Ink in Your Insides
Griff stood before the apartment complex, duffel bag slung across her shoulder. Saul and Kyra had gone ahead, while the knight and Beau took their time. The streets were fairly busy, but despite the chug of traffic at her back, Griff couldn’t help but smile at being back at Valyrdonn. Glancing up, she looked to the purple, transparent phoenix that lazily glided overhead and through the apartments. The rain had faded into a sprinkle, the sun peaking slightly through the dark clouds.
“If you don’t mind me asking…what’s the plan?” Beau queried, sitting on the hood of the Chevy. That’s…a good question. Griff bit her lip. “I suppose…we’ll get settled in. I need to talk to the students on their floor and anyone else that knew Ava. They’ll be in class as of now, so in the meantime we can visit a friend of mine to find you a place to stay. Somewhere quiet and warded,” She said, forming her plan as she went along. It was basic, but it was all she had to go on. Who knew when Rook and Elaine would make contact w with any information? It was a matter of patience and keeping a trained eye on her three charges. With Beau following close behind, Griff wound her way up the apartment complex. In the elevator, she watched as they went up and up until they reached the twenty-fourth floor.
“How long do you think we’ll be staying here?” Beau asked as they stepped out of the stuffy elevator. “As long as we need to,” She said, stifling a shrug. The lobby had been quiet, but that was to be expected during school hours. The twenty-fourth floor was no different. The whole floor was dedicated to the class of six that resided on the floor. In the hours given, they were expected to go the wide-spaced room and learn what they could from their Akardecai. While Beau seemed to find the apartment a comfy space, filled with chairs, couches, many planets and a water fountain feature built into the wall with warm wooden floorboards, Griff barely resisted the urge to duck her head.
“You’re the Knight the Church sent, yeah?” A sleepy red-headed youth asked, hands stuffed into the pockets of his blue uniform. He was almost as tall as her.
“Grifftec,” She shook his limp hand. Her sudden politeness caught him by surprise, but he shook her hand regardless. Beau introduced himself and the youth guided the both of them to the spare room. It was small, but shared the same comforts as the rest of the floor. Two soft mats, with an assortment of flowers lining the walls. But most importantly, a wide window with a clear view of the city below. Before the youth could slink away, Griff caught him by the sleeve.
“You didn’t give us your name? We’re going to be here for a while, and I’ll be talking with everyone on this floor. So uh, there’s no need to feel uncomfortable me,” She said with a small smile.
“I’m – I’m Casey. I’ve got to go back to class now but um, my twin sister basically runs this floor so if you guys need anything, just let me know,” He said with a smile and a slight blush.
They settled in quickly enough, Griff kicking her mattress to the other side of the room for the sake of her own space. An old habit. Even in the Church, Rook and Elaine knew to knock if they needed her and generally keep their distance from her private space. Perhaps it was why she preferred cold nights in the garden rather than beside the fireplace rapt in conversation over soup and honey-cakes as Ellia and Rook oft did.
“Are you going to visit the Golden Sisters while we’re here? Beau asked, looking out the window.
This made Griff pause. As much as she wanted to visit Danny and Nora, she wasn’t entirely sure she’d be welcome amongst the famed circle of healers. “I’ll try,” Griff replied, brushing the question off. “Let’s visit that friend of mine, first, shall we?”
Down the puddle-filled street with the slight sprinkle of rain still present, the two went to the suburb streets of Valyrdonn. A gaggle of rainbow-coloured imp spirits followed them down the street, hiding behind street lamps and bushes every time Griff spun around as if to catch them out. Beau simply let one of them curl up on his shoulders, playing with his ponytail and chatting in its sing-song call. “So,
this friend of yours…how is it he knows about warded homes?” He asked. Griff sighed through her nose, putting her hands into the pockets of the coat. “There are a few, apart from the Knights, who know how to craft safety wards. They’re not exceptionally powerful but they serve their purpose,” She explained, turning to cross the road. They waited for a car to pass, and Griff ignored the look Beau gave her. A look that asked for her to elaborate. The entire street was two rows of identical houses with no space between them. Two-stories high, ornate black fences leading up the short staircases leading to the front door, each painted a different colour. This particular house, was the house of blue and white. Upon a door of inky dark navy, Griff knocked with the brass knocker. To Beau’s surprise and to somewhat Griff’s, a spirit answered the door. A tall, spindly creature that seemed to be both man and a raven opened the door for them. Lifting the beak that curled over the top of its human-like head, the creature seemed to recognise Griff and stood to the side.
“Can you uh…take us to Dante? He usually paints in the morning,” She asked, resisting the urge to shy away from the imposing figure. The raven-man nodded, remaining silent as he led the two to the painter’s sun-room. The house itself had a calming aura about it. It smelled of lavender and warmth seemed to rise from the walls and floor. The house echoed its owner. An owner that was nowhere to be found in his own painting room. Instead, a blue jay sat before a canvas, the paint brushes moving on their own accord to paint the bird.
“Your friend…” Beau began. He was interrupted by the blue jay’s sudden squawk and the fact it shifted into that of a blue-haired man. His lightning-silver eyes squinted in welcome as he went to hug her.
“Griff!” Dante grinned, their hug turning into a spin. Despite the grin on her face that made her mouth hurt, she couldn’t help but notice Beau’s retreat, backing up into the doorway. She stepped away from her old friend and took her new friends arm, eyes urging him to calm down.
“This is Dante, he’s a friend…and a witch. An ink witch, specifically. But he’s a good man,” Griff said, meaning every word. He was a witch, true. But he was a good man first and foremost. Beau remained, but he seemed stiff. After a moment of thoughtful silence, Dante urged him to sit on the painters’ stool. When he complied, Griff rested a hand on his upper arm. The Ink witch took a scrying pen from his tool set and scratched a symbol into a blank canvas, rested on the window. From the scratches, ink and paint poured until they formed a picture of the street they were in. “It’s part of my job to find a home for people. Somewhere in Valyrdonn where they are safe and comfortable. But to do that, I need to know the person I’m helping. So, tell me about yourself,” Dante urged, his silver eyes soft and kind. Beau wrung his hands, his heel tapping in the air. He glanced at Griff for a moment.
“Yeah…well I can’t exactly remember much. I was a prisoner of the Candlewax witch for…a long time. I know my name is Beau. But not much else,” He said, his eyes distant and tired looking. Dante took a moment to think. “Hmm. Griff, would you mind leaving us for a few moments? I think it’d be best if we could talk privately,” He asked. She gave Beau’s arm a small squeeze, exchanging a look with him. “I won’t be far,” She murmured.
Even with the door nearly closed, the house quickly became silent. Silent, save for the tick of the grandfather clock at the end of the hallway. So quiet, that she didn’t quite hear the approach of the Crow-man beside her.
“Ah, hello there,” Griff greeted him. It was hard to tell what he was. A man. A crow. A spirit, most likely. He was tall, nearly reaching the roof. His clawed, black-feathered arms brushed below its hips, but his legs were that of a man. It also didn’t seem to blink. He nodded slightly, his own way of greeting. “If you don’t mind me asking…who exactly are you?” She asked, folding her arms. The silver chains and rather large necklace on his chest clattered as he motioned for her to follow. He smelled of lavender, too. In the living room, he brewed coffee for the both of them. Griff sat in silence, patient. If she was going to understand him, she had to understand him in the tongue in which he spoke. One without words. Together they drank. At a point, he passed to her a photo album. An old, brown, leather-bound album, its spine lined with its many uses. Tentatively, Griff opened it. The inside of the cover was signed with, Dante & Caine. And the first page, had but one picture. It was Dante, with another black-haired man. On the next page, it was them in this very room, having tea. The next page was a collection of them on their travels, mainly throughout Valyrdonn. They’re…very sweet. But with every page, the man with black hair became thinner and thinner. Paler and paler. Until, the pictures changed. They became pictures of crows, the Grove of the Golden Sisters and of candles. There was one last picture, one at the end. And it was of them. The crow, and of Dante, caressing the arm of the spirit-creature. With a finger-tip, Griff brushed over the first picture of Caine and looked to the spirit.
Oh Caine. What did he do to you?
Cro’a Coine and Griff looked to each other, letting the silence speak for itself. Cro’a Coine. Not Caine, nor a crow. But Cro’a Coine. And maybe they would’ve remained that way, had Dante not called out for Griff. In the painters room, she found the two as she had left them. Beau sitting on the stool, his elbows on his knees, face buried in his hands. Dante simply stared at a blank canvas, scrying pen in hand.
“Did you find something?” She asked, leant against the doorway. “Well…that’s the thing. I think he’s already found the right place for him,” Dante said. “And where would that be?” She asked, drawing out every word.
“The Church,” Beau said for himself, looking to her.
~
A place where he can be safe and warm. The Church? It was evident that it was a place all their charges could be safe, but for a short time at the most. No one, other than the Knights had thought to live there…But maybe Beau can be different. Sorting this case will give me an idea of how useful he can be.
Back in the apartments, Beau secluded himself to the room, asking quietly to be left alone. Griff, with a twinge of guilt did just that. With classes nearly over for the day, she sought out the Akardecai. They were peaceful, knowledgeable spirits. Kind, neutral and respected by most humans in Valyrdonn, as they had taught many generations. Even with their haggard appearance resembling that of a crone and a vulture. She found the one that taught this floor sifting through its nest of notes. Please be cooperative. Griff sat upon her folded legs, hands respectfully sitting on her lap.
“Greetings, teacher. I was hoping that you might be able to aid me in my investigation of some of your students?” She asked. The spirit gave her a small sniff, and rose best she could in spite of her hunched back. Her lizard-like tongue flickered from between her fangs. “This is regarding the passing of Ava then. Poor girl. My heart breaks when a student passes before their time, especially when passing such as long way from home. She was a friend to most, a kind, studious girl. Her flat-mates all cared for her, but she didn’t seem to have any close friends save for Kyra. They shared a room with Saul, in fact,” The Akardecai explained. Griff bit her cheek. “She wasn’t close with Saul?”
“They were…odd. I know my students on an educational level, but when it comes to the intricacies of their social circles…well, it’s difficult for me to say. I believe you would be better off talking to my other students about the nature of those three. But please, be kind when speaking of their passed friend. If her spirit is restless as Saul claims, it is best they look to how she lived and not how she is now,” The spirit said. What has Saul said to the Akardecai? It’s reasonable that most creatures become close with their spirit teachers, and that they would confide and in matters such as this. I’ll need to know what the rest of the students know in relation to Ava and the spirit that broke the ice and killed her. But Saul…he believes that that creature was Ava? For a man that refused to barely speak a word to us, he finds it easy to share his theories with a spirit that has no say in the affairs of deaths of humans. There are too many possibilities for what could’ve happened to Ava’s spirit. Maybe Rook and Elaine found her by the lagoon. Maybe she’s trapped at the bottom of the freezing waters, or perhaps she became a spectral rabbit and fled into the mountain woodland. All I can do from here is figure out the person she was, instead of focusing on the spirit she might be. The question is, is why would Saul assume that she would be malevolent and restless?
Finding that everything else Saul had said to the spirit lined up Kyra’s story, Griff moved on, thanking the teacher for her time. Most of the students at this point had begun to retreat to their rooms, only a few lights of the living room remaining. By the glass windows looking out into the glowing city, a grand piano sat. Its back glistened with the soft lights of the spirits soaring about between the skyscrapers. Titan Birches, weaving in between some buildings swayed gently in the sigh of the night. At the piano, Casey sat, brushing his fingers over the keys. So transfixed with the piano, he didn’t notice Griff finding a seat beside him.
“Self-taught or did the Crone teach you?” She asked, pressing a few keys. Realising she was there, Casey seemed to withdraw himself with a sharp intake of breath. “Oh um…my mother was a pianist. She taught me most of what I know,” he said, sitting up straight. “That’s sweet. Do you see much of home these days?” Griff said. Through peripheral vision she watched his little movements that tried to desperately to mask his nervousness. “In the holidays, every now and then. I like it better here but, Maria misses home a lot, so…”
“Maria, your twin?” Griff said, spinning to face him by straddling the piano chair. Noticing his unrestrained glances, she began to tap her heel against the air out of habit. “Uh, yeah. She isn’t really uh, happy with you and your friend staying here. Griff tapped her heel faster. She’d set out to find information on the three of them…but there’d been this awful feeling in her gut ever since they’d left the Ink witch’s house. And it had only compounded when Beau, in that quiet voice of his had asked to be left alone. And then, it was only made worse when she thought that this feeling was her own damn fault. Griff wanted to make this feeling go away. Casey, from how unsettled and from his unsubtle glances, seemed more than willing to help her with this. She slid forward. The fact that his controlling sister didn’t even like her made it even more…incentivising. “What about you…do you like me being here?” She asked, slow-like. He looked to the piano keys and swallowed.
“Yeah I…I like it.” Casey was the same age as her, perhaps a few months older, despite their similar, freakish height. But he’d clearly never taken the initiative, given his incessant blushing. “You know what, Casey? I’ve had a shitty day. And I’m cold and tired. But I’m gonna take a shower to fix one problem. Would you like to join me?” Griff said softly, tracing her finger tips across his thigh. Feeling the warmth now radiating from him and his jagged breath, it was easy to guess his answer. He wrapped a hand around her wrist, caressing her hand with a thumb. “I…well yeah, but um, I’ve never done anything like this so, fast, with someone,” Casey admitted. With a small smirk, Griff leant in and whispered into his ear. “It’s not about romance, is it? Just feeling good.” Her lips and cheek brushed against his light stubble, his breath warm and heavy against her neck.
It was a matter of feeling someone else’s warmth. A matter of feeling something else, by giving pleasure to another. To do something…good.
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