The Rubbish Realm

Chapter 12

Lysander picked up the book, tracing his finger along the binding. "Beresford's Bibliography," he read from the spine, admiring the gilded lettering. "At last."
Clyde smirked. "I don't know if I've seen you so quiet yet." He was still lying on the floor, flooded in the piles of books that had come out of Lysander's closet. So far, magic wasn't exactly like he'd envisioned it... mind-reading by accident, closets with a portal dimension filled with books...
Lysander turned to the last page. "No index." He flipped through the pages to the front. "And it's not in the front. I'll have to read the whole way through."
"Slick." All the leather binding was surprisingly comfortable, and he felt as though he could fall asleep right then and there.
"Slick?" Lysander asked, then apparently read Clyde's mind for the answer. "Oh, I guess that makes sense." He turned back to the book, mumbling the entries to himself.
Clyde sighed. "Of course."
Lysander didn't reply, and Clyde, dead tired, fell asleep under the sound of the rustling pages.
"Page 103... 104... nope... 105... 106... oh? no... 107... 109... are these pages in the right order?" Lysander talked to himself. Come to think of it, he did that pretty often. Must be because I don't have any friends...
He shook that thought off, turning back to the book. "110... no, I don't want a fire spell... 111... 112... it's got to be in here somewhere, right? 113... aha!"
The work was entitled "Beresford's Bane". He read it aloud to himself. "Beresford's Bane - made from fire, made from all, catalyst that stops the fall, young Earth's spire, young men call, with whose powers one apalls, stuck in mire, found in fall, curses rained on it from all, wielder tire, makes his small, its destruction shall not stall."
"Nothing useful in there..." He read it a second time. "Young Earth? The land above? But nobody's been there in-" Coming to a sudden realization, he turned towards Clyde. If he could, another could, especially one with such a powerful artifact, if they did have it. "But wasn't it... destroyed?" Etherealorister and Alexistor had been collided after the defeat of the old Emperor, right? That's what everybody had been told, if they'd really existed in the first place. Had another been made? A scribble in the margin caught his eye, forming as he viewed it.
"Check page 167."
Invisible ink? He flipped to the page indicated. Though the page started blank, now that it had been given space, the writing started scribbling neater and larger.
"I am Allistaire, he whose last name is unknown. You are Theodosius, wielder of the other pen?"
Theodosius? Theo? Dad? Lysander fell backwards in shock. "Dad!" he screamed.
Steps resounded on the stairs, too heavy, it seemed, to be his dad. Lysander backed up into the closet, shutting it behind him. Clyde woke up.
"Who..." The voice resounded poorly through the closet. Lysander opened the peephole, seeing the scene inside slightly. Clyde's back was most of the visible scene, but now Lysander could read their minds.
Theodosius, eh? Nice to meet you... he's awfully jumpy, did he know I was here?
People! Eek!
Lysander had heard enough. Nobody was quite as socially awkward named Theo as his dad. "Somebody's writing to you, dad. They say they're named Allistaire and wonder if you have the other pen." He tentatively picked up the book, as if it were scalding, tossing it to his dad.
"Allistaire?" Theodosius stumbled backwards, falling down the steps. "The closet?" he asked, as his foot simply met air.
Clyde jumped towards him, tripping on a book and accidentally sending it down the steps... right under Theodosius' head, breaking his fall before a concussion. Stunned, he sat up. "Was that...?"
"He survived falling from the sky. Nobody else did. You can tell he's a luck affinity." Lysander gestured to Clyde's painfully bright yellow eyes.
"That strong?" Theodosius pulled the book out from under his head, then shook his head in disbelief. "The right book too." He pulled out a single plumed pen from the binding, then pulled himself to his feet.
Clyde stared, not moving. Lysander simply grinned. Theodosius climbed the steps, wincing slightly.
Clyde shook himself. "You're that Theodosius?"
"It's Theo," Lysander interrupted. "And yes."
Theo smiled tiredly, picking up the book. "Allistaire..." His voice trailed off in wonder, and he ran downstairs, followed closely by Lysander and then Clyde. Noticing they were following him, he ran a little faster, clearly not wishing to be followed.
Lysander frowned. I'm sure I've heard that name before... Allistaire...
Clyde didn't seem sure why he was following them, but he had nothing better to do. He couldn't read most of the books upstairs anyway, as they were written in a different language than what he was used to.
Theo slammed the door in their face at the bottom of the stairs before locking the door to keep them out. Lysander simply grinned, looking through the keyhole, subtly reading his dad's mind. Focusing hard, he narrowed his reading to the prefrontal cortex, leaving out the subconscious thoughts.
Why now? And how did he remember me? At least it's not in person...
Lysander grinned again. His dad hated talking in person, something about his affinity, he'd said.
Alexistor? It exists? Wasn't it destroyed all those years ago? How am I supposed to find it if nobody knows what it is?
Lysander whispered to Clyde. "Can you get that book we were looking at earlier... I forget the name... wasn't it green?"
Clyde nodded and ran up the stairs.
Where even is Evander? Isn't he crazy? Hasn't he figured out portals yet? What good will he be?
Clyde returned with the book.
"Find page 103," Lysander muttered, intending to keep his concentration. Mind-reading isn't particularly easy, luckily, otherwise it would drive people insane. Always hearing other people's thoughts would not be particularly nice.
So you want me to take a portal to a random coordinate I've never been to before to find a homicidal maniac so he can help me find the forgotten birthplace of Beresford? Are you crazy?
Clyde showed Lysander the page he'd asked for, page 103. "Biography of Beresford," the header indicated, apparently, or at least that it was Lysander told him. The rest of the script Lysander appeared confused while reading, as if it were in a different language.
"It's written in Old Elvish; I don't know enough of that to decipher this," Lysander whispered.
Clyde smiled faintly, happy that he'd been right.
You're sure this is the only way? And why me?
Lysander pulled out the key to the door from his pocket, then quietly unlocked it, letting himself in, open book in hand. "Dad?"
Theo quite literally jumped out of his seat. "How did you-" He noticed the book and the header. "How-" How do I forget so often that he can read minds?
Lysander bounced with energy. "It was in the bookshelf. I'd been looking through the books, that's how I found the first one! Are we going on a trip, dad?"
Theo sighed. "It's not safe."
Clyde piped in, "So what? Can you read minds?" It was an honest question, but Theo glared at him as if it should have been obvious. The lack of pupils was slightly unnerving.
"He can't," Lysander answered for him. "Only compassion affinities can read minds." He turned to his dad. "He's new here, he fell from Above."
"Is that why Allistaire contacted me?" Theo had sat back down in his seat, having composed himself.
"No, he's just the strongest luck affinity to have ever lived. Something about that brought him to the front of Allistaire's mind."
Clyde's eyes widened. The strongest luck affinity to have ever lived?
Theo sighed. "Of course. Well, we'd best wait for supper before we go off, right?"
Lysander's familiar grin returned again. Priorities.