The method of sabotage Aster was attempting was as simple as it was brilliant (if you consider something involving her bloodstone and dark magic as simple. Hermione would surely disagree with that. ) After a good half hour of preparation, everything seemed to be in order. The arrays were relatively simple and would disappear with the disabling of everything in the room. Everything would be too messed up for the chain reaction to be linked to her black magic and seen as anything but accidental. Before adding the last piece and setting her infernal machine in motion, Aster had to do one last thing.
She turned to Hermione and waved her hand to come closer. Hermione took one last worried look at the corridor she was guarding carefully before she approached Aster and asked in a low voice. "Are we collecting the evidences now?"
Aster nodded and walked over to one of the crates and began rummaging around inside, grabbing what she recognized as a Tarashee Zuèn. A short, smooth black object with two cuffs ending in a thin point. She passed it directly to Hermione who took it with suspicion. "A striking spear. An incapacitating weapon." Hermione nodded her head appreciably reassured by the non-lethality of what Aster had put in her hands. Aster then took out two short grey cylinders from the crate, and stuffed them into her pockets before closing it. At Hermione's raised eyebrows, Aster simply nodded, she knew that the moment she was back in the safety of their room in Cateris Manor, she was going to suffer the wrath of Hermione. There was no need to add to her ire by explaining to her exactly which krhe martial artefact she had just taken.
Faced with Aster's silence Hermione said with a frown. "You'd better tell me everything, later."
"Well, sure. Wait for me at the entrance of the room, I'll cast the spell and we can leave." Aster made her way to the centre of the room, shoved her old bloodstone into the hollow she'd found under a slab before sealing it up and running towards the exit. "Hermione! Run! We only have a few minutes before the black magic kicks in!"
Both of them dashed through the ancient corridors of the castle, soon they wouldn't have enough strength to keep their invisibility array, and the blood array allowing their presence in the wards active, it was a race against time. Aster was impressed by Hermione's stamina. She wasn't particularly athletic. Perhaps having literally death running after you was enough of a motivator.
The corridors carved out of the rock soon gave way to wider hallways of chiselled stone. Staircase after staircase they raced. After a few encounters that could have proved disastrous if they were discovered by the guards, they finally reached a window opening onto the gardens. The height was considerable, and Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. Fear was visible on her face. Yet time was running out for them. With her enchanted arm, Aster lifted Hermione and loaded her onto her shoulder like a potato bag. Hermione gave a small cry of surprise and then anger at being treated like this before fear rendered her speechless as Aster jumped out the window without hesitation. With preternatural agility, she leapt from strut to strut, from gargoyle to gargoyle, stepping on every protruding stone in the mossy wall to get down.
However, her luck did not last forever, a stone she had been standing on gave way. Fortunately, she managed to turn as she fell, coming between Hermione and the fast-approaching ground. She gritted her teeth, the landing was going to be painful. Before the fear could fully take hold, her breath was knocked out of her lungs as her back hit the grassy ground. The pain was intense, she suffocated for several long seconds before she managed to catch her breath. Miraculously she was able to keep her concentration to maintain her connection with her array. Hermione got to her feet and without waiting helped her forward by placing her arm under her shoulder. Aster winced, the fall had been hard. "Never again." Hermione was whispering.
A few minutes later, Aster and Hermione had stopped in a narrow alleyway, as far away from the Casparos mansion as they could get before they collapsed from exhaustion. Aster had sat on a large barrel, and Hermione was leaning against a wall, panting. Aster had stopped powering her invisibility array and Hermione had done the same.
Hermione managed to catch her breath, before slumping back against the wall and sliding against it, ending up sitting on the ground. Aster stretched and felt her back for a possible fracture. A silence fell between them, both of them trying to come to their senses after their adventure and the damning discoveries they had made.
After several long minutes, Hermione spoke up. "Aster, I think we should let Nailla know what we've discovered first before we try to warn anyone else."
Aster looked up and stared at Hermione for a moment. Did she not understand the urgency of the situation? If the coup succeeded, a new status war would begin. Probably even more deadly than the previous ones. Moreover, it was not clear what the Khrè Empire and the reigning Koxhkoxh dynasty had to gain. It was necessary to try to warn the royalty as quickly as possible and avoid the disaster. "We can't waste time, the implications are too great. We have to be fast. Warn the right people, and quickly. Normally our sabotage wouldn't be discovered until someone tried to operate one of the khrè weapons, but if it is discovered, they'll either erase the evidence and postpone the project or try to pre-empt anyone who tried to interfere with the smooth running of their plan by attacking earlier than expected."
Hermione let out a long, painful sigh, "I don't pretend to understand the exact significance of what's happening. The Matagots, Ulthar, magic, the Khres, all of this is new to me. I understand why it's an absolute emergency, but going directly to a higher authority doesn't seem like a good idea."
"Why, Hermione? We could just go straight to Lady Nepeta and that would be enough. With our evidence, memories and testimony, they can't deny what's happening.
"That's not it, Aster. We've only been in Ulthar a short time. We know almost nothing about the kingdom, the city or the politics. Who knows if the Cateris don't have a secret alliance with the Casparos or something?"
"In that case, straight into the royal palace and ambush a prince or something to show him our evidence!"
"You're panicking Aster! That plan would be disastrous! We'd just end up in the dungeon or worse! They would refuse to even see our evidence! We'd be seen as prisoners trying to slander a noble and respectable family to make ourselves look good and get released. Or worse! Spies or saboteurs!"
"I... I..." Aster was beginning to feel stupid. She had completely panicked. The thought of never being able to revive Anna because of some stupid war she'd get caught up in was just too much...
Faced with Aster's silence, Hermione resumed. "We'll go to Nailla, ask her about the reliability and alliances of the Cateris family. Then, if Lady Nepeta turns out to be a loyalist, we'll go to her, and only with her support will we request an audience at the castle. To do otherwise would just be foolhardy."
Aster let out a long sigh and pressed her palms against her eyes. She clutched Anna's soul vial in her hand for a moment, watching the small flame of hope dancing inside. She looked up at Hermione, her eyes full of determination. "You... you're right Hermione. Forgive me. I got carried away. Your plan just...makes more sense."
"Glad to hear you say that." Hermione replied, her face softening. Her lips forming a slight smile. Hermione stood up and held out her hand to Aster. "Are you feeling better? Nothing broken?"
Aster took her hand and stood up from the barrel. She staggered a few steps with a small groan of pain. The fall had been hard. "Yes, a little, just trouble walking. My back's all messed up. I don't think anything's broken though."
"Lean on me. We're going back to the manor. We'll go through the back alleys to avoid attracting attention." Aster nodded, and the two friends started walking. It would be a long walk, Aster thought, gritting her teeth after a particularly painful movement.
oOOOo
The beauty and serenity exuded by the Cateris' garden contrasted immensely with the chaos of Aster's emotions and thoughts. The certainty of the imminent arrival of a war on an unimaginable scale, no matter how much they tried to warn the royal power, made her sick. Had she been alone she would have gone directly to Lady Nepeta or tried to contact one of the royals directly, but as Hermione had rightly pointed out, Aster knew far too little about the current political climate in Ulthar not to jeopardize everything by going to the wrong person. Sharing the information they had discovered with Nailla was also a risk, but it was far less than jumping straight into the lion's den. Since their arrival at the manor the nymph had been kind and had helped them many times in their life as servants. There was no one else to confide in.
As Aster might have expected, Nailla was working on the Cateris' magical and medicinal herb plantation. She seemed in her element, free and wild, her golden skin glowing in the sun. Aster could hear her humming a tune as she transplanted the Euphorbia Nefaris.
It was Hermione who addressed her first. Aster let her. In the weeks she had known Hermione she had come to respect her quick wit and diplomatic skills. It was better to let her speak and explain things than to risk compromising herself by sticking her foot in her mouth as she so often did. Her lack of diplomacy and restraint in discussion, though according to Kav-deb and Sonya amusing and endearing, had already put her in a bad position several times. She winced as she thought back to her meeting with the Khrè emperor in Kav-deb's company. Let's just say she wasn't as innocent as she would have liked to be about how the discussion had degenerated into a barrage of insults between the two great mages leading ultimately to a warrant for her arrest, the destruction of a Khrè command ship, a massive delivery of cheese to that idiot Yaesh and the most epic escape she had ever experienced. On her return home Anna had been very angry, and to her horror, Aster had suffered a terrible punishment, being grounded from Kav-deb and Sonya for a month, as well as writing a letter of apology to the khre empire which unfortunately had not been enough to lift the arrest warrant against her.
"Nailla?" asked Hermione.
Nailla gasped, she must not have heard them approaching. "Hermione, Aster? Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you, I wanted to show you something."
"We'll explain. But for that, we'd like to talk to you in private. Would that be possible?"
Nailla raised an eyebrow, looking intrigued. "Yes, of course. Follow me."
A few minutes later they arrived at a small wooden house leaning against the property wall. Aster had never seen Nailla's living quarters, and had wondered many times how a nymph could live comfortably here, but now it made sense. The house was quiet and secluded, deep in the small wood behind the manor. The direct proximity to the trees and plants must have been a necessity for Nailla's well-being. From what she knew the benefits of having a nymph directly involved with magical herbs were substantial enough that any family wanting to grow magical plants would be willing to do almost anything to satisfy the demands of a nymph.
Nailla pushed open the door and invited them inside. The small corridor led to a small kitchen on the right and a living room on the left. The corridor ended in a staircase. Nailla beckoned them to join her in the living room, a small, bright room with a few shelves full of books, baskets and other handicraft, but above all a magnificent collection of blooming orchids lined up on the windowsill. She sat down on a woven wicker seat. Hermione and Aster followed suit.
"Hermione, Aster. What happened? Something bad seems to have happened." Nailla asked.
"Nailla, before we start, we'd like to know more about the Cateris' political position towards the Casparos." said Hermione in a stern tone.
Nailla raised an eyebrow, obviously curious as to where this was going. "Well, the Cateris are a family that keeps pretty much out of the political life of Ulthar. It is historically known for its production of potions and magical and medicinal plants, but especially for the production of Matagonian herb. The family is loyal to the current ruling line. It has little connection with the Casparos. I have rarely heard Lady Nepeta speak of the Casparos, either well or poorly... Why do you ask?"
Hermione stared at Nailla for a long moment before letting out a long sigh and getting to the heart of the matter. "Nailla, what do you think of Ulthar's current status? I mean the peace with the ICW states, the isolation, the status and all that?"
"I'm getting more and more worried about both of you. Why do you ask?"
Aster stammered, "There's been some unrest in the city recently about the current peace situation. Some wanting to preserve the status quo and others wanting a new status war by forging an alliance with the other hidden nations and independent creature enclaves and clans. We wanted your opinion on the matter."
Hermione leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Your lie might have been convincing if you hadn't said it so obviously, you should have let me answer." She seemed as amused as she was exasperated. Aster closed her eyes for a second, stopping herself from blushing with embarrassment. She really should practice her tone when lying. Anna, Kav-deb and Sonya had already told her enough. (Well, Anna had told her to just stop trying to lie, as Aster was a lost cause in her opinion.)
Nailla didn't seem to believe the second-rate excuse Aster had given her for a second, but pretended not to notice. "As much as I'd like to see the status fall, have some form of agreement with the non-magics so I can be truly free, and eventually fix the many problems they cause the world due to lack of supervision or magic, a status war would be a bad idea. Just a bloodbath."
Hermione nodded solemnly, "And hypothetically, what if we told you that we have evidence that the Casparos family, with the support of the Khrè Empire, is planning a coup d'etat in order to start a new status war. What would you recommend?"
All trace of amusement faded from Nailla's face. She turned white as a sheet, her eyes wide, her hands shaking weakly. In a trembling, almost inaudible voice she said. "These are serious accusations you are making. If they prove to be false, you could be executed for crimes of lèse majesté and defamation against the noble and very ancient line of Casparos. Are you ABSOLUTELY sure of what you are saying?
"Absolutely." Aster said gravely.
Nailla leaned forward, hiding her face in her hands and letting out a long exhale. "I... We must go to Lady Nepeta. Urgently. She'll help us get the information to the royalty. Don't tell anyone else. All right? Your evidence had better be solid."
"It is."
oOOOo
It was a beautiful day for Lady Nepeta. Her kittens would return tonight from their excursion with the Danma, and her husband would soon return from his bi-annual inspection of the southern Matagonian grass fields. She adjusted the various parchments on her desk and glanced at the large ancestral clock in the corner of the room. Only its regular ticking was breaking the silence. Another hour of dealing with the various accounts and contracts requiring her personal attention and then she would be free. A cup of thyme honey tea and a good book while waiting for her kittens to return would do her a world of good.
The stress of the approach of the Eight Peaks Festival was beginning to weigh on her. The demands and paperwork related to the celebration were becoming more and more numerous by the day. Sometimes she just wanted to throw them all into a fire and sleep for a week, but unfortunately she couldn't allow herself that luxury. The Cateris were the largest agricultural producers in Ulthar, and with a festival as important as the Eight Peaks approaching, and the countless banquets that were sure to accompany the celebration, it was no wonder that she found herself inundated with work. And it was not for lack of assistants or secretaries. They were literally drowning in paperwork at the moment. She was lucky enough to only receive papers that required her direct supervision. This was as much a blessing as a curse, as these were usually ambiguous or politically complex documents that took time to deal with.
She was about to grab another one of the documents requiring her approval when she heard a knock on her office door. She frowned. Few dared to disturb the fearsome Lady Nepeta in her work. It must have been really important. She sighed, as she felt the prospect of sweet honeyed tea slipping away. She frowned and adopted her sternest mask, her tail straight, her ears stiff, her whiskers taut. "Come in," she said in a harsh voice.
The door opened and she couldn't help but soften her expression as she saw her sweet Nailla enter. The nymph was a blessing to have in the family. She was a Cateris in all but name. After she had been her nanny, her mother's, her grandmother's, and her kittens' nurse, it could hardly be otherwise. She was surprised, however, to see the two new additions to their household enter behind Nailla. Hermione and Aster if her memory was correct. Their surnames were not important. From what Efelis had said when he had given her the papers concerning the two young witches, the contract bond wasn't complete. The two little cuties must have been clever enough to at least lie about their surnames. Nepeta had nothing but sympathy for the two children. Lost without parents or family, in a hidden land, forced into servitude by ancestral laws that should have been changed long ago... She had done her best to ensure their comfort, and avoid traumatizing them further. Putting them in the same room had been a rich idea, if the strong friendship they had formed was any indication.
She had some concerns though. Hermione was showing signs of neglect and psychological abuse, though tempered by her great intelligence. Aster was another case altogether. The items that had been confiscated from her when she was captured were worrying. Why a child so young had in her possession a staff of unknown material engraved with multiple arrays of magecraft that the experts of Hultar's department of unknown magics were still trying to decipher? The child had adamantly refused to be separated from the small vial she wore around her neck, claiming that it was an object of remembrance of her dead mother. The vial had not proved to be of any danger and was left with her. The most disturbing thing about the poor child, however, was the obvious dark magic she carried in her eye and soul as well as her golemic arm. Nepeta could not imagine what kind of life a child could have led to end up in such a situation. The thought of one of her kittens having to live through even one hundredth of what Aster had surely gone through made her shudder with dread.
She congratulated herself for having asked Nailla to approach and watch over the two little ones. A figure as benevolent as Nailla could only have done them good.
The question was why Nailla, Aster and Hermione were entering her office. Perhaps it was to ask her for access to a higher level of the library and the two little ones, intimidated, had asked Nailla to accompany them... No, it didn't make sense. Nailla looked far too serious for the purpose of their visit to be something so innocent. Had Aster and Hermione done something serious enough to require Nailla to bring them directly to her? No, not either. Nailla didn't seem to be angry with the two little ones. She seemed rather worried... afraid... Something really serious was going on. Nailla was not the type to be afraid of anything. She had, after all, slapped a wyvern before forcing her to submit by her stare alone after the wyvern had tried to bite Nepeta when she was little. Something was very wrong.
"Hello Nepeta. I'm sorry to disturb you in the middle of your work, but there's something extremely serious I want to tell you." Nailla said. Nepeta gestured for them to take a seat in front of her desk. Aster and Hermione behind Nailla both bowed slightly and murmured greetings. Perhaps she had overplayed the sternness a little.
"Hello Nailla." She nodded in the direction of Aster and Hermione. She couldn't afford to be too familiar with her 'prisoners'. "What's going on?"
"I'm here to escort Aster and Hermione who are going to share with you a most alarming discovery they have made." Nailla said. Nepeta could see the concern in the eyes of her old nanny and friend. "Aster, Hermione, one of you, without leaving out a single detail, give a thorough account of your findings." Aster turned to Hermione, a silent conversation taking place between them for a few seconds. Finally Hermione's shoulders slumped and she turned to Nepeta. Hermione frowned, giving her friend a dirty look before she began. ...
forty minutes later, Nepeta had her face buried in her hands. A pensieve had been brought out of storage, two spheres of memorabilia resting on her desk next to three Khrè weapons of war. Her day could not have taken a more dramatic turn than this. She would never have believed that the so loyal and respectable Casparos family would dare to foment a coup with the support of an outside power. Worse! In order to start a war! She could only pray that her family was not among the loyalist nobles that the Casparos planned to wipe out. The proofs that her charges had brought were damning. Aster's and Hermione's testimony had been recorded, both under oath of truth. She didn't want to believe it but the evidences were there. Bless them for uncovering this plot and carrying out this sabotage.
She didn't want to know what her two charges were doing infiltrating the Casparos mansion with artifacts of blood magic capable of passing the ancient wards of a noble family. There were more important things to deal with. The excuse Hermione had given about hearing stories of possible uprisings in the city and suspicious talk of Casparo-affiliated guards prompting them to investigate, while plausible, did not convince her. The fact that she didn't mention it once under truth serum was supporting her suspicions. At first she had entertained the idea for a second that it was an act of slander and that someone was using the poor children to damage the reputation of the Casparos or even destroy their family, but the evidence had accumulated and a pensieve never lies. The artefact was a divination focus after all. She had literally witnessed the scene using Aster's memory as an anchor. Besides, she had simply asked them a few questions about why they were in Ulthar, and nothing suspicious had been revealed. But who cared, frankly? By their actions, these two children had probably saved Ulthar from one of its most serious political crises since the Samid insurrection, and perhaps even averted a war of unknown proportions.
She stood up abruptly, her chair falling to the floor with a crash, startling little Aster and young Hermione. "I'll take it from here. Nailla, bring Aster to the infirmary to examine her back. Hermione, you have the day off. Do not leave the manor under any circumstances. And don't say anything about what you've learned to anyone." At these words, she grabbed the various pieces of evidence accumulated on the desk, put them in a box, and stormed off. She had to make the most important visit to the royal palace of her life.
oOOOo
On her way back from the infirmary, after the nurse, Natasha had repaired a broken rib, she stood anxiously at the door of their room. Today, so to speak, had not gone as planned. She watched the door for a moment, hesitantly, before pushing the door open.
Hermione was standing in front of the window, looking out over the vast garden of the Cateris. Aster closed the door behind her, suddenly uncomfortable with the strange tension in the room. How Hermione, who was younger than her and had certainly seen far less, could intimidate her would remain a mystery. Perhaps it was because Hermione was one of the few people who mattered enough to her to make her opinion worth anything? The only person of her age for whom she had any respect? Perhaps... Her only certainty at the moment was that this discussion would not be pleasant.
Hermione turned slowly, the brown abyss of her eyes riveted on her. She approached Aster, standing in front of her just two steps away, towering over her by at least two heads.
Aster saw the movement coming, Hermione's shoulder tensing, her hand moving, but she did not move. Letting the palm of her hand hit her cheek strongly, forcing her to turn her head as a sharp pain and burning sensation flashed across her face. She turned her eyes to Hermione's face, tears were welling up in her eyes and threatening to fall.
In a weak voice Hermione said. "You stupid little suicidal magical genius. Why are you... HARRRR." She buried her face in her hands before starting to roam around the room pulling her hair. "How many times did you almost get us killed today? How many times have you saved us?"
She turned her face to Aster, tears now clearly flowing. "You are my best friend Aster, my first, best and only friend. I try to understand you, to help you, to make you stop hurting yourself... But you don't let me, too many secrets... you tell me things, but you stay hidden. I... And today you risk your life as if nothing happened. As if you were used to it..."
Aster winced. She couldn't prove Hermione wrong. If Anna knew one tenth of the things she was doing with Sonya she would be grounded for an untold amount of time, her mother yet was the type to give her some of the most demanding vampire hand to hand combat training. The fact that Hermione finally snapped was not surprising, she ought to have expected it. A magically ignorant human like Hermione wasn't supposed to be confronted with things like blood magic, or potentially deadly wards. "I'm sorry." Aster said simply. She had deserved the slap. She should have been more careful, not made the kind of bet she did when Sonya was around.
If she wanted to stay close to Hermione, Aster had to make a move, something important. "Hermione, I can offer you something, no more secrets between us. There are some things I haven't told you that are necessary to understand. Do you want to know?"
oOOOo
Hermione nodded eagerly and dried her tears. Aster was metaphorically reaching out to her. Opening herself to her, in order to stay close. After her statements, Hermione had feared that Aster would decide to end their friendship, deeming her too cowardly to be worthy.
Aster smiled at her, a redness forming on the cheek that Hermione had just slapped. She was already regretting her action. Yes Aster had put them in danger, but Hermione shouldn't have reacted with physical violence. Especially with the suspicions she had about Aster's childhood.
"However, in order for me to tell you, you must agree to three things. This discussion must take place in a magecraft circle, you must also make a magical non-disclosure pact with me, with my Patron Lagaelis as witness. Finally, you must agree that I will provide you with mental defences so that no information can be magically extracted from you" Aster said with absolute seriousness.
Hermione swallowed. What kind of information required Aster to take this kind of extreme measure? "Yes, I'm fine with it." Aster's smile widened and she pulled a small glass bottle filled with what Hermione assumed was iron ink from the desk drawer. Aster filled a small glass with it, and stuck one of her fangs into her thumb, dropping a few drops of blood into the ink. Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes. Aster and her obsession with blood... Honestly. Surely there had to be some deep magical reason for her to do this every time, especially for a black mage. Still... it was better than slitting her wrist.
Half an hour later, Aster had inscribed a large circle formed by a strange array of lines and small symbols linked together. Aster sat down inside and beckoned her to join her. Hermione sat down opposite her and gasped as Aster pulled a kitchen knife from a hiding place inside her tunic. Hermione shouldn't be surprised now by the fact that Aster managed to always have at least one blade on her. "Hermione, I'm going to slice the palm of your hand, don't worry once the pact is over Lagaelis will close our wounds."
A final hesitation gripped Hermione. "How do you plan to protect my mind?"
Aster gave her a sympathetic look. "I can't tell you until I make the pact.
Hermione finally nodded and held out her hand. The cold blade against her skin and the spike of pain made her wince and close her eyes. Soon enough, she could smell the coppery scent, and the warmth of the crimson liquid flowing between her fingers. Aster also cut herself, without batting an eyelid, and placed her hand in hers, letting their blood mingle. "Never do that outside of a ritual, and certainly not with a were-thing." The warning would have been useless if Hermione had known about werewolfs and the like... stupid thought, vampires and Matagots exist, of course were-thing's as Aster said exist. Aster began to mutter a long melodious incantation in a language unknown to her. She could feel a pressure forming around her, and a bluish light enveloped their clasped hands. A shiver ran down her spine as if a thousand eyes had turned towards them, watching her, probing her soul. Mists were slowly rising in the room, Hermione could smell a faint scent of asphodel flower.
"Hermione Granger, by this pact. You bind yourself, promise and swear on your soul, your reason and your existence never to reveal to anyone what will be said within this circle without my explicit consent. Do you accept the terms?"
Aster's magical eye was shrouded in an aura of magic she could feel on her skin. Her voice sounded double, as if someone or something was speaking at the same time, a thousand different but identical voices echoing behind her friend's.
"I accept." Hermione whispered. An invisible wind stirred, dispersing the mists as she felt something indefinable solidify in and around her.
"So be it. The pact is sealed." Said Aster, before uttering a few more words in the strange language.
"Is it over?" Hermione asked in a small voice.
"Yes, thank you for accepting the pact. My Aunt Sonya has forbidden me to divulge certain things without making a pact first. I mean... magically forbidden." Aster let go of her hand and Hermione watched in fascination as their mingled blood evaporated into a fine scarlet mist leaving her hand unscathed. No one would have guessed that a few seconds before there was a deep gash in it.
"I see. Lagaelis was really here? With us?"
"No, not really, just a fraction of his being needed to acknowledge the pact."
"Is that normal in the magical world?"
Aster seemed to hesitate at this question. "Really... I don't know. It depends on what you mean by the magical world. Between worlds, in the Twilight Lands and in the dark mage circles, it's pretty normal. In the hidden nations? I don't know... In the open magical nations... I don't think so. Anna had mentioned a long time ago that there are not many black mages on this world, probably due to the status. After all, most black mages are non-magics who have pacted."
Hermione was not convinced by this non-answer, but Aster seemed sincere in her ignorance of the details of how magic was viewed in magical nations. From what she understood, Aster had more or less lived as a hermit or travelled far, far away.
"Well, now I'm going to build you some mental defences. They will prevent intrusions into your mind and defend you from most soul or mind altering magic. Compulsion, forgetfulness spells, love, hate or loyalty potions... that sort of thing."
"Wait, there are mental altering potions?"
"Unfortunately, yes. The mages have gone quite far in terms of mind control magics. It's an arms race, between those looking for ways to defend their minds and those looking for ways to enslave or control. From what Anna told me, most people wear bewitched jewels against this kind of magic, have training in occlumency, usually both, and take purging potions once or twice a week. Just in case. Well... not everyone. Mostly people with political importance, power or secrets."
"That's horrible! I..." Hermione was horrified to hear that.
"Yes, it is. The people who use this kind of thing are the ones who have thrown their morality out the window."
Hermione let out a long sigh to refocus herself. "Thank you, really. This protection, what is it?"
Aster took on the vicious look that Hermione knew her best when the darker magics were discussed. "It's a complex concept that's difficult to explain in any other way than metaphor. It is one of the most powerful soul magics I know. I'll explain the how and why later, but know that I am an animaphagos. I eat souls. Don't look so horrified, I've never eaten the soul of a living person. I eat the essence of soul eaters. Which is like eating the souls they have eaten... at least that's a gross simplification of reality, but it can be said that way. The souls I eat, I can do several things with them. I can keep the structure of them to build a barrier around my soul and protect it, or I can dismantle them to recover the raw magical energy and make it my own. I have preserved in my magic many souls that are still structured, I will use some of them to weave your protection."
Hermione was in equal measure, fascinated, horrified, admiring, disgusted, frightened and full of anticipation. "Is it safe?"
Aster took the time to think for a minute which did not reassure Hermione. "No, no risk that I can see. I'm not touching your soul, I'm not bonding, and I have a lot of experience in this area. I'll just weave a cocoon."
"They are souls. Won't I have their personalities or memories rub off on me?"
"No, don't worry. What you need to know is that memories and personalities are part of the superficial structures of a soul. The most easily destroyed. The souls I ate were already digested by soul eaters. These peripheral structures are already completely destroyed. All that remains is their magical energy and the framework structure."
"I see..." Hermione didn't really understand, but that was to be expected with soul magic. She suspected that it was actually much more complex and oneiric than what Aster had said.
Aster looked particularly serious all of a sudden, her eyes glued straight into hers, her magical eye glowing with an ominous gleam. "Are you ready? This is going to be strange for you. I was quite shocked the first time Sonya did it to me to teach me soul manipulation."
After everything Hermione had been through in the last few months, she felt ready for anything. To pain and discomfort, yet another new experience she never thought would exist before her parents decided to get rid of her permanently. She shouldn't have spoken up so soon. Nothing could have prepared her for what Aster did.
After tracing various symbols on Hermione's forehead, Aster gently placed her natural hand in her hair at the back of her head before slowly moving her face closer, her eyes boring into hers. Hermione froze, like a deer in the headlights, or a mouse under the hungry eyes of a cat. Then, suddenly, Aster's lips were against hers. Soft, cool and silky. Hermione's brain snapped at the influx of a new sensation she couldn't understand. Before she could even comprehend that she had just had her first kiss, she felt a magic so powerful it was tangible. A warmth spreading throughout her body. A feeling of completeness and security. Like being in a cloud, protected from everything. Asphodel's scent intensified, as Hermione strangely felt herself being magnified.
Though long, the kiss was no less chaste, just the touch of their lips, nothing more. Far too soon for Hermione's liking, she felt something inside her click into position, then Aster's hand released the back of her head, and her lips came away from hers. She couldn't hold back a small whimper at the loss, which at that moment seemed dreadful.
Aster stood back and watched her for a moment, smiling, as if she were proud of having accomplished a great thing, or completed a piece of art. Unconsciously, Hermione's fingers went to her lips, trying to understand and remember the feeling of that lost touch. Her eyes searched Aster's for an answer. Hermione had never been interested in romance, rightly thinking herself far too young for it. Did Aster see her that way? She couldn't stop her cheeks from flushing at the thought. Just as she was about to ask Aster for clarification on what had just happened and how she felt, Aster spoke up, looking particularly proud of herself. "How are you feeling Hermione?"
"Good, too good... it was... you...?" she stammered.
"Perfect! What you're describing sounds like how I felt the first time with Sonya."
What? Hermione suddenly remembered that Aster had said she had done this with her aunt. She couldn't help but feel the shock and hint of jealousy that accompanied that thought. Wasn't it indecent to indulge in this sort of thing with her aunt? Perhaps in the obviously different culture in which Aster had been raised, kissing had no romantic connotations? Her concentration returned as Aster continued."
"You see the dementors? The minor demons. I've told you about them before, I think."
Hermione nodded, confused, not understanding the connection between her new potential relationship with Aster, Aster's incestuous tendencies with her aunt, and those awful demons.
"Well, you remember, dementors absorb their victim's soul with a kiss. They are one of the few forms of soul eaters that exist outside the edges. Well, what I have done is the opposite! Through a kiss, with enough talent in soul manipulation, it is possible to transmit these structures, through the intimate connection that the kiss opens."
"I see... Thank you Aster." Hermione was mortified. How could she have thought that kiss had anything to do with sentimentality with a magic-addicted nerd like Aster. Of course the kiss was just a way to open a connection or whatever oneiric magic Aster seemed so fond of required.
"...Don't ever try to do the same thing though... I mean, it's mostly likely to be a normal kiss. I mean, if you're studying soul manipulation, don't try it until you've mastered it. No one wants to tear their soul into pieces." Hermione was slowly recovering from her mortification, of course not Aster didn't see her that way. Just friends obviously. She too wanted to keep it that way... so why did she feel this pang of pain and disappointment in her chest?
She took a deep breath. "Yes, of course I'm not going to try to replicate your foolishness."
"Good." Aster replied, nodding her head sagely, unaffected by the little spike Hermione had just thrown at her. "Well, now that that's out of the way, I can give you some much needed explanations." Aster looked down for a moment, as if unsure of herself, before murmuring, "It was self-defence, okay?" Before launching into one of the most tragically rocky stories Hermione had ever heard.
As Aster finished her tale, Hermione couldn't help but stare at the small crystal vial around Aster's neck. Such a small, innocent looking object containing the soul of a five hundred year old vampire warlord. She stared at her friend with a subtle mixture of awe and admiration. She felt like a moth both drawn to and consumed by the bright light of a powerful beacon. Aster had killed, and at that moment Hermione found it surprisingly easy to forgive her. She had done what she could to protect her mother's life and her own in a desperate situation. A time when, from what Aster had described, the magic running through her veins had been so dense and powerful that it had nearly consumed her, leaving her nearly defenseless, unable to perform normal magic for weeks.
Perhaps she should be terrified, disgusted by her friend's very existence. Others would have been in her place. But Hermione saw the girl thrown into a merciless world, passionate about its arcane ways, having done what was necessary to survive. Having fought and emerged deeply scarred, forever changed in unspeakable ways, but alive and pretty much sane. How many would have sunk into madness, in the places that Aster had described with calm and passion, in the edges of the world, where logic breaks down. How many would have returned filled with consuming ambition, and so imbued with self-importance as to despise the existence of anything other than themselves.
Aster had opened up to her, shown herself vulnerable, trusted her enough to confide her deepest secrets, experiences of such ambiguous morality that she herself would have chosen to keep them hidden forever. In front of her, Aster had lowered her head, folded in on herself, as if expecting a physical or verbal blow. At the sight, Hermione's heart broke. No matter what Aster had done before, if she could not protect her, she would be her moral compass, a guardian to help her make the right decisions in the face of others. She reached out and gently hugged her, feeling Aster almost melt into her embrace. A sob ran through her body. A dam broke inside Hermione, if she wanted to be a true friend to Aster, she too would have to leave her little secrets behind, to get off on the right foot. She began to speak in a low voice, everything she had left out the first time she had told Aster certain aspects of her life. The details she never thought she would tell anyone. And yet, in the silence of this small room, she let the words flow, feeling lighter and lighter as she spoke.
oOOOo
The next few days leading up to the Festival of the Eight Peaks were difficult. Neither Hermione nor Aster heard anything back about how the meeting between Nepeta and the royal powers had gone. The few times they saw Nepeta, she only gave them a strained smile, which was probably meant to be reassuring. One of the surprises was that the next day, while Hermione was still digesting the developments in her relationship with Aster and all the new things she had learned, Carmine, the strict Matagot lady head of the servants, made them change rooms. Thus they moved from the servants' quarters to the guests'.
Hermione was curious as to the reason for this change, and was hopeful that their contribution to the revelation of the plot had something to do with it, but she didn't dare put too much faith in it yet. They had been offered individual rooms, but by mutual agreement with Aster, they continued to cohabit. Hermione just felt better in Aster's presence, a kind of feeling she couldn't explain or name. Maybe the soul protection ritual had something to do with it, she thought unconvincingly.
Day by day, the tension in the manor was increasing. Only she, Aster, Nailla and Nepeta seemed to be subject to it. The rest of the occupants of the manor seemed to be basking in blissful ignorance.
Aster had become almost frantic. She seemed to have no faith in the Ulthar authorities to contain the coming crisis effectively. Hermione could see her all day, bent over the desk, over thick parchments, writing down arrays whose complexity gave her a headache just by looking at them. Hermione, on the other hand, spent her time reading in the library with Aster's translation array to ward off the overwhelming apprehension that was twisting her stomach and making her sick. She had asked Aster if she had a problem with using the translation array as she was using part of Aster's mind to do so, but Aster had simply said that her concerns were unfounded and that Occlumency just had more ways of being used than just to protect her mind.
One night, Aster sat on the bed opposite her, staring straight into her eyes in a rather awkward way, as if sizing her up. Hermione couldn't help but show her discomfort by clearing her throat. "Here, this is for you, take care of it," Aster said, simply handing her a strange little metal object. A circle containing an impossibly fine network of metal wires that split into infinite fractals. The metal wire sometimes became so thin that it diffracted the light, giving the object reflections of bright and changing colours. Hermione had rarely seen such a beautiful object. She blushed. Was Aster trying to send her a message with such a gift? Was the kiss more than a way of doing protective magic? Her thoughts were interrupted again by Aster's voice. "Let your magic run through the array please. I want to see your current limit."
Puzzled, Hermione complied. Her magic seemed to flow into the array with ease, instantly taking shape. A strange translucent barrier immediately surrounded Hermione. A mixture of mist, glass, and the diffuse snow of a channelless television screen. She moved her hand closer to the barrier, touching a surface of an indescribable nature, neither solid, nor liquid, nor gaseous, a strange and indefinable substance.
Hermione stared at Aster, bewildered. She had a look of deep satisfaction on her face, reminiscent of the one her friend had had after successfully building a protective barrier around her soul. Noticing at the same time the large dark circles, the messier than usual hair, and the other signs of extreme fatigue evident on her friend's face. To Hermione's silent question Aster replied, "It's a void shield. Yes the same as the ones I mentioned when I told you about the battle against the ICW expeditionary force." Aster's expression turned darker as she mentioned her mother's murderers. Less than half a minute after activating the item, Hermione felt a deep fatigue creep into her bones. "Hold your magic, stop holding the shield, you are at your limit." Hermione complied feeling instantly better, but immediately missing the feeling of power and release that came with feeling her magic run through her and take shape. She couldn't help but feel the painful twinge in her chest. Obviously, Aster wasn't going to just offer her something just like that. It was stupid of her to think so, obviously it was something magical. Anyway... it was kind of a good thing. Aster was giving her ways to protect herself. That had to mean something positive about their relationship, right?
"Why can't I hold it together any longer? The exhaustion came so quickly..." Hermione asked, deciding to put aside the weird feelings she was developing for the strange little vampire in front of her.
"The void shield is a complex and quite powerful array. It blocks absolutely all offensive magic that does not distort or tear space. Its big drawback is the huge amount of magic it needs. Use it sparingly. If someone throws a spell at you or tries to hit you or shoot you, try to dodge first, the shield is only if you can't."
"Thank you Aster," Hermione managed to murmur before collapsing, asleep on the bed.
oOOOo
Tonight, the party of the eight peaks would begin. Aster felt as ready as she could hope to be. Numerous scrolls rolled neatly into internal pockets sewn hastily into her blouse, metal arrays hidden at her belt. A knife engraved with alchemical runes concealed on her person.
Hermione had told her that all her preparations would surely be useless, that she had to trust the authorities in Ulthar and Nepeta. That if no action had been taken so far, it was to be able to catch the Casparos in the act and arrest them without them being able to deny the facts. All in all, a logical and reassuring argument. However, Aster had a bad feeling. When something has the slightest chance of going wrong, you have to expect it to go wrong. Such was one of the primordial laws of the universe. A successful plan without a hitch was a rare exception.
Tonight, Aster knew, something was going to go wrong. The Casparos would not go down without a fight. A wild beast is most dangerous when it feels cornered. How seriously had the royal family taken the warning? Had they considered all the possibilities? Were there still things Aster didn't know? What about the other families on the Casparos' death list? Had they discovered the sabotage and changed their plans? So many questions that would remain unanswered until it was too late. Aster had done everything she could to protect Hermione. Tonight they would stay together, try to defend themselves.
Aster suspected that their change of room was not without significance and that they were well on their way to obtaining a royal pardon. Perhaps tonight would be the opportunity to secure it? No, Hermione's survival and her own would be the priority.
She approached the window, watching the first shadows of evening. The first orange hues in the sky, the first mists rising between the trees in the garden. Time was running out, the countdown had begun. She clutched Anna's soul vial in her hand and kissed the warm glass, the small blue flame inside seeming to burn brighter for a split second. If her heart were still pounding in her chest, she was sure it would be on the verge of exploding. The feeling she was experiencing at the moment was after all, all too familiar. This same expectation, this same apprehension, she had felt just a few hours before her life went to hell, just a few months before. Tonight she would not make the same mistakes. No one she cared about would die tonight. She would make sure of that, personally.