She would feel worse about being a jerk if she wasn't really more focused on emitting a tiny human at this particular moment.

It's a long process; body has to prepare itself before it demands that the baby come out right away. At some point she pings Alex again and asks if someone can get ready to do the pain relief song thing. It still hurts, but she can think through it. Occasionally she prays inside her head, not for her own safety but for Ender's. She thinks she's probably still allowed to ask for that.

Ender is a girl. By the time she hears this she really wishes she could just curl up around her and sleep for a week, but she has to finish this.

Water. Spell components. Now would be good.

They have everything right there.

Cool cool cool. Deep breaths. Ender cries until Karen lets her nurse, at which point she manages to calm down a bit. She's tiny, very tiny, and totally helpless. She wouldn't last a day in this world without someone looking out for her.

Karen sits up. Her body thinks is a terrible idea, but she overrules it. She dips two fingers in water and draws a cross on Ender's forehead with them.

"Ender Kirk Teller," she says, and it's weird, but her voice doesn't shake, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. - there are more things that a priest would say, if we had one, but that's the important bit."

Deep breaths.

She stands, which her body is pretty sure is the worst idea she's ever had. She walks over to a complicated circular pattern drawn on the floor. She places the baby in the center of it. The candles have already been lit. The incense is already burning. Various herbs and crystals are where they need to be. She sends the image to Alex to bounce to Wishbone, just to double-check one last time. Everything's right.

She recites her incantations. The spell calls on multiple deities, as well as her own reserves of mystical power. One by one, she worships them, and then explains the justice of her cause, appealing to each in terms of its own set of values. One by one, the candles wink out, various powers signaling that they agree and will help. 

When all of the candles have gone out, she centers herself and recites a final incantation. This is her own piece of it, the part that draws on her own power, small as it may be. She can feel the power draining from her, can feel that it won't be enough, that she'll collapse just before the final lap, and she hates it, hates it, hates it, now of all times -

She feels herself - there are no words for it. She passes a torch to something else, something older and more certain and more capable of running. Not for the whole race, it assures her. Karen will cross the finish line, but this piece of it, this one piece that she isn't strong enough to hold while holding all of the others, this will be done for her, because her cause is just and her intentions are good and she loves the child she's offering up, and someone out there can respect that.

All identifiable traces of Karen's mind disappear. Her body is definitely still reciting things.

Okay what the fuck.

He draws a sword. It feels wrong in his hand, too light, too heavy, too hot, too cold, like it's not really there. 

Wishbone - she's gone - what is that -

He twitches nervously. It happens. She's - probably fine. Let her finish.

It happens? What happened? Is this part of a successful execution of the ritual?

Proooobably? These things always become more art than science when you involve this many powers, you know, it's - most likely that she's been briefly possessed by one of the powers she called on, or possibly a different spirit that wants to see the ritual completed - I really really really wouldn't interfere, it'll almost definitely leave on its own if it isn't interrupted - probably -

When you described the ritual and the expected effects you did not mention this.

It didn't seem like it would help anything for you to know! I described the risks to Karen in broad strokes, and she decided that she wanted to go ahead with things. And I really think it'll be fine, this time, being possessed by a higher power isn't a particularly concerning occurrence in the grand scheme of things - if you want to tear me apart after this then fine, I completely understand, but I really really recommend against interfering at this point, it's much safer if you don't - 

Observe me not interfering. He hasn't put the weapon down, though. It didn't seem like it would help anything for me to be aware that Karen would disappear at some point and the ritual be completed by a possessing spirit we can't detect? Why do you think it's a friendly one?

It's not like I knew this would definitely happen. Mostly I didn't want Karen to know about this specific possibility, it's perversely safer if you're not expecting it. I think it's a friendly one because it's completing the ritual as it should be completed, and because a friendly spirit would have a much easier time noticing what was happening. 

We're - actively trying to summon Melkor here right now. It'd be really good to know all of the things that might happen and whether they mean something good or something bad.

It's almost definitely a good thing. If it were a bad thing it would almost definitely look very different right now.

Karen's body says something final-sounding. A light shines out of Ender's eyes. Karen is briefly back.

- she is then immediately and violently thrown against the wall behind her, and she blacks out.

- OK, that could plausibly be bad. 

- to his confusion, there's a sword in his hands and Karen is crumpled against the wall, unconscious. His immediate instinct is to pick up the newborn child and then hurry to check if Karen's all right but he knows the rules - confusion is itself a sign something is wrong - 

Maitimo do you know why I have a weapon drawn to watch Karen give birth.

Yes, he says immediately, you were angry with Wishbone for not telling you this might happen.

- right. Deeply inappropriate but Karen has been in a lot of pain and lifethreatening danger all day - 

- he sheathes the sword. 

"I'm sorry," he says to Wishbone. "Childbirth isn't something you'd know more about than me." And now he can go pick up tiny baby Ender Kirk Teller and cradle her against his chest because Karen mentioned that direct skin contact was important for human babies. And pick up Karen and put her back in the bed and check for swelling -

Her head is swelling, and she's still unconscious. There's blood on her clothes, but that'll be from the having given birth.

No problem. Horrifically stressful day, with the birth and all. Is she OK?

"Nothing looks grievously wrong but - if she's bleeding internally or something I don't see how we'd know without her conscious to tell us -" He covers her up and gestures for someone to come in and sing a healing song. 

"That's your mommy, kiddo. Her name is Karen and she loves you very much and she'll be very pleased to meet you when she wakes."

He tells someone else to send Ryan in.

He's been pacing outside. He feels - really agitated, even more agitated than makes sense given that Karen is giving birth, but, well, it was unusually dangerous. 

"Why's she unconscious?" he asks, and then sees Ender and forgets the question. "Give her to me."

That's reasonable. He carefully hands her over. "She hit her head."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"We don't know. We think so."