(Author's Note: Thanks so much to everyone reading and supporting my stories! I am a new writer and I'm just over the moon at how many people have read, and liked, and followed my writing in such a short time! I appreciate any feedback, so please vote on this one, and leave any comments for feedback.) (P.S. This one's longer than most. That's what she said.)
Demon, Devil, Spirit, Totem Ch3
The Passage and the Ascension
Cassie stood in the center of the thaumaturgic circle that defined the center of the great library. She felt self conscious standing as the center of attention, wearing nothing under her plain white Ascension robe. She was at her best by herself, or with a few close friends. The magically endowed light stones that usually brightly lit the room had been replaced by torches for the ceremony. It gave the library an eerie, shifting light. All the Ascended students and the Masters were arranged around the circle. The few students at the Abbey that were not yet Ascended had been send to the village cantina with orders to drink as much grappa as they like, and stay in the small guest cottage maintained there. She stood in the center, facing Master Asklepios. The students called him 'Count Dooku' because his beard and deep English voice gave him a definite Christopher Lee vibe, although he was older than the actor by about a century.
Her mentor Ballahrim stepped forward. She was one of the few there not dressed in the black robes of the Ascended, but instead in a bright red and blue wrap. The big Nigerian woman had told Cassie once that if you are a Master who teaches at the Abbey, you can pretty much do whatever you want. "Master Hermes Asklepios, as Mentor to this novice, I present Cassiopeia Kosa for judgement."
Asklepios looked down at Cassie, at least he seemed to, even though he wasn't much taller than her. She had been instructed by him for hours during her stay here, but he still asked, "Has this Novice become proficient in the Twelve?"
"She has, Master. She is ready for the Passage."
"What say you, Novice? Are you prepared to take the Passage?"
Cassie had been coached on how to answer. "I am, Master."
"And if you survive the Passage, are you prepared to take on a Minion and take your place among the Ascended?"
IF I survive? Surely that's an expression
.... "Yes Master, I am ready."
Asklepios clapped his hands together sharply, twice. The torchlight in the library blazed higher and brighter. "Very well. Remember your lessons, and use the Twelve to overcome the Passage. Take as much time as you need; time will move slower for you than for us who await your return. Fortuna!"
With that word, the circle she had been standing on broke in half and fell away. She fell through the immense trap door down into a hole. Though she realized there was illusion involved here, the sensation was that she fell a great many hundred feet in a few seconds. She landed on a giant white feather mattress several feet thick. The circle of light far above her disappeared as the trap door was shut with an echoing bang, leaving her in total darkness.
"Very nice! Very Alice in Wonderland, I get it! Assholes ...." She muttered as she rolled off the mattress into the black. She couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. Her bare feet were stepping on smooth flagstones. She was chilled in her Ascension gown, which was really just a white choir robe.
She calmed herself by taking in a deep breath and letting it out. She listened. Nothing. Snapping her fingers in the darkness, she used the first cantrip she had learned. Bluelight. Instantly her upraised fingers were alight with magical blue flame. She held her hand above her head and surveyed the room. It was round, with walls of plain concrete. The only feature was a pillar of timber over to one side. It was floor to ceiling, and looked like it had been scorched by fire. Snapping her fingers again, she changed the fire from blue to white. Modifying the Bluelight cantrip was one of the first things she did at the Abbey. Her teachers had been impressed at her improvisation. The white light made it a little better to see. Besides the burned wooden pillar, the room was empty. No doors or anything.
I don't get it
. She extinguished the flame to see if there was any light or glow in the dark clues.
Nope. Just black. How can I be stuck on the first room? This sucks, I can't see any.. OH!
She pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes and concentrated. Soon the Cat's Eye cantrip took hold. It felt a lot like putting in contacts. Her eyes were transformed, and now she could see the room in shades of green. And there, on the plain concrete wall, was writing. Pumping her fist, she went over to examine the text. It was made of runes and symbols, ones that would move and change when your eye stopped focusing on that part.
Well this is too easy
, she thought as she cast Read Magic. The shifting lines transformed into simple instructions.
This is the Passage.
Use the Twelve and your lessons to overcome these obstacles.
Now is the time to Cast away your novice robe. You are Novice no longer.
"You fuckers. Really? Literally, I have to lose the robe?" Exasperated, she pulled the plain white robe over her head and flung it away. It lit up in a puff of magical fire and disappeared before it hit the ground. Now she was standing naked next to a giant mattress in a dark dungeoney room. "AND!?!"
The magical writing continued to move around and reform into further instructions.
She slams her fist against the post and still insists she sees the ghost.
Alright, something with the post, then
.
There better not be like a fucking Mad Hatter or some shit down here.
She looked for writing on the wood, but there was none.
Well, let's be literal, then
. "I still insist I see the ghost!" she yelled into the darkness, punching the timber with each word. A bluish fog seeped out of the burned timber. It started to form into a thick cloud of mist, roughly person shaped, in front of her.
Of course
, she thought.
