AN: Wow, almost didn't make this week's schedule, haha~ A longer chapter this week as well. Took a life of its own really. Hoped everyone had a decent Christmas break and the next update will be in the New Year. So please enjoy reading and let me know what you think~!

Chapter 7:

It was mid-afternoon as Drayce returned to the Crescentia with Kamali in tow. Ashton chose to stay behind for a little while longer to speak with Shashi about something. He of course wouldn't divulge what and just told Drayce to go ahead and that he'd follow shortly.

The walk back to the guildhouse had been a rather quiet one. Drayce didn't mind the silence. He knew when to talk and when to shut up. Well, for the most part at least. But Kamali was really quiet and seemed to be almost lethargic as he looked idly at the passing scenery. He also appeared a little nervous, at some point during their walk his hand had snuck out to snare a very light grip on the back of Drayce's jacket.

His lethargy and apprehension must be what Shashi mentioned earlier. How the stagnate spiritual energy of the city made him feel listless.

So in order not to drain Kamali of any more of his energy, Drayce remained silent. He couldn't help but watch him from the corner of his eye, though, feeling concerned and protective. As they drew closer to the Crescentia, though, he could see that Kamali was perking up a little.

And as they passed through the front gate of the Crescentia, Kamali perked up into an energetic state. He released his loose grip on the back of Drayce's coat as he looked around with wide eyes. Not of panic or fear, though. Out of curiosity and interest. Maybe even excitement.

"This place…?" Kamali murmured as he hands fidgeted in front of him.

"Yeah, this is the Crescentia," Drayce answered, not entirely sure what to make of Kamali's suddenly burst of energy.

"I can detect so much mana here," Kamali unexpectedly replied. "It's energetic but also peaceful. Comforting in a way."

Oh? To him it reminded him of his grandfather. And that, well that also brought feelings of comfort and security. And of adventure. He thought that maybe it was just him and his connection to the place, but it was nice to hear that another found the Crescentia held character all of its own.

"Is it bothering you?" Drayce asked.

"Not at all," Kamali replied as he drifted forward to the front stoop, eagerly taking in all the details he could. He paused, however, and spun around to face him with a shocked and embarrassed expression on his face. "Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wander off like that."

But Drayce waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine, really. If you feel something interesting, I don't mind you wandering. But do warn me before you wander."

Kamali flushed lightly and nodded his head, though he looked a little uncertain. "I'll try," he murmured, giving Drayce the indication that he, like his brother, could be a little airheaded and get caught up in their own thoughts.

He had better keep an eye on him when they finally enter the labyrinth. With Blayke helping, though, he was sure that Kamali wouldn't be able to wander too far.

"Well, let's head inside," Drayce said as he motioned to the door.

Kamali nodded his head eagerly; seemingly happy and relieved that Drayce was so understanding. And as Drayce opened the door to step inside, Kamali was right behind him. He was, once again, fidgeting slightly as he looked around at the interior of the guildhouse.

He looked more impressed and eager to get exploring.

Yup, just as Drayce had thought; they were going to get along just fine.

"Hey, I'm back!" Drayce called out as he closed the door behind him.

"Drayce!" He heard Blayke's voice call out his name from somewhere within the building followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. A few seconds later Blayke appeared from behind the staircase slightly out of breathe and his face flushed.

"There's a fishing pond in your back garden!" he suddenly shouted at him as he stomped over.

"Huh?" Drayce muttered as he blinked dumbly when Blayke stopped right in front of him with a frown on his face. "You've been in the back garden without me? Rude!"

Blayke narrowed his eyes at him as he poked his chest with his index finger. "I went out there because Fiorello questioned whether or not there would be enough room to have a small herb garden. And what did I find? A fish pond. There is a literal fishing pond with a bridge in the back garden. You could literally go fishing in your own back garden."

"Convenient!" Drayce said with a large smile. "Also means that there's plenty of room for a herb garden. So, no hedge maze?"

Blayke rolled his eyes as he folded his arms roughly across his chest. "This place is just ridiculous. If there's a hedge maze I'm losing my shit."

Drayce couldn't understand why. This place is just awesome so far. What else is there to discover?

"Could you lose your shit later?" Drayce asked in amusement as he took a step to the side to reveal Kamali who had been standing behind him the entire time. "We have a new guildmate!"

Blayke quickly lost the look of disgruntlement from his face and he blinked in surprise, seemly stunned. "Eh?"

Kamali nervously twisted a strand of his purple hair with one hand while he gave a small, shy wave with his other hand. "Ah, hello. My name is Kamali. I-it's nice meeting you."

"Y-yeah, you too," Blayke stuttered in response, looking all too sheepish about his previous outburst.

Drayce just laughed as he reached out to loop an arm around Blayke's neck and pulled him closer toward him. "This is Blayke," he introduced as he poked Blayke's cheek with his finger. "My bestest best friend."

Blayke's expression creased into a comically disgruntled look as he tugged himself out of Drayce's grip and waved his hand dismissively at him. He had a light flush to his cheeks, though.

"Where are Faelen and Fiorello?" Drayce asked him as he took a step back to give the blushing fencer some room.

"The last time I saw them they were inspecting the clinic," Blayke answered as he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "I told them to stay together because if they separate they'd get lost."

Drayce couldn't help but to tease him a little more. "But you walked around on your own, you badass," he said as he nudged him in the ribs.

Blayke snorted as he dismissively brushed him off again. "Oh, shut up," he said as he turned on his heel and head in the direction of the clinic. "I have a bit more experience in this manmade maze then those two."

"Hear that, Kamali?" Drayce said to Kamali as he motioned for him to follow. "Better stay close or you'll get lost, too."

Kamali looked confused, as if unsure whether he was joking or not. He did choose to stick close to him, though, just to be sure. "Y-yes, of course."

As they walked into the clinic, Drayce noticed Faelen first. He sat on a chair near the door with a light blanket around his shoulders, his ears twitching slightly. Nashoba, his wolf companion, sat dutifully by his feet, seemingly watching Fiorello carefully. And the botanist was walking around as he inspected the clinic.

"Hey, what's happening?" Drayce greeted.

Faelen immediately perked up and whirled around to greet him. "Ah! You're back."

"Yep," Drayce smiled brightly. "And I'm not alone."

Drayce then took a step to the side, like he had done previous, to reveal Kamali. "Guys, this is Kamali. He's agreed to join our guild and help us with the first mission. Kamali, this is Faelen and Fiorello."

Kamali politely bowed. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Hello," Faelen greeted in return while Fiorello made a slight humming noise from across the room.

"Hm? That's fives of us now, correct?" he asked.

Drayce's grin grew a little wider. "That's right. Tomorrow I'll head to the guildhouse and finally register as a guild. After that we can start plotting our first trek into the labyrinth." He paused for a moment to look over at Faelen. "But before any of that, how you doing, Faelen? We're not heading into the labyrinth until after you get over your fever."

"Ah, I'm ok!" Faelen immediately insisted, only to wince when he heard Fiorello tisk knowingly.

"He's better than he was, that's for certain," Fiorello admitted. "I had wanted him to stay in bed for a little while longer, but I do know Therians. They can never sit still for very long."

Faelen looked a little put off by that so Drayce ruffled his hair between his ears. "That's ok, neither can I," he said.

Faelen seemed to enjoy having his hair ruffled as he was smiling. His cheeks were still a light red, though, so the fever was obviously still there.

"This place is so big," Faelen commented as he peered up at Drayce. "Is it ok if I look around?"

"Don't see why not," Drayce said as he removed his hand from Faelen's hair. "I haven't been to the third floor myself yet, so why don't we head there now?"

"Ok!"

Drayce grinned at Faelen's enthusiasm as he turns to look at the others. "What about you three?"

Kamali nodded his head eagerly as well. "Yes, of course."

"I'm insatiably curious myself," Fiorello also replied.

"Fine," Blayke said in his usual grumpy, trying-not-to-be-seen-as-too-keen manner as he folded his arms over his chest. "Just because I want to see how big this place really is."

Drayce laughed good-naturedly as he turned to lead his new guildmates on their first unofficial expedition of the Crescentia. "That's all of us. Alright, this can be a practice exploration. Should I bring rations and camping gear?"

"From what I've seen so far, we might just need it," Blayke mumbled, only causing Drayce to laugh again.

Having started on the first floor, they had to trek up two flights of stairs to get to the third. The stairs were wide and grand, carpeted with red carpeting to get it a highly regel feel. The banisters were of dark wood, mahogany more likely than not, and crafted beautifully. Whoever designed the Crescentia did so meticulously. Their time and effort could be seen in every engraving and embellishment.

There were a lot of steps, though. A good leg workout, that was for sure.

"This place could do with a good spring clean," Fiorello commented as they finally reached the third floor.

"Absolutely," Drayce immediately agreed as he paused at the top step and did a quick surveillance of their new surroundings. To his right was a door that had been left partially open. As a good place to start as any. "Let's see what's hiding behind door number one."

Drayce quickly made his way over to the door with the others right behind him, being mindful not to crowd him, but barely reigning in their own curiosity. He couldn't help but feel a sense of amusement as he felt them gather at his back the second his hand touched the wooden door.

With a high-pitched squeak, the door opened rather easily.

The room was dark from thick curtains over the windows. But there was a distinct smell. There was the scent of dust and dust bunnies, but under that. The scent of parchments and papers. Of ink and wax.

A bubble of expectation appeared in his chest as Drayce entered the room and moved toward the windows. He grabbed onto the thick curtains and threw them open to allow light to flood in. He turned around, ignoring the dust and fluff he had kicked up from his previous actions, he felt a wide smile spread across his lips.

"Oh, hey! It's a drawing room!" he said excitedly.

Cautiously Blayke entered the room, idly waving away the dust particles from his face as he looked around. "Are those maps?" he asked as he indicated toward a heavy duty bookshelf with rolls of parchments shoved in nearly every nook and cranny.

"More likely than not," Drayce said as he moved toward the bookcase and gently ran his fingers over the yellowing paper. "They might be connected to the labyrinth since they're in the drawing room."

He made the motion to pull one out, but paused. It was entirely possible that Grandpa or another of his ancestors had managed to sneak their way into the labyrinth and mapped some of it. And it would make navigating the first floor for Drayce and his new guildmates should there be a map here amongst the many scrolls and rolls.

But, he felt that he shouldn't. Time has passed. They may no longer be accurate. Having an out of date map could prove to be more dangerous than having none at all. He didn't want to confuse himself or his guildmates during their very first jaunt.

"I better not," he muttered as he pulled his hand back. "It would be best if I draw my own map and compare them later."

"You can draw maps, Drayce?" Faelen was the one to ask him with intense curiosity in his voice.

"I can," Drayce answered as he walked over to the drawing table and inspected it closely. "One of the first things I learnt. There's a really easy way to draw maps using a compass and gridding system."

He then turned to look at Faelen to find the rover looking up at him with such interest that it all but melted his heart. So he smiled at him. "If you want, I can teach you a thing or two."

"Sure!" Faelen beamed.

Drayce chuckled as he ruffled Faelen's hair once more. "That's the spirit. I'll show you the fundamentals when we enter the labyrinth as it will be easier. Until then, let's keep checking this place out."

Stepping out of the draw room, a place he was sure to visit often once he started his mapping, Drayce's gaze was drawn to the opposite end of the long corridor. There, behind the banisters surrounded void of the stairs leading down was a tall set of doors. They were a deep brown and had the engravings of two serpentine dragons. The door handles were solid steel with keyholes in both doors.

They looked rather foreboding.

So naturally Drayce was drawn to them immediately.

"Those are some pretty impressive doors," Blayke said, his gaze immediately drawn to the doors as well, his suspicions only growing as the moved toward them. "Must be something important on the other side."

"Hope it's a library," Drayce muttered.

From the size of the doors and the location, he couldn't really see what else it could be.

As soon as he was close enough Drayce reached out to grab at the handles. He twisted them in hopes of they would simply unlock, allowing for him to throw them open in a semi-dramatic fashion.

But as he twisted the handles, he heard a telling thunk and he felt his heart drop a little.

"They're locked," he explained as he knelt down. "There's something jamming it, too."

If they were just locked, he would simply pick the lock. No big deal. But something seemed to be shoved into the lock from the other side.

Crouching down further so he could look into the key, he noted that the right side of the door was clear, able to see through to the other side to see a mostly darken room. The other lock, however, he could see something metal inside. Not jammed in, but slotted in.

"I see it," Drayce muttered. "There's something there. I think it's the key."

"How are you going to remove it?" Kamali asked him as Drayce pushed himself to his feet.

Drayce ran his hand through his red hair and smiled. "Easy; you just push it out from this side. But before that, I need a piece of paper. A large one."

Faelen tilted his head to the side in curiosity. "Paper? What are you going to do?"

Drayce just shot him another smile as he turned on his head to head back to the drawing room. "Just wait and see," he said before he broke out into a light jog.

He headed into the drawing room and spent a few minutes looking for the right size piece of paper. He soon found one, a flat one with nothing written upon it. Perfect.

Grabbing it, he quickly made his way out of the room and headed back to the double doors where the others were waiting for him. They were softly talking amongst themselves, no doubt wondering what Drayce was up. They soon fell silent when Drayce joined them once.

With the eyes of his guildmates watching him, Drayce placed the paper on the floor and slid it under the door, leaving only a corner exposed. He positioned it so it lay directly under the door handles. And more importantly, the keyhole and whatever was blocking it. With that in place, he reached into his coat and pulled out his trusty lock-picking kit. He quickly selected the right tools and set to work.

A few seconds of some strategic poking and prodding, Drayce managed to manoeuvre whatever was blocking the lock enough to push it out cleanly. With a telling clink, it fell to the floor inside the room.

Setting his lock-picking kit aside, Drayce uttered a silent prayer in his head as he carefully pulled back the piece of paper from under the door.

Drayce couldn't help but smile in triumph as a golden key came out atop of the piece of paper.

"Handy trick, right?" Drayce quipped when he heard a few murmurs of awe and surprise from his guildmates. "Now, let's see what's hidden inside."

Picking up the key, Drayce inserted it into the lock and turned it. With little resistance there was the sound of the lock disengaging and the door popped open slightly on its own accord. Removing the key and placing it into his pocket for safe keeping, Drayce pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Though it, too, had heavy curtains blanketing the windows, Drayce felt his mouth drop open in surprise as his eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light. And what he was what he had hoped to see, but he never dreamed it would be on such a grand scale.

From floor to ceiling, all but wall to wall saved for narrow walk ways and tables to rest upon were bookcases.

"It IS a library!" Drayce said as he looked around in awe, barely registering the gasps and mutterings of surprise from the others.

He quickly made his way over to a window to draw back the curtains and allow light in. As light flooded into the room, he turned to get a better look at the room.

A large oak table with several chair sat in the centre of the room, surrounded by tall bookcases. Some were neatly ordered, while others seemed to be shelved haphazardly. All of them were full, however, saved for one. A lone bookcase, smaller than the others, was completely empty.

Perhaps that was a small gift from his grandfather? For him to fill with his own findings and documents?

Whatever the reason, this room was amazing. The knowledge that could be found here.

"I need to tell Shashi," Drayce found himself muttering.

"A-ah, no!" Kamali unexpectedly squeaked at him and latched onto his arm.

Drayce turned to look at the purple-haired warlock and blinked at him. "Huh? Why not?"

"Just not yet, please," Kamali said in a positively pleading tone. Even his eyes seemed to be shimmering imploringly at him. "You saw how he was like in his own office. Imagine what he would be like in here."

Again, Drayce blinked. "I don't see the problem."

Kamali's shoulders instantly slumped like they had done earlier that day. "Ah…" he muttered, seemingly trying to search for more words to say.

"I do," Blayke suddenly spoke up and walked over to them, though his gaze mostly on Kamali. "Let me guess; he's your brother who has the habit of getting so caught up in his work that he forgets to eat and sleep, and when he does sleep it's usually slumped over his desk from pure exhaustion?"

Kamali blinked at him before he mutely nodded his head.

"Yeah, no," Blayke said as he planted a hand on his hip as he outstretched the other toward Drayce. "Not having two of you idiots here. Give me the key."

Drayce arched an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you know why," Blayke counted. "I'm going to make sure you don't sneak in here. You may be able to pick the lock, but that takes time. Enough time for me to catch you."

"Dude, you are such a parent," Drayce pouted as he plunged his hand into his pocket to take a hold of the key. "Look, let's be reasonable. I promise I won't do any researching until after I complete the first mission, ok?"

Blayke gave him a blank look as he pointed at his other hand. "Your fingers are twitching."

Drayce winced and glanced down at his left hand to find that, yes, it was literally twitching. Only ever so slightly, but twitching nonetheless. He was just itching to get his nose into any of these books to learn anything he could.

"Of course they are," Drayce relented. "They're going to continue to twitch until I can start researching."

Blayke continued to look at him blankly. "Give me the key," he ordered.

Drayce pulled the key out of his pocket but kept a firm grip on it. "Come on. I'm an adult. I know restraint."

For some reason, Blayke did not look even remotely convince. His right eyebrow was even twitching. He then suddenly lunged at him in order to physically take the key from him. "Give me that damn key!"

Drayce lifted the key up over his head while he tried his hardest to fend Blayke off with the other. But Blayke grabbed a hold of his wrist in hopes of giving himself some lavage while also ensuring that Drayce didn't make a run for it.

Honestly, the second Blayke demanded the key, Drayce should have bolted.

"Dude, come on, trust me!"

"Not a chance!"

"You don't trust me? I'm so hurt!"

"I don't trust you for a second in regards of your own health!"

"Rude!"

While Drayce was trying to push Blayke away from him he suddenly felt someone else come up behind him. Were they gaining up on him?

He didn't have the time to think of an counter when the key was forcibly removed from his hand and a familiar voice rung through his ears.

"I'll take that."

Drayce's eyes widen and he could see that Blayke was also caught off guard by the new person. They both paused in what they were doing, Blayke's holding Drayce's wrist while Drayce had a knee to Blayke's stomach in an attempt to push him off.

"Ash?" Drayce blinked when he looked over his shoulder to see the green-haired Earthlain looking at him with a rather pleasantly smug look on his face. "When did you get back?"

"About five minutes ago," Ashton replied as he idly twirled the key to the library around on the tip of his finger. "And good thing I did. I think we shouldn't tell Shashi about this library. Not yet, at least. Not until-"

Drayce groaned as he and Blayke detached themselves from each other and he turned to give Ashton an irritated pout. "After we complete the first mission, all right. I get it."

Ashton gave him an empathetic look as he snatched the key and used it to poke Drayce on the forehead. "One task at a time. And, yes, I'm keeping this key on me at all times."

"You're acting just like a parent," Drayce whined as he planted his hands onto his hips, looking purely disgruntled. "I'm not a kid."

Ashton arched an eyebrow at him and once more poked him on the forehead with the key. "One; your father asked me to watch over you. Two; I know how you treasure hunters operate."

Drayce pretended not to know what he was referring too. It wasn't like Drayce, or his father or grandfather would ever get so caught up in researching a possible myth or reading about one that they would forget to eat and sleep. Like, who would do that? Seriously?

"Everyone out of the library," Ashton suddenly ordered.

"Why?" Drayce asked as Ashton placed his hand on his shoulder and began to push him out of the room.

"Because it's a distraction," Ashton returned as he motioned for the others to follow with his left hand while his right kept a firm grip on the back of Drayce's coat. "You need to focus on what you need to do to be allowed free access into the labyrinth. Until then, try to hold off finding any myths and legends you want to pursue. Out."

"Gwaaaad, fine," Drayce whined childishly again.

"Shashi's here, also," Ashton said when everyone stepped foot outside the library and he spent a moment or two securely locking the room. "Distracted, thank the Mighty Tree."

Drayce couldn't help but wonder how annoyed Shashi was going to be when he learnt of the library's existence. Of course, that annoyance was likely to last only until he could get access to the library. After that, the only thing that would matter would be getting his hands on anything remotely interesting.

And, honestly, Drayce was likely to be there right along with him. So not telling him was going to be hard.

"Besides its nearing dinner time," Ashton said as he placed the key into a pocket in his vast and smile at them. "Who's hungry?"

A chorus of affirmation quickly followed and they quickly made their way down the stairs to head into the kitchen.

As Drayce followed everyone down he couldn't help but smile to himself. He had enough members to officially form a guild. He could finally enter the labyrinth. He could finally do what he had dreamed about for as long as he could remember.

He was so looking forward to what the future had in store for him.

And his guild, Angelward.