“What pray tell is that?” Dardania shoots upright, her eyes wide. I too am on the edge of my seat and waiting with bated breath.

  “The Hanged Man.” Madison begins. “I don’t know the extent of its power, but as far as I can tell it has the power to stop time.”

  “What?” Dardania stands up, fully at alert. “It can stop time?”

  “Look, I don’t know the limits of the power or how it really works. Lucias just mentions that he came across someone dubbed The Hanged Man who had the ability to control time. The details are scarce, but they did meet in the next town over. Apparently he was some nobility.”

  “We have to try. Full stop.”

  That was yesterday, and today Madison and I stand on the door step of a dilapidated mansion.

  “Do you think they’ll be okay without us?” I ask. I’m worried Trevor will come back to try and finish what he started while we are gone.

  “They should be fine. I don’t think he’ll come back. We know who he is now, kinda ruins the whole surprise.” Madison pushes a beam out of the way and pushes her way into the mansion.

  I try to focus on the task at hand and not worry about Trevor. Which in this case may be easier than expected because what the hell is this freaking house? The outside of the house looks like your run of the mill abandoned mansion, but the front room looks like a ruin.

  The floor has long since disintegrated and nothing was left but dirt and rocks. The structure of the walls still stand and mostly in tack but it looks far older than normal.

  “How long has this been abandoned?” I ask as I step over the threshold and make my way around the room.

  “A few decades according to the owner of the inn.” Madison says as she runs her hang across a mantle that looks like it has several inches of dust. I look down at the lack of floor beneath my feet.

  “I’m pretty sure this place is much older than a few decades. I mean, where’s the floor?” Like, what could have done this? I’ve seen some ruins in my day, and this looks more like ruins than simply an abandoned mansion.

  “Also there’s this?” Madison takes a small icon off the mantle and hands it to me. It’s a solid black figurine about a foot tall. Where its heart should be is simply a hole. It stands on a small pedestal that reads ‘The Heart Ancient’.

  “I’m going to go out on a limb and say this place is a lot older than just a few decades old. I mean, no modern person would have a statue of an Ancient.” I say as I place the statue in the bag I was carrying and make my way into the next room.

  I freeze the moment I take a step in. Unlike the previous room, this one was pristine. It was a magnificent library completely untouched by time. Bookshelves lined the walls, and above that stood a loft also full of shelves and work tables. In the center of the room stood a small glowing marble altar and above it floated The Hanged Man card.

  “Holy shit. You have to see this!” I scream out and Madison immediately comes running into the room and immediately freezes. She practically slides into the room and her mouth immediately falls open. We both stare on in awe at the sight before us.

  The ceiling itself was even a work of art. On the base level the nights sky was painted and over top of it there were various sigils, runes, and magical drawings. If there was ever a spot that felt like it was straight out of a fantasy novel this would be it.

  “What is this?” Madison slowly walks into the room as the looks around in awe.

  As I approach the altar glowing letters start to form that read, ‘For when the Arcana approach, The Hanged Man will fall.’ I stare up at the card half expecting it to fall, but no such thing happens. I raise my hand to grab the card but then decide against it.

  If The Hanged Man has the ability to control time it would make sense that the house itself was experiencing time differently in different parts. If I take the card from the altar would it immediately undo the spell and the entire thing collapse in on itself? If this house has been standing since the time of Lucias and the First Saint then it was ancient, far beyond any age we are aware of. Literally, we have no idea how long ago that was. The Order has wiped away all actual history and the only thing left is mythology and religious texts. I’d rather not have a house fall on top of me the moment I pull this card out.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  “Over here!” Madison calls out. As I make my way past the altar towards the back of the library, I see her standing in front of a person who is suspended in mid air, just like the card above the altar.

  Similar to how the card hangs above the altar, there is a beam of light shining down from literally nowhere. The man hangs in the exact same way that image in the card is depicted, upside down hanging from a lamp post by a chain.

  “What are we looking at?” Madison mumbles as we both stare at the man in utter shock.

  “I… I don’t know.” Genuinely, no clue what was happening here. Was it some weird vampire shit, like a bat hanging upside down while they slept? That couldn’t be it, right? Even for a fantasy world that feels just too farfetched. I slowly raise my hand to reach towards the man when Madison grabs me, and pulls my hand back.

  “Just like the card, maybe we shouldn’t touch him.”

  “Good point.” I slowly lower my hand back to my side and I just stare at the man. He seems normal enough, nothing too far out of the ordinary at least based on his appearance. He has jet black hair, slightly darker skin tone, and he was dressed in a pristine black suit. His attire definitely matched what I would assume would be the original aesthetic of the mansion.

  “Well, we can’t just stand here forever staring at him, we have to do something.” I truly don’t have the patience for all of this at the moment, we found the item we were looking for and I want to get back to Avis. Instead we’re stuck here dealing with a weirdo, a floating card, and a library frozen in time. Couldn’t for once everything just be like super easy and attainable. It’s literally life or death here, so now would be the perfect time for it.

  “I’m aware, but if we act too hastily, we might mess something up. Not sure what that something would be since I have no clue what’s going on here, but nonetheless.”

  “Well, no time like the present to be confident and take action.” I walk toward the altar with purpose and determination, I raise my hand, and I grab the Hanged Man from above the altar.

  I wait.

  The house doesn’t immediately come crumbling down so we are off to a good start. Granted something else terrible may occur but it least we won’t be crushed to death.

  I whip around and make my way back to Madison’s side who was still staring at the hanging guy.

  “I was expecting something. I don’t know what, but something. I didn’t think nothing would happen.”

  “I wouldn’t quite call it nothing.” The Hanged Man says just as his eyes shoot open.

  We both stumble backwards, but beyond that our reactions are different.

  I gawk at the suddenly talking man. His movement takes me completely by surprise and I freeze up unsure of what to do. Madison on the other hand summons her staff and assumes a fighting stance.

  The man raises his head to look at his feet, sighs, and then lets his head drop back down.

  “It appears someone thought a prank might be quite fun.” He struggles to raise his upper body to release his feet. Every time he raises up, he can’t reach his feet, and falls back down. He flops around like a fish out of water for a good minute before finally giving up.

  “Could one of you do me the kindness of breaking the chains.” He asks politely.

  I start to move forward but Madison raises her staff to block my movement.

  “How do we know we can trust you?” Madison asks, I freeze. Even after what happened with Trevor I was still willing to just walk up to some random man and help him. I didn’t even think once that he might be evil or do something sinister. Was it my trusting nature that put all of us in this spot in the first place?”

  “I have no way to assure you, all I can do is promise that I mean no harm to either of you. All I have are my words and I hope they are enough. Alas, I can say that I am not armed.”

  Madison contemplates for few seconds before raising her staff towards the chains.

  “Good enough I suppose.” A spark shoots from the end of her staff, pierces the chain, shatters a few links, and the man falls to the floor with a loud thud.

  Just as fast as he fell to the floor, he shoots back up. It was rather comedic to watch because I’m pretty sure he was only on the floor for a fraction of a second before he made his way back to his feet.

  “Thank you for your kindness.” The hanged man lowers his head as he bows before the two of us. It’s an extremely deep bow which would imply great gratitude or respect. I can’t help but to trust him, even if that’s a bad idea. There’s just something about him.

  “Would you like a spot of tea?” He motions towards a cabinet off to the side and begins walking towards it. Before either of us could respond he pulls out a tea kettle, a bag of leaves, and several cups and places them on a small table in the corner.

  “Please have a seat, relax a little bit.”

  “I’ll stand thanks.” Madison says, but I take him up on his offer and have a seat at the table. Madison shoots me a dirty look but I just shrug. Honestly, there are two of us and one of him, I’m sure we could take him if we had to.

  “So, who are you?” I ask, the words just falling out of my mouth. I immediately regret it. “Sorry, that’s rude.”

  “That’s quite okay.” He raises the kettle and begins pouring all three of us a cup of tea. “I am Nabu. The victim of time, The Hanged Man of the Major Arcana, and the failed Ancient of Fate. Pleasure to meet you.”