Destined (17 page)

~The Archive~

Laura took the note, frowning. At the top, in relatively large, flowery letters, her name was written. And below it, a simple note:

This may help in your time of need.

Laura read it out loud, then looked to Alexander.

“From Selaine?” he asked, and she nodded. “She must mean this box, then,” he said, handing it to her. Laura took it careful y.

“What could it be?” she wondered out loud. She looked at it, flipping it over. It was seamless, a solid block. And it looked like it was made of wood to the eye, but felt varnished and slick. And a little bit…

cold. Like stone. “My time of need?” she asked, looking the box over, trying to figure out what it was. Maybe it could be opened? She shook it by her ear, and heard a dul tumbling noise from within. There was definitely something
in
there, but she had no idea how to get it out. She twisted the box over in her hands, examining every side and corner, but couldn’t figure out for the life of her how to get it open.

“Another trick?” Alexander asked. Laura shook her head.

“No, I don’t think so. Although… I don’t see how it could possibly come open. You try.” She reached out, handing the box to Alexander, but he took a step back and shook his head.

“It’s yours,” he explained. “Besides, when I picked it up, I felt a sort of… vibrancy… to it. And it felt dark. Kind of like this place.” He rol ed his shoulders uneasily. “Whatever it is, I don’t like it. This whole building, the entire area, it doesn’t feel natural.”

“Real y?” Laura didn’t notice anything particularly unnerving, aside from finding the building completely empty. Perhaps it was the poison returning, working somehow on Alexander’s mind? She shivered at the thought.

“We should go,” he said. “Take the box or leave it, it’s up to you, but we should be gone from this place.”

“I’l take it,” Laura said. She had a suspicion it might yet help with Alexander’s condition. Somehow. Alexander went down the stairs first, and Laura fol owed. Only when they were outside, and a good two blocks away from the building, did Alexander let out a relieved sigh.

“It feels good to be away from there,” he said.

“Maybe,” Laura answered. She was al too aware that leaving the shop behind meant not finding Selaine, and she knew that did not bode wel for Alexander’s

condition.
He
seemed to be more

concerned about getting away from the building, though. Which made little sense. “Now what?”

“Wel , if we can’t find Selaine—”

“Wait a minute,” Laura interrupted, suddenly remembering. “
You’re
the one who told me to find the healing woman, and
you’re
the one who first said there was an antidote to the poison!”

“I did? Real y?”

“Yes! Right after you took the arrow! You said that you knew the ingredient that would help stave it off.”

“Uh…” Alexander pressed his fingers to his forehead. “I’m… trying to remember. But it’s al spotty. When I try to think back… there are holes, in my memory. Anything to do with taking the shoulder wound, just… can’t be reached. Dammit!” He slammed his fist against the side of a building, causing Laura to jump. “I’ve never felt like this! It’s like having a word on the tip of your tongue, but being unable to speak!”

“I’m sorry,” Laura said quietly. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to go through something like that. But believe me when I say I wil do everything I can to help you recover.”

“It’s not you,” Alexander said, shaking his head. He moved his hand away from the wal , and Laura saw a crack in the mortar that wasn’t there before.

“It’s… me. I’ve never felt so helpless before. And what you told me this morning, about the poison, and my health… I would have never imagined it when I got up.”

“We’l find Selaine,” Laura said reassuringly.

“And she’l help get you healed.”

“I don’t know about that…” he began, but cut off as his eyes suddenly lit up. “Wait. I know! The archive!” Quickly, he started down the street. “I don’t remember what I told you about the antidote,” he said over his shoulder, “but if there’s any place we can find more about it, it’l be in the archive. Fol ow me!” He increased his pace, and Laura had to run to fol ow. After a moment, though, she realized he was going the wrong way.

“Wait,” she said, confused. “Where are you going?”

“The archive. It’s not far from here. It’s in the basement of an ancient home. Al the books and manuscripts we were original y looking for are in there.”

“Hold on,” Laura said, thinking. She had come to a stop. “You think that’s where the archive is?”

“It’s where it was last time I was here,” Alexander said. “It’s where it’s always been.”

“No,” Laura said, shaking her head. “It’s not a library. Is that what you think it is?”

library. Is that what you think it is?”

“Of course. Unless you know something I do not…?”

“I think found the real archive,” Laura said slowly.

“It’s underground, in the mine.”

~An Unknown Box~

“Wow,” Alexander breathed as looked upon the doors of the vault for the first time. Laura hurried down the pile of rocks, and stood next to him. The stone vault was as imposing – and as impressive –

as ever. The intricately carved patterns of the inside rings looked even more spectacular the second time. And the lettering along the outer edge stil glowed in that pale fluorescent blue.

“This is as far as I got,” Laura said. “I think – no, I’m
sure
– that we can get past it, but I don’t know how to open it.”

“I’ve read about this,” Alexander said. He sounded absolutely awestruck. “In the library, there were manuscripts that mentioned ‘The Glowing Doors’. I had no idea they would be so close…” He walked up to the circular stone and brushed his fingers over the surface. “You were right. This must be the real archive. The one Rafael spoke of.” His hand continued along the stone, tracing the delicate patterns inside. “Do you feel that, too? A sort of pulsating… resonance?”

“Yes,” Laura said. “I felt it the first time as wel .”

“It’s coming from behind the doors, I think.” He took a few steps back to take in the entire stone.

“There’s a crack along the middle,” Laura offered. “It’s difficult to pick up unless you’re looking for it, but I think that’s where the stone doors can open.”

“A crack? Hmm…” Alexander stepped close again, right to the middle of the vault, and brought his eye close. “Yes… right here, right?” His hand stopped along the thin crack that ran vertical y along the stone face.

“Yes. I think the doors are made of two perfect semicircles.”

“I believe you’re right.”

“Do you recognize any of the lettering? Or the symbols, maybe?”

“Oh?” Alexander seemed surprised at the question. He nodded. “Yes, I think I do. But it’s been a long time since I’ve seen them…” he stepped back again, and took in the whole stone. “
Courir maltarra
souinte.
”

“What?”

“
Courir maltarra souinte
,” he repeated, “
…

necrolla courir avi’anhd.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“The outer rim,” he explained. “That’s what it says.”

“You can read it?” Laura was shocked.

“Only some. And it’s not reading, per se. Rather, I remember seeing a translation of
these
symbols, once.” He pointed to a smal selection to the right.

“So,” Laura said, “what do they mean?”

“I think it’s a riddle.”

“A riddle?”

“Yes. A puzzle, to open the doors.
Courira
maltarra souinte.
‘The Glowing Doors wil come open.’
Necrolla courir avi’anhd.
‘By that which is the same.’”

“
By that which is the same
? What does that mean?”

“I think… it speaks of the resonance.” He motioned idly to a symbol caved near the middle of the stone. “There’s another item, a key of sorts, that counters the resonance and… forces it aside. Then, maybe the doors wil come open.”

“Like pushing the same ends of a magnet together?”

“Exactly. But the trouble is, I don’t know what the item might be, or where we might find it.”

“Hmm,” Laura said thoughtful y. She stepped closer to look again at that crack in the middle – and was surprised to realize that the box she carried – the one from Selaine – had started vibrating, ever so slightly. She brought it out in front of her, and took another step to the door. The vibrations increased.

“Hey, look at this,” she exclaimed excitedly, holding the box out in front of her. Alexander turned and looked. She took another step forward, and the vibrations grew much stronger. And their rhythm felt like it was opposite of the resonance she felt.

“That

box,” Alexander

said

wonderingly.

“Something must be inside!” By now, Laura had to grip the edges tightly to prevent the box from fal ing out of her hands. Alexander rushed to her. “What do you feel?”

“I feel like I can barely hold it,” Laura said through gritted teeth. She took another step forward, and the box burst out of her hands. She had to step aside quickly to avoid being hit as flew backwards and slammed against the rocks.

Alexander ran up to it and grabbed it off the ground. He held it gingerly, as if half-expecting it to explode. And he stepped forward, slowly.

“Nothing’s happening,” he said.

“It only started when I came closer,” Laura explained. “Come halfway to me and you should feel it.” Alexander walked forward, step by step, looking as if he were holding a live rattlesnake. And when he crossed the point Laura mentioned, he nodded. “I can feel it now.”

“What do you think it is?”

“That note Selaine left – what did it say again?”

“Uh… that the box could help. In a time of need.”

“And what need is greater than getting through

“And what need is greater than getting through that door?”

Laura rose an eyebrow. “Are you saying…”

“Yes. I think the key to opening the door lies inside this box.”

“That,” Laura breathed, “would be pretty amazing.”

“Yes,” Alexander nodded. “I would very much like to meet this Selaine, if that turns out to be the case.”

“But how do we use it?”

“First,” Alexander said, “we need to open it.” He motioned Laura back to him. “We should do it as far away from the doors as we can.”

“Good point.” Laura walked back to Alexander as he sat down on the rocks. He handed her the wooden box to look at first.

Laura flipped it over in her hands, looking at it again. It was unmarred, despite flying from her hands and hitting the angled rocks. And it stil looked like a seamless piece of wood. She brought it up to one ear, and gently shook it. As before, she could make out the muffled sounds of something tumbling against the inside wal s. Which meant it was hol ow. But try as she could, no matter how many times she flipped it over, or tried pul ing it open, or twisting its sides, it wouldn’t budge.

Final y, out of frustration, she said, “Why don’t we just smash it open?”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,”

Alexander answered slowly. “I have a feeling… that the outside container may function as a type of buffer against whatever is inside. Smashing it open – if that would even work – would al ow it to break free of the buffer almost instantaneously. And we don’t know if it’s volatile, or not. Besides, we don’t know how fragile the item inside is. We might break it inadvertently.”

“Right,” Laura admitted. “But I can’t open it. You want to try?”

Without a word, Alexander extended his hand out. Laura placed the box in his palm, and watched as he inspected it. He looked careful y at every single edge and corner, every plane and vertex. Eventual y, he sat back, stumped. “It’s one piece,” he said glumly.

“Wait a minute,” Laura exclaimed, noticing something for the first time. The vague pattern she noticed before on the symbols on the outer rim of the vault… there seemed to be something to them, and it tickled the back of her mind. What if…?

She cleared the dirt beneath her feet, and used the edge of a smal rock to draw the symbols out. When they were twisting around the edge of the circular stone, it was hard to recognize the pattern, but what if they were al laid out straight…? Her hand was good – she always had a bit of an artistic flair – and good – she always had a bit of an artistic flair – and soon she had replicated the symbols perfectly on the ground. Alexander watched it al without saying a word.

Laura

looked

the

drawn

symbols

over

thoughtful y. The pattern was stil there, and it stil seemed to… cal to her. But she couldn’t identify it immediately. Thinking, she closed her eyes, and let the fluorescent glow of the symbols imprint itself into her mind. In a moment of surprising clarity and inspiration, she began rearranging the shapes in her mind, so that the pattern became… even more apparent.

The symbols divided into two categories, she realized: one with smooth, flowing edges, and the others with hard, angular lines. And only the straight symbols contributed to the pattern. What if she got rid of the flowing ones…? She opened her eyes, and scrubbed out the smooth symbols with one foot. And was only left with the ones with a hard edge. Immediately, the pattern became much clearer. Oh! She realized that the symbols formed a series, but it didn’t flow left to right, as she had been looking at it before. But there was a progression there. Picking up the rock again, she traced the symbols out beneath the top row, but laid them out backwards. She frowned thoughtful y. It was coming together. She scrubbed a few of them out, redrawing them at different angles. It looked more and more coherent. She did it some more, scrubbing, redrawing, changing the size of some of the lines, adjusting the lengths, until… they became legible hieroglyphs. And al of a sudden, they al made sense to Laura. They were instructions. Directions.

“Give me the box,” she said to Alexander. He handed it to her. Without looking, she started to feel the edges. Her fingers ran over the entire face of the box, sensitive to every tiny imperfection, every microscopic dent and flaw. And if she held it a certain w a y…
there
. Her fingers found miniscule dents, and…
locked into
them. Her fingers
fit
into a series of smal , nearly imperceptible gouges along the sides. She applied pressure against them – and a mechanism shift inside. She looked at the symbols in front of her, at the directions at her feet. Down, left, then up. She pushed down, feeling another shift, pul ed left, felt a second shift, and pul ed back up. Immediately, the box expanded slightly outward, as if a spring mechanism had been let loose inside. She looked down at the box, and saw that a new edge had appeared, slashed diagonal y across the long side. Gripping her fingers against it, she pul ed slightly. Nothing happened. She frowned. Again, she tried pul ing it open, and again nothing happened. Feeling it in her hands, she closed her eyes, and imagined the symbols again – and let them guide her. She realized then she wasn’t supposed to pul –

she had to
push
. She pushed down, twisting at the same time, and heard a distinctive clicking noise. She looked down – and saw that she was now holding two halves of the wooden box.

“That was… unbelievable,” Alexander said.

Without answering, Laura careful y laid the box down, and pul ed aside the two halves. They slid open easily, and inside… was something wrapped in a dark velvet cloth. She reached down to pick it up, careful y unwrapping the cloth. It felt like a metal figure, and it was unusual y heavy.
More
heavy than the box had been with it inside, if that were possible. When the final edge of cloth came off, she gasped, shocked to realize that she had seen the item before. It was the lion that Selaine once pushed into Laura’s hands, when she first met her. But its eyes were now aglow with a fierce intensity that was… the same fluorescent color as the script on the outside of the vault.

“I’ve seen this before,” Laura said. “In Selaine’s shop. She – gave it to me, when I first met her. Placed it in my hands. Offered to sel it to me.”

Alexander whistled. “Whoever she is, I would very much like to meet her one of these days.” He got up. “Come on, I think I know the rest.”

He walked up to the stone vault, and traced his fingers over a shape near the middle. “There’s a smal gap here,” he explained, “where, I think, the head of that figure can fit. It’s the same dimensions. It is where it has to go.”

Laura got up, and took a step forward. Immediately, the lion in her hands began vibrating with an urgency never felt before. As she stepped closer, the vibrations grew exponential y stronger. Before she was even halfway to the door – around the same distance as she had felt the vibrations start for the first time when the lion was in the box – the vibrations became so strong she had to fight against them with al her strength. She knew if she stepped closer, she wouldn’t be able to hold on anymore.

“It’s too strong,” she said. “I can’t – I can’t get any closer.”

Alexander immediately came over, putting his hands over hers. With him there, the vibrations…

didn’t subside, exactly, but they were
constrained
a bit more. Then he moved beside her, keeping his hands over hers in front of them. Together, they started to inch forward, bit by bit. As they moved closer, the vibrations only continued increasing. Laura felt the strain in Alexander’s hands, and knew he was trying just as hard as she was. The lion figurine seemed to take on a life of its own, wildly shaking and gyrating, desperately resisting their efforts to get it closer to the vault. Laura gritted her teeth and kept her hands out in front of her, holding the lion for al she was worth. They moved closer, inch by inch, and after every step, the next one seemed to be an order of magnitude more difficult. They pushed against the metal shape, fighting the resistance. They were getting closer. Step by step, inch by agonizing inch, they made their way forward, until they were mere centimeters away from the vault doors.

“I… I can’t hold on,” Laura said through gritted teeth. “It’s going to break free!”

“No,” Alexander said coldly. “We’ve come this close… we just need to push… a little bit more…” with an enormous grunt, Alexander heaved himself forward, breaking the lion out of Laura’s hands and fal ing against the chamber doors. But he had forced the lion head into its opening. Immediately, the vibrations stopped. And the resonance from within the chamber ended.

Laura looked at the doors warily. Aside from her labored breathing, a silence draped over the chamber. “Is that it?” she asked. Nothing was happening. Laura realized that the lights from the outside letters had drained out.

“Back away,” Alexander said uncertainly.

“What?”

“Back away!” Laura started to turn, but just then,

“Back away!” Laura started to turn, but just then, a ray of blazing light exploded from the middle of the stone, overtaking everything around her. It was a pure white, whiter than white, yet hued with blues and greens al at once. It blinded her. It swept across the tunnel, leaving nothing untouched, and Laura staggered back. The light lasted for an eternity, and Laura was lost in a sea of white. Direction became meaningless, al her senses became dul , and her mind began to wander. The moment lasted forever, and Laura was bathed in light brighter than the thousand brightest stars in the galaxy. It lasted forever, stretching on and on and on…