Previously on 39. HP Chapter 10
Mike's POV
I flipped open my watch and saw that it was my time to go. Nodding to my friends, I stepped into the fog surrounding the castle. When they could not see me anymore, I summoned the portal. Dice stood dutifully by my side, unveiling the illusion that I had placed on him when he suddenly got blasted away.
A cold and sharp fingertip grazed the nape of my neck before I flinched away.
Countess gave a chuckle. I cursed under my breath when I realized that she had been waiting for this moment before appearing. Now, I couldn't do anything as the portal opened.
"Going home so soon?"
~~~~~
Omen's POV
I sighed in relief once my foot stepped onto the ground of the Library.
The familiar wooden smell of the mahogany planks used to lay the ground, the funny little creaks and squeaks when you step at the places where the ends of the planks meet, the smell of old books lined up neatly on the shelves (though slightly burnt and tattered from the aftermath of the ambush).
Ah… Home sweet home.
There was a flash of light beside me. Without my realization, a smile had wormed its way to my mouth because I didn't need to guess who it was that came back.
We are, unfortunately, the only 2 Guardians left in this Library.
I turned around with a smile.
And the smile turned into shock.
Micheal Johnathan Evans was standing awkwardly with his right arm gingerly cradling his left. His evergreen clock was dyed with red and was continuing its change of colour from the deep gashes he had sported all over his body. It was obvious he didn't notice me with how his eyes had turned hazy and droopy. His breathing was shallow and there was a nearly imperceptible tremor in his left arm.
My breath caught in my throat at the sorry state of him. What exactly happened to Mike for him to become like this?
He swayed a little before his body tipped forward.
By instinct, I rushed forward to grab him. However, due to the size and weight of his body, I only succeeded in becoming his human cushion. He softly groaned, now too pained to be awake.
"Earl.Earl!" I summoned out my familiar in panic.
"Yes, yes, what is the ma… oh." The owl landed on the floor with a nonchalant gaze. He was simply unfazed at the sight of how I was panicking under an unconscious Mike. "I guess I will leave you guys to it."
"This is no time for jokes! Help me! Help him! He's losing too much blood!!"
"First, apply pressure to the wound," Earl replied monotonously, as though he was reading out aloud the steps from a medical first-aid book. "Then…"
"Lift. Him. Up. With. Your. Magic." I seethed. I had half the mind to blow the bird to bits at how unperturbed he was at the situation.
Immediately, the pressure on me was lessened. Mike was now floating a few inches above me. With enough room to move around, I quickly directed Earl to a nearby room so that Mike could be placed on a bed and I could assess his wounds.
"So, how was he?"
I sighed tiredly. I was working on Mike's wounds for the past few hours with the limited medical knowledge I have. It would have been more helpful if there was an expert to treat him. Just look at the beginner-level bandage I tied around his gashes.
"Better than before, I think. And no thanks to you for making a joke out of this situation." I glared at the now-human owl who shrugged. "It's a good thing we have regenerative powers so all I have to do is remove off anything that can hinder his healing progress. That certainly scared the living daylights out of me."
I sighed again. My eyes glanced at his sleeping face. Even unconscious, he still had a frown. Before I know it, I was using my fingers to ease the furrowed brows on his face.
There was a clatter on the floor so my attention was diverted from Mike. Earl was picking up a pocket watch from the ground, it must have fallen off from the pockets of Mike's clothes when I removed them and placed it at the side.
"Just put it ba…" I stared at the designs of the watch.
There was no way I would not recognize it. Not when I have walked past the Creator's statue a hundred times. Not when I painstakingly pieced back her statue.
Earl passed me the watch so that I could have a closer look.
It was indeed the Creator's watch.
"Why is it in his hands?"
"What is that?" Earl tilted his head to the side.
"It's… It's our Creator's pocket watch. I was quite sure it went missing when the Creator and Astorath disappeared after the ambush. How did he find it?"
"Cough." I turned back to the patient on the bed with surprise. "And I believe that you ask me that instead of your familiar."
Mike gave a grimace as he moved to sit upon the bed. I didn't stop him because I was too preoccupied with the pocket watch.
"Ravenna Cross gave that to me through a Library's friend. I took a detour to the World of Assasin Creed before going to the World of Harry Potter to find Dumbledore. It was Leonardo who gave it to me."
"But… why? Why do you have this? What does this mean?"
"It just means… that I have become the new Head Librarian. As ironic as that sounds."
I blinked. And blinked again.
"I honestly don't know what I should do about this new information, Mike."
"I don't know too." He confessed honestly with amusement.
I returned the pocket watch to him. When Mike received it, the watch suddenly whirred to life. The image of fire and water was lighting up. Mike was just as stunned as I was at how the device was reacting to him. Then, the watch released waves and waves of mana, so strong, that even the Library was reacting to it. We didn't know what was happening so we could only watch how the events unfold before us, while Earl has disappeared back into my ring in fright.
Then suddenly, the watch stopped its movement.
I wondered if that was the end of it when it gave a wave so strong that it knocked us out.