This choice: they take a wrong turn and stumble upon other "members" • Go Back... Baz and Saz were walking down the cold, dark hall, soon reaching a set of stairs going down.
"I guess the magic section is in the underground." Baz said.
"Ooh, I feel so cold in here. It's like we're inside some kind of ice-monster's stomach..." Saz said, clinging closely to her brother.
The orb of eldrich light floating above them glowed brightly, but brought no warmth to their water-proof fur and skin. Baz hung an arm over his sister as he held her close.
"Don't worry, sis, just...Imagine that we're in a dungeon, searching for untold treasure! And best of all, it will contain books that can tell us where to find the Eye of Sarcous!" Baz said.
"Y-yeah, that's right...That's right! And no monster will stop the terrible twins!" Saz said, finally feeling relieved.
The two continued down their trek until the stairs ended, the floor leveling out. They continued to peer down the hall, unable to see anything beyond the engulfing darkness.
"I guess the only way is forward." Baz said.
And so the two walked on. After what felt like days to them (it was really just 15 minutes), the passage widened out, and the two continued walking on in the darkness.
"Baz...I'm getting...A bad feeling here." Saz said, clingy closely to her brother again.
"Uh...Don't worry, maybe this place is just the...Storage room?" Baz suggested.
Honestly, he was just as unsure as Saz was. Soon, the passage behind them disappeared as well, swallowed up by the darkness of the underground. The two stopped walking, looking back at where they came.
"Hey, where did the exit go?" Saz asked.
"U-uh...Don't worry, it's still there..." Baz said.
"But you won't make it there..." a voice said.
The darkness was suddenly expelled as the entire room became brightly lit as a sunny day. All around them, they saw various robed figures glaring at them. One of them moved to stand at the exit, blocking it. Baz and Saz stood back-to-back, sword raised and magic at the ready. There must've been about a dozen of them! Two dozen, even!
"What are intruders like you doing in the secret halls of the Sokrass Guild!?" one of the robed figures asked.
"W-we were looking for information about this rumor, about the Sarcous-something!" Baz said.
"Yeah! The bartender gave us a ring and told us to go to the library. We showed the ring, and the librarian guy let us come here." Saz said.
The robed figures looked back at each other, moaning things like "Argo again" or "Why does this keep happening!?" The figure who spoke to them approached the two, removing the hood to reveal a male red panda anthro, looking to be about his mid-40s. He had a somewhat rough-looking face, but was still good-looking. "Sorry about that. Argo, the bartender who led you here, is a member of ours. The problem with him is that he keeps allowing complete strangers here, just because they happen to be spirited adventurers. Honestly, half of our members joined us only because they were led here, just like you two." he explained.
Baz and Saz lowered their armaments as they calmed down. "Oh. So, does this mean that we're going to have to join too?" Baz asked.
"Well, you two came here to learn about something related to magic and wizardry. The only way you will be allowed to search through our archives is if you are members." the red panda explained.
"Oh. So, I guess that means we'll be joining anyway, then." Saz concluded.
"Well, you two seem to be rather calm. Very well. To join, you must make a vow to never reveal these secrets to anyone outside of the Sokrass Guild. First, your names."
"Right. My name is Baz, and this here is my twin sister Saz." Baz said, holding Saz's hand.
"Good." The guild members then converged on the two, forming a circle around them. The red panda then held out a hand to the two, speaking in a tone similar to when the twins first arrived. "Otter Baz, and otter Saz. Do you swear to uphold our laws, never to breath a word of our knowledge to those of outside the Guild? To share your knowledge with us, your brothers and sisters? And lastly, to accept any punishment should you ever betray us?" the red panda said.
"Yes, we vow to uphold your laws." Baz said confidently. "Me too!" Saz said.
"Very well. You two are now official members of the Sokrass Guild. Remember this day, and never tell of our secrets to outsiders." the red panda said.
One of the members left the room, passing through one of the walls. Baz was amazed to see it, until Saz told him that it must've been an illusionary spell, making a wall appear there, when there was no wall at all. The member came back, carrying a pillow with two rings that look exactly the same as the one Argo the bartender gave them. Baz and Saz took one each, wearing it on their ring fingers. However, they were a little loose. With this little ceremony over, the other members took off their hoods, revealing their own faces to the two. There were quite a number of anthros there, including a blue-scaled dragon, a raven, and one that looked like a white shark. The red panda mumbled something as the walls all shimmered and melted away, revealing a large library that looked as big as the one on the surface. the various members began going about in their own business, either chatting with each other or reading a book. The red panda was the only one who remained with Baz and Saz.
"Wait, we don't get fancy robes?" Saz said, mindlessly pulling at her own green robes. Her robes looked old and worn out compared to the members' robes.
"Those are home-made. Now, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rasputin, although everyone here calls me Raz. I am the guild master, which basically makes me the leader. Now that you two are members, you are welcome to peruse through our books and scrolls." Raz said.
"Oh, well thank you very much Raz, sir! But, we only came here to learn more about this Sarcous' Eye thing." Baz said. "Yeah! We thought that this would be the perfect journey! So we decided that finding this Sarcous thingy will mark our first step as adventurers!" Saz said eagerly.
"So, you mean to say that you two are still novices?" Raz asked, slightly dumbfounded.
"Well, technically, yes..." Baz admitted.
"Then, I suggest that, for the sake of your lives, you search elsewhere for your first adventure. The Eye of Sarcous is too dangerous for novice adventurers such as yourselves." Raz said, turning away.
"No! We agreed to set out for this, and we're going to stick to it!" Baz said, getting worked up. "We didn't leave our hometown just to turn our tails and run like cowards! We're gonna stick to this journey, and we'll stick to it until it's finished!" Saz said.
"Hmm...Perhaps, Argo may have seen something in you two after all...Very well. Roger!"
The raven anthro looked up from his scroll before walking up to them. "Yes Raz? You need me for something?" he asked. "Roger, fill these two in on what we know of the Eye of Sarcous. I will...Fetch something from the vault."
With that, Raz left them. Roger looked at the two newest members, who just smiled and waved at him. Roger rolled his eyes and told them to follow him. They went to a nearby table and told them to sit and wait, which the twins did. Roger began going through several books in one of the shelves, finally pulling out the one he wanted and set it in front of the two. It was thick, or should've been. The cover was meant for thicker tomes, but the book itself only had several pages in it, and most were really old and worn-out.
"It took the guild quite a few years of searching to find this, and find this we did. This is a journal kept by one of the mage companions of Sarcous himself." Roger said excitedly.
"So, this is from one of this Sarcous guy's friends? Then they must know about the guy himself!" Baz said.
"Yes, but sadly, it was badly damaged when the mage disappeared. It contains a few things about what Sarcous researched. Here..." Roger opened the book, showing a page that showed a very unrecognizable creature. It was humanoid in shape, and had something that looked like clothing. "This is a picture of Sarcous himself. The only picture, in the entire world. And here..." Roger flipped the book to a page with a picture of a pendant. It had some kind of eye on it. "This is the Eye of Sarcous, what you two are looking for. You see, it's believed that Sarcous found magic meant only for gods and immortals. When he disappeared, this pendant and a message were the only things left behind. 'The eye will lead you to the orb' it said. So now, we search for this Orb of Sarcous, and use its power to better this world. That is the purpose of the Sokrass guild."
Roger closed the book, leaving the twins in awe. Raz soon returned, wearing something over his robe. The twins looked at it, and it looked like the pendant in the book!
"Is that..." Baz said. "The Eye thingy?" Saz asked. Raz nodded his head. "Yes, that is correct. We have indeed found the actual pendant. However, no matter how hard we tried to keep it a secret, there is just no stopping the rumors from spreading. But when we obtain the Orb of Sarcous, then we can use its power to heal this world from its suffering." Raz said.
"Cool...So, where is the Orb?" Baz asked.
"Ah, allow me to explain..." Raz began. "We found out that, in a place where there is a high concentration of magic, we can use the pendant to take us to where the orb hides."  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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