080 - Resonance

Golden light, bright and beautiful - the warmth of a summer sun on his face, on every inch of his skin. Magnus stood bolt upright, feet in the black waters, his face turned skyward and mouth wide open. In through his mouth and nostrils poured a constant stream of white mist, his eyes reflecting gold.

An indescribable joy and agony - Magnus felt his feet, felt every nerve and sinew, every inch of skin and flesh grow from nothing. Like his spirit form was an empty jug being filled with honey'd nectar, like he was being made real - watered by the black waters, filled with white mist, and sunned by a golden light.

Three times - the limits of his body in both pleasure and pain - three times he had felt worse than death, worse than when Min sliced his throat or when Kujata had stomped him dead.

First, when the white mist filled out his bones he'd felt an immense crackling and popping - from the marrow of every one of his bones bubbled up a disgusting yellow froth, oozing out through his yet ghostly skin. The more mist that filled him, the greater the amount of pus that was expelled in ever greater bone-breaking pain, until - crack!

His thigh bone snapped in half, its inside hollowed out. From the hollow a disgusting worm covered in yellow slime was forced out by the mist.

Second, when the mist had filled out most of his muscles and organs and reached his skin Magnus felt an indescribable itch on the small of his back. It quickly spread - like a wild fire across his shoulder blades, bubbling up in huge black blisters and spreading - two featherless black wings grew, stretching up and out with tiny hands at the tips, each finger ending in a pointed talon.

Snap!

The white mist burst out in two streams, both black winds snapping at once and falling to the ground. There they quickly withered, folding in on themselves until they were no larger than the wings of a pigeon.

Finally, after feeling as if he were drowning in a sea of mist, Magnus felt his core heat up; the small white nub behind his belly button spun, mist churning in the air around him. All around the grove danced thousands of shadows, the golden light forming into a six moving pillars spinning around and around and finally coming together in a single supreme pillar of light.

Only a single shadow remained - right beneath his feet. While Magnus remained still, unable to move, his shadow moved - lengthened, seemingly unaffected by the position of the light or Magnus. As he was made flesh within the forest, his shadow grew, gaining first a colour, then another. Soon, on the ground laid out was a perfect reflection of Magnus - as if he were stood upon a mirror made of dirt and leaves and roots.

The white mist slowed, the gold light faded - a measure of quiet and calm returned to the grove, only the sound of his breathing and water over the slick moss covered stones remained. A stench of sulfur and rotting flesh filled his nostrils - from both the black wings and the pus covered worm.

Magnus turned his head left, his reflection turned right. He reached out to touch it, and it backed away. He clapped his hands and snapped his fingers - the reflection did nothing of the sort, looking at Magnus with eyebrows furrowed.

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"It's faded!"

"Magister! The light came from here! Over here, a stream, look!"

"The mist is clearing, Dong-Geun can you . . dammit boy! Are you going to keep hobbling all over the place?"

"There, the trees open up, a stream . . look! There is someone there!"

Into the clearing came the seven, clothes frayed and torn, sweat cascading down their brows. Pontius was first amongst them, running and tripping over a root and falling flat on his face, the others hurried behind, helping the old Alchemist to his feet.

"Magister! You're bleeding! You . . you can bleed in the Ether?" Domitia stared blankly for a moment, holding up her hands before her face and pinching herself on the cheek.

"Mark him! Set an anchor glyph! Confirm that it is a Celestial, get a read on our location!"

Pontius roared out his commands one after another, threads of Animus emerging from his fingertips and forming a complex sigil in the air.

"A mountain sigil? Magister, how can that work in the Ether?" Valerius hands trembled as he formed an anchor glyph.

"Don't be so slow Valerius, haven't you realized it yet? We left the Ether some time ago . . this forest, this place is, is part of the material plane!"

"The real world? But . . . bu bu bu . ." Valerious stuttered, his face a mask of confusion.

"No." Zaynab replied, her voice hoarse. "Not the real world. Somewhere else."

"Alchemists!" Magnus finally found his tongue, his jaw slack from surprise.

With a flick, Pontius sent the sigil out across the black water stream and over Magnus, closing about him like a cage. An enormous pressure descended on his shoulders, as if a massive mountain had suddenly been placed on his back.

The weight wasn't enough to topple him though, only hold him in place - his feet sinking into the ground. There were seven of them, three Alchemists by the look of things. How had they got here? What about Kujata? Three Alchemists . . the old man in red, why does he seem so familiar? He seemed familiar . . a flash of recognition sparked in his mind. That old man! Of course! Unless all old Alchemists look the bloody same - that old man, those robes - it was the same Alchemist that had come to pick up Festus and Septima in Doohama!

A flurry of lights flashed through the air at Magnus, several glyphs and beams of yellow and white energy washed over him. He let it happen, not feeling for a second like his life was in any danger. These seven . . Magnus eyes wandered over all of them, falling at last on the two dressed in white robes. Their faces . . that scar - Magnus scalp went numb with shock of recognition.

"A Celestial!" Dong-Geun cried out. "A definite Celestial!"

"What about the golden light?" Pontius immediately asked. "Where is that? Any reaction?"

"None."

"Magister, he is marked, we are anchored!"

Magnus raised a hand, pointing a the old Alchemist, "You! Old bastard, you're Pontius Magister Preater. Ah hahaha! This must be fate!" Magnus took a step towards them, the blue sigil buzzing and cracking. "You! You are Prince Dong-Geun of the Segye Imperial Court, ahha! Sung Hu . . you are Sung Hu."