The black swirl seemed to spin into expansion; its shape like a circle with the surface of a growing whirlpool.
The pool was made from a jet-black substance where it hovered impossibly in the air, facing flat toward the rest of the room, where it sat in the corner.
The front of the swirl was like a tide of ink, clashing for dominance with others waves as it sloshed around violently.
Julius stood with a cold expression as he processed the spinning calamity before him.
His hand's slipping free from his pockets, twitching toward his blazer, uncertain whether to reach or not.
Then something materialized from the void, a hand, a skeleton's bony fingers wrapped in straps of black leather.
"Oho, look who decided to join us." Julius's father voiced again from seemingly nowhere and everywhere at once, his voice still delightfully upbeat like a preset of a voice chosen for a character in a video game.
The cosmic eye never seemed to move, remaining eerily still apart from the floating blue specks within what could only be considered as it's body.
Sol seemed unimpressed by not just the figure climbing through the swirls but also the cosmic entity across from her.
Mr Ignis rolled his fiery eyes, his burning rocks for eyes shifting back just a tad.
His gaze then shifting to focus on Julius, not missing the way the boy plainly ignored the existence of his own father.
Meanwhile Fenrir had continued slumbering deeply, dreaming vividly about a grand hall full of warriors from Valhalla all bowing to him as king.
Finally after stepping through the swirls, the figure was revealed completely, the swirl closing in on itself into thin air behind the figure.
Its figure was tall and remarkably bony, dressed in a black hood that cast an endless shadow where Its face should've been.
Black leather shoulder pads stuck to Its slim frame, with faint glowing white trim on each pad in a specific circular pattern.
The pattern featured an arch inside the circle that peaked up and curved inside the circle before dropping back down.
Its torso was dressed in the same sort of leather, hiding whatever was beneath from sight.
The leather chest plate was thick and bulky like its shoulder pads, with light grey fur brushing the outlines of Its chest plate and shoulder pads.
Behind it, the hood trailed down into a cloak that dropped to its hips, a worn broadsword holstered on Its back.
Its forearms were almost completely exposed to the gazes coming from the room, if not for the black leather straps wrapped lazily around its bones.
its radius and ulna, along with the rest of its skeleton hands, were a dusty grey colour.
its voice, when it spoke, was ominous and rough as if its voice was burnt with smoke.
"You." It croaked in a raspy voice, raising its flimsy finger toward Julius. "Stole." It breathed harsh with accusation.
A dangerous mist spilling free, from where the shadow sat under its hood, as it spoke.
Then its head turned, it's finger lowering back to its side as the shadow under the hood faced suddenly toward the cosmic eye.
It stood deathly still, grunting another breath of mist, reluctantly lowering the other hand that had been secretly trailing toward its broadsword on its back.
Julius stood just as deathly still, his body tense with precaution, both fists raised subtly to his waist.
His eyes scanned the skeletal figure before him, narrowing subtly onto him with vigilance.
The shadow under the hood turned again to face Julius, the two caught in a deadlock of gazes.
"Keeper, it is best if you take your leave." Sol ordered in a royal tone as she crossed her fiery arms, so very clearly used to having power over subjects.
"Yes, Keeper." Agreed Ignis, who was still holding Fenrir upright against him. "We are investigating the matter." Assured Ignis in a professional tone.
"May we remind you that it was you, who should've kept better watch over the vault in the first place, Keeper." Sol reprimanded the skeletal figure in a calm tone.
The Keeper stood deathly still again, it's bony figure never even twitching let alone give a sign of acknowledgement.
Instead it pointed its head down toward Julius feet, at the shadow behind him cast by Sol's peaceful glow.
The keeper's own shadow then extended in a line from itself, its own shadow visibly reaching out, as it dragged along the floor like a drawing come to life.
Julius's eyes widened, feeling a sudden pang of instinctual unease like cold flame in his gut, reaching suddenly for his blazer pocket.
However it was too late.
The keeper's shadow had already extended eight metres, reaching Julius's shadow, suddenly pouring its own shadow into the boy's.
At once Julius's shadow coughed as it suddenly became animated.
From Julius's perspective he watched as the keeper's shadow tangled around his own, then strangled his shadow like an anaconda.
Julius could feel a faint pressure weakly building in his core, as if feeling a fraction of the pain from his shadow.
"T-the lake...The vault is in Lake Mnemosyneon." Julius's shadow croaked before the keeper's shadow finally released it and slunk back to its own shadow like fading ink.
Julius remained cold and silent after the shadow's admission, huffing quietly through his nose.
Mr Ignis breathed an agitated sigh, placing his fingers to his temple whilst his other arm curled around Fenrir's limp body.
Sol even lost her smooth composure and growled in frustration. "How did he-" Sol stopped herself to groan angrily.
"Check again, Keeper." Sol ordered in a stern tone, refusing to believe what she heard.
The Keeper already began to step over, its bony foot not even making one step on the floor before suddenly...
BANG!
In an instant the keeper found itself flat on the floor, sprawled out weakly and unable to move, as an impossible pressure poured down onto its skeletal frame.
"I think that's enough fiddling with his shadow. " The cosmic eye remarked with a hearty chuckle that sounded off-putting, like a robotic laugh that was programmed wrong.
"U-Ugh...W-What's going on..." Fenrir murmured in a drowsy voice as he awoke, raising a palm to his cheek in his grogginess.
Then Fenrir registered the Keeper on the floor, the wooden flooring slightly caved in around the skeletal body where the pressure crushed the keeper into place.
Fenrir suddenly went pale all over again, already dropping his head back and slumping into Mr Ignis's arms once more.
Julius, who noticed the chaos, decided to act on it.
Mr Ignis had his head faced away from centre of the room and toward Fenrir who lay unconscious in his arms by the doorway again.
Julius bolted forward, leaping over Mr Ignis just as the rocky man crouched to catch Fenrir.
Julius landed with a squeak as his shoes hit the linoleum outside the office, quickly bolting down the hall and leaving behind the sound of distant squeaking.
Mr Ignis growled and started to give chase, abandoning the chaos and Fenrir behind him.
...
Julius moved like a ripple in water, the distant sounds of an angry Mr Ignis growing further out of reach.
His arms pumped fiercely underneath him as he dashed through the corridors, never even feeling even a trace of fatigue as he raced toward the lobby.
Suddenly one of the doors in the hallway flew open, a boot heel extended straight where the door had previously stood closed.
Julius came to a halt suddenly, his shoes screeching against the floor as he skidded to a stop.
Then a familiar fierce voice called out from the doorway, the leg pulling out of view as it retracted past the doorframe.
"Hah! Mr Ignis will be expecting you to go outside." The familiar voice said before stepping past the doorframe to reveal themselves.
Thurid stood in a wide stance with a beaming smile in the corridor, her thick arms bent as her fists found her hipbones.
"Jeez Sparrow, I didn't take you for the slow type." Thurid chuckled with a wide smile, rolling her eyes dramatically as she joked.
Julius focused gaze softened with familiarity at the sight of Thurid, as if her warmness had infected Julius just a bit.
"When I find you, Sparrow, you won't hear the end of it!"!" A stern voice yelled distantly down the hall, their eloquent tone dripping with heat like magma.
"Come on, he won't find us on the rooftop." Thurid assured Julius with a mischievous grin, gesturing to the doorway she came from.
Julius stepped past Thurid in silence, showing his back to her in the empty hallway, which was more of a sign of his trust than the act of following her itself.
The doorway led to a set of wide marble stairs, that travelled up to a platform, holding another set of stairs that pointed behind them and up again.
They continued climbing another two similar flights of stairs in quick paces, with Thurid mentally noting how impressed she was that Julius kept stride with her.
Thurid was known in the academy for her incredible physical abilities, Julius's must've been quite strong to keep up with Thurid's effortless pace.
Until eventually the two found a wall blocking them from going up any higher, embedded into the wall was a single grey metal door.
Julius reached out and pushed the door open, revealing a big clearing painted in slick black, the roof was like a black canvas dotted with ventilation systems.
The sky was now an orange haze, their heads tilted up as they walked along the roof and toward the edge.
Julius could visibly see the rest of the academy buildings from where he stood, noticing the scatter of brick buildings and the black metal gate in the distance.
From somewhere below, the sound of a disgruntled magma headmaster marching around could be heard.
"Quite the view, huh?" Thurid asked with an amused smirk as she stepped beside Julius. "I'm Thurid, I'm-"
Julius finished her sentence as he interrupted her in a calm tone. "Thor's daughter."
Thurid blinked with confusion, surprised how he already knew but thought it pointless to talk about.
"Right and you're...Surtr's kid?" She responded after pausing, to remember class this morning.
Julius didn't respond, he gazed at her from the sides of his eyes before slowly drifting back to look ahead.
"So..." Thurid began hesitantly, sensing the tension and uncomfortably changing the subject. "What'd you do to get into trouble?"
Julius glanced at Thurid again, for a moment he seemed unresponsive as ever.
Suddenly his lips parted, slowly speaking in a more uncertain tone that somehow never lost it's coldness. "I stole a portal to a library..."
A pause.
Silence.
Thrurid blinked in confusion.
Then.
"PPFFTTT! YOU STOLE THE AKASHIC RECORDS VAULT?" She blurted in uncontrollable laughter, one hand gripping her own stomach like it might burst from sheer laughter.
Julius's head whipped around instinctively at the volume in Thurid's laugh, his eyes narrowed into battle ready slits.
His arms raised defensively, thinking something was out to get him.
Then stilling suddenly as he processed the sound of Thurid's laughter, his arms relaxing back to his sides.
Suddenly Julius seemed unsure, his eyes wobbling with hesitance, his expression slightly shifting uncomfortably.
"Ah...That's just...How did you even do that?" She asked calmer after wiping a tear of laughter.
Julius stood hesitantly, suddenly unsure of himself, recognising he was experiencing a feeling he had never experienced before.
"A... friend...gave it to me." He murmured softly, his eyes dropping as he thought of how to word the sentence.
For a moment he felt a warmness enveloping his very being, his eyes meeting Thurid's as he processed it.
Then for an even more fleeting moment, he recognised this feeling.
His lips twitched just a bit, like he might just smile and laugh.
Then suddenly, he remembered the vault.
"So, what now? I know a nymph that makes real good honey cakes." Thurid asked hesitantly after watching Julius's eyes grow dimmer than normal, trying to lighten the mood.
Julius chin turned away from her, breathing something soft and quiet through his nose.
"I know a nymph that owes me a ride." Julius replied in the same plain tone, hard to tell whether he was joking or not.
Then Julius stepped forward and onto the grey ledge of the roof, standing straight with the edge of the roof at the tips of his shoes.
Then unexpectedly he swung his leg out again, Thurid's eyes widening with panic as she reached out. "JULIUS!"
Only for her to catch empty air, where the hem of Julius's blazer previously was, as Julius fell forward and out of sight.
For a moment the world stood still, Thurid's arm frozen where it hovered in mid-air.
"Julius!" Thurid cried out again, pushing forward to look over the ledge.
FWOOSH!
A huge gust of wind made Thurid stumble back as soon as she tried to lean over the ledge.
She wobbled her thick arms in the air to find her balance, her sturdy legs catching herself quickly before she processed the sight in front of her.
Past the ledge, in mid-air, sat Julius hovering in mid-air.
Beneath him was what seemed to be a horse, shaped from pressurised wind that somehow never affected Julius.
Its form was visible when squinting, its curves made from wind whipping around its body at high speeds, with large wings that effortlessly flapped.
That was when Thurid realised this was no horse, but rather a Pegasus.
It's long horse face huffed a visible mist from its transparent body.
"So reckless! Summoning my steads whenever you want!" a high pitch voice nagged from behind Julius, who's facial expression was as unchanging as normal.
Then a shape flew past and around Julius, making itself visible to Thurid.
Thurid watched as a tiny jade-green shade flapped with tiny wings beside Julius.
Thurid recognised this tiny fair as a Nymph, a very irritated one at that.
The Nymph's body glowed a faint green like sunlight enveloping a leaf.
Her body was the size of a bunny and transparent with an almost blurry hue.
"Remember that this is the last ride of mine you'll ever hitch!" the Nymph screeched angrily.
Julius sat with his arms folded, his legs each thrown either side of the wind creature, his expression still dull and bored.
"You!" The Nymph yelled in an annoying pitch as she pointed her tiny finger at Thurid.
"Don't let this handful, or his reckless clown companion, rope you into his shenanigans." The Nymph warned to Thurid as she pointed her thumb behind her at the very unfazed Julius.
"...A Nymph..." Thurid breathed to herself as her eyes softened, her lips curving into a smirk soon after.
"A nymph literally owes you a ride." She realised aloud before snorting again.
"Argh don't bring it up." The Nymph groaned in irritation.
"This mortal is about as the craftiest I've ever seen. Making all sorts of deals." The green shade huffed angrily.
Thurid blinked with blank confusion, looking up at Julius, suddenly looking uncertain.
"Mortal?" Thurid asked in a soft and curious voice, very visibly confused as she tilted her head to the side.
The Nymph's eyes winded before suddenly rolling dramatically "Ahhh! See! That's what I'm talking about!" The Nymph shouted in an outburst of frustration, her finger wagging at Thurid.
Julius breathed a hot sigh of exasperation, sinking his head forward with loud silence.
Thurid stood in confusion, parting her lips to question Julius but not before the angry Nymph interrupted her.
"Right! I've had enough! Go on now, scram the both of you!" She screeched again with a dramatic huff, folding her arms and turning her back to the two.
The sound of her tiny wings buzzing violently to keep her afloat was awfully awkward in the silence between Thurid and Julius.
Julius finally looked up from where he was staring into the Pegasus's mane of wind.
His cold eyes caught the way Thurid stood unsure, a unfamiliar feeling aching in pang in his chest.
"...It's a long story." Julius breathed in a soft voice, his gaze averting from hers as he breathed a quiet uncomfortable sigh to himself.
Thurid blinked again at his answer, noticing how Julius subtly looked away, her lips slowly finding themselves stretching.
Then suddenly Thurid stepped forward, clambering onto the back of the Pegasus.
"So where to!" Thurid asked in a cheerful tone, as if her earlier confusion had been forgotten in an instant, her massive frame causing the Pegasus to shift mid air.
"W-what are you-" Julius strained suddenly as the Pegasus adjusted to Thurid's bulking frame, Julius's eyes widening from such an unexpected gesture.
"Oh shut your can...mortal." Thurid teased in a loud cheery voice as she settled onto the Pegasus's back.
"I'm a simple girl, I see a flying wind thing, I ride flying wind thing!" She cheered again with just as cheery a smile.
"Besides, I can always beat that information out of you later...mortal." She teased again in a calmer voice, her lips pulling themselves subtly into a smirk.
Julius at once breathed a long sigh through grit teeth as the Pegasus finally stilled, his mind unused to such company.
Julius reflexively reached toward his blazer, his fingers brushing a familiar star-shaped token inside his blazer, an assurance that came from habit.
Then pausing as he breathed a controlled breath through his nose, his hand dropping from his blazer.
For a moment Julius was silent, maybe even content, his lips twitching just a bit before he took hold of reigns made from wind.
Julius's lips narrowed, blowing a bizarre tune through his mouth as he tugged on the reigns.
The creature lunged into the air with a loud neigh that sounded as if the wind carried the noise in slices.
Thurid almost tumbled back, holding tightly onto Julius's waist, causing him to silently wince from the strength of her grip.
Then the creature leaned back down where it hovered mid air, its giant wings rising and flailing down to propel the three higher into the air.
Thurid waved goodbye to the Nymph on the roof now far beneath them now "Goodbye little one!"
"DO NOT CALL ME THAT" screeched the Nymph as she threw her fists angrily Infront of her, spinning away to fold her arms as the Pegasus raced through the clouds.
"...Be careful."
end of chapter 3