“Can you explain what's going on, please? Or are you going insane?” Sai's tone was laced with a mixture of irritation and disbelief as he and Esmeralda trailed after Dryzza through the current state of the manor—crumbling walls, shattered furniture, and debris littered everywhere, remnants of a forgotten past.
“I don't have time to explain every detail, but I know how to find the grimoire,” Dryzza replied tersely, her focus unwavering as she began to sift through the scattered remnants of the manor with one hand, while her other extended the ruby necklace forward, flashlight in hand, as though it might illuminate the path to the grimoire.
“Oh, wow!” Sai scoffed, the sarcasm in his voice unmistakable. “Just what we need, a necklace to guide us. Brilliant.” His irritation was palpable; he seemed less relieved about Dryzza’s newfound confidence than frustrated by the urgency of the situation.
Dryzza mentally noted Sai’s dismissive tone, but she couldn’t afford to let it distract her. She was well aware of what the grimoire looked like, and now armed with the necklace, she was determined to track it down.
Yet as she moved through the wreckage, she couldn’t shake the growing uncertainty about the charm’s effectiveness. Would it truly guide her, or was it just a relic of a past she barely understood?
The trio retraced their steps through the darkened manor, passing through rooms they had previously checked. Dust danced in the beams of their flashlights as they scanned for any sign of the elusive grimoire.
Each overturned chair and shattered vase felt like a missed opportunity, but as they continued their search, the necklace remained unresponsive, its ruby surface still and silent.
As they searched, a creeping doubt began to settle in Dryzza's mind. Was the necklace as significant as she had hoped? Perhaps it was just an object from the past, a memento with no real power.
She felt a pang of frustration; time was running out, and they needed answers. Each minute that passed brought the impending sunrise closer, and with it, the chance that they might lose their only opportunity to reclaim the grimoire before it vanished into history once more.
Esmeralda walked beside her, quiet yet tense, her expression unreadable as she sifted through the debris. Dryzza could sense the unspoken questions hanging in the air, questions she couldn’t yet articulate.
They were all in this together, and yet the path forward felt increasingly obscured. With a determined breath, she turned her attention back to the necklace, still hoping for a sign, any sign, that would confirm its relevance in their quest.
After several exhausting minutes of fruitless searching, Dryzza finally halted her steps, frustration written clearly across her face. The weight of her disappointment pressed heavily on her as she slowly turned back to face Sai and Esmeralda.
Her voice trembled slightly, betraying the uncertainty she had been trying to mask. "I-I don't understand," she stammered, her eyes darting between them, searching for reassurance. "This necklace… it should be leading us to the grimoire. It has to." The conviction she had earlier was now eroding, giving way to doubt.
Sai, who had been pacing impatiently behind her, scoffed in open exasperation. "Or perhaps it’s just some bullshit you found somewhere down in that dungeon," he hissed, his words sharp with skepticism.
He had never fully believed in the supernatural elements of their quest, and now, with time ticking away, his irritation was boiling over.
The necklace, the time travel, the supposed visions—it all felt too far-fetched, and his growing impatience was palpable.
“Sai!” Esmeralda interjected, her voice firm as she stepped between him and Dryzza.
Though she had been silent for most of their search, Esmeralda couldn’t let Sai’s biting words continue unchecked.
"What?" he shrugged, still indignant, but Esmeralda’s look made it clear that now was not the time to lash out at one another.
Despite the tension in the air, her intervention was calm but resolute, her steadying presence keeping the group from fracturing under the pressure.
Dryzza, however, could not bring herself to argue. Instead, she offered a quiet whisper, her voice filled with resignation.
"It's okay," she murmured, casting her eyes downward. "I understand your frustration, Sai. I really do." Her grip tightened slightly around the necklace, its ruby charm catching the faint light from her flashlight.
"Even I don't fully believe what I’ve been through. What happened back there… it feels impossible. And this necklace," she continued, her voice growing softer as she stared at the charm hanging from her fingers, "it might just be… a complete nonsense."
The ruby glistened, but its glow did nothing to reassure her now. For the first time, she truly questioned whether all the strange occurrences she had experienced—her journey to the past, her conversation with the Mistress, and the cryptic visions—were real, or whether they were merely tricks of her mind, fabrications of a desperate imagination.
“This is a critical matter,” Esmeralda began, her voice steady but firm. “But if this leads nowhere, we need to head back and regroup. We’ll think of another way.” As the senior officer, she knew they couldn’t risk staying any longer. The manor was dangerous, and they’d entered illegally—time was running out.
Sai sighed, frustration clear. He glanced at Dryzza, who looked dejected. Guilt crept in as he recalled his earlier harsh words. He approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry for what I said,” he muttered, his tone soft. “Let’s head back. We’ll figure it out next time.”
Reluctantly, Dryzza nodded. She pocketed the ruby necklace, feeling its weight. Something about its failure nagged at her as they turned to leave. The sense that something was off stayed with her, a lingering unease she couldn’t shake.
As she watched Sai and Esmeralda disappear through the manor’s grand, dilapidated doors, she prepared to follow, her thoughts still swirling with doubt and frustration.
Just as she stepped toward the exit, a sudden, searing heat shot through her pocket, halting her in her tracks. The sensation was sharp and unbearable, as though a fire had ignited within the fabric of her coat.
Instinctively, she reached for the source of the discomfort, her fingers fumbling inside her pocket. Her breath caught in her throat as her hand closed around the ruby necklace.
It burned against her skin, the heat intense and unnatural, radiating as if the stone itself had come alive. She gasped, the pain forcing her to withdraw it quickly.
Without thinking, Dryzza yanked the necklace out of her pocket, the ruby glowing in an almost sinister way, pulsing like a heartbeat. The heat was unbearable now, her fingers unable to hold it any longer.
She let out a sharp cry and dropped it to the ground. The necklace hit the floor with a soft thud, its chain coiling beside it, while Dryzza recoiled, clutching her scorched hand.
She stared at the ruby, her hand throbbing with pain, eyes wide with a mixture of shock and bewilderment.
The stone, now lying on the crumbled ground, shimmered faintly in the dim light of the manor, its deep crimson hue seeming to flicker like embers.
It had transformed from a mere charm into something more—a force that clearly held power, a power that had been dormant until this very moment. Dryzza's mind raced as she tried to understand what had just happened.
Her hand still stinging, Dryzza crouched down slowly, eyes fixed on the necklace, trying to comprehend the sudden shift in its behavior.
A sudden realization struck her like lightning. Her heart raced as she whispered to herself, "The grimoire." The heat of the necklace, its unnatural glow—it wasn’t just a coincidence. This was the signal.
The necklace had finally led her to the hidden treasure they had been seeking. Without wasting another second, she grabbed a nearby stick and carefully nudged the glowing ruby away from the floor, cautious not to touch it with her hands. It rolled aside, still pulsing with that strange crimson light, as though urging her to continue.
She dropped to her knees and frantically began to clear the debris. Her hand worked swiftly—forgetting the pain—tossing aside broken chunks of stone and rubble.
Her breath came in sharp gasps, the anticipation building with each piece of debris she moved. Just as her efforts intensified, she heard Esmeralda’s voice from behind.
"Dryzza! What are you still doing there?" Sai and Esmeralda had returned, clearly puzzled by the sight of Dryzza digging through the manor’s ruined floor.
"What is it now?" Sai groaned, his frustration flaring again, though this time tinged with curiosity.
"The necklace!" Dryzza exclaimed breathlessly, glancing at them with wide eyes. "It signaled me to check here!" She pointed to the glowing gem, still casting eerie crimson hues across the floor.
For a moment, both Esmeralda and Sai were struck by fascination, their earlier irritation giving way to surprise.
Sai, ever the skeptic, leaned in closer, his hand reaching instinctively toward the necklace.
"Don’t touch it!" Dryzza warned, her voice urgent. "It’s scalding hot."
Sai yanked his hand back with a startled yelp, his expression morphing into one of comical disbelief.
"What the hell! You could’ve warned me sooner!" he muttered, shaking his hand dramatically, his frustration melting into sheepish embarrassment.
"Just help me clear this mess," Dryzza urged, her focus back on the task at hand. "The grimoire has to be here, somewhere beneath all of this."
Sai and Esmeralda quickly joined in, their hands moving fast as they assisted her in clearing the debris. Together, they began peeling back the layers of broken tiles, revealing what lay underneath.
The floor beneath them was uneven and cracked, tiles shattered and scattered across the ground. As they dug deeper, the texture of the ground changed—beneath the tiles, there was something more, something buried and hidden from view.
Dryzza’s pulse quickened as her fingers scraped against something different—thick, gnarled vines twisted together, covered in soil and age. She paused for a moment, staring at the ancient tangle, her breath caught in her throat.
"Here!" she gasped, her voice barely a whisper. They had finally uncovered it.
With careful hands, the three worked together to pull away the last of the tiles, revealing the grimoire nestled beneath the tangled mass of vines—not roots—and soil, its cover obscured by time, but its unmistakable presence now fully revealed. The grimoire lay there, waiting, as if the earth itself had been guarding it for years.
"There it is!" Dryzza exclaimed, her voice filled with a mixture of fascination and relief. After the long, arduous search, the sight of the grimoire finally uncovered stirred something deep inside her—a sense of destiny fulfilled, perhaps, or simply the overwhelming joy of having solved a mystery that had eluded them for so long.
"So the grimoire," Sai echoed, almost breathless, "it’s real after all." His tone wavered between disbelief and wonder, as though he still couldn’t fully grasp the reality in front of him. Both Dryzza and Esmeralda turned to look at him, their eyebrows raised in mild surprise.
"You didn’t believe any of this, yet you came?" Esmeralda teased, nudging his shoulder playfully.
Sai pouted, a bit defensive. "Well, can you blame me?" He crossed his arms, his lips pressed into a thin line. "Anyway, how do we get it out? It looks like the vines have locked it there."
He knelt down beside the ancient book, giving one of the thick, gnarled vines a firm tug. Despite his muscular build, it didn’t budge. He tried again, straining against the stubborn plant, but it was as if the vines had fused with the very ground beneath them.
"That was very manly of you," Dryzza laughed, her voice filled with amusement. Sai, though known for his feminine quirks and playful demeanor, possessed a body sculpted with strength—a fact that didn’t escape Dryzza's teasing.
Sai gave her a mock glare. "Well, you try then," he dared, clearly irritated that his effort had been in vain.
Dryzza shook her head, still chuckling, and turned her attention to the ruby necklace, which now lay beside her leg, half-covered by the soil. Despite the grime, the ruby still gleamed faintly, as if its magic hadn’t fully waned.
The scalding heat it had emitted before had completely dissipated, leaving it cool enough for her to pick up with her bare hands. She grasped it carefully, feeling its weight in her palm, and whispered softly to herself, "This should help."
With cautious determination, Dryzza extended her arm toward the grimoire, holding the ruby necklace aloft like a key that might unlock the ancient vines’ grip.
The grimoire was lodged deep within the earth, approximately two meters below the surface. Both Esmeralda and Sai moved closer, each of them ready to steady her in case she lost her balance. The air around them seemed to hum with tension, the anticipation palpable.
They waited, holding their breath, for any sign that the necklace might trigger the release of the grimoire. Dryzza’s eyes remained fixed on the emerald stone embedded in the center of the grimoire’s cover, waiting for it to respond to the ruby’s presence.
After what felt like an agonizingly long moment, the air around them seemed to pulse with energy. A faint vibration traveled through the ground, and then it happened. The emerald stone in the center of the grimoire began to glow, its deep green hue shimmering like a beacon in the dark.
At first, the light was faint, but within seconds, it intensified, matching the crimson glow of the ruby necklace in Dryzza's hand. Both stones seemed to resonate with one another, their magical connection undeniable.
Without warning, the vines that had held the grimoire so tightly in place began to writhe, as though responding to the magic.
Slowly, they loosened their grip, unwinding from around the ancient book like sentient creatures releasing their captive. The three of them—Dryzza, Sai, and Esmeralda—watched in stunned silence as the vines, once so obstinate, began to lift the grimoire from the ground.
It was as if the earth itself was handing the artifact over to them, hoisting it gently upward until it hovered just above the surface.
"Holy—" Sai began, his voice caught between disbelief and awe, but he was too stunned to finish the sentence.
Even Esmeralda, usually so composed, was wide-eyed, her breath shallow as she took in the sight of the ancient magic working before them. None of them had truly expected to witness something so extraordinary—magic made manifest in such a pure, tangible form.
Carefully, Dryzza moved forward, her heart pounding in her chest. She reached out with trembling hands and, with a sense of deep reverence, took hold of the grimoire.
As soon as her fingers touched its worn leather cover, the vines receded completely, slithering back into the earth from which they had emerged. The grimoire now rested in her hands, warm to the touch, as if alive with the magic it contained. She held it with honor, understanding that they had uncovered something far greater than they had anticipated.
The three of them gathered around, inspecting the ancient book by the glow of their flashlights. The emerald stone embedded in the center of the cover continued to glimmer, its light casting ethereal shadows across the debris-strewn ground.
Dryzza glanced down at the ruby necklace in her other hand, half-expecting it to vanish now that it had served its purpose, just as the Mistress had foretold. But to her surprise, the ruby still shone, its glow unwavering.
"It’s still here," Dryzza whispered, her voice tinged with wonder. The necklace hadn’t disappeared. Perhaps its purpose was not yet fulfilled, or perhaps there was more to the connection between the two stones than any of them had understood.
Dryzza quickly pushed aside her awe, her mind snapping back to the urgency of their mission. There was no time to dwell on the magic they had witnessed. The grimoire, heavy with its secrets, was now in her possession, but they still had to leave the manor without drawing any attention.
She hurriedly slipped the ruby necklace back into her pocket and, wrapping the ancient book tightly in her coat, signaled to Sai and Esmeralda. The three moved with swift determination, navigating their way through the crumbled corridors and heading toward the gate.
But as they approached the exit, all three came to an abrupt halt. Just beyond the gate, silhouetted by the dim light of the moon, stood a figure—a man, tall and unmoving, his presence impossible to ignore.
The shadows around him were thick, but his outline was unmistakable. Dryzza, Sai, and Esmeralda instinctively dimmed their flashlights, their hearts pounding in their chests. Panic crept through them, the silent fear that they had been caught, that their secret mission had failed at the final moment.
"Who is that?" Sai whispered, his voice trembling despite his best efforts to remain calm.
Esmeralda’s breath hitched, her usual poise shaken by the unexpected figure blocking their path. They were so close to escape, but this man’s presence was an immediate threat.
For a moment, none of them moved. Dryzza’s mind raced, trying to calculate the situation. Had someone been tracking them? Was this the end of their journey before it had even truly begun?
The man did not move, but his presence felt oppressive, as though he knew they had been there all along. The three exchanged nervous glances, unsure of what to do next.
They had managed to keep their activities hidden thus far, but now that they were face to face with this unknown figure, it felt as though the entire mission was slipping through their fingers.
But then, something tugged at Dryzza’s memory. The man’s posture, his stillness—it all seemed oddly familiar. Unable to shake the feeling, she squinted, stepping slightly forward, her eyes adjusting to the dim light. Her breath caught in her throat as recognition began to dawn on her.
Could it be...?
She took another cautious step closer, ignoring Sai’s attempt to pull her back. The closer she moved, the clearer the figure became, and her suspicion grew stronger.
Her heartbeat quickened, not out of fear, but in anticipation of confirmation. And then, as she closed the gap between them, the figure came fully into view.
"Tomoya?" she whispered, her voice barely audible but laced with disbelief.
The man’s lips curved into a knowing smile. "So, you really found it," he said, his tone calm, as though he had expected this all along.
There was no surprise in his voice, no curiosity—only a quiet certainty, as though he had always known that Dryzza would succeed in finding the grimoire.
Dryzza stood there, caught between relief and suspicion. She had met Tomoya in the past—the young Tomoya—he had been part of a different time, a different era.
Yet here he was, standing before her as though the years between them had collapsed into nothing. How could he remember her? How could he have known she was searching for the grimoire?