acrimsonking (acrimsonking) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2017-09-22 12:25:00 |
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Entry tags: | #september 2017, anthony, anthony x caius, caius |
Who: Caius and Anthony
When: Close to midnight, September 6th
Where: Blackwater Woods
Warnings: Super mild; blood magic/nakedness
Anthony wasn’t afraid of the monster that roamed the Blackwater Woods. He wasn’t really afraid of many things. Oh, he knew of his own mortality, but his magic had always been powerful enough to protect him from the things that would not hesitate to rip out his heart and eat it. Such as whatever it was lurking in the dark shadows of the trees around them. He had set the powerful protective wards around he and Caius as soon they headed into the woods. That had been an hour ago. Now they stood in a small clearing, dark candles lit around them. The lunar cycle was something Anthony kept a close watch on, and the night of the full moon was when his power was at its peak. It was why he’d taken Caius out tonight, because if his son’s magic had any chance of succeeding in what he wanted Caius to do, tonight would be the night.
Their bloodline was powerful, but Anthony wasn’t willing to risk Caius’s sanity, or life, so he made sure Caius was wearing something to absorb the probable backlash, the pendant around his neck. It was a chilly night, but Anthony felt warm. They were both naked, their chests and arms covered in symbols drawn on their bodies by their own blood. There were plenty of spells that required sacrifice, and usually blood from another source, but for this particular spell, it had to be their own. Really, it had to be Caius’s, because this was for him. Anthony could already feel the magic pumping hard in his veins. It was the kind of high no drug could ever replicate. And when a spell succeeded, it was nearly orgasmic.
The summoning spell was a difficult one. It required blood and earth and extreme concentration. If Caius fucked it up, he could bring forth something uncontrollable and it wasn’t likely either one of them would be leaving Blackwater Woods intact. But if he succeeded… “Imagine being able to see anything and everything you want, and never having to leave your home,” Anthony had explained earlier. No one knew where the Obscurities came from, but it was a dark place, one not many witches were willing to venture, or summon from.
Now Anthony had his hand held out toward the middle of the circle, cupped lightly to hold the small pool of blood that seeped from the wound in his palm. He couldn’t do the summoning for Caius. Caius would have to do it on his own if he wanted complete power over what was coming. Anthony was calm, but his heart was racing from anticipation and adrenaline. He could only imagine how Caius was feeling at the moment.
Caius had been waiting for this moment for months now. He’d studied the ritual extensively, memorized the archaic Latin, the timing, the steps. He had to get this right, if he wanted to get anywhere in his magical life. Anywhere real, anywhere powerful. If he didn’t get it right, not only would it fail, not only would he disappoint his father and mentor, he would put them in danger. So he’d studied, and studied hard. He felt ready.
More than that, Caius felt alive. It was a different kind of living, when the magic was pulsing through him, warming every bare inch of his body. Everything was sharper, his senses felt heightened, and there was a feeling under his skin that was almost like electricity. He’d been skyclad with his father for various rituals several times, and it hadn’t felt strange for more than the first few minutes of the first one. This was in their blood, it was what they were meant to do. He could feel every fiber of him singing with it, out there with the cool air flowing all around him and the open sky above. It was divine elation that he was sure none of the mundane sheep in the world ever felt.
They’d drawn and consecrated the circles, they’d called to the four compass points to awaken the elements, they’d adorned themselves ... now it was time to actually call for the Obscurities’ favor. Caius knew they were listening, he just knew it. He stepped in closer to the smaller circle than the one they were standing in, his own cut palm held out in front of him. He spread his feet a bit to keep himself grounded, and concentrated for a moment on how the air felt all around him, drawing his element in closer to himself.
Caius reached out and took his father’s hand, squeezing it tight and turning it so their mingled blood could drip down. Turning his face up to the sky, Caius took in the stars for a brief moment before he closed his eyes and started the incantation.
The magic inside of him seemed to sharpen now that Caius took his hand and their blood came together. It told him that Caius's power was stronger than Anthony had thought. It made him proud, of course, but also slightly wary. Anthony supposed it was the competitor inside of him, the desire to be the only one pulling the strings in this town. Not that he believed Caius was close to overtaking him, but it could happen. Someday. And maybe that was what was meant to happen. As long as Caius made the right choices, and went down the right path, it seemed inevitable.
As Anthony closed his eyes, the incantation was the only sound Anthony could hear, but he could feel the wind pick up around them and he tightened his hold on Caius's hand. There was mild pain, but that was absorbed by the ring he wore on his right hand. Caius would feel it more acutely, but only briefly if his pendant did what it was supposed to do. Anthony could feel the air change. It grew denser, and hotter. Almost stiflingly so. Anthony could feel it when it happened, when Caius finished speaking and the pounding of his heart grew louder in his ears until it became almost deafening.
And then... silence. Anthony opened his eyes to look at Caius. He let go of Caius's hand and stepped back as the shadows seemed to seep up through the ground at Caius's feet. They circled Caius, rising higher over his son's body. There were three of them, that Anthony could count. Silent, but swift and they covered Caius's body completely. He held his breath and stared until all at once the shadows disappeared, as if Caius's body absorbed them completely.
As the wind and the heat picked up, Caius felt like he was soaring. The surging feeling in his body was unlike anything he’d ever felt before, and it was exhilarating. There was a sharp pain as some skin on his chest split open, a spillover of the backlash that his pendant mostly absorbed. Caius barely felt it, his adrenaline was racing. He opened his eyes as he finished the words and his father’s hand slipped out of his.
Caius looked down and saw the twisting shadows rising around him. They felt ice cold in comparison to the intense heat that had just surrounded them, brushing against his legs as they ascended. Caius watched in wonder, his breath shallow and slow, feeling almost weightless, like his feet might lift up off the grass at any second. He tried to stay grounded, his eyes closing again as that breezy chill swept up around his chest and neck and surrounded his head.
He could hear them now, whispers in a language he would never begin to understand, seeping into his ears first. It was easy to let go and let the shadows in. He welcomed it, and that chill burned sweetly as it sank deeper. Caius breathed in deep, and felt something else merge with his being for the first time. As the shadows vanished, his eyes opened. They were fully black for a moment, glittering with the dim light from the candles, and Caius felt like he could see everything. A heartbeat later the world returned to normal, and the whites of his eyes faded back into being. The chill faded away, and Caius took another, more unsteady breath.
Anthony had been mentoring Caius ever since his magic manifested at the age of thirteen. That had been thirteen years ago. Caius had always been talented, had never needed as much practice as some witches Anthony knew of. Magic came naturally to him... dark magic even more so. Watching his son take control of multiple dark entities so effortlessly sparked something inside of Anthony's chest. Pride. Affection. Two emotions as rare to Anthony as actual love. A weaker witch would have died as soon as the Obscurities entered their body, their blood boiling them alive. Caius had suffered a wound to his chest, but otherwise, he seemed fine.
Unable to help himself, Anthony grinned as Caius's eyes cleared and the world around them settled. He could hear the animals in the trees again, the soft rustle of leaves nearby. Anthony had always had an affinity for fire, but he never felt more powerful than he did completely surrounded by nature. He didn't want to rush this, but a part of him was eager to get home to his wife. If she was sleeping, Anthony fully intended on waking her up. "How do you feel?" he asked Caius, keeping his distance in case Caius needed the space.
Caius had expected it to hurt more. He’d heard and read all the warnings. But he felt good right then. Raw and powerful, even if the sensation that he was flying was fading fast. Things were settling, he knew. Maybe pain would come later for him. Maybe it would never come at all ... but Caius wasn’t so naive to think the rest wouldn’t be a struggle. He’d accepted the Obscurities into himself, learning to direct them would be a task all its own. They were far from tame. This was just the first part of tapping into a greater wellspring of power.
He smiled reflexively back at his father, a more mundane sense of giddiness rushing forward. “Good,” he said, in spite of the stinging in his chest. The cut didn’t feel deep, and if that was all he suffered, it was a tiny price to pay. “Strong.”
Anthony nodded, pleased to hear it. It was true that Caius might feel the effects of what he'd done later, but Anthony was sure that he could handle it. And if he couldn't, Caius could Anthony. "You may not be able to do much but see through their eyes at first. But give it time. The more you use them, the easier it'll be to control them." And then? Endless possibilities.
Anthony glanced up at the moon, still high over the trees of Blackwater Woods. It had definitely been the right night to do this. He wondered how many other witches in town were practicing right now. All of them, if they had any brains in their goddamn heads. Unfortunately, not everyone with their abilities seemed too concerned with perfecting their craft. Wasted potential. Anthony looked back at Caius. "You want to give it a try now? See what you can do?" Caius may just want to get home and sleep. Sending those things out so soon after absorbing them may make him sick, but Anthony didn't think it hurt to suggest it.
Caius knew a general list of what the Obscurities could do for him, what was simple and what wasn’t. He didn’t want to try to eject them so early, as he had a tiny nagging fear that they might not come back. Like they were just teasing him and not really integrated yet. But he also knew they could do some things for him right where they were, so he closed his eyes and focused inward, reaching for this new part of himself to pull it forward.
When he looked around again, his eyes were fully black once more, and the nature of Caius’s vision had changed. The darkness suddenly meant nothing at all. He could see every tree around them, every gently dancing leaf. It was like having night vision goggles on, but better. Richer, with more color and detail. The candles looked bright as torches, but not in a painful way. When Caius looked upward, his breath caught -- he could see more stars than he ever could have imagined, and the bend of the Milky Way arm overhead. He swept his gaze around and spotted something watching them from what it thought was shelter in the woods, a lanky and alien-looking something. Caius locked gazes with it, and after a moment it turned and started loping away through the trees. Caius himself looked and felt a bit dimmer, like a shadow had passed over him.
Caius looked at his father again, the details in the man’s skin and hair sharp and high-definition ... Caius could count every scar. “It’s like I’ve been blind my whole life,” he murmured, a faint smile twitching his lips upward.
Anthony watched the change take place in Caius. Watched his son look around with his new abilities. He laughed lightly when Caius spoke. "But now you see," Anthony said. He felt a chill in the breeze, now that the adrenaline from the spell had worn off. It was getting to be time to go. "Don't overdo it," he said as he turned to pick up his clothes from the ground behind the circle. "You'll need to rest for awhile. Let's get dressed and I'll drive you home." He was impressed, and proud, that Caius seemed to be suffering minimal effects from the obscurities. The first real spell Anthony had used with blood had left him vomiting for nearly a half an hour before a migraine put him out of commission for three days. He also had a long, puckered scar on the inside of his thigh from the backlash. Anthony was more than happy to take some credit for Caius's success. It was his blood coursing through Caius's veins, after all. "Are you still feeling all right?"
Anthony had done a good job with stepping Caius into things. There had been spells and rituals before this one, things that had knocked him on his ass, exercises meant to sharpen his claws, so to speak. Even beyond genetics, Caius owed a lot to his father when it came to how good he’d gotten at magic. He blinked rapidly and internally let go of the power he was holding, letting the darkness slip back into place. He couldn’t help but wonder if he was just going to feel different now for the rest of his life. Caius kind of hoped so.
As it receded, however, it left behind a sharp pain behind his eyes. He reached up to rub at them with his cleaner hand, a heavy sort of sensation settling over him. Exhaustion, probably. “Headache’s starting,” he informed his father, but he couldn’t sound too upset about it. He walked out of the circle to fetch his own clothes, comfortable and soft things, and gingerly touched the gash in his chest for the first time. The bleeding had slowed, but he still picked up the towel he’d brought and pressed it to the wound with a soft hiss.
Anthony had pulled on his pants and shirt and moved around the candles, extinguishing them with his fingertips. He glanced over at the sound of Caius subtle hiss of pain. "Get home and get it cleaned up," Anthony said, not sounding terribly sympathetic. Backlash came with the territory, and this wouldn't be the last scar that marred Caius's body. The wound didn't look deep enough for stitches, and Anthony had to assume Caius had some of Reagan's home 'remedies' that she sold in his place. With the candles extinguished, they had been plunged into darkness, save for the moonlight overhead. "I don't think I have to tell you that this is something you keep for yourself," Anthony explained. "No one needs to know about it."
Caius wasn’t concerned about a bit of pain. He couldn’t afford to be. He knew he would end up looking like his father, crisscrossed with scars from magical backlash, and the more he did, the more likely what his pendant held back would kill him ... but nothing came without sacrifice. That was just part of it; it was worth the risk. He had plenty of supplies to patch himself up at home. Caius tugged his t-shirt over his head then slipped into his jacket, starting to feel the chill in the air himself. “Of course not,” he answered Anthony. His father probably specifically meant not to tell Reagan, but Caius would have to really think about that one. Out of everyone else he knew, he trusted her the most, but he wasn’t sure how she would accept this.
Anthony knew Caius had friends, but he had specifically meant Reagan. He knew she was a dark witch in her own right, but her own magic had always seemed more subdued. Curses and the like. As far as Anthony knew from Veronica, Reagan didn't indulge in blood magic. It could potentially be something to keep the two apart, if they were lucky, but Anthony was going to let it take its course without much of his own influence. Whether Caius told Reagan or not, things would eventually come to a head. He picked up his own jacket and slipped it on. "I'm proud of you, Caius," Anthony told him once they were both ready to leave the sanctuary of the trees. "I had a feeling you were ready for this, and you didn't disappoint me."
Caius had slung the bag with the candles over one shoulder once he was dressed again and had a flashlight in hand, ready to make the trek back to where they’d parked the car. His head was hurting worse, but he was trying to stay alert, aware that they were less protected now for the walk through the dark woods. It was still the dead of night on the full moon, in Blackwater Woods. He could think of more dangerous local places, but not many. Anthony’s words pulled Caius’s attention raptly to him, however. His father wasn’t big on doling out praise, and so every bit of it was something to treasure. “Thank you,” he said quietly after a silent beat, his tone genuinely grateful. “It’s only because you’ve taught me so well.”
"That's only part of it," Anthony pointed out, sounding somewhat amused. He kept his eyes on the path ahead of them, and was careful to stay aware of their surroundings, just in case. "Only a naturally strong witch would have been able to do what you did tonight on your first try, Caius. My first spell that involved blood left me incapacitated for a few days, if that tells you anything. You should be proud of what you accomplished." Anthony knew he wasn't as complimentary of his children as he should be. But Anthony had never been a man to dole out praise for the hell of it. If he wasn't impressed, he saw no reason to claim he was. If there was room for improvement, he would say so. And yes, Caius could improve, and he would. But tonight had been no easy feat for him. "It's only the beginning," Anthony said, looking over at Caius briefly. "There's an infinite amount of power you will be able to unlock if you want it badly enough."
Caius was proud of himself, and the feeling only swelled at his father’s words. If Anthony was proud of him, then his pride wasn’t misplaced. Sometimes he got the impression that his ego was over-inflated, and the validation was beyond needed. He was doing good work, he was accomplishing things in his life, and he was getting more and more powerful. It made his steps feel lighter as they made their way through the woods, and the pain in his head and chest feel more worthwhile. “I do want it,” he said with quiet determination. “And I’m going to take it.” This had just been an early step in a long journey, but Caius felt ready for it. Hungry for it.
It amazed Anthony how much Caius sounded like himself in that moment. He could remember being Caius's age, ambitious and striving for control. Control over his own life, and the success he craved. For some time, Anthony worried that Caius might be too 'soft' to truly accomplish what Anthony knew he was capable of. Too emotional. Sacrifices needed to be made in order to achieve power, both in life and in magic, and Anthony hadn't been sure Caius was capable of making those sacrifices. Now he was starting to believe differently. Caius was fully aware of what dark magic could bring a person. Blood magic was even more dangerous, but the results were worth the risk. And Caius was willing to risk it. "There's a lot to study," Anthony replied. "A lot to practice. Take some time to adjust to what you did tonight, and then we'll continue." They found their way out of the woods, onto the path that would take them back to Anthony's car.
There were precious few things that Caius wasn’t willing to risk in pursuit of mastery of magic. Reagan’s life was one, Sera’s life was another. He knew in the back of his mind that someday he might have to give up a relationship with Reagan, but that still felt vague and unlikely to him. He was young and smart and powerful, he could have everything he wanted, right? Right. He just had to work for it, like his father had always taught him. And he would, so he would succeed. “I will,” he promised Anthony with a serious nod. The headache was getting progressively worse now, but he did his best to hide its effects. Better his father think he was strong. He would take something when he got home, put one of Reagan’s poultices on the cut on his chest, and then hopefully sleep for a long time.
Anthony couldn't be sure what Caius would have to give up. Dark magic came with consequences as much as it came with sacrifice. He had sacrificed, but he had also gained. He had money, and power, and Miriam. He had two children, one at least of whom would take over this empire one day. In the back of his mind, he knew that if Reagan had come from any other line of witches, Caius might have been able to keep her, but given the... circumstances, he wasn't entirely sure. Not that he would explain that to Caius right now. Someday, maybe. But not right now. He didn't want to deter his son away from the path he was headed down. They got to Anthony's car, where Anthony popped the trunk for Caius to place the bag inside. Anthony was looking forward to a hot shower, and then some time with his wife. And then he would sleep and get some rest. Tonight was the full moon, after all, and Anthony was looking forward to seeing what chaos tomorrow might bring because of it.