Into Your Gravity ( Luna Lovegood & Tom Riddle )

Chapter five: Trapped

If you see her out there, climbing the wall,
trying to get away,
tell her she can't escape.
Whole damn world is a cage.
See Her Out (That's Just Life) - Francis and the Lights

•

Luna sat across from a very old Peruvian witch named Elena. This was Luna's eleventh time visiting with Elena, and she was quite fond of the woman. Elena was a descendent of Incas, coming from a long, powerfully magical line, her ancestry dating back to the shaman who served Viracocha, the Sapa Inca of the early 15th century. She had grown up outside of Cusco and had been educated at Castelbruxo, and she was one of the few people alive who knew both modern magic as well inheriting the secrets of the traditional magic of her ancestors. Her branch of expertise happened to be soul-magic. She had made an immediate judgement of Luna's character upon their first meeting, and, over the course of their visits, taught Luna all she knew about the Inca concept of soul-splitting, something that could occur when the soul experienced a number of different traumas. Their last few visits had been devoted to Elena's explanation of the ritual of soul-retrieval.

"The process of uniting the soul can be very painful, and without guidance, without assistance, a person may not survive it," Elena explained. "It all depends, you see. It depends on what it was that split the soul, if it was intentional or otherwise. And what was the intent? Those who have split the soul with evil intent are the least likely of all to survive, for they have committed a crime against the very soul itself, and to heal such a grievous injury is the most painful experience known. And understand this, girl," the old woman said, raising a finger, "the soul-owner must want to be restored. If they do not, you may as well shout from the top of Huayna Picchu and hope they hear you in Cusco."

Luna found her sessions with Elena to be of great professional and personal interest, and it didn't hurt that Elena also happened to be one of the cleverest and kindest witches Luna had ever met.

They were in Elena's home, sitting at her scrubbed wooden table. Violetta crawled under the table, keeping herself entertained with Elena's little black Goeldi's marmoset, who was equally fascinated by the little girl and chittered with happiness every time his and Violetta's hands touched. Doyle Huxley stood guard outside the front door, pacing back and forth.

"We're leaving soon," Luna told Elena. "I'm afraid I will miss you a great deal. Thank you for everything you've shown me."

"Of course, of course," Elena said, waving a hand, speaking in heavily accented but otherwise perfect English. "You are a good girl; you will take care of our knowledge, I know it. I will miss you, and also your beautiful daughter. Thank you for spending some time with an old woman; you have brought me a great deal of joy."

"And you to me."

"I will keep an eye out for this Umgubular Slashkilter you suspect might be around this area."

Luna smiled lightly. "If you do see one, let me know. I would be most interested."

Elena eyed Luna critically for a moment. "Don't doubt yourself, girl."

"I..." Luna's voice faded out as she considered what she wanted to say. "I suppose it's just that I rather doubt you will see an Umgubular Slashkilter. There was a time when I would have been quite sure of it, but now I'm not sure at all. It's possible I'm just learning there are things that simply don't exist, but I feel as if I am losing a part of myself, that I'm losing my faith."