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All That I Am	By : kitten7315 Category: Anita Blake > Het Views: 5396 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Anita Blake series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
***A/N: I did a little research on necromancy. This is just my interpretation of what it is and can do.****

Chapter 15

I felt Jean-Claude touch my shoulder gently. “I doubt you can shoot a ghost, ma petite.” I knew he was right, but she scared the shit out of me. I just reacted. I looked over at Asher and Damien. They had gotten off the floor and were completely still. I holstered my Browning and turned my attention back to our ghostly visitor.

Looking at her, she was not completely solid; you could see through her. She wore a simple dress that seemed to float around her body and end at the floor. The ghost had her hair piled up onto her head with curly wisps of hair framing her face. She looked as if she was very beautiful. I really couldn’t tell for sure because of her incorporeal state.

“Why have you summoned me here, necromancer?” she repeated.

“I didn’t mean to,” I told her with a frown. “Who are you?”

The ghost frowned at me. “I am called Aita, named in honor of the goddess that rules the dead.”

“I don’t think I have ever heard of her before,” I told her, searching my memory of different mythological gods and goddesses I learned about in college.

“I worship the same gods that all Etruscans worship,” she replied like that explained everything. I didn’t know much about the Etruscan people or their history, not too many historians did. Their history was lost long ago. What is known is that they were a mysterious race. Historians still debate where they originated. It was rumored that they worshiped the dead.

I turned to Jean-Claude and asked, “Didn’t you say that Alexander was rumored to be Etruscan?”

“Oui. But that still does not explain why our guest has appeared.”

I turned my attention back to Aita. She was watching me intently as if she was looking for something in me. “I do not understand how a necromancer of your power does not know how she summoned me,” Aita said.

“There aren’t too many necromancers left. I haven’t been able to find anyone that would be willing to teach me about my power.” I explained to her. “I honestly can’t tell you how I summoned you here. I’m sorry.”

Aita simply nodded to me. “I sense that you are tied to the undead one you sit upon.”

“Yes. I am his human servant,” I said to her with a frown. “Why?”

“The Prophecy has been fulfilled. You may not have purposely called me forth, but it was written long ago that I was to be summoned here. I am to teach you about your necromancy.”

“Whoa!! Back up a minute. What Prophecy are you talking about? How can you help me with my necromancy?” I asked her. There was a prophecy about me? This was just getting too weird.

“Do you know what she means?” I asked Jean-Claude to his mind.

“Non, ma petite. This is the first I heard about this.” He told me, feeling just as surprised and confused as I was.

“I will explain,” Aita continued. “First I must know how much you know about your necromancy.”

“Not much. I know that I can re-animate a corpse and call some vampires from their rest and control them.”

Aita cocked her head to one side, “It is troubling that the knowledge has been lost by the deaths of so many of our own. Nekromantia or, as you say, necromancy is the power to call forth the spirits or souls of the dead for them to impart knowledge that is not known to this realm of existence. Some spirits are able to tell you of future events, some tell you of lost things, some will locate people for you if they had previous contact with them, and some will teach you things you may want to know.”

“So that’s how you got here?” I asked her. Some things were starting to fall into place, but there were still a lot more things that didn’t make sense. No one said my life was an easy one. I stayed on Jean-Claude’s lap and waited for her to continue.

“Yes. Another part of necromancy is the power to raise the dead and undead. You are able to control them by becoming their master.” Aita turned and pointed to Damien. “As you have done with this one,” she said then turned back to me. “You also have the power to use death’s essence to drain the forces of life by absorbing the life force from that creature and directing it towards yourself or another, whether they are of the living or of the dead.”

“Like when I raise corpses and I use blood to call forth the dead and direct the power into my corpses to make them whole and more life-like. I have also been able to do it with some vampires.” I told her, remembering when I called several of Jean-Claude’s vampires from their coffins, including Damien.

Aita nodded. “When a person is capable of doing all of these, they are known as necromancers. There is a price to pay for these powers. Necromancers can only be of the living and, being of this, with dealing with death it begins to slowly drain the life force from them. We necromancers need need the balance of life and death to survive. The undead are our balance. They are able to take the presence of the death essence into themselves, because they are of the dead. For this reason many of us would try to take an undead servant. The undead feared us because we could enslave and control them. They first tried to control our power by trying to take us as their servants, but ended up killing us instead when we could not be controlled.”

I knew about this. Jean-Claude told me that the Council decreed this. I perked up at what she talked about next.

“A prophecy was given at the beginning of the slaughter of our kind. It was written that the most powerful necromancer would be born. She will be known as the Undead’s Executioner. She will not know the vast amount of power she holds, how to control it, or all of it’s uses. Only when The Necromancer willingly, out of love, binds herself fully to an Undead Master, will she be ready to call forth the spirit of the one that will guide and teach her. That one will be a master necromancer of the same name as the goddess that rules the dead she serves. This guide will give The Necromancer the knowledge of what her power is, give her a firm foundation for control and calling of her power. With this knowledge The Necromancer and her Undead Master will gain the power to slay the undead one who seeks to take the power for his own.”

“That sounds exactly like you, Anita,” Asher said breaking the silence that followed Aita’s speech.

“I just can’t get over that I was a part of a prophecy!” I told him shaking my head as if to clear it.

“The last part of the prophecy sounds like Alexander. Remember when I told you he tried to take a necromancer as a human servant, but ended up killing her? And then there was when he was at court doing research in the Archives. It is possible he heard of the prophecy and was researching it.” Asher said while pacing the floor.

“Oui, that explains why he would change the contract to ma petite being captured. He must think he is the one she will bind herself to,” Jean-Claude said frowning.

“Sounds like he doesn’t know exactly what this prophecy says, just bits and pieces. He also doesn’t know yet that I have taken the fourth mark, and I can’t be taken from Jean-Claude,” I added. This Alexander vamp is in for a few nasty surprises!

“You mentioned this Alexander earlier. I do not know this name, but if this is the same, what you call vampire, then I will also be the one who helps you find him,” Aita said interrupting our musings.

I looked at her with confusion, “I thought you said only those spirits that had some contact with the one we are looking for can help find them?”

“If this Alexander you speak of is the same vampire from the prophecy, then he is the one who killed me long ago when I would not submit to him. He was unable to make me his human servant so he had me killed.

Damn! She is the necromancer that Alexander killed! Talk about his past jumping up and biting him in the ass!

“That will come later. I know he is not within your city. You have some things to learn to prepare you to battle with him. Come to me.” She said holding out her hand to me.

I got up off Jean-Claude and approached her form. Aita looked at Jean-Claude and said, “You must come, as well. You will be her balance.” Jean-Claude gracefully rose and moved behind me wrapping his arms around my shoulders.

“You can use him or any vampire you have a tie to for balance, necromancer,” Aita explained.

“My name is Anita,” I told her hoping she will quit calling me necromancer. I was still feeling overwhelmed by all of this. “This is Jean-Claude, Asher, and Damien,” I said introducing the rest of the room as well.

Aita gave a slight bow of her head to each of them in the room. Her gaze stopped and went back to Asher. She stared at him a moment. It was almost like she could see past the curtain of his silky golden hair that was hiding his scars. Asher must have sensed this as well because he went into a state of vampiric stillness, as if he was waiting for the spirit to run screeching from the room. Aita simply smiled and turned back to Jean-Claude and I.

“You will get the most power from your Jean-Claude, because he is very powerful and you are more intimately bound to him, so he will be able to take almost all the weight from being in contact with the death essence, because he is of the dead,” Aita continued.

“Gather your necromancy around you like a shroud. Jean-Claude will add his essence from the dead to increase your power.”

I did as she instructed, I reached down inside and grabbed my necromancy and wrapped it around us. I felt Jean-Claude add his cool power to mine. Aita reached out a ghostly hand toward us. It felt as if she put it on my shoulder touching both Jean-Claude and I. I knew she wasn’t really touching us because she had no physical body, but I felt the presence of her hand all the same.

“I am just feeling your power. It makes it easier to guide you through this. Place a cut upon your body then I want you to call forth the death essence from the life force that is in your blood.”

I grabbed my knife and gave myself yet another cut on my left arm. As soon as my blood hit the air, I felt what Aita called my life force rise up.

“It is not always necessary to actually kill another living thing to call forth their life force with the death essence. Blood will give you the power you need for some things,” Aita explained to us. “Feel the life force coming from you and direct it to Asher. Concentrate just on his scars. Let the power build, with Jean-Claude adding to it. Send out your power, smooth away his scars, and heal him.”

My breath caught in my throat. Could it be possible to heal him without calling him from his sleep? I did exactly as she instructed. Jean-Claude and I built the power and turned to Asher. I imagined him whole where his scars marred his perfection. Through the memories Jean-Claude had, I was able to have an almost realistic picture in my mind. I sent the power out to Asher. I imagined that my hand was caressing the scarred side of his face, chest, and thigh. Smoothing his skin until it was perfect again. The power followed the path my hand took in my mind and I willed it so. I drew the power back to us.

“One more thing and then you can look upon your Asher to see the result of what you have done. You have felt what it was to give that life force to another, now turn it around, and use it to take some life force from your Damien and draw it to yourself and heal your cuts. You only need a little of it. Control it enough so you do not drain him of it all.”

I concentrated and reached out to Damien with my necromancy. It was quick to recognize him. I imagined pulling just a little of him to myself and pushed that power into my still bleeding arm. I felt my cuts knit closed. I immediately severed my tie with Damien, not wanting to draw from him anymore than necessary. I pulled my necromancy back into myself and slumped back into Jean-Claude. His arms gripped me a little tighter to hold me upright.

“Very well done, Anita. You have good control on not draining yourself or Damien completely, just enough to do what was needed. One more thing before I depart. You do not need to touch a vampire just use your connection with them to give you balance.”

Aita’s spirit started to fade. “I will come to you on tomorrow so that I may give you another lesson. May the gods keep you safe.” Then she was gone.

I jumped out of Jean-Claude’s arms and we rushed over to Asher. I gave a quick glance in Damien’s direction to make sure he was ok. He didn’t look any different and I knew he was fine.

Asher was just sitting in a chair extremely pale, if that was possible, whispering softly in French. I got on my knees in front of him, placed my hands on his thighs, and leaned close to him. Jean-Claude was also on his knees but by Asher’s side. He began stroking Asher’s head like he was soothing a small child.

“Asher!” I shook him gently. “Are you ok? What’s wrong? Did it not work?”

Asher had a glazed haunted look in his eyes. “I felt you power wash over me. I touched my face and found it whole. I am afraid that what I feel is a trick in my mind, because I have longed for this for so long that I almost cannot believe it has happened,” he said so softly I was barely able to make out what he had said. I pushed the hair back from his face. My breath caught in my throat. I have always thought Asher was beautiful with his scars, hell, I'd even seen paintings and through Jean-Claude I had memories of him before his scars, but nothing compared to what I was seeing now. Asher’s skin was flawless, nothing marred his face. He was almost too beautiful to look at.

Jean-Claude gasped. A blood red tear fell. He grabbed Asher’s shirt and ripped it open running his hands down his now smooth chest.

“It is no trick, mon chardonnet, what you see is real!” Jean-Claude told him excitedly.

I watched Asher close his eyes and shed tears. “Thank you this Anita. You not only healed my scars on the outside, but you have healed some of the ones on the inside. I am eternally in your debt.”

I hugged him close to me and then looked into his eyes. “You know I did this because I love you Asher. I have always found you beautiful.”

I got up from the floor and looked at the two most beautiful men I knew. How am I going to survive now? I hope I would not get those fainting spells from being around too many gorgeous men.

“It has been a long day. I am wiped out, plus I have a feeling you two want to spend some time together before dawn. I am going to get a shower and climb into bed. I will see you guys at dawn,” I told them.

I reached out for Damien and we left the two old friends together to remember better times.
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All That I Am