Chapter Text
With Cassian and Zephyr. Place: Eastern Labyrinth
Once Cassian and Zephyr made it around the corner, they finally saw the disgusting creature. It was a skeleton covered in a thick black-red substance. To the looks of it, it was legless- destined to crawl on the floor. Such a shame.
“Well damn” Cassian sighed. Zephyr's nose scrunched at the foul odor that came from the demon. “Sweet Christ, is that a demon?” She proclaimed. Cassian furrowed his eyebrows.
“It looks like a…Demon” Cassian pointed his finger at the thing; it let out a hiss, making him and Zephyr back up a bit. Zephyr huffed, she crossed her arms.
She flicked her hair out of her face and then spoke
“Well no shit, but what the hell is it doing in the library?” She remarks.
Zephyr bent down and started poking the demon with her knife out of spite. It growled and hissed at the treatment it was getting from the object if only it had legs. Cassian stood there, watching the younger woman poke the demon. He hummed.
“That is a good question,” Cassina thought. Why would it be here? In a stupid college library. Cassian begins rubbing the black stubble on his chin. “You know, I got something better” He pondered. Zephyr kept poking at the meaningless creature with her knife “What?”
“Why is it in the library?” Zephyr stopped poking the creature for a moment, then struck the beast with her knife into its head. It let out a pained pig-like squeal then fell over. The thick, foul blood poured out of its head, making a pool of it. Some of it got on Zephyr's white shoes. She got up from her crouching position, turned around, and looked at Cassian.
“Don’t know why it is here” She twirled her knife. Cassian took a step towards her. Zephyr took a breath, and with a crack in her voice, she spoke “If there is one thing I do know, Is that” She looked at the walls of the bookshelf that were surrounding them. “ If there's one, there's more.”
She and Cassian should have seen this in the beginning. How the walls seemed to morph together as they went deeper into the endless maze, making such turns in a state that would have killed them. If only she had her gun.
“So…” Zephyr snapped out of her dazed, she glanced at Cassian. “Yes?” She asks. “What do we Do?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean?”
Cassian's mouth flattened, and he let out an irritated sigh “I mean, How do we get out of here, Alive.” emphasizing the alive.
She shrugged “I don’t know..I read about them but never encountered one before” She moved over to one of the bookshelves, her curiosity getting the better of her. Cassian was surprised at her calmness of the situation, one minute she was panicking the next she was acting as if nothing was going on. It was probably because the ‘demon’ (so to speak) had no legs or something Cassian thought.
He glanced at one of the bookshelves, seeing a brown book with a golden spine. He hummed in approval before going over to the book. He pulled it off the shelf.
It was covered in a thin layer of dust from years of build-up. He blew softly on the book, seeing the dust pick up at the gentle breeze. He coughs, trying to get some of the dust out of his lungs. Once his coughing fit was over, he took a good look at the brown book. It looks old with its torn and burnt edges. On the front, a golden buckle held onto the loose leather in the book. In the corners of it were strange-looking words, almost as if the person who made this was in a rush—spirals forming in corners and a few odd-looking symbols.
“Weird..” Cassian mumbled. He ran his hand over the book's front cover, feeling the small dents in it. Finally, he read the name of the book: Dark Magic- volume 5 He picked at the buckle, and once he successfully opened the book, He flipped to the first page and started reading.
His eyes started wandering. Then He slammed the book shut; the color drained from his face. What the hell he thought. He slowly opened the book again to make sure he reread the passage.
Corpus Corruption: A spell that takes control of one's body, specifically the person who's getting the spell cast on. The person who casts this spell will be able to take control of person B (That being able to see out of their eyes, feel what they feel, etc). The spell can also take control of other beings besides your basic beings. It's a great spell for taking control of demonic creatures or sometimes Gods. but most of the time it is Usual it is used for spying on others.
DO NOT use this spell if one is only a junior dark mage or lower.
Cassian looks to Zephyr, seeing she is too busy even to fathom what he is about to do next. He slowly turned back to the book self then quickly shoved the book into his internal pocket. He went back to reading more of the books, not thinking about the consequences of his decision.
“Maybe we should try the generator this time?” the darkness whispered. Cassian paused for a moment. Where did that come from? He thought. “Are you sure? It might cause a… what's it called…Phantom Earthquake?”
“Yeah, why?” Cassian bent forward a bit, putting his ear on the bookshelf, listening to the conversation. “What about the school? Didn’t the director give us exact instructions?” Person 1 asked. They had a squeaky voice, the one that cracks unusually too much “True..” shuffling was heard, then groaning, “Can you help me here?” The second person asked. A low creak rippled through the air.
The beating in Cassian's heart started to pick up. This is not good, this is so NOT good Cassian thought. He slowly backed away from the bookshelf. Cassian eyes drifted over to Zephyr who was engrossed in the task of skimming through books. He watched as she picked them up, hastily flipping the pages, then shoving them in the black duffle bag that she had brought along; he wondered where she got the bag from. Her quick movements seemed a bit janky like she was worried in some sort or looking for something specific.
He would ask her what she was looking for but at that moment, they both had other things to worry about.
“Damnit…” Zephyrs cursed. Her nose was scrunched up and her eyebrows were furrowed making her look like an angry cat. Where is it? She thinks. She grabbed a book from the shelf and flipped through the pages; she let out an irritated sigh when she didn’t find what she was looking for. Zephyr then angrily put the book back on the shelf.
“Zephyr..” Cassian called softly. She then grabs some more books and puts them back on the shelf with an annoyed sigh. “Zephyr” He hissed.
She looked up from the book she was looking at; She raised an eyebrow “What-” she was about to yell but, a loud slap echoed across the hallway. Zephyr blinked, a stinging burn was left on the left side of her face. Her face was blank, void of emotion.
Cassian draws his hand back and puts it over his mouth “Shit…” he mumbled. Zephyr's eyes slowly moved toward his face. He shuddered at her intense gaze. “L-Look..I didn’t mean to...I wasn't trying to…” Cassian scrabbles to find words to calm the woman in front of him. Zephyr's eyes had a glint that meant death and he did not want to die from her fury. Before Zephyr could utter a word, a voice echoed out.
“Who’s there!?”
Zephyr shuts her mouth, the look on her face was true panic. The sound of heavy feet stomping on the cramped indicates the pursuers are on their way to the hall they were in. Cassina grabbed Zephyr's hand and mouth ‘ We need to move’ She nodded.
As they got up, the voice from the other side of the bookshelf said “Found you.” They said in an ominous tone. They both stop what they're doing and turn around to see their probable murderer. It was a large Middle Eastern-looking man. His hair was charcoal black with silver hair growing from the roots and a beard that was charcoal black. He seemed to be in his late forties- early fifties. The man had a wolfish smile on, scanning them over like a piece of gold. He had on a white bodysuit with its arms and legs being black; it clung to his every muscle. He had yellow eyes with slits in them,
The large man stared at them down. “What do we have here?” He walked forward, making the doe take a step back. “Two students in the library, at night?” Cassian glances at Zephyr, who is also looking at him. “Don't you know the rules?” The man mocked. Cassina felt something hit his back, he looked up to see a bookshelf behind him. Their pursuer walks closer.
“Say,” the man started. Slowly he went on a rant about how they should follow the rules and they can get killed Zephyr glared at him, and she leaned closer to Cassian “Do you still have your flashlight?” she asked.
The nerd gave a small hum of approval, “Good, I need you to give it to me” Cassian handed over the flashlight while giving her a weird look. He put the flashlight behind her back and then spoke up “Sir” The large guy stopped talking and looked at her “Yes-” SMACK! The flashlight hit him dead in the jaw, knocking him down and fracking the lightstick. “You little-” The man sluggishly got back up from the nasty fall he had taken. “Come on let's go” she hissed.
As both run away, they do not notice the pair of eyes that follow them from the darkness.
Heavy panting was heard, and sweat dripping from their faces as they ran across the hallways
Zephyr looked behind and sighed ‘We need to get out of here-'' Thud. cold metal met her face; Zephyr let out a low groan from the pain. The woman stumbles away from whatever she hits “Was…was there always a door here?” Cassian asked. Zephyr rubbed her forehead “No, why?” “Well…there's one now” Zephyr looked up at the door.
She shivered; It had a dreadful smell. The door was off-white with dried blood in the corners of it. Small fresh dents were on the door, showing them that someone- or something was here recently.
“They went this way!” A voice yelled.
The group of soldiers ran towards the direction they heard the two went in.
“Are they gone?” said cassian. Unknown to the soldiers, they ran past the two. Their bodys push up against each other in the tight dark corner they are in. “I think so” Zephyr peaked out of the corner and looked around.
“The cost seems to be clear.” she
Meanwhile…
“So let me get this straight” Luther rubbed her nose bridge, “ I got knocked out and you went and killed the monster??” she asked; Mauri nodded.
“yup!“ He puts a thumbs up. Luther stares at him before clicking her tongue.
She looks around momentarily, her cobalt eyes scanning their surroundings as they walk.
She looked up at Mauri, “Hey?” She asked. The blue dragon let out a small hum, “Where are we?”.
Both of them stopped. For a moment to the normal eye, the drake's face seemed as calm as ever. But if you had the eyes of Luther on the other hand, Mauri's rust-colored pupils shrink ever so slightly. “Honestly” He started. The brown-headed woman crossed her arms. The drake put his four-fingered claws on his neck; Mauri looked away from the young woman. “I... don't know..”
One of Luther's eyes twitched, and she let out a loud sigh “Okay!”
Luther grabbed the dragon's other claw and held it, “how much do you know of this place?”
She asked. Mauri glanced at her then he pulled his claws back “I know a lot about this place” He mumbled, The drake tapped two of his claws together as he spoke.
The woman clapped her hands together “Good! Is there a way we can get out?”
Luther looked up at Mauri. He glanced down at her and nodded “How?” She asked.
Mauri gulped, “well you see, we’re in a place called a labyrinth” he started. “ usually, they are small holes that seem like normal holes see every day, but telling how big this place is is a creature made one; most likely made by humans, sphinxes, words, or even polypus hominum” Luther nodded, “Where-where are you getting at here?” she questioned. Mauri sucked in some air, “How do I explain this to you..”
The drake started opening his mouth repeatedly but closed it, Luther started tapping her foot on the ground. “God Dammit man just spit it out already!” she yelled.
Mauri paused, then looked away from her. “ I think, No.” Mauri looked at their surroundings, taking in every single amount of information that can tell the both of them what they're dealing with. He looked back at Luther then spoke“ I’m very much sure something is going on down here” He expressed.
“You see, Labyrinth can’t become this big.” He held up his slightly blood stained claws.
The air around them seemed to get thicker the more they still. Luther took in a breath, the events that happened earlier still have her on toes but now knowing what this place is called can only lead her to start making speculations.
Mauri softened his glare, he gave Luther a small smile that she seemed to slightly notice. The drake lets out a small cough before continuing to talk.
“The only two ways for it to become this big with or without us knowing” Mauri puts up one of his claws “one, there was a magical spike in the mana grid but if that happened, we would have gotten alerts saying that we had to stay indoors for a day or two.” He then put his second claw up “or two, there was interference.”
The college girl raised an eyebrow “What do you mean by ‘interference?’” she asked.
“I mean something- or someone was messing with the natural border of the underworld and here.” Luther nodded slowly “You still don't get it..”
“not a clue” she responded.
Mauri lets out a small sigh, he puts his claws on his face. Sweet dragerian, how do I explain this? Before he could say a word a small thump came for the right of them.
They both freeze; The dragon looks to the hallway where the sound comes from. His usually round pupils grew small and slit. Slowly, moving away from the hall the noise is coming.
A low, barely audible, buzzing sound came from the donor. The drake's ears flaunted ever so slightly upon hearing the sound. The air around the two of them started to get thick with tension.
Mauri scooted closer to Luther, he proceeded to grab her hand into his claws. “Come on, we need to go” he tried to shuffle them out of the hall quietly but doing so caused books to fall over. The footsteps that they heard earlier stopped down the hallway across from them. “Who's there!” a deep robotic voice questioned. “Shit!” Mauri hissed.
They ran out the hallway. The heavy footsteps they heard earlier started speeding up.
As they turned the color they heard a loud slam. They felt the floor rumble for a moment before a crash was heard. \
BOOM!
SLAM!
POW!
The bookshelf around the start to fall to the floor like dominos. Luther moved out of the way to not get crushed by one only to get into the way of another falling bookshelf.
“Look out!” She felt a heavy body slam into her. The young woman fell on the floor, her back and head hitting another bookshelf. Luther opened her eyes, the world was going in circles. She feels liqid falling down the siad of her head, Luther raises a hand and brings it to her face. A red, slightly viscous substance was on her hand. Luther looks up from her hand, seeing a giant figure standing a few feet in front of her.
Luther's eyes start to fall shut as the figure gets closer.