Hearing them speak, Elena stared at Maya wide-eyed, realizing they had just broken into Amanda's mansion. Maya had already suspected the fact the moment she was faced with the strange behaviour of the ghosts around them, but didn't wish to jump to conclusions.
The floorboards creaked gently as elegant steps walked across them when the owner of the study stepped in to assess the damage. A complete contrast to the robust steps those men made.
"Where is the book from my desk?" They heard Amanda's sharp voice. Immediately, she noticed it missing.
"I'm sure it's here somewhere. We need to clear out more rubble. If we find it, we'll let you know," one said.
"YOU IMBICILES!" Amanda screamed as she slammed her hand on the desk.
The girls could hear the sound of glass shattering. Something fragile must've been knocked over. This always calm and collected woman was screaming at her personal guards.
Maya felt the pressure suddenly change and noticed the ghosts around her getting more unsettled.
"There is no debris in this part of the room. Someone took it!" Amanda said.
"Why would we take your book, madam? We have no use for such books," there was fear in their voice.
Maya's eyes widened as she noticed blood dripping between the cracks of the floorboards. It seems she didn't knock something off the table but rather chucked something at them that hurt one of them.
"This book is worth more than your lives. Return it to me!" she demanded.
"We did… didn't take i…it. Wh…when would we have the time?" the guy was completely melting down.
"You were the first ones to enter the room. There is no other entrance. Now, give it back and I could forgive it."
"I swear, madam. We didn't touch your book. Where would we put it? It's not on us," the other was terrified, pleading.
She was quiet for a moment, thinking. "Find me that book or I'll turn you into cattle feed," she ordered.
"We'll clear this up and we'll find it. I swear."
"If you don't, I'll cut off your hands."
"No. Please, madam—" he was pleading, aware they wouldn't find it in the rubble. There is nowhere the book could end up and they were too afraid to suggest that she could've lost it.
Everyone was in a precarious situation. Maya and Elena felt the urgency of having to flee, but couldn't move in fear they would make a sound and be discovered. If the Headmistress was threatening her own personal guards by cutting off their hands, what would she do to them if she found out?
As the men shuffled around, desperately searching for a book that had vanished, one made a step on the patched part of the floor and his leg fell through.
Maya almost screamed. She would if her hand wasn't pressed over her mouth. His leg was stuck, but he couldn't see them down there yet. It was time to run.
Elena reacted faster than Maya and started dragging her out of there.
'There is no way we won't be discovered,' Maya's thoughts betrayed her.
They slid down the hole they made before guards broke the boards to catch the book thief.
They were running and slipping on the wet cave floor, with no time to glance back. However, they could hear their pursuers. It was chaotic. Maya, suddenly tripping on every rock, depended on Elena to maintain her balance and avoid falling to the ground.
They were at the flooded part in no time.
"Fuck!" Elena cursed.
They were just behind them, trying to navigate their way through branching tunnels. Girls had only a slight advantage as two teenage girls were more nimble through these tight tunnels than two adult men.
"Oh, god. Th—they're going to catch us," Maya was panicking.
"We need to drain it! They can't follow us through water. We flood their path," Elena grabbed Maya's shoulders to get through to her.
It made no sense to Maya at the moment, but she went with it as Elena had an idea and Maya had nothing.
Together, they redirected the water into a lower section of the tunnel they had traversed. They quickly filled it to capacity, draining enough water from the previously flooded area. This allowed them to walk through, holding the book above their heads to keep it dry. They didn't have time to drain it further.
Their return lasted much shorter. But no wonder, they were in a hurry and knew the way. Or, Elena seemed to know, as Anastasia was nowhere to guide them.
After they slipped and slid through the rest of the way, they finally reached that little underground pond that supplied the well, Elena just ran straight on the water, freezing the surface for them to walk on and creating a runway for Maya to air-propel herself upward to reach the rope.
They made no arrangement for it previously. They just improvised and somehow understood each other's ideas without a word.
As Maya propelled herself, it broke off the ice, but Elena just used the momentum of disturbed water to freeze steps for herself to jump close enough for Maya to catch her hand. The cave ceiling wasn't too high.
The drop felt much higher the first time. And it looked like there was more water than before. While they were climbing up the well, they realized why. It was raining outside.
They climbed out of the well. Untied the rope and let it drop down into the water.
Then the dread had settled when they remembered they had to pass through the Academy hall.
Dirty and wet, pumped with adrenaline, they were caught by Professor Crumpet. "Girls! What are you doing here!?"
They froze thinking they were busted.
"You're leaving mud everywhere. Clean it up before you go."
They blinked at the professor as he left obliviously. Apparently, he saw nothing suspicious in two students walking around the school, drenched to their skin, and leaving mud traces at this hour. But this was a school where, due to all kinds of club activity, it wasn't strange to see students roaming around even on Sunday afternoon.
They let out sighs of relief and began laughing at their luck.
Maya was now certain that Amanda was their adversary. The fact that she had hidden this book in her mansion suggested that she knew the truth and was lying to the students, and potentially everyone else. Her interaction with the guards was undeniably alarming.
They returned to their room, both nervous and exhausted, and finally felt safe as the doors closed behind them. Maya sat directly on the floor, not wanting to make a mess further, eager to see the contents of the book. It was the book that held the potential to save the world — the secrets of Prima Magas, the key to everything.
She opened it to a random page. The pages were brittle, discoloured with age, and flaking at the edges. It was handwritten in ink with occasional sketches scattered throughout. She turned the page to find more of the same, only interspersed with more intricate drawings and unfamiliar symbols and markings.
As she flipped through a few more pages, she noticed the handwriting would change, the style and layout of the pages would change, and the writers themselves would change. Different people have contributed to it. However, the most crucial revelation was that the text was all written in entirely different languages.
"I can't understand what any of this means," Maya said in a bitter-sweet tone.