With Suze's help Veronica climbed into their own carriage. She should've been really afraid and angry about Floyd. She still had no idea what he was trying to do, well she did understood that he was trying to kidnap her, but why?
Inside they waited for less than a minute before James entered the carriage as well. He was nearly fuming from anger, same as Suze.
Veronica just stared at them with exhaustion. This last adrenaline rush made her really tired. Her eyes kept trying to close and when she nearly fell asleep, suddenly a piercing pain appeared right on her cheek.
With a jerk of her head Veronica stared at Suze with annoyance and disbelief. Her face was already red from the slap.
"Don't you dare fall asleep! That would reset the task! Instead tell me the whole process of the bathing ritual again!" Veronica couldn't decide if the slap was to keep her awake, or just a way for Suze to let out her frustration.
She sighed exaggeratedly, then began explaining the ritual. Suze made her repeat it probably fifty times throughout the journey back to the inn. They didn't talk about Floyd or the whole kidnapping ordeal, they all agreed silently, that it can wait and now they should focus on Veronica's ascension ritual.
When they finally got back home, the three of them went straight to the office in the basement. There Suze grabbed a few ethereal materials, the two main ingredients, a paper with the written incantations and a key to a large bathing chamber.
Veronica also changed out of her magnificent dress and put on a purely pink robe. She had to take off everything before putting it on, since even a different colored undergarment could ruin the ritual.
It was a bit funny. Dying because your panties weren't the right color, but the thought was also terrifying. She had to be very precise, even the smallest mistake could lead to her death.
As they walked out of the office, the few people who were still awake stared at Veronica. Most, or possibly all of them were ascended themselves, so they knew exactly what she was about to do. Alex was there as well, he raised his glass of some liquor and mouthed 'Good Luck' to her. She just made a small nod and walked on.
Suze led her into one of the corridors and opened a seemingly random door. The inside was dark for a second, then suddenly a fluorescent light illuminated the whole place. Veronica stared at the glowing plants curiously, behind her Suze explained.
"They are a special plant, they were made for this exact purpose. A fire either made by gas or a candle is very unstable, it could cause issues in the ascension process. This plant is called Light Vine, they don't need much upkeep and provide a good enough light to illuminate a dark room."
After the explanation Veronica finally looked around the room. It was a bit large about 6 meter from each wall and four to the ceiling. There was basically nothing inside except for a gigantic bath.
Steadily she walked to it and looked at the faucet. There was a temperature indicator above it.
'At least having a perfect 40 degrees water won't be an issue. Let's just hope the other parts will be just as easy!'
Suze and James put down the items Veronica will need, then stared at her anxiously. In answer she just smiled reassuringly and gave them a big hug. Soon the two of them left while saying 'good luck' to her.
As Suze was about to leave, she stopped at the doorway and looked back at Veronica once. She had a small smile on her face, but her eyes only held fear. Eventually she made a small nod to herself and closed the bathing chamber's door.
With a few quick glances Veronica looked through everything, then took a big sigh and began the cleansing process.
First she made the bath, by letting the water flow at the exact temperature. When the bath was full of water she began the actual first step of the ritual.
She put out three ethereal materials in front of her. Heavenly Vanilla Extract, Dancing Lavender Flower and Holy Dusk. Each item needed to be in aerosol form in the air to count towards the cleansing of the room.
First she raised the Heavenly Vanilla Extract, it was in a container like perfumes and while pushing the lever a few times she chanted in ancient rener.
"Heavenly Vanilla Extract, I pray for thee to cleanse this room!"
Second was the Dancing Lavender Flower, this was a bit more annoying to do, since its container was a strange old fashioned spray which didn't want to cooperate with her pushing. Eventually she managed to put enough into the air to count towards the cleansing.
She chanted the same thing as before, except she said Dancing Lavender Flower instead of the vanilla.
The third one went pretty much the same, with another name change of course.
When she finished, Veronica felt an invisible wall rise around the room. It was strange and intangible, but also brittle. She knew that the barrier wouldn't stop anyone, it just didn't let outside influence affect the ritual.
With this part done, it was time for the actual Bathing Ritual. She opened the two material boxes in front of her and grabbed the Choking Vine Body first. Gently she lifted it out of the box and while holding it with two hands she began the ritual in ancient rener.
"I, Veronica Navarro, will sacrifice my life in exchange for power!
I, Veronica Navarro, ask for the blessing of this Choking Vine Body!
I, Veronica Navarro, danced for hours till my legs gave out!
I, Veronica Navarro, shall ascend today as a Dancer!"
When she finished the speech, slowly she rose to her legs and gently placed the Choking Vine Body into the perfect temperature bathwater. The vine floated on top of the water, then with a bright explosion of color it dissolved, and changed the color of the water green.
For a second she thought that she had done something wrong, but then she remembered that the color will only become right, when she placed the other main ingredient inside.
She closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath, when her eyes opened they still showed signs of anxiety, but her hands at least stopped shaking. Veronica went back onto the ground and knelt before the Roaming Pointer Fin. Gently she raised it into the air. Her eyes went a bit unfocused as she spoke the next words of the ritual.
"I, Veronica Navarro, will sacrifice my life in exchange for power!
I, Veronica Navarro, ask for the blessing of this Roaming Pointer Fin!
I, Veronica Navarro, danced for hours till my legs gave out!
I, Veronica Navarro, shall ascend today as a Dancer!"
With the second chant done, she placed the Roaming Pointer Fin into the bath as well. The fin immediately sank into the green water, then suddenly colors exploded again, but this time it changed the water to its supposed pink color.
Veronica made a small sigh of relief. This part was pretty straight forward, but she was still very nervous about making a small mistake.
Her hands slowly rose to the air and she chanted the last part of the ritual.
"I beg thee for a blessing, I beg thee for a chance!
I need thine help, in order to ascend!"
As she said the last part the water turned a bit turbulent, like it was a bubble bath with a small whirlpool in the middle. The sight was mesmerizing and it took Veronica a few seconds to realize what was happening to the water... It was dancing!
With a near imperceptible smile, Veronica took one step into the bath. The water was warm, but not even close to being too hot. Her robe was still on, it was needed even for this part.
Quickly she stepped inside with her other foot and laid down in the large bath. She looked at the constantly moving pink water, then took a few quick breaths. It was time for the next part, this will decide if she will ascend, die or get corrupted. She took a huge breath, then went underwater.
In the water all of her senses were lost, except her touch. All over her body a small tingling feeling appeared, swiftly she focused on that while concentrating her mind.
Slowly she felt something appear inside her, like a very tiny seed of some sort of power. It was hard to place the feeling, like a small ache within her heart, but it didn't hurt, just made her feel a bit uncomfortable.
As the seconds passed Veronica didn't lose focus. Her mind was stalwart and she closed it down from any thoughts that would risk her ascension.
The waters were becoming more turbulent as Veronica gradually absorbed both main ingredients' ethereal property's. She didn't see it, but the color was slowly getting drained from the water by her.
She was already reaching the worst part. She spent nearly two minutes below the water already, so her lungs were already burning from the lack of oxygen. This was the reason that she could die.
If she absorbed both ingredients, she would ascend. If she made a mistake during the ritual or stopped halfway through, she would get corrupted. If she ran out of breath and pass out in the water, she would die. It was this simple, but the lack of air also caused another issue, it was messing with her ability to concentrate.
The water was losing color faster and faster, the feeling in her heart was becoming greater as well, but her lungs were screaming so loudly that it was hard to stay focused.
Suddenly, when only the tiniest of pink tinges remained, the water exploded upward from the bath. It rained down on the whole room for a good five seconds, then everything turned silent.
The water wasn't moving anymore and its color was normal as well. Another interesting fact was that inside the bath...
There was nobody...
Veronica wasn't there anymore...