Colton's eyes opened wide. The bright rays of a sun above blinded him, he placed a hand over his face to cover his eyes.
After turning his head to both sides, he realized he was laying down on a tiled roof. Below him he could hear people talking and the sound of wagons being moved around.
'Is this the kingdom again?' He asked himself.
He sat upright, feeling a pain in his back after landing down on the roof earlier.
After looking around, Colton managed to find some of his other teammates perched on different rooftops, either closer or farther away from him.
The sound of footsteps from behind caught his attention. Calliope was walking towards him, extending a hand after getting close enough.
"So this is the book world." She remarked, pulling up Colton to see the surroundings.
The area they were in was large, rooftops high and low for miles in shades of light brown. But Colton could not see any end to it apart from a distant forest to the south of them.
After a while, they got the other members of the team, quickly forming up into a group again. Everyone else was mesmerized, looking at the vast rooftops and down below at the bustling streets.
It did not take long before Calliope formed up a plan.
"They say that these book worlds are meant to carry the most amount of knowledge in books. If we find where they lie, then we can leave this place." She briefly explained to the group.
Celestine took a deep breath in, now smelling the fresh air of an afternoon day instead of the dusty muck of the library.
"I won't mind staying here to be honest." Celestine sat near the ledge of the roof, dangling her legs down, to the annoyance of Calliope.
"Get back up, we don't know how the locals here act so we must stay away from them. For now we must find any buildings that could contain the books we need." Celestine stood back up, annoyed.
Colton stood by, preferring to take in the smell and the warm scenery around him. It reminded him of the kingdom, adding some comfort to him.
"Let's go." When everyone was ready, they moved by her order.
The group jumped from roof to roof, trying to not be seen by the locals below, hearing the voices of each street behind them get fainter after each jump.
The roofs seemed to go on endlessly, like the library. This thought brought dread to Colton as he repeatedly hopped continuously from small to larger rooftops. Feeling his boots slam down hard on each one, slowly wearing him out.
At last, Calliope ordered the team to stop. She realized that the roofs didn't stop, and simply went on. She felt frustrated but quickly started scanning the area around her, finding any notable buildings.
At last, she saw a building in the distance, taller than the ones around it, a building resembling a cathedral with a lighter brown rooftop and a bell tower perched on top of it.
"By the looks of it, that may be where the books are. About one hundred fifty buildings or so and this one is the only building with a different roof color." Calliope explained further.
Colton could see people walking around on the streets below, all of them wore fine clothing fit for nobility, but saw none of them wearing any dirty or ragged attire a typical peasant or average wealth citizen in the kingdom normally wear. The place seemed to have people that were more well off than normal, capable of buying formal and clean clothes.
The group started jumping again, this time heading towards the cathedral. On the way, Colton could smell the scent of herbs, spices, bread, and other foods in the distance.
Along the way, they stopped after coming across a large square with no buildings in sight. A massive market. A hundred or so canvas roofs were hung in the space, a large crowd had gathered around and inside it. People selling jewelry, books, among other commodities.
"This place is rather rich. Why don't we just rob a few of these stores to keep the money?" Marcus commented, looking down at the market with eyes of greed. He was quickly hit in the side by Quill.
"Calm down, it's just gold, you can always get more gold without the risk of getting chased. Besides, don't you smell that?" Quill quickly pointed at a certain spot of the market.
The spot had multiple pillars of smoke looming above it, cooks were making food for a long line of hungry citizens. Soups, meats, herbs, spices, a barrage of scents filled their noses, almost luring them towards the shop. But they all managed to resist the urge.
Calliope observed the cathedral while everyone else kept staring at the market.
"These people seem like nobility with their outfits, just barely. Their clothing does not look as sleek as the ones I see." Celestine remarked. While the other two were focused on the jewelry and the food, Celestine was interested in the clothing.
As an aristocrat, it would be second knowledge to know clothing and which is best to wear to show your status or for meetings.
The twins though simply looked forward at the food, their faces of exhaustion were gone, now drooling instead for the food. Clarissa tried to resist it, while Oliver simply stared at it, taking in the scent.
"Alright, we'll get closer to the cathedral and observe it for now." Calliope ordered.
Although hypnotized by the market, the group hesitantly joined with Calliope. They quickly moved away from the market, towards the cathedral which was now closer.
They stopped just in front of the place, perched up on a roof. The cathedral was large, stained glass decorated the sides with a single large wooden gate that led to the inside. Around it, people stood, donning more aristocratic attires, from white silk to purple robes while everyone else moved along, speaking in a different language.
The stone walls of the cathedral were adorned as well with hanging pots, lamps, torches, or banners.
"I don't see any other way in. I suppose our only chance to enter inside the cathedral without being seen is that bell tower." Calliope looked up.
As they looked around, a figure suddenly dashed in front of them.
A man in tattered clothing and cloak hopped over the roofs with great speed, carrying a pouch and something else in his hands.
As they all looked in confusion, Celestine gasped in horror.
"He took my red cloth!" She yelled out. Without hesitation she began chasing after him. To the dismay of the group.
"Ngh, she'll cause more problems if spotted. Let's get her back." Calliope ordered, and soon the group started heading away from the cathedral, now chasing one of their own as she started getting closer to the thief.
The chase was cut short after the thief suddenly slipped and fell down, Celestine quickly stopped before she met the same fate.
The group managed to catch up to her and look down. The man was still alvie, but groaned in pain.
Celestine began climbing down the wall, followed by the others.
While she effortlessly climbed down, the others struggled, except Quill.
"Dare to steal from the aristocracy, hm?" Celestine snatched her cloth away from the man, quickly tucking it beneath her sleeve.
"A-apologies ma'am…" The man spoke in a pained voice as he tried to sit upright. His voice was young but coarse.
"You run very well, you'd probably still have caught me even if I didn't fall" His face was partially bloodied from the fall but still had a smirk.
"Well, I guess it's best we heal him and move on. Clerics." The twins rushed to the man, quickly healing his wounds as the blood started fading away.
"You are all too kind." He glanced at the group's attire, his face suddenly changed to confusion.
"Odd, you aren't wearing the normal attire here." He commented.
Calliope wanted to respond to stop any more problems and defuse the situation, but the man started to talk again.
"Eh, that's alright. I guess some merchants came back from a distant land with new wares. I should get new ones as well to be honest." He stood back up, still holding onto the pouch and what appeared to be a loaf of bread.
"Well, you managed to catch me. I guess a reward is necessary. Come." The man began climbing up the wall, with the pouch and bread resting in pockets inside his cloak.
"Reward?" Calliope was confused.
"Yes, reward. Even though I fell, she was already gaining speed to me. For that, I can invite you all for some food back at home." He replied, still climbing up until she reached the rooftop.
"I don't think we have time for that-"
"Leader, come on, a little supper won't hurt. Besides, we managed to fight off quite a number of enemies earlier. Doubt we'd struggle against a single man. A little bite to eat won't hurt." Quill spoke to her.
Calliope sighed, and agreed. Soon, the group made their way back to the top.
After the last member got back up, the man started walking. They followed just behind him, hopping roof to roof, bound for the forest down south.
"I forgot to say, the name's Myo."