Chapter 13
To say the least, Aziz's eyes were about ready to bug out of his head. The necklace's force had dulled to a light gravitation, but the crazy thing was, it was gravitating towards Amara, who was passed out on the ground only wake up a few minutes later. Even crazier, for some inexplicable reason, he was terrified she was hurt in some form or fashion even though he barely knew her, almost as if it were one of his basic human instincts. Only when she woke up did his panic cease. The VK's all surrounded her and she proceeded to tell them about 'visions' she had, and then out of nowhere, the vines on the wall clear and a humongous door was revealed, opening to a golden light whose rays shined from the depths, like a rising sun, warm and inviting, reminding him of the Cave of Wonders from his father's stories.
The sounds of his combat boots echoed throughout the castle as he stepped into what was left of the room slowly, still processing everything he had seen. He could've sworn when Amara woke up, she saw through the cloaking spell, although he had the feeling if she had seen anything, she would've said so, or she wouldn't've and questioned him later. Either way, Aziz was fairly certain that she knew someone had been there, but then, maybe the magic was beginning to muddle his brain a little and make him come up with paranoid explanations. All he knew was he had to slip out of there before anyone came back.
It wasn't as if he couldn't handle himself, but Aziz was practically sure if he were discovered, it would lead to an entire confrontation which he wasn't sure he was ready for. How exactly did you bring up to a girl whom you barely knew that a necklace had carried him there when it possibly may have been following her? What was he supposed to say? 'Hey. Sorry I followed you, which wasn't actually my fault, it was the necklace's, a necklace which happens to belong to my long-lost sister who was abducted before it could be given to her and, funny story, it's actually drawn to you, so there's a chance you may or may not be her. Insane right?'.
"That'd be one way to get her attention. But yeah, let's see how well that goes over", Aziz muttered to himself. Then again, maybe she could handle it. He recalled her reaction when he had admitted to having a 'twin telepathy' moment with her as he called it, but then again, they've only known each other all of two weeks, so she was about as likely to believe him as the apple merchant in the marketplace of Agrabah was likely to let a thief leave with his hands. But what was Aziz going to do if it actually had been the case, if Amara was his sister? 'We'll cross that bridge once we come to it, if we ever come to it', he decided. He pulled out his phone and tapped in Jordan's number. After it rang a few times, Jordan's warm, inviting voice greeted him on the other end. "Okay first of all, where the hell are you?!", Jordan exclaimed. 'Yeah, warm and inviting', Aziz thought sarcastically to himself as he held his phone a few inches from his ear as Jordan shouted at him through it. He sort of preferred to keep his hearing intact.
"Up the freaking creek without a paddle", Aziz replied as he walked toward the door the group had gone through moments before, returning the phone to his ear.
"Are you at least soaking wet on account of your ass having fallen in the water?", his best friend retorted sardonically.
"Not even a little drip", he shot back. Aziz could tell from where he was, she was rolling her eyes hard right now.
"So what happened?", asked Jordan.
"Honestly, I don't know. The necklace carried me off and it calmed down as soon as it got to Blackborough and- look, I'll tell you everything once I'm back at school", Aziz said.
"Do you need me to come find you?", she asked.
"Not right now. If I'm not back in a few hours, I'll call you", Aziz promised.
"You've got one hour, and when you do get back, you'd better not leave out a single detail. I'll meet you at on the tourney field.", Jordan said before hanging up. Aziz exhaled at his feisty friend, slipping the phone into his back pocket as he began walking to the entrance of the structure. Out of nowhere, a stone tile disappeared from under his feet, and Aziz was sucked into the ground before he even had a chance to cross the threshold.
As Amara and the rest of the gang approached the entrance of the door which had revealed itself, she thought about her latest vision, because the room wasn't the only vision she had received. She hated she felt as though it was necessary for her to lie through omission, but if she were being honest, most of what she had seen didn't make any sense to her at all. She first saw an actual eclipse, which she could only assume was the Eclipse. She saw it as clearly as if it were happening in the present, the new moon perfectly eclipsing the sun, but this appeared to be a bit larger than a normal eclipse.
Following that, she saw all of them in the room, so somehow, they must've been granted entrance or something, but they appeared to be surrounding something, a cylindrical pedestal that had 3 rectangular indentations, all evenly spaced from each other around the top of it. The last image was of a man who looked to be in his late 20's. Overall, his frame was lean and chiseled as was his jawline. His dark hair, thick and wavy, reached down to his shoulders. His skin was a familiar shade of caramel, at least, the human part of his skin was. His neck, shoulders and the contours of his face were covered in amber snake scales. His throat was lined with the ridges you'd find under a snake.
The man hissed loudly. She knew his face anywhere, for this was the face of Jafar, long before he came to the Isle, long before he was even accepted into the palace of Agrabah, but that wasn't the even the craziest image. Gradually, Jafar's hair grew and his features molded and shifted into a face she knew all too well. Soon, it was Jay's face that stared back at her. It was Jay who had the hiss of a snake, it was Jay whose fangs were fully extended, like the sharpest, narrowest bone needles ever to grace the earth. The golden color of his eyes shone as brightly as the treasure in the Cave of Wonders, his pupils thin, dark slits. They were the same eyes that she had seen him with the night that she had slipped into his room, the night she had finally revealed herself to him after six years. Even more strange, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had seen him with those eyes even before that night. If she could only remember when.
The next moment she knew, she found herself in the grand room of Castle Blackborough, awoken from her strange stupor. Other than Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos, Amara could've sworn she sensed someone else from behind the wall, but the person ducked away before she got a good look. "Whoa". The sound of Carlos's voice jolted her from her thoughts. They stood right at the entrance of the door, a mixture of golden and amber light rays shining from the bottom of the stairs, the large, open doors magnifying the effect.
"So, who's going first?", Mal asked sarcastically. Without question, Amara was the first to step across the threshold, her steps echoing throughout the dusty, ancient stairwell. Mal and Evie were the next to go, with Carlos following after them. "Jay, you coming?", Carlos's call echoed from halfway down the stairs.
Right as Jay was about to cross the threshold, he stopped himself. What if his reptilian traits showed themselves once he was down there? What if he couldn't make them go away? What if he couldn't force them down like he normally did? What if he found out something he wished he hadn't? Then again, what was he going to do if he never found out what was happening to him? Sucking in a long breath, he took the first step, and then the next, and then the next, and continued this process until he had reached his friends at the bottom, hearing the large stone doors close behind him.
"What took you so long?", asked Evie as Jay jogged down the last few steps.
'If you only knew', Jay thought, slightly shaking his head back and forth. "Nothing", he lied.
Running his hands through his hair in an attempt to soothe his nerves, Jay approached the glowing entrance. The group was greeted by the sight of Amara staring up at the high ceiling of the empty, torch-lit room as they crossed the threshold. The entrance to the room closed as soon as the last of them had passed through. Startled, the group looked back at where the entrance had once been. "No turning back now", Carlos muttered.
"So now what are we supposed to do?", Mal asked, the question directed at Amara.
"We wait, I guess", Amara offered, at a loss for what to do. Her heart began to pound with anxiety. She saw the room clearly. She knew it had to be here somewhere, and yet they had all come into a dead end. But this couldn't possibly be the place, could it? All of a sudden, the ground began to shake under their feet. "Guys?", Evie said warily.
The shaking increased, and suddenly the floor cracked in two. Everyone's bodies shook and wobbled back and forth along with the floor. More cracks began to form, snaking out from the main one. "What's happening?!", Carlos yelled over the commotion.
It was then that the floor caved out from under them, the group tumbling into the dark, seemingly endless abyss.
Aziz woke up with a dull, throbbing ache in his head and his shoulder feeling like a pile of bricks had been dropped on it. He grunted in pain as it registered in his brain, clutching his shoulder. After a few seconds, he shook his head to clear the black spots in his vision, rolling his shoulder a few times as he took in his surroundings. Where was he? Had he been unconscious, and if so, for how long?
The cave he appeared to be in was dimly lit by torches on the wall, the ground having been leveled out for some time, albeit not completely, it appeared. The ceiling of the cave was surprisingly high, stalactites sprinkled around the corners of it. While the ground was somewhat bumpy, there was no way it was perfectly leveled off without some type of assistance. So what could've happened down here? What was this place?
As he began scoping the cave, he slipped his phone into his back pocket, absentmindedly grateful he had changed into his regular clothes before he left the field. As he slipped his phone into his back pocket, he checked his other back pocket out of habit, but as soon as he slipped his hand into it, his heartbeat began to quicken at the emptiness of the pocket.
Wait, where was it? Where was his sister's necklace? 'It must've fallen out of my hand when I fell', he reasoned. He began to search frantically around for anything that looked like a golden cat. He quickly went back to where he had fallen and dropped to the ground on his knees, sifting through the gravel and dirt with his hands. "Damn it, where is it?", he nearly shouted, his words echoing throughout the cave.
The sound of crumbling rock jolted him from his thoughts. As soon as he looked up, he ducked behind one of the boulders in the cave, shielding himself with his arms as is they could protect him from the rocks which rained down from above. "Aahh!", Aziz heard many voices scream, along with a couple of 'oof's' and grunts following a few seconds after. As soon as the dust cleared, Aziz peeked his head around the corner ever-so-slightly, not wanting to give away his location. He peered at the people sprawled on the ground, trying to see them clearly in the dimly lit cavern. His assumptions were confirmed as he saw two girls with violet and navy hair, and two guys wearing tourney jerseys with a #8 and a #101, if the long dark hair of #8 the white hair with black roots of #101 wasn't any indication of who they were.
There was a third girl as well, wearing a familiar black bomber jacket, her obsidian locks creating a veil around her head as she propped herself up on her elbow, her other hand clutching her head. Amara. "Is everyone okay?", a familiar voice asked. Aziz recognized it as Jay's voice.
"Yeah", Carlos said, grunting in pain as he clutched his head.
"We're good", Mal said, groaning as she rolled her shoulder.
"I'm alright", Evie groaned as she massaged her neck.
Amara tucked her knees to her chest, using her arms to push herself upright. She wiped the dust from her eyes as she sat on her knees, shaking her head to clear her disorientation, no doubt. His curiosity was peaked as Amara cocked her head to one side, her gaze fixated on something in particular. He never got the opportunity to find out, because as she reached for what she had found, the scene around him melted away, a churning sensation taking place in his stomach. A split second later, green was all he saw as he received a mouth full of turf.
Amara was seriously disoriented, but then again she imagined the rest of them were as well. "Is everyone okay?" she heard Jay's muffled voice ask.
"Yeah- we're good- I'm alright", they all answered, their words almost blurring together. Amara couldn't seem to make her voice work. She was focused on clearing the black spots in her vision. She shook her head a few times as her vision and hearing began to clear up. She clutched her throbbing head, a piercing ache going through it. Opening and closing her eyes a few times helped her vision clear up a bit more, but also alerted her to an object that glinted in the distance.
Tucking her knees into her chest, she sat upright on her hip and wiped the dust off of her eyes to be sure what she was seeing wasn't a trick of the light. The glint was still there. Curious, she reached out. She swept away the dust from the rubble, and what it revealed confused her. She wrapped her fingers around the golden charm and blew the rest of the dust off of it to see it better. She was briefly distracted by a bright flash of light, but her focus shifted back to the trinket in her hand.
The charm was as big around as the center of her palm, so she could easily wrap her fingers around it. It was gold and in the shape of a cat, the body curled around an opal gem in the center. The chain was small, but not so small as to be delicate. The chain was thick enough to be worn normally and wouldn't have to be treated as fragile. She initially thought maybe it was a lost treasure of Blackborough, but if that were the case, then why did it look fairly new? Why did it look like it had been freshly polished?
Staring at the charm, she slowly came to stand. "What's that?", she heard Mal say. Amara's gaze shifted to Mal, who slowly came to a stand as she did and made her way over to her, the trinket in Amara's hand catching her attention. "It's a necklace. I found it a few seconds after we fell", Amara explained.
"How long do you think it's been down here?", Mal asked, sliding her fingers under the cat and lifting it for closer examination.
"Not long. There weren't any signs of age on it. It wasn't tarnished at all", Amara explained. Sure, pure gold didn't tarnish, but then again, pure gold is also too soft on its own to be made into jewelry without being mixed with other metals that did tarnish from old age. So either the necklace was brand new, or it was polished regularly. If that were the case, which Amara was betting it was, the real question was if it didn't come from down here, then where had it come from? "Okay, weird", Mal said.
"What?" Amara asked.
"There is some insanely strong magic coming from this thing. How is it possible if it didn't come from here? I mean, do you think it belongs to anyone?" Mal contemplated. As soon as Mal pointed it out, Amara also could sense a buzzing sort of energy emitting from the trinket.
"Wait a minute, let me see it", Carlos said as he approached the girls. Carlos peered at the charm as Mal handed it to him. "I've seen this before", Carlos said, his eyes widening in realization.
"Where?" Mal asked.
"It belongs to Aziz. I've seen him pull it out of his pocket a lot. Everywhere he goes, he has it with him. How is it even down here?" Carlos asked no one in particular. Looking down at the necklace, Amara recalled the flash of light when she had gone to pick it up. If Carlos had never seen him without it, then it was safe to say he never went anywhere without it, which led Amara to only one possibility.
"He followed us", Amara concluded. Mal and Carlos cocked their heads to one side in confusion.
"But how? Mal and Evie sent their magic out and swept our surroundings like a bajillion times on the way here. And why would he follow us? It's not like he knew where we were going", Carlos contemplated, handing the necklace back to her.
"Uh, guys?", they heard Jay call from a distance. Mal and Carlos jogged in the direction of his voice, but Amara stayed where she was. She held the charm in her palm, the chain entangled in her fingers. She couldn't seem to stop staring at it. The more she stared at it, the more she felt connected to it. But why would she feel connected to the necklace? It didn't even belong to her, and she'd never seen it before in her life, not even in her visions. Maybe its magic was affecting her somehow.
"Hey Amara! Over here!". Amara glanced up to see Evie beckoning her over. Biting her lip, she glanced down at the necklace one more time. She didn't want to believe Aziz would do something like this on his own. For some reason, she wanted more than anything to believe Aziz was trustworthy. Maybe there was a reasonable explanation, then again she could be thinking wishfully. With one last lingering gaze at the necklace, she slipped it into her back pocket and joined the rest of the group.
Aziz was coughing up turf as he slid his hands under his chest. He pushed himself off of the ground, clutching his throbbing head as he stood up quickly, seeing black spots in his vision. He felt the ground sway slightly under his feet as he shook his head to clear the fuzziness. He felt small, slender hands grasp his shoulders, steadying him. "Whoa, hey. Take it easy", Jordan said as she held Aziz still.
"Jordan, what the hell?! You know I hate it when you teleport me", Aziz scolded as the sight of the genie snapped him out of his groggy haze, breaking free of Jordan's grasp and pacing anxiously back and forth.
"Um, excuse me for worrying about your safety. Your hour was almost up", Jordan retorted, folding her arms across her chest, her bangles jingling.
"Yeah thanks a lot", Aziz snapped angrily, jogging back towards the woods.
"Okay, hey!", Jordan said, stepping in front of the boy and putting a hand on his chest to stop him. " Hey, Golden Boy. What happened back there?", Jordan asked firmly. She couldn't think of any other event that had happened which could be causing the normally fun, calm, laid-back boy she'd grown up with to acting like a complete douche.
"I need to go back", Aziz insisted, pushing past Jordan.
"Why? Aziz wha- hey!", Jordan called as she stopped Aziz once more. What had him so riled up?
"Aziz, tell me what happened", Jordan demanded.
"Jordan, flash me back there. Now ", Aziz commanded, his Sultan voice kicking in. 'Oh no he didn't', Jordan thought.
"I thought you hated being teleported, Golden Boy", Jordan retorted in annoyance.
"Jordan, not now", Aziz said firmly. "Flash me back there", he commanded.
"News flash princess, you're not my master. So either tell me why you're acting like a douche or I'll drag your ass to the Royal Dungeons of Agrabah and kindly explain to your parents that you've lost your freaking mind!", Jordan threatened.
Aziz was taken aback at Jordan's threat, to say the least. She'd never spoken to him that way before, okay she had, but never before had it sounded so serious, as if she might actually do it. Never had she sounded so angry, then again, never had he tried to tell her what to do before. Why was he acting like this? Surely he thought that he would at least tell Jordan what was going on, but all he could think about was finding the necklace. He felt like a part of him was missing, as though it was lost to him forever.
"I have to go", Aziz said, his pace quick as he walked back to his dorm room. Seriously, what the hell was going on? Why was he feeling these things? He shouldn't be, it was only a necklace after all. 'But it was my sister's necklace. I had been entrusted with its care, and now it's gone. It's lost somewhere underground and I can't get it back. What am I supposed to do?', he thought to himself.
Why was he even getting this worked up though? He'd never even met his sister; he probably never would. He shouldn't be missing her, he didn't even know her, but his parents had. He'd never known how they suffered until they had told him the truth when he was ten. It was only after that he'd noticed the little things that no one else noticed. The imperceptible way that his mother's face would fall at every one of his birthdays and whenever he played with Jordan, the way that his father seemed to carry around an invisible weight on his shoulders; he remembered he'd been given his sister's necklace when he'd finally been told the truth about her.
'Keep it safe', his father had told him. Aziz had failed in that. He'd lost the only connection that he had to his abducted sister, and he'd probably lost it forever. What was he going to do?
Everyone's jaw nearly dropped at the massive golden statue of the gypsy lady with four arms and the bottom half of a snake, Amara most of all. The aura that the statue gave off, she knew that aura. Its presence covered her like a blanket of fog in all of her visions, clouding her with unanswered questions, only able to see bits and pieces. Everyone nearly fainted when the statue began to speak.
"I am the Guardian, the Spirit of the Archives", the statue said, her voice booming, echoing throughout the cavern. The statue's lips hadn't even moved. Out of all of them, Amara was the first to step forward. "Do you know who I am, child?", the Guardian asked.
The voice, she knew this voice. "You're the voice in my visions", Amara said softly in realization.
"I am", the Guardian confirmed. Amara couldn't speak. Her mind hatched a million questions at this new revelation. All these years, the voice in her head had been the Guardian of the Archives. But why, after 10 years of confusing images would she be lead here? Was this where she would find the answers she was looking for? The thought made her buzz with nervous and excited energy.
"Okay, would somebody please care to tell us what's going on? I mean, who even are you?", Mal asked pointedly, crossing her arms and cocking her hip to one side, giving the statue her sassiest stare.
"I am the Guardian, the Spirit of the Archives", the statue repeated.
"Yeah we got that. Does the Spirit of the Archives have a name?", Mal retorted. Amara's head whipped around, giving Mal a warning glare as she held a finger to her mouth, telling her to be quiet.
"My name is of no importance to you, and I advise you watch your tone, spawn of Maleficent", the Guardian said threateningly. Mal looked like she wanted to retort, but bit her lip, thinking better of it.
"Wait a second. How did you know who Mal was?", asked Carlos.
"I know who all of you are, Carlos de Vil, as I know why you all have come. I've been expecting you for some time now", the statue answered.
"I would assume so. You're the one who led us here", Amara pointed out.
"I only led you, Amara. The visions only truly came to you. The rest of your party chose to follow. Now the question is: what will be your choice?", the Guardian asked cryptically.
"What?", Amara asked no one in particular. Vines of fear snaked around her heart at what she saw next as she heard a sharp cry of pain to her left. Carlos clutched his head so tight, he looked as though he was literally about to pull out his hair. His back arched over as his hands darted to the ground, clenching his fists. "Carlos!", Jay exclaimed, running over to his afflicted friend. A shriek emitted from behind Amara shifted her attention, and only served to further increase her fear. "Evie!", she and Mal exclaimed as they rushed over to the blue-haired princess.
"Amara, what's-", Mal began to ask before she too had become afflicted like the others, doubled over and clutching her head. "Amara!", Jay shouted, sprinting to her, thinking that she too, would become afflicted. His body arched backward as he suddenly let out a howl of agony, clutching his head as he collapsed to the ground. Their agonized cries pierced Amara's ears, her heart beginning to race as she saw the four villains' children gripping their heads and then their stomach, feeling a pain which could've only been caused by magic.
"What's going on?! Stop it! What are you doing to them?!", Amara shouted at the statue of the Guardian as she watched them convulse on the ground, suffering from a phantom agony.
"The Archives was created by magic. In our world, it is the center of all knowledge. Many have tried to find the Archives, use its knowledge for selfish purposes, for evil. The Archives are a living entity; it must be sustained in order to be protected", the Guardian explained. "What will be your choice, my charge? Or rather, who?". A curved, obsidian dagger with an oil-like luster materialized in Amara's left hand, and it didn't take long for Amara to deduce the Guardian's purpose for the action.
"You want me to kill one of them?", Amara asked incredulously. Upon her realization, the four villain's children's bodies snapped straight up, their heads yanked back by an invisible force, their throats all too accessible for an easy slitting.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures", the Guardian replied. "Choose a life to give to the Archives, or you doom them all", the Guardian instructed, the ultimatum like a sword over her head, waiting to drop on her. Amara stared down at the dagger, and then back up at the struggling VK's forced to their knees and exposing their throats. Was this her destiny? Was this how she was supposed to save Auradon? By taking a life from someone? She wanted more than anything to uncover more about her destiny, but at what cost? The VK's hadn't done anything wrong, well, at least since they chose good, but even with their past, they deserved to live as much as anyone. But if she didn't choose a life to take, then they were all doomed. In this, she had her answer.
"And it can be any life before me?", she asked.
"Choose", the Guardian repeated. Amara's focus shifted back to the VK's. They began to struggle against their invisible binds as she stepped closer to them. Their eyes widened with anger as she approached, all except Jay. Mal, Evie, and Carlos tried to back away from her, eyeing the dagger in her hand. The closer she came to them, the more they struggled. They wanted to put as much distance between themselves and her as possible (they weren't very keen on being sacrificed if you can imagine). Jay was the only one out of the four who kept perfectly still, watching her expectantly. Taking one last look at them, she closed her eyes as she sucked in a breath, pivoting on one foot as she turned to face the statue.
"Me", she said as she opened her eyes, facing the statue of the Guardian.
"Come again?", the Guardian asked.
"You said I could choose any life. I choose my own", Amara said with conviction, her chin held high at the Guardian. Maybe this had been her destiny all along, to die for the greater good. Maybe Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos would save Auradon and help it prepare for the Eclipse. Maybe she would help them from the Other Side.
"Do you realize what you'd be giving up? Have you considered the consequences? Even if you do find out your origins after the price is paid, what good will it do you?", the Guardian asked indifferently.
"No knowledge is worth murdering anyone. Do what you want with me, but leave them alone", Amara said. It was then the VK's stopped cold in pure astonishment. She was willing to give herself over? Just like that? For what felt like hours, they watched Amara in silence as she stared defiantly at the statue of the Guardian.
"Well done", the Guardian said finally. Amara's head cocked to one side, confusion settling into her as the others were released from their invisible binds. Gasps could be heard from them as they sucked in as much air as they could to their oxygen-starved bodies. Amara's head whipped back, letting out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. 'They're okay', she kept telling herself. 'They're okay'.
Amara quickly rushed to their sides as Evie and Mal attempted to stand up on wobbly legs. Mal and Evie grasped her arms as she offered them support. Amara offered the same support to Carlos, his small frame easily lifted. Her body turned around sharply, crossing over to Jay in one long stride. Her hands grasped his waist as she helped him to stand, his arm wrapped around her shoulders for support. "Are you guys okay?", she asked, turning away from Jay as she let go of him, feeling the same cold sensation as when Jay had let go of her the first time. The group nodded breathlessly, chests rising and falling. "Okay, what is going on?", Evie asked breathlessly, giving the statue an exasperated look.
"Only those who are pure of heart shall the secrets of the Castle be revealed", the statue said cryptically, quoting the message found above. Suddenly, the five were startled by a grinding sound. A piece of the rock wall began to move of its own accord, golden light spilling out from the cavity in the wall as it grew bigger, until finally it stopped, the cavity resembling a doorway. Amara was the first of the five to step toward the light. On the other side of the threshold were all of the answers she spent her entire life waiting for. "Enter, and the answers you seek shall be revealed. Promptly after, the statue's light began to dim until there was none, the Guardian's presence having left them.
Just when she thought the Guardian had gone silent, when she thought the Guardian had no purpose for her at all, when she had begun to lose faith, on the other side of the threshold held all of the knowledge, all of the secrets of their world. Her feet moved of their own accord, her eyes captivated by the light. She was mesmerized by the brilliance of it. Wanting to get closer, she crossed over the stone threshold and immediately ran down the corridor of stairs. Amara followed the light; it appeared to be leading her down the steps. She didn't care that she might be falling into a trap; she was too excited by the prospect of finally getting a straight answer for once in her life. When she finally reached the bottom of the steps, she stopped dead in her tracks.
The first things that she noticed were the little blue lights that flittered about, whispering their awe as she entered. 'Will-o'-the-wisps', Amara thought. She'd heard stories of them either leading people astray or where they needed to go, but had never actually seen one up close. When they cleared, her focus shifted.
The Archives were an enormous library. She was standing in what appeared to be the Commons Area, a potions workshop the size of an Auradon Prep dorm room to her right. From what she could see, spiral stairs led to each section, each of which were infinite forests of bookshelves, mountains of knowledge and secrets. The bookshelves reached the top of the cavern, but even then, there were stacks of books next to it that rivaled their height. She felt like she'd downed a bottle of Pishsalver.
She had to crane her neck to get a full view of the enormous book shelves that vastly towered over her. Even to the side of those bookshelves, there were stacks of books that rivaled its height. To say that it put Belle's library to shame was a vast understatement.
"Oh. My. God", Evie's voice echoed throughout the cavern.
"Look at this place", Carlos said.
It was then that the Wisps appeared before them, whispering their awe once more. It must've been a long time since they'd had visitors. The Wisps peered at them, circling them with a curious, cautious air. A few of them gathered in front of Jay's face, looking him square in the eyes. "Naga", they whispered over and over again. "Naga". The word had snagged Amara's attention, giving her the strangest sense of dejá vu. Where had she heard that word before?
"Uuhh", Jay said with uncertainty. Why were they surrounding him? Why were they looking at him curiously? Did they know that he wasn't human? Because that was the only thing that he was absolutely certain of. And why did they keep saying 'Naga'? What the hell was a Naga?
"Aaww, they're so cute", Evie said. "Hey little guys", she greeted, waving at them. The Wisps surrounded her, and her delighted giggles rang like bells as they snuggled up against her cheeks appreciatively.
"Do you think you guys can help us?", Evie asked sweetly. The Wisps flew around in circles excitedly and then hovered in front of her at attention. They appeared to be all too happy to help the blue-haired princess. Amara stepped toward the small blue apparitions, her hand placing itself on Evie's shoulder. "Nice one", Amara said, impressed at Evie's sweet-talk.
"Thanks", Evie said sweetly.
The Wisps still hovered at attention, as if they were tiny soldiers waiting for commands. Looking the small apparitions straight in the eyes, Amara immediately knew where to start. With her chin raised at the Wisps, she looked them square in their bright, opaque eyes.
"Do you guys have anything about the Eclipse?".