Chapter 222: Preparations

Chapter 222: Preparations

If you want to support me check out my patron at /athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them.

I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.

---------------

21st March 2012, Avalon

(Rose Potter POV)

"You're right, I've been downplaying my pain, my fear. It's agonizing watching everything around me and only seeing how to burn it to the ground. I see this beautiful realm, and all I can see, is how to collapse it into nothing, taking everything with it. It's horrible, but I have been pushing myself, because these are the last days I could have as a human, and I do not want to waste them." The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

Before Rose could respond, something emerged from the shadows. It was a bird that reminded her eerily of Fawkes the phoenix, but instead of the heartwarming light that the phoenix emanated, this one had a distinct feeling of cold darkness. It was the complete opposite of the immortal bird that had mysteriously vanished alongside Dumbledore.

Jasmine, though, seemed to recognize the bird, "It's been a while old friend."

She raised her hand and the bird slowly landed on it and gave her a soft cry. The cry itself was comforting in a different way than Fawkes'. It was like eating a bowl of ice cream in the middle of summer, drinking a cold beer by the beach.

Rose had no idea what type of bird this was. Perhaps it was another species that was hunted to extinction on Earth and whose details were lost to the sands of time, "So, who's this little guy?"

The bird for some reason glared at her, and Jasmine let out a snort of laughter, "This, Rose, is Erebus. He's my familiar and oldest companion. He's a phoenix, like Fawkes, but instead of the elements of light and fire, he's the phoenix of darkness and shadows. He's been with me for thousands of years, and we've been through thick and thin together. I have no idea what I would have done without him."

That was odd; if the phoenix was that important to her sister, then why didn't Rose ever see him? "How come I've never seen him around then, if he's your familiar?"

Jasmine snorted, "Phoenixes are birds of freedom. They act as anchors to the phoenix force when a new avatar is being selected. They stabilize the phoenix force for them to use it without being overwhelmed. A shard of a fraction of the power of a cosmic entity like that would overwhelm anyone. The way they perceive things, the way they think, is just more than anyone, mortal, God, demon or even celestial, could ever attempt to understand. Which is why they need a buffer to stabilize their powers. In my case, Death gave me artifacts to be able to channel her power properly, and in this case, the phoenix force is a being of death and rebirth, a being of progress and evolution, and you can't evolve without living, thus its anchors take the forms of living beings."

"Still, I don't understand why I haven't seen him before today."

"It's easy, calling Erebus my familiar is something of an over exaggeration. He's simply my friend, my oldest friend. I do not own him, meaning that each of us have their own lives. We do meet up every few decades, but we're not as attached as we were when I was younger, when we were alone. I have my life with Selene and the roles I played in history, and Erebus has a life with his mate. Still, even if they act as anchors on Earth, they moved here a few years ago, when Jean's power started to manifest to be exact."

Rose why confused, "Why is that?"

Rose was flattered with the trust her elder sister had given her with this key. It was similar to heir rings that the pompous purebloods still give their heirs to allow them access to the wards of their household, and the family library. The practice was supposed to happen when the lord of the house deemed his heir to have the maturity necessary to not misuse their perks, but sadly, it just became a symbol of status in the later years, and the heir rings were stripped of their enchantments and given to the lords' children right before they go to Hogwarts. It just became a way for heirs to recognize one another and a sign for other students to not anger them to avoid any retaliation from the lords of their houses.

Still, this was a nice gesture from Jasmine, and one that Rose wasn't going to take for granted, "I will not betray your trust, Jasmine."

Rose's sister gave her a warm smile, "The thought never even crossed my mind."

With that done, the younger witch's thoughts returned to the mystery ingredient. It had to be something big, something powerful, to be the core of a ritual that even Jasmine was wary of, "So, where exactly is this ingredient?"

"Well, we're going to Missouri."

Wait what? Before she could say anything, Erebus flew at her and created a cloud of darkness to teleport them. The young witch felt a shiver go through her. It wasn't because of the cold. She felt small, powerless in front of the shadows. All of this occurred in a fraction of a second. The feeling of the unnatural coldness disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and when Rose opened her eyes, she found herself in some sort of small woods in the middle of nowhere.

"What the hell, Jasmine?"

The woman is question was cackling in laughter, "Don't blame me, it's Erebus who got us here."

The young witch gave the immortal bird a glare. Erebus didn't seem intimidated by the slightest; he just rolled his eyes and turned to his old friend, "Fine, very funny. Now, where are we?"

Jasmine controlled herself and answered a question, "Like I said before, we're in Missouri."

"And why are we in Missouri? The climate and magic density aren't unique enough for any special herb to grow, let alone something to help in something as important as the ritual that you're planning. There are no ley lines running underneath here, no holy lands, nothing of interest."

Jasmine chuckled, "Yes, and it was why this place was chosen in the first place. It's deceptively a place that no one would look twice at. What I'm looking for is unique to this planet. You will literally not find it anywhere else."

"That's enough mystery, what is it?"

Jasmine just knelt down and started digging with her hand towards the patch of grass and dirt beneath her. Slowly, a shape started to appear. It was one of the weirdest plants she had ever seen, and Rose had studied herbology at Hogwarts. It was exotic, in a way. It was obviously artificial; no natural plant ever looked like this. It had odd red petals that looked stiff and yet had an odd geometry. It wasn't moving but it had a subtle glow to it. The closer Rose got to it, the more she could feel its power.

It wasn't magic, not really, but it was some sort of energy that far eclipsed it in power and density. Now that she could feel it properly, it was amazing how well the little plant was able to hide its energy output. Every single thing that is charged with any energy will let some of it out, it was a fact with magic just as it was with all other kinds of energy. Perfect insulation is almost impossible. With that said, this is as close as Rose ever imagined perfect energy insulation to be. It was like someone had hid the entirety of Hogwarts inside this plant and yet the energy loss was almost unnoticeable.

All in all, Rose had no idea what the hell this thing was, "What is that?"

"That, my dear sister, is a seedling of one of the most powerful beings in the universe."