Altered Fate (Inscryption Fanfic)

Chapter 8 ~ The Vampire's Downfall

After a few hours more of rest, and several cups of tea to calm yourself down, you feel alright enough to walk, again. "How are the others?" You notice Leshy looking down, as you ask this. "Grimora and Magnificus are feeling off. Grimora seems more tired than usual, and Magnificus... his magic isn't working." You freeze up, hearing this. "Not working...? What do you mean?" "His and Grimora's strength are faltering. Magnificus tried to use his magic, and... nothing happened. And Grimora... She's exhausted, apparently having a more difficult time functioning, because of it."

You jump up, realizing the severity of the situation. "I have to go," you mutter, trying to get your things together. Leshy looks concerned. "You're still weak... Don't hurt yourself, now..." You look at him, before shaking your head. "I need to go help them... What if something happens, huh? I need to go check on them." Leshy looks at you, a moment, before shaking his head, sighing. "Stubborn, aren't you...?" He begrudgingly allows you to continue getting ready to leave. "Just... be safe. Please." You take a moment, and nod, and then you finally get going. Leshy says nothing more, but you could swear you heard him whine, quietly... He really was worried.

. . .

After a long while of walking, you manage to get to the crypt. Heading inside, you see Grimora in her usual area, sitting at her table, tiredly working on cards. You take a moment, before speaking up. "Hey, everything okay?" She looks up at you, and forces a smile. "Yes, dear, I'm fine! Are you feeling alright? You had quite the fall, back there." She's lying. Why would she lie...? This is important. "Don't change the subject. Seriously," your worried tone becomes increasingly obvious as you speak, making Grimora lose the smile as you continue, "What the hell happened? You're obviously weak, you look like you can barely focus on what I'm saying... Trying to pretend you're fine isn't helping. Please, just let me help you."

She is silent, for a long moment, looking down at the table in front of her, before finally standing and walking over to you, showing you the cards she'd been working on... The writing was illegible. The cards turned out... unrecognizable, somehow. "What..." you mutter under your breath, confused. Grimora looks down, before finally speaking. "I'm getting weaker and weaker... My hands are so shaky and painful, that I... I can barely write, anymore..." And suddenly, dead silence fills the room. You can't even think of what to say... You open your mouth, but you can't get any words out. You look up at Grimora, and she's... just as lost as you are. After several moments of awkward silence, she suddenly... starts crying.

"Y/n, I... I'm sorry, I just don't know what to do..." You look her in the eyes as she says this. She seems so lost... as do you. You take a moment, trying to choose your words carefully. "Look," you begin, catching her attention, "this is all... very overwhelming and strange. I don't know what to do, and there's a very big possibility of things going... horribly wrong." Grimora is about to speak... "... But," you continue, "this is no way to handle it. Trying the same thing over and over isn't getting us anywhere... You need to put the quill down, Grimora. You need to take a break so we can figure things out." She's at least not crying as much as she was, now. You look up at her with the most reassuring look you could possibly give.

She takes a moment, sighing as she tries to think. "Alright," she mutters, going and putting the quill and the cards down. "My wrist... is hurting. I suppose attempting to write won't really help, will it?" She seemed... sad. You could understand why. She loved writing, this was her entire life... "So," she began, looking to you, "what, now?" ... Right. She probably had no idea what to do. She typically worked on cards and playing against others... but she couldn't do that, now... The two of you are silent. Thinking. Finally, you speak. "Do you have anything else you like to do?"

She takes a moment, and shrugs. And that's when the realization hits you... None of the scrybes seem to have lives outside of drama and doing their jobs as scrybes. You think, a minute, until you finally get an idea. "Why not come with me to check on Magnificus? It's something, right?" Grimora takes a moment, and nods. Couldn't hurt, right...? It was better than just sitting around. So, the two of you get ready, and get going.