Chapter 760: The Curse That Feeds
Chapter 759: The Curse That Feeds
13 Days To Go
The library remained quiet after Madam Tyler finished speaking.
Sophia found herself staring at the parchment before her, but she wasn’t truly reading it anymore. Instead, she was thinking about everything Madam Tyler had said.
Perhaps they already did have the answers.
Perhaps they didn’t.
But if there was one thing Sophia had learned since coming to Nirvana, it was that every answer they gained most times only led to more questions.
Eventually, Eldric sighed.
He picked up his glasses from the table and carefully placed them back on his face. He adjusted them once, then leaned back in his chair.
"I suppose," he said slowly, "that I can understand your perspective."
"I don’t believe the translations themselves necessarily matter, not when compared to the information we already possess. But..." He paused, then let out another sigh. "I suppose I also cannot deny that I am curious."
Tobias laughed quietly.
"That’s because you’re a scholar. You collect knowledge for the sake of collecting knowledge," he said.
Eldric adjusted his glasses.
"Well... that is true."
Tobias leaned forward then, folding his arms on the table.
"For what it’s worth," he said, "I’m partially with Eldric. And partially with you, Madam."
"Eldric isn’t wrong. The translations may not matter. Perhaps we already have all the information we need," Tobias said as he glanced toward the parchments spread across the table. "But I also have to admit that I’m curious."
He tapped one of the parchments lightly.
"And like you pointed out, everything is linked."
He leaned back in his chair.
"If Ronan and the others hadn’t gone to the heart of Nirvana, I never would have considered the Black Circle important or that they may be linked to this. To me, they were just another group of fanatics hiding in the shadows."
He shook his head.
"But they weren’t."
They all grew quiet again.
"So I have a suggestion," Tobias continued.
Everyone turned toward him.
"Right now, Sophia and Madam Tyler are already stretching themselves thin trying to resolve these writings and also with the preparations, Sophia’s hair included. And we only have thirteen days left. That’s not a lot of time."
Sophia couldn’t argue with that.
"So," Tobias said, "why don’t we resolve this issue with the translations quickly? We gather whatever information we can gather, confirm what we can confirm, and then move on."
Eldric frowned.
"And how exactly do we confirm whether our conclusions are accurate?"
"I’ll ask the goddess," Sophia said.
Eldric blinked.
"I’m sorry?"
"The goddess," Sophia repeated.
"I know who you’re referring to."
"Then what’s the problem?"
Eldric removed his glasses again.
"How exactly do you plan on doing that?"
Sophia leaned back in her chair.
"I’ll figure it out."
Eldric stared at her.
"You’ll... figure it out?"
She nodded.
"The goddess said I could seek her out, Eldric, so that’s what I’ll do."
And her first stop would be the shrine.
Eldric sighed once more before putting his glasses back on.
"Fine. Let’s get this over with so we can focus on everything else." He adjusted his glasses. "Besides, I need to meet with Orion when he wakes up."
Sophia frowned at that.
"Is something the matter?"
"Not really. We’ve gotten the history down, so I wanted to let him know. He was the one who gave the instruction after all," Eldric replied.
Sophia nodded at that.
Then, after a pause, she spoke up.
"You may have another task to do when you see him though. But until then..."
Eldric adjusted his glasses.
"As long as it has to do with information, or like Tobias said, knowledge."
Sophia shook her head, a smile on her face.
Yes, she was certain Eldric would love it because it was about the original prophecy. She would have to tell Orion so they could also write it down to let everyone know.
Tobias reached for another parchment, this one with the writings from the last rock. He spread it out on the table.
"This part still bothers me."
Sophia leaned forward.
Tobias pointed toward a particular line.
"’To take is to die,’" he said. "What the fuck does that even mean?"
Sophia frowned.
"Perhaps," she said slowly, "it means that whoever released Dolion was supposed to die?"
"You mean... a sacrifice?" Madam Tyler asked.
Sophia shook her head.
"Not really. The writings on these rocks are like a warning, one we failed to heed, so maybe this was a warning that whoever took Dolion was meant to die."
Eldric adjusted his glasses.
"Except nobody died."
Sophia sighed.
"Which means we’re missing something."
She rubbed her forehead.
"I’ll ask the goddess."
Eldric looked like he wanted to object, but apparently thought better of it.
"Fine," he muttered.
Tobias nodded and set the parchment aside.
"Then let’s move on."
He reached for another translation.
The one taken from the second rock.
He unfolded it carefully and placed it at the center of the table just as everyone leaned closer.
Blood seeps beyond the flesh.
Darkness drinks the marrow.
Life rots where it lingers.
The curse feeds, the cage is life.
Power devours power endless.
And the shadow hungers.
"Lysander already suggested that the part about darkness drinking the marrow refers to black magic," Sophia said.
Madam Tyler nodded.
"Yes, and I support him. The marrow is like a core for the black magic."
Sophia nodded, then traced the next line with her finger.
"’Life rots where it lingers.’"
She frowned.
"I think that’s black magic too. Black magic is known to devour, taking what does not belong to it. It doesn’t simply exist, it consumes too."
Jarek, who had been silent for most of the discussion, suddenly spoke.
"I think you’re right, Luna."
Immediately, Tobias turned to stare at him.
Jarek blinked.
"What?"
Tobias just shook his head without replying, choosing to look elsewhere.
"Jarek," Sophia called out.
He turned toward her.
"Yes, Luna?"
She rubbed her forehead.
"Please just call me Sophia."
He frowned at that.
"That would be disrespectful."
"No, it wouldn’t."
He looked genuinely horrified.
"You’re the Luna."
Sophia opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Tobias started laughing.
"Jarek isn’t going to call you by your name, Sophia," he said to her.
"Why not?"
"Because you’re the Luna. You should probably start getting used to it," he told her.
Sophia closed her eyes.
For a brief moment, she considered arguing, but honestly, Tobias wasn’t wrong. If Jarek wanted to call her Luna, then she was going to let him.
She sighed and looked back down at the parchment.
"Fine."
Jarek nodded, looking relieved.
Sophia ignored him.
Instead, she focused on another line.
"The curse feeds, the cage is life."
Her expression slowly changed.
At first, she had assumed it referred to Dolion. And it made sense.
Dolion had been cursed. He had been imprisoned for life too.
But what if the cage was life? What if these words didn’t refer to Dolion?
"What if this isn’t talking about Dolion?" she asked. "What if it’s referring to us, the Nightshade Pack?"
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