Hearing them speak, Elena stared at Maya wide-eyed, realizing they had just broken into Amanda's mansion. Maya had already suspected the fact the moment she was faced with the strange behaviour of the ghosts around them, but didn't wish to jump to conclusions.

The floorboards creaked gently as elegant steps walked across them when the owner of the study stepped in to assess the damage. A complete contrast to the robust steps those men made.

"Where is the book from my desk?" They heard Amanda's sharp voice. Immediately, she noticed it missing.

"I'm sure it's here somewhere. We need to clear out more rubble. If we find it, we'll let you know," one said.

"YOU IMBECILES!" Amanda screamed as she slammed her hand on the desk.

The girls flinched at the sound of glass shattering somewhere in the room. Something fragile must've been knocked over. This usually calm and collected woman was now screaming at her personal guards.

Maya felt the pressure suddenly change and noticed the ghosts around her getting more unsettled.

"There is no debris in this part of the room. Someone took it!" the Headmistress said.

"Why would we take your book, madam? We have no use for such books," there was caution in their voice as if they feared their master.

Maya's eyes widened as she noticed blood dripping between the cracks of the floorboards. It seemed the Headmistress didn't knock something off the table but rather chucked something at them and cut one of them.

"This book," she snarled through clenched teeth, her voice dripping with venom, "is worth more than all of your worthless lives combined. Return it to me this instant!"

His voice trembled as he stammered out a desperate response, "W-we never touched it… there wasn't even time to—"

"You were the first ones to enter the room. There is no other entrance. Now, give it back while I'm still willing to forgive it."

"I swear, madam. We didn't touch your book. Where would we put it? It's not on us," the other was terrified, pleading.

The Headmistress was quiet for a moment, thinking. "Find me that book or I'll turn you into cattle feed," she ordered coldly.

"We'll clear this up and we'll find it. I swear."

"If you don't, I'll cut off your hands."

"No. Please, madam—" the men were pleading, aware they wouldn't find it in the rubble. There was nowhere the book could end up and they were too afraid to suggest that she could've misplaced it.

Everyone was in a precarious situation. Maya and Elena felt the urgency of having to flee, but couldn't move in fear they would make a sound and be discovered. If the Headmistress was threatening her own personal guards by cutting off their hands, what would she do to them if she found out?

As the men shuffled around, desperately searching for a book that had vanished, one stepped on the compromised floorboards. The board, no longer secured by its nail on one side—loosened by Elena earlier— gave way under his weight, and his leg plunged through.

Maya almost screamed. She would if her hand wasn't pressed over her mouth. His leg was stuck, but he couldn't see them down there yet. It was time to run.

Elena reacted faster than Maya and started dragging her out of there.

'There is no way we won't be discovered!' Maya's thoughts betrayed her.

They slid down the rock gap Maya made before as guards forcibly broke the floorboards to catch the book thief.

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The girls ran frantically, slipping on the wet cave floor, but never stopping or glancing back. They could heat their pursuers.

Terror gripped Maya as they fled, her feet betraying her with every step across the uneven cave floor. The situation was too chaotic, too frightening, and her thoughts insisted on focusing on the terrible fate awaiting them if captured, rather than on the task of ensuring they weren't.

If not for Elena's iron grip keeping her upright, Maya would have long since collapsed onto the treacherous ground. Her friend continued leading her forward with fierce determination, maintaining a laser focus on their escape, fingers digging into Maya's forearm with an almost painful intensity.

But where was she leading them in this disorienting labyrinth of twisting cave tunnels? Anastasia wasn't there to give Maya instructions. Their escape was pressing, and there was no time to weigh their options, but stumbling through blindly could lead them to even greater dangers.

Just as Maya's anxious mind filled with visions of dead ends, accidentally circling back to the Headmistress, or encountering creatures lurking in the darkness, they emerged at the familiar flooded chamber.

"Fuck!" Elena cursed.

Their pursuers seemed to struggle to navigate through the branching tunnels. Two nimble girls had an advantage over two robust adult men in these tight corridors, but the was no doubt they would catch up to them in no time.

Their previous trick was too time-consuming and needed steady focus and preparation.

"Th-they'll catch us!" Maya was panicking.

Elena grabbed her shoulders. "They can't follow through water. Let's just flood their path," Elena hastily suggested.

Unlike before, they could technically siphon water down to their pursuers' lower position. Though Maya struggled to comprehend the physics in this urgent situation, she immediately agreed with Elena's plan, having no better ideas of her own.

Together, they redirected the water into a lower section of the tunnel they had traversed. They quickly filled it to capacity, draining enough water from the previously flooded area. This allowed them to walk through, holding the books above their heads to keep them dry. They didn't have time to drain it any further.

Their return journey was much quicker. This wasn't surprising—they were in a hurry and knew the way. Or rather, Elena seemed to know, as Anastasia was nowhere around to guide them.

After slipping and sliding their way through, they finally reached the small underground pond that fed the well. Without hesitation, Elena ran across the water's surface, freezing it beneath her feet to create a walkway. This gave Maya a runway to use her air powers, propelling herself upward to grab the rope.

When Maya propelled herself, the ice shattered, but Elena used the disturbed water's momentum to freeze makeshift steps, allowing her to jump within Maya's reach. Fortunately, the cave ceiling was low enough.

The drop felt much higher the first time. And it looked like there was more water than before. While they were climbing up the well, they realized why. It was raining outside.

They climbed out of the well, untied the rope, and let it drop into the water below.

Dread settled over them as they remembered they still had to pass through the Academy. Dirty and wet, pumped with adrenaline, they were caught by Professor Crumpet.

"Girls! What are you doing here!?"

They froze, thinking they were busted.

"You're leaving mud everywhere. Clean it up before you go," their homeroom teacher ordered as he continued on his way, presumably rushing off to save his precious history books from earthquake damage.

They blinked at the professor as he left obliviously. Apparently, he saw nothing suspicious in two students walking around the school, drenched to their skin, and leaving mud traces at this hour. But this was a school where, due to all kinds of club activity, it wasn't strange to see students roaming around even on Sunday afternoon.

They let out sighs of relief and began laughing at their luck.

Maya was now certain that Amanda was their adversary. The fact that she had hidden this book in her mansion suggested that she knew the truth and was lying to the students, and potentially everyone else. Her interaction with the guards was undeniably alarming.

They returned to their room, both nervous and exhausted, and finally felt safe as the doors closed behind them. Maya sat directly on the floor, not wanting to make a mess further, eager to see the contents of the book.

It was the book that held the potential to save the world — the secrets of Prima Magas, the key to everything.

As Maya carefully turned through the brittle pages—discoloured by age and flaking at the edges—she studied the magical text she couldn't begin to comprehend. Handwritten in ink, the mysterious script flowed alongside scattered sketches. The next page revealed more of the same, embellished with intricate drawings and cryptic symbols.

As she flipped through a few more pages, she noticed the handwriting would change, the style and layout of the pages would change, and the writers themselves would change. Different people have contributed to it. However, the most crucial revelation was that the text was all written in entirely different languages.

"I can't understand any of it," Maya said with bittersweet resignation, realizing that although she held the key to the truth in her hands, its secrets remained tantalizingly out of reach.

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