Disciple of Fire

Chapter 5: The Archives

His Majesty grips the door handles, holding it shut against Viralia's best efforts to open it, but soon the banging ends and he stands still, not sure whether to let go or not. His fingers gently lift off and reach for the lock, swiping it shut. "God's blood..." He swears with a pant, finally releasing his hands, and he takes in a swallow of air before turning his back to the door. Looking around as if he's never stepped foot in here before, a feeling of tightness wells in his chest. Why was someone chasing me? And why would they be trying so hard to get in...? Stepping off into the Archives, he begins to palm and examine his pendant, rubbing his thumb over the chip in the top of the gem. Infernia... I don't think I've seen anything on her here. He begins to wander through rows of shelves as if being led by something, his focus on examining the pendant still. Infernia. Who could she be? How have I not heard of her? Stuck too deep in his thoughts, he doesn't notice he's reached the end of the walkway, smacking face-first right into the wall and stumbling back onto the ground.

That's what I get for not looking where I'm going. Groaning, he picks his head up and moves to hold his now throbbing forehead. After rubbing his injury he takes a better look at the wall, noticing this segment between the pillars is different than the rest. He rests his palm against the solid panel, and raps his index finger against it, making a hollow thud. Hmm.. is there something behind this? He runs his hands along the wall, feeling for any subtle notches, bumps, or anything to find a seam. Unable to find anything, he rears his fist back and lands a blow against the panel, immediately recoiling with a shout and cradling his hand. Damn it, that's solid. He sits still for a minute, taking repeated deep breaths. God, I'll need to have Kendrick look at this. Regaining his composure he looks back toward the panel.

So if it's too hard to hit through, and there isn't a seam to be found, then maybe there's a switch nearby? Moving to the shelves closest, he begins to skim over the titles to try and find one that sticks out amongst the rest. Nothing here. Heading to the next row down, he finds nothing of interest. The next one is more old journals and documents. Where is it?! Now losing hope he continues shelf after shelf, skimming every title, grasping for straws at this point. Finally reaching his breaking point, he begins slinging books from the shelves, swiping whole rows of papers onto the floor. Nothing seemed to open the panel so, as a last-ditch effort, he takes a few steps further back and charged at the wall, throwing his shoulder directly into the wall... No change. Pain shoots through his upper torso from his shoulder and he lets out a loud, "AGH!", as he slides down against the wall the panel lives in. God dammit. Why did I try that again?

As he sits slumped, holding his now fragile arm, his will whispering in his ear to give up, he begins to hear a voice. It sounds so faint that he was struggling to notice it was there, but he was sure he heard it. His eyes dart from the ground and begin scouring the shelves closest to the wall. He doesn't know what he's looking for, but for some reason his body is telling him to keep looking, harder than he has ever searched before. His stare falls onto one shelf off to the right, a completely barren shelf but he is drawn to it. Pushing himself off the ground, wincing as he used his injured arm to lift himself up and walks over to it. Carefully, he places his hand on the far left side and begins sliding it to the right, collecting the dust on the shelf until his fingers bump into something, just before the other edge. There isn't anything in the way, but his finger stopped. Did that... Just happen? Looking closer, he sees a spot with no dust in the shape of a book, right where his finger hit something. Suspiciously, he grabs where the spine would be, and his hand grasps hold of an unseeable block. After pulling it from the shelf, the cloaking dissipates and he sees he's holding an old farming book. W... What the hell? Why would something like this need to be hidden? He opens to the first page and is greeted with basic farming techniques for growing simple grains. Flipping further ahead, he finds recipes for fertilizer and using compost. Is this seriously it?! Groaning in frustration he throws the book and it lands open-faced up, in front of the panel. Furrowing through his hair, unsure of what to do now, he begins stomping back toward the section in the wall. Passing by the book, his eye catches on a small green wisp. His body freezes and he rigidly turns back, peering into the pages, and finding a strange phrase written in a completely different language from the rest of the book. Pervidoculis impestatis... What does that mean? It sounds almost like... a spell. Maybe this is what I needed? Hesitantly he stands in front of the panel and rereads the phrase out loud, "Pervidoculis impestatis". He looks up and sees nothing is different. Clearing his throat, he stands taller and boasts his voice slightly, "Pervidoculis Impestatis!" Once again, it doesn't budge. Son of a sinner, why won't this WORK?! Giving everything he has, he closes his eyes and shouts, "PERVIDOCULIS IMPESTATIS!" A green light seeps through his shut lids and he peeks through, a whirlpool of green energy swirls from the center of the panel, and begins to vanish, taking the wall with it. "U-uh..." Caught off guard, he takes a step back. Oh my god, I did it? Delicately, he approaches and tests the hole by waving his hand through, it meeting nothing but air. I did it! Okay... So what is so important they had to hide it this well?