Quinton opened the gift that had been sent to her from Zachary, through the system. She had many other questions to ask him, but he left before she had the chance to ask. "Dang it, well, what am I supposed to do with these?", she said looking at the two keys in her hand that came from the gift given to her by Zachary.Quinton stared at the keys in her hand, her mind still trying to wrap around all that has happened. Zachary had given her two keys, but what did they open? And what was the point of giving them to her?She turned the keys over in her hands, studying them. They looked old and worn, but there was something oddly familiar about them.Quinton shook her head and looked up at the stairs that lead to the second floor of the destroyed castle, it had been some time since Wendy had gone up their to find Dashi.Quinton's gaze shifted to the stairs that led up to the castle's second floor. Wendy had gone up there a while ago, searching for Dashi. She wondered if they had found anything of interest while up there.She hesitated for a moment, still holding onto the keys in her hand, before making her way over to the stairs. Then she turned away from them, deciding to figure out where the keys went to first. It could possibly be the way out of this castle, since the front door of the castle was just blocked by fallen debris earlier.As Quinton looked around the castle, she realized she never actually took the time out to take note of the scenery.She began walking through the ruined castle halls, she couldn't help but take in the scenery around her. She took note of the crumbling stone walls, the broken and dusty furniture, and the cobwebs that hung from the ceiling. It was eerie, yet fascinating. She tried to picture what the castle would have looked like before it had been destroyed.Quinton continued walking through the castle until she noticed two double doors far ahead.When Quinton reached the double doors, she took one of the keys out, her gaze fixated on the lock in the center. She fumbled with the keys in her hand for a moment before inserting one into the lock. With a turn and a click of the lock, both doors opened."Huh... it worked," she said aloud, a little surprised that the key had actually unlocked the door.She walked into the room and as soon as she did, the doors both shut on their own, and multiple candles instantly lit in the room.
The sound of the doors shutting behind Quinton echoed through the room, followed by the sudden lighting of several candles. The room was bathed in an instant in a soft, warm glow.
She looked around the room, her eyes scanning the area. The room was dimly lit, with the flickering candlelight casting dancing shadows on the walls.Quinton's eyes adjusted to the light of the lit candles and she glanced around the room. It appeared to be some sort of study, with dusty bookshelves lining the walls and a large desk in the center of the room. The air was thick with the smell of dust and decay.As she took a few steps closer to the desk, she noticed something glinting on its surface.
Quinton walked over to the desk, her footsteps echoing in the empty room. As she reached the desk, she saw what was gleaming on its surface. It was some sort of old letter, the paper yellowed and brittle.She picked up the letter carefully, her hands shaking slightly. As she began to unfold it, she could see that the writing on it was faded, but still somewhat legible.The letter read:"if you are reading this, I am most likely dead. In my vision, I saw the kingdom falling, many dying at the hands of who we thought would be our allie. Eric, Lisa, if you are still alive and are seeing this, don't let anyone find this letter who isn't meant to. If the candles don't light for them, they are not the one. But know that, if you are not who I have mentioned, and you are still alive now after reading this. Then this is for you." The letter read.Quinton read the words on the letter, her heart beating faster with each sentence. Whoever had written this letter seemed to have predicted the downfall of their kingdom, along with the possible deaths of Eric and Lisa. this was probably what happened to this castle. but the question was, if this was the case why was the castle still standing? everything seemed so worn and old, as if this happened years ago.She felt a pang in her chest as she read the words, knowing that they were likely not alive anymore based on what the letter had said. As she finished reading, she folded the letter back up and placed it on the desk, her mind racing with unanswered questions.She didn't understand the last part though, what did it mean "Then this is for you"?Quinton stared at the letter, her thoughts swirling. The last part of the letter was cryptic and confusing. "Then this is for you." What did it mean? Who was it meant for? She didn't know.She picked up the letter again, her eyes scanning the words for any hint of a clue, but the letter didn't offer any further explanation. She sighed in frustration, setting the letter back down on the desk.Suddenly, a she heard something fall off one of the book shelves, which scared her, it wasn't everyday that a book falls off a shelf, it wasn't windy or anything in the room either.The sudden sound of a book falling off a shelf caused Quinton to jump, her heart racing. She looked towards the bookshelves, her eyes darting around, trying to find the source of the noise."Who's there?" she called out, her voice wavering slightly.she didn't get a response, and wasn't sure if she should grab the fallen book or not, even so, what else was she meant to do?After a moment of hesitation, Quinton decided to cautiously approach the fallen book. Her footsteps echoed through the room as she made her way over to the bookshelf.She knelt down and picked up the book, a thin layer of dust coming off it as she did so. As she turned it over in her hands, she noticed something unusual.The book didn't have a title, but something was folded inside it. She pulled it out of the book and opened it, the thing was half of a scroll, she wasn't sure what this had to do with her, or what it was even for, but deciding to keep it she stored it in her system inventory. As for the no name book, she opened it up and decided to look through it, flipping through the pages, it was completely empty.Quinton looked from the book to the scroll. Both were strange and seemingly without purpose. She put the scroll away in her system inventory and then opened the book, flipping through the pages.She was surprised to find that all the pages inside were completely empty. She flipped through the pages again, just to make sure she wasn't missing anything, but all the pages were indeed blank.She paused for a moment, wondering what the point of the book was if it had no writing in it.She decided to also store the book in her systems inventory, perhaps the words in the book we're hidden in some way, and if anyone could find them I would be Wendy. She just needed to get out of this chamber and find her and Dashi.Satisfied with storing the book and the scroll in her system inventory, Quinton made her way towards the doors of the room.As she approached the doors, she wondered why they'd shut behind her in the first place when she came into the room. But before she could dwell on it anymore, she pushed open the doors and stepped out into the hallway.Just as she stepped out into the hallway though, she felt something enter her body. It was strange and made her momentarily lose her entire train of thought.As soon as Quinton stepped out of the study, a strange sensation overcame her. It was like something was entering her body, filling her with an unusual feeling that made her lose all her thoughts.She stumbled backwards, her hand gripping the wall to steady herself. "What... what was that...?" she muttered, her voice shaking with confusion.Suddenly, she got a notification from her system."Three souls have been collected.Soul storage: 4 of 5 stored."
Quinton's eyes widened as the notification appeared in her system.Her mind was spinning, the words replaying in her head. Souls? What did this mean? She looked around, trying to make sense of what was happening.Quinton was confused now, as she'd only known of the direct way of getting souls was to use her hands, that was what the system voice told her, but was there another way that he didn't want to tell her? Was she a soul magnet or something?Quinton's mind raced with questions as she tried to make sense of the situation. She had been under the impression that the only way to get a soul was by touch. The fact that she had seemingly collected three souls without directly touching anything was unexpected, to say the least."Am I... some sort of soul magnet or something?" she thought aloud, her eyes darting around nervously.She wanted to be confused a little longer, but she couldn't afford to, she had to find Wendy and Dashi, and they needed to find the others to. They didn't know if they'd even be on the same planet, so this would be a issue.Quinton shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She knew she couldn't dwell on the soul thing for too long. She had to find Wendy and Dashi and continue on to find the others."Right, focus. I need to find them," she muttered to herself, pushing herself away from the wall and continuing down the hallway.-Quinton was looking for Wendy and Dashi. But she wouldn't find them inside the castle. as, Wendy found Dashi outside the castle, he was in severe pain and she could tell why. he'd been attacked by someone.So you could imagine, Wendy was dealing with a problem of her own, as she looked at Alia. "If you don't tell me who you are, and what your doing here. Your friend will die." Alia said, pointing a unique looking gun at Dashi, who was on the floor bleeding and glaring at Alia. Alia though, looked unfazed, she had two guns and had one pointed at Dashi and another ready in case Wendy tried anything. "Speak now, or he dies!"