jeroukoo@KoL
"Mhmm... is that so?" The Librarian replied to her 'guest', turning her head aside to face Saef with a cat-like smile stuck in her lips. "A cat's memory works better when they are feeling well," she added before spreading her arms against the table's cool surface and yawning majestically.
"As many cookies as you want while I'm here." Came the reply from the older looking man. Saef leaned back as she did a very good lazy cat impression. "A recipe from an old friend, passed down from mother to daughter for five generations. Quite good if I say so myself."
She reached for one of the cookies silently, gobbling it. She let out a seemingly satisfied purr before speaking, "Mmm... mmm... And what's it that you want of this place? It's rare to see anyone who fights in the frontline coming here as often as you."
That earned a wry smile. "I'm a Thaumaturge. Knowledge Is Power has a somewhat more literal meaning in my case. Besides I enjoy learning things. In my old life I was a scientist, a good one too. Discovering things is what I do. It's the only thing I still have to live for aside from killing Demons." He leaned back against a nearby bookshelf with a melancholy sigh.
"A scientist?" she replied with a voice that betrayed a bit of nostalgia. However, the next sentence carried much less emotion. "It must be a boring life to try to rid the Nexus of Demons."
A chuckle. "I'm not so jaded as to find combat boring, although I can see how endless eons might make one feel so. It is something of a hopeless endeavor at the moment though. Unless someone manages to find out how to capture souls and prevent rebirth." Saef's gaze roamed over the endless tomes that surrounded them. A small shake of his head and he looked back at the Librarian. A flick of his wrist and a plate full of oven soft cookies appeared between them. "Something you said last time I was here caught my interest. You said this place was full of dead tomes. What did you mean?"
The Librarian looked straight at Saef, a small measure of shock could be easily read in her expression as she spoke, "You probably don't want to risk yourself over that kind of knowledge. There are rules that govern this world and we are not supposed to change them."
The gravity left her voice as answered the actual question, "I meant what I said. Most of these," she looked around the library lazily, "are dead. Only lifeless Tomes that lost their purpose. You would understand it better if saw a live one like the one owned by Deva's 'guard'. Or this." She said, summoning a dark grey book, with silvery runes adorning its cover. It hovered a few centimeters over her palm, bound by silver chains as if it wasn't meant to be read by anyone.
If Saef still remembered part of the language in which the books detailing Deva's past were written, he would at least be able to discern the name of the Tome in the Librarian's hands: The First Apocrypha.
The Librarian's look of shock wasn't terribly surprising. This entire dimension was...wrong somehow. It was like the place had been set up by something or somethings and populated with all the champions of good and evil they could find. But who could manipulate gods like that?
Overgods?
A line of thought for another time. Saef could all but feel the thorns involved already. Of much more immediate interest was the book that his host had summoned from some pocket dimension or another. The First Apocrypha was unlike any book he had ever seen before. The magical aura around it was more than that of any magical relic he had ever seen up close. It was hard to describe it. More complex, more substance, just...more. He couldn't help but start to figure through its working as he stared.
"How is a living book different from a normal one?"
"How much different a factory robot is from Eos?" The Librarian replied with a question of her own.
"They are living because they are part of those who own them. Not this one, though. It's just an anomaly, a copy of something that shouldn't exist in first place and... a memento of a certain someone's folly." Her voice dragged into almost a whisper as she added, "Thinking that 'saving the world' was possible..."
"Most of the books here were just like this one, a long time ago. They belonged to many individuals and are the last proof of their existence. In a way, I'm as much of a gravekeeper as a librarian."
That was a sobering explanation. Saef's eyes went back to the untold numbers of books once more. Only this time he didn't just see stored knowledge. This time he saw the sum of people's lives. Gravestones that all but held the owner's soul within. You could fit an entire nation into this building. Or a world.
Again, sobering.
"Right, no dropping the books." The mage said as he idly grabbed a cookie from the plate. "What do they let you do? I'm assuming it varies from person to person but there must be some general description you could give. After all, they must have been pretty useful if so many people had them."
"Each had a unique way to express their owner's wishes. Now that they are no more, the Tomes are just registries. Each detailing whatever was most important to whoever owned them. You might find all the tabs of an accountant's life, or a housewife's best recipes as easily as the secrets of a long dead world," she replied. "Again, except for this one. It's a copy of the first Tome ever, produced using the best combination of magic and science. Crafted to be a tool of progress, turned into a weapon of revolution, and finally, spending the rest of its countless days besides its owner, after failing to achieve either of its reasons for existing."
Hmmmm, Saef couldn't help but wonder what such a book would allow him to do. And if what she said about The First Apocrypha was correct maybe he could tinker with his own. Add extra features. No way to know but ask.
"How many pounds of cookies would I need for you to show me how to make one of my own?" He couldn't keep the joking smile off his face.
"Mhmm~" The Librarian let out a long purr. Her eyes narrowed to thin slits about the same time as her lips curled into a genuine Cheshire Cat grin, before she spoke, "I don't know, a DIY Tome kit is rare these days. There's a lot of theory involved, unlike building plastic models," while twirling her tail around.
"You have the potential; if you are willing to spend the time, I can show you how to do it but... I guess that cookies are a bit too cheap for lessons from the Librarian, 'Father of all Modern Tomes', right?"
"Well lucky for us I have a whole cookbook." Come the amused response. "Including an absolutely divine quadruple layer peanut butter and chocolate cake. Just looking at the thing is enough to give the normal man diabetes. And if it helps, just think of this as an apprenticeship. I'd be will into help with any tasks you may have need of me for. When I'm not fulfilling my normal duties of course."
Father? She may not have had a fully developed body but he was pretty sure the person front of him was a female. Come to think of it he only knew her as The Librarian. It would be a bit awkward to keep calling her by her position.
"Sorry, but I don't think I ever got your name."
"Hohoho?" The Librarian looked at him with a curious gaze, almost as if she could read Saef's thoughts at that moment. "Are you having any second guesses now? If you want to know... when your Title is as misdirecting as The Librarian anyone who doesn't know you will assume you are a man by default. I don't suppose that you want to see for yourself, right~?" She teased with a malicious glint in her eyes, like a cat playing with a cornered prey.
"Anyway, you can call me Si, just like anyone else. I have abandoned my true name a long time ago... so long that even I don't recall the last time someone called me like that," Si twirled her tail some more before adding, "I would be happy to be called Teacher as well, if you feel specially pupil-like, someday."
"Maybe one day Si." Came the slightly strained answer. She may have been an eternity or two older than him but he could help but think jailbait when looking at her. "Now then, would you like that cake now or should we set a later date?"
Saef Harken
Celestial Library
Celestial Library
"Mhmm... is that so?" The Librarian replied to her 'guest', turning her head aside to face Saef with a cat-like smile stuck in her lips. "A cat's memory works better when they are feeling well," she added before spreading her arms against the table's cool surface and yawning majestically.
"As many cookies as you want while I'm here." Came the reply from the older looking man. Saef leaned back as she did a very good lazy cat impression. "A recipe from an old friend, passed down from mother to daughter for five generations. Quite good if I say so myself."
She reached for one of the cookies silently, gobbling it. She let out a seemingly satisfied purr before speaking, "Mmm... mmm... And what's it that you want of this place? It's rare to see anyone who fights in the frontline coming here as often as you."
That earned a wry smile. "I'm a Thaumaturge. Knowledge Is Power has a somewhat more literal meaning in my case. Besides I enjoy learning things. In my old life I was a scientist, a good one too. Discovering things is what I do. It's the only thing I still have to live for aside from killing Demons." He leaned back against a nearby bookshelf with a melancholy sigh.
"A scientist?" she replied with a voice that betrayed a bit of nostalgia. However, the next sentence carried much less emotion. "It must be a boring life to try to rid the Nexus of Demons."
A chuckle. "I'm not so jaded as to find combat boring, although I can see how endless eons might make one feel so. It is something of a hopeless endeavor at the moment though. Unless someone manages to find out how to capture souls and prevent rebirth." Saef's gaze roamed over the endless tomes that surrounded them. A small shake of his head and he looked back at the Librarian. A flick of his wrist and a plate full of oven soft cookies appeared between them. "Something you said last time I was here caught my interest. You said this place was full of dead tomes. What did you mean?"
The Librarian looked straight at Saef, a small measure of shock could be easily read in her expression as she spoke, "You probably don't want to risk yourself over that kind of knowledge. There are rules that govern this world and we are not supposed to change them."
The gravity left her voice as answered the actual question, "I meant what I said. Most of these," she looked around the library lazily, "are dead. Only lifeless Tomes that lost their purpose. You would understand it better if saw a live one like the one owned by Deva's 'guard'. Or this." She said, summoning a dark grey book, with silvery runes adorning its cover. It hovered a few centimeters over her palm, bound by silver chains as if it wasn't meant to be read by anyone.
If Saef still remembered part of the language in which the books detailing Deva's past were written, he would at least be able to discern the name of the Tome in the Librarian's hands: The First Apocrypha.
The Librarian's look of shock wasn't terribly surprising. This entire dimension was...wrong somehow. It was like the place had been set up by something or somethings and populated with all the champions of good and evil they could find. But who could manipulate gods like that?
Overgods?
A line of thought for another time. Saef could all but feel the thorns involved already. Of much more immediate interest was the book that his host had summoned from some pocket dimension or another. The First Apocrypha was unlike any book he had ever seen before. The magical aura around it was more than that of any magical relic he had ever seen up close. It was hard to describe it. More complex, more substance, just...more. He couldn't help but start to figure through its working as he stared.
"How is a living book different from a normal one?"
"How much different a factory robot is from Eos?" The Librarian replied with a question of her own.
"They are living because they are part of those who own them. Not this one, though. It's just an anomaly, a copy of something that shouldn't exist in first place and... a memento of a certain someone's folly." Her voice dragged into almost a whisper as she added, "Thinking that 'saving the world' was possible..."
"Most of the books here were just like this one, a long time ago. They belonged to many individuals and are the last proof of their existence. In a way, I'm as much of a gravekeeper as a librarian."
That was a sobering explanation. Saef's eyes went back to the untold numbers of books once more. Only this time he didn't just see stored knowledge. This time he saw the sum of people's lives. Gravestones that all but held the owner's soul within. You could fit an entire nation into this building. Or a world.
Again, sobering.
"Right, no dropping the books." The mage said as he idly grabbed a cookie from the plate. "What do they let you do? I'm assuming it varies from person to person but there must be some general description you could give. After all, they must have been pretty useful if so many people had them."
"Each had a unique way to express their owner's wishes. Now that they are no more, the Tomes are just registries. Each detailing whatever was most important to whoever owned them. You might find all the tabs of an accountant's life, or a housewife's best recipes as easily as the secrets of a long dead world," she replied. "Again, except for this one. It's a copy of the first Tome ever, produced using the best combination of magic and science. Crafted to be a tool of progress, turned into a weapon of revolution, and finally, spending the rest of its countless days besides its owner, after failing to achieve either of its reasons for existing."
Hmmmm, Saef couldn't help but wonder what such a book would allow him to do. And if what she said about The First Apocrypha was correct maybe he could tinker with his own. Add extra features. No way to know but ask.
"How many pounds of cookies would I need for you to show me how to make one of my own?" He couldn't keep the joking smile off his face.
"Mhmm~" The Librarian let out a long purr. Her eyes narrowed to thin slits about the same time as her lips curled into a genuine Cheshire Cat grin, before she spoke, "I don't know, a DIY Tome kit is rare these days. There's a lot of theory involved, unlike building plastic models," while twirling her tail around.
"You have the potential; if you are willing to spend the time, I can show you how to do it but... I guess that cookies are a bit too cheap for lessons from the Librarian, 'Father of all Modern Tomes', right?"
"Well lucky for us I have a whole cookbook." Come the amused response. "Including an absolutely divine quadruple layer peanut butter and chocolate cake. Just looking at the thing is enough to give the normal man diabetes. And if it helps, just think of this as an apprenticeship. I'd be will into help with any tasks you may have need of me for. When I'm not fulfilling my normal duties of course."
Father? She may not have had a fully developed body but he was pretty sure the person front of him was a female. Come to think of it he only knew her as The Librarian. It would be a bit awkward to keep calling her by her position.
"Sorry, but I don't think I ever got your name."
"Hohoho?" The Librarian looked at him with a curious gaze, almost as if she could read Saef's thoughts at that moment. "Are you having any second guesses now? If you want to know... when your Title is as misdirecting as The Librarian anyone who doesn't know you will assume you are a man by default. I don't suppose that you want to see for yourself, right~?" She teased with a malicious glint in her eyes, like a cat playing with a cornered prey.
"Anyway, you can call me Si, just like anyone else. I have abandoned my true name a long time ago... so long that even I don't recall the last time someone called me like that," Si twirled her tail some more before adding, "I would be happy to be called Teacher as well, if you feel specially pupil-like, someday."
"Maybe one day Si." Came the slightly strained answer. She may have been an eternity or two older than him but he could help but think jailbait when looking at her. "Now then, would you like that cake now or should we set a later date?"
