The Witch Within The Forest Of Illusions Arc

Part Three

An Illusion of Books

Loc had decided to branch out to talk to the others, other than Max, but this was unsuccessful. None responded whenever she would try to start a conversation with anyone. She tried to sit near others but they moved to another table. The only one that seemed to want to talk to her was Max and that was what they did. They spoke of many things before they walked into the classroom. They took their seats and Max looked at the others and waved to them.

“Yo! Come on over here!” he called.

They all looked at him and her with a glimpse of fear. Loc understood. They saw the witch and not her. Her eyes slid away knowing that she should have expected as much, but to her surprise they did sit near her. Probably out of the fear of her bringing harm to then or their family if they did not.

“I..”

No, nothing that I can say will comfort them or not make things worse. So with that she had decided just to focus on the lesson at hand.

Curogh walked in with a trolley of twenty four books. He gave them all two books and then went to the front of the class. He looked at them all and placed down the two remainder books.

“Right, I am going to ask some of you to tell me the title of the books that are in front of you.” he said. “First, Gabriel Alexis, what are the titles of the books that are in front of you?”

“Well, the one on the right is Fairies And Their Dark Magic and the other's The Seven Lost Worlds.” she said.

“Max Ahriman?”

“Got you! The one on the right is Valour Across The Ages, sound's like a good read, and the one on the left is The Destruction of The Dark God Slayer.”

Loc spotted that his eyes narrowed like he had a sour taste in his mouth.

“Lora Cerberus?”

“Oh, the one on the right is The Universe Guide and the other-” she felt her lip curl. “Is The Secret Of Grasharlo.”

They all raised their eyebrows as they looked at her in utter horror.

“Relax! Kissendou Cin?”

“The one on the right is Robbers of the Grave and the left is The Death Of Grasharlo.” he looked behind her to look at Loc who had taken a sudden interest in the book. “I'd read that if I were you.”

“Well it would help me defeat my sisters, and I would do the same if I were you too. By the Demon Realm! You might be the one to do it! For good this time!” she said back.

“Would this include letting us kill you?”

“If that's what it takes, but please know, I am me not her. I maybe a part of her but I will never be her.”

“Anyway.” Curogh said sternly. “Now onto the lesson. Book illusions are not like other illusions although they do you little good just as much, but they are designed to plant ideas or seeds in your minds that will trap you to go a specific path, a path that will lead to great suffering and pain. So, regardless of how tempting, Lora, Kissendou, you must not read the books on the left.”

They all looked at the books on the left, realising that they were the enemy of their minds and their faces were stuck with horror.

“So, why are you telling us this?” Max asked.

“Because tomorrow, you will be facing the Forest's books, now get some sleep and be here by noon! So remember to get an early breakfast and lunch, believe me, you'd need it.” he replied and with that they left.

The following day Loc noticed that Kissendou and Gabriel both joined her for breakfast.

“I've been thinking about what you said yesterday and I'm sorry and I think that we could be good friends.” he said.

“It's alright, I get this treatment a lot and I agree.” she said as she extended her hand. “Call me Loc.”

“Endou.”

Their hands shook.

“Now let's get through this together.” Gabriel said and their hands shook.

Soon it came time to go in the forest and they were talking so much and so long that they barely noticed it when they arrived. They were led to their pathways and entered the Forest Of Illusions again.

She had not even travelled that far when she came to a purple book with a gold frame with a small green emerald at each corner with a crimson heart in the centre. Above the heart in gold Vladimir Script was the title. The History Of Grasharlo Volume I.

She felt her curious hand open the book but her left threw it away realising it was an illusion and she knew exactly what it would try to do. She then decided to move on paying not one bit of attention to the bibliophile side of her that wanted to go back and collect that book to add to the library back in her home.

If that home is still mine, you mean. Came a stray thought. This made her realise that there was a possibility that she might have to find a new home if her parents deaths meant that she was now homeless. To do that she also knew that she would have to get a job of some kind.

She felt her foot knock something. She looked down to see that there was another book on the ground. This one looked almost identical to the other apart from the fact that the purple was a darker shade and had lighter gold. However instead of a heart below the text there was a crimson apple. She then looked at the title to see if it was the same it was still in Vladimir Script but the title said the same bit there was an extra I, so it read The History Of Grasharlo Volume II.

She picked it up and tossed it as fast and far as she could into the void of the forest. She realized in that moment just how much she hated that witch and how much more she despised the fact that she was always apart of her. It made her feel as if she was covered in dirt and mould. She could even swear that maggots and worms lived inside her. She felt herself cringe and had to look at herself and comb through her hair with her fingers to remind herself that that was not the case.

She then found another book just like the other only this one was black with the same look and rubies instead of emeralds and the frame and the text were silver and read, The History Of Grasharlo Volume III. She looked at it in pure disgust and knew that she did not want anything to do with Grasharlo nor that book. However she knew that in reality that witch, her sister would dominate her life and destiny. So she kicked it into the forest.

“Here have your dirty little book back!” she shouted and stormed away from the spot in a fit of rage that she knew that she quite could not understand. She knew that she was not always like this but she could not quite tell what it was that had enraged her this much.

Then she then tripped over another book. She looked down at it and spotted that it was a white book with a black frame with diamond shaped rubies at each corner with a bronze wand pointing to the title that was not in Vladimir Script but silver Old English. It said The Tale Of The Witch Within, the author Lora Alex Cerberus.

This she felt taken back by this, her gut told her that this was a trick but something told her that this was her book and that she had written it. She also knew that she had known little of Grasharlo, despite being part of her. She crouched down and picked up the book and opened it. She looked at the chapters and spotted that the first part was named The M Universe and the second The X Universe. She frowned.

What does this mean?

Nothing! This is not your book for it has Alex in the middle! You don't have a middle name! This she could no argue with so she placed the book down and she soon left the forest. She knew that a new ambition had been born there, to learn as much as she can about Grasharlo.