Cold, dark, empty. That is the environment Solomon finds herself in. She feels like her body, her very soul is going to dissolve, if it wasn’t for something that’s keeping them from doing so. Here, she is truly left alone with her thoughts, trying to comprehend what just transpired. The warehouse, the book, the creator… She doesn’t understand, why her, of all people?

“No, that can’t be… I’m not evil…” She repeats the phrase to herself ad nauseam. It is far too late to ponder such thoughts, as the creator achieved his goal of finding a suitable host. And that’s what Solomon can’t get over. Why did it have to be her? She wishes she could just ask, she wishes she could get one final answer. Answers… It was all she wanted, and now that she got it, she may just be dead. If that is the case, at least this… Thing won’t be unleashed on the world for another hundred years. Or so she hopes.

“I never wanted this…” Solomon truly wishes that she was just an ordinary cat, not caught up in any surreptitious magical business. That by itself maybe wouldn’t be so bad, but why did she have to have the one power that causes her to be possessed by an ancient… Soul? Spirit? She knows not.

“It’s going to be expensive.” She hears someone say, waking her. With that thought, she opens her eyes, everything is blurry. It takes her a few long seconds to adjust, but she can make out who the people in the room with her are. She feels a horrible pain inside her chest, a broken rib, possibly. She lifts her head to get a better look.

“She’s awake!” Exclaims someone in a lab coat and a mask. Solomon isn’t sure what species he is. “Deja vu…” After a couple more seconds, her eyes finally adjust properly. The person in the lab coat takes a few steps back, others run out from the room. She can see Andreas pointing the tranquiliser at her.

“What… Happened?” She manages to say as Ludwig pokes his head into the room. It’s a different medical room than the one she was previously at, only having space for one person.

All of a sudden, she feels her hands tingle. She quickly lifts them to get a good look at them, noticing that she is connected to an IV. Nothing out of the ordinary happens. The markings don’t glow that horrible, piercing green colour, in fact, they don’t glow at all. Despite that, she can feel it, she can feel him. In fact, she can feel exactly how he’s feeling: regretful, apparently. Solomon finds that concerning, but at the same time, can’t help but be interested to an extent. For whatever reason, he can’t take over her hands, which she very much finds to be a welcome change. Looking around the room, she spots a bottle of medicine, which she recognises as an antipsychotic.

She relaxes, putting her hands beside herself onto the bed.

“Solomon?” Ludwig asks apprehensively. She hasn’t seen the wolf be so afraid in the previous five days, which admittedly is not a long while, but to see such fear in his eyes of all people… “Are you feeling well?”

She isn’t. She really isn’t. Not mentally, nor physically, the things she learned weigh heavy on her mind.

“I guess.” She responds meekly. “Better than earlier today anyway.” She adds, causing his ears to droop.

“Solomon… You’ve been out for two days.” Ludwig states.

Solomon pauses for a moment before putting her hands over her face, a little reluctant, given what happened. Two days… She was asleep for two days? The last thing she remembers is falling into that hole.

“Listen… I’m sorry, that was NOT my doing!” She proclaims.

Ludwig gets the courage to step inside the room, curiously.

“Now that you’re awake, you can tell us exactly what happened. And more importantly, how you did that.” His reluctant expression turns into a grin. “Because that’s exactly what we needed.” He adds, causing the cat to wince. “Such destruction… I rather it wasn’t used inside my facility, but oh well. You, Solomon, you are what we’ve been searching for! With your help, we can finally eradicate this cult, Bright Ones can feel safe, we can find them and recruit them or their power! Whatever the Lightborn have done, they shall pay for it! They shall bathe in your righteous acid!” Ludwig declares, his voice reaching a crescendo. Upon stopping, he hears the sound of quiet sobbing.

“Please stop…” Solomon says in no more than a whisper.

“Sir, if I may excuse myself…” Says the nurse in the medical room, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

“Go ahead.” The wolf responds, the nurse then leaves hurriedly. Ludwig clears his throat.

“I apologise, I got a little… Excited over our plan. Of course, you shall take all the time you need to recover. And then…”

“NO!” Solomon yells out. “That… That wasn’t me…” She says through tears. “Listen, it’s hard to explain, I don’t even know where to begin…” She sniffles and tries to collect herself. After a long exhale, she feels like she can properly talk. “I read the book.”

That gets Ludwig’s full attention.

“So you figured out how it works. What did you read?” He asks with an inscrutable expression.

“The section on Acid Ones.” She states with another sniffle.

Ludwig walks over to the bed with a soft chuckle.

“Solomon, you poor girl…” He says as he sits down at the side of the bed. “Do you take me for a fool?”

The cat shoots him a look of utter confusion.

“What do you…” She thinks back to the manner of which she read the page. Of course they could never read it, they’ve never had an Acid One before. “Right… There was a torn page. A drop of acid fell there, that’s when a page appeared.”

Ludwig raises an eyebrow.

“Really? And what was written there that made you become so… Enraged?”

Solomon makes her right hand into a fist, then relaxes.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Listen… Acid magic isn’t created by nature. It was created by someone. And that someone is inside me, he took over my hands, he caused that.” She says matter-of-factly, the feeling coming from the creator changes, from regret to something Solomon can’t quite put a finger on. Something similar to a slight sense of panic, like when someone is spotted or recognised.

Ludwig looks back at her, he looks as if she just insulted his intelligence.

“Solomon… Listen. You are important to us. You really are. But I don’t believe a word that you’re saying.”

Solomon lunges forward, ignoring the pain in her chest and grabs the wolf’s shoulder.

“I. Went. Through it! Do you have ANY idea…”

Ludwig grabs her wrists and lays her back down.

“I will need serious proof for such claims. Tell me… If this “he” took over your hands then, why isn’t he taking over now?”

Solomon pauses. She herself really doesn’t know that either. All she feels is this tingling.

“Just bring the book here. I’ll show you proof. You have to believe me.” She says, hoping to have sounded genuine.

“Benedict, come in.” Ludwig says into his radio.

“Yes, sir?” The voice of Benedict responds.

“Solomon woke up. Bring the Ledger here.”

Benedict gasps, but ultimately agrees with a “Yes, sir.”

Solomon doesn’t blame the wolf for not believing her. What she told him doesn’t sound very genuine, even by magical standards. Her hands tingle and itch, the creator really wants to get out… But for reasons that are beyond her, he can’t. Whatever caused it, Solomon hopes it stays that way.

“Lower your weapon for now, Andreas.” Ludwig says to the crow, who does so.

“Yes, sire.”

“I know how ridiculous that all sounds…” Solomon says, looking from Ludwig to her hands. “But it’s true. I’m not sure I could even replicate that, to be honest… I don’t even know how many of them there are…”

“We don’t know. Maybe thirty?” The wolf responds calmly, causing Solomon to look up, wide-eyed.

“You expect me to… With acid?” She asks, her expression is that of consternation.

“That’s a surefire way to eliminate their leader. That is what we want. If they have no leader, there is no cult. But of course, we won’t miss the ones you take out as collateral damage.”

“How can he say that like it’s nothing?!” Solomon rubs her temples.

“Where… Are they even located?”

Ludwig huffs in annoyance, shaking his head.

“That’s the problem, you see.” He says, standing up from the bed. “We don’t know.”

“You’re joking, right?” The cat sits up, giving him an incredulous look.

“I’m afraid not.” The wolf replies, slowly pacing around the room. “They are terribly efficient at keeping their secrets, I’ll give them that.”

“That’s not what I wanted to hear at all…” Solomon shakes her head, softly cackling.

“However, after you basically destroyed a large part of the warehouse, I had the whole info department mobilised.” Says Ludwig “We are currently looking into one person in particular, who proves to be very suspicious, possibly having connections to the cult.”

Suddenly, Benedict rushes in with the book. Just the sight of it sends chills up Solomon’s spine.

“Right here, sir.” He then looks over to the cat with fear in his eyes. The sight saddens her a little.

“Good. Stay here until we’re done.” Says Ludwig, apparently to the racoon’s displeasure.

The wolf brings the book over to Solomon.

“Alright then, show me that page and I’ll believe you.” Says the wolf, looking at her expectantly.

Solomon takes the book and flips through all the way to the torn page. She places her hand above it, Ludwig crosses his arms, waiting.

She wasn’t looking forward to using her power so soon after the incident, but if it makes the others believe her, so be it. The cat powers up her magic just enough for a drop of acid to fall onto the book, much to Benedict’s surprise. Like last time, a green, spectral page appears in the book.

His emotion, a sense of regret once again, subtle, but present. Ludwig, Andreas, and Benedict all look in awe as the page glows. The wolf snatches the book and powers up his magic to read it. Solomon can see his eyes dart from one end of the page to the other.

“What does it say, sire?” The crow inquires.

Ludwig puts down the book and leans against the wall.

“So it’s true…” Says the wolf.

Solomon crosses her arms and frowns, as if to say “I told you”. The other two each take a look, Ludwig does not stop them.

“This… This is amazing!” The wolf suddenly exclaims. “This redefines what we know about magic! Artificial magic!” He says, slightly shaking Benedict. “Do you have any idea what that means?”

“No, sir?” The raccoon looks back in a mix of surprise and confusion.

Ludwig laughs and lets go of him.

“We could make our own magic!”

That statement causes Solomon to feel an intense anger beside her. “He can understand us? Not just me?” The thought suddenly hits Solomon. “This millenia old Mystic One understands what we say?” The thought makes her feel uneasy. For how long has he been listening?

“I don’t think he likes the idea.” She states. The three others all turn to look at her.

“What do you mean?” Asks the wolf, giving her an anxious look.

“I feel whatever emotions he feels. I’m not angry, but I feel that he is.” Ludwig chuckles, which turns into a look of concern.

“Why is he angry?” He eventually asks.

“I don’t know. I can’t exactly talk to him.” The tingle in her hands grows ever more uncomfortable. Now that she has a choice, she can’t let him take over, the consequences of that could be disastrous.

“So, you’re possessed by the original Acid One?” Says Benedict. “Well that’s… Disturbing.”

Ludwig walks over to the cat and leans next to her.

“Listen, Solomon. I know this wasn’t in our deal… But you have to let us look into this. If we can figure out how to make our own magic…”

Solomon really doesn’t like the implications of that, having regrets about sharing any of this information with them all of a sudden. A notion she shares with the creator.

“I’ll consider it.” She responds. “But I won’t be going out there to do your dirty work after the cult. I just want peace…” She thinks about her friends. How would they react to this? What would they think if they found out that she’s possessed? “What would Lisa think…”

“I’ll have to make an announcement! This is the biggest finding in my time here!” Ludwig says, stepping from Benedict to Andreas, his tail wagging excitedly.

Solomon really doesn’t like the idea of an announcement, this is all too much for her. She then realises, everyone in the facility will know about the nature of her power if he does.

“STOP!” She yells. “You can’t talk about it yet! Some might grow… Envious, you know? Also, people would look at me like I could do… That any time. Because I won’t, he can no longer take over me for some reason.” She says and looks down at her hands. They still tingle. She figures that he is upset, she just isn’t sure why.

“You know, you raise a fair point.” Ludwig says with a laugh. “We’ll stick to the plan for now.”

“Right!” Says Solomon, having remembered their conversation earlier. “What is the name of that lead?”

Ludwig snaps his fingers at her.

“Good thing you remembered. His name is Antonio Alvarez.”