The endless spirals of the library loomed around Jack, stretching impossibly in all directions, the weight of eternity seeming to press down on the space as Vishura turned her attention to him, her presence an eerie contrast to the infinite knowledge encircling them. The ever-shifting symbols on her skin pulsed with a slow, hypnotic rhythm, casting flickering patterns of light on the ancient tomes. Though she lacked eyes, the small, knowing smile curling her lips sent a shiver down Jack’s spine.

  Jack opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Vishura let out a soft, knowing chuckle, the sound slithering through the silence like an unseen whisper. "There is no need to ask, little man. I already know. You wish to peer into the mind of your elven attacker."

  The words struck like a hammer, heavy with unnatural certainty. Jack stiffened, instinctively gripping his spear, though he knew it was useless in this place. "How—?"

  She tilted her head, the motion slow, deliberate, unnatural. "How do I know? Foolish question. You walk into the Realm of Memory, bringing the weight of your thoughts and intentions like a trail of ink on parchment. Every step you have taken, every word you have spoken, every fear you have swallowed down—it lingers."

  A creeping sensation crawled up Jack’s spine. "You can see my memories?"

  Vishura’s smile widened, the stretch of her lips just a little too slow, a little too precise, as though she were savoring the discomfort rolling off him. "Recent ones. The past leaves its mark on all who enter my domain. Do you think yourself immune?"

  The air around her shimmered, and suddenly, Jack was no longer standing in the vast library. He was back in the clearing near Elyra’s Bondtree. Lyla, Cael, and Goldeyes stood around him, their faces tense with exhaustion. Celia lay slumped against the tree, her silver hair fanned around her, unconscious and vulnerable. The scene was silent, eerily frozen in time.

  Jack’s stomach twisted. He knew this wasn’t real, but it felt real. The scent of damp earth, the weight of fatigue in his limbs—it was all there. His own voice echoed softly around him, as though coming from the very walls of the library itself.

  "We made it… but I have no idea what to do with her."

  The vision flickered, melting back into the endless spirals of bookshelves. Jack inhaled sharply, turning back to Vishura, who observed him with what might have been amusement. "Quite the predicament you’ve found yourself in, hmm?" she mused.

  His fists clenched. He hated this. The feeling of being an open book, every thought dissected before he could even voice it. "You can see my memories. Can you see hers?"

  Vishura let out a low, throaty hum. "Ah, now that… that is a different matter. The memories you want require a careful unwinding. A delicate touch. And that carries a price."

  Jack’s jaw tightened. "What do you want?"

  The silence that followed was not empty. It was filled with something unseen, something vast and crawling, shifting just beyond the edge of perception. The glow of the library dimmed, as if the very space around them recoiled in anticipation of what she was about to say.

  "A vessel."

  Jack narrowed his eyes. "A vessel for what?"

  Vishura’s head tilted again, further this time, almost unnaturally so. "For me, of course."

  The words settled over him like a suffocating weight. A cold, unnatural certainty gripped his chest. "You want… a body."

  She let out another soft chuckle, though there was nothing warm about it. "You say it as though it is a grand horror. Is it not a fair trade? You seek knowledge. I seek form."

  Jack forced himself to remain still, to not betray the growing unease twisting in his gut. "Why?"

  Vishura took a step closer, the symbols on her skin pulsing faster. "The Material Plane is an untapped well, a thing I have only touched through whispers and remnants. To exist there fully, to move, to feel… That is a sensation long denied to me."

  Jack didn’t like the way she said ‘exist.’ Something about the word, about the longing in it, felt wrong. Ancient. Hungry.

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  Elyra, silent until now, finally spoke, her voice sharp as steel. "This is not a price lightly paid."

  Vishura’s eyeless face turned toward Elyra, and though she had no pupils, no irises, Jack could feel her gaze like a touch. "You know better than most, Elyra, what I am. You know the depth of what I offer."

  Jack’s mind raced. He had bargained before—made deals, taken risks—but this was different. Vishura was not some merchant, not some warlock seeking a contract. This was a being from the depths of the Psychic Plane itself. This was something ancient, something that might not think as mortals did.

  "And if I refuse?" he asked carefully.

  The symbols on Vishura’s skin flashed brilliantly for a single second, like lightning illuminating a storm. "Then you leave empty-handed. The girl’s memories will remain locked away, her secrets forever beyond your reach. And you will leave here knowing that the answers were within your grasp… but you lacked the resolve to claim them."

  Jack exhaled slowly. "And if I accept?"

  Vishura smiled. This time, the expression did not quite reach the shape of a human grin. "Then you will find a vessel for me. A body, a form I may inhabit upon your plane. Once my price is paid… the memories you seek will be yours."

  Jack’s mind whirled. There was no doubt in his mind that this was a dangerous offer. Vishura wasn’t some mere spirit—she was something far worse, something older, something that had been waiting for an opportunity just like this.

  He glanced at Elyra. Her expression was unreadable, but he could see the tension in the way she held herself. She knew, just as he did, that this was a perilous path.

  Jack turned back to Vishura, meeting the unsettling emptiness where her eyes should be. "Give me time to decide."

  Vishura let out a low, indulgent hum, the sound reverberating through the air like the soft ringing of a bell, though it carried with it a palpable weight. Her voice, dripping with an unsettling mixture of amusement and malice, was like the murmur of the winds before a storm, suggesting both promise and danger in equal measure. “Oh, you will decide, Jack. That much is certain. The only question… is whether you will choose before it is too late.”

  Her words seemed to hang in the air, heavy and suffocating, each syllable imbued with a deep, unnerving power. They wrapped around Jack’s mind like tendrils, slowly squeezing the breath out of him as the space around them began to waver. The world around him seemed to lose its structure, stretching and distorting into strange, swirling patterns, each one more chaotic than the last. It was as if the very fabric of reality itself was beginning to unravel. Shadows stretched unnaturally, bending and curling into forms that did not belong in the space of this library—a library that, until a moment ago, had seemed to be filled with nothing but order and knowledge.

  Jack could feel the pull, the call of something ancient and unfathomable. His heart raced, his thoughts clouded by an overwhelming sense of unease. Vishura’s influence was suffusing the air itself, like a dark mist that seeped into his skin, into his very bones. He could almost taste the power in the air—thick, acrid, and dangerous, like sulfur after a lightning strike. He fought to steady his breathing, to maintain control, but it was becoming harder and harder with each passing second.

  And yet, just as the spiraling chaos threatened to pull him into madness, Elyra—standing beside him—raised her hand. A pulse of energy shot out from her fingertips, rippling through the distorted air like the wake of a ship cutting through the surface of water. The energy expanded outward, forming a barrier of shimmering emerald light that enveloped them both, creating a sphere of protection against the swirling maelstrom that Vishura had summoned. The moment the barrier formed, the world beyond it seemed to dull and fade, the bizarre patterns of light and shadow losing their intensity, their pull weakening to a distant murmur. Vishura’s eerie laughter, once omnipresent, began to fade into the background, now a mere whisper against the new silence.

  Elyra exhaled sharply, the release of tension evident in the way her shoulders relaxed. “This will not hold for long,” she said, her voice steady but urgent, “but it will give us privacy. We need to talk.”

  Jack didn’t need to be told twice. His gaze locked onto hers, his expression tight, his jaw clenched in frustration. "This deal is bad," he muttered, his voice low but edged with the sharpness of his growing concern. The entire situation felt wrong—wrong on a fundamental level, like stepping into a spider’s web and realizing too late that you were already tangled in it.

  Elyra didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she took a step back, her eyes narrowing as she studied him carefully. Jack felt the weight of her scrutiny, as if she were looking into the very core of his thoughts, weighing his every decision. Finally, she spoke, her tone firm but filled with an unmistakable understanding. “It is,” she agreed, her words echoing his sentiment. “ The fact that she is trying to use cheap theatrics to intimidate us means she is very eager for you to accept.But you may be able to make it better. Vishura is offering you knowledge—valuable knowledge—but her demand is steep. If she wants a vessel, we must ensure the terms are on our side.”

  Jack’s frown deepened, his mind whirling as the implications of her words settled in. He had known that making a deal with Vishura was a dangerous proposition. Somehow , he instinctively understood that she was not of their world, not even of their reality in a sense. Vishura was an entity that existed in the cracks between dimensions, a being whose motives and desires were as obscure as the dark spaces between the stars. To bargain with something so ancient, so unfathomable, felt like playing a game with the devil himself.

  He took a deep breath, trying to steady his racing thoughts. "You think I can push for more?" he asked, the doubt evident in his voice. He wasn’t sure whether the idea of negotiating with Vishura was insanity or brilliance. He didn’t know if he had the strength or the guile to bend an ancient entity to his will.

  Elyra gave him a look—a look that was both knowing and patient, as if she had already anticipated this moment. She was calm, composed, in control of the situation in a way Jack couldn’t quite understand. “Absolutely,” she said, her voice steady, filled with conviction. “Entities like Vishura do not offer bargains lightly. If she wants a foothold in our world, she is desperate. Desperation can be leveraged.”

  Jack exhaled slowly, considering her words carefully. The air inside the shimmering barrier was still and heavy, the space around them pulsing with the echoes of the deal that had been made—or perhaps, the deal that had yet to be finalized. He hadn’t expected to be in this position. Just hours ago, he had been a simple man with little more than a normal life to lead, but now? Now, he was faced with an offer from an entity of unimaginable power, one whose true intentions were still a mystery.

  But Elyra’s words rang true. Vishura might have the upper hand, but if she wanted something from him, if she wanted to forge a connection with the material world, that meant she had a vulnerability. And vulnerabilities, Jack knew, were leverage in any negotiation. If Vishura wanted something from him badly enough, then perhaps it was possible to make this deal work in his favor.

  He closed his eyes for a moment, gathering his thoughts, letting the swirling chaos beyond the barrier fade into the background. What was it that Vishura wanted, truly? Knowledge, yes. But that was only a surface-level desire. If Elyra was right, then this was about something more than just acquiring information—it was about gaining influence, a foothold in a world that was no longer entirely hers to control. The more he thought about it, the more he realized just how fragile the balance between the worlds really was.

  As the waver of light from Elyra’s barrier continued to pulse around them, Jack felt a quiet resolve settle in his chest. There was much to be done, many risks to take, but if he could negotiate with Vishura, if he could turn the tables on the entity that had sought to ensnare him, then perhaps this dangerous game could be won after all.