.^^ Revenants ^^

— James —

Fried Frog Legs. Never thought such a thing existed, or that I'd eat it if it did, but once I tried it, I was hooked. I finished an entire bag of them on my own, and then a bag of something Athenos gave me, offhandedly. It tasted like herbs and garlic, at the same time, and just like the legs, while it sounded weird, it was actually pretty good, sprinkled on top of fluffy bread.

We ended up, after wandering through the area of the Market that had food venders, in a lively pub. I ordered a mug of draft for the both of us, and heard Athenos chuckle. "What? Legal drinking age isn't a thing in Ireland. Anyways, tell me about the types of things that could open the door." I asked.

He settled down, serious now. "Yes, you'll need to learn this stuff, won't you? Well it's pretty simple. Anything that has more juice than every member of my family that has ever lived could open that door, and not a drop less."

I blinked slowly. "Oh hell... that's why you were scared."

"No shame in it. Beings like that aren't things I want to deal with. With proper preparation, I could seal them or kill them, but it's a coin-toss, and I'd rather not gamble with your life." He shrugged.

"What about if a member of your family opened it from the other side, then left it open on accident?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Only my father and one cousin that takes care of him is still alive, from the parts of my family that were given access to the Basement... only Apprentices were ever even aware of its existence."

"What about the ghosts of your other family members?" I pressed.

He seemed thoughtful. "Well, a few of my ancestors must have gone to Hades, I suppose, so they could be summoned as Revenants, but it would still take a good bit of power to accomplish. Only evil or neutral souls can be summoned from the afterlife." He explained.

"So your evil dead uncle would still have access to the doors, right?" I asked for clarification.

He nodded. "I guess it didn't get revoked, when they died, so yes."

"So it might be something we can handle."

"Might be isn't enough. I need to know exactly what it is." He shook his head, and drank the coffee he'd somehow exchanged his drink for. Mine, upon inspection, held green tea.

I sighed, but drank it in peace, until the French Ogre returned, with a few of his huntsmen. He was dragging two demons of some kind by their ankles, while one of the other ogres held a jar of fireflies away from them.

"Oooooohkay??? What's up with the demons?" I asked.

"Revenants. Your instincts are very strong." Athenos hummed.

"And the fireflies?"

"Power source." He answered swiftly, and snagged it, shaking it up.

The Spirits howled ethereally, making several patrons of the pub grumble, but Athenos continued, then smashed the jar on the ground, holding out a Crystal. The energy soaked into the crystal, making it glow gold, and the two twisted spirits stopped struggling.

"Much obliged, Garçon, I appreciate your assistance! Any other creatures? The master of these foul things?" Athenos asked.

"Nothing, sir. The library was undisturbed, as far as I could tell, from the one time I've been in there." The Ogre shook his head.

"So it was only their entrance... interesting. Alright, that'll be all, I have them now." He tapped the both of the spirits with the crystal, and they disappeared with soft sighs of wind.

He tucked the crystal in his pocket, and tossed the Ogre a thick white coin, like the expensive one he'd given me the first day. They walked out, arguing softly about how to split it, and I turned to him.

"So what now?" I asked.

"We go home, and I interrogate them. They'll remember the name of who summoned them, if I press hard enough, and then I'll release them, and they'll be taken by a Fury, back to Hades." He shrugged, and tossed back the rest of his drink, then allowed me to finish mine before we left.

—

"So how does one interrogate a spirit?" I asked, sitting in the branches of the tree in his library-garden. I was out of the way, like he'd instructed, but still able to see and hear everything.

"Well, it's simple, sort of. First you trap them somehow. I have done that by taking the power needed to summon them, the firefly jar, in their case, and placed it into a crystal I've bled on. That transfers control over to me, from their summoner." He showed me the gold crystal.

"So you hijacked their frequencies. Cool." I grinned.

He nodded. "In a way. Next, you summon them again from the crystal, and ask them questions."

"So do you have to release them afterwards? Wouldn't two loose souls be a good bargaining chip?" I asked.

He paused, and turned towards me. "What makes you think we need a bargaining chip with a Death God?" He asked slowly.

I looked down. "Just... in case."

"Ahh, your mother. No, that wouldn't work. Several gods of death or the afterlife would accept evil souls as currency or bartering tools, but not for the return of a life. You would need... Well, more evil souls than you could comprehend, honestly, to convince a god to release a recently dead person. And besides, your mother is going to be fine, she's over the worst parts, Alright? Don't worry." He sighed.

"But what about if we need to find someone? Wouldn't the Dead be best suited to it?" I asked.

He glanced at me sharply, and nodded warily. "That's true... the dead are the most knowledgeable of all people's... who are you trying to find?"

"Just in case, like I said." I shrugged.

"The man who stabbed your mother will get his, don't you worry about that little detail. Your mother may have abandoned me and taken you from me, but I still love her. You'd best believe that I will find and hurt the person who hurt her. Believe that, James." He growled.

I nodded slowly. "Alright... but still, bargaining chips like souls aren't exactly easy to come by, are they?"

"No... no they aren't. Fine, I'll keep them, Alright? Not like sending them back to Hades is any better than being stuck in a Crystal." He sighed, and then spoke in what sounded like Aramaic.

"Come out, ye Spirits, and speak no curses, promises, or vows, nor oaths in vain;
Only the name of your summoner, them who plucked you from the flames of pain."

"Did you mean to say 'them who plucked you'? Just asking." I grinned at his glare, as the Revenants coalesced from mist.

They spoke no words or names, only stared at him, and he growled. "Speak the name, Spirits!"

"She who walks the mists of ginnuningagap, and the Plains of Midgard, and the Happy Hunting Grounds. She gives no name, only a name to find. James Athenos Parthenos Peterson, son to Athenos Axiom Parthenos. Find. Seek. See. Return. Speak. Die Again." They spoke in sync, a creepy mixture of music and grinding of glass in their tone.

"Speak not the tongue of the dead, Speak the tongue of Man!" Athenos Commanded, and they repeated themselves while I translated.

He glanced at me, and I nodded. "Maybe one of my aunt's sent them?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "You have aunts?"

"Yeah, like ten. And then the cousins, like twenty more. All the people in my family are women. It's kind of annoying." I shrugged.

He laughed softly. "You mean Coven? That explains a lot."

"No? They're all blood relations." I shrugged again.

"Mm. Well, at least an enemy didn't send them." He sighed, and tapped them with the crystal, re-capturing them. Then he tossed the crystal to me. "There, your own bargaining chip."

"Sweet. Can they do anything?" I asked.

"Oh sure. They can do a lot. I'll teach you later. Right now, I'm tired as all hell, and I want to sleep. You going to stay down here?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to read a bit more."

"Alright, come here." He led me up to the trap door, and then pricked my finger gently. "Write your Name on the wood. It'll make it so you can open it."

I followed his instructions, and the blood melted away, as I gripped the ring of iron, and lifted it open.

He nodded. "Yay. You can get in and out now. Just don't bring food into my library, please. If I see Dorito stain on one page, that's it." He said seriously, then fell into his bed.

"Does magic always tire you out like this?" I asked.

"Yes. Like I told you, I don't have much of it, Magic that is... turning a Dragon into a human... that took a good bit of juice. G'night..." He was snoring in a few moments.

"Well then." I walked down the stairs, and closed the trap door, entering the library.

"You had a hell of a day, didn't you, Master? Sorry I wasn't there. I was sleeping." Perceval flew out of my bag, and curled up on my shoulder as a Maine Coon.

"It was actually super fun. Turns out I can do magic, I just have to figure out how to make it happen on Command." I hummed, and planted my crystal Apple into an empty patch of dirt in the garden.

I focused on it, and nothing happened. I growled and pushed at it mentally, but only managed to make myself fart.

Perceval laughed maniacally, rolling around in his feline form. "Master that's not how magic works!!! You can't force it! Here, let me explain..." he shifted into his dragon form, and began drawing in the patch of dirt.

"This... is a magic circle. The Sacred Geometry book you have would show you a few good examples. This type of magic is called 'Controlled Magic'. It's uniform, precise, not liable to blow up in your face, if you do it right. The magic you did in the clearing? That was Wild Magic. Much more dangerous, because it pulls Raw, Unformed Magic from your body, and makes something happen. Not always the way you want, either." He drew a pentagram inside a circle, along with a few words in Latin.

"Okay... so Wild Magic is more powerful, but unpredictable and dangerous, so I should stick to Controlled Magic." I summarized.

"Precisely. Now, as you said, Wild Magic is more powerful, and the Dwarves are the only ones who've ever managed to control it, but you are not a dwarf, and therefore you should never try to shape Wild Magic." He nodded.

"What about what Athenos did, with the potion he made?" I asked.

"Oooh, that was a clever bit of magical know-how, that was. He mixed the Ashe of an Elder Tree and the Salt from the Black Sea with Magic Dwarven Gold, and took the power it had been enchanted with into himself. He gained more than he lost, there. The ability to turn dragon's into humans? Now that's a power worth drinking gold for!" He laughed.

"So it's a different type of magic?" I prompted.

"Ahh, yes. Witchery, more like. Potions are more the Witches purview, you see? Potent, yes, and with powerful ingredients, one can make powerful things, but witch magic comes with an odd price. He pays his by losing Time. It's only 1 o'clock, and he'll sleep until that magic alarm clock wakes him tomorrow morning. Nothing you do could wake him." He shrugged his wings.

"So regular and wild Magic's both pull from your magic inside you, but Witch Magic exacts a toll on something else?" I asked.

"Yes. Some sacrifice animals, or... familiars... and others pay their prices with souls. The smartest and most Wiley make deals with powerful creatures, who agree to pay the price of the witch's magic, but get their soul when they die. You'll have heard of that one. It isn't the devil they sell their souls to, but usually Hela, or Freya, if they're Norse, or some Woods-God, if they're Wiccan." He shivered at the mention that some witches killed their familiars for magic.

"Okay... that's crazy, but good to know... so how do I use this Controlled Magic to make the tree grow?" I asked.

"Oh I've no clue, I'm not a Mage. I'm Ogre-Kin, which means I have wisdom, but that doesn't make me a Mage." He shrugged, grinning guiltlessly.

"Alright... what's this say, then?" I pointed at the circle.

Instantly, it glowed, and a small frog leapt out of it. It ribbit'ed at me, annoyed, and then leapt back into the circle, disappearing.

I felt coldness press against my spine and shoulders, and shivered as it went away. "What was that?" I snapped.

"You summoned a Frog from Vanaheim. Interesting." He hummed.

"No, the cold feeling? Why did it go away?"

"It went away?" He asked, shocked, and then leapt onto my shoulder, as a cat, and kneaded at my skin. "Hmm... curious... you, sir, apparently have a rather splendid amount of magic built up inside you. You should really let it out. It's not healthy to leave it trapped inside you like this." He said seriously.

"Okay... my ring absorbs magic, right? Can I give it to the ring?" I asked.

"That is it's purpose, yes." He nodded.

I stroked the ring slowly, and breathed out once. Ice gathered on my breath, as if the room was cold, and I felt the cold feeling spread, until ice gathered on my skin visibly.

Then I stopped, and the ring hummed pleasantly, warming my body in a second.

"Oh! And it's grown back! How curious... you, my master, seem to be a born Battle Mage! Wonderful!" He purred, wrapping around my neck like a vibrating scarf.

"I thought Battle Mages were bad? Athenos said they were all stuck-up and rude." I hummed.

"Oh, most of them are, make no mistake. Their natural gift makes them arrogant. You must never become like them, Master. It is unbecoming of a young man, to believe himself Cock of the Walk when he is not as knowledgeable as his fellow Mages, only stronger. Quite like the Highschool Football Star, who is stronger and dumber than everyone else, and cruel to boot." He grumbled.

"What if I learn everything Athenos knows? Can't I be a Master Mage, instead?" I asked.

He hummed. "It's possible, yes. As you are, though, you are all untaught, untapped, raw power, and you need to learn precision, first and foremost! To that end, I will ask you to grow a Bonsai Tree from Living Crystal! You are a Nature and Crystal Mage, and nothing is more precise than Bonsai!" He nodded seriously.

I dug up my Apple, and squeezed it, trying to break it, and even hit it with a hammer, but nothing worked.

"Master, just ask it for a seed." Perceval sighed.

I blinked, and then picked up the Apple. "May I have a seed?"

It dropped a seed immediately, and then rolled out of my hands, into the hole I'd dug. I covered it up, and poured some water on it, then walked over to one of the small planters around the garden. This one was empty, so I took it down, and sat in the garden. I planted the seed carefully, then poured a little water on it, experimenting with how I could direct my power.

The water glowed, and the soil turned to crystal dust, slowly but surely. It still moved like dirt, and the crystal seed sprouted almost immediately. I latched onto it, mentally, and told it it was a Bonsai, not a full tree. It would grow like a tree, and make seeds like a tree, but it couldn't get bigger than a foot tall.

It complied, and I began carefully designing it, pushing certain limbs into the canopy, and wrapping others around the trunk, until I had what looked like an Apple tree, only a foot tall.

I grinned and gave it some more magical water. "You'll hold onto that, huh? I might need your apples for a spell, one day... make sure the apples will grow, once they fall!" I nodded, and hung it proudly in the front of the garden, displacing a humming tulip of some kind.

"Oi! Who in the bloody fuck do ya think ya are?!? I've had that spot for nigh on fifty seasons, an' I won't be moved around by some moron who don't know the first thing about flowers!" The tulip yelled at me suddenly, in a language I couldn't make out, but I could understand.

I yelped, and fumbled with it, then hung it up quickly. "What in the hell?!? You can talk? That's awesome!" I grinned.

"And who the hell asked you, eh? Now put me back in my spot, ya fuckin' midget, a'fore I pop yer eardrums for a fool!" It shrieked at me.

I blinked, then pushed magic into my hand, touching her soil, and feeding it magic. "Sorry, I have to put my Bonsai there, so Athenos can see it. But here's a gift, for your trouble." I nodded.

It sniffed slowly, then straightened its stem. "Hmph... might do, I suppose... but I'm still pissed, ya hear?!? Don't you go messin' with my Garden no mores!"

"Your Garden?!? My dear, deluded summer singing tulip, we all know this is My garden." A vine on the wall responded.

The tree creaked slowly, before any of them could respond angrily. "Quiet."

Instant silence fell over the garden.

I blinked slowly. "Do all of you talk?" I asked the tree directly.

"... Many... Annoying..." it answered slowly, and with only two words.

"She's not much one for conversation, is all." The tulip grumbled.

"QUIET!" The creaking rose in volume to loud enough that even Perceval could hear it, and I realized all of this had happened at a very low frequency.

I chuckled, and left them all with a wave and a g'night, then went to get some sleep.