Keepers Of The Occult (NaNoWriMo 2024) Chapter 1: Chapter 1: In My Own World

Read chapter 1 of Keepers Of The Occult (NaNoWriMo 2024) by Mercynarie on NovelPedia.

Most children believe that monsters live in their closets. Most adults think they live all around them as their colleagues and closest friends. But only those from the Union of Magus knew where monsters rightfully belonged. In cages. A draught of cool air swept into the dark room as chrome doors swung open. The earthy smell of damp wood also drifted in, accompanied by the sounds of stray dogs barking in the distance. Pale moonlight painted the highly polished linoleum floor a faint yellow before being promptly blocked by a pair of shadows. The doors closed without a sound behind the couple. Footsteps echoed as fluorescent lamps on the ceiling blinked to life one by one, shedding light on the winding hallway. The couple walked briskly, their mahogany robes sweeping slightly above the floor. They turned into an empty circular room. “This is a bad idea, Luca.” The woman looked around before snapping her fingers with a resounding click. Purple sparks darted from her hand, flitting around as though they were sentient before landing on a switch hanging inconspicuously on the wall beside her. Glowing glyphs spread the entire room like hundreds of fireflies covering the walls. Bluish-white light flashed for a moment, before dispelling the illusion that hid the room’s true nature. The man beside her stood unflinching as his false surroundings melted into nothingness. “So was accepting our House-ship, Ava.” He smiled warmly at the woman by his side. “And yet here we are. We make do with what we’ve got. That’s how we always roll, darling.” Intense white light flooded the room now, yet there seemed to be no visible light source in this containment room. Four sleek-looking containers stood in the corners of the now rectangular room, while a particularly huge one imposed itself right in the middle. Dark blue glowing chains wrapped around them, each of them being tended to by at least two people. A muscular Japanese man was leaning against a corner of the room with his arms folded, intently watching the workers with his strikingly green eyes. His slightly frizzy hair was pure white, although he looked no older than forty. Ava walked past the Japanese man as though she had not seen him. “How are the charms holding up?” she asked a grey-haired man fussing around the largest container. “Surprisingly well,” the old man commented. “Considering how powerful this creature is supposed to be, I’m surprised it hasn’t given us any trouble yet. It has been the calmest one so far.” “That’s good, that’s good.” The woman nodded, releasing a warm red light from her palm that fused with the magic chains. “Keep up the good work—” A loud bang reverberated around the laboratory as a nearby cage shook violently. Luca swung around in shock, throwing several orange star-shaped glyphs at the container. The glyphs stuck themselves on the cage, and the glowing chains tightened visibly. The huge cat paw that had thrown itself against the translucent cage wall retracted slowly. “Our magic isn’t compatible with these creatures, Luca.” Ava folded her arms, turning to the man. “Wendigos, Chupacabras, Skinwalkers… Those , we are equipped to handle. But our incarceration charms don’t work as well on these Eastern monsters. We should just tell those Japanese blokes that we can’t hold them.” “We’re the Chief Magus for this migration project,” Luca insisted. “We can’t just give up like that; it’s our duty to hold these monsters until the Japanese branch is ready to take them back.” “Bloody selfish, the whole lot of them. Just because we have our own monsters well-contained doesn’t mean we can spare manpower to take on someone else’s problems. We’re under the damn cosh for no good reason.” “A Magus lives to serve. To sacrifice. To protect those in need. There is no greater calling. Besides, we only have a week left, dear. Don’t be so stressed out,” Luca said. “Who knows, we might even get a promotion once we present HQ with the good news. Then we can finally go for that family