1.01 A Strangely Alive Artifact

I can still hear his laughter: the deranged laughter of a monster. It’s seared in my mind - his voice, his chilling touch, the feeling of his breath against my ear. Why had I gone with him? I can’t remember. I don’t think I went willingly. Why would I have? He wasn’t my Jack.

I shove the memories of laughter from my head and focus on my Jack instead. If I focus hard enough I can see his face. I can see the dirt smudged on his nose as he worked. What was he doing? I can’t remember. Why can’t I just remember those simple things? Jack’s lips are moving but I can’t hear him speak. I can’t even remember his voice.

I’d almost rather think about the crazed laughter of that monster then face the realization that I am losing the last pieces of Jack.

Why did it have to be so dark?

The monster had locked me in a room. Was it a room? I can’t remember anymore. It was dark and cold. I was hungry and tired. I’m not anymore. Perhaps I truly am dead.

No… there’s something. I can remember something. Think hard, I know I can think of something. I was wearing white. That’s significant. Why is that significant?

“You belong to me now.”

I never wanted to. I never had a choice.

My choice was always Jack. I belonged to my Jack, not to that monster.

Why do I feel as though Jack hates me now?

My biggest regret. I had said no. Why? What did I even say no to? Why can’t I remember? Please… all I want is to remember…

I just want to see Jack’s face again.

I want to tell him I love him.

I always will.

~~~~~~

Irena May, the Goddess of Knowledge, stood over the glass coffin with minor awe etched into her face. “Fascinating.” She whispered. Magic was radiating from the coffin as a woman slept soundly inside.

The magic definitely belonged to the God of Magic and Madness. That magic had a very unusual footprint to it - every magic had a distinct footprint in a way, but the original footprint, the original magics always stuck out more than most others.

She could sense another god’s presence as she turned to look at the opening of the rock that she had carved out. His eyes were on her skeptically and his arms were crossed.

“Taelagor, it’s good to see you.” Irena spoke levelly.

Taelagor, the mute God of Elements, stood and continued to look cross with her. He was incapable of speaking normally, but he could do so telepathically. His voice entered Irena’s head with her permission. “You do not belong here. This area is under my protection.”

“I got your permission earlier, do you not remember, Taelagor?” Irena responded fluidly. She could easily respond back in his head, but she liked to make everyone in the room aware of the conversation. Everything needed to be recorded, after all. That’s what her library was for in the first place.

“You were looking for an artifact. A woman does not count as an artifact.” His voice came back strongly. “Any people in this area are under my jurisdiction.”

“Yes, of course, Taelagor.” Irena nodded smoothly. “She has a great deal of magic over her, however, and I’m simply here to take a look at her for historical documentation purposes. I would never wish to overstep your boundaries.”

Taelagor’s skin slowly changed color from red to white and he looked caught off-guard. Irena smiled at him warmly, knowing of his crush on her and hoping he wouldn’t kick up a fuss as she took the woman in the coffin back for examination at the library. He shifted and finally nodded. “I thank you for your understanding.”

“I would like to see if I can break some of the magic that’s surrounding her coffin. As things stand, I cannot transport, or even study, her until some of the magic that’s holding her is broken.” She turned to look back at the coffin intently.

She hadn’t realized her poor word-choice until Taelagor’s skin turned back red and he glared. “Transported? No. You will not transport her anywhere.”

“I cannot study her in these conditions, Taelagor.” Irena fired back.

“She is under my jurisdiction. You will not be taking her anywhere.” He was growing impatient and Irena was as well. If she didn’t step carefully she could accidentally draw a line and start a war between herself and him. She would much rather not fight a war in the coming months. The magic around this coffin may not last forever now that it’s been exposed and she would hate to miss the chance to study it.

The woman could also die in the process of it, which would be a shame too. “I gained your permission to search in this area and take what I find for my studies. I’ve searched the area - found this…” She gestured to the coffin and woman, unsure of what to call the combination of the two at this point. “...Magical oddity… and now I will be taking it back with me as a part of our agreement.”

“We talked about artifacts - a woman is not an artifact, Irena.” Taelagor stepped forward, his gaze unwavering.

Ah, Taelagor, Irena thought idly, he always had such a limited view on magic and knowledge. What is this woman but an artifact of history and magic itself? Irena turned to Stein next to her. “Please return to the library and pull the transcripts on the conversation between Taelagor and myself when we started this expedition. Thank you.”

Taelagor was showing more unrest and he clenched his fist. “She’s. Not. Going. Anywhere.”

“Taelagor, please, I-”

Clapping erupted along with laughter and it interrupted her thought. She and Taelagor turned towards the source, and from the darkness of the cave strode the man of many of Irena’s headaches: the God of Magic and Madness, Majnun Keeper. Just his presence alone made her highly uneasy.
Years had passed since his stupid son had gone meddling where he shouldn't in her Library, causing his father to threatened to burn the Library to the ground with what he found.
No one understood her research, and she was tired of explaining it to the others. That's why she was here - she needed all the information she could get on him as leverage to keep him away from her research.

“What a fantastic show! I should’ve brought my popcorn!” He laughed as his voice slid up and down in pitch, yet she could hear the menacing behind it. “Oh-ho? What’s this? Happy birthday, young watermelon!” He rubbed his hands together as he looked down at the coffin. He reached down and touched the side of the coffin, causing the magic in the air around it to swirl and react to his touch.

Irena’s eyes went wide. “Majnun!” She scolded through gritted teeth. If he wasn't the strongest god in the pantheon, she would've strangled him to death by now. “You’re messing with an artifact that I need to study!”

“Tiptip. That’s a strangely alive artifact you’ve got on your hands, Smarty-Pants McBook-Nook.” He touched the coffin again and tipped his head, staring at the woman curiously. “Now that’s some interesting magic.”

Irena scowled, unable to resist. “You should know… it’s your magic, you stupid clown.”

Majnun jumped back and hissed like a cat. “MY magic?” His voice was high pitched and finally dropped low and threatening. “Oh no… this is not my doing, Smarty-Pants.”

“This is your magic! Look! It’s got you written all over it, down to the clashing hair color!” Irena pointed. “I know you’re not stupid enough to not tell your own magic.”

Majnun turned around and began talking to the air behind him in hushed tones. Irena could barely make out his ridiculous conversation, but she knew none of it would make sense anyways. “She thinks she’s all that because the purple hydrangeas are agreeing with her! Hydrangeas never have anything nice to say! Oh no! Don’t you dare start to imply that.” He paused and stomped his foot. “Take that back about my mother!”

“Majnun!” Irena growled.

He spun around with a look like a deer-in-headlights. “Ah, right! That’s not my magic.” He pointed and shrugged. “End of story.”

“Mhm.” Irena’s tone reflected disbelief. “Of course it’s not.”

“Well it’s not!” Majnun crossed his arms and looked away.

Stein wandered in from outside the cavern - he hadn’t teleported in for fear of disrupting the delicate magic placed on the coffin. “Madame, I have the transcripts.” He handed her a tome.

“Thank you, Stein.” Irena nodded. “Now, if you would please prepare the interrupters? I want to prepare myself and start studying the magic on the coffin. We need to figure out how delicate it is and if it can be moved or not. This will be a slow process but I think-” She broke off in a scream as she turned and saw Majnun standing on top of the glass coffin, looking down into it. “MAJNUN, GET DOWN FROM THERE THIS INSTANT!”

Taelagor was next to her, giving him the same horrified look.

“Do you honestly think this my handiwork, Smarty-Pants? Honestly?” He grumbled and shook his head. “I wouldn’t have chosen pink for her haircolor. I would’ve done green. Bright, lime green. Ooh! No, orange!” He paused and put his finger on his chin. “Or would that be too plain?”

“MAJNUN!” Irena wailed. “GET. DOWN. NOW!”

Majnun clucked and rolled his eyes. “Majnun do this, Majnun don’t do that. Majnun don’t you know your own magic? Yes. Of course I know my own magic.” He walked along the top of the open coffin slowly. He prepared himself to jump down when he instead crouched and peered at the woman’s face.

“Yellow hair. I would’ve done yellow hair. And not the blond kind, but the bright color yellow. Like a yellow snow-cone. Ew, wait, they don’t make those, do they?”

Irena slowly closed her fist. She felt like she would burst if she had to watch this disgusting display any longer. “Majnun, I swear by every power that I have that if you don’t get down right-”

“Yeah, yeah. Blah-dy-blah-blah… TURKEY! Twisted. Yapping! Ah-haha!” He began laughing maniacally as he fell, face first, off the coffin and onto the ground next to it.

Irena physically eased before she turned to look at Taelagor. “This is why I need to move her out of this cavern. Please tell me you’re done being stubborn with me today?”

“What-chya doing there, parsnipal?” Majnun talked loudly to Stein and it drowned out Taelagor’s response to her question. She glared at Majnun.

“We’re going to set up interrupters so that way we can study the magic that’s encasing the woman without actually breaking any of the wards that are on her.” Stein responded back with careful wording. He loved getting to use his knowledge and show it off. “It allows us to view each ward individually without breaking any of them.”

Majnun snored then as his head bobbed. He jolted suddenly and shook his head. “Yawn.” He smacked Stein upside the head. “I’m the God of Magic. I know what interrupters do.” Majnun approached the coffin again and stared at the woman inside.

Stein, not being deterred, spoke again. “She’s kind of pretty, isn’t she? She reminds me of a doll. I wonder who she was?” He carefully switched the interrupter on before standing.

Majnun pursed his lips and shrugged. “Only one way to find out.” He reached over suddenly, his hands charged with magic, and smashed his hands onto the woman’s chest and stomach. Her whole body jolted with electricity and Majnun could hear Irena wailing and screaming behind him.

~~~~~~

< Previous Chapter | Chapter List | Next Chapter >