Chapter 53: The Inner Circle
The auras took the appearance of animalistic shadows, gathering to form a near-impenetrable wall of whipping, cracking corruption around the three girls. Projection, Phantasia told herself, the extension of consciousness from physical to ethereal form. Like how Ms Chiltern communicated with them. If only that basic realisation could help her deal with the situation. If Faye were around things would be a lot easier.
“’Ey, ‘Tasia, don’t suppose you can take these freaks out with, eh, whatever it is ya do?” asked Ceres as the three girls backed up around the lifeless altar.
Phantasia shook her head. She’d already considered the possibility, but wasn’t eager to experiment. “I don’t know if it would help,” she said, “These are people, not magical forces!”
“They look pretty magical to me!” squealed Korrigan.
But what could she do? It wasn’t like she truly understood her powers. She could, as far as she could tell, ‘purify’ mana, returning it to an untouched state free from any contamination or alteration. What would that power do to a human target? She’d soothed the minds and hearts of her friends but that was a gentle touch, a brush of her aura against theirs to dispel lingering doubts and despair. Even then some, like Dante, could keep her out, block her attempts at making a connection. What would happen if she forced a human to bathe in her power, allowed it to devour them? The world wasn’t as simple as light and dark – they wouldn’t be consumed with euphoria and peace and love, because those emotions were ultimately as corruptive as hatred and violence. No, unleashing her power could potentially erase everything. Bishop Wotan and Yokai Kitsune had raised doubts as to the nature of her abilities – maybe they’d been right all along. As one of the auras lashed out towards them, she raised her barriers and dissolved the attack, but there was only so much she could endure before her protection faltered.
“Well I ain’t standing about ’til they decide to finish us off!” said Ceres, “I’m gonna make a break for it. There’s only so much damage they oughta be capable of. Maybe if we take ‘em by surprise we’ll be outta here before they know it!”
Before Korrigan could stop her, Ceres charged towards the shaman, green cloak flapping out behind her as she dived for freedom through the ethereal wall. As she passed through she stumbled, then fell, her aura flickering wildly like a candle caught in wind. Korrigan screamed and ran after her.
There wasn’t time to worry about morals or consequences. Phantasia chased after Korrigan, pulled her back and, before the shaman could continue their attack, unleashed her power outwards. Uncontrolled and unshaped, it swept through the air like a shockwave and struck the shadows with enough force to dissipate them into the magical winds. All that remained for the two shaman caught by the blast were dark, introverted shells, quivering on the floor. It was as if her power had struck them with enough force to warp their consciousnesses inside out. What was going on physically, and what the overall consequences of this were, Phantasia didn’t know – and wasn’t sure she wanted to.
“I’m okay,” said the purple-haired witch as Korrigan helped her up, “Just a little bit dizzy, ya know? Took a bit of a spiritual beatin’. Guess I had to learn the hard way how these things work. They don’t be teachin’ us this sorta deal at the Academy, that’s fer sure,”
As the other shaman focused their attention on their comrades, the girls took the opportunity to escape, Ceres slowly recovering her own strength as they did. But as Phantasia looked back at her victims she saw no signs of the spiritual regeneration that made physical bodies such a sought-after commodity among demons, leaving her to wonder just how destructive her powers could be.
***
