The Borrower and the Fairy Prince

Chapter 32: "I Don't Need Sleep, I Need Answers!"

Logan sighed as he pulled out another scroll. His arms were full of them as he brought them to the table that he and his mother were using.

It had been two days since Virgil was cursed, and his condition was only getting worse. Roman refuses to leave his side, practically living in the infirmary. They all hated to think about what the prince would do if Virgil didn't make it.

So, Logan and his mother stayed in the library trying to find something to help. If fairy magic can't help him, then maybe something else could?

"Have you found anything?" Logan asked his mother as he sat down across from her.

"No, only the same things. Corruption spell, no cure, fairies can't help, spreading, pain, death. Everything about this curse in here all says the same thing!" Annabelle sighed, "I'm afraid I don't think we can help him."

"We have to, Roman cares too deeply for him. If we stop now, and Virgil doesn't make it, well... I doubt Roman would ever forgive us. I don't think I would forgive myself."

Annabelle took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "What if we don't have the answers?"

"We have to keep searching. We're doing our part to help out." Logan opened another scroll, keeping his other hand ready to write anything useful down in his journal.

"I just can't believe Ignis would do this. I could see Magnis doing this, but Ignis! Actually, even Magnis wouldn't be so stupid as to use dark magic! I thought Ignis was too smart to stoop so low! Dark magic is forbidden for a reason!"

"I remember. I know our history, how dark magic had corrupted and destroyed us in the past."

It was the most tragic part of their history. According to the old scrolls, well the ones that had survived, fairies used to be powerful. They had reached far and wide, exploring the world.

Then they discovered dark magic, and it was revolutionary at first. Every fairy was able to use it, except those who didn't have their own magic. The spells were powerful, and all so different.

But the dark magic tainted them, it destroyed their own magic and turned their wings and eyes black. It became an addiction, and it slowly destroyed them. Only a few never used it, those few were the ones to survive.

They had destroyed everything on dark magic, it was deemed evil and was outlawed. Apparently not everything on dark magic was destroyed though. Logan wondered if there was any other old scripture on dark magic anywhere.

He frowned as he pushed the thoughts away. He couldn't concern himself with that now, he had to help Virgil. Even if he can just find something to fight against it...

Logan rolled up and pushed away a scroll that was useless and grabbed another, this one being much older and torn in half. The moment he unrolled it, his eyes widened. Against the beige color of the scroll, the ink used seemed to be white and gray. He had never seen something like this before.

He read on, hoping that this scroll would have some answers. He skipped past titles for parts that wouldn't help, and read everything that mentioned healing or curses.

Logan held his breath when he saw the corruption curse being brought up. The scroll read, "The black corruption is a very common curse since it was previously believed to have been untreatable. While it is true that fairies cannot heal it with their own magic, other beings with purity magic are able to cure the curse. These beings include-"

The advisor's heart dropped when the sentence cut off due to the tear. What beings? What other species have magic?! What is purity magic?!

"No, no there has to be more!" Logan growled.

"What's the matter?" Annabelle asked, looking up from her own scroll.

Her son flipped over the scroll, looking to see if the answer was on the back. "This has the solution, but it's torn! What do we need? Who do we need?!"

Annabelle held her hand out for the scroll, and Logan gave it to her. As she started to read, he flew off to look for the other half. It has to be in the library!

His mother's eyes widened, and she grabbed Logan's journal. She immediately started writing things down, and left a blank space for what species can use purity magic.

Logan opened several scrolls before putting them back, looking for any scroll with white or gray ink. He searched as fast as he could, but none of them were torn or used that strange colored ink. He couldn't find any of them that had the answers!

After a while, he sunk to the floor in defeat. Obviously it wasn't here, if it was then it would have been next to the scroll. It had to have been destroyed, maybe by accident, maybe on purpose. It doesn't matter, because it was gone and so were the answers.

"Logan..." his mother called. He tensed as she walked over, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be alright, we have a lead now! Now we just need to look for more information on purity magic!"

Logan sighed and took off his glasses. He cleaned them with his shirt before putting them back on. "I know, I had just hoped that we finally found the solution."

"We did, but it'll take a little searching to find everything. We just need a little longer."

"I don't know how much time we have left. Virgil only has a few days at best, we need to continue searching!"

"I know you're worried about your friends, but you're burning yourself out."

"Logan!" they heard someone call. They both looked over to see Janus and Remus heading over.

The prince looked stressed out, he had a flower in his hand and picked at the petals before making them grow back again. He always did that when he was nervous.

Janus looked tired, but he had a determined look in his eyes. He was the one who had called Logan.

"Remus, Janus, what are you guys doing here?" he asked, picking himself off of the floor.

"I'm here to force both you and Remus to take a break. Patton refused to join, insisting on doing what he can to help Virgil-"

"Which is what we need to be doing!" Remus interrupted, he turned to leave but Janus grabbed his arm.

"You and Logan need a distraction, neither of you two have taken a break. You've both barely slept or eaten, even Patton takes his breaks!"

"I have to find Ignis. I want to make him pay."

"And I need to help find a cure to the curse," Logan said.

"There are other fairies looking for Ignis right now. And Logan, you've been searching for the last two days. A break will refresh you, and it'll be easier to search once you come back."

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Annabelle agreed. "You should go, Logan."

"But-"

"No, both you and the prince need to take a breather. I'll continue to search, I have more stamina for this stuff than you. And yes, that is saying something, but I can tell you're being worn down. Go with your boyfriends and relax."