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28. The Book

We're getting so freaking close to a part that I'm so ready for, and god none of you are going to expect this twist

TW: swearing, talk of death,

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"Hey Patton, come here a minute!" Logan called out. The two had been searching for hours, but still had come up with nothing. The sun would be going down soon, making the ruins even more dangerous, and it would also make their parents wonder where they were. The less inconspicious they were the better, and taking a bunch of time wouldn't be inconspicious.

"Did you find something?" Patton asked, carefully making his way over to where Logan was. Even though this part of the ruins wasn't very damaged they still needed to be careful. With something as old as this they couldn't be sure that nothing would be loose even if it looked stable.

"I think so," Logan said. "I just need you to help me for a second. See this little notch in the shelf right here? I think it's a hand hold to open a secret door. It's hard to see if you just glance over the shelf, but this part looks slightly different. It could be fake marble to make it lighter, and that would let there be a door here that could open easily. But it still might take two people to open it."

The two stood side by side, each putting their hands into the small notch and pulling. There was barely enough space for both of their hands, and the shelf was heavy from the amount of books on it, but finally a part of the shelf seperated from the rest and started to swing open. The door clearly wasn't made of marble, or it would've been impossible to get open with the amount of books there was, but it was still quite heavy.

Finally they managed to heave it all of the way open, revealing a small compartment inlaid in the back of the bookshelf. Inside of the compartment was a small, unassuming book. It had a black leather cover, and was bound with the same leather. Logan reached out and gently grabbed it, trying to be careful just in case the book would start to crumble when he touched it.

However, the book was in surprisingly good condition. There was no damage whatsoever. When Logan opened its cover, he noticed the ink was as bold as if it had been written just minutes before. It also had a strange gleam to it when it caught in the light, almost like it wasn't yet dry.

"Magic," Logan said quietly. "It has to be magic. There's no way that this book survived this long and isn't damaged in any way. The ink isn't even faded. What the hell is so important that it's kept in a magic book?" Patton glanced at the shimmering words.

"Maybe we should find out."

~

"For heaven's sake, let me take a break," Virgil huffed, dropping onto the soft grass of the clearing. There were now five days left until the solstice, and Janus was making everyone practice whatever they could at every moment they could. They couldn't afford to be unprepared. "I've been practicing this same change for the past two hours, I need to take a break."

"If there's a fight you won't be able to take a break," Janus pointed out.

"If there's a fight I won't have any energy left by the time it happens," Virgil deadpanned. "Plus, I'll have addrenaline in a fight. There's no point in practicing something a million times."

"The change needs to be second nature," Janus said. "You can't be caught unaware."

"Janus, I get why I'm doing this, but at this point it won't get better than this," Virgil said gently. "And I know you're worried and that you just want to be useful, but you are being useful. I'm not saying that this training is pointless. I'm just saying that I need a break."

"You're right... I just don't want to feel helpless." Janus sighed, sitting on the ground as well. "All of this is happening so fast. When did we even decide to ditch the making me forget all of this thing?"

"I think it was just an unspoken agreement," Virgil said with a shrug. "It doesn't matter anyway. Life comes quickly always. This is just the first time we've really noticed it happening."

"Yeah..." Janus glanced over at where Roman and Remus were laughing and practicing sword fighting. "I'm glad those two get along."

"They're twins. There really wasn't a chance that they wouldn't get along."

"Are you going to be alright with all of this?"

"What do you mean?" Janus gave Virgil a knowing look.

"I see your eyes everytime you look at Remus. You can't forget it, can you?"

"Of course I can't forget it," Virgil muttered. "He pushed him into the water, Janus. Even if he didn't know, he could've killed Roman. I can't just forget that. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forget how Roman looked writhing in pain."

"Are you sure this is even about what Remus did, or are you mad at yourself for not being able to protect Roman from that?" Janus asked quietly.

"I don't know," Virgil admitted.

"And when are you going to admit you have feelings for Roman?"

"Not now," Virgil said. "There's too much going on right now. I'm not going to stress Roman out by adding more onto all of this. I'll wait until there's time to breathe."

"Just don't wait until it's too late," Janus said. "I can tell that he likes you, too. Go for it before everything gets ripped away from us. You said it yourself. Life moves quickly. Don't let it catch up before you've told him."

"I know... I'll tell him at some point. But I won't stress him out with this right now."

"You're really going to risk waiting right now?"

"For Roman? Of course."

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"So do I."

1011 words.