Selene led me to the public library.
We stopped in the eastern alcove, where there was an aged reading shelf filled with unlabeled, weather-worn tomes—books no one ever seemed to check out, despite their placement being curiously maintained. This was the shelf of memory-debt, a warded façade for the passage beneath.
Or at least that was what Selene told me.
"Mistress, the hidden staircase will only reveal itself if a drop of your ancestral blood is pressed to the spine of the third book from the left on the bottom shelf. It should be an unlabeled volume known as The Hollowed Ledger."
Seriously? Is my blood the key to everything here? Sighing, I bit my thumb with my bottom fang and pressed it to the correct book.
Nothing happened for a few seconds but then the shelf started to groan and slide inward, revealing a spiral staircase of black iron and blood-polished stone. The walls were lined with moss-like memory strands, twitching gently like living hair.
As we began to travel down, each step downward caused the air to deepen—thicker, colder, quieter.
A wrought-iron arch stood at the base of the stairwell, carved with the sigil of the Thirteenth Veil—Velomirra's mark. Beneath it read:
"Sanctum of the Forgotten. For all things buried, and those not yet mourned."
The smell of old rosewater, damp stone, burnt letters, and spilled ink, bathed the air.
The staircase spiraled downward at a subtle, maddening angle. It was never steep, but never easing. The walls were carved from blood-marble and streaked with thread-veins of soulglass, which flickered with phantom lights when a strong memory stirred. Each time a step was taken, it softly echoed in another voice, from another time.
The handrail was forged of cool black iron, engraved with names—thousands of names—that twitched and shimmered like silverfish as one's fingers passed over them.
Ghost-lanterns drifted lazily down the shaft, flickering with each step as if reacting to the weight of the descent. Their glow was not constant—it seemed to flicker in sync with the my pulse. It was odd because my heart only pulsed every two minutes. I think? I actually haven't counted my exact heartbeat per second or whatever.
As Selene and I descended the final steps of the spiral staircase, the narrow gloom gave way to a colossal vaulted chamber—a hall that felt more like a mausoleum designed for kings, priests, and sinners too holy to bury.
The walls were carved from ashen bone-stone, inlaid with veins of black opal and etched with prayers from extinct religions. Colossal stained-glass panels lined both sides—depicting unfinished memories, each too blurred to recognize, yet each unbearably familiar.
The air was still—dustless, unmoving, but heavy with the weight of old oaths and unwelcome truths.
At the far end of the hall: two titanic ironwood doors, over 20 feet high, bound in shackles of crimson-threaded silver. Carved across both doors was a mosaic of the Vladiscar family tree, though half the branches had been violently scorched black.
Above the doors, in eldritch Gothic script read, "Only those who forget may enter."
Lying before the sealed double doors, like a slumbering gate to Hell, was a beast so immense it could have been mistaken for a collapsed statue. Then I noticed it breathing.
"Mistress, that is Penemue. He is a Chimera hound. He was bred in shadow, raised in memory, and bound by Velomirra Vladiscar himself to guard the Sanctum's doors."
My eyes widened at the beautiful creature before me.
As large as a war wagon, with six legs, each ending in paws that resembled skeletal lion talons. He had three snarling visages. One of a withered wolf with its eyes sewn shut, one of a snake's skull, leaking black mist from its sockets, and one of a silent, eyeless deer, its antlers made of quill-inked bone. Its fur seemed to have been made of shadow-thread and coal ash, constantly shifting, like it's unraveling and knitting itself back together. His three tails were barbed chains with runes that hummed softly.
"...So cute!" I squealed, my eyes glowing from excitement. "I wanna pet it!"
"Mistress, I do not believe—."
Before she could even finish her sentence, I was dashing towards the cutie.
Penemue's middle Snake-Skull Head rose first, tongue flicking the air in recognition. The mist it exhaled coiled toward me and turned a soft crimson, curling affectionately around my ankles like an obedient leash of fog.
The Eyeless Deer Head tilted upward and emitted a pulse, a psychic echo. Within it, I felt a moment of my mother's memories. The feeling of cold hands tucking Nyxaria in at dawn. It was... hauntingly sweet. Unwelcomed, but sweet.
The Wolf-Head, stitched shut at the eyes, had let out a single exhale through its nose. The breath carried a low vibration, one I could feel in my bones. As I was standing still, I noticed the cutie was humming a low, ancient sound. It sounded like a lullaby once sung to sleeping beasts in tombs of the old world.
I blinked at the thought. Huh, these memories I inherited really do just come and go, don't they?
Shaking my head I start approaching Penemue without fear or hesitation, his body lowered, flattening against the stone.
"Amazing, Mistress. This is a rare honor—it means the gate will open with no price," Selene murmured in awe.
And just then, from beneath its paws, the Stone of Forgetting splitted, revealing a hidden sigil carved in obsidian bloodstone, "She who remembers too much may pass unburdened."
"As expected of the Widow Returned. Only Mistress Velomirra and Mistress Nyxaria, have ever caused this to appear."
As the double doors began to open behind her with a groan like cracking tombstone, Penemue's wolf-head leaned forward, gently brushing its scarred snout against my shoulder in familiarity.
So. Freaking. Cute! Come here and let me give you lots of head scratches.
Instead of stepping through, I knelt beside him. I reached out and brushed lightly against the thick, ashen fur woven from ash and shadow. My fingers dipped just between the wolf-head's tattered ears, feeling the coarse ripple of old magic beneath the illusion of flesh.
He didn't flinch. Instead, the massive wolf-head gave a low, rumbling sigh, like a storm exhaling, and leaned just a little closer. My touch had no fear in it. Only kinship. The kind all beasts could sense.
I gave a few slow, firm head scratches behind one jagged ear, murmuring softly, "Who's a good boy? You're a good boy. Yes you are~."
The snake-head gave a soft hiss in satisfaction.
The deer-head stilled entirely, as though holding its breath.
I scratched a little more, and then, because I could, I leaned in and whispered, "Good boy. The next time I come down, I'll make sure to bring you a yummy snack. M'kay?"
Penemue's massive form shuddered once, like hearing such praise and the promise of a treat was the best thing ever. Then, slowly, he lowered his full body to the floor.
I cocked my head. "Are you… wagging your tails?"
Behind the beast, the barbed, rune-etched tails gave a faint, slow sway. Like a hopeful puppy.
I raised a brow, arms crossed, and a smile on face. "You want more?"
Penemue didn't respond, not with sound. But he did roll halfway onto his side. The snake-skull head hissed lazily, the deer-head twitched, and the massive barrel of his stitched belly was exposed, ashen and scar-lined, but unmistakably asking.
I chuckled.
"…Fine," I grinned, kneeling down. "But if you drool on me, I'm putting a muzzle on you and renaming you Shadow Muffin."
I knelt beside him and, tentatively at first, placed both hands on the broad expanse of his belly. It was strangely warm, like stone that had absorbed ancestral fire.
I began to rub in slow circles. And the response was immediate.
The snake-head gave a low, satisfied hiss, vapor trailing in lazy curls. The deer-head lowered, relaxing into the stone floor. The wolf-head let out a soft, ghostly whine, a sound like distant thunder over a forgotten battlefield.
Then… his back foot twitched.
I stared, eyes sparkling in glee. "Are you kidding me? How are you so cute!"
The twitch became a gentle thump-thump-thump on the stone. I giggled, a tiny smile tugged at the edge of my mouth.
"There. You've officially been corrupted," I said, still rubbing. "A fearsome guardian of ancient secrets begging for tummy rubs like a lapdog."
Penemue let out a long exhale that stirred my hair gently, like the sigh of a grave that had been waiting too long to be opened.
"Mistress, although it is a great privilege to bear witness to you enjoying yourself so thoroughly, I will have to remind you of your previous destination? The door to the Sanctum of the Forgotten will not stay open forever. It would be best if we head through now."
I sighed in my petting the cutie. Selene was right. I still needed to prepare for the Marrowhollow Academy's acceptance tests. And I have a lot to catch up on. The memories I inherited won't cut it. So I need to study a whole bunch in these 3 months.
Rising to my feet, I turned and headed to the opened doors of the Sanctum. "Bye-bye my adorable Penemue. I'll play with you some other time. I gotta go study now," I said as I waved to the now pouting Chimera hound.
Gah! My heart, my heart can't take this overwhelming cuteness! I need to run. Run away!