The door to Father Enrico’s room had been left open in a hurry, the commotion enough to even leave the ever paranoid Demiurge completely oblivious to his own inner sanctum. Gabrielle didn’t expect it at all, her brain was already racing to make plans for entry (most of them including the detestable mallet outside) so when the heavy wooden door gave up on her first try, everything slowed down for the girl. Everything but her heart, pumping harder and faster than ever before as she was confronted with what waited on the other side.
The first thing that hit her was the smell: it smelled way different than any other room in the Chapel, except maybe the basement? The stink was vaguely acidic, chemical (even if Gabrielle had no idea what this word meant), but there was also the smell of a filthy man. Gabi covered her sensible nose for a moment, grumbling and complaining under her breath without even realizing. She needed a moment to grow used to the smell, closing her eyes and taking very short breaths at a time.
Meanwhile, from the distance, a curious Samantha observed attentively. She couldn’t simply leave the girl alone to her fate now, could she? The blonde little girl stared from behind one of the many T statues in the chapel, anxiously clinging to it while wondering what in the blazes made Gabi stutter like that. Was she scared? Did the heavy risks of this situation finally hit her?
No. It definitely wasn’t that. But then why!?
As soon as the stench no longer made her gag, Gabrielle closed her eyes for a moment and mentally selected targets: She had to grab at least 15 pieces of candy, and find something (anything!) that related to Baraqiel and the Spire… she was happy with these two targets when, suddenly, another realization hit her.
Wait a moment. I don’t know how to read…!
Gabi smacked her own forehead once, loud enough to make Samantha flinch from her spot. What now!?
“Okay… calm down.” Gabrielle whispered to herself. “There has to be something you can look at in there, I am sure!”
She was absolutely not sure. But she was also out of options, so with a defeated sigh she simply walked into the room. Samantha was so tempted to just follow in, but she knew that more people would just get in the way of each other at this point. So with the pain in her heart, she waited…
—
The Demiurge’s realm was as tidy as they came, at least from Gabrielle’s perspective. No clothes out of place, the bed was neatly made, no signs of rats or anything! Just a boring room with a single bed, no windows, a desk and a closet. A bunch of books was neatly organized on said desk though, Gabrielle counted twenty-five heavy-looking tomes and recognized only one as a copy of the Prologues of the Saints. But then, what were the others?
Completely ignoring the wooden box with the oh-so-coveted pieces of candy on the side of the bed, Gabi immediately went to mess with the books. Darkness had never been a problem to her, things usually looked as clear as a cloudy, gray day when she focused enough, so the lack of windows wouldn’t be a problem here. She tried to compare them to the Prologues of the Saints, to see if she could recognize any of the words like that. She could read the word “Saints” like this in another of the books, but the rest were completely alien.
The letters in some of them looked completely different! Collections of lines and points with no meaning to the little girl, to the point where she wondered if they were even a language, or maybe she just knew that little about the Brittan word.
Whatever the case, words had completely failed her!! So, it was time for plan B: to open each book and simply pass by the pages, begging these had images in them.
And this turned out to be quite a good idea! Because each book she opened had different little pictures on every page! Little snails drawn on the edges, rabbit knights having fun adventures around the words! Gabi recognized these kinds of drawings, for Sister Alejandra had shown the ones drawn on her own copy of the Prologues.
“The Copyist Monks that write these books spend entire nights working”, said the Sister, “Snails live among words, just like worms and rabbits. One can see them if you focus hard enough when copying.”
Gabrielle never saw anything of that sort when looking at the words of a book, but she always assumed it was due to not knowing how to write.
Sadly, and as cute as the drawings of plants, flowers and little critters were, they really didn’t shed a single clue on to what was going on… in fact, they just made Gabrielle question what was the reason to have all these books at all! Just words and nonsensical drawings! What in the blazes could be hiding in there?
She was about to leave things as that, setting the books in the order she had found them, when suddenly a sound came to her ears: a soft, gentle meow in a voice she recognized. Samantha? Was she meowing? Why was she–
A loud yawn took Gabrielle by surprise, along with the sound of heavy steps and a hand messing with the doorknob. The girl’s heartbeat exploded once again, her body turning to stone, as the Demiurge returned to his bedroom after a long night of searching.
Hide, HIDE!
All voices in Gabrielle’s mind joined into a panicked chorus, as the girl took the few seconds she had to slide right under the man’s bed and simply waited, letting Father get comfortable in his room.
He looked much more tired than usual, grumbling and taking his steps right towards the bed— but not before taking a piece of candy from the box on his side. That was the only thing in the world that could make him smile, really: looking forward to a tasty treat by the end of a long day of work.
Gabrielle felt the man’s bulbous frame pressing down over her body on the bed. She was doing her best not to even breathe…
And just like that, she waited without moving an inch, feeling terror running down her spine and squeezing her throat.
The door to Father Enrico’s room had been left open in a hurry, the commotion enough to even leave the ever paranoid Demiurge completely oblivious to his own inner sanctum. Gabrielle didn’t expect it at all, her brain was already racing to make plans for entry (most of them including the detestable mallet outside) so when the heavy wooden door gave up on her first try, everything slowed down for the girl. Everything but her heart, pumping harder and faster than ever before as she was confronted with what waited on the other side.
The first thing that hit her was the smell: it smelled way different than any other room in the Chapel, except maybe the basement? The stink was vaguely acidic, chemical (even if Gabrielle had no idea what this word meant), but there was also the smell of a filthy man. Gabi covered her sensible nose for a moment, grumbling and complaining under her breath without even realizing. She needed a moment to grow used to the smell, closing her eyes and taking very short breaths at a time.
Meanwhile, from the distance, a curious Samantha observed attentively. She couldn’t simply leave the girl alone to her fate now, could she? The blonde little girl stared from behind one of the many T statues in the chapel, anxiously clinging to it while wondering what in the blazes made Gabi stutter like that. Was she scared? Did the heavy risks of this situation finally hit her?
No. It definitely wasn’t that. But then why!?
As soon as the stench no longer made her gag, Gabrielle closed her eyes for a moment and mentally selected targets: She had to grab at least 15 pieces of candy, and find something (anything!) that related to Baraqiel and the Spire… she was happy with these two targets when, suddenly, another realization hit her.
Wait a moment. I don’t know how to read…!
Gabi smacked her own forehead once, loud enough to make Samantha flinch from her spot. What now!?
“Okay… calm down.” Gabrielle whispered to herself. “There has to be something you can look at in there, I am sure!”
She was absolutely not sure. But she was also out of options, so with a defeated sigh she simply walked into the room. Samantha was so tempted to just follow in, but she knew that more people would just get in the way of each other at this point. So with the pain in her heart, she waited…
—
The Demiurge’s realm was as tidy as they came, at least from Gabrielle’s perspective. No clothes out of place, the bed was neatly made, no signs of rats or anything! Just a boring room with a single bed, no windows, a desk and a closet. A bunch of books was neatly organized on said desk though, Gabrielle counted twenty-five heavy-looking tomes and recognized only one as a copy of the Prologues of the Saints. But then, what were the others?
Completely ignoring the wooden box with the oh-so-coveted pieces of candy on the side of the bed, Gabi immediately went to mess with the books. Darkness had never been a problem to her, things usually looked as clear as a cloudy, gray day when she focused enough, so the lack of windows wouldn’t be a problem here. She tried to compare them to the Prologues of the Saints, to see if she could recognize any of the words like that. She could read the word “Saints” like this in another of the books, but the rest were completely alien.
The letters in some of them looked completely different! Collections of lines and points with no meaning to the little girl, to the point where she wondered if they were even a language, or maybe she just knew that little about the Brittan word.
Whatever the case, words had completely failed her!! So, it was time for plan B: to open each book and simply pass by the pages, begging these had images in them.
And this turned out to be quite a good idea! Because each book she opened had different little pictures on every page! Little snails drawn on the edges, rabbit knights having fun adventures around the words! Gabi recognized these kinds of drawings, for Sister Alejandra had shown the ones drawn on her own copy of the Prologues.
“The Copyist Monks that write these books spend entire nights working”, said the Sister, “Snails live among words, just like worms and rabbits. One can see them if you focus hard enough when copying.”
Gabrielle never saw anything of that sort when looking at the words of a book, but she always assumed it was due to not knowing how to write.
Sadly, and as cute as the drawings of plants, flowers and little critters were, they really didn’t shed a single clue on to what was going on… in fact, they just made Gabrielle question what was the reason to have all these books at all! Just words and nonsensical drawings! What in the blazes could be hiding in there?
She was about to leave things as that, setting the books in the order she had found them, when suddenly a sound came to her ears: a soft, gentle meow in a voice she recognized. Samantha? Was she meowing? Why was she–
A loud yawn took Gabrielle by surprise, along with the sound of heavy steps and a hand messing with the doorknob. The girl’s heartbeat exploded once again, her body turning to stone, as the Demiurge returned to his bedroom after a long night of searching.
Hide, HIDE!
All voices in Gabrielle’s mind joined into a panicked chorus, as the girl took the few seconds she had to slide right under the man’s bed and simply waited, letting Father get comfortable in his room.
He looked much more tired than usual, grumbling and taking his steps right towards the bed— but not before taking a piece of candy from the box on his side. That was the only thing in the world that could make him smile, really: looking forward to a tasty treat by the end of a long day of work.
Gabrielle felt the man’s bulbous frame pressing down over her body on the bed. She was doing her best not to even breathe…
And just like that, she waited without moving an inch, feeling terror running down her spine and squeezing her throat.
