APRICITY // technoblade x reader DISCONTINUED

11 - Research and Realizations

When you and Techno enter the library once more, you can see Phil with one wing wrapped around a dark-haired woman, books and papers full of notes are spread across the table. They both look up when they hear you and Techno enter.

"Ah, Y/n! This is Kristin, my wife."

Kristin waves. "Hello." Now that she's facing you, you can see her better, and you notice the flowers tucked into her dark curls. The tips of her fingers fade into a soft sage-green, like they've been dipped in ink, and her dark hair fades to the same sage hue.

She looks soft and ethereal and kind, and Phil is looking at her with such love and admiration in his eyes that your smile is wide and genuine as you greet her. "I've heard about you from these two, so it's nice to officially meet you."

Kristin laughs, bright as birdsong. "Only good things, I hope."

"Of course, I don't think either of them could speak a word against you if they tried." You settle into the chair across from Kristin, and Techno slumps into the one beside you.

Phil leans forward, folding his hands together on the table. "Now that introductions are done, we were talking some more about the magic in the vault."

Your expression turns serious as he continues.

"The magic is definitely of sorcerer class, and the sorcerer would need to be of at least Magisterium caliber, if not higher. But that's not the main problem: the main problem is why they needed that sigil to make the grimoire turn into a Malefict."

You hum, tapping at the table as you think. "And why was the director killed there? Even if she were the one to release the grimoire or set off the sigil, why would she have been killed? There are no people within the library that I know of that would want the director dead." You pause for a moment, looking down at the wood of the table beneath your fingertips. "I don't know if I mentioned this before, but he was killed using her own sword. My sword, now, actually."

You unclip the scabbard from your belt, laying the rapier on the table. The silver crossguard and pommel gleam in the light, and the inlaid rubies almost seem to glow.

"I don't think that the sword itself has any significance, but I think that the fact that she was killed with the sword instead of by the Malefict does."

Techno drums his fingertips on the table, the pattern repeating as he thinks. You pace, wandering in figure-eight until you come back to face the table. "She was killed by her own sword, but nobody else could have gotten into the vault before her.... she had the only key."

"She had the...." Techno mutters, thinking aloud, and then you see his head snap up. "Phil. How powerful can magical influence be?"

Phil's brow furrows even deeper. "What? That would be practically impossible. Unless you could...."

Phil stands abruptly and jogs to one of the bookshelves, ducking around a corner and stretching for the top shelf. You follow, watching as he runs his fingers across the spines. He murmurs under his breath until his fingers pause and he slides out a tome with an air of satisfaction. Kristin and Techno appear behind you, looking curiously at Phil as well.

"Stacking sigils could happen, if the inlay is made out of two different materials," he says, flipping through the pages. He skims through the text until he finally finds the correct passage, tracing a finger along the inked words.

"Lapis and redstone are both compatible and independent," he reads. "When formed into two separate sigils, they can be stacked together to create a series of magic, with one igniting first and consecutively triggering the other."

"That means that we have no idea how powerful a sorcerer would need to be to create that charm. Quite honestly, charm magic that powerful would likely inform bardic influence," Techno muses. "Do you know when Wilbur's getting home?"

Techno had told you about Wilbur, his adoptive twin with a gift for music and a flair for the dramatic.

"He said tomorrow morning, pretty early I think as well. We should probably head off to bed after just a bit more reading, speakin' of the hour."

Techno nods his agreement, and you do as well. "Yeah, I'm getting pretty tired, so I don't know how much longer I'll be able to focus," you say.

"Well, let's make the most of that time, then," Phil says, and you each select a book from the stacks on the table to begin reading.

Before long, you can feel yourself beginning to doze, the words swimming in front of your eyes as your eyelids begin to grow heavier and heavier.

You keep pushing, though, not wanting to seem lazy or too needy, but eventually you lose the battle, tilting your head sideways as you fall asleep. It rests on something that isn't your chair, but you're too exhausted to care.

Your sleep is surprisingly restful, but you jolt into a half-awake state for a moment in the middle. You hear faint voices, feeling one of them more than hearing it, and you become aware of an arm behind your knees and a shoulder beneath your head.

"....asleep on my shoulder. I'll just lay her in bed, that should be more comfortable than a wooden chair. Goodnight, Philza, goodnight, Kristin."

The gentle rumble of Techno's deep voice calms you enough to slide back into a deeper sleep, only drifting closer to the surface when you feel yourself being gently laid onto your bed. Gentle, hands tuck a soft blanket around you, and you pull it closer as you snuggle into your pillows. You feel a strand of hair delicately brushed out of your eyes, and soft footsteps fade away from you. As you begin to dip back into sleep once more, you faintly register reaching for the phantom warmth that is no longer beside you. Techno makes a muffled noise from the door, but you're already slipping into unconsciousness as you hear him click the door shut.