LightReader

Chapter 2 - Chapter 1: Stolen

The dim light of the moon hung high above the inner city, bathing Arkhaven kingdom in its ethereal glow. In the dead of the night, when the lights below had long since been extinguished, and when the mere sound of rustling leaves could reach the ears of someone three blocks away, the city experiences an uncharacteristic moment of peace. 

But in the Capital, things were far from calm.

Within the High Council Hall in the heart of the Capital, figures gathered around a grand table, speaking to each other in hushed tones. Heads hidden in the shadow, only the intricately woven robes and many gleaming armour sets they wore were visible. The only exception was the figure at the far end, whose whole body was hidden from view.

At the exact moment the clock struck 12, the hushed whispers hurriedly died down, and from the opposite end of the table, a door slammed open.

From within, a lean-statured man with glasses walked out, carrying a thick file, nestled comfortably in his hands.

With long, stiff strides, he floated towards the table and slammed the file down. 

All eyes landed on the man.

"Greetings to all Seats Of The High Council." His voice resounded across the room. Extending his right hand out and placing his left to his chest, he lowered his head in an elegantly extravagant bow before standing back up.

He turned his gaze meaningfully to acknowledge the figures seated on the left, and then the right, before fixing his eyes on the man directly at the far end in front. The moment the man nodded was the moment the meeting was allowed to start, which he promptly did.

"I humbly introduce myself as Treasurer Voss. I am the one in charge of keeping the treasury safe."

A soft, audible grumble came from one of the seats, which everyone ignored.

"Thus, I presume you all know the implications of this meeting."

The room was silent. An air of grave tension hung in the room.

"I am here to present more information regarding the breach." He glanced at the sleek leather watch strapped onto his wrist. "Just over… two hours ago, my treasurers recorded a missing relic from the treasury."

"Well, you certainly aren't doing your job very well." The same seat that grumbled before responded.

"That's enough from you, Mr Reeve." The figure at the far end warned. "I know you hate working overtime, but keep your criticisms until after the meeting."

At this, Mr Reeve blushed and shut his mouth immediately.

The figure turned back to face Mr Voss and nodded for him to continue.

Receiving the response, Mr Voss reached into his business suit and took out a small remote, before pointing it at the screen in the far end. After pressing a few buttons, the screen lit up, displaying the artefact that was stolen.

"B-class classified artifact: Arcana Crystal, harvested from The Mother Stone."

A 3d rendering of a crystal came into view on the screen, shimmering in all its glory.

"B-class artifacts are typically considered safe enough for citizens to handle, but this particular one… we all know how dangerous this one is."

He received the nods of everyone.

"Nevertheless, its effects are still minimal in the grand scheme of things. It is not the artifact that is important, but rather the fact that someone was able to break into the Capital treasury and steal from it. We are all gathered here today to discuss the intruder." 

"Who would even be able to break into the treasury?" Mr Reeve asked with renewed vigour. As he did, he leaned forward, bringing his face into view.

He was a sturdy, well-built man with a small beard and a squarish face. A visible half-scowl half half-frown sat on his face. 

"It's one of the most protected and secure places. Even the people sitting around this table," he cast accusing glances left and right, "merely have the ability to write in and request access into the treasury." he nodded down to the figure. "Apart from that, only a few carefully selected nonmagical officials are granted access for maintenance and patrol."

"And those nonmagical officials lack the ability to steal any artifacts," a womanly voice chimed in, "because the seals on the artifacts can only be unlocked by using arcana. Those without magic cannot get past the seals."

"That means that the breacher should be someone in the room." The figure at the end of the table, the chairperson, finished for her. 

The prospect made everyone shift uncomfortably in their seats.

"I now invite the official who reported the loss to present his findings." Mr Voss declared. He turned around and opened the meeting room door, before ushering in a pale faced person inside.

"Um…" the nonmagical stepped forward into view, trembling ever so slightly, clearly intimidated by the presence of so many powerful people. Despite this, he was very clearly trying to keep his composure to maintain a decent image, giving way to quite a comedic scene. 

Mr Voss motioned his forward to stand in the spotlight, which he did, although reluctantly.

 "Yes, I was in the vault when it happened. Actually, at that time, I stood right in front of the stolen artifact."

"Tell us exactly what happened, down to the minute it was discovered." Mr Reeve demanded.

"At that time, I was doing my daily routine of patrolling and dusting off the surfaces. I was about to wipe off the dust on the glass box that contained the crystal, when all of a sudden, I passed out, or at least I think I did. I tried to inform the others, but they were too far away, and by the time I woke up, the artifact had already disappeared, leaving only the glass box."

Afterwards, the man spoke no more, only fiddling with his hands nervously in his pocket.

"He has finished giving his account." The man with glasses concluded. "I shall now open the floor for discussion. Does anyone have any opinions?" 

"Questions for Treasurer Mr Voss," Mr Reeve asked. "I recall from the last time I went there 10 years ago," he tapped the side of his forehead, "That everyone who entered will have their names recorded in the Book Of Truth. Where is that, huh?"

The man with glasses, Mr Voss, pushed his eyewear up: "When he passed out within the time period of 8 pm to 10 pm, there were only two other officials inside. Other than that, nobody was inside."

"And where are these two officials right now?"

"They are still at the vault. I didn't bring them here."

"Could there have been a breach in the treasury's protective barrier?"

Mr Voss shook his head. "Impossible. Anyone powerful enough to try wouldn't be able to do so without making a lot of noise or triggering the security alarms. Besides, no such visible attempts were discovered."

"In that case, it must have been carried out by the officials inside." Mr Reeve declared.

Everyone turned to the one official, who had shrunken ever so slightly into a corner.

"The officials certainly do have motives to steal artifacts from the treasury." Reasoned out Mr Voss, "But they lack the ability to unlock the seals."

"Couldn't they have used external artifacts to unlock it?" He pressed on.

"No, nobody is allowed to bring any magical artifacts inside. Only with the chairperson's approval can people take artifacts out, but nobody is allowed to bring anything in, except the chairperson."

"Could he have learned how to use magic?" The square-faced man asked, looking at the official with narrow eyes.

Beads of sweat could be seen trickling down the official's forehead.

"Another Impossibility." Mr Voss replied. "We selected these people precisely because of their non-magical lineage. They cannot learn arcana without awakening, and all artifacts that awaken arcana are strictly controlled and contained within the treasury."

"Let me speak." A man in a crisp white dress shirt covered by navy attire made his presence known. "I've dealt with many cases like this before. Could the officials have been mind controlled?"

"I will not throw that out of the window, Mr Bryce," Mr Voss responded, "but it's highly unlikely. Life overseeing the treasury is hectic. You need to keep in mind that these officials live their entire lives out within this very building the moment they sign the contract binding them to the treasury. The oaths of a magical contract arn't easily overcome. Even their families have to get permission from us to visit them. Apart from visitors, everyone working here at the heart of the Kingdom's operations is trustable. There wouldn't be many occasions where one could have set up a magical curse on the official even with his consent, let alone without it."

"But that's the closest thing to a clue we have now, so I would like to request a check on that person," The man in the navy attire, Mr Bryce, pointed at the official, "on whether he is indeed being mind controlled."

All eyes turned to the chairman for the final verdict.

"I'll allow the search." The chairperson answered.

"Then I'll check." Mr Bryce stood up and walked to the official, who tried to hide a deep gulp.

The man patted him on the shoulder and gave a reassuring smile: "Don't worry, this won't hurt unless there is something to expel from your body. And even if it does, the pain that comes after will be way worse. I am not the Chief Interrogator for nothing. So you can relax."

Mr Bryce placed his hands on the head of the official and closed his eyes. Slowly, a thin layer of transparent aura travels from the man's hands and covers the official. Then, suddenly, he opened his eyes and secured his hand more firmly on his head. The transparent aura around the official suddenly dispersed from all around his body, shooting outwards in thick aura spikes, before they, following a predetermined path, were pulled back to Mr Bryce's hands. Once all the aura from the official disappeared, he maintained the aura around his hands and clenched his fist.

"The thumb and pinkie represent the legs. The index and ring finger represent the arms. The middle finger represents the head, and the palm represents the body." Sitting back down at the table, he presented his closed fist to the others, and opened it.

"There are no signs that the official is being taken over." He said, revealing his empty hand. "If there was foreign arcana, I would have extracted it into my hand, on the body part it was found on."

"Alright, let's move on to our next hypothesis-" Mr Voss tried to speak, but was suddenly interrupted by the chairperson.

"Mr Bryce, you should really look closer." 

"Hmm?" Mr Bryce looked at his hand once again. On the surface, he couldn't see anything. 

But the chairperson has spoken, and he was hardly ever wrong.

Squinting his eyes, Mr Bryce directed his arcana around his eyes, covering it in thick aura, allowing him to zoom in hundreds of times smaller. His eyes moved as he scanned his hand, until finally, it landed on the middle finger.

And then he widened his eyes and dispersed his arcana. 

"There is indeed foreign arcana." Mr Bryce looked up at the table and concluded.

"How are you sure?" The square-faced man asked. 

"It is small, the smallest arcana strands I've ever seen. But it's there, in his head." Mr Bryce put out his hand for everyone to see. "It did not exceed the size of five cells. If not for my proficiency in vision, I would not have been able to catch it."

Everyone in the meeting room fell silent for a moment, as they squinted their eyes in hope of catching a glimpse of the foreign arcana.

Then the chairperson broke the silence. "Ms Lazrielle, can you do a quick scan of that official?"

A petite woman with long flowing purple hair and stunning half-moon earings slowly removed her slumped, previously sleeping body from the table and sat up.

 lazily rubbed her eyes, Lazrielle looked at the chairperson, and in a groggy tone, she protested: "Do I have to?"

"Yes, you do." The chairperson resolutely insisted.

"Haaaaa…" she exhaled and sprawled out on the table in protest, but the chairperson did not move.

"...fine, fine." Lazrielle grumbled.

Slowly, in unwillingly defiant acceptance, she pushed her chair away from the table, stood up, and approached the officer.

"Look into my eyes, please." Taking both of the officer's hands that were stationed at his side, she gazed into the officer's eyes, fluttering her lashes. 

With a furtive glance around the table, he did as she asked, aware of all the stares he was receiving.

The moment his eyes met hers, Lazrielle's eyes glowed a deep purple, and her pupils transformed into a hypnotic spiral. The officer's body straightened as an invisible force forced him to stand upright and stare, even deeper, into the abyssal eyes of the woman.

After a few minutes of tense silence, the force died down, and she released her stare. "He was definitely possessed, but there is nothing else to see on my end." 

The casual remark made the whole room burst out in chatter. 

"So he was mind controlled?" Mr Bryce asked.

"Yes, but I couldn't find anything else."

"Can you bring me along?" He requested. 

"No." She firmly stated.

"Lazrielle, you should accommodate his request." the chairperson agreed.

she turned his eyes towards the chairperson, eyes pleading for no more work, but the chairperson did not falter.

"...fine." Sighing, Lazrielle turned back to the official. "You," she lifted a finger at Mr Bryce, "Stand here," she motioned beside the official, "and stare into my right eye. And you," She looked back at the official, "Stare into my left eye. With both eyes, mind you."

As they got into their positions, Lazrielle took a hand from each of the subjects, and her eyes turned purple again. 

As Mr Bryce stared into the eye, and following the spiralling of the pupil, his world started to spin. 

At one point, he gently felt a tug that pulled him towards her right eye, though Mr Bryce couldn't respond to the tug. But, rapidly and exponentially, the force grew stronger. And stronger, until he finally felt himself rapidly hurtling forward into the eye.

 All of a sudden, Mr Bryce found himself standing shoulder to shoulder with Lazrielle in a dark, empty world.

"Look down." Lazrielle pointed.

Mr Bryce looked down, and discovered that he was standing beside a bed.

Upon closer inspection, the saw that, tucked deep within the starry blankets and sleeping soundly, was the childlike figure of the official. His two hands tightly clenched the thick blanket, and, at periodic intervals, he would take one big snore inwards, and exhale a gigantic snot bubble. When the tension of the snot bubble reaches a maximum, it then bursts into coloured smoke that wafts upwards, joining a layer of white clouds hovering above him.

"Whats with this look?" Mr Bryce asked.

"Personal choice." Lazrielle curtly answered. "Anyways, I want to go back to sleep. What do you want to see?"

"What did you try to search for just now that yielded no result?"

"Well," she lifted a finger up, "I obviously looked at all the times he interacted with Arcanists in the past year. And no interaction I saw revealed a transferral of arcana, though the 2 hours during which he passed out were missing."

Mr Bryce put his thumb to his chin and pondered. Finally, he lifted his head up and asked, "Can you show me all the times others have touched his head?"

"Sure." Lazrielle approached the bed and started waving at the cloud, pushing it away. After a while, she grabbed three small clouds and dragged them above the big cloud.

"Here you go." She pushed the small clouds towards him.

He looked at the cloud with deep interest. Within each cloud, a scene of the officer's life played.

He concentrated his aura in his eyes, and zoomed in.

In one scene, Mr Voss patted his head after he did a great job at work. This cloud had a golden glow, reflecting his happiness. He didn't sense anything.

In another scene, a separate officer friend grabbed his head and shook it in frustration after he showed up 2 minutes late for work. This cloud had a red glow, reflecting his guilt and frustration at himself. He also didn't sense anything.

He turned his eyes to the last scene, where the officer was being petted on his head by his elderly parents who had come to visit him. This cloud had a glow of pure gold, reflecting his overwhelming happiness. But this time, he sensed something.

Mr Bryce stayed quiet for a moment, replaying the scene, before turning to Larielle. "Alright, I'm done."

"If you say so."

Mr Bryce felt himself being pulled backwards, rapidly away from the bedside, until the bed was but a speck in his vision, and all he saw was darkness.

Then, he suddenly felt as if the darkness was because his eyes had been closed the entire time, and he opened his eyes, revealing the familiar scene of the discussion room. 

He looked at Lazrielle, who was already halfway to her seat, and he addressed the table once more.

"It seems like we have to make another record of a criminal arcanist. This one seems particularly nasty, and seems to have the ability to transfer invasive arcana cells," he paused, creating tension for his next words, "through touch, and touch alone."

The room started to buzz. This was insane. Someone who could brainwash people through touch, while still remaining relatively undetected? It was nothing short of impossible… and it was exactly with an ability like that that could have breached the most secure treasury in the Kingdom.

"Alright, now that we've settled that, let's move on-" Mr Voss, who was speaking, was once again interrupted by a vibration in his pocket.

"One second." He took out his phone and answered the call.

Then, his eyes widened.

And he turned back to face the table.

"More officials have called. More artifacts have disappeared. And they all have the same account as him." He pointed to the only official in the room.

The man with the square face put a hand on his forehead. He saw a headache coming their way. 

"And pray tell me, which artifacts were stolen?"

Mr Voss looked around with a solemn gaze, and then replied: "Class A artifact, Veilrent Blade, and," he pushed his glasses up, such that the light hit it at just the right angle to reflect off, "Class S artefact, Mourning Lantern."

More Chapters