Troll in Reviews

As has been noted, there is a troll in reviews spamming guest reviews and trying to frame people by writing their name in the name slot. Just ignore it. It's not worth the effort of paying attention to and I'm only writing this message so people are aware.

He's also pretending to be me by writing my name in guest review slots. I would only ever review something from this (logged-in) account.

Cover Art: Z-ComiX

Chapter 33

Panic shot through Ruby. Whirling, she came face to face with an older Arcanist in heavy blue robes wearing a thick set of spectacles. "I-I can explain," she stammered.

"There is no need for it, Azurite. Your thirst brought you here, did it not? That burning fire demanding answers – the longing for questions to be answered, for curiosity to be sated and for secrets to unravel themselves before you. To stand here means you have embraced that. It means you are worthy."

"Of taking the trial…?"

The Arcanist laughed. "Young lady, finding the Azure Archives is the trial."

What? Then she'd passed-? Her eyes widened along with her mouth, questions spilling forth, "B-But Ren said I had to figure out what the task was to even take it!"

"And have you not now? Did I not just tell you it?"

"Yeah, but-"

"But nothing. Knowledge is gleaned in many ways. Not all through tomes. Our Arcana is that of secrets, of knowledge, and it is our passion to hunt down those secrets. All who seek to join us are presented with the false archives, a so-called font of secret information, so that we might judge their character."

"The archives up top is the test?"

The Arcanist gestured for her to follow and slowly walked down the steps, bringing Ruby into the Archives proper. Though books and shelves continued in every direction, there was a large communal area around the portal leading in. That was broken up by numerous desks curved in concentric circles with corridors leading through connecting the four points of a compass. An outer ring was a thoroughfare by which people came and went down the aisles.

Atop the staircase, the shelves had seemed tall. Now with her feet touching the floor, they seemed to reach up like castle walls.

On the wooden desks, numerous Arcanists and Initiates read or talked animatedly over thick tomes, gesticulating wildly and taking notes. Where the false archives had at most ten or twenty people at a time, this one had well over a hundred sat at the desks and they were not quiet about it. Even then, there was room for more, room she might claim as her own.

"The false archives are a test of character," the Arcanist explained. "Such knowledge, such power, so close and yet out of reach because you cannot read it. Is it not a breeding ground for a hunger all consuming? We watch what our prospective colleagues will do when faced with such constant temptation."

"And I passed… by giving in to it…?"

Surely that should have been the other way around, that by resisting and following the rules she would be lauded. What she'd done was cheat and be caught at it! That didn't feel worthy of praise.

"This is the Azure Arcana. We do not sit idly by while knowledge is dangled out of our reach. We do not wait for it to be revealed to us. We seek. We claim. We research. If one cannot find the means or drive to unravel the secrets of the Azure Archive, then are you truly suited for the Azure?"

"Even if that means breaking the rules?"

"The methods matter not to us, only the drive." He stopped by a cabinet and opened it up, drawing out a long blue robe. "Here. This shall be yours now. You are an Azurite, forever bound to the Arcana. Even should you claim another gem, you must keep the secrets of the Archive. Those who cannot muster the effort or the will to seek it do not deserve access."

The material was finer than the initiate robes, softer and richer with fine patterns traced in silver on the edges of the sleeves and the hem. Rather than change with so many people around, she pulled it on over her initiate robes, then felt it tighten around her. "Um?"

"It is self-fitting. Fret not, it is simply shaping itself to your body."

That explained the tightening and she watched in awe as the hem that had trailed on the floor grew shorter and shorter, eventually reaching her ankles and stopping there.

"That is not special to us," the man said. "All Arcana have robes similar."

"Did the Black make them?"

"Indeed. You're certainly a curious one."

"Ah. Sorry!"

"No. It is a compliment, especially among out kind. Ask your questions. If I have not the time to answer, I shall say so – but never shall one of ours criticise the drive to learn. For now, follow me and listen. I shall explain unto you the precautious you will need here."

"Precautions?" she asked.

"You have noticed the nature of the Archives, how it stretches on for a seeming eternity?" He waited for her to nod. "That is not accurate – there is an end, but such has not yet been reached. It has not been needed, as the shelves there lay barren. In time, perhaps you will add to them with works of your own. Even so, the Archives are vast enough that should you get lost without food or water, you may well find yourself in trouble."

"It's that big!?"

"You could travel for a week in one direction and not reach the end."

That kind of scale was impossible to comprehend. Even as huge as it was, the city could be traversed in a day if you ignored the walls. The farmland outside was larger, but still nothing like this. There was simply no way this was beneath the Collegium. It had to be magic of another sort, either opening a portal to another world or condensing the Archives into a smaller space. Have we been shrunk? Am I really less than an inch tall right now?

"You may find a map from any of the desks," her guide explained. "Take one with you at all times. Note also the keystones placed into the floor." He pointed down to a stone square, a rarity among the varnished wood floor. It had the image of an open book on it. "You will find these split regularly among the Archives, and any outside will also feature an arrow. That arrow guides you back here. If you travel in that direction, it will always either bring you here or to another keystone which will point a new direction."

Meaning there would always be a way home so long as she followed the keystones. They were like a trail of crumbs left for her to follow. "Got it." Ruby held the map. "This is magical."

"It will destroy itself if you seek to remove it from the Archives, that is all."

To keep it secret, she realised. Make sure no one brought it out without realising and hinted at something the other Arcana weren't ready to see. I definitely made the right choice of Arcana. Even if the Crimson are the best fighters, I bet there is plenty of combat magic hidden away here.

"You are free to use the Archives as you wish. No section is forbidden to you, no secrets withheld."

"Really!?" There was no hiding her excitement. "I-I mean, is that safe…? Couldn't people misuse it?"

"Could not an Initiate misuse any spell from any Arcana? Ours is not to judge, nor to control. How you seek to use the knowledge you earn is yours to decide, though naturally one should be prepared for the consequences of their actions."

"R-Right. I'm not looking to get in trouble…"

"Then all will be well." He came to a stop and linked his hands together. "Do you have any further questions?"

Hundreds, but she settled for one. "How do I find a specific book in this place? It's way too big!"

The man smiled, amused. "You must seek it." Ruby's face fell and the man laughed. "I'm afraid that is all I can offer you, Azurite. You're correct – the Archives is vast. How, then, would we ever hope to catalogue all of this? How would I, but a simple Arcanist, know the location of every book upon these shelves?"

"You can't," she said, sighing. There were so many books that even if she started reading now, she'd probably die of old age before getting through a fifth of them. Maybe even a tenth. A spell would have been nice, but if that kind of thing was available, he'd have told her about it. Welcome to the Azure Arcana, where if you wanted something badly enough, you had to find a way to acquire it.

At least they were consistent.

"Would you have any advice…?"

"Books tend to be kept in relative sections, and those sections – where someone has been studious – ought to be marked. If you have not mastered a spell to levitate objects, be wary climbing the shelves. They are sturdy but so is the floor. Fall far enough away from the portal and it might be days before someone finds you. You're free to bring a book back here to study it, but do not feel as though you must. If you have travelled hours to find it, read it there. No one shall protest so long as you do not block the aisles."

The books couldn't be brought out. Ruby was sure enough of that without asking. "Thank you, sir…?"

"You may refer to me as the Librarian."

/-/

The wonder of the Archives hadn't even begun to fade before Ruby realised just how big a task this was going to be. Standing at the edge of the numerous rings of desks, the towering shelves loomed over her in every direction, a solid eight paths she could take, with each of those splitting up again and again as the space became wider and wider.

Aligning them like a star meant that in theory as long as she went backwards in a straight line, she'd always reach the portal sooner or later. That had to be by design, as they could have arranged them in vertical and horizontal rows instead, but then it would have been a maze. Instead, the portal was the centre of a star by which eight rays initially stretched out, but then split into more and more, until hundreds of lines broke out from the central point.

And somewhere among those hundreds of aisles might be a book on Wildmages.

Maybe.

How am I meant to find the right book in this mess? I'll be here for years!

The Librarian said she should take food and water in, but it wouldn't matter if she just browsed some of the closest shelves. Making sure she didn't go out of sight of the desks, Ruby walked down a lonely aisle some five feet wide with shelves reaching up on either side. Idly, she leaned in to read the spine of one.

`Origin of Magic: A Theory of Magic's Founding`

That sounded interesting. There was probably all kinds of magic that had been forgotten over time, and no one ever talked about how it all started. She already had a finger on the book and was drawing it out before she stopped.

"This doesn't help me."

With a longing feeling, she pushed it back in. Maybe the Azure was the right Arcana for her after all. That thought only compounded as she looked through a few others and found herself almost salivating at the thought of them. Theories on how magic worked, how it interacted with nature and even how the first Arcanists discovered and trained their powers.

All of it sparked the imagination. Called to her. She knew she could have read them for months without losing interest, but therein laid the problem – she didn't have months. I wish I was a normal Arcanist. I'd love to live down here for a year and just absorb all this stuff.

Learning in the slums was limited to being taught or listening to people tell stories and getting the lessons out of what the people in them did. Few could read and even less could afford a book of any value. She wasn't sure if it was the sudden change that made this seem so exciting.

Weiss acted like studying was useful but not something to be enjoyed. When you grew up with something all your life, it lost its lustre, but to her, the concept of all this being laid out before her was overpowering.

I want to know more. I want to know how magic works. I want to learn it all.

But for now, she had to focus on survival.

`Laws of the Collegium`

Ruby hesitated by it but eventually drew it out. Compared to the others its title didn't spark her interest at all, but if it was a law that Wildmages had to be captured, then maybe this would provide the reason. It was more likely than finding a book just titled `Wildmages and all their dirty little secrets`, wasn't it?

The book thumped down on the desk and Ruby opened it up to the contents.

Weiss is gonna flip when she sees me next...

/-/

The bowl of warm soup clinked down.

It was with aching muscles, bones and watering eyes that Yang looked up. Her skin was pale and sweat dotted her face, while her throat was raw and scratchy. It felt as though every breath only brought half the air required, leaving her drawing in constant sips of precious oxygen. "Not hungry," she moaned.

"You need to eat." Blake sat with a huff. "It's potato and leek with chicken broth." Picking up a spoon, she collected a healthy amount. "And I made it, so trust me when I say you'll eat this or I'll pour it down your throat."

Yang tried to laugh. It came out hoarse. "Didn't know you could cook."

"Only a little. I had to learn." Blake helped her to sit up, Yang lacking the strength to really do so. While the medicine from the Alchemist had burned away the fever and the hated pangs of addiction had been weathered, a fresh plight gripped the city.

Pneumonia. The true killer of the floods.

"I spoke to the Alchemist today," Blake said, spooning some soup into Yang's mouth. It was rich and meaty and even though she wasn't hungry, her stomach gurgled happily to receive it. "He said there's not much he can do for this. Too much demand. He said he could provide some tinctures to make you forget about the pain…"

"No." Yang shook her head. "Not those."

"I figured. I already refused him. Is that the usual way it's done, relying on mind-numbing drugs?"

It wasn't typical, of course it wasn't. The average Dredger couldn't afford to have drugs when they were ill. It was the better off denizens that could, and they'd only rely on them when all else failed. Or when they were dying. It was considered a great act of charity to buy a tincture to send a loved one off to the happy places in their mind during their last moments. It had to be, since otherwise spending rare coin on medicine for someone who was going to die anyway was a waste.

Of course, the Alchemist wasn't going to say no if paying customers came along.

"I'll be fine," she muttered, opening up for another spoonful. Swallowing was hard, but the warm broth running down her throat eased the soreness a little. The chunks of potato were a bigger problem, bouncing and rattling down her neck like nails.

They weren't even hard. Her throat was just that sore.

"Just need rest." Gasping for air, she asked, "Where are we?"

"You noticed. Finally." Blake grinned. "My illusions started to fail on that family. I concluded our business there, took their `investment` and booked us into an inn. Hence having access to a kitchen."

Yang nodded, having thought the bed was a little harder. The room was still bigger than the one she and Ruby shared, telling her they were in the Merchant's Quarter still. "Have the floods gone?"

"Mostly. The water is about knee height now. People are collecting and burning the bodies…"

Good. It was a horrible task but leave them too long and the whole city would be ridden with plague. The water itself would be fetid and spoiled, the bodies bloated. It was one task she'd kept Ruby away from, though the same couldn't be said for herself. Morbid as it was, it was considered their right to take any valuables from the bodies as payment.

Their finances hadn't been so good that Yang could pass up that opportunity…

"The dredging will start soon," Yang mumbled.

"Dredging?"

"The puddles. The water carries valuables." She had to pause between words to swallow or breathe. "Valuables lost in the river or swept out in the floods. Sometimes from the mountains too. Sparkly stones or metals."

More often than not, it was just stuff washed up from the slum itself, old jewellery, lost coin or, if you were lucky, some clothes that could be dried and repurposed. Rummaging around in the floodwater was what earned them their names as Dredgers, for the city would look down on them rummaging and looting the dead and sneer at such depravity.

Look at them scurry like rats. They don't even grieve their lost. Less than human. More interested in scrounging for coin than burying their dead. The slurs were ever present, and they did their best to ignore them.

They had to survive. That came before everything else.

Except that won't be a struggle for me this year, she thought, looking around the inside of their room. Nor would it be for Ruby, who was safe and sound in the Collegium. With that in mind, Yang allowed herself to relax, closing her eyes and swallowing the last of Blake's soup.

"Is there anything you need me to do?" Blake asked.

"No. We only dredge to survive. If it's not needed…" She kept her eyes closed as she leaned back. "You probably saved my life this year. I-If I got sick like this and Ruby wasn't there, I'd be dead. Or I'd have to ask the Lady for help."

"Lady?" Blake sneered. "You mean that woman who runs the whore houses?"

Yang shrugged. It was a living. The Lady would have paid for medicine and kept her fed, because her body could be worth something. Whether she'd ever wake up from what mind-numbing drugs the Alchemist fed her was another matter, but she would be alive.

You could escape or be rescued. Life could always get better, or worse, but that could only happened if you clung doggedly onto life in the first place. If she died, Ruby would have been left alone. That was something she refused to allow.

"I won't let you end up in a place like that," Blake snapped. "No one deserves that fate. Besides, Ruby is helping me. That's the only reason I'm looking after you."

"Is it…?"

"Yes." Blake took the bowl away but wouldn't meet Yang's eyes.

Heh. Liar. Yang grinned weakly. There was no way Blake could fake her absolute horror for what was going on, or the disdain in how she spoke to the merchant family who refused to do anything to help. Going to see the Alchemist again for medicine to alleviate pain wouldn't have been necessary either, but if the proud Arcanist didn't want to admit it, she wouldn't push.

"Thanks anyway. I owe you one."

"You owe me more than one…"

Yang opened one eye. "Something wrong?"

"The news isn't spreading thanks to all the other shit going on, but there have been reports of disappearances in the farmsteads furthest from the city." Blake scowled at the floor. "They're blaming Dredgers for it, but that doesn't make sense. Even at their most desperate, why kill?"

"Won't be us," Yang rasped. "They just blame us for everything."

"I figured. The homes and food were untouched. Those farmsteads all shared one thing in common, however. They each bordered the outskirts."

"You think it's the Grimm…"

"They started off in Menagerie by encroaching on our land. The aggression ramped up slowly. I can't tell if this is the same. You said some people flee to the outskirts rather than face the floods, so maybe they just lured the Grimm in, but I can't take that risk."

"You've been outside the walls?" Yang asked.

"No. Not yet. Not with you like this."

"Sorry…"

"Don't be. You want to pay me back, though, I'd appreciate the help once you're healthy. If the Grimm are getting more active, that's bad news for Vale – and the city is unprepared to deal with, stuck as it is mishandling the floods."

Grimm weren't something an average person like her was meant to see in a lifetime, let alone deal with, and Blake wanted her help scouting the cursed outskirts? Fucking hell. That was a death sentence she'd kept Ruby from ever going near, and the fact she'd broken that promise even once still had her on edge. Now Blake wanted her to go back?

"You have any idea what you're asking?"

"I can protect you. I can protect us both. If the Grimm attack the city en masse, however, then it will be Menagerie all over again. The walls of the Collegium won't keep your sister safe."

"Fucker." Using Ruby against her. Yang would have laughed if her throat didn't feel like it was being gripped in a fist and squeezed tight as a straw. "F-Fine. Once I can move. Is-Is there any news on Ruby…?"

"The Collegium is still up in arms with the wall down. I'd be detected before I could get close."

"Horse piss..."

"You and Ruby..." Blake shook her head at the vulgar language. "I'm sure she's fine. The Huntsmen are still hunting. They wouldn't be if she'd been caught."

Good news of a sort. Yang grimaced and gave up on sitting, laying back down and onto her front, which alleviated the pressure on her lungs. It still felt like a small child was sat on her chest, but she pushed her face down in the gap between two pillows and focused on breathing.

"Are you sure you don't want the tinctures?" Blake asked quietly.

"I don't want to lose my mind."

"I'd be here. I can make sure you're safe."

"No." Yang wheezed loudly. "Pain, I can deal with. I'm me. I want to stay as me, no matter what."

"Alright." Blake moved to the door. "I'm going to gather more coin. Try and sleep."

Yang waited for the door to close before she retched, expelling some faint remains of the soup rolling around in her stomach. Shaking in the cold, even with her body burning and sweating, she closed her eyes and kept Ruby in the forefront of her mind.

It would all be worth it so long as she was alive.

Still feeling bad, kinda like Yang in this chapter. I just stole my symptoms and threw them back. Yeesh. As mentioned in Relic, but included here for those that don't read it, I'm badly sick and staying home for obvious reasons.

I'm writing because it helps keep my spirits up and let me focus on something, but chapters are shorter and a little more laboured as a result. Don't worry, I'm not forcing myself to write to the detriment of my health. I'm writing while remaining in bed and to keep my mind busy.

Next Chapter: 22nd March

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