"- this time it will be different"
The Demon King's ending words echo in the ears of his people.
Most of them take his words in stride, and those within the castle grounds begin preparing for their usual work.
Furnaces below the castle roar to life, fuel being fed into them by metalworkers. The heat travels from below and travels through water filled pipes across the whole structure.
Many hands begin checking facilities, looking for areas that need repair, or recovery.
Voices join each other as friends call out to one another, and life begins to pour back into the building.
In a western tower, a statue of a woman stands above a lush pond. The room is decorated like a beautiful lake, lily pads floating gently on the water, and greenery trailing up the walls.
There were a few pieces of furniture, most of which were in a sitting area. Tables and chairs made of stone and lined with layers of moss like cushions, some of the only materials that could stand up to the high humidity of the room.
Stone grinding begins to fill the room, as cracks begin to spread across the woman's form. A piece clatters to the ground, freeing her mouth as she coughs away the dust.
She turns to the door as the rest of the stone continues to fall away, the corners of her mouth turned down.
A quiet whisper breaks the rhythm of the echoing water drops, "Cephros…"
A man stands in a cave, the sound of faint hissing filling the air. Ha takes a deep breath, straightening out the tabard he wore.
The air was stale, no sign of human traces could be seen on the towering stone walls.
The man runs his hands over his head, and his dreadlock-like hair moves with the motion, then spreads out.
A low green light illuminates the area as they do, each lock stretching. The hissing grows louder, the glow of countless eyes revealing the snakes to the naked eye in the dim light.
A barking laugh causes them to shake, the man leaning back with the force of his voice.
"Ah… finally awake I see."
He turns towards the entrance, his eyes carrying the same glow as his snakes.
"Time to begin."
In a small village, children laugh as they climb a wooden statue. Guards dressed in basic leather armor chatter as they walk their patrol routes along the village rim.
The statue was an odd one to build a village around, as its subject appeared to be something inhumane.
A four legged creature stands at least 15 feet tall, its form resembling a tree-like humanoid with joints similar to a canine. Children of all ages cling to its limbs, and sit within the flat hollows on its back and head.
The statue doesn't change, not outwardly, but one child nestled into the crook of its shoulder in the shade notices something.
Her spot feels warm for once, comfortably so.
She curls closer in, and sighs as she closes her eyes.
The rumble that sounds from the statue is drowned out by the laughing screech of a child sliding down its leg.
Life continues around the statue, no one the wiser.
The sound of footsteps fills the air in a stone basement, voices murmuring as two men lean over a piece of machinery that has been taken apart. Its components lay spread out on a table as they argue over what it could mean.
A third person flits about as she takes measurements of a man standing frozen within a cell.
He stands leaning on a set of iron bars, with various parts of him made of metal. Both of his legs, one up to the ankle and one to mid thigh were made of complex machinery and the last two fingers of his left hand matched. A machine-like monocle sat over his right eye, but what was the most obvious were the pair of metal wings extending from his back.
The bars of iron form the only open wall around the man, facing out towards the larger room where the two men stand.
The woman lowers her tape measure and calls out to the two men "They're two and a third, not two. I think you've measured wrong or lost a piece." She calls out.
"Relax Erika, it isn't that deep."
"Yes it is! This is some of the most complex engineering I've seen before! If we want to study it we need to study it right. Not through brute force."
One of the men rolls their eyes at her, turning away from their work.
"Jeez Erika, you need to watch how you speak. If someone hears you they'll think you're impressed by the demon."
"Because I am, Destin. The man is covered in things well beyond our current technological level. He's a statue of lost knowledge."
The man scoffs, turning back to the parts laid out on the desk. The three continue their work, occasionally talking to one another.
They miss the split second in which the man they believe to be frozen narrows his eyes at them, lips turning up in a sneer to reveal fang like teeth before returning to his previous expression.
Two figures in a desolate forest awaken suddenly.
The shorter one, a woman with braided hair, slams a battleaxe larger than the size of her body into the ground with a grunt as an explosion happens behind her.
She sighs turning to the man behind her, his eyes wide as he panickedly tries to fan out the fire that blazes in front of him.
The woman laughs at the sight before her, the sound loud and warm as she watches him struggle.
To her defense, the man was an entertaining sight to behold, a mess of arms in the most literal way. One pair of arms was wrapped around his waist, one hand worriedly working away at the fingernails of the other and bringing thread from underneath them. Another kept trying to beat the flames out with whatever was in reach, which resulted in him holding a half smoking branch, and the last pair kept brushing his hair out of his face every few seconds.
"You get frozen in the middle of a spell there Merren?" The woman calls out leaning on her axe casually.
"Taek, shut up. We were in a fight! And you know how my spells- AH" He shouts as the branch he's holding bursts into flames.
Taek sighs, pinching the brim of her nose.
"Merren," she says, waving a hand at him. "The fires from onea your spells, yeah?"
"Yes, obviously!" He says beating the branch on the ground until it stops burning.
"Use another spell then dumbass."
Merren stares at her in silence before dropping the branch and turning away. He mumbles to himself as he pulls more thread from underneath his nails, spinning it into a complex circle.
"I knew that. Obviously."
"Mhm." Taek smirks, crossing her arms. "Second best mage in the world at work right here."
He shoots her a glare as the fire goes out snapping, "Can we just figure out where we are?"
She laughs again, slapping him on the back hard enough he loses his balance.
"We sure can." She says picking up the axe and slinging it over her shoulder as she begins walking.
Merren follows her out of the clearing, one set of hands worrying away at the hem of his shirt, before glancing back and whispering to himself.
"Did the spell work?"
—------
Subin chews on his thumb as he reopens the journal. Sitting in one of the plush chairs with the handheld candle beside him on the tea table to illuminate the pages.
The list of things to do in the first few weeks is the page he opens to. If he can get an idea of what to do first he can make a plan for the next few days.
The handwriting is less rushed here, like the writer felt they had the time to slow down.
'Now that you know how to power magic items, remember that feeling. That is how you activate most items unless you are using an item that requires more information or power. Merren can help you when you get the chance to speak with him.'
'Familiarize yourself with the items in our room. Most of them are magic in some manner, and there are too many for me to give you a proper list.'
Subin frowns looking around the room. It was organized, but also packed. The walls had a variety of decor, ranging from what felt normal with paintings and pictures, to what he thought had been decorative weapons before, but was beginning to doubt that.
There were small items tucked into every open space on shelves, be it crystals bottles, or knickknacks he couldn't place.
If every object in the room was magic in some way, then the sheer amount of time it would take him to learn what each one does would be astounding.
The paragraph was also short, ending with one more line.
'It will not raise any suspicions if you do not remember all of my objects' uses due to there being so many but you need to show you know at least some.'
He sighs, turning to the next point. Thankfully there's more written there, and maybe it's enough to work with.
'The other thing you must know is the layout of the castle. The world outside may change, but the castle forms only to ours and our people's needs. Changes happen slowly and are always documented.'
'Use the bookshelves, they shall be able to help you in finding what you need such as floorplans and the like. They have been enchanted to keep pace with the way the castle grows.'
The candlelight flickers as he reads the line. Subin glances up at it, then hesitantly reaches out.
Closing his eyes he thinks about the threads from before, and pictures then moving into the candle. He feels the same sensation as before, only clearer.
Something physically leaves his body, connecting to the candle. It's like he can feel the warmth in the candle, sitting below the surface and ready to be called out, but it's dying, out of fuel.
He's so distracted by the candle he misses a thread moving away from his focus, and attaching to the seat until he feels a stronger tug.
Subin scrambles to keep hold of the journal as the chair suddenly flips open like a recliner throwing him back.
"Jeezus what the-?" One hand grips the armrest as he stares at the footrest below him.
"I guess that's what that does." He mumbles climbing out of the chair carefully. Why would… is all the furniture magic too?
How extravagant is this room?
With a sigh he grabs the candle from the side table, the flame burning steadily once again.
Whatever.
He can finish this paragraph in bed and then figure out whatever the bookcases helping was supposed to mean tomorrow. Which, if the chair was any indication it would be magic of some kind.
The stairs are kind to him again as he climbs up to the bed. Now that he knows they're magic, a small portion of his brain trusts them more, but a larger portion worries for when they'll need more magic put into them to, well, work.
The candle started to flicker after a few hours and seemed to be burning based on either a timer or amount of magic put in.
Was it mana harker called it? That's what many fantasy books call it and it sounded like what he said.
Granted he was also exhausted so he could be completely wrong.
He flops into the bed, which again, was almost upsettingly soft, then cracks the journal back open.
Last paragraph, then sleep to fight off this stupid bone deep exhaustion.
'The castle should remain as usual unless you ask her for something you need, but she doesn't usually have enough power until you awaken the first time. I should warn you she is both alive and not, at best she is the basis of a consciousness contained within an object, but holds no true thoughts. She cares for you, and your people, and will do as asked, but is ultimately well a castle.'
The next line is scribbled through, but Subin can make out the first words barely as he squints. 'I believe-' until it's a mess of ink.
'It will grow powerful enough to keep itself powered and running as your mana pool expands. Whoever holds the crown is connected to the castle. I simply never had the chance to pass on the crown.'
Subin groans once more, the sound filling the air as he sets the journal beside himself. Of course magic, maybe half-sentient castle.
That grows stronger as he does.
What does that even mean?
He turns to the candle, blowing gently to put it out. The flame flickering for a moment before returning to a steady burn.
Staring dead eyed at it, a thought finally clicks into place.
He doesn't know how to turn off magic items.
A muffled scream can just barely be heard outside the door as Subin yells into one of the many pillows.