[IC] ✨ Under Black Stars ✨

[Blizz]

It wasn't approval that Jack looked down at her with. Or, if it was, it was so damn difficult to tell. Jack's face was always hard to read, and he usually only conveyed things vocally, and not with body language. He showed love through the things he did, more than what he expressed.

And he simply nodded. "You have advanced more quickly than I did, when I was your age. You've done well for now, child. Rest. The world will be here when you wake."

His silhouette blurred against the dark room, until he was just a faint imprint on her vision. Jack disappeared, and the day was over.

When it began again, Nochalla pattered up the stairs and around the corner. The house was bigger indoors than what it appeared to be outdoors; There were doors and angles in hallways that weren't always present, like old remnants of shapes it had been configured into in the past. The cat, with its three eyes, had a way of seeing all these shapes at once. She never got lost, she never got caught of guard. It was easy for her to get around because of this, easy for her to seemingly appear anywhere in this house with the same ease as its human master.

Nochalla scampered down the hallway past doors as she'd done countless times before. But then she stopped.

Creak.

A small noise, something only her feline ears could pick up. It wasn't Jack's favorite chair in the study, he was in the kitchen. It wasn't Annika tossing around in bed, because Jack made sure she was at ease last night. It made her ears twitch.

In Annika's room, Nochalla sat on the girl's chest, pawing at her face to wake her up.

"Mreh," said the three-eyed cat.

[KazAlkemi]

"Thanks, dad." You're a good teacher... She thought about saying it as she snuggled down into her bed after drinking the tea that waited for her, but did it matter? Jack knew he was a good teacher. Probably the best one, and Annika was going to do her best to learn every lesson and become better.

It was the whole point, wasn't it? To surpass her father and learn the things he learned later. Things that would have saved him or others.

Annika drifted back to sleep after she finished her tea, making her wonder if her father had put something in it. Annika slept soundly, dreaming only of floating chairs, cats, and books. She had the strange impression she was in Wonderland when she woke the following day, Nochella pawing at her.

"Mmm, I'm awake, I'm awake." She scratched the cat's head and pulled them in close for a morning kiss before releasing them. Annika sat up and stretched. Feeling more awake, she looked at the cat and smiled. "Should we find the rabbit hole today?" she asked, feeling adventurous after nearly twenty-four hours of sleeping.

Annika tossed off her covers and pulled on slippers before she left her room and padded down the hallway---straight into the kitchen. Annika paused for a moment before she set about making something for her breakfast.

The kitchen wasn't normally readily available for her. It shifted and moved often, but clearly the house wanted her to go on an adventure today as well. Annika sat, drinking her juice and eating her eggs, trying to decide if that was a good thing or not.

[Blizz]

Things in the kitchen floated around Jack, going this way and that while he overlooked some notes scrawled onto paper. By the time Annika got downstairs, a piece of fresh, seasoned garlic bread and a glass of orange juice waited for her. He would’ve put something more together for her, but he knew Annika was old enough to make her own food if she ever wanted. The kitchen smelled good, and it always did. When Jack was Annika's age, he never would have dreamed he'd be cooking food this nice for anyone at all.

Nochalla scampered in after Annika, and hopped up into a chair that had a cushion on it. That chair was for her, and her alone. No one was ever allowed to sit in, or even move that chair. The last time anyone did, Nochalla spent the next week not as a housecat, but as a panther.

Annika wasn't here when that happened, but Jack warned her about it.

"I suggest you avoid any intense use of your magic today, Annika," Jack told her. "You should rest, but you did well yesterday."

"Mrp," Nochalla commented. Her ears twitched. Something weird was going on.

[KazAlkemi]

Annika's mouth began to water even before she walked into the kitchen. She was rewarded with rewarded with seeing that breakfast was already prepared for her. It was a bit of an odd choice for a breakfast food but for Annika it was normal. She hoped up onto a stool and immediately stuffed her face with the bread.

"Noch n I wamp to exmplor," Annika said around a mouth full of toast. She quickly swallowed and had some orange juice. "It seems like it would be a good day for it," she declared while her mouth was free of food.

If her Jack didn't want her using any powers today then exploring was probably the safer option. Like her father, she couldn't sit still--unless she was deeply immersed in a book.

[Blizz]

Jack craned his head to look at Nochalla, as if she were an actual human being and not a three-eyed housecat. She blinked slowly, like she was answering a question. Her ears twitched in response to something Jack could not hear. Nochalla was a strange creature, who Jack could, strangely enough, trust the well-being of his daughter to and count on them both to stay out of trouble.

Relatively speaking.

”By all means. I am needed on Earth, today. An old friend found something strange and has asked me to inspect it, which may take minutes or hours, depending on what we find,” He said.

That meant Annika would probably be alone all day.

”You’re more than capable of taking care of yourself. Stay within the Everdark today, but feel free to explore as you want.”

[KazAlkemi]

”Oh! Can you pick up doughnuts?” Annika wasn’t a big sweets person, but there was something about the doughnuts on Earth that Annika couldn’t get enough of.

The mention of being home alone didn’t even phase Annika. Jack often left for adventures or to help others, so she was used to it. Besides, Annika never felt alone or afraid in the Everdark. It was her protector as much as it was her home.

Annika quickly finished her food before she kissed her dad’s cheek. ”Okay, see you later, dad! Come on, Nochella, adventure awaits.”

[Blizz]

”Of course.”

The moment Annika took her eyes off him, he was no longer there. He blurred and faded into things, like an optical illusion of two images becoming more alike the other. Jack’s ability to navigate the realms was strange in the sense that sometimes he opened portals, and sometimes he was

The housecat wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as she was, though. Nochalla bounded around Annika’s feet, staying close to the girl and flickered her eyes to everything around where she walked. The things she could see weren’t limited to what Annika could see, and she saw things that alarmed her. Nochalla smelled something that couldn’t be smelled by a human noise. The air had shifted nanoscopic fractions in ways that only Jack was familiar with.

“Mmmrw,” the cat said. Her ears cocked backwards.

Somewhere within the bounds of the Hawthorne House, there was a force that wasn’t or ally seen. The house didn’t feel like it was just the two of them, and something else had enough presence that it made the walls feel… Smaller. Different.

It was not the same space-warping presence of their magic.

[KazAlkemi]

Annika moved through the house eagerly, the spark of a new adventure shining in her eyes. The walls shifted as human and cat moved forward. The house seemed to want to lead Annika somewhere, and she followed along too eagerly. Perhaps the child of the Everdark should have exhibited some caution.

Nochellea’s meow and body language finally caught Annika’s attention. She paused and crouched down to be at the same eye level as her feline companion.

”What is it, Noch? What do you see?” Annika peered into the shifting shadows, willing her eyes to see like a cat’s.

[Blizz]

This was a house made from the very fabric of the Everdark. Three-dimensional space was, in many ways, its own tangible thing. One of the lessons Annika's father had often sought to instill in her was that this must be grappled with in order to move across the Veil as the two did, and the funny thing about distorting the space of this realm was that many things hid within it. It was a void, an interstitial area where forgotten things congregated, infinitely wide, yet confined within its own bounds.

He used magic to build this place, a house that didn't adhere to the laws of nature anymore than the realm it was found within.

Seeing it through the same lens as the cat, Annika saw a superposition. Like various watercolor images bleeding over a solid canvas, there was the house as she had once seen it, and the house as it had once been across many years. Rooms flickered and waned away from the dark. The house was normally well lit for somewhere that shadow wizards lived in, yet the light wasn't always reaching the rooms that weren't fully there. They were impressions, old permutations of things Jack had done to the outline of his home. With time and effort, he could rearrange this space by twisting it in ways that he had yet to teach his daughter.

But when he did, the old configurations weren't real, anymore. It was like breaking walls with a hammer and then renovating what was inside. What Annika was seeing shouldn't have been seen at all.

In some of the flickerings, the hallways were longer. In some, there were less rooms and more wide open spaces dedicated to ritualistic arrangements; The kind of magic that took more than a word or a hand gesture to pull off, with practically pristine books strewn about in a way that Jack himself would never entertain.

Nochella's ears flattened whenever Annika walked near some of them.

The longer they persisted, the more they seemed to pulse. They faded in and faded out in waves, not at random.

[KazAlkemi]

Annika gasped when her vision shifted. It became sharper, and although she could still see colours, it was in different shades. She knew Nochella had given her a gift, and aside from the outright awesomeness of that, something resonated deeply within her, like she was always meant to see through the eyes of creatures.

The house Annika had grown up in always shifted; this was something Annika was no stranger to, but what she saw before her was more. She knew it wasn’t right. Annika swallowed uneasily, took a step forward and looked around. The child was never one to shy away from things, but she knew to be cautious as well.

As the house moved, collapsed and reformed on itself, it reminded Annika of a Van Gogh painting. The way the structures bled and swirled on each other, creating a brief glimpse into something that didn’t seem right to Annika.

”What is happening?” Books appeared in the room, fading in and out. Annika reached out to touch one. It seemed to pulse brighter before Nochella’s reaction reached her, and Annika pulled her hand back. The books faded, but Annika saw the rhythmic pulsing more clearly. It was like a heartbeat.

Was she in the centre of the Everdark? The part of her strange world that fed the rest of it? ”What do you need?” Annika asked, taking another step forward.

Annika had often talked to the shadows around her growing up, imagining worlds and other things that sometimes the Everdark created for her. Other times, the strange land seemed like another companion for Annika. It was living, alive with dreams and opinions. When she was younger, Annika asked a lot of questions, but as she grew, she learned observation could be more important than constantly talking. Whatever was going on, the Everdark wanted her to be a part of it. Annika just didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

[Blizz]

Once, when first teaching Annika about the cosmology of everything around them, Jack framed it with the lens of Earth's seasons. There were places reminiscent of Spring, in which life flourished and was emphatically new. Nebulae that recently collapsed with metaphysical beings actively taking shape, demiurgical planes under construction. There were places of Winter, barren and forgotten, with memories waiting to be thawed and reintroduced to the world. Under that analogy, the Everdark was Autumn. It changed, it shifted, and so many things came into a place where they were on a threshold between one chapter and the other. All things come, and all things go, he would say. That was, in many ways, what made this realm and life itself beautiful.

There was a fourth element of this analogy that Jack had taught to her. Summer.

It was not the shadows that answered Annika's question. It wasn't even the house itself, it was something else. She images she saw began to race forward. Through her years spent in this place, it was easy to make out the face of a young Jack Hawthorne among the reflections. A look far less tired, scars more pronounced, less of the wise and imperious image she knew he presented to the world. He's not much older than her in those afterimages, and in a scarce few, he isn't alone.

There's someone else in them, a young man his age, and he's brighter than Jack. There's a contrast, where he's in tune with the watercolor imagery Annika can see, and this stranger is sharper, more defined.

The images in the shadows give way until there's something at the very end of the hall. A hatch made of wood, set into the floor and reinforced with bars of iron. There's a light underneath it, leaking out into the environment.

And the light is warm.

[KazAlkemi]

Annika continued to walk forward while the Everdark took her on a trip down memory lane. She smiled at the younger version of her father, admiring the mischievous glint in his eyes that seemed more pronounced. When the images moved to showcase another person, Annika paused to look more closely at the new person. They seemed familiar and not at the same time. She frowned, leaning closer until the images faded and a strange wooden hatch revealed itself at the end of the hall.

Annika glanced back behind her, waiting for Jack to appear to tell her this was some kind of test, or to go back to her room because this was something other. But her father taught her how to handle herself; surely this would be okay. Annika pressed forward, nearing the hatch with the strange glowing light. It felt warm, comforting even.

She sank to her knees, placing her hands onto the hatch where it continued to radiate warmth and pulse. If the hatch allowed itself, Annika would move to open it before talking herself out of it.

[Blizz]

The hatch had no handhold, for it was not meant to be opened. It was solid iron, rivets of some other metal driven through it. And yet, the metal was warm to the touch. It was oddly easy to open, given the small warping in the frame it sat in. Wood grown too cold and shrinking, or perhaps too warm and expanding.

It flew open when Annika pulled. The golden light spilled up and out. The warmth of it had a foreign quality to it, this house was always warm. Its master always made sure it was comfortable for his daughter to live in, but it was an ominous sort of warmth. There was always the implication of a mystery, and that distinct trace of tenebrous sorcery to it. This warmth was nothing to hide, nothing dark about it. quite the opposite, in fact.

A book floated up out of the ground. It looked thin, and its covers resembled golden velvet. It looked to be in near perfect condition, even the silver trim along the edges and the spine lacked a touch of tarnish.

On its cover was a wreath of olive branches in a circle. And in the middle, a sword with a basket hilt, pointing downwards.

The gloom of the house seemed to be pushed back by the light.

[KazAlkemi]

Annika’s fingers slid across the metal on the hatch. It was warm to the touch, as if the sun had been shining directly on it. She gripped and pulled, trying to find a hold in order to open the hatch. As soon as it gave a little, the hatch sprang open. Annika leaned back quickly to avoid being hit. Bright light streamed out, causing Annika to shield her face until her eyes adjusted. She blinked rapidly, squinting and peering into the hatch until a floating book revealed itself to her.

”Hmm. Not ominous at all,” she murmured to herself. Still, Annika wasn’t one to ignore an opportunity to learn something new. Besides, she was in her own home. How dangerous could it be? Even if Nochella seemed apprehensive of the book.

The unique symbol wasn’t so unique to Annika. She had seen the wreath, sword combo on several of her father’s books before, all of them with strange behaviour. However, there wasn’t a lot of what the average person would call “normal” in the Everdark.

”Well hello, friend. What would you like to share with me?” Annika asked the book. She held her hands out to it, eager to hold it and discover what stories it held.

[Blizz]

The golden book fluttered open before Annika’s eyes. The pages were pristine white with words written by hand. It wasn’t the same writing as Jack’s, neither in handwriting nor word choice. There were diagrams on some pages, lightweight in line-work, gracefully demonstrating complicated spells. The book stopped one of them. A circular pattern with triangles radiating outwards, containing symbols and glyphs that called on powers one might invoke for gateways and passages into other places. A crescent moon was arranged in the very center.

There were three paragraphs of words written beneath it. Some of the words glowed with golden light.

-his realm of autumnal shade.

Alone in there-

-not another soul to-

-see.

-us.

How, when-

-describes a kind of poison-

And the glowing words went dim. Then the pages shuffled once more, dozens going by until it settled onto a blank section. No words were on the page, but there were photographs instead glued in and arranged meticulously by some means. They showed Jack when he wasn’t much older than Annika, with that same strange individual from the visions. They looked happy.

The book was questioning her. Like it had a mind of its own.

[KazAlkemi]

Annika's eyes moved rapidly, following the words as they changed and disappeared with each flip of the page. Whatever this book was, it was incredible, and even as the words started to fade, the golden lettering remained with Annika. Whoever wrote this had either ventured into the Everdark or was attempting to capture her father's retellings of his home.

The pictures showed a younger Jack. A Jack that looked carefree, happy. Annika touched the photo, wishing she could have known that version of her father.

Annika's attention drifted to the second man in the photo. Whoever they were, they seemed to make Jack happy. A friend maybe? Or a lover? Annika shuddered. Her father never looked for anyone whenever they left home. At least, no one who looked like this person in the photo. There were some people, like Uncle Max, but Jack mostly took Annika from the Everdark for shopping, errands, or a learning expedition of some kind through the various timelines.

"Who are you?" Annika questioned.

[Blizz]

Fluttering. Just the fluttering of pages.

There in the strange glow, the pages flickered and settled on the very first. Words from the author that didn't seem to have any relevance to the contents after, and were more directed at the reader than any magical findings.

They didn't light up, but they stayed there where Annika could easily read them as the book floated.

To whoever it may be that finds this book, know that it will likely need to be handle with care. It absorbs my magic.

Know also that my name is Reza Cabrera, the Shining Witch. This book is one of several journal that I have wrote, and will write in the future, if we live long enough. This one, I am writing as I set out on a journey with someone I've made fast friends with. Jack Hawthorne, or he calls himself. A sorcerer who bends darkness and always seems to find himself in the strangest of places. As I write this, we're preparing to take a trip across the countries of Europe, and we'll be going through a gate that he intends to open.

My father won't approve, but there aren't enough ghouls in the world he can throw at me to take me off this road. If you've found this book because we've died and you found our remains, then congratulations, you've probably found something filled with the power I wielded in life. I'll trust Abraham won't be happy.

But if you've found this for any other reason, take this away: We were here. Whatever we might do, wherever we go, we lived. It might be a tragedy that two kids can't avert, but God willing, we'll have stories to tell one day.

Beneath the text, as if to replace a real signature, there is a small drawing of a sword, simple and made with flowing lines. Something between a rapier and a longsword.

That icon pulsed. And then there was no further response. The book seemed to have absorbed some kind of power from its writer, and was animated by it. It was intelligent, to a point. Why, it wasn't immediately clear. But for some reason, the book was buried in the magical construction of the house. Jack had sealed it away, despite growing so close to its previous owner.

It awaited a response.

[KazAlkemi]

Reza Cabrera, the Shining Witch. Well, that would explain the glowing letters. Annika reread the text twice.

”A life well lived, hmm.” As far as Annika knew, her father still lived, so it seemed this Reza had passed, and her father retained the journal of their tales. However, the magic contained in this book seemed to hide the whole of it. Only responding if the reader was smart enough to ask the correct questions.

Annika was curious about who Abraham was and what kind of magic Reza wielded, but mostly about her father and his involvement in this adventure.

”Were you successful in opening the gate? Where did it lead?”

Portal magic was a constant teaching in Annika’s life. When used correctly, she could go anywhere or create anything from a few well-placed shadows and well-timed portal creations. But the portal this book wrote of, Annika wasn’t sure. Had her father ever mentioned a Reza Cabrera in his teachings?

[Blizz]

The book didn’t level a response. What Annika said must not have been what it was looking for. Or perhaps its sense of awareness didn’t extend to that… Or perhaps it could only convey so much context. Who could say. The small sword icon pulsed again. And then, with no warning whatsoever, it slammed shut with the crack of paper against paper that was reminiscent of a gunshot.

It floated upwards roughly a foot. The imagery on the front was practically ablaze with golden energy. Flickering, transparent images of swords materialized around it, blades pointed outwards and slowly rotating like spokes on a wheel.

The cat’s ears went flat.

”Annika?”

At the far end of the hallway, her father stood there. He saw the golden glow and seemed paralyzed.

There was an unfamiliar look on his face. It wasn’t that usual, unflappable look of confidence he had. It wasn’t the tired, warm smile that he showed her when she tried her best. It wasn’t the look of mischief that usually came before one of his grand feats of risk and magical skill.

No, that expression was shock. And then it became anger.

He wasn’t even looking at her, though.

”…If you even dare-“

Fwoom.

Light flashed through the gloomy hallway, and in the blink of an eye, Jack had shifted. His upper body tilted backwards, and his hands clapped around the book’s attempt at killing him. One of the glowing swords, the blade barely an inch away from his face. Shadows bloomed between his fingers, and the entire thing was shunted away.

”Get away from my daughter!”

The glowed brighter until it threatened to blind.

Jack charged.

The rest of its swords launched out and steered mid-air, all aimed at his body. His face, his heart, his magic hand. But he was faster. His arms went out wide and black smoke curled around him.

Just before they could reach him, he embraced Annika and they were both subsumed by darkness.

They reappeared on the stone path that led to the front door of the house, inside the black iron fence. Jack placed her down gently, one arm still around her shoulders.

”Did it hurt you?” He asked.

He hadn’t had such a distraught expression on his face in years.

[KazAlkemi]

Reza’s journal remained silent, unsatisfied with Annika’s question. She sat back on her heels, thinking of a different question. It was one thing to have questions about a book that you read versus one that waited patiently for you to ask. There was a movie Annika watched once. There was a wizarding school for kids, and a book was actually the soul of the original owner. Annika had dreamed about that book. Wondering what her soul in book form would look like. Her mind drifted when the book she held suddenly slammed shut.

Bang!

Annika jumped back, releasing the book as it rose into the air. She stared at it in awe. Swords formed and glowed in a circle around the book, drawing Annika in despite the violence those glowing weapons promised.

Annika jumped again at the sound of her name. She turned to see her dad. The colour drained from her face, worried she would be in trouble for letting her curiosity get the best of her. Again.

”Da—” Jack’s fierce voice broke off Annika’s plea. Her fear of being caught turned into real fear when the book pursued her dad, the swirling swords pointed at him.

”Dad!” Annika watched her dad, fear and confusion mixing together as the book became increasingly violent.

Jack managed to break away, and Annika moved towards him before they were enveloped in shadows. She buried her head in his chest, breathing in his comforting scent.

”I’m okay. Noch and I were exploring when that book called to me. Dad…who was Reza Cabrera, and why does he want you dead?” It was clear to Annika that Reza, even the book form of him, did not like Jack. Not many people liked Annika’s dad. It had become glaringly obvious to her over the years as she had been present at several altercations, but a book hating her dad was a new one. Something had very clearly happened on their journey. Something that led to Reza’s death.