could you mean?" The white Mythos ranger tried to feign ignorance, twisting a finger around her hair while she looked away and tried to mask the rising heat on her face.
"Oh my god you're adorable!" Lexa squealed at her longtime friend.
"You guys don't need to hide it, Lexa told us all about it years ago." Harry casually said as he slipped into the conversation. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about, Emlie just slept in the wrong tent, that's all." He lent forwards and and wrapped his hands together, his gaze becoming more inquisitive and journalistic. "Besides, you didn't get up to anything else in that tent did you?"
"Yeah tell us the whole story, lovebirds!" Vala egged them on. It was clear that they weren't going to get out of this and so they relented.
After they explained Emlie's simple bathroom trip turned into an error of judgement in which tent was hers and going into Aaron's, the matter soon calmed down. "I can assure you nothing else happened. Also you all knew for how long without telling us?"
"Well we thought it'd be funnier if we kept it secret until we got such a great opportunity like now." Percy said. "And yeah, we know nothing happened, your head's like a brick wall after all. How long did it take you to even think of proposing again?" He chuckled, taking no small amount of joy in getting a rise of his friends.
"Yeah if something did happen, you wouldn't have even taken so damn long to ask her out!" Artemis fired back at her brother. It seemed the conversation was coming to another rise that neither Emlie or Aaron wanted to participate in and it seemed the Occult rangers were still out of their depth with such ludicrous conversation, despite some of them being the oldest beings present.
"I should check on the pot." Aaron said, quickly making a tactical retreat to avoid any more teasing from his teammates.
Xander, who had stayed mostly quiet until now stood up and addressed the white Mythos ranger. "Actually, I have an issue that I think you might be able to help with. But…" He eyed his teammates. "Not here." He said. She stood up and nodded, her instincts quickly kicking in that whatever he needed to talk to her about had to do with her more domestic line of work.
The two left and almost as soon as Xander's seat was vacant, Vala plopped herself down in it next to Max. He quickly shrunk into his seat and practically yipped out a cry for help. "Guys, help, please…" He first set his sights on Ellie but she was uncharacteristically out of commission. Despite being considered a nocturnal species, she did have the terrible habit of daywalking, if only to be around her friends more often. She napped soundly in the chair with Lancelot curled up on her lap, eyes shut and purring contently.
Nyssa and Sera stood up and started towards the camp's perimeter. "We're going to patrol the camp. Joe, come with us." She flashed a glare.
It could only mean her slight at him from earlier was coming back to haunt him, with a vengeance if Sera had also picked up on it. He sighed and nodded, prying himself from the seat. "I guess I'm not getting out of this, am I?"
Sera shook her head as the three set off. "I'm sorry, but it's important. We know you probably have a good reason but still…" She looked to the ground as they walked.
While they headed off Saya struggled but eventually managed to push herself up and make her way slowly to the tents. "I'll try and make myself useful by setting things up for our sleeping arrangements." She was quickly followed by Percy.
"I'll help you out kid, don't want you collapsing again. Besides, my other half scampered off the second Aaron turned his back. She's trying to pry her way into the Fort Knox of all food storage lockers right now." He shakes his head and helps Saya along. "Honestly I think she's got a fighting chance."
"Wait Guys, please! Anyone take me with you! Guys?" But unfortunately for Max, he as well as his innocence remained in danger.
"So, tell me all about being a werewolf." Vala smiled, though he wasn't sure if she was actually interested in what she just asked about, or if she was eyeing him as prey. He hoped it was the former.
As the red, white and black Occult rangers walked around the perimeter in silence, Joe finally had enough and stopped in his tracks, turning to face the two. "So you both know I lied." He said, not even bothering to ask it or elaborate.
"We'd very much like to know why you're keeping something from us. Ever since you returned from the dead, you've been…" She narrowed her eyes and stared pointedly. "Different."
"Not to mention the aura around you. It's like someone else is with you right now. Just like it has been ever since you woke back up. Please, can you tell us what's going on?" She cupped her hands together with her plea.
He winced and looked at Ereshkigal's projected form as she pondered it. "As I told you before, I don't want my involvement known to others… but if you can alleviate their concerns without revealing me then-" Before she could finish her sentence her form abruptly vanished, warranting a flash of concern on Joe's face.
Nyssa shook Joe's shoulder, snapping him out of staring off into the darkness. "She just… vanished." He muttered thoughtlessly.
"Who do you mean?" Nyssa pried.
"Well… Sera was right, there was someone else with us just now. Not anymore though. It's nothing you need to worry about. She's a kind enough person I guess. And powerful, powerful enough to bring me back to everyone. If I had to say so, I owe my life to her, in more than one way. Just trust me, she's on our side and wants the same thing as us!" He exclaimed to make his point clear.
The two examined him for a moment with their powers before finally nodding. "We believe you." Sera said. "Just please, be more honest with us, we're your friends after all."
"She didn't want anyone hearing she was involved. I owe her enough to keep her secret at the least. Guess I just bent the rules here a little." He sighed. "Still doesn't explain while she just vanished.
"It's fine. Thank you for at least telling us. I know you've had your reasons for keeping secrets in the past but… We've all been worried about you since you came back. Just keep that in mind." Nyssa turned her eyes to the camp where someone was waving them over. "Seems dinner is ready, we should get back.
[Occult Circle]
Soon after they enjoyed the hearty meal, the two teams had grown drowsy and retired for the night to rest up for the daunting battle that lay ahead of them. It was the dead of night when Joe stirred from his sleep. Camped out in one of the tents with Xander and Max, he was overcome with a strange feeling. It was like static at the back of his head, droning on and on. He grumbled and sat up. Thinking it was better to get fresh air than stick around with this feeling boring into his skull.
As soon as he opened the tent and stood in the cool night air, he was met by the faintly luminescent particles of background mana that floated about the air. It seemed they naturally avoided the closed up spaces of the tents for some reason. He shook his head, something to think about another time. He walked out to the edge of the camp that opened up to the great lake beyond. He could barely make out some kind of castle structure way in the distance on the opposite end of the shore. That's when he heard a faint humming that seemed to originate from the water's edge.
He followed it to its source. As he approached and finally made out the details of the woman in the light of the mana particles, he froze. Karin, or more accurately Morgana who currently possessed Karin's body. She noticed his presence and her humming stopped as she turned her head.
"Ah, it seems we meet again. Well then, young Dragon burning through his own soul… did I wake you?" She was sitting on a felled log but even after seeing him, she didn't regard him with a scowl. Oddly enough, she scooted up on the log and offered him a place beside her. He stood there with a face like stone, unable to determine her game. "Humor me. After all, you're wondering what happened to her aren't you?"
He relented and sat down, though the tension in his body only rose. "What did you do to her?"
She shrugged. "Nothing, I assure you. I simply erected a barrier to block your connection to her. That way, we have time to talk. I have a question for you… Does it hurt to die?"
Her query took him aback, why such a specific thing? Either way his best bet now was to let the Witch have her games. If he could perhaps get through to her in the meantime, maybe there wouldn't be need for any more bloodshed. "The pain of dying is nothing compared to looking at everyone's faces as they see you disappear to nothingness."
Morgana released a long, pent up breath of air, as if releasing a long held worry into the world, now unburdened by it. "Then if I pass from this world soon, I have nothing to worry about."
Again with her strange words. The demeanor was completely different from what he experienced in that first battle. "Why are you even asking me this?"
"Because tomorrow I will claim my true body back. Then I'll finally be able to make myself mortal with this." She patted the book on her lap. "And put an end to my miserable life."
Joe's body tensed up and he clenched his fists, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "This is what it's all been for? After everything you've done you're just going to leave this world?" His teeth clenched tightly as anger started to seethe.
"You know. I've been a mother… And a teacher… it never worked out. All because of me. I've lived long enough to see I'm the problem, I always have been." Her eyes drifted down, welling with emotion. "If not for my lack of power without my own form, if not for this book being out of my reach for so long… I would've ended things much sooner."
"Don't say that!" Joe's voice suddenly erupted. "Do you think you even deserve that? After all you've done, you think the only way to atone for it is to end your life!? That's not right!"
"You misunderstand everything about me then." She somehow kept her composure despite the rising of emotions between them. "I killed my student. Leanansidhe." She shook her head. "No, just Leanne. I turned her into a violent and cruel witch you know. All my darkness fed into my teachings and warped her. And in the end, I wouldn't give up and forced her friend to make that choice. Her and countless others… Their blood is on my hands. I intend to finish this cruel fairytale of mine for every last one of them."
It suddenly dawned on him where this was coming from. Like he'd been told, Morgana once loved humans, more than anyone. Even with how twisted the world let her become, there's still something left of that. A need to pass judgement upon herself for the retribution of everyone she's harmed. "Still… Haven't you done good in this world? Think back to before, when you still loved humans. No, not even that, think of the last good thing you've done for someone; even if it's after countless atrocities. Isn't there one good thing you've done that you can think of that means there's still something good inside you?"
She looked at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I was desperate at the time, low on energy. Destined to be condemned to everlasting pain unlike anything death grants at the time. That's when I was approached by that woman. She who desired the one thing she couldn't have; and through alchemy had me create a homunculus body. Though it contained no life until she imparted her own strength into it. I remember the face of that child well before I gave him over to her." Morgana moved her hand to his face. "And there is no mistaking those eyes."
A lump formed in Joe's throat. Despite the memory alteration he'd been through, the trauma of Sera's death brought it back to him in time, though he never had the heart to tell his friend everything he remembered, for her own sake. Despite that, his memories only went back to the orphanage and he had never truly known where he'd come from. "You-"
"I know how this must seem. But it is the truth. It's the reason I called you here. Consider it as settling one final loose end before I go. I always wondered about my last good creation, why you were given away. I understand it now though. If I could tell you I would but, I think that is something you should ask your mother. I merely supplied the body after all. Does that settle our debate? May I reflect in peace now?" She removed her and returned to staring out at the dark ripples on the surface of the lake.
"No…" He muttered. He could ask her everything right now and still be unsatisfied. There was only one thing that could sate him until their mission was over "I need to know who she is. You can't just say that and leave me with more questions than answers."
She nodded. "I can't speak her name, I swore an oath not to reveal it to you should we ever meet. But being involved in your creation, I know some things, such as how the life she gave you brought your homunculus form not only to life, but developed it into a full human, before she imparted the Divine Sphere upon you. She seemed to put much care into you when giving you life… It makes me wonder why she'd leave you alone on Earth. But I digress. She is one that watches you, one that tries to show her affections but fears you'll learn the truth, coming to hate her and in her fear; acts the opposite of what she wishes. Even now, when she can't see you, she is fraught with worry but will never show it. And you will not see her again until I disappear from this world and with it, my barrier keeping her out." With those last words, there was no doubt as to who she meant.
He was content to leave it at that. Though he still wanted to linger, Morgana was too stubborn to reason with. Even though she recognised her own evil, she'd consigned herself to a fate that she thought was right but he couldn't agree with. For all the words he could say, right now, none of it will make a difference. He stood up. "Thank you. I won't forget this, for everything you've done, this is one more good thing you can smile about."
"I think you mean one last good thing." She eyed him. That look confirmed to him her conviction to go through with her plan. "Or do you intend to stop me?"
"I'll make sure you find out tomorrow." He stepped over the log as the Witch went back to her contemplations and reflected over a long and tarnished life of regrets. Though before he left, he placed his hand on her shoulder and continued. "How worth living life really is. Even one like yours."
With that he truly left her alone as she held her shoulder and the compassion that came with his touch close to her. For the first time in what felt like centuries, she felt the warmth that came from another and with it wondered, was there even the slightest chance someone like her could find redemption? Or was it already too late?
|Occult Circle|
Rules of the Realms: Planar Domains and Higher Elements: When the Realms formed, each took on certain traits of the elements that it was most attuned to. While distribution of the Lower Elements, Earth, Air Fire and Water respectively; and their lineage is quite even across most plains barring certain exceptions, the Higher Elements are much different. Each realm was essentially shaped by the Confluence imparting a specific Higher Element onto them, each realm having their own. The Earthly Realm is an exception, being the bridge between all worlds, it possesses enough of each Higher Element that the world is perfectly in balance and no single one dominates another. Should this balance be disrupted however, it is sure to spell disaster.
That was chapter 10. And it was quite an enjoyable one to write. From going into more lore and finally giving a first look at Arcanaeum with more on the way. I quite enjoyed the camping scene since it's a callback to when I first teased Morgana appearing in Mythos as well as getting to do some fun things with the characters, alongside temporarily resolving some conflicts going on with our usual rangers. Then there's the big elephant in the room. I doubt there's anyone who could guess that I'd be taking Morgana down this route, that her big plan would be her own end, though it seems not everything about how that works is exactly revealed just yet. Neither do I think anybody would see me wanting to also have Joe reach out to give her a shot at redemption. But I suppose the biggest reveal in this concerning Joe is his lineage. Considering he had an unorthodox 'birth' of sorts thanks to Morgana's alchemical skills and the powers of a certain someone who I won't say just in case there's someone who hasn't worked it out yet, seems things are getting a lot more interesting for him and it'll be fun to see where that arc goes, especially when I've got a lot more about that just waiting to be revealed as we go.
So I guess it might be confusing as to why I'm shifting perspective with Morgana's storyline, considering I've always been one to make her a cruel and unrelenting psychopath. Not too long ago, maybe a couple of months actually, I was getting back into watching some Arthurian based films and shows to help better characterise her and realised something. I'd only really seen her in antagonistic roles and it coloured my opinion of her character. So I think I judged the character too harshly in the past and well, I can only go so far with Morgana as she was, the character needs to evolve from my own naive conceptions and I hope we can see that in the next chapter even more.
And I think to cap this off. You may be sick of hearing this but I'm sorry this took so long to write. When I didn't have the time, I was leaving it partially written for so long, then it just felt too daunting a task to take on after a while that I kept putting it off. I suppose I've been in a rut of not feeling like writing quite a bit since then though. One thing that happened at the beginning of this month kind of almost cemented that to be honest. That thing was the passing of my grandfather. I feel like I've been stuck with a feeling of inertia since it happened honestly and I've not been able to do anything productive since until today and writing this. Everything's just felt quite surreal since and the only reason I think I made this today was because the want to write this has been building up for a while now, along with a little successful experiment I did that seemed to help motivate me. Anyway, best not to dwell on that. Thanks for reading, both the story and my ramblings and I'll see you in the next one, hopefully a lot sooner. Until then!
Next Chapter: Arcanaeum Part 3
Synopsis: As the race to the Sable Vault picks up, the rangers are sidelined suddenly by the appearance of a mischievous magical creature that calls the forest their home, one that makes off with Artemis' staff and into the woods. Though as they chase, they come closer to the Vault and the fate of the battle that waits within. Morgana's struggle to claim her true body and release herself from the weight of the living world. Joe's determination to open her eyes to the potential she once had. Both driven by their own desires, which will claim victory? And when all is done, Lucifer's grand scheme begins to unfurl again to open up the next stage of their fight against him. Next time on Power Rangers: Occult Circle.