Page 38 of Shattered Darkness
“Is there any way to tell if something new had been added?” Cole suddenly asks, “I mean, there’s so much here that you could easily sneak something small in, and it could go unnoticed, so if we had a list or something of what is normally here, we could at least begin to narrow it down.”
“Good idea, Asher?” Jett asks.
Asher’s lips twitch, “Why do you assume that I’ll know?”
“Because you spend more time here than you do almost anywhere else?” Levi smirks.
Asher’s subtle smile turns into a full-blown grin as he shrugs and agrees, “That’s true. I don’t spend enough time in this area to be able to tell you if something has been added but I can tell you that the librarian should have a list of the artifacts and then we can work to check them off, getting him to give it to you will be another thing entirely.”
“Well, hopefully, one of us can charm him or something,” Kai says somewhat optimistically.
“It’s going to be a pretty massive job to go through all of these,” Yates says as he looks at the vast area surrounding us that is stuffed with various things.
“Yeah, it’s not going to be easy, but then again, when is it ever?” I agree with a slightly sharp smile.
“That’s true. The last thing the Order would want to do is to make it easy for us to be able to find it,” Kyle points out.
“Alright, lets go and see if we can find the custodian of the library, and I say that because, let's face it, he’s only really there to make sure that the library itself doesn’t seriously injure someone that pisses it off,” Maverick says, and I get the feeling that he actually approves of this.
“He wasn’t at the desk when we walked in, and in fact, he wasn’t there the last time that we came in either,” I point out as we start to move back through the bookshelves, and I feel the magic of the library surround us again, instantly putting me at ease.
“Mav’s right. He’s just really a custodian,” Jett says as he stops, and we all stop too.
“I feel like you were going somewhere with that?” Cole teases when Jett pauses and doesn’t continue, making me chuckle quietly.
Jett flips him his middle finger with a smirk of his own and continues, “Yes, what I was getting at is, surely the library wants to get rid of this foreign object that has forced it to withdraw its magic from a part of its own space, so why don’t we ask it, and see if it can give us the list of artifacts that are usually there and then not only do we not have to bother finding the custodian who is definitely under the spell of the object, like the rest of the teachers but also means that they aren’t aware that we’re up to something.”
“It's worth a shot. I mean, as soon as we ask for the list, there’s a possibility that someone is going to know exactly why we want it, and then we risk it either being moved before we can break the spell it has over everyone or, them upping their efforts and putting us all in dangerous positions,” Erin agrees.
It does occur to me that we’re talking rather freely around Maria, Dean, and Yates, but at the same time, my magic hasn’t warned me at all, and it would if they meant us any harm. All they have been is extremely helpful and at risk to themselves as well. That makes them okay in my eyes more than okay; it makes them friends.
“Are we all agreed?” Levi asks, and when everyone nods, he turns to look at Asher, “Dude, I think it’s probably best if you ask the library it seems to like you enough to let you take more books than you're allowed. Maybe it will give you the records?”
Asher frowns slightly, “I’m not sure that it equates to the same thing or will even work, but I’m happy to try to avoid putting us even more on the Order’s radar.”
“Thank you,” I reply.
Asher rubs his hand over the back of his neck as he asks, “Er, just one question: how exactly do I go about asking the library?”
We all look at each other bewildered and not having any suggestions whatsoever.
“Just ask?” Ty suggests somewhat hesitantly.
“Seriously?” Asher replies, heavy skepticism in his tone.
“He’s got a point,” Jax replies, “if it doesn’t work it doesn’t work.”
Asher shrugs, “Alright then. Hi library, I know you’re aware that we’re here and what we’d like so just in case you need a formal request, would you be able to share with us the artifact list for what’s in the area that you’ve withdrawn from, please?” he pauses and then adds, “We’d really like to fix it for you and get rid of the thing that’s stopped you from being there.”
In a flash of pure silver, a book appears and floats down into Asher’s hands.
“Is that the list?” Cole asks.
Asher nods, “Yes. Thank you. We will do our best to fix it as quickly as possible.”
I don’t know if the others can feel it but I can sense the library almost take a breath. At least, that’s what it feels like to me. Before now, it was worried and anxious, but now that we’ve said that we’ll fix it, it's okay again. I don’t blame it. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to have some sort of foreign magic in your space.
Realization hits me, actually, that’s not true I can imagine it because that’s what is happening now with the Darkness. Even as I think it though it doesn’t quite sit right with me, the Darkness isn’t necessarily a threat; despite the fact that I call it the Darkness, it's unknown, and that scares and worries me.