FOUND
Disclaimer
I am not a writer at all but I felt this story was needed to clarify a loose end.
On the first day of every month Anya found herself lurking the sewers, drifting and wandering to the ruins of the Solifugae Library. She walked through the familiar tunnel towards the desolate library with her gloved hand raised, a weak blue flame admitting from her palm to light the darkness surrounding her. She came to stop at the entrance of the library, holding a sombre expression and rigid demeanor, she stood questioning why she still came to these dusty old books each month. Anya moved the flame inside a rusted metallic lantern to light it and once lit she gave her wrist a little shake extinguishing the flame from her hand and taking hold of the lantern instead.
Anya continued forward entering the library quietly, she placed her foot down on the dirty stained red carpet and felt it press onto something solid but small. With a quiet shriek and gasp quickly stepped back looking down to see a pile of dead rats which she had trod on. Anya immediately shivered with disgust "Disgusting!" She Hissed with a scrunched up nose. Unimpressed and horrified by what she had tread on she took a moment to breathe, before stepping over the pile of dead rats to continue on. Anya stood at the top of the staircase lifting the lantern to get a glimpse of the ruin in the depths of the Library. Scattered books littered the ground, wet damp paper would be stuck in the carpet, dirt and cobwebs everywhere and the shelves damp, some even forming mold. Anya frowned deeply disturbed at the sight of her home now in shambles and the area was pitch black without any light, She was not so easily frightened by darkness or a bit of dust and mess however Anya could never bring herself to descend the stairs once again to preserve and clean the area because she was frightened. She shivered and turned away, even the sight was enough to send a spike of fear through her spine. Anya believes the depths of the Library are haunted by those who once inhabited it, her friends. The thought of her fallen friends watching and tormenting her through judgment's eyes is what frightened her. She audibly winced at the thought and without taking another glance she walked away from the stairs and further into the first level of the Library.
Anya slowly and calmly walked along her fingers lightly tapping the iron bars of the empty cell as she passed while softly humming and singing a rendition of her favourite poem. Her voice echoed through the halls, quiet and distant. Her gloved hand glided across the shelves as she continued to slowly sway and gracefully stroll. Anya approached the preserved area of shelves and books, a few cobwebs and dust had built up but overall the area remained clean from her monthly vistiations. Her body went on autopilot as she started to go through each book checking for damp and mold, dusting these old shelves was a familiar pattern for her and tending to this Library is what she once loved; it had become second nature to her. Anya continued to clean at her own pace humming away peacefully, however her mind was left to wonder why? She did not want to be here and be reminded of what was lost, coming to these ruins was always on wayward Instinct, a desire she could not control. It was wet, cold, isolated and full of books, the desired and perfect environment for her. Anya could rationalise in her head the natural desire to be drawn to environments such as this, but she was never satisfied while in the ruined Library as there was a feeling that something or someone was lost, who she could not remember.
The song she sang was long over, minutes turned to the hour and all was silent. Anya slid the last book back in it's respected place, the cleaning and inspection now completed, her heart sunk deep into her chest, the silence around her becoming suffocating. This sense of dread did not last long; however as the sound of tiny patterns against the ground alerted Anya, she swiftly raised the lantern, listening and looking around calmly. Her eyes narrowed with caution and after a minute of silence she called out "Who goes there." There was silence for a second until the distant echo of a soft meow would be heard. Anya took a step forward staring into the pitch black the lantern providing light only in the small radius around her. "Phylactery..?" She asked hopefully, and soon enough two lit orange eyes in the darkness appeared and got closer, the cat stopped far enough to be hidden by the darkness, the two orange eyes staring back at her.
Anya gasped with relief her brows knitting together as the sight of the familiar feline nearly brought the cold sorceress to tears. She would slowly be brought to her knees "Oh.. Phylactery." Her voice cracked. Slowly and quietly placed the lantern down beside her to then move the gloved hand out "Come here.. old Phylactery." The orange eyes came even closer before finally the flat-faced black cat came into the light and was now visible to Anya. She audibly weeps with a smile on her face, the black tear would be blinked away saving her cheek from being stained. Phylactery purred loudly and approached the Sorceress once she was recognised by the feline, in greeting the feline rubbed its head against her thin fingers. Anya moved her skinny and boney hands to stroke the cat and felt how the poor creature had become so skinny, its whiskers greyed and its fur matted. Phylactery sat beside her now purring loudly as she continued to gently stroke the elderly feline, Anya sat on her knees for the moment staring at Phylactery. She felt a sense of pure relief as all would be rationalised in her mind, Phylactery was the answer to all. Her out of body wayward behaviour to return to the library , the lack of satisfaction and the sense of constant loss. She had found what was lost, the last piece of life that needed to be retrieved before she could truly leave the Library for the last time never to return, never to care or tend to it again and allowing it to fade through time."I'm sorry old friend, we've both lost our home, he's not coming back, it is time for us to leave." She said with contentment. Anya retracted her hand from petting the cat and reached over for the lantern slowly coming to a stand. The feline mimicked her movement and stood as well. Phylactery meowed at the Sorceress once, it brushed up against her before she would start to walk towards the entrance with the cat following right beside her.
Anya exited the library and turned to reach up grabbing the loose and broken gate, slowly and quietly bringing it down to loosely close off the Library. Phylactery came running out just before the gate was closed fully. She lifted the lantern glancing over the pile of dead rats giving a quick disgusted look. "Well.. I suppose we won't ever have to worry about rats will we?" She said with a smile. Anya then turned her back to the Library giving no final look as she began to slowly stride down the tunnels once again humming softly as she left the Library behind her, the lantern remained lit to guide the feline and Sorceress through the darkness and out of the putrid wretched sewers.
Anya approached a large estate, the dimly lit lantern still in hand and the feline walking along beside her, she entered the estate and approached the entrance of a library. She lifted her hand to hang up the dimly lit lantern. The library was warmly lit by a fire, it was perfectly organised and clean, the books being colour coordinated and alphabetically aligned. The decor of her Library would be Suvial inspired as a mixture of small geodes, crystal points and clusters of crystals would be placed on the tables and desks in a neat fashion. Anya started to clear out a shelf in the library neatly stacking the books beside her on a table, she grabbed a nearby soft blanket using it to make bedding. The elderly feline wobbly jumped up onto the shelf to curl up on the new bed she had made just for him. Phylactery became adjusted and comfortable to it's new home, the feline being spoiled rotten by the Sorceress with the highest quality of cat food, plenty of brushing and trimming of the very long and thick coat. The feline spent its days often sleeping by the fire, being spoiled rotten and resting peacefully until the end of its days.
Disclaimer
I am not a writer at all but I felt this story was needed to clarify a loose end.
On the first day of every month Anya found herself lurking the sewers, drifting and wandering to the ruins of the Solifugae Library. She walked through the familiar tunnel towards the desolate library with her gloved hand raised, a weak blue flame admitting from her palm to light the darkness surrounding her. She came to stop at the entrance of the library, holding a sombre expression and rigid demeanor, she stood questioning why she still came to these dusty old books each month. Anya moved the flame inside a rusted metallic lantern to light it and once lit she gave her wrist a little shake extinguishing the flame from her hand and taking hold of the lantern instead.
Anya continued forward entering the library quietly, she placed her foot down on the dirty stained red carpet and felt it press onto something solid but small. With a quiet shriek and gasp quickly stepped back looking down to see a pile of dead rats which she had trod on. Anya immediately shivered with disgust "Disgusting!" She Hissed with a scrunched up nose. Unimpressed and horrified by what she had tread on she took a moment to breathe, before stepping over the pile of dead rats to continue on. Anya stood at the top of the staircase lifting the lantern to get a glimpse of the ruin in the depths of the Library. Scattered books littered the ground, wet damp paper would be stuck in the carpet, dirt and cobwebs everywhere and the shelves damp, some even forming mold. Anya frowned deeply disturbed at the sight of her home now in shambles and the area was pitch black without any light, She was not so easily frightened by darkness or a bit of dust and mess however Anya could never bring herself to descend the stairs once again to preserve and clean the area because she was frightened. She shivered and turned away, even the sight was enough to send a spike of fear through her spine. Anya believes the depths of the Library are haunted by those who once inhabited it, her friends. The thought of her fallen friends watching and tormenting her through judgment's eyes is what frightened her. She audibly winced at the thought and without taking another glance she walked away from the stairs and further into the first level of the Library.
Anya slowly and calmly walked along her fingers lightly tapping the iron bars of the empty cell as she passed while softly humming and singing a rendition of her favourite poem. Her voice echoed through the halls, quiet and distant. Her gloved hand glided across the shelves as she continued to slowly sway and gracefully stroll. Anya approached the preserved area of shelves and books, a few cobwebs and dust had built up but overall the area remained clean from her monthly vistiations. Her body went on autopilot as she started to go through each book checking for damp and mold, dusting these old shelves was a familiar pattern for her and tending to this Library is what she once loved; it had become second nature to her. Anya continued to clean at her own pace humming away peacefully, however her mind was left to wonder why? She did not want to be here and be reminded of what was lost, coming to these ruins was always on wayward Instinct, a desire she could not control. It was wet, cold, isolated and full of books, the desired and perfect environment for her. Anya could rationalise in her head the natural desire to be drawn to environments such as this, but she was never satisfied while in the ruined Library as there was a feeling that something or someone was lost, who she could not remember.
The song she sang was long over, minutes turned to the hour and all was silent. Anya slid the last book back in it's respected place, the cleaning and inspection now completed, her heart sunk deep into her chest, the silence around her becoming suffocating. This sense of dread did not last long; however as the sound of tiny patterns against the ground alerted Anya, she swiftly raised the lantern, listening and looking around calmly. Her eyes narrowed with caution and after a minute of silence she called out "Who goes there." There was silence for a second until the distant echo of a soft meow would be heard. Anya took a step forward staring into the pitch black the lantern providing light only in the small radius around her. "Phylactery..?" She asked hopefully, and soon enough two lit orange eyes in the darkness appeared and got closer, the cat stopped far enough to be hidden by the darkness, the two orange eyes staring back at her.
Anya gasped with relief her brows knitting together as the sight of the familiar feline nearly brought the cold sorceress to tears. She would slowly be brought to her knees "Oh.. Phylactery." Her voice cracked. Slowly and quietly placed the lantern down beside her to then move the gloved hand out "Come here.. old Phylactery." The orange eyes came even closer before finally the flat-faced black cat came into the light and was now visible to Anya. She audibly weeps with a smile on her face, the black tear would be blinked away saving her cheek from being stained. Phylactery purred loudly and approached the Sorceress once she was recognised by the feline, in greeting the feline rubbed its head against her thin fingers. Anya moved her skinny and boney hands to stroke the cat and felt how the poor creature had become so skinny, its whiskers greyed and its fur matted. Phylactery sat beside her now purring loudly as she continued to gently stroke the elderly feline, Anya sat on her knees for the moment staring at Phylactery. She felt a sense of pure relief as all would be rationalised in her mind, Phylactery was the answer to all. Her out of body wayward behaviour to return to the library , the lack of satisfaction and the sense of constant loss. She had found what was lost, the last piece of life that needed to be retrieved before she could truly leave the Library for the last time never to return, never to care or tend to it again and allowing it to fade through time."I'm sorry old friend, we've both lost our home, he's not coming back, it is time for us to leave." She said with contentment. Anya retracted her hand from petting the cat and reached over for the lantern slowly coming to a stand. The feline mimicked her movement and stood as well. Phylactery meowed at the Sorceress once, it brushed up against her before she would start to walk towards the entrance with the cat following right beside her.
Anya exited the library and turned to reach up grabbing the loose and broken gate, slowly and quietly bringing it down to loosely close off the Library. Phylactery came running out just before the gate was closed fully. She lifted the lantern glancing over the pile of dead rats giving a quick disgusted look. "Well.. I suppose we won't ever have to worry about rats will we?" She said with a smile. Anya then turned her back to the Library giving no final look as she began to slowly stride down the tunnels once again humming softly as she left the Library behind her, the lantern remained lit to guide the feline and Sorceress through the darkness and out of the putrid wretched sewers.
Anya approached a large estate, the dimly lit lantern still in hand and the feline walking along beside her, she entered the estate and approached the entrance of a library. She lifted her hand to hang up the dimly lit lantern. The library was warmly lit by a fire, it was perfectly organised and clean, the books being colour coordinated and alphabetically aligned. The decor of her Library would be Suvial inspired as a mixture of small geodes, crystal points and clusters of crystals would be placed on the tables and desks in a neat fashion. Anya started to clear out a shelf in the library neatly stacking the books beside her on a table, she grabbed a nearby soft blanket using it to make bedding. The elderly feline wobbly jumped up onto the shelf to curl up on the new bed she had made just for him. Phylactery became adjusted and comfortable to it's new home, the feline being spoiled rotten by the Sorceress with the highest quality of cat food, plenty of brushing and trimming of the very long and thick coat. The feline spent its days often sleeping by the fire, being spoiled rotten and resting peacefully until the end of its days.
