damned_institute | Day 27: Library

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Day 27: Library

Libraries, he'd found, were rarely as dull as people made them out to be. Though he felt no magic in these tomes, they were still full of useful information. Maybe some of them could tell him a little bit more about this world he'd landed himself in.

For that matter, why hadn't he run into any of the others yet? They'd all been fairly close together when they'd left Rekord, but he hadn't seen a trace of any of them. He was able to communicate easily with the people here though, which led him to believe Mokona was within a mile or so. Unless the ones running this little game had some other way to let all these other-worldly people communicate amongst themselves. In which case, the others could be very far away indeed.

The library had that wonderful smell of old books, and Fai traced his fingers along the shelves, skimming titles and pulling books that struck his fancy. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The War of the Worlds, and with a smile, he found Bram Stoker's Dracula as well. Raven had been telling the truth then, in spite of his own lies. Ought to be a good start. He sat leisurely at one of the tables and began flipping through his selections.

[waiting for Tamaki~]

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Suddenly the scent grew sharper, and Saetan rose, forgetting the book altogether. There, not ten feet from him, stood his son, his mirror, seemingly searching the room. For him?

He remembered how fragile Daemon had been when he'd first arrived in Kaeleer, so while he was still unobserved, Saetan searched for signs of that instability. Before anyone could see him gaping, least of all Daemon, Saetan straightened his back and took a step toward Daemon with his hands outstretched.

Now perhaps with the two of them he would find some answers.

"Daemon?"

The sound of his name drew Daemon's attention and his head jerked around in shock and surprise. Feeling a mixture of relief and dread, he hurried in that direction, wondering if this were a face, like River's? But it was still daylight, though fading. There were no monsters here now. It had to be real.

"Father," he murmured, reaching out to clasp Saetan's hand. "I'd say I was glad to see you, but the sentiment is relative here. How long have you been here. Are you alright?"

"Just now." He wanted to hug Daemon, just for being familiar. But not in front of all these people. Was there anywhere to get a moment of privacy, he wondered.

The moment seemed to stretch, but finally he released the hand. Would Daemon be able to sense the change? He shook his head. Better to focus on other factors. That he was no longer a Guardian was the least of their worries. He needed to know where they were, how their power was restrained, and whether it was possible to get back to Kaeleer.

He lowered his voice so it wouldn't be easy to overhear and said, "I'm fine, except that I can't reach my Jewels." He noted that Daemon wasn't wearing his. That was not a good sign. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"Too good an idea," Daemon replied grimly. "I've been here..." he paused to count back, having lost track. "Two days and nights now. This place is called Landels. In daylight, it poses as an insane asylum. They tell us we are here because we have lost touch with reality and that the lives we remember are not real, that we've been brought here to heal. Everyone here is from different places. Different worlds. I've not met anyone who's ever heard of Kaeleer or Terreille, and several have very different ideas of Hell.

"And all of them are... different. Some have magic, though they are not blood. Some hear things and know things without ever touching the webs. Many of them are exceptional fighters. I worry we've been selected and brought here for a specific purpose, but no one knows what it is yet.

"And by night..." Daemon paused, wondering how this would sound. "Everything changes after dark. All pretense is gone. The medical staff vanishes and instead... things roam the halls. Monsters. Things I could have never imagined. We're free to wander the grounds unchaperoned then, but it is highly dangerous, and everyone knows never to travel alone. People die, they vanish, and there are monsters that can take another's form, so closely that one can hardly tell the difference.

"And as for our jewels..." Daemon sighed, still missing his. "We don't have them. They're not gone, but... they're not here either. I can still do some magic, but only in very small doses. It drains me physically, and quickly. I've heard rumors of a room that holds stolen belondings on the second floor, but I've not gotten that far yet. My first night there was fighting, and the second, I stumbled across two injured companions and used most of my strength to help with their wounds."

The news went from bad to worse. Still the hope that somehow their Jewels were only hidden from them reassured Saetan. His instinct was to use what strength he did have to break free of here, but if Daemon hadn't been able to do that, it was unlikely he could.

The story Daemon told sounded fantastical enough that he feared Daemon had slipped back into the Twisted Kingdom, despite appearing stable and whole. Saetan reached out to touch his son's cheek and gazed into those golden eyes, so uncharacteristically earnest, searching with a father's instinct for the hint that Daemon wasn't walking in reality. He'd experience enough dealing with Tersa now to think he could tell, even without using Craft.

"I'm finding it hard to believe you, even with what I've seen in only a few minutes here." The admission was brutally honest. Better to be that now than have to explain later. If Daemon was right, there may not be a later.

Surprisingly, Daemon's lips quirked in faint amusement. "It is rather hard to believe. If I hadn't woken here in the middle of night, I'd not have believed it until witnessing it myself. It'll be dark soon. You'll see the change for yourself."

"But you've just arrived," he changed the subject, reaching out to place a hand on his father's arm, his expression turning intense, his golden eyes hopeful. "Has there been any word of Jaenelle?"

"Yes, I suppose I will see for myself." There was a hint of fragility and doubt he'd missed in his earlier assessment, but Daemon appeared perfectly sane to him. The question confused him.

"Why would there be something wrong with Jaenelle?" He narrowed his eyes, though he didn't move to shake off Daemon's grip. It was true that the terrible news had shaken everyone, and the First Circle was seething with a need to act, but there was no reason to think Jaenelle wasn't either at the Keep or the Hall, trying to work out what to do. "Daemon, has something happened other that this?"

Time. It flowed... but not here. Here time danced and mingled with many illogical, improper partners, making a mess and clump of dozens of factors and strings of fate and alls manners of what shouldn't be. Different worlds, different times... All because time was irresponsible, lulled by the Beast's oddly alluring lullaby into being so. It could hardly be blamed.

The air was thick and heavy in the corner, and she didn't mean to interrupt, but there were introductions to be had in an unconventional sense, and a lightness to bring as they realized it themselves. Dawning was always such a painful process.

River wandered into the Library, hands clasped behind her back as she moved over to where Daemon and Saetan were locked in conversation. If her feet fell properly, there was a chance the former wouldn't see it coming. She'd promised she would, and he should know better than to assume she wouldn't do so at the best and worst of moments.

Upon reaching the pair, River reached up, as she was decidedly lacking in the height department if she were competing with Daemon, to ruffle his hair and place her chin on his shoulder to meet Saetan's eyes with her own and a decidedly impish grin to boot.

"Walked the same path at different times. It drags you back a step and waits, and it throws off the entire functionality of the process." River sighed. The weight of the world, but nothing a quirky smile couldn't cure. "River," she introduced herself without skipping a beat. "I blow things up with my mind."

That said, the girl skipped back a step and out of reach, spinning on her heel and turning to walk to her where she was meant to be. Her arms were spread a touch, and she walked s straight, narrow line, as though walking on a balance beam.

Daemon had opened his mouth to ask more, ask what Saetan meant, that of course there was something wrong with Jaenelle, when he felt fingers ruffle his hair and a familiar voice come from over his shoulder.

Slightly surprised - and bewildered by her disjointed words once again - he glanced over at her, but didn't have a chance to reply to her astounding statements before she was off again, leaving him alone with Saetan once more.

He stared after her, expression a mix of amusement and bafflement, then chuckled, shaking his head. "At least there was no pasta involved," he remarked dryly, recalling what she'd dumped over her 'father's' head at an earlier meal. She'd caught him by surprise, after all.

Devious little witch.

Saetan watched the girl come and go, his frown deepening. She had distracted Daemon from his worrying question, which was something. But the girl herself, there was a deepness to her he'd not recognized in any landen. She didn't have what he'd call a psychic scent, though. She'd called herself River, running water, fast and deep.

He let his eyes follow her as she walked away, half-holding his breath that she wouldn't fall off that narrow path where she balanced so close to the Twisted Kingdom. Hadn't Daemon say this masqueraded as a mental hospital?

"Do you know her well?" he asked, his voice mild as he returned his attention to Daemon.

[in the right place now]

"You could say that," Daemon remarked wryly, watching her till she met a dark-haired woman before frowning, guessing who that was. He wished he was close enough to eavesdrop on that conversation, but at the same time was feeling very relieved he was a safe distance away.

Turning his attention back to his father, his lips quirked ruefully. "She found me and a companion on my first night here. She's very... different. Unique. She dances through the Twisted Kingdom with more skill and ease and adeptness than anyone I've ever met. She knows more than she ever says, and sees more than even I can guess at. She's a mix of age-old wisdon and a child's innocence. She's... River," he finished, the name having come to have an entire world of meaning unto itself.

"And yet for all that, it's sad to see a child there." Saetan had very strong opinions about how to treat children. "Is she trapped her for the same reasons we are?"

His mind filled with so many questions, though he didn't show much. "How have you managed these last few days?"

"Everyone is trapped here for the same reasons as we are, whatever they may be," Daemon replied quietly. "Still, she's not one to underestimate, all the same."

Daemon's expression turned wry and faintly amused once more. "I have found inventive and interesting companions, that's how. I'm sure you'll meet Ren at some point tonight, if you wish to accompany me after dark? Renji is another, he could pass for Lucivar's twin in temperament, to give you fair warning."

"I see. I won't then." The rest of Daemon's news brought an answering smile, slight though it was, to Saetan's lips. "I"ve had some experience with Lucivar's temperament. There do not seem to be any handy water troughs nearby though." Lucivar had never had the gall to threaten Saetan with one, but enough young witches, no matter their Jewels or caste, had been dunked that even Saetan had heard of it. And he'd tried so very hard not to know about details like that about how the Court worked.

"Do you recommend joining you tonight?" He didn't want to tread on any new friendships or alliances Daemon had formed. Even here, if word of Saetan's reputation got around, it might make it more difficult for Daemon.

Daemon blinked slowly. "I'd prefer it over you trying to explore your way on your own, actually," he answered, wondering if perhaps his father preferred not to.

He was reminded then of the awkwardness, the things that had passed between them, and felt his defenses flicker back into place, a careful distance slipping over his expression. Of course. How could he have forgotten? Not even a few days here could change the past or dim others' memories of what had happened.

"If you would rather find someone else, of course, there are many wandering that you could find a place with, I'm certain, if you'd rather."

Saetan saw the walls go up. He'd thought Daemon's insecurities had been soothed by his months in Kaeleer. The father in him clawed to the surface--it was never very deep when he was in the presence of any of his children--and widened the smile he already wore. He reached to grasp both of Daemon's shoulders. "Of course, I would rather be with you. You have the advantage of experience here. Besides, you're my son."

"Are you certain your companions wouldn't mind me?"

"Of course they won't," Daemon replied, relaxing somewhat under his father's reassurances. "Everyone has secrets here. Everyone has something... different about them. What's one more oddity to the collection?" he replied with a faint quirk of his lips. "Besides, you've met one companion already, and if she didn't like you, you would have known it. And Ren... Well, I can see no reason why Ren would mind. I believe someone from his own world showed up shortly before you did, so he will be bringing someone new as well."

"Would her displeasure have involved pasta?" He hadn't missed that remark before. Amusement danced in his eyes and flirted with the corners of his mouth. Here he stood lost from the Realms in possible deadly danger without his Jewels, and it was a comfort to try to share a mild joke with Daemon.

He dropped his hands, sweeping his gaze across the crowded room. "Did you have a particular goal for your nocturnal plans?"

"No, she only dresses people she likes in their meals," Daemon quipped with fond amusement.

His golden gaze scanning the room like his father's, he shook his head, expression turning a bit grimmer. "Nothing concrete. Although Renji has mentioned that there is a patter to the darkness. Last night, there were those among us taken and manipulated, used to fight against us. Tonight he predicts there will be some taken above-stairs and tortured. He says it alternates with the nights."

"Tortured?" he asked, his gaze darkening. "And there's no predicting who is taken?" It went without saying that he didn't approve of torture when there was no sense to it. "Were any of your friends affected by this?" And how can we put a stop to it? "I like this place less and less with each passing moment."

"I know very little about it," Daemon answered honestly, shaking his head with a frown. "I only know that they are taken to the second floor and it is there that Renji is his group are heading. If Ren is amenable, we can make our way there, unless the passage proves to be too dangerous. Some of the things this place sets in the way can be quite formidable."

"As far as I know, no one I know has been taken, although River and Renji were both injured last night by one of the patients being used against us, and fairly seriously, despite the fact that they seem well enough today. There's also a creature here that can take another's form. It had taken River's appearance my first night here, which is partially how we met. This place is less and less likable with every minute that ticks past."

Saetan nodded to himself as he listened. Yes, Daemon's short time here had given the younger man a wealth of knowledge. And he marvelled a bit at Daemon's out-going attitude.

"Well, I should think trying to stop such things would be a high priority. Without our Jewels, are there weapons to be had?"

That same rueful quirk of his lips again. "People are making do with what they can find. There are some here who can craft weapons, and there are supposedly rooms where makeshift things can be found. I admit, I've still relied on my magic, despite the limitations I have here. It's exhausting here, but I'm more familiar with it."

That didn't completely answer his father's question, however. "Look around your room when they return you there shortly. Perhaps there is something you can break or find to use," he suggested. Oh, and beneath your pillow, there is something called a flashlight. If you click the button on it, they serve as our lights at night."

"I will look for them, then." Taking instructions from Daemon also wasn't usual. "For now, I'll have to trust to it as well. I feel half-blind though."

He wondered then if he should bring up the other thing he'd noticed. "Daemon, have you noticed anything different about me?" he asked gently, his tone entirely different as he made an effort to lighten the question.

Daemon glanced at his father in surprise, then paused to see what he meant. There had been something, but he hadn't been able to put his finger on it... Now he studied him closely intently, golden eyes missing little, and then widening in surprise.

You're no longer a Guardian, are you?" Daemon murmured, shock coloring his tone. He'd heard of this place changing people into something new, but this...

He didn't know if this was a good thing or not. Complications arose any way you looked at it.

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