(finger guns :)
"Well, I am powerful. Very powerful. But, uh, I'm not the right person for this job. You are!" Endor said, pointing at Laurel– or was it Ana– with a big smile. "That's why Alina chose you. Any other questions?" Laurel glanced from Endor back to Ana, and shrugged. She didn't really trust this strange woman, but if she had answers about the monsters and all…
"We should probably see how much she knows," Laurel whispered to Ana, hoping Endor didn't overhear her. "It might help us."
(XD)
Ana sighed, pursing her lips. "Alright," she murmured quietly, lips barely moving. "Maybe we can find more about this dangerous threat that they seem to be up against. But be careful, she might be leading us into a trap." She wondered who Endor had been pointing to. It was probably Laurel. Ana was no one special, plus, she was already a fighter. She didn't need any more power… right?
"Hmm." Laurel nodded ever so slightly, her eyes straying back to Endor. The strange woman was standing in the middle of the room still, her hands fluttering through the air.
"Done talking between yourselves? Good. Come this way. I promise I won't hurt you." Endor's hands dropped to her sides, and she turned, walking towards one of the doors. At the last second, she stepped to one side. Laurel half-expected Endor to simply walk right through the wall, but that didn't happen. Endor walked right into the wall, her head smacking into the stone. "Ow!" Laurel stared as Endor clutched her head, muttering curses. This was the person they were looking to for help. They were going to die.
"Oh no," Ana mumbled, staring at Endor, who had run into the wall. "Are we sure she can help us?" She asked, not even trying to be quiet. "If we're supposed to place our lives in the hands of someone who can't see straight - " she stopped. "Are you blind?" She asked suddenly.
"Um… At first I thought, maybe? And now… nope." Laurel shook her head, running a hand through her hair.
"I am not blind! Magic doors are a little difficult and I can never remember if it's open or not!" Endor shouted, tapping a stone on the wall. She cautiously reached forward, grinning when her hand somehow went through the wall.
"Um… magic door," Laurel said, a small, amazed smile appearing on her face. "Awesome."
"It's just an illusion," Ana said, rolling her eyes, less inclined to believe all this… magic… stuff. She shook her head. "Pretty advanced tech. Anyway, are we supposed to walk through the wall?"
"I mean, you're not wrong about the illusion thing." Endor shrugged, looking back at them. "It's not 'tech', whatever that is. And yes, walk through the wall with me!" She grinned and disappeared through the stones. Laurel glanced at Ana, then decided 'screw it' and hurried after Endor. Laurel was a little hesitant to walk through the wall, but after feeling that nothing was there with her hand, slowly walked through the 'wall'. It was a bit like walking through mist, except she didn't get wet at all. All together, Laurel wasn't dead– yet– and magic was real. So, amazing.
Ana frowned. She liked to be in control, and this was anything but. She pinched her lips together, but followed Laurel. She had to protect the girl, after all. There was something interesting about her, and Ana was hesitant to abandon anyone.
Laurel emerged into a large room stuffed full of bookshelves and all sorts of other stuff. There were statues, chairs, tables, cabinets full of glowing bottles, and a skull sitting on a pedestal in the corner of the room. Laurel gasped in amazement, then glanced behind her. Hopefully, Ana would be coming soon. She really didn't want to choose between magic and Ana.
"Welcome to my storage room!" Endor exclaimed, throwing her hands towards the ceiling.
Ana, who had come through just as Endor said that. She raised an eyebrow. "A big storage room. What is there a skull?" She asked, spotting it. She moved quickly over to it, studying it with clinical interest. "Is it real?" She asked, voice interested for the first time since entering the castle.
"Because why not?" Endor shrugged, pulling a thin book from a bookcase and dropping it on a nearby table. "It is real. I should know because I am the reason that skull is there and not on someone's shoulders," She said, grinning proudly.
"You killed whoever that skull belonged to?" Laurel asked, suddenly a little nervous.
"Yeah, but don't worry. It was self-defense." Endor waved them over. "Come on, now. I have a story to tell you."
Ana picked up the skull, studying it. "How did you kill the person?" She asked, then set it back down and walked back over beside Laurel. She picked some dirt from under her fingernails and looked at Endor. "Do we have to sit on the floor for storytime?" She asked, voice slightly mocking.
"I stabbed them," Endor said, as casually as if she'd just said 'I took them out to lunch'. "And no, you don't. Chairs!" She snapped her fingers and two chairs appeared in front of the table. "Please, sit. Let me inform you about all the terrible things that happened." Laurel glanced at Ana, then at the chairs. Magic chairs. She slowly walked towards the chairs and sat in one.
Ana was getting more and more wary. What was going on? She didn't believe in magic, and this… this was just… she didn't know. Not something she was comfortable about. She shook her head, but sat down without saying anything else.
"Alright, storytime." Endor picked up the book and hopped up onto the table. "Once upon a time, there was a queen. She ruled the land very kindly but had terrible luck. An evil sorcerer only known as the Shadow King had created a bunch of these shadowy monsters– you've seen them– and they were killing a lot of people. Understandably, this queen wanted to get rid of the monsters, so she searched for a weapon that could. And she found one– a crown and staff that had the power to completely destroy the monsters. Unfortunately, before she could use them, the Shadow King captured her and locked her up. He took the weapons and totally destroyed the queen's land. Then he decided that one world wasn't enough and made a portal here. But it kinda went bad and brought other things with it. Including the weapons, which you guys should probably get so you can save your world," Endor said, closing the book. Laurel was pretty sure she hadn't even been reading from the book, which was kind of strange.
Ana blinked. "First of all, is that even real? Second of all, why? Why us? Why not anyone else? And third, were you even reading that?" She shook her head in confusion. This was so, so weird. Not one to normally be interested in fairy tales and stuff, this was bizarre to her. It wasn't a place she was comfortable in.
… Although, a magical weapon did sound nice. Maybe she could use that?
"Wait, a magic weapon? Who was the queen?" Laurel asked, her eyes wide. "Where is it?"
"Whoa, slow down." Endor raised her hands. "You first." She pointed at Ana, then started rattling off answers. "Yes, it's real. I lived through it. I don't know, Alina thought you'd be good heroes. You actually know what you're doing, and Laurel believes in all this stuff. I was not reading it, I have it memorized. Because I lived through it." Endor took a deep breath and turned to Laurel. "Yes, a magic weapon. Very fancy, and it looks good too. Alina was the queen– did I forget to mention that? And It is… somewhere. Speaking of somewhere, I have a map and some fun, helpful tools for you!" Endor clapped her hands together and stood up. "I'll go get those." And with that, she disappeared.
"So… there's just one magic weapon?" Analaya frowned. "Even if all that is true, don't you think that it's not fair?" She shrugged, looking at Laurel. "Well, if there's only one, you can have it. You need magical protection weapons way more than I do." She smiled slightly. "Besides. I already know how to fight. We can't be unevenly matched now, can we?"
"I guess so," Laurel said, shrugging. "I mean, yeah." She nodded slowly, lips pulling into a small smile when Ana said she could have the magic weapon. "Thanks, Ana. That's really nice."
"Yes, really. You were following the exact line of thinking Alina was. Good job." Endor appeared right in front of them, which made Laurel squeak in surprise. "But don't worry. There might only be one big magic weapon to get rid of all of the monsters, but that doesn't mean there are smaller magical weapons that are specifically designed by me to get rid of one of them." Endor dropped a bag on the table and opened it, first pulling out a rolled-up map, and then a few silver throwing knives. "There's more where those came from."
"Woah…" Laurel breathed, staring at the knives. They looked like they were glowing just a bit, though she couldn't really tell.
"So where's the sword?" Ana asked. She tried her hardest not to look at the knives, although they sparkled and shone in the dim light. They were beautiful, and her hands itched to pick them up, to try them. But she restrained herself, clenching her fists too keep them from touching.
"What sword? Did I mention a sword?" Endor frowned, looking like she was trying to remember. "Anyways, here's some magic knives. They're really good at finding their target and will kill a monster in one shot. And they return to your hand once you've thrown them. Please, pick them up!" She waved her hand at the knives, then pointed at the map. "That'll tell you where to find stuff from my world, like the weapons and the Shadow King, though that's mostly so you can avoid him." Laurel took a few steps towards the table, hands hovering over the knives for a second before picking up the map. She was really hoping the magical weapons were close to where they were. Having to fly a plane during this time would actually be impossible.
Ana picked up the knives, studying them. They were in very good condition, and seemed very sharp. She glanced over at Endor. "Do they listen to both of us?"
"Yeah, they're not picky. Whoever had the knife in their hand is the person the knife will return to. I have a few that are totally mine, but I don't know you well enough to do the same," Endor explained. Laurel glanced up at her, then at the knives, then back down at the map. She carefully unrolled it, holding her breath as she did. It appeared to be a map of the area, focused on the town. There were a few symbols on the map: a shard of black stone, a few keys, and a crown, among other things. Laurel squinted at them, trying to make sense of it.
"Look," She said, holding the map out to Ana and Endor, though Endor seemed preoccupied with flipping a knife in the air.
"Is the black stone supposed to be useful?" Ana asked, picking up another dagger and spinning it through her fingers. "Like, some sort of weapon?" She shook her head. What kind of weapon was that? Stones? Screwdrivers would be more useful than that. She would know. She had experience.
"What black stone?" Endor turned her attention to the map. "Oh, no, that represents the Shadow King. I'd stay as far away from that place as you can. This is where you want to be going." She pointed at the crown. "That's where the weapon is, and the rest of the things are optional quests. If you happen to run across one, get it, but don't go out of your way." Endor went back to flipping her knife. Laurel nodded slowly, trying to figure out where the crown was. The map was a little weird, and there really weren't any names of streets on it.
"Do you recognize where that is?" Laurel asked Ana, pointing at the crown.
"Not really," Ana said, frowning. "I mean, a little bit, but it's all similar to each other, and so I don't know where exactly everything is." She prided herself on knowing how to read maps pretty well, but this was more difficult. The writing was rougher, as was the drawings and features. "I mean, I could figure out where it is if there was a clear marker, but I'm not finding anything I recognize."
"Great. We have a useless map," Laurel sighed, going to roll the map back up.
"Wait! That there is my castle. Where you are right now," Endor said, tapping a point on the edge of the map. "Does that help?" Laurel narrowed her eyes at the map, but Endor's hint didn't help. She didn't really know where Endor's castle was in relation to the town, but maybe Ana might know. She probably knew this area better than Laurel. At least, that's what Laurel was hoping.
"Maybe?" Ana said, biting her lip, studying the map in a new light. "I mean, there isn't a compass on here, so I can't be sure." She pointed to a small line running away from the castle. "Is this the road we took to get here?"
"I think so." Laurel frowned, trying to recall how they'd gotten to the castle in the first place.
"Yep! That's the road." Endor nodded, then tapped her chin. "You're right, it doesn't have a compass. Here." She placed a finger on the corner of the map. When she took her finger away, there was a small compass there.
"Okay…" Ana was a little bit creeped out. Was this really happening to her? This was… no, it couldn't be magic. Magic wasn't real. It wasn't. She studied the map. "Okay, then, I think I know where all of the things are."
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