Káel tried to hold Ray's gaze, but he wasn't interested in his wide-eyed victim, browsing the room again from his vantage point before locking onto Puff with a spark of mischief glowing in the gold of his eyes. "Well?"
Káel couldn't feel betrayed at the witch of a smile Puff wore, his heart fogged with plain disappointment as he couldn't risk glaring at Phantom's prompting nods.
Puff gave him a satisfied grin, and trotted towards the wall with a distinct, feathery hop.
"Don't mind him, he sometimes acts loony like that," Káel blurted, shifting to the side to get in front of Ray. "Let's go, he'll follow eventually."
His words went in one ear and out the other with Ray, the towering blond bumping past his shoulder as he curiously followed the dragon like a cat and yarn. He let out a short hum when the dragon patted a part of the wall with his soft paw, kneeling down to look at the spot with a gasp of realisation.
"Woah! I never noticed this!" he exclaimed pushing his fingers into the creases of the secret latch and trying to pry it open.
Káel released a sharp sigh, flipping Phantom the bird when his invisible plague started laughing, which did nothing short of confusing the man at the earthly gesture. He gave the empty corridors another cautious skim, before dragging his feet over to Ray and dropping into a defeated squat.
"Ooh so you knew about this?" Ray slipped a blade out of his sleeve and jammed it into the crease for leverage, but the latch surprisingly didn't budge.
Ray clenched his teeth trying to pry it open with all his might, jabbing at its resolute skin of stone with grinding barks from his sturdy blade. Trying to ignore the fact that he had a knife border lining a dagger stashed in his sleeve like a handkerchief, Káel grabbed the weapon and effortlessly popped the latch open, his eyebrows rising with a dead glance.
Ray gave him a weird look, then pulled a flashlight out of his pocket, shining the brilliant white light into the dark space. A grin latched onto his face as the light bounced right off the Ceptrum, causing its polished flesh to glow like a chunk of the moon had been stashed in the wall. "Heh, a Ceptrum, we're gonna have to be quick about this, don't want Tia catching us and ruining all the fun." Ray pulled off his right glove and dropped it beside him.
"What are you doing?" Káel sighed, moving over so Ray could shove his arm into the opening and grab the stone, a darker part of him hoping to hear a crunch.
Ray responded with a mischievous grin and closed his eyes in concentration, spending half a minute in that state before opening his eyes again. Everyone waited in tense silence for something to happen, and watched closely as Ray got up and stretched.
He looked down at the pairs of eyes glued to him. "What?"
"Well?" Káel said, giving the wall a side glance.
Ray looked at the wall then back at Káel questionably. "Well what?"
Káel scrunched his nose at the teasing tone. "What did you do?"
"Oh! I asked it for the password... just a sec." He thrusted his ungloved hand out to the wall, closing his eyes in concentration as a tingle of static touched the air. "Jasper"
Any curiosity Káel had slipped right off his face. "Jasper?"
"Jasper?" Phantom piped up, a mysterious excitement to his voice as he jumped to join Ray's side.
Nothing happened.
Káel scoffed victoriously at the lack of deliverance in the tense setting, his smirk barely denting the iron tight smile on Ray's face.
"I love these things."
Káel gave the wall a squint. "What things?"
"These things." He snatched Káel's wrist, steadying his surprised tug with a soft squeeze as he pulled his hand up to the wall and straight through it.
A tingling sensation caressed Káel's hand that had disappeared behind the illusion, a web of thin needle like cracks crawling through the stone and hugging his wrist in a distorted pool that stuck to his skin and sank inwards.
He blinked in confusion, his hand constricting with a damp chill like he'd shoved it into a mound of sand, somehow calming him down as he allowed his mouth to hang.
"And that's it for gawking!" Ray sang, grabbing a handful of Káel's collar and tossing him through the wall with a less than playful shove.
Káel shook the damp shivers from his body, hugging his arms as he stared down at the crimson lit hall he was stupid enough to go down before.
Ray grinned and grabbed Káel's arm with an iron tight grip, pulling him down the staircase. "I love Ceptrums, they can be so tricky." He grabbed his flashlight and shone it against the walls, the path lighting with an artificial shine that couldn't warm the blood back into Káel's face.
"What the heck is that thing?" Phantom said, pushing his face up to the metal object as if a closer inspection would help him understand it.
Ray turned to stare down the dark hall, his face dropping as his light pierced its mouth and lit the foot of the black door. "Jeez this place looks dreary."
Káel struggled to break free from his grasp, digging his heels into the grainy stairs as they squeaked along. Ray's grip was freakishly tight, he wasn't even able to loosen it with a couple full forced punches, his mind wandering to the prospect of biting him as a last resort.
"How is he doing that without using any Lumience?" Phantom said, still awestruck by the flashlight and ignoring Káel's struggles, along with Puff who had pranced down the dark decent already, waiting at the bottom like a ghostly cat.
Puff grew impatient and ran out of sight, but stopped dead halfway through the corridor after an audible click and swoosh could be heard. Ray tugged Káel down the last few steps, ripping him off an empty torch cage he'd latched onto as he shone his flashlight on an open black door.
The black door.
The possessed piece of wood ripped straight out of a haunted asylum.
Káel could feel the cobwebs again, struggling even more as the blood in his hand cut out with Ray's tightening squeeze that quickly escalated to a pinching pain.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! Let me go!" Káel screeched, kicking at Ray's legs for leverage in tearing loose. His face had already gone a strange, milky red as he intermittently held his breath for extra bursts of strength, all the while going cold as more blood drained from his face.
Ray didn't even flinch, strangely amused by Káel's blatant panic as he shone the painfully bright flashlight in his face. "Quit struggling, it's an adventure!" He playfully kicked the door fully open, dragging Káel into the small room as his light traveled along the mounds of dusty treasures and books with a gasp of awe.
Phantom and Ray were like a mirror, the two of them scouring the objects like excited children with little regard for the dead chill to the air. Káel on the other hand, gave up his struggles, the dreaded panic stealing his voice as Ray dragged him through the tiny space. Eventually, Ray stopped, his light haloing a scrap of plaid clothing sitting clean atop the mounds of dusty pages and snaking trails, his shoulders rising in cautious confusion as he glanced at Káel.
"Say... What's a piece of your uniform doing down here?"
Unlike the last time, the door swiftly closed and clicked, locking the group in a pitch black room with only Ray's flashlight to illuminate their surroundings.
Ray relaxed his grip on Káel's wrist, and looked around cautiously. "Rastastrill." An orb of light floated from his hand and rose to the ceiling, illuminating the entire room.
Káel ripped his wrist free, rubbing the waxy red imprints with a pained sigh as his eyes darted around the space, the lack of a towering shadow only escalating his panic. He quickly twisted on his heels, running to the dust crusted door and running his hands along its surface, his heart nestling into his stomach at the lack of a handle.
The two stood frozen in the eerily silent room, exchanging their looks of worry as they viewed the empty space.
"A breeze?" Ray whispered.
"No, there's something down here," Káel hissed, grabbing a cobwebbed sword off the ground, and wobbling unstably from the weight as he tried to hold it defensively. He could feel his necklace warming up, the rusted sword in his hands giving off a faint silver sheen that brightened past Ray's light simply touching its surface.
"Never been in this room before," Phantom cooed, ignoring the tense atmosphere, and leisurely viewing the objects around the room like he was on a shopping trip.
Ray stepped closer to Káel so he was almost back to back with him, tugging his goggles down and snapping out his baton with a static crackle. "What's that something?"
"Yes what is that something?" Phantom cooed mockingly.
"A big shadow..." Káel whispered, remembering how Vera couldn't see the thing, his gut wrenching when he imagined it being the same deal for Ray. "You might not be able to see it."
Ray pressed a couple buttons lining the side of his goggles, his gaze untraceable through the tinted lenses as he looked around. "Try me."
Káel watched his half of the room, a sinking dread hugging him as he popped his head around to stare at Ray's half, a pair of glowing white holes peeking through the wall with a toothy smile.
"There!" Káel yelled, pointing to the shadowy mass pulling itself through the wall. Phantom and Ray whipped their heads to the spot he was pointing at in perfect synchronization. "Do you see it?"
"Woah," Phantom said, backing away from the shadowy mass, while Puff let off a threateningly cute growl.
"No I don't, hold on and keep pointing at it," Ray said, toying with the side of his goggles as he frowned in frustration.
The shadow lifted its head to show off its spine chilling face, and slowly crawled towards Káel. Although his heart was racing out of pure dread, he continued to point at the thing with a shaky arm, while constantly looking at Ray and wondering what the heck he was trying to do. The shadow got so close he was forced to back up, but as he was doing so he stepped on a smooth sheet of metal that didn't feel attracted to his foot, ripping his balance away so he fell against a bookshelf and sent hoards of dust flying everywhere with the impact.
His necklace had become unbearably hot, and with his free hand he tore it off and threw it to his side. The shadow stopped for an eternity filled second and looked at where the necklace had fallen, then turned its attention back to him, its tendrilly mass pulling forwards with a wispy sigh. Puff leapt in its path, his soft white fur hardened into a coat of shimmering scales as he gave the creature a yipping growl, letting loose a bubble of a fireball when the shadow failed to stop.
The fire washed over its form, choked into snaking smoke by the cold and twisting drapes of blackness as it pressed onward, completely unfazed with its chilling smile holding strong.
"Got it!" Ray yelled, Káel's view of him blotted by dark tower a couple feet from him. "It's that big cold spot right in front of you right?"
"Hell if I know, but it's in front of me!" Káel yelled, scrambling to get to his feet and escape, but the shadow was already upon him, slowly stretching its bony arm to grab him.
Ray shot the spot with the weird gun he'd used on the chirops, but like Puff's ball of fire, it disintegrated within the black mass of oblivion.
"Okay... well that didn't work," Ray muttered, feeling his pockets for a weapon that could fight the untouchable.
Káel didn't have the luxury of thinking straight, swinging the heavy broadsword at it and successfully severing its arm. But his victory fell flat on its face when a cloud of blackness enveloped the wound and quickly reattached it. He let out a whimpering yelp, the sword clattering to the ground as he tried to crawl into the crammed shelf.
Ray kept his distance, still turning out his pockets for a weapon that clearly wasn't there. "Hold up, I might have something else."
"Wait! it's not trying to hurt you!" Phantom suddenly cut in.
"I have a hard time believing that!" Káel retorted, not even caring that Ray was standing there while he yelled at Phantom.
The shadow crouched down, its sharp and nimble fingers pricking Káel's back like a massive tarantula as it gently grabbed his wrist. The ice jolted right up his arm, freezing his heart as he struggled to get out leveled breaths in hyperventilating panic. His throat had completely seized, it's muscles strained past the point of talking, while his body relaxed in morbid defeat at the searing white gaze of the creature.
As the chill of expected death finally settled in, something strange happened.
Káel felt his arm lift, the creature bracing his other shoulder while it helped him to his feet.
Time started ticking again, the shadow standing rigidly still while Káel recovered enough to break its gaze and breath again. Its burning white eyes didn't move, its hands slowly slipping away and sitting limply at its sides as it continued to smile, the terrifying gesture still keeping Káel on his toes.
Ray bit his tongue while he studied Káel's strange and sudden silence, cautiously taking a step towards him. "Please tell me you're not possessed."
Káel didn't register Ray's statement, lifting his gaze to study the shadow's empty expression as it grabbed his hand and uncurled his fingers, dropping a small, warm object into his palm. He didn't drop his gaze to inspect the present until the shadow sighed a breath of icy air and slowly turned away, staring at the glossy white rock in his palm.
"It's a ghost that takes care of rooms," Phantom said, never failing to scare the crap out of Káel with his naturally loud voice. "Funny it took a liking to you, it's probably the one that opened the door the first time."
"Káááeeeeeeel?" Ray whispered, stepping back in escalating worry as his eyebrows furrowed.
He snapped his attention to Ray and sighed. "Never mind, it's not trying to kill me..." He glanced at the ghost as it mindlessly floated around, its gaze glued to the floor. "I think. How did you see it?"
"Heat vision." Ray tapped his goggles. He watched the cold blue blob of a ghost pick up Káel's necklace, then crawl over to the ugly overcoat of his old uniform and scoop it up. The ghost weakly shook the cobwebs and dirt off it then crawled back to Káel and handed his stuff to him, the necklace in its hands burning a vibrant red through his goggles. "Your necklace looks like a blob of fire."
He rolled the white rock in his palm, wondering if Ray saw a floating rock at least, it certainly hadn't seemed like it. There was a black flaw on the polished perfection, a simplistic crown deliberately carved to brand its origins. He looked at the shadow that stared at him unblinkingly, and dipped his head respectfully. "Thanks?"
Ray came up behind the creature and tried sticking his arm through it, only to retract it with a shudder. "Geez that's cold, way to give someone a pointless heart attack you stiff jerkbag." He pulled his goggles up, revealing a stern glare that he shot at the ghost. "I hate ghosts, especially when they don't show themselves." He watched Káel hold up the stone to get a better light on it, the natural curiosity burning in his golden eyes again. "Did it give that to you?"
Káel nodded, handing it to Ray for answers that stumped the cocky know-it-all as well.
"A Ceptrum?" Ray closed his palm around it and squeezed his eyes shut in concentration, but quickly opened them with an irritated frown. "Either it's dead, or it really doesn't want to have anything to do with me."
The shadow moved to the door, and stared at it until it clicked, and slowly swung open.
"Here." Ray tossed the small stone back to Káel and he caught it, looking again at the black symbol it bore.
Phantom leaned in over his shoulder to get a look for himself, and made Káel leap up in shock when he enthusiastically spoke up. "Hah! That's the symbol of Whitecrown! That's Zalius' old Ceptrum!"
"Whitecrown?" Káel muttered turning the small rock in his palm as his expression fell.
Was this rock cursed too?
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Next update:
5/21/2018