Kat looked at Enuko like she was crazy. Perhaps because that's exactly what Kat was thinking "That's crazy" she said before she could stop herself
Enuko growled "You think I don't know that!" Enuko started pacing "You think I am unaware? If I didn't have my husband's and father's sigil construct notes I'd never be able to even think of this, let alone attempt it"
"Wait you're serious? This is a thing you can actually do?" asked Kat
"Yes" Enuko hissed "The problem though. Is that I can only send in people that the person trusts implicitly. That leaves her mother, me, and perhaps you"
"Well…" said Kat unsure if she should even ask the question "Why not send yourself"
Enuko physically bit down a reply, and Kat heard Enuko's teeth crash together releasing a small shockwave "You think I would if I could?!" growled Enuko "The one casting the spell can't be the target"
Kat tried to calm herself down. *I���m getting effected by Enuko's… Wait a second.* "Enuko can I use my calming aura on you while we sort this out, I have a few more questions"
Enuko looked ready to rip Kat's wings off for the question, but nodded anyway. Kat spread her aura out to Enuko and found a resistance. Now that she was trying to move her aura it seemed that Enuko had a literal wall of anger around her.
Kat tried to smother it like a blanket coating her aura around Enuko and hoping for the best. Enuko's face instantly eased, but her gaze remained sharp. "Thank you" she said curtly and went back to examining the sigils before cursing.
"Damn. I'm glad you used that. I was already missing several key runes in my cross checking" said Enuko with surprising grace.
"You're welcome. Now, what exactly am I mean to be doing here. I didn't even think it was possible to go into someone else's mind" said Kat
Enuko tilted her head "That's because it sort of isn't"
"I don't follow" said Kat
"Ok… so" Enuko started "Outside of a few very specific species, it is in fact, not possible to enter other sentient creatures' minds without simply possessing the body, and then you aren't exactly in their mind so much as you become it
"What this spell does is sort of… expand? The mind for lack of a better term and make it more real. And then it puts both the target, and the person entering, into this expanded space. It's sort of real sort of not and very hard to explain"
"So… what am I supposed to be doing then" said Kat
"I have no idea" said Enuko
"What!" said Kat
Enuko shrugged "I really truly have no idea. I have never cast this spell, it is far beyond my means. I don't understand it, I don't know even half of the theory that goes into making it work. All I have is my husband's notes, and enough time to copy them out painstakingly"
Kat gulped "So will this even work?"
Enuko grit her teeth and paused… before continuing "Yes… it should. I've seen the spell work, once, when I was much much younger. But only as a test. The mana requirements and the fact that the caster had to remain physically close during the casting made it very hard to keep testing"
*Great. Ancient powerful spells Enuko doesn't understand are about to be cast on me. Hey System if this is going to kill me will you send me back to Earth.*
User Kat is correct
*Well at least I don't have to fear my ever-encroaching doom.* "Ok, so then, in a more specific sense what am I supposed to do once I'm inside" asked Kat
"Once again" said Enuko "I don't know" Kat went to interrupt but Enuko continued anyway "I have some theories. You'll probably have to find Major and Minor and maybe fix a few things? Look, I don't truly know
"All I really know is that it's supposed to be a bit like a lucid dream. Except with more people and much less control over the environment" Enuko straightened herself and glanced over the carvings one more time. Making a few adjustments across the board.
Kat gulped as a horrible thought sneaked into her mind. "Um…" said Kat "Look, I… I don't really want to ask this but uh… so, um… if it is Major causing the problems… and I need to help either one or the other… who do I help"
Enuko paused her last-minute corrections and turned to stare at Kat. Despite the temperature not changing and no icicles forming, Kat shivered. Kat could feel the rage bubbling under the coating of her aura as it tried to press out before it settled down.
Enuko took another hard look at Kat up and down before she said a single word. "Both"
Kat nodded. *It was the only answer I suppose. I just really hope I don't have to make the choice myself for some reason.*
Kat gulped, "Is there anything else at all that I need to know"
Enuko shook her head "I do not believe so. I just…" Enuko grit her teeth and tsked "I wish I knew what I was doing. This seems to be the only chance. Minor doesn't have long and I can't pull her mother away from her duties especially not while the Beast King is visiting. The strife it could cause is too high…"
"If… if you weren't an option… I might have done it anyway though" Enuko whispered, perhaps thinking Kat wouldn't hear, perhaps not.
"Now" said Enuko "Are you ready"
Kat looked at her still cracked skin, with more miniscule ones slowly edging themselves over her body, as well as the purple mist that while no longer being created was starting to seep into and enlarge the cracks. *I wish there was another answer to this… but* "I'm ready"
Enuko nodded. "Your body should remain safe during the spell. I won't be able to give you any additional sustenance during it, and I don't have time to get you any now, and as much as it pains me… Minor probably doesn't have enough time for it to matter…"
"Um… how long do I have" asked Kat
Enuko shook her head "Time will be distorted during the spell. Even if I said you had twenty-four hours it wouldn't help. And truth be told, I don't know. The spell is supposed to sustain the individuals powering it a bit longer, but once again, I don't understand it"
"Ok. I'll do my best" said Kat
"You will bring them back" said Enuko but she started the spell.
The light was almost instantly blinding. The sigils all shone as Enuko pumped them full of mana. Kat felt the mist rise up to cover her eyes, and while that stopped the pain it didn't stop allow her to see.
Seconds past… minutes? Hours even? Time seemed to have no meaning in the endless white Kat experienced. *Probably not hours though. I can still think pretty clearly and I'm pretty sure it's been like 30 seconds.*
Then there was a large crack. Kat��s hand flew to her chest and she felt the cracks expanding slowly. She gulped, but suddenly there was a surge of powering that filled her. Mist came rushing in, and then…
Darkness.
##
Meanwhile…
Enuko channelled the spell with everything she had. She grit her teeth as she pushed her mind to the maximum to keep each sigil evenly supplied with mana. She couldn't see with her eyes anymore but there was so much mana saturating the area it didn't matter.
Then she heard a crack. Scanning wildly for the source, she found nothing. Pushing her senses even further she found that it was the demon. *She better not be interfering with my spell or so help me…*
But from everything her mana could tell, the demon was calm up until this point. It was when the demon heard the crack that she started to move. Another moment past before she felt reality creak under the weight of the spell before the light dimmed.
Opening her eyes again she was shocked at what she saw. She should have seen an unconscious demon and a stream of sigils connecting it and her granddaughter. Instead she saw a rush of purple smoke go for Shizuka's prone form.
She wanted to scream and attack the cursed thing for letting her trust it, only to find the body gone. She went to stand up but felt her spell holding her in place. "Shit" said Enuko
*What the hell happened here?! Why is the spell still going if the bitch tricked me?*
Enuko studied the spell to the best of her abilites trying to find what went wrong or what the succubus might have changed but based on the runes she had seared into her memory everything was correct.
*Why! It should have worked!...* And then it hit her.
"FUCK" said Enuko "Demon's don't have mana"