Arielle couldn’t find it.
She walked around the whole cave searching for where that wrong feeling was coming from, but most of the essences drifted about normally, except for a calor complex that seemed to cling to her. She frowned at it, wondering if that was what she felt. However, even after she directed it away from her, the strangeness still lingered.
That was when she decided to find it another way.
She sat cross-legged on the ground, closing her eyes. She hadn’t gone into the inner abyss ever since what happened at Vittoria's home, partially because she was concerned that she might get trapped in her own body as Vittoria warned.
Though she knew how to get into the abyss using that means, she wasn't sure how to get out, and she didn't want to disappear as so many people already had. Experimenting with the abyss in that way, without having full control, felt like she was constantly playing a dangerous game on the Drift's terms, and that was perhaps the mistake the others had made too.
But if she were to learn the abyssal spells, then she would be able to play on her own terms.
That was why she had stuck to her regular centering meditation and building her technique of isolating different senses at a time.
It was what she did now: closing her eyes, slowly shutting everything out and using only her cores to get a sweep of the place. She waited until she felt every single connection they had to every single orb. She felt the blue core pulsing, tiny but noisy.
She tried to detect where the chaos was coming from, but everything except the blue orb seemed normal, and whatever the blue orb was communicating with her, she didn't understand.
After moments of meditation, she finally opened her eyes and sighed.
If she couldn't feel it with any of her other senses or her cores, there was only one thing left.
Whatever was here, it was in the abyss.
“Hello,” she called out. “Plutarch. Is that you?”
There was no answer.
"Is it you...Payn?"
Still silence.
Ari twisted her lips now and thought about what to do. She wasn't necessarily scared of something being in the abyss watching her, though the thought made her vaguely uncomfortable in the same way the stares in the dining hall did. Nevertheless, she was more curious about how it got there.
Though it could have been around longer, she had first felt the strangeness when she and Valeria had been practicing abyssal spells. The blue orb acted strangely at the time and then settled down shortly after.
If there was really something stuck in the abyss, Plutarch or not, should she tell someone? Like the dean?
But then he would want to know how she knew what the abyss was, and how she had gotten all her information, some of which she’d gotten from Cornelius’ diary and some of which she’d obtained from the restricted section of the library. And he might trick her into saying more than she wanted to say.
It would likely lead back to talking about the Drift and the fact that he was haunting her, but telling the dean this might also be endangering him. But if there really was something stuck in the abyss, and it was dangerous, then it would be irresponsible for her not to tell someone, right? She might not be able to access it, but there might be someone who could.
She chewed on what to do for some time, her mind wavering between the two possibilities. There were two people she could tell. Elric and Vittoria. Vittoria would be the one most likely to know what to do. She should ask Elric to give Vittoria a messaging scroll too so she could speak to the other woman directly, given that Elric was probably busy. Ari wouldn’t be able to tell them how she knew, but she would tell them that she sensed something dark in that cave and it was likely from the abyss and so they needed to–
The thought was cut short.
Just like that, the feeling cleared.
Without warning, it vanished like it was never there.
Arielle frowned and glanced around. The deep sense of wrongness in the air, as if it were tainted with an untraceable poison, disappeared.
What the heck just happened?
Where did it go?
Had she merely imagined it? Now that she thought about it, it was hard to pinpoint or articulate precisely what that feeling even was, or how it had affected her. Was it even there?
Was she being paranoid?
No.
The blue orb had certainly been overactive, even though it was now calmly bobbing once more.
Had the oddity simply moved away?
Maybe it is Plutarch. Maybe he’s following me around and spying on me.
She had initially believed that victims of abyssal entrapments remained locked in the general location where they had disappeared, but that was just an assumption based on what she had seen in the Helleron forest. It could be that they could move around within limits. Plutarch could be following her. Perhaps he was the reason for the strange occurrences like the portal malfunction and the runaway desks.
Perhaps there was something he was trying to do, and that was the reason why he was here now?
Or maybe it wasn't Plutarch. Maybe it was something else entirely.
Or maybe it was nothing.
This was so confusing.
She debated whether or not to share the information, or maybe wait and see if it happened again. But she might not be here the next time it happened, and if the creature escaped without her knowledge and hurt someone, she would feel responsible for not sharing ahead of time, especially if her experimentation with Valeria had somehow caused this.
She sighed and finished up her meditation as the sun shifted another inch in the sky. Rava would be here soon. As she began to walk out of the cave, she noticed that the trail of Calor that had clung to her was trying to follow her out too.
That was odd. She thought she had dispersed them.
She activated her aura sight again, and only then did she see the very thin links between the calor orbs. Interesting. She had never seen links like that before, barely there even.
Who put that there? Did someone cast a spell here? Who else had been here?
She wondered what that was about and broke the spell again, before she thought about something.
There might be an easier way to speak to Vittoria.
She glanced at the band around her arm, the one that summoned the portal bird.
"Vittoria," she said. "We need to talk."
Nothing happened. The band remained inactive, and the portal bird didn't come to life.
"Vittoria," she tried again. "I am in severe danger."
The lie didn't activate it. Perhaps because her physical condition or her tone didn't match the words.
So instead, she visualized the spell form and began to poke around, searching for the activation complex.
Just then, a whooshing cloud shot out of the band, but instead of the bird, it formed an image of Vittoria's disapproving face.
"Arielle. I'm a little busy here. Is this urgent?"
Vittoria was breathing steadily, but there was a streak of something on her face. Something that looked like blood.
"Perhaps," Ari said, frowning as the Calor orbs began to drift towards her again. "But I can wait."
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Vittoria suddenly grinned. "Actually, on second thought, we should talk. Maybe you should come help me with something."
"With what?"
"Oh, nothing. Just a very minor errand."
****
Before this week, Selena had only known a little about demons. But ever since she'd gone to the cave in North Base and experienced the touch of a demon herself, she'd made the effort to learn as much as she could about it.
Which was why she was now in her second least favorite place–the second floor of the school library.
What she assumed was a demon touch had not lasted long. It had been an imperceptible feeling, barely there, before vanishing entirely.
She thought perhaps the demon had come searching for Arielle, and once it had learned she wasn't Arielle, it had retreated.
Selena had stayed long enough to exude a Calor tag like the Elders taught her, before she’d gone back to campus.
She'd gone to the cave two more times but hadn't sensed the demon again, even as she kept searching for it. It was annoying that the demon refused to interact with her even though she was a superior specimen for possession, if that was what it wanted. Far better than Blacksoil. Or maybe it knew it wasn't powerful enough to possess her.
Maybe it was scared of her.
In any case, she was now reading more about demons and how to draw them to you.
Of course, none of the books in this damn library actually told her that. They stressed how to detect demonic possession. Told of the various wars that the demons had waged on Earth, one of which had indirectly led to the deaths of her own family.
The demonic sect had a long, complicated relationship with the kingdom of Pyronis, and after the king had sent some of his troops to aid in a demonic war, there had not been enough warriors left in the palace to protect him when a mad dark mage had swept through, killing his entire family except Selena.
Selena should hate the demons for that.
She had hated them, but at the same time, she’d had a competing view of things.
Because as she grew up, she realized that certain things about that attack did not make sense, and certain whispers began to reach her ears.
Whispers about an internal power struggle, about the mad mage being merely a cover to kill the king. Of the guards being paid off and the culprits being the very ones who pretended to have protected her all her childhood.
Her father had been a kind and generous man, but he'd also been a weak king. He hadn’t been able to maintain the total sovereignty that her grandfather had striven for, and that allowed his empire to begin splitting into the different ministerial factions, each one gaining too much control under the king's watch.
Selena wasn't sure what happened next, but she thought probably that her father had tried to pass a deeply unpopular law, so they had gotten rid of him using underhanded means, and kept her alive, so that her more powerful cousins wouldn't assume the throne.
While they acknowledged the throne was her rightful place, she knew that the ministers expected her to merely sit there as a figurehead, just like her father had done. She was supposed to sign whatever they put in front of her, declare whatever decrees they whispered in her ears, and go off to fight wars, while they really maintained control of everything.
It was what the Elders prepared her for: being a lame but useful crown while they ran the country,
And if she were to rebel, perhaps one of them would betray her like they had betrayed her father.
The thought kept her up some nights. It had been one of the reasons she trained as hard as she could, sacrificing the balance of her cores for raw power.
Selena knew she was powerful. Her natural talent and determination made her the youngest master ever.
However, one could never be too powerful.
And if it was a demon that gave Arielle the power to close portals she did not open and cast spells faster than one could blink, then that was also a power that Selena wanted.
She wanted something that could not be understood or replicated, just like Arielle's.
Nevertheless, Selena hadn't yet made up her mind on whether she would actually make a deal with this demon. The issue with demonic pacts was that demons were naturally deceptive, and someone would always pay the price in the end.
Even just interacting with them required a preponderance of caution, which she planned to take. She wasn't going to rush into anything.
However, she didn't have anyone but herself to lose. If Arielle could sacrifice for power, then why couldn't she?
Still, she didn't plan on consorting with the demon yet. She just wanted to start by asking it a few questions, and perhaps it would simply be enough to cut off Arielle's source of power and report her crimes to the council.
Selena closed her book in annoyance, rubbing her skull. This was a waste of time. She wouldn't find anything here. It was either she continued being persistent and going to that cave until the demon spoke to her.
Or she asked somebody who knew something about demons.
Yseult?
Although the assembly hadn't gone into detail about what happened to him, Monk Ernesto had sent her a letter detailing the council's decision and punishment towards him. He also told her what Yseult had claimed to be doing with the demons.
It was an interesting idea to say the least.
She wondered if there was any merit to it, if one could learn to use and control the demons.
She wondered if perhaps she could get a meeting with Yseult. He wasn’t in custody, but she doubted the elders and Archmage Elric would let her get close.
She was distracted by footsteps coming up the spiral, silver-encrusted stairs.
Wulfric Wesley.
He unbuttoned the two top buttons of his shirt as he walked, his robe thrown carelessly over his shoulder.
His eyes met hers, but he didn’t have his usual charming smile. He merely executed a stiff nod as he went to one of the rows and picked out a book to read. He retired to one of the hard-backed leather chairs to do just that, crossing his legs and assuming the posture of an arrogant noble.
Selena figured she knew what his dark mood was about.
She’d heard that Arielle had turned down the invitation to the ball.
No one could shut up about that for the past few days, and no one could figure out why she didn’t want to go.
Was it arrogance, thinking that she didn’t need to introduce herself to high ascendant society? Was it her discomfort because she felt completely out of place having not grown up within it? Or was it simply because she didn’t want to feel bound to the Wesleys?
Selena thought that they were giving Arielle entirely too much credit and giving this too much attention.
But she also knew what no one knew about Arielle.
The reason Arielle didn't want to go to the ball was likely because of her ill-gotten powers.
She didn’t want people to figure out that she was consorting with demons, and she knew that were she to be in the presence of someone with soul sight, they would be able to tell immediately.
Speaking of which…
She did know one person with soul sight. Lady Ishta. They were not friends, and she wasn’t particularly fond of the girl, but they had chatted once or twice at the various high society events they had attended. Perhaps she could get the girl to take a peek at Ari's soul. Selena could confirm her suspicions that way.
Not to mention, it would be a good way to get to Yseult.
Selena grinned. Poor Ishta must be having a terrible time, probably being shunned thanks to her half-brother's actions.
She could use a friend right now.
Particularly one as influential as Selena.
Well, that takes care of that.
She got to her feet and was about to leave, but first she approached Wulfric slowly, despite the annoyance on his face as he gave her a quick but respectful bow.
“I assume your father is furious with the situation,” she said.
Wulfric didn't pretend to know what she was talking about. No doubt he'd heard of it more than once today.
“Well, more confused than anything," he responded, flipping a page. "He’s going to start a deeper investigation into her background to see if there's any possible conflict they might have had or if there's anything criminal they might be hiding. He also keeps pestering me with questions, assuming I did something to put her off."
"Did you?"
"No." The frustration was loud in his voice. "I don't understand that girl. I've done nothing but be nice to her, and yet she treats me like I'm dirt at the bottom of her shoe.” He worked the muscles of his jaw. “We've had one conversation...one pretty good conversation, and now it's like she doesn't even remember it."
"Uh huh."
"She probably thinks I'm beneath her because I'm technically just a bastard, aren't I?" He presented Selena with a mocking smile. "I mean Edward's the one inheriting the title anyway. She knows my predicament. I thought she didn’t care, but apparently she does. I knew I never should have told her...certain things that evening."
What adolescent whining. Selena resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"It might not be that she doesn't like your family," she said.
He looked up. "What are you talking about?"
"It's just...I have my suspicions about Arielle, and where her power actually comes from. I don't think it's from within."
He cocked his eyebrow, and Selena gave just enough of a pause before she continued.
"Did you know where Arielle goes off to every week?"
"North Base, I'm assuming. They say she helps Rava clean."
"Yes. Except Rava says there have been almost no manalings since Arielle started going there. I went there myself and confirmed. I also felt a very creepy presence."
"Creepy how?"
"You know…otherworldly." She shrugged. "I don't want to say she consorts with demons, but her abilities are way beyond anything a regular mage can do. I watched her stare at a portal and close it with her eyes. That's not normal."
Wulfric laughed.
"Yeah, you're not going to get one over on me, Selena."
"I'm serious. Did you hear that Elric might also be involved with the very demons he caught?”
"Yeah, and my father already told me that was a bunch of bullshit."
"Is he sure? Has he actually looked into the claims? I mean, I guess since he's looking into her past, he might as well.”
"Yeah,” Wulfric said with a careless shrug and a smirk, his eyes going back to his book. “He might as well."
Selena sighed. Wulfric still wasn't taking her claims seriously.
"I'm not trying to badmouth her. I'm just saying in case you feel bad..." She put a hand on his shoulder. "There's a reason she doesn't want to be seen at that ball. And it has absolutely nothing to do with you."
She held her position, waited till his laughter dimmed, and doubt appeared in his eyes.
There we go. Now for the finishing touch...
"Just be careful, okay? If you’re going to keep pursuing her, that is. Something about that girl deeply concerns me." She gave him a convincing look of concern, like she actually cared.
Once he nodded,–though still skeptical, a tendril of doubt appeared in his eyes–she hid her smile and walked away.
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