“Make yourself comfortable.” Joe said.
“Lots of books I see.” Jacob marvelled at the library. It wasn’t huge by any means, but was certainly larger than his.
“What can I say? I read.” Joe laughed.
“Should I leave my bird outside?” Jacob asked.
“I’m not going to watch you pervs do this.” Teddy lied. He fluttered to the corner by the books and nestled himself amongst them.
“He’ll be fine up there. As long as he doesn’t make a mess on everything.”
“Oh fuck off.” Teddy muttered.
“Maybe he’s not the one you should be worried about.” Jacob chuckled.
“Well, to my knowledge you’re at least housetrained. Here, I’ll be right back. Make yourself comfortable.” Joe smirked as hewalked into a room which Jacob assumed was a bathroom. When he was out of range, Jacob poured over the books on the wall.
“Do you see anything here that might be useful?” Jacob asked.
“Useful for what?” Teddy responded.
“The spells? The books? Brewcasting in general? Whatever would be helpful! There must be some things here related to old magic if this is what they’re defending against.” Jacob responded.
“Wait…Do you think I can read? Oh that’s adorable.”
“Dammit Teddy!” Jacob whispered. “Okay- let’s see- Trauma, divorce, how to win at poker- something called Geist Fleisch?”
“That last one sounds expensive.”
“Oh no, I’m sure it’s very reasonably priced, and likely a good story by a great author, maybe even a part of an ongoing series of great books, but that’s not the point Teddy!” Jacob poured over the shelves but couldn’t find anything strange. “These all seem like regular therapy books.”
“They might be. I mean, we don’t know for sure if this is the Templar sanctum or not. I just figured-” Teddy began, but then his nose seemed to pick up something.
“What is it?”
“I…think I sense something? On that shelf over there.” Teddy motioned to another shelf with his beak.
“This one is just a bunch of symbols?” Jacob asked as he looked through a couple more- when something caught his eye. “Wait…I think I feel it too.”
The feeling was subtle, but definitely there. Like a magnet drawing him to a specific shelf. These books appeared older and didn’t have any words on their spines. Jacob held out his hand, and as he did, one of the books on the shelf started to rumble slightly.
“That one. Grab that one.” Teddy said. Jacob did.
The book itself was heavy, and very, very dusty, but when he opened it, the pages seemed to spring to life. He wasn’t sure what language it was written in, but it seemed like he didn’t have any problems understanding it.
“What does it say?” Teddy asked.
“Mysticism for dummies?” Jacob read the title and frowned. “I expected something else.”
“Well check it out.” Teddy responded. “Does it seem mystical?”
“Hard to say- but yeah. I think so.” Jacob said as small flecks of gold began to circulate around the pages. His hands began to glow as he took the book and quickly poured over as much of it as he could. “Here, they’re actually talking about Brewcasting. It isn’t a new form of magic at all. It might be one of the oldest. But…apparently it was considered one of the most dangerous due to its unpredictability.”
“Sounds about right so far.” Teddy smirked.
“Actively discouraged…Volatile…The magic can be ended by finding a break or…”
“Or what?”
