Odalia and Amity landed in a large clearing in the center of Mirkwood, among trees that looked like twisted skeletal hands due to the darkness of the night. It was still a long time before midnight. "We were a little early, but it doesn't matter" Odalia said, and on her face she seemed very excited about what was about to happen. "So, Mittens? How are you feeling?"
"Very good, mom" Amity replied. "Although the itching in the chest is getting worse"
"It's natural, your magic is about to awaken. In less than twenty minutes a magical storm will break out in this place" Odalia responded by ruffling her hair lovingly. "You don't have to worry, everything is normal"
Amity nodded. In fact, despite the itching, she didn't feel uncomfortable at all; on the contrary, it seemed to her that that sensation that was growing in the center of her chest was strangely pleasant. And it wasn't just that... the environment around her seemed different too. She felt like she was in an invisible sea that continually hit her with waves of magical energy. It didn't take her long to realize that she was sensing the dark magic present in Mirkwood. "It's... really a lot" she admitted.
"Trust me, when you have become a full-fledged witch, staying here will be intoxicating for you. It will be like being at the hot springs" Odalia replied. "This is our natural environment after all. It is normal for you to appreciate it"
Amity raised her hand and made a fist. She almost felt like she could touch all that dark magic, although obviously she couldn't do it yet. "It's extraordinary... it's as if this place pulsates with its own energy"
"Some places in the world are particularly rich in dark magic. Mirkwood is one of them... that's why your grandmother chose it to begin her magical ritual years ago" Odalia told her, and then she smirked: "You know... staying here brings back memories of that moment"
Amity's face darkened a little; she didn't like that her mother was forced to relive sad memories. "Sorry. You had to come here for me..."
"Don't apologize. In fact, I don't mind getting lost down memory lane at all" Odalia said, and the smile on her face widened a little. "Mittens... since we have to wait a little longer... how about if, to distract you, I tell you how the Emerald Witches aimed to kill Belos?"
Amity was surprised that her mother brought up the subject at that moment, but she was probably just trying to divert her attention from the impending transformation she would have to undergo, in order to prevent her from getting anxious or started to develop unnecessary worries. So she decided to accept it: "You told me they wanted to summon something"
"Oh, yes. That was the intent" Odalia replied. "You see, Mittens... I've already told you how Belos in his most violent era had terrorized the mortal world, but what I didn't tell you is that the mortals weren't the only ones who were worried. There were other beings who looked at Belos with frightened eyes, and who feared that sooner or later he would break free from his watery prison and would then rage not only in this world, but in their realms as well". Her eyes narrowed and seemed to glow. "I'm talking about the Four Magical Rulers"
Amity's eyes widened. "The entities that watch over the magic of this world? But... they disappeared long before Belos was born"
"Wrong, Mittens. They are gone. They have not disappeared, much less stopped keeping an eye on this world" Odalia answered her, and as she said this she waved her hand and several colored bubbles appeared in the air, bubbles that took the shape of stars and were then positioned on a perfectly straight plane. "Imagine the universe as this plane. What you see is the mortal plane, containing this world, the sun, the moon, and all the stars, and also everything else that we don't yet know about. Virtually everything that is made of matter is found here. But this is not the only plane of existence"
As Amity watched, four different planes appeared before her, two above the material universe and two below; they were smaller than the latter, and looked like cuts from a sheet of paper moving placidly in the air; around them there were countless other planes, much smaller, which almost seemed to flutter. "What you see before you, Mittens, is the reality itself" Odalia said. "What you see are the planes of existence where the Four Magical Rulers reside: the two highest are those presided over by Papa Titan and the Collector, those at the bottom are commanded by Grometheus and the Great Archivist. Around them there are numerous others small planes within which the laws of nature are influenced by the larger planes they approach: those found above our universe normally contain good and beneficial creatures, those found below contain evil and nefarious beings"
Amity observed that sight amazed like few times in her life; it was so detailed that she was sure it was truthful. So these were the places where the Four Magical Rulers lived, or where the creatures summoned with magic came from. "Now, normally these planes never cross" Odalia said. "But you see, Mittens, the funny thing about the mortal plane... is that unlike the others, it doesn't follow a defined path. You could say that it's very... unstable. Depending on how the matter positions itself on it, it moves. Basically, the movements of the stars cause the plane to tilt. And sometimes... this inclination causes it to intersect with the other planes"
Odalia snapped her fingers, and the entire material plane moved and bent to one side, resulting in it passing through two of the tiny secondary planes. "When this happens, gaps open. It is in these cases that the creatures present in such planes enter ours. Some are beneficial, others evil... but all of them leaving at least a small impact on the history of this world" Odalia explained, then she moved her hand again and for no reason a small tunnel opened between the material plane and another, connecting them even without them crossing. "However, even when they are not in contact, we magical beings can cause these planes to meet; if they are close enough, we can summon things and creatures from them. I assume I don't need to explain the process to you, since you have already read my book on evocations"
"Yes..." Amity replied. "So we can visit other planes?"
"Only the very close ones, and each gap requires a great deal of magical energy" Odalia replied. "Anyway, going back to the previous point... sometimes, very rarely, the stars of the mortal plane position themselves in the right way for... this to happen!"
And under Amity's amazed gaze, the material plane tilted at least sixty degrees, intersecting perfectly with all four planes of the Four Magical Rulers. "Wait... so that's why they were once able to come down to our world? Because conditions allowed it?"
"Exactly. What you are seeing is how the cosmos was positioned during the golden age of the Four Magical Rulers. Unfortunately, over the millennia the material plane has once again changed position, sealing these powerful beings away from our world" Odalia said, and then she put her fingers together in a rather sinister manner. "But... just as it is possible to open a gate for the smaller planes, it is also possible to open it for those of the Four Magical Rulers"
Amity looked at her shocked. "It can be done!?"
"Nothing is impossible. You just have to find the right way, and that is precisely what your grandmother and the last Emerald Witches aimed to do" Odalia answered her.
"Did they want to summon the Four Magical Rulers?" Amity asked confused. "But... why? Belos is stronger than them, and then many of them are enemies with each other..."
"Wrong, Mittens. Belos is stronger than them... individually. All together, and with enough time spent reinvigorating their strength... the situation is different. And as for their enmity... you have ever heard the old saying that the enemy of my enemy is also my friend?" Odalia replied with an increasingly wider grin. "As I told you, Mittens, the Four Magical Rulers have continued to keep an eye on this world, and are therefore aware of the threat posed by Belos. Just as many prayed to them in an attempt to recall them here, for centuries they have sought to find a way to return to our world in order to stop the threat before he became too powerful. They put aside their division for only this short time, with only one goal: to kill the false god. But unfortunately, the Four Magical Rulers can't open a passage on their own: don't ask me why, I don't know... probably the universe itself prevents it to prevent them from continuously entering other planes and starting to fight. The only way for them to access this world... is for someone to open the door for them"
Amity felt her heart skip a beat in her chest. The pieces began to fall into place. The Four Magical Rulers wanted to use their combined power to kill Belos, or at least seriously wound him and then give someone else the chance to attack him and give him the final blow, but to do so they needed access to the mortal world. And to access the mortal world, now that the planes of existence were no longer intersected, they needed someone's help... "How did the Emerald Witches communicate with them?"
"Dreams. You cannot cross planes with your body as long as they are separated, but you can do it with dreams" Odalia answered her. "The Emerald Witches spent years fortifying their minds enough to communicate with the Four Magical Rulers, and when they did they taught them magic far beyond any previous knowledge. So they made a plan. They had to do two things: the first was to open a door, the second... was to allow the Four Magical Rulers to remain anchored in this world even after the door was closed. And the Four Magical Rulers taught them how. All they needed were mortals with whom to share part of their essence. Simply put, they would first open a door and through it deliver a piece of their soul to the Emerald Witches, and then four of them would have to absorb them, so they could then summon them into this world to to their liking. Basically, thanks to the Emerald Witches, the Four Magical Rulers would have had access to this world whenever they wanted, and would have finally been able to kill Belos. And as a reward, in addition to the newfound peace, the Emerald Witches would have obtained the enormous power that those fragments of souls could guarantee". Odalia's eyes shone like those of a hungry bird of prey. "Think about it, Mittens. The world would finally be freed from Belos, and the Emerald Witches would rebuild and rule it using the powers the Four Magical Rulers would give them. It would be the beginning of a golden age, just like the one I described to you while you and I went to the prison for our little mother-daughter activity"
Amity in turn found herself fantasizing. It would have been truly beautiful... it really could have been the beginning of a golden age, assuming of course that the Emerald Witches used their powers wisely. "But it didn't go as they hoped"
"Unfortunately, no" Odalia confirmed. "The ritual that your grandmother and her followers attempted to perform in this forest was intended to summon the first essence of the Four Magical Rulers. Once the first was obtained, being able to obtain enough energy to create a portal to the other planes and obtain so the others would have been very easy... but for the first, the one that had to be called only with the limited power of mortals, it was difficult. The Emerald Witches had to work strenuously to be able to open a passage to the realm of entity closest to us, the terrible Grometheus. But in the end... they succeeded: a fragment of Grometheus' essence passed through the portal and infused itself into a specially prepared magical object. But unfortunately... before that essence could be used, thw soldiers came and killed the Emerald Witches in their weakest moment, and destroyed that object". A light laugh escaped her lips, and her face suddenly became much more sinister. "But... those fools didn't know that you can't destroy a piece of the soul of one of the Four Magical Rulers"
Amity froze in place. "Wait... so... a piece of Grometheus' soul is still here?"
"Yes, indeed. It remained here, in this repository of dark magic. It took me many years to track it down... and many other years to manage to imprison it again" Amity took on an expression halfway between astonished and shocked, but Odalia didn't give her time to say anything and with a quick movement of her fingers she removed her necklace from her neck. "Observe!"
She closed her hand into a fist, and the pink jewel on the end of the necklace shattered; the moment this happened, Amity felt like a hurricane had hit her. It seemed to her that a receptacle of dark magic had formed in front of her, more powerful than all the other magic present in that forest, perhaps more powerful than all the magic present in the entire region. She instinctively felt the urge to kneel, as if she were facing a superior being. When she finally managed to look up, she could see that what looked like a sphere had appeared in her mother's hand, black as a starless night. "That is...?"
"A fragment of Grometheus' soul. Yes" Odalia told her, and pulled it closer to her. "Tell me... what do you feel?"
Amity stared at that strange essence. It almost felt like it was calling her... her body shuddered, but she wanted to grab it so desperately... "I feel... power. Knowledge. Energy. Endless darkness. It makes me feel like... like I want to the absolute dominion of the world..." she said, and almost without realizing it she touched it with her hands, even if she immediately withdrew since it seemed to her that she had touched a piece of ice. "But... so you always had the essence of Grometheus? But then why didn't you complete the summoning, mother?"
"Oh, I would have. I had everything I needed... but there was a problem, one that I couldn't do anything about, even with all the magical knowledge at my disposal" Odalia replied. "You see, Mittens, summoning the other essences, as I told you, is easy; it is the first that is difficult. And in the same way inserting it into a mortal body is not easy; with the other essences any body will be suitable, since Grometheus will help to stabilize the process, but... for this first one, the body of an already adult witch like me is not good. To assimilate this essence it is necessary that the body is not already occupied by another magical source, otherwise it rejects it. For this reason, a witch who already has her own magical source like me cannot absorb this piece of soul, and thus begin the descent of the Four Magical Rulers into this world"
Odalia raised her free hand and touched Amity's cheek; and that touch seemed to her to be that of a snake. Her mother's eyes were glowing with an evil light. "But… a young witch who is in the process of unlocking her magic, and then building her own magical source… that could work"
For those who don't remember, the Four Magical Rulers are entities that supervise magic, and they are, in order: Grometheus for dark magic, the Collector for life magic, the Great Archivist for death magic and Papa Titan for light magic. To find out more, reread chapter 81