Salem blinked.
Her experiment clearly brought unexpected results.
The baby in front of her reached out to her, flailing his small chubby arms through her intangible form, his bright blue eyes clear and staring right at her.
The research she spent decades on - one that was supposed to bring her closer to her revenge against the Gods.
The baby giggled again.
...when did it all go wrong?
xxx
She watched the colour blur by as the child her form was bound by ran in the forest behind his home, a cheerful laugh escaping his throat as he hid away from his sisters.
Salem subtly sent an impulse to his mind, nudging him to take a look around his surroundings, training his mind to get used to her manipulations.
Nowadays, after she unlocked his aura after his 2nd birthday - causing the child to lose sight of her and ultimately causing her only means of communication with the only living thing that she could interact with be even more one sided than before.
She was then aware of his feelings.
Her theory was that his aura when unlocked recognised her as an entity similar to its host and made connected itself with her magic.
To help pass the time, she tried out various theories and ideas - some nonsensical and a few closer to the her original hypothesis.
What was actually pleasantly suprising was that the Aura capacity of the child was better than the prodigy she carefully selected long ago.
Based on Aura alone, this child would make a good Servant.
Afterall, the prodigy years ago conquered half of Remnant using it.
Another good point was that Aura was inexplicably linked to the Gods - where magic was done through a miracle, Aura appeared after they left Remnant.
Good points.
She also managed to fine tune her impulses after confirming that his Aura could also reject the ones that felt unnatural like suddenly punching the annoying brats or strong suggestions.
She decided to raise the child as her puppet.
One that would bring her closer to her revenge.
"HWHAAA!!"
The child tripped and started bawling.
She sighed.
xxx
She watched as the 12 year old boy confessed to his crush about his feelings.
If anyone asked why she felt the need to allow such an event to occur, it was because she found another suprise.
This child could intangle his Aura into others first and foremost - a rare trait she experienced firsthand.
After a few experiments - grasping the link between them and sending small flunctuations when the boy was asleep, she could interact and control it slightly.
Flaring it, increased healing, reinforcing and various other things.
She could imagine the possibilities if his Aura could be improved.
Materialisation being one of the most possible and wanted.
It was synonymous with Creation afterall.
But first, she needed to find a way to strengthen it.
The experiment this time was through emotions.
Jaune was joyous after his confession was well received.
The Aura in his body also revolved slightly faster.
Salem smirked when he timidly held the girl's hand. She could feel his Aura trickle through their contact, trying to harmonize with the other - enabling her to also feel the different Aura changing slightly to allow the foreign energy to flow through.
When they seperated and went back to classes, she could still feel the boy's Aura that was left in the girl even in a distance.
The strand was further strengthened, like a light glow gaining intensity from what her senses picked up on when they met again after school to play at the park.
Even without contact, the strand gained intensity.
With contact, more Aura was transfered through and the receiver also improved its rate of receiving. More strands were formed.
She theorized that his Aura could tie itself to memories, emotion and substances.
The Aura sent would tie itself to any trace of its host that it could find inside the other body - any signature similar to its owner.
Only living things have Aura, each distinct and special. The Aura that was sent would gather around its familliar signature but could still interact with others. When the - say memories were reviewed or improved by the brain, the Aura signature tied to it would also have changes accordingly.
Days past by and she added to her notes.
She could feel the slight improvements to her own magic after she willed the small Aura strand from the young girl back to its original host.
When his Aura improved, hers also did.
"Excellent."
xxx
She extracted all the Aura that belonged to the boy.
The results were within her expectations.
The pair were together for a few months before Salem could feel the Aura that was accumulated inside the small girl begin to decrease.
Wasting no effort, she manipulated the boy to hold her hand which he did and promptly pulled the results of a few months of careful manipulation.
The girl fainted.
Salem laughed when her intangible form that was the size of a thumb grew to palm sized.
When the girl woke up and realized her surroundings, she confirmed her hypothesis.
"Mommy?!" the girl cried out, rushing out of his sight while tears of panic leaked out, "Stay away from me you freak!"
She ran, leaving young Jaune in confusion and heartbreak. He stayed there for a while, dazed and wondering what happened.
Eventually, Jaune went home and hoped to ask what happened tommorow.
When he woke up the next morning, he was in for a suprise.
xxx
A pale faced woman was floating near his face. Bright red eyes, long wavy white hair and the same size of a figurine.
Wat?
The woman also seemed to notice for the first time in a few years...
...they made eye contact.
"WHA-"
xxx
modified slightly, enjoy XD