The heavy doors drew open to nothing but silence once more. The echoing of the doors slamming shut behind him only made his resonating footsteps become more apparent as he made his way into the living room, the narrow corridor lit by the yellow glow of the lanterns providing an unwelcoming entrance. The arched ceiling made the space feel a lot less claustrophobic, at least.  There was no one waiting for him, as he usually expected. Although the room had been well decorated with warm hues, it felt incredibly spacious and lonely without any visitors. Not to mention cold.

Elais returned to the library and noticed Yura sitting at the same table as she had before he left, her eyes still heavily fixated on the ‘Mr Red Foxy’ book he had given to her earlier. 

‘What have you been up to, young lady?’ he asked, looking over Yura’s shoulder. He was unsure if she had heard him enter the room, with how focused she was with her reading, her eyes never leaving the book.

Yura looked up from the book, and showed him the pages she was currently reading. The pages depicted a fox who appeared dejected whilst trying to sell some pastries on a street in which everyone that walked past had ignored him completely. “I can understand Mr Foxy’s feelings.. He’s so lonely. No one wants his handmade pastries even though they’re so cute and purple,” she responded. “I wish I could be his friend,” she said, almost whispering.

Elais propped the newly-purchased books onto the table in two stacks, readying to sort them as a part of his collection. “These are for you.”

Her face lit up immediately, thanking him before immediately starting to read the book sitting at the top of the pile, setting ‘Mr Red Foxy’ aside.

Elais analysed the nearby surroundings, looking around for any signs of disturbance. There was no indication of damage to be seen, or any traces of magic that had been used. Everything was set as he had left it, nothing even slightly shifted. Perhaps lending her a book to read was worth the damage control. 

Elais returned to where Yura had been sitting, reading a different book from when he last saw her. There were already two of the new books stacked on top of where she put aside ‘Mr Red Foxy’ on the table, much to his surprise. Even Elais himself couldn’t read at such a pace. He looked over her shoulder, noticing that she wasn’t particularly reading the actual text of the books he’d brought her, rather she was scanning the images instead and feeling the pages with every turn. “Yura.. do you know how to read.. At all?”

She turned to face him and shook her head in response. “I was never taught. I tried to learn how to myself, but it’s too difficult, especially since books aren’t easy to find in the ruins.” 

Elais sighed deeply. “Ah..I can teach you, right now. Since you’re not able to leave outside, we may as well until we figure out your powers.” He suspected that if her powers couldn’t be commanded, they could at least wait for it to activate in a variety of scenarios. Perhaps, reading could help trigger her powers through acquiring knowledge. It was a fairly simple idea, but one that was beneficial in the long run. 

Yura was elated at hearing his words, her eagerness reminding him of Adrienne bugging him to find her at their first meeting. The main difference was that he found Adrienne incredibly annoying, whereas Yura had genuine excitement to learn and cooperate in general, which was much more tolerable for him. 

“Wait.. so Mr Foxy’s pastries were filled with poison? So that’s why no one bought them. But why didn’t anyone tell him about them then?” Yura asked, rather disappointed by her newfound understanding of the story.

“The moral is to not trust everyone you meet, even if they appear to be kind,” Elais responded. The disappointment in Yura’s face only grew, almost appearing comical with her large frown. “Their intentions can be hidden with a kind face,” he explained, holding back the urge to laugh at the sight.

Yura yawned, unable to fight her weariness and nodded off onto his shoulder. He was surprised at how quick she took in learning the alphabet, despite never learning how to read. There was some odd yet familiar satisfaction that he hadn’t felt in a while, which he brushed off briefly. He carried her up the steep stone stairs on the side of the living room, and into the bedroom just above the library. It had a large soft bed with plenty of pillows, with a thick layer of dust on the wooden vanity table. He noted to himself to tidy up the room for her the next day. He tucked her into bed and gently shut the door behind him, and left for his study room within the library to conduct his own research. 

The dim lighting of the desk lantern provided a cozy atmosphere in the still night. Elais started by picking out a couple of history books and memoirs that mentioned any form of civil war that occured within the country. Despite the age of his collection, most of his books were in pristine condition and didn’t require dusting, and were perfectly bound much to his liking. He started delving into the past history of civil wars that had occured throughout time, but none of them mentioned sorcerers specifically or any form of newfound magic. Not only did he need to find a sorcerer, he needed to learn the cult’s end goal.

After many hours of research,  he was unable to find any traces of information as the witch had warned much to his frustration, despite the large archives of knowledge he owned. After much deliberation, he made the decision to call Adrienne, much to his annoyance. He avoided socialising whenever possible, and she was the only one he could rely on for information currently.

“Hell-oooooo-o” Adrienne responded with an upbeat cheer.

Elais groaned in response. He was not mentally ready for a phone call, being the first he’s had to make in many years. At the very least, he was now certain that the phone still worked after all that time. “Adrienne, I’m calling as I need your assistance about the civil wars you mentioned. Apparently there’s cult involvement as well, but I can’t find a single thing on either.”

Adrienne chuckled. “Ahh, you see Elais, you’ve been living under a rock for so long you wouldn’t have known if it weren’t for Yura. A lot of the civil war history has been censored due to fears of possibly causing mass hysteria,” she explained, twirling the phone cord with her pinkie. ‘That goes the same for the cults - to protect the magic users of society, only it didn’t go that well. Society ended up damning them to the point that they were forced to go into hiding. Their presence alone became too overwhelming for many.’

Elais turned to a new page in his notebook, fidgeting with his black fountain pen with a golden nib that had his name written in an elegant cursive font engraved on it.”So how long exactly have these issues been going on for?” Elais inquired, the fountain pen spinning around in his fingers.

“Erm, about 300 or so odd years, roughly when the new dark magic was discovered,” Adrienne responded. She flicked through her notes loud enough for Elais to hear on the other end. “The civil wars happened as the new dark magic became a heated debate on whether it should be integrated into everyday life. It was introduced a while ago, but sorcerers insisted on its use to further magical advancements to enhance our daily lives. Most of society shunned them due to its dangerous potential, as my family had, leaving the sorcerers with no choice but to go into hiding.”

Elais dipped his pen in ink, transcribing her words as she spoke. “Would Yura’s magic be directly correlated to either the cults or the civil war?” Elais asked. He didn’t quite understand the link to either, as there was no evidence to suggest it.

“I’m not 100% certain, since I’m still figuring out said magic. Been doing so my entire life,” she replied. She heard Elais sigh on the other end. “You can drop by anytime to discuss it further. I’m just afraid of dispensing too much confidential information through the phone.”

“Thanks. I will,” Elais responded, about to hang up the call when Adrienne cut in.

“-Have you found anything with Yura in the meantime?” she asked, with contained excitement.

“Not quite. Not even witches are aware of this magical phenomenon,” Elais responded. “Do you know much about the cults themselves?”

There was a brief pause, and the sound of tapping against a hardcover book. “I’ve been investigating them, trying to track them down for a while now, actually. They’ve gone off the grid, so it’s been difficult,” Adrienne said. “They have a wealth of information that I’ve been trying to access for a while now.”

“Right. So you mentioned that the civil wars were happening over dark magic that has potential to change how life itself works. If they hypothetically were able to achieve success in transcending the natural order of life, what exactly would the end goal be?” Elais inquired, jotting down a variety of theories that came to mind. “If immortality was it, I don’t think that’s the case. It’s been 300 years and there’s no other known immortals other than myself.” 

“Hm.. I don’t know. I do believe Yura is involved, considering the amount of people risking their lives to find her,” she replied, twirling the ends of her hair. “If they knew immortality was possible, perhaps they’ve advanced to other plans we can’t comprehend.”

He noted down her theory, and a thought occurred to him.”I do find it peculiar that in 300 years with said magic, no real big development or incident has occurred.” Elais said. “Speaking about the cult activity, I was wondering if you had any information you could pass over to me. It’s difficult to look into it further otherwise.”

She exhaled, and briefly paused. “Unfortunately I don’t, since it’s too dangerous to keep that information on record,” Adrienne responded. “Whenever you come next, I’ll have it out for you.”

Elais thanked Adrienne before hanging up. 

 ***

Elais submerged himself into the warmth of the oversized bathtub that sank into the cold floor, staring at the ceiling as the water became tainted red with blood that spilled from his deeply slashed wrists. He felt that the investigation was meeting deadends before it even began, and he had the extra burden of taking care of a girl in bid of undoing his immortality, in which her connection to it wasn’t even guaranteed, nor was resolving his eternal dilemma. He closed his eyes briefly, taking in the warmth of the water which felt like a warm hug - something he had not received in centuries.

 I wish I could see you again. 

He opened his eyes, and stared at the empty white ceiling. Although there was nothing to see, it provided comfort in an odd way.

..Though I know you wouldn’t want to see me as pathetic as I am right now.

He thought to himself whether Adrienne was bluffing in helping her find Yura to begin with, but he hadn’t found progress himself in the past 700 years in undoing his immortality. It was definitely not something he would have considered taking up if there wasn’t any chance it’d benefit him in the matter. Elais exhaled and attempted to brainstorm with the current intel he could mentally recall from his call with Adrienne, until -

A violent intrusive memory shook him from his thoughts. 

He woke up in an unfamiliar place, his body tied down on a cold stone table from the neck down. The bright light above him blinded him through the blindfold, barely able to make out the shadow looming over his body. And right as he started regaining his consciousness, he was brutally knocked out, one beating after another, the ringing of each hit guiding him back into the darkness.

It couldn’t have been magic; magic alone could not have hurt him like that.