Chương 38: The price of a name

"Are you ready?" Doctor Lalok asked while Phil watched on safely beyond the radius of artifacts she'd put down. He had the living armour he wore before on and had a complement of plants placed around the room, with one large root that circled the outside of the barrier. There were various metal rods that would amplify and increase the efficiency of any boons inside. She didn't have anything as powerful as [CEDE] but Grim didn't feel the need to bring that up.

In her current state, she doubted she'd win that tug of war. No, she'd be using [IN MY STRENGTH]. It wasn't what it was meant for, but she'd had it for long enough that she'd been able to gain more freedom with it, higher tier Boons tended to be like that. She'd explained to her earlier that instead of removing it outright, she was going to be draining it of its energy.

Once that was finished, the effect itself should dissipate, and they wouldn't be able to channel aura into it from a distance without first recasting it again in person. Hazel stood across from her, both because Grim wanted both the doctor and Phil to know that she was physical, she was real, and also because she'd act as a visible marker for how well it was working. If she disappeared, it would be over. She hadn't spoken since their argument.

"Anything either of you would like to say before we begin?

"Let me heal your eyes," Hazel said.

"What?" Grim asked.

"[HEALING GLOOM]. I think it would work."

"Oh, okay. Sure," Grim said, it wasn't what she was hoping she would say. Maybe an apology or that her mind had changed, but it didn't matter, things weren't the same between them anymore. Hazel crossed the distance between them and put her hand over Grim's eyes. She was still borrowing sight from one of the Doctor's, but that would've changed as soon as they'd started the ritual. Shadow spread from Hazel's finger in a thick mist and covered Grim's eyes.

The feeling of it was cool and addictive at the same time, it reminded her of a lesser version of the vitality she'd gotten from absorbing a Boon die. Twenty seconds later, Grim felt her remove her hand and take a step back. She opened her eyes, and while her vision wasn't quite perfect. The bland and lifeless hazes of grey were better than the nothing she had before.

"Thank you," Grim said.

"Yeah," Hazel said, short and to the point. Grim wanted to say more, something else, but she didn't know what to say, so she didn't, even though the silence between them felt inadequate. Instead, she gave Doctor Lalok a nod and prepared herself.

"Okay, to reiterate before we begin. You're going to try your best to see through the mental block as much as you can. I can't be sure, but I hypothesize you're going to see flashes of the memories that are blocked. Try to hold on to that and dig deeper, that will expel more energy from the Boon, which will make our job easier. Hazel, while this is happening, you must intentionally trigger the Boon's retaliatory effect on you, which would have been what was causing you pain.

What is happening to you is not a direct intention but likely a side effect from the System trying to sort out the interaction. It's inefficient and childlike in its rage. The more you can handle, the better the likelihood that we will be successful. The Witch that's currently cast this Boon is vastly more powerful than all of us and it's gonna take everything we have if we want to have a chance at being successful." The Doctor explained.

"Any questions?"

"No," Grim said.

"Very well, we will begin," Doctor Lalok said as she took a deep breath and centred herself.

"[IN MY STRENGTH]" Grim felt the announcement of power in her soul, the state of fact one received when someone revealed their power in full. Doctor Lalok's hair seemed to lift slightly as if there were a breeze in the building's interior. Her power coated Grim as she unleashed her Aura, sending notes of concepts towards her. It was one of unyielding healing, a belief that she would get better. It was foreign to her mind, but seemed to instil a belief in her that if Doctor Lalok said she'd be okay, she would be.

Very similar but different to the aura she got from the woman at the weapon shop. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. She gasped as the drain happened, it felt like someone had started sucking the breath out of her. She knew logically that it was the Aura being pulled from her, but the feeling was so foreign. That power had only ever been used before, it had never been taken. Inside of her, she felt something wake up and rebel at the idea of being removed.

She'd entered that black box inside of her before when she'd used [CEDE] on herself, and she knew if she checked, there'd be another room in there. It had always been there, but it had hidden itself, soaked itself in her essence until it was indistinguishable from her. Now, as the Doctor took power, instead of give, the parasite revealed itself. She felt more than saw a flash of a hand gently graze her cheek, it was real but lacked the warmth of being material.

It fluttered in a dreamlike state as she tried to hold on to it, but the thing inside of her flared and it was gone.

"It's working," Grim said through gritted teeth.

"I saw... something."

"That's good, we ambushed it and got a good start, but we must keep up the pressure. Hazel, please begin."

"Right," Hazel said as she squared herself up, as if she were about to fight.

"Your name is-" Hazel went silent as she clutched her chest, her mouth open in a silent scream. Grim willed herself to see the strands, and she saw them more clearly than she'd ever had before. A combination of her moving up a rank and the massive amount of Aura in the room made the strands flare out. A demon roared in her face, and she nearly jumped. It was a manifestation of pure power that floated in the centre of the three of them. It was pure white and horns flared out from the top of it.

A strand led to each of them, with the one leading to her being the biggest. If she watched carefully, she could see it increasingly shrink while the Doctor's got larger. The one that led to Hazel was smaller but pulsed in size, coinciding with the pain she was experiencing. Hazel seemed to catch her breath from the attack she'd received "I am your-" The demon turned and bellowed at her shadow as it gripped onto her shoulder and split her in twain.

Hazel's form flickered, and for a moment her physical body was out of sync with the Aura that she was made from. Hazel screamed, and it meshed with the memory of someone else screaming. Then many people screamed, but they didn't matter to her. She was scared, and there was only one person she wanted to see for comfort, but they weren't there. There was only the scared embrace on her right arm, held tight, but the demon roared and she blinked as she realized where she was. How could she have gotten confused?

"Warning! I believe the Witch woke up and is fighting back. Stay focused, you're both doing well," Doctor Lalok ordered, a brick wall of support to lean on. Hazel was half shadow, her self shifting between two forms as she struggled to stay manifested. She threw herself forward onto the floor, ripping herself back into reality as she kneeled on all fours. Her body spasmed, looking like a wild animal as she growled, "YOU WOULDN'T LET-" She fell onto her side as her arm disappeared, dispersed like ash in the wind.

Her feet dug into the ground as she bucked and rolled.

"Hazel!" Grim shouted as she was thrust back into a different reality, vertigo hitting her like a truck as two different sets of the world flooded her muddied eyes. In one eye she saw the demon sputter, its form becoming less as Hazel writhed on the floor.

In the other she saw fire and people running outside of the vehicle she was in but none of them who she was searching for, the front of the vehicle was empty while she was huddled together in the back from the masses that crashed down around them, too fast for her to see. She blinked as the world shifted again. The Doctor was an Aegis in the wind, a shield against the demon that raged against them, gaining power by the second.

Hazel was almost nothing as she raised herself not in form but in concept, her last gasp of pain a declaration. In the other, her world was flipped as she'd been flung upside down. The roof of the vehicle caved in, and flames flooded the other side, separating them. Together, the realities merged for a split second as Hazel screamed in unison with herself.

"EMILY!" Her worlds shook as her name slammed into her, shocking her out of her daze. She reached out in both worlds, her right arm in one and her left in the other. One reached through fire to latch onto another, small fingers intertwining with hers. While the other grasped for air, latching onto naught but a concept, nearly erased. In both worlds she did not let go, even as her skin scalded and her memories faded, Even as small fingers loosened and a demon hid itself inside of her.

She did not let go as her aura blossomed with power, yet tinged with a concept that resonated with her soul. She was the one who would not let go. Hazel stayed, and yet was forgotten.

"Why?! You almost remembered me!" Hazel shouted as she pulled Grim closer, until her head slammed into Grim's face, cracking her nose.