I leap over the couch, racing over to where Morgana was previously standing grabbing the fallen package from off of the ground. "What just happened? Where did she go?!" I ignore Charles and his questions as I desperately try to read the flood of magic in the air. "Is she dead?" The question comes from Tai, who emerges from behind the couch as I reach my magic out toward the wooden box that had been inside of the package. "Of course she isn't." The comment comes from Carina, her tone almost mocking in its level of certainty, though I pick up a note of concern in her voice as I search the box for the spell signature. "Morgana's too cool to die from some stupid box." That time it was Fireball speaking, although their voice sounds far more angry and scared then Carina's they share the same baseline certainty.
The spell signature finally reveals itself, a complex multi layer sigil forming in my mind. I chuck the box at Carina. "Find out where that box came from." I command, my mind dissecting each layer of the sigil. "What did you pick up?" Carina again, I ignore her as I tear through the drawers for a map. "What kind of spell uses this much magic?" Tai says, likely sensing the surplus magic in the air. I ignore them as well as I finally pull a map from the bottom drawer and storm over to the table where Tai and I were previously sitting. I sweep my hand across the top only vaguely registering the sound of the teapot shattering as I spread the map out.
The spell's signature was designed to confuse, its multiple sigils all conveying different meanings, of the 8 sigils 5 are false, deversions meant to slow me down. The 3 magical sigils that are real are for a midrange teleportation spell. I pour over the map as I use my magic to break down the coordinates embedded in the sigils. Just as I start to break down the last sigil the magic snaps back at me.
I let out a screech of pain as the magic burns through my mind, trying to erase any trace of its existence before I can get to the truth of it. I grit my teeth, stabbing paralysis needles into the coordinates I had been able to decipher before the knowledge can be burned from my mind. I barely register the panicked voices around me as I fall to my knees, several hands catching me before I can hit the floor.
.
..
…
I don't know how much time has passed when I wake up, but if the light from the rising sun pouring in through the window is any indication, it's been at least a few hours. I sit up, wincing at the magically induced headache that threatens to send me back down. I notice a weight on my leg and look down to see Fireball asleep on top of it, a blanket over their shoulders. I feel a smile pull at my lips at the sight.
I hear footsteps and turn in time to see Carina enter the room. It's only when she walks in do I realize this isn't my bedroom but hers. Carina wades through the mess on her floor with practiced ease before coming to stand at the side of the bed. She nods at Fireball's sleeping form. "They said they wouldn't leave until you woke up." I take in Carina's dishevelled form in the early morning light. Her hair is pulled up into a messy bun, several tools and writing implements holding it in place. She appears to have aged in the time I've been unconscious, her youthful face taut with exhaustion and stress, her labcoat even more raggedy than normal, with a new burn mark on the left sleeve. "6 hours and-" She pulls a pocket watch from her labcoat and flicks open the case. "43 minutes." She puts the pocket watch away and returns her attention to me. "How you feeling?" She says, placing her hand on my forehead. "You're hot."
A snicker escapes me. "I knew you'd admit it one day." Carina rolls her eyes so hard I'm momentarily convinced they'll fall out. "Lay back." She commands, pushing me down with surprising gentleness before taking a step back. Her eyes begin to glow as she raises her hands over my body. A pale blue light engulfs my form as I feel her magic assess my condition. I stay still until the light fades and Carina lowers her hands. "Any residual magic left over from the snap back has left your body, but your body could still use some recovery time, unfortunately for you, you just spent most of it on that little nap of yours, we're leaving in an hour."
I gently nudge Fireball, who grumbles at me but wakes, rubbing the sleep from their eyes "You're awake!." A grin comes over their face. "Takes more than that to keep me down Fireball." I tell them, a proud grin masking the pain of my headache. "Mind telling the others?" Fireball gives me an excited nod and runs out of the room, nearly tackling Carina on their way out.
My grin settles into a grimace of pain as I haul myself off of the bed. "Anything on the box?" I ask, Carina nods, helping me to my feet. "Black walnut, Northern make, Sherrian brand conductive lining, damn thing must've cost a fortune." I lean against her as I get my bearings. "The bastards can afford it, magicless nobles are always eager to hitch their wagon to those maniacal psychopaths, I'm sure they were more than happy to fund that little light show." I gently wave off Carina's hands as my headache starts to ebb. "Where are we heading?" I ask as we head out of Carina's room. "Before you passed out you stuck needles in the map around Soulanna, so we're heading there." I flinch Soulanna, the imperial capital city. I swore I'd never head back there once I finished my work. But Morgana's there… I better get a raise for this shit.
"Everyone packed?" I ask as we make our way down the hall towards my room. "Everyone but you, I packed all your clothes while you were out but I didn't know what else to take, so if you have something specific you want to bring I suggest you grab it now." We reach my door and Carina turns to leave but hesitates. "Tanya… we'll get her back, don't worry." She walks off before I can ask her anything. The reassurance warms something hidden deep within me as I enter my room.
True to her word it seems Carina really did pack all of my clothes. My room looks like it's been ransacked, the drawers are all pulled open, the closet is wide open and (perhaps most egregiously) my bed has been flipped on its side. I sigh as I lock the door behind me.
I walk over to where my bed used to sit and forcibly ignore the strain I feel as I reach my magic out towards the floor. The wood bends under my magic to reveal a small hidden space underneath. I reach in and pull out a magically sealed box covered in security and defense runes. I take a deep mana infused breath and begin to sing. "🎶Oh sweet little unlovable girl, hated until her last breath. Never once did it cross her mind that she would find friendship in death.🎶" As I finish singing I hear a soft click as the box pops open in my hands.
Inside the box are 3 items, an emerald pendant, an old crystal ring and a set of sheathed obsidian daggers. I stuff the ring and the pendant into one of the many hidden pockets in my trousers before unsheathing the daggers. As I check over the blades for dullness I catch sight of my reflection. Fierce blood red eyes glare back at me in the low firelight of the surrounding lanterns, blood splatter speckles my dark brown cheeks interrupted only by a rueful grin. I drop the dagger and stumble back, my heart rate spiking as a chill goes down my spine.
"Tanya!, Charles says you need to hurry up and come down before he murders Tai." My mind snaps back to the present at the sound of Fireball's voice outside of my door. I re-sheathe the daggers and stuff them into the sides of my boots. "Coming!" I put the box back and close up the floor. I spare only a moment to glance back at the room, taking it in one last time before heading out the door.