Monsters and Men

When The World's At Stake

When the world's at stake / There are lives to save

~~~

Justin stirs a little at the voice, trying to say something. James is here! That means he might be safe! For a bit. He's out of the firing range, at least. He can hear Squid enter and start talking, even if everything is quite blurry.

"No kidding, dude. Hold on, I have all the potions around here..."

Potions! How'd they get their hands on those? Where'd they even get them, anyways? There were no brewing stands or blazes anywhere.

Something fills his mouth. Tastes like strawberry and has a slight tang to it, it's quite a relieving tang too. He does his best to gulp down the substance in his mouth and it immediately causes a cooling sensation to his throbbing head, making his headache subside. He blinks a few times as the effects of the drink set in, and his vision becomes clearer as his breathing becomes slower and regulated. He can see James looking worried above him, still with his mask covering his face. Squid isn't in his area of vision, but he can hear someone rummaging through a chest.

Justin goes to speak, ignoring his voice cracking.

"James? Wh-what's going on?"

James' face lights up and he quickly pulls down his mask, showing the fact he's smiling quite wide.

"Oh, Justin, you're alright! Thank god, I was so worried you were going to die or something, we heard an explosion and immediately ran down to find you-"

"James, buddy, calm down!" Justin laughs. "I'm alright, I'm alright." He attempts to sit up but immediately falls back to the ground due to a load of pain shooting through his back. He groans. "Ow..."

"Here." That's Squid! He runs around and gives Justin a red potion. Justin tightens his grip on it and pops off the cork before downing it. That same taste of tangy strawberries fills his mouth, that must've been the potion from earlier. Healing. That explains why it cleared his headache immediately. A soothing feeling enters his arm and back, and he manages to sit up against a wall. He looks up to James and Squid.

"Right, should I explain what happened?"

"Please - what got you so beat up?" James asks, concerned.

"Threw me up against the wall - I swear, he could have broken my back. Got rid of the pillagers and tried to kill me himself. I don't know why, just wanted to see me suffer, I guess? But then suddenly he pushes me against the wall and tries to get me to join him, or something. Saying that I could have unlimited power and could see Dan again."

Squid snorts slightly. "Power, eh? Of course that's the thing he uses to tempt you."

Think glares at Squid before continuing.

"I said no, obviously. Then he threw me through the wall. I...think I hit my head, I'm not sure what happened."

James sighs and shakes his head. "Getting thrown at and then through a wall. Must've hurt like hell."

"It did, I could barely move if I'm being honest." Justin sighs. "I'm surprised I didn't break any bones."

"Me too, honestly." Squid comments. "Anyways, we're in the hidden top floor."

Justin raises his eyebrow, intrigued. "I was about to ask."

"Yeah, it's a really nice library. Doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the mansion at all."

Justin looks around. Other than what the boys have changed, it's so neat. It's got a warm and comforting aura. Compared to the threats the rest of this place gives out...it feels like home.

"It doesn't, does it?" Justin comments, trying not to be overwhelmed with wonder. "Feels cliché, as if we're in the safe space of the terror home in a book for something." Squid quips.

"Except it's actually real life. Bet we'll find something important here." Justin chuckles slightly. He then stands up feeling thoroughly regenerated and he leans against the wall behind him, crossing his arms. "Well, other than making potions, what did you boys do when I was being beaten to death?"

James rambles slightly. "Well, we went through this library. I was getting a good feeling about one of the books and looked into it, and I think I-"

"We." Squid clarifies.

"Right. We know what happened to Dan. He's been possessed."

Justin blinks, before slapping his forehead. Why didn't he think of that before?

"I see you're aware of the connotations of that." James scratches the back of his head, clearly slightly tense. "But yeah. He's possessed by the vex. Not sure how or why he made a deal with them, but..."

Okay, now that statement was confusing. Maybe even laughable. Vex aren't the threat, are they?

"The vex? Those tiny little angry blue birds? Little death mosquitoes? They're the ones that possessed Dan?" Justin tries his best to stay serious, but honestly the idea is stupid, and he ends up laughing a little.

Squid wheezes. "Death mosquitoes?"

"Yes, yes, the death mosquitoes." James says, trying to stay the voice of reason but smiling. "Either way, yes, they're the ones who possessed him. Read these."

James shoves two books into Justin's arms and he opens them to certain pages. Justin skims over the text, and is thoroughly taken aback by what he's reading. Well then, that wasn't expected. Those little flying things actually are a threat. He was unaware of that. He takes note of the pictures of the people defeating the vex, but nothing really seems useful.

"Hey, how come one of them looks like Dan?" He asks.

"Honestly? No idea. Might be related, might not." James shrugs.

Justin sighs before giving the books back to him. "There's nothing useful in there, it's nothing that's possible for us to act upon anyways." James looks away and pulls up his mask. It really does feel hopeless, if the majority of the ways vex were defeated are impossible. He's got one last idea, though.

"Were there any other books related to the topic?" He asks.

"Right, yeah!" Squid says, remembering something. "There's a few here. The top one's written in enchanting table language, though. You know that language, right?"

Justin's interested. "Not amazingly, but I can try."

Squid nods and hands the book to Justin, and he has a look at it. Blank on the cover and back. Yet, it grabs at him, and he opens it up, looking at the first page.

"The first letter I think is a T...agh?"

Something blinds his vision and appears in his face.

"The fact you're seeing this means you've unlocked your abilities." 

~~~

:)  Not sorry.