Royal Blood

XXII: Not Bad At All

Back above ground, everyone had settled into different parts of the library; Dark was fervently looking through a pile of fallen books while Adelaide helped, Mark and Caitlyn were talking to Seàn, admiring their newly obtained relics while Nadia sat down on a sofa, clearly distancing herself from the others, staring out the window. And Anti, being Anti, sidles up next her, attempting to not-so-smoothly wrap an arm her shoulder, earning a hard jab to the gut from Nadia.

“Maybe you should act your age, Anti,” Said Seán.

Anti scoffed. “'Act my age.’ The fuck is that, 'act my age?’ What do I care how old I am? The ocean's old as fuck and it'll still drown your ass with vigor.”

“He's got a point,” Caitlyn agreed with a shrug.

“We found it!” Exclaimed Adelaide. She slammed a thick, leather bound book on the table, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

“What is that,” Mark asked. The book's pages were worn and slightly singed as of it was set to flames by a dragon's breath.

“Can you not read?” remarked Dark. He points to the title on the cover. “This is all the knowledge on the Eight Relics as we know it.”

“Cool, so we can like, learn things about these… things?” Mark asked, obviously not knowing what to say. Caitlyn snickered.

Dark side-eyed Adelaide with and unamused expression on his face. Adelaide smiled and gave a look that said 'at least he's trying’.

“Yes,” Dark answered painfully. “Each of the Eight Relics has a unique ability—”

“Like demons,” Adelaide added.

“And while I could explain each ability in full, I quite don't feel like it. And I do have some place to be.”

“A meeting with my father—I mean, the king?”

“You'd be correct.”

“Would you do me a courtesy and perhaps not comment on what we have found and what we are doing?”

“You think me foolish? Really, I thought you had more faith in me.” Dark placed the Scythe in Adelaide's hand. “Take care of this for me.” Dark nods respectfully to everyone but Mark—who receives a stern glare—and then he's gone in a cloud of black mist.

“I don't think he likes me,” stated Mark.

“Really? What gave you that impression?” Seán asked sarcastically.

Adelaide rested the Scythe against the wall. “He is an… acquired taste. But he is not as scary once you've known him for a while.”

“Speak for yourself,” Anti spoke. “I've known Dark for a few millennia and I'm still afraid to say the wrong thing in front of him.”

“And yet, you do that anyway,” Seán acknowledged.

“I'm a contradicting demon, what can I say.”

Adelaide flips the book open. “Who wants to go first?”

Anti jumps up. “Me. Obviously.”

“Of course,” Adelaide mutters. She thumbs through the pages before finding the chapter on Draven's Dagger. Adelaide begins reading the summary, because the chapter is full of words no one uses anymore, she thinks. Therefore, no one would be able to understand. She begins reading. “‘Draven's Dagger has the ability to absorb the souls of every being it kills. The more souls it absorbs, the more powerful and dangerous it gets.’”

“Kinda like me!” Anti says proudly.

“How do you mean?” Mark asks.

“Anti has the ability to suck the life force out of any living thing he touches,” answers Seán. “So, for example, if he were to grab a flower—” Seán gestures to vase on a nearby table and Anti plucks a rose out of it. The rose's color drains from the petals and the stem, leaving it a porcelain white. Then, it dissolves into ash. “That happens.”

“I'm dangerous like that.” He winks at Nadia. She rolls her eyes for the hundredth time.

“Keep trying, pal,” Caitlyn encouraged.

“Can you control it?” Mark questions.

Anti grins. “Can, but don't.”

“Changing the subject…” Adelaide flipped through a few more pages, she began to read a different summary of a different relic. “‘The Enchanted Bow of Maria itself is but a normal bow. The enchantment comes in the arrows. Once locked on target and the arrow is fired, the arrow won't be able to stop until it has hit its target.’”

“So you're pretty much screwed without those arrows,” Mark states.

Caitlyn twirls an arrow between her fingers before pointing the razor sharp tip at Mark's nose. “Guess I'll just have to keep them on me at all times.”

Nadia smirks. “I wouldn't mess with her, she means business.”

“I'll say.” Mark pushes the arrow away with the back of his hand.

Without much of a warning, Adelaide continues to read. “'Save the Sword of Fery, the Shield of Gabrien is perhaps the strongest and most durable of the relics, being made of Angel's Iron**, it has been able to survive many wars and battles. It has been known to deflect attacks with ease. The Shield of Gabrien and the Sword of Fery do not bode well together.'”

Nadia's eyes lit up with a dangerous mischief. She turns to Mark. “We are definitely seeing what that means later.”

“You're kidding… right?”

She just shrugs.

“‘The Sword of Fery, also being forged from Angel's Iron, is indestructible, and is able to slice through anything like paper. From being wielded by a Fire Attuned, in rare instances the Sword of Fery is able to blue fire?’ what?”

Anti stares Nadia dead in the eyes and leans towards her. “I'll trade you.”

Nadia leans in, too. “Not a chance.”

“That's...quite dangerous.” Adelaide commented.

“Just like me.” Nadia echos Anti's words and even his wink.

Turning a few more pages Adelaide reads once more. “‘The Necklace of Rikmai is a pendant forged in the fires of hell’ makes sense. 'it has the ability to enhance the powers of the wearer.’ Aw, why is mine the boring one?”

Anti rolls his eyes. “Girly, you are half demon half witch, you deserve the boring one.”

“Again,” Caitlyn reiterates. “He's got a point.”

Adelaide closes the book with a heavy thud. “Well, if you are all satisfied, I must be on my way.”

“Off to your studies?” Seán asked.

“Avoiding my studies.” Adelaide smiles a bit and picks up the Scythe and heads for the door.

“Wait, what about us?” Caitlyn gestures to herself and Mark. “We're not going back into the dungeons.”

“Right.” Adelaide thinks for a moment, biting her lower lip. “Nadia will set you up with rooms.”

“She will?”

“I will?”

“I'm certainly not going to.” Adelaide shrugs. “I'm too lazy.”

Anti chuckles. “As every royal should be.”

“For now, I bid you adieu.” Adelaide curtsies before exiting the library.

“So?” Mark asks Caitlyn. “Is Adelaide really so bad.”

Caitlyn sighs. “I'm still wary of her, I don't trust her but… she's not bad. Not bad at all.”
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°
Angel's Iron—a metal forged in heaven; the strongest material on earth.