Emmet had been too engrossed in the burning question in his head that he had failed to take note of how the girl beside him ate hers.
Beads of sweat formed on his head as he stared at the cone. His brows furrowed and his forehead creased.
' What sort of battle is this?' He thought to himself. ' Liesl.'
"Discover," Liesl simply said.
At that moment he felt helpless, whenever Liesl made use of that word she would not help him out. She always seemed to believe in letting him learn some things himself without her having to butt in or show him the way.
After a few more seconds of contemplation, he shoved the whole cone into his mouth.
He chewed slowly and he felt his tongue drown in a burst of sweet flavours. Still chewing, his eyes moved over to Ashley.
Her movement had frozen and her tongue remained out, with its tip touching the top of the ice cream. Her gaze was unblinking and he could see the look of disbelief over her.
"What?" He asked as soon as the ice cream and mashed cone had disappeared down his throat.
"The f*ck did you just do?" She finally spoke, disbelief still written all over her.
"What?" Emmet looked clueless, wondering what he had done.
"You just put a whole ice cream cone into your mouth," She said.
"Oh," He shrugged. "You didn't tell me I wasn't supposed to eat it that way."
With that, he started walking ahead.
Ashley speechlessly walked up to meet him as she resumed eating the ice cream on the cone.
The dancing in the carnival had grown intense and almost everyone had begun dancing.
"Can you dance?" Ashley asked the red skinned man who was eating his fourth ice cream that night. This time around, he was eating it just like any normal human being would.
"No," He said, his focus on the ice cream.
"So not like a circus boy," Ashley scoffed.
"There's actually one last place I want to go tonight before it gets late," He said once he had finished up with the ice cream.
"Where?" Ashley asked, folding her arms across her chest.
"A library. I want to see what a library looks in Emeria, that's if they aren't all locked by now," He replied.
She eyed him for a brief moment. "Fine, there's some that don't lock up this early. We spent quite a lot of money today so we won't be boarding a flying ship this time."
She then gave him a mischievous look.
"But there's always a chance that we could just help someone carry less load in his pockets."
She waved two small pouches at him with the mischievous smile still playing at her lips.
"Let's go!" She swiftly ran ahead and white smog left her hair to form a white horse in a short distance ahead.
She swiftly mounted the horse and Emmet followed suit in the same fashion.
"Hiyah Arin!" She laughed maniacally and firmly held the reigns on the horse, causing it to go into swift galloping.
"How did y-you?" Emmet gazed at her, almost speechless. Even when he was a thief he wasn't as skillful as Ashley. She was so good at and used to stealing like it was the back of her palm.
"Ashley's magic," She winked at him before returning her gaze ahead.
It wasn't too long than they reached a tall building whose top pierced high into the sky. Once they got down from the white horse, Arin returned into her mistress's hair in her smog form.
Emmet could not hide the excitement and awe on his face as his eyes trailed up the building.
"The Devil's Archive sure has a long way to go," He found himself saying.
"This appears to be the Omega's path," Liesl said. "One of most popular libraries in Emeria, ranking in the top 100 of the library and book store ranks."
"Mind blowing," Emmet sighed in the words of 'When will I make it this big? '.
"Libraries are like one of the most boring places I have ever seen," Ashley sighed.
"You'll need to shed off a whole lot of your personality as it is now, to be able to enjoy the peaceful and creative side of life. Trust me," Emmet said to her and immediately led the way inside.
It was a massive structure inside of the building. The massive and tall, intricately carved shelves that lined the wall were a sight to appreciate and so were the books that sat, neatly and invitingly, within their care.
The air within the library was a sweet mix of Lavender and vanilla, a scent enough to make one comfortable within the confines of the Omega's path and also aid a calm sense of mind as reading took place. There were also very few people whom were busy reading, which made Emmet believe that it was due to the fact that it was night
"Despite how grandeur this place looks, it feels so comfortable and warm," Ashley rubbed her arms, the feeling of longing slowly crawling up her skin.
"Because that's how they want you to feel. It all has to do with the scent," Emmet pointed out.
They had barely moved into the library when a man dressed in dark green robes came up to them.
"Good evening to you and welcome to the Omega's Path," The man bowed his head and smiled brightly in greetings.
"Good evening," The two responded to his greetings in the same manner.
"Would you prefer recommendations or would love to explore for yourself?" The man proceeded to ask.
"We would love to explore ourselves," Emmet answered and Ashley simply nodded.
"Enjoy," The man nodded.
"If I may ask though, are you the owner of this place? It's really great," Emmet smiled.
"I am not. I work here," The man replied.
"Ah I see. My bad," Emmet quickly apologized and the man nodded.
"What book would you like to read? We have school texts, literary works, cultivation books, and martial arts texts," The man asked. "And would you like to take up the midnight candle plan?"
"What's that?" Emmet inquired out of curiosity.
"The midnight candle plan is a reading plan available in some libraries as well as the Omega's Path that allows readers to burn the midnight candle," The man explained. "This plan is mostly used by students, sect disciples, mages, and teachers."
"No, we won't be going for a midnight candle plan," Emmet replied.
"There are two library sessions left for today which is equivalent to two hours from now. Once the two sessions for today have elapsed, the library will be closed except to those who have selected the midnight candle plan," The man continued.
"Very well. We will be taking up one library session," Emmet said. "How much will it cost?"
"31 gold coins," The man simply answered.
' That's quite a lot,' Emmet thought.
"It is but for a high class library as the Omega's Path, it is a suitable price," Liesl said.
"Very well," Emmet nodded. "We will like to read one novel. Something on fantasy, with a great touch of mystery."
"Sure," The man then motioned for them to follow him and soon, he led them to a long row of shelves.
"Make yourself comfortable."
With that, he left them to explore as they had requested.
After walking past two shelves, Emmet finally pulled a book with green cover from the second shack of the third shelf.
"The unknown," He read the title. "By Rain. Seems pretty interesting."
He then turned to Ashley who appeared extremely bored while also struggling with the feeling of comfort in a place she didn't like much.
Staying overnight in the Devil's Archive was going to be a hard experience for her but she couldn't risk it.
"We'll read this," He said.
"I won't," She sneered at him and they walked up to a vacant table that was surrounded by four chairs. They sat opposite each other.
Ashley yawned and her eyes lazied about her surroundings, probably looking for something valuable to steal.
Emmet proceeded to open the first chapter of the book but suddenly yet strangely, he fell into a trance.
Several images flashed before his eyes. Scenes he had never seen in either of his lives, came before him but he felt some connections with these unidentifiable scenes.
There were thorns. There were roses. There were pits in the grounds. There were cracks in the grounds. There were more flowers. There were twigs. There were figs.
But...
At the end of it all, there was this one boy. His silver hair glistened under the bright rays of the sun. His black eyes were an empty hole that revealed no emotions, and his pale fair skin was in no better condition.
He had no name but he knew himself as White head.