Entropy

I| Chapter XVI: The Old Library For the Enlightened

Markus

My eyes open up against marble stairs. I get up, seeing Blathnaid waking up beside me, confused as hell. I know where we are. Haunting flashbacks flood back in again, memorizing the place as the library that I visited many moons ago. It was decades in history that felt like days. Days that seemed like yesterday.

"Wh-Where are we?" Blathnaid asks me.

"The library that I accessed years ago."

She takes a sweep up and down. She then gasps. "Markus, you're standing," she exclaims.

"We are on another spiritual plane; handicapped doesn't impede me here," I explain again.

She takes another look around. "Where's Naomi? Didn't she get stabbed too?"

"Yes."

"Why is she not here?"

"She could've lived."

"Oh... So what should we do now?" She appears to be very lost and dumbfounded.

"Up to us now. There's plenty of knowledge here and we can be here for an unlimited amount of time. We can leave anytime. How about we research the place? Try to find better ways to save Ivelisse?"

Her brain fog clears, instantly reminded of what she needs to do. We both go down the steps into the library. Blathnaid is in a different section while I am in another section, searching for rituals to help Ivelisse. I do not long for powers. Since we have all the time in the world, I can probably help Blathnaid too. I'm not searching for rituals or spells that can replenish my health, knowing the downward trend all too well. I am sick of things hurting me. My own decisions hurt me too. The Dark Angel Ritual is what broke me. Now I am so desperate to find a cure that I am close to having an anxiety attack. Thinking of the reflection on the ground in the Dark Angel's realm, I can still see the shakiness. This time with anguish.

A fog fazes my sight with a very unwelcoming presence. That doesn't stop me from reading the various pages of rituals. The visible pages become clouded by the fog. I can feel it behind me. I turn around, awaiting who's there. The fog cyclonically swirls, turning into the rough old man that suggested I get revenge on my family. He sounded angry and hurt that night. He sounded urgent to save my life. That cost me.

"Terri!" I call out with a slight rasp.

"What are you doing here?!" He snaps. A tiger guarding their territory. He's not happy to see a face that he wished to help when he was alive, but he was too afraid to confront the dominant tigress on his own: my mother and his own daughter, Elisse.

I answer honestly, "To help a poor girl in a dire situation."

"Like hell!" He doubts. "You want to become that thing again! The form that you have the most power to wield."

"No!" I deny, "That didn't solve my problems, only made things worse."

"Then, why are you back here again?!" He interrogates.

"Did you listen to what I've said seconds ago?" I talk back, "Didn't you see Nao's friend?"

"I did. You either convinced her to help you or she betrayed her."

"What the hell? I'm not too keen on manipulating like your daughter."

Terri's eyes roll back into his head as the library shakes. The floor cracks and dents in. I try to run away from Terri. I feel a dense amount of water slamming my body to the ground. Terri laughs in victory behind me.

"You will never return to your former glory." he antagonizes.

I sit up and spit at him, "Why would I want to go back to that? Your daughter abused me. You are also deranged in your own ways. You told a desperate and blind child to follow in your footsteps. It only messed me up more! You even messed up my niece's life because of that same mistake. You are part of the blame."