217 Hot Chocolate and Rituals

"We're not quite sure ourselves, but we believe Jennifer was being controlled and began an Air elemental summoning ritual," I answered taking a seat feeling tired calming down from the adrenaline-filled fight.

"Emilia you're injured!" Daisy gasped in shock touching me with her glowing hands making the shallow cuts in my arm heal perfectly without any scars.

"Ohhh... I didn't notice." I looked at my arm shocked that I didn't even feel the pain at all, was it the Adrenaline or the heat of the fight or is this a natural part of my body adjusting here?

"Is Jennifer okay?" Helen asked looking extremely guilty.

"She's okay as far as we know," I answered for Jay.

"Yeah she's under Paul's care, I'm sure she's safe," Jay answered sounding hesitant still.

"So what happened?" Daisy questioned taking a seat beside me.

"We're not too sure ourselves when we arrived there was a freak localised storm around the Vancliff Estate when we entered everyone was already unconscious. Paul led us to Jennifer. discovering that she was possessed and casting some sort of ritual that was manifesting Air Elementals." I began to explain.

"Air Elementals?" Grace questioned curiously.

"Yes they looked like mini sentient tornados, but there was one which had a more human shape that Paul dealt with," I answered.

"And you say she was summoning them?" Morgana questioned curiously.

"Yes," Jay answered.

"Do you know anything about it?" I questioned Morgana noticing that she had an inquisitive look.

"Not Elemental rituals, in particular, but I am familiar with some other rituals that involve greater beings from another plane, you said she was possessed right?" Morgana asked bluntly.

"We believe so," I answered her.

"It's not uncommon for individuals to be possessed and begin a ritual against their own will, that normally only happens when very powerful beings are involved." Morgana nodded.

"So anyone can be possessed?" I questioned trying to find more answered.

"Well, no.. they need a connection to the individuals, in case of a believer or disciple the connection occurs through faith, a little like Daisy and her God. In this case, if it was against Jennifer's will something must have been used to connect her to a being, the most common case would be an item that contains a part of the being's soul, so upon attuning to the item it will also create a bond to the being essentially like a possession." Morgana explained.

"That must be the dagger we managed to take off her," I added.

"And doing so stopped the ritual?" Morgana questioned.

"Yes almost instantly," I answered.

"Jay, you okay? you're a little quiet." Helen questioned looking extremely concerned.

"Yeah.." Jay answered looking very distant.

"Jay also went through a very traumatic event, Jennifer showed him something before Paul subdued them both," I explained.

"What happened?" Everyone asked extremely worried.

"I don't quite understand, I was in a barren desert the air was hot, unbelievably dry each lungful of breath felt like it was filling my body with burning hot ash and sand, the sky was red like an eternal sunset but there were immense firestorms instead of clouds and a stream of pure bubbling lava." Jay described.

"What?" They all asked in utter shock at the description.

"Then an ominous voice spoke to me in a language I did not understand, then out of nowhere my heart became unbearably hot like lava was melting me from the inside out but somehow I was kept alive and conscious." Jay described clutching his chest like he was still feeling some residual effects.

"Do you think it's linked to your affinity to fire?" Helen questioned placing a hand on his lap to comfort him.

"I don't know," Jay replied still shaken.

"And Jennifer what was her experience like?" Morgana questioned.

"We don't know yet, when she awoke she screamed out in pain, so Paul subdued her again and said he will take her and help her recover," I answered.

"I think the ominous voice was a being contacting you," Daisy grimly informed us.

"Why do you think that?" Grace asked.

"It's happened to me before, well not exactly this, but when I was younger in the cult, every time we were forced to perform a ritual, I would appear in almost complete darkness, all I could sense was unfathomable unimaginably horrid creatures whispering to me in an incomprehensible language, their words somehow conveying emotion and suggestions subtly influencing my actions." Daisy tried to explain, an instinctive chill went up to my spine like listening to her experience was beyond anything I could fathom.

"Bloody hell..." I uttered in shock at both their experiences.

"Should we make that thing that Paul offers to cheer out spirits up?" Grace asked which was unusual for her.

"Yeah, I think we all need some hot chocolate," I said standing up walking into the kitchen to make some hot chocolate. As I reached out to get some mugs I noticed that my hands were quivering slightly. 'Is this because of Daisy's story or my body recovering from a very intense event?'

Trying to steady myself, I managed to bring down all the mugs and began making hot chocolate for everyone. "Need any help?" Grace said popping her head in first and walked in.

"Yeah sure." I smiled hiding my hands behind my body like I was ashamed of it.

"Crazy story Daisy described right?" Grace said making conversation.

"Yeah, to have gone through so much at such a young age, it's a wonder how she's still normal." I agreed.

"Yeah, maybe that was her way of dealing with all the trauma I guess," Grace answered.

"Dealing?" I questioned

"Yeah, you know... her bubble carefree attitudes and that eternal ray of sunshine," Grace answered.

"Hmm." I began to ponder.

"So this is how you make Hot Chocolate?" Grace asked looking into the mugs with the Hot Chocolate powder.

"This is actually the quick and easy way using boiled water if I wasn't in such a rush I'd use boiling milk, makes it much creamier and thicker," I answered her.

"And that thing makes water boil?" Grace asked pointing at the kettle.

"Yes... that is called a kettle back in my world." I chuckled.

"How?" Grace questioned utterly fascinated at it.

"Inside is a heating element, the kettle uses electricity to heat up the heating element in the kettle to build the water, similar to how an open flame heats water," I explained.

"Heating element?" Grace asked a little confused.

"Inside is something metal which we call a heating element, so electricity makes it hot like... a smith forging metal, and while the heating element is hot, it, in turn, boils the water." I tried explaining in a way she'd understand.

"and what is electricity?" she questioned further.

"It's an energy source..... much like Arcanum, it's an energy source that can be used in various ways to produce effects, but I'm not sure how it works here...." I answered.

"What is this brown powder thing that looks like flour?" She questioned further.

"So this powder is made from chocolate beans that have gone through some process to make the sweet chocolate flavour. I'm not too familiar with the process, to be honest." I answered her.

"And mixing hot water makes the amazing flavoured drink?" She asked watching closely as I added water stirring the mugs.

"Well, technically he does add marshmallows as well since he loves sweet things and desserts, but I'm not quite sure where he stashes them." I chuckled.

"How comes he didn't come back with you? and why did he ask for Scarlet and Annas assistance?" Grace smiled taking a whiff of the hot chocolate.

"I think he called them for assistance in clearing the area and maybe healing everyone who was injured in the event," I answered.

"Someone as strong as him and he still required assistance?" Grace asked in shock.

"Yeah, I don't know exactly what happened, he was able to easily dispatch a bunch of... I guess lesser elemental, but there was one with a more humanoid shape and features. He said he had trouble killing it till we stopped the ritual." I answered.

"Hmm, so I assume the Elemental was bound to this plane via the ritual." Grace nodded.

"That's what Paul said, do you know anything more?" I questioned to find out more.

"Well all I know, is that there are several elemental types and they all have a hierarchy system, the stronger the elemental the harder it is for them to establish themselves here. So the one he fought must have been relatively strong especially if Paul had trouble vs it." Grace explained.

"I don't know if he had trouble, but he was slightly injured on one of his arms," I answered making me wonder if S-ranked students are the pinnacle of human ability with unfathomable strength and power comparable to superheroes, yet there are beings out there that can still harm Paul and potentially kill him somehow.