Celestial Ascendancy
Chapter 72: Where The Thread Ends.
Elias Black.
Ministry of Magic, Britain.
"Everyone okay?" I shouted, clearing the air with a wave of my hand. The debris and chunks of the ceiling were scattered by the gale of wind I generated.
Iris was at my side, gripping her sword tightly in one hand while the other tried its best to bury her nails into my arm. Her figure was taut, like a bowstring ready to snap, but I gently patted her hand, and she took a deep breath.
Hermione and Fleur were the next to rise, followed by the rest. I glanced around, checking if anyone was injured, but I didn't see anything critical. I exhaled slowly, trying to calm myself even as my thoughts raced a mile a second.
It was obvious now; the spear hadn't been meant for us. It was aimed at someone else, someone working in the lower levels of the Ministry. And I had interfered with whatever they were trying to stop.
Which meant I had fucked up. I just didn't know who had sent that attack, or the kind of devastation it would've caused if I hadn't acted. The fact that it broke through my most potent shield spell was terrifying enough. Whoever sent that thing was hilariously out of my league.
And honestly, I was shocked by how minor the damage it did in the end, even after I slowed it down just a bit.
That was what scared me the most. Because whoever had thrown that spear didn't just have overwhelming power.
They had control. I could probably make a spell that broke Rho Aias as well... but that would probably end up being compared to a nuclear bomb or around there, not a single, localized attack.
"Eli, what in Merlin's name is happening?" Iris scowled, her gaze locked on the hole in front of us. Hermione and Fleur had moved off to check on the survivors, leaving the two of us alone once we'd made sure everyone was alright.
"I have no idea, Iris," I sighed, peering into the abyss. "You stay here, love. Help Bones with whatever she needs. Protect everyone. If something big happens, make noise, and I'll be back in a heartbeat. Sounds good?"
Iris scowled deeper, clearly ready to argue, but then she took a long breath and nodded.
"Fine," she said through gritted teeth. "We don't know if the Hexennacht has more forces lying in wait, and most of these people wouldn't last a second against something like that. Be careful, Elias. I already lost you once... and if it happens again, I swear I'll drag your weird soul back from whatever afterlife it ends up in, no matter how long it takes."
I kissed her briefly but hard, until we were both a little breathless. Then I nodded. "Same to you, love. Take care. I'll make sure Walburga never bothers us again. Not in this lifetime."
"You think it's her? Down there?" she asked quietly.
"It's the only thing that makes sense," I shrugged. "And even if she ran, I won't rest until I find her. This shit has gone on long enough."
Iris just nodded and gave me a firm push forward. I fell into the hole with twitching lips and sighed.
God, she was lucky she was cute.
I slowed my descent, partly in case anyone below needed help.
But the farther I went, the fewer people I saw. By the time I'd dropped three floors, there wasn't a single soul in sight. I couldn't sense any magic either. That meant either everyone was dead… or they'd escaped while they still could.
Eventually, I reached the lowest level.
I closed my eyes, wincing as a weird aura clawed at my third eye. Still not used to this thing.
It felt… wrong. Not in a malicious way, just fundamentally strange. Like something that shouldn't exist. Or maybe something I understood so little about, it hurt to even try.
It made no sense. It didn't behave like any aura I'd ever seen. None. It felt like the complete antithesis of the being that spoke to me while I was dead.
But it was tied to nature, that much was clear. Plants were growing from the concrete itself, and not the kind you'd see in the Muggle or supernatural world. These were different.
Strange in color, even worse to feel. Some of them moved like fluid when they should be solid, but they were alive. So alive, in fact, that I had to admit…
They were beautiful.
One thing I was certain of, these things didn't belong to this world. And right now, the clues were impossible to ignore. The Veil of Death… it wasn't what I had imagined. But it was precisely what Walburga had wanted from the wizarding world.
No. If my guess was correct, the Veil was connected to the Fae. A portal of some kind. I could already feel it now, the foreign energy leaking into our world, even from a distance.
I hid my scowl and kept walking, gripping Durindana tightly as I moved through the strange ecosystem that had already begun to merge with the Department of Mysteries.
There was a faint life force at the end of the corridor, but nothing else. Still, I pressed forward until I stopped outside a meeting room. It was full... and yet, entirely empty for my senses.
Around forty bodies lay slumped around a circular table, eerily reminiscent of something from Arthurian legend. No… not forty. Forty-One.
Curiously, only one body showed clear signs of how they'd died. They were all masked, but with a simple wave of my hand, I removed them. The privacy enchantments resisted for a moment, but they were nowhere near enough to stop me.
I closed my eyes, sighing sadly as the only damaged body was revealed.
Croaker.
He had a gaping hole in his sternum, but the flesh around it was sealed, cauterized. Like someone had shoved a flaming arm straight through him.
His eyes were still open. A single line of blood trailed from the corner of his mouth. He was slumped against the wall; it was obvious he had been dead for a while. I knelt and gently closed his eyes in respect.
That's when I noticed it, some letters scratched into the floor beneath his legs.
I moved his body carefully, setting him on the table before returning to the ground.
They planned to strike during Alaric's speech.
Take the girls. Break him.
I saw too late…
They're gone now. I handled it.
Poisoned wine. All of them.
Croaker
"Crazy bastard," I muttered, chuckling bitterly. I didn't even know him that well… but I owed him. And I'd make sure his family, if he had one, never suffered because of this.
I would make sure they had everything they needed and more.
It was the least I could do.
Closing my eyes, I restored his body to a pristine state. Then I stood and walked out, toward the only life force left on this floor.
It was fading fast.
And I wanted to end it myself.
Scene break
I opened the door.
The light from the corridor barely touched the far side of the chamber, but I didn't need it to see. The Veil pulsed beyond the threshold, faint and rhythmic like a heartbeat behind a mirror.
But that wasn't what caught my attention.
It was her.
Walburga. On the flesh.
She was slumped against the far wall, her body utterly ruined. Her right arm was gone, charred off completely. Her shoulder melted into blackened flesh that still steamed faintly in the cold air. Her robes were torn, stained with sweat and blood. She looked like a corpse waiting to drop.
I had been prepared for a fight, but honestly, I just felt tired. I wanted to be done with this already.
And behind her lay the spear. The same one that tore through my Rho Aias.
She lifted her head slowly, her eyes wide with a manic joy that disgusted me. And then she cackled.
A broken, wheezing laugh that echoed off the walls like nails on asphalt.
"You're late, boy," she rasped.
I didn't answer.
I just looked at her.
Then I opened the Gate.
Golden light spilled out of me in slow waves, curling through the chamber like a blanket. The pressure in the air shifted as things began to burn and cleanse.
"Deathloop," I murmured.
The barrier formed instantly, encompassing the entire room. The Veil was left outside, completely untouched. That was deliberate. I didn't want whatever happened next to enter into that place. Or worse, something coming out without me looking.
I glanced around the room.
It was… alive.
More so than the outer corridor. The ecosystem here wasn't just growing... it was thriving.
Vines pulsed like arteries beneath my feet, leaves shone with otherworldly colors, blue and magenta, shifting into neon like colors that reminded me of the blue people movie. Some of the plants didn't even move like plants. They drifted through the air in slow, liquid arcs before hardening into crystalline petals.
It was beautiful.
But wrong.
Probably because of how close we were to the Veil.
I turned back to her.
"Why?"
One word. That's all I gave her. That was more than what she deserved.
She laughed again, even as blood trickled down from her lips.
"Because I could," she said, grinning through cracked teeth. "Why else?"
I stared at her for a long second, then tilted my head slightly.
"Was it just you?"
She didn't answer.
"Do I have to worry about someone else?"
Still nothing. Just that wide-eyed smile, stretched thin across her ruined face.
I let out a slow breath.
"All right."
I let the light go.
My magic surged forward in a tidal wave of gold, sweeping across the floor like a peaceful gale.
It touched everything, every vine, every petal, every unnatural inch of this abnormal forest.
They writhed.
Leaves turned to ash. Roots blackened and vanished. The room fell silent as the foreign energy was burned away under my light. As if my mere light was poisonous against them.
But as the light spread, I felt something shift.
Something came into place.
A pressure behind my forehead.
My third eye forced itself open with a crack behind my skull.
I staggered.
My vision blurred for a second, not from pain, but from something else.
A rampant feeling.
I didn't understand why I was suddenly so full of rage, at least until I looked at her again, really looked.
She had done something.
Not by herself.
To the Sacred Gear.
I could feel it now, buried deep in her soul.
Cursed chains wrapped around its core, keeping it inside her.
"What did you do, Walburga?!" I shouted, my voice sharp. It came almost trembling out of my lips. My hand twitched as I grasped Durindana hard enough to crack my fingers.
"Oh? Did you notice?" she cackled madly. "I noticed how my Sacred Gear acted weird around you during our first meeting… I couldn't let that happen again. So I prepared for our fight."
"What you're seeing is the effort of fifteen Ultimate-class magicians… and some other interested parties." She grinned. "I'll take it to the afterlife with me, boy."
"Enough is enough," I sighed, trying to force the anger down. It was hard. Almost maddening. But I did my best.
My wings flapped, and I vanished from my spot.
I reappeared beside her and kicked her chest hard enough that I felt something cave in.
Her eyes dimmed briefly, but they returned, just in time for her to cough a flood of blood across my chest.
I moved again, grabbing her by the head and lifting her effortlessly.
"This is it?" I asked her. "No last stand?"
She smiled. "I won, Elias. Can't you see? The world will never be the same. Everyone will remember my name."
"There were other ways to do this, Walburga." I closed my eyes, already imagining the mess that was coming. If what Ajuka believed was right, that meant that this action by Walburga made the pact obsolete.
"I don't care about that, my dear Elias. I did what I had to… My only shame is missing our last fight. At least I'll die by your hands… I wish I could've seen your limits."
She coughed again. Blood splattered across my chest, but my light evaporated it before it could stain.
"So be it."
My power dimmed and gathered, all of it condensing into my right arm until it was so bright it stung even my own eyes.
I nodded at her one last time.
She smiled.
It disgusted me to the core.
Without hesitation, I impaled her, my entire arm piercing through her chest and gripping her tainted soul.
The cursed chains wrapped around the Sacred Gear shrieked and writhed as they began to melt.
And then I felt it, something like a hand reaching back. Like a connection began forming.
It was warm. So warm, so welcoming. The purple fire consuming Walburga's body didn't burn me. It entered me.
And settled inside my soul.
I twisted my hand, and the artifact responded, igniting my palm in a beautiful violet flame.
"I'll find you a worthy wielder," I whispered inside myself.
The flames flared as if offended.
I got the feeling the Incinerate Anthem wanted to stay with me.
But I wasn't the one for it.
I thought of my girls.
The presence inside me… looked at the memories too.
And calmed themselves.
The flames dimmed, like they were enjoying the last few moments in my soul. It wasn't what it wanted, but it didn't feel unhappy.
I didn't know if I was imagining it all, or if something more profound than any bond had formed… but at least now, I had someone to ask.
Which I would.
Because I had questions.
I dispersed Walburga's ashes with a wave of my hand, letting them scatter through the purified room like dust.
And then I walked toward the Veil. Taking my time, because I was feeling strange. Like if I should know what this strange feeling meant.
The energy coming from it was building inside the Veil. Not like a spell, but like… a resonance.
It was beautiful.
At least, to me.
Something about it called to me.
Before long, I reached the Veil.
My hand reached out, carefully but firmly.
My fingertips brushed the edge of the fabric.
A thread of aura lashed out, not violently, but intently. It slipped into me before I could pull away. Not because I wanted, because for the first time in this life I felt something that I had dearly missed and didn't know. Familial love.
And then I heard it.
"Our son."
Two voices. Distinct but layered. One male. One female.
They didn't echo in the air; they echoed inside me.
My knees buckled instantly, not form pain or anything like that. Mostly surprise, as I felt the energy from the veil resonate with something inside of me before it flowed into my body without a stop.
Something that shouldn't have happened, because I had a perk... And the grimoire had never failed me before.
I felt something inside of me start, before the lights went out.
A deep, ancient voice came from behind me, just as I fell into the ground.
"Because you are one of them."
Then everything went black.
Odin, The All-Father.
"Because you are one of them," I murmured, watching the surprise flicker across the lad's eyes just before he fainted.
I could already guess what he was thinking. His body was unusually resistant to foreign energy, mine included. I had even tried to influence his mind earlier, to make him walk away before he reached the Veil.
It hadn't worked.
Fate… Fate was something I couldn't fight without preparation.
Unlike the Fae.
Perhaps it was meant to be.
I could already see inside the lad, how the otherworldly energy now ran rampant through his body, igniting what had once been dormant. His Fae blood sparked to life, changing him irrevocably.
Now that I watched him closely, I noticed that his Fae genes used to be dormant. Used, being the important word.
I'd stayed behind mostly out of curiosity. I wanted to see if his blessings would retract, as they should have, once this happened.
Yahweh had always been the god most opposed to the Fae. Because he was pure order unlike their raw chaos. By all accounts, the divine system he left behind should have rejected this transformation.
But it didn't.
His blessing simply stepped aside, allowing the change to unfold.
A miracle, if I were being generous. And one that didn't bode well for the world.
Because if the system Goldilocks was allowing this, then whatever was left of his will believed it necessary to make concessions like this.
I didn't even know what to call the boy anymore.
An impossible amalgamation?
He breathed softly, his chest rising and falling like nothing was wrong. I approached him, only to stop as purple fire flared across his body and lashed out at me.
The spirit inside the Sacred Gear glared at me through the flames.
I sighed.
"I don't even know what's happening anymore," I muttered.
Lifting my hands placatingly, I stepped back and walked toward the far wall to retrieve Gungnir. The weapon pulsed once before reverting to its cane form.
I returned to the boy's side and stood there in silence.
Thinking.
This was a mess of epic proportions, and I wasn't entirely sure what to do.
The me from before, before I stepped away from godly politics, would've whispered to massacre everyone here. To wipe wizards off the face of the earth. Address the problem before it escalates.
It's not like it would be hard or anything like that. The lad was probably their stronger fighter, but as impressive as he was... He was lacking.
But age brings wisdom. And being a bloodthirsty war god wasn't me anymore.
No… we could use this.
And honestly, my hesitation came primarily because of the lad. It wasn't that I cared about him, not really, but his existence meant something. He was strange, full of contradictions. I hadn't failed to notice the inconsistencies.
His strength, for one.
Hel's tits, he was stronger than Azazel's lad, if just a tad, and younger to boot.
It didn't make sense how much he'd grown in such a short time. I remembered the first time I saw him, fighting the witch in that graveyard. He was already impressive then, but now? Now he was something else entirely.
And that wasn't even touching the absurdity I witnessed in the atrium. His connection to a realm of infinite magic. His strange weapons. His equally strange spells.
No… the best way forward was to delegate.
Let him carry the burden of the Fae.
He was a wizard. He was half-Fae. And, to some degree, however minuscule it was, divine.
This was his mess.
From what I'd gathered, he didn't strike me as irresponsible. Perhaps we could even strike a bargain. Have him deal with the consequences in our stead, while Asgard could help the new faction set their roots.
I'd never admit it aloud, but a large part of my decision was sheer curiosity. Being a god came with many burdens... one of them being the curse of knowing too much. A little uncertainty was, well, refreshing.
Not that I had to explain myself to anyone.
I straightened when I felt another presence arrive, stepping instinctively between the boy and the dagger aimed directly at his heart. My cane flashed, intercepting the strike with a dull thud.
I clicked my tongue.
"Crow, this is unlike you."
"Odin," she spat, retreating instantly when she recognized the true nature of the weapon in my hand.
A second figure stepped out from behind her, radiating soft, golden light.
"Why did you stop her, Odin?" Lugh asked.
Lugh's eyes glowed faintly, wise, just like mine. But he was a brat still.
"I didn't want to," he said after a moment. "But I agree with her. He's not natural, Odin. The way the energy warps around him, how the threads recoil… It's wrong. A Fae."
"You sound like a priest," I muttered. "Don't tell me the boy's scaring you, Lightbright."
He flinched, just barely. But I saw the hesitation in his eyes.
That was the thing with Lugh. He meant well. He really thought before he acted. The opposite of the Morrigan in every way. The Goddess that was still glaring at me.
She, on the other hand, didn't hesitate to speak.
"I can't divine his future," she said flatly. Her voice wasn't angry. It was worse than that. Empty. "I've tried. There's no threads around him, Odin. They're just… gone. He doesn't have a future. Or maybe he has all of them. I don't know. But that makes him a danger."
"Dangerous is not the same as damned," I said, rubbing my temple. Ugh. Godly politics, how droll.
"You said it yourself," she pressed. "The Veil is damaged, but the seal is not completely gone. Odin, he could open it again!"
"He won't," I interrupted. "Not yet."
She narrowed her eyes at me, that pale silver gaze that made my groin stir with memories.
"He's Fae-blooded. Wizard-born. Something divine, faintly. And the system Yahweh left behind didn't reject him, it welcomed him. Parted when his Fae blood activated."
Both of them froze.
Lugh was the first to speak.
"Yahweh blessed him? He is dead!"
I nodded. "Whether he meant to or not, the system he left behind accepted him. The blessing didn't stop what's inside him. Didn't even try. That's not a coincidence, that's divine will, or something damn close to it."
"You expect us to believe that?" the Morrigan hissed. "That he, a half-breed, was accepted by the most orderly force in creation?"
"I don't expect anything, sweetheart," I said, smirking. "But you've always had trouble accepting things even if they smacked you on the face."
Her jaw clenched.
Gods, I missed her when she was feral.
Not that she was ever not feral. But like I said... with years came wisdom.
I leaned back slightly, nodding toward the unconscious boy. "Maybe Merlin was right to vanish. Maybe he knew he wasn't the answer. Maybe this boy is."
Lugh looked his way.
The Morrigan remained quiet. That was the tell. She didn't argue. She always argued.
I took that silence as a victory.
"You want to kill him because you're scared," I said calmly. "And you're right to be scared. But I'm older than you both, and I know what real threats look like."
I walked forward slowly, tapping my cane against the stone floor. "He's not your enemy. Hell... at the rate he is going, he might even help us. But if he ever becomes one, then I'll be the first to put him down."
I turned my head just enough to catch her eyes.
"You have my word."
The Morrigan stared at me for a long moment. Then she turned, feathers coiling around her like a cloak.
"I hope you're right, All-Father."
She disappeared into mist and wings.
Lugh lingered a second longer, staring at the boy who was still unconscious, still glowing faintly with that blend of holy and fae magic.
"I don't like this," he said quietly. "But I trust you, Odin."
"Poor decision," I muttered. "But you'll learn."
He almost smiled. Then he vanished too, dissolving in a trail of light.
I was alone again.
Well, almost.
The boy groaned softly. His breath was steadying. His eyelids twitched.
Still alive.
Good.
I turned toward the shattered Veil, eyeing the cracks dancing across its surface like veins of silver lightning.
"Just what the Hel am I supposed to do with you?" I asked the air.
I sighed before I spun my cane once and sat cross-legged beside Elias.
"Suppose I'll wait."
I paused, before I smirked.
"And if you're still watching, Crow," I said to no one in particular, "your feathers looked great today. Give me a good fight sometime, won't you? For old times' sake."
I leaned back, closed my eye, and let the warmth of ancient magic settle around me.
Iris Potter.
The room was wrong. I felt it the moment we stepped inside.
I was hurrying before, but carefulness went out of the window as I saw him.
"Elias!"
My voice cracked as I ran, my boots echoing against the stone. Hermione and Fleur followed behind me, but I didn't stop. I couldn't. Not after the scenes of him impaled flashed through my mind.
He was lying in the middle of the chamber, sprawled on the stone surrounded by soft golden light. Breathing, thank the Merlin. His chest rising and falling in a slow, almost peaceful rhythm.
I dropped to my knees beside him, brushing hair from his face, searching for wounds I couldn't see.
He looked… calm.
I let out a shaky breath, the tension leaking from my body.
Then a low snort cut through the stillness.
"Huh. Not often do I find myself ignored."
I turned sharply, already moving.
My sword was in my hand before I thought about it, halfway drawn, eyes locked on the old man lounging beside the Veil like he belonged there.
White beard, a single eye and dressed in a long coat. A cane resting beside him, though I didn't believe for a second he needed it.
"Who the hell are you?" I demanded.
His one eye fixed on me.
Then it widened, just a little.
And he started laughing.
Not a chuckle or a smile, no. It was a full-bodied, mad laughter.
"By the roots…!" he wheezed, clutching his chest. "Oh, you've got teeth, girl! You've got him in you! Death's chosen!"
I didn't blink. I didn't breathe. I stepped forward, ready to move, or do anything against this weirdo.
"Calm your tits," he said, waving a hand. "I'm not here to fight."
I didn't lower my blade. Not immediately. But my instincts screamed at me that I shouldn't make any overt moves. Not because he was lying. But because I could see it now, radiating off him like heat.
His soul.
It was massive. Ancient. The kind of weight that warped everything just by existing.
If he wanted us dead, we'd be dead.
So I stopped. Not because I wanted to. Because I had to.
Fleur stepped around me, a bit calmer. Respectful, even.
"And who are you, exactly?"
The old man ignored her.
His gaze shifted, sliding lazily over Hermione, then back to Fleur. Then, finally, to me again.
He nodded thoughtfully.
"The lad has good taste," he muttered. "You're all solid nines. Nine-point-fives, maybe. Bit of cleanup and we're looking at tens."
Hermione sputtered.
Fleur blinked owlishly.
I raised my blade again. To hell with carefulness. I was going to gut this bastard; we were only Eli's.
But before I could say anything, he straightened and gave a shallow, perfectly weighted bow.
"Odin," he said. "All-Father. Lord of the Nine Realms. Giver of Wisdom or War God. Depends on who's asking."
His eye gleamed with power.
"And I'll be seeing you again, I think."
He turned, his cane tapping softly against the stone floor.
"When everything calms down… I'll seek the lad out."
And just like that, he vanished.
I looked back at Elias.
"I don't know what's going on anymore."
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