He was in a dark space, that was the best way he could describe it as there was no semblance of a structure, no walls, and not a single sound. He could move freely and it felt like the darkness was moving right along with him as a constant companion. Hades had warned him that it could take some time to find a starting point and right then he felt thankful that he had that knowledge going in so he wouldn't end up frustrated.
This was the fourth time Leodocus and Hades had begun the ritual from scratch, the other three times proved to be massively unsuccessful and Leo had to take another unscheduled break in the middle of the second time. But now he had made it through the second barrier.
To make sure this practice was done right, Hades had offered Leo a test subject, to get a feel of what the other person, Xanthippeia has the potential to feel when performing the actual ritual. And getting through the first hurdle had been easy but he attributed that to the young man's mortal state. He had been bestowed some divinity in him just like Apollos' priestess had been but not of the same calibre. Leo knew this would be significantly more challenging to do with Xanthippeia as he had to reach into the depths of her soul and pull out her essence. He had to break through whatever defences lay there and do it in record time before he became lost in the void and she dies.
With the mortal, the barriers were weaker and not sufficiently defended but now he faced the challenge of actually locating his essence. He had been taught that everyone held their essence deep in their bodies or those that were powerful enough could hide it in their minds or transfer it to significant objects. This mortal was harbouring it close to the loud pumping organ of his heart, a place most mortals kept it or were designed to hold it.
His eyes held their dark glow, which was only something that physically happened to him when he was venturing deep into someone's body, he could not use any of his elemental powers but what mattered most was his mental fortitude. He had trained his mind like the muscle it was and as a result, it was stronger, strong enough that he could sense the direction he needed to take next without any manipulation of the mortal's body to be his guide.
Just when he felt he was on the threshold, his head snapped at the sound of whimpering and a deep chuckle intermingling to form a horrendous melody. He knew it would have to be one of the mortal's defences so he went in that direction because if he could hear it, it meant he was closer than he realized.
For the first time, a single and quite dim light illuminated the area which came to be a circular room. A figure, crouched on the floor was rocking back and forth whimpering like a stray dog in a thunderstorm. Leo with his impeccable vision could see that the figure was not exhibiting fear at the direction of anything in particular in the room but rather what was hanging on its back.
Fluid and dark, the misty shadow clung to his figure like a piece of wet clothing even though he was stark nude. Leodocus could hear that it was whispering things in the figure's ear ever so slightly but it was as if each time it spoke the figure trembled and sobbed harder.
This man was haunted, that much was certain. He had either willingly or unwillingly invited the demonic entity into his life. Another explanation would be that the shadow clinging to him was a form of punishment by a sorcerer or a god powerful enough to conjure these entities. Leo knew that to extract a soul out of a body in this ritual it would have to first be purified. Which meant that he quite literally needed to get this shadow off this man's back before he could continue. The only problem was that his knowledge of fighting shadows was not yet at the level of a master he would've liked it to be. He never got to finish his studies before the axis of his entire world tilted out of control but he supposed now would be as good a time as any to test this very specific skill set.
Leo stepped forward closer to the figure so he could get a better look and as he did, the shadow hissed and began rumbling something to figure in panic.
"I can help you," Leo put his hands up to show he meant no harm. "Tell me who has marked you with this curse?" he pointed to the shadow, he was not addressing it, only the shivering man who had yet to even look up at him.
"Can you hear me?" Leo tried again but when he went ignored once more his hands fell to his side and he used his telekinesis to tilt the mans' head up. His face was hallowed, that of a man whose very spirit had been broken down for years and a second he was curious about where his uncle had found this man. But quickly he shook those lingering thoughts and just focused on the man.
"A spirit." His voice was little more than a wisp of air but Leo held his gaze not focusing on the shadow circling the man's throat in an attempt to shut him up. He would deal with it in a moment, right now he needed to know whom it originated from so he could know what variation of dark magic it was.
"Which spirit, the Erinyes? A Keres? One of the Moirae—" he stopped short at seeing the immediate tremor the man started to have at the mention of the Moirae. It was nothing new to him, when he was younger and inexperienced he too felt a freight at anything spoken about them and it did not help that so many of his family had close encounters with the spirits in not so pleasant ways.
They were terrifying creatures much like the Erinyes and the Fates who played by their own rules when it came to toying with or punishing mortals and gods alike. The fact that his brother Methios was related to them made him more confident as he glared down at the shadow because he knew of their kind of magic very well. Leo knew this man must've done something either horrible to deserve a punishment where he was tormented by a dark shadow living within him. Or he could have simply said or done something idiotic to offend the powerful and rueful creatures. But now was time to get lost in what was fair and what wasn't, it was time to act.
He let go of the man and turned his malice-filled gaze at the shadow with its sharp claw digging into the figure and concentrated. A shadow like this appeared intimidating at first glance but it was relatively easy to kill, his only worry would be the extent of how attached the two had become.
He summoned a light, pure light was the only defence against shadows because they lived and thrived in darkness but he also had to be careful the light would not get out of control and kill the host or he'd be trapped here. He felt it stirring up in the base of his skull and accumulate into a large mass, it burned but only enough to tingle.
Leodocus eyes began their descent into a deeper and brighter glow which meant that his body was merely a vessel at this point. His limbs were weapons as he reached his hand out and like a vacuum, he began to suck the shadow off the mans' body. And just like he anticipated a separation between the two caused the man to fall in pain as the shadow was trying so desperately to hold on.
With his whole mind solely on this task, Leo was too distracted to take in that the man had jumped up and was stalking toward him to attack. He understood that the man's body was not his own at that moment and was just defending the parasite, so Leo had to do the only thing that he could. He rendered the man unconscious with a press to a specific pressure point. It was only a temporary solution as he only had seconds to suck this shadow in before it revived its host. The terrible screeching soon came when the shadow saw how futile its fate was but Leo had to be impressed with how hard it was fighting. Deciding to put an end to the tug of war Leo unleashed a light within himself that would even give Apollo a reason to shield his eyes.
In a few seconds, all that could be heard was silence and the last whimpers of the dying shadow as Leodocus finally managed to suck it in and convert its dark mist to light. The entire process of transfiguration was a taxing one but because it was a shadow made of strong dark magic when he transformed it into light, it then became a welcomed addition to the energy in his body he needed to move forward.
Once the shadow was dealt with Leo came back into himself and after blinking a few times to get his bearings turned to the figure that was also beginning to awaken. Leo had just set this mortal free of a curse by formidable spirits and instead of staying to congratulate or help the figure any further, he continued walking out the room and following the instincts that lead him to a wide hall and the only sound that existed in it was the steady and loud thumping of a heart. He had arrived and judging by the overwhelming feeling he got when he looked up to see a single light entrenched in blood vessels that resembled branches he knew he had found the man's soul.
He felt like he had been trekking for longer than he did in the beginning, this hall felt endless but he could hear the beating clear as day and get clearer with each step he took. When he eventually made it to the end he approached the long haphazardly intertwined branches but upon stepping on one of them it came alive and snaked around his leg. It was not painful but rather an irritation because he made his movement limited. He couldn't use his powers to either burn, electrocute or use the earth to set it aside. All he had to work with was his wits and his energy. He thought it through and it seemed he only had the option of scaling himself down and levitating up towards the light. He knew that once he had it in his grasp the branches would be unanimated again and would not be an issue for him.
So that is what he did. Leodocus shrunk himself down to a three-foot scale version of himself and carried his body, waving through the maze of branches. If he even slightly nudged one it would animate and try to attach to him so he had to work fast but fluidly. He began a sort of dance as he weaved through, feeling himself fly higher and higher until the light was too blinding and he realized he had to go back to his regular size if he was going to snatch it. Avoiding the last of the branches he cleared enough space to make himself regrow and once he did, he retrieved the solvtis amulet of the box in his breast pocket.
His hands were just the tiniest bit shaky as Leodocus had never handled a soul before in his own hands. But he kept in mind that for this process this was the easiest part and he was right as he just barely even nudged the ball of light before it fell right into his palm. He couldn't even take his time marvelling at its beauty or the way he beat like a human heart before he recited the incantation to put it inside the amulet. And just like he predicted as soon as he shut the box, the branches fell limp and he floated down to the ground. Leodocus took the briefest of moments to look at everything that was darkening by the second, it was bitter to see how it was like killing someone from the inside but he steeled himself moved to the entrance he came in from.
When Leodocus opened his eyes in what seemed like an eternity his uncle and Pythia were standing above him both with impatient expressions.
"Was I gone for too long?" was the first thing he asked as he sat up from his ceremonious laying position at the alter.
"Longer than me nephew… and remember that I failed this at my first and only attempt," Hades said and Leo felt the condemnation but he knew it was for his good. When he did it with the girl he had to be faster, not taking time to see the sights because he didn't know what her defences were.
"I will do better uncle, I promise." He stood handing the amulet over to Pythia so she could begin the second part.
"Other than your timing Leo, was there any other difficulties?" Hades asked as he handed Leo some water.
"The Moirae cursed him with a shadow."
"I know." Hades simply shrugged.
"You knew and said nothing before I went in uncle?" Leo gave him a sideways glance.
"Of course, it was a barrier you needed to break through. Keep in mind Leo this was just a mortal, the girl is not, she may be just as powerful if not more than you."
"I am well aware uncle and I will deal with it accordingly…now let's go to Dynodes."
Hades snapped his head at Leodocus' words. After all that he had been through and he still wanted to carry on as if nothing happened.
"Leo—"
"Uncle I have been away from them for too long and I need to be with my brothers."
"Leo you just took a soul and—"
"And I will have to take another, there is no use in dwelling on it. I am perfectly fine to continue." Leo stepped away. In truth, it process and consequences of this ritual did take a slight toll on him but he knew that once he was back with the people he loved most, he would feel better. Hade and Pythia eyed each other in concern but nodded to Leodocus' request to move right away.
Leo sat back and watched intensely as Pythia and Hades dragged the body of the mortal to Leo's previous place on the alter and they both began the process of waking him up. He was on the tips of his toes as he watched for what felt like hours, it was truly something special to behold and in the back of his mind, a small amount of doubt started to creep in that he would not be swift, that smooth at reviving someone. They worked in tendem, feeding off each other and just when it seemed like all was lost and this was another failure, the man sucked in a deep breath and just like that through the work of these two powerful gods he was alive…