Volume 3 Chapter 46 – Restoration (Patreon)

"Why didn't it work?" Morrigan asked in shock, staring at the painting. She had clearly felt her magic drain away, yet the black orb remained on the pedestal despite it being erased from her painting. Sounds of battle could be heard all around the cathedral and the ground shook as Haku angrily stomped and lashed out at the enemies that were trying to get past him.

"Morrigan?" Galandir looked at her as she stared at the painting.

"It didn't work," she repeated with a blank stare. "Nothing changed… I couldn't do it…"

She kept staring at the painting in disbelief, trying to find whether she had failed to find any of her hastily made mistakes. But everything looked correct. The magic had activated, Morrigan had felt it clearly. Did she feel it wrong?

"I couldn't destroy it…" she whispered, panic seeping in.

What do I do now? With the orb here, nobody in Linberor will be able to recover their magic. We'll be defeated. My home will be… taken.

"Morrigan!" she suddenly felt somebody shaking her and realized that Galandir was standing in front of her, his ruby eyes looking into hers.

"It didn't work…" she whispered to him.

"You felt the magic activate didn't you?" he asked firmly.

"Yes, but—"

"If you felt it, then it is working. The painting might still be missing something. You told me that in Frozen Garden you had painted the memories that would go into pillars. And in the Chasm of Whispering Stars, you had to paint the whole river of stars. Maybe you need to do something similar here," he reasoned. Morrigan blinked a few times then the gears in her head began turning.

"But those places were clearly affected by the orb. It had drained the magic so the sacred sites looked different than before. But this place… you remember during the Nachtstern Festival, they kept the landwyrm construct here. It was already abandoned at the time. The orb didn't do this," she said looking at the destroyed cathedral.

Galandir wrapped his arm around her shoulder and then pointed at the broken stained glass mural, "Perhaps that is so, but can't you imagine how it used to be? Do you think it's always been this broken, dilapidated place?"

"No, I bet it used to be beautiful."

"Exactly. Maybe this orb is slightly different from others. Instead of changing the things around it, it merely has to be in a dark, destroyed place to work properly. If it were changed to a light bright place, it perhaps would stop working. Many magics in the Underworld rely on the presence of darkness, don't they?" the elf reasoned, gently squeezing her shoulder.

"Yes… You're right. That might work… No, it will work! I'll make it work," Morrigan nodded firmly as she already began envisioning how the dreadful could be changed. "Light up this place! As much as you can."

"Right away, milady!" Galandir released her and gave a low bow, producing beautiful bright lights all inside the cathedral. It was slightly jarring as all the dirt, decay, and blood were brought out in clearer detail. But Morrigan was not deterred—she grabbed her brush and dipped it in the white paint.

"It's time to destroy this dark thing once and for all," she growled at the black orb sitting on the pedestal and first began by recoloring the walls. First, the gray color she had laid as the foundation for the wall mixed with her white, creating a much lighter tone. She allowed the shadows to remain darker but used light colors on where she believed Galandir's lights would shine.

As she did this, Morrigan felt her magic drain from her and she smiled, "The magic is working!"

"See! I told you. You can do it," Galandir said, then suddenly manifested his wings and flew towards the entrance. Apparently, a vampire managed to sneak past Haku and was heading inside the cathedral, however, the elven boy flew towards her bright ball of lights shining in his hand. The vampire hissed at the sunlight, her skin beginning to smoke and sizzling under its ray. "Keep going! I'll take care of these guys."

Morrigan threw a glance backwards to make sure that Galandir was alright, but seeing how weak the vampire was to his light, she returned to the painting.

Let's clean up the floor. It looks like it had dark marble floors before. They're all but cracked now and covered in blood. So let's change that. Make them look nice and clean. Add a generous amount of white streaks in the tiling.

Then the ceiling—it'll also be dark but with many chandeliers hanging down to illuminate the scene below. The benches should also be fixed. I'll make it out of nice, dark wood, something that would match the aesthetic demons are so fond of.

Another crash resounded from the entrance, duergar trying to get inside. However, once again Galandir swiftly intercepted him, first blinding him with light and then using wind to throw the pompous attacker straight into Haku's open maw.

"Don't worry for me! Just keep painting," Galandir shouted. Morrigan nodded and then turned her attention towards the altar—engraving the front of it with the crest of the royal family and putting candles on top to illuminate it.

But as she kept painting more and more magic drained from her. Her breathing became ragged, and she was forced to use the magic in her ring. 

Now it's time for the most fun part—the stained glass mural. 

Despite the exhaustion, she wore a smile on her lips as she pulled the brightest of colors that she had—red, green and blue.

I have no way of knowing what was on that mural before, but I think I have a pretty good idea of what would be a good fit. First, I'll make the bottom dark and orange symbolizing the darkness of the Underworld and its many lava rivers. I'll also add tiny specs of various colors in the darkest to show the gems and treasures hidden here. 

The top shall be blue and green symbolizing the blue sky and green forests and grass. There will be dots of various colors on top too, showing the beauty of flowers and life that thrive in the Overworld.

Then in the center of the mural, I'll paint…

Morrigan clutched on her chest as all of her magic had been spent. She fell to one knee, barely able to remain conscious.

"Morrigan!" Galandir was instantly by her side, holding her hand. 

"I'm fine… but I ran out of magic…" she whispered.

"Take mine," he hurriedly offered, reaching out his hand to her, when he was suddenly pulled back.

"Keep the watch, elf. I'll be the one to supply the Princess with magic," Azrael suddenly appeared right next to them and pulled Galandir back by his scruff.

"Hey!" he protested, glaring at the mage.

"You can be executed for this sort of thing, you know," Azrael warned and took Morrigan's hand, channeling his magic into her.

"We're kind of in the middle of a crisis right now," Galandir protested and pointed outside where Haku let out an angry stream of fire, forcing the horde of enemies to back away.

"Do NOT give your magic to Morrigan!" Azrael snarled, helping Morrigan to stand. Normally she would have reprimanded the mage, but at the moment her focus was solely on the painting. As soon as her strength allowed her, she grabbed her brush and resumed.

In the center, there shall be two castles—a white one with clear black edges in the Overworld, and a black one with clear white edges in the Underworld. A hope that perhaps one day the two parts of this single world can live in harmony.

Azrael winced, keeping his hand on Morrigan's shoulder and supplying her with magic. "You're eating through my reserves like crazy."

"There's still a bit more left. Hold on," she said and turned her attention to the black pedestal in front of the altar. In reality, the black orb sat there, while in the painting it was currently empty.

I could just erase the pedestal, but something about that doesn't feel right. First, let's change the color—rich gold seems far more attractive than this dirty black. 

Each brushstroke became more difficult than the last. The orb was resisting her fervently, she could feel it. Azrael could feel it too, glaring at the menacing thing.

"It's resisting being destroyed," he growled. "Finish this, I don't have much magic left."

Morrigan added the last bit of highlights to the pedestal and the scenery around them began to change. Walls, ceiling and floor all became clean and clear just like in her painting. Magnificent mural appeared, all the broken windows disappearing without a trace. However, the black orb still sat on the now golden pedestal, refusing the destruction.

"It needs to be remade," Morrigan said through gasps, exhaustion threatening to overwhelm her. "I need more magic."

"No… I don't have anymore," Azrael shook his head helplessly.

"Take mine," Galandir reached out his hand again, but Azrael blocked.

"No! You cannot!"

"For Darkness' sake! Now is not the time to care for rules of propriety! Do you want that orb destroyed or not?!" she growled at the mage.

"This has nothing to do with proprietary! His magic is different from ours. It'll change you!" Azrael said.

"Well, then it's already too late for that because he's already given his magic before," she snarled and reached her hand towards Galandir. He nodded and firmly took it, channeling his magic into her.

"He's what?!" Azrael gaped, but then fell to the floor, exhaustion taking its toll.

"I'll need a lot of magic," Morrigan warned Galandir.

"Take all of it if you must," he nodded. She smiled at him and then turned to her painting. 

Somehow I know exactly what I need to paint, but will our combined strength be enough to create it? It has to be. To save the Demon Kingdom—I must be able to do this.

She took a deep breath and dipped her brush in a light yellow color. Slowly she began painting a light orb in the place of the dark one. As put the brush against the canvas, the black orb resisted so hard it nearly made her scream in pain. It drained hers and Galandir's magic like crazy, but she persisted painting light radiating out of the orb.

"I'm… almost out…" the elf winced. Morrigan's hand was shaking but she did not stop. She kept it as steady as possible whenever the brush touched the canvas, holding it still with her other hand.

Suddenly a strong burst of energy erupted from the black orb and both of them were thrown back. Galandir managed to catch Morrigan before they fell, protecting her from most of the impact.

"Are you alright?" she asked, looking at her friend who was lying on the floor under her.

"Ugh… I'm fine…" he mumbled, slowly getting up. "Did it work?"

They both looked to where the black orb used to be, the view blocked by Morrigan's painting. Getting up on their feet, they peered beyond the painting and saw that the dark orb was replaced with a light orb which was radiating colors of every color just like in her painting.

"I think it did? I hope I didn't merely change its color," Morrigan asked nervously.

"Wait… I feel something…" Galandir said, looking down at his hands. "I think my magic is recovering."

Morrigan closed her eyes and felt the magic around them. She felt a minute but undeniable stream of magic around them. "You're right. But how is that possible?"

"What happened?" Azrael groggily got up from the floor and looked around. His eyes shot wide open when he saw the light orb. Scrambling on his feet, he rushed towards and touched the light. His face paled. "Princess, you…"

"What?" she asked.

"Your powers are truly terrifying. You've just created an orb that produces magic," Azrael, then shook his head and glared at Galandir. "No, this isn't just the Princess. While her magic is unrivaled in the Underworld, even she cannot create something that could later keep producing magic."

Morrigan looked at her elven friend who narrowed his eyes at the mage, clenching his fists tight.

"Only angels are able to create artifacts of such power. Who are you really, boy?" Azrael asked.

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