Chapter Text
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Caymine’s tail swayed back and forth with every tick of the clock. It was early, somewhere between 1 and 3 am. He leaned over a notebook and folder, documents spread about the desk. He had lost track of time, and was starting to fall asleep. He cursed under his breath as he flipped through the scribbled on pages of aimless text. The door swung open, slamming against the wall. “Caymine- shit- The boss needs you..” Ichiji shyly slumped against the wall, apologizing for the door slam, his tail flicking irritably. “Oh, great. Listen, I know the case is late, but if you just give me more time I-” Ichiji’s loud sigh silenced him. “I know, but I’m sorry man. There’s nothing I can do.” Caymine gritted his teeth as he packed up his stuff neatly into a backpack, everything but the folder that is. The folder he held tightly in his arm as he walked slowly into the office of the lead investigator. “Mr. Ferrow… I just want to get this out of the way.” They motioned for him to sit down. “I know how hard you work here, and how much you love this establishment, but-.” “I know, I know. A two week delayed case is unacceptable. It’s alright, I’ll go.” He lowered his head, his ears pressing against his head, a bundle of shame and regret. He set the folder on the desk, readying himself to get up. “Caymine… I understand how hard this can be to take… But.” They clicked some sort of switch from under their desk, and the bookshelf began to slowly swing open as a hidden room was revealed before him. “Oh.. What..” Arid took his hand and led him into the room.”This is what I wanted you for Caymine.” His mouth was agape in awe, as he spun, taking in everything. It was a room full of old books and artifacts, tomes that told of great magics, murals and ancient paintings. He’d start to get overwhelmed. “Come, come!” Arid urged him to follow them, climbing up to the second floor. “Caymine, I need you and your partner to take a very special case for me.” Ichiji walked out from somewhere behind them, standing at attention with his hands behind his back. Arid pulled one of the large books from the shelf beside them. “This. Is the tale of the Soul-Spectrium. An ancient alternate world that derives from the texts of a species inhabiting this planet long before us.” Their tail wagged excitedly. “We’re not just detectives, Ferrow. We’re explorers, archeologists, whatever the government needs this facility to be. I need you to study this realm, Caymine.” They smiled giddily, opening the tome to a blank page. Placing their hands on each page, they chanted. “Aperi mihi animam tuam, luceat. Intra.” Caymine stumbled back into Ichiji’s arms as a bright flash of light erupted from the pages. “Woah.. What the hell?” Ichiji looked down at the book itself, and covered his eyes, almost in pain. “Are you okay Ich-” Caymine was cut off by Ichiji’s scream of terror. He quickly discovered why the tiger was screaming when he saw him enter the book, almost as if getting sucked into it. “OH, ABSOLUTELY NOT!” He hung onto something for dear life, but that wasn’t enough as the book wrapped its tendrils of light around him too. “Good luck Caymine! Bring me back good discoveries!” The fox’s voice was lost as his eyes closed, and he lost consciousness, falling into a seemingly black void.