Aster had been awake for over an hour now, it must have been nine in the morning judging by the sunlight filtering through the bedroom curtains. She was rested and full of energy, the night's rest having washed away the exhaustion of the day before when they returned from the edges. If she had her way, she'd be up and in the kitchen, eating breakfast.
The source of her problem was the person lying with her under the blanket. All night Hermione had treated her like a cuddly toy, hugging her even in her sleep. Even now, Aster could feel Hermione's face buried in her hair, her arms gripping her waist, her legs tangled with hers. She could feel Hermione's breathing slow and even on her neck, her warm weight preventing her from moving. It was true that this kind of long night of cuddling was far from displeasing to her, especially when, as on this occasion, Hermione had let her nibble all she wanted. But this morning, her boundless energy prevented her from letting sleep take over and sleeping in. So she had come up with a plan that might allow her to escape without disturbing Hermione's slumber. The poor dear was only human, unlike her, and she would need much more rest after their expedition to the depths of the edge.
She stretched out her arm as far as she could to the bedside table where she reached for her wand. She hadn't used this form of magic much, and had only learnt a few basic spells that were as versatile as possible; it was, after all, the versatility of the wizardry that was its only positive point in her opinion compared to the wonders she could accomplish with magecraft. With a few flicks of her wrist and a whispered spell, she levitated the largest cushion in the room in her direction. Then, slowly, she extricated herself from Hermione's embrace before replacing her person with the large cushion. An amused smile spread across her face as she saw Hermione's arms and legs close over the cushion before she buried her face in it, leaving only her thick brown hair sticking out.
Aster gently replaced the sheets and tucked Hermione in as best she could before slipping on her slippers and striding out of the room. Crookshanks, curled up in a ball at the foot of the bed, raised his head, blinked slowly and yawned. Aster, panicking a little, placed her finger on her lips and begged Crookshanks not to meow. To her relief, Crookshanks merely gave her a doubtful look before closing his eyes and tucking his muzzle under his tail.
Relieved to see Hermione still sound asleep, Aster gently closed the door behind her and headed for the bathroom. She got rid of her nightdress, hanging it on one of the hangers. As she passed the mirror, her eyes were drawn to her jet-black arm, smooth except for a few scales reflecting the morning light coming in through the window, one of Lagaelis' many 'gifts'. What did the Fog of Ashog mean when he called her the daughter of Lagaelis? The pact binding her to this entity was anything but filial. She sighed; she wouldn't have the answer any time soon, if ever. She stood in front of the mirror for a moment longer, noticing that she was... growing... At least, in everything but size. Her muscles were more defined, visible under her too-white skin, her features were fine, angular and defined, all traces of the roundness of her face that she had when she was still living with Anna had disappeared... She gritted her teeth, she looked ageless, just as Anna had said she would end up being. That she didn't mind, but her size? Why on earth did she have to stay so small! And no definitive size-increasing ritual she'd found could apply to vampires, since her body was a construct of magic maintained by a balance of blood magic that any intervention of this kind was likely to upset.
She cursed her small size for a few seconds longer before remembering the advantage in terms of comfort that it gave her in terms of cuddling with Hermione and deciding to ignore the strange feeling in her heart. She was sure that if her heart was still beating, her cheeks would be peony red.
She stepped into the shower they'd set up so they could get settled in and placed her hand on the array engraved in the ceramic. Immediately, a dense, warm rain fell from the soft ceiling, spreading a gentle warmth through her body. She reached for the lavender soap, Hermione's choice. The water was soft, so pleasant after days in the discomfort of travelling to one of the most inhospitable places on earth. After a long moment soaking up the warmth of the water, she got out of the shower and dried herself with the fluffiest of their towels. Then she applied the cream that Anna had insisted she put on every day a long time ago. She had taught her the recipe and it wasn't very complicated, but it was an absolute necessity if she wanted to be able to go out in the sun without having a whole host of problems later on. Then she put on some comfortable indoor clothes. A soft blue-grey linen tunic and soft black canvas trousers. She needed this softness after recent events.
Once dressed, she went downstairs and took the pile of letters from the living room table before going into the kitchen-dining room. Scrambled eggs and toast were waiting for her on the table, along with honey, jam, milk and tea. The Brownie must have really missed them for him to have outdone himself so much, she thought with a smile. She considered putting a heat charm on Hermione's eggs for a moment, but judging by the slight aura of magic, Brownie had already taken care of that.
She poured herself a large bowl of tea, burnt the tip of her tongue and decided to wait a little while before trying again. In the meantime, she picked up the first letters in the packet, those from Ethan. Judging by the dates, they had spent more than a whole week on the edges. No wonder Hermione was so exhausted. So, a report about how their diplomatic ties with Ulthar, the Hanseatic League of Svorak and Hymgaabal had tightened after the Battle of Azkaban and how the effects were being felt, trade had intensified with more goods and services being exchanged between the various enclaves of Asphodel and its allies. Exchange programmes were planned, notably with the Hanseatic League and Ulthar. The former were looking to exchange technical knowledge with more knowledge of mage-craft. Apparently the void-shield arrays that Hermione had integrated into their airships had made a strong impression. Ethan was therefore asking her to write a mage-craft manual... It was quite a request, and she would have to think about it. Ulthar's aims seemed to be more political, cultural and diplomatic. Hymgaabal had refused to make a more advanced exchange for the time being. Ethan explained that after the genocide of their people in Great Britain just a few decades ago, Veela's return to the islands was not something to be taken lightly. Especially given the fact that to this day the government had kept the genocide under wraps, and if questioned about it explained by downplaying it and saying it was something they had been forced to do to preserve the status of secrecy.
The blood bonding project to help vampires find a willing partner also seemed to be a success, although Ethan seemed to imply that there was some resistance to the project from some of the more conservative vampires with claims like the right to hunt... Aster didn't understand, if she and Anna hunted it wasn't by choice, she was much happier now, bonded to Hermione.
When her eyes fell on the last line of Ethan's letters, a toothy grin appeared on Aster's face. The materials needed to set up an apparition cover had finally been assembled and it would soon be operational. The enclaves couldn't declare themselves in the open without a means of defence, and overthrowing the wizengamot nobility system was unthinkable without having an effective means of countering the government apparition system. Until now, the wizengamot and the ministry had total control over who, when, where and how one could use apparition to teleport almost anywhere on the islands, which gave them the advantage of being able to carry out lightning strikes on any dissidents and intervene with unrivalled speed. Now they would no longer be alone in controlling such a means of travel.
She took a sip of tea, hm, still very hot, but bearable, the liquid burning pleasantly in her throat. She pushed Ethan's letters aside, she'd answer them later. After all, she wasn't going to risk staining her beautiful stationery with tea or jam.
Sirius' letter was just some news about his life in Ulthar and his convalescence. Well... he had spent more than half the letter explaining how much he was in love with one of the Matagones who regularly visited the park where he went. How soft her eyes were, her shiny coat, her proud whiskers... Weren't dogs supposed to dislike cats? The end of the letter was full of whining, Sirius complaining that he didn't get enough visits from her. He was also insistent that she introduce him to Hermione for some reason. Something to do with approval and his godfatherly duty or something. Aster was confused. She put the letter on top of Ethan's, hoping Severus's post wouldn't be as confusing as Sirius's.
Aster frowned, Severus's letter contained another letter. Curious, she immediately began to read the long paper bearing Severus's neat, tight handwriting. It asked for news and provided some information about the magical world of Great Britain. Relations between the Ministry of Magic and the Crown of England seemed to have deteriorated after the consequences of the Battle of Azkaban on the coastal towns and the upsurge in incidents caused by the abominations carried from the battle site by the tsunami.
The prime minister was in the hot seat, the Wizengamot was in chaos and so on. All of them trying as best they could to reduce the damage and regain a semblance of stability. Aster gritted her teeth. The bad news was that the DMLE seemed to be on the trail of the Order of the Asphodel, but the good news was that most of their resources were currently occupied with the chaos that had resulted from the destruction of Azkaban. Nevertheless, she would have to make Asphodel as strong as possible, and quickly, before it was discovered. Perhaps strengthen the wards of the enclaves and try to multiply the means of communication between them. According to Ethan, almost every major city in Britain now had an enclave, which was a good thing, but made them all the more likely to be discovered. The secrecy contract that all new members were required to sign wouldn't be enough forever.
Oh, Severus had gone off on a tangent, something to do with the new ingredients that were available to him through trade with the Hanse and how that was affecting his personal research, and how he hadn't forgotten that she had told him they would be exploring further together the integration of magecraft arrays into the potion-making process...
The sound of footsteps in the corridor and the door opening diverted her attention from the letter. A big smile spread across her face. Hermione was making her way to her chair, followed closely by Crookshanks. She was dressed in a simple white shirt and dark blue linen trousers held at her waist by a black leather belt. Her hair was still a little damp from the shower she had just taken. She glanced up at her with her big hazel eyes, pouting as she did so. Aster, I was fine with you in bed! Why did you have to get up?"
"Well, I admit that I wouldn't have minded staying for a cuddle under any other circumstances, but this morning I needed to get up and get going."
"You owe me one tonight..." Hermione replied, yawning and filling her bowl with tea. "Did you make breakfast?"
"No, Mr Brownie just seems very happy to see us back home."
"I should leave him some more milk tonight."
"Hmm. By the way, Hermione, you've got some letters." She said, handing her the letters from Nepeta and the Hanse.
As Hermione began to open her first letter, Aster continued to read hers. The next lines made her raise her eyebrows in astonishment. Severus explained that, due to certain circumstances, he had been forced to pass on a joint letter from the members of the History Club. With recent events, she had completely forgotten what her cover at Hogwarts had entailed and that, according to Hermione, she had managed to become quite popular there. But how could the little club she'd created out of anger at the ridiculous teaching of history at Hogwarts by a murderous professor who had turned out to be most delicious, find a way to get in touch with her? It was absurd.
She took the second letter out of the envelope and stared at it in concentration.
"Aster? What is it, dear? Bad news."
"I don't know Hermione. Do you remember the History Club? They found a way to get Severus to pass me a letter. After what happened, I imagined I'd probably never hear from them again."
"You should at least read it, Aster. If they took the trouble to do that, I doubt it was to call you a murderous vampire monster."
"It costs me nothing to try. And I imagine Severus has already inspected it for any poisons or traps." She said as she opened the letter. And indeed, nothing exploded in her face. The envelope contained only folded stationery. After a moment's hesitation, she began to read aloud.
"Dear Aster and Hermione.
We miss you very much, the school is not the same without you. And since what happened, the atmosphere in the castle has been gloomy at best. Some pupils have left the school, others are suspicious and scared after the spider attack and what the investigation into Professor Bins' disappearance has revealed.
But that's not what we want to talk about. Aster, we know you're the real Aster Potter, you're not the monster portrayed by the prophet. When you and Hermione disappeared, we were worried sick, then we heard that you'd been found guilty and sent to Azkaban and we still haven't heard from Hermione. We did our best to protest to our parents, but they wouldn't listen. They thought you were manipulating us and the fact that we still want what's best for you is just further proof of your influence. They gave us mind healers and questioned us several times about the content of our history club sessions. We haven't told them anything incriminating! Just that we were learning by reading and discussing the books together.
The history club is not dead, we continue to run it in secret to pass on the reality of the history of our world and not the romanticised versions imposed by the Ministry. Professor Snape is helping us to stay hidden.
We are your friends and we want to see you and Hermione again, to see with our own eyes that you are well. Professor Snape assures us that you are, but that's not good enough for us. Please answer us, I'm sure we can find a way to see each other again.
With kind regards.
Neville, Tonks, Susan, Hannah, Leane and Sophia"
Aster looked down at Hermione's expression. She looked a little shaken and thoughtful. "What do you think? Should we answer them?"
"Depends, would you like to keep in touch with them? I liked that club, it was a good way to take my mind off things, and besides, they were nice and loyal even when they found out about your vampirism and still are now... And besides, if it was a trap from the Ministry, Severus wouldn't have sent us the letter. Not to mention the fact that they think you're dead."
"I..." Aster hesitated for a moment, perplexed and as if mentally numb, a mixture of strange emotions battling in her chest. "We should contact them again, if only to decide how to end this on our terms... and only once we've resurrected Mum. What do you think?"
Hermione nodded. "It seems like the right thing to do. I haven't had much time to get to know them, but I think we should see what they have to say."
"It's not going to happen straight away anyway. We'll have time to talk again and think about it. Maybe see what Severus thinks." Aster said as she got up to take her plate to the sink and start washing the dishes. She was surprised to hear Hermione cough loudly behind her a few minutes later. "Hermione? Are you alright?"
"Yes, just, just a moment." She said between coughs.
"Have you swallowed wrong?"
"Yes, just a big surprise." She said as Aster handed her a glass of water. "I don't know what to think. Nepeta wants to introduce me to her eldest son."
Aster blinked, puzzled. "And? I mean, what's so strange about that?"
Hermione glanced at her incredulously, as if she were stupid. "Aster, it's heavily implied that she's considering an engagement between her son and me."
"Ah..." was all Aster managed to say for several seconds before a fire ignited in her chest. "No. She'll have to tear you away from me!" she exclaimed as she sat on Hermione's lap and clung to her like a koala bear.
"I wasn't going to accept you know? You can let go of me now."
"No." Aster said, squeezing tighter, burying her face in Hermione's chest.
She sighed deeply and Aster felt a hand stroke her head. "... I'm not saying no to a cuddle... but are you sure you're comfortable at least in this position?"
Aster didn't answer, just held on tighter, making it clear that she had no intention of letting go any time soon.
oOOOo
The floor and desk were covered with papers and documents, and several open books were spread out within easy reach, all filled with bookmarks. Aster sat at the desk, her head in her hands, her gaze focused on three objects in front of her. A blood-red crystalline stone brimming with power, a metallic artefact with shapes as strange as they were contradictory, and a small vial in which a small blue flame was burning.
She had a headache, runes and arrays of mage-craft as if etched into her retina. All the elements were there, the philosopher's stone for the absolutely enormous amount of magic the ritual would require, and the creation of an alchemically perfect body for Anna. Philosopher's stone... a reductive term for such an artefact. This kind of object was better known to her as a rift stone. The crystallisation of a one-way dimensional rift that allowed potentially infinite energy to be drawn directly from Aathna, the entity, the thing, that sat at the centre of the universe and source of all magic. The only limiting factor of such an object was the flow of energy that could be drawn from it. Just having this object out gave her the impression of having a tiny sun in the room.
The iron chrysalidis would apply the characteristics necessary for the presence of a vampire soul to the body created by the energy of the philosopher's stone, before binding the soul to the body, while imprinting all the connections and structure maintained by the soul onto the newly created blank brain.
Finally, the soul itself, the little blue flame, Anna's last trace in this world, so fragile, held here only by the rim of the small vial containing it. She could feel its warmth through the glass, so soft, as if she could sense its affection. She pressed the vial against her heart, and even though it was no longer beating, she felt it clench.
Everything was there, the three necessary elements. But it was far from being that simple, she still had to create the ritual that would guide the energy of the rift stone in such a way as to create a satisfactory body for Anna. Apply the power of the iron chrysalidis without damaging Anna's soul. Not to mention controlling the staggering amount of energy that will be used and the inherent risk of using a rift stone. Such power will inevitably destabilise the line between this plane and the edges, or even worse places, so she also had to include a defence element in the ritual...
The pile of documents piling up to her right described the array that would be needed as well as all the other factors to be taken into account. Starting the ritual the moment the sun disappeared below the horizon would be crucial, according to her calculations. She didn't like the idea of taking advantage of the transition from night to day to artificially increase the flow of energy from the rift stone, as twilight would inevitably affect the stability of the ritual. She had thought of solving the problem by finding leylines, drawing on her dark magic, or with the help of power-stones, but all these solutions would damage the solidity of the array's structure. So she would have to make do with the Philosopher's Stone as her only form of energy, and make the most of the twilight...
She glanced out of the window, Hermione was already outside preparing the ground on the other side of the pond. She was neutralising the residual magical ground after smoothing and hardening it... She would soon have to engrave the array in the ground and pour atomically pure liquid silver into it, another thing made possible by the Philosopher's Stone. Iron would have allowed them to use less space because of its strength, but only silver would allow them to obtain the precision they wanted for the array. Ideally, they would have needed a death stone to minimise any interference within the array, but it wasn't something they could easily get their hands on.
Aster reread all the ritual instructions one by one before finally nodding. She placed the philosopher's stone, the iron chrysalidis and the soul vial in a specially prepared box. Then, she grabbed the most powerful array of magecraft she had prepared, she would give them to Hermione later. She would need them to defend the ritual in the event of an incursion. On that point, she didn't really know what to expect. Perhaps some stranded from the edges or soul eaters. A few spirits might be attracted by the intensity of the magic, but these were unlikely to interfere.
She checked everything one last time before leaving the office, her throat tightening, a lump in her stomach, the small box feeling as if it weighed several tonnes in her hands.
oOOOo
In the middle of the clearing, the grassy meadow had changed considerably since the start of the preparation. On the ground was a completely smooth circle of obsidian, engraved with thousands of interconnected runes made of pure silver, forming a heptagram glinting in the evening sunlight filtering through the trees. At each point of the heptagram was a column of obsidian, around which more symbols were spiral-engraved. At the centre of the heptagram was a rectangular block of pure silver, two metres long and one metre high.
Aster stood at Hermione's side, her heart full of determination. Everything was ready, and it wouldn't be long before the sun disappeared below the horizon. Already their shadows stretched across the clearing. "Hermione, whatever happens, do not cross the boundary of the circle, once begun the ritual cannot be interrupted."
Hermione nodded, her lips pursed and her eyes filled with concern. She had put on her battle dress, a pair of tight dark blue canvas trousers and a robe reinforced with mage craft arrays woven into the garment to offer the best possible protection. The void-shield array was around her neck as a necklace, several scrolls were in her hand, and her battle staff was clutched between her fingers, its tip already crackling with magic, no doubt due to her stress. She was ready to deal with any threat that might interrupt the ritual.
Aster's appearance was in stark contrast to Hermione's. She was dressed only in a simple short-sleeved robe made of alchemically pure silver silk. She had purified herself of all outside influences, at least as far as possible, just hoping that Lagaelis didn't act up at the wrong moment. She had immersed herself entirely in a liquid moon solution, which should remove all traces of the magic she had used before the ritual, as well as any disturbing psychic or magical residue. She was wearing nothing but the three central objects of the ritual, and the robe was cold and smooth against her skin, so much so that she felt bare and vulnerable, but she had no intention of letting that sensation unsettle her.
"Are you ready Hermione?"
"I think so."
"It's the first time I've done a ritual like this, there will undoubtedly be unforeseen circumstances, I'm counting on you."
"Just concentrate on the ritual, leave the rest to me."
Aster took one last look at Hermione, her face hard and closed, reminding her of the moment a few months earlier when she had told him to leave her to face Quirrell and Voldemort alone and to escape through the portal. She forced her muscles to relax and stood ready. Only the very top of the sun was above the horizon, so it was only a matter of seconds.
As the sun passed below the horizon, the silver of the array engraved on the ground began to glow with a lunar radiance, the still air gradually taking on a taste of ozone, as if lightning might strike at any moment. The seven pillars shone brighter than the rest, forming lines of light shooting up into the twilight sky. Aster held up the philosopher's stone and proclaimed the formula for initiating the ritual, once these words were spoken, there would be no turning back. "Aeternae portae, aperi! Discidium aperi, scinde mundum!" At these words, Aegis Gloria's array, the most powerful magecraft shield she was capable of creating without destabilising the ritual, materialised in a dome of translucent golden light covering the entire obsidian circle.
The rift stone then began to levitate above her hand, rising slowly into the air until it was several metres high, equidistant from all the pillars, where it came to rest and began to spin faster and faster, luminous links of pure magic forming between it and the five pillars. In its centre, Aster could see a moving shadow growing, gradually erasing the blood-red of the crystal until it was completely black, its shape more like a well of darkness dug right into the fabric of reality. Within it, hundreds of tiny moving lights grew as the energy released by the rift increased with every passing second.
Aster stepped forward to face the obsidian slab at the centre of the heptagram. "Ens efficax inane et cava lamia ad imaginem mentis meae, ad imaginem dilecti mei, trahit a memoria, trahit ab anima." She said, her voice growing louder and louder, exalted by the powerful magic coursing through her veins and her entire being at the centre of a vortex of infinite power. Her voice was thunderous, carried by the terrible winds of an invisible storm. The part of the array corresponding to creation was then charged with magic, so much so that Aster's cursed eye went blind for several seconds, aching, overloaded with light more powerful than a thousand newborn and dying stars.
She felt the magic of the array pressing down on her soul and spirit, telling her to open up, as if the ritual itself had come alive. A titanic presence weighed over her, a superior spirit formed by the complexity of the array and an unprecedented density of magic. A truly immense artificial soul dedicated to the sole task of accomplishing what the array had been designed to do. She let the power enter her mind, a Cyclopean weight on her soul growing as images were drawn from her memories, every moment spent in Anna's company flashing through her mind, from the first time she saw her lost on the edge of the world, death so close to seizing her. Then every moment, soft and hard, all the love she felt for her pressing so hard on her chest that her heart felt like it was going to explode. Her face, her eyes, her shape, everything she knew about Anna was laid bare before the eyes of the terrible entity she had given birth to. The presence in her mind withdrew abruptly, leaving her mind aching and foggy, her ears ringing.
Before her eyes, a spiral of energy descended from the rift stone onto the slab, materialising first the bones, then the tendons, nerves, veins, arteries and muscles of a human form, every anatomically perfect part of it. Until the skin appeared, revealing to her eyes Anna's body, lying on the obsidian, her eyes closed, as if she were asleep. Tears welled up in Aster's eyes, that peaceful face coupled with all the memories that had been brought back to the surface almost unbearable. She wanted to take Anna in her arms, to let her emotions take hold of her, but nothing was ready yet. Tears streaming down her cheeks, her throat knotted, she held up the soul vial that had not been opened for a long time, where a small blue flame still burned.
"Animam tuam dimittam, meamque affixam remanebit, tempore et spatio suspensam, dum universa ad meam voluntatem flectit." She said as she carefully removed the cork, breaking the seal of magic and wax holding the soul in its plane. The flame remained motionless in the air, then, as the next part of the array was activated, it drifted slowly towards Anna's body, until it was floating just above her forehead.
It was then that a flash of light from outside the circle, followed by a thunderclap, caught her attention. The clearing was unrecognisable, floating between the worlds under a starry sky, the surrounding area covered in a thick layer of creeping mist. Movement was visible in the mist, dozens, no, hundreds of stranded were present, clawing at the golden surface of the Aegis Gloria. Their whitish, emaciated bodies gripped by an infinite, devouring hunger, drawn by the presence of such a source of magic and the immense soul to which the ritual had given birth. Within the mists larger forms were moving, strange, twisted figures with countless bright white eyes circling the ritual. Soul eaters of various species, some Aster recognised easily, others she had never seen before. The most terrifying thing was that among them she recognised some of the most monstrous species, which she knew to come exclusively from the chaotic lands of the outer circles of the beyond.
Hermione was just outside the shields, fighting like mad, her battle staff pouring out waves of cursed violet flames devouring the flesh and what was left of the spirits of the stranded ones and repelling the soul devourers with salvo after salvo of dozens of black arrow spells piercing the bodies of the monstrosities, leaving their dying carcasses writhing in terrible spasms before coming to rest in the growing mass grave. From time to time, when one of the most powerful soul-eaters got too close to her, she would draw out one of her scrolls and unleash against them the most powerful magic she and Aster had prepared for just such a scenario. Cones of pure destruction reducing the most terrible of them to dust with an excruciating sound like the blast of a comet. Entire areas of the ground transformed into holes of darkness from which tendrils of emptiness sprang up, moving in all directions to capture and draw into nothingness all things that were above them or too close to them.
Aster could see the sweat on Hermione's brow as she emptied one by one the power stones they had accumulated in powerful spells, while deftly summoning and manipulating her void shield to ward off the soul-eaters' destructive blows and their primitive magic directed against her. A form larger than all the others rose above the mists, a hundred hungry eyes turned towards the ritual, an aura of power surrounding the ancient soul eater. Its clawed arms with countless sharp pseudopods barely had time to rise, however, before Hermione swiftly drew a new parchment and, with a deafening thunderclap, the shockwave causing the Aegis Gloria to clang like a gong, a column of solar fire rained down on it, so powerful that it dissipated some of the mist, revealing for a moment a smoking crater on basalt surrounded by water where stars and charred asphodels shone.
She had to hurry, Hermione wouldn't last forever. Aster brandished the iron chrysalis and exclaimed: "Renascantur catenae de cineribus, ut nexus instituatur et imago imprimatur materiae. Anima sine corpore. Corpus sine anima. CONCILIO." The iron chrysalis then began to vibrate and glow from within with an eerie bluish glow, and then, in a fraction of a second and with a powerful metallic noise, it unfolded. The iron chrysalis had become a metal structure made up of innumerable thin strips of metal reminiscent of the image of Anna's body. The little blue flame levitating above her forehead grew and grew until it formed an intense blaze covering her whole body.
Aster gritted her teeth, she had to stay focused, maintain the attention and intention of the ritual on all these elements, until the iron chrysalis had completely formed the body and the lines of magic from Anna's body to the soul it was about to receive. It was only a matter of time now, but she didn't know whether the alignment of soul and body would take two or thirty minutes... She prayed it would be quick, she couldn't interrupt the ritual without risking her own death, the destruction of Anna's soul and Hermione's death from the explosion of a rift stone sending magic from the beating heart of the universe to their plane at a higher rate than it was supposed to withstand. She could see the soul fire taking the shape of Anna's body more and more precisely, but too slowly...
It was as she watched out of the corner of her eye as Hermione wiped out a group of stranded with a well-placed flash of violet light that she felt something change in the atmosphere. All the stranded and soul eaters had come to a halt, looking around with what Aster could only interpret as alarm. Hermione had also come to a halt, the runes on her battle staff reddened from the energy overload they had endured. Her back was to the Gloria Aegis, her legs bent, visibly shaken. The only movement in the clearing was that of Anna's soul fire slowly combining with her body.
Suddenly, a strange swirling wind arose, the mists slowly rotating around the centre of the ritual. Debris of rock and earth, and even the corpses of some defeated monstrosities, gradually rose from the ground, covering themselves in blooming Asphodel, the petals of which gave off an ominous glow.
At that moment, as if panicked, all the stranded and soul-eating creatures began to run as fast as their bodies would allow, disappearing into the mist one after the other, until there was not a single one of them left in the clearing. An eerie silence fell over them, in the middle of the silent vortex of swirling mists.
Then, as if carried by a gentle breeze, incomprehensible dissonant murmurs were heard. Several distorted voices, at first barely audible, then louder and louder, their nonsensical words clashing with each other, one above the other, like the wind howling in the rocky recesses of a mountain, the earth tearing apart, the murmur of the icy waters of a torrent.
Increasingly distraught, Aster searched the swirling mists in the hope of understanding what was happening.
That's when she spotted one of them, a figure with an indescribable shape made of a dark light brighter than the sun and as dark as the abyss between worlds. The non-light constituting it was iridescent, the mere paradoxical sight of it making her soul scream. Two other silhouettes, similar in their infinite differences, slowly appeared in the mist, all getting closer and closer. At times their form was grotesque humanoid, an imperfect and changing imitation, paradoxical in its very existence. Their finite, infinite forms stood out against the growing shadows of light around them. Tearing at the very fabric of reality with every step they took, in an agonising screech. They were all staring with what Aster had the impression was their faces turned towards the rift stone.
As the dissonant murmurs pierced her skull in unbearable horror, Aster screamed with all her might. "HERMIONE! RUN!"
As the daemons approached, Aster watched in horror as Hermione froze, as immobile as a wax statute, an expression of unspeakable terror etched on her face. Aster felt ridiculous, tiny against the very aura of the approaching daemons, as if she were facing one of the primordial titans whose decomposing corpses she called worlds.
They were already there, their shapeless, ghastly forms emerging from the mists to stop in front of the translucent wall formed by the Aegis gloria, her last barrier, her ultimate protection. Her last hope was shattered, her face contorted in terror as one of them grazed the golden surface. With the deafening sound of breaking glass, it instantly shattered into a million fragments, evaporating into the air in a fine golden mist with Aster's last hope.
At the first step of one of them on the obsidian surface, the first tear rolled down Aster's cheek as the pure silver array shattered under the weight of the shattering reality implied by the mere presence of the abomination.
She fell to her knees, all strength gone from her legs, a strangled howl leaving her throat as, one by one, the daemons crossed the sacred boundary of the obsidian circle to approach the rift stone overlooking the ritual.
Drowning in despair, Aster turned his gaze to the sky, a few distorted stars still visible despite the influence of the daemons in the growing twilight. It was at the sight of this sky that an idea crossed his aching mind. "Lagaelis..." She murmured at first, then, seized by a burst of desperate energy, she stretched out her cursed, black-skinned arm towards the sky and screamed at the top of her voice. "LAGAELIS" For the first few seconds, nothing happened, the diffuse silhouettes of the abominations getting closer and closer, until on the periphery of her vision she saw them come to a halt.
Aster's stupor was broken by a strange sensation on her forehead, then her vision widened, what she was seeing with her Lagaelis-cursed eye so bright with magic suddenly seeming dull in comparison to the detail of what she could see with the third vertical eye that had just opened in the middle of her forehead. With a cracking sound, an immense green line appeared high in the sky, then the two edges parted, forming a titanic eye with a vertical pupil dominating the scene. Its light bathed the clearing in a greenish aura.
"You called me, bearer of my blessing, in desperation you invoked my name. I answered your call." Said a voice that Aster could recognise among a thousand others, that of the Lagaelis avatar she had met a few months earlier in the dreamlands just before her rescue.
She slowly turned her head, discovering that standing not far from her was what she assumed to be an avatar of Lagaelis, their tall, emaciated form concealed beneath their long brown cloak from which protruded only a blacker-than-blackquelletic arm holding a large staff at the end of which hung strange little objects, bones and corvid skulls. Under her hood, she could see thousands of eyes staring at her with amusement in the darkness. "A body, a soul, an iron chrysalis for rebirth, and a rift stone to nourish it all. Now that's a clever ritual. The best there is for an absolute resurrection, little necromancer. I don't suppose these visitors were part of the plan." They said, their eyes crinkling.
"I can't face them, I'd die, and Hermione with me. I beg you, help me." She said desperately.
"It would certainly be a shame for such a beautiful flame to be extinguished here, such wasted potential... Aster Karrasinqi, I will keep the daemons at bay until the ritual ends, and when the rift stone comes out of its overloaded state, the daemons will be banished. In exchange, you will have to pay a price. Do you accept?" He asked as another hand emerged from beneath their ancient cloak to reach out towards her, open, palm facing the sky.
"What price?" she asked in a strangled voice.
"You are one of my most promising anchors on this plane of existence, I offered you an eye, I offered you an arm, you will have to accept a heart."
Like Beatrice, she realised with horror, but could she really afford to refuse? And then, wouldn't it be ridiculous to back out after having gone so far with this entity? As far as she was concerned, the point of no return had already been passed. She grabbed the hand of Lagaelis' avatar and stood up. A fraction of a second later, the air was shaken by a shockwave, a wall of crackling greenish energy sweeping through the surrounding area, pushing the daemon out of the obsidian circle with the ghastly crunch of the fabric of reality tearing in their wake.
The dissonant murmurs died away for a moment, before resuming with greater intensity as the Avatar teleported onto one of the daemons, plunging four of his hands into its shapeless, paradoxical matter to slowly rip open its caleidoscopic entrails. The daemons, previously entirely focused on the rift stone, turned what Aster assumed to be their heads in the direction of the Lagaelis avatar.
With a screech, space-time seemed to bend and distort, the two other daemons appearing immediately on top of Lagaelis, trying to tear off his cloak and pulverise his very essence with frightening power. In the midst of these nightmares of incensed brutality, Lagaelis' form distorted, swelling, his cloak tearing to reveal unfathomable darkness in which Aster could see the reflections of millions of hungry eyes. Dozens of black brambles sprang from his distorted form, shackling and dislocating the bodies of the daemons. But they reformed instantly.
As the battle continued, Aster approached Anna's body, the soul fire growing weaker and weaker, just a few blue reflections on the surface of her skin and a small flame on the forehead. Finally, the soul fire died out completely and the iron chrysalis folded in on itself, resuming its original form. Through her cursed eye, she could see the energy in Anna's body, no longer an empty shell, but her sleeping mother.
She took one last look at the fight between Lagaelis and the daemons, it was impossible to tell who was getting the better of them, each of their blows would have been lethal to any other creature, they were constantly reforming in an infinite battle. She had to put an end to it. Fortunately, the innermost part of the silver array was still intact, and it was easy for her to direct the magic of the ritual there. The moment the dissipation loop array activated, the light left the seven pillars and what remained of the other arrays, the silver returning to its natural appearance.
Above the ritual, the darkness that had invaded the rift stone slowly receded inwards, until an innocent-looking red crystal fell into the palm of her hand. At that moment, as if blown away, the mists dissipated, taking with them the distorted forms of the daemons.
A few seconds later, calm descended on the clearing, and a crescent moon shone high in the sky, far above them, the natural stars. A gentle breeze blew through the trees, and on the other side of the pond she could see their peaceful home, an orange light filtering through the windows.
The clearing was now just her standing on the obsidian, Hermione prostrate on the grass, Anna asleep on the altar and Lagaelis' avatar slowly regaining its form. With a lump in her stomach, Aster approached Hermione and dropped to her knees in front of her, her gaze locked with hers. It was with immense relief that she recognised the gleam in Hermione's eyes instead of the emptiness that all too often demons left in their wake.
"Aster, did we do it? What happened?" Hermione asked as she hugged her.
"Daemons, they nearly made the ritual fail, but we did it, Mum's back."
"Touching" Said a creaky voice. Hermione gasped and turned around briskly
Lagaelis' avatar stood there above them, leaning forward, relying on their staff. They both got to their feet as quickly as they could, Aster stepping in front of Hermione to come between her and Lagaelis.
"The time has come for me to collect my due, approach."
"Aster!? What?" cried Hermione.
Gritting her teeth, Aster walked towards Lagaelis until she was standing straight in front of them.
"Brave one." Lagaelis said, his hooded eyes crinkling with amusement. Before Hermione could react, Aster felt blood drip from the corners of her lips as Lagaelis plunged one of his hands into her chest and ripped out her heart. Despite the pain, Aster felt as if she were frozen, forced to stand. A white flame enveloped her heart and it disappeared from Lagaelis' hand. Lagaelis wasted no time in plunging one of their hands into the dark abyss beneath their cloak and pulled out a black sphere shrouded in an aura of powerful black magic pulsating in a regular rhythm. They inserted it ruthlessly into her chest before withdrawing their hand, leaving only a strange black spiral scar as a vestige.
"We'll meet again soon." They said at last before vanishing into the night.
Lagaelis's spell lifted and Aster collapsed backwards, falling into Hermione's arms. The last thing she saw before the darkness overtook her was the tear-streaked face of her love.