Chapter Four:
While most of Rodin's explanation regarding the voice in her head and the mark on the back of her neck went over Heather's head, she understood enough of it when she asked Viola to simplify it. Namely that the voice in her head was there because someone turned her into a container for something really nasty and in doing so sealed her fate where her soul would be dragged down to the pits of Inferno when she died. While the removal of the nasty thing wouldn't change her fate as being bound for hell, there was a way for her to get a better and much longer life, by signing a Contract and selling her Soul to an Infernal in exchange for allowing her to become an Umbra Witch, with all the Magical power, knowledge and immortality that came with it, plus a few possible side effects like a slightly loosened grasp on morality or social inhibitions. After some thinking, she gave her answer.
"So I'm gonna wind up in Hell no matter how well I live my life?" Asked Heather seriously.
"Sadly, yes." Replied Viola, who was looking at the younger girl with a rather defeated expression on her face.
"Meh. If I'm gonna go to Hell anyway, I'd rather take the fun way down."
"Does that mean-"
"Yup. I'd much rather sign a Contract and live for a much longer time than simply grow old and die in a ditch somewhere before being dragged down."
"Alright then. I'm gonna remove the Soul-fragment within you, after which we can make the preparations for your Contract, and I feel inclined to warn that the procedure will hurt." Replied Rodin with a stoic expression on his face.
"The removal of the Soul-fragment or the signing of the Contract?"
"The removal will hurt. The signing might hurt, depending on who answers your summoning."
"Fair enough I suppose." Replied Heather as a crimson colored sigil appeared underneath her feet. "So what's this?"
"That would be the magic circle to remove the Soul-fragment safely and effectively, but sadly not painlessly. You might wanna try to get as comfortable as possible, the procedure will still take somewhere between a few minutes to an hour, depending on how large or small the Soul-fragment is." Explained Rodin as Cheshire coughed up a medium sized bean bag which the cat-like Infernal handed over to the young girl who proceeded to lie down on it while Viola was handed a very old looking book. "Think you can draw the proper formula on your own once you find it in there?"
"Probably not."
"*sigh* I see. Guess I'll have to do it myself once the parasite is taken care of."
"Sorry."
"Don't worry about it."
"Now I'm just hoping that Enzo doesn't show up and make something go wrong."