Chapter 193: This isn’t about to be lord of the rings, right?
Lucian came towards the three of them like a bullet once he’d opened the door. Fiona took over trying to close it, and needed Lord Ridgewood’s help to do so. That gave Lucian an advantage as he stormed towards Cass, who was still bent over laughing, and Vespertine, who was looking a little pale.
"What in the world is going on?" Lucian hissed quietly. That made Cass spiral even more and he started a whole ’nother round of laughter. The fact that he was trying to be quiet? That just sent Cass further down his laughter spiral.
"W-We were just-I’m not hurting him!" Vespertine hissed back and Lucian shot a glare at him before he turned to Cass and his shaking form.
"Hmm. Debatable. Cass, sweetheart, are you okay?" Cass continued laughing and shook his head at the same time.
"D-D-Did-" He was trying to talk, but he wasn’t able to get the words out before Fiona and Lord Ridgewood came over. Everyone was around him, staring at him as Cass tried to get his breathing under control. Thankfully, he didn’t wake up Lady Ava. She was practically dead to the world.
"Cass? Are you alright?" Fiona asked, concerned as he was working on containing the laughter. Lucian was frowning, his arms crossed, plumping up his chest but Cass was sure that this time it was by accident. Cass gulped in lungfuls of air and it took him a few minutes before he was finally able to control himself.
"Did you get everything?" Cass asked, wiping at his eyes. He couldn’t believe that tears had been flowing because of his laughter, but here he was. Cass hadn’t laughed like that in a long time. Even if it felt a bit like a desperate laugh, his body still felt...relaxed after it. Like he’d gotten something off of his chest. He let out a deep sigh as he looked around at the faces around him, and felt his lips turn up slightly.
Fiona nodded, her gaze gave as she stared at Cass. Her arms were crossed as well, mimicking Lucian, while Lord Ridgewood had his hands behind his back, and Vespertine had dropped his hands to his sides.
"We slaughtered all of the undead in the area and decided we weren’t going to explore more until after we had checked on the chest." She said and Cass nodded. He turned and gestured for her to do so.
"Go ahead. Vespertine remained on it so I could check the barrier I made." Cass said, mouth feeling a little strange. Then again, he needed to cut himself some slack if he wasn’t behaving normally, this wasn’t a normal situation. He was...keeping a relatively calm head, all things considered.
Fiona stared at Cass for a long moment, before she nodded and bent. Vespertine assumed the same position that he had with Cass, holding onto the chest from the back while Fiona attempted to open the box.
Cass was pretty sure he, Vespertine, and Fiona held their breath as she opened the chest. Thankfully, nothing had changed inside of the box and it looked the same as when they had opened it completely by accident. Fiona let out a soft sigh, her shoulders dropping.
"Now, what could be so important that they put two hordes on this chest?" Fiona asked herself quietly and Lord Ridgewood nodded. He leaned in, looking into the chest over her shoulder from where she was still crouched down.
"I would assume it’s in that tiny bag, but it’s so...tiny. The rest of the chest..." He trailed off, and Cass couldn’t help but agree. Lady Ava was unconscious, having nearly exhausted herself out for this chest. Lord Ridgewood made a very valid point. If chests were supposed to carry such good items, why the hell was the bag so small?
"Well, let’s hope that the bag has an enchantment on it or something and the items in it are more than what it looks like." Cass muttered, hopeful, but also trying to be realistic. Fiona chuckled.
"I doubt that the demons would be that kind. They don’t exactly like us, Cass." She said, humour in her tone. Cass felt his lips turn up slightly.
"I am aware." He said and she froze. Cass could feel that she thought she had fucked up and that she was about to begin apologising. So he leaned in, tapping her shoulder in warning. "Put us all out of our misery and open the bag, Fiona." He told her, a tinge of humour to his own words. Fiona relaxed again, and Cass could feel Lucian’s gaze burning him instead of Fiona, where everyone else was looking.
The silly dragon. Pay attention to what everyone else was looking at. Cass wasn’t anything interesting compared to an unknown item in a bag.
Cass turned his gaze back to Fiona who had picked up the bag. She was weighing it in her hand, a puzzle look on her face.
"It’s...not that heavy. Cass? Vespertine? Can you tell if it’s magical?" She asked and Vespertine frowned as he stared at the box and bag before he ended up shaking his head.
"No. There’s too many currents of magic. Honestly, I’ve had a harder time ever since we entered this dungeon." That surprised Cass, since while he was having some...difficulties ever since he entered the dungeon, he felt like he had connected with magic easier while being inside it.
Cass bent, crouching down next to Fiona and held out his hand.
"May I? I won’t open it, I just want to check something." Cass asked and Fiona handed it over easily. Cass could tell that while the bag probably wasn’t magical, the item inside of it was. He turned to Vespertine. "Do you want to hold it and see if you can see what I can?" Cass asked and Vespertine’s brows furrowed.
"You can see something?" He asked and Cass nodded. Cass slid his gaze to the dragon in the party.
"Lucian, can you see something?" He asked and Lucian’s frowning face turned to the bag.
"Yeah. I guess." He grumbled, clearly not happy that his concerns had been pushed aside for everyone else. Cass almost wanted to smile at how he was throwing a temper tantrum all because he wasn’t getting his way, but that would only encourage him.
Vespertine was staring at the bag, a few emotions on his face, and Cass could tell none of them were good. He was clearly upset that he couldn’t get the same level of magic comprehension from Cass, and doubly so from Lucian. Cass thought that was a bit backwards, but didn’t think now was the time to have this talk with Vespertine.
After a long moment, he sighed, shaking his head.
"No. I still can’t get anything. Thanks for trying." He muttered bitterly and Cass sighed as well.
"Don’t feel discouraged. We’ll figure something out." Cass muttered before handing the bag back to Fiona. "The item is something magical, but the bag is not. So, that rules out that theory. Also, some of the jewels, the darker, more obsidian ones, appear to have some magical properties as well." Cass said and Fiona nodded, listening to him before she turned back to the bag that was back in her hand.
"Alright. Good to know. Can you tell what kind of item it is?" She asked and Cass shook his head.
"No. I can tell you that...it probably isn’t undead related? At least, I don’t think it is? I don’t get the same kind of chill." He said. She nodded, clearly interested, but more interested in getting it out of the bag.
She didn’t reach in, instead pulling the drawstrings open and pouring the items out of the bag. A few items tumbled out, all of a smaller size. The first thing that everyone noticed was the ring. The ring had a thin, golden band with etched details that made it look like it was made of wood, not metal. In the center was a circular stone of a brilliant, shining blue. Clear, unending, Cass was a little surprised by the shade. It was a pop of colour against the other items.
There were a few gems that had some magical properties. Cass wasn’t quite sure what they were, but the last item made everyone freeze. It was a necklace of some kind with an image of a few of the gods. It was partially shattered, as if it had been stomped or trampled on. Cass swallowed.
He could tell that everyone else felt a little awkward as well.
"Is that...a broken talisman?" Vespertine whispered and Fiona swallowed. She nodded slowly.
"Yeah." She replied stiffly. Cass bent, looking at the other items, since religious items weren’t really his forte.
"These gems have some kind of magical property, but I can’t be sure since none of them are the same." Cass murmured. "The ring, however..." Cass couldn’t place it, but he could tell that the ring...was probably meant for him.
As soon as he had that thought, he backed up as if he had been stung. Anything that spoke to someone like that was probably bad news, and Cass wasn’t about to get involved with that. Not in a fucking dungeon.
"Cass?" Lucian asked, catching him. Cass wondered how he had moved to be behind him so quickly, but then again, he wasn’t surprised at all. Lucian’s arms were warm on his waist, his chest cushioning his head.
"I’m fine. I just can’t tell what the items are." Cass tried to downplay it, but Lucian narrowed his eyes.
"I see. Shall I give it a go?" He asked and everyone turned to him, grateful.
"Thank you, Lucy." Fiona said, smiling slightly, and Lucian nodded.
"No worries. Hand ’em over."