Power of Death (Agathario)

Chapter Sixteen

Agatha woke up to find Rio had already left to collect souls. She got dressed in her regular shirt and pants, now her normal attire after years of corsets and skirts.

She ate breakfast, then checked the time from their new clock, telling her it was only 7 in the morning. It would still be a while until Rio got back, and Agatha didn't feel like exploring anywhere today. She didn't feel like snuggling up on their couch either.

She did know what she wanted to do though.

Agatha went into their bedroom and fished out a notebook from under the clothes in her drawer, waving away her camouflage spell. She opened it to it's most-recently marked page, revealing runes and notes marked up and down the parchment. She scanned over what she'd most recently written, reminding herself where she'd left off.

The Darkhold was only so far away. Only truly powerful witches could reach it, and when they did, they had access to insane amounts of power. It was dark magic, but Agatha was a dark witch who already used dark magic at times, so what could happen?

Agatha felt as if it was pulling her towards it, welcoming her with open arms.

Rio didn't know about Agatha's research. She knew Agatha was curious about it, but she didn't know anything else. It would only distract her, and when Rio was distracted, she couldn't focus on anything else. Besides, Rio had only spoken good things about the Darkhold. About its knowledge and its power.

Instead, Agatha was waiting to tell Rio about her plan, about how she was going to take the Darkhold. She was so close to finding the answer...

The runes she'd found over the past year led her in circles. The legend, the lore, everything that she studied just went around and around and around in a maddening infinite loop.

She'd heard to look high, to look low, North, East, South, West, and every other way imaginable. Latin texts from hundreds of years ago described it as the Book of the Damned, a magical talisman that used the power of demons like Chthon to supercharge its owner.

It was said to be on top of the highest peak, but deep inside of the Earth and in stone. Before killing her weekly witch, she would ask them about the Darkhold. But every time, she got a different response, if anything.

Agatha flipped through the pages of the notebook, skimming through. She'd done this thousands of times before, yet she'd gotten nowhere. She couldn't help but look through it daily, infuriated by how the answer continued to evade her.

Her eyes landed on one rune that stood out. Red woman. She frowned, flipping through the pages. It was never mentioned again.

The chunk of runes had been scribbled on the wall of some cave in Europe, though bits and pieces were missing. For all Agatha knew, it might not even say "red woman." Runes were tricky- if you read a single accent wrong it could change the whole meaning.

Agatha jumped up as the front door opened and she quickly blasted her book back into the cabinet, placing the hex on it again to keep it hidden. She turned toward the bedroom door just as Rio opened it.

"Something is wrong," Rio said before Agatha could speak.

"I— what?" Agatha asked, taken aback by her abruptness.

"Millions of people just died," Rio answered.

"Where?"

"On a planet far away from here..." Rio trailed off, her eyes unfocused in the distance.

Agatha began to worry. This was unusual. She took Rio's hand. "What is it?"

"I just needed to be sure you're safe," Rio replied, her eyes focusing on Agatha's face. "And to tell you that I might not be back until it's late."

"Of course, if millions of people just died then you'll have a lot of work-"

"Yes, I do have a lot of work," Rio interrupted Agatha. "But can you just stay here today? Until I return?"

"W— okay," Agatha agreed, furrowing her eyebrows as Rio looked at her pleadingly. "What happened, Rio?"

Rio brought Agatha's hand to her lips instead of answering. "Just don't leave this house."

Agatha opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say anything Rio disappeared in a flash of green.

Agatha stood there for a second, her mind racing.

She had never seen Rio that frantic, and that meant something truly worrisome had happened. Agatha didn't know why. It was on a planet far away from Earth. How could it apply to them? A thought came to her.

Rio's Ex was from a different planet.

The reminder made Agatha itch for a second, spurring her to get her cloak. She didn't know what she was going to do, and she didn't have a clue as to why she was so upset at that particular piece of information. She was probably just checking to see if he was one of the dead ones.

Whatever Rio was doing, whatever had made her so anxious, Agatha wanted to know. Whether it be good or bad.

Agatha opened the door and stepped out, not sure why the enchanted door brought her to its regular place in the woods. It should have taken her to where Rio was, since that was where Agatha wanted to go. She stood there for a second, confused.

All of a sudden, Agatha felt extreme vertigo. Yet it was somehow also the crushing feeling of something like a magical curse.

The world seemed to be bending around her. Like she was falling in slow motion.

Her muscles turned numb and it was as if her senses turned off...

And, as she fell, all Agatha could see was the light shining through the canopy of trees above her.

—

Ugh I hate building up Agatha's obsession with the Darkhold, knowing what is going to happen uggghhhhhh...

On a different note, how are you all today?

-VictoryGreen8