Forgotten Magic

Chapter 51

"This is the library," Calliope announces as we enter a circular room with books piled everywhere. "And yes, I've read all these books if you're wondering. I just have to grab the vault's map. The Spire's vault holds hundreds of the rarest, most abstruse artifacts from all over the globe." She gasps, pushing herself over the table and running over to a pair of linked rings hanging on the wall. "I see you were eyeing my linking rings." She takes the rings off the hook. "I am somewhat of a master ILLUSIONIST!" She spins and pulls the rings apart a bit, but they stay linked.

I groan, shaking my head.

Calliope holds up the rings, spins them, and then smashes them on the floor, sending a cloud of dust up in to the air. "Tada!" When she held up her hands, the rings were gone.

Some of us clapped, others glanced at each other uncertainly, and Cassandra and Nickolas glared at the young Keeper.

"Uhhhh, no," Eugene says finally.

"Ah thank you!" Calliope interrupts. "Did I hear someone say encore?" she starts pulling a bunch of handkerchiefs out of her sleeve.

"You most certainly did not," Cass denies.

"Cass, it's just one more trick," Rapunzel reasons, "what's the harm?"

The harm, in question, is that we spend the next few hours there watching Calliope's classic tricks. Finally, someone had enough sense to interrupt her.

"No! No more tricks!" Eugene demands. "Uh, no more tricks because these tricks...blew my mind. Ahaha." He pulled Lance up. "In fact, we need some time to process all the uh...spectacle and uh, wonderment!" He and Cass both grabbed one of Rapunzel's arms.

"Yes, in fact, Rapunzel, would you care to join us in processing...outside....now?"

"Oh thank the stars," I mutter, "If I spend one more minute in here, I'm gonna-" I caught Nickolas's eye and decided a death threat wasn't a good thing to voice at the moment.

. . .

"Make her give us the scroll and let's get out of here. She is the most annoying person I have ever met and look who I'm friends with!" Cassandra jerks a thumb at Lance. "Look at who I have for a cousin."

"Wait, we're friends?" Lance wonders.

"Cassandra, relax," Eugene advises. "Now, I know Calliope is insanely irritating, but we're talking about Rapunzel here. She doesn't even know how to get annoyed with people, I mean look at that fa-oh no, she's annoying you isn't she?"

The princess had this...slightly off-putting smile plastered to her face. "Nooo! No! She's not annoying, she's just different! Besides, doesn't matter what I think. She's gonna give us the scroll soon and we will be...on our way!"

"Okay we're all set!" Calliope calls from a second story window. "I can get you that third piece."

"Great!" Rapunzel calls. "So where's-"

"Well, bonsoir!"

"Wait, what?" Raps asks, clearly confused.

"It's French," Calliope informs us condescendingly. "It means 'I'm off to bed'."

"But I thought we were gonna get the scroll from the vault." the princess insists.

"Oh no, silly girl!" the Keeper laughs. "It's all the way on top of the mountain in a vault called the Spire."

"But then we'll-"

"It's a full day climb, I'll need a good night's rest before I take that on. Hence, bonsoir!" She closes the window, leaving us to sleep outside her front door in the rain. I was about to carry through with my unspoken threat.