trigger warning: scalpels
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The golden halos had disappeared and the magic circle bound Violette to the ground again. Rose came running back to Eliza.
"How are you doing?"
"I'm a bit tired, but thanks to you I could restrain her."
Rose watched the demon goddess floating in the air, still a bit stunned from the halos.
"What do we do with her?" She whispered, not wanting Violette to hear, just in case.
"We should send her back before she'll try anything else."
Eliza's friend nodded in agreement.
"Do you know how?"
The group around Ino was still busy figuring out what had happened. They had laid her limp body on a blanket with a pillow under her head. It seemed as if she was in some sort of coma, her chest was still moving. At least she wasn't dead, thank the Moon Bunny.
"I need a few more people."
"We'll help."
Belle and two other girls that had tended to Ino, had come up to Rose and Eliza.
"Hi Belle, Jasmin, Lana." Rose nodded at each girl to greet them.
"Thank you." Eliza smiled at the girls, "Let's hurry up before the stun effect wears off of Miss Demon Goddess."
After instructing the girls, everyone went to their respective positions and got ready. As they were less experienced in magic, Eliza had to share some of her stamina. Hopefully it would be enough to send the demon goddess back without too much trouble.
She clasped her hands together, just like before, and nodded once, signalling she would start the incantation. The four girls occupying the star's points, held up their arms, as if trying to reach the sparkling dots in the dark night sky.
As soon as the first words left Eliza's mouth, a pink glow started to envelop Violette. Violette shrieked. The stun effect must have worn off.
"YOU PUNY HUMANS!"
Some of the girls had lowered their arms from shock, but Eliza wouldn't have it.
"Girls, don't give up! We need to keep going!"
Only a few more seconds and the portal would open to take the demon goddess back. Eliza continued with the spell. Ino's group and the rest of the sorority sisters present watched the scene unfold.
The once pink glow had changed to purple. Cracks were forming in the stone flooring and slowly but surely purple smoke came flowing in. Then the floor caved in and the magic circle filled up with smoke. Now only Violette's silhouette was visible.
From the hole in the floor glowing yellow arms appeared. Arms of Hell to drag the demon goddess back to where she belonged. They clawed at the sparse amount of fabric and when they had found their grip, the arms pulled Violette down.
"Eliza of Salem, you may have won for now," Violette hissed, "But remember, I'll be back to kill you, YOU CURSED WITCH!"
Through the smoke Eliza saw the woman's eyes glow bright red, staring directly at her. A surge of sudden pain ran through her body, as if struck by lightning, gathering into her right forearm. Eliza couldn't be distracted though until she was sure the demon goddess was gone.
The portal closed just as the last strand of purple-black hair had vanished from sight. Eliza released her hands and collapsed on the brick floor.
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"Eliza! Eliza!" The voice sounded distant, as if she was disconnected from the world. All around her was darkness. Eliza took a few unsure steps, in the dark it was hard to distinguish left from right, up from down. She took a few more steps. Then some more until she felt steady enough. Even though she didn't know where she would end up, she continued walking. She couldn't stay in the dark forever.
Eventually she saw a light, a candle maybe. It illuminated only a very small piece of darkness. Eliza came closer to the spot and could make out the shape of a round wooden table and two chairs. The candle was placed in an elaborately decorated candle holder and shone it's light upon a small red box. Then a woman in a dark blue cloak emerged from the shadows. Her hair was a similar chestnut color as Eliza's and it was neatly braided into a bun. Streaks of grey hinted at her age. She beckoned Eliza to come closer.
"So you're Eliza? Come sit." The woman pulled one of the chairs back.
"Who are you?" Eliza asked as she sat down.
"Me? I'm just an old lady." The odd woman smiled with a hint of amusement.
"Why am I here?" Things got frustrating quickly.
"Ah, the why question. Glad you didn't ask the where question, because I've got no idea." She chuckled and then continued on a more serious note, "Do you know about the Salem witch trials?"
Eliza nodded. Women got accused of witchcraft and then sentenced to death in a time people still believed in the excistence of witches.
"Eliza, did you know why that demon goddess called you Eliza of Salem?"
She did not know.
"Well, to explain it simple, you are one of the descendants of the Salem Witches. You belong to one of the most powerful bloodlines ever in excistance."
To be honest it didn't faze Eliza one bit. It would explain why her mom was so insistent on her learning all these spells and how to make potions. She had always thought it was a remnant of her mother's hippie phase, but there was more behind it than she was aware of.
The lady watched the girl as realisation set in.
"No hippie phase?"
"No hippie phase."
Both laughed. Even though it seemed as if the woman knew exactly what she was thinking, Eliza didn't question it. She felt familiar.
"Can I have your right arm?" the woman asked, pulling the girl from her thoughts.
"Sure." She had forgotten about it. "Hey, a question. Why doesn't my arm hurt anymore?"
The older lady pulled up the sleeve of Eliza's ritual dress.
"This space, where ever we may be, for some reason blocks pain. It's pretty convenient though. Here I can think in peace without getting reminded of my arthritis."
Eliza snickered.
The lady turned her attention to Eliza's arm again. There was a red and swollen scar. Just like Ino's, it seemed carved into the skin, though the symbol was different.
"Hm, the Infinite Snakes."
The scar indeed resembled snakes. They connected at the heads and tails and formed a circle. But within the circle there was another symbol.
"Do you know what this one is?" Eliza pointed to the crescent shape with a cross underneath.
"I'm not quite sure. The Infinite Snakes is like a tracker for a demon, so they can find you any time they desire. This moon symbol I've never seen before, though. But I bet it has something to do with your powers based on the symbols."
That didn't sound good. If Violette could find her anywhere, anytime she will be dead sooner than later.
"Can you do anything about them?"
The older woman tapped on the red box.
"I only saw the Infinite Snakes in my vision, so I had only prepared a talisman for that." She opened the box to reveal a scalpel and a tiny carved piece of jade. It was no bigger than a small pill. Looking closer it seemed to be carved into the shape of a fox.
"Why... is there a scalpel in there?" Eliza was almost afraid to ask the question as she figured the answer wouldn't be pleasant.
"Well, to make the enchantment effective, this jade fox needs to be as close as possible to the demon's mark. And you want it permanent. A silly bracelet can be lost way too easily."
She saw the scared expression on the girl's face.
"No worries, it won't hurt if done in this dark space. Remember, we don't feel pain here."
Eliza sighed. "Alright." There was no way around it. She placed her arm on the table and then closed her eyes. There was a light pressure of the blade on her skin before it went through. She felt a drop of blood escape.
"Now, I enchanted the jade with an anti-expel spell too, so your body will accept it pretty easily."
The stone felt foreign and cold. Eliza knew it would warm up soon enough, though she was not sure if she could get used to the feeling of something hard under her skin.
"Alright, done."
Eliza opened her eyes again while the woman finished wrapping some bandages around her arm.
"Eliza! Eliza!" The voices that had been calling Eliza earlier, were back again.
The woman stood up from her chair and closed the red box.
"I think it's time for you to go back."
Eliza nodded.
With a snap of her fingers, a white door appeared from the darkness.
"Go through here to return to your world," The older lady said. "And please keep this a secret between us. I'm actually not supposed to help you."
"Thank you."
The woman gave a reasuring smile and watched her younger self go through the door, back to her life that still held many secrets.
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