🕯️Content Warning:
~Emotional distress~
~Dissociation/memory intrusion~
~References to death and sacrifice~
~Brief psychological horror atmosphere~
Nyx
Lux pushed away from him, looking betrayed. "Third most! Who is first and second?" I popped some bacon in my mouth as I watched the impromptu play that was occurring before me. I accepted the bowl of fruit Keir handed me. I munched on the fruit like popcorn. I was eager to see what would happen next.
Putting both hands on Lux's shoulders, Azrail regretfully shared why Lux was third in his heart. "Well, your mother and sister are first place, and second place is classified because I don't wish to get in trouble."
Ooooo plot twist. Why is second place classified? Why would he get in trouble? I was invested in this plot development. Lux looked resigned as he sank back into his chair, then slumped against Korran mournfully.
"Korran, Azrail doesn't love me anymore. Am I adopted?" Korran laughed openly—deep and warm. "Eat your breakfast, first-born." This was apparently a signal for the acting to stop. Lux immediately straightened up and, after giving Keir, Aspen, and me kisses on our heads, Azrail returned to his seat to lounge once more like a pirate on his throne.
I say pirate because he is dressed very much like one today with a tricorn hat and boots. Very rogue of the sea. Nimra began feeding him tidbits of food in what I believe is an attempt to keep him distracted. I smiled into my cup. The laughter around me settled into my bones in that quiet way joy sometimes did when you had once gone too long without it.
The meal had resumed its comfortable conversation. Uncle Cor, Korran, and Nimra were discussing healer staffing at one of the Sanctum branches. Aunt Zira had stepped to the side to discuss with Mrs. June about floral arrangements for an event later today. Unfortunately, Aspen decided now was the perfect time to nag me about getting enough sleep.
This of course triggered Lux to inquire why Aspen was also trying to make me have a bedtime like a child. Keir argued he just wanted to make sure I was eating enough. That he wasn't as controlling as Aspen, who wanted to control my sleep cycles.
Once again, I did not engage. The Azrail rule applied to my brothers when they got like this. I had learned quickly over the months not to comment on anything they said when they decided to pick fights with each other unless I was prepared for rabbit hole conversations.
I rarely got unintentionally caught once I noticed the pattern. We are all mad here. I just like to choose when I go mad. "I'm not trying to control her sleep cycles, Keir." Aspen said with the patient dignity of a man being persecuted by fools. "I said her body needs consistency, Lux."
"Which sounds suspiciously like you telling her when she should go to bed. Do you ever turn your therapist persona off with her anymore? Yes, we found out Nyx's truth, but that didn't mean she regressed mentally," Lux replied.
"I'm caring for my sister as her brother who happens to have medical knowledge. It is not my fault none of you understand basic medical logic." "We understand it well enough," Keir shot back. "We just don't want Nyx to feel like we are controlling her."
I let all the conversations, laughter, and sights of my loving family embrace me like a much-needed hug. I was covertly stealing half of Aspen's sliced berries off his plate when Rakesh appeared in the doorway with a bow.
He didn't bow often, which meant when he did, everyone noticed. His gaze swept the room, calm and respectful. "The first delivery has arrived." The shift in the room was immediate. Everyone, including my cousins, became quiet and focused.
I set my stolen berry back down. "The first batch of ritual materials?" Nimra asked to confirm. "Yes, Matriarch," Rakesh replied. "I've set up everything in the sacred hall for inspection."
Aspen's posture straightened, then he basically consumed everything currently on his plate before downing his coffee. Someone was anxious to go look at the goodies. He was out of his chair and was about to pass Rakesh when Korran stopped his departure.
"Sit back down, Aspen. We will all go inspect the materials. There is no need to rush." Aspen looked like he was considering ignoring Korran, but then came back to the table after a moment.
He sat beside me meditating while the rest of us quietly but quickly finished our food. Once Taen and Rhodri were done eating, as the last to finish eating their fill, Korran pushed back his chair.
"Davi, if you would do the honors," he requested. Nimra nodded, then wrote a sigil for Oph'reth (Passage) on a nearby wall, creating a portal to a space I hadn't seen before. Chairs scraped softly over the floor as everyone rose from their seats.
The easy holiday looseness remained, but there was an air of focus threading through it. I stood with the others, as Korran and Azrail walked through first. We walked through in pairs: Taen and Rhodri, Lux and Keir, Uncle Cornelius and Uncle Hael, Aspen and me, and coming over last was Aunt Zira and Nimra.
We were now in a windowed foyer. The very air was humming with power. Looking around, there wasn't a single sigil, glyph, or artifact in sight. Looking down, I could sense that this hall sat on the edge of a leyline node. Whatever materials this hall was constructed with enabled it to passively absorb the ambient essence.
The moment Aspen was through the portal, he hastily headed into an adjoining room with Uncle Cor, Keir, Nimra, Korran, Azrail, and Uncle Hael following behind him, talking in serious tones.
Lux and Aunt Zira held my cousins and me back from immediately following. They activated and handed each of us a talisman. "Because the three of you are below Veil tier, you will need these talismans to not end up damaging your essence systems from all the ambient essence here."
The talismans were made up of neutral essence crystals. The inscriptions carved into them had the function of absorbing the ambient essence while blocking us from doing so. Once we put the talismans around our necks, we were allowed to follow Lux and Aunt Zira into the adjoining room.
The large room was a weird mix of laboratory and workshop. There were cabinets, closets, shelves, and chests everywhere, filled to the brim with exotic materials and strange contraptions filling them all. I found the main facilitators of the ritual looking through crates on tables to the immediate left and right of the doorway.
It was at this moment that it hit me. We were finally about to achieve the goal we had been striving towards since I was in the clinic. The ritual that had shifted from a memory recovery to a memory exchange. This ritual will create a bridge between Grey and me so we can exchange the memories we each need to fully assimilate with our new worlds and realities.
Relief and anxiety simultaneously warred within me as I dazedly followed behind my excited cousins to look at the building blocks gathered for said ritual. The polished floors reflected the morning light in pale bands as we examined the items inside the boxes that were already open.
Packing straw, velvet-lined trays, bundles wrapped in scented silk, small locked cases, and labeled containers were found everywhere we looked. This was an experience that felt both mystical and clinical at once.
Aspen was examining something on a nearby table on the left side of the room with Uncle Cor. Both had already put on examination gloves. Aspen was holding up a gold brick while Uncle Cor was checking if the quantity ordered was all accounted for.
Nimra and Korran were smelling herbs on the far right side while discussing how to repay this favor to the Reign Clan for their speedy acquisition of these valuable items.
Curious. If I remember correctly, the Reign Clan is on the Shadow Court side of the council, which means my family did not acquire these items openly. I didn't know exactly how I felt about my family using underworld connections to get what I needed, but the overwhelming sense of love from their actions still surprised me.
They are truly serious about doing what it takes to make me whole and healthy here in their world. They aren't just talk. They really accept me as their family. They are even willing to owe a debt to an underworld clan to keep any questions to a minimum.
Nimra, Uncle Hael, and Aunt Zira were reading invoices and divination notes with quiet concentration. I tried not to wonder too hard about where Azrail had gone. I hadn't seen him for the past five minutes, but no one else seemed worried, so I tried not to worry either. I jumped when Keir suddenly appeared beside me with a concerned expression. "You okay?" I nodded automatically. "Yeah."
The look he gave me made it clear he didn't believe my words, but he wasn't going to call me out on my partial untruth—right now anyway. He would circle back within the hour if he sensed I was still not completely okay.
Lux, meanwhile, had drifted toward an open crate with the kind of curiosity that made me wonder if Azrail was cosplaying as Lux. "These things look mildly cursed. What part of the ritual will these be used for?"
Nimra looked up from her huddle at her firstborn with eyes that promised severe consequences. "Do not touch anything in that box. In fact, get away from it." Lux looked at her over his shoulder. "I was just asking a question, Nimra. I was only thinking about touching them."
"I'm aware." Nimra replied simply.
A grinning Azrail strode in through a door on the far wall with my hyped-up cousins in tow. "Touch it, my firstborn. Some things just have to be experienced firsthand. I'm curious if someone with an affinity for death like you would be okay or suffocate like most other people when they touch an Azure Death Blossom. Touch it and let's see what happens."
"Do not encourage him," Uncle Cor interjected, obvious worry showing on his face. Azrail didn't even hesitate to give Uncle Cor double middle fingers. "I can encourage my son however I want. Cornelius, don't try to tell me what to do." Nimra and Uncle Hael must have realized at the same time that Azrail was gearing up to confront Uncle Cor.
Nimra grabbed Uncle Cor, then called over Aunt Zira and Aspen to the side of the room, far away from Azrail. I could hear Nimra confirming the ritual process and who will be needed as participants.
Uncle Hael pulled Azrail to the other side, asking him what he and the kids had been up to in the ritual room. Korran stayed where he was, sorting through the crates like he hadn't noticed the almost confrontation. I didn't doubt he had been ready to intervene if necessary.
Korran is quieter than Azrail in presence most of the time. Yet it is because of the quietness that we can all depend on him to be the stable foundation of our family and enclave.
I drifted over to his side to hook arms with him. "Korran, will you tell me about some of the items here?"
When I smiled up at him, he smiled back before placing a kiss on my forehead. "Of course, dear one. It will be good to familiarize yourself with various materials since you have shown an interest in artifact creation."
Thus began my informative mini lesson in essencecraft materials. I was shown delicate bundles of silver-threaded roots resting on black velvet. Narrow crystal vials filled with what looked like suspended strands of fire. Flat disks etched with concentric sigils.
Small lacquered boxes lined with warding ink. A black stone no larger than my palm that seemed to swallow the light around it instead of reflecting it. Every object felt more mystical than the last.
We eventually were drawn over by the low murmur of Aspen and Uncle Cor. "The essence saturation of these Obsidian Shards looks stable," Uncle Cor said, angling a stone cube toward the light.
"Since we have three batches of the six we planned for, we just need to wait and hope the remaining three batches will arrive in a similar stable condition," Aspen replied. "But since we will need to build a bridge with this ritual to wherever Grey is, I'd prefer we had gotten an additional three batches of Obsidian Shard or a Mythos Heart as backup power sources to be safe."
Nimra nodded from the next row over. "I'll reach out to a contact to see if I can get my hands on a Mythos Heart. If not, I'll get us another three Obsidian Shard batches." Uncle Cor didn't argue, but he looked uneasy when Nimra spoke of her contact. Before I could question if he was okay, his expression shifted, and he gave a nod. "Agreed."
Aunt Zira was examining a bundle of iridescent purple and green wire in the same row as Nimra. She wasn't physically touching it but using essence to hold it up before her piercing eyes. "This Na'loren-root thread should be a good conductor to bridge the various layers of the ritual circle."
"We can begin building the first layer tomorrow, then give it 24 hours to settle before setting down the next layer. What was your last checked sync rate, Nyx? That will give us a rough timeline of how much time we have to build a ritual this complex." Aunt Zira placed the wire back into its box while I checked my watch.
"I'm currently at 79%. So one percent to go. I could reach that any day now." My anxiety that had just begun to calm returned with this acknowledgement. I'm one step away from my goal sync rate.
"Then our planned ritual day will be the 20th. That will give enough time for the rest of the materials to arrive and for us to complete the ritual preparations." Aspen said with a big smile. "You will finally be whole and completely assimilated soon, Moonbeam." He picked me up and spun me to everyone's cheers.
I hadn't noticed that everyone had come closer to listen to what we were talking about. Once Aspen put me down, he went back to conferring with Uncle Cor. With everyone else currently occupied, I followed the light tug on my senses. The tug got stronger as I went around the side of a tall crate.
The edges of the room began to bend, and my smile slowly faded as I was drawn towards the long, open crate lined with dark fabric against the wall. I made my feet stop where I was. My eyesight had improved to the point that I could see from here what was in the crate.
There, nestled in the folded cloth and wrapped in warding paper, lay a bundle of branches.
At first glance, they looked unremarkable. Dark bark. Fine twigs. A few dried leaves still clinging stubbornly to the smaller offshoots. But the moment my eyes landed on them, something inside me tightened. Not fear. Not exactly. No, it was the sensation of my body being forced to remember.
The ache started low in my chest, then shifted to somewhere deeper. Deep enough to uncomfortably tickle my soul.
My surroundings softened further. I was losing my sense of equilibrium. The scent of alchemy, essence, and family was replaced by something colder.
I couldn't stop it. My nose scented night air, damp bark, and a trace of wet earth. My senses told me I was and wasn't still in the workroom of the sacred hall.
Tears welled up in my eyes. A mixture of bitter, faint feelings with a chaser of regret and grief consumed me to the point I had to cover my mouth to swallow the sob that tried to escape.*I don't want to die, but I have to. My sacrifice will save them and bring home the one who will …* The memory was overwhelming me as I involuntarily took a step closer to the crate.
"Nyx?"