Julian turns from regarding the curious following they have gathered onto themselves. Morgenstern is the most pleasant surprise, of course, but taken as a whole, he could not help but shake his head just a bit at the latest turn of events. He had been a part of countless adventures and follies since last he saw his Wife, since last he knew his Son, centuries worth. And yes, nothing has prepared him for the situations he has so recently been a part of. Julian cuts his eyes to Aurora, and moves to stand by her side.
"I am always ready for you, Aurora."
She smiles adoringly at him, and then moves to the Bird Clan peoples. Aurora bows to the Shaman.
"We are going to proceed with the Rite. Please do not leave this room until after the Ritual. I do not know what we can expect, and I would hate for something to harm you, my friends."
Then taking Julian's hand, they proceed out into the now repaired, cleaned and warm ritual chamber. Tapestries hang from the walls around the altar : there are four more, in addition to the Unicorn and the Serpent who face each other across this six-sided vault, four more designs. A bird made of fire, rising from a pyre, facing a Chinese dragon, feet held on clouds. A prism casting rainbows facing a perfect seven-pointed star.
As they near the altar, Aurora drops her robe to the floor and leaves the puddle of white silk behind. She steps up and takes up the ritual dagger in one hand. She looks at the blade and then her husband.
Julian's eyes follow Aurora's movement, his mind preparing his body for what is to come, with his Wife making the task very easy indeed. He follows the blade after it appears, intent on learning the steps to the ritual by watching her go through the motions.
"The first offering is blood. To the Serpent. Our offering to the Unicorn will be the sharing of our love. For the Drake, our lust. The Phoenix is the Power of Death. And the height of the sex act is La Petite Mort, oui? We shall give him several offerings. The Avatars of Art and Logic, well…..," she smiles. "I think we can easily incorporate them into our ritual, don't you?"
He scowls reflexively at the idea of giving the Serpent anything, but says nothing. Julian listens, and smiles slightly. "I have found nothing 'Petite' about it, Wife." Julian nods, "I agree. None of that sounds difficult, though it seems strange to me. As this all appears to be — machinery. Empowered machinery, but still gears and crystals, if you take my meaning. A ritual smacks of a sacrifice of Power, and I am unclear how any of these things benefit the device — grand or not." Julian shrugs slightly, "But let us continue."
With that she lays the blade across her palm and draws sharply before handing Julian the ritual dagger hilt first. She doesn't wince as she holds her fist over the cup and lets her blood begin to trickle into it.
As the athame slices into Aurora's flesh, it takes on an oddly translucent sheen. As her blood trickles into it, the chalice takes on the same translucent sheen. The tapestry that depicts the Serpent ripples, as though blown by an unseen and unfelt wind…
Julian scowls very slightly again, but holds out his hand for the dagger, and repeats the motion. His eyes go from the chalice to the tapestry as well, and while he is tempted to open his senses, he does not.
"You must let got the old prejudices," Aurora says, and it almost sounds like a part of the rite. But she had seen his scowl, and she remembered the things he said when he first saw her. "A new world with new beginnings. The Great Serpent is as much a part of me as the Sacred Mother Unicorn."
She moves the chalice with her unmarked hand and holds it to him for his offering. "He is a part of our son as well, beloved. And yourself. Was not Dworkin, the Progenitor of Amber's line, of one of the Houses of Chaos himself?" She smiles. "Do not blame Him for the actions of a few of His children. They had Free Will as much as the Unicorn's children. Do you blame Her for the actions of Brand or the brother who shot you? Of course not."
When the chalice held their combined bloods, Aurora heals both their hands and smiles up at him. "Wait here," she murmurs, and then she steps over to stand beneath the banner of the Serpent.
Holding the chalice aloft with both hands, she intones: "An offering of blood for You, Father Serpent. Freely given." She sets it down carefully on the floor under the banner. The mingled blood swirls upward. As it vanishes into nowhere, the banner above darkens, becomes heavy with darkness.
Aurora returns to Julian and holds out her hand. With her husband she walks to stand beneath the Unicorn. "With you, Sacred Mother, we share the gift of our Love; pure and encompassing and everlasting." Turning to face Julian with all the love she has for him reflected in her eyes, she smiles. "Kiss me, mon Julian."
The banner that depicts the Unicorn moves as though caressed by an unseen wind: it brightens slightly. The brightness and the darkness facing each other across the chamber, with Aurora and Julian between.
Julian offers no words in return to her mild admonishment. The Serpent's Children had invaded his forest, burned parts of it as they spread from that accursed cancer that was the Black Road. A Blood Curse might have cleared the path, but it was Chaos that laid the pavement. It seemed to him that even when the deeds were dark, neither the Unicorn nor the Serpent could operate independently. Instead, they required their diametric opposite to wreak havoc, like hot and cold fronts clashing and turning into a storm. Julian turns slightly, alert for the changes around, aware that Power is at work, even if he is not clear on how or why.
He smiles slightly at this part of the ritual, and moves into Aurora's arms as he takes her into his own. He gathers her close against his chest, a quiet growl in his chest as he leans down and kisses her with loving tenderness, but with a heat and a depth that promises much much more.
Aurora flows into his embrace and her body molds to his. Julian's kisses had always been able to render her weak in the knees and unable to think coherently. This was no different, though she retains the presence of mind for the action she felt was required for this invocation. As she had earlier, Aurora gathers all her love for her husband and releases it in a burst of magic.
The banner that depicts the Unicorn begins to emit light, that quickly becomes too bright to look at directly, though within the light something moves. The banner that depicts the Serpent has darkened to the point where it is an absence, though again, within the darkness something moves. The air within the chamber becomes charged with power, flickering across the senses of Aurora and Julian, crackling with the promise of thunder. The light and the dark begin to clash, with them in the middle.
And then a mighty voice speaks from the darkness, both verbal and mental, stunning and dark. Each word leaving a dark taste behind it, as though reality itself bleeds. ~"tHEy SeEk YouR hOrn."~.
A voice brighter by far answers from across the chamber, but this voice is entirely the opposite, bright and wild and terrible. Washing the dark away. ~"YES."~
~"IS it TiMe?"~
~"YES."~
~"tHe RooTs ArE rEAdY tO sUPpoRt ThE tREe. wHeRE iS mY eYe?"~
~"OUR SON HAS IT."~
~"WhERe aRe tHe QuEEn oF SwORds aNd tHe MORTAIS?"~
~"THE QUEEN OF SWORDS WILL BE WHERE SHE WAS FOR WHAT MUST BE, MY LOVE. THE
MORTALS SLEEPS."~
~"dO yOU tRUst tHEse twO TO do wHat wAs aNd mUSt bE dONe?"~
~"YES."~
~"tHeN sO bE iT.~"
What happens then is perhaps unclear to Aurora and Julian. On the great double doors of the vault, at the top of the doors, the spiral curve of the Pattern becomes visible, and the light from the banner of the Unicorn flashes toward this, absorbed into it. No trace of the banner remains. Similarly, at the base of the double doors, a writhing sign of moving blackness becomes visible, like twining roots at the base of a tree. The darkness flashes toward this and is absorbed by it, leaving both banners gone. The forces invoked subside. Other sigils begin to gleam with inner light, between Pattern and Logrus, revealing that there is indeed a tree carved into the ancient doors.
It wasn't the light that had pulled Aurora from the bliss of her husband's kiss. It had been the voices. She could only stand and shift her wide eyes from one side to the other. The power around them was heady stuff.
She hasn't expected such a reaction so early in the rite. It confuses her a little. Had she not been specifically told sex would be involved, she would be running for the great doors even now. Instead she slowly moves back to the altar, tugging Julian with her. But her eyes doesn't leave the wonder of the great door and the softly glowing sigils taking shape.
It isn't until they are at the altar that she turns to Julian and smiles. "Lift me onto it, beloved… and then I will drive."
