"Where are we going?" Phantom said, while Káel irritably weaved through the crowds of students rushing to class. Puff struggled to keep up with his speed walking, and was forced to break into a light bouncing trot, snorting and huffing at the lack of consideration.

          "Somewhere nobody will look for me," Káel growled, twisting his head up to glare at the ceiling. "Is Tia watching me?"

          "No?"

          "Good."

          Káel kept his brisk pace, constantly updating with Phantom on Tia's position, until he made it to the empty room.

          He fished the Ceptrum out of his pocket, and looked around for any unwanted attention, before sticking his hand out with the white stone and calmly saying the password. He touched its grainy surface, smiling as his fingers sank through the sand-like facade and quickly pushing through it to face the creepy blackened corridor.

          Phantom popped his head through with an attention snatching snap. "I thought you said-"

          "Shut up," Káel spat, storming down the narrow flight of steps and ripping the door open before it could complete its creepy swing. A strange comfort hugged his heart in the dark surroundings, squeezing a swift sigh out of his nostrils. "Rastastrill."

            A pitiful little orb of light formed in his hand and struggled like a fish being sucked down the toilet to rise to the roof. Eventually it gave up and dropped with exhaustion back into his open hand. His eye twitched a little with overwhelming disappointment as he tried again, this time getting a larger orb that couldn't even lift its shiny butt off his hand.

          "Rastastrill." A bright ball of light lifted from Phantoms hand and floated to the ceiling. He looked to Káel slowly, and cringed. "Sorry."

          Káel sneezed as he walked around the room looking for the most spacious area, and stopped when he came to the bare wall, tightly lacing his arms across his chest. "Show me how to get that cuff off."

          Phantom couldn't squint, so he did the next best thing, rising his shoulders and slowly pointing at Káel. "Don't you have school right now?"

          "Since when was that important?"

          Phantom looked around and sighed. "This is far too crowded, where's that other Ceptrum?"

          Káel held out the white rock questionably. "This one?"

          "No, look." He pointed at the snaking trails cut off by the bare wall behind Káel. "No shelves, there's another room." 

          Káel shrugged. "Maybe they just ran out of shelves."

          Phantom shook his head with a disappointed string of cross mutters, shoving his head through the wall with an unintelligible cry of success. He ripped his head out, spooking Káel with the sheer volume of his voice. "I knew it! There's another room! Classic Zalius." He scanned the dusty bookshelves and weapon racks, snapping for Káel to start on an especially grimy stack of torn books and armour on the floor. "It has to be around here somewhere, help me find it."

          After kicking away the pile without success, he turned to the robust and cluttered bookshelves. They were an utter mess, forcing him to lift out the heavy leather and iron bound books to create a neat pile, followed by shoving the old beakers, and other strange equipment to the sides in search of yet another shiny white rock. Some of the heavy books had seen better days, with the way they barfed out pages filled with detailed diagrams and mostly translated spells, piquing Káel's interest to explore their contents when he actually had the time. After multiple breaks for sneezing and coughing fits, he'd finally looked through every darkened crevice, but the rock hadn't shown itself.

          A cold hand nudged Káel's shoulder as he double checked a spot, causing him to jump up and cock his head to the side expecting to see Puff. When he met the ghosts glistening white smile instead, he yelped again, clutching the fabric hugging his chest to cradle his racing heart. 

          "Don't scare me like that!" he wheezed, gripping the shelf so he could pull himself to his feet. He glanced at the silent spectator again with a grimace, heaving in some air for a sigh and unwittingly swallowing a dust bunny that latched onto his throat. 

          The shadow looked at him blankly while his string of sputtering coughs continued, and Puff tried to sniff him in an attempt to see what was wrong, only to suck up a small cobweb and break into a cute little sneezing fit.

          "Do you-" Káel choked on his words and coughed. "Have you-" His throat clenched and he doubled over to gag, looking up at the ghost with a pained squint and soft whisper a couple pitches higher than normal. "Seen any other Ceptrums around here?" 

          He cleared his throat and did a couple more coughs, dry heaving for extra measures before finally ridding his lungs of the bothersome dust.

          "You need some fresh air?" Phantom questioned, watching him dab the tears from his eyes and shake his head.

          The ghost sighed, waiting for Káel's attention before drifting to the middle of the room. It stopped at the thick desk, bending down to try and fit its large mass underneath the cramped space. After a couple shuffles and uncomfortable wiggles, there was a click, and the shadow came back out to reveal a secret hatch in the floor it opened, the gleaming smile still platered to its dead face.

          Káel smiled nervously at its unfaltering joy, dipping his head in thanks before looking down into the hatch. Sure enough there was a glossy white stone, and some extra guests had woven the beautiful object a less than complimentary dress of thick cobwebs. 

          "There it is!" Phantom cheered, causing Káel to jump and smack his head on the panel of wood. "Now take it out and put it in the white circle in front of that bare wall over there."

          Káel gave the rock a fearfully disgusted look and failed to move, his fear ridden gaze falling on Phantom.

          "What's wrong?"

          He gave the thick spiderwebs a long hard stare, until a hairy yellow spider leg popped into view, followed by the rest of the monstrosity. Káel's voice was barely a shaken whisper as he naturally shrank away from the sight. "Spiders."

          "Are you serious?" Phantom growled. "Scared of an eight legged fuzzball with fangs are we?" Phantom popped his head out of the desk, pulling Puff's attention from admiring his reflection in a smudged shield. "Hey dragon, would you do the honours?"

          Puff hopped over to squeeze his little body under the desk with Káel, a string of smoke snaking through his teeth as he prepared to roast the spider and its quiet little sanctuary.

          "No wait!" Káel called, clamping Puff's mouth shut as he stared at the fuzzy spider in guilt ridden fear. "Don't kill it."

          "Make up your mind!" Phantom retorted, his agitation forcing him to throw up his arms dramatically as Káel scooched out from under the desk.

          Káel looked around the room. "Wait there's gotta be..." Scanning the desk he pulled a silver cup off it, checking the inside for creepy crawlers before snatching a sheet of paper.

          Phantom's voice was overwhelmed with disappointment as he watched Káel squish under the desk with his new tools. "What are you doing?"

          "Something."

          Káel spent around five minutes trying to scoop the spider up into the cup, letting off high pitched screeches when it touched his hand or started crawling towards him. When he finally caught it, he slammed the piece of paper atop the cup with unecessary force, and ran through the door with it like a bomb ten seconds from detonation, dropping it at the top of the staircase.

          When he got back down, Phantom had his arms folded across his chest, tapping his foot like an impatient mother.

          "Okay," Káel huffed, calmly clapping the webs off his hands, and fixing his posture to cast an illusion over his previous act. He strained to pull the heavy rock out of the hatch, and waddled over to the white circle Phantom had specified, dropping it with a heavy thud.

          "Careful with that! It has feelings!" Phantom snapped, waiting for Káel to pat the rock apologetically with a sarcastic smile. "Now use your Ceptrum to get the password from it."

          He grabbed his Ceptrum and looked at Phantom questionably.

          "Just focus on your Ceptrum, and hopefully it'll want to talk."

          Káel stared at the little white rock in his dirtied palm, focusing on the grooved black emblem for a minute without blinking. On the verge of giving up, a bored voice spoke up in his head, causing his eyes to widen in surprise.

          You are not my master, who are you?

          Káel...? He thought to himself, the feeling of having something with a mind of its own in his head setting him on edge.

          If you are able to speak with me my master must be dead. It has been so long, I do not find it surprising he has done so. It said indifferently, ignoring Káel's thoughts as he struggled to pin the Ceptrum's rich voice to a tiny pebble. You are my master now small and feeble boy, what laborious task do you wish of me to fulfill?

          He paused trying to think of what he was doing, then stopped trying to think when he thought about the possibility of the weird stone he was holding seeing everything he was thinking about.

          You grow silent master, I do hope my statement has not flown over your delicate mind. There is another Ceptrum nearby, if you wish it, I can extract it's simple secrets.

          Káel furrowed his brow, he didn't like the way that stone said extract.

          Be at ease master, so long as it complies to your wishes fast enough, it shan't be permanently damaged. With your sealing words I shall commence, master.

          Okay. Káel thought.

          The Ceptrum gave off a glow that slowly strengthened to a blinding flash, until it went dark and spoke again. The deed is done master. It said eerily. I have extracted the necessary information. Speak Churro and your path shall be clear.

          Churro? Káel thought, that was an odd password.

          Such words of entrance were concocted by the mind of my old master, he used the names of those close to him, as words of power over his greatest secrets. One such being the devil that shadows you, as it did him.

          Káel was about to question the stones statement, but the voice withdrew from his head before he could process the thought, leaving his thoughts to their typical privacy. He gave Phantom a wary side glance. 

          Could he be the demon the Ceptrum was talking about? 

          Phantom did say the family controlling the place took a particularly harsh dislike towards him, but he didn't seem like a bad guy. 

          Even if he was, Káel thought, he was powerless, being stuck in a rock and all.

          Káel held his Ceptrum out to the white stone and muttered the password. In a sway of habit he went to stroke the motionless wall, his heart nearly bursting out of his chest with a cry of surprise at the loud clank that echoed throughout the small room. It's aged joints screamed as the thick slab of wall shifted and slowly retreated upwards, providing a clear view of the room beyond. 

          It was empty. A dimmed expanse bathed scarlet by a crown of eerie red orbs hovering at the walls. They were the same ones that had lit the corridor, but with their presence in the larger room Káel felt like he'd walked into some forbidden ritual, and the room had been put through a pagan filter for extra effect.

          Even Phantom shuddered when he took in the lighting, strolling to the center of the room so his getup complimented the sinister setting, and turning on his heels. "I like red and all... but these power saving enchantments really need to choose a different colour." 

          He muttered a small phrase, forming a large white orb above his head that burst, its vibrant spatters assaulted the little red orbs scattered around the room and boosted their dismal light. After the attack was over, the room had gained a lighter atmosphere, and the once red orbs were a burning bright orange.

          Káel looked around in awe, the room barely had any dust for its size, and the hard floor was plastered with an interlocking pattern of crystals and dark, polished stones. He took a step, allowing the crisp echo to bounce off the walls, its thousand-year-old waxing job still fresh enough to give Káel a glimpse of his blurred reflection. After resisting the urge to lie on the cool floor like a beached whale, he continued to scour its features. The room didn't hold any windows, likely because it was below ground level, but it had a second doorway as clear as day. Káel jiggled the nob with a frown.

          Locked.

          "That cuff is a lot like the rock I'm sealed in," Phantom started, for once his booming voice didn't startle Káel. "We can't use magic, but we can still use a bit of Lumience. So your little dragon should be able to hold up its half on guardian duties."

          Puff looked around the large room, flailing a little as his soft pads slid against the smooth floor. 

          That red man was irritating. 

          Puff snorted, digging his claws into the floor without a care for its expensive coat and casually joining Phantom's side. He watched Káel's excited face, his smile the picture of stupidity.

          That black haired boy had better get my cuff off. 

          He had a decent amount of lumience, enough to get the cuff off at least. Puff sighed, the black haired boy couldn't even lift a stone, and although Puff could easily help him control his lumience on the smaller spells, controlling it to get the chain off would be next to impossible. 

          He needed help, and not the kind that was stuck in a rock.

          Puff rolled his eyes at the thought, squishing his snout with a sour frown.

          This was going to take awhile.

          After hunting down a number of strange contraptions and thick spell books from the small room, Káel sat himself in the corner of the large room, with Puff at his side and Phantom standing in front of him like a school teacher.

          "Alright, let's figure out what you're good at." Phantom stretched his arms before commencing. "Grab that small translucent ball and say Lumira, it's impossible to screw up."

          He followed Phantom's instructions, grabbing the glassy ball from a padded sack and saying the spell in a hushed whisper. A white mist slowly grew inside of it, churning like a mesmerizing maelstrom until it darkened to a void black, convulsing with tendrily strings of magic until it completely filled the space, the now black orb lighting up with tiny flashes of orange. 

          "Uuuuuh..." Káel flashed the orb to Phantom, his mouth hanging in worried confusion. "That doesn't look so good."

          "Orange and black? Yeah, that's an ugly combo." Phantom dropped to a squat, looking at the orb in Káel's hand from a multitude of angles before continuing. "Let's see what kind of black lumience you have."

          "Does that mean it's evil?" Káel whispered, squinting at the ball as another flash of orange lit the thick black clouds.

          "Black?" Phantom stared at him in utter confusion for a couple seconds, trying to figure out what he was referring to. "It's a shade... is your hair evil?"

          He brushed his bangs back, shrugging at Phantom.

          "Is that an Earth thing? Are certain colours and shades automatically evil now?"

          "Not in the way you're thinking... but to some people, yeah..." Káel muttered, shaking the black ball with the hope that it'd flash on command. "Not me though."

          "Primal pansies," Phantom scoffed, snapping to drag Káel's attention from shaking the ball. "We'll try some spells to guess what kind of black lumience you have."

          Phantom had Káel try a number of spells on the ball, some of them 'worked' but Phantom certainly wasn't aiming for the outcomes. Finally, after Káel seemed to have exhausted his list twice over, Phantom stared at the wall for a bit in contemplation, muttering to himself while counting his fingers.

          "Did I miss one?" he finally said, looking at Káel. "Oh well, there's no harm in trying." Turning to Káel, he refreshed his enthusiastic tone. "Last one. Try Insanctious."

          Káel sighed, and repeated the word, staring blankly at the ball in his hand. It didn't noticeably change like some of the other things he'd tried, but something felt off about it now, it was lighter.

          A curious hum escaped Phantom's mouth, its tone suggesting Káel had finally done something right. "Now tell it to go up."

          He looked at Phantom questionably, but followed his orders. "Go up." 

          Much to Káel's surprise, the ball lifted from his hand and slowly rose, stopping when it gently clinked against the ceiling.

          "Tell it to do something else," Phantom said with amusement, placing his fingers together as he chuckled at Puff. "Like chase your little mud brained dragon."

          Puff perked his ears up questionably, and turned away from the wall he'd distracted himself with. Káel followed Phantoms proposal, and the ball went zipping towards the dragon, causing Puff the leap up and face its new enemy with bristling fur. 

          The dragon swiped and bit at the orb, hissing as it narrowly dodged each assault. 

          When it finally grinded the dragon's patience to a nub, Puff unleashed small turrets of fire at its evasive enemy, only managing to barely scorch it once. Káel watched in amusement as Puff slowly ran out of energy, but continued in his efforts. Eventually leading him to collapse on the ground in pure exhaustion, growling at the ball between breathless pants.

           "I've never seen someone with mostly manipulation lumience, but there's a first for everything I guess." Phantom walked up to the floating ball and muttered at it, causing it to turn blood red, then drop to the floor and fade back to its original state. "At least manipulation is gonna make it way easier to get the cuff off, but what kind of explosions am I gonna teach you now?"

Sorry for the late update!

I'll pop out another part tomorrow~

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Next update:

6/2/2018