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20. History Sucks: The Reprise

Are you colorblind, my dear readers?

TW: swearing, talk of war, talk of magic, talk of evil, mention of stillborns,

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A few days later, Janus was still trying to go through the two history books. Half of the material was so dry and boring that he would fall asleep while reading it, which was extremely dangerous. He couldn't get caught in here. He left only to eat and sleep, and then he would be back to reading. There were only four more days for him to figure out what was going on. His week was almost up, and then he'd have to be memory wiped. Janus could only hope he'd figure out what was going on before then.

He flipped the page, pausing when he saw the title of the next chapter. It was all about the war. There was a beautiful yet awful sketch of one of the battles, with two people fighting side by side. They looked eerily similar, but the one was definitely Maleficent.

"What the hell," Janus muttered. His eyes widened as he went through the text. Maleficent had a sister. A twin, in fact. They had been extremely close for years, but the war had driven them apart. Her name had been Madrina. Her magic had been so powerful that it had driven her insane. She was unnecessarily cruel and dangerous, ripping apart anyone in her way, no matter what side they were on. There had been rumors that someone had tried to force her magic out of her body, ripping her mind in two. Her morality and sanity crumbled, leaving just the darkness behind. She had been pregnant before the war, but no one knew what happened to the child. There were also rumors that it was a stillborn, and the grief drove her over the edge.

In the last days of the battle, Madrina had turned on everyone, going completely insane. She became increasingly paranoid that something would happen to her, even going as far as secluding herself away from everyone. In the end, both sides of the war had banded together to take her down. The final fight was on the summer solstice, when magic was the strongest. Madrina's magic had become so strong that it burned away her mortal body, leaving only the magic and darkness behind.

Madrina was able to be subdued and put to sleep, locked away where no one could find her. The island was created as her prison, with no magic that could be used. One side decided to stay on the island as well, to guard Madrina's prison and make sure she could never return again. The other side would stay on the mainland. Together they created a different version of the truth, deciding to cut Madrina out of history completely.

Janus stared at the pages in shock. That was the last of any information about what had happened to Madrina. His mind couldn't wrap around everything he had read. Maleficent had a twin, who not only was extremely evil, but also imprisoned on the isle. Which meant...

He shot up, quickly putting the books back as he shifted. He climbed slithered up onto the top of the bookshelves, pressing himself against the wall. It was just in time, too. Right as Janus was fully hidden, someone stormed into the room. They were moving quickly and methodically, scanning the room for something. Then they left just as fast, leaving him alone once again.

He waited for awhile to make sure they wouldn't be back. When he was sure he was alone, Janus slithered down to the ground and shifted back. He looked at the shelf and his heart dropped. The two history books were gone, meaning they had been stolen. No one who was up to any good would've been moving that quickly.

Janus shifted into the snake form again, slithering out of the room and past the border. He would have to tell Virgil about this. Everything was too strange and convenient. It couldn't be a coincidence that this happened all at the same time. Something was coming soon.

Once he was out of the border he shifted back, quickly and carefully walking out of the library. He couldn't get caught now. He couldn't get caught. He had to tell Virgil.

"Where are you going, little snake?"

725 words.