When they stepped out of the hut, the fading light appeared again, flying around Solution. He followed Solution through the narrow path from her hut to a cave. He expected her to just take him to the tower but the cave was far from it. It was dark and they walked with the support of the small light that kept jumping each time Solution touched it with her legs.
Stephan bumped into her back when she stopped abruptly. He steadied himself and watched her get down on one knee and recite something in a gibberish language. He couldn't understand it but he knew it was a spell. A light materialized in her frail wrinkled hands and rose above her head. Since she meant to take him to a door, he thought it would be a portal existing in secret from all eyes. However, unlike where he expected the portal to appear, a big rabbit appeared, taking shape slowly until it exceeded their heights.
"Now, listen to me! Not everyone can have access to the Library of Knowledge. It's a place of mysteries and secrets. It's a sanctuary for books that existed in this planet. There was a saying that the library contains every book that came into existence from the first to the last. Every book you might see or every parchment you might touch has a distinct soul. It's alive in itself. When I was chosen to become Solution, my curiosity grew with this place. This place existed before me and before the previous Solution. I don't know when it came to be and why it existed. This place has books forgotten by time, ones sent into oblivion, popular ones, sacred ones, everything you could desire to read. However, be mindful of your body and spirit. You could be swallowed by it if you lost your mind to the books."
His gaze was lost in the wide body of the beast. It had its eyes on Stephan the whole time. Chills ran over his body. Even when Solution talked, he didn't leave the beast with his eyes. There was a secret thought inside his mind that said if he looked away, the beast would eat him. The current situation reminded him of the game 'Don't blink' because he didn't blink and didn't intend to do it.
"I forgot," he said, jolting his eyes from the beast to Solution. "What will happen to the others? Will you go to them and inform them that I am already inside the library?"
"I might do it but, are you confident they are reliable in knowing what you might do?"
"It's true but there is a witch amongst them that I don't want her to keep searching and causing wreckage. It's never good to let someone breathe chaos someone else causes."
"The witch was following you from the beginning. Though now she must be waiting near the place where you found me, she wouldn't advance deeper. At least, she knows there is no point offending the forest of echoes and shadows. Don't worry about it! She won't be an idiot."
Stephan noticed that the light that followed them showing them the way disappeared. His eyes moved to the beast and noticed again that it wasn't looking at him now, it was following Solution movements. She walked to it and caressed its cheeks. The beast stayed still obediently. She looked at him one last time before stepping back. She turned around facing him with her back, leaving the cave.
He attempted to follow her but with a wave of her hand, he stopped. She didn't say anything so he thought she wanted him to follow. He crossed his arms thinking. When he turned his head to glance at the beast, weary of something odd, the mouth of the rabbit opened and it swallowed him quickly, not leaving him any chance to defend himself.
Again, he was reminded of that time when he felt like he drowned and was choking. He worried about the monster's saliva and how he would have to wash his clothes alongside his body. After a few minutes of feeling like swimming in saliva, something threw him up. He was full of it. A scream choked his throat.
"Why does this happen to me?" he yelled. "What must I do now? I need to have a bath. I liked my smell better when it was only sweats and dirt."
In this moment, he missed his warm bathroom, his lazy life and his monitor. He missed his games. Nevertheless, he came to realize Masmoenia was more fun than the Earth. He glanced back, looking for the door where he came from but the same rabbit stood behind him. Realizing the human finally noticed him again, it licked him taking back a little bit of his saliva.
"No, don't lick me. I know karate," he stood in a defensive posture, preparing his punches and kicks.
The rabbit turned back to its original form, looking like a wisp now. Stephan recognized the fading light that allowed him to find Solution. The wisp moved to a small opening in a wall and then everything lit up. The whole library looked endless. He was standing at the beginning of long spiral stairs extending to the end of the tower. The walls were full of countless shelves full of books he couldn't count.
If he intended to look for the book he needed, he would have a hard time.
"Now, I am sure of it, she likes to torture me."
His eyes watched the whole library terrified. He had to walk the stairs to the end to look for the book and go through the shelves one by one. He bet it was a somewhat training method she came up with again. If someone wasn't a fan of lunges and squats then the stairs were perfect for that.
"I can't believe she is keen on torturing me, I bet she is laughing evilly right now," he took a deep breath. "Hey!" his voice echoes through the tower. "I know you are watching. Fuck you!" he performed a middle finger dramatically at the air, pointing it everywhere.
The wisp didn't understand what the boy was doing.