Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 654: Hidden Archive ()
"Veah... Veah..." Everon called insistently, shaking Veah’s shoulder lightly in an attempt to rouse her.
The darkness of the nightfall now blanketed Keep Skies, Kirgan and Menarx had returned from handling their respective business.
They had now come seeking out Neveah, who unexpectedly was fast asleep in Jian’s quarters.
"Wake up Veah, it’s nighttime." Everon whispered lowly.
"Could it be...she is with Jian?" Kirgan asked from where he stood by the door.
"If so, should we awaken her? Or let her be? Perhaps it is something of grave importance?" Kirgan asked uncertainly.
Menarx shook his head lightly, walking further into the room to stand by the bedside.
"Neveah made it clear it had to be tonight and not a moment after. We have set everything in place already, it will be all that more difficult to access the hidden archives if we miss this moment." Menarx reminded.
Neveah’s eyes snapped open at that moment, and Everon took a step back in surprise.
"Veah... your eyes..." Menarx said, trailing off.
At this moment, Neveah’s eyes gave off a golden glow, but unlike other occasions, the colour of her orbs were unchanged, instead there was just a small golden ring around her pupils, signifying the presence of something more. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
Neveah said nothing, she sat up on her bed and glanced between Menarx and Everon, before her gaze moved to the door where Kirgan stood, also looking concerned.
Everon exchanged a look with Menarx, it was clear to both of them that something was very much different with Neveah.
"Veah...are you alright?" Menarx asked slowly and cautiously.
Neveah gave no response, she just stared at Menarx for a moment before she nodded once.
"Why would I not be?" Neveah asked Menarx with a raised brow, running a hand through her hair to tidy it.
Menarx nodded subtly to Everon who quickly reached into his satchel for one of the pills that was used to calm Neveah.
"That will not work on me anymore." Neveah said, making it clear that she knew what Everon was up to, even with her gaze fixed on Menarx.
Neveah’s gaze then turned to Everon, tilting her head to the side.
"You are not very much favoured at the moment. Put that away." Neveah stated matter of factly.
"Is that..." Everon trailed off.
"Demevirld, is that you?" Menarx demanded directly.
Neveah tilted her head to the side slightly before she shrugged her shoulders.
"Shall I say, half and half?" Neveah replied casually.
"Half and half?" Everon asked in disbelief.
"You should take the pill, Veah...he is too close to the surface..." Menarx said to Neveah.
"Because I let him." Neveah said simply.
"You what?!" Everon exclaimed in horror.
Neveah ignored Everon and got off the bed.
She pulled on her boots and then walked over to Kirgan.
"There is no time to waste. Take me there." Neveah said to Kirgan.
Kirgan passed a look to Menarx who nodded his consent.
Kirgan then turned and led the way down the hall.
They did not return to the stairwell that led down to the second level, instead Kirgan led the way to the sole ascending room that could reach the highest level.
They got in and Neveah stood in silence as the ascending room began it’s descent.
Neveah could still sense Everon and Menarx sneaking worried glances over at her but she did not acknowledge it.
It took a short while for the ascending room to reach the ground level but it did not stop there, instead the descent continued.
Neveah did not question it, she knew the hidden archives was not on any of the levels familiar to her or easily accessible to keep dwellers.
The ascending room descended for a short while more till it finally came to stop with a jerk and a harsh clang of metal.
The doors came open to a dark hallway and Neveah’s nose scrunched up as a thick, musty smell flooded into the ascending room.
"This place...it is not a place you want to visit often. None of us do." Kirgan said to Neveah, also visibly bothered by their present location.
Neveah stepped out of the ascending room. The first thing she took note of was how thin the air was in this place.
It was no surprise, Neveah did not even want to ask how far underground they were at this point but Neveah knew they definitely had gone far below the level of the underground dungeons of Dragon Keep.
That was as low as Neveah had descended in all the time she spent in Dragon Keep and up until this moment, Neveah had assumed that was as low as the Keep itself went.
But Neveah realized she had thought of it to simply, in a mountainous castle as great as the Dragon Keep, it only made sense that there were more parts of it unknown to the common dwellers than there were parts known to them.
Neveah could tell this was surely not the only hidden part of the Keep, kept from the knowledge of everyone else.
Neveah glanced around, there was no path leading to the left, only a solid wall and the hallway was narrow and went on in only one direction.
Kirgan continued leading the way and Neveah followed after with Everon and Menarx behind.
After walking through the hallway and taking several turns, they arrived at a stone doorway and Kirgan stopped there.
Kirgan hesitated for a moment before he reached out to the hidden lever, pushing in a part of the wall.
The stone doorway slid open, revealing a massive library that was comparable to the great library in the rider’s academy.
"This is the hidden archives. The lever only responds to Jian or one of the King’s guards, no one else can open it." Menarx said to Neveah.
Neveah’s eyes widened slightly, when she had heard of the hidden archives, she had expected a hall with stashes of secret scrolls and volumes, but she certainly had not expected this.
"It is home to a millennial worth of records of dark magic arts and the age of the dark empire." Kirgan completed.
