Immortal Memory (Iris' Atlantis 1)

24: Assasins of a Witch Town

Timothy

I did return into the vault after my misadventure. But I did not lock the vault door. Instead, I sat onto the bed and sank into thoughts.

I half expected master Aconite to burst through the odd portal any moment now and accuse me of the discovery. But the heartbeats stretched into slow breaths. And lecturer Shatter Hat did not burst through. I was left alone in the shadow riddled cell. The odd presence of Stump was nowhere to be felt. It had stayed in the office.

I drew in a ragged breath.

I had held the book of Futile Desires in my lap. And I was sure the fungus I had seen in master Aconite's office was the same one. It was used in a couple of recipes. One of which had been relatively new and easily legible. It gave a witch a solid sense of time and an ability to even master some of it.

So, maybe he had already come to me, just on a different timeline. Maybe the master witch was thinking what to do with me now that his secret was in my care. He could have plucked the information off the top of my head and then turned the time back. I wouldn't have a clue.

I took a breath. Let the idea sink in. Gave it room to grow.

Then I sighed and shook my head. No. I felt that wasn't the case. I was sure that in the heart of my heart I would have known if Aconite had been interviewing me. The feeling would remain even if the memory wouldn't be present. That was how the memory worked. The feeling lingered.

So. I racked my brain for pieces of information.

Aconite Shatter Hat could turn time. For that he needed the mushrooms that in turn required the liver of someone living.

The liver of someone wouldn't be hard to get. Especially as Aconite obviously was more intertwined with the Castle than was to be expected of a witch. Mo could easily acquire a liver, a full body even if that were necessary. It would even be a small price for the magical services Aconite obviously offered.

But I very clearly remembered from the book that, somehow, the owner of the liver needed to be alive. The mushrooms required a living liver. At the time I had even thought it meant the mushrooms could only grow inside a human being. I had thought the harvesting would have killed both the fungus and the victim.

Now I thought about the dilemma.

What did it mean that someone was alive? Could the liver belong to a vampire, a part of their human body? Was a vampire alive enough? Surely the liver could be kept alive somehow even if it was separated from the rest of the body. And a vampire had no use for any organ.

It would have been an easy idea to accept.

And I would have loved to leave my brain resting on it.

Yet, I couldn't quite get rid of the image of a human victim suspended in a magical coma somewhere while their liver was reused as a mushroom plantation...

I heard the door open to the staircase.

I grew still, not quite daring to breathe, as I felt the approaching presence.

They had a cautious aura and silent, soft steps. Had I been asleep behind the heavy metal door, I wouldn't have heard them approaching. Whoever it was they moved with good airflow through them. Silent like a vampire or an assassin.

Then the door opened a second time, powerful feet hit the marble floor. The second presence was powerful and kind of loud, and I felt the familiarity wash over me like a welcoming smell of home.

"The door is open." I heard Julia commenting out loud as she stopped just outside my hiding place.

"Was it supposed to be closed!?" Valentina asked, there was indignation in her voice.