Day 28 - Bookworm
Finished this on valentine's day but it doesn't really have anything to do with valentine's XD
Short story below ----
Thousands upon thousands of books lined dusty shelves from floor to ceiling. The eerie quiet with nothing but your footsteps echoing within the enormous chamber with plenty of little reading nooks and floating platforms for the endless consumption of knowledge, or simply, a beautifully woven tale. On occasion you'll see a book float off the shelf and dance its way to some obscure place or even return to its place of origin. One rather hefty tome nearly smacked you in the face on its journey into wherever and you just barely dodged it.
Now, you weren't here for just any book.
In fact, you were told that you would need to find a particular archivist who specialized in ancient and forbidden texts lost to the majority of the world. In fact, no one alive was said to even know where this manuscript was but if anyone had a chance of knowing, it would be this person.
Making your way to this enchanted library was a feat in itself, possibly made difficult on purpose to keep out the many. After all, plenty of these pieces were filled with dangerous texts that could topple whole civilizations if not careful. After a series of deadly riddles, traps, and puzzles, you made it.
After a few days of wandering, you finally found the archivist. She has been settled atop one of the floating platforms, a variety of books surrounding her. She could be heard muttering under her breath something about 'that'll be fun' or 'perhaps for next time'. No matter, you were here for what you needed and everything else was simply dust.
"Ahem, excuse me? I'm looking for a rather complicated spell to weave through time and memory. It's -"
You were cut off by the woman violently shutting the book before petting its cover tenderly. Her eyes peered down at you with a cat-like intensity as a soft smile graced her lips. Her translucent hair swirling about her face as she motioned for the dismissal of all the books surrounding her.
As they soared away, she gently floated down from the platform, and looked you over with amusement.
"A time weaver? Those are rare and few have ever graced this world. Most being erased by their original creators. What makes you think I would know where one might be?"
You make a dramatic effort to look her up and down and arrogantly remark: "Because you've crossed over and left your mortality behind. Your knowledge surpasses any mere living being."
She seemed unphased by your statement and merely brushed it off as some nuisance before giving a bit of a shrug. "You're no fun. Follow me then." She rolled her eyes as she hovered just above the ground taking you through the maze of the library. Soon, you were among the crumbling stone slabs and dimly lit unseen corners of the library. You feel your stomach fill with butterflies at finally obtaining your goal. It isn't long before you stop before a small round table. The archivist snapped her fingers and a lonely scroll slowly comes around the corner and unravels itself before you. The glow momentarily blinded you before it revealed...
Nothing?
Shock settles in as you immediately pounced forward to inspect every little corner of it before turning your frustrations onto the woman.
"What is this?! If you knew it was blank, why even take me in the first place?"
However, at this point, she's merely smiling at you with a small dagger at hand. Where it had come from was beyond you, but you jump back in fear.
"Have no fear. This -is- for you but not in the way you think." She then carefully sets it on the table and sways about. "The only way to reveal it is through blood." And of course, it wasn't as if you could use her blood, it had to be your own. From the only living being here.
You've risked too much to stop now so you snatch up the blade and slash your palm, holding it over the ancient parchment. Soon, the symbols of the spell reveal itself, glowing crimson as they begin to float off the page. You study it before you begin to cast the spell to then feel a darkness creep over you.
It was a subtle feeling at first but soon it was crushing. It felt as if someone has just shattered your ribs and clutched your heart.
You look over at the archivist in desperation and she laughs before turning her back on you.
"Who said you'd remain what you are after all this is over?"
----
Artwork and concept by HollowHeartlessIzsak (Adalia)Apr 24, 2021
#conceptober
#anime
#characterdesign
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