*Creak*
It was the fastest day in this town and nearly left unnoticed. The librarian hadn't even touched her books, and it was already in the middle of noon with the sun at the center. The clouds were returning to the sky, and the air was nowhere near as warm as before. Today, it was gray and dim for sunlight.
"That intruder is still here. What is he planning?" She asks at the door of the principal room.
The librarian entered the room with a slight doubt and annoyance on her face. Her eyes peeked back and forth to ensure no one followed her to the frontman. She was as nervous as a balloon on a needle waiting for the principal to show up. But the room was too dark to see everything, and the door was closed immediately.
She wasted no time and went two steps ahead to tell the man about everything she saw. The oddity of the academy filled with so many things she could have made a story of. But with the intruder still wandering around this place, there's no hope for her to stay silent.
"If you wish to detain or expel me, may I ask why you haven't dealt with the recent situation in school lately?" She asks.
"There are so many things happening here, and no one seems to bat an except me and Cyrus. And it all came from that prince—I mean, the new student. I have a bad feeling about him."
"The students could not focus and they act too harshly with people. There's need to be a solution for this!"
The man was silent about it. He didn't bat an eye for the librarian despite her loudness. His chair didn't even move, and it was too dim to see his menacing presence behind his chair. The librarian saw this as a mockery yet again in her shade form.
*SLAM* She slammed the table loudly.
"Sir, I'm here." She mumbled.
The man still does nothing to her response. The librarian had to make it louder for the second time for him to hear.
*SLAM* She slammed again.
"Hello?"
The man remains deaf. He was unfazed behind that chair for so long that she had to call for the third. It was the loudest slam ever.
*SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM*
"Sir? Are you deaf? I can't be that boring to look at, am I?" Eve glances desperately with tears.
"After all those years, I've never thought it would be you, too. Out of all people here...why only Cyrus??"
The librarian looked hopeless and frowned. When had she ever been so whiny about this? She had a tear in her eye, and her right hand was twitching. The poor librarian was more than sad—she was disappointed and pressured.
*SLAM* "Why is everyone here never cared for me?? Why did I always been left out of your sight??" She slammed the table.
"All those years I've been in this academy and I'm blending all over the background like I'm nothing but a background character in someone's story! Even the teachers thinks I'm nothing!"
"Your school is terrible! You can't even tell me otherwise! This school is terrible!" She yelled.
"I bet you didn't even heard anything, didn't you? You sickos..."
The man was ignorant, barely eager to hear anything from her mouth as he left a long silence. She glances down at her shoes and sees scattered pencils and papers she had dropped purposely to annoy the man. Yet the man didn't even bother to pick it up from the ground.
The librarian became suspicious of the man. The chair didn't move, and she hadn't heard any breath from him. It was too dark to see through the tall backrest of the chair, so the librarian hurried to find a switch. With the lights on, she could see that the curtain was closed, leaving the place fully blind to a midnight gaze.
"Principal? Are you there?" Eve slowly approached the chair with a grunt.
"Principal?"
She twists the chair in her direction, finding it lighter than usual. But to her surprise, not only the chair was empty, and the man was gone, but it was also occupied by someone else. It was not even a human who occupied it! It was a monster so abominable, formed of indescribable and lawfully deviant.
The being before her could not be described by words—yet its presence can be told to be off this land or any. That sentient spirit has its eyes fixed on a sack of gold beside it—even the lifeless stone could pander to greed. It did not realize that the librarian had been watching over its moment until a piece of gold reflected her shadow.
"Two thousands and three hundred twenty two, two thousands and three hundred twenty three, and two thousands and three hundred twenty four—oh?" The creature stops and glances at Eve.
There was a long silence between the two, raised by an awkward tension as the librarian could not stop focusing on it for more than her fear of leaving. The spirit, more harmless than she had thought, waved its hands at the librarian and greeted her as if it was nowhere near a beast. Unlike the spirit, she takes this incident seriously.
"Hello? Nice to meet you?" The creature waves at her.
"S-spirit? Am I...Am I talking to a spirit?" Eve replies calmly yet in fear. She was ready to burst into horror at the incomprehensible thought.
"Spirit? No way! I'm not some stupid pebbles!" The creature replies angrily.
"No, no, no, no...!! What is this day??" Eve backed off to a corner.
The man on that chair must have been slain by that creature when she was absent. His hat was found under the table with bloodstain, and it appeared the librarian was about to be the next meal.
"Ooh, I spilled my ketchup on that man's hat, huh...?" The creature holds the fedora.
She distanced herself quickly to the corner as the spirit crawled out of its hiding spot to catch her. Vulnerable and alone, the librarian was no match against the creature's terrifying looks.
"Get off me! Get off me! Don't get any closer!" She yelled as she fell by her butt near a cabinet, holding a pencil for defense.
"Whoa! Watch out, friend! You're hurting yourself!" The creature approaches her with its arms up.
"Friend? I'm not your friend! And don't you dare raise your hands at me!"
"But I thought this was a sign of peace? Haven't cops told you anything about raising your arms?"
"Don't get any closer!! I told you to stay back!"
The creature stopped, doing as follows. It didn't want to hurt the librarian and greeted itself with a wave and clap, like a child's game and flattery to ensure her he was a friend. He was not a violent specter or a harmful gremlin that she had thought—the spirit was too kind to be a threat. It even helped her out from hurting herself.
"S-state yourself! What's your name, c-creature?" Eve pointed her pencil.
"Name? Oh, the name! Right—My name is Charger." The creature reaches for a handshake.
"E-Eve..." She refuses. But in a moment of curiosity, she accepted the handshake only to feel a weak metallic grasp from the creature's fingers.
"Oh, it's okay! I already knew your name, Ainsley."
"What? You know my name??"
"Of course. I've been looking for you, after all!"
"You...you're that guy under the trashbin??"
The librarian stands without fear. Her curiosity spikes at the coarse rust on its head, like a moss growing on a rock. She decided to move closer and hold it over her chest like a baby whose body is as cold as dead. But how beautiful and lucky she was to witness such moments, even feeling its presence with her hands.
"Are you alive? Am I...I'm not dreaming, right? This felt too off to be true..." Eve mumbled doubtfully.
"Nope. I'm as alive as you are awake! But you probably need to watch that vase over there if you don't want to fall asleep and forgetting this!" Charger pointed up the cabinet above her.
"What vase?"
*Prang*
"Oh—That vase."
The kind spirit and the librarian are stuck in the man's empty room as they hear people passing through the corner, unaware of what's behind the door. The spirit was excited to see her because he had been looking for the librarian since morning. She was discomforted and confused because the spirit was too enthusiastic and clinging too much to her.
"I've been looking for you, Eve! I didn't expect you to be here while I'm counting my golds." Charger mumbled.
"You've been looking for me? Who are you? Why did you want me?"
"I'm Charger! Charger the Great! And I'm here because I need you to join me in an adventure far above this land! Hurry!"
"Woah! Woah! Woah! Woah...one by one! I can't process everything here just one day after that boy!"
"Okay, okay...! Ehem..."
The spirit came from afar, a land somewhere above ours. Not a soil that could grow grass like us, but something more luminous and thick like wheat. But it was out of reach from a human hand, and only he could exist to tell its story to oblivious humans. The land was sunny and always bright despite the night because the stars never shine dimmer than the moon.
But the spirit was not fond of its place, seeing it less as a paradise and more as a temporary stop. His spirit belongs in the winds of adventure, where he wanted to seek the long and forbidden that many had never been reaching for. But others had seen him as nothing but a fugitive for his curiosity and ambition. The librarian felt that deep in her heart.
He had the glory, he had the gold, but he didn't have the time. It is what was left of him, and soon, he'll be forgotten if he stops anytime. The spirit had even acquired gold from his journey through the stars, which he always counted on the table as a reminder of his glory. But that gold has stopped flowing out of his pocket since today.
He was desperate for help, but there was no one to aid him in his quest because no one was alive in the flesh to support him—his body was not appropriate to continue. The spirit came in descent to the land of living, where his first aim was locked to the librarian before anything else. He had seen who she was—and he was enamored to compel her.
She didn't know whether she should be flattered or terrified, but the spirit had a reasonable means to ask her kindly. Yet, everything happens fiercely before the librarian's eyes, and she couldn't risk taking herself in such danger. The outside world might have been terrible for someone inexperienced like her.
"I'm sorry. But that's too much for me."
"No! It can't be! I need your help!" Charger begged.
"No! I can't. I had to go! I'm not what you're looking!"
"Yes, you are! You're experienced in this! Think about what you could've had in your life for this once!"
The spirit persists, wishing for her to join his cause regardless. But the librarian was scripted to her duty as a manager of books. It was a guilt-ridden choice for someone who wanted to explore and live outside the wall of boredom. And so, the door was opened right where she was ready to leave, and everyone was nowhere to be heard.
"And why should I believe from a creature like you that I am worthy? And not that I am...merely a curious one?"
"Because curiosity is what gives you a path to me! Every adventurer is always curious, but no one dares to find out like you! Like what you did there."
"All I did was approach the prince—ugh, Dion! I approached Dion because I didn't know who he was. He was just too mysterious and weirdly perfect in any shape."
"And yet, you were tempted to ask his position! Wouldn't it be that you were bored and your life was incomplete? Maybe your life was indeed...unguided and strayed."
"Are you saying that I didn't know my life more than you?" Eve walks back with anger, emotionally offended.
"Well, I don't know my life either, friend! But I know that I must've been strayed because I never had that position in life like you to be noticed when I was a young pebble. I believe what you are deemed "ignored and left out" is merely yourself telling you that you are unique and aspired than them!"
"If not, then why would you care for the prince more than the cleric?"
The librarian stays silent.
The words of the spirit were wise and reassuring—even the dead knew how to speak alongside the living's mind. For once, the librarian had thought about her curiosity as nothing more than her mind's play. But now, it's clear she was not satisfied to think like others—that others were too easy to appease. The librarian felt that in her heart, so that pause in her steps was a change of heart.
"If this promise is true, then I hoped nothing more than to be there immediately. I'm afraid you have to guide me on how to reach this place."
"Sweet! You won't regret this, Eve!" Charger shook her hand.
She had never been compelled to be more willing to listen to such an offer. It would've been a waste of opportunity to question anything after the day had been weirder. Suddenly, everything went quiet in the academy, and the sun shone brightly without a cloud. Everything has returned to normal, except for two things that lay still between the librarian's shoulders.
She snuck the spirit within her bag, capturing its essence in a jar while keeping an eye on her surroundings from being caught. The spirit lingers unrest in her ears, displeased as it struggles to fit in until its body shapes itself to the environment. It was painful for the librarian to hear him grunting.
"What did you do with the man, anyway?"
"Nothing. He never came to school, so I rested in his office while waiting for you."
Together, they travel around the academy, and the spirit acts as a little voice to the librarian as she passes through crowds unseen again. They went far until she realized she had returned to the same path where she and the cleric were about to meet the prince.
"So, what do we do now?"
"First, we have to find a way to reach the upper world first! Starting with a key to an unknown door."
"Where do we get that key? I can't leave this place yet."
"We don't have to. Someone's already got it for us." Charger replies.
"You got another friend here?" Eve was confused at his face.
"Let's just say, I got someone well-known here..."
The spirit navigates the way for the librarian into a room. A seemingly gloomy place now turned with a red curtain and show stage, as if a drama set was about to begin here. There was even a spotlight and windows sealed so light could not penetrate through the perfect lighting. The stage was always huge, but it has never been this humongous.
That stage belonged to the prince, yet everyone had left. So, it was a perfect opportunity to stroll around. He quickly ran off and searched through corners with his little hands like a thief. The librarian, who had no motivation at first, now seemingly anticipated watching the creature's limbs stretch like a spring while looking for his treasure.
"It must be here somewhere. That man surely wouldn't come without one." Charger rummages through the backstage.
"What do you mean a man? Are you—are you talking about Dion?" Eve approaches to help.
"Yes, my friend. I'm afraid that Carven must have tracked me down here if he came two days early before his supposed arrival on Wednesday when the drama class should've started at 12. Maybe he came with others? I hope not..."
"So he knew you? That means he also came from that world, too?"
Hearing the story from the thief about the prince inspires the librarian more. She was appalled, speechless, and joyous to witness the revelation surging into an ambition. That's the adrenaline that pushes someone to delve into the unknown. One that was dim long ago.
She stomps the ground with happiness, clenching her fist in the air as she recites all the words from her mind. The excitement was her for free, and seeing the creature being persistent and doubtful leaps her heart as she felt like she was onto something big.
"I knew it! I knew that boy couldn't be an ordinary human! No one can be that perfect from birth!" Eve yelled.
"No one! And that's includes you, imp!" She pointed at him.
But the spirit warned her to stay quiet. There's too much noise for today, and here should not be one of them. Just because others aren't here doesn't mean they won't be today. The librarian had to close her mouth while the little thief rubbed every cache like a lamp oil, hoping for a genie to come.
For a few minutes, the spirit had ransacked every corner of the stage with its pebble arms and stretched himself to every spot. So many things are displaced from their position with his poltergeist's strength. What he was looking for was nowhere to his reach.
*Prang* *Crack* *Brak*
Yet he was too clumsy. While peeking around at the backstage, he accidentally made a little mess that left too much noise for the librarian to not be concerned. She reaches out through the site only to find the mess he had left on the ground. The spirit remains ambitious in his research, unaware of what he has done.
"What did you do??" Eve jumps in to see the mess.
"I'm searching every corner, friend!"
"You tore those props! Do you know who's going to find that out!"
"I think it wasn't here, friend. He didn't bring it here..." Charger stares hopelessly.
"Then what have we been doing here??"
*Mumbling*
The prince returned to the red curtain with his squires earlier than she had expected, with their words cheering over his name like a parade as stories unfolded behind the librarian's eyes. Yet it was not the perfect time to hear another story because she and the little thief had to leave immediately.
"Quick! Leave before they find out..." Eve whispers.
"Eve! I don't want to!" Charger replies.
The librarian dragged the spirit with her to another entry, but the spirit refused to be placed on that same vessel. Not only did it rebel at her will, but it also attracted more attention with its whisp. It was not long until someone heard a noise so faint yet filled with desperation near a stair to the way out.
"Who's there??"
"I hear something from the corner."
"Dion, someone is in the backstage! They're going to mess with our props!"
"Then, stop it! You think I want to take some crap on the drama class?" Dion pointed afar.
The squires ran through the stage and entered the backstage, only to find everything had been left into a mess beyond repair. Those who could be salvaged from this wreckage are not worth a gold for the prince. But without these bricks and wood standing up, then he would not have a castle to sit on.
The bricks are tattered, the sticks are broken, and the glasses are shattered. There's a war in this place, yet it left no casualties but the town. The squires and the prince returned from their long trip only to witness the aftermath of violence and hatred left by an unknown force.
"What is this? What just happened here??"
"Everything fall into pieces! Everything!"
"What a mess!"
The prince's face remained calm, but he wasn't ready to let it go easily. His squires salvaged every piece they could find and rebuilt the kingdom once more while he sat distressed and ate his way to glee with grapes and chips. It was his favorite meal, or that is what the librarian could see him eating.
"Who did this? Who could've done this??" Dion commented while sucking one grape each second.
"Whoever did this has no manner. Rats even..."
"Ugh...all that hard work for what? Ugh..."
He was unaware that she had left the stage to a right stairway. It was a perfect escape because nobody had even noticed the librarian from close, even if she breathed heavily. The prince sat depressed and wandered through the creak of sunlight at his ruined palace and his ravaged throne of nothing-kingdom.
"Ugh, this is harder than I thought. How could I not foresee this?"
"There's so many reason for me to not trust these people. Yet here I am."
"But to think someone could be this envy...? Who could it be?"
But right before the librarian could reach the door's knob, the squire caught her on the door with hesitation. At first, the man did not notice her blending with the darkness. But when the spirit sang its life out, he caught its carrier leaving with a blue tunic.
That man immediately alerted the others and caught her quick at the door. It was not long until the librarian found herself cornered away by the little servants and their prince at the front. A lady grabbed her away by the arms and carried her into the prince on the stage and on his chair.
She was terrified, not because of the prince, but because of the little thief in her pocket that could slip out anytime. Yet she kept a calm face as she was facing with the royal man himself. He didn't look happy to have his star spot taken.