Midnight loomed over the orphanage when I opened my eyes, red as glowing embers. My companions slept soundly, oblivious to the fate that stalked us all within these walls.
I rose stealthily and slipped out of the room. The library awaited us, as we had agreed. This space, supposedly designed to foster our intellectual growth, would be the stage for our first act of true rebellion. What irony.
As I gazed at the towering bookshelves, I couldn't help but reflect on the deceptive nature of this place. The library, with its architecture more akin to an ancient temple than a mere reading room, was yet another example of the elaborate facade they had constructed to keep us docile.
Its dimensions were truly impressive, especially considering we were in an orphanage seemingly forgotten by the world. The shelves reached the ceiling, brimming with carefully curated knowledge. This was where we were meant to learn about a world we would never be allowed to see.
Cassie and Reinhardt appeared shortly after. My only true allies, the ones who anchored me to this world when despair threatened to consume me entirely. I noticed how Reinhardt cast his protective gaze at Cassie, the one he reserved solely for her.
— Did you sleep well? —he asked in his usual gentle tone.
— Yes, thank you —Cassie replied briefly.
I immediately sensed the tension in her voice. Cassie's unease was as clear to me as the words written in the books surrounding us.
— Why do you seem so nervous? —I asked directly, staring at her intently. I knew the answer, of course, but sometimes it was necessary to voice concerns aloud.
— It's just… —Cassie hesitated, her fingers fidgeting nervously.
— Don't worry too much —I said, trying to convey a calm I didn't truly feel.
— Is it that obvious? —she asked in a faint voice, lowering her head.
I didn't answer right away. Of course, her nervousness was understandable; what we were about to do was extremely dangerous. Yet, it was absolutely necessary if we were to have any chance of survival.
Reinhardt, perhaps trying to ease the moment's tension, turned his gaze to the sprawling shelves and asked:
— How many books are there, really?
— Probably thousands.
— Are you sure the hidden room is here, Arceus? —Cassie asked, scrutinizing every corner with evident distrust.
A valid question. After all, we had frequented this library hundreds of times without uncovering anything extraordinary. To any ordinary observer, this place held no mysteries. But I possessed privileged information, data I had obtained through meticulous investigation and exhaustive study of the diary.
Opening the secret room required more than mere intuition. The method was ancient yet ingenious: placing specific books in the order of the seven colors of the rainbow. It was exactly the kind of system that fascinated me: complex yet grounded in logic, impossible to discover by mere chance.
With precise movements, I began arranging the books. The tension was almost palpable as Cassie and Reinhardt watched in respectful silence. Finally, upon placing the last book, the purple one, I held it firmly in my hands.
The effect was immediate: a passageway revealed itself before us, emerging from what moments before had been a solid wall. The darkness emanating from that corridor seemed to have a substance of its own, as if it were a living entity beckoning us to venture into its unfathomable depths.
The air grew heavy, so laden with tension that each breath required conscious effort. I glanced at Cassie, whose crimson eyes gleamed in the dim light as she nervously bit her lower lip. She looked visibly disturbed by the thick smoke slithering from the entrance, as if the passageway itself were breathing with a life of its own.
— Are you sure there's no other way? —Cassie whispered, a slight tremor in her voice. I noticed her fingers anxiously toying with the edge of her sleeve, an unmistakable sign of her deep unease.
Beside her, Reinhardt maintained an apparent composure, though I could discern how his piercing blue eyes meticulously scanned every detail of the newly revealed passageway. His hands remained tense at his sides, betraying the anxiety he tried to conceal.
— The scroll will remain useless as long as that artifact is active —he replied in a calm voice, though I could detect the faint tremor running through it.
It was perfectly understandable that both were nervous, and I couldn't blame them in the least. It was natural to fear confronting an unknown mechanism capable of altering memory. After closely examining the limestone stones framing the entrance, I turned to them with a wry smile.
— What's wrong, Cassie? Scared of a little water vapor? —I remarked, using sarcasm as a shield to mask my own apprehension while trying to lighten the oppressive atmosphere.
I saw Cassie muster a faint smile, silently grateful for my attempt to ease the tension. Reinhardt, for his part, rolled his eyes, but I noticed his posture relax slightly.
— I'll go first. Stay close and be alert for any anomalies… —I paused before adding that they should be prepared for any eventuality. It was unnecessary; it was impossible to predict the traps awaiting us.
— Huh? Oh, alright!
I took the lead with determination, hearing Cassie's hesitant voice behind me.
— Let's begin, then —Reinhardt confirmed with renewed firmness.
— Let's do our best —Cassie added, earning a silent nod from us.
We swiftly entered the room before anyone could discover us. It was literally a dark limestone corridor, with no option but to move forward, as retreating was no longer viable.
We proceeded cautiously, step by step. I knew full well that the library's atmosphere contrasted starkly with this passageway. From the start, it was a race against time.
As we advanced, I sensed the growing uncertainty on my companions' faces. I walked with utmost care, ensuring I didn't overlook any potentially relevant detail.
The minutes passed with agonizing slowness. The walls seemed to watch us with invisible eyes, and the echo of our footsteps created an unsettling sensation that we weren't alone. It was Reinhardt who first noticed the anomaly in our progress.
— Something's off —he murmured, halting our advance. His eyes scanned the walls with intense scrutiny—. We've been walking for over five minutes, but the architecture… it's exactly the same. The same stones, the same patterns…
— We're walking in circles —Cassie completed, her frustration evident. Her gaze suddenly fixed on a specific point—. Wait… Do you see that? On the walls…
I directed the light to where Cassie was pointing. Indeed, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, tiny runes flickered on the walls with an irregular rhythm, like dying stars in a stone sky.
I approached to examine them more closely. My expression grew grave as I studied those ancient symbols.
They had been designed to trap us in a perpetual loop, eventually forcing us to give up if we discovered the hidden corridor by accident. What an ingenious and perverse mechanism!
Reinhardt also approached, his blue irises reflecting the faint luminescence of the runes as he analyzed them thoroughly.
— It's an extremely sophisticated pattern. Look at how the symbols intertwine… it's not a mere linear sequence, but a complex interconnected network —he explained with barely contained admiration.
— Oh! —Cassie exclaimed suddenly, her eyes sparkling with sudden understanding.
Reinhardt nodded, moving to examine the runes from various angles.
— The key lies in the activation sequence. It's not the pattern itself, but the precise order in which they light up…
We worked in perfect harmony, each contributing our unique strengths to the challenge. Cassie, with her sharp intuition, identified patterns we had initially overlooked. Reinhardt applied his methodical logic to decipher the correct sequence, while I coordinated our efforts and experimented with different combinations.