New World [Complete]

Chapter Forty: Trust

Skylar's POV (A/N: You weren't expecting that one, were you? :P )

"...It was like it disappeared!" Ant was exclaiming. Mitch sat to my right, listening along with me. We'd walked into the library and been immediately approached by the confused Ant, who apparently just wanted to rant. "Seto said it must have a thief, but who would do something like that?" I could already tell it wasn't magic, so Seto had to be right. Something was wrong here. "We searched forever, but didn't find it. All we found was Ethan."

"Ethan?" Mitch questioned. Could he have been the thief?

"Yeah, he was sleeping in a corner and hiding from Jacob or something," Ant easily dismissed it. Sleeping in a corner? Really, was that the best excuse he could come up with? I didn't realize I'd spoken aloud until Ant replied.

"What do you mean?" He asked. I stared at him in obvious shock and disbelief.

"You actually believed him?!" I questioned. I shook my head at Ant's uncomprehending look and decided not to pursue the subject any further. Mitch gave me a side-long glance, and I knew his train of thought was along with mine. "Can you show me his hiding place?"

"Sure, I guess," He answered. He led me deeper into the maze bookshelves. Then, we turned the corner, and I felt a wave of nausea like a physical blow. I froze and gasped for air. A deadly aura of powerful dark magic lingered around a particularly large chair - or, more specifically, from behind it. It was constantly shifting like a moving creature, and it had created a trail. "Skylar?" Mitch looked back at me in concern.

"Do you feel that?" I asked through gritted teeth. I took a step back. He simply looked confused.

"Magic?" Ant assumed. I nodded.

"Get away from there," I warned. "That is some serious dark magic going on there." I looked at the trail, knowing that we had to follow it. "Follow me," I suggested. 

I began to track the trail and, as expected, it led to the door. We wandered down a few hallways and into the kitchen, but then the trail backtracked. I noticed a faint residue of blue - Seto's magic. I had assumed he would be somewhere in the library, but he must have sensed that something was off. I didn't mention it to the boys, and I continued to follow the trail towards the mostly abandoned back of the castle. It led straight to a small, dusty room and out onto a balcony. 

Both black and blue hovered around that balcony in a strange contrast, and I hesitated before inching open the door. I could see Seto and Ethan sitting there. A faint blue aura hovered around Seto, but it was fading as if he had used magic before - perhaps to hide his presence? The strong black magic radiated from a book that Seto had placed beside him. I closed the door quickly as I felt my head begin to spin. I couldn't handle being around that... it was a wonder that no one had noticed it. Even Seto seemed mostly unconcerned.

"Skylar, are you alright?" Mitch asked. He didn't realize that there were people just beyond that door and spoke too loudly. I stepped away from the door as Seto opened it fully.

"What's going on?" Seto and Ant spoke simultaneously. I sat down on the dusty couch behind me and breathed slowly. My stomach still felt like I was riding a boat in rough weather - in other words, I was not alright.

"Seto," I asked a little too harshly, "What is that book?" He looked at me in surprise, most likely because of my tone.

"Which one?" He asked.

"The purple one," I clarified. "The one that's emitting strong enough dark magic to make me sick!"

"I-I don't know," he admitted. "I couldn't make sense of it." He looked concerned, to say the least. I saw Ethan poke his head out behind Seto, who stepped aside for him. He approached me.