As they all walked into the darkness and the back of the "H" closed with a crumbling sound behind them Bloom almost instantly regretted finding the inscription. The place was so dark the only thing she could see was the glow of Sal's eyes, who was in front of them, and Marcus's eyes, who'd somehow ended up right beside her.
Blue and gold, she thought, like stars in the sky.
Marcus whipped his head to her, as though he could read her mind, and she moved back instinctively. He was so close she could smell his scent, like the smell of ash after rain had fallen over it, the gold of his eyes like a swarm of fireflies trapped in glass orbs.
"Are you okay?" he asked. He looked so young, the question seemed an inappropriate one to ask her, after all he was but a child.
Except he's not, she reminded herself.
He was a kitsune, he grew based on the level of his magic, for all she knew he could be a hundred years old. And there was something in the way he asked, as though he truly cared, it made her feel a certain way, like she was lighting up from the inside.
"I'm alright" she answered.
He nodded and at that moment the darkness fell away as a ball of light hovered in front of Sal, his wand still in hand and a Daylight glyph burning on his skin.
She could see Marcus clearly now, his mop of pale blonde hair shining with the new light, his light skin shimmering. Bloom wondered what it was like for Marcus, to be so different from the people that were his blood, to be as set apart from them as light was set apart from darkness.
Bloom was about to ask but the moment to ask had passed. He was no longer looking at her, he was looking around them.
The place they'd thought was just darkness was actually what seemed to be a stairwell, the walls were of an earthy black stone that was definitely not from the Mortal World and nefarious looking symbols were scrawled onto it. In front of them was a staircase that led up and another that led down, there were no rails and the boards of both staircases looked well travelled.
But they gave Bloom a sinister feeling, like no matter which path they followed doom awaited them all in the end.
"Which way do we go?" Melchior asked, the fear he was feeling thrummed through their bond and even showed in the way he spoke.
Sal looked to Antony whose eyes and fists were clenched tight. Bloom didn't know what to think of this son of Neptune yet, but she felt that as long as his heart was with Sal it was in the right place.
Antony opened his crystalline eyes, pushing a strand of purple hair from his face and looking at the stairs in concentration.
"Down" he said, and then went down the stairs without hesitation.
Sal followed, his hands free in case he needed to draw Kyrona from it's sheath. They all followed after him, Bloom personally making sure Marcus was directly in front of her.
She didn't fail to notice the way Katarina followed directly behind Sal as well, her eyes watching him carefully, her steps not too far away from his. As if she was afraid he would stumble and fall and she wanted to be there to catch him if he did.
Bloom remembered Katarina's words that afternoon, the day Sal had discovered he was a Phantom, the day she admitted she had fallen for him.
I have...and I am not supposed to.
Bloom hadn't known what she meant that day, neither had she known that Katarina had fallen so far, so hard, for this ju chi.
"What are you thinking about?" Marcus asked suddenly beside her.
She turned to him but he was still not facing her, his eyes were turned to the steps unwaveringly.
"How love can catch even the keenest of creatures unaware" Bloom found herself saying.
Marcus took his old eyes off the stairs and looked at Bloom and she nearly regretted saying it. That was until he asked;
"And has it caught you yet?"
He gave her that look again, the one he'd given her back at the pack house, she could almost hear the words behind his gaze;
Do not be deceived, for my youthful looks are but a cloak hiding my true nature. Come to me that I may know you. Fox to Fey.
Bloom shook her head and looked at the bangles on her hand.
"I cannot be caught quite easily", she said, "I would need to fall first."
Marcus smiled, his tails swishing behind him, they looked so free, even as they stuck out of the hole made through his blue shorts.
"And only then can love catch you?, as though it were some kind of saviour?" he asked.
Bloom didn't reply, she'd said so much already, she didn't think she could trust whatever came out of her mouth next.
Marcus chuckled, it was light and young and free of any care in the world.
"Then I guess we must make you fall then" he said, and even without seeing him Bloom could hear the smile in his voice.
"Guys" Antony said suddenly.
Bloom turned her attention from Marcus, trying desperately to keep the smile off her face, and saw that they had reached the end of the staircase, waiting for them at the bottom was a door.
Even from where she stood she could tell it was made from the wood of a sycamore tree. On the face of the door and hanging from a rusted nail was a sign that read; You should have it all.
"This is it" Antony said, as he watched the coin in his hands pulse with energy, he sounded so much like Sal, it was really hard to tell them both apart by voice, and he was sweating. Strands of his purple hair had darkened and they stuck to his skin with sweat, rivulets trailing their way down his neck.
Bloom wondered how far underground they were or if they were even underground or in some other dimension.
"So do we knock?" Katarina asked.
The door flew open almost instantly and a creature was revealed standing in a ray of light that burst through the doorway.
It had the body of a man, but it instead of skin brown fur covered it's body from head to toe, and it's legs and hands were talons, it had slitted eyes that shone with the colours of precious things; gold, silver, emerald, ruby, sapphire, jade, even precious memories and cherished moments shone in those eyes, it had a grin on it's face that allowed sharp white canines to shoot out from it's lips and he had a shock of copper red and rust brown feathers atop it's head that served as it's hair.
"No need", the creature said, "Well met, I am Mammon, the Advocate of Greed, what can I take from you?"
***
Sal tried desperately not to look surprised.
When he'd heard Advocate of Greed he'd imagined someone as beautiful as all the other immortal entities he'd met, he'd imagined hair like gold, skin like marble and eyes like sapphires and a velvet robe over impossibly magnificeint shoulders.
Not a man bird.
"I know what you're thinking and I'm actually a griffin, Phantom" Mammon said coldly, glaring at Sal with precious eyes "but I'm not surprised you don't know me, even though I've tried countless times to appeal to you, you're just so deaf. I like your boss better, he reminds me of Midas at times"
Mammon didn't seem to realize he was the only one talking because he leaned against the doorframe like he was just getting started and wanted to be more comfortable, a lion's tail swished back and forth at Mammon's back like a pendulum.
"What do you want?" Mammon asked, "when I heard the coin's call I didn't expect a bunch of children to be at my doorstep" Mammon said, spitting out the word "children" like it was poison and squeezing his face like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
"We need information" Antony said.
Mammon scoffed and shook his head.
"You need something?, I'm afraid you've come to the wrong Advocate, go meet someone else, maybe Envy or Gluttony, I have none of the things you need here" Mammon said, then he pushed away from the doorway and stepped back to shut the door.
"Wait!" Sal said suddenly.
Mammon paused, raising jeweled eyes to look straight at Sal, the beginnings of a smile playing at the edge of his lips.
"Yes, Phantom"
Sal let out a breath, everyone was looking at him expectantly, even Mammon, he closed his eyes, feeling his mark burn as his mind whirred to life, thinking of something he could do.
Then he opened them, daring to look Mammon in the eye as he did.
"We want information" he said.
Mammon had not been entirely right when he said Sal did not know greed, he did, he'd known Boulder, and from Boulder he knew that greed was like any other emotion, but it was a feeling born purely of impulse. Not of necessity, but of want.
And when he saw Mammon's eyes sparkle with the lights of a thousand jewels he knew he'd been right.
"Blessed by the devil, Cursed by the gods, and still, you flourish" Mammon scoffed again, the feathers on his head rustling like leaves. "You are a Nightshade"
Mammon moved from the doorway and held it open for them.
"Come on in then", he said, "before I change my mind". And then he disappeared past the doorway, the shadow he'd cast with the light receding faithfully after him.
Sal nodded at his friends and walked in, their footsteps all clicked together as they stepped through into the light.
What the Advocate of Greed looked like may not have aligned with Sal's expectations. But where he lived was definitely what he'd expected.
The room itself was like a giant vault, the floor they walked on inlaid with iron that made Bloom flinch but didn't harm her in any other way, transparent boxes the height of castles stood on either side of them, their contents on display but out of reach.
There was gold. Stacks and stacks of gold in different shapes and sizes. Gold in the form of bars and coins, in the form of locks and chains, in the form of jewelry and vast forms of accessories. Even in it's pure form, right after it was sifted from the river's bottom and brought to the surface to shine in the world.
Then there were the jewels. Precious stones glimmered through the cases with enticement, they shone so bright they were impossible to miss. Rubies embedded in necklaces of gold, diamonds shaped into earrings, jade stones made into flashy rings.
There were currencies too, Euros and Dollars, Nairas and Francs, Pounds and Pennies. There were currencies he couldn't recognize and currencies he didn't even think existed. Bundles of Aztec, piles of drachmas, cowries and teeth, bones and beads.
Then there were shelves and shelves of books chained to the wall. Millenia of information displayed before them. Tablets of stone, scrolls of papyrus, books bound with leather and paper. Sal even thought he could see a writing on sand held firmly in place by some sort of magic.
"Don't touch anything" Mammon warned as they walked further into his home. He somehow seemed to be watching their every move even though he was right in front of them, he touched every case as they passed, taloned fingers screeching as they scratched the glass surfaces.
They walked until they reached what seemed to be the centre of the room.
Stationed there was a sofa of blood red cushions and golden wood, something that looked even more expensive than what Katarina could ever have, and facing the sofa was an orb placed ornamentally on a coffee table made entirely out of glass. The orb was black, as black as the coin, and it permeated powerful magic, not evil, not divine, just existent, as though such power was too raw to fall under any mortal concepts of wrong and right.
Mammon sauntered to the sofa dutifully and sat on the arm to face them. He didn't give the orb a single glance, his eyes were trained on Sal and his friends, and with the confidence and laziness of a spoilt brat he said;
"So what do you want to know?" he asked.
"Percival", Sal said instantly, the name had been at the back of Sal's mind for so long saying it out loud felt like saying a memory like it was a dream, something that had been so far away it seemed almost unreal. "I want to find Percival"
"Interesting" Mammon said with a smirk. Sal could tell from that smirk that things were about to take a very dark turn.
"And your friends" Mammon asked, "do they know you're all going on a suicide mission?"
Sal didn't know how to answer that, he knew Percival was dangerous, he knew he was powerful, the Court had said that much, but suicide mission?
"Sal what is he talking about?" Antony asked.
"I have no idea" Sal said honestly.
Mammon sighed and rolled his eyes like he was tired of listening to bullshit.
"The coin" he demanded.
Antony pulled out the coin, it was still enclosed in a handkerchief, though what was once just a blackened handkerchief was now an entirely black one.
Mammon smiled and the coin flew from Antony's hand and landed at the center of Mammon's palm, the handkerchief turning to dust as it did. Mammon tossed it into the air and caught it with his mouth, gulping it down a second later. He licked his lips with a serpentine tongue and closed his eyes in satisfaction.
"Percival Shawcroft" Mammon said, his eyes still closed as if he was experiencing great ecstasy, "he prefers Percival though, you know, cause of his daddy issues, I'm sure you can relate, son of Neptune"
Sal saw Antony flinch and clench his fist from the corner of his eye, he glared at Mammon, crystalline eyes taking a light green glow.
Mammon ignored him and faced Sal, this was just the tip of a string of provocations. Sal was determined not to let any of it get to him.
Mammon smiled as if he could read Sal's mind and continued.
"Percival is one of the deadliest necromancers on the mortal plane", he said, "going against him would be like going against an army with only a pen knife, many have tried over the years, of course many of those many only did so for the bounty on his head, few because he needed to be stopped."
"How do we stop him?" Katarina asked.
"I can't just keep answering every question you throw at me, what do you think I am?, Google?, three questions, nothing more."
"How do we stop Percival?" Katarina repeated impatiently.
"Quite simply actually, you kill him" Mammon said. "Next?"
"Obviously", Katarina said with a roll of her eyes, "I mean…."
"Kat wait" Bloom warned, a hand outstretched. "We need to ask the right questions"
Katarina sighed and turned to Sal, locking her eyes with his reflexively.
"Well?, it's your hunt" she said.
Sal tore his gaze from Katarina and turned to the smirking Advocate.
"How do we find Percival?" He asked.
Mammon stood from his seat and walked to Sal with superior elegance.
"The same way you found everyone else in this room" Mammon replied, "you look for him"
"I've tried that", Sal said frustratingly, "the Finding glyph isn't working on him, I can't connect with him"
"How awful" Mammon said with mock apology.
Sal sighed exasperatedly and tried to conceal all his frustration by clenching his fists. He kept his eyes on Mammon, feeling his mark burn as he sent a mental message to everyone around him.
Get ready.
There was shuffling of feet, a fresh whirl of emotion that filled the room. They'd heard him. Sal only hoped what he was about to do was going to work.
"What can I use to connect with him?" Sal asked.
Mammon smiled and stretched out his hand. The orb that had been on the table of glass flew from it's position to Mammon's upturned palm and hovered over it. With a snap of his finger the orb burst in a powder of dust and a locket with an engraving of a lily descended on Mammon's palm.
"This was his, a special gift that he held dear to his heart, you can use it to find him" Mammon said, he dangled the necklace by it's chain and allowed the light to spark of it, it was pure iron, it's surface a metallic gray.
Sal reached for it but Mammon pulled it back, looking at Sal with playful eyes.
"That was question number three, Phantom, we're done here" Mammon said.
"I want the necklace" Sal demanded.
"This necklace was a sacrifice, if you want it you must be willing to sacrifice something of your own, something just as precious." Mammon said, his eyes travelled from Sal's eyes to his pendant, then lower to his boots, and back up again, until they landed on Kyrona at his back.
"A sword forged by Vulcan himself, a blessing for a dedicated hunter, it's been desiccated, tainted with betrayal, surely it's of no value to you, Phantom"
Sal took a step back from Mammon, he'd been expecting this, a bargain of some sorts, but not Kyrona. As far as Sal was concerned it was Casmir's sword, it may have reminded Casmir of Katarina's betrayal but he'd kept it anyway, because it meant something to him.
"Anything else, not the sword." Sal said.
"Sal, just…just let it go" Katarina said, her voice sounded tight, like she was struggling to get the words out of her mouth.
"It's Casmir's sword" Sal argued, not taking his eyes off Mammon.
"It's mine" Katarina said, she didn't miss a beat, "and I said let it go"
She paused, most likely waiting for Sal to make a decision but he didn't budge, he couldn't give it up, Casmir would never want that, would he?
And then he heard Katarina whisper, her voice carried a plea he'd heard only on that first day they'd met. She was begging him once again, and he could hear her thoughts loud and clear.
Let him have it Sal, it is a reminder that Casmir is dead. I don't want to remember that my brother is gone.
Sal clenched his fist tighter, feeling his nails dig into his skin, and then unclenched it slowly, all the while maintaining eye contact with Mammon.
"I'll let it go" Sal said.
Mammon's smile grew wider and he stepped a foot closer, his left hand holding out the pendant and his right hand open and ready to collect Kyrona.
Sal reached behind him and wrapped his finger around Kyrona's hilt as he got closer and closer to the Advocate. He remembered the look on Casmir's face the first day he'd worn armour with the sword strapped to his back, he remembered the astonishment on Casmir's face, the admiration shining in his silver eyes.
"I'll let it go alright" Sal whispered as he got to Mammon.
And then, like a whisper of it's own, Kyrona was pulled from it's sheath with a speed as swift as a sparrow's flight, and Sal sliced it in a sinister arc towards Mammon's outstretched hand.
Sal knew what he was doing was beyond reckless, and he knew without a doubt that there would be consequences for his actions. There was a possibility that none of them would make it out of this alive.
But he did it anyway.
He watched with glee as Kyrona sliced down on Mammon's hand and the Advocate's eyes went wide with surprise. He expected the silver sword to go straight through it, and had imagined snatching the necklace as the severed limb fell to the floor.
Fate had other things planned though.
For as the sword met Mammon's hand Sal felt it vibrate as though he'd struck a block of iron, and then Kyrona shattered in a shower of sharp silver shards.
Pieces of the sword went flying and Sal shielded himself with his hand. When he brought them down Mammon was looking at him with a sinister sneer on his lips.
"Did you really think that would work?" Mammon said.
He took a step closer and Sal found himself inching backward, his chest was pounding, his pendant shone bright blue and he clenched his hands tight to prevent them from shaking. His brain told him to run but his feet seemed rooted to the spot.
"I am the Advocate of Greed, born before the world was formed, living since the beginning of time, made from the thoughts of the Wicked One" Mammon said, his eyes glowed brighter, the lights from them were enticing and blinding and hateful.
"I am immovable" he snarled, as claws erupted from his hands and his fangs grew into curves over his face.
Oh shit.