Nine opened the bedroom door and tripped over the core. Stunned, she reflexively grabbed the core when it pulsed in her hands. Instantly, she frowned.
As far as she could tell, the core should have been securely locked up in the workshop, and no one would move it without her permission. That only left the possibilities of outside interference, her Nox moving it here, or the core moving itself.
For obvious reasons, the first possibility was out. Not only had she and Nocturne extensively redesigned the security designs on their residence, there were alert sensors, alarm sensors, trapping spells, warding runes and the likes. Even Nine herself wasn't confident of moving in here without tripping at least one thing.
As for the possibility of Nocturne moving the core, not only had they been together the whole time, it just didn't make sense that he would leave it on the ground like that instead of bringing it into their bedroom. Not to mention, as a person who reflected her working ideologies so closely, she knew that he would never bring something out of the workshop before he was sure that it was harmless to them.
That only left the possibility that the core had moved by itself, but why? And how? Previously, the two of them had been unable to detect any signs of life within the core, but there was always a chance that it had managed to slip under their scrutiny.
After all, the core was not a manmade object and had instead come from the Undead Titan itself. As a matter of fact, they didn't even know how they could use it, if it could even be used.
Their earlier experiments on the core had been more of a test run rather than anything concrete. At this point, they were just blindly trying a variety of things to see and test how it responded.
The only explanation that she could produce was that the core had somehow managed to find either Nocturne or her through the use of their magic signature.
The frown on Nine's face deepened. As a Tenth Circle and Ninth Circle mage respectively, Nine and Nocturne had the art of keeping their magic hidden down pat.
And yet, in spite of everything, this core still managed to find them without tripping anything, nor was it spotted by anyone. That implied that the core had many hidden functions that they had yet to unearth.
"Nine?"
Nocturne emerged from their bedroom, curious when he saw Nine standing, holding the core that was supposed to be in their workshop.
"Why did you bring the core out of the workshop?" Nocturne asked curiously, before amending himself when he spotted Nine's frown. "You didn't? Then, the core moved itself? But how?"
"That's what I'm curious about as well. By right, it shouldn't have been able to leave the workshop even if it is able to move, not with all the security seals we slapped over that room."
"You're right. Something's wrong here."
"Let's get back down to the workshop," Nine said, something that Nocturne wholeheartedly agreed with.
By the time they were back down to the workshop, the unnaturally silent core had seemingly perked back up, resuming its glow of lights. It seemed to pulse as Nine and Nocturne neared it, then dimmed slightly, almost as if in sadness, when they left.
Nocturne poked the core with a stick, and the core let out a blinding flash, reminiscent of anger.
Nine shook her head. "I can't see any magical fluctuations that might lead me to decide whether or not there's indeed a living being or not."
Nine paused. "The core is alive," she tested out. [Veritas] gave her an answer that was less than conclusive.
"There's something living in the core," she tried again.
This time, she accurately hit the nail on the head. There was something in the core that was inhabiting it, but whether or not it was safe to try and break open the core was another question.
Nine walked forward and tapped on the core, and the core let out a glow of lights that gave her a feeling that whatever was inside was happy. Almost tentatively, a bit of Nine's magic seeped into the core, and Nocturne resisted the urge to grab his husband's hand away from the core.
For some strange, inexplicable reason, Nine felt like she should keep the core close to her.
Across Nine, Nocturne frowned subtly when he noticed Nine's strange reactions, but hesitantly decided not to say anything for the time being. After all, they didn't know whether or not this change was something that was positive or negative.
Right now, they were grappling in the dark for some sort of reaction, and this was as far as they had gotten. Should the core prove to be negatively affecting Nine, then Nocturne would have no hesitation whatsoever as he destroyed the core, regardless if Nine agreed with him.
Nine couldn't help but notice how the core seemed to pulse like it had found someone close to it, and before she knew what she was doing, she had already picked it up and hugged it to herself.
"Nine?" Nocturne said, shocked. This wasn't like Nine's usually cautious behaviour. He had worked together with Nine on a number of things that allowed him to grasp what kind of behaviour she normally exhibited.
The fact that Nine had picked up the core without any precautions whatsoever was out of his predictions. Nine had never behaved in a careless or reckless way, much like himself.
"Mm," Nine said, observing the core from different angles. "Don't worry. I'm not being controlled or anything. It's just that, somehow, the core resonates with my magic, not unlike the feeling I have with those who are close to me."
Nocturne furrowed his brows, unconvinced. "That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be taking any precautions with it," he admonished.
Nine looked at Nocturne in surprise. This was the first time that Nocturne had voiced any words that disapproved of what she was doing. Nine couldn't help but frown, but then lightened up, smiling at him.
She knew that he was just worried about the dubious core, but now that she got her hands on it, she really couldn't bear for it to be left here in the workshop.
"Well, you'll be with me, right?" Nine flirted with her wife lightly, her eyes liquid warmth. "You can keep track of any suspicious behaviours."
Nocturne huffed, flushing. "Right. I hope you don't grow too attached to the core. If we have to get rid of it one day, then…"
"Then I'll be the one to do it. You know I don't get attached easily."
Nocturne hesitantly nodded, still somewhat unsure of this. The core seemed to flash at him, almost mocking. Nocturne frowned. What in the world was he imagining now? How low was he going to go? To be jealous of a random piece of stone, of all things.
He felt a faint ping of something that was nudging him, but he couldn't make head or tails of it. There was simply no basis to the strange sensations, so he could only dismiss his paranoia at the moment.
However, should he notice anything, he would take action before telling Nine anything.
The husband and wife left the underground workshop, splitting up for the time being.
Nocturne said he needed to do something, quickly leaving to inform Seyton, Shade and Misha to keep an eye on Nine's behaviour if he wasn't there.
Each one agreed readily, looking noticeably worried. Nocturne couldn't even muster up the energy to feel offended at Misha's presence. He knew that she would definitely be more critical if it came down to Nine's safety. Or, would she advocate it if it made Nine happy?
The various thoughts swirling in his mind did nothing for his unease of the situation, causing him to fall into a vicious cycle of imagining something worse.
The Vampire took a deep breath to regulate his thoughts, shoving away the negative ones. By the time he met back up with Nine, he was all smiles again.
He glanced at the core, which flashed menacingly at him, before glancing away.