closed | souls tied, intertwined by pride and guilt

[creidim]

Who: Luna Lovegood creidim & Darth Maul survivalthroughhate.
What: Luna and Maul have an unlikely team-up.
When: Late-May.
Where: Ritual Gig.

Content Warnings: blood magic; rituals; blood/gore.



[ This is by no means a happy union. But... sometimes it's necessary to set aside mutual mistrust and dislike (and understatement) of one another to work towards a common goal. The notes provided by Maul via one of his followers had proved very interesting reading, and Luna had quickly gotten to work. She'd parsed through the fragmented information, scoured through texts of her own, trying to put together everything.

Soon enough, the pieces had fallen together. The notes and texts describes of a ritual to build connections through time and space to known spaces perhaps otherwise lost. The Death Realm was Ramona's design, her own magic. And magic was not so easily lost forever. It would exist somewhere, remaining somewhere in the vast space of the universes. And certainly asked a great deal to find it.

Blood. Mostly. Sizable volumes of each of the blood types: Paleblood, Darkblood, Vileblood, Coldblood and Warmblood. Deer antler. A piece of Ramona's hair (or fur, in this case). And the help of a powerful Pthumerian. Luna had secured the antler through the shop, and there'd been an expedition to Sleepy Town to retrieve some of Deerlona's fur — which neither of them wanted a repeat of, thank you.

All that remained was the ritual itself. To ask for Doorway's blessing, and have their open the door. Arrangements are made to meet at Ritual Gig, John's former shop (and now in Luna's possession). Ordinarily, she wouldn't have bothered tampering with John's wards to let Maul set foot in here, but... well, needs must. If something goes wrong, better it can be in here and sealed away than in someone's home.

She'll be perched upon the sales counter waiting, going over her notes until Maul comes in. ]

Oh, you're here. Good. [ Polite enough greeting. She's still not overly thrilled at doing magic with him, truth be told. ]

I should point out this is a temporary access. [ In case he was wondering. She hops down from the counter. ] John's wardings were very tricky, but I've managed to temporarily override them for this. Just in case things don't quite go to plan, better to be somewhere safe.

[ He'll notice it. There's something in the air. A feeling of safety and comfort. Something in the shape of the magic from John's world that still lingers. Like a stain that refuses to wash out. But certainly a welcome stain. With that, Luna gestures with one hand through towards the back of the shop. They'll be using one of the backrooms for this. There's plenty of rooms back there, even if some of them are completely blocked off (for some unknown reason) or magically sealed. ]

Through here. I'll walk you through the ritual. You've brought the blood, yes?

[ She's supplied the Darkblood and Paleblood needed, considering it's easy enough for her to get a hold of. She'd left the other three needed in his hands. ]

Comments

[survivalthroughhate]

[Maul wasn't happy working with Luna and had made his displeasure known several times. She'd offered to do it all on her own and let him back out but his natural stubbornness refused to not see this through all the way to the end. He came to the shop, a strange feeling prickling up at the back of his neck as he felt the remnants of John's magic still hanging about.]

I brought them.

[He'd supplied his own Vileblood for the ritual. The Coldblood and Warmblood had come from Nara'a and Snow White respectively. He'd told them why he needed it as far as ritual was concerned, explaining how they were trying to access the deer forms the Sleepers who had been in Deerington had once possessed.]

How will we know if it's working?

[creidim]

Excellent. [ Well, looks like they're really seeing this whole thing through together, aren't they? Luna nods at that, leading the way, stopping at one of the many doors. She opens it to a small, plain-walled room — dimly lit with a few lanterns. Stepping inside, it seems there's very little that can be found within it.

Luna had busied herself with clearing the few contents of the room, leaving only a small side-table adorned with white and red rose petals. There, sat a large silver bowl, with two unlit candles either of it. Two containers, one of Paleblood and Darkblood can also be found on the table — along with a vial of Deerlona's fur and small antler. She'll gesture for Maul to add his own containers of blood to the others. As for his question: ]

We'll know when that— [ She points to the blank wall before them. ] becomes a door. Considering the connection we had in Deerington is gone, we're making a new connection. Our own door.

[ Luna's rolling up her sleeves. This might get a little messy. ]

Essentially, we mix the bloods and hair using the antler. I imagine we'll see something happening, then. [ Some sort of reaction. Granted they're... sort of going in blind with this. ] Then together we draw the outline of a door on the wall using the mixture. Once the outline's drawn, we re-cover our hands with the mixture and press our palms to the 'door'. We ask for Doorway's blessing of opening the door and their guidance through, and they should make some kind of appearance.

[ Doorway does have... their own way of making a grand entrance. ]

I can do the actual asking, given that they're my Patron. But I would strongly advise some mental respectful asking on your own part, keeping in mind the place where you'd like to go. [ That being the Seventh Door. ] Intention is very important.

Any more questions—?

[survivalthroughhate]

[He listened carefully as to what they were going to do. He felt like there was a high possibility of things going wrong. Nothing ever seemed to go according to plan in Trench.]

No questions. But if this goes wrong, it’s every person for themself.

[Getting to work with Luna was a huge step for Maul’s general emotional development as a whole but he wasn’t going to go so far as to risk himself to save her if things went completely belly up. Not that she’d ever needed much saving during all the time they’d ended up spending together in Deerington and Trench, only the one time when she’d been caught in the flood.

Once the ceremony was underway, the mixture began to glow with a faint, mystical light. Maul felt a slight change in the air, perhaps a dip in the air pressure as the room got a little colder.]

So good so far…

[He said cautiously. After all, they weren’t out of the woods yet.]

[creidim]

Fair enough. [ Luna wouldn't have expected anything else, to be quite fair. She's more than aware the fact that they're working together is a huge leap in of itself, anything more than that is certainly pushing it.

But nothing out of the ordinary in a terrible sense seems to be happening, and she's quite satisfied it's going well thus far. Mixture created, Luna picks up the bowl and moves to the wall. Dipping her hand in the mixture, she begins painting the outline of a door upon it. She offers the bowl to Maul. ]

If you wouldn't mind getting the higher points. [ She is short. He is not.

But once the outline is done. Luna presses her still-mixture-coated hand in the middle of their 'door' and motions for Maul to do the same. Then, she takes a breath. Invocation is important. ][ She speaks calmly, firmly. ] We ask for your assistance and guidance. We seek safe passage to the Seventh Door, crafted by the magics of Ramona Derwin.

[ She pictures the door opening to them, the dark void and Ramona Derwin in her white, glittering gown. ]

We ask that you bless us, and show us the way.

[ In the silence, the mixture's glow shifts in colour, slowly changing to violet. Then, behind the two of them, there's another kind of shift. A figure behind them, like a haunting shadow. Doorway towers over them, the scent of blood and roses clinging in the air as they stand. ]