NOVEL WEB [Arc 0] Interlude 3 – Grand Grimoire Memoria
The midday sun shone on the vast training grounds behind the mansion. Nyriel and Tulsi were waiting for their new instructor, who was, by any means, already pretty darn late.
Unbeknownst to the two of them, a little girl was sitting on an eight-foot-tall stone wall under an old Dragon yew. Unlike the other species of its kind, the tree's fruits were not poisonous at all; actually quite the opposite. Those fruits were like little shiny jewels dangling from a tree. Their use in alchemy for legendary potions was uncontested.
Yet, nobody knew that the tree was there, not even the mistress of this property. Why look for something you didn't even know existed in the first place?
Nonetheless, the little girl—who seemed to be not older than eleven years—was sitting there, dressed in a black and red colored gothic lolita dress which totally seemed out of this world, literally. In front of her hovered an eerie yet majestic-looking book.
Its cover was dark green and had red-gold line patterns on the front as well as on the back that intertwined in a circle towards the center until they finally met each other at the glowing violet gemstone embedded within. Whereas its spine was void of any artistic spirit except the three seemingly weird twirly runes that constantly changed their form. Every time they changed, the aura of the book felt differently.
In comparison to the small-sized girl, the book appeared downright gigantic. No normal person would ever assume that the book was hers.
Whilst the girl was lazily turning through the book's pages with magic and happily humming a song she heard a while ago in one of the other-planes, a rift in space appeared on the top of a wall not far from her.
A young woman emerged from the tear. She wore leggings, a red miniskirt, a baggy dark blue sweater hiding a white shirt underneath, which can be recognized by the protruding collar. Her face was covered by a black mask which only allowed one to perceive the silvery glowing eyes. She had tucked the long gray hair behind her long and pointed ears. Some people might now assume that she was an elf, but her lightly feathered hands with long tapered nails and white griffin-like taloned feet stated otherwise.
At the appearance of the odd harpy women, the little miss clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Your clothes are more than inappropriate for this world," admonished the girl.
The young woman, the rift closing behind her, stopped in her tracks, and only now did she notice her 'awkward' outfit.
"Sorry, Master," she mumbled, ashamed. For someone like her to forget one of the simplest rules of plane traversing was utterly embarrassing and only showed how much she still had to learn.
With a flick of her finger, her otherwordly clothes disappeared and were exchanged with the traditional gown of witches at the same time. Her witch's hat also materialized in front of her. Three black griffin feathers and a runic symbol carved into a small wooden plate were attached to it and identified her to others as a Titled Witch and apprentice of the High Council's witch Aurora 'The Riftwalker'.
"Did you have fun over there?" asked Aurora the young witch, without turning away from the book.
The young woman, Mylkia—titled 'Featherfall'—only nodded and walked over to her master.
"What are you doing here?" she asked carefully. Aurora was someone who disliked being talked to when she read.
Unexpectedly, she only waved her hand. "You see those two girls over there? I'm reading their past. Kinda interesting, especially that Nyriel girl. Well, it would be even more fascinating to peer into their memories if not for those stupid sanitized passages."
Mylkia's eyes widened. For her, something like this was unbelievable. Why? Her master was the owner of the first and mightiest grimoire in existence, the 'Grand Grimoire Memoria'.
This spellbook not only allowed one to peer into every true memory of every being that was in a certain distance of the caster or had some connection to it. It also could copy spells out of the memories and make them its own. If you ever had contact with her, she would always be a step ahead in case of a fight. Yet, that's not even all this grimoire had to offer. It was also akin to a massive mana crystal that could generate, absorb and store mana of any kind, enhancing the owner's Affinities and buff one simultaneously.
Still, the Grand Grimoire Memoria was tricky and always lingered in the shadows of one's mind, waiting to devour you if you weren't worthy enough of it for one simple moment.
That's why Mylkia was so shocked. No one could possess the ability to bypass the grimoire's control.
Aurora noticed the puzzled look on her apprentice's face and could only chuckle. She knew exactly what the young witch thought.
"There are beings that don't want anybody to know more about them and are so utterly powerful that deflecting against Memoria's ability is akin to breathing. Some spells could protect you in theory, but those are the exception."
"But these two? They are low-level and not even worth mentioning. How could th—"
The little witch interrupted her midsentence, "It's not them. The being in their memories is the problem."
Mylkia pondered for a moment. "Do we have any clue who this being might be?" she asked her master.
A smile and a nod, "Yes, we have. The barrier itself is the clue. With the ability of Memoria, it should have been possible to extract some kind of information about its creator, but the grimoire can't find them. Still, I know who created it after listening to the servants."
"And?" inquired the harpy witch.
"Someone called Asche," said the girl whilst closing the book and jumping up on her feet.
"Isn't the Asche Family extinct since a long, long time?"
The other witch stored her book in a storage ring and tipped a few times on her nose. "Correct, my little apprentice. The question is now: 'Then who is this'. And honestly, I don't have an answer. Grand Grimoire Memoria can peer into the mind of gods and goddesses, of Old Ones and Horrors, although only a little, but it CAN do it. That's why we Riftwalkers have our rules. Rule number one?"
"Always expect the unexpected," answered the young women promptly.
Aurora nodded. "Good good, now go and do the paperwork you should have finished weeks ago."
"Urg, do I really have to? I mean, we could also find more information about this so-called Asche. Maybe she is a threat to us!"
"Nah, Jeanné is already in the town with her little Sisterhood," said Aurora with a wicked smile.
"B-Big Si-Sister Jeanné?! Y-Yeah...I should really do the paperwork," Mylkia said and hurriedly opened a rift to Walpurgia and disappeared into it.
The Riftwalker only shook her head. She was a brilliant witch yet still lacked discipline.
Aurora yawned and was about to leave when she heard.
When she heard the rustling of leaves above her. Hesitantly she looked up. No one was there. The young-looking witch rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Do you really think I wouldn't notice you?" she spoke out loud.
A giggle that was more like a whisper of wind rang out. Then a creature of swirling air darted out of the treetop, dragging several leaves with it, which, arriving at her, danced around her as if in weightlessness.
"Dori, why are you here?"
"Oh, hun. Don't be like that! You know why I'm here! I have a quest for ya!"
"A quest?"
"Yep, yep! A quest. A funny, punny little quest for my hunny bunny. Yup, yup."
"Please...don't," said Aurora, red with vicarious embarrassment.
"Ohh, what's wrong, Rori?" asked the being.
"Just...haaah. What's the quest?"
The windy being changed her tone. "Help her; that's the quest."
Aurora could hear the sadness in her voice and knew who it was about. She just nodded. She realized that a time had come when there might be some hope of changing what could never be changed.
Before the witch could say anything else, the creature had already disappeared, leaving only a trace of melancholy.
"Dori...sometimes I really wonder which of you two suffer the most."