The Peculiar Alchemist

36 || Never-ending Mysteries

What Aubrey did with the shovel was something he hadn't planned on repeating, and he was glad to be unable to see dead people without aid. Being aware of them all the time can be trying, he doesn't know how necromancers were okay with that.

Being watched all the time was kind of creepy, and he hated thinking about it.

Fortunately for him, ghosts don't randomly follow people. Not unless they love or hate them enough to do so, or if they found that person to be interesting enough to be followed – something which doesn't last long. Besides, there were many things spellcasters own or do that deter spirits from approaching them. The protective charms and objects that seem to be doing nothing actually do work.

Sammy knows that for a fact.

However, Aubrey wasn't the typical spellcaster. Not only was he unable to cast those charms, but he also didn't have many protective things around him. While this might seem a little bit concerning, he wasn't exactly unprotected. It's probably only spirits like Sammy who are aware of it, but Aubrey is being protected by something powerful.

Something which made him untouchable.

It was a very specific set of runes that ran vertically on the nape of his neck down to his back, and they looked like random marks to Sammy since he didn't recognize them. However, he didn't need to be able to decipher them to know why they were there.

The runes were definitely placed there by someone who knew a lot about necromancy, and Sammy would guess that whoever it was, it was probably a necromancer. These marks were there ever since Sammy was aware of Aubrey, so the time of their appearance was a mystery to him. Plus, they cannot be seen by regular people, so Aubrey was unaware of them, too.

They might be placed by Agnes – who seemed to know quite a bit about necromancy – but Sammy wasn't sure if it could be done by someone who didn't fracture their soul to be able to practice the art.

Then again, who else would make Aubrey invulnerable to possession and harm that can be caused by the dead? It seemed oddly specific to target spirits, and there weren't many people who could do that.

Assuming this was something that could only be done by a necromancer, that would eliminate everyone who was regularly around Aubrey. It couldn't be Agnes, couldn't be her helper, and it couldn't be Marc Abbott. Those three did not have a mark on their necks, and while Toby does have one now, the runes were there even before he became a necromancer.

And then there were three other people who could have done it.

Vincent, who showed no interest whatsoever in Aubrey and only seemed to know of him because Sammy himself mentioned Briar's interest in him, and Briar herself who could have done it but had no good reason to. Why go through all the trouble if she planned on killing him anyway?

Besides, Briar wanted to be in control of Aubrey. Making him invulnerable to possession seemed counterproductive, so it only left two possibilities.

It could be done by a random necromancer – which is an idea that Sammy immediately discarded – or it could be done by the third person. The very man who killed Sammy nine years ago.

But that was also dismissed quickly by him.

"Nah, don't think so. Why would he?" He sighed shaking his head watching Aubrey hold a pendant in his hand.

It seems like both of them have a habit of talking to themselves because Aubrey spoke out his thoughts as he stared down at the pendant in his hand. "I forgot about this."

"What does it even do?" Sammy asked knowing that his question would be unheard, and for some reason Aubrey was eager to leave his room and head out while still holding on to it.