The Séance

Chapter 12

Anestasia was too depressed to eat when she got home.  "Mom," she called.  "Things didn't go well today- at either Nancy's or Janet's.  I'm going to go study and go to bed!"

"Ok, sweetie.  I'll make a plate for you, in case you get hungry while you're studying.  Your dad isn't going to get home until November 12th because his meetings are going so well.  He has to restructure the business his company just bought!  I'll see that your brothers stay out of your hair.  I'll go in to the lab late tomorrow, so that you can fill me in on what happened."

"Thanks, Mom!"  Steve followed Anestasia to her room in his cat form, and curled up on the bed while she worked on her homework.  I don't know how I'm going to keep up with school with all this going on, but that was the condition that Mom made for me to stay home and work on all this!  The lectures took about twenty minutes each, and in two hours, Anestasia had finished all the work due tomorrow.  There were a couple of papers due soon, one on Friday, and the other on Monday, but hopefully things would have calmed down by then.

"Steve, I don't know what to do!  You and the book both say I have to believe to cast the spirit out of Nancy, but I don't know why.  I have always believed in a higher power, and in spirits- good and bad and everything I've done has always worked without my needing to get more specific...."

The cat became the man again in the shower of sparks.  "That's because you are so powerful.  You give a nod to the Powers when you make a circle, but you have been relying strictly on your own strength for everything you do.  Sometimes that simply isn't enough.  Sometimes it is who you know.  As an example, take the ritual to cast out spirits.  No mortal being has the oomph to do so on their own.  Spirits are not necessarily stronger, but they are other.  It is the same reason, I call on Danu instead of the Christ.  He came to save the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve, but I am from Faerie.  He promises that if you believe, and trust, in Him, He will fight your battles and protect you from evil.  I have seen His power working in the lives of believers.  He also promises to forgive sins, and allow people into Heaven, but no one I know has been there and come back to tell about it, so....."  He sighed.  "The power of true faith is beyond description.  The belief of those fighting evil, those being fought for, and that of the evil entity itself, is all important.  In 1680, Christianity was dominant.  The people believed there was only one God, but they fervently believed in demons - and equated other gods as demons or devils.  They had heard stories about the austere, implacable, and vindictive Bangputys, lord of sea and storm, from their grandparents."

"Why didn't Antioch Maxwelle, the witch hunter, name the man in his journal?" asked Anestasia.

"Partly because to name something is to give it power, and partly because he didn't want to believe.  The villagers knew though.  They all hoped that killing the witches, because Mrs. Lagsteiner was also a witch - though she was good- would send Bangputys away.  His acolyte being gone, He also left - for a time.  Any children of the Janni brothers would know about their fathers.  They wouldn't be allowed to forget.  Perhaps one of them would seek vengeance for their family honor, perhaps not.  It was Bangputys the four of you woke though.  Nancy confirmed that when she claimed Rytys was the one possessing her.  Rytys, along with Pietys, Siaurys, and Vakaris, are the sons of Bangputys.  They correspond to the four winds."

"Didn't Nancy say that Rytys said he would bring his master back?  That would be bad right?"

"Yes," Steve replied solemnly.  "And that brings us back to faith.  Someone suggested Dead Man's Ridge and the cemetery there.  Is that a common place for people to go, even for occult purposes?  If one of you picked that place because of a bad reputation, that's one thing.  If someone else suggested it, if a Janni descendant who had no power to deal with spirits sent you there, it would be because they believed in His power.  That very belief would strengthen Bangputys.  If they have followers, that also adds to His power.  Right now you have only your own power.  You follow no one, so you have no one at your back.  There are many deitys, but to follow them, you must know them.  You don't have time to research them all and pick one.  Hopefully one that would listen to you.  I could teach you about Danu, but she pays no attention to mortals, only the fae.  The Christ is therefore the easiest to learn enough about for faith to develop in time.  The best way to learn, would be to talk to the priest of Nancy's church, or that of Rachel's family.  The priest would have to believe to know what needed to be done for Nancy, and Rachel's family is full of faith.  I can't imagine them following someone who didn't truly believe."  Steve took a breath.  "Someone who was calling on Bangputys, would be looking for power, revenge, or both.  He might take His revenge for Braun out on only the descendants of those who were here in 1680, or he might take out the entire coast.  We can only wait and see.  If Rytys is the only son here, and we can get him out of Nancy, things should quiet down and be fine, but if the other three get a toehold in this realm...."

Anestasia looked somber.  "I hate waiting, but it's still a matter of not enough information, isn't it?"  She looked in the book for something to help her sleep.  Chamomile and valerian, with honey, should be enough, but perhaps with mugwart for dreaming.  I would take any help offered.  She went downstairs to make her tea, and right before drinking it, she prayed, "Christ, if you are really who You say You are, and can do what Steve claims You can, please come to me and show Yourself in a way I can understand."  A sense of calm settled in her mind, and the moment she lay down, she was asleep.