Of Dust and Parchment [Closed]

Cassima talking about the princess so nonchalantly couldn't help but cause Theo to smile.

"You're really are a feisty one, Miss Addington," he said as he shook his head. "Now come on. We have to go one more floor down for the fun stuff."

Theo would gesture for her to join him in front of a red wooden door with a seal he unlocked with the red stone on his bracelet. Casting another mark for light, he would start leading her down a spiral of stone steps. Unlike the first set of stairs they faced, this one took a particularly longer time to reach the landing and was even darker. Save for the sparsely peppered starlight charms in the place of torches every chunk of steps, there was close to nothing else to keep them from tripping in the dark and breaking their necks.

As they went down, Theo hummed merrily and for once wasn't talking to her. Whether he was focused on just getting down or if he had something up his sleeves was hard to say.

When they reached the landing, they'd see another red door. Light leaked in from its cracks. It didn't stay that way long, however, as a person would open the door. It wasn't, however, any librarian or student. It was another young man with dark brown hair wearing a coat of deep blue with silver trimming and a pair of trousers. An Expiate officer. The figure in question was adjusting the cuffs to his sleeves. When he spotted the descending pair, he raised an eyebrow. Theo grinned.

"Morning, Cristoff," he said. "Finished practicing today?"

"Yes," he said. "And I take it you're taking the room next?"

"Such deduction skills," Theo teased. "No wonder you're part of the investigation unit."

The young man named Cristoff scowled, suggesting maybe they weren't as close as Theo's familiar tone led on. Cristoff peered to his side to get a good look at Cassima. When he noticed her yellow colors, he pointed a finger curiously.

"Is she supposed to be down here?" he asked.

"Of course," Theo reassured. "I'm with her and giving her the tour."

"But you said this place is limited to seniors and--"

He was cut off by Theo looking at his watch.

"Oh, my, Cristoff, it's almost been an hour since you came down here. Don't you think your superiors are gonna start looking for you?"

At this, the man seemed to completely forget about Cassima and checked his own pocket watch. Seeing it, he'd frown and give a curt bow to the two. Theo only grinned before leading Cassima inside the new room.

"And now the fun begins," he said.

When Cassima entered the room, she'd be met with a garish orange torch light and stone from floor to ceiling. Moss appeared to fill many of the cracks, and the shiny appearance of certain spots on the floor suggested leaks from above. The place looked more like a dungeon than a library room, if people were honest. To add to the appearance, a little farther away was what appeared to be a dungeon cell with bars. The area, however, was not as well lit, and it was hard to make out what was there.

"Get ready," he said as Theo summoned marks for opening and light.

The marks would shoot towards the cell door and open. Silence. And then the sound of screeching metal as the bars of the cell swung open.

Cassima would see bright red dots in the darkness followed by growling. Into the light emerged thick and clawed paws, then the muscular forelimbs of a creature. When the figure fully emerged, Cassima would notice a corrupted version of a dog. It was twice the size of a regular hound, but unlike regular hounds it had developed shells guarding its shoulders and back, and spikes around its legs. As it saw Cassima and Theo, it then barked and started charging forward.

Without warning, Theo would take a cutlass hanging from a nearby wall and shove it into Cassima's hand as the corrupted beast draw closer.

"Why thank you." Cassima smiled to Theo, before following him down deeper into the Archive's, which he happily explained was where the fun stuff will happen.

"Fun stuff? Such as what?" Cassima asked. She continued to follow Theo further into the Archive's, where they ran into an Expiate Officer named Cristoff who quickly became suspicious of Cassima's presence.

"I'm with him if it's not obvious already." Cassima told off Cristoff as Theo soon reminded him of something, causing him to leave as he opened a nearby door.

The two soon ended up in a dungeon like room, where after Theo had opened some bars, he told Cassima to prepare herself.

"Get ready for what?" She turned towards the monster that soon appeared. It was a dog that was corrupted.

"Is that a corrupted dog?" She asked Theo, only to get the cutlass instead much to her shock.

"Wha-wha-You want me to kill it!?" Cassima was very confused with what's going on as she turned towards the hound the gulped.

She never expected this job to be so...Crazy!

When Cassima asked if she had to kill the dog, Theo shrugged.

"If you can, then sure! Knock your socks off!" he said with a chuckle. "A little hint. Go for the belly since it's not armored."

As he said this, the corrupted hound was now charging full force towards Cassima and barking. Theo quickly leapt to the corner as the hound would try to pounce on top of Cassima and maul her.

"Wh-huh!?" Cassima turned back towards the hound that was going to maul her in a few seconds if she didn't move fast enough. Theo certainly did and now it was time for Cassima.

"AHHHH!" She did a battle cry as she charged her cutlass towards the beast, and attempted to slide down towards the stomach like what Theo did.

If she did then she would try to cut the front part of the stomach with the cutlass.

Cassima's attempt to slice through the corrupted hound's belly would to a degree work. Stabbing through it, she'd feel the cutlass tear through the hound's thick skin and a hollow, bony inside. The corrupted hound would howl in pain, but while it had been pierced, it was still alive with Cassima's sword wedged inside.

It would start shaking around and trying to run away. If Cassima held onto the cutlass, she'd be dragged along the floor as it started running around frantically, weakening as it did.

In the distance, she'd hear Theo laughing in amusement.

"That was a bold move, Miss Addington!" he called out from the corner. "Don't think it's entirely dead yet, though, huh?"

Cassima ignored Theo as she screamed while being dragged on the floor. Regardless of her predicament, she had managed to land a stab within the beast's belly and so it was only a matter of time until it dies from blood loss. She tightened her grip onto the sword and clenched her teeth.

"Come on...Die!" Cassima tried to force the cutlass further into the hound's stomach while still being dragged around on the floor.

It hurt like hell, but she knew it was going to stop soon once the hound finally dies.

As Cassima was being dragged around, the corrupted hound would start losing momentum. Viscous deep red liquid oozed from its wound and started to trickle down the sword and spray against Cassima. The cutlass would wiggle in its cavity, making the wound even bigger, and the hound would eventually sink down on top of Cassima. The weight on Cassima would be temporary, however, as the body of the beast began to dissipate into ashen smoke and drifted away. Cassima would be left on the floor alone with her sword.

In the distance, Theo clapped.

"Great work, Miss Addington!" he said. "Not really the route I would've used, but great job! Are you ready for the next thing?"

Without even giving Cassima time to rest, she would hear the opening of another gate in the darkness, one she could not see. This time she was met with more sets of red eyes staring at her and two more corrupted hounds.

"Don't hesitate to use any spells you've learned, either," Theo said.

Cassima would hear the dragging of a chair. It seemed Theo was getting ready to sit down and watch without a care.

This time the corrupted beasts didn't directly attack her. The two hounds stood a few feet away from her, still and watching to see what her next move would be.

Cassima breathed heavily as she was stopped being dragged on the floor, as the hound had managed to die. She slowly got up from her fight, covered in blood, her work clothes slightly torn and her breathing heavily.

Theo just took the time to congratulate her.

"Well I used the route because of quick thinking." Cassima snapped back.

"What is this some sort of te---But before she could finish Theo had already set her up with two new hounds to fight by opening the door behind Cassima, causing her to spin towards the two hounds and raising her cutlass.

Theo reminded her to use her magic that she had learned so far, which gave Cassima an idea. She used her hands and tried to create a ring of fire around her using the marks that she had used to summon the small fireballs that she had often made.

"Come on." Cassima attempted to create a fireball and extend it around her so she can trick the two hounds into walking into it and burning to death.

"Ooh, a ring of fire~" Theo said with an amused tone as Cassima continued.

The fire would engulf Cassima, surrounding here and creating a border between her and the corrupted hounds. For a moment she would only see the silhouettes of the corrupted beasts behind the wall of flames, but they would start moving. She'd hear a low growl before a loud bark followed. As she did, Cassima would hear the faintest words.

ha nge n

The bark would send a gust of wind, blowing a temporary opening in the ring of fire and allowing one dogs through. Cassima would also hear claws scratch on the floor as the other dog's silhouette skittered around the ring waiting patiently as the one inside the ring tried to pounce at her.

Cassima smiled...For only a minute, since the hounds had managed to unleash a wind spell that made a gap wide enough for one of them to enter. "Oh dear, no!" Cassima tried to close the gap with her fire mark. But it was too late, one of them had gotten into the ring of fire.

And was about to pounce her as she panicked. "AHH!" She screamed as she slid down again and tried to stab into the hounds stomach when it tried to pounce her.

Even if she slides into the fire in the process. She hopes she manages to injure the hound.