60 Ritual of Affinity
985 Words
"Now let me gather up all the materials first and we'll go ahead with the procedure."
Haruna's room was unrecognizable. She had draped it with tapestries of velvet and white, and it was filled with every flower that grew around the village. She took all the flowers given to her and arranged them in the room. It didn't look like any room in Wayward, she used may have used magic to make it look like a princess' room.
"Impressive..."
"What that? That's nothing. We used to have competitions with my classmates who can make the best rooms. You should have seen Celonia's. She had ice sculptures in them. Now, can you sit in the circle whilst I prepare my reagents and materials?"
Janus found a spot on the floor with a huge circle inscribed in it.
"Don't worry, that's just a practice area for meditation. Nothing is gonna happen to you under that magical circle. Well, nothing yet." She said.
"That sounds reassuring."
"So where did you get that book spells?"
It was a copy of Simple Cantrips and Patterns for Weaving Arcana. Book of Basics. First Edition. Haruna had a similar book on one of her shelves, but it looked bigger and heavier.
"I found it in the castle library."
"You're lying. That book is exclusive only for mages registered under the Arcanum. Not even royal libraries have access to that."
Janus thought so. Well, he couldn't admit he had a magic ring with virtually unlimited books now, can he?
"I stole it from my brother."
"Serves him right." She laughed.
She went around and prepared candles on each corner of the room. The scent of flowers and berries filled Janus and it calmed his nerves. Sweet but not too overbearing. Fresh like a fine day of spring.
She went down on her knees and wrote lines along the floor. In her hands was a piece of chalk that looked like a crystal. It glittered and left sparkling lines on the floor.
"You're gonna have to pay me for using up all this chalk. It's really hard to convince the father to get more of this, and I'm running out."
"I'll arrange something." He said.
Her hands were very steady, never shaking at all. Her hair flowed and weaved along with her limbs as she inscribed archaic geometric patterns along the floor. Straight lines and ninety-degree angles danced along with runes that looked like scribbles and zigzag racing through the floor. As soon as she was done there was a faint pulsing of energy on the ground.
Haruna sat in front of him face-to-face in a flatteringly close distance. He could smell her perfume of citrus and gooseberries. The dim light of the candles and the look in her eyes reminded him of how pretty she really was.
"Now take a deep breath and close your eyes, don't open them until I say so or we'll have to do it again, and you'll have wasted a lot of my time."
Janus did as he was told, as soon as he closed his eyes he was disoriented. He was sure that his eyes were closed but he could see something. It was as if he was in a space somewhere, he could sense depth and distance in three dimensions. He was at the middle of it. There were faint lines in the outer edges of the space similar to the inscriptions on the ground.
"Now I'm going to start the ritual. Keep closing your eyes, no matter what you see or whatever happens. Do I have your word on this?"
"Yes, my lady."
"Good. Now. One. Two. Three."
Haruna started a chant that seemed to mimic Latin but then turned into words of long syllables to short whizzing sounds that were hardly audible. He felt a strong energy release from the circles and felt a finger touch his forehead.
A flash of light like a thousand beads scattered across his vision. They moved and stretched outward like swelling of stars and galaxies. This was similar to what he witnessed when he touched Haruna's conjured ball, but now it seemed like the balls were as large as he was. He was but one star amongst an ocean of them. And they were reaching out into the endless void.
He could feel his breath racing, his blood coursing through his veins. He felt every single emotion, sadness, despair, euphoria, triumph. He saw every single color, even ones that were new to him. The ring in his finger shivered, vibrating like a mobile phone alarming him to wake up.
The light was so bright that he was tempted to open his eyes. He heard a scream, and everything returned back to normal.
There was a knock on the door.
"Hey! Is everything okay? Lady Haruna?"
"Prince... open your eyes, hide under the bed." Haruna whispered.
"What? Haruna why----"
She shoved him under the bed with an ethereal force of the wind. Haruna stood up and answered the door like nothing happened.
"Yes?"
"Lady Haruna? Is everything alright? We heard a scream, and thought that we should check." It was Yvaine.
"Wait, you look sweaty and out of breath, are you well?
"Oh no, no I'm fine. I was just having a bad dream. You shouldn't worry about me. It happens sometimes, a side effect of studying magic."
"Are you sure? Is there anything you need at all?"
Janus peeked. She wasn't alone, behind her was Dessa who was in their nightclothes. If anyone heard them, it would be these two. The women slept in the same building after all.
Dessa looked shocked, she was staring at the book Janus had brought.
Oh no.
"Nothing at all. I'm fine. I have tea with me. Perhaps that would clear out my mind. You need not worry Princess, though I appreciate your concern."
"Very well then. Call us when you need anything okay?"
"Sure. Goodnight" she said before closing the door.
Janus crawled out of the bed all dirty with dust and his body felt sore.
"What just happened?" he asked.
Haruna stared at him with a look of great awe.
"Prince Janus. Your affinity for magic is off the charts."
- Writer
