Me and the Devil: Sebastian Sallow

Chapter TWENTY ONE - Map Chamber

The next morning at breakfast, a large brown owl dropped an envelop into my oatmeal. I wiped off the sticky mess with a napkin and gave the bird a side eye.

Please meet me in my office at your earliest convenience.

-Professor Fig

I nearly knocked my bowl off the table in an attempt to get up and off the bench as quickly as possible. I slung my bag over my shoulder and tried to walk quickly out of the hall without causing too much commotion, my limbs tingled though and in the last few paces I was sprinting.

My heart pounding, I slammed open the door to Professor Fig's office, harder than I meant to and he jumped, spilling tea down the front of his shirt.

"Sorry sir."

He laughed. "I see you got my owl my dear girl."

"Came as quick as I could." 

He dabbed at the stain with a handkerchief and slid my book across his desk. He smirked and nodded down at it. "Take a look."

My fingers were shaking as I opened the cover. Translucent parchment sat between each and every page - filled with Professor Fig's neat penmanship. 

Translations.

My eyes widened and my heart leapt. "You finished it?" My voice wasn't much more than a squeak. "All of it?"

"AND I think I have our first move."

My heart stopped.

"There seems to be something particularly important below the school. Something called the 'map chamber'." He pulled the book gently back to his side and flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for. "Here."

A drawing of an incredibly long, winding staircase into a glass floor room.

How had Sebastian and I not noticed this?

"I just don't know where it could be..." He brought his tea up to his lips and tilted it back before frowning into the bottom of an empty cup.

"I think I do."

His eyebrow quirked and not another word was spoken. He folded up the book under his arm and gestured for me to lead the way, a smirk on his lips.

I had thought the first trek down the stairs was hard, but his one felt even longer. Poor Professor Fig had to use my arm to lean on as we took each step one at a time.

Down

step

down

step

down

step

down

step

By the time we had reached the bottom, I had already warned the professor about the possibility of more stone knights but he waved my concerns off. 

"I think you are far past worrying about those my dear. Seeing as you have already fought some off alone." He gave me a pointed look and I held my tongue. He didn't need to know about Sebastian's knowledge of all this.

The room was lighter than I remembered it. The candles overhead flickered quietly and the smoke had receded to the edges. There was only one major difference and my breath caught as I explained to Professor Fig that the four large stone arches had not been there before. Each was surrounded by winding stone carvings, twisting and turning up into the ceiling. The archways themselves housed a series of painted backgrounds, most looked to be cosy offices and desks. There were stone steps right up to each one and a flaming torch on either side in between the arches.