This is by far my favorite chapter in this series. It is a long chapter but a chapter I truly wish I could make longer. If I ever write another story I wish it to be like this chapter.
Axel and lily made their way back to the large stack of books that they had spent the day organizing. In Lily's hands a warm steamy plate of cookies filled the air with the fragrance of melted chocolate. As they made their way down the steps Lily skipped happily leaving a trail of daffodils behind her as she carried her zesty treats down the staircase.
Upon arriving at the pile of books, Lily raised a tree root from the ground extending it into a picnic table with two chairs. As they sat down at the table, Axel watched as Lily's eyes glistened with avarice over her chocolate prize.
Without wasting another moment she grabbed a cookie and took a zesty bite out of its soft dough. As tiny strands of chocolate traced from the cookie to her lower lip she shamelessly licked them away in movements of pure ecstasy. She continued to work on the cookie as if each bite migrated her to a tropical paradise inside of her mind, one rife with chocolate and warm soft dough.
After a minute or two had gone by Lilly took notice of Axel's perplexed stare and motioned for him to take one for himself.
Axel stood over the plate of cookies unsure of how to feel. They smelled terrific and although he hadn't touched them, he could feel the softness of their dough transmitted through the hot steam presiding over them.
What was this so called "Chocolate?" He had never heard of it, and its strange dark color he had only seen in nature in the form of feces. Surely Lilly didn't expect him to eat excremental cookies?
Irked and yet curious, Axel picked up a cookie examining it carefully before taking a whiff of its chocolate scent.
Amazing
It was a smell he had never experienced before. As the smell of freshly baked chocolate, and cinnamon laced dough overcame him. It was almost as if he was tasting the cookie with his nostrils.
Unable to quell his curiosity anymore he took a bite into the chocolate dough closing his eyes for impact.
Heavenly
He felt the singing of all his internal organs as the soft texture saturated his mouth. He lied back experiencing a pulse of pure euphoria through his veins before he shot back up, reached into the plate and grabbed another.
"6!" He yelled, you've got to try these things! This is the greatest thing I've ever tasted!"
"No thanks" answered 6 from below. "Consumption of sugar drastically reduced in the current age due to its direct correlation in the development of cancer cells" He anecdoted
"Welp more for us" Axel laughed as he and Lily completed the plate of its cookie crumbs and all traces of its strands of chocolate.
"So…" Lily said, extending a book across the picnic table. This is the book I was telling you about she said.
Axel examined the cover reading it aloud, "Continuity, A study of the flow of Ether", Matteo the Magister.
"Matteo" Axel thought as he studied the cover, "Just who exactly is he?"
"Ax you ok?" Lily asked, noticing his weird demeanor.
"Mettao also known as Matteo the Magistar was believed to be the first shifter to ever study Alchemy. He was the one who ended the fight against humans in the Second Shifter war!"
"What!?" Axel asked amazed. "How can they exclude someone like that from the schools curriculum?!"
"The same way they can have an Academy that doesn't teach Shifters what ether is!" Lily remarked. "Knowledge is power Axel, and in this world of Shifters, knowledge can sometimes become more than that. Sometimes knowledge can even used as a weapon."
"A… weapon?" Axel asked. He was so startled, he hadn't expected such a shy girl to be so coldly frank. She was certainly a strange girl.
"Look just be very careful with that book, the reason Shifters are not allowed to read them is the danger of the ether flow in awakened Shifters. In your current state of control... a sudden spike in the flow could cause a major disruption, or even discharge of ether that could be severely dangerous!"
"What?" Axel asked carelessly.
"Aaahhh" Lily groaned rolling her eyes,
"Axel have you ever filled a tub up with water?" She asked
"Yeh all the time" He laughed "I mean everyone's gotta take showers! What about it?"
"Axel what happens when you fill up the tub too much with water."
"It spills over the side and starts flooding the bathroom?"
"Exactly! That's what your ether is doing now it's overflowing and spilling out into nothingness instead of circulating through your house because you have poor control! Now what would happen if you decided to put a cover on top of that bath tub
"Water would break out through the sides and make a hole or it would clog the entire piping system and cause damage somewhere."
Exactly! Now just imagine the water is ether which is 1000x more volatile and pressurized and you can understand the danger!
"OHHHH I get it", Axel answered enthusiastically. "So basically I have all this untapped potential waiting to come out! Lets do this!!!" Axel said reaching for the book
"WAiiiititttt hold it right there!!" she said snatching the book out of his hands
"I knew I couldn't trust you!!!"
"Wait Lily please!" Axel begged
"Sorry Axel but it's too dangerous to give this to you, I have already read the book so how about some friendly advice!" Lily said
Axel let out a sigh as his hands dropped by his sides. ".... Ok…" he sighed
"Alright… I want you to try and meditate, try to feel the ether flow move throughout your body in and out in and out. Try to imagine Matteo try to see him in your mind"
Axel leaned back and began to search for the pool of energy circulating within himself.
"Close your eyes and see if you can follow the flow to its center. Axel closed his eyes seeing nothing but darkness, ultimately he felt no different than he had with his eyes open.
"Axel" 6 interrupted "When your dreaming the flow of ether isn't throughout your body, its in your head, try focusing there!"
Axel began to meditate focusing his cognition on the center of his head. He felt lighter as if his body was floating in water
"Hey guys" he said opening his eyes. He was no longer in the room with 6 and Lily, and once again was in the room of white where he had met the old man.
Before he had time to react he felt a nudge inside his stomach and was dragged once again into faraway light.
Once again he came into the room of white, being dragged across the room by an invisible force.
"Old man!" Axel said as he was dragged passed Matteo into a set of doors.
"IF you want to understand your dreams... first you must understand your memories" The old man said. "If you can stand through this without waking up, I will meet you on the other side."
Axel once again found himself in a room in a house pinned to the wall by some invisible force.
He came face to face with the same mummified pyromancer and screamed as flames engulfed him again.
Although he had made it further than last time it wasn't 30 seconds before he attempted to wake up saving himself from the painful experience.
"Axel!" screamed Lily.
He came to lying on a pile of books.
"You can't be sleeping now! We've got work to do! Lily said pointing to the tower of books. No matter how hard Axel he worked, the endless pile never seemed to get any smaller.
"Sorry" He said straightening out his clothes. "Another day, another dream" he thought as he went back to working on the pile of books.
"Where are volumes H through K in the historical section?" She asked.
Axel scratched his head trying to remember what he had done with the volumes he had handled a few days prior. He had read so many covers, and dusted so many pages, he could barely tell one pile from the next.
It had been over a week now. Ever since he had learned to meditate he had experienced that same dream every time he attempted it. In terms understanding his dreams he was far from it… if anything he was more confused now.
On the other hand, He had successfully avoided Pb in all aspects of the day. During the morning he and 6 would gather in the school yard where the teachers were gathered. And in the afternoon he had also successfully avoided the locker room struggles due to a voucher he obtained from Lily.
The voucher read,
"Axel has elected to opt out of gym classes due to medical predisposition, he will return to gym class following the end of the semester" -Henriette O'Brian.
He had asked Lily about getting him and 6 that card, and after speaking to Sadira, an official note from O'Brian was obtained. Even after school, he had avoided the home room check in which Pb was constantly trapped. By deferring to detention and then proceeding to the library afterwards Axel had avoided the greatest of all pitfalls.
His plan had worked out immaculately, not only had he found a safe place from the bullying and displeasures of his daily toils, he had also found a place he felt he truly belonged.
Lily, and Sadira, as well as 6, we're some of the few people who didn't judge Axel for his lucklester fighting capabilities. Although he was sure to receive a joke every once in a while, there seemed to be more binding them together then the false values the rest of the high school society clung to.
Axel turned, taking a look at 6's hard at work on another pile of books. Since their miraculous meeting his life had certainly made a turn for the better.
"I remember" said Axle.
"I left them on the top floor near the entrance." "I wanted to put them in the light to make sure that there was no dust left on them after I had cleaned them.
"Good Sadira needs the History of Rome volumes 1-24, can you and 6 go grab them?" She asked.
"No prob, C'mon 6" He shouted making his way to the top of the stairs.
On his way to the first floor, he stopped on one of the final steps as he heard a familiar voice coming from around the corner. For the first time in a week a new voice was occupying the library's reception.
"What in the heck!" The voice said, "Since when has our library been so….. Alive!?"
As he came to the top of the stairs he saw Reggie looking around at the books surrounding the great staircase he just walked up. As he came into view he saw a look of relief washed over Regis's face.
"Aha!" Reggie said smiling, "So, this is where you were hiding the whole time!"
Axel looked back at Reggie with gut-wrenching anxiety. "If Regi was able to find me it's only a matter of time before"-
"Yo chill out man!" Reggie said, placing his hand on Axle's shoulder. "Your secret is safe with me! Cross my heart and hope to die! However…. I did follow a certain someone here…. He was acting suspicious so I thought maybe he had something to do with your disappearing every day.
At that moment Axel felt a slight breeze from above him.
On the top of the staircase staring down from his book, was none other than Lance Nazuka. He was leaning against a pillar reading a book titled "Modern Medicine". He was staring down at them now with an annoyed look, like they had interrupted an intense studying session.
6 turned around stunned at the fact he never realized Lance was there.
"Lance how long have you been there!?" Axel asked
Lance looked up from his book shooting a glare back at Axel.
"How long have you been an idiot?" He retorted.
"This is the first time Axel, I would have noticed otherwise" 6 said as his eyes glowed with a subtle blue.
Lance slammed his book shut and leaned over the bookshelf
"Can you keep it down?" Lance shouted. "Unlike the many people in this Library I'm actually trying to read!" He sat back against the tree trunk reopening his book on neuroscience.
"Standing on the shelves of the library is a violation of line E16 of the library handbook! Punishment results in a loss of library membership!" Lily commanded.
"I'm not standing, I'm sitting, that's funny I thought you of all people would be able to read!" Lance rebutted
"Oh….. Sorry to disturb you then... " Lily said, burying her face in a book she was carrying.
Reggie clenched his fists ready to bark out the most insulting thing he could when Axel stopped him.
"It's okay Reggie, we didn't even notice him, maybe we should just keep it that way" Axel said calmly.
"What! You guys had a party in here and you didn't even bother inviting me!" Came another voice from the entrance...
Prancing in with her brass knuckles in hand was none other than B.
Axel was completely perplexed at this sighting. He had no idea why a student who was never in class and did nothing but punch things was standing across from him in this Library.
"What...what are you doing here?" He asked.
"HAHA there's no way you have a library card!" Reggei laughed.
B walked up to Axel and Reggie cracking her Knuckles and punching her hand repeatedly. The boys, realizing the error of their words tried to rear back, but she was at arms length by the time they realized their fatal mistake. Grabbing them both by the collar she yanked them into grasp, bouncing their heads off her boobs.
"Don't ask me stupid questions like that!" She barked "I go where want when I want and I don't need anyone's permission to take out a goddamn book!" She said grabbing a text.
"I take out what …. Or... who I want... whenever I feel like it! Got it!" She said glaring at Reggei
".....You do know….. A book can't fight back right?" Reggie said in a high pitch voice.
"Guys, calm down" Axel pleaded still under B's grasp "let's use our inside voices"
Lance groaned something under his breath and slammed his book shut.
"Didn't I tell you I'm trying to read?" He yelled
"Oh please, get a room princess!" B hammered back
"Oh are we all yelling now! Cool!" 6 said
As the 5 began bickering all the commotion caught the attention of Sadira. She stood over the balcony down at the kids below.
"WELL EXCUSE ME!" She yelled as she came to the top of the staircase
Silence washed over the group of teenagers. They had forgotten they were in a Librar.y
"I have never seen….." She began
"So many children in a library!" She exclaimed
Looks of relief could be seen across the group of teenagers.
"It's so encouraging to see there are some who are still fond of the old texts!"
The group of teens looked around confused at what to say. No one besides Lily was particularly fond of old texts, and none could even claim the name of a pre-shift work that wasn't the US constitution.
Reggie scratching his head answered, "YYeeeah... Reading... awesome stuff!" He said filling the air with an even more uncomfortable awkwardness.
"Axel" Sadira said "You never told me you had so many friends! There's not going to be enough chocolate chip cookies for everyone here!"
With those words everyone in the group stopped what they were doing. Axel became infatuated and goo-goo eyed while Lily drifted into a Lalaland fantasy.
The other 3 who had never tasted the sugary treat, B, Regi, and Lance stood in awe as their jaws hit the ground. In all their bickering they now stood together sharing a common chocolate fantasy.
"....Chocolate chip cookies? Did… did she just say chocolate chip cookies!!!?" Reggie asked, blinking his eyes.
Lance casually jumped down from the top shelf slowly drifting towards the floor. A small gust of wind supported him in his graceful descent, landing him right next to Axel in dramatic fashion.
"This… This…. can't be…" He said looking around at Axel and company.
".....Do I really have to be friends with these guys just to get some chocolate chip cookies?"
The group erupted in laughter at Lance's comment. He stood in the center of them deeply concerned about the ethics of obtaining the cookies.
"Please… have mercy... There's got to be some other way." He begged.
Reggie pat Lance on the back and stood back at him smiling.
"Wow not bad for your first joke!" He mused
Lance looked back at Reggie with a confused expression
"What makes you think I was joking?" He said
Everyone continued to laugh as Lance shook his head with a smirk, now realizing what he had just done.
B put her arms around Lance and 6 slowly forming a huddle . Axel, Reggie, B, 6, Lily, and Lance. The six of them made a circle as they came together.
Lance, unable to move, now stuck between Reggie's giant mechanical arm and B's huge biceps, let out a sigh as he was led around the circle.
Axel looked around at everyone in their small huddle.
Regi and Lance were slamming their heads into each other as Lily chuckled, reddening her face with a blush. On the other side of Lance, B and 6 were singing,
"What do we want?"
"Cookies"
"When do we want them?"
"Now"
"6 you don't even eat cookies! Axel shouted playfully
"I know... but the phrase is so so catchy!" 6 answered
The group danced around in a circle with one arm around one another whirling and dancing about. After a few moments everyone including Lance, who muttered the chant under his breath, was joining in on the fun, drooling over their sugary desires.
"The cookies are ready!" shouted Sadira.
The 6 broke from their huddle and rushed to the hot plate of chocolate chip cookies devouring all 24 of them in a matter of seconds.
B rapped her arm around Axel raising up a pint of milk in her hand.
"See Ax" said B, "I know a party when I see one!" she chuckled