[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/cJnIRqb.gif[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/FGD7pKH.png[/img] [/center] [h2]New York City. Central Park. Underground grotto.[/h2] Broker stood and observed the white witch witch. She was truly as talented as he had been told. He could have made this circle himself, but his essence would have tainted it. No it needed to be made by human hands. It was also huge. Usually a soul circle is no bigger than say a meter in diameter. But in this case the damn thing was big enough to contain a school bus. They had been at it for hours, she scribbling and drawing the patterns at his instructions. Each detail a artwork in itself. Numerous of intricate circles overlapped in a hypnotic and strange patterns within the larger circle. Runes of power, symbols of lost faiths, Mesopotamian summoning signs and od angular shapes meshed and melded into a madman's masterpiece. [color=ed1c24]“You are as talented as I was led to believe White Witch”[/color] He didn’t praise her. It was merely a statement of facts. Broker didn’t believe in praising hired help. Their praise was their cost or payments after all. [color=ed1c24]“We are about ready to start the ritual”[/color] He tossed her a pendant of old Sumerian design. A hollowed out ruby filled with a strange blue liquid. Angels tears to be exact. The jewel coiled in silver. [color=ed1c24]“A insurance policy. It should keep you out of the Spells way.”[/color] Marie fumbled with the pendant, almost dropping it on the grotto's stone floor. She looked at neckalce for a few moments trying to place it, but was altogether unfamiliar with magical trinkets and symbolism outside of Western Europe. In fact, this entire ritual, and the magic it involved, was entirely foreign to her. This was ancient magic, outside the realm of normal witchcraft. Marie at least knew that it relied upon either personal power or that of some infernal realm or else she wouldn't have been able to perform it, whatever [i]it[/i] was. She wasn't particularly thrilled when Puck told her about his meeting with Broker some months back. He never mentioned her by name, Puck knew better than that, but he had planted a seed, made a contract on her behalf. Of course, she could have declined, gone about her business at The Red Devil as if nothing had ever happened, but Puck knew that Marie would want to take Broker's offer. She knew that, after finding out about Gwyneth and having no way to regain her memories, she would want to go to a being who knew the minds and hearts of mortals better than any other. And after three months of getting nowhere, what did she have to lose? Marie slipped on the pendant, allowing it to rest atop her glamour charm. She decided to present herself as the White Witch for appearance's sake, with Holt resting on her shoulder in the form of a raven. [color=90EE90][i]"Have you any idea what you're getting yourself into?"[/i][/color] Holt's voice entered Marie's mind as she put on the pendant. Having a psychic connection to him was both a blessing and a curse; his nagging was more frequent than his assistance. [color=90EE90][i]"Broker is a highly powerful demonic force, who knows what he has planned with this spell. You would blindly follow his instruction with little to no regard for your own safety?[/i][/color] [color=FFE4B5][b]"He's a demon,[/b][/color] Marie replied telepathically, [color=FFE4B5][b]"meaning that he only cares about his deal. I'm here to perform a service in exchange for his help in returning some part of Gwyneth's memories to me. He won't harm me because I'm not a threat to him or his plans. Besides, what choice do I have? Everything I've tried thus far has failed, maybe this is exactly what needed to happen.[/b][/color] Holt let out a single caw of disapproval before flawing off to a far corner of the grotto. He no longer carried a tolerance for demons or ancient beings after Joseph's death. Marie knew this, but she was confidant both in her ability to protect herself, and in the fact that Broker meant her no ill will. [color=FFE4B5][b]"I-I'm ready,"[/b][/color] Marie replied hesitantly. [color=ed1c24][i]"I sincerely doubt it."[/i][/color] The Broker mused as he took his place opposite of her on the other end of the massive circle.[color=ed1c24] "Now. Focus your emotions and your spirit on the center. And say the words I say. You are the channel of this spell. Not me."[/color] And then broker began. His voice somehow all over the grotto in an instant. And even as he spoke a language dead for millennia, white witch would understand it. Such was Brokers talent. [color=ed1c24]"Souls of those that came before, but those that didn't leave. Souls of those most ancient, and those new and without patience. Souls of those that have been broken, and souls of those will never be whole. A pit, a hole, a lost soul. I give to you a exit, a gate and a passage. I give to you solace, I give to you passion. I beseech thee from the gates of Babylon, from the pits of Arazee to the pekas of Me'thuzan. I bring the from thy mortal coil, rip you from rotten flesh. I take what has not been given, And i chain what wishes to be free"[/color] As his voice rose, an awful noise began to fill the grotto. Swirling lights came from the walls into the center and a myriad, no, a legion of voices screamed unseen. They were everywhere at once, screaming, begging and cursing. [color=ed1c24]"Come to us ALL OF YOU LONG LOST AND FORGOTTEN!"[/color] The swirling light began to focus on the middle, a vortex of agonized souls pouring into the single flawless diamond that was set in the middle. [color=ed1c24]"It's here girl. Stay strong. Do not let the voices pull you in."[/color] He yelled over the voices to the White Witch. He knew of course, this maelstrom would likely tug at her other presence. The sheer magnitude of this magic might awaken something within her. It would be interesting to see. ------------- [h2]GREATER NEW YORK AREA[/h2] All across New York, the undead took notice. Vampires and other more independant and corpereal would feel the tug but were otherwise not affected. But the incorporeal spirits to weak to resist, like poltergeists and haunting spirits were drawn into the ever expanding maelstrom of necrotic energies. Those versed in the arts withdrew into their warded homes. Those not aware of ghosts would suddenly feel a emptiness in their homes as the spirits there were ripped from its place. All over the city, the supernatural would notice a sudden and terrible event taking place. But nobody would understand the sheer power of it, the sheer terrible magnitude. A soul circle big enough draw in all the necrotic energy in new york. In the sewers a Necromancer of some worth, Hildebrand, fell to the floor screaming. She had been in a ritual to create more Draugr when the mealtstrom grabbed all the myriad of necrotic bonds between her and her servants, and sucked them dry. Part of her very soul was torn from her body. She lay on the floor Twitching as the ritual completed. Eyes blank, stare far away and blodshot. ------- [h2]New York, Sewers underneath The Bronx.[/h2] And amidst a horde of undead Rune and Otto looked up as said undead collapsed once more dead to the world. The two had been coming down here for months, never getting closer to their target. Hildebrand had avoided capture each and everytime. ANd she had no shortage of bodies to reanimate. But suddenly all the dead was actually dead again. They looked about them in bewilderment. They had felt it faintly. Something really, really bad had went down. "That." Rune spoke, mouth agape. "That.. thing. Killed all of them." "That can't be" Otto concured. -------- [h2]New York City. Central Park. Underground grotto.[/h2] Marie could feel the power of all the lost souls of New York filing into their circle, her magic calling to them, touching their very essence, drawing them into an unknown abyss. She was in awe of what the two of them had accomplished. This was, by far, her grandest feat of magic, something beyond belief, beyond imagining. Holt too was amazed by this grand spectacle of sorcery, his eyes widened as the ethereal light shot out in all directions, laying a pathway for the spirits and shades, and Otherworldly highway of sorts. It was then that Marie felt something deep inside. A pain in her lower stomach that traveled up to her chest and ended in a splitting headache. She braced herself, falling to one knee and placing a hand on her forehead. [color=FFE4B5][b]"What's happening?"[/b][color] she screamed to no one. Her vision began to fade, her mind became cluttered with voices beyond those of lost souls. There was something stirring within her mind, something trying to force its way out from behind a wall of obscurity. Holt tried to enter Marie's mind to calm her, to ask if she was alright, but he found that he could not. Instead, a bolt of force shot from Marie to Holt, forcing him into his ethereal state. [color=90EE90][i]"Marie!"[/i][/color] Holt said aloud, floating closer to the circle to see what was happening. Marie was moments away from fully collapsing, dealing with the pain of something clawing its way out. An image flashed into Marie's mind followed by a voice that mirrored her own, though it carried with it a strange distance and a foreign accent. [color=FFE4B5][i]”Find my most prized possession and all shall be revealed.”[/i][/color] The voice commanded, a vision of a large, leather bound tome appeared in her mind’s eye. It looked familiar to Marie, like she had been in its presence not too long ago. The voice faded, her mind cleared, and Marie was able to stand once more. [b][color=FFE4B5]”What was that?”[/color][/b] she directed her question at Broker, baffled by the whole experience. Broker raised his voice. [color=ed1c24]"A millennia ago. I was in Britannia. Before Great Britain. Before colonial wars and Empires. When Picts fought celts, and Saxons and Normans fought one another. Among Kings and Druids I walked. Back then, I met a powerful and talented sorceress. Gwyneth. Welsh I believe, with no love lost for her fellow mundane man. To think, she would be hiding inside you White Witch.”[/color] He smiled, not unkindly, at her. [color=ed1c24]“The magic here is ancient.“ [/color]He said as he walked towards the center of the now dead magic circle. He picked up the stone that was now pulsing with power. [color=ed1c24]“And one thing ghosts are, are reflections of the past. Put enough necrotic energy and lost souls in one place, and time warps in wierd ways. I would assume that Gwyneth, the thing inside you, has awoken as a result of this.”[/color] He pocketed the stone. [color=ed1c24]“The Pendant likely saved you from being torn piece to piece by her emerging mind..” [/color] [color=ed1c24]“Excellent work. The Soulstone is flawless”[/color] He said with a grin. [color=ed1c24]“You can keep the pendant by the way.”[/color] He created a Portal. [color=ed1c24]“I suggest getting out of here before the surviving undead come to tear you apart.”[/color] Marie nodded, calling Holt over to the portal. [color=FFE4B5][b]”Thank you . . . I don’t know what your plans are, but thank you for giving to me what I couldn’t give myself.[/b][/color] Marie’s gratitude was sincere. Broker had unleashed pieces of Gwyneth’s memory with his Soul Circle, and now Marie had a clue as to how she could contact Gwyneth’s remaining memories. She and Holt passed through the portal which took them back to the streets of Lost Haven just outside of one of the entrances to The Red Devil. Broker watched her go. Once she had left, he spoke to the grotto. [color=ed1c24]“You will not thank me when you find out what kind of creature Gwyneth was girl.”[/color] Then he was off into another portal, back to hell with his prize. [color=ed1c24]“You won’t thank me at.. [i]All[/i]”[/color] There was a crackling noise and the sound of violins as the portal closed. And then there was just a large grotto with a lot of residual magic left.