Please note the date - this takes place three years prior to the last chapter.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you guys think.

-upstater-

Chapter 2
The White Lady

"I"

I think the idea of runes first came to me from Tom. I mean, as an eleven year old, I doubt I would have had a whole bunch of interest in learning ancient runes unless the idea had come from somewhere… Right? Anyways, I guess it doesn't really matter how I came to studying them, only that I did. It's lucky that Babbling is so nice, as well. I can't imagine what she thought seeing little me knocking at her door asking about runes. It was last year, around Halloween, and ever since I've learned as much as I possibly can about them. I mean they're fascinating! With only a low leveled powering spell you can make the most marvelous things happen!

I learned from Babbling today that your magic is still growing at the age of 12, so that's why I'm unable to perform some harder spells, or they take longer to learn (I can learn most spells though). Although she also said I seem to have access to a fairly large amount of magic, sp there are very few runic powering sequences I struggle with.

For example, this week she was teaching me about wards (I read somewhere about Fidelis and just needed to know more) and today, I was finally able to create a mini Fidelis right on my desk after only two days of preparation! She completely forgot where her parchment had gone even though it was still right in front of her! She was amazed that I was able to create a localized version, apparently it's never been done before!

Not to be too much of a braggart (also who else is reading this but me! I can brag all I want)… But I'm only 12 and coming up with new forms of classical rune arrays and spells.

I can't wait to try more!

"III"

March 16, 1998

The library has long stood undisturbed and unbothered; hidden as it is. Dust lies thick upon the shelves and floor. The books themselves would have long ago degraded into dust were it not for the preservation runes layering the hall. The library hall is quite narrow but winds in a downward spiral that, if one were to follow it, seems to curve endlessly deep into the earth. There are no windows, no clocks, no indication of the outside world or passing time. And for centuries the library has remained ignored and forgotten by the world, until today.

One by one, the candles light as she walks deeper into the library's curving hall. She would worry about the light alerting someone to her presence, but she knows no one is here. The hall seems to echo with silence, the only sound, her soft footsteps upon the flagstone. Each step sends up a plume of dust into the still air.

The spiral of the library draws her deeper and deeper beneath the earth. Passing row upon row of bookshelves, Ginny descends for an unknown amount of time, hours seeming to pass in her endless trek. She has been searching for this library for a long time. It was one of the final steps to her realizing her goal, the one she has been working on since she was 14.

The door appears quite suddenly - hidden back between two deep shelves - she almost passes it by, and she would have if it were not for the point-me charm she had cast on her wand. The door is made from thick wood covered in wide iron banding. The banding is inlaid with deeply etched runes.

It looks like Elder Furþoc, she believes, oh wait, no, there's ÿr… strange, so that's Furþoc. But if it's Furþoc, then this bind rune doesn't make sense. Hmmm… Wait! That's tēt, Phonecian… this was written by someone recently! Within the past few decades…

Mixing runes is a modern practice, since it takes knowledge of various runic alphabets to be able to construct a usable array. But Ginny isn't expecting anyone to have been down in the library within the last few centuries, at least the 14th century, but most likely the 12th. This changes things. She feels a trepidation creep down her spine like a chill, the feeling of being watched crawls over her skin and her wand is in her hand without a conscious thought. She had cast two spells of her own design, Mortalis Revelio and Malum Revelio, when she entered the library. They, respectively, reveal any creature that may be alive or possessing of some type of spirit, and reveal any trap, person, or spell that had the intent or purpose to cause harm to the caster. Both spells hadn't revealed anything within the library. And her spells never fail, so she knows that she can trust the results.

Breathe, she tells herself, no one is here right now. Who knows who created these.

Examining them further, she realizes that they are rather shoddily created. The bind rune between āc and ür weakens the array considerably. The runes are also etched on the outside on the bands, allowing her to break the array by erasing or changing one of the runes. As she translates the array in her head, she doesn't find any hidden traps or warning runes. She reaches forward and mutters Tabeo, the bands melt into a pool of metal at her feet, the wood of the door decays to dust and only an open doorway is left between her and…

Paff.

Paff.

Paff.

There are light footsteps in the dust, circling down.

"Damnit!" She swears, Stupid, stupid, stupid. I forgot to check the back of the bands! She berates herself for making such a rookie mistake. She has fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the book.

She whirls around, taking a defensive position behind the bookshelf in front of her, her back to the wall. The other bookshelves run flat against the wall, the only point of attack is in front of her. She draws out her wand angling it towards the curving path between the shelves, muttering shield spells under her breath. The spells are held in stasis in a ring on her right pinky, and it glows a dull black light as she casts each spell.

She spins in a quick circle, casting "Accingo Anima, Accingo Umbra!" as she does, a thin green line forming around her on the floor, throwing off small sparks.

Around the shelf in front of Ginny, a woman, dressed all in white - a white slip clinging to her, a white shawl billowing behind her - glides tenuously. Her bare feet puffing up dust with each soft step she makes. She pauses, at the sight of Ginny crouched low with her wand aimed right at the woman's chest.

Her head quirks slightly to the side as she asks "Lo, young one, you have come far to be here. Are you alone?"

Ginny relaxes slightly, "And lo to you, Dame Blanche, I was not expecting to see you this morning. I do not pose harm to this home or its inhabitants."

The Dame looks slowly at the doorway behind Ginny, "I was called, so I came. Tell me, what are you looking for?"

Ginny steps out from behind the shelf, taking a few small steps toward the Dame, "I can release you, if you so wish, it has been almost 800 years, has it not?"

The Dame seems to flicker, white of her clothes and skin fading slightly, "This… this is impossible," she manages, "It cannot be done. I know this."

"I can, if you wish it," replies Ginny, "I have done it in the past and I can do it again. No tether is too strong for me. Just say the words."

After a long drawn moment, the Dame quietly murmurs "I so wish it."

With a deep breath Ginny raises her wand again, pointing it at the Dame Blanche, and, with a quick twist and jab of her wand, says "Relego Meam," a jet of dark purple light strikes the apparition squarely in the chest, a long breath of a sigh seems to echo around the room as the Dame turns hazy at the edges, becoming nebulous in the air until she fades, clear and gone.

Ginny lets out her breath with relief. That could have been quite a disaster; Dame Blanches were known to trap someone in an endless loop for eons, if not an eternity. You have to be careful when talking with one, lest you get trapped by one of their questions or requests.

She turns back to the doorway, hoping that the Dame was the only entity called by the runes on the door.

She steps through the doorway, releasing her shield spells on the ground as she does. She keeps the ones stored in her ring, who knows if they may be useful as she goes into the unknown cavern in front of her.