Chapter Text
Is this a bad idea?
Only if they find out, and you are very good at not being found out as you wander the halls of this…museum, if you can even call it that. Isa is at your side, looking around with an expression that can't seem to decide if it should be in awe or not. Awe, because of the displays, horror, because of what you're actually here for.
There's more people here that you were hoping for, but this is a city(that you can't remember the name of), and it's the middle of the day…so.
There's a lot of people here.
It doesn't help your headache either, and you're a little miffed about it appearing halfway through this hall. It doesn't matter, you can deal with it.
The Hunter's Guild likes to arrange these things, putting up museums displaying taxidermy corpses of monsters- or whatever the local culture considers a monster- animal parts, and the like on display. Actual places of education- like Houses or schools, like to put in information plaques and non-body parts up like tapestries, paintings, and sculptures.
Isa has been a fan of the educational things, and scouting this place has been taking longer than you'd like because of his reading, but it's nice seeing him happy. Of listening to his rambles about what he already knows about various monsters, or anything new he learns while he's here. Loop says it's good for him, and so does Mira, Odile, and even Petty, so you'll spend as much time as he wants reading.
Some of it is pretty interesting, and mentioning that encourages him to read more and talk about the things he already knows. You enjoy seeing the variety of lesser dragons on display, looking over the plaques, caring less about the morals since these are just animals. You weren't aware that water dragons were the only ones who could reproduce asexually, but granted, you rarely go near water enough to even encounter one.
But that's not what you're here for, is it?
You're here because there's a chance there might be something from your homeland here. You doubt it this far inland, but if there's even a chance…
Well, if nothing else, it would be a nice gift for Loop. It's only you and Isa here, no one else willing to go into a place like this(well, Mira wanted to, but she had other things today), and you've yet to spot anything you want for yourself.
Still, you keep an eye out. The glass ceiling is incredibly high up here, you can spot vents dotted across the highest parts of the walls. Pillars hold up the ceiling, also supporting the balconies for the second floor. There's decorative trim practically everywhere, sticking out just enough a particularly brave cat could walk across it.
Or a particularly spiteful whatever-you-are.
You wonder how often the guards bother to look up.
You head into another hall as you explore, passing an employee loitering by the door. They're scattered all over the place, always armed, but you assume there will be less when the daylight hours are over. You think it's ridiculous that supposed normal employees are armed, worse that most of the weapons are hidden. Do they simply not use normal security guards?
They don't so much as glance at you, only looking at people near the displays. The only guards who check for Unchanged are at the front doors, and, well, you didn't get checked. If only because Isa was with you, Changing Moons are borderline holy, and when a hunter tried to check you someone recognized the Saviors and nearly made that guard cry with how hard the stranger verbally tore into them. They were still getting yelled at when you went inside the building for being disrespectful of the Saviors.
As frustrating as it can be to get recognized in public, bypassing security because someone recognized you is a boon you did not expect. You were just going to use the excuse that you were a spirit to explain away your lack of breathing, reflection, heartbeat, and other things. You even had Loop made an illusion to make the edges of you a bit wispier to help sell the effect, but it turned out to be unnecessary.
…Focus.
New hall, creatures of something you didn't bother to read. The entire building is circular, a giant library making up the center room and the hallways going around with the occasional off-shoot hall for some niche thing. There's more variety in displays here as you glance around the display cases. Unicorn horns on display with an information plaque about medicinal uses, tapestries of various creatures- you note Changing Tides and what look like half-fish people with way too many teeth hunting them. There's a collection of horns on display, some insects pinned up including a pixie-
Including a…?
You stop walking as you turn to the display case, looking over the flat with a single, pinned up pixie that had long since died with a lid next to it. It's face was covered, but it's wings were spread open, clothes dried and shades sickly, just…there. Pinned up like all the other insects.
You look down to the information plaque, but your vision is blurring.
There's. You should've known better than to hope there was no one here being displayed like a beast to be gawked at.
Loop told you that they're…companions for their kind, most of the time. You remember Truth having some with her, even if you barely remember the Trial itself. It's been so long, and you think…
…
Isn't Truth's Court not far from here? You remember- you remember, you remember! It is close to here. This city is right on the outskirts of his domain, if this pixie was from anywhere, it's there.
"Sif?"
You flinch at the hand on your shoulder, and look up at Isa as he quickly pulls away.
He's looking at you with a worried expression, but turns to the display case.
You wonder how they got this approved. Considered Unchanging or not, aren't Deceit still considered as having the same level of intelligence as humans? Vaugarde knows these are people, don't they? Are you misremembering? No- no if you were, Isa and Mira would've had stronger reactions to Loop's nature.
They did this on purpose.
"…We'll come back to this, alright?" Isa murmurs, and starts to lead you away. You simply nod, and decide to add this to your mental list of things to free from this place. You won't be visiting the display case until far later tonight.
You keep walking. There's more here, artworks, pottery, this seems more like a history hall than anything else. So you keep going, only stopping because Isa wants to look at anything. There's some creature parts on display here as well- peryton wings, false phoenix feathers, a whole mosquito rabbit on display(why?), silver wolf head, even some random lightless, sharpened bones…
…
Wait a second. Lightless bones?
As you stand next to the false phoenix feathers display as Isa reads the plaque for it, you stare at the pieces on display in a neat line next to it. The bottoms cut blunt, curled and pointy, you can't help but recognize them. The slight texture on them, the sharp ends, and the ridges at the base from where they were cut.
You recognize them, if only because you've helped Loop trim their antlers before, and know they prefer the branches cut off at the base.
…
You go to the plaque and read.
…
They're claiming that these are griffon claws that mutated to a dark color.
You wonder which idiot found a few chunks of Loop's antlers when they were last trimmed and decided that they belonged to a griffon? Griffons don't even exist in Vaugarde, Vaugarde doesn't even have their own name for them! They live on the border between Poteria and Asua! Worse, thinking that these are claws? Have they never seen animal claws before? The insides are completely different than these!
Oh. Loop is going to find this hilarious later. Odile too- actually, just everyone. You wonder if Petty is going to get a kick out of this, you think so.
(You'll stop using Petty when it stops annoying her so much. You call her Petro when you're feeling nice, but Petty made her attempt to throw you into a tree once, so Petty it is. It's nice when Loop and Isa aren't up to play with you.)
(…Still feels weird to refer to your…want, to rip and tear as playing. But you have to admit, you do feel better after you stopped trying to kill that urge so much.)
"Ohhh, griffon claws!" Isa appears next to you, "Wonder how this happened, though? I expected like, the outer sheds…? Unless someone cut them off?" he cringes, but looks closer, "…are these claws? Normally they'd be a more consistent shape, assuming they're from, y'know, the same creature. These are really curled, but they are mutated..."
"They're not claws," you do your best to hide the amusement in your voice.
You fail, and Isa raises his brows in curiosity, "Oh? Got any guesses?"
"I'll tell you later," you snicker. You rather not risk anyone overhearing, though you do plan to leave the not-claws here. No point in taking them, really. They were discarded ages ago with no intention of getting them back.
At least you do feel a bit better now. You think it's time to move on, though, and start walking again. You still want to see if you can get anything from your homeland here. You already know you're coming back here tonight, at least for the pixie-
Cl-clack.
Well, that was fast.
It's faint, but you hear it, and pause as you look around. There's still other people here, heartbeats thumping in various rhythms, but none that sound like the one you just heard.
"Ohh, I think that's a stone-shifter?" Isa starts walking towards a display, and you follow.
Cl-clack.
It's getting louder, and you look up at the statue of a stone-shifter on display.
"I didn't think these guys were around here! They're pretty rare, being enchanted statues and all-"
You tune out as you stare at the creature. Their face something between a dragon and a cat, draconic wings pulled in close, claws digging into their pedestal with carved fur on their stone body. They're small for their kind, and they don't so much as twitch. Their fur doesn't move in the air, doesn't seem more than just stone, or give any sign of life.
And yet.
Cl-clack.
You look down at the information plaque.
Stone-shifter, "Gargoyle" (Poterian)
Enchanted statues designed for guarding locations, popular to make among people with high affinity for Craft. Often capable of sensing someone's intent and deeply loyal to it's creator. This one was found abandoned in the Layered Forest, it's enchantments already removed.
Except, you already know that's wrong. Even as Isa rambles about how to potentially make them, wondering what kind of Craft goes into them, completely unaware of what they are. You've met their kind before on your travels, and know that while they have high amounts of Craft, they most certainly are not made of Craft. They bleed like everything else, tar running through their veins and heartbeats clacking together like stones. You know as well that they don't have Craft of their own, feeding on it in order to power their bodies.
They're actually rather nice when you're not trespassing somewhere. They simply don't take well to intruders, nor can they be particularly controlled. From your experience, they tend to find locations high in Craft and set up nests there whether the people who live there like it or not. Smart ones will make deals with them for protection, and stupid ones will try to drive them out.
Cl-clack.
You look up at the person, stuck perched on a pedestal in a museum run by a hunter's guild. Stone-shifters are rare to find anywhere, and you wonder where this one is from. What they're doing in Vaugarde. Where their family is. How they got here, on a pedestal as the faint smell of fear from them gets stronger the longer you stare.
And, more importantly as their heartbeat picks up the longer you stare at them, how to get them out.
…
A few items and a corpse you can handle, but a person mostly a made of stone…well, you'll worry about pilfering artifacts from your homeland another time.
✧₊˚. ⋆ ✧ ⋆ .˚₊✧
Getting in is harder than you had hoped, with your limited equipment, but you've escaped worse situations before. You're grateful more than ever for the small, bat-wyvern-thing you can turn into as you carefully move the outside vent cover back into place and re-activate the Craft that was supposed to act as an alarm.
An alarm that no longer matters now that you're inside, that you only reactivated in case someone comes by to check on it, and you scurry down the vents. They're rather windy, designed to constantly push air in and out of the museum for…stars what was it? You think Isa said it was temperature and humidity?
What does humidity even mean? You can't recall, maybe something with water?
It doesn't matter, you're only taking the vents once. The stone-shifter won't fit through these, so you need a different exit.
You'll worry about how to get out when you get there. You can't afford to stay here any longer than absolutely necessary. Odile and Petty may have put together an amulet to power the stone-shifter with Craft for a while, but that doesn't mean you have time to poke around.
Get the pixie. Get the stone-shifter. Leave the museum. Get back to Isa, who is waiting outside for your return just in case the stone-shifter can't run themselves.
…He's certainly come a long way from being a Defender.
You pause at a vent in the wall. You can barely see into the museum here, but you can spot the tile and carpet floors a few dozen feet before you. It's as good of a place as any to leave the vents, so you get to work figuring out if there's Craft on the cover.
[Tricks of the Trade]
Alarm Craft again, but weaker than the one in the outside vent. Along with the other Craft that does all of the moving air things you fail to care about, but you still make sure to avoid touching those when disabling the alarm. You don't bother to re-enable this time, carefully climbing out of the vent and hanging off the edge with your claws as you nudge the cover mostly back into place.
It's a little precarious, but it's fine.
You look around.
Woven blankets hang from the walls depicting constellations you don't remember the names of. There is artworks hanging among them, paintings of places you don't remember with signs covered in fabric to hide the text. Paintings of people are partially covered with fabric to hide the faces. There are long chains strung across the support beams, and you look to the back wall to see a painting of something like you.
It's a painting of a castle, looming over a high mountain. The night sky above it is dark, save for the stars dotted in the shape of a crown. There are guards painted anywhere they can fit, spears shining in the starlight.
With them, are wyverns. Some large, some small, perched on towers and staring down. You can see them bound in collars, the dark fur around their necks chopped. Their darkless coats reflect in the starlight, each of their faces snarled, and it feels as if they are staring at you with their wings spread and claws digging into the stone.
One wyvern sits at the top of the castle, larger than the rest, curled on a balcony as it looks to the moonless sky in a place the Universe refuses to look at.
A fear you were never able to kill stirs in you.
…
You.
You wonder who you served, before you were Siffrin, before you were chained in a distant country that commanded you to kill.
You wonder if you were born in chains, and made to kill long before you were ever…this, before you were Ghost, an assassin that wasn't permitted to so much as smile. You wonder if you have ever had a family that loved you before you asked Loop if you could be Siffrin.
You turn away. You do not read the plaque, though you wonder if you should. If only to forget the painting's existence. If you're lucky, you'll forget it exists once you leave this hall.
You keep to the ceiling beams, hopping between them. This hall was probably the only one you didn't visit, as you had left quickly after finding the stone-shifter. How irritating that the one place you didn't visit was the one that had things from your homeland, even if you had no idea where these items come from. Maybe they were here before it ever disappeared, maybe they were donated. You're not staying long enough to find out.
There's no guards in here, either. You wonder if this hall was forgotten entirely, and you sit on the beam closest to the door. You can't exactly open the door like this, so you'll have to shift.
You drop down onto the carpet that runs through the middle of the hall, flapping your wings a few times before you land to soften it and shift into your human form. You're not particularly worried about a guard seeing you, as the door is closed and there's no heartbeat behind it or in this room.
Not for the first time, you are more grateful than ever you figured out it's possible to shift your clothes with you. It makes stealing easier, and you glance around the display cases closest to you. You think you'd rather die again if you didn't figure out the Craft for clothes.
It's mostly jewelry here, and some trinkets.
…
Okay, maybe you do have time to get a gift for Loop as you move to the nearest display case. There's a set of earrings here, a circlet, and a necklace all displayed neatly on a stone bust whose face has been wrapped in fabric, but long cat-like ears on it still show off the two circular earrings, one lightless and one darkless. The circlet is simple, a thin chain and sun pendant with a jewel in the center, and the necklace has several circle pendants separated by tiny stars. The design reminds you of something….something system?
It doesn't matter, really. Maybe Loop will remember. You get to work disabling the Craft on the display case while you try not to think.
It still feels like the painting is staring at you.
…
…
…
You're grateful for when you feel the Craft on the glass disappear, and gently lift up the cover and set it on the floor. You gently lift up the jewelry on the bust, and store it in one of your smaller bags. Just to be nice, you make sure to put the glass cover back, though don't bother with the Craft.
Time to move on- actually, no, wait, there's more things you want from here. You can't even remember the last time you saw a sextant, and you stop to disable the alarms on the display case it's in. You don't need a navigation tool like this, but you want it. And the compass inside with a dragon head on the outside.
You want that too. Oh and there's more jewelry-
You still have things to do, though. People to rescue.
…
One more display case, you cut yourself off. You got the first set of solar(! that's what it was) system jewelry, sextant, and three pairs of earrings. Two sun earrings, two moons, two stars…you think Isa would like the suns, Loop definitely the moons, you could keep the stars…
…Doesn't Vaugarde have some kind of cultural feeling about gifting earrings?
…
…
…
You go to the door, listening for a moment for any sounds of movements behind it.
…
Two heartbeats, getting closer. You can just barely hear a conversation.
"…happened to Jean earlier…?"
"Some lady losing her mind cause of normal security stuff, right? Pretty normal, we all deal with people like that."
"Yeah, but it wasn't for her. It was cause a couple of the Saviors were visiting and-"
"Wait, really? Haven't half the group at least expressed how much they hate us?"
"Yeah! Could you imagine if…"
The conversation fades out as they pass.
You don't at all feel bad for the guard from this morning, and wait a little longer before checking if the door is locked or not.
It's not. You assume even harder that no one remembers this hall exists, and guess it's probably one of the offshoot halls. You slip outside, and immediately begin moving. You're in the dragon hallway, apparently, about halfway down it.
…
You're a little mad you missed this hallway even more as you softly close the door behind you, and get moving. You can hear better now that you're out in the hallways, and note the heartbeats coming down again.
You're quick to shift back into your smaller form, and shoot up to the ceiling to continue climbing around the trim as you make your way towards your goal.
It's a little strange seeing this place to empty and quiet after the day is over. The stars and moons watch you from the glass ceilings, and the sun was laid to rest hours ago.
More guards pass below you, a different pair than before, but do not look up like you assumed.
You were right in your assumption that the doors of the mains halls are opened, and wait for guards to pass before dropping down and slipping through the door.
The pixie is right here, nearly at the edge of the hall. You keep an ear out as you move closer to it. Like everything else, it's still behind glass.
You opt to slip behind the display case, and hope that none of the guards decide to take a look for whatever reason. You get to work.
There's a lot more Craft here than there was at the first hall you entered, so you guess those haven't been refreshed in some time. It makes since, considering what's in there is-
…where…
Where did you enter the museum? Through a vent, then you…were through a door? But that doesn't…
. . .
Your head hurts, but there's work to do. You were always planning to take a different exit than how you came in, anyway. There's an emergency exit in an offshoot hall between the pixie and stone-shifter, you just have to get past the patrolling guards.
The Craft on this isn't anything you aren't familiar with, some of Loop's own Craft gets more complicated than this to dismantle. The Craft fizzles out by the time the next set of guards come by.
Once again, they're chatting.
"Did you hear something…?"
"Did I hear something in the ominous dark museum filled with dead animals? Probably, but I'm not going to check it out."
"You're going to get fired talking like that."
"Who would even be around here at midnight? Our coworkers? Come on, it's not like anyone is stupid enough to break into one of the largest museums in the country to steal stuff, it's probably just someone trying to take a nap because, like I said, it's midnight. I quit hunting for a damn reason, and yet here they are making sure my sleep schedule stays in a manticore's rear end."
"…Fair enough. At least night shift pays pretty well. What's the worst that could happen, the stone-shifter coming alive? That thing really should be behind glass or something…like I know it's too heavy to steal and it's a statue but…"
They disappear down the hall you plan to use as your escape, and you mentally file that conversation away to tell everyone else about later.
Now for the task for getting inside this particular case. It's much larger than the first one(…first one?) so you don't think taking off the glass is exactly an option, so you opt to shift for hopefully the last time tonight.
The shifts are getting really tiring, and the stone-shifter is too large to take the vents as you take out your tools.
…?
There's jewelry in your pockets? And a few other things, too…this circlet reminds you of…
…
Gift for Loop, you decide immediately, and grab your glass cutter and the sticky-thing you're not even going to try to guess what the name of is in Vaugardian. You place it on the glass you're cutting- opting to cut on the side of the display case to reach the pixie- and after the cut and a few taps, it pops off and sticks to the thing. You set it on the floor and detach it before putting it away.
You can hear the guard's heartbeat's getting closer again. A new pair, once again. You assume there's a handful of groups circling the museum's halls.
You're quick in grabbing the thin box the pixie is in, making sure to take the lid too.
The second you touch the box, something in you is flooded with grief and a rage you can't put into words.
Your vision blurs with a longing for home as you lift them out of the display case, your ears ring with a fury of being a thing on display, of being taken, a broken soul convinced they're going to be traded away forever in circles that care naught for what they used to be.
What they still are, and your hands are shaking as you move the lid to the box. You think they are screaming underneath the fabric that covers their face.
You feel like you can't breathe with this spirit in your hands, still clinging to it's old, desecrated body. Like something has crawled between your teeth and is tearing it's way down your throat so it may bury itself into your heart, and maybe then they'll be satisfied with the taste of blood. If they can get rid of one person trying to destroy it further, maybe they can leave here. Back to their sisters, back to her sisters, back to the Heir she helped raise into a Ruler, but first she needs to defile something else like she was defiled.
She is trying to kill you, you realize.
You don't blame her.
So, you whisper the truth to a person who has not seen her family in over a thousand years.
"I am here to take you home."
And it stops, freezes like the way her body has been frozen and pinned for centuries.
She doesn't believe you, but you know that even in death, she cannot be deceived.
Still, you don't blame her.
"We need to move, I'll do my best to keep you safe," you murmur, and claws retreat from your throat as you close the lid and slip her inside your bags near your dead heart.
The guard's heartbeats are louder, and you dip behind the display cases again and crouch as you wait for them to pass.
They're chatting too loudly to notice the glass hole in the display case, and both seem…
…
Drunk.
"Duuude I can't crabbing…believe it…We got completely ignored by the Saviors while in town…"
"I knowwww…man I wanted to talk to that darkless haired pretty one so badly…but they burning. Called the other darkless haired pretty one on me! It was kinda hot though…"
"You can't just say darkless haired pretty ones and not clarify- wait, wait no, the second one is totally the one with the hat. He seems so scary…it's great."
You tune out before you have to listen to this any longer. You remember this from a little after you got back from the museum and you went shopping with Loop, and two strangers were being insistent on trying to get autographs.
Now you wish you actually cut their throats instead of just threatening them until they both froze up, but another part of you is a bit grateful that you didn't, because it means there's two drunk guards on duty.
You question how none of their coworkers have caught them yet, and they disappear down the hall as the guards from before come down the offshoot hall.
…
And hear their drunk coworkers, and stare at each other, and you watch them both make the decision not to deal with it and go the other way. You understand now why those two haven't been caught by their coworkers now.
Moving on now, you stick to the cases as you make your down the hall, glancing down the offshoot to make sure no one is coming. It's clear for now, so you make your way to the stone-shifter.
Cl-clack.
You murmur quietly, "Just a minute."
Cl-clack.
You examine the pedestal for Craft again, murmuring to the stone-shifter as their heartbeat picks up again, "I go by Siffrin. I'm here to get you out of here."
Cl-clack.
Cl-clack.
Cl-clack.
The Craft falls quickly, but you hear guards again, so you dip behind the displays again.
This time, the guards find the display.
You hear one rush over to the case, saying something about the glass being cut, and you listen to the other two argue. You don't bother to listen as you pull out the pendant and hiss quietly to the stone-shifter.
"This should give you enough Craft to go, and then we need to move. Follow me, stay as quiet as you can, don't talk until we're out of here," you insist, and place the pendant over the stone-shifters head. It takes a moment to kick in, but then their wings are spreading and head turns to look at you with wide eyes.
Despite telling them not to speak, they do anyway, whispering, "Thank you," in Poterian.
They sound…very young, you realize. Their voice is soft and feminine, and…
Oh stars, this is a teenager. There's been a teenager trapped in a hunter museum for who knows how long.
You motion them to follow as a bell sounds throughout the museum, your ears ringing with the sound, but the stone-shifter hops down quickly.
You start heading towards the offshoot hall for you exit when a line of Craft crashes into the ground in front of you, and you turn towards the guards.
One was holding a sword out, and shouts at you something you cannot hear above the bell. Likely a command to stop, but you fail to care when there is a teenager behind you. You don't worry about your own identity, knowing you've left your usual cloak and hat behind, even putting away your fur just in case. You're dressed in dark clothes, a hood, mask, and a couple bags close to your body. You couldn't afford the bright shades you usually sport, it makes you too easy to spot.
Not that it matters now, and you reach for a pool of spider silk and the stone-shifter moves behind you and whimpers.
[String of Bad Luck]
Threads of Craft and silk fire out from the spool and shoot towards the guards, one setting off Craft in attempts to cut them before they were both quickly wrapped up. The threads reached for the ceiling, wrapping around whatever it could get a hold of before lifting the guards into the air and leaving them there.
You glance down the main hall to see more guards coming, and you grab the stone-shifter's clawed hand and get moving. You ignore the displays as you race towards the offshoot, and silently question how stupid the guard is for immediately using Craft.
Were they trying to hit the displays? You were right among them, and a part of you does wish they hit it. If only to see their face upon realizing that they'll never receive a paycheck from their guild again.
There's another pair of guards in your way, neither of whom you bother to dodge as both of them see you and opt to move out of the way. You think you hear more shouting behind you, and Craft nearly clips the side of your head from someone.
The door is ahead. You curl your hand into a fist.
[Rock Bottom]
And watch the wooden doors shatter.
It's much quieter outside. You can hear the stone-shifter's heart beat wildly now, the spirit whispers next to your heart a question you can't understand, and the bells of the museum are still loud, but bearable. There's guards still after you, but that doesn't matter as you press two fingers to your mouth and whistle for Isa.
Now, all you need to do is get the stone-shifter to camp, and you'll deal with the rest tomorrow. You aren't worried when Isa comes into view, because it takes only seconds for you both to be thrown onto his back, and off you go into forests no guard will dare to follow you into.
Stars, you're blinding exhausted.