Finding The Link

It was done. Samira had managed to do it. Well, technically that wasn't true. Someone else had done the real work while she did something else entirely. What was this supposed work? The translation of the ancient cultist book that had been left behind by a supposed member of the group responsible for a corrupted plague spreading through the forest and Beanstalk Village. For now, the plague had stopped spreading due to her efforts at making the source go into a dormant stage, but that wouldn't last forever. It needed a real cure and the true destruction of the source, which at the moment she could not do. That was where the book came in.

At first, she couldn't translate it and had very few contacts that could decript the forgotten coded language. But due to some mircale and very convenient timing, a certain group she had worked with in the past had wanted to get into contact with her and ask for her aid in another unrelated matter. That group being the Order of the Ebon Cross, a group of hunters that specialized in the tracking and elimination of dangerous supernatural creatures such as vampires. As a trade, Samira and a couple of the order's leaders would help each other. They would use their knowledge to have the book translated, and she would help guard them during a ritual that would surely call upon a swarm of monsters as a result of the dark power being used. Samira had completed her part successfully. The ritual completed without being interrupted, and the monster swarm was defeated. Now the group of hunters had what they needed to solve their problems. It was their turn to aid her.

(Lazy Word Count: 286)

Just as Amelia Blackbird, one of the leaders of the order, had said before departure for the ritual, the book was translated completely when they returned to the Forgotten Monastery. A pile of pages held together with a binding of black thread sat on the table beside the original text. Samira saw it from a distance, and immediately speed walked her way down the hall and towards the table to see for herself. There was a hope in her verdant eyes as optimism washed over her being. She stared at the first page, the cover, with its translation that she was already aware of. "Unyielding Death." Yes, she knew it. She had been told before the translated title. But to actually see it in translated form filled her with elation.

Her fingers gently took hold of the first page and slowly flipped it so that she could view the next. Then the one after. The one after that. Samira turned to the very end. All of it was completely translated to a language that not only could she read, for she could actually read multiple, but Maisy Glover and Allen Lander would also be able to read it as well. Even if they were both mildly useless when it came to magic usage, their knowledge and intellect was still a resource that she would never turn away. The Goddess couldn't wait until she shared the good news with them and got to planning their next step. Whatever that was. Hopefully they managed to find some information themselves and made some theories during her short time away.

(Been gaming instead of working on this WC: 266
Total So Far: 552)

"Dawn approaches," Thayor, another one of the order's leaders said to her. He had been following behind, keeping watch on her but saying nothing until then. If it were even possible she had thought his mood had worsened ever since she took down the Goliath back at the cemetery, most likely saving him and the other hunters in the group. It likely struck a nerve in his pride. To have a mage eliminate a creature like that seemingly with ease. It would have taken more effort for his party to take that creature down. All Samira had to do was fire a single arrow. A single shot to end a monster that should have taken multiple even when hitting its weakest points. What Thayor didn't quite understand was that said shot was of a higher class spell. Powerful, yet difficult to control, master, and took a lot of magical energy to use. Not that the summoner looked exhausted. She still looked as energetic as ever... if Samira ever looked energetic on a typical basis. It was best to say that she looked as passive as ever in the way that does not reflect being tired or weary. The young woman excelled at hiding her exhaustion.

"I suspected. The ritual did take hours." Samira looked up from the pile of bound papers and stared at him with mild concern. Not for him, of course. He was fine. She could see that, and asking about it would only serve to annoy him further. "How is Amelia?" The dark haired maiden had been the one to do the incantation. Throughout all the interruptions she had managed to keep going without fail. Samira understood well that, that had to have taken a great deal of effort and a lot of energy out of her. Amelia had even fallen unconscious only seconds after it had come to an end. It would probably be many hours more, days even, before she awoke to get the updates. Samira wouldn't even get the chance to say the proper farewells. She had planned to leave immediately and head back towards Beanstalk Village.

(Word Count: 353
Total So Far: 905)

"Drained from the ritual, but nothing more serious than that. She'll recover after resting."

Samira nodded with a soft smile. The confirmation that Amelia was simply worn out and only worn out was good news. Thayor didn't seem the type to lie about it. Hide some details? Probably. She didn't feel the need to ask though. "Good to hear." She flipped the pages of the translated book back to be in their original position and then picked it up. Then she reached for the main book. Both were hers to take. "Please thank Amelia for me. I admit, I was hesitant to fully believe that this would all be translated so quickly. Whoever did this while we were away is wonderfully diligent."

(Word Count: 122
Total So Far: 1027)

Thayor had moved so that he was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and dark eyes glaring at teal-haired mage. "We take pride in what we do. That should have been obvious. Whether it be during the hunts or here with the books. It is because of the knowledge kept here that our order still thrives to this day. We do not dismiss it and consider translations as a menial task. If what you say about this corruption is true then we also need to be aware of it and have all of the information there is to know surrounding it. We might have to move in and take care of it ourselves if and when you fail."

"Oh, I see." Samira did not argue the point. The first was completely accurate and she agreed with his opinion. The second was an implied opinion that he thought she'd fail miserably. Any mage would in his mind. It wasn't worth a proper response, and it was an unimportant comment to argue about. Still, even with his words and attitude towards her he was still better to be alone with than Tenebris. "Well, as I said, thank her for me, and the one that did the work. Since both parts of the deal are complete I will be going now." With the books claimed and hugged to her chest, Samira walked away from the large table that held them and started to make the trip towards the room's exit. She only got about twenty steps in when Thayor's voice called to her from behind. Not so much as her name as it was her title. Samira had a mind to keep going and ignore it, but she respectfully stopped and turned towards him. He hadn't even left his position from the wall. "Yes? Did you forget to add in another implied insult before I depart?"

Thayor smirked. "Tempting, but no. I have a question. Do mages have the super genetic trait to not require rest?"

Samira took the question seriously, choosing to ignore where he was going with it. "Some do not require much if any rest. It varies from person to person."

"And are you one of these super mages that can function without it?"

"Yes. It is, as you have mentioned, genetic. A trait that is, from what I understand, one that has existed since ancient times within my ancestors and has evolved to where it is today. Though, I do suppose there are some limitations to it. Why?"

"I only suggest that you get some rest before leaving. Fighting that many monsters can be taxing even for the most experienced, and you should recover whatever strength was lost before you set out to deal with this cultist group. That is a nasty business on its own. It would be unwise to gain their attention further while only having half of your strength and power."

"In many cases that is true," Samira replied, agreeing with his words but still had the tone of resistance towards the idea. "This is not one where I intend to heed the wisdom of that logic. I do not have the luxury." Pushing herself to her limits in such a way wasn't exactly new for her. Nor was it even uncommon. It was a habit that many would consider bad if not stupid and dangerous. But, it was how she was. That current day was not an example of a time she would have picked in an attempt to break the habit.

"Ah, but you forget, all powerful mage," Thayor started to say, pushing himself from up against the wall and starting to walk towards her, then passing her. He turned around to face her, but kept his feet going, walking backwards towards the exit. "You cannot leave unless someone escorts you out of here, and we are all tired. We require rest before we can... oblige in seeing you out so hastily." There was a sly smirk on his face as his words, heavily coated in sarcasm, left his tongue and became fully audible for her to hear. He took pleasure in seeing those green eyes narrow in disapproval. "Come," Thayor continued, turning around to walk normally once more. "There is a spare room you can stay in for a few hours to rest. By then, we will also have recovered and either myself or another hunter I assign will show you out. Then you can continue on with your mission as reckless as you like."

(Word Count: 756
Total So Far: 1783)

Samira said nothing argumentative. There wasn't much of anything to say. A communication with her spirits told her that Janus was still unavailable. There was no teleporting herself out with a simple portal. Even then, if she were to use such a method, she'd only be viewed in a negative light by the order. Any future help she could hope to gain from them would dissolve and cease to exist long before the moment came in the moving timeline. She would have to play by their rules some time longer. Though, she supposed she could appreciate why she was not allowed to leave at that time. It was not as if they were trying to lock her in as a prisoner. "Very well," Samira replied, her feet moving to follow the dark haired man that had made it clear that she wasn't going anywhere just yet. "A few hours then. That is all."

A walk through the more typical halls and corridors led them outside that certain stone building where it opened up to the outside world and rising sun. They descended the stone steps that led up to the council chambers and at the bottom was the start of a massive fountain that covered the majority of that upper level and flowed down to the level below. Bright green grass surrounded the fountain, as well as stairs that attached both levels. If the monastery was anywhere near the cemetary or cursed lands it sure didn't look it. Rather than head down to the lower level, Thayor turned to the left and started to walk down a path that led to a different corridor and building complex. A few others hunters had passed by on their way to do whatever needed to be done so early in the morning. Samira could only imagine that sort of thing. They greeted Thayor, and some had even done more than stare at her. Maybe the news of the success of the ritual had already reached their ears and they respected her more. She didn't get the chance to have a conversation with them.

Eventually, Thayor stopped at a simple wooden door. He faced Samira and pointed to the door. "This is where you will be resting." He moved to grab the knob of the door and softly pushed it open. It creaked loudly and slowly, showing off its age if its old wooden appearance had not. "I or another will come to fetch you when we are ready to leave. Do not take advantage of this opportunity by roaming around all sneaky-like. We do not take kindly to that."

"Do you have many secrets that are easy to find here?"

"No. It's just rude to roam around another's home and go through their business. But, also, yes. We do." Thayor gestured for her to enter the room in sarcastic gentlemanly style. "Enjoy." Without another look at her or another word uttered, he turned around and began to walk back the way he had come, leaving her alone there, standing right at the entrance of a dark and musty old room. She walked in and felt around for some kind of light switch. There wasn't one. She sighed. "Of course." He neglected to give her any kind of candle or torch or... something.

"Nox, if you do not mind." Samira gently called on the spirit, who answered and appeared in a swirl of purple sparkles. They shifted and became the shape of a three tiered candle holder. At first the spirit floated in the air. Then, Nox took notice of a stone table next to the bed and moved there, landing and remaining there to provide stable lighting with the small flickering fires on the wicks of the candles.

Samira looked around the room. It didn't take much effort. It was a small simple room with stone walls. Nox had already shown her the bed and the table next to it. There was also a chair. A solid three pieces of furniture in the entire room. Though, she supposed she should have been thankful for it. There probably wasn't room for much else. Besides, it wasn't as if she intended to stay, and she could be grateful that the room wasn't as bad off as she had originally imagined. It was old and frequently unused, but it wasn't as if it was covered in extreme amounts of dirt, dust, or worse. With Thayor's personality he could have actually tried to put her into the room of a dungeon and try to get away with calling it a guest room. Yes, there were many things to be thankful for. Samira set the books in her arms on the table and moved to the bed. She then allowed herself to fall onto the bed, her back hitting the mattress and surprisingly not breaking in unlucky comedic style. She still didn't want to sleep. Her brain wasn't going to want to shut off anytime soon. And yet, she had to while the opportunity was forced upon her.

Before the young summoner knew it, the few hours had passed. Somehow. The magic that was passing out without any prior knowledge of it happening as it took place had been cast, and it was only when she awoke to the sounds of a hard knock on the wooden door did she realize it. On the other side of the door was not Thayor, much to her shock. She had figured he would try and get one more sarcastic or smart ass comment out before she departed. But no. Instead, it was another one of the hunters from the night before; Aria. A woman around her age with dark red hair tied into a ponytail and dark blue eyes that, while still having the trait of seriousness within them, appeared more friendly and tolerant than Thayor. Her bow was hanging at her back, equipped and prepared for use even though she was in the safety of their base. She had explained to Samira that Thayor had been called away for a meeting while Amelia was resting to give an update to the other leaders. Therefore, it was she who would be leading Samira out of the base and back to the Unliving Tree. Aria was prepared to leave right then and there instead of waiting around. It was her turn to keep watch there, and she was ready to get to her post. Samira had zero issues with the rush. Now, she too could be on her way.

As was planned, once the two reached the Unliving Oak tree they split ways. Aria remained there to keep watch over the border of the Cursed Lands, and Samira made her way back to River Village to catch the train there and head back to the neighboring small village near Beanstalk Village. During the train ride, Samira couldn't resist taking a look over the translated material. She set the original book on the empty seat beside her to have it out of her way. Now, she could hold the copy of the book properly in order to sit back and look over the pages thoroughly. Starting with page one, she began to read, and it didn't take long for her to get lost in the pages that followed. The surrounding sounds of the moving train and the other passengers were tuned out without effort.

The pages of the book held many secrets indeed. Unyielding Death. It's title was picked to reflect the very name of the ancient cult. An organization that had passed through the ages flickering in and out of existence. One generation they would make themselves known to the world by way of some ritual, summoning, or terrible event. Sometimes they succeeded, other times not. Both results ended in them disappearing altogether for the next generation, and, according to the timeline depicted on the pages, sometimes several generations had passed before they remerged from the shadows of myth and fictional tall tales. The reasoning behind that remained unclear even within the written passages that told the cult's story. Samira had been left to assume that the next stage in their plans just required more thought and behind the scenes effort to be complete before they risked coming back out into the open. She would have to give them credit for their patience. Many lifetimes had been birthed and then spent since the cult's beginning. Many of those that followed and remained loyal never seeing any of the stages or a sign that their life had been well spent for an actual cause that would one day come to fruition.

Samira's eyes remained intently focused on the pages as she continued reading and educating herself on the cult that had become the source of her current conflicts. The history was grand and she absorbed the information of each of the stages and events with great interest. But, there was one thing missing. As she read on to learn about the leaders of the past, the goals for each stage, the meaning of their symbols, their worshiping of god deities, Samira learned much except for the thing she needed; the way to remove the corruption they had inflicted Beanstalk Village and its nearby forest with. It was safe to say that the history book was just that; a history book. The text on the pages had nothing relating to current events. Not even their final endgame had a single footnote mention. To think they were planning the game as they went was a bit far fetched with a society that was as old as theirs. They had been at it for millennia. No. It had to be that such plans were only known by its most loyal followers. The head honchos as it were. They too would also be the ones that would know how to reverse everything, or at the very least destroy the indestructible pillar. "How am I to ask one though?" Samira asked herself, looking up from the pages and staring out the window in thought. The trees and buildings that seemingly zoomed past the window, disappearing from her line of sight, gave no answer.

During the rest of the ride, Samira had decided to stop reading the book for now and just relax. Continuing to ponder and overthink everything was getting her nowhere. That could be continued once she met up with Maisy and Allen again. They would at least provide some help and advice, even if they could provide nothing more than just being present. Although, Samira still truly hoped they had come up with something far more significant in regards to intel and information while she was busy helping Amelia and Thayor and getting that book translated.

The train eventually came to a stop, having reached its destination. Well, rather her destination. Partially. The train stop wasn't fully at the village she needed to be. It made sense, for it was a rather small village that was not even depicted on the map of Fiore. Although the village had at least grown a bit while the residents of Beanstalk Village took refuge there. Maybe one day it would be better known. At present however, it lacked the modern day conveniences such as a basic train stop. Samira would have to make the rest of the journey on foot. She really needed a faster back up plan for when Janus was unavailable for quick teleportation across long distances. Especially now that the train didn't even stop at or very near Beanstalk Village. True the place had been abandoned by its residents due to the plague and corruption that was present in the woods nearby and the village itself, but word had spread even further than that. The news about its plight had reached all various towns, villages, and cities. Samira could hear the gossip all around her from the other train's passengers during the ride. It had been amusing listening in during that time. Some theories were close while others were so outlandish she had to wonder how they had come up with it in the first place. There were some worrisome ones, such as some saying they had heard or knew of the corruption hitting other parts of Fiore and Earthland. Whether that was true, or it was just over exaggerated gossip and lies, was hard to say. One thing was for certain and that was she needed to hurry up and clean up the mess she did know was occuring. Such were the thoughts as she walked her way to meet up with Maisy Glover and Allen Lander. The encounter didn't take long to come to pass.

As Samira made her way to the neighboring small village, everything was uneventful. Or normal in actuality. No signs of the plague or its weeds were seen, at least by her eyes as she walked along, and all was quiet except for the natural sounds of the world such as wind and common animals. That is, until she started to hear the sounds of someone talking to themselves. They seemed a bit annoyed based on the tone, but that was not all that the Goddess of Ishgar took notice of. The voice belonged to a woman, and a familiar one at that. "Is that Maisy?" Samira asked herself, and that of the spirits connected to her mind. She continued on towards the source of the voice, which was in the same direction she had originally intended to go anyway. Only a slight detour needed to be made when she got to some trees. She walked off the dirt path and passed the trees. There she confirmed that it was indeed the herbalist speaking to herself, and she could understand the frustration.

Not only did Samira find Maisy behind those groups of trees, but she had also found a large hole in the dirt. It was not made by some evil force of magic or monster, although she was sure someone would have accused the shovel wielding herbalist to be evil incarnate for disturbing and digging a wide and deep hole in the ground should they have fallen in at some point in the future. Unfortunately for the woman that was covered in dirt, she had been the first victim of her creation. Samira wasn't sure if she had fallen in or had dug so deep that she could not get out. All she could tell was that Maisy was using the shovel to somehow climb her way out. Samira blinked, staring dumbfounded as the quirky herbalist muttered to herself while trying to get herself out. The summoner had yet to say anything to make her presence known, and it was apparent that Maisy had not noticed her just yet.

"Almost.... thhheeerrreeeee," Maisy told herself, struggling to get the words out just as much as she struggled with the shovel and her attempt to climb out of that hole. Her hand was able to grab the edge after a great deal of effort. "Got it!" The herbalist began to pull herself up. It... was an awkward thing to watch as the woman flailed, lost her balance, and even the shovel anchor had broken off from its dirt wall and fell. Yet, Maisy still held on to the edge, now with both hands, and had managed to get the top half of her body over that edge as well. "Whew!" She sighed with relief. The hardest part was over! Or so she had thought. Her gaze shifted upwards and it was then that she saw Samira standing there watching her. That was unexpected. Anyone being there would have been a surprise by itself, but she wasn't expecting Samira to be there. Maisy's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh! Samira!" Maisy, in her now flustered state, quickly tried to come up with a very good reason why she was stuck in a hole. How embarrassing. "This is- whoa, whoa, no! Ahhh!" The hold Maisy had on the edge weakened, and she had begun to flail about and try to regain her stable position so she wouldn't fall right back down into that hole. In the end, the herbalist fell, screaming, until Samira heard an "oof" to let her know that Maisy had hit the ground. The shovel followed her, resulting in Samira hearing an "ow" after what she assumed to be the shovel landing on Maisy.

Curious, and admittedly concerned for the herbalist's well being, Samira walked over towards the large hole and stood at its edge, slightly leaning over as she peered down into it. "Are you all right?" She asked, although physically Maisy seemed fine. She was rubbing her head and wincing, likely due to the shovel, but otherwise she seemed well. If anything was broken or sprained there surely would have been much more of an outcry or reaction. Nevertheless, Samira waited for an answer just in case.

"I'm fine. Mostly," Maisy replied with a light chuckle as she fixed her glasses to once again be in their proper place on the bridge of her nose. The dirt upon them was an unfortunate side effect to her activities and would have to remain until she could get them cleaned up back in the village. "Just been stuck in here for what seems like a lifetime. I have learned my lesson! I'll make a note. Maisy, do not dig holes so damn deep or fall into them. It's bad!"

The ramblings of the herbalist were a bit amusing to listen to, but it was hardly the time for Samira to waste time letting the woman go off on a tangent. "What are you even doing down there? Did you make this?" For what reason Maisy had to make such a hole Samira couldn't rightly guess.

"Weeeeelll kind of, sort of. I got a bit carried away, hehe." Maisy stared up and saw those emerald eyes staring at her. Samira wasn't really judging the woman per say, but her eyes did have a way of doing it for her without her realizing it or meaning to. They had a will of their own. Maisy puffed her cheeks. "Don't look at me like that! I had a very good reason for doing this! Experimentation and research is required when you're dealing with these unknown plants and infected dirt. It's not MY fault the best samples were way down here. Or that I forgot to bring a ladder or rope in case this happened. Planning is something an assistant is for and no one will take the job! Once I mention I am dealing with a world ending plant they take off." Maisy stopped her venting for a moment and scratched her chin. "Or maybe it's because of the cult behind it all. Come to think of it they do tend to skidaddle the moment I mention that part instead of the plague itself." Maisy closed her eyes and then flailed her arms in frustration. "Argh! Finding an assistant that has a spine is so hard these days!"

Samira continued to stare quietly. Once Maisy began to go off on a rambling tangent again she sighed softly in exasperation and shook her head gently. Researchers. Granted she herself came from a family of them and she liked to enjoy the activity a lot when it came to magic, artifacts, and old history, but she never went so far as to get herself stuck in a hole. Stuck in other arguably more serious and complicated problems? Perhaps. All of them taken care of, of course. To be stuck in a hole just by simply digging too far and forgetting to plan for a way out... Well now that was just helpless. "You are lucky I came along. You might have been down there overnight." Samira paused at that and arched a questioning brow as she stared at Maisy. "You have not been down there for days already, have you?" Honestly, it wouldn't surprise her. One part of her brain told her that Allen would have eventually come looking for Maisy. Her being gone would have had to be noticable. Then again, it also was a possibility that he was doing his own research and therefore completely forgot that Maisy existed much like he forgot the existence of water and bath soap during his studying sprees.

"WHAT?! How can you ask that?! Someone would have come looking for me... I think." Maisy's face paled at the thought of what would have happened if Samira actually hadn't come along. Would she have spent the night in that hole? A few nights? Did monsters that prowled the woods at night take interest in large holes in the middle of the ground? If so did that mean she would have been their din din? Maisy gulped. What a horrible fate! She needed to get out of there now before it happened! Preferably before the Goddess of Ishgar standing up there got bored and left or something without saving her. Maisy looked up, her eyes now full of worry. "Hey, um, not that I'm rushing you or anything, but could you hurry and get me out of here? If something happened to you I'm going to be a goner. Better to jump right to the life saving part instead of waiting for things to get worse! Heh heh."

"I suppose that is a valid request." Samira had no intentions on leaving the herbalist down there, even if it was her own fault for being down there in the first place. She had even implied that she would help just a moment ago, but it seemed as if Maisy had forgotten all about that in favor of whatever imaginings she had going on in that quirky head of hers. It was very doubtful that things would get much worse. There was nothing lurking around that would pose a threat at that moment, if ever. Not for her or anyone capable of fending off basic creatures anyway. Samira got on the ground and reached her arm down. "Grab on. I will pull you up."

"You?" Maisy asked with a blink of her eyes in disbelief. She adjusted her glasses as she peered up at the mage. As much as she was powerful in magic abilities, Samira didn't really look like the type to be able to pull anyone up out of a hole. Did she even have any kind of physical strength at all? Honestly Maisy was surprised enough that the Wizard Saint was even on the ground in the first place. By appearances alone she seemed more of the vain type that wouldn't be caught dead in the dirt. The most expensive highly rated mall was a more suitable place to find someone with those looks and cleanliness.

Samira raised her arm up and continued to stare down at the woman below, her eyes showing no emotion at all even if she thought the question was a bit strange. "Of course, me. You did ask for my help. Have you changed your mind and would rather stay down there?"

Maisy flailed her arms in panic."N-n-no! I just thought that you'd maybe summon one of those sparkly, glowy, magical spirits of yours to do it. They usually look strong enough to, you know, pull someone out of a deep hole in the ground without falling into it themselves. No offense!"

Samira paused and arched a curious brow. "I was not aware that I appeared so fragile. I assure you that I have done much more that has been taxing on my physical abilities than pulling a woman of average build and weight out of the ground. It is not as if you have the weight of a six hundred pound battle warrior of armor and muscle."

"Oh, okay. I guess we'll try it then. I'm sure you could get out even if you fell in anyway. I'm so silly to think we'd both be in for a long night if that happened." Maisy reached on up, expecting Samira to reach down again to connect with her hand and pull her up. Disappointment is all that came besides the feeling of clinging onto nothing but empty air.

"However, I suppose you are right." Maisy heard the summoner above say. Samira stood back up and stepped away from the hole. "I do not know what I was thinking with that method of aid. You were in the right to be concerned. If I fell in, I could be knocked out. If I fell on top of you, you might be seriously injured from the impact. Or perhaps even both of us. We would surely die out here. Slowly and silently. The hole might even be covered up in the years it would take for someone to find us way out here. Oh, dear. I really should have thought that through." The Goddess of Ishgar was being sarcastic, of course. However, each word was said with a tone that implied the opposite. The sarcasm was absent, as was the offense taken by Maisy's assumptions that she was physically weak. Was she some bulky warrior that could smash boulders with a single punch? Well, no. Not without magic anyway to amplify her abilities for that effect. But, she was anything but some weak fragile maiden that stood still while her magically created spirits did everything. Samira had been through way too many circumstances she would have rather avoided altogether and still to that very day plagued her mind, as well as forced training, to be categorized as something that was offensive by that point in her career as a mage.

"Wha?! Wait!" Maisy flailed her arms again. Samira had disappeared from her sight. Was she going to be left down there, after all? "I will get proper help for this," she heard Samira say, the voice of the teal-haired woman trailing off and seemingly getting further in distance. The thought of being left there alone grew more powerful, as did her panic and worries. She could be eaten before she got back! The herbalist's imagination ran wildly in those seconds that felt like years. "Don't leave me down here! I'm sorry if I said something I shouldn't have! HELP MEEEEEEE!" The shouting and pleading came to an abrupt end. Green vines appeared on the edge of the hole. They creeped and twisted as they descended further. Maisy's eyes widened in confused fear. What was that?! She screamed as they left the dirt wall around her and swirled around her feet like some weird kind of snake that was more vegetable than reptile. Maisy hopped from foot to foot in a panic and she backed away. Well, as much as she could before her back met the wall, which wasn't far. She ended up bouncing off rather quickly. The vines wrapped around her feet with more slithering upwards to wrap around her waist and arms. Maisy closed her eyes. She felt herself being pulled up. Then, all of a sudden, she felt her feet touching the ground and the vines unraveling off and away from her. For a while Maisy stood there, silently, her facial features quivering in anticipation for what came next. That was it. That was the end. Whatever plant beast had her in its sights was going to devour her now. There was no escape!

"We should be leaving now and get to the village. I have information that both you and Allen should see. You understand that it is more simple and less time consuming to give the details to both of you at the same time than individually, I hope."

"Huh?!" Maisy's eyes shot open. Samira's voice was not what she expected. Not in that tone either. There was a monster there! There should have been more screaming and magic flying around or something! What she saw told a different reality, however. There was no monster. Not technically anyway. Some might have considered it to be one in a way. Maisy knew better though. The vines were the magical summonings of a satyr. Or, really, that was the best description Maisy could call it. One thing for certain she knew was that it was one of Samira's many spirits. Strangely enough, she could sense that aspect. It was a glowy sparkly creature of magic. Not some natural man eating monster that had crossed the borders of the Monsterlands.

Samira didn't say or explain anything to Maisy. The powerful summoner just turned to instead face the satyr spirit. "Thank you, Cernunnos. You may go now if it suits you," she told him with a gentle and very appreciative smile.

Maisy watched as the grumpy looking spirit said nothing. He just nodded. The spirit didn't mind helping at that particular moment. Although, leaving just yet wasn't on his mind. His glowing green eyes looked to the forest and then to the nearest tree with a branch that hung low enough for him to touch its leaves with a clawed hand. He looked to Samira, still saying nothing. Yet the woman nodded her head. "Very well. I understand. If you find anything let me know. Otherwise you are free to return to the others whenever you are ready. I shall call if I have need of you again."

The satyr made a reply that was mostly growling. Maisy couldn't understand a thing. Was Samira fluent in stares and growling or something? Was that even a language to study? Was it required of all summoners to learn that skill? How has she herself not been able to understand the language of plants when she was a herbalist? Did that mean she was a failure at her job? Her very life?! So many questions ran through Maisy's mind and all she could do was stand there with gloomy eyes with her mouth open. "Uhhhhh..... erm..." The shadow of the tall satyr brought her out of that tangled mess of questions. She blinked and her eyes widened. Her lips formed an awkward smile. The spirit had moved to stand directly in front of her and was now staring down at her. She couldn't really tell if that glare was his everyday natural look or if he disapproved of having to help her. Maybe she was just in his way? "Ummm... hi... there?" Maisy said with a fearful voice and a timid wave of her hand. The satyr gruffed and said nothing more. Maisy cringed. Was that the wrong thing to do?! Did he disapprove of the word "hi"?! Maybe something more proper like "salutations" would have been better!

"He is waiting for you to say thank you." Samira added on as she watched the reaction of Maisy with a curious gaze. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she waited for the interaction to be over. "Cernunnos was the one to pull you out so he does deserve a little bit of gratitude for his efforts, however easy of a task it might have been."

Maisy felt dumb as she looked over towards the summoner of the satyr spirit. "Oh, uh, right! That makes sense! Gotcha!" With a wide cheerful smile she focused back to the spirit and put her hand above her forehead to make an overly dramatic salute. "Thank you, Cernunnos! If it had not been for you I would have surely died!" Maisy dropped the salute as Cernunnos rolled his eyes, not that Maisy could tell. "Can I give you a hug? I'm going to give you a hug. The hug of super gratitude for being my savior!"

Watching the quirky herbalist over exaggerate the situation and attempt to give the tall satyr an appreciative hug as his reward was amusing. A bit eye rolling that Samira felt the urge to do, but amusing. She stifled a giggle and kept to herself without saying anything or trying to put a stop to it. Maisy lunged forward dramatically with her arms spread wide, a flood of tears sprouting from her eyes and rushing to the ground like a water fountain. Cernunnos stared questioningly. As he realized what this woman was doing he moved his hooves to step backwards and to the side. Maisy's embrace caught nothing but herself and a whole lot of air. Until she fell down, face forward. She really was putting a lot of effort behind that reward.

"He is not one for hugs. Not many of my spirits are, I am afraid," Samira mentioned, still trying to hold in her laughter out of respect.

"I.... noticed..." Maisy wheezed out a reply and continued to lie there, looking like a pathetic mess on the ground. The aches. The pains. The humiliation! The rejection! Then, the herbalist felt herself being picked up. Cernunnos had grabbed onto her like a doll and pulled her back up. He positioned her so that she was standing straight once more. Satisfied with the correction, he nodded and then patted her head gently with a clawed hand. She tried. He could appreciate that as well as her... over excessive gratitude. At the very least he could take solace in the fact she just wanted to give a hug instead of following him around to repay the life saving debt she now owed. With another grunt, Cernunnos turned away from the two women and began to head deeper into the forest. Soon he was gone, his appearance and presence covered by the trees, bushes, and other plant life that became denser the further he went in.

Maisy watched, stupefied by what had just transpired. She looked at the leaving satyr, looked at Samira, back at Cernunnos, pointed at him, and then looked back over at Samira, who had already turned to leave and make her way towards the village. "Where's he going?"

Samira continued to walk slowly, waiting for Maisy to catch up out of politeness and so she could hear the answer to her question. "He wants to venture into the forest. He is at peace in such scenery, and it is rare that he gets to visit the ones within the mortal realm. Although he would prefer those located within the country of Seven, if I am to be honest. His real interest is making sure the forest is corruption free. His kind have an affinity for that sort of thing. If there is even a spec of it that has plagued this place he would be able to sense it easily even as it tries to worm its way through the land unexpectedly and unseen. It is more thorough and safer than having you dig your way to your doom again. He will bring you samples if he finds anything noteworthy for your research."

"Oh, really? Well that will help and all, but I still have to go out there and do my own thing too. I'd get bored, and I need to be in the field to understand things better. What he might not find interesting I just might."

"Perhaps. Tomorrow you can go back if you have the time to do so. Today he is doing the work for you while we discuss other details with Allen."

"I guess you found something out while you were away, huh? Did your friends get that book translated like you were counting on?"

"Yes. They agreed to help translate as payment for helping them in another matter. As I said before though, we should really wait until we have met up with Allen and are at a location that has fewer opportunities for eavesdroppers to listen."

"Makes sense. We found out something too while you were gone. About that cultist guy you ran into inside the forest near Beanstalk Village. It should be a good lead to follow up on next."

"Is that so? You two really were busy while I was gone then if you actually found information that I did not think was possible to obtain here."

"Well we did get a little lucky with timing and all. I'll explain once we're back at the village!"

"Lets pick up the pace then. I am interested in what you two found out."

And so the silly herbalist and the mostly serious summoner continued on down the path. They chatted about other things along the way that were unrelated to the more significant matter. Partly to pass the time without being awkwardly silent, if Maisy was capable of it. Another part to look as if they were a normal pair of women traveling to the local village and not a pair that were involved in cracking the case of an unknown plague and the cult behind it.

Once the two had made it to the village, they began to look for Allen, the scientist friend of Maisy that had been with them on the case for most of it. As they wandered through the village streets, the villagers said their hellos and gave their words of gratitude. Many of them were refugees from Beanstalk Village. They were unable to return to their own home village just yet due to the plague that had cursed their lands and started to spread to their very homes. Even with the hardship of losing their beloved ancestral home and having to move elsewhere they were still grateful for what they had. They were alive and well, thanks to the trio of summoner, herbalist, and scientist, and the neighboring village had welcomed them in with open arms. As they worked to do their part in earning their keep they all wore cheerful expressions, sung songs in the background, enjoyed and shared in laughter and pleasant chatter amongst each other. If Samira hadn't known any better she would have assumed there was nothing wrong. That there was no conflict in their lives, worries of what would happen tomorrow, or questions of when they could go back home. They really were a hardy people that kept going no matter what was thrown at them. Samira could understand that. She knew well enough some of the things they had gone through besides the newest curse that plagued their homes. A flickering thought crossed her mind. If there were ever a day she felt like retiring from her mage way of life, or just needed some peace in a simpler life, then being among those villagers would be quite pleasant. Maybe with a mage of her status around they would be left alone for decades to come. Ah, but that was for a time too far away for her to fully imagine. There was much left to do before she could truly join their simple and quiet life.

The two ended up finding the scientist in the village square. He was busy helping some of the villagers load some supplies from one wagon to another. The original looked broken, which would explain the strange activity that would have been redundant otherwise. It was odd seeing him doing that. The last few times Samira had seen him the man was busy in his work to the very point that taking the time to bathe was not an option. He still needed a bath from the obvious sweat and dirt that was building up from his heavy lifting work and other chores, but it was amazingly not as bad as those previous times. Progress.

Maisy rushed on over towards him and got his attention. He seemed surprised at first. Not just to see her but to also hear of Samira being back in town. He looked towards her and waved, smiling cheerfully with a large grin on his face. A grin that disappeared quickly when one of the villagers playfully shoved a heavy box into his abdomen and told him to get back to work. The man sighed and shook his head while saying something to Maisy that Samira couldn't make out from that distance. It didn't matter. She waited patiently, watching further as Maisy shrugged her shoulders and said something more. Their conversation ended pretty quickly after that and the herbalist skipped her way back over. "Allen will meet us back at my place. He's just gotta finish loading up that wagon and getting the old one to someone that can fix it up. It shouldn't take too long with that crew over there helping too. In the meantime I'll fix us up some dinner! We really should eat something before we get into all of this serious business again. No doubt you'll end up taking off soon after I tell you what we found out anyway. So! I'm saving that until after dinner! Maybe even after dessert. I got some pie that needs to be eaten before it goes bad, but I just haven't gotten to it yet." Maisy clapped her hands together and then spread them out once more, each one taking a place on one of Samira's shoulders. She spun the summoner around and began to push her in a different direction, leading her away from the village square, Allen, and the crew around the broken wagon. "My house is thhhiiiisss way! I'm hungry so let's get a move on!"

Samira was slightly dumbfounded that the herbalist kept pushing her along. It wasn't even a nudge in a direction for a few feet and then letting her go as a playful way to keep her moving. Maisy kept pushing her all the way through the village roads, around the other villagers, around corners, past some houses. Effortlessly. Samira began to wonder if the woman had that much strength to be pushing her around with zero effort why couldn't she pull herself out of that hole in the ground earlier. "You could have just led the way normally... I do take some form of pride in knowing how to walk and follow accurately at the very least." Samira allowed Maisy to keep pushing her around the village by force. As... unnecessary as it was, it was effective... she supposed. If she tried moving then it was likely at least one of them would end up on the ground from loss of balance alone. Most likely Maisy, honestly. Add to the fact that the herbalist seemed downright jolly to be driving a summoner through the village. Samira didn't want to disappoint her for such a small reason. She could live with a rather harmless act. Just that one time.

"Nonsense! This is faster! You won't get lost in the crowd!" Maisy replied with a chuckle.

Samira's eyes dulled into blankness. Getting lost in the crowd? She wasn't so helpless for that to happen in a place where it was physically impossible to get lost in a crowd. They weren't exactly in the large capital city! It was a small village! The two kept going through the village until they reached Maisy's house. It was a nice looking cottage, almost similar to the one she had in Beanstalk village, which happened to be the only normal looking house in a village of tipis. At least in the current village it blended in more. It was... nice. Although she shouldn't have been too surprised. Maisy was a herbalist so it should have been expected that she knew how to garden and take care of flowers. Planted fruit and flower trees outlined the house, and the front had a nice little flower garden that had all sorts of various flowers and colors. There was probably more in the back, if Samira had to guess right then and there.

"Here we are!" Maisy shouted enthusiastically. She let the summoner go and rushed towards the white gate in front of the cottage. Reaching into the pockets of her now dirt covered white research jacket, Maisy dug and pulled out a set of keys.

"I am surprised you keep it locked," Samira observed as she took a stand beside Maisy and watched. Maisy seemed like the trusting type. As did everyone else in the village. The house she had in Beanstalk she didn't recall being locked, or even Allen's for that matter.

"Normally I wouldn't. I don't really think anyone around here would be a problem. I would rather they come in at any time and help themselves to anything they need! But, well, you know. With that whole cult thing going on I couldn't risk someone aligned with them coming in and messing up my research or getting their hands on information Allen and I now know." Maisy paused and tapped her chin. "Truthfully, it was Allen's idea. I gotta give him credit there! My door would probably still be unlocked if he hadn't mentioned it! Haha!" With that said, Maisy opened the gate and stepped towards the front wooden door. There she used the keys to unlock it and stepped inside. "Come on in!" Maisy said, turning around and waving her over before disappearing further into the house. Samira did as instructed.

Once inside, Samira took note of the cozy lodging. It was small, but practical, and had nice touches that gave the home a welcoming warmth. There were other rooms further in the back of the house, but the doors were shut. Although curious to look inside them, Samira held herself back and instead opted to follow Maisy into the kitchen. "You have a nice home."

"Aha! Thanks! Like I said, people like to come and go all the time. I like to make it look nice. Nicer than the one I had at Beanstalk Village anyway. It's actually more clean and organized! My experiments and research are in the other rooms so the main areas can be used for guests and such. I have Abigail to thank for that. She's one of the local girls around here. She likes flowers and such like me, and she already has a lot of interest and knowledge when it comes to alchemy and potion making. She helps tidy the place up when she's here. We've become good friends really. I also suspect Allen has a little crush on her. It's cute. You should see how he acts when she's around! Who knows? Maybe she'll stop by today!"

"Maybe." Samira didn't mean to sound so disinterested in the topic. Any other time she would have found it amusing and become quite curious about it. However, it was not the time to have people uninvolved with the plague incident appear for some company and friendly chatter. Silently, Samira hoped that the girl called Abigail would not unexpectedly show up for a visit. It would only delay the discussion further. Already they were having to wait for Allen to finish up his own business. Oh well. Samira could be patient some more. It was in her nature. At least reasonably. For now she could enjoy the fact that she was getting a free meal out of the wait. "Can I help you with something?" Samira asked as the sound of clashing pots and pans echoed throughout the entire room, possibly house, and probably all the way to next door.

Maisy had by then disappeared into a walk in pantry. Her arm became visible upon Samira's question and it waved to shoo away such nonsense. "Nope! You just sit right there and I'll have us something to eat in a jiffy!" After rummaging around for spices and bags of vegetables and other ingredients, Maisy walked out of the pantry with it all. It was a little much, honestly. Something simple would have sufficed. The thing that caught Samira's eye the most though was the apron and chef hat. Even a normal plain white apron and hat would have made the summoner blink once or twice, but the ones Maisy wore sparkled of gold glitter. Samira looked away so she could better compose and prepare herself for long term viewing of that over the top chef fashion. Else, she would probably make a face that told Maisy how ridiculous she thought it was, or laugh.

"If you insist," Samira replied in a neutral tone that was forced. The laughter was a bit hard to contain, but she managed. For now. Maybe the costume would grow on her and become less silly to look at the longer she stared. As for the refusal of aid in the kitchen, Samira was satisfied with that. It was for the better in actuality. Samira knew well enough that her cooking skills were abysmal. It would be a miracle if she could even help the herbalist make anything edible. Assuming, of course, that Maisy wasn't just as bad. Cooking wasn't exactly a topic they had talked about before, and Samira had never once tried anything she had made. But, Maisy was alive and looked healthy. So with that as evidence she must have been eating well. Unless someone else was feeding her, she supposed. Samira would give her the benefit of the doubt, though. Anyone's cooking was probably better than her own. Even Leona's cooking was, and the last time Samira saw that in action the cooked creation had turned into a monster fusion of sandwich and kitchen appliance. Yes, even that result was better than her own culinary creations.

Samira took a seat at a small round dining table as she waited. She was able to observe Maisy's cooking as well as talk with her. They chatted about the ongoings of the village, Beanstalk Village's status, the refugees, other things that had happened while Samira was off helping the hunter order and getting the cultist book translated, and some other things. Maisy didn't seem distracted by the conversations at all. Multi-tasking between talking and cooking she apparently practiced quite a bit on. Even cutting the multiple of vegetables and focusing on talking didn't cause any accidents. Samira worried at first. Maisy had even looked away during the rapid cutting to look at her instead of making sure she didn't cut off any of her fingers during the process! The summoner anticipated having to go into healer mode to correct the error, but was amazed that nothing happened. The vegetables were sliced, diced, and pushed into the cook ware simmering on the stove with professional chef expertise. Samira was stunned. Still, she advised Maisy to be careful nonetheless, even with her skill. Accidents could happen.

The house began to be filled with the aromas of something edible and delicious, based on scent alone anyway. There was still the taste test to go through, but it was still more than Samira would have expected if Maisy had just left the fact that she could cook alone without evidence. Maybe Maisy could teach her a thing or two at a later date. There was hope yet for Samira and her cooking level. "Oh, I know a herb that would make this pop with wow! Be right back!" Maisy stopped stirring the dish, put the stove on low heat, and put the utensil she was using to the side. The apron she wore she untied and at the back and lifted the rest over her head, sitting it on the empty counter behind her afterwards. The hat? Well, she would give to the woman that was promoted to sous chef! Maisy walked up to Samira and placed the golden glittery hat on top of the teal hair on her head. "Keep stirring until I get back! I shouldn't be long!"

"Erm..." Before Samira could reply, Maisy dashed through the kitchen and out the backdoor. The open door allowed for Samira to see that it led to the back garden that was filled with vegetables and cooking herbs. Oh well. It was just stirring. That much she could handle. Now with a new significant task on her agenda, Samira set off to make sure it got done to satisfactory levels. With determination to succeed on her face, and a glittery hat that sparkled golden dust everywhere, Samira pushed herself out of the chair and walked to the stove with confidence. She grasped the cooking weapon that had been left for her and with it she would defeat the simmering food boss! It wasn't until she was a minute into stirring that she broke her concentration and heard epic battle music playing in her head. Samira sighed. "Do not over exaggerate this task." She didn't need to wonder how music was playing in her head. She wasn't crazy or imagining things. It was coming from her spirits, mocking her for the event. Apollo most likely since he was the one that generally brought the music. The music stopped, followed by an echoing chuckle in her head. 'Hey now, girlie. I just thought it'd help set up the mood for this epic tale. The cooking boss is your biggest rival and all.'

"Yes, yes, I am a failure at making trivial dishes. I can handle stirring, though. I am not going to randomly add ingredients to this."

'She does have a medal for world's greatest potato peeler. That's all she was pretty much allowed to do when ninja girl was still around. Samira has now graduated to stirring. She can now be around the food that's being cooked! I'm so proud.'

'Oh, hush. All of you. Get outside my head and go do something else to entertain yourselves. I am hoping Maisy and Allen's information really does give me a lead and an idea for the next step in this whole cultist business. You may not be able to do as you like then.' Her head became clear again as they all quieted themselves down and tuned into something else for their entertainment.

It wasn't long after that, that Maisy came back in with a basket of herbs in her hand. Thankfully, she wasn't gone long enough for Samira to mess anything up. Another minute longer though and the wizard saint might have given in to her experimental curiosity. It was so very tempting and the struggle was real. "Oh, good! It looks even better than it did before I left. Must be a Wizard's touch, huh? Heh heh." The basket was set on the counter by the stove and the true chef put on her apron once more. "All right, scoot on over. I am going to apply these herbs and soon we'll get to eat. Allen should be here soon too. I think. He's been gone longer than I thought he would be, but meh. Maybe he ran into Abigail or something. If the food is gone before he gets here then oh well for him. More for us!" Maisy went on and on with her talking and Samira even found herself pushed away from the stove so the real chef could take over. Strangely, Maisy had forgotten to take her hat back. Samira opted to take it off of her own head and set it on a free space on the counter. "Maybe I can help set the table? Doing nothing to help seems strange."

"Nonsense! But if it really bothers you, sure. The plates and stuff are over there in that cabinet. Get some glasses and a pitcher too. I'm going to make some freshly squeezed Lemonade!" Maisy happily went back to work, doing exactly as she said she would. After finishing up the meal preparations she switched to making the lemonade. Samira grabbed some of the plates and eating utensils, enough for three people since Allen was still supposed to be there, and to the table she went to set it all up. When she was done with that, she helped Maisy with the lemonade. Nothing fancy, of course. It was just that the beverage needed to be nice and chilled. There was the option of ice, of course, but there was no need to do that when she could just do it herself much more quickly. The power of the spirit of Skadi was called. Not the spirit herself, of course. That would have been a serious error. Samira just took the weaker non-combat abilities for herself temporarily. There was a chill in the air as the aura of winter filled the room, the summoner being the source. She touched the pitcher of lemonade gently. With that single poke of her finger the glass pitcher fogged up at the spot, and the cold misty fog spread all over the pitcher, covering it completely. Light and cold mist swirled above the liquid as a further indication of its decreased temperature. The winter's chill left the room seconds later, the power being dismissed since it had already served its purpose. Maisy was mesmerized that she now knew a living refrigerator that worked faster! Unfortunately Samira had to decline the full time job of taking the place of a kitchen appliance.

(Word Count: 9448
Total So Far: 11,231)

11,000 used for 100Y Freeform
231 left for next 100Y

Not too long after the completion of the lemonade the front door of Maisy’s house opened. Allen entered, finally making an appearance. Unlike earlier, he was clean and presentable. He even now wore a lab coat to complete his typical scientist look. No wonder he had taken ages to get there. He had taken the time to wash away the dirt and sweat from the day’s labor of helping around the village. Maisy forgave him for the tardiness after poking fun at him for it. Samira was grateful that he cared enough to bother. She said nothing about it and left him alone. The late arrival was worth it in the end.

The trio sat down at the table and ate the food that Maisy had so expertly prepared, as well as drank all of the lemonade that had been freshly made. They took time catching up, Allen giving his own perspective on things now that he was there and Maisy not taking complete control of the round of gossip and intel. That would come to an end though. The meal had been consumed. Drinks had been drunk. Dirty dishes were cleaned and put away. The table had been wiped clean. Fresh hot tea had been made. It was time to get to the real business. The dark and gloomy talk they had avoided until then. The trio gathered around the table again and started to discuss it all.

"I told Maisy earlier, but I wanted you to be here as well," Samira told Allen, who had missed the earlier talk of her time away and her success of the translation of the book.

"Thanks, I'm glad I was taken into consideration!" Allen grinned happily. Honestly he had thought that he would be the last to know anything. That Samira would have come and gone away before he got the details. He pushed his glasses backwards on his nose, straightening them. "Was it a success? Did this uh... Order of the Ebon Cross help?"

Samira nodded. "They did. One moment." Her gaze looked down at the empty table space in front of her. Her hands were placed upon its smooth wooden surface, but the table being the only thing underneath them would not be true for long. White and pale blue celestial particles swirled around each hand, and a powerful glow appeared below them. The light and particles formed into the shape of a book, one underneath each of her open palms. The magic and lights then faded. Samira lifted her hands. "This is the original text that was left by the cultists." She stated while pushing it over towards Allen. "And this is the translated copy." That book too was pushed over.

The scientist was all too eager to take the book, spinning it around to face him correctly and flipping the cover to see the first page. He flipped through a few more. Then several more after that. He wasn't even reading at that point just yet. His focus was looking at the written words at a mere glance and making himself more and more impressed with it. His eyes widened more with each flipped page his gaze took in. He took a deep breath, having forgotten to breathe in favor of entertaining his ability to become overly fascinated. "This work is exquisite! It appears to have been translated in full! I had to see to believe that it was even possible to do that so quickly."

"Oh! Let me see!" Maisy scooted her chair closer to Allen and leaned sideways a bit so she could take a peek at the current pages. "Huh, that IS a lot of writing to read through.”

“Well it is a normal sized text. Not a picture book for children.” Allen remarked, shaking his head at Maisy. The woman was hopeless at times. A great and knowledgeable herbalist to be sure, but she still lacked certain intellect elsewhere. It was amazing that she somehow gained her knowledge without using large and detailed books as resources if that was her reaction to the cult version. Maisy scowled and shoved the man playfully. “I only meant that we would have to take time going through all of this! That takes a long time!”

“We can probably find a pair of those magic reading glasses at the market, or in a nearby town, to speed up the process. Mine are still in Beanstalk Village so they’re of no help to us.” Allen sighed, as if losing those glasses was like missing his long lost best friend. Then he snapped himself out of it and perked back up. “Tell me, Samira, have you read any of this yet?”

“Only what I had time for on the way here. From what I could gather from the text it is a history book. Informative, but does not contain what we need to get rid of the curse.”

"A history book? Fascinating. I guess we can at least learn who and what we are dealing with. Who knows? Maybe there is some reference to the cursed plague somewhere. If not in obvious form then in some clue or subtext. You did say that you only read a part of it so more study is required."

"Agreed. I intend to leave both the original and translated copy with you for that purpose." It wasn't that Samira really wanted to do that. In actuality she wanted to study it further herself. However, she lacked the time due to her other responsibilities, and Allen would put his entire focus onto the task. He would make it his full time job for weeks or more. The scientist was the more sensible choice to keep the books regardless of her curiosity. Besides, there may be more on the field work required of her for that case. It all depended on what they found out. As much as she wanted to get on to that part of the discussion, she remained patient and waited for the two of them to bring it up themselves. They had all night to get there if need be.

"Then I'll have to get started as soon as possible!" Allen closed the book copy and then used both arms to pull both books into his chest, locking the vessels of words and knowledge into a hug hold. "I'll be in the other room!" He stood up, kicked his chair out of the way, and began to pass by Maisy with the intent to disappear into one of the back rooms for days. "Goodbye, Samira! I'll call if I find something important!"

"Wha- Hey!" Maisy shouted after him, surprise and wtfuckery written on her face. "You have your own house you can hide away in!"

Allen paused. For a moment it seemed as if he was going to take her words seriously and maybe skidaddle on out of the house and go to his own dwelling within the village. But, that was all imaginative thoughts that let the true reality reward with disappointment. The man spun around and sent a large smile Maisy's way. "I'll have bacon and eggs in the morning!" He spun back around and took off down the hall. "Don't forget the buttered toast and coffee! Thank yooouuu!" What came next was the sound of a slamming door and the skidding of a chair across the other side of the walls.

"Argh!" Maisy glared at the door and slammed her palms on the table. She used her hands to push herself up and then with a stomp in her steps she went towards the room. "The clown forgot that about the rest of the conversation we were supposed to talk about!" As she reached the door, the herbalist put on an innocent smile while turning towards Samira, who remained at the table. "Give me a sec. He'll be right on out and we can get back to talking about stuff." Maisy faced the door once more, her glare and demonic scowl returning. She turned the knob to unlock the door from the wall, pushed it open, and twirled inside while shutting the door behind her.

From where she sat, Samira could hear through the thin walls easily. There was some talking, some whining, sounds of a scuffle, Allen yelping in pain. Samira remained in her seat, calm and patient as she usually was. She poured herself some tea as the ruckus in the other room went on. Allen asked if Maisy was mad that he had ordered breakfast. Was she out of eggs? Bacon? Gods no, not the bacon! Listening in brought some entertainment to the woman even if she pretended not to be concerned by it and minded her own business. A thought hit her then. Should she have two cubes of sugar? Or three? Definitely three. She helped herself to them, dropping them into her cup of tea and then stirring it with a spoon, mixing it all together.

The door opened back up as Samira completed her task and took a sip from the cup. Maisy came out first, then Allen, who was being dragged by the ear by the herbalist. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Maisy did not let go until they were back at the table and Allen back in his seat. "There!" Maisy rubbed her hands together as if dusting them off after a tough job. "Problem solved!" She took her own seat and got comfortable. "Can you now tell Samira about what we found out? You know most of the details she needs."

"Oh. Right." Allen sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "I guess I should have written it all down in a note so I wouldn't have to. I forgot." Then he muttered lowly, “if I had known I’d get beaten for it I would have really made sure to write it down.”

"More like you got yourself distracted again," Maisy teased with a giggle. She hadn’t heard what he said. "Okay!” The hands of Maisy raised and came together in a clap. “Moving on! We weren't sitting around waiting for you to come back, Samira. We did some asking around and digging, and we did find out something in all of this mystery."

Samira sipped from the cup of tea again. It wasn’t her favorite choice in drink, or even tea for that matter, but she supposed it was satisfying nonetheless. The cup was slowly set on the table before she took the time to reply. "Yes. You mentioned that before." Several times. One minute ago being an example. "What did you find out?”

Allen put his arms vertically on the table and connected his hands, resting his chin upon the bridge of intertwined fingers..”The identity of the cultist you encountered.”

Samira blinked her eyes, surprised to hear that, that of all things was what the information they had was. It wasn’t bad intel. It was certainly helpful.  It wasn’t what she was expecting though. She assumed something like that would have been ridiculously hard to find out, especially when not even leaving the village. “Did you? How did you ever find that out? There was not even a body left behind to identify him by.”

Allen sighed. “Well I say we found out his identity, but really it’s more of an estimated guess. A good one. But not confirmed yet.”

“I do not understand. You are guessing his identity? How so?”

“Some luck, good timing, and a tourist that heard about what happened in Beanstalk Village. Rumors around here spread like a conflagration. Everyone knows about the cultist that mysteriously disappeared in the forest. All she had to do was ask around about those rumors. By the time we got to asking around if anyone knew anything all they had to do was mention the other girl asking questions. We had made our way to the inn where she had been staying, but she was gone. It wasn’t until we returned to Maisy’s house that we found her. She had been waiting there at the doorstep mourning a flower pot she had broken while trying to look through the window when no one came to the door! Can you believe that?” Allen chuckled as the memory played in his head. He quickly re-composed himself and sat back in his chair. “Ahhh, yes, well, back to what I was saying. Her name is Lara Hughes, and she is traveling the country for a vacation or something. This village was a stop for her, and good thing she did. Could you imagine her going to visit Beanstalk Village with the way it is now? Stopping here first allowed everyone to warn her. But, that is all details we don’t really care much about. What is important is that the rumors caught her attention because the whole cultist thing made her think it was a friend of hers that disappeared after he fell into a shady crowd. There was some nasty business before then that kept them from speaking to each other so she didn’t ask anything about it and kept her distance.”

Samira wasn’t very impressed with the story but attempted to phrase her thoughts in a way that wasn’t completely dismissive of it or rude. “I can see that she may assume it to be her friend, but really that could be any cultist. There is no way to connect her friend with the man in the forest.”

Allen winked and raised his finger. “Ah, that’s what I thought too. It’s just a story with absolutely no connection. It was just some random lady’s wishful thinking. Then she told me his name.”

“Which was?”

The friend’s name was Riley Sutton.”

Everyone went silent for a few moments. Samira finally broke it after some thought. “The name does not come to mind. Am I forgetting something significant about it?”

“Alone? Nope! There’s absolutely nothing to tell us it goes with the cultist. BUT!” Allen stood up from his seat and rushed back to the room where he had left the books. He came back out, book open, and slammed the text onto the table in front of Samira. “See that?” He pointed to the corner of the inside front cover. “R.S. That’s got to be his initials! Riley Sutton. R. S.” He clapped his hands together and put on his ‘omg wow’ face. “It fits!”

“That is… a lead… I suppose.” A very weak one, but it was a lead? “I do not know what I am supposed to do with it though. He did not seem to be of high ranking within the cult so there probably is no way to gain information just by knowing his identity. Maybe I can check where he used to live. You did say Lara Hughes suspected Riley was getting mixed up with a shady crowd, possibly our cultist group, and that this started to happen where they both originally lived for some time. Where was that?”

“Well Lara is from Talonia. Riley used to be too, but supposedly after some drama happened he took off into the East Forest and became a hermit. She was probably the only one to even notice or see him after that.”

Samira bit her lip. That was a minor problem. “East Forest? That is all the way on the other side of Fiore…”

“Yeah, well, you got instant travel, don’t you? That portal magic? Just about every mage has some way to get across the continent and back in the same hour.”

Samira shook her head slowly, disappointed in herself at having to admit the answer was no. “Janus is gone for a few days. I do not have access to his power either.” She sighed. “I will have to take the long way by train again. Both Anhur and Kukulkan would not want me to use them as flying vessels either.” The Wizard Saint stood from her seat and pushed it forward so it was neatly under the table. “I should get going and check this lead out. I do not expect much to come from it, but there may be something. I have been proven wrong a number of times in the past.”

“You’re going now? But you just got here. It’s getting late too!” Maisy sounded concerned, not just because of the time of day really, but also because Samira had already told her of the stuff she did for the Order of the Ebon Cross. All of that traveling and mage stuff had to be taxing on anyone if they did it endlessly.

“Yes, that is true. Do not worry though. It is just the East Forest. It is right by Magnolia. I do not expect the same sorts of troubles as I would if I were going into the Spooky Forest or Monsterlands.” Samira avoided commenting about the part Maisy was really referring to; that she should rest and wait until the next day to leave. “Thank you for the meal, and for the tea. I will let you know if anything turns up.” And with that, Samira made her exit from Maisy’s house and headed towards the train station she had left some hours ago.

Some time later, Samira had made it back to the station and had purchased her ticket to Magnolia. From there she had planned to head straight for East Forest and… actually she wasn’t even sure WHERE in East Forest she was supposed to go. Allen did not give her that detail. Sure she could look through the whole thing until she found some kind of dwelling Riley the hermit might have lived in. Sending her spirits to cover more ground in the search was also a bonus. Yet, having an actual set of coordinates, landmark to guide her way, or some instructions would have been preferred. “I could go back and ask…” Her emerald gaze looked at the ticket to check the details. The train number, destination… ah there it was. The time of departure. She’d have to be quick, but she was certain she could make it.

“Saaaammmiiirrraaaa!”

The woman of said name blinked, and her eyes widened slightly. “Is that?” She looked up to confirm it… although she almost wished she hadn’t. Running towards her with flailing arms and a suitcase rolling behind her seemingly on its own was Maisy the herbalist. Was the suitcase actually rolling on its own? No. The truth was more ridiculous than the common magic suitcase products. The traveling bag was leashed, with said cord wrapped around Maisy’s waist. Her movement caused the result of her pulling the suitcase along, rolling swiftly across the pavement in its desperate attempt to keep pace with the sprinting herbalist. Unfortunately Samira had seen this before. The alarms to get out of the way went off, but all she could do was stare ahead like a deer staring at the bright headlights of a car about to run them over. Just like before when the whole plague thing started with a few simple missions the run in was repeated. Maisy couldn’t stop her run in time and so her body smacked into Samira’s, causing both of them to fall onto the ground. The rolling suitcase also followed and joined the pile on the floor. “Maisy! Honestly!”

The two took a moment to get back up. Samira scolded Maisy for causing yet another accident that had them both on the ground with the extra bonus of pain. And, of course, Maisy was quick to apologize after the fact. There would probably be another Maisy stampede at some point in the future. Samira could practically foresee it without even trying to pretend she had the powers of foresight! “What are you even doing here?”

“I was worried. So I decided to come help! You even said that you don’t expect any trouble so it should be a no brainer mission. Nothing dangerous. Nothing scary. Just some investigative work and possibly trespassing. Sounded like a good opportunity to get out of the garden.” Maisy smiled proudly. “I can’t wait! Allen is coming too. He went to go buy our tickets. Oh! This is so exciting!” The herbalist was practically jumping for joy. It was kind of hard to believe someone was that excited for a job that was on the more boring side of things. Most preferred the action.

Samira would have declined the help and tried to persuade her from tagging along, but she was right. There were no expectations of danger. The defenseless duo of scientist and herbalist would survive to the end if all went according to plan. Plus, it would help solve her problem of not even knowing where in East Forest to look. The Wizard Saint put a hand to her forehead. “You are right. You may come. I am sure the both of you will prove to be helpful in your own ways.”

“Hey, that’s exactly what I told Allen when I brought up this whole idea to him. We think so much alike.”

“Indeed.” Samira said no more about that. It was just best to leave the herbalist in her happy state of mind. She didn’t really see the harm in allowing it without her bursting that bubble so rudely. The two women sat on a bench and waited for Allen to get back with the tickets for Maisy and himself. He eventually came on by, rolling along his own suitcase. She had a mind to ask why they felt it necessary to bring suitcases to begin with but she let the thought go. Maybe they intended to stay in Magnolia for more than a day. Their train soon arrived to allow them to board it. So they did. Soon after, the train’s whistle sounded loudly in the fairly empty station, and the wheels creaked as they began rolling along the tracks. It began to take them to the city of Magnolia on the other side of Fiore.

Once the trio had arrived in Magnolia some time later, they first stopped at one of the local inns. Both Allen and Maisy wanted to get a room and leave their stuff in there. So they did. Separate rooms, of course. Although honestly Samira did wonder why they just didn’t share one. The two seemed to like each other well enough that they could get together. Not that she would dare attempt to bring that up though. Not then. Not exactly ever. She waited outside the inn for them. First was Maisy that came out. Then Allen a second after. Both wearing stereotypical detective costumes. “I dare not ask.”

“I admit. We stopped at a costume shop back at the village before coming to meet you at the station. I would have gotten you one, but I didn’t know your size.”

“Thank you for thinking of me, but I am quite content in my normal clothes today.” Samira didn’t exactly frown at costumes. She wore some at some points during other jobs. It was fun. But… that was not exactly the time to be having fun. They were trying to solve a case that involved a plague, curse, and cultists. It was wrong to make light jokes of it in such a way, but her thoughts were kept to herself. “We should make our way to the forest. Do we know where to go once we are there?”

“I do have an idea,” Allen began to say as he stepped forward and straightened his hat. “The route Lara Hughes used to get there was starting from Talonia, but she did tell me about some landmarks. I compared those with a map of the East Forest and came to an estimated guess on where our mysterious hermit cultist used to live before deciding to decorate the forest near Beanstalk Village with his new furnishings for his future home.”

“Great. Good work. Let us get going.”

“Wait. We’re walking all the way there?”

Samira knew where that was going as soon as she heard the question being asked with a hint of whine in each syllable. Allen didn’t like the idea of walking all the way to the forest, and then taking the time to walk some more all the way through it. It was such a waste of time, and he complained that it would hurt his legs to walk for so long. A funny and interesting complaint considering he was not the one wearing heels on his boots. But, Samira supposed she could understand someone more… was fragile even the proper term to distinguish between him and herself? Should a man rightfully be more fragile than her and be proud to admit it? What an utterly confusing thought that had not crossed her mind until right then at that moment. She gave in to his complaints. He had suggested renting a vehicle and using that to get to the forest. That was fine. They all had the proper licenses for it. Allen volunteered himself as the driver.

The world had already been dark by the time they arrived in Magnolia. It became even darker as they pulled up to the trees that served as the boundary leading into the East Forest. A path cut through the border for those that liked to walk through the forest safely and not lose their way. It was not big enough for the rented car, but then, they did not intend on following the path. Where they were going was far from any point of interest the locals knew or cared about. Deep into the forest was their destination. Just before they reached the river that split the forest in half as it flowed from Clover Town and towards the Calm Sea. The trio left the car there, locking it to prevent it from getting stolen in the night. Then, together, they went down the path to disappear into what was beyond the border of trees. And then they strayed from the path.

The night grew later. The night grew darker. The silent forest became more eerie even though no true danger existed. The imaginations of the herbalist and scientist ran wild. They would hear a sound, see something that wasn’t really there, or swear they felt something touch them even though nothing but air was there. Samira consistently reassured them that everything was fine. It was all in their minds. It was true and no lie. She made sure to keep aware of anything that might lash out in the night as a precaution. And so she was right again when nothing out of the ordinary transpired. Besides Allen tripping over a fallen branch of a tree and Maisy somehow finding a hole that she had not made herself to fall in. It was a very uneventfully safe walk. Samira was grateful that it did not lead to anything more. More relief was her reward when they came across a hut in the middle of the forest. It had been the only one they had come across. It had to be the right one. The landmarks had been followed, and even Allen was sure of it. Not that, that was saying much honestly, but Samira would take a blessing whenever it appeared.

“That actually looks worse than I thought it would,” Allen commented. He gave a look around the surroundings and then added, “And it’s so dark. I can’t imagine what this looks like in the daylight!” There was truth to that. Not much detail could be seen in the amount of light they had for them. Allen and Maisy had some flashlights in their hands. Samira used the light of Amaterasu to make herself glow. For extra light, Nox had also been summoned, the spirit taking a candle form that floated around ahead of the trio to light their way. In that instance, the candle was swaying in front of the hut so that they could see the small dwelling before walking closer towards it.

The hut looked very old. Its wood was worn and decayed. Cracks and holes were all over it. The foundation was uneven and caused it to slump sideways. Not that anyone would have expected much from a hut, but it was hardly believable that anyone was able to live in it as a full time home at one point. It clearly had not been taken care of even before it was abandoned and condemned.

“It’s got flowers… sort of.” Maisy pointed out, finding some positive thing to say about it. Only a herbalist would have been able to make a cracked and overgrown flower bed of weeds a positive attribute.

“The well appears to be functional.” Allen stated, having walked over to the obvious structure in front of the hut and toying with it a bit. It creaked loudly, but did indeed work. Maisy scrunched up her face with disgust written all over it. “I wouldn’t want to try taking a drink from it.”

“Neither would I,” Allen rubbed his hands on the detective suit. The moss on the well had gotten all over them even though he was careful not to touch the stuff while testing the well out. “This much moss might be a bit too toxic for my liking if it goes all the way down. There’s probably a lot of algae in there too. I think I prefer my filtered water. I will stick with that, thank you very much.”

“A wise choice. We would not want you getting sick before you have done your detective work, now would we?” Samira teased as she walked past the well and Allen to reach the door of the hut. “You two give the outside a look around some more. I am going inside to see what I can find in there. Do not wander off either.”

“Let it be known that I had no intentions of wandering by myself,” Allen replied seriously. He was perfectly content to remain there until time to leave. He doubted there’d be anything too far away from the hut anyway. “Maisy I fully expect to-” The man turned around but saw no herbalist with him. “Oh. She left already. Well, that’s nice.”

“I’m over here!” The voice of the herbalist shouted in the distance, but not too far off. She turned her flashlight on and off as a signal for Allen and Samira to see. “Just checking something out here! Don’t mind me!”

“Well she found something to distract herself with.” Allen did the same to signal to Maisy, then he glanced over towards Samira. “Are you sure you want to go in there alone?”

“I will be fine. I would rather you be out here with Maisy. I will just be a few minutes. The hut is small so it should not take too long to explore it.” How much could possibly be in there? Unless there was some secret underground tunnel below it she doubted that it would take more than five minutes.

“I was thinking more about its stability, but I guess you’re right. Just yell if something happens and you need us.”

“Of course.” With that said, Samira opened the door… or rather it opened itself. Sort of. There was no door knob or handle. It did not even have a lock. To open it all she had to do was push it. A gentle push was all it took… for it to completely fall off its hinges. The door fell forward, causing a loud crash sound to alert the quiet forest around them. A dust cloud formed from the impact, but quickly fell. Samira had her hands up and had taken steps back when it happened. It was an oops moment and had caught her by surprise. Allen had already sharply turned back towards her to see what had happened. He let out a relieved sigh to see that the hut had not started to collapse entirely on the summoner. It had already been a few seconds and the place was already falling apart! Samira gave him an awkward smile and waved in an attempt to reassure him that everything was just fine.

Back to it, Samira proceeded to step inside the hut. She maneuvered her steps to go around the fallen and decrepit door. Her weight caused the floor to creak and groan. It had been so long since it had been under so much pressure. The floor had become so worn through time and neglect. Slow steps were taken. Several times she could feel the floor begin to break. Until it finally did. The floorboard her boot hit cracked. Her foot went into the floor and she fell forward, causing more cracks in the floor from the hard impact of her body against it. “Probably more than a few minutes then,” she commented to herself, making a note that her earlier thoughts of it only taking five minutes were incorrect. Travel time just to get inside had not been calculated correctly.

Carefully and as slow as she could possibly go without being still, Samira sat up. She freed her foot with little effort. The hole that had been made was bigger than the initial step she had taken and so it was easy to just pull her leg up out of it. After that was taken care of, she crawled towards the nearest wall and used that to stand herself up. It was miraculous that the wall did not give in and break apart while she leaned against it, creating a Samira shaped hole in the process as she fell onto the other side. Maybe fate was saving that for later. For now, she could be content to be standing on a section of the floor that was not breaking under her weight. That gave her time to look around. “Nox, can you shed your light in the center? It should illuminate the entire space enough for me to spot anything of interest.”

The spirit in the form of a fancy floating candle let out a soothing chime sound as a reply. As the candle swayed in the air and moved towards the center it shimmered and then increased its light intensity. A bright but pale colored light covered the room, illuminating everything. Although, there wasn’t much besides a few pieces of very cheap and outdated furniture. Almost all of it looked as if it had been crafted by a person completely new to the craft of working with wood. An old bed with a filthy and very worn mattress was at the very back of the room next to a window. A bookshelf with moldy books was on the other side of the wall. Next to the bed was some sort of chest. A desk was also in the room with old looking papers scattered all over it. That was it besides the tattered curtains over the window. Not even a chair for the desk was anywhere to be seen. Definitely not much to look at.

Obviously the chest was the first thing of interest. Samira cautiously made her way through the room to reach it. There were a couple of close calls, but she had made it just fine without any more incidents transpiring like the one a moment ago. She got on her knees to be at level with the chest to get a better look at it and its contents. The floor groaned some more, parts of the wood cracking and poking through her tights and into her knees. The woman narrowed her eyes in mild annoyance at that feeling. She had better not get any splinters. Her hands went to the lock on the chest. It was a simple one that wasn’t really much of a lock at all. It just took clasping two ends of it at the same time and pushing them inward into the device in the center. It clicked. Simple. The lid creaked as she pushed it upwards to lean against the wall. There wasn’t much in there. She saw some sheets. Old, but since they were locked away they weren’t filthy from the weather that had rotted everything else in the hut. Samira pulled them out to see if there was anything underneath. Just some books, some photos, and plants in jars. Nothing of great interest to her per say. Still, she’d keep them in her mind. Perhaps the photos would come in handy if they were shown to that Lara Hughes woman. Maybe she’d even like to keep them. Who knew?

The next thing Samira wanted to check was the bookshelf. She could tell most of the books were moldy, completely unreadable by that point and therefore useless, but there still might have been something there. Maybe even pulling one led to the stereotypical secret passageway. Anything was possible and therefore everything was worth looking into. Samira once again traversed across the dangerous floor of the hut. That time not as far since the bookshelf was pretty close to where she had already been located. She stood in front of it, holding her breath as much as possible so she would not have to breathe in the stink from the mushy disgusting books. Her eyes scanned over the bindings of the books. Many had been eroded and faded. She even attempted to pick one up. Her hand took a firm hold on it and she was able to pull it out, but it fell apart once it was set free, with most of it crumbling onto the floor. She dropped the part she still held onto the floor to join the rest of its decayed form. There were some papers hidden between the books. She pulled them out, shook the dust off of them, and then held them up to the light to read them. What she could make out was gibberish. Also useless. Those too were tossed to the ground to join the first book.

It was at that point that Samira just decided to check them all. One by one she pulled a book or note off the shelf and checked it. Even a shelf knick knack was looked at. It was the shape of a dog. Glass in material. She didn’t want to shatter it so she placed it back on the shelf after checking to make sure there was no possible way it could have been used as a compartment for a hidden note. Unless magic was involved, she supposed. But, she still didn’t want to break it. Not unless she had to.

Her efforts continued until she came across a book that stood out. It was damaged but less so than the others, as if it was protected by some sort of spell to keep it from eroding completely. Even that spell was still a weak version if that’s what it was, but it at least kept it protected long enough for someone to come across it and take notice of its existence. Samira pulled it out and took a look at its cover. There were splotches of purple on it. Possibly what remained of its original coloring. The title was that of a silver shade. Some of the letters were still there, but some were also gone and long faded from the damage and neglect. She couldn’t read it completely or even take a guess as to what it was called. Still, it had magical properties to it, and thus far seemed to be the only one of its kind in the collection.

Samira decided to hold onto it. Allen could take a look at it later. Maybe he would even be able to restore it. She tucked the book under her left arm and continued to pull books out with her right arm and then dropping them to the floor when they proved to be of no interest or relevant. Only one book out of many. Disappointing, but still something. It was time to move onto the next thing in the room; the desk. Papers were scattered all over it. Surely something significant and relevant was hidden away somewhere in that mess.

The dangerous path towards the desk began, with Samira changing her intended step when lightly tapping the floor caused too much noise for her to believe it was safe. The obvious dent she could feel beneath her boots gave her even further concern to avoid those spots. In the end though, she did end up falling for the second time in that hut. There were no safe spots in that section of floor, unfortunately. It didn’t occur to her until she was already on the ground for the second time that she probably could have just some spell or a spirit’s power to float around. However, just as she was calling herself out for how stupid she was to forget to even consider that option, she heard a click in the floor. Not the groans and creaks of a broken floor, but the sound of something unlocking and popping.

Upon further observation, the floor piece directly in front of her was higher than the rest. It had popped out of place, but not because it was broken. It was the opposite. Quite frankly, she could now see that, that particular piece wasn’t as eroded as the rest of the floor. She sat up, wiping the first and dust off her clothes… again! But, after that had been dealt with she focused on the floor piece. The tips of her fingers touched the edge that was just slightly higher than the other floorboards.

With a gentle and careful hold she was able to pull it up further and then remove it completely to reveal a perfect rectangular hole in the ground that was separated from everything else. Inside were only two things; a piece of paper and a key. She claimed them both. The key was put inside her pocket. What it locked or unlocked was currently unknown to her so it was saved for later when she met up with Allen and Maisy again. They might have found what it went to in their own investigations. The paper she held to the light and read it aloud.

“Fate guides the willing, and drags the unwilling
Today I hear the bells, the sound clear as they ring
How could I be unwilling?  With the life I’ve lived?
Hated and scorned.  The tears I’ve shed.
Drawn to a new family, only to find nothing.
No one to hurt or leave.  No one to sting.
I walk willingly with fate, with no regrets.”

It sounded like some kind of poem. Its meaning was also unknown to her. It had to be important enough for the hermit to want to keep it though. She flipped it over to look at what was written on the back, but it appeared to just be musical notes and lines. Samira didn’t really have the skills required to read music. She didn’t even play an instrument to even understand the basics of the written tune. It was still interesting all the same. The paper was also pocketed. What use it would be she had no idea, but it felt right to keep something so secret handy just in case. She took hold of the book that had fallen out of her grip during the fall and put it on her lap. The woman blew out a puff of air. Admittedly, she was finding stuff, but it wasn’t exactly the stuff she wanted. Nothing there was related to the plague or cultist group at all. She didn’t even see anything remotely shady besides living in the middle of nowhere. The lead wasn’t as strong as she would have liked, it seemed. True, it was a far fetched lead, and one that she didn’t expect much from, but she still wanted something to come of the time she was spending there besides random books and poems. Maybe the desk would have something. That still needed to be checked out before she gave up looking around the inside of the hut.

Samira made it to the desk just fine the second time around. In the end, she chose not to bother with using magic at that point. It was almost over so there was no reason to trouble a spirit or waste her own energy to make it just a few feet across the room. Her hands ran across the desk and moved the mess of papers around. At first glance she didn’t see anything in particular that cried out to her “look at me!” But then, there were tons of them that covered each other. Like she had done with the bookshelf, she grabbed one and gave it a thorough look. It was then tossed aside as nothing of worth to her.

“Are you still okay in there?” Allen shouted from outside. “I’ve been hearing a lot of noise in there!”

“I am fine!” Samira shouted back to him, tossing another paper away as she answered. “I just fell a couple of times! No harm done! You were right about the stability though!”

“Told you!”

Samira would have rolled her eyes after hearing that if she wasn’t more amused by it. Yes, he had told her. Yes, a few things should have clicked. How she was still alive she didn’t know. It was one of those amusing things about her life. She heard some chatter outside between Maisy and Allen but she ignored it and continued her search through the pile. Would anything come of it? The summoner was starting to think not. Until she found a pink slip of paper with very noticeable writing on it. A very naughty curse word was written in huge letters on it. In red! Someone was angry. That was for certain. Her pale hand grabbed it from the stack and she held it up to try and decipher the writing underneath the word that made her embarrassed and feel bad just for seeing it. “A termination paper?” That’s what it said. Effective immediately. That sounded serious. Reading further it was due to downsizing within the company. That made sense. She didn’t understand such rage behind it, but then well, she was currently standing in a hermit hut. Riley Sutton was having a horrible stage in life at that point in time.

She set the pink slip back on the desk. That uh… did not need to be taken with her. Samira refused to. That word in such big letters and in bright red was a crime! She couldn’t risk someone seeing it and thinking she wrote that! Most certainly not! The other papers on the desk were checked, and all of them were pretty much the same. Uninteresting, not legible, or some random doodle that made her ponder for a moment as to what it even was. That was it. The inside of hut tour and exploration was over. Hopefully Maisy and Allen found something to add to the disappointing collection of non-cultist leads.

Samira exited the hut and noticed that Allen was still at the well. He probably never even bothered to leave it to check around the dwelling for anything else. Credit would be given though. The scientist wasn't just standing around twiddling his thumbs while waiting for the two women to stop what they were doing and return. Allen was clearly concentrating on the well, examining it very closely and no longer caring about the thick layer of moss upon it. "What are you doing?" Samira asked as she approached him, asking one of the most obvious questions she could have picked. Purposely, of course. She dared not get so low to the ground like he was though, or put her face that close to the well to try and see what he did and take a guess. Being on the dirty and broken floor in the hut had been enough for her.

"Hmmm," Allen kept thinking and staring at the well. He wiped off some of the more from the rocky surface and then stood up. "I don't know if I found anything. I'm more just... Bothered by something here."

"Bothered?"

"Yes. Because I can't figure these out. Look here." Allen walked around to the other side of the well, expecting the Wizard Saint to follow him. His assumption had been correct. Curious, Samira trailed behind him, still keeping the same distance between the water well and herself. "I saw these during my observations and thought they were just random rocks that had been placed there." He pointed to a series of rocks that lined a part of the well. Originally they had been covered by the thick moss, blending in with everything else and becoming hidden until an inquisitive scientist took more interest in the well than any normal person rightfully should.

"They are not?" Samira asked. At first glance she had the same thought Allen had. They were normal common rocks. She or Allen could take a rock from the ground and add it to the group already on the well and no one would be able to tell the difference. Nothing about them stood out at all to tell her otherwise. So, what had Allen found out that made him suspect otherwise?

"Not really, no," he replied with a shake of his head. "Watch." After giving that instruction he reached further and grabbed onto one of the stones. He gave it a tug but the rock did not move. It was stuck. Well, not really stuck per say. More like it was completely attached to the water well and not because someone glued the rocks on. Allen checked for that prior to suspecting something else. "See? It won't budge. None of them will. They're a part of the water well but I can't figure out why. It can't be for just decoration. Even a person with no design skills or sense at all wouldn't construct a well with a decor of a few uneven rocks sitting on one side of it. I even checked for marks to see if some had just been removed and therefore ruining the design but there wasn't anything to suggest that. So I had a thought."

"And what is this thought of yours?" Samira asked, further prodding him to send that train of thought her way so she could better understand what he was getting at.

Allen turned around from the well and faced the Goddess of Ishgar. Something on his face told her that he was apprehensive about going into the details. That perhaps she would judge him harshly for even mouthing something so stupid. She never really judged based on that, yet for some reason others assumed she did. Her natural expression must have just been one of those of judgement. A face that didn't match the personality of herself. It made her uncomfortable seeing people look at her as if the two did match. "Well?" Samira vocally prodded again to get him to break his silence. He had tried to say something but stopped himself.

Allen put his hands on his hips and looked away with uncertainty. He took a breath and let it out. In the end the conflict within himself ended and he gave in, raising his hands before him in surrender. "Okay, this might seem a bit cliche and follows a stupidly common stereotype and theme, but here me out on this."

Samira nodded, acknowledging the request, "you may continue." After that, the teal haired woman remained silent to fully listen and understand his guess.

"All right. You know how in a lot, and I do mean a lot, of stories, movies, whatever medium is used to tell some work of over dramatized fiction where some mysterious secret is hidden away in some special compartment or room?" He waited for the nod to come. It did. He'd be worried if she shook her head instead and had to explain it. "Well we are looking into a cult that until now has been mostly secret and enigmatic. Anything we expect to find is probably going to be hidden away much like in those stories. Or like the few examples in actual life if you think too hard on it and can get past the fiction everyone remembers instead." Allen started to ramble on about the subject. He must have not been much of a fan of fiction and was more of a man of facts. Still, Samira didn’t exactly want to listen to all of that at that moment.

"Stay on track, please." It was a gentle and polite reminder that there was an actual point to what he was saying, or so she had hoped.

"Right." He touched the circular opening of the water well. "I think this is one of those things. There is something hidden here, and the rocks might be a puzzle or even the keys to finding whatever is here. There might be even a secret passageway or room or a small hole that opens up with the clue we need."

"That is possible, I suppose. When I first worked for The Order of the Ebon Cross I had to enter an abandoned cabin. It had something similar to what you described; a hidden passageway that most would overlook unless they knew what to look for." Samira looked at the well, her lips forming a deep frown. "Since it is still closed and you are speaking of this as more of a theory than confirmation I assume you have not yet figured out how this puzzle works."

"If it's even what it is to begin with. I haven't found anything to connect the rocks with anything else." Allen, too, looked at the well. He sighed, frustrated that he couldn't figure it out and also because his guess could be totally wrong and was therefore wasting time on it.

Samira's voice broke the tense silence. "Did you find a keyhole anywhere? Or a hole in general?" That earned her a quizzical look from the scientist. "I found this inside the hut," she added, pulling out the old key that had been in her pocket. "It was inside a hole inside the floor. I would say it was hidden well enough and had assumed it to be something important, but I haven't found what it goes to. Nothing else in there had a lock that required a key such as this."

“Probably removed a long time ago. Dear hermit Riley must have just forgotten to take the key with him.” Allen commented as he took the key that Samira handed to him. He held it up to be right in front of his eyes and stared at it. “Hmmmmm.” His fingers turned the key around and moved it so he could see all the edges and different angles. “I don’t think this key is for anything super secret. It looks pretty generic. Not that I’m really an expert on secret keys… but the ones you see or read about in fiction are… less… generic.” He then handed the key back to her. “But anyway, no, I didn’t see any kind of key hole slot anywhere. If one exists it’s even deeper in that blanket of moss, but I think that’s just wishful thinking and a waste of time. We should try something else. Did you find anything else in there?”

“Heeeeyyyyy!” Before Samira could answer the question Maisy shouted loudly to them and ran over. Somewhere she had located an old woven basket and was holding it with the handle over her arm and across her left shoulder. “You two won’t believe what I’ve been doing!” The plants in the basket told both Allen and Samira what the herbalist was actually doing without them having to first enter a state of disbelief.

“Plant picking? Now?” Allen couldn't believe it and his tone said as much. He had a mind to scold her for wasting time doing that instead of helping look for cultist clues.

Maisy’s smile dimmed with Allen’s upset tone. “Ooooook. Lets try that again. You won’t believe what I’ve found.” She angrily took a step towards Allen as soon as she finished that sentence and jabbed her finger into his chest. Hard. “And don’t you dare say ‘plants’! I know they’re plants!” The woman huffed and stepped back. A second passed, and Maisy’s anger had vanished as quickly as it had come. “Now listen, yes, they are plants, but the important thing here is what KIND of plants they are. Look, look! I’ll show you! Get that floating candle stick over here to shed some light so we don’t have to keep pointing flashlights around.”

Samira did as requested and nodded towards Nox, the spirit that Maisy had dubbed ‘floating candlestick’. It was true that was the form she had taken, but the candle couldn’t help but consider that to be a bit rude. The brightly glowing candle chimed, not that Maisy could tell what that sound meant. The herbalist was just satisfied and happy that she now had more light. The basket was placed on the top of the water well and in view for the gathered trio to see. “Now I found some of these in that flowerbed in front of the hut, but there were also a lot growing around in the trees back there. They’re not native to this area so I am thinking the land was being used as an extra garden to grow them. Maisy picked up one of the plants inside and held it up. “These are not your typical garden variety flowers or plants. You wouldn’t even find them in flower shops.” Maisy explained what the first flower she had picked up was and what it could do when in the hands of someone knowledgeable of plants. Paralysis. Much more than staying in someone’s pot as a window decoration. A few more of the plants and flowers she described and also said that they too could cause that same effect. Others caused sleep. Some had a mix of different symptoms. “Basically, you aren’t ever going to find all of these plants together ever. Many of them don’t even grow here and you’d have to specifically go out of your way to get them. The only reason I can even think of someone having all of these in the same location is research. That is something I would do because, hey, I’m a herbalist. It’s my job. I don’t go this far though. This guy went crazy with his poisonous plants. So, I’m thinking it’s for the other reason; alchemy. He was going to make potions and stuff with them as ingredients. I can’t say what he’d really do with a bunch of sleep and paralysis potions, but I think that’s a good thing that I don’t know. Don’t really want to be a suspect if something involves those two things.”

“So Rikey Sutton was practicing alchemy? Seems a little far fetched if you ask me,” Allen commented after Maisy had finished her lecture about plants. “Lara never mentioned him having that knowledge or interest before. We could assume he was growing it all for the cult, but what would a group of cultists want with sleep and paralysis potions? And why have someone like Riley make them? They’d surely have their own secret gardens scattered around the world with far more dangerous things than that. The plague in Beanstalk Village is an example. That’s top quality alchemy and very powerful. Not some novice potion making experiment.”

“Welllll,” Maisy scratched her cheek, thinking about another possibility. “I don’t know too much about the practice of alchemy, but Abigail was letting me look at her books whenever she didn’t have the time to teach me the basics. I remember seeing a page in there that pretty much had all of these plants and flowers as ingredients. It was a memory erasing potion. I think. It’s hard to remember the exact details. I only read the page once and I’d need to look at it again to be one hundred percent sure on that.”

“A memory wipe potion? Kind of weird.”

“It is possible the alchemy hobby has nothing to do with the cultists at all, and we are trying to force a connection between them,” Samira interrupted the two, putting her own thoughts on it after absorbing all of the information. “It is also possible the cultists were the ones that gave him the knowledge to get started. There were many books in there that could have been books on alchemy and potions. Unfortunately, they were all too worn and unreadable. Only one had any sort of value left to it. However, even if they gave him the knowledge, the garden and the potions he intended to make were of his own choice and plans rather than theirs. I think that has the most sense to it. As Allen said, the cultist group have been around for generations, so this really would not be their work. It is too small, I am afraid. Even a potion to wipe memories they have probably already done a thousand times over by this point.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Maisy said, disappointed obviously, but she still saw sense in the words of Allen and Samira. She put the last plant she had been holding back into the basket and then shrugged her shoulders. “Guess I wasn’t able to find much more than that then. We’re pretty much back at square one. Well a more full square one. We know more about Riley Sutton. Doesn’t help any but you kkknnnooowww. Anything to make this trip worth while!”

“Mhm,” Allen mostly ignored Maisy’s comments and was still focused on the book Samira had mentioned. “You said you found a book in there?”

“Yes, this one,” Samira held it up to show it off. Strange he hadn’t noticed it before since she had been holding it the entire time under her arm. He motioned for her to give it to him so he could take a look. She did so, although she doubted he would be able to find much more without a real thorough and extensive look at it. That required more time and a place that wasn’t outside and in the middle of a dark forest. The man didn’t seem to share that thought, however. He immediately started to flip through the pages and mumble to himself.

“Seems you found some interesting things in there at least,” Maisy said with a small smile.

“I suppose. You were also very helpful so do not be disappointed. Thank you for trying and for spreading your knowledge and thoughts to us,” Samira had wanted to reassure the other woman that even if she was a bit quirky she still did a good job with her investigation. It was her knowledge of plants that brought some of those clues together. It wasn’t exactly what they were looking for, but it was still good information to know. It could even come up again in the future the longer the case went. Maisy smiled brightly. They were simple words, but it did a lot to boost her confidence.

It was then Samira realized that she was still holding onto the key that apparently went to nothing. She slipped it into her pocket, but upon doing so she felt the slip of paper she had put in there earlier. The poem. “Oh, I almost forgot.” The small piece of folded paper was pulled out from her pocket. “I found this inside as well. It was with the key I showed you earlier, Allen. Even if the key was useless maybe this is not.”

“Hrm?” Allen took his face from inside the book and stared at the paper, squinting his eyes to see what it was. It was paper, obviously, but what was so significant about it? “What is it? What does it say?” He closed the book and shifted to hold it in one hand while his free one took the piece of paper. Allen flipped the fold over to read it.

“It is a poem, I think.”

Allen gave a nod of agreement. Although, he laughed lightly. “Yes, it is a poem. One that I think needs a bit of re-working. You said you found this with the key? Under the floorboards?” Samira replied with a yes. “I would probably want to hide this too if I wrote poems this bad. Other than that, I can’t think of a reason why this would be hidden under there.” Allen looked at it again. He read it once more. That time out loud. He was just trying to make sense out of it and try some hidden meaning in it. Some clue to give them. Anything. Anything at all! Then the immovable stones on the water well began to glow.

(Word Count: 10,818
Total: 11,049)

11,000 used for 100Y Freeform which starts near the end of the Previous Post
49 left for final part

The massively forced concentration of the scientist was lost to Samira for a short period of time. Not that she got bored watching and listening to him make nearly incoherent audible thoughts. Quite the opposite. There was just a different distraction that required her attention. A mist that only she seemed to take notice of surrounded the area, and very quickly as it descended and thickened did the two people with her disappear behind it, leaving her seemingly alone in the middle of no where. The hut had vanished, and though the forest around her still remained it felt and appeared more twisted than it had previously.

Something caught her eye in the distance, a shadowy figure that barely stood out in the dim lighting the mist somehow provided. Investigating by walking closer brought the woman to stand in front of a tombstone. It appeared old and partially broken. At first glance it could have been mistaken as one that had been there for decades, possibly centuries. Forgotten and abandoned over time as the forest grew around it. Until she saw the name that was on the stone. Time had made it harder to read, but it was there nonetheless. Her own name had been engraved onto it.

She looked away for just a moment, processing that information and trying to come up with a rational reason for why it was there. There were many. However, once she looked back the stone was gone, and the mist faded just as quickly in that instant as it had appeared, bringing her eyes to once again set upon the hut as well as Maisy and Allen. Was it the effect of those well stones that were now glowing? Or something else? Curious.

(Word Count: 290
Total So Far: 339)

The strangeness only seemed to increase. The odd vision of the tombstone had been forgotten. Maisy and Allen knew nothing of it. In actuality, Samira was fairly certain that they didn't even realize anything had happened. They were far too busy going over their theories of what the stones did. Maisy had touched one, which made a sound. A high pitched note that was insignificant by itself. Then Allen touched one, which gave off the sound of a note in a lower pitch range. They were getting closr to figuring it all out. The solution would have been obvious with a little thought if not for another distraction that spontaneously appeared before them.

Whether connected to the stones or just was an incident of coincidence, an orange glowing swirl of magic particles appeared before them. They took on the shape of a creature that was a common sight in stories, and as unfortunate as it was for Samira, in her actual life. A human-shaped creature with the head of a Halloween pumpkin. Its carved expression was a devious one, and its very presence was thick with malicious intent. The creature was not one to be taken lightly or joked about. Not even for a Wizard Saint.

Allen stared wide eyed at first, but then confusion settled in, as did his scientist nature. He scratched the back of his head and squinted his eyes as he read the poem again. "...That can't be right. There's nothing here that says this well calls upon last year's Halloween decoration spells."

Maisy shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe it got trapped here last year or something? Lets try another stone. Maybe we'll get Christmas this time!"

Yes, it was a creature that a Wizard Saint would not take lightly, but apparently the common person that didn't know any better might have incidentally taken the opportunity.

The pumpkin-head spirit twitched angrily. "I AM NOT FROM LAST YEAR'S HALLOWEEN PARTY!" Had he been stuck in the well though? That was something he did not clarify. He composed himself and let the anger slip away. There was still a job to do, and he couldn't very well hurt anyone until after his game had been played. "Ahem. I am Sir Jacky Pumpolian the 3rd, a master of the dark arts and a season bound demon. I have for you three riddles. Answer them correctly and I will leave. If you refuse to play or guess wrong then you will all suffer a terrible fate!" The pumpkin spirit giggled mischievously as he floated around and waved his lantern, his glowing aura swirling in the air like blood in water.

"I suppose I can entertain you by answering these riddles of yours," Samira spoke up, volunteering herself to take on the task of completing the game. It was evident just by sensing its power that forcing the creature away would prove to be redundant and perhaps even impossible. It would also be dangerous for her two companions, and in the end it was also best if the surrounding environment didn't get destroyed in the process. There was still a mystery to solve, after all, and there was still hope for some clues.

The pumpkin spirit grinned. "Riddle one: The person who built it sold it. The person who bought it never used it. The person who used it never saw it. What is it?"

Samira thought for a moment to go over the options until she felt that she could guess one that had the highest probability for accuracy. "A coffin."

Sir Jacky Pumpolian nodded with a sly grin. "Correct! That was the warm up. Don't expect the next one to be so easy! Riddle two: What do you call a skeleton that makes you laugh and giggle when you’re sad?"

There was little thought going into that one. The riddles were practically straight off the first page of a Halloween book of riddles for children now that she had two to go off from. She had nothing to worry about, after all. "A funny bone."

Jacky Pumpolian frowned for a moment before forcing his devilish smile back on. That one was supposed to be hard! "Lucky guess. Riddle three: I have a name but it isn’t mine, you don’t think about me while in your prime. People cry when I’m in their sight, other lie with me all day and night. What am I?"

"A tombstone." The answer directly from page two of the Halloween book of children's favorite riddles if she recalled her childhood reading correctly. Not to say that it was an easy one. If she hadn't run into those riddles before she might have needed to put some thought into them. Although, technically, those riddles were meant to be for beginners.

"Eh... fine. You pass." The pumpkin spirit said with a wave of his thin hand. He was clearly disappointed, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Maybe next year he'd come around and have his revenge with a real mind twisting game that'd make the whole world fall! "Until next time! Have a Happy Halloween!" The creature laughed continuously as his body began to fade into the darkness. In seconds, his laughter became as faint as an echo, until it was nothing at all.

Maybe now they could get on with figuring out those glowing stones and figuring out that cult business.

(Word Count: 899
Samira Total: 1238)

The trio touched the other glowing stones that remained, each one sounding a different level of pitch. Giggling, Maisy pushed both Samira and Allen out of the way and went to town touching each and every stone in random orders to make a music pattern she thought of on the spot. "Hey, this is kind of fun. Kind of useless being way out here in the middle of no where, but fun. I guess the cultist needed some kind of hobby while living out here."

"Then why not just get a normal instrument? There's something more to this than just randomly making stone music." Allen stated with a roll of his eyes.

Listening to the two as well as the music reminded Samira of something else that was on that piece of paper. "Allen, give me that sheet for a moment," she requested and held out her hand expectantly. He did so, although he wasn't sure why she wanted it. There was nothing else in that weird novice poem. Unknown to him though, it was not the words that were on Samira's mind. She wasn't a poet. They meant nothing to her right then. What was important was what was on the back of that poem. The small piece of paper was flipped over. Nox's candlelight revealed the assortment of musical notes that were carefully written in slightly faded ink.

(Word Count: 230
Total So Far: 1468)

There was a new theory that crossed her mind. The notes on the paper and those strange glowing musical rocks were connected. They were the missing key. Unfortunately she was no musical genius either. Putting the right notes with the right rock was not something she was going to be able to do herself, and, as much as she would have preferred not to think negatively of Maisy and Allen, the Wizard Saint still very much doubted that they had the musical know how to figure out the puzzle. There was another that she could turn to, thankfully. Another instance had come where Samira could once again appreciate the plethora of god avatars that were connected with her and therefore be called upon for aid and advice.

(Word Count: 127
Total So Far: 1595)

'I do not suppose any of you know how to connect these notes with that of the sounds of the rocks, do you?' She already knew the answer to be yes. There was no way her more musically talented spirits of old did not know, but there was still some respect that existed in asking rather than immediately commanding one to help. Assuming her theory was even correct, of course.

'Ah, that's easy stuff, girlie. If I didn't know I would definitely be a failed copy, wouldn't I? Can't have that now. Let me get out there and do this little puzzle for ya.' Barely even a second later, a small storm of orange magic particles erupted from out of thin air, swirling beside Samira until the avatar of Apollo was fully formed. The original god of legends and myth was known for many things, music being one of them, and the spirit avatar of the deity loved that aspect the best. He was already grinning and wasted no time in poking the rocks to hear their emitted sounds. Helping his summoner solve a musical puzzle was a very uncommon thing to occur. He'd possibly talk about it for months to come.

"Okay, I think I have this all figured out now," He stated proudly with a bit of a laugh. "It's too easy actually." The notes had already been memorized from when he saw them through Samira's eyes. After listening to the each sound of each rock he was able to connect the two. "Not sure what's going to happen once I play this little tune. That's not really my area. So, you know, duck or back away or something in case this well explodes or something." He was joking, sort of. Samira knew that well enough and stayed put. She was sure her magic could protect them all. When she turned around though she saw Allen and Maisy had already backed away into the trees as a form of protection.

"We'll be over here for now!"
"Don't worry about us!"

Should she tell them that there were likely different dangers beyond those trees? And that it was probably much safer to be near a mystery well with unknown results of messing with its puzzle than over there? No. She supposed not. What would be the odds of that after that strange night as it was? They'd be fine. She turned back to the well and Apollo. "Let us wrap this part of the puzzle up, please. Before something else delays us."

"Righto!" And so he began to play the tune that had been written on that random piece of paper, using the musical rocks as the instrument. When completed, there was silence at first. Nothing had happened at all. The group began to wonder if something had been done wrong. Was the tune played correctly? Was the well even anything more than a musical instrument in the first place? There were many questions until there was a loud sound that gave them all pause. A thunderous click from deep inside the well. And then more sounds echoed from the inside as if something had activated. Then rushing water, as if the well was being drained. The rope even began moving on its own, pulling something up with it.

Curious, Apollo looked down into the well. "Huh, well I think this is an elevator down into... well there. At the bottom of the well. One music puzzle solved!"

(Word Count: 579
Total So Far: 2047)

The spirit's guess had been correct. A wooden platform had been raised. One large enough for a single person to stand on and be lowered down. If they all wanted to go down there to investigate further it would be one at a time. Aside from Apollo and Nox, of course. The floating candle spirit was small enough to hover around her summoner, who no doubtedly would be taking the questionably safe elevator down into the darkness. As for Apollo, he considered his job done for now and vanished into a swarm of magic particles. He'd be on standby if there were anymore locks or traps that required his expertise to solve and unlock, but he had no intentions of doing the whole exploring some old smelly well activity.

Allen and Maisy came back from their "safe" hiding place to join Samira at the well. Both were impressed and had their own imaginings of what could be down there. It was probably dangerous to go down there though, and so it was apparent that they would be hesitant about going down into that unknown abyss. Their concerns were voiced. Samira understood and didn't judge. She preferred that they not try in case the elevator was even less stable than it looked. Then again, what if something was nearby in the woods just waiting to ambush them as they waited? It would have been better in that sense that they follow her down. How anyone that did not have available summons to solve both problems so easily was beyond her. People that were not summoners now had more respect and admiration from her. They had to likely result to more complicated solutions or make unwanted sacrifices.

Still, that did not mean that she would ignore her own strength and access to an easier answer to the problem. Samira left two combative spirits to guard the two quirky scientists. Problem solved in a way she most trusted. Now she could leave them without worry and begin her descent into the darkness.

(Word Count: 339
Total so Far: 2386)

The journey down took longer than expected. The elevator creaked and squeaked as it moved further and further into the well. Slowly it went, and the time continued to pass on by with little else occurring. Until the wooden platform reached the end and stopped moving, a soft thud echoing as it touched the damp ground. Nox in her glowing candle form chimed softly and floated forward to light the way. There was only one direction to go; forward. Forward through a short dark tunnel that had a dim light at its end. Reaching the end led to a small room that had been hidden all that time underneath the earth and foundation of the old shack. The dim light turned out to be from crystals. Not having been naturally formed there, of course. They most likely had been brought there some time ago, although their power still remained intact.

"I expected there to be more things being placed here." Samira commented, both thinking out loud and breaking the silence that was around her by speaking to her spirit. She approached the robe that hung on a rusty nail on the wall and touched it. The fabric strangely felt like high quality and was soft. Nothing was hidden in the pockets, however, or elsewhere. That she could see right then and there anyway. It would take a more thorough observation to find hidden pockets within the stitching if any existed. The chest was a better place to start for now. It was the only other thing in that room, and it was locked. Of course it was. Attempting to just use magic to remove the lock proved to be strangely unsuccessful. Samira supposed that she could be much more forceful with its removal instead of taking a more gentle approach to it, but that could result in backlash perhaps. Or at least accidentally destroy anything that was in the chest. The lock would need to be removed another way. Undoubtedly the most obvious way of just picking the lock.

(Word Count: 339... again... somehow
Total so Far: 2725)

The lock on the chest proved to be more of a challenge to crack than it first appeared. Originally it seemed like a simple lock pick would do the trick, but upon attempting to do so the lock glowed and disappeared, only to be replaced by a different sort of lock. One that was a puzzle within a puzzle and made the most challenging of Rubik's cubes look like beginner levels of mental challenges. Her own mental capacity would have taken too much time to solve it, if it were possible for her to do so. She didn't attempt it solo. With the minds of her spirits connected with her own it was several beings attempting to solve it rather than just one. It helped that a few of them considered lock mechanism puzzles to be trivial concepts. The lock was completely removed within minutes.

(Word Count: 145
Total So Far: 2870)

Samira smiled, pleased that the lock removal had gone so well. It would have been quite the unfortunate circumstance if it had exploded or was the bait for a trap of some sort. Nothing happened though. All was quiet around her besides the hum of the light crystals and the chimes of Nox in lantern form. That was reason enough to be happy. Now, to see what was locked away in the chest that was hidden so well.

With a gentle hand placed on the sides of the lid, Samira pushed it upwards, opening it. The movement caused the old chest to creak and groan. That was about all that happened. There was no glowing radiance flowing from it as if she had found a mystical treasure. After all of that she almost expected that silly imagery from stories to be a part of her reality but that was not the case. All that was within the chest were two books and a key on top of them. Disappointing. Probably still of value, of course, but still disappointing.

The summoner reached in and pulled one of the books out, allowing the key on top to fall onto the bottom of the chest in the process. She looked at its cover, front and back. Nothing about it told her that it was anything out of the ordinary on the outside. Perhaps the contents within would prove to be interesting and helpful. That book was set down on the ground next to her so she could take a glance at the second. The same mental notes were taken. Seeing nothing else within the chest, the key was taken next. What it went to she couldn't even begin to guess. Maybe the books gave that answer. Either way she didn't see a reason to stick around down there. The exploration had concluded and she could look through the books in her own time later. In a much more comfortable and better lit environment. A hidden room at the bottom of a well just didn't have the particular charm that she was fond of.

For now, Samira attached the key to her own keyring and stood up with the books in her arms. It was time to go. She exited the room and retraced her steps towards the elevator that had brought her down. Once back on the surface she showed the items that she had found to the two that had accompanied her to the shack. They too agreed that they should get back to a safer place that wasn't in the middle of a dark forest with weird things going on. Back to Maisy's house they went.

(Word Count: 445
Total So Far: 3315)

Starts at the very end of this post

2500 for Finding the Link
500 for D Rank Freeform