Page 15 of Langiappe & Lost Legends

"Then help us!" Lia demanded. "Because right now, the Lost Legends are the ones tearing our city apart. And they're using your family's artifact to do it. Or would you prefer to watch New Orleans become a temporal jumble sale?"

Something caught my eye in the journal I'd been struggling with. It was a passage about anchors and power webs. It had suddenly become crystal clear. As if the book had decided I was worthy of this particular secret. “The text described a network of physical anchor points throughout New Orleans. They were places where the fabric of reality was naturally thin. The Lost Legends had used these points to amplify their power. They created a web of temporal energy that allowed them to manipulate everything,” I read aloud.

But before I could read more, Marie waved her hand, and the book slammed shut with enough force to rattle the windows. "That section is not relevant to your current... situation," shesaid carefully, but not before I caught the flash of fear in her eyes.

"The hell it isn't," Phi said as she got to her feet. "You know something about these anchors, don't you? Something you don't want us to find. Is it about how they're connected to the Larmes du Bayou?"

Marie's expression could have frozen Hell itself. "What I know or don't know is not your concern. You asked about the Lost Legends and the Larmes du Bayou. Nothing more."

"Everything is connected," I argued, standing my ground despite the way Marie's power was making the air crackle. "The Lost Legends, the anchors, the temporal disturbances. We need the whole picture. These anchor points are still active, aren't they? That's why the temporal disturbances are following specific patterns."

"The whole picture?" Marie laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Child, the whole picture would break your mind. Some secrets are kept for a reason. The anchors are complicated. They're tied to the city's history in ways you couldn't begin to understand." That meant she used them and wanted to keep control of them. If we learned too much, we could ruin more of her life.

My phone buzzed with another update about the spreading chaos. "A streetcar just appeared from a hundred years ago," I read. "It's picking up passengers and dropping them off in different decades. The conductor thinks he's still on his regular route and can't understand why the city keeps changing around him. And – oh God, the French Market just cycled back to its original version almost two hundred years ago. It’s even got the original merchandise. We're running out of time."

Marie stared at us for a long moment with an unreadable expression. Finally, she sighed. The sound carried the weight of centuries. "Very well. But understand this. I will help you findwhat you need to know about the Lost Legends and the Larmes du Bayou. Nothing more. There are other secrets in these books that must remain buried. Secrets that would make the Lost Legends look like amateur hour at a magic show."

Her hands glowed with power as she approached the journals. The books responded their pages ruffling as if caught in a spectral wind. The text began to appear more clearly, though only on certain pages. I noticed she was careful to keep some sections obscured. Her magic wove complex patterns that reminded me of the iron lattices in the French Quarter.

"Here," she said, pointing to a passage that suddenly seemed perfectly legible. "The Lost Legends drew their power from physical anchors placed throughout the city. A network of power points that, when properly aligned, allowed them to manipulate the fabric of reality itself. The anchors were chosen for their natural temporal resonance. They are places where history had left its mark so deeply that the veil is thin."

"Some of these anchors have been destroyed or moved," Phi said as she read further. "Urban development, natural disasters..."

"But enough remain," Marie confirmed. "And with the Larmes du Bayou, they could reactivate the entire network. The artifact was designed to interface with the anchor points and stabilize them. In the wrong hands, it could be used to destabilize them instead."

The journal revealed a complex ritual. It was a way to use the Larmes du Bayou to calm the temporal storms. But it would require access to at least three of the original anchor points and a level of power that made my head spin just thinking about it. I pulled out my phone to call Kaitlyn, but Marie's hand shot out to stop me.

"Wait. There's something else here." She frowned at the journal. "These pages have been disturbed recently. Someone else has been reading them."

"Even more reason to bring Kaitlyn in," I said as I shook off her hand. "Her magical forensics could tell us who's been here and researching the anchors."

Marie's expression darkened. "No outsiders. These books-"

"Are already compromised," Lia cut in. "Someone's been here, reading your precious secrets. Don't you want to know who?"

Another tense moment passed before Marie nodded sharply. "Call her. But only to examine the magical signature. Nothing more."

I dialed Kaitlyn and explained what I needed from her. Kaveh was with her and promised to teleport her over immediately. They arrived before Marie could change her mind and brought a fresh wave of power that made the books rustle nervously on their shelves. Kaitlyn and Kaveh exchanged pleasantries with Marie before Kaitlyn went to work. Her hands glowed as she traced patterns in the air above the journals and cast her spell.

"Oh yeah, someone's definitely been through these," she confirmed. "Recently too. The magical signature is..." She paused and her eyes widened. She had to recognize the particular energy pattern. "It was a vampire. One who's spent a lot of time with these books. Hours, maybe days, studying them. They were looking for something specific about the anchors and the Larmes du Bayou."

"A vampire?" Marie's voice was dangerously soft. "In my private library?"

The revelation hung in the air like a funeral dirge. A vampire with access to Marie's secrets and an interest in the Lost Legends? That couldn't be good. The last time vampires had messed with power they didn't understand, half the FrenchQuarter had nearly ended up in the Underworld. At least, that’s what Kaitlyn had told us. Vampires were evil beings who lost their souls during their transition.

"But which vampire?" I wondered aloud as I thought of all the undead power players in New Orleans. "And more importantly, what do they want with this information?"

"Whatever it is," Phi said grimly, "I'm betting it's not to make sure the Saints win the Super Bowl again."

As Marie stood there glaring at nothing, Kaitlyn grabbed Dre’s arm. "Outside," she said firmly as she herded us toward the door. "Now. Before Marie decides to redecorate with vampire pieces."

We left Marie to her brewing storm with a thank you and followed them into the courtyard. The air was thick with temporal energy. It made the fountain water flow backward and then forward.

"Look," Kaveh said once we were safely away from Marie's hearing and rage zone, "we need to set aside who the vampire is for now and focus on the anchor points. The vampire's identity is less important than what those are connected to."

Kaitlyn nodded and pulled up a map on her phone. "The anchor points aren't just random locations," she explained as she pointed to several spots. "They're all connected through an underground tunnel system that predates the city itself."

"The French Quarter's famous for its tunnels," she continued as she traced lines between points. "But these are older. Much older. And they might hold answers about how the Lost Legends originally tied their power to specific locations."

---