CH51 - Nexum Aeternum

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

"Do they actually help you? The breathing techniques, I mean," the speaker asked absentmindedly as she continued her preparations.

"I'm not sure, honestly," Edmund replied. "Even if they don't calm me down, they give me something else to think about, at least for a couple of seconds."

"And after that, you get even more worked up and anxious. You realize that what felt like an hour to you has only been a few minutes, and you've given yourself false hope that time has passed for no reason," the speaker countered in a harsh mutter.

Edmund laughed at that.

"You sound like someone arguing with their therapist about how all their recommended strategies are bullshit and ineffective for someone like them," he teased with a grin.

The speaker smiled ruefully. "You're not far off. Ronan has nagged me about overworking more often than I can count. When he was a foal, the utter disregard he felt towards the hierarchy of our tribe was liberating for me in some ways. Now, he treats me like another one of his charges who have been caught doing something they shouldn't be. Every day, I wonder why I underestimated the headaches he would bring me when I appointed him our healer."

Both of them chuckled before falling silent again.

"Thanks," Edmund expressed sincerely.

The speaker was a closed-off individual, used to only her own thoughts for company. Opening up in such a way and revealing an embarrassing anecdote was uncharacteristic of her. It spoke to her social growth over the past months that she was willing to do such a thing to occupy Edmund's mind with something other than what was distressing him.

"I don't know what you mean," the speaker dismissed, though the edges of her lips curling up contradicted her words.

Rather than succumbing to his negative thoughts, Edmund decided to keep the conversation moving forward.

"Are you sure that the animals in the vicinity won't be affected the way they were during the ritual of opening?" Edmund tried to confirm.

"I'm sure," she reassured calmly. "The magic that will fill the air tonight will be leagues different than what you experienced in the past. Beltane is about the fertilization and growth of new life on the planet. It is not about killing. Even the most vicious of animals will be peaceful tonight. You have nothing to fear."

Edmund only glanced at her instead of responding and turned away once more.

"Beasts will be beasts, driven by their animalistic intuitions," the speaker reiterated. "But these instincts within magical creatures will be first and foremost dictated by their magic itself. You must trust me on this."

"I do trust you. Of course, I do. That's why I'm here. It's just hard for me to match the image in my head with the one you're describing. You have to admit that the concept defies belief," Edmund explained.

She scoffed in response. "Yes, well, it's hard to believe that an otherworlder exists either, yet the proof stands before me."

Edmund rubbed the back of his neck before his eyes suddenly opened in concern.

"Will the ritual be affected by that in any way? Will the earth understand what I am and be alright with that? I am asking it for a lot this time," he hastily questioned.

"It's hard to say," the speaker admitted.

"What?" Edmund's eyebrows climbed his forehead in disbelief.

"That does not mean the possibility has not been accounted for," she added before Edmund could panic fully. "Why did you think I was planning to sacrifice my blood when the magic for the ritual was meant to be supplied by the earth? Doing so will let mother magic know that you are under my protection. It will signify that I trust you."

"Thereby fooling it?" he asked with a frown.

"Mother magic cannot be fooled," the speaker clicked her tongue irritatedly. "I do not know how the earth regards you. Clearly, its sacred energy passes through you easily enough. However, that may be solely because your body has been designed to channel it. What does mother magic think of you as a person? Do you exist as a rare anomaly of sorts, or is your presence an unknown hole in its perception?"

Edmund contemplated the questions, unable to come up with any answer better than an educated hypothesis. The speaker took this as her cue to continue.

"Over my years on this planet, I have forged a connection with it. By sacrificing my essence, I plead with the earth to heed the call of one of its favoured. It is not impossible that your request would be answered without this, but it is doubtful," she lectured.

"So if I just went up to a random centaur and managed to obtain some of their blood..." he half questioned, though he already knew the answer.

"I am no 'random' centaur, though, am I?" the speaker laughed.

"No," Edmund agreed. "Have you decided on a name for the set, by the way?"

"Yes, I believe so. The nexum aeternum is what I have dubbed it," she declared proudly.

"The eternal connection, huh? Taking it pretty literally, if I do say so myself," Edmund said slowly, consideringly.

"There's no need to be unnecessarily flowery when simple words get the job done. It's easily understandable!" the speaker defended in a tone of mock aggrievement.

"True, true," Edmund smiled.

Several minutes passed with no incidence when strange happenings began to occur.

Edmund's hair began to rise all over his body, standing perpendicularly. His skin, no more exposed, felt almost electrified as though it was a live wire. His mind, usually impeccably sharp, grew hazy and dull.

"Careful now," the speaker warned. "Keep your wits about you."

Edmund startled, employing his occlumency in full force instinctively. It was the wrong move to make. The effects on his mind became heavier, making him even more unnaturally relaxed.

The speaker chuckled. "Occlumency shields the mind from attacks, both external and internal. However, like all magical disciplines, it still functions through a little magic. Trying to use magic to prevent the effects it has on you is not the brightest of ideas, Edmund."

He struggled mentally, the speaker's words only making his grimace grow.

"Relax. Give in to it. This is the magic of Beltane. It will not harm you. Once we get started, you will understand," she continued without waiting for a response. "Up, up, into the circle you get. We haven't got much time now."

Feeling wobbly, Edmund stumbled to the location he was meant to sit. Even in his instability, he ensured that his garments were kept clean, or at least relatively so.

Over the past week, Edmund had hunted several creatures of the forest with the speaker's tutelage. He had learned how to hunt efficiently and to kill without causing the creature pain. With the carcasses of the beasts he had, he used every single part he could. The skins and furs were transformed into the clothes he was wearing. Their blood was mixed into the paint smeared onto his body in delicate patterns. The meat was consumed slowly, while the bones were boiled in a broth before being buried. A scant few were implemented into necklaces, similar to the ones the speaker herself wore.

At the moment, Edmund looked more like a beast than a man.

Would the preparations help him in a significant way? Who knew? Ritual magic was all about expressing one's intent. The speaker believed that showing his utmost respect for the creations of mother magic would endear Edmund to it. He, in turn, had not opposed even the slightest of chances that such a thing would aid him.

Once he found his place, the speaker began chanting immediately. Soft and slow, sometimes loud and commanding. Her tone and words fluctuated wildly, as did the magic around her. Each phrase was followed by the ending "for mother magic" in Latin. It was essentially the unifying theme of the ritual in its entirety. When it came time to do so, Edmund joined her with his own words, the foreign syllables trickling from him with ease. Although he could not be certain what they meant, he could sense the emotions that the words evoked.

As the magic built up, it carried away Edmund's anxieties like a calm breeze, lifting him from a weight he had not known was present.

At the apex of the chants, a rush of magic pooled around Edmund, its motions oddly lifelike. It maintained a distance of several centimetres for a few seconds, seemingly hesitant. Slowly, it advanced Edmund's way, touching his skin gently. There was a sudden feeling of acceptance before Edmund was too wrapped up in the changes to his internals to pay attention any longer.

His eyes closed.

*-*-*-*

- (Scene Break) -

*-*-*-*

When Edmund's consciousness came to next, it was not within his body at all.

Although he could see himself sitting in the circle, the speaker off to the side, he could not move his gaze, turn, or even blink. He watched as his clothes ruffled in an invisible wind, his skin glowing brighter as if a light was shining from within him. Although he felt strangely disconnected from his body, he could still feel everything that was happening.

An out-of-body experience aided by mother magic itself.

The world anchor felt as though it had wrapped him up in a cloud. His mind, body, and soul had all come out of the experience revitalized, feeling better than ever.

The nexum aeternum, however, penetrated every pore of his skin like a battering ram. Once inside, the magic scoured him from top to bottom, ensuring it reached every cell, every atom that made up Edmund's being. Only when it was satisfied that no part of him had been missed did the process begin.

*-*-*-*

The nerves in his brain and spine flashed in and out of sensation in rapid succession. The magic was entering each of the neurons, creating a magically accessible gate that he could command to turn on and off at will. It was granting him absolute control over what parts of his body he wanted to work and what information he wanted to receive from them.

The ability would have countless uses but could prove to be equally terrifying.

Edmund could cut off his pain receptors at a crucial time to allow him to focus. However, he may not realize a part of his body is in distress that needs to be relieved immediately.

He could turn off the receivers of external stimuli during his work for better concentration and efficiency. However, that would leave him more open to being ambushed.

It had the potential to be extremely useful but also extremely deadly. Each enhancement he could make would have some sort of drawback. It was a balancing act. The ability was explicitly designed in such a way as to be a monkey's paw. A sacrifice would always have to be made for gain.

The power was only made to be used in dire need during exceptional circumstances, but its abilities were astonishing.

*-*-*-*

His skin, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth were next to be targeted. The effect of the magic was simple, but its manner of achieving its goals was mesmerizing. Energy caressed each of the parts of his body responsible for his five senses, stimulating them to grow and expand. The process subtly enhanced them. Not enough to make Edmund superhuman, but plenty to give him a definitive edge.

He would not see a fly crawling on the wall in clear detail, but maneuvering through the dark or distinguishing between tens of voices would no longer challenge him.

*-*-*-*

The energy turned to the one place he had not felt yet. As it entered his very core, Edmund could feel his soul filling him up like a balloon. However, the magic seemed uninterested in the center of his soul and more focused on the edges of it. Paying more attention, Edmund could feel hundreds of metaphysical vacuums within him, sucking in the magic from his surroundings before feeding it to his body to channel.

Slowly, these openings were sealed, causing Edmund's eyes to widen. Without them, he would no longer be magical.

However, his concerns were quickly assuaged.

As he breathed in, magic entered his body alongside the air he needed to live. He could feel it coursing through him, affecting him like a storm, refreshing and shocking. It fed directly into his body, unfiltered, raw, and oh-so-powerful.

In place of the small openings he previously had, a singular, massive one had been created that seemed to extend down into the earth itself.

It was a new power source, one he could never be cut off from.

No matter where Edmund went, his connection to the roots of magic would follow. It was a true honour; one Edmund could not be sure had ever been granted to someone else.

Still looking down on himself from above, Edmund mentally thanked the powers that be for the gift they had bestowed upon him. A faint approving pulse was the only reply he got before all feeling left him once more.

*-*-*-*

Edmund could sense the ground below him chafing against his back persistently. The air was thick, still permeated with the after-effects of what had just occurred.

Opening his eyes, Edmund began to laugh. He laughed and laughed until he coughed and hacked like a madman. Even then, he continued laughing all the same.

A link had been formed. A bond that would remain in perpetuity. An eternal connection.