Chapter 222: Preparations
21st March 2012, Avalon
(Rose Potter POV)
“You’re right, I’ve been downplaying my pain, my fear. It’s agonizing watching everything around me and only seeing how to burn it to the ground. I see this beautiful realm, and all I can see, is how to collapse it into nothing, taking everything with it. It’s horrible, but I have been pushing myself, because these are the last days I could have as a human, and I do not want to waste them.”
Before Rose could respond, something emerged from the shadows. It was a bird that reminded her eerily of Fawkes the phoenix, but instead of the heartwarming light that the phoenix emanated, this one had a distinct feeling of cold darkness. It was the complete opposite of the immortal bird that had mysteriously vanished alongside Dumbledore.
Jasmine, though, seemed to recognize the bird, “It’s been a while old friend.”
She raised her hand and the bird slowly landed on it and gave her a soft cry. The cry itself was comforting in a different way than Fawkes’. It was like eating a bowl of ice cream in the middle of summer, drinking a cold beer by the beach.
Rose had no idea what type of bird this was. Perhaps it was another species that was hunted to extinction on Earth and whose details were lost to the sands of time, “So, who’s this little guy?”
The bird for some reason glared at her, and Jasmine let out a snort of laughter, “This, Rose, is Erebus. He’s my familiar and oldest companion. He’s a phoenix, like Fawkes, but instead of the elements of light and fire, he’s the phoenix of darkness and shadows. He’s been with me for thousands of years, and we’ve been through thick and thin together. I have no idea what I would have done without him.”
That was odd; if the phoenix was that important to her sister, then why didn’t Rose ever see him? “How come I’ve never seen him around then, if he’s your familiar?”
Jasmine snorted, “Phoenixes are birds of freedom. They act as anchors to the phoenix force when a new avatar is being selected. They stabilize the phoenix force for them to use it without being overwhelmed. A shard of a fraction of the power of a cosmic entity like that would overwhelm anyone. The way they perceive things, the way they think, is just more than anyone, mortal, God, demon or even celestial, could ever attempt to understand. Which is why they need a buffer to stabilize their powers. In my case, Death gave me artifacts to be able to channel her power properly, and in this case, the phoenix force is a being of death and rebirth, a being of progress and evolution, and you can’t evolve without living, thus its anchors take the forms of living beings.”
“Still, I don’t understand why I haven’t seen him before today.”
“It’s easy, calling Erebus my familiar is something of an over exaggeration. He’s simply my friend, my oldest friend. I do not own him, meaning that each of us have their own lives. We do meet up every few decades, but we’re not as attached as we were when I was younger, when we were alone. I have my life with Selene and the roles I played in history, and Erebus has a life with his mate. Still, even if they act as anchors on Earth, they moved here a few years ago, when Jean’s power started to manifest to be exact.”
Rose why confused, “Why is that?”
“It’s a little complicated. You see, there are many phoenixes acting as anchors to the Phoenix force. They each represent an aspect of the cosmic entity. Erebus here, represents the will for destruction, the death that the entity causes. However, a few decades back, Albus Dumbledore did something unspeakable, something horrible, he tried to steal the essence of Fawkes, a phoenix of light and fire. I killed him for it, but this created an imbalance and with the avatar of the phoenix force slated to emerge soon, they would have been influenced more by their powers towards death and violence. It’s why Erebus had to leave the realm, this way, without the two anchors, while she’ll be a little unstable, she will not be constantly homicidal. It’s why I went to Bayville in the first place. I needed to keep an eye on Jean during her formative years, so that she’s balanced enough to not be a constant risk to the planet.”
This was news to Rose. She had known of Jean’s role as the avatar of the Phoenix force, and that Charles Xavier almost caused her powers to overwhelm her and turn into a homicidal cosmically empowered murder machine. There had been no mention of cosmic imbalance due to Albus Dumbledore of all things. Speaking of the old man, did he seriously kill his own phoenix while trying to steal its powers? Seriously, what the fuck was wrong with that man? This was horrible enough to be on par with killing a unicorn.
Rose instead looked at the majestic bird in front of her, “It’s nice to meet you Erebus.”
The phoenix let out a soft cry that the young witch recognized as another greeting.
Jasmine though, was giving her familiar a warm smile, “He must have noticed how stressed I am with the task ahead. He probably wants to know if I’m okay.”
The bird sent her sister a soft hoot. Jasmine responded immediately, “yeah, I’m scared too, but it’s the only way to fix me.”
Erebus let out a mournful cry. Jasmine asked, “will you accompany me, until it’s time.”
The bird’s head bobbed up and down, showing his confirmation. Jasmine gave the bird a sad look before brightening up. It was obviously a forced expression, but Rose chose to ignore it for her sister’s benefit, “Well, with that done, there’s still a small problem. The main ingredient of the ritual is missing. Would you like to come with me to collect it. It’s the core of the ritual, its main component, really.”
“Seriously, and you didn’t think to get it until now?”
“It needed to be collected less than three days before the ritual itself. If done before that, it could die without constant nourishment from the Earth’s magic.”
Rose was still skeptical about this mystery ingredient, “And what is it, exactly.”
“Why don’t I show you instead?”
Rose nodded and Jasmine took out the key and pointed it towards the wall next to her. A golden keyhole appeared out of nowhere and swallowed the key, creating a golden door, an exit to the realm of Avalon. It was intimidating, in a way, that one day, she’ll be responsible for all of this. Finally, the two witches and the immortal bird went through the portal, returning to Earth.
Jasmine closed the door and retrieved the key. She then created some sort of thin golden thread and put the key on it. It was now a necklace that held the key to Avalon. She then handed the key over to Rose.
The younger witch was stupefied at the gesture, “What? Why?”
“You’re the heir to Avalon, Rose. It’s only right that you have a key to the place.”
“What about you? Will you never be able to go there?”
Jasmine let out a small chuckle, “Darling, I created the dimension, I can travel there without using the key as an anchor. One day, when you’re familiar enough with this place, and you’ve grown enough in your magic to make multidimensional portals, you’ll be able to do the same. As for now, I’m trusting you with this key, a gate to the closest thing to a magical utopia in the universe. You can now go there and do as you wish in Avalon. You can even access the library, but not the Vault; some of the artifacts can be very dangerous. I’ll need to help you get familiar with their history and powers before I give you unrestricted access to them.”
Rose was flattered with the trust her elder sister had given her with this key. It was similar to heir rings that the pompous purebloods still give their heirs to allow them access to the wards of their household, and the family library. The practice was supposed to happen when the lord of the house deemed his heir to have the maturity necessary to not misuse their perks, but sadly, it just became a symbol of status in the later years, and the heir rings were stripped of their enchantments and given to the lords’ children right before they go to Hogwarts. It just became a way for heirs to recognize one another and a sign for other students to not anger them to avoid any retaliation from the lords of their houses.
Still, this was a nice gesture from Jasmine, and one that Rose wasn’t going to take for granted, “I will not betray your trust, Jasmine.”
Rose’s sister gave her a warm smile, “The thought never even crossed my mind.”
With that done, the younger witch’s thoughts returned to the mystery ingredient. It had to be something big, something powerful, to be the core of a ritual that even Jasmine was wary of, “So, where exactly is this ingredient?”
“Well, we’re going to Missouri.”
Wait what? Before she could say anything, Erebus flew at her and created a cloud of darkness to teleport them. The young witch felt a shiver go through her. It wasn’t because of the cold. She felt small, powerless in front of the shadows. All of this occurred in a fraction of a second. The feeling of the unnatural coldness disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and when Rose opened her eyes, she found herself in some sort of small woods in the middle of nowhere.
“What the hell, Jasmine?”
The woman is question was cackling in laughter, “Don’t blame me, it’s Erebus who got us here.”
The young witch gave the immortal bird a glare. Erebus didn’t seem intimidated by the slightest; he just rolled his eyes and turned to his old friend, “Fine, very funny. Now, where are we?”
Jasmine controlled herself and answered a question, “Like I said before, we’re in Missouri.”
“And why are we in Missouri? The climate and magic density aren’t unique enough for any special herb to grow, let alone something to help in something as important as the ritual that you’re planning. There are no ley lines running underneath here, no holy lands, nothing of interest.”
Jasmine chuckled, “Yes, and it was why this place was chosen in the first place. It’s deceptively a place that no one would look twice at. What I’m looking for is unique to this planet. You will literally not find it anywhere else.”
“That’s enough mystery, what is it?”
Jasmine just knelt down and started digging with her hand towards the patch of grass and dirt beneath her. Slowly, a shape started to appear. It was one of the weirdest plants she had ever seen, and Rose had studied herbology at Hogwarts. It was exotic, in a way. It was obviously artificial; no natural plant ever looked like this. It had odd red petals that looked stiff and yet had an odd geometry. It wasn’t moving but it had a subtle glow to it. The closer Rose got to it, the more she could feel its power.
It wasn’t magic, not really, but it was some sort of energy that far eclipsed it in power and density. Now that she could feel it properly, it was amazing how well the little plant was able to hide its energy output. Every single thing that is charged with any energy will let some of it out, it was a fact with magic just as it was with all other kinds of energy. Perfect insulation is almost impossible. With that said, this is as close as Rose ever imagined perfect energy insulation to be. It was like someone had hid the entirety of Hogwarts inside this plant and yet the energy loss was almost unnoticeable.
All in all, Rose had no idea what the hell this thing was, “What is that?”
“That, my dear sister, is a seedling of one of the most powerful beings in the universe.”
Chapter 222: Preparations
21st March 2012, Avalon
(Rose Potter POV)
“You’re right, I’ve been downplaying my pain, my fear. It’s agonizing watching everything around me and only seeing how to burn it to the ground. I see this beautiful realm, and all I can see, is how to collapse it into nothing, taking everything with it. It’s horrible, but I have been pushing myself, because these are the last days I could have as a human, and I do not want to waste them.”
Before Rose could respond, something emerged from the shadows. It was a bird that reminded her eerily of Fawkes the phoenix, but instead of the heartwarming light that the phoenix emanated, this one had a distinct feeling of cold darkness. It was the complete opposite of the immortal bird that had mysteriously vanished alongside Dumbledore.
Jasmine, though, seemed to recognize the bird, “It’s been a while old friend.”
She raised her hand and the bird slowly landed on it and gave her a soft cry. The cry itself was comforting in a different way than Fawkes’. It was like eating a bowl of ice cream in the middle of summer, drinking a cold beer by the beach.
Rose had no idea what type of bird this was. Perhaps it was another species that was hunted to extinction on Earth and whose details were lost to the sands of time, “So, who’s this little guy?”
The bird for some reason glared at her, and Jasmine let out a snort of laughter, “This, Rose, is Erebus. He’s my familiar and oldest companion. He’s a phoenix, like Fawkes, but instead of the elements of light and fire, he’s the phoenix of darkness and shadows. He’s been with me for thousands of years, and we’ve been through thick and thin together. I have no idea what I would have done without him.”
That was odd; if the phoenix was that important to her sister, then why didn’t Rose ever see him? “How come I’ve never seen him around then, if he’s your familiar?”
Jasmine snorted, “Phoenixes are birds of freedom. They act as anchors to the phoenix force when a new avatar is being selected. They stabilize the phoenix force for them to use it without being overwhelmed. A shard of a fraction of the power of a cosmic entity like that would overwhelm anyone. The way they perceive things, the way they think, is just more than anyone, mortal, God, demon or even celestial, could ever attempt to understand. Which is why they need a buffer to stabilize their powers. In my case, Death gave me artifacts to be able to channel her power properly, and in this case, the phoenix force is a being of death and rebirth, a being of progress and evolution, and you can’t evolve without living, thus its anchors take the forms of living beings.”
“Still, I don’t understand why I haven’t seen him before today.”
“It’s easy, calling Erebus my familiar is something of an over exaggeration. He’s simply my friend, my oldest friend. I do not own him, meaning that each of us have their own lives. We do meet up every few decades, but we’re not as attached as we were when I was younger, when we were alone. I have my life with Selene and the roles I played in history, and Erebus has a life with his mate. Still, even if they act as anchors on Earth, they moved here a few years ago, when Jean’s power started to manifest to be exact.”
Rose why confused, “Why is that?”
“It’s a little complicated. You see, there are many phoenixes acting as anchors to the Phoenix force. They each represent an aspect of the cosmic entity. Erebus here, represents the will for destruction, the death that the entity causes. However, a few decades back, Albus Dumbledore did something unspeakable, something horrible, he tried to steal the essence of Fawkes, a phoenix of light and fire. I killed him for it, but this created an imbalance and with the avatar of the phoenix force slated to emerge soon, they would have been influenced more by their powers towards death and violence. It’s why Erebus had to leave the realm, this way, without the two anchors, while she’ll be a little unstable, she will not be constantly homicidal. It’s why I went to Bayville in the first place. I needed to keep an eye on Jean during her formative years, so that she’s balanced enough to not be a constant risk to the planet.”
This was news to Rose. She had known of Jean’s role as the avatar of the Phoenix force, and that Charles Xavier almost caused her powers to overwhelm her and turn into a homicidal cosmically empowered murder machine. There had been no mention of cosmic imbalance due to Albus Dumbledore of all things. Speaking of the old man, did he seriously kill his own phoenix while trying to steal its powers? Seriously, what the fuck was wrong with that man? This was horrible enough to be on par with killing a unicorn.
Rose instead looked at the majestic bird in front of her, “It’s nice to meet you Erebus.”
The phoenix let out a soft cry that the young witch recognized as another greeting.
Jasmine though, was giving her familiar a warm smile, “He must have noticed how stressed I am with the task ahead. He probably wants to know if I’m okay.”
The bird sent her sister a soft hoot. Jasmine responded immediately, “yeah, I’m scared too, but it’s the only way to fix me.”
Erebus let out a mournful cry. Jasmine asked, “will you accompany me, until it’s time.”
The bird’s head bobbed up and down, showing his confirmation. Jasmine gave the bird a sad look before brightening up. It was obviously a forced expression, but Rose chose to ignore it for her sister’s benefit, “Well, with that done, there’s still a small problem. The main ingredient of the ritual is missing. Would you like to come with me to collect it. It’s the core of the ritual, its main component, really.”
“Seriously, and you didn’t think to get it until now?”
“It needed to be collected less than three days before the ritual itself. If done before that, it could die without constant nourishment from the Earth’s magic.”
Rose was still skeptical about this mystery ingredient, “And what is it, exactly.”
“Why don’t I show you instead?”
Rose nodded and Jasmine took out the key and pointed it towards the wall next to her. A golden keyhole appeared out of nowhere and swallowed the key, creating a golden door, an exit to the realm of Avalon. It was intimidating, in a way, that one day, she’ll be responsible for all of this. Finally, the two witches and the immortal bird went through the portal, returning to Earth.
Jasmine closed the door and retrieved the key. She then created some sort of thin golden thread and put the key on it. It was now a necklace that held the key to Avalon. She then handed the key over to Rose.
The younger witch was stupefied at the gesture, “What? Why?”
“You’re the heir to Avalon, Rose. It’s only right that you have a key to the place.”
“What about you? Will you never be able to go there?”
Jasmine let out a small chuckle, “Darling, I created the dimension, I can travel there without using the key as an anchor. One day, when you’re familiar enough with this place, and you’ve grown enough in your magic to make multidimensional portals, you’ll be able to do the same. As for now, I’m trusting you with this key, a gate to the closest thing to a magical utopia in the universe. You can now go there and do as you wish in Avalon. You can even access the library, but not the Vault; some of the artifacts can be very dangerous. I’ll need to help you get familiar with their history and powers before I give you unrestricted access to them.”
Rose was flattered with the trust her elder sister had given her with this key. It was similar to heir rings that the pompous purebloods still give their heirs to allow them access to the wards of their household, and the family library. The practice was supposed to happen when the lord of the house deemed his heir to have the maturity necessary to not misuse their perks, but sadly, it just became a symbol of status in the later years, and the heir rings were stripped of their enchantments and given to the lords’ children right before they go to Hogwarts. It just became a way for heirs to recognize one another and a sign for other students to not anger them to avoid any retaliation from the lords of their houses.
Still, this was a nice gesture from Jasmine, and one that Rose wasn’t going to take for granted, “I will not betray your trust, Jasmine.”
Rose’s sister gave her a warm smile, “The thought never even crossed my mind.”
With that done, the younger witch’s thoughts returned to the mystery ingredient. It had to be something big, something powerful, to be the core of a ritual that even Jasmine was wary of, “So, where exactly is this ingredient?”
“Well, we’re going to Missouri.”
Wait what? Before she could say anything, Erebus flew at her and created a cloud of darkness to teleport them. The young witch felt a shiver go through her. It wasn’t because of the cold. She felt small, powerless in front of the shadows. All of this occurred in a fraction of a second. The feeling of the unnatural coldness disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and when Rose opened her eyes, she found herself in some sort of small woods in the middle of nowhere.
“What the hell, Jasmine?”
The woman is question was cackling in laughter, “Don’t blame me, it’s Erebus who got us here.”
The young witch gave the immortal bird a glare. Erebus didn’t seem intimidated by the slightest; he just rolled his eyes and turned to his old friend, “Fine, very funny. Now, where are we?”
Jasmine controlled herself and answered a question, “Like I said before, we’re in Missouri.”
“And why are we in Missouri? The climate and magic density aren’t unique enough for any special herb to grow, let alone something to help in something as important as the ritual that you’re planning. There are no ley lines running underneath here, no holy lands, nothing of interest.”
Jasmine chuckled, “Yes, and it was why this place was chosen in the first place. It’s deceptively a place that no one would look twice at. What I’m looking for is unique to this planet. You will literally not find it anywhere else.”
“That’s enough mystery, what is it?”
Jasmine just knelt down and started digging with her hand towards the patch of grass and dirt beneath her. Slowly, a shape started to appear. It was one of the weirdest plants she had ever seen, and Rose had studied herbology at Hogwarts. It was exotic, in a way. It was obviously artificial; no natural plant ever looked like this. It had odd red petals that looked stiff and yet had an odd geometry. It wasn’t moving but it had a subtle glow to it. The closer Rose got to it, the more she could feel its power.
It wasn’t magic, not really, but it was some sort of energy that far eclipsed it in power and density. Now that she could feel it properly, it was amazing how well the little plant was able to hide its energy output. Every single thing that is charged with any energy will let some of it out, it was a fact with magic just as it was with all other kinds of energy. Perfect insulation is almost impossible. With that said, this is as close as Rose ever imagined perfect energy insulation to be. It was like someone had hid the entirety of Hogwarts inside this plant and yet the energy loss was almost unnoticeable.
All in all, Rose had no idea what the hell this thing was, “What is that?”
“That, my dear sister, is a seedling of one of the most powerful beings in the universe.”
