Eldritch Guidance

Inside the sprawling halls of the Graheel University Library, a sea of people moved about or sat hunched over at tables, immersed in their tasks. Most were students, diligently researching a wide range of topics for their studies. Some flipped through thick tomes, while others took furious notes. Their brows furrowed with concentration as they delved into their academic pursuits. The atmosphere buzzed with quiet intensity, filled with the rustling of pages and the soft murmurs of whispered discussions.

Cid sat alone in one of the private study rooms of the library, deliberately isolating himself from the bustling crowd outside. Surrounded by scattered notes and half-finished calculations, he pored over the Book of Grand Design, meticulously comparing its cryptic information to his findings.

He had posed a question to the book and attempted to calculate an answer to: “Why are my calculations sometimes wrong?” Yet, when he sought clarity on this, the book offered no meaningful response. The equations it provided suggested that his calculations were accurate, but Cid knew this was false.

There were clear instances where his predictions failed—people who were supposed to be in specific locations at certain times simply weren’t there. As the weeks went by, he uncovered more discrepancies. Each time he tested the book's power on different individuals, he found an unsettling pattern: some of his calculations were correct, while others inexplicably diverged from expectation. The more he tested, the more he realized that the book’s power wasn’t as straightforward or reliable as he had initially thought. He just couldn’t predict some people.

After countless hours of frustration and dead ends, he finally experienced a monumental breakthrough in understanding the book's power. For a long time, the book had remained stubbornly opaque, refusing to reveal the nature of its mysteries or why his calculations failed. Cid had grown convinced that the book was deliberately withholding its secrets from him. But now, he realized the truth: like his interactions with John, the problem wasn't with the book—it was with the questions he had been asking. He hadn’t been framing his inquiries in the right way.

Cid changed the way he framed his question and, at last, received an answer. This time, he asked, “Why does the outcome of my predictions differ from what I observe?” That, it seemed, was the key he had been missing.

With this new approach, the Book of Grand Design finally began to divulge its secrets. The pages seemed to pulse with new energy as they filled with intricate symbols, equations, and diagrams that had previously eluded him. Suddenly, it became clear that the problem wasn’t with his calculations themselves, but with the variables he hadn't accounted for—the unseen forces, hidden influences, and complexities that shaped reality in ways beyond his initial understanding.

Cid carefully completed the final steps of a complex calculation on a separate sheet of paper, his hand moving with almost mechanical precision. Once he was done, he compared the mathematical formula he had meticulously written down to the eldritch symbols and cryptic script etched across the pages of the Book of Grand Design. His eyes darted back and forth between his notes and the book, searching for any discrepancies or signs of alignment. After a long moment, he leaned back in his chair, exhaling a deep, weary sigh.

“So that’s it. Destiny and Fate are two natural forces that work in conjunction to determine the future. But, fate doesn't seem to exist anymore for some reason, leaving destiny as the only force controlling the future. Destiny by itself is not enough to completely control the future. This results in powerful forces being able to influence and warp living creatures' futures in a way that is difficult to impossible to predict.” Cid silently thought to himself.

“That’s why I can’t predict the cause and effect on some people, they're being influenced by powerful forces. I guess that is also why I can’t really predict my own future very well. Mr Li is probably one of those powerful forces, and my proximity to him warps my future. Then there was one student I couldn’t predict that I discovered during Edward’s calculation. I think what’s influencing him was a celestial constellation, born under the star of the noble swordsman, that might be enough to warp a person's future. Born with a strong connection to the stars above. But then, what about those three? I don’t think any of them were born with any particular strong connection to the stars, so what is it then?” Cid continued to silently think to himself.

While pondering what he had recently learned, he heard the door to the room open, and he looked up to see who was entering.

Cid: “Speak of the devil.”

Alan and his friends stepped into the private study room, the door creaking softly as it swung open. Alan and Sere tried to maintain a brave face, their expressions were set with determination, though a hint of unease flickered in their eyes. Their third companion, however, couldn’t manage the same level of composure; his face was pale, and his eyes darted nervously around the room, betraying his anxiety. He fidgeted with his hands, clearly struggling to steady his breathing, his unease palpable in contrast to Alan and Sere.

Alan: “Can we speak to you?”

Cid: “Why are you here? I thought I said let's never speak to each other again.”

Alan: “I know, but we need your help.”

Cid: “No,” he said flatly.

Alan: “At least hear me out.”

Cid: “Whatever you're doing doesn't involve me anymore.”

Sere: “Like burning abyss it doesn't involve you. Everything that happened is because you killed Sorin!”

Jafar pulled Sere's arm, trying to gesture to her not to antagonize Cid and calm her down, for fear he would kill them.

Cid: “This is all related to Sorin? Why? He’s dead. He shouldn't be relevant anymore.”

Ever since Cid had identified and eliminated Sorin, he had distanced himself from the entire ordeal, determined to wash his hands of the situation. According to the Book of Grand Design, whatever remnants or consequences were tied to Sorin's grotesque experiments wouldn’t pose a threat to him or Mr. Li. With that assurance, Cid had allowed himself to become indifferent to the university's ongoing investigation into the incident. He knew they were hunting down anyone connected to Sorin, combing through every lead and association, but beyond that, he hadn’t paid much attention.

Cid's priority was elsewhere—following John’s advice, he was more focused on staying hidden and keeping a low profile. He kept his head down, acting like a normal student, with his thoughts entirely on his own safety and staying out of the university's line of sight. Only experimenting with the Book of Grand Design in a subtle way, so as not to attract attention.

Alan: “Do you not know about the Jixi investigation?”

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Cid: “Who?”

Sere: “How do you not know about Jixi? He was helping Sorin turn people into undead.”

Cid: “Sorin was my only target. Everyone else was irrelevant.”

Alan: “So… you didn’t stop Sorin for any righteous reason then.”

Cid: “That was a byproduct. Sorin's removal was for personal reasons.”

Alan: “Still, despite what you say, your actions speak louder than your words. I don’t think you're a bad guy. You could have killed us in the library back then, but you didn’t. No one would have even known if you did. And… the people you did hurt weren't actually people. They were Sorin’s puppets.”

Cid: “OK?”

Alan: “What I’m trying to say is that we need your help finding Jixi and the other people related. So please, It’s for a good cause.”

Cid leaned back in his chair and eyed the three who had entered his study room, his expression a mix of wariness and calculation. Alan, standing at the front, looked sincere and resolute—his determination almost radiated off him. This was not a good sign from Cid's perspective. He quickly surmised that if he didn’t offer them some information, they would likely keep coming back, persistently seeking his help. And, that was a problem.

The last thing Cid needed right now was attention, especially from three students who were known for having "stopped Sorin." If they kept visiting him, it would undoubtedly raise eyebrows among those still investigating the aftermath of Sorin’s dark experiments. Cid had no desire to become a topic of interest. His focus was on keeping his head down and staying off the radar—a strategy that their repeated visits would undoubtedly jeopardize. He needed to find a way to handle this situation delicately, to give them just enough to satisfy them without tying himself too closely to whatever trouble they were diving into next.

“Miss Scarlett tells me I’m not ruthless enough. I guess she’s right, killing these three would prevent this kind of situation from ever happening. But… I really don’t want to kill people if I don’t have to.” Cid silently thought to himself.

Cid: “Tell me everything you know in relation to what you’re doing. The amount and quality of the information you provided will determine if I can assist you or not.”

Alan’s eyes lit up with excitement, sensing he was on the verge of uncovering a critical piece of information.

Alan launched into a detailed account of everything they had uncovered so far: he spoke about Jixi, the unsettling events surrounding the case, and the nature of Sorin's research in the archive. He described the strange, viscous slime discovered at two different locations where people connected to Sorin had once lived—locations now eerily empty, their residents mysteriously missing. Alan covered every detail they had gathered, from the obscure notes Sorin had left behind to the patterns emerging in their investigation.

For a full ten minutes, Alan spoke without pause, spilling every piece of information they had collected. When he finally finished, he leaned forward slightly, his eyes locked on Cid’s, waiting expectantly. He was hoping to see some flicker of recognition or understanding on Cid’s face—anything that might indicate they were on the right track or, better yet, that Cid knew something that could propel their investigation forward.

Cid: “I see… Give me a moment.”

Cid opened the Book of Grand Design and began to read its alien symbols, his eyes moving rapidly across the strange, angular script. As he did, Jafar caught a glimpse of the book’s contents and immediately recognized some of the symbols—they were the same bizarre markings he had seen in Cid’s room earlier.

Meanwhile, Alan felt a faint pulse of aether in the air, a subtle hum of energy that mostly concentrated around Cid. Alan’s senses told him that whatever magic Cid was using had an aura similar to spells that enhanced physical abilities, though this one seemed more refined and precise.

Cid was using numerology magic to accelerate the complex calculations he was working on. Rather than relying solely on his mind to crunch the numbers, he allowed the magic to handle most of the heavy lifting, speeding up the entire process. It was a technique that saved both time and mental energy, converting aether into computational power.

With the calculations underway, Cid picked up a pencil and began to trace symbols in the air. As he did, luminous glyphs began to appear, glowing softly in the space where he had drawn them. Alan and Sere watched with fascination, captivated by the sight of symbols materializing out of thin air.

Jafar, however, was less impressed. He had seen this kind of magic before with Marie; it was a basic form of magic used to write symbols in the air. Once, it had been a practical solution for scholars and mages who needed to conserve paper, but in modern times, it had fallen out of favor. Paper was no longer a rare commodity, so this type of magic—though still elegant in its own way—had largely lost its practical usefulness.

The floating symbols gradually began to descend, drifting like glowing embers through the air. One by one, they touched down on the blank sheet of paper in front of Cid. As each symbol made contact, it seared into the surface, leaving faint imprints. The markings, now etched into the paper, retained the exact form of the mysterious symbols, as if the paper itself had been branded.

Cid picked up the paper, studying the strange markings closely, his eyes scanning over it several times. After a moment, he reached into his bag and retrieved a worn map of the city. He spread it out on the table, smoothing the edges with care. Leaning in, he began to meticulously trace his finger across the streets, moving from one district to the next. Searching for something within the maze of the city's layout.

Eventually, his finger stopped, hovering over a specific street. Without hesitation, he pulled out a pencil and carefully circled the location, ensuring it was clearly marked. Satisfied, Cid folded the map and handed it to Alan.

Cid: “Here. What you're looking for is on Ravis Street, between Forro Lane and Tevis Avenue.”

Alan: “Is that where Jixi is hiding!” he half shouted out excitedly.

Sere’s eyes narrowed, a glint of distrust flashing within them as she fixed her gaze on Cid.

Sere: “How do you know that’s where Jixi is?”

Cid: “I never said that’s where Jixi is hiding. What I gave you is a location where a major clue to your investigation will be found.”

Alan: “Oh, what exactly is it?”

Cid: “I don’t know.”

Sere: “What do you mean you don’t know? How can you tell us it’s something relevant to our search if you don’t know what it is?”

The truth was, Cid genuinely didn’t know. The information Alan had given him was too fragmented, lacking the substance needed for Cid to form any reliable predictions with the Book of Grand Design. The best he could do was point them in a general direction. But, that was something he was not interested in explaining to them.

Cid: “I don’t know, and that’s it. I’m not going to explain it. You can either look into this information, or not. That’s your choice.”

Sere: “How do we know you're not setting up a trap?”

Jafar looked between Sere and Cid nervously after hearing about a possible trap.

Cid: “You don’t. And, I won’t guarantee it or your safety while looking into that place. If you go there, you're taking that risk into your own hands. Whatever dangers you face, if there are any, you're on your own. So, take your info and don’t bother me again. I don’t want to be involved anymore than I already have been. And remember, don’t tell anyone about me, or else…“

Alan: “OK… understood. We’ll leave you then,” he said as he and his friends began to leave.

As they were about to leave, Cid spoke up one last time.

Cid: “Oh, and the information I gave you is time-sensitive. It’s only good today from six to seven in the evening,” he added.

Sere turned back toward Cid, her lips parting as she prepared to press him further, ready to ask again how he had come to know what he claimed. But before she could speak, Alan extended his arm, gently placing it in front of her. He shook his head, signaling her to let it go. Alan had already sensed that Cid wasn’t going to offer any more details, and he didn’t want Sere to waste her time—or worse, become frustrated by the lack of a response they both knew was coming.

Alan gave a nod, acknowledging Cid's words. With a glance at his friends, he motioned for them to follow, and together they quietly exited the room, leaving Cid alone.

“Sticking their noses into other people’s business like that is going to get them killed one of these days.” Cid thought to himself.

“But, more importantly, it happened again. The Book of Grand Design told me I would never talk to them after that night with Sorin, and yet they just showed up. What forces are influencing them…” Cid silently wondered.