Chapter 2: A Fateful Encounter

Eli's room was lit by a single beam of light that found its way through his curtains. He woke with a fright. A long night of vivid dreams seared the image of the mysterious crystal in his mind, along with an unrelenting need to investigate. He jumped out of bed and noticed the significant lack of pain. He shook his head. He should have known there was no way to fool his mother.

He quickly got through his morning routine and headed out—against his mother's wishes who would have preferred that he stay in with her. Eli started off to the only place in Icarus City he knew would have information on what he was looking for, assuming it even existed.

The Library was colossal. Its style of build seemed out of place surrounded by more modern buildings and yet seemed eerily timeless. Eli walked up the marble steps reverently and glided his hand on the smooth, stone railings. The inside lived up to the expectations set by the out. Eli had to crank his neck to its upward limit to even see the top of the highest shelves, but immediately regretted it as sunlight flooding in from a glass dome roof blinded him.

If Eli could ask a librarian for a specific item, his job would be easy, but he somehow felt that what he was looking for wasn't in inventory. He spent the next hour searching the library for books that contained information on the crystal, but gave up before he went mad. He approached a librarian and made his request, and his heart sunk at the response. The librarian had brought a mountain of books, all of which spoke about some crystal, at some point, with some detail.

Pushing through the first wave of helplessness, he grabbed the first book and began flipping through the pages with ridiculous determination. Minutes turned into hours, and those hours brought the closing of the library. The next day he returned and started flipping through pages as vehemently as the day before but to no avail. The next day he returned, and the day after, and the day after that, and little by little his determination waned. After days of searching without so much as making a dent in the mountain of books, he realized that this would take longer than expected.

***

Victor Vex stood by a massive, intricately designed door with folded arms and a heel tapping with irritation. Ren greeted him with a wide smile which only irritated him further. "How long does the old man expect us to wait?" Victor asked through his teeth, not really wanting an answer.

"Victor," Ren said with a sigh, "I'm sure he has good reason for it,"

"What reason could he have more important than us?"

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"As always, your humility impresses me," Ren said wryly.

"He's the one who called us,"

"Exactly, which is why—," Ren cut his words short. The door opened and startled Victor. Through the door, they entered a room so wide their steps echoed. At its centre sat a lone redwood desk, and at that desk sat an old man with a pristine-white beard so massive it put Victor's to shame. His amber eyes scrutinized the two maestros.

"What do you want old man?" Victor snarled.

"Afternoon Ren," The man said, ignoring Victor.

"And to you, Corin," He replied, also ignoring Victor, who rolled his eyes in response. "For you to call us like you did, it must be important,"

"Speaking of us," Victor butt in, "Where's Dibella? I thought you called us all here,"

"She was preoccupied," Corin answered.

"The work of a healer is never done, I suppose," Ren said as he smiled and rested his chin between the crook made by his thumb and index finger.

"Hang on," Victor said shocked, "Coming here was a choice?" Ren and Corin laughed.

"Jokes aside," Corin said after he regained his composure, "I'm sure you both have an inkling of why I called you," The air suddenly became thick, "I assume you both have come in contact with these creatures of late?"

"We've been handling them," Victor answered.

"I have no doubt about you two, but what of the countless of maestros, civilians, and police officers who don't possess your strength?" Victor hung his head, he hadn't thought of that.

"But that's only a symptom of the problem, isn't it," Ren stated rather than asked.

"Yes, it is," Corin said after a long deep breath, "about a decade ago, as I'm sure you remember, we were in dire straights. Creatures that can only be considered classes 'A' and above tore through the streets, slaughtering hundreds," he paused for another breath almost as to brace himself for the very thought that was about to follow, "and while these incidents are a far cry from those I fear—,"

"—I understand," Ren stopped, "These creatures now are like shadows of the ones before, and the magic they emit gives me the same sickening feeling," his face twisted. "Corin, do you think he's returning?" The temperature in the large room rose.

"I do. The question isn't if he's coming back, it's why did he wait so long? Why is he announcing his presence with these creatures rather than launching a full-scale attack at once," The temperature in the room was now unbearable. All attention went to Victor, whose eyes burned darkly as he said one word.

"Draven,"

***

Back at the library, Eli's face was buried in yet another book. By this point he was on full auto-pilot, flipping through pages, oblivious to the world around him, so much so he didn't even notice the body approach him.

"Hey," her voice was smooth, but Eli didn't react. "Hey, guy," she said again, but Eli didn't react. Clearly frustrated, the stranger placed her hand under Eli's chin and angled it up towards her face, "It's rude to make a lady repeat herself," Eli jumped out of his in fright, and fell square on his ass. The stranger failed at containing her laughter.

"Uh, h-hi!" Eli said louder than he meant to. The stranger gazed down with a genuine smile. She fixed a lock of her neck-length, blonder hair behind one ear as she offered a hand for Eli to grab on to. Eli took the help and stared as far away from the girls' overly matured cleavage as possible. The girl chuckled at his shyness.

"I didn't mean to scare ya," her cheeks were flushed from all the laughing, "My name's Alice,"

"I'm Eli," he replied awkwardly. Alice caught to the confused look on his face.

"I always notice you coming in here going through all - that," she gestured widely at the mountain of books. "I guess I just got a bit curious,"

"With what I'm doing?" Eli said wide-eyed, "Believe me, it's a weird story," at that Alice grabbed a chair and made herself comfortable, and with heart-gripping eye-contact she said:

"Now I'm really Interested."