Call of the Void
July 2023 | by Dani
Fiction | Ittoril
"Wait 'til she hears what I pulled off." That's the thought going through his head as he approaches her office. Two months have passed since Cillian last saw Belle. He is now much more weary from the trip, and can't seem to get the smell of sea salt off of him.
"So, how'd your field mission go?" She asks him as he walks in.
"Oh, it was fantastic! I just finished unloading my things from the ship. Marlin's given me the rest of the day off. Anyways, remember how you asked me to scope out that painting?" He finds himself grinning wildly. "Boy, I have a surprise for you."
"Yeah?"
"Well, it comes in two parts. First, I confirmed that the painting was, in fact, a Vidius..."
She nods her head and smiles.
"But also, while I was there, I may have snuck into the guy's place," he pauses for effect, "and stolen the painting completely."
He waits for her reaction.
She just stares at him.
After a brief moment, he resolves to proceed. "I-I've got it packaged up in my dorm room now. My, it's beautiful. I'll be ready to transfer it to storage whenever you are."
"Oh. Um..." She breaks eye contact. "That is... certainly a surprise. I..."
"Don't worry, I was careful. I-If that's what you're worried about." He tries to hold on to the moment. "I did a good job of it — they won't know it's me, I swear." He pauses. "And now we've got the painting for free!"
She sighs, and looks up. And as he meets her gaze, he is taken aback. He sees a look in her eye more serious and less cheerful than he was expecting. He realises, with a sinking feeling, that the confidence he walked into the room with was misplaced. In an instant, he finally registers that he won't be getting the reaction he was expecting.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think that was a very good idea, Cillian," she says, her voice becoming stiff. "Regardless of how careful you were. I don't think you realise how much danger this puts us in."
Her voice to him suddenly no longer felt genuine. It wasn't the amiable voice he was familiar with, the voice of a friend. It was the authoritative voice of a teacher, telling him off.
That sinking feeling from earlier keels over in his chest and turns sharply, becoming a bitter ball of spite that rises to his throat. "Well I'm sorry, I just thought you'd appreciate it. Not having to blow the Academy's budget." He turns around and huffs.
"You should've told me what you were planning beforehand."
"Y'know, I thought you'd say 'Oh, wow, that's wonderful Cillian, thank you, Cillian'." He sighs, and swallows the venom in his words. "I- I wasn't originally planning to, beforehand."
He turns around, and finds her looking at him in such a way that he can't help but meet her gaze.
"Can you explain what happened?"
"I visited Shrew's place as soon as I arrived in Silomouth, but I got told he was away on a business trip, all the way until the new year. And I wasn't going to be there in the new year, so I put it aside and tried to forget about it. But over the week I was there, it... it felt like... I couldn't forget it. It was a loose end growing in a little gap at the back of my mind. And-" He pauses and shifts around. "And I didn't want to disappoint you by coming back empty-handed.
"But it wasn't until my very last day in Silomouth that I decided I would sneak into Shrew's place. I wasn't planning to steal anything, just take a look and see the painting, check if it was a Vidius. I jammed open one of the windows late at night, as quietly and slowly as I could, and crept in. I tip-toed around the building, candle in hand, silently, until I found the painting. It was hanging there in the living room, just above the mantle.
"And I knew, immediately, that it was a Vidius.
"It wasn't like Shrew had described it. It was more. I didn't realise at first, but I instinctually held my breath as I looked at it. When you didn't move, the impression was uncannily close to that of looking through a window. There were whole kingdoms of clouds behind that canvas. It was this odd mixture of awe, but touched with a feeling of unease, like the perspective or the colour was just slightly off, just slightly unreal. I don't think anyone besides Vidius could have achieved that feeling.
"When I finally looked away, It was like a weight across my throat had dropped away, and I released by breath with a shiver. The room around me felt different. I was both disoriented, but also so much more aware of everything in my field of vision. Is it called vertigo? When your hair stands on end because the room around you suddenly feels bigger that it really is?"
He pauses for a moment, and finds himself unable to describe the painting in any way that does it justice.
"It was... It was more than Shrew had described. It was the most well-crafted thing I had ever seen, beautiful and cavernous, in the dark. Whatever it was, it was worth more than 200,000 Silver. If I didn't steal it, I don't think Shrew would have ever been able to bring himself to sell it. And... And a part of me also thought that you'd appreciate it."
"I'm sorry, Cillian, but I can't say I'm not disappointed."
"Yeah, you've made that clear." He scoffs. "We got the painting without having to pay for it! Shouldn't that be a good thing? Why do you gotta be angry at me?"
"I'm not angry, I'm just... concerned. You've put the Academy into a precarious position here. Worse than we were already in, I mean. If they trace this back to you, then the whole Academy is going to be under fire from all sides, and we can't handle that. Do you want to be the one responsible for that?"
"How could they possibly trace this back to me? You're being irrational."
"Look, Shrew was offering 200,000 Silver for the painting, right? If that's the case, then once he realises it's gone, he'll be willing to spend just as much trying to get it back. You think with that much money behind the investigation they're not gonna find you out?"
"They wouldn't."
"They would."
"God, just let me show the painting, at least."
"Why?"
"If you just saw the painting, you'd understand!"
"I don't want to see the damn painting!"
Cillian turns away. Partially out of frustration, partly to hide the tears welling up in his eyes.
He hears Belle's voice behind him. "You said he won't be back until next year?"
Cillian pauses, then looks back at her. "You're not serious."
"You should have time to take the trip back and replace it, if you're quick."
"You're joking."
"I'm not. This is serious, Cillian. I'm sorry."
He sniffs, and then says, with more force than he meant to, "Fine."