Of Dust and Parchment [Closed]

"Killed??" Theo exclaimed with a crack in voice.

At this, the Incantus let out a small giggle. While it was the laugh of a carefree girl, there was a harshness to it. A coldness.

"Oh, please, it'd be such a waste to kill a human without them knowing anything," the Incantus said. It's gold eyes would look at Cassima intently. "And I'm not here to settle any score with you. I'm here to thank you."

"Thank her?"

At this, the Incantus yawned and stretched its arms out.

"Well, yes. After all, if it weren't for this girl and those other two, I'd never have been set free."

Seeing the Incantus acting so nonchalantly, Theo grimaced.

"I've had enough of your talk," he said.

He tried to cast a mark with his dagger, but as earlier, no cast formed. At this, the Incantus giggled even more.

"Oh, don't be silly, boy," it said. "Neither you and I can cast magic. In fact, it's why I've succumbed myself to this form. They're here and so long as they are, Cartic and Cantic won't work."

"They?"

The Incantus sighed and turned its back towards them. It's long dark hair hung in the air like it was floating in water.

"I just came here to talk to Miss Addington and warn her that as you go here deeper, you won't like it," the Incantus said. "You two better hurry though if you want to reach your auntie. She's gone on ahead with no idea what's going on."

"What IS going on!?" Theo demanded.

The Incantus no longer replied. Instead, it would look at Cassima and make a polite wave.

"I'll see you around, Cassima," it said. "Maybe we can make a contract some time if you're really lucky!"

With that, the smog would vaporize and disappear into the walls. Theo tried to chase after it, but failed, of course. He sighed. He then turned to Cassima.

"I'm going to take a wild leap and ask what if you have any idea who the Incantus was talking about," he said. "And also if you really WOULD make a contract with that...that thing."

"Yes killed, it's when people die at the hands of someone else." Cassima corrected Theo before looking at the girl.

"Yeah, for once we can agree on one thing that the Delilah girl would be a waste of time in stopping." Cassima snarked, but the girl thanked her for setting her free. She would of thanked Jack and Liseran too but they were not with Cassima & Theo.

"Thank me?" Cassima was surprised, but regardless, she tried to fire her cartic marks too.

"But I can!" Cassima tried to summon her flames, but it didn't work.

"I guess I can't use them here either." It seems as though whenever her or anyone else was near they then their magic won't work. The girl did warn the two that Delilah was about to walk into something that she doesn't know about and it caused Cassima to nod.

"Thanks for warning us about the impending dangers ahead." Cassima said, before snapping back at the girl.

"Never in your life." She watched as the girl vaporised and before she headed further into the hall. Theo asked her about the girl and weather or not she would actually make a contract with that...

Thing.

"I would never make a contract with someone like her, she would just find a loophole and make me her slave or something and no, the only time I ran into the Icantus was in the Sky Garden where she almost killed me and two others." Cassima told Theo.

"But something else is going to kill your aunt if we don't hurry, so come on!" Cassima encouraged Theo to follow her.

"Do you at least mind not insisting my aunt is dead?" Theo said as he jogged behind Cassima.

The pathway was dark and damp. There was barely any light, but their eyesight would adjust enough to make out that there were no obstacles that would hinder them. Eventually, light began to give way. Daylight, strangely enough.

By the time they reached the end of the path, the walls would open up into a circular area with several tunnels of sorts. Sunlight poorly filtered from high above through a moss-ridden sewer cover of sorts. On the ground, Delilah laid crumpled and unconscious. The lamp beside her had rolled away from her and held no more flame.

"Aunt Delilah!" Theo said as he knelt down beside her. Worried, he tried to shake her. When she didn't respond, he examined her pulse on her neck and her breathing. He relaxed. "She's just unconscious. She doesn't seem injured, though. But I'm not sure what happened. She's not the type to randomly faint."

He then looked at the other tunnel ways around them. There was not much indicating people had been here recently. The torch holders were empty and moss grew on the walls and floor.

"This looks like an old waterway of some sorts," he said. "These used to be common when Aldmerrow was prone to storms and flooding. I'm guessing the library was built over it when it served no more purpose. I don't understand why there's a path leading here, however."

Gingerly, Theo slung Delilah's arms around his shoulders and lifted her body up.

"You'll have to lead the way for us," he said. He tried to summon another starlight, but no marks appeared in his hands. "There's still no magic. Here. Use this to light the torch and pick a place to go. I'd suggest I go ahead to scope the area, but after what happened to Aunt Delilah, I think you're right that we should stick together."

Theo would dig into his pocket and pull out a flint lighter. He tossed it to Cassima.

"Light the lantern and pick a pathway. Whatever the case, we should keep moving. I don't like that we can't use magic and there's an Incantus just lurking about."

Cassima would note four tunnels to choose from minus the one they had just arrived from. There wasn't much distinguishing the tunnels from one another. However, she'd notice that on the top of each tunnel, and just barely visible due to the moss, each something written on it. On three and the one they came from, there were the numbers I, II, III, and IV. On a last one, there was as a word of sorts.

E_RE_ S

Were all she could make out.

"Ok fine." Cassima sighed.

"She's in a place where dead people go when they die." Cassima referred to the afterlife as the two walked further into the tunnel. Eventually they found Delilah who was knocked out. It seems that Icantus has attacked her while she was gone from Cassima and Theo, regardless, she was still alive.

"Obviously the Icantus from earlier had knocked her out, or worse." Cassima looked down at Delilah before looking forward as Theo explained the waterway and helped get Delilah up. He was going to suggest that he should go forward, only to think that Cassima's earlier suggestion was a good idea.

"What, after what happened to your aunt? You were going to suggest that you go up there alone, without any cartic marks? What kind of lessons of survival were you taught, do everything your relatives did wrong so it will eventually become right? Out of the question even if you were going to suggest it." Cassima scolded Theo before being handed the flint lighter.

"Thank you." She proceeded to light up the torch that Delilah had dropped before moving forward and towards the four tunnels. Once she got there, Cassima had a long look at the four tunnels before looking at the one marked "IV"

"Hmm. I suggest we go in this one, it's the only tunnel that has words." Cassima explained to Theo.

Theo ignored Cassima scolding him, mostly because his aunt scolded him enough today. He did, however, listen in following Cassima through Tunnel IV. It was dark, but the lantern provided some semblance of its appearance. As they walked, Theo began to lag behind.

"You know how you mentioned another force might be at work?" Theo told Cassima. "What if we're dealing with gray magic here? Maybe that's why neither Cantic nor Cartic energy seems to be working."

Cassima noticed that Theo was slowing down, most likely because he was carrying Delilah as she turned towards him, stopping briefly. "Grey magic? I don't know much about that yet." Cassima explained to Theo.

"Care to elaborate?" She asked him.

"I'm guessing it's a sort of anti-cartic magic?" Cassima guessed.

"Not just anti-cartic," Theo said. "It's anti-magic."

Theo didn't bother to elaborate any further, mostly because he and Cassima would start seeing what was up ahead. There was something akin to daylight again, but aside from that, they'd hear water running.

"Do you hear that?" he asked.

As they continued, the tunnel opened into a large, cave-like dome. It almost looked entirely different from the rest of the setup they had seen thus far in these lower areas of the library. Tall stone pillars decorated a moss-covered platform where a put-out hearth was. Stone benches laid at either side forming a broken square around it. A large curved wall of stone seemed to envelop one side of the platform and had what looked like runicsymbols on it. However, it was nothing Cassima would be able to read and they didn't look like Cartic marks in the least.

The sound of water they had heard came from the stream that circled around the platform and even more water came from above in another skylight as a waterfall. They'd notice one part of a stream veering off to one side of the cave and to...another door.

Theo pointed to it.

"That looks like our way out," he said. As they continued to walk, he would gaze around however. "I...I never realized a place like this existed below the library. Or that no one has ever recognized it. Whatever. Let's get out of here. No doubt Yoshi is going to be annoyed as all hell that we've been gone this long."

Theo would start walking ahead, but Cassima might catch the smallest glimpse of light from the shadowed part of the cave. Almost as fast, she'd notice it was the glint of an arrow and was aiming to shoot towards Theo.

"I believe it sounds like the sound of water running?" Cassima told Theo before coming across some stone pillars and benches. Cassima looked at the symbols that were on the latter before looking at Theo once more.

"These symbols, what do you think they are?" She asked Theo, who soon found a way out of the lower part of the Archive's and went on ahead.

But before Cassima could catch up to him, she saw the arrow's glint and quickly took out her dagger before yelling to Theo. "STOP, ARROW!" Before throwing her dagger towards the glint as fast and far as she could so she can stop it from being fired at Theo and Delilah.

Just as Cassima screamed, Theo turned and missed the arrow by an inch. It took him by surprise, however, and he and Delilah would stumble to the ground. The arrow shot against a stone pillar and bounced.

"What the!?" Theo said as he tried to get up again.

If Cassima continued to look at the spot the arrow came from, a figure cloaked in gray appeared holding a bow. The figure would point at Cassima and if she didn't get out of there, she as going to get shot soon as well.

Cassima focused on the figure now that Theo and Delilah were safe from the arrow and jumped out of the way when it pointed to Cassima. "Ahh!" She screamed again as she landed before moving in close to get her dagger back before the figure could take it.

"Oh no you don't!" Cassima would yell as she reached for her dagger.