Order of the Shattered Cross: Pt. 05

"I didn't know where to go. I figured you'd come back," Sister Frost replied and watched Nora sit next to him. "Hello Nora."

"I'm going to jump straight to the point, we need to use your blood," Nora said and the Sister leaned back in confusion. "Your grandmother is about as dangerous as a witch gets. If what I know about you is true, your blood can help find her."

"What about finding Eden?" the Sister asked, and Nora snapped her face to Timothy.

"Still in the habit of leaving things out I see," Nora said harshly.

"You just read my mind, not my fault you didn't look hard enough," Timothy replied between nibbles of toast.

"Do you know how to get to Eden?" the Sister asked. Nora slowly turned to look at the Sister, prolonging her cowl at Timothy before finally turning her eyes as well.

"No," Nora admitted. "It's real, or it was, that much I do know."

"It's real," Timothy said. "When the Void nearly killed me, Eve's soul pulled me into it."

"Why you? Why is it when this kind of shit happens, it's always you?" Nora asked.

"You gotta admit, it's kind of why you liked me," Timothy said. Nora couldn't help but hide a blush by looking at the table. "It's why you specifically requested Theo become my exorcist when she joined the church."

"Don't, fucking, remind me," Nora said slowly. "Turns out even a chaste nun will steal your boyfriend."

"That one still hurts," the maiden said from the seat next to Sister Frost.

"Where the hell have you been?" Timothy asked, and Nora turned to see his gaze at nothing. She rubbed the tattoo of a rune on her finger to see her as well.

"If anyone knows how to create a portal to Eden, it'll be Indigo," Nora said. "The Sisters of the Keys wrote the book on doorway magic."

"Was that before or after you killed them all?" the maiden asked.

"Before," Nora replied sarcastically. "I'll make you a deal, and this time you will honor it. Help me find Angelica and stop whatever she's doing, and I'll allow you to find Indigo and offer her clemency. Full reinstatement of her coven into the Confederacy."

"We need to find Indigo first. Eden is the center of this, I just don't know how yet," Timothy said.

"Angelica is far too dangerous to prolong her discovery, especially if you believe her plans are underway. This offer will not change. Angelica, and then Indigo."

Timothy knew Nora wasn't going to budge on this. It was a small miracle she was helping at all.

"Fine. How do we use her blood to find Angelica?" Timothy asked.

"The Sister is a blood relative," the maiden said. "Most magic used for tracking can be strengthened with blood from either the person being tracked or a blood relative. The closer the relation, the better. If the ritual is powerful enough, it can do more than just track her; it could pull her straight to us."

"We need five witches to perform this ritual. Can I rely on you?" Nora asked the maiden who appeared taken aback by the request.

"You actually think me capable?" the maiden asked.

"I've always thought you capable. Tolerable is a different category entire."

"Very well. Sang de le Terre?" she asked, transitioning to an accent vaguely French.

"Blood of the Earth?" the Sister asked, and Nora smiled at her. "One of the women at my first aspirancy was French, I picked up a few things."

"That ritual will be more than sufficient," Nora said, agreeing with the maiden.

"Spawning element?" the maiden asked.

"Let her burn."

"Where are we doing it?" Timothy asked.

"The confederation has a site for such rituals," Nora said and stood up from the booth and gestured toward the door. "Let's go."

Timothy knew Nora wouldn't wait for them to finish their breakfast, so he pulled a twenty-dollar bill from his wallet and dropped it on the table. He took his toast with him as Sister Frost followed after taking one last bite of her sausage. Nora snapped her fingers, and the front door reverted to a door leading to her bedroom. Nora entered first, followed by the Sister. Another diner patron was on her way out before Timothy held up his hand to stop her from moving forward.

"Excuse me," Timothy said and stepped through the door first. The woman wasn't exactly sure what she was looking at. Outside of the windows, to the left and right of the door showed a bright and sunny day. The other side of the door was a bedroom before it closed. In a burst of light, it was now a glass door. The woman hesitated before slowly pulling the door open. The room was gone as if it were never there.

--

Nora told them to wait while she began to redo the seal on her wall. Sister Frost sat on the edge of Nora's bed and looked over her shoulder. She didn't peer long, but long enough to double-take. Several sex toys were on her bed, so Sister Frost jerked her head forward. Nora noticed her discomfort and laughed as she worked on the seal.

"Girl needs to have her fun," Nora said with a grin.

"Coven initiates?" Timothy asked. Nora's smile flattened out. "Get in favor with the High Priestess?"

"I didn't seduce them. They did that all on their own," Nora said and resumed the last details of the seal. Timothy leaned over and noticed it was more intricate than the one which returned them to the diner.

"I'm sure a young secretary seduced her middle-aged boss into cheating on his wife because she just loved his receding hairline," Timothy replied, and Nora huffed.

"What can I say, a man can't satisfy me."

"That's why it took two women to replace me?" Timothy asked. Nora ignored the question and activated the new seal. A new door was created, and Nora held it open for them to enter first. She closed it behind her and deactivated the seal so no one could enter behind them.

"Where are we?" Timothy asked.

They had entered a tunnel with jagged rock walls with a floor made of red bricks. It was as wide as Timothy's reach with both arms fully extended away from his sides, and ten feet high. The red bricks began to spiral downward, not as steps, but as a slow twisted descent into a darkness illuminated only by the fire of lanterns hanging by chains from the ceiling.

"One of the oldest ritual sites in our history. Witch's history, I mean," Nora said as she gestured for them to start walking along the path. "Early colonial America was not exactly tolerant of us. We went underground. Literally. We built ritual sites across New England in caverns and caves, then collapsed the entrances. This site can only be entered through a seal."

Water was seeping through the ceiling. One drop at a time every few feet. Timothy could feel the droplets impact the top of his head as he walked, but only wiped it away when it landed directly on his forehead. The bricks provided just enough traction to avoid a slip and a perilous slide.

The end of the path opened to a large circular chamber. The ceiling suddenly shot up to an immaculately carved dome. In the center was a massive crystal chandelier with four arms, each stretching out over the chamber. On the ends of the arms were fire, each burning a different color. Blue. Red. Green. Yellow. Each fire refracted off the chandelier, basking the chamber in a light not too dissimilar from a cathedral with the sun shing through its stained-glass windows. Five braziers further lit the room, each at the point of a pentagram carved into a polished marble floor.

"A little decadent," Timothy said.

"You're one to talk, Catholic," Nora replied and stopped in front of a woman was sitting on the floor in the center of the pentagram. She was elderly with wrinkles and a head of white hair the colors of the chandelier painted like a movie projector. She was clad in a pitch-black robe with her hood drawn.

"Who enters the chamber which Selene, daughter of Selena, guards?" the woman asked, raising her head and opening her eyes. Timothy saw her eyes were glazed over, suggesting she was blind.

"High Priestess Nora, daughter of Alma, grants this chamber her name."

"What brings my priestess to this most sacred place?" Selene asked.

"Summon two other sisters. We have need of this chamber to conduct a Blood of the Earth ritual."

"I only see one witch in this room besides myself. Are you certain you only require two?" Selene asked and scanned the room with her glazed eyes. "Wait..." she said as her blind gaze met Timothy. "...a He-Witch. What is the name of the witch who resides within you Fractured?"

"I don't know. She's neglected to tell me," Timothy said, and the girl projected herself from his body.

"I refuse to grant this man full authority of my anatomy," the maiden said, believing this old witch could see and hear her. "I trust you understand my hesitation."

"Let it be assured I understand. However, this chamber cannot be used by a witch who refuses to grant it her name. It's a very old enchantment. Quite permanent."

The maiden looked over her shoulder at Timothy, then back toward the old witch.

"Rivia, daughter of Lily, grants this chamber her name," the maiden said.

A wind began to howl like a moan in the chamber. The chamber did not tolerate lies. The marble floor turned to quicksand and ate Timothy. It buried him up to his neck and squeezed until he had no air to emote his discomfort. The chamber tself was rejecting the maiden's name.

"True names only Sister. This chamber is a being itself, and it knows when it is deceived. It will destroy any who attempts to mislead it," Selene said. Timothy writhed in the ground, and his head began to sink. "That would be you if you had a body. The chamber will kill him if you do not intervene." The maiden looked at Timothy, and then back to Selene. "You will follow your Fractured into the afterlife."

"I..." the maiden began, looking back at Timothy, then forward again. "...I...Eterna, daughter of Lilith, the first mother, grant this chamber my name."

Timothy stopped slipping into the Earth and was thrown out as if the ground spat. He landed on his stomach and groaned as he rolled onto his back.

"Welcome Eterna, daughter of Lilith, the first mother."

--

The last two witches arrived within the hour. They graciously granted the chamber their names upon arrival.

"Helena, daughter of Willow."

"Katherine, daughter of Rose."

"Sisters," Nora began, slowly pacing around the chamber. "Your High Priestess has summoned you, and you have answered. For this, I thank you. Today, we hopefully discover the location of a blasphemer who has long eluded us. I speak of the exiled witch Angelica."

Helena and Katherine quickly looked at each other, the back to their High Priestess.

"This witch has committed high crimes of the Confederacy. She colluded with the disciples of the Morning Star. Laid with their kind and had the Sisters in her charge do the same. They birthed tainted cambions, demonic witches of dark power who seek nothing more than to cast our kind into the fires of persecution.

"For hundreds of years we have hidden, until we could reemerge in a more skeptical world. A world which no longer fears us, not because of acceptance, but because of disbelief in the powers we possess. That rational sentiment is our cloak, and Angelica aims to remove it and reveal us naked and vulnerable to the world. Never again."

"She sounds like Ferdinand," the maiden said to only Timothy who held back a chuckle. Ferdinand II of Aragon. The monarch of Spain who initiated the Spanish Inquisition.

"This exorcist, once our greatest enemy, is now our means to find Angelica. She is the granddaughter of this heretic. Her blood will permit us to pull her from any hole she cowers in."

"Exorcist, grant the chamber your name, so it may accept your blood for this ritual," Selene instructed, and Sister Frost exhaled.

"I, Michelle, daughter of Henrietta, grant this chamber my name," she said, trying her best to mimic the structure the witches had used.

The chamber trembled, the chandelier rocking back and forth. The fires of the braziers were nearly blown out by an impossible gust, but soon steadied. The chamber was unsatisfied.

"The chamber demands more from you. It senses you are withholding. You spoke the truth, but not entire," Selene said.

Sister Frost looked at Timothy who simply nodded. She took a deep breath and exhaled once more.

"I, Michelle, daughter of Henrietta, and daughter of Flauros, the Great Duke of Hell, grant my name."

The chamber remained quiet and still.

"The chamber thanks you for your candor," Selene said. The two other sisters looked at each other, then to Nora in concern.

"Priestess, if we are conducting a Blood of the Earth ritual, and she is the blood of a demon whose name has been spoken..." Helena began to say, before Nora raised a finger to silence her.

"...you are worried we may summon the demon?" Nora asked and received a nod in reply. "This is why we must take great care to conduct this ritual exactly."

Helena and Katherine contemplated a moment before they nodded in acceptance of the risk.

"Let's begin," Nora said and gestured for Sister Frost to approach her in the center of the pentagram. Selene handed her Priestess a knife. Nora took Sister Frost's hand by her wrist and touched the tip of the blade to her palm. "Not a gusher, but more than a drop."

The knife sliced through her skin and Sister Frost winced. As this was done Katherine positioned a brazier in the center of the pentagram.

"When I tell you, squeeze and let your blood spill onto this fire while chanting your grandmother's name," Nora said, and positioned Sister Frost's hand away so nothing dripped into the fire before required. "Angelica, grandmother of Michelle. Understood?"

"Why the fire?" Sister Frost couldn't help but ask.

"Any element would work. The energy of the planet is what's going to pull her to us. Earth is her body. Water is her blood. Air is her voice. Fire is her passion. We can pull Angelica from the Earth, or water, or even the air. Trust me, she deserves to arrive in flame. Also, she's a dark witch. Dark witches like the dark."

Sister Frost nodded, though still unsure of what she meant.

Nora walked back and took position behind one of the braziers at the tip of the pentagram. Helena, Katherine, Selene and Timothy took their spots behind the others.

"Remember, once we pull her into this chamber, do not let your guard down. We will take her by surprise, but don't assume she's helpless because of it."

"Yes Priestess," Helena and Katherine replied in near unison.

"Michelle, you'll know if the ritual is successful, step away from the center when she arrives. The chamber itself will form a barrier around her, so don't be there when it does," Selene instructed.

Nora snapped and her grimoire appeared in front of her. It levitated and flipped its own pages to the desired ritual. "Echo my words exactly. We who gather..."

"Do I echo, or does she?" Timothy asked, pointing to Eterna. Nora scowled and clarified it was Eterna who spoke the words. "Got it," he replied with a sarcastic thumbs up.

"We who gather call upon the Earth." Her words were echoed. "The body of our great mother Lilith." Her words were echoed. "With blood, sacrifice is offered."

As Nora spoke the chamber echoed her words. Each statement remained in the room, growing louder with each reverberation. The statements clashed and collided, until they filled the chamber like water in a bowl. The vibrations made the chandelier ring like a moist finger spun around the lip of a crystal wine glass. The fire on the arms grew more intense, shining brighter until they merged in the center as a single blinding white light.

"With this offering, the blood shall speak her name."

Sister Frost looked at Nora who nodded, letting her know it was time.

"Angelica, grandmother of Michelle," Sister Frost said and squeezed her hand over the brazier. Her blood touched the flames, and a grey smoke billowed.

"Keep chanting, don't stop," Timothy said.

"Angelica, grandmother of Michelle. Angelica, grandmother of Michelle. Angelica, grandmother of Michelle..." Sister Frost chanted before the brazier was engulfed in flame. She covered her face with her arms and stepped away from the center, the intensity of the heat forcing her away. She found her way to Timothy and watched.

The fire burned the brazier to ash. Soon the ash rose, indecipherable at first, but gradually taking human form. It began to scream and thrashed around.

"Contain her!" Nora screamed, and the chamber itself came alive to form a barrier the shape collided into.

It was like watching a body burn in reverse. She arrived as ash, became charred bone, then melted flesh and skin. The shape felt every horrid moment of it. The fire dissipated, revealing unblemished skin and unsinged hair. Even her clothing returned, her nude body becoming concealed beneath a white cloak.

Angelica's screaming had subsided, the initial shock having passed once she realized what had happened. She leaned her body against the barrier, breathing deep as she regained control of her senses.

Sister Frost walked around the barrier to get a better look at her. Her grandmother looked no older than herself. She was a disturbingly beautiful woman. Wavy black hair reaching her lower back, parted down the middle and concealing one side of her face, revealing a single violet hued eye. Her body was full, lush, and curved, hidden behind a white cloak so thin her sweat made the fabric cling to her form which was nude beneath it. She pressed herself against the barrier like a wild animal on display at a zoo.

"Nora, Nora, Nora," Angelica said with an insidious giggle as she tilted her visible eye to Sister Frost. "I really should thank you. Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for my sweet, precious, granddaughter?"

"Twenty-two years?" Timothy asked, and Angelica turned to him. "Was that rhetorical?"

"It can't be," Eterna said softly, and Timothy looked at her.

"Can't be what?" Timothy asked. Eterna didn't reply, but Timothy saw her in a state he never had before; afraid. Scared beyond reason.

"Do you really think this can hold me? You want to go toe to toe with me on barrier magic?" Angelica said to Nora as a taunt. She pushed off the barrier and paced around her invisible enclosure to determine its dimensions by running her sharp fingernail against it. It sounded like she was scratching a chalkboard, the screeching making Helena and Katherine squirm.

"That barrier is conjured from this chamber itself. It is unbreakable, even for you," Nora said. "It has the blood of your blood, and it knows your name."

"No, it doesn't," Eterna said, her voice sounding almost like a tremble.

"Angelica is one of many names I have taken, over many, many years," Angelica said, now looking directly at Eterna. "Hello Eterna." Eterna leaped back into Timothy's body with such fear it left a shiver down his spin.

"She can see you? Who is she?" Timothy asked Eterna, but she didn't reply. "Maiden?"

"Chamber," Angelica laughed. "I have been summoned under a false name. I, Gwendoline, daughter of Genevieve, grant my name, and demand my release."

The chamber was still as everyone held their breath. There was no indication the barrier had fallen. Everyone flinched as Gwendoline stretched out her hand and touched nothing but air. Gwendoline cackled, pursed her lips together, and blew. The last thing anyone saw when the braziers were blown out was the lingering purple glow of her eye.

"Don't let your fire go out!" Nora shouted, and quickly relite her brazier along with Selene. Eterna was unresponsive, so Timothy threw Sister Frost toward Nora's brazier before disembodied hands made of inky shadow pulled him into the darkness.

"Timothy!" Sister Frost cried.

"Priestess?" a voice called out. "My fire won't..." it continued before being interrupted by a gargled scream choking on blood.