Once upon a Midnight | BOOK I

Fifteen

Angela was dead. Ronald was also dead. No one knew how Ronald died, but senses told me it was the work of the dark elf. None of that mattered. I had a more crucial task before me and I was going to spend my afternoon dealing with it, or at least, that was what I hoped I would be doing. But the gods seemed to have another plan in store for me. A plan wearing the face of Mikoto Hiroyama. She barged into my room with bright eyes. Although she was dressed as if she'd just woken up, her impeccable beauty was second to none.

"What are you doing?" she asked when she saw me talking with my familiar. "Grab a shirt or something and follow me."

"What?" I suddenly felt self-conscious and I quickly reached for a shirt to cover up myself. She didn't wait for me to put on the top before dragging me by the arm and leading me out of my room. Midnight followed closely behind as we both sped around the castle. We ran for a few minutes before going down a flight of steps that led further below the castle. We reached a very familiar hallway, albeit there was no mirror and no wall this time around. Mikoto and I ran through the wisp-lit hallway which was barely a day ago the hall of screams, and dashed in through the large wooden doors. We were immediately plunged into what seemed like a reliquary of sort.

The room was very big, and it was filled with tons of items. Ranging from books to weapons and other various artefacts. We weren't alone in the room. Almost all the other participants in the trials were there with us. They were all walking around the ernomous room, scanning through the dozens of relics in the room.

"Mikoto," Khalil called out from a corner. He was holding up a vile containing a dark blue liquid up in the air. "I got an alchemical mixture of sort. It's night fairy blood." Mikoto moaned and went to meet him, leaving me high and dry.

"What is happening? Are we committing a felony? I do not want to end up in The Pit," I said, lowering my voice, as I spoke to Nicolas.

He squinted his eyes and looked as if he was biting his cheek. "Kim. Serious as an heart attack," he said. He held my hand and led me to a wall that was filled with various weapons. "I pulled in a favour with the castle."

"You pulled in a favour with the castle," I repeated slowly. "That's very enlightening. I totally understand that. It makes total sense."

Nicolas chuckled. "Well, the castle is somewhat alive," he said.

"Oh..." I mused. We walked away from the collection of weapons and continued round the room with Midnight at my side. I felt like a lady walking in the hands of her lord in a ball. It was hard not to feel that way, especially with the way Nicolas was holding me, like a gentleman. His dressing, however, didn't reflect the gentlemanly behaviour. He was wearing an ash sweat pant, a black T-shirt and an ash beanie. Definitely not gentlemanly.

I held out my hand to touch a grimoire of sorts, but my hand passed through it like it was made of water. I frowned. Nicolas steered me away from the object. "Like I was saying, I pulled in a favour with the castle. It was glad that we dispelled the shadows, and agreed to open the doors of its reliquary to us. But... It'll only give us whatever pleases it," he said.

"What did you get?" I asked when we came to a collection of statues.

He pulled out a golden stick. "This is a wand made by a goddess of some kind." I only looked at the wand for a moment before turning my face back.

"So, I just get to walk around until the castle decides to give me something?" I pouted. What a killjoy.

"Unfortunately, yes," he answered. "Just pretend you're in an exhibition or something."

"Oh..." I smiled. "My lord, could you kindly inform me what this relic is?" I curtsied after pointing at a statue.

Nicolas laughed. "Well, that, my lady, is an idol belonging to the Igbo sorcerers of Nigeria," he said, switching to a British accent. "It's the statue of the god Ikenga. Wonder what it's doing here."