Vault of Woe

Hunched over his desk Isaac grumbled at the sound of a knock on the door. Sharply waving a hand it opened revealing a dapper young man in green. Smirking he strolled in, eyeing the many jars and beakers lining the walls.

“What do you want Agent Odigie?” Isaac spat

“What? A man can’t visit his favorite alchemist?” Atlas chuckled.

“What do you want Agent Odigie?” Isaac pointedly repeated.

“I need your help with something, something unofficial…” Atlas trailed off.

Finally looking up from his work the young man fired a glare at the other. Returning to his work he waved the man off. Ruminating on his current experiments he glared at the space ahead of him, feeling the agent’s gaze. Shaking his head he tried to ignore him, but a faint shiver creeped down his spine. A hand soon sat itself on his shoulder giving it a light squeeze. Feeling another shiver he grumbled closing his book.

“Fine, give me the details…” he trailed off sighing.

“I just need your help getting into a particular vault.” He quietly chuckled.

“You mean the vault holding all of the notes created by your uncle? The one that no one been able to get into for the past FIVE years?” Isaac asked, snatching off his glasses.

“Father refuses to sponsor me! If I can do this then I won’t need his help nor anyone else’s!” he growled.

“Amadeus didn’t sponsor Akin and Khadija so what’s the issue?” Isaac spat while cleaning his glasses.

“Because look at me! He married my mother he lived with us! I’m his heir, I’m the one that’s going to pass on the Odigie name, I’m the one he personally trained, I’m the one that he always paraded around, I’m the one-“ Atlas cut himself off with a growl taking a deep breath, “…I just need to get into this vault.” He whispered.

Sighing Isaac fixed his glass and got up. Grabbing his things he gestured for the other man to lead the way. Following him outside the pair climb into a carriage both looking out of their respective windows. If what he read was correct the ‘vault’ was a safe holding all of Julius’s recipes for his golems and schematics. His actions during the war helped to turn the tide in the Empire’s favor. With him being gone for a decade the Empire did everything in their power to open the vault. Pouring in a mountain of resources to no avail. Glancing at Atlas he frowned the young man being the spitting image of his father. Same hairstyle, same manner of dress, he even used a grimoire despite being a prodigy with golemancy. Darkly chuckling to himself he returned his attention to the scenery slowly passing by.

Before either of their minds could wonder any further, they arrived. Stepping out, they admired the modest home. Just as Isaac took a step forward atlas stopped him tossing down a few figurines. The canine golems coming to life rushing forward. Faster than he could blink they exploded Atlas marching forward. Easily breaking down the door, the stale air caressed his nostrils. Snorting and fanning it away he made a beeline to his uncle’s study Isaac close behind. Thanks to how small it was they only had to walk a few feet before reaching the simple door. Walking inside they froze laying eyes on Amadeus who greeted them with an amused scowl.

“Jr what are you doing here? Thought you looking for a sponsor?” he asked.

“I was but if I can open that vault then I won’t need to.” Atlas grumbled.

“Then by all means don’t let me stop you!” he chuckled.

Moving aside he revealed the wall behind him an off-colored square in plain view. Stepping the Odigie men Isaac switched to his goggles flipping down a built-in magnifying glass. Studying the stone for a long moment he flipped down another. Then another and another and another until five lenses of decreasing sizes protrude from his eyes. An impressed hum falling from his lips seeing a multitude of overlapping runes and glyphs. Barely able to make out a few he produced a notebook and pencil quickly jotting them down. Glancing at the father and son he roll his eyes their hungry gaze sending shivers down his spine.

“I need you two to get out I can’t work with you leering at me…” he trailed off jotting down more runes.

The pair frowned but silently complied. Finally at ease he pulled out another book, many of these locks looking eerily familiar. Doing some quick reading he chuckled, discovering that he used basic sealing rituals. Snapping it close he frowned in thought. Something about it must be off. It wouldn’t make sense for the Empire to have trouble with something this simple. He continued to thoughtfully frown eyeing the many seals on his page. Despite having everything he needed to undo each one individually he waved the thoughts away. A myriad of alchemists and scholars had already spent months poking and prodding so there must be something missing. Gently running his fingers against it, a scowl appeared discovering the wood was smooth. Far too smooth for liking. The seals were too small and fine to be painted on. And the wood was too smooth to have them carved in he took a step back. A thumb flying to his mouth to worry at the nail. Flipping to a clean page he copied the seal harshly studying it. Growling he walked away soon pacing the room. With no rhyme or reason to it he was at a loss on how to decipher it. In a matter of moments his overloading thoughts began spilling past his lips.

“A combination silver, iron, and salt might work but it’ll take forever to figure out the right ratios. Not to mention the proper way to administer it. Oils could work…” he trailed off switching to the other thumb, “but the ratios! Wait…” he trailed off again rushing to the seals.

Inspecting the seals again he kicked himself for not noticing that each seal was a different color. Returning to his notes he label each color before returning to his pacing.

“Red, blue, black, green, purple, and yellow. These colors could mean anything! Monster essences? The gods perhaps? No there’s only six colors and seven gods and none of them have the color black…a Defiler? I might be looking at this the wrong way the colors could be the key not the lock?” he groaned.

Sighing and spitting a ail fragment he called the other men back inside. Showing them the notes he returned to his pacing.

“As you can see each seal has a corresponding color. If I can figure out if they’re the lock or the key I can decipher it I know I can! I got this I’m the youngest person to earn the title of Viceroy of Alchemy!” he said more to himself than to the others.

Sharing a glance the father and son began searching the lone desk. Despite an extremely thorough search they found nothing. Both men softly scratching their beard chins in thought. Scanning the room nothing stood out just several paintings of Julius and his father. Even though they were identical twins Julius always had a somber look in his eyes and faint frown. Walking over one Atlas inspected it the pair looking to be in their late teens. Standing in front of a garden Amadeus was posing heroically while Julius sat down staring at the plants a ring with a green jewel on full display. Moving to another he saw the pair sitting at a table. Judging by their clothes he assumed it was a few years before the war. Again he noticed a ring on his uncle’s hand this time a blue gem adorning the metal band. Rushing over to Isaac he eagerly brought it to his attention.

“Mr. Odigie do you know where these rings are?” he asked.

“Here, never understood why he always carried them, we stole them as kids…” he muttered handing over the rings.

Inspecting each one for a long moment he thoughtfully frown once again. Only finding a lone symbol on each he quickly jot them down. Placing each symbol with their seal he glared at the drawings. Thumb trapped back between his teeth he beckoned over Amadeus.

“Oh yeah! I know exactly what these mean!” he said grimoire flying into sight.

Producing six bookmarks he swiftly flipped through the pages dropping them. Conjuring a small fluctuating and multicolored orb he flicked it at the vault. Instead of bursting it slowly sank into the wood. The many seals flash for a split second. Moments later a pair of wooden hands emerged from the vault door digging into the wood slowly and loudly tearing itself open. As the vault opened a putrid odor infected the air. While Isaac and Atlas bit back a gag Amadeus merely waved the offending stench away. Door fully open the three men frowned at the dark void glowering at them. Covering his face Atlas ran through into the void his companions sighing before doing the same.

Blinded by a bright light a soft snarl fell from his lips. As his eyes adjust, he slowly stalked forward the stench getting stronger. Finally able to see he came face to face with the rotten remains of Julius Odigie. There he sat the true hero of the Empire dead with the upper half of his head missing. Before he could do anything he almost fell Amadeus pushing him aside rushing to his brother’s side.

“…you said you was going to retire. This isn’t retiring…this isn’t retiring!” Amadeus cried falling to his knees.

“Dad, it’s okay. We can grab his notes and continue his work!” Atlas said tentatively laying a hand on his father’s shoulder.

“Who gives a fuck! He died here alone without me! He was the only reason I made it out of the war! Get away from me!” he roared wiping away tears.

Removing his hand, he narrowed his eyes at the older man. Walking away Isaac tried to stop him but he jerked his arm away. Searching the room, he muttered a curse the room empty aside from the corpse and the contraption laying haphazardly in its lap. Marching to it he snatch it up roughly inspecting it. He sneered at the runes running along the long tube. It only worsen seeing another string curving around a small disk shape cartridge. With a once over he found the lever allowing him to remove the cartridge revealing a single vial filled with a red substance. Slapping the cartridge back in he pointed it at his father, his finger caressing the trigger. Rushing over, Isaac wrestled the weapon out of his hands pushing him away.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he harshly whispered.

Holding his gaze for a long moment he push Isaac away stomping out of the room. Returning to the study he glowered at the many paintings. His father’s smug smiles made his blood boil. Rasing the rune weapon and slamming the trigger he flinched as a titanic torrent of fire erupted from the barrel. The starving flames greedily ate the old canvas and paint quickly spreading to surrounding wood. In a matter of seconds, the entire room was aflame. Strolling out of the smoking home he climbed into the carriage eyes glued on the empty space in front of him. A few minutes later a coughing Isaac lumbered inside.

“The fuck is wrong with you setting the place on fire! You almost killed us!” he coughed.

“Isaac, shut up and get me outta here…” he spat.

With a firm knock on the wall the carriage lurched forward. Gazing out of the window he locked eyes with his father. Seeing the corpse in his arms he gaze harden before looking away. Shaking his head he slammed his fists against the wall behind him a stray tear rolling down his face.