Ancient Languages

"Lucian", the faint whispered voice of Aerin called.

Of course, Luke was alone as he heard the sound of her call, yet he was unperturbed by the eerie nature of the whisper. He'd taken to calling the calls echoes, and in a way, he'd even become grateful for them. They would lead him to the next vision of the past, which were the only times Luke didn't feel alone in the castle.

The area Luke was in was a part of a more secluded spot within the lower levels of the castle. The majority of the rooms within this section seemed larger, with more inlaid gold in the rubble, larger beds, and even a few fireplaces. How one could have a fireplace underground he didn't know, but he assumed it to be the result of some sort of magic.

Following the echo, he moved down the hall until he reached the second to last door. It was a heavy wooden door, with rusted hinges and a lock above its handle.

Giving the handle a push, he found it was locked which he had expected. Raising a leg he kicked the door with all his strength, which was apparently too hard. The door flew off its hinges, the metal snapping with ease, and clattered into the remains of an old wooden table that lay in the center of the next room.

Luke paused for a second and then smiled at his own strength, it seemed that while Aerin had dismissed the rank, the strength of an adept could be quite considerable. Stepping inside the room, he was easily able to take up most of it with his omniscience's range.

Stepping over to a desk that was in surprisingly good shape, he studied the singular book resting atop it without moving his head. It was in good shape, like all the other objects that activated his visons. The book was large, the size of a large phone book, with a thick red leather cover and golden writing as the title. Surprisingly, Luke found he could not read the title at all, as the rune-like language wasn't one he was able to comprehend.

Aerin had told him in a prior vision, that almost everyone who had access to the system had the inborn ability to translate languages that had formed after the system's creation. Since no one knew when the system had been made, and no one alive had been present during its creation. That meant there were very few languages that the system didn't translate, which meant that the language the book was written in was included in those few languages. When Aerin had told him about it, she'd named four examples of the ancient languages, Arethelian the most commonly known ancient language, Draconian, Demonic, and Angelic.

Since Luke knew the Infernus house to really be a family of demons, which still blew his mind, he assumed that the title was in Demonic. Which was, according to her, one of the rarest of the ancient languages. He studied the letters of the language for a bit longer, admiring the flowery, and curve-heavy style of the runes.

While he studied it, he noted that he couldn't see inside the book, which didn't surprise him. He'd already guessed that the large book was an artefact of some kind, as that was the only way he could figure it surviving the long years of solitude inside the castle. Figuring he could always just ask Aerin; Luke raised a hand and rested it on the surface of the book. The world flashed white.

The room was as Luke had expected some sort of royal bedchamber, with a grand bed, a separate room with a tub, a large walk-in closet filled with regal and expensive clothing, and a large dining table. There was a sweet smell permeating the air, like a faint perfume made from flowers and fruits. He also noted the presence of a fire in the stone fireplace, with the smoke wafting up a long shaft and seeming to disappear when it reached the closed off top.

'I wonder how expensive that is', Luke wondered curiously.

Like every vision he'd been in, he felt the temperature had dropped significantly from the constant warmth of the future. This didn't bother him at all, as according to Aerin and the system the fire in his blood was enough to keep his body from the discomfort of the cold. Still, he found the cold environment, and the soft heat of the fireplace refreshing from the constant warmth he was used too.

Walking over to the bed, he held out an arm and tried to rest the palm on the surface of it. Of course, his hand went straight through, as it always did when he interacted with objects of the past.

This caused him to sigh heavily, he would have really appreciated a soft bed after sleeping on the ground for a month. Strengthened body or not, he still ached after a night on the grassy ground of the Evergarden.

Partly out of boredom, and partly out of childish curiosity, Luke stepped forward into the bed. His body moved through it like it was air, until he was standing in the middle of the large bed with his lower half hidden beneath the surface of the blankets.

'It's like I'm a ghost', he thought with a chuckle.

A second later and the door to the room opened, and a lady in her forties with blonde hair and a green dress stepped inside. Behind her Aerin stepped in the room behind her, her red hair in a bun, and clad in rich medieval riding clothes. With a brown jacket, thick trousers, brown boots, and a light tunic underneath. Each piece of clothing embroidered with a scarlet rose.

Aerin noticed him immediately, pausing a step before continuing further into her chambers.

"Melan, I actually think I will take my bath later", she said with a smile, causing the blonde woman to turn.

"Are you sure my lady? You've been riding all morning", Melan asked politely.

If Aerin had been riding all morning, she did not look it, rather she appeared as if she'd just gotten ready for the day. Her clothing had no wear or dirt, nor was her hair ruffled in the slightest. Noting his own bare chest, ruffled too-long black hair that was loosely tied back with a strip of clothes, and his torn shorts, Luke couldn't help but feel out of place in the vision. Not that it was really his fault, considering his circumstances, but noting Aerin's appearance in comparison to his own highlighted how dirty he was.

'I really need to find some way to cut my hair', he noted.

He'd already tried to cut through it with his heated chain, but to no effect. Whether it was his natural resistance to heat, or that his own heat couldn't affect his body he had no idea. What he did know was that he was in desperate need of clippers, or even scissors as the hair had long grown to be a burden. It was constantly messy and nappy, with dirt and debris stuck in various parts of it, no matter how much he ran his fingers through it. He hated it.

"I'm okay, I'm just a bit tired and would like to be alone for a while. I'll call for you when I'm ready", Aerin said kindly.

"As you wish princess", Melan said with a bow, before leaving the room.

Once she was out of range of the door, Aerin frowned without turning to Luke.

"Lucian.", she said in a confused tone, "why are you in my bed?"

Luke paused for a second before shrugging, "I wanted to see what would happen", he stated simply.

"I see", Aerin said with a hint of a smile, "a bit childish of you, don't you think?", she asked.

Luke stepped out of the bed, "honestly I think that's the closest thing I've had to proper clothing in a month", he quipped.

"True, it's a shame I don't have any enchanted clothing lying around to leave you", Aerin said.

"It's fine, its not like I get cold. And there's no one around to see me", he said.

"I see you", Aerin pointed out.

"No, you don't", Luke joked with a smile, "your blind. And its not like the clothes matter much to the Daranthian", he added.

Aerin shrugged, then away from him and stepped closer to her desk, cocking her head.

"What was the artefact that brought you here this time?", she asked curiously.

"A big book with a red leather cover, and gold writing. I'm pretty sure it was written in an ancient language."

"This one?", Aerin said, opening a drawer of her desk and pulling out the very same book.

"That's it", Luke confirmed easily.

"Huh, I'm surprised it wasn't taken from the castle before. It's quite rare and valuable after all", Aerin noted.

"Well, the door was locked. And it's in a dungeon.", Luke offered.

"It couldn't have always been a dungeon though, and if the door was locked how'd you get in?", Aerin asked.

"Kicked the door of the hinges", Luke said with a smile.

"You destroyed my door?", Aerin said in a playful voice.

"What? You weren't using it", Luke stated.

"Hmph, so why do you think this artefact was left for you?", Aerin asked.

"Sorry?", Luke said in confusion.

"It seems to me that every time an artefact is left for you, like your cannister which has a durability enchantment, or your veil, is done so with a purpose. The cannister so you can carry healing water, and the veil so you can control your Daranthian. Even your satchel is a artefact, as its made to self-repair itself every time it tears", Aerin said.

Luke said nothing. "I figured they were artefacts of some sort, but I guess I didn't put that together", he said dully.

Aerin snorted, "of course you didn't", she said with in a humorous tone.

Luke shrugged, feeling slightly embarrassed at his imperception and changed the topic back to the book.

"I don't know why it was left for me, shouldn't you know as you're likely the one leaving me these things?", Luke asked.

Aerin paused at that, "if I am the one leaving them for you then it's a future version of me, save for the veil. But actually, now that you say it, I guess that does make sense."

"So, the book, what is it?"

"It's called the Eian Gehar, which literally translates the red book in the demonic language. It's basically a large book containing a vast amount of the demonic language, it was made a long time ago, after the system came about to teach noble demons to speak their ancestral tongue. Now… I'm pretty sure this is the last one in existence, or at least one of the last ones. It's been passed down to Infernus scions for generations, to carry on our language and tradition", Aerin said.

Then reaching out to the book, she flipped it open to a page filled with curvy runes matching the cover of the book.

Stepping closer to the book, Luke focused on the page and noted with surprise he could read some of the words, namely every second or third sentence.

"I can read some of the words", he said in surprise. "Is it because I'm a demon?", he asked.

Aerin snorted in laughter, "no fool", she giggled, "that's because not all the words are written in Demonic."

Luke felt a flush of embarrassment, "oh."

"If every demon could instinctively read Demonic, then what would be the point of the book in the first place. No, those words are written in Dal, an old common language made after the system was created, that's why you can read them. Funny enough that language is dead now, but since it was made after the system, we can read it like it was modern common", Aerin said.

 "Oh, I see", Luke said dully.

"Hmm, I guess if I left this here then it was so you could learn to read it", Aerin continued, crossing her arms.

"Do you know how to read it?", Luke asked.

Aerin nodded, "I'm a demon, I learned to speak the Demonic language while I was learning common.", she said softly.

Luke frowned as he noted how easily she'd been saying the word demon whereas before she'd always been mindful to avoid the word.

"The walls are warded here to prevent listeners", Aerin stated when he asked.

"Got it", he said then after a second of thought he shrugged. "Well, I'll take the book, but I don't know when I'll be able to learn another language. I kind of have to explore the castle everyday and all", Luke stated.

"Just read it at night and I'll teach you pronunciation during the visions, a little at a time of course but other than fighting what else do you have to do?", Aerin pointed out.

Ouch.

"Besides, you said you were bored. This will give you something to do, not only that but it's an opportunity to learn a language most scholars would kill to know."

"Is it really that rare?", Luke asked.

Aerin nodded seriously, "the demons are extinct remember, that means there is literally no one to teach the language. Plus, the church outlawed this book and the language years ago, and when the church outlaws something most kingdoms follow suit."

Luke thought on that and had to admit the idea of learning an ancient language that rare did sound cool, it seemed like this worlds equivalent to being fluent in Latin. Besides that Luke had always wanted to learn a second language, and now he had the chance. Though technically he supposed he now understood most languages, he didn't really count that.

"Alright, but I can't promise I'll learn the whole language before I leave the castle", Luke agreed.

Aerin smiled, "of course, but since you have the book, you can always study after you escape. Plus, since we have been seeing each other quite a bit these days I can help by speaking to you in the language", she said.

"What about the people in the castle, wouldn't they hear you speaking demonic?", Luke asked.

"They wouldn't recognize it even if they heard it, like I said its rare", Aerin said.

Luke grunted, "okay then", he said, finding himself pleased that he had something that could take up his free time when he wasn't fighting.

"Alright, let's get started with the alphabet", Aerin said, pulling out a piece of paper.